by Erin R Flynn
Good, at least he understood I wasn’t fucking around.
“I have an idea, and I want to play it out, and let me know what you guys think, okay?” I told Jaxon, Darius, and Cerdic, glad when they nodded. Then I looked at Wilson. “I want the shot tight on me until I push him on the mattress.”
“Got it.”
I glanced at the other leopards. “You guys mind shifting and acting like lazy cats watching the fun but so you’re seen in the background?”
They all shrugged and did as I asked, getting their normal kiss from me before they shifted. It was kind of funny like my petting a dog on the head, but whatever, it worked for us and they accepted it as affection.
“Naked and kneeling,” I told the others, pointing where I wanted them. They didn’t question it, willing to let this play out since we weren’t doing this live or on camera calls like people used to be able to do. I flinched when Kristof started to get undressed. “Wait, I’m going to—”
“I know what you’re plotting,” he assured me. “I promised to protect you, and this will, as his mother knows me as well. She tried to have me join her court many years ago.”
“Oh boy,” Jaxon sighed, clearly not having known that.
“My mother’s court as well,” Cerdic chuckled.
“Oh boy” was right.
I waited until they were in place and nodded to Wilson, smiling when he gave me a thumbs up that we were recording. I moved my thigh over Jaxon’s shoulder and brought him closer, pressing his face between my legs.
“Greetings, Princess Nora. I’m Princess Inez, the princess who has accepted your son’s request of engagement. I apologize our first introductions are to be in such a cold manner. We were planning on a trip to visit you soon, but I’m sorry to say it will have to be delayed for a while.” I chuckled. “The fucking apocalypse and all of that, right?” I glanced down at Jaxon. “Don’t be impatient. I’m speaking to your mother.”
He only moaned and ran his tongue over me, getting I was making a point.
I looked back at the phone. “But it is a priority to me that I come meet my future in laws and the divine woman Jaxon promises you are. You must be one hell of a lady to have had such a fine son and raised him so well. Jaxon told me of your worries for him, and he was touched by it, happy to hear from you. I thought it important we reply immediately so you knew he’s fine.
“A mother would want to know her son is in good hands after all.” I let out a huff and glanced down. “Yes, fine, you impatient man. We can get to the engagement proof the hawk demanded of me.” I shoved Jaxon back to the mattress, waving him to move up it a bit. I focused on the phone. “I realize the hawk was a messenger and not a true representative of your court, but he acted like one.
“I wouldn’t recommend he do that again. He’s not suited for it, as if he wasn’t important to Jaxon’s sister as he said he was, someone might have plucked his feathers.” I untied the robe and let it slide off my shoulders. “However, I was kind and forgave his blurting and runaway mouth given he flew so far for Jaxon.”
I knelt on the mattress, straddling his body and looking my fill, licking my lips as I eyed him over like my next meal, wanting her to see that. I turned to Darius and leaned in, giving him a quick kiss.
“Should we be mean and tease him?”
“I cannot blame him for being impatient, as I am the same, My Princess,” he murmured.
Cerdic echoed him, and I gave him a soft kiss, gasping when he thumbed my nipple. Then it took everything I had to do the same with Kristof, giving them each a chance to be seen clearly in the video. He shocked me by pulling me back for a second kiss and then my neck, staring down the camera as he touched my breasts before sitting back on the mattress.
I smirked at the camera. “And as you can see, I do have others I’m engaged to or officially courting.” I moved to take Jaxon in me. “Did you like watching that, my sexy Irishman?”
“Yes, always, I love watching you with others and your pleasure,” he groaned as I lowered myself on him.
I swirled my hips as my fangs came out. “What did you want to tell your mother and home coven? Is there anything they need to hear from your lips?”
“I’m a very blessed man you accepted,” he told me as I leaned down with my hands on his chest and rocked my hips. “That I love you so fucking much, Inez. I can’t wait for the day you accept my oath and I’m yours forever.”
“You’re sure? Maybe I’m drugging you or—”
He growled, sitting up and kissing me. “You would never do something so shitty. You are my drug of choice, and I refuse to enter a program.”
I shoved him back down and moved faster. “You better be addicted to me, I spoil you enough. What else do you want to say?”
He started talking in Gaelic, and I moaned, bouncing on him, which got me a shocked look. “So fucking sexy. Talk to me more like that. I love more than just your brogue.” I licked my fangs. “Are you trying for the sultry reward?”
“No, just to please you, My Princess.”
I purred as I leaned over and rubbed my breasts against his chest. “I think that might just get you the ‘we’re going to fuck hard and probably ruin what I’m wearing’ reward.” He moaned and ran his hands over my arms. “Show me your neck.” I struck the second he did, drinking him deeply as I kept moving, driving him higher and higher.
I was a bit messy this time, letting his blood drip out of my mouth and down my body as I sat up and rode him harder. I moved a hand on his thigh and the other on his abs as I planted one foot and chased that feeling we both needed. He ramped me up by speaking Gaelic to me.
“Bite my breast,” I hissed, yanking him up to me. He did, his fangs in my skin setting off my orgasm as I held his head to me. He came as well, both of us on a ride that rocked us. When we were done, I smirked at the phone as Jaxon held me like nothing else in the world mattered. “I’m sending a gift to you to thank you for bringing such a man into the world, for my soon to be mother-in-law.
“The rest of everything we can discuss another time, as your son promises you are the best court to have an alliance with, and he would never lie to me as he’s mine.” I leaned his head back and smiled at him as I gently pulled off of him. “Is there any woman you love before me?”
“No, you’re my everything, Inez.”
“Mmm, say goodbye to your mother then, as I want you to do things to me that she should never see her son do. Plus, I’m still thirsty, and you promised you’d let the others have some fun since this interrupted our plans tonight.”
“Goodbye, Mother, we will visit when we can. Love to our family.” He said something else in Gaelic and then rolled us, chuckling when I yelped. “When you take my oath, I will give you a human honeymoon, as my princess deserves no less. A sandy beach, fun drinks, and all the crazy sex you can handle.”
“My appetite grows every day,” I teased him.
“Yes, but he got his turn and now a damn sex video first,” Cerdic complained as he knocked Jaxon away.
Darius shoved him. “I’m engaged to her.”
“I brought her provisions to please her even as we travel,” Kristof snapped, elbowing Darius out of the way. “And I don’t want a sex tape, so enough with the message, cat. We’re getting back to spoiling our princess.”
“Cut,” Wilson declared, and I wasn’t the only one who let out a heavy breath.
But Kristof didn’t move at first, staring at me in a way I could feel even when I wouldn’t look at him.
“Mate, we stopped recording,” Cerdic muttered, snapping Kristof out of whatever was going on. He didn’t seem angry with me, so at least that was something.
He moved away and even handed me my robe. I muttered a thank you and slipped it on, shivering at the cold air of night coming fast.
“Inez, are you okay?” Darius asked quietly, in front of me again, which let me know I had missed them moving.
“Can we have too much blood?” I asked, rubbing my head. “I f
eel, not bloated, but I wasn’t thirsty and still drank.”
“You’re young, so maybe like eating too much and feeling wonky,” he offered. “Plus, you’ve been through a lot and this was a big stress that just popped up. Are you okay with sending this message?”
I nodded, hugging him. “I know there are layers and levels to it I probably don’t understand and see, and I know it’s not the typical way to handle this, but I want that. I don’t want to fall into their pace, but keep ours and act like of course this is how it would go. Of course I would answer with Jaxon as his princess and we’re a team.”
“I’m fine with it,” he told me when I gave him a questioning look. “And we’ll wait a few days for our engagement as well.”
It hit me why he wanted to wait, and I couldn’t hide my shock. “You want to do it when I’m on my period? This is going to be like a thing with you guys, isn’t it?” I held up my hand when he went to answer. “Please remember I didn’t grow up with this and try to meet me halfway. I’m trying, I really am, but seriously, I can’t just flip a switch on all of this.”
“We know, and halfway is better than we would have thought, as this is going to unnerve you,” he warned. “It’s seen as almost…”
“Sacrilegious to waste a princess’s fertile blood,” Cerdic offered. “Yeah, there are wenches who only allow their nobles to have any then, and mostly for that reason. It’s like a three or four day vacation in most courts, celebrating their princess and her blessing from their god or goddess that she remains fertile.”
“But it’s more than that,” Jaxon muttered as he rubbed my back. “One day the hope is you will conceive the next generation, and no one is pushing for that, but that’s why women menstruate. However, the blood is fertile and blessed, as not every female is given that chance, even with vampires, and it’s strong. It makes your nobles stronger so that one day when you do conceive, we will be able to protect you.”
“Because I’ll be vulnerable when pregnant,” I mumbled, bobbing my head. “So like a vacation of just being a bum and receiving oral sex?”
Darius kissed my forehead. “No, you’ve seen our skin absorb blood. Even humans still have sex then. I know I gathered supplies for your period, but we were hoping we could talk you into not using them. We understand you wouldn’t allow us to just feast on you, but you know how good it feels to absorb blood on your skin.”
“So sit on you naked for a few days?” I asked, trying not to squeak at how weird that sounded.
“More blood is absorbed faster through the thin skin of a penis,” Kristof explained. “It would be a few hours before you started flowing again like when those human tampons absorb up in you.”
“Limit, hit my limit,” I blurted, waving away the images and freaking out I was talking about this with four men. “I’ll think about what I can handle. I will. Right now, I just want to sleep. Can I just sleep for a bit?”
“Of course. Let’s get this energy out and some actual hydration in you. Take a nap before dinner and rest.”
“Wait, what present are you sending Mother?” Jaxon asked as Darius stood with me in his arms.
“I don’t know, but I feel like I will and the message will be powerful,” I muttered as my eyes felt heavy. “And maybe one for Cerdic’s coven as well, basically a set gift of ‘he’s mine now, thanks,’ but you know, that’s not weird.”
“Weird is relative,” Cerdic chuckled. “We can talk about that later. All of this won’t happen and be shared at the speed of light as it once used to. Sister would have to send a formal invite to the O’Cleirgh to receive news from Princess Nora. Let them delay for a while with their posturing and play.”
“So my gift might arrive while she’s there or she’ll see it after and wow, I’m a good friend to have. I like that.”
“I think I need to be read in on everything though if I’m about to be party to the message being sent and I know what side I’m really aligning with,” Cerdic said quietly.
“That’s fair,” Darius sighed, and I nodded. It was. “I’ll handle it. You rest.”
My eyes were too heavy and I fell asleep, dreaming of plans and the future we would now have.
I called it like I had a court and coven, so really, I’d signed my name on the line for that. But for some reason I wasn’t as scared as I had been. Now it just sounded really nice to find a home.
A real home.
And I’d never known a home.
10
I woke with a gasp, the dream I’d had fresh in my mind. It was hours before dawn, but that didn’t matter. I reached over and shook Jaxon, him and Darius not leaving my side after how upset I’d been lately.
“Sleep, My Princess,” he muttered, sounding like he’d caught some as well.
“No, wake up, we’ve got to go.”
“Go where?” Darius asked with a yawn.
“Anchorage. We have to go now or we’ll miss it,” I said firmly as I rolled out of bed.
“Miss what?” he pushed as I headed for the bathroom.
“I have no idea. I just know I need to get to Anchorage with my knights. I have to. Get rid of the hawk, send him with the message, and we leave as soon as possible.” I didn’t like giving orders, but everything in me was dying to get to Anchorage.
My life was seriously weird.
“You have two items we were going to find on the way,” Darius reminded me as I got out of the shower, Jaxon going next.
“We’ll have to come back south to get to Vancouver. We’ll divert a bit then.” I shrugged. “We’ve done it before. Is everyone moving?”
“Yes, the hawk is already gone. He asked to bid you farewell properly, but Jaxon accepted on his behalf as his arrival messed with our schedule.”
I froze in drying off. “Crap, I didn’t even ask what Jaxon said in Gaelic.”
“You trust him,” Darius said gently.
“Of course, but I should have asked before we sent the hawk off. Don’t you want to know?”
He nodded, glancing at the bathroom before meeting my gaze. “He would tell you, but it was very, um, romantic in our ways actually. He said you were to bleed on him in a few days’ time, and he was sorry for not coming home first, but you stole his heart and soul and he could not bear to be apart from you. That his place is at your side forever, and he thanked her for giving him life so he could find you.”
My heart fluttered at hearing that. Wow. Just wow. “You understand Gaelic?”
“No, Cerdic does and told me and Kristof when we asked so we didn’t embarrass Jaxon.”
“Wow,” I breathed, smiling when I heard the bathroom door open and Jaxon was staring there with a hesitant look on his face. Clearly he’d heard us. “My sexy Irishman has quite the way with words it seems.”
Relief filled his eyes. I wasn’t sure why he was worried when I thought any woman would swoon. Then again, yeah, that whole bleeding on them thing was a bit much.
“Why are we going to Anchorage?” Wilson asked me as everyone hurried to stuff their faces with breakfast as we packed up.
“No idea, but I need to go,” I repeated for the fifth or sixth time. I wished I had the answers, but I didn’t. I just knew we gots to go.
“Let’s ride in the SUV and use the time of the long drive wisely,” Cerdic offered.
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but Darius and Jaxon agreed, others driving the vehicles, and I was just happy Kristof wasn’t with us. He might have helped me yesterday, but things weren’t just okay between us now.
Not even close.
We headed out, and I was thinking of taking a nap in the front seat, but then I found out why he wanted us together.
I needed to get schooled.
Fun.
“Where would you like to start?” Cerdic asked as he explained what we were doing.
I thought on that a minute, deciding it was time to talk on some stuff, and we did have a thirty-five hour drive without stops. Something popped in my head that Darius had touched on, bu
t I wanted some clarification on. “Okay, so how come I’m a princess? I mean, why is no one ever queen?” I snorted, shaking my head. “I’m talking about vampire queens. Why does it feel like I’ve read this book?”
A few of them snorted, but Cerdic answered. “Because you can throw a dart into a pile of paranormal fiction and the chances you’ll land on a vampire queen or king—shifter kings, queens, or Alphas as well—book are astoundingly high.”
“Yeah, but I’m actually thinking of one I read,” I muttered. “She was an Egyptian goddess or something? The first vampire, queen and she killed her king, looking for another one.” I snapped my fingers. “Queen of the Damned. There was another book where the human god and devil were sitting at a coffee shop talking about the world and life, and I always thought that a cool way to look at things.”
“Well, that sort of plays into why there is no queen,” Cerdic offered, bringing us back on topic. “She was queen of them all, and that’s just not how it works. Aether is mother of us all, the Goddess. From Her there were more born—not of incest as some religions say—but like the human god created angels from a piece of him. But they are Her children.”
“Well, some are believed to be children of Erebus, but even if He is darkness, he wanted His children to live in the light,” Jaxon interjected. “Basically instead of one religion we believe in them all. All the gods and goddesses were true, but all under Aether and what She created. She’s Goddess, big G, and the others are little G’s but queens and kings of their domains.”
“Right, as religions started in areas, so she made them and they broke up the map,” I muttered, thinking back to what I’d read in that one mythology book I’d found when stuck in an office hiding from bad humans. I’d been out of ammo, so hiding had been better.
The corrupted that hunted me had taken them out that night anyways. Fun times.
“Exactly, so they were the original kings and queens of the land. And from there they picked a champion to protect the areas and rule in their image, like their children breaking up an inheritance,” Cerdic continued. “Humans elevated their own status, and that’s where you get the default to being boss means queens and kings.”
