Tangled Innocence (8 page)

Fuck. That’s exactly what he’d thought. He didn’t want this
and surely didn’t want Alexander to complete whatever he wanted to say.

“You have been chosen as my replacement. You will begin your
duties right away. To train, you must do as your brethren have done. All
species have different time restraints, but as a dragon, you must stay within
the Conclave realm for five hundred years before you will be allowed to leave.
You will learn your new powers and learn how to rule. Only then will you be
able to return to this home you have grown so fond of.”

Dante blinked and held back a growl, a small tendril of
smoke floating from his nostril. “Do I have no say in this?”

Five hundred years away from his mates? No, hell no. His
body felt hollow, aching at just the thought of being without them. The
Conclave couldn’t take him from Nadie and Jace. They wouldn’t be that cruel.

Dante, though, new
exactly
how cruel they could be.

Alexander looked perplexed. “Why would you say no?”

Dante tried to form his words carefully. He’d already been
banned from one realm because of the Conclave. It wouldn’t do to add another.

Or be killed for voicing his own desires.

“I’ve just found my mates and have newly formed the bond. I
can’t stay away from them for that long. They need me as I need them.”

“Ah yes, the bear whose fate is entwined with yours and this
human…who isn’t so human, is she?”

There was something about the way the dragon said the latter
that had Dante’s dragon standing on edge, but he put it to the side for now. He
had to get out of there and get to his mates. Then he could worry about
everything else and all the nuisances that came with this meeting.

“You don’t say no to the Conclave,” the merman said.

“I can’t leave my mates.” He wouldn’t. Five hundred years
might seem like nothing to a dragon, but a newly mated dragon needed their
mates. Plus Nadie was still human in nature. She needed him. And Jace…

No, Dante wouldn’t leave them behind.

“As he’s newly mated, he should at least have time to…think
about it,” Levi put in while Tristan nodded.

Dante wanted to reach out and hug the two men, but held
back. He’d give his thanks later…after he watched them for any hidden agenda
for their help. One could never be too careful.

“Why would he say no?” the old dragon asked. “This is power,
the most to be had in our realm. You’d be revered.”

“I’d rather be with my mates,” he said honestly.

“You dare defy me?” Alexander asked, and the room hushed.

He had to tread carefully here. “I need a choice. I
need…time to consider,” he lied. There would be no considering. No, he’d only
spend the time to figure a way out of doing this. “I need to be with the two I
have newly bonded with. True halves are something that are sacred. I can’t
break with that.”

The dragon narrowed his eyes, and Dante knew he hadn’t
fooled him. “You can go with your mates, but we will call for you again. Soon.
You will give us your…answer then.”

He forced himself not to react, only to keep his head
raised. His gaze traveled to the two young members, who gave him nods. What
that meant, he didn’t know, but he had a feeling he would not be alone for
long. These two seemed to be on his side. At least that’s what he hoped.

“Don’t disappoint us,” Alexander said as a parting shot, and
Dante held his breath.

The room disappeared, and he found himself in the clearing
where he’d started earlier.

Holy gods, this was bad. This was worse than bad.

He didn’t know how he would tell the others, but he had no
choice. He’d promised Nadie no secrets.

How was he going to tell her that, though he’d finally had
her in his arms, he’d now have to leave? For if he said no to the Conclave,
Dante had a feeling he wouldn’t live to tell the tale.

One, after all, didn’t say no to the Conclave.

****

 
“He said no! Did you
hear that?” Rock screamed as he paced the room in his human form. He’d just
come back from Alexander’s after the old bat of a dragon informed him that
Dante had wanted time.

Time? Fuck that.

The fucking dragon prince, or whatever he liked to be
called, should have gone down on his knees and thanked the Conclave’s ass that
he’d been sought after in the first place. Rock, on the other hand, had been
looked over. What the fuck was up with that?

He
was supposed to
be the one who gained the power from their ranks. He’d been the one who had
been by Alexander’s side for so long, and how did the old fuck repay him?

By tossing him aside for the perfect Dante.

“Of course I heard, darling,” the dragoness purred through
lips that were overly plump on her skinny face.

He still thought she was fucking hot, and the way she rode
his cock and sucked it through those fat lips of hers made everything worth it.

“Then what are we going to do about it, Stacia?”

She patted his cheek then laid on the bed, spreading herself
for him. “We will find a way to fix this. My son, that bastard of a dragon,
should not have said no. I raised him with the every care I could give, and yet
he’s betrayed all of us.”

Rock slid into her, pumping his hips. He liked the feel of
her around him and knew it would take off the edge. Her nails dug into his
skin, making him bleed, and he growled. He spent himself then pulled out,
throwing his body next to hers on the bed. She was always a quick fuck when he
was angry, and considering her husband would probably be back any minute, he
had to hurry anyway. He didn’t care if she came or not since it took
for-freaking-ever for her to do it. She usually just faked it for him if she
didn’t come right away.

“What are we going to do? I was going to have all the power
and have you by my side.” Well, maybe not that last part, but he needed Stacia,
so he’d use her while he could.

The dragoness patted her breasts then sighed. “My darling,
think. We can’t have the power if he’s part of the Conclave. Dante has long
since ignored the family. Bastard,” she spat. “What we can do though is…ensure
that he won’t be a problem and won’t come back to be part of the Conclave at
all.”

Rock narrowed his eyes. “If he says no, the Conclave will
kill him.”

Stacia rolled her heavily made up eyes. “That’s a chance we
can’t take. What if he were to say yes?”

“What are you saying?”

Stacia sighed then stroked his cock. He always seemed to
think better with her hands on him. “If we kill him before he has a chance to
say no, then he can’t be in power, can he?”

Rock swallowed hard, her hand squeezing just right so he
came again on his belly. “Kill him? Yes. We can do that.”

Stacia giggled then patted his chest. “Good. Now do be a
dear and clean up before Udell gets home. You know how fickle he gets when I
smell like another man’s seed. When you come back after he leaves, I do hope
you have news of Dante’s demise. That would really put a hop in my step.”

The woman was clearly demented, but Rock loved the way she
thought.

“Consider it done.” He smacked her ass then walked out of
the room, naked and annoyingly still hard.

With Dante dead, Alexander would finally see who should be
the one in charge. Rock smiled and shifted to his dragon form. Yes, that
sounded like a plan indeed.

“Are you sure he’s okay?” Nadie wrung her hands together,
that prickly feeling on the back of her neck not going away no matter what Jace
had said before.

She’d woken up alone in bed, the smell of coffee tickling
her senses. She’d been in such a haze of needing caffeine that she hadn’t
thought about the fact she’d been alone, pleasantly sore, and in need of time
to think about what she’d done.

What she’d become.

She’s called her job right away, letting them know she
needed to take a leave of absence. They had been relativity understanding about
the whole thing considering she had given them warning. All of the women had
put plans in place to take time away from their daily human lives in case they
were thrust in a new change, a new world. In Nadie’s case, she’d warned them
she’d need to leave because of family reasons and had a replacement lined up.
Her school was very private and very unique in that they actually cared about
the teachers and their needs. She hated having to leave, but she couldn’t do it
all. Ever since Jamie had been taken to hell and had lost so much time, the
girls had been smarter. Rather than scramble around, trying to fit their new
lives into their old lives, they would step away and try to find a new balance.

That meant that someone else would be teaching her children
from now on. At least until she got a handle on what it meant to be a succubus,
have two mates, and have a new world to immerse herself into.

All of that, though, was on the back burner while she sat in
the living room with Jace, needing to have him reassure her.

Again.

Her bear ran a hand through her hair, and the large
calloused palm seemed as big as her face. She inhaled his scent, the earthy
tone seemingly richer, more decadent that morning than it had been when she’d
been fully human.

“He will be fine, Nadie.”

She turned so she was facing him on the couch but still
touching him. “I don’t know if I believe you because I don’t think you believe
it yourself.”

Jace sighed and pulled her into his lap. She leaned into
him, surprising herself at the ache for him, the need for the bond to pulse and
remind her she wasn’t alone anymore.

“He told me he would come back, and he will. You know Dante
enough to know that when he says something he means it.” Jace squeezed her
tighter. “He’ll do whatever he has to in order to come back to us.”

She let out a breath and closed her eyes. “And the Conclave?
They won’t hurt him?”

Jace had come to her as soon as she’d woken up, explaining
about the Conclave and the summons Dante had received. He’d yet to explain
why
Dante had left without a word, and
Nadie had a feeling even Jace didn’t know.

That was another thing she and her dragon would have to
discuss.

He couldn’t keep treating her like fragile glass when it
came to big decisions. Leaving her asleep while he went off to a group of
paranormals that could hurt him classified as one of those things that he
needed to at least mention to her.

Not just tell his messenger.

Apparently she was still a little peeved at that.

“Nadie, honey, I don’t know.” She winced at his honesty but
didn’t interrupt him. “I have no idea what the Conclave wanted with him, and,
fuck, I was so scared when Dante told me where he was going. I’m one huge-ass
grizzly, and I wanted to cower under the table and hide the two of you away
forever.”

She blinked at him. He needed to work on his whole
don’t-freak-out-Nadie thing.

He moved her so she was straddling him and they faced each
other. “That doesn’t mean the worst though, Nadie. All that means is that I
know of the whispers and stories I was told when I found out I was god-touched
and a Meditator. Dante is stronger than anyone else I know, and he wouldn’t
have left if he hadn’t had a way back.”

She didn’t know if he was lying to himself or trying to keep
a good outlook, but either way, sitting there and fretting wasn’t getting
anything accomplished. She’d spent most of her life fretting over one thing or
another, and she didn’t want to spend the next part of her journey doing more
of the same.

“There’s nothing we can do right now about it other than
worry some more, so let’s try to think of something else,” she said, surprised
at how calm her voice sounded.

Inside she was a mess of contradictions, regrets, and fear,
but right then, she wasn’t sure Jace could tell. From the way his brows
lowered, she was probably wrong about that.

“We can do that. Now, why don’t you tell me what’s on your
mind that puts that little crease between your eyebrows, right here.” He traced
the spot with his finger, and she closed her eyes, unsure of what she was going
to say…how she was going to say it.

“I feel like a slut. No, that’s not it. I feel like I should
feel
like a slut. But I don’t.”

Okay, apparently she was going with the blurting-it-out
method.

Jace growled, a low sound that vibrated along her bones and
deep in her belly. She froze, her inner succubus—if that’s what she wanted to
call it—on alert at the danger in the room.

“You. Are. Not. A. Slut.”

She shivered at the intensity of his words but didn’t drop
her gaze.

“Why would you even say that?” he asked, his look piercing.

Nadie swallowed hard, unbelieving he would even ask that
question considering where she was sitting. “I slept with you and Dante last
night. Together. Others might think that makes me slutty.”

He narrowed his eyes. “We’re your mates. Are you saying what
we did was wrong? The bond we now share is somehow now abhorrent?”

Her heart hurt at his words, but she shook her head. “No,
that’s not what I meant. Stop twisting up my words.”

Jace lowered his forehead to hers. “Then tell me precisely
what you meant, Nadie.”

She licked her lips, ignoring the way her bear followed the
movement. No, this was
not
the time
for those kinds of thoughts—even though they were yummy, warm, and oh so
tempting.

“I met you less than two days ago, and now I’m sitting on
your lap after mating with you. I was a
virgin
before last night, Jace. And now I’ve slept with two men and want to do it
again. We didn’t talk about anything other than the fact that we felt that
spark and wanted to know more. What kind of person does that make me? And the
thing is, I don’t care. All I know is that it felt good and I shouldn’t be
feeling bad that I
don’t
feel bad
about it.”

Jace growled again and nipped her lip. He licked the sting,
and she shuddered at his taste. “You are a succubus, Nadie Morgan. You’ve
always had that dominant strain of DNA in your body. That’s why you are the way
you are. Having sex with your mates is
not
wrong. The hunger you felt for us was intensified because of the blood running
through your veins. We are mates, Nadie. We might have come to this point
backward and turned around, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t meant to be. So
what if we have the bond already? So what if you crave the carnal side of our
relationship as much as Dante and I do? All that means is that we’re a match
and we can give each other whatever the other needs. Also, even if you weren’t
a succubus? Who the fuck cares? Sex isn’t a bad thing, and you don’t feel bad
about what we did. So don’t harp on what others might think because they are
too close-minded to think beyond what good girls do. Fuck them.”

He made it all sound simple, but it wasn’t. The whole idea
of what she’d done and the changes in her life that came from it was almost too
much to bear. She wouldn’t, though, keep whining about it. Regrets and
indecisiveness would not be part of the new Nadie Morgan.

“So you’re telling me my overwhelming urge to ride you like
a pony is because I’m a succubus?”

Jace blinked then threw his head back and laughed. “You can ride
me any time you want. That image just then? Fucking amazing. I also want to
point out that I think Dante and I had something to do with that urge.” He
raised a brow. “You don’t want to ride anyone in general, just me and Dante,
right?”

She scrunched up her nose. “Someone else? God no. I’ve
always only wanted Dante.” She kissed his chin, at ease with his laughter. “And
now you of course. That doesn’t mean I’m ready to act all wanton and fall into
bed every hour of every day.”

“We don’t have to
just
make love in a bed.”

Jace’s face was so serious that Nadie broke out into
laughter and leaned on him again.

“Why were you feeling that way, Nadie?” Jace asked. “I have
a feeling that this didn’t come out of nowhere.”

She sighed, not wanting to get into her past, but knowing it
was inevitable and needed. “I don’t want you to pity me for what I’m about to
say.”

Jace frowned but nodded. “I will never pity you. Tell me.”

“I grew up knowing I had to be perfect, pure Nadie Morgan,
or I would disappoint my parents. You see, my parents were far older when they
had me than when they had my two sisters. My parents got married young and had
Jessica and Heather, my sisters, right away. Jessica is only about fifteen
months older than Heather while Heather is eighteen years older than me.”

Jace’s eyes widened. “Quite a gap for humans.”

She snorted at that but kept going. “My parents wanted two
perfect children and ended up with girls who wanted to prove to their parents
they could get away with anything they wanted. Now, I’m not saying that Heather
and Jessica are completely in the right on this because God no, that’s not the
case, but they had reasons for doing what they did.”

“What did they do?”

“My parents were—
are
—very
strict. None of us were allowed to watch TV, eat sugar, have friends who were
boys, or even go over to friends’ houses if they had brothers. Our parents
wanted perfect, pure little girls. What they got were Heather and Jessica.
Instead of explaining to the girls when they were teens what it meant to be safe,
protected, and responsible, they preached that girls shouldn’t date boys and
they should only have sex when they were married with the perfectly approved
boy from a good family. So very puritanical but that is who my parents are.”

“I take it that Heather and Jessica didn’t respond well to
that.”

Nadie shook her head. “Oh hell no. They both drank, smoked
pot and cigarettes, and lost their virginities at fourteen or so.”

“Jesus.” Jace’s eyes widened, and she let out a breath.

“Heather got pregnant at sixteen and Jessica at seventeen.
So you see, I have two nephews who are older than me.”

“I thought that only happened in paranormal realms where
everyone is so long-lived that family trees get complicated.”

Nadie shook her head. “No, it happened to us. Mom and Dad
threw the girls out one by one. They ended up living with the fathers of their
babies. I don’t really know them. I was born in the aftermath.”

Jace pulled her into a hug, and she sighed. “I’ve seen them
before and have tried to form a relationship because, though they made bad
choices as teens, it wasn’t all their fault. They learned from their mistakes,
at least somewhat. They finished high school, got jobs, and at least are trying
to be adults. My parents though wiped the slate. They started over with me and
were even more restrictive. There wasn’t an opportunity for me to even break
free and rebel.” She kissed his chin. “At least until now.”

Jace growled. “Your parents put too much pressure on you.
I’d like to meet them and talk some sense into them, but I think it would be a
lost cause.”

She smiled at his tone. “It’s okay. I don’t talk with them
much even though they still try to control me. By the time I was ready to rebel
and do what I want, I’d met Dante, and I didn’t really want to find another man.
Even though I didn’t know that we were mates at the time, I think, somewhere
deep down, my mind wouldn’t let me think of another person while Dante was in
my life. At least in my life in a sense that we were friends. Does that make
sense?”

“Perfect, Nadie. You’re talking to a man who stayed celibate
for way too long waiting to find you.”

Her eyes widened. “I didn’t even think about that! Oh, you
poor bear and dragon.”

Jace grinned. “We can talk about how you can repay me
later,” he teased.

She let out a breath and thought about what else they needed
to talk about. “Tell me what it means to be a succubus. I don’t like being in
the dark, and yet that’s how I’ve felt for far too long.”

He ran a hand up and down her back. “I will tell you what I
know. As a Mediator, I know about many of the realms because I need to in order
to avoid conflicts and wars. Each realm has its council and set of rules that
makes everything very complicated. However, I’ve yet to be called to the
succubus realm. They pretty much govern themselves and leave everyone else
alone.”

Though she wanted to ask him about his experiences with the
other realms, that would have to come later. “What
do
you know?”

“The succubi and incubi—those are the males of your
species—live in a realm that is completely separated from the human realm but
for a few small passageways. It’s much like the angelic or demonic realms where
one must have an invitation or know of the existence of the passageway itself
in order to gain entry.”

She moved so she could settle next to him, rather than
remain on his lap. There was only so much a girl could take when it came to
that jean-clad cock beneath her.

“The women tend to rule and have higher positions in the
council, but I’m not a hundred percent sure on that. I believe Dante would know
more about that. As for how all of that affects you? A succubus, as you can
see, is marked with the brand of their house. I don’t know what house you are
part of with your ink, but we can look it up. Each house is ranked accordingly,
and they have an odd hierarchy that means there’s a lot of politics within the
realm. That and the fact that their powers are so different than others makes
them tend to stay away from outsiders.”