War of Winter (Iron Fey Fanfiction)

Chapter 33 - Queen

        A wash of both fury and hunger enveloped Crystal like a warm embrace. She could be a Queen and hold power over an entire army. She hadn't even yet seen the numbers of Thistle's forces. 

    The thought of his name brought her crashing out of her reverie. She almost started when she looked up to see his dark green eyes boring into hers. His gaze was hungry and dangerous, like a cobra's. "I don't...that's quite hasty, don't you think?" she snapped, but it came out more breathless than she meant. 

   Why was her heart beating so hard? Thistle inclined his head and breathed in. Breathed her in. "Not exactly. We are in the middle of a full blown war," he pointed out. "Think about it, Crystal," he whispered, leaning in ever closer, his scent mingling with hers, making the air smell of forest and ice. 

   "You could have an almost unimaginable amount of power as a Queen," he continued. "My Queen..." he slowly reached up and ran his scarred finger along her cheekbone. His eyes had softened and became filled with a sudden hope and pleading that he almost looked like a different person. 

   Crystal shook her head. "Not like Titania or Mab, or even my mother, Thistle. They'd outnumber you combined." 

  "That's why we have great numbers of each court to fight for us - to go against Summer and Winter. And you are more powerful than you think, Crystal," Thistle whispered again, his lips brushing a featherlight kiss upon hers. "So much potential."

  You don't know me at all, coward. Crystal swallowed and a plan formed in her head. She would be a Queen. And he her servant. She would not be tricked into being a prisoner of an army who was too stupid to accept the rule of their own court. They should be banished from Faery. Perhaps, she could make that happen. 

  But first, she had to get around Thistle. He was a Winter fey, like her, so it would be a bit more challenging to bring him down. But she was smart, and she could play dirty. She'd make him suffer, as she had many of her other enemies. 

  So, she kissed him, closing the distance between them and making him believe she accepted his offer, that she believed him. A thrill went through her blood as he responded just how she'd predicted. As he fell into her trap. 

   His hands around her harsh waist, he brought her flush against him, trailing sloppy kisses down the column of her neck as he backed her up against one of the wooden pillars holding the tent up. Small growls were coming from deep in his throat as he tasted her with tongue and teeth, all the while his hands roving her body. 

  She almost stabbed him when his hands gripped her bottom. She let out a snarl of annoyance and tried to pivot away from his greedy hands but he misinterpreted her language and pinned her harder to the pillar, capturing her mouth in a savage kiss. 

  I hate you, she silently cursed, her hands gripping his shirt. I hate you I hate you I hate-

 Yet, the curse that escaped her mouth was one of pleasure as Thistle rocked his hips against hers, causing heat to spread through her entire body. "Thistle, now is not the time to-"

  But he silenced her protests with more of his wet kisses, his cold breath traveling down her throat and straight to her heart. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she push him away? She told herself it was because she had to make him believe she'd agreed to rule with him. 

 What a lie. 

 I thought fey couldn't lie! Ha, joke's on you, bitch. You can't even weave your own trap without whoring yourself first.  Crystal jerked her head away and finally shoved him away. "Enough, damn you!" she yelled. Whether it was more at him or at herself, Crystal couldn't be sure. They were both breathing hard and something cracked in her when she registered the look of genuine surprise and hurt cross his face. 

  The black paint on his features was smudged from their bout of false passion, and Crystal suddenly saw the lost boy underneath the kingly, traitor, guise.

  "I'm sorry, I didn't..." Thistle began but she cut him off, giving him a look that was both seductive and deadly at the same time. 

  "If you want me to be your Queen, you need to learn how to work with me as an equal. As your Queen, you will obey me when I give you orders and cease to do something when I say so. Is that understood?" she hissed with an intensity that bit into her skin like acid. 

She thought he would argue back, try to twist her words or act offended. Instead, he swallowed and found the ground quite interesting. "Yes, Crystal, I understand," he said, scuffing the dirt with his boot. 

 Crystal approached him, pushing thoughts of the sidhe who threatened to invade her mind and make her feel guilty to the deepest parts of her mind. To do this, she would need to forget that prince with sharp blue eyes and raven hair, or else she'd doomed both him and herself. 

 "Good, I thought so," she whispered, leaning up to press a deadly kiss upon his cold cheek. He stood stone still and for a moment, it was as if he ceased to breathe.