King Cave (21 page)

“Possibly ADD,” Elder Jacobs stated, sounding thoughtful. He nodded. “It has got to be.”

“Shoot me. Please,” Antonio muttered under his breath.

“What fight earlier?” Cahal probed, his concentrated scrutiny still honed on us.

I blinked, then quickly evaded his question, muttering, “Ezra and I get along, talk to one another. Yet you’re making fun of us, when the four of you just had four separate conversations, and I bet none of you even heard what the others said.” I jerked my head at Ezra. “At least he listens to me, and I listen to him.”

Still with his chin on his hand, Cahal nodded absently to Antonio. “He wants a bullet through his head for having to deal with you two, which I don’t blame him for since he’s had to do it far longer than the three of us.” He paused, eyes on Ezra’s. “What fight earlier?”

“Hmm?” Ezra grabbed a coffee when the Shifter set them down in front of us. He sipped, his nose crinkled, and he handed it to me, lifting the other one. His eyes danced to me as he took a drink, then to his dad. “What are you talking about?”

Cahal drummed his fingers on his chin. “You were asleep, and you said…,” he glanced to Antonio, “what was it exactly?”

Antonio simply growled.

Elder Merrick murmured, “I believe he stated that she wore his ass out.” He sipped from his Coke, watching me as I took a drink from my coffee.

“Ah, yes.” Cahal nodded, his eyes back to his son. “Ms Ruckler said it was in reference to a fight you had earlier. So again, what fight?”

Ezra recovered fast enough, hearing of his major oops, to state dryly, “Obviously, the one we had earlier. Fists, kicking, teeth, the whole shebang as we worked through our issues.” He turned his gaze on Antonio. “Other than a bullet needed, what were you saying?”

Cahal held up a hand, and peered toward Elder Merrick.

Elder Merrick drank from his Coke, and then smiled. “He told
truth
.” His arresting gaze met mine briefly when Ezra’s dad glanced away.

I knew right then he had caught me in a
lie
somewhere. Altering my attention to Antonio, I quickly went through what I had said, but nothing sprung out as too awful. Plus, he had to have one hell of a nose to be scenting
truths
,
lies
, and
partial truths
at all times. I actually had to concentrate in order to do it.

Antonio asked sharply, “Lil, are you listening?”

I jerked. “Yep.” No clue what he had said before, but I was listening now.

Elder Merrick laughed while rubbing his face, his chuckle heard this time, sounding jagged.

Ezra glared. “Do you mind? We’re tired, and you’re not helping the situation.”

“From the fight?” Elder Merrick prompted.

Ezra grunted, letting that be his answer, since he was smart enough not to answer.

Antonio held his hands up when Elder Merrick began to say something else. “Okay, I’m going to say it quickly, so,” he growled, thumping his fist on the table, “listen the fuck up.” He pointed at me. “Lil, you’re going to be training with Elder Merrick on the days you’re not babysitting, learning to use more of your strength.” Both Ezra and I stiffened at the news, and we both opened our mouths — surely to argue — but Antonio thumped his fist on the table again.

“Shut. Up.” We both still tried to speak, and he hollered, “
Ezra
, you’re going to start sparring with Vampires on your level of experience when you’re not babysitting.” He stood, slamming his hands on the table. “This is not a fucking request. Get that through your damn skulls.” He growled, his eyes glowing as we glared. “Do you understand?”

Yes, we understood. It was a fucking order made by
Elder Farrar
in the middle of a packed dining hall. Inhaling sharply, I turned my head away from him. He had never acted this way with me before. Never purposely embarrassed me, anyway. I barely withheld the childish temper tantrum of tears that wanted to erupt.

“
Answer me, dammit
,” he shouted. He made an odd noise in his throat and leaned down, whispering so damn quietly I barely heard him, “Or, I swear to fucking God, I will dump each of you in separate parts of the world without a fucking decent memory.”

My breath caught, and I jolted seeing his glowing hands come our way.

Ezra’s back, and mine, slammed against the back of our chairs, staying as far away from him as we possibly could. We both knew he could do exactly as he had threatened. I nodded, same as Ezra, both of us mumbling our assent as true hate and brutal fear for the man I loved filled me, who had raised me as his own.

Antonio stopped glowing, and he straightened, running a hand over his face. His golden gaze met my blue, wide one. Into the silence, which had descended on the entire dining hall, he murmured quietly, “Hate me all you wish.” He swallowed hard, gaze lowering. “Everyone who knows me does at some point.” He stalked away, chairs squeaking in all occupants’ haste to give him space.

My body was trembling watching him leave. Setting my coffee aside with a shaking hand, I cleared my throat and raised on what felt like wobbly legs to stand next to Ezra, who was already on his feet, the man I had almost lost mere moments ago. I glanced to Elder Merrick, and my voice shook slightly. “Just call my room. We can set up a time for training.”

He nodded once, his lips pinched.

Ezra rumbled quietly, “Let’s go.”

“Yeah,” I whispered, wanting nothing more than to hug not only him, but also Pearl and Jack, and tell them how much I loved them. “Let’s go.”

A hard and repetitive knocking at the door woke us.

I wasn’t sure how long the person had been banging for, but Ezra’s head snapped up from my shoulder at the racket. He blinked sleepily, as if he didn’t know what had woken him. His eyes found mine, and they stilled, a slow smile crossing his features.

The knocking came again.

I chuckled at his startled expression, and pointed up at the wall where he couldn’t see, positioned as he was. “It’s for you.” I rolled and saw we had only been napping for an hour since we had hightailed it from the dining hall. Pulling the blanket over my shoulders, I muttered, “It may be your dad on the hunt, since he was trying to catch us slipping at lunch.”

Again, the thumping sounded.

“Shit,” he muttered, quickly pulling away from me, scooting backward off the bed…and falling straight on his ass when he landed on the headboard, no longer in its correct place.

Appropriately, I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing aloud.

I heard a rumbled curse, then the headboard creaked and he popped up at the end of the bed. He grabbed his shirt he had removed, yanking it over his head as he maneuvered his way through the debris of our earlier bout. The pounding came again, and Ezra picked up his pace, running his hands through his bed hair before opening the door.

Jack burst past him, muttering, “It’s about damn time! I lost my key…” His tirade waned to an inaudible whisper, his brown eyes darting from place to place as Ezra and I both froze. We hadn’t planned to hide it from Jack and Pearl, but we had hoped to find them after our nap and explain before they saw the mess our first joining had created. Ever so gradually, I saw it cross his features: awareness for what had transpired, as he viewed Ezra, and then me. “Well,” he cracked his neck, “I wondered when this would finally happen.”

I stayed mute, a bit confused.

His gaze flew to Ezra’s. “You really need to work at being more discreet when checking out her backside and breasts when she’s not looking.” He flung one of his hands my way at Ezra’s shocked expression. “Just because she’s not watching you,” his hand waved about, “doesn’t mean other people aren’t.” He snorted. “Covert, you are not, when you’re ogling her ass and tits.”

Ezra’s cheeks instantly flushed.

I stared in wonder at the sight.

Jack snickered, patting his best friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. You were much more discreet in public. It was only obvious when you were with the three of us.” He smacked Ezra’s shoulder once more, a bit rougher, then began trekking through the debris, mumbling, “Pearl will at least have something to clean up now.”

He stepped onto the headboard, making it groan, and rifled through a few items on the floor before standing with a digital camera in hand. He glanced about our room, shaking his head as he stepped over and back through the debris, his brown eyes meeting Ezra’s now hooded gaze. “Took on the wolf, did you?”

My cheeks blushed this time, but Ezra and Jack weren’t looking my way, thank goodness.

With a hooded gaze and pink cheeks, Ezra still managed a carnal smirk. “Yes.”

Jack chuckled, saying, “I’ll let Pearl know of the new development.” He paused, glancing at us with his hand on the doorknob. “Do we need to get separate beds now?”

Both Ezra and I stated, “No.” It wasn’t that type of relationship.

“Alright.” Jack nodded, not batting an eye. “I’ll be back later.” He paused with the door open. “You know, I heard the most interesting rumors about you two while I was out.” He gestured to the mess. “Makes sense now.” He stepped out of our suite, closing the door quietly behind him.

Ezra stared at the closed door while I gazed at the back of his head.

I probed teasingly, “Checking me out, huh?” Ezra slowly turned his attention toward me, his flush staying bright. “Well, I’ll just have to return the favor.”

He grinned, arching an eyebrow. “I’ll give you the opportunity.” He began prowling toward me, deliberately moving unhurriedly as he lifted his shirt over his head, all of his delicious muscles rippling with the action. “But I’m too fucking tired to do anything else but let you look right now.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I murmured, my eyes definitely devouring his flesh as I lifted the blanket for him to get back into bed. “Sleep, dinner, then sex.”

His Vampire growled softly as he climbed in next to me. “I love the way you think.”

It is extraordinary what phenomenal sex does to a person. Pearl and Jack hadn’t returned until the wee hours of the morning, which meant Ezra and I had the whole afternoon and evening to ourselves. We had very much taken advantage of the situation. Pearl had been quiet about the fact Ezra and I had broken our friendship pact, but had seemed pleased with the destroyed state of our bedroom, quickly going about fixing items, since she had gotten the hang of it throughout the past week. Jack, on the other hand, had requested only that we change the shredded sheets once the mattress and headboard were fixed.

Ezra and I were both still in fine spirits a week later. Other than the few hours we were away from each other of a morning with either our punishment in the day care area or sparring with the Elders, we spent our time holed up together in our room, enjoying one another, or with Pearl and Jack, trying to keep their minds occupied from their loss. One was incredible, while the other was mentally daunting.

We were now following Jack and Pearl, letting them stumble about in their half dazes, wherever they wished to go. We had spent a few hours in the bar, so we were all a bit tipsy, which helped the outing some. Currently, we appeared to be heading toward the pools.

I held up a finger. “You do realize we don’t have bathing suits.”

Jack snorted. “Clothing’s optional in half the area.” He stretched his arms over his head, listing to the side. “A sauna’s all I can handle right now, anyway.”

Pearl nodded. “Sounds fabulous.” Her voice held the right tone, but her eyes were still void. “We’ll have to grab more drinks afterward, if we sweat the alcohol out of our system.”

Jack shrugged. “Works for me.”

My eyebrows lifted in Ezra’s direction. “Alcohol, naked sauna, then more alcohol. Sounds like a frat party verging on an orgy.”

Ezra grunted, taking a drag from his cigarette. “I’m all for the alcohol and bare skin, but my sexual needs are currently being met,” his grin was sensual, “so no orgies this time.”

Jack waved a hand. “Didn’t need to know that, man.”

Ezra shrugged, lagging behind. “Just saying.” I could feel his gaze on my ass. “Jack, buddy, I also gotta say they’ll be met again tonight.” A little growl sounded behind me.

I glanced back, even as Jack and Pearl groaned in exasperation, wavering a little on my feet. We were closing in on the pool area, so I gave Ezra a look telling him to cut it out. Well, at least, I did after I lifted my eyebrows, letting him know I was game. Very, oh, so
very
willing.

Making our way through the main pool area, all four of us ignored the few who tried to grab our attention, beelining straight to the sauna and hot tub areas. We were shit out of luck because all the saunas were taken. So we grabbed towels from a nearby table and started peeking in the rooms with the hot tubs, going for the next best thing. Definite chuckles issued from all four of us at the occupants’ blatant activities.

Until we came to a room where I froze just inside the doorway. My stomach actually churned as I saw a striking Vampire straddling…King Venclaire. My biological dad. They both appeared to be naked, their mouths stuck together. Like, I really shouldn’t see him kissing a woman. Nor should I see his hands gliding up her back while she moved up and down on him, doing God knows what under the water.