by Erin R Flynn
She searched my eyes, clearly getting there was more to this. “Fine, but I want a ring. I was thinking like an earring, as wearing a rock in the apocalypse is stupid. Maybe a tattoo on you that you’re mine.”
“Fuck, I so love you,” I chuckled, kissing her again. “You have to officially accept like you did Cerdic.”
“Where are you kissing?” she giggled.
“Oh, it’s more than a kiss, My Princess,” I purred, yanking off my clothes. I set them on the ground and laid down on them, holding my arms open for her. “Accept me, Inez. Drink my blood and accept my body in yours.”
She didn’t hesitate, her gaze saying she understood it wasn’t the time to question but act and because she trusted me. She undressed, and before I could say anything, her fangs were out and cutting my hand. She used my blood to coat my dick and then sat on me. I watched in awe as she did the same to my other hand and moved both to her breasts as she leaned over. “Show me your throat.”
“Oh fuck,” I groaned, loving that she knew this was right even on an instinctual level. I bared my neck to her, and she struck hard, drinking me deeply as she ground her hips against mine.
She raised her head, licking my blood off her lips and fangs, looking the powerful princess she was, the predator she was. She kept my gaze and didn’t say a word as she rode me, slapping my hands away when I tried to help. I was completely entranced with her beauty, the passion she felt being with me, and didn’t feel my orgasm building until she finished hard, digging her nails in my chest as she did.
And then she did it all over again, feeding from me and riding me like she owned me.
And she abso-fucking-lutely did.
“There, I accepted twice,” she panted when we were done. “And so did you. Those were pretty good orgasms you had there, huh?”
“Amazing,” I promised as I sat up, kissing her and nibbling on her lower lip. “It’s always perfect with you, but those were the most amazing of my life, my love, My Princess.”
“You’re making me want to go again, but I’m dehydrated, and I know we need to talk,” she grumbled, shivering when I ran my thumbs over her nipples. “Yeah, those are super sensitive, and my cramps are starting, so my period is coming, late as always.”
“Okay, female vampires are every six weeks, not a month, and we’ll talk about that later—and a lot because clearly Darius didn’t tell you anything I thought he did—but this situation first.” I smiled when she nodded, using my shirt to clean her up when she moved off of me. “You trust me, right?”
“Yes, but if you’re going to tell me you have some secret love child, I’m going to be super pissed I’m just finding out now,” she joked, trying to break the tension I knew she felt. And I appreciated it.
“No love children or any children,” I swore to her as we got dressed, then I sat and pulled her on my lap so we were as close as possible. “The leopards are watching the hawk?”
Her gaze darted behind me, understanding we weren’t alone and the vampires had joined us.
“Yes, he took the world’s shortest shower and crashed,” Darius said. “I mean, he’s dead to the world. It’s gotta be a bitch flight from Ireland.”
I nodded I heard him but turned and cupped her face so she focused on me. “Here’s the crash course we’ve been working up to, but a court made contact earlier than we would have guessed.” I took in a slow breath when she nodded. “What Cerdic did is like dating, but he’s still on Team Wessex. When courting it’s the time for alliances, we’re pawns for our family covens, and what we can get for them.”
“It’s the time a birth coven tries to get what they can if there’s a real chance. Sometimes it’s as simple as stacking the deck against a potential threat,” Darius added. “Other times, it’s not so simple or nice.”
She nodded, and I went on.
“Engagement means I’m neutral. You’ve accepted me to the level of trusting me in your inner circle. I can be alone with you, unlike Cerdic where we’re not sure if he’s up to something. You’re sniffing each other out. I’m now your intended, and there might be posturing between courts, but I’m removed from it. I won’t side with you because you haven’t taken my oath and could still reject me.
“But I won’t push for anything for my birth coven either, as I could be yours forever and my loyalty yours. Once I’m sworn to you—I will always love my family and birth coven, but the moment you take my oath, I have no alliance with them. I take your house name, and I may be her son, or brother to my sister if we visit, but I am yours first, second, and third.”
She bobbed her head but then swallowed loudly. “What did your mother say in the letter?”
“It’s not what she said but what I know,” I sighed, taking her hands that she was twisting together nervously in mine. “Not every princess takes over the coven. You know that nobles are male and female, only the first female born of a princess is normally a princess and will take the coven one day. My grandmother had three princesses, the first being my mother so she took over.”
“So your aunts started new covens?” she asked, searching my eyes for answer.
“Or take over another coven,” Cerdic muttered. “Which was what my grandmother did and how an originally German coven took power in England. She used the backing of her mother and older sister, their court, and power she built and took over a weaker coven.”
“Your mother wants to take over the coven I’ve not even built yet?” she about squeaked.
“No, but she would…” I looked to Darius for help. I didn’t know the right way to phrase this. It was hard to speak of it objectively since it was my family.
Cerdic actually answered though. “My grandmother’s younger sister didn’t want to lead a coven or take over. She was accepted into another coven. For an established coven like the O’Cleirgh’s it’s like adopting a daughter almost. His sister would take over, but any others would be below her, and the ruling princess is boss.”
“And my mother has two such princesses at her court,” I admitted. “My mother is not a bad woman, but she would do anything for the coven, our family. She’s the shield that protects thousands of people, and that responsibility comes with a certain amount of lethalness, coldness to make the hard decisions.”
She licked her lips, glancing at Darius before meeting my gaze again. “She saw you found someone that would be good for her coven, didn’t she? You want me to go restore the power and whatever and have that alliance.”
“Yes and no, well yes, but not yet.” I waved her quiet. “Yes, she clearly knows I found a powerful tool that could be an extremely rare asset to the coven. That was pretty much the wording, and yes, she wants me to return home with it. She didn’t know it was you or a princess, that was why the hawk was so shocked.”
“But now you can’t because we’re engaged,” she muttered, rubbing her neck. “I get it, you just became Switzerland or whatever so you aren’t working an angle for her. But you’re telling me what’s going on, so you’ll tell her something too?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to go to Ireland?”
“Yes, very much so,” I admitted, waving off the others when they started grumbling or cursing. “My mother is a powerful ally. Yes, I want you to go and help my family, but not yet. You are not ready or even close to being ready to go to court and all the dangers and traps there. You go there now and my mother won’t force you, but she will fucking move heaven and earth to have you join her court.”
“She’ll trap you because once you join, that’s it,” Darius warned. “She’s your mother and not like you have the freedom like an adult. It’s the cost of her protection. She’ll limit how many nobles you have and whatnot.”
I nodded, swallowing loudly. “And she would never let me give my oath to a princess of her court. She’d demand better for me.”
“Well, that alone would make me tell her to fuck off,” she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. “Fine, I know I’ve been
ditching this topic because fuck, is it deep and layered and I’m sort of on the deep and layered quest of Aether’s, so like uuuggghhhh.” She scrubbed her hands over her head, seeming agitated and by more than the topic.
“You need to let out the energy from having Jaxon’s blood,” Darius interjected.
She nodded, sliding off my lap and going over by a large tree near us. She touched it as she focused, and my eyes went wide as that one and dozens of others turned to sawdust. She came back to me and started pacing like we weren’t all completely shocked and mouths hanging open that she’d just done that.
“Okay, so you’re saying you give her a bit of a dance? Say we’re engaged and I’m a powerful friend for her to have, a good alliance on both ends, but making it clear that I won’t join her but she’d be stupid not to make sure we’re buddies. So I go after we start building whatever I’m going to build on the map?”
“Are we just ignoring you did that, love?” Cerdic asked when she glanced between us.
She winced and glanced over her shoulder before facing us again and looking just as shocked. “Okay, that’s new. I just did a tree once to practice a bit on my own without all the eyes. I can’t put it back to a tree, and I figured it’s because it was alive. I had a dream and I wanted to try it.”
“Um, we’ll get back to that and discuss your period as well later,” I sighed, scrubbing my hands over my hair.
She gave me a weird look. “I know how to handle my period, Jaxon. I don’t know what there is to talk about, but Darius told me vampire birds and bees aren’t like human ones. I’m all caught up.”
“No, you’re not because you kept dodging me when I tried to bring it up,” Darius mumbled. “You’ve not been around four male, adult vampires, nobles when you’re menstruating.”
“The two in your bed will get a bit aggressive, but more than that, desperate to please you, hover and practically beg to wipe your arse,” Cerdic explained. “I’ve never seen it crack Kristof at all, but even I get… Itchy like a puppy wanting attention. Your scent will drive us a bit bonkers, but it’s not a full week like humans, right?”
“No, normally three or four days,” she confirmed. “So weird, okay, we’ll get back to that and for real, I won’t blow it off.” She paced a bit again before stopping, opening her mouth, but then closing it and pacing again. She did it twice more before blowing a raspberry. “I need to think on this a bit more, but I need some starting round answers.”
“Whatever you need,” I promised.
“Is your mother the type to destroy what she can’t have?”
“No, no, not even remotely,” I swore to her. “She won’t bat an eyelash to decimate any threat to our family or the coven, but she’s not one to burn bridges or risk fallout. Yes, she would try to trap you, but she would be impressed with power and me being at a strong coven, not try to squash you.”
She bobbed her head and glanced at Cerdic. “Is your mom buddies with his?”
“They have an alliance,” Cerdic confirmed. “I actually met him when he was an ankle biter. He was cute then.”
“I’m still ridiculously cute,” I grumbled, not having known he’d visited.
“So Jaxon’s mom would know you if she saw you?”
“Aye, as I’ve visited again since he’s been out on his own,” Cerdic answered. “What are you plotting, love? I warn you my sister is actually in charge now and not as nice as his mother.”
“Right, fuck, so confusing on the generations and living centuries,” she muttered, pacing again as she kept talking under her breath like she did a lot, still not getting we could hear her. “So she could start with alliances and dowries if we’re only dating, but a sister wouldn’t have as much pull with her brother’s affairs as opposed to a mother, and giving her a chance to try says I’m young and maybe a doormat.
“Fine, Jaxon’s mom would probably send a messenger or see what she could get for her coven for the information Cerdic’s here for, but risking pissing me off as the unknown would be stupid, so Cerdic’s sister would be the wild card, but it’s the apocalypse and everyone has to be smarter even if they’re spoiled or a bit evil. But the hawk is going to report how I behaved here, so that’s a factor.”
“It is, and now is the time to fake it and fake hard that your court is in order and you’ve got your shit together,” I told her firmly, winking when she flinched that we heard her. “Your grasp on it all is impressively spot on given you’re about two minutes new to this.”
“Yeah, so I need to think a bit more and the ghosts are going to start, so let’s time this out and I’ll get back to you on the plan.”
“And then we can talk about you accepting my request of engagement, as there are some things I wanted to say to you as well,” Darius muttered, giving me the stink eye before cupping her face. “He’s not the only one who feels that for you.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter who got to say it first, as you got my virginity, and so he got this, and all that matters is how we feel,” she declared firmly. “And yes, as soon as the hawk is gone we can have our romantic moment if you want.”
“I want,” he growled, swooping her up and heading back to camp, the three of us easily able to keep up with him.
“How do you have power and all of this?” the hawk demanded of me seconds after Darius set Inez on her feet. “What house is she from? There isn’t a coven around here.”
“I will answer my mother’s concerns,” I told him firmly.
He looked at her. “Princess, which house are you from?”
“I think you need to get some more sleep,” Inez said with a dramatic sigh. “No, really, go back to sleep and maybe pull your head out of your ass because I forgave you earlier since you traveled so far with a message from Jaxon’s mom, but you’re not one of her nobles. You’re not even one of his sister’s nobles. You’re her fuck buddy, so go back to bed or my leopards might eat you.”
He swallowed loudly and dipped his head. “I apologize, but there are questions that need to be answered.”
“And I will but not to you.” She gave him a scathing look. “And don’t ever be dismissive of my beloved again. He gave you the answer he should. You may be screwing a princess who will be boss one day, but he’s engaged to one.”
The hawk’s eyes went wide, glancing between us. “As a representative of the O’Cleirgh court, I believe I need proof of that.”
I internally winced, not having thought he would be so brazen and dare ask that, but he probably knew there was a lot more going on here.
She ignored him and glanced at Callum. “Are you taking first round of ghost duty? They’re going to start soon, and I want to change first.”
“Yup, I’m first, and we’re clearing more of the city.”
“Princess, I—” the hawk started.
“Was going to bed as I told you,” she told him firmly. “I heard you that the O’Cleirgh court would want proof of that. My ears are just fine.” She gave him a dismissive wave as she headed to the camper. “But you’re just the messenger and fuck buddy. I’m not giving you shit and certainly not with that attitude and lack of apologies.”
“I do apologize,” he argued, bowing this time. “The situation is a bit confusing, and you didn’t even know about hawk shifters or—”
“Again you are asking me to explain things to you, and you should stop that.” She gave him a quick glance. “Last question I answer of yours. I’ve had my coffee since your arrival. I’ve never witnessed a hawk shifter transform. I clearly know about shifters having knights, and I knew hawks were Jaxon’s sister’s spirit animal.”
“Next question you ask thinking you have the right to an answer will irk me as you annoy our princess,” Kristof warned. “And I won’t care whose boy toy you are.”
“I apologize, profusely. I will rest until Jaxon has a response for his mother.” He shot me a look as if daring me not to reply to the letter, knowing that even if I was engaged to Inez, I was still her son.
&nbs
p; Crap.
9
While we were clearing the city and getting supplies, I picked up a smart phone with a good camera. Callum had actually explained to me that a lot of the smaller electronics weren’t normally affected by an EMP unless they were plugged into the grid when it blew so a lot of it was I charged them up. And why would people carry them around when they couldn’t recharge them or make calls?
Fair enough. And items like iPods lost charge over time, so I hadn’t always been fixing them.
Still, I charged the phone and worked out some details with my plan. Then I made us stop again and got some noise canceling headphones for Mr. Hawk to enjoy while he got some more rest. I didn’t like how demanding he was. He was assuming what we had was all he saw. He was right, but it was stupid to assume anything during an apocalypse, and it was clear we were on the move.
When we got back, I asked Wilson to get the big mattress and put it somewhere with good lighting to shoot a video before taking a shower. I picked out a black silk robe and cornered the hawk, giving him the headphones and an iPod.
“I am princess here, and even if you caught us traveling and not at my court, you will remember that going forward. I will give you the proof Jaxon’s mom would want for you to take back, a gift that I would let a messenger request that of me given she can’t pick up the phone and call me herself. It’s not for your ears, so nap and listen to music, or I will let Kristof dunk you in the ocean until you need time to thaw.”
He swallowed loudly and accepted it from me. “Of course, Princess Inez. I do apologize for my behavior. I should have been more polite. I’m a bit out of my depth here as well, and answers will be demanded of me.”
“I know,” I chuckled, giving him a placating look. “That’s why you’ve not been plucked for pushing. You expected a too long flight and to be the hero with word from the beloved son, and now you’re in the middle. Behave and I’ll make sure you’re not.”
“Thank you,” he breathed and did as I said.