by Raven Dark
Damien looked at me, then at Tahmi. “Setora is right here, Commander. But she won’t be going anywhere with you.”
Again, he didn’t look afraid; his expression was casual, but I could feel the tension in his grip on my hand.
Tahmi’s silver eyes narrowed dangerously. They fixated on me, dropped to Damien’s hand on mine, visibly took in the throne I was sitting on, and then lifted to Damien’s. “It’s unwise to cross the Cama Don.” His voice was hard with warning. “He alone has the right to give her a throne. You’ve seen the wonders he can perform. You made a deal with him. You will honor that deal or pay the price.”
“His abilities don’t scare me. I’m afraid you’ve wasted your time coming here.”
But Damien’s grip had tightened until I struggled to keep from whimpering.
Tahmi stalked toward him until he was right in front of the dais’s bottom step. “You know the deal, Captain Vale. Julian has given you the prosperity and power he promised. You are playing a game you cannot win. Your only requirement is to hand over all Violets who bare the Mark.”
“If it’s Violets he wants, I have one here he is welcome to take.” Damien snapped his fingers at one of the J’nai who stood at the doors.
The guard opened the doors and Herma entered. There was a Violet at her side with hair a darker purple than mine and gorgeous cat-like eyes that were such a dark purple they almost looked black.
The buzzing pulsed in the back of my thoughts, muted and low, indicating mild mental abilities, not even as strong as any in Lord Bain’s harem. Herma left, and one of the J’nai brought the Violet to the front of the room, presenting her to Tahmi.
As soon as the woman saw Tahmi, her eyes widened. She tensed in her escort’s grip, trying to back away, but the J’nai ignored her and held her in place.
“This is Anali. She doesn’t have a stari, but she will give any man who has her, even your master, endless pleasure, I’m sure.”
“Captain.” Tahmi said the word slowly. “Do not think you can placate Julian with this…consolation prize.” He sneered at Anali. “The Cama Don is capable of bringing his Queen to him any time he wishes whether or not you go along with it. You’ve seen what’s been happening with the Violets all over the world. He’d rather your cooperation, but he does not need it, and if you will not offer it, he is equally capable of ensuring you do not defy him twice.”
Damien released my hand and set both of his on his knees. “Well, the esteemed Cama Don is welcome to try, on both counts. But I suspect he’s been having trouble getting some of the True Violets to come to him lately, just as he has with this one.” He nodded to me. “Let him come to me. See if he will leave the safety of that oversized ice house he calls a castle.”
At the mention of Julian’s house, his tone was still mostly respectful, but there was a hint of a cutting edge to it.
Tahmi didn’t miss it, however, because his eyes flashed like steel set to a flame. He stalked up the steps and glared down at Damien. “You would challenge the Cama Don?”
Damien was on his feet in an instant. His movements were as tense as his voice. “Take it anyway you wish, Commander Tahmi. I have hundreds of J’nai waiting to meet him. You are not leaving with this one. She belongs to me.” He paused, stepping an inch closer to Tahmi. “You may take Anali with you if you wish. But you have five seconds to leave this Throne Room without Setora, or all of you will leave without your heads.”
Some of the guards behind Tahmi stepped toward the dais, hands going to their swords, but Tahmi put up his hand. His guards halted.
Tahmi took one step around Damien and reached for my elbow. Before I could even move, Damien stepped between us and shoved him backward. While Tahmi barely kept his balance and drew one of his swords, Damien yanked me to my feet and shoved me behind him.
Half the J’nai in the room suddenly surrounded Tahmi, swords drawn. I hadn’t noticed more of the J’nai entering the room until there were suddenly twelve of them with swords drawn on Tahmi’s men.
“It looks as if you have a problem, Commander Tahmi,” Damien said, and I could hear his smile.
Tahmi glanced down at the sword one of the J’nai had slipped under his chin. He didn’t dare look behind him, but I knew he was aware his men were just as compromised.
Julian’s commander let out a soft, animalistic breath of anger. “We had the impression you were a smarter man than this, Captain Vale. If we have to return, it won’t be with six guards, and if the Cama Don has to come here himself, you won’t live to see him coming. He will send her running to him, and then he will level this place with a twitch of his finger and bury you all alive.”
Damien didn’t back down, but I didn’t miss the way his hands twitched, or the way his back stiffened. Could Julian do such a thing? It sounded like the kind of things those stories of Dice’s told of Julian, but I had no way of knowing if it was only a tall tale.
“It’s your choice, Commander Tahmi,” Damien said too casually. “You and your guards will leave alive now, or you’ll leave dead.”
Tahmi’s teeth grinded together. Then his body relaxed in a gesture of surrender.
The J’nai backed away from him and his men, sheathing their blades.
Tahmi whirled from the dais and down the steps. He nodded to one of his men, then to Anali. The woman stepped back, but the guard grabbed her hands, took a set of manacles off his belt and cuffed her. Anali struggled until two of Tahmi’s men gripped her arms, holding her in place.
Tahmi rounded on Damien. “You have until midnight tomorrow to comply before we return with a larger company. May the Great Mother see it that you make the right choice.”
Tahmi and his guardsmen marched out with Anali, those lances making rhythmic, angry thumps on the floor with every step. The J’nai shut the doors to the room after them with a heavy thud.
Damien spun around to me for a moment before he turned to two of the guards who still stood near the dais. I swore I’d seen sweat on his brow.
He nodded to me. “Get her out of here.” He didn’t look at me, and his voice sounded strange, angry and winded.
Two of Damien’s guards marched me from the room. My thoughts raced so fast I was hardly aware of the walk to my rooms before one of them shoved me inside and slammed the doors.
With my whole body shaking, I collapsed on my bed before my knees could send me to the floor. The revelations that hit me then struck with the force of battering rams.
Julian was real. There was no virus, Julian was real, and Damien would either give me to him to save his own hide, or he’d find some way to hide me—some way that would no doubt ensure I never saw my Four or anyone I cared about ever again.
I closed my eyes, trying to calm my thudding heart. The urge to find some way—any way—out of here clawed at me, but I couldn’t do that. My masters were here somewhere. I had to wait for them to carry out their plan, and hope to the Maker they got me out of here before I ran out of time.
If they didn’t, Damien and his J’nai would be the least of our problems.
* * *
That evening, I tried to focus on reading in the library, but it was useless. I’d read the same paragraph five times and still had no idea what it said.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Julian’s guards, about what Damien might want from me, and above all, about my Four, wondering where they were. How long it would be before they showed themselves.
Commander Tahmi had said Damien had until midnight tomorrow to hand me over before Tahmi came back with more men. What would Damien do? Would Julian really come here himself? And if he did, could he really level this place with his thoughts, with a gesture, the way Tahmi had said?
I tried to tell myself it didn’t matter, that my masters would come for me before any of that happened, but I couldn’t shut down my fear.
Fear that they’d be caught, if not by Damien then by Julian’s soldiers. That Julian would cart me off before they reached me.
I snapped
the book on my lap shut. Perhaps a walk in the garden would calm me.
“Sir?”
The guard seated at the door lifted his head with a scowl below his visor.
“I’d like a walk in the garden, please, sir.”
“Again?” he shook his head. “You’ve already had two walks today.”
I set the book aside and stood. “Damien has permitted me to go anywhere I want, as often as I want, but I can’t do that without an escort.” There was no point in being snappish with him when he’d only bring it back to the Captain.
He sighed. “Very well. Let’s go, Princess.”
He gave the word a much different tone than when Pretty Boy said it, as though I was a spoiled royal brat who pestered him.
He opened the doors to the room. The two men stationed there gave him an empathetic look.
“Her Royal Highness demands her walk,” he muttered.
My fists clenched, but I stayed silent.
“I don’t suppose one of you wants to take her,” he added.
Another guard making his way down the hall nodded and held out his hand to me. He said nothing, but the look he gave the one who’d been watching over me was unmistakable. He was volunteering to take me.
My escort shrugged. “Have at it then.”
The new guard gave another nod and waited for me to lead the way toward the garden while the other one stayed with the men at the doors, talking.
I was about to walk ahead of my new escort, but something made me look up at him. The visor hid all but the lower half of his face. There was a short beard covering his jaw, a mustache obscuring his mouth. Something about his silence unsettled me.
I sighed and started toward the glass door at the end of a hall that led to the garden.
As soon as I was outside, the desert night air kissed my skin, cooling it and soothing my overheated senses. Just what I needed to clear my head. Roses in many colors grew beneath a half-moon in large bushes between thick trees, so lush I knew it had to take a lot of water to keep the place green. A lot of water and electrical power few others could afford around here. Damien’s self-indulgence knew no bounds.
I went down the steps and started down a path, my J’nai shadow moving almost silently behind me. He walked closer than most of the others usually did, close enough to feel the heat of his body behind me. I had to fight the urge to quicken my pace just to put some distance between us.
I was about to head down another path, deeper into the trees, when a hand seized my arm. Next thing I knew, the guard was pulling me toward a cluster of trees.
He pushed me so that my chest was crushed against the rough side of a tree out of sight of the doors, where thick ferns and bushes grew high around us.
Terror ripped through me and a scream bubbled up, but his hand clamped over my mouth, silencing me.
Even before his mouth brushed my ear, I knew I was in a whole lot of trouble.
Chapter 17
The Traitorous J’nai
With the guard pinning me to the tree, and his hand over my mouth, the only two possible scenarios whirled through my thoughts in a terrifying storm.
He was one of those rare guards who was mad enough—and dangerous enough—to defile what belonged to Damien. It wouldn’t have been the first time one of Damien’s own people had lusted after a slave and tried to get himself a taste.
Or worse, he was a turncoat among the J’nai whom Tahmi had somehow managed to get on his side, someone to help hand me over to Julian. Perhaps Tahmi had only pretended to leave with his tail between his legs so that one of his men could get a J’nai to do his bidding.
I couldn’t decide what was worse. But I swore I felt the guard’s hardness press against my back, and that at least made me seriously consider the first option.
All of this raced through my thoughts seconds after he’d grabbed me and dragged me into the brush out of sight of any other guards who might see. I tried to scream again, tried to bite his fingers and kick him.
“Stop…it’s me. Kitten, it’s me!”
My eyes went huge and I froze.
Hawk…
Relief rushed through me in a dizzying torrent. As soon as I went limp in his arms, he spun me around to face him. He put his finger to his lips and lifted his visor up for an instant, just long enough that I saw his face.
His eyes were jet black, and the facial hair made him look unrecognizable, but the look in his eyes left no doubt. His gaze was warm and full of protective reassurance I’d have known anywhere.
I nearly collapsed into him with relief. Relief and joy. “Master.” I sighed, clutching him.
Hawk’s arms banded around me, easily holding me up and crushing me to him. “Kitten. I’m sorry I frightened you.” He inhaled, his face in my hair.
“It doesn’t matter.” I nuzzled his chest, the side of his warm neck when he bent down to rest his head on my shoulder. “Oh, Maker, it doesn’t matter. I’ve been so worried about you. All of you.” Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I was too happy to care.
“I know. Shh. It’s all right. It’s all right.”
“I saw Pretty Boy a few days ago, but I haven’t seen him since. My horse went missing…I was so scared you’d all been caught.”
The explanation came out jumbled; he probably didn’t understand what I was trying to tell him, but I couldn’t calm down enough to tell him properly.
“No, we’re all fine. Everything is almost in place.”
I looked up at him. “You’re not here to…”
He shook his head. “We’ll get you out of here soon. It’s not time yet. I just had to see you.”
“Hawk, Julian’s men. He’s…he’s real—”
“I know.”
“Wait, were you there? Did you see them?”
“I did.” He rubbed my arms, his jaw tight. “And I heard them say they were coming back with more men if Damien didn’t cooperate.”
Wishing I had more than a few moments with him, I glanced around, hoping no one came to our hiding place and noticed us here. “Then you know you and the others only have until midnight tomorrow.”
“Yes. There’s just one more thing we need in order to pull this off. You just have to hold on until dinnertime tomorrow.”
I shook my head, grasping his shoulders. “Hawk, if Tahmi sends more men before you strike…they’ll come with too many. Damien said he had a hundred J’nai here, and Tahmi didn’t seem to care. He must have a small army waiting somewhere.”
“We’ll come before that happens.” He buried his face in my hair. “Fuck, I wish I could take you out of here right now.”
“Me too. Maker, I’ve spent the last week wishing I could see you just once, and now seeing you here is almost worse when I know you’ll only have to leave. I missed you—”
Footsteps sounded on the steps to the garden, making their way down the path toward where we hid. Hawk threw us both to the ground. He crushed me under him in the tall grass.
The guard grumbled something I didn’t catch and walked back to the steps.
“Master, what are you doing, you have to go!” I hissed.
He gestured for me to be quiet and lifted his head, peering through the brush. The guard took his time filling and lighting a pipe. Hawk’s body was tense above mine. Fear chilled my blood. I could feel an uncharacteristic impatience from Hawk.
The guard took a few puffs. He disappeared back inside, muttering about the spoiled slave that took all their time.
When the doors to the garden closed, Hawk looked down at me. “I’m not leaving. Not yet.” His hand dove down between us and he tugged my dress up toward my hips.
The implications made my sex clench with need, even while my blood rushed with fear for him. “Master, it’s too dangerous. You—”
He put his fingers to my lips, his eyes filled with raw hunger. “I spent an hour today listening to Pretty Boy brag about fucking you in a stable. I’m not leaving without taking what’s mine.”
I groaned in
to his chest. “You’re crazy, Master.”
“It’s your fault for making me that way.” His fingers curled around the hem of my panties. “There won’t be much time before someone comes out here again if they don’t see us soon. Now, are you going to spread your legs, or do I have to do it for you?”
I bit my lip to keep from groaning again and spread my knees, lifting them to his hips. Then I stopped, looking over his uniform. “Maker, this had to happen with you dressed as a J’nai.” I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
Hawk’s teeth flashed in the darkness. “Just pretend I’m the guard lusting after his captain’s slave.” He shoved my dress toward my breasts and lowered his head, biting my neck hard enough that I had to bite my cheek to hold back a whimper.
My nipples poked hard into his chest, as much from his words as from his teeth grazing my skin and the roughness of his calloused hands pulling down my panties.
“Master, I missed you so much,” I rasped.
Hawk moaned, and his mouth savaged mine. The fake mustache and beard tickled my lips and chin, but I didn’t care. It looked terrible on him, all the wrong shape for his face and hiding his strong jaw, his gorgeous mouth, but it was enough to feel him around me. He might not have looked like the Hawk I knew, but he smelled like him, a spicy, masculine scent I’d only ever smelled on him.
He also kissed like my Hawk, his strong lips possessing mine, deep and rough and hungry, like he owned me.
Hawk tugged my head back, holding it in place for his kiss. He pried my lips apart with his own. His tongue speared between my lips, searing mine. I whimpered softly against his mouth, clawed at his shoulders and let my tongue dance with his.
My sex slicked, growing wetter with every lick. One of his hands worked the top of my dress down and I lifted up for him until my breasts spilled free.
While he palmed my breasts and rolled my nipples between his fingers with one hand, his other slid between my legs, stroking my throbbing clit.
I kissed him deeper and spread my legs wider, rubbing myself against his teasing touch.
Hawk slid two fingers inside, thrusting them roughly in and out. I moaned against his kiss and fucked his fingers.