Abandoned By My Mate

Gossip

"Who was that male?" I asked Esmae as I joined her in her room.

We had both already gotten ready for bed and I had asked Esmae if I could join her tonight. Azrael had clearly been worried about her being left alone tonight, and it gave me a chance to work through my emotions without them being clouded with lust.

"Renir?" She asked, adjusting her night dress as she climbed onto the bed.

"Yeah," I joined her on the large bed, watching the rain out the small window, "Azrael definitely didn't like him. I thought there was going to be a fight."

"If you hadn't been sitting beside him he might have fought him." She replied with a frown, "Renir has only been here for about five months. He is the son of Count Garner and has a reputation of going after mated females. Of course it's made easier for him because all the mated females here wear these necklaces."

She reached up, fingering her own necklace that sparkled in the candle light.

"He set his sights on me as soon as he saw me with Garren," She sighed, "Obviously I didn't want anything to do with him, but he was persistent. Eventually I couldn't go to work without him following me and making lewd comments about me. Az found out what was happening and punished him for harassing me. Thankfully he left me alone after that, but I've heard from some of the other females in town about him going after them as well."

"Why is he still allowed here?" I asked, disgusted by his actions.

"His father of course," She crossed her arms, leaning back against the pillows, "He thought that because Azrael was able to help contain Prince Killian that he would be able to make Renir stop acting like this. He was upsetting a lot of important people in the capital."

"How long is he staying here?" I asked, crossing my legs.

"I'm not sure. Az would know, but I've tried to stay as far away from anything about that bastard." Esmae growled, her blue eyes narrowing.

"I hope he leaves soon," I shuddered, remembering the look in his eyes when he saw me tucked against Azrael, "Something is wrong with him."

"You were looking quite cozy with Az," My new friend said, deliberately changing the subject. "I didn't think I'd ever see the day he picked a mate."

"Why is everyone so surprised?"

"I'm sure you know Az lost his parents when he was younger. They were close friends of the king so he was taken in by the royal family." She frowned, "I heard he had gotten quite close to the queen before she passed away..."

"Oh goddess," I muttered. I couldn't imagine losing my parents.

"So you didn't know," Esmae groaned, "Please don't tell him I told you. I just assumed you knew..."

"It's okay," I assured her, "I already knew about his parents, I just didn't know about the queen. That must have been horrible for him."

Images of a young Az flashed through my mind. Tears streaked down chubby cheeks and dark hair in disarray.

"I think that all of that affected him more than he lets on." Her eyes started to water, "I'm sure what I just tried to do didn't help. Goddess what's wrong with me!"

"Nothing!" I assured her, pulling her closer to me in a tight hug as she sobbed, "Nothing is wrong with you. You're going through something horrible, I understand why you would try to do what you did." I huffed, blinking away my own tears, "But I don't want you to ever do that again. If you need something just come to me, okay?"

"Okay," She sobbed, clinging to me, "I just can't stand to disappoint him anymore."

"You aren't," I said firmly, pulling away so I could meet her eyes, "I can't believe he was disappointed in you about this. Garren was probably upset that he can't fix this for you, not that he is mad at you for not having a child."

"I just want to be a mom," She sobbed, wiping at her eyes.

"I know," I had different thoughts on how she could become a mom without needing to give birth, but that wasn't what she needed.

~~~

I slowly opened the door, peeking back to make sure Esmae was still asleep. Her pink lips were parted slightly as she took deep breaths. Smiling at my peacefully sleeping friend I left the room, heading to the library to find something to distract my overactive mind.

I walked down the hall slowly, shifting my eyes to better see in the darkness that wrapped around me. Heading up the stairs that would lead me to my mate I noticed the soft light that spilled out of the cracked library door. Approaching quietly, my bare feet stung with the cold of the floor.

Peeking through the crack I saw Az, sitting at his desk with his head resting on one hand. The other was gripped tightly around a glass with amber liquid in it. Hesitating at the door I continued to watch him as he leaned back against the chair, glaring at the crackling fire on the other side of the room.

Biting my lip I decided against entering the room, there had to be other books somewhere else. Just as I took a step back, Azrael's voice rang out.

"Are you just going to stand there?" He asked, the sound of his voice causing me to jump in surprise.

"Sorry," I apologized quickly, stepping into the room and twisting my hands together. "I wasn't trying to spy on you."

"Come here," Az growled, dark eyes sweeping over me slowly.

I glanced down at myself, realizing how short my night dress was. It only came to mid-thigh and I wasn't wearing anything underneath. Pausing I looked back up at my mate, his face in a deep scowl and his jaw clenched tightly.

"I wasn't asking," He bit out. "Come. Here."

Heat spilled between my thighs. His stern voice did things to me that I hadn't expected. Most of the time he spoke to me softly, trying his best to be kind. I moved towards him slowly, his eyes following me like a predator that had just found its newest target.

He pushed his chair back, patting his thigh. He wanted me on his lap. Delighted goosebumps spread over my skin, my excitement evident in the slick that was gathering between my thighs. I stood in front of him now, my hands clenched tightly together.

"Sit." He ordered, patting his large thigh again.

I followed his command immediately, perching myself on his lap carefully. The difference in our sizes was painfully clear as he towered over me even in this position. His hands roughly gripped my hips, lifting me and repositioning me until I was straddling his thighs.

"What are you doing up?" I asked, shifting against him to try and find a comfortable position.

He gripped my hips, stilling them with a darkness in his eyes I hadn't seen before. Something prodded at my womanhood, that explains why he stopped my movement.

"I could ask you the same thing," He huffed, calluses scraping against the soft skin of my thighs.

"I couldn't sleep," I murmured, snuggling against his chest.

He took a deep breath, his tense muscles relaxing when he exhaled. Az lifted his hand gripping the back of my neck and massaging the knotted muscles.

"Are you going to tell me what is wrong?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck, "Or do you not want to talk about it?"

This is just one part of the chapter, but the next one is a lot of sex so I'm keeping it separate to make it easier to skip.