by L. L. Ash
Ariston didn’t say anything else. We just laid there in silence.
He woke me three more times to make love. Bad phrasing. To have sex.
Each time I’d thought I was too tired, but still managed to get enough energy to orgasm over and over. Nine times in all if my count was correct. I was rough and sore by the time sunrise happened, but the boost of blood he’d given after drinking me had helped in that area.
We sat up and dressed methodically. I hardly took a moment to think about it as I tried to just stay on my feet with my jelly legs.
“I will keep my end of the deal,” he said as he zipped his pants back on. “I will treat Maggie well. She’ll have no reason to complain, I promise you. And you will hear nothing more of this from me.”
He gathered his shirt and shoes then slipped out the door.
I stood there in shock, pants still halfway on.
Maybe it had been worse then I had hoped and he was no longer in love. Maybe he realized it was a fantasy he’d built up and it was now dashed. That was the hope and it looked like my plan had worked.
I pulled together the blankets and pillows and sheets and dragged them down the hallway. A servant took them off my hands after a little while, so I made my way back to my bedroom. Opening the door, I half expected Calix to be there waiting for me, but he was gone. Relieved, I undressed, chucked my clothes into the hamper then drew myself a bath.
I soaked for a long time, falling asleep again before I jumped when the water shifted.
My eyes shot open to see a naked Calix slipping into the water, legs brushing mine.
“Cal—” I started but he hushed me, pressing a finger to my mouth.
“I don’t want to know. I just want to be with you now. I need you right now, Lily Dahlia.”
His mouth overtook me and I gave back quickly, eagerly accepting his tongue as his hands drew around my ribs.
He pulled me tightly to him, spreading my legs around his hips in the tepid water as he sank into me. Eyes drifting closed, he thrust forcefully as if he was starving for me, his lips begging for mine as he thrust over and over.
Water splashed over the edge, sending soapy waves onto the white tiled floor but we didn’t hardly notice, let alone care. I just needed him to erase the past hours spent in another man’s arms, and I hoped deep in my heart he felt similar.
Thumb pressing between my folds and over my sensitive pearl, he rubbed in tight circles until I was again thrown into a spiraling orgasm as he finished in me, his erection twitching then softening.
“Good morning,” I said with a little giggle.
“Good morning, Agápi Mou,” he said to me, smiling down at me.
I thrust my wet fingers into his hair and stroked it out of his face as we sat there.
“We’ve never bathed together before.” I told him, trying to keep the conversation light.
Neither of us wanted to talk about having just had sex with other people.
“No. It’s nice,” he agreed.
He pulled my body to his, embracing me in the cooled water until he stood, water dripping off him like the Greek god he was.
Helping me out of the bath, we both dried then found new clothes in the closet.
After dressing, we fell into bed together, exhausted.
My question remained in my brain, unable to be silenced until I finally asked.
“Calix,” I whispered.
“Yes?” he murmured.
“Did you...find one?”
His body stiffened for a moment before he sighed and relaxed again.
“I did,” he said quietly. “She is expecting now.”
“Where is she?” I teared, hoping he couldn’t hear it in my voice.
“I left her in a guest room under guard. I couldn’t stay away from you any longer.”
I gulped down my tears before turning to him.
“I want to meet her, Cal.”
“You will,” he promised. “But for this day, you will be mine and only mine. I’ve shared you enough tonight.”
My heart agreed so I dropped my head and snuggled closer to his chest.
“Ariston promised to care for Maggie properly, and that he will not bring up anything about me anymore,” I whispered.
He didn’t answer and I thought he must have fallen asleep. But eventually he sighed and said, “Thank you, Lily.”
As was typical, Calix was gone when I eventually woke up. The time said that it was close to nine PM so it was just past a vampire morning.
I showered again, put on another black velvet dress and makeup before going to find my mate. I had a sister-mate to meet and a man I needed to know still loved me best.
Calix was in his office with Bion, Leon, Ariston and Heron when I arrived.
“So it’s settled?” Calix asked his brothers, holding a hand out to me to welcome me wordlessly.
“Fine, settled,” they all agreed, watching me enter.
“Then I will see you all out when it’s time. And we’ll stay updated. Don’t forget the phones I gave you.”
The brothers mumbled in the affirmative before filing out. Ariston didn’t look at me as he left, following close behind Heron. Bion paused before turning to me.
“I sincerely apologize for the harsh words I spoke to you, Lily. They seem to have proven themselves untrue.”
“Well thanks, B.” I smiled at him, though I wouldn’t take my own words back.
He nodded shortly and fled, closing the massive door behind him.
“Well that was… weird,” I told Calix, taking a seat in the dark green wingback chair that I considered mine.
“We had a head to head, then a fist to fist, and then a heart to heart,” Calix smiled at me.
“Hey, so long as you’re all getting along. What is settled?”
“My brothers all know their parts now. They’ll oversee from their own continents.”
“You mean everyone’s leaving?”
“Tonight. They’ve already called and readied their jets. First on the mission is recruitment, then finding more mates and expanding. It’s a lot of landmass to cover as just one man.”
“And Breanna is going with Leon? Alexandra with Bion?”
“All as it was before. Except Bion will take residency in Africa. We don’t need two men in Europe and leave a whole other continent unattended. And Africa needs a steady, firm hand. Let me tell you...”
“What about Ariston? He never had a territory. Where will he go?”
“To China with Heron. It’s his responsibility to train Ris and get him ready. From there he goes to Australia. It requires little attention and it will be a good growing position for him.”
I nodded.
“He will be taking Maggie with him, you understand?” he said gently.
My mouth popped open. I hadn’t even considered it before. My sister would leave to the other side of the world and there was nothing I could do about it.
“I’m going to miss her...” I breathed, tears dripping out of my eyes.
“I know, my darling. I know...”
He took me into his arms and held me for a long time.
Until the door echoed in a knock, anyway.
“Bring her in,” Calix said without even an introduction.
The door opened by Thomas and with him stood a young woman, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three years old.
She looked incredibly frightened, standing there barefoot and in a white gown. I supposed she looked a lot like I did when I was in her position.
“I’m sorry my Lord, she insisted on seeing you.”
“Don’t worry about it, Thomas.” Calix waved his hand at him. “Leave us now.”
To the girl, he motioned for her to come forward, holding out his hand, palm up, as the Drakos men did. She didn’t go to him.
“Lily, this is Aurora. Aurora, my first mate, Lily.”
We stared at each other before the girl started to tear up, her hand going to her mouth to hold back the sobs.
; I rushed over to her, pulling her into my arms.
“I hope you were kind to her, Calix,” I murmured, stroking her hair.
“Far kinder than I was to you. She is just a gentle soul. Not all fire and ice like you are.”
“You ok?” I asked her, trying to look into her eyes.
She just shook her head and planted her forehead back onto my shoulder.
Aurora felt tiny in my arms. A waif of a girl, hardly filled out in the breasts or hips.
“How old are you?” I tried but she didn’t answer.
I looked over my shoulder and Calix shrugged saying, “Twenty-one.”
“Oh my God… you’re just a kid...” I murmured again and kept stroking.
“There is no reason to cry, Aurora,” Calix spoke in a demanding voice. “Cease.”
That just made her cry harder.
“She has every reason to cry.” I scowled at him. “Where are her clothes?”
“She arrived here in tatters. That is all she’s been given.”
“I’ll take her from here,” I told my mate, leading the girl to the door.
“Take someone else with you,” Calix called as I left.
“Yes, mate,” I called back over my shoulder, leading the girl away.
Heading toward the guest wing, I found a servant that led us back to Aurora’s room and who then left to retrieve Janie and some clothes for Aurora.
“Hey, you can stop crying, sweetie,” I told her quietly. “It’s just you and me now.”
“Are you one of them?” she asked in a high pitched, almost nasally voice.
“A vampire? Nope. I’m just a plain old human. In the same position as you, really.”
“They took me off the street.”
“Oh, sweetie...” I cooed.
“They fed me and…promised a safe place from now on. I just had to give up my virginity. Sounded easy.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“He was really...nice.” She sniffled. “But he… he bit me. Why did he bite me?”
“Didn’t he explain that they are vampires? That he needed another mate?”
She nodded.
“I didn’t believe him.”
“Believe me then, it’s true. I wasn’t so happy about him taking on another mate but I don’t exactly have any say in the matter. He has recently had a tragedy occur so it was necessary.”
She nodded.
“But you’ll never go hungry here. You’ll never want for anything anymore. He will take good care of you.”
“I can take care of myself.” She frowned.
I was saved from pointing out that she’d been homeless and hungry up until then when Janie came into the room with a tray of food and an armload of white clothes.
“Hey, Lily!” Janie put down the tray and clothes and gave me a hug before turning to the new girl.
“Another one, huh?” she asked and looked at Aurora.
“Another one.”
I didn’t want to know how many he’d had to go through last night before finding Aurora.
“But damn he’s lucky. Two beautiful mates so far? Lucky dog.”
I laughed and hugged Janie again before turning to the food. I was starving.
We ate and chatted, Aurora loosening up until she was talking too, although reserved.
By late evening I was finally getting to know her when Thomas entered the room.
“The king wishes you, Mistress,” he told me, eyes flicking to Janie and Aurora before glancing back on me.
“Where is he?”
“I believe he’s retired for the evening.”
“Ok.” I nodded and he left.
I attempted to hug Aurora again but she stiffened so I settled for touching her shoulder. Janie followed me out.
“So? How’s it going with the whole, ‘my man is sleeping with other women’ thing?”
“Janie!” I elbowed her in the ribs.
She howled and giggled before hugging me again and going her own way.
I meandered to my bedroom, not in any hurry to get there, so that I could sort my own feelings out before seeing him. I managed to think of the things I wanted to say by the time I got into the room, but my mate had other things planned.
When the door opened, it was ripped out of my hands before I was pulled off the ground. I shrieked, I kicked and fought, But then my heart eased. I knew it was him.
Slamming the door closed, he put me back on my feet by the bed and whipped off my dress.
Shrieking, I banged on his chest playfully.
“I’ve got an hour before farewells. I intend to use it productively,” he breathed into my ear before unlatching my bra, throwing it to the ground then dragging down my panties.
My back hit the mattress with a soft plop and my legs were already being drawn up as he pressed his mouth to mine. His lips stroked my lips and his fingers stroked my seam, readying me for him. But he didn’t stop when I was wet. He kept circling and massaging and stroking until I was bucking, screaming into his mouth as I came. A hungry growl emanated out of his throat as he eventually pulled away his fingers to replace them with his solid length. He didn’t bother with easing in, he just slammed his hips to mine and I gasped, mirroring his movements, biting at his lips and pulling at his hair. He devoured my mouth for a while longer, then let go and nestled into my neck.
I rolled my head away, giving him the space he needed to bite. He did.
Calling his name, over and over as he ate, thrust and kneaded my breast, my whole body was singing with sensation. His touch was a drug and I was starting to feel the high.
Eventually he gave me a finger dripping with a single bead of blood and I took it, feeling the slightly warm, tingling sensation throughout my body and on my neck where the wounds healed.
“Scream for me,” he growled into my ear. “Scream my name, my goddess.”
Eyes rolling into the back of my head I let my chest decompress as whimpers and grunts escaped, then my body reached the pinnacle where I let him hear what he did to me. I shrieked as the first wave rolled through almost painfully, then whined his name as he slammed into me. When his orgasm hit him, he grunted and ground against me fiercely before letting his weight drop onto me.
The weight felt comforting, as if he could protect me from anything.
“I love you, my beautiful goddess,” he sighed, opening his eyes to look at me.
“I love you too, my king.”
The words made him smile as he rolled off me.
“I’ll never grow old of this, Agápi Mou.”
“You’ll never grow old, period.” I grinned at him, catching my breath again.
“That’s true, but neither will you. Come your third child I will turn you and we will be forever one.”
“I don’t know if I could stand you that long.” I winked at him and he winked back, collapsing on his back on the bed.
“My brothers and their families leave soon. I don’t look forward to their absence.”
“I know,” I agreed. “I have to say goodbye to my sister too. For who knows how long.”
“I wish I could change things,” he said finally.
“I know you can’t. I’ll learn to deal with it.”
We laid there and cuddled for a little while before Calix forced me to get up and get dressed. I slipped the black velvet dress on without underwear, then followed him to the gathering room where everyone was already saying goodbye.
Maggie stood by Ariston with a deep frown, her eyes looked swollen from crying.
“Are you ok?” I asked her, pulling her aside.
She shook her head.
“I didn’t know they would take me away from you, Lily.” She almost sobbed.
“Is he treating you better”
She nodded.
“I don’t know what happened, but he is treating me like a princess now,”
“Good.” I nodded and embraced her tightly. “I know Ari, and he is a good man. He will be good to you, Mags. Just giv
e him a chance to adjust to things, ok? Forgive him for the angry things he said. He didn’t mean them. He was mad at me.”
“He still loves you.”.
“He doesn’t,” I started but she shook her head.
“He explained as much to me. He told me how things go here, with mates and stuff. He explained that he loves another, but that he will treat me like a wife and that I should ask for anything I want or need.”
I closed my eyes hard before opening them, seeing Ariston across the room watching us.
“Keep heart,” I told her, kissing her cheek. “I’m only a phone call away.”
She nodded and hugged me again before moving to Chrys who stood over near Nyx.
The poor guy was so drugged with sex he hardly even knew what was going on.
I smiled at his glowing skin and the love bite prominent on his neck. At least after all this nightmare was over for him, he would remember the time fondly. And Nyx was keeping him occupied while I was busy with Calix and Maggie and my new sister-mate.
They hugged tightly and Chrys’s face looked distressed as his sister was pulled away by a man he didn't know.
He would struggle with the separation too. They were far closer to each other than I had been to them. I was always the protector, the mother figure, and they my wards to protect from our mother. They didn’t need my protecting anymore, and with Chrys turning eighteen in the spring, he would be able to be free from needing anybody. I envied him his freedom. I anticipated what he would do with it.
I hugged all of the princes, taking a moment to whisper in Ariston’s ear, “Take care of her,” before letting him go and not looking back.
I had fond feelings for him, but I didn’t love him. He would soon realize he didn’t love me, either.
They all left together, the grey color of dawn just under the horizon.
When the door was closed and the cars gone, Calix and I looked at each other in the strange silence. No children screeching, no women arguing, no men boasting. It was just us left.
Nyx dragged Chrys off quickly to do whatever it was they did between sex-capades and I went to my mate’s arms.
“For the next few days, I’ll be very busy,” he told me softly. “When they arrive, we will gather our forces and we attack the Dorians. One swift hit and their royals will be killed out. Our special ops teams will ensure it. But meanwhile, I will be tied up in my office, and I need no distractions. And since you are my biggest distraction...”