by Mary Auclair
Karian dropped his fork on his plate, splattering sauce on his clothing.
“I thought that was always the case.” Rose frowned, then turned to Karian.
“Of course it is.” Karian lifted his eyes to Arlia, who smiled tightly and nodded.
“Now, dear,” Arlia chipped in. “You should eat more. You’re way too thin.”
A light chuckle of approval ran across the table. Rose stared at them, refusing to be led away from what was obviously an important piece of information.
“You don’t know about the bloodmating, do you?” Maral’s amused voice cut through the air, light as a diamond blade. “Well, let’s just say that more than just your life hangs in the balance now.”
“What are you talking about” Rose snapped her head to Maral. “Who else is in danger?”
“Maybe all of us are!” Maral hissed, the sound furious between her wicked, small teeth. “We were all perfectly safe and free before you brought your problems here.”
“Humans weren’t.” Rose bit out her answers, swallowing what she really wanted to say. “My family wasn’t. They’re scared, and cold, and hungry. They’re hunted, hunted every day!”
“With your presence here, you’ve made us all a target,” Maral spat, her crystal voice as cold as her eyes. “Now all they need to do is get rid of you to cripple the whole tribe.”
Karian turned and hissed at Maral, all fangs out. Both Enlon and Arlia blanched. Maral recoiled, gliding her chair away from the table, as if she were preparing to run for her life at any moment. It wouldn’t surprise Rose at all if she had to.
“You’d better stop talking about things that don’t concern you,” Karian hissed at Maral.
“I don’t want her inside our house.” Maral stood, her face full of anger, twisting her delicate features into an ugly mask. “She’s a liability.”
“Shut up, Maral,” Arlia spoke from where she sat, her face neutral but her singsong voice shaking with repressed anger. “This is not your home, it’s mine.”
Maral didn’t answer, but pinched her lips and shot Rose a poisonous glare, then fled down the long hallway to her private quarters.
“I apologize for Maral.” Arlen stood as well. “She must be tired.”
Arlen turned away, not waiting for an answer from the people at the table. He walked to his private quarters, his broad shoulders slumped and his head hanging down like under a heavy weight. The silence that followed was loud with unspoken words. Everyone continued to eat, but the cheerful feeling was gone.
“When are you going to put the motion to the Ring?” Rose turned to Karian.
“Soon.” Karian sighed when Rose frowned. “The next Council isn’t for another two weeks. We have to wait until then.”
“What are you we going to do until then?” Rose hugged herself, unable to push the fear away. Two weeks was a long time, anything could happen to her until then.
“Khal and Kamal are doing everything they can to locate the village.” Karian picked up another bite of meat. “In the meantime, all that matters is that you’re safe.”
“No! That isn’t what matters to me,” Rose said, a bit more forcefully than she had wanted. “What matters to me is the village full of people who could end up in chains any day. What matters to me is my family.”
“There’s nothing I can do for those people.” Cracks were beginning to appear in Karian’s cool veneer. His eyes were shining with anger and a vein pulsed at his temple in a steady staccato, ready to explode at any moment. “Ensuring your safety is within my power, however, and I fully intend to do it.”
“Even if it means keeping me here against my will?”
“Yes!” It was Karian’s turn to snap. “Even if I have to lock you up in our bedroom and tie you to the bed.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
Rose stood straight, the chair clattering on the floor behind her, her shoulders quivering under the intensity of her emotions.
Karian looked at her, his face an unreadable mask. Rose slid a glance at Enlon and Arlia, who both looked purposefully at the food in their plates. Shame burned her cheeks at the scene she’d made in the presence of Karian’s family, and she immediately regretted her words.
The clean sound of wood sliding on stone broke the silence as Karian stood up, wiping his mouth neatly before laying the napkin beside his half-empty plate.
“I think we will retire to our private quarters now.” He shot a strained smile at his parents. “Thank you, Mother, for the wonderful feast.”
“Yes, thank you very much.” Rose forced the words through clenched teeth, shame and guilt making it hard to speak. “It was delicious.”
Karian extended his open hand to Rose, and his piercing gaze trapped her soul. After a few moments, she placed her palm in his bigger one. His fingers closed around hers and a visible tension leached from the air.
She followed Karian down the long corridor leading to their private part of the house.
They finally arrived at the end of the hallway and in the first room of their private quarters. It was a large living room, with a small dining table and a few chairs and sofas in front of a large ground to ceiling window. Wind blew softly inside, making the aerial curtains flutter like long fingers waving tentatively.
This central room led to a number of other rooms. Rose could see the foot of a large bed in the closest one, and her guts twisted with a sudden fire. She snapped her hand away from Karian’s and stomped her feet. “That’s enough,” she said. “We’re alone now, no need for that nonsense.”
“No.” Karian turned to her, his eyes reduced to slits. He was as angry as she was, if not more. “No need for nonsense.”
CHAPTER 21
ROSE
“When were you planning to tell me I was a prisoner?”
“You’re not a prisoner, you’re my mate.” Karian took a deep breath and when he looked at Rose again, he wasn’t as angry anymore. “You are the only proof of the free humans’ existence. You are the only one standing in the way of Trade Minister Knut’s continuing prosperity. Don’t think he won’t have eyes on you at all times, ready to take advantage of any opportunity to take you away—or worse.”
“I know.” Rose heard her own voice, deflated and void. She had known all along, she had just needed to hear it aloud. She was the only one who could either damn or save her people. If she was captured, they would find ways to extract the information from her, one way or the other. If she died, the proof died with her and they would relentlessly search every square foot of the entire planet until the humans were found. Rose’s personal happiness wasn’t important anymore, not in the face of all the others’.
The thought should have taken her anger away, but it didn’t. It only made her burn more.
“You only have to stay inside the family walls for a short while. It’s not going to take forever.”
Karian ran a hand over his skull, looking straight at Rose with his jaws clenched and his eyes burning with a fiery desire. Now that they were alone, the Mating Venom was running its wicked course, and the attraction was palpable in the air around them. Karian’s chest heaved and he watched her with dark eyes filled with carnal need. Rose felt her body respond despite herself, the Mating Venom in her blood answering the call of Karian’s desires.
She began pacing the room, not caring about the exquisite furniture and the ostentatious luxury of everything. Fury was running through her veins, hot and acidic, making her itch with the urge to scream and hit.
“You lied to me,” Rose accused him, pointing her finger in his direction. “You said you would help my people, but all you care about is owning me. You’re no better than Trade Minister Knut.”
“That’s unfair and you know it.” Karian stared at her with more hurt than she wanted to see in those beautiful eyes. “You’re safe here, and as my mate, you have to be my priority. You may not like it, but it’s for your own good.”
“Who are you to decide what’s best for me? And don
’t even try to say my mate, ’cause that’s not going to cut it.” Rose took a step closer, anger and attraction battling in equal measures. “You didn’t even discuss this with me. You can’t make decisions for me like you own me.”
Karian stared at her, his mouth a thin, pale blue line. There was something he didn’t dare tell her. Something she needed to know.
“Whatever it is, you can tell me.” Rose took a step closer. Her hands were burning with the need to touch him, and it took all her willpower to stop herself from reaching out and laying them flat against his hard chest.
“I am doing everything I can, not only to save you, but to save all the humans.” Karian’s eyes shone with an emotion she was afraid to understand. “Please trust me.”
“Why? Why are you taking so many risks for me? You didn’t have to take me as a mate, not if this was so dangerous.”
He covered the remaining distance between them, standing over her. He was so close, his smell entered her nostrils, making her heart race and her blood run faster. He cupped her cheek in his palm, then rubbed her skin with his thumb in that heart-wrenching way he had.
“It doesn’t matter why.” Karian’s voice was husky, and when his hand slid to the nape of her neck, she shivered with pleasure at the contact. “All that matters is that you’re mine.”
He lowered his head and his lips covered hers. His strong hands grabbed her waist, pulling her close enough to feel his already hardened flesh. Lust flowed through her veins, reaching every treacherous cell in her body, filling her with the need for him, the craving for his touch. Karian deepened the kiss. Everything else blurred as her flesh quivered under his touch, his tongue invading her mouth.
Her body surrendered to him, to his desires. She was obliterated by the pleasure of his touch, leaving nothing behind but the lust for more.
He broke the kiss and Rose breathed in as his fingers dug into the hair at her neck, forcing her head back, exposing her throat. Sharp fangs slid over her skin, sending lightning bolts of arousal straight between her legs, where her flesh already screamed for his possession. His tongue glided between the fangs, lapping and twisting, spreading the Mating Venom on her skin, making them both mad with the mating heat. His fingers dug into her flesh, and his erection pressed against the softness of her stomach until she was nothing more than a beast made of lust and surrender. She was panting, and the warm wetness spread between her thighs, where she was aching for his touch to fill her. Aching for his possession and the rapture that came with it.
This was different from all the times he had touched her before. He wasn’t making love to her. He was possessing her, bending her to his will and desires—and what was worse was that Rose desired it as much as she feared it. Karian had lost the control he always took so much care to display, letting his passion come to the surface as his fangs and tongue ran the length of her throat to the top of her breast.
Yanking the fabric away with one hand, he denuded Rose of her clothing in one violent motion, leaving her panting, naked, in front of him.
He gazed down at her body, his eyes shining with possessive passion, his mouth hanging slightly open, revealing the tips of his fangs. His Eok-fashioned pants were hugging his legs closely, revealing the hard bulge of his erection.
Rose’s hands ran over his arms, feeling the strong muscles quiver under her touch as her fingers covered them. She grabbed the top of his sleeveless vest and slid it from his shoulders, letting it fall behind him on the floor. She breathed hard as she ran her hands over the intricate pattern of the scars on his chest, running her fingertips on the tiny bumps witness to so much repeated suffering.
Her fingers ran lower, over his stomach and down to the waist of his pants. Karian kept silent, watching her every move as her fingers freed his seed stem, which bounced forward and straight to attention. He hissed when she grabbed the length between her fingers, reaching all the way to the tight skin of his seed sack.
“Mine.” Karian’s speech was more a growl than words. “You’re mine, Rose.”
“If I’m yours, then you’re mine, too.”
The statement made a glimmer pass over Karian’s irises and he pushed his pants down, kicking his boots away in the same motion. They stood in front of each other, naked, their chests heaving in the same fast, furious rhythm.
Then Karian pounced. Fast, too fast for her naked eyes to see, his arms encircled her waist and he lifted her, sliding his hands to her thighs, parting them as he lowered her until his seed stem was poised at her entrance.
Their gazes collided, prisoners of one another.
Karian lowered her until she was impaled on his hardness, her legs wrapped around his waist, her drenched walls stretching to accommodate his length.
“Mine,” he growled again and he lifted her, only to lower her again, sending flashes of pleasure right through her brain. “Mine.”
In so many ways, Rose wanted to protest, but there was so much pleasure. Karian lifted and lowered her again, pounding with his hips at the same time, his strength and hardness reaching every one of her nerve endings. The Mating Venom rushed through both their bodies, enhancing the pleasure tenfold. Within minutes, Rose was at the edge of rapture.
“Yes.” The words left her lips without her approval. “I’m yours.”
Her words made Karian pound harder, burying into her deeper, with more force, as pleasure built inside him. He wasn’t controlling himself, he allowed his passion to take control, thrusting inside her with abandon. Without warning, ecstasy broke out, tearing through her in a tidal wave of pleasure, wiping out everything she was to leave only an empty shell behind.
A second later, Karian’s fingers dug into the flesh of her thighs and he pushed one final time, burying himself inside her with a deafening roar. His cry of pleasure lasted while hot semen spilled inside her womb and she screamed again, another climax ravaging her body, brought on by the Mating Venom in his seed.
They rode the final climax together until they were panting, void of energy.
Each time she thought having sex with Karian couldn’t be better, he brought her to new heights, showed her a depth of rapture she didn’t think even existed. It was as if her body ceased to be her own, and all she could do was watch as her power slid through her fingers with every kiss he gave her, every touch that made her quiver, every time he pushed her over the edge of ecstasy. Rose was going to be lost before long.
Karian lowered her to the ground, his blue gaze never leaving hers. Outside, the dimming light licked the skin of his face, making the sharp relief of his scars more pronounced. He was more alien than she had ever seen him, here in this home that was his, in possession of everything he deemed was his possession—Rose included.
As her feet touched the floor, he lifted his hand to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb over her skin. The affectionate gesture was so overwhelming, she felt tears tickle her eyelids.
“My Pretty Thing.” He said the words with an underlying tenderness that left her heart torn. “My mate.”
Karian bent and lifted her in his arms, then walked to the bedroom she had noticed when entering the private quarters. He lowered her softly onto the bed, then came to lie down by her side, pulling a soft blanket over their naked bodies. She snuggled into his arms, allowing his warmth to penetrate her flesh, melting her reticence into an enticing cocoon of safety.
“What now?” She closed her eyes, allowing sleep to overcome her senses.
“The real fight begins.”
Rose drifted off to sleep with Karian’s dire words etched in her dreams.
ROSE WOKE up in the morning to find Karian gone and the three Eokian suns high in the sky. Karian’s side of the bed and his pillow were cold to the touch, attesting that he had left some time before. She hadn’t even noticed him leaving.
As she got up from the bed, dragging the sheet around her naked body, she really noticed the interior for the first time. The bedroom was large and circular, much like all Eok construction, with a polis
hed stone floor. In each room were floor to ceiling windows, allowing the breeze to flow freely inside.
The clay house was perfect to shield its inhabitants from the heat of the day and maintain a comfortable warmth during the cold nights. As efficient as the structure was, it was also surprisingly beautiful.
The furniture in the room was sparse, but of exquisite quality. The large bed in the middle of the room was flanked by four massive posts, the precious wood carved and polished smooth as she ran her finger on the intricate carvings. Wood was an expensive commodity on Eokim and had to be imported from other worlds, as the wilderness was covered with grassland. The bed, large chest of drawers, and four chairs were true testaments to the wealth of Karian’s family. Treasures demonstrating the importance of their owners.
Looking around the comfortable room filled with the rest of Karian’s wealth, she felt more alone and alien in this house than she ever had on Saarmak. There, Karian and Rose had been on the same level, fighting together for their survival. On Saarmak, they’d been partners and friends. On Eokim, she was a pampered female to be kept in a secure enclosure. Only a step above a slave, when all was said and done.
A cool breeze caressed her skin, and she shivered. Suddenly, she didn’t care for the warm richness of the wood.
Rose quickly dressed and walked outside, intent on finding Arlia, who was no doubt already working hard on her extensive gardens. The enclosure was filled with patches of gardens where Arlia grew different kinds of vegetables. Around the perimeter were trees heavy with strange fruits and berries.
Rose’s gaze ran around the enclosure separating the house from the Eokian wilderness, up to the clay wall setting its limits.
In the distance, a flurry of white fur attracted her attention. Maak was there, following his mistress in her daily tasks, bouncing around excitedly after small animals scurrying in the garden. Rose approached, and as she neared, Maak saw her and ran in her direction.
“Nice to see you, too.” Rose rubbed the meerit’s head, then smiled at Arlia. “What are you working on?”
