“I want my family healed, of that, you can be sure, too. You’re not the one who can do that, Silversmith. You’re the enemy. So fuck Rhys, let him get you out of his system, and then fuck off. If you don’t, know this: I am the one person Rhys will never hurt. I can murder you, and he’d forgive me. Maybe not right away, but he’s always forgiven me of my crimes. Don’t make me murder you, because you seem innocent in this. But then so did Roslyn, until she revealed her true colors. Rhys is trying to stop a war with you, but you’re going to be the one who starts it. If you fuck Cole tonight, you can end this before it begins.”
“You’re intervening where you’re not warranted,” Cole growled, his tone sending a shiver up my spine. “Rhys might forgive you, sweet sister, but I don’t. Now fuck off and leave her alone. Remington, it’s time for the real party to start. Finish your drink. You’re going to need it.”
I started to place my hand into his, but a giant hand gripped mine. It yanked me from the chair violently, pulling me forward. Cole swore beneath his breath, and the entire assembly seemed to go silent around us.
“Dance. You dance… me, please,” the giant said.
I lifted my eyes to his, barely schooling my response in time. He had a scar that ran across his face from one ear to the other, giving his face a caved-in appearance. My pulse kicked up while Cole stepped back, and Nyota swore beneath her breath. The surrounding silence was deafening, and I fought to control my response to the giant’s sheer size.
“You… dance… me,” he stammered, his words hitching.
“I will dance with you,” I stated, smiling softly.
He smiled, and the entire room released a breath. His head tilted as he watched me. His disfigured smile was unnerving, but there was an innocence to him that dispelled the fear I’d felt. He easily stood over seven-feet-tall, with dark, cropped hair that hung to his shoulders.
He smiled again, leaning closer to me to whisper, which came out in a scream that tickled my ear. “I… Thurston!”
“I am Remi,” I grinned, watching as he nodded joyously.
He pulled me behind him, forcing me to step quickly, so as not to be dragged behind him. Thurston stopped on the wooden dance floor, and others scooted away from him. He nodded vigorously to a woman who stared at me with a warning in her eyes.
I didn’t have time to wonder about it as American Authors’ Best Day of My Life started, and the giant began jumping up and down. I smiled wide, shaking my head at his dance moves. I started dancing with him, and he paused, cocking his head to the side. He laughed and mirrored my movements, which was like a carefree idiot that wasn’t watched by an entire assembly of immortals who wouldn’t forget it anytime soon.
I threw my hands in the air, and Thurston followed my lead, shaking and twisting. I danced with him until the end of the song. The moment the song ended, he grabbed me by the waist, lifting me over his shoulder as he patted my ass. My eyes widened as Rhys chuckled, chasing after us until the woman stepped into Thurston’s path.
Rhys slowed the moment Thurston paused, his demeanor changing. “I fuck… her!”
My eyes grew large until they mirrored saucers, and Rhys shook his head at Thurston. “She’s mortal, Thurston. You’d kill her. She’s delicate like a flower.” Okay, that was taking it a little far. I wasn’t that delicate.
“I want… her. She’s… pretty… laughs from… deep. I… go deep… in… pussy.” I frowned, peering over my shoulder at Rhys, who snickered.
He better save my ass!
Thurston’s hand patted my ass, and I jerked as he slammed his beefy hand against my rump a third time. The woman reached up, slipping her ribbon over his wrist. He turned, staring at her with interest.
“Remi is very beautiful and very delicate,” Rhys stated, his voice calm and without the panic I felt. “Carla wants you tonight, isn’t she pretty? You won’t break her.”
Thurston slammed me into Rhys’s arms, and he barely stopped us from both going to the floor in a pile of limbs. Rhys turned me into his chest, smiling at Thurston. We didn’t move until he and the woman were on the stairs. Rhys pulled me toward the bar, sitting me down. I took my first breath of air, slowly exhaling. The bartender handed me a whiskey, and I turned, staring at Rhys, who observed me carefully as if he thought I would break down or something.
“Thank God for Carla,” I muttered, shaking my head as his lips twitched. “I’m glad she accepted him.”
“She’s the first love of his life,” he announced. I felt the other men settling around us, asking if I was okay.
“That’s sweet. Before he was wounded?”
“Indeed,” he agreed.
“Well, glad she wanted to have him tonight. Saved me from having to turn him down for sex,” I stated, taking a pull of whiskey.
“She’s his mother,” Rhys stated, and I spewed whiskey all over the bar, choking.
My eyes turned to his, and I opened my mouth and closed it. “She’s going to have sex with him? She’s his mother!” I gasped as the bartender laughed, handing me a towel to wipe my face off while the men around me laughed.
“No, his father will be waiting in the hallway to inject him with a tonic that will allow them to lead Thurston to his room. He was wounded in battle before he was immortal, and they became sterile soon after Thurston was born. We all made a pact, allowing them to keep their child, and not put him down as was done in those days. We agreed that no one would treat him as anything less than a giant deserving of respect.”
I swallowed as tears pricked my eyes. “That is sweet.”
“So were you for not turning a scarred man down. You knew he was dangerous and damaged, and yet you made his year, Remi. He will never forget the beautiful May Queen who danced with him and laughed like you didn’t have a care in the world. No one else would have done that.”
“Well, then they suck. Or maybe they realized Thurston was going to caveman a bitch and carry her off to fuck her hard,” I chuckled, drinking as Rhys watched me with a smile on his lips. I reached for my ribbon, and a knight approached him, whispering in his ear as his eyes slid to mine, narrowing.
“Excuse me,” he stated, strolling away with the guard while I picked at my ribbon.
“Come on, let’s get you out of that dress,” Cole whispered, pressing against my ear. “Stop hesitating, Sunshine. You’re the May Queen, and no one can get fucked until you choose a partner. You know that you’ll choose Rhys, it’s a given.” I turned to face Cole, staring into his pretty blue eyes as he grabbed my wrist. My eyes found Rhys standing across the room, watching us. “But in case you’re not certain, a Van Helsing has to claim you as well. Can’t have all the alphas holding a claim and none of us, right?”
He smirked boyishly, his teeth worrying his bottom lip. When he’d finished tying on his ribbon, he held out his elbow, and I slipped my hand around it, holding him tightly. The undressing was precisely that. We were stripped down to our panties and paraded around the room with me, leading all the women.
Rhys stared openly, slipping his gaze down to the tiny panties that luckily covered my ass, which I was sure was his doing. Once we’d finished walking in a circle around the dance floor, we moved from it, and I swallowed, walking to him as he smirked, turning his head to peer up at the stairs before moving toward them.