Chapter Four
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing, Dante?”
Dante forced himself to turn around. He didn’t want to. He was enjoying the picture that Kaja made as Meg soaped her hair. It had taken little Kaja a while, but she was finally settling in to the business of getting clean. He’d had to keep his hands on her for the longest time. It was the only way to keep her calm. Her bright, blue eyes had pleaded with him to keep her safe, and he couldn’t deny her. He’d felt his heart tugged by the sweet little whimpers she’d made as she’d tried to adjust to the water. Dante had let her know how pleased he’d been with her for being so brave. He hadn’t been joking or sarcastic. It really had taken a lot for her to get into the tub.
Now her eyes were closed as she allowed Meg to rub her scalp. There was a dreamy look on her face. She seemed to enjoy the contact. What a sensual little thing. If she liked having her hair washed, how much would she like a massage? He would like to rub his hands across her soft flesh and feel her respond.
“Dante.” Beck’s voice pulled him out of that fantasy. “I asked you a question. What are you thinking buying that girl? Have you lost your mind?”
Dante took a deep breath. Yelling at his cousin would only scare Kaja. “I bought a consort, cos. Vampires do it every day. Do I need to remind you that you bought Meg in this very tent?”
“I fought for Meg,” Beck corrected. “As you should be forced to fight in a tourney for Kaja. The reason you aren’t fighting is that no one else is willing to take her. That should tell you something.”
It was traditional for the gnomes to collect an entry fee for the tournaments they held. The prize was a female. She was called a consort for the vampires, a bondmate for the Fae. A large tournament could attract twenty to thirty combatants. Dante thought it was a plus that he didn’t have to get his clothes dirty. He didn’t mention this to his warrior cousin.
“I agreed to pay a measure of gold equal to ten tourney fees,” Dante assured him. “Rhys will be able to give the demon a proper cut. This solves the problem for everyone. Stop worrying.”
Beck’s mouth tightened. “I wasn’t worried about Rhys. I’m worried about you. You can’t seriously believe she will make you a fit consort. She didn’t even know what a bath was.”
“Meg wasn’t from this plane, either,” Dante pointed out. He was rapidly getting irritated with his cousin. It was irrational. He should be thrilled. It was exactly the reaction he was hoping for. She was spectacularly unsuitable. He couldn’t have dreamed up a less suitable candidate if he’d tried. Yet Beck’s assessment of her rankled.
“Meg is highly intelligent,” Beck said in a wholly lofty voice to Dante’s mind. His arrogance was setting Dante on edge. “She might have come from a different plane, but she had a working knowledge of the creatures around her.”
“Yes, that’s why she nearly let a kelpie eat her,” Dante shot back. It had taken Meg a while to get used to her new home.
Beck shrugged, his eyes straying to his wife. “I didn’t say she always used it intelligently. She adapted quite nicely. She’s making an excellent queen. This Kaja is never going to adapt. She’s practically feral. How is she going to live on the Vampire plane? Do you really think she’ll be happy in your penthouse, going to teas with other consorts and attending charity balls?”
He couldn’t see it. He struggled to see her sitting in the penthouse’s large, elegant parlor having drinks with his parents, sister, and her consort before the consorts were called in to dinner. He would sit with his father and sister and discuss business while she was led to the sumptuous dining room and did whatever consorts did while they ate. More than likely they talked about fashion and the latest DLs. She wouldn’t know what a DL was. He wasn’t sure she knew what clothes were.
“You see my point?” Beck asked, not unkindly. “Look, Cian talked to me about what Uncle Alex is doing to you. You might not like to hear this, but I think he’s right. You do need to find a consort. It’s far past time, but this isn’t the right one. I’ve discussed the situation with Rhys, and if your family will pay her fee and put a hefty down payment on the next suitable consort to come through, Rhys will give you the first look. He’ll make it a private sale contingent on your father’s acceptance of the female. I’m sure your father will agree to it. It isn’t a deal Rhys would make with another vampire family. I’ll take Kaja and find a place where she’ll be happy. You’ll get your consort, and Kaja will be free.”
Dante actually felt his claws pop out. His hands twitched with the need to wrap them around his cousin’s throat. A righteous sense of possessiveness swept across Dante. “I bought Kaja. I paid her full price. I used my own fucking money to do it. I signed the paperwork not ten minutes ago. Is Rhys threatening to revoke her sale?”
Beck took a step back, his eyes wide as he looked down at Dante’s hands. “No, Dante. Look, cos, no one is telling you that you can’t have a consort. One comes through every couple of weeks. You just need to wait. Be patient.”
His cousin patted him sympathetically on the shoulder, and without a thought, Dante batted his hand away. Beck held his fisted hand by his side, but Dante could see the impulse to fight in his cousin. Part of him hoped the big Fae gave in to it. He was sick of being treated like an idiot. “Stay out of my marriage, Beck. If you won’t accept Kaja, then get your ass back to your little kingdom. I’ll take care of my consort.”
Dante turned and noted Meg’s white face. She watched the confrontation with a worried air. Kaja’s eyes had come open, but she didn’t look worried. She was watching Beck with narrow eyes, as though prepared to attack should he take a step toward Dante.
“It’s all right, sweetheart,” Dante said, feeling himself calm a bit. He noticed that the gnomes were coming in with the second tub. The water she’d cleaned herself in was grimy. She needed a bath from her bath. “Beck isn’t going to hurt me. He’s leaving.”
“We’re leaving?” Cian asked, walking in with a bucket of hot water.
“No,” Beck replied with a frown. “Dante is just being unreasonable.”
Meg got up and fetched a towel as the wee ones made the clean tub ready. Kaja stood.
“Hey,” Dante said, quickly covering her in the towel. He hadn’t thought much about her nudity before. She’d been covered in filth. Now that her pale skin was clean and glowing like a pearl, he had problems with it. “We have guests, Kaja.”
She nodded. “Yes, I can see them. Meg, Cian, and Beck.”
She smiled as she pointed to each and seemed pleased to have remembered their names.
“Yes, and the men have no need to see what belongs to me,” Dante muttered. “They should leave.”
“You see what I mean?” Beck asked, looking at his brother. “Unreasonable. He won’t listen to me, Ci. Talk to him. She’s wild. She needs to roam. She needs a place with lots of land and places to run. I was thinking of the woods outside the village. As long as she promises not to attack our villagers, it would be perfect. There is plenty of game in the forest. Would you like that, Kaja? Would you like to be alone in the woods?”
Dante felt her small hand slip into his. She clutched the towel around her. Her smile had disappeared. “The First does not want me?”
“First?” Beck asked.
She inclined her head toward Dante. “Yes. I thought the First wished to mate with me. He allowed me intimacies. Do I not understand? Does he already have a mate? Our First is allowed to mate with any of the women. I am clean now. I will stay clean if that is what you require.”
Her big eyes were killing him. What was it about this petite woman that got him in the gut? And the cock. Damn, she was beautiful. She was utterly different from any woman he’d met before.
He put his hands under her arms and lifted her out of the water. The gnomes immediately took the filthy tub away. The new tub was ready. Dante could see everything he had asked for, including his Scotch. There was a glass of water for Kaja. “I do have a mate, though we use the word consort where I come from. You are my consort, Kaja. I signed the papers a few moments ago. You legally belong to me. Do you understand?”
Her smile was back, and this time there was a bright happiness to her face. Her chestnut brown hair was starting to curl up, and Dante couldn’t help but stare at the graceful line of her neck. “You claim me?”
Dante gave into the temptation, touching her porcelain skin lightly. “I claim you, Kaja. I’ll take care of you.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Beck interjected.
“Leave it, brother,” Cian said in a firm, authoritative voice. “Dante knows what he’s doing. If he doesn’t, he’ll figure it out. He’ll take care of her.”
There was a long moment between the twins. Dante was surprised to see Beck back down. He nodded briefly. “All right, then. We’ll leave you to your wedding night. We’ve been given a tent next to this one. You only have to call out, and I will come, Dante.”
“I don’t need you to save me from a woman, Beck.” Dante winced. It sounded whiny even to his own ears.
Beck studied Kaja carefully. “I hope that’s all she is, cos. Come on, let’s go settle our wife in for the evening.”
Cian grinned brightly. “Aye, she definitely needs some settling.”
Meg shook her head but threw her husband an affectionate look. She crossed to Dante. “Are you sure about this?”
“You, too, Meg? Don’t think I can handle her, do you?”
“No, I was thinking of her, actually. She seems very innocent.”
Kaja frowned. She seemed to be trying to figure something out. “The First told you to leave. Do you not fear the First?”
Meg had the audacity to grin. “Fear Dante? Only if I were a cat. Or a bottle of Scotch. He can tear through that, if you know what I mean.”
Kaja shook her head. “I do not.”
Meg sighed and stepped back. “I know. I’ll see you in the morning, Kaja. If you need anything, we’ll be in the tent next door. Good night.”
Kaja let the towel drop the minute the others were gone. There was no exhibitionism in it. She just seemed comfortable with her nudity. Dante wasn’t comfortable with his own state of dress. His cock was trying to tunnel out of his pants.
“You should beat them more often,” Kaja said. “I do not think they properly fear you.” She leaned over and sniffed at the Scotch. She wrinkled her nose and moved to the water, drinking it down.
He couldn’t help but laugh at the suggestion. He also couldn’t help but notice that he was alone with a naked female whom he was practically obligated to fuck. He’d signed papers promising to fuck her and fuck her often.
“Beck, Ci, and Meggie are family, sweetheart. I scarcely think I’ll be beating on them anytime soon.” He turned and pushed the pants off his hips. He tossed them to the side, but the clever nanites readjusted themselves, folding the pants neatly in a square.
Kaja stepped back. “The coverings are magic.”
It was going to be fun to show Kaja his plane. “I’m sure they seem that way to you. Would you believe me if I told you they’re really tiny machines that a rival corporation makes? We tried to make our own at Dellacorp. They developed their own intelligence and attacked the people wearing them. That was a lawsuit, let me tell you.”
Kaja stared at the pants. “What is a machine?”
Dante decided to leave that part of her education for another time. He sank down into the tub, hoping the heat would wilt his raging erection a little bit. He found it necessary to talk through his fangs. The damn things wouldn’t go away. “Don’t worry about it. Come here, Kaja.”
She didn’t hesitate. She gingerly stepped into the tub and placed herself between his legs with her back to his front. She leaned back and sighed. “I like the warmth. It is very cold where I come from.”
Her shoulders rubbed against his chest, and her little ass nestled against his cock. Nope, the heat wasn’t helping one little bit. His cock was long and thick against her skin.
“Kaja, this home you were taken from, do you want to go back?” He needed to ease his conscience a little. If she had a home and a husband, maybe he should think about asking Beck to help her find her way back. His cock protested.
“No,” she said quietly. “I do not wish to go home. I do not really have a home.”
“Why do you call me First?” He was curious. “Is that what you call the leader of your people?”
He didn’t mention that he wasn’t the leader of anything, really. Or had that changed? When he thought about it, he was kind of the leader of her.
“The First is the most important,” Kaja explained. She spoke slowly, as though measuring each word. “He is First among the pack, though his mate is usually First among the women. He selects a strong mate. Because they are First, they get the best of the meat and the warmest place to sleep. The Second gets the next best, you understand?”
“Yes,” he replied. He let his hands cup her shoulders, reveling in the smooth skin. He breathed in her scent now. Her head rested close to his face. Now she smelled of citrus and soap. It was the same thing Meg used, but it smelled different on Kaja. “So, does everyone have a number? What number were you, sweetheart?”
He felt her deflate. “I had no number. I was not allowed to ever move up, so I did not need a number.”
“What do you mean?” Dante felt a righteous indignation starting.
“My father, he attempted to become First. He lost. The pack executed my brothers and my father. My mother died while birthing me. I was alone. I was female. They allowed me to live, but I had no real place in the pack.”
Her words were even, as though she was working hard to cover her emotions, but Dante could feel her hurt. He thought about the strange connection he’d felt to the female from the moment he’d seen her. He didn’t like the restless feeling it gave him. He preferred to think about screwing her. That didn’t bring forth any odd, protective instincts in him. He understood sex, but he felt the need to set the ground rules first.
Kaja was smart. She would understand the bargain he wished to make with her. They could be partners.
“I’m sorry about that, Kaja. I don’t pretend to understand your people, though I suppose my people are just as brutal in a way.” When a rival corporation went under, no one came out to help the family. He recalled a man he’d gone to school with. He’d had a bad run and ended up moving down from the penthouse almost to the street. Dante was sure no one he knew had spoken to the man again. They weren’t so different.
She sighed and wriggled against him. “Now I am here. Stellan was right. It is good that I left my home. I will be your mate. I will make sure you have the finest meat and the nicest bed to nest in. I think the fat one will make a good feast. I will catch him for you tomorrow.”
Dante stopped. “Are you talking about Rhys?”
“I do not know his name. He is small and vicious, but has much meat on him. Now that I am out of that odd cage, I will surely be able to catch him for our meal.”
“Whoa, sweetheart. You can’t eat the gnomes,” Dante explained quickly. She turned her head to face him and seemed very confused. “The gnomes are our friends. We can’t eat them.” She still looked unsure. He decided to follow some of Beck’s advice. He allowed his voice to deepen. “You will not eat anything that talks back, Kaja.”
Her lower lip pouted sweetly, but she nodded. “Yes, I understand. I do not see why, though. They do not even have fangs or claws. It would be easy to…”
“I said no, Kaja,” Dante replied firmly. He pulled her back into his arms. He rather liked being forceful with her. It was nice to have someone take him seriously for a change. He let his arms drift around her torso. She needed to fatten up a bit, but she was a lovely armful all the same. She relaxed against him as his palms found her round breasts. She gasped a little as his thumbs drifted over her nipples. “Kaja, did you have a lover?”
She seemed very distracted by his fingers plucking at her nipples, but managed to answer. “Only one. Only the Second ever managed to catch me and hold me down for the mating, though he required help. I eluded the rest.”
Dante’s hands stopped, but only briefly. He was rapidly discovering a distaste for whatever plane she had come from. “Do you intend to run from me, sweetheart?”
He wouldn’t allow it.
Her sigh was happy. “Oh, no. You have claimed me. You use my name. I eluded the others because they did not intend to claim me. They wanted to use me and then move on.”
A nasty feeling hit Dante square in the gut. He was using her, but she was going to use him, too. She would get something out of their little arrangement. “Look, Kaja, maybe we should talk about things for a moment. We might have very different ideas about how this whole mating thing works. We’re married, in a sense, but we should keep it light, you know? Married people on my world don’t necessarily stay together forever.”
She sat up suddenly and turned. Dante was surprised at the loss he felt. Her eyes were wary now and steady on his face. “Say what you need to say, Dante.”
He swallowed a hefty amount of Scotch. Kaja might be uneducated, but she was far from stupid. He thought briefly about lying, but he owed her the truth. “Look, I was ordered by my father to find a consort. You’re the first one I saw, so I bought you. The truth of the matter is I don’t really want to be married. I don’t see the advantage.”
Her face went strangely blank. “You do not wish to mate with me.”
That wasn’t exactly correct, as his dick would attest. “I would love to fuck you, sweetheart. We just don’t know each other well enough for me to think I’ll never, ever want to fuck anyone else. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that I will. I’ve never been very good at keeping it in my pants, so to speak.” He gave her a little smile, trying to coax one out of her. “It doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. We’ll be married, but we can do as we like. I need for you to live at home with me for a while, but after that I’ll buy you someplace nice.”
It was a good plan. There were still places on his plane that were wild. Once his father decided to scoot his unsuitable daughter-in-law out of the family, Dante would be allowed to buy some land and settle her there. He could still visit. They were married, after all. Besides, if she was on the surface, there would be very little chance of her encountering another royal who might decide to take his chances with adultery. Dante found he didn’t like the idea of his wife fucking around. “There are some really nice places. Most of Canada is still a brutal hellhole, excuse me, lovely wilderness. We can get you a nice cabin up there.”
She stood suddenly and grasped the towel.
“Hey,” Dante protested, pulling at her hand. “I thought we were talking.”
“I am tired. It has been a very long day,” Kaja said without a hint of emotion. “Which corner is mine?”
“What do you mean which corner? There’s a perfectly fine bed here, Kaja.”
She shook her head. “I am not First. You will have the bed, and I will find a corner. I prefer a corner.”
He had a sudden flash of intuition. She preferred a corner because she would only have to protect her front. He got the feeling Kaja slept with one eye open. He sighed inwardly. He’d made a mess of this. He should have been less honest. It would have been kinder. He could have eased Kaja into the life he wanted, but no, he’d bungled it. “You sleep with me, Kaja. I am your husband.”
She shook her head. There was a wealth of sorrow in the gesture. “No, you are like the rest. You would use me and cast me aside when you are finished. I cannot risk it. If a pup were to be born, she would be outcast, too.”
Dante stilled. He hadn’t even thought about children. The women on his plane used birth control until such time as they desired children. He had never had to think about it. Kaja wasn’t on anything. If he had slept with her, he could have made her pregnant. If he wasn’t ready to be a husband, he was really unready to be a father.
She wrapped the towel around her middle. Her eyes studied him, and he had a bad feeling she could almost read his mind. “See, you do not wish for my pups.” She stepped out of the tub. “I will speak with your Second. I will go to these woods of his and be alone. I will cause no trouble.”
Dante was on his feet in an instant. He didn’t care about his nudity. He wasn’t about to let her run off to some faery forest. “You are not going anywhere with my cousin. I bought you, and you’re coming home with me. I’m sorry I’m not Prince Charming, but we’ll find our way. If, and it’s a mighty big if, you become pregnant, I would never deny our child. Our child would be a royal. He would have the best of everything. He would not be outcast.”
He would attempt to avoid it, of course. He doubted he could live apart from her if they made a baby. He wouldn’t have his child grow up in the wild, and he couldn’t imagine having to separate a child from his mother. Kaja would just have to adapt. He reached out and grasped her hand. He was surprised to find it was shaking. “Kaja? Are you all right? Sweetheart, you’re burning up.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. Her knees buckled, and Dante had to catch her. Her eyes went to the glass of water.
Rhys had said he put the medication the demon gave for her in the water. Damn it. He should have made it clear he didn’t want her drugged.
Kaja began to shake all over.
Dante carried her to the bed and thought maybe he would let her eat Rhys after all.