No woman I’d ever been with had made me feel what she had. Just the touch of her lips to mine, finally getting to hold the woman I’d dreamed about over half my life.
“I love you.”
She sighed.
Brushing a lock of golden hair off the side of her face, I marveled at the stark differences between her skin and mine. I was dark, she was light. My flesh was calloused, hers was petal soft. She was utter perfection. I leaned over and touched my lips to hers.
“My beauty, time to awake. Today we make the landians love you as I have.”
Rolling over, she draped a corner of the sheets over the breast that’d been exposed. Which made me grumpy. With a snort of disapproval, I knocked the sheet off her and grinned wickedly when her pearl-pink nipples were once more on display to me.
Covering her round globe with my palm, I squeezed gently, and like the beautiful flower she was, she bloomed under my touch. Moaning and writhing for me.
“If we had more time, I would make you scream to the heavens,” I murmured, unable to resist the temptation of planting a heated kiss on the now pointed tip of her left nipple.
“Ragoth,” she whispered, but she didn’t run her fingers through my hair. Instead she curled them into the skins we’d lain on, as though she knew that if she touched me I would make good on my promise to devour her for the rest of the day.
Sighing bitterly and sporting a heavy erection, I rolled over and draped an arm across my eyes. “Get up and get dressed, woman. If I see you thus for another moment, I’ll forget everything save making you come for me.”
Her breath released in a heavy whoosh, and I couldn’t help but grin to hear it.
I set my jaw the moment I heard her get up and begin to fuss around the interior of the tent. I’d told Druscella to give her a garment she’d be capable of dressing herself in; I had zero self-control when it came to touching her.
“Do you really think this will work?” she asked as the snap of undoing buttons and zippers sounded through the tight confines.
“Meeting with the Hatters? Of course.” Tilting my lip up, I finally fessed up to the second part of the plan I’d not yet told her about. “You should know I also invited the fairy council.”
“You what?” she screeched, and I chuckled.
“Lena, must you scream, my love? You wish the villagers to see you changed, then that is how we do it. News travels fastest when you use their network, and well you know it.”
Sighing, she zipped something up forcefully. Heavy, booted footfalls brought her to my side, and she knelt beside me in a cascade of billowy buttery yellow silk. Her golden hair still hung around her shoulders, loose and wild, making her look far more innocent and approachable than the queen known for her lavish styles and face paint.
I rubbed my thumb across her cheeks. “You are so beautiful.”
Her blue eyes danced with heat and delight, but her lips pressed tight. “You can keep your sweet nothings to yourself, beast. You’ve already claimed me. I’m still irritated with you for not warning me about the fae.”
“And I shall claim you again, and again, and again every night forthwith until you forgive me.” Rolling to a sitting position, well aware that she was entirely clothed while I was still entirely nude, I nuzzled the tip of her button nose with my own and growled, “You love me, admit it. And part of being your king is that you have someone now to help you in this. You are not alone, my beauty. Never again.”
She trembled beneath my feather-light touch. Grabbing my hands, she yanked them to her breasts and squeezed. “Do you promise?”
“Always.”
A slow, languid heat flickered like dancing candle flame across her features. “Then get dressed, before I forget that you’re not my own personal smorgasbord to consume.”
Beneath the ice laid a passion buried so deep that I doubted she’d ever known it even existed. I smiled, framing the corner of her face. But I’d always known it was there, always known her potential for it.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“Never get tired of telling me that, dragon boy.”
Taking her lips, I kissed her roughly. Letting her feel the passion, longing, and desire behind it. Somehow, we’d gotten our limbs tangled together again. She was sprawled across my lap, and our legs and arms were entwined.
Last night had only been the tip of the iceberg of what I wished to do with her. Sadly, I knew we had no more time for this. We were to meet the Hatters in ten minutes, and as much as I wanted Lena beneath me, we had a job to do.
“Unhand me, wench, we have work to do.” I growled with no true heat behind it.
Pulling back, her smile was dazed and molten, but her eyes snapped like jewels. “Wench! I’ll show you a wench!”
Then she framed my face and pulled me to her, claiming my lips hotly as she raked her sharp, pointed nails down the back of my skull. I hissed, glorying in the heat and strength of her passions.
It was now my turn to look dazed and confused when she pulled back, and with a happy little chuckle, she hopped off me, dusted off her skirt, and with a haughty sniff moved to the exit.
“Hurry up, beast, we’ve much work to do, honestly.”
With those words, she flicked the flaps open and regally marched out.
I couldn’t help but chuckle, and shoved down on my aching cock, trying to get it to go down and behave.
“Bloody hell,” I growled and tossed my clothes on like a whirling dervish. By the time I’d stepped out of the tent, we had less than two minutes to spare.
Her eyes were wide as she nibbled on the corner of her lip. She was nervous, and the teasing words lacing my tongue fled.
Rushing to her side, I grabbed her hands. “Relax, Lena. You’re okay. It will take us less than a minute to get there.”
She nodded and gave me a grateful yet no less anxious smile. “I’m scared, Ragoth. I know the Hatter and Alice, but we’ve never had occasion to actually talk. I’m afraid I don’t know what to say to them.”
“I find the truth usually works wonders.” Then, stepping back, I called the fire to me and shifted into my true form, glorying in the feel of my dragon’s power and strength.
Lena looked at me with eyes glowing, full of affection, and I couldn’t understand how I’d gotten to be so lucky.
Scooping her up gently, I held my greatest treasure fast to my body, and unfurling my broad wings, I dove off the edge of the cliff.
Chapter 17
Zelena
“Another sugar?” Alice asked me as she lifted the tiny cube up for my inspection.
Their home was lovely, I must admit.
Every time I’d ever visited the Hatters, I’d only gone as far as his haberdashery. I’d never actually been inside the topsy-turvy confines of this wondrous place. I’d known the Hatter lived in a teapot; I hadn’t quite expected it to look so cozy and warm though.
I’d lived in wonderland all my life and knew the unusual to be quite usual here. But I hadn’t been prepared to step through a porcelain painting of a bucolic spring meadow in order to actually get into his home.
Thankfully the rooms had only spun once. Alice had laughed and said, “You should count yourself lucky, my queen, at least he didn’t let you fall on your ass.”
The two of them had shared a warm, heated look that’d brought a smile to my face and laughter to my lips.
The home had a roomy, lived-in feel to it. The hearths burned brightly, flowering vines crawled up and down the halls, and it’d all been decorated with shades of blue, green, and cream.
Hatter stood behind Alice with one hand on her shoulder, his brow quirked as he waited for me to answer her.
I licked my lips, eyeing the fairies flitting daintily in the corner, sipping on their own cups of tea. Only one of them had deigned to grow to full size, an exotic-looking bird of a fae with dragonfly wings and cascading chestnut brown hair that fell past her rear. Danika, they’d called her.
Ragoth squeezed my finge
rs and said in that deep voice of his. “She’d love one. As would I.”
Alice’s smile slipped for a moment, turning slightly crooked at the corners, and I hated myself that I was freezing up. Without Ragoth, I feared I might have gotten up and run away.
While Alice plopped a cube into my tea, Hatter reached over her shoulder, snatching up a miniature cake from off the silver platter.
“Have you ever tried Alice’s creations?” he asked, beaming proudly. “Decadent and highly addicting.”
She grinned, passing me the china cup with both hands. I took it from her with unsteady fingers.
“He always says that. They’re just cupcakes. No big deal. Really.” She patted his cheek when he leaned in to kiss her own.
And as they made idle chatter I felt my nerves lessen, realizing they were in their own way trying to make me feel at ease.
“Oh, Leonard,” Alice piped up and crossed her ankles.
She was dressed in a teal-and-black taffeta gown that billowed like frosting around her hips and hugged her petite waist tightly. Black scrollwork was painted in a filigree pattern around her almond-shaped eyes.
With her jet-black hair and honeyed skin, she was truly a rare jewel in this land. Alice, unlike Hatter, had not been raised in wonderland, but on Earth. A very strange place with no magic, and rude people.
The stories had always made it out to seem like she and I were the bitterest of enemies, when the truth of it was, I really didn’t know her well at all. But what little I knew of her, I liked.
A second later, a furry little head popped up from a tiny silver teapot on the table. “M’lady?”
The adorable mouse piped up. I smiled when he crawled from the pot wearing a tux and tie. He was rather charming.
“I believe the scones should be nice and cool now, and bring a bowl of your curd, if you will.”
“Oh, I’m—”
Ragoth patted my shoulder, as though to silence me.
“Yes, thank you.”
I pinched my lips shut. Was it impolite to have said no? Perhaps so. Sighing inwardly, I wondered whether I’d ever be able to deal with my people the way Ragoth so easily seemed to do.
“Thank you for welcoming us,” he said as he sat down his empty mug.
He’d dressed all in white today. Which hadn’t made much of an impact on me until now. His dark hair was tied back at the nape, highlighting the sculpted planes of his cheekbones and brows. Not only was Hatter’s home a hodgepodge of colors, but so too were the inhabitants. Not to mention the little fae, who came in a plethora of colors and styles.
Ragoth stood out like a shining white flame and stole the very breath from my body each time I looked at him.
“Of course, anytime. Though I must confess to being a little baffled by the queen’s invite,” Alice said politely.
Invite was putting it nicely; I’d basically barreled my way into their home and was making a mess of things.
I scooted around in my chair; the cushion was nice and thick, but I couldn’t seem to feel relaxed. Ragoth touched my knee with his own, trying to calm me, no doubt.
My dragon smiled his toothy grin. I was happy to note that no one inside seemed terrified by the sight of the less-than-humanlike grin.
Danika shrugged a shoulder. “Well, let’s get on with this then. I’ve got errands to run and a very grumpy Moon Man to tend to.”
“Oh, is that knee still bothering him?” Alice asked softly.
The large fairy rolled her eyes theatrically. “I told that dolt that skiing from Troll Mountain was probably not the smartest idea, but you know men.”
“I resemble that remark,” Hatter grumped good-naturedly.
Alice grinned. “Oh, yes. I know men. Obnoxious, adorable fools.”
Ragoth leaned into me. “Darling, you should probably say something soon.”
We’d been here already twenty minutes. I knew I was wasting their time, but I felt suddenly very clueless about just what to say.
Almost like clockwork, all eyes turned to me then, and I swallowed hard. I couldn’t stop from bouncing my foot rhythmically.
Ragoth cleared his throat as the awkward silence stretched out.
Leonard returned then, pushing a bowl full of velvety whipped lemon curd. The jarring scrape of porcelain across the table had us all cringing.
I knew I was blowing this meeting; I simply didn’t know what to do about it. I was out of my element without an entourage to back me. It hadn’t been this difficult at Avion, but visiting with that village had felt surreal, almost dreamlike. Hatter and Alice, however, were like the beating souls of wonderland itself. Two of our most famous inhabitants, and I confessed to feeling suddenly unsure of myself.
Which was irritating. I didn’t want to mess this up, but I was. Horribly. My anxiousness was not only turning me jittery, but now cranky. With myself. So I began to do what I always did when unsure. I notched my chin, feeling my nose go up into its familiar pose of haughtiness.
I was losing the battle before it’d even begun. My heart beat wildly in my chest, and I could sense Ragoth’s distress on my behalf.
Alice smiled softly. “Queen Zelena, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look quite so pretty. I love what you’ve done with your hair.”
Those words were the balm I’d so desperately needed to hear. There’d been no censure in them, more like one regular woman talking to another.
My chin lowered slowly, and I was finally able to meet her gaze head on. “I...I...” I patted the tips of my hair. “I wished to be free of the rigors of queenship, if only for a few hours.”
I hardly recognized my voice, so scratchy it was. Goddess, this was hard.
Her smile grew wider. “Well, I think you should do it more often. It makes you look quite youthful, and dare I say, far more stunning.”
“Do you think so? Really?” I asked a bit in shock.
Ragoth covered my knee with his palm. “I’ve always thought so.”
Hatter shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Hair is hair to me.”
“Oh, my dear.” Alice rolled her eyes and cast Danika a knowing smile.
The fairy tittered in return. “Men.”
And I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “So true. Men are beastly brutes when they wish to be, no?”
“Oh, indeed.” Alice jumped on that. “Why this one time...”
And she proceeded to tell us of one of Hatter’s more funny moments, and as she talked, I felt the last dregs of nervousness escape me completely. I found myself laughing and joining in.
The fairies all joined in at some point too, and before I knew it an hour had passed and we were all chatting as though we’d known one another for ages rather than just starting to develop a friendship.
The men had discreetly escaped after the third or fourth tale, claiming that they heard wild creatures in the backyard somewhere and needed to go investigate.
“Silly men,” Alice finally sighed. “What would we do without them?”
I shook my head. “I would be utterly miserable without Ragoth, he keeps me...sane.”
I stopped talking the moment I said that, clamping my lips shut tight as my pulse thundered through my ears. I hadn’t meant to say quite so much or be quite so honest. What if they laughed at me or mocked me?
Alice got up from the chair she’d been sitting in across from me and moved into the one Ragoth had vacated some minutes past.
Then, opening her arms, she wrapped me up in them. She smelled of sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon, and I trembled. I didn’t wrap my arms around her, but I melted into her embrace.
No woman, not even Dru, had ever touched me thus.
“In this place, my queen, we can be true friends. Know that. If you wish a place of solace and relaxation, you only ever need to show up. Our doors will always be open to you.”
Heart trembling with emotions I could hardly put a name to, I pulled slowly away from her. I felt the heat of tears prickling at the back of my throat and had to swallow
several times before trusting myself to speak.
“How can you say that to me? I’ve never been a good queen.”
A little green fairy flitted forward then. I vaguely recognized her as the fae of justice. Esmeralda, I believed her name to be. It really was a shame that I didn’t know my people better. I would fix that. Along with a multitude of other sins.
“I can see into your heart, Queen of Hearts, and I see the truth shining bright like a beacon. Change can come, though it will take time and will not be easy. But with enough grit and determination, it can happen.” She smiled at Danika, who nodded gracefully.
“True enough,” she said.
“You’ve the pulse of the people”—I looked at Alice—“you and Hatter. What should I do? How can I begin to fix the mess I’ve wrought?”
She smiled. “There’s a midnight ball in a fortnight. Most of all landians will come. It’s the one time a year we open our courtyard to everyone. There’ll be music, dancing, and food.”
Danika rubbed her belly. “I’ve told Jericho he’ll be responsible for the lighting. It will be lovely. You really should come, queen.”
I knew of the festival; the Hatters had sent me an invite every year. I’d never shown, which caused me a pang of guilt now, but the thought of a little frivolity sounded nice.
I nodded. “Perhaps I will.”
“Yes,” Alice said slyly, reaching for a butter knife with which to slather her scone in curd, “and bring Ragoth with you. In fact”—she sandwiched the curd and took a delicate nibble—“my advice, if you want it, is that perhaps this year should be even a tad bit more exciting. Like, say, hosting a royal wedding.”
My eyes widened. “Are you implying Ragoth and I should marry there?”
I’d never even considered that. I knew we’d marry, but I’d been thinking of something small and intimate. Quick and efficient, so we could get it out of the way.
“Yes, I do.” She nodded.
The blue fairy, who was covered in ice crystals and wearing a gown that sparkled like a glacier, nodded. “I would be honored to officiate.”
I sucked in a breath. Fairies only ever bonded those who belonged to them. That the leader of the fae, Galeta the Blue, would even suggest such a thing made me feel honored indeed.