It’s the dark forest. Belladonna smiles that Cooper has brought her here. He is smiling at her. “Did you like your surprise tonight?”
“You mean our wedding being moved up from Saturday to tonight? Yes, I did.”
“He’s going to be upset.”
“Let him be.”
“You are wearing a ring.”
“I wore a ring in the visions. This very ring.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I paid attention. I wore a ring. I wanted to see if it was us or not. I am happy to report it is.”
“Good. I never noticed if I did.” Cooper looks disappointed.
“You did. The one you’re wearing.”
“You pay attention to detail.”
“No one else wears a ring but you. Also, I changed my last name to yours.”
“Did you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“So tomorrow I’m going to start doing that.”
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
“So, Queen how do you feel like ruling the Carolinas with me?”
“It sounds wonderful my King.”
Chapter 9
Mercedes and Belladonna are out shopping for Christmas presents. Belladonna feels like she is buying out the mall with everyone on her list. Between Destiny and Cooper, she is invigorating the economy all by herself. She is taking a load out to her car when she runs into Ava. “Hey Belladonna. Do you have enough there?”
“No, I haven’t bought out the other half of the mall.”
“I was wondering if you could help me.”
“What with?”
“Something to get Criss.”
“Ava don’t get him anything. He’ll get really upset.”
“How could he get upset over a gift?”
“Because he doesn’t get involved with students or their friends.”
“Are you getting him something?”
“I’m asking Cage about it.”
“Oh.”
“I wouldn’t do it.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“You should have told her to. I would have enjoyed throwing it away.”
“Criss.”
“I’m just being honest. It wouldn’t be from you. It gets thrown away. If it’s not from my family I don’t want it.”
“And who all do you consider your family?”
“Destiny, Cooper, Nicolae, and you.”
“Your actual family then.”
“Yes. The people who will live in the house together.”
“When are you going shopping?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Just asking. It’s almost time.”
“Yes, it is. I have your gift.”
“I have yours.”
“I don’t have all of Destiny’s.”
“That’s fine. She is getting plenty.”
“She doesn’t have mine yet so it’s not fine.”
“Yes sir.”
“I remember that first day you called me sir.”
“What did you think of that?”
“It was a turn on.”
“Of course, you did.”
“It was the authority aspect. It was just I don’t know how to put it into words.”
“I’m sure another organ in your body could.”
“I’m sure it could.” Criss laughs.
“I need to shop. You have fun.”
“I miss you. You can stop by if you want.”
“I need to wrap. I’ll see you later.”
“Don’t forget we’re meeting tomorrow due to Christmas.”
“I know.”
“I love you, Bell.”
“I love you.”
Locked up in the bedroom she starts wrapping up presents. Cooper knocks on the door. “Are you about done? I’d like to see my wife.”
“I’m just about done.”
“Good. Cause everyone came over for dinner. I mean everyone. Your dad, Cage, Criss, Nicolae, the coven, everyone.”
“What for?”
“I told them we got married.”
“Oh crap.”
“Yeah, I know. Come downstairs.”
“I’m coming.”
Belladonna finishes and Mercedes is outside the door. “I’ll help you carry.”
“Thank you.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“Ava is hitting on Criss hard.”
“How is that going?”
“Criss looks like he could kill her.”
“That’s good, I’m sure.”
“Oh yeah.”
“Do you two need help?” Pete asks.
“Yes please.”
The three of them go upstairs to get the rest of the gifts. Criss is behind them.
“Do you need any help?” Criss asks.
“No, we have it all,” Belladonna says.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Criss asks.
“Yes.”
Mercedes and Pete go downstairs.
“What do you want Criss?”
“Silentium. Okay. You married him?”
“Yes. He had it set up for us.”
“When?”
“Wednesday.”
“The day of the full moon. Of course. I’m sure it was lovely. I wish I could have been there.”
“I doubt that.”
“I doubt that too.”
“You can still marry me. It doesn’t void anything with his. Yours is a legal binding marriage. Mine isn’t exactly something I’m looking to hold up in a court of law.”
“I gathered that.”
“Marry me.”
“Why?”
“I need it. I want it. Give me it.”
“Aren’t you a Dark King already?”
“Yes, I am but I need a Queen and I don’t exactly want Ava. I want my mate. I chose you.”
“When I was thirteen?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus.”
“He wasn’t involved.”
“When I was thirteen you figured out, I should be your Queen?”
“Yes, I did, and I waited until you were eighteen to introduce myself. Then my brother ruined everything.”
“He isn’t the bad guy. He’s the good guy.”
“I’m not a bad guy.”
“You chose me when I was thirteen. Not a good guy thing. “
“What about Cooper?”
“I’ve forgiven him.”
“That definitely wasn’t a good guy thing.”
“He’s a good guy.”
“I could make it that he isn’t a good guy.”
“I could make it so that I never enter into your marriage.”
“I can make you.”
“If you could you would have done it already.”
“Figured that out, did you?”
“Yes, Criss I did.”
“Maybe I’ll just go downstairs and flirt with Ava.”
“Have fun.”
“It drives you insane when she talks about me or you think I’m going to do as much as say hi to her.”
“I don’t care anymore Criss.”
“Anymore? This is the first time I’ve said it.”
“Do what you want.”
“Bell, you aren’t making any sense.”
“Am I not brother?”
“No no no no no.”
“I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Belladonna falls to the floor. Cooper comes into the room right then. “Belladonna? Belladonna? Are you okay?”
“No, I think someone just took control of my body.”
“What just happened Criss?” Cooper demands.
“My brother just spoke through Belladonna. He’s going to be here soon.”
“His brother is the good guy.”
“I thought?” Cooper asks.
“I’ll explain later,” Belladonna says.
“I need to go.” Criss runs out of the room and out of the house.
/> It’s a barren desert. Belladonna stands in the center of it when she hears a voice. “My god you have grown up so much.”
“I’m going to assume you are Criss’ brother.”
“I would be.”
“I know you?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. Are you going to come out of hiding?”
“Sit down please.”
“Okay I’m sitting down.”
A guy who is almost a carbon copy of Criss comes out nowhere. His eyes are a different color and there is about an inch difference in height but otherwise identical. “Belladonna my name is Gatlin. Everything Criss has told you has been a lie. It’s not a lie just god how do I explain this. He has shown you me instead of him. He has stolen my life. I’m a trainer. We met when you were eighteen. He took your memories from you. We were mated. Actually, we were bound. Harperion thank the dear lord I got a hold of him before Criss went and saw him gave him some bs excuse as to what we were. Or rather what you two were. Which he bought. You are mated to him. You are to me. You are bound to me. It just seems like you are to him. Harperion is helping with that. The visions you’ve seen are all of me with Cooper, Nicolae, and you. You can’t marry him in a dark ceremony. It is a disaster. He has been grooming you since you were thirteen. He chose you at that age. He made sure you did enough things to be in the middle of the moral compass. You had no real free will. You just had the choice between bad or worse. You somehow though always found a way though to do the right, good thing.”
“How do you know everything that’s been going on since he’s been here?”
“I watch.”
“Am I the only one that knows?”
“Cooper and you are.”
“Okay. I get it.”
“It’s going to be okay.”
“Sorry Gatlin if I just have a hard time believing anything right now.”
“I understand.”
“I would like to go to sleep now.”
“Of course, Bell.”
“You call me that?”
“Always have.”
“He stole that from you too.”
“Yes, I know.”
“When are you revealing yourself?”
“Today.”
“I will see you then.”
“Yes, you will.”
Next day Belladonna is training. Cooper has come along because he knows Gatlin is going to show up. Cage and Criss are working with Belladonna. A car pulls up on the property and Gatlin gets out. Belladonna is in awe. Seeing him in the flesh she knows easily who it is. Cooper walks over to him. “Hello Gatlin.”
“Hello Cooper. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.”
The two of them walk over to the group. Cage is in shock. Gatlin speaks. “Hi Cage. I’m Gatlin. Seems my brother took my place. I’m actually the trainer. It’s the nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you. You two are twins.”
“Yes,” they say together.
Gatlin starts to walk over to Belladonna but Criss stops him. “No. I talk to her first.”
“No, I got over there.”
“I’m asking you.”
“I’m saying no.”
“Don’t make me do this.”
“What are you going to do? Erase her memory?”
“No.”
“I’m going to speak to her.”
“Fine.”
Gatlin walks over to Belladonna. She smiles when he walks over to her. “Hello Belladonna.”
“Hello Gatlin.”
“What are you smiling about?”
“I can feel the satisfaction you feel right now. You’re giddy right now.”
“Yes, I guess I am.”
“He is so angry.”
“Yes, he is.”
“You are coming to Christmas?”
“Yes, you are my mate. I’m coming to everything.”
“Okay. I have no clue what to get you for Christmas.”
“I don’t need anything.”
“I don’t know what to do with what I got Criss.”
“That’s up to you.”
“This is just complicated.”
Gatlin touches her face. “It’s going to get worse.”
“I don’t know what to think of this.”
“Can I see you today?”
“Yeah. After I get done. Let’s say two hours from now.”
“Okay I’ll see you then.” Gatlin kisses her head and walks away.
He goes by everyone and says to Cooper. “I’ll see you in a couple hours.”
“Okay see you then.”
Gatlin goes to his car and leaves. Criss watches him leave and tries not to lose it. Cage steps away from them and makes a phone call. Criss goes out to Belladonna. “He is coming out to your house?”
“Yes, he is.”
“It’s a bad idea, Bell.”
“He calls me Bell, you stole it from him.”
“No, I didn’t. We both do.”
“Explain to me our relationship.”
“Other than the fact I chose you when you were thirteen?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember your dreams?”
“Not really.”
“Do you want to remember them?”
“Not really. I can only imagine.”
“Yes, it is along those lines.”
“Give me the cliff notes version.”
“We had a romance. We fell in love with each other. I visited you every night. Around the age of sixteen you got tired of me, so I didn’t talk to you as much. It was about the time you got pregnant. I didn’t know. You didn’t want anything to do with me. When you gave birth, you wanted to see me again. You never told me. I figured it out later. It took me some time to find out you had the child, and your mind was erased. I just thought you had miscarried. Then my brother came into your life. Again, you wanted nothing to do with me. I found out about him right before you were to be married. I stopped the wedding as you saw. Then we went back to the way we were. You ended things not too long after that. You thought I was just a dream. That I didn’t exist. You believe I was real when you were younger. I explained things to you. How you would be my Dark Queen. You were fascinated by it. Do you remember the first time we made love?”
“No and I don’t want to know my age.”
“No, you probably don’t.”
“Dear god Criss.”
“Can you tell how much it excites me thinking about it? Our first time? Every time?”
“You were a pedo.”
Criss grabs her arm forcefully and pulls her up against him. “Don’t ever refer to me like that. Don’t refer to us like that. It wasn’t like that. It wasn’t perverse. It was special, magical.”
“Whatever you say, Criss.” Belladonna gets out of his grasp and rolls her eyes.
Criss touches her hand gently. “It was never like that. I was never cruel to you. I was gentle. I loved you. I love you. I was sweet. I made everything special. I made sure you knew you were the only one. Because you were the only one. I swear to you were. No one else was in my life. Just you.”
“Criss, I’m trying to wrap my mind around this. I was thirteen and you’re pledging yourself to me. Correct?”
“Correct Bell.”
“Isn’t that a bit crazy?”
“No, it isn’t. I found you. I was supposed to find you when you were thirteen. I found you on your thirteenth birthday. Everything fell into place.”
“Oh my god. Everything happened that night.”
“Bell, calm down.”
“I need to go.”
“Bell, I’m not explaining this right.”
“Tell me everything didn’t happen that night.”
“I can’t.”
“I’m going to go.”
“Bell, please don’t leave. Let me explain everything else.”
“What else do you want to explain?”
“I love you. I know you love me.”
>
“I love who I thought you were. I love Gatlin.”
“Yes, you do. You love Gatlin, but you could love me.”
“I need to go.”
“Please Bell,” Criss is now pleading, holding onto her arm.
“I need to go. I can’t stay here any longer. Please just let me go without me having to be cruel.”
“Fine. Go. But this isn’t over.” Criss lets go of Belladonna in a forceful manner.
She walks away with Criss staying out in the clearing trying to pull himself together. Cooper and Belladonna leave. Criss goes over to Cage. Cage has just gotten off the phone. Criss shakes his head and turns to his car. “You know already that I’m not a teacher, correct?”
“Yes, I just checked.”
“I’ll make sure Gatlin shows up to help you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Criss leaves to find Gatlin in order for him to start training Belladonna and helping Cage. He also needs to find Belladonna and explain about their relationship. Hoping that she can find a way to understand it. He needs her to understand it. It means so much to him. It meant so much to them. He loves her. Not a conventional love at the time but it became so.
They are at home with Destiny who is playing on the floor. Cooper comes over to Belladonna. “It's going to be okay, beloved.”
“I don’t see how. I find out Criss isn’t who I thought he was. He’s actually some man that had a relationship with me since I was thirteen. Then I learn that Gatlin is the guy I thought Criss was. Life is not okay at this moment.”
“We are okay. We have our family. Overlook the rest. We have this in our house. Forget about the outdoors. We have this. It’s all that matters.” Cooper kisses her.
Belladonna gives in to Cooper. He lays her down on the floor. He lays on top of her kissing her. Moving his hand up her shirt and bra. Belladonna takes them off. Cooper sucks on her nipples while playing with her clit. Belladonna moans for Cooper. Cooper brings her to climax. Belladonna takes off Cooper’s shirt and pushes him down to the ground. She takes off his pants and boxers then goes down on him. He says Belladonna’s name repeatedly. He cums and Cooper pulls Belladonna up on top of him. Belladonna takes off her pants and panties. She begins riding Cooper. Slow at first. Driving Cooper crazy. Nibbling on his neck. Teasing like she is going to bite down and then kissing. Cooper bites down on Belladonna. I wanted you so bad baby. You feel so good. Tonight, I want you all night long. If you are in agreement. I cannot get enough of you.
Queen: Part One Page 12