23. Love And Trust
When she came back to herself, the room was full of people.
Zoe was on her knees, two fingers on Alexander’s throat. She paused there for a long moment. Everyone in the room fell silent.
Liliana had seen this. Her eyes felt hot. She knew what came next.
“He’s alive,” Zoe said.
Liliana blinked and the hot tears that had been welling in her eyes rolled down her cheeks. “Wait.” She blinked again, hope blooming like a painful warmth in the ice of her chest. “What did you say?” Her trembling voice was so tiny, she wasn’t sure Zoe would hear her.
The sergeant looked at her in the corner. “He’s alive,” she repeated firmly. “Pulse is strong. He should be coming around any minute.”
“He’s alive.” Liliana repeated it softly to herself. She’d been in time. Her venom healed him. “Officer West?”
“We found him,” Zoe said. “Detective Jackson took him straight to Womack Medical.”
Liliana closed her eyes again, a feeling of relief flooding through her. “My leg hurts.”
Zoe chuckled. “I’ll call Nudd.”
An hour or more of too many people in the small room later, Liliana sat on the ledge outside the glassless window, hiding from the bustle.
Alexander woke in the midst of a pair of military EMT’s and a cluster of soldiers, all worried about him. He started issuing orders within seconds of regaining consciousness.
Without leaving her perch, Liliana used her fourth eyes to watch that one part of all the bustling that mattered to her.
Zoe Giovanni saluted Alexander when the EMT’s stopped fussing. They kept telling him how lucky he was that his head injury wasn’t more than a mild concussion and urging him to go to Womack Medical Center to get checked. He nodded to them politely and ignored their advice.
“Sergeant,” Alexander said solemnly when he saw Zoe. “I thought you were heading out on leave.”
“Yes, sir. I was, but Anna needed to get to you as fast as possible. My car was closest.”
“You probably saved my life,” he said softly. “If Liliana arrived even a few minutes later, I’d have been a dead man.”
“She saved your life. I just got her here so she could.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “Sir, I’ve been an ass, and I owe you, Pete, and most of your unit an apology.”
“Yes, you do.” He looked up at the remaining EMT’s and said, “Give me the room, please. I need to discuss something you don’t have clearance for.”
The emergency medical people left with a few final admonishments to get a follow-up from one of the doctors at Womack. Alexander assured them that he would have Doctor Nudd give him a thorough check-up.
His own people continued as if he hadn’t spoken.
When the EMTs were gone, Zoe cleared her throat. “I kept thinking Others had to be different in the head because they were different in other ways. Kept saying it, even, to my best friend, Pete. He never said anything except that I was wrong. I realized some of your people were Others, but I figured you had them on a short leash.”
Alexander snorted.
“Yeah.” She made a wry expression. “I get how stupid that was. But I’ve been following where you lead for years. When you turned out to be Other, and Pete, too, it was like you’d both lied straight to my face. I felt betrayed. I made it all about me, like you and Pete somehow became Others just to mock me…I kind of lost it.”
Alexander held a hand up to stop her. “Do you still want a transfer?”
“No, sir. I’ll understand if you put it through anyway, but…no, sir. I don’t want it.”
He nodded. “I’ll take care of it. Get back to work, Sergeant. Your leave is cancelled.”
Zoe grinned and saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Liliana smiled where she sat on the window ledge, a fresh breeze on her face. Her injured leg was tucked against her chest, the other leg dangling over eight stories of air. Her safety line was firmly attached to the concrete wall beside her. Her first mother nodded approval in her fourth vision. I won’t forget Mut. I promise.
The eighth-floor perch felt oddly comfortable. She was practically raised on a trapeze. Her second mother loved to nap on the high branches of trees, sometimes with Liliana right beside her. Her father had been their anchor, the one whose strong hands always caught Liliana when she flew.
Liliana swallowed a lump in her throat.
I have fallen in love, Mut, Mamae, Pater. I wish you could meet him.
She hadn’t known how completely Alexander owned her heart until she almost lost him. Now that she loved him and knew it, she was in a vulnerable position. Alexander did not love her back. His trust touched her, but it was not what she wanted from him.
Pete’s advice to her had been to give the relationship time and have patience.
She wrinkled her nose. She loved Alexander now. Her patience was not infinite, and they had almost abruptly run out of time today.
Nudd showed up at some point. He reported to Alexander that Rizki was in custody and switched out the wadded shirt on Liliana’s leg for a clean bandage.
Slowly, the chaos in the room died down to a single guard on the door.
Alexander ordered the last of the many people to get back to their regular jobs. He no longer needed any more medical attention or an extra protection detail. He even sent away Lieutenant Runningwolf to get some rest. His broken fingers were splinted thanks to Doctor Nudd so the bones would knit correctly.
When the only one remaining was Alexander, he came to the window. Liliana realized that even from this height at the edge of Fort Liberty looking out, every bit of land she saw was his. The Fae prince’s influence had been spreading more and more. Soon, all of Fayetteville and much of the Fae of central North Carolina would owe allegiance to the man she loved. “That land is all yours.”
His strong hand brushed her hair back, exposing one of her open second eyes. “You didn’t give a damn about that when you climbed up here to fight an assassin for me with a bullet hole in your leg.”
“I didn’t want you to die.”
Alexander’s arm went around her back. His other arm, with the heavy iron bracelet scooped under her knees. “Let’s go home.”
“I would like to go to my home.” She snuggled comfortably in his arms, savoring the warm, strong, very much alive man with his turned earth and gun oil scent.
“Then that’s where we’ll go.”
“You seem to be carrying me a lot lately.” She rubbed her cheek against his chest muscle, covered only by a thin t-shirt spattered with spots of his blood. “I like it.”
“So do I.” A small smile played at the corners of his lips. That warm yellow contentment he’d had when her venom took away his pain shaded his aura.
He carried her down eight flights of steps, stepping over a thick shattered cinderblock wall at some point. His steps were steady. He didn’t show any sign of strain.
“You let me bite you.” Satisfaction flooded her as she saw on his face the clear signs of her healing venom. The cut over his eye had been pulled together with butterfly tape, but the injury looked days old already.
He smiled, that subtle quirk of lips on the corners that she loved to see. “I did. And you didn’t order me to do anything, even when you could have.”
“You ordered me to kiss you. Even under the influence of venom, you are very bossy.”
He chuckled low. “Everyone I know would likely confirm that.”
“Can I bite you again when we get to my house?”
He stopped for a moment as they reached his car. He set her on her one fully functional foot, letting her lean against the big vehicle while he opened the door. His hands on her hips lifted her onto the high seat, bringing them face to face.
“I trust you,” he said. His voice was hoarse. That was not a statement he made very often, and he’d said it twice to her today.
Liliana kissed him very thoroughly. “Let’s go to my house and have a lot of sex.”
He chuckled and kissed her hand, that mischievous sparkle in his eyes that she adored. “I’m glad you live close by.”
It only took a few minutes to drive back across the base to the same gate she’d come in through.
As they went, Liliana considered that the killer she’d first foreseen changed soon after she’d warned Alexander. He had apparently decided to change his future path without telling her. That killer was probably even now at his house, wondering why the target didn’t come home. Liliana would make sure her prince did not go to his house tonight. By morning, that female killer would be somewhere else. But that was a problem for tomorrow.
The other big question was Rizki. Why was he here? Who hired him?
Alexander glanced at her face, scrunched into an unhappy frown. “What are you thinking?”
“I am wondering who hired Rizki. He makes his living as an assassin. He would not cross the ocean to kill you unless someone paid him. Clearly, that was someone who wanted Pete’s sword.”
“I don’t think it was Aurore.”
Liliana nodded her agreement. “But that means that more people know about Fraegarthach now than just Princess Aurore. Word of its location have gotten out. Every royal Sidhe in the world dreams of wielding that sword.”
“Doesn’t narrow down the suspect list much.”
As they pulled up to the gate, Liliana hunched over and let her hair fall over her face. So many cameras and scanners. Alexander gave his word that her earlier appearance on those cameras would be erased, but she doubted he could do that for her every time.
“You hate going through the gates, don’t you?”
She could only nod.
“How did you get on base that first time you visited me?”
“I came through but avoided the cameras and guards. That was better. It took longer, though. I couldn’t do that when I needed to get to you fast.”
Alexander grinned slightly. That light of mischief sparkled in his aura like purple fireworks. “Next time you want to come in, do that again. I’ll put you down as a security consultant. If anyone spots you coming in, they’re not to stop you, just note it in the log. If they spot you, that will reflect well on them. If not, I can dress them down for missing you coming in. That should put them on their toes.”
Liliana smiled. “I will not have to use the card and let myself be photographed by the cameras again. But I will be able to enter the base any time I wish without getting shot at if someone sees me.”
Alexander nodded. “Exactly.” He waved at a guard. They let him pass through. He was well known and the scrutiny of someone leaving the military base was far less than someone entering it.
It was a good solution. One that made Liliana’s shoulders droop in relief. It also gave Alexander an advantage of increased alertness in the base guards. Her prince rarely did anything for only one reason.
She remembered his rejection of William Eliot, how angry and hurt the wizard had looked. The wizard had a huge old house and land. He might be able to afford to pay an assassin’s price. “Do you think William Eliot hired Rizki?”
Alexander shook his head as he drove his big, camouflaged car the few blocks to her place. “If William sent him, he would have been less concerned with completing the mission and more focused on doing something cruel and spiteful.”
Liliana looked up at him suddenly. “You knew what kind of man Eliot was, yet you still had a relationship with him.”
“He was useful.” He shrugged.
Liliana swallowed. That was how her prince defined a desirable partner, someone who was useful. She could be useful. “I am good at getting past guards. When I go in and out, I will advise the base guards what they are doing wrong that allows me to pass. It will help tighten base security.”
He studied her for a moment. His expression blanked, his default for when strong emotion hit him. He parked in the driveway behind her house. Her garage had gym mats on the floor and trapeze swings in the rafters. It was not really a good place for cars.
Liliana opened the car door, trying to think of other ways she could be useful to Alexander.
He put a hand on her arm, stopping her from getting out. “You’re not useful, Liliana.”
The words hit like a blow. She blinked hard. Did he want to end their relationship? Had she done something wrong like Eliot did? “I just saved your life.”
“That’s not…” Alexander rubbed his face with his hand and winced when he hit the big iron bracelet against his chin. “I mean…” He took a deep breath. “You’re not just useful.”
Liliana looked at him with all her eyes since he no longer seemed to mind. She really needed to understand. His complex soul showed a variety of shades of embarrassment, confusion, the red of undimmed desire, some of that creamy white. It looked like love, but was so fleeting, she wasn’t sure. A surge of warmth soothed her hurt. He was having trouble expressing his feelings, something he didn’t often do. “You know, a prince is supposed to be good with words. You should probably work on that.”
“Are you teasing me?” He asked, a hint of a smile, with some disbelief.
As intimidated by him as most people are, I bet no one teases him. “Someone should. You don’t laugh enough.”
Alexander shook his head and got out of the car, that amused little smile broader than she had ever seen it. His eyes crinkled with suppressed laughter that sparkled bright in his aura.
She got out of the car by balancing on one foot, but didn’t get a chance to wonder how she would get into her house.
He scooped her up and carried her in like she weighed nothing.
Liliana ripped off his t-shirt when he’d barely got her inside. It was torn and blood splattered anyway. She’d almost lost him. She’d seen him die a hundred times. She needed to feel him warm and alive.
He gave her a flash of an amused smile big enough to show teeth, then leaned in to kiss her.
Liliana put her hand in front of his mouth to stop him. “No, I get to kiss your chest this time.”
Alexander laughed and sat down on the bed with her in his lap. He spread his arms wide. “I am yours.”
Finally, she got to touch him, swirl her tongue around his nipples, taste his washboard belly. “Hold the headboard,” she ordered.
“Now, who’s bossy?” he teased her, but he laid back. He put his hands up to either side of her narrow bed, holding the support posts. Her bed was never meant for two, especially if one was as big as her prince.
His smile vanished in a gasp as she straddled him and unbuttoned his pants. She got to taste all of him. She didn’t stop until he was moaning and squirming under her.
He let go of the headboard at last. His fingers tangled in her hair as he pulled her up for a desperate, gasping kiss.
He helped her shed her clothes in moments.
With him on his back, she mounted and rode him, his body buried in hers. As his big hand ran down her back, making her shiver, she blurted out, “May I bite you again now?”
“I don’t need healing,” he said. “I feel better than fine.” He rocked his hips and gifted her with that hungry shark smile that was broad and real and full of desire as he heard her moan.
Liliana could barely think with her own desire, a kind of impatient need. “Not for healing. To share venom.” She rocked her own hips as she leaned down to lick his tight nipple. “Because it will be good.”
His hand stroked her hair, fingers deliberately entangling in the thick tresses. “You want to lay a deeper claim to me,” he said, a smile still in his voice.
“Yes,” she said very seriously. “Please. I almost lost you.”
His hand behind her head pulled her to him. “I’m here, Little Spider. I trust you.”
The words still made her stomach flutter the third time he’d said them to her. With care she hadn’t had time for before, she nibbled the thick slab of pectoral muscle, barely piercing the surface with a fang. She rocked her hips at the same time so his groan was far more of pleasure than of pain.
The drop of venom would make the area impervious to pain. Once it had a moment to do its work, she bit again, deeper, giving her lover the gift that was hers alone to give. She licked the tiny trickle of blood from the puncture marks he never even felt, and sat up again, enjoying the shift of angle of him inside her.
All eight of her eyes watched as his pleasure increased. She rode him hard, driving that pleasure forward.
He threw his head back, face lost in ecstasy.
When he reached the peak, she went over with him, shuddering and shouting until her throat hurt.
She collapsed on his chest.
He cradled her in strong arms. “ Je t'aime ma petite araignée ,” he murmured, his diction slurred with venom and a gloriously relaxed warmth that dragged him straight into sleep.
Liliana froze for a moment, watching as the brilliant colors of his soul calmed into the peace of sleep.
He’d said he loved her. In French.
Men often said things they didn’t mean in the throes of orgasm, and under the influence of venom. Both applied here.
Alexander didn’t mean that.
His heart was too well-guarded to be hers already.
Liliana smiled to herself as she drifted to sleep in the cradle of his arms. She was good at getting past guards.
In the vase on her dresser, the rose he’d given her opened fully, creamy white heart surrounded by scarlet petals. The scent perfumed her dreams.
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