by Eve Newton
“Thank you for going easy on Cade,” I say to him.
“Pah,” he says. “The Wolf had worked him over quite nicely by the time I got to him. Seemed unsporting.”
I stifle my laugh at his choice of words. He does so hate to be the only one playing along, whether it be sex, a negotiation, or fighting. I snuggle up to him and he leans back, with his arms tight around me. I wonder how and when to broach the subject of my pending engagement to Devon when he speaks first.
“So... about the baby,” he says casually. “You have definitely changed your mind?”
“I don’t know if it was my mind in the first place,” I say, just as carefully. “I can’t be sure.”
“I told you, it wasn’t Sebastian,” he says.
“But you would say that,” I accuse him, and he lets out a noise of exasperation.
“Then ask him,” he says, getting annoyed. “He is your little Faerie partner. Don’t you trust him?” he asks slyly.
“Yes, of course I do,” I say, getting a bit annoyed myself now.
“Then ask him. He will tell you he had nothing to do with it,” he says shortly.
“I have asked him,” I say.
“And?”
“And he said it wasn’t him. But…”
“But, nothing. You either trust me completely or you don’t,” he states.
“CK, please don’t be like that,” I say. “You aren’t being fair.”
“Neither are you, my sweet. You promised me and now you are breaking it,” he says. “And my heart,” he adds quietly.
“I’m sorry,” I say with tears in my eyes. “Just give me more time.”
“A stall tactic won’t work on me, Aefre,” he says sternly. “You already have a hundred years; how much longer do you want?”
What? A hundred years? Even now he is prepared to wait that long? I don’t get it. I would have thought under the circumstances he would want it now. Well, a hundred years is a long time, who knows what will happen between now and then, so I give him what he wants. “Very well,” I say. “A hundred years.”
He stares at me intently. “No, you caved too easily. What am I missing?”
Shit. Knew I wouldn’t be able to fool him. “Nothing,” I lie. “Isn’t that what you want?”
“Yes, it is,” he says eventually. “My only concern is how to keep everyone else away from you. How often are you going to go through this process?”
Oh, that’s a good question. I hadn’t thought to ask. “I’ll ask Tiamat. I don’t really know.” I shrug.
He looks itchy and I am getting worried about where this conversation is headed. I climb onto his lap and kiss him. He accepts the closure and whisks my top over my head. His mouth is on my breasts in his next breath and I gasp. He is ready to go right now, no messing about. Fangs down, he bites me, and I come for him, creaming my knickers and wishing he was inside me. “Fuck,” he growls, as he struggles to get my jeans off. “Wear skirts, godammit.” I jump off his lap and quickly wiggle out of my jeans and panties and climb back on him. He is waiting for me, all hard and ready and I sit on him, pushing down slowly. He grabs my hips and forces me all the way onto him.
“I missed fucking you,” he says before he kisses me. “I would dream about you and stroke myself in my sleep, feeling your hand on me.”
Oh, lord, his words have my heart beating like a trip hammer. The thought of him doing that over me is a most pleasing one. “Did you come for me?” I murmur to him. His eyes darken and narrow to two slits. “Every time,” he says, tightening his grip on me to get me to move over him. “How could I not?”
“Oh,” I whisper in rapture at his admission.
“I have missed this,” he mutters again as I slowly ride him. “I have missed this.”
I expect him to say, “with you,” but his sentence ends before he says that. Has he truly not been with anyone else? I fall more in love with him than I ever thought possible in that moment. He vowed and he stayed true. I kiss him sweetly as I move up and down over him, and he lets me ride him for my own pleasure. He knows he will get his turn just as soon as…
“Oh, fuck yes,” I gasp as my orgasm starts to leisurely ripple through me. I drench his cock with my juices and his breath hitches. I want so badly to climb off him and take him in my mouth, but he gives me no chance as he flips us over, pushing me roughly into the chaise longue.
“My turn,” he says and pounds into me, causing my stomach to flutter as I feel him long and hard inside me. “More time like this,” he pants as he brings the house down with our joint orgasm that rocks the chaise back a few feet. “Wow” is about the only word to describe it. “More time just like this,” he repeats, as he gets off me and hands me my top.
Err, that’s it? “Come back,” I say to him. “I’m not ready to end this.”
“Aefre, you are still not well. You may go around trying to show everyone everything is great, but you still don’t have your Powers. That is serious. You need rest and you have had far too much activity for today.” He hands me my jeans. I pout at him and stand. He said that quite unpleasantly, clearly choosing to ignore his own part in my day’s activities.
I roughly shove my left leg into my jeans with a noise of rage and aggravation, followed by my right one. I bounce as I pull them up and do the button. Why am I bothering to go through this dressing process when in two minutes I am going to have to take them all off again? It gets the better of me and my shoulders sag. He catches me before I fall and cradles me in his arms as I wrap mine around him.
“I rest my case,” he says gently. “I do love you, Aefre. We have to spend more time alone together, okay.”
“Yes,” I say instantly, and he chuckles at me.
“Not just for sex, but to talk. I miss you,” he says.
Oh, how disappointing. Talking is overrated when you have a skilled lover who can do things to your body that it craves.
I nod anyway and put my head on his shoulder. He Teleports us upstairs and I must have fallen asleep before we got there, because I wake up a few hours later, in my nightgown and alone. Hm, CK obviously got me changed. A thoroughly delicious thought flashes through my head: He can continue to dress me until my Powers return. I have a small, arousing, albeit clichéd, fantasy of him serving my every need, clothing me, feeding me, bathing me. Of course, he is shirtless and in tight leather pants with a collar around his neck. I giggle as he would kill me if I ever suggested that to him and then reality bites me on the arse. That is exactly what he has been doing for the past few days, okay, so not in the tight leather pants, and it has been driving me nuts. I need to get my Powers back, like right now. I stand just as there is a knock at the door.
“Come in,” I say, frowning, as who would knock? Boundaries are not exactly a big thing around these parts.
My face lights up as I see Edward. “Hi,” he says and closes the door. “You rang?”
“I did indeed,” I say, clenching my fists so I don’t pounce on him and scare him half to death.
“It’s good to see you back on your feet. Had everyone worried there for a bit,” he says, then he adds at my worried look, “Oh, don’t worry, I didn’t tell anyone. Your sire is a scary, scary man.” He laughs, but it is shaky, and his pale face speaks volumes. “So where do you want me?”
“Wherever you like,” I say. Who cares, I just want to feed.
He sits on the bed, which amuses me as I will now have to straddle him. I don’t have a problem with that though as I crawl into his lap, my fangs already drawn. I tilt his head and take just one second to sniff him appreciatively before I bite down on him. He grunts as I bit him too sharply and suddenly, but he relaxes into it within moments. I pull on his vein, feeling the fresh human blood gush into my mouth and down my throat. I mewl like a little starving kitten and press myself closer to him as I drink. I know I have gone beyond the limit, his head is starting to loll, but I don’t stop. I can’t. He is too delicious, and it has been too long. My body needs this, and I need
my Powers back, that is all I think about.
“Aefre!” CK yells at me, but I ignore him, clutching Edward in a death grip. No one is taking him away from me.
“Aefre! You are killing him!” CK says in my ear and it was the right thing to say. I stop and my fangs snap back, as CK picks me up and sits me down next to the now unconscious Edward. Shit. Fuck. What did I do?
“Is he?” I ask in dread.
“No, he’ll live if I deal with it now,” he says shortly and picks him up and slings him over his shoulder. “You are in so much trouble when I get back,” he snarls at me and leaves the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
I drop my head into my hands. Christ, he was right as bloody usual. I wasn’t ready for a human Feeder. If he hadn’t walked in here, Edward would be dead, and I would be beside myself. One of these days I am going to have to start listening to him. I whimper as the tears flood my eyes. I completely lost control like a stupid newbie. I hate being so out of sorts.
“Aefre,” Tiamat says from the foot of the bed.
I look up at Her and She is glaring down Her nose at me with what looks a lot like revulsion. I flinch from it and She softens Her features a fraction. “Time to go,” She says briskly. “Clean up and then we will leave.”
I nod, wiping my tears away with shaking hands and make my way to the bathroom. As I catch sight of myself in the mirror, I don’t feel so bad about Her revolted look. I am a fright. My hair is plastered to my head with sweat, my cheeks are ruddy and sweat stained, I have Edwards’s blood smeared all over my mouth. I am pretty disgusted myself. I wash my face off and the water is cool and inviting. I am definitely feeling more than just warm now. I am hot. Really, really hot. I hold the washcloth to my face for a few minutes and then She raps quickly on the door. “Aefre, if you are quite done, we need to leave. Now,” She says.
“Okay,” I grumble. “What’s the hurry?”
I open the door and stare at my mother’s back. She is standing with Her hands on Her hips and I can feel the wave of Power vibrating off Her. I peer around Her and see the reason for the urgency. My husbands have gone into Hunting mode and they are both ready to pounce. Well, there are worse bodyguards that a girl could have than Empress of the Dragon Realms and Underworld, but I am sure it isn’t necessary. I step around Her to say my farewells, but She grabs my arm and Astrals me out right before they both dive on me, fangs and claws extended.
Yikes, She wasn’t messing about with this whole it’s-safer-to-be-with-Her routine. We land in the big cave where I got my Power boost, as expected, and She lets go of me. “Follow me,” She says, and I scamper after Her as She takes long, quick strides further into the cave. This place is an absolute warren. Even with my photographic memory, I think I would struggle to remember the way back out. Twists and turns through massive corridors lit only by fire torches. Oh, Devon and Cole would eat this up. Eventually, She opens a door and I am more convinced than ever that She put me here just so I couldn’t escape. Or if I did try, I would be lost for years roaming the corridors trying to find my way back. She gently ushers me in, and I take in a cave bedroom, lit by candles. There is a nice, comfy-looking bed, a set of drawers, a couple of chairs, an armoire, and Xanthe. I smile in surprise at her, as I wasn’t expecting her to be here.
She comes over to me and takes both my hands. “Your Majesty,” she says, dipping her head in respect. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“And you,” I say, and she squeezes my hands and lets them go.
“I will leave you now,” Tiamat says, then ushers a very large blonde lady into the room. “This is Aida, she will be guarding you.”
I nod at her with a smile, but all I get back is a blank stare. She is like those guards at Buckingham Palace that you could dance around naked in front of and they would just stare straight through you. Well, she seems more than capable. Standing around six-feet-three-inches tall and solidly built, I wouldn’t want to try and get around her. Especially with that sword she is wielding.
Tiamat leaves and I turn to Xanthe. She says, “Your mother has little experience with this. I told Her I would take care of you.”
“Oh,” I say, a bit disappointed. “Demons go through this as well?”
“Oh, yes,” Xanthe says. “The more removed we get from our Dragon heritage the lesser it gets, but we females still go through it. I have helped all of my daughters and several of my granddaughters as well.”
Nicely qualified then. “So, what exactly is going to happen to me? Tiamat wasn’t very specific.” As usual, I add to myself.
“Well, you will start to feel feverish soon. It will drain you and you will want to sleep. Your skin will feel very sensitive and you will be really thirsty.” She indicates to the bed where there is a basin, a washcloth and a jug of water. “You will have lucid periods every couple of hours and then it will be over.”
Okay, doesn’t sound too bad, I suppose. At least I get to sleep. Xanthe goes to the armoire and carefully pulls out a sheer gossamer gown. It is absolutely beautiful, and I admire it as she hands it to me. “This won’t irritate your skin as much,” she says and I quickly strip off my cotton nightgown (really, CK has got to get on board with satin and lace negligee) and carefully pop the gossamer gown over my head. It falls gently around me, caressing my skin. I ignore the fact that it is see-through because this is strictly a no-guy zone. I climb onto the bed and wait. Xanthe sits in one of the chairs and picks up her cross-stitch and gets to work. I twiddle my thumbs, bored already, and ask her, “How is Xane?”
Her eyes frost over for just a second before she smiles again and answers, “He is busy preparing for the Trial to end on Friday. I trust you will do your part for our family?”
“Of course,” I say. “Anything.”
She smiles serenely and then goes back to ignoring me. I don’t have too much longer to wait for the fever to set in. It arrives with a set of cramps that makes me wish this wasn’t happening to me. How come no one mentioned the cramps?
“Sorry, dear,” I hear Xanthe mutter as she takes my hand. “That must be a Dragon thing.”
Oh, great, of course it is. I groan as a wave of pain goes over me and then I am just out of it. The room goes all hazy and the best idea is to close my eyes. Xanthe places a cool, damp washcloth on my forehead and it feels like the best thing anyone has ever done to me. I start dreaming of standing under a small waterfall. The cold water is hitting my bare skin and it feels like Heaven. I close my eyes as I stand in the pool, the icy water washing over me. I wet my hair and step out from under the cascade and straight into a pair of strong, waiting arms. I look up in surprise and piercing blue eyes smolder back at me. His smile, slow and sexy. My breath catches as he bends to kiss me, and his lips are cool touching mine. His tongue caresses mine and I shiver. Both from the chill and from the pleasure. He turns us in the water and whispers, “Open your eyes.”
We are standing on a beach at sunrise, the most beautiful sight of white sand and palms trees and cool, blue water. I run towards to ocean and splash in with delight. He follows me quickly and sweeps me off my feet. I laugh with him and he kisses me again, running his hands down my naked body. His touch is still cool, and it eases the heat that my body is letting off. He lowers us to the sand, and despite myself, I cling to him, wanting him to continue cooling me. He kisses me again and lowers his mouth down my feverish body. He sucks on my nipples and I cry out, digging my fingers into the soft sand. His tongue on my hot clit is pleasure in its purest form, and I come with an icy orgasm. I gasp as he rises above me and enters me. I feel a chill inside and I never want him to stop. He must stop though. Somewhere on some level my brain knows I need to push him away, but he just feels too good. He makes love to me on the beach, with the waves lapping over us, matching our rhythm. He grips my hands tightly as he thrusts one last time to push us both over the brink.
Chapter 16
The Underworld, September 2013 – Liv
I wake up with a start and sit up. The
washcloth drops into my lap in a soggy heap. My heart is beating like a hummingbird’s wings and I put my hand over it to slow it down. Xanthe looks up from her sewing and says, “Everything okay, dear?”
Err, no. No, everything isn’t okay. “Have I been here, alone the whole time?” I ask.
She peers at me curiously. “Why, yes, of course,” she says. “Did you think you had gone somewhere?”
I shake my head. That dream felt so real. Talk about a feverish delusion. Christ. I flop back to the bed and keep my eyes very firmly open. No way am I risking going back to sleep. Nobody has any business seducing me in my dreams. Although, it was a very hot dream, and not in the temperature sense. I push it from my mind and think about other things. Mostly Lincoln. I am going to have to go to him the second I get back from here. There is a tension there that isn’t just about our Pack getting aggravated that I have been nowhere in sight for the last three months. My lucid period doesn’t last very long, and the fever sets in again, this time accompanied by spasms.
Really? My eyes go blurry and I have to close them again. I fall in and out of a daze and when I open my eyes again, I see a blurry vision standing over me. I can hear a muted chanting and I flail out blindly to grab whoever it is that is hovering over me. I must look like a right lunatic, waving my hands in the air, but I was sure there was someone in here with me.
“Xerxei,” Xanthe says to me, grabbing my hands. “Whatever it was, it was just a dream.”
“No,” I insist. “There was someone standing over me. Was it you?”
“No, Xerxei,” she says. “There was no one else in here and I was sitting in the chair in the corner.”
I must have been hallucinating. She sounds completely confident and I believe her. I feel like I am losing my mind. She shushes me and pushes me back down and replaces my cool washcloth.
The fever finally breaks again and Xanthe tells me that it is over. Thank the old gods for that. I feel a chill now on my sweaty skin and shiver. I pull the covers up over me and say thank you to Xanthe for staying with me and ask her how often I should expect this.