Rule of the Aurora King (Artefacts of Ouranos, #2)

by Nisha J. Tuli

To every woman who’s been told they’re too wild. Too impulsive. Too much. May you always stay that way.

OKAY DEDICATIONNNNN

Our gazes catch and there’s another flare of those lines of magic that spark beneath my skin, my nostrils flaring as I attempt to hold it back. Try as I might, I have no control over it. Amya and Mael are in the room now, both of them watching us with curious expressions.

He steps closer, enough that I have to look up. He’s beautiful in the moonlight, its glow glinting off his cheekbones and his strong jaw. His dark hair is a little wild and those eyes that constantly unnerve me feel like they can see right into my very soul. The rush of my blood intensifies as that strange feeling under my skin pulls towards him again. It’s driving me insane. His mouth presses together as if he’s also waging some internal battle. Does he feel this too?

I snort at that. “Absolutely not.” Nadir’s mouth stretches into a slow smile. “Afraid you’ll like it?” “Hardly. I’m not sure how I could possibly stomach it. He’ll see right through the green pallor of my skin.” “Do you have a better plan, Inmate?” “Stop calling me that,” I hiss, leaning forward. Mael unfolds himself from his position at the fireplace. “If you two could stop flirting, maybe we can get on with it? You’ll argue and bicker in your fucked up little version of foreplay and then you’ll agree, Lor. This is the only way.”

MAEL GETS ITTTTT

Outside, Nadir waits in the courtyard, wearing thin leather armor that clings to the shape of his broad frame. I try not to notice the swell of his thighs or the way his shoulders fill out his jacket. His long hair is tied back in a knot, highlighting the lines of his face where the dim morning light glints off his angled cheekbones and a strong jaw.

“Only one horse? I’m not riding with you.” Nadir faces me with one elbow casually resting on his horse’s saddle. “Do you know how to ride? I don’t imagine you had too many lessons in Nostraza.” I shake my head. “Zerra, you are such an asshole.” His answer is a dark chuckle before he hops onto the saddle. “You can ride with me or you can walk.”

THIS IS ALMOST AS GOOD AS ONE BEDDDDD

“Who are they?” I whisper into Nadir’s ear, and I swear I feel him shiver. “Low fae,” he says, his voice tight as his gaze scans the crowd milling below.

Then I strip off my jacket and my shirt, nearly tearing the buttons in my haste. My skin is boiling, heat coursing over me in suffocating waves. When I’m around her, I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I’m tongue-tied and can barely speak when she looks at me with that accusing stare and that mixture of raw vulnerability and fierce defiance in her eyes. Why is she the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen? And it’s not just a physical attraction. Though yes, I want to touch her so badly my hands ache, but I’ve never met anyone who was so fucking sure of herself. How can this woman have spent half her life in Nostraza and turn out like that? It should have broken her. It should have left her as a shell. But somehow, she survived both that and Atlas’s Trials and came out on the other end in a blazing ball of confident fire that threatens to burn me up every time she walks into the room. It’s as though her spirit has always understood her legacy and her purpose. She behaves exactly like a queen. A slightly wild one with a short fuse, but a queen nonetheless. Gods, when she scolds me like that, I want to kiss her. Partly to shut her up, but mostly to feel those lips against mine and bask in that savage anger as I tear off her clothes and fuck her so hard she sees stars.

I made a grave error in suggesting she ride with me today. I thought I could handle it and with my ice hounds in tow, it was the fastest way to get here. But I’d ridden that horse like the lord of the underworld had been on our tails.

Lor pauses what she’s doing, looking up at me with her mouth slightly parted in the most delicious way, her lips so pink and plump, I want nothing more than to bite down on them until I draw blood. Her cheeks flush as her eyes drift over my body and that look goes straight to my chest. Did I come out here like this on purpose? Maybe.

OH NADIR YOU DIRTY BITCH I LOVE YOU

When I pull it up over my hips and let the thin fabric skim along my curves, I feel like a queen.

“Try to look like you’re having fun,” he whispers. “Maybe like you were just thoroughly fucked in that room and enjoyed it.” I purse my mouth into an irritated frown. “This is my ‘I was just fucked in that room by an asshole' face.” To my surprise, Nadir barks out a laugh before directing me down the corridor, his arm still around me.

“Where have you been?” she coos, flattening her entire body against Nadir as she kisses one cheek and then the other, leaving a bright pink smear of lipstick. Seeing that mark on his skin makes my stomach twist, but then I remember my lip print still on his palm. I got here first.

OHHHHH???

“Vivianna,” Nadir says with a tipped smile. “Things have kept me away. You look delicious.” I bristle in irritation at those words. He told me I looked fine, and this female gets “delicious?” Nadir’s gaze flicks momentarily towards me and then to our clasped hands, and it’s then I realize I’m squeezing his fingers so hard my knuckles have gone white.

OOOOO HE KNOWS SHE JELLYYYYY

He makes a joke, and I let out a genuine laugh for the first time in ages, my head throwing back. That’s when a shadow falls over me, and I look up to find the prince of eternal darkness glaring at Tharos like he’s about to reach into his chest and pull out his beating heart. “Get away from her,” Nadir says, his voice so low and dangerous I swear every light in the room flickers in response. “Nadir,” Tharos drawls, all smiles. “I was just keeping your friend here company while you attended to your important royal matters.” He waves a hand and Nadir snatches it, twisting Tharos’s wrist until there’s the unmistakable snap of bone. Both me and the silver-haired Fae gasp as his glass falls from his hand. “I said, get away from her.”

OH FUCKKKKKK

He turns back to Tharos. “If I catch you anywhere near her again, I’ll tear out your throat. This is your only warning.” Still clutching his wrist to his chest, Tharos swallows and then nods. “Get out of here.” Tharos doesn’t wait for another order before he scurries off like his pants are on fire. When he’s gone, Nadir takes my arm and directs me back to the divan. “I want to leave,” I tell him, pulling my arm away, but he catches it and tugs me towards him so my body is flush against his. His arm snakes around my waist and he levels his mouth to my ear. “Stay.” A ripple shudders over my skin at the way his low whisper taps at some secret place deep inside me. “Please.” I’m so surprised by the “please” that I blink. There is something pained in it, like he’s barely grasping its tattered edges. He pulls back, his dark gaze sinking into mine, and I find myself nodding. “Okay.”

Breathing heavily, I will the world to stop spinning before registering the soft click of footsteps and then a pair of gentle hands in my hair. Nadir gathers it up, pulling it away from my face as I vomit again, retching over and over. I’m not sure how long it takes, but he crouches behind me, never letting go of my hair and rubbing my back as another wave of nausea hits, followed by another.

OH MY GOD COULD HE GET ANYMORE HOT

There’s another pause and then the lightest stroke of fingers along my jawbone. “I don’t know what that bastard did to you, but I’m going to help you get your crown, Heart Queen, and I’m going to make him pay. For all of it.” With that chilling declaration echoing in my head, I drift off to sleep.

Yep he just got hotter

“You will be the most powerful, Serce,” he said, his words low and dangerous. “And I will stand beside you—my queen, my heart, my mate—and help you take it all.”

Good god i love wolf

“What happened to ‘if I was in any state to do so?’” I ask, recalling some of his words from last night. “You do the crime, then you suffer the punishment.” “Do you have that motto tattooed on your ass?” I ask, tipping two pills into my hand and snapping the lid back on the bottle. We both know I’m talking about Nostraza, but he doesn’t seem affected by my question. He sinks into his seat and then tears into a strip of bacon. “Thinking about my ass, Inmate?”

I am

“I hate everything about you and your wretched family and this horrible place. Once I leave here, it’ll be too soon if I ever see The Aurora again.” “I know that. And you hate how much you want me.“ He presses in closer so his body is now flush with mine and every curve and arc of his hard frame is shredding my paper-thin resolve.

“Say yes,” he says. “One night. One long, endless night where I promise you more pleasure than you ever thought possible.”

I VOLUNTEERRRR

“I knew this would be perfect on you,” she says, taking Lor’s hand and admiring her. “Isn’t she perfect?” She looks at me, her face shining and a knowing glint in her eye. “Yes,” I say, my voice rough. “Perfect.” Absolutely fucking perfect. Lor is watching me and, for the first time in days, she doesn’t look like she wants to turn around and hide. Instead, there’s a curiosity that lights up her eyes. Something that speaks of anticipation rather than dread. It’s hard not to hope she’s considered my words and changed her mind. Maybe I was too blunt and honest. I know what happened to her in Nostraza, and maybe she’s never been with a man who didn’t force her. Fuck. And I came on to her like an animal. Guilt twists in my chest. No wonder she can’t look at me.

“Zerra. I’m going to regret this.” But the needy ache builds in the space below my navel, demanding that I give it what it wants. “What if I said I wanted you to touch me?” I ask, not really sure what I want the answer to be. Except, I do know, I’m just too much of a coward to admit it. “Then I’d tell you to spread your legs,” he says, his voice working its way through every cell of my body.

OH GODDDDDD

“Are you my plaything, too, then?” I press a hand to his chest and slide it down, savoring the feel of his body under his shirt. “I’m whatever you want me to be.” Our eyes meet, and I resist the urge to look away. The bartender finishes with our orders, sliding two short crystal glasses across the bar. Apparently, he’s feeling bold, because he tips a smile my way. We both take our glasses and then turn away, weaving through the crowd. “I think I’ll have him killed.” Nadir takes a casual sip of his drink, and I choke on mine. “Why?” “I don’t like the way he was looking at you. He was watching your ass as you walked away.” I blow out a breath, puffing a lock of hair out of my eyes. “Is this what you’re going to be like now?” “This is how I always was. I’m just not hiding it anymore.”

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I lick my lips before I say, “You said you wouldn’t touch me unless I asked?” He nods, his eyes scanning me. “You let me hold your hand today,” he says. “That’s true. But you know I didn’t mean that kind of touch.” He smirks, the corner of his mouth tipping up to reveal a dimple in his cheek that practically shreds my heart. “Can I touch you?” I ask with a tilt of my head. “You can do whatever you fucking want to me.” His voice is rough, like a file dragging along a stone, and it makes my stomach tighten. He leans in. “The dirtier the better.”

GOOD GODDD

“It’s so beautiful,” I say. “It is,” Nadir agrees, but when I look at him, he’s staring intently at me. I look away, overwhelmed by the tangle of feelings in my chest. “Do you want to dance?” he asks, tipping his head in the direction of the swirling couples. There are a few faces turning our way as they recognize their prince standing in their midst. I shake my head. “I don’t know how.” “You danced with me in Aphelion.” “Terribly,” I say with a laugh, which elicits a smile. “I didn’t notice.”

Suddenly, Vale is jerked away, knocking the glass from my hand, the contents spilling on the thick rug at my feet, splashing onto my bare shins. Nadir has Vale by the collar, fury and thunder in his expression. He cocks his arm and punches Vale so hard I hear the crunch of his nose collapsing as his head flings back. The entire room gasps as every single eye falls on us. My cheeks burn with anger, with embarrassment, with the vile, uncomfortable encounter I just allowed to happen. Again, I had to use my body to get what I want, and I’m fucking sick of it. And I didn’t even get anything. He isn’t searching for the Crown at all.

“Alright.” I ascend the steps and stop in front of the throne and then turn around and sink into the seat. The fabric cover has all but rotted away and yet, even in this empty room, I feel a shift. I imagine a future where this castle is restored to its former glory. I imagine Tristan and Willow here with me, each taking their place at my side. While the Crown might be mine, I won’t rule this queendom without their guidance. This is their legacy as much as it’s mine. Nadir walks forward and bends on his knee, his head bowing. “What are you doing?” He looks up with a smirk. “Kneeling for the queen.” “Stop that,” I say, something awkward bursting in my chest. He grins and tips his head. “You look glorious up there.” Enjoying his admiration way more than I should, my cheeks burn at the compliment.

EEEEEEEE