Whirlwind Revolution (6 page)

“What is, your grace?” the woman asked curiously. I could hear her as if she were in the room though Torr was talking to her on his burner phone.

“As my advisor, my answer is nothing.”

“As your best friend?” she chuckled.

“I’m getting some stress relief.” I snorted and slipped a finger in his ass, nailing his prostate. “Some very,
very
good stress relief.”

“Rock on. So implement plan
Box
. Right, that’s not concerning. What else?”

“Too bad you don’t have a butt plug,” I grumbled. “I’d slick you up with the tingling lube and put it in so you were always ready for any breaks we could get alone.” I smiled before going back to my feast when his cheeks clenched at the idea.

“Call a meeting with all my advisors and head security for half an hour. Set the meeting for plan
Box
in two hours.”

“It will be done. Is that all?”

“No,” he hedged. “Could you send someone out to get me a special item that shouldn’t be known it’s for me?” He glanced at me over his shoulder. “What size?”

I rolled to my feet and gestured to my hard cock. “What size would you think to keep you stretched for this?”

“The biggest one that could be found,” he groaned. Right answer. “I need an extra-large butt plug, Samantha.”

“Broadening our horizons, are we?” she chuckled. “About time. I will see it done, your grace.” She hung up and Torr stared at the phone with a raised brow before shooting me a worried glance.

That was the last thing I wanted. I slicked up my cock and thrust into him without warning. Torr cried out as he dropped the phone and grabbed onto the edge of the desk. “Not everything scary is bad, Torr. You were scared of this and now you love it, right?”

“Yes.” He didn’t seem to want to admit it freely, but he
did
admit it, so I’d take that as the win.

I coaxed him into letting go through two more orgasms before finding my own release. Seconds later—while I was still inside him and gasping—there was a knock on the door.

“Shit,” I hissed as I pulled out of him as gently as I could and still be fast. “I flew here. I don’t have any weapons or fucking
clothes
. How am I to protect you?” I shook my head and went to the door, pissed at my dick taking over my mind. “Fuck it.” I ripped open the door just enough so whoever was there could see me and not Torr. “State your business or I will eat you and spit you up as a pellet later if you mean to harm the Prince.”

“Is this your stress relief, Torrance?” the sleek woman standing before me chuckled, not fazed by my threat. “He’s intense. Never had owl before. I hear they’re excellent lovers.”

“Samantha, you’re not helping the situation,” Torr bitched behind me, pulling open drawers as if looking for clothes. Why would he not know where his own clothes were? It was like he hadn’t set up anything in the room besides his desk. “And by the gods, bring this display into my room instead of the outside suite where others can hear you in the hall.”

“Yes, your grace,” we both agreed as I allowed her to pass. Just as I closed the door, I was suddenly pressed against it with my arm twisted around behind my back.

“And you aren’t the only one who would give anything to keep Torrance safe, prey,” she snarled in my ear. “The difference is you were sent here to protect him. I do it out of duty to my people and love for Torrance. So at the end of the day, I’m much more likely to take any bullet aimed at him, savvy?”

“I don’t doubt your heart but simply your assessment of my resolve at keeping the leader of the felines safe. I swore to my director I would see it done and it then became
my duty
as if it were protecting my own leader. Owls take that shit very, very seriously, sister. Now I suggest you let me go before we fight and that would ruin your exquisitely made point.”

“Oh, I like you. Fab ass by the way,” she snickered as she released me.

“Thank you. I won’t even growl that you jumped me then or called me
prey
.” I turned to face her and caught sight of the death look Torr was shooting us both. “I apologize, your grace. Your friend and I were simply sniffing each other’s asses to assert we both had your best interests at heart.”

“Yes, the amount of sex in the air shows so much
heart
,” she drawled as she walked over to Torr, picking up the shopping bag she’d dropped when she jumped me. Like Torr, she too walked with a grace that I could only describe as feline-like. “He’s hot, my friend. Nice that you went
balls out
on your first gay affair.”

“That’s
enough
,” Torr snarled in her face. She immediately dropped to one knee before him. “He brought us news to aid all the feline races. His request was one of a sexual nature, and I did my duty.”

“What?”
she seethed, her body shaking, still on one knee. “You weren’t
willing
?” She shot me a glance over her shoulder. “I thought owls were nobler than that.”

I didn’t answer, looking to Torr instead. Would he really leave me out to dry and to be the bad guy?

“I was willing, Samantha,” Torr muttered. “Several times willing. I’m simply not comfortable with the situation or how willing I was, okay? Can you not poke at me for once?”

“Hey, I’m sorry,” she whispered and stood, hugging him tightly. “I was just excited for you. You sounded all hot and bothered on the phone, and I know none of those floozies you bang out of duty get you like that. There’s nothing to feel uncomfortable about. No one will know besides us, I swear it.”

Wow, way to make a guy feel like a dirty secret. I tried to focus on anything else right then as my eyes landed on the very old grandfather clock he had in his room… And after two ticks, I wanted to shoot it. Right, I knew a clock couldn’t laugh at me, but it was
literally
counting down the time I would have with Torr.

If I’d had a gun, it might seriously have been in trouble.

“We won’t give anyone at court reason to start whispering about you being right for the job when your father’s done everything he can to put doubts in their head,” she added, meeting my eyes in the mirror behind Torr when I looked back at them. Okay, I got it. She was saying it for my benefit. “It’s none of the other leaders business and there’s nothing wrong with what you did.”

“Right, of course, okay—thank you,” Torr sighed and hugged her back. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. You don’t know what’s going on yet. It’s bad, Samantha.”

“I figured that when you activated plan
Box
. It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.”

“Not this time.” It killed me to hear the pain in his voice. Then Torr cleared his throat and seemed to shake himself as he pulled away from his friend. “Can you please find some clothes for Hadley.”

“Of course. Everyone’s assembling. I’ll have clothes sent up and we’ll join you in the main meeting room.”

“Sweep it for listening devices and then just in case turn on the filters,” Torr instructed. I saw Samantha’s eyes go wide before she caught herself and nodded. She shot me a worried smile as she left and then I was alone with the Prince again. He stared into the shopping bag on the ground, looking so lost. “I know you want me to wear this now, but I beg you to wait. I cannot make this kind of speech with a toy inside me. It seems so crass given the severity—”

“Hey, of course not,” I whispered as I moved over to him in a flash, pulling him in my arms. “I simply said I wish you had one. Not that you had to run out and get one and wear it always. I understand, Torr. After the first hurdles and it all becomes logistics, I wanted you to wear it so you keep remembering it’s not all bullshit to wade through but fun on the horizon too.”

“Thank you. That sounds nice and I appreciate the understanding,” he mumbled against my chest. Then he did it again, closing himself off and pulling away from me.

I let him go. Not only because it was what he needed right then, but I couldn’t be selfish about my needs when the needs of millions were on the line.

Torr dressed, and I let him be, watching as he relaxed in his room. It was so bizarre, because to me, the room had no sign of
him
in it besides the desk. I mean, I could practically taste the sorrow in the air in his bedroom from all the bad news he’d heard in there or all the pain he’d dealt with in that room.

I shook myself out of my musings, walking across the insanely spacious room for one person when there was a knock at the door. Most would have loved a big room, but to me, it echoed his lonely life. I answered the door, accepted the clothes brought for me, and quickly got dressed.

It wasn’t until we were heading down to the meeting that he finally spoke again.

“Can you contact Directors Fabian and Woodrow? I have an idea that I will need their guidance for.” His jaw was set, and he snapped the sleeves of his suit.

Only an idiot would have messed with him right then with the crisp air around him.

“I can if you have a secure line,” I hedged, eyeing him closely. He reached in his suit pocket and handed me a burner phone. “I will get them on.”

“Thank you.” I dialed and told my director what was asked of me as he added Director Fabian to the line. They held the line as we walked into a massive conference room.

I couldn’t help the first thought I had, and it was ridiculous given what was going on, but I still had it.
This room is more inviting than Torr’s. Sure the regal colors show the importance of it but there’s life here.

“It’s been swept and the extra counter measures are in place, your grace,” Samantha assured him with a dip of her head.

“Good.” Torr took a deep breath and waved me to set the phone on the table. “Director Fabian, Director Woodrow, thank you for joining us on such short notice and sending such a fine warrior to protect me, warn my people of the news.”

“Of course, your grace,” Director Fabian replied smoothly. “The felines have always been our allies and the days ahead we will not survive without allies. Do you not agree?”

“I do, that’s why I have an idea to that extent, but first I need to fill in my security and advisors as to what has happened. I’d like you both on the line to correct any information if you are able to spare the time.”

“I’m coordinating all my owls, spreading the proof as Hadley did so I might have to take word while on the call but otherwise I will help as I can,” my director agreed.

“We’ve already started our relocation plan so I am available at the moment,” Director Fabian added. “I would welcome any insight the leader of the felines might have.”

I saw a slight flinch in Torr’s shoulders that he hid well.

“
Leader
? You’re the
heir
,” one of the advisors gasped as he glanced between us. “What the fuck is going on, your grace?”

“The humans know of us,” Torr explained, his tone strong, handling the situation like a true leader. “A family of canine shifters risked their lives—already losing their parents—to find the information and bring it to light. The owls, our good allies, generously made sure I received proof of everything found.” He held up the USB drive I’d brought.

“Gods help us,” the man whispered as he wiped his forehead. Most people sat heavily in their seats, ignoring the propriety of waiting for Torr. It hit me again how I was the outsider. They all had their seats and “place” in that room and I simply stood off to the side. It wasn’t just me being an owl among felines. This was family in a way and I was imposing by being there as they heard the worst news of their lives.

“I pray they do because we
will
need it,” Torr conceded as he slid the drive to Samantha. “I want your best people to pull everything off there regarding any location our people are in. There is a calendar with dates that the humans will strike against us. We have less than two months to get all our people to safety. The end of our way of life is upon us. This is not a joke. It is not a drill. War will be upon us soon.”

“What do we do? Turn to your father?” one advisor asked. I used my enhanced vision to study everyone in the room, holding up my hand to Torr when he opened his mouth. Owls had even better sight than other shifters. We really could see
everything
.

“Hadley, what do you see, hear?” Director Woodrow asked, knowing full well what I’d be doing.

“Their hearts picked up at the news but most fluttered in fear at the idea of turning to the King for guidance. Several are sweating but that isn’t definitive.”

“Your grace, I ask everyone to answer who they’d prefer lead them through this crisis one at a time and let Hadley study them before you answer that question,” my director pleaded. “It’s not just your people on the line by sharing this information.”

Torr nodded and kept his focus on everyone in the room. “Agreed. My people will comply.”

“Your grace, we could be slaughtered for treason by answering that,” Samantha reminded him. “Might we have some assurance that this is either a hypothetical or there won’t be any consequence for this discussion?”