by Emma Dawn
From there on out, he didn’t touch me, and my awareness of him changed. While I was still feeling his every move, the focus on fighting helped to keep the burning hormones at bay.
For what was at least two hours we worked on my defenses, on what to watch for when the queen came at me, at how to take a blow, how to strike with as much power as I could at the perfect moment.
Of all that, learning to take a hit was the hardest of the lessons in the most literal of senses.
We were sparring, and Spartan swung an open-handed blow aimed for my head. I thought I could block it in time and swept both my arms up, crossed at the wrists. I did manage to block his hand, but I had no way to stop all that power behind it. Which meant my own arms and crossed wrists were slammed into my head with the force of Spartan’s muscles behind them.
I went down, flat out on my back, and found myself blinking up at the ceiling as the world danced and tumbled around me.
Spartan was there in a flash, kneeling beside me, his hands on either side of my head. “Shit, are you okay? Talk to me, Ally, talk to me.”
“I’m seeing stars, and a large vampire with golden eyes. I must be dead, right?”
He closed his eyes. “Shit, don’t do that to me. I thought I hurt you.”
I carefully pushed to a sitting position. “Well, I’m not going to lie and tell you that it felt good, but I think I’ll be okay.”
“That’s enough for today. The others—they would not forgive me if something happened to you while you were in my care.” His words were...careful. Like he was speaking to himself as much as to me.
He stood but didn’t hold his hand out to me. I understood. The less we touched, the easier it was to deny the pull between us.
I dusted off what was left of my skirt. “Same time tomorrow?”
“Every second fuck.” He said the words as monotone as I think was inhumanly possible.
“After Celt, then?”
“Yes. You have to have time with them, and one of them must stand with you.”
I took a step, testing my legs. No wobbling, so that was good. “What is that all about exactly? I mean, the bare minimum was explained to me, and I suspect there is more.”
“I can’t tell you.” We had walked the length of the open training field and were back to the narrow hallways.
“You can’t tell me, or you won’t?”
“That is not a lie, but a rule. If I could tell you I would.” He shook his head. “But I can’t. Please do not ask it of me.”
Damn, I only wanted to know more now. A mystery wrapped in a conundrum was this place and the men who’d come into my life.
It seemed like a very short time before he was dropping me off at the room. My room, to be exact, in the center of a hub. The five brothers were housed around the same hallway, close enough that they could be there for their time with me.
A thought rolled through me, what I would say was my writer’s mind doing what it did best. Causing trouble and offering possibilities I didn’t truly want to consider.
I bit my lower lip. “King knocked on the door, Spartan. He knocked but then he wasn’t there. That’s why I was able to get all the way down the stairs.”
Spartan paused. “It wasn’t him. I trust my brothers with my life, and I know King. He might come off as aloof from time to time, but I guarantee he would not put your life in danger.”
I didn’t want to point out that that seemed to be Spartan’s job, as it were, at least according to my first impressions with the whole sword bit. Then again, other than that moment, he’d behaved admirably. More than I would have expected just a day ago.
A day already, how was that possible? Maybe time ran differently here, twisting and turning as much as the hive tunnels did. Anything was possible, I supposed.
“Thank you, for training me,” I said. “I’ll do my best to smash Malcom’s balls for you before I go.”
His eyebrows shot up. “That’s a nice way of saying before you die.”
“Don’t remind me.” I pushed him gently, the flat of my hand on his chest. I turned to the door and let myself in. I leaned against the door once it was closed, my eyes shut tightly. For just a moment, I wanted to let myself believe Spartan would be in the room with me, touching and teasing me, laughing and relishing the heat of our combined bodies. I knew it was not to be, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t dream.
Chapter Ten
“What thoughts roll beneath those sea-blue eyes of yours, princess?” King’s voice tumbled to me, and my eyes opened. The room was transformed from what it had been.
The sheets changed from the dark blue to a deep red covered in white rose petals. Around the edges of the bed was a multitude of tall candles that gave off a flickering light, as if beckoning me forward.
King stood next to the bed, surprisingly with clothes on. The same cream-colored loose pants as before, bare-chested, though, and that was still a nice image. All that worked to steal my better judgment from me, and I squared my shoulders and clung to the handle of the door. If I had to run, I would.
I needed to be ready if I didn’t like his answer.
“Did you hear me question Spartan?” I needed to clear the air. I would not sleep with a man I suspected had set me up to be killed. No matter how stunning he was to look at.
He bowed his head, that auburn-kissed hair falling forward. “Yes, I heard your questions to him.”
“Were you not supposed to come for me next after Wick?” I couldn’t help the sharp tone. These men I barely knew, yet found myself caring for, I was trying to save them. The least they could do was understand my life was in danger. Which reminded me that not all the information had been given to me.
“And since when does not telling me about all the dangers count as honesty? If anyone had bothered to tell me I was in danger not just from the queen but from other vampires, I might have stayed in the room.” The words were hot, and he kept his head bowed. I knew it wasn’t truly fair to chastise him like this. It wasn’t just his fault I hadn’t been told all the truth and nothing but the truth. But he was here, and the others were not. Which meant he was getting the short end of my temper.
His head was still lowered as he spoke. “Allianna, I am sorry. I was preparing things to make this special. I should have been here.”
“And I was almost killed for it,” I said.
His head snapped up and his nostrils flared. “What?”
“I left the room, and I took the advice of another vampire, directions to the hospital to see my friend. And instead, I ended up in the room with a giant werewolf that almost killed me.” A shudder ran through me. “I just want you to be honest. If you don’t want to be here with me, then go. I do not want more lies in my life. I won’t have it.”
I closed my eyes, a growing surge of emotion swelling in me. The wolf. Cassie in the hospital with the bandages on her neck. Fighting with Spartan. Realizing that I was going to die at the hands of the bitch queen Terra.
I burst into ugly, fear-filled tears, unable to contain them any longer.
“Allianna,” the words sounded as if they pained him, “there is so much we are forbidden to tell you. I...I want to be here with you, and I swear it on my life that I will protect you. I will keep you safe even if it means my own death.”
“I don’t want you to die.” I sobbed the words. “I don’t want any of you to die.”
In seconds, King scooped me into his arms and carried me to the bed. I curled against his chest, sobbing my heart out. I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung to him, to his solid warmth and the sudden certainty that he would do all he could to protect me.
That certainty spread, and I knew Spartan was right about King and his other brothers. They would not fail me. If anyone would fail, it would be me when I faced Terra, and it would cost them their lives. That thought sent off a whole fresh onslaught of tears. All of which King patiently and gently wiped away while he held me tightly against his chest, never once trying to stop m
e from crying.
The tears ebbed, a final hiccupping sob rolling from me. “I’m sorry. I think you have a fair number of tears and far too much snot on your perfect chest.”
“Perfect chest?”
I loosened my hold on him, and looked up into his face, searching for a hint of duplicity there. But in those green eyes I saw nothing but a faint sadness, and I knew I’d caused it. “I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
He smiled and shrugged. “I am a strong enough man to carry a few of your tears on my most perfect chest.”
A knot that had tightened in my chest slowly eased. “Thank you.”
He stood, lifting me with an ease that sent a little thrill through me. “Let’s get you cleaned off. You have dirt on your knees and elbows from your training.”
The sway of his steps lulled me, even in that short distance from the bed to the spa bathroom. The candles were halfway burned down, but still gave a flickering glow to the room, like a dream. Like once more, this wasn’t real. I let that belief stick with me, feeling safer in my dream world.
King set me on the tile floor, flicked on the shower heads and proceeded to peel my sweat-stained, chopped-up skirt and top from my body. I moved to touch him, to slide my fingers into the top of his pants, and he shifted out of reach.
My heart sank. He didn’t want me, like Spartan. Funny how only a short time ago I wasn’t sure I wanted him, and now being denied, my feelings were hurt. I pulled my shit together.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.” I headed to the shower, but his hand on my arm stopped me.
“I do want you, Allianna. But according to my brothers the heat rises fast between you and your partner, and I want this to last as long as it can.” He made a motion to the shower. “In with you.”
A careful smile crept across my lips. Mostly because I was trying not to gleefully grin that King still wanted to bed me. I stepped into the shower and a moment later his hands were there, lathered in soap.
“Arms up,” he said, his voice brooking no argument. Obediently, I put my arms over my head, facing him while the water streamed against my back. He started at my fingertips, working the soap over my skin, inch by inch, all the way down my arms to my shoulders. Almost professionally, he washed over my breasts, and belly, into the hollow of my belly, my hips, thighs and calves. Cherished, he made me feel cherished in a different way than the others. And like the others, he seemed to have no problem with the fact that he was sharing me with three other men. Perhaps my fears were ungrounded after all. Perhaps I could have my hot man cakes and eat them too.
“Turn,” he said, “the rest of you is dirty too.”
A laugh escaped me as I did as he asked. My face and chest were hit with a heavy stream of water, and King’s hands began to work a wicked magic on my back. I lowered my hands and pressed them against the wall as the strength of his hands bled through to me. He massaged my muscles as though he knew exactly where they were stiffening. He worked down my spine and into the hollow of my back, taking great care. Over my buttocks, taking extra time with each cheek before sliding down the backs of my thighs, over my calves, and then went so far as to pick up each of my feet in turn, washing the bottom. He swept back to my ass, his hands gliding over my skin, circling around, higher and higher until he was at the top of my cheeks, caressing now more than massaging.
“That won’t get any dirt off.” I peeked at him from under the stream of water. A grin quirked his lips to one side.
“True enough. But I’m hardly done.” He used his thumbs, working them in deep swirls that pressed into my flesh, lifting each cheek, spreading them ever so slightly as he slid down farther, to the tops of my legs, all the way to the back of my knees, my calves, and then back up.
“Turn.”
I was shivering with a growing want; the slow build of touch and heat grew with each passing second under his fingertips as he drew lines over my skin. Designs of desire. This time, King slid his hands over my shoulders and around my breasts, far slower this time, swirling the soap, slicking my skin and making my body a veritable slippery-slide playground.
“Can I touch you?” I couldn’t help the way my voice sounded all breathy, and to be honest, I didn’t care.
“Not yet.” His breathing was not much more even than mine as he slid his hands down my belly, skimmed my hips and slid around my inner thighs. His hand was slick as he moved the palm over my clit and pussy, and the flat pressure drew a groan from my lips. He pulled his hand back up, letting his fingers trail through my folds, up to my belly button.
“King?”
“Yes?”
“I really, really want to take this further.”
He grinned at me. “Yes, we’ll get there, oh impatient one.”
His hands, the deep flexing of his fingers into my overworked muscles relaxed me in a way I didn’t know I needed.
“On the bench.” He gave the direction with the air of not often being told no. Here was the arrogance I’d have expected of a man named King.
I lifted my hands over my head and let the water sluice off my skin, removing the last of the soap. Because I was hoping I was right about what was going to happen.
God, I hoped I was right.
I moved to the bench and sat with my knees clamped together. Behind me a stream of water slid from an opening above our heads, like a waterfall that cascaded down to the bench. Warm water slid around me, tickling the edges of my body.
King stepped into the shower, his cock outlined against his loose wet pants. Big, big boy, bigger than either Wick or Preacher.
I licked my lips as I stared at him, wanting all of him in me, every last inch. He groaned.
“Do not look at me like you want to—”
“Eat you?” I supplied the words and smiled up at him, slowly crossing my legs. With my already slick skin it became a deliciously sexy move. “Don’t you want to be...eaten? I do.”
His eyebrows shot to his hairline and then just as quickly narrowed. “Is that a request?”
I shrugged one shoulder, trying to play it cool, which was a bit silly considering I was sitting there naked, waiting for the word to throw my legs open wide for him. “A demand might be a more accurate word.”
He dropped to his knees in front of me and put a hand on either knee, slowly pushing my legs apart. With a tug, he brought my bottom to the edge of the seat. It was only then I realized that the bench was a perfect height for exactly this. For a woman being pleasured by a man.
He held my legs apart and lowered his face to the inside of one knee. He sucked at the skin, making a soft popping noise, he pulled at it so hard. I squirmed in my seat, wanting that pressure on my pussy and clit, not the inside of my knee. With great care and attention, he worked his way up the inside of my leg until his mouth hovered over my folds.
His breath tickled at my skin. “No hair.”
“Waxing,” I whispered, unable to take my eyes from the top of his head. King looked up at me and grinned.
“Lovely, so lovely to see all of you unhidden from my gaze.” He flicked the tip of his tongue out and teased the folds, brushing against my clit. I whimpered and tried to push closer, but he held me in place with his hands on my knees.
The water licked at my back and King slowly licked at my front, parting my folds with stroke after stroke, using the tip of his tongue and then the flat. He put his entire mouth over my pussy and drove his tongue inside me, catching me off guard.
I arched against him, finding handholds on either side of the bench to help me steady my body. “Yes, please, yes.” The words were a whispered plea. The sound of the water around us, the feel of his tongue, all of it bringing me to a crest. Already? Or was I just getting better at finding my orgasm?
He pulled back from my pussy and looked up at me. “You taste like heaven, Allianna. I want to taste all of you.”
I swallowed with some difficulty around the sudden dry mouth I had. “Yes. I want that too.”
&nb
sp; King carefully tugged me forward so my legs were around his upper chest and then he stood up.
I let out a squeaking eek as he carried me out of the bathroom, his face between my breasts. He didn’t let a moment go to waste as he caught the underside of one breast in his mouth, sucking on it the way he’d done the inside of my knee, making the skin suction tight before releasing it, drawing the blood to the site, leaving a mark on me that was his own.
We reached the bed and he lowered me, shoulders first so my legs were still wrapped around his chest. He gave me a deliciously naughty grin. “This is convenient, don’t you think?”
His mouth descended on my pussy, and I could do nothing but writhe under his care. I cried out as the heat from his mouth, the flick of his tongue over and over my clit, harder and faster, brought that slow build of luscious pressure low in my belly, that pressure that meant I was coming hard and fast.
Right before I reached the crest, he pulled his mouth away and I cried out from the sheer loss. I squirmed where I was as the sensations faded. “That’s not fair.”
“You’ll thank me later.” He let my legs drop and slid between them, lowering himself on top of me. The bed sank only a little under our combined weight. The smell of the rose petals and the sweet soap he’d used on my body floated around us. My skin was still wet from the shower, and my pussy was wet with need.
But I wanted more than just the sex, and I knew it now. I wanted to know who these men were who put their lives on the line for me. Who would die if I failed, and did so willingly.
“Why King? Why that name?”
He pressed his mouth against the hollow of my throat and kissed his way up to my mouth. “I don’t want to discuss it.”
I sighed as his mouth traced patterns across my face, so gentle, so careful, as if I were the most precious thing he’d ever held. He wasn’t even giving me his full weight, I knew because the press of his cock still was held back by the thin material of his pants.
“I don’t want any of you to die for me.” The words came out suddenly. He paused in his ministrations and looked down at me.