by Shania Tyler
Whore?
Barna looked Kelly up and down. “Yes, only a youka would wear a dress like that.”
Kelly didn’t need to ask what a youka was. Barna had made that very clear and now the moment when Kelly had been walking in the square and the mother had steered her child away from Kelly made sense. It was obvious that prostitution was not looked at with fondness in this world either.
Theo said, “I share Kelly with no one. She is solely mine, as is my right with a youka.”
Kelly was sure Mason would have something to say about her being exclusively Theo’s but she saw their reasons behind the ruse. No one could know Mason was here, which meant Kelly could not be presented as Mason’s wife. And since she was elf, that left her with only the position of servant. If being Theo’s pretend youka meant no one else could drink from her, then so be it.
Barna’s eyes held Kelly’s as she stepped closer. “Don’t be afraid, dear. I’m not into women. I simply—” Then she stopped walking and shook her head as if she was trying to clear it. She staggered. “Oh my. Such power.” She grinned. “Yes, Theo. I wouldn’t share her with anyone else either.”
Theo said. “Well, you’ve met her.” Then to Kelly, he said, “You may leave.”
“Wait,” Barna said. “I’ve never had a servant so powerful. How is this possible? Is she from the Eastern Lands? The part that Isabel has yet to take control of?” She smelled the air again. “No, she doesn’t smell like them. Gods, she doesn’t smell like anything familiar.”
“It’s the human in her,” Theo went on to explain. Then to Kelly, he said, “Go now.”
“No,” Barna said, moving closer. “I am hungry, Theo. It is custom in the Evaness for you to provide me a meal when I arrive. I want her.”
Kelly froze.
Theo moved and took a position at Kelly’s side. “Custom also states that I do not have to share my youka with anyone. Kelly is off-limits.”
“But I’m not,” Noel said.
“Silence!” Barna’s eyes blazed at Noel. “You are forbidden to speak for the remainder of my visit.”
Noel nodded.
“Come now, Theo,” Barna said, moving toward him. “I’m your dear aunt and I’ve never drunk from someone with so much to give. Won’t you let me?” She reached out for Kelly.
Theo grabbed her wrist. “As my dear aunt, I would have also expected a warning that the Scourge would come to my lands and kill my servants.”
Barna’s eyes snapped from Kelly to her nephew. ”What?” She looked genuinely confused.
“I was almost killed.” That was a lie. Theo had not been near the battle, but the lie washed the color from Barna’s face.
“What!” Barna’s dark eyes went wild. “That . . . I’ll kill her! How dare she! She had no right. You are my blood.” She placed a fist over her heart with added meaning. “Mine!”
Kelly watched the outrage unfold over Barna and the woman looked ready to do exactly what she was promising.
“This will not go unpunished! I told her to stay away from you.” Then tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Theo. I’m so sorry.”
Theo moved from Kelly and wrapped his aunt in a tight embrace. “I now believe you didn’t know, but I did question.”
“Never question, Theo. You know I love you. Isabel is simply looking for Mason, but you don’t know where he is, do you?”
“I don’t,” Theo lied. “But, I think he’s in Mezzin.”
“With Cassuss in the dragon territory?” Barna asked and lifted her head. “I told Isabel that, but she simply wishes to control the world. She’s got her eye on your diamond mines, you know.”
Theo rubbed Barna on the back. “Let us not worry about here for the moment. I will take you to eat . . . someone other than Kelly. Everything will be fine. How long are you staying?”
“Just for the night,” Barna told him as he escorted her away.
Noel approached Kelly. “You did well.”
Kelly let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks . . . so did you.”
He smiled and twin dimples appeared. “Let’s get you back to Mason.”
* * *
19
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
.
.
.
* * *
Destiny didn’t make them, but it
would place them nonetheless.
* * *
.
Kelly groaned as Mason entered her from behind. She dug her fingers into the sheets and held on as her husband thrust deep inside her. One hand held her hip anchored to him as the other massaged her ass. She cooed as he slowly withdrew from her, only leaving the tip in before driving home again.
She cried out at his assault on her tender opening. She wanted him so bad. Faster, harder.
He gripped her firmly around the hip and slammed into her until she saw stars and was weeping from the sweet touch of heat and pain. It was like he knew exactly what she wanted before she could voice it.
He lifted her upright by her shoulder with her body still filled by his well-endowed member. A series of short thrusts in a fast tempo proceeded and at this delicious angle, Kelly came. Her hands gripped his thighs as she shook from the pleasure.
His hand went around her neck. “I barely touch you and you come undone.”
She moaned as she came back down, his stroking continuing to heat her insides. She was so wet she could feel drops sliding down her inner thigh. “Does this please you?”
He groaned and kissed her ear before rubbing his face in her hair. “You please me. Everything about you pleases me.”
Kelly smiled and whispered, “You please me, too.” He more than pleased her. He made her happy, happier than she’d ever been in her life.
He pulled himself out of her, turned her around, and crushed his mouth to hers. “I want to come while looking into your eyes.”
She wanted that, too.
He laid her down, and she willingly spread her legs before him.
Mason was inside her a moment later and the thought came to his mind that he couldn’t let her go. “I’m mad for you, Kelly.” He thrust forward. “Gods . . . you’re so sweet.”
Kelly gasped and he increased his tempo. She locked her legs around him and he lowered his body to be closer to her.
And it still wasn’t enough.
Mason was never close enough to her and that was his issue. He needed her.
I am so close. I love when he’s inside. He feels so amazing.
“Open your eyes,” he said with a labored breath.
Her blue eyes were heavy with desire.
He’d die a happy man with that look gazing upon him and her dirty thoughts in his head. She could kill him now, and he’d go into the next world still wanting her, craving her.
Kelly’s pupils dilated, and her breath grew soft.
I’m going to come.
He almost spilled his seed then. “Don’t come without me,” he told her between strokes.
“Mason, I can’t help it.”
He grinned. “Wait.”
She bit her lip and her moans became muffled and higher in pitch. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me . . .”
“Oh god.” He was so close.
Her muscles tightened around him.
Mason felt the pressure inside him reach the point of no return. “Come now.”
She did with a shout that he was sure everyone in the mansion could hear and a stroke later, he came as well. Her body locked around him. Her arms and legs embraced him as her sheath milked his very essence.
He rolled over before allowing the bed to catch his fall.
Kelly followed him and plopped her head on his arm and a leg across his waist. She rested curled into his body and he cursed himself for wanting her to remain there forever.
If only his pava had been another woman. If only he didn’t enjoy her perkiness and eagerness in bed. If only her eyes didn’t shine at him like he made all her dreams from true. He almost wished he
’d never met her.
Her hand landed on his heart, and she looked up. “What did you say?” The look was not a friendly one, and he knew she’d read his mind again.
“Kelly,”
She sat up. “You wish you’d never met me?” The hurt in her eyes slashed through his heart.
Mason shook his head and said, “Yes, sometimes, but only because . . . I can’t think of living without you.”
Kelly visibly calmed. “Why would you even think something like that?”
Mason hung his head as he searched for a good reason.
Her voice was soft when she said, “Because of Cecina?”
He jerked his head up. “Yes, because of Cecina. Anything could happen to you, especially in Pria.”
“Theo will protect me,” Kelly told him. “And Noel told me he will be there as well.” She crawled over to him and sat in his lap and grabbed his cheeks. “I admit, there was a part of me in the beginning that thought about ending this once the war was over and I returned to Earth.”
Mason’s hands clasped around her waist as he dragged her closer. She couldn’t leave him. He wouldn’t survive it. He’d have to make sure she’d never leave him. He’d kill anyone who got in the way of them being together.
“You’re growling again.” Her mouth tilted. “But, I’m not going anywhere, Mason. I’ll stay . . . if you want me to.”
He wanted her to.
She smiled and then looked quizzical. “Why did I just hear you say ‘I want you to’ without you moving your mouth?”
It was time to tell her the truth.
“Because, you’re reading my mind.”
“What?”
He smiled and touched her temple. “We are connected telepathically.”
She blinked. “Is this usual for—”
“No, only pavos and pavas can link this way.”
Kelly shook her head. “Wait, how long have you known this was happening?”
His reply was a slow grin.
“Oh, my god, were you reading my mind while we were . . .” Her words trailed off and then she groaned in reaction to his devious expression.
She turned to move away, but Mason gripped her behind, keeping her on top of him and she buried her face in his chest.
“I could kill you,” she said, hitting him on the chest. Then she looked up. “You heard everything? No wonder you were so good.”
His roguish grin broadened.
She tsked.
“You know,” Mason began. “If you said half the things aloud that you say in your head, I’d probably explode before I even entered you. You’ve got a dirty mind, my wife.”
She hit him on the chest again. “Mason, how rude! You shouldn’t be reading my mind.”
“You read mine as well.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know I was . . . and I’m sure you blocked things from me.”
He sure as hell did.
“How do I block you?”
Mason shrugged. “Just . . . think of a wall around your mind.”
“Okay.” She kept her beautiful eyes on him as she tried it. “Okay, what number am I thinking of?” she asked a moment later. Three . . . no two! Two! He’ll never guess two.
Mason threw his head back and laughed. “Five,” he told her. “There now.”
She hit him again. “You’re lying. You can still read my mind.” She closed her eyes again and Mason felt her shut him out. She’d put her mind in a jar that nothing could crack. Then she opened her eyes. “Now, tell me what number I’m thinking of.”
“Two.”
She looked pained and her hand flew to her chest. He was momentarily distracted by her breasts. “Oh, my god, you can still read my mind?”
He sighed at her hurt expression. “No, Kelly. I was just guessing. I swear it.”
“Ha,” she shouted. Then she wrinkled her nose and tilted her head side to side in a haughty way. “I was just messing with you. My number was five.” She even had the audacity to throw her palm in his face to show off her five digits.
Retaliation commenced.
Kelly gasped as Mason threw her on the bed and then laughed as he began to tickle her sides. Her screaming grew as he crawled closer to her.
“Tried to trick me, did you?” he taunted.
Kelly spoke between laughs. “No,” she gasped with tears blurring her vision. “I . . . didn’t . . . mean . . . to.”
“Apologize, wife.”
She squealed, twisting her alluring rump toward him to get away. “I’m sorry,” she shouted.
He flipped her back over and kissed her before saying, “That should teach you some manners.”
She grinned against his lips. “I’m very good with manners . . .which is why I didn’t say any of that stuff out loud. Cursing is bad.”
Mason asked, “Your parents taught you that?”
Kelly’s smile faded a little and she looked away. “They were very strict with me. I wasn’t allowed to use swear words . . . or do other things.” Her fingers went into his hair. “I didn’t go to parties and I didn’t have my first drink until my twenty-first birthday. They were very firm about curfew and homework as well.”
“They sound like good parents.”
She’d brought her gaze back to him. “But they weren’t mine.”
“They were,” he whispered. “Even if they were not your biological parents. They took care of you.”
“Were forced to,” Kelly countered. “Just like Ethan was forced to be my friend . . . boyfriend.”
He grabbed her chin, bringing her eyes back to his and said, “You can never force someone to be your friend, Kelly. Either they like you or they don’t and no one could pretend otherwise for almost twenty years. No one is that great an actor.” He felt guilt sweep him as a wobbly smile appeared on her lips. He was acting, not about everything, but about many things. He did want her to stay, but at what cost? The war would end and every decision he made had to be in favor of the Rebels.
Kelly sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Ethan and I did have good moments. In fact, our best moments were when we’d forget we were dating.” She laughed. “People would come up to us and tell us what a cute couple we were and our minds would wake up, like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m totally dating this person.’”
“Well, there you go.”
“I remember one time—”
“No more about Ethan.”
Kelly chuckled and whispered, “Okay . . .” But it was obvious by her expression that her thoughts hadn’t left her past.
Mason sighed and said, “Pava or not, Kelly, if the choice had to be made again, I would choose you.” And gods help him, he was telling the truth.
“Really?”
“Your beauty caught my attention immediately and when I said I’d never seen a more beautiful woman in the world . . . I meant it.”
Kelly smiled sadly. “It could just be the pava thing.”
“No, destiny may place us, but does not make us. You are Kelly, because that is who you are. Happy, gorgeous, courageous. These things have nothing to do with destiny and everything to do with you. It is you who ached when you saw what the elves had suffered under enslavement. It is you who sat with my men in a field of blood and gore, making sure all those who could be helped would be. And it is you, Kelly from Earth, who makes my heart race with every smile or laugh. Destiny can go hang itself. I’d choose you again.”
Kelly had been blinking back tears as he spoke, but when he’d finished, only then did she weep, throwing her arms around him and burying her face against his neck once more.
Mason rolled them over and held her to him, stroking her back and hair and listening to her sobbing. And all the while, his heart broke. He couldn’t keep her.
Oh, how he wished destiny would go hang, but as he said . . . destiny didn’t make them, but it would place them nonetheless.
* * *
20
CHAPTER
TWENTY
.
.
.
* * *
“I’m not who you think I am.”
* * *
.
Kelly frowned in her sleep when she felt something move on her bed. Mason had left her hours ago to return to his own room, just in case he needed to make a disappearance if more visitors arrived. So, why had he returned?
She blinked her eyes open and then screamed when Barna’s face appeared over her body. The woman had her hands on Kelly’s shoulders, her legs holding Kelly anchored to the bed, and her fangs bared and ready to strike.
“Theo doesn’t keep you in his room?” She sounded different with her fangs out. Her black eyes were even darker. “What a fool.”
“Stop!” Kelly shouted as she tried to rock the woman off her, but found it impossible. The vampire was strong.
Barna trailed a hand down Kelly’s wrist, and Kelly screamed when a nail broke into her flesh.
The pain burned and blood appeared on her arm.
Barna placed a bloody finger in her mouth and moaned. “Oh, Kelly, you taste like . . . I haven’t tasted anything this good in a long time.” She smiled down at Kelly and said, “Maybe never.”
Kelly cried. “Please, leave me alone.”
“Don’t worry, dear, I know you’re Theo’s plaything, so I’ll leave you alive.” She leaned forward and licked at Kelly’s wound. The scrape of Barna’s rough tongue had Kelly cringing.
“No,” Kelly screamed. “Help me.”
“Quiet,” Barna hissed. “Or I’ll make you quiet.” She went back to the gash in her arm, licking and sucking.
Kelly closed her eyes as Barna’s moans and slurps filled the room.
A glass window scattered and wind swept into the room. A thud made Kelly open her eyes, and they widened at the arrow that was pierced into her side of the bed. A few inches closer and she’d have been impaled.
