I felt off-balance the rest of the day and into dinner. Even sitting next to Edgar didn't steady my nerves. I kept waiting for that woman to pop into the room and accuse me of destroying families and bringing chaos with me wherever I went. So my heart jumped every time the door opened to admit one of the servers, carrying dishes, but the rest of the family focused on Eloise's recent indiscretions.
Logan scowled into his wine glass, his free hand resting on Natalia's pregnant belly. "I thought our agreement was that you would get — and keep — a legitimate job. Not help the coyotes break the law and piss off the rest of the alphas in the city."
"I need to make a recording of me saying 'I didn't do it,' and just play that every time someone brings this up." Eloise's hair curled into the air, defying gravity, and I held my breath. I'd never seen anything like it.
Natalia raised an eyebrow. "Honey, I want to believe you, but what other explanation is there?"
"Someone put that shit in my locker."
Edgar sighed next to me, pouring more wine into my glass. "So now you're saying one of Kaiser's guys not only had the steroids and blood in his possession, but planted them on you deliberately to incriminate you?"
"Not one of Kaiser's guys. Probably one of Evershaw's." She scowled and reached for more mashed potatoes. "He's still pissed about the coyotes. I wouldn't put it past him to try to get back at you guys through me."
"So you're just a victim," Logan said. His patience wore thin and the irritation started to shine through, along with a gold sheen across his eyes.
"Mind your words," Natalia said under her breath. She leaned her elbows on the table, frowning as she studied Eloise. "Could it be that other pack, Ruby? The one outside the city? They've been causing all kinds of trouble for you guys in other ways. Maybe they're branching out?"
"We would have smelled them in the gym or on the bag," Ruby said. She absently twined her fingers in Carter's short hair, while he purred and didn't even seem embarrassed that he did so. It made me smile. The dark-haired woman shrugged. "There weren't any strange scents in the room or the gym, and Kaiser's security system didn't catch anything."
Eloise fumed. "I didn't fucking do it."
Benedict just shook his head, staring up at the ceiling, and periodically batted away the curls and braids that reached for his cheeks and ears.
Sophia rubbed her nose and leaned against Atticus. Luckily she didn't panic around me anymore, but she remained wary. I wondered if we would ever be truly friends, or if I would only be a reminder of bad times. Sophia frowned at the other girl. "If they end up blaming you for it, what happens? You're not a shifter, so it's not like the Council would be responsible for punishing you."
Eloise perked up. "That's right. None of you have authority over gorgons."
"Hold on." Logan's frown deepened into a scowl. "You're still part of my pride, so your behavior comes back on me regardless. But no, I don't know who's responsible for administering justice to gorgons."
"Probably the Erl King," I said under my breath, then froze as all eyes landed on me. I cleared my throat and put down the wine glass. "I mean, I would assume gorgons are related to fae."
"What the hell is an Erl King?" Atticus asked, brow furrowed.
"The Erl King. There's only one." I fiddled with a loose thread on my jeans but stopped when Edgar caught my fingers under the table. "He leads the Wild Hunt. I don't know if you've got the fae courts around here, but if you don't, the Erl King would be the one."
"How the hell do we find the Erl King?" Benedict's arm draped along the back of Eloise's chair, and he squeezed her arm when she started to look the smallest bit tense.
"You don't." I leaned back in my chair, raising my eyebrows. "He finds you."
Shocked silence covered the dining room, and for once I didn't mind. I couldn't suppress my grin very long at all, and a hint of a laugh snuck out. My poker face needed a lot of work. Benedict stared at me. "You're joking? Are you joking? What the hell?"
I laughed, couldn't stop as Edgar chuckled, and even Logan cracked a smile. I tried to compose my expression into seriousness as Eloise scowled, clearly not entertained. "I'm sorry. It's true except for that last bit. I have no idea how the Erl King does his work. I'm sure it will be fine."
Benedict lifted his wine glass in salute. "Well played, Ivy. Well. Played."
Natalia smiled. "How do you know so much about fae and the Wild Hunt?"
"My mother was a professor. She studied comparative religion and early mythologies. She used to tell us bedtime stories about the Erl King and tricksters and all kinds of things." I smiled at the memory of us all snuggled up in bed, getting lost in the rich worlds and intricate stories. I cleared my throat as regret surged up. "Sometimes it just pops out. Sorry. For what it's worth, I don't think they've ever recorded the Erl King in North America, but when the magic started dying in Europe, Mom guessed he might have come here."
Edgar smiled into his wine glass. "Perfect. If we ever find him, he might be a hell of an addition to the Council."
"I'm not sure we need a Wild Hunt in the city," Atticus said under his breath. "The coyotes would find a way to take bets on it, or sacrifice humans to it, or something awful. The less temptation, the better."
I breathed a little easier as discussion turned instead to what would have to be done about the coyotes. Even Logan seemed almost gleeful at the idea of the other wolf alpha, Miles Evershaw, having to deal with a pack of overgrown children. Apparently he deserved it, although Ruby seemed to think any major punishment for the coyotes would push them to align with the third pack, outside the city, and only make their fight more difficult. My head spun, trying to keep up with the political shenanigans and alliances and machinations of the Council, so I was relieved when things petered out early. Natalia claimed she was too tired for dessert, which pushed Logan into an over-protective tailspin. Apparently she never missed dessert. Ever.
Edgar walked me back to my room. Once we were out of sight of the others, he caught my hand and held it. "Want to watch a movie?"
I laughed, though my heart leapt and every part of me felt flushed and hot. "That sounds like a good plan. Or at least stage one."
He chuckled, then grabbed me and pressed me up against the wall with a fiery kiss. The heat of his body burned through me, ignited something deep in me that ached for more contact. More of him, deeper. I went boneless as Edgar broke the kiss and pressed his cheek to mine, inhaling from my hair as he murmured, "Maybe we should go through the whole plan."
My pulse thrummed and I linked my arms around his neck. I wanted to say something funny or sweet or sexy, anything to make him laugh or make that lion grumbly noise that made my toes curl, but all that I could come up with was, "Yes."
It was apparently the right thing to say, because he spun me away from the wall and fast-marched the last hall to his suite without another word. Struggling for breath had nothing to do with the pace he set. The anticipation of finally sleeping with him made my knees weak and my hands shake as he kicked the door shut behind us and kissed me again. I held on to him in desperation, terrified we would be interrupted before we finally got naked, and when Edgar tried to guide me to the couch, I shook my head. I kept kissing him, pausing only to say, "The bed."
He fumbled with my t-shirt, dragging it over my head. "Are you sure?"
"Very." I tugged on his belt but couldn't work the damn buckle and slid my hands under his shirt instead. A fever overtook me, overtook us both, until the fire consumed everything but the feel of his skin and the slide of muscles as he picked me up and carried me into his bedroom.
"Tell me if you need to stop," he said, mostly groaned, as he wrenched at my jeans and dragged them away. "I don't want to rush you."
"Rush me," I said. I tore at his shirt, the wolf just as desperate for contact as I was, and raked my nails down his sides. We wanted to mark him, to make it clear he was ours. I fell back against the bed, holding my breath as he stripped off the rest of his clothes and then shredded what was left of mine. Laid me bare and stood back, admiring.
I held my breath, gnawing my lower lip, and couldn't take it. Couldn't take the anticipation and the heat in his gaze. I touched my stomach, watching as he mirrored my movement and touched the rippled abs near his belly button. A rumble started, almost a growl, as his cock swelled. I watched as it grew and the muscles in his thighs and stomach and arms tightened. My hand slid lower on my stomach, grazing the top of my slit, and his hand followed, touched himself in a long slow stroke that made me squirm. Made heat flush through me. My legs eased open, for him or me I didn't know.
A long, grumbly moan escaped him, and his voice came out rusty. "Show me."
My cheeks caught fire and for a split second, I thought about rolling up in the sheets and hiding away from the gold gaze locked on my thighs. But there was power in this, more power than I'd felt over my own body for as long as I could remember. He wanted me, despite my scars. Maybe because of my scars. Because I knew what pain was and I'd survived. I licked my lips and watched as he stroked himself once more. And knew that I did that to him. Looking at me made his cock strain, made the muscles in his abs twitch, made him flex to maintain control. I did that. I held the power over my own body, and maybe even over his.
Whatever shyness remained fled. I stretched on his bed, owned the space, and squeezed my breasts. Ran my hands down my sides until he growled louder, loud enough that the wolverine started paying attention, and I teased my center. Rubbed my clit until pleasure sparked through me in lightning flashes and my hips rolled and I moaned. And I watched him watch me, his fist moving faster, and my fingers dipped lower. Slid into the wetness of my sex and he made a savage noise.
Edgar's teeth glinted in the half-light of his bedroom. "You're killing me."
The wolf's voice answered him. "So do something about it."
The mattress dipped as he knelt on the sheets between my feet, his hands moving from my ankles up my legs and over my hips, up my sides and shoulders until he held my face. Stretched out over me until his body pressed against mine, the hard heavy heat of his cock against my stomach. He kissed me fiercely, almost desperately, and I could only hold on to his shoulders as sensation cascaded through me. He murmured, "Are you ready?"
"Very," I said, keeping my hold on him. Needing him close. Reveling in the feel of his weight, bearing me down into the mattress and pinning me in the real world. He felt real, more real than anything I'd ever known.
He eased away just enough to reach between us until the blunt head of his cock pressed against my slippery flesh. Panic surged at the feel of it, the size and pressure, but he'd been so careful with me. So gentle. I sighed, moved my knees up to urge him closer as the uneasiness passed. Edgar's breath came hard and fast and then he slid forward. Into me. Pressed through me until I arched and my breath caught. It didn't hurt but burned with an unfamiliar sting, a strange heat in the intrusion. He groaned and his forehead dropped against my shoulder. Sweat fell onto my breasts as he struggled to move slowly, in gentle, short thrusts that tore me apart.
I moaned and pulled at him, desperate for more. I tried to meet his movements to drive him deeper, to feel the friction of his stomach against mine even if his massive cock split me completely in two. I leaned up to kiss him and instead, the wolverine took exception to the gentle deflowering and we bit his lip. Growled as we tasted blood and wanted more.
Edgar growled in surprise at the bite and his hips slammed into me in a sudden punch. I cried out as every muscle in my body seized up, clenched down on him, and ecstasy rolled through me in waves. Dragged me away in ripples until I could hardly breathe and dark spots flitted across my vision. He gripped my thighs, spreading me open underneath him, and grumbled against my throat. "Naughty wolf. Don't rush the lion."
"The lion wasn't moving fast enough," I breathed, still only half conscious. I squirmed against him, desperate for more. "And that was the wolverine, not the wolf."
"Naughty both of you," he said. He moved onto his elbows over me, eyes glinting gold through the darkness. "Maybe we should bite you back."
The thought sent shivers through me and I clenched around him, trying to drag him closer still. Edgar chuckled and squeezed my thigh, brought my knees up higher, and kissed the hollow of my throat. "Sounds like a plan."
I laughed but it turned into a moan as he started moving.