Chapter 28

Twenty-Eight

WESLEY

I woke to a light rain drizzling in cooling droplets, and Finn curled around me. As with all previous heats, I’d blacked-out after the fourth-dozen or so time coming on Finn’s cock. The ache lingered, muscles overworked, ass raw, but deep within my bones, magic and satisfaction radiated, well fed and well fucked.

Despite the rain, light assaulted the back of my eyelids, and I flinched away from opening them. Grumbling about needing more sleep.

“Rest as long as you need, but I have berries if you’re hungry. I can eat them, and hope you can too,” Finn said.

How did he have any energy left?

I squeezed open an eye, gazing at him sitting beside me, handful of ripe raspberries held out. He chose a single plump fruit and pressed it to my lips. I let it slide between my lips and unconsciously sucked on his thumb for a half second. The berry popped with sweet flavor in my mouth. His skin tasted warm and salty.

“I think your heat thing is over,” Finn said. “I’m not hard and neither are you. Not sure I can get it up for a while.”

I sucked in air and stretched. “Ow.”

“You okay?”

“Sore.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“Not really.” Nothing felt torn or bleeding. I stared at him searching for any sign of the dark blight that had been slowly inching its way across his skin had vanished. He looked radiant, near glowing with health. I sat up, finding myself in my mortal form, which never happened after a heat. The light drizzle dripped in a cooling trickle to wash away some of the crustiness. Mushrooms glowed from the newly erupted growth around us, and the trees, waved from the gentle breeze and rain, sharing glimpses of the sky and muted sunlight of a cloudy day.

“Sorry about the ah…” Finn waved at me.

“Huh?” I glanced down, finding my chest and thighs covered with tiny marks. Bites? Hickies?

“Never done that before, but I couldn’t get enough of your skin.”

“Okay, Hannibal Lecter.”

He laughed, which brought a smile to my lips as the sound was warm and comforting.

“How do you feel?”

“Fantastic,” Finn said, stuffing more berries into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed. “Like I could run a marathon.” His expression soured and he frowned, mirroring me, I realized. “Why, is that bad?”

“Proof you’re not human. That heat would have killed an ordinary human.”

“Fucked to death? Sounds like a great way to go.”

“Hmm,” I grumbled. “I told you to run away.”

“Do you have some former lover you accidentally killed?”

“Anyone I’ve ever killed has been on purpose.”

“Scary. Why does it make you hotter?”

“’Cause you’re a masochist?”

“Maybe. Learn something new every day, I guess.” Finn held out berries. “Want some? I think there are some carrots over there, too.” He pointed a half dozen yards away. “But the trees are really sus’. I feel like their eyes are following me.”

Sebastian’s statue stood a sentinel of serene quiet a meter away. I hoped we hadn’t fucked like bunnies at the base of it giving the Summer king dirty dreams or triggering his heat, though his mate never seemed to mind.

Rows of wispy wildflowers gathered rain drops, leading to a thin line of lavender plants. I stood up to peer over the new growth, startled to find Finn’s perception fitting as creepy faces stared out of carved wood in our direction. Plants grew around them in an array of autumn colors, brush in gold and red, a handful of swatches of fall berries, the greenery of carrot stalks, and wriggling curl of pumpkin vines leading to giant orange gourds.

“This isn’t right,” I said, letting the rain rinse away the sweat and dried come. The cool drip chilled my skin with a gentle caress.

“What isn’t?”

“The Autumn king is my mate.”

Finn tensed. “Okay.”

“Why are you tensing.”

“Cause it’s technically cheating, what we did. You belong to someone else.”

“I belong to no one. I’m not property.”

“I mean respect wise. Guy-code. Bro-code. We don’t screw each other’s lovers.”

“Since when? Every man I’ve ever met would as happily screw their best friend’s lover if they could. And you and the Autumn king aren’t exactly cozy. Unless something happened after I blacked out?”

“Nope. Well, lots of snuggling between you and me, but that’s all.”

I squinted at him. He copied me.

“Snuggling?”

“I wasn’t going to keep screwing your unconscious body,” Finn defended. “Hugs are okay, right? Not creepy or rapey…” He coughed to clear his throat and looked away. “Anyway, explain the rest. Why do you think something is wrong?”

“My magic produces growth,” I said and waved my hands at the chaos of plant-life around us.

“Yeah, you warned me your come would make flowers. How cool is that?”

“Cool isn’t what I would call it. But all of this is autumn growth.”

“Isn’t that because we are in the Autumn king’s realm?”

“No. I was born in the spring.”

He opened his mouth, closed it, pointed, and then frowned before he said, “Explain it to me in crayon-eating terms.”

I laughed, unable to ignore his earnest and curious expression. “You’re too young for me. Too pure for a jaded old Stag like me.”

Finn snorted. “Not what you were saying when I had my cock buried in you. And I still plan to eat your ass.” He grimaced. “Maybe once we can bathe? I’ve never come that much in my life. As sexy as the pornos make it look, sucking my spend out of your ass sounds gross. Not that I didn’t enjoy putting it there.” He glanced down at his lap. “New meaning to limp dick. Overworked.” He sighed dreamily. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

My cock made a halfhearted attempt to rise at the image he planted in my head, but it too, was exhausted. “All the plants around us should be spring plants, not autumn. Not unless I had sealed my bond with the Autumn king. All of the kings,” or queens if any of them other than Winter were left, “can use my power. But without them it should be spring.” Had Autumn snuck in after I blacked out? “Was anyone else here when you woke up?”

“I never slept, and no. Just you, me, and all the creepy statues.”

“You never passed out?” Meanwhile he sat there practically glowing with energy. “What about the spot on your back?”

Finn turned and the dark splotch had vanished. “I don’t feel it.”

“It’s gone.”

He threw me a radiant smile. “You healed me. Even if it took an insane amount of sex to get the job done. Should we need to do that again, I volunteer.”

Boxes checked inside my head in a growing list of not right pieces coming together. Finn, not quite human, with strange memories of a shadow wolf as a child, healed by my touch, nearly strong enough to resist the pull of a true heat, and now glowing with magic.

“Why do you look like I kicked your dog?” Finn asked.

“You’re bound to Autumn somehow, and through you, he’s bound me.”