“The answer is yes. Our children should have names that begin with G to honor those who came before.”
Grace. Garrison. Gus. Gabrielle. Those were all good. “I can live with a G-named child, as long as I make him…or her, with you.”
He gave me a brilliant smile before guiding me back through the throng. Names. Faces. More names. More faces. I was getting a serious headache until Rayla swooped over to us, looking flushed and absolutely glowing with happiness. God, I knew that feeling, knew it well. It was probably because she and Elon had completed one—or more—steps toward claiming Rayla’s three virginities. I glanced up at Gage, whose scowl told me he assumed the same thing. I loved that he was such a protective older brother, but he would have to learn to let go. And pronto.
“Don’t worry,” Rayla began. “Mother’s got a book, a real paper book that you can carry around with everyone’s name, face and entire life history to keep track of who’s who. I’ll be shocked if you don’t find it on your bedside table when you retire for the night.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Never underestimate Mother when it comes to machinations or scheming, dear sister. She’s a goddess.” Rayla smiled as I pulled her into a hug, pressing my lips close to her ear so no other would hear, even Gage. No, especially Gage.
“Are you well? Things went well with Elon?”
“The best.” When I pulled back to look in her eyes, I saw what I needed to see. Pink cheeks from a tinge of embarrassment, but the look of a well-satisfied woman. “If I’d known it was going to be that good, I would have thrown him down and had my way with him months ago.”
“Behave, mate.” Elon came up to her side looking well-pleased and content. Yes, at least one of her virginities was gone. I wondered if that’s how others viewed Gage and me, although Gage had stated outright at the ascension ceremony that the full claiming was complete. Did we look this happy? Did I radiate joy as Rayla did? Did I have the same glow of a well-satisfied woman?
Closing my eyes, I took stock, letting everything going on inside me register. I felt the slight tenderness between my thighs from my first time. Gage had been gentle, but he’d taken me more than once. I’d wanted it, needed it as much as he. I wasn’t sore, but deliciously well-used and I wouldn’t wish a ReGen wand to make it go away. The feeling was a reminder that I was Gage’s. No one else’s.
Yes. Yes, there was no doubt I looked just as satisfied and loved as Rayla. And her gown was stunning, a mark of Gage’s family, and I had to agree that we both looked like princesses straight out of a fairy tale with strong, handsome mates by our sides.
“You!” Rayla said, stepping up to Gage and pushing her finger into his chest. “I want to give you a piece of my mind. You were supposed to tell Mother first and then announce our mating.”
“Where would be the fun in that?” Gage chuckled.
It made me smile even before his warm hand settled around my back to rest on the curve of my hip. His touch warmed me to my core, his scent enveloping me like a drug and just that quickly I was wet and eager for him, knew I always would be.
“And you,” she leaned into her mate, her mock anger a complete farce and we all knew it. “You were not supposed to throw me over your shoulder and drag me off like one of Dani’s cave dwellers at an ascension ceremony of all places!”
“Cave dwellers?” Elon turned his attention to me, but I was laughing too hard to answer, so Gage did it for me.
“I think you mean a caveman, little sister.”
Elon’s shock had not faded. “Men live in caves on Earth? I knew they were primitive, but caves?”
I nodded as Gage winked, then took him by the shoulder, leading him toward a beverage station on the side of the room. I linked arms with my new sister and we followed them as I listened to Gage explain to his fellow caveman, exactly what we Earth women meant by the term.
A feast awaited. Everything I could possibly imagine, from sweets to fruits and candy confections I had never tried, but tasted suspiciously similar to dark chocolate, were laid out along one entire wall of the ballroom with servants and Hunters both stationed every few steps: one to serve the food, the other to guard Gage. And me, I supposed. “The food looks amazing. Your mother really outdid herself.”
“Our mother,” Rayla insisted. She looked at the feast with a sigh. “I wish my stomach were larger. There are so many choices, and Elon wore me out. I’m starving.”
I laughed, my own stomach rumbling. “Me, too.”
“Speaking of Mother, where is she?” Rayla stood on tiptoe, craning her neck to see over the heads of men neither one of us had a chance in hell of looking over. “This is her crowning moment. She would never miss it.”
I had turned to look for her when a familiar voice interrupted us from behind.
“Ladies, if we may?” I turned to see Geoffrey and Thomar had come up behind us dressed resplendently in Gage’s family colors, black and champagne gold.
Rayla tilted her head, her glance darting to inspect Elon’s humorous expression as the meaning of being a caveman dawned.
“He’ll probably be proud of it, like your brother,” I offered.
“Without doubt.” She grinned and we shared a smile, a sister smile, one full of secrets and hidden truths. I’d never had a sister, but now, with Rayla, I had one more thing to be grateful for. Turning to Geoffrey, she was still smiling. “How may we help you, Hunters?”
I had learned the address of ‘Hunter’ was equivalent to calling someone a true gentleman back home. It was a compliment and a title all in one.
Both men bowed low, but Geoffrey spoke. “May we have the honor of a dance?”
Rayla glanced at Elon, who gave her an imperceptible nod, then held out her hand immediately to Thomar. “Of course.” As he led her toward the dance floor, she grinned at me. “I could use a little more of the cave dweller mentality later tonight.”
With a laugh at what I knew seeing us in another Hunter’s arms would do to our mates, I looked to Gage. While he knew I was his—no one else’s—I wanted to make sure he didn’t go all caveman if I danced with another male. He smiled and nodded as well, so I took Geoffrey’s outstretched hand. We followed the other two into the throng of dancing couples. I glanced over my shoulder, saw Gage watching me. Specifically, he was watching my ass with that dark, intent gaze. I wouldn’t mind a little caveman action tonight either and I was going to ensure it happened. I wasn’t a virgin any longer and I could certainly seduce my own mate. It seemed pretty easy; all I had to do was get naked and he’d pounce.
14
Gage
Contentment. That was this feeling. Happiness.
Peace.
I had no idea what I’d been missing until she showed up magically…miraculously in my sleep. On Everis. Then there was no going back.
Dani was mine, the claiming complete. I had taken my rightful place on the council of Seven and I knew my father would be proud. Life. Blood. Honor. I had pledged them all to my people and the beautiful woman swirling on Geoffrey’s arm.
Many, many Hunters’ eyes followed my mate as she circled the room, a vision of gold and diamonds. I had never imagined a woman could look so beautiful. I wanted to tear her from Geoffrey’s arms and carry her off to some dark corner, lift the long hem of her dress and sink into her. I wanted to wrinkle the fabric, muss her hair, smear her lipstick so everyone knew she’d been ravished, that she was taken.
Perhaps Elon felt the same way, for he stood stiffly beside me, watching Rayla dance with Thomar. I hated the idea he put his hands on my sister, but he was in love. That was the only thing keeping me from punching him in the face.
I grinned, knowing we were love-struck, greedy mates.
I turned to one of the servers and asked for two shots of their strongest drink. We were both going to need it to survive the night. For I knew that although Geoffrey was the first to dance with his new princess, my princess, he would not be the last. I caught young prince Zandor watch
ing Rayla and Thomar swirl about the dance floor, waiting for his own chance, but nearly laughed when the elder Zaylen beat him to it, the old man tapping young Thomar on the shoulder and taking Rayla into his arms. He danced well for one of his age. I hoped to be like him when the time came, swirling Dani about, our children and grandchildren around us.
“Gods help me,” Elon groaned next to me and turned his head away, fists clenched. “I can’t watch. I want to punch a ninety-year-old man.”
I did laugh then, for my mark had calmed with the claiming complete. Finally. But I knew the fire that burned in Elon’s body, his soul. Until Rayla was wholly and completely his, controlling his instinct to conquer her would be difficult, even if she were in the arms of a man almost five times her age.
Geoffrey and Dani swirled just out of sight behind several taller Hunters and their dance partners, and I took the two sturdy drinks from the attendant’s tray and handed one of them to Elon. I raised my glass. “To our mates. The two most beautiful women in the room.”
Elon slammed his entire drink back and asked the attendant for another.
I grinned, held up my fingers. “Make it two.”
The servant hurried away as Thomar walked back to us, a slightly shamed look on his face. “Put aside for an nonagenarian.”
Elon laughed this time, yelling after the attendant to bring not two, but three shots of alcohol before turning back to me. “I suppose we should have mated unappealing harpies instead. Gone off to live in one of your Dani’s Earth caves so we wouldn’t have to share.”
My smile was tolerant and I had no wish to argue, or state the obvious. Neither one of us would trade our mate for another. Both females might have sharp tongues and be ridiculously stubborn, but I was proud of Dani. Fiercely protective. Loyal to my dying breath. She’d walked into the room and charmed every member of the Seven, been kind to everyone since our arrival at the palace. I dared believe even my mother was warming to her, which was a remarkable feat. In just two days, she’d managed to charm everyone in the palace. “It wouldn’t have mattered, Elon. Already the staff prefer her to me.”
Thomar chuckled. “At the risk of you stabbing me with your ceremonial dagger, may I say you’re not nearly as pretty as she is, my prince.”
“That is the absolute truth.”
The attendant returned with our drinks and I finished mine in one gulp as Rayla appeared from the throng and immediately pressed herself to Elon’s side. He settled at once, his arm going around her, the edgy impatience of his stance calming. His world was right once more.
I knew the feeling and wanted it for myself. Where was Dani? She’d been appeasing the other guests for more than long enough. It was my fucking turn.
Rayla took the glass from her mate’s hand and swallowed the contents as Thomar, perhaps a little in love with my sister, watched, in awe.
“Where is Mother?” Rayla asked me. “I haven’t seen her all evening, and you know she would never miss her own party.”
Her words struck home like a dagger, my instincts flaring to life in an almost violent surge. I’d been so preoccupied with my mate, the obsession of my cock buried deep in her tight, wet heat, that I hadn’t been paying attention to the rest of the world. Only Dani.
Elon picked up on my unease at once, his lips thinning as he quickly scanned the room. Thomar put his drink in Rayla’s hand, untouched. “I will collect Geoffrey and we will find her at once.”
“Thank you, Thomar.” I wanted to look for my mother, but there was one female even more important to me. I looked at Rayla as Thomar disappeared into the crowd. “Where is Dani?”
She shrugged, sipping the second glass a bit more slowly. “Last I saw, she was dancing with Geoffrey near the balcony.”
The balcony was on the opposite side of the ballroom with open doors to the exterior. With the throng of people, it would take me several minutes to get there.
“Damn it,” I growled. “I should have told Geoffrey to keep her on this side of the room.”
“You would have him only dance in half the room? He’d be tripping over everyone. There is a system, brother. A natural flow.”
“I don’t care,” I growled.
I had a strange feeling growing within me, a foreboding, but I fought it down. I was being overly protective. Paranoid. We were surrounded by Hunters. Von’s men. Mine. She was fine. Just because I couldn’t see her, didn’t mean she wasn’t safe. And yet… “I shouldn’t have let her leave my side. Not for a moment.”
Elon leaned down and kissed Rayla gently on the lips. “Who’s the cave dweller now, mate?”
She smiled at him, her eyes glowing with happiness. “Oh, I knew my big brother was a beast all along.” Taking his chin between her fingertips, she pushed up on tiptoes and kissed him, not quite as gently. “You, however, are my cave dweller.”
“Damn right, I am.”
“Do not leave her side, Elon. That is an order.”
His head snapped up as he caught my tension. I wasn’t the only man here whose instincts were being blocked by a warm, willing female.
I didn’t wait for him to comment before diving into the throng of people, taking a direct route to my mate, ignoring well-wishers and political climbers by the dozens. I didn’t have time to talk. My Hunter senses flared. My mate senses flared. Something was wrong. The knowledge was burning inside me, growing stronger with each step I took toward my mate.
Dani
Dancing with Geoffrey was awkward, and I couldn’t fully relax in his hold. He wasn’t Gage, and he was stiff, nervous. His hand on my waist felt wrong somehow, like it didn’t belong. It was strange, as I’d never felt like a prude before, even when I was a virgin, but now that I wasn’t, I would have thought interacting with men would be easier. Not harder.
Boy, was I wrong. Now that I knew Gage’s touch, the pleasure of his kiss, his hard body, his cock, I didn’t want to touch anyone else. Be touched by anyone else. Maybe it was a Marked Mate thing. Maybe it was Geoffrey. Maybe it was just me. I had no idea. All I knew was that his hand holding mine was clammy and sweaty, his body was stiff, and he was making me nervous.
I felt bad for him, that he was so awkward, but perhaps he just needed to dance more. To interact with some Everian women. Hopefully, he’d find his Marked Mate and it would be easy for him. To let their marks handle the hard part and they’d just know they were perfect for each other.
I was becoming weary from all the excitement of the day. Loud music, lots of people. I wasn’t used to such pomp and fanfare. Even worse, being the center of attention. And, wearing a dress and makeup and heels. Perhaps next time I wore a floor length gown I’d wear a sensible pair of boots beneath.
I wanted my mate, our bed, and some serious down time. I wanted Gage. Wrapped around me, holding me, making the rest of the world go away. Quiet, where I could hear his breathing, the beat of his heart.
“My apologies, Princess. I am a bit nervous.” His confession should have been endearing. Instead, it made my nerves go up a notch.
“It’s all right. I’ve never danced at a royal ball before either.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You look very beautiful. And you are a very kind person. Everyone at the palace is talking about their wonderful new princess.”
Small talk and compliments. Neither one was something I was overly comfortable with. I knew better than to believe all of it. I was the princess so everything surely had a filter. Only positive words would be shared around me otherwise they feared for their positions. Or, maybe they feared for their lives; knowing Gage, he’d rip the head off of anyone who wanted to harm me, even verbally.
“Thank you.” What else could I say? I wasn’t one for small talk, especially with someone I didn’t really want to have small talk with, so I kept it simple. Thank you was enough. I glanced over my shoulder, looked for Gage on the outer edges of the dancing. “Maybe we should head back to the others now. I’m sure Rayla will be expecting a dance now that you’ve
spoiled me.” It was rubbish, pure garbage I was spewing, but he seemed to appreciate the effort. His laugh was low, and not very loud.
“I highly doubt that. She only has eyes for Elon.”
“He’s a good man,” I confirmed. “And he loves her.”
“Both very true.”
We were on the opposite side of the ballroom now, the doors open to the balcony where a cool breeze drifted in to dispel some of the heat. I took a deep breath, enjoying the colder air. The outdoors called to me as if I were in Montana, not the far reaches of the galaxy. Geoffrey noticed. “Would you like to step onto the balcony for a moment? Cool off?”
It was tempting. So tempting. I looked over the crowd of Hunters and judges, councilors and pretty people. The men were all so tall that I couldn’t see over their heads, but Gage was on the other side of that mess somewhere, and taking a moment to breathe before fighting our way back over to him seemed like an excellent idea.
I turned to Geoffrey to find him holding out his arm, elbow crooked, like a true gentleman. With a relieved smile, I put my arm through his and he led me out onto the balcony. The sun was setting, the twin moons slowly rising on the horizon in a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie. But this wasn’t a movie, this was my life now. My crazy, amazing, wonderful life. It was as if I were in a sci-fi Disney movie. Surreal and yet so perfect. “It’s so beautiful here.”
The guards at the doors offered me a small bow, then nodded to Geoffrey as we passed. There were more Hunters on the balcony, two at the top of each set of stairs keeping guard.
Geoffrey led me to the edge where a gorgeous stone-carved railing rose to my hips as we looked out over the gardens. They were substantial; going on in a mix of mazes and formal squares, curves and decorative twists with shrubbery as far as I could see. I’d seen pictures of the Palace of Versailles, of the gardens with hedges three times the height of a man with fountains and statues and the same kind of mazes. That was nothing compared to this. The greenery stretched far into the distance, the crisp, cool air a reminder that by morning they would all be covered in frost.
His Virgin Princess Page 12