Kier
There's something wrong with Jessamine. Or right. I'm unsure what to make of this, but I'd prefer she not do this to me right now, in the council meeting.
The toe of her heel rises higher and higher up my leg and I have no idea what the fuck Gerald or the Alphas are saying. Only this morning, she clearly told me in more ways than one that she didn't care about last night.
Now, she's...toying with me. She's messing with me again, and fuck me, I want this meeting over right now. I try to keep my expression stoic because Moira's seated beside me, her sharp gaze fixed on me, but I have begun to sweat profusely as I fight to keep the smell of my arousal hidden.
Should've held the damned meeting in the Great Hall, but I was much too tired to make it over there without staggering. We're all settled around the narrow table and it gives her more than enough leverage to mess with me.
"It's a little unwise to evacuate them to the safehouses, don't you think?" Randale murmurs. "Atticus knows the location of every in Neredia, as well as the secret entrances. They're the least safest place to hide them during the war."
Jessamine's fingers thrum against the table, her expression empty. "How about the castle?" Her shoe rises higher, a few inches shy of my thigh. "It'll be mostly vacant when we head to battle. The women, children and men who can't fight can stay here--"
Moira snorts. "The castle isn't a charity home for peasants."
"Spoken like a true Luna indeed," Jessamine retorts, and she jerks her foot forward. I jump in my seat as the tip of her shoe suddenly grazes my groin.
"Jess!" I snap.
Her head turns to me, just as she retracts her foot, and she blinks at me innocently. "Yes, Alpha?"
Every eye is on me. I shift uncomfortably in my seat, dropping my hands swiftly on my thighs to cover the bulge as I reiterate, "Jess..samine's idea is brilliant, but I fear the castle cannot hold every pack seeking refuge."
"When do we begin to move the armies and supplies?" Alpha Brandon demands. "I hear he's on the move, slowly surrounding our borders. We must move before he lays seige..."
I shouldn't have looked at her. My gaze drifts from the far end of the table to the blonde seating directly in front of me to find her gaze already on me. On my throat to be specific. Jessamine's lips part and she sucks in her bottom lip, biting softly on it with an 'oomph' escaping her mouth.
Fuck.
She leans toward Mikkel, her lips awfully close to his ear, and I strain to hear what could be so important that can't be heard. I catch a few words. "...later tonight...my room...yours..."
Mikkel laughs, his cheeks reddening, and something cracks loud enough to startle the council out of their conversation.
"Kier?" Moira whispers, calling my attention to the broken figurines scattered on my end of the map. I don't remember holding them. Clenching my fists, I nod towards Gerald. "Carry on."
"We must visit the temple together before the week ends," Moira says after a moment. "We should pray, and perhaps, after that we could visit the hotsprings at the Vale. I had Randale clear out your schedule."
I frown. "Now's not the right time--"
"There'll never be a right time. You look worn from your travels. Tired. War is drawing closer and I've not had a single moment with you. You're my husband. My Alpha. Please don't refuse me."
Her blue eyes search mine intensely, tears lining them, and the bitter taste of guilt coats my tongue. I'm about to tell her yes when the unmistakable sound of a zipper being pulled seizes my attention once more. My gaze snaps forward and Jessamine's absentmindedly toying the with zipper of her leather jacket, pulling up and down in a hypnotic movement. Down. Skin...my lovebites...a generous amount of cleavage. Up. Nothing. Down. Skin. Up. Nothing.
I swallow, redirecting my stare to the table instead, as I murmur in a hoarse voice to my Luna, "I'll consider it."
She smiles and I stiffen when she kisses my cheek. "Thank you."
I despise how guilty I feel at that moment, and I look to Jessamine, expecting betrayal in her gaze, but she isn't even looking. She rests her chin against her fist, head lolling left as she takes note of Gerald's placement on the maps. Her hair, a little damp, clings a little to her neck and leather, and as she filters her fingers through, her beauty strikes me again like a blow.
Randale's knee bumps hard into mine and I jerk, glaring at him. He only shakes his head and cusses at me under his breath, calling me a fucking dunce.
Long after the meeting I remain in my study, rearranging the pieces on the maps as my thoughts wander. Jessamine's idea was indeed brilliant, but I can't risk using it. Brandon is my mother's ear on the council. He's probably telling her our decisions already. I planned to get him replaced, but I'm reconsidering it all. Atticus must have someone other than mother doing his bidding.
Someone close enough to poison me. I drop the wooden wolf figurine on the castle. Who was it? Moira? Mother would never. I can hardly understand what her aim in all of this is, but I do know that while she might want to lead the kingdom to its ruin, she would not kill me to achieve it. I trust Randale with my life.
I grit my teeth, dumping a vixen by the wolf. Jessamine wouldn't. She's volatile, unpredictable as hell, cruel on some days, but she'd never betray me like that. That leads me back to the servants. Guards. I can't have them questioned without raising suspicion.
Sinking back in my seat, I sigh tiredly, rubbing my fingers over my face. My head throbs a little and I weary of thinking of so many things at once.
A small knock causes me to straighten in my seat. Right. I'd called for Gerald. "Come in, general." Standing, I knock off the pieces off the map, half heartedly clearing the table and--
Arms wrap around my middle and I jolt, my heart racing. "You work so hard, Kier."
I twist and-- "Jessamine?"
She peeks up at me with a sly smile, her arms slacking. "Expecting someone else? Moira, perhaps?"
I pull away, only far enough to fully face her. "N-no. I-I-I'm...I just... you're here and I...I didn't think you wanted to--"
Jessamine grips my collar and tugs me closer, her eyes lighting up like stars in the sky. "You're cute when you stutter," she whispers and rises on my toe to kiss my chin. She bites softly and my eyes close, a sharp sound escaping my throat. She presses another kiss beneath my ear. Another on the hard knot in the center of my throat. She licks it.
Drowning... I'm drowning again, and I want more. More than a kiss, or a bite. I'm starved. I want in a way that defies reason. I start to pull her closer but she suddenly pushes me. I fall back, into the chair.
A black heeled boot rests between my thighs and Jessamine's fingers start to tug on the zipper of her jacket, a nasty grin spreading on her mouth.
Alarmed, I sit up. "What are you doing?"
The zip comes undone and she shrugs off the leather jacket. A transparent slip of garment is tucked into her pants and she begins playing with the straps, teasing her hair over her shoulder. Her bites her bottom lip. "I'm hungry," she purrs, sliding onto my thigh. The heat in her gaze threatens to burn me, the sweet, savory scent of her arousal wrapping itself around me.
My breathing is laboured as I fight against the desire to clasp her ass and hurl her onto the right spot. "You said last night couldn't--"
She groans, pressing her chest flush against mine. She pushes my shirt up and reaches for my buckle. "I changed my mind. It's been a long day and...I...I ache...for you."
"But here? Right now?" I ask, but there's no protest in my voice as she unfastens my bottons with record speed, her hands diving into my pants and--
My hips arch off the chair and I growl, slamming my lips into hers with reckless abandon. A knot loosens in my chest as she straddles me and clings to me fiercely, her tongue gliding smoothly against mine, but not gently. She strokes me, hard enough to remind me of what it feels like to be inside her, and her nails graze the sensitive underside of my cock.
Her fingers tremble, unsure, but she doesn't stop. I don't want her to.
I craddle her head with one hand and the other fondles for her breast through the fabric and my cock tightens in her hand when I feel her nipples as hard as I am. I flick my thumb over it and she moans into my mouth, biting my bottom lip hard. Her fingers circle around my head, stroking smoothly, tugging me fully out of my pants.
I'm standing from the chair, setting her on the table without breaking the kiss. I abandon her breast, though I hate to, and my fingers curl on the waistband of her pants. I need to be inside her. I tell her so and she huffs a laugh, baring her neck for me to devour.
The door opens. "Kier, you called for me..."
Jessamine and I come apart swiftly, and I'm panting, shoving my cock in my pants and...Fuck. Moira's frozen by the door, her eyes wide with such terrible pain. "Moira," I start, and I hate the next words that leave my kiss-swollen lips. "I can explain."
A soft chuckle in front of me makes me stiffen. Jessamine is shrugging into her jacket and pulling up the zip once more. She smirks, licking her lips. "Good luck with that."
She strolls...no. She leaves my study in an entitled swagger, her shoulder knocking hard into Moira's, and I hear her whisper, "How's that for scraps?"
Red faced and embarrassed by the erection that refuses to let up, I realize that Jessamine set me up.