Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

He was so close, I had to look up to meet his eyes, one leg trapped between both of mine, my hands instinctively on his chest.

I had a vision of grabbing that tie and forcing him to kiss me, but I remained still, glared at him even. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction he continuously denied me. It wouldn’t happen.

“Your jealousy only turns me on, Kyra,” he murmured, his eyes tracking my lips. “Knowing you want me so bad, the thought of me being elsewhere drives you crazy.”

It took everything in me to hold onto that anger, that frustration. “It’s not jealousy, Trick, it’s anger.”

“Because I’ve denied you?”

“Yes.”

My glare turned deadly. “There’s nothing to deny.”

He chuckled, the soundreverberating through me. “Then why are you so angry?”

Rather than answering him, I countered his question with one of my own. “If you’re so desperate for a good fuck, why haven’t you fucked me yet? Why not kiss me? I saw how hard you were last night. You wanted it. Why areyoudenying it?” Shit, I hope that sounded as threatening as I needed it to sound.

“I’m denyingmyself, not you. I haven’t even touched myself since you saved those demons from Cole. I haven’t cum since that day.”

My brows pulled together then because I could veryclearlyremember the outline of his cock last night. It must have been painful. I couldn’t imagine himnotfinishing. “You’re lying.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t lie to you, Angel.”

I released a breath. “You have to be. Why would you do that?”

“I told you, the only place my cum is going is inside of or on you.”

“But why?” It didn’t make any sense. He could go back to Arkalious and fuck anyone he wanted. He could have anyone. I was sure there were plenty of people who would love to be his five-minute release. Why not just take advantage? In fact, I was positive that every time he disappeared, that’s where he had been going. To fuck someone willing enough to fuck.

His eyes lifted to mine, searching, glowing as bright as a demon’s in the night. “Because when I stuff you with my cock I will never stop. Because you and I will be so addicted that nothing and no one else will matter butthe feeling of your pretty little pussy wrapped around my pulsing cock, but you haven’t consented yet.” His eyes flicked to my lips. “Not fully.”

I felt breathless. “Wasn’t signing that stupid set of rules accepting this?”

He smiled and shook his head. “I don’t know why you signed those rules, but it wasn’t out of acceptance.”

I frowned.

“Are you upset that I won’t kiss you?”

Yes. Yes, I was, but rather than answering, I shoved him away from me, and much to my surprise, he allowed me too.

I turned away from him, straightening my shirt, my hoodie, just to give me something to do with my hands. “Why do you think Raymond isn’t good enough for the throne? Why do you think they suddenly want Mark now?”

“There could be plenty of reasons,” Trick answered easily as I found his eyes. “Some people just aren’t meant to wear a crown. As for Mark?” he shrugged. “11 is considered ‘coming of age’ when living within the royal family. In magic-users, that’s when magic would truly start to emerge.”

Confusion touched me at his statement and at how easily he had moved on from our previous conversation. “Magic-users are born with their magic. I’ve heard stories of parents having to deal with their babies Jumping and levitating, and all of that bullshit babies do.”

He offered a small smile. “I was a nightmare,” he confessed, much to my surprise. “They have bits of their magic, but they don’t fully come intotheir powers until 11.”

I couldn’t picture Trick as a little nightmare child, but I’m sure he was. I’m sure his parents both had white hair before he even turned 11. “Okay, well that’s stupid,” I finally muttered, turning to the castle. I studied those doors carefully, remembering the last time I had been through them. I touched my cheek absentmindedly, feeling the chill of Evanora’s slap as if it had happened yesterday.

“When Raphael was speaking with me last time, he was using very specific words,” I finally said, looking over. “Never ‘we’. It was always ‘I’ll take care of him’. It was like he was trying to give me solace. He started to tell me something. ‘I’m a’. I thought he was trying to say ‘prisoner’.”

Trick considered my words. “The Gerodia’s have been under the thumb of Evanora for hundreds of years. Perhaps Raphael is the first one to want to get out.”

I chewed on my lip, turning back to the castle. Okay, but then what? He was just a human. Was there a way to save him? To protect him? Was there hope?

“What is your goal today, Kyra? What do you want out of this?”