by Conn, Claudy
“Yes, but I think you should appoint me to the Council …” Z again suggested.
“My love, as it happens we have a rule that allows only four Royals to serve as senior members, and only senior members may vote.” He eyed the assembled Council members and said darkly, “But perhaps it is time to change all the rules?”
Breslyn grinned, but absolutely no warmth was in it, only a threat as he said, “Right you are, my friend. Fact is, I think we need now to know where everyone stands, right now, before we proceed any further.” His sneer returned to Banzar before he added, “Plain speaking so that no one can misinterpret. Who stands with Banzar in this and is looking to depose the queen?” He knew that they could not deny him a show of hands. It was his right as a Royal to request it. He also knew that those willing to plot in secret were seldom willing to do so in the open.
Hands went up to depose the queen, and Breslyn was pleased to see Banzar had already lost one of his followers. That was something, but Bres knew it was just a matter of time. He took a count. “Banzar, Bathwin, Trula,” Breslyn said out loud. “Your votes are recorded in the ledger for all to see.” He eyed the remaining members. “Now, those against?”
Four hands went up, and he counted them out loud: “Ruthla, Alana, Darkam, Tandwith, and thank you, yes, I see you are outraged at these proceedings, Tandwith, and it shall be duly noted.” He turned to Makwith, who had arrived with Banzar but had not yet voted. “And you, Makwith?”
“I abstain,” said Makwith, looking away.
Breslyn pulled a face at him but refrained from comment as he looked each member in the eye and said, “I am calling this meeting to an end, but I feel it is my duty to inform those of you who have voted against my queen that this will not be tolerated. We Royals—all of us, including Prince Trevor, fighting even as we speak, in the Dark Realm for the welfare of Tir, my sister Aida and her mate, Princess Royce, a senior Council member, and her brothers, all of those who could not be here today—have taken an oath to support and defend our queen. What you are proposing will surely send us into a civil war, something that destroyed our world, Danu. Think long and hard about what you do.” So saying, he and the others shifted out.
They came together in the courtyard, and Breslyn said quietly, “You know what to do now?”
“Yes, but will it work?” Z asked on a frown. “I don’t like that guy, Banzar. I think we need to take him out.”
“Your mate is bloodthirsty,” Breslyn said to Danté with a laugh.
Ete put her arm around Z and said, “We need to end this. If we murdered Banzar, another would take his place one day. We can’t go about murdering every time someone does what they shouldn’t. We need a better solution.”
Z pulled a face and shrugged. “Still—don’t like him … I think he needs dying.”
Danté laughed and turned to Breslyn. “We need to attend to this diplomatically.”
“Aye, we need public opinion on our queen’s side. She will not like it, but we need to get the word out there. Remind our brethren about all she has sacrificed. Most of them still don’t know about Conall and how Gais murdered him. We need to tell them. We need to start working opinion on the side of the Milesians, pointing out that they stand with us against the threat of the Dark Fae or any other force that might try and challenge our authority. Play it thick and liberally. Most of our Seelie adore Aaibhe and will stand with her, but … some will not.” Breslyn sighed. “After today, we will know what the numbers are, because Banzar won’t be stopped by today’s vote.”
Danté put a large hand on Breslyn’s shoulder. “Perhaps it is time to stage a coup in the Council and appoint members better equipped for the job, such as Trevor and one of Royce’s brothers?”
“It won’t work. They will say the membership is over-laden with Royals and needs to be more of representative Seelie. The only coup I would like to stage is an assassination. I tend to agree with your little Z. Banzar needs killing, but it is against our most sacred Fae law and one that I don’t mean to break, just yet. Thus far, he has not, like Gais, become a traitor. He has taken the proper steps, gone through the proper channels.” Breslyn’s words were spat out with frustration.
Ete moved over to Breslyn, stroked his arm, and said, “My love, let us not dwell on him but on swaying public opinion. He won’t get the Council votes if they see that it will cost them prestige.”
He played with a long strand of her lovely auburn hair and dropped a lingering kiss on her lips.
Z rolled her eyes and turned to look up at Danté. “They never stop.” She used her eyes and flirted with her mate playfully, and Danté broke his rule that dictated no display of affection in public. He pulled her hard against his body and lowered his head to growl in her ear, “You are ever the naughtiest Daoine …”
Ete laughed at them, broke away from Bres, and took Z’s hand. “Come, we will work the lovely Fae at the Fashion Pantheon …” She winked at Breslyn, and then she and Z were gone.
Danté sighed heavily. “The problem, Bres, is that we both know that many of our Seelie believe the Treaty cheated us out of Ireland. Banzar means to dwell on that fact and turn opinion against Aaibhe.”
“He will have a difficult time of it, since he was on the Council when the Treaty was enacted and it was unanimous but for Gaiscioch’s vote.”
“Still, I don’t like this … we need to do something more viable than talk,” Danté said practically.
“Aye, so we do, but first we have to get through to our queen. She will not agree to force unless we can show her we have tried everything else.” He sighed heavily and said, “Danté, Ete had a vision last night. She saw Tir, our beautiful Tir, laden with bodies and covered with blood.” He shook his head. “I am worried …”
~ Fifteen ~
“IMMORTAL?” JAZZ SAID out loud and thought about the word. She went silent as what was left of her human energy wrapped around the notion. Immortal? What did that really mean? The question poised itself, and because she was still human in nature, she began blabbering. “I am immortal. Right, okay, so what exactly does that mean? Immortal doesn’t have to mean what I think it means. It could mean well, something else, couldn’t it? Maybe, Trev, you are just using it as a figure of speech? Like a classic book becomes immortal, legendary, but if you burn the book, the story still lives on—that kind of immortal? Here is the thing.” She paused and suddenly wagged a finger at him. “Not sure my brain is handling your blood very well. I mean, it—my brain—feels bigger. Not empty bigger, but full with stuff, all kinds of stuff, and there’s a little person in there now, sorting, dividing, storing. That’s kinda nutsy, isn’t it?” She eyed Trevor doubtfully and asked, “Immortal? Huh?”
He looked at her doubtfully and said encouragingly, “Yes, you are immortal, and there are many things you will have to learn about your new self. We shall have to spend the next few days in training …”
* * *
Trevor was so overcome with relief that it displayed itself in mirth. Suddenly he couldn’t contain himself.
He threw back his head, and all his pent-up emotions, emotions he had told himself he, a Royal Fae, had always had under control in the past, were released. A floodgate opened, and the first thing that came pouring out was laughter.
His love took everything on the chin and then moved on, just as she had from the first moment he had met her. She was the bravest, most practical little being he had ever known. Transport her into another time period, and what did she do? She dealt with it. Throw a Dark Prince at her, and she dealt with it. Take her into the Dark Realm, and like everything else, she managed to, as she would no doubt say, go with the flow. And Trevor of Lugh, who had never cared for humans, suddenly realized he loved everything about this human and had loved her from the start—all of her, especially the human in her. She had displayed how much heart and courage humans were capable of experiencing and how selfless they could be.
He admired and respected everything about her, her courage and
fortitude unique to herself, the manner in which she accepted facts and moved forward. It dawned on him that he didn’t just love her, he adored her more than any other being of his acquaintance—ever!
Adored? The word did not have enough letters in it to express the extent of what he felt. For him, life without her would be meaningless. How this had happened, he hadn’t a clue. But he meant to claim her for his own!
He touched her face, and she sighed sweetly. He could see she was thinking about immortality. He could see she was trying it on for size, and he reached for her arms and drew her to him. The quilt fell away, and he glanced down at her naked breasts and sucked in air with the explosion of desire that swept through him. The laughter was gone, and in its place was a primal, needful, all-consuming, and savage hunger.
She gently pushed off his chest and hurriedly covered herself. “I, I have a lot of questions about this immortality stuff, but I’ll deal with that later. First, tell me, Trevor, just how did I get this way—naked I mean?”
“I took your clothes off you, and I am sorry, love. They were ruined.”
“You took them off me? Like … piece by piece?” she asked warily.
“No, they were covered in poisonous saliva. I removed them Fae-style.” He grinned and then thought he would explode with all he felt for her. “I think the next time I remove your clothes, I would like to take them off you slowly, peeling one article off at a time … little by little …” His voice low-throttled with an urgent need he was helpless at that moment to disguise.
“Peel them …” she murmured and shook her head at him. She put out her hand as though to stop him, but he felt the half-heartedness of her effort and reveled in the hope that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. She said, however, “I need to know more about everything.”
“The only thing I want to tell you now is this,” he said and leaned forward to take her back into his arms.
This time, she did not resist, and he was filled with joy as his Jazmine Decker seemed ready, so ready to receive his kisses …
* * *
The new blood in her system was bubbling over with the intensity of a red-hot fire, its flames lapping at her sensory buttons. His laughter, his obvious joy thrilled her, and she felt her throat constrict as she watched him.
Jazz had wanted Trevor when she was human—now, she wanted him with a desire that was feral and all-encompassing. She felt wild and almost violent with her need to hold him, touch him, have his mouth on hers.
She was oh so ready when his mouth finally closed on her lips, and she felt something akin to a volcanic eruption of heat and pleasure that burst from inside her and threatened to engulf her with mindless wanting. She parted her lips for his tongue, and when he thrust his to join with hers, she went off. She clung to him with the rocket take-off she experienced. She couldn’t believe she had climaxed just from his kiss and shuddered in his arms in the immediate aftermath.
He moaned her name, saying it with that accent of his, saying it fully as he did, and she pressed against him. She was beyond fever-pitched, and she knew he was as well.
Passion created vines of red-hot gold, Faery gold, and entwined them both in uncontrollable and undeniable bonding.
She felt his hand as it moved to cup and fondle her breast, twitched at the sensation he aroused when he wildly played with her nipple. This time, she flung the quilt away from herself. She was hot, too hot to be covered.
He had with the flick of a wrist removed his leather pants and sandals, Fae-style, and she glanced over his naked body and licked her lips. His shaft was huge and pointing meaningfully at her, and she knew she had never wanted anyone like she wanted him. It was as though every nerve ending yearned to be touched by him, satisfied by only him.
Hesitation wasn’t a part of anything they did in those first moments, but he did, at some point, try and hold back as he whispered what he needed her to know, “My sweet love, you make me come alive, so alive, and I have never known this feeling before … not this …”
Was he telling her he loved her?
She was immortal now. Did that make it different for him? Was it more acceptable to be with her now she was immortal? Was he able to love her now, when he couldn’t before? The notion irked her. She pushed away and said, “Is that because of what I have become?”
“No,” he scoffed. He shook his head as he brought her back into his arms and whispered, “I have loved you from the start, I have loved you because of what you were then, and I will love you now because of what you will become—mine! But, my sweet Fios, now, now you and I, we can begin our forever …”
Those words sent her plunging into overdrive. She threw her arms around him again and kissed him hard, thrusting her tongue into his delicious mouth, taking his flavor of honey and vanilla, tasting it with a groan of satisfaction she wasn’t ashamed to allow him to hear.
Everything seemed surreal. Immortality, monsters, Dark Princes, all of it, except for Trevor of Lugh. He was her reality, he was her anchor, and she clung to him as he molded her to his hard, muscular body.
He moved his fingers over her with an expertise that sent her reeling and clamoring for more. His kisses melted into one another until she didn’t know where she was, where he began and she ended.
Her body felt like silly putty in his hands, and she gave herself to his touch. At that moment, only her ravenous need to touch him was important. She had to have him touch her. She wanted to be with him in every imaginable way.
She took his cock into her hands and started stroking it with a boldness she had never experienced before. She moved into position and began first licking its head and then its length before taking it into her mouth and sucking him hard. Pleasure filled her senses at the feel of him, and she sucked harder, faster, until he said her name right out loud. She heard the hunger in the sound and was filled with lust, love, and wild abandon.
He pulled away and laid her back on the bed so he could straddle her, fondle her, lick her nipples, and then suckle there. He murmured, his voice tinged with passion and longing, “I have been wanting you so much, little love, so much that it hurt holding back.”
“Yes, wanting, and I wanted you from the beginning,” she whispered.
He pressed hot kisses to her belly and then parted her thighs with his hand as he lowered his head there and began nibbling at her nub.
She experienced a sudden, sharp reaction and arched her back with the pleasure he gave her. His finger joined his tongue, and she shouted, “Trev … yes … Trev …” as she found sweet release once again.
He knew at once, and he grinned with pride as he came up and stroked his dick on her thighs and asked, “Are you ready for this now, sweet Fios … are you ready?”
“Hell, yes!” she answered, and he got into position, sliding the head of his shaft just inside her before waiting only for her to pump and grind for more. He gave her more then, ramming her hard and fast, moving inside her so that he found her pleasure points and catered to her needs.
She rocked and pumped against him with wild abandon. She didn’t think of tomorrow; she didn’t think of anything except the sensations he aroused in her at that moment. As far as she was concerned, tomorrow didn’t exist.
He moved deftly inside her, and she grabbed his arms as she exploded once more, groaning and calling his name. She heard and felt him as he moaned and shot his seed into her before they sank together onto the mattress. She closed her eyes.
He grinned and said, “Open your eyes, love.”
She did. She looked deep into those gold eyes of his and said, “Yes …?”
“Tell me,” he said, his face drawn in a frown. “You haven’t told me …”
“Tell you what?” she teased. She knew what he wanted to hear. It was written all over his beautiful Fae face, and it thrilled her. Something deep inside her heart, now repositioned, altered, and capable of perhaps even more than she had dreamed possible, pulsated with the enormity of what she felt. Her throat constricted, a
nd for a moment she couldn’t speak.
“Tell me … tell me how you feel,” he repeated, sounding desperate. “I need to hear—know how you feel.”
She took his hands and kissed the fingertips, marveling at them. So large and yet so capable of gentle manipulation. “I love you, Trevor, Seelie Prince of Lugh. I love you beyond the here and now.”
He grinned, suddenly looking like that boy she loved so much about him, and he said right out loud as though he wanted the universe as witness, “I pledge myself to thee, Jazmine Decker—do you pledge yourself to me?”
“Damn, but I do,” she said.
He laughed, and it was a joyous sound. Forgotten was the world outside. Forgotten was their mission, the Dark Princes, the threat ever-present. All she could do, all she wanted to do, was hold on tight.
“I didn’t know it at first, but everything that made you human moved me to love you beyond hope. I love the human in you still, for you have not lost it—through all that you have just gone through, you have not lost who you are, and, Jazmine Decker, I love who you are.”
She didn’t think she could be happier and told him, “There you go, who would have thunk it, here is Prince of Lugh—a human-lover.” She laughed and held onto him, resting her cheek against his hard chest. “I will never let go of the human in me, so it is a good thing you love her too. It is part of who I am … and I guess who I will be.”
“Jazmine Decker?” he said in an odd, husky tone.
“Yes, Prince Trevor?” she returned on a tease.
“It is time now for you to get on your hands and knees, turn your butt to me, and let me in …”
And she most willingly did just that.
Her body belonged to him, to his touch, to the exquisite and savage pleasure he instilled in and drew from her. She jumped into position for him, pushed back against his thrusts, felt his hands on her rump, and whimpered with the hedonistic feelings that filled her.
