Chapter Twelve
Beck stood looking out the window on the hundred and second floor of the Dellacorp building. This was the penthouse his aunt lived in, and it always made him nervous to be so high in a non-natural structure. Below, the neon lights of the city gave the night an ethereal quality. It was an odd sight, and one he wished he could share with his wife. Meg would be fascinated by this world. She would likely enjoy the ridiculous lights and soaring heights the vampires lived in. It gave Beck a stomachache, but it might be worth it if Meg liked it.
He couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk that she could run here and probably find someone to hide her. Probably? He shook his head ruefully. She would have no end of handsome vampires willing to save her from her marriage. She was a beautiful bondmate, and they would consider her a perfect consort. She would have vampires fighting over the privilege of who got to save her from her husband.
“You are brooding, Beck.” His aunt’s voice cut through his thoughts and pulled him into the present. He turned and looked at his mother’s sister. She was graceful and lovely, just as his mother had been. Her perfectly black hair was in a neat knot at the nape of her neck. “I think sometimes you forget which half you are. You are a man of action. Leave the brooding to Cian.” Alana Dellacorp’s face fell as she remembered. “I am so sorry. I should not have said that.”
Beck smiled tightly at his aunt. “It’s all right. I wasn’t brooding. Well, maybe I was. I was thinking about my wife.”
He held himself still, watching for her reaction. He had asked Dante to keep his mouth shut. He wanted to tell his aunt himself.
Her elegant face became a mask of well-bred horror. “Tell me you haven’t married that Liadan person. Oh, Beck. You cannot give up hope. Annul the marriage. I will find a way to smuggle a bondmate out of Tir na nÒg . Your Uncle Alex and Susie already have feelers out looking for the best way to do it. We have confirmation that Torin, the bastard, is making deals with other vampire families to sell them consorts. Obviously he would never make a deal with the Dellacourts, but we have plans.”
Beck took his aunt’s hand. She was a slave to fashion, as always, and her nails were painted an emerald green with small jewels on the tips. It was the fashion for consorts. “Tell them to stop. I’m not about to…what was the term Meg used…divorce my wife, though she might beat me when I return home. As for Cian, I spoke to him not thirty minutes ago on that contraption your son left with our wife. He’s perfectly clear-headed and more like himself than he has been in years. He’s just as pissed with me as Meg must be, though he’s trying to hide it, the tricky bastard. I’ll have to watch my step when I get home or he’ll jump me.”
Alana gasped as she understood the implications. Before she could say a thing, a bundle of feminine energy burst into the room and ran straight for Beck. Beck braced himself for impact and wasn’t disappointed. Susan Dellacourt threw herself into his arms with a resounding thud.
“Beck! I can’t believe it.” His cousin looked up at him with joyful tears in her eyes. “You bonded! We all thought we were going to lose you. It’s fate. I know it is.”
“You’ll have to excuse my wife, Your Highness,” Colin O’Donnell Dellacourt said with an indulgent smile. He bowed formally to his king. Beckett recognized the sidhe. He had been one of the many refugees to make it out of Tir na nÒg before the plane was closed. Unlike most of the Fae, Colin had settled on the Vampire plane and quickly found himself in the enviable position of consort. “She’s been worried about you and Cian for a very long time. She talks about you all the time. I’ve heard more stories about your childhood than I can imagine.”
Colin was dressed in typical vampire attire. He was casual but elegant in slacks and a pearl-gray dress shirt. He had come a long way from a farm in Tir na nÒg.
“Well, I remember when she was just a wee thing, and I used to pull her pigtails,” Beck said, giving his cousin a squeeze. He often didn’t understand his vampire relatives, but he loved them.
Susan shook her head and planted a kiss on her cousin’s cheek as she noted her brother walking into the room. “That was Ci, dear. You were always too serious to play.” She squeezed his hand. “Why didn’t you bring your new wife and Ci with you? Everyone will be dying to meet her, and I would love to talk to Cian when I don’t have to remind him who I am every five minutes.”
“You aren’t the only one, sis. He was completely loony when I left. Bonkers. It’s funny now, of course, but at the time, I was concerned.” Dante shrugged Beck’s way. “Well, you told me to keep my mouth shut around Mother. You said nothing at all about Susan. Come on, man, she’s my boss and my older sister. I gotta have something on her.”
“How can you consider me your boss?” Susan asked with a roll of her emerald eyes. Beck heard Colin snort and realized this was a well-worn argument. Even Alana sighed. “You never show up for work. You’re always out gallivanting around. Sometimes I wonder if the tabloids would have anything to do if Dante Dellacourt wasn’t around to give them a headline every day.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed. “Well, we can’t all be perfect CEOs and perfect spouses and perfect daughters. Some of us prefer to have a life.”
“How can you call that a life?” Susan mocked her baby brother. “You drink and go out with a new model every night. That isn’t a life. It’s a blood disease waiting to happen. I don’t even want to know where your fangs have been, brother.”
“Susan!” Alexander Dellacourt’s voice boomed through the great room as he entered. Beck tried to hide his smile. His uncle was a bit larger than life. “Give your brother a break. He is a young man finding his blood. So what if he’s a little wild? He’ll fall in love and settle down one of these days. You have to be patient with him.”
Dante’s green eyes were suspiciously innocent as he poured himself a Scotch. Vampires might not eat the way the Fae did, but they could drink. “Father is right, Susie. I drown myself in booze and loose women to hide the pain in my heart from not finding true love. It could be that my tale ends tragically, sister. I fell madly in love with a beautiful consort, and Beck stole her from me. I suppose I will have to find something that will make me feel better. Perhaps a Ferrari. It won’t fill the hole in my heart, but I have to make do.”
Alex rolled his eyes and readjusted his Stetson. “Don’t push it, son. I’m not a fool. I started with next to nothing.”
Dante’s eyes glazed over. His mouth moved in time with his father’s. He had obviously heard the tale about a million times, but then, so had Beck.
“Just a hundred head of cattle and a dream,” Alex was saying as he poured himself a Scotch, too. “A dream to refine their blood into an easy-to-swallow nutritional pill that made storage problems a thing of the past.”
Susie was mouthing the familiar conversation as well. Alex continued his story of building Dellacorp into a giant of the industry. Alana slid her arm around Beck’s shoulders as her husband lectured their children about how easy they had it. “Come along. He’ll be at it for hours now.” She led him onto the balcony. The air was cool and the night calm, though in a city as large as this, it was never quiet. “Tell me about your bride. How did she make it out of Tir na nÒg?”
“She didn’t.” Beck looked out over the city, feeling the distance between himself and his wife. It weighed heavily on him. Had he done the right thing? Should he have brought her with him? “She’s from the Earth plane.”
Alana stepped up to the railing. She didn’t seem to have the same problem with heights that Beck had. “I had heard the Planeswalkers were taking advantage of Torin closing Tir na nÒg. Human females are close to the Fae. Some historians believe we originated on their plane, after all. It follows that some would be suitable as bondmates. She must have been terrified.”
“To say the least.” A vision of tears running down her pretty face when he left her at the cottage haunted him. She would never understand all the reasons he left. He could have put off this business trip for a few days until she settled in, but Beck feared what he would have done. The night before had been a close call. It was sad that the one woman he loved was the one he couldn’t trust himself around. “Do you think she can ever be happy so far from her home?”
Alana smiled brilliantly. “Of course she can. She’ll settle in. I was overwhelmed when I first came to this plane. Still, I love your uncle. I wouldn’t have it any other way. And your bride has two devoted men to make sure she’s happy.” A cloud passed over Alana’s face. “You can love her? I know some bondings come without it, but if you can’t love her, it would be better if you let Alex and Susie try their plan.”
“No.” Beck’s voice was harsh and his answer quick enough to put a smile on his Aunt’s face. “I don’t want anyone else.”
“Good,” Alana said. “I am glad you’re happy with her.”
Beck wished his mother were alive so he could talk to her. His aunt was the next best thing. “I wish she was happy with me.”
“Give her time, Beck. She was not prepared for this life. You have to make allowances.”
Beck felt his jaw firming as a part of himself tried to stop the conversation right here and now. It should have been easy. He should have simply kept everything inside as he always had. But since bonding with Meg, he was discovering nothing was simple anymore. “I can’t control myself around her.”
Alana put an affectionate hand on his. “Of course you can’t. She is yours. When I said you had to make allowances, I was talking about you, too. You have to change your mindset, Beck. I have read about the humans. I find them very intriguing. They are a passionate people, sometimes not so smart, but passionate. You might discover she wants a different relationship than what you expect from a bondmate.”
Beck shook his head. “She is just trying to please me. I am her husband, her king. She is saying what she thinks I want to hear. Women will say anything to placate their king.”
With a short burst of laughter, Alana put her hands on Beck’s shoulders, turning him gently so he looked her in the eyes. “Perhaps some would, if the prize were big enough. But, Beckett Finn, you are the king of a refugee plane. You don’t offer her enough to debase herself. Whatever she’s offered you, she has offered because she wants it. I am speaking to you plainly, as your own mother would have. Don’t deny yourself and your wife. Your father treated my sister like a porcelain doll. It made her crazy.”
“Mother was very happy with Father,” Beck argued.
“You saw what you wanted to see, Beck,” his aunt insisted. “Your father trained you to be a great king. He didn’t train you to be a very good husband. Let your wife tell you what she wants. I assure you, if you don’t, Cian will. If you aren’t careful, you’ll find yourself out in the cold.” Alana patted him and moved back toward the doors. “Come inside. I’m sure dinner is almost ready. Go easy on Colin. He’s nervous about dining with his king.”
Beck nodded, but continued to stare out into the night. He wished he was home getting ready to go to bed. It would be quiet there at this time of night. Cian would have enjoyed his first day of peace in a long while. He imagined sitting in front of the fire with Meg on his lap. After a pleasant evening, he and Cian would lead her to the big bed and slowly undress her. They would make love to her together, bonding even further. Beck would be gentle and make sure she was satisfied before taking his pleasure. He would then, graciously, turn her over to his brother. He would sit back and enjoy watching Cian please their wife. Beck knew that watching Cian fuck their lovely bride would get him hot and bothered again, but he would survive. Meg would be tired. She would sleep peacefully between them.
Instead, he would spend his evening dodging questions about when he would attempt to take back his throne. Beck turned to the penthouse doors and sighed. Politics. He hated politics, even when discussing them with family. At least Meg was safe from them. She was safe and protected on the little farm. Beck took a deep breath and rejoined his family.
* * * *
Meg came awake to the sound of raucous music. It was cheery and a little bawdy. She couldn’t understand the lyrics, but she knew bawdy music when she heard it. Her mouth felt dry, and she wondered if she’d gone on a bender the night before. She’d had the strangest dream.
“Head hurt, lover?”
Meg forced her eyes open, and, sure enough, her strange dream was staring her in the face. He was sitting back in an armchair, one ankle propped on his knee. He looked like she expected a pasha would look reclining in his harem. He looked exactly like Beck, but this man was different. Beck Finn radiated authority and responsibility. This man just radiated sex.
“Cian?” Could that man sitting there looking at her like he was going to eat her up really be Cian? There was no cloudiness in his gray eyes now. They were filled with a sharp intelligence.
“In the flesh, my lover,” he said with a crazy, sexy smile. His voice was deep, but there was a hint of humor in it. He was dressed in neatly pressed white pants, dark boots, and a tunic he hadn’t bothered to tie. It left his perfect chest exposed. “And in my right mind, thanks to you.”
Meg sat up, and her head did indeed hurt. “It worked?”
Of course it worked. The evidence was sitting right in front of her like a piece of perfectly tempting chocolate cake she wanted to devour in one long bite. Memories of his life flooded her. She groaned as her head ached.
He was on the bed behind her in an instant. He pulled her between his long legs and cradled her back to his chest. His hands sank into her hair, strong fingers massaging her scalp. “Careful, Meggie mine. You took a whole lot of me. I’m sure you still feel the effects.”
His hands felt good on her. She relaxed into his warmth. “You’re better now?”
“I am damn near perfect.” Cian’s voice was a slow seduction in her ear. He leaned close, and she felt his lips moving. “I don’t know how to thank a woman for saving me. Can you think of any way I could please you?”
Even with her head throbbing, she could think of a way. Meg shook his hands off her. She had to come to her senses. She wasn’t about to get her heart broken by a second Finn brother.
“Stop, Cian. You don’t have to thank me.” She scrambled off the bed. She gathered her dignity around her like a mantle. “I am just glad you’re all right.”
Cian’s eyes darkened, but he relaxed after a moment. He leaned back against the pillows, not hiding his raging erection at all. It tented his pants admirably. He spared her not a single, delectable inch of his glorious body as he stretched out. “I am more than fine, wife. I am perfectly healthy and prepared to serve you in any fashion you can think of.”
Meg gulped and reminded herself that this was what had gotten her heart in trouble in the first place. He was just trying to show his gratitude. Besides it had been a long time for him. He hadn’t had sex since his illness had taken over. Meg hadn’t forgotten their bonding. Cian was a carnal creature. He would want that pleasure as soon as possible. They needed to get a few things straight.
“Please don’t call me wife,” she said in a firm voice. Cian’s brow arched quizzically, but he allowed her to continue. “I’m not from this plane.”
“No,” Cian interjected. “You’re from the human plane. You were born in a place called Texas and lived in a city called Fort Worth. You lived in a small apartment, and you hated it. There was no beauty to it. The walls were beige. The carpet was beige. It wasn’t a home. It was like purgatory, a place to wait. Explain this purgatory to me.”
He sat up and crossed his legs. He switched from hot and bothered potential lover to curious student. Meg was struck dumb by how accurately he had described her little apartment. It had nothing of her in it. It was a place to eat and sleep. It wasn’t a home. “How did you know?”
Cian’s expression was serene and patient. It was disconcerting how quickly he could change. “We are bonded, lover. I saw your soul, and you saw mine. It’s the deepest bond two souls can form. You can try running from me, Meggie, but it won’t work. I know you deep down. I know what you need.”
She felt her whole body flush with embarrassment. She remembered things from Cian’s life like they were her own memories. What had he pulled out of her head? She felt very vulnerable in that moment, even more vulnerable than she had been with Beck. The bonding with Cian had been so different.
“Because Beck didn’t offer you the full bond,” Cian said as though he read her mind. He chuckled as she flashed a startled look his way. “It was a good bet that was what you were thinking, nothing more. I can’t read your mind. I can see images at times, but I can’t hear your thoughts. When we make love, though, I will be able to feel your pleasure and to give you mine.”
Meg ignored the last bit. It was best not to even go there. “So Beck and I aren’t bonded?”
“Not fully, from what I can tell,” Cian stated as academically as possible. “Many choose not to form a full bond with their bondmates. You can help Beck bridge with me without seeing his soul. I, personally, think it’s a pussy thing to do. You’re my wife, whether you accept it or not. I am your husband. I want you to know me, the good and the bad. I don’t want to live my life without really knowing my wife. I want to know what she likes and doesn’t like. I want to know what makes her laugh. I want to know that she feels like everyone will abandon her in the end because that’s all anyone has ever done.”
Meg turned away because he had seen way too much. Her hands were still shaking from the physical process of bonding.
He was suddenly behind her, winding his arms around her. His hair was loose. She felt it on her skin. “I won’t ever leave you, wife. I know Beckett can be hard to understand, but he is loyal. He won’t abandon you. We’re here for you, Meg. We’re bound together forever, wife. You’re safe with us.”
She didn’t believe that for a second. The door to the bedroom opened, and Meg was glad for the distraction. A small brown woman walked in. Cian gave her a squeeze before shifting to stand at her side. He kept an arm around her. Meg could feel his affection for the strange-looking woman.
“Meggie mine, this is Flanna,” Cian said. “She is a very valuable member of our little court.”
Flanna grinned, showing her gapped teeth. Meg was fascinated by another non-human creature. Despite her aching head, she kneeled down to get on the same level as the elderly woman. It seemed like the polite thing to do. Meg felt Cian’s pleasure at her gesture. The bond made it easy to sense his moods.
“Hello, I’m Meg. It’s very nice to meet you.”
The woman bowed deeply. “And you, Your Highness. I cannot express my joy at this bonding. It has saved us all. Surely Danu herself sent you to us.”
Meg looked up at Cian, hoping he would explain who this Danu was.
He merely grinned down at her. “I’ll give you a full lecture on the religious beliefs of the Fae at another time, sweetheart. For now, our people await. They long to meet their queen.”
Meg was up on her feet in an instant. “Queen?”
Cian’s smile was slow and sure as he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “What do you think they call the woman who fucks the King, my lover? I know you’ve been fucking big brother, and I mean to have some of that, too. I’ll have you in my bed by the end of the week. I promise you won’t want to leave.” With that, he dropped a light kiss on her cheek and walked to the door. “Get dressed, my Queen. We have a party to attend.”
With that, he winked at her and disappeared behind the door. Meg sank to the bed and took a deep breath. She had thought Beckett was a lot to deal with. He hadn’t actively tried to seduce her. Cian had just made a declaration of intent.
“He’s a charmer, that one,” Flanna was saying with a chuckle as she walked to the small closet. She went on tiptoes to open the door and pulled down a sumptuous-looking gown. She turned back to Meg. “I wouldn’t bother trying to hold him off, Your Highness. He’ll be in your bed before you know it. No woman can hold off Cian Finn when he wants them.”
“What about Maris?” The name came straight into her head. She searched her new memories. The blonde Fae bondmate was named Maris.
Flanna looked surprised. She handed the dress to Meg. “He performed a true bonding, then?”
“So he tells me,” Meg replied. The dress was sapphire blue with flowing skirts. There was delicate embroidery around the bodice. “She was his fiancée?”
The small woman nodded. “She was engaged to the princes at a very young age. Their father chose her. She came from impeccable bloodlines. She was very much the lady.”
While the other woman’s voice had been even, there was hostility there as well. Meg regarded Flanna astutely. “You didn’t think she was right for Cian?”
“I didn’t think she was right for either of them,” Flanna said. “Come along, Your Highness. I will help you get dressed while we gossip. It’s a sacred thing in a royal court, and I’ve missed having a queen to gossip with.”
Meg allowed Flanna to pull and prod her into the dress while she spoke. “Maris was a cold girl, and she would have become an even colder woman. Beck accepted the betrothal because Beck always obeyed his father. He convinced Cian to accept it as well, but I know Cian was worried about actually bonding with her. He would never have formed a full bond with her, I promise you that.”
Flanna got on the bed to button Meg’s dress up the back. “He was pretty out of it. I don’t know that he intended to go so far with me. Beck didn’t.”
Meg watched in the mirror as Flanna put the finishing touches on the dress. She looked a little like a faery princess. She was a long way from Fort Worth.
“Don’t let that worry you,” Flanna said, getting off the bed. “Beck has his reasons. He’s done things he’s not proud of. Give him time. Let him come to trust you.”
Shaking her head, Meg stood and smoothed the skirts one last time. Flanna gave her soft slippers for her feet. She had no intention of bonding with either brother any more than she already had. It wasn’t fair, but she didn’t intend to give Cian a chance to hurt her. She would get through the evening and then sit Cian down in the morning for a thorough discussion of how this “marriage” was going to work.
In the meantime, she would get used to her new home. From the sounds of the party going on in the front yard, it seemed as though she was about to meet the entire village. It was time to put her game face on and start that learning curve.
She allowed Flanna to escort her to the door. They walked into the living room. The music was louder out here. The door was open. Meg could see the night was lit up with torches and a huge bonfire. All manner of Fae creatures danced around the bonfire. Some of them didn’t look even vaguely human. Meg felt her jaw dropping and forced it to close. A cheer went up when she walked into the yard.
“Welcome, Queen Meg,” they said as she passed.
She plastered a stunned smile on her face as they welcomed her. Then there was only one person in the whole world as Cian Finn walked up to her. He was so beautiful that Meg felt her heart seize.
“My queen,” he said, bowing. He held out his hand. “A dance for your poor husband?”
Meg let him lead her. When she was encircled by his arms, her head against his chest, she realized that Cian Finn might be even more dangerous than his brother.