The Rogue King (Inferno Rising)

by Abigail Owen

She shook her head. “I haven’t explained my visions to him yet. It would be…” Wrong. “I need to figure out if I trust him first.”

  “But he should really be the one—”

  She managed to whirl on one foot, ignoring how her head spun with the movement, and grope her way to the couch. “I’ll handle it myself if you can’t help. This place is flame retardant. Right?”

  “Like hell.” He followed her inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

  Kasia winced as the noise only increased the ache gathering behind her eyes.

  This one wasn’t coming on as fast. More like brushes of tingling, followed by slivers of stinging. She may not have his touch—and no way would she ask, even after what they’d shared—but the pleasure he’d given her had helped with the pain, too. Maybe she could do that for herself? Urgency pressed into Kasia, driving away all inhibitions—not that she’d ever seemed to have any around Brand, anyway. With trembling fingers, she managed to unbutton her pants, shoving them off, baring her flesh so she could stimulate herself.

  “Fuck,” she heard Brand mutter.

  She ignored him and focused on her mission, trying every trick that usually worked for her, but her own touch did nothing. The pain only grew faster and had begun to override her system, turning into razors along her nerves.

  All the while, Brand remained in the room, watching but not helping. Waiting to contain her fire, she guessed. Dammit. He felt this, too, right? Why wasn’t he helping her? Helping them?

  Tears of frustration pricked her eyes, but the pressure only added to her misery, her head pounding with the rhythm of her heartbeat. The next wave pulled a yelp from her lips. She couldn’t have held it back if she’d tried.

  A low groan reached her ears from across the room.

  Kasia sucked in a deep breath. “Help me,” she whispered.

  Another wave stole the sound from the last word, and she dropped her head back to the couch again, unable to hold it up.

  “The hell with this.” In two strides Brand knelt between her legs. The second his hands were on her knees, the worst of the pain ebbed.

  “Gods help us both,” he growled.

  A rustle of movement and then pressure at her entrance. Kasia arched as Brand slid one, then two fingers inside her.

  “Yes,” she hissed as the sensations flaying her insides immediately turned intensely soft. Beautiful. Kasia pumped her hips. “More,” she begged. “More.”

  With a groan, Brand leaned forward and set his mouth to her body. Hot, wet heat flicked over her clit as he used tongue and teeth and lips.

  Warmth lit her entire body as her fire finally spread. The rustle of his wings sounded seconds before the odd feeling of being cocooned overtook her. Brand pumped those fingers and circled her clit with his tongue, the pressure just what she needed.

  Not what she wanted. She wanted more of him, but that was impossible. She’d take what she could get.

  A whimper escaped her as he removed his fingers, only to be followed by a long, low moan as he speared his tongue inside her. She spiked her fingers through his hair, holding him to her as she felt every stroke to the core of her being.

  Now the pleasure built fast—orgasm racing her oncoming vision. As Brand increased his speed, the power intensified, slamming through her system as she moaned and gasped and writhed. He reached his other hand up under the fall of her hair, brushing a finger against the nape of her neck, and that simple touch triggered her. Finally, everything coiled tightly inside her only to blow outward.

  The vision came on the heels of her orgasm, as though the culmination of pleasure had thrown open the door for the images. It hijacked her mind as comprehensively as desire had stolen her body.

  Kasia stepped into it as though she were in a waking dream. She looked down and gasped at the sight of her belly rounded with child. Someone stepped up behind her, and a male hand caressed her stomach.

  Was this her future? With Ladon? Before she could turn and see who held her, multiple images chased themselves through her mind’s eye, but softly as butterfly kisses…

  Brand waking her in the morning with a sweet kiss. Brand arguing with her. Brand sitting beside her at some kind of meeting. Brand holding her hand in the woods.

  Kasia floated back to reality from the high. Tears ran down her cheeks in warm rivulets that evaporated even as she recognized them for what they were.

  I’m crying?

  A gentle touch feathered over her cheeks, and she opened her eyes to find Brand wiping away her tears as he shifted his wings, folding them back before absorbing them into himself. “You okay?”

  Not hardly. She dreamed of one man, saw him in her visions so regularly she’d fantasized about him for a year. And yet, she had to mate another.

  For all her blustering about choices, she’d known that the second she set foot in this mountain she had none. No way would Ladon let her leave or mate another, not with what was on the line for him.

  High King.

  So what the hell were these images about? Was fate taunting her with a future she could never have? Or showing her what she’d walked away from when she came here?

  It doesn’t matter. I’ve chosen my path. Now I have to walk it.

  Shaken to her core, Kasia did what her mother had trained her to do well.

  Lie. Cover. Misdirect.

  “Of course.” She pushed through the exhaustion that wanted to pull her down and stood, dragging up her pants. “Thanks for the help. I’m going to wash up. I suggest you do, too.”

  Before she could make it to the door, he stopped her. “Kasia.”

  She turned back, hand on her hip, and spoke before he could. “You know, the orgasm seemed to help the vision come easier, less overwhelming, without most of the pain.” Just good pain. “Definitely better than how things usually go.” That was for damn sure.

  Brand scowled. “I’m not going to—”

  “I wonder if it will work the same way with Ladon?”

  That shut him up. Good. She didn’t need him asking about what she’d seen. She gave a deliberately casual shrug, then turned and sauntered into her room. “Guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

  …

  Brand watched Kasia disappear with every emotion under the sun roiling inside him. He still physically ached for her after bringing that glorious body to completion, needing his own release. Meanwhile a cocktail of desire, frustration, and unjustifiable possessiveness warred with the fact that she was supposed to become another man’s mate. His friend’s mate. His new king’s mate.

  Fuck.

  Not to mention how she’d thrown that fact in his face. Guess I’ll find out soon enough, she’d said before shutting the door and closing him out. There was no way she knew the same question had been on his mind since the first time he’d kissed her. Was she trying to piss him off?

  Brand stalked out of her room and was halfway down the hall to his own when he jerked to a stop.

  He’d shown up at her door to take her to Ladon, dammit. His orders hadn’t changed.

  Hand on his hips, he dropped his head forward, staring, unseeing, at the ground. With a growl, he pivoted and slammed back into her suite. She wasn’t out yet, so he pounded on the bedroom door. “Don’t take too long. We have to go.”

  Silence.

  “Kasia?”

  “Give me a second,” she snapped.

  Brand went to the sink in the kitchen area to wash his hands and face of her so Ladon wouldn’t suspect. Gods how he’d wanted to suck her taste from his fingers. He hadn’t had sex with her, not right under the king’s nose, because even a rogue had some honor. Not enough to keep from tasting her or touching the back of her neck, though. What the fuck had he been thinking?

  His rock-hard erection taunted him with the answer.

  He glanced at the closed door as the wate
r in the bathroom turned off. Should he check on her?

  He snorted the thought away. Definitely not. Besides, if he went in there, he might not come out without doing something he’d regret.

  Brand frowned as a thought struck. Had she tried to piss him off on purpose, or at least throw him off balance? Why? What was she hiding? What had she seen in that vision?

  He tossed a speculative glance at the door. Should he barge in and demand she tell him? No, that wouldn’t work. She was as stubborn as he was. Maybe more.

  Shit. He’d have to let it go. Didn’t matter anyway, because this had to be over.

  …

  Kasia pushed through the exhaustion that came with her visions, not as bad this time, since this one had been gentler. Not in intensity, per se, but in content. Maybe that mattered?

  She used to understand how the whole vision thing worked, but nothing had been right since Brand came along and messed everything up. Why did his touch obliterate the pain? And how did pleasure factor into it?

  She paused at her door and took a deep breath before opening it to find Brand leaning against a wall messing with his phone like nothing had happened.

  Those damn tears jumped back into her eyes.

  “Where are we going?” Good. At least she’d managed to sound cool and collected.

  He stood up from the wall. “The king would like you to join him for dinner. That’s what I came here for in the first place.”

  And got waylaid by her visions. Kasia’s heart stuttered and sank. Mr. Straight-to-Business. “And he sent you?”

  “He thought you’d be more comfortable with me until you make a few friends here and figure out who you can trust.”

  In other words, he was not her friend or even someone she could trust. Just a stand-in. Message received.

  Again with the dang tears. Kasia blinked. Focus. Next steps.

  She needed to be adjusting her thinking about Ladon. Her soon-to-be-mate. Kasia considered her mental image of the brutal-looking man who’d greeted her at the landing pad. The one who looked capable of killing at any second.

  He’d been a polite host, pointing out interesting or informative aspects of the dragon city to her as they walked through security door after security door to a massive common area. He’d also been kind—trying to make her feel welcome, making sure her hands were healed, and now dinner. Maybe Ladon Ormarr was nicer than his terrifying appearance and reputation suggested.

  Well, damn.

  Guilt dripped through her about the night she’d shared with Brand, not to mention what had just happened.

  Her spine straightened. Wait. There was no reason to feel guilty. She wasn’t his mate yet.

  Tell that to the lump taking up residence in her gut.

  Until she put a face and personality to Ladon, he had been an abstract. Now he was her reality. Better to deal with that fact square on and get to settling down. No more heart tripping up or blood fizzing around a certain closed-off shifter.

  She waved a hand at the door. “Lead on, Mr. Astarot.”

  Brand grunted, then led her out to the hallway and waited while she locked up. As soon as she clicked the lock into place, without a word, he turned and strode off down the hallway at a rapid clip.

  Kasia glared at his back as she hustled to catch up, then keep up with those damn long legs of his. “In a hurry?” she panted after several seconds.

  He dropped an unsmiling glance her way and did his silent act, but did slow his pace.

  The insufferable bastard. The words popped out before she could stop them. “That can’t happen again.”

  Good one. Way to move on.

  “No shit.”

  He stopped walking, so she did too. “I’m not trying to be rude. It’s just that I have to…” The stupid tears clogged her up, so she shook her head. “Never mind. You already get it. No need to go on.”

  She kept moving down the hall.

  A frustrated growl echoed off the stone of the hollowed-out hallway. She glanced at one of the framed paintings on the wall, worried it might shake off, but it didn’t move. Then he was beside her, a hand on her arm to slow her down. “I’m sorry—”

  Kasia shook her head and her arm, knocking off his hand. “Don’t apologize. This is my problem.”

  “It is?”

  “Yes. You were right. Ladon’s going to be my mate.” She hid a grimace. “I should learn to trust him, rather than rely on you.”

  She could feel Brand studying her as they walked together, but she meant what she’d said. No sarcasm. No hidden meaning. Because no matter what they’d shared, she and Brand were on the best paths available to them now, and those paths were not the same.

  No going back.

  They came to a T in the halls, and she glanced at him. “Which way?”

  “Left.” She turned that direction only to be stopped by his lowly murmured, “Kasia…”

  She paused, her back to him, and sighed. “Seriously, Brand. Don’t worry about it. I was acting like a…” Pampered princess? No way was she giving him that one. She rolled her shoulders as she turned to face him. “I’m just nervous and unsure, and you’re the only person I know.”

  And I’m so alone, it scares me.

  He searched her expression with those hooded eyes that gave away nothing. “Don’t worry. What you’ll bring to this clan…you’ll be treated like royalty. You’ll be fine.”

  Kasia wanted to toss her hands in the air, frustrated equally with herself and with him. After what they’d been through—what they’d done together—you’d think he’d know that being a princess was not her thing. And you’d think he’d have some kind of personal feeling about it, one way or another.

  Slow your roll, Kas. Didn’t you just decide to put that episode in the past where it belonged?

  And now she was having conversations with herself again. Damn, she was losing her grip.

  Brand broke eye contact first, tipping his chin in the direction they needed to go. “Your intended mate is waiting.”

  Right. Stop staring at another man, or thinking about another man, or fantasizing about another man. Just stop.

  She turned sharply away and continued down the hall with him dogging her steps. “Don’t call him that.”

  “Why? He is your intended mate.”

  “The way you say it sounds like a curse.”

  Silence as a response. Shocker.

  God, she was being such a bitch. Brand had reasons for his decisions, too, and she was overlooking that. “I should’ve asked sooner… Did you get what you came here for?”

  He opened his mouth, but paused, and she thought he wouldn’t answer. “I have a clan now,” he finally admitted in a gruff voice as he lifted his hand, showing her the mark there.

  Brand was no longer a rogue.

  Heaviness lifted from her heart. At least Brand had finally achieved a home. She was safe, and he had a clan. Their plan was working exactly as it should.

  So why did she feel so empty? Like the tin man in the stories—hollow.

  The hallway suddenly expanded as they approached a massive, dragon-sized set of wooden double doors. Brand stopped. “Hey.”

  That one word from the man at her side and she paused as well, letting her gaze trail over his rugged face as she waited for whatever he had to say. After a silent beat, he grabbed both her wrists and flipped her hands over. Then a low hiss escaped him, and her nerves pricked along her skin at the sound. Anger? Irritation with her? Kasia sucked in a silent breath as he ran a finger lightly over the slash of white scar tissue gracing her palms.

  “Why didn’t you say something?” he asked.

  She tugged out of his grasp. “We needed to get out of there. I was fine.” Then she gave him a bright smile. “Besides, Fallon was a revelation.”

  He nodded. “The new healer. He’s a
universal donor, I assume?”

  “Yeah.” The second the dragon healer had injected Kasia with his blood—just a little bit, since Fallon wasn’t sure what it would do to a phoenix—Kasia’s hands had started healing faster. In minutes the agonizing open slashes had closed, leaving angry pink scars that had continued to heal the rest of the day. Like watching a time-lapse video.

  “Good. Let’s go.” Brand pushed one of the doors open and held it for her.

  Guess that’s that.

  A few more twists and turns and the corridors opened up. They passed a few dragon shifters, none in their dragon forms, all of whom stared as they walked by, though Kasia couldn’t tell if they were staring at her or at Brand. He did tower over them—a mark of a gold dragon, which tended to be larger and stronger than the others. Blue dragons tended to be smaller, leaner, and faster.

  No one dared speak to them, though.

  Royalty?

  Yeah, right. She’d be a bug under a microscope with every naysayer just waiting to disprove her worth. Kasia inched closer to Brand, who thankfully didn’t seem to notice.

  Then she stopped dead as the hall opened up into what she could only term an atrium. The place was massive. Essentially, the mountain itself had been gouged out from the base to the top.

  The ground level, where they stood, reminded Kasia of a busy downtown street in any human city, except round. “Buildings” lined the rim, the faces built into the rock itself and taking up maybe two stories. The floors above that point appeared to be suites like her own and rose up to the top of the cone.

  Under every balcony a giant slab of rock jutted out. Dragons flew overhead, circling up to land on a perch where they’d shift then walk inside. No wonder the hallways had been relatively empty. She’d figured Brand was taking her the back way, and he was. Since she couldn’t fly, the back way was her way.

  Guess I’ll have to work on the teleporting.

  Kasia gathered her jaw off the floor where it’d dropped and moved forward to join Brand, who waited. She moved her attention to the first two levels, which appeared to be businesses of all types. Restaurants, shops, a bookstore, grocers, even a nail salon and a barber.

  With whatever trick of lighting the dragons used inside these caves, she felt as though she were walking down any bustling main street in the late afternoon when the sun had dropped behind the buildings. The only thing missing was cars.