Chapter Five #2
The words had barely died on his lips before she appeared: beautiful and powerful as ever. She looked serene, as if she expected anything. Then, her gaze locked on Celina. She froze to the point of unreadable. Frost supposed that meant his wards had kept her from seeing him—the way he had hoped.
Frost kept rocking. “There’s someone you should meet.”
Celeste visibly swallowed. “Is it okay—” She motioned between them.
Frost glanced down.
Celina’s bottle was empty.
Frost set it aside and stood. “She probably needs to be burped.”
Celeste looked as if he handed her a precious jewel as Celina settled in her arms. As he looked on, silent tears spilled over her lashes as she stared down at Frost’s miracle baby.
“It’s been millennia since I’ve seen my brother speak anything into life that wasn’t born of rage and hatred. She’s flawless.”
Pride and love swelled in Frost’s chest. Not only for his daughter, but for the dad and aunt he never expected to have. “We let Lucifer name her. He chose Celina.”
A watery chuckle burst from Celeste. “Of course he did. He knows how much I hated when he called me that. It’s not a shortened version of anything, but he enjoyed teasing me, pointing out that name is technically one letter shorter than Celeste.
I loved it when he smiled at anything at all, so I let him have his fun. ”
Celeste touched Celina’s wrist, and a golden bracelet appeared. “This will grow with you, little one, so you never forget me.”
Frost fought the urge to cry. He had never considered how much Celeste had lost when forced to banish her twin. Frost didn’t know if she had anyone else. Maybe her life in heaven had been every bit as lonely as Lucifer’s life in Hell.
“The doctor in me wants to point out how dangerous jewelry is on a newborn, but it’s you. I’m sure you have way more power than I have education.”
Celeste smiled as she moved Celina onto her shoulder to burp her.
“You have nothing to worry about. This little girl is an immortal. Like you, she carries the blood of the gods.” Celeste focused on him.
“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t need all the love anyone is willing to give her.
Even the most powerful beings shrivel without love. ”
Despite not directly referencing a thing, Frost knew Celeste looked into his heart and saw the weight he carried.
Stone had always been good to him. This horrendous thing had happened to him, and everyone—including Frost—failed him now.
Frost recalled exactly how Stone looked at Celina.
For reasons Frost couldn’t see, Stone loved Frost’s daughter.
He had taken pride in protecting her. That was all he felt from Stone when he was there.
Frost had taken a sledgehammer to all of that.
Celeste moved on as if she had meant nothing by her statement. “Thank you for letting me meet her, even if it’s only this one time.”
Frost blinked, returning completely to the moment.
“I don’t intend this to be a onetime thing.
She’s your niece. I want her to have all the family she can handle.
All the family I never had.” He didn’t blame Lucifer or Celeste for not being a part of his life growing up.
They hadn’t known he existed. But Frost had known a family had been out there somewhere, uncaring of his existence.
More tears spilled down Celeste’s face. Her pain was a silent, stoic suffering Frost felt from only standing near her.
Frost couldn’t stand it. “I’m sorry I disappeared. It seems I was cursed.”
That brought Celeste back to life. “What do you mean? Tell me everything.”
The outrage in her tone made Frost smile despite the situation.
“It seems Bodhi is back and is—somehow—controlling a dark fae. The fae possessed Stone, using him to get close enough to me to curse me so I doubted my every decision. His spell made me feel overwhelmed by this town and my abilities as a physician. The moment Lucifer took away the enchantment, it was like breathing free air. Every decision I’d made in months was tainted with a doubt I’d never felt in my years as a doctor. I wasn’t me.”
Celeste nodded along. He could practically see the wheels in her mind turning.
“It’s likely a dark fae created by the power of his magic.
Fae aren’t born of the power of nature. They come from the byproducts of Druid magic.
Dark produces dark. Light produces light.
I can’t see Druids. They’re unnatural creatures.
But there are other beings who can find the dark one.
I’ll ensure that’s handled.” She eyed Frost. “It looks as if you’re properly warded now.
No one can curse or possess you again. However, I fully intend to keep a closer watch.
Nothing and no one will touch my family again. ”
Frost winced internally. He cleared his throat. “We won’t steal too much of your time, then. Gemini and I decided, for Celina’s safety, to relocate our home to Hell.”
Celeste didn’t explode the way he’d expected.
She continued to nod along. “Good. Your father is extremely powerful. He can keep you safe. I can’t see you there, but I trust my twin.
He might no longer want a relationship with me, but that’s on me.
His hatred could never extend to you or yours.
He’s too prideful to shun anything he’s created. ”
Frost’s smile grew bigger the longer Celeste spoke. She didn’t want to claim Lucifer could love him, but just like Frost, she knew he did.
Celina let out a loud belch that sounded like a drunken sailor, making them laugh. Their gazes met. They wore matching grins. One way or another, this family would be a functional one. All it took was one tiny little girl to bridge a gap as old as time. Celina might very well heal them all.
Heaviness sat on Lysander’s chest. He felt like he was the only person who recognized how deeply amazing Stone was.
His laughing eyes and flirtatious ways were a brightness the human world needed.
But they had lost him, and their loss was Lysander’s gain.
He wished he felt more triumphant. Stone deserved better from the people he cared the most about.
Lysander wished he could soothe that hurt.
Some things had no balm. That didn’t mean Lysander didn’t plan to make Stone too happy to think about his friends’ betrayal. He fully intended to do that.
He watched Stone trail through the rooms of Lysander’s home. Lysander couldn’t stand the silence. “We’re right next door to Deidra and Jacen. Oh, and Leif and Aspen live almost directly across the street, if you step into the human realm.”
Stone flashed him a smile. “That’s great.
” He glanced around. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to move my things and where they could go.
Honestly, you’ve seen my place. I don’t have a ton of shit, since I lived with the King of Scottish vampires back home.
When I arrived in Wulfe, I came with verra little.
Still, I don’t want to clutter your house. ”
Lysander shook his head and closed the gap between them.
He wrapped his arms around Stone. “Our house.” His gaze swept down Stone’s warrior-hardened body.
“That accent peeked out for a second a minute ago. Are you feeling homesick? We can visit Scotland anytime you’d like.
I can see me flipping up a kilt to find out what’s underneath. ”
Before Lysander had a chance to feel too frisky, someone knocked on the door.
They froze and simultaneously turned that way.
In unison, they moved to answer. Lysander hadn’t been expecting anyone.
When he pulled open the heavy wooden door, no one was there, but a stack of things waited.
The pile looked large enough to fill a small home.
“What the—”
“That’s my stuff,” Stone said, cutting him off.
Neither of them moved.
Stone’s gaze shot in every direction, openly hunting for the source of the delivery.
“What do you smell?” Lysander didn’t know why he whispered. The appearance of Stone’s things just seemed too strange on the heels of their earlier discussion—like someone had been watching them.
Stone sniffed the air. “Odd. I smell cotton candy. That’s it. No hint of any beings.”
“That’s…” He had no idea how to finish that sentence.
“Queer,” Stone supplied.
Lysander nodded. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the mess. “I suppose we should bring all this inside.”
As the words left his lips, boxes lifted and headed straight for them.
Stone and Lysander jumped out of the way.
Boxes and furniture flew inside. They danced in the air as they openly hunted for places to put themselves.
Neither of them intervened. Even for a fairy, Lysander hadn’t seen this brand of magic before.
It was as if all Stone’s possessions were enchanted.
The whirlwind of items finally stopped. Everything had found a home. They exchanged glances, and Lysander swung the door shut.
“Well, there’s one less chore.”
A laugh burst from Lysander at Stone’s droll statement. “You’ll never be able to find anything again.”
Stone smiled. It grew brighter by the second.
He crowded Lysander’s space until he had Lysander trapped against the door.
“I bet I can still find the bed.” Stone cupped Lysander’s cock through his jeans and rubbed.
Warmth spread through Lysander’s blood. Stone kept tormenting him by unbuttoning Lysander’s jeans.
“Then again, I don’t need a bed, do I? I can blow you right here. ”
A needy sound came from the back of Lysander’s throat. Stone always took Lysander from zero to a hundred in seconds.
His whimper seemed to be exactly what Stone wanted to hear.
He dropped to his knees. Lysander’s head fell back with a thump against the door.
Stone’s hot mouth engulfed him. A bright light flared inside his closed eyelids.
The heat he produced got warmer. The suction on his dick had Lysander rolling his hips, trying to get deeper and take what he wanted.
Stone didn’t tease him. He kept a steady pace.
Lysander saw the determination inside Stone to make him come as quickly as possible.
He wanted to be inside Lysander. The instant he saw that thought, Lysander desperately wanted the same.
“Please. I need you to fuck me.”
In a flash, using vampire speed, Stone had him in his arms and braced against the wall. Lysander barely had time to magic up the lube needed before Stone positioned his cock against Lysander’s asshole and thrust.
“Tell me if I hurt you.”
Oh, he was really about to get fucked. “I dare you to try.”
With permission given, Stone became the vampire he was.
He pounded Lysander, easily raising and lowering Lysander on his dick with rapid-pace motions.
All Lysander could do was hang on. His first orgasm hit like lightning.
He cried his way through, moaning and gasping, before Stone’s fangs struck.
The second orgasm made him black out for a second.
He hadn’t recovered a single ounce when the third one hit.
This time, as he shook with pleasure, Stone joined him over the edge.
They fought equally like wildcats to pull every ounce of pulsing pleasure from each other.
They kissed and bit, scratched and squeezed.
The ecstasy had them on the edge of madness with the way they experienced each other’s pleasure combined.
Lysander wasn’t sure he even breathed any longer.
Oxygen was overrated anyhow. Stone’s lips swiped his throat where he had just bitten.
“I never thought I’d be jealous of the way Weres can mark each other.
There’s no way for anyone to know you’re mine. ”
The whispered confession caused tears to spring to his eyes. Fairies couldn’t scar, and the only time he had seen a vampire have his skin marked was when they were mated to a Were. That in itself was rarer than the most precious of jewels.
“I can mark us in a different way.” He kissed Stone’s neck. A tattoo appeared beneath his lips. His neck tingled as a similar tattoo etched itself onto him.
Stone stared at Lysander’s neck in awe. His gaze moved to hold Lysander’s stare.
He didn’t say anything. Stone looked too stunned to speak.
Still holding Lysander, Stone headed for the bathroom.
He set Lysander on the edge of the counter, obviously uncaring of the cum Lysander leaked.
Stone stared at his neck in the reflection.
Lysander’s name and lips were deeply branded on his skin in gorgeous fairy ink.
His gaze moved back to Lysander. “I love it.” Stone traced his name on Lysander’s neck. “Everyone will know you’re mine.”
Pride swelled in his chest. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re mine too.”
For a moment, they simply held each other’s stare. Slowly, matching smiles stretched their lips. Lysander knew Stone felt everything he did. All they needed was each other. They were a beautiful miracle.