Japri, Ultima Esperanza, Chile
Pacific Coast
“WHERE THE HELL IS OUR ASSHOLE KING?” I stopped thumping my fingers on the conference table and lifted my cell phone from my pocket. I glanced at the time, beyond irritated at the situation. My jaws clenched together at the readout. “He’s a half-hour late.”
King Niallan’s first day on the job.
He was already slacking. Not surprising, though.
I placed my cell phone down on the table as calmly as I could and glared at the Overlords—and their continued silence. They hadn’t said a word since we walked in here for our important meeting.
Air hissed between my teeth as I growled, “No one knows? Really? I don’t believe that.”
Lord Cato sighed, his chest heaving with the action. He glanced up from his own phone and met my blue eyes. My father muttered, “If I tell you, your majesty, will you quit asking about the attack? You know we can’t speak on it without our. . . as you so delicately—and correctly—put it, ‘asshole king’ in here.”
“Fine.” My voice rumbled, my tone full of aggravation and boredom. I flicked my fingers in his direction. “I’ll shut up about it until he’s here.”
His brown eyes crinkled with amusement. But he stated seriously, “King Niallan’s outside the stronghold creating a druid shield of protection.” Lord Cato tipped his cell phone’s screen in my direction, allowing me to see our ‘asshole king’ was, in fact, working druid magic outside. “I believe the other Overlords and I have been watching his progress while you’ve been prattling on nonstop for the last half-hour and failing miserably to garner information without the king here.” He blinked, and added, “Darling.”
I shut my gaping jaw. My blue gaze tracked over each of the remaining Overlords, who continually stared at their cellphones and kept their lips sealed. I cleared my throat and sat straighter on my chair. “Well, someone should have mentioned that.”
I didn’t look at a certain lord.
Sexy and aggravating fucker.
But he did respond, knowing my words were directed toward him…
Lord Belshazzar snorted. “You didn’t shut up long enough for any one of us to actually speak.” Ice blue eyes rose from his screen and targeted mine. He lifted a fed-up black eyebrow, his tone still sardonic. “If you’re truly done with the bullshit flying out of your mouth, you can move your chair over here and watch the fucknut with me.”
My eyes narrowed on his.
He was not an easy lover. Like, ever.
I stood regally to my feet, enjoying how his eyes tracked over my smaller stature, sensual heat flaring on his strong features. I picked up my chair and walked with it around the conference table, keeping my attention on my infuriating and too-blunt Overlord. Done with my trek, I plopped my chair down…next to Lord Cato.
I dipped my head to my sole paramour and struggled to keep the glee off my face. Lord Belshazzar wasn’t happy, his lips thinning and his black brows furrowing. With my head bowed, I replied, “I will watch what the king is doing. Thank you for the advice, my lord.”
I promptly sat my royal butt down on my chair and leaned toward my father, my attention now trained on his cellphone.
Lord Cato chuckled quietly under his breath and turned his cell phone so we could both view it easily. He tipped his head toward me, and muttered, “It’s a little early in the morning to poke the beast, don’t you think? We did celebrate all night after the crowning. None of us got a lot of sleep.”
I flicked my attention to his eyes, then back to the screen. “Am I the beast in this situation? Or is Lord Belshazzar? You didn’t specify.”
My father’s shoulders bounced in his hilarity, but he didn’t allow it to be heard. “Yes, sweetling, you’re probably right there.” His brown eyes returned to the view of outside, done reprimanding me—because I was right.
Lord Belshazzar growled across the table.
He sure as hell sounded like a beast, too.
Probably because…I believed he was. A beast.
My lips twitched, but I pointed at the screen. “Will that dome he’s creating go over the entire stronghold? And what kind of protection does it afford?” I chewed on my bottom lip, an alarming thought slamming me. “And will we be able to leave it? Or is that bitch trapping us in our own home?”
Sitting on my father’s other side, Lord Otto groused, “King Niallan assured us it was purely for the protection of our people. We will not be trapped inside. Only vampires and druids will be able to enter or leave.” The blond-haired Overlord sat back in his chair, resituating himself to a more comfortable position. “But like all magic, anything lead-based will be able to travel through it.”
I returned my regard to my father’s cellphone. My nose crinkled. I mumbled in disbelief, “So…he’s…actually helping us?”
Lord Otto answered, “It appears so.”
I ran my right pointer finger over my bottom lip, rubbing back and forth in thought, my nose still scrunched in confusion. “I didn’t expect this from him.”
Instantly from across the table—from my grumpy Overlord, “I’ve told you this before, Gwen. Don’t fall for his shit,” he hissed. My eyes met his. The vampire was even more aggravated now. Lord Belshazzar leaned forward over the table, and his long black hair fanned over his shoulders. “Or do I need to keep repeating it, your majesty, before it plants itself into that young, stubborn head of yours?”
The other four lords fell silent—again—their eyes returning to their screens, attempting to give us privacy.
With my nostrils flaring, both my black eyebrows lifted high onto my forehead. As calmly as possible, I stated, “May I ask you something, my lord?”
Frosty blue eyes scowled. He nodded once.
My irritation spewed like a geyser, as I lost the battle to contain my emotions. “What the fuck crawled up your ass this morning? I have done nothing today to warrant your cruelty. All I’ve done is ask questions for the safety of my people. I want to know who is behind the attack—”
“Shut up,” he barked, throwing up a stopping hand in my direction and cutting me off. The muscles in his jaw ticked while he inhaled heavily and lowered his hand back to the table. Lord Belshazzar held my gaze captive, not relinquishing his authorative stare. Eventually, he growled quietly—dangerously, “I expected you in my room last night—and you never showed up. Where the fuck did you sleep? Because it wasn’t in your room.”
My blink was slow. Oh…
This was an entirely different kind of mad.
Of the scary sort.
His power fluctuated through the air, not wholly controlled and harsh, flowing out of him like the pulse of a heartbeat. It would shoot out, then ram back to him. Blast out, then disappear. Over and over again the longer I took to respond.
And yet, I knew he was still gripping his power tight, only a little leaking in his fury so he wouldn’t cripple anyone in the conference room.
I didn’t know what to say and not make a real scene, the intensity on Lord Belshazzar’s face unnerving. Every word of reason merely floated out of my mind under his chilling, direct regard. I wasn’t sure I had ever witnessed him this murderous. And that was a major feat because the vampire could be a real asshole when he wanted to be.
In that moment of stunned quiet, when we were both supposed to be working—no personal shit—it finally dawned on me… He was the true dominant in our relationship. I was the weaker of the two…by leaps and bounds. I had known it, but also not really known. I had thought I stood a fighting chance with him—in some freaking way.
Now, I knew different.
Cold-hearted blue eyes flayed mine. Ensnared in his lethal gaze, he owned my attention and wouldn’t release it.
He wouldn’t back down.
Lord Belshazzar could crush me in every damn way if he so wished it. He could take my heart and burn black holes in it. He could take my mind and pinch its existence down to a plaything for his amusement. He could take my body and rip it to shreds. He could take my soul and hoard it for his mere pleasure.
What the fuck had I gotten myself into?
Panic bulleted through my mind.
My lips pinched as I froze. Fear fluttered across my face before I could hide it. My eyes shuttered quickly so the Overlord wouldn’t see too much, but I couldn’t stop my heartbeat from galloping like a spooked horse.
How…could I have been so blind? The sex?
Fuck yes, it was amazing. But so perfect I had forgotten the most fundamental rule of existence?
Survival.
Did I want to be in a relationship with him if I wouldn’t survive it?
How. In. The. Fuck. Had. I. Let. This. Happen?
I couldn’t breathe.
Instantly, his power vanished.
Lord Belshazzar smoothly sat back in his chair, no longer leaning forward on the table, giving me space. Those murderous eyes hooded, keeping his emotions hidden from view, before turning serene. His muscular frame relaxed in his chair, his body no longer strained for attack.
He attempted to hide the fact he was a threat.
I was no longer fooled. I couldn’t calm down.
Where had all the air gone?
The Overlords around us shuffled on their chairs, clearly surprised and uncomfortable with the situation.
In the tense silence, Lord Xenon lifted his head of short black hair. He swallowed hard, glancing between us—and at whatever he saw there. He didn’t cower, though, stating, “Perhaps you two can take this outside the room? And once you’re done working out your issues, come back in and try to be professional?”
“No…” I cleared my throat when it came out as more of a wheeze. I patted at the perspiration on my forehead, wiping it away as delicately as I could muster. With a shaky inhale, I tried speaking again. “I think I’ll stay here. Thank you, though.”
I went back to staring at Lord Cato’s cellphone.
I didn’t want to be alone with Lord Belshazzar right now. Call me a fucking coward…because I was one right now. I didn’t give a shit.
“Queen Gwynnore…” Lord Belshazzar whispered quietly. Patiently. Almost kindly.
My lover stood from his chair with extreme slowness, obviously trying not to spook me further. I wasn’t hiding shit right now, embarrassing as that was. All of my senses were on hyper-drive as my heart beat erratically inside my chest. I didn’t watch him as he walked little by little around the table, heading in my direction, but going so slowly that a turtle could have beaten the pace he set.
I didn’t need to watch him. I could damn near feel him, my powers so alert right now. The Overlord placed his hands in his pockets and stopped directly beside me—not behind me where I couldn’t see him.
He stated gently, “Please come to my room for a few minutes, your majesty. Lord Xenon is correct. I shouldn’t have brought this up right now, but since I did, we should handle it privately.”
Privately? No.
“I’m good,” I sputtered, not looking up at him. And damn if I didn’t lean toward my father more—for protection. That right there proved just how out of sorts I was. “I’d like to watch what King Niallan is doing. Right here. In this room.”
Lord Cato’s head snapped up. With a bite in his tone, he griped, “Lord Belshazzar, just go sit back down. The queen doesn’t wish to speak with you right now.”
“That’s cute and all, you coming to her rescue, but fuck off,” Lord Belshazzar hissed. “Unless you’d like to permanently lose those fangs of yours—”
“That’s enough,” Lord Pippin muttered, cutting him off. My ex-paramour, of all people, chose that moment—perhaps unwisely—to come to my aid. He flicked his dark red hair out of his narrowed eyes. “I agree with Lord Cato. I think you should sit down.”
“Don’t even get me started on you, my lord.” Lord Belshazzar growled low in his throat, the beast only I knew that lurked deep within him taking voice. “There are things I’ve imagined doing to you that would give me the sweetest dreams for years to come.”
“Let’s all just calm down,” I whispered.
My eyes hadn’t moved from the cell phone, though.
I wished I could take my own advice.
Lord Belshazzar leaned a hip against the table, trying to place himself in my line of sight. “Queen Gwynnore…”
I ignored him. And ignored the quiet in the room.
It didn’t work. Not for him, anyway.
The Overlord moved. So fast, I couldn’t see him.
Suddenly, my chair was turned in his direction. He bent at the waist and his lovely face was right in front of mine, only an inch away from my nose. I sucked in a harsh breath and glowered, a smidge of my fire entering my system again.
I mumbled heatedly, “That is not fair.”
His right black eyebrow lifted. “I’d like to talk to you privately. Either you can come with me on your own, or I can go the ‘unfair’ route and take the choice from you. Which would you like?”
I attempted to peer down my nose at him, still shaken to my core. “I’ll speak with you. But only right outside the doors to this conference room. I’m not going all the way up to your bedroom.”
His nostrils flared in irritation, but he responded with patience. “Gwen, you never have to be scared of me. If you don’t believe anything else I say, at least believe that. So quit being frightened, get out of your chair, and come talk with me without everyone listening in.”
“I’m not scared,” I retorted quickly. It actually sounded believable too, if only my heart would slow down. “As I stated, I’ll speak with you right outside these doors. We do have business we need to discuss—”
Lord Belshazzar moved.
I squeaked when the world turned sideways.