in my bed, and it had put me in a foul mood for the rest of the day. My meetings were over surprisingly fast when I glared at everyone as though I could disintegrate them with my eyes, so that was an unexpected perk.
It was more than just feeling sexually frustrated and craving more of Ophelia, which I was. I was jittery. On edge. A feeling I only experienced when…
″Soren,” I called, standing up without excusing myself from whatever discussion with two of the Councilors that I hadn’t been listening to. “I need to siphon.”
Soren blinked at me in surprise, immediately falling into step with me as I left the room. The Councilors said something about rescheduling, but I barely heard them. Just the thought of siphoning had the excess power rising to the surface, ready for me to expel.
The siphons that led to the energy stores were at the front of the palace, near the portal so Shades who gathered extra could deposit it as soon as they were back in the shadow realm. It was uncomfortable to carry around more than we needed, and it was important to keep the stores filled so the Shades who relied on them to feed never went without.
″You didn’t feed in the human realm though,” Soren muttered. “Why do you need to siphon?”
I looked around, ensuring that we were alone before giving him an even vaguer version of what I’d told Damen, uncomfortable with sharing any details of the intimacy I shared with Ophelia.
″You’re sure it’s safe for her?” Soren asked. I looked at him and he immediately grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply you would do it if it wasn’t. I know you would never cause her intentional harm.”
He hadn’t ruled out unintentional harm though.
Like I’d summoned her, Ophelia emerged around a corner with Levana trailing behind her.
″Your majesty,” she said in surprise when she spotted me, bobbing her head.
Why had I asked her to call me that? What an asshole.
″Queen Ophelia. Have you had a good morning?” I asked, rolling my neck to try to control the itch of the excessive energy right under my skin.
Her face turned a fascinating shade of red. “Yes, actually. We went for a walk through the palace for something to do and stumbled upon your mother’s room and she invited me in for tea, I hope that’s okay.”
It took me a moment to figure out what she was saying since all the words had come out as one jumbled rush.
″You had tea with my mother?”
″Yes.”
″And it was a… pleasant experience?” I hedged. Soren snorted quietly. Lady Orabelle was a hard woman, friendless mostly by choice, and she fastidiously objected to change of any kind.
Ophelia nodded, eyes wide like she hadn’t been expecting the question. “It was lovely. She asked me to come back again so she had some company.”
My hand flexed of its own accord, the call of the siphoning chamber growing stronger now we were standing so close. And yet, the idea of just sending Ophelia on her way…
She’d befriended my irascible mother and brought color to the flowers. That was two miracles in as many days. Even the lights seemed to glow a little warmer now, though perhaps it was just my imagination.
″Come with me, wife,” I requested, extending my arm for her to take.
″Oh, okay.” She closed the distance between us and slipped her small hand into the crook of my arm, looking at me expectantly to lead. I could feel Soren’s questioning gaze boring into my back, and Levana was making a show of looking down the empty hall with great interest.
″You can tell me no if you have somewhere else to be.”
The corners of her mouth tipped up. “I have nowhere else to be. Where are we going, your majesty?”
″I need to siphon,” I said, guiding her forward to the long narrow chamber off the entry hall. It was demonstrating some degree of trust to bring her in this room and I knew Soren would be questioning the wisdom of it, but I couldn’t even turn around to read his expression because I was so engrossed in Ophelia’s.
She looked at the thin glass pipes that lined the walls and disappeared into the stone like she’d never seen anything more impressive.
″This is amazing. What’s it for?” Ophelia asked, craning her neck like she could see through the stone wall to where the pipes led.
″Watch,” I instructed, guiding her to the nearest pipe and disentangling my arm from hers before positioning myself in front of it.
Drawing forth the excess energy was easy, it was seeking an outlet already. I cupped my hands below the pipe and allowed the glowing ice-white power to pool in my hands before it was sucked up to the ceiling and disappeared from view.
I’d never seen anything like that before. Usually, siphoned power was pale gray in appearance and thin. This was brilliant white and plentiful, filling the pipe entirely for a few seconds. Ophelia whispered something that may have been “wow” under her breath.
Wow, indeed. Soren’s eyes were burning into the back of my head.
″It’s excess energy,” I explained to Ophelia. “The stores feed the elderly, the young and the infirm.”
″Ah, right. Levana mentioned there were stores,” she replied, before looking at me with wide questioning eyes, that delightful red stealing across her cheeks again. I gave her a slightly feral grin.
″I was well fed last night.”
″And you feel okay now?” Ophelia confirmed, glancing at the pipe in concern. “That looked like a lot.”
″It was,” Soren said mildly, watching her with his arms crossed and head tilted to the side.
She was worried about me? That I’d given too much away? She was the one I’d fed from in the first place.
″I feel fine, though I wouldn’t say no to a top up,” I told her, inhaling deeply as her sweet scent slowly perfumed the air. “Unfortunately, I have more work to do this afternoon.”
″Of course, I’m sure you’re very busy,” Ophelia replied quickly, though there was that hint of something in her eyes I didn’t like again.
″Until dinner, wife.”
″Until dinner… your majesty.”
My wife was horny.
Each mouthful of her dinner was slow as her gaze lingered openly on me, dark eyes hooded with lust.
I hadn’t made any kind of announcement about what Ophelia’s sweet, delicious scent really meant, but I doubted it would take long for anyone with working senses to figure out. Damen had looked on the verge of laughter since the moment we sat down.
″You shouldn’t look at me like that, wife,” I growled, my dick throbbing painfully with need.
″Like what?” she asked, the very picture of innocence.
I leaned in close, licking the shell of her ear. “Like you’d rather be eating my cum than your dinner.”
Ophelia knocked her goblet, and only Damen’s fast reflexes saved her from getting soaked in wine.
″And if I would?”
″You two really need your own table,” Damen muttered. Ophelia’s face flared red, but before my idiot brother could ruin the mood any further, I stood up, extending my hand to encourage Ophelia to stand with me. She slipped her smaller hand into mine, looking confused as she rose from her chair, the eyes of the entire court on us.
″Entertain yourselves for a while, would you?” I suggested lazily to the court, already dragging Ophelia away. A cheer went up as I led her behind the dais, heading for the door that led to the seldom used throne room.
I could admit that we probably wouldn’t have gotten that reception a few days ago, but feelings towards Ophelia had significantly improved since the first flower had been found, and we’d been informed of a second golden bud before dinner. My wife would soon be more popular than me.
″Everyone will know what we’re doing!” she hissed, clutching my hand.
″Good.”
″Barbarian,” Ophelia snorted, though her vice-like grip eased. I was a barbarian when it came to her. I wanted everyone to know she was mine—all mine—and that her screams of pleasure were for me alone. I wanted her perfuming arousal whenever she was near me, and to be wearing the sweet scent of her slick whenever she wasn’t.
Shamefully, I still wanted her to wear my teeth marks on her neck.
I’d never hungered for anything the way I did for her.
The throne room wasn’t overly large and was mostly used as an impressive place for me—or rather, my ancestors—to sit when Shades from around the realm came to make requests of me. It didn’t take long for us to cross it, and then I was pulling Ophelia up the stairs to the small platform, dropping into the grandiose stone seat, carved with elaborate depictions of a garden in bloom.
I needed my tongue in her cunt. Now. Five minutes ago.
″Don’t you dare,” Ophelia scolded as I made to tear her dress off her body. She climbed off my lap, standing between my thighs with a warning look in her eyes. “It’s obvious enough what we’re doing in here without me walking out in a shadow dress because you’ve ruined my clothes.”
I liked that idea very much, but I could admit that watching my wife slowly remove her dress held its own kind of appeal. She let the fabric pool on the floor, kicking off her shoes until she was standing there in nothing but a pair of silky black panties and a shy smile.
A smile that turned hungry when I released the shadows preserving my modesty, letting my wife see exactly how much she affected me. Blinking away the lust that had overtaken her expression, Ophelia made a show of bending forward and slowly sliding her panties down her legs, the movement pressing her breasts together. Tease.
With a growl of frustration, I stood, scooping Ophelia off the ground bridal style for a moment before flipping her upside down, her upper thighs balanced on my shoulders and her face level with my cock while she let out a squeal of surprise.
Like she needed to be worried. I’d never drop her. I banded an arm around her waist, easily taking her weight with one arm while my other hand massaging one generous ass cheek, encouraging her to relax as I extended my tongue and swiped over her glistening pussy.
″New rule: you warn me before you flip me upside down,” she moaned, using her palms to press up on my thighs and sliding my dick easily into her throat. After a moment, she relaxed enough into my grip to let go of my thighs, wrapping both hands around my burgeoning knot and kneading it with just the right amount of pressure as her head bobbed eagerly on my dick.
I couldn’t keep her here too long with all the blood rushing to her head, so I made the most of it, eating her cunt like it was a five-course meal. The sounds we both made were wet and lewd, and I relished every second of it, twisting my head from side to side, licking every inch of her before sliding my tongue into her pussy, giving her a taste of the fucking I was going to give her with my cock.
Ophelia’s ankles crossed behind my head and I moved both hands up to span her hips, my claws digging into her ass cheeks enough to leave marks. Her slick was everywhere, running down over her ass as well as down her front, dripping onto the floor. With a gasp, she pulled off my cock, gripping my knot as her orgasm took her, pussy contracting rhythmically around my tongue.
I drank down as much of her slick as I could, needing the taste of her on my tongue every moment of the day. I could feel my energy stores refilling, the magic of her lust feeding me in a more satisfying way than a human’s fear ever could.
″Your knot,” she whined. “I need your knot.”
Carefully, I turned her upright and sat on the throne with her on my lap, giving the blood time to rush down from her head. Despite the dizziness she had to be feeling, Ophelia was already bracing her feet on the throne, her arms clinging around my neck.
″Your knot,” she demanded, a petulant hiss.
″Anything my wife wants,” I purred, keeping one arm around her waist to steady her while using the other to line my cock up with her entrance. I heard the faint splash of slick hitting the seat below us, and I was going to demand it was never cleaned again.
I pressed forward, trusting her grip on my neck as I moved both hands to her ass again, unable to stop squeezing them. She was so soft everywhere, it felt like she was made just for me.
″Oh, your majesty,” Ophelia sighed, the title coming out a little sarcastically even as my cock pushed forward until my knot was teasing her clit. “You feel so good.”
″You feel better,” I rumbled. “I want you to ride me.”
She nodded, too hazy from her last orgasm to tell me off for being a bossy prick this time. She adjusted her position and I was never so grateful for how wide the throne was until Ophelia’s knees landed either side of me, gravity pressing her down on my knot.
Sucking her lower lip into her mouth, Ophelia braced her hands on my shoulders and lifted up as much as she could given how wide her thighs were spread and the height difference between us, dropping down with a roll of her hips.
The smooth expanse of her neck was bared to me and my gums ached with the urge to bite her. What the fuck was wrong with me? I clenched my teeth shut until the sensation passed, my fangs digging into my gums hard enough to draw blood.
″My queen,” I murmured reverently as I got myself back under control, the claws of my thumbs digging into her rounded belly as I lifted her around the waist, helping her move.
Ophelia let out a breathy laugh. “On your throne no less.”
Our throne, I thought hazily, the ability to form words failing me as Ophelia bore down on my knot, taking all of me. My head fell back against the stone chair with a thud as my wife came with a surprised intake of breath, her walls clenching tight around my expanding knot.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I came with a groan as we locked into place, the pressure exquisite. With just the most minute shift of my hips, Ophelia was coming again with a whining cry, nails scraping harmlessly at my shoulders and chest. I’d never been more thankful for my knot as I was with my wife wrapped around me, shuddering uncontrollably as one peak rolled into another, her slick dripping down my balls. So long as she was on my knot, she was trapped, and I had her all to myself for a little longer.
″Will it ever stop being this intense?” Ophelia asked with a breathy laugh. She leaned back, a bead of sweat dripping down her neck and running between the valley of her breasts. Just the slight shift of her weight had her belly contracting, her teeth sinking into her lower lip.
″I don’t know,” I replied honestly, my voice hoarse as I stared at her distended torso, her body filled with me in a way that satisfied me on a deeply primal level. “I didn’t expect it to be like this to begin with.”
″Neither did I.” Ophelia’s face scrunched up thoughtfully. “Well, I hoped it would be. You saw the drawings. The knot was an unexpected bonus.”
I snorted, running my claws lightly up and down her spine. “You don’t ever feel like… like you want to bite me. Do you?”
I didn’t even want to ask the question, I didn’t want to give her any reason to fear me, but the fact that the urge had risen twice now was giving me pause.
″Bite you?” Ophelia asked, her eyebrows shooting up. “No, never.”
I grimaced. Apparently, I was more of a monster than I thought.
″I do get the urge to be bitten though,” she continued, watching me carefully. “I have since our wedding, every time I see your teeth.”
There was a strange swooping sensation in my gut. “Really?”
″I mean, I don’t want you to like, rip out my throat, or anything.” Ophelia began to laugh, but it quickly turned into a surprised moan as the movement made her shift on my knot. I gritted my teeth as her pussy clenched tightly around me, bathing my cock in her slick.
″Fuck, this is not a good position to have a serious conversation in,” Ophelia gasped.
″I disagree,” I murmured, leaning forward to swipe it up with my tongue. “I would very much like to have all future discussions with you sitting right here.”
″On your throne?” she teased.
″On my throne,” I agreed, swirling my tongue around one pert rosy nipple. “While you’re on my cock.”
″You have a filthy mouth,” Ophelia scolded breathily, a shudder rippling through her as she shifted her hips. “We’re meant to be discussing our sudden unusual bitey urges.”
″What’s there to discuss?” I switched my attention to her other nipple. “It is some kind of primal instinct that seems to have surfaced that we will obviously not act on because it would cause you serious harm.”
″But what if it didn’t? You feeding on me doesn’t cause me any harm.”
I was beginning to think my wife had zero safety instincts.
″That we know of.” I scraped my claws lightly over her ass, kneading the cheeks ever so slightly, enough to leave pretty red stripes on her skin. “It’s early days.”
″Indeed,” Ophelia hummed, squeezing around my knot until I grunted with pleasure, another rush of cum spilling inside her. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think we should write it off as just an obscure urge and ignore it. When I’m with you…”
″Yes?” I prompted, suddenly desperate to hear the rest of her sentence.
Ophelia hesitated, her fingers flexing nervously against my shoulders. “Well, we just fit so well together, don’t we? Unusually well for different species, I guess.”
″Yes,” I agreed, fighting off a wave of disappointment. What had I expected her to say? That I meant something more to her? That was a foolish thought. Until a day ago, I’d treated her as a pest to be avoided, and basically all I’d done since was fuck her senseless.
I was a curiosity to Ophelia, one she’d quickly get over if I mauled her dainty neck with my teeth.
″I think it’s worth looking into,” she sighed, her muscles trembling in a way that indicated exhaustion rather than pleasure.
″You’re tired and you barely ate—”
“There is absolutely nothing you could say to convince me to go back into the dining hall after what we’ve just been doing,” she laughed. “I want a whole shadow blanket covering me from head-to-toe while I sprint back through the palace before everyone finishes their meal.”
I gathered her in close, making Ophelia moan when it set off another orgasm, but settling her against my chest to ride it out.
″I’ll carry you back to your room myself,” I promised. “Shadow blanket and all.”
Whatever this was between us, whatever it could or couldn’t be, I could take this chance to at least hold her close while she let me.
