by R. R. Banks
He rubbed his thumb gently along her jaw before letting go. “I’m Ciyrs, and I apologize about that. I’m usually not so—violent.”
She laughed. “Isn’t that kind of a Denynso trait?”
“I have more control.” He let go of her chin and scrubbed his hand down his face and sighed. “Normally.”
“I see, so what’s changed?”
“We need to take you to see the leaders. They are watching right now—with amusement I might add.” He changed the subject. It wasn’t the right time to tell her. She had just gotten here, and he wanted to give her a moment to get used to the changes.
She glanced around him and her eyes widened. “Are you all giants?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m not going to fit in well then.”
He scanned her body. She was tiny, thin, and short. Her breasts were perfect and so was she. “You’ll fit in fine.”
He led her to the house and climbed the stairs not bothering to hide his apparent erection. He was in too much pain to care.
“What happened to Pyra?” the king asked.
“I sent him home to Eden.”
“I see.”
“Sorry about my—display.”
Criea laughed and clapped him on the back. “We’ve been there, son. It’s fine. Let’s meet our newest family member shall we.”
She didn’t say anything as she stood staring at them. She followed him inside and he felt her gaze burning into his back. All he wanted to do was strip the clothes from her body and make love to her. This was out of control. He had control. Losing it was unacceptable.
He pulled out a chair and gestured to Eliana to sit and she smiled timidly at him. Without a word she sat in the chair. He could already sense her. He could hear her heart race as if it was his own. He refrained from touching her and sat in the other free chair. The king and queen stared at him and then his lovely queen smiled. “I see.”
That’s all she needed to say. Everyone knew, and now maybe he wouldn’t have to be so apologetic. It was fucking unreal how much he wanted to hurt someone.
“It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Conner.”
She cleared her throat. “Oh it’s Miss actually, I’m not married, but I would prefer no formalities. I’m Eliana.”
“Very well, you may call me Criea if you wish. This is my mate Thiea.”
“It’s nice to meet you both. It’s an honor to be here really. I can’t wait to learn about your culture.”
“You know there are some things that must be left out correct?”
“Yes, every article will come to you first before I send it back. I won’t print anything without your approval.”
“Very good. Now you’ve met my son and our residential healer.” He gestured toward Ciyrs. There are many more, but you must be careful, and I’d like to assign you a guard. We’ve had some—security issues.”
“I’ll do it.” Ciyrs said.
“You’re not a warrior.”
He clenched his teeth. “But I can protect her. I have something the others don’t.”
She didn’t say a word, but her eyes stayed on his.
“If that is satisfactory to Eliana, then fine, but she will be assigned a warrior as well.”
He growled and slammed his hands on the table. “I don’t need anyone to fucking guard her.”
The king smirked and he paled.
“Oh dammit, I’m so sorry. This is getting out of control.”
“On a normal basis I would have thrown your ass to the ground Ciyrs, but because I understand what you are going through that’s your one and only free pass. Do not let it happen again.”
He nodded and licked his lips. “Yes sir, I apologize.”
“Very well. Take Eliana to her cabin so she can get settled.” He turned to her and smiled. “If you leave the cabin, you have to be accompanied until we fix our issue. I apologize for not giving you a fair warning throughout emails, but I was afraid you’d change your mind about coming.”
She smiled. “I understand and I have no problem with being guarded by Ciyrs.”
He nearly groaned with how she spoke his name. He couldn’t wait to hear her scream it.
“Even though he isn’t trained like the warriors?”
She shrugged. “He seems very capable of protecting me, and for some reason I trust him. So I’m good.”
The king leaned back satisfied, and Ciyrs wanted to beat his chest. She trusted him already. He smiled and nodded at her. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know,” she replied.
In that moment time stood still and the air thickened with her scent. She smelled sweet and spicy all at once. He could also sense her need to be accepted. She was like him. She held back too. His mate was strong and controlled.
Chapter 4
My breath caught and time stood still. His eyes glowed orange again, and I found myself lost in the depths. There was something so powerful about the way he looked at me. I felt something in my heart. It was trying to tell me something. But I looked away. The thing I craved so badly would never happen. My whole life I knew a life alone would be inevitable. I was destined to live solo. That’s what my mom told me right before she left me.
I looked away and took a deep breath stopping the tears before they filled my eyes. I wasn’t weak, and I certainly wasn’t going to cry in front of them. I plastered a smile on my face.
“I’m actually really tired if you don’t mind.”
The king stood and laughed. “Of course, we really have no idea what the trip is like.”
“Long,” I said and kept my smile.
“Okay well, meet with me when you are feeling better, and you can give me a run down on what your plans are.”
“Sounds great, thank you.”
Ciyrs led me from the house with his giant hand on my lower back. His heat burned my skin. He kept quiet as he led me down a dirt path. We passed others and all of them stopped to stare, but then their eyes widened and they moved on. It didn’t take long for me to figure out what was going on.
He was protective of me for some reason. It almost seemed like he was possessive. That didn’t make sense though. I’d just met him.
“You’ll love it here,” he said and smiled. “There’s a lot you’ll be able to write about.”
I nodded and stepped closer to him to see what he’d do. He wrapped his free arm around my waist and his fingers dug into my hip. I didn’t have a lot of meat on my bones and I gasped.
He let go and sighed. “Sorry, I have to remember you’re small.”
“Is that bad?”
“No, you’re delicate and need to be handled with care. I like that—a lot.”
I lowered my eyes nervously, but I couldn’t ignore the bulge in his pants. He was big everywhere. I’d never been with a man ever. I couldn’t imagine being able to handle someone like Ciyrs, but oh I would love to try. He did funny things to me.
He gripped my hip again, but this time kept his fingers loose. We didn’t talk. The silence was comfortable as he led me down a different path.
“The cabin up here is empty. It was Eden’s when she first came, but she didn’t stay long before she mated with Pyra.”
“It happens fast for your species then? Mating I mean?”
“I guess so, besides the king and queen, Pyra was the first to mate. It’s new for us really. We’re all envious of Pyra and hope that by combining our kinds, more of us will find our loves. It’s the most important thing in our lives, especially now that we know it’s possible to mate with humans. Though Eden isn’t anymore.”
“She isn’t what?”
He stopped. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
I grabbed his hand. “I won’t tell.”
“She died, got attacked and I tried to heal her, instead I had to bring her back to life. Apparently doing that turned her into one of us, and she and I are connected too, but only like brother and sister. She’s able to heal now as well.”
; I felt an anger I’d never felt before. I didn’t like hearing about him having a connection with another woman. Jealousy clouded my features, and I found my heart pounding and my hands clenched. “Oh.” I didn’t know why I was so pissed, but it was the first time in a long time I’d been angry. He felt me tense up and rubbed my hip.
“What’s wrong?”
I shook my head shutting the anger off. “Nothing. So you can turn humans then?”
“I don’t know. It’s the first time it ever happened, and we don’t know if it was a fluke or something I’ll always be able to do.”
“You’re pretty powerful then.”
“I don’t see it that way. I saved her because my friend was desperate. I always feel like I’m less because I choose not to be a warrior. I don’t like violence believe it or not.” He said and chuckled.
“You’re not less.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
I shrugged. “You’ve got a good heart. I can tell.”
“Are you going to tell me what pissed you off now?”
I thought he’d let it go, but I was wrong. “No.”
“You were upset after I talked about Eden and my connection to her.”
My cheeks heated and I nibbled my lip. “I don’t know why. I didn’t like you talking about her.”
For a minute he didn’t talk. He sped up to the cabin dragging me behind him. He led me up the path and I gasped. It was big and beautiful. I climbed the stairs behind him, and when I went inside I nearly cried. The living area was bigger than my apartment back home, and it smelled clean. If I was honest this cabin was nicer than anything I had ever lived in. I felt ashamed. I didn’t come from wealth or whatever it was the Denynso came from. I was at the bottom of the chain. From the wrong side of the tracks so to speak. Each day was a struggle for me, and I wouldn’t admit the truth to anyone. No one knew my main reason for taking the assignment. I wouldn’t tell them.
“This is it. There are two rooms and a bathroom. The kitchen has been fully stocked, and when you need more food, it can be delivered to you.”
I stood in the middle of the room and the tears came. I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t know what was going on, but I felt overwhelmed and undeserving. I was basically here to use them, and even though they wanted me to write about them it felt wrong. Humans were selfish and feared the unknown. Would I actually be helping? I vowed I would do my best though.
“What’s wrong?”
I turned away and my shoulders shook.
“Are you crying?” he asked, and I heard torment in his voice.
He came behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I was small so his forearms covered my chest. He was warm and comforting. Around him I didn’t have to hide or pretend. I felt I could be me.
Chapter 5
She was crying, and he didn’t know what to do. The females never cried, or at least they never allowed the males to see it. He spun her to face him and became frustrated when she was able to avoid eye contact. He growled and lifted her in his arms and plopped down on the couch holding her on his lap.
She gasped and scrambled to get off of him, but he didn’t let go.
“What wrong beautiful?”
“It’s—” she shook her head and pressed her lips together.
He felt her resistance. “You can talk to me, always.”
“Right, like I haven’t heard that a million times in my life. I’m 28 years old, and I’m alone. No friends, no family. I’m on my own, always have been.” Her eyes widened as if she told him something she hadn’t planned to share.
“Well, you’re not anymore. Do you want to know why you have those strange feelings?”
She nodded, and Ciyrs sighed. He didn’t want to freak her out so soon, but he realized his mate had some baggage and some major trust issues.
“You’re my mate. It’s why I went crazy on Pyra for talking to you. It’s why I shockingly yelled at my leader when he thought about assigning a warrior to you instead of me. It’s why my eyes shift to orange, and it’s why you feel how hard my body is beneath yours.”
Her lips parted on a gasp and her emerald eyes rounded in surprise. She didn’t speak and he gripped her small hand in his. She blinked and the surprise was gone. “Your mate? You’ve just met me, you can’t possibly know that.”
“That’s how it works; you can ask Pyra and the king if you don’t believe me. Instant soul wrenching attraction. You feel it too. Though humans see it as lust correct?”
She nodded. “I’ve never—”
She blushed and he gripped her fingers. “Never what?”
“I’m a virgin,” she said quickly. “I know I’m a little too old, but I’ve never found anyone that deserved to take that away from me.”
Now it was Ciyrs’s turn to be surprised. Eden told him about human women. Sex was something that was used for many things for humans as well as for them. It was a past time; a time to enjoy and being intimate with another person brings closeness. Knowing his mate had never had a man inside of her had him nearly panting. She tried to cover her face in shame, but he pulled her hands back.
“That is nothing to be ashamed of. I—wow, I think I’m the luckiest man alive. I’ll be your first and your last.”
She glared through the last of her tears. “What makes you think that?”
“We’re mates.”
“How do I know that isn’t some line to get in my pants?”
He growled but then shook his head. She was trying to get to him. “You’ll see. You feel it, and soon you won’t be able to fight your feelings. You’ll see they are real and that I’m not just messing with you to use you. I would never—”
She shook her head and pressed her finger against his lips quieting him. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I’ve had enough broken promises in my life. I couldn’t stand to have another one, not from you.”
Eliana stood from his lap and paced. “I’d like to be alone now. I need to sleep.”
He thought about arguing, but the look on her face held him back. She pleaded to be left alone, and he knew it had been too soon. She had just arrived and he’d already upset her. He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’ll be outside.”
“You don’t need to right? Only if I needed to leave the cabin.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone.”
She sighed. “Fine, but I’m going to bed.”
Watching her walk away was hard, but letting her walk away upset was devastating. He needed to talk to Eden. She’d be able to help. He closed his eyes and thought of her. They’d formed their telepathic link. It was something Pyra was still pissed about, but it actually had come in handy so he shut up about it even if he hated it.
‘What’s wrong Ciyrs?’
‘She’s mad already. Can you talk?’
‘Pyra says we’re on our way.’
‘Thank you, baby doll.’
In a few minutes Pyra and Eden were standing in front of him. The lights were out inside and he looked at his feet. “I think I messed up already.”
Eden sat next to him and wrapped her arm around him. “Tell me what happened.”
“When we got inside she started to cry. I’m not used to it. You’re the first female I’ve ever seen cry and that sucked, but seeing her tears was devastating.”
Pyra sat on his other side sporting a bruised jaw. “Did she tell you why?”
“Not really. I told her we were mates, she told me she was a virgin, and then I told her how happy that made me—”
Eden laughed. “Are you stupid? She was probably embarrassed as hell. She’s older than me?”
“28.”
“Then there’s a reason she’s held so tightly to her v-card. What else?”
“She stopped me from telling her she was no longer alone. Apparently she doesn’t have family or anything. She cut me off telling me not to make promises I couldn’t keep. That she couldn’t handle it.”
Eden nodded and teared up. Her hormones kicked in. �
��Oh my. She’s had a bad life. She doesn’t trust, and she’s been disappointed too much. I totally get it. You’ll have to be gentle with her heart Ciyrs. She isn’t going to know how to take you or accept your loyalty to her. If it’s as bad as I’m thinking, she’ll be scared shitless of you now.”
“Why?” He panicked inside. She’d already been able to shut down and kicked him out. “I didn’t mean to upset her. I didn’t want to tell her about her being my mate just yet, but she freaked out when I talked about you and didn’t understand why, so I explained it to her. I don’t want there to be lies between us, and after what happened with you and Pyra at the beginning there can’t be miscommunication; not with the Klimnu getting through to our lands. I need her aware and with me, not pissed at me.”
Pyra stood and laid his hands on Ciyrs’s shoulders. “Calm down, just go in there and take charge. She’ll be nervous, but if you let her shut you out, she’ll think you don’t care. You saw what happened with me and Eden, don’t make the same mistakes I did.”
He nodded. Pyra had been miserable especially when she was in her coma and hadn’t been able to be there for her. He thought she was going to die mad at him. They’d been lucky though. “You’re right. Thanks, and sorry for dragging you out this late.”
Eden nodded pulling him into a hug. “Get your mate. Convince her you mean business.”
Then they sped away in the dark. It was pitch black out now, and in a few hours the sun would rise. He climbed the stairs and quietly walked inside shutting and locking the door. He walked down the hall and pushed her door open. She was lying on her bed looking at the ceiling and her eyes were open.
“Can I come in?”
She jumped, but nodded.
He slipped his boots off and went to the other side of her bed. Above the covers he lay next to her with his heart beating wildly in his chest. When she reached for his hand he sighed in relief just by her touch. She didn’t say anything and neither did he. Instead he listened as her breathing evened out letting him know she had fallen asleep.
Chapter 6
It wasn’t possible to feel like this so quickly, but I did. I turned to face the man who called me his and smiled. After my outburst, I felt like an idiot and wished I could take it back. He didn’t seem to mind, and when his eyes zeroed in on my lips I licked them inviting him to kiss me. I wasn’t only a virgin. I’d never been kissed either. A few times someone had tried and gotten my cheek, but I’d never been kissed. Not in the way that I read about in stories. Oh how I wished he would.