Lord Thordis Jax, The Royal Dungeons
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about Faith. The look in her eyes when her sister, her fucking sister, Princess Trinity, had named me a traitor.
I’d been in the palace prison for a few hours. They’d taken me from my apartment, naked, hosed me down like I was a piece of equipment, shoved some coarse clothing at me and chained me to a wall the moment I had the pants and tunic on.
At least I was sitting down. But the chains attached to my arms were on runners. I could move them up or down the track, but not more than a few inches from the wall itself. I could stand, or sit, or sleep with my back to the wall, but that was all.
The cuffs attached to my wrists and ankles were unnecessary. There was no escaping this cell. It looked like it was a thousand years old with stone walls and a stone floor, the black graphite bars across the front of the square space were stronger than the centuries old metal they’d replaced. And beyond that? An energy barrier used on the planet Atlan to control the beasts scheduled for execution. Males who’d lost control and could tear through graphite like ripping a piece of paper. Males without a mate to soothe them.
Males like me. I wasn’t going to go into beast mode, but that didn’t mean my cock wasn’t hard, aching for her. With the shackles, I couldn’t even get myself off to ease the need. Not that I wanted to. I wanted in Faith’s pussy.
In Faith.
Her name was a dagger in my chest. She’d lied to me. Lied about who she was and why she’d been in my parents’ home.
I was no Atlan beast. I wouldn’t literally lose my mind and need to be executed after being separated from her. I could survive without her. But I did not want to.
Her Ardor was not over, and the thought of another male pleasuring her, heating her body, giving her his energy as he pumped his thick cock into her—
Fuck.
I yelled in frustration and yanked and pulled against my restraints once more, rattling the chains that hung from the manacles around my wrists and ankles. Those were special gifts from the bastard, Nix, and they’d worked like a charm, the heavy weight reminding me every second of how hopeless this situation was.
Not that I could blame him. He thought I wanted to kill his queen and the princess. They believed I’d kidnapped Faith and held her against her will in my apartment. That I would hurt my mate! Leo. Travin. Nix. They all believed it.
If I were going to hurt her, I wouldn’t have had my mouth on her pussy when they burst in.
Never. She was mine. And she was upstairs above me right now, somewhere in this massive palace, with people she trusted telling her lies about me.
I was no traitor. Not to my own family or the Queen’s. Never had been. Never. But Faith didn’t know that. She didn’t know anything about me because we hadn’t really talked about anything. I’d been determined to get her to talk about herself, and,’ of course, I’d been so busy getting my cock inside her, making her come, congratulating myself when she screamed my name and begged for more, that I hadn’t done the one thing I should have. Let her know me. Made her fall in love with me.
Me. Not my body.
I couldn’t contain the turmoil in my mind and yelled again. If anyone touched her… I’d kill him. I’d cut his cock off and hang it around his neck. I’d—
“Not happy, I take it?”
That voice. Her voice.
I looked up to see a beautiful stranger standing just outside the dark bars of my cell. Was that really Faith? She looked exactly the same, and yet, so very different. She must have turned off the energy field already to be standing so close. I’d been too caught up in my own misery to notice.
But seeing Faith now was a blow I wasn’t ready to take. I couldn’t breathe.
I barely recognized her. She wore a gown that shimmered when she moved. The material was a dark, wine color that made little bits of red shine between the gorgeous strands of brown on her head. The ones I knew felt like silk between my fingers. The gown fit her from the hips up like a glove, outlining every curve. Every inch of which I knew very well. Below, it fell straight as rain on a windless night to cover her feet.
The neckline dipped just low enough to tease me with her skin. I could bury my face there and be blissfully happy kissing and tasting for hours. Forever.
If she would allow it.
Which, from her crossed arms and foul expression, she most definitely would not.
She was breathtaking. Stunning. So beautiful I couldn’t think, her regal bearing and noble bloodline obvious in every graceful movement of her hands, her chin. Even the square set of her shoulders.
Goddess, I’d been an idiot to think she was nothing more than a servant. A complete, cock-blinded idiot. I tugged at the restraints wanting to reach for her. “Faith. Please, listen to me. I’m not a traitor. I don’t care what your sister—”
“Her Royal Highness, Princess Trinity, you mean?” she scolded me, and I dipped my chin in apology but didn’t dare break eye contact. She was listening, although definitely pissed. That was a start. My mate, the fucking princess, was willing to hear me out.
“I don’t care what Her Royal Highness, Princess Trinity, has said about me. I am not a traitor. I had nothing to do with Zel’s scheme.”
“How am I supposed to believe you? Trinity said you handed her over to Zel at the reception practically gift-wrapped.” Her tone was one I’d not heard from her before, and the monotone recital of facts made me nervous. That wasn’t Faith. Not the Faith I knew. It was like she was being forced to swallow something extremely unpleasant.
“A coincidence,” I explained. “We had just shared a dance and she was thirsty. I have no idea how many Alerans she’d danced with, but I was the last. I escorted her to the refreshment table and she saw Zel before I did. Recognized him. She hugged him in front of everyone, clearly thinking he’d tried to save her from the queen’s guards who’d come to do the actually rescuing.” I sighed. “Goddess, what a fuck up. Look, I acted the gentleman and left her to entertain her next guest. Why would I think she needed protection from him?”
She shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, Thor. That’s why I’m here. I don’t know what to believe.” She pressed a button on the wall out of my line of sight and the door to my personal prison swung wide. She stepped inside, leaving it open behind her. The closer she approached, the thicker the air in my cell became. My body reached for hers, desperate in a way I’d never experienced, but I couldn’t reach her. Not a chance with the fucking chains. My cock was a painful rod in the coarse pants, the rough fabric rubbing the sensitive head. Even that discomfort was not enough to tame my lust. With her before me, pre-cum seeped from the tip. I could smell her now. That dark forest scent—and more—that made me wild. Her skin. Her hair. Her wet pussy. Desire filled the room. I breathed it in, and I recognized it now, as unique to her.
Unlike me, who I knew smelled of a harsh cleanser, she smelled like flowers and perfumed lotions. Like she’d soaked in a bath of Aleran flowers and they’d melted into her skin. I recognized the scent as partly the result of her bath, but mostly, just her.
Mine.
Yet here she stood before me, inches away and completely beyond my reach.
She licked her full lips but stopped walking forward when the hem of her dress brushed my bare toes. She should have towered over me, but even seated as I was, we were nearly the same height. With my arms spread wide and chained to the wall, I could not touch her. Only gaze upon what I’d had and lost.
“My sister and Leo are convinced you had something to do with kidnapping my mother.” No monotone now. Pain. Regret.
What was she talking about?
Princess Trinity’s words came back to me from just hours earlier in my apartment. The Ardor fried your brains, little sister. Step away from him. He’s a traitor. We’ve found evidence that the Jax family was involved in the plot to kidnap Mother.
I put my soul into my eyes, willed her to believe me. “I would never betray the true queen. I vow this to you as your mate.”
She cleared her throat and looked away from me, a blush creeping into her cheeks that I had learned meant she was either embarrassed or aroused. With the scent of her Ardor, her desire, driving me mad, I was hoping for the latter. “I release you from that whole mate thing.”
My heart stilled, a chill seeped into my bones. “What?”
She shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist as if she were freezing. Which was unlikely. The cell was temperature controlled to be habitable. “I said, I release you from the whole mate thing.”
I shook my head. “No. Fuck no.”
She froze, eyes wide. “What do you mean, no?”
“No,” I repeated, my voice louder. I couldn’t say the one word any more clearly. “You are mine.”
It was her turn to shake her head. “You don’t know anything about me. And even if I believed you, which I’m not saying I do, but even if I did, I’d need proof. My sister is convinced you are involved, Thor. And her head’s a lot clearer than mine at the moment.”
“I do not like hearing you speak poorly of yourself. Why would you say such a thing?” She was intelligent. Highly so. I’d seen it myself in our brief time together.
“Because.” Her gaze drifted to my cock and it was like she’d stroked me. I hissed in shock at the violence of my reaction. A spurt of pre-cum stained my pants.
There was only one explanation for her words. Her Ardor. My body was responding to hers, to her need. It was my job to soothe her, to ease this discomfort. To keep her from doubting herself. So she could be her true self again.
“I said no. You cannot refute me. I have never lied to you. Never. Can you say the same, Your Highness?”
Her dark eyes widened, then narrowed. “That’s not fair. I couldn’t tell you who I really was.”
“Why?” She’d kept the biggest secret of all. I hadn’t known. Obviously, my parents hadn’t either. No one on Alera, except for a select few, knew who she really was. A female from Earth who was the daughter of Queen Celene. One of the lit spires belonged to her. Her life force illuminated it, and it would stay that way until she took her last breath. Which, if I had my way, would be at a very old age and in my arms.
“You know why,” she replied. “There’s a traitor in the Jax house, one who sent Zel to kill me and my sisters within hours of our transport from Earth. My mother is missing. Kidnapped. They dragged her out of bed and transported her to god knows where. They’re probably torturing her right now. We have to find her. I couldn’t tell you any of that.”
She was riled. Angry. Sad, too. Clearly, she loved her mother and worried for her. Because she was not happy, neither was I. I wanted to hold her, ease her upset and at the same time, go track down the fuckers.
“But while you kept your secrets, you could lie in my arms and let me fuck you. Let me fill you. Let me claim you as my mate and talk nonsense about forever? Did you plan a hundred ways to betray me while my cock was inside you? While I was filling you with my seed, feeding your Ardor with my life force, were you consumed with plans to leave me behind?”
“I didn’t—I’m sorry. I don’t know. I didn’t know you, Thor. You’re a Jax. I got arrested, and then you showed up at the station to save me, and then—”
“Then we spent the night in bed together. Then you screamed my name and begged me to fill you. And you still said nothing of who you really were. You listened as I promised you forever and you lied to me, Princess.”
“You’re a Jax,” she countered.
And there was the crux of the issue. “Yes. I am a Jax. My family has been loyal to the true queens for thousands of years. And you’re mine, Faith. My mate. I don’t care what your sister believes. I know the truth. I am innocent of this.”
“I need proof, Thor.”
“Release me and you will have it. I will not stop until I have found the traitor.”
She shook her head. “They’ll never let you go. Not now. They are convinced you are guilty.”
“With all due respect, I don’t give a shit about any of them. All I care about is what you think. What you believe. What is that?”
Her laugh was bitter, like a strangled cry coming from her throat as she paced before me. Back and forth. Shaking. With rage? Hurt?
Need?
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” The hurt in her eyes made me feel as if she ripped my heart from my chest and stomped it beneath her heel. Still, she paced. Back and forth, faster and faster, her breath speeding as well. Her nipples were hard points beneath the smooth fabric of her gown. She wrung her hands together, twisting and contorting her fingers as if the pain of such abuse would distract her from what she needed.
There was no escaping this. Not for either of us.
She knew the answer, knew the truth, but perhaps needed some coaxing. Someone to soothe her in the basest of ways. To clear her mind so she could decide. For herself. Not for her sister, not for the crown.
Faith alone.
“Come here.” I made the words gentle, but still a command. She needed, I would provide.
She froze in place, but looked down at me with those unfathomable dark eyes. “What?”
“Come here.” I rattled the chains, flexed strongly, pulling against them to prove I could not escape their hold. “I cannot hurt you if that is what you fear. Come here, mate, and take what you need.”
The flush on her cheeks darkened to a deep crimson, but I held her gaze. I knew what she needed. We both knew. And chained or not, I did not want her taking what she needed to soothe her Ardor from another male. She was mine. Mine to care for. Mine to fuck.
Her Ardor was mine to feed. No one else’s. Her body would take my heat, my energy, my seed, and my life force would fill her up. My cock would stretch her open, fuck her. Fill her. Mine.
I was innocent of the crimes her sister had laid against me. Eventually, I would prove I spoke the truth. I would prove myself worthy of her trust. Faith would be mine. Forever.
But first, I would give her the soothing she required so she could think clearly, at least for a time, until her Ardor drove her yet again.
“Come here, love.” I calmed myself, relaxed my muscles, let a smile curve my lips. “I understand why you were afraid to tell me the truth. But I am not a traitor. I will prove it, I promise you. And when I do, I’m never letting you go. You are mine, my princess. My mate. So come here. Climb onto my lap, lift that pretty dress and ride my cock like I know you want to. Take me, Faith. Take what you want.”
She eyed me, then laughed. “You’re crazy. This is insane.”
That was better. She wasn’t mad any longer. She thought me slightly insane. I was. For her.
“You need me and I want you to take what you need. I’ll give it to you. Not from a consort. Me. My cock is yours mate. Look at it. See how hard it is. That’s all for you. It’s only ever been this way for you and you know that. Look at my hands. Shackled. I can’t touch you. Can’t do anything but feel the wet clench of your pussy as you surround my cock. Use it. Use me. We will both love it.”
She bit her lip, thinking. But I knew her body, recognized the look in her eyes when she was about to give me what I wanted.
Control. Surrender.
Mine. She was mine, even as I was restrained.
“Come. Here.” The command was firm this time, from a male to his mate, a mate who suffered. Who needed.
“This is insane,” she repeated. Her words were barely more than a whisper, but she turned to face me, stepped forward, lifted her skirt so I had a brief glimpse of her ankles and climbed onto the small, flat mattress. Her knees settled on either side of my thighs. My arms moved automatically, to pull her close, press her body to mine, but the sharp bite of manacles against my flesh forced me to hold still, afraid to startle her by struggling further. My cock was hard and firm against her stomach, the fabric of my pants the only thing between us. Already, I could feel the wet heat of her core, even through my prisoner’s garb.
“Kiss me, Faith. Forget this place, where we are. Forget about everything else and let me fill you up.”
Her breath was coming in little pants and her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were so dark, heated with her Ardor’s need. “God, you make me crazy.”
I hoped that was a good thing and leaned forward to claim her lips with my own.
Her small hands moved down my body, between us, and freed my cock as I kissed her, reveled in the taste of her on my tongue. It was addictive. Feminine. I’d never get enough.
I groaned. She moaned. Softened for me as she lifted higher on her knees, then settled down onto my hard cock. We both shuddered at the feel of it. Fuck, her pussy lips wrapped around the crown before I sank in, opening her up. She was so wet, my entry was easy. She kissed me once more before her mouth moved to linger on my jaw before she nuzzled my neck, her hot breath fanning my skin.
“Thor,” she almost whimpered. She was seated right on my lap, completely filled with my cock. She remained still, and I wasn’t sure if I could survive the delicious feel of her.
There were tears in that voice, pain. Uncertainty. And yet she’d let me in, joined us as one.
“It’s all right,” I murmured. “Do it. Feel me. Let me take care of you. Please, Faith. Please.” I was begging now. Begging her to move. To ride me. To take my energy and fill herself up. I wanted to be part of her forever. I wanted to know that it was my life force that made her strong. Whole. “Please, baby. Move. Take me.”
Pinned to the wall like an insect, I felt powerless. Helpless, and yet powerful, for I was the one to give this to her. The one to make her pussy all but drip with her need. Her inner walls clench and clutch my cock. My energy transferring to her, giving her the relief she needed.
If, when we were done here, Faith walked away from me, I knew, somehow I knew, that I’d lose her forever.
“I can’t do this.” She leaned back, sitting harder on my cock, taking me deeper, not in pleasure, but as a side effect. She gasped as I bottomed out. I yanked against the chains, desperate to break free. To hold her to me.
No! Fuck, no. I was crammed inside her tight pussy, and yet I was losing her.
I lost my mind, just for a moment, knowing she was mentally drifting away. “No!” I pulled with all my might against the restraints, blood running from fresh cuts at my wrists.
She pulled her head back, eyes wide on my arms. “Stop it! Right now.”
Faith kissed me. Hard. Over and over until I stopped struggling. “Hold still. Okay? Just trust me for a minute.”
She held my gaze, those dark brown eyes no longer sad, but filled with resolve. To leave me? Kill me? Fuck me senseless. I had no idea. But she needed me to hold still, so I would, no matter the cost. Sweat dripped from my brow as I nodded. She grinned and kissed me again. Slower. Deeper. Buried her fingers in my hair and tugged just hard enough to let me know she was already riding the edge of release.
She shifted her hips and moved on my cock, moaning with pleasure. Heat built between us and I felt the sweet release of tension in my body as she drained the excess energy from me, claiming it for her own. Feeding her Ardor. “Maybe we should try this again someday. Tying each other up.” Lifting her hips, she slid back down, taking me deeper still. “Under different circumstances, of course.”
“Mate, what are you talking about?” She had me so confused, so wound up, I had no idea what was going on.
“This.” Reaching up, she somehow released the bolts from the wall, the manacles dropping to hang with a soft clinking sound along the stone. The restraints around my ankles collapsed as well, falling to the floor with a thud.
I was free.
The door was open.
And my mate was riding my cock. Hard. And calling out my name as if I were a god. As if I were the life force she needed to breathe instead of the traitor she thought me to be.