Secrets (The Forever series, Book 8) (31 page)

I turn around and, still naked, I march back into the dim
room. My eyes fall upon my husband, sleeping so soundly. I love him so much. I
can do this. I move towards him and he stirs. His eyes fly open as he notices I
am not next to him, but standing naked at the foot of the bed. His eyes blaze
over my body and my stomach clenches. I want my frumpy nightgown back, but I
shake it off and let him look at me. He sees all my thoughts pass across my
face and he puts his hand out to stop me from climbing onto the bed. I falter
in my resolve. I can’t have him touching me, not yet, but I know I can touch
him and give him something. He stares at me with his beautiful blue eyes. He
opens his mouth to speak, but I put my hand up to his lips, “Hush,” I say. “Let
me do what I can for you.”

He wants to resist, but he can’t, it is impossible for him.
I pull his boxers down, and he springs free, already enormous, his tip
glistening. I lean over him, keeping myself out of reach and slowly lower my
mouth to him. He whimpers as my lips close over him and I slide my tongue down
his length. I bring my hand up to circle him and it is over in a few seconds.
He lets go and I drink in his desire, lapping up every last drop. As soon as I
sit up he pulls his boxers back up and turns away from me again. I know he
doesn’t have the words, so I don’t take offense. I just snuggle under the
covers and drift back off as I hear him mutter, “Thank you.”

I wake up to him watching me with a sad look, which he
removes from his face when he sees me notice him. I can tell he is aching to
touch me and I want to let him.

“Give me your hand,” I whisper, holding mine out to him.

He just stares at it for the longest time. He eventually
hesitantly reaches out and I grasp his fingers in a strong grip. He relaxes
when I don’t freak out or pull away from him. “I’m sorry, Liv. I don’t know how
to act with you.” His face is a mask of utter desolation and my heart breaks
for him.

“Don’t act,” I say to him. “Just be.”

“Did he hurt you?” he whispers so quietly. “I mean really
hurt you?”

He avoids my gaze and I in turn avoid his. “No,” I say,
shaking my head. “Not really. It was…”

The silence lingers.

“Was what?” he asks.

I pause, wondering if I can explain it to him. “Not an act
of power. He did what he did, because he wanted the child.”

Cole closes his eyes as he thinks that over. For all his
anger and pain over the act itself, I can see clearly that he is not happy that
someone tried to impregnate me. I don’t blame him. I’m not either.

“What is so fucking special about this child?” he snaps
suddenly.

I had wondered that myself until I went on my exploration
mission of the palace. I had found Drake in the library and he was more than
startled to see me wandering aimlessly around, but he was more than forthcoming
when I asked him that exact question. Minus the expletive, of course. He didn’t
expect me to know or understand why the prophecy was so important to them and I
still don’t really. He explained that there has never been a recorded case of a
half Dark, half Light Faerie being born. Not for a lack of trying, I was given
to understand. It was told even further back that a child born of the two races
would be crucial to the survival of the Faerie. That a time would come in the
Kingdoms when a new breed of Faerie would be needed. No one knew why, although
there has been speculation that it was going to be the only way to bring peace
between the Dark and Light. I gulp suddenly when it occurs to me that they are
fighting now over my attack and Aelfric’s demise. Is this the war that was
predicted so long ago? Is this child needed now to bring peace? I really,
really hope not.

“So they need it?” Cole asks grimly. “They need you and
Sebastian to make a new leader for them?”

“Pretty much,” I say. “But Cole, it is not going to happen.”
It isn’t much in the way of reassurance and he knows it, but what else can I
say?

“What does your mother have to say about all of this?” he
asks an insightful question and I blink at him.

“She is less than impressed with this entire situation,” I
say. “She’s told me I am not to make a Faerie baby,” I add lightly in an
imitation of Her voice and it catches him on the quick and he laughs.

“Good,” he says. “I hope this time you listen to Her.”

“Yes, sir,” I murmur and his eyes light up. His hand
twitches in mine and I feel peace settle over me. On impulse, I bring it up to
place it over my heart. There is a golden glow coming from him as he touches me
and we both just stare at it. The raggedness deep inside begins to fade as the
golden light swirls up from where he is touching me, twining itself around us
with the twinkle of a million stars. I absorb the golden haze into me and the
peace settles over me again. I have no idea what he just did to me, or how, but
I pull him to me and I kiss him.

Moments later I murmur to him, “Let me do this, my way,” and
he has no choice but to let me. He lies back and gasps as my hands move up over
his legs and once again pull his boxers down, this time removing them
completely and tossing them aside. He is ready for me, but I need more time. I
crawl up his lap and run my hands under his t-shirt, bringing it up with me and
pulling it over his head. I cast my eyes down his spectacular body and my mouth
starts to water at the sight of him. Unfortunately, that is the only part of me
that goes damp. I am as dry as the Sahara where it matters and that won’t do.
He sits up and kisses me gently, moving down to nuzzle my neck before he bites
me. He is doing everything right, everything that would usually be sending me
into a tailspin of desire, but my arousal is still out of my reach. He pulls
back and I lean over and kiss him, pushing my tongue into his mouth. He returns
the kiss, but keeps his hands off me. I suck on his tongue and he purrs. I
think we are both waiting for my fangs to slice into his tongue, but they
don’t. That is odd, so I snap them down anyway. I want to drink from him, taste
him. I move my mouth down to his neck, as he sits up again to get me more
comfortable. I can feel the length of his cock pressing against my clit, but
still nothing. I concentrate on the task at hand and I clamp my fangs down into
his skin and he groans. I grab his shoulders as I bite harder and suddenly, all
I want is his blood. It is soothing my parched throat and my dry tongue. I don’t
want to drink anything except him. I push him down, still suckling on his neck,
slowly now. I feel his hands resting lightly on my hips and then I feel him
undulating under me. I release the bite when I realize he is inside me.

He feels me pause and he opens his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he
says as he lifts me up, but I shake my head at him.

“Don’t be, my love. Take me.” I meet his thrusts, my hands
clutching at him desperately. I can feel every inch of him filling me up and in
a sudden burst, he comes quickly. He is ready again within seconds and I ride
him, slowly. His hand comes up to cup my breast, placing his palm flat against
me, his fingers still against my skin and the golden glow swirls up around us
again, healing me and tightening our bond to each other. I kiss him deeply and
mutter, “You’re the one. The only one.”

* * * * *

Cole

He stares up at his wife as she breaks their kiss. Her
emerald eyes are looking back at him with a wondrous awe that he wants to see
every time she looks at him now. He doesn’t know what he just did to her, but
he knows it came from him, and so does she. She is content now. He can see it
by the set of her face. She is no longer the ragged doll that had been limply
sewn back together after she came back from the Underworld. She is whole again,
and he did that to her. He wants to take her again, he is ready. He wants to
manhandle her into a position where he can take her again and again until he
can’t come any more, and until her throat is raw with her screams of ecstasy.

But he doesn’t.

She said she needed to do this her way, so they will. He is
thankful she came to him. He couldn’t bear what that asshole had done to her.
It is ripping him apart because he is weak and unable to protect the woman that
he loves. He hated that that creature was the last man to have been inside her.
It has to be him. Always him. His heart is filled with joy at her muttered
words. He has waited so long to hear them uttered from her lips. It makes all
the shit he has put up with over the last ten months worth it to hear her say
them. He knows deep down that it won’t last, but right now he just wants to
believe that it will. That she will only ever want him and leave all the others
behind. She is still staring at him with a serene smile on her perfect face and
he moves under her. He wishes then that he had stayed still when she climbs off
him though. He is disappointed she didn’t finish. That has never happened
before. He feels utterly inadequate, but she snuggles into him, her head on his
chest, her hand splayed out over him and he knows she is happy. He loves her so
much. He strokes her hair and murmurs his feelings to her and as expected she
soon falls asleep in his arms.

Several hours later, she is still sleeping and Cole is still
watching her. He could watch her forever. Her words are still etched firmly in
his brain. “You are the one. The only one.” He has deduced, while he has been
sitting here, that it was her Dragon talking. Dragons are true to one and he is
her husband, therefore he is her “one.” For as long as it lasts, he will be
true to her. Even after that, he will never betray her again. He will ache with
need if she goes back to seeing
him
every week, but he will endure it,
for her. She is his sire, his wife, and his Queen. At least for now he has her
all to himself for a whole month, and away from
him
for three. He has no
idea what Constantine did and said to her, but it must have been huge and
hurtful for him to even suggest it. Cole has seen him treat her like shit in
the past and she usually forgives him straight away. This, whatever it is, has
affected her whole attitude and he is grateful to the bastard for whatever it
was he did to her.

Liv shivers in the chill morning air and her eyes blink
open. She smiles that secretive smile as she sees him watching her again. “Hi,”
she says.

“Hi,” he says back, and leans over to kiss her. “Water?”

She shakes her head.

“Tea? Coffee?”

She shakes her head again.

“Wine?” he asks, enjoying this game, as he knows what she
wants. He can see it written all over her face.

She chuckles and shakes her head again.

“What do you want, my love?” he asks her.

“You,” she says as she drops her fangs and takes his hand.
He wants her to take him at his neck, but he is happy just to feed her. She
links her fingers through his and bites down on his wrist. He hisses as her
bite has gotten so much sharper. Her eyes never leave his as she takes her fill
and then she releases him. She offers him hers in return and wild horses
couldn’t keep him from accepting. He bites down on her as she did to him and
her blood pours into his mouth. She has always tasted delicious, but now she is
irresistible. Addictive, even. She still tastes like cherries with a spicy
aftertaste, but now he can feel the power of her blood. It is so much more than
before. Cole lets her go and reaches for her. The sheet has dropped down so her
tits are on display and he has to touch her. He places his hand over her heart
again and she braces herself. He wants to draw his hand away at the rejection,
but then she places hers over his and he knows that she is trying. His hand
lights up under hers, the same golden glow as before, only not as intense, but
she feels it and closes her eyes as her hair floats gently in the breeze. “I
want to taste you,” Cole blurts out suddenly, as the overwhelming urge to go
down on her takes him over. Her eyes fly open and the spell is broken as she
shakes her head. He yanks his hand away in fury that the bastard dared to do
that to her, to
his
wife. That is too intimate and a red haze descends
over his eyes at the thought of his lips and tongue caressing her sweet spot.

“Don’t think of it, Cole,” she says, taking his hand
lightly.

“I can’t not think of him doing that to you,” he answers
roughly. He has no idea what he looked like, this Light Fae King, but when he
pictures him, he pictures Sebastian, and that enrages him further. Cole pulls
away from her before he says something even more stupid to upset her.

“Cole,” she says his name and he looks at her. “Don’t think
about it.”

“Use me,” he says to her, grabbing her hands and crushing
them in earnest.

“Excuse me?” she asks, confused.

“Use me,” he says again. “Use me to make yourself feel
better. Take back what he took from you. Rip me to shreds and then do it all
again.”

She takes in his words and deliberates for a few minutes.
She slowly gets to her knees and he sees her determination. Uh-oh, he is so in
for it, he thinks to himself, but he doesn’t care. If it makes her feel better,
she can kill him if she wants to. She slowly drops her fangs and extends her
claws, flashing them both at him before she flies at him, pinning him to the
bed, ready to take out her anger and frustrations on him.

What feels like several lifetimes later, Liv somehow manages
to coax another erection out of him. He has no idea how. He is completely
exhausted. The sweat is pouring off him from the exertion of coming for her
again and again, and his chest hurts like Hell. She sliced into him awhile ago
for the umpteenth time and it is painfully slow to heal. Whatever frustrations
she had, she has taken them out on him like he asked her to. He can only hope
that she feels better for it. She crawls up him and finally, finally slides him
inside her. Cole has been waiting to be inside her all this time, but she has stayed
away, using her mouth and her fingers to drive him crazy. That gets his dick
harder, as he feels her wet against him. She puts her hands on his chest and he
winces from the pain, but it only makes her dig her claws in. He stifles the
cry of pain as she grinds down onto him. He forgets about everything then
except her soft, wet pussy gliding over his rock hard dick. She comes quickly
and it makes him come too, then she is still. He opens his eyes as he feels her
stop moving and looks at her. She has an amused expression on her face as she
sits up and he slips out of her completely limp. It doesn’t surprise him. He is
one hundred percent spent. He has nothing left to give her. He feels her tongue
lapping at the base of the wounds she inflicted and the pain eases as she heals
him. One by one the wounds close, as she reaches the top of the last one, she
lies flat on top of him, stretching out like a panther about to fall asleep
after playing with her prey. “I love you,” she says to him and kisses him sweetly.