Blood and Reign (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (11 page)

“
You will rule by consensus and the reason I only asked one goblin here is because he will be the tie breaker should you ever come to a stalemate.”

Murmurs started right away. I wasn’t in the mood for their arguments right now
, so I raised my hand and, to my amazement, they all quieted. “I’m leaving. I want to give you time to think about everything I have said, but we will meet back here first thing in the morning,”

We left the room
, closing the door on a very lively discussion. Maybe this would keep them too busy to try to kill me.

Ruby met us at the door. She wanted to hear all about the meeting and her enthusiasm was contagious. I was feeling optimistic. Kael disappeared as soon as we were safely inside, but Lucius decided to follow us in. He looked angry and never took his eyes off Dominick and Dominick tried to stand as close as he could to me just to piss him off. They were acting worse than the fae.

Today’s meeting
might not have been long, but it was stressful and it took a lot out of me. I wanted to check on Killian and then do nothing for a little while. “I’m going for a bath. I feel knots in every muscle of my body.”

“If you don’t mind
, Cass, I’d like to go for a run, but if you need me, I’ll stay.” He gave a sideways glance to Lucius.

“No worries
, Dominick.”

He gave Lucius a feral look before leaving.
Ruby followed close behind, muttering about some errand she had to do. That left me alone with Lucius. If he wanted to discuss us, I would, but it was the last time. I wasn’t going to rehash our non-relationship every time I saw him.

“Cass
, I …” Frustration marred his handsome features. He threw his hands in the air. Shaking his head, he flashed over to me and scooped me up in his big arms. His firm lips pressed against mine and I didn’t pull away. His body was pressed firmly against mine, my toes barely touching the floor.

Our tongues entwined as he
lowered me to the ground. Lucius broke away. “I want you, Cass; your body, your heart. We can make this work. Don’t send me away again. We are meant to be together.”

I pressed my face against his hard chest. I needed him to know, but I wasn’t brave enough to look him in the eye
. Once he knew what I had done, he wouldn’t want me anymore. This would all be over. I told him about Killian and Dominick and our time together, telling him all about the night Mab had forced us and the night she didn’t. My hands wound into his shirt, bracing myself for when he would push me away.

“Did you think
your confession would finally convince me I should leave?” His voice was gentle and soothing.

“Yes
, and make you hate me. Please don’t hate me.”

He lifted my face so I had to look at him. “I love you, but we had no commitment and you didn’t have much of a
choice. I don’t like thinking of you with those men, I don’t like that they’ve had you and I haven’t, but they protected you and helped to keep you safe. I’ll deal with my feelings. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Really?”
I had been prepared for him to hate me; worse, to be disappointed in me. Instead, he had understood. I really was shit when it came to predicting how people were going to act.

“Promise. We can overcome anything
, Goldilocks. We are amazing together. Quintus will see that. I will reason with him. He was upset when he left, but he and I have loved each other too long for him to turn his back on me. We will work it out.”

I wanted to believe him. Wouldn’t he know better than I would how Quintus would react? Could he really just let us be? “We’ll hurt him
, Lucius.” I was weakening and he knew it.

“I think he’s already hurt that you don’t love hi
m the way he wants you to. He’ll get over it, Cass. He has had many loves and lost a few who caused him great pain. He survived them all and he will get over this too.”

“I know this may seem weird, but I can’t picture him with a woman.”

Lucius let out a barking laugh. “I told you I knew him better. He has had many women. Hundreds; he went through quite the slut phase during the Dark Ages. Farmers’ daughters were a particular favorite of his, I believe.”

I started laughing. I never pictured him being anything but my Quintus, which might be the m
ost egotistical thing anyone had ever thought. He was 2000 years old and of course he would have had many women before me. I blushed and turned from him. He came up behind me. I felt foolish and naive.

His tall
, firm body pressed into my back. Strong hands gripped my shoulders and his cool lips touched my neck. A quiet sigh escaped my lips. Would it be so horrible to give in? I leaned back as his lips trailed down my neck. I loved him and I wanted him. He brushed the last tiny speck of doubt away as his hands trailed down my side. I arched my head to the side and his mouth made its way across my shoulder. I was afraid to move. Things still felt fragile, like what we were beginning could end any second. I couldn’t say the things I wanted to. One of us might say the wrong thing and ruin it all.

“You’
re so beautiful. There isn’t one fae or human who could come close.” His voice was deep and husky and I decided I was wrong again. He could talk all he wanted.

He opened the top button on my dress and
, when I still didn’t stop him, his hands came up and cupped my breasts. His thumbs brushed across my nipples. I reached back and placed my hand on the front of his pants over his hard member.

“I’m scared
, Lucius. I don’t want to lose you.”

He spun me around and kissed me. We were hungry for each other. We needed this to happen. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body into his. He broke the kiss and held my head in his hands.

“You won’t lose me, Goldilocks; I’m not going anywhere. I would do anything for you.”

I answered him by backing up and letting my dress fall to the ground. His cock was rock hard and the look of lust on his face made me fee
l bolder than I could ever have imagined. I grinned, feeling naughty and so happy. Everything that had worried me before was gone. All my problems forgotten, at least for now. I gave him a sly grin, turned, and ran for my bed.

Before I reached it
, Lucius was on me and gave my rump a playful smack. He scooped me up and threw me in the air. “Lucius,” I squealed as I landed on the bed.

He ripped off his shirt and his pants in seconds. I licked my lips at the sight of his
hard cock. My heart racing and my core pulsing. I ached to have him inside me. His eyes glowed and his fangs came down. He crawled beside me on the bed.

“I’ve waited for this for so long. I’m going to take my time and you are going to thank me for it.”

I shivered as he ran his fingertips between my breasts and down my stomach. He lightly played with the soft hair down below. One finger dipped inside and
, when he grazed my pearl within, I moaned and grabbed the bedding. His mouth suckled on my breast. My hand wrapped around his hard shaft and began to stroke.

First one
, then two fingers slipped inside me and I arched up into his hand. “Please, Lucius, I want you inside me.”

He ignored
me and kissed his way down my stomach. His lips feathered kisses up and down my inner thighs, then on my outer lips. He went achingly slow and I moaned in frustration. When his talented tongue finally dipped inside, I gripped the sheets and screamed. I came hard and he continued to suck and nibble until he had me on the edge again. His tongue lashed at my sensitive nub until I came again.

I was happy and exhausted, but he wasn’t finished with me yet.
He sat up and lifted me up on his lap so we faced each other. We kissed slowly and I tasted myself on his lips. The feel of my skin against his sent shivers of pleasure through my body. We took our time and basked in the sensation of every caress, every nibble and lick until I could stand it no more. I lifted up and lowered slowly down over his cock. I felt stretched as he filled me completely.

He shuddered and pulled me to him. His li
ps touched my ear. “I love you, Cass. Oh, fuck, you feel amazing.”

“I love
you too.” I started to roll my hips, feeling him move inside me. His lips once again found my nipples and I quickened my pace. He reached under my ass and leaned me back. Slow, long strokes, over and over, our eyes locked a chorus of moaning rising up from us. I was riding on the edge again. Every cell I had pulsed along with the rhythm of our bodies. A wave of pleasure washing over us. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he quickened his pace a delicious ache building and building at my core.

His hips thrust one last time and we came together
. Clinging to each other, languishing in the surge of ecstasy. We collapsed and lay silently in each other’s arms while we both recovered.

“That was amazing. You should have told me how good you were.”

“Ha ha, I won’t say I told you so, but you really should give me a Lucius you were so right. I can’t believe I didn’t listen to you sooner.”

“I was scared and I didn’t want to hurt again and I didn’t want to hurt anyone else either. I especially didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Whatever comes our way, we’ll handle it.”

“
In that vein of discussion…please don’t hate me or be offended, but I think it would be best if you stayed in your own room for now.”

“How could I possibly offended by that
?” His tone dripped with sarcasm.

“
It’s just that the fae, to put it mildly, hate vampires. They hate Quintus most of all, but you, as his son, come in a close second. The only reason they are accepting me at all is Kael. I don’t want to give them more fuel for the fire.”

“I hate that you
’re right, but that dog isn’t sleeping with you either. I’m trying to block you having sex with him from my mind. I can’t do that if I spend the night in my room, picturing you in bed with him.”

“His name is Dominick, but I would go insane thinking of you with another woman. I understand.”

“So…”

“How about Dominick sleeps on the couch in the sitting room? He can still guard me, just not from my bed.”
I knew he had every right not to want Dominick in my bed, but I wasn’t happy with being ordered around.

“One more thing, please change the bedding. Now that we aren’t in the
throes of passion, I can smell him all over this bed. It makes me want to do terrible things that you would never forgive me for.”

“
Of course, anything to keep your homicidal tendencies towards my friends to a minimum.” He wasn’t as understanding as he led me to believe he would be, or was I being too sensitive?

“Don’t do that. Don’t act like I’m being some crazed out
-of-control vampire. You slept with him and I can smell him in your bed. It’s killing me, Cass.”

“I thought you said it was okay that I slept with Dominick.” His voice was harsh and the tone made me feel guilty and hurt. I could feel anger starting to bubble down there too.

“I said I would handle my feelings; all I’m asking from you is a little help with that, like getting the dog smell out of the bed.”

I started crying. I knew it wasn’t just this conversation
. I didn’t like how he was talking to me, but he was in the right. It was the stress of everything, and this happened to be the straw that broke the human queen to all fae’s back.

“Fuck
, Goldilocks, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so harsh. Please don’t cry.”

He pulled me to him and I only resisted a tiny bit. “It
’s just I feel guilty for what I did and I hate myself for feeling guilty because I had no commitments and it was partly about survival. I never even thought of you smelling him in here. I’ll have Ruby get someone to change the sheets.”

“No guilt
, Cass. It is what it is. I should go now. I wouldn’t want to start any sordid rumors.” He kissed me and I really wanted him to stay, but when he got up to go, I didn’t say anything. I wanted his big arms around me. I wanted to fall asleep feeling safe in his embrace. It was a small sacrifice to pay if it meant keeping peace with the fae and being able to be with Lucius.

I read some books that Na’min had dropped off for me. They were mainly dry texts about the history of the fae and I dozed off a bunch of times waiting for Dominick to come back so we could talk. I tossed and turned, worrying about everything I had on my plate. Finally, I decided I wasn’t going to go back to sleep and I might as well get up. I put on my robe and went in to check on Killian.

He
was snoozing when I entered. His bright blue eyes opened and he smiled. “Cass, have you come to give me my sponge bath?”

“
Yes, the healer will be here in the morning. I thought you might want to be cleaned up first.”

“Umm
, Cass, before you do, I think we need to talk. I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it. I’m so grateful for everything you’re doing for me to help me heal. You are such a special woman and I want you to be happy. You deserve that, you do, but the next time you have sex with Lucius, can you maybe shut my door and keep it down just a touch. You were so loud and I can’t even use my hands to cover my ears.”