“Drop your weapons, Zane,” Counselor Rachmin commanded.
“What nonsense is this?” Ilsa was outraged and her slim body quivered in his grasp. “I am your Queen and I demand you put that weapon away immediately before someone gets hurt.”
“That’s the point, you stupid creature,” the Counselor spat. “I’m going to blow your empty little head off your shoulders.”
“Why you—”
“Can you get up, darling? My leg’s going to sleep.” Zane kept his tone deliberately mild. “I think you’ve gained weight with your pregnancy.” She hadn’t but he needed to free his hands and right now they were full with his indignant wife.
“Oh no, I think she’s fine where she is.” Counselor Rachmin gave them a cold smile. “This way it will only take one shot to kill you both.”
“How efficient,” Zane drawled. “However, I can’t drop my weapons when I can’t even reach them.”
The Counselor offered a cool smile. “You have a point. You both may rise, though I’d be cautious about how far you move. I’d hate to kill you before it’s time.”
Zane kept a firm grip on Ilsa and together they rose. “That would be a shame.” He withdrew his sidearms and held them high where both men could see them before laying them on the floor at his feet.
“Kick them over here,” the guard ordered.
Zane kicked them, but not far enough for the guard to easily reach them.
Let him walk a bit.
He turned his attention to the Counselor. “Maybe, before you kill us, you could tell us why you’re about to commit treason and kill your Queen and a royal member of the UC?”
His lip curled. “There are numerous reasons.” His beady little eyes moved over Ilsa and the distaste was evident. “The first being the fact that she’s pregnant with your mutt. The very idea of the Queen of the Shanart carrying the child of a blood drinker is repulsive.” He shuddered. “It cannot be allowed. The child must die and, along with it, the mother. Our beloved Queen.” He placed his hand over his heart.
“You’re mad.” Ilsa spread her hands over her abdomen where Zane’s child—their child—was safe and warm.
“It gets better.” He rubbed his hands together gleefully. “The tragic truth, as I have crafted it of course, is that she’ll be killed by her new husband because he decided he cannot remain in this situation knowing she deceived him. You see, I’ve fashioned documents that allude to the fact that Queen Ilsa has sold her people to the Mengalors for the riches of the Aloein mines.” He pointed a bony finger at her. “It will look as if you’ve sacrificed your own people for money, blood money.”
“You bastard,” Ilsa lunged and Zane grabbed her by the waist to keep her at his side. “You sold your people for money, not I. They know me, they love me and would never believe your despicable lies.”
“They will if it’s in writing, by your own hand.” His expression was smug.
“And what do you get out of this, Counselor?” Zane asked. He was careful to keep Ilsa’s body shielding his right arm until he could withdraw his pocket blaster from the custom holster in the small of his back.
“I, of course, being the head of the royal Advisors will step forward to placate the clan. Naturally they will turn to me for guidance in their time of turmoil.” He held his hands in a prayerful posture.
“Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you to cause this betrayal?” Ilsa’s voice shook with barely contained rage. “You were one of my father’s most trusted advisors and—”
“You should’ve been born a boy,” Rachmin spat. “We would never have ended up in this mess if you’d been born a man rather than a weak, helpless female who didn’t have enough sense to not fall for a vampire. Then, after you were born, your mother became barren and no more children were possible. Your father, a soft-hearted man, wouldn’t set her aside for a fertile wife. Instead he remained bound to her until the day she died and we were stuck with you,” he sneered.
“He loved my mother—”
“They both were fools,” he spat. “My father advised yours to set Queen Marg aside or to breed upon another woman but he refused. He said you were enough and he’d never humiliate the mother of his child.”
“My father was a good man.”
He waved her words away. “He was a weakling who cared only about his books until it was almost too late. The Mengalors offered riches beyond imagination and he turned them down. My family has been advising the royal family of the Shanart for a thousand years. And what did we receive in return? Nothing. We were never elevated above our current station—”
“You received the gratitude of the king, my father,” Ilsa shouted. “Public service has nothing to do with status; it’s about serving those who depend on you—”
“I’ve heard enough.” The Counselor nodded toward the guard. “Kill them both.”
The guard pointed his weapon at Ilsa and Zane gave her a powerful shove to the side. She screamed as she flew across the room and he raised his blaster. Pulling the trigger, a sharp hum sounded and a blast of white light appeared. The guard flew back into the wall with a bone-crushing thud. A hole the size of his fist smoldered in the center of his chest. His heart had been dissolved.
“No—” Counselor Rachmin whipped open his robes to reveal a small lime-green box strapped to his waist. “If you shoot, I’ll destroy us all—” His hand wavered over a tiny red button on the top of the box. “Drop the weapon.”
Before Zane could respond, another hum was heard and a Krylierian laser blade flew past him. The glowing blade hit the Counselor in the throat, neatly severing his head from his neck. His head hit the floor with a hollow thud while his body wavered for a moment before it too crumpled.
Zane shoved his blaster into its holster and retrieved the blade before it could do any more damage. Pushing a switch in the hilt, the blade vanished and he pocketed the weapon. He turned to see Ilsa staring in repulsed fascination at the Counselor’s head in a spreading puddle of blood.
He stepped over the grotesque sight and approached her, pausing only long enough to hit the SEND button on the missive to his brother. “You’ve got a wicked throw.” He grabbed her under the arms and pulled her to her feet. “I need to sign you up for our holo-ball league. You could be our star pitcher.”
She gave a shaky laugh. “I’ll pass for now as I’m pretty sure I’m going to be sick.”
Taking one look at her pale face and haunted eyes, he scooped her up and ran, just managing to reach the facilities in the nick of time. He crouched beside her as she emptied her stomach and his gut rumbled in sympathy. When she was done, he retrieved a bathing cloth, which he’d dampened with cool water.
“Feeling better now?” With gentle strokes, he rubbed the cloth over her sweaty face.
“Yes, much.” She closed her eyes and leaned against him, her body limp. “I can’t believe my own Counselor betrayed me.”
“Unfortunately, it’s common in the UC.” He tossed the cloth into the sink. “Every quarter I hear about someone plotting to take out someone else for personal gain.”
“So much for being unified.” Her smile was weak. “How can you live like that?”
“We don’t. My family has worked hard for unity among the Xanthra and I think we’ve succeeded.”
“I’m so tired,” she whispered.
He kissed her on the forehead. “Let’s get out of here. I’ll notify the guards and your remaining advisors while you rest.” He placed his hand over her abdomen. “You need to think of our child.”
She raised her face from his shoulder and, even pale and washed out, her beauty struck him anew.
“Are you disappointed?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Never. The question is, are you?” He brushed damp tendrils of her hair away from her face. Her crown was askew and her hair was tangled but she’d never looked more beautiful to him. “You thought you’d kidnapped Loren. Instead you ended up with his younger brother, a vampire at that.”
“Lucky for me my eyesight was off.” Her smile was wan. “No, I kidnapped the right man.”
Zane tipped back his head and laughed, his heart lighter than it had ever been.
Chapter Six
Ilsa slid her mouth over Zane’s beautiful cock, taking him deep into her throat. She loved doing this to him, bringing him to heel as it were. She swirled her tongue about his broad head before shooting a glance at his face. His eyes were closed and he had a look of dreamy intensity. She ran her teeth along the underside of his cock and his lips pursed.
Liked that, did he?
She was about to repeat the movement when a resounding crash thundered through their sanctuary and the door to her outer chamber blew inward. Before she could react, Zane sat up and grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, keeping her close to his side.
“Hold, little one.” He had an amused smile on his face and he nodded to the door leading to the outer chamber. “I’d like you to meet my siblings.”
“Oh my…” Ilsa dove for the sheet to wrap around her nude body.
A tall man stood in the entry and he looked exactly like her husband with the exception of his hair. It was a short military cut. Beside him stood a slim, pixyish creature with short, dark hair and familiar blue eyes. Behind them stood several armed guards bearing the royal Xanthra crest on their sleeves and helmets.
“What the devil is going on here?” Prince Loren scowled at his brother. “I get some sort of half-assed message from you, then nothing. I thought you were dead.”
“As you can see,” Zane looked down at his erect cock, “I’m very much alive.”
The young woman laughed and Loren rolled his eyes then ordered his guards from the room.
“You might want to leave, Zoe,” Prince Loren said to the young woman. “You’ll see more than you bargained for.”
The beautiful Zoe rolled her eyes and flounced off, pocketing her blaster as she did so. The crunch of retreating footsteps over broken glass told them they were alone.
“Does Mom know you’re running around the galaxy with ZoZo?” Zane asked.
Prince Loren shook his head. “She’s been cast out of her third college this quarter and I picked her up on the way here.” He slid his blaster into its holster. “What is going on?”
Ilsa shivered. Loren was indeed handsome and, now that the brothers were together, the slight differences between them were noticeable. While they looked almost physically identical, Loren was lean while Zane was broad. The younger brother had been raised a warrior while Loren was the obvious diplomat.
“You’re early, brother. I was about to fuck my wife,” Zane said. He pulled her in front of him, using her body to cover his nudity. “Queen Ilsa, please meet my rude brother, Prince Loren el Ranuth.”
She tried a queenly smile, knowing it probably came out shaky. Right now she was feeling anything but queenly. “How do you do, Your Highness?”
Loren smiled and came forward to drop a quick kiss on the back of her hand. “I’ll give you a proper greeting later when you’re both dressed.” He shot Zane a loaded look.
“Brother,” Zane placed his hands around Ilsa’s waist. His thumbs caressed the undersides of her breasts and she flushed and clutched the sheet tighter, hoping her new brother wouldn’t notice. “Unless you want to watch…”
“I fly halfway across the galaxy to save your sorry ass and all you can think about is your dick?” Loren threw up his arms as if to admit defeat. He shook his dark head and gave Ilsa a quick bow. “Madame, you have my sympathies for marrying my brother. You must have been drugged.” He pointed at Zane. “You have fifteen minutes.” He glanced at his watch. “Starting now.” With that, he turned and stalked from the room, slamming the door behind him.
Ilsa released the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Is he always like that?”
“Tedious, isn’t he? If you’d managed to kidnap him, you’d have been bored within an hour.” Zane swung her to the bed and pulled the sheets away from her body. “Not to mention he’s not nearly as good in bed as I am.” His heated gaze moved over her and she went liquid soft. “So, how many orgasms do you think you can manage in fourteen minutes?” With a wicked smile on his handsome face, he scooted down the bed. “Let’s see, shall we?”
The first touch of his tongue reinforced what Ilsa already knew. She’d definitely kidnapped the right man.
About the author:
Dominique Adair is the pen name of award-winning novelist, J.C. Wilder. Adair/Wilder (she chooses her name according to her mood - if she's feeling sassy and brazen, it's Adair - if she's feeling dark and dangerous, it's Wilder) lives just outside of Columbus, OH where she skulks around town plotting her next book and contemplating where to hide the bodies (from her books of course - everyone knows that you can't really hide a body as they always pop up at the worst times).
Dominique welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at P.O. Box 787, Hudson, Ohio 44236-0787.
Also by Dominique Adair:
Last Kiss
Party Favors
Tied With A Bow
Discover for yourself why readers can't get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora's Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.
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