by Emma Alisyn
“Prince Geza, I am Roan Kor.”
“I know who you are.” An aide to the local ambassador, whom Geza had never had occasion to deal with personally.
“A delicate matter has come to our attention.”
“Yes, I think I know. Is this regarding my sister’s request to match one of our clan with your database?”
Chill blue eyes regarded him. “It is, indeed. The identity of the individual was withheld for privacy concerns, which is standard. But in this case, we insist on knowing the name of the subject.”
You are aware that this individual is my subject?” Geza didn’t like the male’s tone of voice.
“Due to familial concerns regarding the individual's parentage, we would be happy to process whatever paperwork is required to transfer citizenship—”
“Wait. Just wait.” Geza bared his teeth. “Why do you want the person? It appears no one knows this individual existed.”
“Now we are aware. Your reasons are your own, Prince Geza. To maintain the diplomatic relations between the Ioveanus and the Fae—”
“Who is the family?”
“We cannot tell you that. The information is private.”
Geza settled back in his chair, wings ruffling. “Well, I’m afraid I cannot hand her over to you.”
“Her? And her name?”
“Give me the name of her father, and I will tell you who she is and where. The information will go no farther than this office until her father is willing to release the data publicly.”
“One moment.”
The comm went dark and Geza waited for several moments until the Fae returned. “Very well.”
Geza absorbed the name and lineage he was given, mind shuffling through the possible complications, advantages, and disadvantages.
The Fae cleared his throat. “The name?”
The Prince smiled. “Moghrenna. Moghrenna Ioveanu.”
23
Geza entered his suite. She lay draped over the couch in the center of the common room, her gown a fall of icy blue against the white, hair spilling over delicately muscled shoulders and arms. Her hand lifted, proving she was awake despite closed eyes.
The sun was beginning to rise, pressing them into human form. Geza had the strength to hold out longer than most, but he spoke the command for the windows to dim, blocking out light and casting a soothing gray pallor over the room.
“Did you get your business done?” he asked her quietly.
Her eyes fluttered open, slanted, dark, mysterious with thoughts he couldn’t read. Why had she agreed to wed him? The handfasting was bullshit, a tactic. He wasn’t letting her go in a year. If he could get her pregnant, it would automatically convert into a true marriage, anyway. How pissed off would she be? Geza sighed, setting that particular thought aside. He wanted his own garlings, but he suspected their mother needed time to come to terms with her new life.
Her new truth.
Moghrenna sat up, pushing hair out of her face and resettling her wings. Then she grimaced, and the rose-pearl-gray tinge of her skin became a pale olive-gold, wings receding as her Fae form took dominance. Looking at her now, he could see in her face the signs of her bloodline, even more prominently because for once she wasn’t pretending to be a human frump but was dressed like a Princess.
“Yes. I spoke with Tyra.” She watched him but when he didn’t speak, continued. “I told her you would protect her if she turned herself in and gave testimony helpful to your case.”
“Mogrens never turn traitor.”
Moghrenna stiffened. “The house is fallen. She isn’t a traitor. I want her to have a life.”
“Why do you care?”
Confusion flashed across her face. “I don’t know. Does it matter?”
She would make a very good Princess. She had the instincts to take care of her people, and she’d shown a balanced kind of loyalty to the Mogrens despite all that had transpired. Misplaced loyalty, but it proved her character. Soon he would earn her trust and loyalty.
“It matters, but we don’t have to talk about it right now,” he said and approached until he was standing in front of her. She looked up at him, pulse fluttering in the slender column of her throat. The gown revealed a gentle swell of breast, sexy but demure. What would she look like underneath him, hair disheveled, long limbs restless in desire? Was she ready for him? He’d held back, partly because he was wary of his own unbidden attraction, partly because he understood she would instinctively shield herself from that kind of vulnerability.
The vulnerability of a female in submission to a male who was stronger, deadlier than her.
“You’re tired,” he said and held out a hand. “I’ll tuck you into bed.”
Her brow started to rise but she checked the expression, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet.
“You do plan on having me stay here,” she said.
He glanced at her as he led her into the sleeping area. “Of course. Where else would you be?”
She returned his look, wariness in her eyes. “You’re sleeping here? With me?”
Geza stopped just inside the threshold of his bedroom, the giant bed, suitable to accommodate people with wings, prominent.
“Moghrenna, do you realize you’re my wife?”
“Of course I realize that.”
His head tilted. “You know husbands and wives sleep together? Do we need to have the birds and bees talk, dear?”
Her eyes narrowed, and Geza grinned. Better. He’d rather have her wanting to slap him, than have her wary of him in that feminine way.
“Of course,” he said, pulling her closer. “We don’t have to sleep.”
It was fascinating, watching a subtle blush tinge the cheeks of such a stony-eyed female. She stepped away from him, scowling. “Did you marry me just to get me into bed?”
“I could have gotten you into bed without doing anything quite so drastic.” He crossed his arms, amused, watching as she walked to the bed and sat on the edge, hands folded primly in her lap. Then she stood.
“I don’t have any pajamas. My things are . . .”
“Who needs pajamas?”
“Geza.”
He laughed and crossed to the other side of the room where his walk-in closet was hidden behind another flat section of wall. The door slid away, lights automatically flickering on, and he chose a silky, white tunic, which would be large enough on her to use as a sleep shirt. Approaching the bed again, he tossed it at her.
“You can either trust me with your address, and I can have your belongings retrieved, or you can order whatever you need.”
She frowned at him and turned, working the zipper of the gown and letting it slide to her feet. His mouth dried. She wore nothing but a scrap of lace over her firm ass, and the curve of her spine was delectable. He imagined bending her over, spreading those thighs and fucking her from behind while she clutched at the sheets.
If she thought turning her back on him was protecting her modesty, she was a fool. Geza stepped forward and Moghrenna turned, freezing when she saw him.
“Geza?”
He didn’t know what was on his face. But, he knew he wanted her. Wanted to be the cloth draping over her breast. As he stared at them, her nipples beaded into hard nubs.
“Geza.”
His eyes snapped back up to her face. Her voice was steady, but he still heard the infinitesimal tremble.
“Sit down,” he said.
She didn’t move, lashes lowering over her eyes to shield the expression.
“Trust me.”
After a long moment, she sat on the edge of the bed. He knew she wasn’t ready for him to take all of her, wasn’t quite ready to give herself. But, he needed something, now that he’d released the chokehold of his own desire.
Geza knelt in front of her, hands sliding up her calves and thighs, pushing them apart.
“Trust me,” he repeated when her muscles tensed. He waited until she nodded, and placed a kiss on the side of her kn
ee. The skin was warm for a gargoyle. Her scent bloomed as his kisses came closer to the juncture between legs.
“Lie back,” he said. “Relax.”
“And think of England?”
“You won’t be thinking at all, Moghrenna.”
He pushed the scrap of cloth away from the juicy folds of her pussy, pushing her thighs apart to give him maximum access. She was covered in down, curls several shades darker than her hair. He cupped her, then spread her lips to reveal the glistening pink of her flesh and hunted for the nub he knew would make her scream. He’d gone down on females, enjoyed licking and tasting and listening to them cry out. But, this time was different.
He latched onto her bud, calling on every drop of expertise, wanting her to be able to forget her troubles for a few moments. Wanted her to only feel. To understand the benefits of belonging to him.
The mutual benefits. He adored the scent, the taste of her, cock hardening as she cried out, breath coming faster and faster as her hands tangled in his hair. He hooked his fingers and speared her core, wet juice coating his fingers as he finger fucked her, using the combination of her jerky movement and startled sounds to locate her spot. When he found it, he was relentless.
He didn’t stop until his mouth and hands were coated in the aftermath of her orgasm. Body aching, fangs itching, he wanted nothing more than to turn her onto her stomach and fuck her so hard walking would be inadvisable.
His breath was ragged, and he clutched the bed, taking the time to control himself. Rein it in.
“Geza,” she said, voice almost soft.
His head snapped up. He didn’t quite snarl, but he knew he needed to get out of here, now. He rose and nearly flung himself away from her.
“I have to go. I’ll be back.”
“What’s wrong?”
He had the control to pause for a moment, to realize she might think she’d done something wrong. He didn’t want to hurt her. “Nothing, you didn’t do anything. If I stay here, I’ll fuck you, whether you want to or not.”
“Oh.” She frowned, the ashy brown of her eyebrows drawing together. “I thought that was the point? Wasn’t this foreplay?”
Geza stared at her.
“Geza, I knew when I handfast you that you would want sex.”
He didn’t like the way she said that, his lip curling back in a snarl. “Don’t worry about doing your duty, Moghrenna. I can use my hand.”
Her eyes lowered to the bulge in his pants. It chafed, rubbing against cloth that was suddenly rough.
“That would be a waste,” she said, and her eyes began to glow. “Though I might want to watch you pleasure yourself, and then cum all over me.”
Oh, fuck. He stumbled back another step. What was she doing to him? He’d never thought to hear anything remotely resembling dirty talk come out of her cool, snarky lips.
“I already owe you a kiss, a night. I always pay my debts.” Moghrenna lay back on the bed, legs still splayed. “Come back, Geza. Make me forget again. But this time . . .”
She didn’t have to tell him twice. He didn’t have the strength to second-guess her.
“Not like that,” he growled.
Rhina could barely move, much less think. She should be stronger than this, but it seemed she was just another needy female, begging Geza Ioveanu to give her his cock.
She would have begged, too, if he’d made her. She'd peaked with a startling force that left her boneless, but craving more. If he’d managed to leave the room, she would have hunted him down and taken what she wanted.
His conscious seemed to be clear now. Later, she’d be amused over his apparent hesitance in not taking her without explicit consent.
What more explicit consent could she give other than opening her legs after handfasting him?
So she used words—small words seemed to do the trick.
He stalked towards her, whipping his shirt up over his head as he did. Rhina didn’t smile, her fingers digging into the bed.
And then he was on her, flipping her onto her stomach. She reared up, startled, unused to the vulnerability of having her back to a former enemy, his weight pressing down on her. He could kill her.
The hard cock rubbing her ass was proof he just wanted to fuck. She made herself relax, or her mind rather. Her body was already way ahead of things.
Geza’s teeth grazed her neck and shoulder. “Let me in.”
She settled back onto her stomach, spreading her legs back open, and looked over her shoulder at him.
“Trust me,” he growled, his cock nudging her entrance. “This angle will make you cum twice.”
“I guess you would know.”
He ignored her comment, and she stopped looking at him, gasping at the tight entry as he slid inside her body. Her forehead rested against the sheets, teeth clenching. There was nothing to describe the fullness, the stretching burn. It was beginning to sting. Fuck.
“Can you just get all the way up in there instead of doing the slow thing?”
He froze. “What?” his voice sounded strangled.
She frowned into the bed, and bumped back against him, as much as she could considering he was flattening her like a pancake.
“Move, Geza. I’m not breakfast.”
“Female, you make no sense.” But he surged inside, and she cried out. The head of his cock hit a place in her pelvis, and she didn’t know if it was pain or pleasure she was feeling. He swore above her, and his strokes became frenzied. She wanted to arch her back, rise to her knees, and meet him with each thrust, but he held her down.
Rhina didn’t recognize the sounds she was making, and she didn’t care. He fucked her as if all resistance had completely dissolved, and he was little more than a mindless beast. The sounds made were nearly beast-like.
The pleasure . . .
She screamed, the pressure overtaking her as she climaxed, but he continued. His hand grabbed her hair, and he pulled her head up just enough for him to turn her face towards him. He kissed her, hard and ruthless.
“Not done yet,” he said.
He wasn’t done for a long time.
Geza stood over her at the edge of the bed, wings spread, muscles bunched. His cock jutted towards her, but she was sore and tired, and couldn’t take any more of his attention. He grasped himself in his fist and began pumping his cock, eyes glittering as he stared at her, a devilish half smile, half-snarl on his lips. Even though she was completely drained, her body stirred as his head tilted back. His hand pumped faster and faster, the tendons of his neck taut with tension.
She scrambled to her knees and crawled towards him, his head snapping down as she approached. Watching in fascination as he came, semen spilling over his hand and onto her breasts. She rubbed it into her skin, branding herself with his scent, wanting to take the slowly softening organ into her mouth and coax it back to life because now her clit throbbed.
She slid a hand down her body desperately. Geza caught her wrist in a punishing grip. “No. One day, I’ll sit in a chair right here and sip my wine while I watch you fuck yourself with something of my choice. Your fingers, maybe a clone of my cock. But today you only get to cum if I make you.”
Using tongue and fingers, he made her come again, even though she hadn’t thought there was any pleasure left in her to wring out.
They lay on the bed afterward, the Prince finally seeming as if he were sated, Rhina draped over his chest.
“Mine,” he murmured, running fingers through her hair.
24
She’d completely forgotten about the ball. When they rose that evening she asked.
Geza grinned. “Why not? We can still recruit female guards and fodder for my matchmaking, but it will be held in honor of our union.” He lifted her hand to his lips with a faint leer, leaving no doubt what ‘union’ meant. A quick comm to Bea confirmed arrangements were still a go.
Geza frowned at her. “My Princess can’t be engaging in menial office work.”
“I’m not your Princess. And
you match make. Did you have something else for me to do?”
He paused, expression thoughtful, and left the suite without answering. She shrugged and went down to the office, a guard trailing behind her—for her protection, of course—but otherwise not interfering with her movements.
When she entered, in her true form, the low-level chatter stopped. Bea, bending over a desk, glanced over and straightened. “Oh shit, I forgot.” The human made her way to Rhina and asked in a low voice, “How do you want to play it?”
“The truth.”
“Great. That’s always easier.” Bea turned. “Everyone, say hi to Rhina.”
There were several uncomprehending faces, though Leesa’s expression remained neutral. Good girl.
“Rhina says hi,” Rhina said, and it occurred to her she’d just upped the timeline of any possible attempts on Geza’s life. She swore, whirling to stride out of the office to find Sir Nikolau.
“I was stupid,” she told him grimly, having arrived at his office. She’d put her glamour back in place to minimize the damage . . . but damn, the cat was already out of the bag. “I forgot that even if Geza knows, Lourden doesn’t know I’ve dropped my cover. Now he has to. I’m certain he has a means of communication or else plans set in place for this contingency.”
Niko’s mouth thinned. “You think revealing yourself will trigger an attack.”
It wasn’t a question. She stood, tall and still. “I know it will. It’s only a matter of when, and how. You should put Malin and Surah and the baby Princess on lockdown.” Considering the scenario with cool professionalism, she continued. “Keep Geza visible. He’ll flush out the assassin quicker if we don’t surround him in visible security.” She glanced at Bea, who had entered the office behind her. “In the meantime, we keep working like nothing is amiss, and I’m just a moron.” She grimaced.
“It was a basic mistake,” Niko said. “We all made it.”
It was almost a concession. She stared at him a moment and then nodded, curtly. “Do you have orders for me?” He wasn’t technically her superior, and she likely should take point on the task because she was the one with the experience in subterfuge and assassination, but Geza needed her to present an olive branch.