King Tomb (Forever Evermore) (17 page)

His eyebrows snapped together, a bit of anger flashing in his green eyes. “I’m sure you weren’t complaining when we were together before we were caught.”

I blinked. “That’s a hell of a lot of confidence there, bucko.” I patted his shoulder. “And I doubt you were complaining, either.” I rubbed at my temples, staring past his head to the sparkles on my ceiling, and asked seriously, “Will you be in physical pain if you abstain?” Not that I wouldn’t mind him being that way, but he would probably be a bit of an annoyance the grouchier he became.

He hesitated, then he stated plainly, “Not like a Shifter can become, their need driving for physical contact, but a Vampire…” He paused. “I’m not sure why you don’t know this.” His head teetered back and forth, periodically cutting off my view of the sparkles. “You see, a Vampire is all about the capture and seduction. If I waited as long as what you’re stating, I would,” he paused, then he stated steadily, “well before that time, I would literally hunt down the object of my needs and seduce her with unrelenting mercy until I had her, and it could possibly end fatally for the female.” He stared into my wide gaze. “You.”

My jaw was hanging open. I knew it was. And I didn’t really care.

“Don’t give me that look.” He stared pointedly. “You know damn well — what you didn’t mention a minute ago — that if Shifter doesn’t become ill from abstinence, it’s because they’ve gone all primal during their sexual hiatus, and those matings normally end in death.” A thoughtful pause. “Statistically, Vampires kill less in those periods than Shifters.”

I choked. “If they go primal. There’s always the flip of the coin of becoming ill.” I closed my eyes, sighing heavily. “Well…fuck.” There weren’t any other options, unless we had sex with other partners…and yeah, I could already feel my mind going to that nice, velvet haze of red fury at that thought, which still astounded me.

“Yes,” King Zeller drawled slowly, “that’s the point. We fuck. Exclusively.”

Another heavy sigh as I rubbed my eyes. “I’m not ready for that yet.” I stared up at him tiredly, exhaustion creeping in. “Can I speak honestly with you?”

He stared at me intently. “I think that would be best.”

So I did. “I’ve been dead inside for what feels like forever, but since I met you a week ago, I’ve been overloaded with emotions and it’s freaking me out a bit.” I shook my head, closing my eyes again, and they stayed closed. “If we had sex right now, I’m not sure I could handle it. I need some time to cope with everything I’m feeling.”

He hummed softly, and I felt his heat intensify before his forehead touched mine gently, his breath spanning my lips and cheeks as he spoke quietly, “The feeling’s mutual, so I won’t push right now.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, and I found myself lifting to his warmth and had to stop myself, yawning long and hard. “God, you’re so hot. You’re like a furnace.” I allowed myself to lift my hands to his wrists and grip them as I burrowed my fingers under his robe and sleeves, trapping them between his clothing and skin. “And you have better sheets than me.” I felt King Zeller begin to vibrate over me, and I blinked my eyes open into green, seeing him silently chuckling. “Random, I know, but I’m dead tired,” my wolf growled softly at him, “so deal with it.”

He only shook harder over me, his laughter still silent. “So…you’re grumpy at night-time.”

My wolf growled again. “Only when I’m tired.” My legs wrapped around his, practically of their own accord, greedy for his heat. “So warm…” I yawned again, mumbling, “You’d better go before I make you stay to be a,” another yawn, “warm brick.”

This time I heard his deep chuckle. “A what?”

“Oh, you know,” I wiggled, getting more comfortable, “back in the old days, Coms would put warm bricks at the foot of their bed under the covers to warm up their bed.”

He snorted a few times, his hard chest actually brushing mine with the movement. “Well now, I wouldn’t want to be a brick.”

I grinned sloppily, poorly singing
Brick house
by the Commodores.

King Zeller shook hard above me and choked, singing with me in a deep baritone.

Lazily, I grinned. “Not bad, King Zeller.”

He was silent for a long moment. “That’s the first time you have said King Zeller where I didn’t get the impression there was something after it.”

I chuckled this time. “I said you were a quick one that first night, and I was right.”

“Do I want to know?”

“Probably not.”

“Well,” a long pause, “I guess that’s a step in the right direction if you’ve stopped.” A shorter pause. “But you can call me Ezra when we’re alone.”

My lips lifted evilly. “And you can still call me Queen Ruckler.” His Vampire growled quietly, and I blinked open blurry eyes to him. “Now who’s the grump?” When he only stayed silent, his forehead still on mine, I sighed and stated, “Fine, you can call me Lily in private if you leave and let me sleep right now. You see, tomorrow I have my first official day here in the land of King Shadow, and I hear the current boss, King Zeller, is a real ruthless Vampire dick to work with, so I need my shut-eye to deal with him.”

“Funny, I heard the same thing about the badass wolf bitch, Queen Ruckler,” King Zeller, Ezra, rumbled quietly.

My lips curled. “I am a badass bitch.”

“And I am a ruthless dick, so we’re both right.” He pressed his lush lips against mine, and I sighed — there was no way to contain it — and joined his caresses, stroking his soft mouth with mine. Our mouths meshed in a gentle tug of war, not a real battle because I was too tired and he didn’t push, but just enough to quickly satisfy before he lifted his head. “Good night, Lily.”

“Good night, Ezra.” I did manage to stop the whimper that wanted to escape as he lifted to untangle himself from my hands and legs, his warmth receding quickly as he moved to Isa’s now sleeping form to stare down at her for a few moments. I yanked my blanket back and waited until he left my bedroom — without a backward glance — to pull my cell phone from my back pocket, happy for the privacy spell on my bedroom, and dialed.

Waiting until the person picked up, I stated, “Felix, I’m going to need you or Aros to watch King Zeller’s tent. I want an update twice a day on the comings and goings of everyone who enters. Be discreet, I don’t want anyone knowing about this. And tomorrow morning, do me a favor and give me a ring the second he sets foot outside his tent.” I hung up at my elite’s confirmation and set my alarm clock. “Hidden — unpermit Ezra Zeller.” I saw a flash of gold, this time inside the tent’s walls, and I smiled as I snuggled into my chilly bed, loving that Antonio hadn’t said all my room was spelled for.

Just because the man was my husband, and we had a few decent moments, it didn’t mean he earned my instant trust, because I was smart enough to know…he was just like me.

“He just left in a hurry,” Aros stated over the line the next morning.

“Thank you,” I murmured, and I hung up my cell phone, glancing at John. “Time for you to go. And I might suggest you leave King Shadow as soon as possible.”

He stared at me for all of a heartbeat, then he nodded once, grabbed the pad of paper and pen he had been using, and stood up from the couch, stuffing them in his leather satchel. “I’ll call when I have news.”

“I know,” I stated, pointing at the front flap to my tent. “Seriously, I’m about to have a visitor and you need to leave posthaste.”

His eyes scanned my face. “Do you need me to stay?”

I couldn’t help but grin, the smile stony because he would only escalate matters. “No. Thank you, though.”

He nodded once then maneuvered around where Isa was playing with her toys. “I’ll find her.” He peered back at me. “And then we’ll kill her.”

“Yes, you will, and no, you won’t.”

His grin was feral. “Not at first, anyway.”

“No, not at first.” I nodded to the tent flap. “Go.” A direct order.

And he stalled for a second just to spite me, then he did as told.

“Damn obstinate man,” I muttered, hoping he got away in time.

John Smith had arrived directly before dawn this morning. Having set my alarm clock to wake me early, I had been ready for him. Like I had known he would, he took the job. After spending forty-four minutes and twenty-eight seconds in my front room with me — I had timed it, and had Ezra held out longer than I had initially bet on — John’s mission was set. He was going to track down Elly Belford, a lion Shifter. She was the individual who had romantic ties to Philip Masterson, the leader of the cult responsible for starting MCWWII, and I believed if we found her, we would be that much closer to tracking down Mr Masterson and, pleasantly, be rid of him.

“Hidden — permit Ezra Zeller.” I wasn’t able to see the flash of gold, but I knew it would be there. And I was right on time because not ten seconds later Ezra shoved aside the tent flap just as he was snapping his phone shut, his cheeks flushed in anger and eyes not exactly what I would call cold and dead…more like livid and glimmering, he was so pissed. I waved a hand at him, taking my boots off my coffee table as he shoved the tent flap down, glaring daggers at me. “Good morning, Ezra.” I stood, picking up the two coffee mugs sitting on the coffee table, and brushed past his statue-like form to set them on the bar. “How do you take your coffee?”

And…I was happy that I had decided to go with the non-attack plan, leaving my weapons off, otherwise he might have gotten a silver knife to his gut when he blurred so fast I couldn’t track him. All of sudden I was lying on my back behind the bar with an extremely heavy, enraged Vampire on top of me, luckily out of Isa’s view.

I wheezed in a breath, barely managing to fight my wolf back, as I stared into fangs and glowing green eyes. “Get off me and we’ll talk about this civilly.”

Ezra’s Vampire growled, and as quickly as he moved before, he jerked my head up, baring my throat, his fangs steady at my pulse. I did freeze, not moving to even breath so he didn’t accidently nip my throat and draw blood, which wouldn’t be a great idea if I wanted to keep my hybrid nature hidden from him. Plus, I knew he wasn’t going to kill me. This was about predator ownership…and just for the fact that he was pissed. His Vampire continued growling as he yanked my hands from where he had pinned them at my sides to above my head, his thumbs digging into the underside of my sensitive wrists and showing me he wasn’t afraid to apply pain.

I gritted my teeth through it, the action testing my skills to not even flinch since I couldn’t risk moving.

He held me in that position for at least a minute — which I realized was as long as he had already seen me hold my breath for — then he held me there for an additional twenty seconds before he removed his fangs from my skin. I choked in air, feeling light-headed and my hands cramping and going numb from the pressure he wasn’t releasing. I wasn’t able to get in a decent breath with him on top of me, and I shook my head hard to push away the fuzziness.

Ezra waited until I stared him steadily in the eyes, which took a good minute, and then he growled low, “Did. You. Fuck. Him?”

“Like I said,” I whispered harshly, unable to do more with him on me, “Get off me and we’ll talk about this properly.”

His nostrils flared, his muscles in his jaw flexed, and he literally hissed in my face, baring his fangs. “Answer the fucking question.”

Patience…channeling patience.
“Ezra, get off me and I will.” A little give and pull, which was…yep, gonna take a bit, with him so pissed.

We went through the whole neck-baring-and-fang thing again, but this time I damn near passed out when he held his fangs there for a full two minutes.

This time, I didn’t bother answering him. I only choked and wheezed as I caught my breath, glaring, fighting fiercely to keep my wolf back because we didn’t need a real fight in here. “Ezra, Isa’s in this room, and I’m telling you right now I can’t hold my wolf back much longer. I suggest you get off me, so we can talk about this rationally.”

His Vampire became even more enraged when I didn’t answer. His face…I wasn’t positive I saw it correctly, but I could have sworn his face altered somewhat, his features becoming sharper and more harshly beautiful, but when I blinked he appeared normal as Ezra began battling his Vampire back. When he stopped growling, I knew we had made progress even if he was still furious. And it was only a few seconds later that he yanked me to my feet and, yes, loomed over me, muscles bulging against the simple pair of black mesh pants and red t-shirt he was wearing. Belatedly, I realized he wasn’t wearing shoes, his feet bare. And honestly, his feet were just as nice looking as the rest of him.

“No,” I stated simply. “I didn’t fuck him or do anything sexual with him.”

Ezra jerked away from me and began pacing the confines of my front room, occasionally rubbing the back of his neck. “He was here for close to forty-five minutes.” His voice was still growly, but I could tell he was trying to be civil.

“I know. He and I were having a private meeting.” I paused, then I got to why I had let this happen in the first place. “Ezra, I am the Queen Shifter. Most of the Mysticals around me are men. I will be having private discussions with multiple men of my faction, as is my right and duty.” I waved a hand at the floor below me behind the bar. “And behavior like you just showed will get us caught.”

I stared him in the eye when he stopped dead in his tracks. “I will not bow down to you. I will not ask permission to do my duty for my people. I will not give you a detailed list of the individuals I’m meeting with daily because, mainly, that fluctuates and changes minutely, and honestly, it’s none of your damn business.” I shook my head softly. “Furthermore, you cannot react like this every time I have a man in my tent.”

He stood frozen for about a half-minute, and I could see the wheels turning inside his head, then his gaze raked down my frame slowly, not sexually, but analyzing me. Then he turned on his heel and jerked the flap to my bedroom back, ducking his head inside and glancing immediately to right…where I kept my weapons on top of a dresser. He stared for a few beats before he dropped the flap to turn to me, arms crossed. “You knew I’d react this way.”