Embracing Destiny Read online

  Regarding him through a smiling gaze, I touched the tips of my fingers to my thumb and inserted the index finger of my other hand through the center of the opening they created, making a rude hand gesture. “You can use it alone or share it with a crowd, big boy. You’re a pussy for abusing women, and I thought you should have one to remind you of that fact, lest you forget. I contemplated turning your mouth into a pussy as an added crowd-pleaser, but I decided to be majestic and shit.” I waved my hand nonchalantly and winked at the women.

  Smiling, I watched his mouth opening and closing before I spoke again. “And honestly, I wanted to hear your thoughts on your new appendage, and that couldn’t happen with a pussy for a mouth, now could it? I suggest you get out of my throne room now, while I’m being kind enough to allow you to do so. I took into consideration how you allowed an entire town to rape your new bride while picturing my face on her. Somehow, I decided to be lenient with you. I should rip your fucking throat out, but I’m still feeling regal, so shoo, Darrion, before I change my mind and have the flesh whipped from your back until your spine is exposed enough for me to rip it out without fucking up my manicure. Next!”

  The silence in the room was deafening, and a few people exited between Darrion and his ex-wife as they departed from separate doorways. I stared at the next couple that approached before lifting my gaze, searching the audience, and finding a common theme. Almost everyone seeking an audience with the queen was couples, except for a few single men.

  “My Queen,” the clerk said, not meeting my gaze but instead, staring off to the side where Ryder sat, drinking his whiskey. “This is Geoffrey and Genevieve. Geoffrey states…” the clerk paused, looking at me, then back to Ryder, who watched silently, leaning his lengthy frame against the table with his arms folded. “Geoffrey is rather upset about his wife, and her lack of interest in the bedroom. He states she just lays there and doesn’t enjoy it. She doesn’t come, which makes it hard for him to feed.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes,” Geoffrey said, studying me carefully, looking like he was ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. “She finds no pleasure in my touch.”

  “Have you tried to get her off, or do you just jump on up and two-pump chump it?”

  “I don’t understand, Your Grace,” he said nervously.

  “Have you asked your wife what she likes?”

  “Why would I?” Geoffrey looked around, confused.

  “Because it is her vagina that you’re trying to please, is it not? You can’t just poke it and think it will rejoice that you figured out where your cock fits. Find out what she likes and use your words. Communicate with her, and I’m sure you will figure out how to please her. It is your job to please her, Geoffrey. Fuck, lie on the bed, and let her ride you, at least.”

  “I’m supposed to be able to mount her wet hole, and she is expected to feed me for it,” Geoffrey said in frustration.

  My mouth opened and closed as my eyes swung to Ryder’s burning gaze as he watched me. His lips tipped up in a smirk as his gaze dropped to my chest, and then lifted, anger pulsing within him at the amount of skin exposed. I tore my eyes from his and frowned at the problem before me.

  “Is that what you think it is? A wet hole that is supposed to get pounded and boom, you get fed? You poor, poor woman,” I laughed sympathetically, noting her blush. “I assure you it is not just a hole in which to aim and poke. Try playing with it, arousing it until she’s at least making sounds of pleasure. Explore a little and see what turns her on. If you think you can just aim and shoot, you will starve to death, Geoffrey.” I frowned, moving my gaze to his wife. “Do you enjoy your husband, Genevieve?”

  “I like my husband, but he doesn’t stimulate me. He climbs above me and ruts quickly, and before I can even feel much pleasure, he’s finished. If he could maybe take more time with me, I could feed him properly, as I would like.” Genevieve worried her hands in front of her and smiled slightly.

  “Well, tell him that. Use communication in the bedroom and see what happens. If it still isn’t working, come back before poor Geoffrey starves to death. Next,” I said, pounding the floor three times with my staff.

  “My Queen, this is Lance. He wants to exile his wife to the human world. He found a mistress that suits his needs better, but his wife’s family owns the property, and the only way to be rid of her is through banishment.”

  “Is this true? You want to throw your wife out of Faery for your mistress?”

  “It is, it is my right by status and station to toss her aside.”

  “Right, so listen, jerk. I hereby banish you and your mistress to the human realm. Have a nice time with the apocalypse they’ve got going on there. May I suggest you stay on the East Coast so that your chances of survival are a little greater than they would be on the West Coast? Wife, you may remarry anyone you wish, so long as he will swear allegiance to My King and the horde. Next.”

  Lance gasped, and his mistress howled, slapping him repeatedly as they were dragged from the room by force. I smirked, lifting my hand for Darynda to bring me some water as I spun the staff in place beside me. Once I’d drunk deeply from the cup, I slammed the staff against the floor three times.

  The clerk began to speak, and I held my hand up. “How many are here because they’re unsatisfied with their wife? Please answer by raising your hand.” Most of the audience held up their hand. “How many are dissatisfied with her due to a lack of sex?” I counted hands. “How many have a stupid fucking reason for this?” Everyone lifted their hand. I smiled at their stupidity. I snapped my fingers, surveying the crowd, waiting, and then someone broke the silence of the room.

  “I have no dick!” one male shouted.

  “You stole my balls?” a man in the front row cried.

  “I did, and when you figure out how to stop being selfish pricks, you may have them back. Wives are more important than just satisfying what lies between your thighs. You have grievances that you brought before us because you’re all fucking dicks. So, I took your dicks to show you that if you can waste my time, I can waste yours, and when I do it, it’s on a much grander scale.

  “When you’ve earned your dicks back, which I suggest you do rather quickly, your wives will give them back by drawing a cross on your pelvic region. If I catch so much as a whisper that any of you have assaulted, threatened, or harmed your wife in any way, I will be there to take it off with a dagger permanently. Are we understood?” When no one responded, I stood up, glaring down at the men. “I asked you a question.”

  All the men nodded, and I slid my eyes over the audience as they exited, leaving one male scrutinizing the others flooding out of the room. He was shorter than most fae and had tri-colored eyes.

  I silently observed the man as he approached me, waiting for him to be announced. The clerk turned, staring at the staff I held. I turned to the women, waving my fingers over at their section before slowly moving my attention back to the male, slamming the staff on the ground three more times.

  “Jensen Carlson,” the clerk said. “He claims the dragons are eating his family’s livestock and leaving corpses in the wake of their eternal hunger. He also claims one of the dragons has been burning his fields for fun.”

  “Is this true?” I asked, noting that Blane and Ciara stood. I held my hand up, stalling Ciara from arguing the accusation.

  “It is,” he said. “I am fae. I cannot lie. I saw the dragons do it myself.” I glowered into his tri-colored gaze and snorted.

  “Hmm, and which village was this?” I countered. Jenson’s gaze searched mine, and I noticed the sweat beading at his brow. He fidgeted as his nostrils flared. His gaze swung to the ladies, and I narrowed mine on him. My hand came up just as he revealed a detonation device.

  I sifted, appearing in front of him as time stopped around us. Slowly, I opened his shirt, discovering container
s of iron, along with a long, wicked-looking blade etched in a substance that pulsed with power. I sent the blade sailing toward Zahruk’s feet, then I emptied the iron cylinders and sifted back to my chair, returning time.

  Jenson’s hand clamped down on the device, and he stared down at his chest. I smirked coldly, watching the horror of his predicament sinking in. I stood slowly, stepping closer to him while the men came to attention. They saw the situation and began closing in around us as they took in the scene. I waved my hand, sealing Jenson and me inside a protective bubble.

  “Are you aware of the consequences of your actions, mage?” I asked, somehow keeping my tone calm and collected.

  “We will destroy you, whore.”

  “You can try, but you will fail. I have no intention of giving this world to you or your kind since you seem hell-bent on destroying what my mother built.” Jenson attacked me, and I deflected it, grabbing his arms and crossing them over his chest, holding him from behind. “My men will torture you for information, but do you know what you’ll no longer need?” I whispered huskily against Jenson’s ear as Ryder glared at me from the other side of the barrier.

  “We are murdering your people, Goddess of the Fae, and that weakens you, doesn’t it? You feel them dying, and it opens you to pain. We’re just getting started, and already you’re losing strength, aren’t you?”

  “Oh, sweet boy, I am never weak enough to be taken down by the likes of you,” I said, ripping his arms from the sockets, blood coating my face and the barrier. I released the protective bubble, watching as Ryder walked toward me, staring, his breathing labored in anger. “The mage is all yours, husband. I’m finished and famished. Toodle-oo, dick,” I said, waving my fingers at Ryder as I nodded for the women to follow me. “I hope the cook made the honey cakes we requested.”

  “I want chocolate-covered hearts. It’s so gross, but I can’t help myself,” Olivia chuckled.

  “Let’s get you a heart then, shall we?” I offered, feeling Ryder’s heated gaze on my back. We exited the throne room the same way that we’d arrived, ignoring that the men existed, which, besides being obtuse assholes, was how they were treating us.

  Chapter Ten

  We’d filled the kitchen full of women, and we were in our element. Finger foods and cake bites were covering the counters while the cooks watched us like we’d gone insane in the pantry. Apparently, royalty didn’t eat in the kitchens of the stronghold. Champagne was flowing, and everyone was laughing. Olivia burped and then blanched as she held her hand over her mouth in horror. I shook my head, grinning.

  “I am so sorry; it’s as if my body isn’t mine anymore.”

  “You’re pregnant; it’s like a tiny mutant is now in full control of your body. I remember how it felt to have my three little monsters within me. I miss it, ya know?”

  “Yeah, agreed,” Ciara snorted. She shoved a cake pop in her mouth and then slammed her hand down, sending flour sailing into the air. “Oh, this is so good. I think I just came.”

  “Well, at least someone is coming today,” Lilith chuckled before her dark gaze rounded, shocked at what she’d said, causing everyone to laugh.

  “Did you see Ryder’s face? How are you not terrified?” Icelyn asked softly.

  “What’s he going to do? Spank me? As if,” I frowned before sliding another cake pop between my lips and moaning. “These are superb. Maybe these can replace sex. You think we can order the staff to make them by the platter?” I turned, smiling around a mouthful as the cook shook his head.

  “Blane didn’t look away from me the entire time,” Ciara admitted, a saucy smile playing on her full lips. “I felt powerful for the first time since he knocked me up with Fury. I was sexy tonight.”

  “I felt like a sexy house,” Olivia said, causing everyone to laugh even more. “Ristan, though, he wanted me. The heat in that demon’s stare was hot. I miss that look like I’m a sex goddess he can’t stop staring at.”

  “Sinjinn, too, like he realized that I was a woman again. Not just a mother, or his wife, but that I was a woman. It was freeing, so thank you for that, Synthia.”

  “Zahruk didn’t even acknowledge that I existed,” Darynda frowned, and then looked horrified when everyone began to hug her. “It’s for the best. I felt like I did when I first came here. I felt like heads turned and saw me, not as a source of food either. It was like they finally realized I’m a woman and not simply a nursemaid, but that I am from a good family.”

  “And what the hell was up with the couples’ sessions? My dick can’t hit her sweet spot. It must be her fault because it certainly isn’t mine,” Ciara groaned. “Like seriously, how many men are actually that dumb?”

  “And why would any women marry those men?” I frowned, popping another piece of cake into my mouth. “It makes little sense to wed someone who gives you no pleasure. I mean, I can understand the miscommunication, but why would they want to stay in that situation?”

  “You took their dicks,” Olivia laughed and snorted, shaking her head as she held her belly.

  “Oh, my goddess, you totally took their dicks away! Do you have any idea how hard it was not to laugh?” Lilith announced, and the room burst into peals of uncontrollable laughter.

  “Those men deserved their punishment,” I snorted, picking up a handful of flour and sending it soaring through the air, gasping as it landed on all the women. “Oh, oops,” I winced.

  Ciara picked up a cake pop and sent it flying at my head, and the room silenced, waiting for me to explode at what she’d done. I gazed at everyone, and Ciara gasped, covering her mouth with her hand, staring wide-eyed in horror as an evil smile curved my lips. I grabbed a bottle of honey and pointed it at her.

  “You wouldn’t, Synthia,” she hissed and then squealed when I squeezed the plastic bottle, shooting honey all over her dress. “Oh!”

  Darynda surveyed everyone in shock as food began soaring through the air, hitting each of us. “Synthia!” I turned, staring at Darynda as a cake pop hit the side of my face. I squirted honey on her too, and grinned, watching her emerald eyes as they grew large and round. She picked up a cake pop and held it, looking at me. I smiled, and then laughed as she half-heartedly threw it at me, hitting me in the shoulder.

  “You can do better than that,” I teased, picking up a bottle of sparkling cider before shaking it up and turning, intending to send it shooting into the air behind me. The cap popped and shot fizz into the air, right into Ryder’s face.

  The room hushed, and we paused, covered from head to toe in food and drink. He stared at me while I reached behind me, sensing the men sifting into the room, hesitating as they took in the mess. My fingers lifted, wiping honey over his face before he caught my hand, staring at me in disbelief.

  “What the hell are you doing, woman?” he demanded, and right then, Ciara bent over and groaned loudly. Our heads turned toward her, watching as her water broke.

  “Baby time,” I stated, clapping my hands to clear the food mess off everything but Ryder. “Darynda, fetch Eliran. Olivia, go rest, sweetheart. The rest of you, come with me,” I ordered, offering Ciara my arm. “I got you.”

  We slowly moved through the castle, knowing that it was too dangerous to sift while Ciara was in pain. The fact that her babe was a dragon instead of fae put a kibosh on that option. Every few minutes, Ciara would slow down and bend over, gradually breathing through each contraction while an army of apprehensive men followed behind us.

  “In through your nose, out through your mouth slowly,” I instructed. “When the contraction is over, we’ll walk again.”

  “Let me pick her up,” Ryder offered.

  “No, we’re women. We’re not helpless beings that need your fucking assistance in delivering what you’ve all planted within us. We can handle it ourselves. Plus, walking will help hurry the labor along. Let her be; if she needs h
elp, she will say so,” I replied softly.

  “I want to walk,” Ciara announced as Blane moved in beside her. “I don’t want to walk with you!”

  “What the hell did I do?” Blane asked crossly.

  “You want to lock me in a tower like some weak-ass bitch. I am not weak. I am not Baby, and no one puts Baby in the corner.” She groaned as another contraction started.

  “Who the fuck is Baby, and who the hell said anything about putting you in a corner? It’s for your protection and that of our children who need their mother.” Blane ducked when Ciara spun around on him, and everyone paused in the hallway as they argued.

  “No, it’s so you can push me into hiding, just like my brothers did. I am not weak!” Ciara growled through the contraction, making her sound demon-possessed. Her grip on my arm tightened, and we stopped walking as Eliran ran down the hall to catch up with us.

  “How far apart are the contractions?” he asked in a calming tone.

  “Three minutes, if that.” Eliran took Ciara’s other hand, helping her down the long hallway. “Her water broke, clear and clean like Icelyn’s. Pain is manageable, and I’m only adding a little power to numb it for her, so we’re aware of when she is contracting.”

  “Good, that’s great, Synthia. What were you doing when it broke?” he asked, and Ciara snorted and started giggling. Laughter sounded in a line down the hallway, and I flinched, smiling at Eliran as he glanced at the other women, and then back at me.

  “Oh, you know, having a food fight?” I offered hesitantly.

  “Only you girls could induce labor with a food fight. Gods, I would have paid to have seen that. Good to know you’re all holding it together instead of falling apart up here.”

  “We’re stronger together,” I stated, turning to glare scathingly at Ryder, who watched silently as we made our way to the room Ciara shared with Blane. “Darynda?” I called over my shoulder, noting Zahruk’s gaze as he studied me. When she answered, she looked sheepish. “Take baby Fury to the tower with you for the night. Blane will come for him once the babe is born.”