King Cave

by Scarlett Dawn

  “Fuck,” Ezra rumbled, his face swinging to the door. “Hopefully it was Pearl.”

  My hand clamped over my mouth. “We weren’t that loud, were we?” My wide eyes met his equally round gaze. I pointed vaguely. “There’s music out there for the Vamps.”

  He quickly nodded, grabbing the wet wipes off the shelf. “No one would be able to hear us out in the bar.” He quickly cleaned himself as I slipped my flip-flops back on, which had fallen off, and I motioned to his fingers, which he wiped down. “I wouldn’t have started this here if I thought they could hear us.”

  “I know,” I murmured as he fixed his pants. I picked up his belt and my panties, which were both ruined, and tossed them deep into a trash can, under a few things smelling horrendous, and used a few of the wet wipes to clean off my own hands. “How does my hair look?” I pitched the wet wipes into the trash, and turned to him.

  His lips twitched as he pulled his hood up, which had fallen at some point. “Like you’ve been properly fucked.”

  I sighed, waving my hands at it. “Well, fix it.”

  “Calm down,” he murmured softly, running his fingers through my hair, which did, indeed, feel tangled as he tugged through it relentlessly. “Whoever put up the spell did so with our protection in mind.”

  “And hopefully not blackmail,” I griped quietly, fixing his shirt, which was crooked. “This is King Nelson’s party, after all.” I paused. “Lots of Mages.”

  His fingers stalled for a moment before moving again through my hair. “Do try to be optimistic. Comments like that take years off my life.”

  I sighed. “I’m just trying to prepare for who I might have to kill.”

  His gaze met mine. “If there’s any killing that needs to be done because we’re sleeping together,” he actually pumped his pec muscles, “I’ll be the one to do it.”

  I stared, dry words flowing, “Really? A man thing?”

  He sniffed, jaw hardening. “Yes.”

  I patted his chest. “Okay, Conan, you can kill the baddies.” I smiled sweetly. “And I’ll scream and run away in terror.”

  He blinked, then snorted. “That’ll be the day.” But he positioned himself in front of me as we moved toward the door. He paused for a moment with his hand on the door handle, ear to the door, but his eyebrows came together as he glanced at me with a shake of his head. Cracked the door just a smidge to peek out. He jerked, cursing, as it slammed back into his face from the outside.

  Low and behold, Bindi slipped inside the door, shutting it firmly behind her. My lips pinched and my claws literally sliced through my fingers, even as Ezra growled at her, his predator taking voice, while he rubbed at his eye. Bindi placed her hands on her hips, stating bluntly, “Are you two fucking insane?”

  “Possibly.” I smiled at her. It wasn’t pretty, my eyes flashing. “You were the one who put the protection on the room?”

  She huffed. “Of course I was. I was here to pass out free condoms to all the partiers, and decided to check the storage closet where people — who are fucking morons — sometimes sneak off. And imagine my surprise when I hear the Prodigy Shifter and Prodigy Vampire going at it.” She shook her head, crossing her arms. “Do you know how many people I shooed away?”

  I stared at her foot as it started thumping in irritation at our silence.

  “Um, no?” Ezra asked slowly, also watching her closely, his nostrils flared.

  She snorted. “Apparently, there’s some really good wine in here King Nelson wants.” Her gaze wandered to the broken wine bottle on the floor, rolling her eyes, before her attention returned to us. “Roughly, I turned away fifteen people, only six of which were sneaking back here to do what you two were already doing,” she glanced at her watch, “for the last forty-five minutes.” She rubbed her ear, glancing at me. “The spell doesn’t work for the person who creates it. No one will ever claim you have weak lungs.” She chuckled, gaze to Ezra. “Or you.”

  My wolf’s nails disappeared. “You aren’t going to say anything?”

  She blinked. “I’m a physician. I’ve seen many things in my lifetime that I’ve never once divulged information about. Besides, if I was going to say something about you two, I would have done so when I determined he was the father of your twins.”

  We both stilled.

  “Excuse me?” I asked gently. “How the hell did you know that?”

  Her eyebrows rose. “You mean other than the fact that he acted like the father trying to not act like the father?” I growled, and she stated hurriedly, “During my exam, I knew the babies were hybrids. Their power signatures were in their DNA, unprotected and new. Vampire and Shifter. I didn’t just scan you, Ms Ruckler. I also scanned them when I did the internal exam.”

  My whole body stiffened. “Did you treat me any differently, knowing they were hybrids?”

  Instant. “No, I did everything I could to save them. I’m not the Executioner. That isn’t my job, thank God.” She actually scowled at me. “I save lives, not take them.”

  Truth.

  My whole body relaxed.

  Ezra cleared his throat. Twice. Quiet words. “Do you know what their genders were?”

  Her lips pinched, her gaze instantly softening before lowering. “Are you sure you want to know?” She motioned to the room. “You’re both moving on. Why stray to the past?”

  “Please…,” he whispered softly, eyes avidly on her.

  She cleared her throat. “A boy and a girl.”

  My breath caught, and my knees weakened to the point that Ezra had to slide an arm around me, holding me close so I didn’t crumble.

  Bindi’s gaze met ours, and I saw only the medic in her expression. “When you plan to have children again,” her tone was matter-of-fact, her gaze flicking back and forth between Ezra and me, “make sure you see a doctor immediately, once you believe conception has occurred. She has a weak cervix, an incompetent cervix. There’s a procedure the Coms do — we sometimes perform it on the few Mysticals who need it — to sew the cervix.” She glanced at me. “It can’t be done once you’re dilated to four centimeters,” her gaze again flicked between Ezra and me, “but before that, it can be done to help the cervix from dilating. That procedure and bed rest will give you a better shot at a healthy baby being born.”

  Thoughts flying through my head in damning implications, I wheezed, “It was my fault?”

  Ezra’s grip on me instantly tightened, his gaze flying to mine. “That’s not what she said.” His voice was gruff, his eyes steadfast as he brushed a tear away from my cheek, which I hadn’t even realized had fallen. “She said it was your cervix, which we didn’t know about before.”

  My breath came in pants, incriminating thoughts slowing, and I nodded jerkily. He was right. We hadn’t known about that. If we had, we would have fixed it. My body shuddered, my head falling against Ezra’s chest. It hadn’t been my fault.

  Bindi spoke carefully. “As I said, with the proper care, it can be treated with successful rates for full-term children.”

  Ezra didn’t even blink, glancing at her. “Thank you. For everything you’ve told us, and for putting a protection on the walls.” He began rubbing my back soothingly, my heart rate gradually decreasing with the motion.

  She pointed at the door, her blank expression turning into a scowl. “That thing is so thin, I will have nightmares about growling people screaming ‘sweetheart’, ‘baby’,” she snorted, “and my personal favorite, ‘little wolf’.” Ezra’s said growl returned, but she only chuckled. “Be smart in the future if you two want to keep what seems like a good thing going.” And she slipped out the door without a backward glance, the golden protection disappearing with her.

  Ezra bent his head, sighing heavily against my head and holding me close. “I’m not straying to the past, but I just needed to know. I’m sorry if it hurt you to hear, though.”

  I tilted my face, kissing his jaw. “It’s better than always wondering.”

  “Exactly.” He hugged me t
ight before moving to open the door a crack, peeking out. “I’ll go first.” His gaze met mine, then darted over my face. “Go straight to the bedroom. We’ve got missing time to make up for.”

  My lips quirked. “Say please.”

  “Please, sweetheart?”

  My grin grew. “Okay, since you asked nicely.”

  “That’ll be the only thing I ask nicely.” He grinned when I huffed in exasperation — the man never let me win — then made a quick kissing motion at me, just to irritate me more, before ducking and blurring so fast he left a backdraft.

  I crept back to the wine bottles and snatched one. Ezra and I could drink it together later. Or hell, maybe even save it as a keepsake of this place. I blinked at that soft thought, not knowing where the hell it had come from, right before I ducked and secretly made my way out of the bar.

  Ezra growled against my neck, sounding more like he purred, gently thrusting into me. Our bodies were slick with sweat from our two-hour marathon since leaving the bar. We’d made it all the way to the couch when we’d first arrived. Then to the floor by the dressers. Each time just as fierce as in the supply closet, but this time, haphazardly sideways on the bed, it was different.

  Slow.

  Soft.

  Decadent.

  Honestly, I wasn’t sure we had ever had sex like this. It felt more like making love. Something I had only ever done before with Dominic.

  “Ezra?” I whispered, moaning softly as our hips met in a sweet glide. Sliding my feet over the backs of his legs, my inner thighs smoothing across his hips, I arched against him as he filled me again. I cried out, my body trembling from the delicious friction.

  “Hmm?” His tongue dipped into the hollow of my throat, lapping the moisture there.

  Swallowing hard, my hands ran across his back and gripped his shoulder blades as I lifted my hips to meet his measured thrust. “Look at me.”

  He rose on his elbows, face hovering over mine. Our gazes held, both our expressions of loving pleasure. My lids drooped a smidge as he tilted his hips and pressed into me at a different angle, his breath catching as he watched my reaction.

  “Baby,” my voice was breathless, “we’re making,” I moaned softly, my body shuddering under his as our bodies met again, “love.”

  His eyes crinkled, lips lifting, and his nose rubbed against mine. “Yes, we are.”

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve done this.”

  He brushed his lips across mine, his breaths falling against my cheeks. “Me, too.”

  My eyes darted between his, seeing as how he wasn’t hiding his gaze. “I like it.”

  His lips lifted against mine as we shared our air. “Same here.”

  I swallowed hard, groaning, his in concert with mine. “I like it a lot.” My hands began sliding over his shoulders, feeling the way his back muscles flexed with his movement.

  His chuckle was breathless. “Agreed. We should do it more often.” His head tilted, our lips gliding as our bodies were, before his tongue softly met mine, his mouth eating my whimper. His fingers threaded through my hair and cupped my head in a gentle hold, giving me access to slant my own head and deepen the kiss further. My hands slid to his perfect ass and gripped him firmly enough to feel the pull and play of his strength as our hips continued to meet, the friction purely sinful.

  “Sweetheart,” he moaned, tangling his tongue with mine.

  Suddenly, a few things happened at once in no particular order, except for the first, which was a startled, loud-ass banshee shriek sounding to my right and causing my mouth and Ezra’s to separate. Then it all sort of unfolded in a huge clusterfuck as we saw Jack and Pearl standing just inside the room, their wide gazes very much on us.

  I screamed, sounding horribly like a girl.

  Ezra’s fangs sliced out, his eyes flashing bright green.

  Jack shouted, “Shit!”

  Pearl shrieked like a banshee again.

  The blanket somehow got thrown over us.

  Jack threw his hands up, hollering, “We didn’t know!”

  I was pretty sure I screamed again.

  Ezra yelled, “A little privacy, goddamn it!”

  Pearl and Jack literally slammed into each other as they jerked, trying to turn around, and both fell to the ground in a tangle of ungraceful limbs. Ezra and I blinked, watching Jack jump to his feet and yank Pearl up unceremoniously by an arm. He threw the door open, shoving her out, but paused, grousing over his shoulder, “Next time, give us some fucking warning.” A pause, then a deep huff of air. “We’re only going to be gone an hour. And change the damn sheets when you’re done.” He stepped out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

  We both stared at the closed door for a full minute, our heartbeats gradually turning from frantic to a semblance of normal.

  Ezra growled low, his predator sounding pissed off, and his gaze moved to mine. The man sound just as ticked as he asked, “Did that ruin the mood for you?”

  Quietly, I chuckled, running my hands through his hair. “Not a chance. Plus, we don’t have to explain we’re having sex again to them.” His furious eyes slowly blinked, his expression beginning to clear, as I started gently pulling his face down to mine. Nibbling at him lush bottom lip, I whispered, “How about you?”

  He shook his head, his gaze on my mouth. “It’ll take a hell of a lot more than that to break the mood for me, but,” his gaze lifted to mine and back down to my mouth, “you screamed.”

  “Hmm,” I hummed, licking across his lip. “Didn’t like that, did you?”

  Instant. “No.” His arched eyebrows were still together.

  “How about this?” I lifted my hips, his cock sliding a bit further into me, and he shuddered on top of me. “Do you like that?” That whole Conan metaphor earlier wasn’t really so off base. Ezra was definitely a man who didn’t like the woman who he cared about and was sleeping with to be frightened. It bothered him on a different level. He needed his mind taken off it in a different way, hence the grinding, our sensual powers flaring around us.

  His eyes were closed, teeth gritted as he nodded joltingly. “You sure?”

  “Ezra,” I arched against him, pressing my body to him tightly, “I want to make love.”

  He muttered, “Thank you, Jesus.” Not a second later, his lips were on mine. And we did proceed to make slow love to one another, barely having time to change the sheets on the bed before Jack and Pearl returned.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Elder Merrick chuckled quietly, standing behind me as he taught me how to flip myself over him while also breaking his neck. Well, not really break his neck, but how the move was done for a surprise attack from behind, using only a smidge of my strength to carry me up and over him. This exercise was actually fun since he was the one who continually hit the mat. I had really enjoyed seeing his ass down there and not having the situation the other way around.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked, wiping my forehead, which was sweating disgustingly.

  “Your escort has returned from his absence,” he breathed against my ear, his finger traveling over my shoulder.

  I brushed his hand away. “Stop that.” I turned my face to his. “What are you—” I stopped, sniffing the air. Ah. My eyes instantly hooded. Ezra. “We have plans to do brunch.”

  Again with the whispered breath against my ear. “Is that what it’s called nowadays?”

  I snorted before I could stop it, then quickly coughed. “Brunch, as in lots of plates full of yummy treats.” I paused, but quickly added, just in case he came up with something raunchy for that, “Food. Substance.” I slapped at his hand as it started to brush up my arm. “I’d rather see you on the mat than have you groping at me.” And yes, I said it loudly, just in case Ezra was listening. Although, I wasn’t quite sure why. “Let’s do this once more so I can go eat.”

  Elder Merrick chuckled, sneaking in a quick kiss against my sweaty, disgusting neck — served him right — before he slapped my ass, saying,
“Then do it.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “You’re a pain in what you just inappropriately touched.”

  “That position is one of my favorites if you would care to find out.”

  I blinked. “Huh?”

  He laughed gravelly, murmuring, “Innocence is for the young, Ms Ruckler. Branch out a little.”

  I had no clue what he was talking about. “Whatever.” I threw a scowl over my shoulder. “Can I hurt you now?”

  “Now you’re getting the idea.”

  “You talk in riddles,” I muttered, then jumped, giving him no notice. I tucked, rotating in the air, then reached out and gripped his neck as I started to descend behind him. I shoved down hard as I untucked, the act where I would jerk an enemy’s head clean off. I landed beautifully on my feet as he thumped hard on the mats below me.

  He grunted, grabbing at his ear. He blinked. Gave his ear another tug. “Cahal taught him well.” A slow grin up at me. “Your escort is much less innocent than you, Ms Ruckler.”

  My gaze shot to Ezra. I saw the glow swiftly diminish from his eyes, returning them to their normal stunning green. My lips pinched, realizing he had used an old form of Vampire communication to say something to Elder Merrick during my take-down. My gaze moved to the intended recipient as he jumped to his feet. “I took you down fair and square.” I wasn’t about to let Ezra’s distraction say otherwise.

  “You did.” Elder Merrick rubbed his neck. “A bit too hard, really.”

  I nodded once. Truth. “See you tomorrow.”

  He waved absently, popping his neck, and I went to where Ezra was sitting on the bleachers, next to my bag. He was reclined with his arms on the seat behind him, watching me move toward him. His gaze was guarded, even though his lips were lifted in a predatory way. I grabbed my bag, tossing him a dirty look, and pulled a sweatshirt out along with a water bottle.

  Quietly, he murmured, “I didn’t say anything until he was already on his back.”