Chapter 14 Gabe
Gabe
I’d called for Marinnia first through Harald, and when she’d not come…well if she would force me to use my new connection to her, so be it. She hated me already, what did it matter?
I’d chosen the library for our meeting, telling Jeff and Harald to remain outside so that I might speak to her in private.
Harald stood to the left of the door, quaking.
“Marinnia, to me. Now.” I spoke the words low, and under my breath. Even at that, I hated how they felt. How they were more like possessions, like speaking to a pet. But that was the way of this connection.
Master and slave.
“Fuck.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. There was nothing to be done about it. I needed her, and I’d let her go as soon as I could. “I hate this fucking place.”
“That makes two of us, then.”
She stood in the doorway to the library. Jeff shut the door behind her as I’d asked him to do.
None of that mattered though.
Marinnia’s voice did something very strange, unexpected, and it caught me totally off guard.
It soothed the ragged edges of everything I felt here. And I realized that was one of the reasons why I was drawn to her. For the moments I was in her presence, the world came into focus.
“You took your time.”
Her gray skirts were clean, her hood up, and her hands clasped in front of her.
If she hadn’t moved, she could have been a statue.
“I was being introduced to your fiancé and to the Oracle. A more unusual pair I have not been around in some time and slipping away without insulting either was not easy.”
I grimaced. “I prefer the Oracle.”
She laughed and the sound tugged at me. “I would say the same. Though she did throw a tomato at your fiancé, which sped up my exit.”
There was no helping it, I didn’t bother to fight the mirth, tipping my head back and laughing. “Gods, I wish I could have seen that. Myrr has excellent aim.”
Her lips twitched. “That she does. Right to the side of the head, the splatter was impressive.”
While I knew I would hear about this later, when Priscilla and I would have our daily courtship time, I wished I’d been able to see it. “She nailed Rufus already too.”
Marinnia’s hands flexed. “While this is amusing, my girls need my help settling in, and I must be headed back to the other Doves so I can continue my interviews. What need do you have of me?”
Need conjured up a series of images that had haunted me long after I’d lain down to rest the night before. Like the need to see her under me while she moaned my name was at the top of that list. Seeing as she hated me, I doubted it would ever happen, even if I had the time.
“You said you had a short list already of girls that could be the one?”
From a pocket she pulled out a slip of paper and offered it to me. “Here, three names. Tulli, Feather and I will continue—”
I closed the distance between us and took note of the gasp that escaped her, but she did not back away as I tugged the paper from her fingers. We were inches apart.
“I will speak with each of them today.”
As close as I was, it forced her to tip her head back some, which exposed her throat, and made the hood slip back though it gave away nothing but her lips which parted with a quick intake of air, lifting her breasts, her heartbeat in the hollow of her throat giving her away.
Not fear.
Need?
My cock throbbed at the very thought.
“Perhaps you didn’t sleep well either?” I murmured, suddenly possessed by the need to speak truth. “I found myself haunted by the thought of your legs wrapped around me.”
“I…slept well.” The words were a bare whisper. “And I didn’t think of you at all.”
I smiled. “A little stronger that second part, but still, you are a liar. You would lie to me? And now, I must know. Were your legs wrapped around my waist, or my head, Marinnia?”
The air whooshed out of her and the anger was back, tenfold. “You would be so lucky, Demon, to have my body anywhere near yours.”
There was a pause. I should have turned back. Could have turned it around…
“In another world, perhaps that would be true, but here…I am king. Luck has nothing to do with it.”
I caught her face with one hand, holding her steady. Fuck…why not? I was the king, as I’d said.
“And if I said no?”
Closing my eyes I leaned close, brushing my nose along hers, breathing in her perfume. “Would you say no?”
The tingling sensation of her cheek against my own, the brush of lips barely touching, feeling the fullness of them, fuller than they looked…I asked again.
“I’ve no need or desire to force a woman into my arms, or bed. And you’re a madame who has made her living peddling flesh. Would you say no?” I let my tongue slide over her bottom lip, never once opening my eyes.
“Y-you have a beautiful fiancé, what need do you have of—”
The truth escaped me. “I do not want her.”
The unspoken truth hung between us.
I want you.
How long we stood there, it could have been seconds, it could have been years, I only knew that I wanted to stay there longer.
This was the real reason I wanted her in the castle. I wanted her here, close enough to taste.
The words came as a low hiss. “Do you hate me, Marinnia?”
“Yes.”
That answer was immediate at least.
But it was yet another lie. Which left me no other option. I slipped my arm around her and tugged her against my body so she could feel every part of me as my mouth found hers.
There was no shrinking violet in the Briar Queen. Nor did she ask me to stop.
Her mouth parted but she parried my blow with one of her own, lifting a leg to hook it up toward my hip, dragging me tight to her warm center. I groaned and picked her up as her legs wrapped tight around my waist.
Holding her tight, I ground upward, my cock harder than I’d been for anyone in a very long time.
More, I wanted more of this.
I just held her there, my mind blank of anything but this need for her, and the desire to see her laid before me, like a feast on a table.
The banging of a fist on the door cut through everything, snapping my head away from her mouth. “What?”
“Sorry to interrupt, Your Majesty, but you have other meetings,” Jeff’s voice was muffled through the thick wood door.
Marinnia wriggled away from me, righting her hood, her breath coming in short gasps. “You have the list of girls. I will be on my way.”
While I wanted to grab her and bury more than my cock between her legs, I pulled my shit together.
“Do not be late, Briar Queen, I expect you here at 5 bells sharp.”
She sniffed over her shoulder. “And if I am late?”
I grinned. “Well, at least I would enjoy the punishment I would have to mete out.”
Her back stiffened and she all but flung the doors open as she strode out.
Harald and Jeff took a quick look in, and Harald went pale. “You okay, sire?”
“Fine, Harald, just fucking fine.” I ran my hands over my head and chose to ignore the fact that they no doubt knew what had almost happened. It was probably best that Jeff had interrupted. A fact that I would keep telling myself over and over.
Because what it really felt like was unfinished business. Business that I wanted to finish more than I wanted to take my next breath.
I clenched my fist, closing my hand tight around the name she’d whispered into my palm.
Marinnia.
“A word, Majesty?”
I blinked hard, unfolding my fingers as I turned to see Priscilla sweeping toward me, royal blue gown swishing against the stone floor.
Jeff and Harald shared a glance and then bowed toward her.
“Good day, Your…soon to be…Queenliness,” Harald murmured.
Jeff nudged him with his boot and cleared his throat. “Good morning, Lady Priscilla.”
She didn’t bother to reply to either servant. Her ice-blue gaze was firmly locked on me. If I gave a shit what she thought, I’d have shivered from the chill.
Fuck all.
I did not have time for whatever nonsense this was sure to be.
“You’re dismissed, Harald. Jeff. This way, my lady.” I swept a hand toward the open door of the study, counselling myself to show some patience. The sooner I listened to her complaints; the sooner she’d take her leave and let me get back to work.
I closed the door behind us, and by the time I turned, she was seated in the leather armchair in front of my desk, hands folded primly in her lap.
“Your Highness, far be it from me to insert myself into your…affairs.” Her pretty face scrunched momentarily, as if she had eaten a lemon before she managed to smooth her lips into a serene smile.
“But I’m afraid I must ask…why are there a dozen human harlots suddenly infesting the castle?
I’m sure I didn’t see them here yesterday, and now they’ve come with suitcases, and been given rooms.”
I moved to sit behind the desk across from her, barely resisting the urge to look at the clock on the wall.
“As I’m sure you’ve heard, several human women have been killed in the past few weeks. Two here in Seventhell. In order to protect them, I’ve brought the Doves of the Rose and Lantern House here until the killer has been found and brought to justice.”
Her lips parted in surprise. “…Protect them? They’re a mere commodity and a tawdry one to boot. Again, I do apologize if I’m overstepping, but surely the Demon King would have no need to protect a whore. Especially a human one…unless of course…” she arched a winged brow at me and waited in silence.
“Unless of course what, Priscilla?”
My voice was low and even, showing none of the fury that had risen to a fever pitch the second she’d called Marinnia a whore. Still, Pretty Priscilla was no dummy. She’d apparently seen through my calm exterior because she changed tactics instantly.
“Gabriel…” she cooed, leaning forward so that her modest breasts strained against the heart-shaped neckline of her gown. “You’re so busy. We’ve barely spent an hour together these past two days. I just want to ensure that we’ve time to get to know one another without…distractions.”
“Courtship is built into my daily schedule, and until I’m settled into my position and fully apprised of the goings on here, that’s all I have time for.”
She drew back, eyes narrowing. “But you have time for those…” she broke off and bit her lower lip.
I cocked my head and laid my hands on the desk, leaning closer, making no effort to disguise the menace rolling off me. “What were you going to say, Lady Priscilla? I have time for those…what?”
Her cheeks went chalk and she shook her head. “Nothing, Your Majesty. Though, perhaps, I suppose I should call you Gabriel now.”
Or not.
But I managed to keep from making the suggestion out loud.
As much as I’d love to take my mood out on her, the quickest end to this meeting was diplomacy.
“I understand your concerns, my lady, and will take them into consideration. For the time being, I ask that you bear with me while I try to get my feet under me and manage my duties. Now,” I said, rising from my chair and working up a smile, “Can I expect to see you in something truly lovely this evening at supper? Something that favors your complexion more than the blue, maybe?”
A petty shot that had its intended effect if her wounded expression was any indication, but she rubbed me almost as wrong as her sniveling slob of a father.
“Yes…yes, of course. I’ll wear peach, maybe? Or perhaps a soft, subtle gold?” She stood and made her way toward the door, still murmuring about dresses as I ushered her out.
I closed the door harder than need be and let out a groan.
This was why it was better to stick to fun and fucking than relationships. Since becoming king just days before, I now had two, both painful in different ways.
Priscilla, because she was a petulant little phony with a mean streak. Necessary because she kept the waters calm on the home front so I could focus on Lilis.
Briar Queen, because she was a puzzle my mind couldn’t stop trying to solve. She despised me and all my kind, had a smart mouth that she didn’t hesitate to use, and she was as plain as could be.
So why did I want her so fucking badly?
Even now, I could hear her husky voice right before she took her leave, another taunt…
“And if I am late?”
My cock stood at attention again, and this time I didn’t try to fight it. The sooner I got her out of my system, the better I’d be able to focus on the task at hand. Briefly, I considered reaching out to one of her Doves. But even as I ran through them in my mind, I dismissed it.
I locked the door and moved to sit behind the desk again, muscles flexed as I anticipated the release. I unzipped my pants and my cock jutted free, already twitching for attention.
I let my eyes drift shut, and gripped the shaft, hissing as I imagined her soft, much-smaller hand instead of my own.
She wouldn’t be shy. She was too self-assured for that. A woman like Marinnia would be single-minded and firm. Stroking up and down, long and slow at first. Making it last, getting me even harder for that sweet little mouth.
“Where do you want it, Demon?”
That voice, husky and strong all at once, washed over me and suddenly I wasn’t thinking mouth anymore. I wanted that pussy.
Needed it.
To take her…to own her body like I owned her name.
My hand moved faster, gripping tighter as my cock swelled and pulsed, almost more pain than pleasure now as I imagined her riding me. Head tossed back as I plunged into her tight pussy once, twice, and then…
“Gabriel!”