Chapter 11 Never Dare
~ GALL ~
“You’re beautiful.” I had to clear my throat because my voice went high, which was embarrassing. But Izzy giggled, and her cheeks went as pink as the rest of her skin.
She kept pulling the sheets over herself because she didn’t think she was very pretty. But I knew the truth, so I’d pull them back again.
Her skin was even paler under where her clothes usually were.
I couldn’t believe she’d let me touch her there.
My cheeks went hot, and Istral’s big smile got bigger. “You’re blushing!” She pointed, and my face flamed hotter.
“You’re not supposed to point.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
Mating with Istral was so amazing, I wanted to do it again and again and again. But she got sore after the first time, so we waited a day. Papa always told me to be careful, and then he said sometimes you had to wait, so I knew. But it was hard.
I grinned. Now, we’d done it three more times, and this time it didn’t hurt her at all, so I was hoping we’d do it again soon.
We only had two more days.
Istral kept laughing, and hiding her face when I stared, but I couldn’t stop. She was so beautiful.
I couldn’t resist. I put a hand on her knee and pulled it apart from the other one, sliding my hand up and down the inside of her thigh.
That was the softest thing I think I ever touched.
Papa told me that women were a lot like horses, and you had to stay calm and not angry, and also be gentle, but firm.
Petting like that was something he taught me to do when a horse was nervous. But I did it without thinking when I first got to touch her there. And then we found out Izzy liked it. It made her bite her lip and her eyes got twinkly. So, now I did it whenever I could.
She moved her other leg so there was more room for me to touch her, and my rod got hard. Really hard, really fast. It was embarrassing.
But Izzy didn’t giggle this time. She still smiled a lot, but there was a question in her eyes, and I think it was a good one.
“Iz—”
“Sorry to interrupt—”
Grandfather’s voice had the edge in it, and something inside me snapped.
I roared and leaped off the bed, throwing the sheets back over Istral who was really afraid. She flinched, and she threw her arms over her breasts and between her legs, and looked like she might cry.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” I screamed at him, whirling around to put myself between him and the bed.
Grandfather stood in a corner of the room that was empty a minute ago. He leaned on the wall, examining his nails—but when I roared so hard I spit, his eyes snapped up to mine, and his whole body got the warning signs.
I knew those signs. Papa taught me what a man looks like when he’s ready to attack.
But I didn’t care! She was my mate—mine!—and he just showed up when she was naked and—
“Touch me, and you will lose the offending limb slowly and painfully.” He didn’t smile. He didn’t move. His eyes were fixed on mine. Something in my chest went cold, but my skin burned hot.
We were both naked. It wasn’t right for him to be here!
“You can’t just appear like that—she’s my mate!”
“She’s your queen, and the female to bear my heir.”
“But… but, she’s my mate! And you’re—”
“She is a broodmare, Gall.”
I never saw him move, but suddenly he stood in front of me, inches taller, his eyes black, and he leaned in, one finger pointed, my skin burning where he stabbed it at my chest.
“Be careful what words you let out of that thick mouth, Gall. Be very, very careful.”
I blinked and tried to breathe right, the way Papa showed me when there was going to be a fight. I tried to clear my head, and grab the right thought. I needed the words to—
Grandfather pushed me with that finger with every word. “Back… the fuck… off.”
I overbalanced and had to take a step back to catch myself, which made my cheeks go hot again because that was embarrassing. “But you said—”
“I said you should take no shit from anyone who is not me. But me? I am your grandfather. I am your power. I’m the only one who can make this world make sense for you, Gall.
” His voice was quiet, but it sounded the way his body looked when he might attack.
“Sit down and shut up, or I will remind you where the true strength lies.”
My hands shook and my head screamed.
We stared at each other and I knew I had to choose. Everything in me wanted to attack him and push him away from Istral. But he was immortal. I couldn’t kill him. And if I tried, he’d just kill me, then Istral would be alone.
I think he knew what I thought, because he smiled. But not the nice smile.
I looked over my shoulder and wanted to swear. Izzy had curled up in the bed, the covers pulled over her, her face hidden under the blankets. She twitched. I hoped she wasn’t crying!
I looked at Grandfather again, and my hands closed to fists. He couldn’t be here. He couldn’t touch her. It wasn’t right!
“Think it through, Gall,” he whispered.
But there was another warning, deep inside too.
He was dangerous. He had power. And he didn’t lie about hurting people. If he wanted to hurt me, he could. I knew it. I’d seen him do it. He could make me scream without even touching me.
My hands jerked. I stood in the middle of the floor between him and the bed. I couldn’t get the right words to come.
“This isn’t… you can’t…”
“Oh, yes, I can. I can do anything, Gall. You should remember that.”
“But she’s—”
“She is the Queen of the Nephilim, your mate and wife, and almost as dense as you,” he hissed, slapping me on the side of the head.
I jerked. “Stop!” I wanted to roar again, and I wanted to cry. Which only made me more embarrassed.
“I’ll stop when you get your head out of your ass. You think because I share my power with you, that you can defy me?”
“No, I just—”
“No, Gall. That is the correct answer: Just, no.”
I frowned. Neph protected their mates and claimed women. It was the right thing to do. Wasn’t it?
He was Grandfather, and Fallen. Maybe it was different, then? But Papa even got upset when Jann got close to Yilan at first and…
“Don’t try to work it out, Gall,” Grandfather sighed. “You won’t. I will always be one step ahead of you. Hell, I’ll always be one hundred steps ahead of you. Stop trying to think for yourself, and just listen: I came because something important is coming, and you need to prepare.”
I blinked, frowning. “But… you said we have five days—”
“And you will. But you need to prepare yourself. If your queen conceives—which I believe she will—your success will need to be announced. We will call the Neph to the Coliseum, and she will be displayed for their—”
“No!” The growl that burst out of me was almost as deep as Papa’s, and my hands were fists again. “No, I’m not making her stand up there like that. She gets scared!”
Grandfather went very still, his eyes cold and narrowed at me. I made myself lift my chin and face him. It wasn’t right.
He wanted to show them all that she mated me, and that would make her cry.
“No?” he asked quietly.
My skin got goosebumps all over. But I knew Izzy couldn’t do that. Not with all the Nephilim watching. “No.”
Grandfather tilted his head slowly, never looking away from my eyes. “You arrogant little fuck.”
“No! She’s my mate and—”
“I don’t give two shits what she is, except pregnant. This is between you and me. You think you can say no to me? You think you might resist me?”
“I’ll tell them all that she’s pregnant. And they’ll be happy. They don’t need to see her for that to happen! It scares her!”
“I didn’t come here to listen to your plan, Gall. I came to tell you what your plan should be.”
“But—”
“And still, you defy me.”
“No! I’m just—”
“You’re just making a different plan, because you’re so much smarter and wiser than me?”
I grimaced. I knew that wasn’t true. Grandfather was way smarter than me. But he could be mean, and…
“I just want her to not get scared,” I said, wishing I didn’t sound like a little kid.
“You think you can do this without me? Any of it?” he muttered, leaning right into my face.
“I can tell the Neph that she’s pregnant!”
“You think so?”
“I know so!”
Grandfather’s head sank back and he folded his arms. His eyes were still cold, but he didn’t look away, just took a step back, shaking his head.
“Well then,” he said. “Let’s see how that goes, shall we?”
Nerves tingled in my belly. “How what goes?”
“You. Telling your brothers that your mate is pregnant. Without my help.”
I frowned. “I can do that.”
Grandfather’s mouth curled up on one side, but his eyes were still angry. “I guess we’ll both find out, won’t we?”
I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant, but he looked over my shoulder at Izzy and his angry eyes got sharper. “You remember that he insisted. You remember that he wants to do this alone.”
“I know he can,” Izzy said, and my heart swelled big and made my chest tight.
I smiled.
Grandfather didn’t like it, but he ignored her and looked at me again. “We’ll talk later.”
I felt nervous all of a sudden, but it sounded like he was going to leave, so I just nodded.
And then he was gone, and I could take a big breath again.
I whirled back around to Izzy. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, but her eyes looked scared, not happy like they were before. I crawled up on the bed and got under the covers with her. She looked like she might cry, but when I put my arms around her, she rested her head on my chest and hugged me tight.
And it was the best feeling in the world.
Well, the second best.
“I can do it,” I said, still not sure why Grandfather thought I couldn’t say some words.
“I know you can,” she whispered, and I felt her breath on my chest skin, and it felt really good.
“Thank you.”
“I love you, Gall.”
“I love you too, Izzy. Always. And I’ll protect you. I promise.”
“I believe you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”