Goddess’s Choice

by I. T. Lucas

  Khiann’s fangs elongated, sending shivers down Annani’s spine, but she was not sure whether they were caused by anger or desire.

  “This is thousands of years in the future,” he hissed through his fangs.

  “Perhaps. But in the meantime, Mortdh keeps growing stronger, not weaker. He will become invincible.”

  Annani took Khiann’s hand, clasping it in both of hers. “We got carried away. I am here not because of politics but because my heart tells me to take a chance on love. That being said, I am not as selfish and irresponsible as you might think. In my opinion, it is better to start a war now, when we can still win it, than wait until it is too late.”

  9

  Khiann

  As Annani’s eyes beseeched him to take a monumental chance on her, Khiann wondered whether the driving force behind her bold move was desperation or yearning for love.

  Perhaps it was both.

  He could not fault Annani for seeking a way to avoid mating with Mortdh. But he could not help questioning her motives. Had she turned to him because she had true feelings for him, or because he had happened to be in the right place at the right time?

  If not for his audience with Ahn, would Annani have remembered him at all? Would she had gone after any unmated god?

  How could he determine the truth?

  And even if Annani was truly motivated by love, or rather by the hope of finding it with him, was he willing to start a war over her, and could love mitigate his culpability?

  If Annani was the one, he could live with the guilt for a true-love mate.

  He had yearned for her for years, lusted after her, but a true-love mating was about more than lust.

  What if they were both just infatuated with each other?

  What if they started a war for nothing?

  But then Annani had been right in her assessment of Mortdh, his future plans, and his current chances, or lack thereof, of winning a war.

  Khiann had often voiced similar opinions when talking with his father.

  But for some reason, the older generation of gods was not as concerned with Mortdh amassing power in the north. After thousands of years of peaceful coexistence, no one considered war a possibility.

  Maybe they were right. Maybe Mortdh would not start a war over Annani.

  Or perhaps he would.

  Fates help me.

  “Khiann.” Annani tugged on his hand.

  “Yes?”

  “Well?”

  He smoothed his palm over his hair. “Tell me what you want me to do, Annani.”

  She blushed. “I want you to kiss me.”

  “What?” He almost choked on his own saliva.

  Annani glanced at him from under lowered lashes. “I have never been kissed.”

  His eyes went straight to her mouth. Fates, those lips were made for kissing, and it was a crime that they had never been. By him.

  “I cannot.”

  Her blush deepened, and she lowered her head.

  He hooked a finger under her chin, lifting her head back up. “But you can. I cannot refuse the princess.” Technically, he had to obey her commands. He would not be breaking any laws, written or implied, if he let her kiss him.

  Annani smiled, her tiny fangs gleaming white.

  Fates, how he wished to feel her bite on his skin. Would she be as wild and as ferocious as he imagined?

  “You are too tall for me to reach. If I am to kiss you, you need to sit down.”

  His butt dropped on the bench before she finished her sentence.

  Annani approached him with the sinuous fluidity of a seductress, not an innocent girl of seventeen summers who had never been kissed. She sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, her eyes hooded with desire and blazing blue-green light. “I think this will work.”

  Pulling on his neck, she brought his head down.

  The moment she touched her sweet lips to his, in a kiss that was almost chaste, he became lightheaded, probably because all the blood in his body rushed down into his manhood.

  Even as inexperienced as she was, Annani obviously knew what the hardness she was feeling through her thin tunic meant because she wiggled in his lap, making matters even worse.

  She lifted her lips and smiled. “I do not know what I am doing, but apparently it is working.”

  The girl needed him to show her how it was done. “Command me to kiss you.”

  Her eyes widening, it took her a moment before understanding dawned. “Khiann son of Navohn, I command you to kiss me.”

  Lifting his hand to her nape, he intended only to hold her for his kiss, but she was so small and slender that his fingers almost completely encircled her throat. He moved his hand up, gently cradling the entire back of her head, then stroked her mouth with his, getting her accustomed to his touch before licking at the seam of her lips.

  On a moan, Annani opened her mouth.

  As Khiann eased his tongue into her sweetness, he was not prepared for the onslaught of sensations. He was drowning in them, dizzy with pleasure and need, losing his mind in the fire Annani was igniting in his loins.

  Had anything ever felt like that?

  Boneless in his arms, her small body melting into his chest, Annani seemed just as lost as he was.

  With the scent of her desire bombarding his senses, the last of his control was wrestled away from his grasp, and he smashed his mouth over hers, his tongue spearing into her the way he would one day make love to her, claiming her.

  Annani belonged to him. They belonged together. If he had doubts before, they were now gone because this kiss was unlike any Khiann had had before.

  He must have nicked her with his fangs, and when the taste of her blood exploded in his mouth, he was ready to go to war for her. No matter what he had to do, he was never letting go. If need be, he would exchange his merchant’s ledger for a shield and his stylus for a spear and become a warrior.

  Licking her lips, he healed the small hurt he had caused.

  “You are mine,” he hissed.

  Her eyes hooded with desire, unfocused, her lips parted, soft and puffy from his kiss, she touched a finger to where his mouth had been a moment ago.

  Without thinking, he closed his palm over her nape, and applied a little pressure. “Say it.” Khiann didn’t know what possessed him to act that way. And with none other than the princess of the realm. The rational, cautious, and courteous man was gone, overtaken by a mindless beast.

  “I am yours,” Annani mumbled, then a big grin split her face. “And you are mine, Khiann son of Navohn. Our pact is sealed by the power of the greatest kiss that ever was and ever will be. Except, of course, for our second one, and the third, and the fourth…”

  10

  Annani

  With trembling hands, Khiann lifted Annani off his lap and sat her down next to him. A shame, since she was not done kissing him. She wanted a lifetime of kisses like that.

  “Why did you stop?” she asked.

  It took him a moment to stabilize his ragged breathing. “Because if I continued, I would have not stopped at kissing.” He leaned his elbows on his knees and let his head hang down from his shoulders.

  Why did he appear so defeated?

  Annani had a pretty good idea what he had meant, and the images appearing in her head made her regret the loss of his touch even more. She was a woman with a woman’s needs, and Khiann was who she wanted to satisfy them. No one else.

  “I would have not minded that at all.”

  Khiann turned his head and looked up at her, his eyes so full of longing that her breath caught in her throat. Being wanted like that brought about an unexpected rush. She was powerful, and not only because she was the princess, but because her power came from her femininity and the desire it evoked.

  Her mother had failed to tell her that. It was a shame Nai was such a serious woman. If she had one-tenth of Annani’s humor, they could have enjoyed each other’s company so much more. As it was, Nai was more concerned with teachin
g her daughter all about ruling than even a little bit about what it meant to be a woman.

  Khiann reached for her hand and clasped it in his big one. “I want you so much that it hurts, but I cannot have you. I would be putting my entire family in jeopardy. Mortdh is not the only one who would want my head, your father would too, and he would not stop with mine only. He would consider the seduction of his only daughter an act of treason.”

  Annani had no idea what Khiann was talking about, and why he was so afraid. No one would take the head of a god. It was not allowed. The worst punishment possible for a god was entombment, and it had not been done even once in their history.

  “You are making a storm out of a gentle breeze. First of all, I am seducing you, and not the other way around.”

  Khiann chuckled as if she had told a joke. “Right.”

  Annani got to her feet, put her hands on her hips, and glared at the man. “Are we sitting in the palace’s garden, after you snuck in to see me, or are we sitting in your parents’ estate gardens after I went into considerable trouble to come and see you? I am the one doing the seducing here.”

  Khiann lifted his hands in surrender. “Peace, little tigress. I am not belittling the courage it took for you to come to me. I am quite impressed. But if I let it go any further than one kiss, the blame would be mine. I cannot claim I was a helpless victim in this, now can I?”

  The truth was on his side, and so was the law.

  When Annani’s father had taken her mother, who was not of age at the time, it had not mattered that Nai had seduced him quite deliberately.

  Ahn had wiggled out of severe punishment by mating Nai and vowing to remain faithful to her. A big concession coming from a ruler who typically entertained a horde of concubines and mistresses.

  It turned out they were each other's fated mates, so the vow had not been necessary, but neither of them had known that when Nai had done the seducing and Ahn had done the succumbing. Nai wanted to mate with the most powerful god, and Ahn wanted to bed a beautiful girl. The rest was history.

  Still, Ahn had never attempted to claim innocence. He’d acknowledged his crime, publicly, and had been willing to pay the price.

  Letting out a puff of air, Annani sat back down. “I am not interested in a clandestine affair behind my father’s back. I want everything to be out in the open. I am still unmated, and therefore free to choose my suitor.”

  His eyes widened. “You want me to come to the palace and ask your father’s permission to court you?”

  “Of course. What else did you think I wanted?”

  Khiann rubbed his jaw. “I thought you wanted to find out if we are fated mates first.”

  Annani sighed. “I wish I had the luxury to take my time and make certain we are true-love mates before committing to this course of action, but my situation does not allow for it. Still, I strongly believe that we are.” She looked at him from under her lashes. “I might be inexperienced, but I think our kiss was not like other kisses. It was a life-altering experience. Do you agree?”

  His eyes smoldering with desire, he reached for her, pulling her into his lap again. “It should be recorded in the annals of history as the one to outdo them all.”

  Annani cast Khiann a seductive look, hoping she was doing it right and not making a fool of herself. “Perhaps we should try another kiss? Just to make sure that we did not imagine it to be more than it was?”

  Hesitating only for a moment, Khiann cupped the back of her head and slowly leaned forward.

  Annani’s heart started pounding against her rib cage as if it wanted to break free from the confinement of her chest and jump into Khiann’s.

  But as his lips touched hers softly, her heart slowed down and she closed her eyes. His scent enveloped her like a cocoon, manly, seductive, addictive. She breathed him in, pressing her body against his powerful chest, her pebbled nipples seeking contact, aching for friction.

  Khiann’s control was admirable.

  Instead of devouring her with the hunger she could feel in his coiled muscles, his mouth moved slowly over hers, his tongue flicking gently along the seam of her lips but not seeking entry.

  Not yet.

  Was he afraid of nicking her with his fangs again?

  She didn’t mind. There was something deeply erotic about her blood coating his tongue with her essence, and about the small hurt and the tender way he licked it away.

  Parting her lips, she leaned into him, and let herself get lost in the sensations. As he accepted her invitation and slid his tongue between her parted lips, she rewarded him with a moan that started deep in her throat and ended up in his mouth.

  Desperate for more, hungry for his touch, she undulated her hips, rubbing her core against his hardness in a futile attempt to seek relief.

  With a groan, Khiann wrapped his arm around her waist, halting her gyrations.

  When she mewled in protest, he gentled her, rubbing small circles on her back, kissing her forehead, her eyelids, the bridge of her nose.

  Annani sighed and put her cheek on his chest, listening to the rapid beat of his heart. “Are you convinced now?”

  He kept rubbing. “I did not need convincing. I know you are the one for me.”

  If he had known, why had he been fighting her so hard? Was it fear of Mortdh? Or fear of Ahn?

  “Would you come to talk with my father?”

  “I have to consult with mine first. My actions will have an impact on my entire family.”

  Annani lifted her head and looked into Khiann’s eyes. “You are not alone in this. I will work on my father from the other end. Between the two of us, we can convince him that letting you court me is a brilliant idea.”

  Khiann snorted. “Please, enlighten me. Because all I can see is how this will end up in a war.”

  “I will consult with my uncle Ekin. He is the smartest god I know.”

  Khiann was taken aback, his eyes narrowing and his brows dipping low. “Ekin? Mortdh’s father?”

  “Do not worry. He is not going to tell Mortdh.”

  “Why would he help you against his son?”

  “Ekin is not happy about Mortdh’s ambitions, and he is not happy about my father promising me to his son. He knows Mortdh is not right in the head. Not as in stupid, unfortunately, he has inherited his father’s smarts, but in other ways. He is insane.”

  Khiann looked uncomfortable for a moment. “I do not know how to tell you this, but Ekin was probably disappointed your father did not promise you to him. After all, Ekin is the older brother, and if he were not the son of a concubine instead of the official mate, he would have been the ruler.”

  Annani grimaced and waved a hand. “Do not say things like that. Ekin held me when I was a baby, he played with me when I was a toddler, and he told me stories when I was a little kid. He sees me as a daughter, not as a possible mate.”

  “That might be true, but you know political considerations have nothing to do with matters of the heart.”

  “Ekin is not power hungry, and he is not interested in politics. He loves being a scientist and an inventor. He would refuse leadership even if it were handed to him on a golden platter.”

  11

  Gulan

  “What I love most about being Khiann’s squire is the travel. I get to see the world.” Esag lifted a pitcher of beer to those fleshy lips of his and took a large gulp.

  Gulan had been trying her best to pay attention to his stories instead of staring at his mouth and imagining how it would feel to be kissed by him, but it was no use. Esag had the most beautiful lips she had ever seen on a male.

  Lucky for her, he was probably thinking that she was staring at his mouth because she found him so fascinating. And maybe he was. She would have known if she had heard more than one or two words of every other sentence.

  “Do not get me wrong, Khiann is a great guy, and we have been friends since the first day I started working for him, so it is not all about the travel. I would have loved being his squir
e even if he were one of those gods who just wants to be worshiped and pampered, but traveling with him is a big bonus. I especially love sailing the rivers, but the caravans are fun too.”

  “Esag!” Khiann called from the doorway. “I need to show you something.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Esag pushed to his feet. “It was nice talking to you, Gulan. I hope you and your sister come visit again.” He leaned closer, his proximity and his scent making her feel faint. “You can also come without your sister.” He winked.

  “Esag! I am waiting!” Khiann called again.

  Esag straightened to his full height, which was quite impressive. He was one of the few men who were taller than her. “I have to go. See you around, Gulan.”

  Feeling like an idiot, she nodded. During the entire time they had spent together, she had not said more than a handful of sentences, while Esag had done all the talking. She was not great with words to begin with, but he had made her completely tongue-tied.

  As soon as Esag left with Khiann, Annani slunk into the kitchen.

  “I am ready to go, Gulan,” she whispered loudly, masking her voice. “I have all I need for my school report.”

  The cook turned to her. “Would you like a bowl of stew before you depart, young lady?”

  Gulan stood up and took Annani’s hand as if she really was Tula. “Thank you for your kind offer, but our mother awaits our return. We have tarried long enough as it is.”

  “Next time, then.”

  “I thank you kindly.”

  Still holding on to Annani’s hand, Gulan walked over to the cook and inclined her head. “Thank you for the stew. It was lovely.”

  “I am glad.” He patted her arm. “But I am sure it was not half as lovely as Master Esag’s company.”

  Gulan felt her cheeks get even hotter than they had been for the past hour, which meant they were about to catch fire. “Thank you again for the meal.”