“The length is very pleasing. But the tips…”
I looked at Amras and lifted an eyebrow. Though his thoughts were still as calm as they had been, something in his voice and eyes became more intense and I wondered what might have caused the change.
Chains,” Cursed replied. “It brings to mind little golden chains.”
Just the mention of it had me remembering my image in the mirror in full Technicolor. I can safely say that the polite interest that they had been feeding me disappeared and I found myself gasping as waves of desire crashed through my mind. Cursed’s fingers moved to my ear and followed the gentle contours up to the tip. Amras froze, his eyes widening. “Just that easily she shatters the control,” he whispered, and he gazed down at me with a look I knew I’d seen before.
“I know you,” I told him and I tipped back my head and stared up at Cursed, who refused to meet my eyes but continued stroking my ear, his long delicate fingers tracing the tip over and over. And it wasn’t me naked I was seeing, but me as a two year old being carried away in my Mother’s arms while they watched me. “You wanted to kill me,” I told Cursed calmly. “I remember your face.”
Cursed nodded once but refused to speak. I turned to look at Amras and gently pulled my foot out of his grasp as I pushed up on my elbows. I tilted my head to the side and stared at Amras, who had gone still, his beautiful eyes staring back at me. “Did you sleep with my Mother?” I asked him tightly.
“I won’t ask if it would matter,” Amras replied, his eyes holding mine. “So I suppose for the first time I should feel fortunate that she refused me, even though we were betrothed for more years than I care to remember.”
Betrothed to my Mother… who left him to save the humans. And had me. And now here he was. “Do you love her?” I couldn’t help asking.
He frowned and stiffened but continued to hold my gaze as he admitted, “It was never about love.” And he blinked and placed his palms on his thighs. “It was about an alignment of houses and the chance for my family to improve its rank.”
“But you desired her, you can’t deny it. I saw your face as she carried me away.”
“The Princess is a beautiful woman. And the throne still needs an heir.”
I chewed on my lower lip and considered him. The fact that he’d been my Mother’s fiancé caused some dismay. Had they slept together… well that as they say would have been that! But I couldn’t fault him for finding my Mother beautiful. “When I played the flute that time…did you think it was my Mother?”
Amras looked up. “Yes.”
“That must have been a nasty surprise.”
He nodded and glanced at Cursed. “You have no idea.”
I followed his gaze and found Cursed sitting still, his eyes focused across the room as if he was holding himself apart from the conversation so as not to be noticed. I pushed up into a sitting position and pulled my feet up to the side of me, tucking them under my dress. “Who was the third man, and the woman that was with you?”
“The woman is the Queen’s sister, your Great Aunt,” Amras offered.
“The last person was one of her guards.”
I nodded and thought it over. Amras had come thinking my Mother might have reconsidered. No wonder she’d been frantic when she heard me play. Her Aunt, her guard and…Cursed had come. Why was Cursed there?
“As punishment.” He growled suddenly and pushed off the couch to pace to the other side of the room. His movements were stiff and his shoulders looked tense. I glanced at Amras in confusion and he pursed his lips and shook his head at me. Letting me know this was Cursed’s story to tell or not.
When he’d arrived earlier that night, Amras had said not to look to Cursed because he knew his place. What exactly had his place been?
Cursed held the back of a chair, his fingers nearly white from the pressure. He had his back to us so I couldn’t see his face as he spoke in a low harsh voice. “Because I failed my duty.”
“Your duty?”
He took a deep breath and turned toward us as he pushed back his shoulders and his black eyes captured mine. “My duty to the Queen to protect the Princess, even from her own foolishness. That is what the Queen called it. The Princess’ desire to assist the humans. But the Princess, she was very convincing and I…”
My gaze swung to Amras in shock, noting that he did not seem surprised. “You were in love with my Mother?” I demanded, my eyes swinging back to Cursed.
Cursed held my gaze but refused to acknowledge the question. “All believed I assisted her in leaving the Sidhee.”
And had he? He’d obviously been enamored of my Mother. It was hard to think of Cursed as having a softer side but he must have if he’d allowed my Mother to convince him to help her escape.
“Just tell her,” Amras demanded, his voice sounding tired and slightly angry.
Cursed lifted his head and glared at Amras who stared back at him with an exasperated look. Something passed between them and Amras nodded once and began speaking.
“When the…problems with the humans started, the Princess went to the Queen and begged her to intercede. The Queen refused, concerned lest the sickness spread to the Sidhee. The Princess had always been a favorite at court and there were those she convinced to help the humans. When the Queen learned of their plans she forbid her to assist in any way, yet the Princess would not listen. She slipped her guard one night and fled, taking with her many others. Cursed was the Captain of her guard and all assumed that she had seduced him into looking the other way.”
I’d been watching Amras but my eyes swung to Cursed, who stood staring down at the floor his eyes hooded. “Did she?”
Cursed jerked slightly but replied in a low voice that vibrated with emotion. “Never.”
Never, but it was clear he would have liked her too.
Amras raised his hand to gain my attention. “It would have meant his death. Even had the Queen allowed it, many in the court would have killed him for the insult.”
Insult? Oh yeah, half goblin. My relatives weren’t real big on the mixing of blood. So he’d helped her escape? “If you loved her why didn’t you just go with her?”
Air hissed through his teeth. “I did not assist her in escaping!” he replied low and vehemently. “She tricked me!”
“Why didn’t you go after her?” I wondered.
“The Queen slammed shut the doors to the Sidhee and locked us all in. Him,” Amras pointed to Cursed, “she threw into a prison cell, where he stayed until twenty three years ago when the sound of your music opened his iron door. The Queen had decreed he was to remain locked away until the Princess repented and begged forgiveness.”
“So when I played…?”
“All assumed it was the Princess and since the Queen never specified which Princess, and you are after all your Mother’s daughter, she was forced to let him remain free. However she was still angry and Cursed has been barred from court and given to you as further punishment. Yet he could not leave Faerie until called for.”
An interesting dilemma, I did not know he was mine to call so I might never have called him, leaving him to wander the halls of Faerie not only a half breed, but an outcast without title or office. To have once protected the future Queen and then be assigned to a half breed child, that must have been difficult to stomach. No wonder he’d held a knife to my neck when he’d arrived. Perhaps I should apologize on behalf of my Mother who surely caused this entire problem in the first place. I wasn’t certain if we could put this behind us and start over but I was willing to try. I held out my hand to him inviting him to join me on the couch.
Cursed shoulders slumped and the tension seemed to drain from him like some huge weight sliding down his body. He crossed to the couch and sat a little ways from me. I reached for his hand and his eyes lightened and one side of his mouth lifted in a sad smile. “I thought she was ready to return to the Sidhee. Yet there you were, a beautiful little golden haired replica of her holding her flute and staring up at
me with your huge golden eyes. I wanted very much to blame you, to hate you. I could not hide my anger and the Queen…bound me to you and I was glad that you did not call for me. As the years stretched on, I realized I was not the only angry one, for your music filled the Sidhee from time to time, reminding all that you survived and were as happy with us as we appeared to be with you. Each time was a knife though my heart, reminding me that I had failed my duty and in having done so, allowed the Princess to conceive what we believed to be a half mortal child, the only child born to any Elf in decades.”
I sat there listening to his story and the more I heard the more I became irritated at my Mother. Not only had she jilted Amras but she’d tricked Cursed and caused him untold pain and suffering. Yet I was frustrated and couldn’t deny that had she not done so, I wouldn’t be sitting here today, with these two whom she’d literally dropped in my lap like some cast off second hand ex-boyfriends! She’d actually brought Amras to me and introduced him! Then she’d told me how much better she’d felt and knew I was in safe hands! Ugh! I dropped Cursed’s hand and stood abruptly from the couch, yanking my dress out of my way and crossed the hall headed to my room. This was simply intolerable. My Mother created the mess and had dumped it in my lap so I could sleep with it! How charming was that?
Chapter 22
There was a huge wolf lying in the middle of my bed, his head resting on his paws, huge ruby eyes watching me calmly.
“Get off the bed,” I snapped at him then stopped in my tracks, took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. “Will you please remove yourself from my bed?” I asked in a more neutral voice, as I pulled off my earrings on my way to the bathroom.
“Would it help if I told you I’ve never met your Mother until this evening?” Kit asked his voice sounding odd coming out of his muzzle.
“How long have you been eaves dropping?” I asked, stopping at the doorway to the bathroom.
“Long enough to know you’ve been set up as a sacrificial lamb in more ways than you know,” he told me, primly crossing one front leg over the other. Apparently he hadn’t taken me seriously when I’d asked him to get off my bed. “I’d move but your bed is very nice and it’s either here or in the bathroom with you. This place has more bolt holes than a sieve and the Drakes have decided they want at least one of us with you at all times.”
I heaved a sigh and continued on into the restroom, leaving my earrings in the new golden jewelry box on the counter. There was a robe laid over the back of the towel rack and I grabbed it and headed for the toilet. At least in there I’d have a little privacy.
I used the facilities, changed into my robe and headed back to the bedroom after splashing water on my face. Kit was still taking up both sides of the middle and I frowned at him but lifted the covers and slipped in anyway.
“Wouldn’t you be more comfortable without that?” He asked casually then flicked his nose into the air and my robe appeared at the end of the bed. I squeaked and pulled the covers higher sending him a dirty look.
“Fine, but you stay on top of the covers!” I growled then closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind.
“Would you like me to sing you a lullaby? Or perhaps you’d enjoy a bedtime story. I’m sure I could come up with several that might… excite you,” he teased, then shifted around so that his head rested on my upper stomach.
I gritted my teeth but refused to open my eyes. You are being obnoxious.”
His warm tongue licked my arm where it lay across my chest holding the covers to me. “I can be good,” he whispered seductively.
“Then prove it by behaving yourself,” I muttered ignoring the tingle that ran up my arm and spread across my chest like little bolts of lightening.
“I’d rather not,” he told me baldly, then eased a little higher on the bed so he was lying with his head on my chest, his nose only inches away from my chin. His body cupped down one side of mine, the weight of him forcing me to lean in against him.
I lifted a hand to push him away but never got the chance as the bed on the opposite side suddenly dipped and I opened my eyes to find a huge yellow wolf with dark brown eyes staring down at me. Kit growled softly and edged back several inches.
“I hope I’m not intruding?” Owen spoke in his deep voice. I blinked at him several times and glanced at Kit who was staring up at the larger wolf with his eyes narrowed. Owen circled twice causing me to shift my legs to give him room then he lie down and put his head across my hips. I sucked in air and tried to remember how to breathe. There was a knock at the door and I glanced helplessly between Kit and Owen. The door opened slowly to reveal both Cursed and Amras who looked somewhat surprised then pleased. Both stepped into the room and Amras shut the door softly behind them. Cursed looked around the room and headed for the bed his eyes dancing as he glanced between the three of us. Amras was smiling as he followed in Cursed’s wake and I wondered what it was that was making them look so damn happy.
Halfway across the floor Cursed reached for the ties on his vest and began undoing them while behind him Amras shirked his coat and then pulled his turtleneck over his head letting everything drop to the floor. My eyes moved between the two as their shoes and pants went next. By the time Cursed reached the bed he was completely naked and very happy to be there as was Amras behind him.
Cursed reached the bed first and as he crawled onto it I got a very enlightening view of him as he shimmered, becoming a huge black cat with black eyes and long black whiskers. He walked daintily across the bed then stepped between my legs forcing me to spread them so he could curl into a small ball or as small a ball as a two hundred and thirty pound cat can make. Both Owen and Kit looked at him in surprise though neither made a sound. My gaze swung to Amras who wiggled his eyebrows at me as he too crawled naked onto my bed and shimmered and I was suddenly looking into deep violet eyes staring back at me from the soulful face of a huge pale wolfhound. Owen and Kit both growled softly but Amras ignored them and stepped past Kit right up onto my pillows where he laid his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes. His hair was soft where it brushed my cheek. My hand twitched in the bed covers as I forced myself not to reach for him. I knew if I pet him, I’d be in more trouble than I felt myself capable of dealing with at that moment.
Sometime during the wee hours I felt myself lifted from my nest of bedding and fur. Then I was in Jace’s arms and I wrapped myself around him pulling his scent deep into my lungs. I murmured against his skin and buried my fingers in the hair covering his naked chest. He carried me to his room and onto his bed where Gareth was waiting for us, reaching to snuggle me close against the hot length of him as Jace climbed in beside me then turned me in his arms his hands and lips eager to touch and taste. I purred deep in my throat and reveled in the pleasure pouring into me from them. Echoing back the joy and sweet hunger they built within me.
I woke and stretched realizing I was alone in Jace’s bed. With my eyes closed I smiled and hugged a pillow to my chest feeling quite pleased with myself and the world at large. Across the room someone cleared his throat and my happy little bubble burst with a pop that was nearly audible.
“Now you’ve ruined her happy moment,” Amras chided.
Owen snorted and I knew if I looked at him he’d have his arms over his chest and be frowning. It seemed to be his natural stance all broody and serious. I was thinking that I liked him better before Mi had done whatever she’d done to him. At least then he’d had a sense of humor and a little more personality.
Amras’ voice was wistful as he commented. “What I wouldn’t give to have her wake beside me with that look on her face.”
“Had it been my bed she graced she would not have awaken alone,” Owen added his voice sounding slightly dismayed.
I squeezed the pillow tighter and tried not to moan into it. It was clear there would be little alone time if any in my near future. I was lying there hiding from the day when my pillow began making ‘mmm mmm’ noises and I reared back to find Kit’s eyes perusing my
chest. “Good morning, Princess,” his disembodied lips remarked. “And might I add you look good enough to eat this fine day?”
I shoved the pillow onto the floor and glared at Owen and Amras both of whom were chuckling. “Do not do that!” I practically yelled at Kit. He materialized seated cross legged on the bed wearing very brief shorts and nothing else. He looked like he might slip out of them if he moved too fast. His naked chest looked like some overgrown weed patch as it was completely covered in black and silver tipped hair and I had to stifle a laugh as he scratched at it with a look of disgust on his face.
“Are you certain about the hair Princess?” he demanded, raising one eyebrow and turning his head to the side. “Because I’m having a hard time seeing the attraction.”
“Oh God,” I muttered and covered my eyes with my arm trying hard not to laugh. “What do you want?”
“Oh yes, well ah… give me a second I didn’t think it would be this easy.”
I nearly screamed. “We’re not having sex!”
“Are you certain? Perhaps you should define sex?” he asked, leaning forward and walking his fingers up my arm. Across the room Owen snorted and Amras laughed.
“Are you here to torment me or did you have some reason for invading my bed?”
He hesitated a second then replied with a straight face. “Both actually. And of course for the free peep show because I’ve always enjoyed looking at you.”
I sighed, at least he was honest. “Fine and before I forget, could you do something about my hair?” I asked, grabbing up a handful of the curly mass and holding out the ends at him. “I’d like it back to its natural color please.”
Dragon Lust Page 26
