Dark Throne, The (20 page)

That slight smile once again adorning his
mouth
.

That swept any desire to argue, or any desire to tease him
by riding him to an orgasm of his own away
.

As she settled down and snuggled against him, finding a
comfortable position for her neck and face, Heather had a
premonition
.

Thirty years down the line, thirty years of experience and
three decades of having lived with the bond, they would still sleep
this way
. Every night. The
thought soothed her, calmed and reassured her and with that image
emblazoned behind her eyes, she fell asleep.

A
large yawn whistled past his ear and Fade grinned as his mate
sleepily wiggled her hips and inadvertently impaled herself a
little deeper on to his cock
.

"Good morning, Fade
,”
she whispered drowsily, her hips bucking up and down as though she
were intent on riding him in her state of
half-wakefulness.

He gripped her waist to stop her
. His cock was hard, but his body was still tired. To
feel her surrounding him was quite ample for the moment. Especially
as the day ahead of them heralded a lot of emotion and political
debate.

The pair of them needed to shore up t
heir reserves and Fade had quickly learned that
by simply being with Heather, he was energized.

He doubted he'd have been able to abide such strenuous
activity yesterday had it not been for her presence and the
knowledge that he had to get her to safety
.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been gone, but he'd noticed a
lot of worrying signs
. He'd
passed through four kingdoms yesterday. Halstor, Pynn, Ravint and
Erryhn. All of them had been militarized and obviously gearing up
for some major action.

As he'd passed each land, he'd promised himself that he'd
let them rest and then he'd spy more soldiers, see more troops and
he knew that the only safety for his new mate was with her own
kind
.

And so, he'd nearly killed himself
.

The last time he'd actually flown anywhere had been as a
child
. As an adult, he'd
learned to keep his wings banded to his back.

With no training, what he'd done yesterday was both a
miracle and incredibly stupid
.
However, with such touching faith in his abilities, his pride had
forced him to act, lest he disappoint his mate.

He had seen how fascinating his wings were to her, also the
way they aroused her, but he had not realized that she felt
no
shame in them. To have her ask him why they weren't flying,
as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. . . . it had
nearly made him weep.

Such trust
. Such
acceptance.

He had not felt the like since the
loss of his mother.

"Hush, my sweetling
.
Just rest.”

"Don't want to
.”

He heard her pout and grinned
. She would be good for him, his mate. Never had he smiled
or grinned or laughed as much. Not even with close and trusted
friends.

"Tough
. My cock is
hard because it adores your quim, not because it has any desire to
spill seed.”

That had her head rearing back
. And as she'd done often yesterday, she glared at him.
"Well, charming.” He grinned again and saw her glare disappear.
"You know I can't stay mad at you, when you smile like
that.”

He hadn't known that, but he made sure to make a note of
it
. It would undoubtedly come
of use in the decades ahead.

He'd noticed her protectiveness towards him and while he
didn't need it, he was still charmed
. Her words about his sun-kissed face. . . . her desire to
rub salve on it. . . . He was a fortunate man.

She would soon learn that the sun cosseted the elfen,
bestowing upon the receiver more energy and
vitality
. Without the
'sunburn' as she'd called it, he doubted he'd have made it to
Jender yesterday. No matter his desire to take her somewhere safe
and sound. The body could only take so much and the sun had
replenished his depleted resources.

He made another mental note, to give an offering to Mother
Mearth in thanks
.

Fade felt sure Heather would enjoy watching the
ritual
.

"I'm tired, dearling
.”
It was the truth. He'd awoken earlier than he'd wanted to, but that
came from years of being at war. Of living on a battle field and
taking the minimum amount of sleep the body required to return to
the battle.

"Let's go back to sleep, then
.”

"Your parents will call on us soon
. Don't you want to see them?"

She bit her lip in a way that made his cock
twitch
. Her distraction was
complete, for she failed to crow over his primal reaction to such a
gesture. "I do. But I need you to be okay more. Does that make
sense?" she questioned, nibbling at the choice morsel of plump
lower lip again.

"It does
.”

"Good
.”

"Mates become everything to the other,
Heather
. Our hearts and lungs
already move as one. Imagine what will occur after decades have
passed.”

She smiled, the expression almost dreamy, for she was
obviously content at the idea of t
heir being even closer.

He couldn't deny that the idea pleased him
also
. All of his adult life,
he'd been alone. Now, he was one half of a pair.
Incredible.

"I want to see them, but if you need to sleep and need me
with you, then they'll just have to wait
.”

Her selflessness tugged at him
. How had he lived without her? How, in such a few days
time, had she come to represent the sun, the moons and the
stars?

"No, dearling
. We
shall meet with them together. Tonight, we shall adjourn early. We
are newly mated so they will not be too angry with us for such a
social faux pas.”

She blushed
. "They'll
think we're. . . .?" At his nod, she grimaced. "I take it they're
very active in that department. . . . from what you said last
night, that is?"

He grinned at her embarrassment
. "Yes. Their love for another is renowned around the
seven kingdoms.”

"Well, that's nice
.”
With a pensive frown on her face, she trailed the hair that curled
about his nipples. "Will they like me, Fade? I'm not what they're
expecting. I'm not the little girl I was. I'm an adult now and I'm
different. I'm used to Earth, to my old life. I don't like all of
this bowing and scraping. I probably won't know which forks to use
at the table or which glass to drink from. . . . I'm just a girl
from New York State. A simple one at that. I'm used to staying
motels the size of this room, than suites like this.”

He reached for her hand to still it and lifted it to his
mouth, where he bestowed a kiss upon it
. "You're much more than that, dearling. You are a
girl of royal blood, who has not been trained. That is all. Forks
and glasses matter not. To some, I can't deny that yes, such
knowledge is of the utmost importance. But if your mother is
bothered about such nonsense, then you can learn to please her if
you want, or don't have to bother if you don't. I doubt she will
care. She will be so relieved to see you. To set her eyes upon you
after such a length of time.

"Without knowing of this nation's mourning of your loss,
the guards' reactions to your presence said
enough
. This entire kingdom
grieved for you, because their beloved King and Queen did. For such
a sentiment to pass down through the ranks to the everyday elfen. .
. . it speaks louder than words, my sweetling.”

A
watery smile graced her lips
.
"Thank you, Fade.”

"There is nothing to thank me for,
Heather
. It is the
truth.”

She sighed
. "What's
wrong with Jender, Fade? Why is it in danger? Why did I have to be
sent to Earth?"

"You know as little as I do, my heart
. Your father has never liked war. As such, he
tends to use words as a weapon. This does work, but for those
kingdoms who prefer to fight with swords, it does create a problem.
From what I've managed to discern, you were in danger because of
this. If memory serves, Jender was at war with Erryhn when I was
nearing my sixteenth year. They almost lost, but Halstor joined
with Jender and defeated Erryhn. If I recall, Erryhn's Crown Prince
was a pederast.”

"A what?"

Fade grimaced
. "It is
a distasteful subject. But even amongst the elfen, there are those
who have perverted souls. He liked children.”

"Oh
.”

"Yes
. Undoubtedly, had
his nation defeated yours, then he would have taken you to wife
regardless of your age.”

"But wouldn't that have been
illegal?"

"In the ancient years, children married
adults
. They only consummated
the marriage once they had reached adulthood themselves. Boys
married female Princesses, girls married Kings. Is Earth history
not similar to this?"

"Yes
. In the Middle
Ages, that used to happen. To bind two countries together if I can
remember fourth grade history.”

Fade nodded
. "This is
a long time ago, but the laws still stand. They're rarely repealed.
He would have married you under the protection of that law, but
would have ignored the ruling that protects the younger spouse. He
would have defiled you and because of our mate bond, you would have
suffered more than most.”

"What do you mean?"

"Your body was meant for my seed
. Regardless of the other trauma he put you through,
your body would have rejected his seed and thus, made you ill. You
disappeared long before Halstor joined forces with Jender, as such,
your parents must have feared for your innocence and your
wellbeing.

"To protect you, to keep you pure and free from defilement
and such perversions, they sent you to safety
.”

"That's so sad
.”

"Yes
. A great
sacrifice. For they knew you lived, but could not protect you.
Whereas you knew not that they still existed and believed them to
be dead. The war with Erryhn lasted a long time. It decimated that
kingdom and there was a rebellion. A new reigning family resides
upon the nation now. Jender was fortunate. As I say, Mother Mearth
has bestowed many gifts upon them and she is never kind to those
who attempt to take those gifts for themselves.”

"Why didn't they come for me, when the
war had ended?"

"A shaman must have warned them against
it
. Our meeting the way we did
was undoubtedly fated. It was our destiny to meet on Earth. To
change that would have changed our lives forever. And not in a good
way.”

"You are surprisingly insightful, Fade of
Haden
.”

The sound jarred a shriek out of Heather, who inadvertently
elbowed Fade in her haste to un-impale herself from his cock and to
cover herself with the sheets
.
"Who the hell is that, Fade?"

His already aching body had another ache added to it and he
rubbed at his belly, as he stared up the Queen of
Jender
.

"Is it a Jenderian custom to walk in
on a mated pair, when they spend the night in your Palace, your
Highness?"

He was pissed off and diplomacy be
damned
.

No one, not even her mother, would embarrass his
mate
.

"No
. It is not a
custom,” Setta bit out. "But I was angry. My staff should have
awoken me last night.”

Heather's head was still under the cover as she said, "I-I,
we were both really tired
. I
asked them if we could just go to bed.”

Fade watched Setta's face soften as she looked at the lump
under the covers that was her daughter
. The love there touched him. She would not hurt his mate,
he felt sure of that.

"No, I can understand that, my daughter
. But I should have been informed. Instead, that
pompous Palace Guardian told me this morning over my glass
of
papely
juice. You would have thought he was royalty and
not I.”

"He is pompous, isn't he?" Heather
agreed and Fade realized that inch by inch, she was letting the
covers fall away.

"Dreadfully
.
Unfortunately, he's been with your father's family since time began
- or so Henrik would have me believe. Plus, the foreign dignitaries
appreciate his smarminess, although only Mother Mearth knows why.”
She sighed gruffly. "I shall be in the outer chamber. Please, take
your time. I've waited twenty years to see you, another hour won't
kill me.”