He shook his head. “It isn’t. The ol’ladies have a way to contact the control room when we’re on an op. You have to be officially mine — it means you have to accept a vest I give you that’ll say you’re my property, before I can give you access.”
I’d seen Angelica’s vest the night before, though none of the other women had been wearing theirs.
I nodded. “I don’t have a problem with the wording, as long as I don’t have to wear it out in regular society, because I don’t think they’ll understand. I get that being your property means we belong to each other, but most humans will see it as derogatory, I think.”
He kissed my forehead. “Part of biker culture is not giving a fuck what other people think, but in answer to your question, you’ll have to wear it when the club goes on long rides to other cities, or when we host other clubs here. There may be other situations, but it’ll be when a whole bunch of bikers are together, usually.”
He’d put my glass on the side table, and now he sat beside me and pulled me into his lap. I turned my head so my lips touched his shoulder, and held them there. I needed the connection of earlier, needed to show him how I felt, and a simple I love you didn’t seem enough.
His lips brushed the top of my head as his warm embrace pulled me closer, and I rested my head on his arm and let him cuddle me. We’d gone beyond the need for words.
My heart belonged to Horse, but he’d given me his as well.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Horse
Before Nathan had arrived at the Drake Security offices with Gabby, Aaron had told me her energy wasn’t right. I’d known it, but until he said something about it, I’d been able to ignore it.
Now, there was no way to pretend she wasn’t taking on so much of my essence that she smelled half-rabbit and half-bear.
Sex with the Amakhosi — The Lion King — would help, but she needed to spend time with men who weren’t predators, too.
“There’s a commune of deer shifters just outside of town,” I told her over our midnight snack.
She seemed to know the direction of my thoughts, and said, “I’ve had regular sex with the Rabbit King, in Faerie, and I’m sure he’d appreciate an energy exchange with me right now.”
The Rabbit King? Really? “It occurs to me I don’t know much about your family.” Her aunt managed to get her under the protection of The Dragon King, perhaps I should’ve asked earlier, but she’s been so secretive about her past it’d seemed wise not to push.
She shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable. “King Neville is technically my great uncle, but that isn’t a big deal amongst Rabbits in the Summerlands. There are dozens with closer ties to him than mine.”
“I remember you saying your dad was minor royalty, but you weren’t because of who your mom was?” I tried to figure the relationships out, but wasn’t sure of where everyone fit. “How does your aunt fall in the hierarchy? No wonder she knew The Dragon King.”
“Aunt Bea and Aaron had a fling for a while, and they’re still good friends.”
“Your dad would’ve been… the King’s brother? No, his nephew, maybe?”
She shook her head. “Let’s start over. Bea is my great aunt, and is my dad’s mother’s sister.” I was still working it through in my head, and she added, “Aunt Bea, my paternal grandmother, and the King are siblings.”
“Why didn’t your grandparents take you in when you returned to Faerie?”
“It was determined they screwed up somewhere when they raised my dad, so they wouldn’t get an opportunity to mess me up as well. Rabbits are officially aligned with Queen Titania, because our King is, but when the news of what he’d done broke in Faerie, my grandparents were sent to Queen Mab to be treated as she saw fit.”
“That’s…. harsh.”
She shrugged. “They could’ve accepted my mom so my dad didn’t have to leave to be with her. Not allowing her into the family was their decision, and I can’t find it in my heart to feel sorry for them. If I’d let everyone know who I really am when I came back, my aunt would’ve seen to it I was officially let into the family, but I don’t want anyone knowing who I am.”
“Will you go to Faerie alone, or do you think you can wrangle me an invitation?”
“If I can get you an invitation…” She paused so long I wasn’t sure she’d finish her thought, but I didn’t rush her. “If you’re to be accepted as my mate, you’ll have to kneel to the Rabbit King and accept his rule over you while you’re in the Summerlands.”
I’ve never knelt to anyone in my life. I’ve bowed ever-so-slightly a few times to show respect to royalty of other species during ceremonies or special occasions, but not in everyday interaction. Could I kneel to a Rabbit? I wasn’t sure.
“Give me some time to look into it and explore how I feel? I want to go there with you and meet your family, but I need to be sure I can give the proper respect before I do.”
“Thanks for giving this the thought it needs.” Her smile told me she was relieved I understood the ramifications. “It’s a big deal, and I get that. I’ll be fine with whatever you decide.” She lifted my hand and kissed it before putting it back down. I loved the proprietary way she handled me now, after she’d been so scared at first. “If you just want to go as my good friend, but not my mate, you can get away with a slight bow, and you won’t have to accept his rule over you.”
“Good to know.”
“Did you know Nathan is the Amakhosi?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know until after the meeting, when one of the cats in the hallway bowed and called him Your Highness.” She kissed my hand again before asking, “How much do you want to know about me with others? I mean, Rabbits talk to each other about everything, so even if I was seeing someone kind of serious, if I had amazing sex with someone else, I could tell him about it without it being weird.” She shrugged. “Some species are okay with me fucking whoever, but they don’t want to hear about it.”
“Bears don’t get jealous, Gabs. I love you, and that means I want to know everything. Your happiness makes me happy, so I want you to have great sex with the lovers you’ll take on. I never want you to censor yourself around me. If it’s important to you, or was a good experience you want to share, I want to hear it.”
I felt some tension leave her body. She was happy she’d be able to talk to me about it, and I leaned forward to brush my lips across hers. My bunny loves sex, and I wouldn’t want to curtail her playing for anything.
She kissed me back, but then her brow wrinkled as she said, “I haven’t smelled anyone else on you, and you have to know I’m good with you having sex with others too, right?”
I nodded. “Right now, this is new and I’m not interested in anyone else. That’s another Bear thing, I think, because I know at some point I’ll want to fuck someone else — it just hasn’t happened yet.”
“Well, when it does, please don’t feel like you need to hide it, or fight it, or whatever. Tell me about it — before if you know about it before, and if not then after’s fine, too. I don’t care, as long as you’re open and honest.”
I leaned forward and kissed her nose with a smile. “Deal. Now go call the Lion King and tell him we’ve talked, and ask him when he wants to get together. You need someone else’s energy before I fuck you again, and we both know it.”
She shook her head, “We need to have a conversation before I call him. You haven’t taken my ass, and I don’t think Nathan’s going to let me put those kinds of limits on him.”
I sighed, knowing she was right. “Every time someone takes you in the ass, it’s like your first time, right? Rabbits don’t get de-virginized back there.”
She nodded, and I asked, “Do you want me to take you there?”
I smelled her conflict and wished I hadn’t had to ask, but we needed to talk about it.
“I’m not sure I can answer that,” she said, meeting my gaze, “because it depends on how you’ll feel about it. If you need to own all of me, if
it’s important for you to take my ass, then we should do it — if you enjoy taking me and hurting me with your cock then I’ll enjoy the pain, but if you hate every second of hurting me, I’ll hate it, too.”
Neither of us said anything for a few seconds and she added, “If you aren’t taking my ass and I find out you’re taking someone else’s, it’ll hurt my feelings. I don’t want to do the reverse, and let someone take mine when it isn’t something you do to me.”
“I might want to take you there eventually, but I’m not prepared to hurt you right now. I won’t be upset or jealous if the Amakhosi can make you enjoy it, Gabs. You’re good. We’re good. Now call him and set something up.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gabby
Why was I nervous? I’ve had sex with royalty before, but something about Nathan had set every nerve in my body on fire the other day, and now I could barely walk beside him as he helped me down from the shiny black Renault Sherpa and walked me to the remote mountain cabin he’d rented.
Apparently, he doesn’t take many people to his house, and since mine still had capsaicin all over the bedroom, he said this would be perfect.
He lifted me as we neared the front steps and carried me up them. He keyed in a combination with one hand and opened the door, and held me like a baby as he walked in. I expected him to take me straight to the bed and toss me onto it but I was surprised to see two glasses and a bottle of wine on a sofa table in the living room.
He’d apparently opened the wine earlier, and now he only had to take the glass stopper out of the top to poor the rich, red wine into the glasses, and he continued to hold me as he did so.
When he finally sat, he arranged me on his lap and then offered me a glass of wine. I accepted it, but waited for him to take a drink before I did. In formal situations, one doesn’t drink until royalty does. His energy had changed so much I wanted to call him Your Majesty, and I hadn’t felt the need until now.
“During sex, the energy of the Amakhosi is stronger,” he told me, his gaze locked on mine. “I think you’re feeling it now, and it’ll only get more intense as we go. You can call me Sir, Your Highness, or Your Majesty. I’d rather you not call me My Lord, or Master.”
I nodded because I didn’t trust my voice, and he kissed my forehead. “Don’t be afraid of me, little bunny. It’ll be good, but I can’t just take off the mantle of King.”
I took a breath and forced myself to speak. “I know, Your Majesty. I’ve been with other Kings. I’m okay — it’s just sometimes my nervous system shuts down.”
His smile was gentle. “I know your original name, and I know where you fall in the royal line. I also know the royal family is a little afraid of you because you’re the first of them in millennia to have been born in human form.”
“Afraid of me, Your Highness?”
“There are all kinds of legends about royal Rabbits who are born as humans, and it’s been so long since it’s been allowed to happen.” He shook his head. “I’ll admit I’m looking forward to the energy exchange, to see what I feel when your shields go down.”
“Is that why the Rabbit King took such an interest in me, Sir?”
“I wouldn’t want to speak for him, Gabriella. Drink your wine.”
“You know I’m a sure thing, right? You don’t need the wine, Your Majesty.”
“And yet, I wanted to talk first, as civilized humans before we get all animal with each other.”
I took another sip of wine and turned on his lap so I straddled his legs and faced him. “I want to kiss you, Your Majesty.”
He’d been somber before, but I saw joy in his eyes as he smiled now. “You have permission to show affection in any way you want, little bunny.”
My gaze stayed locked onto his as I took another drink of wine and set my glass on the sofa table behind his head. I went up on my knees and touched his cheek before bringing my lips to his. His skin was hot, his scent was primal. An unapologetic alpha male. A King. And yet he let me kiss him, let me brush his lips with mine, and opened for me when I pressed my tongue in — and I wondered how long he’d let me play.
My answer? Not long, and I melted inside when his hand came to the back of my head and he took control. This cat knew exactly what he wanted, and while he overwhelmed my senses, I could tell he was still being careful with me.
But I didn’t want careful, I wanted all of His Majesty, and I nipped at his lip so my teeth gently grazed it without hurting. A deep, low growl poured out of him and sent heat straight to my clit. I lifted my hands and ran them through his thick, yellow-blond hair as his mouth crashed back into mine and he stopped being gentle.
I don’t remember the sequence of events that led to us in the bedroom, naked, his cock inside me as he slid in and out. So graceful, as if he didn’t have the same kind of joints as the rest of us. He moved like a ballet dancer. Or, more appropriately, like a cat slinking through the grass.
He rode me so close to orgasm, so many times, and then slowed and changed tactics until I lost the edge.
And then he brought me back again. And again.
He was gentle at times, wild at times, but always, always, controlled. I wanted to make him lose his iron control, and yet I knew doing so would be courting danger.
And I needed to come so badly. Taken to the edge over and over with no relief had me so frustrated, if he’d been anyone else I’d have been cussing them by now. However, he’d been right about the energy of the Amakhosi, so no matter how frustrated he made me, all I could do was beg and plead. Showing annoyance wasn’t an option, much less anger.
He was occasionally playful when I needed him to be, but always so fucking intense. And yet, he never scared me.
Perhaps Horse has spoiled me by giving me countless orgasms before we come together, or perhaps His Majesty is just a sadist who is very good at taking people to their mental limits, because he kept me on edge until I careened with sensations and I thought I’d lose my mind.
And when I was finally in danger of losing it, inches from the insanity of demanding The Lion King do my bidding, he said, “I want your ass, little bunny.”
And because he wanted it, I wanted it.
I smelled the olive oil when he opened the container, and breathed a sigh of relief he wasn’t using chemical-laden store-bought lube. Seconds later, though, I stopped breathing as he pressed his slick cock against my entrance. “I know you can take me, Gabriella. Breathe through it.”
His Majesty is large everywhere, and taking me without stretching me with his fingers first would make this hurt all the more… and yet, because he wanted it, I craved it.
I wanted to hurt for him, to squeeze him as he forced me open in my most intimate of places.
I nodded and tried to relax for him, and then squealed when his head breached the outer ring of muscles and his hard length began a steady push into me.
“That’s it. Your body’s made for fucking, and you were blessed with a wonderful mind as well. Tell me how bad you want to come, little bunny.”
“So bad, Your Majesty. God, if I don’t come soon my mind is going to splinter. Please, Your Highness!”
He’d positioned me as a lion would be taken from behind — with my knees bent under my torso instead of my being on all fours — but the rabbit in me stretched my arms over my head and lengthened my spine. Apparently, he liked that, and I loved the long, low groan he gave. More growl than groan, with a hint of a roar in it.
He was taking his time, but I really preferred to just get this part over with, so I said, “Fuck, Your Majesty. We both know you won’t injure me, because Rabbits don’t tear. Just get this part over with? Please?”
With one savage thrust he was suddenly buried balls deep in me, and I gave a blood curdling scream of pain as he pulled out and shoved himself back in. It burned and stretched and hurt, and the friction on top of it was too much… and yet I didn’t want it to stop. I wanted him to take his pleasure, wanted him to pound me until I couldn’t think str
aight. I needed to be fucked and used, and I needed this man — the Amakhosi — to orgasm with me in ways I hadn’t understood when he’d carried me into the cabin.
Desire crawled over every inch of my skin. I needed this like I needed oxygen, and I arched my spine to give him easier access, to incite him to shove harder. Deeper wasn’t possible, he was already entering me fully with every thrust.
When I tried to reach down to play with my clit, he grabbed my wrists and told me to keep them over my head. When I begged for release, he told me I’d come when he was ready for me to.
He fucked me until the sun went down, and then kept fucking me into the night, but I wanted it to go on forever and ever because with each thrust he pushed me closer and closer to orgasm, higher and higher, showering me with more and more bliss as he pumped and pumped and pumped.
When he finally reached around to my clit and told me to come, my release ripped through me like the claws of his beast. His Majesty kept me at the apex of my release forever, until I thought I’d pass out from lack of oxygen because I couldn’t catch my breath.
Only then did he finally come, deep in my ass. He roared so loudly I understood why he’d made a point of telling me no one was around for miles.
And my mind imploded as his shields came down. He never lost total control, but he let it slip for a few seconds and words can’t touch what I saw and felt during the energy exchange. Centuries of experience from a man who is both monster and saint, which means he’s neither while being both. Cynical and loving, harsh and kind, and so much heartache in his soul I wasn’t sure how he’d ever found it in him to care for the people in his life now. The mantle of his office weighed heavy on him, and yet he’d found a life outside of being the Amakhosi, too.
I slept in his arms for hours, and when I awakened we relaxed in the hot tub together. “You know things about me that few people do,” he commented.
Horse (Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Book 6) Page 11