“That tunnel exits inside the clerics’ healing temple two blocks north of here.” He nodded. “I can show you the way, but the tunnels inside the palace are too complicated for me to simply offer directions.”
“All right,” I replied, nodding. “Father, you and your guards split up. Send some to cover the exit he spoke of. Send some to go upstairs and make sure they can’t escape through the palace interior. I’ll go with the consort and search through the hidden passageways.”
“I’ll go with you.” That was Nix, and it wasn’t a request.
I didn’t want to waste another moment arguing. I could use his help, for while the consort knew where he was going, his skill was in fucking, not fighting. The very idea hardened my resolve. I wanted to beat the shit out of him all over again, but vowed to save it for the Jax guard who truly deserved it. And that was right before I shot him dead.
“Let’s go.” I turned to the consort. “Lead the way. And make it fast.”
My father and a handful of guards ran off, moving silently, like shadows. One guard peeled from the group, heading to the party, no doubt to round up others to cover the exit in the clerics’ healing temple. Nix and I stared at the consort.
“Ahh—um... Maybe we should start in the library? There is an intersection nearby that leads to the royal bedrooms.”
Nix and I both drew our weapons.
The consort jumped, then realized we weren’t going to shoot him and ran off in the direction of the library—a room I had yet to discover—with the two of us right behind him.
8
Trinity
I had no idea where we were in the palace. If I ever got out of this, I would get someone to take me on a tour. This room hadn’t been used in a long time, perhaps since my mother had been around. I dropped my earring behind me, thankful my big skirt hid the action. I had nothing left to take off. My dress wasn’t coming undone without help. The only good thing was that we were moving the dust all around, our footprints and weird swirls from the hem of my dress now marred the floor. Someone would easily see someone had been here, and recently. Hopefully, in time.
The guard reached out, grabbed my wrist and tugged me toward a corner. There was no escape, no way out. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it.”
He laughed. “I told you, Princess, you’re wanted by my master.”
His hand pressed against the wall and a doorway was revealed. Crap. A hidden passage. Now no one would ever find me, especially since I had no idea where the passages led. Out, I assumed.
He tugged me down the narrow corridor parallel to the abandoned room’s wall, then we turned. It was dark within, but I could see my feet, Zel before me. When Leo had led me through from my bedchamber to his, it had been exciting. Romantic even—except for the consort and his balls—but now I felt getting farther and farther away from anyone who might be able to help.
When I heard the pounding of heavy footsteps—not ours—I quickly changed my mind. Zel stopped, listened. Yes, someone was in the passageway.
“We’re here!” I shouted, the sound echoing off the narrow walls.
“You bitch,” Zel hissed, spinning around and backhanding me. I fell into the wall and I put my hand to my cheek. The metallic tang of blood filled my mouth and stars floated in front of my eyes, but I was fine. I could do this. I could survive until whomever was in the corridor got help.
He shoved me back the way we came and I stumbled. A tight grab on my elbow kept me from falling, then I was shoved again. We came back out into the abandoned room. Without letting go of his hold, he stormed toward the exit—the way we’d originally come in—but the door flung open.
Two guards burst through, pistols raised. With a harsh yank, Zel pulled me into his side, his arm banding about my waist. The knife was back, this time at my neck.
It was Leo’s father who stood before us, along with a second guard in a matching uniform.
“Put the weapons down!” Zel shouted.
Travin and the other guard held their arms out away from their sides but didn’t drop their ion pistols.
The footfall we’d heard in the passageway was loud behind us. Zel spun partially so he could see who came in behind us.
Leo!
A thrill shot through me at the sight of him, but I frowned as I recognized the assassin from the suite. The one who’d killed the consort, Cassander and tried to kill me and my sisters.
Was Zel and the assassin in on it together? Was he Zel’s master?
But the assassin—Vennix, I remembered—held his ion pistol steady. And it wasn’t aimed at Leo or even his father, but at Zel.
I didn’t understand, but with the knife at my neck, I wasn’t going to try and figure it out now.
Leo eyed me, raked his gaze over me from head to toe. I was whole, but I was sure I had a swollen cheek and would probably get a black eye. And I knew I had stained the dress red with a bit of blood where Zel had poked and twisted the blade under my ribs.
“It’s over, Zel,” Travin said.
“Put the weapons down or she’s dead,” he shouted.
I felt his ragged breathing against my back, the shaking of his muscles.
“You’re dead. You just haven’t realized it yet,” Leo countered.
We were at a standoff. When the knife pricked my neck, I hissed.
I could tell Leo wanted to jump him, rip the knife from his hand and kill him, but I’d be dead first. No ReGen wand in the universe could heal a jugular from being severed.
“I will go with you,” I said, glancing at Travin, then Leo, although my words were for Zel. “Leo, tell the guards to stand down. Spread word to let us pass through the palace.”
“No fucking way,” he vowed.
I wasn’t Destiny. I couldn’t fight my way out of this. I wasn’t Faith. I couldn’t humor my way out of a knife at my throat. But I was Princess Trinity, and I could think my way out.
“Remember the saying, mate. If you can’t get out of it…”
Leo’s eyes flickered with awareness before he finished. “Get into it.” He slowly squatted down, put his weapon on the floor. Told the others to do the same.
They didn’t look thrilled with the idea, but they followed Leo’s order.
“You got what you wanted, Zel. The weapons are down.” I tried to keep my voice calm, my tone even. Diplomatic, although it was totally fake and coated with lies.
“They’ll let us pass, but I can’t walk with a knife in my neck.”
Leo took a half step back and the others did as well.
After a few seconds, Zel moved the knife away and nudged me toward the door. I moved forward about two feet, then did what I’d been waiting for. I stepped back, my leg going between Zel’s. Since my hands were at my sides, it was easy for me to grab his crotch. Yeah, I could easily feel his cock and balls beneath my palm. This wasn’t a lover’s caress. No, it was a get the fuck off of me grip just like with the Royal Consort.
I grabbed, squeezed and tugged as I dropped my weight. Zel’s hold loosened and I could see out of the corner of my eye Leo grabbing his weapon and firing.
One shot. That was all it took. Zel’s head was gone, his body falling to the ground with a hard thud. His groin slipped from my tight hold as he went. It was only then that my brain stalled, that I couldn’t even think of what to do next.
But that didn’t matter. Leo had me in his arms and was carrying me across the room before I had a chance to blink. The feel of him, god. He felt so good. Big, strong. His steady heartbeat beneath my ear. He was safe. Whole. Alive.
So was I.
I started to shake as Leo looked down at me, studied my face, my neck. Setting me on my feet, he grabbed the ReGen wand from his belt and waved it over my face. I closed my eyes to the blue glow, but felt the sting in my busted lip disappear, the nick in my neck no longer throb. He ran it over the small cut under the bodice of my dress, then twirled me around, must have seen something similar in my back, and used the wand there as well before spinning me back a
round to face him.
I heard voices behind me, but ignored them. Others had come into the room, but Leo didn’t move, didn’t even talk to anyone else, just tended to me.
“Better, mate?”
I opened my eyes, saw that the ReGen wand was gone and so was all my pain. I nodded and that was all Leo needed before he lowered his mouth to mine. Kissed me with all the fervor and need we both felt from the incident. His hands cupped my face gently, but his lips told the truth. He’d been scared. Worried.
Yeah, I had too.
“Excuse me, Princess.”
A voice from behind me had Leo lifting his head. He wasn’t ashamed though. No, he looked annoyed at being interrupted.
Leo pulled me into his side, just as Zel had, although this time I wanted to be there. I wanted to feel his hand on my waist, the heat of his strong body along my side.
The assassin bowed. “I wish to introduce myself properly. I am Vennix of the queen’s guards. I apologize for deceiving you since your arrival.”
Travin moved to stand beside him, blocking out the four or five other guards who were dealing with Zel’s dead body. “You are well?” he asked.
I nodded.
“That was an interesting… move,” he commented. “I apologize for not protecting you better.”
I reached out and touched his arm. “None of us knew he was a traitor.”
“I did,” Nix commented. “And yet he still got to you.”
“I am fine and he is… dead.”
“I should have kept him alive to get him to talk,” Leo said.
When I glanced up at him over my shoulder, I saw he was mad at himself. “He talked to me. Told me he had a master. That he wanted the queen’s jewels.”
Nix and Travin looked to each other.
“We will talk with you more later,” Nix said, then bowed. “I am sure your mate wishes to see to your wellbeing.”
He said wellbeing in a way that meant naked body.
Another guard came over, handed my shoes to Travin, who turned to me. “I believe these are yours. We followed them, along with one of your earrings, to find you.”
“Yes, an Earth children’s tale had a good lesson in creating a trail.” I held up my hands in surrender. “The other earring is on the floor somewhere. As for the shoes, they’re lovely, but I never wish to see them again.”
Travin and Nix bowed, then departed.
“Come, mate. You’ve been getting your hands on too many males’ balls. I feel neglected.”
Instead of taking my hand and leading me from the room, he swept me up in his arms again, and carried me out into the hallway.
I’d left a glass slipper for Leo to find, just like Cinderella. He was my hero.
But I didn’t remember the part of the movie where the princess gets ravaged by her prince.
9
Leo
Seeing a knife at Trinity’s neck was the scariest thing I’d ever seen. Not a trio of Hive with weapons beyond our technology. Not being on a shuttle that had been hit by Hive fire and the planet’s surface looming too fast. Nothing compared to seeing my mate in mortal danger.
I should have kept Zel alive. Should have kept him breathing so we could interrogate him. Learn what he knew. Trinity had said he hadn’t acted alone. He was a mere pawn. I had to wonder even if we’d ripped his fingernails off if he’d say the name of his master. I had to wonder if he even knew who it really was. He was a pawn and had been used.
Discarded.
But that didn’t matter. Not now. Only Trinity mattered. She might think otherwise, worry for her mother’s life—wherever the fuck she was—and the safety of her sisters. The queen knew she had enemies, that was why she’d had to flee the planet in the first place. She’d known they were still around, that they’d come for her eventually. That was why she’d prepared her three daughters. Trinity was skilled enough in protocol and leadership to take over the throne from her mother. Queen Celene knew this and was prepared for her spire light to be extinguished.
It was my duty to the queen to keep Trinity alive. Safe.
And I’d almost failed tonight.
That would not happen again. I’d be at her side all the time. Hell, I’d be inside her all the time. At least for the next few days. My father—who hadn’t even told me about his band of specialized mercenaries—could deal with the aftermath of Trinity’s kidnapping. He didn’t need me for that. He had Nix. My job wasn’t with the queen’s guards. My job was as Trinity’s mate.
And I would show her how dedicated I was to the role. I kicked the door closed to my quarters, locked it. Tossed Trinity on the bed with a solid bounce.
Even if someone knocked on the door, I wasn’t answering. The only way someone could communicate with me or the princess was through my NPU. And it damned well better only be Nial and then only if it were life or fucking death.
I turned, stared down at my mate in all the frothy pale blue fabric.
“The dress has to go.”
I stalked to her, tugged her so she stood on the bed, then spun her about so she faced away from me. The fastenings down her back were plentiful and tedious, almost impossible for my big fingers. So I ripped the back of the dress, rent the fabric so it split in two, then carefully worked the straps from her shoulders.
Fuck, she had on nothing beneath. For when the dress pooled on the bed around her ankles, she was bare. Her perfect heart-shaped ass was right before me.
She turned around and now her breasts were right. Fucking. There.
If she were offering, I would take, so I sucked one pert tip into my mouth, felt it harden against my tongue. Her hands went to my hair and tangled, held me in place.
“Leo,” she breathed.
My cock, which I discovered would flag when my mate had a knife at her throat, was hard as a rock, pulsing to break free of my uniform pants.
I didn’t release her nipple from my mouth as I worked my pants loose, toed off my boots, removed my belt and holster. I had to pull back long enough to tug off my jacket and remove my shirt.
“You’re so gorgeous,” she breathed, running her hands over my chest. “Hurry.”
“You want fast, mate? Works for me. This time.”
I lifted her up so I could yank her dress away, let it fall to the floor. I lowered her to the bed and I settled on top of her.
“Yes,” she breathed, letting the word go long. “God, you feel so good.”
She parted her legs, bent her knees so I could settle at the juncture of her thighs, let my cock nestle against her wet heat.
“Now, Leo. Please, now.”
I looked down at her, saw the dark desperation in her eyes, felt her anxiousness in the way she moved, trying to get closer. The only way to do that was to shift my hips and slide into her. Deep. Deeper still.
She cried out as I filled her. Stretched her. “It’s like coming home,” I murmured against her neck. I rested on my forearms as I held my weight off her, even with my cock bottoming out inside her.
“Yes. God, it’s perfect.”
I moved then, gave her what she needed. Me. Us. To feel alive. Together. To know she was safe beneath me, that she was whole with me filling her up.
“You want to come, mate?”
Her hips lifted to meet my hard thrusts.
“Yes!” she cried.
With a hand behind her, I rolled us so she was on top. Her legs moved so she straddled me, keeping me deep inside.
“Ride me. I want to watch. I want to see you come. To watch those gorgeous breasts bounce as you take your pleasure. To feel your pussy milk the cum from my balls. To see you come apart.”
I settled my hands on her hips as she began to move. Her hands settled on my chest for balance as she lifted and lowered, circled and rubbed her clit against my lower belly. “Leo,” she said once, then again. Like a chant as her eyes fluttered closed, her head fell back.
Her neatly styled hair hung wild and tangled down her back, her nipples hard and upturned. He
r pussy was dripping and slick, my cock sliding in and out of her without any resistance.
I knew the second she was going to come. Her inner walls clenched down and there was no way I could hold back my own release a second longer. I was done for.
The building could collapse. The queen’s guard could burst through the doors. I would know none of it for I was lost in Trinity. In what we created. In the pleasure we wrung from each other’s bodies.
She was mine. Whatever the future brought, we’d tackle it together. And we’d get through it, one orgasm at a time.
Want more? Ready for Faith’s story?
Read an excerpt from book 4 now!
It was her eyes though, the color of nature, that hooked me.
I didn’t see fear in their depths, as if she’d been caught and was afraid for her life. No, I saw defiance and a hint of… peace. But after a few seconds of staring, they widened, as if she hadn’t been surprised to be caught, but to see me. Something passed between us, some… current I didn’t understand, but my cock liked.
Her full lips parted and a pink flush crept into her cheeks. Goddess, she was lovely. My cock agreed. There was no question, no doubt, that she was my mate. The one I would keep safe and whole… mine. Forever.
And fuck! She was the mole, the traitor who’d been trying to have the princess killed. Her. She was responsible for the deaths of several Jax family guards. The one to drag our name through the mud with the media. It seemed impossible by looking at her. She was a maid, for goddess’ sake. Or was she?
My cock didn’t care who she was. What she was. My mind though, needed answers. And since the police had supposedly been called for, I needed them now before she was taken away.
I strode over to her, the Jax guards stepping back to clear my way. Taking hold of her arm, I tugged her to her feet and then across the room.
“I want to speak to her myself. Alone,” I called, but not turning to look at either of my parents. I didn’t give them time to argue, for we were through a side door and into the library before they could say a word. I shut the door behind me, spun her about and pressed her against it. Capturing her wrists, I lifted them up so they were by her head, my body keeping her pinned.
Ascension Saga, Book 3: Interstellar Brides®: Ascension Saga Page 7
