17. Kols
KOLS
What a fucking night.
I blew out a disgruntled breath as I entered my suite, expecting to see the whole thing shredded to hell and pausing upon discovering the pristine interior awaiting my entry.
“They cleaned,” Tray explained from the couch, catching my confusion. He had a content Ella snuggled up against him, her head pillowed against his shoulder. “Zeph and Aflora are actually in your room finishing up, and there are some leftovers on the stove, if you want any.”
He had an empty plate on the table, suggesting he’d just finished eating. As he’d only left about thirty minutes ahead of me, that timing made sense.
“I’m not hungry,” I admitted, still riled up and pissed off from the bullshit the Council had thrown at me.
The only reason they hadn’t locked me up for observation was because of Aflora. My father had argued that I needed to be on campus with her to continue her monitoring. Others had suggested she be locked up with me. Then he’d reminded them of my role as future king and the importance of completing this task for my upcoming ascension.
It was all a fucking mess.
And I really just wanted to take a damn nap.
Tray nodded in understanding, then kissed Ella on the forehead, holding her close. “I’ll put the leftovers in the fridge for you,” he said.
“Thanks,” I muttered, meaning it despite my gruff tone. “I’m going to go make sure Zeph hasn’t rearranged my room.”
“Good idea.” He returned his focus to the blonde in his arms, his palm cupping her cheek as he angled her face upward to receive his kiss.
I had spent the last three and a half years envying him and his ability to choose. Not that I’d ever admitted it out loud. My destiny was to serve the crown, a future I’d taken seriously and devoted my entire life to fulfill.
However, tonight the Council rewarded my fealty with an unwarranted accusation followed by a search of my private quarters, all to hunt for evidence that didn’t exist.
No one had believed my innocence.
Not even my father.
After everything I’d given up for those assholes, they’d refused to take me at my word.
And that fucking burned.
I yanked on the knotted tie at my throat and started down the hallway to my room, only to pause on the threshold at the sight of Aflora giggling. She sat cross-legged on my rug with a plate in her lap, while Zeph stood over her with his hands on his hips.
“Seriously, I’m going to start feeding you bark,” he was saying. “Maybe topped with some charcoal blades.”
“Is that what it’s called?” she asked. “The black grass in the fields?”
He snorted. “Yeah, that’s not grass, pixie flower.”
“Well, I know. It’s sharp and brittle and… charcoal-y.”
His lips twitched. “Hence the name—charcoal blades.”
Her nose scrunched upward. “I’m not eating that.”
“Yet you’ll eat a leafy salad patty monstrosity with mussleberries.”
“They’re mouseberries,” she corrected him. “And yes, I would eat that.” She held up her plate. “Please.”
“I’ve already fed you dragon steak and the other version of salad patty. If you want more, you can make it yourself.”
I leaned against the doorjamb, entertained by this entire exchange. But my movement drew both their eyes to me and caused Aflora to jump up off my rug and onto her feet. “Oh! You’re back.”
“I am.” I tucked my hands into my pockets and glanced around my room. “Seems like you did a good job cleaning.”
“Figments,” Aflora said quickly. “Zeph made figments. We were just making sure it’s all sorted. So, uh, looks good. I’ll leave you two to it, then.” She started toward the door, and I moved to block her exit.
“I’m nearly arrested for an explosion at the Academy, and you’re going to leave me with a ‘looks good’?” I arched an eyebrow at her. “Seriously?”
Zeph came up behind her, effectively caging her between us. She lifted the plate to her chest like that would be able to protect her.
“Um.” She bit her lip, considering. “I’m glad you’re okay. We know you didn’t do it. Oh, and Clove had no magical ties that Zeph could find. So we’re not sure who gave her the stonepecker or where she found it, but we’re pretty sure it was done on purpose to set you up. It’s a good thing Shade stopped by to warn us about the search.”
That was a hell of a lot of information in a handful of seconds. I gaped at Zeph. “Stonepecker?”
“Yeah. Aflora’s familiar brought it to her as a gift and dropped it in her lap. We’re guessing it’s how the culprit entered the Academy grounds, but I had to destroy it because of the Warrior Bloods.”
Of course. “What about my other things?” I asked him, knowing he’d interpret my question.
He jerked his chin at the closet. “Sir Kristoff did his job.”
I nodded. “Good.”
Aflora’s brow creased. “I thought Sir Kristoff took the night off?”
I grunted and put my hands on her hips to walk her backward into my Guardian’s chest, then kicked my door closed behind me. “Sir Kristoff doesn’t take time off,” I said, releasing her to Zeph. He promptly wrapped his arms around her, knowing I didn’t want her to leave. The two of them watched as I walked over to my closet. As soon as I opened it, the gargoyle in question came strolling out with my box.
“Here you go, My Prince,” he drawled, holding it up for me.
“Thank you, Sir Kristoff,” I murmured. “You’re excused.”
He bowed and disappeared into a white cloud of dust, his trademark exit.
“Now he’s taking the night off?” Aflora guessed.
“No, he’s gone back to the front door,” I replied, my focus on the box in my hands. I opened it to check the contents inside and nodded. “All here.”
“Then the gargoyle did his job,” Zeph murmured.
I nodded. “He did.”
“What’s in the box?” Aflora asked, unusually bold tonight. Or maybe she was just getting more comfortable with us, in which case, I approved.
“Your real collar and a few other items I don’t want the Council to know about.” Such as the photo of her parents from Sol.
I went to my closet to return the container to the rightful place, one Sir Kristoff knew about so he could hide it again should the need arise.
While my father commanded the kingdom, the gargoyle’s allegiance belonged to me. I’d seen to that minor detail the day I started attending the Academy. It was an easy task, mostly because I treated Sir Kristoff with respect and listened to his requests. A few negotiations later and his loyalty was mine.
“My real collar?” Aflora asked, touching the thin leather around her throat. “I thought that’s what Zeph put on me before the guards came for me last week.”
I met his gaze over her head, wondering if he wanted to explain it or if I should. He gave a subtle nod for me to go ahead.
“This isn’t the collar from the Council,” I said softly, stepping in front of her again. I lifted my finger to the leather encircling her neck and traced it along her throat. “Remember how there were two before?”
She nodded. “I destroyed one in the LethaForest.”
“Yes. So Zeph and I created a new one to replace it, but we had to make it match the one from the Council. We added a temporary enchantment to mask your powers—specifically, your Quandary Blood abilities—and also created a concealment charm to hide our bonds to you. It was done hastily, but it worked.”
I pressed my thumb to the side, near her pulse, and unsnapped the leather to bring it away from her neck to see it.
“The spells have slowly worn off over the last week, bringing the concealment to a dull thrum that should only be protecting our bonds, not diminishing your power. Have you felt it weakening?” I asked her softly.
She frowned at the item in my hand. “I hadn’t thought much of it after that initial zing.”
“I imagine that hurt,” I replied, regretful. “But we didn’t know what else to do, and there wasn’t time to explain.”
“So you never put the real collar on me.”
I shook my head. “No. Just touching it zaps all the energy right out of me. I can’t imagine what it would do around your neck.” Which was precisely why I’d never make her wear it.
Zeph bent down to kiss her freshly exposed skin, his eyes holding mine the entire time. I read the message in his depths, just as I noted her sharp inhale.
“Oh,” she breathed, her lashes fluttering a little. “I… I didn’t realize they were… different.”
I set her collar off to the side and returned to brush my knuckles down her flushed cheek. “The primary purpose of that collar is to hide your connection to me and Zeph.” I showed her the band around my wrist. “Zeph and I have to wear these, or others will sense the mating claim. Shade doesn’t need one since everyone already knows he bit you.”
“I think we can remove them for a bit,” Zeph mused, his lips still at her neck. “Assuming we’re all staying here for the next few hours.”
My lips curled. “I think we’re staying here for a while.”
Aflora swallowed, her pupils darkening. “Are you going to bite me again?”
“Do you want us to?” I countered, removing the cuff around my wrist and setting it beside her collar. Zeph held out his for me to add to the pile, then grabbed her hips to hold her between us as I returned to my position in front of her.
“Do you, uh, need blood again?” she asked.
“Not really, no. I had a shake just yesterday.”
“A shake?” Her brow furrowed. “You call humans ‘shakes’?”
I smirked. “No. I mean a literal milkshake. Tray and Ella make them all the time instead of feeding on mortals.”
“They do?”
“You’ve never noticed?” I countered, arching a brow. “Ella has a protein shake flavored with blood every evening.”
“I thought it was just a human food.”
“It is, mostly. With the added nutrients Midnight Fae need to remain connected to the source. Zeph’s been ordering blood-laced food as well.”
“Not my favorite, but I need to get used to it,” he said, lifting a shoulder.
“Why?” Aflora asked.
She tried to glance back at him, but he pressed his mouth to her ear to murmur, “Because Midnight Fae with mates typically don’t feed on humans. It complicates matters, as you found out last week with your reaction to Kols feeding in the mortal realm. We’re territorial and we don’t like to share.”
“So no more drinking blood from the vein, unless it’s from your vein,” I said, closing the space between us. “And I won’t bite you again until you ask me to.” Or if I needed to suck power out of her, but I didn’t add that part, because it would be implied consent like it was the first time.
“Yes,” Zeph agreed softly. “We heard you loud and clear last week, pixie flower. No more sharing.”
“I-I didn’t say that,” she stuttered, her chest rising and falling in fast pants against mine.
“It was implied by your reaction,” I informed her. “And we did discuss exclusivity, if I remember correctly.”
“We never agreed to it,” she pointed out.
“Again, it was implied.” I drew my finger down the center of her torso, fondling the buttons of her blouse along the way. “I’ve had one hell of a night, Aflora. There’s really only one thing I want to do right now, and that’s to make you come with my mouth. May I?”
Aflora’s eyes widened. “Like, really come? Or just tease me more?”
“There will definitely be teasing involved,” I promised her, unfastening the top button of her shirt. “But it will lead to a climax that will blow your mind.”
An arrogant assessment, but that didn’t make it any less true.
The glimmer in her flaring pupils told me she knew it, too.
“Okay,” she whispered, leaning back into Zeph. “But if this turns into a dream where you leave me unfulfilled, I really will break our bonds.”
“Then I guess we’ll need to bite you again, too,” Zeph replied, his tongue tracing the shell of her ear. “Can’t risk having you force us out.”
“Please me and you won’t have to worry,” she countered, causing my lips to curl.
“Mmm, I rather like this bolder side of you,” I mused, popping another button to expose her lacy bra. “Take off your panties for us, baby. Then give them to Zeph.”
She shivered, her irises smoldering with intensity. “Yes, My Prince,” she whispered, the title going straight to my cock. Zeph had told her to call me that the other night in one of our fantasies, and hearing her use it now made me want to kiss the ever-living fuck out of her.
But instead, I focused on the next button while she lifted her skirt to take hold of the lace between her thighs. She slowly drew it down her legs. I stepped back to allow her to bend while Zeph watched from behind, his green eyes glimmering with anticipation.
Aflora pulled the soft white material over her bare feet, then straightened and held it over her shoulder for Zeph. He took them and nodded at me to finish removing her blouse.
Each button revealed more and more of her creamy skin, drawing my focus downward to admire her subtle curves and flat abdomen. She really was beautiful. It almost hurt to look at her.
Her shirt fell to the floor, leaving her in a bra and skirt, the picture of “naughty schoolgirl.” My mouth twitched at the thought of all the ways I could make that title come true, but instead I allowed Zeph to walk her backward to the bed.
“Remove your bra,” I told her. “Zeph wants it.”
I didn’t move from my spot, my hands going to my tie instead to finish unknotting the silk and remove it from my neck.
“On the bed,” Zeph said, taking over as soon as her gorgeous tits spilled into view.
She handed him her lacy bra without an ounce of nervousness and hopped up onto the mattress.
“Lie on your back and grab the bars of the headboard,” Zeph instructed her.
Aflora frowned but did as she was told. He’d slowly introduced her to his tastes over the last week, exerting his dominance at every turn. This experience would be similar, his methods mostly gentle as a result of not wanting to frighten her.
And this would be the first time he truly touched her.
To my knowledge, the two of them hadn’t even kissed yet. Because the dreams didn’t really count. They were just erotic fantasies driven by playing minds.
I walked forward to lay my tie over her abdomen as Zeph secured her wrists above her head with the lace of her panties and bra. She watched him with surprise in her gaze, then flickered her focus to the silk on her stomach, her brow pinched.
But she wasn’t entirely concerned.
No, she was equally turned on. Her nipples had stiffened to taut little peaks that begged for a man’s mouth. Goose bumps stampeded an alluring path down her arms. And her arousal sweetened the air, forcing me to inhale her aromatic scent with every breath.
She liked this.
She wanted this.
Something she confirmed by clenching her thighs and fighting a moan as Zeph drew his fingers down her arm and over her breast to the tie waiting for him near her belly button.
“We’re going to play a game, Aflora,” he informed her softly.
“What kind of game?” she asked, her voice holding a sultry quality to it that made my blood pump a little faster.
“One where you guess who is touching you,” he murmured, trailing my silk tie up her neck. “If you’re right, we’ll reward you.” The garment met her cheek. “And if you’re wrong, we’ll teach you.”
“Teach me?” she repeated, her tongue sneaking out to lick her bottom lip. “Teach me what?”
“You’ll see,” he replied, draping the fabric over her forehead, preparing to slide it down. “Now close your eyes. We’re about to begin.”