With his tongue on her pertinent parts, doing unholy, pleasurable things to her, he slid his hand dexterously up her back and unhooked her bra.
She registered him pulling it down her arms, but mostly she was moaning. And rocking into his mouth.
“Your pants are still on,” she said shakily—surprisingly lucidly, considering the havoc he was wreaking on her body. “I think they should be removed. But not for pleasure. For comfort… Don’t you think you’ll be more comfortable?”
She glanced down, and sweet Jesus, his mouth was still on her as he balanced on one hip and unsnapped his pants. And he wasn’t wearing underwear.
Her eyes went wide.
There was large, and then there was Keen. “Maybe we should rethink this?”
He pulled off her heels and tossed them, his wet mouth sliding up her belly as he kicked off his boots and his pants. “You do not wish to be with me?”
His mouth encircled her nipple and he flicked it with his tongue, licking and sucking lightly.
She rubbed his shoulders, running her hands down his muscular arms. “I’ve never wanted anything more,” she said before she could think.
That was the problem. She couldn’t think when he was touching her. Or near her.
He lifted his head and studied her face. And then he slid up her body, the huge length of him resting between her thighs. But as distracting as that was, when he touched her temples with the tips of his fingers and looked into her eyes with what appeared to be something dangerously close to love, she could think of nothing but how deep her emotion went for this man.
He kissed her with lips and tongue, tasting and mimicking the rocking of their bodies pressed together. And then that part of him she thought would never fit was easing inside in slow measures, entering her and seducing as much as his mouth.
Reese felt stretched, and at the same time her body shook with arousal. In this moment, she was his and he was hers, and nothing else mattered. Not his species, or whether or not they were right for each other. Because in this moment no one in the world was righter for Reese than Keen, kissing her with such intensity and tenderness that he stole her breath.
His nose ran along her hairline, his soft lips pressing against her temple.
She kissed his jaw and felt his heart quicken. He was fully seated inside her now—by what she could only presume was some kind of Fae magic. Or her body being extremely turned on.
He shifted, entering at a slightly different angle, and she moaned.
“I swear I’m not feeling pleasure,” she said, rocking her head back, because whatever he was doing was revving up something wild inside of her. “No need…to worry…about defying Fae rules for coupling.”
She bit her lip. Something was building, and she wasn’t sure she could keep it in much longer.
His breathing was ragged. “It is not only pleasure between us…it is more.”
He kissed her deeply, and she lost her hold on that elusive building, exploding, sinking, then soaring above this room and the world. There was a good chance she cried out. She couldn’t be sure, because a moment later her lover was moaning in her ear, setting off another rush of heat through her.
Keen’s movements slowed and he dropped his head above her shoulder, seemingly catching his breath. He lay above her, most of his weight on one arm, but that still left a lot of hot naked guy covering her. She smiled and closed her eyes. She might even have drifted off.
What felt like minutes later, Keen moved again. But this time he was pulling away.
Reese’s eyes popped open. “Where are you going?”
Please don’t leave me.
She told herself to simmer down. Some men could be depended on. Keen had proven how much he cared by being there for her, even when she didn’t know she needed him. This wasn’t the same as her first time. Keen wouldn’t abandon her. He’d said men mated with one woman…or wait, women only mated with one man?
Shit.
She would not beg him to stay.
No matter how many times her father hadn’t shown for graduations and birthday parties. Not even after that high school jerk started the rumors. She never begged—never let them see how much they’d let her down.
Reese pulled the covers over herself as Keen stood and slid on his pants. He didn’t look at her until he was fully clothed. When he did, she saw regret in his eyes.
A stab of pain lanced through her chest. She read it all in that look.
He was leaving. Nothing had changed.
She turned away and reached for her dress. “Don’t say anything. No excuses. I can’t…I can’t take it. Just leave.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she sensed him standing there as she put on her bra and pulled the dress over her head. She couldn’t help it. In a moment of weakness, she glanced over.
He was staring off, not looking at her, his arms stiff at his sides. She couldn’t tell what he was feeling. Could read any number of emotions from everyone else, but not Keen.
He stalked to the door and gripped the handle for a split second before he opened it and slammed it shut behind him.
Only then did Reese collapse and roll to her side. There were no tears. Not this time.
But inside, her heart was bleeding.
22
What had he done?
Keen had mated with the girl. With Reese. A Halven. And nothing and no one could have stopped him. He tightened his hand into a fist and pressed the heel of it against his temple.
He’d defied his ruler by helping Reese tonight. Not outright, but through subterfuge so that he wasn’t disobeying the queen. He’d fought off the invaders during the battle. Then he’d assured himself the queen was safe and left the palace. With her, the girl who filled his every thought.
Storming back inside the palace, Keen found his soldiers searching every nook and cranny for Elena and her supporters—exactly as Keen had commanded before he’d left. He hadn’t mentioned that he knew where the others hid. But he hadn’t been asked for that information.
Again, he’d defied his ruler by any means necessary to protect Reese. And he regretted none of it. He would do it all again. For her. Always for her.
When he’d left her room, the pressure in his chest to return to her had weighed so heavily that he feared he might stumble down the stairs like a human. But he had to leave—had to deflect Portia’s suspicions and follow through on his commitment to Illa and Hakon Radnor.
Keen made it to the queen’s quarters, where no fewer than two dozen guards protected her surroundings. More would be inside.
He let himself in, and saw the queen braced against a chair across the room. Beside her, her daughter’s body lay on a bed covered in dark purple velvet, hands crossed over her chest in the death pose.
Beatrice had been Keen’s age, and young by Fae standards. She was also Portia’s only child. Regardless of what Portia told the gathering tonight, Beatrice had been labeled a traitor weeks ago during the race for a cure to the first disease Marlon had created. Little did anyone know that her mother was the mastermind behind everything.
Keen suspected Portia had kept her daughter out of the public eye until she felt she had firm control over New Kingdom. That Beatrice had shown her face this evening spoke for Portia’s confidence in her newfound power.
Keen moved closer, standing just beside Portia, who didn’t take her eyes off her daughter. It was a shame Beatrice had lost her life for her mother’s ambitions. Theda might have driven the deathblow, but Portia had given her no other choice.
Theda had killed Beatrice to save her own daughter—a Halven.
And Keen could find no fault in it.
He’d changed.
He no longer saw Halven as inferior, though he wasn’t sure when the change had occurred. Probably around the time he’d discovered Reese in the dungeon close to death. He’d wanted to slaughter every one of his kind for the atrocity.
Portia’s head tilted up and she looked over, as though just now reali
zing he was there. “Where have you been?” Her speech slurred with emotion.
“Searching for the Halven.”
“And did you find and destroy them?”
She’d ordered them found, not destroyed, thankfully, or he didn’t know what he would have done. “They escaped via portal.” Not an untruth. “According to Derek’s thoughts, they are on their way to Old Kingdom.”
Reese would be safe in the other land. She wouldn’t be with him, but she would be safe.
For now, that was all that mattered.
Reese felt a nudge on her shoulder.
“Wake up. We need to hurry.” Elena’s voice was loud, and seemingly right next to Reese’s ear.
She sat up, still wearing her dress from the night before, and rubbed her eyes. Elena was crouched beside the bed. And then Reese remembered where she was—smelled the clean cedar scent of Keen on her clothes—and her stomach cramped.
She wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned forward, trying to forget what had happened, and that Keen had left her when she thought this time he would stay. “Is everything okay?”
Elena stood. “Amund came by and said soldiers were on their way. They’ll be here any minute. We have to leave.”
Reese slipped on her shoes, and they hurried into the bedroom where Derek and Camille stood. The guard and Theda’s body were gone.
“Where’s your…” How did you ask your best friend where her mother’s body was?
Elena looked down. “Samuel, my mother’s guard, is watching over her until we can bury her in the royal mausoleum.”
Reese squeezed her hand.
“I just found my mom, and…” Her voice broke off on a light sob.
“I’m sorry—so sorry,” Reese said, and hugged her.
After a second, Elena pulled back and squared her shoulders. “I can’t think about what I’ve lost. We have to get out of here, or we’ll lose much more.”
Reese had to ask. “Did you hear from Keen?”
“No.”
“But he can hear your thoughts, can’t he? Not mine, for the same reason I can’t sense his emotions, but he’d be able to hear yours.”
“After you told us about his agreement with Portia, my mom taught us how to block him.” Elena pressed her lips together, as though the mention of her mom was unbearable. “Instead, we’ve communicated what was safe.”
“We’re returning to Old Kingdom,” Derek said. “We’ll be secure in my castle until we come up with a new plan to get Elena’s kingdom back. I let down my mental shield for a split second to shout the message to Keen. Felt I owed him that much after what he did for us here. And because…” He glanced at Reese, then shifted his feet and looked down, inspecting one of his knives. “He would have wanted to know we were safe.”
Elena’s expression firmed. “We don’t need to come up with a plan. I don’t want my mother’s kingdom. Not if she’s not here.”
Reese sensed the crushing sadness that filled her friend.
“You don’t mean that,” Derek said gently. “It’s your birthright.”
“Is it?” Elena stared blankly. “I think if you ask anyone inside this kingdom, they’d disagree.”
Derek moved closer and wrapped his arm around Elena. “It’s the last thing you have of your Fae family. It belongs to you.”
She let out a tense breath and shut her eyes. “You might be right, but it isn’t worth risking more lives.”
He pulled her into his arms. “No one said anything about losing lives. We’ll come up with a plan and it will be a good one.”
“We must go.” Camille ran her hands along the wooden wall of the tavern bedroom. “Guards have entered the building, and their energy levels are spiked. They seek to fight.”
23
The Newlander soldiers were seconds behind Reese as she brought up the rear in the leap through the portal. Fortunately, along with being a bumpy ride, Camille’s portals were also short-lived, and closed before the soldiers got there.
Elena caught the look on Reese’s face as they entered the Old Kingdom castle and great hall. “Trust me. It was worse before Derek added new plumbing.”
Old Kingdom, Reese’s paternal birthplace, was…different. Hollow, all sharp angles, and dark. It looked like your typical stone castle from outside, with a moat at the entrance. They didn’t use electricity, and shutters kept out the cold instead of windows, which explained the chill in the air. The place made New Kingdom, with its bedroom murals of bloody battles and statues of angels having sex with humans, appear downright elegant and modern.
Derek walked off to speak with some of his soldiers, and Camille approached the center of the great hall…where a massive tree with a trunk as thick as a semitruck grew through the middle. She stepped over the rope barrier and placed her hand on the trunk, resting her forehead against the tree.
“Umm?” Reese looked nervously at Elena. “She okay?”
“That’s the tree.”
Reese nodded. “A tree, yes. A big one, too. Hey…did the leaves just do something? Elena.” She jabbed her friend in the arm with her elbow. “The leaves!”
“That’s what I’m talking about. You’re looking at the Ancient Allon. And yes, the leaves move. They hop from branch to branch.”
Reese cut her friend a look. “Right, because that’s not weird.”
“I realize a lot has gone on, so I get it if your head’s not all there, but keep up, will you? That’s the Ancient Allon. They say the angels planted the tree a million years ago. Drinking tea from the leaves was how I increased my powers. Granted, it made me a little sick, but it was worth it.”
“And that’s how you got your height?” The tree’s leaves were moving again. So bizarre. “And how Derek bulked up and got huge?”
“All of it. Allon trees grow everywhere in Tirnan, but the Ancient Allon has magical properties more powerful than any other magic in the realm, from what I understand.”
“Another good reason to return to Old Kingdom,” Camille said, and Reese jumped. She was jumpy. Sad. Scattered, like Elena suggested. But Camille could also be stealthy when she wanted to. Reese hadn’t seen or heard her approach.
“Not only Halven abilities,” Camille said, “but Fae abilities may also increase after drinking tea from the leaves of the Ancient Allon. I’ve never heard of Halven gaining as much power as you and Derek did, Elena, but then, they’ve never tested the effects on Halven with noble blood.”
Elena’s brows pinched. “Since when have they allowed Halven in Tirnan? I was told a Halven in this realm was as good as dead.”
“I’m afraid, before you and Derek, the survival of Halven in our land was, indeed, low. And not simply because they couldn’t withstand the nectar of the Ancient Allon.”
“Because Halven were scorned and murdered?” Elena’s tone was bitter.
Reese sensed Camille’s sadness and shame at the words. “Elena, Camille is our friend. Without her, we wouldn’t be here.”
Elena closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Camille. I’m—not myself.”
“Understandable,” Camille said. “Theda and I suspected there could be Halven in our land after Marlon’s alliance with Portia, but as far as I can tell—and I’ve cast my ability wide to read power levels in both kingdoms—the only true Halven in Tirnan are you, Derek, Reese, and Marlon when he was alive. After drinking the Ancient Allon tea, your and Derek’s energy levels became closer to Fae. That leaves—” Her gaze landed on Reese.
“Me,” Reese said.
Elena frowned. “I thought Marlon made some deal with Portia to allow Halven in the realm. Wasn’t that why he agreed to work with her?”
“That is what we believed, but…it seems Portia did not hold up her end of the bargain.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Reese said, her anger rising to match Elena’s. “The queen used Marlon to murder Fae—including Elena’s royal family—in order to gain the crown, and planned to kill my half-brother all along?”
“Very likely. Who can say for certain?” Camille peered across the great hall. “And it seems she wishes to control Old Kingdom as well. That is what powermongers do, is it not? Seize control by any means? Portia is no fool. She cannot manage both kingdoms without true supporters. She is holding on to New Kingdom through forced fealty and a few misguided brethren. As for Old Kingdom, she plans to use Keen Albrecht to gain power. I’m told he swore fealty to her in order to keep Reese safe—”
“He what?” Reese stared at Camille. “You’re wrong. He swore fealty to save his own skin.”
“Yes…and yours. He is one of the best warriors in the land. He could have escaped. But not along with you. He did what he needed to keep you both safe.”
Reese’s breathing grew constricted and slow. He’d made that sacrifice for the same reason he had so many others. Because he cared about her. More than he let on. Every political move he’d made had tied him to Portia—and had given Reese and the others freedom. “We all must make sacrifices,” he’d once said.
“Keen is an Emain Fae with powerful Oldlander blood,” Camille continued. “He is an ideal candidate to win Oldlander support.”
“But he’d be working for Portia, potentially betraying the people here for Portia’s gain,” Elena pointed out.
“Yes. And if the Oldlanders discovered his perfidy, it would not go over well.”
Reese had pushed the memory of last night to the back of her mind—had pushed her feelings for Keen away. At least for the past hour. But now her stomach dipped and her mouth tasted sour.
She’d lost him, resigned herself to it, but hope had bloomed when he’d come to her last night. Except that wasn’t real, or at least it wasn’t lasting, because he had to marry whether he wanted to or not. And if his sacrifices got him killed?
Not okay. She couldn’t live with that.
Damn him. They weren’t meant to be together, but that didn’t mean she didn’t love him.
No matter how hard she tried to place Keen next to the men in her life who’d let her down, he was different. He’d been there for her in ways no one else had. And now he was putting his life at risk for everyone.
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