by Honor James
“Today? Nothing,” he told her honestly. “Tomorrow we’ll be in the Council Chamber most of the day.” Zaidu brushed her hair back. “So if you want to go and torture me for a little while I’m totally there for it, but you will be making it up to me later.”
“Oh I love how that sounds.” Bethany purred. “Okay, let me make a quick call and then we will see about going and getting you fitted for that tux.” She smiled and licked her lips. “If you are really very good I might give you a preview of my gown if it’s ready.” They had to go by the dressmaker’s on the way to the tux shop so it would work.
“I should go and see if I can find a pair of boxers,” he muttered. At her look, he lifted a brow. He said, “You know well and good I don’t wear underwear.” He owned a couple pairs of boxers, but he rarely wore them, unless he was being too lazy to dress.
“Yeah, I know that you don’t and God I love it. I happen to really and truly love it when you are able to just unzip and slide into me. Why do you think I’ve stopped wearing panties and have switched to wearing skirts or dresses as often as possible?”
“You have?” he asked, pasting on a shocked look that faded into a slight lopsided grin. “I just figured you liked to tease me with your tight and very fine ass is all.” Course it did give him some seriously hot thoughts about her all the time.
“Oh yes, I love teasing you with my ass and I really, really hope that you take full advantage and fuck me every single chance you get. Ass or pussy, I want you and need you, always.” She was already getting hot and needy. “God dammit, I need you now.”
Growling, he leaned in to breathe her in. “I can smell your arousal getting rich and heavy,” he whispered. “Call the shop and arrange a time and then I want to fuck you right here in your office,” he told her honestly.
“Thank God you feel it, too.” She moaned, pulling back only enough so that she could grab her phone and made a quick call. After a couple of moments she was hanging up. “Four p.m. so that gives us three hours.” She told him with a whimper, “So naked. Yep, naked is good.”
“Then why are you still dressed?” he asked her, tugging his shirt off over his head. Undoing the button on his jeans he poised his fingers at the zipper and waited. “You have way too many clothes on, Bethany. I need you to get naked so I can fuck you, now.”
Tugging her shirt up and over her head she tossed it blindly and then popped the front of her bra and tossed it as well. She shimmied out of her pants and stood there naked. “Now it’s you that has on too much, darlin’. Naked, baby, naked.”
Unzipping, he dropped his jeans and, kicking them aside, grabbed her up in his arms. Putting her ass on the edge of her desk he thrust his cock into her as soon as she was settled. Pressing her back he caught the far edge of the desk and used it to slam into her hard on a growl.
“Hells yes,” she moaned and wrapped her legs around him. “Harder.” She growled, tugging him closer and scratching him with her nails to bring him all the closer. “That feels so very, very good. I love it when you start to growl, too.” And he was growling.
Capturing her nipple, he sucked at the tight bud hard as he growled. He couldn’t help it. She was so hot and slick, her pussy squeezing at his cock, he couldn’t help it. Pumping into her again and again he suckled at her flesh, his tongue stroking the tight bud, his teeth nipping lightly.
She heard herself screaming his name, arching back and pressing up and into him. “Yes!” Together the two of them had learned that she liked a bit of pain with their loving, just like he did, and that was what made them perfect together.
“Harder,” he snarled, sinking his teeth into her breast to hold it in a tight grip. He didn’t break the flesh but she wasn’t going anywhere while he held her in his teeth. Driving his cock in faster he growled as he felt her starting to tighten on him.
His cock buried deep inside of her pussy, her gripping him tight with both her inner muscles as well as her entire being, she screamed. Her teeth pressed hard on his shoulder, and she bit him hard enough to bite into his shoulder and draw blood.
Growling, he bucked, his cock jerking into her as he came, his cock knotting up as his seed exploded into her body. Releasing the desk, Zaidu wrapped his arms around her and held her to him as she milked him, as he groaned in pure pleasure.
Beth licked his shoulder lightly and then laid her head on his opposite shoulder. “I swear one day you and I are going to kill each other, and God what a freaking way to go.” She clenched again, felt him tense, and smiled. “Feels so very good, doesn’t it?”
Growling, he tightened his teeth in her flesh slightly before letting go. Sliding his tongue over her flesh Zaidu lifted his head to kiss her softly. “I would die happily as long as we both went just like this, my cock buried in your pussy and your arms and legs holding me so tight I’m not sure where I end and you begin.”
“Then I will make sure that we are in this position as much as possible.” Because she felt the same way. “Because I am whole with you inside of me like this. You holding me tightly, holding me close like this, I feel as if our very souls are one as well as our bodies.”
Pressing a kiss to her throat, he closed his eyes and breathed her in slowly. Checking the clock he nipped at her ear. “We still have a couple hours to kill, ideas?” he asked softly. Sucking on her earlobe lightly he grinned at the little shiver she gave.
“Well I’m thinking that we both could use a bit of exercise so possibly we could go for a swim or something fun and joyful like that?” Him. Naked. Water. Hell yeah, she was so there! “Oh yeah, I definitely think you and I should go and have us a nice long swim. Naked. Water. Hell yes.”
Chuckling softly, he marveled at his little mate. She was so open, giving, and had even coaxed him out of his shell. Pushing up slowly, he stared down at her. “Then we should go and have that swim,” he suggested quietly.
“I think you are truly a brilliant and wonderful man.” She stroked her fingers over his cheek. “Go and grab us some towels?” She couldn’t help but let her fingers trail down his chest and touch his abs. “God, you have beautiful abs.” He was stunning all around.
“Hard-earned abs, I should point out,” he said, moving back. Dropping a kiss to her stomach he left her on the desk as he headed up the hall toward the linen closet. Hauling the door open he dug out two towels and then moved back to her office and looked in. “Are you coming or are you planning on lying there?”
“I have a feeling that I will be ‘coming’ a lot in the next several hours,” she teased but moved off of the desk and followed him and his too-cute ass. “I love watching you walk naked,” she blurted. “I love watching your ass and could almost drool because of the bounce your cock gives. It’s truly beautiful.”
“Says the woman with the breasts that sway and nipples that scream ‘suck me now,’” he told her, padding down the stairs. He didn’t worry about neighbors seeing them. The house was too far onto the property and surrounded by trees and wolves. No one was getting near them without the built-in alarm system going off. Plus, on top of all that, the house was wired.
Bethany walked past him, smacking his wickedly delicious ass. “Then come and get me,” she teased and raced for the water, diving in cleanly as she did so and swimming for the opposite edge.
Shaking his head, Zaidu set the towels to the side and then dived in after her. Coming up behind her, he caught her and pushed them both up out of the water. “Gotcha,” he said, nipping at her neck before letting her go to move back and tread water as he waited to see what she was going to do.
“Yep, you do have me. You have me for the rest of forever, Zaidu, and I think that you are pretty damn lucky about that, too,” she teased him. “But then again”—she shrugged—“I think that I’m rather lucky as well. I get to have you in my life. I get to have you loving me. Yep, I’m damn lucky.”
Snorting, he wiped water from his face as he lazily treaded through the water. “I say I got the better end of the deal,” he
told her honestly. “You get a snarly old Wolf who is less than pleasant, and I get the sexiest woman on the planet, who seems to have this fantasy that I’m marvelous.”
Bethany’s blue-green eyes twinkled in merriment. “I think that you are far more than a snarly old Wolf, darling. I happen to think that you are wonderful. Yes, you do get cranky, but we all do.” She shrugged. “But you are never snarly or surly to me so I honestly don’t care what you are with others.”
He could remind her of when she’d first come to live in his house but decided against it. He’d definitely been less than pleasant to her, a lot less. “Well, as long as you are comfortable with your rose-colored glasses I’m good with it.”
“Rose is a great color, darling,” Bethany teased him with a wink. “I’m perfectly aware of how growly and snarly you were when I came home with you. Trust me I haven’t forgotten but I’m choosing to forgive you, honey, because if not our life will never move on. I need for you to forgive as well. Be as grumbly as you want with anyone else but when we are home, when we are together, I want you to be the playful and loving Wolf that captured my heart.”
Staring at her in horror he shook his head. “I am not playful. You take that back, female,” he said, snapping his brows down in what he hoped was a fearsome glower. “You are trying to ruin my perfectly dastardly and vile reputation that I didn’t have to even work at to get.”
That had her laughing. “You are playful. You love to tease me. Love to play with me. And I love that about you, darling. You are playful and I never, ever want you to change.” She splashed water at him and added, “However, it’s only with me that you are playful, so your rep is safe with me.”
“It better be,” he grumbled under his breath, moving slowly closer. When he was a few feet from her he slid under the water. Grabbing her ankle, he nipped at her thigh and ran his fingers up and down her legs, stopping to toy with her pretty pink pussy.
Bethany reached down and grabbed his head. Sighing, she tugged him closer, lifting a leg and placing it on his shoulder as she did so. “Please,” she moaned. Letting her leg slide down, she wrapped it around his waist and pulled him up and out of the water. “I need you. Now.”
Shaking his head to get rid of the water, Zaidu hauled her in close to kiss her softly. “I love that you are so needy,” he whispered quietly against her mouth. Moving them to the shallow end he put his feet down and, rearranging her slightly, thrust into her ready and eager body.
“I will always be needy for you, my love. I will forever want and need you and no matter what I will always be eager for your touch.” It was a simple admission that she made readily because she knew it to be completely and fully true.
“Good,” he said, cupping her ass to move her up and down as he thrust into her. “Because I fully intend to make good use of all your eagerness.” Brushing a kiss to her lips, he nipped at her jaw very lightly while he massaged her ass and moved her up and down his cock.
A shudder raced through Bethany’s body and her whole being pulsed with every thrust he gave her. “Gods yes,” she whimpered. “Harder.” It was a growl of desperation and desire. Of pure need, pure pleasure.
Chuckling softly, he nipped at her lip and slowed his movements to be rewarded with a snarl from his little mate. He loved teasing her like this. It made life very interesting.
Chapter Eighteen
Holding her hand still as they stepped out of the Vortex on Talon’s heels, Zaidu let out a breath and nodded to the Guards in the white room. “Slow breaths, Bethany,” he murmured when she finally sucked in a breath. “You hyperventilate here and it just gets all sorts of embarrassing, darling.”
Bethany snorted. “Yeah, so you say,” she grumbled. “I’m perfectly fine with letting them see me hyperventilate. They should just be damn thankful that I’m not puking all over them.” She sighed and swallowed hard again. “God bless it, I wish there was another way here because that seriously sucks ass.”
“You get used to it after your hundredth or so trip,” Talon commented and led the way into the hall where all Council Members’ clothing switched to their “true garb.”
“Quit gawking, darling,” Z muttered under his breath as she eyeballed the Dragon King in his armor, Quincy in his robes, and then there was Kat. Every time he saw her he thought of her as ethereal, but in her Fae dress, with her graceful movements, she was even more ethereal in the Chambers.
“Wow.” Bethany breathed out softly. “They are…” It was surreal and amazing the way that the people’s clothing changed as soon as they entered the Chambers. If they were of Royal blood that was one thing, but then when you took in the table, the Thrones, it was stunning. The massive table looked as if a very piece of the Earth pushed up and flattened for the top. The colors looked to be real valuable metals and stones, but the Thrones…“Stunning,” she whispered. Bethany was gawking, unable to help herself, but when she looked at one Throne that seemed to be a part of the very shadows, looked like it was made up of obsidian, it was a direct contrast to the one that the Fae Queen sat on with life all but exploding from every twist and turn of the Throne. She actually loved it. Peace. There seemed to be a calm peace that surrounded her in that instant, and she was able to breathe freely and feel as if she weren’t ready to hurl again.
Nodding, he rubbed her back and led her to the seats at the end of the table where the witnesses, those that came to petition or advisors and such, sat. Sitting, he pulled her onto his knee and held her close to him as the Council got settled in. There was the usual small talk and then Talon stood from his Throne and all fell silent.
“Council Members, we gather today to bear witness to testimony against Gordon and his Rogues so we may render judgment,” Talon told them. “We have with us today Bethany, mate to Zaidu the Hunter who tracked and stopped the Rogues who had kidnapped and trapped her on their lands.” Looking down the length of table, he looked at Bethany. “If you would, Bethany, please stand and give testimony to the events as best you can.”
Rising on shaky legs, Bethany looked at the people in the room, felt the power roll over her, and stood straighter. She would not allow them to see her uncomfortable at all. Looking straight at Gordon and his cronies she began to tell exactly what happened and ended with, “And then the fucking idiot thought I would be a good girl and shimmy down the tree to let him get to me. He’s nuttier than a fucking ten-year-old fruitcake on steroids.” She paused and added, “Oh and I want my fucking Gucci shoes back, you asshole.”
Zaidu coughed softly into his hand. He was trying not to laugh. His Bethany was a little firecracker when she got going on a tangent. And Gods above, he loved her all the more for it.
Standing, Talon nodded solemnly, keeping the grin off his face. “Thank you, Bethany,” he said to her and looked to the others at the table. “We’ve all heard Zaidu’s testimony and have his report before us. I would ask you all take a moment to review everything, discuss it amongst yourselves, and then we shall vote.”
Bethany looked up at Zaidu when they were placed in a small antechamber and sighed. “Well let’s just hope that between what you said, what I said, and what everyone else from that night has said he will be roasted to hell and back again.”
“Depending on how merciful they are feeling he’ll either have his soul yanked, be hung, or he’ll be bathed in Dragon’s Fire. Personally I’d prefer the first two over the last.” It was a nasty way to die, slow, agonizing, and sickening. At her look he explained, “Dragon’s Fire cannot be put out with anything but Dragon’s Ice or Breath. Water does nothing, dropping and rolling does nothing, and a fire extinguisher just makes it burn hotter. It is the most vile and horrific way to die.”
“Oh dear God.” Bethany’s hand flew to her throat and she felt ill. “That would be a terrible way to die,” she whispered. “I couldn’t imagine the intense pain that one would have if they were to die that way.”
“It’s rarely used because it’s so destructive,” he said softly. “Only
in the worst cases is it ever used as a warning, deterrent, and punishment. I think Gordon may only be a soul yank but it’s hard to say depending on how the Council feels about the situation.”
“And what is that?” Bethany felt like she was learning an entirely new language at times with these people. “A soul yank, what is that?” she asked quietly. “Because it sounds painful as well, and sounds…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just sounds so strange.”
“It’s what it sounds like and it is painful, from what I’ve heard,” he told her. “Usually Gaia will reach into the body, wrap her hand around the soul, and yank it out. It tears out of the body with a scream of sound and then she either puts it into stasis for a number of centuries for rehabilitation and maybe rebirth. Or she extinguishes is completely and it is no more.”
“And what happens to the body?” she asked in horror. “Does it continue to live or does it die as the soul is torn from it?” She didn’t like Gordon. He had done some seriously bad shit but she wasn’t sure that anyone deserved that. Death, hells yes! The loss of a soul or suffering she wasn’t so sure.
“It dies, and once the soul is either relegated to stasis and rehabilitation or permanent removal, it turns to ash. Once our souls are gone we disintegrate into nothingness,” Zaidu told her as he watched her fidget. She seemed quite upset with the whole process.
“Oh.” She winced and shook her head. “I dislike this man a great deal and I truly, truly believe that he deserves to die but making him suffer proves nothing except we are far too much like him and his cronies. They fed off of the fear, off of the terror and the pain that they inflicted upon another being. We have to be more than that, right?”
“We don’t feed off the fear, terror, or pain. It’s done to make a point and ensure that anyone who thinks to go against the Council and the Hunters knows exactly what the consequences are for going Rogue and disobeying our laws,” he told her simply. “There is no pleasure in snuffing out a life, Bethany, but we can’t let their disease run rampant or our society will expose itself to the humans and there will be a war that no human can survive.”