Missing the Night Read online

  Stovos turned and took Orvis with him. “Ah, Mrs. Wingate. You are looking lovely this evening.”

  Orvis looked at the woman with a blank expression. She got a nervous blush in return.

  “Mr. Twilight, we are having a luncheon for all of our large contributors, and I was wondering if you had time in your schedule to attend. It is April seventeenth at eleven.”

  “I will have to consult my assistant. Orvis, do I have room in my schedule?”

  “You have a window between eleven and two in the afternoon on the seventeenth.”

  “Well, if I have time, I have time. Please allocate me two seats.”

  Mrs. Wingate looked at Orvis, and she gave her a blank stare in return. She opened her purse, took out her phone and added the notation of Asshole Charity Lunch on that day. “It is in his schedule.”

  He fished out his phone, which looked small in his hand, and he snorted. “It is indeed. Please, send the details to Ms. Orvis at your earliest convenience. Excuse us.”

  The line behind them had moved up, and they were the next up for photos. The photographer got excited again seeing them.

  The boss looked at her and kissed her. “Let’s get that peeved expression off your face.”

  She sighed and held his head as the kiss continued. Her blood heated, and she pressed in close.

  “Could you do that in front of the camera, please?” The photographer was desperate.

  She wiped off the lipstick with her thumb. She chuckled. “Probably not.”

  The poses that the boss wanted were simple. He wanted the classic backbend with his hand gripping her exposed thigh, higher than she would have normally suggested, and his mouth pressed to her neck.

  The next one was bragging. He lifted her with one arm under her thighs, the other on her waist, and she bent down to kiss him with her hair flipped back over her shoulder.

  He slowly lowered her to the ground, and their kiss continued.

  She leaned back, laughed, and kissed him again. It had turned into a really fun night.

  She took out the earrings and put the necklace back in the box. It would come out to play again for the wedding.

  Her makeup was off, a negligee was on, and the fuzzy elf-head slippers he had brought for her were on.

  He left the bathroom wearing nothing. He picked her up and wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him. She wrapped her legs around him. Stovos smiled. “You were magnificent tonight, in every situation. I had never imagined it would look so hot to see you in battle.”

  She smiled. “I like fighting but rarely have an occasion to do it, which I suppose is a good thing.”

  He eased the thin silk strap from her shoulder. “You are overdressed.”

  “Is it the fuzzy slippers?” She grinned.

  “I like the slippers. Let’s see how long you keep them on.”

  He pressed into her, and she gasped. The trip home from the event had been persistent foreplay via the slit in her gown, so he went in easily. He lifted her slowly and lowered her just as slowly.

  She kissed him as she rose and fell, her arms around his neck. She smiled and summoned her soft wings as he moved her, and he groaned. “If you don’t like them, I can hide them again.”

  He growled. “I like them.” He shuddered.

  He continued the slow movements, and she anticipated the next thrust, getting closer to release by inches. When she finally moaned, she pressed her forehead to his and held him tight. Their soft kisses continued as she wrapped her wings around him, and she trailed her wings over his bare skin.

  He grunted and started to move inside her again. She kissed him and said, “Lie down, dummy. I can do the work.”

  “You’ll go too fast. I want it nice and slow, so I can feel every flutter.”

  She smiled and slipped one strap off her shoulder completely and then the other, so the silk dropped to her waist.

  “You don’t fight fair.” He held her up and began to worship her breasts.

  “I fight to win. We have to get to bed; you have a nine o’clock meeting.”

  He groaned and pressed his head to her breasts for a moment. “I can hardly wait until Hector and Tynan return.”

  “Nessa is already getting restless, so it will be tomorrow if she has any say in it.” She chuckled. “You can only have sex around the clock for so long.”

  He snorted and licked at her nipples. “Lightweights.”

  She stroked his thighs and buttocks with her feathers, and he thrust harder. It was going to be a rough morning, but she wasn’t going to have regrets.

  Thursday and Friday had been business as usual, but sitting next to Stovos during the wedding was a reminder that it had only been a week since they had begun a physical relationship.

  During the vows, he raised her left hand to his and kissed the spot that contained the binding between them. She smiled and thought about the ring box in her purse. Her palms got sweaty.

  She had gone to the jeweller on Friday with Nessa to find some wedding bands for her guys. She saw the ring, and it spoke to her. It was a thick Celtic knot band of platinum and silver. The time hadn’t seemed right to offer it to him when he was helping her with Ladeer’s move.

  After the ceremony, Nessa came up to her. “Did you give it to him yet?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “The timing is off.”

  “Fuck the timing, and go do it.”

  She straightened her spine and walked over to Stovos’s side, where he was talking to one of the businessmen that she had seen on at least twenty occasions. He looked at her cleavage in her elegant dress and dismissed her.

  “Boss, I just need you for a minute if you wouldn’t mind.”

  He had a look of concern. “Of course.”

  She hauled him out of the event centre and near a tree.

  “Orvis, what is it?”

  She didn’t say anything until she got the ring box out. “I know you don’t wear much, but I got you this.”

  He took the box quizzically and opened it. He blinked and smiled. “You want me to wear this?”

  She swallowed and reached for the box to close it and take it back. “If it is a silly idea, just say so. I know we won’t have a ceremony like this...”

  “We won’t? Why not? I have just been waiting to get Hector and Tynan back to work. I thought a small wedding and a honeymoon travelling to different faerie enclaves in Asia, now that we have expressed your passport.”

  She jerked her head in confusion. “You never said.”

  He plucked the ring out of the box and put it on his finger. “It fits.” He seemed surprised.

  She blushed. “I know how wide your fingers are.”

  He smiled and pulled her toward him for a kiss. “So you do. So, yes. I will accept your proposal. We will plan it the moment your passport arrives, get married, and travel for a month or two. We will be back in plenty of time to watch Nessa’s pregnancy progress.”

  Orvis grinned, and then, she looked at him blankly. “I can’t afford the groom price. You are too expensive for me. Oh, no.”

  His eye widened. “What?”

  “I am supposed to pay you compensation for not having a son. Oh. Damn. I am sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you...”

  “We can work something out. I can assign my money to Hector and Nessa. What can I do?” His worried expression was intense.

  She paused. “Wow. Stop being so gullible. Groom price? Really? You guys just give it away.”

  His face got dark, and she shrieked as she sprinted for another tree, putting it between her and the very angry elf that had just agreed to marry her. Sucker.

  * * * *

  Nessa heard the shriek and turned to see her father-in-law striding after Tolly. “Oh, good. She proposed.”

  Hector looked over. “Then, why does he look like he wants to strangle her?”

  Tynan chuckled. “It must be a h
arpy thing. Should we head to the hall? I don’t think they need our help.”

  Nessa linked arms with her guys. “If he is wearing the ring, they made peace.”

  Hector asked, “If not?”

  “Tolly has a new piercing, and we are not allowed to ask where.” She laughed.

  Hector murmured, “Are you alright being at the wedding?”

  “It was a lovely ceremony, and the worst thing she will do is ignore our table, which she won’t do because of Kelnen. That would be fatal in the guild.”

  She looked at Tynan. “Save a dance for me.”

  “Who else would I dance with?”

  She shrugged. “One never knows.”

  He wrapped an arm around her waist, over Hector’s, and they headed into the hall.

  * * * *

  When he caught her, he hauled her into the thicker shadows and pressed her to her back on his jacket. The boss splayed her legs apart and used his tongue on her before sliding his fingers into her. She kept a hand clamped over her mouth as she moaned and undulated against his hand and tongue.

  She came in a rush that heated her skin and locked her body in an arch that he continued to coax her body into spasm after spasm. She was limp and breathing heavily when he leaned up and sucked on the fingers that had just been inside her. She looked at him in a daze, and he had used the middle and ring finger of his left hand inside her. The ring was still firmly in place.

  She tried to get up, but her arms were as shaky as the rest of her.

  He smiled. “Are you certain I am not worth a groom price?”

  She blinked and laughed. “You are now demanding something that I just pulled out of thin air?”

  “I think I am worth it. What can you offer me?”

  “A lifetime of service?” She was at a loss.

  “I can buy that from anyone.”

  That hurt a little, but she nodded. “You are right. You can. I can’t offer you anything you can’t acquire on your own.”

  “Well, I fucked that up fast.” He cupped her cheek. “It seemed like a good idea in my head.”

  “You don’t really need bodyguarding services, and that is all I am qualified for aside from my assistant skills. I can’t knit or sew.” She perked up. “I like sex.” She sighed again, “But that isn’t something I am allowed to charge for in modern society.”

  He grinned. “That is something that I would pay for and have.”

  “I love you, but that isn’t quantifiable.”

  He froze. “What?”

  “I love you. I have for years, but I didn’t know what it was that I felt until we became close.”

  He lifted her to his lap and held her close. “That is more than sufficient to get me as your groom. What do you want as a bride price?”

  She looked at him and frowned. “If it happens, I would like to keep my daughter if I have one.”

  “What if the imaginary child is a son? We are both from species who breed along stringent gender lines. I don’t have any female sperm.”

  “That sounds so odd. Harpies don’t use the sperm; they use the life-sparking energy contained in it.” She chuckled. “It is not a likely issue, but if it happened, I want a contingency planned. I love a plan.”

  “I know you do.”

  “I wonder how Hector would deal with a sibling younger than his own child?” She looked at him, and he laughed.

  “That is his problem. I am interested in any child emerging from your body. I think the curves of pregnancy would suit you very well.”

  “You think everything suits me.”

  He smiled. “That is what happens when you are in love.”

  She kissed him hard, and they fell back into the grass. Dinner could wait. She needed to celebrate a little.

  * * * *

  Nessa went through the receiving line with her husbands, and when Meredith saw her, her lip wobbled, and she hugged her. She whispered. “I read the file. He kept lying to me.”

  “Watch your makeup. It’s a big day, and you have plenty of guests to greet. Keep your chin up.” Nessa nodded to her cousin, and just like that, the door was open to communication between them.

  They saw Kelnen and Krys seated at a table very near the head table. They were escorted to the table by a waiter, and drink orders were taken.

  Kelnen smiled. “So, where is my little cousin?”

  Hector cleared his throat. “She and my father are proposing to each other on the grounds.”

  Krys smiled. “Do they do it often?”

  Nessa shook her head. “They have worked together for years but only truly saw each other last weekend. Things have been rather acrobatic since.”

  Tynan smiled. “Congratulations on your pregnancy, Lady Krys.”

  Krys grimaced. “It was a miscalculation on my part.”

  Kelnen lifted her hand to his lips. “She guessed that we would not want another child after the twins last year, so when we slipped in and duplicated our original success, she was a little perturbed.”

  Krys said, “Before you think that we escaped and left infants alone, we have a nanny.”

  Kelnen added, “If we planned an escape, we would have to bring them with us, which would defeat the purpose.”

  They laughed, and Orvis and Stovos walked toward them. Kelnen smiled. “Little cousin, it is good to finally see you as yourself.”

  She walked up to him and extended her hand. “Mr. Danforth, it is nice to see you in a more casual environment.”

  Krys smiled. “He has been as excited as a four-year-old with a new friend. He had no idea you had wings.”

  “Well, I don’t wear them to the office. They ruin the line of my suits.”

  Krys grinned. “I knew I would like you.”

  Orvis smiled. “You have met me twice. I just looked a little more... .constrained.”

  Krys looked down and then up. “Oh my god. Atolica!”

  Orvis laughed. “Thank goodness. I have been getting a complex. Hiya, Krys.”

  She sat next to Krys, and they had a nice chat while Kelnen and Stovos talked around them. The tables seated ten, so when Olmin, Argo, and Maven arrived, they had quite the assembly of power.

  The party was a lot more fun with folks who understood standing out due to circumstances beyond their control. Nessa danced with Olmin and Argo, waltzed with Kelnen, and had a formal turn around the dance floor with Stovos.

  “So, Nessa. Are you adjusting?”

  “I am. Tolly gave me some research sites for how to set up a charity. She has given me a list of contractors, physicians, and even a set of accountants. I just have to narrow down the scope of the project.”

  “What did Orvis suggest? I know she suggested something.”

  “A fertility clinic for profit, and child health centre for low-income families.”

  “Lofty idea, but Orvis can help you out with the technical aspects and pros and cons.”

  “She suggested two locations so that parking and bus were available for the children. To get folks in to see fertility specialists, you need to make them think they are purchasing exclusive services.”

  “She does tend to know the business end of things.” He smiled. “Our contract success has increased fifty percent since she came to work with me.”

  “She is extremely smart. I don’t doubt that for an instant. You already know that if she cares for you a little, she cares for you a lot.”

  He smiled slowly. “Yes, she finally stated it today. I reciprocated like a gentleman and because I can’t imagine my future without her in it.”

  He paused. “Are you still wanting to open your bed and breakfast for supernatural couples?”

  “Of course. Oh, geez, am I spreading myself thin?”

  “I would suggest that you master one business at a time for your own sanity. You will have a child within a year as well. Relax. You are not in a hurry.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  He gro
aned but sighed. “Yeah, I guess that is me now. Good thing I just had a mid-life crisis and got a hot and deadly wife.”

  “Deadly?”

  “Ah, Nessa, let me tell you the tale of the harpy Orvis and the biker bar.”

  As they danced, he explained their mission the other night, and Nessa heard several times how amazingly hot Orvis had been. It was amazing to see this man in love.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Orvis slid her phone into the hidden pocket on the abdomen of her faere outfit. She smoothed the panels down and smiled. This was Cale’s inspiration. Stovos was going to hate it. Well, he was going to love it but would hate that he didn’t get to see it first.

  Orvis looked at herself in the mirror, admiring the layers of fabric that had been turned into a strategically structured dress with a black leather cage that kept her breasts supported, her abdomen flat, and cinched in her waist while providing her a place to keep her phone.

  The longest layer was black, the central layer was grey, and the top layer was a soft pink that made her look like she was constantly afflicted by a light blush.

  The sandals that wound up her legs were closer to boots with a central black band that laced up to mid-thigh, echoing the stockings that Stovos seemed to enjoy.

  She verified that her hair was good and her jewellery was secure before she put on a light cloak and headed down to meet Nessa in the lobby. The other two-thirds of her triad had headed in early to help set up.

  Nessa was waiting for her. “Tolly, you look great.”

  “You look stunning and like you have a secret.”

  “Cale told me not to show anyone before we got to the faere.”

  Orvis smiled. “He didn’t tell me anything; there was just a big grin. I know why now, Stovos is going to get a little cranky that he wasn’t there for the big reveal.”

  Orvis checked that she had her phone on her and a small purse tied to the rigging under the cloak. “Okay, I am good to go.”

  They grinned and giggled as they got in the car, and Reese drove them to the faere grounds.

  He opened the door and helped them out. “This is going to be a very interesting evening, ladies.”