by Stacy Reid
“You’re so soft and smooth. The thought of you hurt and in pain makes me crazy.”
One hand glided up and cupped her breast through her clothes. “I ache for you.”
He ran his hands down between her thighs and cupped her. Her pleasure soared to new heights, and she grew damp.
“You’re already wet for my touch.”
Saieke moaned and sagged against him. He flicked his hands and used the heel of his palm to massage her clitoris. Saieke’s breathing grew ragged.
“I yearn for you when I am not with you.”
He placed her to sit on the ledge. He widened her legs with his hips and stepped between them. He dipped his head and claimed her lips.
Saieke raised her legs, wrapped them loosely around his waist and caressed him with sensual hunger. She placed her hand under his shirt and ran her hands over the muscles of his back. “I want to see you,” she slid into the deep recesses of his mind.
His chakra pulsed with hot desire. She felt along his mind and brushed along the lei that connected him to his darkness. She felt it shift, and darker emotions poured forth. Lust and longing tinged with cruelty.
“Saieke!”
He shifted his psychic hold and released his beast so that she could learn it. She trembled at the vicious emotions, but softened instinctively, and sank deeper into him at the longing she encountered.
Muscles contracted, and scales rippled and formed underneath her hands. She pulled her mouth away from his, when a rip rent through the air, to look at the massive wings that unfurled.
They were vicious, yet wholly beautiful.
The scales that covered him were hard and exotic. Saieke ran her hands over the strangeness of them. “You are so beautiful, Drac.”
She glided a fingertip over his scale covered back and chest where she drew the tatters of his shirt away. She reached around and traced where his wings rose.
He shivered and groaned harshly.
She heard a crack. Drac gripped the edges of the ledge with hands that were now razor-sharp claws. She looked deep into his serpent-like eyes and smiled at him shyly.” I think I am falling in love with you, Drac. The very idea is improbable, for I have only known you for five days.”
His decadent lips quirked in a smile. “I will treasure you, protect you and want you with me until breath leaves my body. There is no other for me, my leika. We may be apart for years, but it will only be you.”
Pleasure, dizzying in its intensity, rushed through her like a tidal wave. She felt man and beast intertwine inside and meld into her essence. She heard his vow and responded. “I am yours, and you are mine to protect and love until breath leaves my body.”
Saieke ran her tongue along his fangs that elongated and pressed into the tips. Pain lanced at her tongue and blood welled. She twirled her tongue along his fangs and lips and coated them with blood.
Wings swooped down and covered her completely. His head dipped, and his fangs raked against her neck and clavicle. Claws danced up her spine and methodically sliced the caftan away from her body. Wetness gathered between her legs. He nipped erotically at her neck, spilling blood, and she moaned at the raw heat his touch generated.
He used his thighs to spread her legs wider. His claws clamped down on the ledge, caging her in on both sides. He did not touch her with them. Anticipation had her wildly moaning as she leaned back and encountered the support of his wings. Scales rippled under her arms, and she luxuriated at the feel of his bare skin under her hands once more. She gasped as the tip of his cock pressing at her entrance.
He held her gaze as he slowly entered her. Her body stretched to accommodate his and pleasure flared. She cried when he paused and then with a firm thrust seated himself to the hilt. Sweat glistened on her skin, and she panted at the feel of him stretching her deliciously wide.
She moaned in abandon as he withdrew and thrust hard, with lust and tenderness riding his chakra. Pleasure burned, bright and long, high on the turret as Drac loved Saieke until she wilted from exhaustion and hummed deep in contentment.
He had been saying goodbye.
Saieke admired the perfection of Drac's body as they lay on his bed.
He completely ensnared her. She might never see him again…or perhaps they would meet in a hundred years or so. After loving her on the turret, he had flown with her over his keep. He had slowed his speed, but they had still traveled for miles with him showing her mountains, rivers, and creeks. He had taken her so far into the sky that she had been in awe of the world on which she looked. Its beauty was raw and deadly.
Then he had returned her to his chambers and had been insatiable in his need for her. It was as if they were gorging themselves to make up for the years they would be without each other.
Arousal simmered softly inside her as she traced the muscles on his chest and abdomen.
His cock was erect and straining from the light touches she danced across his skin. She was still amazed that this was what he used to make love with her. Her fingers could not wrap around its length. It pulsed in her hand and jerked. She looked at him from under her lashes, and he still did not stir.
Saieke leaned over and sucked the mushroom flared head into her mouth. She twirled her tongue and suckled softly but strongly. He tasted like rain and darkness. A deep groan rumbled from him. “I knew you were awake,” she murmured huskily.
He looked at her from hooded eyes. “Continue,” he ordered.
Saieke raised her brow and nipped sharply at the head of his cock, then laved the sting with her tongue. She smiled at him with feminine power as his chakra pulsed with violent arousal. “I think now would be a good time to talk about your constant need to give me orders.”
She slid her mouth over half his length. Her mouth stretched and burned, but she twirled her tongue and slid back up slowly while maintaining eye contact.
“Bring your pussy to my mouth.”
She sent her laughter to his mind. “I don’t think so, my lover. This moment is to do as I please,” she confidently said, knowing he would do whatever pleased her.
She suckled, licked and sipped with her mouth. She used the clenches of his muscles and the growls that echoed in her mind to learn what pleased him. She shivered as her arousal spiked and her body grew wet in preparation for him.
“Sit on me.”
She slowly released him from her mouth and climbed on top of him. She sat astride him, and her wetness slid on his stomach. He groaned harshly from beneath her, and she gasped at the contact. She leaned back and clasped him. He flexed and jumped in her hands, and she rose on her knees.
“Look at me.”
She met his eyes as she notched his cock at her entrance and slowly slid down. His stomach clenched, and he fisted the sheets. Saieke bit her lips hard as he stretched her. She furrowed her brows in concentration and tried to relax and take him.
“Drac help me!”
She had taken less than half of him inside her when she heard his husky laughter through their link as he reached up and palmed the underside of her breast. He massaged and flicked at her nipples while tendrils of chakra dance seductively over her back and the crack of her buttocks. She moaned as wetness pulsed, and she was able to slide onto him another inch.
Saieke arched her back sharply as he lunged up with his hips and pushed through her resistance. She keened wildly into the room and bucked on top of him.
“Ride,” a harsh demand from him that she obeyed instinctively.
She glided up and sank back down. The pleasure-pain was exquisite. She repeated the motion. Her hair cascaded, and its length formed a curtain around her body. She flung back her hair as tension gripped her and her tempo increased. She glided up and down, slowly then faster, and repeated her motion over and over until she started to peak.
Ecstasy barreled through her as she rode him in sheer wantonness and she orgasmed continually on top of him. He slammed inside of her harder and harder. Instinctively, she lowered herself and gripped her hair to ba
re her throat for his fangs. Lightning pleasure bolted through her when he plunged his fangs deep. Saieke groaned as she clamped down on his cock like a vise, and he snarled and emptied inside her.
He rolled and pinned her under him to capture her lips in a slow and thorough kiss. He released her lips and laughed huskily when she breathed ‘again’ against his lips.
“Absolutely fucking perfect.”
Drac took Saieke to heights of pleasures she could not have imagined.
20
Saieke traveled in a massive conveyance to her home. The carriage was spacious, and the inlays glinted with gold. Its crest was that of the ruling house of the Darkage, and a team of Kun pulled it. They could have traveled on foot, but she was glad for the carriage and the comfort she gleaned from resting inside on the padded cushion.
Saieke dressed in the most exquisite yellow caftan with several layers that flowed and swirled about her legs. Its hidden folds held two set of weapons. One gifted from the king and the other from her Leki.
She twirled the word that meant a ‘mated Darkan male’ savoring its feel and sound. She had been so surprised when he had presented her with the blades. The graceful yet deadly edges were black and forged from dragon claws, with emerald scales adorning the handle. They were slightly over a foot in length. Saieke had laughed in ironic pleasure. In another kingdom, a lover would have gifted her with rubies, pearls, and exotic gems, but her Darkan gifted her with weapons.
She loved them.
In their last moments, she realized he would never let her go. Something had shifted inside her upon that realization, and she knew she would defy rules to be with him…whether it was twenty or a hundred years from today.
Saieke lurched in her seats as the Kun galloped with such speed she estimated she would arrive home in a few hours.
“You stare, princess.” The soft rasp of Lachlan’s voice had her smiling, entirely at ease.
“I only admire your calm in the face of going into unchartered territory.” He was the Darkage’s peacekeeper. Who would have thought the Darkans had a peacekeeper?
“You do not seem perturbed at all that you are going into a kingdom that will greet you with suspicion and fear.”
“I do not feel fear.” The smooth cadence of his voice held no inflection, and Saieke could not sense any chakra from him at all.
“I will miss your kingdom.” She smiled at him wistfully inviting him to converse. Which he ignored.
Drac’s family had given her several spectacular gifts—beautifully colored cloths, several layered caftans, flagons of their wine, and the tapestries for her king and queen were of the highest quality. No questions had been asked about her accelerated healing or that she spent hours in Drac’s chambers before her departure.
She had been conveyed to the carriage without any ceremony while Drac looked on with emotionless eyes. The emotions that whispered along their connection to her from him had made her ache, and it had taken an enormous amount of strength to enter the conveyance with Lachlan.
Saieke winced when they exited the Darkage into the sunlight. Enclosed in the dark, she had almost forgotten they were still in summer-tide. She squinted, and her eyes watered at the vividness of everything. Her lenses contracted and expanded as her eyes adjusted to the harshness of the light.
“You are Drac’s mate.” It was a statement more than a question.
“I am,” she whispered, and then a blinding smile erupted from her lips.
“You are not displeased.” For the first time, she heard an inflection of curiosity in his voice.
“I love him.”
Lachlan’s eyebrow arched sharply over golden eyes. “The progeny of Boreas in love with a Darkan.” The mockery in his tone had her bristling.
“You mock me?”
“You will deny him.” He shifted in his seat observing the wild lands of Taryllion as they sped past.
“I will not. I am from the wind and mountains, their progeny if you will. Yet I have found love with someone that I was told to hate and revile. I will not walk away from him because I am expected to. How will I bridge the hate? I do not know. But I will fight for it to be removed.”
Less than a thousand miles from the border of her land, Saieke encountered warriors that belonged to Boreas and Nuria. Their conveyance did not stop, but her people recognized her and flashed ahead, faster than the traveling Kuns, to the castle. Some stayed behind and kept pace with them.
Saieke gave Lachlan a swift glance. He remained stoic and bland, ignoring the warriors that stared at him through the carriage windows.
The Kuns were directed to follow the warriors of her kingdom to the inner sanctuary of her castle. They took the deep mountain pass, bypassing the city that would be buzzing with Boreans. Deep emotion traveled through Saieke as she alighted from the carriage, into the inner courtyard of her castle.
She was home.
Saieke inhaled the crisp evening air deep. She looked up at her castle and almost wept in relief and joy. The back of it was embedded deep into a mountain, and the waterfalls that shimmered behind it were resplendent. Birds chirped, and the sun was bright and beautiful.
A small crowd gathered which comprised her parents along with several council members and more than a handful of Borean warriors. Something tightened inside as she saw persons dressed in flowing robes with the symbol of the Nurians.
Saieke delved deep and found her nervousness muted. She supposed that after being in the Darkage, it would take much more now to frighten her. Lachlan descended, and a rustle of murmurs swept through the small gathering. They would not know who he was. He was without insignia, and the fact that he was with her in the sunlight would never let them realize that a Darkan walked with her.
Saieke flashed to her parents. She could feel the piercing stares as they took in her appearance. Her heart ached at the knife-sharp pain of relief traveling through her mother. It was enough to make her slightly stumble. She had a lot to atone for, Saieke realized.
“My liege,” she said, as she swept into a graceful curtsy.
“Princess Saieke, welcome home,” her father intoned.
Her mother clasped her hands and kissed her cheek.
“I am glad to have you home, daughter.” The undercurrent of emotions in her voice made tears pricked Saieke’s lids.
She smiled at the small gathering. Almost as one, they curtsied and greeted their welcome.
The man from Nuria stepped forward and executed a sharp bow. Saieke tried not to gape at his height; he towered over all that stood in the gathering.
“Princess, I am the high chancellor of the King Ajali of Nuria. We are most pleased that you are at home, and we look forward to hearing what has transpired.” His voice was menacing.
Her queen’s eyes flicked to the high chancellor and the more than fifty warriors he had organized behind him like an indomitable wall.
“We are all longing to hear what has transpired with the princess, my lord,” Queen Izumi murmured. “However, my daughter must be tired from her journey, and she will need to refresh herself. We will retire and meet your king in the council room shortly.” She gave him an icy smile and clasped Saieke’s arm.
Saieke glanced at Lachlan’s impassive face.
“My lieges, I have an emissary with me whose presence will be required.” Saieke turned to the several servants and palace guards who were standing at attention, awaiting their command. “Please escort this man to the inner throne room. My mother and father will wish to meet with him shortly,” she commanded and swept away with her queen.
Her stomach tightened as she held her breath. She could feel the judgmental gaze of her king. She had issued a command and expected it to be obeyed as if she enjoyed the same trust and privileges as before. Her stomach clenched tighter when she heard no response to her order. Saieke hoped her king would not countermand it and strip her of her rights, here, in front of the gathering. She prayed for the opportunity to explain behind closed chambers what had t
ranspired.
“You heard the princess,” her father said. He swept ahead of them, and she slowly exhaled as attendants rushed to obey her orders.
All was not lost yet.
Emotions churned inside of Izumi. Her daughter was alive and well. She had almost fainted when warriors flashed in and sought council with them, reporting the princess sighting, and that she was returning of her own volition. Izumi prayed that it counted for something that Saieke returned on her own, and hoped it meant she had not fled as was previously believed. In her absence, she had been tried and condemned for her actions. Her kingdom had handed her over to Nuria for justice, for the breach of a blood-oath she had not consented to. The elders had stated that once the princess was made aware of the provisions in the contract by her sovereign king, she then became a party to the oath and contract. It was binding and unbreakable.
The head of the Princes’ Council had represented Saieke, and he had argued that the princess’ disappearance was not proof that she had broken the blood-oath. The Nurian king had listened with what appeared to be calm to Izumi, but twin flames of fire had danced in his eyes, betraying his rage. His ten King’s-blades had formed a semi-circle at his back, with hands that rested at ease on the swords sheathed at their sides, along with dozens of warriors, and they had all stood battle ready. Izumi desperately wanted to be alone with her daughter to inform her of the judgment that had passed against her. She was willing to work with her child to fabricate a tale as to why she had been missing for days from her kingdom.
Still, Izumi was relieved Saieke was with them now and was not hurt. She had expected to see her daughter in a frightening state, but Saieke radiated with life and vitality. She looked riveting in the caftan she wore. Her armband glistened, and her hair rippled like fire, cascading down to her hips. Wherever her daughter had been, she had been treated like a princess.
