Deep Into the Abyss (Darkest Faerie Tale Series Book 2)

Deep Into The Abyss

The Darkest Faerie Tale Series

By

Riley Bancroft

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, businesses, and incidents are from the author’s imagination, or they are used fictitiously and are definitely fictionalized. Any trademarks or pictures herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do not in any way mean the work is sponsored by or associated with the trademark owners. Any trademarks or pictures used are specifically in a descriptive capacity.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form (electronic or print) without permission from the author. Authors do have permission to reproduce content and or characters they have contributed to this anthology, but may not use or reproduce sections of other authors’ works from this anthology without that author’s permission unless it is to promote the anthology as a whole. Please do not participate in piracy or violating the author’s rights.

©
Riley Bancroft~October, 2014

Editor: Leanore Elliott

Cover Artist: Fiona Jayde

Dedication/Acknowledgements

I dedicate this book to you, Mom.

I am so unbelievably blessed to have you. You are one of lives greatest gifts and I treasure you always. I could not have done this without you.

A special thank you goes out to my beta readers, to the fans of Mya and Cole, and to my editor. Your support is tremendous. Also, to my wonderful friends & family who have shown unwavering encouragement, thank you all.

The Darkest Faerie Tales

For one long and torturous week, I’ve been locked inside this cabin, ripped away from the world I thought I knew by the one man who literally makes me weak with need. I can’t seem to escape him, physically, mentally, emotionally. He’s became everything I want, everything I desire, yet he won’t touch me. Not like before.

As the only hybrid born between the Seelie and Unseelie courts, I fight the dark and light inside of myself. I grew up in the Seelie courts and only the Elders from each court knew of my secret identity, an anomaly my parents went to great lengths to hide.

Cole became aware of my existence because he is one of those Elders, an Elder of the Unseelie court and he’s the man who kidnapped me.

A war has been brewing between the two courts over the last few months and the ante was upped with my abduction. The Seelies have no use for me, but the Unseelies want to exalt me into a position of authority—to be the sovereign ruler of the Aos sí. A queen.

Once upon a time, I thought the Seelies were the epitome of virtue and the Unseelies were the embodiment of wickedness, but I’m finding out neither is true. Good and evil live in everyone, despite their association to what the world believes of them.

Who I thought I once was, is no longer who I am and with every lesson taught to me, I’ve learned there is a price to pay.

Cole has broken me—my spirit, my mind, because I was meant for a higher purpose, I know this now. To unite the angelic and infernal sides of both courts, to restore power back to the magickal people of the Aos sí, and to discover who I truly am.

Welcome to my twisted faerie tale.

CHAPTER ONE

B
efore Cole abandoned Mya in the cabin, he strung her up, shackling her wrists and attaching them to a chain hanging from the rafter above. Her arms strained and she adjusted to relieve some of the pressure in her shoulders. Every time he left, he did this to her, letting her sway for hours on end like a live piñata, the balls of her feet barely on the ground.

Time ticked by. A huge hourglass filled with tiny granules of sand. At least he dressed her in a clean pair of jeans and a tank top. He always put thought into keeping her well groomed, so she took pleasure in knowing he cared for her.

Stuck alone for long periods of time, all she could think about was how much her life had changed in the last seven days. A little over a week ago, Mya’s world imploded. Her best friend’s brother died. Then Cole had been in her room waiting to seduce her and she yielded to her dark cravings—loving every moment of it—with him. The next morning, she woke up and found her house burning down to the ground, from the inside out.

Then, surprise, surprise. Guess who happened to be the Fire Investigator—none other than Cole. Mya ruled him out as a suspect because as a member of the Aos sí
he couldn’t tell a lie. Sure, members of both courts could spin their words to tell an untruth, but he flat out admitted he had nothing to do with the fire. She saw no other choice. She trusted him.

However, since the night Cole told her the Faerie Tale, her mind still reeled. The Unseelies actually wanted to make their queen? Her? Little, normal Mya? They believed in her. She wasn’t sure she believed herself capable and each time she gripped onto the doubt and told Cole, he wore her down some more. There didn’t seem to be a way out, only endless torturing to submit to her fate as a ruler. She found herself helpless against him and the unorthodox methods he used. He never even explained how or why they would make her queen. Hell, he barely spoke to her.

Tired of fighting the internal battle she struggled with inside, she hated feeling so confused and lost. Part of her wanted to step up to the plate and accept the mission at hand—as ridiculous as it sounded.
Queen Mya
. The other, more dominant side of her laughed as if all of this were a cruel joke. She would never be majestic enough to be a monarch over the Aos sí. Especially not strung up like a damn slave.

While being an actual queen appeared incredible on the surface, Mya wasn’t prepared for such a position of authority. At twenty-four years old, her only experience entailed an office manager position inside the Seelie Court and a—useless degree—in Art History.

If only she could let her Unseelie side takeover, but the Seelie side rejoiced in keeping her… weak, in hopes of being released. The Unseelies wouldn’t accept a feeble queen. Then she could return back to her normal life.

She stretched on her tippy toes. Her claves burned and it seared the ache in her thighs. Her body became stronger each time he shackled her to the ceiling, but her mind broke just a little more when Cole wasn’t around. Not only from the lack of human interaction, but because of the connection to him that she couldn’t sever. Like a dehydrated animal needed water in an arid desert, she needed him, yet he stayed so distant—a mirage of a lake among the sandy terrain.

Thick curtains shielded the windows and kept any light from emitting inside. Since she couldn’t be in the sunlight or near the earth, her magick waned. Aso sí depended on the elements of nature to recharge their usual power. Combined with the lack of physical contact, going stir crazy inside the cabin and the fact Cole became her only companion, she came to depend on him so much.

Over the last week, he’d put her through these rigorous trials to test her until she broke down and became all his. Mentally exhausted and weeping, she’d fallen to her knees every time he released her. Then he would put her in bed—until it all started over again when she woke up.

Despite it all, she belonged to Cole. The first night she met him, she desired him, but now she relied solely on him—for food, for clothing…for comfort.

Finally, the front door opened and her heart thumped harder in her chest.

Wisps of his jet black hair peeked out from the sides of his ball cap. Those electric blue eyes, the ones she loved losing herself in, met hers. Something about the way he looked at her soothed her.

Cole’s sexy lips hiked to the side in a wicked grin, promising naughty things—if only he delivered on those silent threats. He was her dark knight, the one who brought her so much pleasure, and denied her all at the same time. Such wicked torture.

Though he looked like he wanted to devour her, he hadn’t touched her intimately in a week. Not since the night she’d dreamed about him and woken up to find him in the bedroom, asking if she wanted more. Then he had slapped on a condom and screwed her, purely to sate her in the moment.

The smile faded from her face as the memory arose. That night he’d kept his head down the entire time—no kissing, no eye contact—no touching except him inside of her. A quick in and out job to leave her sated and used, not satisfied and cherished.

“I think I know who burned down your house,” he said, closing the front door and bringing her back into the moment.

A thick manila folder was in his hand. He plopped it down on the end table and rolled the sleeves of his flannel shirt up his glorious and strong forearms—arms that she feared would never hold her affectionately again.

Masking her hurt, she asked, “Is it somebody from the courts?” Mya knew better than to ask to be let down. Cole ran the show—for now.

His jeans highlighted each muscular plane of his thighs as he strode toward her. “Once I tracked down the manufacturers of the chemicals used in the fire, I secured their list of buyers…and one name stuck out to me.”

“Who?” Finally, her Unseelie side perked up, rising to the occasion with mischief. Anticipation of finding the culprit gave way to anger, surging her with adrenaline. Retribution would be hers.

Cole’s blue eyes turned grave and he rubbed the scar along his chin. A scar no other member of the Aos sí bore—as magical human beings they healed quickly because of their radiant skin.

Mya noticed he focused on the scar when uneasy. She wanted to kiss the line marring the side of his beautiful face to comfort him, to let him know she accepted every part of him. If only he would let her touch him. She would have to convince him.

Jerking her out of her thoughts, Cole said, “Gavin was one of the buyers.”

The air whooshed out of her lungs as if she’d been punched in the gut.
Gavin?
Her friend Gavin? The one who she called to come and pick her up after her home collapsed in smoke and flames—Gavin? The one she kissed. He had laid her down in his bed, wrapped his arms around her and confessed his deeper feelings for her. No, it couldn’t be the same, Gavin. He would never do something so heinous like burn her house down—especially with her still inside.

“What are you thinking?” Cole walked forward, until he stood right in front of her. His hand came up and he caressed the side of her cheek with the back of his fingertips. He hadn’t touched her like this for a week.

Sweet mercy. Delightful tingles on her face turned into magnificent and delightful shivers as they danced across her skin, going deeper down into the depths of her soul. Her heart clenched and she leaned into Cole’s touch, desperately craving more.

“I asked you a question, Mya. Tell me what’s going on in that mind of yours.”

She wanted to say,
please,
don’t stop touching me
, but the words wouldn’t come out because she feared he would stop. Right now, he was her sole focus.

“Come on, wildflower, open up.” He grazed her lips with this thumb, his heated stare moving to her mouth.

Mya nearly collapsed if not for the chains holding her up. How could she explain her friendship with Gavin, but not tell Cole about the kiss? Or perhaps she should. A spark of hope wove into her veins. Maybe jealously would inspire him to caress her more. A dirty trick, but desperation to be closer to him on a higher level won. She yearned for him, needed him and he denied her of everything.

She swiped her tongue over her lips, therefore licking the pad of Cole’s thumb. The air between them crackled with an electric tension. A passionate inferno roiled bubbled to the surface, scalding her with carnal desire and damn it, she had to have him. Mya was done playing his games. This time she would win. “After the fire,” she said breathlessly, “Gavin took me to his place and put me in bed.”

The muscles in Cole’s jaw ticked. His eyes narrowed on her.

On the inside, Mya burned with a sick satisfaction from his response. Yes, he had feelings for her or he wouldn’t have been roused by her admission. The game she played might backfire, but she couldn’t stop. Not with him so close. Not with the way he touched her just then. For a week now, he hadn’t touched her like this. Comforted her in his arms after being strung up all day yes, but nothing this intimate.

She peeked up at him through her eyelashes. “I was thinking about the way Gavin brushed my tears away with his lips. The way he’d been so—so—tender with me. When he kissed me, he admitted his feelings for me—right before he and I…” Mya let the words trail off on purpose and closed her mouth tightly as if letting something slip. Imaginations could lead people to dangerous places.

Cole’s eyes widened, a heated desire flashing in their depths and he cupped her chin with ferocity. “Before he and you did
what
, Mya?”

The dominance in his dark voice permeated through her. Moisture gathered between her legs as her clitoris throbbed against the seam of her jeans. His possessiveness drove her wild and she used it to her advantage, prodding Cole’s beast. She needed him to lose control and master her like he did every night in her dreams. Arms still strung up overhead she casually shrugged her shoulders. “He wanted to take a shower with me to clean me off after the fire.”

In an instant, Cole stomped over to the lever box by the wall and twisted the pulley.

Joyous relief flooded her—he was going to release her.

The chains dropped in a whooshing clank. She lost her balance—knees slamming to the floor, she cried out. Mya hit the hard ground in a heap. A silent sob tightened her throat. He didn’t even put a chair underneath her to catch her when she fell, just let her topple down as her tired legs gave out on her.

So parched, she barely rasped, “What the hell, Cole?” She pressed her palms to the floor, her arms shaking. Her body ached and she groaned from the strain of being strung up as her muscles and limbs protested.

He treaded back over to her. “Assume your position.”

Mya shivered at the hungry gleam in his eyes, as she reared her head back, looking up at him.

He’d taught her the position of submission. One she was expected to get into when commanded by him. Initially a test that began as an exercise to establish trust in the beginning, it had come to mean more to her. It gave her a vulnerability to him, on her knees with her legs splayed apart, her arms clasped together behind her back, jutting her breasts forward. Could she push him enough this time to finally take control of her?

For days, she’d been at his mercy, giving in to his every order, bending to his will. She needed to flip the switch. “Give me one good reason why I should assume the position?” she demanded. Using all the strength she could garner, she rose on shaky legs. Thank goodness, she wore jeans. The material kept her hands from slipping off her thigh as she stood and faced him.

“Now, Mya, or you will be punished.” His eyes narrowed as his lips pressed tight together.

A storm of energy surged through her.
Punish me then.
Warmth seeped into her veins. “You will do well to remember that the Unseelie court wants me as their sovereign ruler. One day, I will take my spot on the throne as queen and you will rue the day you ever laid a finger on me!”
Or, not laid a finger on me!
The anger built and built until it breached her sanity and overflowed. “Perhaps I should be telling you to bow before me, Cole!”

He marched toward her. A frenzied expression crossed over his face. “You will submit to me right now.”

Invisible sparks danced between their bodies—now flush to one another.

“I will not.” Mya defiantly lifted her head. “You submit to me.” The contact only fueled her hunger for him as the air around her charged with excitement.

With each deep inhalation he took, vibrations thrummed across her flesh down to her sex and fed her desire. Cole lowered his face to hers.

His nostrils flared. “This is your last chance. Do as you are instructed and you will address me as Sir.”

So badly, she needed to kiss him, to latch her mouth onto his, to devour him. Her heart banged in her chest. She licked her lips, anticipating how his kisses always felt. “Are you jealous? Does knowing I kissed Gavin ruffle your feathers?” She pulled her shoulders taut, pressing her breasts against him. Her nipples hardened with the contact. “Is that why you make me submit to you all the time, but don’t touch me—so you feel like you own me?—because you don’t.”

He was so revved up he probably didn’t catch the untruth of her broken up statement. She could tell Cole battled with wanting to possess her, so he played these games to give him a sense of ownership. It may have sounded like she said
he didn’t own her
, but in truth, he did in every sense of the word—mind, body and soul.