A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales – B&tB Book 1)
A Ruin of Roses: Chapter 17

Hannon and I got Nyfain into the little wooden washing shed on the side of the house, an outdoor facility close to the water pump. Within, a smoldering fire heated a cast-iron pot—we called it “the bucket”—filled with water. The floor was made of wooden slats set over gravel, providing some drainage. We rallied the fire in the morning, took turns washing up, and then let the coals die until the next morning. At this point in the day, they were glowing embers, and the water wouldn’t be more than warmish.

We stopped in the doorway, and I paused for Nyfain to make a disgusted sound or comment. Despite the kingdom’s fall from grace, he was still a prince. He lived in a castle with indoor facilities. Even my lonely tower had a washroom with a nice tub.

Instead, he put his hand against the frame and said, “I’ll need that chair.”

“Of course.” Hannon ducked away, leaving us standing there in silence for a moment.

“I know you’re used to finer things,” I started lamely. “This is what we use, though.”

“A kingdom is only as good as the poorest person,” he murmured. “My mother used to tell me that. I’d never understood the gravity of it until now.”

I stiffened defensively. “We don’t have much, but we have enough. Before the curse, I remember happiness and smiles. Neighbors helping each other and monthly communal dinners. We didn’t have bad lives—we just didn’t have fancy tubs or towers to put our side-piece abductees in. Even now, we all pull together as much as we can. Some people are the worst, but they help out. We don’t let anyone go hungry. Your kingdom could do a lot worse than to be fashioned after our community.”

“You’re exactly right. I apologize for how that came across. I meant no disrespect, but I think your village was neglected by the crown. Your people were left to their own devices while still having to pay the tax. You didn’t get your coppers’ worth. Failure to properly take care of one’s people creates a black mark on the kingdom, that’s all. You should’ve had more.”

“Here you go.” Hannon wedged himself in with the chair and set it on the wooden slats. He ducked down to work the fire, but I waved him away.

“I think our guest would benefit more from a cold bath.”

Hannon stoked the fire anyway before testing the water. To Nyfain, he said, “It’s warm enough. If you’d rather wait for me to build up the fire—”

“Not at all,” Nyfain interjected. “Finley thinks this is fine, and so it must be fine.”

The flat look Hannon gave me said he knew this was a continuation of our game, and he was not amused. He did not like any hint of tomfoolery where healing was concerned. Still, he excused himself and shut the door behind us. Nyfain “locked” the door with the little wooden peg that fit into intersecting round circles.

I rolled my eyes. “Like I said, dream on, your highness.”

“You haven’t told Hannon who I am.” He grimaced as I struggled to help him into the chair. “Why?”

“What would a prince be doing in a place like this?”

“Resting. Healing. Allowing a fiery little tart to save his life.”

“Tart, is it?” I dipped my fingertips in the water before splashing it in his face.

His grin dissolved into chuckles.

“It would make them uncomfortable having the actual prince in our home.”

The smile slipped off his face. “They’d be uncomfortable with what I’ve become.”

I huffed out a joyless laugh before grabbing the waist of his sweats and tugging. He labored to lift so I could drag them off his legs. His semihard cock twitched against his leg, and I ignored my sudden urge to wrap my fingers around its girth.

“How could they have any opinion about what you’ve become when they have zero idea of what you used to be?” I said, draping the sweats over the rack against the wall by the door. “All nobles could be inked up and full of scars for all they know. Battle-hardened, basically. But as you yourself have frequently reminded me, there are very clear social differences between someone of your station and someone of ours. I just…I just don’t want to hear how lucky I am to feel the condescending glow of the prince’s attentions. To hear how lucky we are to have been graced with your presence. Not to mention one of the kids might tell someone, and we don’t need the village knowing.”

He watched me silently as I grabbed a sponge and some antiseptic serum that stung like a motherfucker. Could I have used a milder kind? Probably. Would I go easy on him? Absolutely not.

“I don’t think rank means much anymore,” Nyfain said quietly as I dipped the sponge into the lukewarm water. I then rubbed it on the soap stone and stalled at Nyfain’s back. Now that the poison was gone, so was the evidence of danger. I was squeamish to rub soap over his pink-red, ragged skin. That seemed super gross for some reason.

I stepped to his side instead, deciding to start with his shoulder and work up to the back.

“Quite a change of heart from mockingly calling me princess and constantly pointing out that I’m a commoner.”

“We all have to face reality eventually.”

“That isn’t reality, highness.” I rubbed over his shoulder, picking up his arm and scrubbing down. “When this curse is over, things will go back to the way they were.”

“If the curse is torn down, we’ll be thrown into war. The demon king will try to take the territory.” He gave me a significant look. “I’ll be killed quickly, as will anyone who tries to stand beside me.”

“There is always hope.”

“So you say.”

“You’d do well to believe it.” I braced his hand on my shoulder as I dipped the sponge in the water and then rubbed it against the stone again. I washed down his side this time.

“I was incredibly impressed with your flight through the wood last night, by the way,” he said. “The creatures you killed have taken the lives of many battle-hardened men. You killed and wounded several of the Fah Rahlen. With a pocketknife. That’s unheard of.”

“Except for you.”

“I was in my beast form.”

“Speaking of that.” I dropped his arm with a rush of anger that wasn’t wholly expected. His body dipped, but he caught himself, grimacing.

“I’m as weak as a day-old kitten,” he grumbled.

That was the poison. His body would rally soon. I didn’t bother explaining it, though. It wouldn’t prevent him from groaning about it.

“What were you thinking, changing into a man to take a blow that you knew would be poisoned? Were you trying to find a way out of this life and your duty?”

“You’d rather I let you take the blow and surely die? As I said, we have an antiserum at the castle, but it was made before the curse. I had very little hope that it would still work, and less hope that I could mix the plants in the right way to cure you. You would’ve died.”

“What I mean is, why didn’t you stay in your dragon form, since the scales would thwart the attack?”

I took the clay pitcher from the shelf and poured water on the soapy part of his side before moving to the other side. I wasn’t ready for the front of him any more than the wounds on his back.

“Dragons aren’t incredibly dexterous on the ground, and I had almost no time. With how tightly they were gathered around you and the angle I was coming in, I would’ve either stomped on you accidentally or the Fah Rahlen’s blow would’ve landed before I could intercede. Shielding you was the only thing I could think of.”

“Except you were putting the kingdom in peril to save one commoner.”

“And I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

My heart constricted. I struggled to hold on to my anger as I soaped up his side and moved for the pitcher. “I don’t know why you came for me at all. You’re trying to stay away from me. You want me to stay away from you. And yet you follow me instead of just letting me be free.”

“I was worried about your safety. It was the worst night of the month to travel that wood. And also…”

He waited as I poured water over his soaped-up skin. He breathed out through his nose as though suddenly frustrated about something.

“I think we can help each other, Finley,” he finally said.

I soaped up the sponge and hesitated. Gross wound or beguiling golden eyes, delicious, kissable lips, one hell of a torso, and a cock that was slowly gaining momentum in its quest to be the biggest thing in this room.

I stepped around to his back.

“I can supply you with knowledge about working with everlass that you probably don’t already have. For example, the crowded plants do have more uses than what you know.”

“Ah yes, the crowded everlass. We still need to talk about how you refused to give me that info so I could help save your life. We’ll get to that, but I want you to be healthy first so I can give you a solid thumping.”

“I look forward to it.” I could hear the mischievousness in his voice. “Maybe we can devise something together that will help people like your dad.”

“We can do that with me living here instead of the castle, though.”

His shoulders hunched, and I couldn’t tell if it was because I’d scrubbed across the claw marks or something else. I kept scrubbing regardless. It had to be done.

“Yes. We can. And maybe we should. You’ll be safer here, I think. I can meet you and escort you to the everlass field in the Royal Wood. You can take all you require and come back here. I’ll guarantee your safety.”

“If I use the crowded plant, I might not need to go at night.”

“And then you can stop seeing me entirely.”

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat, not sure what to say. That had been the plan when I left, right? To get away. To get some freedom. So why did I suddenly feel panicky and nervous about that idea?

My animal rolled through my chest, trying to force her way to the surface. Given Nyfain’s sudden tenseness, I had a feeling he was fighting his animal as well. Forcing him back down.

I wanted to ask if everyone’s animals acted liked sex-starved lunatics around alphas. Under different circumstances, would he have all the lady animals fighting for his attention?

But if things were normal, he wouldn’t be here now. He wouldn’t lower himself to bathing in a shed or sleeping in a crowded room. He wouldn’t give me the time of day, that was for sure. He’d have a lot more options than a rogue chick running around in boys’ clothing in the Forbidden Wood. So I didn’t bother asking. I didn’t want him to lie to placate me, and I definitely didn’t want the truth.

“Your dad isn’t well,” Nyfain said into the silence.

I cleaned his back and waist before reaching for the pitcher. “No. He’s taken a turn for the worse. He doesn’t have long. This will hurt.” After washing off the wounds, I rubbed in the salve that would help him heal and greatly reduce the chances of scarring. He sucked a breath through his teeth, and his muscles rippled.

“Is that why you were crying?” he asked in a growl, clearly fighting off the pain.

“Yes. I was thinking through options for changing up the elixir. That was a side effect.”

“I will help you as much as I can,” he said softly as I continued to apply the salve.

“When it isn’t your life in the balance, you’ll be more forthcoming, is that it?”

It was meant as a joke, but it came out an accusation.

I took a deep breath, readied the sponge, and moved to his front. His cock had softened, likely a result of the pain. That helped a little. But those beautiful sunburst eyes, filled with sympathy and support, were almost my undoing. He knew exactly what I was going through, and he was trying to ease the blow.

“With regards to last night, I underestimated you,” he said.

I washed his neck and down to his pecs, my movements slowing, my eyes feasting on all that glorious muscle. I didn’t care about the scarring anymore. It didn’t detract. The swirls of ink, some of which looked like ancient scrawls, I rather liked.

I stepped a little closer, my breathing shallower. His palms found the outsides of my legs.

“I don’t know how to work with everlass like you do. I don’t have the touch that my mother had. That you have. I only know the basics. I have never worked with a crowded everlass plant because it would likely mean death to whoever drank the concoction. As such, I couldn’t really tell you about the antiserum recipe, could I? And if I told you it could work, you might’ve created something too powerful and killed me. That would’ve left a mark on you, I knew it would’ve. And now I have proof, seeing how your father’s failing health torments you even though it is not even remotely your fault. I didn’t want my death on your conscience. There was simply no need for it. So I didn’t mention it.”

“So that thing about your mother…”

“I lied. You’re very gullible.”

“But you underestimated me.”

“Obviously. I could’ve mentioned it and cautioned you and saved you ten minutes of thought.” He laughed, mostly to himself, it seemed like. “You’re sharper with the plants than anyone I’ve ever known. And I’ve known the best. Your ability to not only reason out the answers, but to feel out the answers is remarkable. In the old days, it wouldn’t have mattered where you came from—with that skill, you would’ve stood out. You would’ve elevated the standing of your entire family.”

“In the old days, there would’ve been no reason for me to reason out the best elixirs. So no, I wouldn’t have stood out.”

He looked up as I poured water over his chest. He dipped his hands under my shirt and slid against the skin on my sides.

“You would stand out anywhere.”

I let my gaze dip over the planes and angles of his face. The severity of his handsomeness was softened by his sparkling eyes and soft smile. I barely saw the scars now, looking instead at the man within. I couldn’t hide the truth from myself any longer—the more I knew of him, the more I liked him, rough edges and all. I liked his growly personality, his bad moods, and his bursts of passion. I liked his thoughtfulness and protectiveness. Even his possessiveness fanned the blaze within me.

My animal within purred at that last thought because she liked it when he dominated us. When he held us captive and pleasured us until we begged for more.

It wasn’t meant to be, though. I knew that. I knew this could never work.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t give him a happy ending to this bath. I’d said I wouldn’t, sure, but thankfully, he didn’t seem like the type to gloat.

I wet the sponge again and slowly took care of his right leg, bathing the outside first and then the inside. I made slow circles, higher and higher, until I was nearly touching his balls. His breathing grew deeper, heavier. I poured the water, splashing myself in the process, turning my white shirt see-through. I did the same with the next leg, tantalizing him with my slow ministrations. I poured the water, rinsing off the soap, before softly kissing his inner thigh. Then I shifted to the other, trailing my tongue before sucking in his skin.

He sucked in a breath. I reached up and wet my hands before rubbing the soap stone, getting my palms sudsy. I caught his gaze, his eyes hooded and on fire, then ran my hands up the sides of his cock and down, scooping up his balls.

He groaned as I massaged, reaching down and tangling his fingers in my hair. I felt a soft tug, and my animal about surged to the surface. I forced her back down. She’d push us to go too far. I wasn’t going to bang him with my cunt. No, I’d do it with my mouth instead. I’d get it hard, and get it deep, and I’d get myself off on holding the power between my teeth. It was as far as we would go.

I wrapped the fingers of one hand around his shaft and continued to massage his balls with the other. I pumped my hand and massaged, delighting in the feather-soft skin. I ran my finger over his tip, where precum had beaded. I worked the suds back down, pumping faster now, seeing his hips tilt and retreat. His fingers in my hair turned into a fist. He held me firm, and I moaned within that hold.

His breathing came fast. Mine was faster. My sex swelled, so wet, so desperate for him.

I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t do this slow. It was killing me.

I upended the pitcher over him, washing off the soap, and attacked his cock with my mouth. I licked the tip before sucking him down, taking him as deeply as I could go. I pushed up higher on my knees, shimmied closer. I pumped my hand and followed with my mouth, taking in more of his big cock with each bob of my head. He let me, his fist in my hair for show.

I didn’t want a show. I wanted a hard face-fucking.

Opening a crack, I let the fire of my animal fill me. She slipped through as much as she was able, her power pulsing, but I was still in control.

Even still, a heady wave of Nyfain’s dragon answered, power filling me. I popped my mouth off Nyfain’s cock and closed my eyes as I soaked in that thick rush of blistering bliss. It tethered us—spicy, sweet, and sexy as hell.

“Yes, Nyfain,” I groaned, still pumping him with my hand. Wanting to climb on top of him and sink down onto that cock.

He gripped my head harder and forced it down. My animal growled in ecstasy as he shoved up with his hips and parted my lips with the head of his cock. I softly scraped his shaft with my teeth. He growled in desire and flooded me with another rush of power. Then he yanked my hair, plunging in deep. My eyes watered, and I gripped his balls with one hand, tighter than a lover’s caress. My fingernails of the other hand dug into his thigh.

This is not quite right, my animal cried in frustration, spurring me on nonetheless. I bobbed on his cock with reckless abandon, taking everything he had to give and begging for more. I reached down and ran my fingers through my wet pussy before massaging my clit.

He needs to be in our cunt, not our face. We should fight, force him to dominate us to prove his worth and mate us with a passion he would show no other. Does the man not know where a cock is supposed to go? His dragon can help.

Shh.

His movements got jerkier. Harder. His cock ravaged my throat. My chin banged against his balls. It was fierce and rough and brutal, and I was so fucking here for it. It was exactly what I’d wanted.

My finger kept going on my clit, winding up my body, and my spit bathed his cock and pooled around his balls. His thighs tightened, and his hand yanked my hair, and then he was groaning and filling my mouth. His release slid down my throat, and I backed off so I could swallow it all. Usually I didn’t, but with him…I just fucking wanted to. None of this was thought out. I’d probably have reeled away if someone asked me two days ago whether I wanted to be roughly throat-fucked and get a mouthful of a man’s climax, but here, in the moment… Fuck yes.

He pulled my hair so I’d have to stand, and I winced. He smashed his mouth to mine, apparently not at all concerned about tasting his saltiness on my lips, then yanked my pants down and slipped his fingers into my panties. My slick wetness made him groan.

“Come for me, baby girl,” he growled softly, plunging in two fingers and working my clit with his thumb. “Come for me.”

He kissed me, and I clutched his big shoulders and lost myself in his lips. In the expert movement of his hands. I groaned into his mouth as he pumped those fingers faster. He wrapped his other hand around my nape, deepening our kiss as he sucked my tongue into his mouth and rolled it with his. His kiss was deep and passionate and delicious, and before I knew it, I slammed into the ceiling with a toe-curling orgasm.

I cried out into his mouth, trying to pull away. He wouldn’t let me, finishing me up as he nibbled my bottom lip. I melted against him, my knees buckling. He caught me before I bonelessly slid between his spread knees and guided my butt onto his thigh. His hold relaxed and his kiss changed, sweet now. Lingering, like he didn’t want me to leave just yet.

I liked the ending, but I still think he’s doing it wrong, my animal muttered grumpily.

I smiled and shoved her down. An echo of Nyfain’s dragon vibrated within me until the feeling receded. He seemed just as annoyed.

“Can you feel my animal?” I asked Nyfain, pulling my arms from around him. “I mean…more than just her presence. Can you feel her mood?”

He constricted his arms around me, trying to keep me put.

“Let me up,” I whispered, then snagged one more kiss. Feeling my heart ooze just a little.

My eyes snapped open, and I staggered out of his embrace. No, no to the heart-oozing thing. Admitting to liking the guy was one thing, but oozing hearts and what that might mean was entirely another. He was not someone I would be developing deep feelings for. I couldn’t afford to lose my heart to him any more than I could let myself be claimed by him.

His gaze tracked me like a predator. He leaned back against the chair with a wince.

“You don’t have the energy for…any of that. I shouldn’t have…” I grabbed the pitcher and filled it with water, walking around to his back.

“Given me the best blowjob I’ve ever had?” he asked lightly. Shivers coated my skin, and I gritted my teeth against the pride warming my middle. “Shown me that no sex salon in any of the kingdoms could compare to you?”

“I don’t need flattery. That’s not happening again.”

“I love when you make promises. The challenge to help you break them makes it all the sweeter.”

So he was a gloater. Damn it.

I poured water over the claw gashes, only a small smear of blood running down his back. He hadn’t overdone it. I added more salve to make sure they’d heal quickly.

“As for your animal, I can feel her better than you can feel mine, clearly. I can only feel traces of your—her moods, though. Only when your emotions are heightened in some way. That ability has probably been subdued by the curse.”

“So it was normal back in the day?”

“To a degree,” he said vaguely.

I put everything away and brought over a drying cloth. “What does that mean, to a degree? To what degree? How does it relate to us?”

He stood, using the back of the chair for a brace while I dried him. “All these questions.” He sounded annoyed. “Aren’t you well read? There are books about it.”

“There are books on the history of shifters, on animal types and their rarity—things like that. That was all before the curse, though. Those authors assumed people knew the fundamentals of being a shifter. There aren’t any books about that.”

“In my library, perhaps.”

“Right. Well. Someone hasn’t granted me entrance to their library.”

“Yes. Because someone ran away before I could give her a rundown.”

“Fine. Well, when you come to escort me to the everlass fields, will you bring a book that explains it so I don’t need to trouble you with my questions?”

“And how do you assume I’ll carry it? They don’t sew knapsacks for ground-bound dragons.”

“Carry it in your mouth.”

“And risk getting it soaked through with my spit? If you want to check out a book, you’ll need to move back to the castle.”

I huffed in annoyance and braced a hand on my hip. Instead of forcing me to come back, he was trying to lure me. And then, once I got there, he’d be back to telling me in one breath he wanted to lick my pussy and in the next he wanted to lock me in my room.

I rolled my eyes and went for the door. “Get yourself into the house. Better yet, crawl back to the castle like you planned to do earlier. Maybe a lesson on being humble will be good for you.”

“I’ve had plenty of lessons on being humble. I certainly don’t need one from you, princess. And if you don’t help me back—”

I slammed the door behind me before he could deliver the threat. He was impossible. Impossible! He was like two opposites sharing a skin—come here, go away. Although maybe that was a natural result of sharing his skin with a dragon.

I wished he’d just say that, though. Or try to explain himself. This couldn’t be the way of all shifters. It just couldn’t. If it were, the orgies would have been worse than the ones hosted by the demons, and I was fairly sure those hadn’t been a thing back in the day. I was definitely missing something here.

I wondered if Hadriel would tell me. Or if there was, indeed, a book about it.

Of course, I’d have to go back to the castle if I wanted to seek out either form of confirmation, and once I went back, that was probably it. I wouldn’t be able to escape again.