He shrugged a shoulder, taking another drag. “If you had said no, I would have found a way to make you say yes.” His smoke blew up and away. “And you know it.”
Possibly, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “The girls must have been falling all over themselves for you growing up. I bet all you had to say was,” I deepened my voice, “You, girl! Yes, you. Please me.” I grunted. “Now!” I paused. “Ahh, that’s nice. Now, be gone with you!”
Ezra choked on his inhale, coughing hard, then his laughter boomed loud and clear.
I watched him from the corner of my eye, a tiny smile gracing my features. “It’s a sad day when you know you’re right.”
Ezra continued chuckling, his eyes squinting at the corners as he peered down at me. “It was a bit longer than ‘ahh, that’s nice’.” He grinned. “I believe they said that a few times before I did.” He tilted his head back toward the sky, staring at it, quiet. “Life isn’t shit right now.”
“No, it’s not,” I said softly, my soul warmed.
He sighed and glanced to where we were walking. “Where are we going?”
“Antonio’s,” I murmured. I lifted the coffee cups in my hands. “I’m going bearing gifts, so when I yell at him for keeping me in the dark for so long, he won’t be grumpy.”
“Ah,” Ezra chuckled, “coffee, so you can bawl him out and he’ll stay silent.” His head tilted back and forth. “Nice tactic.”
“Thank you.” I pointed at Antonio’s tent. “That’s my stop.”
Ezra flicked his cigarette. “Do you mind if I go with you? I have a few questions about my dad I’d like to ask him.”
My lips trembled, and I couldn’t stop the grin. “Too afraid to ask Daddy Zeller?”
Ezra rubbed the back of his neck, but he didn’t flinch from my gaze. “I figured I could have some background information before I actually speak with him.”
My grin didn’t die. Men will be men. “Sure. You can come with me.”
Ezra nodded, looking only vaguely uncomfortable. “Thank you.”
I snorted, trekking the final steps to Antonio’s tent. “Don’t thank me. Thank him — if he rats out your dad.” I glanced at Ezra then at the tent flap I opened. “Good luck on that front.”
The structure to Antonio’s tent was exactly like mine: the same placing of furniture, and the same privacy spells, too. But that’s where the similarity ended. The entire inside was golden, except for a few streaks of black on the edges of his couch, chairs, and rugs. It was like walking into a solid gold bar. I heard Ezra groan in revulsion behind me, but it was like any other Mage ‘home’. I felt halfway comfortable in here as long as I stayed away from anything that seemed to waver or float in the gold. I figured it was safer not to touch if I didn’t know what it was.
Ezra opened the second flap for me, and we walked into the bedroom — also gold.
We both stopped in our tracks.
Staring, our eyes wide, the shock emanated from our statue-like forms.
Air puffed past my lips and my jaw bobbed. “Maybe we should have called first.”
The head of short, black and red hair of the man closest to us popped up from a golden pillow where the man lay on his stomach, his face turned away, his bulging arm lying over Antonio’s muscled chest and crooked at the elbow so his fingers threaded through Antonio’s golden hair. His skin was dark, even compared to Antonio’s bronzed skin, the golden sheet barely covering the two men where they needed to be covered since both were obviously naked, one leg of the man of the darker complexion dangling halfway off the bed.
It was Elder Zeller, Ezra’s dad.
Lying in bed with Antonio, my dad.
Their clothes littered the floor.
Ezra made a choked sound.
Elder Zeller’s head snapped in our direction, his dark eyes blinking sleepily. He woke fully, seeing us standing there. He stilled, not moving a damn muscle, nor breathing, an utterly blank expression on his face.
A half-hysterical chuckle escaped me, and I waved one of the coffee cups. “Good morning.”
Ezra made that noise again.
Lord, just shoot me now, because that was when Antonio stirred. I watched wide-eyed as he stretched, groaning quietly, blinking his eyes open to Cahal. His lips lifted in a sated, tired smile before he ran his hand over Cahal’s arm that lay on his chest, over his shoulder to the side of Cahal’s face, cupping his cheek. “Good morning.” Damn his eyes were sparkling as lovingly as his smile was.
Cahal finally breathed, his chest heaving, still with that blank expression, but ever so gradually he turned his face down to Antonio’s, staring, before rumbling, “Morning.” When Antonio’s hand slid to the back of his head, he bent his head down and flat out kissed Antonio’s lips very softly, a gentle touch — honestly, a bit reverently.
Ezra wobbled next to me.
I called loudly, “That’s what I said.”
I got to watch — for the first time ever — Antonio surprised and flustered.
At the sound of my voice, he jerked, banging his head against Cahal’s — earning a grunt as their faces completely smashed together —then he made it worse by elbowing Cahal’s head down into the pillow in an effort to sit up in bed, fumbling hastily with the sheet to cover Cahal. Then he took his own pillow and shoved it down on top of Cahal’s already blanket-covered head.
Hilarity bubbled, my chest shaking, as Antonio finally peered in our direction, his chest heaving, his cheeks rosy red. His jaw moved…but no sound emitted. I pointed around one of the coffee cups. “You missed his leg.” I waggled my finger. “It’s hanging over the bed.”
Ezra gurgled, turning to the side, his fist to his mouth and his eyes sparkling on me.
“Tony,” Cahal rumbled from under the pillow, the sound muffled, his Vampire growling, “How fucking old are we? Did you seriously just hide me under a damn sheet and pillow?”
Ezra lost it then, slapping a hand on my shoulder, deep, hard chuckles filling the air.
Antonio raised a hand in my direction, cheeks still pink and his chest still heaving. “But…it’s Lil.”
Ezra and I watched the sheet thrash as Cahal tossed the pillow off his head and pulled the sheet down to his waist, rising onto an elbow, his back to us. “And my son!” He waved his hand in agitation. “Last night you said the room was spelled for only Lily, Isa, and me.”
Antonio blinked, and peered over our heads at the tent flap. He stared. His lips twitched before he chuckled softly, shaking his head as he rubbed his forehead. “I gave access to the name Zeller.” He glanced at Cahal, throwing an arm our way. “How the hell was I supposed to know your son was going to come back here?”
Cahal’s Vampire growled, but when Antonio lifted an absent hand, his attention back to me, and flicked Cahal’s forehead, the growling stopped. Antonio brushed Cahal’s cheek once before letting his hand fall slack to the bed, saying, “Lil, do you want to talk about this?” He paused, his worried golden eyes darting over my face. “Are you confused or upset?” He inhaled heavily, his chest lowering and falling, and said rapidly, “This in no way means that I didn’t love your mother. I did. But we were only friends.”
I opened my mouth to say I had known he and my mother hadn’t been an item to begin with, but I stilled when I watched Cahal touch Antonio’s hand, resulting in Antonio’s shoulders relaxing, his quick intakes of air slowing. I closed my mouth slowly, lips pinching as I examined how Antonio’s thumb moved the slightest bit over Cahal’s, gripping it.
I was seeing something I had never seen before with Antonio.
He loved Cahal.
It showed when he glanced down at him, his eyebrows pinching, allowing Cahal to see his private worry, before turning his attention back to me and asking softly, “Lil, are you all right?”
My wolf growled, and my eyes glowed fiercely as my attention snapped to Cahal, feeling all kinds of protective instincts rising to the fore, each battling to strike at the person who might harm who I felt w
as mine to defend. I stalked through the bedroom until I was staring down at Cahal. I pointed at him around the coffee and stated bluntly, “Since this whole scene never actually happened, I’m going to tell you right now that if you hurt him I will personally carve out your fucking heart and let my wolf feast on your corpse.” My wolf growled furiously in agreement. “Do you fucking understand me?”
“Lily Ruckler!” Antonio barked, sounding surprised and pissed. “Apologize. Now!”
“I. Will. Not,” I growled, bending so my face was right in front of Cahal’s. “Answer me, dammit, because I am as serious as this fucking war.”
Dark eyes stared an inch away, not flinching under my regard. “Have you drunk from those cups?”
I blinked at his question, wondering how the hell he hadn’t gotten my point since I couldn’t have been clearer. “Excuse me?”
“The cups,” he stated slowly, like I was a halfwit. “Have you drunk from them yet?”
My wolf growled but, curious where this was going, I stated, “No.”
“Good,” he lifted one from my hand, took a sip, completely ignoring the fact I was still in his face, and peered to Antonio, holding the cup out to him. “I’d like for you to drink.”
I went still. Understanding. Not sure how I understood, but again, it was part of that knowledge that remained between my memory voids. I quickly raised, moving back a step and slamming against Ezra, not even realizing he was behind me. “You…” I cleared my throat as Ezra steadied me. “You love him, too.” This was a symbolic gesture of wooing, of love, normally done at weddings, but since this event ‘never’ happened, it couldn’t be done in front of others, only us, their children, who would keep their mouths shut.
Cahal nodded once in answer, his eyes completely set on Antonio. “Tony…drink.” Antonio stared between the cup and Cahal, a weary, almost scared hesitation that he tried to hide shining on his features, but it peaked only to quickly disappear. And I watched, silent, as Cahal’s indifferent countenance cracked then completely crumbled, his expression plain as day, his love and adoration for Antonio shining through his eyes. “I’ll never run again. I won’t hurt you as I did before. I love you…and I’ve never stopped.” Cahal’s jaw clenched hard as he lifted the drink closer to Antonio. “Please, Tony. Trust me and drink.”
I wasn’t breathing, profoundly taken aback. My mind kind of…floated…at his heartfelt words, at his plea. I didn’t completely understand the depths of it, but it was sincere and torn from somewhere deep inside him. I could tell it had cost him dearly to say, to put himself out there, by the way his heart rate galloped and his chest heaved, perspiration beginning to form on his forehead as he waited for Antonio’s answer.
Ezra’s heart rate wasn’t doing much better, and I reached back with my free hand when he kind of tilted against me, and grabbed his hip, keeping him steady and damn near holding all his weight, his hands instantly gripping my shoulders for added support.
Ever so slowly, one of Antonio’s hands began to lift. Hovered.
Lowered a bit as he stared at the cup.
Air shuddered past his lips, then he finished raising his hand to the cup and took a firm hold on it. “I love you, too. Even when you hurt me, I never stopped.” Golden eyes touched and held Cahal’s dark ones, his love vulnerably revealed in his expression, his gaze, and his act as he lifted the cup to his lips, staring at Cahal over the rim as he took a sip.
Cahal’s chest shuddered, and he accepted the cup back from Antonio, taking another sip, grinning, his eyes appearing misty as he lowered the cup, then he rumbled quickly, “Ezra, you’ll want to leave now.”
I jerked as Cahal blurred, and suddenly the cup was on the nightstand, and Antonio was flat on his back on the mattress with Cahal over him…and yeah, I could see tongues moving together as their heads tilted, hands gripping each other’s cheeks or hair or nape or wherever their hands were wandering. The only thing I think that kept Ezra standing was the fact that the sheet had luckily moved with them, again covering their lower sections. Cahal heaved in a breath, demanding against Antonio’s mouth, “Queen Ruckler, get King Zeller out of here.”
I physically jolted out of my shock, Ezra’s body kind of moving with mine since he was lying against me so heavily, and I quickly averted my gaze from them, muttering, “Right. Right. We’re leaving.” I turned, literally lifting one of Ezra’s large arms over my shoulders, and started dragging him out as Antonio began to glow a little, which I somehow knew — this knowledge weirded me out a bit since it was from my voids — it meant he was becoming turned on, a Mage’s telltale of arousal. Yep, I hastened my way through the room, tugging Ezra and kicking a couple of empty orange juice bottles — didn’t want to know — out of our path.
As soon as we brushed past the tent flap to the front room and it closed behind us, any sounds — good Lord — of our dads doing their thing abruptly cut off with the privacy spell. After debating my options, there weren’t many since we couldn’t go outside like this, I dumped Ezra’s half-slack form on the golden couch.
Taking one good look at his face told me he was close to passing out, so I placed the other coffee cup in his hands. “Ezra, you need to drink this. A little caffeine will help to clear your head.” He lifted it methodically, green eyes staring off into nothing as he took a few gulps. It had to burn his throat, but he didn’t even flinch. “Alrighty. How about a smoke, too?”
When no answer was made, I started digging through his pockets, finally finding them in the inside pocket of his robe, which I hadn’t even known was there. I took one out and placed it between his lips, flicking his lighter, the flame bright in front of his face. “Here you go.”
He tilted his head slightly, uncannily meeting the flame with the end of his cigarette — even as he still stared off into nothing — pulling so the end lit.
I found an empty glass for him to ash in and sat on the coffee table directly in front of him, babbling about nothing in particular and periodically ordering him to ash or drink, which he did when told.
Eventually, he interrupted my ramblings with a grunt, still staring over my shoulder, and said with perplexity, “That, I never would have expected in a million years.”
I nodded once. “Me either.”
He blinked.
Blinked again. “It also sounded as if this wasn’t a new love, but my mom, my dad’s mate, died only a little over a year ago, and I know this is the first time they’ve been together in the past year.” Another blink. “They said they had never stopped loving each other.”
Yeah, I had caught that.
He glanced at me, lifted the lighter from my hand and lit another cigarette, then stared back over my shoulder, his eyebrows puckered. “Does this mean he loved Elder Farrar while he was mated to my mom?”
My lips pinched, not really wanting to answer that one, but I ultimately sighed and began to explain the best way I knew how. “I’ve been mated before—”
“So have I.”
“Well, being mated didn’t stop you from loving your dad, did it?” I didn’t think I needed to say anything else. Being mated didn’t mean you lost all emotions for everyone. All it did was physically keep you sexually faithful to your mate.
Ezra grunted. “Never in a million years…” He went completely still a second later, his heart rate doubling. “Wait. If they get married, then you and I…” His eyes rounded and he choked on his smoke. “Oh hell, maybe I can stop this somehow.” He actually began lifting from the couch, his attention on the flap to Antonio’s bedroom.
Using a quick hand, I shoved him back — hard — onto the couch, staring into his surprised, wide gaze. “Ezra, calm down. Antonio is like a dad to me. Not technically my dad. He never adopted me.” I pointed between us. “We wouldn’t be step-siblings.” I patted the air. “Find your calm place and try to breathe.”
Ezra stared. He breathed in heavily through his nose, then slowly out through his mouth. “I’m freaking out a bit.” No shit. “I didn’t ex
pect this.” No shit. “How are you so calm?”
I shrugged. “Antonio wasn’t mated to my mom, so it’s not so hard to take the news.” Plus, I’m having to take care of you. “Your situation is a wee bit different.”
He nodded instantly. “That’s gotta be it.” Arched eyebrows furrowed. “I have nothing against same-sex relationships, but I never expected…” He cleared his throat, running a hand over his face, then his eyes narrowed on me. “You aren’t going to tell them I freaked out, are you?”
It was damn hard not to laugh. “Nope.” Seriously, men will be men. “Scout’s honor.”
He grunted. “Now, that’s fucking funny.”
“I live to amuse.” I slapped his knee as I stood. “We need to come up with our game plan for King Collins and Queen Cooper.”
He peered at the bedroom tent flap. “They’re probably going to be…”
“Busy,” I muttered, grabbing his hand and hauling him to his feet. “Yay, for them.”
Ezra suddenly appeared like himself as he appraised me. “Maybe they’ve got the right idea.” He towered over me, and if I wasn’t mistaken, peered down my shirt. “Getting busy sounds enjoyable.”
I pointed a finger at the tip of his nose, whispering, “Discretion.” I jabbed said finger against the tip of his nose a few times to make my point. “We need to think about the other King and Queen. We’ll have plenty of time to get busy, just not today.”
He tilted his head up…and bit my finger gently, licking over the tip with his tongue before releasing it. “I’ve got it.” Slowly, he bent, nuzzling his face against my neck, his warm lips caressing my skin softly, barely breathing, “We’ll be the very souls of discretion.”
“Exactly,” I sighed, leaning into the strokes. “Complete control over the situation.”
He hummed quietly. “Exactly.” He pressed his lips once more against my throat before straightening — I wobbled a tad — and smacked my ass none too gently, pushing me toward the tent flap to the outside. “Duty, then pleasure.” A pause. “This is definitely one of those times I hate my position, because I would much rather be deciding what position to do.”
King Tomb (Forever Evermore) Page 22