“That’s an intense duo you have.”
“It’s not like I picked them.” Nature selected the best for each individual, nothing random about it. “Had they been awake, I’m sure they’d be shadowing me.”
The other woman laughed. “They’ll be agitated when they discover you missing.”
Sameya shrugged. Once they found her note detailing where she’d gone, she figured that agitation would turn to ire. Better her mates discover her independence now rather than later.
“You’ll remain with them?” Her Empress motioned to the seat opposite the table where she sat. The Atlantis leader offered her no refreshment, because neither partook of nourishment.
Sitting, she gingerly crossed a leg over the other and tried to ignore the vibration of the dildo in her ass. “Yes. I cannot see a future without them.”
“Then why are you waiting to mate them?”
She glanced about, finding none other present. “Where’s their witch?”
“Kat is elsewhere.” E’Neskha leaned forward. “Be your blunt self. No others are present.”
“They’ve been determined to win me over since I wouldn’t commit to them.” Sameya tapped a fingernail against the tabletop. “I enjoy their efforts, don’t want them to end.”
The other woman glanced over Sameya’s shoulder. “The orgasms are all they’re touted to be?”
“Better. So much better. Which one of them is behind me?”
“Both.” Maximus answered for her Empress, his fingers curling around the back of her neck.
Gabriel shifted into mankind, but just barely. His white Bengal remained imprinted over his human form. “Goddamn it, Sameya!” The feline snarled and flickered bright. “You fucking promised to keep us informed!”
Maybe they were a little more agitated than she’d anticipated. “I left a note.”
“A note!” He morphed back into the tiger and paced in front of her, tail swishing, fangs bared in an unceasing low-throated growl.
The grip on her neck tightened as the vampyr’s other hand threaded in her hair and tipped her head back to meet his furious green gaze. “You should’ve told us where you were going so we could’ve joined you. Fucking protected you.” He released her and crammed his fingers through his overlong hair. “Do you know how terrified we were when we discovered you gone?”
“Newsflash, Maximus. I want them to come for me. It’s the only way I can draw them out.”
Gabriel roared and tackled her and the chair to the floor in one easy leap. In the next breath, he had her neck between his jaws in a death-grip—well, what should’ve been the beginnings of a death-choke. While not in any real danger, it was effective at displaying his temper.
“Gabriel says no,” Maximus said, his tone too mild for Gabriel’s evident wrath. He stared her in the eyes, his vampyr on display.
“My goddess.” E’Neskha giggled, a high-pitched trill of awe. “I’d always heard shifters were easily agitated, and ruled by their emotions. Does he realize she could neutralize him with a single thought?”
“He knows.” The vampyr maintained his focus on Sameya. “Our stubborn mate needs to learn her place in our life.”
Her place? If he meant at the sidelines while they went head on into danger, then they both needed a reality check. “I know my place, vampyr, it’s as your equal. Damn sure not so much as half an inch behind either of you.” The tiger growled against her flesh. She wrapped her fingers around his ears and wrenched them until he chuffed. “The sooner you both realize I’ll never allow you to coddle and protect me, the better.” The cat remained in position, making puffing noises of disapproval, his whiskers tickling her. “Get over it, Gabriel. Just so you know, the next time you put your teeth on my neck either use them or be prepared for me to serenade you.”
A lick to her skin was his response. Gooseflesh paraded across her body.
“Don’t you dare distract me with your tongue.” His tongue was wicked good at distraction. Releasing her neck, he settled on top of her and licked the indentions his canines had created. “Shit, you’re heavy like this.” When he began to purr, while delivering small flicks of his tongue against her skin, she attempted a different tactic. “You want to fuck me ever again, you’ll get off me.”
That delivered the outcome she sought. He moved backward a fraction, enough that she could sit up, but not sufficient enough to sit up straight without bumping her head into his feline jaw. “Really? This is ridiculous. Your hovering is getting on my last fucking nerve.”
“Your life will never get boring with these two around,” E’Neskha said.
She can say that again.
Sameya rolled to her feet, and Gabriel morphed into man. Her Empress’ eyes widened, and only then did Sameya realize he hadn’t reappeared with his clothing on. Yeah, the tiger was well endowed, but thankfully her leader remained mute about the obvious.
Shifters and their lack of modesty. Sameya rolled her eyes.
She dusted the back of her pants off, not that there was ever a spot of dirt in the palace. “Now that we’ve settled our domestic dispute, can we get back to business?”
Maximus leveled a glare on E’Neskha and opened his mouth to speak, but Lucius presented himself instead. “I’d no idea the tiger at your side was your other mate, Sameya. I figured you’d done away with him. Your duplicity astounds me.”
Her Empress shot her a nervous glance. Sameya stiffened at the sight of E’Neskha’s brother. “Lucius….” The tiger at her side issued a low-throated growl when she identified the male. She clasped his wrist in her hand and shot a thread of serenade into him. “Sorry,” she muttered when she looked at him and his eyes widened at what she’d done. The only reason for the song was to keep Lucius from getting to him first, and he wouldn’t be able to override hers. Since she offered no commands to the song, Gabriel was free to act as he chose.
She eyed the male siren. “I figured you’d have taken the cowardly way out and be running by now.”
“Why on earth would I do that?” Lucius cocked his blond and aqua head to the side as if contemplating her.
“We both know why, you traitor.” To pretend he wasn’t the instigator of the rebellion against his sister was an insult to her intelligence.
The arrogant bastard smirked. “You know me better than that, Sameya.”
Gabriel effected some more low-throated growling. She didn’t chance a glance in Maximus’s direction, but she wouldn’t be surprised if his fangs overlapped his bottom lip.
“I’m considering relinquishing my status as Empress.” E’Neskha reclined in her seat, but for all the effort she put into a casual pose, it failed wide of the mark, her tense shoulders giving her away.
“If she does, I’ll be making a bid for her position.”
Sameya ignored Lucius, her focus centered on her leader. Why would she contemplate something like that? They’d spent over fifty thousand years maintaining the safety and well being of Atlantis. To give it up on a whim, because it had to be an impulse, otherwise her possible resignation made little sense. Surrendering wasn’t in her personality, and she would never give up on her people merely to spare a battle. Not if it were in their best interest. “Why?”
“As if that’s any of your business.” Lucius sniffed haughtily as he approached. “You’re overstepping your boundaries.”
“And you’re getting on my nerves.”
“I think it’s time to concede, Sameya.” E’Neskha shrugged, sending her brother a disillusioned glance. “We discussed it once before and—”
“Discussed it two thousand years ago. To forfeit when it’s revealed Lucius is the turncoat…I don’t understand your reasoning.”
“Pish-posh, you know I’m no threat to E’Neskha. That you’d deliver false information simply to place a wedge between us is atrocious. Verifies what I’ve been telling her all these years, that your advice cannot be trusted.” Lucius lounged in a chair beside his sister, his overconfident demeanor nettling Sameya. Judging by the conceit in
his eyes, he thought he’d won.
“Do you believe him, E’Neskha?”
“Which part? Your misinformation or his innocence?”
“Either, and both.” She watched her, gauging the leader.
E’Neskha was silent a long moment before she responded, and not to her question. “You’ve got your mates to keep you busy now. You don’t need me, and I’ve been restless this last millennium. Maybe I should’ve stepped aside sooner.” She shrugged. “I hadn’t thought about it until all this mess with the rebellion. All things must eventually come to an end.”
Sameya stomped to the table and slammed her palms facedown on the tabletop. “Do. You. Believe. Him?”
The Empress wouldn’t meet her gaze. “He’s my brother, Sameya, we’ll leave it at that.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“You’ll mind your tone,” Lucius said condescendingly.
Sameya ignored the arrogant bastard.
“What reason does Lucius have to lie?” E’Neskha shot back, her bottom lip trembling.
No way was the Atlantian leader that gullible. That they shared the same blood softened her. Maybe it was time E’Neskha yielded her throne, but there wasn’t a chance in hell Sameya would allow Lucius’ behavior to go without repercussions.
Utilizing her siren speed, Sameya zipped to Lucius and drenched him in a serenade. He screamed and slapped at his forehead as E’Neskha vaulted to her feet. “Sameya!”
“No closer, E’Neskha, or I’ll reap him.” The coldness in her voice halted her leader’s approach. She plugged the male siren with her special magic, the magnitude of the effects more pronounced on someone as strong as him. But he still held no chance of evading her control.
With his sister staring on in horror, Lucius finally gave up the fight and went limp in his seat, his hands dropping into his lap. He twitched as if suffering the delayed twinges of an electrocution, but with his mental struggle against her song eliminated, he had become her puppet. At her mercy, he’d do her bidding with no hope of E’Neskha superseding Sameya’s song.
The other woman’s hands shook as she lifted them in prayer-like fashion below her chin. “Please don’t harm him, Sameya. He’s all the family I have left.”
When I’m done with him, you will be all he has left.
“I’m disappointed you’d turn your reign into a mockery like this, E’Neskha.” Sameya couldn’t understand her leader’s tolerance for Lucius’ comportment. “Being your brother doesn’t grant him indefinite liberties. He is still accountable for his actions, yet you won’t hold him to that standard.”
E’Neskha notched her chin higher.
But Sameya wasn’t finished and continued to talk. “You’ve given him everything he’s ever wanted.” She had, too. His parents had died while he was young, just like Sameya’s parents had. The Empress had raised him from his early teenage years into adulthood. “Are you going to give him this, also?”
“It’s the only thing I have left to give, and if he wants it….” E’Neskha didn’t finish the sentence, but her meaning was clear enough.
“Pity.” Her mates must’ve sensed her intention because they moved a little closer as if they expected her former Empress to make a go for her. “I won’t allow him the position.”
“Sam—”
“No!” She notched her thumb into the base of Lucius’ neck. “You’re commanded to tell your sister everything, Lucius.”
Standing at the male siren’s back, she couldn’t see his face, but his sniffles told her he’d begun to cry. He spilled all…how he coveted E’Neskha’s power and the respect her people gave her. How he felt worthless stacked against a sister bearing such high accolades, and a sibling who placed more clout in Sameya’s opinions than his. Growing weary of waiting for her to concede her position, he’d incited discord among the Atlantians. The disharmony was easy to come by, telling Sameya the people were ready for a change. He’d formed a resistance and given instructions to those closest to him to do anything to gain his seat as Emperor, even if that meant E’Neskha’s death. Knowing if his sister were murdered, Sameya wouldn’t accept a fatality without a formal inquiry, he’d concocted her kidnapping and demise, as well, at the hands of a griffin with only one requirement…a power he could dine on for centuries.
Sameya would’ve killed him for that alone, but the sorrow on the Empress’ tear-stained face stayed her ruthless judgment. “My gift to you, E’Neskha, is Lucius’ life.” She stepped to face the male siren and met his gaze. “I allow you to live only because of your sister. You’re prohibited from ever making a bid for the Atlantian royal seat. From today onward you’re exiled from Atlantis, forbidden to return, and you’re to never raise arms against your sister. You’ll be faithful to her, as she deserves, for the years of love and compassion she gave to you. If you attempt to break any of my commands, you’ll be reaped immediately.”
She released him and faced her former leader. “E’Neskha, I’ll expect you to depart Atlantis as soon as you formally surrender your position and swear in a temporary ruler.” The Empress nodded and Sameya went on. “Where’s the witch?”
“The kitchen,” the Empress said in a watery voice.
Frustrated by the turn of events, Sameya headed for the kitchen. Falling in beside her, Gabriel easily matched her pace as he clasped her hand in his. She could feel Maximus at her back, but both of her guys were silent.
Kat sat at the kitchen table picking through a bowl of candies. The witch looked up when they entered.
“It’s time for you to return home.” Sameya opened a portal to the earth realm and indicated it with her hand. “Now.”
“Is everything okay?” Kat peeked at the men as she rose from her seat.
“No. But the Atlantian future isn’t devoid of hope. We’ll see you soon.”
“Go, Kat,” Maximus said as he placed his palm low on Sameya’s back.
No one spoke as the witch went through the green mist. Once she disappeared, Gabriel squeezed Sameya’s hand, as if he could sense how numb she felt. “I’ll break the serenade as soon as we’re on Earth, Gabriel.”
“I knew you did it to protect us all.”
She peered up at him. Thank goddess, she had these men in her life. They’d make leaving her homeland a little easier. It didn’t matter that she’d already been thinking of leaving Atlantis with her guys. What struck her most was the finality of it all.
Her vampyr palmed her shoulder. “Sameya—”
“I’m okay.” She was a long way from being okay, but thankfully the only hint she would fall apart any moment was the twitter in her voice.
She hadn’t expected things to proceed in this manner. She should’ve known E’Neskha would go soft when it came to Lucius. He might be her brother, but he was more like her son.
Silence stalked them as they strode to her apartment. The moment the doors closed behind her, Sameya went to her hands and knees and wept. She was losing her past to gain a future. The memories would remain, but she’d never peer at the mystical waters again. Never watch the golden fish catch the sunlight as they jumped across the Great Lake during spawning season. Never again take a hike up Blue Chimney Mountain.
Gabriel scooped her into his arms and sat on the sofa, cradling her. She shifted to straddle his lap and wrap her arms around him, as she buried her face in the curve of his neck. His embrace the solace she needed to calm her mixed-up emotions.
She could live with never seeing her birthplace again. These men were her future. Being with them felt right. And she’d have the comfort of knowing she’d saved Atlantis from a ruler that would’ve resulted in her homeland’s decline. The things she’d seen in Lucius’ head that she hadn’t forced him to share…he would’ve debilitated Atlantis and its citizens.
“I’m sorry you’re upset, Sameya.” Reminiscent of a feline, Gabriel rubbed his cheek against her hair. “Maximus and I will do everything in our power to make you happy.”
The sofa shifted, she su
spected it was Maximus taking a seat beside them.
Leaning back, she confirmed the vampyr’s presence as she met her cat’s gaze. “Don’t misunderstand my grief, Gabriel. The idea of never seeing Atlantis….” She choked up all over again. He captured her face and kissed her forehead.
“I understand.” Maximus shifted onto his knees and massaged the back of her neck. “My family disowned me for mating Gabriel.”
How horrible! “I’m sorry, Maximus.”
“I’m not. He’s worth the sacrifice…when he’s not being a pussy.” He winked at the shifter.
She smiled as Gabriel growled at Maximus. The guys chuckled. Amazing how quickly these two had burrowed into her heart. “You two are my future.” She kissed both of them, astonished how important they’d become to her in such little time. “Take me to your…no. Take me to my new home and officially claim me.”
She wanted to be theirs more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.
“‘Officially’ doesn’t matter. You’re already ours, naleah. We”—Maximus motioned between himself and Gabriel—“never planned to give you up.”
Sameya peered between them.
“Nope,” Gabriel confirmed. “We were committed to convincing you we’re worth keeping around.”
“Kidnapping you if necessary,” Maximus’s deadpan was so convincing she was uncertain of his sincerity.
Gabriel nodded his agreement.
Shaking her head at their alpha-ness, she climbed off the tiger’s lap. “I need to talk with Dart, see if she’ll go with us. And the Zions—I assume Thrax and Nero will join me, but I can’t take it for granted.”
Wearing a smug expression, her vampyr leaned against the cushions. “I already worked out a deal with Dart. She’s agreed to join us.”
Impressive. But shocking Dart had shown herself. Even the Empress had never laid eyes on Sameya’s brownie. “What’d you agree to pay her?”
“Reese Cups.” A lopsided grin exposed a fang. Soon they’d be inside her. At the idea, anticipation shivered through her. “A large bag once a month.”
Sameya laughed. “What a hard bargain Dart drives.”
Taboo Kisses Page 20
