He gasps and writhes as I drink his blood. I do it over the mark of Amaranthe I made on him.
Just as he said, after the marking Kai’s blood is the most delicious, heady thing I’ve had enter my body. . .other than his cock of course. And yes, that even includes pumpkin spice lattes.
That piercing on the end of his mushroom tip slams into just the right spot in me that makes my thighs quake and sweat bead between my breasts.
I’m hurled over the edge of a bone-quaking orgasm, and I release his flesh to present my neck to my husband, my King, my forever slut muffin.
Kai bites me without hesitation and my orgasm doubles down with a vengeance even as Kai lets out a muffled cry, shooting his release up into me. The bed quakes under us, creaking from the strain of the fight Kai puts up.
Like the first time, warmth spreads out from my center and travels to Kai engulfing us both in a heat so intense it feels like being embraced by the sun. It’s fucking beautiful and perfect. Tears prick the backs of my eyes and emotion swells in my chest so intensely I fear I’ll burst.
Another shot of arousal spirals through me when I pull back to see a little of my bright red blood smeared on his lips.
It reminds me of our wedding night when I marked him. We eloped in Vegas after all and I got to wear the black purple and spiked goth gown of my dreams and Kai got his Elvis impersonator as an officiant.
All my friends were there, and we partied the entire weekend in the hotel penthouse of the most luxurious hotel on the Strip that’s modeled after a pyramid.
Even Rap let loose a little and got smashed on brown liquor and kept repeating that she was so proud of us. She’s a savage winner at flip cup too it turns out.
Goldie was glowing, dancing with her hands in the air showing off her new pink diamond engagement ring even as she was wrapped around a stiffly swaying Ted.
He managed to finally land that perfect proposal but he had to call in back up. Aka Goldie’s mother. They went to her family’s home in the Midwest for a long weekend and he proposed to her over a family dinner. Goldie describes it as intimate, heartfelt, and absolutely perfect because it was him. He even invited his two bear shifter brothers who Mama Goldie kept in line so Ted could finally get on one knee.
Brexley turned out to be a surprisingly good dancer and stuck to Red like glue as she held a glass over her head—a virgin decaf mocha martini. The wedding plans have been postponed until she gives birth to the little pup growing inside her. If Brexley was insufferably overprotective before, now he’s ten times worse.
When we got back home to Boston, I thought I could resume my split life in equal measure but that became quickly unsustainable.
Running Midnight with Kai is a lot more duty than I expected and also far more pleasurable than I could have guessed it would because it involves fairies, humans, fae, and even my friends. Midnight has become the place I always wanted it to be—magical, dark, and frankly, home.
Though I need long stretches of time to myself to paint, draw, and sculpt. The one gallery showing Kai got me launched me to a new level he swears he had no hand in tipping. I’ve got more showings coming, one that also co-features my favorite artist, Lala Drona. I almost died on the spot when I met her.
For Mei-Ling Charming’s crime of murder against Byung-He, which she confessed to the new powers that be, it wasdecided she was to be banished from Midnight. Despite my attempts to step in to convince them of a less harsh punishment, my mother-in-law assured me it was for the best. She’s already moved to a fairy-friendly retirement home in the Common World where she plays mahjong nightly with her new friends and is even dating a nice man down the hall, another Midnight Fairy who had been exiled from Midnight two hundred years before. Mei-Ling says a new life is a gift she doesn’t deserve.
Word got back to us that my stepfamily led a miserable existence. They fled to the fairy Realm of Roses where they tried to ingratiate themselves with King Stefan. Anastasia tried to seduce the kingdom’s princess to gain favor. She disappeared after that night.
Then a blackmail and murder scheme came to light, devised by my stepmother. It all came to a head when Drusilla attacked one of the court members, and then they lost theirs. Their heads that is. Now I really don’t have to worry about the old fam knocking down our castle doors come Christmas time.
Underneath me, Kai grins like an idiot, knowing the gift I’ve given him. The one we share.
The ability to walk in sunlight.
I still prefer the darkness, but many days are now spent chasing my husband along beaches with tubs of sunscreen while he soaks in the sunshine without bursting into ash. He may be immortal, but I still worry about the number of bad sunburns he’s been racking up.
My mage power is a reassurance to all of Midnight since I can’t be thralled, and I can sense and break thralls on anyone else. The familiars have all been broken free of their bonds and now choose for themselves what they want to do. Some left, some stayed, and some beaters defected to Midnight specifically to be of service to Kai and me.
A knock at the door has me releasing Kai’s straps as I wrap a robe around myself to answer.
I pass the easel with my latest creation. Sometimes I want the paintings to invade my dreams, so I move them to the bedroom. This one is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of Kai, his eyes filled with darkness and depth no one sees. I doubt I’ll ever publicly show it. Kai doesn’t need the world to know who he really is as long as I do. Not to mention, he may be far more than anyone gives him credit for, but he also enjoys being a celebrity ham.
The large human familiar, Gus, stands waiting when I open the door. His eyes drop to the spiked platform boots I'm still wearing. I’ll have divots in my ass for a week from sitting back on them repeatedly as Kai and I fuck, but it only adds to the fun.
“What is it?” I ask, not mincing words though Gus knows I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just direct.
“Your Majesty,”
“Gus,” I warn.
“Cinder,” he corrects. “It’s the beast again.”
