by Jack Whitney
“You said your sister was beautiful, but you failed to mention how she would bewitch me upon finally meeting her,” he purred. His hand started to reach for Nyssa’s as he said, “Hello, princess,” in a breath-like rasp that Aydra wanted to knock out of him.
Aydra grabbed his arm and twisted it back towards her before he could touch Nyssa, snatching him off-balance.
“No,” she warned him.
The smirk slipped onto his lips, and he smiled at the ground briefly before meeting her gaze again. “You still don’t trust me?” he mocked.
Aydra’s brows raised, and she chanced a glance back at her sister, who was biting her lip in an attempt not to grin at the handsome man before her. But Nadir didn’t press. He winked at Nyssa before turning back to Aydra, towering in front of her as he gave her a nod.
“All right, Sun Queen.”
The deliberate clearing of someone’s throat to Aydra’s left made her eyes roll. She met Nadir’s eyes and gave him a fake smile that he caught. “Nadir—” Aydra stepped back and turned slightly toward her brother. “—this is my brother. King Rhaifian Sunfire.”
Nadir took a deliberate step towards him, his figure standing inches over Rhaif’s, and he stared down his nose at him. “King?” he frowned and glanced briefly back at Aydra. His weight shifted, and his eyes narrowed at Rhaif’s figure. “The same king that refused to send aid and allowed my men to walk into battle against strangers we knew nothing of with only the people of the Venari at our side and thus caused a loss of life that could have been prevented had he merely sent a patrol of Belwarks to protect our shores— that king?”
Rhaif’s fists clenched at his side, and his nostrils flared.
Aydra had never been more satisfied in her life.
Nadir gave Rhaif a long once over, and then he backed down the steps one at a time, never losing gaze with him.
A group of Honest filed into the room behind him, some of whom Aydra recognized from the Forest. Nadir paused on the bottom step, and he crossed his arm over his chest, resting his fist at his left breast. “Nadir Storn, commander of the Honest Army. The Grand will be along with the Nitesh.”
“Grand?” Dorian repeated.
Nadir’s gaze cut to Dorian. “Lovi Piathos,” he answered. “And you must be the little prince that the Venari King has declared to be worthy of the high crown.”
Aydra snorted, and she heard the same come from Lex behind her.
A flash of blue flame caught Aydra’s eye beside her, and her laughter ceased. She leaned closer to her brother, turning her head so that only he could hear. “You dare threaten our guests?” Aydra whispered.
“I should have all of you burned for mockery,” he hissed back.
“It is not a problem of ours if you’ve made yourself a laughing stock outside these walls,” she argued.
He opened his mouth to say more, but the doors opening once more made both their voices cease. Intense silence filled the room, and thunder clapped outside.
A woman of dark ebony skin pulled a navy hood off her head. Draven was stood beside her, and he untied the cloak around her neck and threw it into one of the Belwark’s hands.
The woman was small, more petite than Nyssa. She barely reached Draven’s pectoral muscles. Golden flecks danced in her tightly wound textured black curls. Aydra could see the streaks of gold embedded in her burnet skin like sparkling tattoos on dark flesh. She wore a black dress that Aydra strained to see, as though smoke shrouded around her skin, and it curled as she walked.
The Honest parted ways and took a step back as Draven escorted her forward.
This was the Nitesh. Haerland’s favored Martyr daughter of this Age. She was the only being with direct contact with their mother land, and as such was the most powerful sorceress in all of Haerland.
Aydra felt her stomach knot as the woman’s golden eyes met hers, and she suddenly felt a nervousness radiate through her body.
Draven released the Nitesh’s arm at the bottom of the steps, and as the woman strode up them, Aydra quickly bowed her head. She saw Nyssa and Dorian do the same from the corners of her eyes, but Rhaif did not.
She wanted to punch him.
Cold hands on her own diverted her attention. “Rise, Sun child,” came the thick foreign accent she hadn’t expected.
Her head rose, and she met the stark gaze of the Nitesh before her, causing her words to catch in her throat. A faint smile rose in the Nitesh’s eyes, and Aydra watched the woman’s full lips twist upwards.
“A number of great friends you have in the south,” the Nitesh continued. “Respect of one named such a Queen.”
Aydra’s chest swelled, and she looked past the Nitesh toward Draven, who was standing with his hands behind his back, and he gave her a quiet wink. Nadir stood at Draven’s side with a wide grin spread over his face.
“Nitesh, I wish to thank you for—”
Rhaif’s voice was cut short as the Nitesh turned so quickly that Aydra didn’t see her move. “Speak not unless you are spoken to, Fire child,” she hissed.
Rhaif’s nostrils flared, and for a swift moment, Aydra thought the flames might rise on his chest. But they didn’t, and instead, he did something she did not think he would ever do.
He bowed.
The doors once more opened, and behind them were Balandria and an older man Aydra recognized immediately.
Lovi Piathos.
His staff pressed into the stone as he walked, and the noise of it echoed in the still room. Balandria paused beside Draven and allowed Lovi to continue, where he met the Nitesh at the bottom of the steps.
“Beautiful as ever, my love,” Lovi said in his shaking voice. His eyes darted up towards Aydra then, and he grinned in her direction.
“I think that’s enough pompous grander for today,” Aydra said as she started to make her way down the steps. “Don’t you think, Grand?”
Lovi laughed his high-pitched chortle as she swept her arms around his feeble body and hugged him. “Yes, quite enough,” he told her. “We be frozen statues if lasted much longer.”
Aydra pulled back and held his hands a moment. “Belwarks,” she began, looking around the room. “You’ll show our guests to their chambers so they can take rest before the celebration tonight.”
“Have the Blackhands arrived?” Nadir asked.
Aydra nodded. “This morning.”
A smile broke out on Nadir’s handsome face, and he clapped Draven on his shoulder. “You know where I’ll be,” he said with a wink. Aydra watched Nadir’s gaze sweep up to the throne chairs, where she knew he was glancing at Nyssa once more as he stepped backwards, biting his bottom lip as he deliberately looked her over, and then he turned on his heel.
“Hey— you, Belwark—”
Aydra shook her head as Nadir wrapped his arm around Corbin and tried to convince him to take him to the Blackhands’ rooms. Draven’s gaze met hers, and she wrapped her arms over her chest.
“Remind me why I invited him,” she said.
Draven chuckled under his breath, his hands pushing into his pockets as he stepped closer to her. His eyes flickered up towards the throne chairs once more where her siblings stood, and he leaned closer to her ear. “How long do you think before your brother has a meltdown?”
“He’s already had one this morning,” she told him. She sighed audibly and then turned to her youngers, motioning them to come join her with a nod of her head.
Introductions of her youngers to the friends she’d made in the south made Aydra’s chest swell with pride for her them. They well respected the power of the Nitesh and the Honest, giving them bows, and responding with polite smiles. After a few moments, Aydra found herself simply staring at the pair talk to the other races from the side of the crowd, Dorian with one hand behind his back as he laughed at whatever joke it was Lovi had just told, Nyssa entranced as the Nitesh spoke with her and held her hands. Draven joined her at her side eventually, obviously watching Balandria do the same.
It w
as with the realization of her youngers knowing and exceeding her expectations that she made a decision she knew might cost her her life. She wrapped an arm into Draven’s, and his hand fell over hers with a squeeze.
“The best of us,” he said quietly.
She looked up and met his gaze, her chin resting against his shoulder. “Shall we go for a swim before the celebration?”
He gave her a small smile as his hair fell over his shoulder. “As appealing as that sounds, I need to do a few things before. I’ll come to your room to get ready.”
She nodded and turned back towards the others. Nyssa’s gaze caught her’s, and Nyssa smiled as she pushed through the crowd towards them.
“That was terrifying,” she informed them. “I can’t believe you introduced and then left me.”
Aydra scoffed. “You’re doing great,” she told her with a laugh.
“Just stay away from Nadir,” Draven told her. “And Hagen. And Dag. Damien. Hagen’s Second. And possibly my Second as well.”
Aydra met Draven’s gaze then, and she frowned. “It’s certainly too late for that. Besides, I think Balandria would be a great match,” she argued. “Fearless. Beautiful. Certainly had my attention when first I met her.”
Draven’s gaze narrowed. “Should I have her meet you for a swim instead?”
“Mmm… perhaps we ask her to join us later. Compare my Second to yours,” she proposed.
He chuckled under his breath and squeezed her hand. “Tempting,” he growled.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
AYDRA BUMPED INTO a couple of the Blackhands in the halls on her way back to her room, both of which stopped and asked her to promise them a dance, to which she certainly obliged at their enthusiasm.
Willow had drawn her another warm lavender bath when she arrived, and she was laying out the dress Aydra had had specifically made on her bed.
“What do you think, Willow?” Aydra asked her. “Will it be enough?”
Willow’s eyes danced over the black and gold dress, allowing her fingers to brush over the golden lines like lightning that would adorn Aydra’s chest. “I think Maye has outdone herself this time,” she replied.
Aydra relished the long bath she took, staring out the window as it began to rain halfway through it. She closed her eyes and sank back into the tub, allowing the noise of it to fill her ears. Thunder clapped in the distance often. She savored the comfortableness of it for as long as the water remained tolerable.
The dress hugged her body as she slipped into it and pulled the long black sleeves up on her arms. A chill from the coldness of the room swept over her bare back. She carefully unpinned her hair from the updo she’d put it in to bathe. Just as the last of her ringlets cascaded down, she heard the creak of the door open.
“Enthralling.”
Aydra did a double-take towards the door, catching Draven’s shadow as he leaned against the back of the door, hands in the pockets of the black pants he wore. She smiled and turned back to the mirror, continuing to try and fix her hair.
“You’re not dressed,” she stated.
“I thought I would get here early enough for a snack before banquet,” he said, slowly crossing the room. “But it appears someone is actually on time for once.”
She stopped and eyed him in the mirror, feeling a warmth begin to radiate between her thighs as his eyes watched her deliberately, pupils dilated. And when he adjusted the front of his pants, she bit her lip.
“It comes off, you know.”
He tossed the clothes he carried in his hand across the bench beside her. She watched as he acted as though he hadn’t heard her. He pushed his feet out of his boots and removed his shirt, then picked up the black shirt he’d bought in town for banquet.
She frowned at him as she straightened. “I thought we were having a snack?”
He paused and gave her a deliberate once over. “I highly suggest you be the one to take off that dress if that’s what’s happening.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because it’s taking everything in me not to rip it off you.”
She smirked at the daring lust in his eyes, the animal in him tugging visibly at his core as he held the Venari King at bay.
“And here I thought you liked this dress,” she said in a low voice.
His gaze lingered on her hips. “I love this dress,” he insisted. “But if you think that would keep me from tearing it to shreds to get to you, you’re wrong.”
Her mouth dried, and she licked her lips. “Tempting,” she mused as she started slowing taking her arms out of the sleeves.
Draven stepped forward just as her dress fell to the ground at her feet. His lust poured through her core, and when he wrapped his hands around her neck, she pulled his body flush against hers and kissed him hard.
It didn’t take long for him to grasp her butt in one hand and pull her up off the ground, thumb pressing into her throat as he begged her legs to wrap around him. Her back slammed hard into the poster at the corner of the bed, and she felt him grow beneath her. She groaned into his mouth, and his teeth tugged on her bottom lip as he pushed against her.
Aydra barely noticed when the door opened.
“Oh—Oh, will you two get on with it,” Lex said tiredly then from the door. “How are your mouths not completely chapped and your legs not wobbling weakly after this week? Every time I come in, you’re in compromising positions.”
Draven groaned and turned slightly towards Lex. “So stop barging in,” he suggested.
Lex smirked and leaned against the doorframe, her long bangs falling over her eyes. “Where’s the fun in that?” Lex purred.
“Then by all means, join in.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t want that, Forest King,” Lex mused. “You’d lose your Queen.”
The dance in Draven’s smiling eyes made Aydra’s heart quicken, her chest fill. She bit her lip as she watched the smirk grow on his confident face. He turned his head from her throat, gaze darting over Lex’s figure deliberately.
“Try me.”
Lex’s brow raised, and her eyes darted between Draven and Aydra for a moment. “You’re serious.”
Aydra felt a wide grin spread on her face at Lex’s surprise. Draven turned back to her, and he nudged her nose with his. “Would you mind added company?” he asked.
Aydra rubbed her hands up his chest, fingering the hair on it as her eyes danced with his, and then she turned her head to meet Lex’s amused eyes. “I never mind the company of my Second’s pleasures.”
Aydra released herself from Draven’s hips, and he gave her ass a smack. Her fingers lingered on Draven’s own as she crossed the space to Lex. And when she pressed her lips to hers, Lex immediately surrendered. Lex grabbed around Aydra’s naked waist as Aydra began stripping her and walking her backwards toward the bed. As her knees hit the mattress, Lex’s mouth moved to her throat, and she felt her finger slip between her legs. Aydra’s mouth opened, and she met Draven’s gaze over Lex’s shoulder.
She grabbed him and pulled him to her mouth, kissing him as her hand grasped his length. She heard Lex moan against her neck, and she knew Draven had pressed his hand between her thighs. Aydra’s legs opened widely as she backed herself onto the bed, and then Draven released her to whirl Lex into him. He bit at her throat and Aydra watched his hand flatten against her clit, a finger slipping deep inside her. Aydra backed up onto the bed and teased herself as she watched them.
After a moment, Draven pushed Lex back on to the bed, his dominating gaze towering over her. Lex pressed herself up to her elbows, and Aydra met Draven’s smirk.
“Guests first,” he growled.
Aydra wrapped her arms beneath Lex and urged her up onto the bed, Lex’s back lying on Aydra’s chest. She held her there, reaching around to tease a nipple as Draven crawled over them. He slipped his finger inside Lex again, and gave Aydra a fierce kiss, reminding her that he was hers, and then he moved to work his way down Lex’s body with deliberate kisses. And when his mo
uth met Lex’s sex, her head threw back onto Aydra’s shoulder and she cried out in pleasure.
Aydra’s eyes met Draven’s, and she knew the thing that he was doing with his tongue well by now, remembering the first time she’d felt it, and what Lex had to be feeling then. Lex grasped onto Aydra’s thighs tightly, and Aydra continued to play with one of her breasts.
“Oh, fuck—there—” Lex’s body limped into Aydra’s grasp and Aydra knew she was quickly reaching her end, much quicker than she was sure Lex was accustomed to. Lex was biting her bottom lip, watching Draven with moans emitting from her insides that Aydra had never heard before. Aydra kissed Lex’s cheek, and then turned her jaw so that she could kiss her full on, feeling the vibrations of Lex’s moans reverberate in her core.
“Come for us, Lex,” Aydra whispered against her lips.
Draven’s eyes met hers, and she watched him suck her clit as he’d done on her, and she knew what came next.
Lex’s head threw back onto her shoulder, and the whimpered cry of ecstasy from the Venari’s pleasures radiated through her to a shudder.
Draven sat up, licking his lips as he stared over them. Lex fell sideways back onto the bed, and Aydra almost laughed as she watched her attempt to regain herself. Draven crawled up beside her and pressed his smiling lips to hers, grasping her face in his hands. Lex moved, and Aydra shoved Draven back onto the bed where she herself had just been sitting. She reached down and teased his tip with her fingers, causing a low growl to emit from his throat. Which was when she felt a Lex’s tongue by her fingers on Draven’s length.
Draven’s arm wrapped around Aydra and he kissed her harder as Lex’s mouth devoured him. Aydra pulled back, smiling at him, and then leaned down where she ran her tongue down the length of his cock, opposite from Lex. Draven groaned into the bed as Lex grasped Aydra and pulled her mouth to hers, sitting up on either side of Draven’s legs.
