by Stella Price
He watched Ben closely, seeing the penny drop in his eyes.
“Well that could prove interesting.”
“Now you get it.” He smirked, then looked up. “So a crash course before they get here? We won’t have much more time then to tell you who is who.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Well Arturo’s clan is the Stereopes, which you know. Then there’s the Harmin from Austria, the Bourchest from Romania and the LeFleur from France. There’re others, but these are the four that rival ours in standing and wealth.”
“Okay, I’m listening. What else do you have?”
“My father has told me that they will all be at the celebrations, as well as two smaller houses that are trying to make the European congregation accept them as noble houses, Linoge from Belgium and Estales from Spain. All of them have an abundance of youth, like us, who won’t go very far because the elders of these clans don’t like to give up power. So you are in a unique position, you get me?”
“I do.” Ben smiled.
“Good. I would watch this week and take any appointments or meetings people ask of you.” He stood quickly as three men and two collared women walked up, dressed to the nines and smiling. First to approach were Arturo, and his main concubine and Arabella’s mother, Ellen. Behind Arturo was his brother, Davin, and his concubine, Georgina, and their son, Steno.
Harley nodded to them and smiled. “Greetings, Regent Arturo.”
“Harlequin! It’s been ages!” the larger Greek man said and embraced him.
“Indeed, Regent, many years. I would like to introduce my cousin, and my second, Esben Chambers, Head of Tempest.” He nodded to Ben.
“Greeting.” Ben smiled, nodding his head. “I trust your journey was pleasant?”
Arturo nodded and shook his hand, hand-to-elbow style. “Indeed. The ride across the Atlantic was smooth.” He looked at Ben with ever-growing scrutiny, and smiled. “You look much like your father and mother. I had the good fortune to meet them both years ago. Shame about what happened, though you are a welcome sight.” He turned back to Harley. “Harlequin? I take it we are late to begin travel upstate?”
“Not at all, Regent. If this is all there is…?” he hedged, hoping that his intended concubine would be along.
Arturo grinned. “Yes, my boy, indeed. Arabella went with her maids to the hotel along with three of my other concubines and our luggage. We must observe proprieties you know.”
Harley nodded. “Indeed, and I regret that my father couldn’t be here, but he did ask me to tell you all that he would be meeting you upon our arrival for cigars and port.”
“Well then, let’s make way, shall we?”
Harley nodded. “I have a limo waiting just outside, if you will follow me?” He started off, and Ben fell in step with him, a wry smile on his face. “What?” he asked his cousin.
“I think I rather know what you’d like to do with his proprieties.”
“You know me so well, cousin. I’m a bit put out though, Karina is already at the hotel, and I’m hoping her and Arabella don’t cross paths. True, I’m Satyr, but I don’t need a sour mate. “
He chuckled. “I’m sure they’ll keep her cloistered away somewhere, and it’s not like you’d let Karina wander around the place. So when do you get to meet this alleged beauty?” Ben let his doubt shine through in his voice.
“Two days. Dad wanted me there earlier, but honestly, two days was more than enough. Arturo will want to talk about what his clan is getting for giving Arabella over, and I think that the damn drive up will be more than enough time. Odds are he’s going to be more interested in you and Tempest than in Rummer.”
“I’m taken.” Ben grinned. “We could always take a peek at her. Or I could send Mina…”
“I like the way you think, cousin. But seriously, he will want to know all about what Tempest will be doing now that Tempest has a clan to work from. If he mentions any of his young are looking to branch out, listen to him. Would Minerva do it?”
“She does anything I ask, but she’d love to help you out.”
“Only because her curiosity is as big as yours.”
He laughed. “Very true.”
Harley nodded to the driver and moved to the side as Arturo and the rest of what was soon to be his extended family got into the vehicle, then smirked to Ben. “After you.”
Ben sent him a droll look, then slid in.
Harley chuckled to himself and shook his head. The two-hour drive to Mohonk was going to be easy, provided everything went as planned. He went with the knowledge that Arabella was there, waiting to meet him, and his future was close.
Chapter Two
Arabella sighed soulfully from her perch on the open window looking over the gardens. Given a turret room, the windows were large with small balconies that normally held plants, but Arabella had moved them to enjoy the height and the breeze. The room proper was several feet under her, under the spiral staircase that lead to the top of the turret.
She could see others down below talking and going about their Satyr business, which was mostly a whole lot of fornicating. The cool breeze brushed over her skin, bringing in the light scents of the flowers. She’d be sneezing in no time, but the smell was worth the pain later. It smelled like freedom. What she wouldn’t give to be down there now to go out and explore this beautiful place on her own or with someone who didn’t watch her every movement like a hawk followed a mouse.
She was taking advantage of the first little peace that she’d gotten since they’d arrived. Her mother and her father’s staff had been watching her like a flight risk since they’d arrived, as if she’d run now.
She rolled her eyes at her mother’s silent worry. She’d had her chance to run from her life, her destiny, but she couldn’t do it. Despite her mother’s thoughts, it wasn’t her father’s threat to hunt her down and hand her to the wild Satyrs that changed her mind. Father, although meaning every word, had told her such things from a young age, but he trusted that she’d been brought up well enough to know her place in life. And she did, or she’d thought she had until given a taste of how the other half lived.
She’d completed all her Satyr training years ago, and she was an excellent student in all aspects given to her. It had been decided that she would be allowed to accompany her youngest brother to university, if at least to keep him out of trouble, though trouble was what everyone expected Sebastian to find. Surprising everyone, he managed to pass all his grades and didn’t even fuck them out of anyone despite her father’s thinking. Bella did better though, she excelled at everything and was well on her way to getting her doctorate.
She’d been fascinated by biotechnologies and engineering. That was when everything went a little wrong, Sebastian had gotten bored of the academic life, ever the playboy, and wanted to move on to something else. She’d managed to keep him in the city for as long as she could, but when he started flunking courses, they were both called home, despite how well she was doing. It had all but killed her to leave, she hadn’t wanted too, nearly didn’t.
“Hells, Bells. You’re going to kill yourself up there,” her brother, Sebastian, shouted from below her, startling her from her thoughts. “Can you imagine the scandal? The old man would kill us…or just me cuz you’d be dead.” He frowned, following his thoughts to completion. “Come down from there, Bells. If he didn’t kill me, I’d be left without anyone to talk to. Then I’d be lonely and he’d start matching me off to princesses, and this year’s crop’s worse than normal. I’m not nearly ready for all that crap yet…come on,” he coaxed.
“Calm down.” She made her way down to the floor next to him. “I was just thinking and writing some. Besides, after this week you’re not going to have anyone to talk to, I’m not going home, you know.”
“Ah, well, that,” he sighed dejectedly, giving a shrug.
Sebastian had been steadily denying the fact that she’d be leaving him and the family since the deal had been made. How he would cope without his big siste
r she didn’t know. He was quite literally the worst Satyr she’d ever met and not because he was bad or cruel, indeed such attributes were prized among some of their kind. No, Sebastian was a big softy.
She smiled, shaking her head at him and fixing his ruffled hair. “You’ll do just fine. You’re still the baby of the house. I’m sure Uncle Julian will take you under his wing. Make a grown up Satyr out of you.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.” He grimaced. “I don’t wanna be grown up. I’m perfectly happy fucking about in my sandbox.”
“Well, I’m sure you can keep on with that, you’re his third son. He doesn’t expect anything of you…just stay out of his way and stop getting in trouble.” She buttoned up his shirt all the way and smoothed it out.
“Yeah, he never expects anything from me but to screw up. I’d hate to disappoint him, Bells.” He pulled away from her, undoing the buttons and wrinkling the shirt back the way it had been.
Bella looked up at her little brother wondering for the first time if he was truly happy with his lot. He’d always been the carefree one, doing as he pleased. Maybe all he craved was a little bit of responsibility.
He was handsome enough for a Satyr, with sea green eyes that they’d both inherited from their mother and her father’s dark brown hair. He always smiled easily and she could count on one hand the amount of times she’d seen him truly angry. When he did fly into a rage though, he could be there for days. He truly had their father’s temperament in that respect.
Their older brothers were the only thing that made him that way. To say that he didn’t get along with his siblings would be a gross understatement. Dorota and Andrius were constantly teasing him and looking down on him. She didn’t exactly like them either, but they didn’t make her life hell. She was just their father’s property treated only with the respect that bartering her body would bring the family, which thankfully was enough for them to leave her alone.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind being disappointed in that respect. You have so much potential. If only you could stick at something, instead of growing bored.” She shook herself out of her musings. “Anyway, enough of your worries, did you get a peek at the prince?”
“Meh.” He shrugged, throwing himself on the bed sulking in one of his moods.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She felt the blood drain away from her face.
This was what she’d feared since the day her father had announced the joining. That he’d bind her to some cruel beast of a Satyr like himself or worse. She was a woman and by their culture didn’t deserve much of any respect or fair treatment. It was something she’d worried about before stepping a foot into the human world. The whole experience had taught her so much more about their lives, how they believe women should be treated, with respect and equality. But here she was a thing, not a brilliant mind, and her father was turning her into just that. Her and her body.
Her body always betrayed her mind, wanting things that it shouldn’t. The prince could be old and whip her, and she couldn’t help but want it. She craved it. Craved the tasting of her blood. It was her greatest fear, to be held by a man who had nothing but contempt for her. Someone who used her blood with no thought for her mind or feelings, or worse a Satyr that didn’t use her at all. She felt the old panic settling in.
”Oh gods, he’s old, isn’t he? And cruel and is surrounded by collared women. Damn father, he’s cursed me to my mother’s life.” Wailing, she collapsed next to him.
“Hey, Mom’s life isn’t all that bad. She told you that herself.” He offered her a consoling pat. “Once he binds other women, he’ll all but forget you, and you’ll have your life to yourself. You can even come visit me, wherever I end up. Besides he’s not old…he’s quite young.”
“Really?” she asked, feeling hope return despite Sebastian’s prior attempt to help.
“Yeah, and he didn’t look swamped by other women. Actually he looked about as rattled as you, well maybe not as rattled. Bells, you’re a neurotic mess.” He sat up, bouncing on the bed, testing it.
“Am not.” She pouted as the bed swayed.
“Are too, plus you need to hide this.” He plucked the book of formulae and calculations from her hands. “If Mom finds this, she’ll freak. She still hasn’t forgiven you from that stunt in uni.”
“We don’t talk about that.”
“Fuck right, we don’t. I’d get it almost as bad as you. I’m expected to screw up and take my eye off the ball that much. You could have landed yourself a one-way ticket to being the pet of wild Satyrs and not just one. They like to share their toys with the others.” He shuddered. “You know that thought might not bother you, but fuck. It’s bad enough he’s bartering you to Americans, but—”
“So what was the prince like? Did you talk to him?” she cut off his tirade, snatching her workbook back.
It was one she’d heard a few times and didn’t care to hear again. The incident was over with and it hadn’t been as bad as her brother and mother liked to make out. Trying to win a fellowship grant for her ideas on genetic splicing and succeeding, would have done any other family proud, but not the family of a female Satyr. Women should be seen, and heard only when they are moaning, or screaming the praises of her Satyr. Luckily her mother and Sebastian had covered it up. Of course she wouldn’t test her father or other brothers with the tale. It wasn’t something she dwelled on.
She’d learned exactly what she was, out amongst the humans. She needed a Satyr to satisfy her needs and her cravings. Thankfully that was just what she was getting, her own Satyr, and she couldn’t wait despite her nerves. She just wished she could see him, or at least talk to him first, to know what he was like to prepare herself for him.
“Like I said, he wasn’t old, and he looked preoccupied. I didn’t talk to him. Father watches me, you know, and no, I’m not passing messages or photographs…”
“Do you think he’ll want me?” Rolling off the bed, she put her book safely away from her mother’s prying eyes.
“Want you? Why wouldn’t he? Look, Bells, you might be my sister, but even I can see that you’re desirable. If he didn’t want you, he’d have no taste in women whatsoever, and as a Satyr not having that is a genetic impossibility. Trust me, we know women…and exactly what we want to do with them.”
“I guess, but if I could just see him, even once before…” She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to look as downtrodden as she could. Sebastian would help her, he always did.
As if he’d read her thoughts, he glared at her. “No, I can’t help you.”
“Please? Just to escape Mom for a few hours…you don’t have to know where I’m going. Just that I want to be by myself for a few hours.”
“Hours? You think I could achieve that? You’ll be spotted.”
“One hour then? Please? I’ll make it up to you. I promise. I won’t get caught. I’ll wear one of the handmaid’s dresses, and I’ll tie my hair up. Nobody knows what I look like so I’ll be dismissed.”
“And what if another male sees you and decides you’d suit a pretty collar? Handmaidens are fair game,” he warned, clearly trying to put her off.
“Oh…” She frowned deeply. That was something she hadn’t considered, but she was too excited at the chance to meet her prince.
She’d just sneak a peek at him. They weren’t supposed to meet, but if he didn’t know who she was, it wouldn’t matter. She had to see him. She didn’t think she’d be able to hide her face on the day of the true meeting. If he saw any form of disappointment in her face, she’d be a goner for sure. He deserved better than that, no matter who he was. But how to not get caught?
“Here,” Sebastian groaned, digging into his pocket and pulling out a leather strap collar. He threw it in her direction. “That should work as a deterrent.”
“Ummm…” She lifted it, it was rather heavy. She didn’t ever think her brother would own something like this. Never having seen a collar before, she inspected it, turning it in her
hands. It looked basic enough.
“It straps. Trust me, I wouldn’t risk binding my sister,” he told her as her fingers moved over the heavy buckle.
“What are you doing with a collar? Wait, do you have one with fixed bindings?”
“Well, you never know.” He shrugged off the question awkwardly.
“No I don’t…why would you? Have you seen someone you like?”
“Drop it, Arabella!” He growled in an unfamiliar authoritative voice that had her halting in compliance.
“Okay,” she answered timorously. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s a sore subject. Take the collar or leave it, I’m beyond caring at this stage.”
She bit back her sarcastic retort. He was only trying to help. She just hoped that when she got offered a collar for real it was done slightly better than that. “Hopefully I won’t need it, I’ll use it if I have to, though. I just want the only collar I wear to be the prince’s. If he accepts me.”
“Like I said, he’d be a fool not to. Plus, I doubt he has much choice, just feel lucky he doesn’t know how bossy and demanding you are,” Sebastian teased, back to his normal self. “Don’t worry, we aren’t telling him that until you’ve got the collar around your neck. He’s doing us all a favour by taking you off our hands. So I’ll cause a distraction and you go see the Satyr you’ve been promised to.”
“Distraction? Exactly what kind of distraction?” she asked warily, ignoring her brother’s teasing.
“Don’t worry about it, Bells. I’ve got just the thing.”
“I’m very worried, but I’ll save the questions till later. Remember it’s got to distract Mom, not Father. Try not to piss him off.” She dashed to the cupboard already going through the maid’s things.
“That truly wounds me, Bells,” he mocked, holding his hands over his heart. “Like I’d need to try and piss off dear old Dad. Now you have an hour, use it wisely. He’s up in the tower suite, so you’ll have to be clever about how you approach it. Not that you’re ever anything but clever.” He grinned as he ducked out the door.
