The King of the Fey began to speak and everyone took their seats. He rambled on and on about peace and forgiveness and allies. Not once did he mention love, and that just pissed Gage off even more. He felt his feet itching to move and it took a herculean effort to keep still. He had to wait for the right time. This had to be done as planned or else it could result in death for not only himself, but for his family as well.
And then, it was time. The king asked, “Is there anyone who may show good cause for these two not to be wed on this day?” Angel stood up.
“Your Highness,” he spoke clearly. The crowd gasped and all heads turned to Angel. They looked at him like he had just brought a snowball out of Hell. Angel did not waiver. “I wish to speak at this time, if you will hear me.”
The king looked at him quizzically for a moment. The guards immediately snapped to attention, waiting to strike if there was any sign of danger to their king. Anora stood as well and joined her daughter at the altar.
The king motioned for is guards to stand down and then said, “Angel Knight, I am pleased you came.
What is it that you wish to bring to my attention?”
“How dare you,” Anora seethed through clenched teeth. “I will destroy you.”
“Now, now, Anora,” the king said softly, “He has shown no violence here, and you will not start it. Let him speak.”
Angel took a deep breath and stepped out into the aisle. “I know of your son and he is a good and just leader,” Angel began. “He will make a perfect king and excellent husband, but I fear, not on this day. I believe there is one who deserves the love and affections of Miss Serena more.”
The king laughed out loud. “And just who might this be?” he asked. “You are already mated and your lovely wife had accompanied you here today.”
“No Sir, not me. I would like to introduce to you and all of your family, Gage Rachnoir, King of all vampires.” Gage recognized his cue, and he stood and met Angel in the aisle. “Gage is the son of Helena, the last of the royal family. We have done extensive DNA research to prove this to be true. He is the King of my kind, and he is in love with the bride.”
Hushed whispers rolled through the crowd. Gage stepped forward and leaned his head to the side, exposing the tattoo and mating mark Serena left behind on his neck. “He has, however unintentionally, mated himself to Serena. Even though she is not mated in return, our King will surely die without her,” Angel continued.
Rakimesh watched the horror story unfold in front of him. Someone will come for her, she will never belong to you, the voice said again in his head, loud and clear. He shook his head to clear it. Was this the warning that voice had been sending him all along? A fight with the vampires would be devastating to say the least, and suicidal if what Angel was saying was true. He had heard stories in the news about the lost king returning. If Gage truly was king, the entire vampire population would strike out against the fey if violence broke out on this day.
He knew a fight was out of the question.
“I am sorry for you situation,” the king said, “but this young woman was promised to my son on the day of her birth. I see no reason to hand her over to you now.” The guards raised their swords and took a ready pose.
The tension was so thick in the air that it was suffocating. Gage saw his family preparing to fight, and Leigh and Jade were inching toward the doors for a quick escape. This was going all wrong. There had to be some way to reason with them.
“Wait,” Gage yelled out. “Just wait!” He used the mental powers that he had been honing to put up an invisible barrier between the guards and his family. No fighting yet. Not until he had said his piece. He ran the few feet to the altar and dropped to his knees in front of Rakimesh.
“I beg you, hear me out. I have given up the peaceful life that I once knew to embrace a power I didn’t want, a title I don’t deserve, and a job I can’t handle. I have put my family, which loves me above all else, in danger. I have traveled half way across the world to see you and to beg you to not do this. I am standing here in front of you, half a man, willing to cut off my own arm, hell, both arms if that is what you want, and I am not leaving here empty handed. She is the other half of me. She is my heart, my soul, my everything. Life used to be okay before she became a part of it. When she and I met, I then knew what it was like to truly live. Now, life isn’t worth living unless she is a part of it. My chest is empty and cold because she belongs there. She has taken my heart with her and if you keep her, I will surely die. I beg of you, give my heart back to me. If you can’t, then I beg you to just kill me because I cannot, no, I will not, go forth into forever without her.”
Rakimesh felt the truth in Gage’s words and felt the pain he opened up and allowed Rakimesh to feel. The burden was crippling and he could barely stand it. He looked into Gage’s eyes and saw the resemblance to his mother there. He looked then to his father, who was waiting patiently to hear what his son was thinking. He looked at Anora, who was seething with anger. And then, he found a pair of eyes that he feared he would not see at his wedding. Delia was waiting in the corner, watching him. Her eyes were sad and full of fear at the same time. Rakimesh’s heart sank to his feet. If he continued on and married Serena, consequences be damned, he would lose Delia forever. If he let her go and risked the wrath of his father and her mother, he may not survive. But if he did survive, he could still be with Delia. It was in that moment that he realized that Delia was not only his favorite female within his palace, but that she held a special place in his heart. He loved her.
Rakimesh looked back to Gage. There was a pleading in his eyes that Rakimesh finally understood. He looked at Serena, who held the same plaintive look in her eyes. Rakimesh nodded subtly and raised his head high.
“There is no reason for you to bow to me,” he said loudly. “It is I who should bow to you, King Rachnoir. I fear I have taken something that rightfully belongs to you. I cannot force her to marry me when she so clearly loves you and you love her. I mean no disrespect to my father or to Anora, but I do not wish to marry Serena today. It is my wish that she be free to marry whomever she wishes.”
“Are you certain, Son?” the king asked quietly.
“Yes,” Rakimesh said clearly. “There is someone who holds my heart as well, and I must be true to her.” He stared at Delia as he spoke the words.
“Then it is done,” the king announced. “The clans shall remain allies, but the marriage will not take place.”
“Do I not get a say in this?” Anora seethed. “I have spent an enormous amount of time planning a wedding and planning for the union of our clans! This will make our plans void!”
“This will not affect our clan’s affiliation,” the king assured her.
“And,” Angel piped in, “You will be forming an alliance with my clan. Just think of it, an alliance with the strongest vampire clan in the world! Your daughter will be a queen!”
“If she agrees to marry him,” Anora said, her eye’s narrowed.
Serena saw the look on her mother’s face and knew what she was thinking. She was planning to do any and everything to make sure she didn’t marry Gage. Over her dead body was how that was going to happen. She knew she had to speak up now, in front of the Fey king, or her mother was going to make her life very difficult. “I do wish to marry him,” she said loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Gage smiled and stood. He reached out his hand to Serena. She looked at Rakimesh with pleading in her eyes. He nodded and she wasted no time in not only taking Gage’s hand, but leaping into his arms.
Gage caught her easily and spun her around. “You did it,” she said with a wide grin.
“I only had to become King,” he smiled back.
She wrapped her arms and legs around him and kissed him hard. There was nothing but Serena and her lips on his own. There was no one and nothing that would ever come between them again. He kissed her harder, staking his claim for all to see. Serena felt the grief she had been holding, and the worr
y, slip away into the night, as her soul mate held her in his arms. He returned her passion and the people in the room with them slipped away into nothingness. The room could have caught fire and been destroyed by a tornado, and neither of them would have noticed.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Rakimesh watched his bride fall into the arms of the man who claimed to be a king. He saw how happy she was and it filled his heart with both happiness and regret. He wanted that kind of happiness with his bride. He knew he had made the right decision by letting her go.
“And who is this woman who has a hold on your heart, son?” the king asked him, breaking his daydream.
Rakimesh didn’t know how to respond. He had never seen his father look like that before. “I was lucky,” the king continued. “I married your mother because of an arrangement, but over time, I found that I loved her above all else. I cannot deny my own son that kind of happiness. Who is she?”
Rakimesh allowed his eyes to travel over the gathering until his eyes rested on Delia. She saw him and knew what he planned to do. Fear streaked over her face and she shook her head at him, silently telling him to keep quiet. But Rakimesh did not listen. “It is Delia,” he said softly.
The king smiled. “I thought as much,” he said. He turned to Delia and spoke loudly and clearly. “Delia, would you please join us here?”
Delia walked slowly until she was standing in front of the king. “Yes sir?” she asked innocently. “My son has a place in his heart for you,” he said. “Do you return his feelings?” That was just like the king; direct and to the point, without frills or beating around the bush. Hell, he cut the bushes down.
Delia couldn’t find her voice. What was she supposed to say? If she said no, Serena may not be able to leave and if she said yes… well, she didn’t know what would happen. She looked into the expectant eyes of the king. “Y-y-yes,” she stammered out.
“Well, that settles it then!” the king declared. “We have gathered for a wedding today and a wedding we shall have! Please, everyone be seated. I would ask that our vampire guests stay as well?”
Angel looked at his crew for confirmation. Gage and Serena both nodded and they took their seats in the back once again.
“Now we shall begin,” the king declared.
“If she will have me,” Rakimesh said. It occurred to him that no one asked Delia what she thought of this matter. She looked terrified.
“If that is what the king wishes,” Delia said quietly.
“No,” Rakimesh said. He took her hands in his and dropped to his knees in front of her. There were surprised gasps from the guests, because it was unheard of for the prince to kneel to anyone, much less someone not of royal blood. “I have taken you for granted for far too long,” he continued. “It wasn’t until Serena showed up that I realized the true depth of my feelings for you. I couldn’t bear the thought of letting you go when we were to wed. I have to admit, part of the reason I let her go was because I knew I could never truly love her, because my heart already belonged to someone else. To you. I am asking you, not as a prince, but as a man, will you be my wife?”
Delia knew that she loved Rakimesh beyond measure, but she was not royalty. How could she deny him a royal heir? How could the king allow her to marry him? Rakimesh and the king saw the questions in her eyes.
“I shall make a new law on this day,” the king bellowed out. “No longer will arranged marriages be enforced. The royal family will wed whomever they wish, beginning with my son. No fey shall be forced to wed if they are not willing. So I have declared, so it shall be done.” He winked at Delia and said softly, for her ears only, “I have always liked you.”
Delia screwed up her courage. Could she do it? How could she not? “Yes,” she whispered.
Rakimesh stood and yanked her into his arms. “Thank you,” he said into her hair. The guests exploded in applause and the ceremony began.
Gage watched as the pair was bound together in the fey ceremony that would bind their souls forever. He heard Serena stifle a sniffle beside him and he squeezed her hand to lend his support. He knew she was happy for the prince, but more so, that she was happy for herself. That was almost her up there, and had the ceremony taken place, she would have been lost to Gage forever.
“We need to go somewhere private,” Gage whispered in her ear.
“I know just the place,” Serena whispered back. She took him by the hand and led him through the palace to the room that had been hers.
Gage grinned at her as he pushed the door closed behind him. He turned the lock and when he heard the satisfying click, he made his move.
Serena gasped as he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He crawled on top of her and dropped his mouth to hers. He kissed her with all the love in his heart, and she reciprocated. He ran his hands through her hair. It was so soft; so much softer than he remembered it. Her lips tasted just as sweet as he thought they were, and her curves were just as inviting.
He couldn’t control himself, but she didn’t seem to care. Gage kissed her neck and felt his fangs extend with the need to mark her. Not yet, he told himself. He pushed back to sit on his knees. She laid there on the bed, looking back at him. She was so beautiful, and the dress she was wearing really made her skin glow.
A dress that was meant to bind her to another man. Gage growled and took the bodice of her dress in both hands. With a quick jerk, he ripped the fabric apart, destroying the dress and any chance that she would be wearing it ever again.
“Hell yes,” Serena said with a sly grin. “I hate this dress!” She helped him destroy the dress until it was nothing but tatters on the floor.
When it was done, Serena was naked and Gage was breathing hard. Gage stared at her for a moment, too much in awe of her beauty to do anything. She was standing over the remains of the offending dress, stunningly naked. Her hair was hanging loose over her shoulders and partly covering her breasts. That wouldn’t do at all.
Gage moved in a flash to her. He brushed her hair over her shoulders and dropped his head to take one pink nipple into his mouth. Serena held his head to her with both hands and tossed her head back. She missed him so much, and now he was here. She had seen the tattoo he had used to cover his mating mark.
She hadn’t known at the time that he had given her so much, but she did now. She pulled him up to her level and kissed his mouth. His teeth scraped against her lips and she felt the flesh tear against them. Her blood trickled out and into his mouth.
“Oh God,” he groaned aloud. “I want to do this right, but I can’t wait,” he said.
“Then don’t,” she encouraged him.
He shucked his clothes in a blink of an eye and Serena pushed him to his back on her bed. She climbed on top of him and straddled his hips. “You are mine,” she said, touching the mark on his neck.
“I am,” he said. “Now and forever.”
Serena smiled and bent down to his mouth. She kissed him as she lowered herself onto his erection. He was bulging and filled her to the brink of pain, but that didn’t stop her. She knew how mating worked with the Fey, and she knew how it worked with vampires. He must have been starving without her.
He pulled her body close to his and held her tight against his chest as he thrust his hips up into her. His mouth ached to taste her. As if she already knew what he needed, Serena tossed her hair to the side and offered him her neck.
Gage had waited for so long to taste his mate. He wanted to wait and make sure it was perfect for her, but he had no patience. He had gone too long without her and nearly lost her. The urge to mark her was too strong. He needed to make sure that no one would ever mistake her for anything but his, ever again.
“Please, Gage,” she whispered in his ear, “Make me yours.”
That was all the encouragement he needed. He sank his fangs into her soft neck, and when her blood hit his tongue, he felt whole for the first time in his life. As her lifeblood flowed into him, he felt the hole in his chest knit back together. He knew that
she was giving herself to him and he was grateful for it. It made all that he had been through worth it. He knew exactly when the mating was complete, because he felt Serena’s body tighten up around him and heard her scream his name. He released her neck and grabbed her hips with both hands. He slammed his cock into her at a desperate pace. He needed her more than he needed air.
Serena dropped her head back down and bit his neck hard over the tattoo. He knew she was taking his blood as well, and that fueled the fire in his groin. She was his. Finally, he had his mate, and no one would ever take her from him again.
As he gave himself over to the pleasure they shared, Gage chanted her name over and over again. “I love you,” he said.
They lay there, staring at each other, for what seemed a very long time. “I wonder if they miss us at the party,” she said.
“I don’t care,” Gage told her, tracing the line of her shoulder with his finger.
“I want to dance,” she announced. “Come on, get dressed.”
He wanted to stay there with her forever, but eventually they were going to have to get out of bed. His family was waiting for him to bring her home. He could deny her nothing, so he got up. He put his suit back on and watched as Serena slipped a much more conservative dress over her shoulders.
“You are beautiful,” he told her.
“You clean up pretty good yourself,” she smiled, surveying him with her eyes. “Now, let’s get back to the party.”
He followed her downstairs and found that the after party was still in full swing.
The fey really did know how to throw a party. Gage pulled Serena to the dance floor and spun her around. She laughed as she landed in his arms again, and the sound was like the angels singing in the sunrise. Sebastian danced with Jessica beside them, and when they turned so that the girls were side by side, Jessica leaned in to talk to them.
“Your tattoo is glowing,” she pointed out.
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