Chapter Seven Mabel

T he air rushes out of me and my muscles don't seem to work. All I want to do is take a breath. A deep one. Anything but think about what Arthur just said.

Slowly, there is movement, my chest rises–just briefly–a small hiccup of an action that gives me barely enough air. And it shouldn't bother me. I don't actually need oxygen to survive anymore. Still, after all this time, my body continues to crave its human actions.

Then, another hiccup. Deeper this time. Followed closely by a huge inrush of air and my lungs inflate.

"Are you alright?" Arthur asks and I flicker a glance in his direction before dropping my eyes down again, searching my hands as though answers lie there.

A swift nod of my head is all I give. One jerky movement but Arthur sees it.

"It's a lot, I know," Arthur says, his voice sad. "I'd hate me if I were you too."

My body goes into action then, every muscle leaping to life and I reach up to touch the smooth fog of his cheek. He has faded out since speaking, his body feeling like a wet mist under my touch, and I really have to concentrate on where my flesh meets him in order to feel the heat of his body.

"I don't hate you," I whisper. "Not now."

His brows knit together, a crinkle deepening like a shadow between them. His jaw works and I can see ancient sorrow in his eyes.

"I caused all of this," he says, his voice as low as mine, as though we are a little too scared to have this conversation, as though our words might be whisked away on the wind. And, honestly, hoping they will be.

"No, Reeve caused all this," I say. "We just didn't know it at the time. None of us has free will in this situation, it seems."

"But if I hadn't approached him, maybe things would be different. I wouldn't be what I am now, too hideous for polite company. I would be dead in a grave somewhere, a respectable human, born high, remembered as a brave knight. Instead, no one knows what happened. I disappeared and people spoke of me in hushed whispers. Rumors abound, strange stories, too. Although, none so strange as the truth, I suppose. If Reeve hadn't split me, maybe you would have found happiness too. Maybe you could have been happy with Reeve. For all that he might have forced us all here, he is obsessed with you. He would have treated you like a queen if you had let him. Instead, you were still, somehow, caught up in what we had, since I never died. The magic did something to leave you in this state of not being able to move on, I think."

He takes a long, deep breath, his form shuddering and changing like a cloud blown in the wind, morphing from one shape to another.

I still have my hand out, as though I am touching his face, but there is nothing below my fingers, only air as Arthur drifts away from me.

"Don't go," I call out, louder this time, more confident now that his words have settled deeply in my bones. What he says is the truth. My body aches with the knowledge of it. But he just doesn't realize it fully yet. He is still caught up in the fact that some of this might be his fault. "Don't you dare leave me again!"

He freezes, his body stilling and reforming to its human form. Even though he is gray as smoke, I can see slight changes in the tone of him that suggests his blond hair, even after all these years. I remember how often I ran my fingers through it, how I loved the feel of it tangling and catching on my fingers, like even it couldn't bear to give me up.

Then, I remember how things changed. How much I loved him at the start, of how we were inseparable. So hot for each other. But that morphed somehow, and now I know why. Arthur was the love of my life, Reeve had just glamored me into thinking he wasn't quite enough for me. I think of all the times my monsters have fulfilled me, given me the orgasms I never had with Arthur and realize now that Reeve even controlled that.

And now I'm pissed .

"How can you think any of this is your fault?" I finally ask, stepping forward and snagging my fingers in his hair. Even with the smoke of him, I can still feel the rush of his locks, how silky they are as I fondle them. "Reeve played us all like instruments. He knew you loved me and used it to his advantage. He knew to play on my feelings, on how I wondered if I loved you just for your looks and not for what is inside of you. But now I know. I love you . Regardless of what you look like. I know now that you'll always protect, shelter, and look out for me. You have shown me that in every version of yourself."

There is a tremble that runs through his entire body, a shiver so great that he separates into fog for a moment before reforming. I wait, giving him time, as he did for me only moments ago when he revealed the truth of my past.

"How did I wind up deserving you?" he finally whispers a moment before his lips crash against mine.

I devour him hungrily, my arms wrapping around his neck, the softness of him exacerbated due to his smoky makeup. Beneath that, he is firm. The memory of his warrior body waking feelings inside of me that have been latent for him for far too long.

As the fog consumes us–the unworldly fog of Kiros Somu–not that of my ancient lover, I shiver but it is not from the cold. Instead, it is from the way the coolness of it kisses my heated skin. Gooseflesh rises along my arms as a deep pulling heat settles low in my belly and a wetness weeps from my core.

Gods, how I so desperately want him.

And this is after the thorough fuck-fest that happened below deck.

"How could you stand it, knowing I was fucking the others while you were up here alone?" I ask as his kiss trails from my mouth and down the column of my neck. I shudder in delight as he speaks hot words into my flesh. While Zeklan is all wet deliciousness, Arthur is like smoke, dry as he touches me with his mouth but, also, the whispering tickle of arousal as his breath drifts like mist across my sensitive skin and lights me on fire.

"It was me there, too, remember. I may not be a conscious part of each of them, but it's still me. Plus, I have gone so many years with wanting you. Reining myself in is what I do best now."

"No, protecting me is what you do best."

He growls into my ear with my words, and I feel the rise of him against my stomach.

"Will you still feel the same when you fuck me?" I ask, wondering how having sex with a smoke demon even works.

"Better," he whispers fervently as his fingers slink up my back, drawing me in tighter. "Reeve has no sway in this land. His glamor doesn't work here. All of what you lost when you were human, all the love his magic denied us on account of his selfishness is gone. Everything you feel is entirely your own here. You can hate me all you like without wondering if this is Reeve's fault or not."

I pull away, gazing deeply into Arthur's eyes. "You knew about this place all this time and you didn't bring me here sooner?"

I'm hurt, although my traitorous pussy has not received the declaration and it pulses with desire.

"Just like Reeve controlled us, when I woke up here, the queen controlled me. It was a long time before I even knew this place would shelter us. Queen Siorah didn't tell me any of its magic. Then, when I knew, I had to have her pardon in order to leave. Trust me, if I could have come earlier, I would have. But, also, I was scared that you would hate me. I am still not entirely convinced that I had some terrible part in our predicament. No matter how you tell me that you blame Reeve for everything."

His gaze is earnest. But, more than that, our bond speaks to me, rushing between us, swirling like sand whisps, sinking into my skin as natural as breathing. He would have come earlier. He would have been here in a heartbeat should that queen have let him.

And, just like that, I have beef with another person of royalty.

But then Arthur leans forward, his hungry lips searching out mine and I am lost to his body once more.

It's been so long, far too long. I need him inside of me and I need it now. Pulling free, I drag my clothes from my body, giving myself up to Arthur like I did an entire lifetime ago.

He draws in a ragged breath then whistles out low as his gaze sears my body. Taking it all in, he recommits every last part of my body to memory–or reawakens the memories he already has of me. This is the good thing about being changed such as I have been. What he remembers and what he sees remains the same. Well, except for my hair. It was auburn when I was human, now it is the color of snow.

The fog of him wraps around me, enveloping my body and permeating my soul. As I settle into his neck, I tilt my head and search for his smoky mouth again. His lips crash down on mine even as his body tightens around mine. Closing my eyes, I let the scent of him–still the same after all this time–drift over me. It settles like smoke, sticking in my hair and becoming a part of me. As our kiss deepens, the world drops away and I remember all those years ago, before everything changed, and just let myself experience Arthur for the first time all over again.

The smoke of him moves over me, thickening and pressing down on all the sensitive spots he still remembers. I tremble and quiver below his ministrations. The gentle brush of frond-like fingers at the small of my back. Undulations of pressure that feel like lips at the hollow of my neck. Tickling movement along the crease of my ass as he delves between my legs, searching for the heat hidden there. Moisture runs down my inner thighs as I groan into his mouth, biting at his lower lip in memory of what he likes and he returns a rumbling groan that seems to be all over me at once, hitting me straight between the legs and melting my insides.

"I've wanted this for so long," he whispers into my ear, and I open my eyes wide, noticing how solid he is now. He looks almost exactly the same, his smokiness gone now as the person I remember stands before me, only the slight softness along his edges any indication he is anything but a man.

"Me too," I say as everything else I want to say gets caught in my throat. My eyes well and I fight back tears as he leans forward, his fingers gentle on my skin as they wipe away a solitary tear.

Slowly, he leans in, kissing me, his mouth parted and his tongue searching, demanding as I reach around his shoulders, jumping up and straddling his hips. He isn't wearing any clothes, his mind obviously able to make any illusion I need. His cock is hot against the wetness of my folds, and I kiss him with fervor as he lifts me higher still, then lets me settle right now onto his impressive length. It is bigger than I remember, and I arch an eyebrow at him when our gaze connects.

"I can make it any size or length you want," he says with a smile.

Oh. My. Gods.

And even though I still ache from the rough fucking earlier, I melt at the feel of him inside of me. It has been far too long. Slowly, I rise and fall, time and again, his magnificent cock pounding into me.

His arms are wrapped around me, a cloud of comfort and strength as we fuck for the first time in way too long. Damn Reeve and all the trouble he has caused. The familiar feel of him as he drags along my insides has me moaning and an orgasm crashing over me much quicker than I anticipated. Arthur bites down on my shoulder a moment before he pulses inside me. His cock bounces and I wait for the familiar dampness of release but there is none, only his huffing and a prolonged groan is all that lets me know he has found bliss as well.

With him still stuttering inside of me, I sag down, my body suddenly limp with exhaustion and satisfaction. But, before I can fully relax, there is movement behind us and my tired muscles cramp as I stiffen in anticipation.

"Well, well, look what we have here," an icy voice says, and I jump up, grabbing at my clothes in haste before turning to lay eyes on the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

Small and delicate, her features are pointed, her skin the color of snow but tinted with the hint of blue. Her hair, by contrast, is black, shiny like raven feathers. I have no idea what sort of creature she is, but human isn't on her list of genealogy, that's for sure. Her needle-sharp teeth are another dead giveaway.

Cocking my head, I see the faintest wisps of smoke escaping behind her and wonder if she is like Arthur. Although, she is certainly much smaller than the man beside me. But, for all her size, I doubt she is any less threatening than the smoke demon I just fucked.

She might be tiny, but I have no doubt she is mighty.

And the wickedly pointy crown atop her head also lets me know just who she is.

Great, the queen who kept us apart has finally shown up.

Woo-fucking-hoo .