T. Grey - Ties That Bind

Sometime later, a soft knock sounded at the door and Rosa came in with a plastic container filled with red. His tongue watered. She gave him a wobbly smile and handed the container to him. He tore it out of her hands and was chugging it in big gulps in the next second. He closed his eyes in pleasure. He hadn't realized just how thirsty he'd been. His taste buds opened up, absorbing the delicious taste. The blood fueled his body moistening his muscles and cells, powering him up. He finished the entire container and wanted more but he refrained from asking her to get some.

If he took too much he could make himself sick. He wouldn't vomit the blood up but he'd get tired and lethargic from overeating and it'd take him at least a day to adjust to it.

She took the empty container from him and set it aside. “Can I sleep with you?”

He almost laughed because there was no way she wasn't sleeping with him tonight. “Yeah, get over here.”

She pulled off her dress and he groaned. She wore nothing under it. Not a stitch on her beautiful body. Only all natural woman, just how he liked it. She didn't flush with embarrassment either and he smiled. Good to know she was adjusting to him, because he planned to see her body a lot more in the future.

She cuddled up next to him but didn't touch his stomach.

That night, he slept like a rock.

After slow, passionate lovemaking with Lily, Telal grabbed a quick shower and dressed in some clothes provided by Tyrian. The clothes weren't his usual fair but they fit. Plus, he had to admit, wearing suits got bothersome. Not enough pockets and even the smallest of spills resulted in a dry cleaning bill. The money didn't bother him but it always felt like a hassle, one necessary to his job.

The forest green cargo pants, black tee, and boots worked out better than he thought. If he were fully equipped with his favorite weapons, his knives since he'd always favored them in hand-to-hand combat, he'd have enough pockets to put all his extra gear. Lily came up beside him with a satisfied expression that showed just how sated he'd made her. His chest swelled with a mixture of possessiveness and pride. He had the urge to grin at her and say, “Yeah, I did that, baby.” But he didn't. He wasn't going to make himself look like a fool even if he did feel that way.

“Ready?” she said.

Nodding, they went downstairs to a meeting he'd call with everyone. All the Bellum sisters were there along with their mates and even Kearnyn felt well enough to attend. Rosa sat next to him, their hands clasped together.

Telal's stomach felt jittery. He'd awoken early in the morning and had lay there with Lily wrapped in his arms as he'd thought…planned. He weighed the pros and cons of all the possible situations the best he could. He'd miss something, he knew. Last time he'd had no idea his brother was the king or his father dead. At least in some ways that knowledge might help him to succeed. He still teetered on the edge though. What he really wanted to do and what needed to be done were two different scenarios. And in this case, not just for him, but also for Lily and his people, he had to do the latter.

Lily tried to pull him down in the seat by her but he pulled away. He needed space from her right now. He stood in front of the group and crossed his arms.

“I'm going to overthrow Alrik from the throne.” His eyes caught Lily's expression and he frowned. She looked sad or disappointed. Isn't this what she'd wanted? Why she'd supported him?

“Share the details,” Tyrian said.

“Since we have no choice but to drop in announced we can't use stealth to our advantage. They're going to see us. I believe since Alrik has sent assassins after us he may even be expecting an attack.”

“I and the Warriors will back you,” Tyrian said. His mate gasped and squeezed his hand in a tight grip. Telal looked away from the emotional sight.

“So will my men.” Lyonis' mate didn't look scared but nodded slowly as if she was ready to take arms and go down there with him. He almost laughed. The Bellum family was so diverse yet similar it rattled his mind.

“We'll go late at night so most of the royalty will be asleep. I don't want innocents dying if we can avoid it. We'll storm the castle. But Alrik's mine.” His eyes met the understanding nods of the group. Seeing their acceptance actually helped him to resolve to do this, he realized. He felt better after getting their agreement, like he wasn't doing this alone.

“When do we start?” Lily's curious question, met with her soft beseeching gaze, made his chest pull tight.

“Just so we understand each other, you're not going. None of the women are.”

Anger darkened her face and she stood, her voice almost a yell. “What? You need us down there. Me especially and what about Rosa? She can help with any healing if it's necessary.”

Telal didn't voice the fact that whether Rosa wanted to go, even if he'd allow, should be her decision because he honestly didn't want to fight with her. He cared for her and whether or not he made it out of the rift as king, he wanted her to be safe in Tyrian's castle.

“You are not going. None of the women are. Rosa will stay here and help the injured after it's done.” He paused. “Besides, we can't take a legion of men with us. Only a small group.”

“Why?” Chloe said.

“Because I can only port in as many people as I can touch. It'd take hours to port in even half the Atal Warriors, and that will only exhaust my powers. I'll need them to go up against Alrik.”

Tyrian nodded. “He's right. Even with Henry, Draven, and Rayn helping to port people in. Sitting around while waiting for more help to arrive isn't going to help the surprise attack.”

“I'll make a detailed list of who's going, though if you don't want to you don't have to go. It's entirely up to you. I'll get the list out by the end of today. We'll attack four days from today.”

Lily's eyes widened. Had she realized that he'd planned the attack around her new moon? He did. He wanted to be here for this, to be with her for his final days. Hopefully by then his powers will be back in full force.

“That's all for now.” The room cleared out except for Lily who came at him with a pointed finger and hard steps.

“I'm going with you dammit. I haven't sat around this whole time planning to help you just to sit here twiddling my thumbs while you could get hurt.”

“It'd bother you if I got hurt?” he said softly. The notion gave him a peculiar feeling in his chest, something like happiness.

He thought she might explode from her reaction. “Bother me? My god I—”

She stopped and the silence that followed was deafening. It felt as though the floor just dropped out from under his feet and he was free-falling in the air with his arms and legs kicking nothing but air around him. Then he landed with a crush that jarred him back to reality.

“You love me?” His body felt strained and tense, torn between wanting to flee and squeeze the life out of her.

She crossed her arms and looked away, a bright blush covering her cheeks. “I do not.” Her stiff words brought a smile to his face and a joy in his heart that he'd never felt before.

“Don't lie to me, Lily.”

She gawked at him. “Don't use the imperial voice on me. We've had sex.”

“What does that have to do with it?” He hadn’t realized he liked her switches between mood and until now. She was just so...cute. God, now he was going to blush.

Her mouth opened and closed several times. “That means you can't order me to do anything.”

He couldn't help himself. He stepped forward, lowered his voice. “If I told you to take off your clothes for me you would.”