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Rhoan laughed, a low and hearty sound that washed across the front of my body. He stayed buried inside me for a while as we each caught our breath. When he finally pulled free of me, it made me shudder with another ripple of pleasure.
We stayed there, catching our breaths as we basked in each other’s presence. I kept reaching for him, touching his cheek, his shoulder, and his chest just to make sure that he was still real. We’d just finished lovemaking, but I still couldn’t help but feel like this was a dream.
The number of times that I’d napped just to see him again made me worry that I’d fallen asleep again. This whole thing had been a dream. When I woke, Faust would still be out there. Rhoan would still be a beast. And we would have to do this all over again.
“Promise me this is real?” I curled my hand into a fist against his chest.
Rhoan lifted himself over me and pressed a kiss to my forehead. A knot in my chest eased when he whispered, “I promise this is very much real, princess.”
I let out a sigh of relief and flopped back to stare at the dark, vaulted ceiling above us. A chandelier twinkled with what little light that’d found its way into the high space.
“We should get back,” I said into the air.
Rhoan nodded in agreement but never stopped planting small kisses along my face and neck. His touch made me smile despite everything that was ahead of us. As he showered me with the affection I’d been needing, I caught him up on all that’d happened while he’d been a beast.
When I told him about how Addie had shoplifted in the Goblin Market, Rhoan went still. At first, I thought he might admonish me for letting Addie get away with stealing from the Market.
“Why did you go to the Goblins?” he asked low and solemn.
I stilled. The cost of the nightsmane had seemed like nothing at the time. I’d promised Wilbur that I would kill Beryl. That was all. Now, the tone of Rhoan’s voice gave me pause. Had I promised more than that and not realized? Was there a caveat that I hadn’t taken into consideration?
No. Wilbur had been straightforward. I had no reason to trust him, especially with how often people betrayed me, but I found honesty in the way he spoke. I had no reason to shy away from Rhoan’s question.
“I needed nightsmane for the potion I gave you.”
Rhoan pressed his lips together. I could tell that he had no idea what nightsmane even was. It was the fact that I’d made a purchase at the Goblin Market that bothered him.
“Do you trust me?” I asked.
His lips twisted, and his eyes narrowed. “You know I do. And I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to turn this conversation to your advantage.”
“I’m very good at getting what I want, sir knight.” I lightly dragged a finger along the stubble already growing on his jaw.
He sucked his teeth for a long moment. I waited for more argument, but Rhoan wasn’t going to cut my words apart. He bowed his head and gave me his trust.
Once more, a knot in my chest unraveled. The growing mess of knots lessened, one by one. Now, I just had to get rid of the biggest one of them all: Beryl.
10
RHOAN
After finding myqueena new pair of pants, we said one last farewell to the castle. This was not how I’d expected my future to play out. I looked back at the castle that’d belonged to my nemesis and saw only myself reflected in it. My heart skipped a beat only to pick up unsteadily once more.
It only calmed when Cerri squeezed my hand. She smiled at me with the same warmth that I’d come to know. Nothing between us had changed. She didn’t see me as the king of monsters. To her, that wasn’t what I’d become.
But I knew the difference. I’d inherited something dark and cruel, and I wasn’t yet sure how I felt about it. A new power sat deep in my chest, right next to where the beast had once been. Now that the creature and I were one, the space had been left vacant for Faust’s inheritance to move in.
King of Nightmares.
That wasn’t something I’d ever wanted to become. I wanted to be a bright leader beside my shining queen. She deserved no less.
But when I looked to her and realized just how much she’d changed, perhaps my new title was fitting. My white-haired queen looked like a plump little moth bathed in moonlight. It was only fair that I become the night that envelops her.
“Sometimes you live long enough to see yourself become Unseelie,” I said under my breath.
Cerri snorted and lifted her chin higher. “I’m going to destroy the concept of Seelie and Unseelie. I will not have sloppily drawn boundaries in my court.”
Pride hit me harder than a herd of horses. I beamed down at my queen and basked in the feelings that I no longer had to hold back. Now that I could do anything I wanted, I lifted her hand to my lips and pressed a kiss to her skin. I didn’t stop there.
