Broken by Daylight (Beasts of the Briar, #4)

by Elizabeth Helen

He tested these limits as much as possible, including visiting the human world, where he was befriended by a young couple with secrets of their own.

“Let me take no other but you. If one day, my vow shall prove false and I lie with another, let them serve you in repentance until you tire of them as I did your heart. And if ever there is no love between us, let this bargain melt away like snow under rain.”

If I have to tear the mountains from the earth, the clouds from the sky, the water from the sea, I will do it. Nothing will stop me from finding Rosalina.

I just want him to feel the pain he’s caused me, caused my mates, just for a second. Just to remind him he’s not dealing with a dandelion. He’s dealing with a fucking Queen.

As I stare at the horizon, I feel like it’s calling me in a way it never has before. A tether drawing me deep beneath the blue waves.

If I am not worthy of basking in her radiance, then I will walk behind her as a shadow. As her shadow, I will engulf any who would dim her light. If darkness is all I have, then I will use it to serve her.

“You feel so good, Sweetheart. So good. I love this pussy so much.”

“I love you,” I whisper, my voice breaking with emotion. “More than words can say.” He raises his head, his eyes filled with love and adoration. “In the starlight way.”

My mate. My best friend. The love of my life. I want to give Farron everything I am. All of my glowing moments, and my faded ones, too. I know he’ll keep them both safe. I want to bathe him in my sunshine, and dance with him in my rain. I want to know that when I feel like I’m losing myself, I’ll never truly be able to, because every bit of me belongs to him.

“Your ass feels so fucking good, Sweetheart,” he moans. “This is mine. You are mine.”

“But I love you, Dayton,” I whisper out loud. “I love your smile, how you make me laugh. I love the feeling when you kiss me. I love how you light me up in the darkest moments. I don’t want Wrenley to be your mate. I wish it were me, Day. I wish it were me.”

“I’ll try to make it easy for you, Day,” I whisper to myself. “I’ll try to love her because I can’t love you anymore.”

“It’s like being stuck in the eye of a storm you can’t escape. It’s suffocating, consuming. It’s waking up every day with a weight on your chest, wondering if today will be the day it crushes you entirely. Love is continuing to drink poison because it’s also the only antidote. For me, it is a battle that if he wins, I lose, and if I win, somehow, I still lose. Love is the only reason I still choose to draw breath.”

“Well, Caspian, I’ve read thousands of stories, and in none of them is the damsel ever left in the dungeon. We will rescue my mother.”

“I promise. Use me however you want,” he pleads. “Just please, don’t ask me to leave.”

“Fuck,” Caspian swears, turning to look at me. “I have to watch you come, Princess.”

“Look at me as your mate makes you come,” he commands, lavender eyes wild.

“Trust me, Rose,” he says. “It is you who is sensational. You are made of sun and honey.”

“Blushing for me?” I purr, raising myself up on the backs of my arms. “Do you get this red with all those fae in the Below?” “No,” he says. “They mean nothing to me.” “But I do,” I whisper. “Yes.” His voice is a broken rasp.

“Fucking mark me,” I groan, digging my hands into his hair. “Do it again. Fuck, Kel.”

“Lie on your back. Your mate wanted to see you come, and I’m of a mind to obey her.”

“Fine,” I continue. “I haven’t sucked anyone’s cock, and no one’s fucked me since you. Every time I did sleep with someone, it just felt . . . empty. Like eating food but not being able to taste it. Is that what you two want to hear? Besides, I haven’t been with anyone since she asked me to stop.”

I place my hands on either side of her head. Open up, I say in her mind, because, well, I can’t use my voice right now. She parts her lips. I lean closer, then kiss her, spilling Kel’s pleasure into her mouth. She moans as she accepts it, grasping my hair.

“Oh, Cas, yes.” She licks my lips for any last drop. “Kel, you taste so good.”

“How did you like having that enormous cock in your mouth, pretty?” I begin to push it deeper, and she squirms. “Now imagine that big cock fucking you raw, filling you so full of cum, you can’t be filled any more.”

I kiss them first, their lips still locked together, before making my way down her body until I get to her center. My lips are still caked with Kel’s cum, but I don’t care as I press them to her entrance, cold and warm all at once. He was right. She tastes like honey and sunshine.

“His cock’s as pretty as he is,” Rosalina purrs.

Two briars are still tight around her ankles. I seek for control of the one inside of her. Through my connection, I’m able to feel her muscles contract and tighten around it as it fucks her fast, matching the pace of Kel’s hand.

“You’ve always been my protector, Kel.”

“You hurt me,” she breathes. “You hurt me every time you doubt the strength of your heart. Every time you believe your worth only comes from how much blood you can spill. Every time you hold on to the curse because you think that’s what you deserve.”

“I will take the sorrow because it comes with the joy.” Her eyes sparkle with a fierce intensity. “But I will not let you destroy yourself because you think there’s no other way. You’re too smart and good and funny and kind for that, Ezryn. Until you see that, the beast will never leave you.”

“You have me, Rosalina,” I breathe. “Wherever I go, you have me. Whatever desert I leave my footprints in, whatever wilderness I inhabit or mountain I scale. It was set by the Fates and bound in the stars. You have me.”

“Whatever it takes, I will return to you, my Queen. If I have to crawl, I’ll crawl. If I have to swim through rivers of fire, I’ll swim. If I have to defy the Fates themselves and rearrange the stars, I will do it.”

“I know you, Ez. Know the deepest parts. There is darkness in you, but there is also light. I will have you as you are, and I will have Caspian as he is.” Her voice lowers to a husky plea. “Will you have me?”

“You want me to hunt you down, Petal?” he asks and stalks toward me. He flashes a wolf’s grin.

“Where are you going to run, Petal? The longer you keep me from what is mine, the longer I’m going to punish you for it. Do you understand?”

“I warned you, Petal. I’m going to use you until I see fit to stop.” He slaps my ass again hard. “But you’re a good girl, aren’t you? You can take it.”

Not only can I take it, but I want it all and more. So, I slap his ass back.

“Oh, Petal,” he purrs, “you’re going to regret that.”

“Look at you.” Ezryn runs a hand over my back before patting my ass. “Mine to play with as I wish.”

“My pretty girl. Too bad you were trying to keep your pretty pussy from me earlier.”

“You are mine to play with. I’m going to fuck you until you can’t remember any name but mine. Until you only smell of me and my cum.”

“I need to come all over your cock. Right now.”

Slowly, his large hand gently caresses my chin before his fingers wrap around my throat. “How much do you want my cock?”

Ezryn tightens his grip on my neck and pulls me upward. “You have a job to do, Petal,” he growls. “Come on my cock. Now.”

“So good,” Ezryn growls. “You like being choked when you’re fucked. You like it rough, don’t you, Rose?”

“I submit to you,” he murmurs. “Fully. Completely. Forever.”

“That’s true. Damocles was great, and Decimus was strong, and they burned so bright, it’s hard to see beyond it. Their light was the cold sun of morning and the chill of sunset. Dayton, you’ve always been the midday sun to me, warmth and power and everything they both were combined.”

“You can’t keep dwindling your own flame just because you’re afraid of what it might mean if you burn brighter than both of them.”

“This is all your fault. I was fine before. You made me stop pushing Farron away. You made me believe in some sort of destiny. You made me believe love was real. You have ruined everything, and I will never stop loathing you for it, Rosalina.”