24. Ash

CHAPTER 24

Ash

Talon's gaze flickered to my crotch, my erection obvious even in the dim light. "We both know your drought with fae woman is your own choice."

I swept a hand over the scars on my face. "Pretty sure no woman is attracted to this."

"When was the last time you actually tried?" Talon cocked a sculpted white eyebrow knowing full well that I hadn't tried to court anyone since I'd been burned.

The look of horror on the faces of the first two women who'd seen me enter the Garden after I'd recovered had been more than enough. I hadn't been able to hide the truth with my magic and the damned scars had shown up in my spirit form. My days of courting and hoping that the Goddess would bind me to a mate, like most fae men, were over.

"Well, be careful. Rider will beat you up if he catches you watching his sister," Talon said, sitting on the bench, leaning back on the arm — the same arm I wanted to bend the redhead over — and stared up at the stars. "Even if we all know his sister gets off on being watched."

Lark moaned again and out of the corner of my eye I saw her on her hands and knees with Flint slowly pushing into her. If I hadn't watched this bonded quintet have sex before, it would have surprised me that the soft-spoken, shy healer would like this particular position… although maybe it wasn't Flint who really liked it. Lark's mating marks always glowed brighter when one of her guys took her from behind.

"And he'll use his claws," Talon added.

I huffed. Rider probably would. He was almost as over-protective of Lark as her mates were, but then sisters were rare in the fae world.

"Then let's hope he doesn't like getting off by watching his sister have sex and come by for a peek," I drawled, certain he wouldn't.

I wasn't even sure if Rider was interested in sex at all, which was highly unusual for a fae, let alone a fae with an animal form. Most fae who could shift into an animal were aggressive and possessive and sexually hungry like Blaze.

And while Rider was aggressive, as growly as the wolf he turned into, I'd never seen him with a woman or heard of him with one. He didn't even join his men in Lehyrst in the human realm to visit the brothel and it had been over a hundred years since he'd been with Talon. And I still had no idea what had happened between them to end their relationship.

Flint groaned his satisfaction, the sound shooting straight to my cock. I needed to release the pressure, but to do that, Talon needed to get the hell out of here. And while I was sure if I asked, he'd be up for a fuck — he always was with anyone — what I wanted was to push into something hot and tight, like the redhead, and Talon preferred to be on top.

"Let's just get this conversation over with," I said, my tone sharper than I wanted.

Talon rolled his eyes at me. "You really are torturing yourself. When the novices get lieu time, you better be in the group that goes to Lehyrst and get that taken care of."

"If that's what my novice would do," I said, shifting in an attempt to ease the pressure of my throbbing cock.

"No one's met him yet, so decide now that he'd be just as lustful as most human males who think they're never going to get laid again."

Which was sad but true. The human novices when they first arrived always thought because they'd been selected for the Guard that they were never going to have sex with a woman again. They thought they were walking into a death sentence and were always shocked to find out life in the Guard was usually better than the life they'd been forced to leave behind.

With the exception of having to leave their family and not being able to marry and have children, along with the dangers of the job, they were healthier and better cared for than if they'd stayed in their village or town.

The only ones who had serious trouble adjusting were the sons of noblemen and they were the main reason I took a human form every year and underwent novice training for at least a season. Although that wasn't to say there weren't commoners who also caused problems, but if there was going to be someone still stuck in the humans' social hierarchy, it'd be the nobles.

Which was something I should be focusing on. But Talon wanted to talk about the latest reports I'd sent him, and I'd agreed to meet him in this nook after he'd met with Rider and Quill.

Lark's moans and sighs and the grunts from her mates grew louder.

I'd picked this nook because that conception room was usually empty and very few people knew about this place. There were other rooms that Lark and Blaze preferred more, so I hadn't expected them here, and I certainly hadn't expected to find that stunning redhead watching them.

I shoved that thought aside before I remembered the redhead's sighs and moans and taste again.

"You wanted to talk," I forced out, managing to keep my voice even this time.

I was supposed to be good at keeping my cool. But making the redhead come had shaken something within me and I couldn't seem to pull myself back together.

"I need you to get more information on the Jerika family," Talon replied. "The princess's betrothal party isn't for another few months and the oldest Jerika sister has already sent another retainer and a priest to join the first one to try to arrange a meeting with the King of Erellod."

"And you're afraid someone will try another assassination attempt on her son?" I asked.

The Jerika family was in the middle of a heated dispute that had been going on for years since the widowed Marquis, his childless heir, along with his heir's wife had died of the sweating sickness. The march should have gone to his brother — bypassing four older sisters — but the man had gone on a sailing expedition and hadn't returned. Now the Jerika family was fighting among themselves with various members struggling to take control of the land while others were still holding out hope for the rightful heir to return.

Last summer, someone had poisoned the oldest sister's oldest son at his betrothal party, nearly killing him and succeeding in killing his betrothed. He was the most likely candidate to become the Marquis of Jerika, old enough to actually hold the title without a male relative governing until he was of age.

But the second oldest sister had been given a better marital match, and her husband — who had an heir from a previous marriage — held a higher noble rank in the kingdom. She believed even though her son was still underage, he should become the next marquis because his father was a duke. And while I didn't have concrete proof, it looked like she was willing to do anything — include killing her nephew — to ensure her son took the title.

"I'm afraid of an assassination attempt and retaliation."

Which was highly likely. Jerika March was small but wealthy and whoever controlled it had a significant say in Erellod's economic and political discissions.

"I've been trying to get a man into the older sister's entourage but haven't had any luck." She'd become far more suspicious since the assassination attempt and had closed ranks, not letting someone she hadn't known for years and who hadn't been thoroughly vetted near her son. "We still have a few months, but we might just have to do with the men I have in the Gold Tower."

Talon's eyes narrowed. "If this family brings their feud to the Gold Tower, I don't know if I'm going to have enough men to deal with it."

And he couldn't necessarily count on any of the men in the Kings' Guard who supplemented his guard. They were all second and third sons from noble families in the Five Great Human Kingdoms and any one of them could have a connection to the Jerika family.

Except I only had so many men as well, and Rider had already gone to the kings of the Five Great Kingdoms and petitioned for an increase in the size of the Black Guard last summer and been denied. The human kings didn't want to sacrifice anymore men, and the High Priestess wasn't willing to commit more fae to the Guard if the humans weren't. Then, to top off the bad feelings with the Kingdoms, we'd asked for more names to be drawn in the lottery than ever before.

"The White Tower has been quiet." Too quiet, but perhaps I was just being paranoid. "I'll reassign one of my men in the White Tower to help with the Gold Tower."

Talon sighed. It was the best I could do and he knew it. If we weren't about to be training novices, I'd also be able to help gather information about the political machinations happening at the Gold Tower, but I'd skipped infiltrating the novices fifteen years ago and had one human commit suicide before his first season of training was done while two more had beaten another one to death.

Rider had sworn that would never happen again and given me the assignment to assassinate anyone who posed a threat to the rest of the men. Here was hoping I wouldn't have to kill anyone this year.