Chapter 19 – Silence #2
I barely hold my tongue. I want to express my distaste for how the owners run their business. They need a better system than constantly overworking their employees. It’s got to be close to two in the morning, and we just made it in after an unbelievably long day.
It’s no wonder my wife is rundown all the fucking time. They abuse her kindness and exploit it. I’m not sure I should go into The Den.
It’s highly unlikely I’ll be able to hold myself back from telling them exactly what I think of them.
“I’ll go,” Malice says, like he can read my mind. “I can be nearly as efficient as the soothsayer. I won’t be able to learn anything outside of what they discuss when they think they’re alone, but that’s often more than enough.”
Atlas elbows Hex in the thigh.
Hex glares, but Atlas gives him some look I can’t decipher.
“I’ll go too,” the grumpy kraken finally concedes.
“We’ll be back before morning.” Atlas pushes himself off the floor. He leans over, giving Ali a tender kiss as Malice places her on the middle cushion. Hex follows suit, kissing her deeply while I watch with a bit of unhealthy fascination.
How the bloody fuck has he managed to get so much closer to her than I have?
They exit, and things quickly nosedive into awkwardness.
Ali huffs, shoving the food wrappers back in the bag. “I think they planned that to give us some one-on-one time.”
“Agreed.” I cross my ankle over the opposite knee. “Any ideas on what we should do?”
Her long hair is still wet from her shower with Hex, but she didn’t truly get clean. Not from what I saw, anyway. Visions of her on her knees for him play through my mind.
Gods, it’s been a lot of years since I felt true desire.
It’s probably uncalled for to be so unapologetically hard every time I glance in my wife’s direction, but I physically can’t help but respond to her.
“How about a shower?” I offer. I could definitely do with a chance to relieve some of this tension.
Her eyes widen. “Separately, of course.” I smirk.
“Not that I’m opposed to showering together, but I’d like the opportunity to talk and.
..” I shrug. Saying I don’t think I could keep my hands to myself seems inappropriate.
“Okay,” she agrees, gathering up the trash. “Let’s shower and then we can talk.”
A wide smile crosses my face.
Even the water beating down on my cock is enough to ensure I have to jerk off not once, but twice, before exiting the guest shower.
I manifest a pair of sweats but don’t bother with a shirt.
Is it playing dirty?
Perhaps, but I’ve got three other monsters vying for her attention. I have no choice except to play the cards I’ve been dealt.
I flex in the mirror, checking out the dark lines of my tattoos. They cover nearly ninety percent of my body from the neck down. Most are runes and tribal-shaped sigils. The sweats slide low on my hips as I swipe the long blond hair on the top of my head back.
Malice has made repeated snide comments that I’d fit in with a human punk rock band. I pull my shoulders back, shaking away his ridiculous taunting that’s only meant to torment me.
I’m a fucking Seelie prince, and I look like one.
I pull open the door, and Ali leans against the wall, drying her hair with a fluffy towel.
“You took longer than I did,” she says, laughing. “I thought Hex was joking about you being a bit of a diva.”
I smile, shaking my head. It’s preferable that she assume I took too much time fixing my hair. The truth that I fucked my palm not once, but twice thinking of her delicious curves could ruin whatever we have brewing.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable invading the orc’s space.” My eyes fly to the guest room. Hex and I have meticulously prepared it for the chance she might give us the opportunity to show her our effort. “Would you mind?—”
“Okay.” She shrugs, spinning to head down the hall. The back of Atlas’s T-shirt flies up as she twirls, giving me a beautiful peek at the creases just below her ass cheeks.
I curse under my breath. My libido went into stasis when she ran. It felt bloody impossible to feel arousal while being consumed by guilt and regret.
“Are you coming?” She glances over her shoulder, offering a confused smile.
I’d literally commit murder to be in a confident enough place to reply with something cheeky.
“Of course.” I wipe my sweaty palms on my sweats and follow my wife.
She’s nearly to the door, so I pick up the pace, skirting around her side and grabbing the door handle.
“We’ve made a few changes.” I grimace. Atlas has been more than accommodating.
I don’t believe he’s been in this room since he offered it to us.
He may not be pleased with the transformation, but it’s for Ali.
I’m sure he’ll cope.
The door swings open, and the glamor I placed on the far wall lights up. Well, it’s a dim setting of the Northern Forest, so it glows faintly, but it counts. Ali grew up splitting her time between the castle and at her mother’s court.
I suddenly realize I have no idea if she’s attached to the forest or not.
“Silence,” she whispers, moving past me into the room.
“You made Atlas’s guest room into a cottage bedroom from Faere?
” She looks back at me over her shoulder, holding the towel to her chest. There’s something about the way her hair falls around her face, or possibly how her mouth parts barely open as she looks at me with wide eyes.
It’s difficult not to fall to my knees and beg her to love me.
That motherfucking bond.
It wants me to look like a poor besotted fool, and I’m tempted to let it, but I’m still battling some lingering anger and disappointment.
I was raised to lead, to guide my people with their best interests at heart, and my own fucking soulmate couldn’t place an ounce of trust in me.
I’m fairly sure that’s my pride talking.
I swipe my fingers through the hair that’s fallen into my eyes while I studied her. “We did. We wanted to be able to provide you a nest, even though we aren’t in our realm.”
“Can I check it out?” She sounds a little breathless.
“That’s the idea.” I stride forward, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. My thumb brushes over her inner wrist. It makes her bracelet bounce against my skin, and I yank my hand away in shock. The jolting electrical current isn’t anything I’ve felt before.
“What’s wrong?” Her brow furrows as she reaches for me, pulling her hand back like I might rebuff her touch.
I shake my head, not willing to broach the subject until I know how she’ll react.
“I must have forgotten what static electricity feels like in the human realm,” I say, carefully twisting the truth. “Would you allow me to lie with you in the nest? You’ll find we stocked it for you like we would’ve in Faere.”
“Really?” she squeals, lighting up.
“Let’s give it a go.” I rest my hands on her hips, giving her a little shove toward the stairs.
I barely contain the urge to slap her luscious ass as she climbs the steps on her tiptoes.
It’s cute. She’s fucking cute. Whatever, I suppose I am a besotted idiot. In my defense, I’ve never wanted anyone the way I yearn for my soulmate.
“Come on,” she says, her eyes sparkling in the low light.
The nest is constructed to the best of my magical ability. The wood is dark and mimics the forever trees in Faere. The front is open, but the three sides connect to the roof. The back wall is lined with pillows, and there’s two feet of space on either side of the mattress to walk along the edges.
The pillows are filled with all our scents, except Malice’s, since he wasn’t around during our preparations. We even snagged multiple items belonging to Atlas to ensure she felt confident and at home with all our smells surrounding her.
Atlas’s shirt pulls up around her hips as she crawls up the mattress.
I knee walk behind her, trying to keep my cock from bouncing.
The material of my sweats leaves something to be desired.
It provides almost no concealing properties for my multiple daily hard-ons.
I’ve never before relished jeans during any of my trips to this realm, but at least they offer minimum coverage for when my wife looks particularly enticing.
Ali tosses her cell phone and the towel aside.
She hits her back, rolling over to face me.
Her tight nipples poke through the thin fabric of the shirt.
It takes every ounce of self-control I possess to keep from pouncing on her.
The way her eyes hungrily take in my lithely muscled form doesn’t help the situation in my trousers.
I chuck myself down next to her on the side of the bed the big bastard normally sleeps on. Hex is massive, even in human form, and he’s already got a nice little ass groove built into the mattress.
“Shit.” She yanks the pillow from her head, bringing it to her nose. “It smells just like you.”
I roll to face her, leaning my head on my hand. “We wanted you to be comfortable.”
Ali pulls the pillow down, peeking at me over the edge.
“Come on,” I say with a laugh. “You can scent me directly from the source.” I give her a gentle tug. She ends up lying on my bicep, and I grab the pillow, tossing it behind her head. “Tell me about the human realm.”
She shrugs. “You’re here now too. What do you want to know?”
“How you ended up here...” I run my fingers over her soft cheek. My heart races. She doesn’t pull away from my touch. “We never could determine if you escaped on your own or if you had help.”
Her eyes widen. “No, that was all me. I woke up in agony and...” She blows out a heavy breath. “It felt like I’d been in pain for days or maybe weeks. I had no concept of time. I don’t even know how I ended up in the Seelie Castle.”
“Would it be easier if I were to show you?” I ask, cradling her head in my hand. She chews at her bottom lip as her eyes fall shut, but she eventually gives a shaky nod. “Can I kiss you to share my memories?”
“Okay.” She licks her lips, blinking huge gray eyes.
I roll, holding myself up on a palm. I brush my lips over hers. The closer the contact, the easier it becomes to transfer a memory. Her fingers brush over my cheek, and I nip at her lower lip. It’s a slow tease of a kiss until she gasps into my mouth.
The room erupts in chaos as Hex bellows from behind me. Ali wobbles, clutching at her abdomen as blood pours from a wound I can’t see, but even the volume assures me it’s a severe injury.
I grab her, clutching her to my chest before she can hit the ground.
Hex reaches me milliseconds later. “We’ve got to go now! The queen’s court is in the process of... Fuck’s sake.” His eyes widen as he catches sight of our wife. He doesn’t bother with bindings. Instead, he rips his tunic off, gently holding it to Ali’s still bleeding wound.
The scene changes.
We’re in the Spring Court Castle. Ali sleeps in my bed. It’s been nearly three weeks of constant agony. Hex and I are unable to leave her side. The only respite she receives from the agonizing pain is when we’re both touching her skin to skin.
“I made it clear to Reighton that he’ll soon be the heir,” I murmur to Hex in barely more than a whisper.
“Do you really believe you can trust your younger brother?” Hex asks.
I run a hand over my face, shrugging. Ali moans in her sleep, and Hex links his fingers with hers. I scoot lower, carefully avoiding her injury, and brush my palm against the skin of her inner arm.
“We have no other options,” I say, like he doesn’t know the grim reality of our situation as well as I do.
It’s taken time for Hex to contact his men and even longer for them to find someone we can trust to portal us to the human realm with the unconscious and wanted heir to the throne of Faere. Without Aryndia to ascend in her mother’s place, it’s pure chaos.
The Unseelie Court still holds the queen for questioning, and her trial is in less than seven days.
The prideful woman was too foolish to accept information that could have saved us all a lot of pain and suffering. Most of all, my sweet, sleeping wife.
I might be Prince of my court, but that only offers us so much protection. It’s the main reason why I informed Reighton that he’d soon need to be ready to take my place.
We can’t stay here.
Hex’s best trackers have found no leads on Ary, but we’ll work on reuniting Ali with her sister once the three of us are safe.
They’ve questioned her a handful of times since we’ve been in Spring Court. Ultimately, my people, combined with Hex’s family’s court, have been able to give us protection from the Unseelie, but that is quickly running out.
Even now, our court has gone too far.
When she’s awake, she’s in pain so severe, tears leak from her eyes, and yet, they’ve questioned her on multiple occasions.
A room full of men I considered friends and family huddled around her bedside to demand answers. And then had the audacity to look to me to parcel out my wife’s lies.
Some of them are bonded.
I’d think they’d understand where my loyalty lies, but Ali spoke nothing but the truth...even as she had to sob it out around the pain while begging us to knock her back out.
Each time, I wait for it to be the time Hex snaps and has to be put down. The two of us are powerful, but no match for the council of equally formidable fae.
One day, heads will roll for this. In the meantime, we play their game, because we’re on a very lonely island.
My memories fade. Ali’s tongue brushes mine as her eyes leak from the edges. Her hand runs over the back of my head.
She pulls back enough to speak. “I guess it’s my turn, huh?”