Page 95 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

“Laura and I have both had busy days,” he warned them, taking a seat beside his mate on the sofa.

He set Nova in his lap, where she curled contentedly, and he wrapped his arm around his mate, who settled into his side, also contentedly.

Both of these things made Aleksei content.

Completely.

“Is that your way of saying you’re not cooking?” Tim asked.

“It is. We’re ordering in Shape’s ,” Aleksei told him.

Laura gasped, looked up at him and exclaimed excitedly, “ Shape’s ? I’m getting a double bowl of their clam chowder. It’s insane .”

He smiled down at her, taking in her gorgeous, jewel-toned eyes, bright with happiness, and realizing he’d had absolutely no idea, if she’d decided differently, how wretched his life actually would be in those five hours he waited before he came to her door with Captain Jacques’s .

But now, he did.

“Anything you wish, bissi tressa ,” he whispered.

Her eyes warmed with love (or, more of it).

“Blech. Before you start getting too mushy, let’s get our order in. I want lobster mac,” Aleece ordered.

“Baked scallops,” Tim put in.

Aleksei turned to his brother. “ You have a Palm .”

Tim smirked. “ I also have no credit.”

Too true.

Aleksei pulled out his Palm , said to it “ Pull up Shape’s delivery,” and tossed it to his brother.

Tim caught it.

When this occurred, Laura didn’t hide how delighted she was that he and Tim were making progress.

Aleece didn’t either.

They were doing so because Tim was making an effort.

He had lapses to the punk he used to be.

But evidence was suggesting the loss of his allowance and much of his freedom gave him time to think on things (they’d had to put him back into rotation for royal appearances with the absence of Errol —they hadn’t quite agreed yet how they would explain that, but fortunately, no one seemed to have noticed he was gone).

Not to mention, it was clear Tim was still smarting from all that had happened with Rol , and he’d turned that into an attempt to rehab his relationships with his other two siblings.

“Crabcakes,” Aleksei ordered. “ And a lemon parfait.”

“Oh! I want a parfait too. Make mine chocolate,” Laura ordered.

“I want a lime tart,” Aleece said.

“Hold it, hold it, bloody hell,” Tim groused. “ One at a time.”

“That’s all for me,” Aleece said.

“Me too,” Laura added.

Tim nodded, got up and moved out of the seating area so he could speak into the Palm .

“While you’re up, open another bottle,” Aleece called after him.

He waved at her and left the room.

“Please tell me you guys got a bungalow out on the water on Anubis ,” Aleece begged.

Aleksei blew out an annoyed breath and looked to the ceiling.

“Wait. What ? We’re going to Anubis ?” Laura breathed.

“Yes,” he muttered to his mate and shot a killing look to his sister.

“Whoops. So that was a surprise?” she asked.

It was.

He returned his attention to Laura . “ Your vid starts shooting in a week. We won’t have long there, but we leave tomorrow morning, and we’ll be back two days before you have to be on set. Allain arranged everything with Nata .”

Laura sent Nova scampering since she’d thrown herself at her mate and was kissing him all over his face.

“You keep missing my mouth, love,” he teased.

She stopped fucking around and laid one on him.

He wrapped his arms around her, cocked his head and took over.

“See what happens when you don’t pay attention, Tim ?” Aleece shouted. “ They get out of hand.”

“Gods, I can’t unsee that,” Tim , obviously returning to the room, griped.

Aleksei ended their kiss with a quick one on Laura’s nose, and she turned and cuddled into him, nestling her head under his jaw.

“You’re constantly so cute, I’m going to have to do a warp trip to the Six Realms so I can visit one of their ancient vomitoriums,” Aleece joked.

She then reached between her thigh and the cushion of the chair she was in to pull up her Palm .

She looked at the display, said, “ Engage ,” and then, “ Hey , Mom .”

“Where are you?” his mother’s voice came from his sister’s unit.

“At Spikeback for drinks with Lex and Laura ,” Aleece answered, then turned the display around to circle the company as she carried on, “ Now we’re going to have Shape’s with them.”

When the display hit her, Laura waved.

Gods, she was adorable.

“I take it this means you and your brother won’t be at pre-dinner drinks in ten minutes?” their mother asked.

“Sorry, Mom . Lex mentioned Shape’s and we were all in. That just happened or I would have commed.”

“Fine. I’ll tell Cook . Love to all.”

The last she called out to the room, and he knew she disconnected when Aleece tucked the Palm beside her again.

Aleksei let Laura go before he pushed himself up to get a drink, and as he moved to the drinks cart, they lapsed into general chitchat.

Understandably, it had been a busy time since the attack at Celestial Palace .

But now, things were settling. Laura had broken the seal on her first appearance. She was going back to work. They were ensconced at Spikeback .

This was their life. Busy . Steady . Together .

But no one was plotting their murder.

So it was good.

On this thought, his creature snapped to attention so fast, Aleksei had to let out a sharp breath as he turned swiftly.

This was because Laura was alert on the couch, her eyes to the door, and the beast in her chest was alert too.

And they were because Catla was bursting through it.

She was carrying what appeared to be a large, framed, wrapped canvas.

And her eyes were wild.

“Oh my gods! You will not believe what Dad has done!” Cat cried to Laura as she raced to the sofa, resting the canvas against the side.

Laura slowly stood, asking, “ What’s he done?”

“He arranged a marriage for me.”

“Holy fuck,” Tim muttered.

“By Lilith ,” Aleece whispered.

Bloody hell , Aleksei thought.

This was a demon thing. It used to happen all the time, but now, only occasionally. And that occasion was usually when the patriarch decided his daughter had dallied too long in finding a match.

There were no laws that forced any female into a marriage. And there were demon females who refused the matches. But if they did, they were usually excommunicated from their families.

Cat was a together female.

But he saw how close she was to her parents, he doubted she’d do anything to break ties with them.

Just as he doubted Mammon would make anything but an excellent match for his daughter.

Even so, this was extreme, and Aleksei didn’t condone it.

But she wasn’t his daughter.

“Oh my gods!” Laura exclaimed. “ To who?”

“To who? To who? ” Cat shouted, sending Nova scurrying right to Aleksei .

He picked her up again as Laura said, “ Yes , honey. To who?”

“To King Tanyn , that’s who!” Cat yelled.

Well…

Shit.

Laura’s gaze darted to him, and he knew why.

She looked pleased and she didn’t want to Cat to see.

Aleksei agreed.

So he smiled.

Slowly.

* * *

They sat on the buttoned velvet bench at the foot of their bed, Laura in his lap.

“It’s embarrassing.”

“It is not.”

“I wish he’d just sent you the one you liked.”

“I don’t want the one I liked. I want the one I love. That one.”

Saying this, Aleksei gave her a squeeze and tipped his head across the room to the painting resting there.

It was the one Cat brought.

After the drama of her announcement (and Tim had added Cat’s selections to their Shape’s order, and Aleksei had made Cat a martini), they’d unwrapped it and read the note from Terrinton .

With no salutation and no sign off, it said:

I’m keeping Marie .

But you’ll always have Laura .

That was all it said.

The painting was of Laura in a swirl of purple butterflies, mist, dragon fire and bright white stars, done in Terrinton’s indelible style, which married realism and stark fantasy with hints of illusory, all of this chaotic, but fascinating.

It was remarkable.

“I want it mounted in here,” he declared.

“Ugh,” she grunted, rolling her eyes.

He grinned at her.

“Right there, above the bureau, across from the bed,” he said, teasing, because he knew she’d hate it there, so it would not be mounted there. “ That way, when I’m taking you on all fours with you facing the end of the bed, I can fuck you and look at your face at the same time.”

“Gah!” she cried and attacked him.

He pretended to defend.

And as such, eventually accepted his defeat graciously.

* * *

“Gardening?” she whispered to him in the dark.

Fuck.

“Yes,” he replied.

She was silent.

Aleksei was on his back. Laura was resting down his side.

It took long moments, but her whisper came back.

“And you intervened about him serving time?”

Fuck .

“Yes,” he replied.

She pressed into him, pushing her face into his throat, and doing it hard, before she kissed him there, settled and finished, still whispering, “ Gods , I love you.”

Aleksei exhaled.

Then he turned into his mate, tangled their limbs—and wound up in each other in their bed in their gothic castle—the True Heir and his True Bride fell asleep.

* * *

In the end, they compromised about the painting.

Her portrait was mounted in the solar where Aleksei could gaze at it every day over breakfast.

Which he did.

When he wasn’t gazing at his Laura .

* * *

Tatra

Sky’s Edge

Snowy Ridge

Hectic Royal Chateau

The female stood at the window, watching the flurries drift down, peaceful and soft.

She heard him come in but didn’t take her eyes from the view.

“Is all at the ready?” she asked.

“Yes, your majesty.”

She was still called that, by the leave of the new king.

And she would be that again, in her own power.

Yes, she would be.

“Tell them to commence,” she ordered.

“Consider it done,” the male replied and exited the room.

Tatra stared at the window, but she didn’t see the peaceful fall of snow.

She saw the reflection of herself, her eyes glowing red.

And her lips forming a smile.

The End