LX ||| Of Books & Seduction

"I can't believe you seduced me!" Oliver said for the fiftieth time.

I rolled my eyes, laying over the feathery black carpet, only on my panty and his shirt, with a book opened in front of me, my iPad and pen on the side, the seven books I'm finished with on the right and the remaining two on the left. While he's on the couch making notes on his black iPad about the ninth book he was reading, the eight he's done with on the ground in front of him and the remain book on the left arm.

"Using the lyrics of Shameless," he brought it up again.

"Have you never been seduced?" I chuckled, adding one note about the conflicts going on between the winged serpent council on how they would be dealing with the other races. Of course, the reds would always be the extreme ones, though they are were more containable than I thought.

Straight up suggesting to suck the races' leaders dry of blood. This Grand Duchess Melina Aussaresses would really give the vampires a run for their money. Very bloodthirsty, as expected of a vampire-ish serpent.

"No?!" He said matter-of-factly. "I'm the one who seduces you, so I was very enchanted. Stunned, really. You can do it again, when you want to, by the way, beautiful. Very irresistible, you got me on the edge."

"Well, it doesn't take much to do that," I licked my lips.

Into You by Arian Grande playing low and softly in the back. Then I allowed myself to have a glimpse of him again, and he was focused on writing something down, a grin playing on his lips, dimples in display, while he sat comfortably on the couch only on his Gucci black underwear shorts, sculpted body all nude for my eyes.

And when his turquoise eyes met mine, as he probably felt my eyes on him, I quickly looked down at my iPad, biting down a smile.

"Were you just gawking at me?" He asked condescendingly.

"Me? I would never. That's your job!"

"Indeed, I kind of love gawking at you," that's not what I meant though. "Your arse is looking amazing, by the way, beautiful. Makes me want to give it a good slap again."

I curled my toes, trying to hold it on. Trying to fight the temptation. "Shut up and get back to work, vampire."

"I see what you're going," and even though I wasn't looking I could tell he was grinning. "Fighting with all of your will to keep your hands to yourself. Curling your toes, pressing your thighs together, biting down your lips, holding your breath, trying to stead your heartbeat."

"Stop taunting me, bloody wanker."

"I don't feel like it," ugh.

"Read the book. Shut up."

He clicked his tongue, "Why don't you come here and shut me up?"

"With a punch? If yes, I would actually accept your offer."

"What a murderous little serpent," he whispered.

"You have no idea," I mumbled, sitting down with my iPad. "Can you believe the races had the audacity to send an ultimatum to my kind, telling them to give themselves up? How absurd could they have been? I mean, they were dealing with seven different dangerous types of winged bloody fucking serpents!"

He arched his eyebrows, "Before they froze the army?" A nod. "Oh bloody hell, that sounds stupid. Just straight-up stupid. It's the same as if we went to Meredith right now, while she still has the upper hand and asked her to give herself in. Though the difference is that she's anything, but an innocent Queen."

"True. And it would have broken into a fight right there, if my late grandmother, the Queen, hadn't gotten herself in the middle and stopped grandfather and the council of doing something to the messenger of the Asgaill Alliance," I pushed a stray curl that fell over my face behind. "It seems like I took her name and grandfather's temper, because he sound like the type not to take any bullshite."

Oliver giggled to that, "That is for sure." He pointed at his black iPad, "I found out five different separate conflicts he had with the Kings and Queens of the vampires, shifters, witches, seraphim, and dragons. And that he personally gave them a beating in different occasions after they all disrespected him," then he gave me a all-knowing look. "Familiar much?"

"I don't think I would have the same decision as him though."

He tilted his head softly, leaning back on the couch, his sculpted tattooed chest expanding, "Of not using the army?"

A nod, "Yes. He caused their almost extinction because of that. I don't think I would ever make that move. I mean, I get it, grandpa didn't want to be responsible for the extinction of the other races, but he all but sacrificed his own for his enemies. I would never be that selfless. To put the life of those who want him and his loved ones dead above our kind. I would rather destroy all the others to save my own, my family, my people."

"That would make him a mass genocide, though," I know.

"It all gets weird when it's the survival of an entire race right on your hands. Yes, our kind was smaller in number, but stronger still. We had the gargoyles and he didn't use them. Again, he took a dangerous leap of faith on doing so," I leaned closer, resting my elbows on my legs.

Oliver gave me a soft smile, "He had faith in you, Hel. King Umbra believed that his descendant would save everyone when the time came. He froze the army to avoid the mass genocide and to guard it for you. All because the Crone guaranteed to him that you would be here when we all need you. His leap of faith was on you."

I closed my eyes, playing with my ring, "Makes it all worse."

He put his things aside and used his telekinesis to bring me to him, then he made me sat on his lap, and hugged me, "Thanks to that," he took one of my messy curls on his fingers and twirled it, "we have a chance of defeating Meredith, Hel."

"But at what cost?" I clenched my teeth, hugging his waist.

"Everything was predicted, beautiful. The Crone saw all this mess that's happening now, would happen one way or another. Can you imagine what we would do if we didn't have the assurance of the gargoyle army? If we didn't have you?" Holding my chin, he mad me look up to meet his eyes that were turquoise now. "You better not blame yourself for this."

I gulped, "I wouldn't."

Oliver glared at me, "Yes, you would. You have a tendency."

"No, I don't," I lied.

Blinking, he raised his eyebrows not believing I said that, "Yes, you do have an awful tendency to blame yourself for shite that you're not at fault for. Just as to sacrifice your happiness just because you don't want those you care about to get harmed. You say the King was stupid for his choice, but I have a feeling you also took his self-sacrificing tendencies, beautiful."

I tensed up and he caressed my cheeks. "I don't have that."

"I'm not saying you would do what he did, Hel. I'm saying you would sacrifice yourself gladly for a cause you believe in, would you not? It scares me that you share the same mindset I do, but I feel that, aside from your lovely death threats, you would do anything in your power to protect those around you. Even if you try to deny it, we both know for a fact that this is true. It's both something to love, and something not to like in you," he let out a painful sigh.

This time I can't even deny it, especially after all out chaotic talk about out mating bond. "Tell me about your family."

Oliver eyes went blank for a moment and I wonder if I made the wrong question given how the muscles of his body tensed up, but then he licked his lips brought me closer by my waist, "I've been waiting for you to ask me this," was he? "My parents are Queen Violet Katerina Strauss and King Darius Leopold Khan of the Vampire Court as you know."

"They joined their names?" A nod.

"Yes, to prove the union of the two strongest vampire families in the world. As all the other Kings and Queens that are heads of the Ministry, they are mates, nevertheless, they only found each other when mother was four thousand years old and father nine thousand years old, as their families used to be kind of enemies. But at that time, father had three mistress with whom he had a child with each, and mother had a consort who gave her two kids. Me and River came later on their marriage, after they got official and became heads of the Vampire Court on the Ministry, and also joined their families," wait, what?

I blinked, "You have five older siblings?"

A nod, "I had. Vernon-Maddox Duke Strauss and Juniper-Christina Daisy Strauss. Cyrus-Swayer Devin Khan, Cecily-Margot Hestia Khan, and Chuck-Asher Miles Khan," he said it all with his eyes closed as if the pain was too unbearable to deal with. "Three brothers and two sisters. All around two thousand years older than me, almost three."

Caressing his hair, I kept it silent, giving him time to talk in the same way he gave me when I broke in his arms. Especially now that I have a feeling five of the nine lines in his biceps are for his siblings.

"Elliot-River Hayes Strauss-Khan. River was born two centuries after me, around seven hundred and fifty years ago, but I was already in stasis for two hundred years by then, so we didn't meet until ten years ago when we both got out of stasis," so, River is the second oldest in Belladonna after Oliver. I thought it was Felix.

He let out another sigh, and I hugged him, still caressing his hair.

"In a normal stasis, Hel," he hugged me tightly back, "you only get your potion and is awaken for a day two times a year, on the beginning and in the middle. January and July. Neither mine, nor yours were made in the right way, because the thing my parents and Meredith have in common is their unsatisfied hunger for power and to be on top no matter the cost."