A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #2)(110)

“Why is gardening and healing considered a woman’s activity?” I asked softly as we stopped in the field, still holding hands. “Why did only women do it?”

He turned and faced me. “I honestly have no idea. It isn’t like that in other kingdoms. Maybe my father, or his father, or his father’s father, was just bad at it and they decided that was because they had a dick.”

I laughed. “Maybe so. Why do only kings make the rules? Why no queens?”

“Tradition. When I was young, I pledged to change the rules so any daughter of mine would be just as entitled to the throne.”

“Why haven’t you?”

“I’m not a crowned king, and at this point, I doubt I ever will be.”

I sighed. “Have a little hope. This kingdom has been through hell, and we’ve managed. We’ll continue to manage until we find a way out, and then we’ll figure out how to kick the demon king’s ass. We got this.”

He leaned over and kissed me. “Okay.”

I nodded. “Okay. Now, let’s go take that bath and relax. I’m full and tired, and I just want to feel you near me. I don’t need all the weird theatrics of this crazy castle.”

“As you command,” he whispered.

We walked back in silence, hand in hand, my chest filled with a strange, aching need for him. Even now, after tonight, after all the sex, I still craved him. All that raw, unfiltered masculinity should’ve stopped affecting me by now. I should be used to it and able to shut out the need. Instead, he pulled at me like never before. Like a fisherman reeling in a catch. Whereas before I would’ve tried to find that hook and yank it out, now I wanted it. I wanted him to seal the deal.

I was falling for him. Hard. This was a hook I didn’t think I’d be able to pry out.





Twenty-Three





“Finley, how about this?” I looked up from the roses I was tending and wiped my forearm across my forehead. Nearly a week had passed since my dinner with Nyfain. Nearly a week of helping the villages with everlass, tending the queen’s garden, and spending as much time as possible with him. It was never enough. I just kept craving more of his touch, more of his smell, more of him. Didn’t matter if he was teasing or brooding or sensuous. I loved it all.

We’d developed a sort of schedule around each other. In the mornings I’d tend to the queen’s garden—planting herbs, weeding, and pruning the rosebushes. When he woke up, he’d meet me there, and we’d share a meal before traveling to the everlass field. Sometimes we’d talk while we worked, but usually he sang to the everlass. Then we’d create the nulling elixir starter, dry or pick leaves if they were badly needed, and work together in peaceful camaraderie. It was my favorite time of the day.

We’d have lessons in the evening, dancing or sparring, then we’d put our clothes back on from our almost always furious lovemaking and share another meal, maybe hit the library or just read together, and off he’d go into the Forbidden Wood.

I’d changed up what I was reading, doing more research into shifters. Annoyingly, while there was plenty of history, few of the books focused on the day-to-day realities of being a shifter. At least I was learning about the first shift, the need for the animal to get out and run, and ways to work with demanding animals. So far none of the approaches had tamed my beast, but I kept up hope.

Hadriel crouched near two even rows of herbs, looking at the base of some thyme. “This should take root, huh?”

Gyril and Jawson, still helping with the garden and happy to do so, looked over.

“All you’re doing is putting a plant in the ground,” Jawson drawled. “Do you need approval on every little thing?”

“He probably asks how his farts work out,” Gyril muttered, and Jawson shook with laughter.

“It’s good, Hadriel, just—” I paused as a gush of wetness filled my panties. Nyfain and I had been having an obscene amount of sex, to the point where I was sore most days, but he’d been too tired last night. This morning, he’d been asleep. This wasn’t some aftereffect of sex.

Which meant…

My chest constricted, and I hurried out of the garden and through the sliding glass door to the queen’s room. Usually I didn’t like to cross the threshold, leaving this space to him and his memories, but right now…

“Finley?” Hadriel called out as I pushed into the cool space and hurried to the washroom. I pulled down my trousers and then my underwear.

My heart sank at the sight of the red stain.

My period. It was over a week late, but it had come anyway.

I couldn’t say it wasn’t a total surprise. My breasts had been a bit more tender these last couple of days and the bloat had settled in. You could only blame the excellent chocolate mousse for so long.

Even so, I wilted where I sat, a deep, profound sadness dragging me down. It was stupid, wanting a baby with all that was going on. Beyond stupid. I knew that.

Even if we weren’t living in such a fucked-up world, our kingdom on the verge of extinction, there was the rank difference between Nyfain and me. He’d worn a golden collar to our dinner, depicting his rank and status. I’d worn clothes that he’d had made for me. He was a dragon, and my animal purred. True mates shifted into the same animal. All the books I’d read had made that same point.