Beck softened. Cian was whole. It had been a long time since
Cian had been complete. He enveloped his brother, the man who held
half his soul, in a spine-cracking bear hug. He looked over to Meg.
“Thank you,” he mouthed.
Meg’s eyes were suspiciously bright as she nodded.
“You feel fine?” Beck asked, looking over his younger brother.
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“I feel fantastic,” Cian replied seriously. “The bond, goddess,
Beck, it’s amazing. She’s always with me. I can sense her moods
when she’s not hiding them. She’s perfect.”
Cian looked back at their wife, and she practically glowed under
his praise. It made Beck remember the errand he’d gone on before
leaving the Vampire plane. He reached down into his pack and pulled
out the gift he’d bought for his wife.
“I got you a present, Meggie,” he said, holding it out to her.
He felt like an idiot standing there hoping she liked what he’d
bought for her. It took her a moment, but finally she took the small
package from him and looked it over.
“This is A Tale of Two Cities,” she said, looking at the old book with a growing smile. “Is it a vampire version? Does Sydney Carton
eat the French Revolutionaries at the end? That would be cool.”
Beck frowned and shook his head. “No. It’s from the human
plane. They promised me it was very rare. I thought you would like
having something from your home. You said you liked books.”
Meg touched the book reverently. “This is one of my favorite
books.”
She stopped, some unnamed emotion choking her words. Cian
reached out and grabbed her hand. It annoyed Beck that Cian could
calm her.
“Do you like it?” Beck asked. He’d searched for hours trying to
find something to remind her of the world she’d come from. “I could
get something else if it displeases you.”
Meg shook her head. “No, Beck, I love it. It’s a lovely gift.” She
sighed as though making a decision. “Thank you.”
She walked up and kissed him on the cheek.
It was a start. His hand went to her waist. He held her to him for a
moment. He looked down at her uncertain eyes and chose to be bold.
He cupped her face while he kissed her roughly. “I missed you, wife.”
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She was breathless when he let her go. Her hands shook slightly
as she forced herself to back away. “I should go start dinner. I’ll just
put this up.”
She practically ran from the room. Something deep inside Beck
eased. She still wanted him. Everything would be all right. He could
ease them into the relationship they both wanted.
“Damn it,” Cian said, slapping Beck on the back. “Why do you
think I started the sex play early this evening, brother? I was trying to
avoid Meggie’s cooking. Don’t get me wrong, the woman can make a
damn fine cookie, but the rest of it is terrible. I’m dying here, Beck. I
was going to exhaust her then slink off to Flanna’s and beg her to feed
me.”
“It can’t possibly be that bad,” Beck said, shaking his head at his
brother’s dramatics.
“Oh, it can,” Cian said.
Beck remembered that he had a bone to pick with his brother.
“Why slink off to Flanna’s when there’s an entire festival going on in
the village?”
“We should probably talk about that.”
“Don’t feed me some line of crap about wanting the villagers to
accept Meg,” Beck replied, cutting off that avenue of escape. “Did
you think for one minute about how this affects things? Did you
consider that Torin will know about her now?”
Cian waved him off. “Torin knew about her the minute you
stepped into that arena. If I let you hide her, people would think we
were ashamed of her.”
“Why does it matter?” Beck shot back. “Who cares what people
think as long she’s safe?”
Cian’s gray eyes settled into a stubborn stare. “If you’re so fired
up about keeping her safe, then let me take her to the Vampire plane.
She’ll be perfectly safe with the Dellacourts. I’ll get a job at the
university. Problem solved. You’ll never have to worry about either
of us again.”
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“I’m not letting you take her anywhere,” Beck said, feeling a bit
savage. Did Cian think he could waltz off with their wife? “As far as I
can tell, you’ve been a bad influence on her.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Cian was obviously feeling a
bit of Beck’s restless anger.
“It means she’s getting quite the reputation in town,” Beck said.
“Have you been letting her run wild? She’s met with goblins? She’s
forcing the young people to do her bidding? This isn’t the way we run
this village, Ci.”
Cian’s face twisted in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about our wife taking whatever she wants,” Beck
said, trying to keep his voice low. “Those are new clothes. I can tell.
As we didn’t have a coin to our name when I left, I’m wondering
where she got them.”
Cian leaned against the wall as though he was completely
unconcerned with his guilt in the matter. “I might have been hiding a
bit of coin from you. I bought Meggie a dress, and the village women
liked her so much they sewed her a few pieces. You couldn’t expect
her to wear the same thing every day. Where are you getting this
from? She meets with those same women every other day for sewing
lessons. They love her. Everyone loves her. She’s fitting in
beautifully. Even the bloody goblins like her. As for the stall she set
up in the market, those kids are taking a cut. Meg does the baking,
and the Shaw kids handle the selling. They take half the damn
profits.”
“What the hell is she doing selling stuff at market?” Beck asked.
He was confused by the whole thing.
“Making money,” Meg said quietly from the doorway.
Beck turned quickly, taking in her frown. She had straightened her
clothes and put on an apron. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a neat
bun. She looked every bit the proper Fae wife about to cook her
husbands’ dinner. He missed the naughty schoolgirl.
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“I took care of it,” Beck explained. “We should have enough coin
to see us through the winter.”
Meg’s eyes dulled. She shrugged as though it didn’t mean
anything to her. “I’ll keep it for myself if you don’t want it.” She
moved toward the kitchen. “And I’ll make sure to pay the women for
their clothes. I’ll do it tomorrow.”
Beck ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Meg…”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Just leave me a list of what I’m
supposed to do, and I’ll get it done, Beck. I’ll shut down the bakery
stall, or I’ll work it myself from now on.”
“I didn’t say that, Meg,” Beck replied. Damn it. He didn’t want to argue with her. “You’re deliberately misunderstanding me.”
br /> “No, I’m being realistic,” Meg said, her back stiffening with
pride. “I’m not going to win with you, Beck. I could try to be this
proper lady you want, but you’ll always remember that you bought
me in a marketplace. I’ll always be a reminder that you didn’t get to
be with the bondmate you were promised.”
Beck threw his brother a surprised glare. “Does she think we’re
pining for Maris? Where did she get that?”
“Not from me.” Cian shuddered at the thought. “She knows how I
felt about Maris. The best thing about having our kingdom ripped
from us was not having to bed that bitch. She damn near froze off my
willy every time I stood next to her. I can’t imagine having to put it in
her.”
“She wasn’t your type, baby,” Meg said with an intimate smile
that didn’t include Beck. “She was Beck’s. Look, I’ve thought a lot
about this while you were gone. I realize that you married me to save
Ci. That doesn’t mean you have to pay for it the rest of your life. I
haven’t talked about this with Ci yet, so I hope I’m not being too
forward, but I think we get along really well. I love him, I really do.”
“I love you, too, darlin’,” Cian replied sweetly with a wink.
“So I think that Ci and I should find our own place to live,” Meg
continued, sounding very sensible. She sounded like she was
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explaining her plans to redecorate, not ripping his heart out. “Cian
built this house. He can build a new place for us, and I’ll help him.
We wouldn’t ask anything of you. I’m making money now, and Cian
knows how to farm. We just need some land. I think it’s best if we
make it a clean break. I’ll still be close so I can still do the bridge
thing, but you can find someone more suitable.”
“Are you asking me for a divorce?” The question came out as a
low growl.
Meg put her hands on her hips. Her eyes were suspiciously bright.
“It hasn’t been much of a marriage, has it? I embarrass you at every
turn. You don’t enjoy sleeping with me. It’s for the best. I promise,
though, that I will try to fix whatever I did wrong in the village. I
thought they liked me. I thought I was fitting in. Do you mind telling
me who said those things about me? Maybe if I talked to them, I
could figure out how to fix it.”
Beck’s mind was still on the fact that his wife was trying to leave.
He spoke without thinking. “It was Liadan.”
“Oh, fuck,” Cian muttered under his breath.
Meg’s hazel eyes became dangerously narrow slits. “Liadan?”
“Yes,” Beck said cautiously. “She’s a well-respected woman in
the village.”
“I got every bit of brains between us,” Cian said, shaking his head.
“She knows about Lia, brother. Liadan made sure our wife knew she
was your mistress.”
“Are you telling me you come home and the first person you go to
see is your girlfriend?” Meg asked as she stalked toward him.
“I haven’t touched her since we got married,” Beck defended
himself. “It was just chance that I talked to her.”
Beck could plainly see that Meg was having none of that. She
picked up the pack he had set down. There was a righteous female
fury in her eyes. She opened the door and tossed the luggage out. “I
changed my mind. I’m staying here. You can go live with your
precious, cold, perfect little blonde. See if I care.”
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“I’m not going anywhere, wife,” Beck promised, and there was
steel in his voice. “I’m not getting thrown out of my home, and we’re
not getting a divorce.”
“Meg, darlin’,” Cian said, obviously trying to defuse the situation.
“Why don’t we all sit down and calmly discuss this. We’re a family
now.”
“I’m not married to him,” Meg swore between clenched teeth.
Everything inside Beck was starting to boil. His hands twitched as
he attempted to gain control of the overwhelming desire to prove to
her who she belonged to. “Are you challenging my claim to you,
wife?”
“No, she’s not,” Cian tried.
“Like hell, I’m not,” Meg snarled.
“Back down, wife,” Beck commanded. He forced himself to hold
his ground when his every instinct told him to chase her down and
bend her to his will.
“Meg,” Cian said, looking into her eyes. “Don’t do this. If you
push him, he’ll break.”
Meg rolled her eyes. “No, he won’t. He’ll politely ask me if I
might, at some point in the future, maybe want to have lame, boring
sex with him. If I say no, he’ll slink away and go ask his cold
girlfriend if she’ll have very vanilla sex with him. I was wrong about
him. I thought he was a Dom, but he’s just a bully. He wants utter
control of my life without giving me anything back. Screw that,
Beck.” She turned the full force of her disgust on Beck. “I won’t do it.
I won’t live with you. I’ve finally found what I want. I want Ci. Cian
understands me. Cian gives me what I need.”
“No, he doesn’t, love,” Beck returned, watching her move. He
remained still, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. All thought
of doing this the easy way was gone now. This would go down hard,
and damned if he wasn’t looking forward to it. “He just plays at it. It’s
a game to him. I bet you have to tell him what to do.”
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Beck knew he was right when Meg looked slightly startled. She
hid it quickly, but Beck caught that little hint. All wasn’t as perfect as Meg would have him believe.
“He just didn’t understand what I wanted. I explained it to him.”
“I think I did a damn fine job,” Cian interjected. His eyes went
from his wife to his brother. Beck knew he was awaiting the
inevitable outcome of this little skirmish.
“I know what you want,” Beck growled.
Meg crossed her arms over her chest. The challenge in her pose
made Beck’s blood start to pound through his body. “You might
know, Beck, but you aren’t man enough to give it to me.”
“Wrong answer, darling,” Cian said, whistling a little.
Beck struck hard and fast. Meg was on the floor beneath him
before she could scream. Beck held her easily, though she squirmed
and looked to Cian for help. There would be none forthcoming. Cian
wanted this as much as Beck did, and Beck knew it. Beck could feel
the satisfaction coming off his brother in waves. It had been too long
since Beck let his beast have its way. Beck knew Cian would enjoy
the experience so much more because of the woman on the floor. She
would bridge the two and allow them to share the feeling.
Beck smiled down at his wife, a triumphant feeling running
through his system. He gave her the smile of a predator about to enjoy
a full meal after a lifetime of hunger. “As my vampire uncle might
say, you wanted the bull, my Meggie. You’re about to get the horns.”
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&nbs
p; Chapter Seventeen
Meg bucked beneath her husband. His weight held her efficiently
as he sat on her midsection and calmly looked to his brother.
“Get me some rope,” he said as though asking someone to pass
the salt.
Cian walked off to do his bidding.
“Bastard,” Meg grunted as she tried to force him off. His position
was perfect. She couldn’t quite strike him, though she tried. “Get the
fuck off me.”
Beck looked entirely too pleased for Meg’s comfort. “Language,
my love. Have you noticed, Ci, that our sweet little wife has quite the
mouth on her?”
Cian was smiling broadly as he returned with a length of material.
Meg recognized it as a scarf she’d bought in the marketplace. “I did,
indeed, notice the mouth on her. I’ve found when she gets that dirty
mouth of hers going, it’s best to shove something in it.”
“Fuck you, too, Ci,” Meg said. Cian was supposed to side with
her, damn it. He was supposed to understand. He’d spent two weeks
listening to her and getting to really know her. He’d understood how
she felt about Beck. It had taken roughly three minutes for Cian to flip
on her and take his brother’s side. She should have known. Meg tried
kicking her legs.
“I suspect there will be a lot of fucking, my lover,” Cian
promised. “This will chafe less than the rope.”
Meg looked up at the faces staring down at her. They were twins,
but she could tell them apart. Besides the very slight differences
living had brought to their faces, she could tell by their expressions.
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Cian was looking down on her with a sweetly lascivious grin. Meg
could tell he was anticipating the sex he thought was coming. His
hand had already begun to rub against the swell in his pants. Beck
was an entirely different animal. He just looked hungry. He caught
her hands when she tried to hit him.
“No, Megan.” He neatly wrapped the scarf around her wrists.
“You will behave, or I’ll have you across my lap. I won’t be nice
about it either. You’ve pushed me too far, love. It’s time we put this
relationship of ours on a proper footing.”
“It’s time you let me up, asshole.” Meg tried to kick again.