Authors Note: Sexual activity occurs between two consenting adults in this chapter. Remember this story is rated MA 18+! So if you don't like it – don't read!

KINK WARNING!

This chapter contains deepthroating/gagging, rope bondage, and unexpected public (kinda I guess?) sex. I promise everything is consensual. I promise Castiel and Marcus are on the same page. And I promise they know what their limits are. Previous chapters had mentions of future tying up because Cas was interested. In this chapter they tried new things and Cas wanted to. Okay? Okay.

VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. PLEASE READ.

Thank you Astra for the proofread!

Thank you so much to Rev, Steffie, Lidi, Astra, Ross, Key, Alex, Newp, and all of my other new friends in Reveri's Twilight/Multi Fandom discord (because it'll take me a year to type out all of your names) for being an endless source of encouragement to keep me going on this story. You guys are the best.

Chapter 26 - Fluff and Shenanigans

This was not how Marcus was expecting his day to go.

He had been perfectly content hovering around his rooms as he kept an eye on Castiel while the lingering smells of her sickness disappeared. She was resting normally now, her expression soft and relaxed as she dreamed. Even in her sleep she looked pale and exhausted, but this was perfectly reasonable considering what her body had been through in the last month.

There were no words that could express his relief and his joy when he had gently pet her hair once in passing after setting a glass of water on the bedside table near her, she had been stirring more so he was sure she was close to waking, and she let out a pleased little sigh - perfectly aware even in her sleep that the person touching her was her mate.

She was doing so much better. Any moment now she would wake and things would be able to start returning to normal. Arkos told him the only things he might notice are signs of weakness and fatigue from her for a few days as her body readjusted. Kemar and Afton would have to keep an extra close eye on her so she didn't overdo it.

That's why when Marcus had been interrupted by a knock on the door of his rooms, looking up from the email he was writing on the laptop perched on his knees as he lounged on the couch, he had not been pleased at the interruption.

He had been perfectly clear no one was to bother him unless it was for something very important that required his immediate attention.

And this is where it bought him. Marcus was leaning unhappily against the wall behind Aro's desk in Aro's private office, his arms folded across his chest and his jaw clenched as he listened to his brothers as they… negotiated… with Bal.

It was good this office was large, because the 15 of them present in the room would have made the space extremely cramped if it wasn't.

Aro was seated at the desk with Caius standing to his right, his blonde brother's posture tense and confrontational as he glared at Bal.

Bal had two of his men with him, just two average vampires who really weren't much of a threat, but it wasn't in his nature to travel without company.

Felix, Demetri, Renata, Alec, Chelsea, Afton, Santiago, Sam, and Corin were here as well; they stood strategically around the room as they listened silently and watched Bal and the ancients with rapt attention.

"We have already told you Bahadur," Aro said airily, "We are willing to compensate you for all damages caused to your property, as well as lend you a few of our guards for a couple of favors as repayment for saving our youngest. But no more than that."

Aro's voice was deceptively polite, but both Marcus and Caius knew him well enough to hear the underlying frustration in his words.

Bal was standing in front of the fireplace, his back to Aro as he stared into the flames, his men on either side of him watching his back.

"I do not need money. Nor do I want a favor from your guard. It was not them that I gave assistance to after all, I see no reason for them to repay this debt."

Marcus knew what he was implying, he heard the shifting of body weight as the guards around the room shuffled minutely as they understood what Bal was getting at.

"Then you may ask a favor of me," Marcus said darkly, the guard in the room all glancing at him in shock and then back at Bal in expectation, "You get no more and no less than that, and that is our final offer. Take it or leave it Bal."

The silence that followed his words was deafening. A favor directly from one of the brothers was not a thing - this was an incredibly rare circumstance and the guards, and Aro and Caius themselves, were stunned when Bal did not reply right away. He just continued to stare into the flames for a long moment before he responded.

"It is not your life I saved." Bal said simply, finally turning away from the flames to look Marcus in the face, "And therefore I do not want a favor from you."

The temperature in the room seemed to plummet. He had finally gotten to the point. The brothers had known he would ask this; there had been something in his expression when he came to them that had hinted they were not about to be pleased with the conversation that would follow. Bal had looked… aware. He had entered this castle looking like a man who knew exactly what he wanted.

And he wanted Castiel.

"No." Caius was the first to speak, and Bal looked over at him, breaking eye contact with Marcus who was simply too furious to speak.

There was a knock on the office door and Felix, who was standing with his back against it, automatically replied to the person on the other side to come back later.

That was the problem with the soundproofed room, it was only if someone were standing exactly against the door or very close to it that they could hear what was happening on the other side.

So everyone was shocked when Felix's eyebrows raised in surprise, and he turned the knob to allow the person on the other side entry.

What the hell is he doing? Demetri was screaming mentally, The master's were very clear that no one-

His thoughts stopped in their tracks. Because when they door opened it was not just a random guard who was stupid enough to interupt standing on the other side.

It was Kemar, who had his hand resting against the small of Castiel's back as they stepped into the room.

Castiel's name drifted through the room as a whisper, the guards acknowledging her with their astonishment plain on their faces.

She had been ill for so long, and confined to Master Marcus' rooms for weeks as they treated her, so it was truly stunning to see her up and about. No one was prepared for her to be here. Of course they all knew that she wasn't ill any longer, but it was just common knowledge that even though she was better now she'd still be incredibly weak and tired for another fortnight or so.

Castiel looked well. She was pale, but otherwise okay, and wearing a simple sleeveless black dress that stopped a few inches above her knees that was fitted at the waist. She wore sheer black tights and shiny black heels with red soles - looking every bit the part of one of the queens.

Her outfit indicated confidence, and she looked so sure of herself that it was easy to overlook the fact that her left arm was secured in her sling.

Castiel raised her free hand to brush her heavy red curls from her face as she looked slowly around the room at everyone, standing just inside the doorway with Kemar.

Felix intentionally drifted closer to her, not because he was ordered to, but simply because some instinctual part of him told him to be closer and provide protection to the injured, vulnerable little mortal that he cared for on a personal level.

"Castiel,"

Even now in this extremely tense room full of vampires where Marcus really should try to maintain a stern, professional atmosphere, he couldn't help but say her name as if it were a prayer. Nothing could surmount his relief at the sight of her, or the sense of peace that settled in his soul to have his little mate close to him again and looking a thousand times healthier than she did only a week ago.

His love was obvious in his voice, and the guards had to school themselves so they didn't look away. It felt like they were intruding on a private moment, but they couldn't let their guard down with Bal in the room.

Castiel didn't even look at Bal as she crossed the room to Aro's desk, Felix closing the door behind her and Kemar and crossing the room with the two of them as he glared at Bal, daring him with his eyes to take a step toward her.

Bal did not move. He knew better.

He did however watch Castiel's back hungrily as Aro stood, brushing his palm with hers as she went to stand behind him with Marcus.

The atmosphere had shifted with their arrival. After brushing his palm with Aro's immediately after their arrival - the ancient pursing his lips ever so slightly for a second as he saw Kemar's choice to bring Castiel here - Kemar moved along the wall to the left of where Marcus was standing to stand against a bookshelf next to Afton, who leaned down to whisper in his ear too low for anyone else to hear.

"Bal doesn't want a favor from the brothers," Afton warned lowly, "He wants one from Castiel."

"Of course he does." Kemar sighed, his lips barely moving as he watched Marcus reach out to brush his fingertips across Castiel's cheek before the two of them turned their attention to Bal. It didn't escape Kemar's notice how Marcus seemed to want to place himself in front of her; instinctively desiring to protect her from Bal.

But he refrained, obviously knowing that now was not the time to place her behind him as something that was fragile and to be protected. No. Now was the time for him to stand beside her in support as her partner and her equal as they dealt with Bal in an obvious display meant to show that she had just as much power in this situation as the brothers did.

The ancients had always been fiercely protective of their wives, it was only natural for mates to behave so, but they always knew where to draw the line. They always knew that there was a place and time to be protective and another to show your faith and support.

Marcus stood beside Castiel, positioning himself so she was within arms reach but still standing slightly in front of him, allowing her to have to floor.

Everything was quiet for two of her heartbeats, before Bal smiled politely at her, giving a little bow as he said, "You look well Castiel. I'm glad to see that you are feeling better."

Castiel knew that Bal was not aware of the fact that she had been sick for the last few weeks. She knew that his words were just referring to the fact that the last time the pair was in the same room she was dirty, covered in blood, and very badly hurt. In comparison to their first meeting, she was sure she looked absolutely spectacular.

"Thank you." Castiel's response was polite, but her words came out stiff. She didn't want to play this game. "Now what do you want Bahadur?"

Bal grinned even wider, and Castiel recalled how amused he had been when she had gotten snippy with him the first time they spoke. "Oh my dear girl you can call me Bal. Bahadur is so formal."

"I'd prefer not to." Her tone was icy, "I reserve nicknames for my friends. You aren't my friend Bahadur. Now what do you want?"

Kemar smirked when Bal's face fell ever so slightly.

Bal paused for just a second, gauging her expression and her temper before speaking, "Your coven and I were just discussing the terms of my, err, repayment after what happened last month."

One of Castiel's eyebrows rose, "Oh?"

Everyone in the room besides Bal and his men knew her well enough that they could tell by her tone that this was not news to her.

"My men interfered in a matter that truly wasn't any of our business, the end result being your safe return to your coven." Bal said lightly, "You are very young and new to this world so perhaps you aren't completely aware of how our kind handle these… debts."

Now both of Castiel's eyebrows were raised, "Is that your story and you are sticking to it?"

Bal's eyes narrowed, and there was an awkward pause before he said, "I'm not sure what you mean-,"

"You know exactly what I mean." Castiel cut him off, looking most unimpressed. "A matter that truly wasn't any of your business? You said it yourself that you saw them bring the werewolf to your warehouse hours before I even arrived. Hours before they ever touched me and the situation had anything to do with my coven. To claim that you wouldn't have had anything to do with the situation if not for me is, honestly, a load of crap."

"Castiel." Aro admonished her lowly and she pretended she didn't hear him.

"The werewolf, the nomads, and the untransformed wolves were your problem long before they had anything to do with us."

It was silent for a few heartbeats before Bal spoke, and this time his tone was much more subdued. He was getting a feel for how he could handle her, and she was already proving to have more of a backbone than he ever could have expected.

"I suppose that is true," He amended softly, his scarlet eyes locked with hers, "But that does not negate the fact that we had nothing to do with your abduction. In fact we saved your life. A debt like that does not go unpaid in our world."

"If you could just stop phrasing everything you say as if you were doing me a fucking favor that night it would be much appreciated." Castiel snapped, and this time she wasn't able to ignore Aro when he snarled softly.

"Castiel. Language."

"Sorry." She said slowly, turning her chin a fraction of an inch toward her brother but not breaking eye contact with Bal.

"It's quite alright Aro," Bal said pleasantly, "I do understand how emotional humans can be sometimes."

Castiel's jaw clenched at the dig, but she didn't respond knowing he was trying to goad a reaction out of her.

"Watch yourself Bal." Aro warned.

"Your men did not save my life intentionally. They did not go to that warehouse with the intention of saving me or any of the other people in it. They went there on your orders to kill the wolf and take care of the nomads. Don't pretend you sent them on some noble quest to save anyone." Castiel was seething, she was so angry that it was truly a surprise to her that her words did not come out quivering with rage. In fact, she was shocked she wasn't trembling with the force of her anger…

Then she remembered Marcus, and could feel him standing beside her, still as a statue as he took the brunt of her emotions. She could feel the foreign calmness - this tension easing pressure - that was taking residence between her shoulder blades.

She was quite unsure there would ever be a moment that the imprinting bond did not surprise her.

"They were following your orders to kill anyone at that warehouse that shouldn't have been there. If it wasn't for the man who hit me in the face tearing my shirt and exposing the crest your other men wouldn't have stopped him from executing me."

There was a small ruffle of sound that went around the room as the guards shared discreet glances with one another. Most of them had been unaware that one of Bal's men had stuck her, and the sour expression on Bal's face now showed that he didn't like that she had mentioned that part.

"It was…" Bal said slowly after a short pause, "Unacceptable for one of my men to lay their hands on you in such a way. I do not support domestic violence in any way, and even if you weren't part of our world I would have ordered him to be killed the moment I found out that he did what he did. Do not take his actions as a representation of my character."

"Your character?" Castiel scoffed, "You mean the character of a man who comes in here to try to bully a small human who can't truly fight against him into giving him a favor he has no right to?"

Silence. Absolute, total, silence was dominant in the room for a very long minute. Bal looked comically shocked by her words before he tamed his expression into something much harder to read. "A favor I have no right to?" He repeated, as if he hadn't heard her properly.

"Exactly." Castiel deadpanned. "You did nothing in my best interests. The fact that I was brought to you alive was entirely a lucky chance. You very realistically could have been the cause of my death."

Castiel paused for a second before continuing, "But all things considered, your men did kill the werewolf before it could start eating me so there is that. And that one gentleman also prevented me from being shot in the head, so there's that as well… even though at that moment in time your men were the biggest threat to me…"

Bal stared at her, she was obviously leading up to something and he just couldn't see what that something may be.

"You know what?" Castiel said pleasantly, with an awkward half shrug because of her injured arm. "Fine. It's glaringly obvious that you came here wanting a favor from me because you've heard the rumors that I'm psychic. You've obviously pieced together that's the reason I even stayed alive long enough for your guys to get there. So I'll tell you what; I'll give each of the men there that night one request from me. They can ask for lottery numbers, where their next big job offer might come from, where they'll meet the love of their life - whatever they want. I don't care. And why don't you let the guy who stopped the big one from continuing to hurt me know that he can have two favors. That seems fair."

Someone in the room made a very soft choking sound at her words, Castiel couldn't quite be sure who.

Bal was silent, and his expression was very far from pleased as they stared at one another. Castiel was surprised that not one person in the room interrupted. Even Bal's men had remained stony faced and impassive the entire time.

"And I suppose it goes without saying, but if any of the favors for them come back to me as things that you told them to ask for… well then they get nothing."

If there was one thing Castiel was absolutely sure of, it was that she had never been in such a tense situation in her life.

"I'm not happy with that arrangement." Bal said after a moment, and even though his face was impassive, his tone was cold. "There is a certain hierarchy to be followed. We don't do deals with the subordinates of-,"

Castiel cut him off, "If that were true you would have just accepted the favor my mate offered, but you didn't, because you want something that only I can help you with. Don't you?"

Bal stared at her for a long time. It was clear in his expression that he had not been 100% sure that she was truly gifted, but as she had just brought up part of a conversation she had not been present for, it was now evident that the rumors of her talent was true.

"You would have died if we did not help you." Bal said softly. There was something dangerous in his voice now - some indication that his patience was slipping.

Marcus shifted behind her.

"I very nearly died in your presence." Was her simple rebuttal.

But as they continued to glare at each other, Castiel felt a phantom throb in her left arm - a pulsating ache coming from the double crescent scar this vampire had permanently marked her with. She was reminded that as much as she didn't want to admit it, and no matter how much she hated Bal, she could not deny that she did have a debt to him.

Yes, she had almost died in his presence, and yes he had failed to really do anything to help her like getting her medical attention when she so desperately needed it.

But he had not harmed her. He was the only reason that when she got to Arkos she was just barely healthy enough for them to halt the werewolf change.

The image of Bal heaving over a trash can as if he were going to be physically ill after he removed infected blood from her arm came to the front of her mind.

She sighed, and her expression very clearly showed she was about to say something that she really wished she didn't have to say.

"But I won't deny that you did play a key role in one thing-," Bal's eyebrows went up at her words, but he did not interrupt. The hungry look was starting to return to his face. "As unpleasant as it was when you bit me, I won't stand here and say that what you did wasn't helpful. I've been very ill for the last month or so. If it wasn't for what you did, I'd be a full blown werewolf unfortunately."

Bal did not try to hide his surprise - it was obvious in his expression - but his responding tone was still a little too smug for her liking. "I'm sorry to hear that you were ill, and I'm glad I could be of assistance."

"With that being said." Castiel spoke quickly, before Bal could start preaching about what a hero he was again. "I'll amend one thing. If you don't agree with me repaying your men for stopping the werewolf from killing me, then my other offer is that I will do you one favor for preventing my change into a werewolf."

"Castiel-," It was Caius who spoke, and his tone was a warning.

"I know Caius." Castiel spared him the briefest glance, her face no longer a mask of stony indifference. There was a lot more emotion there now - but it was emotion that was difficult to read.

She turned back to look at Bal. "I know that anything Bahadur asks of me will weigh on my conscience for the rest of my life. I don't need my foresight to tell me that our beliefs don't line up morally. If anyone in this room actually thinks that I don't owe him anything, then speak up now."

Bal was smirking at her. It wasn't a full blown grin - just a minor upturn at the corners of his mouth - but it said everything. He knew that he had gotten what he wanted. He knew no one in the room could deny that he was owed something.

And as much as the ancients and the guard wanted to step in and say he could ask for a favor from anyone else but her, they all knew it was no use. Bal had come for her, and it was in his right to ask for her to repay him for the actions he took that had been a direct benefit to her.

The relationship the Volturi had with Bal was complicated. Every now and again they had some convoluted, er… business… deal that needed to be conducted with him. And it always required some negotiation on payment and favors from either side.

But Bal was loyal. He was an ally to the Volturi and not the kind of vampire who would change sides. He stood with the Volturi and believed their laws were a benefit to all.

He was not necessarily a friend though. Vampires did have a way of doing things, and repaying debts to other vampires and large covens was just something that was bound to happen during an immortal life. Vampires who were friends with one another were never so formal as to require payment for favors or help… but this was quite the same story in the human world.

Bal would have to be compensated, and unfortunately this time they could not shelter her from this. There would be other times over the coming years that the brothers were sure they would be able to keep her out of it… but this time their hands were tied.

Marcus stepped up beside Castiel, his left hand reaching out to splay against her lower back.

Bal looked to him now, no longer seeming to see the need to pay Castiel even the slightest bit of mind now that he got what he wanted. "I will be in touch."

Castiel wasn't blind to what he was doing. She knew that the next few times she saw him he would continue to play mind games with her. It was nearly guaranteed that the two of them were going to keep having pissing contests every time they saw one another until they truly got a feel for who the other person was.

"Naturally." Marcus snapped, and no one spoke as Bal turned and left the room with his men.

"So what am I supposed to do Aro?" Castiel asked, staring down at the sheet of watercolor paper on the ground in front of her and the many art supplies around her as she and Aro sat in the middle of the floor on one of the fabric tarps in the art room.

He was going to teach her how to use oil pastels, and she wasn't quite sure what that entailed.

"Well first you're going to want to remove your sling because this is going to be rather difficult for you if you're just using one hand - not to mention if the hand you'd use wouldn't be your dominant one - and second you're going to want to tape a border around the edges of the paper. You can have the outline of the design be any shape you'd like, but if you want to do anything other than a square I can help since I'm sure it's going to be awkward for you to start using your left arm again."

Castiel was already struggling out of her sling as he said this, and her shoulder ached as she rolled it gently. She flexed her left hand with a sigh. "Why are we doing art if you think I won't be able to draw properly?"

"Because this requires minimal drawing - more like black sketches to be honest. You don't have to do anything complicated. And we're doing this because you desperately need a break Castiel."

Castiel looked up at him, her focus coming off the supplies scattered around her when he said this. Her expression softened as she watched Aro secure his hair in a messy man bun at the back of his head, multiple dark locks of hair that he didn't catch in the tie hanging artfully around his face.

"I'm very proud of how you handled Bal this morning Castiel." Aro said, picking a few colors out of the tray beside him before pushing it toward her, "He's the kind of person who will walk all over you if you let him, and I think you really turned him on his head by refusing to go belly-up for him."

"Well, he still got what he wanted. So I think how well I handled things is a moot point." Castiel sighed, carefully beginning to use a roll of masking tape to make a thick border around the edges of her paper. She felt a light 'thunk' on the top of her head as Aro tossed a pastel at her.

"Dude! Wh-"

"Stop with the morose thoughts. We all know there was no way around it. We'll deal with his request when it comes." Aro said sternly. "We're all in this together. You know that don't you?"

Neither of them said anything for a moment, they just looked at one another, a lot of unspoken words flowing between them before she finally nodded.

Using the oil pastels was much more fun than Castiel thought it would be. Aro told her to pick three colors she thought would blend well - at first he had just given her three blues and told her to color her paper in three large sections going from lightest to darkest, and she had stared at the pastels and back at him for a long moment before he realized the colors were too similar and she couldn't tell the difference do to her color deficiency - and when she did that he told her to smudge them.

"Smudge them?"

"Yes, take the tissue paper I gave you and rub the color together so you get smooth blocks. Go slow when you're blending two different colors though."

It was very satisfying work. When she looked over at Aro she noticed he was just using his hands and not the tissue paper, so the pads of his fingers were smeared with multiple different bright colors. He seemed to be doing something much more complicated on his paper, because he was using at least a dozen different pastels.

Aro reached forward to slide her paper toward him when she was done smudging, and he outlined what was clearly going to be a moon and some rocky cliffs before sliding it back to her. She had chosen bright colors, so hers was going to look like some surreal alien planet's ocean.

"I know you're more than capable of drawing some cliffs," Aro said, passing her some graphite pencils before he leaned down to continue working on his own piece, "But you're not going to be very steady with your hand. Just fill in the spaces with the graphite."

He was correct, her hand was kind of trembly and her shoulder moved oddly as she tried to fill in the spaces. She had to focus really hard and place a napkin between the side of her hand and the paper so she didn't smear her work.

After about fifteen minutes she looked up to see that Aro had outlined some kind of tropical vista on his paper and was already finished. He was rubbing his chin and gazing down at his work when he felt her eyes on him and looked up.

Castiel couldn't help but laugh when she noticed he had pastel colors all over his jaw.

"What?"

She just snickered some more and motioned to her palms, he looked down at his own and chuckled. "Damn, I always do that."

"It's okay, you look good with a pink and blue jaw." She teased, and squealed when Aro reached across the space between them and firmly rubbed his hand across her face before she could move back, leaving lines of color across her brows, nose and right cheekbone.

"Shut up and pull the masking tape off your work. It's the most satisfying part."

This was very true, and Castiel couldn't help but smile when she looked at her little colorful, rocky sea - even if it was way less detailed than what Aro made.

She'd give it to Marcus. He always liked when she let him keep some of her drawings so she was sure he'd keep this one too.

"Do you want to do something fun?" Castiel asked Aro after a minute of comfortable silence, and when he looked up at her he could see the mischievous glint in her eye when she smiled at him.

He raised a brow, his lips quirking up at the corner involuntarily. "What would you suggest?"

"Caius and Marcus are going to be busy with their meeting with that Australian politician for a couple more hours right?"

"Right…" Aro drawled, narrowing his eyes at her when her grin broadened.

"And most of the walls in the hallways and floors are stone right?"

"Obviously."

Castiel pursed her lips for a second, looking like she was trying not to laugh. "Do you guys have chalk here?"

"What kind of chalk?"

"Like… vibrant, colorful sidewalk chalk." Castiel winked at him, "A LOT of it. We'll need a lot of it."

"I can't believe we're doing this, it's been so long since I've played a joke on Caius." Aro's voice was amused, and he let out that crazy giggle he'd do whenever he was really excited about something. "No one ever pulls pranks with me, not after the rabbit fiasco in 1812."

Castiel looked over at Aro, who was about fifteen feet from her standing on a small step ladder and working on drawing something on the wall just to the right of the door to Caius and Athenadora's quarters. There were nine guards in the hall with them, all working diligently on the roughly fifty foot span of walls on either side of Caius' hall that they had indicated for drawing.

Castiel didn't know the names of most of the guards helping them, but she knew she was about to be friends with all nine of them because of how they all were trying to refrain from giggling as they drew, smeared, and critiqued each other's work.

"I can't believe that you sent all these guards out with your credit card and told them to buy all the chalk they could find in Volterra." Castiel laughed, "And please elaborate on the rabbit fiasko of 1812. I'm curious."

"Not now!" Aro waved a hand at her as he hopped down from the ladder. His hands, forearms, and shirt were covered in different colors of chalk.

Cas was sure she didn't look much better.

"And we're almost done!" Aro continued, "But it feels like it's missing something… what do you think?"

Castiel looked around the hall, taking in the detailed chalk work they had done on the walls with the help of the guards.

To be fair, it was mostly work Aro and the guards did. She could only really help by placing her palms against sections of the wall to rub large blocks of color into while everyone else did the finer details. Her shoulder just got so sore so quickly.

But the design was all her idea. She already knew Athenadora would love it and Caius would try to kill her.

"Hmmm… I think we need to do the floor too." Castiel tilted her head, looking down at the stone floor speculatively, "What do you think Aro?"

Aro barely had time to agree with her before the guards sprung into action, squabbling over the chalk that was still left in some of the scattered bags and boxes around the hall.

She caught Aro's eyes over the huddle of guards on the floor as the sound of chalk rubbing against stone filled the hall again.

Aro was pleased to see she was absolutely beaming.

"This is chaos. I love it."

"What. The. FU-,"

Caius was cut off by Aro barking at him, "What did we say about the language? This last month everyone's been under a lot of stress, so we let it go for a bit but the cussing is getting out of hand."

"DON'T YOU TELL ME NOT TO CURSE WHEN YOU'VE DONE… THIS…" Caius yelled, his furious gaze on Castiel and Aro who were standing side by side about a dozen feet away from him. Aro had wisely told all the guards who had helped them that they'd better take a hike before Caius showed up.

The guards had all been giggling when they left.

"Caius hunny what-," Dora's voice came echoing down the hall from behind Castiel and Aro, and they both turned to her just in time to take in her shocked look as she observed what they had done to the walls and floor and her hallway.

An incredibly intricate, colorful, fairytale landscape was drawn on both walls outside her and Caius' rooms. The floor had been colored to look as though it was a small creek. If they had used paint and not chalk they probably could have given it a better 3D effect, but they worked with what they had.

Athenadora was speechless, and it was only when she stared around at the walls again that she noticed the part that made Caius so angry.

Yeah the fairytale landscape was girly, and Caius didn't like change and would obviously react like this when someone messed with his halls - he was always so serious all the time he was bound to hate the childishness of what Castiel and Aro had done - but none of that would really explain how angry he was.

But the part of the mural Aro had been working so hard on was the castle, and the drawing of a princess looking down from her high tower at a heroic knight, just to the right of the main door.

The princess was very clearly a detailed chalk rendering of Caius in a pink dress, and the brave knight was Athenadora with a sword held high.

"Ah-," Athendora looked to Aro, obviously trying to control her expression for her husband's sake. "That's… I…"

But then her eyes found Castiel's, and at her responding grin, the two of them both instantly roared with laughter.

"You little shit!" Caius yelled, pointing a finger at Castiel and she and Dora both covered their mouths with their hands as they laughed, "You planned this! I want all of this off-,"

"Caius!" Athenadora gasped through her laughter, "Don't you dare! This is a masterpiece!"

Caius spluttered indignantly at this. Castiel started laughing so hard she doubled over and grabbed her sides. If Athenadora wouldn't let Caius take it down, the whole castle would be bound to see it over the next few days. This was so perfect.

"I will skin you alive-," Caius began to threaten, advancing on Castiel and only stopping at the sound of Marcus' voice behind him.

"You will do no such thing."

Castiel looked up, trying to breath normally with her face hurting from how big she was smiling, and noticed her mate looking around the hall at her and Aro's work. He kept his expression neutral, but she could tell by the crinkling at the corners of his eyes when he saw the depiction of Caius in a dress that he found the whole thing funny too.

Marcus held a hand out to her, noticing the colors smeared across her face and shaking his head with a small grin, "Come with me Castiel, it's time for shoulder therapy."

"Aw dang it!"

"Oh sweet mother of Jesus that hurts!" Castiel complained loudly, making what she was sure was a very unattractive face as Marcus rubbed deeply into her injured shoulder.

He was sitting behind her on the bed, and she was between his legs, his right arm went around her waist while his hand splayed against her sternum, holding her in place and keeping her from getting away as he worked on her shoulder.

"Not much longer now," Marcus soothed, and Castiel let out a long breath

"This is-," Castiel said in a sing-song voice, "The worst experience of my liiiiiife,"

Marcus sighed, his thumb kneading an area just under her shoulder blade, "You're being dramatic."

"The wooooorst, experienccccce, of my liiiiife," Castiel sang again, before gritting her teeth as Marcus released his hold on her and had her stretch her hand out and lay her left palm flat on the bed in front of them so he could get a better angle.

"Worse than the werewolf?" Marcus countered as he worked the area usually hidden by her shoulder blade.

"Definitely."

"Jane?"

"One hundred percent. Without a doubt." Castiel said stoically and she knew he was shaking his head behind her.

"You're so dramatic."

"Gah!" Castiel tried to lurch away from him, but Marcus wrapped his right arm around her chest again, the hand on her sternum holding her in place. "It's the only way I'm gonna get through thiiiiiis," She sang again.

"Being over dramatic and singing while in pain. I gotta say that's a new one." Marcus sighed, "Just a few more minutes dearest, then we're done."

"If you love me you'll stop now."

"If I love you I'll ensure you still have full use of your arm, even if it means listening to you complain during shoulder therapy."

"That's fair."

Marcus laughed at this. And at that same moment his phone began to vibrate.

Unfortunately he didn't release his hold on her with his right arm, and just opted to use his left hand and stop working her shoulder for a moment so he could fish his phone from his pocket.

He was obviously fully aware she'd try to get away if he let go of her.

"It's Raphael." Marcus sighed, tossing the phone so it landed with a flop on the bed in front of her. "You answer it. Every time he calls it's to ask about you anyway. Now be good and let me finish up with your shoulder and stop trying to get away."

Castiel grumbled at him, picking up the phone with her right hand and holding it to her ear after sliding to answer.

"Hello?"

There was the briefest of pause before; "Castiel! Oh my little werewolf killer I am so proud!"

Raphael's accent was almost too thick for Castiel to understand, and if she hadn't been paying very close attention she probably wouldn't have understood what he said.

"I didn't kill any werewolves Raph-,"

"But you hit one in the face with a pipe! I am so, so proud! You keep it from eating you just long enough to get help-,"

"It wasn't a pipe! Why does everyone think it was a pipe?"

"Oh the rumors in our world of how the mortal mate of Marcus killed a werewolf. My dear girl you should hear them! The reverence some of our kind have-,"

"That's not what happened!" Castiel groaned, "I didn't kill anything, I was almost werewolf kibble-,"

Castiel stopped talking suddenly as she winced when Marcus began stretching her shoulder in a practiced motion.

Raphael didn't seem to notice. "Either way, it does not matter. Our kind knows you are not one to be messed with - that is the important thing."

"But it's not-,"

"Enough of that." He interrupted, and Castiel heard what was probably the sound of him flopping down into a comfortable couch or chair, "Tell me, how are you? You feel okay? Everyone taking care of you there?"

Marcus wasn't really paying attention to her response. Castiel couldn't see the small smile he had behind her back, and she was too focused on her conversation to give him much trouble as he maneuvered her arm into her sling.

Marcus had noticed during the time of her illness and the constant calls from their Russian friends what he had failed to see for a long while about Castiel's bond with Raphael.

He was always so aware of everything involving Castiel that he believed nothing in her bonds would ever surprise him. But he had been surprised when he realized only a few weeks ago that the bond Raphael shared with Castiel was extremely similar to the bond a parent has with a child. Marcus firmly believed that if Castiel's father had not been introduced to this life and brought back into Castiel's circle, Castiel very likely would have adopted Raphael as a kind of surrogate father.

Aro hadn't been shocked and he told Marcus that bond had always been there. Marcus said it couldn't have been because he'd never noticed it, but his brother just responded that the only times Marcus had been looking for a parental bond to Castiel came after they believed her father had been killed. Marcus only ever searched for a blood-related paternal bond. He never really paid much mind to how Raphael felt about Castiel past the fact that he was very protective of her.

Raphael's bond to Castiel was protective, strong, and unmistakably paternal. On Castiel's end, Marcus could see she viewed him as a friend, and a very trusted mentor. There was definitely an indicator that she saw him as a father figure but he figured her loyalty to her own father and the strength of that bond was probably influencing how her's and Raphael's bond developed.

Marcus sincerely wished he could see her bonds to her father, but her dad was simply too powerful of a shield for him to see through.

If Raphael and Bryon ever met, he wondered if they would become friends.

A knock on his door drew his attention, and he stood up to answer it as Castiel laid back on the bed and started detailing to Raphael what she and Aro had been up to earlier.

Afton stood with Castiel in the hallway just outside Caius and Athenadora's rooms, grinning as he took in the art on the walls and floor. She had dragged him over here saying she had a surprise to show him, and he had just about died at the very detailed rendering of Master Caius as a princess and Mistress Athenadora as his knight in shining armor.

Athenadora wouldn't let Master Caius wash the chalk away. Not only did she love the colors and the spontaneous mural on their walls, but she rather liked the image of her as a brave knight.

But everyone knew if Caius caught ONE person laughing at the mural it was going to be washed off regardless of what Athenadora wanted, and he'd want Castiel's, Aro's, and any laughing guards head on a post as reparations.

Unbeknownst to them, Aro and Marcus were both currently telling Caius he needed to get a sense of humor and learn to laugh at himself in between the two trials they had scheduled for the day.

Afton was doing his best not to laugh aloud at the mural. He would have to learn to keep a straight face just like everyone else if the art was going to have any chance at being around for more than a couple of days.

Castiel had gotten her phone out, and Afton watched as she began taking pictures of the hall, being very careful to make sure she had a good shot of the images of Princess Caius and Knight Athenadora.

"What are you doing?" He whispered to her as a few guards came into the hall - very obviously wanting a look at the mural.

There were a bunch of colorful boot marks leading to and from the mural. No one could exactly avoid stepping on the chalk work on the floor. Caius would only get more angry with each new set of prints. Most guards didn't venture over this way, but many of them were taking detours today.

"Getting pictures to send to Raphael." Castiel said, grinning.

"You know, when you're an immortal Master Caius is going to make you pay for this." Afton informed with a nervous laugh, but she didn't seem bothered by the warning.

"We both know there's gonna be a handful of people who wanna smack me around for being dumb once I'm indestructible." She snorted, "He'll have to get in line."

"Yeah, right behind me." Kemar's voice sounded from behind them, and they both turned to see Castiel's other guard entering the hall.

"I thought you were off the rest of the day?" Castiel's statement was more of a question.

"I was supposed to be, but Afton is trying to surprise his mate with a spontaneous date night." Kemar shrugged, "You'll want to get going Afton, you only have twenty minutes to get ready before Chelsea is off for the night."

"Right." Afton, reached over to muss Castiel's hair before clapping Kemar on the shoulder as he walked away. "Thanks man."

"No problem." Kemar said simply, his sharp eyes taking in the artwork of the hall.

After a few short moments the other guards left, so Castiel and Kemar were alone in the hallway again.

Kemar shook his head, motioning with one hand to the chalk all over the hall, "You're an idiot you know."

Castiel smiled big at him, "Always."

As much as Castiel would have enjoyed standing in the hall and admiring Aro's work, Kemar made her leave and go to the kitchens to get dinner.

It was nice to see Emmanuel again. The grandfatherly chef had actually cried when she walked in and kept kissing her cheeks as he told her how happy he was that she was alright.

All of her meals had been brought to her over the last few weeks, and they had been very bland in a way that made Castiel sure Emmanuel was given very specific instructions over what she could stomach while she was ill. He hadn't been up to see her, and she was sure the chef had wanted to but had been told no under the circumstances.

Therefore he had offered to make her whatever she liked for dinner - Castiel was sure she could have asked for a birthday cake and some brownies and the chef would have made it - but she just replied "pasta" and let him do with that what he will.

Kemar and Castiel had only left the kitchen a few moments ago, and were working their way back to Marcus' rooms when they crossed paths with Edward.

Edward, much to Castiel's surprise, was alone and reading a book as he walked. He looked up as he read her curious thoughts, and Castiel just gave him a small nod as she and Kemar passed him. She actually thought they'd be able to make it out of the hall without incident when Edward spoke.

"In the future, if you could refrain from putting ideas in Bella's head, I'd appreciate it."

The sentence was so unexpected that Castiel couldn't help but stop and turn back toward Edward.

He was only a few feet away from her, the book he was holding dangling at his side with just his thumb holding his place. Kemar stayed close to her uninjured shoulder, watching the bronze haired boy with undisguised distrust.

"What?"

"If you could refrain from putting ideas in Bella's head I'd appreciate it." Edward repeated. His tone wasn't overly hostile, nor was his expression… his words were just stated like a fact.

"I've got no idea what you're talking about." Castiel said with a raised brow, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

"I don't know why Bella would want to stay here for a whole additional month, most of it away from me because my family and I have to maintain the story that she is alone her on a school program to try out studying abroad for college, only for me to return and for her to say she's not ready to leave and wants me to give her more space." Edward's seemed to be trying to control his tone, but his words were still a little accusatory, "She and I have always been inseparable, and I'm sure that her sudden desire to spend less time with me has something to do with you."

Castiel opened her mouth to speak, but Kemar put an arm out across her path, nonverbally telling her to wait.

"Don't say anything Castiel. He's trying to goad you into thinking about things that aren't any of his business." Kemar's deep voice was not aggressive, or suggestive. He said what he said with that air of absolute fact.

But Castiel didn't want to stay quiet anymore. First Bal, and now this? Her tolerance for Edward being a jerk was nearly nonexistent right now. He was truly choosing the wrong time to act like a dick to her.

"No. I'm going to give him the reaction he so clearly wants," Castiel snapped, glancing briefly at Kemar before glaring at Edward. "I don't put any ideas in Bella's head. To be honest Edward, I don't like you. I don't like you at all. I think Bella could do a THOUSAND times better and be with someone who actually thinks about her feelings and treats her like an equal, but these are just my opinions, and I don't go around giving everyone my two cents on who I think deserves the common courtesy of being treated with kindness and respect."

"Whatever is going on between you and Bells is your own god damn issue, because even though I've had to spend weeks witnessing first hand the way you destroyed her, I still never said a word against you to her. So you can take this unfounded belief that I'm here whispering in Bella's ear and am just some evil, spiteful harpy out to ruin your life and shove it up your-,"

"The way I've destroyed her?" Edward cut her off looking genuinely surprised and not seeming to hear the end of her sentence.

Castiel gritted her teeth, and her chin came up with a type of arrogance that Kemar never saw on her face before. It was silent for a long moment before Edward's expression crumpled with pain.

"Bella."

Kemar glanced between the two of them, noticing that while Castiel's expression didn't change, Edwards only became more and more distressed.

"I-," Edward gasped after a very uncomfortable minute of silence, his book falling from his hand and landing on the floor with a light thunk.

"You need to stop acting like Bella can't think for herself!" Castiel yelled at him, making Kemar start slightly at the unexpected volume of her voice. "You need to start thinking about her feelings and stop putting yourself first all the time. All you ever do is what you think is right" Castiel made air quotes at the last few words she spoke, and Kemar was surprised to see her eyes were shining as if she would cry.

"All you ever do is what's easiest and most convenient for you… No. Not even that. You do whatever is the most DRAMATIC-," Guards were entering wide the hall now from either side, all stopping to form a loose circle around the three of them, "Over the top display of your sacrifice and love for her in some weird act that's more in place in a Shakespearean tragedy play than real life. Your acts of love and sacrifice are ALWAYS you just SHITTING on her."

Castiel stepped right up to him, they were hardly a foot away and Kemar grabbed the back of her shirt as if he were intending to yank her back.

"I-," Edward started, trying to think of the best way to defend himself during the onslaught of mental yelling he was getting from her, along with the actual yelling. If he were not a vampire, he wouldn't have been able to keep up with both her mental and verbal track. But he was, and he knew he deserved every nasty thought she was throwing at him.

Images of Bella tormented and unable to sleep, Bella crying, Bella clinging to Castiel with everything she had and Castiel always coming to spend the night with Bella to help her sleep…

"No!" Castiel cut him off, poking him in the chest. "Just shut up! Shut up Edward Cullen! You've got no right - you don't have a damn right to stand here and try to defend what you did to her. You can make as many excuses as you want. You can tell yourself you did what you did to save her from you, but that doesn't-,"

She smacked him in the chest with both hands in a downward motion, and Edward noticed her wince and shake her left arm once her hands fell to her sides again. "It will NEVER excuse how cruel you were. You don't get to absolutely destroy her self confidence and tell her she's a boring human and then turn around and tell her you love her. You don't get to do that!"

Edward was speechless, staring at Castiel with an absolutely stunned expression that almost made Kemar laugh. More guards were gathering around now, putting the total in the hall at nearly twenty, watching the spectacle with amusement.

"You treat her like crap, and then you think it's justified because you turn around and say all the awful things you do to her are because you love her and want to protect her. I'm against telling people what to do with their life and their relationships, so you can only imagine how thrilled I am that she seems to be coming to her senses about you if what you said earlier is anything to go by." Castiel spat at him, her face screwed up in such outrageous anger that Kemar knew he was going to have to break this up soon if-

"Alright, that's enough." Marcus' calm voice interrupted his mate's tirade, and the guards circled around Edward, Kemar, and Castiel made a path for their king to get through. Caius was following behind Marcus, but he stood with the crowd, smirking as his brother stopped behind Castiel and laid a gentle hand on her injured shoulder.

"Calm dearest. You've made your point." Marcus said, watching Castiel avert her eyes to the floor as she tried to calm her heavy breathing.

"Kemar if you could please take Castiel back to our rooms. She needs to put her sling back on."

This was true, Castiel had been without her sling since she left Marcus' rooms with Afton. She'd assured everyone she wouldn't move her shoulder much - a promise she'd clearly failed to keep.

Kemar nodded, and with a light hand on her back he led her away from the group. She didn't try to argue, her anger seeming to peter out at the arrival of her mate. Marcus had been so calm, and his tone had bordered no argument. Kemar was sure an instinctual part of Castiel was demanding she listen to her mate.

The guards who had gathered around dispersed with them. Only a few hung back to keep an eye on the situation as Marcus and Caius faced off with Edward.

Edward stood silently for a long moment after Castiel was gone. He realized she was right; he had finally gotten a good look at all the harm he had done to Bella. He couldn't even hate her for anything she said because all of it was justified. She said all of that because Bella was her friend and she loved her. Her love for Bella was so clear in her thoughts, not to mention she was nearly crying in frustration as she called him out on all of his bullshit.

He couldn't hate anyone who loved Bella.

There was a very long minute of silence, only interrupted by a few broken words as Edward tried to think of what to say and had words fail him the moment he started speaking.

Marcus finally spoke when it became clear Edward couldn't figure out what to say.

"I apologize for my mates outburst. I assure you I'll speak to her and see to it that this doesn't happen again."

The words were so formal. Edward only stared at Marcus as he digested everything that Castiel had just said.

Of course Master Marcus was bound to apologize over the actions of his young mate. This was fairly standard protocol in their world. The assurance that he'd do something about it and make sure it didn't happen again was exactly what should be said when a younger partner started causing issues with other coven. Being able to assure other covens that you would control your own, and issues wouldn't continue to arise was just something that was vital in maintaining peace.

But Edward didn't want the apology.

"She's right. Everything she said was true." Edward sounded as dazed as he felt, looking lost as he gazed around the hall. "I've been terrible."

"That's an understatement." Caius remarked tonelessly, and Marcus held up a hand to his brother in a clear 'shut up' gesture.

"Either way, it was inappropriate for her to make a public spectacle out of it." Marcus said courteously, "I'll speak with her."

Edward just nodded; he couldn't think of anything to say. Castiel had just ripped him a new one more efficiently than any of his siblings had in the last fifty years.

Castiel was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, pulling at a loose thread in the comforter when Marcus came in. She didn't say anything as he closed the door softly behind him and made his way over to the bed, and he ended up placing a hand over hers to get her to stop yanking the threads out of the blanket when it became obvious she wasn't going to speak.

Clearly she was expecting to be scolded, but Marcus really didn't plan to tell her off.

"All I ask," Marcus sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her and leaving his arm stretched out so his hand remained resting over hers, "Is that you refrain from telling off angry vampires until you are an immortal yourself. I don't like worrying about you picking fights with immortals who already have temper issues-,"

"Kemar was there." Castiel interrupted, finally turning to look up at him. Marcus noticed she hadn't put back on her sling yet and was opting to just hold her left arm to her chest.

"I know. But still. Accidents can happen. I'd be more at ease if I knew you weren't going to yell at vampires until you were at least able to break them if they lashed out at you - regardless of how much the vampire deserves to be reamed out." Marcus said lightly. Letting go of her hand so he could run his fingers through her hair. "Please, for the sake of my sanity, promise me you'll leave the chewing out to Caius for now."

She tried not to smile - she really did - but she failed miserably when she saw the doting, indulgent smile on Marcus' face.

"Okay." Castiel said, a little begrudgingly but mostly teasing. "I'll give Caius a script next time I want to go off at someone."

Marcus chuckled, and then glanced toward the center of the room thoughtfully before looking back at her. His smile suddenly changed to something much more gentle; an open, vulnerable look that he only ever gave her when they were alone.

"What?"

"Come here." Marcus stood and held a hand out to her, which she took without hesitation.

He led her to the center of the room by the coffee table, and Castiel was surprised when he told her to shut her eyes and cover her ears.

"Why?" She said suspiciously, grinning when he tugged a lock of her hair gently.

"Just do it."

Castiel did, shutting her eyes tightly and letting her hands come up to cover her ears. Her first instinct was to start watching the future to snoop on what Marcus was doing, but he had looked so hopeful a moment before that she really didn't want to ruin whatever surprise he had so spontaneously planned.

Marcus knew her very well, and as long as she'd been here he'd had yet to attempt to outright surprise her because he knew that she was just awful at not peeking. She always got excited when someone had a surprise for her and always ruined it by looking ahead.

To be fair she had gotten very good at feigning surprise over the years because of this habit, but she genuinely didn't want to ruin this - whatever this may be - for him.

Castiel was rocking from her heels to the balls of her feet as she waited, impatient as ever, for three minutes before Marcus gently grasped both of her wrists and pulled her hands from her ears.

And she heard… music playing softly from somewhere over by Marcus' desk, and when she finally opened her eyes to look around she noticed that he had moved the coffee table, couches, and end tables out of the way to free up a good section of the floor.

Marcus pulled her to him, and all she could do was beam up at him as That's Life by Frank Sinatra started to play from multiple speakers around the room that she couldn't see.

"Dance with me?" Marcus' smile was so big all she could do was press herself up against him and stand on her toes as he leaned down to kiss her softly for a short moment.

"You remembered I'm a Sinatra fan?" Castiel laughed, glad Marcus hadn't chosen to start with an incredibly slow song, and following his lead as he guided her through a very simple dance, matching the tempo of the song perfectly.

"I remember everything about you dearest." Marcus teased, kissing the top of her head.

"I mentioned liking Sinatra like once!" Castiel laughed, scrunching her face up when Marcus leaned down again to kiss the bridge of her nose.

"Perfect recall… most of the time." Marcus hadn't smiled this much in so long. Castiel couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him grinning like this.

She hated that she was having such bad luck with injuries… she'd do just about anything to see him smile like this more often.

"I love you." She breathed, her expression earnest and her eyes warm as a new song began to play.

So they danced together; kissing, teasing, and laughing, for the better part of an hour. It was toward the end of a particularly slow song where they weren't so much dancing as moving in a small circle together as she rested her head on his chest, that Marcus knew fatigue was finally getting to her.

Castiel's eyes were shut, and she was leaning into him a little heavily as his arms wrapped securely around her, a soft purr coming from his chest as he felt her relax even more deeply into his hold.

It was about time he put her to bed, Marcus thought as he leaned down one last time to kiss the top of her head.

"I love you so much my sweet girl."

By the time consciousness returned to her Castiel was truly not ready to wake up. Her eyes were still so tired and her body felt kind of stiff, and it wasn't until she tried moving around just a little bit that she realized that she was curled in a small ball on her good side, and the stiff feeling was just her shoulder being restrained in the sling.

She was so comfortable and warm in her little nest of blankets, she poked her head up and blinked around groggily in the dark space, noticing that she was curled up right in the middle of Marcus' bed.

She must have dozed off during that last dance with Marcus…

An unexpected sound caught her attention, it sounded like a deep voice singing, and for a moment Castiel wondered if the music was still on.

It was also just a little too bright in this room - Marcus' room was usually pitch black with all the curtains drawn if the fire wasn't going or a lamp wasn't turned on.

The sound wasn't coming from the hidden speakers, it was too localized to the area by the tv.

Moving slowly Castiel crawled to the head of the bed to grab her phone off the nightstand, planning to use it for a light when she crawled back to the end of the bed and peeked toward the front of the room.

She realized what the sound was, and could only blink in a dazed sort of way as her eyes took in what was playing on the television - the tv being the source of light that was causing the room to be dimly lit.

It was the Disney movie Tangled, and it was playing the scene where Eugene and Rapunzel were watching the lanterns fly around them on the lake, the voiceover song of "At last I see the light" playing. And there, right in the middle of the couch, singing along in his smooth deep voice, was Kemar.

Okay she was still dreaming. She was definitely, definitely still dreaming.

Without even thinking about what she was doing, she turned on the camera on her phone, switched to video, and zoomed in on Kemar and the television.

She recorded him singing for the duration of the song, and her video was a full minute and a half by the time she paused it. All she could do was stare as the movie continued, not believing her eyes and not understanding how Kemar didn't notice her.

Of all the mysteries she had yet to solve about her most efficient guard, and of all the secrets of his life she still had yet to unfold, not for one second would Castiel have believed he was a Disney fan.

Castiel went back to the middle of the bed, tossing her phone onto one of the pillows and curing up on her good side once more and letting sleep claim her once again.

Marcus leaned his head back in his throne, sighing dramatically as he thought about how he'd much rather be spending time with his mate and not sitting here listening to another coven complain about the hunting restrictions the Volturi had placed in their region due to the rising number of covens now calling the small country home. They really didn't care where covens wanted to set down roots, but if many of them wanted to be within the same roughly 2000-kilometer area, hunting guidelines had to be put in place to not attract human suspicion.

Aro probably would have allowed him to play hooky to spend time with Castiel, sympathizing with the fact that Marcus was still mentally recovering from the stress of her previous illness.

Caius however? He was not so understanding. Caius had snapped that Castiel was fine and he could wait until later to spend time with her. If she was well now Marcus had no excuse to skive off trials.

Marcus and Aro both knew Caius was only being a hard ass because he wanted to be the one taking off to spend time with Athenadora. And if he wasn't allowed to do that, Marcus and Aro weren't allowed to either.

"I think next Wednesday we'll leave free from trials." Aro sighed lowly to Marcus as Caius began loudly telling off the coven leader who just wouldn't stop complaining about the hunting restrictions even though they had told him four times they weren't going to lift the order. "I think we could all use a leisure day to spend with our mates."

Caius barked at a couple of guards to drag the vampire irritating him out of the room before he ended him, and at the same moment the door closed behind the guards and coven leader, Marcus' phone buzzed in his pocket signaling a new text. Usually he ignored his phone during trials unless it was a phone call and the caller ID showed it was someone important, but with Castiel still resting due to her weakened state as her body worked to get back to normal he was inclined to check just in case she needed something.

It was a message from Castiel, but Marcus would be damned if it made any sense to him.

"What on Earth?" He said quietly, his brows pulling together as he looked at the screen. He hadn't the faintest clue what the two little icons on the screen meant.

"What is it?" Aro faked a yawn, choosing to be dramatic to display how bored he was.

"I don't… I don't know." He squinted at the message, as if scrutinizing it like this would somehow decipher it, "She sent me two little icons. I don't know what they-,"

"Jesus." Caius ran a hand over his face as he plopped back down in his throne, "Emojis brother. We've told you a hundred times they're called Emojis."

"Oh, leave him alone Caius," Aro laughed, "He hasn't had anyone to send him emojis before meeting Castiel."

"Either way!" Caius rolled his eyes, "She's trying to convey a message or emotion using the Emojis. It's not that hard Marcus."

"It is when this doesn't make any sense!" Marcus said affronted, hearing light footsteps as Chelsea came up beside him and said "Can I see? Maybe I can help."

Marcus held the phone up a bit so Chelsea could see it. She peered at the screen over his shoulder, her face became one of surprise for a split second-

And then she collapsed.

Chelsea literally fell to the floor, clutching her ribs and giggling so hard she was completely incoherent.

Chelsea's reaction obviously piqued the interest of everyone in the room. The guards lining the walls broke off from their conversations and were sharing bemused looks as Caius and Aro both turned their heads to look at Marcus, their brother looking incredibly confused now.

"Okay I gotta see it now." Caius stood, "What did she send you?"

Heidi, who had been filling in as his second guard until they could find a permanent replacement for Afton, drifted over from where she had been standing just behind the right side of Marcus' throne.

Marcus heard her coming as well and waved off Caius who had begun to approach and showed the message to Heidi.

There was a pause for half a second.

"Oh!" Heidi grinned hugely before biting her lip to suppress her laughter, "I see."

"So, it means something?" Marcus asked sharply, feeling off-kilter, "Is this code? Is she safe? What is she trying to tell me?"

At his words "Is she safe", Chelsea snorted with laughter before shoving her knuckles in her mouth to quiet herself and Heidi made a sound that was like blowing a raspberry.

"…! PFFFT." Heidi was still better at maintaining her composure than Chelsea was at the moment. "Master Marcus…" She let out a breath as she tried to make a straight face, "Just highlight the text and paste it into Google."

"What?"

"Just do it sir," Heidi laughed, "Please."

Marcus cast one look around at everyone, his expression obviously showing he thought they were all insane, before doing as Heidi instructed and pasting the message into google and hitting search.

Heidi had to stare up at the ceiling and take deep breaths so she didn't laugh as comprehension dawned on Marcus' face, before he dropped his phone in his lap and rubbed both of his hands over his face.

It was only seeing Marcus shaking with silent laughter that caused Aro and Caius to know that he finally figured out what Castiel was trying to tell him in the message

.

"What-," Aro began, before Marcus' muffled and still laughing tone came from behind his hands.

"Oh, that girl. I'm going to kill her." He leaned back in his throne again, throwing one arm up to cover his face, laughing deep in his gut. "She knew I wouldn't understand. She knew what she was doing. Oh, I'm going to get her for this."

Aro flashed over to Marcus, beating Caius there by only a fraction of a second, and snatched the phone out of his brother's lap.

The first message Castiel had sent had been only three Emojis that Aro, and Caius who was reading over his shoulder, knew the meaning of right away.

An eggplant, a peach, and water droplets side by side.

"Bad girl," Aro chortled. "Sending him stuff like that during trials."

And as if it was just to reinforce that Marcus was right when he had said "She knew I wouldn't understand. She knew what she was doing.", a new message popped up in the chat while Aro held the phone.

It was six Emoji crying laughing faces and a short message saying, I'm sorry. I couldn't not do it. Tell Marcus I love him!, followed by more laughing faces.

Caius started laughing with everyone else when he read her second message, shaking his head and going back to his throne as Aro gave Marcus his phone back.

If it were possible, Marcus' whole face would have been rosy from his laughter. His eyes were positively twinkling as he took a few breaths to calm down and it was such a joy for Aro to see. Castiel had easily made everyone's day with her teasing – helping break up the dreadful monotony – but it was this freedom Marcus had now that really did it for Aro. This freedom to laugh at himself, to have a mate who could invoke these feelings in him that, before she had come around, had been buried for thousands of years.

"I'm embarrassed. I'm gonna kill her." The laughter was still in Marcus' voice, and just before the doors opened to admit another few vampire's with grievances, Marcus' phone buzzed again.

This time Castiel sent an Emoji he understood: a winking face blowing a kiss.

Marcus just typed out You're an idiot and then pressed enter a bunch of times so she'd have to scroll to see the I love you posted at the bottom of the message and switching his phone off before she could start more trouble.

Castiel was giggling her head off, looking down at Marcus' reply before sending a bunch of hearts and putting her phone away, already knowing he had turned his phone off and would get her reply when he turned it back on.

"What are you laughing about?" Kemar asked, and she looked up from her chair to see him with his eyebrows raised at her in the seat across the small round table in between them.

They were in the library, and she had been idly reading a book with one hand before she started fumbling with her phone and got suspiciously quiet and giggly for a few minutes.

"Oh nothing." Her smile widened, and his eyes narrowed.

"What are you up to?"

"Nothing!" Castiel laughed, "Just embarrassing Marcus."

"Embarrassing him how?" Kemar's expression became disapproving and he glanced briefly to the left at the sound of Afton entering the Library to relieve him for the rest of the day before looking back at her. "Are you bothering him during trials?"

"He's my mate!" Castiel defended, not looking the least bit ashamed, "I'm allowed to bother him."

"You know he's going to think something happened if you text him during trials, right?"

"Oh don't be such a vibe killer." Castiel waved her hand at him dismissively, "Everyone needed a laugh anyway. Just be glad I just opted to use Marcus as the catalyst and didn't send everyone in the room that video of you last night."

Kemar stilled, and Castiel could see the apprehension in his face.

"What are you talking about?"

"Last night," Castiel explained, leaning back in her chair and never once having her smile fall from her face. If anything her grin only continued to get bigger. "When I woke up and saw you watching Tangled."

Kemar shut his book with a snap, and the sudden sound did cause her to jump a little bit.

"What. Did. You. Do?" He didn't sound as angry as he was weary. But his tone was a little threatening. Castiel didn't look up at Afton when she felt him stop beside her chair, knowing he was probably glancing between the two of them in obvious confusion.

"Not take a video of you singing along to I See The Light… no, nothing like that." She grinned mischievously, and for the first time she could remember Kemar looked a little horrified, and Afton made a sound that was obviously him choking back laughter.

Kemar shot him a filthy look.

"If you even dare-," He started, but Castiel cut him off.

"Oh I won't show anyone. But it's always good to have some blackmail material, isn't it?"

Kemar stood, dropping his book on the seat of his chair and folding his arms across his chest. "I'm going to destroy your phone the second you set it down."

"Go ahead, I have the video backed up." Castiel smiled angelically, and Kemar couldn't tell if she was bluffing.

"I'm going to get you for this you little shit. Just you wait." And he turned on his heel and strode away.

She turned to Afton to see his very amused, but still slightly concerned expression.

"Oh he's not gonna do anything," Castiel reassured him, "Besides, I'll see it if he does try to get me."

Afton shook his head at her, and moved Kemar's book to the table between them as he took a seat in his vacated chair. "Whatever you say. I'm staying out of this."

When Castiel entered Marcus' room two hours later, she was surprised to see him sitting on the couch waiting for her. When she had checked an hour ago she had seen herself making it here before him, and obviously something had changed in the last sixty minutes to switch things up on her.

His expression was hard to read, so she just gave him a little smile and tried to gauge by his body language what he was thinking.

It was impossible to tell. Vampires were so good at being still when they wanted to be.

"Hi?" Castiel's voice came out as confused as she felt, and she couldn't deny she was a little relieved when he copied her smile and words.

"Hi." Marcus leaned back a little more fully, resting his hands on his thighs, "Your text message earlier was… enlightening."

Castiel laughed; she couldn't help it.

"I'm sorry!" Her apology wasn't much considering she was still giggling, "I had to. I couldn't help myself."

"Obviously." Marcus rolled his eyes playfully, before lifting one hand and motioning for her to come to him.

She did. She didn't have the instinct to stay away from him, and it was just too easy to give in to her desire to be close to him whenever she was allowed to. When she was directly in front of him, he held out a hand to take hers and then, very suddenly, pulled her forward so that she stumbled and fell onto the couch.

She let out a little indignant sound, but Marcus' hands had steadied her waist when she tripped forward and he quickly moved her so she was on his lap, facing him, her legs on either side of his as she sat back on his thighs.

"Marcus!" Castiel groaned, "You know I'm all lopsided because of this sling! I thought I was gonna bash my face on your shoulder."

"I wouldn't let that happen," He replied calmly, both of his hands coming up to start undoing her sling and freeing her left arm.

Her arm wasn't feeling too bad today, and she grimaced at the thought of more shoulder therapy - thinking this was obviously what he must have been planning.

Oh how wrong she was.

Marcus had freed her arm, tossing the sling to the other couch, and gently moved her left wrist so it was behind her back, watching her expression the entire time to see if this was uncomfortable for her.

It felt a little weird, but other than that it was fine. She wasn't quite sure what the motion he was trying to do was, until it became obvious he wasn't doing any type of shoulder therapy when he grabbed her right wrist with his free hand and brought it behind her back as well, adjusting his grip so both of her wrists were trapped in his right hand.

"Marcus-," Castiel said apprehensively, watching his free hand flash out to grab something he had hidden behind a pillow near him before both of his hands were working on her wrists briefly.

Then he drew both of his arms back to her waist, and her wrists were secured tightly with something behind her back.

Castiel pulled lightly on the restraint, making a face when she tugged a little too hard with her bad shoulder.

Marcus growled low in his chest, and her eyes flashed from where she had been staring at the collar of his shirt to his eyes.

They were black as pitch.

"Careful now." Marcus purred. "Be still so you don't hurt your shoulder."

Fuck. His voice was deep and hot; full of the unspoken things he was planning to do to her. She felt all of her lower muscles clench in response, and let out a squeak when Marcus spread his legs apart, forcing her legs open further as well because of how she had her knees braced beside either of his thighs on the couch.

"I am, so glad, you are wearing a dress." Marcus said lowly, and Castiel felt both of his hands leave her waist to slide up her thighs, under the skirt of her dress, skimming against her sheer tights until his fingers brushed the tops of them, only inches from her underwear.

"I keep forgetting that garter belts aren't necessary anymore." Marcus said thoughtfully, watching her as she tried to control her breathing, obviously referring to the fact that some thigh high tights now had the no-slip grips right at the tops so garters were rendered obsolete.

Marcus leaned forward and his lips briefly touched hers before skimming across her jaw toward her ear. "I can smell your fear you know… and your excitement too." He whispered, and Castiel could literally feel how damp her panties were becoming at his quiet words. "You like this don't you? You like being vulnerable to me."

His lips moved down her neck until he was right over her bite.

He nipped his mark gently with his teeth, and she whimpered, trying to move her hands so she could touch him and feeling as his right hand gripped the tie at her wrists, holding her still.

"You won't be needing these." Marcus said, before using his left hands to expertly shred her panties in one swift moment.

Castiel gasped, unable to break eye contact with him as he tossed her destroyed panties to the floor by his feet.

Good god she was going to die.

She tried tugging her wrists free of his hand just once, but quickly realized it was a lost cause by the fact that all he had to do was hold loosely onto the tie with one finger to keep her in place.

"There are much more restraining methods I could use to tie you up you know," Marcus informed her, his free hand moving to trace a line down her spine and causing her to arch toward him slightly, "I am capable of some very impressive ropework… I can make it so you can't move an inch."

Castiel tried to shut her legs reflexively as she felt how warm she was getting; wanting to create some much needed friction between her legs, but the position Marcus had her in not only prevented her from doing so but it also made it so he was acutely aware of every move she made on his lap.

He grinned when he realized what she was trying to do.

"Are you going to be a good girl for me?"

Good fucking… jesus. Castiel's thought's were nearly incoherent. He might as well be speaking directly to her vagina.

She could only nod mutely, words completely failing her and feeling how hot her face was as she blushed.

Marcus grinned a full, predatory smile at her that showed just a little too much teeth for her brain not to give her instinctual jolt of apprehension. He then leaned forward and began kissing down her neck, sucking and licking at all the sensitive places he knew so well.

He had her as nothing more than a quivering mess in minutes. The room was full of her soft pants and moans, and she kept trying to pull her wrists free - her desire to touch him now was stronger than she ever remembered experiencing because he was preventing her from doing so - when a sudden knock on the door made her jump.

Immediately Castiel made to get off of him, but the hand holding the tie kept her where she was. The knock sounded at the doors again, and Castiel recognised the slight patterns in the raps - it was either Aro or Caius.

"Enter." Marcus called loudly, and Castiel gave him an absolutely mortified look as the door opened and Aro strode in.

He didn't look the slightest bit surprised at what he was seeing. And Castiel let out a whimper at Marcus was so low that a part of her wondered if Aro could even hear it.

But still Marcus didn't let her get up. He only smoothed his free hand down the skirt of her dress at the back, as if to reassure her she was still covered.

And that was all good and dandy, but had he forgotten that her underwear was currently on the floor beside them?

The nerve.

Maintaining his perfect, totally unbothered by what he was looking at composure, Aro strode over to them. Castiel noticed for the first time that he had some papers tucked under his arm only when he removed them to hold them out to Marcus.

Marcus took them with his free hand, studiously pretending he didn't notice when Castiel tried to move again to get off - something completely impossible because of how he was holding her wrists - and he read them over quickly.

They were really doing this right now? What in the hell-

"The bottom two sheets need your signature," Aro explained idly, grabbing a pen from his pocket and clicking it before handing it to Marcus, who rested the papers on one of the cushions to sign. "Our friends in Dubai need the resources sooner than expected. Apparently they're organizing a relocation of a few neighboring covens immediately due to humans encroaching on their territory."

Castiel's heartbeat was so loud in her ears she could barely hear the pen scratch across the paper as Marcus signed.

"And you should do a tie that secures above her elbows as well," Aro advised stoically, taking the papers from Marcus when he held them out and tucking them under his arm again, "It'll keep her from moving her bad shoulder so much."

Castiel felt like her soul left her body. Truly ascended. She was 100% convinced she was going to die right then and there from the sheer embarrassment.

"Aro you fucker!" Her voice was so indignant that Aro nearly laughed.

Marcus growled, "Language."

She didn't look away from Aro, who just smirked at her. Her glare was way less impressive than it should be because she was blushing so badly.

"Hey, you made your bed," Aro grinned, obviously referring to the small scene her text message had caused in the throne room earlier, "Now you can lie in it. Do try not to kill her Marcus, humans aren't as resilient as vampires and we do like having her around."

With that Aro turned and strode from the room, barely holding in a laugh as he heard Castiel's indignant splutter behind him as he very dramatically stepped over the discarded panties on the floor and left the room, shutting the door with a snap behind him.

God damn. She had never been so embarrassed in her life.

When she looked back at Marcus he was smirking at her. He finally let go of her wrists and she took this as her cue to get off.

Wrong. Again.

He was so much faster than her, she wasn't able to really see what his hands were doing as they became blurs, flashing out to grab her before retrieving what was obviously another tie from where he had hid the other. He ended up doing exactly as Aro had advised, and he somehow managed to construct what she was sure was a rather complicated tie above her elbows behind her back in only a matter of seconds.

"Breathe Castiel," Marcus purred quietly when he was finished, both of his hands on her hips as he leaned forward to allow his lips to skim up and down her throat. "Relax your shoulders."

She did, and was surprised to note that while both of her arms were restrained and secure this way, the way they were tied was honestly just as comfortable as having her arm in the sling.

"Is that okay?"

Castiel ignored the question. He could tell it was fine by her body language.

"I've never been so embarrassed in my life."

"Then we're even for earlier," Marcus teased.

Her jaw dropped, "Did you and Aro plan that!?"

Marcus chuckled, and he pulled her forward so she was no longer just sitting back on his thighs, but so she was straddling him. She could feel his erection covered by the fabric of his pants pressing against the soft flesh between her legs.

"No. That was actually all just a huge coincidence and truly impeccable timing on Aro's part. I assure you he had no idea I was planning this. I told him I'd be doing paperwork for the next few hours when I left early."

Castiel just huffed at him, and Marcus let out a purr that made her gasp as she felt the subtle vibration between her legs. He held her still, keeping her body pressed firmly against him so she couldn't pull away, only purring a little louder when he felt her legs tremble.

"Now, I think we need to have a discussion about that mouth of yours."

The suggestive tone he was using, paired with the natural deepness of his voice, made it feel like her heart jumped into her throat as all of her lower muscles clenched in response.

"I don't know what you mean." Her voice sounded so breathy and nervous. Marcus grinned that predatory grin again.

"I think you know exactly what I mean." One of his hands came up to hold the side of her neck, his thumb rubbing across where her pulse was thrumming the hardest. "We've been letting the sailors' mouths go for a while, and we let the guards have their own number of slip ups in recent weeks due to the stress everyone was under, but the language has to stop."

As he said this his eyes were locked on her lips, and Castiel was sure she was about to spontaneously combust.

"I can give you something better to do with that mouth of yours than say every curse word you can possibly remember hearing in your young life." Marcus teased, thoroughly enjoying the sound of her frantic heart. "Think of it as a kind of deterrent against the foul language in the future."

"Or I can just put a quarter in a swear jar each time I say fuck-," Castiel quipped, only to end up squealing when Marcus' hand lifted her dress, and the hand that was cupping her neck moved to swat at her bare behind.

"Cheeky."

Castiel giggled, and Marcus shut his legs so hers weren't forced apart as far as they were before, giving her a little more room to move.

"Kneel on the floor." Marcus ordered, helping her to her feet, smirking at the way her legs shook like a fowls when she stood.

"Well just mark me down as scared and horny-," There was quiet laughter in her voice yes, but also the tell tale nerves she usually got whenever they were about to try something new. It helped that Marcus raised a brow at her words obviously not understanding the reference.

"Now." Marcus ordered, and she felt her legs shake a little worse as she knelt in front of him. Castiel was grinning up at him the whole time, so she might have been nervous, but she wasn't actually scared of the situation.

She stared up at him, and she felt as though everything was moving slowly as Marcus undid his belt and pants, freeing his erection while maintaining eye contact with her the entire time. One of his hands found its way into her hair, guiding her forward gently as she adjusted her position in front of him.

It was weird not being able to use her hands. Castiel was so used to placing a hand on his leg to stabilize herself - and also so she had a way to communicate with him that they might need to stop or he might have to be a little slower with his movements by gripping his leg a little tighter - and using her other hand to touch him that being able to do neither was strange.

Not being able to touch him at all, but having him being able to touch her however he wanted... Well needless to say this was new and as nerve wracking as it was exciting.

Castiel opened her mouth once the head of his cock touched her lips, and gently pressed her tongue along the underside of his shaft as he guided her mouth down on him. She shut her eyes a little, looking forward at his pelvis when his grip tightened on her hair a little.

"Look at me."

She looked up, keeping eye contact as he gently moved her head up and down, her tongue moving along his cock in practiced motions. She had gotten considerably better at this since the first time they had done this. Castiel knew his body better now. She was completely aware of how he liked to be touched, and was honestly a much better sexual partner than many he had had over the years.

And considering her still relative inexperience, that was saying something.

But she was his mate. It was only natural that they would mesh so well.

Those bright blue eyes staring up at him while her arms were restrained, his hand guiding her mouth up and down his cock, was an image he wanted to commit to his memory for the rest of his life.

She let out a little groan around his cock, and Marcus had to suppress a growl in response. The feeling was absolutely wonderful.

"You're getting so good at this," Marcus purred, closing his eyes and leaning his head back as she continued to move. She hummed in response against him, and the scent of her arousal only increased as she continued.

He wanted to try something.

"Breath slowly and deeply through your nose," He looked back down at her, finding it almost hard to talk due to the very pleasurable feeling of her mouth on him. "Relax your throat, keep your eyes on me."

Castiel's heartbeat increased just a little. She liked when he was bossy in these circumstances, and if it weren't for how calm he was she would have been a little alarmed at what she knew they were about to try.

She did as he said, breathing slowly through her nose as he slowed the hand that had been moving her mouth up and down his cock. He pulled almost completely out, before pressing forward slowly, watching her as she continued to try to breathe through her nose.

His cock pressed against the back of her tongue, and she was only barely able to suppress the urge to gag before he bumped the back of her throat.

She couldn't help when her throat seized, both of her hands clenched into fists behind her back. Marcus drew back gently, his fingers loosening in her hair as she let out a little gasp for air when her mouth was free.

"Easy," Marcus said, his voice reassuring. She nodded a little, straightening up on her knees again because she had sat back on her heels when he pulled away.

They tried again, and this time when his cock bumped the back of her throat she was able to avoid gagging. The urge was really strong though, and she desperately wanted to take a huge gulp of air even though she was breathing quite normally through her nose.

"Relax," Marcus' voice was a little rough. He was clearly half focused on making sure she was okay, and half focused on how wonderful her mouth felt. "Breath slowly. Just let your mouth drool. You're fine."

He didn't press in any further until she had taken two more slow breaths through her nose, and the feeling of his length entering her throat was very similar to the feeling of fullness she experienced the first time they were in bed together.

Her eyes watered a little bit, and she felt some of the excess saliva in her mouth pass her lower lip. She didn't try to stop it though, she just relaxed like Marcus had told her.

He was careful and slow as he pressed further into her throat, and there was a feeling of relief when Castiel felt the tip of her nose touch his pelvis.

She closed her eyes, trying to let out a little groan against this new obstruction in her throat.

"Fuck Castiel." Marcus groaned, his tone unlike anything she had heard from him before. It was a voice full of need and awe. "Such a good girl."

Castiel had never been so aroused in her life, that was for sure.

The urge to breathe hit her suddenly and she spluttered around his cock, finally gagging and causing Marcus to draw himself out of her throat and mouth in one smooth motion.

She sat back again, swallowing and allowing herself a few deep breaths. Marcus' hands left her hair and came to cradle her face, his thumbs gently rubbing the wetness from under her eyes.

"You okay?"

Castiel nodded and sat back for another minute before straightening up on her knees again, trying not to smirk when Marcus looked a little surprised.

The surprise only lasted a second though, and he was very quickly back to focusing on what they had been doing. His hands found her hair once more, and she opened her mouth willingly to take his length again. He groaned loudly and felt himself nudge the back of her throat before he pulled back slightly and pressed forward again. He allowed himself to go a little deeper with each thrust, softly groaning, reminding her to breathe slowly.

Castiel did gag a tiny bit the first few thrusts, but not enough to cause him to stop, and this time when Marcus' cock was fully in her throat again he held her there with a low moan.

At first the only soft words he spoke were whispered reminders to relax and breathe, so when he suddenly said, "God I want to fuck your throat so badly." Castiel's slightly watering eyes opened to look up at him again.

She had no way to communicate what she thought of this to him, but he seemed to be able to read it in her eyes.

He was careful as he held her head, allowing himself to move his hips forward and back, fucking her throat gently and maintaing eye contact. Castiel understood that this was his way of making sure she was okay, as she couldn't give him any indications with her body language due to how she was tied.

It was a learning experience, figuring out when the appropriate times were to inhale through her nose, and feeling the sensation of choking as he continued to press his cock as deeply as her throat would allow, his pelvis touching the tip of her nose each time. She was powerless to stop him during this too, and it pleased some deep unnamable part of her to submit to him like this. Castiel knew it was her instincts, and knew it had to do with their bond, but it was still a surprise just how much doing this turned her on.

There was a considerable amount of wetness on her chin - no one could claim this act wasn't messy that was for sure - and Castiel blinked to clear her slightly blurry vision as her throat seemed to constrict around Marcus cock for a second.

"That's it baby." Marcus moaned, his movements becoming a little less even, "You are so good at this. Such a good little mate."

It was the scent of her spiking arousal, and the slightly hazy look in her eyes at his words that ended him, and Marcus pressed himself all the way into her throat as he came.

The sensation of having Marcus cum down her throat was incomparable to anything she'd experienced before, and the look of absolute pleasure on his face was not something she was going to forget. Castiel knew there would be more repeats of this, and just hoped that with time her gag reflex wouldn't be so bad.

Because basically the whole time they had been doing this Castiel had been fighting against the slightly uncomfortable urge to gag.

Castiel choked on his cock again, and this time when Marcus pulled out there was a string of saliva that connected them. She was sure she was blushing again as she turned her head to break the strand, awkwardly turning her head and half rubbing her face clean on her shoulder.

She was expecting Marcus to let her catch her breath, so she started slightly when he stooped down and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her up from the floor and stepping back until they were at the couch again.

He sat, situating her so she was straddling him, and she cried out as she felt the sudden press of the head of his cock against her opening before he guided her down on him.

The sudden penetration would have been uncomfortable if she hadn't been so aroused while deep-throating Marcus, and if his cock hadn't been so thoroughly soaked with her saliva.

"Ah!" Castiel couldn't make a more coherent word; she felt the familiar warm stretch as her body adjusted to accommodate him, and let out a little whimper when he was fully seated inside her.

She had forgotten for a moment just how high a vampire's stamina really was. Marcus hadn't softened at all.

Marcus' mouth was on hers suddenly, and she felt herself completely relax in his hold, her hands flexing instinctively as she had the urge to touch him.

He didn't give her that much time to adjust, his hands found her hips and his lips left hers so that they were brushing the shell of her ear, whispering filthy things to her as he began lifting and lowering her on his cock.

"You're always so ready for me. So ready to take my cock like a good mate."

Fucking hell. Castiel whimpered and felt herself tighten around him. There was no need for him to touch her clitorous, she was already so close as it was that she was sure she could orgasm from his words alone.

"I'm glad we could get you acquainted with deep-throating. It'll be a good thing to have you practice whenever you feel like cursing like a sailor, that way we can fix that filthy mouth of yours."

So close. She was so close.

"Please-," Castiel whimpered, her legs were definitely not strong enough for her to try to change their movements, and she had no leverage with her arms obviously. "Please-,"

"Please what baby?" Marcus purred, and she felt his teeth nip very gently at the delicate skin where her jaw met her neck.

"Please." She panted, "Harder. Please-,"

He growled and obliged, his hips snapping into hers every time he pulled her down on him. She felt him hit that spot deep inside her that she needed so badly - she was nearly seeing stars.

The sound of skin against skin, her cries of pleasure, and the sound of his soft growls were the only things in the room that had any meaning now. And Castiel was almost there, she could feel herself on the edge of her pleasure when-,"

"I love how aroused you were when you were choking on my cock. I love how willing you are to submit to me. My sweet, trusting girl. It only makes it that much easier for me to fill up your perfect little-,"

Castiel cried out as she orgasmed, not hearing the end of his sentence at all, her sheath clamping around him, her body overstimulated by his continued movements as she found her release. After a few more thrusts Marcus joined her, spilling himself deeply inside her with a groan.

Her head found his shoulder, and they stayed there together on the couch for a few long minutes. One of Marcus' free hands came to pet her hair, and she was so exhausted she felt like she could sleep, and she felt very hot in her dress. This experience was so different from the other times they had been intimate because she was not only restrained, but they were both almost completely clothed during the act.

Just as she started to doze off she felt Marcus chuckle against her, pulling out of her carefully before standing and lifting her with him, positioning her over her shoulder and causing her to yelp in surprise.

"Oh you didn't think I was done with you, did you?" Marcus' voice was so deep and sexy that Castiel couldn't even think of a witty response. To her complete shock she felt as her body reawakened, beginning to respond again in the way it only ever did with him. "I planned to have you naked and senseless before we were finished here. We might be close to the second part, but there is still some work to be desired with the first one."

Yup she was going to die. He was going to kill her. Death by orgasm.

Well, there were worse ways to go, that was for sure.

He put her on her stomach on the bed, and she had barely struggled to her knees before she felt the bed dip behind her and Marcus' hand on the back of her neck. His other hand found her hip and he pulled her hips back toward him with one hand while forcing her face down to the bed with the other.

Of all the positions she had ever done with him, she had never felt as exposed as she did now; on her knees with her hips and rear in the air, her most sensitive parts completely exposed to him when he forced her shoulders and face to the bed. With her bound arms, she was completely and utterly vulnerable in this position - more so than any other tonight. He growled in a pleased kind of way as he obviously took in the view as he sat back.

"Marcus-," She swallowed, sounding unsure and a little scared.

He had never taken her from behind before. It was a little intense to be doing this for the first time while she was tied.

"Hush," Marcus cooed. "I know how vulnerable you must feel. If you want to stop at any point, you only have to say so."

Castiel was breathing heavily, and she felt as he ran his hands up the backs of her leg and her rear, lightly smacking her ass with one hand and causing her to let out a startled "Eep!" before he grabbed the skirt of her dress which he had already moved out of his way when he had pushed her shoulders to the bed.

"I hope you weren't very fond of this one."

And with that he shredded her dress, removing the scraps from her body in seconds. Her bra was history too, but to say she hadn't expected this would have been a lie.

"Much better." He hummed in approval, she could hear as he started removing his clothes - obviously not seeing the necessity to shred them too since he wasn't the one tied up.

"Next time I'm going to restrain your feet too." Marcus said sensually, the promise in his voice clear. "Would you like that?"

She didn't answer, and only responded when she felt the bed dip again, closer to her knees this time as Marcus positioned himself behind her, after he smacked her ass once more.

"Yes!"

"Good girl." He purred. Castiel didn't know it, but he was also praising the fact that she had stayed in the position he had put her in while he undressed.

His hand fisted in the hair at the back of her head, wrapping the length of it around his wrist as he positioned her as he wanted, his other hand finding her hip and his knee forcing her legs further apart.

Castiel's breathing sped up, and he could not only smell, but feel how wet she was for him once more as he positioned the head of his cock against her opening.

"One day I'm going to have your ass too baby." He whispered, "But I think we'll start with this for now."

And with one smooth movement Marcus slid completely inside her, his hips against her behind. He hadn't moved too quickly by any means, but she still cried out in surprise at the sudden fullness.

This angle. On god she hadn't thought there was any part of her he had yet to fill, but it sure felt like he was pressing into new places in her right now.

He didn't move, he just let her get used to it.

The fact that she couldn't see him, and the fact that he was so completely invading her senses all the same, made her feel like everything in the world was lost to her but him.

"This position is going to feel very intense, but very good my sweet girl." Marcus purred, "We're going to do this quick and hard, and then I'm going to let you rest."

Quick and hard? Man she could hardly imagine him moving to begin with with how deep he was inside her body right now.

Castiel knew without a doubt, Marcus was about to show her what it felt like when people said it felt like a guy "rearranged their guts" after good sex.

She didn't get much more time to think about it, because one second Marcus was still, and the next he was holding good on his promise and pounding into her with a force she hadn't yet known from him. His strokes were quick and deep, and he bottomed out inside her right away.

He was one-hundred-percent correct about the very intense part. There was just so much feeling in this position. She could feel his cock against every single tiny part inside her, and on the particularly deep thrusts where he'd hit her g-spot just right she forgot everything that wasn't pleasure. Castiel couldn't even remember her name. The feeling just wiped all common sense and rational thought from her.

She probably would have bitten the covers or tried to muffle the sounds she was making against the bed if it weren't for how Marcus was holding her hair and keeping her head back.

Castiel was sure part of it was to keep her from hiding - he liked to hear her during sex - but she was also sure part of it was to make sure she didn't suffocate herself or something.

Marcus was grunting behind her, and she knew her cries were the farthest thing from quiet. Every time he hit that spot deep inside her she could feel herself getting closer and closer to her release, and all Marcus could feel was how hot and tight her body was. She was already starting to grip his cock in that telltale sign she would finish soon, and he could smell the slight tinge of salt in the air as her eyes watered at the overstimulation of her body.

"C'mon baby." Marcus growled. "Come for your mate."

His words were here undoing. He felt her body tighten around him, spasming and trying to pull his release from him as she came, and he finished with her, his cock twitching inside her as he pressed in as deep as her little body would allow.

Castiel let out a little whimper and tried to pull her hips away, but his hand grabbed one of the thin ropes that were restraining her arms to hold her still, instinct demanding he stayed as deep inside her as he could as his release pulsed from him. He was nestled right up against her cervix, he could feel it, and he knew that the sensation would be a little uncomfortable for her, but not painful.

She relaxed into the bed, and when he finally finished he drew his hips back, gently pulling out of her and seeing how her legs shook when his hand was no longer holding her hips.

He gently released her hair and guided her down so she was lying on her stomach and he could undo the ties.

"Mmm." Castiel made a face as her arms returned to a more natural position. He had kept her restrained a little longer than he had intended.

"Stay still." Marcus said softly, "Let's massage your shoulders."

Castiel actually did fall asleep while Marcus gently rubbed her shoulders - this rubbing was nothing like the massages he did during shoulder therapy - because he also rubbed her arms and back. She roused awake again only when he lifted her so he could place her under the covers, before sliding into bed beside her.

She cuddled up to him immediately; resting her head on his chest and letting out a sigh. Her thighs were killing her and her abdomen definitely felt different.

Castiel laughed quietly against him, and Marcus' hand came up to idle on her hair. "What?" He sounded amused.

"I think I now know what it feels like to have my guts rearranged."

Marcus laughed loudly, "Good lord the things you say are so unexpected sometimes."

"Only because you're old as dirt." She teased, turning her head to press her lips to his chest in a quick kiss.

He shrugged at the comment, knowing this was probably true, and they laid together in peaceful silence for a few minutes, her body warming his and her heart playing a gentle rhythm against his side. The only other things in the room he focused on was her slow breathing and the patterns her fingertips were lightly tracing on his arm.

"I can't tell you how pleased I am after tonight." Marcus said warmly, nuzzling his face into her hair as she continued to rest her head against his chest. "To have you so vulnerable, yet submitting to me so willingly… you are such a good mate. It means everything to me that you trust me so much."

Castiel's only response was to move her hand to rest it over where his heart should be beating.

"I love you."

His hand moved to cover hers, while the other stroked her hair. "And I love you."

"Don't forget that you're meeting Marcus in the library at two." Kemar reminded Castiel as she sat at the island in the kitchen, awkwardly eating soup with her right hand. Arkos had checked her arm that morning and he hadn't seemed pleased by the fact that her shoulder was still considerably sore and tender. He said she'd likely be spending 8 weeks in the sling.

But apparently he had been expecting this. Six weeks was the short end of the scale when it came to healing time, and he knew she'd probably have thrown a fit if he dared to say eight to ten weeks in the sling after a serious shoulder surgery wouldn't be considered abnormal right at the beginning.

And to be fair, she hadn't been very consistent recently with keeping her sling on.

"Yeah, and that's like two hours from now," Castiel said with a raised brow, to which Kemar shrugged, going back to looking down at the magazine he had in front of him as he sat on the opposite side of the island.

"Well, humans are forgetful so I figured I'd remind you."

Castiel scooped a carrot out of her soup with her spoon and flung it at him. "You're a jerk."

He leaned to one side, easily avoiding the soggy carrot before he rolled up his magazine a whapped her on top of the head with it. "And you're an idiot."

"Am I interrupting something?"

Bella's voice sounded from over by the kitchen door; they had both heard her come in but were too busy being dumb to acknowledge her right away.

The way Castiel grinned upon seeing her made it clear that the spectacle she had walked in on was just the two of them razzing each other, and there was a clear warmth to Castiel's expression that showed Bella the other girl was really happy to see her.

"Bells!" Cas called cheerfully, sliding off her stool to meet her halfway across the kitchen. They each gave the other an awkward one armed hug.

"I'm so happy you're alright!" Bella said earnestly, giving Castiel's good side a hard squeeze. "I've been so worried, they only just gave me permission to see you today. They wouldn't let me come see you until I hadn't been sick for three weeks!"

"That's overkill..." Castiel said, turning to look at Kemar with her eyebrows raised.

"We weren't taking any chances." Kemar didn't even look up from the magazine when he responded.

"Anyways," Castiel shrugged, "Where's Edward? I thought he'd be with you?"

"Nah." Bella shook her head, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable. "I asked him for some space. I got used to being able to wander a bit since I got here and after he got back he's been a little…"

She trailed off, looking guilty. Castiel knew what she wanted to say was "smothering" but felt like it would be wrong to say something like that about her partner.

"Come sit. Are you hungry? Emmanuel made soup." Cas said in an obvious effort to change the subject, and for that Bella was grateful.

After heating her own portion of soup in the microwave Bella sat beside Castiel at the kitchen island. She didn't start eating right away though, because she was distracted by the awkward way Cas was trying to eat with her non dominant arm.

Castiel raised her spoon to her lips and half missed her mouth, managing to get soup down her chin and shirt… clearly she still had very little dexterity with her right hand.

Bella snickered at her.

"I'm sorry," Bella laughed, not sounding sorry at all. "Need help?"

The idea of Bella spoon feeding her in front of Kemar was mortifying.

"No-,"

"If you think that was funny, you should have seen her after she first stood up this morning. It was like a baby deer learning to walk for the first time." Kemar smirked, side eyeing Castiel.

Okay nope, that was mortifying.

"Why were your legs-," Bella began, but Castiel cut her off with a sigh.

"Because I got the most thorough dicking down of my life last night." Castiel's tone was completely deadpan, and she and Bella stared at each other for a long second before they both started giggling at the same time.

"Gosh your tone when you said that was just perfect," Bella laughed.

"I could barely walk this morning!" Castiel complained dramatically, "And I could tell Marcus was trying not to laugh at me. Doesn't mean much when he's standing there looking all smug."

"Is sex really even that good?" Bella asked, still grinning as she ate a spoonful of her own soup.

"Let's just say, I'm pretty sure there was a point last night when I forgot both my name, and his name-,"

Bella choked, and Kemar, who had been keeping it together so well the girls thought he had just been tuning them out, snorted with laughter at that.

"Yes!" Cas threw her good arm in the air, still clutching her spoon. "I finally made him laugh!"

Kemar just shook his head and looked back down at his reading, but he was still smirking.

"Hey if you're gonna hang around all the time, you gotta get used to the girl talk-,"

"Shut up Castiel."

Bella just grinned as she watched the two of them, coughing loudly into her elbow with her eyes watering as she tried to clear her airway. Castiel would have pat her back, but Bella was sitting on her bad side.

"Where's Afton?" Bella asked, seeming a little hesitant to resume eating her soup after she was finally able to breathe again. "I haven't seen him around much lately."

"Kemar takes a lot of the shifts," Cas said, finishing her soup and sliding off the stool so she could put her bowl in the sink, "Afton spends a lot of time with Chelsea and Marcus. Marcus still hasn't found a permanent replacement for him after making him my personal guard. Chelsea was the only guard for Marcus for a long while but Aro and Caius weren't comfortable with him only having one personal guard even though he could put basically anyone in the ground at a moments notice."

She rolled her eyes. "So, Afton has been guarding Marcus and I each part time. They don't try to make me have more than just Kemar wandering with me during normal days cause they know I feel suffocated. I basically have Kemar with me 75% of the time and Afton the other 25% when I'm not with Marcus. When Marcus is busy he has Chelsea with him almost all the time, with Afton and Heidi trading off as his second guard every few days."

"Heidi!?" Bella said, shocked.

Castiel raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah? She's one of the elite guard Bella, and a completely competent fighter…"

Then she trailed off, realizing that it wasn't a question of Heidi's skill that made Bella look so surprised.

Jeez why did everyone always expect her to be jealous?

"Bells, Heidi is a total babe but she's definitely not someone anyone should ever be concerned about. Heidi's a wonderful woman, and quite honestly she'd never be with a mated or married man or woman. She's a huge advocate against domestic violence, and would personally jab a cheater in the eye with the point of her high heel if given the opportunity."

Bella blushed, "Oh! I'm sorry I know it's terrible of me to assume-,"

"You are going to be a ferocious newborn one day Swan." Kemar's voice was amused, and Bella's head shot up to see he was looking right at her. "With that little green monster of envy and jealousy on your shoulder, you'll rip the head off of anyone you perceive as a threat to your mating."

Kemar sounded like this whole concept was hilarious to him.

"Leave her alone Kemar," Castiel threw the spoon she had just washed at him, and this time it actually did make contact with the back of his head before it clattered to the floor.

Thankfully for Bella's sake he listened. There was just something about him that made her so nervous, and Bella got the feeling the Castiel could tell. It was in the way her friend's eyes traveled from Kemar to Bella with this knowing, inquisitive look that said it all.

They stayed in the kitchen for a while, and it was when Castiel only had ten minutes to make it to the library to meet Marcus that Kemar finally tuned back into the girl's conversation - closing the reading app he had been focusing on on his phone - and sighed at the argument they were having.

"Oh no way!" Castiel said dramatically, waving her hand in Bella's direction. "Chocolate cake is one thousand times better than vanilla-"

"No!" Bella argued back, "Vanilla is clearly the dominant flavor. No one likes chocolate cake. At every bake sale I ever participated in in grade school I always made vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing-,"

"Ugh gross." Castiel's expression was genuinely repulsed at the idea. "Come on you didn't even do vanilla with chocolate icing?"

"People never complained!"

"Yeah, and they probably fed them to the local wildlife because vanilla is gross." Castiel muttered, and Bella made a mock offended look.

"Vanilla is good!"

"Sorry," Castiel gave her an angelic smile, "You lose credibility in what sweets you think are good because I know one of your favorite candies is black licorice."

"Ouch. That hurts." Bella said sarcastically, laying a hand over her heart, "You wound me. Your callous words truly wound me."

"At least you like sour patch kids. It's your only saving grace-,"

"Hey!"

It had been a while since the last time Castiel and Marcus had spent time together in the library. When she arrived she was pleased to see that finally, after all these months, they had repaired the damage to all the shelves and books Marcus had destroyed when he had tried to kill Nikita - she hadn't been over in this part of the library when she had sat here with Kemar and Afton the previous day.

She didn't even bother taking a seat across from Marcus when she got there. She just wedged herself into his chair with him, her legs over his lap and his left arm around her back as she leaned her good side into him.

Castiel didn't grab her own book, finding it easier to look down at whatever Marcus was reading. She really couldn't wait until she could freely use both of her arms again.

Marcus indulged her and decided to grab a book out of the pile next to him titled "Missing 411 - North America and Beyond" because he figured she'd find it more interesting than the others he had with him. It was full of short stories of people who vanished under mysterious and strange circumstances in the woods and things of the sort.

He wasn't used to reading slowly, so he just quickly scanned the text and waited patiently for her to finish at her own pace before he turned each page.

"Can I take my arm out of the sling for a little bit?" Castiel asked after nearly half an hour of peaceful reading.

Marcus thought it over, feeling that there was no reason she shouldn't be allowed this since she was in the library with him and there wasn't much she could do to overextend her shoulder.

"Sure."

He helped her get free of the sling, and set it on the table next to them before they resumed reading.

It was about ten minutes later that a sound caught Marcus' attention - a quiet scoff that caused him to turn his head to look over Castiel's which was bent as she read the book.

First Marcus saw Kemar, who was standing stock still and glaring dangerously into a section of shelving at the far side of the room, and then he noticed where the sound had come from.

Ajmer exited the row of shelves, now standing just at the edge of the large open center of the library. He cast one look over at Kemar before glancing over at where Marcus was sitting with Castiel, seemingly unable to help himself.

Ajmer gave him a filthy look when they made eye contact and the other vampire swiftly turned and nearly stomped away toward the stairs to lead him to the second floor of the library.

The arm Marcus had around Castiel flexed ever so slightly. Ajmer was really getting on his nerves.

He didn't like that Ajmer wanted what was so clearly his.

Castiel didn't notice the brief glaring match, nor the sudden subtle aggravation coming from her mate. But her brow did furrow a little bit and she nuzzled herself a little more firmly into Marcus' body as if she were suddenly uncomfortable and unsure why.

Marcus looked down at the top of her head, thinking. He turned the next few pages of the book at the appropriate pace for Castiel to read even though he was no longer paying attention.

He had an opportunity here to make a point, and to make sure the fuck who had just taken residence at one of the tables on the second floor of the library got the message loud and clear that Castiel was his.

"Dearest." Marcus said idly, trying to tame his instincts and his body until the proper moment. If she knew what he was about to do she would undoubtedly get much too shy for this plan to work.

"Hmm?" Sleepy blue eyes looked up at him when she turned her head. This was a good sign. If she was a little tired she was even more unlikely to see what he had planned.

"Do you think you could put these extra books away for me?" He motioned with his chin to the small pile on the little table beside the chair. "They all go in the aisle just over there," He indicated the second aisle to the left just behind the chair. "I need a word with Kemar."

Marcus heard Kemar shift slightly at his words, and thankfully Castiel only looked a little surprised at his request.

"Sure. No problem." She stood smoothly, rolling her shoulder carefully before leaning down to pick up the books, careful to make sure her dress hadn't rode up when they were sitting.

And yet again, Marcus was so pleased she was wearing a dress. It would make his entire strategy only that much easier.

Kemar met Marcus at the halfway point between where they had each been positioned moments before, and he didn't say anything as Marcus leaned toward him slightly to say, "Make sure this library is empty of everyone except Ajmer, and make sure that he does not interrupt me under any circumstances. Relay this information to Afton." so quietly that only Kemar could hear him. They both heard as Afton drifted around the shelves a few aisles away from Castiel as he kept a discreet watch over her.

Kemar kept a completely straight face and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Marcus gave him exactly one minute to clear the library, listening to Castiel hum as she searched around for the appropriate places to put away the books.

Kemar and Afton had the library cleared in only 47 seconds. Marcus could hear Ajmer on the second floor still - completely unaware that the rest of the guards who had been wandering the many selves and sitting at the tables had rapidly vacated the premises, and knew that Afton was up there to make sure that should the former try anything he could stop him before he reached the first floor.

Marcus figured both guards had some faint idea of what Marcus was planning, because Kemar kept a little more distance than necessary when he wandered back to the main floor.

Castiel huffed in annoyance, and Marcus heard the telltale sign of someone climbing precariously up a couple of shelves.

He entered the aisle she was in swiftly, and saw that she was standing on the second shelf up from the floor, reaching carefully above her head with her bad arm - choosing to use her good arm to maintain her grip on the shelves - to place the last book back where it belonged.

In any other situation he probably would have scolded her for not just asking someone taller to put the book away for her, and risking climbing up bookshelves while she had an injured arm. Climbing library shelves would be considered risky even without already having an injury.

But these shelves were sturdy, and the position she was in was absolutely perfect for what he wanted to do.

Marcus was not a religious man even though he had once been named a saint, but he certainly felt like there was some higher power he should be thanking for his luck right now.

"Need help?" Marcus' quiet voice was right in her ear, and Castiel yelped in shock and probably would have fallen from where she was if his chest wasn't suddenly pressed against her back, one of his arms wrapping around her waist.

"Damn it Marcus don't scare me like-," Castiel whispered furiously, her voice naturally quieting because of the silence around them, but it wasn't the silence that made her stop short.

It was the fact that she could feel Marcus pressing what was very clearly his erection into her behind. This shelf she was standing on put her at exactly the right height for him to-

She didn't need to finish the thought, because Marcus very clearly showed her they were both thinking the same thing as his free hand went up her dress, his fingers lightly skimming the inside of her thigh and causing her to let out a trembling breath.

"Marcus!" She hissed at him, they could not do this here, what was he thinking? Had last night not been enou-

"Ah!" Her thoughts were cut short as Marcus stroked her through her panties, his fingers lightly rubbing in a circle over her clitoris. Her left hand grabbed the forearm of the hand that was on her and therefore holding up the front of her dress. If her thoughts were coherent she most likely would have tried to move his hand away.

But they weren't. She was so nervous about getting caught, and so shocked that Marcus was touching her like this in what was basically a public setting, but that didn't stop her body from responding to his touch. Her fear of getting caught didn't change the fact that she loved it when he touched her, and that she was always eager to feel the physical pleasure she knew he was capable of providing.

"Hold the shelves." Marcus whispered so low in her ear she hardly heard him, and she let go of his arm as she felt him pull his hand away from under her dress, listening to the sound of him undoing his zipper. She had barely grabbed the back of the shelf in front of her - knocking some books aside to do so - when she felt Marcus lift the back of her dress, his hand dipping under her skirt again to pull her underwear aside.

"Ah-," She was not used to this, and especially wasn't used to needing to be completely silent during sex because Marcus always made sure she couldn't hide from him when they were intimate. He liked to hear every sound she made.

But not right now though. Right now he needed her to be quiet.

Or at least, he had to make a show of making it seem as though he didn't want anyone to hear them.

The hand that had been securely around her waist moved so that it was covering her mouth. Castiel let out a little muffled cry against his hand as he began to sink into her, feeling her tight heat gripping him like a fist.

"Shh." He hushed her, his voice low in her ear. "You need to be quiet, baby."

Her heart was pounding by the time he was completely inside her, and he nuzzled his face into her wonderfully soft hair, whispering to her how she was such a good mate, and how she always made him feel so good.

And then he started to move, and there was no way in hell the other three vampires in this library couldn't hear the very muffled but still audible sounds coming from Castiel, or the whispered words Marcus said to her as he pounded into her from behind.

There was no need to drag this out. Marcus wanted Castiel to finish quickly. He wanted to show how easily his sweet mate would come apart for him and for the vampire upstairs to get it out of his head that Castiel would ever belong to anyone but him.

Marcus felt as she tightened around him, and felt the muffled whimper against his hand as she got close, her nerves at the setting around them probably making it more difficult for her to finish.

"That's it baby." Marcus purred in her ear, knowing exactly what he needed to say, "Now be a good girl and come."

She did, crying out against his hand and clenching around him as she felt his hips stutter finding his completion at the same moment.

The act had been quick, only taking about five minutes, but even so when Marcus withdrew from her and gently readjusted her clothes she still needed his help standing when he lifted her off the shelf and set her back on the floor.

If she wasn't so focused on not falling, she might have noticed the smug smirk and small bark of a laugh that came from Marcus at the sound of Ajmer lightly scuffling with Afton, who clearly knocked Castiel's ex-friend on to his ass if the thump from above was anything to go by.

"Fuck you!" Ajmer hissed. There was no way Castiel would hear it, but Marcus really had to try to suppress his laugh this time, knowing that the fuck you wasn't just meant for Afton.

Castiel was sitting on the floor in front of the unlit fireplace in Marcus' rooms, half listening to the television as the movie Men In Black ran in the background while the rest of her attention was focused on the absolutely massive puzzle she was working on. It had this crazy black, white, and grey artwork on it supposedly making it a very difficult puzzle to complete so she wasn't letting herself get too aggravated by it when it was taking her a while to finish the border. Every now and again she'd tilt her head up and focus on the movie for a few minutes before going back to what she was doing.

She wished she could do something more fun like paint or something, but after her little er… moment with Marcus in the library the previous day her shoulder had begun to ache something fierce, and she had to go to Arkos to have him look at her shoulder again.

He gave her a prescription bottle with some pain meds, and warned her to only take them when she absolutely needed them and that they'd most likely make her very drowsy. Arkos also told her that she was no longer able to take the sling off at periods of low activity. It was to stay on 24/7 and only to be removed when she was showering.

She had been very pouty all morning because of it. She wanted to be able to use both of her arms again and not have it hurt when she did so.

Castiel took only one pain pill the previous day, and had just taken another twenty minutes ago so now she was growing more and more drowsy by the second and was thinking about taking a nap when the door to the rooms opened and Kemar came in.

He strode right over to where she was sitting on the floor, the look on his face obviously showing he wanted something.

"What?" Castiel yawned, looking completely tired and totally unaware as to what he could want.

She really hadn't been focusing on her visions so heavily the last few days, but Kemar didn't actually mind that. She was a hell of a lot easier to deal with when she was acting… well… normal.

And it also meant she wouldn't at all be prepared for what he was about to say.

"Do you still have that video of me you took the other night?" His voice was pleasant as he asked the question, and Castiel's expression changed from tired to suspicious.

"Yeah… why?"

Kemar smirked at her, "Oh no reason. You haven't sent it to anyone either, have you?"

Castiel very clearly had no idea where he was going with this, but the set of her mouth showed that whatever it was he was about to say, she knew it wasn't good.

"Of course not."

"Good." Kemar said cheerfully, drawing his own phone from his back pocket. "Then I'll give you some forewarning. If you ever, share that video with anyone, I'll share what I have with your father."

Castiel's stomach felt like it fell into her butt.

"What do you have?" She asked slowly, obviously extremely apprehensive of the answer

"I thought you'd never ask," His grin was absolutely evil as he clicked something on his phone, showing her the screen and that what was playing was just an audio clip.

The sound that came out of the speaker literally had her immediately on her feet, throwing every swear word she could possibly think of at him, absolutely horrified.

Kemar laughed aloud, pausing the audio clip and putting his phone back in his pocket, completely unbothered by her yelling.

"It's simple Castiel. You don't show anyone the video of me singing along to what is, quite honestly, a very good movie, and I don't send your father the thirty second audio of you having sex with your mate."

She was white as a sheet, and Kemar figured he had probably gone a little far, but he knew she needed to learn how her ideas could backfire on her.

And with that he turned on his heel and left her standing stunned in the middle of the room.

Kemar took the most direct route to his destination, only pausing once to allow a small grey cat to run across his path as it chased a mouse. The fact that the Volturi had a couple dozen cats that roamed the halls in the castle specifically so the felines could hunt mice had always been incredibly amusing to him, and he remembered Castiel's shock when she saw one for the first time a couple months ago and squealed in delight.

The cats usually avoided the vampires, but the orange tabby that had been lounging in the sun on a windowsill was more than happy to allow Castiel to come up to it and scratch behind its ears.

She always looked around eagerly now when they entered sunlit halls, always hoping to see the cat again.

It was cute really, and he didn't quite have the heart to tell her she'd be lucky if she crossed any of the cats more than twice a year.

Kemar finally made it to his destination - Aro and Sulpicia's halls. He'd have to take a detour once he was done here to check if the walls in Caius and Athenadora's halls still had the chalk mural on them.

Afton was standing guard outside the doors to Aro's office, much to Kemar's surprise.

Kemar raised a brow at Afton as he approached, "I've been summoned?"

Afton just shrugged, indicating he didn't know the reason for it, and stepping aside to allow him through.

When he entered, letting Afton reach in to pull the door shut behind him, he was surprised to see only Castiel and Aro in the office.

Castiel looked uncomfortable, leaning against the back of the couch facing Aro's desk. And Aro looked disapproving as he mimicked her posture, facing the two of them with his arms crossed as he leaned back against the polished wood of his finest desk.

Kemar stood next to Castiel, waiting for Aro to speak.

Aro held a hand out to Kemar, and Kemar brushed palms with the ancient for a brief moment. Aro was now familiar enough with his mind that extended physical contact wasn't necessary to see all of his memories.

"Phones." Aro sighed, sounding tired and irritated, holding out both of his hands. "Each of you. Now."

They both gave him their phones - Castiel had taken to using her sling as a kind of extra pocket and had her phone tucked away in it for easy access while Kemar had to fish his out of his back pocket.

Aro put in the passwords to unlock both of their phones, and in less than thirty second he was handing them back.

"The audio clip and the video clip are both deleted, and contrary to what either of you might have told the other, neither one of you have a backup file saved." Aro gave them both a sharp look. "Is there going to be a problem?"

"No Sir." Kemar said simply, while Castiel just responded with a quick "No."

"Good, now I'm sure it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway." Aro turned to Castiel, "Castiel, it is not appropriate for you to be trying to find blackmail material on your guard."

She nodded and his gaze switched to Kemar. "And Kemar, it is beyond inappropriate for you to record Castiel and Marcus while they are having sex."

"Yes sir."

"I understand you were both just messing with the other, but I'm just going to put this out there - neither of you had any real intention to embarrass the other, and I know both of you were worried that the other might actually do what they threatened."

Castiel played with the strap of her sling, not knowing what to say when Aro paused, but not needing to come up with anything because her brother continued.

"You both care about each other a lot more than either of you will ever say aloud. Now hug and get out of my office."

Hug?

Castiel and Kemar both glanced at each other, visibly weirded out by the idea of hugging the other. Castiel was a hugger, but she'd never ever imagined hugging Kemar; and Kemar was definitely not a hugger. He didn't like when people touched him for the most part.

"Now." Aro ordered, and Castiel didn't bother to try hiding her sigh as she and Kemar faced each other.

It wasn't a proper hug because of her arm and the fact she had to remain slightly turned because of it, but it was a hug all the same. And much to her surprise it wasn't one of those awkward and extremely brief one second arm hugs, it was a very decent good squeeze on both of their parts considering how her arm was bent between them.

"Good." Aro said simply, "Now get out."

And that all folks, Started with some angst, filled with fluff and smut, and ending with one of the most awkward hugs I could imagine lmao.

A/N: Happy April 1st! Hope y'all enjoyed the new chapter (even if it was mostly just shenanigans and smut lol). I feel like we all needed a little break from the seriousness of recent chapters and this is what happened.

Important notes… SERIOUSLY PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS:

1. I'm not sure how many of you noticed, but in January I went through and edited every single chapter of this story. It was a ton of work but I hope it will be more coherent and I'm a lot happier with how the story is written now. I've even added new, deleted scenes to previous chapters. Give it a read and let me know if you can find them ;)

2. Part of the reason this chapter took so long is because I had some serious burnout after all that editing lol.

I've also posted a silly one shot CaiusxLeah crackfic. I might turn it into a 3-5 chapter short story. If it would interest you feel free to give it a read.

I am now present on Ao3 so this story is backed up somewhere just in case anything happens with this story on fanfiction. You can also (hopefully) find me a little easier on Tumblr now under the username FairlyAverageFF.

3. I know some of you have asked me in recent weeks/months about making a webpage or something where people could come talk twilight/harry potter/insert other fandom here and share memes and fanfic recommendations. I was seriously going to create my own page when I came across a story here on fanfiction called Casual Vacancy by Reveri (which I HIGHLY recommend because it is pure fluff and self indulgence at its finest, you can find her in my favorite authors tab) and Rev already had a Discord server for just this purpose.

We talk twilight, share fanfic recommendations, make memes for our stories (yes we literally have memes for this story), faceclaims (also new, only made a face claim for all characters in TP last month!) and all the stuff in between. There's an art chat and a writers room where everyone can talk about stories and through story ideas around. It's really a great group and I've been pretty active there since I joined just after the last chapter update in December.

So please feel free to join, it's really such a fun group and you'll come across the writers of a few very popular Volturi fics! (You can also feel free to harass me here and deal with my shitposting lmao)

Come join us! (discord)(.gg)(/qKjcTRb)
This link is also available on my profile. If you ever have trouble joining just reach out!

4. Also relevant when I talk about the Discord chat above: I've started writing a Roommate AU of The Psychic because I was so inspired by Reveri's Casual Vacancy. The AU will be along the premise of Marcus renting a room out in his apartment in Volterra and getting a mortal girl as a roommate. I know it sounds weird, but just roll with it cause I promise it'll be fun. It's basically if Castiel and Marcus became roommates and it was a slow burn romance/mutual pining. It will be like a 0/10 on the angst scale and will be about 10 chapters total. It's a just for fun AU that can be a complete stand alone from The Psychic because key plot things will be changed (i.e. no really crazy drama, though the characters will have the same personalities they do in The Psychic)

I have the whole outline drafted in Google Docs and it's available for viewing in the discord. Unfortunately I will NOT be posting the roommate AU here until it's like 75% completed. If you want early access you'll unfortunately have to be part of the discord. :)

I will also be making a google doc available in the discord that is The Psychic with all the sex/smut scenes edited out. I've got a couple readers who requested it because they prefer to skim past the sex.

Thank you all for putting up with this insane author's note! As always review and let me know what you're thinking/how you're feeling.

AND IT'S UP TO YOU. SETTLE THE GREAT DEBATE BETWEEN BELLA AND CASTIEL.

Is chocolate cake better? Or is it vanilla? Leave your answer in the comments. It will decide who reigns supreme in the next chapter.
(The character that loses will have to eat a personal cake of the flavor they hate. Because I'm an idiot and I want to put more dumb scenes in this story lmao)

Posted April 1st, 2021

(49 Pages 26,036 Words)