by Lexi Blake
Put like that, he could do one of two things. He could back his ass down or he could break from his master. Chad wisely chose to back his ass down.
Chad took a smart step back, lowering his head in a deferential gesture. “Forgive me, Your Highness. It’s easy to forget. You don’t hold yourself apart. Of course, I don’t deny you. I’ve merely missed my lover. Please accept my apologies. We do belong to you.”
I sat down on the blanket, that particular crisis averted. Sarah came in behind me and started working the comb through my hair because Neil had other things to worry about. Chad stood there looking at his feet, unwilling to leave. I took pity on him. “You should have told him that. You could also try begging. It works for Daniel.”
Neil looked at me, and it was easy to see that he wanted to be with Chad. I knew how he felt because I’d been there before so many times. He felt backed into a corner and his pride wouldn’t let him out. He was angry with his lover, but there wasn’t time for such useless emotions if he wanted to get to the good stuff. Chad would be gone again tomorrow night. They shouldn’t waste time on rage. Danny and I had done enough of that for all of us.
“Neil,” I said as Sarah fought with a tangle. “Could you escort Chad back to the tent? If you get lost on the way, I’ll understand.”
“I can do that for you.” He walked over and took Chad’s hand. “Just because I let you do some nasty stuff to me, don’t you dare think this fight is over. I won’t be in a relationship where you treat me like a piece of ass even though I’m a really sweet piece of ass.”
“Oh, the fight is over,” Chad corrected him. “You win. Let’s find some private place and I’ll do a little begging.”
Sarah and I watched as they walked into the forest, and I knew they were going to do some serious making up.
Lee sighed heavily and threw me an accusatory stare. “Gay werewolves, gay vampires, public sex, and naked women all over the place. What the hell have you gotten me into, Your Highness? I want a raise.”
Lee stalked back to his tree and tried not to see anything.
I let Sarah work her magic on my hair. In the distance, I heard music being played. The festival was starting. The bonfires would be lit and the dancing would begin. It was almost time for me to play the goddess. I’d seen how many wolves were counting on us and I hoped I was enough for them.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“God, you look so beautiful, Z.” Daniel held my hand as we walked from the tent toward the east field where the festival of Litha was in full party mode. It had been a distant music when I dressed in my bedroom, but now it was starting to sound like a roar. I was grateful for the strong feel of Daniel’s hand in mine.
“I look like a virgin sacrifice.” Between the gauzy, white dress, the garland in my hair, and my freshly scrubbed face, I looked younger than my years. I also looked much more innocent than I had ever been.
“I wish…” he started wistfully.
“What?” I asked because the look on his face was so sad. I wanted to wipe away that sorrow.
“I just wish we’d had a better wedding, that’s all,” he admitted quietly, looking straight forward.
I squeezed his hand. Our wedding had been a covert thing. I hadn’t known I was married until someone—a nasty old demon—had pointed it out. It was also an old wound that had healed for me, and I didn’t want to reopen it. “It was fine, Danny. If I recall there was more honeymoon than wedding, but it worked out. I’m still wearing the ring.”
Daniel stared down at my left hand, his eyes widening as he took in the ring. “Z, baby, you can’t wear that to this ritual. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Dev told me to.” Dev had been casual about it. “He said it was the only jewelry I was allowed to wear.” He didn’t know about the navel ring, but I suspected he would be all right with it.
Danny stopped and some unnamed emotion crossed his face. He shook his head and continued down the path. “That sounds like him. He’s a good friend. Listen, Z. He’s really nervous about this.”
“Dev has performance anxiety?” Dev had never had a problem performing, ever. Dev could perform drunk, stoned, or injured. Whatever a person could be, Dev could probably keep an erection through it.
Daniel laughed at that thought. “He’s not worried about the sex, baby. He’s worried about the magic. This is a big deal to him. Though he’s mortal, if he proves he can do this, the Fae will treat him as a true fertility god because of the ascension. You’re not afraid of the ascension, are you?”
I remembered the word ascension being mentioned in all the stuff Ingrid had said. I wasn’t sure why I was supposed to be afraid of it. “I’m fine, Danny.”
“Because you should know I’ve checked everything out. Dev will always be in control. That’s the way it works. If it works. We’re hopeful and that’s why he’s got so much pressure on him. If he can handle this magic then his place as a high priest is more than just a name thing. They’ll have to respect him if manages to do this.”
“Is that why Declan has to be here?” I asked because I was still waiting for a good explanation on why I had to get my freak on with Declan Quinn watching.
“Yes,” Daniel replied acerbically. “I swear, Z. Did you listen to a word Ingrid said to you? She explained everything. If I know Ingrid, she explained it in great detail. Declan is there as a royal witness. If he gives his consent, then you will be respected as the one woman who can bring out Dev’s magic. You’ll be his goddess.”
“So I have to bring his magic out?” I asked, for the first time really nervous about something other than the public nature of this thing. The truth was I really hadn’t listened to Ingrid. I’d been planning a hijacking, and it had kind of crowded out everything else. Now I wished I’d skipped the stupid heist altogether and listened better in class.
“You have to bring his passion out,” Daniel corrected. “The passion brings out the magic. He’s just worried about the magic and his control of it. He might not show it or admit it, but he wants his brother’s respect. He wants Padric’s respect. The more aroused he is, the stronger the magic is going to be, and the more likely his ascension is. From the looks of it, you really need to turn him on.”
Daniel was referring to the massive crowd that filled the field. Couples were everywhere as we approached Padric, who was waiting for me at the edge of the gathering. The night was lit up by enormous bonfires. In the distance, I could see the hill and the altar above it. Dev was waiting at the bottom of the hill, but I could see Declan was putting the finishing touches on the altar. Padric would take me to Dev and then take his place beside Declan as witnesses.
“Wow.” It was a lot of people and a lot of formal ceremony. They would all be watching. I was having some performance anxiety of my own.
“You can do it, Z,” Daniel said encouragingly, a grin on his lips and his dimples on display. “I happen to have great faith in your ability to turn a man on. Well, at least two specific men.”
We reached Padric, who looked regal in his white pants and flowy white shirt.
Daniel pulled me back at the last moment. He took my face in his hands and he was suddenly serious. “I love you, Zoey Donovan. I would never allow you to do this with another man. I only allow this because he belongs to me, too. Don’t think this lessens my possessiveness or makes you any less my wife.”
I searched his face, trying to understand. “I know, Danny. I didn’t think it did. I love you, too.”
Daniel smiled a secret little grin. “I’m looking forward to after the ritual, baby. I’ll leave the two of you alone for this, but I intend to share the rest of the night with you. Don’t let him completely tire you out because I have plans for you. I’ll see that Neil has different arrangements.”
Daniel kissed me one last time, gave Padric a forbidding look, and turned back toward our tent.
“That vampire is very unpleasant,” Padric said, watching him walk away. He was probably remembering the thrashing Daniel had gi
ven him. His face softened as he threaded my arm through his. “You, on the other hand, look quite lovely.”
“Not too short?” I pushed my bare feet forward and they peeked out of the hem of my gown. I was completely without the armor of stilettos.
He looked down at me with a regal smile. He towered over me. “You are that. It can’t be helped, I suppose. You make a beautiful goddess despite the height disadvantage. I think Devinshea will find a way to make it work.”
“He always does.” The crowd became less noisy as we began to walk through and they cleared a path. They watched respectfully as we walked the full length of the field. I noticed the children were missing. This was an adults-only evening.
“Zoey, I would ask you a favor,” Padric began. “Devinshea is determined to treat you with great love and respect on this night. He believes you deserve tenderness and love.”
I shot Padric a look that told him I didn’t see the problem with that.
“I worry Dev’s magic will require more than tenderness,” the guard confided. “He’s never attempted anything as big as this gathering. He would never have thought to attempt it when he was in the sithein. He is a different man now. He’s surer of himself and more powerful, but I worry. If he fails, he will not get another chance. He will always be a priest, but he will be considered a lesser thing, Zoey. I would not see him fail. If it comes to it, I expect you to do what needs to be done, whether he likes it or not. He might say he doesn’t need Declan’s approval, but I assure you, he desires it greatly.”
I wasn’t sure what Padric expected me to do, but I was willing to try. My heart stopped as the crowd parted and I saw Dev standing before a smaller fire. He was dressed only in white pants, his glorious hair crowned with a garland of small yellow flowers like the ones that adorned mine. He was so beautiful I wanted to run to him, but Padric held me back.
“Follow the rules for now,” he chided me. He walked slowly to Dev, who smiled down at me. I could feel his tension as Padric put my hand in his.
Padric stood in front of the boy he’d helped to raise, smiling at him with great affection. “As the Oak King gives way to the Holly King this night, so I give this woman to you. Do you accept her as your goddess?”
Litha marked the midpoint of the year when the waning sun took over from the waxing sun. The Oak King, who ruled from Yule to midsummer, gave up his throne to the Holly King in ancient pagan lore.
“I do.” Dev took my hand firmly in his.
“Then go forth and prove your godhood,” Padric challenged. Padric started up the hill to join Declan. Dev pulled me into his arms. He held me for a long moment before lifting my chin and dropping a sweet kiss on my lips.
“Thank you for saying yes to me, my mistress,” Dev said solemnly. “I will not call you that again after this night.”
I was kind of fond of being his mistress, but I could settle for goddess. His body was tense despite the smile on his face.
“Devinshea, is everything all right?”
“It’s fine,” he replied, kissing my forehead. “Everything will be fine.” He leaned over and picked me up, cradling me in his arms. The crowd cheered as Dev turned and in one graceful move, leapt over the small fire. He landed on the other side and winked down at me. “It’s tradition. It ensures wealth and fertility for the couple.”
I didn’t think I needed anything but Dev to ensure my future fertility, and he had the wealth thing down, but I was being a good goddess so I made no comment on the subject. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he climbed up the hill. His long legs ate the distance and before I knew it, he placed me on the ground before the altar, my feet nestling in the soft grass. The altar itself was made from stone and covered in a soft white pillowy fabric. The coverlet was strewn with yellow and gold marigolds and handfuls of shamrock.
Declan came forward with a golden goblet in his hand. It was large and carried the same symbol he wore on his crown. He was dressed in all white for the occasion and looked more serious than I’d ever seen him. He offered his brother the cup with all due formality. Dev picked up the goblet and brought it to his lips, drinking deeply. He passed the cup to me.
“You’ll like it,” he said when I hesitated because I’d been offered some pretty freaky stuff before. “It’s honey mead.”
“Alcohol, nice.” I took a long drink of the sweet beer-like liquor. It was good to become reacquainted with booze.
“Zoey,” Declan began as I handed him back the cup. “You are here of your own free will.”
“Is that supposed to be a question?” Because it hadn’t sounded like one.
Declan groaned impatiently. “Fine. Are you performing this ritual with the priest of your own free will? Do you take him as god to your goddess?”
“I do,” I replied.
“Carry on,” Declan said with a royal wave of his hand as he returned to his place.
Dev leaned over and kissed me. He put his hands around my waist and lifted me up on the altar. Gently he parted my knees and made a place for himself. He laid delicate kisses across my face as his hands stroked up and down my arms.
“It’s going to be all right, Zoey,” he whispered. “I know you’re worried about being embarrassed. I’ll be discreet. I’ll treat you with the utmost respect.”
He took my mouth, kissing me deeply, his tongue lazily playing with mine. My hands found that gloriously cut chest of his and moved against it, loving the feel of those hard muscles. I moved forward to get my legs around his hips and pull him closer. He found the bottom of my skirt and lifted it to my knees, his left hand starting to work on the tie at his waist. I knew he was hard, but he was almost always hard the minute he kissed me.
What he wasn’t was ready to go.
I pulled away because his skin, while warm, wasn’t even beginning to get that hot sweat that covered him when his magic started flowing. When we made love, I always felt a pulse of energy roll from his body to mine. It had been that way ever since that night in Vegas when his magic had come roaring back to life. Now I was getting nothing, and it scared the hell out of me. I touched his arm, trying to find the connection, the crazy, intimate, I’ll-do-anything-for-him connection I felt when his magic got rolling. There was nothing coming off him.
This was what Danny and Padric had warned me about.
“Dev, what’s going on?” I wasn’t quite able to keep the panic out of my voice as I stared into his eyes. They were his normal green, not the dark, deep emerald they should be by now.
“Nothing’s wrong,” he insisted, but I heard the doubt in his voice. He was getting flustered. “We’ll just keep the dress on and no one will be able to see you. We can make this work. Just follow my lead.”
Normally, in all sexual situations, following the sex god’s lead is a really good and potentially mind-blowing idea. But this time the sex god was trying to please too many people. He had to please the wolves who were counting on him. He had to please his brother and de facto stepfather or he would be considered weak for the rest of his life. He had to please me, and he was trying to please me on a non-sexual level by treating me like a china doll so no one thought less of me. All of this pressure was resulting in one thing and that was complete failure on the magical front. Dev would be perfectly able to push my skirt up, shove his way inside me and get off. None of that would result in the pulse-pounding lust that he needed to get his magic started.
Dev needed to start thinking about pleasing Dev.
Even from high on the hill I could feel the confusion of the crowd below. They were expecting something to happen and it just wasn’t. Dev was starting to panic as he tried his damnedest to solve every one of his problems.
“I told you this would happen,” I heard Declan saying. “He required six women to get him into this state before. He is not that strong.”
I knew Dev heard it, too, when I saw his face fall and his concentration falter.
“I should never have let him try this,” the future—if I let him live�
�king of Faery was saying.
Maybe I was going about this the wrong way. I was trying so hard to be a good goddess when what Dev needed was a bad one. Dev needed to get turned on, and soft, sweet, gentle lovemaking just didn’t do it for him. Dev liked it dirty—the dirtier the better. Unfortunately, he liked it a certain way, too. He would fight me if I tried to take the lead. Dev liked to be in control, but more than that, Dev liked to dominate. He even struggled to give up control to Daniel in the bedroom. We played at those little fantasies with padded handcuffs and gentle submission.
Tonight, we were going to have to go a little further because those priestesses needed to know who was in charge, and so did Declan.
Sometimes, a girl has to be a little cruel to be kind.
I pulled away from Dev, and his head shot up. “What’s wrong, Zoey? Are you afraid, sweetheart?”
I winced inwardly because I’d really done a number on my lover when I refused him the first time. I needed to make up for it, but he wasn’t going to like how I had to do it, at least not at first.
“No, I’m not afraid,” I said in a sarcastic voice. “I’m bored. What’s wrong with you tonight? Those wolves are waiting and I’m pretty sure they’re not going to hang around forever.”
His jaw clenched, frustration apparent in his every muscle. “Zoey, I’m trying. I just need a little more time.”
I needed to push him and I needed to push the hell out of him quickly or we would lose this crowd. I looked to where Declan and Padric were standing looking worried. I knew just what to do to force the dominant sexual god out of my hesitant boy. I pushed Dev away and jumped off the altar. He had to get it through his head that I was serious about this.
“If you can’t do the job tonight, lover, I’ll find someone who can.” With every ounce of bravado I had, I slipped that gorgeous gown off my shoulders, gave my lover a naughty smile, and walked straight to his brother.
