“Christmas is going to be wonderful this year.” Ezra declared, and Louis agreed.
CHAPTER TWO
Silas and Ira were sent to meet the Duchess’ plane. Both members of the leadership and befitting the care of a Duchess. She tended to the old ways that afforded her deference and honor but only when it suited her. She could be as crass and dirty as the worst if it benefitted her in any way. But at present, she was playing the part of the noble Duchess, and Louis would play along, for now.
He stood with Ezra to his right and Ismael and Easton at his left to receive her as she walked through the main doors and down the grand hall. It wasn’t exactly the Ceremonial order of Reception, but it was enough pomp and circumstance to suit her. She held herself high and put on the airs as she took first Louis’ hand and then Ezra’s. Her showiness was just that, all show.
Although she was indeed a Duchess, she had started life as a lower order aristocrat based on her father’s wealth. Her family owned property, which gave them position and power. It took her several centuries to better her lot and rise to the level of nobility. She managed to gain the title of Duchess through a succession of advantageous marriages.
“I’m so pleased to be here, Louis and so honored to meet your sweet little beloved.” Aldessa turned to Ezra and took his hand holding it loosely while staring into his eyes. Louis abruptly pulled her attention back to him. She turned back to Louis but held her grip on Ezra’s hand. Louis could see that Ezra wanted to let go but didn’t want to insult so he placed his hand over theirs and eased Aldessa’s away.
She was pushing buttons right from the start, but had he expected anything else? She was an operator, and sizing up the locals was part of the game. “He’s lovely, Louis; you must be so pleased.” She gushed.
“I am.” He answered and drew Ezra up close to his side.
“Perhaps we can have some time alone later this evening to catch up.” She spoke in a near whisper and cast her gaze fleetingly at Ezra.
“My evenings are for my beloved,” Louis stated. “But I’ll arrange for some time tomorrow.” He didn’t want her even assuming that she was gaining the upper hand. She was in his home and she would follow not lead.
“Thank you.” She said with a tight smile, clearly unhappy with the outcome. The rest of the introductions were completed, and the Duchess was escorted to her rooms along with her personal guards. A formal dinner would be served at eight.
The dinner was to be held in the Gold Room on the second floor, a grand banquet room rich and lavish as the Duchess would expect. Chef Reid was busy preparing an impressive meal and Henri, the Palace Butler, was staging the room appropriately. Henri Bastien was brought on as Butler during the staff changes last year. Between him and Chef Reid, the Palace was finally being run properly.
They could relax for a while now. The Duchess would spend the next few hours resting after her trip and getting ready for dinner. She would be unlikely to leave her rooms before eight. She very much liked to make an entrance.
Louis took Ezra back to their room and invited Ismael and Easton to join them. Ezra was uneasy with having the Duchess in the Palace, but he couldn’t articulate exactly what was causing his uneasiness. He trusted Louis and was assured of his love, yet the Duchess, or La Duchesse, as Louis had called her, was a gorgeous woman. She was tall, slim, regal with long elegantly styled dark blonde hair that lay in waves against her lightly tanned skin. Her eyes though were what caught the attention; they were so light that they appeared to be gray. The color mesmerized and drew you in. Ezra sensed magic at their core.
On the one hand, she was from Louis’ past which made him wonder about their time together, but on the other hand, Louis made it quite clear there was nothing between them. Ezra genuinely trusted his beloved and knew, without a doubt, that he would always honor their bond. So why the anxiety?
It was the way the Duchess held his hand and tried to plunder his thoughts within the first ten seconds of their meeting. She’d assumed he was a mere human and had sought to mine some useful information. It came to him in that brief interaction that none of her husbands had been a true match, her beloved. If they had, she would have known that beloveds were immune to such intrusions by other vampires.
Louis’ bond protected him, but he also had the added defense of his own blossoming magical abilities. He wasn’t yet at his mother’s level, but he was no longer the failing apprentice that he used to be.
He recalled how insistent she was and how she’d tried to press harder as Ezra began to pull away. Thankfully, Louis handled the situation before it became embarrassing. Louis covered the Duchess’ hand and allowed Ezra to slip out of her grip without having to jerk his hand away ungraciously.
“According to Silas, who overheard them talking during the drive from the airport, she’s indeed here to garner your support for a campaign for power that she’s launching back home,” Ismael informed as they all sat in the large living area that overlooked the main gardens and the central fountain.
“Is she hoping to unseat the new master, or is there another post she’s interested in?” Louis asked.
“I don’t know, but considering who she is and the things she’s attempted in the past, I would guess that she isn’t happy with her new Coven Master.” Ismael theorized.
“Yuri is more than capable of leading the Loire Coven. Master Charles trained him, and he had the position of Second for over four hundred years. He’s a good choice. I can’t imagine who she would think better.” Louis commented as he idly ran his fingers up and down Ezra’s arm.
“She probably wants the job herself,” Ezra spoke up. Usually, he doesn’t involve himself with politics, but this lady really rubbed him the wrong way. He couldn’t stop himself from taking a jab. He was glad when Easton supported his assertion and by the half-grin on Louis’ face, he thought the same as well.
“She doesn’t lack for ego,” Easton added. “I agree with Ezra; she wants to be top dog.”
“If she wants me to assist her in that endeavor, then she will be sorely disappointed,” Louis said as he pulled Ezra closer to him on the large sofa and casually dropping a kiss to the top of his head. “I have no desire or intention of interfering with the leadership of the Loire Coven. If she wants it, she can go and fight Yuri and try and take it. I have no interest in Trans-Atlantic squabbles.”
“She is grossly misjudging her capabilities if she fancies herself being the Master,” Ismael added with considerable disdain.
“Because she’s a woman?” Easton asked without impertinence.
“There are female Masters in the world.” Ismael pointed out. “Gender is not the decider, it’s strength and skill, of which she has neither. She doesn’t know how to rule; all she can do is play games. I doubt she has support within her Coven and that’s why she would need you, Louis, to bring them around and give her credibility.” Louis nodded.
“Have Silas assign a couple of men to keep watch on her guards,” Louis stated. “I don’t trust them. Although I got nothing untoward when I touched them, I would prefer that they were monitored while here in my home.”
Ismael immediately pulled out his phone and dialed Silas. The surveillance, which included the Duchess, was put into place. They talked for a while longer, and then Ismael and Easton excused themselves to head back to their quarters to get ready for dinner. Ezra was glad that he and Louis would have some time alone before the royal dinner, as Chef Reid was calling it.
“She’s very beautiful,” Ezra mentioned as they lay together on their bed. Both had stripped down and decided they had time to rest before the stringent requirements of the dinner were upon them. Louis rolled to half pin Ezra to the bed beneath him.
He gathered him into his arms, and he looked down at Ezra with those enthralling sapphire blue eyes that pierced his reserve and laid him bare every time. Ezra didn’t have to wonder what the man was feeling; Louis never hid his tenderest emotions from him.
“Nothing and no one compares
to you,” Louis said with sweet adoration dripping from his words. He followed this with a kiss that was both tender and possessive drawing from Ezra a soft and lustful moan. Ezra leaned into the embrace and wrapped his left leg around Louis’ hip pulling him even closer. He felt Louis chuckle rather than heard it.
“So, you want to play, my love,” Louis whispered against his ear and began a light nibble there that trailed down to Ezra’s shoulder. Ezra was getting harder by the second as Louis’ kisses ignited a familiar fire in his heart. Louis was a masterful kisser and an exquisite lover. Ezra didn’t have a lot of experience before meeting Louis, but after three years of the best sex on the face of the earth, he knew Louis was in a league of his own.
“Spread your legs, sweetheart.” He said and instantly, Ezra obeyed. Louis’ hands smoothed across the surface of Ezra’s abdomen, down to embrace his heated cock in a loose grip. He strummed his fingers along the velvety flesh over and over heightening Ezra’s anticipation and stoking the fire hot.
He continued to stroke Ezra to the point of pain, but it was a delightful pain. Louis knew each of Ezra’s pleasure zones and played them to perfection. Ezra felt his hand move from teasing his sensitive cock to circling his hole. Sensitizing and stimulating the muscle before pressing for entrance. Ezra pressed against the questing fingers, urging them inside.
This was a dance that was familiar but also fresh and new each and every time. Lovemaking with Louis was the height of pleasure. He made Ezra’s body sing with desire and delight. He was still trailing kisses from Ezra’s neck to his shoulder and dipping down to capture his nipple before moving upwards to the underside of his chin. Ezra ran his hands up and down Louis’ muscular biceps and marveled that such a man was his. Fate was so generous.
Louis loved the taste of his beloved. No one had ever satisfied him the way Ezra satisfied his every need, every desire. He was his perfect match, so strong and resilient. His delicate skin clear now of the scars of his previous life was precious in Louis’ eyes. Every aspect of Ezra was precious, and Louis knew how lucky he was to have been given a beautiful flower-like Ezra as his beloved. Fate had been indeed generous considering his past deeds. Men like him were rarely gifted with forever.
Ezra’s entrance opened easily for him, welcoming and embracing his intrusion. They’d made love many times over the past years and yet each time was as exciting and exhilarating as the very first. Ezra’s touch and taste his arousal and needs were as sharp and titillating as the very first time that they touched there in his dull little apartment in Pittsburgh. His beloved filled him, body and soul every day and in every way. “I love you, Ezra,” Louis said, unable to hold back the feeling bubbling forth.
Louis never shared his emotions or his vulnerabilities with others, that knowledge was for his beloved alone. With Ezra, he could bare his soul and be rejuvenated. His beloved gave him strength and purpose and with it, undying love and loyalty.
“I love you too, Louis.” Ezra’s soft reply was a pure aphrodisiac to Louis’ burning desire. His need took precedence and he began a hard thrusting of his fingers stretching and loosening the tight muscles.
Ezra was losing his mind as Louis plunged inside over and over, sensitizing the tender flesh and setting his nerves on fire, hitting the sensitive gland with every stroke. He began pressing down in earnest, eager for Louis to replace his fingers with his large firm cock. “More.” He breathed against Louis’ cheek.
Louis obliged immediately by hiking Ezra’s left leg up and over his upper arm in order to open him completely to Louis’ pleasure. “You beg so beautifully, how can I refuse,” Louis said as he gave Ezra’s slick entrance a final tease before lining up his hard cock and pressing the tip gently to the eager opening.
Ezra moaned and tried to bear down, but Louis held him in place while inching himself inside so gradually that Ezra found the anticipation excruciating. “Don’t tease me Louis.” He whined because he knew it would work. Louis could never resist a little pouting. In seconds Louis had thrust inside burying himself to the hilt inside Ezra. It filled him and relieved a modicum of the need flooding him. He giggled and that just set Louis in motion.
The rapid pounding of Louis’ cock was eliciting excited moans and demands for more from Ezra. Louis loved the games his little one played always getting his way in the end, as it should be. Ezra was the light in his life, and Louis saw making him happy as his primary purpose.
Ezra held tight to Louis’ shoulders riding each thrust with an increasing exuberance. His beloved had overcome his reservations and inhibitions early on, and Louis reaped the rewards every day. Making love to his Ezra was like nothing else in this world. He pumped his hips fast and hard just the way his beloved liked it. The contented look on Ezra’s face was all the proof he needed that his little lover was getting everything he needed.
He kissed him hard before slamming deep and holding as he came fast, filling his lover with his hot essence. The need to feed was instant and he dropped sinking his teeth into the tender pale flesh of Ezra’s throat. He felt Ezra’s warm seed bathing his abdomen as he too tumbled over the edge into ecstasy. Louis withdrew his teeth and licked the wound closed, gratified by the excited shiver of his beloved.
“You’re an amazing lover Louis.” Ezra declared, and Louis couldn’t help but puff up with the sincerity in his voice. Pleasing Ezra was the highlight of every day.
“It is you who are amazing.” Louis pulled out but remained draped on top. Ezra wrapped his arms around him, and Louis settled with his head on Ezra’s chest. It was a loving and trusting embrace, an embrace Louis had never known until Ezra.
…
“Robert and Quincy are watching the guards and the Duchess,” Silas reported to his father, Ismael. “We offered the guards a room adjacent to hers, but she requested that they be across the hall. It seems strange that she would have her personal guards outside of her personal space.”
“Maybe she has something to hide even from them.” Ismael offered.
“Being across the hall, their usefulness to her will be compromised, but she was adamant that they not be adjacent. She claims to want her privacy and she doubted that she would need their assistance here at Coven DuCane. It all looked like a performance.” Silas continued with his report.
“It was a performance,” Ismael stated. “You know as well as I everything that woman does is calculated.” Ismael stood and together they headed for the door. “We better go gather our beloveds; dinner is in less than an hour.”
“I can’t say Wolfe is looking forward to it. This will be his first formal dinner, and his discomfort is setting in.” Silas laughed.
“Easton isn’t thrilled about it either. He told me he feels awkward in such a polished ceremonial environment, but I assured him he would be the most handsome man in the room, so he had nothing to feel awkward about.” Ismael beamed.
“Most handsome but for one.” Silas challenged, good-naturedly and this time Ismael chuckled.
“No one is more precious or more beautiful than one’s own beloved, so we will agree to disagree on that point.” Ismael offered, and Silas agreed.
…
Dinner went off as expected. Chef Reid outdid himself with the setup, service, and the meal. Henri kept the Footman in line and pulled off an excellent service. Nothing was missed or improper all was as required. Ezra did not doubt Chef Reid’s ability, but he was curious how he would pull it off after having served a more laid-back Master like Nikolas Hadden for so long before moving to Coven DuCane. But the skills of an expert are never dampened; they only wait for the opportunity of expression.
The Duchess was at her best in terms of manners and performance. She looked every inch the noble she professed to be, and it was echoed in her conversation and how she carried herself. The initial meeting upon her arrival was apparently testing the waters. Now that she apparently had their number, she was all kindness, courtesy, and beauty. Ezra, though could see the calculating going on behind those striking
gray eyes.
Louis was cordial and gracious but kept a distance between himself and the Duchess, not just in proximity but in time and attention. He was keeping her behind the wall that separated personal from professional. She presented herself as an old friend, but Ezra could see that guise was thin.
The meal was into its final course when the Duchess began to pull Ezra into the conversation. Up until then, he was perfectly satisfied with being a spectator rather than a participant. He sat beside Louis and the Duchess sat across the table with Ismael and Easton on one side and Silas and Wolfe on the other. Her guards stood behind her with their backs against the far wall out of the way of the staff and guests.
Ezra noticed that Louis was watching them, not overtly, but he was reading them. He couldn’t go into their thoughts because that was not polite in a setting such as this. It was considered uncivilized to enter minds uninvited unless the individual was a threat or an enemy. Although Louis was known to bend that rule from time to time, for now, they were guests and they would be treated as such until they presented themselves as something else.
Ezra looked up at the Duchess when she spoke and wondered why she was pulling him into a discussion regarding the kindred of witches residing near her coven. Ezra knew only one kindred, and it no longer exists.
“I do not know of any kindred apart from the one of which I had been a member.” He informed her and went back to his desert hoping she would ignore him as she had been earlier. She acted as if surprised and then commented.
“Your kindred must have been very small and without connections. Perhaps you were not privy to the politics being . . . a simple apprentice.” She smiled but her eyes seemed to darken.
Louis laid his left hand on Ezra’s thigh, giving him comfort he didn’t realize he needed. “Kindreds are of no consequence,” Louis spoke up and squeezed Ezra’s thigh. “Ezra has a Coven that adores him as does the Master.” Louis placed a brief sweet kiss to the side of Ezra’s face punctuating his point.
Ezra's Awakening Page 2
