He started to speak but glanced over her shoulder and stopped. With a single nod he said in a soft voice, “I will see you tomorrow, Kitty. Good night to you.”
She watched him leave before facing Chigaru. “Now what?” He started to answer but she said over him, “That’s right. You haven’t eaten yet. Well go for it. I know my way from here. I’ll see you later.”
When she would have passed him, Chigaru caught her arm. “Kitty, we need to speak.”
“Yeah we do, but you haven’t eaten yet. Go eat. It can wait.”
“No it can’t. There are things about bhresya culture you do not yet know and need to understand.”
“If this is about the horn thing, Hestra and the others explained it already. That’s quaint and all and has absolutely nothing to do with me. I’m not propositioning them. We’re performing. Simple as that.”
“Kitty—”
“Does Serenity touch your horns?”
Chigaru took a breath before he nodded.
“After she married Melchior?”
He nodded again.
“Today?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
She pulled out of his hold. “Then we have nothing else to say on that topic, do we?”
He sighed.
“Go eat. You know where to find me when you’re done.” She left him standing in the hall and returned to his room.
She stood in the middle of the room, bringing her temper under control. It had taken a lot not to dissolve the conversation into a screaming match. Never in public. Her mother had taught her many things and that had been chief among the lessons. Private matters needed to stay private.
The argument in the woods couldn’t be helped, but everything after could. Kitty would put forth the effort to keep her issues with Chigaru behind closed doors. With that resolve settled, she headed for the bathroom for a bath and relaxation.
A long soak in the bath turned into a short nap. Kitty woke and found Chigaru sitting on the edge of the tub beside her with his feet in the water and her head resting on his knee. The edge of his loincloth trailed in the water.
He said in a soft voice, “I told you to rest earlier.”
“So you did. I wasn’t tired before. It hit me all at once as soon as I sat in the tub. You’re not tired.”
“I am, but I am trained to push past exhaustion in order to perform my duty.”
“Your duty. How long have you guarded Serenity?”
“Since she was three. I was sent to assassinate her.”
Kitty jerked away from him so she could meet his gaze.
He nodded. “Before Serenity’s marriage to Melchior, bhresyas and humans warred. Their marriage meant an end to that. Many didn’t want the bloodshed to end. Her death would have ensured it continued. I was hired to kill her. I took the job only because I knew how the war restarted, how her mother, Dowager Queen Rhiannon, had been betrothed to Melchior but her father reneged and sent assassins to Melchior instead. I didn’t want such to repeat again. If the warring was to continue, then it didn’t need a false ceasefire.”
“What stopped you?”
“Serenity. Though a small child, Serenity knew me on sight. She knew me to be a bhresya and that she was destined to marry Melchior. Her mother raised her to know her future. Dowager Queen Rhiannon had planned to keep the betrothal, unlike her father. The peace had a chance. I couldn’t be the one to ruin that.” He stopped and smiled. “And Serenity’s smile.”
“I noticed she does smile a lot.”
“Always. Very little can make her stop. Human and bhresya assassins have plagued her all her days and yet she smiles.”
“She’s either an ultra-optimist or psychotic. Take your pick.”
Chigaru laughed. “If you ever chance to see the smile she wears when ordering the death of someone who has wronged her, you will opt for the latter.”
“Good to know. In later news, are we married?”
“You’re my bonded true mate.”
“And that’s not what I asked, is it?”
“Mating transcends marriage.”
“So we’re not married.” Kitty rose in the tub and stepped out. “What does that make us? And don’t say mates.”
“Do you wish to marry me, Kristar?”
“Don’t call me that. And are you asking?”
Chigaru pulled his feet out of the tub and rose from the edge so he could go to one knee. He met her gaze and said, “I am asking in the tradition of your world. Will you marry me?”
“You don’t have a ring.”
“A minor detail that can be fixed at a later time. Will you?”
“Do you want to marry me? We had to bond to save my life. This is different.”
“The bond saved your life, but that isn’t why I did it. Though I denied you—”
“Twice.”
“—you are my soul’s mate. I turned my sword against my king to protect a female who more than deserved death so I could save you. I performed the bond to tie you to my side for the rest of my days and knew unmatched happiness when Silny said no magic could ever separate us.”
“No magic maybe, but a woman can. I’m not Serenity.”
“Nor do I want you to be. You are my Kristar, my true bonded mate.” He held his hand out to her. “I’m asking you to be my wife as well.”
Kitty hesitated. This felt more real to her than the bonding ceremony, more solid. If Chigaru had asked her while they were still on Earth, if he had been a normal dragon from Earth instead of a bhresya from Gezane, would she have said yes?
The thundering of her heart in her ears and the growing urge to run answered her question. She placed her hand on Chigaru’s, almost pulling back when her skin touched his. In a small voce, she said, “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Chigaru smiled as he rose to his feet.
“Now what?”
He released her hand, grabbed a towel, and wrapped her in it before hugging her against his side.
“What are you doing?”
Chigaru tightened his hold when she would have pushed away from him. “After an accepted proposal comes a wedding.”
“After a bath comes dressing.”
“The towel is enough.”
A bright light flashed, cutting off Kitty’s retort and making stars twinkle across her sight. When her vision cleared, she stood in a spacious room with an altar and several benches. It could have been a church. The hooded woman with dusky rose-colored skin standing behind the altar reinforced the image.
The woman pushed her hood off of her forward, close-spiraling horns and regarded Chigaru and Kitty with an expression of surprise mixed with annoyance. “This is unexpected. The temple of Destiny is shielded against transportation magic. How did you breach it?”
Chigaru released Kitty and bowed to the woman. “I am the guardian of a child of Destiny.”
The woman startled. “You.”
“Do you still bear me ill will, high priestess?”
Kitty stared between Chigaru and the woman. Why would he bring her to some woman who might be mad at him?
The woman said, “I thought I was past my ire, but it returns upon seeing you. How is my daughter?”
“Well.”
“I hear she guards the new queen.”
“She does.”
“You did that to her. You stole her and sullied her hands. You dare much to show yourself before me now.”
Kitty leaned over and whispered to Chigaru, “Who is she, what’s going on and why are we here?”
In a normal tone, Chigaru said, “She is the high priestess of Destiny’s temple, Lady Zaizi. She is also Nym’s mother. And we are here to gain Destiny’s blessing on our marriage.”
“Nym’s mother?” Kitty stared at the woman. The resemblance was there. Zaizi and Nym were close to the same coloring and shared similar features. “Why would Nym’s mother be mad at you?”
Zaizi said, “Because, human child, Chigaru was charged from a young age to act as a guardian to
my daughter. Instead, he stole her and tainted her with death so she could no longer perform her duties.”
“I did not steal her,” Chigaru said. “Nym ran and I followed. She refused to return and threatened to harm herself if I forced her. I used my training to help us survive. To keep her safe, I trained her to protect herself. She used my teachings to become an assassin at my side and later the second-in-command to the queen’s guards.”
“She should be first,” Zaizi snapped. “In all things, Nym should always be first.”
Kitty recognized her mother in Zaizi and had a good idea why Nym had run.
Chigaru said, “Nym is not bloodthirsty enough to be first. I am. As I was trained to be.”
“And now you use our teachings to protect the king’s human mate.”
“I do.”
Zaizi growled under her breath and then sighed hard. “You irritate me, Chigaru. You always irritated me. I think you delighted in irritating me.”
Chigaru grinned but didn’t speak. Kitty couldn’t image him doing anything to annoy someone on purpose. But then, from the way Zaizi spoke, she must have known Chigaru when he was young, possibly very young.
“That you do not speak to deny my words shows you did it on purpose. You brat of a child. If not for your skill, I would have ousted you from this temple after your first prank.”
“Prank?” Kitty asked with amusement.
Zaizi said, “More than one. In his younger years, Chigaru was a terror to the temple. He sprang traps on the lower priests and practiced his subduing techniques on the altar attendants.” The woman swept her gaze over Chigaru. “Though the male before me is not the boy I once knew. I see none of that mischief in you now. The last two hundred years must have mellowed you. Or perhaps protecting our human queen provides enough excitement to curb your mischievous tendencies.”
Chigaru nodded. “I have matured as you always hoped I would. As well, there is another among the queen’s guard who more than fills the role I left vacant.”
“Does he vex you? Please tell me he vexes you.”
“From time to time.”
Zaizi laughed and clapped her hands in delight. “Praise to Destiny for she does her work well. At last you must see how much trouble you caused.”
“I do. Though I do not apologize, because I do not regret my actions. My pranks helped hone my skills and made me a better guard to my queen.”
“And so you are, though your skill didn’t stop that”—she gestured to his missing arm—“from happening.”
“No.”
Zaizi’s smile slipped into an expression of regret. “Destiny can be cruel. I never wished such an injury upon you, though you stole much from me.” She drew in a deep breath and with it regained her composure. “Why have you come to me?”
Chigaru lifted Kitty’s hand and held it out to Zaizi. “I wish for you to perform our marriage ritual.”
“But why?” Zaizi frowned at them before shaking her head. “You are true mated. I see the bond. What need you of marriage?”
“It is for my mate.”
“Humans have ways I do not understand. However, as I understand the feelings of true mates, I will comply. Come forward.” Zaizi pulled her hood over her horns and then unsheathed a dagger from her belt. She held the dagger out to Chigaru.
Kitty asked, “Another dagger?”
Chigaru said, “The ceremony for marriage mimics that of the ceremony for bonding true mates.”
“Okay.” Kitty held out her hand and braced for the pain.
Zaizi said, “Destiny guides all things. She brings together those whose hearts call to one another and binds them in love. Though you are already true bonded mates, standing before Destiny now reinforces your love and says without doubt you have chosen each other.” She waved Chigaru forward.
He pressed the dagger against Kitty’s palm. She made herself hold still and let the dagger bite into her skin. She kept her complaints of pain to herself. She’d asked for this. While not the ceremony she thought she would have, it sufficed so long as she could call Chigaru her husband.
After passing her the dagger, Chigaru cupped her bleeding hand and brought it to his lips. Chigaru licked the wound. Such an action should have hurt but Kitty felt only deep desire. When Chigaru presented his hand to her, she mimicked his motions. A smile curved her lips at the way he shivered when she licked his wound.
Zaizi cupped their bloodied palms and pressed them together. “Blood is mingled as your lives are mingled. You are wed.”
Chigaru threaded his fingers with Kitty’s and yanked her close. She didn’t get a chance to ask what he was doing before his lips crushed hers in a searing kiss of passion that she returned. She pressed close to Chigaru, happy to finally feel him and know the contact wouldn’t end with a kiss.
A whimper left Kitty’s lips when Chigaru pulled away. He said to Zaizi, “Thank you, Lady Zaizi.”
“Off with you. Destiny’s temple is no place to consummate.” She waved them away. “And tell my daughter I miss her.”
“I will.” Chigaru nodded to Zaizi and then bright light surrounded them.
Kitty blinked to clear her vision. Another teleport. She didn’t know if she would get used to this mode of travel. Once she could see, she gasped at the view that greeted her. She and Chigaru stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the moonlit forest below. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“Thoughts of making love to you here distracted me all day.”
“Did they?”
“Shall I show you what I imagined?”
Kitty stepped back and unwrapped her towel. Though she had stripped for hundreds of men in the past and Chigaru had seen her naked many times, this time felt different, more sensual. His gaze caressed her skin as though seeing her for the first time.
He pulled the towel from her grasp and spread it over the ground with a flick of his wrist. Next he removed his loincloth, which had been tented with his arousal straining against it since the start of the wedding ceremony. Again, not a new sight for Kitty considering she and Chigaru had shared a bed for three months, but his hard length made her catch her breath as her heart rate increased.
Eagerly Kitty grasp Chigaru’s horns and she hauled herself up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Chigaru cupped her behind and reclaimed her lips. Both made hungry sounds of pleasure as they tangled their tongues over and around each other, trying to make the kiss deeper.
Chigaru kneaded his fingers down Kitty’s behind and between her legs. She squirmed against the fingers that spread her lower lips. Her keen of need escaped into Chigaru’s mouth and he pressed his tip against her opening. Holding her breath, she lowered herself so she enveloped his length then quickly pulled away because the sensation was too much for her.
He filled her completely and bucked his hips to do so again. Kitty wanted him deep inside but felt she might be overwhelmed. Sex had never been so intense. She’d always viewed it as a kind of deep tissue massage that led to an orgasm.
This was anything but. Chigaru pressed his hand against her lower back and held her still as he planted himself deep within her again and again. Kitty gripped his horns, panting and whimpering and losing herself to unparalleled pleasure.
“Kristar,” Chigaru said in husky voice. “My Kristar.”
“Oh yes.” She caught the rhythm, moving up and down his length, no longer caring if she drowned in the sensation. Her body craved his. No matter which way or how fast she moved, she couldn’t get enough of him.
Chigaru gripped her thigh, digging his nails into her skin. Kitty cried out in pain. Chigaru jolted to a stop and snatched his hand away. “Sorry. I’m sorry. Forgive me, Kristar. I got carried away.”
“It’s fine. Keep going.” She kissed his lips but he didn’t respond. “Chi?”
“I might hurt you again if we continue.”
“I’m counting on it.” She grinned at him. “I should warn you, I might hurt you too.”
“It’s not the
same. My strength—”
She kissed him into silence. Only once he relaxed and gripped her behind once more did she end it. She licked the tip of his nose. “I’m tied to your life, right?”
“Yes, but—”
“And bhresyas heal fast, right?”
“Yes, but—”
“Good. I don’t have to worry about you complaining when I scratch you up to hell and back.” She giggled at the way his pupils dilated. His heart thundered beneath her breasts, which were squished against his chest. “Did I say something you like?”
He nodded quickly.
“Bhresyas like it rough, I take it?”
“Scratching is good. Very good.”
“Lucky for you, I’m more than happy to oblige.” She swirled her hips, stirring his arousal inside her. “Shall we continue?”
He tightened his hold on her as he lowered her to the spread towel. Kitty let her back rest on the ground, but didn’t loose her legs from Chigaru’s waist. The curve of his horns kept his head hovering above hers. He braced his hand on the ground beside her. “This should help.”
“Whatever so long as you don’t stop again.” She squeezed her inner muscles, making them both keen with delight.
Chigaru started thrusting quickly, hammering to her depths. Kitty grasped his waist and raked her nails up his sides. The shout of joy Chigaru let loose made Kitty repeat the motion. Most men had tolerated her tendency of scratching, others had suffered through it. Chigaru reveled in it.
That knowledge made something inside Kitty loosen. She stopped holding back. She couldn’t hurt him and wouldn’t worry that she might. She also didn’t worry about him hurting her. Chigaru’s clenching fingers scarred the ground beside her and that display of strength only made her hotter.
She grabbed his shoulders, hauled herself up, and melded her lips to his as she climaxed. Chigaru followed close behind, spilling himself with muted grunts. Kitty rained kisses over his face and neck. “Love you. Love you so much.”
Chigaru slipped his arm beneath her and hugged her close. “I love you as well, Kristar.”
She felt too good to correct him about her name. Besides, it sounded right when he said it. Everything was right now. Kitty was finally where she belonged.
Kristar (Bookstrand Publishing Romance) Page 16
