Page 34 of The Lord of the Labyrinth

“Yes,” Roan said as he brushed his lips over hers again. “Just thinking about pounding into you, stretching you with my cock, making you scream my name…it’s enough to create the best sort of madness in a male.”

He braced his one arm above her head as he moved his mouth down from her lips to her collarbone, his tongue flicking out against her skin as he continued to thrust his fingers in and out of her. A delicious building need started within her lower belly, like a fire being stoked on a dark night, sending embers and flames sparking to life.

“We shall live out every dark and wonderful fantasy, little one. You and me,” Roan said. “Just like this…” he increased the penetrating rhythm of his fingers, his hand moving so fast that Kate could barely catch her breath until…she simply shot straight over the edge into violently cascading ecstasy. Roan’s mouth covered hers, silencing her scream, his tongue invading her lips, fucking her just as his fingers were.

He drew out every twitch, every spasm until her body simply couldn’t take another moment of pleasure and she begged him to stop. He slowly withdrew his hand and she watched in hazy fascination as he licked the juices of her arousal of his fingers as though he was tasting the finest honey. Then he lowered his head and kissed her, letting her taste herself upon his lips. Kate melted beneath him, basking in the glow of her climax and the pure enjoyment of kissing Roan as though nothing else in the world could matter.

Above them, a breeze stirred the wisteria, and the scent of sweet night-blooming flowers filled the air. Dusk had given way to night.

“How long have we been kissing?” she asked in a whisper.

Roan gave a rich chuckle. “Not nearly long enough.” He kissed her forehead. “Sleep now, and you may face the labyrinth again tomorrow.”

His words swept her into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Roan heldKate in his arms until the night turned into a predawn sky. He whispered a spell and forged a crystal on a silver necklace in his palm. Kate’s stolen memory slipped from his mind into the crystal, which turned a pale blue. He sat up and placed the necklace around his neck, holding it against his skin. Then he tucked the bedcovers around her.

“Sleep on. Dawn is not here yet,” he whispered when she stirred as his departure from the bed.

He walked back to the morgens’ pool and knelt by the sleeping kobold who lay by the edge of the pond. He gave the creature a shake, and the kobold roused with a grunt and then swung a fist at his face. Roan only had to move an inch to avoid the blow.

“Manners, kobold,” Roan said.

The kobold gasped as he realized who he had just tried to clobber. “My lord!”

“Your name, kobold.”

“Um... Patch, my lord.”

“Listen carefully, Patch. You will continue to accompany Kate in my labyrinth. If you encounter any other dangers, you will summon me at once. Should anything happen to her, you will pay with your life. Is that clear?”

The kobold nodded and swallowed hard. “But I’ve never been deeper than this, my lord. I don’t want to go any farther.”

“She saved your life,” he reminded the kobold with a dark scowl. “You owe her a life debt. And since she belongs to me, that means you oweme, Patch.”

Roan hesitated, thinking. He needed to make sure that Kate would be safe and that she would go no deeper within the labyrinth. Over the centuries, the labyrinth had filled with numerous creatures besides those he had set within it. Even he did not know of them all now. To keep his little human safe, he had to keep her away from the heart of the labyrinth. Only he had ever been to its center, and that was very long ago. Kate must be kept away, for her own safety and so that she would fail in her mission. Then, by their bargain, she would belong to him forever.

In order to protect her, he’d start by removing that pool infested with morgens. He’d leave no trace of it behind and he’d kill every bloody beast as he did it. He could not take the chance that Kate would find herself drowing in those dark waters again.

He gave the kobold another stern glare. “You know those outer paths well enough. Keep her on the outskirts. She must not solve the labyrinth.”

The kobold nodded. “Y-yes, my lord.”

“Good.” Roan released the kobold. “Now, go wait for her to wake.” He swung an arm to point at the bed behind him. “Remember. Shemust notfind the heart of the labyrinth.”

ChapterEight

The bride spoke softly to the trees in the dark woods, and creatures answered her call. She was unafraid of the monsters, for in them she saw they only wished to live beneath the stars like her.

“Join me,” she urged, and the creatures followed her, bound by a magic greater than any other—love.

—Anon.,Tales from the Twilight Court

A gentle tickleon her nose roused Kate from a sleep that had been deeper than the morgens’ pool. She scratched her nose and drowsily opened her eyes, only to see a bearded, goblin-like face looming close over her.

She screamed.

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