How to Keep a Fae (Coveted Fae #1)

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Adaline

A chair arrives—not a carver chair, but a deep, plush chaise longue, complete with the softest, most decadent throw. The upholstery is a midnight blue embroidered with moons, stars, and planets in every color of the rainbow. The throw is the same midnight blue and trimmed with silver stars. It takes up a good portion of the remaining space but is the loveliest thing I have ever seen, and so blissful to lie on it that it’s in danger of becoming a second nest.

Yet we do not get something for nothing in this life, and I wonder if I’m being paid for something I have already lost, or something I’m yet to lose.

Maybe I’m reading too much into this. Maybe it is simply a chair.

My mother, Denna, is still my house mistress. While on the surface, she’s her usual stern self, something has changed underneath, a subtle softening I glimpse here and there. I don’t know her. She kept me physically close but at a distance in every other way, so this is hardly a surprise.

Do I want to connect with her?

Is that even possible when my mere presence is a source of love and pain for her?

That charged conversation gave me something though, an insight, and maybe hope that one day a bond might grow, that she might be ready to tell me about my father. She is not the loving mother one might wish for, but she is also not a monster.

Dede knows about us, and I’m glad I have someone I can confide in.

I started foresight training yesterday with an imperial sister and will have a regular schedule going forward. I’m glad of the distraction. A part of me is excited about this, but I’m also worried that it might change me. If I stop being a feeder… no, I cannot linger on that. The chosen said I was still a feeder, as did the king.

What happened in the king’s day room is hazy in my mind. I remember snippets at odd times. Some stoke my curiosity. Others leave a sense of unease.

“Will you sanction this?” Aurelius asked.

“I will not,” the chosen replied.

I have played those words over a thousand times since. I get the strangest impression Aurelius is related to August, and that he sought approval for us to mate—for all of us, given the king had already mentioned me healing two warriors at a time.

A request that was rejected.

I have not lost anything, for I never had them to start with. But that does not make the pain of what might have been any less.

Maybe I’m interpreting it wrong. Maybe he was talking about something other than mating.

After all, I am still a feeder, just one with foresight .

But my mother likewise came to the same conclusion about what the words meant, and she has years and wisdom over me.

It is strange how a single moment—a single meeting—can shatter long-held truths and reveal them as lies. I always imagined the imperials held and wielded the illusive power, had leave to mate and love and make decisions on such things.

They do not. Now, I see them as simply different kinds of cogs. All pathways lead back to the chosen, the immortals who rule us all.

“Adaline!” Denna’s stern hail rouses me from my musings.

It also brings an unwitting smile to my lips. Would I even know what to do with a softer version of my mother?

Probably not.

“Adaline!”

I jump up and rush to thrust open the door covering. Dede has the room across from me. She offers me a small, tight smile. We hope for the same thing: that the warriors are returned safe from the patrol and that their injuries are minor at worst.

The warrior at the front steps up to her door.

Behind him are Jayga and August.

My chest freezes, and my body reacts instantly. My blood rises, pounding through my veins and filling with all the potency of my healing magic. Jayga is leaning heavily upon August’s support—both are covered in blood.

I step back, holding the hanging out of the way.

They duck to enter. As I let the hanging drop into place, their size and presence fill my tiny quarters, made smaller courtesy of the new couch. Jayga’s dark curls are damp with sweat, and his mahogany eyes are tight with pain. Blood leaks between his fingers, darkening his armor.

“Please,” I beg, trembling with the rush of healing blood. Past hurts and future dreams evaporate in the face of my need to serve the men I love in this most basic of ways .

“Hold up, lass,” Jayga grunts, warding me away. “Let me kick my boots off afore I get mud all over your pretty rug.

“And blood,” August says dryly. “We are both leaking a fair bit of blood.”

“Aye,” Jayga adds. “Thankfully, we spilled more of the green bastards, and the village is yet safe.”

I’m too busy worrying to linger on news of victory.

Jayga—he has loved me while August was away. All that time I was worried about August being safe. Today reminds me that I can take nothing for granted.

That I love them both equally.

That losing either of them is more than I can bear.

“I do not care about the rug,” I say fiercely. Not that they are paying me any attention. Jayga has already kicked his boots off. Easing from August’s hold, he props himself against the wall while I wring my hands and fret.

I make a dart for him.

“Fuck. Hold her off, would you,” Jayga mutters. “I’m filthy. Don’t want to get it all over her fancy dress.”

August obligingly snags me around the waist, where I fight and rail. The pulse points at my throat are pounding. I am ready for them to feed.

“Where did this monstrosity come from?” August asks.

He is talking about my new chaise longue—there is no other monstrosity in the room.

“Perfect height for rutting… or eating her out.” Jayga chuckles—it turns into a pained grunt. “Gods, I need to shut up,” he mutters, fumbling to undo the buckles of his armor before shucking it to the floor. The fight goes out of me as I see the blood staining his undershirt. He makes quick work stripping it off, exposing an angry puncture wound just under his ribs. Then shoves down his pants with a curse, kicking out of them .

“Oh please,” I beg. “Take a little blood.”

“Steady, love,” August says, subduing me with ease. “We both know Jayga can be a mule. If he says he won’t touch you until he’s clean, he means it.”

Beyond the thick door covering, I can hear footsteps and voices… grunts and moans of pleasure too.

“You do not need a shower,” I hiss.

“But I want one,” Jayga says, heaving himself off the wall and taking unsteady steps to the adjoining bathroom.

The rush of water follows.

Another curse. “Gods, this water is cold.”

“Oh, please help him.”

“He’s fine. I promise you. He has suffered worse. Besides, we both know you’d be in there like a shot the moment I released you. Much as we both enjoy fucking you while you’re all wet and slippery, I don’t think he’s up to the challenge in his present condition.”

He has a point… several, and all good ones. None make me feel better about waiting here while Jayga is hurting.

“Did you lose anyone,” I ask quietly.

“No. Although a couple are badly injured and will take more than mere healing,” he says sadly.

My eyes close against the sting of tears. Feeling his lips against my throat, I take a shuddering breath.

“Thinking of you keeps us focused,” he whispers. “Thinking of you gets us through the blood and guts. Only you. Always you.”

“Will you sanction this?”

“I will not.”

August’s words of love are forbidden. I still cherish them and store them in my heart because this might be all we shall ever have .

“Please. Encourage Jayga to come out of the shower so that I might tend and heal him.”

He huffs against my throat, then lifts his head. “Our fae queen is getting restless, Jayga. You’re clean enough.”

The water shuts off, and a dripping Jayga emerges.

His chest heaves as he sees me. His nostrils flare. And then he’s on me, snatching me up from August’s arms.

August steps back obligingly.

“Goddess! Don’t pick me up!”

It is too late. Jayga grunts as he drops me onto the nest and comes down over me, making me shiver where his cold flesh touches mine.

“I’ll go and clean up, then,” August says.

I hear the clang and clank as he removes his armor and a faint huff that reminds me he has injuries, too.

But I’m also distracted by the gleam in Jayga’s dark eyes.

Hands shaking, he pushes up the hem of my gown and parts my thighs.

“Now, that is a pretty sight,” he says thickly as the sound of running water ensues. “All slick and ready for me. Ready for anything I need.” His gaze shifts to my breasts, swollen and aching, then on to the pulse point at my throat, throbbing, desperate for him to feed.

He swallows, seeming to catch himself before his gaze drops to my pussy.

“I’m sorry, lass,” he says. “I don’t have much finesse in me today.” With a groan of defeat, he lowers his head and takes a long lick of the length of my core, setting nerves tingling to life. He groans again, burying his face against my most intimate place and feasts, humming as he laps up my healing.

My back arches up, my stomach clenching with tension and pleasure.

“Nothing sweeter,” he mumbles against me .

Jayga is a skilled lover, whether his needs are urgent or not. I trust him always to care for me, nurture my healing side, and coax me to give .

Not all alphas are equal. But it has been them for so long now, I barely remember before, only that it was never this good. Perhaps the ease with which he pleasures me, the attunement between us, manifests from our love?

“Come for me, Adaline. My queen. Gift me what I need.”

My queen. I am no queen—I am nothing but a lowly feeder, but they have long called me as such. A term of endearment. An indication that, in their minds, I am the queen of their hearts.

They are the kings of mine.

His tongue swirls around my clit. His fingers slide inside me to find the entrance of my slick gland, and he pets the sensitive bundle of nerves with light, teasing strokes.

My breath stutters and my body turns rigid before climactic waves tear through me, tearing a cry from my lips and a gush of release.

He moans, sending me spinning again as he feeds upon my slick, taking the healing from my body that way because it pleases him to.

I pant. My fingers tangle in his damp hair when the sensations get too much.

Hearing August’s low chuckle, my eyes open to find him beside the nest. His left knee hits the soft mattress first.

Jayga lifts his head and shares a look with August. Then he surges upward, fists my gown at my neckline and yanks it down, exposing my breasts to his lustful gaze. He cups the nearest globe before squeezing it roughly. I whimper as the clear, sticky fluid leaks out.

“Fuck! Just look at her,” he says gruffly. “Tits all heavy and full. Are they aching, sweet queen? Do you need your mates to feed here, too? Ease the ache, hmm?”

Mates? Oh, how I wish they were my mates.

My mouth opens and closes again. But coherent words are beyond me. I can feel my breasts filling even more under his rough caress. He turns his attention to the other side, pinching my nipple savagely, and how he knows I like.

“Gods,” August mutters gruffly, eyes locked on the nipple that Jayga releases, now hard and distended. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her tits so full, nor her nipples so plump. It’s like they are encouraging us to latch and feed.”

He cups my free breast like an offering to himself. Closing his mouth over my swollen nipple and a good portion of my breast and sucks hard.

A sweet climax rips through me as I feel the rich, healing fluid release.

I’m still climaxing when Jayga closes his lips over my other breast, and the dual stimulation sends me soaring.

Two sets of fingers slide over the slick folds of my pussy before spearing deep inside, stretching me, triggering little explosions behind my eyes. I shudder and shake. Instinctively, they move to hold me still against the nest, forcing me to endure.

“More,” I beg. “Please, more!”

Their heads lift as one, and fingers slip from my pussy. August cups my cheek, turning me to face him, and closes his mouth over mine. Our tongues tangle. My whole body feels alive as electricity pulses underneath the surface of my skin.

Jayga is already making his way between my thighs again. He’s not as gentle about it this time. He closes his lips around my clit and sucks hard.

Shuddering, I rip my mouth from August’s and turn to the side, offering him my throat.

He brushes his thumb against the pulse point. “Soon, love,” he says.

The endearment brings a familiar catch to my chest that only heightens the pleasure when Jayga eats me out. Such words are always whispered. Never loud enough to carry beyond the walls of this room. And even if it did, he would swear it was nothing more than the heat of the moment talk between a warrior and his feeder.

We all know this is so much more. The bond between us might be forbidden, yet it still grows.

“Don’t come yet,” August purrs beside my ear. “The next time you come will be around my cock.”

I pant, feverish, teetering upon the brink of such a monstrous release that I lose sight of who I am. I journey to madness—the need to obey, warring with the promise of release.

Jayga lifts his head, licking his lips.

“Oh, don’t stop!” I blink my eyes open to find the two men sharing a satisfied look.

Jayga smirks. “She tastes fucking good,” he rumbles. “Fuck her already. She’s desperate. Hurting for it. Time to give our sweet queen what she needs.”

August rises, gripping the gaping neck of my gown and rendering it clean in two, leaving me in a puddle of ruined silk. His expression is dark and possessive.

A look mirrored in Jayga’s face as he makes space for August to kneel between my spread legs.

Jayga

August tumbles her onto her hands and knees. This is his preferred way to fuck her. One that he says allows him to go extra deep. Fucking Adaline is our new favorite topic when we are not here with her, so it is a subject covered often during the mundane parts of our patrols when we are not engaged in battle.

At least, it was until he went away. Then everything changed.

I’m a rough bastard. A nobody before a fae scout plucked me from the streets of Bleakness, seeing the signs of an alpha in my skinny ass. I’m still nothing. A blunt tool in their war machine, not fit to lick the ground where a pretty fae like Adaline walks. Yet here I am, gifted the pleasure of her body because that is the way things work within Sanctum.

My injury is already mostly healed. I could stop now. I don’t need anything more from her, yet I’ll take any scrap she offers, unworthy as I am.

Only she doesn’t offer me scraps. She never has. Not once. When she looks at me, it is like she is looking upon a king. Adaline is as sweet and giving of her healing and body as she is of her heart. I fell in love with her the first day we met. Remember her looking up at me, all shy and curious. I’m a big alpha all over, and her eyes bounced up and down as I stripped out of my armor and fisted my dick. I’d been injured in a skirmish. Nothing too significant, but they still encouraged us to take healing with an omega. It wasn’t long before she forgot all about being shy and was gripping my hair as she rode my face while I ate her cunt out.

Back then, I thought bedding a feeder was the ultimate perk. Later, I realized it was a form of control, reminding us of what was at stake if we failed or abandoned our post, as some alphas did. How these sweet, playful, loving omegas would become prisoners of orcs.

It kept me focused.

It was months before I got another chance to be with her. They liked to allocate us to different omegas lest we form attachments. That second time, though, it was like a blow to the skull. All the things I’d convinced myself I didn’t feel slamming into me. Sweet and adorable, but with a side serve of mischief that I had by then come to realize was part of fae and omega nature. Yet, it was different with her and only her. The spark in her eyes and her little gasp when she saw it was me allocated to her, the tremble in her hands as she rushed to me echoed of my own.

Forbidden.

Unsanctioned.

Feeders and warriors were not supposed to fall in love.

It took a while before I realized that they definitely did. Warriors talked among themselves, commiserated, and even bonded over their shared source of lust or love.

I didn’t. When I found out August had his eye on Adaline, I wanted to rip the fucker apart.

We’ve come a long way since then.

And I’m all-fucking-in.

The words he spoke to me before today’s battle offered hope, even if I still had reservations about my human side, and worse after discovering that August was an imperial. If I mated Adaline and died at the end of my human lifespan, what might it do to her?

The words he whispered to me after the battle as I helped him onto his horse ended those concerns and opened a door.

Cecil was a wily bastard, and I’m confident he does his best to help us and ensure we get the woman we love in all ways but one. The truth is, we’re greedy bastards, and we want so much more.

I share a look with August.

His eyes widen before his brows draw together like he senses where my head is at.

He said we needed to talk more about it. To plan how and when we forced her heat.

I’m so done with talking.

Adaline is on her hands and knees. August is kneeling behind her, cock bobbing. He has injuries too. His ribs are cracked and the bruising around them turning black; he hasn’t taken much healing from her yet and the pain will keep him on edge. I lean forward, putting my rough hands on her soft ass, squeezing the globes before pulling them apart and up, exposing the slick treasure of her cunt.

“Go ahead,” I say thickly. I like to do this, hold her open as August slides his dick in. Watching her pink gash swallow his thick cock is a pleasure unto itself.

His gaze is probing—I do my best to keep my expression neutral—and soon enough, his eyes lower to her pretty pink pussy. He lines up, his hand shaking where he holds his cock, and pushes in. He uses his other thumb to better open her cunt, giving me the perfect view of his penetration.

“Slowly,” I urge. Our sweet fae is trembling and trying to push back to get his dick, but I hold her still. This is my favorite part. I don’t care if he’s still bleeding; I want to see him bottom out.

He groans lowly, stopping before he gets all the way in and sliding out a small way. His dick glistens with her juices before he pushes back in, this time not stopping until every inch of him is buried between her pussy lips.

He stills, breath sawing, his thumb and fingers turning her flesh white where he holds her open and impaled.

My palms turn sweaty against her ass. My cock is pulsing. I know how good it feels inside her—I’ll be experiencing it for myself just as soon as he’s done.

She whimpers.

“Hush, love,” I say. My dick is dripping pre-cum all over the nest, but I do my best to ignore it. This is hard for her, holding him inside like this, him not moving, thick and throbbing, stretching her tight pussy out. She’ll start fretting soon, begging soon after, demanding next that he pounds her how she needs.

“Can you come like this?” I ask. “I love the feeling after you filled her up.”

“You’re a fucking test,” he grunts, his eyes bouncing between her stuffed cunt and glaring at me.

He knows what I’m up to, but he’s wounded and mentally weak now he’s balls deep. I’m an ass at times, but fuck it, sometimes you need to push your best friend to do what’s right.

“Please,” I say, not above begging. “Just let yourself come like this. Let go. Fill her all up how she needs. I know you’re close. Rock your hips a bit.”

“Oh, please move!” she urges.

I tighten my hold on her ass when I feel her twitch.

“Fuck!” he grunts. “She is gripping the shit out of my dick.”

“She’s close,” I say. “Remember what you said? You know it feels good when you come like this—holding her open. Making her take your hardness in her sweet cunt. I want to see your cum dripping out around your dick. If you’re careful, she won’t come.”

“Jayga!” she growls.

August curses. My dirty talk is on point, even if I do say so myself. I ignore them. I’m on a fucking mission and got my eye on the prize.

He’s shaking. We’re both shaking. The little fae is mumbling nonsense into the bed and twitching like a flagpole in a storm.

His cock flexes inside her, and he suddenly exhales with a loud groan.

“Oh, please!” she wails.

“Fuck yeah,” I growl, nostrils flared with satisfaction that he’s filling her all up. That he, likewise, has finally got his eye on the prize.

Adaline. Ours. Claimed. Bred.

Mated for life.

Bound to us and only us.

She didn’t come, and if her hissing is any indication, she’s not happy about it.

Good. As the saying goes, sometimes you need to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

Actually, I’m not sure that’s the best metaphor in this situation, but whatever. I massage her ass carefully as his cum begins to drip onto her nice clean nest. It’s a filthy, compelling sight, and I can’t wait to have my turn. But I don’t want her to get off and waste the good work he just put in. Edging a fairy is tricky business. They come easily, especially Adaline. There have been times when I’ve looked at her with enough intent that she has climaxed without even a touch.

But we’re determined. Well, I’m determined enough for the three of us, and August, who is naturally more cautious, is catching up fast. I took a blade to my gut. No one will come for a long time. It would take days of fucking another feeder to heal me. With Adaline, the bleeding has already stopped leaving a tolerable ache. I don’t care if they whip me for what I’m about to do. I know August doesn’t care about that either. They won’t kill us. We’re too useful. He’s a fucking imperial, after all. And once the bond is in place, they won’t take her from us.

We are in deep .

Committed to the cause.

If we want to claim Adaline, if we want to keep our fae, we must force her heat.

It’s going to require patience. But I can already feel this is working, that it is the right way for her—edging her until she tips over into heat.

Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. It wouldn’t be granted if we did ask. If we want her, this is the only way.

“I’m sorry, love,” I say, although I’m not actually sorry, at least not in the obvious sense. I absolutely wanted him to come without getting her off, but I also hate that she’s going to have to suffer for the greater good. I like making her come. It makes me feel like a fucking king. But this has reached an impasse, and something has to give. “This is the only way if we want to force your heat.”