by Lexi Blake
“Well, I killed the fucker so I guess the body might be my alibi.” I let go of Declan’s waist and forced my hands into my lap. If he wanted to keep me on the horse, he could just work that out himself. I wasn’t going to touch him.
“Damn it, Zoey,” Declan swore as he tightened his hold. “Do you want to break your neck?” I stayed still in his arms. “Did you really kill an ogre?”
“Yes.” We reached the courtyard. Every lamp and candle in the palace seemed to have been lit. “Dev didn’t want to come get me himself?” I supposed that Declan could have stopped him, but I doubted that was the case.
“He asked if I wouldn’t mind retrieving you and taking you back to your room.” Declan replied.
A sick feeling took hold of my stomach. “I suppose you told him what you thought I was doing.”
“I did not,” Declan admitted. “I thought it was evident and I did not wish to rub his face in his folly. It is not that I hate you, Zoey. I am actually rather fond of you. I simply think you are not suitable to be the wife of a Seelie prince. You would be a fine mistress, but that is where Devinshea should have kept you.”
I went silent because I had nothing further to say to my husband’s brother. I sat as still as the horse’s movements would allow and held myself as far from Declan as I possibly could. The real trouble was I was wondering if Declan wasn’t right.
I didn’t fit into Devinshea’s world. The nobles didn’t know what to make of me. I behaved more like an Unseelie, and the Seelie would never accept that. Our marriage had seemed like a good idea when Dev was estranged from his family and his world. He was back now and they accepted him as they never had before. I was a bit of an inconvenience.
The courtyard was littered with corpses, and I had to try not to breathe to avoid puking. I saw Sarah being led through the yard by Felix, on their way to their rooms. Her face was red, her eyes puffy from crying.
Felix rushed over and gave me a hand down. I was happy because I didn’t want Declan to touch me any more than he had to. Felix hauled me gently down and then Sarah was hugging me.
“I’m so sorry, Z.” Sarah sobbed into my shoulder.
I hugged her tightly. I had no idea what had happened, but I was sure that she hadn’t meant to plunge Faery into a remake of Night of the Living Dead. “It’s all right.”
“Yes,” Declan said, his sarcasm flowing. “It is fine that you turned our palace into a graveyard. We do not mind at all.”
“Shut up, Declan.” I sent him a frown.
“I got the incantation wrong.” She sniffled, wiping her tears away. “I’m out of practice.”
“Yes, you’re out of practice with black magic.” Felix gave Declan the dirtiest look a former angel from the Heaven plane could muster. “They should never have asked you to try it in the first place. Let’s go to bed, dear. It’s been a long night.”
Sarah pulled away and gave me a sympathetic look. “Dev is upset, Z. Danny tried to tell him you were off somewhere coming up with an insane plan to save his ass, but he wouldn’t listen. He left. I don’t know where he went.”
I nodded as she walked away with Felix. Declan took my arm, and I pulled away as hard as I could. I’d had enough of him. “I know the way to my rooms.”
I just wondered if Dev would show up in them.
Declan was a stubborn ass. He reached for me again. “You know your way to your rooms, but you have no idea where Devinshea is. Luckily, I do.”
I let him pull me along because it seemed easier than fighting him. “Why would you take me to Dev? You might get your wish, Declan. Maybe Dev will talk to your mom and she can annul the marriage.”
He led me toward the temple, crisscrossing the courtyard to avoid the bodies. I recognized the fluidity of Daniel’s work. The zombies were in neat piles because if Daniel could take them out in groups, he would greatly prefer it to singular kills.
Declan walked fast, as if it were important we made it to the temple quickly. “Mother will never annul the marriage, Zoey. You are pregnant. You are perfectly fertile and your compatibility has been proven. We just have to make the best of things.”
“Screw you, Declan,” I said bitterly, pulling my hand out of his.
“Things would be infinitely easier on me if you would. Look, Zoey, Devinshea loves you. He does not want your marriage annulled, but he is angry. For the most part my brother is not hotheaded, but when he gets angry, he can burn down his own house without thinking of the consequences. He is a storm of emotion tonight, and you taking reckless chances was the last straw. Daniel took your side and that did not help things either. I worry Devinshea is about to do something he will regret.”
My heart rate picked up. Declan was right. When Dev got really mad he could be irrational. He would say things he didn’t mean just to lash out. “What’s he going to do?”
Declan frowned and walked faster.
“Tell me.” I wanted to know what I was getting into.
“I believe he is going to call for his priestesses,” Declan finally admitted as we opened the door to the temple.
I came to a full stop. His priestesses were there for one thing and one thing only. Their job was to please their priest sexually and aid him in his fertility magic. I turned back to go to my rooms. Jealousy burned in my gut. “If that’s what he wants, then who am I to stop him?”
“You are his wife,” Declan said savagely, hauling me around. “You are supposed to love him so much, Zoey. Well, prove it. Get in there and stop him from making the biggest mistake of his life. He will never get over losing you. I will not let him fade because your pride left him alone.”
Declan pulled me through the gilded halls of the glorious temple. He stopped at an ornate door. “This is the priest’s chambers. Go and fight for him. He would fight for you. Prove me wrong, Zoey.” He pushed the door open and I found myself in Devinshea’s private pleasure dome.
The marble room was lit with soft candlelight from wall sconces. I was in some sort of entryway. I could hear feminine whispers and the sound of water running. The entryway was separated from the rest of the rooms by a series of filmy curtains. I could see the outline of a group of women standing around.
Tears pricked my eyes. He had done it. He’d actually called for them. I took a deep breath. If he was going to burn our marriage down then the least I could give him was a witness to the act.
“He thinks he’s going to die, Z,” Daniel said quietly from a bench a couple of feet from me. I hadn’t noticed him sitting there. He looked incredibly tired and he was beyond filthy. “I wouldn’t take anything he says or does seriously.” Danny reached out and briefly squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry I let Declan find you. I just finished with the last of the zombies.”
“I wouldn’t want you to leave his side right now.” If something was coming for Dev, Daniel was his best bet.
“I can’t leave either of you. This stunt tonight, Z…” His jaw clenched down.
“I was trying to help him.”
Daniel damn near stared a hole through me. “I tried to explain that to him. If you do it again, I swear I’ll lock you up. I can’t take care of both of you.”
I touched his face. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded, letting go of his anger. “It’s over. You’re alive. He’s alive. Just fix him, okay? He won’t listen to me.”
“And if he’s in there fucking his harem?” I was kind of surprised Danny would ask me to accept that.
Daniel shook his head, squeezing my hand. “Dev would never do that. He’s posturing. He’s scared and angry at the world. If I know him better than you do, we’re in trouble.”
I stepped away and pushed back the curtain quickly because I needed to see where he was at before his mask came down. I caught a quick glimpse of Dev as he sat in what looked like a hot spring flowing through the room. It reminded me of the grotto in our penthouse, though this stream had been caught in a large pool complete with steps leading down to it. Dev was sitting in the water alone.
There were four women whispering among themselves as they looked down at their priest, obviously wondering what they were supposed to do now. For his part, Dev didn’t look like a man who was anticipating a five-way with some hot chicks. His face was blank, like a man who was about to lose everything and he couldn’t figure out how to stop it.
The minute he saw me his mask fell firmly into place and his gorgeous face took on the countenance of a dude who couldn’t care less. His eyes went a stony blank and quickly shifted from mine.
He could pretend all he liked, but I knew the real Dev. He was terrified and when he got that way he would fight because it was infinitely easier for him to yell than cry. What he didn’t seem to understand was that if he couldn’t cry, I would do it for him.
“You look like you’re down a couple of priestesses.” At one time they numbered six.
Dev arched an eyebrow, his voice lazy and uncaring. “The trouble with the Unseelie sent two of them home. I will miss them terribly, of course. They were unique and a pleasure to fuck.”
“I’m sure they were,” I said under my breath, not wanting him to know how it hurt me to think of him with anyone else.
“You look like you’ve been hunting. Did you have an interesting evening, lover?” Dev’s voice held a hard edge.
I noticed the large bed dominating the room. The bed was fit for way more than two, and there were armoires and a dresser. I crossed to the bedroom portion of the room. “It was trying. How about you?”
He sighed. “Oh, the usual. We called the undead to us and my wife lied to my face and ran off into the night, placing our unborn child in the gravest of dangers. All in all, just another day as the husband of Zoey Donovan Quinn.”
So he was going to play the martyr. I would rather he just yelled at me. “I was convinced I was helping you. I didn’t just run off for fun.”
“Deception is always a helpful way to manage a marriage.” He shook his head and crossed his arms over his naked torso. “You’re never going to settle down, are you? You’re never going to be a proper wife and mother. My brother told me. I should have listened.”
“Yes, you married me for my skills as a housewife,” I said bitterly, feeling those damn tears bubbling up again. “I tricked you, Dev. You can’t blame yourself. I presented myself as perfect-wife material.” I stood up and looked down at him, completely ignoring the women who huddled together, their perfect faces turning between me and their priest like they were watching an emotional tennis match. “I have never lied to you. I told you the first night we met what I did for a living and then proceeded to nearly burn your club down when a job went bad. If that wasn’t a hint that I was trouble then I don’t know how I should have let you know. I’ve never hidden who I am or what I wanted, but I have to wonder if you’ve given me the same courtesy.”
His eyes narrowed. “What is that supposed to mean?”
I shook my head. “It means that if you wanted a proper wife, you should have found someone else. It wasn’t fair for you to marry me and then try to change everything I am.”
I expected him to yell, to scream, to say some truly awful things. It was the way he fought. Instead he turned and snapped his fingers.
“I need help with my bath.” He commanded the women and they obliged him by entering the tub, not bothering to take off their shifts. “Perhaps you are right, Zoey,” he said in an imminently logical voice as he let the women begin to soap his body. “We are from two completely different worlds. It was a mistake. I am trying to change you and you have already changed me into something different. If we separate, we can go our own ways and be the people we were meant to be.”
“How have I changed you?” I asked curiously because I wasn’t afraid of this conversation anymore. He told me all I needed to know with one glance at his body. My incredibly horny, always ready to go at it husband, had eight soft female hands on his body and he wasn’t sporting even the hint of an erection. I didn’t know what he was looking for from me, but I intended to find out and give it to him. He needed me and I wasn’t going to let his stubbornness tear us up. If he wouldn’t listen to reason from Daniel, then I would have to appeal to his other instincts.
He gestured around him as though the answer was evident. “I am used to the attention of many women, Zoey. It has been difficult to remain monogamous.”
I couldn’t help the small smile. “Yes, I can see it’s been boring for you.”
I pulled my tank top off and let it fall. He couldn’t possibly know about my earlier conversation with Herne. I had been reminded that the reason Bris had accepted him was his willingness to remain faithful to his wife. I kicked off my sneakers and unbuckled the sheaths on my thighs, placing the knives on a table by the bed.
“I am used to variety, wife,” Dev said and I noticed he had not once looked at the lithe bodies around him. His gaze was steady on me as I undressed. “I allowed you Daniel but I am held to monogamy, though my nature runs against it.”
I shimmied out of my bra. Why he was lying to me I had no idea, but it didn’t matter. I could win this war and I wouldn’t have to fight. I let my underwear drop to the ground and walked to the spring. Tossing aside the band that held my hair in its ponytail, I let it flow down my shoulders. I knelt down and cupped my hands. Filling them with warm water, I showered my breasts.
He frowned my way. “Do you have to do that here?”
“I’ve been in a bloody fight too, Dev. I hope you don’t mind.” I looked down and now my non-monogamy loving husband was sporting an enormous erection. One of the priestesses tried to run her hand down his chest, and Dev seemed startled at the action. He moved away before remembering the game he was playing.
“I mind, Zoey,” he said, his attention focused solely on me. “I mind that you could have killed our child.”
“And I mind that my child might lose his father. I won’t let you go without a fight. I won’t raise my child that way. If you want someone who will hide in a closet for nine months, then you should start knocking up some of these women.”
He looked at me and practically snarled. “If I was doing my duty, I would impregnate them all.”
“I thought you tried that once.” I lobbed that grenade back his way because he was seriously pissing me off. “It must not have worked out since I don’t see a passel of tiny Devs running around.”
His eyes heated and I knew I’d made a mistake. He wanted to fight. He was practically begging for it. A long slow smile crossed his face, but it held no humor. “You know what they say, lover. If at first you don’t succeed…Besides, now I have Bris and I assure you, if I wish to fill them up, I can do it.”
It was time to tone down the rhetoric. I wasn’t about to engage him. The thought of him doing that could make me crazy, and that was exactly what he wanted. He didn’t mean a word of it. It was time to say things we did mean, and it looked like I got to go first this time. I walked into the water and straight up to him. “I love you, Dev. You recognized that I needed Daniel and I’ll always be grateful for that. If you need these women to make you feel complete then I’ll still love you.”
He gripped my arms, hauling me to his chest, warm water surrounding me. “Are you offering to be one of many, my wife?”
“Declan thinks I make a better mistress than wife anyway,” I said quietly, letting my insecurity show. There was no place for posturing here. “If being a proper and traditional priest is what’s best for you, then we can make it happen. I don’t fit in here. Doesn’t a mistress get her own place somewhere where she won’t insult polite society? I’m not a good wife, Dev. You should have talked to Daniel before you made that mistake.” I let my hands trace his chest. I loved his chest. I loved being pressed against it and feeling the strong beat of his heart. I couldn’t imagine a world without him.
“Fight me.” He shook me slightly, and I knew he was close to breaking.
I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I would much rather make love to you.”
“Damn you,�
�� he cursed me. He looked at the women around him. “You are no longer needed. I meant what I said earlier. I expect you to take other lovers. I’ll no longer be available. I have one goddess, no matter how much I want to strangle her from time to time.”
As the confused women got back out of the spring, Dev pulled at my hair, forcing me to look up at him. “Declan is a fucking idiot, wife, and the next time I see him I’m going to punch him in the face.”
My nipples immediately sprang to attention, my body softening. “I thought you were mad at me.”
“I am.” His hands slid down my sides to rest on my hips. He brought our bodies together, and I felt the long line of his erection pressed against me. “I’m so angry with you I can barely see. Do you understand what you did?”
Couldn’t we just get on to the makeup sex? “I did what I thought was best, Dev. I did what I needed to do to save you.”
“With no thought to what I need, which is to keep you safe.”
That was an easy thing to reply to. “No, I was selfish because I don’t want to live in a world without you in it and I’ll fight with everything I am to keep you here with me and Daniel. I’m scared out of my mind. I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”
His eyes grew heavy. “You don’t play fair, Zoey. I want to argue and scream and rage and all I can think about is getting inside you. Know this, my wife. I love you. I don’t want a mistress and I don’t want a proper wife. I want you. Even when you’re a raging bitch, I still want you.” He covered my mouth with his and his tongue demanded entrance. I softened under him and let him plunder. He cupped my ass and pulled me against him, grinding his erection against my pelvis. “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to leave you.”
Now I let the tears flow because we’d come to the heart of the matter. Dev always struggled with his real fears. He’d grown up in this court where any fear would be seen as a weakness, so his default state was to posture and fight. He had to realize he was safe with me. I let my hands find his face and looked deeply into those emerald eyes. “I can’t let you go.”