The Fallen Queen: (Gods & Monsters Book 2) (The Gods & Monsters Trilogy)

by Janie Marie

  Her head bobbed. “I know.”

  He set some of her smooth hair back over her shoulder and kept brushing for a little while longer. She stayed quiet, and he eventually gave up hope that she would confide in him on her own.

  Finally, he stopped and rearranged her hair behind her back. He sat there for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around her. She put her hand over his, but said nothing.

  David rested his cheek on her head. “I used to dream about you.”

  Jane turned her head toward him slightly. “What do you mean?”

  David pulled her a little closer. “Before we met, I dreamt of you. I never saw all of you, just your face. You were blurry, but I could see your eyes. You never talked to me either, but you would smile. When we saw each other that first night in Austin, I saw those same eyes looking back at me. That’s how I knew I had finally found you.” He kissed her head. “But I had already been in love with you for centuries.”

  “Oh,” she whispered, leaning against him more.

  He sighed, pulling her so she sat on his lap. “Baby, did something scare you?”

  Her whole body tensed up.

  He rubbed his hands down her arms. “You don’t have to be afraid to tell me.”

  “I can’t.” Her body shook.

  “Why not?”

  She whimpered and took one of his hands in hers, squeezing it tight. “I can’t have you look at me like they did.”

  He frowned and rubbed his thumb along her fingers. “Do you mean when you tried to tell people about your abuse?”

  “Yes, and other times, too.”

  “Oh, my love. You think I won’t believe you if you tell me something?”

  “I don’t know. I just don’t want you to look at me like—” She shook her head.

  He sighed, trying to understand what she meant. One thing he learned about Jane was how much she really saw in those around her. A single look from someone told her a lot more than words ever could.

  “Have I ever made you feel like I didn’t believe you?”

  She was quiet for a while but finally whispered, “No.”

  “Have I ever looked at you in a way that makes you sad or uncomfortable?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  He smiled and sat in silence for a while before he spoke again. “I know you saw something.” He hugged her when she stiffened up. “I believe something scared you. Whatever it was, it’s gone. I will not leave you alone again, okay?”

  She relaxed. “Thank you.”

  “Always, baby.” He kissed her head. “Do you want to tell me what you saw?”

  She shook her head. “I want to forget it. Please don’t make me tell you.”

  “You do not have to tell me. I will still believe you if you choose to, though.”

  She began to play with his fingers and leaned against him more. He wanted nothing more than to grab her and lay her down to kiss her until she forgot everything but him. It was dangerous to have these thoughts, but he couldn’t help it. She was the most attractive woman he’d ever laid eyes on. For him, at least. He didn’t care what anyone else thought. She was perfect in his eyes. Perfect, beautiful, and sexy.

  He couldn’t decide which feature he loved most about her. Her eyes, her long hair, her pink lips. He knew she was self-conscious about her body, but he loved her body. He couldn’t get the image of her from that night at the creek out of his head. He had tried to be respectful, but she was almost bare for him that night. Only her small bits of clothing had separated them. He had wanted to run his hands over her every curve and taste . . .

  Fuck. He scolded himself. Don’t think of this shit right now. She was scared, and he was suddenly thinking about her naked. He hugged her tighter, enjoying what he was getting from her at that moment and trying to ignore his desire to be intimate with her. If this was all he ever got, he would still be happy.

  “I dreamed of your eyes that night,” she whispered back suddenly. “The night you saved me from the swarm.”

  “The first time we saw each other, you mean?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I knew there were three of you, but I only saw you. Your eyes. That night, I argued with Jason because he was upset I didn’t ask you guys for help.” She chuckled but there was no joy in the sound. “I’m sure he would have been in a bad mood if I had brought you home that night.” She sighed, turning her head a little as she nuzzled his arm. “I tried not to think of you. I wanted to run to you the moment I saw you, and I didn’t understand why. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what you might look like. Your eyes were all I could really see, but I knew they were special. When I closed my eyes, I would see them looking back at me.” She smiled against his arm. “They make me feel like I’m home.”

  He smiled and squeezed her tighter. It thrilled him to hear her actually admit he made her feel better. “You are home, baby.” He knew she wasn’t going to tell him what had happened, but at least she wasn’t scared anymore. “We should head downstairs now. Are you ready?”

  She hesitated to respond but eventually nodded.

  “I will be with you the entire time,” he reminded her.

  “I know you will be.” Her body warmed against him, and he smiled when she nuzzled his arm again.

  He found these little actions of hers adorable. She reminded him of a kitten, even more so because she purred when he nuzzled her back. My baby . . . my kitten.

  As they walked down a long corridor, Jane gripped David’s hand tight.

  “Besides your family, only Arthur, Gwen, Gawain, and Elle are there,” he said. “Everyone else is probably asleep.”

  “Why would they be sleeping? It’s mid-day.”

  David grinned. “Did you forget that we are vampires? Why do you think no one is walking around? Most of the servants and other guests are sleeping as well. We only keep a handful of humans to work during the day.”

  She frowned up at him. “But we don’t get hurt in the sun.”

  “Yes, we do not get hurt—but everyone else does. Even the wives are affected to a degree. I am actually surprised that Elle is up, but I’m sure Gawain wanted to see that you are all right.”

  Understanding dawned on her. She and the knights were the only earthly immortals granted immunity from the sun’s light.

  “Oh, I forgot.” She halted in her tracks. “David, what if I need to feed? I don’t want to scare them. I can’t do that again. And what about you? You’re still so pale. Maybe this isn’t a good idea.” She knew she was rambling and probably sounded on the edge of hysteria, but it would be terrible to have something like last night happen again.

  David let go of her hand and grabbed her shoulders. “Baby, calm down, you fed last night. I will get my fill and feed you again shortly. I won’t let go of your hand. You’re not going to hurt anyone.”

  Jane let out a breath and stared at his face while he spoke so soothingly.

  “You can do this, Jane. Be brave. Your children will want to see you, and it will be good for you to see they are safe. Plus, we both must eat, and I need blood. If you feel your thirst is too great, though, we can leave sooner.” He hesitated but added, “Remember, I only want you drinking from me.”

  “I remember.” She bit her lip. “And that’s normal for Others?”

  He grinned. “That’s tame for Others.”

  “David.” She gave him a stern look but chuckled at the boyish smile he gave her.

  “Yes, baby. It is normal for Others to feed each other their blood.” He glanced at the end of the hall. “They are finishing. Let’s hurry.”

  She stopped him before he could walk. “David, I don’t want to hurt Jason.”

  He sighed, cupping her cheeks. “I know you do not want to hurt him—but I’m not going to let you go again. We both know it will end badly if I do. This is going to be hard on everyone, but there’s no other way around it. Jason will have to understand things are not going to be like they were. He will be angry, but I can handle him.”

&
nbsp; “Okay.”

  David caressed her hair. “Just be the brave girl I know you are. I will take care of everything else.”

  She hugged him again before stepping back. She knew this was going to be a disaster, but it would be worse if she pushed David away.

  David took her hand again and led her to the opening where light was spilling into the hall. He squeezed her gently and pulled her around the corner, but they quickly came to a halt.

  Jane stared at everyone seated around the large table. She immediately sought out Nathan and Natalie and felt winded by the sight of the fear in their wide eyes.

  David squeezed her hand and whispered, “Breathe, baby.”

  She nodded and took in a gulp of air.

  David cleared his throat and spoke louder this time. “Good afternoon, everyone. Sorry we are late.”

  Arthur was giving David a disappointed look that had Jane nervous, but David held his stare. It was almost as if David was silently telling him to back off.

  Surprisingly, Arthur gave David a nod and leaned back in his seat. “David, Jane, come join us. You must be hungry.”

  David pulled her toward the table before she could chicken out, and that was when she finally looked over at where she knew Jason sat. She saw exactly what she expected to find: hatred.

  His fierce gaze was zeroed in on her and David’s hands. Jane panicked and tried to pull away, but David gripped her hand tighter as he whispered, “Let me handle him.”

  Jane gave David a tight smile.

  “That’s my girl,” he said just as softly as he pulled a chair out for her. It was next to Gawain. He had Natalie between him and his wife, while Nathan sat on the other side of the table between Arthur and Guinevere. Jason was seated on Arthur’s left.

  David motioned for Jane to sit next to Gawain, and she did. Gawain smiled at her, but she was too stressed to give him any type of response, and she turned away, afraid to see her babies again. They were scared of her, and Jason was going to give her hell.

  Jane looked to her left as David took his seat. Across from Jason.

  She blew out a breath and met Jason’s glare as he had switched his gaze to hers after failing to stare David down.

  “How are you feeling, Jane?” Arthur suddenly asked.

  She looked away from the fury visible in Jason’s brown eyes and over at Arthur. “All right, I guess. Is everyone here okay?” She wanted to know if they knew what had really happened last night.

  Arthur gave her a kind smile. “Everyone is fine, Jane. I am glad you are feeling better.” He glanced down at Nathan. “Nathan, tell Mommy what Guinevere made for you?”

  Nathan looked up at him and then at her. She was shocked to see the big smile on his face. “Slide!” Nathan answered with more excitement than she expected that morning. It was an even bigger shock to see Nathan had answered someone without being prompted on what to say.

  Jane tore her eyes away from Nathan when Natalie began speaking with just as much enthusiasm.

  “Yeah, Mommy! She gave us a swing, too. And it’s inside! Gawain pushed me and we played hide-n-seek. And we had donuts for breakfast! Gawain said they are princess donuts because we’re in a castle.”

  David reached over and grabbed Jane’s hand again. He gave her a small smile before he leaned forward and spoke to Natalie. “That sounds like fun. Did you beat Gawain in hide-n-seek? I always find him.”

  With a big smile, Natalie nodded to him. “Uh-huh! I found him right away. He couldn’t fit under the blankets. Can we go play again, Mommy?”

  Jane looked around the table, not sure what to really say. She didn’t understand why they were talking like everything was fine.

  “I think that sounds like a good idea,” David said. “But Mommy will need to come see you in a little while. She needs to eat something, and we need to talk to your daddy.”

  Natalie’s and Nathan’s faces fell as they looked back at her. Jane didn’t know how she should comfort them. Even if by some miracle they weren’t afraid, she still might hurt them.

  David continued when Jane didn’t say anything. “Would you like Gawain and Elle to go play with you again?”

  They nodded repeatedly, forgetting about her. David smiled at them before looking at Gawain.

  He stood up quickly but leaned down and kissed the top of Jane’s head. “We’ll see you shortly. Enjoy your lunch, Jane.”

  She still couldn’t respond as she watched Elle helping Natalie from the table and Guinevere doing the same for Nathan.

  “Bye, Mommy!” Natalie yelled over her shoulder when Elle took her and Nathan’s hands.

  “Bye, baby,” Jane whispered, hating that she couldn’t shake the fear of harming them.

  She stared after them until they were out of sight. David’s hand squeezed hers again, making her look away from the empty entrance. She glanced up at him, then over at Jason.

  He glared at them and finally let out his anger. “What the hell is this? I thought I told you I didn’t want you with him.”

  Jane remained quiet and tried to focus on David’s thumb rubbing across hers.

  “Is that where you’ve been this whole time?” Jason yelled, angrily gesturing to David with his hand. “In bed with him?”

  Jane could feel David’s body growing hotter, but she knew Jason needed to get everything out. David seemed to understand that as well, but by the way his body continued to tense next to her, she knew he didn’t like watching her get yelled at.

  “Well, aren’t you going to answer me?” Jason continued. “Or do you have to wait for him to tell you it’s okay?”

  “Enough,” Arthur said.

  Everyone looked at him.

  “We are going to discuss this in a civilized manner. Do not speak to your wife in that tone, Jason.”

  “Don’t tell me how to talk to her,” Jason said, his eyes narrowed on her. “She’s not going to go fuck whoever she wants and get my respect!”

  David was the one to respond. “Don’t you dare talk about her like that.”

  She also got some courage to speak up and shook her head. “It’s not like that, Jason.”

  After glaring at David, Jason snapped his eyes over to her. “Oh, well, I guess that makes it all better, doesn’t it? You get dragged off with your legs wrapped around this asshole, to go do God knows what, and then decide to come check on our kids after half the day is gone. I honestly wasn’t expecting you to come walking in here hand in hand with the man you said you didn’t love—a man you told me you would stop whatever the fuck you’ve been trying to start together. And don’t pretend you were hurt and needed him to take care of you—you didn’t look injured when you wrapped yourself around him. I don’t even want to think about what you did with him. It’s one thing to do it, Jane, but don’t lie to my face when I saw it with my own eyes.”

  Jane flinched. She didn’t like being called a liar. She wasn’t lying. He was the one who always lied. Heat sparked in her chest as she struggled to stay in control. She knew he’d be angry, but being called a liar by him was too much.

  Luckily, it was David who spoke before she said something she would regret. “Back off, Jason. You clearly have the wrong idea about what happened. She did nothing wrong.”

  “Fuck you, David!” Jason yelled. “You may be stronger than me—but I’m done letting you take my wife whenever you feel like it. Do you think I give a damn about what you think? Do you think I respect a man who tries to take a married woman from her husband? Right in front of her kids?”

  David’s hand shook. “Do you think I respect a man who has told her she’s nothing more than a wife to him? A man who’s made her believe she’s not worth loving—that she’s not enough?” David’s eyes paled to an icy blue color. “Do not call yourself her husband. The day you told her you were not in love with her, and the moment you raised your hand to her, you lost that right.”

  Jane stared at David in shock. She knew her entity had revealed things about her and Jason, but she didn’t
know they mattered so much to David. She felt pathetic. He knew she wasn’t good enough.

  “Jane,” Jason whispered. His pleading gaze shocked her, and he surprised her even more when he spoke again. “Babe, I thought we were past that. I told you I was sorry.”

  She didn’t know what to say. He had apologized for backhanding her, but he never seemed sorry or tried to make up for it. He just acted like it never happened. It wasn’t the hit that bothered her, though. They’d been in a heated argument, and she had flung a spatula at him, then he’d smacked her on instinct. She forgave him because she felt she had brought it on herself.

  No. The hit didn’t faze her as much as it probably should have. What stabbed her in the heart was the fact that her best hadn’t been enough for him. It was the photos of her smiling next to him, and her stupidly believing she had a good life when he didn’t even love her. That was what broke her. It was the lies about drinking. She’d never been able to forget the first time she realized he drank alcohol behind her back. It was at a company party, and he’d been offered a drink. Jane had already told people they didn’t drink, but Jason ordered a drink like a pro. In front of her coworkers.

  The pitying looks they gave her destroyed her. She had sat there, staring at the table as he had a drink, knowing her coworkers were realizing she had no idea he drank.

  She didn’t know how they all knew he did, but the fact that others knew her husband more than she did changed everything. She’d been made a fool of, and Jason hadn’t cared. His excuse was he didn’t want her to make a big deal out of nothing, and she was just supposed to accept it.

  “Is that why you’re doing this?” Jason asked, pulling her attention back to him. “You said you forgave me . . . Is this to get back at me? You would actually go fuck him to get back at me?”

  It was the wrong thing to say.

  David roughly stood up, a murderous gleam in his eyes before she could say anything, though. “Don’t even speak to her! She is not doing anything to get back at you.”

  Jason glared at him. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

  “I don’t give a damn!” David snarled. “I was the one who said that to you—not her. She may have forgiven you, but that doesn’t mean the pain she felt ever went away.”