I licked my lips and straddled the Sea King. Vax growled happily and transferred his grip to my ass. Without his hold, my cock flopped against his belly. But then I shifted back so I could undo his pants. The King's cock burst free—a thing of elegance and primal power. My mouth watered.
Grinning at him, I yanked the pillows out from behind him and put them to either side of us. Facing him, with thosepillow walls up, it almost felt as if we were alone. But then I heard the soft sounds of sex, and I looked over my shoulder. It was the dancers. They were naked now and going at it. I'd call it fucking, but they were too gentle about it, turning what could have been base into something as beautiful as their dancing. Groups of two, three, and more came together, their nude bodies shining under the floating lights. The curve of tight asses, lush breasts, and muscular thighs made me suck in some air, but my breath came shooting out when I spotted a thick, dark, Gashi cock slamming into a pearly Leeya ass.
“Oh, fuck,” I groaned and spun back to my mate. “I don't think I can do this.”
Vax sat up and wrapped his arms around me. “You don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with, Zix.” He tucked me away and buttoned my pants.
I let out another breath, this one of relief. Then I put his cock away and fastened his pants. “I think I'd prefer to not share what we do with others.”
He grinned. “I think I'd prefer that too. I don't like the idea of other people seeing your nude body and coveting it.”
“You're a shapeshifter. Nudity shouldn't bother you.”
“It doesn't. Butyournudity, viewed by lusty eyes, does. And you are not a shapeshifter.”
My lips twitched. I had to bite the lower one to keep from grinning. “I don't want other people to look at you like that either.”
“That pleases me.” He grabbed a sesame ball and held it up to my lips.
“This pleases me,” I said before gobbling up the ball.
“Have you had enough to eat, Mate?”
“Yes. I think I have.”
“Good. Then get up. I may not want to share you with my court, but I do want you. Now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” I stood up and held a hand down to him.
Vax lifted a brow at my hand, gripped it, and stroked his thumb over the scales there.
“Stop teasing me,” I grumbled and pulled him to his feet.
“It's a promise, not a tease.” Suddenly, Vax snatched me up and tossed me over his shoulder.
We left the hall to the sound of scattered applause and cheering. Oh, and some deep moaning.
It was the best party I'd ever attended and all the better because we left early.
Chapter Thirty-Six
At my urging, the Sea King set me down outside the dining hall, and we walked the rest of the way to his apartments hand-in-hand. Our apartments, I mean. It was starting to sink in that his home was now my home. I had a home. And not one that floated around on top of the sea. Not just a single room either. I lived in a palace.
But Vax didn't take me to our beautiful bedroom. Instead of heading up the stairs, he went out to the garden. The garden of ash.
It had been cleaned; the ashes gathered and the black stains scrubbed away. New trees, bushes, and flowers had been planted. But they would need time to fill in and flourish into what the old garden had been. It had a feeling of rebirth to it, all that freshly tilled soil and trimmed foliage, but under that was a lingering sorrow. The kind of pain Vax had suffered there couldn't be scrubbed away with soap and water. It had seeped into the stones.
“Vax,” I whispered. “I don't want to be here. I keep remembering you curled up among the ashes.”
“I as well,” Vax said as he lifted his chin and drew me down the bright stone path around the plants. “But I need toreclaim this place, Mate, and you're the only one who can help me do that.”
He took me to a grassy circle surrounded by trees. The sod was as fresh as everything else, doubtless imported from the surface. It was also surprisingly soft when he drew me down onto it. I looked up at the branches bowed over us and then past them to the sea. It lay against Vaxarion's ward, thousands of pounds of pressure, maybe more, all held back by the King's will. It was humbling to think about. As a whale passed over us, I stared at its pale underbelly and shivered. To think that my lover could become a beast even larger than that whale was mind-blowing.
It had been many years since I'd spent so long underwater. I'd forgotten about the beauty down there. The lights of the city had been dimmed for the night, mimicking what was happening above the surface. But dim light was different from moonlight, and even without the whale of a reminder, I wouldn't have been deceived. I had a moment of anxiety and had to remind myself that I wouldn't be there constantly. I wasn't a prisoner. I was a duke. I had the freedom of the sea and the land.
I smiled as I looked down and found Vax staring at me, his eyes gone tender and his lips slightly parted.
“You are so beautiful, my sea butterfly,” Vax whispered as he reached for my hair. In seconds, he had my braid undone and was combing his fingers through it. “So very beautiful.”
