34. Glad You’re Here
~ YILAN ~
I lay in my bed, in the dark, staring at the moonlight piercing the room like spears, each glowing shaft contoured by the hammered screens that Turo had erected on the balcony. It felt like laying in a prison cell where the shafts of light were bars.
Somewhere, deep in the Palace, Melek was still facing the others in Council. I prayed they had found some common ground—or at least the place where they could listen to him without scoffing at every word.
I wasn’t sure whether the fact that Melek hadn’t returned yet was a good sign, or a bad one. There was more than an outside chance the male egos in the room had won and now they were down there beating the shit out of each other.
Grumbling at myself, I tried to push the men out of my mind again. Since returning to the quiet of my suite, thoughts of Melek and Turo and the others kept looming, especially since I couldn’t think back to that room without hearing those words again…
“…Let those of us who have functioned as adults for more than five minutes explain that he has swayed you with sex and virility. But that is no reason for the entire Kingdom to open its legs to these creatures—”
The Council had always presented some resistance to my decisions.
That was what good Advisors did—they questioned.
Made certain that every possible outcome had been examined and the risks mitigated.
But it wasn’t until now, returning with Melek in the wake of having made all my decisions alone for months, that I was seeing the truth: The men who had been appointed to advise me held me in high regard…
to a point. I was beginning to see they subjugated themselves to the crown—not the mind underneath it.
Walking away from that room I’d been overwhelmed with grief and embarrassment and… and for the first time in years I had desperately wanted my mother. If for no other reason than that I knew she understood the challenges of working with noblemen, and she would disdain the attitude they’d shown.
In the wake of that awful conversation, I was glad to see the back of Wellhurst. The man had been one of my mother’s primary advisors, but I’d never liked him. And after tonight I wasn’t sure I could be in his presence without my nose wrinkling like a bad smell.
“…Let those of us who have functioned as adults for more than five minutes explain that he has swayed you with sex and virility. But that is no reason for the entire Kingdom to open its legs to these creatures—”
Was that truly how they all saw me?
I had been a good Princess, and a better Queen.
I’d never given them reason to question my morality or virtue.
The elders had all known me since I was a girl.
Given their own adventures, I hadn’t thought their respect for me as a person was so deeply entwined with that side of my life.
I’d never even considered how they’d react if faced with a man I’d taken to my bed outside of marriage.
It would never have occurred to me to do so.
And even though I knew I hadn’t taken Melek outside of the bond, they didn’t know that.
Of course, to a man, they’d all had their dalliances. But humanity treated men’s sexuality very different than women’s. I’d known that. But I’d never been slapped in the face with it quite so starkly as I was tonight.
I hated that a part of me had wanted to shrink from those words. That I’d allowed shame and humiliation even a breath of time, when I knew I’d done nothing wrong.
But I also knew they couldn’t know that.
Once again, I was the one who was lying. And even though I agreed with Melek’s motive, I lay there in the dark questioning the choice to wait and tell everyone about our bond.
Four more days and a Jubilee and then we could clear all of this up, I reminded myself. Then they’d understand why I’d brought Melek to them—and why they could trust him. And me. And finally I would be free to recognize my mate in public .
I sighed with relief. Thoughts of Melek conjured images in my mind and my stomach fluttered.
I was exhausted and nervous and pissed off… and still I yearned for the steel strength of his body.
I’d just faced the most humiliating embarrassment, and still I could barely wait for the High Moon chime because I knew that even if they were fiercely debating, Council would be called to order at that time, so it would be only minutes until Melek returned.
His room adjoined mine. I assumed I’d hear him when he returned.
I planned to give him a few minutes to gather his thoughts before I let myself into his room.
I wanted my mate. I needed him.
I needed to remember why we were doing this.
With a heavy sigh, I rolled over to face the window and those shafts of light plunging through from the balcony.
There was a dull thud in the hallway—one of the guard’s spears thunking against the wall, or a shield dropped by accident, but it reminded me that we would have to be careful. The walls were solid stone here, but sound still carried somewhat. I would have to warn Melek not to—
“Thank God, you’re awake.”
His low rumble sent adrenaline shooting through my veins. I gasped and sat up, throwing the quilts back to turn and look at him, standing in the doorway between our suites.
I had no idea how he’d gotten so close without me hearing, but I didn’t care.
My belly thrummed as I whispered his name and leaped out of the bed, rushing to his open arms, sighing happily when he drew me up into his chest and held me there, one hand cupping the back of my skull, the other cupped under my ass.
I was surprised by how hard his heart hammered under my ear, and how tightly he held me, as if he were just as desperate to be close as I was.
“Finally,” I breathed into his neck.
Melek rumbled his approval and his breath rushed against my hair. Then a shiver rocked through him.
I pulled my head back quickly to meet his eyes. “Are you well?” I whispered.
He nodded once, slowly. “But are you, Love?” he rasped.
I frowned. “Yes. I mean, I’m tired, but I’ve just been waiting for you. You’ve had the much harder night—”
“No, Yilan… those bastards and their cutting words…” He shuddered again, then let me slide down his body until my feet were back on the floor, but he took my face in his hands and searched my eyes. “I almost told them then and there. I couldn’t believe they would speak to you that way—”
“It shocked me, as well,” I muttered, my hands automatically reaching for the buttons of his shirt—which was when I realized he wasn’t wearing his jacket anymore. I frowned. “Where’s your leather?”
“Turo retreated to casual attire,” he said dryly. “I joined him and the others to encourage… togetherness.”
I snorted. “Not truly together, I hope.”
Melek’s eyes flashed and he dropped one of his hands from my jaw to the neckline of my nightgown, tracing the width of it with a fingertip, a light coming alive in his gaze that made my belly flutters turn to thrill.
“God, Yilan, it’s been hell sitting there for all those hours, keeping myself stoic, trying to be an example of humility and patience, when all I wanted to do was to whack their skulls together and teach them a lesson in respect.”
“Hold that thought,” I grinned, reaching for his buttons and popping them one by one until I could draw the sides of his shirt away from his chest and belly, and trace the lines of him with my hands. “Right now, I don’t want to think about them at all.”
“Agreed,” he rasped, dropping both hands to cup my breasts through the thin fabric of my nightgown, growling in his chest when he felt my nipples already peaked and hard.
I took hold of the sides of his shirt and pulled him with me as I stepped back towards the bed, drawing him after me. He came eagerly, his hands sliding down to my hips, then beginning to furl up the thin fabric on both sides so that the hem tickled its way up my calves, then above my knees.
When the backs of my legs hit the bed, I almost sat down.
But I needed us naked first. Melek obviously had the same thought, because as I reached for his belt and began to wrestle with it, he grasped both handfuls of my nightdress and drew it up until it hit my armpits.
I was forced to let go of his belt to lift my arms so he could draw the nightgown up and over my head, tossing it aside with a delighted curse when my skin was revealed to the crisp, night air.
A surge of need rocked through me as Melek dove to kiss my throat and his hands slid down to cup my backside and pull me against him .
But I squeaked, and made him wait until I’d gotten his buttons undone and shoved his leathers down, off his hips and ass until they slumped to the floor around his ankles, and his thick length sprang up against my stomach.
I almost hugged it, I was so relieved to have him close.
But there wasn’t time, because Melek was already gathering me into his arms, pulling me against him even as he rocked his hips and pressed himself against my skin, groaning as he lifted me to his chest, then took one step forward and bent at the waist, lowering me to the bed.
I slumped happily onto the quilt, my skin pebbling from the contrast of his hot skin next to the cool air that rushed between us when he braced on his hands and loomed over me.
Our eyes locked and the flames in his roared, nudging the bonfire in my blood to greater heights as I pushed myself up on my elbows and began crawling backwards onto the bed, inviting him to follow with my smile.