With the blessing of the renegade kings, Beck and Cian Finn, Lach and Shim begin a dangerous quest to find their bride before Torin and his hags take her life.
Across two planes, a war will rage. Lives will be lost. Love will be found. And the Seelie Fae will welcome their true kings home.
Excerpt #1:
Micha grabbed a vial off his desk. “Hold her.”
Niall stopped, obviously not sure what to do. Poor Niall.
None of this had gone how he’d planned. She was sure he’d hoped to slip her out
of the province with no one the wiser. Now he had to get her away from the
guard and deal with a drugged princess. He was forced to watch as one of
Micha’s personal guards held her and forced her head back.
The substance was vile, and she recognized the bitter taste.
There had only been a hint of it in the water. This was undiluted. It raked
through her system, burning as it made its way down her gut. The effect was
almost instantaneous. A horrible ache, so much worse than before, grabbed her.
She needed. She needed them.
“Shim. Lach.” She could feel her head lolling back.
“That’s better.” Micha’s muddy eyes looked down at her.
“See, my dear, now you’re compliant, more like the lady you should have been.”
“Hurts.” She seemed to only be able to speak single words
now. “Shim. Lach.”
He shook his head. “Are they your lovers, dear? I should
have known you would be a whore, too. I should have taken you and left it at
that. You ungrateful wretch. You don’t deserve to be my wife. Go and see if the
fire is hot yet and bring the magistrate. Our witch has confessed.”
She felt her body falling and the cold stone floor against
her skin. Her head ached, a sharp pain, but it was nothing compared to the
fires that licked at her body. Fire. Fire should be sweet, but now it was only
pain. Shim. Shim was fire. Like a shimmer. Lach was cool like a lake. Yes, that
was where she’d gotten their names. One mystery solved. Would she see them
soon?
“Your Highness, I am outnumbered.” Niall lifted her off the
floor where they had simply tossed her like she was a piece of garbage. Niall’s
words were whispered against her ear, so small she could barely make them out.
She wanted to kiss him. She wanted his lips on hers, his
cock sliding deep. That would quench the fire. Her eyes would close, and she
could pretend he was Lach or Shim.
Goddess, it was cruel to die like this. To know this ache
and know what it meant. She would die a virgin, fire torching her from the
inside and the outside.
“Your Highness, you must tell me where the knife is.”
His voice was so urgent. He was so close, his skin hidden
under layers of clothes. Shim. She’d seen him without his clothes. And Lach. So
beautiful. She needed flesh against hers. It was all she wanted now. Shim was
close. She could see him. He was holding her.
“Shim. Kiss me.”
“Damn it, Bronwyn.” There was a shuffling as he looked down
at her. His eyes shifted to dark blue. There he was. But his words made little
sense. “I need to know where the knife is. It’s the only proof. I can’t save
you, but I have a job to do. If I can’t save you, I have to find someone else.
That knife is proof. Please. You owe the kingdom.”
Kingdom? What kingdom? Why did he care about the kingdom?
She hurt. She ached. She couldn’t even breathe. “Kiss me.” Why wouldn’t he kiss
her? Lach liked to play vampire games, but Shim was always so quick with
kisses. She needed both. Where was Lachlan?
Her body shook. Niall wouldn’t leave her be. “The knife.
Where is the knife?”
He kept talking about the knife. He urged her. Told her they
were coming. The words didn’t make sense.
“The tower. In the tower.” That was where she’d hidden the
knife. The knife had been her father’s. The knife had killed her, blood
tumbling from her body until nothingness had swallowed her up and then fire had
brought her back. A phoenix. She’d been a phoenix, born anew.
They had given her wings.
“Where in the tower?” Niall growled. “I’m out of time.
They’re coming back. I’ll have to find it myself. I am sorry for this, Your
Highness. I wish you good luck in your journey.”
And she was back on the floor. Alone. Abandoned. A cramp hit
her. She needed to touch herself, but she couldn’t make her damn arms work. A
journey. She was taking a journey.
Into death.
Rough hands pulled her up, dragging her when her feet
wouldn’t work. Tears streamed now. The world was a chaotic mess, and she
couldn’t feel them. They were always there, somewhere in the back of her mind.
She no longer cared that they were an expression of what was wrong with her.
They had been the best part of her pathetic life, and she couldn’t feel them.
Real or not, she wanted them here.
“Lachlan.” Someone was screaming his name. “Shim.”
She could smell the fire. So close now. Her head snapped
back. Someone had slapped her. Blood. She tasted it even as another seizure
hit. The agony was unimaginable, a body that cried out for solace and would get
not an ounce.
Rope bit into her wrists, the only thing holding her up.
The guards laughed. Called her trash. Better off ashes. That
was all she was to these men. Nothing. She meant nothing. Her dreams and
madness meant less than nothing. They would lash her to a pole and burn her
then sweep up her ashes. It would be as though she hadn’t lived.
Bronwyn Finn had died so long ago, and now this girl, this
woman she’d become, would be gone, too. Ashes burned in the fire, sent to the
wind. The ache in her gut…pussy. It was in her pussy. There was no way to deny
it now. The ache in her pussy superseded all other pain. What a horrible way to
die—all her sweetness dissolved and she was left with only a raw ache as the
sum of all her years.
Lachlan. Shim. She called to them. She didn’t know if she
cried out loud or if it was only in her head.
She felt the heat of the fire and prayed she would see them
soon.
Excerpt #2:
Lach stopped. He set
her on her feet, but she didn’t stay there long. He got to one knee and flipped
her neatly over. She found herself facing the grass, her ass in the air. Oh,
goddess, she’d pushed him. She’d known what she was doing, and she’d done it
anyway because she wanted this. She wanted to see what made Kaja moan, but she
didn’t want to ask for it.
“You know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you, Bron?” Shim
sounded a little tortured. “This doesn’t mean anything to you.”
“Shim, there’s no use talking to her. She knows what she
wants, and she’s figured out how to get it.” Lach’s big hand steadied her. “One
last chance, princess. We can play this the way we would prefer. We would
prefer to simply love you tonight. There will be time enough for games later.
We want to bond. We want to know you inside and out.”
And then they would know how to handle her every single
time. She was already at a disadvantage since they seemed to be able to read
her thoughts. No. She couldn’t let them in. This was all she could give them.
For now. Maybe forever. “Fuck off, Lach.”
His hand hit her ass with a loud crack, and tears sparked
from her eyes. The pain was sharp and cut through her. Lach barely gave her time
to process the first one before he struck again. Ten times his hand rained
down. Bron couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think past the
feel of Lach’s hand on her ass.
And the feel of his cock hardening. She could feel it rising
against her side, but more than that, she could feel it as Lach felt it,
jutting out from his core, his cock filling with blood. There was a primal
anticipation taking him over. This was a good place for Lach. This was a place
he loved, and it was so much sweeter because she was here with him.
His hand came down again, but he’d eased up. Not on the
strength, but on the pace. This time the pain jarred her, making her jump, but
Lach’s hand stayed on her ass as though keeping the heat in, allowing it to
sink into her skin.
“Not so bad.” Lach rubbed the spot he’d hit.
Damn him. He could feel her, too. How was she supposed to
stay distant? “You’re not the one who’s going to have a red ass tomorrow.”
“I’m not the one who ran away and put everyone in danger.
I’m not the one cursing you at every turn. I’m not the one being stubborn about
a marriage that’s been in place for most of our lives.”
Every accusation was punctuated with a smack and a long caress.
“And even if you did, what would I do about it?” Bron forced
herself to concentrate on the unfairness of it all. But it was hard because she
really, really wanted to focus on how soft and wet her pussy was and how long
and thick and hard Lach was getting.
“If I do any of that, I promise to present my ass to you.
I’ll take whatever punishment you see fit, love.” He cracked his hand once
more. “Now, I know you can feel what this is doing to me, but maybe I should
put it in words, so you can’t mistake what’s happening. I love having you over
my knee. I love having your ass in the air waiting for my discipline. It makes
me feel ten feet tall. I love how the sight of you gets me hard and ready to
fuck. You’re my mate. You’re the reason we both waited thirty years. No other
women, Bron.”
“None for me.” Shim got to one knee, his hand on her back.
“I’m a virgin because I belong to you. Does that make me less of a man? Many in
our kingdom think so. Women have been thrown at us for years because we’re not
a delicate people. We fuck and we fight and our people admire kings and princes
who do so as well. Do you know how many times we’ve had our manhoods called
into question? But we wouldn’t sway because we belong to you. Tell me that
means something, Bron. Tell me I didn’t wait thirty years for a woman who
doesn’t really want me.”
“Let me up.” She had to get up. She couldn’t lie here. Damn
him. They were coming at her from all sides. Lach with his dominance and Shim
with his soft heart. “Damn it, Lachlan. Let me up.”
Two more smacks, but then she was on her knees. “You’re
going to be the death of me, Bron.”
Woo-Hoo!!! It's finally here!! Great paranormal series by Sophie Oak!! Beast is my favorite so far--we will have to see after Beauty if it remains my favorite!!
Books 1 and 2 in A Faery Story Series
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