“Are old and impractical,” she finished for him. “You have no idea what a woman can do because you’ve never allowed them to do anything.”
Nameer’s mouth opened, but no words came out. He was staring at her in surprise. “They are allowed to raise the children and care for their households,” he said finally.
She shook her head. “No, that’s what they’re forced to do. There’s a difference.”
“You dare to speak to me this way?” Nameer didn’t sound angry. He didn’t even sound stunned anymore.
She met him when he took a step forward. “Someone has to. Maybe you should ask your women how they feel about the things they’re asked to do. They are your subjects as well and they deserve the same protection that the men have, don’t they?”
“I do protect them.”
“Do you protect Darabin’s wife when he hits her?” Kyla had seen the woman once before. A bruise had darkened one cheek and she’d walked stiffly, holding her side. “Is this how the guard captain shows his strength? Is that what you reward?”
“It is his right to discipline his wife--”
“It is her right to discipline her husband?”
“What?”
“He belongs to her as much as she belongs to him, doesn’t he?”
Nameer grabbed her by the upper arms and yanked her close. She shoved him back without thinking.
“You are the most stubborn--” he began, but his words were drowned out by a sudden sound. Almost like a horn, or an alarm.
They both looked over their shoulders to see guards running up the path. “My lord!” Darabin shouted. “Seeba has attacked! Their army is crossing the southern border.”
“Gather the army,” Nameer said, his voice steady and calm again. “Hurry, there are homes near that border. Send a regiment to evacuate them. Now!”
Darabin ran back immediately and Nameer turned to her. “You will stay here.”
“What? But I’m a--”
“Woman,” he said flatly. “If you’re smart, you’ll use this as an excuse to go back to wherever the hell you came from.”
Before she could speak, he dragged her forward. His mouth crashed down on hers and fire kindled in her nerves. Kyla dug her fingers into his hair and prolonged the kiss. Nameer groaned before pushing her away.
“Go. If they found out, even I couldn’t save you.”
She watched him go back to the castle. Then she headed for the southern border. The king had said it himself. This was her chance to get back to where she came from.
******
By the time she got to the border, the fight was raging. Kyla tightened her grip on her sword, ready to jump into the fray. Then she saw something that made her press her back to the house she was hiding beside and stare.
A tiger leapt onto the battlefield, claws extended, and jerked one of the Seeban soldiers to the ground. He didn’t even have time to scream. Then the tiger stood and stretched. Its shape changed and her mouth dropped open when she recognized Khaza. He dove back into the fight before she could call out to him and Kyla looked around. There were plenty of other tigers out there as well. So that was what Afani had meant about the “other cats.”
None of them seemed to be Seeban. The cannon that was being rolled over the border was though. As they had with the gun, the soldiers of Khaytab weren’t paying nearly enough attention to the deadly weapon. So was that was what the struggle was? Maybe Seebans couldn’t shift, but Khaytab didn’t have the technology to leave their world anymore. It was as good a hypothesis as any. And she was caught squarely in the middle of it all.
Staying where she was started to look really good, but she forced her back away from the wall. She had to find Tulimad before Khaza ripped him apart. Or before the cannon took them all out.
“I told you to stay at the palace!”
Kyla’s mouth dropped open as Nameer’s voice roared through the chaos.
“What are you doing here? You’re the king!”
“Exactly! How could I ask my men to fight if I didn’t?”
Now the scars made sense. He reached out, but she evaded his hand, running her sword through one of the Seebans reaching for him.
“I can handle myself,” she shouted as the Seeban’s blood oozed out around his body in a crimson pool. “And I have to find Tulimad!”
Nameer growled in frustration. “Why?”
“Because I’m trying to do what you said! He brought me here and he can send me back.” When Nameer still didn’t move she pointed at the cannon. “That thing can kill you all if you don’t stop them from setting it off.”
He looked at it skeptically. “How?”
She tried for an analogy he would understand. “It’s as powerful as lightning and as loud as thunder. They’ll have to light it to set it off and they won’t do that until they have a clear shot at a lot of your people. Do something!”
Nameer looked down at her, studying her face. “You aren’t lying.”
“I only lie when it’s important,” she snapped and he smiled.
“I hope to see you once we’ve won,” Nameer said.
“If it goes right, you won’t.” Her heart twisted in her chest at saying the words and she turned away before he could speak again.
She half expected him to chase after her, but when she glanced back over her shoulder, she saw him pressing toward the cannon. So he did care about his people. Even to the point of risking his life for them. Khaza was right. With the proper guidance, he could bring his people into the type of society that would benefit all of them.
She was beginning to despair when she saw him. “Tulimad!” she shouted.
He turned and recognition lit his face. Then his face wasn’t human anymore. It lengthened, fangs appeared in a roaring mouth and he was a tiger. So she’d been a little wrong about the Seebans. And she was about to pay for it.
He leapt and knocked her to the ground, winding her completely. Her sword fell from her hand and she closed her eyes. She opened them to find him staring down at her. She would have sworn that the tiger was smiling. The device dangled on a chain around his thick neck and she darted her hand up for it. He swatted it away, opening a long cut on her arm.
Kyla bit her lower lip, but he didn’t attack again. At least, not until she tried to move. Then his paw swiped across her side and it began to sting as blood poured onto the ground. He was playing with her. Anger speared her on.
“Coward!” she shouted up into the tiger’s face. “You killed that person and then you ran! You couldn’t even stay to face the consequences of your idiotic actions!”
His huge paw raised above her face. She spat into his. Darkness descended after a crescendo of pain.
******
Nameer laid Kyla down on the bed he’d given her in the room adjoining his. The Seebans had retreated after the cannon was destroyed. Most of their army lacked the ability to shift and they knew that they weren’t powerful enough to defeat Khaytab without the weaponry. He knew it was only a momentary respite though. If someone had figured out the secret to going between worlds, then they could have more weaponry at their fingertips.
He knew that he should be moving on that. He should be sending his scouts out even now. He should have done it before they’d left the field, but only one thing had consumed him since then. Her. He’d scoured the battlefield until he found her lying perfectly still near a grove of trees. His heart had nearly stopped and it hadn’t really beat again until he’d seen her chest rise and fall. She was bloody and unconscious, but she was breathing.
Now in her room with the door locked, he pulled off her shirt. It had stuck to her wounds, but he was relieved to see that they weren’t as deep as he’d thought. Tulimad had been toying with her. Nameer clenched his fists. He would send scouts to find the man as soon as...he realized that he didn’t know Bidani’s real name.
He brushed her hair back from her face and then wet a cloth with warm water and began to wash her. He couldn’t call in the doctor without revealing her
secret, so he was relieved that the wounds were closing already. Once she was clean, he bandaged the scratches.
She’d wrapped her breasts so that they wouldn’t be noticeable. He unwrapped her carefully.
Nameer brushed his fingers down her flat belly and then, unable to resist, he dipped his head and kissed her just above her belly button.
Her scent was intoxicating and he pressed several more kisses to her soft skin. He felt her stir under him and Nameer looked up.
“What is your real name?” he asked.
“What?”
“I know that you aren’t called Bidani. I would like to know what your name is.”
“Kyla,” she said, feeling oddly shy. Maybe it was the tender look in his eyes. “Most people call me Kye.”
He smiled and his dimple deepened. “Kyla,” he rumbled. “It does suit you.”
“How?”
“You are wild. Impetuous. Sexy. Dangerous.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Did you say sexy?”
“Of course.”
She realized that she was naked from the waist up and her hands moved to cover her breasts. His green eyes followed the movement.
“Don’t,” he said. “You have to know that you’re beautiful.”
Self-confidence wasn’t the problem. “Why did you undress me?”
“You were bleeding and I couldn’t let a doctor look at you. What else was I to do?”
It had the ring of truth. Kyla lowered her hands, baring her breasts to his avid gaze. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
He nodded. “Of course.”
“I have a question,” Kyla said, feeling devious. “Were you this attracted to me when you thought I was a man?” A slight flush of red, starting at the base of his throat, washed over Nameer. Kyla laughed. “So that’s a yes.”
“I always knew there was something different about you,” he said firmly. “It wasn’t the same as thinking that I was attracted to a man.”
“Right,” she said, drawing out the word to prove that she didn’t believe him.
He pulled her down so that she was underneath him and braced himself over her. “Now that I know who you are, I cannot stop thinking about you.”
That was good because she’d been replaying their kiss ever since she thought that she wouldn't get another one. She raised her head and pressed her lips to his. He seemed startled and she wondered how often women took the lead in the bedroom here. Probably not that often, considering. Well, he was going to get an education.
Kyla pushed against his chest and then stood up. “What are you waiting for?” she asked with a smirk. “Get undressed.”
She tugged at the drawstring of her own pants and let them fall to the floor. Then she watched him take off his own clothes. It was quite a sight to see. His broad chest had a long scar and was thick with muscle. She would have loved to trace the scar with her tongue, but she held herself back.
His pants were on the floor a few moments later and she looked her fill at him, even as he tried to draw her closer. His cock rose straight and stiff, the crown already slightly wet from arousal. She knew that he expected her to touch him, so she didn’t. As king, he got enough of what was expected. She wanted to be different.
“Touch me,” she said, her tone seductive but still firm enough to show him that she was in control of this encounter.
Nameer pulled her close, one arm around her waist, the other cupping the heat between her legs. She shook her head.
“Not there.”
Frustration crossed his features. “Then where?”
“Tease me,” Kyla whispered, refusing to answer his question. “Make me want you.”
“You already want me.” But he didn’t sound quite so smugly sure anymore.
“Make me want you,” she repeated, ducking her head and closing her teeth almost sharply on his nipple. His arm tightened around her.
“Gods, woman, what are you doing to me?” he growled.
“Nothing special,” Kyla said, moving to the other side and repeating the action. “Just keeping myself entertained.”
He tossed her onto the bed and she propped herself up on the mound of pillows, resting her hands behind her head and spreading her legs. He could see her bare pussy glistening with her own wetness. She was aroused, then.
Kyla moved one hand down her body and began to rub her aching clit. Nameer’s eyes widened.
“Women are forbidden...” his voice trailed off as she dipped two fingers into herself and moaned softly.
“Telling me I shouldn’t only makes it better,” she said, her voice husky with arousal now. “Can you imagine how many nights I’ve done this? In my own guard quarters? Dressed as a man that you were desperate to break laws for?”
Nameer’s cock jerked at the brazen sight and the unapologetic words. She’d buried those two fingers into her pussy and was thrusting as he was aching to thrust. She was toying with her nipples with the other hand, first one, then the other. Her rosy nipples were hard and her cheeks were flushed with pleasure.
Kyla spread some moisture up to her clit and began to rub it quickly, bringing herself to the edge of an orgasm. “I want your mouth on me,” she said.
“My....my mouth?”
“On my pussy,” she confirmed, looking into his eyes. “Your tongue here...” she rubbed her clit slowly, teasing herself. Teasing him too, if she was reading the look in his eyes correctly. “And your fingers deep in here.” She thrust her fingers back into her soaking slit. “Or is it forbidden?”
Yes. He didn’t care though. Nameer knelt at the edge of the bed and pulled her down. She smelled so good. Musky, warm, womanly. She’d said she wanted his tongue on the swollen bud at the top of her pussy. He shoved her hand away and ran his tongue up it. Her hips snapped up off of the bed and her head fell back as she moaned in pleasure.
“Ah, yes,” Kyla whispered. “Just stroke it with your tongue.”
He did as she asked, lapping at her until she gripped the back of his head and writhed, shoving her pussy into his face in desperation.
“Now your fingers,” she said. “I can’t come without something inside of me.”
“You want to come?” he asked in surprise. He’d always been told that women didn’t have those needs.
“I’m going to come,” Kyla corrected. “I want to be ready for your cock.”
He pushed a finger into her and she cried out. “Yes! More, I need more....” the last word was a moan as he slid a second finger into her. “Perfect.” She tilted her hips. “Keep licking my clit, I want you to taste it when I come for you.”
Heart pounding, cock jerking, Nameer lowered his head and ran his tongue over her clit. He moved his tongue faster, keeping rhythm with the two fingers he was fucking her with. She let go of his hair, her hands clutching the sheets instead.
“Just like that,” she moaned. “Oh, Nameer, just like that. Fuck me harder, harder...oh, yes!” She went still for a second and then she screamed to the rafters. Her pussy went tighter around his fingers and he was amazed to watch her come.
She dragged him up over her, her hand finally closing around his straining shaft. She thumbed the head and he caught his breath.
“Fuck me for real now,” she ordered. “I want this as deep as I can get it, and then you’ll feel me come again.”
He caught her ass, tilting her so that she could take him as deep as possible, and shoved into her. She was so wet that he could hear himself moving in her. She arched her back, shoving herself against his cock just as she had against his tongue and fingers.
“You’re so big,” she murmured appreciatively. “I can feel every inch of you.”
Nameer had never been with a woman who talked during the act. He wanted to hear more.
“Do you like what you feel?”
“9 inches of rock hard dick?” she looked at him boldly and worked her body on his. “Of course I do. Now, use it. Fuck me hard. Make me forget my own name.”
He d
rew back and slammed his body down into hers. Her breath caught with a jerk. Then she bit her lower lip and she said. “More.”
She didn’t call him my lord. He hadn’t realized how tired he was of hearing it. Nameer pulled each of her legs over his arms, tilting her up at the perfect angle and fucked her with all of his strength. No woman had ever asked for him to fuck her. No, she ordered him, the king, to fuck her. Just that thought aroused him to no end as he slid his cock deep under her sheath bumping underneath her womb. As he slowed the pace to a steady rhythm and pulled out further, allowing his head to massage every part of her tunnel, lengthening the stroke. Then he slid back in quickly, expertly gliding to meet her core, sending pleasurable ripples through her pussy and womb, pulling down her creamy desire all over his cock. Her face held a look of blissful surprise and she gripped her nails into his arms, as he increased his pace to speed up her orgasm and he felt her womb kiss the tip of his cock as he held deep.
She began to cry out again, clenching him tightly as she began coming around him. He had never heard any woman cry out so loudly or clench his cock so tightly with her pussy as she did so. He was addicted to the feeling from the moment he felt the first squeeze of her orgasm.
He was determined to make her do it again. And again, and again.
When Kyla’s throat was raw from screaming, when their bodies were so slick with sweat that the sheets were sticking to them, when they were breathing each other in with long, deep kisses, Nameer allowed himself to come.
Kyla clung to him, feeling him fill her up as he held his cock in deep. He nuzzled against her neck as the aftershocks pulsed through him and she tightened her arms around him. She’d pushed him pretty far out of his comfort zone. But he’d gone. And he’d taken her with him.
She went willingly into his arms when he rolled over and allowed the moment to belong to just the two of them.
******
“Tulimad?” Darabin asked two days later. “The Shadow?”
“Yes,” Nameer answered. “He’s the one behind the new weaponry that we’ve been facing. He’s going to Earth and bringing it back with him.”
Realm Shifters Page 3