Sunshine's Kiss (21 page)

“You’re trespassing, King Auryan,” Jesse said.

Well, that explained the who. Now, what did the man want?

“I would have called first, but I don’t have a phone.”

“You’re not welcome here. You need to leave.”

“I’m not leaving without my mate,” the king snapped.

“That’s not a decision you get to make, Auryan,” Sarah said as she stood and pushed her way through the people standing between her and the king.

Sam quickly scooted to the edge of the couch and lumbered to his feet. It wasn’t always easy to get up now days. He stepped forward until he could push his way under Jesse’s arm, snuggling into his side.

Oh, this couldn’t be good.

His mother stood facing off against his father.

“I forgave you for leaving me all of those years ago,” Sarah said. “I even stayed faithful to you all this time in the hopes that one day you would return. But I will not stay where I am not wanted.”

King Auryan’s face took on a wistful look as he caressed the side of Sarah’s face. “You’re wanted, my love. I can promise you that with my dying breath.”

“I’m Lycan, Auryan.”

“I don’t care. I’ll take you any way that I can get you.” The king smiled. “I’d even take you if you were from the Dark Court.”

Sam almost jumped when Jesse suddenly cleared his throat. He frowned up at his mate. This was a special moment for his mother and he didn’t want it ruined.

“Just why do you hate the people of the Dark Court so much?” Jesse asked.

It seemed to be all the king could do to tear his eyes away from Sarah’s face but he did eventually turn to look at Jesse. “They started the war.”

“The war between the Light Court and the Dark Court?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

The king frowned in obvious confusion. “Why what?”

“Why did they start the war?”

“You really want to discuss this now?”

Jesse shrugged. “I’m curious.”

The king regarded Jesse for so long that Sam began to get antsy, moving from foot to foot. He didn’t know what the war between whatever courts had to do with whether his mother stayed or went. He didn’t really care. He just wanted her to be happy.

“Very well,” the king finally said. “May we sit while we talk?”

“I’ll make tea,” Sarah said as she hurried out of the room.

Jesse wrapped an arm around Sam’s waist and gestured toward the door. “I suspect that was our cue to go to the dining room.”

Sam could hear everyone following them as they walked out of Jesse’s office and headed for the dining room. He yanked on Jesse’s shirt until the man’s head bent down toward his. “What’s going on, Jesse?”

“Just wait and listen, Sam. I’ll explain anything you don’t understand when we’re done. We learned some stuff since you’ve been gone, and I need to know what your father knows. It might be important.”

Sam didn’t understand what was going on, but he trusted Jesse. He sat down in the chair Jesse held out for him, leaning toward Jesse when the man sat down right next to him at the head of the table.

Cort sat on the other side of Jesse, Jake and Rocky right next to him. Gabe walked around and sat down next to Sam, effectively boxing him in. Nate just stood against the wall behind Jesse, his arms crossed over his chest.

King Auryan sat at the far end of the table from Jesse, his hands folded together and resting on the table. When Sarah came back in with a tray of tea and cookies, she set it on the table and then went to sit next to the king.

“What would you like to know, Mr. McCaffrey?” the king asked.

“As I am mated to Sam and refuse to relinquish that bond, that means we’re family. You might as well call me Jesse.”

King Auryan’s nostrils flared for a moment, his jaw tightened as if he was fighting himself not to argue Jesse’s words, but finally he nodded. “Very well, Jesse. What would you like to know?”

“The first thing I would like to know is what Desmond Kent was doing at your little party.”

“He was invited, although now, I see that that was a mistake.”

“If you hate Lycan so much, why would you invite one to your court?”

“Desmond is Fey, not Lycan.”

“He sure looked Lycan to me,” Jesse snapped. “And his claws damn well felt Lycan when they were digging into me.”

“Lycan and Fey have many of the same attributes. I can assure you that Lord Kent is not Lycan. He is from one of the oldest families in the Light Court.”

“Then how did he know about me?” Sam asked. “Before you took me, I’d never met any of you. I didn’t even know about Fey or Lycan or any of this stuff.”

“While I was unsure of your exact appearance,” the king said, “I did know I had a son out in the human world somewhere. A missive was sent to all in my court to keep an eye out for you. However, I was to be informed the moment you were located. Lord Kent was not to make his own actions or harm you in any way. I just wanted you and your mother to be brought to me.”

“Well, that worked out well, didn’t it?”

“I can only assume that Lord Kent didn’t bring you home because of the war. It can be dangerous at times, and even more so for members of the royal family.”

“Bullshit!” Sam snapped, making the king’s eyes widen. “Desmond didn’t tell you about me because he wanted to keep me to himself. If he could get me to mate with him, he would have been mated to the only heir to your court. He wanted power, plain and simple. He didn’t care about me or your orders.”

“And he will be severely punished for his actions.”

Sam snorted, clearly not believing the king.

“Why did the war start?” Jesse asked, interrupting the king before he could reply to Sam’s rude gesture, even if he silently applauded it.

“An agreement was reached between the courts to join us together through the marriage. It was supposed to end the mounting hostilities between our courts. As I was the heir to the Light Court, I was to marry the princess of the Dark Court. When the marriage fell through, the Dark Court declared all-out war on us.”

“How did the marriage fall through?” Jesse asked.

“Was it because of me?” Sarah interrupted.

King Auryan leaned over and patted Sarah’s hand. “No, my love, this all happened before I even met you. But the war started after we met. That’s why I got called home. I was planning on coming back for you, but as you know, time is different from here to there. What seemed like just a few weeks to me was months for you. By the time I tried to find you again, you were gone.”

“And it took you twenty-six years to find us?” Sam asked.

“By the time I was able to start searching for your mother, she had been made Lycan. Her scent had changed. I wasn’t able to track her anymore. And since you hadn’t been born before I left, I didn’t have your scent. It took me this long to locate you both.”

“What can you tell me of the woman you were supposed to marry?” Jesse asked.

Sam kicked him under the table. He didn’t want Jesse bringing up bad memories. His mother didn’t need to know that there had been someone else in his father’s life. Jesse just frowned down at him then looked back toward the king.

“The princess?” Sam smiled when he saw King Auryan grabbed Sarah’s hand in his. “I didn’t know that much about her. I only met her once.”

“How did the marriage fall through?” Jesse asked again.

“She disappeared. That’s how the real war started. There were a lot of tensions between the courts before then, but when she disappeared, the Dark Court accused us of killing her to stop the marriage. There was no sign of her, so we couldn’t prove otherwise.”

Jesse leaned over and whispered something in Cort’s ear. He spoke low enough that Sam couldn’t hear what was said, so he was surprised when Cort stood up and left the room. He glanced over at Jesse in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

“Just hold on, baby.” Jesse looked back down the long table to the king. “Are the courts still at war?”

“No, we lost too many people in the war. We’ve settled into an uneasy peace for the sake of those that are left.” King Auryan looked grim as his eyes flickered to Sam. “That’s why I wanted my son to come home. Rebuilding our world is very important.”

“Jesse is my home,” Sam said simply. There didn’t really seem to be anything more to say. Jesse was his mate, and he didn’t plan on ever leaving his side if he could help it.

“Sam is right,” Jesse said. “We’ve already mated. He is mine. He will not be used as a pawn in the war between the courts.”

“I did not want to use him as a pawn,” the king snapped. “I wanted to keep him safe. Marriage to one of the more powerful houses of my court would do just that.”

“My pack is perfectly capable of keeping Sam safe.” Before the king could argue, and his mouth was opening as Jesse spoke, Jesse held up his hand. “Before we get into any argument you might have, let me ask you a question. Would a union between the Dark Court and the Light Court end the hostilities between your people?”

The king’s dark blond eyebrows pulled down low over his face as he frowned. “It would, but—”

“And as your son, Sam is the only living heir to the Light Court?”

“Yes, but—”

“If he is mated to a Lycan, would he still be your heir?”

“Of course,” the king replied. “Samuel is my son. Nothing will change that, not even being your mate.”

“And this princess that disappeared, she was the only heir to the Dark Court?” Jesse asked.

“Yes. Her brother, Girge, died in battle, making her the next to take the throne after her father.”

Sam glanced down the table to his father and then back up to Jesse, then back down the table. His neck was starting to hurt from ping-ponging back and forth. He wished someone would tell him what in the hell was going on, but before he could ask, Cort walked back into the room, holding a picture frame in his hand.

“Then I believe I have a solution that will benefit us all, Your Highness.” Jesse nodded to Cort, who set the picture frame down in front of the king. “This was our mother, Rachel McCaffrey.”

“But…but this is the princess.” King Auryan looked baffled as he lifted his head to look at Jesse. “How can this be?”

“According to her journal, which we just found a few days ago, she didn’t want to be a pawn between the courts. So, with her mother’s help, she escaped and came to this world where she met and married my father.” Jesse waved his hand around to encompass him and his brothers. “The five of us are the product of that mating.”

Sam let out a very unmanly-like yelp when he was suddenly lifted into Jesse’s lap, but he couldn’t have cared less when he felt Jesse’s arms wrap around him, the man’s hands sliding down to stroke over Sam’s distended belly.

“When our child is born, we’ll have proof that the Dark Court and the Light Court have joined together.” Jesse’s smile was odd, almost triumphant. “And just think, King Auryan, he’ll be part Dark Court, part Light Court, part Lycan, and part human. He’ll have the best of all of us.”

“Hello, sunshine,” Jesse crooned softly as he settled on the bed next to Sam. He stroked his hand gently down the side of Sam’s face, needing to touch Sam and relearn each inch of his beautiful features. His heart stuttered in his chest a little now that Sam was back in his arms. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” Sam replied. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

“I always knew I’d see you again. Nothing else was acceptable.” Jesse grinned. “I can’t live without my sunshine.”

Jesse laughed softly at the blush of color that filled Sam’s face. He didn’t want to make any louder sound as it might break the intimate bubble surrounding them. The rest of the house was quiet, everyone having gone to bed and Sarah going back to the Fey world with her mate.

Now, it was just Jesse and Sam.

And that was just the way Jesse liked it. He had plans for Sam and they didn’t include anyone except the two of them. It had been two months since he had felt the ecstasy only loving on Sam could give him. Jesse didn’t plan on going another minute without experiencing it.

“This is going to limit the positions we can use,” Jesse said as he slid his hand down Sam’s rounded stomach. “We can’t do anything that might harm our baby.”

“Are you sure this doesn’t freak you out?”

“I’m positive, love.” Jesse leaned down and kissed the beginning of the curve at the top of Sam’s stomach. “I think it makes you even more beautiful, if that were possible. This is undeniable proof that you’re mine.”

A burst of laughter fell from Sam’s lips. “You’re such a possessive bastard.”

Jesse grinned at Sam. “But you love me being possessive.”

“I do.”

“On your side, sunshine.” Jesse could feel his heart start beating faster with the knowledge that he was going to claim his mate again. “Pull your leg up.”

Once Sam had rolled over onto his side, Jesse scooted up behind him. He leaned over and licked up Sam’s spine, moaning in delight when Sam’s unique taste hit his tongue. No one tasted like his sunshine.