Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(2)
Reign’s square jaw clenched tight. “Just because you screwed up, doesn’t make you a screw up, Alexannia Grace.”
I laughed, a white cloud of breath escaping my lungs. “My full name proves it’s really bad.”
“You smashed Mika’s head into the marble floor. Brain bleeds are really bad.”
I sighed, sick of this convo. “Please. Talk to Bruin again. Make him accept my apology.” Reign made a noise which indicated that he might as well have been trying to teach Savage to sing. “Do you think he’ll get over it by my party? I want him there.”
“Them,” Reign grumbled. “You want them there. Mika is his mate, you have to get used to that. And no, I don’t think he has any intention of coming to your birthday celebration.”
An anorexic squirrel with a patchy grey coat dug for some forgotten cache of food on the edge of the clearing. It searched here and there, uncovering fallen leaves and bits of dead forest, then shimmied up a redwood, empty handed.
“Do you ever regret adopting me?”
Reign kissed the top of my head and got to his feet. “Not for one second in sixteen years.” He stepped over to the clubhouse and knocked his scarred knuckles against the writing on the wall. Without looking back, he strode to the path and left me to myself.
I stared at our faded, slime green promise to each other and the world. Come in peace or leave in pieces. Yeah, well the irony of that statement just sucked.
“Am I boring you?” Tham nipped at the soft curve of my breast and raised an elegant blond brow. “Where are you this afternoon, neelan?”
I shrugged.
He propped himself up on the bed beside me and pulled me against his smooth chest. Highborne skin was the palest ivory and Tham’s smelled like the suede of his buckskins. Golden waves fell loose around his gently pointed Elven ears and down his shoulders to tickle my nose. “It will work out, Lexi. No one can stay angry at you for long.”
I snuggled closer, idly thumbing along the defined ridges of his stomach to his tight, pink nipple. “You’re still going to be my date for my birthday, right?”
His chin rubbed the side of my head as he nodded. “We shall dance the night away.” He gave me a squeeze then pulled back. “What exactly is a bacchanalia?”
A flutter of excitement had me smiling. “Originally, it was a wild and mystic festival dedicated to Bacchus, the Greek god of wine. Now though, it’s a big fancy ball with gowns and masks and drunken revelry. It’s going to be amazing.”
“If you planned the event, it could be nothing other.”
I kissed Tham’s chest and sat up, gathering my t-shirt from where it had fallen beside my bed. As always, Tham had lifted me out of my malaise and I could breathe again. He had that gift. No one could spend five minutes with him and not be drawn out of their wallowing.
“What did I pull you away from when I called you? You sounded busy.”
Tham lifted up the sheet and winked when he found the lost sex toy. It was a shame that Highbornes saved their virginity for their one true mate, but the two of us excelled at creatively making do. I bit my lip as he sauntered across my suite to the bathroom and flashed me a glorious view of his carved physique. The way the muscles pulled and stretched as he practically glided across the floor was an actual thing of beauty.
“Galan and I went through the Gate to the village,” he said. His charismatic blue gaze met mine in the reflection of the mirror. “We spent the afternoon with the Highborne Elders.”
“Is it already time to update them on the progress of your Ambar Lenn?” I rolled onto my stomach and propped my chin in my palms. “Let me guess. They fell over themselves praising Galan for how well he’s done for himself, proving himself a true male of worth, while condemning you and Aust to the rank of worthless failures.”
Tham flashed me a devilish smile. “It’s like you were there. No matter. I work very hard to be known as the grandest disappointment in Highborne history. Though, it hurts Aust to be exiled and have his mother alienated from her friends in the village.”
“Yeah, well, their loss is our gain. Aust’s affinity with animals is something to be praised, not judged. He’s thriving here with the Weres. I wish Lia was doing half as well.”
Tham finished rinsing the rubber phallus and bounced it against the edge of the sink a few times to knock off the water. “Galan gathered some belongings for her while we were there. He hopes to bring her back to herself before the young are born.”
Ahh. I flopped back against my pillow. Jade and Galan were sickeningly happy these days. Jade was expecting twins. How could life be anything but glorious when your husband is perfect and your long-lost biological father turns out to be the most powerful man in the two realms?
Oh to be the lost love child of the god of gods.
I clenched my teeth. Jade deserved all the happiness the two realms could offer. It would be petty and wrong to begrudge my sister that. Yeah . . . well, color me petty.
“Hey Hotness,” I said, sitting up. “Do you want to pilfer the kitchen and hole up with me tonight? I’m thinking we lock the door, lounge around naked, and have a Lord of the Rings marathon. I’ll even let you pause and re-enact Legolas’ archery moves if you want.”
Tham sauntered back and pulled suede pants up his creamy, toned thighs. With the front lacings left untied he sat on the edge of the bed, his chest and abs flexing in the most delicious way. The mattress sunk under his weight and I tilted toward him. “Apologies, neelan, mayhap another night.”