CHAPTER FIVE—LORELEI VAUSS

And then, he was in my arms again, and it was as though I had never left. Better, in fact, with my parents there behind me, supporting this strange decision about which I had come to feel so fervently. I could barely let him go, couldn’t keep him out of my sight as we made our way into the spire to prepare for the feast in my honor. Me. The Queen.

“Calder, my family has come here to stay,” I said, my hand in his as we walked.

“Wonderful!” He said. “It will be a pleasure to get to know your origins. I am certain that have a collection of wonderful stories that they will be eager to share with me.”

He was grinning a mischievous smile and I could do nothing but roll my eyes. “I’m sure,” I said.

We led the small group of us through the spire, and I smiled to see my parents drinking it all in. How grand it was, how anachronistic. How it was the only building here fitted with electricity. How it could go from cold, sleek lines, to carpets and plush cushions in bright colors, just around the turn of a corner.

“We will want our own domicile eventually,” My mom asserted, always thinking ahead. “Perhaps close to the spire, so that we can take advantage of its, er…more modern amenities?”

“Of course,” Calder agreed. “We’ll build you something just to your specifications. But for now,” he said, pausing in front of a door not too far from where our quarters were, “you will have to make do with a guest room.”

“That will be just fine,” Dad said, and reached out to shake Calder’s hand. Calder wasn’t so accustomed to that gesture but did the best he could. I giggled quietly.

“You’ll forgive us if we turn in for a bit?” He asked. “Just until supper. We’ve had quite a journey and could do with a bit of a lie down.”

“Certainly,” Calder said. “Make yourselves at home. Please. And we shall see you at the feast. I’ll send someone to escort you.”

“Thank you,” Mom said, pushing into the room and closing the door behind her and Dad.

Calder was smiling as he turned back to me and Tierney. “So, Ms. Mafaren,” he said, “I did not expect to have you back with us so soon. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“I won’t be staying long, your highness,” she said. “I just…need somewhere to stay for the night. And then I’ll be out of your hair. I promise.”

“You are welcome as long as you like. You’ll find your old room is yet unoccupied, and you are welcome to make use of it.”

“Thank you,” she said, dipping into a low curtsy. “I’ll go there now.”

“But we’ll see you at the feast?” He asked.

“If it pleases you, sire,” she said, and I grinned to see her being so obedient to him. She turned to look at me, then, and hugged me to her suddenly.

“Thank you,” she said, “for being so kind and understanding. And I really am sorry—”

“I know you didn’t mean for all these terrible things to happen, Tierney,” I said, hugging her back. “But we’ll get the others back. We will. I just know it.” She was nodding as she drew away, and she forced herself to smile before she turned on her heel to head down the hall to her room.

And then we were finally alone, in the spire, the King and Queen. The Qeteshi and the Human. Calder and Lorelei. We walked slowly, hand in hand, back to the grand master suite that we had shared in the spire. But I found that I missed his quiet cottage more than the opulence of the Spire. For now, it didn’t matter. So long as we were together.

But there was still a bit of unfinished business between us, and I needed to find the words to tell him.

Calder opened the door, even as I placed a hand absently on my belly, a habit I’d taken up even though I was not yet starting to show. When he closed the door behind us, I was suddenly overtaken by the emotional intensity of everything we’d been through, and I thought I might burst into wracking sobs.

“Calder, I’m so sorry,” I said, and it was almost a plea. “I never should have left.”

“You did what you felt was necessary to help your friends,” he said, trying to smile, but I could see that our separation had rattled him as well.

“I don’t know what I thought I could do for them, but whatever it was—if anything—it’s done now.” I slipped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. I hadn’t told him yet, but I was certain that he was wondering why my parents had accompanied me to Qetesh. Still, I couldn’t seem to find the words. It wasn’t something I could just come out at say—was it?

“It’s done,” he said, “and you are home with me. For good.”

“For good.”

He was hugging me close, but after a time he lifted a hand and tucked a finger under my chin to tilt my head back. He bent forward and kissed me then, his tongue probing the cavern of my mouth. Kiss him was the real homecoming, and I gave myself over to the sensation. But the sweetness of it turned desperate, as I felt his hands rove over the peaks and valleys of my curves. “Calder, I—”

“Hush, now,” he said, and pushed my jacket back over my shoulders until it fell to the floor. My shirt came up over my head next, but his fingers were too thick to undo the buttons of my jeans. I helped him, kicking off my boots as I went, smiling all the while. My panties were last, white and plain, and he reached forward to take their band in his fist and rip them clean off my body.

He pushed me back onto the bed and spread my legs so that my sex was bared to him, and he gazed down at it, running his fingertips lightly over the lips. When he pulled his hand away, his fingertips came away damp with my desires, and I knew I could not last long without the feeling of him filling me up.

He knelt down in front of me and wrapped his arms around my legs, tugging my bottom to the edge of the mattress. Then he bent forward and slipped his tongue between my nether lips, flicking my clitoris with the tip of his tongue. I moaned, gripping my breasts in my hands as he went to work on me. I squeezed my thighs against him and felt the hardness of his horns as they grated against my flesh with every movement.

He pulled away suddenly, and stood up, tugging his tunic up over his head to reveal his perfect, beautiful chest, adorned as it was with a myriad of tattoos. He abandoned his breeches next, his cock already at full attention, and gripped his shaft in his fist as he came toward me. Positioning the head of his prick at my wet entrance, he thrust himself home with one long, insistent stroke. I cried out and he gripped me by the hips, fucking me with blissful abandon. “Now,” he growled as he bucked his hips, “you are home.”

He bent over me, and I ran my hands along his back, gripping his ass as he pressed himself as deeply as he could get inside of me. Our mouths found each other, and we kissed, connected at two points, until finally he broke away and rolled over onto his back. I climbed astride him then, directing him back into me and setting down until I had taken his full length. I pressed my hands against his chest and rocked back and forth; he helped me along by gripping me by the hips.

“Calder,” I panted as I moved, feeling my orgasm building inside of me. I knew this would be quick, but not quite this quick. “Calder!” My orgasm erupted fast and strong, the muscles in my cunt clamping down around the intrusion of his cock, even as my entire body shuddered atop him. And it was my orgasm that sent him off as well, his body tensing as he thrust up and into me one last time, filling me with his seed as his fingers gripped the flesh on my hips.

We were breathing hard, our hearts beating in time to one another as I leaned forward and rested with my arms on his chest and my chin on my arms. He was still inside of me when I peered down into his face and began to speak. “Calder,” I murmured.

“Hm?”

“There’s something I want to tell you.”

“What it is, my lady?” He asked, his tone all sleepy and warm as our heart rates began to slow.

I smiled, brushing a few stray hairs away from my eyes, and said, “I’m pregnant.”

He lifted his head to look at me, searching my face for any sign of mischief. But I could only smile, and he could only reflect that smile back at me. “Oh, my darling,” he said, gently cupping my face in his hand. He rolled, and I rolled with him, until he was on top of me, kissing me, laughing, laughing, and kissing me. “My darling girl,” he said, over and over. “Thank the Gods. What a life we’ve stumbled into.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “What a life.”