Burning Desire

by Donna Grant

  “What troubles you?”

  “I’ve got an uneasy feeling about Kiril remaining in Ireland.” Con turned around and walked to his desk. He sat in the leather chair and regarded Laith.

  Laith leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms over his chest. As usual Con was dressed in a suit, though his jacket hung on a hook on the wall. It was an appearance Constantine had taken two hundred years before, and it had stuck.

  While the other Kings were content to wear comfortable clothing—no matter what time period they were in—Con was different. Always had been, and always would be.

  “You think we need to go after Kiril?” Laith asked.

  Con’s forehead furrowed, his onyx eyes serious, thoughtful. “That would speed the war coming. Nay, I just want him home.”

  “He will soon enough. As much as I doona want him there either, he’s spying.”

  “They know who he is.”

  Laith grinned. “Perhaps, but they willna expect him to know that or to respond to them as I imagine he will.”

  “They’re using a female Dark to seduce him.”

  That caused Laith to pause. “I know Kiril. He willna fall for something so obvious.”

  “I doona think he will either, but that doesna mean the Dark doesna have other tricks.”

  “I’ll go to Ireland.”

  Con shook his head. “I can no’ send another King into that nest of evil.”

  “Then who? You certainly can no’ send a human.” When Con merely returned his look, Laith pushed away from the wall. “You’re no’ really thinking of asking the Warriors?”

  “Who else is there? Rhi? She’s already been taken by Balladyn.”

  “I know. I was there,” Laith stated coldly.

  “Phelan calls for updates on Rhi. He asks every day if he can join in the rescue when we find her.”

  Laith rubbed the back of his neck. “You did remind him that no Light Fae has ever come back from the Dark the same? Most likely Rhi is already … Dark.”

  “I know,” Con said quietly, too quietly.

  “Phelan has Aisley, Con. The Warriors may be immortal with powers thanks to the primeval gods inside them, but they can be killed.”

  “So can we.”

  “Only by another Dragon King. Anyone can take a Warrior’s head.”

  Con stood, his hands on the desk as he leaned forward. “Kellan and Tristan were already taken by the Dark. I can no’ and willna have another King in the hold of those malicious beings.”

  Laith tilted his head to regard Con. “Tristan said the Dark was asking for something. They believe every Dragon King knows where it’s hidden, but we doona. Only you know.”

  “And Kellan,” Con said.

  Of course. Kellan would know everything since he wrote the history of the Dragon Kings. “What is it the Dark are after?”

  “Leave it, Laith.”

  “What could it possibly be?” he pressed.

  Con sucked in a breath and went back to gazing out his window. “If my predecessors thought it important enough to keep secret, who am I to argue?”

  “It was kept secret from the rest of the Kings?”

  “Aye. The first King of Kings hid it, and each of us who have taken the position has kept it hidden.”

  Laith shifted uncomfortably. It had to be great indeed if Con felt the need to conceal it from all of them. “Is it dangerous?”

  “Extremely. Trust me. We doona want it to fall into the hands of the Dark.”

  “That shouldna be a problem if only you and Kellan know the location.”

  Con looked at him over his shoulder. “Doona underestimate the Dark. Ever. They’ll figure out a way, and I need to be prepared for that.”

  * * *

  Kiril was sitting on the sofa in his room staring out the window at the dawning of a new day. It’s where he had gone after returning from dropping off Shara.

  It had been everything he could do to drive away from her. Every instinct he had told him to bring her back with him—and he didn’t mean the estate. He meant Dreagan.

  His gaze went to the cushion beside him when his mobile phone vibrated. He always kept the phone with him, but none of the Kings contacted him in that manner when they could converse through their link without fear of the Dark ever intercepting the call.

  Kiril lifted the phone, frowning when he recognized Rhys’s number. He took the call and lifted the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

  “Well, I didna wake you,” Rhys said, a smile in his voice.

  “Nay. I’m awake.”

  “Did you rise early?”

  Kiril focused his gaze back out the window though he didn’t see the trees or the flowers. “In a manner.”

  “You didna sleep at all, did you?” Rhys asked, irritation deepening his voice.

  “Nay.”

  “I can be there in a few hours.”

  Kiril smiled despite himself. “No’ even funny, you reckless bastard.”

  “I’m no’ joking.”

  The smile left Kiril. “I know, but it’s no’ wise.”

  “Neither is you being there by yourself.”

  “As I told you before, it’s better if it’s just one of us.”

  “It should’ve been me,” Rhys grumbled.

  Kiril could practically see Rhys’s aqua eyes narrowed in exasperation. “It was fair and square.”

  “It was a fucking rock, paper, scissors game, jerk.”

  “Quit your complaining, dick.” Kiril found the tension easing in his muscles. Rhys had always known just what to do to bring him out of any kind of funk.

  “Are you all right?” Rhys asked, his voice serious and hard.

  Kiril sighed. What did he do? If he lied, Rhys would know and come to Ireland. If he told the truth, there was still a good chance Rhys would come anyway.

  “Truth, jerk,” Rhys said, as if sensing that Kiril was weighing his options.

  “What has Con told you?”

  Rhys grunted loudly through the phone. “He keeps it brief, as he always does. He did mention a female Dark. I told him there wasna a chance in hell that she could seduce you.”

  Kiril squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed them with his thumb and forefinger. He then dropped his hand onto his leg and went back to staring out the window.

  “Fuck me sideways,” Rhys hissed. “Are you kidding me?”

  “She didna have to seduce me. I went right to her knowing exactly who and what she was.”

  “All right.” Kiril could practically see Rhys nodding his head as he spoke. “Do you think you can turn her to our side as Con mentioned?”

  Kiril thought back over his conversations with Shara. “No’ a chance. I gather I’m a test. If she sets things up so I can be captured, she’s back in with her family. If she doesna…”

  “They kill her,” Rhys finished, his voice tight.

  They sat in silence for a minute, their minds running through every possibility.

  Rhys cleared his throat. “If she has to prove herself to her family, that means she did something they doona approve of.”

  “Aye.”

  “Use that against her. Turn her, Kiril. We need to know what the Dark are up to, or more importantly what they’re searching for.”

  “I like her, Rhys.”

  “You’ll be fine if you have no’ bedded her yet.”

  Kiril blew out a breath. He wouldn’t lie to Rhys.

  “Oh, fuck.”

  And that was putting things mildly. Kiril dropped his head back on the sofa. “Aye, my friend.”

  “No wonder you’ve no’ slept. What can I do?”

  “Remain at Dreagan. It’s nearly time for Con to contact me for our morning chat.”

  “Are you going to tell him about the female?”

  Kiril lifted his head. “Nay. It might have happened millennia upon millennia ago, but I remember vividly what we did to the human female that betrayed Ulrik.”

  “So you think this female Dark will betray you?”
/>
  “It’s likely. It’s her family. What else is Shara to do?”

  “You have two choices, my friend. Walk away. Or get her to fall for you.”

  Kiril leaned forward and dropped his head into his free hand. “I can no’ walk away from her.”

  “Then you have just one choice.” Rhys sighed loudly. “I’d feel better if I was there watching your back. I could remain hidden.”

  “They’re already onto me. To bring another King here would be like offering up a buffet to a starving man.”

  “It should’ve been me,” Rhys repeated.

  Kiril shook his head, and then remembered Rhys couldn’t see him. “Nay. This is playing out just as it was meant to.”

  “I wouldna be falling for a Dark,” Rhys ground out.

  That made Kiril smile. “I’ll bet you my new Mercedes that you’ll fall for someone soon enough.”

  “Bite me, jerk wad.”

  “Ah. Did I hit a sore spot?”

  “I’m hanging up now.”

  “I did hit a spot.” Kiril sat up, on instant alert. “Who is she? What does she look like?”

  “There’s nobody.”

  “I think you protest too much.”

  “Whatever. Be safe, jerk.”

  “Always, dick.”

  “I’ll call soon,” Rhys said, right before he disconnected the phone.

  Kiril set the mobile phone aside, a smile on his face. For a few minutes Rhys had taken his mind off the situation—and off Shara.

  Yet he couldn’t help but wonder who it was that Rhys had found. Did the others even know yet? The fact Rhys wouldn’t even talk about it spoke volumes. No one else knew, and had he not been joking about it, Kiril was sure he wouldn’t have even put the pieces together.

  He was smiling when he stood and walked into the bathroom, disrobing. That smile soon faded as he caught sight of the scratches on his shoulders in the mirror. Instantly a vision of him and Shara rolling around on the entryway floor sprang to mind. His cock hardened. He wanted inside her again, to feel her tight walls, to hear her scream as she peaked.

  It wasn’t just his need. He was worried about her. There was a chance that everything she’d told him was a lie, but he knew when she was acting and when she was herself.

  It was the way she held herself so stiffly, as if she were waiting for him to call her a liar. She was much more relaxed when she spoke the truth. Of course, just because she might be telling the truth didn’t mean he still wasn’t being led into a trap—a beautiful, beguiling trap, but still a trap.

  He looked himself in the eyes through the mirror and grimaced. He was in way over his head.

  “Shit.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Shara walked out of her room expecting to see her dutiful guard. Except the corridor was empty. She looked one way and then the other before she shrugged and walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

  She was turning into the kitchen when her name was called. She pivoted, surprised to hear her father’s voice. He was a busy man keeping their family ranking high among the Dark, which meant he was rarely home. If he was, she normally didn’t see him.

  It wasn’t always a good thing when he wanted to see her, and after the secret she kept from her family about her time with Kiril, she couldn’t stop the thread of fear that knotted in her stomach. Had they somehow found out? Would this be the day she died?

  She walked down the hall until she reached her father’s office, then stopped at the doorway. “Yes, Father?”

  He smiled in greeting, his thick hair pulled back in a queue, not a strand of black to be seen in the silver. He rose to his feet and motioned her inside. “Come, Shara. Let’s take a walk.”

  A walk. This could either be really good, or really, really bad. She refused to show fear, however. Shara walked around his desk to his side. He held out his arm and she looped hers through his. A smile still in place, he led her through the opened glass doors outside to the manicured gardens.

  There wasn’t a flower in sight. Everything was green. Flowers meant color, and color, especially bright or pastel, equaled weakness. A Dark Fae wouldn’t be caught dead with flowers anywhere near their homes.

  “I always had such hope for you, Shara. I knew, despite being the youngest of my children, that you had the potential to exceed all of them,” he said.

  They had the appearance of being alone in the expanse of the yard, but there were Dark everywhere guarding her family—but mostly her father—from any kind of threat.

  She looked into her father’s red eyes and smiled. This was the first time she’d ever heard anything like this from him, and her anxiety kicked up a notch. “I’m glad you think so.”

  “It’s because of your resolve and persistence with the Dragon King that I’ve made the decision to remove everyone from dogging your every step.”

  She almost tripped she was so surprised.

  “Farrell and your mother disagree with my decision, but they will abide by it,” he said in his calm, deep voice that commanded such obedience. He led the family with an iron fist, and everyone knew not to go up against him for they would lose—and lose badly.

  She looked out over their view of the water. All she could think about was her freedom to do what she wanted, when she wanted. She could see Kiril as often as she wanted.

  “Farrell had taken my orders too far,” her father said, breaking into her thoughts. “How could we expect you to aptly seduce a Dragon King without giving you some room to do what you must?”

  “Exactly. I tried to tell him the same thing.”

  “Farrell just wants to ensure the rise of this family. He’s made me proud. I expect you will do the same.”

  She nodded when he stopped and turned to her. “Of course,” she added when he looked at her expectantly.

  His gaze was full of pride. A first that she could remember. “Just as I assumed. It’s no mean feat what you’re intending to do. The Dragon Kings are dangerous, my daughter, but they can be brought down. Your name will be remembered for all eternity for what you’re doing for the Dark and this family.”

  “Why do you want the Dragon King?”

  His gaze turned shrewd while he studied her. After a long pause he seemed to come to a decision, because he said, “They have hidden something we want.”

  “A weapon?”

  “In a way. It can be used against the Kings.”

  Now Shara was confused. “Our magic can be used to make a Dragon King revert to his human form, but that’s all that can be done to them. Nothing can kill them but another Dragon King.”

  “Or so they want us to believe.” Her father spread his arms to encompass the scene of the ocean, their garden, and the rocky land around them. “We’ve conquered Ireland, but it was always our intent to conquer this realm, not one measly isle. We will succeed, but first we need what they’ve hidden.”

  “And you believe Kiril will tell you.”

  Her father laughed, the sound cold and evil. “Ah, my dear girl. I think with the right motivation any Dragon King will give us what we want. Taraeth managed to have two in the depths of his stronghold, but our family will be the one who delivers the next one. We’ll be the one to keep him trapped, and we’ll be the one to break him.”

  Shara thought back to the story Kiril had told her of the two Kings taken during the Fae Wars. “How will we break him?”

  “His mind. It will take a long time, but then we have you.”

  “Me?”

  “You’ll make him fall for you, make him care. We’ll lead him to believe that we have you and will torture you.”

  She might be considered young by some Dark, but she wasn’t naïve or stupid. “You mean you will actually torture me.”

  Her father shrugged nonchalantly. “We’ll have to prove to him we’ll be willing to do anything to you. The Kings are meant to protect humans. It’s in his nature to protect the very woman he believes is human that he cares for.”

  “And then?” She wasn’t abo
ut to tell him that Kiril knew she was Dark.

  “We break him. We’ll have to fake your death, of course, but he will feel as though he failed. That will speed his descent. Once he’s broken, he’ll tell us anything we ask.”

  Shara had longed for her father to bring her into the fold of the family. He was giving her that chance. “I want to be there when we find whatever the Dragon Kings have hidden.”

  “I can arrange that,” he said with a nod of pleasure.

  Her mind drifted back to the breathtaking kisses and toe-curling sex she’d had with Kiril. “How did you know Mother was the right woman for you?”

  “That was easy.” He began walking along the stone path again, keeping ahold of her arm. “When it came time to marry I had my pick of women because of the family and the name I’d made for myself, much like Farrell is doing. Your mother was one of many.”

  “Why did you choose her?”

  “She had a quick, devious mind that far exceeded any other, and her desire to advance to the top was as great as mine. We had the same ambitions.”

  Was it as simple as that? Is that how she was supposed to look for a husband? No. She was to stand meekly, but confidently, and wait for her husband to choose her.

  “Don’t worry, Shara. Farrell has already lined up men that I’m considering for you. Many wanted you before, but now that they know what you’re doing, more are clamoring for your hand. I’ll choose wisely.”

  It was how it had always been done with their people. Why then did she wish she had a choice in picking the male who would share her bed?

  Silence in the wake of such a statement was rude. Shara smiled tightly. “I trust your judgment, Father.”

  “Farrell told me he hit you hard enough to bruise. Did the Dragon King take note of the bruise?”

  Shara focused her mind on the conversation. The last thing she wanted was to be caught in a lie, and that’s what her father was trying to do. “He wrapped his arm around me, and I pulled away. When he asked if I was hurt, I thought it prudent to let him know that I was bruised.”

  “Did he ask how you had been hurt?”

  “He did. I told him that I ran into a counter, but I made sure the lie was told badly enough that he saw through it.”

  Her father patted her arm. “Very good. Aye, very good indeed.”