Page 170 of Beneath a Shattered Sky
Fifty
Rhoswyn
“There’s nothing you can give him?” I ask, incredulous, as I cradle Bree in my lap against the pillows. He’s completely naked—as am I—claiming that anything but my skin feels like torture, and my fingers rake soothingly through his hair as he trembles.
I’m three seconds from trembling too. The icy room is freezing. My nipples are rock hard and begging me to get beneath the blankets, but Bree swears he’s too hot, and the flush taking over what little skin isn’t obscured by ink tells me he’s not lying.
He’s been like this since dinner, over an hour ago.
“Even if there was, Nicnevin,” Kitarni replies through the door. “It would take me days to brew it. Bricriu’s options are a sleeping draught, suffering, or…”
“Fucking!” Lore sticks his head around the crack in the doorway for a second before Kitarni yanks him back with her long twiggy fingers.
“Yes. That.” I can hear the high priestess’s wry amusement, though right now I fail to find the humour in the situation. “In fact, that might help it pass quicker.”
“How long?” Bree demands, chest rising and falling raggedly.
Kitarni hums. “I can’t imagine that a synthetic fever would last as long as the real thing, and the potion is designed for a female fae’s reproductive system, which is much more complex than a male’s. Given how much you drank… I would say… without sex, it should clear your system in a day or two. With sex, much faster. Maybe hours. But those are estimates. I didn’t brew it, so I can’t be certain.”
“And it’s not going to… influence him?” I won’t press for sex if he can’t really tell me no because his body hurts too much, even if it would help him.
She pauses. “Given that he’s still in a place where he’s able to follow conversations and respond, and the lack of a fever ‘instinct’ in males, I believe it mimics the physical effects only. I wouldn’t worry that it might interfere with his ability to make decisions for himself.”
“I’ve had this before,” Bree interrupts, grinding his teeth. “They used… they tried lots of things to make me comply before you freed me. I’ll live.”
He shifts on the mattress, looking into my soul through emerald orbs glazed with feverish pain. I can tell he’s going to turn me down. He’d rather suffer than risk it. It’s frustrating that he’d willingly take days of pain rather than fuck me.
“Let me help you,” I beg him.
His eyes fall closed. “I wish I could say yes, but I don’t want to hurt you. This feels too much like before. My instincts are running wild right now. If you had any idea the thoughts going round in my head…”
I swallow, but don’t push.
“Lorcan, I shall go and assist Drystan and give them some privacy. You keep watch, but don’t do anything rash,” Kitarni warns. “Rose, if you need the sleeping draught, it’s just outside the door.”
The dryad’s footsteps echo as she heads away, and silence overtakes the two of us, punctuated only by Bree’s shallow breaths and Lore’s intermittent sighs from outside.
Brushing a lock of hair away from my púca’s forehead, I swallow as he leans into the touch and then groans. Is my presence helping or hurting him more?
“Use me.” I’ll do anything. “I’ll tie myself up. Gag myself.” I can’t believe the words are falling from my mouth, but my own awkwardness is not worth his suffering. “Do whatever you need to make yourself feel safe.”
Please.
I don’t dare speak the word. If I could charm him out of this, I would. But I swore never to use my magic on him again.
“Even if I just use my mouth,” I whisper. “Would that work?”
He peeks out from beneath sinfully long lashes. “Dragonfly.”
“I love you,” I whisper. “I can’t watch you torture yourself like this. Drystan and Lore are teaching me that I enjoy rough sex, and nothing you do would ever?—”
“Come here.”
My heart lifts, and I let myself slide down the bed until we’re nestled facing one another. His cock is a brand against my stomach, spreading a thin trail of pearlescent pre-cum across my lower belly that chills in the icy room, making me shiver.
His hand reaches out to stroke my cheek.
“You love me?”
