by JL Madore
“Hey there,” I say, “No one answerin’ the door today?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“The door was locked. We knocked and no one came to let us in. We’re here to register Nakotah Northwood as the next Fae Prime. He’s been waitin’ in the hall.”
“I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t hear knocking.”
“Okay, how about getting’ us hooked up? Have you got the Fae Prime registration papers ready?”
She blushes and her eyes bug wide. “I believe Counselor Pranton took the paperwork up for the ceremony.”
“Spoiler alert,” Brant says. “The ceremony didn’t end well for Counselor Pranton. How about you print off a copy and we try again. We’ll have to call a mulligan.”
“Um... okay, give me one second. I’ll get my manager.” The girl jumps off the platform that raises her to serve people and rushes off. She returns a moment later with a well-dressed forest elf.
The male rushes in and at least looks the part of a manager eager to help. “Your Highness, what an honor. I’m Neymar Grans, Chief Registrar. Plia explained and will run to the print room now and pick up the duplicates I requested. We’ll have you registered and notarized in short order.”
“Thank you, Chief Grans,” Kotah says. “May I ask why the door was locked?”
He shakes his head. “I’m at a loss. I unlock it when I arrive in the morning and lock it again at night when I leave. I’m the only one here today with a key.”
“It was locked with magic, not a key,” Lukas says. “Who on your staff has that ability?”
He shrugs looking perplexed. “No one that I’m aware of. I’m sorry. I don’t know anything about that.”
“But you are aware of the recent efforts of the Black Knight to usurp control of the FCO and the Fae Council?” Hawk asks. “I assume you saw my public announcement?”
“Yes, sir. I think everyone has seen it.”
“Good, because today’s attack was another attempt to derail our society. I want this paperwork completed and recognized before we leave here. There will be no way to contest Nakotah once this is complete, is that correct?”
“No sir. He’s the blood heir to the preceding Fae Prime. He was declared the Prime in Waiting and was crowned at his public coronation. The registry paperwork is all that is left.
“Here we are,” Plia says, running in to join us. “Hot off the presses and ready to sign.”
Neymar reaches across the counter and takes the pages. With practiced efficiency, he counts the pages, checks that everything is in order, and turns the paperwork toward us. “A pen Your Majesty. I’ll turn the pages, and if you sign where I indicate, you’ll be all set.”
Kotah takes the pen and follows Neymar’s instructions. When he’s done, the elf turns the pages back to himself, goes through them once more, and then signs, dates, and stamps the registration papers. “And who will stand as the witnesses? It has to be someone not related by blood or family.”
“Lukas and Doc, you’re up,” I say.
The two of them shift forward and sign on the line.
When that’s done, Neymar pulls a purple-waxed candle out of a locked drawer in the counter, he lights the wick and lets it drip in the bottom corner. “Would you like to do the honors, Majesty?”
Kotah takes the seal, checks the image on the end, and presses it into the wax.
“Congratulations, Majesty. It’s an honor to be the one to announce that you are the new Fae Prime.”
Kotah forces a smile like the trooper he is. “Thank you for all your help.”
“And just in time too,” a pixie says, flying through the offices behind.
“What do you mean by that?” Hawk asks, waving her closer. “Why are we just in time?”
“Because there’s a negation clause in the laws of the coronation. If the Fae Prime registration paperwork isn’t filed on the same day as the coronation, it can be contested. In another forty-five minutes, we would’ve been closed for the night and you would’ve been chasing us down and scrambling.”
Brant’s bear lets off a murderous growl. “But we’re good now, right?”
She nods. “Oh, yes. Everything’s in order.”
I shake my head. “Hawk, I’m really gettin’ tired of your father interferin’ in our lives.”
Hawk chuffs. “Now multiply that by a million and you can imagine how I feel.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Hawk
I wake with a start and sit bolt upright in bed.
“What is it?” Kotah whispers beside me, his eyes wide. “One of your dreams?”
“No, I’m fine,” I squeeze his arm and roll out of bed, grabbing Jaxx’s flannel pants off the floor as I go. “Just an idea. Go back to sleep.”
I’m out the door and halfway down the stairs when I realize he’s right behind me. I pivot on the steps. “Really, wolf. You don’t need to forfeit sleep for this. It’s probably nothing.”
He finishes pulling up his pajama bottoms and continues to close the distance. “I wasn’t sleeping anyway. Maybe getting up and solving one of life’s mysteries might help calm my wolf.”
“Is he pacing? Are you alright?”
Kotah stops on the stair above me and meets me eye-to-eye. “It’s not like when I was poisoned. He’s just anxious. Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try, life is happening to you instead of around you?”
“Only every day I lived with my father and every day since he crawled out of the woodwork.”
He nods. “That’s how my wolf and I feel—like we need to do something instead of being steered and manipulated into reacting all the time.”
“I call it the marionette malaise. The distress of always feeling like you’re someone’s puppet.”
“Exactly.”
I know how he feels all too well. “Okay, if you want to put on the kettle and warm up some of those cinnamon buns, I’ll grab my laptop and meet you at the table. We can look through what my subconscious mind barfed up in my dreamland epiphany and then maybe we can feel more pro-active.”
His smile, as always, leaves me warm inside. “Perfect.”
I meet him back at the table a few moments later. He’s got our sweet treats warmed and the kettle is hissing and almost ready to click off. “Did you want tea with these?”
“Hot chocolate and Baileys if you’re game?”
“Coming right up.”
I’ve got my laptop open and am calling up my files when he pulls the chair around to check out what I’m reading. “What’s this?”
“Maybe nothing. When all this started, like in the early days when Calli resurrected, Jayne and I were working on fae land contracts and were arguing about a survey that didn’t match our records. You see,” I point to the two aerial surveys. “In the deed, the ownership of the land is divided by the river, so this is fae land on this side of the river and the land on this side is owned privately. But here, look. In the more recent survey.”
“The river moved.” Kotah frowns. “That can happen, can’t it? With erosion and changing weather and flooding?”
“It can, but I sent my science team out there and they deemed it an unnatural occurrence. They say someone dammed and redirected the flow of the river until it diverted to where it flows now.”
“Who and why?”
“I have no idea, but…” I pull out the file listing the locations of the dismantled portal gates, “it struck me that this might be where one of the old portal gate sites fell. Check out the location in the fire dervish forest. It’s based on the description of where the river falls.”
“So a decade ago it was there on the fae land and it might still be there… but by the survey maps, it would now be on the other side of the river and potentially hidden from people trying to find it and destroy it?”
“Potentially being the key word.”
He stares at the fae land in the old survey and compares it to the newer one. “It’s a big assumption, Hawk.”
“But it’
s enough for us to take a closer look.”
He nods. “Agreed. What I don’t understand is why? Moving the river was done over a decade ago. Why?”
I pop the last bite of my cinnamon roll into my mouth and sit back in my chair. “What if someone knew what was on the horizon and acted to protect a gate to join the realms?”
Kotah looks skeptical. “That’s a big leap. It’s more likely a dishonest developer who wanted more land attributed to his property.”
I lick the icing off my fingers and shrug. “Possibly, but I don’t think so. My gut is telling me we’re onto something and my gut’s usually on the mark.”
“I suppose someone with precognitive abilities could’ve seen what was coming and taken steps.”
“And we’ve come to that conclusion more than once recently. That’s our assumption about who Riley is and what happened there. Hell, maybe there’s more intervention happening than we know about.”
“I think there is a lot more to this than we know about.”
“Exactly, so, let’s check it out.”
Kotah smiles. “Pennsylvania isn’t far. If we leave in the morning, we can be there before lunch.”
Kotah
My mind is awhirl. I hope Hawk is right, but honestly, at this moment, I don’t care. What I love most about this plan is that it gets the five of us out of the palace and doing what we do best—figuring out the puzzles of our Guardian world.
For the next half hour, Hawk combs through the information that Jayne forwarded from the ecological people and cross-references it with the location listed about where the portal gates used to be found.
I find his dedication and focus admirable and quite sexy. To see him in his element as a big-picture power player is a gift. I finish another one of the cinnamon buns and push them away before I make myself sick.
“If we’re heading out first thing, should we go back to bed so we’re not zombies?” I ask.
Hawk’s amped up and while I appreciate how his mind sees complexities and different facets of reality, in this case, I worry he might be disappointed.
There are a lot of question marks in his logic.
Hawk leans forward and grips my cheeks sweeping his tongue into my mouth. He’s happy and hopeful and surging with emotions I rarely get from contact with him. “Yeah, sure, we could go back and try to sleep… or, since we’re both up… maybe we can both get it up and celebrate?”
Hawk arches a dark brow and my wolf prowls forward. As much as I like the idea… “Maybe we should get some sleep. It was a rough day yesterday. I’m not sure I’m up for much.”
There’s a pregnant pause while he seems to consider my answer. When he dips his chin and leans toward me, my heart starts rabbiting in my chest. His lips are scorching hot on mine, and his hands grip both sides of my neck as he kisses me. My wolf howls inside and I try to stay in the moment.
He’s kissing me… and not like he’s trying to cheer me up or reassure me. He’s kissing me like he needs the connection. Which is perfect because I do too.
He shifts out of his chair and lifts me to my feet and suddenly, my mind is filled with every erotic image and position I can think of.
He could bend me forward against the table and take me from behind. He could lay me on the island and lift my knees. He could push me to my knees and grip my hair as he fucks my mouth. I’m leaking cum just thinking about it.
He must smell my desperation because it’s rife in the air between us. Another thing between us is my rock hard cock pressing at the fabric of my flannel pants.
There’s no way he can miss it.
I’m practically spearing his abdomen.
And then I remember what happened with Jaxx earlier and my heart aches. I slow our kiss and step back. “I’m sorry. It’s not you.”
Hawk’s gaze is hot and serious, his chiseled jaw clenched. “No. I think it is. Jaxx told me what happened.”
The sting of my humiliation burns the rim of my eyes and I turn away. “I’m not giving up. I want to be like that—to share that kind of sex with you. I’ll get there.”
“Maybe, but honestly, I hope you don’t.”
I turn back and peg him with a glare. Heat flares in my chest and if my life-giving organ were made out of glass, I swear it would shatter.
Hawk must read my pain because he curses and pulls me over to the sofa to sit with him. “Kotah, I love you. You,” he repeats, placing his warm hand on my chest. “This you. The man who’s sweet and giving and everything I never thought I deserved or could have in my life.”
“I love you too, but that’s the point.”
He nods. “Yeah, that’s the point. I don’t want or need you to be anything you aren’t. I never want you to try to enjoy sex with me. That would ruin it for both of us.”
“But you have appetites for more. I’ve seen how happy you are after you and Jaxx spend private time together. I want that too.”
“Then here we are. Let’s spend private time together. And if you like seeing how happy I am after a great session with one of my mates, you should have seen me this morning. I had a smile on my face all morning in my office thinking about pleasuring you in the night.”
“But we didn’t even have sex.”
He smiles and his brow arches in that appraising way of his. He’s probably wondering what’s wrong with me. He takes my hand and the flash of emotion I feel through my gift is a shock. He’s opening his emotions more than he ever has.
He’s taking down his walls… for me.
“Nakotah Northwood, I love you the way we are. I’ll say it as often as you need to hear it, but I will prove it to you.”
“I know you love me, but… I want to be enough for you. You are a male of certain tastes and expectations.” The confusion in his gaze makes me want to sew my lips together. “Sorry, I’m ruining this.”
His gaze softens and he shakes his head. “You’re not ruining anything. You’re pure of heart and honest. The truth is, I’m the problem here, not you. You’re perfect.”
Touching as we are, I feel a rush of vulnerability creep into him. I meet his gaze, and yes, the panic he’s feeling is there in his eyes. “Kotah, I’m going to confess something to you that I haven’t told Calli or Brant and I’d prefer it remains private.”
“Alright.”
“When I’m with Jaxx, it’s not what the three of you think. It’s not me being the dom… I give him all the power. I submit to him entirely and he’s the dominant. The joy and happiness you see in me after being with him is because he gives me something I need. He’s rough and punishing—at my request—and it works for me.”
My mouth falls open. “I never would’ve guessed.”
“My point is that I told Jaxx what I needed, and he trusts me and loves me enough to listen. It’s perfect when we’re like that because it lets his more dominant traits ascend and I give up control for a few hours. It works with us.”
“But not with me?”
“Kink and BDSM are a way of life I chose a long time ago to avoid the emotional connection I wasn’t ready to accept. I don’t want that with you. This is what I want with you.” He looks at our joined hands and for the first time, there are no emotional barriers.
“Trust me and love me enough to listen. Really hear me. When we’re together, it’s perfect. You are everything I want.” He closes the gap between us, wrapping an arm around my back and pulling me to straddle him on the sofa.
“Kotah, you heal my soul and fill me with hope and contentment. I don’t want that to change. Naturally, we get different things from different lovers, but that doesn’t negate what the others offer. Do you want me to twist myself up and try to sex you the way Brant would or Jaxx would?”
I swallow, realizing how stupid that sounds. Some genius scholar I am. “No. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m honored you love me enough to want to please me as much as you do. Just do that by being true to who you are. Despite us having a lot of sex, you were a vi
rgin three months ago. This is new to you. Don’t ever be anyone but yourself in the bedroom and we’ll both be happy.”
Cue another round of tears burning behind my eyes. “Shit. I’m sorry,” I say wiping my eyes and blinking them away. “I’m not usually so emotional.”
“And no more apologizing, Wolf. You’ve had a rough week and this is where we are. If tears fall that’s fine. If we hurt and disagree and need to iron tough topics out, that’s fine. Because in the end, we’ll always pull ourselves together and be better than ever. And hopefully… have make-up sex.”
I let that sink in as he cups my jaw and rubs a gentle thumb over my lips. “That is… if you’d like that.”
My wolf surges forward and a growl rips from my chest. “Yes, please. I would like that very much.”
Hawk kisses like he lives life—with no apology for who he is. His teeth nip, his tongue invades, and his erection presses hard against my abdomen as he pulls me closer. With my face gripped from both sides, his fingers dig into my jaw.
His barriers are still down, and I want him to feel how much it means to me—how much I need him to want to be like this with me.
I transfer my emotions into him, sending him my desire, my joy, and my relief.
His kiss faulters and when he pulls back and looks me in the eyes, there is nothing there but raw emotion. “You are my soul, Wolf. I love you to the depth and breadth of my soul.”
Hawk
Fuck me. The kid is too much. He’s an open book of goodness and trust. He doesn’t begin to understand the fucked-up-ness of me as a mate. Still, I’m waaay too invested to turn back now. He doesn’t need to change to be what I need him to be. He’s got that backward. The onus of changing is all mine.
“Grab the lube from the drawer and get us set up.”
While he does as I ask, I lay Calli’s nap blanket over the corner seat of the sectional, shuck off my bottoms, and sit. I accept the small bottle of lube, set it on the backrest, and smile up at Kotah. “Take off those pants and join me, Wolf.”
His response is immediate, and I have to keep myself locked down not to chuckle. The kid is an eyeful of beauty, whip-thin, a nice sized cock bobbing in the air between us, and that fucking hair of his—yeah, it does it for me in a big way. “Take the tie out of your hair and let it hang loose.”
