King Zeller cleared his throat, his jaw seesawing back and forth for a moment, and then he quickly coughed. “I overheard her say she was on it. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”
Queen Ruckler blinked. “When did you hear her say that? Who would she have been talking to when she can’t speak—” Her eyes widened as she cut herself off. She quickly studied her black boots, murmuring under her breath, “Ah, shit.”
There was a beat of silence, then Leric growled, “You’re fucking kidding me, right?” And—Lord have mercy—he did not sound happy, so I was pretty content I wasn’t looking at him. The room shuddered from his anger, a definite freakishly frightening crown of the galaxies sitting atop his head right now with that tone. “You fucking listened in on us? You couldn’t have walked the hell away from your eavesdropping when it became obvious what the fuck we were doing?”
“Yeah.” King Zeller spread his legs to steady himself, while others gripped the shaking walls or bed or chair. “Sorry about that.” A black arched brow lifted. “You had to have known someone was listening in. It did go silent in there before you got too far along. You enacted some type of privacy spell.”
Leric muttered so quietly I barely heard him, “And apparently common decency is fucking gone.” The room shook again. “Just keep your fucking mouth shut about our intimate moments, and I won’t have to do anything extreme. Like gladly rip your fangs from your mouth.”
King Zeller was quiet then. But appearing unbidden, his lips twitched the barest bit. He quickly cleared his throat and peered up to the ceiling as he mumbled, “My lips are sealed about anything private I’ve heard on any nights, wherever you’ve chosen to sleep, including intimate actions, personal conversations, intrusive uninvited guests, amusing phone calls, or even interesting nicknames.”
My eyes closed in the overly long beat of silence.
Leric, sounding sickened, muttered progressively, “Fucking hell, you have got to be kidding me. You goddamn Vampire jackass with fucking ears I would just love to—” I cleared my throat heavily since he wasn’t helping, and he stuttered to a stop behind me. But a second later he continued. “Just don’t forget, I know what your supposed masculine Vampire adores to be called.”
His wide lips curved as his spring green eyes flashed downward from their stare at the ceiling. He rumbled on an intimate purr, “I have no shame.” And I swear, King Zeller was seriously enjoying himself as he watched Leric over my head.
“Just fuck off before I decide to kill your intrusive ass for the damn fun of it.”
King Zeller’s shoulders shook gently as he laughed silently and he covered his mouth with his fist. He glanced at King Collins, pointing a finger. “Anyway, she said she was on birth control.”
“Good to know.” King Collins’s eyes were a bit squinty, but he spoke steadily as his gaze came back to me. “Just to clarify, there’s no possible way you could be pregnant?”
I would love to know what book he was reading to get all of his information. If a spirit Elemental fluctuated the use of their powers, which I had done, it could cause the birth control not to work. I was thankful my period had come after my night with Leric.
“No, I’m not pregnant. Jesus, that would be too much…wig-the-fuck-out much.” I flinched when Roselle quickly discarded the last glass sliver. She wiped my feet, cleaning away any lingering blood. “I really need to brush my teeth before we discuss why the hell you’re all in here.” I scooted off the bed, having to zigzag around everyone to the bathroom.
When my teeth cleaning business was done, I stepped out of the bathroom. My breath was minty fresh. “Well, I imagine Reese blabbed about what he saw.” Hopefully not all of it, just the important part. I walked to the bar fridge and glared at the complimentary bottles of water. I could really use a stiff drink. “Just what I wanted for this talk: a fine, refreshing water.”
Roselle cleared her throat, stating kindly, “It will sit better in your stomach than alcohol, since you did just throw up.”
I blinked at her. “Thank you for the recap.”
Her lips lifted charmingly. “You’re welcome.”
I turned my back on the fucking spirit Elementals in the room, grudgingly opened the bottle of boring water, and took a swig. I glanced at King Collins still standing against the wall. He was busy rubbing at his temples, shooting deathly glares at Leric’s back. My lips twitched, actually enjoying the fact King Collins was just as upset at Leric as I was for his actions tonight at dinner. I moved forward, patting his arm. My mouth opened to say something, but I stopped when a knock sounded at my door.