The emperor stared at me for several moments, studying me. “Tomorrow. You and I will speak. Alone.”
“Why do you want to talk to me and why alone?” I asked, clutching the hem of my shirt.
“To get to know you and decide whether you and my child belong together.”
We did. “And I’m to tell Kal what?”
“The truth,” he said before striding to his children, ordering them to behave.
I finally freed myself from my older brothers, swearing death on each of them, and went to Seth. He claimed my hand, and my tail automatically curled around his ankle.
“Your brothers love you.”
“They like to torture me.”
“Come on,” Seth said, “let's go talk to them.”
With a slight smile on my lips, I followed Seth across the room to my family. My fingers tightened around his. All of my family.
Chapter 49
A meeting with my father-in-law, this should be fun.
By the time we headed back to our room, I was dragging on my feet. Kal’s wings flapped steadily, his arms tight around me. My eyes were already closing, and I was being lulled to sleep by the steady beat of his wings, the temperature of his scales, and the gentle thrum of his heart.
Kal landed, knees flexing. “We’re in our quarters.”
“Hmm,” I muttered. Kal laughed. Fuck, I loved that sound. It was so deep and rumbly. One of his arms went behind my knees and the other stayed around my back. He scooped me into his arms, and my eyes popped open.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked, my voice higher pitched than normal.
“Carrying you to bed.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re tired.” I opened my mouth to protest, but Kal continued, “Relax, Husband. I have you.”
Exhausted, I snaked my arms around his neck. “Don’t make a habit of it.”
Lucy meowed at our arrival.
“Yes, Lucy,” Kal said, moving in an odd pattern, probably trying to avoid stepping on her. Kal set me on the bed, and then began stripping me.
“Seriously?” I asked when he tugged my shirt off.
“I wasn’t thinking about sex, mostly. I was trying to get you ready for bed.”
“Sure.”
Kal continued to take my clothes off, then draped the blanket over me. Lucy settled against my side as I watched Kal remove his clothes, taking in the width of his shoulders, the tapering of his hips, and the way his muscles moved. His wings unfurled, stretching, and his tail flicked, drawing my focus to his firm ass. Kal strode back to the bed, naked.
He settled under the covers next to me. With his head propped up on his hand and his other arm over my waist, fingers stroking me, he asked, “Tonight wasn’t awful, was it?”
“No, it wasn’t,” I said. “I like your family.”
“They like you too. All my brothers said so.”
I needed to tell him about the emperor wanting to see me, but Kal was not going to like it. “Your father spoke to me tonight.”
