Zed's Dishonest Mate (2 page)

After his drug lackeys died, Kane walked into a Supernatural Society Council meeting and demanded the area. Apparently, he wanted to turn the Vortex into a shrine to honor the “innocent victims in a senseless tragedy.” Zed at least talked with the dead elves’ families, something Kane didn’t bother to do. The families wanted nothing to do with Kane’s nonsense.

He hated the bullshit. Since the formation of the separate territories the city had transformed into a somewhat peaceful place. It wasn’t paradise and rotten apples existed everywhere.

Even with the current discontent, the city was still a better place. Before the Supernatural Society Council’s formation, the streets were covered with supernatural blood. With Roman, Zed and Mason leading the territory formation, a lot of other supernaturals started to support the idea, but Kane never got over his bitterness. He wanted total control and hated rules.

The seven territories formed when the Supernatural Society Council divided the city into different sections, trying to preserve peace. The system wasn’t meant to segregate the different supernatural members living within the city, but that’s what happened. Each territory leader tried to keep peace. Well, most of them. He looked at the elf king again. Sometimes there were exceptions.

The elf territory started to decline twenty-five years ago. The former king, Kane’s father, controlled the city. Randolph’s strict rules kept the unsatisfied elves in line. Then the former leader suspiciously disappeared. That’s when the prince became the king. The animosity between territories grew as Kane started arguments with most of the other leaders, but he still hated Zed most, which said a lot because he hated everyone.

Zed saw through Kane. The elf king manipulated situations to get his own way. He enjoyed causing trouble with lies that poured from his mouth.

He sighed. How long could the “talk” go on? The entire meeting wasted time. He had plenty of time, but he could think of a lot better ways to spend it, like ripping out his fingernails or painting the walls with a toothbrush, but with the fragile state of the Supernatural Society Council, he couldn’t refuse the request to meet with Kane.

Well, he could have, but Mason started to push to reveal the truth. He never lied about the past, just kept silent about it. As long as he didn’t say something that wasn’t true, there was no lie. All that talk about lies by omission meant nothing to him. Only untruthful words mattered. He sighed. Meeting with Kane might appease Mason. The dragon understood the entire situation. If the request hadn’t come from the dragon elder, he wouldn’t have given the elf king the time of day.

Kane’s smirk betrayed his intent. He enjoyed annoying him. Wasting Zed’s time seemed more like a hobby than an attempt at a serious meeting. If he had warm blood, it would have boiled over by now.

The king continued to speak of “righteousness” and “fairness.” The fact those words existed in the elf’s vocabulary nearly pushed him out of the chair. The chuckle threatened to escape. The pretentious diatribe knew no end.

He closed his eyes and slowly counted to five. He reopened his eyes and looked to the left at the elf sitting next to the king. A slender, younger man with long, strawberry-blond hair pulled back into a ponytail played with a light-colored bracelet wrapped loosely around his thin wrist. The elf prince hadn’t looked up since the start of the meeting. The complete lack of concern or interest both fascinated and annoyed him. Since the meeting had started the younger elf existed in some other place, which must have been better than this annoying reality.

Finding out that the person he despised had a son stunned him. A man needed to prepare for some things, like knowing the elf he fought with for over two hundred years had reproduced. He shuddered. The word “reproduced” should never be used when thinking about Kane. But still, discovering something so alien and then being forced to sit in the same teleconference pissed him off. A man like King Kane should never have had a child. The possibility to produce a spineless snake was too likely.

The young elf rubbed his hand and then his arm. He hadn’t seen the elf prince’s face. Kane, lacking proper etiquette or consideration, never introduced them. Still, the graceful way he moved the delicate fingers over his skin, the hair that was too red and too blond to be classified as either, stirred something that Zed couldn’t identify. His groin understood. Each movement of the young elf’s hand as it rubbed across creamy, white skin awakened his cock. The prince was completely fuckable. He cursed at the train of thought. He didn’t want to be attracted to the young elf, but something forbidden started to awaken inside of him.

The elf prince sat, oblivious to everything and everyone around him. Slim fingers slid through long ends of hair, twirling it around. Zed imagined those delicate fingers running up and down the vampire’s body, stroking his hard, fat cock.

He examined the man’s slim body through the screen. Every movement was fluid and graceful.

As if reading his thoughts, the prince lifted his head. Their eyes met. Stunned, blue-violet eyes stared directly at him, stirring a deep, lustful desire inside of Zed. The vampire prince longed to touch the warm skin. He wanted to reach through the screen and caress the elf’s pale flesh, then place light kisses all over his body. The small elf was everything he desired in a lover. Zed frowned. He wouldn’t be attracted to the son of a conniving, manipulative elf. The whole situation added to his anger.

He refused to allow the desire to grow. He would stomp and kill it. While a beautiful distraction, the prince wasn’t much of a person. The younger man completely ignored everything around him, including the conversation. That irritated Zed. While he tried to force his desire away, the elf prince never acknowledged his existence or his surroundings. The man didn’t pay attention to anything. The peace between their races needed a diplomatic solution and the elf prince didn’t care. The lasting implications of such behavior couldn’t be ignored. Zed wouldn’t allow himself to be attracted to someone self-centered and cold-hearted. Obviously bad traits didn’t fall far from the tree. The elf prince’s attitude was a mirror reflection of the man he hated, probably inheriting all the king’s bad characteristics. The younger elf was only a pretty face with a selfish, scheming, dishonest disposition.

“Do you plan on avoiding the issue?” King Kane asked in a low hiss, the crisp, cold tone reflecting the anger at being ignored. “Two elves were murdered inside of your establishment.”

Zed continued to ignore him. Let Kane get angry. Maybe the elf king would start to understand him. Anyway, he wasn’t important. Zed’s eyes continued to roam every visible inch of the elf prince’s lean body. The man was beautiful, dressed like an angel in all white clothes. Too bad looks were deceiving. He was far from an angel.

The prince didn’t care. He acted like the entire meeting was a waste of time. Zed agreed with that assessment, but they called the meeting. Shouldn’t the small, sexy man pretend to care? No, the elf prince fidgeted in his seat and refused to make eye contact with him. Did the man think he was too good to have a conversation with a vampire?
Elves and their superiority complex
. Zed shook his head. They didn’t even try to hide their feelings. While they couldn’t kill each other without breaking the Council’s rules, the political battles raged on.

“Are we boring you, prince?” Zed asked. He hated the despondent attitude too much to remain quiet. “We’re only discussing the peace between our races. What is more important than that? A hair appointment? Shopping trip?” The prince, dressed in pristine white clothes, looked the part, but he was too self-centered to care for his people. He didn’t even want to be here. He was a spoiled brat that didn’t deserve to be a prince.

The elf prince looked up to glare at Zed. His eyes shone with a fierce anger that took Zed’s breath away. Then the prince turned and Zed caught sight of the long, lean neck. He wanted to sink his teeth in and drink the elf’s blood and then lick the wound closed, but he didn’t want to stop at the prince’s neck. He wanted to move down the elf prince’s body, tasting every inch of his warm, tasty skin.

Zed refocused on the prince’s eyes. The anger blazed through them. Zed should’ve been annoyed by the hostile glare, but the fire turned him on. Even the thin-lipped glower had his shaft hard. He wanted to make the prince even angrier to see the anger radiate through the younger man’s body, not only his face. The strong connection left him confused. He’d lived for centuries, but never felt an instant connection like this. It went beyond sexual desire. He wouldn’t mind fucking the elf’s ass, but he wanted more.

The prince cleared his throat. “Sorry, Prince Zed. I can’t help it. Your constant whining annoys me. The way you pound your fist on the table and demand that everyone follow your orders is typical of an overbearing and pompous leader.”

Zed couldn’t believe his ears. Was this brat disrespecting him? King Kane chuckled beside his son. “Watch yourself, boy. I’ve lived far longer than a fragile little prince pretending he can rule.”

“My name is Luka, not boy. If you’re going to threaten someone try using the person’s name. It sounds a little more menacing. Coming from you, Prince Zed, you need all the help you can get because you’re not the least bit scary.” The tips of Luka’s pointed ears turned red.

“Luka, dear boy,” Zed said, watching the red move from the elf’s ears to lightly cover his entire face with a soft, pink tint. He enjoyed making Luka angry. He couldn’t explain why, but the blushed face turned him rock hard. He imagined the elf’s white skin turning pink with wanton need as the desire took over. He wanted to play with the smaller man’s body for hours, preventing any climax until the elf was whimpering under his fingertips. He might talk tough, but when it came down to it, he would be begging for a man’s cock. “When I want to threaten you I will, but right now I’m merely concerned about your welfare,” Zed said in a tone full of sarcasm with a slight bit of desire mixed in.

“Concerned?” Luka questioned, with a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

“Yes, if you’re not careful, one morning you will wake up with your throat torn out or a fat cock shoved up your ass,” Zed warned. The light pink tone darkened as the prince flinched back at Zed’s crude language.

Zed watched as Luka’s body relaxed. His eyes reflected pure innocence, but Zed immediately recognized the spark of mischief that played within the deep, violet-blue orbs. He was good at changing facial expressions, but it was a little disconcerting as the elf prince changed expressions to suppress his emotions. Zed looked at the man’s perfectly formed face. He zoomed in with the projector, so it focused only on the elf prince.

Luka’s lips turned upwards. He stared directly into the camera, trying to focus on Zed, but with a teleconference he needed to look directly into the camera lens and not at a single person. It was an interesting bluff.

“Prince Zed, I’m very understanding. If you need to threaten someone to feel less inadequate, then reflect the pain from your incompetence and inability to protect your property upon me. Whatever it takes for you to feel like a man again.”

“You little bastard…” Zed said, standing from his chair. His eyes glowed red as they focused on the elf prince. Did this self-centered brat think he could insult the prince of the entire vampire race and get away with it?

“Hit a nerve,” Luka said, dusting pretend dirt from his shirt sleeve. “The vampire prince seems like a pussy these days. He can’t protect his territory. Probably can’t even get it up anymore,” Luka added, and paused for a moment before continuing. “Since you probably don’t have a fat cock let alone one that can perform, are you threatening to rip out my throat?”

“Meet me later, elf, and I will show you who can’t get it up anymore,” Zed sneered. He looked at the prince and made a promise to himself. He swore when he met the brat, and he would meet him, that he’d personally show Luka he could get it up. He planned on bending the elf over a flat surface and fucking him so hard he’d feel it days later. Someone had to show the elf some manners and that there were consequences for carelessly used words. Zed planned to enjoy teaching that lesson.

Luka banged on the door so hard his fists throbbed. He kicked the bottom again and again. He pulled on the handle, trying to force it down, but it didn’t move. The door wouldn’t budge. He stepped away and slowly turned to face his prison.

He looked around the room and cursed. He hated the white walls, the white dresser, the white bedspread, the white carpet and every white thing in the room, which was everything. Why people lived in rooms without color made no sense. If he had his way, everything would be filled with bright, vibrant colors. Walls would be painted the color of sunshine with a sofa the color of the sky propped up against it. He’d wear bright shirts full of multicolored flowers with a pair of turquoise pants. He’d even consider pastels, anything but the dull colorless clothes picked out for him. He wanted to make choices, go shopping, buy useless knickknacks, and do all the things he’d been denied.

Every decision from the time he got up until he went to bed was made for him. Even his bathroom breaks were beyond his control. When he became too difficult or refused to obey orders then the beatings started. He slid down the wall and cursed. His back and torso had been heavily bruised from the last beating. This time he couldn’t heal the bruises. Every bit of healing magic went to his knee.

Without forcing the energy into his left leg, he wouldn’t be walking. With nothing else left for his back or side, Luka was forced to live with the pain. Even after a day, the pain hadn’t subsided.

He looked across the room at the wall mirror. His perfect face reflected back in the glass. No visible marks, that was the rule. His body needed to remain unflawed. Now he understood the reason, a forced mating with a stranger. He wanted no part of it. Apparently, Luka needed to stay beautiful long enough to be sold to the highest bidder.