Binding Blood: Binding Series Book 2

1 Being a faerie princess of the light court by marriage was no simple thing. Being a faerie princess to the dark court by blood only made things that much harder. Raerdel stared at her reflection in the mirror of her vanity that was now in the bedroom she shared with Sindri in his home. While the smaller mansion was not the size of the light Queen’s castle, it was certainly larger than the farmhouse she’d had when she lived in the mortal realm. Hands curved over her shoulders and she tilted her head back, smiling at Sindri. “Have you come to collect your wife?” Sindri’s encounter with dark magic had only made him that much more handsome. He had reportedly always had an edge to him, and now that was evident in the passion he often exhibited. “Yes, she’s a beautiful bit of baggage, too.” Sin’s smile was wide and carefree, which was different from even a few weeks ago. Standing from the vanity, Raerdel turned and looped her arms around Sin’s neck. “I love you, Sin.” His eyes closed and he inhaled deeply, his face now serious. “Hearing that from you never feels like less than a miracle, and I love you, Raer. Are you ready to face your grandmother today?” Resting her cheek against his soft, shirt-covered chest, she sighed. The last thing she wanted to think about was the fact she had to be present for an attempt at a treaty with the dark court. After the assassination attempt at their wedding, she found it difficult to want to be in the same room with those responsible. “It’s my job, right? I won’t let you down, Sin. As long as you’re there with me, I’ll be fine.” The tightening of Sin’s hands around her waist betrayed his less-than-calm feelings about the upcoming meeting. “Peace talks are really our last resort to avoid the war we’ve been dreading. I have faith that we would win. However, there are always risks involved, and casualties. As long as you’re part of those risks, I will do all I can to avoid war.” Leaning up, Raerdel kissed Sin’s chin and smiled. “Then I will do my best to help keep the peace.” Sin captured her cheeks with his hands and kissed her deeply before she could pull away. The subtle hint of aggression that simmered under the surface never failed to pique Raerdel’s need. He released her with a groan and grabbed her hand before leading her toward the door. “If we don’t go now, I’m going to make us late and cause us more trouble. Something about you, Raer … I never stop wanting you. The need doesn’t abate.” They walked down the hall to the stairs leading to the front door and Raerdel grinned from ear to ear, remarking, “What can I say? I’m a Sin magnet.” The chuckle and murmured, “That is the truth in all ways,” was his response. Despite the warmth in his chest that Raerdel always inspired with just her presence, Sin could not shake the chill on the back of his neck. His concern that this meeting would go badly was heightened by the fact that the dark court would know they were desperate to keep peace. Before meeting Raerdel, Sin would not have made any attempt to stop a war and likely would have already made the first offensive move against them for daring to attempt the assassination. Now the risk of Raer getting caught up in the crossfire was too great, and he couldn’t bear that. As they arrived at his aunt Maeve’s castle, they walked up the familiar spiral staircase. Walking into the large ballroom, he led Raerdel through the throng of people bearing witness to the mediation. His aunt, being the Queen, sat on her throne on the stage while the dark court Queen sat in a chair on the ballroom floor. Next to her was Gabriel, her prince of choice and Raerdel’s ex-paramour. While Raerdel had not lain with Gabriel, he had known her as intimately as one could without full i*********e. When she turned him down, he had physically marked her stomach with his name. She still bore those scars and the thought of him being here to taunt them both did not sit well with Sin. Walking to the chairs on either side of the Queen, Sin first kissed Raerdel’s hand before leaving her to sit and walking to his own seat. He offered a nod of his head to the dark court and a full bow to his aunt. “Greetings, Sin and Raerdel. With your arrival, I believe we can begin.” The light Queen spoke loudly, commanding silence in the room and all attention on her. “The dark court continues to have a claim on Raerdel, despite the challenge being lost. The challenge was for Gabriel’s prior claim to her, not mine,” Elsbet began with no preamble. Sindri’s hands curled around the armrests of the chair. A strange sensation pumped through his veins that he could only describe as a mix of adrenaline and dread at the tone the dark queen was beginning with. Forcing himself not to lean forward in the seat and to take on a blank expression, he spoke in a quiet but formal tone, “That would be true. However, her marriage to me overrules all claim to any but myself and the light Queen, by virtue of me.” Gabriel’s short bark of laughter was cut short by a hand motion from the dark Queen. She instead responded with an almost humble expression that had Sindri more concerned than had she yelled. “Be that as it may, there is a claim that your marriage does not erase. She is my blood kin, next in line to my throne. Gabriel was only to be prince, were he to wed her. As he has failed, he is no longer a successor. Surely Your Highness can see that this leaves me with no successor and simply cannot be so.” Glaring at Gabriel for a moment, Sin then looked to the light Queen for a response or answer. “What is your proposal, Elsbet? You would not come here had you not thought out your tactics ahead of time. What are you asking for?” The light Queen’s voice was steady. However, the tenor of it had Sin once again grabbing the armrests. “How kind of you to ask, Maeve. We understand that she is your successor as well and that she has married your godson. We would ask that she spend equal time in both courts to prepare for ruling both when the time comes.” Sindri did not have time to recover from that statement. Raerdel was leaning out of her seat and looking at Elsbet. “Grandmother, you are suggesting that I will rule both courts? Is that even possible?” The light Queen interrupted at this point, waving Raer to silence before speaking. “We need time to discuss this. We will report our answer to you by the full moon. Is this agreeable to you?” A slow smile formed on the dark Queen’s mouth. “Yes, that’s reasonable. I will leave you to your discussions then.” When the dark court left the room and the witnesses also filtered out, Sindri stood and approached his wife. “I don’t know what they’re planning. This is not at all what I expected them to ask.” His aunt spoke softly. “No, it is far worse. I do not know that we will be able to deny them this. Nor do I know how we will keep them from twisting it in such a way as to harm either one of you, or the light court. We must think long in the coming days. We will want to have a well-considered answer that leaves no areas for manipulation.” “We will, Aunt. I am grateful for your guidance as always. We will be going home now to discuss this further.” Sin’s voice was carefully modulated to avoid his aunt knowing how affected he was by this turn of events. He also didn’t wish to scare Raerdel by letting on that he was concerned. She very often looked to him for how to react to a situation, as she was as yet very unfamiliar with their realm. As his aunt waved them off, he quickly led Raerdel out of the castle and to the horse-drawn carriage that brought them there from their home. He could feel Raerdel’s hand shaking slightly. When they were safely ensconced in the carriage and the driver was steering the team, Sin lifted Raerdel’s palm for a soft wet kiss against her skin. “Please, don’t be frightened. We will make sense of this new attempt.” Sindri could only hope he sounded more convinced than he felt. Raerdel closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder in the moving carriage. The sway must have lent her comfort, along with his presence, as she soon was asleep. Sin watched the starlight play over her features through the window of the carriage and found himself curling toward her so that she rested against his chest. They had not been married very long, but he knew something about his wife. He knew that she never backed down. In this, she would be no different. Sin vowed that he would be the husband she deserved and this would be the first test of his mettle. While he had fought hard to win her, he would now fight to keep her and make her happy. The carriage stopped as they arrived at their home. Sin opened the carriage door himself, ignoring the footman, and picked Raerdel up sleeping in his arms before carrying her inside the mansion. Raer stirred and opened her eyes from where her head was tucked against his shoulder. ”Oh, hey there, studly husband.” Her voice was the soft silk sound that she often had when aroused or just woken. “I am not sure what you mean. The only person I ever plan to breed with is you, dear wife.” Raerdel’s giggle against his neck had his c**k hardening instantly. Whispering to him, she then began nibbling on the shell of his ear while he carried her the rest of the way to their bedroom. “That’s not what it means. When I say that, it means I find you extremely attractive.” They managed to get inside the bedroom door before he turned and pushed her up against the wall, neatly letting her legs go to the floor only for a moment before he had them wrapped around his waist. She continued l*****g and nibbling at his ear while he pulled her dress up and grabbed her a*s before pressing against her in a shuddering roll of his hips. His voice was ragged as he murmured against her neck. “You are so much more than attractive. You’re the air in my lungs. I can’t think for needing to be this close to you.” Her whimper against his ear lit a fire in him he couldn’t resist. Using his hips to pin her to the wall, he grabbed her wrists and pulled them up over her head as he captured her mouth in a near violent meshing of lips. The light sparking behind his eyelids should have been a warning to him that his darkness was awakening, but he found that he couldn’t stop. l*****g into her mouth while grinding his hips against her, he used one hand to hold her wrists and the other to undo his pants and push them down. His steely c**k was already weeping with fluid as he ripped her panties off. “I am sorry if I am being too rough. Tell me to slow down … or stop … if you don’t want this.” Pressing tightly against his c**k, she rubbed her wetness against him before gasping. “Don’t you dare stop! f**k me now, Sin. I can take your dark. You know I can.” Closing his eyes against the sparks in his vision, he thrust hard into her wet p***y. Seeking to stem the words that flooded his mind and sought release, he buried his mouth against her cleavage, sucking hard on her skin. The pace of his advance and retreat from her core increased and he raised his head to watch the play of emotions over her face. Releasing her wrists from over her head, he gripped her hips and began pulling her hard to meet each thrust. Raerdel’s face was flushed and her eyes met his. She gripped his shoulders as he used one hand to trail down and circle her clit with slow wet strokes while he pushed against her hard. “ Sin ! Oh God … yes …!” Tossing her head back, Raerdel screamed her c****x. Trembling from the beauty of watching her o****m, Sin increased his pace in an effort to meet her as the muscles of her p***y began milking his c**k so strongly he had difficulty pulling back to thrust again. The feeling of Raerdel’s lips at his ear moaning and telling him how much she loved him was his undoing and he thrust wildly as he released inside of her. The strength of it was such that he barely carried her to the bed before they both collapsed in exhaustion. After they fully disrobed and began to drift off, Raerdel played with the slight hairs on his chest. “If we have to spend part of our time in the dark court, it won’t be so bad, will it? I mean, if we have rules so she can’t manipulate things, how bad can it be?” Raerdel’s soft voice spoke to the heart of his fears. “We will talk more of this tomorrow, Raer. We’ve had quite enough for one day. Let us just sleep and let me hold you.” Sin attempted to sound weary as to not alarm her of his true concerns. He would put off that discussion for another day. Raerdel fell asleep shortly after and he spent much of the night watching her face and thinking of all that could go wrong with the dark court. It was nearly dawn before he closed his eyes.