Unexpected Bride (Warlord Series Book 6)

by Michelle Howard

  Overlord Vaan had roared in rage and punched Marek so hard he flew back several feet. Two of the Warlords sparring had dropped to their heels and vomited. Ramar’s face lost all color and he shook for the remainder of the day before withdrawing to his room. Vesa, her friend, admitted he had pulled his shoulder out from the move and required another Warlord to snap it in place again. Assa shuddered at the memory.

  Balal strode toward the youngling, his powerful thighs sending shivers up her back. Sweat gleamed on his chest and left streaks of dirt along his torso. Muscles flexed with every step he took. Her heart pounded as her desire for her mate stirred. He wore his long black hair twisted into a knot atop his head in an attempt to abate the heat. The severe style only served to enhance his visual appeal.

  Sharp cheekbones lent him a fierce countenance, thick brows arrowed together and his full lips made kissing him a pleasure. Moisture gleamed on his curled lashes. Assa gave thanks to the Blessed One for the force of the Raasa sun.

  Balal leaped over the stones when he reached the youngling and bent to one knee. His gaze softened as it landed on them. In an instant he went from mighty Warlord to gentle warrior. He hadn’t noticed Assa yet, giving her a chance to observe him unaware.

  “What would you have of me, Lady Arane?”

  His voice was pleasant, the even tones adding to the tightening of Assa’s loins. Arane held up her toy wooden sword, the gift from the Desani King battered with the look of a weapon well used.

  “Fight,” she answered with a bright smile, fangs dimpling her bottom lip.

  Erana eased closer and pressed into Balal’s other side. It was a warming sight given Assa’s current condition. Balal and Kavan were assigned to guard the youngling along with their mother Mikayla. The two Warlords took great care of their charges and their protection bordered on obsessive.

  Balal shook his head in refusal and Assa braced for crying. Arane’s temperament was not as easy as Erana though she greatly improved since her time as a baby when her non-stop screams used to fill the night.

  “I must refuse this eventide. Mayhap Warlord Kavan can help you practice, yes?”

  Assa glanced at the silent Warlord a few steps behind the youngling as he waited with his arms crossed over his chest and a forbidding scowl on his face. He glared at Balal who remained focused on the youngling and missed the dark look.

  “No Kaf!” Arane stomped her foot but under Balal’s patient stare her pout eased. “Why?”

  “Because my mate waits for me.” His eyes lifted as he spoke the words and met Assa’s gaze.

  Her heart clenched but nothing could stop the smile spreading across her face. “You are a tricky warrior. I didn’t want to bother you.”

  “Warlord,” he corrected as he stood and patted each of the girls on the head then exchanged a telling glance with Kavan before walking toward her. “You are never a bother.”

  Erana and Arane turned their attention to Warlord Kavan and rushed for him on their little legs.

  “Kaf!” They shouted together.

  Arane charged forward, her sword out and swinging in controlled slashes. Erana kept pace though she wore her sword on her back in a small embroidered chest harness gifted to her from Shaina, the Queen of the Shadow Warriors.

  The touch of Balal’s finger on her chin, tipping her face toward him blocked her view of the youngling. “Did you miss me, mate?”

  Assa stroked her fingers over the two strips of hair on his forehead. His eyebrows. She found they helped in her ability to read his expressions. They moved up in humor, creased when annoyed and pinched tight the rare times he angered. Never had he turned the last on her. She trailed her hand to his lips, rubbing the plump bottom one. He nipped at her fingers, causing her to grin. No fangs, though she didn’t mind the difference.

  “I missed you.” She always missed him the moment he stepped from her sight. It was a clinging thought and the Kabanian were as different from Raasa as night was to day so she kept that part to herself. Bracing her hands on his damp chest, she leaned up on her toes but the difference in their height left her lacking. She dropped back down and huffed out a breath of annoyance.

  Balal’s smile grew mischievous. “Have you need of something, Assa?”

  His brown eyes danced with the laughter he held back. Not giving in to her own mirth, Assa pinched his side. The skin was tight but she was determined and managed a slight twist. He feigned a painful grunt, his hand pressing over the injury.

  “Hold, woman. I will give you what you wish.” Putting action to words, his hands gripped Assa’s waist and lifted. His mouth touched hers in a soft caress the moment she was in reach.

  Assa’s hands went to his hair, the silk strands damp from his exertions but she didn’t care. She moaned and pressed closer. Too soon Balal broke the kiss with a harsh groan and lowered her back to her feet. “I am in need of bathing.”

  Curling into his side, Assa laid her head on his chest. “Do you want my help?”

  “No.” He started for the steps of the holding.

  His abrupt answer caused Assa to snicker. She peeked up to see his face and a slight smile lingered on his lips. “You worry?”

  “A Warlord does not worry.”

  His usual answer to anything. She decided to tease. “Why can’t I help?”

  “The last time you helped, we ended in bed play.”

  There was more to it. Their hips bumped while they walked. Assa pushed for the truth she sought. Her fingers tickled up his back. “What’s wrong with bed play?”

  He twitched but kept his stride even. “It is not the bed play that caused a problem. You let me fall asleep after.”

  “You seemed tired.” Assa worked hard to hold in her laughter as Balal’s grip shifted to help her up the stairs. She softened toward him with the caring gesture. It was early yet but his manner had become salacious after she gifted him the news of their coming youngling.

  “Tired?!” He held the door open, losing his humor and frowned in her direction as she entered. “It was time for the mid-day meal and you told everyone that I ...napped.”

  Laughter burst forth as Assa fell against him. She laughed and laughed unable to stand straight until her chuckles died down.

  Chapter 2

  Hearing his mate’s laughter was never a gift Balal took lightly. Her golden skin kissed by the Raasa sun glowed, her green eyes a pleasure he reveled in. She was slim of frame except for the slight curve to her belly revealed by the vivid orange dress she wore. Their youngling.

  The thought of his woman carrying his young sent pride and fear through his head. Every warrior wanted to be blessed by a youngling but the differences between their race were not to be ignored. His Overlord’s mate almost lost her life bringing youngling into the world. Balal did not want to go through the same.

  He brushed a thumb over Assa’s pinkened cheeks and waited until she finished shaming him with the memory of a time he wished to forget. Once she settled, they continued across the stone floor to the long wooden tables set up for the last meal of the day. Soon everyone would come in to eat. Raasa smiled and yelled out greetings at their approach.

  Vesa, Assa’s friend, waved in their direction then hurried toward the kitchens. Balal did not wave but he nodded at each who spoke to him. Finding a balance to live in harmony with the Raasa had taken time and patience. Due to Overlord Vaan’s example, Balal and his brethren managed with more ease than expected.

  “Balal, I would have a word with you,” his Sire called, interrupting his thoughts.

  Mikayla, Su-Su to the Raasa holding, patted her hair back in place as they descended the stairs from the upper level together. She kept giving Vaan dark looks, hinting that his Overlord had made time for bed play during the day which often annoyed her.

  Mikayla’s golden skin, long black hair and diamond shaped green eyes matched Assa’s perfectly. It was the truth that the Raasa all favored. The men and women hard to distinguish except the men lost their hair and became bald whe
n they reached maturity.

  “I am yours, Overlord.” Balal touched Assa’s stomach and kissed her upturned nose before leaving her.

  Overlord Vaan Galip met him half-way. “Where are my youngling?”

  “With Kavan, Sire.”

  Vaan nodded and pointed to a corner where they could have privacy. “Mikayla is expecting visitors from one of the neighboring Raasa holdings tomorrow. Warn Kavan to keep a closer eye on Erana and Arane.”

  “If it pleases you, Overlord, I will have Amrod help as well.”

  Vaan turned his gaze toward Mikayla as she and Assa chattered together. “Your idea has merit, Balal. See to it. Do not let Mikayla know. It will upset her if she thinks I hold no trust in her people.”

  “Yes, Sire.” Balal supported his reasons. Not long ago a rebel group of Kabanians had attempted to take the girls to win Kaban by force.

  “Is all well with Assa? The youngling?”

  Balal straightened his shoulders. “She is well. The youngling...is well.”

  Vaan’s head swiveled back around at his hesitation. “What causes you concern?”

  “It is small.” Balal swallowed and motioned to his mid-section. “She does not grow as your mate did.”

  A snort sounded. “She is far nicer during the carry as well.”

  Balal held his tongue. His Overlord spoke truth. Mikayla had grown disagreeable though she never took her ire out on any save her mate. “I am used to Kabanian women who grow round quickly.”

  “I do not like to talk of womanly things but best you remember the Raasa females are smaller. They birth in a shorter span of time and Mikayla carried two. Does the Ba’asi worry?”

  The Ba’asi was the holy man for the Raasa. He also delivered their youngling and saw to the care of the mother during that time.

  “He has expressed no fear.”

  Vaan shrugged. “Then it is not a concern. You will welcome a strong warrior to your name.”

  “This pleases me.” Every time Balal thought about the youngling he would share with Assa his heart jumped.

  Vaan grunted and changed their conversation. “Did training go well this morning?”

  While the Raasa trained and showed a strength and skill with the bow and arrow, his Overlord stayed on his Warlords to maintain their sword play and hand to hand. “It went well. I knocked Marek down.”

  “Did he stay?”

  He meant did Balal hit him hard enough to send him to sleep. It was a favored lesson of the Overlord if he participated. A way to encourage his Warlords to fight harder and avoid his blows. “He did not.”

  The simple brow arch did not ruin Balal’s pleasure at his success. Marek was a good fighter. Better with his fists than a sword though all of them were unmatched when put against other warriors and Warlords with a blade in hand.

  “Tomorrow you will train against Marek and Ramar.”

  Balal almost, almost managed to hide his flinch. Ramar had replaced Argan as Vaan’s right hand when Argan moved to live with his bride the Shadow Queen. His fists were as hard as the stones outside. Training with him would leave Balal with bruises aplenty tomorrow. “It will be as you say, Sire.”

  His Overlord didn’t smile but there was a definite glint in his eyes that spoke of his amusement. They parted, each of them going to their mate and taking a seat to enjoy the evening meal. Balal reached for Assa’s hand, dragging her into the seat beside him. She poked a finger in his side and he pretended to snarl.

  Kavan entered along with the other Warlords. Arane and Erana skipped about Kavan’s legs. The Raasa and other Warlords often found it hard to tell the youngling apart but Kavan and Balal did not have the same problem. It would always be clear to him. Arane’s braid was eschew and streaks of dirt marred one side of her face but she grinned and babbled as she talked using a mix of Kaban and Raasa. Erana in a more tidy state nodded each time her sister paused. Both had rips in the long tunics and pants they wore, the green cloth dusty.

  Balal grinned, knowing this meant Kavan gave in to their desire to spar. The youngling favored the Overlord with their interest in sword play much to Mikayla’s dismay. Especially Arane who already demonstrated a skill beyond her toddling age.

  “Girls, it’s time to eat,” Mikayla called.

  They hugged Kavan’s legs then darted to join their mother and father on the long bench. Watching them active and well should have helped soothe Balal’s fear for the coming of his own youngling but he still had a niggling worry.

  Chapter 3

  Assa rolled over in the bed and pounded the pillow seeking a comfortable spot. Her lids drifted closed then popped open when her side pinched. In annoyance she jerked on the sheets and twisted about.

  “Assa, what is amiss?”

  Balal whispered the words against the back of her neck from his position resting behind her.

  “Do not worry yourself, Balal. I but seek to rest in comfort.” She used the same low whisper and lay on her side.

  She should have known he would not leave the matter alone. Her mate never ignored a sign of unhappiness from her, physical or otherwise. He pushed up on an elbow and leaned over. His hand cleared the curtain of hair to see her face better.

  “Would it ease you if I rubbed your back?”

  Assa nuzzled his rough fingers then rolled over to lay flat in order to see him. The room was dark but the light of the moon cast shadows about and she barely made out the angles of his features.

  “It would ease me if you touched me.”

  As expected, he tensed and shoved away. “Assa.”

  She sat up and caught his arm before he could leave their bed. “Balal, I would have the truth between us. Why don’t you wish to share sex with me? Bed play?”

  He groaned. “Do not ask this of me.”

  Unwilling to let the matter go, she tugged him back next to her and slid her body half over his chest and half on the bed. Her thigh slid between his legs, her knee brushing his hardened toqa as she pressed her hand down on the flat planes of his stomach.

  “Tell me.” It wasn’t often she took such a demanding tone with him. Balal was by far the nicest of the Warlords to accompany Vaan and make his home here. His jovial nature and ready smile made him easy to like and it was one of the reasons she fell in love with him.

  “It is the youngling,” he confessed in a low voice. “I fear my rough ways will injure him.”

  Of all the answers Assa had expected this was not one. As soon as her body began to show the changes of the youngling she carried, Balal had ceased to touch her in desire. In the back of her mind she had wondered if his eyes strayed to another. Now she knew. To hear his worry softened her own upset.

  “You cannot injure our youngling.” Her hand slid over the taut angles and up his chest in a lingering caress.

  “It is not a risk I would take.” His own hand came up to toy with her hair, twirling strands about his fingers.

  Had Mikayla had to deal with the same misconception? She pursed her lips in thought. “Have you—”

  He released her hair to press a blunt finger to her lips. “I will not speak to my Overlord about such matters. Do not ask.”

  Assa hoped the dark hid her embarrassment. She pushed off of him until she sat on the sheets by his hip. Balal twisted about to face her.

  “Is this a Kabanian thing?”

  There were so many differences between them and she often wondered how any of the Kabanian women enjoyed themselves when everything concerning the bedroom seemed to be bad or not done.

  “It is the way of my people for the female to rest until the youngling arrive. I do not know if others persist in bed play during this time because a warrior does not speak of such. Those matters are private with his bride.”

  Assa exhaled softly and kneeled behind him. She draped her arms about his broad shoulders and placed a kiss there, then another at the crook of his neck and the bulge of another muscle connecting his shoulder to the base of his throat.

  “Youngling are a gif
t from the Blessed One. I do not think she minds if we share ourselves in pleasure.” She trailed her hand down his back, admiring the sleek glide of his warm skin beneath her fingers.

  He turned his head to the side slightly, hair shifting with the move. He wore it loose to bed and Assa couldn’t resist burying her face in the length. She nuzzled his neck, pleased when he groaned.

  “You weaken me, my Raasa.”

  At his words, she raked her fangs down his bared nape, loving his fine shiver. “You are a strong Warlord.”

  He leaned back onto the bed, turning to pull her with him. “You speak truth.”

  Assa snorted and curled on his chest, once more playing with the strands of his hair, her chin propped on her forearm. He didn’t protest her weight, instead his large palm cupped her growing mound and rubbed.

  “I will think on your words,” he said after a moment of comforting silence.

  Feeling drowsy and secure beneath his stroking hand, her lids grew heavy. “That is all I would ask.”

  ***

  Balal continued to caress his mate long after she drifted to sleep. If asked what he liked most about being with a Raasa female as opposed to a Kabanian he would confess to this moment. A night like many others where darkness shadowed the land and all was quiet. During these hours his vigilance eased and he allowed himself to enjoy the freedom of expressing his love in a way not customary to his people.

  Affection. Raasa accepted and gave of it willingly. Kissing. The meeting of mouths and tongues entwined. Pleasure. Passion unlike any he’d ever known flaring between them as they achieved release together. This was what he liked about having a Raasa mate.

  Puffs of air hit Balal’s torso with every breath Assa drew. Each time the light sensation touched his skin, his chest clenched. Never did he expect to meet a woman who’d capture his heart so completely when the Overlord made his bargain with the Su-Su of this Raasa holding.

  And here he rested, much content, trusting in this small woman as he lay in her embrace without a weapon in reach to defend himself. Her arms wrapped around his waist, hair spilling over him. All of it filled him with a sense of pleasure mere words could not describe.