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

by Nisha J. Tuli

Of course, she was beautiful. She didn’t need this male to validate that.

“I’m the Woodlands King, Wolf,” he said, his voice rumbling and rich. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Serce.”

This is what a princess’s life is supposed to be like. Full of luxury and pretty things to enjoy. It wasn’t supposed to be spent behind the damp walls of the worst prison in Ouranos.

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 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.”

There’s a disconcerting sense that I’ve found something I’ve lost. Like I’ve come home.

My actual name and I’ve never loved the sound of it more than I do at this moment.

“I know that, too, Inmate. That doesn’t stop me from wanting to strip off these clothes and fuck you so hard the bed collapses.”

“Spend one night with me. I’ll break you into pieces. I’ll fuck your mouth and your pussy with my tongue and my cock and my fingers and make you come so many times you lose count. I’ll make you beg for it again and again.”

I want her like I want air and the magic that flows in my veins. Why is her draw so powerful?

“I’m drawn to you,” he says next. “I don’t want you for your power—I have enough of my own, but you must feel what I do. When our magic touches? What we both felt when I went inside you?”

“What do you think it means that you had the same dream I did?” I ask. He pulls up to look at me, a wicked smile on his face. “That the universe wants us to fuck, too.”

“Look around you. You’re amongst the Fae and no one would care. If you asked me, I’d spread you out in the middle of the room and feast on you for everyone to see. The only reason I’m glad you won’t is because I want you all to myself.”

“I am your worst nightmare, Inmate. But right now, I’m going to make you come so hard, you’re not going to care.”

“Such a good girl,” he purrs, fucking me with his hand as he peers up at me. “I’m going to make you fall apart.” As promised, he returns to what he was doing, his fingers curling inside me and his mouth sucking and licking.

“I just had my tongue inside you, Inmate. Didn’t you know that Fae are very territorial?”

“You’re going to ruin me, too, Inmate,” he says softly, making me realize I just said at least part of that out loud. “Lucky for you, we’ll go down in the blaze together.”

“I remember a little. Lightning. It’s red and it can destroy practically anything. And I can heal people, but I can also tear them apart. Make them bleed out from the inside. Those are the most noticeable gifts.”

“I’m going to make him regret it all,” Nadir says, a deadly edge to his words. “I’m going to take him apart piece by piece. It’s always been my deepest desire, but now, it’s a need more violent than the need to draw air from the bottom of a lake. I’ll make him hurt.”

“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.”

“Touch your pussy,” he says with a growl. “Take off your underwear. Let me see how wet and pink you are.”

“Zerra, you are so fucking beautiful,” he says. “You look so perfect with my cock in your mouth.”

“We are not even. We’re not even until I make you come at least five times to my one. Spread your thighs, and I’ll make you come so hard and so often you won’t remember your name.”

Pacing the floor, I wait, wondering what she’ll do when she emerges. I’m like a dragon protecting its horde. She’s mine now, whether or not she knows it yet.

She glares at me, fierce defiance in her expression. This is when she’s her most radiant. When I’d gladly fall to my knees and destroy entire continents if she asked. Even if she didn’t.

The royal family wears black. Nadir’s companions wear black. But I am not his conquest. I am not his to claim. I’m not part of their royal line. I have my own family. And I am my own fucking castle.

“I promise I won’t,” he says, stepping closer, his mouth brushing my ear. “You’ll just sit there like a queen while I worship you from my knees.”

I should go and apologize. She can take care of herself, and I should have let her deal with it. She’s proven that enough times already. But I didn’t want to. She’s mine. I don’t know why I believe it with such conviction, but deep in my bones, I know she belongs to me. And I’ll die before anyone else touches her.