by Reid, Stacy
Xian, now laughing, slid off the wraith. “Did you see me on Azriel?”
Tehdra made to leave, but the thunder on Gavyn’s face made her pause in the shadows and observed.
“You could have been killed!” he bellowed. “You have not comprehended the stupidity of your actions.”
Xian eyes flashed with anger, quick and bright. “You forget yourself, blade,” she growled softly. "Do not presume to overstep your boundary because you belong to Ajali's blades."
Her tone held contempt and defiance.
Tehdra blinked. Gavyn flashed so fast she didn’t see him move. He appeared before Xian, and his hands spanned her throat. A growl of feminine affront rose in the princess’ throat, but before she could blaze at him, his lips swooped in and conquered hers. The kiss was raw, dominant, and filled with heat. Xian hesitated only for a few seconds, then wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him back with fervor. The kissed changed from one of anger to one of seduction. Then, with a sharp wrench, he flung her from him.
“Hell!”
Xian flinched from the regret that coated his tone.
He swung back in the saddle, and with a powerful flex of his thighs, the wraith shot into the sky and away from the city.
Xian raised shaking hands to her lips. Tehdra could see the shock in the princess’ eyes, along with yearning.
Interesting. Tehdra filed away the knowledge of their attachment. She stalked in the shadows to the king’s wing, moving from room to room trying to detect any suspicious presence. She then went to the inner sanctum that housed the natural, underground spring.
Water gurgled and bubbled among trees and shrubs. Rugs and tapestries graced the room, with gold and gems inlaid in almost every divan and brocade. She stripped and submerged into the warm pool of water, sighing in pleasure as it heated her muscles.
She sank deep and submerged her entire frame.
She wanted Ajali. It ate at her relentlessly, even though she was without her essence urging her to recklessness. Her nipples hardened as lust curled through her. She swam through the water lazily as thoughts of the king flitted through her mind, keeping her restless and in need.
She closed her eyes and delved into forbidden dreams.
6
Tehdra was drawn to Ajali’s private room. The taste of need was alive and pulsing on her tongue. After her bath, she’d shadowed step through the court and had even ventured into Adara. The shadows had been empty, and she had spied none of her people. Since then she had stayed close to the king, spying while he conferred with high chancellors from Aria and Caelum, ensuring he remained safe from attack. She kept waiting for something…anything to happen. Was it that they planned to take him on the trip to his realm of alliance? She'd gleaned he was to visit the kingdom of sand and earth in a few weeks' time.
He’d returned to the wing a few hours past, and instead of approaching her, he had secluded himself in an ante-chamber. She silently glided to the sanctuary. Raw emotions leaked through the massive doors, and there was a heated pulse inside of him that her darkness could not identify.
The creature inside her stilled as if sensing danger. In all her existence, this had never happened to her. She shifted the psychic leash on her darkness under and delved deeper, trying to understand the feelings buried inside of him.
She learned nothing.
His scent wrapped around her and soft desire swept through her. He had not deigned to touch her since his lesson, and it was curious that he did not attempt to bed her. She drew closer to the door and lightly tapped. There was a pause for an infinite amount of time before he commanded her to enter.
Tehdra opened the door to his private room and sauntered inside. Hunger flared in his eyes, and she smelled the arousal that suddenly wafted from him.
“May I offer you some company,” she said, gliding closer. She sat in an armchair and curled her feet up under her thighs without waiting for an invitation.
A smile curved his lips as he rolled the scrolls that he had opened. She liked that. He smiled often.
“Haris are not supposed to be in my private room.” Green eyes stared at her.
“I also understand that haris are not allowed in your wing, yet, here I am.”
She smiled at the startled look that entered his eyes before he quickly banked all arousal. He had not expected her response. She did not know how to be coy. She was a warrior who just discovered there was someone who could dip to her feminine core and draw out a woman who wanted to be pampered and protected, seduced, and loved.
She knew, in theory, how a mate should make her feel, yet the reality far surpassed all that she had envisioned.
He chuckled, low and smooth and the vibrations from it rushed through her and melted the tension caused by uncertainty. He walked to the side table and poured wine from a decanter into two golden goblets.
Her gaze scanned the room. It suited him. Simple, yet masculine, with a hint of elegance. A cavernous fireplace blazed with dancing flames, and a large desk and high chairs scattered about the room. An entire wall held hundreds of books and scrolls and tablets. Several maps, as well and one of the most beautiful weapons she had ever seen, graced the wall above the fireplace.
“The sword is magnificent.” She accepted the wine he handed her.
He leaned on the desk. His gaze flicked to the sword, and she shivered with the chill that came from him.
“It is.” Piercing eyes met hers. “It’s imbued with the spirit and will of my ancestors. It belonged to my mother.”
She swept off the divan and stood in front of the sword.
* * *
Ajali studied the sensual way she moved and desire flared inside him. She seemed oblivious to the raw sensuality she exuded. He had no intention of taking her tonight, yet her presence tempted him. The caftan she wore was so sheer he could see the luscious outline of her nipples. She had removed most of the jewels except the one that pierced her navel and circled her stomach.
He could not afford a distraction tonight.
He had spies embedded all over Amagarie, and their deception had flown with wings to reach his ears. The Mevian emperor had Serangites and witches working with him. The walls whispered that his enemies planned to capture him.
Capture.
That had startled Ajali. Many would welcome his death, but he could not imagine what they could gain from his capture. Torture? It perplexed him, and he had ordered his eyes and ears to delve deep and provide him with details of every meeting, gathering, and rumor.
Treachery abounded. Enemies were within and outside his walls. Since removing his warriors from outside his wing of the castle, no movements had been detected. He needed to lure them into trying to take him. He needed to appear vulnerable. His lips curled with disdain. Vulnerability. He would try his utmost best to be entrapped by Tehdra.
The duty to deliver death to his enemies pelted in him, yet the need to have Tehdra under him until all his raging lust was sated vied ruthlessly for his attention.
He had never had another in his private wing before, much less his room, where he sought solitude. She turned, and obsidian eyes met his, and the need to take her rushed through his veins like a storm. He was not sure if it was her cool beauty that aroused him. His cock did not rule Ajali. Ever. And he was not about to start. However, he could not deny that he wanted more than her body. There was something about her that intrigued him. He already knew she was a liar. That alone impressed him; most feared him too much even to consider lying.
She claimed she was tutored in the sensual arts.
Lie.
She claimed she was unskilled.
Lie.
The grace of her movements and the way she walked was predatory.
No lower house would send an unskilled daughter to his kingdom. Many were not able to afford a master to train them in the fighting arts, but none came to him unskilled in how to arouse and please him. Her mouth had tasted of innocence, and its effects punched him deep and hard. He doubted he had ever be
dded an innocent. Virgins, yes, but not an innocent. Virgins that came to him knew how to use their hands, tongues, and voices alone to bring men to their knees. She knew nothing, yet she possessed raw and unmatched carnality.
She was the enemy. From which quarter, he had yet to discover. But he always kept his enemies close, and she was as close as anyone could get.
“Was Xian hard on you today?”
Her throaty voice caressed his cock. “No, she was very careful in how she handled me. She is a fine teacher. Her patience was unmatched. Will you watch me tomorrow?”
He raised his brows. He was sure Tehdra was there to spy on him, yet all her actions indicated she wanted him near. Ajali did not fear death from her quarter; he could kill her before she formed the thought to assassinate him. But he wanted to know who she spied for, and torture was not the method he would use. After all, it was always more beneficial to turn a mole in his corner. He needed to start moving his pieces across the board.
“I will train you tomorrow.”
Surprise then pleasure flared in her eyes.
“I would like that,” she gave him a smile filled with simmering sensuality.
Fuck! It seemed as if his distraction would indeed start tonight and not in the morn.
“Why are you untutored in the sensual arts?”
“Initially, I was pledged for marriage to a lower house merchant. It was a greater opportunity to join your harem for my family. It was a privilege for me to represent my house. As the youngest daughter of three, I was considered the most beautiful.”
A credible and quick answer.
“Are you displeased?” Her gaze was direct and curious, but not fearful.
Pleasure darkened his veins.
* * *
Without waiting for an answer, Tehdra spun and faced the sword. Being in Ajali’s presence was hard, yet to be outside of it was inconceivable. His scent intoxicated her. Intelligence and cunning shone in his eyes, and she admired and dreaded it in equal measure.
He suspected her. There was no negative emotion that her darkness could not ferret. He had buried it swiftly and deep, but she had felt it. It was not a panicky kind of distrust; it was glacier cold. She lifted her hand and ran it across the astoundingly beautiful weapon. She bit her lips as she felt him move behind her. The raw energy behind her lured her into leaning back slightly. Her body curved into the hardness of him and it was delightful. Primal awareness rushed through her, and the need to mate infused her limbs. Molten desire spiraled through her, and her nipples puckered painfully.
His hand covered her fingers that caressed the sharpened blade.
“Are these dragon claws and scales?” she murmured huskily.
A hardened perfection of green dragon scales and black claws decorated the hilt.
He lowered his head, and she felt the inhalation of his breath right down to her aching and already throbbing core.
“My mother battled a summoned dragon in the first Great War. Our books tell of her fight and triumph.”
Tehdra froze. “Your queen was victorious over a summoned beast and its master?” Impossible. For a Darkan to be able to summon its beast, it would have to be fully bonded and more than likely an elder of their race. How could the queen of Nuria defeat a Darkan who had access to all his demon’s brutality and immense power?
“This was the weapon she used to fight. She was young and willing to die for her people. The battlements rang with cries of dread and defeat as hundreds faced only a handful of Darkans.”
Her stomach clenched as powerful hands rested on her hips and drew up her caftan. Why was she not pulling away and fabricating an excuse to leave his presence? Because she wanted him, craved his touch.
Yess…. The triumph from her beast rolled through Tehdra.
“Screams of pain and fear pierced the air, and the Darkans claimed lives as if they were death gods. Cries for retreat sounded, but the Darkans advanced with only the thought to annihilate.”
She swallowed as the caftan bared her knees in slow increments. Lust pumped through her and lethargy filled her limbs as she leaned more into his hardness.
“The king, my father, was in the Darkan’s direct path when he summoned his demon beast to corporeal form. Hundreds rushed in with flames dancing to protect my father, and they were destroyed like ants with one belch of fire from the dragon. Its heat was indomitable, and it incinerated all that it touched.”
Tehdra uttered a raw sound of arousal as he bunched the caftan at her hips and trailed his hand to her core and cupped her flesh.
The powerful male body behind her shuddered, and a curse slipped from him. He paused for several seconds, and she realized he fought for restraint.
“High Countess Xie Lo Chanz of the house of Phoenyx, was secretly in love with the king, who was to marry her oldest sister. The king and his army battled the dragon and its master, but he could not win.”
Tehdra whimpered when he ran his fingers down her slit. Her womb spasmed, and her sex clenched as liquid heat coated his fingers.
“Fuck!” A jagged, aroused exclamation tumbled from him. He nipped at her ear, hard enough that it stung, but her pleasure only rose higher.
She heard his ragged breathing over the loud beating of her heart.
"Xie rushed in to save him without thought of herself. When the dragon breathed death on her, she owned his fire. She took it from him and wielded it with a mastery that was unmatched. She battled him for hours, and from the ashes of her battle, she awoke a power that was beautiful and deadly—the Phoenyx.”
A dark and heady desire rose in Tehdra. Sensations—delicious sensations—twisted and throbbed between her legs. She shivered as he sank two fingers deep inside of her. The moan that was dragged out of her throat was like a purr. Her heart beat in time with the slow thrusts in her sex and intense pleasure torpedoed through her.
“She dominated the battlefield with her rage and power. The dragon and its master burned under the flames that she controlled. But she did not stop there. She turned her terrifying rage on all that remained.”
Ajali inhaled rough and harsh as her hips writhed sinuously against his hands. She felt the sultriness start to beat in his blood like a drum at her movements. It rose hot and dangerous and poured from him to her. She cried out and arched in his hand as heat washed over her and coated her in a decadent fire. Perspiration glistened on her skin, and the fireplace roared and leaped to life as fire climbed the walls and swirled around them.
The moans turned from languid to harsh gasps as the fieriness in Tehdra became dominant. Her hips rolled and undulated to the fingers that plunged inside of her, rough yet tender. Hands cupped her breasts and tantalized her nipples. Wet heat trailed at her neck, his teeth nipping and delivering sharp stings. But it was the lust. It raged in her blood like a fever. Flames seemed attached to his fingertips whispering over her flesh.
Her mass of hair clung damply to her back and nape. Engulfed in warmth, Tehdra gasped hoarsely when she saw that they were both surrounded by a halo of fire.
“Ajali,” she gasped as he spun her around, lifted her and placed her on his desk. Her beast snarled at his display of strength, loving every minute of his apparent loss of control.
“Spread your legs,” he demanded, and she obeyed.
Tehdra flung hands out against the wall for a brace she did not need. His arms held her up as he bent his head and swiped his tongue through her core that creamed and clenched around his fingers.
“Aahhhh.” Tehdra all but shouted as pleasure unlike any she could imagine swept through her, destroying her restraint.
His tongue swiped and licked her into mindless abandon. He found her nub and sucked harshly then gently, then with focused intensity. Sweat ran in rivulets down her body, and she flung her head back as her chakra pulsed and her darkness subtly leaked from her.
“Ajali,” she whimpered his name, fighting to hold onto her sanity, as his tongue fucked into her clenching sex once again.
Cr
uelty bled into her mind as the need to pounce and dominate bled into her. Her control teetered on the edge of violence. She reclined against his desk and arched her hips higher as he widened her legs. Her incisors lengthened as the vicious need to be on top of him, with her fangs buried in his veins, poured through her. Charka, black and churning, swirled around her and mixed with the soft fire that seemed to engulf them. She ruthlessly reined it in as fear rushed through her; he could not witness the crack in her control, or he would deliver death to her instantly.
She bucked and shivered on the desk as he swirled his tongue from her soaking core up to her navel. He trailed wet erotic heat over her piercing, then dragged his tongue to her nipples and bit hard.
More….
“More,” Tehdra gasped hoarsely as bliss whipped in her veins. Her darkness luxuriated in the bite of pain that radiated from her nipples and core where he plunged his fingers back inside her.
He wound her hair in his fist and held her gaze. His face was dark, savage, and beautiful in his arousal, and his green eyes contained echoes of flames in their depths. Every cell in Tehdra’s body came alive with need, a burning torrent of lust as Ajali took her mouth with raw, seductive force. His tongue teased and plundered her mouth, and she groaned and twined her tongue around his as they pleasured each other.
Her body shook as his thumb repeatedly flicked against her clit while he pumped his fingers almost mindlessly into her swollen core. Her body weakened as sensation after sensation pummeled through her, and her orgasm rose to feverish heights, almost cruel in its intensity. Tension tightened inside of her with each thrust of his fingers, each touch, and each kiss until she fragmented as shards of ecstasy consumed her.
Her body still trembled as it came off the high of her orgasm. Her mate. Pleasure hummed, dark with brutal need riding it.
“Ours.” The beast hissed against her mind.
It scared Tehdra, the sheer magnitude of the hunger he evoked within her. He could empower her and make her whole, but he could also wreck her.
