by Honor James
“No, you are my mate to be loved,” she shot back just as quickly. “Just let me love you, Ax. I think that you will find it good for you, and I know I will find it good for me. Just let us be together, please?”
“Of course,” he said. Stopping, he drew her in closer to him and held her tight. “I just wanted to ensure you knew that I don’t need to be fixed. Yes, my life wasn’t ideal, yes, I regret much of it, but it’s in the past and it will stay there. This is the now, and all I want to worry about is you, us, and our mating.”
“And that’s all I want to worry about as well. I just want to be happy with you, with Gavriel. I just want to find peace. I never dreamed I would find love, let alone love squared, but it seems it found me, huh?”
Nodding, he leaned in and kissed her lightly. “Come, dinner should be about ready to eat. It’s nothing fancy but should be filling.” He let her loose and moved to a Crock-Pot on the counter. Lifting the lid, the scent of spices and cooked meat filled the air. “I made a quick batch of chili. I figured it would be a good meal, not exactly elegant, but hearty.”
“Oh that sounds like heaven to me.” She inhaled the scents and nearly drooled. “God that smells so very, very good. And you just ‘tossed’ it together, did you?” she asked with a laugh. “You are too funny, Artaxias. You know that?”
He frowned at her. “I did just throw it together,” he said with a shrug. “There’s only a dozen ingredients that I put into the pot to cook slowly. Took me about ten minutes and then I left it alone. It really wasn’t much effort, but I figured you’d need something healthy to eat.”
“It just amazes me. I couldn’t put something like this together if I had a month of Sundays in trying,” she admitted. “Weapons I can make like whoa, but sometimes making a meal escapes me totally, and that is a sucky thing to admit to but it’s the truth.”
“Food is easy to do. It’s a lot like making a weapon. You need to know your ingredients, how they mix and meld. Then how does heat affect them, and when is too hot, too much? If you can make a sandwich, you can cook. With guidance,” he added, reaching around her and then passing her a bowl. “Scoop up what you want, I have some garlic toast warming in the oven to go with it. Gavriel!” he called out, “If you want to eat, get your ass in here.”
“Well I will be spending a great deal of time under your guidance? Because I want to learn. I want to learn how to make such amazing things.” Taking a bowl, she dipped some out and because she was impatient, grabbed a large piece of meat with her fingers and popped it into her mouth. “Oh. So. Freaking. Good.”
“Spoons were created for a reason, you know,” he said, holding one out to her. “Go and sit while I grab the bread.”
Gavriel came jogging into the room. “Hell yeah, chili! I love his chili,” he said, moving to the crock pot. Grabbing a dish, he bumped her hip lightly. “Did you want some milk with it, or a beer?” he asked, scooping out his own before going to the fridge.
“Milk please. That works best for chili.” She took the spoon and took a bite. “Oh God this is so good.” It was like heaven on her tongue. Like angels dancing on her tongue. “The spice is not too strong, not too weak, it’s brilliantly balanced.” Taking her seat, she ate as she sat, loving every bite she took.
“Here you go.” Gavriel set a tall glass of milk in front of her. Throwing a leg over a chair, he plopped down with his chili and beer. “I don’t know how he does it, but he doesn’t measure a damned thing either. I’ve watched him and he just tosses in the meat, the various bits, and slaps a lid on. Two hours later, he gives it a stir and then pretty much ignores it. I have no idea what’s in it beyond meat, tomatoes, and spices, and I could never recreate it, but it’s damned good.”
“You can’t cook to save your own life, let alone anyone else’s, Gav,” Artaxias said, setting the warmed garlic toast on the table. “The last time he did scrambled eggs…simple, right? Not so much for our friend. Last time he did the eggs, he ended up in the hospital getting his stomach pumped.”
“That was embarrassing,” Gavriel agreed with a sigh. “The fucking nurses wouldn’t stop laughing after I explained how I came to have this food poisoning.”
Lilly began to giggle and had to ask, “Why? How? I don’t even mess up scrambled eggs.” To Artaxias, she said, “So just simple here-and-there kinda stuff huh? Follow a plan and put the ingredients together. Do you have a recipe for your chili that you follow? Even if it’s in your mind? If so, will you teach me how to make it?”
“No recipe,” he said with a shrug as he sat down. He wasn’t eating, but he sat with them. “I just throw whatever into the pot. Barely even think about it, actually. I change it up from time to time, depending what’s in the house. But since Gav can’t even boil water and I usually don’t bother to eat food, it’s rare. I can teach you the basic recipe, I guess. It’s always the same. After that, it depends on your taste buds what you want to add.”
“Interesting. And what about you?” she asked and shifted slightly closer to Artaxias. “When do you eat? What do you eat? If he can’t cook, why do you, if you don’t eat? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that you can cook, but why?”
“It gives me something to do on occasion,” he said with a shrug. “I can eat. I just don’t bother most of the time. The blood gives me all I actually need. Food just gives me something less boring to consume. Besides, it’s relaxing, and given the fact his mother is still calling me, it took my mind off snapping his neck and delivering the body to her.” His voice was seriously, scarily calm as he spoke, like he was discussing the weather. “I eat when I feel the need or interest. The rest of the time, I don’t.”
“And you do realize that he’s not to blame for his mother’s actions, right? Heavens, from what I understand she’s not even to blame for her own actions. Poor woman.” She felt intense sympathy for the woman, very much so. “I just really hope that maybe one day you will be able to find a way to help her. Somehow and some way.” She was sure that these men were trying to find a way, would be surprised if they weren’t.
“I know he’s not responsible, and I also know she’s not of her right mind at times like this. But I am the one that has a nearly constant ringing in my skull and rattling my teeth,” he said quietly. He opened his mouth to continue but flinched, slapping his hand to where the implant behind his ear was. “Gav, call her caretaker for the love of the Gods and get her chip deactivated, damn it.”
“Why hasn’t it been deactivated before now?” Lilly asked with a frown. “If she’s not truly of sound mind, then why hasn’t her chip been removed? Do you think that perhaps the chipset is giving her trouble? I know for some of the earlier chips there was an interference of sorts where the waves of the tech damaged the natural brain patterns. Do you think perhaps this happened to her?”
Gavriel turned back around and tapped his chip again before shaking his head. “My mother’s magic isn’t geared toward anything other than a knowledge of science. She was one of the scientists involved in upgrading the chips. She has the latest model like we all do. Unfortunately, even when they deactivate the chip, she knows how to reactivate it when she’s of sound mind again. They’re supposed to deactivate it as soon as her mind slips. But the nurse who’s her companion had a family emergency, so the stand-in didn’t know. That’s why mother’s been calling. Apparently there is a stranger in her house.” He rolled his eyes and pushed his bowl aside. “I’m going to head back and see if I can get her calmed down.”
“Can the chip be fully removed?” Lilly asked Artaxias when Gavriel stood and walked out of the room. “Would it be possible to fully remove her chip so that she can’t reactivate it herself?” She wasn’t sure how the chips worked. She was good, but the tech was far out of her realm of expertise.
“Maybe,” he said quietly as he looked past her for a long time. His gaze snapped to her in the next moment. “Some of the issue with the chips is that, depending on the surgeon who implanted them, they can become embedded in the s
kull bone. It would involve breaking that bone here”—he pointed behind his ear—“to dig it out. Painful, to say the least. I don’t know who put hers in, so I can’t say, but it’s something we’ve been trying to get accomplished. Unfortunately, when she’s lucid we can’t do a damned thing, because she’s fully cognizant. Gav would have to have her declared mentally incompetent to have it done against her will.”
“And to do that would bring her before the ruling council and possibly bring to question her line. Neither of those things are things that we would want to do. We would want to ensure that she’s protected, as is Gav,” she murmured with a frown. “I don’t know. It was just a thought. As I said, I’m nowhere near an expert on the tech that we have inside of our heads, but it was a thought.”
“Hey.” Artaxias reached out for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’s a good thought, one we’ve been working on for a while now. We will find a solution to this, Lilly. I don’t know how or when, but we will.” He smiled slightly before flinching and pressing his hand to the base of his skull. “Gods, I hope he gets there soon, she’s killing me.”
Lilly moved closer to Artaxias and placed her hand on his cheek. “Will you let me rub your temples? Maybe that will help a bit? We can dim the lights and you can lay your head in my lap. I will rub your temples and your shoulder until the pain has eased somewhat.”
“You need to finish eating, love,” he said, dropping his hand after a moment. “But I think I am going to go and lay down. Just in the living room for now, if you want to join me. But eat, Lilly, I don’t want you getting sick because you’re not taking care of yourself.”
“Don’t worry, I will eat,” she assured him. “Go, do what you need to do for your headache so that you can hopefully begin to feel better soon, okay? I will come and join you shortly. Promise.” She would clean up and then go join him.
Nodding, he leaned in and kissed her gently, “Thank you, Lilly. But you do not need to clean up. Just unplug the pot and leave the dishes in the sink. We can deal with them later. Eat and then come and sit with me, please.”
“I will be in there shortly, promise. Go and lay down, but scootch it over, because I want to come and cuddle up next to you as well. Go. I will be there shortly, I promise.” Lilly picked up her spoon and once more began to eat, her eyes following Artaxias as she ate.
Nodding, he leaned in to kiss her gently. Straightening, he went to the fridge first. A moment later he moved toward the door with a bottle of water. “Don’t be long, but don’t wolf it down. That stuff can have a nasty bite if you gorge too quickly.”
“Go. Get relaxed and all that fun stuff so that I can come and join you, okay? I won’t wolf it down. I will take my time, but I won’t take so long that you will forget me.” Her tone teased as she spoke.
A snort was her only answer before silence ensued.
Chapter Six
“Did you have enough to eat?” Artaxias’s voice came from the darkness of the room. The drapes were pulled and all the lights were off in the room and surrounding it. The sound of material shifting reached her ears and then his hand was on hers. “Come here, Lilly,” he said softly.
Moving to the couch, Lilly dropped so that she could curl up at Artaxias’s side. Wrapping her arm around his waist, she curled up close to him and breathed out with a yawn. “I did. How are you feeling?” she asked softly and held onto him.
“Better,” his words were soft against her cheek. “Gavriel must have made good time getting there. Either that or had her helper keep her occupied. I only got one more call before they stopped. It’s actually been very peaceful for the last ten minutes.”
“Good. I’m very happy. I’ve cleaned up the kitchen.” Her words were soft in the darkness, her body moving in closer to his. “You are so nice and warm. I could become accustomed to this, Artaxias. Being held by you like this.”
“Despite your mythology, we run at normal body temperatures. But then again, we’re not dead and never have been.” He shifted away from her slightly and then there was a warm weight on her. It was a blanket, which he tucked around her a moment later. “Try and get some rest, Lilly. You look tired, little mate.”
“I am tired.” Her admission came on the heels of a yawn. “You should try to get some rest, too. I have a feeling that we will both need to rest and relax as much as possible. Sometimes sleep is the best thing for a person, right?”
“True enough,” he agreed quietly. Brushing his lips over her cheek, he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Sleep, sweetheart. Gavriel will be gone a while, I’m sure. But he’ll likely wake us when he gets back.”
“Good.” Lilly relaxed against Artaxias. She felt his heat making its way into her and sighed happily. Wrapped in his strength as she was, she knew that nothing could happen to her. Letting out another breath, she yawned again and, before she knew it, was out like a light.
* * * *
Waking sometime later, there was warmth all around her. And someone was touching her face, light strokes from a finger, she’d guess. “Lilly.” Artaxias’s voice. “Come on, darling. We should move or we’ll both be extremely sore in the morning.”
“Where are we moving to?” The sleepy words came from the woman as she buried closer to him. “I like it here in your arms. You are so very nice and warm, and I really happen to love that. Plus, if we get up, you are not going to let me curl into you again like this on a bed or something, are you?” Confusion colored her words as she spoke.
Chuckling, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. “We’re going to move up to a bed. And, if you wish, you can curl up with me once more. But we will need to remain partially dressed, Lilly. We can’t go and make love, not without Gavriel here with us.”
“I would like that.” Lilly’s face began to blush in color and she smiled. “Well, yeah. Plus, I don’t know you. Don’t get me wrong, I would be very, very happy to do a great deal with you, but not until we get to know each other. I don’t deny being attracted to you, a great deal actually. But I really think that we should get to know each other, right?”
“Absolutely, now up,” he told her. The blanket moved and he gave her a gentle nudge. “I feel the need to get out of these jeans. They were not designed to sleep in for any length of time.” When she was sitting on the edge, she could feel him moving. Then his hand was on hers and pulling her up.
Another yawn escaped her. Sighing, she nodded again. “And it would be nice to get out of this shirt. Do you think it will be okay if maybe I borrow one of yours? I would rather sleep in just my bra and panties, but I think that might be pushing it just a little bit too far.”
“You can have anything of mine,” he told her as he tugged her lightly forward. Then she was up in his arms. “Since you can’t see where you’re going, this would appear to be the better option to you tripping over the stairs.”
Lilly rubbed her cheek on his shoulder and grinned. “I think that I will start to close my eyes and let you carry me around more often.” Her voice held her intense pleasure and happiness. “I think that would be very nice indeed, if I’m not too heavy, that is.”
“Not in the least, Lilly. You are very light, too light, I should mention. You really should eat more, little mate.” He was climbing stairs, moving smoothly, barely jarring her at all. Then they were level again. “I’ll have to run back down for your bags so you have at least a toothbrush.”
“I eat a lot.” She shook her head with a laugh. “I know that I eat a great deal. You will learn in the future just how much I do eat.” Her cheek rubbed to the side of his neck and she sighed happily. “I could truly become used to this. You carrying me, that is.”
“I don’t mind carrying you, Lilly,” he said as his body shifted and she heard a muffled sound. Then he was moving, leaning over, and her back was on a soft surface, the bed. A sharp click and the room was filled with the soft light of a bedside lamp. “I’ll go and grab your bags. Was your insulin in them?” he asked quietly.
“Yes, in the
larger bag on the outside zipper. It’s in a black bag of its own,” she assured him. “Thank you.” She relaxed against the pillows and sighed happily. “I will be right here waiting on you, so hurry?” She knew that he was going to go and check the windows and doors. It was who he was.
“The bathroom is through there.” He pointed to the side. “Closet is right next to it if you want to have a shower and grab a shirt. I’ll only be about ten minutes, so if you decide to grab a shower, I’ll set your toothbrush on the counter for you.”
“Thank you. I likely should.” Even if the one thing she wanted to do was just simply lie there and wait for him to rejoin her. “I need a shower, and I need to be able to change into some different clothes so that we can have a nice, lovely nap together.”
“And yet, you are still lying there.” He was smirking, damned male. “That’s all right. I’ll come back up and assist you with your shower. Though, I must admit, I often times get confused with the whole hot-and-cold-water bit. The right knobby is for the hot, correct?”
Lilly’s laughter shook her and she grinned. “I will. Don’t worry.” She told him quietly. “As soon as you walk out the door, I will get up and go take a shower. Besides, if you helped me with the shower, I would be far more tempted to do more than get clean,” she admitted.
“I’m sure you would.” He gave a chuckle. “I’ll be back in ten minutes. Don’t dally, Lilly.” He turned and walked to the door, pausing in the opening. “Towels are on the shelving next to the tub. If you need more shampoo or anything like that, there should be some under the sink.”
“Thank you.” She watched him walking out of the room and smiled. God, she loved that man, more than she could ever tell him she loved him. That was totally shocking. Very much so. After he was gone, she got up and walked into the bathroom where she started the shower. Stripping, she was very soon under the water and sighing as she felt the heat of the water spilling over her.