King Tomb (Forever Evermore) (23 page)

I stilled, whispering, “Sorry.”

He squeezed my hand, his voice gruff with sleep. “Plus, I have to pee.”

I blinked then chuckled softly. “I married a romantic.”

“A realist, more like.” He sighed. “Hell, now I seriously have to pee.”

Glancing at the time, I then stared at the poor alarm clock, which appeared to be on its last leg, as if it had been in one too many fights with my Vampire husband and had lost most of those battles. “You know, when you have to start duct taping your alarm clock so it’ll stay together, it’s probably time to get a new one.”

“If you can’t duct it…,” he rumbled, stretching behind me, his legs interweaving with mine, the coarse hairs on his legs tickling my smooth skin.

I blinked. “Maybe I could find one for you that’s industrial grade.”

He snorted. “I’d rather not have an alarm clock with Bambi buttons or duck designs or cartoon characters on it.” A pause, then polite words. “But thank you for the thought.”

I scowled at the ugly alarm clock. “I wouldn’t get you one like that, but even if I did, it would be better than that eyesore.”

“I like that eyesore, so don’t even think about it.” He pulled me onto my back and lay on top of me in one swift motion. Remarkable, sleepy green eyes stared down at me, his red and black hair a rumpled mess all over his head. He actually appeared adorable like this as his gaze scanned my face, which I would never tell him since he was a man who prided himself on being tough and cruel, so he would probably take my assessment as a knock to his virile ego. Leisurely, he lifted his hand and placed his index finger on my chin, and he began gliding it down the curve of my jaw, making me want to lean into the touch as he watched his digit’s motion. “And I didn’t mind you so much sleeping in bed with me.” His lashes lifted, granting me better access to his striking eyes as he spoke quietly, “How about you?”

My lips curved, and I told the truth. “For the first time in a long time, I slept like a baby.” I tapped his straight nose softly. “And speaking of which, I need to go check on ours.” And give us both time to cope with what we had done together last night.

His lips twitched. “Are you sure you’re up for the walk of shame?”

Yeah, I knew I would be seeing a few Mysticals out at this pre-dawn hour heading back into their own tents, some with heads raised and grinning while others stared at the ground, wondering what the hell they had been thinking the night before. “I can do it, if they can.”

His wide lips straightened as he stared me in the eyes for a long moment. “We’re good?”

I bit my lip, watching him as closely as he was me. “I think so.”

“I think so, too.” His eyebrows furrowed. “I mean, it was only sex between a married couple.”

Yeah, we both sounded as if we were trying to convince ourselves of this…and we were. “I’d better go. I want to be there before Isa wakes up.” It had definitely been more intense than your everyday, simple sex between a married couple.

We had — if this was a way to explain it — met each other in a flawless unification of connecting bliss, the give and take between us perfectly matched. So no, it hadn’t been your everyday, run of the mill sex.

And we obviously needed time to process this as he nodded once quickly. “I understand.”

I felt my lips twitch with humor as he continued staring. “You’ll have to get off me then.”

He sucked in a quick breath, rolling off me to sit on the edge of the bed, his strong, muscled back to me. “This is a little weird.”

Yeah, I got that too, so I threw him a line. “No weirder than the fact that I would love to sink my teeth into each of your mocha hot-as-fuck ass cheeks.”

There was a beat of silence, then he chuckled quietly, shoulders slightly shaking as he glanced over one to me. “That is a bit weird.”

I shrugged, keeping the blanket over my chest, oddly shy even after last night. “But that still doesn’t stop me wanting to do it.”

His eyes skimmed down my face, a small smile lifting his lips as he murmured deeply, “Yeah, definitely.” Then he raised a cocky eyebrow, speaking plainly instead of in code as we had been. “Perhaps next time?”

I waggled my eyebrows playfully, knowing he was seriously offering as I lifted on one arm and kept myself covered with the other. “Most definitely.” And yes, I would be having many helpings of this man, no matter the obvious cost to my soul…because it was already beginning to feel like he completed it.

It was after reminding Ezra to make sure he showered — and to not allow a Shifter into his bedroom until he washed his sheets so no one knew he’d had sex with a wolf Shifter, since the sexual fluids of a Shifter gave away their animal — and after he had called off his guard, that I left his tent unseen. I picked up Isa at Antonio’s tent and spent a few mommy-withdrawal early hours with my daughter before handing her over to Bindi. Eventually I walked into the conference room of headquarters, surprised at what I saw.

I stopped directly inside the tent’s flap and quickly assessed the additional occupants to the room. Apart from the usual Elders, the room also contained Elder Fergus, Elder Kincaid, Elder Nelson, and Elder Venclaire. Eyes widening, I smiled instantly — a real one — as Elder Kincaid rose from a leather chair, stalked toward me, and wrapped me in a huge bear hug, crushing me. I barely wheezed, “I missed you, too.”

Pounding on my back, he stated gruffly, his wolf riding his voice, “I’m so happy to see you.”

When he finally let me breathe, pulling me back to hold me by the shoulders, I asked a bit breathlessly, “Is Fi here with you?” My late mate’s mother, practically a surrogate mom to me after I had moved in with them when I had met Dominic.

“Of course, and she’ll want to see you,” he stated happily, dark eyes searching my face until he seemed satisfied with his inspection. “You look well.”

“And so do you.” I patted his chest and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “I really have missed you.”

Preening a bit, he hugged me once more, then gestured to the others of his four. “As you can see, everyone’s here.”

I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows, glancing at all of them. “So who won the most recent bet?”

Elder Fergus — ‘dirt boy’ as I had lovingly called him at King Cave — chuckled and flicked his finger in the air. “That would be me. I bet we would be shipped to the United States next.”

“Good payout?”

His hand teetered back and forth. “Decent.” He shrugged. “But it could have been a dollar for all I cared since I was just happy we were leaving,” he shuddered, “Moscow.”

“Not a fan?” All four Elders cringed, making me chuckle. “Guess not.”

Antonio tilted his head at them. “They arrived this morning and they’re already trying to take over.”

Elder Nelson rolled his eyes, sitting back on his chair. “Elder Fergus and I were only saying that the Elemental and Mage Commanders could be overhauled here at King Shadow.”

Elder Jacobs chuckled, showing camaraderie with his fellow Elemental as he glanced at Elder Fergus. “Good luck with that. Queen Ruckler already attempted to change the Elementals and,” a glance at Elder Nelson, “Mages, but King Zeller didn’t think it was needed.”

Elder Merrick snorted. “That’s not exactly what he said, but that’s the polite version.”

Elder Nelson peered at me. “Tell me your thoughts.”

I knew that expression. Ezra was going to get an earful from him. I literally had to pinch my lips to keep from sticking up for him…but Ezra was wrong not to even read the files. So I went to the shelves at the end of the room where the books and other files were while King Kincaid stated, “I have no issues with the Shifters here. With the additions Lily brought in yesterday, the group’s strong and the numbers are right.”

Sifting through the gold folders first, I was distracted hearing Ezra enter the conference room, so I didn’t notice anyone come up behind me. I was startled when Elder Venclaire — the one Elder I hadn’t really glanced at yet — spoke quietly directly behind me.

“Hello, Lily.”

I didn’t jump, but I froze. “Elder Venclaire.”
Hello, biological father
.

He moved so he was in my line of sight, resting his shoulder against a shelf and tilting his head forward to look me directly in the eyes. “It’s been a while since we last saw each other.” Blue eyes so like my own studied my face. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” I stared at him a moment, then went back to trying to find the folders I was looking for. “And how are you?”

“It’s been an interesting journey so far.” His head cocked forward further, so it was harder to ignore him. “Lily?”

“Hmm?” I couldn’t find those damn files anywhere, and I wanted to find them to escape the man my mother had loved so deeply, a man I didn’t really know why she had run from.

His words were soft, sounding heartfelt. “Lily, look at me.”

Eyebrows furrowing at his tone, I held my place in the files and peered up at him.

Intense blue eyes stared down at me as he angled his body so no one could see our faces. “Will you have lunch with me sometime when things have settled down with the war? I want to speak with you in private and this conversation has been a long time coming.”

I froze as I gazed into his eyes seeing…knowledge there. And a quiet yearning. My eyes darting back and forth between his, I realized he knew. He had figured out I was his daughter. Maybe I had known before, but I couldn’t remember it if I had.

My heart began running rapid inside my chest, literally feeling as if it wanted to shove through my ribs, the beat almost painful.

No, it wasn’t
almost
painful.

It
was
painful, especially when he let another emotion slip past his guard to shine through his eyes.

Love.

This man I didn’t know, the man who had helped to create me, loved me.

Hiccupping once or twice, I turned my head away, blinking back unexpected tears, and nodded. “Yes. Yes, I’d like that.”

“Good.” He smiled gently. “I know this—”

“Elder Venclaire.” Ezra slapped a hand on Elder Venclaire’s shoulder, cutting him off, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was squeezing the Elder’s shoulder a bit too roughly. “Should I feel offended you’re talking to Queen Ruckler before you’ve even said hello to me, your favorite Prodigy, and now King?”

I stared, trying to decipher why he didn’t seem to like my biological father. Though his tone was perfectly pleasant, his tense body and too tight hold said otherwise, and his scent was a little off since he reeked of aggressiveness.

Elder Venclaire even stared before he covertly picked up Ezra’s clamping index finger, not flinching at the hold Ezra had him under, and then jerked it quickly, lifting Ezra’s hand from his shoulder without harming either of them. “You, Ezra,” a pause as he dropped Ezra’s hand, “so sorry, I meant King Zeller, were my only Prodigy — thank God — so therefore it could be construed that not only were you my favorite, but that you were also my most despised.” He patted Ezra’s shoulder. Gently. “And please, forgive my rudeness in not attending to you earlier, but the guard at your tent before dawn said you weren’t to be disturbed.” His eyes flicked to me then quickly back to Ezra. “But it is nice to see you again, and I hope you’re doing well.” He turned and walked a few steps before pausing to speak softly over his shoulder. “And you’ve got it all wrong, King Zeller. Try the equation again to find the correct answer.”

I stared in dumbstruck shock at his retreating back, realizing with his words that the seething Vampire standing next to me, who turned to stare down at me to hide his utterly furious expression from anyone else, was jealous…of my biological father.

I blinked.

Just eww
…I couldn’t help but shudder…
gross
.

“What the fuck, Lily?” he breathed in the quietest hiss so no others — even the Vamps — could hear him. “You said you knew him before…but just how well did you know him exactly? And why the hell are you inviting him to your tent now?” Violent eyes darted between mine, searching for an answer.

All right, I kind of wanted to laugh in his face, so I decided to let him in on the secret since it was just mean to make him feel this way…especially after last night. Lifting my fingers from the files, I pulled the closest pad of paper off a lower shelf, grabbed the pen on top of the filing cabinet, and wrote in a tiny scrawl:
He’s my biological father
. Handing the pad of paper over to Ezra, I gave up on finding the folders I was looking for and turned on my heel, leaving the frozen Vampire to deal with that little bit of information he was currently gawking at.

“I’m sorry, Elder Nelson,” I stated, taking a seat next to Antonio and kicking my boots up on the table. “I can’t seem to find the folders for the four individuals I had picked out to transfer here, but I can get you another workup on them by the end of the day.”

Elder Nelson glared toward Ezra. “That’s unfortunate.” But he nodded toward me. “And I would appreciate the additional time for you—”

“What’s unfortunate, Elder Nelson?” Ezra interrupted him, sitting next to his dad. I kept a perfectly emotionless face even when I saw him keeping the paper hidden as he scribbled out what I had written, his cheeks flushed, apparently embarrassed by his previous behavior with Elder Venclaire but not missing the look Elder Nelson had swung in his direction.

Elder Nelson’s jaw clenched at being cut off, but he stated calmly, “Elder Fergus and I have found a few of the Mages and Elementals you have as Commanders to be lacking in leadership skills, and we were informed Queen Ruckler had a few potential candidates to take their—”

“Ah, yes,” Ezra interrupted him again, and I peered at my boots to keep from laughing when Elder Nelson’s veneer cracked and his bronzed face flushed in anger, his mouth beginning to open, surely to bawl him out for being so ill-mannered to an Elder, but Ezra continued speaking, ignoring him. “Queen Ruckler did bring to my attention four possible candidates.” He bent and picked up a black duffle from the ground next to his chair, setting it on the marble table in front of him and unzipping it. “Their folders are in here somewhere.” He lifted a knife from the bag, setting it on the table, pointy end aimed at Elder Nelson. “I reviewed them yesterday, and I’ve found,” a gun was set on the table, also aimed directly at Elder Nelson, “that her…” He paused, lifting another gun, a shiny silver one not unlike my own, and waggling it at Elder Nelson, again aimed directly at him. “Damn, I’ve been looking all over for this.” That gun disappeared somewhere on his body in a blur. “Anyway, I’ve found that her assessment was correct,” he lifted out the folders, which were blatantly on top of the piled confines of his bag, “and we should transfer out the four here for these four new individuals.” He tossed the files on the table toward Elder Nelson, the Elder Mage’s face now carefully blank. “So it’s not so unfortunate, Elder Nelson, and I’m sure you won’t have any problems handling their transfers since Queen Ruckler’s already taken care of most of it, and with both of our signatures, the King’s and Queen’s, already on them, no one should hassle you.”