“You’ve seriously got issues, Venclaire. This place is a crypt.” It was King Kincaid’s voice coming from the hallway, making me jolt. “Is this the room?” Hastily, I licked over Ezra’s wound. It healed instantly, but I froze as, not even a second later, Ezra’s bedroom door opened behind me with a stalling pause, then King Kincaid whispered hoarsely, “Jesus Christ.”
Shit.
Luckily, I had pulled enough blood to have my fangs retract, but Ezra blinked open lazy eyes, coming out of the strong mind hold I’d had him in, and he turned his face toward me, his lips against my temple, and asked softly, “Why’d you stop, sweetheart?” He was still dazed as his hands traveled from my belt loops to the small of my back.
Shit and f**k.
“What’s the matter, Kincaid?” King Venclaire asked, also behind me, which had Ezra freezing. “Oh, good grief.” A heavy, irritated sigh, then he whispered harshly, “Lock the damn door, you two. Secrecy. Not stupidity.” The door slammed closed, and he shouted from the hallway, “Dinner’s in a half-hour. Don’t be late!”
Ezra and I blinked at one another.
I mumbled softly, “At least, my boobs weren’t showing this time.”
Dinner.
Hmm.
Ezra and I had quickly finished — after locking the door — and then hurried to the sit-down dinner in the Victorian-styled dining room painted in stripes of black and white. All the Kings were in attendance, our friends mingling with them. Jack and Pearl were making excuses for our absence, vaguely remarking on how Ezra was possibly showing me a new fighting technique, when we walked in.
King Kincaid and King Venclaire were mute while Pearl and Jack made this pronouncement. When they noticed us, both pairs of eyes scanned our persons, probably making sure we had remembered to “put all our clothes back on”. Finished with his perusal first, King Kincaid strode to the side of the room, pouring himself a very tall glass of whiskey at the bar while King Venclaire merely brushed imaginary lint from his suit jacket.
Pearl said loudly, “There you two are.” She hurried to our side. “Learn anything new in,” she winked at me as if I hadn’t heard their excuses, “training?” God, she was a bad liar.
Note to self: never allow her to speak at future meetings with politicians.
I nodded, but stated quietly, “Our fighting techniques aren’t for dinner conversation.” I knew King Nelson and King Fergus were more refined, so they didn’t talk about issues of combat at a fancy-schmancy dinner like this. It worked. They turned away.
King Venclaire, on the other hand, regarded me with delight until his eyes journeyed to Ezra, scrutinizing him like a disappointed papa for not locking the door.
Ezra muttered a curse under his breath, and strolled to the bar to fix his own drink.
Didn’t blame him. I could use one, too. Once again, King Venclaire and King Kincaid had caught us in a compromising position. This time, on Ezra’s damn bed. There wasn’t a valid reason to give them for it, so they still thought we were screwing.
Jack raised questioning brows over Nikki’s head.
I rolled my eyes in answer.
This situation just sucked. Mainly because King Kincaid had just started treating me normal again. After the first incident, he had been sullen and quiet, hardly speaking with me. Gradually, he had gotten over it, probably because of the “no touching” policy my besties and I had created, thinking Ezra and I had ended our distasteful “love affair”. Now, by the looks of it, he was going to drown his sorrows in liquor, already having drained his first glass and was pouring another while his wolf ever so softly growled at Ezra, who — intelligently — grabbed the closest beer and relocated, putting space between them.
Everyone began taking their seats at the table.
King Kincaid made sure I sat directly next to him at the end of the table. Away from Ezra where he sat at the other end. As food was served, King Kincaid stated loudly, “Lily, I have a good Shifter friend in New York City. He has a son that’s a few years older than you. A wolf Shifter.” He eyed me. “His name’s Broderick. He’s powerful, definitely an alpha, and he lost his mate a few years ago.” He took a sip of his whiskey. “I’d like you two to meet.”
I choked on my salad and quickly scrambled to grab my Coke. Everyone was watching us, since King Kincaid had voiced this loud enough to be heard at the other end of the table, which had been his plan. I gulped my drink, and then said as calmly as I could, “I’m not sure that’s a great idea. I’m not looking for anything serious.” If this Broderick guy had lost his mate a while ago, he might be.
The King’s eyes glowed, his frustration showing. “Humor me and meet him.”
Staring into those dark eyes, I didn’t want to make a scene, and King Kincaid was close to doing that, so I mumbled, “If it means that much to you, I will.”
He nodded, a real smile gracing his features. “You won’t regret it.”
Yeah, I probably would.
We stared in morbid fascination at the fire Elemental lying on the edge of Ezra’s bed. She was tall, like every other Mys, but still, the amount of noise coming out of someone her size was truly remarkable.
“Does she snore like that all the time?” I asked in wonder. “It’s like an atomic bomb booming every time she exhales.”
Jack crossed his arms over his bare chest, his black-and-white striped pajama pant legs wide from his stance. “I think it’s cute.”
Now, we stared at him.
His forehead puckered. “What?”
“Your mate bond is truly something to behold,” Ezra mumbled, appearing amused and, also, irritated as Nikki bombed away again.
I nodded. That sound was loud. “I don’t know if I can sleep in here.”
Jack stalked toward the bed, climbing on the mattress beside her. “Calm down. She quiets when I’m next to her.” He snuggled close to her, wrapping her in his arms.
Like a freaking miracle, her god-awful racket did quiet.
“Amazing,” Pearl breathed, walking closer to stare down at Nikki. “That really is something.”
Gideon shook his head, unplugging his ears. “I’m just thankful my mate doesn’t do anything that atrocious.”
“Hey!” Jack hissed. “Quit insulting my mate.” His eyes glowed as he scowled at Gideon.
“Alright, gentlemen.” I held up my hands. “No fighting. Especially since I’m too tired to give a damn, and I’d rather not have to clean up any messes you make.” That had never happened between them, but there was always a first time for everything. I pointed at Pearl, then Gideon. “Get in bed before I put you there.” My wolf growled testily.