Forever Entwined

Family Vibes

"I love you, you know?" Cass's voice, a low rumble against her ear, was laced with contentment as his fingers threaded through Nix's hair. Moonlight, fractured by the tall, arched windows, painted her strands with an ethereal blue, turning them into shimmering rivers.

"Of course," Nix sighed, melting further into his embrace. The warmth of his skin, the rhythm of his breathing – everything about him was a balm.

It had been a couple of weeks since he'd gifted her Raven, and the quiet joy they found in their shared love for their feline companions had woven them even closer together.

"I was thinking," Cass murmured, his lips brushing her temple, "a little holiday for us." They lay tangled in silken sheets, the lingering heat of their passion still clinging to the air.

Nix tensed, a ripple of unease disturbing her languid peace. "Where? For how long?" Her first thought was Raven, already a constant, purring presence in her life.

"I was thinking we could visit your family," he suggested, his voice soft. "You haven't told me much about them."

A jolt went through Nix. "Oh." She'd meticulously constructed a wall between her past and present, brick by painful brick. While a faint, unwanted worry for her father sometimes pricked at her, she usually managed to push it down.

"Mm, I don't know," she mumbled, cringing at the imagined clash of worlds, of her father meeting the King. What would he say if he knew his daughter was Queen? She could almost hear his demands: a cut of the 'cheddar,' a hefty dowry. The shame of it tightened her chest. She'd fled for a reason, a reason that still held true – he cared nothing for her happiness.

"Why not?" Cass pressed, sensing her withdrawal.

"Because I don't have much family," Nix confessed, the words tasting bitter, "and what I do have is… pathetic." She bit her lip, shocked at the raw honesty, a criticism she'd never dared voice before.

"If you came from them, surely they can't be." Cass's thumb stroked her arm, a comforting rhythm.

"You can't say that," Nix retorted, pulling away slightly, "you don't know anything about my family." She rolled onto her side, clutching a spare pillow like a shield.

"Then tell me. Help me understand," he urged, his voice patient.

"I don't know, I just… I don't want to think about it." The past felt like a shadow reaching for her.

"Just start small," he coaxed gently.

"My father is the only one left," Nix finally admitted, her voice barely a whisper. "Although he could well have passed by now."

"And what's he like?"

"He's a bitter, ancient male," she began, the words tumbling out. "He only cared to find a beautiful wife, and then, once he found her, he killed her."

Cass stiffened beside her. "How?"

"After my mother had me, he was disappointed. He needed a son." Nix's voice grew thick with pain. "But my mother had already endured many stillborn births before me, and continued to have many more in the few years that followed. Until one of them… took everything from her. She bled out."

Silence settled in the room, heavy and suffocating. Cass had no words.

"My father squandered most of his money on stupid remedies and potions, desperate for my mother to bear a healthy son. They all failed. And after her death, he blamed her for his lack of wealth."

Tears streamed down Nix's face now, hot trails on her cheeks. "Then, when I'd just come of age, he sprung it upon me that he'd arranged for me to marry a man almost his own age. A foul man, known to sleep with any woman who walked past him. He wanted to do to me what my grandfather did to my mother."

Nix remembered the desperate flight into the night, a memory that had begun to feel like a distant, terrible dream. "So I left. I came here for the solstice, hoping I'd find my mate. Even if he were homeless, it would have been better than what waited for me back home."

Cass pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her as if to shield her from the lingering echoes of her past. "But you're here now. I'm so sorry I didn't know. We won't go visit him." He pressed a soft kiss to her temple.

"I sometimes still think about him," Nix admitted, the words barely audible, more for herself than for him. "But they're unwanted thoughts. I think I'd rather just forget about him."

"That's fine," Cass soothed. "We can do that."

"And what about your parents?" Nix asked, turning the conversation, a desperate need to escape the darkness of her own memories.

"My mother loved me very much," Cass began, his voice softening with memory, "and I know my father must have, but he was very distant. They were assassinated when I was thirteen in a failed rebellion. My father was not the best king." He had never spoken about his parents like this to anyone, not even Millie. "My mother would read me poems before bed and sneak me treats – little tarts or puddings, ice cream or sweets." A gentle smile touched his lips as he recalled the scent of her embrace. "She smelled like roses all the time."

"Millie's favorite flower is a rose," Nix observed softly.

"She spent every minute with our mother, never really left her side since she was born, that's what everyone said." Cass's voice was full of a quiet fondness.

"I hope that when the time's right, I will be a mother like yours," Nixie yawned, rolling back over to nestle into the warm comfort of Cass's chest, the shadows of the past slowly receding in the face of their shared intimacy.

"I think we should ask the chefs if they can make cakes that look like moss and flowers," Nix imagined, her voice buzzing with excitement as Millie scribbled notes for the garden party. "So the buffet will look like a living garden!"

"Oh, and this time, we must have games!" Millie clapped her hands with unbridled glee.

"Yes," Nix mused, a playful glint in her eye, "maybe we have to go into the gardens and find the flower we've dressed as, and a prize for the best coordinated couple costumes!"

"Sorry to interrupt your diligent planning, ladies," Cass drawled, sauntering into the Queen's entertainment chamber, a smug, knowing look playing on his lips.

"No, you're not," Millie rolled her eyes good-naturedly, turning to Nix. "I'll see you tomorrow." With a quick wave, she promptly left.

"What's that look on your face?" Nix asked, a smile playing on her lips, knowing perfectly well when her mate was up to something mischievous.

"I have a surprise." He held out a shimmering silk wrap. "But first, I'm going to blindfold you."

Nix giggled as he gently covered her eyes, leading her slowly to their bedchambers, settling her down onto the soft mattress.

As she lay there, a faint, rhythmic humming filled the air.

Then, a smooth, cool surface brushed against her inner thigh. It vibrated, a deep, resonant hum like a bee's wings, yet felt sleek and cold, like polished stone.

"What—?"

"Shhh," Cass hushed her, his breath warm on her ear.

The smooth vibrator moved higher, tracing a tantalizing path toward her core, running up and down her folds until its tip settled against her c**t. Cass moved the object slowly, deliberately, around and around, and a gasp tore from Nix's throat, quickly followed by a raw scream of pleasure. She came, panting and breathless, and instinctively tore off the blindfold to see the magical object that had brought her such exquisite release.

"I heard of these things from a friend, who referred me to the maker," Cass explained, holding up the object. It was a perfectly carved and polished crystal, shaped unmistakably like a phallus, its tip still throbbing with a subtle vibration. "It has a movement charm inside."

"Now I need your real c**k to fill me up," Nixie pleaded, her gaze dropping to his throbbing member, her body still humming, yearning for the ultimate release.