A Queen's Pride

by N. D. Jones

  Shit, Ekon was as hard as granodiorite.

  Sekhmet grabbed his dick, tugging it as she came, and damn near pulled him into the orgasmic depths with her.

  “Condom,” she gasped. “We need a condom. Now!”

  They did, and Ekon was on it. He sat on the built-in shower bench, snatched the condom from beside him, and tore open the wrapper. Green and glowing, he held it up to Sekhmet whose eyes had turned dark brown. “Do you want to do the honors?”

  She licked her lips, and he remembered the pornos she’d watched their first night at Sanctum Hotel. Had the videos given her ideas? They certainly had given him a few.

  Sekhmet shook her head. “I’m too nervous and wired to do it properly.” She raised hands. Her fingernails had lengthened to small points. He thought he’d felt pinpricks on his back, when Sekhmet came. Small shifts were typical for felidae during the throes of passion.

  Ekon rolled the condom on and gestured for Sekhmet. Between her orgasms and her body’s natural ability to transmutate, being penetrated by a man for the first time would be all pleasure.

  “You can face me or have your back to me. Your choice.”

  She straddled his hips, her feet planted on either side of him, one hand on his shoulder, the other on the wall behind him.

  Yes, the best choice. I want to see your gorgeous face when we make love. Is that why you chose this position, so you could see what you do to me, while I watch what I do to you?

  Sinking down, not all at once but by slow, toe-curling degrees, she took him all in, bottoming out, her ass on his thighs.

  Ekon swore. You feel incredible—tight and wet and all mine. But, ohh, she moved, up and down his length and shit, he couldn’t help but be enraptured by the way her sex swallowed his glowing dick.

  Hands gripped her waist, not to slow her down but to speed her up.

  Sekhmet obliged. She could transmutate into a lioness; going fast and chasing prey was what she did best. That rumble in her belly came again, but it didn’t stay there. It roared out of her, a primal response he shared and matched.

  She sank onto him over and over, unrepentant in the taking of her pleasure.

  Ekon smacked her ass, and Sekhmet bit his lip. He pulled her hair, and she pinched his nipples.

  His right partner. His—Ekon came, hips slamming upward and arms holding Sekhmet still and against him. He came, face buried in the crook of her neck, her arms holding him with a fierceness that had him grunting and spilling himself into the condom.

  Gulping breaths and laughter weren’t a good mix, but Ekon did both, embarrassed at his enthusiastic outburst.

  Sekhmet caressed his jaw and kissed his cheek. “I can’t believe how long you made me wait to have you like this.”

  Ekon laughed again. “Listen at you. Twenty minutes ago you were a virgin, now you’re speaking as if you have years of experience.”

  “Years of experience? Hmm, sounds wonderful.” Using his shoulders to steady herself, she climbed off him, taking her warmth and softness with her. “Will you be the one giving me those years of experience?”

  “I better be.” Ekon struggled to his feet, his dick still hard and, from the way Sekhmet’s eyes drifted downward, she wasn’t yet done either.

  She left the en suite, and he made quick work of the condom.

  By the time he followed, only a nightstand lamp was on in the bedroom and she under the duvet. For how quickly she’d turned off the lights and gotten into bed, she’d remembered the condoms. She’d placed several on the nightstand and within convenient reach.

  Ekon crawled on the bed, a lion stalking his luscious prey. “Four condoms. Ambitious for a newly deflowered virgin.”

  “Or a challenge to my new lover.”

  Ekon pulled back the duvet and slipped into bed with Sekhmet. Propping himself on an elbow, he grinned down at her, reveling in the new phase of their relationship. “Lover. I like that title.”

  “I thought you would.”

  There was another title he craved more but patience had been a good friend to him. He could wait for them to become mates, adding the title of husband to the others she had already granted him.

  She pulled him down for a long kiss and opened her legs to him when he rolled atop her. Nudging at her opening but not entering, he reawakened her clit, bringing it to a hard, unsheathed erection.

  The second time Ekon put a condom on, Sekhmet helped him. She’d giggled, and he’d kissed her, not stopping until she’d wrenched her mouth away, needing air. By the time they’d finished, five open condom wrappers littered the nightstand and two sweaty, sated bodies were curled around each other.

  “You called me Asha, the last two times you came.”

  “I know.” Spooned front to back, Ekon buried his face in her wild mane of hair. “I’m sorry. I’ll work on calling you Sekhmet.”

  “I don’t mind when it’s just us. But to Shona, to the world, I must be Sekhmet. But with you, Ekon, I’ll always be Asha.”

  “The First Evolution Union Party is scrambling to secure their political standing and, after last week’s bloodbath, the people of Vumaris are divided over who to blame.”

  Seated in an office and behind a desk she would always think of as Zarina’s, Sekhmet held the phone to her ear, listening intently to Mi Sun Choi.

  “More than two dozen soldiers were killed over the course of three days, including former Deputy Chief Frank London. There are reports of a lion-headed woman spotted at the scene of two of those murders. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it?”

  “Which part?”

  “Take your pick, Sekhem Asha.”

  “Sekhmet.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You may refer to me as Sekhem Sekhmet, and nothing you’ve said is impossible.”

  “So, you admit the Shona were involved?”

  “You sound as if you aren’t sure whether you should feel shock or fear. Or perhaps you are reconsidering forming an alliance with my kingdom.”

  In the space of Ms. Choi’s long pause, Mafdet knocked on the ajar office door and peeked her head inside. Noticing Sekhmet on the phone, Mafdet started to back away but she waved her inside. In the time it had taken Mafdet to sit on the couch on the opposite side of the room, Ms. Choi had gathered her thoughts.

  “I don’t want to place my party in a position to have the lion-headed woman come after them.”

  Sekhmet had no intention of repeating the invocation, no more than she planned on adopting vengeance as a political stance. But her intentions and people’s perceptions did not have to align.

  “The Shona are an honorable people, Ms. Choi. We treat our allies well and our friends better.”

  “And your enemies?”

  “Are we enemies, Ms. Choi?”

  Laughter rippled through the line—neither forced nor mocking. “You are your parents’ daughter. Your mother asked me the same when we first spoke of a possible alliance. I assume you confess to nothing concerning the deaths of London and the soldiers.”

  “No more than you’ll confess to seeking an alliance with a foreign government to secure your party’s rise to power.”

  More laughter from a woman who, if their trees bore fruit, would become the next Chief of the Republic of Vumaris. But no fruit would grow from seeds not yet planted.

  “Whether we become allies or not, I am grateful for your assistance in garnering my freedom from the Rogueshade. For that act of kindness, you have a friend in this felidae.”

  “I was raised to believe that friends are harder to come by than allies of convenience.”

  “My parents believed the same.”

  “Have you ever had a human as a friend, Sekhem Sekhmet?”

  “I have not. Do I now?”

  Whatever humor that had Ms. Choi laughing no longer lingered in the voice that said, “I liked and respected your parents. Their murders saddened and angered me. We weren’t yet friends, but we were building that bridge. I would like to continue the construction of the work
they began. Yes, Sekhem, I accept your friendship and extend to you mine.”

  Bridges and trees. They would build one while planting the other. Both analogies fit the work they would perform together.

  “I’ll have my secretary arrange our next phone conference. In the interim . . .”

  Quickly, Sekhmet outlined what she would require from Ms. Choi before they spoke again. She’d intended on discussing a couple of specific points during this phone call but, with Mafdet having sought her out, her presence reminded her of an important conversation they needed to have.

  “Yes, we’ll speak again soon. Thank you. You have a good weekend, as well.” Sekhmet ended the phone call and hung up the receiver.

  “You didn’t have to shorten your call on my account.” Closing the book Mafdet held in her hand, she placed it on the cushion beside her.

  Sekhmet couldn’t see the cover, but she doubted Mafdet found a book to her liking. Mafdet’s and Zarina’s tastes in literature were as dissimilar from each other’s as Mi Sun Choi’s Common Peace Coalition Party was from Royster’s First Evolution Union Party.

  “Pretending to read.”

  “Not pretending. Practicing patience.” Frowning down at the book, she added, “I must admit, ten minutes of reading about the politics of international relations had my mind wandering and my eyes glazing over. No wonder you avoided some of your lessons.”

  Sekhmet would give anything to sit through one of her parents’ boring lessons. But those days were in her past, while their relevance was her present and would be her future.

  Tempted to join Mafdet on the couch, her head on her shoulder and seeking the parental assurance she still wanted but needed to learn how to do without, she remained seated and nodded to one of two chairs in front of the desk. “Come and sit, Mafdet.”

  “Of course, my sekhem.” Mafdet joined Sekhmet, her expression one of feigned openness. “I came to discuss security for your upcoming visit to the southern part of the kingdom. Have you had an opportunity to review Tamani’s suggestions for rebuilding the alpha Shieldmane team, now that you’ve fully embraced your role?”

  “I have. I know, with me resuming my travels, even if only for right now within our borders, I require a fully staffed Shieldmane team. Tamani recommended Ekon to serve as my Second Shieldmane. Unsurprising and a recommendation I will accept. Where I should’ve seen Mafdet Rastaff recommended as my First Shieldmane, there was another name instead. In fact, your name was mysteriously absent from Tamani’s document.” Lifting her chin but narrowing her eyes, she waited for Mafdet to explain.

  “I don’t like the way you’re looking at me.” Mafdet’s sigh cut through the unvoiced tension between them. “You’re growing up way too fast.”

  “I don’t have much choice.”

  “You’re nineteen.”

  “I’m sekhem of a kingdom of two hundred thirty million people. I can’t afford to be nineteen.”

  “Yet you are.”

  Rising, Sekhmet walked around the desk and claimed the chair beside Mafdet. “Yet I am. Are you leaving?”

  “I . . .”

  “I know Mom asked you to train Ekon to take your place as my First Shieldmane when I ascended to the position of sekhem. We both know she thought that would be years into the future. I should’ve asked her why you wouldn’t be the one serving me in that critical capacity, but my thoughts were more on being given an opportunity to spend more time with Ekon than on the reason behind her decision. Will you explain?”

  Mafdet wasn’t one to appear uncomfortable in her own skin. Sekhmet certainly had never seen her bothered by anyone in a position of authority. Yet Sekhmet’s three-word question had Mafdet pausing and looking away from her and to the sliding glass doors in front of them.

  “When I arrived in Shona, your parents gave me sanctuary. In return, I pledged my loyalty, promising to protect their child until that child could protect herself.” Dark eyes returned to Sekhmet, unspoken sadness in their depths. “True, you’ve become sekhem sooner than your parents and I thought you would, but my promise remains the same. You’re sekhem now and have the blessing and protection of a goddess. In comparison, I have little to offer.”

  Temper tantrums hadn’t worked when Sekhmet had been a child, and one wouldn’t alter Mafdet’s stance now. It had taken a year and countless Rogueshade deaths for her anger and guilt to run their ugly, painful course. Mafdet had omitted decades of details from her seemingly simple statement. Sekhmet didn’t require such facts, however, to understand her mother’s gentle manipulation and overriding hope.

  “Mom and Dad gave you more than a sanctuary. They gave you a home, a family, and a renewed purpose for life—protecting their only child. They had options—Panthera Leo options—but they chose you, an outsider. It’s clear you do not want me to know your past, and that is your right. But don’t you dare sit there and lie to me. I need you as much as you need me.” Sekhmet rose, determined not to waver or whine. “Just as Mom accepted your decision, I will do the same. I will not keep you where you do not want to be. But know, just as you told me that I was not alone, the same is true for you. Whether you stay or leave, we’re still family. I’ll never turn my back on you.”

  “You think I’m turning my back on you?”

  The question lacked all the emotion Sekhmet saw in Mafdet’s eyes.

  Leaning down, she kissed her on her cheek. “You’re turning your back on your own heart. Either Mom didn’t tell you or you didn’t believe her when she did.”

  Mafdet’s gaze shifted to the sliding glass doors again. Sekhmet understood because she had done the same dozens of times.

  The Temple of Sekhmet. How many times has she visited the temple now that Mom and Dad are enshrined there? Every day, like me?

  “Tell me what?”

  Sekhmet glanced to the sword at Mafdet’s hip—a Shona-designed weapon that no one else in the kingdom carried. Mafdet followed her gaze and then their eyes met. Sekhmet didn’t hold it long. She’d promised Ekon they would have lunch together before her council meeting. According to the desk clock, Sekhmet would be late for her date in two minutes.

  She straightened.

  “You’re valued and loved as a person, Mafdet. You’ve always had much to offer this kingdom as a Shieldmane. But, for the Leothos family, you being Shieldmane, just as you being named as my godmother, was Mom’s strategic way of getting around your pride and dealing with whatever guilt that held you hostage then and, apparently, holds you hostage now. You’ve added Mom’s and Dad’s deaths to your list of the reasons you don’t deserve happiness.”

  More needed to be said, but enough had been stated for one day. No good would come from pushing, so Sekhmet kissed Mafdet’s cheek again. “Join Ekon and me for lunch?”

  “Thank you, but no. Do try to remember there are household staff on duty.”

  “One time, Mafdet.”

  “You were caught having sex with Ekon in your pool.”

  “By you and at midnight.” Sekhmet caught herself from rolling her eyes. “That’s old news. I can’t believe you’re still bringing that up.”

  “Old news? Still? I caught the two of you only yesterday.” Mafdet tsk-tsked. “As I said, you’re nineteen.”

  Sekhmet wouldn’t argue further, especially since they both knew Mafdet was correct. And, well, inviting Mafdet to join Ekon and her for lunch had been a sincere offer but one she hadn’t minded Mafdet rejecting. Sex before, during, or after lunch hadn’t been far from her thoughts. Although Sekhmet didn’t appreciate Mafdet’s assumption.

  “You remind me so much of her. She—”

  Images of Zarina and Bambara came to mind, and she rushed to interrupt. Sekhmet did not need or want to know how, in this area, she also favored Zarina. “Mafdet, please don’t tell me stories about times you caught Mom and Da—”

  “Not your mother . . . my daughter. You remind me of my eldest daughter—Zendaya.”

  Eldest daughter, as in Mafdet had more than one. The unsu
spected revelation had Sekhmet returning to the chair beside Mafdet and reaching for her hand—squeezing. Lunch with Ekon could wait. The opening of a closed door into Mafdet’s past could not.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I was almost as young as you are when Hondo and I pledged ourselves to each other. Our minds were filled with dreams and our hearts full of innocence. We thought we could conquer the world and right wrongs. Even as a young woman, I knew the world could be cruel but, until I came face-to-face with its lethal claws, I had no idea how much. Life takes, as you already know, but not always equally and hardly ever painlessly. I first learned that gut-wrenching lesson when . . .”

  The story of Mafdet’s life before Shona flowed from her. With each graphic disclosure, so too did her tears.

  “In the end, I couldn’t save any of them. I barely saved myself . . .”

  Sekhmet hugged Mafdet. Kissed her cheeks. And uttered the most potent truths between them. “We are family. You are not alone.”

  Chapter 18: She Whose Opportunity Escapeth Her Not

  2000

  Fourteen Years Later

  The Republic of Vumaris

  Batari County, Minra

  The Kingdom of Shona Embassy

  Tau opened the limousine door for Sekhmet. She knew this day would come, and she’d prepared for its arrival. Yet, as Sekhmet stared out of the vehicle and at the building that used to be Sanctum Hotel, she realized her preparations hadn’t been adequate.

  “Give me a minute.”

  Tau, her Second Shieldmane, nodded. She thought he would leave the limousine door open. Instead, he granted her the dignity of her lapse into painful memories and closed the vehicle’s door. Through tinted, bulletproof windows, Sekhmet could still see the hotel from her old nightmares. Most of the renovations she had approved had been of the interior. The exterior, however, looked much the same as it had fifteen years earlier—stately with ornate, steeply pitched roofs, dormers with parapets, and a stone exterior. But the crash-bollards and perimeter security gate were new.

  Neither addition made Sekhmet feel safer. She no longer harbored the fears of the girl she’d once been, no more than she did the anger. Pushing open the door, she accepted Tau’s sturdy hand of assistance from the limousine.