Mikail Bana had his back to them. He stood shirtless in bare feet, sneering when he turned and met Xan’s gaze. He had a few fading bruises but otherwise looked fine. Anna Leigh realized Barak had left him alone for Xan to deal with however he saw fit.
“Finally got what you wanted, huh, Xan?” He held his hands out expansively as if presenting a gift. “The Bana clan is yours.”
“And I’ll care for it better than you have.”
“By bending to the Traces and Torfas,” he said derisively.
“By acting with honor,” Xan countered.
If Mikail had a comment about that he kept it to himself. “So how am I to die?”
“With zero attention.”
“I have the right to a public trial.”
Xan shook his head. “If there was any doubt of your guilt, maybe. However, there is no doubt.”
Mikail’s disdain was palpable. His contempt clear on his face and the taunt easy to see in his eyes. And Xan…though he didn’t show it, he was enraged. When he motioned the guard to open the cell, Anna Leigh almost stepped forward to stop him. He motioned everyone else to back off and then he punched his cousin. It became clear in the next few seconds that though Mikail might have been a clan chief by birth, he was absolutely the wrong choice. Xan laid him out with the third punch and the idiot was smart enough to not stand up. Anna Leigh repressed a wince at a final kick that landed on his kidneys. When Xan stepped back he had blood on his hands and a look on his face that said he expected rejection. But she couldn’t judge him on his actions. She’d do the same to anyone who threatened her people.
“You should clean up before we see any of the others,” she said telepathically.
Maintaining his reserve, Xan stepped out of the cell and turned back to look at his cousin, who’d backed against the wall and offered no protests though his eyes were filled with hate. Anna Leigh recognized the type. He’d used his position to enforce his word. Wasn’t used to opposition, but like most bullies he buckled under a stronger force.
“Let’s go,” Xan said aloud, and took her hand.
Minutes later they entered a suite that was nothing like the parts of the stronghold she’d seen so far. There were plush carpets on the stone floors and thick comfortable looking couches in the center of the room. On the opposite wall French doors opened onto a large patio. To their right was a kitchen and dining area. On the left she could see the bedroom through the open door.
“Was he using these rooms? Because that would just be weird.”
“No,” Xan said. “The stronghold belonged to my father as the second son. Since my uncle only had one son, and he had no sons, it remained mine. I grew up here.”
His tone was so modulated she knew there was a lot more to the story. He walked through the living area and into the spacious bedroom, then to the attached bath, pulling off his shirt as he went. She trailed behind him, wondering why the stronghold made him sad.
“You grew up here, but you don’t live here do you?”
He reached into the shower and turned on the water. Then sat on a stool and removed his boots and socks. Standing, he popped the snap on his pants and slid them down. As usual she held her breath at her first glance of him in all his naked glory. The man was magnificent, and he knew it. He turned to the sink and washed his hands, giving her the perfect opportunity to stare at his ass.
“You’re overdressed, love,” he said, watching her in the mirror. He shut the water off and faced her.
She shook her head, trying to clear the fog of lust from her mind. “What?”
Instead of responding he helped her out of her clothes. Before she knew it water poured over them. He pushed her against the tile wall, held her hands over her head, and took her mouth. He was…unleashed. Wild. Everything he’d hidden while speaking to Mikail poured into her mind. Fury, regret, sorrow. Emotions she was well versed in. She tried to get closer. To offer succor. But he refused to accept it. It frustrated her and she bit his bottom lip so he’d let her go. He stared down at her, surprise written across his face.
“What was that for?”
“You know.”
Sighing, he tucked her close. “I am a warrior, sweetheart. It’s my job to protect you not the other way around.”
She resisted the urge to smack him. “I refuse to be in such a one sided relationship.”
He leaned back to enough to look down at her with narrowed angry eyes. “There is no way out.”
“Then I suggest you learn to compromise.”
Understanding dawned in his expression. “This is why you’ve been holding back.”
She hadn’t considered that might be the reason why until he said it. “You insist I show you all of me. Not just what I’ve done and what I’m capable of, but…my fears. My weaknesses. Why won’t you share yours? You want everything from me, but you refuse to give the same in return. I promise I can handle it.”
He shuddered, so briefly she might have imagined it, then buried his face in the curve of her neck. She wrapped her arms around his head and waited for him to speak.
“I’m not comfortable with this kind of emotion. Guilt and regret. I should have made sure Xiri was safe. I thought Goran could protect her,” he whispered telepathically.
“You were on Earth. The blame for this falls on your cousin not you.”
She sensed his smile in her mind. “You know I won’t excuse myself.”
She did. He took complete responsibility for those under his protection. “We need to work on that.”
The smile became a chuckle and he lifted his head, brushed his lips along the side of her face. Tiny, teasing kisses. He slid his palms over her ass and lifted her onto his hard cock.
“I’d rather work on something else.”
It was a long slippery ride that had her panting and demanding release in mere minutes. He refused to give it to her. Instead he pulled out, turned off the water, and hurriedly dried them both before tugging her into the bedroom. She found herself on her hands and knees on the bed, Xan thrusting into her from behind in a rough quick stroke. One thrust and she was lost. The leash of his control snapped, he fucked her. Hard and fast. She let herself go. Let the rapture take her over as she convulsed on each plunge of his cock into her. One orgasm merged into two and then three. By four she was screaming in ecstasy. With the fifth she stopped thinking, stopped breathing. Her mind splintered, her body flew apart. She was distantly aware of him coming with her the last time. She didn’t care. She floated in a space beyond bliss, beyond ecstasy. This was dangerously close to completion.
His weight sagged against her, pushed her to her stomach. Somehow he managed to maneuver them fully onto the bed without her help, rolling to his side and pulling her close. It was becoming a comfortable, familiar position. A part of her thought she should be concerned about that but she was too satisfied to care. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of him. The strength of his hard male body curled around her. He pressed a soft kiss to her nape, just a breath of air really.
“Rest, love. Sleep easy in my arms and know you’re safe,” he whispered so softly she could almost ignore the yearning for more.
Chapter Six
A couple of days later, Xan stood in front of the stronghold’s main entrance with his mate and watched the party from the Keep land. He was tempted to put a halt to the upcoming meeting. He could simply demand Zola be released into his care and not subject her or Anna Leigh to public spectacle. He didn’t because of a conversation he’d had with Kaje Stian the previous afternoon. The Keep’s Steward had implied that Zola was Jarek Idis’s der’lan. Since Zola was now his daughter, too and Xan had fathered no children, any son she had would be his heir. He needed to see for himself if Jarek was up for that kind of responsibility. Still…
“I should have stipulated Zola and Jarek only for this visit.”
Anna Leigh shook her head. “No. That would put too much pressure on her. This way she gets to judge my intentions with the support of her
friends if she decides I’m just going to disappoint her again.”
Though she looked calm and serene--no one else would notice anything wrong--he was in her mind. He knew how much the idea unsettled her. She was anxious about seeing her daughter again after so long. Seconds later Zola exited the shuttle, Jarek close on her heels, and made her way towards them. Her power lashed, a whip barely contained, and again he was reminded of the prophecy.
“Zola. You look good.”
“If you came to kill me, I promise I’ll take you with me.” Her words were thick with fury, but he heeded Anna Leigh’s urging to let her handle it.
Anna Leigh shook her head. “I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to help.”
Zola laughed. The sound was bitter and harsh with old anger. Jarek leaned close to whisper in her ear and her expression transformed into something soft and hopeful. Xan was grateful to see it, to know that with her mate’s help she would be able to move beyond the past and perhaps form a healthy relationship with him and Anna Leigh. The others joined them, surrounding Zola, and he realized she wasn’t as alone as he’d worried.
“We need to talk, Mother.”
Anna Leigh stepped aside so the others could enter, but Xan stopped Jarek and Zola.
“You’re wearing Idis colors,” he said, unsure if he should gentle his tone with the hard eyed young woman who faced him.
“She’s my der’lan,” Jarek said.
If she was the bond wasn’t complete. How did Jarek expect to protect her if it remained so? Xan could see she had her mother’s strength and will, however. It was an odd position to find himself in. He didn’t know how to deal with a child much less a grown one.
“Is that so, daughter?” he asked her but watched Jarek. He would not risk the life of another of the females under his protection. The longer she delayed answering the more concerned he became.
“He is,” she finally answered.
It would do for now. He led everyone inside to the room he had brunch waiting in. After they’d filled their plates, he and Anna Leigh sat facing Jarek and Zola. He brought up the subject bothering him.
“You’re bond isn’t complete.”
“You know how it is in the Keep,” Jarek said. “She’s mine. We both know it. No need to hurry.”
Xan had always thought that tradition--waiting for the female to indicate acceptance--ridiculous. It couldn’t be changed. There was only one mate for any them, so why delay the inevitable? But he found his mind changing. He didn’t want his daughter forced to accept a male she didn’t want. And Jarek’s words angered Zola. She may not have denied the connection, but she was far from accepting it. Maybe that was for the best. He could offer her a father’s protection while she decided. No one would deny his right in the absence of the der’lan bond. He would watch and wait, decide the best course of action before they left. Zola stood and went out the doors to the conservatory. A few minutes later Anna Leigh followed. Xan didn’t listen in on their conversation but he felt her distress.
“I’m fine,” she said. “She’s angrier than I expected and she has every right to be. I’m giving her the information I collected and coming back inside.”
Once they were back inside, Anna Leigh returned to his side, slipped her hand in his in an unspoken request for comfort. He was happy to provide it while he watched Zola become excited and insist two of the names on Anna Leigh’s list were actually her allies not her enemies. When she attempted to make arrangements to meet with them, however, Jarek forbade her to go. While Xan might agree with the sentiment, even he knew the younger man should have approached it more diplomatically. He may not know his new daughter well yet, but he could see she had her mother’s stubbornness. He refused to even contemplate what would happen if he tried to forbid Anna Leigh from doing something. She couldn’t leave him but she could sure as hell make him miserable. That was the only reason he didn’t prevent Zola from leaving with them a few minutes later. This was a lesson Jarek would need to learn on his own.
***
A couple of days later Xan worried about his own resolve to respect his mate’s ability to protect herself. On the way to the Keep to attend the goddess cult’s Rebirth Celebration, they’d received word two Tel agents had been cornered at the site of a staged training accident. They’d quickly changed course and had arrived in time to watch Zola calmly execute the first. Anna Leigh joined her when she approached the second. The man’s hatred and diseased mind leaked past his shields, and it took self-control Xan didn’t know he had to let his women handle it and not step in himself.
“Thank you,” she whispered in his mind in a combination of amusement and testiness.
He couldn’t hear the conversation from where he stood, but understanding how tense he was with his mate so near the enemy, she invited him into her mind to listen in.
“We should have known. A family of traitors,” the Earthling said.
Xan felt Anna Leigh’s contempt, shared it. “That’s the best you have?”
“Clark will kill you. If you think you can hide here, you’re wrong.”
“Clark can’t touch us. He’s dead.”
The enemy didn’t believe her so she showed him Clark’s death. Xan had already seen it and approved of her actions to seek vengeance for Zola’s imprisonment and torture.
“Zola is suspicious,” she told him sadly.
He knew she worried the rift between mother and daughter could not be healed. It twisted something inside him that he didn’t have the words to reassure her.
“She just needs time.”
“Perhaps. I wonder who’s impersonating Clark. There shouldn’t be anyone left who could pull it off.”
Their daughter had tired of questions, however, and moved on to other means of extracting information. Her blade sliced a wound across the male’s stomach that unattended would leave him dead within the hour. Then, in a low mocking voice, she asked if he’d researched the planet’s wildlife.
“They have a big cat called a saber. It’s a lot like a tiger. Interesting beasts. They like to eat their meat live and they’ve evolved smart enough to know just how to keep their meals alive for days.”
Her voice was chilling as she continued. He approved. This man would have killed her if he could. He deserved to die slowly.
“Course it wouldn’t take much to spill your guts all over the valley floor. Wonder how long you’d live then? It would be a shame if you found mercy too soon.”
“Oh I don’t think that will be a problem,” his mate said.
She didn’t try to block Xan from her mind, but he sensed her withdrawal and wondered what she had planned that made her fear his continued acceptance of her. Then he saw it, a small flame resting just over her palm. The scent of burning flesh filled the air as she cauterized the wound. Not to aid the Tel agent, but to scare him into talking. Surprisingly it worked. He swore he didn’t know where the others were.
“Do you believe him?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Anna Leigh said.
As the agent continued, he felt his mate’s surprise. He claimed five teams, not four had been sent to Delroi.
“Could he be lying?”
“I don’t know. Clark didn’t lie, but if someone is impersonating him on Earth maybe they were able to slip in a fifth team.”
The interrogation continued with the agent insisting he knew nothing of the other attacks or the other teams. He and his partner would report by coded message and received orders the same way. He didn’t have a comm unit on him however, and refused to tell them anything else.
“Rip it out of his mind,” Zola said to Anna Leigh.
“I can do it,” Xan offered, feeling Anna Leigh’s revulsion.
“No, I’ve got it.”
She was precise and emotionless as she extracted the address the agents had been using. He fought her though, putting enough pressure on his brain to cause blood vessels to rupture. It trickled from his nose and ears.
“It’s done,” she s
aid.
Zola pulled her weapon and shot him three times in the chest. She turned, gave Kaje the location, and requested to see it later.
“We’ll secure it for you,” the Steward said.
Zola turned to her mother. “Where are you headed?”
He didn’t know Zola well enough to judge her current state of mind, but he felt his der’lan’s concern.
“Bring her home with us,” he said.
“The house in the Keep’s city. Do you want…”
She didn’t complete the invitation and the hesitation in her voice, the expectation of rejection, made his stomach hurt. When Zola nodded, he exhaled a sigh of relief. As they walked to the shuttle, Jarek moved to intercept them.
“My der’lan,” the healer said. “I go where she goes.”
He approved of Jarek’s insistence. His daughter needed a strong protector, a warrior with the strength to allow her to be herself and take care of her when it was necessary. And by the time they reached the house he’d decided Zola definitely needed the care. She was withdrawn but he could feel a growing numbness. She needed to vent all that repressed emotion and would only share her vulnerability to her mate. He showed them to their suite. Zola went inside without a word, leaving Jarek to deal with the niceties.
“I’ll bring her some clean clothes,” Anna Leigh said.
Jarek shook his head. “I’ll have my mother send something from the Keep. Don’t be surprised if she shows up herself.”
“That’s fine,” Xan said. “I haven’t seen Lady Rona in years. It would be nice to catch up.”
Next to him Anna Leigh stiffened and he wondered if he’d said something wrong. He set his hand on the small of her back and led her down the hall to their suite. Inside she wandered through the rooms while he went to the bar and poured them each a glass of gazzi. She returned, picked up the glass, and went to sit down on the sofa. He was certain he’d said something to upset her but didn’t have a clue what.
Absolution (Delroi Prophecy Book 4) Page 5