by Alanea Alder
"You know we will do everything we can, do you not?"
"You're referring to all the unit warriors, not just the ones that report to you aren't you?"
Adriel snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her body close to his. At first, she thought that she would get too hot; it's why she usually hated spooning. Eventually, her shifter temperature would be too much for her. But his skin was slightly cool to the touch. Absently, she ran her fingers over his arm. "You feel good."
"Not too cold?"
"No, am I too warm?"
"No, it feels amazing."
"So the porridge is just right," she joked.
Behind her, he chuckled. "I think we are a perfect fit in every way."
"Tell me about Gavriel."
Under her fingers, his muscles tensed.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I noticed you looked at everyone in the room except for him; I'm curious as to why."
"Long version or short version?"
"Let's start with short, and I'll ask questions."
"Basically, I think he is lying about who he is. The name Ambrosios died out nearly five thousand years ago, right after the Great War. Then, six hundred years ago, he pops up out of nowhere and joins Alpha and the House is re-established."
Eva thought about what he said. "Wouldn't your prince have verified his claim?"
"He says he has, but I know for a fact he is not being truthful."
"How are you so certain?"
"I have the Book of Life for the royal House of Ambrosios. Prince Magnus did not check the book to ascertain whether Gavriel was telling the truth."
"Why do you have it? Your last name is Aristaios."
"Now, we are getting into the long story. My great-great-great grandmother was human. After her mate was killed, his relatives ostracized her. Instead of keeping his name, Ambrosios, she changed it so that they could not find her. Over the centuries, changing the name has become somewhat of a tradition. The last incarnation was chosen around the time I was born when my parents decided to return to a vampire led city. My mother picked Aristaios to honor my great-great-great grandmother and, in her own way, trick the vampires who lived here."
"Why was it a trick?"
"Because Aristaios is the name of the Greek god that was born of Apollo and a human woman. Someone immortal and someone mortal."
"That's ingenious. Why did you never claim Ambrosios?"
She felt him shrug. "There was no point. After my parents' deaths, I was promoted to unit leader for Eta. I am happy commanding the men. I did not want to associate with the families that had turned mine out into the cold for something beyond their control. I am happy as I am."
"Gavriel doesn't seem like a bad person. Besides claiming the name, has he asked for any family money or used the name to pull rank?"
"That is the confusing thing; he has not. Not once. Every week, I go down and check the family vault for House Ambrosios, and nothing has been taken. If anything, he has eschewed any attempts my prince has tried in giving the man privileges and rank. He simply uses the name."
"Then I wouldn't let it bother you. He may have his own reasons for claiming the name. If it isn't hurting anyone by letting him use it, then I don't think it's worth any hard feelings. Maybe you should try to get to know him better. He may tell you why." For a moment, Eva feared that she had overstepped her bounds. She barely knew her mate. Who was she to tell him how to feel?
"Do you really think so?"
She breathed a sigh of relief; he wasn't mad. "I really do. I've never seen any male so attentive to their mate as that man was to your Bethy. Except for maybe the bear. He seemed like the type to rampage first and ask questions later."
Adriel grunted. "At least he is a good mate to Bethy, I will give him that. He has kept her alive practically all by himself, and that is saying something. I will do as you suggest and try to get to know him better, but I still do not like that he is lying."
"You're a rule follower, aren't you? And how bad is that girl's luck?"
"Rules bring order to chaos and turn animals into gentlemen. Structure helps one know how to act or respond in any given situation and makes things simple. And to answer your second question, I secretly believe that Bethy may have been cursed or something. I have never seen someone so afflicted with not only bad luck, but also bad coordination and balance. It is like watching a drunk stagger around a ballroom, barely missing tables stacked high with champagne glasses only to get to the doorway and trip, break their arm, and then have a bowling ball land on them out of nowhere."
"You're not serious."
"Very. There was a reason why Tarak and Kuruk rotated shifts guarding Bethy. One would need to practically go on a bender to recover from watching her. Not that they ever did, but if there were ever two men on this earth that deserved to, it was them."
"She's pregnant, you know; I could smell that when I met her."
"Which is why both Kuruk and Tarak passed out at the news. I do not know which aspect of her pregnancy scared them most: protecting her while she is carrying or once she has delivered, having two special ones to watch over with the same bad luck."
"Poor things."
"What about you? Do you have family?"
"No."
"Just no? You managed to drag my entire sordid tale from me, can you not trust me with your story too?"
When he leaned forward and kissed the back of her neck, she felt the walls around her heart begin to crack. "I was barely an adult, still a cub really. I remember asking my Papa if I was old enough to visit the human towns. He would laugh and ruffle my hair and tell me I could go when I was older. I think I was about two hundred at the time. We had a happy life living in the forests of what is now eastern Russia. Nature provided us with everything we needed, so we stayed in tiger form most of the time. One day, I was coming home from a hunt and had a bad feeling. When I arrived at our den, there were pools of blood. Both of my parents had been skinned and their bodies left behind like trash. I got so angry that I blacked out. When I woke up, I was lying in the middle of a human home. I had killed the men that had my parent's hides drying in the back." Eva felt the old nausea rise as it did every time she remembered what she had done. Her mate rubbed soft circles on her back. He didn't say anything, allowing her to choose to continue or not.
"I shifted back to human and walked to the back. I wasn't used to human hands, so my fingers were having troubles with the knots. That's when I heard the sound of a hammer being drawn. I turned and a small boy, no more than five or six, was pointing a gun at me. I just stood there. I knew no matter what had happened to my parents, I could never harm a child. So I waited. He looked at my parent's hides behind me and then at me. He asked if I was the one that killed his father. I told him yes. He asked if I was a tiger and I told him I was. That's when it dawned on him what was hanging behind me. He asked me if they were my friends. I told him that they had been my mother and father. He looked so shocked, so confused. He put the gun down and ran back into the house. I didn't know what to do.
"He came back out carrying a knife; he walked past me and tried to cut the ropes that had drawn my parent's hides taut. I asked him why he was helping. He turned, and I saw he was crying. He said his father had killed my mother and father, but I had only killed his father. He told me even in my snarling rage, I had spared him, his mother, and his two baby sisters. I took the knife and cut down my parents' skins. He asked me how he could tell a regular tiger from a human tiger so he wouldn't kill someone's mother or father by mistake. I told him not to kill anything he didn't have to. If he killed a tiger that was attacking him, he was within his right to kill it in return, but killing just to kill was wrong.
"I took my parents home, wrapped their skinned bodies in the hides, and buried them both by the river they loved. After that, I couldn't stand living in the forest alone, so I made my way to the human's city. I stole some clothes from a clothesline and a purse off a man who was trying to rape a
woman. I slowly learned how to be human, saved my money, and headed west. I didn't stop until I reached Texas."
Eva didn't even realize she had started crying until Adriel turned her to face him, and he began to kiss her tears away. It was the first time she had ever told anyone what had happened to her parents, and she was glad that the first person she told was her mate.
"Gods, my love, I wish I had been there with you. It hurts my heart knowing you were out there alone, dealing with such grief at a young age when I existed in this world. I would give anything to take this pain from you."
She sniffled as a smile began to form in her heart. She looked up and, for the first time in centuries, she truly didn't feel alone. "I know of a way you can make me feel better."
"Maybe that is not such a good idea; you have relived a trauma. It would be wrong of me to press advantage while you are in a delicate state."
Eva saw the sincerity in his eyes and realized that at that exact moment, she had fallen head over heels in love with him. She rose to her knees then straddled him. "You are my mate, and your mate needs you very much. Will you deny her?"
Already, his body was responding. At the junction of her thighs, he was starting to harden, and his eyes had shifted to a ruby red. "I could deny you nothing in this life. If you asked for my still beating heart, I would rip it happily from my chest. Anything in life you desire, I will give to you, for I will never be able to repay the gift of you."
"You can keep your heart darlin'; you're gonna need it. I'm asking for another part of your body." She reached down and began to stroke him over his boxers. He threw his head back, hissing.
"The things you do to me, woman."
"Buckle up, cowboy, this ride is about to get rough."
He sat up, flexing every single one of his ab muscles. He held himself at the perfect angle to kiss her gently. "As you desire."
"Yes, please." She ground her body over his.
"If you wish to keep those clothes in one piece, I suggest you remove them," he whispered lowly. "But know this, the fact that you have no replacements is the only reason they are still intact. I truly do not think I could help but murder any man who saw you without underthings, and that sort of behavior is frowned upon by the ruling classes."
Eva laughed and jumped off her mate. She shimmied out of her clothes, throwing them haphazardly around the room before pouncing on him again. He had matched her speed, and when she returned to the bed, he was as naked as she was. When their bare skin made contact, they both groaned; it felt like heaven being this close to him. He rolled them until he was kneeling between her legs.
"It has been a long time since I have been with anyone." He stared down at her body.
She raised an eyebrow, and he smirked. "Not like that. Sex sometimes is just sex. What I am referring to is intimacy."
"It's never easy to let someone get close. That's why the mating heat is so important. Over the years, I've heard different descriptions of what mating heat was like, but what I feel for you pales in comparison." She threaded her fingers behind her head.
He leaned down and started placing small kisses on the inside of her thighs. "I think I know what you mean. If it were just attraction, then sex would be the answer, but it isn't. I have shared things with you in the short time I have known you that I have never told another living soul." Every small touch sent electric jolts to her clit, building her passion, higher and higher.
She nodded. "Me too. It's like Fate has crammed decades of being the best of friends into moments. The level of comfort means more to me than sex."
She nearly groaned in frustration when he worked his way past her mound and started making his way up her belly. Though she was enjoying the feel of his lips, so soft and gentle on her body, her core was begging for relief. His nose nuzzled between her breasts, and he inhaled as if memorizing her scent.
She wrapped her legs around his body as he nibbled at her collarbone. It wasn't until he ran a tongue up her neck to tease her ear that she realized he hadn't touched her intimately, and yet she was so primed, it was as if he'd spent hours between her legs. She never before had a man take his time with her. The way he touched her, it was as if he was worshiping her body.
"Could you..." She paused. She didn't want to sound needy.
He pulled back and looked her in the eye. "Never hesitate in asking for something from me. Or, for that matter telling me if I do something you do not like. It may take me a century or two, but I do plan on memorizing every inch of your body."
"Would you kiss me?" she blurted out.
His eyes widened. "Gods forgive me. Here I am enjoying your body after I said I would take my time and do things right, and you have to ask for a kiss. I am a cad for indulging in my own desires."
Eva traced her fingers across his brow and down his jaw. "I want to know how you taste."
"Then by all means, feast." He lowered his head and took complete possession of her lips. This was what had been missing! She drew his tongue into her mouth as her hips bucked against his body. He dueled with her tongue, drawing out her pleasure. When her tongue nicked his lowered fang, she felt his deep growl along her chest.
He pulled back, panting hard. "Will you allow me to give us both what we need? Will you tie your breath, your heart, mind, and soul to mine? Will you place yourself into my keeping for all eternity?"
"Yes! Gods anything! Please!" Eva was so strung out from his barrage of teasing, she would have agreed to anything.
"Thank you," he whispered before he buried his fangs deep into her neck. For a split second, she had to fight her tiger to prevent her from flinging him off of her, but then the pleasure came. Wave after wave of pleasure. Tingling explosions erupted from her core, ripping scream after scream from her throat.
Just when she thought she could take no more, he plunged his body deep into hers. This! This is what she'd been craving from the second she had scented him. She tightened her legs around him and lifted her hips to meet him thrust for thrust.
As he fed and the pleasure began to build again, she felt a warmth begin to spread at the center of her chest. The very essence of who she was began to lift toward her mate. When her soul merged with his completely, she knew she would never be alone again. Their intertwined souls flared and started to pull apart and, for a brief moment, she felt panicked; she didn't want to leave the haven his body and soul provided. But as her own soul tucked back into her chest, she felt a piece of him pulsating happily along with it.
The pounding of his body into hers, the feeling of his fangs deep in her neck, and the warmth of his soul next to hers proved to be too much. This time when she screamed, he pulled back and roared his release along with her.
She felt her eyelids begin to flutter as she tried to stay awake. His rapid puffs of breath on her shoulder assured her that he was just as wiped as she was. Gently, he withdrew from her body and lay beside her.
For a couple minutes, neither of them said a word, but they didn't have to. Their fingers twisted around each other's as they held hands. This was no awkward silence; it was a moment of reverence for the beauty they had shared.
When her breathing had returned to normal, she turned to face him.
"That was one hell of a first kiss, Professor."
When he turned to her, he looked like a debauched god of sin. "I aim to please." He paused. "Professor?"
"It's the clipboard." Smiling, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her away.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Eva laughed as she batted his wandering hands away. After their nap, her mate had been appalled to discover that they had slept for over seven hours. It was now nearly time for dinner, and he had yet to check in with his men.
But, despite it all, he couldn't keep his hands to himself. "I thought you said we needed to head to the mess hall to check in with your warriors?" she demanded as she pulled on her tank top.
"I do." He nipped her shoulder then moved across the room to pull on his immaculate looking c
lothes. To go to dinner, he simply swapped out his short uniform jacket for a longer, dressier version.
Eva looked down at her boots, jeans, and button down shirt. "I'll look ridiculous if every one else is dressed up."
He shook his head at her concern. "Not to worry. Meryn wore a zombie Care Bear shirt last night. Compared to that, I think you look perfect."
"You just like my jeans."
"Gods above yes!"
Once dressed, he picked up his ever-present clipboard, and they walked hand and hand downstairs and back out to the main road that divided the Unit Level in half. Unlike before, the mess hall was now lit up, and men's laughter could be heard from outside.
"Sounds like everyone made it back okay."
"Let us head inside so I can introduce you." They walked up, and he held the door open for her. She stepped inside and nearly laughed out loud. It looked like the men had taken the large room adjacent to the dining hall and turned it into their huge man cave. Arcade machines lined one wall; there were a couple Ping-Pong tables, dartboards, and five large screen televisions set up with different game consoles. She could easily see men carrying their food from the dining hall and plopping down in any of the worn leather sofas or gaming chairs.
"At attention!" Adriel barked.
All noise stopped as they realized their unit leader was in the room. Chaos ensued as games were paused and the men tripped over themselves to stand before them.
Adriel winced at their display. She laughed.
"Men, I would like you to meet my mate, Eva Mae Miller. She was one of the refugees you rescued today, and for that, you have my eternal gratitude." Adriel bowed, and from the shocked expressions of the men, they had no idea what to do.
"I can't tell you how happy I am that we saved your mate. A thousand blessings on your mating," Micah said, walking up to kiss Eva on both cheeks.
Adriel stood and scowled at the witch. Micah leaned in and whispered. "See, he does like me."