HeroUnleased

by Anna Alexander

  “They shouldn’t have been,” Kristos said. “It was my fault the queen was killed.”

  “We all knew you would have given your life for hers. You did your best. That is why we remained loyal. Stavos was picked as your replacement, Lucian, but he didn’t have your knowledge or the heart. It was too easy for Hamerkind to regroup his men and defeat the throne. The king was executed, as well as a good number of the guard, including Stavos.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Dhavin. Your brother was a good man.”

  He closed his eyes and took several long breaths then whispered, “Nothing was the same after you left.”

  His grief reached out and squeezed Lucian around the heart. Desperation for more information tightened his throat, but as much as he wanted to interrogate his cousin, he knew the man had to tell his story at his own pace.

  “The rest of the men in my ring and myself took to the tunnels, gathering information and rebuilding the guard. Hamerkind has the throne, but he does not have the people. The lords were dissatisfied with the king, but they don’t want Hamerkind. Since he is not royal, they aren’t complying with his wishes, and he doesn’t have the manpower to implore a dictatorship…yet. There is talk that if the princess returns, the Hall of Lords will recognize her authority and Hamerkind loses his power. Especially with you as her guard.”

  “And how were we to return?” Kristos snorted. “They sent us away in a craft clearly meant for one flight, without any forms of communication. The only reason we had our weapons is because Stavos hid them in the pod before we launched.”

  “Please, your brother is the great General Lucianllanos. It was only his honor that got him banished. If anyone could find a way to return, it is Lucian.”

  Kristos choked on a laugh as Lucian straightened in his seat and inclined his head. “Thank you for the compliment, but it is practically impossible to return. I’ve tested the possibility.”

  “Practically. That is not a for certain, and this Hamerkind knows, which is why he sent the assassin.”

  “Who?”

  “Bale.”

  “Impossible,” Kristos scoffed. “Bale would never accept such a mission from Hamerkind.”

  “Yes, he would.” Lucian stood and paced the few steps from the chair to the window. “He blames me for what happened to his wife and child.”

  “You had nothing to do with that attack on their colony.”

  “No, not directly, but we knew they were one of the potential targets and I forbade him from going to their defense.”

  “Bale would have died with them if he had gone.”

  Lucian looked his brother in the eye. “He died with them anyway.”

  All of the Llanos had died a bit when they discovered the smoldering carnage that had once been a thriving farming community. Agriculture was a highly prized industry that the little colony had excelled in, which also made them a prime target for Hamerkind to use against the king. No man, woman or child survived the decimation.

  After he buried his family, Bale had gone on a rampage and singlehandedly took out the entire platoon who had destroyed his colony. The quiet, steadfast man Lucian had relied on in the thick of battle had been replaced by a cauldron of hate that boiled so hotly, it burned everything in its path. Consumed with rage, Bale left the guard, but not before he attempted to take Lucian’s life. He had the passion, but Lucian had the skill and was able to defeat the attack. Barely. He was a threat Lucian would never underestimate.

  “So Bale gets his revenge by killing you. But what does he get out of murdering the princess?” Kristos asked.

  “Anything he wants.” Dhavin chuckled mirthlessly. “All he has to do is return with your heads and Hamerkind will give him whatever he desires.”

  “That’s all well and good, but he’ll have to defeat us first.”

  “Careful, Kristos,” Lucian warned. “We have to assume that Bale will receive the same powers as we did. He’ll be a danger to us and anyone else he comes into contact with. We have to be prepared.”

  Dhavin struggled to sit up. “And the princess. She must be warned.”

  “Good luck with that,” said Kristos. “Have any idea where she disappeared to?”

  His eyes widened with surprise as he looked toward Lucian. “You didn’t tell him?”

  “Tell me what?” Kristos shot his brother a frown.

  Lucian narrowed his gaze at his cousin. “What would you know, Dhavin?”

  “Are you serious? I was her guard, and her friend, like I wouldn’t suspect. Why didn’t you tell Kristos?”

  “Tell me what? Lucian?” Kristos got in his face, his bright eyes blazed a brilliant green. “What are you keeping from me?”

  He lifted his chin and confessed, “The princess is here, in the city.”

  Chapter Two

  His erection was impressive, but it was obvious he had no idea how to use it.

  Amaryllis turned away from her dance partner and bit back a smile when he pulled her against his wildly gyrating hips. Her handsome Latino was a sexy thing, but he danced as if his pants were on fire. Alejandro was so eager to please she didn’t have the heart to bruise his ego and damage the confidence she sensed it took him to gather to ask her to dance. She took his hands to guide his arms around her waist and swung her hips in a slow sway. He quickly fell into her rhythm, cuddling her close enough to brush his lips along her bare shoulder and bathe her skin with a soft sigh. Hmm, perhaps he could be trained.

  She took her own deep breath and soaked in the energy of the bodies writhing on the dance floor. The Cavern was her personal playground, created to celebrate life. A place that accepted all types, no matter race, shape or orientation, and the only thing that turned you away from the door was a piss-poor attitude. It was a paradise created out of mahogany and leather.

  Sex and adrenaline rode along the air in waves that vibrated like the booming bass from the nearby speakers. Within these walls fears were being faced, taboos broken and the limits of the human body pushed to the extremes. Above the dance floor acrobats swung from trapezes and showered the dancers in bursts of confetti, ratcheting up the mayhem. With her empathic abilities, Amaryllis siphoned myriad emotions, maintaining a high of arousal and excitement greater than any drug in the known universe. These were her people. This was living.

  “May I touch you, please?” her potential lover murmured in her ear, tightening the hold around her waist.

  That he asked permission pleased her. Yes, he most certainly was a candidate to be trained.

  “Where do you want to touch me?”

  “Everywhere.” He chuckled and nipped at her neck. “Right now, your breasts.”

  She smiled in response and settled in his embrace. “You may touch me. Go slow.”

  He raked his fingernails up over the silk covering her torso and back down her belly. Up and down. Up and down. Each stroke brought his palms closer to the mounds that grew heavy with anticipation.

  Just as quick as a candle being snuffed out, her arousal was quenched. To those who continued to dance, nothing appeared amiss, but a disturbance ripped through the air that made her nipples tighten even as the hair on her arms stood on end.

  “Let her go,” came the gruff command.

  The authority in his tone plucked the strings of a forgotten memory. Where did she know that voice?

  “She’s fine with me,” her dance partner protested.

  “You will leave her now.”

  A cool breeze hit her back a second later, as she was suddenly left on her own to face the interloper.

  Hmm, perhaps he was a bit too submissive.

  Amaryllis straightened her shoulders and turned to politely tell the dance-crasher to fuck off, only to rock back on her heels. She didn’t think her tongue fell out of her mouth but her eyes definitely boggled as she looked her fill. The Gods did well when they created this impressive male specimen.

  “Lucianllanos,” she whispered, trapped in a vortex of past and present.

 
She had forgotten how tall the head of the guard was, how broad his shoulders and how massive the muscles that stretched his long-sleeved chambray shirt. Black wavy hair fell to his shoulders and framed his strong jaw and high cheekbones. But his eyes… Oh now his green gaze was just as fierce as she remembered.

  In her former life Lucian was what she’d label as “other”. He had been her father’s personal guard as well as commander of all Llanos, so she never allowed herself permission to give the general much thought, aside from the appreciation a woman felt when looking at an attractive, virile man. But as he stood before her now, that admiration was escalating into a rolling boil of awareness that made perspiration gather along her hairline.

  The don’t-fuck-with-me vibe he wore was so effective, the crowd of dancers gave him a wary glance and took a step back, yet for some unfathomable reason had the opposite effect on her. She wanted to invade his personal space and rub up against him to explore the terrain of his hard body. By the Gods, there didn’t look to be an inch of softness about him.

  At least there won’t be if I have my way. A grin flirted with her lips at the very un-princess-like thought.

  “Your Highness.” He bent slightly at the waist. “I come with news.”

  The formality of his greeting was an unexpected splash of cold water.

  Two years. Two years since she’d seen anyone from her kingdom. She had thought that once the guard had found her location, they would greet her like a long-lost sister. Apparently, that was not to be the case.

  She shook off the disappointment and settled her hands on her hips. “What? No hello? I haven’t seen you in years, and this is how you greet me?”

  “Princess, if I can have a word with you in private. I have news of great importance I must impart to you.”

  “Of course it is, otherwise I’m certain you wouldn’t be here.”

  Lucian batted at the confetti falling in his face and glanced pointedly at the encroaching dancers. “Please, let us retire to a more…quiet location.”

  As fast as a blink, the disapproval in his tone snapped her into the past where her father, or the court elders, looked upon her with icy contempt and an unveiled disbelief that she was actually one of their species. She shivered as a coldness she hadn’t experienced since stepping into that spacecraft years before washed over her.

  “Shall we?” Lucian gestured for her to precede him off the dance floor.

  Amaryllis turned and took a timid step.

  A million miles of distance, a different culture and a new identity. None of that mattered as in one breath she was once again that girl desperate to perform as was expected, all the while knowing she was going to fail miserably.

  Wasn’t time supposed to lessen the humiliation of the past? Didn’t overcoming adversity strengthen one’s spine and provide the fortitude to say “fuck you” in the face of public opinion? Where was that strength now, she wondered as her knees shook. Her high-heel wobbled and her ankle twisted as she stumbled back into a group of dancers.

  “Amaryllis? Are you okay, honey?” asked one of the club’s regulars. The woman leaned close to whisper, not so quietly, “Is this guy bothering you? I can get Angus to take care of him, no problem.”

  “I, um, I’m fine, thank you.” Amaryllis straightened. “I’ve got this.”

  Yes, you’ve got this.

  No longer was she the awkward princess. On this planet what made her different was admired, even loved. Men begged for the pleasure to share her bed and women longed to be her friend. She built a tiny empire by the sheer sweat of her own back. The Cavern was a haven where all who entered received what they needed and that included her.

  What she needed now was to be cradled in the proverbial arms of those who loved her as she was. In the center of all this chaos she was in her element. She was strong because she brought all of these people together, they gave her courage and on the dance floor she would stay.

  “Whatever you have to say can be said amongst friends.”

  Lucian closed his eyes as his hands fisted at his sides. “As the head of your guard, I request that you come with me now.”

  Wow, he barely moved his lips to grit that out. His refusal to loosen his formal constraint in even the slightest made her want to dig in her stilettos all the more. “No.”

  “If you—”

  “No. This is my favorite song and I want to dance.” She turned her back to him and gestured to the deejay to pump up the music.

  Lucian stepped into her vision. “Your father is dead.”

  The blood froze in her veins before her two hearts kicked in her chest.

  She had always wondered what she’d say or feel when she finally heard those words. Sorrow. Relief. Happiness? Now the time was nigh and all she felt was a vast expanse of nothing.

  In a land where the people were tall, lean and dark, King Renauld had been bestowed with a short, round daughter with hair so blonde it looked silver and little control when it came to her emotions. Only his bond with her mother convinced him of her legitimacy.

  And now he was dead.

  If Lucian expected her to collapse in grief, he was bound for disappointment. She had mourned her former life and all it included during the long journey between worlds. There was no more left to grieve.

  “Did he finally choke on his own arrogance?” Well, the grief was gone, but the bitterness lingered like rotten garlic.

  He tilted his head and frowned. “That’s uncalled for, Your Highness. He loved you dearly.”

  “Right.” She chuckled without humor. “That is why I was sent to safety to the same place he found fit to be a prison for you and your brother.”

  “That was not his reason. He wanted you as far from danger as possible. I chose—” He pursed his lips and took a surreptitious glance around. “I chose here. I wanted to be close in case you had need of us.”

  If his earlier declaration had been a surprise, this bit of news had her downright gobsmacked. “In need of you? Yet I say again, I haven’t seen you or your brother once since I received the missive you were banished to Earth, and it appears you’ve known my exact location this entire time. Why should I believe you?”

  “Because it’s the truth. Once I saw that you had established a life and were doing well, I thought it best to keep my distance.”

  Doing well? She guessed that compared to being beaten and disavowed, floundering around in a new culture entirely on one’s own might be considered “doing well”.

  “Well, how kind of you to assume I wouldn’t want to say hello to two men who once swore fealty to my family and protected us with their lives.”

  Confusion tightened his brow. “I meant no disrespect with my distance.”

  “For certain.” She threw a thick blanket on her scattered emotions and strove for her most serene smile. “I thank you for your effort, General. It’s been lovely to see you. Feel free to stop by again, perhaps under more pleasant circumstances.”

  He placed a hand on her arm and immediately pulled back, staring at his palm as if she burned him. He shook his head and said, “Your Highness, I have more news.”

  And didn’t he sound excited. What more could there be? When she had gone into exile she had resigned herself on never returning home. With both of her parents dead, that infinitesimal spark of hope was effectively doused and was now nothing more than a soggy, smoldering pile of ash. And the fact she wanted to weep for that loss depressed her more than anything.

  “If it’s as jovial as the last, I don’t think I want to hear it.” No, all she wanted was to throw herself into the deepest well of human emotion and not think for a long, long time. “You’ve delivered your message. You may go.”

  “I insist to be heard.”

  “I don’t want to hear it.”

  “Princess.”

  “Dance with me.”

  His eyes widened and he actually jumped a step backward. “What?”

  Laughter welled in her chest at his reaction. One would think
she asked him to drown kittens. “Dance with me. You have made me sad with this news. Make it up to me and dance.”

  “I don’t dance.”

  To her surprise, the great General Lucianllanos actually looked terrified. Her inner devil jumped with glee at the opportunity to needle the stalwart soldier. Why should she be the only one to feel as if her skin was peeled back, leaving her exposed and raw? Besides, if he was insisting on treating her like a princess, then he could follow her orders.

  She sashayed up to him and placed her hand on his chest, leaning into his rigid stance. “I’ve seen you during training exercises. You are very graceful. Pretend you’re holding your sword.” A quirk of naughtiness touched her grin. “And do what comes naturally.”

  The pink in his cheeks darkened. “I. Don’t. Dance.”

  “Then I. Won’t. Listen. It’s obvious you wish to be gone from here post haste and as unobtrusively as possible. Do you realize you’re a head taller than everyone here? And you are so stiff. You’re like a giant tree in the midst of swaying reeds. How can you not be noticed?” She dug her fingers into the thick muscles of his shoulders and was immediately lost in the heat of his skin. Ah, what it would be like to feel that warmth without the barrier of fabric, perhaps even slick with sweat.

  Focus. Focus.

  “Relax. Drink in the energy around you. You give me one dance and I’ll give you my complete attention.”

  His frown deepened as his hands landed on her hips and pushed her back enough to leave plenty of distance between their bodies. With a frustrated grunt, he began a step-touch, step-touch beat that reminded her of a youth at his first social dance.

  “Bend your knees a little, Lucian. Follow the music. It’s a dance, not a military march.”

  “I don’t remember you being so disagreeable,” he groused as he relaxed enough to soften his stance.

  “I wasn’t allowed to be. Demureness at all cost was the mantra I was expected to live by.”

  “Is decorum not something you adhere to here as well?”

  “When it suits my purpose.” She laughed. Had he always been such a… What did they call it here? A branch in the muck? Yes, that was Lucian. He needed a serious shot of excitement. “I find Earth-men like it when I behave contrary to what is expected. It keeps them on their toes.”