by Joyee Flynn
“He likes dirty talk and when I take charge—” Mav started to defend but I cut him off, turning around to face Asterio.
“Can I be your slut, too?” I decided to show him what Mav was saying another way. “You can fuck me any way you want as long as it’s hard and fast and you master my body while pinning me down.”
His eyes went wide but I saw the lust in them. “It really will take two of us to keep you satisfied and in line, won’t it?”
“Yes please.” I humped his stomach and the next thing I knew he was kissing me.
“I’ll leave you guys to it.” Mav chuckled.
I gave him a wave and heard the door close behind him. I was a little busy to say good-bye. Damn, could Asterio kiss! I let him take charge as my hips moved as if they had a mind of their own. When we both needed air, we pulled apart gasping.
“Food. Room,” I demanded. “You can feed me sustenance and cock at the same time.”
“Gods, the mouth on you.” We stood up and I quickly dressed. By the time we got back to the dining room, breakfast had pretty much wound down so the place wasn’t so crowded.
“Find your second mate?” Barnabas asked with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at my hand that was holding Asterio’s.
“Um, yeah,” I answered nervously, clearing my throat to buy myself some time to think about what to say. “I’ll get started on the improvements tomorrow, I swear. I wasn’t really planning—”
“It’s fine, Tyler.” Miles chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s not like the estate is falling down. We just want to start making some cosmetic improvements and make the house our own. Nothing that can’t wait given you found your mates.”
“Okay, good.” I sighed with relief. I was a hard worker and not one to shuck my responsibilities. I actually wasn’t acting like myself… Well, in the eyes of others. I was holding Asterio’s hand, showing affection, and had let Mav order me around. I had been an enforcer in my pack, but not because I had wanted to be.
Hell, I might have been on the bigger side for a wolf though, in my heart, I was still a submissive. Not the full Dom/Sub relationship, but I liked being told what to do and feeling as if I was being taken care of. I just had never had the chance to explore that nor had anyone who would take care of me.
“I thought you were going to help acclimate me to this world, cub?” Asterio asked, his really, really deep voice sending shivers down my spine. “And with the news Mav told us, I would think he will need your assistance. Then there is finding somewhere for us to make a home as mates, do you not think?”
“Yes, of course.” I nodded and gave him a look that I hoped clearly said, so tell me what to do then.
“I think it best that Tyler commit to discussing the project and maybe starting back up next week, your honor.”
“I agree. Also because we started the project idea before knowing how many fae we would have residing here, even temporarily.” Barnabas sighed and leaned against Miles. “I think it would just add to the major confusion around here if we started tearing up rooms. Let’s talk next week, and by then I should know who’s staying for at least the time being.”
“Thanks.” I smiled as my mate took the tray of breakfast food, including coffee. He motioned with his elbow for me to lead the way. Oh, right, he didn’t know which room. Damn, I’d gotten lost in thought as to how hot he was again. I wonder what he looked like naked?
“Where are you?” he asked with a raised brow.
“Picturing you naked,” I admitted, my cheeks heating up.
He laughed as I finally walked from the dining room and toward our room. Asterio was right about one thing. We needed to figure out a place to live because I wanted to be relaxed with my mates. Not always having to worry about who would be around or being on my best behavior because we were company.
But then I had an idea. I, in my normal dumbass way, just blurted out a question. “Do fae have money?” And people wondered why I didn’t speak much? I knew most thought I was the strong, silent type. The reality of it was I just didn’t have a filter between my brain and mouth.
“We have gold, which I’m told is a form of payment here. Why, do you need something?” He looked worried, and that was the last thing I wanted.
“No, no, nothing like that.” I chuckled as we headed up the stairs. “It’s just you got me thinking about where we’re going to live. One of the founding families here owns an abandoned estate and was talking to me about how they’d go about splitting the land up. I guess the idea is to break the few hundred acres up so someone could buy one or two acres and build a house of their own. Since we’re in a rural area, there are no housing developments around or apartments. But I want a place of our own, too.”
“I don’t know what a housing development, apartment, or an estate is.” He looked annoyed but with himself.
“Okay, tell me how you lived on your plane? Did you guys all live in one big house like this?”
“No, the Queen had her palace and as one of her warriors I had a room there.”
“So the palace was bigger than this?”
“Yes,” he answered, his eyebrows drawn together. We’d reached our borrowed room and I opened the door.
“This is an estate. It’s a huge mansion surrounded by lots of land.” He nodded as he walked past me and set down the tray as I closed the door behind us.
“I understand.”
“Where did everyone else live?”
“In the village surrounding the palace.”
“That’s a housing development basically. It’s plotted out so everyone knows where their land is to take care of and has a house on it. An apartment is one building full of rooms but almost like their own living space like some of the suites in this estate.”
“You’re very good at explaining things,” he said proudly after a moment. “So this founding family person wants to turn one large estate into pieces that everyone can have as their own home and land?”
“Exactly. Since I built most of the homes for my old pack, he was talking to me about how he’d go about breaking the land up and getting contractors to build solid, but simpler, houses.”
“And you want to know about my gold so we might buy one of these pieces of land?”
“Yeah, I guess I didn’t really get that far in the thought process,” I answered, my cheeks heating up. “I realized I agreed with you about wanting a place of our own. I remembered what Desmond had said to me and then realized I didn’t have enough money to buy land. Then I just blurted out the question to you.”
“Blurt away,” he replied reassuringly with a smile. “I appreciate honesty from my mate. We should feel comfortable enough with each other where we don’t have to worry about what we’re asking. It’s not easy for me to admit that I’m lost on your plane, but if I can’t ask my mate for help, then who would I trust more?”
“That’s a good point.” I hadn’t thought about it like that but it made sense. I should always be able to be myself around my mates. Granted we’d just met so there would be some adapting and getting comfortable with each other. But I always thought that’s why fate had come up with the idea of mates. There were just some people, not even specifically mates, that melded. I instantly felt I could relax around Mav and now Asterio.
We ate in a comfortable silence, snagging pieces of fruit and pastries off the tray. It was as if we’d done this every morning for years, and I felt tension I didn’t even realize I still had after the loving Mav gave me leave my muscles. Maybe some of the questions Asterio had raised had been at the back of my mind?
Good thing he was able to voice them, huh?
Chapter 4
Asterio
“I think we should buy a double-size piece of land since you’re a wolf,” I said after several moments of quiet. “You need space to run, and I would feel uncomfortable if you had to go somewhere else to do it.”
“I’m not against the idea, but I don’t have any money really,” my mate nervously hedged. “I cou
ld design and build the house with help, but living in a pack, we kind of pooled our resources and didn’t really have our own money.”
“How do I know if I have enough gold to buy this land?” Maybe what was a lot to the fae was nothing to the people of this plane.
“Well, I think you should bring your stuff here and share our room for now and you could show me if you want.” Tyler shrugged in that cute way he had that made me feel that if I didn’t have what we needed, we’d just figure something else out. It was nice.
“I accept your invitation.” I stood, taking his smaller hand in mine, and we left the room. It took me a moment to remember where my room was from there since I’d always just mapped it from the stairs.
A few minutes later we were in the room I was sharing with a few other warriors. We had taken up positions around the room the Queen was staying in. We didn’t think that anyone in Barnabas’s household would want to do her harm, but paranoia on our part kept her safe.
“My gold is in here,” I said, pulling out a large chest that had been brought over from home. I took the key out of my pocket and opened the chest nervously before standing back for my mate to see. “Is this enough?”
Tyler’s eyes went so wide I thought they might pop out of his skull. “Um, yeah, that’s enough to buy several estates, Asterio. We can buy as many plots of land as we want and build one hell of a house and still have enough of that gold left for the rest of our lives. Can I ask where you got all this from?”
“Warriors get paid for our services, but my parents were killed in an accident when I was young and Queen Magdalena took me in. After her daughter crossed over here to find her mates and was lost to the Queen, I think she worried I might leave her, too, one day. She started spoiling me every chance she got, and when you meet her, you’ll understand she’s not a woman you give a present back to. Most of these gold bricks I got for my birthdays, and as long as I’ve lived, that’s a lot of gold.”
“Damn, you could buy your own island with this, Asterio.”
I sighed heavily, starting to get frustrated, but not with my mate. “I don’t know what an island is, Tyler.” I wasn’t stupid and I was well read… But I read fae authors we had in our village. I read our history, about our magic, about our plane, and sometimes about other paranormals, which is how I understood the needs of my werewolf. I just didn’t know much about Earth, or how humans acted, or their language sometimes, too.
“Hey, don’t stress,” Tyler said gently as he turned to me and hugged me. “You’ll get caught up. We’ll watch some Discovery Channel, which is a favorite of mine, and you’ll see you know more than you think.”
“It’s really hard, and while I’m grateful I found my mates right away and that you’re willing to guide me, I worry about my people who are alone here. I know some of them have crossed over here for visits to see your world, but for the majority, this is their first trip, too.”
“Then I have an idea,” he said with a smile. “Lock up the gold and tell me which bags to grab.”
I did as he asked, curious as to what was going on in that pretty head of his. He wouldn’t tell me as we went back to his room, or I guess, our room. Then we went in search of Barnabas and were told he was in his study. Tyler knocked and someone called for us to come in.
“Your highness,” I said when I saw the Queen there and bowed. “I apologize for interrupting your meeting with your grandson.”
“Not at all, Asterio,” she replied with a smile. “I was told you had found your mates and was going to look for you soon, too. Is this one of them?”
“Yes, your highness,” Tyler said nervously, doing what I did and glancing at me for guidance. I gave him a smile and a nod, glad when he visibly relaxed. “I’m Tyler Gilroy.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tyler.” Queen Magdalena moved gracefully across the room and gave him a hug. “You take care of my boy. Asterio is very special and deserves all the love you can give him.”
“I’ll do my best.” Tyler’s face turned bright red and I was sure his mind went to the carnal activities we had talked about earlier… As my mind had.
“Did you need something, Tyler?” Barnabas asked as if trying to soothe my mate’s nerves about being around royalty. I liked the little half fae even more because of it.
“Um, yeah, I was wondering if you had a media room or someplace big enough where we could fit all the fae staying here and a big-screen TV?”
“Yes, but why?” The head of the East Coast Council raised an eyebrow at my mate.
“Well, um, see,” Tyler stuttered, glancing at me, and it took me a moment to realize why he was nervous.
“You may tell your friend about our earlier conversation. I have a feeling you have a wonderful idea to help us all.”
“Maybe.” He shrugged and looked back to Barnabas. “Asterio and I were talking about where we should live now that we’re mated, and I realized that some of the fae don’t know much about our world.”
“Something we were discussing as well,” Barnabas replied with a tired sigh. “I’m just not sure how to bridge the gap so they don’t feel like such outsiders.”
“Well, I’m not sure about bridging the gap, but I had an idea on how to maybe have some fun and give the fae an intro to our world.” Barnabas and the Queen exchanged a look before they both nodded for him to continue. “I’m assuming the fae are also used to different foods?”
“That’s true.” The Queen looked as interested as I know felt.
“Do you have popcorn?” He smiled and Barnabas burst out laughing. I wasn’t sure why the strange food made the man laugh but it intrigued me even more.
The Queen looked at her grandson as if he’d lost his mind. “Not that I ever heard of.”
“I think we should find that Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth series, make a bunch of movie munchies, and just let the fae relax. I mean, they’d get an intro without being thrown into the deep end like if we just showed them current movies, and they could sample some of the fun stuff we have to offer here.”
“Smart and beautiful,” Mav said from one of the couches to our right. I hadn’t even seen him there. I’d been so focused on the Queen and Tyler’s idea that I missed our mate being in the room.
“Glad you think so, mate.” Tyler was still bright red, but he blew Mav a kiss.
“Maverick is your other mate?” the Queen asked, glancing between us. I nodded and she smiled. “Then you have been blessed with two wonderful mates, my boy. I like him very much. He’s smart, confident, and when he was talking to us about stepping down in his role to live a life with his new mates, I found myself respecting him even more for having his priorities in line. I bless your mating a thousand times and praise the gods that you have found them.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, my heart soaring at her words. It was a formal statement a parent gave their child when they found their mates and approved. Having lost my parents, I never thought I’d have someone say the words to me. I went over to her, pulled her into my arms, and twirled her in the air. “Thank you, Magdalena. I think they are wonderful, too.”
“You deserve to be happy, Asterio. I will be staying here with Barnabas, but I give you leave from being one of my personal guards so that you can focus on your mates.”
“Thank you, but if you ever travel past the safety of their community, I must insist I be on your protection detail,” I replied firmly. I didn’t just keep her safe because she was my Queen. She was my family, too. I glanced at Mav and then Tyler. “Can I say that now that I’m mated? You have to understand, the Queen is the only mother I’ve ever known.”
“Talk with us next time before you make the decision that could affect us all,” Mav said hesitantly, but with a soft smile so I took that as a good sign. “But we understand given the circumstances.”
“I agree. Protect your mom, Queen, but if you get hurt doing it, we’re going to kick your ass.” Tyler slid his hand in mine as I let the Queen go. “We understand d
uty, Asterio. Mav is head of security for one of his own royals, and I was protector of my pack.”
“Why are you not now?” I asked with a raised brow. He hadn’t quit since we met, and I wanted to know more about my mate.
“Um, that’s more a, um, private conversation,” Tyler mumbled. I wasn’t sure what to say then but it seemed Mav knew.
“I’m sure someone around here has that series Tyler suggested,” our mate said smoothly, giving me a nod that he understood. Then he mouthed I’ll explain later and I relaxed. I understood Tyler not wanting to talk about certain things in front of everyone, but I couldn’t help but worry something was wrong.
“Actually, I own it,” Barnabas announced. “I was laughing at the popcorn idea because Tyler’s absolutely right. We need to start small and the rest they will pick up. We’ve been stressing about the gap between our worlds like they have to learn it all this minute. There’s no need for that. Let’s have some fun. I say we call some of the wolves and warriors as well, and that way we’ll have people here to help explain things if questions arise.”
“Or just give everyone an adjustment buddy,” Tyler suggested. “Like we did in the pack with pups who were just going through puberty. One of the older members took them under their wing, taught them how to control their shift, how to hunt, and how to handle being in wolf form. It always worked better when the person wasn’t immediately related to them because then the pup could feel better about being open with their concerns.”
“I think we found our adjustment coordinator,” the Queen said with a smile.
“Your huh?” Tyler’s face paled instantly, his smile gone. “No, please don’t make me in charge of getting the fae adjusted to our world. I’m not the right person for that. All I’ve seen outside of the pack and in it is pain until I moved here. I’m not of sound mind enough to tell anyone about how things should be. It was just an idea for some—”
“Cub, stop,” Mav said sternly as he rushed to Tyler’s side. “The Queen was merely making a suggestion and paying you a compliment. No one said you had to do it, okay? You never have to be in charge again. Why don’t you go talk with Barnabas about getting the media room set up and find that series you were talking about? Maybe go see the cook and think of some fun food. I bet the fae would like cupcakes, too. I know I do.”