by Amy Star
Their bodies had been glistening with sweat, Lavinia on top, riding Parker as his big hands bit into her hips. Thearon had watched Lavinia’s head drop back, her beautiful hair falling from its bun and skimming Parker’s thighs. They had looked so uninhibited—so intertwined—Thearon had drawn back, feeling awkward for being turned on, for wanting to join them... for feeling left out... that he’d simply turned around and headed out to the gardens for a run.
Since that day, Thearon had avoided being intimate with either of them and seeing Lavinia as much as possible. “I see her each morning and evening at meals, Parker, you know that.” Thearon wasn’t about to admit what he’d seen to Parker. Not after slipping and placing blame for the assassination attempt.
“According to her therapist, that’s not enough. Lavinia needs more interaction and she needs to leave this palace. We need a security update that gives us more information than ‘nothing more yet.’” Parker ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
Thearon considered, he had done so little for Lavinia… But did he trust the team more than his gut? Perhaps Parker was right, maybe it was time for a change in security procedure; it was time for him to place his trust in those who worked for him. Security had failed when Parker had gone over the security guard’s head and called the man off. Was Thearon any better if he ignored the advice of his team?
“Actually, this last report calculated the statistical probability that the Werebeast group was still in New Orleans, as low. Not only have we not physically seen them, there has been no activity on known aliases or known credit cards. The team figures that they’ve either magically disappeared or that they’ve left the town.”
Parker’s eyes narrowed, “Do you believe them?”
Thearon ignored the clenching feeling in his gut, “They are security experts. I agree with their assessment as they’ve presented it. After the New Year’s incident, there was no follow-up with the Werehorse Tribe. I think after another failed attempt, they are most likely licking their wounds somewhere far away.”
Parker’s hands came together with a loud clap, “Why didn’t you lead with news like that? Why draw me into another fight?” Parker came around and gave Thearon a man hug involving a fair amount of backslapping. “Now, I want you to work on your relationship with Lavinia. We all need to put this behind us.”
There was a beep and Parker checked his phone. Frowning, he tapped his screen and then looked up and said he had to leave. One more round of congratulations was thrown around and Thearon tried his hardest to ignore the voice inside of him that wanted to rage against the advice.
*
Octavius looked around Café Du Monde. The chicory coffee and beignets covered in powdered sugar were nothing like what he was used to during a New Orleans visit. Normally he would have gone to Sweet Maria’s and enjoyed the calm rush of locals on their way to work. It wasn’t that the coffee or food was bad at Café Du Monde, it was that Octavius had to endure the excitement of the tourists.
“Oh my god honey, take a picture, take a picture! Jonas is absolutely covered in sugar. Look, look, look!”
Octavius sneered at the Midwestern mother’s words and his companion George, a Werehorse from a California tribe, raised an eyebrow.
“I can’t stand that we have to stick to places like this,” Octavius growled.
“You know it’s safest in crowds and where we aren’t expected to be. Renting the house in the suburbs, eating at tourist traps, paying in cash, they’re the way we are able to stay off the LeKing Tribe’s grid.”
Octavius grunted in response, his eyes roaming the packed crowd full of strollers and fanny packs.
“Octavius, you must stay focused on our end goal. We want a successful Werebeast takeover of society.”
“What I’m focused on at the moment is not fucking up again. The failed assassination attempt in New York followed by another failed assassination attempt in New Orleans...We don’t look like a group that inspires confidence.”
George raised an eyebrow. The man has such expressive features for a Werehorse, Octavius thought.
“Then our next attack must be successful—I have intel from inside the palace, hold on.”
George brought out his tablet. “So, we were able to infiltrate a selection of emails from the private server. Some are the memos they’ve been sending back and forth. Though, the Tribe has begun to use a rotating code and our team is “still working on cracking it back at the house. What’s most telling, however, is a schedule change in the Alpha and Omega’s calendars.”
“I’m sure whatever code system they’ve come up with isn’t too sophisticated for Wilson. Now, tell me more about the calendars though, are they public?”
“Not exactly ‘public,’ but they are easy to infiltrate since a lot of different people have access. The Omega has a new assistant every other week, which makes getting in a little easier. It’s not my place to offer advice, but the man really needs to work on his interpersonal skills.”
Octavius stared back blankly and, clearing his throat, George continued, “Since the attack, they’ve had at least one extra weekly meeting in the Omega’s office. In the beginning it was simply marked with their names—Alpha and Omega—but a few weeks back it was changed to things like ‘Security Concerns’ or ‘Update on Security,’ literally spelling out what they were meeting about. I have no idea why they switched from such an incongruous title to something so utterly informative, but I thank them for it.”
“I’m sorry,” Octavius said playing with the powdered sugar left on his plate, “But I still don’t follow how this is helpful. We knew they would be looking at altering their security. It’s one of the reasons why we didn’t attack again right away—to gather intel on the changes.”
George brightened, thrusting a finger at Octavius. The Werehorse’s excitement bordered on Midwestern. “You are correct. The information doesn’t come from the fact that they’re having the meetings, but from the fact that they’ve stopped. Two weeks in a row and there have been no additional meetings beyond the schedule they’ve kept for the previous year. There’s a good chance they believe their security concerns are gone.”
Octavius brushed the powdered sugar off his fingers with a cheap paper napkin and considered. “So we think that our lack of information might actually be information in and of itself?”
“Correct.”
Octavious allowed his gaze to roam around the crowd again. The Midwestern tourists didn’t seem nearly as annoying as they had a few minutes earlier. Turning to George with a smile he said, “Hmm, I’m inclined to agree. Though, I’m surprised the Omega gave up so easily. I expected more from him. I’m authorizing we move to the next stage of planning. No more sitting around. Everyone is to gather intel and get ready for the final attack.”
CHAPTER NINE
Lavinia set the treadmill to a speed of 6.0, proud that the speed that had once almost been the death of her was now just a warm up. Falling into a jog, Lavinia enjoyed finally feeling good in her own skin. All of those years spent trying to be the perfect woman for her unknown husbands had left her feeling like her body was not her own. Now, after two months of a strict gym regimen, Lavinia finally felt in control of her body. It was the first time Lavinia had felt this way since she was a child.
She wasn’t going to lie though, sex with Parker was helping, too.
The man couldn’t seem to get enough of her sleek, new body. During all the years of her training to be Queen, Lavinia had kept her body a little soft, a thing to mold against her husbands at their pleasure. However, after the gunshot and subsequent training, both her muscles and her mind were more concerned with her own pleasure. Today, both were primed and ready for a good hard working out; if only Parker would get to the gym.
Glancing down at her phone again, she wondered where her husband was. True, she had come in early to try and sneak a little extra time in before the leg work out and subsequent sex with Parker. As of now, he was ten minutes late, and with L
avinia’s anxiety after the shooting, she hated any deviation from the set schedule. Before her mind could race, however, she heard the click of the outer door opening and the murmured conversation of her husband talking to the security guard.
Lavinia looked down and bumped up her speed. She wanted to preen a bit; to show off how much she had improved.
“You’re late,” she catcalled between hard breaths.
“You’re fast,” her husband’s gruff voice responded. It just wasn’t the husband Lavinia had been expecting.
She ripped the red tag from the emergency stop holder and jumped her feet to the sides of the treadmill. Holding on tight to the bars, Lavinia paused to catch her breath and avoid looking directly at Thearon. Her body always betrayed her when she looked at Thearon. She only wished her hormones would get with the mental program and ignore him too.
“Oh, hey, Thearon. What’s up?” Lavinia was trying for casual, but even she could hear a little panic in her voice. Gods, what was wrong with her? It was only her husband.
Thearon shifted a duffle bag from one hand to the other, “I’m here to work out. It is the gym.”
“Oh, well, yes.” Gods, why did the man have to make her feel so stupid? Probably because right now she sounded a bit dimwitted.
Lavinia watched Thearon set down his bag and take off his shirt before he moved through a few stretches. The man was built; the muscles in his body pulling tight and stretching loose in turn, as he moved through different postures. Lavinia felt her mouth water at the sight. Suddenly she noticed that Thearon was watching her just as intently. Blinking, Lavinia said the first thing that came to her mind, “Where’s Parker?”
Thearon tensed as he straightened up and tried to cover it up by pulling a water bottle out of his bag. Finally, his blue eyes flicked up to Lavinia’s, “He’s in a meeting. Why? Do you need him for something?”
Sex and a buffer between you and me, Lavinia thought. “Nope, he just usually works out with me and he didn’t text to say he’d be missing today’s workout.”
“Well, he sent me instead. I’m sorry that you’re disappointed.”
Thearon’s words were clipped and Lavinia felt bad. She wanted to say something more, to amend her words, but Thearon had already headed over to the free weights. Lavinia considered moving over to them to make up for her off-handed comment, but she jumped on a stair climber instead. It faced away from Thearon and his free weights, instead looking out a window over the palace gardens. Lavinia knew the move could probably be construed as her trying to ignore Thearon, but in truth, she needed a few minutes to get a grip. Since the shooting, she hadn’t dealt well with unexpected change, and watching Thearon’s biceps work as he pumped the heavy weights up and down, and up and down again, were not going to be good for her already low level of concentration.
Looking down at the digital screen on the stepper, Lavinia punched buttons until the thing was moving at a moderate pace. She had only jumped on it because it was the closest piece of machinery when the need to take a break had overcome her. She wasn’t usually a stair-stepper kind of girl. Concentrating on the May tulips in bloom out in the royal gardens, she sighed.
Perhaps it was time to go and see the damn things in person; they wouldn’t be in bloom much longer. Plus, Lavinia hadn’t stepped a foot outside since she had been released from the hospital two months ago. Surely, a stroll around the gardens was within her power and Parker would be pleased if she managed it.
Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she realized that Thearon too, would probably be happy to see her leave the palace. The man was all focused concentration as the weights were lifted overhead, one at a time and then together, fatiguing the man’s admirable shoulders. He would be in need of a massage after the workout was complete. Lavinia would have happily roamed her fingers over their hard bulges, if only she wasn’t so annoyed by the man. Even if it gave her great joy to cop a feel, she would still be the only one physically or emotionally giving in the act and that just bit Lavinia’s butt. She wanted a relationship with Thearon in which he had to give a little too.
Moving her gaze back to the spring flowers, Lavinia missed Thearon’s pointed gaze. He had been avoiding looking directly at her reflection in the mirror when she had turned to look at him, but now that she was safely staring at the gardens, Thearon let his eyes take their fill.
He wondered what he had done to isolate her. Pumping the iron up and down, Thearon let the question churn in his mind. Really, Lavinia had no right to prefer Parker over him. Parker was the one on duty when the shot had been fired, Parker was always the one pushing her out of her comfort zone. Why then, did Thearon always get the cold shoulder?
Thearon stared at Lavinia’s hips as they moved from side to side on the Stairmaster. The motion lulled him into a sexual trance; her ass really was looking good these days. Thearon had a small start at the realization that it had been a while since he’d checked out her butt. Catching Parker having sex with Lavinia had been more harmful to his psyche than Thearon was aware it would be. He had a beautiful wife and it had been so long since he’d checked her out that he was surprised by the attractiveness of her ass. Hell, he should be looking at her body with appreciation so often that he didn’t even notice the change!
Thearon grunted as the weights began to move with more vigor. He was newly married to a beautiful woman and even if he hadn’t been partaking in physical pleasure with her, Thearon hadn’t needed to so utterly ignore her, either. It wasn’t as if Parker and Thearon were against each other having solitary sex with their wife, Thearon had just been thrown that Parker and Lavinia were having it so often and so soon after the shooting. Well, maybe it was time that Thearon rectified the situation. He wasn’t completely unaware—Thearon noticed how Lavinia looked at him every time he entered the room. He saw the lust and desire in her eyes as she stared at him pumping the weights.
Thearon let the weights fall to the floor with a bang. Lavinia turned around, surprised, but Thearon just shrugged before she turned to look back at the windows. Thearon wiped the sweat from his brow and took a big gulp of water. Damn it, now was the time. Stalking over to the line of cardio machines, Thearon realized he was sick and tired of being left out of his own marriage.
Walking around to the front of the stepper Lavinia was working, Thearon gave a little wave and then motioned to the stop button before giving it a hard smack. Lavinia’s eyebrows furrowed, “What the hell, Thearon?”
“Your ass looks good enough my Queen. I’d like to ask you to get off the stepper now.”
Thearon waited on the ground as Lavinia crossed and uncrossed her arms. A whole range of emotions crossed her face before Thearon simply gave up and lifted her by the fine ass into a fireman’s hold over his shoulder.
Lavinia gave a squeal of indignation at the caveman move. “Seriously Thearon, what the hell. Put me down now!”
Thearon just grinned to himself and gave her ass a resounding smack. It felt so good that he did it again. Lavinia squirmed and squealed again in response to the manhandling and Thearon had thought that he’d won a point until Lavinia let loose her own hand to his ass.
“Oww,” she exclaimed.
Thearon smiled to himself. He knew his own glutes were exceptionally well maintained. “Keep working on the stepper and you might get the same ass as me someday.”
“You are an ass, Thearon.”
Lavinia had gone limp, accepting that she was going to be forced to ride this out until Thearon put her down. She watched the ground go by as they passed the free weights and the big mat space where she usually kickboxed and sparred with Parker. As they approached the far left-hand side of the gym, Thearon reached out with one hand and pushed open the swinging door to the locker room and slipped them both inside before that heavy wooden door smacked either of them in the process.
Lavinia let out a sigh of relief, until Thearon walked into the showers and turned on each showerhead in turn. The space was old school, with multiple showerheads
that could be sectioned off for individual showers or the curtains could be pulled apart so that someone could enjoy a multiple showerhead experience. Steam drifted around Lavinia’s head and unwittingly her body was relaxed by the heat. That is until Thearon stepped forward into the spray.
“Ugh, hey! Thearon I still have clothing on!” Lavinia realized belatedly that, being clothed or not was not the point in being kidnapped to the bathroom.
“I can rectify that.”
Thearon’s shoulders were so wide that he could balance Lavinia on one while both of his hands moved to the waistband of her booty shorts and tugged the fabric down. It was worth it to note, that thanks to the chemical properties of spandex along with her general luck, the thong she had been wearing went down with the pants.
“Hmm, that’s better,” Thearon noted as he stroked and massaged her now bare and wet ass with a single hand. The aforementioned bottoms and panties hit the tile floor with a squish before his second hand moved to stroke the backs of her thighs.
Gods, she wished that didn’t feel so good. Already Lavinia could feel her defenses crumbling in the face of his magical fingers. The large calloused hands moved up and down tracing circles over her muscles, eventually dipping to what inner thigh was exposed before moving back to more neutral territory. Each time his large fingers dipped in, they got closer and closer to her pussy and she could feel her body betray her; mentally and physically Lavinia was straining towards Thearon’s hands and the sexual itch they would scratch.
Finally, a single finger moved between her folds and Lavinia thought she might come from that single stroke. Swollen and wet, Lavinia was turned on by Thearon much more than she wanted to admit and she spread her legs, just a little, to aid in his campaign.