“Brother,” Rissian called, “it’s been a long time.”
Spiro moved from his side to embrace his brother, leaving Zuriel standing with his friends. Shifting from foot to foot, he ducked his head and fumbled his fingers behind his back, wracking his brain for his next move. He doubted he had to bow to the younger prince, but then again, he didn’t know a damn thing about being the consort of a royal.
His old defense mechanisms kicked in, throwing up walls to protect him against possible embarrassment or rejection. He stood a little straighter, held his head a little higher, and popped his hip out to the side while adopting a cocky grin. The best defense was a good offense, and by the time Spiro beckoned him forward to make the introductions, Zuriel was prepared to be as offensive as necessary.
“Riss, I’d like you to meet my mate, Zuriel. Lirimaer, this is my younger brother, Rissian Araceli. You can call him Rissian, Riss, or asshole. He’ll answer to anything.”
Tracing his top lip with his tongue, Zuriel sashayed a little closer, completely invading the prince’s personal space, and held his hand out. “Well, hello, handsome.”
Rissian appeared taken aback by the bold behavior, and he glanced at Spiro worriedly before taking Zuriel’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Zuriel.”
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine.” He purred the last word, allowing it to roll off his tongue.
“This is not good,” Mihail whispered to someone behind him. “What the hell is he doing?”
“Being a jackass,” Jacobi answered, not bothering to keep his voice down.
Footsteps came closer, and the next thing Zuriel knew, a hand smacked against the back of his head. “What was that for?” he demanded, rubbing at his skull.
“Sorry about that,” Jacobi answered, not looking one bit apologetic as he grinned brightly. “You had a little bit of bullshit stuck in your hair, but I think I got it all.” His eyes narrowed infinitesimally, as though daring Zuriel to argue with him.
What the fuck am I doing? He had a fantastic man who accepted him just the way he was, flawed as he may be. His cheeks heated with shame, and he dropped his eyes to stare down at the floor. Gods, he wouldn’t blame Spiro if the man put him right back on a plane to Wyoming. He could only imagine how much embarrassment he’d just caused his mate, and in front of his family of all people.
“Well, I see that you have your hands full,” Rissian said with a light chuckle as he clapped Spiro on the shoulder. “Are you ready to go home?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” He stroked Zuriel’s arm absently with his knuckles as he spoke. “The rooms are prepared like I asked?”
“We have five guest suites ready, all on the east wing.” Rissian paused and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Are you sure you don’t want a larger suite for you and your mate?”
“No,” Spiro answered at once. “I think Zuriel would prefer to be close to his friends for now.”
His thoughtfulness only served to make Zuriel feel worse about his behavior, and he scuffed his toe across the floor, wishing that a hole would open up in the ugly tile and devour him. That didn’t happen, though, and Rissian led them outside to the vehicles.
Once settled in the backseat, Spiro pulled him close to his side, brushed his hair back from his face, and kissed his lips. “Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m sorry,” Zuriel whispered, but he couldn’t look Spiro in the eyes. His emotions were running too close to the surface, and if he saw even a hint of disappointment, he’d lose the battle with his tears. He probably should have seen this coming. He always fucked things up.
“Look at me.” Cool fingers slid under his chin and encouraged him to raise his head. “Do you remember what I told you back at the cabin?”
Zuriel pressed his lips together and shook his head. There had been a lot of things said, and he had no idea how any of them pertained to this situation.
“You are beautiful.” He traced the curve of Zuriel’s jaw in a featherlight touch. “Not just here, but here.” Spiro’s other hand rested lightly on his chest, right over his racing heart. “I know you don’t see it yet, but I do.”
No, he didn’t see it, wasn’t even sure what Spiro meant, so he went back to his original apology. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you in front of your brother.”
Strangely, Spiro smiled at him. “I don’t care what my brother thinks. I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks, and you shouldn’t, either.” He leaned one shoulder against the door, and eased Zuriel’s head to his chest. “Try to rest. I’ll wake you when we get to the boats.”
To his surprise, he did manage to sleep despite the bumpy roads and idle chitchat within the car. The next time Zuriel opened his eyes, they were stopped, and he was staring up at the most beautiful castle he’d ever seen, with white stone walls and high-reaching turrets. When Spiro had said they were going to a palace, Zuriel had pictured a large house, not an honest to goodness castle.
“Did you carry me onto the boat? How did I sleep through that?” The chill of the air alone should have been enough to rouse him from his slumber.
“Yes, I carried you, but I didn’t mind.” Spiro winked as he ushered him out of the vehicle. “You needed the sleep.”
“How do you hide this place?” Jacobi asked, interrupting anything Zuriel might have said in response. “I mean, it’s a big damn island. Did you pay off Google Maps or something?”
Rissian led the way through a beautiful courtyard to the main entrance. “Other paranormals don’t venture here because of the rumors and legends.”
“Most of which we started to scare them away,” Spiro added with a wink.
“But if they’re brave enough to make it this far,” Rissian continued, “our elven magic will cloak us from strangers.” Glancing over his shoulder, he dipped his head and smirked. “And no, even with Google Maps, humans would never be able to find this place.”
Zuriel didn’t understand how that was possible. Of course, he wasn’t a scientist, but he highly doubted people could miss a massive island in the middle of the Norwegian Sea. “So, if no one knows you’re here, how do you get electricity?” He thought that over for a second and gaped. “Please tell me you have electricity here.”
“We’re not troglodytes.” Ascending the front stairs, Rissian turned and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at Zuriel with an arched brow. “We use solar panels and wind energy. We do have generators for backup, though.”
Zuriel didn’t know what the hell a troglodyte was, but he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to go traipsing around the place with a candle. “Cool.”
“Nice digs.” Aspen whistled as he sidled up next to him. “Can you believe we’re actually going to be living here? It’s like a fairy tale.”
“Are there showers in fairy tales?” Jacobi asked from the back of the group. “I am seriously gross right now.”
“I’m starving,” Mihail added. “I don’t know what time it is, but I hope it’s food o’clock.”
“I don’t even need a bed.” Nikola appeared on the other side of Aspen. “Just give me a blanket, and I’ll sleep right here in the courtyard.”
“I’ll take you straight to your suites,” Rissian assured them. “Your bags are already waiting, and I’ll send food to your rooms.”
“I love this place already.” Nudging Spiro out of the way, Jacobi took his place beside Zuriel and bumped their hips together. “I’m still expecting that harem, but I’ll let you sleep for a few hours first.”
Zuriel laughed, feeling marginally better. “As soon as I wake up, I promise to find out where they’re keeping all the men.”
“Are they always like this?” Rissian inquired of his brother, but there was a smile in his voice that said he was amused rather than annoyed.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zuriel saw Spiro give his brother a playful shove. “This is nothing. They’re on good behavior right now.”
Zuriel couldn’t dispute the claim, but he also didn’t think they were tha
t bad. Still, he promised himself that no matter what, he wouldn’t do anything else to humiliate his mate in front of his people.
* * * *
“The rite is set for tomorrow after sunset. Your robes are already here.” Rissian waved a hand toward the closet in the common area of the suite. “I’ll be waiting at the burial grounds with Thalian, Sadron, Locien, Aradan, and Mother.”
A tall, well-muscled man appeared in the doorway with his hands linked behind his back. His dark hair flowed past his chin, and there was a hard set to his jaw, but his eyes were kind when he smiled. “And I will be escorting you to the burial grounds when it’s time for the rite.”
“Marcel?” The warrior had been no more than a pup the last time Spiro had been home, reminding him just how long he’d been away.
“Prince Spiro.” Marcel dipped his head in respect. “Welcome home.” His gaze drifted to Rissian and softened with a look that Spiro had become quite familiar with during his short stay in Haven.
Arching an eyebrow, Spiro glanced between his brother and the guard with a satisfied tilt of his lips. “You two?”
Rissian lifted his chin and stretched his neck, turning his head to the side to show off his mating mark. “We made it official last year.”
“Congratulations.” He was happy for Rissian, but there was also a bitterness that tasted sour on his tongue. He’d missed so much, and all because he’d been driven from his home by his sadistic father.
“We’ll leave you to rest.” Rissian patted his arm as he passed by. “Mother will want to see you soon.”
“I’ll find her once we’re settled.”
“That was the most confusing conversation I’ve ever heard,” Zuriel said once their guests had departed, closing the door behind them. “Who will be waiting for you? Did he say burial grounds? What exactly is going to happen during this ritual?”
“Thalian, Sadron, Locien, and Aradan are my brothers. Thalian is the second born, while Locien and Aradan are younger than Rissian.” It would be confusing for a while, but he had confidence that Zuriel would eventually become familiar with all the names. “Yes, the rite is performed on the burial grounds, but it’s really not as creepy as it sounds.”
His back hurt from the long trip, and his temples were beginning to throb from lack of sleep. Undressing quietly, he draped his clothes over the back of the dark green loveseat, took Zuriel by the hand, and led him into the bedroom. How the guy was even still standing was beyond him.
“Okay, so what exactly is going to happen in this non-creepy cemetery?” Getting the hint, Zuriel undressed as well, and crawled under the blankets to snuggle next to Spiro’s side without hesitation. “Gods, this is amazing.”
Spiro had to agree, though their luxurious feather mattress could have been a cot in the closet for all he cared. “It’s really not that big of a deal.” A yawn stretched his mouth open wide, and his eyes burned behind his closed eyelids. “We’ll go to the burial grounds after sunset. I’ll stand in the middle of a circle and repeat some words. One of my brothers will place a magical brand on my skin, and that’s that.”
“They’re going to burn you?” His mate’s soft hand landed on his chest and stroked lightly. “Will it hurt?”
“I’m really not sure, but I doubt it will be too painful. At any rate, it’s better than death if I don’t go through with the rite.” The magic had long been set in place to ensure a ruler of their people. Should he not complete the ritual before the set of the full moon, his life was forfeit, and the tradition would start over with the next born.
“True,” Zuriel mused sleepily. “That’s it? You just repeat some words, get branded like cattle, and then you’re king?”
“Well…” He hadn’t brought up the part that came next because it really wasn’t important. Family tradition meant little to him, and it wouldn’t change anything. “Once I become king, I will experience something similar to a mating heat. It lasts for three days, and I’ll warn you now. From what I understand, you’re going to be seeing a lot of action.”
His mate chuckled under his breath and stretched up to kiss the underside of Spiro’s chin. “I look forward to it.”
Spiro wished he could just leave it at that, but knowing how interfering his mother could be, it was bound to come up sooner rather than later. “Traditionally, three rwalaerea, women of breeding age, will be presented after the ceremony since the mating heat is to ensure the king procreates to provide heirs to the line. These women will become his wives and bear his children, but they do not live in the palace or raise their young.”
As expected, Zuriel stiffened beside him and pushed away, rising slowly to a sitting position with murder in his eyes. “I don’t give a fuck where they live, because it’s not going to happen. Maybe you should have told me this before I decided to move my happy ass halfway around the world, because I don’t share.”
While a bit dramatic, the reaction had been just what he’d hoped for, proving that Zuriel’s feelings for him ran deeper than just physical attraction.
“Shh, lirimaer. You don’t have to share me.” Spiro wasn’t interested in seeing his mate with anyone else, either, but he figured that went without saying. “I’m telling you this because I’m sure my mother has already chosen women she deems suitable for a king.”
“You can just send their suitable hussy asses right back to where they came from.”
Levering up on one elbow, Spiro reached out, cupped the back of Zuriel’s neck, and pulled him forward for a long, heated kiss. “I don’t want anyone else, baby. You have nothing to worry about.”
Zuriel was a little rigid at first when Spiro tried to pull him back down to the mattress, but he soon relaxed, heaving a heavy sigh and nuzzling against Spiro’s chest. “I’ll keep you so busy you won’t even have time to think about those twatwaffles.”
“Twatwaffles?” Tightening his arms around his mate, Spiro laughed right from his belly at his mate’s phrasing. “Oh, you are something special, Zuriel, something very special indeed.”
Chapter Seven
Spiro stood in the moonlight atop his father’s grave dressed in white and gold robes that flowed down to his ankles. Zuriel didn’t understand the words he spoke, but he could feel the slight charge to the air, hear the crackle on the wind.
“Am I the only one who finds this slightly creepy?” Jacobi asked, wrapping his arms around his midsection and huddling closer to their small group.
“More than slightly,” Mihail agreed.
“I don’t know,” Aspen added with his usual perkiness. “I think it’s kind of cool.”
Zuriel was inclined to agree with Aspen, but he was still freaking out more than a little. If something went wrong, there was a good chance that he’d be returning to Wyoming sooner than planned—sans one mate. “How do we know if it works?” he whispered out of the side of his mouth.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure Spiro will. I mean, he is part elf, right?”
Aspen had a point. Sadly, Zuriel couldn’t get behind his positivity, not until after the full moon when he was sure everything would be okay. Hell, he wouldn’t even chance shifting if he didn’t absolutely have to, but since they hadn’t been able to get the Inhibitors through Customs, he didn’t have a choice.
Rissian stepped forward, holding a small, glowing disk in his hand. More words were spoken that Zuriel didn’t understand, but he got the sense that Spiro was reciting some type of oath. When he was finished and the last words had drifted away on the breeze, Rissian pressed the silver disk to Spiro’s chest, singeing the smooth skin just over his pectoral.
Cheers rose from the kneeling crowd gathered amongst the tombstones, but Spiro paid no attention to the onlookers. His eyes bored into Zuriel, picking him out easily amongst the masses, and he lifted one hand to crook his finger.
As though reeled forward on an invisible line, Zuriel practically floated across the distance until he was standing directly in front of his mate. “Congratulations.” He wasn’t sur
e if that was the appropriate sentiment, but it sounded as good as any.
Strong hands cupped both of his cheeks, and those dazzling green eyes pierced him right down to his soul. “The mating heat will start soon,” Spiro said quietly but clearly. “Before that happens, I just wanted to tell you that if it gets to be too much, I won’t be offended if you decide to stay with your friends until it’s over. I hear it can be very intense.”
No way was he going to pass up that kind of opportunity. Besides, he wasn’t going to take the chance that Spiro’s family would try to slip some whore into his room to persuade him to propagate the bloodline. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The words were barely past his lips when he was pulled backward, away from his mate, and shunted off to the side. A beautiful woman he assumed to be Spiro’s mother took her son by the shoulders and looked him up and down before hugging him fiercely.
“I am so happy to have you home.”
His aggravation at being discarded like week-old garbage melted away, and Zuriel retreated another few steps to give the pair some privacy. She was the first maternal figure he’d ever met, and he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. That was until she glanced over her shoulder and waved three more women to her.
“Mother,” Spiro growled in clear warning, surveying the females with distaste. “We discussed this.”
“I’m not saying that you have to give up your mate, but it is tradition, Spiro. I know you’ve been away for a while, but I’ve chosen three perfect brides for you.” She smiled sweetly, but Zuriel saw right through the charade, especially when her thoughts began to stray. “Just one night, and he’ll see how wrong he is to want the shifter.”
“We are happy to serve you during the heat.” One of the females stepped forward and bowed her head. “I’d be happy to wrap my legs around your head and let you give me a nice ton—”
Jaded [The Moonlight Breed 9] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 6
