His Darkest Desire

by Tiffany Roberts

jaw agape, Kinsley watched the meal materialize. Vex smirked. “While your mouth is hanging open, mortal, eat.”

“And do you have a name?” “You may refer to me as your—” She thrust the drumstick at him. “I am not calling you master, so you can just forget it.”

“My name is of no concern to you.” “Lord Asshole it is then.”

You are not going to think that way about your captor. You’ve heard of Stockholm syndrome, haven’t you?

You just admitted to your captor that he’s hot.

“So, it is unpleasant to meet me,” he said, a note of amusement in his voice, “but it is pleasing to look upon me?”

“You had shame enough to reel when she called you monster, magus,” Flare continued, “and yet you seem to have gone to great lengths to ensure she may perceive you in no other fashion!”

“What goodwill you may have garnered you have swiftly undone,” said Shade. The continued calm and neutrality in their tone stung more than Flare’s indignance. “And you have inflicted more damage beyond that.”

“In this, be not guided by your fury.” Shade’s phantom touch trailed across Vex’s upper arm. “You are much more than the pain bequeathed to you by the queen.”

What would you have me do?” Flare’s ghostfire swirled. “Kind words bolstered by kind deeds.” “Has it truly been so simple all along?”

he could not guess how long he’d been here. An eternity, by the feel. Mayhap two.

Because you’re preoccupied with thoughts of having sex with a goblin.

They shared more than a magical pact. So much more. She felt it, deep in her heart, deep in her soul. Being with him was right. It was…fated.

“You flee as though I’ve burned you, Kinsley,” he said, his voice low and husky. “But it is I who burns.”

she leaned further into the kiss, into him, breathing in his heady oakmoss and amber scent.

“If I’m your moonlight, what are you to me?” she asked. “I am your darkness. Your cloak, your protection. The shadow that shields you from the ravages of the day, the shroud that lulls you to sleep so you may wander in the bliss of your dreams.”

He inhaled deeply and shuddered, his slitted pupils expanding as his hold on her hips tightened. Shadows coalesced behind him, solidifying into his batlike wings. “Ah, Kinsley… I can smell your desire.”

“I shall have you breathless, mindless in your need.”

“I will claim you soon, my mate.” Mate?

Her body welcomed him, beckoned him, begged him for more and offered everything in return.

Thoughts like that, feelings like that, only happened in romance novels. They were fantasy. But look at me. Look at where I am, look at who is sleeping beside me.

“Your craving is my own.”

“This realm is my tomb, my eternity. Your eternity.” His voice broke into a rough rasp. “Kinsley’s eternity. The queen damned my mate centuries before she ever existed.”

“Were you to die a thousand deaths each day until the end of time, it would be a mercy compared to the suffering you deserve.

“And if not for this curse, would ever I have found her? If not for me dragging her into my damnation, would ever I have had her?”

“I’ve no need for freedom,” he said, “no need for release from this curse.”

Kinsley was his mate. Her heartbeat was the sensual rhythm of his yearning. Her laughter was the song of his soul. Her passion was the wind that filled his wings, carrying him high into the night sky, where earthly matters held no importance.

What the queen had intended as unending punishment had become something wholly unforeseen, something pure. It had become a paradise for Vex and his mate.

“I didn’t invite you to my pity party.”

“Better a single day here with you than an eternity out there, free to roam without you.”

“Love me, fear me, command me, obey me. I will be your master and your slave, your worshipper, your equal. I will be your everything, just as you will be mine.”

“You are my mate, Kinsley. My fated one.” She tried to shake her head in denial, tried to pull away, but his hold remained secure. “Y-You’re talking about…about soulmates. That isn’t—” Real.

let’s get freaky in the forest.”

The heady scent of her arousal filled his nose. “By silver and starlight, female, you tempt me.”

“I’ve endured an eternity awaiting this moment. A few more heartbeats shall not be my undoing.” Or perhaps they shall.

He wanted only one thing regarding Liam—to saturate the earth with the man’s blood.

Winter’s worsening chill had nothing on the cold at the center of her heart.

Her little bump grew, and the baby moved more and more. The sun shone warmer, brighter, and longer. Yet Kinsley found herself yearning for the moon and stars.

They didn’t describe a man fallen into despair and despondency, but a fearsome beast eager to escape his cage so he could rush forth and claim his mate.

Never had he been more foolish than when he’d convinced himself he could withstand eternity without Kinsley.

“Kinsley…” Whatever strength had remained in him drained slowly, and he sagged down, wings falling over him limply. That huge, consuming ache in his heart overpowered all else. He’d failed her. Failed them. He had succumbed to despair in two days, after his mate had kept faith, had clung to hope, for months.

“So this is what you were doing while we decorated our little Christmas tree? You were decorating an entire forest?”

“I love you.” He caught her hand and turned his face toward her palm, kissing its center. “And I you.” His lips moved to her wrist, trailing small, tender kisses.