Gryphon opened his eyes, met my knowing smile and something flared deep in those blue depths. He spun me around, facedown, so that I was bent over the bed, my feet still touching the floor. The position made me feel vulnerable and submissive with his hard length curved behind me, over me, his breath beating hot against my neck.
"Lift up," he rasped coarsely, his hand teasing along the sides of my breasts. I pushed up, bracing on my elbows, allowing him access, crying with relief as I felt his hands cup my breasts, his fingers lightly pinching my aching nipples. I rubbed back against him and mewed as I felt him throb against my bottom, so close to where I wanted him to be. One hand glided down, slid over my curls, and parted me. Two long fingers pushed into me, then slid out. They circled that most sensitive part of me, wetting me with my own moisture, plunged in deeper. Pulled out.
"Oh," I groaned, wanting more. "More."
He nipped my neck, letting me feel the edge of his teeth and I whimpered. Holding my hips steady, he plunged his hot length into me, going in so deep, so deep at this angle. He started thrusting hard, moving me, moving the entire bed and I watched as my arms and hands began to glow.
"No," I said suddenly and he froze deep within me, so still that I was able to feel his cock throb once, twice. The silken muscles of my sheath shivered and clenched in uncontrollable response and his fingers tightened on my hips. "Let me face you," I rasped.
He withdrew and I turned and looked full upon Gryphon's ivory perfection, his striking beauty, the pure loveliness of his male form thrown into brilliant illumination from within. I opened my arms and body to him. With a hoarse cry he surged back into me, all restraint loosened, pounding into me again and again, wildly, furiously. His lips covered mine. His tongue thrust into me, in and out, in time to his rapid rhythm below. I felt the roiling wave within me grow higher and higher, and still yet higher, until it felt as if I would surely crack and burst. And then I did. With my right hand covering his wound, I prayed in my mind, willed with all that was within me, Heal, dammit. Heal! I cried out Gryphon's name and felt my palms tingle, felt a faint surge of warmth.
Gryphon's own satisfaction claimed him and he shuddered, ejaculated into me, and then literally collapsed unconscious on top of me, his body released from the too-heavy strain he had imposed upon it.
Touch had been so rare in my life. I held Gryphon's weight against me for a moment, savoring the contact before rolling him off me and easily lifting him fully onto the bed. All redness from his ordeal in the sun was gone, leaving behind skin the color of burnished teakwood and his wrist and ankle abrasions were completely healed. But sullen blood oozed angrily from his poisoned wound, unchanged, perhaps worsened. Slowly spreading.
I wiped the blood off, covered Gryphon and lay beside him. And almost didn't notice the tears that silently fell.
Chapter Eight
The sun had set when I heard the rest of the house begin to stir. I slipped from the bed, showered, and perused my pitiful armoire. Sonia had packed me one blue dress, a simple frock like what the other women wore, and another of Mona Sera's formal gowns. Black, of course.
"The black gown," Gryphon said as he padded up behind me. I leaned back against him as he slipped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.
"How do you feel?"
"Rested," he said ruefully. "I used my body most harshly earlier."
"In a most wonderful way." Turning, I was delighted to see him blush. "I'll see the healer today, after the meeting," I promised, rubbing my thumbs against the back of his hand where it covered my waist.
He angled my head, kissed me lightly on the lips, and released me. "I shall shower and dress and be ready shortly."
Amber was waiting just outside the door, his hair parted neatly and combed back from the strong lines of his face. He was dressed in a forest green tunic with loose, flowing sleeves and snug black trousers, a style more common a century or two ago. Altogether dashing, really.
Gryphon had brushed out my hair, insisting that it be left loose. More feminine, he had said. Long dresses and loose hair; it wasn't just their speech that was archaic.
"You look lovely, milady." The edges of Amber's mouth curved up in a grimace, it took me a moment to realize he was smiling at me.
"Thank you, Amber. You, uh, look handsome as well."
Redness colored his cheeks. Taking pity on the poor giant, I slipped one hand into Amber's arm, and the other into Gryphon's. "Shall we, gentlemen?"
Ever the efficient steward, Matthias met us at the bottom of the stairs and assigned a young male attendant to lead us to the Council Hall. The young man was quite fascinated with Amber and Gryphon and kept glancing at their hands. I realized why now. With their unusual sun-rich tans they looked like the demon dead. That explained all the startled looks we'd been receiving since yesterday.
We waited half an hour before the heavy doors were opened and we were ushered into a high-domed circular chamber where a dozen somber men and women sat arrayed on a raised platform in chairs spread out at even intervals, encircling the edge of the room. I glimpsed Halcyon's dark face to my left. Over half the seats, though, were empty. Walking in, I felt like a Roman gladiator entering an arena full of hungry spectators. Nor was it reassuring to see Mona Sera in the center of the room, gesturing for me to come stand beside her.
Gryphon and Amber remained back by the doors, along with Mona Sera's guards. I strode alone to the center of the Council Hall, keeping several yards of distance between Mona Sera and myself. Always prudent, that, and not just for comfort reasons.
"Esteemed Queen Mother." Mona Sera bowed before a woman with proud, regal bearing, whose hair was utterly and completely white. White with age. I'd never seen that before in a Monère. There were Queens, I found, and then there were Queens. She looked like a matriarch of old. Old being the key word. Or perhaps ancient would be a better word. Real, real ancient. And powerful. It exuded from her like a strong, pervading aroma. The vast lines of age marking her face were mere camouflage for for that power. And those eyes. All-seeing was a creepy term, but it fit her. Those eyes looked as if they could see into your very soul, weigh and pass judgment and never look back once that judgment was carried out. Scary eyes, those. Too objective. Too knowing.
"Honorable ladies, and gentlemen of the High Council," Mona Sera continued in her rich, sultry voice. "I wish to present to you my daughter, Queen Mona Lisa, a child I bore from a Mixed Blood union."
I felt the tension in the room kick up a level as I bowed before the Queen Mother in the manner Gryphon had instructed me—lifting my skirts, kneeling with head bowed, then standing once more. The men looked at me with interest—Halcyon with amusement—but the two Queens, marked by their black gowns, glared at me with cold, unwelcoming eyes. No surprise there. Yup, nasty crows. The Queen Mother studied me with detached curiosity, like one studied a struggling butterfly that had just been captured and pinned.
"There has never been a Mixed Blood Queen in our history," stated the Queen sitting next to Halcyon, an icy blonde with equally cold eyes. She was striking in her beauty, a real, true Ice Queen.