“Oh, it’s yours now? I thought it belonged to the D’Vaires?”
“I will let you watch me kill them if you get out of my room.” Lorcan gave him a smile full of teeth. “How is that for polite?”
“You really shouldn’t make that face, but that works. We still have to discuss it with the D’Vaires.”
“You have always talked too much. Why do we have to speak to anyone? None of them know anything about this.”
“Yeah, but we aren’t getting out of this bubble until King Aleksander agrees to our plan. So take a damn shower. Comb that mess on your head. Put on one of your new outfits. And—”
“Talfryn, shut up.”
“Fine, you have stuff to do. Fill out the form too,” Talfryn said as he sauntered away. Lorcan waved away the barrier he had placed to speed his journey out of the room. He watched him get all the way to the door before grabbing the handle and turning back to speak. “And Lorcan?”
“What?”
“I’ll be back in an hour to escort you to dinner.” Before Lorcan could manage a retort, Talfryn was gone. Lorcan seethed as he realized that once again his mate had gotten the last word.
* * *
As promised, an hour later Talfryn showed up to collect his mate. He took a look at Lorcan and his face turned to one of disgust. “What have you been doing for the last sixty minutes? You’re still gross.”
Lorcan hadn’t bothered with any of Talfryn’s orders. The only reason he was even going with him was to tell the tall violet dragon that prepared and delivered his meals to stop. He didn’t want or need anyone waiting on him, which he calmly informed Talfryn.
He looked disappointed. “I don’t suppose you filled out the form either.”
“What do you think?”
Talfryn made a move to grab his arm but Lorcan immediately side-stepped out of reach and walked out into the hall. “Do not touch me.”
“You better believe I’m going to get my hands and every other part of me all over you before long.”
“The hell you are.”
Talfryn just grinned at him knowingly. “Whatever you say.”
“I must have been insane to have ever loved you.”
The pair began their journey to the large kitchen where the D’Vaires took their meals. “Stop using that word in past tense. You never stopped loving me.”
“I loved you for no more than a year.”
“Sure. Whatever you say,” Talfryn repeated. “Dravyn grows all the food we are going to eat tonight. Not only will dinner be perfectly fresh and ripe, but delicious as well. You’re going to be in a much better mood after you’ve eaten.”
“Lorcan, so glad you decided to join us,” the dragon king said as soon as they reached their destination. Talfryn left Lorcan’s side and headed straight to Noirin. She handed him a plate heaping with fresh fruit, vibrant veggies, and squares of cheese.
“Oh Lorcan, I was just putting together your tray,” Noirin said before presenting him a plate identical to Talfryn’s. Lorcan had no choice but to take it. That didn’t mean he had any intention of eating it. The pain of starvation was another thing he’d grown immune to.
“I appreciate your hospitality, but I must ask that you cease going out of your way to bring me food.”
“So, you do remember how to be polite,” his mate said with a cheeky grin before taking a seat at one of the large round tables that took up half of the room. He patted the chair next to him. “Come over here and sit down.”
Lorcan was again left with no option but to obey. Besides, he was feeling rather foolish standing there holding a plate while the D’Vaires did their best to weave around him to grab their dinner from the buffet of steaming, hot foods. While he really didn’t want to extend his time around Talfryn, he didn’t know any of the other D’Vaires beyond their names. He set his dish down on the table, glared at his mate, and took a seat next to him. “Stop smiling at me.”
Talfryn ignored him and popped a piece of cheese into his own mouth. “I like smiling at you. Now eat your dinner.”
“I am not a child. I don’t need to be told what to do.”
“Then why are you sitting there glaring at Talfryn instead of eating your dinner?” Dra’Kaedan asked as he took a seat on the other side of the table.
“Warlocks are nearly as annoying as Cwylld elves.”
“No, not all warlocks. Just Dra’Kaedan,” the blond warlock’s twin said as he too took a seat.
“Hey, Lorcan.”
Lorcan turned to see what his mate wanted this time. He opened his mouth to ask him what the hell he wanted but instead found himself with a mouth full of cheese. Talfryn had shoved it in there so fast, Lorcan had no time to deflect or realize his intention until it was too late. He also had no choice but to chew the delicious square of cheddar since he wasn’t ill-mannered enough to spit it out in a room full of people. He reassured himself that had they been alone, he would have easily done so. Talfryn was grinning back at him around the grape he was shoving in his face, so Lorcan offered him a glare.
He wondered why he couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten anything. Had it been that long? It very well could have been before his brethren had lost their lives. Although he would cut out his own tongue before admitting it, the morsel of cheese Talfryn had forced on him was sharp and delicious. Not that he was going to allow him to shove any more food at him.
“Don’t do that a—” His words were broken off with a growl when once again, Talfryn thrust part of his dinner into his mouth. This time it was a perfectly ripe grape. Despite its tart taste being satisfying on his tongue, he schooled his expression into something murderous before he discovered it was lost on Talfryn, who was looking in the opposite direction.
“Aleksander, Lorcan and I would like to talk to you about our plans for the Cwylld.”
“Really? I thought your focus was on your mate?”
“He doesn’t have any reason to focus on me. The two of us have nothing to discuss other than the death of his parents and anyone else who participated in the murder of my people. Not that I expect my mate to go through with any of this. He found he’d rather live with them than me after all.”
Talfryn shoved another piece of cheese in his mouth. Lorcan didn’t know what the hell was wrong with him that he allowed it. “Do shut up, Lorcan,” he said before turning back to the D’Vaire king. “I’m working on it. My goal now is to get him to at least take a shower. I know he reeks and I know to a shifter he is even more pungent. In the meantime, we might as well start talking about what to do with the Cwylld.”
When his cheeks began to burn, Lorcan discovered it was due to embarrassment. He didn’t know he was that disgusting. He might have to experience a shower for the first time. At some point in his past—he couldn’t pin down whether it was far back or more recent—he’d bathed in a river. While mulling it over and trying to decide just how many months or years back that was, he looked down at his plate and selected a chunk of strawberry. Popping it into his mouth, he turned toward Talfryn. He grinned as his mate noticed he had beaten Talfryn to the punch; he had a grape in his fingers ready and aimed at Lorcan.
“Lorcan is free to do as he chooses.”
“That’s Aleksander’s nice way of saying, ‘Yeah, he stinks but we don’t want to force him to get acquainted with a bar of soap,’ ” Dra’Kaedan said. Lorcan looked away from Talfryn who was still sitting there—rather stupidly, in his opinion—with that piece of fruit in his grasp and gave the warlock his well-practiced glare. Inwardly he promised to tackle the bathing problem in the morning.
“Moving on. We can discuss the issue with the Cwylld at our next meeting. That gives all of us five days to mull things over and then we can figure out the best solution to the problem,” Aleksander said.
“That’s perfect, Aleksander. Thanks,” Talfryn replied.
“Now back to Sir Stank over here,” Dra’Kaedan said. “You gonna stop flying into my dome? It’s not going to get any weaker. You’re stuck.”
Lorcan pursed his lips. He hated to capitulate, but he knew the warlock was right. “I suppose I could forgo it for now.”
“Great. Now about that whole soap and water thing. You don’t want to shower, fine, but can I do like a cleansing spell or something?”
“Dra’Kaedan, leave him alone,” Aleksander said.
“I’m trying to help here.”
“Let it go. I swear you are like a dog with a bone.” That statement caused Brogan to choke on the bite of whatever was in his mouth and Aleksander began pounding on his back. Brogan’s face was red, but he seemed to be all right. He waved the D’Vaire king off and Lorcan discovered he had been sitting there devouring nearly everything on his plate. He looked to his side to see if his mate was gloating about getting him to fill his belly but Talfryn was giving him a thoughtful stare.
Deciding he didn’t care to think about whatever was eating away at the man’s brain, he finished what was left of his dinner. Lorcan then wondered what in the world he was supposed to do with his plate and knew he would have to ask someone. He never got the chance. Talfryn stood and took both their plates away to the other side of the room to be cleaned.
“Thank you,” he said to Talfryn after crossing the room to get within earshot.
“You’re welcome.” Not knowing what else to do or say, Lorcan ducked his head and headed back to the sanctuary of his temporary bedroom.
Chapter 20
Talfryn had fully expected to only get Lorcan to chew what he had forcibly shoved into his mouth. Actually, that wasn’t the entire truth. He hadn’t been sure even his underhanded method of getting the other elf to eat would work. He had been prepared for Lorcan to do something unexpected like simply walking out of the room but not only had he allowed Talfryn’s actions, he had finished his plate all on his own. All Talfryn could do now was hope Lorcan would continue to take steps to take care of himself.
The first goal was to get him to go to breakfast, and then he was going to tackle the bathing issue. He wasn’t quite sure how he was going to do that yet, but Talfryn was positive some form of inspiration would come to him while they ate. Setting his brush down on his dresser, he tied his hair back out of his face and straightened his tunic. It was time to deal with the angry man he was tied to for all of eternity.
Exiting his room, he waved to Renny who was tearing down the hallway to get to his morning meal. The warlock familiar gave him a grin and didn’t bother slowing his pace. Without knocking, Talfryn opened the door to Lorcan’s bedroom and immediately threw himself against the wooden surface after shutting it tightly behind him.
“Do you not knock when you enter another person’s bedroom?” Lorcan asked after hastily pulling his pants up. Talfryn couldn’t help running his tongue across his own lips as he enjoyed seeing the tall, lithe physique of his mate. Apparently, Lorcan had decided to bathe without any further prodding, and Talfryn could only thank Fate that he’d caught him just as he was pulling on his clothes. He’d always loved Lorcan’s body and hadn’t thought he’d get a chance to see it anytime soon, especially not his thick sex buried amongst his dark curls.
Letting out a small sigh as to Talfryn’s regret Lorcan covered his chest with a tunic, he didn’t bother answering him. Instead, he opened the door again and hastily returned to his own room to grab his brush and comb. He ran down the hall back to Lorcan’s space before his mate could decide to lock him out.
“What do you want? Why do you keep running in here without permission?” Lorcan snarled when Talfryn returned.
Talfryn pointed to the bed. “Sit.”
“Why?”
Waving the items in his hands so Lorcan could see, Talfryn used them to gesture toward the large piece of furniture Lorcan seemed to be disinclined to use for sleeping. “Come on, let me fix your hair.”
“I can take care of it myself if I wish.”
“Now.”
Lorcan exhaled with a huff but after a few minutes of glaring, which was easily his mate’s favorite facial expression these days, he complied. Talfryn wasted no time climbing up behind him on the bed and getting to work on the vast assortment of tangles and knots that comprised Lorcan’s badly cut hair.
“It was nice of Aleksander to allow us to talk about our plans for the Cwylld at the next meeting.”
Lorcan gave a grunt. “I would prefer the conversation be sooner or that they allow me to leave and take care of it on my own. I could be back in hardly any time at all and then I could take care of the two of us.”
“When you say take care of the two of us I am going to assume you are referring to returning our relationship to the caring, loving one it once was.”
“I never realized what a wild imagination you have.”
“Sure you did. Otherwise, our sex life wouldn’t have been so hot.”
Another grunt reached Talfryn’s ears. “I will admit to taking a certain amount of pleasure when we mated. Of course, if I had known what a liar you were, my experiences would have been different.”
“I’m just going to ignore you when you say stuff like that, or I might be tempted to smack you in the head with this brush.”
“I do not fear you.”
“Nor do I expect you to.” Talfryn had to pause before saying anything further while he concentrated on a particularly nasty snarl of hair. “It’s weird being on this end. You always did the brushing and combing.”
“You were always pitiful and lacking in the ability to take care of yourself.”
Talfryn bared his teeth. He thought briefly about making good on his threat and knocking some sense into Lorcan with the brush in his hand. “Not true. You insisted. You enjoyed it and you don’t need to go on and on about how that was before you knew what a horrid person I was. I’ve heard that record and strongly suggest you change it.”
“I was taught that there was no greater duty or privilege than to care for one’s mate.”
“As was I.”
“Does it make you feel better to say those things now? Now that my people are dead and you are to blame?”
“Amazingly enough, I’m working through this disaster on your head pretty quickly. We should be able to head to breakfast soon.”
“I am not hungry.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Why must you contradict my every word?”
“Because you have turned into the most contrary person on the planet.”
Lorcan didn’t reply. He did reach back and remove Talfryn’s hands from his hair. Talfryn couldn’t control the shiver that just the touch of their hands caused to dance over his skin. He didn’t fight because he’d managed to bring order to Lorcan’s locks.
“I can get you something to pull it back if you wish,” Talfryn said as their eyes met. Lorcan gave a nod and Talfryn made another dash to his room to give his mate something to secure his hair with. Once Lorcan had it tied back at his nape he followed Talfryn down the hall toward the kitchen. As Noirin did the night before, she handed them both plates of fresh, uncooked foodstuffs and the pair ate mostly in silence.
The day passed quietly. Talfryn took time between meals to give Lorcan plenty of space. He was making inroads to taking care of himself, and Talfryn didn’t want to give him any excuses not to do so. Lorcan was clean, his belly was full of food, and tonight Talfryn was going to see to the next step of his plan to mend his man. When night fell around them, Talfryn was once again letting himself into Lorcan’s space.
“What do you want now?” Lorcan demanded as soon as Talfryn had the door shut.
“It’s late,” Talfryn said as he took a few carefully casual steps into the room.
“I am able to tell time.”
“Good, now climb into bed like a good boy and let me tuck you in.”
“The hell?”
Patting the mattress he was standing next to, Talfryn smirked. “Come on. I don’t bite.…Much.”
“Talfryn, I’ve had quite enough for one day. Get lost.”
“I don’t want
you sleeping on that floor,” Talfryn said as he pointed to the blanket and pillow tossed onto the hardwood.
“You have no say so over what I do or how I do it.”
Giving Lorcan an exaggerated eye-roll, Talfryn walked over and picked them up and began making up the large bed. “Since I can’t trust you to do this yourself, I guess I will have to take care of it.”
The room got deathly quiet and chills spread over Talfryn’s skin. He gave a surreptitious glance over his shoulder as he dealt with the bedclothes and saw his mate’s face contorted into the most hateful stare he’d seen yet.
“You would dare speak to me of trust?” Lorcan said the words as if they were torn from his very soul.
Talfryn wanted to kick his own ass for giving Lorcan a reason to discuss their past. “I will admit it was a bad choice of words considering what you think of me, but we aren’t getting into that tonight. We’ll deal with the Cwylld, and then you’ll be in a better state to listen to the truth.” Or so Talfryn hoped.
Lorcan was still glaring. “I’ll never listen to any more of your lies.”
“We really do need to get you a new record.”
“Are you not done? Get out of my room.”
“I’ll make a deal with you. You climb into this bed and put your very handsome face on this pillow and I’ll leave.” It was a lie; Talfryn had every intention of sleeping in Lorcan’s room. He certainly didn’t expect anything to happen between them nor would he try to initiate any contact, but he knew if he left, Lorcan would just pull the blankets back onto the hard floor and that wasn’t something Talfryn was going to allow to continue.
“Fine,” Lorcan snarled before stomping across the room. Talfryn bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. As an elf, Lorcan was light of foot but here he was pounding the floorboards like an irate toddler.
Snatching the sheets and blanket from Talfryn’s grasp, Lorcan threw himself into the covers and looked up at his mate. “I’m in the damn bed, now beat it.”
“Really? You wanna watch? Because honestly, you could help if you wanted. I wouldn’t mind at all,” Talfryn said with a bat of his long blond lashes.
Vengeance From The Dark (D'Vaire Book 3) Page 12