Mona Lisa Craving m-3 Page 9

  “Like any other Monère can for limited amounts of time,” Nolan answered. “The few minutes of sun exposure every day—driving my sons to school, picking them up, and then driving to my business—results inevitably in darkened skin after several months’ time.” He shrugged and returned to the subject at hand. “The Halcyon you mention. Do you mean the High Prince of Hell?”

  “Yup, that Halcyon. So you see.” And I think they did now. “It would be in your sons’ best interests to seek another Queen’s bed.” Any other Queen’s bed. I chewed my lip and continued. “It is my hope that you and Hannah will choose to make your home with me. And that I can serve as your sons’ re-entry into Monère society. They should be ready to…I mean, I saw boys younger than them seeking positions with Queens.” The main position hopefully being over or under her in bed, though I could scarcely say that to them. But that was the reality of our Monère society. Virgin boys…I winced at that, wondering if I had just hurt Dante’s chances of being selected…were taken into a Queen’s bed at a young and tender age. An arrangement that benefited both parties. The budding warrior gained power from mating with a Queen, and the Queen gained a sexual playmate she was not afraid of, a man just coming into his power, indulging herself with him until that power grew too threatening for her, or she tired of him and cast him from her bed.

  “My sons are two years past the age of maturity when most young men would seek to intimately serve a Queen,” Nolan said. “They are, as you say, ready to go into service.”

  “Oh, well, good. The next Council meeting is coming right up in nine days. They can…” Offer themselves up? “Sign up then at the Service Fair. If they want to, that is.” I blushed, unable to look at Quentin. “I was just thinking that the sooner for them, the better.”

  Nolan nodded. “You are correct, milady. Indeed. The sooner for them, the better.”

  I took a breath, willed the blush to fade away. “Yes, well, um…all I ask is that you come and give me a try for a few days. If you’re not happy settling in my territory, you can seek a position with another Queen of your choosing at the coming fair, and I will do my best to aid you in that endeavor. I know it’s not your usual Monère arrangement—a Mixed Blood Queen and a Demon Prince.” I smiled weakly. Actually, that didn’t sound attractive at all. I hesitated. “If you and Hannah would rather not join me because of this, if you’d just rather continue on as you have been doing, I’ll understand.”

  “You humble yourself for no reason. You give my sons a chance I never thought they’d have, and myself a privilege I’d never thought to know again.” Nolan dropped to his knees and Hannah and Quentin knelt beside him.

  “It would be a great honor to serve you, my Queen.”

  SEVEN

  IT TOOK LESS than an hour to gather up their things. Thankfully, most of their stuff had already been packed. They’d been planning to leave anyway. Hannah cooked a steak for Dante, and had him eat it and drink something before we left. He hadn’t taken the time earlier for sustenance when he had rushed out to see me. When asked if I cared for some food, I hastily muttered that I would grab a hamburger on the road, and quickly fled the kitchen.

  We were ready to go in short order. One of the two vehicles they had, a Honda Ridgeline truck, had thick mats and bulky gym bags loaded in the open flatbed, along with the other packed household stuff. I slid into the front passenger seat and turned to gaze curiously at the unusual items. The truck was surprisingly roomy inside—as roomy as a regular car. Nolan took the wheel while Hannah sat in back. Quentin drove the other car, following us, with Dante seated beside him. I was grateful they hadn’t put Dante and me together.

  When asked what all the mats in back were for, I was told that it was equipment from the self-defense school they’d operated in their little town. That was how Nolan and his sons had made their living.

  “We taught the use of sword, dagger, and firearms, as well,” Nolan told me as I blissfully devoured a hamburger we’d gotten at a drive-through. I discovered that fast food tasted especially good when you hadn’t had any in a long while. “We even held special classes for the local police,” he added.

  I chewed and washed down a mouthful of the steamy burger with a cool sip of Sprite. “Cops?”

  Nolan smiled, probably at the way I’d said the word. “Yes, cops. They made up over a quarter of my client base, good customers actually. Hannah also offered her healing services to the local community.”

  “You healed humans?” I said with surprise.

  “In a much more subtle way, milady,” she said, nodding. “My talent is limited with non-Monère. More diagnosis, pointing out what is wrong, and the easing of some of their pain. Sometimes boosting their own natural healing. I give them herbal infusions to drink while I examine them, and they believe that it is the herbal tea that helps them.”

  “You seem to have made a comfortable life here,” I observed. “Why were you planning to leave?”

  “We knew we could no longer stay after we brought you here,” Nolan answered.

  A germ of an idea was sprouting in my mind. I tried it on, out loud. “Nolan. How would you like to open up a similar school in my Louisiana territory?”

  Nolan glanced askance at me. “For humans?”

  “Yes, and some Mixed Bloods I have under my care.”

  “I am yours to command, milady.”

  I waved his perfunctory comment aside, and continued, warming up to my idea. “The expense and income would be yours to manage. And any profit would be yours to keep like before, other than a ten percent cut—the tithing portion I owe High Court from all my businesses. Would you like to do this?”

  He seemed astounded and uncertain. “Yes, of course, milady. But that is not how things are usually done.”

  “The usual way being that the Queen owns everything, everybody works for her for free, and she provides for their needs. A feudal way of operating that really should change. And maybe can, beginning with you.”

  “But I will not be contributing much to you under those terms,” Nolan said, troubled.

  “You will be contributing more than you know. You will be showing my people another way to live, a more independent way. And one of the Mixed Bloods you will be training will be my brother. Teach him how to protect himself, and you will have served me invaluably. Besides, you’re contributing a healer to our community.”

  Regardless, Nolan insisted that I take twenty percent of the profits. Ten percent for the tithe, the other ten percent for myself. In addition to that, he said, “I would extend my services in the training of your men, as well.”

  “That’s very generous,” I said, pleased with the offer. “I’ll introduce you to Dontaine, my master of arms. See what he says.”

  Nolan asked me who the drill master was, and the length and frequency and routine of practice for my warriors. To my shame, I was unable to answer him.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know as much as I should about that.”

  “You don’t practice with your men?”

  “No.”

  “You should,” Nolan said. “You fight well, but your swordplay is crude.”

  Nothing like the truth to make you wince. “I haven’t had much practice,” I said in my own defense.

  “You will now” was his ominous reply. I had a feeling that whoever the drill master had been before, Nolan was the new one now, at least for me, if he had anything to say about it.

  Dawn was just beginning to break when we finally pulled into the long driveway leading up to the house. We rounded a curve, then Belle Vista, the grand plantation home, was rising before us. But lovely though the building was, it was the people streaming down the steps that truly lifted my heart. My family, my people. And Amber was here! My big, craggy giant. My Warrior Lord, my love. Happiness swelled my heart.

  That happiness faltered a bit, though, when I saw the harshness on his face. And Amber’s was not the only grim, tight-lipped expression I saw as we pulled up. Dontaine, tall, fair, and h
andsome, stood beside Amber, looking like a thundercloud ready to burst and rain down on us. Flanking them were my guards: Aquila, the former rogue who had kidnapped me, now one of my most trusted men; and loyal, plain Tomas, on whom I had hung up the phone. He was looking as angry as I’d ever seen him. The four of them were an intimidating wall—fully armed with swords, daggers, and aggressive stances. Behind them, kept safely back, was my younger brother, Thaddeus. His dark straight hair and almond eyes, so like mine, grew big with relief as he caught sight of me. Next to him were Jamie and Tersa, the brother and sister of my heart, the other Mixed Bloods in my care. Their mother, Rosemary, a Full Blood Monère woman, stood tall among them. And beside them, guarding them, was Chami, my chameleon, my deadly assassin.

  “It’s all right,” I said stepping out of the car. “Everything’s o—”

  The rest of my words were cut off as Amber grabbed me in a crushing embrace. Good thing my bruises were gone, healed with the first orgasm Dante had given me, or I would have been yelping in pain and upsetting my men even more.

  “Are you hurt?” Amber demanded, holding me at arm’s length to look me over from head to toe with a keen, razor-sharp inspection.

  I was able to answer him honestly, “No, I’m not hurt. I’m fine.”

  Car doors opened and shut, and Dante and Quentin came to stand beside their father; the truck separated them from my men. Hannah remained in the car per her husband’s quietly murmured command.

  “This is the healer and her family that I told you about,” I said, made nervous by my men’s continued tension.

  “’Tis the same scent from the forest,” Dontaine said. “The intruders.” The snarled pronouncement had my men drawing their weapons.

  “Stand down,” I said sharply. “They are not armed and they offer you no violence.”

  “They wear guns,” Amber rumbled dangerously.

  And so they did, in harnesses hidden beneath the light jackets they wore. I’d totally forgotten about them. How stupid of me. Thankfully, Nolan and his sons were smarter than I. They made no move to draw their guns. Just stood there, a solid wall of three.

  “Your Queen thinks you dead, Nolan,” Amber said, his eyes fixed on the big warrior.

  “The only way I could have ever left her,” Nolan replied. “It has been long since I have seen you. You are no longer Amber, but Lord Amber now,” he said, noting the medallion chain the other man wore, and the greater feel of his power.

  “Did you take Mona Lisa from us?” Amber asked.

  “I did,” Nolan answered.

  “Why?”

  “My son Dante was afflicted with Lunara asseros.”

  A ripple of reaction, felt more than seen from my men. Amber’s gaze traveled over the two young men, coming to rest on Dante without having to be told which one he was. No need to. His stronger presence, greater than that of his brother, and my scent which he still carried, identified him readily. Amber studied him carefully, and was examined with equal intensity in turn.

  Abruptly Amber resheathed his sword. The tension lessened palpably as the rest of my men put away their weapons. They may not have entirely forgiven Nolan, but at least they understood his actions better now.

  “You have a family, Nolan,” Amber said.

  “Yes, I have been richly blessed.” At Nolan’s calling, Hannah stepped out of the car and went to her husband’s side. “This is my wife, Hannah,” Nolan said proudly. “And my two sons, Dante and Quentin.”

  “Welcome.” Amber inclined his head formally to them all, then his eyes returned to Nolan. “Welcome back into the fold, brother.” The two big men stepped around the truck and embraced each other in that rough, back-slapping way of powerful men.

  You couldn’t help comparing the two of them. Nolan stood around six two, but Amber topped him by at least a good four inches. Nolan was big, but Amber was even bigger.

  As if a silent signal had been given, the others rushed down to me, and I was wrapped in teary embraces. I returned hugs, spoke reassuringly to Rosemary, Tersa, Jamie, and Thaddeus. Even apologized to Tomas for hanging up on him the way I had.

  Daylight streamed softly over us, and while I enjoyed the feel of the sun’s warmth upon my skin, I knew that it had to be uncomfortable for the rest of them.

  “Grab what you need,” I instructed Nolan and his family. “You’ll sleep here tonight until we can settle you into a place of your own.”

  Hannah grabbed a satchel smelling of medicinal herbs, and a second light tote. Nolan and the boys each took two bags from the car. The heavier, longer one contained their weapons. The second, smaller bag was filled, no doubt, with lesser necessities like clothing. I mentally rolled my eyes and shooed everyone into the house.

  If a house could give a sigh, Belle Vista did as we walked through her grand doors—of happiness, of contentment, of joy. I was back where I belonged with my people. And like a good Queen, I had brought back even more people to fill her hallways with.

  EIGHT

  I SLEPT IN Amber’s arms that day. No scolding, no questions. Just sweet, blessed sleep. As soon as he wrapped me in the comfort of his big embrace, with his slow-beating heart thudding gently beneath my ear blocking out all other sounds in the house, I drifted off to sleep.

  My eyes fluttered open as dusk began to fall. Wide awake and refreshed, I left Amber still sleeping, drifted silently down the stairs, and slipped out the front door. A few last, lingering rays of sunlight still defiantly painted the remnants of the day, as if to say, Do not hasten me on my way. I walked across green grass so lush that it cushioned each footfall, drinking in the magnificent hues of sunset, the vibrant splashes of color thrown upon the rich canvas of the sky.

  It wasn’t until he spoke that I became aware that another watched the ebbing day as I did. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” His voice came from the trees lining the eastern edge of the lawn.

  “Dontaine,” I said with surprise and pleasure, and walked across the carpet of grass to where my master of arms sat against a tree, half-hidden in its shadows. Sunset’s last faint light fell across the leaves to dapple his skin with purple-pink hues.

  “You can walk in daylight?” I asked.

  “Like any other Monère,” Dontaine replied in a voice carefully devoid of emotion, his eyes lifted to the setting sun. “Not like you, without any pain, any burning. It stings my skin still.”

  I sat on the ground beside him and said softly, “I’m sorry.”

  “For what? That I did not receive your gift, your immunity from the sunlight through our mating? Or for walking so carelessly out of the house like this, without any guards? Without anyone aware of where you go. Or are you apologizing for doing that very same thing yesterday, twenty-four hours ago, allowing yourself to be snatched from us, leaving the entire household in a state of frenzied panic?”

  His voice was deceptively calm. But his eyes…his eyes, when he turned them to me, were far from calm. He was furious in a way that was even more frightening than if he had screamed and yelled. Contained fury.

  I flushed with shame, with guilt, with knowing that I was wrong. “Dontaine, I’m very sorry for that.”

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it, as you humans say!” He lashed out at me with the biting edge of his emotions unleashed, and I flinched, wisely shut up as he pressed his lips tightly together, holding back the hot torrent of words just waiting to spill out. Somehow he managed to swallow them down. His next words came out in a hoarse, strained whisper. “I promised him that I would guard you with my life.”

  “Who?”

  “Halcyon, your Demon Prince. Remember?”

  His caustic tone made me wince. “Dontaine, please. Stop.”

  “I can’t! It eats at me so. He entrusted you to me, to watch over you when he could not. And hours later, not even a day later, you are gone. Stolen from us while we slept.” He looked at me with tormented eyes, a painful mix of guilt and anguish filling them. “And I was not here. I do not live in this house. How can I wat
ch over you if I do not even live here?”

  “Dontaine…” My voice trailed away. What could I say after all?

  “I am your master of arms by your decree. And your lover by the generosity of your heart. Let me stay here with you, Mona Lisa.”

  The open vulnerability in that proud face hurt me more than any scalding anger ever could. I gave beneath the gentle force of it with a yielding sigh. “All right. Yes. You can stay here at the house.”

  “In Gryphon’s room, next to yours,” he said. “I’ve spoken to Amber and have his agreement. He wishes it, too.”

  Ah, so that was why Amber had held back on the tongue lashing. He knew Dontaine would deliver it to me with far more effective results. And that, loaded down with guilt, it would be hard for me to deny Dontaine this request.

  My men were learning how to handle me.

  But at the thought of someone moving into Gryphon’s quarters, my heart twinged painfully. He’s dead but not really gone, I told myself. Just moved to another realm. And it would hurt my new lover more were I not to let him use that empty room.

  I nodded my consent.

  “Thank you,” Dontaine said in a soft rush of relief, and brushed trembling lips across mine. I felt his weariness then, beating down upon him as we touched, as that electric spark of sensation jumped between us almost sluggishly.

  “Did you sleep?” I asked, pulling back.

  He shook his head and smiled sadly. “How could I when no one else was watching? When someone could lure you out? Or you could simply wake early, before others, and wander out as you just did.”

  “I’m used to taking care of myself, Dontaine.”

  “You did not even scan your surroundings. You were not aware I was outside with you until I spoke.”

  I flushed. “Very careless of me, I know. I just feel…safe here.”

  “And we can make it so, if you will allow us. With but a few simple measures.”

  I’d refused it before when he had suggested it. “There’s no need, with three warriors living in the house. Four now with you.”