While it was only fair, women in love, and mated female Lykens in particular, weren’t known for being fair when it came to their mates.
“Will we do that someday?”
His nostrils flared as he tried to stop himself from grinning at her. “Do you want to do it?”
Her jaw, the proof of how stubborn and ornery she could be from time to time, tilted up again. “Yes.”
“Then we’ll do it.”
A cocky smile curved her lips and, once again, Theo had to hide a grin as she bobbed on her toes.
“I want to do everything,” she told him, her words dreamy with a longing that made his chest hurt.
“And we will. Together.”
She liked that. He could tell. Her eyes softened and she nodded, then, she turned back to look at the foursome on the chaise lounge, and though her eyes lingered, she carried on down the aisle with only the barest hesitation.
It was like the longest walk of shame in the history of the Fae, at least, it was for Theo. Mortification about summed it up, but as they neared the throne, he also felt more than humiliated—he felt angry.
Why?
Because he’d forgotten this stupid tradition—when the Fae didn’t damn well forget—and he’d placed Thalia in this position. A position where she was watching things he didn’t particularly want her to see.
In her own way, Thalia radiated a kind of innocence that he loved about her. He didn’t want that tarnished by the Fae way of life, because their ways weren’t exactly pure.
He hated that he’d forgotten, when in this place forgetting anything was a surefire way to being loaded down with regrets the next morning.
Sighing, he winced as he saw his mother eating out another female, whilst his father fucked her, and he was fucked by someone in return.
Thalia’s astonished gasp had Theo lifting a hand and covering his face a second.
“Holy shit,” Mikkel grunted under his breath. “This is like some kind of fucked up wet dream gone wrong.”
Rafe surprised him by laughing at Mikkel’s words. “That’s a very apt statement,” was all he said though when Thalia glowered at him.
“I’m so sorry,” Theo said, his voice a low rumble. “I totally forgot about this tradition.”
“Are we supposed to take part?” Thalia asked in a small voice.
He winced again. “To a certain degree.”
He watched the color drain from her face, because, while the Lyken were open about their bodies and sex, that was usually in their other forms. Not in their human skin.
It was just traditional among their people.
Fucking like this? Amid a pornstar’s nightmare? Yeah, this wasn’t the Lyken way at all.
“How deep do we have to take this?” Rafe asked quietly, this time, sounding pissed.
And again, Theo couldn’t blame him.
This was beyond fucked up.
“It depends on Mother,” he said softly, and almost as though his mention of her caught her attention, he saw her head lift away from the pussy in front of her. She wiped her hand over her mouth, her eyes narrowing at the sight of their quartet on the bottom dais of the platform where the thrones were seated.
His mother and father had an unusual dynamic.
Some Fae were surprisingly clingy and didn’t like sharing their partners. Most, however, were free with their favors even if they were in devoted relationships. His parents were devoted to one another, but their rule was they could do anything, so long as they were both there.
And with the fluidity that was natural to their people, that meant they could both fuck another of their own gender, so long as they were both connected too.
Hence the tableau feet away.
Isaura smiled at the sight of them. It wasn’t even a nasty smile. If anything, she beamed at him. He felt her love, felt it to the depths of his marrow, and had to sigh because this wasn’t how he’d intended on his mates meeting his mother for the second time.
Shit, he really should have taken them back to their quarters, to return later on tonight. But he’d known that once the doors had opened, Isaura would have sensed their arrival, and she’d have taken it as a personal insult if they hadn’t approached the throne.
The private portal to the throne room could only be accessed by the family of the ruling sovereign. That meant his glamor had been registered in the blessed securities protecting this, the center of the Fae government, from harm.
With the gifts that came as part and parcel of being the Queen of the Fae, he knew fully that she’d be aware of his presence, and even worse, would be aware of his absence.
He didn’t want to get on his mother’s bad side. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been there, but it would be the first time with his mates in this realm, and their safety was his priority.
That meant having to suck it up, having to take Thalia into this crazy scenario, and it also meant having his mate see his mother involved in something that would make anyone blush.
Isaura murmured something and pressed her hand to Kane’s shoulder. When she did, Theo’s father whipped around to stare where she gestured, and the beaming smile on his face matched his mother’s.
Their pride was evident, as evident as the confusion and discomfort his mates were experiencing in the face of, well, that.
Kane pulled out of his mother, before the man at his back, did the same. The fact they broke their lovemaking apart was a great honor, one that would roll right over his mates’ heads, and educating them of that fact seemed pretty fucking pointless.
To them, this was beyond bizarre, and nothing would make it right.
Nothing.
Hell, he could imagine that in two thousand years’ time, the prudishness that was inherent on the other realm would still be going strong in their natures.
It was bred into them, whereas, the exact opposite was the way of it with his people.
“Darling,” Isaura said, her voice lilting with her delight. “I discern a change of scent.”
Isaura’s arms moved wide as she approached them, honoring them again by stepping off the dais and approaching them. Not the other way around.
Before Thalia could do more than squeak, Isaura reached out and tugged her into an embrace that Theo could imagine made Thalia wish the floor would open up and swallow her whole.
Kane approached then, hugged Rafe and Mikkel before moving his way toward Theo. All of this happened while Thalia was still in his mother’s embrace, and all the while, Isaura and Kane were very much naked.
Theo should have been far too old to be mortified by his parents’ behavior, and yet, he was exactly that. Mortified.
It was discordant to have the same emotions as a teenager as one did at twelve thousand years old.
Sighing as his father pulled away, he murmured, “You could have warned me.”
“What’s to warn?” Kane asked, his frown puckered with confusion. “You know this is what happens when a couple are Fated.”
Theo rolled his eyes. “It happened so long ago, I forgot. Throw in the fact that my Fated isn’t exactly normal…”
“I heard that,” Thalia mumbled, shooting him a look that had his lips twitching.
“Sorry,” he replied. “But you know what I mean.”
When she grimaced, he knew she understood and wasn’t actually mad at him.
“We welcome you to the family,” Isaura declared, breaking into their conversation with her usual bullheadedness.
“You do?” Thalia asked, cocking a brow.
If the people around the dais hadn’t been too busy sucking cock and being fucked, Theo knew they’d have gasped at Thalia’s question.
No one questioned the Queen.
No one.
Not without being made to pay, at any rate.
The Queen of Hearts had been modeled on Isaura… except his mother never chopped off anyone’s head, just made them wish execution was an option.
It was his turn to grimace, but Isaura must ha
ve had a few good orgasms because she was unusually Zen when she turned to Thalia and murmured, “Indeed. The Fated are a blessing. Even if they are Lyken with no scent at all.”
Thalia narrowed her eyes. “I was injured.”
“I’ve heard the explanation,” Isaura retorted, sweetly.
And that was when Theo knew to forge forward because, for whatever reason, Thalia, at a mere twenty-seven, felt no fear in butting heads with his very old, very mean, and very waspish mother.
Clearing his throat as he tugged Thalia against his side, he murmured, “We won’t be partaking in the festivities, Mother.”
Isaura batted her eyelashes. “Why ever not?”
“Because I have no desire to share my mate in a public setting.”
Kane and Isaura’s mouths gaped. Apparently, they’d sensed the one hundred percent truth to his words.
“You don’t wish to…” Kane shook his head. “You can’t be serious.”
“They do say the Fated covet their mates,” Isaura mumbled, looking at him as though he were a bug on a petri dish. Except she was definitely not a scientist, and that had nothing to do with her not being covered by a lab coat.
“They are newly mated,” Kane reasoned.
His parents’ two beautiful heads were tilted toward one another as they stood there, totally brazen and uncaring of their nudity, as they scanned him better than an MRI ever could.
Theo withstood their perusal, but grumbled, “Have I ever been as open with my sexuality as you two?”
“No,” Isaura said slowly, “but this is different. This is in your honor, child. Surely, just one orgasm. A little one.”
Her bargaining had the tips of his ears burning red and his wings ruffling in dismay. “No, Mother,” he bit off, looking at Thalia from the corner of his eye.
He was relieved to note she looked more amused than disgusted, and considering the other realm’s prudishness, that had been a distinct possibility.
“Sweet Gods,” Isaura grumbled, “not even a handjob? Not even for the festivities?”
“No!” he grumbled right back.
“So, you’re just going to walk in and walk right out again?” Kane queried, his pitch rising with his inability to believe that his son had no desire to partake in sex in front of an audience.
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do now that Mother has recognized our bond.”
Isaura narrowed her eyes at that. “Are you going to claim them all?”
Theo narrowed his eyes right back. “Yes.”
She pursed her lips. “There will have to be a ceremony.”
“I know,” he retorted, feeling more at ease now. Such ceremonies were only granted by the right of the Queen, and her statement had made that so—he hadn’t even been sure if she’d agree to one. But that fear appeared unfounded.
She jerked her chin upright, and as his had, the feathers of her wings ruffled. Then, she asked, “I felt the change in her last night. It has come on quickly, has it not?”
He’d thought so too—especially for a creature that wasn’t one of their own. About to nod, Thalia asked, “The change?” She scowled at him and then graced his mother with a disgruntled look.
Naturally, for she was unaccustomed to such intolerance, Isaura stiffened and snapped, “Leash your Fated, Theodore. There is only so much leave I will grant her. You’ve had a week to prepare her for how the Court works; I will not tolerate her cheek for much longer.”
So saying, she snatched Kane’s hand and strode back to the throne where she planted herself, grabbed the female who’d been waiting on her and shoved the lover’s face between her thighs.
She did so with her eyes trained mulishly on Theo. The rebelliousness of that had his lips twitching.
Oh, he was well aware that such an interaction was beyond bizarre to his mates who looked a mixture of disturbed and revolted, but for Theo, it was nothing.
Though he hadn’t lied when he’d said sex in public wasn’t his thing, it was a part of their culture to partake.
Just thinking of the invitations that were about to fall into their laps now Thalia had been claimed as his made him cringe. Dinner parties were the prelude to orgies too.
The Gods only knew what dangers lay there, considering Mikkel’s earlier reaction and the way Rafe had to heal them, and then had subsequently burned them?
Dear Gods, that was a lot of complications about to head their way.
Huffing, he grabbed Thalia’s hand and jerked her into movement. “Would you speak thusly to your fathers?”
“Yes.” Her tone was simple and, Gods help them, honest to a tee.
“I’ve heard her,” Rafe said drily. “She has spoken to them, and even worse to the ruling council.”
Theo heaved a sigh. “Well, Isaura is not your fathers. She is now kin, granted, and she will give you some leave to adjust, but that will not be extended to you forever.
“She’s catty, bitchy, and capable of things I don’t even want to share with you now. You must watch your words, mate.”
Thalia scowled then jolted as a particularly loud and shrill scream sounded next to them as a female climaxed.
With her cheeks pink, Thalia grumbled, “Can we get out of here before you start the lecture?”
Concurring with her because the need to be inside her was as urgent as the need to warn her of his mother’s truculence, he sped up and Thalia followed, with Rafe and Mikkel increasing their pace too.
Once the golden doors were in his line of sight, he breathed a sigh of relief and pressed his palm to the enchanted door. It opened and they stepped through.
“Well, I guess that means I’m not evil if it didn’t smash me into dust,” Mikkel said quite cheerfully once they were in the ante-chamber.
As the doors creaked to a close, Theo caught sight of Mikkel’s face and had to snort. “There was never any fear of darkness in your soul, Mikkel. The kind of evils this door weeds out is born over thousands of years.
“Morningstar was once our version of a choirboy, but hundreds of thousands of years have a tendency of making a man bored and when a man is bored, that’s when trouble stirs.”
Rafe snorted at that. “Trouble? He’s the Devil, Theo.”
“Exactly. And you have to contemplate that his behavior is my idea of trouble; and therefore, you will also see that when I warn you of things that are unpleasant, you must take my worldview into account.”
Thalia frowned at that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that his unpleasant is our version of horrendous,” Rafe inserted drily. He reached for Thalia’s hand and squeezed it. “You were rude to Isaura, Thalia.”
She squirmed a little—her shoulders wriggling. “There was a reason for that.”
“You mean, you weren’t being intentionally rude?” Mikkel asked, chuckling.
“Of course not. I’m not an idiot. I know Isaura is testy, but she concerned me.”
“Why?” Rafe questioned.
She shot Theo a look. “Something happened last night.”
“We know. You played hide the sausage with Theo.”
That had her tutting and rolling her eyes. “Yes. That,” she gritted out, “but something else.”
“Like what?”
Theo, deciding to take the strain off her, murmured, “Water is precious to us.”
“Well, that wasn’t off topic,” Mikkel declared as his words fell like hot coals into a bucket of ice.
Theo grunted. “It is a part of every ceremony we have. From birth to death, we retreat to the waters.”
Rafe frowned. “You die in the waters?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you bloat and float?” Mikkel asked, and Thalia made an ‘ew’ noise, but he just studied Theo with interest.
“No. We sink and return to the waters that made us.” He rubbed at his mouth as they started back for his quarters. “The waters heal us though. It is why we give birth and are born in them. It is also where a part of
the mating ceremony takes place.
“We sink under the surface while joined, and...” He hesitated, unsure of how to explain it. “It is where the bond is sealed.”
“Okay,” Rafe said, drawing out the word like Thalia often did.
“We were under the surface for a while, Rafe,” Thalia said, her voice soft as she stared down at her feet while they walked.
Rafe seemed to process that, but it was Mikkel who blurted out, “How long?”
“A long time,” she murmured. “I-I didn’t need to breathe under there.”
Silence fell until Rafe gritted out, “Is anyone else sick of being thrown these curve balls?”
Theo, understanding the man’s weariness, nodded. “Yes. It grows tiring,” he admitted.
“Why, though?” Mikkel asked. “Why could she breathe under there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you breathe under there?” Rafe asked.
“Yes.”
“So, when your mother said she felt the change, that’s what she’s talking about?”
“Yes.”
“And that’s why you were rude?” he asked, cocking a brow at Thalia.
She nodded, her mouth turned down in a concerned moue. “I don’t appreciate your mother knowing when I had sex with you, thank you very much.” She shuddered. “It’s creepy.”
Mikkel scraped a hand over his head. “I really don’t think this could get any crazier. I mean, this is just messed up beyond belief.”
Thalia let out a growl. “I wish I could shift.”
Theo frowned. “Why?”
“I just…” She cocked her neck to the side, her body seeming to surge with energy. “I’m sick of so much shit being thrown our way.”
“Would you like to learn how to wield that sword?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Now?”
“Yeah. Now.”
With a decisive nod, she murmured, “I need to do something to burn off this energy.”
Theo eyed her. “Learning to fight will certainly help with that.”
She gritted her teeth. “I already know how to fight.”
He winked at her, which prompted her to growl again. “Using a sword and using your fists are two different things entirely.”
Triad (The TriAlpha Chronicles Book 3) Page 18
