Evan had his suspicions about what was keeping Lila quiet on the way home, because of course he’d listened in on the women’s conversations. He decided to let her mull things over on her own before he started asking her what she was thinking about.
Upstairs in their room, alone at last, Evan and Lila stripped away their insecurities with their clothing. They’d only been mated for a week, and there was no time set aside for a honeymoon while Lila was still in training with Sebastian. They had to be content with only their nights alone.
So far Lila had been eager to make love as soon as they closed the bedroom door, but tonight Evan could sense her mind worrying over an idea that it couldn’t let go of. They undressed together, and naked Evan pulled Lila to him, and held her in his embrace for long minutes while he kissed her temple and she hugged him close.
“Would you like to talk about what’s bothering you, Angel?” he asked gently.
Lila sighed.
“I don’t know what to say, it’s so abstract and vague.”
“You’re worried about the prophecy---what it will mean for us.”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Because it worries me too, and I listen to your conversations.”
Lila couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her.
“Of course you do.” She gave him a squeeze so that he knew she was all right with his eavesdropping. As far as she was concerned, she had no boundaries her mate could not cross.
“What do you think about menages and sharing your mate?” she asked. They had never talked about it after the visit to the Oracle.
“I think that you are really asking two different things, Angel,” he answered truthfully, because he had done his own thinking on these subjects. “At least where you and the prophecy are concerned.”
“Oh?” Lila looked at Evan so earnestly that he had to smile.
“Let’s get into bed and talk about it.”
They were standing in the middle of the room naked, and Lila was rapidly cooling off. They got under the covers and Evan turned off his bedside light so that the only light came from Lila’s side, allowing her to see his face even though the light was low. They settled comfortably in each other’s arms and Evan began again.
“You’re asking me about menage. Truthfully, my only experience with menage, or multiple partners, is in bed. Sexually. My opinion is that if everyone involved is there for mutual gratification, no problem.
“When you ask my opinion about sharing my mate, it feels like a different question altogether. You are my mate, Lila. Are you askin’ if I want to share you wit’ anot’er man for sexual gratification, or share my mating bond to you wit’ a man who also sees you as his true mate?”
That was it exactly.
“And what if my magic tells me that he’s also my true mate?”
Lila rubbed her head into Evan’s chest seeking comfort.
“I hate that the prophecy is so vague, and that it doesn’t take your feelings into account. Or mine, for that matter.”
Evan smiled and held Lila close, kissing her forehead.
“The whole t’ing is too vague to worry over, yet we worry. For all we know, it’ll take years for the prophecy to finish. Maybe we shouldn’t borrow trouble, and just live now for each other. There will be time to worry later about what might come.”
Lila sighed. He was right, she should enjoy her sexy vampire for as long as she had him all to herself. She let her fingers wander over Evan’s pecks, circling his nipples and then drifting down his middle to circle his belly button. She felt his breathing pick up when her hand drifted lower to comb through his pubic curls.
He was already erect, but she didn’t touch his cock yet. Lila wanted to caress him intimately, to learn what made him feel good. So far she hadn’t put her mouth on him for more than a moment, and now she really wanted to, especially because he’d not yet asked her to.
Lila slid her hand down to his balls and fondled them as she began to kiss her way down his chest. Evan groaned and he spread his legs for her. His hands drifted aimlessly over her shoulders and back. Lila licked one of his nipples and he hummed his satisfaction. When she bit it, he hissed out a breath that was more to her satisfaction. She laid her head on Evan’s sternum and gazed down at his beautiful cock as she played with his balls.
“Did I ever tell you about learning how to swallow a sword?” She traced his length with one finger as she asked the question. Evan moaned. His hands gripping her shoulders and his breathing quickened.
“Let me show you,” she said and kissed a trail down his torso straight to his sex. She wrapped her hand around his shaft and stroked him once. Then she gave him a lick, like he was an ice cream cone.
Evan groaned with pleasure, and thought about how few blow jobs he’d enjoyed in his life. Fangs and cocks just didn’t go together. Then Lila’s mouth enveloped his crown and she sucked, and Evan stopped thinking.
“Aahhh,” he moaned.
The hand on his cock stroked slowly, and she sucked his length into her mouth about half way. Evan felt his cock press against the back of her mouth. Most women would back off from this feeling, but Lila did not. She let him rest there a moment, tonguing his length and sucking gently. Her mouth was not big, and he felt her teeth along the sides of his cock as she took him in. It was just enough pain to be extremely pleasurable as she slowly pulled back to his tip. She did it again, slowly sliding his cock halfway into her mouth until he was clenching his fists in the bedcovers. She knew the pleasure was torturously slow, and she wanted it to last. She sucked and pulled away to watch his face contort with ecstasy.
“The first lesson in sword swallowing is to relax the gag reflex.” Lila took on an instructional tone as she continued to stroke his length slowly.
“Once the throat is relaxed,” she continued, and leaned over again to lick him from root to tip, “one can swallow a short sword.”
Lila leaned over him and took his cock into her mouth again. Letting go of his shaft, she swallowed him slowly all the way to his balls.
“Fuuu,” Evan groaned, not even getting the whole curse out in the form of a word. No one had ever been able to take his nine inch cock this deep. Just as he thought it couldn’t feel any better, Lila swallowed, her throat muscles contracting and sucking at his length. Evan stopped breathing for a full minute as Lila’s throat and tongue caressed his full length. This was an epic blowjob, and Evan suspected it might kill him. As Lila pulled back up, swirling her tongue around his now very sensitive tip, Evan finally remembered to breath.
“Lila,” he began, but Lila didn’t wait to hear if he had more to say. She swallowed him all the way again, and began pumping him faster with each long suck, reducing her 600 year old vampire to a moaning puddle of helpless pleasure. She felt his balls draw up tight and his cock thickened. She took one last deep breath and swallowed him all the way as he came with another wordless cry. She held him in her throat until the pulsing in his shaft subsided. Only then did she pull away from him, kissed and licked the tip of his cock, and laid next to him to admire him.
Evan’s eyes slowly opened, and he looked at Lila with adoration. She smiled back at him, pleased with herself. Evan reached up, held her head in his hands, and pulled her down for a long kiss. How had he gotten so lucky?
They laid in each other’s arms for a long time, not saying anything. Then Evan remembered Lila holding the baby, cooing to it as it’s tiny hands waved in her face. She had looked so at peace in that moment. He would not be able to give that to her, at least not in the traditional way. It made his heart ache with sadness.
“What’s wrong?” Lila sounded alarmed. She raised her head to look at Evan.
He looked into her eyes and stroked her cheek.
“I can’t give you children, Angel.”
Lila heard the regret and sadness in his voice.
“It wouldn’t matter if you could, Baby, I can’t have them.” She laid her head next to his, her nose touching his cheek.
“Does it bother you?”
“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I thought I had plenty of time to think about it before. Now I feel bad for missing something I don’t even know if I wanted.
“What about you? Do you wish we could make babies?”
“For 600 years I was pleased that I couldn’t. Now...I wonder what it would be like---to share children with you.”
Evan felt Lila’s smile next to his cheek, but it felt bittersweet.
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Angel.”
“I’m not, it brought me you.”
“I think we would have found each other, magic or no.”
“I would be living like a human, where would we have met?”
“In a bar, across a crowded dance floor. I like to think that something about you would have captured my eye. I would have asked you to dance, we would have talked, and your intelligence would have kept my interest. I would have pursued you and made you mine.”
Lila rose to her elbow and stared at Evan.
“You would have mated a human?”
“I would have mated you, Angel. Then I would have convinced you to let me turn you, and we’d be right back here spending every night for the rest of our lives loving each other.”
“But no asshole mages or shifter attacks. Darn, I like your version better.”
Evan chuckled and rolled on top of her. He threaded his fingers into her silky hair and gazed deeply into her eyes.
“You are so beautiful, both inside and out. Christ, how I love you.” Evan’s lips descended to Lila’s and he kissed her with all the heart breaking love he felt for her at that moment. Lila felt his kiss brand her soul, and she held him to her, never wanting to let go.
Evan made love to her for hours until Lila couldn’t stop herself from yawning. She fell asleep in his arms, and Evan let himself rest the way that vampires do, by shutting off their conscious mind and drifting. He fell into a state of consciousness that was between wakefulness and sleep. Not easy for a vampire to do, as they never actually slept. It was like the semi conscious state humans experienced as they came out of REM sleep. Here, Evan dreamt.
He was walking in a snowy wood behind a tall man with long hair, dressed all in black.
They came to the edge of a small empty clearing, and stopped, waiting for something. As they waited, Evan looked around himself in wonder. The snow sparkled on the branches of the trees like diamonds. Hidden birds sang happily. The sky overhead was a clear cerulean.
Movement across the clearing caught his eye, and his angel stepped out of the woods. Lila was dressed in a long blue gown, her skin a few shades darker than his own, looked radiant against the dark color. He ran to her needing to feel her in his arms, feel that she was real. He hugged her tightly to him, and spun in a circle. They kissed, and he felt Lila’s joy.
“I love you Evan!” she cried.
“I love you, Angel,” Evan kissed her with fierce possession.
The stranger stood by, a patient sentinel, allowing the couple all the time they needed. When they separated, Lila looked up at the man in black whom she seemed to know, and smiled.
“Thank you,” she said to him.
The stranger looked down at her lovingly and smiled. It was then that Evan noticed that the stranger had the same face as Lila. Same eyes, cheek bones, chin, not the same hair color but the same arching brow. Around his neck he wore a plaid scarf looped loosely. It didn’t fit with his all black, almost military style.
“Evan, this is my invisible friend, Tee,” Lila said, and Evan didn’t think to question the statement.
Tee laughed, his eyes that were exactly the color hers were sparkled with mirth. Tee took one of Lila’s hands and placed it in Evan’s. He removed the scarf from his neck and wrapped it around their hands.
“Lila, daughter of the ancients, Chosen One to magic, I bind you to your first mate, Evan O’Connell of the Wolf Clan. Though you have bound yourselves to each other in your world, I now marry you together in mine. With this plaid, the symbol of Evan’s name and clan I tie your lives together forever here in the land of the Fey.”
“You may kiss your bride, again,” Tee winked at Evan.
Evan grinned at Lila and pulled her closer for the kiss.
Chapter 13
October
The day that Lila was to have lunch with Catherine DuBois, it was Sebastian who was nervously fussing over what she should wear and what they would talk about. Probably because he wasn’t invited, and wouldn’t be there to steer the conversation. Lila repeatedly assured him that she would not embarrass him, and that Catherine would probably just spend the time trying to convince her to throw a party at her teacher’s expense. Finally, she just left with Evan.
They arrived at Catherine’s townhouse in New Castle’s historical district. (Apparently, the mansion that had burned was her weekend home.) The little brownstone was very narrow and three stories high on a street of similar brownstones, all built in the early 1900’s. A matronly servant in a blue and white maid's uniform answered the door and showed them up to the parlor that seemed to take up the whole second floor. Catherine met them there with her usual vivacious greeting, offered them drinks, and when Lila explained that Evan was in guard mode, sat down with her on a couch and began her party campaign.
“As an elder, and one of the few high ranking female mages in the territory, I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to show yourself in the best possible light among the elite,” Catherine began, and Lila couldn’t help interrupting.
“Why is that?”
“Why is what?”
“Why are there so few high ranking female mages?”
“Oh, the stupid boys club, of course! Our women have always been encouraged to take the lesser roles. We are taught from a very young age not to look too smart or develop our skills too much, else we won’t get a husband, etc. It is ridiculous!”
“And how did you get away with it?” Lila smiled at Catherine’s impatience with male mages.
“Simple, I never wanted to bind another or have children, so I didn’t care what those pompous pricks thought.”
Lila barked out her laughter and surprise, and covered her mouth. When she got control of herself, she asked, “Then why do you advise me to do what is expected?”
That made the other woman pause, and she took a minute to study Lila. Lila met her gaze and waited her out.
“You, ma Cherie, are different, aren’t you.”
Lila raised her eyebrows in question.
“Catherine, what interpretation of the prophecy do you subscribe to?”
Catherine let out a deep sigh, and then the servant came in with a tray of food which she placed on the coffee table in front of them. It looked like a wide array of antipasto and fresh baked bread.
“I hope you don’t mind picnic style, I prefer to eat light during ze day.”
“It looks lovely,” Lila said. Truthfully, she expected some pretentious French cuisine, and was happy not to see snails on the platter. Catherine plated a little of everything and handed it to Lila with a fork and napkin before serving herself. Lila waited for Catherine to take her first bite of food before she took one of her own. She didn’t know where the bit of knowledge came from that informed her that this was the polite thing to do. Probably one of her historical novels.
While Catherine was putting food on both their plates, she seemed to be considering how to answer Lila’s question, so Lila stayed silent, letting the other mage speak when she was ready to. After a few bites, she said,
“I must confess that before your presentation, I did not put much stock in the prophecy. After all, it was proclaimed by men, for men,” she shrugged unapologetically.
“But then I saw your power, magnifique! And at the party, mon dieu, even more! I am back to studying ancient school books to catch up.”
She put a hand on Lila’s in the way that friends who have a shared secret do.
“Lila, you have the o
ld men scrambling! They are beside themselves with envy and they don’t know what to do.”
She pronounced Lila’s name the French way, the ‘i’ came out with an ‘e’ sound, Leela, and it fit the little French woman so well, it made Lila smile. Then she remembered what Evan had said to her about the mages wanting to control her.
“What do you think they will do?”
“What can they do? The council Head already has you surrounded by guards.” Her eyes flicked over to Evan who was calmly leaning against the wall near the doorway looking at his phone, his back to the women giving them the illusion of privacy. Lila looked over too, but her gaze got stuck on Evan’s perfect ass. She finally tore her eyes back to Catherine when she spoke again.
“I promise you, the one group who will not cross you is the mages. Alexander is too old and respected, and everybody likes him even if they don’t like his politics.”
“What part of his politics don’t they like?”
This was turning out to be the most informative conversation Lila had had in four months.
“He’s too liberal and inclusive for the old men. Connards!”
Lila didn’t know what that last word meant, but it sounded like a French insult.
“Do you know of other groups who would cross me?”
“Oh La, la! There are always plenty who want power, in every group. But no, I have not heard whispers yet. I will let you know if I do.” She gave Lila a small smile.
Catherine took another bite of something before she continued.
“There is one whom you might be wise to watch closely.”
Lila froze with her mouth open and a fork full of olive halfway into her mouth. She pulled her fork back and waited.
“Isobel De Medici,” Catherine whispered so low that Lila had to strain to hear.
“Jessica Rabbit?” Lila all but shouted the words, and Catherine cringed and looked over Lila’s shoulder in Evan’s direction. When he turned to face the women, Catherine sighed, realizing that it was useless to try and hide a conversation from a vampire in the same room. Instead she patted the chair next to the small couch she and Lila were sitting on.
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