by Stacy Reid
“What are you showing me?” she whispered.
“I want you not to fear the beast inside of me.”
“Why do you not suppress this darkness as Lachlan does?”
When you do not have power those precious to you can be snatched from your arms.
A collage of thoughts, memories, their impressions clear and precise, tunneled through her mind like the rushing waters of a river. Feelings accompanied the images. The depth of loyalty he felt to King Rajliegh, Gidon’s father, as Drac had bonded himself to his cadre. His ruthless resolve as he lowered his psychic shield to learn darkness and hone it as a weapon to become stronger—stronger to fight, to protect his king’s throne, his family and his kingdom, as they battled the subjugation of the dark era in which they lived. The pain and terror at watching his brother succumb to evil. His feelings, as darkness and power, beckoned and seduced, and his triumph at bonding with the beast inside. Images of her fighting the Mevians; of her fleeing to his world; of him drinking her blood; of being inside of her body, coalesced and sank into Saieke. The primal attraction, the lust, the desire, the need to protect and love her, bled from him into her.
Saieke wrenched her mind from the depths of his, breaking the connection. The intensity of the emotions shook and humbled her.
“You are still afraid.”
“No…yes…only because I feel so much for you. You have a beast claiming me. What do I have to explain my desire for you?” she asked rawly.
“My beast only detected what I would eventually come to know because of its heightened senses. Its powers allowed me to see faster, what I would have discovered even without its essence. Our animalistic essence allows us to find a mate that soothes the constant need to blood let with her smiles, her body, and her love. You are my mate, Saieke.”
Although, you do not want me.
“I want you with every breath in my body.”
She gasped. She had not expected him to hear her innermost thought.
“Will you allow me to court you?”
Her eyes widened. “Court me?”
His lips twitched. “Yes…I do not think I have the willpower to stay away for unending years, maybe only for a few hundred.”
Emotions clogged her throat. Uncertainty, even fear, but the sheer excitement that rushed through her at Drac's words frightened her more than she thought possible. She felt lost in his need and desires. They scared her because they were also her desires. Yes.
Good.
I think I am falling in love with you, Darkan.
Penetrating eyes rested on her face. The woman you are would never do what your grandmother did. Everything you have done is for your people.
But, if I allow myself to love you…to ache for you as I do now. When the choice comes, what will I do?
He smiled. Do you doubt you would find a way to save everyone you love? You would not be forced into a choice that would test your loyalty, duty or love.
Her heart ached. She drew his mouth down and kissed him with voracious hunger, assuaging the heat and need pelting within her. Pleasure rose, dark and stormy, as Saieke sank into the world that Drac seemed determined to pull her into—one of danger, lust, uncertainty and pure decadence.
15
“Anxiety beats in your breast.”
“I think that may be your breath against my nipples,” Saieke said as he flicked his tongue stabbing at her nipple.
He lay between her legs, with his head resting between the globes of her breasts. She hazily looked around the room. "It is troubling to know that I see and hear so much more. Still, I find it exciting.” She purred as he laved the sharp nip at her nipple. She smiled. The most dangerous man she knew lay on top of her completely at ease.
“Our libraries have extensive records of all kinds: tomes, scrolls, great books. They are centuries old. I invite you to look with me.”
“I would love that.” She sighed softly.
“I sent a team of warriors to hunt for your Queen’s blades.”
Relief pulsed in her. “Thank you. I was groomed with the thought that they were dispensable. Their duty is to give their lives for mine in service to the realm, but I hurt at the idea of their death."
“It is normal to feel a bond with ones that trained you, Princess. Do you want vengeance on their behalf?
Saieke shifted. “Vengeance? You perceive them as dead?”
He grunted, and then pulled her sharply back onto his body. “The emperor of Mevia is famed for claiming prisoners. I can feel the guilt lashing at you. Why do you feel such emotions?”
“They were loyal to me, my blades, and because of my plan, they are now dead or prisoners. Kamu had a tsari—a wife. Thyon had the court ladies fawning over him. He lost his family in the second Great War, but he had his duty to the realm that gave him purpose. I led them to this demise, but the most painful thing is I do not know their fate, so I cannot impart news to their loved ones.”
“I will retrieve knowledge of your Queen’s blades. If need be, I will personally travel to Mevia.”
“I… I…”
“Was that pulse of fear for my safety?” he drawled.
Saieke glared at him. “It is not a matter to be amused about.”
“Do you understand what I am?” he asked so dangerously soft Saieke bit her lips.
“Yes.”
“Then why do you feel fear for my safety?”
Because I am falling in love with everything that you are. Saieke looked at the resolve that lined his face, reassured by the latent violence she saw there. “There may be times I forget your power, like now, when you are purring on me like a big kitten.”
She laughed at the look of surprise that flickered across his face. She held onto him as he grabbed her and shiktred with her to the cave. Saieke shrieked with laughter as he dumped her into the water. She spluttered as she surfaced. His mouth flittered over hers before sinking into a deeper kiss.
“You make me burn,” he murmured.
She chuckled in his mouth as she doused him with water. She blew against his lips and ice crackled along his frame. She yelped as shadows cascaded around her and swallowed. Saieke splayed her hands against his hardened stomach, reveling in the heat of him. He cocooned her in the shadows, and she could see nothing except the paleness of his face.
“I leave soon.” She loved the raw intimacy the cocoon he held them in created.
“I can feel your doubts rising, Princess.” He nipped her lips sharply, then used his tongue to capture the drop of blood that beaded.
“I am but anxious about what will unfold upon my return. How will the Nurian king and my lieges react to my impurity? And the Mevians’ attack must be reported. Their actions hold frightening implications. Only my Queen’s blades and my closest friend Rai knew of my plans to flee.”
“The Nurian king has no hold on you. You are my mate.”
“A bit arrogant don’t you think? You have no intention of claiming me.”
“If another man touches you, I will kill him.”
His voice rang with truth. She frowned. "If you decide never to claim me, are you saying I cannot be with another man?" The very idea was repulsive to her, but she had to know.
“Not if you value his life.”
She spluttered in outrage, and he had the audacity to chuckle.
“So, the Nurian king cannot marry me?”
“Yes.”
Saieke’s head fell on a muscular chest, her lips kissing his skin. “I cannot make it known that I am the mate of a Darkan.”
The pressure of his finger tilted her chin up to meet his eyes. “Your battles are mine to fight. You fear for naught.”
“I suppose you think you can fight the empire of Mevia and Boreas?”
She flinched from the coldness that slid across her mind. “Remove it from your thoughts!”
Saieke gripped the hair at the nape of his neck pulling his lips close to her. “I know what you fight for…what your king fights for, a life of peace for
the Darkage. Not only peace, Drac, but you desire a life of prosperity for your people. Healing waters when needed, wheat and grains that are not grown here, crystals from Avindar. You threatened that with your thoughts.”
“If you are threatened, it is a threat against the Darkage.”
“Your realm is so feared, Drac, even now I disbelieve that I am here. What Gidon is trying to accomplish is bold…and may be impossible. The rumors of your people’s brutality are not far removed from the truth. But your world is so much more, so beautiful, and I have been treated with kindness…by most." She traced the claw of his beast that boldly marked his cheeks.
“The other kingdoms have warriors amounting to millions; they have powerful head families with destructive keni. Lachlan told me the Darkage has a population of less than fourteen million. I understand that everyone here is a threat, a potential force to be reckoned with, due to their beast. Gidon needs to change that fear so that your kind are seen for more than slaughter and mayhem. That cannot be threatened,” she said softly. “Not even if my death is ordered.”
She moaned as his lips slanted against her so slowly.
“You understand what we hope to fight for. Gidon wishes to rule without war and bloodshed, but he will understand, he’ll champion me if anyone tries to claim what belongs to the Darkage. You belong to the Darkage.”
He stiffened, something akin to shock skating across his features. What realization did he have? Saieke smiled as a unique tightness filled her chest. She did not resist as he roiled with her onto the bank of the cave to the pallets laid out. A moan of pleasure, a sigh of fulfillment echoed from her as he slid deep inside of her.
“Ahh,” she moaned, quivering and pulsing around his rigid girth.
“Shhh,” he placed a soothing hand under her buttocks and lifted her even harder onto his cock. “I wish I could claim you…brand you with the ink we place on our mates for all of Amagarie to see,” he breathed into her as his hips started that slow rhythm of maddening pleasure.
They remained in the cave for hours. They bathed, made love again and talked. Well, she did most of the talking about his realm and hers—the complexities of their kingdom, the beauty, and the trading possibilities. He listened to her keenly and gave her sound insight on what his king was trying to accomplish, the structure of government, and its conception. The last thing Saieke felt was his lips kissing her forehead, and Drac tucking her under a coverlet as her body refused to help him, drained by exhaustion.
Saieke’s eyes flew open, and everything seemed bathed in silvery moonbeams. Her mind stretched, and the softest of flutter against her consciousness woke her fully. She could feel the shadows of Drac’s mind brushing and seeking hers, and she eagerly reached for him.
I am in the grand solarium. Follow my voice.
She stretched and stumbled from the bed, flashing to the bath chamber. Saieke groaned and winced, her muscles ached, and then she smiled.
I will miss you, Drac.
The thought pains you.
It does.
She closed her mind to his. He would not object to her leaving his realm. She was a little skeptical at that because when she heard the word mate the thought ‘bonded for life' had leaped in her mind. She had felt echoes of his beast’s agreement, and since forming lei, it was becoming more evident that they were one being. Inseparable.
She was falling in love with Drac, and while now was not the right time to be with him, she thought they could eventually have a future. Saieke massaged the spot over her chest. The thought of leaving him made her ache. She found it baffling and upsetting. There was a deep nagging need to be in his presence, and she wanted to reach deep inside him and absorb his essence and make it hers. A smile lifted her lips. Well, he did ask to court her. She could ask him when…a century from now or a thousand years? It would indeed be foolish to wait, for she would pass her childbearing years in the next four centuries. What if he came too late for them to have a family? Would their love fade? Kings’ teeth. Could she even have a child now with the changes in her body?
She needed to locate him so that they could scour the books that recorded his kind’s trek to the other dimensions. She hoped they would find something to explain why she now had characteristics unique only to Darkans.
She bathed quickly and then strolled into the dressing antechamber where several caftans were laid out for her. She dressed herself in a caftan of wine red. It was figure hugging and flared from her hips into flowing trousers, floating around her ankles.
Saieke ensured that she was armed with the blades from the king but was chagrined over how to manage her hair. She brushed it and let it ripple to her hips in waves.
Saieke flashed through several empty corridors of Drac’s castle. Some had great torches burning but it was so desolate and silent, it was eerie. She was grateful that her vision was now perfect in the dark. Her keener hearing identified the echo of a child’s laughter that rang out from a great distance. She flashed to the sound, descending winding stairs to cross yet another endless corridor.
There was a great door that she used her wind to ease open gently. There was a balustrade three-story high that overlooked an immense hall. Drac was there with six other Darkans, including a small boy of about eight years. Saieke quietly walked down the stairs to the balcony directly overlooking the foyer.
Several Darkans stood together like graceful predators.
Instinctively, she sensed they were all aware of her presence, even though they did not glance in her direction. The small boy was shrieking in joy as Drac tossed him high in the air, caught him and twirled him around. A female, who appeared to be his mother, looked on in indulgence with a smile curving her lips. She was beautiful. Rounded cheeks, auburn hair that floated gently around her shoulders, she had the brownest eyes Saieke had ever seen. They sparkled like gems. She also had a high rounded belly that proclaimed her pregnant state.
She glanced in Saieke’s direction, and their eyes fleetingly met before she switched her attention back to the boy and Drac. Drac’s expression had the same remoteness to it, but she could feel the overwhelming affection he had for the young boy through the link that they shared.
Are you well?
Yes.
Come here.
Saieke rolled her eyes. Why do you order instead of asking?
Come here please, Princess.
She smiled when she felt the underlying amusement that accompanied his request. She snorted and flashed down the stairs and tried to bury her trepidation at meeting what appeared to be his family. They turned to her simultaneously when she appeared.
She buried any uncertainty she had deep inside and drew on her mantle of royal arrogance and smoothed her expression into an aloof mask. What will they think of her?
“Princess,” he greeted as she approached. The oldest male raised his eyes at how he referred to her.
“Meet Princess Saieke El Shyokara of Boreas. She has been in the Darkage as somewhat of an unofficial emissary of her kingdom,” he said smooth and low. “Princess, my family.”
She welcomed the feelings of affection that tunneled through him, grateful he was capable of more than just brutality. The warmth melded from both him and his beast, at least that what it felt like to her through their link. The introductions blurred together.
“I am pleased to make your acquaintances,” she greeted everyone.
Present were his mother and father, his two sisters, and his younger sister’s mate. The young boy was their son. Drac’s father's presence was imposing and dark. The fine lines that rimmed the smoothness of his eyes proclaimed him to be close to an elder. His mother, Pia, was graceful and her warmth put Saieke instantly at ease.
His pregnant sister, Chedra exuded the same warmth, and though her mate, Tzar, was large and fierce, he held her with acute tenderness. His other sister, Tehdra epitomized femininity, ruthlessness, and warrior in the same package. She was lithe, and coiled with power, with obsidian eyes and pale alabaster skin.
Her lips were red, and the contrast with inky black hair against such pale skin was eerie.
“Princess Saieke,” Tehdra said flatly.
Saieke inclined her head. She could see their curiosity.
“How long do you remain in the Darkage?” his mother asked.
“I leave tomorrow.”
“Come, please walk with me.” His mother smiled and indicated the direction they should stroll. Saieke glanced at Drac’s closed expression.
Drac?
Go. I must confer with my enforcers and father.
I am rolling my eyes now in exasperation at your constant need to order instead of asking.
She went with his mother and sister. A shiver raced up her spine at the remoteness she had seen. After the long night of intimacy, she had expected at least some warmth. His mother and sister chatted with her, and she answered as best as she could, without their noticing her distraction.
Something was wrong, and anxiety clenched her stomach in knots.
“Report,” Drac commanded.
He was with his first and second enforcers. He commanded the one hundred thousand warriors that resided at the Northern Keep. His sister Tehdra was his captain who presided whenever he was absent. Tzar, his pregnant sister’s mate, was his second in command.
His sister faced him. “We have tracked the presence of Mevians within the Darkage. They move with stealth and darkness that is hard to penetrate. At least one elder aids them.”
“We also suspect that the elder resides at this keep,” Tzar said.
His father exhaled sharply. This was the first time his father had been privy to this information, and Drac saw fleeting shock chasing across his face. His father, Raki El Kyn, was close to being an elder and a powerful one at that. Gidon's father had appointed him high chancellor, and Raki had fulfilled his task ruthlessly. He worked closely with the warrior factions and was a member of the king’s council.
