Ah shit. That’s something that hadn’t really been dealt with. Yes, we had a fight over it in the kitchen, but then Cade came in with the news about Devon and then I was taken away. As a whole, we didn’t discuss my role and responsibility to Xane.
I expect the tension to go up more than several notches as I scramble to come up with a suitable response, but there is only a slight peak and then it dissolves. Curious. “Give me the rest of today with CK and Cole, Xane, I will come to you tomorrow morning and Lincoln, tomorrow afternoon,” I say and wait for the inevitable backlash.
“Done,” Xane and Lincoln say in unison and I wonder how that was so easy. I had meant it only as a starting point for a big negotiation. It is past time I find out about the last six and a half months.
“And me?” Sebastian asks. “When do I get to see you?”
“You don’t,” CK growls at him. “You keep your Light Fae mitts away from her.”
“No can do,” Sebastian says jovially. “My Light Fae mitts have to unite with her Dark Fae ones ASAP so that I can come home.”
That was a conversation I was hoping to have at a later date. I am almost certain I have chosen the Faeries over the Dragons after this whole debacle, but I need to tell my husband’s first, followed by my father who is probably the only one who can protect me from my mother’s undeniable wrath. Who said being a Queen was easy? I sigh and give Lincoln a kiss as he leans down to cuddle me. He is distant and that worries me. Did Chrissy manage to get her claws in him while I was gone and all but boot me out of the door?
“No,” he says out loud to me and turns away and leaves. Now I am worried.
Xane, on the other hand, is overly affectionate, which is also odd. He is usually aloof in the presence of the others, but I guess he is taking our marriage more seriously than I am.
“I have much to prepare,” he says. “We have until morning to prepare the biggest homecoming since, well, nobody. You are it.”
I chuckle at his enthusiasm and welcome his lightheartedness after Lincoln’s stern presence and even sterner exit. “I look forward to it. But no Xanthe. I am still furious with her.”
“Makes two of us,” he says. “If I had known.” He shakes his head. “I never would have let her do what she did.”
“I’m still not sure what it was she did, but if you find out let me know,” I say to him.
“Of course,” he says and kisses my hand before he Astraports out. That leaves Cade to deal with. I turn to him, still half snoozing on my lap. Every time I moved away, he followed me. “I should feed Cade,” I say, indicating him. Expecting a bit of privacy, more for Cade’s sake than mine, I huff at them as they stand there watching me. I touch his shoulder, Astralling him into the next room. I assume this isn’t occupied by anyone else, as they all seemed to be living in my room. He wakes up on the bed, startled out of slumber by the mode of transport.
“Christ,” he says. “A bit of warning next time.”
“Sorry, they wouldn’t leave so we left instead,” I explain.
“Why?” he asks suspiciously as I pull on the neckline of my top to give him access to my throat. Wrist just isn’t going to cut it today.
He hesitates, but I can see his fangs drop ever so slowly. He is staring at my jugular and in the next instant he has dragged me onto his lap and is gripping my upper arms as he sinks his teeth into me. He is weak and sluggish in his pull, but as my blood starts to course though him it picks him up and he bites harder. Both hurt. For some reason, I am feeling overly sensitive about this today. Must be all the trauma from Remiel’s claws. I go woozy as he finally pulls back, and he flops back to the bed. I just want to flop on top of him, but that would likely end up with him throwing me to the floor, so I flop next to him as I regain my strength.
“Thanks,” he says gruffly.
“Feel better?” I ask.
“A bit. Enough to take a shower,” he says, sitting up.
I also sit up and he gets the wrong idea as he growls, “Alone,” at me.
I hold my hands up. “I know. Relax.” Even though his body is straining to get to me, his will is strong, and he refuses to give in. Most of me is glad. There would be too much explaining to do, and it would change our relationship to something weird. My sire self, though, is a little insulted. He is probably the only man that I can think of, right now at least, who doesn’t want me. I don’t think he even finds me attractive. All his feelings are lusty Vampire ones. I sigh, wondering why I care so much and climb off the bed. “I’ll be back later to feed you again. In the meantime, try a little human blood, it will work wonders.”
“No,” he says determinedly. “If I didn’t drink while you were gone, why would I when you’ve returned?”
“Fair enough,” I murmur as I watch him stagger slowly to the bathroom and slam the door closed. I smile as I hear the lock click into place and decide not to torment him further and leave. I have some serious quality time to make up for with my husbands. I push open the door and hope that Devon has slunk off. I’m not ready to deal with him yet. It’s still too raw and painful and now this whole Laurentis connection thing is too much. I muse that we never did resolve CK’s paternity and I shiver when I think of Fraser as well. Was he also a part of this?
Cole and CK are waiting for me impatiently. Sebastian has left and so have Devon and Jess. It’s awkward and they are both looking at me like they want to eat me. Well, there’s only one way to deal with that. I strip off and in a matter of seconds, I am flat on my back on the bed with Cole feeding from my neck and CK feeding from my femoral artery. They are draining me to the point of dry, but as I don’t die, my regeneration survival eventually kicks in and I can feel my blood topping itself up, just to be slurped away again. It is the most disconcerting feeling, but soon they are both satisfied. After much fuss and bother, as I refuse to comment about the still visible claw scars across my stomach, CK offers me his own neck and I dive on him as quickly as he dove on me. He holds me tight against him and he is purring like a panther as I suckle from him. I run my hands down him and he is soon as naked as I am, and we scramble to get closer to each other. Cole is at my back almost instantly and I can feel his cool lips place kisses all the way down my spine. I push CK back to the bed, needing him, both of them, now, and I mumble, “Together.”
They both pause for a microsecond and then groan out loud as they get my meaning. We have never done this. In fact, I have only ever done this in Empress Aefre’s body (not that I can ever tell anyone that, of course). CK pulls me down, squashing my breasts against him as Cole grabs my backside and lifts me a little bit higher. CK doesn’t wait for further instruction. He is inside me with a swift stroke and Cole doesn’t hesitate for a moment either. I thought he would. I didn’t think he would be up for something quite so intimate. I ha
ve no doubt that CK has done this on more than one occasion, but I smash that thought as I don’t want to think about with whom he has done it. I stop thinking then and just feel. I feel everything. Every stroke from each of them. Every touch, every kiss. They are in perfect sync with one another and it is driving me over the edge. I cry out as the first wave hits me. I know it is going to be a tsunami of decadence and I want to feel every second of it.
Chapter 7
The Underworld, March 2014 – Jess