Anger (6 page)

Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

reflex but was unable to react in any other way. She stood helplessly as her grandmother sobbed in her embrace. Rhys was about to gesture to Kesler, but the elf was already retrieving his wife gently. "She doesn't know us, Cely. Give her some time."

Rhys took his bride's hand and tugged her into a chair. The others took their seats, and with Celestyn looking wistfully at Alethea, dinner commenced.

Mia and Mala had a hundred questions for their new aunty. Why was her hair green? was the most repeated one. Was she taking Uncle Rhys away? He'd just got there. Was that pale lady her grandma? Was she going to have a baby? Uncle Rhys liked babies. They hoped it was a girl. They wanted to play with another girl. Boys were stupid. She answered them as best she could. Her hair was green because Kesler's was green and he was her grandpa. Uncle Rhys could stay wherever he wanted. Yes, that pale lady was her grandma. No, she didn't think she was going to have a baby anytime soon. And yes, boys were stupid. All in all, fascinating dinner conversation. After the girls were sent off to bed, the real discussion began. It centered around her being Questioned by the council. What did they think the questions would be? Could the council be stalled? Had Mostyn been informed of his child's status?

They thought not.

Would the bond between Rhys and Alethea be strong enough for the council, or would they demand a pregnancy to prove the match?

Kesler looked closely at the couple.

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Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

"They are true mates, and I will testify to it under Question if I have to."

After that, there was nothing left to be said. Rhys and Alethea took their leave, and Lia promised to send a seamstress up to her in the morning. After breakfast. They climbed the tower steps arm-in-arm once again. She had to remember to lift her skirt out of the way, or she would trip on the step. The trousers that she usually wore were so much easier to manage. She stumbled twice and was not surprised when Rhys caught her. A slow warmth began to replace the parts of her that the icy rage had previously filled. Meeting her grandparents had shocked her to her toes. To see people that she was bound to by ties of blood was more than she had ever expected.

They reached the tower room with no further mishaps, and sitting down, she slowly dropped one boot at a time on the floor. With another sigh, she peeled the dress off over her head. ignoring her rapt audience.

She climbed into bed and curled onto her side, studying Rhys. She was on top of the covers, her whole body exposed to his gaze. He undid the toggles of his tunic, and his hands trembled with eagerness as he unbuttoned his trousers. Hunger flared in her body as he slowly peeled away his clothing for her enjoyment. She savored each bronzed inch of flesh that came into view.

His flat nipples were drawn tight against the hard planes of his chest. The arrow of curling black hair pulled her gaze to the opening of his trousers and the hard, hungry bulge within. A shiver ran across her flesh, causing a smile to light his 56

Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

features. Her own nipples were tight buds crowning her breasts with deep pink crests. Her thighs shifted together, moisture beginning to glisten in the folds and seeping onto the light furring of hair covering her secrets. With a slow hiss of fabric, his trousers hit the floor. He stepped out of their tangle and walked forward to his waiting bride. She watched him come to her, waiting impatiently. Her pulse was sounding in her ears insistent and rapid. With a crooked finger she beckoned him imperiously, then patted the bed beside her.

Slowly, his erect cock bouncing and pulling her gaze like a lodestone, he walked to the foot of the bed and crept onto it. He lowered his head to her instep, and snaking his tongue out to lick it. She giggled and pulled her foot away. He grinned and gripped both of her ankles in his hands, spreading them wide.

He settled on his belly between her thighs and began to nibble at the inside of her knee, working his way up her thigh. Just when his mouth had laid a trail of fire to her core, he switched sides and began on the other side. He had wrapped his hands around the outside of her thighs to hold her still, and it was a good thing. When his tongue finally spread her petals and tasted the slick juices from her source she threw her head back and screamed her pleasure. His eyes burned with satisfaction, but he persisted in worrying at her weeping flesh until her hips were once again straining against his grip. He flowed up her body and buried himself to the hilt within her in one smooth thrust. 57

Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

A groaning cry of pleasure erupted from her throat as she felt the heavy fullness of him moving within her. He kept his weight from her, their only contact his throbbing cock within her tight warmth. Her hips welcomed each assault, twisting and arching to deepen the contact.

Rhys's breathing suddenly changed pitch, growing ragged and urgent. His hips lost their rhythm then broke into a frantic staccato of plunging thrusts. His cock erupted within her, spurting in a steady pulse that echoed his pounding heartbeat.

Slowly, he lowered his sweating body onto her, still buried deep inside her slick walls. He rolled to his back, one hand on her hips to keep him within her.

"I want to stay inside you while we sleep. I want to wake up within you."

Her eyelids were heavy, the pulsing in her unsatisfied, but she knew he would see to her in the morning. 58

Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

He did, indeed, see to her the next morning, taking her from behind and bringing her to satisfaction twice to make up for his laxity the night before. After that, she was taken to Lia's seamstress to be properly attired for the visit to the Council. They stayed away from black, as the color of mourning would bring to mind the deaths she had caused, and they kept away from burgundy, the color of blood, for the same reason.

Alethea was amazed. Not just by Rhys's sister-in-law, but at the easy familiarity the family members had with each other. No one took offense, no matter how rude the comment. Mia and Mala were also always underfoot—every time she stayed still they were playing with her hair, making tiny braids in the thick stuff. Mia got the idea to get some flowers and weave them in her hair. Alethea was sure that the petals that were mashed into the strands were never going to come out. Four-year-old dexterity was never that advanced, the braids came undone as soon as the girls let go. Her first impulse had been to shove the children away—

they caused her black thoughts to rise to the surface. Reining in her reaction, she sat quietly under their ministrations. After the first few minutes, she actually began to enjoy herself.

* * * *

As Alethea talked with the chatty little girls, Lia was able to relax. Her mind had touched Alethea's while healing her, and 59

Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

there was the mark of magic upon her. A curse laid to her very soul. It went beyond her power to heal, but she had provided what protection from the darkness she could. The curse had been laid upon her emotions, feeding darkness and pain. Alethea needed a Mind Healer, and those were very rare. Marcus was going to ask Thoran about getting one for her when they went before the Council. She shook her head and looked at her new sister.

"Just be thankful that Ki isn't here."

"Ki?"

"Yes, Rhys's mother. She has somewhat frivolous taste in clothing. Not practical at all." She smiled, remembering the frilly concoction Ki had had made for her the first time they met. It had made her look like a child's doll. She had destroyed it within a week—her work in the forge had caused it to catch fire. Fortunate that her body was impervious to fire.

"Uh, how large a family is there? Devon and Marcus I have met." She looked worried.

"You haven't met Sirius, their father, Ki, their mother, and Shayr, their sister. Shayr is married to Councilor Thoran. An extremely large family for a dragon clan." Lia grinned ruefully. "And Marcus is planning as many kids as we can have."

* * * *

"Do you want to have more? These two seem quite a handful." Alethea was beginning to think of having her own children, a thought that chilled her to the bone. 60

Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

"Yes, the children have to be five years apart, but that time is almost up. I don't look forward to that damned bite, though." Lia winced in memory.

"What bite? What the hell are you talking about?" Lia turned to the maid hovering nearby. "Dora, please take the little imps to Marcus. He needs the exercise." She turned and gave Alethea a very searching look. "What do you know of dragon reproduction?"

"I thought they just did it the regular way. Having sex."

"Not quite. There is a little more to it." She stared at the ceiling as she searched for the words. "When a female dragon comes into heat, her mate can tell. If they wish children, he will take her while in his warrior form. While in that form, he will bite her where the neck meets the shoulder. He has a venom sac in his mouth that pumps a toxin into his mate and also causes a ring of blue to trace around her neck."

"It is thought that the venom and his seed are both needed to facilitate the conception. Once he has bitten you, you will feel a stimulation of your senses you couldn't imagine. And once you are pregnant, your power will be at its peak."

Alethea was stunned. Rhys had not bitten her, yet.

"What happens if he bites and impregnates a woman not a dragon."

"In that case, usually the pregnancy is fine, but the woman usually is unable to have more children. She does not have enough energy left." Lia sat for a moment then said, "My own mother was a normal human woman, but she had dragon 61

Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

blood at least a generation back. She lived until my twentieth year."

"How did she die?"

"In a raider attack spurred on by a rival dragon lord. He only wanted my father, but he also wanted to raze the village to the ground. My mother would have saved my father, but they killed her and him. Mala is named after her grandmother." Lia smiled. "And every time I look at her, I see my mother's eyes."

Alethea blurted out, "I never knew my mother." Compassion filled Lia. "I know. Your grandmother told me. She was very beautiful and very kind. It was horrible, what was done to her. But the past only shapes the future, it does not set it in stone."

They sat in silence for minutes that stretched into hours, each woman lost in a world of her own thoughts. Rhys arrived and found them. He cleared his throat.

"It is time for dinner, you missed lunch." They shook themselves and turned to him, smiles lighting their faces.

"It was thoughtful of you to come get us," Alethea said.

"Is that your new dress?" He gestured to the alluring gown of jewel blue wrapping her lovingly from breast to hip. The sleeves flowed wide, and the skirt swept the floor.

"I guess it is." She turned to Lia. "When did they put this on me?"

"Three hours ago. Don't worry, they are used to dressing women in trances. They do it all the time to me." She grinned and swept out of the room, heading for the dining hall. 62

Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

"I should change before I go to dinner. What time are we leaving tomorrow?" She stepped behind the privacy screen and began to remove her new gown, only to realize that she couldn't. "Rhys? Could you help me with this?"

"Of course." His voice was far too close for him to have been on the other side of the screen. She turned in a swirl of skirts and found herself caught in his arms. Her lips parted in a gasp, and while she stared into his dark-brown orbs, he slowly undid the rear hooks and laces that kept the fitted bodice in place. Her breasts were pressed against his chest, and that contact was all that held the fabric up.

"We are leaving for the council at daybreak. You will need all of your strength for tomorrow, so I will sleep in a separate room tonight."

"But, I ... all right." She was bewildered. She had thought he wanted her. Just as tears began to form in her eyes, his mouth took possession of hers.

The gown slid to the floor, and her hungry hands made quick work of the buttons on his trousers. She felt a table under her hips, and his fingers between her thighs. Two fingers their way into her, then three. She leaned back on her arms as his lips caressed her breasts, suckling, biting and licking in a frantic manner.

He pulled her hips to his, and she felt him slide within her. Once, twice, and his third thrust took him to the hilt. Time slowed. There was only the heat, the motion of bodies and his eyes locked with hers. Then she felt the coil in her belly wind 63

Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

tight and snap as she heaved and arched against him. Every muscle in her body was taut, trying to take him deeper. Her orgasm started his, or perhaps it was her legs lashing around him to pull him into her with savage ferocity that caused his cock to pump with violent force. He shuddered as his body emptied into her, his energy flying out the tip of his cock. Then he pulled out, and slumped against her.

"I think we need to get some clothes on you." The weary tone in his voice made her smile. It seemed he did just want her to rest after all.

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Wardstone: Anger [Seven Sins and Virtue Series]

by Grace Viola

She tugged her old gown on, wincing at the pressure of the fabric over her sensitive breasts as she worked up the courage to express her need for his presence. Her chin against her chest, she mumbled, "I don't want you to sleep elsewhere. I want you in our bed. We just won't do anything." She thought it was a simple solution. "I like it when you hold me when I sleep."