Alana put an affectionate hand on his. “Of course you can’t. She is yours. When I said you had to make allowances, I was talking about you, too. You have to change your mindset, Beck. I have read about the humans. I find them very intriguing. They are a passionate people, sometimes not so smart, but passionate. You might discover she wants a different relationship than what you expect from a bondmate.”
Beck shook his head. “She is just trying to please me. I am her husband, her king. She is saying what she thinks I want to hear. Women will say anything to placate their king.”
With a short burst of laughter, Alana put her hands on Beck’s shoulders, turning him gently so he looked her in the eyes. “Perhaps some would, if the prize were big enough. But, Beckett Finn, you are the king of a refugee plane. You don’t offer her enough to debase herself. Whatever she’s offered you, she has offered because she wants it. I am speaking to you plainly, as your own mother would have. Don’t deny yourself and your wife. Your father treated my sister like a porcelain doll. It made her crazy.”
“Mother was very happy with Father,” Beck argued.
“You saw what you wanted to see, Beck,” his aunt insisted. “Your father trained you to be a great king. He didn’t train you to be a very good husband. Let your wife tell you what she wants. I assure you, if you don’t, Cian will. If you aren’t careful, you’ll find yourself out in the cold.” Alana patted him and moved back toward the doors. “Come inside. I’m sure dinner is almost ready. Go easy on Colin. He’s nervous about dining with his king.”
Beck nodded, but continued to stare out into the night. He wished he was home getting ready to go to bed. It would be quiet there at this time of night. Cian would have enjoyed his first day of peace in a long while. He imagined sitting in front of the fire with Meg on his lap. After a pleasant evening, he and Cian would lead her to the big bed and slowly undress her. They would make love to her together, bonding even further. Beck would be gentle and make sure she was satisfied before taking his pleasure. He would then, graciously, turn her over to his brother. He would sit back and enjoy watching Cian please their wife. Beck knew that watching Cian fuck their lovely bride would get him hot and bothered again, but he would survive. Meg would be tired. She would sleep peacefully between them.
Instead, he would spend his evening dodging questions about when he would attempt to take back his throne. Beck turned to the penthouse doors and sighed. Politics. He hated politics, even when discussing them with family. At least Meg was safe from them. She was safe and protected on the little farm. Beck took a deep breath and rejoined his family.
Meg came awake to the sound of raucous music. It was cheery and a little bawdy. She couldn’t understand the lyrics, but she knew bawdy music when she heard it. Her mouth felt dry, and she wondered if she’d gone on a bender the night before. She’d had the strangest dream.
“Head hurt, lover?”
Meg forced her eyes open, and, sure enough, her strange dream was staring her in the face. He was sitting back in an armchair, one ankle propped on his knee. He looked like she expected a pasha would look reclining in his harem. He looked exactly like Beck, but this man was different. Beck Finn radiated authority and responsibility. This man just radiated sex.
“Cian?” Could that man sitting there looking at her like he was going to eat her up really be Cian? There was no cloudiness in his gray eyes now. They were filled with a sharp intelligence.
“In the flesh, my lover,” he said with a crazy, sexy smile. His voice was deep, but there was a hint of humor in it. He was dressed in neatly pressed white pants, dark boots, and a tunic he hadn’t bothered to tie. It left his perfect chest exposed. “And in my right mind, thanks to you.”
Meg sat up, and her head did indeed hurt. “It worked?”
Of course it worked. The evidence was sitting right in front of her like a piece of perfectly tempting chocolate cake she wanted to devour in one long bite. Memories of his life flooded her. She groaned as her head ached.
He was on the bed behind her in an instant. He pulled her between his long legs and cradled her back to his chest. His hands sank into her hair, strong fingers massaging her scalp. “Careful, Meggie mine. You took a whole lot of me. I’m sure you still feel the effects.”
His hands felt good on her. She relaxed into his warmth. “You’re better now?”
“I am damn near perfect.” Cian’s voice was a slow seduction in her ear. He leaned close, and she felt his lips moving. “I don’t know how to thank a woman for saving me. Can you think of any way I could please you?”
Even with her head throbbing, she could think of a way. Meg shook his hands off her. She had to come to her senses. She wasn’t about to get her heart broken by a second Finn brother.
“Stop, Cian. You don’t have to thank me.” She scrambled off the bed. She gathered her dignity around her like a mantle. “I am just glad you’re all right.”
Cian’s eyes darkened, but he relaxed after a moment. He leaned back against the pillows, not hiding his raging erection at all. It tented his pants admirably. He spared her not a single, delectable inch of his glorious body as he stretched out. “I am more than fine, wife. I am perfectly healthy and prepared to serve you in any fashion you can think of.”
Meg gulped and reminded herself that this was what had gotten her heart in trouble in the first place. He was just trying to show his gratitude. Besides it had been a long time for him. He hadn’t had sex since his illness had taken over. Meg hadn’t forgotten their bonding. Cian was a carnal creature. He would want that pleasure as soon as possible. They needed to get a few things straight.
“Please don’t call me wife,” she said in a firm voice. Cian’s brow arched quizzically, but he allowed her to continue. “I’m not from this plane.”
“No,” Cian interjected. “You’re from the human plane. You were born in a place called Texas and lived in a city called Fort Worth. You lived in a small apartment, and you hated it. There was no beauty to it. The walls were beige. The carpet was beige. It wasn’t a home. It was like purgatory, a place to wait. Explain this purgatory to me.”
He sat up and crossed his legs. He switched from hot and bothered potential lover to curious student. Meg was struck dumb by how accurately he had described her little apartment. It had nothing of her in it. It was a place to eat and sleep. It wasn’t a home. “How did you know?”
Cian’s expression was serene and patient. It was disconcerting how quickly he could change. “We are bonded, lover. I saw your soul, and you saw mine. It’s the deepest bond two souls can form. You can try running from me, Meggie, but it won’t work. I know you deep down. I know what you need.”
She felt her whole body flush with embarrassment. She remembered things from Cian’s life like they were her own memories. What had he pulled out of her head? She felt very vulnerable in that moment, even more vulnerable than she had been with Beck. The bonding with Cian had been so different.
“Because Beck didn’t offer you the full bond,” Cian said as though he read her mind. He chuckled as she flashed a startled look his way. “It was a good bet that was what you were thinking, nothing more. I can’t read your mind. I can see images at times, but I can’t hear your thoughts. When we make love, though, I will be able to feel your pleasure and to give you mine.”
Meg ignored the last bit. It was best not to even go there. “So Beck and I aren’t bonded?”
“Not fully, from what I can tell,” Cian stated as academically as possible. “Many choose not to form a full bond with their bondmates. You can help Beck bridge with me without seeing his soul. I, personally, think it’s a pussy thing to do. You’re my wife, whether you accept it or not. I am your husband. I want you to know me, the good and the bad. I don’t want to live my life without really knowing my wife. I want to know what she likes and doesn’t like. I want to know what makes her laugh. I want to know that she feels like everyone will abandon her in the end because that’s all anyone has ever done.”