Cass lost his fascination at that when she said, “I’m very angry at you.”
It sounded pouty and playful, but the words made his eyes shaft to her.
“For not doing that to me a whole lot sooner,” she finished.
He blinked down at her.
“Oh, and for stopping me suckling you. I was enjoying that,” she went on.
He continued to stare down at her.
She tugged at his beard and teased, “Do you lose the ability to speak after you climax?”
“No,” he grunted.
Her cheeky mood dissolved, and instead of tugging his beard, she was stroking it when she whispered, “Thank you.”
Lost in her new mood, as well as her eyes, he asked, “For what?”
“For making that so beautiful.”
Fuck.
Thank the gods.
He pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes, groaning, “Elena.”
She shifted her head so his cheek slid down hers and she had her lips at his ear.
“I now know why they leave,” she said there quietly.
“Why who leave?”
“The sisters who leave The Enchantments when they find a man who touches their soul.”
He closed his eyes tighter.
“I now know why they leave,” she repeated.
“Lamb.”
She kissed his neck and said again, “Thank you, Cassius.”
He kissed hers then lifted his head and kissed her mouth before he broke from her and said, “My pleasure. Very much my pleasure, my princess.”
She grinned up at him. “I sort of noticed that.”
He couldn’t stop himself from smiling down at her.
“And hearing that,” she teased. She began to appear thoughtful when she remarked, “Odd, how it’s almost more pleasurable to know I gave you pleasure than to have my own.”
He did not find that odd at all.
He also did not find it odd Elena thought just like that.
She came back to him. “Though, only almost.”
He wrapped his hand under her jaw, sweeping his thumb along her lower lip, watching his movement, murmuring, “I know this feeling.”
Even though she felt this, and he was relieved she did, with her inexperience, he had to share that there was another way.
He looked into her eyes. “That was rough, Ellie. I had hoped to go more gently the first time we were together.”
“Maybe we can try that sometime,” she suggested. “In a few months, or perhaps a few years.”
His relief increased, he grinned at her, trailed his thumb across her lip again, his eyes watching, and murmured, “Mm.”
“Oh my goddess,” she breathed.
At the tone of her voice and the understanding from it she was no longer in their conversation, Cassius shifted his gaze to her eyes and felt his whole body tense.
She was glancing to the side.
“What?” he demanded, his head jerking that way.
And that was when his entire body stilled.
He felt her head move as she turned it to better see and she repeated a thunderstruck, “Oh my goddess.”
He could not believe his eyes.
And thus, he asked, “Elena, are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
“I think so, unless your lovemaking is so good, we’re both having delusions.”
He did not think it was that.
They moved, and Cassius tensed again, dipping his shoulder toward the unknown in an effort to afford her some sort of protection, wondering where his bloody clothes were.
“It’s okay, Cass, they’re harmless,” she whispered. “But skittish. No sudden moves.”
He warily eyed the one in the lead, thinking that horn was not harmless.
“Elena,” he growled.
“They come closer.”
He watched, alert but altogether fascinated as the two unicorns moved slowly, making their way toward he and his princess.
“I wonder what they’re doing here. They only dwell in The Enchantments.” She was still whispering.
“Fucking hell,” he muttered as they got even closer.
“Just, rise up…but slowly,” she instructed.
He did, pushing up on a hand, disconnecting from her, which was bloody disappointing, but he had two unicorns on his hands, no clothes on, his woman was also nude, there wasn’t a pixie in the sky and not a sound in the forest.
It was eerie.
Odd.
Not right.
Elena came up with him so they were both on their knees, front to front, and he twisted her so he was between her and the unicorns, his back to them. He turned his head as he did this so he did not lose sight of the creatures.
The lead one halted, drew back, dropped his head, so that long, glittering, spiraled horn was aimed their way.
“Fuck,” he bit.
“It’s all right. Just be still,” she urged.
They were unknowns, but they were beyond exquisite. Their white coats gleamed almost opalescent. The front one, the bigger one, casting more purples and blues, the back one, the smaller one, casting more corals and pinks.
They shifted closer, closer, Cass’s body getting more and more taut, his arms around Elena, holding her tight to him, but ready to toss her away if need be.
And then he saw Elena’s arm drift out.
“Ellie,” he clipped.
“It’s all right. I promise.”
She held her hand low, palm up.
The front unicorn got closer, dropping his head lower, and Cassius got stiffer.
And then he gripped her tight as the unicorn bent even lower.
Only to snuffle her hand.
“That’s it, boy. Get a good sniff in. Hullo,” she cooed.
The unicorn jerked his head back.
Cass braced to lift her into his arms and run.
Then he realized he’d lost track of the other one and therefore started when he felt a delicate snort in his neck on the other side.
His head whipped around, and the other unicorn took a step back.
“She’s flirting with you,” Ellie said happily. “Put your hand out. Let her get used to you.”
Gods, the mare was beautiful.
That thick white mane. Her intelligent black eyes. The dove gray fur that shadowed her nose.
He did as Elena had and reached out, slowly, his hand low, palm up.
The mare bent to it, sniffled, then drew her lips back and nipped.
The stallion butted her with his head, almost like he was jealous.
“Definitely flirting,” Ellie decreed.
The mare butted back, then nuzzled under the stallion’s neck.
He whinnied softly.
“By the gods,” Cassius murmured.
“Hand me my tunic, Cass, but I don’t think they’re used to us yet, so continue to move slow.”
He saw her tunic in the grass, and moving carefully, he reached to it.
He gave it to Elena and then found his trousers.
By the time he had them up and fastened, Ellie was on her feet, close to the stallion, holding his stately neck in her arms and stroking him.
The mare whinnied and stepped to him and Cass mimicked Elena, cautiously moving close then stroking her neck as she leaned into his touch.
It was then he noticed her horn, and he must have exuded his emotion, for she reared a bit, the stallion’s head came around and he brayed his warning at Cassius.
Cass forced himself to relax, but did it stating, “Her horn has been shorn.”
“No, sweetheart. The mare has a shorter one than the stallion. As it seems is nature’s wont,” she joked.
The stallion left Ellie, butted the mare from Cass, but they didn’t go far, perhaps a few feet, before they both bent and started tugging at the grass with their teeth.
They finished dressing, and when they were clothed, Elena pulled him down to their arses on the blanket, falling into him and resting her head on hi
s shoulder after they were seated.
Cass dislodged her to reach for the free blanket and wrap it around them, the chill pervading now that their activities no longer produced heat.
Once they were in their cocoon, Elena replaced her head to his shoulder, but this time also reached out to take control of his hand. When she had it, she fiddled with is fingers absently as she watched the creatures.
She had never done this, for they had never done this, sat together with nothing to do but just…
Be together.
And Cass realized he felt more at peace than he had in longer than he could remember.
Elena broke their quiet, but she did it in a tone that sustained the serenity.
“Earlier, you granted me a gift that was terrible, but beautiful, for the trust behind the giving of it is most dear to me. And now, I’ll return that.”
Cassius said nothing.
Elena linked her fingers with his, and her gaze on the unicorns, she spoke again.
“It was centuries ago that the realms agreed that the taking of a unicorn horn was forbidden. Sadly, it was not the maiming of these magnificent creatures, and the terrible pain it caused them to have it removed, that was behind this accord. It was that the magic that could be extracted from a horn was thought too much for any witch or sorcerer of any given realm to possess.”
When she paused for a lengthy time, Cassius murmured, “I learned this from my tutors, lamb.”
“Did you learn why most of the charmed folk left Airen?”
“No,” he muttered.
“Can you guess?” she asked gently.
“Yes,” he sighed.
“There is a reason naught but the trolls and yeti, griffin and gogmagoggs reside in Airen while Wodell and The Enchantments are rife with pixies, sprites, gnomes, fairies, and as for The Enchantments, unicorns.”
Cassius stared at the animals, wondering what would possess someone to mutilate that beauty.
His attention was taken when Elena’s fingers tightened around his.
“My many-times great grandmother learned to speak with a goodly number of creatures. And this she did with the unicorns. When it came close to the time the sisters would take action against their masters, she made a pact with them. The unicorns would forever be safe in her land of female warriors. And in return, they would give us that land.”
Cassius’s head shot to the side so sharply, Elena lifted hers to catch his gaze.
“The unicorns built The Enchantments?” he asked.
She nodded.
“It was not your grandmother?”
“It was her spell, the craft of my bloodline, but it was the unicorns’ magic.”
“By the gods,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she whispered in return. “It is also why they now reside only in The Enchantments. It’s where they’re safe, for regardless if it is forbidden, there were many who coveted the horn of a unicorn and thus they took them. So it’s not only Nadirii magic that keeps The Enchantments hidden to all but our sisters. It is also the unicorns. The unicorns united with my bloodline, my queen.”
“What other man knows of this?” he demanded.
“None,” she admitted.
He turned to her. “Elena, you should not have told me.”
Her brows drew together, tiny lines forming between them. “Can I not trust you with this?”
“If something were to happen to the unicorns…”
She held his gaze steady and finished for him, “The Enchantments would fall. We could possibly keep them strong for a time, but it would take much magic. It would deplete us and eventually…” she trailed off and shrugged.
“This is why you shouldn’t have told me,” he growled.
“Cassius—”
“Intelligence that crucial to your defense must be protected at all costs.”
“You’re to be my husband,” she reminded him.
He had no response to that.
Liviana, his dead wife, had not had state secrets that needed to be guarded by any means necessary.
He had never in his life experienced this level of confidence shared.
Her expression assumed a look of concern, even fear. She started to draw away, and Cassius felt her withdrawal.
He also took measures to stop it for the moment he felt it, he could not bear it.
Tightening his fingers around hers, he pressed them to his stomach.
“I have never…no one has ever…” He couldn’t seem to find the words. “Even my father shares only what I need to know for the safety of our land and I’m his top general.”
Elena stared into his eyes.
He dropped his voice. “The confidence I gave you is nowhere near the one you gifted me.”
“Cassius—”
“I have nothing to give you that has that level of beauty.”
Her eyes grew large and her mouth clamped shut.
His did not.
“There must be balance in a marriage, Elena, and we can never have that. And I must admit to you that this troubles me, and it has for some time.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have much to give, I have nothing.”
The concern came back to her features, but not the fear, before she said, “How on earth can you utter those words?”
“They are but truth.”
“They are so false as to be laughable,” she retorted.
That was when Cassius shut his mouth.
“You are beautiful,” she snapped.
He opened his mouth at that.
“My appearance is inherited, not of my making.”
“You could be slovenly, and you are not,” she retorted.
He could not argue that.
“I like your beard,” she declared.
He suddenly felt like smiling, but he did not smile.
“I, personally, have naught to do with the growing of my beard either, my princess,” he pointed out. “Just the decision not to shear it.”
She went on as if he did not speak.
“You are mighty. You are fierce. You are loyal to your men. You engender loyalty from them. You are a very good kisser. You are an exceptional lover, and I have no experience, but I still know that. You are protective of your daughter. Against all that is rational with how you were raised, you understand the importance of family. And even if the burden of responsibility you carry is unwanted by you, you don it with no complaint and wear it like a mantle made for only you. You had the strength of character not to become your father, like your brother did. And…and…I like your ink.”
She would be inked into him, he vowed in that moment.
She would be inked all over him.
But he knew where he’d put her first.
“Elena—”
“By the goddess, Cassius, your sense of compassion is so strong, you wished to shield me from knowledge of your life you thought would harm me. Your protective instinct is so…so…instinctive, you moved to shield me from unicorns. It is your first thought in any uncertain situation. That thought being not about you but about me. How can you even begin to say you have naught to give? I’ve never heard anything so preposterous in my entire life.”
So heated was she in this tirade, he could see the pink in her cheeks in the moonlight, the fierceness in her violet eyes making them appear to glow amethyst.
He could also feel the attention of the unicorns, but they did not move away.
Nor did Cassius.
He moved closer, taking her to her back and covering her again.
“What are you—?” she began.
“It won’t be gentle this time either, my warrior,” he growled against her lips.
He watched her eyes grow wide and then he saw them grow hooded when he kept his own open as he took her mouth.
He did not give in this time when he eventually got his mouth between her legs.
He made her come that way and learned the taste of her climax was glorious.
Thou
gh he did give in when she wished to ride him.
However, he sat up as she did so in order that he could watch from close as she enjoyed his cock.
He vaguely heard the unicorns whinny when they both climaxed.
And in the end, he liked it much better when he collapsed to his back with Ellie draped on him.
Cassius did not limit the exploration of her skin to the small of her back. He perused her arse too.
And Elena showed she liked it by shoving her face in his neck, sighing and trembling against his touch.
He wished to prolong it, and he did as long as he could.
But eventually he had to say, “We must return to camp.”
“I know.”
“The camp is not far, thus, it is likely they will have heard us,” he warned.
“I know.”
“If Mac was not enthralled in his own pursuits, there will be ribbing,” he continued.
“Same with Jazz.”
He drew in breath and let it go. After, he rolled her up and took them to their feet. They dressed.
And as if knowing they intended to rejoin the others, the unicorn stallion brayed at them before both creatures turned and gracefully galloped into the forest.
He and Elena watched them go until they could be seen no longer.
Then Elena offered to carry the blankets, Cassius refused, tossing them over an arm and taking her hand with his free one.
They started back that way and Cassius asked, “Do you know why they left The Enchantments to be here in Wodell?”
“The unicorns?”
“Yes.”
“Because they’re ours.”
He stopped them to look down at her. “Pardon?”
“Unicorns mate for life,” she told him.
This knowledge was interesting, but it did not answer his question.
Therefore, he prompted, “And?”
“Do you remember that card you drew? In the garden at Catrame Palace when I did your reading?”
“Yes.”
“I drew a unicorn as well, some weeks earlier, the day I was told I was to wed you.”
He stared at her.
“I did not understand it,” she muttered. “Now I think I do.”
“Would you like to share?” he requested when she did not go on.
She continued to mutter when she said, “I don’t know.”
The Plan Commences Page 41
