27. Keira

Chapter 27

Keira

T he most magnificent city I have ever seen sprawls across the horizon. At first glance it appears to be built into a small mountain, but then I realize the city is the mountain, with structures reaching higher than I thought possible.

Each cluster of buildings has spires and domes and towers at every level, with arching bridges reaching between them, and immense, external flights of stairs scaling the structures. Multiple streams run through the layers of buildings, ending in dainty waterfalls, and great trees rise alongside the buildings.

It puts to shame the boxy, lifeless structure of Appleshield Castle.

There are many roads leading to the City of Vertical Gardens, and they are all brimming with people. All, except for the one that takes a traveler through the wilds of the forest. The path we have been using.

We watch that far-off city from the height of its closest Watchtower Tree, our party of high and low fae hidden within its gates.

It is far smaller than the one we had stayed in near the border, not designed to hold an army but to receive messages from across the court. The only place to camp is on the platform of the canopy.

Aldrin stands stiff backed on the balcony facing the view of his home, the one that betrayed him. I sit with Drake, Klara and Silvan, but they are in a somber mood, sharpening their weapons and staying very little.

This isn’t the homecoming they wanted.

Caitlin brings me a cup of tea, infusing her minor fire magic straight into the water to boil it, and sits down beside me on the carpet of moss. She picks up a weapon from the sharpened pile and silently oils the blade with expert hands.

Cyprien joins Aldrin’s side on the balcony, and I strain my ears to hear their conversation.

“Are you sure you are ready to do this?” Cyprien asks.

“What choice do I have?” Aldrin practically growls. “My eyes have been opened since you came to me. I will not turn my back on my people.”

“There will be significant risks,” Cyprien states softly.

“The risks are greater if I don’t return to the Senate.” Aldrin runs a hand across his hair and looks over his people. “It is my head the high chancellor wants, and I don’t think she would be ruthless enough to take it when the Senate and the entire city are aware I am in the capitol to petition them.”

The starkness of the threat to him and his acceptance of it, makes my blood freeze. Caitlin shoots me a startled look, as she too realizes the gravity of Aldrin’s situation. Of the risk we put ourselves in by staying with him.

But I can’t walk away.

Not yet. Maybe I could help him before we leave.

“Let me go into the city first, and pave the way for you,” Cyprien urges, placing a hand on Aldrin’s shoulder. “I will ensure the corrupted spriggan have arrived at my estate and that our evidence is still intact. Give me time to call on allies in the Senate and begin to plant the seeds of your revelation. The day you enter the city, I can have sympathetic guards on the gate. I will take our low fae witnesses with me, have them in position when you need them.”

Aldrin nods, but it is clear from his sagged shoulders that the necessity of those actions pain him. That he is not welcome home.

“How long do you need?” Aldrin murmurs .

“Give me a week, then I will send for you.” Cyprien slaps him on the shoulder, then walks away, calling his soldiers to him.

The vulnerability in every taut line of Aldrin’s body as he watches Cyprien leave makes something tighten and twist within my chest.

“That settles it then. We will be returning in a week.” Silvan grunts. He puts so much force into the whetstone running across his blade that it slips and he cuts his finger.

Drake grabs his hand and runs his thumb over the small gash, a dim white light glowing between them, then the cut is gone. “Does it terrify anyone else? What will we find there? How the people we left behind have faired?” Drake chokes on those last words.

Klara immediately rises to her knees beside him, wraps her arms around his neck and pulls his head into her chest. Drake closes his eyes for a long moment as she kisses his forehead. “Rainier will be fine. He was always a tough boy.”

I stare at the unexpected intimacy between them.

Drake’s gaze falls on me and a hint of a smirk plays on his lips as he catches me gawking at them. “Keira, why do you look so surprised that a woman loves me? Am I that much of a fae beast to you?” He hides his emotions in humor.

“No. No. It’s just that the two of you always seem to be fighting.” I can’t hide my fluster.

“Fighting like an old married couple?” He quips. Suddenly their every interaction reframes itself in my mind. The arguments without heat, and met with smiles. The fact they are always together. Not every couple shows their affections in public.

“Someone needs to put him in his place.” Klara smiles.

“Come on wife, you just love to flirt with me.” Drake stares up at her.

Klara disengages herself from him and sits down again. “When Aldrin lost his throne, a huge rift formed in the ruling class. Families were dragged apart as some supported their king and others Titania. Any who strongly opposed the high chancellor were placed into house arrest indefinitely on their own estates. To even visit them is to risk your neck. We chose exile with Aldrin, but our son Rainier, he was fresh in his political career and was ensnarled in Titania’s lies, becoming a devoted supporter...” She trails off.

Drake runs the back of his hand across his eyes. “The last time we saw him, it ended in a heated argument. I don’t know how he will receive us on our return.”

“I’m so sorry.” I say, and it feels inadequate.

Silvan stands up abruptly, tosses his whetstone to the ground and stalks away with anger rippling through his tense body.

“When Silvan followed Aldrin, his partner remained behind in the palace,” Drake watches him go. “I have never met two men more dedicated to each other, but Silvan saw this as a personal betrayal, and it almost broke him.”

My heart squeezes with the amount of pain they have all endured. Beside me, Caitlin scrubs a tear from her eyes.

“At least being in exile hasn’t been all bad.” Klara lets out a laugh that is riddled with sadness. “It has done wondrous things for our relationship. Drake was away far too often on his missions for Aldrin.”

“What were your roles in his court?” Caitlin asks, using the tip of the blade to indicate the fae around us.

“Most of them worked for Silvan,” Klara states. “He was the Captain of Aldrin’s personal guard. Still is, I guess. I was his Minister of Specialized Battle Tactics and Drake?—”

“Spy Master.” He gives us a massive grin.

Klara nudges him in the ribs. “Commander of the Specialized Forces. Scouting a target, taking a specialized team into the field and handling it. Mostly collecting information.”

I smile at Drake. “So master of assassins and spies?”

“See, she gets it.” Drake glances at his wife, who rolls her eyes.

Caitlin leans forward over her knees. “And Cyprien is the commander of the army, if I’m correct. I want to know why Titania kept Aldrin’s brother-in-law in that position.”

Drake scratches the side of his face. “Because their falling out over Lorrella’s death was well known and fresh at the time. She had only just passed.”

I glance over to Aldrin as a deep sadness for him rolls through me. He lost everything all at once. He catches my eye and his frown softens and the tightness of his jaw releases.

My blood races at the look in his eyes as he approaches, then stands over me. “Can we talk for a few moments?”

I take the hand he holds out for me and stand. “Can we go for a walk?” The Watchtower Tree and the emotion clogging it suddenly feels suffocating.

Aldrin runs his thumb over the top of my hand as he stares into my eyes. “I know a trek near here that you might like.” Shivers run down my spine as I hope for undercurrents in his words.

Drake glances from me to Aldrin and back, a huge smile growing on his face, but I ignore him, along with the scowl deepening on Caitlin’s features.

We are only a few steps out of the Watchtower Tree when Aldrin rounds on me, his expression guarded and unreadable. “You are free to leave this realm whenever you want to,” he says so gently.

“S-sorry?” I stumble on the word.

“Your obligation to the Lake Maiden was completed two days ago. You can collect your seeds and leave this realm. That was your mission, wasn’t it?” His voice is emotionless. Dead.

“Would you stop me?” It feels like a wild animal claws its way out of me.

“If Odiane is okay with it, who am I to stop you?”

“That’s not what I meant, Aldrin.” I toss my head. “Do you want me to go?”

“Gods, Keira, it's not about what I want.” He closes the space between us and grips my arms. “Things may get incredibly dangerous once we enter the city. Neither you or Caitlin need to risk that. So if you plan to leave in the next few days anyway?—”

I suddenly understand the fear flashing in his eyes. I cut him off. “I want to stay longer with you, Aldrin. I can testify before your Senate and tell them who I am and what I can do with my family connections.”

“They are treacherous and may try to harm you.” That simmering gaze bores into my soul. “And you will leave eventually. ”

“The wild hunt themselves couldn’t prevent me from seeing your city. A fae city . It would be a dream come true for me. And my offer to speak with the Senate isn’t completely selfless. Your people are not the only ones who need this alliance,” I say.

Aldrin lets out a ragged breath. He looks away from me, but his eyes are dragged back like he can’t help himself. “Keira, there is something I haven’t told you. Please, by the darkest realm, please try to understand why and forgive me.” He takes a step back from me.

Fear shudders through my entire body because I have no idea what to expect. “Tell me, Aldrin.”

“My sister was a seer, and she prophesied a fate for me. Lorrella said a woman would come from the human realm with hair of fire,” Aldrin takes a lock of mine and lets it slowly drop through his fingers, spreading out the red and gold strands glittering in the sun. “This woman is to stand by my side to return the magic to this realm. At first I thought she meant - well, that doesn’t matter. She spoke of you Keira. How you will help me. Whether you will do it in your realm or mine, I’m not sure yet.”

I step away from him as icy claws grip into my chest. It feels like a mad beast is trying to tear its way out.

“Why didn’t you tell me Aldrin? How long have you thought it was me?” I am almost yelling, as hot tears form at the corners of my eyes as he gives me a pained look. Then the true reason for my explosive reaction slips from my lips. “This means I must go home and marry Finan.”

“Not necessarily,” Aldrin cuts in. “Seers speak in riddles. Who knows what they truly mean?”

A tear slips down my cheek and a tortured frown pinches Aldrin’s brow as he watches me with caution.

I pound his chest with my hand. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I growl, all that fear, all the bitter disappointment in my fate being forced, it bubbles out of me.

Aldrin runs a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know how to tell you, Keira. I didn’t realize it was you, until you told me your story and I had lost your trust by that point. I’ve tried a dozen times since then, but I was scared it would push you away.”

The self-righteous anger fizzles out of me at the vulnerability in his expression. “I don’t want to think of my duty right now. There is a month before the portals close and I have to return home. I want to enjoy my time here.”

He gives me a curt nod. “Shall we go for that walk?”

I follow Aldrin down a narrow path that cuts through the rainforest, alive with the sounds of chittering puka and dripping water. Ferns colonize the ground and grow within the nooks of trees. Huge butterflies with colorful wings the size of my hands flutter around us.

Massive purple blooms hang from vines and red mushrooms poke through the grass. It is beautiful, but I don’t care for any of it.

Nothing exists except for the man before me.

We pass a narrow creek gurgling over rocks and Aldrin wraps his hands around my waist and lifts me over the water with an excuse about not getting my boots wet. He does it with such ease, as though I weighed nothing at all.

Aldrin stops at a fork in the path and examines it for a long moment, then glances over his shoulder at me.

“Keira,” he says, stalking toward me until he grips one arm and tilts my chin up to peer into his face with a single finger. “I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer me very honestly. Can you do that?”

My mouth turns dry and I manage a nod.

“That morning in the grass, when I had your skirts hitched up around your waist, would you have had regrets if we weren’t interrupted?” He rumbles.

My stomach dips and my breath hitches. “No,” I whisper. “My regrets were that we didn’t get to…” I let my words trail off.

Aldrin nuzzles his head into my neck, kissing the sensitive flesh until he reaches my ear. “Do you have any idea how much the image of you spread wide and bare beneath me has plagued me for the last two days?” He growls .

“Yes.” I pant. “Yes. I think I do.” He pulls away eyes hooded. “Aldrin?”

“Hmmmm?”

“Before I woke you…were you having a dirty dream about me?” Heat flushes through me at the idea, pooling low in my body.

“Probably,” he says as though it happens all the time.

Aldrin grabs my hand and tugs me down one of those paths. The sudden change in pace has my head spinning. The heated look he gives me from over his shoulder tells me he is taking me somewhere to utterly devour me.

I bite my lower lip as the last of my reservations flee me.

Why should I spare a thought for Finan, for my kingdom or even tomorrow, when I have this beautiful man here, right now?

The path opens to a pool of water enclosed by thick tree cover. The surface shimmers like thousands of jewels, and its cyan-blue depths are completely transparent.

Aldrin gives me a wolfish grin as he pulls me to him and kisses me so tenderly, a soft brush of our lips and a slow caress of our tongues. I step out of his grasp before he can pin me to his chest. The hint of a frown pinches his eyebrows as he reaches for me and I take another step back.

I give him a sly smile. “Don’t touch me until I say you can. I want you to watch.”

Heat simmers within his eyes, but his lips quirk up in a cocky half-smile as he raises his hands, then takes a seat on a low boulder.

I hold Aldrin’s gaze as I unlace my cotton corset, my breasts spilling out of the restraining garment, covered only by a thin tunic beneath. I unthread each loop with a painstaking slowness, revealing more and more of the shape of my breasts until he looks like he is going to combust.

Tendrils of air pull at those strings, making them fall apart faster, and I give him a sharp look. He smiles at me wickedly as I toss my corset to the ground.

The shape of my breasts and peaked nipples are abundantly clear through the gathered fabric of the tunic. I undo my belt and chuck it to the side, then I loosen the fastening on my pale blue riding skirt and slowly shimmy it down my hips, until it falls to the ground.

Aldrin sucks in a sharp breath as my legs are almost completely exposed, the loose tunic the only thing that covers my hips.

Light dances in his eyes as he reaches out a hand for me, but I take another step back. A light breeze curls around my hips, flicking up the hem of the soft fabric covering them.

I bite down a smile at Aldrin’s impatience.

I pull free the laces of my tunic, until generous amounts of my bare, curved breasts are visible through the gap down to my waist.

Aldrin follows my fingers eagerly as I teasingly drag out every motion.

He swallows when I pull at one sleeve, revealing a shoulder, my entire arm, and then a single breast. I repeat on the other side until there is nothing holding up my tunic and the thin fabric floats to the ground and pools around my legs.

I am completely naked except for a lacy undergarment that covers very little.

A heated flush creeps across my skin at the look Aldrin gives me, roaming up and down my body, lingering at my breasts, down my stomach to the mound between my legs, to the curve of my hips and thighs, and back up.

He is like a man dying of thirst but too afraid to take a drink. It has anticipation rolling through my stomach.

I step out of my clothes, toward him, and slowly remove the pins from my hair. The crimson and gold strains fall across my chest as I toss my head. I take another slow step to close the space between us, and he leans forward eagerly in his seat.

“Gods, Keira. You are going to be the end of me.” His every muscle is taut, as though he struggles to restrain himself from pouncing on me.

A self-satisfied smile grows on my face as I stamp my boot in the space between his thighs on the boulder. His hands immediately wrap around my bare calf, unable to help himself.

“Unlace these for me,” I command .

His eyebrows shoot up and the quirk of his lips promise a hundred wicked things to me, but he does as he is told and pulls the boots off, running his fingers across the flesh of my freshly washed feet, then repeating with the other.

Aldrin’s eyes flick up the length of my bare leg at his eye height and across my body, then he stands suddenly. “I am done waiting. Tell me I can touch you.” He growls, his face inches from mine.

Shivers run down my spine. “Touch me.”

Those large hands wrap around me, sliding across my waist and hooking me in toward him. They run across my flesh, one sliding upwards to squeeze my breast and roll my nipple with his thumb, and the other gliding over my hip and across my ass, tugging at the undergarment. Fire radiates out from wherever his fingers glide over my skin and my breaths come fast as desire coils deep within me.

Then he loops his fingers in the waistband of my undergarment and drops them to my feet.

I kick the scrap of lace away.

I remove the buckles of his boiled leather armor and toss it to the ground. My fingers shake slightly as I unbutton his dark tunic, revealing bit by bit those perfectly sculpted pectorals and two rows of washboard abs.

Heat pools between my legs at the sight of him, and I run my fingers down all that golden skin that gleams with sweat. I want to lick the grooves of that chest, but my hand meets the belt of his pants and I become distracted.

Aldrin looks down at me with simmering heat as I fiddle with his buckle. He leans down and takes one of my nipples in his mouth, flicking his tongue over it again and again. I shudder with pleasure. My fingers keep sliding off the buckle. I can’t function when he touches me like this. He laughs and removes his belt for me.

I pull his pants down and the glorious length of his cock springs out. He kicks his trousers away. I stroke the bare length of him. It is so big that the thought of it inside me makes delicious shivers run down my spine. I run my finger over the tip and watch his face as his head tips back and his breath turns rough. I pump it ever so slowly, wanting to soak up all the lust rippling through him.

Aldrin focuses on my face with determination, as he slips a finger between my thighs, gliding it across the dampness there.

That thumb rubs circular motions across my clitoris with expert skill. He slips two fingers inside me, curling deep within. Pleasure explodes through me in ripples, building as my breaths come short and fast. Aldrin watches the ecstasy across my face with an intensity. With an arrogant smirk.

“I am only getting started with you.” His voice is hoarse and threatening. It makes my heart skip a beat. He takes me by the shoulders and pushes me to the water’s edge.

The pool is warm, with waves of colors rippling across it as we disturb its surface and deep enough to reach my shoulders. Most of Aldrin’s chiseled chest is exposed above the waterline.

He grabs my waist and lifts me up onto his hips in a tight embrace. I wrap my legs around him and thread my hands through his dark hair. The hardness of his cock is pressed against my core and reached up to my belly.

Aldrin moves my body through the water, lifting me up and down as though I don’t weigh a thing, gliding his hardness against the outside of my most intimate parts, making every nerve ending light up with each grind of our bare flesh. His face raises, tipped back and eyes shut, as he savors me.

Then our lips crash together with the desperate need that has been building over two months. He bites my lower lip, then parts my mouth to slide his tongue against mine. Shivers run through me as I rack my nails down his back.

“What happened to that prince of yours?” He growls into my ear, right before nipping the lobe.

“Fuck him.” I groan as he kisses my neck. “It's not my problem that he is a complete idiot.”

“Good.” Aldrin rasps. “I want to hear you moan.”

He lifts me out of the water and deposits me onto a smooth ledge, so my back lays flat across it with my breasts pointing to the sky. I am lost for a moment in the sight of all that glittering water falling from his dark hair, and running in rivulets between the grooves of his muscles. Until he takes my thighs in either hand and separates my legs.

I almost protest when he leans forward and kisses me right at their apex.

The shock of intense pleasure ripples through me, stealing my breath. I let out a whimper, followed by a long groan as I forget who and where and what I am, until there is nothing but me and him, and what he is doing to my body.

It is like nothing I have ever felt before. His tongue rasps over my clitoris, making tight little circles as his fingers dig into my thighs. I shiver and shudder as jolts of pleasure run through me, overlapping each other, coursing through the very foundations of my existence. Then he enters two fingers inside me, thrusting and curling in perfect synchrony with his teasing mouth.

He knows exactly how to touch me, making my body jolt under the pressure of his swirling tongue and my back arch. The friction almost becomes too much and I try to shimmy back from him, but he grips my hip with his free hand and holds me in place. I cry out as the tension reaches an explosive point and still keeps mounting.

“Come for me, Keira,” he demands, his breath brushing my core, then his punishing tongue sets to work on me again.

I crash straight over the precipitate of pleasure and my body contorts, as my mind bursts into shattered starlight and ecstasy. My release courses like fire through my veins, and Aldrin’s mouth is still on me, licking and flicking, guiding me through each crashing wave of it.

My body turns completely limp and I lay there panting. A cocky laugh rumbles through him, then he plants kisses up my belly, between my breasts and along my collarbone. When I open my eyes, he is hovering over me, his hooded gaze drinking up at the sight of me. I glance down the expanse of all that tanned skin of his chest, to his hardness that hangs between us.

I need it pounding inside of me .

“Fuck me, Aldrin.” I moan.

“Say it again.”

“Fuck me, Aldrin.”

“Beg.” His body shivers.

“Pleeease.” I throw my head back. “I need you.”

He climbs higher up me, his legs separating mine further until his hard cock rubs up my clitoris in a swift motion that makes me gasp. Thick, muscular arms cage me on either side and his chest hovers over me.

“How could I deny you?” He looks at me with a predatory expression that is savagery and beauty, all wrapped into one.

Aldrin guides himself to my entrance, pausing with just the head inside me, then plunges the entire length of his hardness into the hilt, stretching and filling me up. I let out a whimper, digging my nails into his powerful shoulder blades that ripple under my touch.

Then he rocks his hips against mine.

My whole body lights up with pleasure as he drives his cock in and out, in and out. Each thrust is harder than the last, hitting that spot deep within me that forces out all rational thought. Tension builds and builds until it is almost unbearable.

I need more.

I wrap my legs around his hips and grip his arse as I move against him, pushing him deeper and chasing that friction that sends me wild. To make each plunge hit harder. His breath comes hard and fast right in my ear and he grunts with primal need.

Aldrin lifts one of my legs, angling me so his pounding movements hit new depths, each stroke more powerful, faster, until my whole body jolts with each delicious impact.

I revel in the way his body wraps around mine. How his bare skin glides against my bare skin. I never want to be separated from him.

My chest swells until I think I will combust, and the pleasure builds to an almost unbearable intensity, and still his hips rock and roll into mine. The utter bliss notches up and up and up until my inner walls clamp down around him, then convulse as a violent climax rips through me .

I cry out and arch into him. My entire essence is torn away by those currents of utter euphoria, until I know nothing at all but the man pressed on top of me.

My release sends Aldrin over the edge, his movements becoming wild until his entire body tenses as he grunts out a choked sound and spills his seed into me.

We lay there for a long time, still joined and breathing heavily, as his hot seed slips down my leg. I wrap my arms around his back and lazily stroke each toned muscle as he buries his head in my neck. His grip tightens on me, as though he never wants to let me go.

There is something so sweet in the gesture.

I could live an eternity here, in this moment.

Aldrin pulls himself onto his elbows, our entire bodies still touching, and studies my face with tenderness. His finger draws the line of my lips, runs across my cheek and my jaw.

“Did you enjoy yourself?” There is a smug grin on his lips. He already knows the answer. His hand brushes small circles along the skin of my thigh that still brackets his hips.

“No one has ever made me feel like that,” I murmur and my eyes roll back into my head just at the thought.

Aldrin freezes and his body tenses around me. “Not even your prince?”

I’m still too far away and riding that wave to think clearly. “He has never made me climax.”

“You were going to marry a man who has never made you climax?”

I blink at him. “A woman’s pleasure isn’t considered important where I come from. Taboo even.”

“Not important? It's a basic right.” Horror frames his face.

I kiss his lips with a brush of mine. “Good thing you know exactly how to give me that basic right.”

He searches my face for so long that I wonder what he sees. If he pities me. I could become lost in those amber eyes, so vulnerable and open in this single moment.

I can’t help tracing a hand down his face, the light stubble catching against my skin. His huge biceps bulge as he wraps his arms tightly around me and rolls us so he is suddenly on his back and I am sprawled across him. He pulls me into his chest and I bury my cheek into those perfect pectorals.

Aldrin kisses the top of my head.

“You have awoken something within me I thought died a long time ago,” Aldrin murmurs. His pulse accelerates beneath my ear, as he clearly searches for words and is lost. I don’t care as long as his arms remain around me.

“I care for you, Keira.” He finally manages, his fingers tangled in my hair. “And it terrifies me because I don’t know where this is going, but I will take whatever you are willing to give.”

Both joy and pain twist in my chest. I want to give him everything. I could love this man, if I allowed myself to fall. It would be as easy as breathing.

But I have my duties to my realm and he has his.

“I care for you, too.” I say, knowing I can never take it back. It could change everything, and nothing at all.