“So this guy wasn’t your ancestor?” She was strangely relieved.
“No. But our family has ruled ever since. And we’ve ruled over men who were never forced to fight. Kyla, your soldiers were with you because they believed it was the right thing to do. Their blood is not on your hands.”
“But was it right?” she asked quietly.
Nameer tilted her chin up so that she faced him. “Yes.”
“How can you sound so sure?”
“What was our alternative?” He asked. “Wait for them to kill us all? You have brought back valuable information. The men didn’t sacrifice themselves for nothing. We know that the poison reacts with water, that they have much more of it than we thought, that they were aware of our spies.”
Kyla buried her face in her hands and groaned. “What are we going to do, Nameer?”
He rested his chin on her hair. “Perhaps we’ll go in out of the rain. You’re shivering.”
“No! About the massive poison warehouse that they know I know about! About the soldiers, about--” But she was crying again. She smacked her hands down on the stone floor of the balcony, frustrated with herself.
Nameer stood up and pulled her against him. “I know this is hard for you,” he said after several minutes. “But you prove your worth as a leader in moments like these. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have had the chance to lead my men anywhere. They never would have followed you.”
******
She let Nameer pull her into her room. He lit a fire and waited until it was burning brightly and her tears had dried before he began to unbutton her shirt. The firelight glinted on her damp skin as he bared it.
“My strong mate,” he said, kissing away the water droplets that clung to her collarbone. He cupped her breasts, thumbing her nipples in the way he knew she liked. “My beautiful mate.”
She gripped the back of his head, burying her fingers in his wet hair. “Make love to me, Nameer.”
He kissed her, his mouth firm against hers, his tongue teasing her until she was arching into his touch. Her shirt fell to the floor in a wet splat as Nameer unhooked the front clasp of her bra.
“These are perfect,” he informed her. “Mouthwatering.” His lips closed over one budded nipple and she cried out. “And so responsive,” he continued casually. “It makes me so proud to make you feel this good.”
He pushed her pants down and then lifted her out of them, laying her down on the rug in front of the fire. Kyla was already writhing for him, her firm thighs pressed together as she tried to get some pressure on her pussy. He gripped her ankles and slid them apart, spreading her wide for him. Her bare, wet pussy glistened.
“I would like to taste you,” Nameer informed her. “But I fear that you would come too soon. I do love to see you like this.”
Kyla whimpered. She couldn’t argue the point. The minute his tongue touched her, she would have come apart.
“What are you going to do to me?” she asked instead.
His smile was slow and full of intent. “You’ll see, my love.”
He undressed himself quickly and she couldn’t help but catch her breath at the sight of him. No matter how many times she saw him naked, she couldn’t get used to it, couldn’t believe it was for her. Every inch of rock hard muscle and his massive cock...her personal playground. His stomach dipped in when her gaze landed on his stiff manhood.
“I can feel your eyes on it,” he told her. “My mate likes what she sees.”
She licked her lips and nodded. “I want it, Nameer. I need you inside me.”
He knelt between her thighs. “Deep?”
“As far as it will go,” she replied in a breathy tone, lifting her hips to ease his way in. “Please!”
Nameer slid the head of his cock into her. And then he stopped. Her hazel eyes, which had closed in pleasure, opened.
“What...” she began, but he shook his head.
“Not yet. I like the way you grip me. So tight.” Nameer palmed her breasts once more, letting her stiff nipples tease his palms. He kept up the shallow thrusts, just the head of his cock breaching her before he pulled out completely.
Her head tossed on the rug and her hips worked frantically as she tried to draw him deep.
“I can feel you throbbing,” she gasped after she’d lost count of how long he’d been teasing her. “You must want to be buried deep. Please, please, Nameer, I need to feel it all the way inside me!”
She put her hands on his butt and tried fervently to pull him deeper into her. He gave her a few more inches and she screamed with frustration. Her hands had balled into fists as she undulated on his aching cock. He could see her wetness on his shaft when she managed to take another inch. It was getting more and more difficult not to sheath himself into her desperate little pussy. But he knew that she needed more time, time to forget what the night had brought, time to lose herself in the pleasure of mating with him.
Nameer leaned down, kissing the side of her neck. The angle pulled him back a bit and she whimpered when he slid almost completely out of her.
“No, no, Nameer...”
He licked up her sweet tasting skin, leaving hot kisses in the wake of his cool tongue. Her hips shot up, gloving him deeper than he’d been yet. He growled with pleasure and then put one hand on her hip, holding her still.
“Be good,” he ordered.
She thrashed beneath him. “I don’t want to be good; I want to be filled!”
Another growl, this one of pure pride. “Gods, woman, you’re more than I could have dreamed.”
His mouth moved to her breasts as he withdrew completely, rocking his shaft against her straining clit.
“Don’t you dare come,” Nameer ordered.
Her hand snuck between them and she gripped the head of his cock, running her thumb over it. He was soaked with his own precum and her moisture.
Her hazel eyes were devious now. “I won’t if you don’t,” she whispered.
Nameer nipped her breast sharply. “Wicked woman.”
“Fuck me,” she begged. “Can’t you tell how much I need you? How much I want to come for you? Around you?”
He couldn’t take it anymore. Not with her thumb circling him in that maddening way. He grabbed her hands and held them above her head, both of her wrists in one hand. Her breasts bounced when he slammed deep. Her head fell back as he pummeled into her. With his free hand he pulled up one of her legs pushing it close to her shoulder as thrusted into her without mercy. She gasped for breath in between moans as he drove deep touch the back of her tunnel, still holding both of her wrists in his hand.
“Yes!”
He fucked her mercilessly. Kyla, on the edge for so long, was helpless not to come for him. Over and over. She cried out as her nails dug into his shoulders, which drove him closer to the edge. He reached down and yanked her up so that she was straddling him. He wanted her mouth. He wanted to taste her, to fill her mouth with his tongue while his cock filled her to the brink. She worked her hips on him as he kissed her deeply. He grabbed her hip with one hand and held her upper back with his other to lock her in place as his tongue filled her. He thrust up hard and deep inside her, holding himself inside, keeping her firmly in place as he penetrated every part of her being. Her breath hitched as she let out a gurgled moan, feeling the overwhelming pleasure of having him fill her most intimate places. Finally, he loosened as he began moving his hips underneath her and she broke the kiss.
“Come with me,” she gasped. “I want to feel it, Nameer.”
Snarling against her sweet lips, he did as she asked. She threw back her head and screamed out in bliss as he choked back a roar, pumping his seed up into her core. When it was finally over, she pulled him back down to the rug and he wrapped his arms around her.
“Thank the gods,” he said against her hair. “I never would have made it to the bed.”
Kyla laughed and pressed a kiss to one of the numerous scars on his chest. “Me neither,” she admitted as they bot
h drifted off into a satisfyingly peaceful sleep with Kyla tucked safely in the crook of his arm.
******
Lirana felt her body grow tense moments before the front door of her home was wrenched open. The door slammed, shaking the house and rattling the plates on the table. She hurried into the main room, holding a cold drink out to Darabin wordlessly. He took the glass and threw it as hard as he could against the opposite wall where it shattered into a splash of diamond fragments.
Lirana cringed, hating how weak she must look. But what else could she do? Speaking to him would only make him more angry.
“Go and clean it up!” Darabin shouted.
She hurried over to do as he’d said. The faster she moved, the smoother this might go.
“Have you heard?” he asked, beginning to pace around the room in agitation.
Her hands began to shake, but she tried to answer him calmly. “Heard what, my lord?” Most women called their husband’s by name, but Darabin had never allowed it.
“Kyla Dean,” he snarled, his eyes flickering, showing the animal within.
“I...heard that she was going to retrieve the toxin last night.” Lirana winced as a shard of glass dug into her trembling finger. “But I know nothing else.” He only allowed her to attend training 4 days a week so she hadn’t been at the castle since yesterday evening.
“Tayas is dead.”
She caught her breath. Tayas and Darabin had been friends since they were cubs. Darabin’s breathing was ragged and her heart twisted when his voice broke on his next words.
“He died of the poison last night. They weren’t even able to retrieve his body.”
“My lord,” Lirana whispered, standing and going to him. “I’m so sorry.”
Tayas had always been kind to her. Darabin pulled her close. She could hear his heart hammering. He was shaking too.
“He died bravely,” she said against her husband’s broad chest. It had been a long time since he’d held her this way.
“Bravely?” he repeated, his voice so cold that she took a step back. He grabbed her upper arms before she got too far away. His grip was so tight that it felt like a brand. “You think that it was brave of him to turn his back on everything he once believed in? Brave to follow the king’s whore to a certain death?”
“She is not a whore!” The words were out before Lirana could stop them.
Darabin hit her. Full on the face and hard enough to make her stagger. She pressed her hand to her cheek, tasting blood on her tongue already. She backed up when he reached for her again, but it didn’t do any good.
“I suppose you still think she’s right,” he said, slamming her against the wall. “No matter how many of us her inexperience kills! She is an outsider! So is he! I see the way you look at the human instructor,” Darabin went on, switching gears so suddenly that she blinked. “Will you follow the king’s whore that way too? Perhaps you think to join them both?”
Her face grew hot at the insinuations and at the look of disgust on her husband’s face.
“Stop it!” she cried out. “I have always been faithful to you!”
He shoved her into the wall again and her ears rang.
“But not to our ways, to our customs! You dare to look me in the eye, even now!”
Shocked at her boldness, Lirana jerked her gaze back down to his boots.
“I...I apologize,” she said through numb lips.
“This is their influence,” Darabin hissed. “The king’s whore. Her lover.”
A defense for Danny was on the tip of her tongue, but Lirana managed to swallow it back. She’d pushed farther than she ever had before tonight and look where it had gotten her.
“They have taken enough from me.”
His voice was calmer now and she shivered with fright at the sound of it. Darabin buried one hand in her thick hair and yanked her head back. Her eyes watered with the pain.
“Tonight, I reclaim my hold over you,” he said.
Her dress tore as he jerked it down. Lirana sank her teeth into her lower lip to keep from crying out when he shoved forward. When it was done, his pleasure taken, he let her go. Her knees buckled and she slid to the floor.
“Finish cleaning before you eat,” Darabin said, walking into the kitchen without a backward glance.
******
Kyla paused just outside the compound. Darabin was skulking near the training grounds, watching a little too intently for her liking. Especially since he had no business being anywhere near the women’s training.
“Move along,” she said sharply, not bothering to be polite.
“I just thought I’d speak with my wife for a moment,” he said.
“She’s busy now,” Kyla replied. “You wouldn’t allow her to interrupt you during your own training, would you? Come back when she’s done.”
Darabin’s jaw went tight, but he left without speaking again.
“I know he’s a shit,” Danny said. “But I wish you’d take it a little easier when you talk to him.”
“The way you took it easy on him at the trial?” Kyla asked with a short smile.
Danny watched Darabin walk away. “He deserved that. And more. But he hates you more than he hates me.”
“I’ve noticed,” she admitted. “I thought it was getting better but...”
“Tayas was his best friend,” Danny informed her.
Kyla stopped, genuinely surprised. “Tayas? Really?” Both men were arrogant and confident, but Tayas had possessed a sense of humor and a desire to learn.
“That’s what Afani said.” Danny fell into step with her as she walked around, checking the equipment and making a list of supplies they might need. “She mentioned it to me so I could mention it to you.”
“Interesting. I thought Tayas was smarter than that.”
“Darabin is an ass, but he’s not dumb. That’s why I want you to be careful.”
“I guess so,” Kyla agreed. “And I will.” It was hard for her to conceal her dislike for the former Captain though.
Danny glanced across the grass, watching Lirana.
“How are things with her coming along?” Kyla asked, following his gaze.
“What?” Danny asked. “With...oh. With training?”
“Yeah,” Kyla agreed, hiding her smile behind her hand. “With training. It can’t be easy. She’s a nice woman, but this doesn’t seem to be her thing.”
“She’ll be fine once she has some confidence,” Danny said firmly. “But...I am worried about her. Not here, but at home.”
“I wish she hadn’t gone back to Darabin,” Kyla said in a low voice. “I really thought after the way he treated her at the trial that she’d stay with us at the castle.”
Danny nodded, still watching her small form. “I did too. She’s moving slowly today.”
“Do you think she’s hurt?”
He nodded, his blue eyes dark with anger and worry. “I didn’t see any bruises, but that doesn’t mean anything. She heals differently than I do. He could have beaten the hell out of her last night, and I wouldn’t be able to tell.”
“Be careful, Danny.”
That pulled his gaze back to her. “What?”
“Be careful. She’s his mate. I don’t even know how that would work if you tried anything. And we’ve got a delicate balance going on here.”
“I just want to make sure she’s safe!” Danny protested, rubbing the back of his neck. “You know I wouldn’t...not with a married woman.”
Kyla smiled and patted him on the arm. She was relieved that his crush on her seemed to have run its course, but Lirana wasn’t the woman she would have chosen for her friend. It wasn’t just the politics of the situation. She wanted the other woman to learn to stand on her own. The best thing that could happen to her would be for her to be single for a while, at least in Kyla’s opinion.
“She is beautiful though, isn’t she?” Danny asked, half to himself.
“That doesn’t sound like careful to me,” Kyla pointed out.
“Don’t you have training to get to?”
Danny straightened his back and gave her a crisp salute. “Right away, your Majesty.”
“Bite me,” Kyla replied, smiling as she walked away.
******
Darabin stood waiting in a clearing three days later. Night had fallen and, since they’d purposefully chosen a moonless night, it was even darker than usual. He heard the soft tread of footsteps moments before the voice though.
“Sahir?” he asked quietly, even though he already knew. Seeban’s didn’t like being reminded of a shifter’s abilities.
“Yes,” the Seeban general replied smoothly. “Thank you for coming, Darabin.”
Darabin took a deep breath to ease his racing heart. “Of course. You can tell your men to stand down. I am not armed.”
“Only with the ability to turn into an animal,” Sahir said, his voice mocking. “But well done. I didn’t think you would see them.”
Darabin hadn’t seen them; he’d scented them and heard them. He didn’t think that was worth pointing out at the moment though.
Sahir gave a low whistle and a compliment of his new guard soon joined them. “Now, tell me what you wanted to talk about.”
“I wanted to talk about a mutually beneficial arrangement for Seeba and Khaytab,” Darabin said, working hard to sound confident. Now that he was here, some of the anger of Tayas’ death had cooled. He felt almost nervous.
“What would be most beneficial to us would be to raze your lands to the ground,” Sahir said calmly.
Darabin crossed his arms. “I doubt that. Slaves would be useful to any empire the size Seeba, especially it conquered Khaytab.”
Sahir grew quiet. “Interesting,” he said after a long moment. “And how would you help us accomplish this?”
“There is a woman. A human. She is the cause of all of our unrest. She’s taken our king under her spell.”
“Yes, I am familiar with her.” Sahir cut in. “What does she have to do with any of this?”
“Our country is divided,” Darabin said. “Our king will do anything to please his whore. Some of the people don’t mind, but there are many others like me.” That was an exaggeration, but he was sure that the people would go back to the old ways once they had a stronger ruler. “We want the old ways back. If we need a new leader to do that, then we are willing to do what it takes.”
Realm Shifters Page 9
