Page 19 of Love Bites Harder (Mated to the King #3)

nineteen

KAI

I sat in a chair off to the side of the pool with a book in my hands.

It felt wrong to relax.

Or to try to relax, I supposed.

For most of my life, I’d been trying to fix my father’s problems. Now, my fae were already working on rebuilding our city in the realm. Our wing of the Manor had been cleaned. Memorials had been held for those we lost.

I had pumped enough magic into the anchor to make sure it was stable, and with no one else knowing its role in our survival, it was just another fruit bush in the garden.

Its fruit was poisonous, but any fae with a drop of magic would sense that long before they plucked a berry. We weren’t lacking in poisonous plants, so it was far from a phenomenon.

Clementine and her sisters had been swimming for hours, rotating between spending their time beneath the water and hanging out at the surface, chatting. She hadn’t filled them in on what exactly we’d had to do to save the realm, which I appreciated.

Knowing I could trust her with our kingdom’s secrets put me at ease in a way little else could.

Hale and Porter had both been by the pool for a while, and I talked with them. They didn’t ask for details, knowing I wouldn’t be sharing them. Though we couldn’t be enemies given our mates’ relationships, and had mostly positive connections even before that, it would take me time to see them as anything but the other kings.

Clementine wanted me to be part of her family, though, so I tried harder than I normally would’ve. And it went fairly well.

Both other men had to go back to work, hence the mystery book I was trying to focus on. Their mates had gone with them, but I knew Clementine wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her unmated sisters. I wouldn’t ask her to, either.

It had been a long time since I’d read anything but the dark, depressing shit my father had written in his journals. I was uncertain whether I would enjoy the mystery book at all. But, I tried.

Clementine broke the surface of the water halfway through my second chapter of the book.

My gaze went to her automatically, and I found her already looking at me.

She stuck her tongue out at me, and I tugged lightly on the vine that connected us. Zora and Avery surfaced with her as she smiled, and the three of them swam to the side of the pool, sliding out of the water enough to sit on the ledge with their feet dangling.

“You’re still going to the masquerade, right?” Zora asked Clementine.

“Yep. I think we’re in charge of decorating it. Or Kai is, at least. I’m just the cheerleader.” She didn’t sound annoyed by that. Her voice was cheerful, and I could tell it was genuine. Not the happiness she faked from time to time.

“Are you still going as a cat?”

I bit back a grin.

A siren cat?

Of course my mate had been going for the sex kitten look. The woman was brilliant when it came to the way people saw her. She’d been looking for a mate when she chose the costume.

Clementine made a face. “I’m not sure. I’ve started to think I might hide behind my sex appeal.”

Avery bit back a smile.

Zora snorted. “Of course you hide behind your sex appeal. Your mom taught you how to do that when you were like six.”

Clem frowned, scrunching up her nose. “It was more like making people want to protect me when I was younger. It was always for my safety.”

“And it worked. But we’re safe now.” Avery set her hand on Clementine’s. “You don’t need to influence everyone you talk to anymore. No one’s going to hurt you.”

“Except maybe her mate,” Zora grumbled.

I tensed, but Clementine smiled. “He’s decided to become Prince Charming, so you don’t need to worry about that. Things are different now. And even when we didn’t get along, he never used me for my magic. I don’t need to protect myself from him.”

“Then you don’t need to hide behind your sex appeal anymore.” Zora didn’t sound entirely convinced, but I could tell she was trying. Everything we’d been through had happened seven times faster on Earth, which made it difficult for them to accept.

“But how do I stop?” Clem asked.

“Stop using your magic during conversations that aren’t dangerous, and figure out what you really like.” Zora shrugged. “Do you like that bikini because you think it’s cute, or because it will fit the look you’ve spent your life crafting?”

Clementine bit her lip. “Maybe I’ll cut my hair.”

“Don’t make any big decisions before you’ve had time to think about it,” Avery said gently. “Big changes like the ones you’re going through can be overwhelming. Moving and sealing a mate bond are difficult enough without doing something you’ll regret.”

Clementine nodded. “I’ll take it slow.”

Zora laughed. “When in your life have you ever made a slow decision? You’ve already made your mind up at this point.”

Clem bit her lip to hide a grin. “I have not.”

“Liar.” Zora splashed her.

“You know what I heard from a bunch of vampire women?” Avery asked, changing the subject before a fight broke out. Clementine seemed right about her being the nice one.

“What?” Clem and Zora both leaned toward her.

Apparently, gossip was the fastest way to my mate’s heart.

“Now that three of the kings are mated to sirens, a ton of people are dressing up as us for the masquerade.”

Clem’s eyebrows shot upward. “How are they dressing up as us?”

“Glitter. Everywhere. Apparently they’re buying glue and glitter in droves. All of the craft stores are sold out of everything that sparkles. It’s on back order from Amazon too. At least two thirds of them women there will be fully decked-out in glitter in an attempt to win over the monster and dragon kings. Probably a quarter of the men, too.”

I bit back a smirk.

Honestly, it wasn’t surprising at all.

“Okay, we have to go as ourselves now,” Clem decided. “For once in our lives, we can be sirens without having to hide. I’m going full glitter.”

Zora groaned. “We just did that with Izzy. I’m still picking it off my face in the mornings. It’s basically become a part of my pillowcase.”

“I’m in,” Avery said, wearing a small grin. “Blair’s out. She’s already planning on going as a lamb. She ordered glitter for Hale weeks ago and is making him dress up as Edward from Twilight.”

I laughed. “I talked Izzy into wearing a little red riding hood costume, and ordered Porter some fake fur. She was psyched about it, so I don’t think there’s any way she’ll go as a siren.”

“That means it’s just the two of you,” Zora said, nudging Clementine.

Clem and Avery gave her looks I couldn’t translate.

After a long minute, Zora groaned. “Fine, I’ll swim in the damn glitter. We’re only poisoning a bathtub, though. I don’t want to prolong it while we purify it out of the pool again.”

Clementine and Avery did a little victory dance, making me snort.

The subject changed as Clementine started trying to convince her sisters to keep going to the vampires’ social events without her, so they didn’t get lonely, and I refocused on my book.

The sun had set and I’d made it through half of the novel—it was actually pretty interesting—by the time the women finally got out of the pool. There were many other vampires around, swimming or hanging out as well, but most of them eyed me and gave the sirens space.

No one who approached them was male, which I appreciated.

After Clementine hugged her sisters and said goodbye, she snuggled up to my side as we walked back to the elevator. She exchanged polite greetings with everyone who greeted her on our way out, and asked the vampire women in the elevator if they were looking forward to the masquerade.

They were—and they were all going as sirens.

Clementine laughed with them, and they all talked about glitter until all of us got off the elevator at the lobby.

Clementine leaned against me as we walked. Though she didn’t look tired, she was quieter than usual.

“You okay?” I asked, pulling her a little closer.

“Yeah. I’m thinking about pink.”

“Pink?”

“I love pink,” she admitted. “But it’s so far from sexy on me, given the red hair and everything. I look friendly in pink.”

“You are friendly, Five.”

“Right. So I think it’s another way I’m hiding behind my sex appeal. It wouldn’t really hurt to cut my hair and box up some of my sexiest things, would it? I could replace them with things I like, that aren’t sexy. Like pink. And yellow.” She shivered. “Man, I look bad in yellow.”

I chuckled. “No, it wouldn’t hurt anything. Hair grows back, and you could take everything out of the boxes.”

“Right. And I could always hide in the fae realm until my hair grows back, since time passes faster there.”

“That’s true.”

“Alright, it’s settled. Let me see if I can find a salon that’s open.”

I laughed. “Now? It’s nearly 8 PM.”

“I know, but I don’t want to lose my nerve. Fucking the patriarchy is stressful. What if I chicken out in the morning?” She pulled her phone out of my pocket, where she’d put it before she went swimming. “Zora always trims my hair. I don’t even know where to go.”

I took her phone from her hand and pulled mine out. “I’ll handle it.”

The grateful smile she flashed me was enough to make my chest warm and my cock harden. The warmth meant more to me, though.

I pulled up my contact in a high-profile fae salon that I knew wouldn’t call any reporters, and made a call.

An hour later, we had both changed, and my mate was sitting in a chair wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a sweater she’d stolen from my closet.

She looked sexy, but in a different way than her usual. More laid back and calm.

She bit her lip as the hairdresser made the first cut, and met my eyes in the mirror, whispering, “Fuck the patriarchy.”

I grinned.

When the hairdresser stepped away to grab something, I leaned closer. “I’d rather you just fuck me.”

“I think being the king makes you the patriarchy,” she teased, and I snorted.

Damn, I loved her.