A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales – B&tB Book 1)
A Ruin of Roses: Chapter 9

He flung me into the tower room. I fell against the bed. He stood panting in the doorway, having run me to the castle in his beast form and then carried me up the stairs in an unbreakable hold.

Now, back in my room, he stuck out his hand. “Give me the key.”

I straightened myself up, looking around for my knife. Leala must’ve cleaned up and put it somewhere.

“Your weapons won’t help you now.” Menace flowed from him in heady waves. He stepped right in front of me, his size and power pounding down on me. “Give me the key, or I will search you and take it.”

I ignored the desire to cower and instead squared off. I would not allow him to see the effect he had on me. “Don’t you dare put your hands on me.”

His chest rose and fell, his breath quickening. “I don’t have time for this. Give me the key, princess.”

“Ah. We’re back to princess again, are we? Just before you lock me in the castle tower.”

He closed what little space was between us. His voice rumbled from his wide chest, caressing me.

“This is your last chance,” he murmured, his gaze roaming my face and settling on my lips.

Heat flash-boiled my blood. My core tightened, fear and lust and yearning creating a confusing mix.

“I will not be locked in this place against my will,” I managed, defiant.

“You will do as you’re told.”

He moved so fast that I couldn’t even flinch. He grabbed my wrists and tucked them behind my back, transferring both to the hold of one of his large hands. I squirmed, trying to get out, but he leaned me against the bed with his body, his erection pressing against my lower stomach. His free hand flowed up over my upper thigh, feeling for my pants pocket.

I slammed my head forward, catching him in the mouth with my forehead.

His head jerked away, and his free hand flew to his face. He took one step back, pulling me sideways. I yanked my right hand out of his hold and punched. My fist connected with his nose, but I didn’t have the balance to put any weight behind it. He barely moved from the blow.

His eyes flashed, and my insides went wobbly. I’d just excited him. Oh shit.

“You want to do this the hard way, then?” he asked in that deep, terribly scary, strangely erotic voice.

Surprisingly, he dropped my hand. A small smile worked at his lips. He wanted us to start on equal footing. As if there were such a thing.

Panic blared, and suddenly I was in survival mode, wanting to get away, my animal wanting him to catch me.

I feinted right, then broke left to run around him. He took one lazy step and reached out. His hand landed between my breasts, and he shoved me back, launching me onto the bed. I fell on my side with my legs sprawled out, a very bad position under the circumstances.

Acting quickly, I flipped and scrabbled to get off the other side of the bed. I needed my knife!

“My clothes look good on you, princess. But wearing nothing would look so much better.”

I was wearing his fucking clothes? Why hadn’t Leala said something? I would’ve rather worn a potato sack than parade around him in what must be his childhood clothes.

An iron grip latched around my right ankle. I flipped back to kick, but he pulled me toward him.

His tantalizing power slithered across my tingling flesh. My animal purred within his dominant manhandling. My pussy was so wet it dribbled into my panties. Damn my body! I would not give in to this insanity of lust. I needed logic here!

I struggled against him as he dragged my legs off the bed and dropped them. They swung down until my knees bumped the mattress. He leaned forward, his hard length resting right where I needed it. Where I hated that I wanted it.

My animal thrashed against my hold and my hips bucked back, in her control. Shivers coated me as I rubbed along his cock, momentarily dropping my head and closing my eyes, focused solely on that delicious sensation. He growled, his free hand gripping my hip and keeping me still while he rocked, the glorious friction dripping liquid fire into my desperate pussy.

“Hmm, Nyfain, fuck me,” I moaned.

My eyes snapped open at the realization of what I’d just said. Not what my animal had made me say—what I had said.

Had I no self-preservation? My mind had gone completely haywire.

“That’s not what I meant! I meant, take what you want and go,” I said, fighting my animal again. Fighting myself. Fighting the glorious sensation of his weight against me, pushing me into the mattress. The hard peaks of my nipples rubbed against my binding as I wriggled, my eyes fluttering as we rubbed against each other.

“Take what I want?” He reached around and down, sliding his hand against my stomach and then pelvis. He dipped farther, and his first two fingers slipped over my swollen clit.

I bit back a moan. The feeling of his beast rolled through me, dominant and possessive. It was almost like the dragon was in control. A moment later, power followed, lending me strength. Was the man giving me the ability to fight back against the dragon? That was what it felt like. Like Nyfain was fighting his beast, too, and trying to help me stand on my own.

Just a bit longer, my animal purred as his firm fingers made circles against my—his!—pants. His cock slid against me, the two working in tandem. My body was tightening up, rocking with him.

I did want to wait a bit longer. Goddess help me, I wanted him to flip me over, tear off these pants, and sink deep into my greedy cunt. My body was so keyed up. My pussy swollen. Eager.

“No,” I said to myself, using that power and twisting.

I threw off his hand and managed to pull up a knee. Before he could grab it and spread my legs, I kicked as hard as I could, the sole of my foot hitting him in the sternum. I expected his eyes to widen as I knocked him back, but instead a flare of pride soaked into that golden gaze.

I didn’t have time to wonder about it. I jumped from the bed and shoved him, careful not to let his reaching hands take hold of me. He staggered back toward the doorway. I fished the key from my pocket and held it out.

“You want to take me prisoner? Fine. Here’s your key.”

He stood panting for a moment, his huge cock erect, the tip glistening. I tore my eyes away from it, then away from that perfect chest, cut up from his many battles. This man was impossible, but he was affecting me in gut-clenching ways. It wasn’t fair. I’d always thought I’d land a nice guy who would smooth out my crazy. This bastard hands down made it worse.

“But tell me this—why me?” I asked. “Why take me prisoner and no one else? What did I do that was so wrong?”

He stalked forward, slinky like a predator. My body trembled under his gaze. He plucked the key from my fingers.

“Maybe someday I’ll tell you. I’ll have Leala come up and bathe you and bring you food. Get some rest. I’ll be your escort when it is time to harvest.”

He closed the door behind him. The key turned over, locking me in. Metal clinked, and I knew he was taking the key with him this time.

Annoyed, frustrated, and pissed off, I paced across the room and spread my hands on the windowsill. That overgrown and half-dead garden waited below, rosebushes reaching out in every which way without one bloom to cheer me up.

He’d said I could choose a garden and bring it back to life for my herbs. I’d choose that one so that when I was locked in here, I’d at least have something to gaze down at. For now, I shed the clothes that were not mine and put on a slip of fabric that had been left at the edge of my bed. It was likely for sleeping, but it would do until I had something else. No way was I going to try those cake-frosting dresses. They were probably from a past girlfriend of his. Or maybe he liked dresses as well; it was impossible to say. I just knew that they weren’t mine, and I wasn’t going to look a fool anymore.

Later that night, after a relaxing bath, meal, and bed, the swell of desire washed over me. Nyfain’s fingers wrapped around my ankles, the memory morphing into a dream. I groaned as his large hands spread out and took the inside track of my legs, reaching my knees and pushing them wide.

I lay flat on my back in bed as the moonlight soaked up the darkness. The slip of fabric draped over me, light and soft against my fevered skin. The covers had been pulled back, and Nyfain sat between my spread thighs, nude and gorgeous despite his scars. It looked picture perfect, like this was actually happening. Like I’d come softly awake without realizing it.

He worked his hands farther up, bunching my nightgown as he went. His touch seared the insides of my legs. I arched back, spreading wide for him, desire drenching me.

“Do you want me to fuck you, pretty girl?”

His voice was different, not the scratchy sandpaper laced with power and confidence and pain that I was used to. Now it was silky and sensual, winding my desire higher.

“Do you want me to thrust my hard cock into your wet depths?”

“Hmm, yes,” I whispered.

His touch slid along the tops of my thighs, and he bent forward. His tongue slid through my wet folds before getting to the top and teasing. He sucked in my clit, and the pleasure made me roll my eyes back into my head. I ran my fingers through his unruly hair, grabbing on and yanking a little. He sucked and licked, dipping two fingers into me and curving upward.

I groaned, writhing beneath him.

He worked harder, lapping at me eagerly, setting a fast pace. I gyrated my hips against his mouth, running my hands up through my nightgown and over my hard nipples.

He kept going, faster now, pushing me to the edge. Finger-fucking me.

Two hands on his head now, my fingers tangled in his hair, I moved against him, fucking his face, needing a little more so I could fall over that edge.

He stopped, moving to kiss farther up my body. Sucking on my flesh. It still felt like he was sucking on my clit, though, ramming his fingers into my cunt with reckless abandon.

“Fuck me, Nyfain,” I begged, dragging him up my body, writhing against that ghostly touch. “Please, Nyfain. I need you.”

“Take what you need,” he whispered, and this time his scratchy voice echoed in my mind like a memory. “Use me.”

He reached my mouth and kissed me dominantly. He took my breath away with his bruising kiss. And then he thrust into me, filling me to the point of bursting. I cried out, pain and pleasure and desire and no looking back. I clutched his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his middle, wanting to be taken hard. Wanting him to stamp his brand into me and claim me like an alpha should.

“Do you want my forked tongue between those sodden pussy lips, pretty lady?”

The words struck me wrong. The tone.

Nyfain pulled back, looking down on me. His eyes weren’t right, though. The beautiful sunsets were gone, replaced by bright yellow eyes with small black slits. Horns curled from his head, but they weren’t the same as his beast’s.

I gasped and jerked awake, sitting up in my bed. Moonlight streamed through the windows, but Nyfain was nowhere in sight. My nightgown, which Leala had given to me after a bath, was undisturbed, and the blanket still covered me to my chest.

A dream. It had all been a dream. But I still felt the pleasure curling around me. The thrusting inside my body.

It felt wrong. It felt like a violation. An incubus, it must be, but one more powerful than I’d ever felt. Usually they just made you want to bang, but this one acted like it was doing the banging with invisible hands.

My guts twisted in disgust. I pushed my knees shut to block it out. It didn’t turn me on. It made me feel sick.

Help, I called to my animal, clearing the way.

She filled me in a rush of fire and rage. What kind of filthy fuckery do we have going on here? she thought as she assumed control.

I let her take over without complaint. I wasn’t equipped to handle something like this. My brain recoiled from the thought of what was going on. I could rise to the occasion for a fight, but this was a whole different thing entirely.

She sniffed the air as she pushed back the covers, and we slowly climbed out of bed.

“I have your scent now, you filthy fuck,” she said in a voice I hadn’t known I could make. A throaty sort of voice brimming with confidence and menace. A voice promising death. I really liked it.

We stopped next to the door and felt for the key, just in case it had magically appeared.

No such luck, she thought. I thought the opposite. I’d raged about Nyfain taking that key earlier, and commanding Leala to bring it back to him when she was done helping with my bath, but right now I was grateful. If that thing had gotten in, it would have tried to take what it wanted, and I had no idea what sort of fighting prowess it had.

“Come out to me, pretty lady, and let me lick that delicious cu—”

The creature cut off right before a loud thunk rattled the door.

We caught the familiar smell of pine and lilac with a hint of honeysuckle on a balmy summer’s day. Nyfain.

The thunk came again, rattling the wood in the frame. A third time, something being slammed against the wall. A loud wail suddenly cut off before intense quiet filled the space outside the door.

Metal tinkled in the keyhole, and the lock clicked over. I took a step back as the door swung open, revealing Nyfain in a blue T-shirt and tight, ripped jeans.

Every instinct in my person said to run at him and tuck myself into his safe embrace. I held back with everything I had.

“What was that—” I caught a glimpse of it lying behind him. A human-looking guy, nude, about my age and incredibly handsome. His head had been bashed in and was cocked at an unnatural angle. A shoulder looked out of socket and three fingers were clearly broken. Nyfain had done some damage. Which obviously included death.

“It was one of the most powerful types of incubi in the demon kingdom,” Nyfain said in a rough voice. “They feed on lust and shame. There are three in this castle—two now—designed to slowly drive the staff into self-destruction.”

He captured my chin and analyzed my face. His nostrils flared.

“It aroused you.” It sounded like an accusation.

“I was sleeping when its magic reached me. It turned my dream erotic, but it felt wrong, and I woke up. Some idiot locked me in the tower before I could make the draught to block that sort of thing out. Though I think I might have to make it a lot stronger to handle stronger incubi. That one was…gross.” I shivered.

“Some idiot is right,” he murmured, so quietly I stared at him for a moment to see if I’d imagined it. “Get some clothes on. It’s time to go.”

I looked down at my nightgown. “I don’t have clothes. That was also on the list of things to do before the idiot locked me in the tower.”

“Same idiot, I reckon?” He quirked his eyebrow before brushing by me. Since when did he have a sense of humor?

He glanced at the bed as he walked around it, his movements stiff. Without a word, he opened the chest of drawers.

“No. I’m not wearing any more of your clothes.”

“I doubt you want to walk around this castle at night without clothes. At this point, that’s seen as an invitation. Has for…at least a decade, I believe. People will touch without asking permission, and I’ll be forced to kill them.”

My animal shivered in pleasure, responding to what was obviously the alpha in him. I scowled in annoyance at them both.

“I’ll wear the nightgown.”

“That nightgown is basically see-through, and while I love the view, so would everyone else. We’d be back to the me-killing-everyone scenario. I don’t want to lose more staff, and killing a host of demons will result in a visit from the demon king. No one wants that, least of all you.” He continued sifting through the drawers. It seemed like he was looking for something particular. “Don’t worry, it’s been a very long time since I’ve worn any of these. My cooties are long gone.”

My scowl this time competed with a budding grin. His personality shift, however small, was making him more likable. That was bad news. I was having a hard enough time sticking to anger instead of desire.

“Here.” He pulled out some leather bottoms and a black shirt to go with them. “Where is your binding? I’ll protect you from everyone else, but you’ll need to protect yourself from our animals. The binding makes it take longer for him to get our mouth on your perfect breasts.”

My animal’s shiver coincided with mine this time.

“Why am I always the one told to control my animal?” I opened the wardrobe and yanked out the binding. “Where’s your accountability in all of this?”

“That’s a damn good question.” He saw me pause, not wanting to slip off my nightgown in front of him. He turned his back and looked out the window. “Usually there is a pretty even divide with our animals. My animal controls the beast for the most part, with me looking on, and I control this body. Our connection is open enough that I have access to his primal capabilities, and he has access to my logic and deductive reasoning. But with you…”

I struggled to get the binding clasped at the back. This was different than the type I had always worn, better quality and more secure, but also designed for someone else to help apply it. Leala had handled that earlier.

“I can’t… I need help.” I held the fabric tight as he glanced back.

He took a deep breath before coming over. “Turn around.”

I showed him my back. He kept talking as he worked the clasps. His fingers brushed my skin lightly, gently, as though he were working with the everlass. Goosebumps spread across my flesh.

“He desires to claim you.”

I shivered again, damn it, remembering my dream this time. Remembering him moving within me.

“That’s a nope,” I said quickly, pushing the memories away. The sudden wetness between my thighs couldn’t be helped. “You’ve already abducted me without proper explanation, pushed me around, talked a bunch of shit—I’d rather not wear an alpha’s shackles on top of it.”

“I know that. Believe me. While he has access to logic, in this case he clearly isn’t using it. He doesn’t care that you’re lowborn, for example. That your family doesn’t have a pot to piss in and your village is poor and mostly useless. He doesn’t care that a noble of my standing would never lower himself with a woman like you. He just wants me to fuck you good and proper so that you’ll never, ever be used by another man. He wants our claim on you. He hates that you’re resisting it. That I am. He feels your animal trying to get to him, so he’s been taking matters into his own hands. It’s a battle every time, and when your beast wins, he wins. Our animals are feeding off each other, and it is too powerful for me to stop unless you work with me on it. Which you aren’t doing. It’s throwing everything off.”

Broody McFucker was back. A growl laced every word. He clearly blamed me for his lack of control. Wasn’t that how it always went for a woman?

He jerked my binding, roughly, before pushing me away. He went back to looking out the window, his good humor dried up.

I put up a finger and then laughed. His return to being a cuntcicle was honestly a little relieving. I knew this guy. That other guy, with the playful words, light humor, gentle fingers… That guy was intriguing and, because of that, dangerous. That guy had the potential to thaw my attitude toward him. Given he was my jailer for unspecified reasons, that was a troubling thought.

“There is so much wrong with that speech of yours, it’s a little tough to unpack.” I pulled the black shirt over my head. It stretched across my bust and then hung down to my waist. “My village is mostly useless? Aren’t you asking me to recreate an elixir that came out of that village? A life-saving elixir? I think you are.”

I stepped into the pants and worked them up over my thighs and to my hips. That was where they stopped.

“These aren’t going to work. Younger you didn’t have any shape.”

He glanced back, his gaze catching the slip of lacy fabric posing as underwear. There wasn’t much to them, and apparently that was what Leala liked about them. They could be torn off easily. For such a polite girl, she did like roughness. She’d given me this pair because she hadn’t worn them yet.

Hunger burned brightly in his gaze. He tensed, every muscle going taut. With stiff movements, he bent to the chest of drawers.

“Your beast doesn’t want any other men using me? Is that all women are good for, our vaginas?”

“Women are good for nothing,” he snarled, but he didn’t even remotely sell it. He was trying to deflect his arousal—his arousal, not his animal’s. I could tell because my animal hadn’t risen to the occasion. This was all him, and that knowledge took the sting out of his words. I had power over him. He wasn’t untouchable.

“And yet you keep coming around,” I said.

“After tonight, that’s a situation I hope to rectify.”

“Hmm.”

He tossed me another pair of leathers. Did he have any other types of pants in there? “How often does this happen with you? Your animal wanting something you don’t?”

He turned, gave me a hard scowl, and crossed the room. “Hurry up. The night is wasting.” Then he gave me his back and stepped into the hall.

I’d struck a nerve. Interesting. Was there a lost love at one time that had rejected him? Something had certainly happened to make him this way.

These pants ended at my shins but mostly fit everywhere else, except for the extra room in the dick department. After putting on shoes and remembering to slip my pocketknife into one of the large pockets, I tied up my hair and met him in the hall. The demon had changed from a very handsome man to a hideous humanoid form covered in slick green scales. It had a serpentine face, twisted horns, and hands ending in claws.

“The glamor washes away when they die,” Nyfain said, his lip curling in disgust.

“The glamor… You mean he doesn’t actually change into a man? He’s always like that, we just can’t see it?”

“Yes.” He took me by the upper arm and steered me away from it. “If a person is in their right mind, they’ll feel the difference.” He walked us down the stairs. “The demons that feed off lust and pain have barbed penises or barbs in their vaginas. They coerce their victims and feed off the result.”

I touched my hand to my chest, revolted. I hadn’t heard of demons like that. I was glad I hadn’t. It would’ve given me nightmares.

I guess it already had.

“There are a lot of different types of demons,” he went on when we hit the next set of stairs, “but the demon king has taken most of the warring kinds away to defend his kingdom. They’ve done their job of thinning us out, making us vulnerable to attack. If we ever managed to escape this curse, he could take us over without a problem. We wouldn’t be able to fight him off. We’re done for; we’re just waiting for the funeral march.”

I ripped out of his grip when we hit the second-floor landing. He reached for me again but stopped when he realized I didn’t plan on running. I looked up and met his turbulent eyes, anger, frustration, regret, and most of all sadness swimming in their depths.

I kept my voice a whisper, for his ears alone. “Don’t you dare give up hope on this place. I will not watch as my family and everyone I know dies because you gave up. You’re the only hope we have left. I don’t care if you fly or run—you’re powerful. You need to keep faith and be patient. There is a way through this. I think you’re a fuckface, and I’d rather punch you instead of talk to you, but I will fight by your side to the bitter end to pry this place out of the demons’ hands. Do your job and lead your people. You’re their rock. You cannot lose hope, do you understand?”

His body tensed as he stared at me, emotions flickering in his eyes so fast that I couldn’t get a clear picture of what he was thinking. Energy crackled between us, and his power slithered across my skin, desperately sexy. I held my ground, though. I would not be deterred from delivering this message.

He leaned forward just a bit but then braced himself, and I didn’t know if he wanted to kiss me or hit me. I prepared to dodge either.

Instead, I heard a silky voice say, “Well, hello, Nyfain.”

Nyfain exploded into action, sweeping me behind him as he turned, pushing me to his back. I very nearly stepped out from behind him—I didn’t need a shield—but thought better of it. I was supposed to be weak, or at least mediocre. A dead shifter walking. It wouldn’t do to assert my independence and get killed for my courage.

“What do you want?” Nyfain snarled.

The faintest whisper of movement was the only sound as the demon circled us. Nyfain turned as it moved, keeping himself in front of me. Still, I caught a glimpse. Sleek and handsome, much like the man upstairs. Dark, long, flowing hair cascaded over his shoulders. His pointed nose ended close to large lips, like pillows affixed to a face, no real shape to them. His long fingers ended in manicured nails, and a silk robe adorned his lean body.

His magic tickled me, a dirty sort of sexy, slipping under my clothing and across my bare skin. I sucked in a breath and clutched Nyfain’s shirt. His body went fluid, like a fighter preparing for battle.

“What have we here?” The demon moved until he could see over Nyfain’s arm, taking me in. He looked down, not able to see my top half but clearly taking in the leather pants and boots. “Ah yes, I heard about her. You brought her in last night, correct?”

“She was stealing from these lands. I am the one who caught her, so by rights, she belongs to me.”

The demon’s oily smile showed stained teeth, as though he’d drunk too much wine or habitually fed on blood. “Yes, that is part of the deal. And instead of killing her outright, as you have always done, you brought her here. I wonder why. You prefer plain, willing women, do you not?”

Nyfain didn’t comment.

The demon laughed. “I could have sworn you did. But if that were the case, you wouldn’t have stolen a great beauty from her village and confined her to the castle. You were carrying her in, I believe, correct? And earlier, when she tried to escape, you locked her in the tower?” He clucked his tongue, his gaze still on me. “When you can, come see me, girl. I can pry you away.”

Chills spread over me, and I very nearly shot back a response. Instead, I pulled farther back behind Nyfain and buried my face in the groove of muscle in the middle of his back. I wasn’t sure that was the right play—was I supposed to be a wilting flower, scared of demons, or should I act terrified of Nyfain?

“If you touch her, I will kill you,” Nyfain stated, his voice even and confident. It wasn’t a threat—it was a statement of facts. My small hairs stood on end.

I peered around Nyfain again as the demon spread his hands with a sly smile. “You are losing, Mr. Alpha. You’ve lost all your prized people. Your ability to protect anyone has diminished. Soon that girl will realize she exchanged her body for empty promises.”

Nyfain flinched but didn’t comment.

“When that happens, she will turn to us,” the demon went on. “And when that happens, we can grant her safety from your…wrath. Or whatever it is you do to her.”

“Are you done?” Nyfain asked, turning slightly and pulling me out from behind him, still keeping his body protectively between the demon and me.

“Mr. Alpha is so proud,” the demon said with that oily smile. “So delusional. One day I will enjoy watching the light dull from your eyes. You are on borrowed time. You will die, and your kingdom with you.”