The next morning wa
s surprising, and unlike any morning I had ever had before in my life. I woke up wrapped in Ryder’s arms with my head nuzzled against his chest. I smiled against him as his warmth melted me. His chest rose and fell in sleep. I didn’t want to move, or disturb his sleep. I felt safe in this moment, cherished, even if it was just an illusion.
I placed my hand on his heart, listening to his even breathing. In sleep, he almost looked human—if you ignored the pulsing brands on his beautifully bronzed flesh, and the electrical zing that was in the air around the bed. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and tried to hide the smile it brought to my face.
He was every inch the Dark Prince, and
he was sleeping in my bed, holding me. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. I heard him growl, and my eyes shot open and darted to look up into his eyes that were still half lidded from sleep.
“
Molesting me while I sleep, Pet?” he asked, with a tired, sexy smirk lifting his lips.
“
There was no molesting going on,” I retorted.
“
You just smelled me, your face is rubbing against my chest, and I’m pretty sure you just made my nipples hard.”
I considered it for a moment
, before I smiled guiltily. “Okay, I’m guilty of those things. What’s my punishment?” I asked, shocked the words had come out of my mouth. I was supposed to be mad, and I was failing miserably. My brain was once again high on Fae.
He smiled brighter
, and my breath hitched in my lungs. He looked like a man just waking up to the most beautiful woman in the world. I swallowed and smiled back at him. “I think someone is ready to feed,” he whispered, before he pounced, and pinned me to the bed playfully.
“
As
if
. You promised to teach me how to feed today. And I’m pretty sure you said it was
without
sex.”
He smiled down at me.
“But, I like sex
with
you.”
“
Okay, who are you and what did you do with my Ryder?” I asked playfully.
“
Your
Ryder?” he whispered as he lowered his mouth to mine, not expecting an answer. His mouth met mine, and I didn’t stop him, as I should have. Instead, I opened to him and allowed him inside to caress my tongue with his.
We were just kissing.
He wasn’t seeking more. He was giving me room to move away as well, not that I needed it. When he finally did pull away, it was because a knock sounded from the bedroom door.
“
Yo, Ryder, it’s late,” Savlian said, with his deep, rich baritone shaking the wood of the door. I looked at the clock and was shocked that it was far later in the day than I thought. I was never one to sleep in late; at least I hadn’t been until I’d met him.
“
I’m awake,” Ryder yelled back and turned his face back to mine. “I have to go. I’ll be back tonight to teach you how to feed. I’m leaving a small group of men here with you to keep you safe.”
“
I don’t—” His lips crushed against mine, stopping my protest. When he pulled away, I glared at him. “That was dirty, Ryder.”
“
Who knew kissing you was all it took to shut that sassy mouth up?” he whispered playfully and rubbed his hard cock over my groin invitingly. He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “You will allow me to protect you. I will not be distracted from my objectives by knowing you are unprotected and alone. Give me this, at least until we know who it is that we are up against.”
“
Fine, but they better clean up any mess they make,” I whispered, afraid to look away from him and miss this playful side he was showing this morning.
“
Duly noted, Pet. If the hunger gets too bad, tell Ristan. We have a mental link, and he can easily get word to me. Don’t push yourself today. If you feel sick, have Ristan take you to Eliran.”
“
Okay, you can’t tell me Ristan ate a guy’s heart, and have me ask him for medical help, ya know. That’s just not going to happen.”
“
He’s a Demon, and one I’d trust with my own life. You can trust him, Syn. He’d die to keep you safe.”
“
I’m not worth dying for,” I said as I chewed my bottom lip. He started to reply, but I kissed him hard. I pinched his bottom lip between my teeth, gently replacing my teeth with my lips and sucked his into my mouth, enjoying the groan that broke as I did so. “Hmm, works on you too.”
He
laughed, the sound vibrating through him as he watched me. “If you keep kissing me, Synthia, I’m not going to be leaving this bed for the next week.”
I licked my lips
and sighed dramatically.
“
I have to go, Pet. Stay inside today. Give me time to figure out who that was in the house last night. Let me protect you, for now.”
“
Fine,” I said, and watched as he stood up and glamoured a new shirt on. His thick dark hair hung close, framing his face. He looked sexy with the sleep still hanging on to his eyes and making them look heated and languid.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I got dressed, and headed downstairs a few minutes after Ryder had left. I’d made it half-way down the stairs when I heard voices discussing something; discussing
me
. I stood perfectly still, listening, unaware of who the voices belonged to.
“
I’ll bet he’s feeding from her again. When she has satisfied his hunger, I’m sure he will give her to us as he does the others. I, for one, can’t wait to get my dick inside of her.”
“
She’s different; I’m not so sure he will release her. He will probably keep her in the private pavilion. Remember what he did to Sierra?” The other male asked.
“
Sierra was different though; she liked us all riding that sweet slit of hers.”
“
You really think he’s going to let us fuck her? She’s got his mark on her right now, and he didn’t let us in for Transition. I don’t foresee him letting us anywhere near that sweet peach.”
“
Maybe, but I think he will, and I, for one, want to be first in line to hit it. Besides, he was talking to Ristan about her earlier; about taking her memories of him from her. Maybe he’s done with her already.”
“
What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Ristan’s voice was angry and held a hint of malice in it. His anger was palpable, even from the distance I stood from them.
“
Just talking. No harm done, Ristan.”
“
No harm done? Synthia, why don’t you come down the stairs the rest of the way,” Ristan growled.
I did
, only to find Sinjinn and one of the other men—I think his name was Aodhan—looking at me in surprise. I ignored them both as I headed into the kitchen to escape them and their words. Would Ryder really try to remove my memories? No way in hell was I going to allow that to happen. I poured myself a cup of coffee and slid into a chair at the small table.
“
Syn, don’t think anything about those fucking idiots,” Ristan said, coming into the kitchen.
“
You all share women,” I said, making it a statement instead of a question.
“
We don’t live by the same code as humans do, Syn.”
“
The girl they were talking about…Ryder was with her when you all were—together?”
“
Yes,” Ristan said calmly, with a gentle nod of his dark head.
“When was this?” I asked carefully
, trying to school my emotions.
“Years ago, Flower.”
I chewed on my lip, considering how much information I could get from the Demon. He was being open with me right now, and I needed to know more about Ryder while he was in such an accommodating mood.
I sat
at the table, thinking over everything that I had heard. I could flip out, which would totally be the girlie thing to do. But I wasn’t hot-headed. I could do a lot of things, which wouldn’t make me feel any better. Why would Ryder take my memories?
“
Brewing over what the two jackasses said?” Ristan asked, hauling up a chair to sit with me.
“
How many women has Ryder shared with you?” I inquired, straight to the point.
“
Many, but you need to understand something first, Flower. We grew up together, and we are not human. We feed from what is available, and, as you have noticed, some of the men are not that bright. Probably starve to death, because they got nothing but shit for brains. Anyway, that wasn’t my point. We only share because we grew up together. They feed and I fuck. I like to fuck—a lot. Women love it—well, most do anyway. We are not human, and we have different views on what is normal. They fuck to eat. I just like to fuck. Very seldom do we keep women to ourselves for sex alone, as Ryder is doing with you. In short, we grew up together, so sharing isn’t an issue for us.”
“
Will he ever want to share me?” I asked as I looked up to meet his patterned eyes.
“
No, he won’t. You, he is different with; very territorial and possessive. If he’d been planning to share you, he’d have left that door unlocked at the club when your Transition began. He wouldn’t have warded it against
us
coming in. He is different with you and has been from the very beginning.”
I didn’t know he’d done that. “Can I ask you something…
err…well, can I ask you something that’s a little uncomfortable, Ristan?” I swallowed down the uncomfortable feeling that was causing my cheeks to fill with heat. Now, was as good of a time as any to get this out of the way.
“Uncomfortable how, Flower?
” His eyes lit up with mischief. “Are we speaking toys and nipple clamps kind of uncomfortable, because I’m an expert with that shit, or are we speaking your vagigi uncomfortable? I’m game to look at it, play with it. Hell, Flower, I’m pretty much open to it all. Lay it on me.” He smirked, and his eyes laughed at me.
“No, this has nothing to do with that…”
Mental Note: Ristan was a freak!
“Uh, yeah, there was a courtyard that I saw in Faery.” I couldn’t make eye contact, but I noticed that he’d stiffened and sat up straight in his chair. “There were a lot of women there, and Adam was told that they all belong to Ryder.” I heard Ristan sigh.
“That
’s the reason you ran, Flower?” he asked softly as he reached over and lifted my chin. I met his eyes and nodded. “Yes, there is a pavilion, you heard the idiots referring to it earlier. The women there do belong to Ryder. Most are there voluntarily, and some are there for protection.” He shook his head and moved the hair from my eyes with the tips of his fingers. “Ryder hasn’t been inside of it since he took you to his bed, Synthia.” His lips jerked up in a wicked smile. “You locked him into a contract as much as he locked you into one. You made him agree to only feed from you while he had you under contract. Smart, but useless. He wouldn’t have touched anyone else while he had you. He’s protective of you, and he’s also different around you. He’s a good man to have at your back. He’s the one person in this world and any other that I’d give my life to protect.”
“So
, he hasn’t been with anyone else since we started this…whatever it is we have?”
“You have to ask?” He shook his head.
“Why would he erase my memories, Ristan?” I asked as I lowered my gaze to the smooth wood of the simple table. I felt conflicted about knowing the answer.
“
He won’t. I’d have seen it if he’d intended to go through with it. He talked about it; thinking it would make it easier to leave you if he had to. You gotta understand, Synthia. He has an objective here in this world. A lot of people depend on him. You’re a distraction; one that no one saw coming.”
I narrowed my eyes on him.
How the hell was I supposed to respond to that!?
“
Obviously, I weighed the outcome, and decided, while you are a distraction, you are also a part of this mess. I’m not sure how I know, but I do.”
“
I’m not sure why you think I have some sort of an important part to play in why you came to this world.”
“
I’m not sure either, but somehow you do play a part in this,” Ristan replied as he smiled impishly.
“
So much shit is happening. Everything is changing, so fast that it’s hard to take it all in. I’m not sure where I stand anymore. I’m not even sure of whom I should stand by.” For some reason, I had always found it easy to talk to the Demon, even if he was a huge demented pervert.
“
The Guild? So he told you then,” Ristan said as he eyed me cautiously.
“
That’s why he treated me the way he did when we first met, isn’t it?” I probed.
“
Yes and no. He wanted you; still does. It pisses him off, Synthia. He’s been through hell, and I think you are something he knows he won’t be able to let go of, but he also knows he needs to. He has set his goal on finishing this mission and getting home since day one. Now, you walk in all sexy as fuck and throw a monkey wrench in the whole thing. You’re this beautiful fucking mess, and it draws us to you. You have so much emotion pouring through you that we could feast off it alone, endlessly. You are unlike the Fae in Faery, because of the way you were raised. Ryder won’t erase your memories, but I don’t think this will work out as either of you hope it will either. I am afraid you both will be fucked up when it ends, and I don’t see it ending well, either…not that I actually
saw
this, it’s just my opinion.”