AMNESIA

by Canada Jackson

  It remained an embarrassing blight in their history.

  The presiding Monarch of the time who made the law had apparently become enraged when duped by a non-chaste bride and built what he called a coupling chamber to verify innocence. The despot king who set the rule in place had been murdered by one of his 18 unhappy brides. The law had changed and marriages could be no more than three, but the Rule of Ages requirement of purity for a Royal remained in the book. It was overlooked along with many other ridiculous laws and was therefore still relevant if declared.

  When Wrexel began to argue, the Monarch cut him short. There was no time for any reaction.

  * * *

  The guards sealed the distance between the alarmed brothers and Wrexel, leading him and Amber down a long passageway that wound to the bellows beneath the Room of Decisions. Wrexel and Amber were thrust inside a dimly lit room by mocking guards.

  “The bed is equipped to give evidentiary support for the status of the bride.” A guard tested the mechanism, verifying it to be in perfect working order despite its age.

  “We return in four hours.”

  Wrexel slammed both his fists against the wooden door, his face ashen but enraged.

  He then began to pace furiously. Amber never dreamed she would live to see him defeated.

  She watched him for a while until she realized they were in serious danger. Part of her believed that all the occurrences in the Room of Decisions could not be true. Surely, they would not execute her.

  They were an evolved society.

  Weren’t they?

  Wrexel looked worse as the minutes passed.

  “Why a marriage, Wrexel?” she said eventually.

  He stopped his pacing and glared at her. “I need Shihlo to wake up and take a stronger stance against the Monarch; this will push him to do exactly that.”

  His anger slowly dwindled and he became thoughtful. “I also… didn’t want Staede to make good on his promise. Challenging each other for a female’s company has been a game we have played for years and I couldn’t risk you being left on Throm when I am at war with my seducing brother.”

  “You thought I would swap one Thromian for another?” she said with outrage.

  “You took great pleasure in kissing Whyle to vex me earlier today… and Staede…” he broke off with a sigh, “has perfected seduction as an art form. You are vulnerable.”

  “I would never…” she began, but he interrupted her.

  “You don’t know my brother. I’ve never known him to lose; he always gets the female he targets.”

  He continued his pacing until eventually he sank to the bed beside her. “God, this is a mess.” His tone and stance made her heart sink.

  “You really have no way out of this,” she said softly. “Will he honestly… execute me?”

  He ran his hand over her hair. “I never give up, Amber; I just need to formulate a plan that has a chance of getting you out of this alive.” He still looked unnerved. “My brothers would usually fight for me, but Shihlo is probably divided and Staede wouldn’t really care how this day pans out. Still… I hope they are at least trying.”

  He stared at her for a long moment and then stood up. This time he examined the parapets and the doors, looking for a means of escape.

  “You killed my soul; why be sad over the body that will soon follow?” she asked.

  “I haven’t had your body yet,” he reminded her.

  Amber feared that he would take her there and then and hand her over to the king, but he continued to eye the walls with thoughtful conviction.

  “Tell the Monarch that you will keep me as your mistress, or let me go.”

  “It’s too late.” He shrugged and then pushed a cupboard away from the wall and grunted with dissatisfaction when he found nothing.

  Amber waited for a few minutes, digesting his words before she asked, “Why didn’t you fight when we were dragged in here?”

  She had seen him take out a lot more ominous-looking creatures and in larger numbers in the Chronicles.

  “Because my clever father knows my abilities, and he had them armed with stun lasers. I didn’t want to wake up tomorrow to find your headless body in my bed.”

  Amber’s eyes widened.

  She wasn’t ready to die.

  She wanted to live, fight, and see the dawn of freedom. She took a deep breath.

  “Wrexel.”

  “Yes.”

  “I need to tell you something.”

  “Go ahead.” He tugged the carpet away. “There has to be a trap door somewhere. Why isn’t Staede falling out of the ceiling? That bastard trawls the caverns of this castle for fun.”

  “Wrexel!”

  “Yes?” He looked up at her.

  “As you know, I am much younger than Travis.”

  “I don’t want to talk about Travis, if you don’t mind.” He dropped the carpet.

  “But this is important,” she urged. “Travis was always concerned about our age difference; he was adamant that I should know that he loved me as an individual and not just as a young body.”

  Wrexel snorted. “How noble. Can we reminisce about your former lover if we make it through the night?”

  “Wrexel, please listen to me.” Her voice broke and he stood up and slid onto the bed next to her.

  “So Travis insisted we wait,” she said.

  Wrexel frowned.

  “He loved me enough to value the idea of a traditional wedding. I’m still innocent.” She flushed painfully.

  He looked as if somebody had dropped a bucket of cold water on his head.

  “You’re…” he broke off and then his eyes widened. “You’re a virgin?” He stumbled over the words.

  She nodded.

  * * *

  Wrexel stared at her as if he had never seen her before. Amber squirmed beneath his astonished gaze.

  “Ah, God,” he groaned with regret after a short while and his voice was gruff when he added, “If I had known… the six favors, I wouldn’t have been so...”

  Then he frowned at her. “I don’t understand… how or why… how long were you with him?”

  “Does it matter?”

  Did it matter that Travis often kissed and touched her, brought her to a point where she was ready and then failed?

  Did it matter that he told her she needed to slow down, that she was being brazen when she tried to arouse him again?

  Did it matter that the failed attempts had dwindled until she was left with nothing but kisses and a few brief touches, with him telling her it would all change once they married?

  It’s for the best, we will have a traditional wedding, you will wear white with pride.

  Amber coveted those who experienced passion because she thought she would never have it. Endless nights of lying alone, imagining what it would be like to be wanted by a man who could follow through.

  Wrexel watched the myriad emotions crossing her face and then shook his head. “No, it doesn’t.”

  He looked down at his wrist monitor. “We don’t have much time,” he said with regret. “I didn’t want it to be this way.”

  “How did you want it, then… with my consent… I wanted this to be with a man l love.” Her voice wavered.

  “Having it with a man you want is better.” He held her gaze until she turned her face from his.

  The truth of his admission hurt her. Her secret fantasies mocked her. Somewhere deep inside, she knew it would come down to this moment. At least in this instance she could pretend she had to be with him. It saved her from the confession that she wanted him.

  She wanted him from the first moment she set eyes on him. Her plan to deny Wrexel out of spite would always be at the cost of her own desire.

  He threaded his fingers with hers. “This is not how I wanted our first joining to be. I would have won your innocence, Amber, if I was given more time.”

  She refused to acknowledge the truth of his words. “I don’t want to die,” she said instead and then w
hen his eyes glittered with violet and the raw passion between them simmered, she clasped the hand that held hers. “I’m afraid.”

  Wanting him didn’t change the fact that he was a seven-foot-tall alien of rippling strength.

  “Don’t be. I’m going to do everything I can to not hurt you, Amber.”

  She didn’t think it was possible but the hands that softly clasped her cheeks and the mouth that settled on hers were as gentle as he promised.

  * * *

  Their time was limited but he appeared unhurried, his mouth moving in unison with her own as she allowed herself to surrender to his kiss.

  With no guilty reservation to hold her back, she moaned against his lips when he pressed her against his body, finally able to enjoy the sensations he evoked without a fight.

  He lay her down, keeping his gaze locked on hers as he slowly opened the buttons of her jacket, sighing with pleasure when it fell open, revealing the lace of her underwear.

  The familiar ache returned as he continued to move gently, running his cheek over the silk that covered her breasts, worshipping her. When he lifted the chemise over her head, she heard him bite back a groan. The look on his face was tortured and the hand he lowered to touch her unsteady. He stroked his palm across her breasts and watched her response. When she could no longer take the frustratingly gentle caress, she arched her back, filling his hands with her curves. His eyes flickered with triumph but Amber didn’t care.

  She had longed to be touched in this way for too long. When he hovered above her, moving his lips beneath her ear, his torso grazing hers, she wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him as her desire mounted. He left her neck, tracing down her chest until she felt his warm breath against her nipple, where he lingered until she cried out at his teasing. “Wrexel, please.”

  His mouth finally taunted her breasts, his tongue teasing her into a frenzy. She heard herself choking back moans as her fingernails sank into his shoulders. Each tug of his mouth sent waves of pleasure down her body and she yearned for more.

  When she began to respond as he wanted, he stood up to remove his own jacket. Her eyes flickered over his bare chest, to the bar in his nipple, the swirling color of his unusual tattoos and down to the dark trousers she had never seen him without. He was the epitome of raw male sensuality; he fulfilled every one of her wildest hidden fantasies. The way he stared at her made her feel like the most exciting and desirable woman in the world.

  He eased her thong off her hips and tossed it aside, whispering against her mouth that he would not hurt her. He trailed his hands over the slope of her waist and hips as he kissed her, and she reveled in the feel of his heated body against her own. She couldn’t get close enough, couldn’t help the cries of pleasure that escaped her lips when he finally ran his fingers over the slick folds of her womanhood. He lowered his face to hers and took in a sharp breath when the scent of her desire and the soft, wet strokes began to overwhelm him. He captured her mouth with a moan and teased her tongue with his own while his fingers tormented her body.

  Amber was still unused to the way Wrexel abandoned his usual hidden, guarded, dominating self when they were intimate. His confessional moments and honest admissions of the effect she had on him were heady. He set a pace that was perfect for her and it wasn’t long before she moaned and rocked her hips, allowing his finger to enter her. Her body clenched and the response made him shudder against her, swearing under his breath for control. His invasion seemed to ease the pain of the cruel tightening within her, but desire flared up differently and new needs took hold. Amber cried out with pleasure when he moved and slid deeper, gently preparing her for what would come. She knew she would never forget the look on his face as he touched her. He watched her response and obeyed the commands of her body. She began to ache for more, restless for the sensation his fingers hinted at within her melting body.

  Wrexel stood up and stepped out of the remainder of his clothing. Amber bit her lip nervously. No matter what he claimed, this would not be pleasant. He was twice… three times the size of any male she had seen before, and desperately aroused. She tensed as he covered her body with his own, but he kissed her again, reassuring her with whispers against her neck that incited her. His fingers returned to their teasing, while his mouth tortured her breasts until she became mindless with need, shuddering against him when she teetered on the brink of climaxing. He slowed his teasing, torturous fingers and replaced it with his body when she was ready to sob with frustration. Amber sucked in her breath as he slowly breached her, but Wrexel did not rush her; he gently tested her ability to accommodate him, lingering until she moved her hips.

  He was strong enough to hold his full weight from her, teasing her with his free hand and slowly moving into her and withdrawing when she winced. The fire he ignited in her began to take over. Desperate for release, she arched her back and dug wanton fingernails into his shoulders. Nothing mattered but the promise of what their union offered. Wrexel obeyed and sheathed himself deeply inside of her. Amber cried out in pain but did not fight to get away from him as he stilled, urging her to relax, before gently showing her what pleasure he could give her.

  Amber learnt quickly. Wrexel was impossibly slow and gentle. She shocked herself and him when she wrapped her slender legs around his waist and rose up to meet him. She contracted around his length, causing him to choke out her name against her lips. She realized that she drained him of every ounce of control when beads of perspiration dotted his brow.

  * * *

  Wrexel was going out of his mind.

  He was determined to wring every bit of pleasure out of her that he could. Determined for her to remember the moment without pain and as an experience of giving as much as taking, but somewhere during the sensation of her clenching him within her and sinking her fingernails into his back as she moaned against his neck, he began to drown.

  His nails unsheathed and shredded the mattress beneath the hand that supported him. He felt her breasts brushing against his chest as she writhed and he stiffened, struggling to hold back his own release. When she screamed, climaxing around his shaft with clenching spasms, he thought his entire body would explode.

  Somewhere in the hazy fog of her release, a faint sting of magic washed over him. He opened his eyes and saw tiny flickers of green skirting down his arms as he cradled her beneath him. He stilled his body, knowing that he was being enthralled by a power other than his desire. But Amber didn’t stop; she continued to move her hips, greedy for more. He felt a measure of panic as the desire to claim every part of her ravaged his mind. The crackling sensation of sorcery increased and engulfed all of his senses. He had never been driven to cry out before, but the pleasure she gave him was violent in intensity. He tried to slow himself, tried to drag himself up from the free fall into insanity and had almost made it when she climaxed beneath him again. Her body tightened around him, squeezing him, demanding his release and his last measure of control faded as he met her rising hips and thrust into her, wildly taking the satisfaction he denied himself.

  He eventually collapsed, totally sated and bewildered, feeling drunk with euphoria. The game plan had been lost along the way and he was certain he had hurt her.

  He lifted his head and peered down at her face, wet with perspiration and tears. He cursed, disappointed in his inability to remain gentle. He withdrew from her body and cursed again at the blood upon the sheets, seeing that his father would have more proof than he needed.

  “God, Amber.” His voice was ravaged with regret and he struggled for words, but he saw then that she did not look up at him in fear or anger. She had been crying with pleasure and not with pain. Somehow, the madness that had possessed him had taken control of her, too.

  He ran an unsteady hand over her body and dropped his lips to her forehead, pulling her against him. He found her unresisting.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  He was sorry he hurt her; sorry he lost control in the end, but most of all he was
sorry because he knew at that moment that he was never going to let her go.

  22

  Sealed Deals

  Staede and Shihlo paced in the Room of Decisions, planning how to save their brother, who would not go down easily. They decided he was definitely obsessed with Amber and so having her taken from him in such a violent and final way would not be something he would accept without a fight.

  A fight they would have to join.

  They were in mid-discussion when they heard the king’s roar of anger. They abandoned their feverish plan when he stormed into the hall. They reached for their swords instead.

  Both Sanbara roared in unison with the enraged king. “Bring me the no-longer-chaste woman and her new mate.” His shout echoed off the walls.

  Staede’s eyebrows flew up and Shihlo’s mouth opened in shock. They exchanged glances and then smothered their laughter.

  A woman betrothed yet untouched.

  A woman years into her rightful claim to mate in Thromian law and still untouched.

  A woman their brother was clearly and outrageously obsessed with and who had been living with him for almost a month was still… untouched.

  It was unheard of.

  If he was insanely possessive of her before, he would be even more so now.

  Shihlo and Staede moved forward and watched as Amber, slightly flushed and clinging to Wrexel, stumbled into the room beside the hustle of guards.

  Both brothers gasped to see they were naked from the bellows; the king received the notification of her innocence and tore them from their bed in anger. In his desire to prove himself justified in her death, he made sure the entire Room of Decision council was involved in the announcement of her upcoming failure, including those outside of his party.

  Having the announcement broadcast in opposition to his plan had enraged him to the point of madness. Wrexel hugged Amber to his body to prevent others from seeing her naked but Shihlo came to her within seconds. Ripping his cloak from his shoulders, he covered her and turned a blazing look upon the Monarch.