on the dais, flanked by Sam and other enforcers as Lauren dragged Nina in by the arm. “What is the meaning of this?” the red head demanded. “I have done nothing wrong!”
Rory’s fingernails dug into her palms as she fought the urge to launch herself at the vile woman, and once Nina stood at the foot of the dais, looking at them with as much hate as she could muster, Rory smiled.
“Hello, Nina,” she cooed.
“Don’t talk to me, butcher bitch,” the woman spat, clearly lacking any self-preservation. Nina turned to Caius, the picture of a damsel in distress. “Your Grace, whatever she said is a lie. Since she arrived, she has been terrible to me, spreading terrible rumors. I only tried to protect myself, for I feared for my life.”
She cried big crocodile tears, and Rory had to give it to her—she was good, and had Rory not seen her evil firsthand, she might have believed her.
“You are charged with conspiring against a fellow inmate and the future Umbra Queen,” Caius boomed, his voice echoing in the large room.
Nina recoiled and looked between Rory and the king. “No, I didn’t. I was only protecting myself,” she cried. “She conspired to kill me!”
“And now you lie to your king.” His smile was merciless. “Your sentence is death.”
He turned to Rory, giving her the go ahead, and her own mouth curled into a wicked smile. Seeing Nina’s face as she descended the steps of the dais gave her great satisfaction.
Nina fought against Lauren’s hold, and another member of the legion took her other arm to hold her steady. When Rory stood in front of the woman, she looked deep into her eyes and held out her palm.
Sam placed a black dagger in her hand, and she looked away from Nina to inspect it. When she turned back, Nina thrashed, trying to tug her arms free. “No! You can’t do this!”
She struggled harder, and Rory grabbed the top of her hair to hold her in place. “Tell Orcus hello for me,” she purred, repeating Caius’ words. She sliced the dagger across Nina’s neck and watched as the blood poured out. When Nina’s gurgles finally stopped, her body slumped forward.
Turning to Caius, Rory held up the dagger. “Can I keep this?” The ghost of a smile played on his lips.
“You can keep her head if you wish.”
This was why they were made for each other. He understood her savagery, admired it even.
As she stood facing the king with the sound of Nina’s lifeless body being dragged across the marble floor, she knew she loved him.
He had been wrong.
She was the first to fall.
That night, Caius stood in the doorway to the bathroom, watching Rory through the glass door of the shower. Seeing her strength today was exhilarating, and it confirmed how great of a queen she would be, if given the chance.
Her eyes were still swollen, but not from her fight. Tallent didn’t land a hit because she had been ready. They’d gotten the best of her once, and she wouldn’t allow it again. No, her face was swollen from crying over the news of her mother, and Caius had agonized over it all day.
He couldn’t let Rory suffer, and she would, knowing the state her mother was in. He would petition Adila to bring Lenora here, but allowing an innocent into Vincula was unheard of.
If Lenora came in Vincula, her abilities would disappear as her essence was siphoned to power Erdikoa, alleviating her madness. It could work, if only his sister would agree. If Adila had to clear it with Gedeon, it was a no, but just maybe she would grant him this without going through their brother.
“Are you going to stare all night, or are you going to join me?” Rory said without looking at him, and he chuckled as he shed his clothes.
He stepped in behind her and moved her hair over her shoulder to kiss her neck as the water pelted them both. “You were beautiful today,” he murmured against her skin.
She turned, wrapped her arms around his neck, and lifted on her toes to kiss him. Their tongues danced together, gliding smoothly as they gave in to their need for each other.
His hands explored her slick body, and his own heated in return. She moaned into his mouth, and he pulled back to wrap a hand around her throat. “I won’t be gentle,” he warned. He was predatory after watching her in action today, and he needed to fuck her hard.
She grabbed his cock and squeezed. “I won’t be either.”
He flipped her around and ran his fingers through her arousal. “You will scream for me, louder than you ever have.”
“Fuck me hard enough, and I might,” she said, shooting him a taunting smile over her shoulder.
He pulled his fingers back, aligned his cock, and thrust into her, the momentum slamming her against the wall. His hand flew up to protect her face from hitting the tile, and she arched her back in response.
One hand dug into her hip, and the other snaked under her arm to grab her neck and pull her back. He squeezed the sides of her throat as he rammed into her again, and her head lolled back.
“Fuck,” she moaned and pushed her hips back against his.
“Louder,” he commanded.
Her hand moved down her stomach to the apex of her thighs, and he licked the shell of her slightly pointed ear. “Play with your clit for me, baby.”
Her fingers worked circles as he thrust into her until her breaths came in pants. “I can’t hear you.” He pulled back and stopped with only the tip in.
She whimpered and pushed back. “Caius.” Her hand reached blindly behind her, but he removed his hand from her hip and batted it away.
“Scream for me, or you won’t like the outcome.” He slammed into her as hard as he could, and she cried out. “Louder.”
With every thrust, her moans and cries rose. “Good girl. Louder.”
The hand on her clit moved in time with his hips, and before long, he felt her smooth inner walls squeeze. He moved faster, until his balls drew up, and she exploded with a scream so loud, the shower door shook. Her pussy milked his dick, and he came harder than he ever had before.
They tried to catch their breath as the water rained down on them, and when he pulled out, she stepped out and looked over her shoulder. “Is that all?”
He pounced and ripped the towel from her hands with a growl. “You’ll pay for that smart mouth.”
Picking her up, he stalked to the bed and threw her down as she yelped and propped herself up on her elbows. The smile on her face was a challenge, and he wanted to swallow it with his own.
Shadows darted to her arms and legs and pulled them wide, and he delighted at the alarm on her face. “Is this okay?” he asked. If it made her uncomfortable, he would stop, but aether, he hoped he didn’t have to.
“A little bondage doesn’t faze me, Your Grace.” Her words held an underlying challenge.
“If you change your mind, use a safe word of your choosing,” he replied.
“King,” she said coyly. “My safe word is king.” This woman.
Positioning himself between her legs, he grabbed her hips, and when he seated himself inside her, she gasped. The angle was deep, and she felt amazing. It would take all of his focus to keep from coming in three pumps.
Shadows caressed her bare skin and covered her breasts, pulling a moan from her perfect lips. He moved slowly, and she wiggled against the restraints. When her eyes found his, they were hazy as another moan escaped her.
“Remember, Miss Raven, you brought this on yourself.”
She threw her head back as a shadow vibrated over her clit, making her jerk against the shadowy restraints. “Caius,” she breathed as her legs tried to draw up.
He moved at a leisurely pace, enjoying the sight of her body twitching beneath him. She screamed his name and arched off the bed as her body trembled and squeezed around him.
He closed his eyes and breathed through his nose to keep from blowing, and when he regained control, the shadow on her clit dissolved. “I…” she trailed off, rolling her head from side to side. “I can’t…”
Caius watched his cock slide in and out of her, and when he picked up the pace, she gasped. He grinned as he pulled another shadow to her clit, making it vibrate in a pattern of pulses, stopping when she came close to exploding.
She thrashed and cried out, begging him to stop, but until he heard the safe word, she was at his mercy. “Caius,” she sobbed.
Her legs tried to pull from his grasp, but he held on. Watching her convulse with another impending climax was too much, and when she came, he would come with her.
Placing his hand on her lower stomach, he looked up. “Look at me.”
She opened her hazy eyes, and when her grey met his gold, he smiled and pushed down, making that inner sensitive spot brush against his dick. Her eyes widened, and she threw her head back with another scream.
She squeezed around him as she came, covering him in her cum. It sent him over the edge, and he fell forward as he filled her with hot streams of his own. The shadows disappeared as he slowed his pumps, and they rode out the waves of their releases together.
His pelvis brushed against her sensitive clit, and she shook her head. “King! For aether’s sake, king!”
“You did good, baby,” he crooned as he pulled out and grabbed a towel. After cleaning her off, he picked her up and moved them both under the covers. “I would tell you not to speak to me that way again, but I quite enjoyed seeing you at my mercy.”
She replied with a sleepy chuckle, and together, they drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, soft cries pulled Caius from sleep, and he sat up, looking around. Rory was nowhere to be found, and a soft light shone from under the bathroom door. As he walked closer, he realized they were coming from inside, and he quietly turned the doorknob, only to find it locked.
He knocked softly and called through the wood, “Rory, baby, are you okay?”
He heard sniffles before she croaked, “I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”
Worry seeped into his bones, and he tried the door again. “Let me in, Rory.”
“I said go back to sleep.”
He stepped back and kicked the door in, and the sight before him made him falter. She was curled into a ball on the floor, and when she saw him, she cried harder. Rushing to her side, he scooped her into his arms, sat down, and rocked her slowly.
They sat like that for what felt like hours until her cries died down. “I’m a murderer. How is it fair that I am happy when my mother is suffering because of me?” Her red, puffy face turned to his. “The guilt will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Caius swallowed hard as his heart broke for the woman he loved. There was nothing he could do to console her, and he knew that, but damn it if he hated that she didn’t trust him with her tears.
He said the only thing that came to mind, “Never lock me out again. I will always make your tears my own. We’re in this together.”
He might not have the right words, but a plan formed in his mind. Placing a kiss on her head, he picked her up and carried her back to bed.
Rory sat around a table at the bar with Kit, Bellina, and Cat. The air was somber, the hurt of Tallent’s betrayal and death hanging over them.
“I’m sorry,” Rory said for the hundredth time. “He was trying to kill me, and after what he did to Bellina, I couldn’t let him hurt anyone else.”
Even though he betrayed them in the worst way, they mourned the friend they thought he was.
“Don’t be sorry,” Cat said, reaching across the table to grab her hand. “Any of us would have done the same.”
“I only wish you could’ve hung him from a hook, the double-crossing bastard,” Kit said, throwing back another shot. The woman could drink like a fish. “He deserved that and more.”
Bellina’s eyes watered. She’d been quiet, and Rory knew she needed time to heal. “I wouldn’t feel safe if he was still here. You did for me what I did for my wife, and I don’t regret my actions. You shouldn’t regret yours.
“And fuck Nina, too,” Cat added. “That bitch had it coming, and if Tallent was weak enough to fall for her tricks, he had it coming, too.”
“Cheers to The Butcher,” Bellina said, holding her glass high. “For doing what she does best and ridding the realms of evil. May they rest unpeacefully in hell.”
