Hair next, fashioned into a simple braid, and I kept the makeup light. I hoped we’d stop at his place after breakfast so he could change his clothing, so his parents didn’t know what we’d been up to last night and this morning. It was one thing to do the walk of shame out to breakfast. It was on a whole different level to do it bringing your girlfriend to meet your parents.
As we made our way downstairs, he pulled a phone from his pocket. I didn’t know he even had a cell phone. But he used it to call someone. “I need people to collect her things,” he said and hung up. That was honestly all he said. Not even a please.
Then he took my room key to hang it back on the key hook. What?
“Why did you do that?” I asked, pulling at his hand.
“Because you cannot stay here any longer.”
“And why is that?”
“Because, my dear one. You chose me.” He said it like it was that simple and I was simple to not have thought of it. Though that was as much as he explained.
Outside the boarding house, things got even weirder. We passed a newspaper stand. To my horror, three different papers with three different headlines assaulted us: “Aerie-Lord Shadow has met his match” and “Future King Claimed.” Then there was the best: “Sorry, ladies, you snooze, you lose. Aerie-Lord Shadow is off the market.” All of the headlines had the same picture below, Shadow carrying me, his lips pressed to mine, his hands holding my bottom walking us inside the boarding house last night.
“Dear lord,” I whispered. He grabbed my hand and pulled me close to his body.
“It will be fine, eaglet. Do not worry.”
“Everybody knows, Shadow.”
“It is fine, my dear one. It is our way.”
It might be his way, but it certainly wasn’t my way. I never announced to an entire city that I’d gotten laid before. It was humiliating.
I felt the eyes on us the whole time we walked. Eyes attached to people who judged me for taking this man to my bed. Even if they weren’t actually judging because ‘it was their way’, I felt judged.
To cheer me up, we popped into the coffee shop so he could buy me a mocha, then he brought me to a food truck, where he bought us these sausage, egg, and cheese cups that use hashbrowns as the base of the cup. Hollandaise completed the dish. We sat on the curb next to the food truck to eat. People shouted their congratulations as they passed. Some engaged us in conversation, wanting to get to know me, when they stopped for food.
I got more “you’re so tiny”s than anything. But several people did express how they thought I was pretty. So, there was that.
It wasn’t until he walked us up to the gates of the castle that the shock had worn off and my head cleared enough to realize that headline had read “Future King.” Future king. My Shadow… king?
Two men carrying staffs and wearing giant eagle headdresses along with feathered epilates on their uniforms pulled the gates open for us. “Aerie-Lord,” they said in greeting as they bowed. “M’lady,” they each said to me.
The whole scene was so formal compared to us walking up to the gates of the castle like tourists.
“So pretty,” the shorter of the two whispered as we passed. And by shorter, I simply meant not as tall as Shadow or the other guard, as no one in this city could be considered “short.”
“So tiny,” the other guard whispered back.
“Yes, like an eaglet,” I snapped as I felt my cheeks begin to heat with exasperation and embarrassment. The men snickered. Shadow snickered. But he snickered with a sweet, reassuring squeeze of my hand.
We walked up a stone path that led to a stone stairway; the combination put the castle high. Before the skyscrapers had gone up, I imagined it had sat regally above the city. The other day, on the walking tour with Crest, I’d noticed the castle had four turrets with puffed mushroom caps. Each cap had a balcony that encircled the entire turret. The center dome of the castle puffed out like a mushroom as well. The architecture struck me as ancient Persian, maybe? It was beyond anything I could have pictured for a royal family.
Glancing one more time at the guards behind me and then turning to take in the palace again, it hit me that we were on our way to meet Shadow’s family. The royal family.
Shadow’s family ruled the Roc.
Ho-ly shit.
Chapter Seven:
There’s Sex in the Air
A set of two more fully-decked-out uniformed guards with those same feathered epilates and headdresses opened the doors for me and Shadow, and we stepped inside. Despite the massive, attention-getting, marble pedestal in the center of the room holding an immensely greater golden urn filled to overflowing with sprays of purple, pink, white and yellow flowers and long stems of greenery, my eyes only rested on them for a second before shooting up to take in the center dome.
They’d made it entirely out of glass. The windows were decorated with scenes of colorful stained glass depicting a grand bird at war on one panel, a woman tending to the injured bird on the next. Then a somewhat racy interpretation of a man and woman mid-concubitus on the third. And finally, of a child being born. The child had golden eyes, shining brighter than the rest of the scene. Only the seams of each window, which were gilded in gold, shone as brightly. I’d never seen anything like it.
We were greeted by a man I presumed to be a butler because he was wearing a white button-down, black tie and black slacks and he bowed to Shadow, informing him that his parents wished us to wait here in the foyer until they were ready for us. I chuckled thinking of this space as a foyer. It was larger than any apartment I’d ever lived in.
As the butler waited for Shadow’s response, it hit me—worse than meeting the king and queen of the land, I was about to meet my boyfriend’s parents. His parents. Hell, I’d never met my own parents. How could I meet someone else’s? “I can’t meet them,” I murmured.
“You can, my dear one.”
“No, I really can’t. I need to go.”
Not that I expected it to work; he didn’t let me go. A futile attempt at best. But what I didn’t know was that he’d take my hand and lead me into a closet, a closet bigger than my room at the boarding house.
The room went black when he closed the door behind us, but he didn’t bother to turn on the light. Instead, he reached around front of me, unbuttoned and unzipped my corduroys and along with my panties, dragged them down my legs. Then I heard him unzip his pants. He bent me forward and ordered me to brace my hands against my thighs. An order I obeyed. This pair-mating was wild. My love life had been drier than sub-Saharan Africa for the better part of two years and now here we were in a coat closet ready to go at it for the third time within twenty-four hours.
It was quick and to the point—we weren’t making love in here. He was calming my nerves. Yet that didn’t matter, as every time with Shadow got better somehow, because it wasn’t as if he had to learn my body, but that he already knew every way to light me up. My legs began to give out, but my mate held strong, keeping me upright so he could continue his exquisite thrusting. My body began to shake. It was going to hit. It was going to hit hard.
When I orgasmed, I cried out loud, just knowing anyone who passed by the door heard me, and he grunted, although his grunting came much quieter. My knees buckled with his release, only Shadow’s firm grip on my hips kept me standing. The feel of him, the tender way he stroked his finger over the exposed skin where he held me despite our heavy, ragged breaths and the depletion of energy weighing us down, was beautiful.
Glorious. Exquisite. Freaking, freaking perfection.
His head dropped to my back, resting there a few more moments before he placed a gentle kiss to where my bra strap clasped, then righted me, righted my pants, and then zipped his own. Casually, like we hadn’t just banged in his parents’ closet, he led me by the hand back into the foyer.
“Feel better, eaglet?” he asked, sweetly if not somewhat smugly.
I did. He’d sexed that worry right out of me, at least for the time be
ing.
“We really have to go now, though.” I informed him.
“Why?” His word took on a somewhat exasperated, somewhat humorous tone.
“Because we smell like sex.”
Shadow smirked. “Yes, we do.”
“Everyone will know… what we did.”
His smirk turned into a brilliant smile. “Yes, they will.”
“Shadow,” I protested.
“Meena,” he teased back, then he shut up whatever else I might have said by cupping his large hands around my cheeks, tilting my chin up and kissing me deeply.
It was mid-deep kiss when the butler reentered the foyer. “Lord, your mother and father are ready to receive you and your mate.”
I tensed and he dropped his hand to rest between my shoulder blades in order to move me along. We were escorted into a private throne room. More like an office. His father sat, his mother stood, looking expectant, then excited. She clasped her hands together at her chest and exclaimed, “Welcome. Oh my, welcome.”
Then she, no kidding, rushed us and enveloped the both of us in a big bear hug, which was quite a feat, seeing as Shadow was bigger than a bear all on his own.
“Mother, I’m proud to present to you my mate, Meena.”
“Meena,” she repeated. She said my name reverently, with tears shimmering in her eyes. “I am Avalon.”
It was quite the opposite reaction from his father, who sniffed the air and said to Shadow specifically, “Smells like you took advantage of the closet, boy.”
My eyes grew huge and my mouth dropped open.
“Talon,” his mother admonished her husband in a half-shout, half-whisper.
At the same time Shadow said, “Father.” But Shadow’s admonishment came out with more of a chuckle.
“What?” the king asked innocently. “Did we not take advantage of that closet when we were first pair-mated, my queen? You, so nervous to meet my parents, I had to do something to calm you down.”
And at that, Shadow burst out laughing.
Forgetting myself, I punched Shadow’s arm, but only managed to hurt my fist. I tried to shake the pain away as he wrapped his arm around me to draw me to his side and brought my fist up to his lips to kiss the pain away. His way worked much better.
“We thought you might prefer a private meet first before we went to the dining room for brunch. Your brothers have not arrived yet. And last I saw, Crest in particular seemed saddened that she chose you,” Talon said to Shadow. “Though after the battle, I had no doubts.”
“I must confess,” his mother said, “after hearing about the battle, I knew she was your one.”
“I hoped, but she still could have very easily chosen Rogue or Crest. They too, were at the battle.” Shadow gave me a small squeeze.
“Will you tell me now why you sent me out on dates with your brothers?”
“It’s the Roc way, Meena. The woman chooses her mate. Centuries ago, women were made to marry the men of their father’s choosing. It was with great peril that the mother of the Roc defied her father to marry the man she loved. To keep our secret, she put out a powerful spell for there to be one person in the world made for each Roc. But in doing so, she took away choice, and that, she could not abide.” Shadow shifted me to stand with my back pressed against his front and draped both arms around my shoulders to come to rest across my chest.
“Thus, our mating ritual was born,” Avalon picked up the story for her son. “Their females spend time with their intended and two others. Then she will feel the difference between the love of her intended and the lust of the others. The only other eligible men in the city who could challenge Shadow for your hand were his brothers.” She gazed lovingly on her son. “Though with Shadow being oldest and you being a witch, I knew you had to be his destined.”
“I’m not a witch,” I replied quickly.
They all laughed softly at my response.
“Meena, my dear,” Avalon said, “you are. Just as I am, as was Shadow’s grandmother and so back throughout the ages. It’s how you could talk with my son as bird. Did your mother not explain this to you?”
“Uh, no… I never knew my mother. I grew up in foster care.”
Avalon’s smile died as she looked on me with pity. “Oh, my girl. You must be so confused. How did you deal with the magic?”
“I didn’t. My life had no magic. I worked hard for everything.”
She cocked her head. “So, you felt nothing when you met my son?”
“Oh, I felt something,” I said, then realizing what I said, blushed hard. Shadow touched the tip of his nose to mine, ran it up the bridge and back down before he quickly kissed me. “I love it when you do the nose thing,” I admitted to him.
“It is an eagle’s kiss,” he told me. “We only do it to our mates. You are the only woman I have ever done that to.”
“I wasn’t your mate the first time you did that.”
“Oh, you were… even if you did not know it. You have been mine since you mended my wing.” He kissed me once more. “And you have magic. The sparks from your fingertips. You shudder every time you feel the electricity course through your body.”
“You noticed that?” I asked.
“I notice everything about you, eaglet.”
Before we could get into that, a knock sounded on the door.
“Enter,” Talon shouted.
The butler who’d led us in here stood in the threshold. “Your Majesties, the Aerie-Lords have arrived. They are in the dining room.”
“Good. Let us eat.” The king clapped his hands together, then pushed up out of his throne.
We all walked out to another room, a small dining room, which I knew instinctively to be for the family only.
Both Rogue and Crest, looking as beautiful as I’d ever seen them, smiled at me and sniffed the air. “Someone took advantage of the closet,” Rogue said.
“Right?” Crest agreed. “Our brother is a stronger man than me. If she had chosen me, forget about brunch with the family—I would still be in there fucking her brains out.”
“Crest,” Shadow warned his brother. “Do not talk about sex with my mate.”
“Speaking of…” Rogue pulled out a chair and sat down. He plucked a pear from a fruit bowl and bit a large chunk out of its flesh. “When is the party?”
“What party?” I asked.
Rogue laughed as he licked the juice from his bottom lip. “What do your people call it… the wedding reception?”
“Who got married?” I asked next.
They all chuckled. As if I’d said something funny.
“You did, last night,” said Crest. “Did you not? You gave her the chain, right, brother?”
Shadow smiled, broad and proud. “I did.”
I pushed away from my… my… husband. “You mean we’re married?” I shouted.
Shadow reached out to pull me back to his side. “What did you think a pair-mating was, my dear one? I told you we mate for life. What does that sound like?”
Dammit. He was right. Girlfriend? How stupid could I be? He’d said they mate for life.
“We will hold a lavish ceremony,” explained Shadow. “This will incorporate your human traditions. Many heads of state will be invited. The people have been waiting long years for a royal wedding to occur. Plus, we throw a good party afterward.”
“Heads of State?” I asked.
“Regents from Roc cities around the world,” Shadow started. “Leaders of other shifter clans—allies or clans we wish to make allies.”
Other Roc cities? “How man—” I started to ask when I was interrupted by the king.
“You have mated?” Talon, the king, demanded. “There is no going back. The ceremony is mere formality. You gave her your chain. The Roc mate for life. She must feel it.” He looked to me. “Tell me you feel it.”
“No. Yes, I feel it. It was just, um… a miscommunication. I didn’t know we were actually, you know, married last night. In a whorehouse of all places.”
>
“Whorehouse?” King Talon shouted. “Why did you not take her to a mating house?”
“I did. Meena, why do you think it a whorehouse?” Shadow turned me, gripping both my arms firmly above my elbows.
“Only women stay there… and well… the men, I’d see them leaving in the morning.”
“Yes, leaving only after they had mated. Otherwise, they leave at the end of the evening as my brothers had. When a woman is from out of town or lives on the other side of the city from where her choices reside, she moves into a mating house temporarily until the mate is chosen. Then the pair move into a home together.”
Well that would’ve been nice to know before now. “Did you ever stop to think I’m not from here? I’d have no way to know this stuff. For instance, that’s why you said I’m not returning—because we’re moving in together?”
“Maybe instead of doing her in the closet, he should have briefed her,” Rogue said.
“I think he had more fun debriefing her in the closet,” Crest joked back.
“Enough,” Shadow said through a chuckle. “You are embarrassing my mate.” Then he pulled out a chair for me to sit on, which I did, and he sat next to me.
I wasn’t super hungry because we’d eaten at the food truck earlier, but they had light fare for me to pick at. Between bites, I thought of something to ask Shadow. “Where did you get the chain? I mean, who made it?”
“Ah, there is a jeweler in the old country—the trade passed down through every generation. They have the gift to know which chain to bestow on a baby boy when he is born. Although, some women commission chains of their own to give, when at the age of mating they find they are destined to pair with their own kind. When we have our boy, I will go to the old country.”
I choked on the bite of yogurt I’d taken. So much that Shadow had to slap me on the back several times. “Our… um… boy?”
“Yes, my dear one. We will eventually have children. I need an heir.”
Flight: The Roc Warriors (Immortal Elements Book 1) Page 8