Unexpected Sting Read online

  “I wasn’t. How would you like us?”

  “Arms crossed and glaring at each other over your shoulders.”

  Arthur murmured, “This is silly.”

  “I am lacking in silly. This is helping.”

  When they were turned toward each other, they held hands and smiled. She smiled. “Arthur, I think we’re pregnant.”

  He smiled, and she heard the shutter going crazy as he reached for her and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and her left foot went up slightly. She laughed when he raised his head. “Getting a crick in your neck?”

  “I honestly don’t care.”

  She laughed, and they left the whining photographer as she kissed Arthur and released him to his co-workers. His foolish grin was bound to get noticed, but thankfully, Orvis and Stovos had left already. No one else was looking.

  Three more hours, and she could head off with Arthur.

  She put out a few small fires—one literal—and stepped out of the venue after seeing all the serving staff to their cars. The gallery owner locked up and waved her off. Shrugging, she headed down the walkway toward the street when she heard the rush of heels behind her. She stepped aside, and the woman fell down the steps. Stinger looked at the break and slowly walked down the steps toward the woman crying and sobbing about it not being fair.

  Stinger grabbed the woman’s phone with her armoured fingertips and called emergency services. She whispered in the woman’s ear. “Tell them where you are.”

  She looked at the woman with her eyes black and turned to where her mate was waiting in a doorway.

  He held his hand out to her. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes. She followed me since the moment I drove her off. She will be fine. It must be a slow night. The police are coming.” She took his hand, and he pulled her through the doorway.

  She looked up at him and then at the walkway under her feet and the expectant faces looking at her. A scowling blond man in casual Japanese traditional dress asked, “You are the scorpion?”

  He was speaking in English, so that is what she responded in. “Yes, I am. My father was, and I am.”

  “You are mated to my son.”

  She tilted her head. “I am. If nothing happens to change the situation, we are also expecting.” She looked at the woman with long black hair. “Hopefully, the child will have dark hair.”

  The woman smiled. “Brunettes are much more intelligent than blonds, at least in this family. Come with me, scorpion.”

  “Stiila.”

  “Stiila. I am Yua. Those clothes look terribly uncomfortable.”

  “Oh, they are as comfortable as they can be. The shoes are a nightmare.”

  They walked and chatted as they passed family members who had come to see the wild stalker who had tormented Arthur’s father’s family for centuries.

  “We will get you scrubbed up and into a bath, and you can tell me about how you met my son.”

  “Very well.”

  So, she told Yua everything about their meeting, from the gym to the wedding and then meeting at Nana Baker’s.

  “So, you really do go to Nana Baker’s and do errands?”

  “I do. She makes stuff up for me to do, and I go and do it when I am in town.”

  Yua walked her into a bathing room and gestured for her to remove her clothing. “You will be in town much more often.”

  “I will, but I am still getting over the curse that she put on the condoms we were using.”

  “She did what?” Yua’s skin got red, and she got taller.

  “She sent out a curse and pierced our condoms. It is why we went for the breeding contract, and after we didn’t strangle each other, we went for a binding contract.”

  “So, she started the acceleration. Good to know.” Yua’s expression was grim. “At least you have a good skin tone and not her pasty complexion.”

  “Yeah, it makes Nana’s racism bounce off a bit.”

  Yua chuckled. “Yes, that.”

  A maid helped take her clothing, and when hands helped scrub her under the shower, she yelped.

  She was scrubbed, rinsed, her hair was washed and combed, and then, she was dried and wrapped in layers before a kimono was settled, and they wrapped, tugged, straightened, and tugged again before her midsection was wrapped tight. Her hair was moved off her face and fastened with a comb.

  Yua smiled, her red features smiling happily. “You are quite lovely, and you have a good heart.”

  “If you are referring to the bite marks and me letting him go to town, he has to ask first.”

  Yua grinned. “I like you. Now, come on, your wedding waits.”

  “Wedding?”

  “Ah, I am guessing that Arthur did not tell you. You need to have your union witnessed by our community, or you will not have help if you need it.”

  “How much union needs to be witnessed?”

  “As much as you can tolerate. We are creatures of great appetites and indulge them frequently.” Yua sighed. “Alfred had my kimono half off before I lost my nerve, and the laughter followed us when we went to our quarters.”

  Stinger understood, and she nodded. “It’s a good thing that there are in layers but don’t fall off.”

  “You are bold.”

  “I am determined. I will not cringe at what is asked of me, and I will enjoy any time with Arthur. Public or private.”

  “In either form?”

  “Yes, Yua. Either form.”

  They walked toward gardens, and a maid helped her into zori before she stepped onto the crunching gravel. Arthur was waiting for her, dressed in the kimono of his mother’s clan. His red features and golden hair were shining with anticipation. Arthur’s father was waiting next to him, and he looked at her in surprise.

  She stepped up to him. “I thought ogres grabbed brides and ran away.”

  Arthur smiled. “I just told you that to get you to agree to visit. If you knew a wedding was happening, it would have given you pause.”

  “Damn straight.” She sighed. “Come down here.”

  He bent, and she touched the side of his face as she kissed him. The ogres that were gathered murmured in either shock or approval, but she grinned. The priest arrived to give them a blessing, and she took on her scorpion appearance as the elements were asked to guard their union.

  He held her hands, and they smiled at each other while the prayers and chanting continued. He kissed her again, and Yua snapped at him. They chuckled, and the kiss went on and on.

  Her scaled coating had surprised many of the onlookers, but Alfred was laughing as he stood with Yua.

  The ogre priest finally tapped Arthur on the head with a stick. “Arthur. You are married. We have a feast now.”

  Arthur nodded. “We feast now.”

  They walked to an open courtyard and knelt at the table set aside for them.

  He murmured, “After this, we will have to greet the clan elders, and somewhere in there, I have to try to seduce you.”

  “You have to?” She chuckled as she washed her hands in the bowl brought for that.

  “It’s an ogre joke for how shy and retiring our brides are.”

  “Oh. Dear. That could be a problem. So, I need to pretend to be all shy and retiring and not like we have been screwing for three days?”

  “No. I want your reactions as they come.”

  “Uh-huh. So, this is less about purity and more about ego-stroking. I can manage that.” She folded her hands in her lap and then stroked her fingers up his thigh.

  He growled. “I think I should have kept my mouth shut.”

  “Ah, just remember, later, I will undress, the obi will be off, and the kimono will slowly slide from my shoulders...” she poured some tea and served him from the portions that they were given.

  He passed some of the food to her. “You need to keep your strength up.”

  “Tease.”

  They giggled together and had dinner with fifty strangers watching.

  Onc
e they finished eating, the dancers came out, and Stinger watched closely as the women moved. “That’s lovely.”

  “I prefer your dancing.”

  “My dancing has a lot less clothing.”

  “Mmmm, yes. It does.”

  She elbowed him, and something in the air changed. A woman staggered forward. “Arthur is mine.”

  Stinger stood up. “I beg to differ. I have had him in most conventional ways and a few that required a manual. He is mine.”

  Arthur murmured. “She’s venomous.”

  Stinger walked toward him, and the woman in green looked at her.

  The stranger hissed. “You are not worthy of him.”

  “Yes, but if I don’t have him, I will have to follow him. Track him, hunt him, and his children, and their children, and their children. It will be a busy time for me going forward, and it will be awkward when the child arrives. He will have to help me on with my shoes so I can chase him.”

  There was a scream, and the toad yokai lashed out with her tongue. Stinger raised her hand and flicked her fingers. The tongue severed neatly, and the larger portion of it continued and stuck to a wall; an acid-bubbling substance ate the wood as the severed tongue flopped down.

  The woman had her hands clapped over her mouth, and she turned and ran.

  Arthur cuddled her against his chest. “I am sorry. She gained an obsession about a decade ago. It has kept me from spending as much time here as I would like. I thought you needed the wraps to use your magic.”

  “No. I need them to contain it. Otherwise, it is just a cutting blade that follows my fingers.”

  He blinked. “I am thinking of all the places those fingers have been.”

  She laughed. “I didn’t want any damage to the kimono.”

  “Well, we are being summoned to greet the kijin. In your parlance, the fancy ogres.”

  She snorted, and they walked over to the table where the kijin sat. They were wearing robes with the same crest that was on Stiila’s sleeves. Arthur bowed, and she followed with a polite version that didn’t lower her head quite as much as his.

  The kijin laughed. He looked human with sharp teeth, and power came off him in waves. “Your little companion seems to have sharp teeth, Arthur.”

  “Sharp teeth are the only thing that my wife is lacking.”

  She paused and elbowed him, opening her mouth wide and folding her fangs down. He looked and laughed. “Yes, Lord Rez of the Gozu, she does.”

  She folded her fangs back in place; she kept her gaze downward.

  “So, Stiila, is it?”

  “Yes, Lord Rez.”

  “Are there any more like you back home?”

  “No, but I believe my parents are creating another. Wait another twenty-five years, and you can see if it was a boy or a girl.”

  He gestured to her abdomen. “What about the one you are starting there?”

  “If it is a girl, you can press your suit once she is fully trained in magic and whatever else she has in her blood.”

  “My lord—”

  She pressed her hand to Arthur’s shoulder. “It will be up to my child. You, I, and her father will have no say in it. We can offer advice but not convincing. I can and will train any daughter of mine to kill. You may be old, but you will be less attractive with your head in your lap.”

  Lord Rez nodded. “Understood. I look forward to seeing the results of your gestation.”

  Arthur looked at her in surprise. He was fighting a grin. “I hadn’t thought about a little girl.”

  She snorted and opened her mouth to speak, but Arthur kissed her, and she touched the side of his face as the kiss went on and on.

  He pulled her onto his lap, and the layers she was wearing parted and rucked up until his fingers were pressing against her sex, his fingers moving slowly against her, and he continued until she gasped and shuddered in his grip. She panted with her arm around his neck and her forehead at the top of his robe. She heard the licking, and she looked up at him. “Classy.”

  He shrugged and kept licking.

  She really hoped that Lord Rez had left. She peeped over her shoulder. He hadn’t left.

  “Please, continue having daughters until one of them will accept me. You are precious, and if you were not already carrying, I would have pried you out of Arthur’s grasp.”

  She smiled. “No, my lord. You wouldn’t. He is mine, and I am not up for grabs.”

  “You would defy the head of his clan?”

  “I would defy the gods themselves, and I think by breeding with him, that I have.”

  Arthur chuckled. “I think that the curse has been forgiven. That is why your mother was brought to Abrax.”

  Lord Rez sat up. “Abrax of the desert? What has he to do with this?”

  “He is my father.”

  The ancient façade fell, and Lord Rez looked at her in stunned shock. “Holy shit.”

  It was just what every bride wanted to hear on her wedding day, but the ogres did throw one helluva party.

  Chapter Twelve

  After a few days in the clan compound, she was both happy and sad to get back to the city, the hotel, and her life.

  She was still wearing her kimono when there was a knock at the hotel room door.

  Arthur went to answer it, and there was little surprise when it was Leetha and Abrax.

  Stiila sighed. “Right. Good day, evening, morning?”

  She checked her phone. “Good morning, Mom. Abrax.”

  Abrax looked at her and said, “You married the ogre.”

  Arthur snorted and wrapped his arms around her. “She did. Defied the kijin, argued with the clan heads, and arm-wrestled with the housekeeper. It was hilarious.”

  “You defied Lord Rez? Well, that is something, at least.”

  “Abrax. I owe you nothing. I don’t know you. You may have fathered me, but that is where it ends.”

  He frowned and turned to Leetha. “I am marrying your mother.”

  “Great. You are my stepfather or birth father, but you are not and have never been a father.”

  He looked hurt. “I did not know.”

  “Leetha knew until you took the knowledge. If she had known, she would have figured it out, gotten back on a plane, and kicked your ass until you married her then. That is what my family does.”

  Abrax nodded. Paused. Looked at her. “May I introduce myself as a man your mother has an interest in. My name is Abrax.”

  She thought about it and extended her hand. “I am my mother’s daughter. Stiila Rosos. I am recently married by mage tradition and ogre rite. I just have to do human registration, and I have the trifecta. I am expecting, and my mother will be a grandmother in forty weeks. If you want to be addressed as grandfather, you had best be married to her by then.”

  Leetha stared at her. “You are...”

  “Yeah. No more channelling lust at weddings. Therein lies danger.”

  Arthur snorted. “That’s how this got started.”

  “This got started because you were watching me doing sit-ups. I checked you out on the press, and then, you wangled an invitation to that wedding.”

  He chuckled. “And then the wild week started. So, when do you want to do the courthouse wedding?”

  “As soon as we can get it out of the way.” She smiled at him.

  “You aren’t romantic.”

  “Nope. Not a bit. Born and raised to be a hard bitch.”

  Her mom looked like she had been slapped. “What do you mean? You used to play and run around in tutus all the time.”

  “When I was six, Mom. After that, I started helping Nana Baker, and she told me that with you on your own, I had to stop being selfish and find ways to take things off your shoulders, starting with me.”

  “What? You liked doing that stuff.”

  Arthur eased Abrax into the living area of the hotel room.

  Stiila had a heart-to-heart with her mom that forwarded some home truths, and soon, her mother left with Abrax, emotionally br
uised.

  Arthur looked at her. “How are you doing?”

  “I am good. I will be a much more aware mother than she was; that is something. She looks like she was paying attention to what I said, so if they have another baby, she should be more on the ball when it comes to raising it.” She chuckled. “I will be there to keep an eye on it.”

  “She’s in her fifties. Can she still have kids?”

  “If she was human, her eggs would be tired, but since her lifespan is about two hundred years of age, she can probably have around ten or more over the next few years. We are going to need a big house. I get the feeling that there is going to be a bit of babysitting in our future.”

  “You are remarkably cheerful.”

  She grinned. “I am. Your family seems to like me. You seem to like me. I have my company, friend, family, and my mother finally is figuring out how much she hobbled me.”

  He cuddled her. “In the mood for a nap?”

  “Sure. I am going to need help with the kimono.”

  He grinned. It was shorthand for the fact that she was in the mood.

  He picked her up and hiked up the steps with her before loosening the obi. She loosened the layers until she could slide the robe off one shoulder. She had no idea why it set him off, but it did. Again.

  She turned into his touch and prepared to rejoin the normal world in a few hours. Her cousin’s wedding was happening in another day, and she had a few items to pick up.

  She could make some calls to do most of it, but for now, she was content to just celebrate being home with Arthur.

  * * * *

  Time blurred, and fourteen months after meeting Arthur, Stiila was sitting out with Nessa.

  Nessa had her baby boy in her arms, and Stiila held her daughter.

  “I have never actually worn a kimono outside before. It’s kind of fun. I mean, it doesn’t look like yours, but it is still nice.” Nessa laughed. “Love your hair.”

  “Well, Lord Rez wanted to be introduced to Riida, so I told him that he was going to have to come here for the introduction, so Mom Yua and Alfred came to get everything ready for the visit.”