“What did you just call them?” Troy snatched.
“You heard me. Why repeat it?”
“Just because father asked you to take his place doesn’t mean that you actually are.” I said. “To us, that’ll always be Zayden.”
Lamar laughed but nothing I said was funny and I would have been just as happy to make him pay. “Zayden. You always were one to joke. Now, if you don’t mind.” He held his hand towards the door.
I gritted my teeth and rose to my feet taking Ruby’s hand just so I wouldn’t go after him if she was touching me. “Come on. We were done anyway.”
Ruby nodded and the rest of them got up to leave.
“Wait.”
We stopped just before going out the door and turned back.
“What?”
Lamar was walking back to us but only had his eyes on Jaylyn. She looked worried as he stopped in front of her and stared her right in the face for several seconds without a word.
“What are you looking at?” I asked.
Lamar’s eyes started to narrow and he took a step back. “Nothing. Forget it. You’re free to leave.”
I didn’t know what just happened but didn’t want to stay to ask.
“I really hate that guy.” Troy muttered as the conference room door was shut and we began walking through the main hall.
“Just one more reason I don’t mind leaving.”
“What was that about?” Ruby asked. “It seemed a little weird.”
“I don’t know but everything about him is weird.”
“I think he thought he knew me.” Jaylyn muttered.
“What?” Troy asked.
“He looked at me like he knew me. Maybe he saw Trever when he was here.”
“But your hair isn’t blonde and your eyes aren’t freakishly green.” I said. “I don’t think you look much like him this way.”
I expected her to go on with the worry but instead she sounded more insulted to something I said. “Oh, freakishly green, huh? Well, let me tell you something, someone with freakishly large everything, I happen to like the color of my eyes.”
“And I happen to like that I have freakishly large everything. Better? Neither of us are insulted.”
Instead of fighting back, Jaylyn paused with a laugh. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. We take pride in our own things.”
“Yes, I suppose. I have been told I have a couple freakishly large things myself.” She folded her arms which only pushed up her breasts to get the point across.
“Yes, I see.”
“That’s enough!” Troy pushed me away so I would have to stray my eyes.
“Yes, please.” Ruby agreed. “Stop trying to make my man want to touch you.”
“I wasn’t trying to but if he wanted to try, he’d only get hurt.”
I laughed and glanced at Troy. “Because of him? I could get through him. Watch this.”
I took a step towards him and Troy grabbed Jaylyn’s wrist and pulled her away. “Run!”
“Hey!” I laughed. “Since when do you run?”
“Since I know how determined you can be!”
“All right.” I took a breath to calm myself down and looked at Ruby. “Sorry about that. I wasn’t really going to try.”
She smiled which was a good sign. It meant she wasn’t mad about it. “It’s okay. I knew you weren’t. I like to get my friends a little worked up myself sometimes. It’s how I keep things fun for me.”
“We seem to do it a lot around here. Want to follow them? They’re probably going to sit and do nothing in the lounge for the rest of the day.”
“I guess we could. We’re going to have enough to do in the next week.”
I smiled and put my arm around her shoulders. “Worth every bit of it.”
Ruby laughed and held on to my hand hanging in front of her. “All right, charmer. Let’s go.”
I truly loved everything about her and couldn’t wait until I could leave with her. Tonight wasn’t soon enough.
Chapter 39
Adele
“Why aren’t you resting?”
I looked up from thought and Zayden was walking out of his bathhouse. I didn’t feel well enough to rest and went to him, hugging him with a strong embrace. “I just can’t stop thinking. It won’t let me rest.”
“I told you it’ll be all right.”
“But everything is going to change now, isn’t it?”
“What makes you say that?”
“You’re going to be leaving, I’m done trying to protest it. That’s change right there.”
He laughed. “Yeah. Finally.”
“I still don’t feel right about it. I just know that there’s nothing I can do to change your mind.”
“Of course you can’t. It’s going to happen.”
“I guess, in a way, I’m glad.”
“In a way?”
I backed away, my expression downed on my words. “Last night, I just wanted to die.”
“Look, Love. We don’t have to talk about what he did to you.”
“Not that. Before. I didn’t know if I would ever get to see you again and when you’re father told me to forget about you—”
A tear fell from my eye and Zayden pulled my head into his chest. “It’s all right, Love. You won’t have to forget me.”
“That’s just it. I knew that I never would and it just made things worse. All I kept seeing was you and that’s what led to him—”
“I said we don’t have to talk about it.”
“I know but as much as I never wanted to believe it before, I don’t think I could live without you now and it hurt to think that it would happen.”
“Well, it won’t. I’ll be there every step of the way.”
“I know that now.” I took a deep breath and pulled away from him again, looking directly in his eyes. I was glad I was with him but I just kept thinking about my last dream. “Zayden, I have to tell you something.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to boost your ego or anything but you were right.”
“About what? I’m right so much it’s hard to keep track of everything.”
His comment made me laugh like I needed but I lost it quickly by thinking about what I had to tell him. “About my visions.”
Zayden’s eyes widened with an anxious voice. “What?! You mean you saw something else?! Tell me! Tell me now!”
He was already overly excited about it and I sat with him on the edge of the bed but not as excited as he was. “It was that vision I see the three boys together. I stayed long enough that Seth actually talked to me.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked me if I heard news about when his father was coming home.”
“Coming home?”
He froze. His eyes were just staring at me like he couldn’t believe it or he was just in shock to hear it.
“Zayden? You okay?”
He blinked and nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t want to tease you about how I was right.”
“I know. I wanted to tell you sooner but there’s—”
“What? How could you have told me sooner? Didn’t you just have the vision?”
I paused and tried to explain, hoping he wouldn’t be mad. “Well, it wasn’t last night while we were apart.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No. It was yesterday when we napped.”
Zayden’s eyes widened just slightly. “And you didn’t tell me then?”
“I wanted to but everyone else was there and I was just trying to wrap my head around the thought of it.”
“I forgive you. It’s understandable but it’s still good that I know now.”
“But I did think about something last night because of what happened.”
“What do you mean?”
I took a breath and tried doing this carefully. I didn’t like thinking about it and I already knew how he was going to react. “What if the vision of the child I keep seeing isn’t your son
? What if—what if he’s your brother?”
Zayden didn’t hesitate on that thought for a second and shook his head. “No. There’s no way.”
“But—”
“No. Absolutely not. How could you even think that?”
“I didn’t want to.”
“Well, I certainly don’t believe it. He’s mine. End of story.”
“Zayden—”
“I said the end!”
I didn’t reply and looked away. He was even more upset about it than I imagined and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to see him mad like this. His anger only reminded me of his father’s anger.
“I’m sorry.” Zayden muttered. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t want to think that. I’m already mad enough that he did that to you without saying a thing to me.”
“No. I’m sorry I had to share my worry.”
“Don’t be but it shouldn’t be a worry. I’ve been with you a lot more than he has. That child will be mine. Seth will be ours.”
I wanted to believe him more than ever and fought to smile and pulled his lips down into mine before I said anything I would have regretted.
We stayed alone together for the rest of the day, taking the time to relax. I knew what was ahead and understood I would need all of my strength. We didn’t get up unless we had to nor did we speak unless we had to. The time was spent quietly but awake as we stayed in each other’s arms in a reclined chair on the balcony.
It was a beautiful early spring day in Randal. Birds were singing their love songs and a cool breeze swept through the streets. Flowers would be in bloom soon but we would never see it. Tonight we were leaving but we never spoke another word about it. Instead, I spent the day preparing my mind for the journey ahead.
Chapter 40
Darius
Ruby and I took a trip down to the bathhouse when the sun went down, not to interrupt Zayden by using his. We still had a couple of hours to spare and wanted to spend it alone together now that we finally parted ways with Jaylyn and Troy from the lounge.
While the water was being heated, we waited by the edge only wearing the robes we wore down here.
“Our last day.” Ruby muttered, dangling her feet in the water.
“One of the better ones.”
“What do you think Adele and Zayden did all day? We haven’t seen them since this morning.”
“I don’t know but hopefully they’re not worn out from whatever it was.”
Ruby laughed. “Yeah, that’s funny but not surprising. I know how Adele is. She just doesn’t openly talk about it like the rest of us.”
“I at least hope they’re ready for this.”
“I bet they are. Something was different about her this morning besides her claim about Izin. She wants to be with him and is showing it openly. That’s a huge step for her.”
“And he definitely made it clear that he wants her. I’ve known Zayden for a long time. That tone in his voice yesterday was real. He really does love her.”
“Do you think he’ll ever tell her?”
“Maybe eventually if she doesn’t know already. He’ll want to know that what they have is real first. He wouldn’t risk exposing himself to rejection.”
“She wouldn’t reject him, not now. I know she loves him. She’s probably waiting for him to make the first move.”
I laughed. “Well, if that’s the case, who knows how long that could take but they’ll have the time they need as soon as we leave this place. We’ll make it worth it for all of us.”
“Yeah. I think it’s warm enough now.”
“Okay.” She untied her robe and I helped slipped it off over her shoulders, staring at her beautiful back as it was exposed. “Go ahead.”
I watched her hop in, letting out this familiar moan from the feel of the water as if I was pleasuring her in some way. I enjoyed hearing it and let her have her moment.
“You coming in?” She turned and took notice to me still out and still in my robe. “Oh, you don’t want me to look?” She playfully covered her eyes, slowly starting to peek through her fingers. I laughed. “I’m just kidding. Just get in when you’re ready.”
She turned around and sat down, letting her head rest back while her eyes closed and waited for me. I disrobed and lowered myself down.
The second I was fully next to her, Ruby turned to face me and straddled my lap. I took a silent breath as she did it and was looking at her sitting naked over me. The water in this small pool wasn’t clouded like before in the larger pool and I could see everything. Her body was incredible and I felt the honor just being able to touch it.
“This is much better.” She joked. She lifted my chin to kiss me and I didn’t want it to stop. A familiar feeling came over me as I had my hands on her wet body and her desire for me seemed to increase as well but she pulled away with that regretted voice about her. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” I held her close so she couldn’t move away. I wanted her and would do anything to let her know it. “I trust you with my life.”
“But I don’t know if I can control it.”
“Let’s see if I really am stronger than I look. I have to have you. No more waiting.”
My honesty made Ruby smile that smile I loved seeing from her that showed when she really wanted something and she started kissing me again.
She moved her hips to reposition herself over me and I broke down even more. I meant it when I said no more waiting and I was ready to finally have her. I lifted her up just a little bit, letting her easily float in the water then brought her back down. Her grip around my neck got tighter from the surprise of me penetrating her body and she pulled from my lips.
“Not too much for you, I hope.”
“Oh, no. Of course not. I’ve been waiting for it.”
We both smiled and I pulled her back down towards me. The pool was still being heated as we were in it and the bathhouse was filled with a light haze from the steam, cutting our focus short just on each other.
That’s all I needed.
Ruby’s grip on me was forceful, pulling on me and I slowly watched her eyes turn red but I didn’t let it break my concentration. I wanted this.
The sound of her moans and motions through the water, blocked my mind about what I was actually doing and I took in every bit of this pleasure I’ve been waiting to share with her. I was relaxed and let her do most of the work, feeling both the pleasure I’ve dreamt about and a feeling of another kind.
Ruby’s eyes were still red and I looked into them without fear. They were beautiful and only seemed to make the pleasure that much greater as her hips continued to roll over mine. Just by the heightened sound and harder thrusts, I knew she was almost there, I’ve heard this pattern of breathing before and I just wanted to make this about her but with every second that passed, it was making it hard on me to do that.
Yes, I wanted it. I wanted to know what it felt like to release this pressure that was building up inside her but my past was still with me. I could feel it already happening like I wasn’t going to see her again after this. I didn’t want that to happen. I wasn’t ready to change and didn’t want to hurt her but trying to hold back a pleasure like this that was beyond anything else soon became impossible.
I failed.
Ruby was still breathing heavily. Her hips slowed and she tried catching her breath while she backed off. I had my eyes closed and she brought her hand up to my face. “Muscles? Please no.”
She must have thought that I was dead so I opened my eyes to show her I wasn’t but I was hating myself. I survived. That was good news but what I just did to us was sure to cause future problems.
“Oh, good. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Everything is great.”
“It is. You’re alive. It’s definitely a sign. I’ve never been able to do that before.”
I agreed but needed some time to think about all of this and I got to my feet. “I’ll—ah—be ri
ght back.” I climbed out of the pool and wrapped my robe around me.
“Where are you going?”
“It’ll only take me a minute.” I wasn’t sure if that was true but I left anyway. I needed to consult with myself about what should be done next.
Chapter 41
Lamar
I was still up.
I was walking the halls on the second floor and heard sounds echoing from the bathhouse. A woman’s moaning. My eyes rolled and I started walking towards the balcony above it with a long sigh.
“That’s nice. The King is gone and they thought it’d be okay to just have their way with those tramps anywhere they please. I don’t think so.”
I reached the bathhouse, ready to end this act of disrespect but froze before yelling down to them. My eyes were unblinking to the sight in front of me. The girl pleasurably moaning over Darius couldn’t have been of Leccan origin just like I always thought but it was much worse.
It was low visibility but I could still see through the crystal water at the black marks that flawed her skin. The Black Wings of Death. I’d know it anywhere. I backed up from whence I came, trying not to make a sound and fled to get out of sight.
What was I to do now? I took a few deep breaths in fear of what joining those two teams could do to our world. I had to end it. In my mind, that was all there was to it. No more letting them just leave, they had to be ended.
I gathered a couple of guards under my command with the news that Assassins have been disguising as the Leccan soldiers and headed back to the bathhouse from the first floor. I held out my hand at the door for the two guards to stop behind me and waited. Something was happening that was odd but would work in my favor.
Darius was just leaving out the other door, leaving the girl alone and defenseless. I signaled for the guards to go around and I stepped inside towards her relaxing in the pool with her head tilted back.
“It’s late for you to be out at this hour, especially alone.”
Deciding Skies (Fate's Intent Book 2) Page 21
