Chosen One

by Scarlett Dawn

  Groaning heavily, he slowly lowered his head on the pillow, face toward mine, his weight heavy and scrumptious over me. His panting breaths were heavy against my ear, sounding sweetly against the pounding in my ears from my heart that didn’t seem to want to slow against his chest, his own heart pounding furiously against mine. The steadying hand he’d had on my hip slid up my side slowly, sluggishly, running under my shoulder, holding softly, even as his hand on my face tipped my head toward his, gently pressing the side of my face against his, my own trembling legs unwrapping from his waist and sliding tiredly down the back of his legs, hooking around them, then going slack as I sucked air, arms like dead weight around his neck.

  When I could breathe again semi-properly, I mumbled on a breath, “That was…nice.”

  His hot, slick body started shaking over my heated one as he chuckled quietly, but it quickly stilled as we both groaned softly from the movement, both of us overly sensitive until he tipped his hips back, sliding from me slowly, and carefully, and he muttered on a raspy voice, “It’s possible I underestimated slow and soft.” He tensed a smidge, pausing, hesitating, and then tilted his head a bit, his lips brushing my cheek in a soft caress. “With you.” His head fell back to the pillow, our cheeks gliding, and my face still against his.

  My lips quirked at his cautious sweetness, and I blew a piece of hair off my cheek, and murmured, “Definitely underestimated the benefits of slow and soft.” I tilted my own head tiredly, and kissed his cheek softly. “With you.” And I instantly felt the slight rigidness in him relax, and I shut my eyes, inhaling him.

  I felt his jaw open wide as he yawned grandly, blindly pulling the white sheet over us, then placing his hand softly back on my cheek. “Wake me in ten minutes.” Another yawn. “I might be able to get up then.”

  I grunted, understanding, snuggling further against his cheek and soft hair, my body utterly sated and dead weight, that climax ringing my bell to lazy perfection.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  A poking on my arm in my half dozing slumber had my eyes shooting wide open in fright…staring blurrily into spring green eyes an inch from my face, and I screamed bloody murder, my arms wrapping like death’s grip around Cain’s throat. Instantly, Cain woke, his head trying to lift, his wolf already snarling furiously inside his chest as he threw his arm out blindly in the direction I was staring, since he couldn’t see past me hanging on to him as I was, his power erupting down his palm, the pulse of furious wild animal zapping the air, shoving the intruder away with his strength, tossing the individual through the air easily.

  A deep grunt, “Fucking shit!”

  And…I blinked…rubbing my eyes…seeing King Zeller—oh, no—hit the privacy spelled far wall, plaster and paint fall down around him as he tumbled to the couch with a groan. I quickly grabbed Cain’s arm, yanking on it, since he was still sending his power, muttering hurriedly, “Stop! It’s King Zeller!”

  No longer strangled inside my hold, he shook his rumpled curls out of his face, eyes glowing in fury, peering off to the side, and instantly dropped his arm, relinquishing his powered hold on the King who was trying to get up, his fangs extended in fury, face…beautifully sharpened…but with that much-aged magic against him…well, it had to hurt like a son of a bitch, not to mention, it sounded as if Cain had broken bones.

  An arm waving in my peripheral caught my attention, and my head darted that way around Cain, but Elder Farrar stated loudly, and clearly, “Don’t attack. It’s only me.” I stared wide-eyed even as Cain jerked the blanket over us even further; apparently, making sure everything was covered now that the threat was gone, even as Elder Farrar waved an irritated arm at King Zeller, muttering, “I told you not to do that. One day you will listen to me, dammit.” He started marching toward him. “Now, I’m going to have to fix your ribs, and no one’s here to offset the pain.”

  King Zeller was standing now, but shaking his head hard. “Jesus,” more head shaking, fangs still extended, “Christ.”

  “Yes, yes,” Elder Farrar mumbled, hands glowing over King Zeller’s ribs. “Just be happy he wasn’t trying to kill you since he wasn’t sure who you were.”

  Cain tucked my head down against his chest, holding it there so all I could see was his olive skin, soft black curls tickling my cheek…even as he tucked the blanket around my damn head, burying me under him and the blanket, barking gruffly, clearly pissed, “What the fuck, Farrar?”

  “Just a moment.” Elder Farrar’s voice sounded, since I couldn’t see a damn thing, Cain’s hold on me unbreakable under him. “I’ve got to fix,” bones cracking sounded harshly, “my goddamn, pain in the ass son-in-law,” more cracking with a deep grunt, “since he doesn’t listen to older and wiser reason.”

  I stopped trying to move out from under Cain at that bit of knowledge…realizing he meant Queen Ruckler and King Zeller were married. “Huh.”

  Elder Farrar snorted. “Please, Ms. Jules, as if you didn’t wonder. You were romantically involved with their daughter for close to a year, and you figured out who her parents are.”

  Cain froze over me this time until he peeked under the cover, pulling my head back a bit, asking gruffly, “Isa was the woman you were in a committed relationship with?”

  “Yeah,” and, apparently, Cain did, in fact—not assuming, know of the dynamics of the current Rulers, not to mention, remembered my explanations from years past, “A few years ago.”

  He stared for a long moment, an unreadable expression on his face, then grunted, tucking me against his chest, stuffing the sheet back over my head, to once again bark hostilely, “Now, what the hell?”

  King Zeller—also, sounding pissed—stated gruffly, “I arrived here first from the hospital. Found Elder Farrar snoozing outside the door, came inside, and found you two as you are. I improvised, and intercepted everyone at the front door of the hotel, and took them to lunch explaining Ms. Jules was sleeping and we shouldn’t wake her. I left early—they’ll be up here any minute—to make sure you were awake by now, which you were not, and against Elder Farrar’s,” a quiet growl, “advice I tried to wake Ms. Jules.” It sounded as if he was moving away. “And now that I have,” another growl, “I’m leaving since no damn good deed goes without fucking pain somehow.” A pause. “And take the privacy spell down. It’s too obvious.” The door opened, and slammed shut.

  “Dammit, Farrar,” Cain growled, and I felt him leaning, fumbling for something, crushing my face against his chest more, pushing my head back into the pillow, he paused, then the sound of plastic slamming on wood. “You got here two and half hours ago with her.”

  Elder Farrar’s voice was snippy and irritated. “I wasn’t the only one to fall asleep. I told you both you had an hour.” A popping sound. “Not to mention, you got a warm body and damn bed while I got a cold breeze and a hard floor.” I heard odd sounds, and felt the touch of Mage magic, mystical dreams sizzling softly through the air. “And even though I knew you wouldn’t appreciate being woken, I didn’t expect you to hurt Ezra. I expect you to apologize to him for breaking five of his ribs, and then properly thank him for saving both your asses.” The magic stopped, and I heard him stomping across the room muttering curses under his breath. “He may be my headstrong son-in-law, but he is still my daughter’s husband, whom she loves dearly,” the door opened, “so make it fucking right.” It slammed shut.

  “Jesus,” Cain muttered after a moment, then leaned back pulling the blanket from my head…and glared down at me. “I told you to wake me in ten minutes.”

  Um… “Sorry?” When he only glared further, I decided to scowl right back. “I just fell asleep, dammit. I’m sorry, alright?” I thumped his chest once, and feeling a little guilty, I properly turned fault on him. “And you were suffocating me under there. They couldn’t see anything with your body on top of mine. And yet, you damn near mummified me.”

  He continued glaring, and his wolf huffed quietly. “You look all disheveled and adorable from a proper fucking and a de
cent nap. I didn’t want them seeing you this way.” His wolf huffed again, and he lifted, maneuvering over me. “Now, help me get rid of these sheets, then go get in the shower.”

  I blinked, and call me a damn girl, but hell…Cain, the badass wolf man, had called me adorable, so I mumbled, “Alright.” No argument from me, plus, it was partly my fault we were in this frantic-paced situation. “If you get the shower going, I’ll get rid of the sheets.”

  His gaze flicking down my body, then back up, stalling at my neck. His wolf huffed quietly before he turned on his heel, striding fluidly with a lethal ease, his body striking built for the killer he was, but after a moment, he barked curtly over his shoulder, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” I murmured vaguely, blinking after him, but when he disappeared into the bathroom, moving as quickly as I could, I lifted from the bed, sore as hell now, even from that gentle lovemaking, my stomach pinching a bit with my motions, I moved through the ache, using a bit of my power to get rid of the sheets stained with our sexual fluids, then made my way slowly to the bathroom.

  Cain walked out, apparently having taken a thirty second shower, wiping his glistening body off with a towel. “I’ll put sheets on the bed, and get your clothes for you.” He smacked my ass lightly as he walked past. “And hurry your injured ass up.”

  I growled quietly, but did walk faster, hurrying to take my shower, and when I stepped out of it, I paused, my eyes flying wide, glancing at myself in the mirror for the first time. I had an enormous damn hickie on my neck, which covered, like, a fourth of it. My powers had been pretty much offline for the last three weeks, except for today’s events, which meant that it wasn’t going to go away very quickly. Drying off as swiftly as I could, I kept staring at it in the mirror, remembering his reaction to it…and it slowly dawned on me, he had kind of marked me in a sense, in an animalistic way. Tossing on the clothes he had brought me, oversized black velour pajama bottoms—ones that didn’t hug my waist too tightly—and a soft cotton, gray turtleneck, I moved outside, only to have fingers snapped at me, and navy blue’s glaring at my hair, with a barked exasperation, “You washed your hair?” More snapping. “Dry it, dammit.”

  I quickly moved back into the bathroom to rapidly dry my hair, not because I was ordered to do so, but because I didn’t want to get caught…and, possibly, just maybe…have the surly ass taken away from me. When I exited a few minutes later, I stopped his gruff movements to the door to tell Elder Farrar to get rid of the privacy protection on the wall with a gentle hand on his stomach, and reached up, standing on tip toe, pulling his face down to mine, and kissed him gently…then nipped his bottom lip sharply, whispering, “My badass wolf man.”

  Even as his wolf huffed quietly, he straightened, and brushed his gray t-shirt with rough motions, then grunted. “Yes, well,” he moved around me, speaking sternly over his shoulder, “don’t forget, you’re my spirit bitch.” And that was the first time he had said it, and it sounded, and felt, like an endearment.

  After lying in bed with clean sheets, I snuggled up and watched Cain with concealed amusement. He had sat on the recliner with his book after speaking with Elder Farrar, who was also now back in the room, but he had kept glancing over at me, wearing his sexy as hell worn jeans again, his bare foot tapping with whatever he had been thinking about. He had gotten up after five minutes, Elder Farrar also watching him covertly with twitching lips as he started swiftly, methodically, and damn professionally, moving each trundle bed just the barest half foot in toward the king-sized bed this large suite had, even moving the bags perfectly next to them…so no one would notice the fact he moved his trundle within reaching distance to the bed Sin and I shared. He glanced at me with narrowed eyes, ordering gruffly, “Not a peep, honey.” Then, proceeded to test his theory, lying on his bed, reaching an arm out, touching me, then rolled off it, glanced at each of the beds with an approving air, then went to sit back on the recliner, kicking his feet up, lifting his book, muttering to Elder Farrar next to him on the couch, “Don’t even start.”

  Elder Farrar flipped a sheet on the magazine he hadn’t even glanced at, but studied now like it held life’s secrets, stating casually, “I wouldn’t even know where to begin, old friend.”

  “Oh, fuck off,” Cain muttered, his wolf growling quietly. “I’ve kept your secrets, you can keep mine.”

  Interesting.

  “That’s always been much appreciated, and, of course, I’ll return the kindness.” More studying of a page. “Did you know one of the ways a couple continues to have a successful, happy relationship is to sleep next to each other every night?”

  I bit my lip as Cain glared at him, his wolf growling quietly.

  “What?” Elder Farrar asked innocently, holding up the magazine, pointing to it. “It’s in the column.”

  Cain flipped him off.

  “I believe you could learn a lot from this article,” Elder Farrar stated steadily, voice even and pleasant, turning his attention back to his page. “It also has a lengthy segment on how to transform your surly ass ways into a loving, caring individual.” Elder Farrar ducked the decorative pillow thrown at him, and continued pretending to read. “Ah, rule one…always be kind to your oldest friends…aka don’t throw shit at them when they’ve just made it possible for you to get laid.”

  I snickered quietly, keeping the sheet pressed to my mouth, muffling the noise, watching Cain drop the other pillow he had been ready to throw, muttering grudgingly, “I won’t hurt you since I know you already are.”

  Elder Farrar grunted. “Six weeks is a long damn time to go without.” He flicked a scowl at me before his eyes went to his magazine. “And it’s only going to be longer since your honey was careless enough to get stabbed with her own damn sword.” He shook his head slightly, muttering quietly, “That’s fucking humiliating.”

  I don’t believe he even saw the pillow that time. His head whipped back with the impact, and he muttered, “Goddammit!” He wiped at the dab of blood that had formed on his nose, glaring at Cain. “Was that really necessary? It had fucking ornaments on it!”

  Cain grunted, opening his book. “Yes.” He tilted his head to the basket of odds and ends next to him on the ground, even as he found the page he had been previously reading. “And there’s more where that came from if you verbally bash her again for something she’s already ashamed of, and knows she needs to work on.”

  I smiled quietly under the sheet, kind of…liking him sticking up for me.

  Elder Farrar scowled for a long moment, and then rolled his shoulders, sitting back on the couch grouchily, staring at his own magazine. “Asshole.”

  Cain hummed quietly, his lips twitching, his foot tapping. “I’ll refrain from commenting.”

  Elder Farrar’s lips twitched, too. “Cunt.”

  Cain chuckled quietly…and all was right between them, apparently, as they went silent, seeming to actually read from their materials, but their conversation had given me an idea, so when the others came in ten minutes later, I sat up in bed gingerly, and viewed everyone who eyed me warily—seriously, I wasn’t that damn bad at the hospital—and smiled pleasantly to them, stating, “I have a gift for all of you.”

  As one, they appeared…almost…frantic with anxiety, but trying to mask it.

  I waved a hand. “It’s not bad.” I cleared my throat, stating delicately, keeping a straight face, “I realize it’s been six weeks,” everyone here was a Mystical, highly sexual in nature, “since any of you have spoken or seen a loved one, and it’s only going to be,” a glance to Elder Farrar, then back to the others, “longer because of my unfortunate mishap, putting a standstill in our travels. So, I thought I would,” straight face, straight face, “open a channel so you can…talk…with someone you may be missing from home.” God, it was hard, but I kept my face blank. “I thought Elder Farrar could spell the bathroom, so each of you might have some privacy.”

  Elder Bridges, ever one for delicacy, blinked slowly, and then asked blu
ntly, “You’re going to give us access to phone sex?”

  I had to hold still for a long moment, or else laugh my ass off, but I eventually cleared my throat, murmuring demurely, “It’s more like video, since you’re able to see and hear them, and vice versa.” I glanced at them with clear eyes. “Also, you should know the silencing spell will work if you try to divulge anything about spirits, and what you’ve learned here, since you will be speaking to someone outside the Temple, and my lips will be sealed for whomever you wish to speak with.” I placed my hands on my lap calmly. “Is anyone interested?”

  King Collins jerked forward, already heading to the bathroom, barking over his shoulder, “Get your ass in here, my Prodigy.”

  Yeah…I had expected him to go first.

  After the bathroom was spelled, in went like this…

  King Collins had me contact Queen Cooper. He spent two fucking hours in the bathroom, which finally earned King Zeller banging on the door, cursing at him to hurry up. He came out a half hour later…appearing all types of refreshed.

  King Zeller obviously went next. First, he had me contact Isa to whom he spoke with for a half hour, then peaked his head out the door, asking for me. He then had me contact Queen Ruckler, to whom he spoke with for over an hour, which had Elder Bridges banging on the door, cursing for him to hurry up, the Vampire King practically grinning when he left the bathroom.

  I wasn’t sure who the Vampire woman was Elder Bridges had me contact, but I quickly hustled out when her clothes started coming off the moment she saw him. My eyes had been a bit wide when I exited, but I had walked slowly, and carefully, holding my stomach, back to the bed. I had gotten an hour’s worth of rest before he came out…cheeks flushed and refreshed.