Page 84 of A Cage of Magic and Darkness

Music strikes up, an orchestra in the back of the Great Hall, and Taelyn makes her entrance. She’s in a long silver gown, much like the one she was wearing the first night I saw her, all those years ago, only this one is far grander. There is only one thing missing.

She reaches the front of the hall, and I offer my hand to help her up. She comes to stand at the front of the larger of the thrones and throws her arms open to her people.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming today. I am so honored you are making me your queen. I will work every day to ensure your lives are filled with joy and your futures are certain.”

She turns to me and gives me a small nod and a smile, telling me it’s time.

I take the crown from where it sits on a crimson cushion and place it on her head.

“Queen Taelyn Loftborn,” I announce. “First of her name and ruler of the kingdom of Askos.” I lean in closer and murmur against her ear. “And my love.”

And the crowd erupts in cheers.

42

TAELYN

One YearLater

I’m standingat the window of our chambers, gazing at the city below. Much of what had been destroyed during the rot has been rebuilt. The only thing still flattened is the place where the King’s Tower once stood. Instead of rebuilding, a monument has been raised to the old king and queen. It was something Ruarok had mixed feelings about, but he understood how important it was for me to have somewhere I could go to remember my mother, and since she never got to have her own burial, he relented to the monument.

From behind, familiar hands slide around the massive swell of my belly.

Ruarok presses himself close to my back and nuzzles my neck.

“You know, I’m going to miss you being pregnant. You’re so sexy like this. All curves and full of my child.”

“I can’t wait to get him or her out of me so I can see my feet again,” I only half complain.

Pregnancy hasn’t been so bad, but I’ve tolerated it mainly because I’ve loved how much Ruarok has loved it. But I’m overdue now, and I’m desperate to meet our child.

“You know what the midwives say? The way we got the baby in is also the best way to get the baby out again.”

He hadn’t been able to believe his luck when, upon me moaning to the royal midwives about how the baby was overdue, they’d suggested nipple and clitoral stimulation. I’d literally watched his dark eyes light up. Not that we’ve been avoiding that kind of thing since I’ve been pregnant—quite the opposite. All that extra blood flow down below has turned me into a complete nymphomaniac, and I haven’t been able to get enough. Even my dreams have been filthy, and I’ve climaxed during my sleep more times than I can count. Ruarok and I came to an agreement in the end that if he woke to find me moaning in my sleep and squirming against a pillow, he was allowed to have free use of me. He didn’t even have to wake me. He helped bring me to climax by pushing inside me while I was still sleeping, and fucking me, slowly and carefully.

Yes, there are definitely parts of being pregnant that I will miss.

“Is that right?” I reply. “And I’m going to guess that’s something you’d like to help out with?”

Ruarok’s hands move from my belly up to my breasts. They must have doubled in size, as have my nipples, and it’s another thing he can’t get enough of. He cups their weight, his thumbs brushing over the peaks, and they harden under his touch. They’re so sensitive. I can’timagine how it will feel when my milk comes in after the baby is born.

“I definitely would.” He kisses my neck again and sends pleasurable shivers running across my skin. He lightly pinches my nipples. “Does this help?”

“A little,” I murmur.

He pulls down the front of my dress, so my tits spill out, then rolls my nipples between his thumb and forefinger. It sends a direct line of arousal between my thighs. I’m exposed at the open window, but we’re too high up for anyone to see us. Even so, standing like this, with the city and sky in front of me, gives me that extra thrill.

“How about now?” he asks.

“Better,” I gasp.

“Good girl.”

My pregnancy has meant I’ve had to forgo the usual structured corset dresses and underwear I’m used to. Instead, my dress is loose and flowing to accommodate the swell of my belly and the new size of my breasts, and it means easier access for Ruarok.

He’s able to roll the material down over my bump, and then it simply drops from my hips.

“You know I only just got dressed,” I say as his hands trace the curves of my body.

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