Andromeda's Reign

by K. S. Haigwood

  I inhaled deeply through my nose and let the air out through my mouth. “I hope he upheld his end of the bargain.”

  “Yeah, he did.” There were a few heartbeats of silence before she continued. “The case went to trial and Marc was my brother’s lawyer. Some new evidence magically surfaced, proving that Ian couldn’t have been the one who did it. The very same evidence proved it was three guys who had testified against Ian. Each of them was convicted and sent to prison for thirty years, without parole.”

  “So, I was right… You never loved him?” I said.

  “No, I didn’t, and nobody knows that except you. Ian doesn’t even know the real reason why I turned down my acceptance to Julliard. He thought I was in love. He even defended me when my parents flipped out. They don’t speak to me much now. They don’t even live in this country anymore.”

  “Phoenix doesn’t know?” I said.

  “Um… no,” she said on a nervous laugh. “Phoenix has no idea that he was my first love.”

  I raised my eyebrows as I grinned. “Was your first love? Do you have a second love?”

  Her panic shot through me as she corrected herself. “No! I mean he doesn’t know that he was the first guy I fell in love with.”

  I pursed my lips. “You’re not helping yourself, Andra. You wanna know what I think?”

  “No. Really, I don’t,” she said, but I could tell she was smiling.

  “Too bad. I’m gonna tell you anyway.”

  Taking my hand off my dog, I rose up on my knees and leaned toward her, carefully placing a hand on the floor to each side of her tense body. When I could feel her quick breaths against my mouth, I stopped, and then I whispered, “I think I can out quote you on movies.”

  I laughed when she put her hands on my shoulders and shoved me to my back. Rolling to my side and stretching my legs out, I propped my head up on my palm. Chaos licked my nose, and I batted him away as I turned my head and wiped my face. “Not now, Chaos,” but then I whispered so only he could hear me. “You’re not the one I want kisses from tonight. Sorry, boy. She’s prettier than you are.”

  “I’ll be back,” Andra said in a rather horrible Schwarzenegger voice. I followed the sound of her feet on the carpet as she walked to the bed, and then I was hit in the face with a flying pillow.

  “Wench!” I said as I tucked it beneath my head. “Your Terminator impression sucks, by the way.”

  She laughed, and then I heard a soft thud, followed by the feel of a gentle gust of air on my neck. I reached out with my free hand to find a soft fabric and something fluffy beneath it. It was another pillow—her pillow, from the bed. It smelled just like her shampoo.

  Chaos licked me again, and I growled at him playfully as I wrestled him around on the floor. He loved to play, and I hadn’t paid him near enough attention—according to him—since Andra arrived. He pawed at my chest with his rough paws, and I feigned being injured, whining a bit for effect. He instantly stopped playing and cuddled me, trying to make me feel better and apologizing, the only way a dog could, for hurting me. Laughing, I ruffled the fur on his head. “I’m okay, boy. You didn’t hurt me.”

  Click.

  I froze. “What was that?”

  Andra giggled softly. “I took a picture of you and Chaos with your phone. I’m going to text it to myself. It was a good picture. My phone is dead right now or I would have used it to take your picture. I’m going to send my brother a quick text with your phone, too. I completely forgot to yesterday, and I told him I would. Just need to let him know that I am safe.”

  I frowned. “Wait, you want a picture of me?”

  She laughed. “Of course I do, silly.”

  “Well, I want a picture of you. Take a selfie, so that I can see it when I get my sight back. Make sure you do the duck face. I bet you’re sexy when you do the duck face. Better yet, get naked and take a full body selfie… with a duck face.”

  I laughed when she hurled another pillow at me, and it hit me square in the face. She had really good aim.

  “I’m not doing the duck face. I have a better idea,” she said, and then she was suddenly on the floor, beside me, snuggling up close. Oh, hell yes!

  I smirked as I turned my head toward her and took a long sniff of her neck. “Now, that’s what I’m talking about.”

  She pushed against me as an angelic laugh bubbled out of her throat. She had such a great laugh. “I’m taking an usie.”

  I blinked, even though it didn’t do a damn bit of good. “Um… What’s an usie?”

  “Keep up with the times, old man,” Andra said, with amusement thick in her voice. “A selfie is a picture someone takes of themselves. An usie is a picture someone takes of two or more people who are also in the picture. Self, selfie. Us, usie.”

  I dramatically rolled my unseeing eyes at her, but I was secretly happy about this. I would have a picture of me and her together on my phone. “Okay, where do you want me?”

  She pressed her body against mine, snuggling in even closer than she had before. My dick jerked in my jeans. No woman had ever felt so good in my arms before. She smelled so good, like vanilla. Mmmm… I wanted to kiss her so damn bad.

  “I’m holding the phone above us, so look up to the ceiling and say cheese.”

  I started to do as she requested, but that wasn’t the picture I wanted. Instead, I leaned in and pressed my lips to her cheek. Andra snickered, and then another click sound came from my phone.

  “Was it good?” I said, when she didn’t say anything for a long moment.

  After a few seconds more, she finally said, “Yeah. That’s a great picture of us, Ace. I’m going to make it the wallpaper on your phone, so you’ll see it first thing when you get your sight back.”

  “I hope to see you first thing when I get my sight back,” I said, feeling brave, after having just kissed her.

  “I may be busy,” she said nonchalantly. “Or I might be in my room or in the bathroom. I do have to pee sometimes.”

  Or she might be with Phoenix, I thought, and my good mood swiftly took a dive.

  “Hold on,” she said as she got to her feet. The sound of her footfalls on the plush carpeting told me that she was going toward the door. Was she leaving? Had I freaked her out with the kiss? Frantic, I sat up, and was just about to beg her to stay, when I heard a different sort of click.

  What was that?

  Then the door opened and my pulse quickened. She really was leaving.

  “Andra—”

  “C’mon, Chaos,” she said. “Go outside.”

  Freakishly long moments passed before the door closed and her footsteps started again, and this time they were headed back to me. I couldn’t suppress the sigh of relief as it passed through my lips.

  A moment later, the floral scent of shampoo hit my sinuses just as the silky strands of her hair fell over my hand. My cock hardened even more. Being blind blowed, but using only my other senses was a little erotic. It was like I could feel her even more now.

  “Where’d you go?” I said.

  “I turned the light off,” she whispered.

  “Why are you whispering?” I whispered back, and she laughed.

  “I don’t know,” she said in a normal voice. “Voices seem louder in the dark for some reason.”

  She inhaled sharply when my fingers brushed over her shoulder and trailed down her arm. I linked our fingers together, with my palm over the top of her hand.

  “Why did you turn the light out?” I whispered, by her hear. I smiled when I felt her shiver.

  “I want to see what you see,” she whispered back.

  I really hated that I couldn’t see her, but instead of saying something cheesy like that, I said, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

  The burst of giggles out of her mouth was music to my ears. “Gone with the Wind,” she said, after she caught her breath. “Hey, what happens if we miss one?”

  “We could play for clothes,” I suggested, and she got quiet.

&nbs
p; “Wouldn’t be any fun for you,” she finally said.

  I chuckled. “It will be plenty of fun for me if I’m the one who gets to take them off of you.”

  “You sound so sure that you’ll be the one winning,” she said.

  I leaned in and whispered in her ear again. “I’ll say the wrong movie titles on purpose after I get everything off you except your panties. Then we can play a new game.”

  Her grip tightened on my fingers as she let out a sexy moan. Fucking hell, could we just skip the game and go straight to ripping each other’s clothes off? I wouldn’t be able to concentrate anyway, not with her making sounds like that.

  “By the way, would telling you now that I want sex tonight be enough of a warning?” Andra said, and I froze. Was that a movie quote or a proposition? Holy hell! I hadn’t seen that one if she was still playing the game.

  “Um… yeah,” I said, and she busted out laughing as she sat up and released my hand. Fuck! “You tricked me,” I said as she moved down to my feet and began to tug my left boot.

  “Was that against the rules?” she said as she freed that foot, and then picked up my other booted foot and pulled. “That was The Mirror Has Two Faces, in case you didn’t know.”

  “Are you testing me?” I said as the second boot came off, but she didn’t respond right away. I could tell she was racking her brain to see if this was a quote or if I was actually asking a question.

  “Can I ask if that’s a quote, or is it not allowed?” she said, after a few seconds.

  I chuckled. “It wasn’t a quote.”

  “Okay, then, yes, I’m always testing you.” She settled in beside me on our makeshift bed on the floor again.

  “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti,” I said.

  “Shit!” she said on an exhale, and then she shouted, “Silence of the Lambs!”

  She was still laughing lightly as I found her hand. She jerked it away, and then hatefully said, “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”

  I was a little stunned until it clicked that it was another damn quote. I had to start playing dirty. She certainly was. “I didn’t take you for a Planet of the Apes kinda girl. I may need to get to know you a little better before I let you see me nekkid.” I raised our hands to my mouth and kissed her knuckles. “You’re not getting my clothes off that easily, baby. Better pick a chick-flick next time.” I pressed my lips to her knuckles again, letting them linger there a moment, before allowing my tongue to taste her skin. She whimpered, and I smiled. “I’m the king of the world.”

  “I thought you were the king of the jungle,” she said in a breathless whisper.

  She hadn’t caught it. Point for me! I sat up and got to my knees.

  “Wait!” she said. “I didn’t—” She laughed as I placed my hand on her chest and pressed her back to the floor when she tried to sit up. “Dammit! What quote did you say?”

  “Too late,” I said. “You should have been paying attention, instead of daydreaming about getting me nekkid.”

  She huffed in amused annoyance. “I’m making it a new rule that if the quote isn’t caught then the person who said it has to tell the other why they are losing clothes.”

  The rhythm of her heart rate picked up under my palm. I knew exactly where my hand was. I’d left it there for a reason. If I wasn’t going to be able to see her body during this game we were playing, I was damn sure going to feel it.

  Very slowly, I lay my other hand on her waist, caressing her with my fingers over her shirt, and then I moved the one on her chest down to the other side of her waist. A masculine sound rumbled up my throat at her quick inhalation. I was happy she was getting just as much out of this as I was. Lifting the hem of her shirt a little, I bent down and placed my lips just below her belly button.

  “Ace,” she panted, and I snickered.

  “If I remember correctly, you aren’t wearing any shoes or socks, so it looks like I’ll have to take something else off you. Should I start with your shirt?” I said as I lifted the material up a little higher and pressed my lips to her abdomen. “Or should I take off your jeans first?” I moved down to the top of the denim and ran my tongue along her skin just above it. She shivered and squirmed in response, but I only tightened my grip on her hips, forcing her to stay still. “I think I’ll take off your shirt first. The jeans can wait. It shouldn’t take long for you to lose them. But I will give you a hint as to why you’re losing the shirt. Jack Dawson ring a bell?”

  She groaned again. “I can’t believe I missed that one. I ugly cried when she let him go. Titanic is one of my favorite movies, but she pissed me off so bad when she did that. There was enough room on there for both of them. They could have made it work.”

  “Never let go, Jack,” I said, in my best Rose DeWitt Bukater imitation, and she laughed as she started to slap my chest, but I heard it coming, so I caught her hand before the contact was made.

  Swinging my leg over her body, I sat on her thighs, being careful to put most of my weight on my legs, instead of her. “Don’t be a sore loser, Andra. Take your punishment, baby,” I said. I repositioned my hand, wrapping my fingers around her wrist, and then I reached down and took her other wrist and pinned them both above her head. With my body hovering above hers, I tilted my head down to her neck, breathing in her scent, and then said, “Don’t move.”

  The smell of her arousal was heady, filling the room with the intoxicating aroma of simmering spices and vanilla. My mouth watered. I couldn’t wait to taste her. I ran my thumbs under the hem of her shirt and pressed my palms to her abdomen, before slowly pushing the shirt up her torso. I had never felt anything so soft in my entire life. The feel of her skin under my fingers as my hands glided up her body caused a muffled groan to escape from my throat. Why I hadn’t ever tried this no-seeing thing with sex before, was beyond me.

  When I felt the fabric of her bra, I traced the underwire with the tips of my fingers to the outside of her breasts and continued pushing the shirt up. Because I’d had to lean forward to get the shirt over her head, my erection was pressing against her pelvis. Her hips arched up as a moan slipped past her lips. I absolutely loved the sounds she made when she was turned on. It was a bittersweet torture to me, but in a damn good way, the best way.

  I eased my weight from her body so I could get the material up her arms and completely off, then froze when she raised her head and pressed her mouth to my neck. As much as I wanted to kiss her, I knew I shouldn’t, not yet. My way and at my pace, I reminded myself, and then, reluctantly, I sat up and moved off her. I chuckled and tossed her shirt across the room when she huffed.

  “Intermission,” she said as I fluffed my pillow then adjusted my junk in my jeans. The damn thing was straining against the zipper, begging to be set free. Not that she hadn’t felt it trying to penetrate her through our jeans a minute ago, and already knew it was as hard as a steel pipe, but I was grateful she’d turned the light off.

  I laughed lightly. “What’s wrong?”

  “You’re driving me crazy and I need a moment. I have never gotten so turned on just by someone taking a shirt off me before. Let’s talk for a few minutes, and then we’ll get back to the game.”

  The corner of my mouth lifted in a half smile. “We can do that as long as you will tell me before the game starts again.”

  “Agreed,” she said, and then sat up and blew out a heavy breath. “Is it hot in here?”

  “Feels fine to me,” I said, amused. It really didn’t. I was on the verge of breaking a sweat, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. I was willing to lose a round or two of the game just so I could get some of these clothes off me, though. The thought of her stripping me of them only made me hotter. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “How long do you think this is going to work?” she said, and my heart fluttered rapidly in my chest until she asked another question. “I mean us moving back and forth between Alabama and Nevada? We
can’t do this forever, Ace. We both need our pack and pride just as much as they need us. It’s only been two days and I miss them so much.”

  “We will all be together soon, Andra. The Shift is coming up in a few months, and then our pride and pack will all be together in one place. I’ve already sent in the request that we be joined as one.”

  I heard her move and knew she was looking in my direction.

  “The Shift?” she asked.

  Huffing loudly in frustration, I sat up and crossed my legs beneath me. I had to keep in mind that all this happened so fast with Andra. She didn’t have time to learn all the ins and outs of our world. I was supposed to be teaching her, not humping her leg, like a dog. I took her hand in mine. “Didn’t your pack tell you anything?”

  “They didn’t have much time to, with everything that was going on, but I’ve never heard of the Shift before now.”

  “We don’t age, so we can’t stay in one place for more than thirteen years. Four months before the Shift, all the Alphas bring five shifters from their group with them to a Masquerade Ball. It is announced then where each pack, pride and any other were-groups will be moving next. Wherever my pride goes, you and your pack will go, too. We won’t be able to move to the same place if we aren’t mated, so I sent in the necessary paperwork to the Council to mate us.”

  “We all have to move?” she said, aghast. “All seventy-eight of us?”

  I chuckled, relieved that she had absolutely no problem that we were husband and wife now, according to shifter law. “And all thirty-six of my pride. We should feel lucky. Some shifter groups have close to a thousand members.” I thought of Justice then. He’d had over eight hundred shifters beneath him over sixty years ago. I had no clue how many he had now. I needed to better educate myself to see what we were up against.