“AND YOU STILL CAN’T TELL me where we’re going?” I ask, nestled between Arkain’s strong thighs.
We are sitting atop one of the massive black stallions all the Myrkorvin’s soldiers ride on. I am draped in a long black cloak to shield me against the cold winds as we ride towards Lastlight forest. That, and Arkain’s strong chest that I keep snuggling back into.
From the first moment since I was roused by my lady’s maid, I keep thinking that what happened at dinner was a dream. That after nights of touching myself to no avail, I conjured up the whole encounter to finally find some release.
As soon as I saw Arkain waiting for me out front and that potent feeling of lust overwhelmed my senses I knew I did not make it up. Which was further solidified when he pressed a soft kiss to my lips before helping me onto the horse and climbing up behind me.
“I told you it’s a surprise.” He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me even closer. My back completely flush to his front and that devastating hardness in his pants pressed firmly against my ass. I wiggle back on it just slightly and he hisses. “Naughty.”
I laugh as we continue our trot towards the forest. The dark forest looms up ahead. Even the first ray of dawn’s light does not penetrate it. A bird squawks overhead causing me to jump.
“Relax,” Arkain whispers in my ear. And I turn around to glare at him.
“Easy for you to say. I’ve read about the creatures that call Lastlight home. They may be scared of you, but me? I am no more than a morning snack.”
“The only being you should be worried about wanting to eat you is me.”
I elbow him in the chest but he only laughs. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m being serious.” His arm tightens around my waist as we pass through the first rows of trees. “I’ll protect you, Elvie. Nothing will get you so long as I have you.”
The forest is deadly quiet. There is movement in the branches above as leaves rain down on us. I swear I can feel eyes watching us as we pass. Even our horse is wary, nickering and stomping his hooves. Whatever lives here doesn’t want us here.
I’m so tense that I barely notice Arkain slipping a hand down the front of my pants. His claws scrape over my sensitive flesh and I bite out a moan.
“What are you—”
“Shhh, I’m helping you relax. Just close your eyes, we’ll be out of here soon.”
My eyelids flutter shut as his hand continues working between my legs, rubbing me in tight circles. I bite my lip to keep from crying out. I can hear how wet I am as his claws delve deeper into my folds.
“You’re so wet, Elvie. Gods, you are such a treat.”
I moan and let my head fall back on his shoulder. I feel his dark hair tickle my face as he runs his tongue up the curve of my neck. His fingers move faster and faster until I’m swiveling my hips in time with him. I pump my hips as pleasure courses down my spine and warms my stomach.
So close, so close…My muscles seize and I moan as my climax hits me. The force of it is so strong I almost don’t notice the metallic smell of magic but I do. Just in time to open my eyes and see the sight before me.
“Is that a portal?” I ask incredulously. I feel Arkain nod behind me, sucking his claws into his mouth. “I thought all the portals between realms were closed?”
“For a race of beings that pride themselves on being honorable, they sure teach you a lot of lies.” He steers us forward towards the portal. It looks like a giant mirror, only that the glass inside it moves like a liquid. Floating and reshaping. Vibrating with a power I’ve never felt before. This must be ancient.
“Where does this lead?” I turn in the saddle to look up at Arkain who bends down and kisses me.
“You’ll see,” he says before snapping the reins and sending us galloping through the portal.
My stomach drops and my vision blurs. The metallic tang in the air is so strong it burns my eyes and clogs my lungs. We are falling. The wind is whipping my hair, the only thing anchoring me to the saddle is Arkain, his strong arm is like a vice around my waist.
I am just about to scream when it stops.
Everything is calm. After a few tentative steps, our horse moves forward and I realize we are in another forest. This one is filled with golden trees and birds singing overhead. The scent of marigolds is strong in the air and it dawns on me where we are.
Merrywood forest.
“We’re in Lysan,” I breathe. “But how?”
We walk a little bit farther as I take it in. In the absence of the free magic my powers have cooled inside me. But the warm sun overhead is warming my bones. I slip off the cloak and turn my face towards it. I hadn’t considered before how much I had missed the sun.
“You’ve given me your trust, Elvie. Now I want to give you mine.”
Our horse stops in the middle of a clearing. We are still deep inside Merrywood, deeper than I have ever been, but I’d still recognize this forest anywhere. Arkain gets down first and then grips me by the hips and lowers me to the ground.
I’m smiling but it dims slightly when I see Arkain’s serious expression.
“What is it?”
“No one but me and Wylan know of this portal’s existence. Should you choose to stay, I only ask that you not reveal its location.” My mouth falls open. What is he saying?
With a deep breath, he squares his shoulders and I prepare myself for what he is about to say.
“The first thing you ever asked me was why I went to so much trouble to trick you into a marriage with me. The truth is that the orcs are rising in the east again. They will march towards Myrkorvin and our ranks have still not replenished after the last war. I needed to secure Lysan’s army, only this time, unlike my father, I did not trust them to keep their word. I needed to find something or someone they would be willing to fight for.” He pauses but I urge him to continue.
“So I orchestrated the Night of a Hundred Faces. Made it so that your father would have no choice but to bring you. I had your mask enchanted to give off a hue so I knew it was you once the magic took hold.”
“I already know this,” I say.
“But what you don’t know is that wasn’t the only lie I told you. And if we are to be anything, I cannot start it with this lie between us.”
“Which is?” My breathing is turning uneven.
“That you were never spelled to stay in Myrkorvin. It was a lie I told you so that I could keep you. This” —he tugs on my wrist, exposing the black band, before snapping his fingers and watching the band crumble to the ground—“won’t do anything. Why do you think you’re still here and not back in Myrkorvin? It was a scare tactic to keep you in line.”
“I don’t understand. So then there is no bargain between us?” My chest feels hollow.
“There is. You would still have to marry me, but it does not force you to stay in Myrkorvin.”
“So why lie about that? Why keep me there if it was not required?”
“Because I wanted you. From the first moment I saw you I wanted you. When you looked at Ari with compassion in your eyes, I knew I couldn’t let you leave. I knew that if I did there would never be a chance for us to become this.” He gestures between us. “But I can’t keep it going. Not with you so trusting and unaware of what I’ve done.”
“Arkain…” I trail off, unsure of what to say.
“If you wish to return to Solys, head straight through that clearing.” He points in front of us. “I will not stop you. You will return to me in a month for our vows but I will not trap you. Marriage to me will at least afford you the freedom to go wherever you choose. Be with whoever you want.”
“And if I choose that, what happens to you?”
He lets out a humorless laugh. “I go back to my dark castle and use the memories I have of our time together to warm me for the rest of my days.”
My knees feel weak and my mind is swirling. Freedom? To go back home, to stay in the sun forever. I take a step back from him and he flinches like he’s been dealt a blow.
What do I gain if I leave? Freedom to live unattached? Isn’t that what I’ve always wanted? To be able to travel and see the world. To be more than a princess or a lord’s wife. Arkain is giving me that. A choice.
But if I make that choice, then I lose him.
I look at him now, his gray face shadowed by the bright sun. He looks beautiful out here. The way the sun warms his red eyes. His cloak blows in a gentle breeze. Is freedom worth losing what I could have with him?
Would I ever find that passion from anyone else? The look of true devotion that is written so clearly on his face. Maybe it is twisted of me and I should be angry at his lies. But there is something that warms my stomach over the knowledge that he went to such lengths just to keep me with him.
“What’s my second option?” He snaps his head towards me, white fangs glaring in the sun. “You said I had two choices, what is the second one?”
“That we stay here for the day so you can recharge and we head back to Myrkorvin and continue the way we were. Only now you make your choices with me with all of the facts.” He laughs and shakes his head. “I can have your clothes sent back later today.
“That would be quite unfortunate as I will need them when we return to Myrkorvin tonight,” I say. The breath rifles out of Arkain and he shakes his head.
“What are you saying?”
I take a deep breath. “I’m saying that I am choosing to stay with you. That you bringing me here and telling me the truth shows me enough of the type of male you are to know even with years of freedom, I won’t find another like you.” I walk towards him and I know he’s not breathing. Pushing up on my toes, I pull his face down to meet mine and push my tongue into his mouth. He groans and grips my ass, pulling me tighter against his hardening flesh.
“And this is your choice?” He laughs in disbelief. “To stay with me? Forsaking your home and all that you’ve ever known?”
“We can be each other’s homes.” I say and he nods, a smile playing on his lips.
“So if we’re gonna spend the whole day here, what did you have in mind?”
Turns out a picnic is what he had in mind.
Pulling a blanket from his saddle bag, he laid it on the grass for us and then proceeded to produce a plethora of various fruits and cheeses. The sun rose higher in the sky and with it I stripped down to my linen pants and flowing top. Even Arkain ditched his cloak and is lying under the sun in a simple undershirt, his gray muscles testing the strength of the thin fabric.
We lounge in the warm silence. My skin and bones are drinking up as much of the sun as I can. As we eat, he promises he’ll bring me back here regularly, as soon as my color starts to fade. The longer we sit in silence, the happier I feel about my decision to stay with him.
Now there is only one last thing to do. I smile at the thought, warmth that has nothing to do with the sun spreading down my body.
“Before I forget,” Arkain says and rises to his feet. Digging through the other saddle bag, he produces a book. “I thought we could finish it out here.”
I rise up onto my elbows and smile at our copy of The Tears of the Sea. Remembering the chapter we are about to reach my smile deepens. This will be just the thing I need.
“Can I read it?” I ask, sitting up fully and reaching for the book.
“You don’t want me to take my turn?” he asks, plopping down beside me and pulling me back against his chest. I sigh as his sun-warmed skin rubs up against mine.
“This is my favorite part of the book. Please?” I bat my eyelashes at him and he laughs.
“By all means.” Tucking myself more firmly into his side, I open up to where we had left off.
“Now you will recall, we left off and the knight and the princess had just escaped from the sea monster’s lair–”
“Which seems highly improbable, I still don’t understand how he found her even though there were a hundred underwater caves she could’ve been in.”
“He found her through the power of true love, Arkain.” He rolls his eyes but nods down at the book.
“It’s still a plot hole but carry on.”
“Thank you.” Clearing my throat, I begin the story where we left off.
“The knight and the siren princess wash up along a distant shore. Weary from their time underwater, the knight is shivering from the cold as the sun dips below the horizon and night settles in. Thinking quickly, the princess knows she must find a way to keep them both warm. Using the last of her magic to give herself human legs, she pulls her knight to the safety of the shore.”
“‘So cold,’ her knight grits out and she soothes him with a song as she removes his waterlogged clothes. ‘Hush. my love, we shall be warm soon.’ Once her knight is naked, the princess pauses as she admires his form. Ripples of muscles glow under the soft light of the moon. But there is no time to fully appreciate her hero as she removes her own clothes as well and slides her naked flesh along his in the sand.”
“Elvie what kind of book—”
“Hush,” I say and turn back to the story.
“‘My princess, you’re…’Her knight trails off, teeth chattering too hard. ‘Do not try and speak, my love. Let me warm you,’ she says, snuggling in closer to him. Her bare breast push against his chest. Her leg rising to lock over his hip.” I lean back farther into Arkain, his breathing becoming ragged. I clench my thighs together as I feel his clawed hand drag up my stomach.
“It is then the young princess feels it. The thing she should fear but has craved since the first moment she saw him. Proud and firm, it stands to greet her. How perfectly it feels nestled against her core. She moans softly, rubbing herself back and forth on it. ‘Please,’ she chants. ‘Please, my love. I need you inside me.’ Her knight all too ready to oblige grips his co—”
Before I have a chance to finish the passage, I find myself pinned beneath a hulking male figure. Arkain’s eyes are wild as they stare down at me.
“This is one of your favorite books?” he asks incredulously.
“I think you can see why, though we haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.” I smile at him. “Unless of course you would like a more hands-on demonstration.”
He is still above me. “Elvie,” he whispers but I silence him with a kiss.
“You’re so cold, my king,” I whisper, reaching down to unlace the front of my top. It falls open revealing my breast; my pale skin glowing in the soft rays of the sun. “Let me warm you.”
“Gods spare me,” Arkain groans before dipping to attach himself to one of my nipples. I moan as he fervently licks me, his claws pinching my other nipple. I am desperate for more of his skin so I pull at his undershirt. He pulls himself away from my breasts only long enough to toss the shirt aside.
His gray skin is tougher than mine. I run my hands along the corded muscles of his back, my fingers snagging on the raised scars. Gods he is so strong, and he is all mine.
That thought clangs through me, the truth of it settling in my bones. He’s mine and I am his. We are all that matters in this moment. My need for him increases as his mouth returns to my neck, biting and sucking my tender flesh.
I need all of him. He must feel the same as I feel his claws shred through my pants, leaving me completely bare to his eyes. With a groan he kisses his way down my body, licking into my navel before continuing downward.
His large hands span both of my thighs and push them up. I’m panting as I watch him stare down at my pussy. Even from here I can see it glistening in the sun. He must notice it too as he licks his lips.
“Look at how wet your pretty pink cunt is for me, Elvie. It knows who it belongs to, doesn’t it?”
I nod my head, unable to find the words. I need him to touch me. The lust I feel is choking me and if he doesn’t touch my clit soon I am going to explode.
“Say it.” His command is simple, the words slightly rasped with a growl.
“It’s yours!” I cry out and am rewarded with a firm lick up my center.
“It doesn’t matter if I wasn’t your first,” he growls against me, making my toes curl. “I’m going to be your fucking last.”
With that declaration, he attacks me with his teeth. Tongue and fangs work together to drive me higher to my peak. Sucking my clit into his mouth, I feel him push two of those thick fingers inside of me. They move and stretch me and even more pleasure pours into me.
“You’re so tight, my little elf. I need to get you ready to take me.”
His words make my toes curl. I’m so close, so fucking close to exploding that all it will take is—
Arkain scrapes my clit with his fangs and I explode on his tongue. My body shakes itself through the white-hot release. Seeing Arkain’s dark head between my pale thighs is almost enough to set me off again. When those glowing red eyes meet mine I reward him with another rush of my come that he licks up feverishly.
He kisses his way back up my body, only stopping to swirl his tongue around my nipples before returning to my mouth. His kisses are gentle and I feel like I am floating. Adoration shines in his red eyes. It is only when I feel how hard he is against me that I realize I want to make him explode like I just did.
I kiss him one final time before gently pushing him onto his back. He allows me to do so and I stare appreciatively at the way his ab muscles flex as he lies there. Gods he must have muscles packed on top of muscles. Too much of him is still covered.
That simply won’t do.
I slide down his body until I get to the laces of his pants. Biting my lip, I look up into his heavy-lidded red eyes.
“Let me please you, my king.” He nods his head and helps me by kicking off his boots. Once I have the trousers unlaced, the sight that greets me renders me speechless.
Holy gods.
His cock is massive. From this angle it looks like it could easily be the size of my forearm. A dark gray a few shades darker than his skin, but velvety smooth. Dark veins run along the side of it and my mouth waters. I do not know how that is going to fit inside me but I cannot wait to try.
My thighs clench in anticipation.
“You are truly blessed, my king,” I say. “Or I guess maybe I am.”
Licking my lips, I can’t wait any longer before having a taste. Trying to collect as much saliva as I know it’s going to take for a cock this size, I tuck my hair behind my ear and bend down. My lips barely graze the velvety head when Arkain sits up with a roar.
“What are you doing?” His eyes are wide and I sit back confused. Did I hurt him? I don’t think so, but maybe his cock is more sensitive than light elf males or human men.
My concerns are put to rest when he continues.
“You would put your mouth…on my cock?” His eyes are wide and I have to slap a hand over my face to stop the giggles that are bubbling up.
“Don’t tell me dark elves don’t suck their males off?” I ask, and he solemnly shakes his head. “You ate my pussy like it wasn’t your first time. Are you saying that dark elf females are all receiving, no giving?”
“It’s not something that I’ve heard of our kind doing.”
I look down at the massive cock still stretched between us. Gripping his base lightly in my hand, I move my fist up and down lightly and he hisses. It isn’t long before I’m rewarded by a bead of moisture at the tip. Leaning down I lick it off, smiling at the musky flavor.
Looking back at Arkain, he regards me like he cannot believe I’m real.
“I can’t say I blame dark elf females for not wanting to put their mouths around your cocks, if they are even close to the size of yours.” I smile before running my tongue up on the veins along his length. “But if I am going to take you, then we need to make this slick. And I never shied away from a challenge.”
“Only if you’re sure you want to do this.”
“If you are to be my last lover then allow me to be the first and only female to have sucked your cock.” I do not wait for his reply as I close my lips around the crown of his cock. I barely have any in my mouth and already it is dangerously full.
I work my hand in tandem with my mouth, gripping him tightly so that I can at least be working the expanse that my mouth cannot reach. I do this over and over, each time gradually taking him deeper until he hits the back of my throat. Saliva runs down his shaft and I make a show of licking it up.
His abs flex every time he bumps against the back of my throat. One of his clawed hands comes to rest on my head and I feel him gently urge me to take him deeper. His hips begin to rise to meet my mouth and I’m choking on his cock. My own arousal is leaking down my thighs, preparing me to take his monstrous cock.
Over and over we do this, all the while Arkain curses. Tells me how beautiful I am. How he’ll kill anyone who tries to touch me. All the wonderful things any lover would like to hear.
“Elvie, I’m–” He cuts himself on a groan as I take him as far down my throat as I can manage. I’m waiting for his taste to explode on my tongue so I can swallow him down when all of a sudden I am being hauled off of his magnificent cock and pinned to the blanket.
Arkain is wild above me, eyes searching mine.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“No, you didn’t hurt me,” I laugh, running my hands up his muscled back.
“You are just so small, I worry I was being too rough. It just felt so good, I almost lost control.”
“You didn’t want to come in my mouth?” I ask, and he stares down at me with a shocked expression. Maybe it wasn’t something he was aware he was allowed to do?
“No, my seed has to be spilled inside you,” He says. I huff out a laugh but he seems deadly serious.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it’s the only way I can finish. It’s the only way dark elves can finish.” Now I am the one who looks incredulous.
“Well, good thing I’ve been taking the contraceptive tea since I was sixteen.” I run my hands down his back before digging my nails into the hard slabs of his muscled ass. “Now will you please fuck me?”
Arkain laughs and his mouth captures mine in a brutal kiss.
“That’s something you’ll never have to ask for again.”
Gripping himself with one hand he’s so much taller than me I find myself pushing up on my heels to make sure we can fit together. My heart begins to race as he runs his cock up the length of my pussy. I can see my wetness coating him. Hear the way his cock glides through my folds.
I’m already dangerously close to coming again.
My belly tightens in anticipation as the head of his cock pushes into my opening. My breath catches and my toes curl. Gods, he’s huge.
“Go slow,” I say, but moan as he feeds me another few inches.
“You can take it.” My breath is coming in small gasps. “Gods you squeeze me so tight, my little elf.” I see the way he’s holding himself so stiffly. Sweat beads on his brow. Truthfully I have no choice but to put us both out of our misery. His arms are flexing on either side of my head and I reach and haul him the rest of the way into me.
There is pain—with a cock his size how could there not be? But there is also an unreal amount of pure bliss. The knowledge that the King of Myrkorvin is fully inside of me makes the pain begin to subside even quicker.
“Elvie, Elvie,” Arkain chants over and over. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I tell him, catching my breath. After another moment of stillness, the pain is gone. My body is working overtime to accommodate him and I can feel my arousal dripping out of me. “You can move.”
He hesitates before gently retreating his hips and then pushing back into me slowly. Oh that simply will not do.
“Harder.”
“Elvie—” He groans as I move my hips up to capture his next thrust.
“Make me scream like you promised yesterday.”
I watch the last of his restraint disintegrate. Picking up both of my thighs in his clawed hands he pushes them up and pins them to my chest. The breath is knocked out of me as he plunges in and out of me. His gray cock darkens as it gets coated in my wetness. Dark gray disappearing into my pink flesh.
He does make good on his promise and I scream. Loud enough to send a few seagulls scattering out of the trees above. This sends my beast over the edge.
Arkain quickens his pace and I hear our flesh slapping together as it echoes off the forest around us. He is brutal, and he doesn’t stop. In and out and over and over he slams his cock into me. The pleasure is almost painful as each thrust steals the breath from my lungs.
“Males would kill for a chance at a cunt like this,” Arkain pants. “And I’ll kill any male that even thinks about getting close enough to smell you.”
“Oh gods.”
“You’re mine,” He growls. “Your heart, your body, this perfect cunt. All of you belongs to me.” He pulls out of me only to spin me around so that I am on all fours. Arching my back and thrusting my ass higher, I feel him push into me from behind.
“And soon I’ll watch my seed drip out of this pink cunt and you’ll carry my scent. You’ll give me children, Elvie, a dozen of them. Strong males and females that will be just as perfect as you are.”
“Arkain,” I moan. At this angle the pleasure is almost painful. It cranks tighter and tighter in my belly. Looking over my shoulder, Arkain has become a primal male, rutting into me like the beast he believes himself to be.
It tips me over the edge but I do not want to plummet down it alone. Reaching back, I grasp his hand and pull him on top of me. I feel his muscular stomach flex along the length of my spine as his rhythm becomes more and more frenzied.
“Come inside me, Arkain,” I pant, pleasure coursing through my veins. “I need to feel your seed leaking out of me. Make it known who I belong to. Make it so no one ever doubts it.”
He growls in my ear and doubles his efforts, slamming into me over and over again. His other hand snakes down between us and his claws massage my clit and I am done for. My scream gets caught in my throat as I feel my pussy clamp down on him.
Arkain gives a roar that shakes the trees around us before I feel hot rope after rope of his seed fill me. He buries his teeth in my shoulder and shakes with the force of his release.
I open my mouth to say something, anything, but no words are needed right now. Pulling out of me gently, I hiss at the loss of connection. Arkain tucks me into his side, my head snug under his chin as I feel our mingling releases pool on my thighs.
“That was…” I start to say. “It’s never been like that for me.”
He is quiet for a moment and then wraps his arms tighter around me.
“It’s never been like that for me either.”
My eyes grow heavy, and underneath the warm sun of Lysan, I fall asleep wrapped in the arms of my dark elf king.
