“Well,” Thrace says, clea
ring his throat. “If you ever want to do that again, I am happy to help.”
“Leave her alone,” Sebastian says to him and Thrace just shrugs.
“I will if she wants me to,” he says.
“Liv,” Sebastian snaps at her again and she draws in a deep breath to steady her racing heart. He can hear it from here. He can also tell she is highly aroused, and no way is he letting Thrace get his hands, never mind his lips, on her again. Sebastian drags her away and she titters and waves back to Thrace as she stumbles behind him. Geez, it's like she is drunk! He has never drunk pure Faerie blood before and now he never will if this is the side effect. His own must be heavily diluted, as she doesn’t get giddy around him when she drinks. Thrace grins and waves at her and her cheeks flush and then she puts her hand up to her mouth to hide it as Drake comes storming out of the banquet hall.
“Aeval!” he calls to her and she gulps.
“Uh-oh, I’m in trouble now,” she snickers at Sebastian. He stares at her in disbelief as she launches herself at Drake, throwing her arms around his neck. He looks taken aback for a moment, before he hesitantly puts his arms around her and then hugs her fiercely, a look of awe on his face as she whispers, “I love you, Daddy,” to him. Sebastian steps forward to take her back with an apologetic look at Drake, but Drake ignores him and holds onto her tightly. Sebastian is dumbfounded. He knows he hasn’t been around here in the last dozen centuries, but he remembers Drake, King of the Dark Fae, to be a fearsome warrior that scared the pants off anyone who had the unfortunate luck of being in the same vicinity as him. Even those in his family were terrified of him and, well, to be fair, he hasn’t seen much of a change there – except with her. How does she do it? She can make any man turn into a pile of goo to please her no matter what the relationship, or lack of relationship, as the case may be. He is still staring at them as Drake clears his throat and puts her down.
She looks up at her father. “Nite nite, Daddy. Sebastian and I are going to bed now,” she declares with a hiccup and Drake’s blazing eyes find Sebastian’s and he is ashamed to say, he flinches. Yep, he is still a scary ass motherfucker, no doubt about that.
“What is the meaning of this?” Drake barks at him.
Sebastian explains as best he can, and Drake turns to where Thrace is watching them from several feet away. Thrace has the good sense to do one before Drake turns back to him. “You will ensure that this never happens again. I will not have her compromising herself. Look at her, if you hadn’t come for her who knows what would have happened,” Drake hisses and Sebastian does look at her. She is swaying in a non-existent breeze with a sweet smile on her face, her arms around her father’s waist. Thrace’s blood really did a number on her. “Take her to her room and then you will leave her there. You will not take advantage of her in this state,” he says. “Do you hear me?” Drake yells and he tears his eyes away from her.
“Yes,” Sebastian says quickly.
“Where is the guard that was supposed to be watching her?” Drake asks, looking around.
Sebastian shakes his head. “He wasn’t here when I came to find her.” He pities the poor Faerie who abandoned his post. He probably won’t live to see sunrise, even though he is sure that Thrace spelled him to disappear, but Drake will not accept that as a good enough reason.
“Take her now,” Drake says, gently removing her arms from him. “And heed my warning, Kalen, if I find out you stayed with her, you are a dead man.”
Sebastian nods again and takes Liv’s arms to steady her. “I will get her into bed and stay just until she falls asleep.”
Drake nods at him and then looks at his daughter and his eyes soften. “Good night, my Princess,” he whispers. “Sleep well.” He leans down to kiss her on her forehead, and she closes her eyes and pats his chest which, in her flat shoes, is as high as she can reach on him.
Sebastian pulls her away and put his arm around her waist and leads her to her room. He can feel Drake’s eyes on them until they turn the corner and then he relaxes a bit. She notices too and laughs at him.
“Don’t be so nervous, Kalen,” she says to him with as straight a face as she can. “I want you to stay with me. I’ll protect you from my dad.” She snorts into hand at that and says, “Dad!” before she laughs uncontrollably as he ushers her into her bedroom and over to the bed.
She calms down after a few minutes and says, “You are going to have to explain to me why that doesn’t happen, when I drink from you.” She adds after a slight pause, “And why it never happened after I drank from Trystan.”
“I will try my best to explain it when you are sober, Princess, but now you need to get some sleep.”
“Sex first, then sleep,” she says with a pout that makes him want to rip her gown off her and do as she asks.
“I value my life, Livvie,” he says to her shaking his head. “Drake scares me way more than you do.”
“Humph,” she says rudely as she starts to get undressed.
“Come now, get into bed,” he says to her, pulling the covers back. He does have to wonder why he is not tearing at her at this moment. She is in no fit state to stop him from trying to conceive this baby with her right now, but he is not so sure he can go through with it while she is drunk.
“Sebbie,” she complains, and he chuckles at the nickname, “come to bed with me. I want you.” She throws her arms round him, pushing her breasts into him and kisses him soundly on the mouth and he loses all of his morals. He is a cad, a disgusting beast not fit for being near her, but he can’t help it. She laughs in delight as he rips at his clothes to get himself as naked as she is, and she pulls him down on top of her. It’s a mesh of limbs and lips and fangs and soon they lay spent and she is away in dreamland before he has even rolled off her. Great Seb, what a fucking stand-up guy you turned out to be, he sighs to himself as he runs his hand through his hair. If he doesn’t get out of here soon, Drake is going to have his head. He hates leaving her while she sleeps. It makes him feel even worse for taking advantage of her, but he has no doubt her father will be along shortly to ensure her well-being.
Sebastian gets dressed quickly and heads out with a loving, lingering glance back at her. Tomorrow they are back to the real world and he will be dismissed again. With a sigh, he closes the door and slopes off back to his father’s palace some several miles away.
Chapter 14
Buckinghamshire, England, March 2013 – Xane
Flick, flick, flick. The cards are the only sound being made in the library as he flicks them at the wastepaper basket. He feels useless and useless is infuriating. He has spoken to every contact he has, and no one can tell him anything about how to either get himself to her, or her out. He knows Lincoln said she was doing okay, Dragon struggling aside, but he wants to see her for himself. That place…well, she doesn’t belong there.
“What do you want?” he asks, as he senses Aster, his second-in-command, hovering next to him.