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

by Nisha J. Tuli

Amya and Mael broke me out of Aphelion almost five weeks ago, and they’ve kept me here, refusing to let me go.

I will never, ever bow to this pompous Fae asshole.

Why can’t I think when she’s around me? Everything in my head and my stomach, and for fuck’s sake, my pants, becomes muddled and confused, and turns to absolutely excruciating attention.

“I wouldn’t deign to touch Atlas’s sloppy seconds with a ten-foot pole. She’s a criminal.”

“My magic feels strained around her,” I say. “Like it’s trying to come out of my skin. Like it wants to…touch her.”

And her scent. Fuck, it filled every pore of my skin. Every nerve in my body. Every channel in my brain. I was drowning in a sea of it, and if that had been my last night alive on this plane, I would have regretted nothing. I’d been a fool to keep her here all night, but my stupid pride wouldn’t let her go.

The Sun King appeared in the doorway, his hair like spun sunlight. Every member of Aphelion’s court was resplendent in gold, fabrics shimmering and buttons winking in the flicker of the candles.

What she needed was a partner who looked the part but knew when to keep his mouth shut.

Serce blinked as something in her chest caved inwards. This fool was to be the Fae she’d spend the rest of her life with? With no backbone and no thoughts of his own? Even worse, he’d take up her father’s place as the King of Heart? Her queendom deserved so much better.

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

I won’t be used like a puppet again. Atlas tricked me into believing all of his lies. I was so starved for comfort, and his pretty words sucked me in, just like he knew they would. I was a battered prisoner who’d forgotten how kindness felt, and I swallowed every one of his fairy tales like sugared berries. But I can’t make that mistake again. I won’t.

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.

Atlas was nice to me, too, and look how that ended up. Pretty words from pretty Fae. They’re all liars driven by their own ends. And their desire for my blood.

Inhaling a deep breath, I blow it out slowly and prepare for everything to change. “My…our grandmother was the Heart Queen who almost broke the world.”

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.

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.

“Because my father doesn’t agree with me. His style is more about fear and intimidation.

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.”

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.

“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 beg your finest pardon?????

“This isn’t about anything more than skin and heat and my cock driving into you until your mind turns to jelly.”

I beg your finest pardon (again)???

“I don’t want to rule by fear or by the will of my hand. That doesn’t breed loyalty or devotion. Someone very wise told me a long time ago that a kingdom with happy subjects will always be the most prosperous one. That’s what The Aurora deserves. Not to have the threat of everything taken from them if they put a toe out of line.”

“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.”

Excuse me???

“When you’re used to something, it’s hard to appreciate it for its beauty,”

“Two hundred and eighty-six. Practically a baby by Fae standards.”

“I knew you were special, Lor. I felt it the moment I met you at the Sun Queen ball. You know, when you threw yourself at me.”