Book 2|4. Long Island Iced Tea, Again

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Chapter dedicated to Ligt18098. I much, much appreciate your reading and man-handling the Vote button. Smooches!

Chapter 45 – Long Island Iced Tea, Again – Raine's POV

The gardens were beautiful as expected, with moonlight splashing down, creating dramatic shadows and mysterious pathways.

Alaric, Loki and I walked slowly together through the winding, perfectly manicured shrubbery. Initially, he held Loki's leash. But he handed it to me after several minutes, when it became obvious to him that I was in no danger from the giant tiger.

I stroked my fingers through the thick tufts of hair on Loki's neck.

"It really is quite remarkable how he seems to have taken to you," Alaric commented, still surprised. "Normally, he is the most vicious and dangerous one of the bunch. And definitely the unspoken leader. They all follow his command."

I cooed at the jungle cat, "You are just a big softy, aren't you?"

He whined and nudged his large head into me. Just that slight movement knocked me off balance.  My fingers tightened in his hair to keep myself upright. I tutted at him. He whined again.

We spent thirty more minutes walking and talking amidst the flowers, before Alaric said, "Are you ready to go back?"

I looked up at him and asked, "Would it be okay if I came here during the day?" The moonlight was pretty, but I knew it would look spectacular in the daytime. It also seemed like a private, non-vampire hideaway, perfect for having some peaceful alone-time when I needed it.

He smiled, "Of course. I forget you have no restrictions when it comes to the sunlight."

Anxiety ran through me. I bit my lip and said, "About that. What is your plan regarding the timing of me becoming a vampire?" Just saying those words caused me to sweat and my heart sprinted in my chest painfully.

Loki seemed to respond to my stress, releasing a warning growl deep in his throat. I clutched him tighter, trying to ready myself for Alaric's response.

Alaric studied us both and replied, "What do you want?"

I laughed humorlessly, "I'm not sure if I will ever want that. Truthfully, it scares the hell out of me."

"We have time. I do not see any reason that decision needs to be rushed," he answered calmly.

Relief flooded through my system, almost making me tingle. I breathed, "Okay."

Loki relaxed under my fingertips.

Another thought wandered into my head and I asked, "Do you feel like you are taking a risk with me?"

He looked at me quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"If the whole point of this is to create an heir, you have to admit I am a bit of an unknown factor." I remembered the less than pleased looks King Quinn and some of the Council members gave me. I muttered, "I think the King is quite suspicious of me. Are you equally suspicious?"

He contemplated my question for moment and then answered, "Admittedly, you are unique. But I do not get a sense that it is in a negative way. I do not know you well yet, but thus far you appear quite transparent, which certainly goes a long way in gaining my trust."

"I do tend to speak whatever happens to be on my mind. I'm not always sure if that's a good thing or not," I said wryly.

He smiled, "I am certain it will be just fine."

..........

When we returned to his suite, I was surprised to find a gentleman scurry around the living room and then disappear into the kitchen. My eyes followed him in confusion.

Alaric murmured, "I thought you might be hungry, so I asked Vasile to prepare a meal for us. Well, more like a sampler. I had no idea what foods you like so he has pulled together finger-sized samples of several different dishes."

"Oh," I breathed as I walked farther into the room and saw a low table set with fine china, crystal goblets and candles – a lot of candles.

The table was very low to the ground with cushions around it. I loved the eclectic mix of the informal seating arrangement combined with the formal table setting.

"It's beautiful," I murmured, automatically drifting toward it. I realized it had been many hours since I ate last, and I was ravenous. I settled down on a plush comfortable cushion. Alaric joined me.

Immediately Vasile popped out of the kitchen and spread out dish after dish on the large table. I laughed, "You weren't kidding when you said several different dishes."

Alaric grinned and then looked down at my outfit. I wondered what he was looking for, and desperately hoped I wasn't having some sort of wardrobe malfunction. That would be just my luck. If my lingerie collection hadn't already convinced him I only had sex on my mind, having one of my tits accidentally pop out over a tray of canapes, would certainly seal the deal.

I watched him in confusion as he shifted around the table so that he was next to me. He reached and said, "You can't be comfortable sitting on the floor in those boots. Here, let me see them."

I stared at him with wide eyes, when his fingers found the zipper behind my knee. He pulled it down slowly, and then extracted the boot off of my foot. He reached for the second one. His eyes glanced up to mine, holding my gaze, as he removed it.

Panic started to do a complex aerobics routine through my body.

I wasn't ready for this!

The light from the candles seem to reflect off of his dark irises. Damn, there were a lot of candles in here.

Without looking, I smacked at the table a little wantonly, trying to locate my glass of water. When my fingers wrapped around it, I hastily brought the cool liquid to my lips.

Vasile joined us again and asked, "What would you like to drink Princess, wine, champagne...?"

My stress level had increased higher and higher over the last few days, and was now at a breaking point. I needed something to take the edge off. I looked at Vasile and whispered, "Do you have anything stronger?"

From my peripheral vision, I saw Alaric raise his eyebrows. I ignored him so that I could focus on Vasile, who murmured, "Of course, Princess. We have a full bar; anything you like."

Perfect.

I gave him a pleased nod and said, "A Long Island Iced Tea."

"Certainly," Vasile answered and then looked expectantly at Alaric.

Alaric replied to his unspoken question, "Bourbon, thank you."

When Vasile returned, I took a long pull through the straw, feeling the alcohol warm my belly and calm my nerves. I faced Alaric and said, "I'm going to need you to take this slow."

I didn't expound on my statement, but he obviously understood what I was referring to and replied easily, "I can do that."

"Slow as in weeks, possibly months... Not slow as in minutes," I clarified, having no idea what his definition of slow was.

He chuckled softly, "Yes, I can do that."

My entire body seemed to exhale in relief, now that I realized I wasn't going to have to paw him off of me, anytime soon. My relief must have been evident because he asked, "Better?"

"Much," I breathed, and shifted my body, getting more comfortable, before taking another long drink.

His eyebrows went up again, but he didn't say anything.

As we ate, I studied him carefully. I knew I'd feel so much better if we could just cut through the crap. So far, he had seemed easy to talk with, so I asked, "Can I speak to you openly, freely?"

"I wish you would. It would be quite refreshing, actually," he answered.

I remarked wryly, "Let's hope you say that after you have gotten to know me."

He smirked, "I think I can handle it."

"What exactly do you expect from me?" I asked bluntly.

He considered my question for a long moment before answering carefully, "We both have a role to play."

"Is this just a game to you?" I interrupted sharply.

His eyes hardened. "Certainly not. I simply meant we each have responsibilities. I take mine very seriously. And I expect you to do the same."

"But how can you be okay with all of this? Didn't you ever want to mate out of love and not obligation?" I pressed.

He acknowledged, "Yes, it would have been nice to be able to join with someone as a result of genuine depth of feeling. It is certainly a romantic notion, but since I knew that was never going to be my future, I never dwelt on missing that reality. Besides, it isn't all bad; you are not terrible to look at," he added wryly.

I wrinkled my nose at him and replied sarcastically, "Humph... That's the best complement I've ever had."

His voice dropped a full octave as he purred, "I highly doubt that."

I sipped the remainder of my drink, finishing the last few drops. Almost like magic, Vasile appeared with another one. I smiled at him brilliantly and breathed, "Thank you!"

He nodded and disappeared again.

My head was feeling a bit swimmy, but that didn't stop me from bringing the second Long Island Iced Tea to my lips and drinking deeply. Already, my anxiety had all but disappeared and I was actually enjoying my conversation with him.

He tilted his head and asked, "What about you? Given your newness to this world, how are you handling the changes?"

I snorted, admittedly not a very ladylike noise, but right then I just didn't care and replied frankly, "I do not like all of my freedom being stripped away from me. Nor do I like being told what to do, and how to speak, every minute in the day. I never wanted to be Armand's daughter and would give just about anything to change that little fact about myself right now."

I stopped suddenly, almost as if I were hearing my words for the first time and not the person speaking them. I breathed in a teensy bit of panic, "Was that harsh? It sounded harsh, didn't it?!"

He chuckled at my distress and replied, "It sounded honest."

Shit, I knew the alcohol was affecting me. All of my inhibitions were elusively missing. And yet, that knowledge didn't seem to slow me down any. I tapped my nails against the side of the glass, and continued ranting, "And I don't like how everybody tells me I smell all of the time! It's enough to give a girl a complex! And to top it all off, it isn't enough that I seem to have some freaky scent. Oh no, it's so much more magical than that! My favorite part is when people meet me, take a whiff, and automatically assume I am out to get them! Have you seen me? Exactly how much damage do you think I could inflict?!"

He fought back a grin, as he brought his Bourbon to his lips.

I narrowed my eyes dangerously. I knew what I was talking about, and he had seen it happen! It was the exact way King Quinn and that little bitty on the Council, Ladislava, had responded to me. Of course, her reaction had been kind of over-the-top-severe. I wondered why she had her panties bunched so tightly. Oh, and then it made perfect sense. I demanded, "Have you fucked Ladislava?"

He spit out his drink and coughed, "I'm sorry, what?"

I frowned. I didn't think the question was that difficult to understand and added, "You know...Had sex with her?  Did you penetrate her?"

"Fuck," he breathed, "You certainly do speak freely."

Before he could reply further, I shook my head and waved my hands in the air to stop him, "Wait! Don't answer that! I don't want to know." 

He was still staring at me in shock.

I change my mind again and insisted, "Yes, yes I do! Go ahead and tell me. Shit, stop, no I don't... Argh!!" I growled loudly in frustration.

He inserted quickly, probably in an effort to stop my out-of-control rambling, "No! I haven't slept with Ladislava."

"Oh, okay." I blinked. I really hadn't expected that answer. Before I could censor myself, my lips seemed to have a will of their own as I contemplated out loud, "You shouldn't. She doesn't look like she would be a good fuck. Not with the way her face puckers up like that... Unless of course, you like angry sex, and then maybe she might just do the trick."

He burst out laughing, "I'll keep that in mind. But I can promise you, I have no intention of going anywhere near her."

My alcohol induced train wreck just seemed to go on and on as I continued, "I just want to know how many jealous women are going to want to cut me. I am at a distinct disadvantage in this relationship.  You've had years to just fuck and fuck and fuck. There is no telling how many women might be out to get me. You, on the other hand, don't have to worry about any of that. Hell, until a week ago, I was a virgin!"

"What?!" he interrupted me, leaning forward. "I'll admit, I didn't expect that, given your extensive collection of lingerie."

I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not, but stuck my tongue out at him anyway, and continued over-sharing, "Yup and apparently my body is a little different."

He looked a bit alarmed and asked, "In what way?" I guess his response was understandable, given the rest of my shocking statements this evening.

I tried to reassure him. "Oh it's nothing as outrageous as my freaky scent. I am just tighter...than most...kind of extremely tight, I mean."

My eyes drifted down to his crotch and I prattled on, "How big are you, anyway?  There is a very good chance you're not going to fit."

He had just taken a drink, and there it went, back out again. A low growl reverberated from his chest as he purred, "I am certain I can get you wet enough to accommodate me."

"Oh!" I squeaked, finally realizing I might have taken the conversation a touch too far.

And my body was beginning to feel very fuzzy, a touch nauseous and ridiculously tired. I let out a small moan as I tried to keep my eyes focused, but it didn't quite keep me from closing them for just a second. When I opened them again, I realized that Alaric had caught me just before I fell over.

He gathered me into his arms and muttered under his breath, "Shit, I knew I should have stopped you sooner. Let's get you into bed so you can sleep it off."

.

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