Chapter 57 #2
Rory thought of the times she saw Sera over the last week, remembering Sam’s unease around her. Her face twisted in disgust. “Did you go dress shopping with Kordie and me?” Sera shook her head sadly, and Rory clenched her jaw. “That bastard watched me change.”
The shadows in the room moved around them, and she wrapped her arm around Caius’ waist. “He’s dead.”
The muscle in his jaw feathered. “I’d raise him from the dead to kill him again if I could.”
Rory patted his arm reassuringly and turned back to her friends. “Sera, do you work at The Capital?”
“No,” Sera answered, sounding confused. “I’m a receptionist at a pediatric clinic downtown. Why?”
“Gedeon said you did when he wore your skin,” Rory replied bitterly. He’d fooled them all for far longer than he should have.
“Rory,” Dume said sharply. “Don’t upset her.”
Sera started to protest but stopped when her attention snagged on Caius. “Rory failed to mention you had tattoos,” she commented, squinting at his forearm. “They make your blood look black.” There was nothing judgmental in her tone. In fact, she sounded impressed.
Caius lifted a hand and wiggled his fingers with a wry grin. The dark marks had receded some, but not all the way. The remaining black veins covered his hands, arms, torso, and neck. A few crept over his jawline, but barely.
“They weren’t there before,” Rory answered, taking his hand to graze her thumb over his knuckles. “But he knows I like tattoos.”
He lifted her palm to his lips and planted a soft kiss on her wedding mark. “I would tattoo my entire body for her if she asked.”
Dume stood and fussed with Sera’s blanket to cover her legs, and to Rory’s surprise, she let him. “I know you haven’t seen her in days, but Sera needs her rest,” he said, turning to them. “I’ll bring her to dinner tonight.”
Rory’s brows rose as she looked from Dume to Sera, who watched Dume with adoration.
“We understand,” Caius replied and steered Rory into the hall. “We’ll see you tonight.”
“You didn’t tell me your friends all dated each other,” Caius said when they stepped outside, leading her to the car with a hand placed protectively on the small of her back. “I wouldn’t have dreamed of killing the Aatxe if you had.”
Her eyes crinkled at the seriousness in his tone. “They weren’t until now.” She jumped into the backseat of their car before the driver could open her door. “Besides, I like it when you’re jealous.”
Caius didn’t know how to drive, having been locked away for so long, and instead of learning, he insisted on hiring a driver while in Erdikoa. She hated driving anyway.
The privacy screen closed, and Caius slid her across the seat, pulling her into his lap to face him. “How much do you like it, Miss Raven?” His fingers lifted the bottom of her sundress and ran along the edge of her panties. “Shall we see?”
“We don’t have time,” she reminded him. “The phone store isn’t far from Sera’s house.”
After Gedeon fried hers, she insisted on getting a new one to use while in Erdikoa. Caius refused one, spouting a lie about owning a phone already.
He pulled her mouth to his and slipped his fingers beneath the thin fabric of her underwear, groaning against her lips.
“Always wet for me, like a good little mate.” She instinctively moved her hips when his fingers slipped through her arousal and caressed her sensitive skin.
“Would you like to ride my hand, dear wife?”
“Yes, please.”
He withdrew his hand and flipped her around with ease, pulling her back to his chest. “I need proper access,” he murmured and slid her panties down. “Open your thighs.”
She obeyed, leaning her head back on his shoulder as his fingers moved across her skin and into her center. Sucking in a sharp breath, she raised her hips, urging him to push deeper.
“We don’t have time to play,” he said. “Only time to come. Can you do that for me?”
When she nodded, he nipped at her ear. “Good girl.”
While he moved his fingers in and out of her, he reached his other hand under the neckline of her dress. “Are you not wearing a bra?” His voice was husky, and she felt his dick harden beneath her ass.
“I don’t need to with this dress,” she replied with a coy smile.
He hummed against her neck and licked his thumb, ghosting it over her hardened nipple. She slid her hand under her dress, needing to touch her clit, but he removed his own from between her legs and clamped down on her wrist. “Tell me what you need.”
She whimpered at the loss of his touch. “I need to touch my clit.”
After placing her hand on the seat beside them, he returned to her pussy, pushing inside with two fingers. “Allow me.” Another cool caress moved across her skin, and when shadows moved over the area she longed to touch, her hips bucked involuntarily.
“Fuck, Caius.” Her words were a mix of cries and moans as the shadows picked up speed in direct contrast with the slow movements of his hand.
His laugh rumbled against her back. “I will later, but for now, come for me.”
The vibrations on her clit, along with his fingers stroking in and out, made her body spark with intense pleasure. She twisted her head and pulled his mouth to hers, moving faster against his hand. “That’s it, baby,” he murmured against her lips.
The shadows started to vibrate in a pattern that made her body tighten. After a short burst of quick touches, they buzzed harder with added pressure, sending her over the edge.
Rory’s mouth opened in a silent scream, and Caius trailed his lips down her neck, biting lightly. Her release moved through her in waves, and her pussy clamped around his fingers as she came.
When her body went limp, he kissed her neck and moved her to the seat beside him. She reached for her panties, but he snatched them from the floorboard and stuffed them in his pocket with a sly smile.
Before she could protest, the car stopped, and he winked. “Perfect timing.”
That night, Rory ran around the kitchen, inspecting the food spread across the island. “They’re not going to care what the food looks like,” Caius assured her.
“I’ve never met Tammy before,” she muttered as she straightened a dish. “What if she thinks it’s terrible?”
Caius walked around the island and pinned her arms to her sides. “She is married to Max. There’s no way she has a judgmental bone in her body, and if the food isn’t to her taste, she can take it up with the caterer.”
He was right, but she wanted everything to be perfect. It sounded like a herd of cattle walked in the door, and she stuck her head around the corner to see their friends piling inside.
When she hurried through the dining room to greet them, the sight of Keith made her chest squeeze. His sandy blonde hair was perfectly styled, and his blue eyes twinkled with his wide smile.
Stepping forward, he held out his arms. “Come here, supermystic.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck, refusing to let him go. The way she felt when Stassi told her he died was no different from watching Gedeon kill Cora all those years ago.
“You’re the supermystic,” she mumbled against his shoulder.
Kordie pulled Keith back and shoved him away to throw her arms around Rory’s middle. “We’re making a safe word,” she declared as she stepped back. “That way, we know it’s really us.”
“I agree,” Sera said from next to Dume, whose hand was clasped tightly in hers.
Rory heard Caius enter the room behind her and said, “I vote for king.”
“Nice try,” Caius replied, holding her against his chest as he lowered his voice. “If anyone hears that word leave your lips again, I will slaughter them where they stand.”
Sera raised a brow and looked between the two. “Is there something we should know?”
“No,” they said at the same time.
“We will figure out a word later,” Dume said. “I’m starving.”
Rory redirected them to the living room. “Not yet. I invited Max and his wife, Tammy.”
A knock at the door filled her with nervous excitement, and Caius moved around her. “I’ll answer it.”
He opened the door and smiled kindly at the older couple on the porch. “It’s good to see you again, Max. Please, come in.”
“You as well, Your Grace,” Max replied, and in true fashion, didn’t give the veins on Caius’ arms a second glance. “This is my wife, Tammy.”
“Call me Caius. We’re friends now, not warden and inmate.” He turned to Tammy. “It’s lovely to meet you. Let me introduce you to my wife.”
Rory smiled at the couple, and Max’s eyes wrinkled as he returned the gesture. “Wife? I guess queen is a more appropriate job for you than a gardener.”
She laughed and hugged him before holding her hand out to his wife. “I’m Rory.”
The old woman hauled her into a hug with surprising strength. “None of that, now. I’m Tammy. This old geezer told me all about you.”
Rory tried not to laugh but failed. “I’m glad you two came,” she said, sweeping her arm toward the living room. “I’d like to introduce you to my friends.”