by Sharon Kay
They ran down the hall, with the rest of the group at their heels. Down the passages, their feet thudded on the smooth marble.
With each step, the Ghazsul’s words played in his ears. No doubt his people would chalk it up as crazy talk. Because the truth was unimaginable.
The thought of their leader being part Ghazsul went beyond logic and reason.
Bursting out into the sunshine of the back lawn, they were met by Ashina and Raniero. No others.
Arawn stilled, forcing down his desire to yell where they fuck are they, because the air began to hum with the magic of incoming portal travelers. The hair on Arawn’s neck stood up as his soldiers materialized in midair a few feet above the ground, and dropped unceremoniously to the grass.
Bloodied. Dirty. Three of them not moving,
Ashina ran to Caine, who knelt next to one of his teammates. She frowned as she assessed him, then two other Watchers. “Can you get them down to the medical wing?” she asked.
Sonja and Ana came through the door, hauling three stretchers. Jude managed to sit up but was covered in blood, a huge gash on his forehead. “I can walk,” he rasped.
“Oh no you don’t,” Ashina shot back. “That’s an order.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he grumbled, and scooted onto the stretcher Ana laid next to him.
Mathias and his team dashed out the back door and shifted the other injured Watchers onto stretchers. “We’ll get them downstairs.”
Caine swept Alina off her feet and into his arms, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “I’m fine, baby. I’m going to help get my men inside.”
Ashina and Raniero followed as the injured were carried inside. Arawn caught up to them and laid a hand on the healer’s elbow. “Call if you need anything. And update me on their status when you get them stable.”
“Will do.” Ashina’s tone was all business as the group headed indoors.
Arawn shook his head. “Fucking Splinter.”
“If they smashed it hard enough, they may have crushed her hand to the point where it wasn’t readable,” Gin said. “God, I hope they don’t know where to look.”
“True, but if they do…” Ria looked from Gin to Arawn. “Then it’s their guesses against ours. It’ll be a race against time too.”
“Wolfe, did Thane have security cameras on Renata?” Arawn asked.
The male shook his head. “Negative. Only sweeping the room in general.”
“If they caught Ria looking at the message, they may’ve been able to guess where to look,” Mathias said.
“You mean, if any Splinter members were at Thane’s that night?” Ria asked.
“That’s a lot of ifs,” Arawn rested his hands on his hips. “And at this point, they don’t matter. We move forward as if they know everything we know.” He walked close to Ria and ran a hand down her arm. “I need to debrief Caine and Aleksai. Then go over some things with Ana. And I’ve postponed a dispute mediation between two landowners three times. I need to talk to them today, before the moons and stars line up to create a shit storm for us.”
She turned into his hold, grabbing his free hand. “Can I help somehow?
He stared into the endless turquoise of her eyes and started to shake his head. “I—”
“We’re all invested in this with you, one hundred percent,” Ria murmured.
Arawn looked over her head to Mathias, Gin, Alina, and Wolfe. All loyal, all uniquely talented, and people he was damn glad to work with.
“We’re here for you,” Ria whispered.
He tucked a stray blond curl behind her ear. “I know.”
“I need to get back to the tech hub and check the drones,” Wolfe said.
“Fine,” Arawn said. “The rest of you, join me in the briefing.” He slid a glance to Alina. “Unless, you know, you feel sick or something.”
The petite Solsti smiled. “I’m okay today. I’ll come.”
Arawn nodded and draped an arm around Ria’s shoulders. “Let’s go.”
C
HAPTER 24
TEN MINUTES LATER, RIA SAT in the war room with Gin, Mathias, Alina, Caine, and Aleksai. Arawn paced his usual path at the front of the room as the two team leaders recounted the details of their mission that hadn’t been visible on the monitors. Caine set the pieces of the statue on the table and Ria reached for the flower. Cradling it in her hand, she traced the delicate petals as she listened to the disturbing events.
The lily was so graceful, seemingly at odds with the violent potential of its creator’s weapon. The words of the message reeled through her mind. Light forms blood and stone is steel. She frowned, thinking there had to be something they were missing.
“At least twenty, then even more poured in,” Caine said. “Do we even know how many of those assholes are in there?”
“Estimates are all different, but Wolfe is trying to account for their numbers with these drones,” Arawn said.
“Their leader is a whack job,” Aleksai muttered. “What a bunch of bullshit. You have shit in common with him? Fuck that.” He shook his head.
Ria glanced at Arawn, whose face darkened into a scowl. But not his usual grumpy expression. Something about his mood was heavier than normal.
“Ramblings of a crazy fucked up lunatic,” Mathias said.
A muscle ticked in Arawn’s bicep as Ria studied him. As they’d grown closer, she couldn’t deny the sensation of something simmering just below his calculating surface. Something that made his whole countenance grow dark and made his whole aura vibrate with…hate? Bitterness? She couldn’t put a name to it.
“Caine and Aleksai, I want you both to go to Wolfe and give your input on the system of tunnels. At least we’ll have a rudimentary map of what it looks like.” Arawn shoved a hand through his hair.
“That’ll help, even if they reconfigure the layout in the future,” Caine said.
“It’ll help until a year from now when Alina can turn the whole place into a pile of dirt.” A note of satisfaction crept into Arawn’s voice. “That’s all for now. Dismissed.”
Everyone filed out. Ria lingered with Arawn, stepping closer into his embrace. His phone trilled and he snagged it off the stone table.
“Yeah?” he barked. “Oh. And?”
She looked up into his brown eyes as he absently rubbed her back.
“Excellent. That’s what I want to hear.” He ended the call and set the phone down. “That was Raniero. Jude and the other two will be fine by tonight.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Ria said.
“They’re all trying to leave the medical wing, actually,” Arawn chuckled. “But Ashina says no, and Raniero’s backing her up.”
Ria smiled. “Ha. They know better than to mess with a former mercenary.”
“Yeah.” He sat in his heavily carved chair and tugged her onto his lap. “Speaking of which…”
Her smile faded as she guessed his thoughts. “Scorpio.” The Watcher’s past as a conscripted killer was no secret.
“Shoulda been back by now.”
“I’m worried about him, but I know he’s tougher than most of us,” she said, running her fingers through the waves in his hair.
“Has to be either dark magic or a hell of a prison, to keep him contained.”
Or both. But she didn’t voice her fear out loud. “Can you send Mathias to look for him when this sword business is over?”
Arawn nodded. “I’ll send him on a preliminary search now. We have three days to kill.”
His phone trilled again and they both glanced at it.
Ana: Have you had a chance to look at the land dispute?
Arawn groaned and dropped his head back. “Last fucking thing I want to do.”
“Let me help.”
He straightened and quirked an eyebrow at her.
“I can read the file and look at the maps. See if there’s a solution that makes sense. I know you hate this part of the job.”
“The decision has to come from me, Princess.” His brows knit
together.
“It still can. I’ll give you my advice.” She made air quotes around her last word. “The property owners don’t need to know you had any extra input.”
He tilted his head, studying her. Strong fingers caressed her jaw and slid down her neck to rest at her throat. “That,” a strong hand at her back pushed her closer, “is the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
His breath was warm against her lips. Heat and power rolled off his body, surrounding her in raw masculinity. Butterflies zoomed around inside her belly as she drank in her sexy-as-sin demon. She’d be happy to help with the diplomatic stuff. Hell, growing up as one of six children meant negotiation was a part of daily life. It was second nature to her.
And she could see being a part of Arawn’s daily life. If she were honest with herself, she’d wanted it for decades. Her breath quickened as his hand slid up her spine, bringing her to his hungry mouth.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her deeply, and a breathy moan escaped her lips. Every kiss was more intense than the last. Every one jacked her body higher with urgent need to be covered in his scent. To submit to him.
To be his.
She tried to pull back, but he followed her with a nip to her lower lip. “I’m not done with you.”
Gods, neither was she. “The door,” she breathed.
He glared over her shoulder and cursed. He set her on the table with a squeeze to her hips. “Don’t move.”
A dark blur of motion and slight breeze were her only indications that he’d covered the distance to the door and closed it.
Click.
The lock tumbled into place.
Anticipation rushed through her body as he returned to stand between her legs. “Beautiful girl,” he murmured. His hands found the hem of her T-shirt and yanked it up over her head. Her bra was next as he expertly popped the clasp.
“Your turn.” She pulled his T-shirt out of his pants, desperate to lick the hard muscles of his chest.
He obliged her with a growl but when she reached for him, he grabbed her hands and pushed them to her back. “These stay here for now.”
She pouted. “I want to touch you.”
“Not yet.” He pushed her hair off her shoulders, sending tingles down her arms. A shiver racked her torso, stiffening her nipples into tight points. “That’s an order.” His fingers caressed down her arms, raising goose bumps in their wake.
She bit her lip, eyes locked on his thick pecs. His muscles rippled as he dragged his hands back up, sliding to her ribs and higher. With intoxicating slowness, he slid his hands under her breasts, stroking the sensitive undersides.
She whimpered. He was so close to where she needed him. Her stomach clenched in need. “Arawn,” she whispered.
One hand skated up, rough knuckles skating over her aching nipple. “Yeah?”
“I need you. So bad.”
“You need this?” He repeated the movement on her other side.
She bit back a moan. “Yes…”
“Or this?” His hand dropped to the juncture of her thighs and cupped her.
She gasped. His thumb pressed her clit, and his long fingers teased her flesh through her jeans. “Yes! All of it.” She sucked in a breath, dizzy from his teasing yet possessive hold. “All of you.”
He chuckled. “Good.” He brought a hand to her jaw and tilted her head. He traced a barely there touch down her throat, then followed his fingers with his mouth.
Ria angled her head as far as she could, giving him every inch of her neck. She squirmed and her breath came erratically as the ache deep inside her intensified. His hair tickled her collarbone while his hands returned to her breasts in light, caressing strokes along the sides and tops.
Sensation built, delicious and maddening because with every stroke, she wanted more. She arched her back and pushed toward him in a desperate attempt to get what her body ached for. More of him. All of him. To climb his chest and be skin-to-skin along every inch of their bodies.
“Getting hot, Princess?” His voice rumbled against her neck, an audible tease to go along with the wicked suction of his lips.
“Yes. For you, always.”
With a low growl, he bit her where her neck flowed into her shoulder. Exquisite shards of pleasure-pain lit up every nerve and she jerked against him. Talented lips and sharp teeth combined to build sensation until she was rocking her hips. His fingers finally found her nipples, rubbing and toying with her painfully hard flesh.
She scooted to the edge of the table and wrapped her legs around his hips, yanking him closer. “I want you. Pants off.” She reached for his belt.
He released his hold on her skin and licked gently, soothing the slight pinch. “Did I say you could move your hands?”
“No. But I’m doing it anyway.” She slid open the buckle and popped his top button.
“So feisty.” He grabbed her hands and pinned them under his much larger ones, on the stone surface of the table. He lowered his head to her chest and drew one pebbled nipple into his mouth.
Ria gasped at the overload of pleasure and heat. He released her breast, only to move to her other side. He flicked her nipple with velvety strokes of his tongue, circling her skin in a whirl of bliss.
“Oh my gods,” she moaned. She used her hands for leverage, rubbing against the erection straining behind his zipper to assuage her swollen, throbbing clit. Arousal flared like an explosion in her body, her need skyrocketing. This was more intense than anything she’d felt before. Like her hormones were on overdrive. “I’m…I’m going to…”
Arawn’s fingers played with her neglected nipple, tugging gently while he suckled her other. A rumble deep in his throat vibrated against her torso and he flexed his hips into her eager thighs.
Her orgasm ripped through her like a fury unleashed and she gritted her teeth to hold in a scream of ecstasy. Wave after wave pulsed through her as she arched desperately into Arawn.
He let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her back, holding her up. She clutched his shoulders, grinding, body trembling. Her need was barely abated.
Her breath came in shaky bursts. “Oh gods,” she panted. “I-I still need you. So much.” What was happening to her? It was like an addiction. One hit wasn’t going to be enough. “I want your cock.”
“Fuck, yes.” Arawn tore open his fly and freed his swollen cock. It bobbed toward Ria like a missile set on course. She grabbed him greedily and pumped up and down his length, her touch setting him on fire. Her soft hands and firm grip were perfect, and he pushed into her hold.
When her body had detonated, he’d felt it. Inside his own skin, though fuck if he knew how. He wasn’t about to stop and ponder the why of it. “I need your sweet body, baby.” He pulled her off the table long enough to shuck her boots and yank off her jeans. She stood, clad in a blue lace thong and socks, running her hands over his chest. He set her back on the table.
Her lips were swollen, her face flushed, her neck red where he’d bitten her. Her beautiful breasts rose and fell with each panted breath. She was a fucking vision. So perfect for him.
He stroked along her collarbones before centering his hand at her throat and pushing gently. “Lay back.”
She complied, laying back on the cool table. He pulled her ass to the edge and set her legs on his shoulders. He dragged a finger down her center, licking his lips and inhaling her delicious arousal. “So wet for me.”
She moaned and rocked against his hand. “I need you again. I can’t wait.”
“That’s my girl. I want you needy. For me. No one else touches you.”
She shook her head, blue eyes shining with lust and honesty. “No one but you.”
He pulled her thong to one side and nudged his shaft inside her wet heat. Gods, she was a furnace.
She whimpered and wiggled. “More.”
Gripping her thighs, he slammed deep.
Ria moaned, a sound of pure feminine bliss. “Feels so good.”
Her body g
ripped him like she was made for him. He pulled back and thrust deep again. “You look so fuckin’ sexy, baby.”
She licked her lips, eyes roaming his abs. “So do you.”
He loved the voracious look in her eyes and grinned down at the sexy feast that was Ria. He wanted every inch of her, every dream and thought and question. He pumped a steady rhythm as he held her legs wide. Her breasts bounced and she grabbed the edge of the table to scoot closer to him.
He rotated his hips, determined to make her body liquefy again. Her eyes were heavy, her lips parted. Beautiful, smart, tough.
Mine.
The urge to claim her, to make her his in the most complete way, barreled into him.
Whoa. Fuck.
I don’t share. No one else touches you. His own words zipped through his head. Hitting him with the depth of what he felt in his heart, and what he now recognized as the start of something he never expected to have again.
My mate.
Her desire spiked anew, interrupting his realization, and she clapped a hand over her mouth to cover a shriek. Her back bowed and she pushed with all her strength into him, drawing him deeper into her body than he’d ever been.
Too lost in lust to question his wayward thoughts, he gave himself over to the visual of his woman shattering around him. Her unbound passion pulled him over the edge, and he ground his molars to bite back a roar. He plunged into her, filling her until he was spent.
Panting, she flung a hand over her eyes. “Damn.” She moved her arm to reveal one perfect baby blue. “You were on a mission.” A lazy grin pulled her sexy mouth up.
“I’m always on a mission, Princess.” He set her legs down and pulled her up against his chest, keeping their connection. “Fight assholes and make you come.”
She kissed a trail across his pecs. “Mmm, I feel important.”
“Never forget, baby.”
“Is that an order?” Tiny teeth nipped his skin.
He slid a hand into her hair, gripping and pulling her head back until their eyes met. He watched as her sexy grin faded under the seriousness he felt radiating from his soul. “Yes, Tirianna. Never forget it.” Never forget what you mean to me.
