by Alanea Alder
"I made chocolate pies for dessert," Cord said, as he entered the room with the serving cart full of pies and after dinner drinks.
Meryn struggled to sit up. "I have room for pie," she clarified.
Creelee heard Meryn's declaration, rolled to one side and sat up. "Room for pie," he repeated, causing everyone to chuckle at his antics.
When Cord set the pie down in front of them, Izzy's mouth started watering. She could smell the sweet aroma of chocolate.
"Mud?" Creelee asked Oron, tugging on his sleeve.
"No, Creelee, this is chocolate. It's sweet and tastes good. Try a little bit, then see if you want more," he suggested.
"Cord, did you have to give him a whole piece? It's almost bigger than he is," Izzy said, watching worriedly.
Cord just smiled as he walked around with the coffee.
Creelee stuck one tiny finger in and licked it. Before she could stop him, he literally dove into his piece of pie. "Creelee!"
She could barely see him in the thick layers of chocolate and cream. Oron looked at her and she shrugged. Was this normal? Seconds later, the piece looked smaller. In fact, it kept shrinking until all that was left was bits of cream and crust.
Cord walked over and instead of handing her a cup of coffee, there were two large cups of warm water, a bar of soap and a fresh tea towel. "Thank you, Cord."
"Creelee, in the cup."
Swaying on his feet, he made his way over to the cup. She gently lifted him up and dunked him in like a tea bag.
"Warm," Creelee said.
"Wash off all that sticky mess," she ordered.
Creelee ducked under the water and when he popped back up, most of the chocolate had come off. "Rub your hands on the soap." She held up the bar. He rubbed his hands on the bar until bubbles started to form. Giggling, he began playing with the bubbles. She didn't mind because he was basically washing himself.
"Okay, Creelee, let's rinse you off." She held out her finger and he held on. She lifted him up and into the fresh water. She had to hide a smile when she saw that he was now buck naked. His loincloth was probably somewhere on the pie plate. Once he was rinsed, she helped him out of the warm water and wrapped him up in the fluffy tea towel. She gently ran the towel's edge over his head, drying his hair. When he yawned, Felix flew over and held out his arms. "I can take him."
"Creelee, Felix is going to put you to bed. Is that okay?" she asked, not wanting him upset.
Creelee rubbed at his eyes and nodded. She passed him, towel and all to Felix, who flew off with the newest member of her family.
"You're going to be an amazing mother," Oron said softly. She could plainly see the love in his eyes. "Let's get Creelee to the stage where he doesn't eat pie by jumping into it, then we'll talk about kids."
"Whatever you say, love," he replied, lifting her hand to kiss it.
"Meryn, what's wrong?" Aiden asked.
"I think I'm jealous."
"Oh honey, do you miss your mom?" Aiden looked down at his mate anxiously.
"Huh? Oh yeah. But that wasn't what I was talking about."
"Then what."
"I want to jump into pie and eat it too," she sighed.
"Meryn, I love you," Kendrick announced, shaking his head.
"An enlargement spell?" Justice wondered out loud.
"It's doable," Law agreed.
Thane blinked at Meryn. "Gods, I think I want to try that too."
As the debate raged on how to make a slice of pie large enough to jump into, Oron leaned down and whispered four of his own magic words. "Let's go to bed."
*****
"Did you really have to go to the Dark Forest?" he asked as they were undressing for bed. Even though she had spent the afternoon ogling half-naked buff goblins, the sight of her mate's bare skin still wreaked havoc with her body.
"Yes, at the point you told me not to go, it became a physical compulsion; besides, it wasn't even dangerous," she pointed out.
"When did you meet up with Gilheim?"
"Right after we entered under the shade, he was running patrols."
"So, you were basically escorted the entire time?"
Izzy climbed under the covers as she thought about that. "I guess you could say that."
Oron lifted the covers and slid in next to her. "I wasn't exaggerating the dangers, my love. The goblins may not have been a threat, but the other creatures there are. They aren't feral, attacking you would be in their nature."
"Like wolves?"
"If they felt like you had invaded their territory, yes."
"I can only promise to go with an escort," she said, turning in his arms to face him. This was how she liked him best, completely open to her.
She reached up her hand and touched the wooden necklace. "Does it hurt to lay on that?"
Oron touched his torc. "I forgot it was there to be honest. I don't even feel it."
"Your neck is lying on a piece of wood," she pointed out.
"But it doesn't feel that way. It's very comforting to me."
"Meryn's bracelet caused Dav's bar to grow branches and roots; evidently, it was made of elder."
Oron stared down at her. "Seriously? Good to know."
All throughout dinner, she noticed the slight change in her mate. He had sat a little straighter, met everyone's eyes, and spoke up more. It was as if he had been freed from the weight his old family name.
"Look at me, I'm being absolutely scandalous. I'm in bed with this Oron Vi'Eirlea. Who is this brilliant stranger who has slipped into bed to seduce me?"
His normally honeyed brown eyes darkened. "Seduce you, eh?"
She could only nod as his eyes seemed to devour her. He moved quickly, throwing back the bedding and covering her body. She could feel that he was hot, hard and dripping already. He pinned her arms over her head and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"What do you need Izzy?" he asked, in a rough voice.
There was no hesitancy in his touch, he knew he owned her body and soul and she could feel it.
She looked into his dark brown eyes. "Just you."
"Perfect answer," he growled. He rolled her until she was on her hands and knees as he knelt behind her. "Keep your hands over your head," he ordered. She pressed her chest into the mattress and raised her hips so that she was offering herself to him.
"Gods, Iz, you're so damn beautiful," he said, trailing his fingers down her spine.
He tested her and she knew he found her ready. He plunged two fingers deep, causing her to moan. "Please Oron, not slow. Not tonight."
Oron gave a masculine chuckle. "As you wish my love." The next moment his fingers were gone and she felt the blunt head of his cock pushing inside her body. "Yes," she hissed. Somehow he managed to ignite every point of pleasure in her body. She rested her forehead against the sheets as he slammed into her over and over again. Slowly her body began to coil as he managed to caress that elusive spot inside her. She tilted her pelvis until every single thrust has her gasping. "There!" she screamed.
Her desperate need propelled him to new levels of urgency as his fingers dug into her hips. "Gods Iz, there's no one like you. No one has ever loved me the way you do," he groaned as he snapped his hips.
She was afraid to move her upper body and change the angle, so she turned her face instead. "And no one has ever accepted me the way you do. You know exactly how chaotic I can be and you claim me as your own anyway."
"Only me, you're mine, Iz. My solace in a world that hates me."
"As you are mine."
When he plunged deep enough to slam her cervix; she was about to flip him when her orgasm caught her unaware. One moment she was about to tap out, the next she was screaming.
She felt his hot seed fill her before he collapsed, taking her to the bed at his side.
"Love you," he gasped.
"How...can...you...talk?" She was trying to remember how to breathe and her mouth was dry from yelling. He simply laughed and held her close.
When he pulled away,
she felt him slip from her body and gasped at the sensations it wrought. She managed to open one eye to watch him stumble toward the bathroom like a newborn foal. She was still giggling when he reappeared washcloth in hand. He ignored her mirth. "At least I can move," he teased, as he wiped her clean.
"Mr. Vi'Eirlea, you have done your job well."
He kissed her shoulder before pulling the duvet up to tuck her in. She began to drift away when he slipped in beside her.
"Goodnight, my love," he whispered.
"Goodnight, my everything," she replied and his arm pulled her close. Feeling like everything was perfect in her world, she gave in and slept.
#
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next morning Izzy had fun showing Cord how the espresso machine worked.
"That was much easier than I thought it would be," Cord admitted.
"Are these ready for denka?" Ryuu asked, walking in from the dining room.
Izzy nodded and handed off the two mochas. "Has she threatened anyone?"
"Not as of yet, but I'm pretty sure it's a close thing," he lifted the two cups and walked out of the enormous kitchen.
Izzy had felt intimidated when she first entered Cord's domain. But he had been so eager to show her how he had set up all the equipment she found herself caught up in his enthusiasm.
He was such sweetheart to set all of this up for her, sacrificing a portion of his counters to create a mini coffee bar.
"Head out to the table dear, I'll be bringing out breakfast in a moment," Cord said, steering her toward the door. How he had managed to watch her like a hawk and still prepare a full breakfast was nothing short of a miracle.
"Thanks Cord." She walked out and when she entered the dining room, the men stood. Instead of making her feel awkward, she felt special.
"Good morning," she said brightly.
A round of greetings sounded off, but her attention was on Meryn. The little nut was sitting back in her chair, eyes closed, clutching her cup of coffee.
"Iz, Iz!" a tiny voice called.
"Good morning, Creelee!" She held out her hand and he flew right to her. "Did you have a good time with Feris, Finley and Felix?"
"Nice," he said, rubbing his cheek along her finger.
"Creelee is fun," Feris chirped.
The sprites had made their way over to Meryn and were sitting on her shoulders. Every time Feris went to poke Meryn's cheek, Felix stopped him, shaking his head.
"Thank you for looking after him, Felix."
Felix blushed and nodded.
She looked down and noticed that the boys had also given Creelee some of their clothes. The sleeves and pants were cuffed, but he looked adorable in his brown pants and cream tunic.
"Boys, thank you for giving Creelee some clothes, that was very kind of you."
Finley nodded. "Stay warm."
As everyone enjoyed their coffee, her eyes strayed to the newcomers. She nudged Oron with her elbow.
He smiled down at her. "We were waiting on you to make introductions, especially considering Meryn hadn't had any coffee yet and would have probably been a wasted effort."
Meryn simply nodded her agreement, eyes still closed.
"So who are these handsome devils?" she asked, watching Meryn.
Meryn's eyes popped open. "Handsome?" she looked around and noticed the new men at the table. She turned to Aiden. "Warrior peeps?"
He nodded. "Baby, I would like to introduce you to Ari Lionhart, the Tau Unit's acting unit leader, also Rex and Declan's brother." Ari smiled at them. "Next to him is Gage Fabre. His father is the Fabre Noble Family head who reports to Simon and Leana." The gorgeous warrior winked at them, causing Aiden to glare at him. "This is Priest Vi'Aerdan, you've heard a bit about him." Izzy gave him a little wave, which he returned. "Last but certainly not least is Kincaid Bayberry."
Both she and Meryn turned to look at the last warrior who was visibly pale and staring at the end of the table.
Meryn pointed to him. "Why does he look like he's gonna pass out?"
Kendrick coughed into his fist. "I think that may be because of us," he said, indicating to himself and the Ashleigh brothers.
Meryn tilted her head. "Why?"
Law chuckled. "She's really good for the ego."
Kincaid ripped his eyes away from Kendrick to turn to Meryn. "Kendrick is a legend amongst warriors. He managed to smuggle out some of the best offensive and defensive spells from Storm Keep to send out to the warriors, those spells have basically kept us alive." With a trembling hand, he pointed to the brothers. "The Ashleigh brothers are ghosts. They appear whenever they are needed and destroy ferals. How could you not know this?" he asked, still looking wide-eyed.
Meryn shrugged. "Kendrick's my big brother-cousin and Thane is my athair, so I don't really get the whole 'being in awe' thing."
Kincaid looked like he was about to swallow his tongue. "What?"
Meryn blinked. "What?"
Kincaid looked over to Ari who shrugged. "I told you this was going to be a high-profile breakfast."
The queen sipped her coffee. "I think I feel slighted."
Instantly the entire Tau Unit stood and bowed over Kincaid's infraction. "Forgive me, Queen Aleksandra, I meant no disrespect. My only excuse is that being in your august presence has scrambled this poor witch's mind," Kincaid said, stumbling over his words.
The queen chuckled at his apology. "You are a dear boy. There's nothing to forgive. Please sit down and enjoy breakfast, I know Cord has been working hard on it." The men sat back down, all four of them looking a bit nervous.
"Y'all are acting like you never come here," Meryn commented.
Ari frowned. "We don't. Brennus usually meets us down at the estate for us to give our reports. We hardly ever come to the palace."
"Why not?" Meryn asked.
Aiden sat back, resting his arm on the back of her chair. "Meryn, honey, you have to remember, before we visited Noctem Falls the Eta Unit hardly met with Magnus either."
"Oh yeah. I guess I forgot," Meryn murmured, staring down into her coffee cup.
Ari leaned forward. "We heard of the virus, but we'd like to verify some of the details we've heard," he glanced at Kincaid, who closed his eyes and cast a soundproofing spell. Ari continued. "I know some things because of what my brothers have told me, but we would like to ask questions of our own."
Aiden nodded. "Of course."
"Is it true that the virus was manufactured?" Gage asked.
Kendrick nodded. "I can confirm that. I saw the magic in the virus myself."
"Magic?" Thane asked.
Kendrick exhaled. "Yes. Whoever did this was able to use magic to engineer on a molecular level. The virus was designed so the only cure was older vampire blood."
"Those damn necklaces!" Priest exclaimed, sitting back in his chair.
"Uh, Kincaid, can you let Micah, Serenity and Zach in the bubble?" Meryn asked, pointing to the doorway where the three looked on, concern on their faces.
"I got it," Justice volunteered. He whispered low, waved the trio in, before casting a new spell.
"I know you weren't having a super-secret meeting without me," Micah said, walking up to the table.
Serenity and Zach sat down, but Micah walked over to Meryn. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "You doing okay Dewdrop?"
Meryn looked up at him. "You know?"
He nodded. "When the announcement went out yesterday, I called Aiden and he filled me in." He ruffled her curls before he sat down next to his mate. "I, of course, relayed everything to Adriel during my check-in call. He had already heard most of it from Stefan and Kari's report though." He rubbed the side of his nose slyly. "You didn't hear it from me, but the boys are going all out to get Pip open-air acclimated. They are frantically doing everything they can to come to your side."
Cristo threw his fist in the air. "I knew he'd get Kari to help him report." He eyed Meryn, Aiden and Kendrick. "Y'all owe me."
Meryn's
eyes filled and her lower lip began to quiver.
Cristo looked at her a panicked expression on his face. "I was just kidding Meryn."
"I want my brothers," she whispered.
Serenity and Amelia were up in an instant going to her. Amelia all but knocked Aiden out of his chair.
With a disgruntled look on his face, he made room for Amelia to squeeze in between him and his mate.
"Oh Meryn, it's okay," Amelia murmured and she held Meryn close.
Serenity had a glowing hand resting on Meryn's head.
Meryn rubbed her arm over her eyes, looking pissed at her show of emotion. "I'm being stupid," she grumbled.
"No, you're not." Amelia refuted. "You've been through a lot in the past couple days. Of course, you're going to miss the ones who ground you and help to buffer you against the world."
Meryn sniffled. "They better not be rushing Pip."
Micah chuckled and both women helping Meryn glared at him. He held up his hands. "Pip is rushing Pip. He keeps sneaking out the door and hurrying back in. Sebastian threatened to sit on him at one point, of course, he isn't one to talk." He smiled broadly. "A little birdie told me he's working on a care package for you."
Meryn brightened a little. "Meat kebobs?"
"What else? And your Magic Pudding."
Serenity's hand dimmed and she sat back down next to her mate. Amelia dropped a kiss on her little sister-cousin's head and went back to her own seat.
Ari looked around. "What's Magic Pudding?"
Micah threaded his fingers behind his head and tipped his chair back. "Only the best pudding in the world and one of the only things Meryn ate while in Noctem Falls. Evidently, it had fae cinnamon in it, which helped her to eat."
The queen nodded. "Of course it did, she's half fae. Even without her light, her body knew what she needed." Her eyes grew wide. "No wonder you had such a rough time there, you poor thing."
Oron turned to Meryn. "Your light was returned while I was getting confirmed as an Eirlea, wasn't it?"
Izzy nodded. "Yeah, y'all went outside and your mom found Meryn's light in the orb."
Oron's eyes turned sad. "Before Abraxas appeared we saw a second branch form from Eamon's, your mother's branch. It instantly petrified before yours sprouted with a tiny bud," he pointed to her stomach. "No wonder the Elder Guardian appeared."
