Page 111 of Of Skulls Of Shackles

“These shall fall to the floor and be forgotten,” See replied. “As shall the words I just uttered.”

I placed a hand on his cheek. “Do not forget them yet, my See. You have uttered them, and so they will float about in this chamber until our eyes close for slumber. Be brave enough for that.”

His jaw clenched under my hand. “’Tis not about bravery. ’Tis about weakness in everything when it comes to you.”

His palace squeezed and swayed terribly. The warping echoed the feeling in my heart. I had expected to feel elation and validation or…

Not this terrible weight. The futility of our feelings that could mean nothing. “I am thankful for this weakness in the hours before dawn.”

“Do not thank me for it, for I shall not thank you for forcing the words from me either. Carry the words as you wish, though, but hear me, Perantiqua, you will never hear them again. Not now, nor in ten thousand years.”

I did not answer. I did not need to because I believed him. He would carry a glass vial of my goodbye tears as a memento and I would carry his simple confession.

I rested my cheek against his chest.He loves me.

His arms came around me, and gradually the palace stilled. The clinking of the chandelier came to a rest. Our hearts thumped in tandem.Boom.Boom.Each thump was the firing of a cannon.

See brushed a loose curl off my bare shoulder. “Come, my queen. This night grows shorter, and I would not waste a second.”

I whispered, “Only a fool wastes time.”

ChapterTwenty-Four

Fate was filling

He set me on the edge of his very high bed and then captured my mouth in a kiss. His thick fingers worked through my hair, then whispered over the curve of my breasts and across the plain of my stitched stomach.

“Regrettable,” See grunted as he gripped the crotch of my underwear and pulled gently. The material was nothing against his strength.

I had already sliced away the front of his trousers. He freed his length, and as he leaned forward, I leaned back to allow him entrance.

See looked directly into my eyes.

One hundred words to speak, and I could fathom none. I just panted and returned his silent gaze. The gaze held as he pressed at my entrance and held as he worked a huge hand under my ass.

My gaze widened as See eased in. My body worked to adjust to him, and I clung to his upper arms until he sheathed all the way. The fullness. My breaths were quick. His magic had filled me many times, but See had the ability to adjust the shape of his power.

He could not adjust the shape of himself.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

My eyes widened further. “What for?”

King See gripped my hair and whispered in my ear. “I am going to fill you for the first time. I am going to fill you always.”

My thoughts were swirling with the impossibility of being fuller than I already was when he slammedallthe way in. I choked, torn between the pulling hold on my hair and the foreign stretched sensation deep within. His cold laughter echoed in my ears. This moment was delicious for him. See was drunk on the feeling of what he had taken.

“She is mine at last. I was the first to fill her.” He dragged my head higher and hissed in my face, “I will be her last.”

A mad king. I had not seen him in some time. I strained higher, wincing slightly, and kissed him. “I want for no other.”

“And you will not.”

“I will not.” Mad kings needed such sweet-talking. I relaxed down and he released my hair and placed his large hand beside my head.

I winced again with his movement.

He smirked. “Have I hurt you?”

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