I looked back at Akir. His gaze hadn't softened one bit. Bastard. "I promise I'll be back, Akir."
He rolled his eyes and sat back onto his throne. "Whatever you say, lass," he muttered and then looked away.
It somehow hurt, that small bit of rejection but I sobered and pulled Lex the rest of the way down the dais. The music had started up again and I pulled them away from Akir, though close enough where I could still see him.
"What's the matter with you?" I hissed at them. At all three of them.
I hadn't noticed before but only River and Kael wore the Ruined City fashion. Kael still wore the same jeans from earlier but his sweater had been replaced with a tight leather vest that left his muscled arms bare. River was dolled up in tight leather jeans and a tattered T-shirt.
"You look ridiculous," I said to my guard, chortling a laugh.
"Apparently it's all they had." He glanced down sheepishly at the attire.
"Yeah, we're fine, thank you," Lex snapped angrily.
I looked at him. Still in his nomad outfit, as if wearing leather was entirely beneath him. His blonde hair was ruffled, his eyes downcast and livid.
I glared at him and his tone. "I just saved your ass, thank you very much."
"Really?" He looked at me. "I thought I was the one saving yours."
Kael sighed with exasperation. "I told them you were fine, princess. They refused to listen."
River shrugged a little shamefully. "We were worried about you." He gave a pointed look at my chest. "I guess we shouldn't have been."
I looked down to see my breasts practically spilling out of the vest. Sighing, I zipped it back up.
"Look, you have no reason to worry about me. I can take care of myself."
"Yeah, I can see that," Lex said with irritation.
I ignored him. "Anyway, Akir is an okay guy… He didn't kidnap my mother. In fact, we think his father was kidnapped by the same person." I went on to explain. When I finished, they looked a little less angry. Except Lex. "Tonight we can take a break. Tomorrow we will go back to investigating."
Kael nodded. River looked slightly skeptical. Lex just scoffed. "Whatever," he said and started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" I demanded.
He didn't even turn around. "Away from this stupid party."
"Stay out of trouble. And don't get caught in a trap," I called after him. He feigned laughter and then disappeared into the crowd.
"He seems to have had a vision of him saving you from your evil fiancée." Kael explained, as if that could forgive his behavior. "He's still nursing his wounded ego."
"I don't care."
I turned away from the spot where Lex had been standing and made my way back to the throne.
Back to Akir.
Only to find my fiancée surrounded by women.
Chapter Five
Women draped around his throne and in his lap. Some pouring alcohol into his mouth sensually, giggling as it fell from the sides of his mouth. She bent almost as if to lick the drops from his face in a way that I'dcraved earlier.
I scoffed at the sight and an emotion foreign to me seared straight inside me like a hot rod. It was ugly and violent. I had the sudden urge to reach over and yank her from his lap and hiss at the other women in a very possessive way.
"Your highness," I sneered at him.
Akir seemed to notice me for the first time. He smiled slyly. As if this were all some sort of a game. As if he hadn't been thick and hard inside me only an hour earlier.
I knew, logically, I had no right to be mad. Why? I had River. I had Kael. A part of me even had Lex even if nothing had been set entirely in stone with him yet. I had an abundance of men. Akir by all rights could have had an abundance of women if that's what he desired.
But the rage was still there.
His rough calluses were imprinted on my skin. The bruising of his love making was there. It was in the ache between my legs, in the swelling of my lips.
And I wanted that for myself.
"Princess," he acknowledged with a nod. The girl above him giggled.
Ugh, I tore my gaze from them and sat on my own throne. Kael sat on the mound of pillows to my side. River stood a moment, taking in Akir and the women. I recognized the expression on his face so well. The judgmental frown, the wrinkle between his eyebrows. I reached out to touch his hand and he turned to me.
"Can we leave?" He pleaded, as if it hurt him more than it hurt me to see Akir in someone else's embrace. Or maybe he wanted to spare me the sight. Ever the protector, he was.
"No," I refused to let him chase me from this party. I was here to have fun. To forget. To let go.
To be free.
I waved to a server close by and he brought me a drink. I downed it in one go and asked for another. I drank half of it and stopped. It was strong. Too strong. My head was already spinning slightly.
"Keanna..." River looked at me worriedly.
I ignored him and jerked my gaze back over to Akir when I heard him groan. The girl had the lobe of his ear between her teeth. My face heated with rage.
Dropping the cup, I stood up lightning fast and took the few steps over to his seat and yanked the girl by the arm. She fell from his lap and onto the floor with a cry.
"Get lost," I demanded. I looked up at the girls draping the back of it. "All of you." There must have been murder in my eyes because they all scattered without comment.
As soon as they were gone, I plopped myself into Akir's lap. I swiveled so I was looking into his eyes. His mouth was set into a smirk.
"What is it, lass?"
"Shut up, bastard." I wrapped one arm around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
This time, I took control. This time, I punished him. My tongue teased and took. He tasted of alcohol and sin. And I was drowning in the flames of hell, dragging him down with me. I was the beast he couldn't escape from.
I broke apart finally to glare at him. "If you truly want me as your queen," I began breathlessly, "then you'd better fucking treat me like one."
"You said you weren't my queen." His fingers went to my cheek and stayed there.
"You're supposed to be convincing me otherwise."
"Fine," he turned me around in his lap so my back was to him. "Then watch the real fun begin."
The loud blast of music died down first, followed by the dimming of the fire. Things went dark and ominous as music started up again. This beat different than the last. It was the steady pounding of drums echoing against the night sky to rattle stars. The beating continued. Faster and faster.
And then bodies silhouetted against the backdrop of the bonfire. Bodies I only caught flashes of whenever the strobe lights flashed. And what I saw was enough.
The people danced. They revelled. Tearing their clothes from their bodies with each turn until they were naked and twirling. And then they broke off into groups, closing in together. Their bodies pressed closely together, mouths gasping, hips thrusting.
I watched in fascination at the revelry. At the joining of bodies, at the open sexuality. I watched a woman get to her hands and knees and a man penetrate her from behind just as another thrust into her mouth from the front.
I gasped.
"This is the freedom my kingdom can offer you, lass," Akir whispered against my ear. I felt the words slide slowly and deliberately down to my core. I felt wet just watching. Just listening. "All you have to do is tell me you want it."
"I want…" I gasped when I felt his hand slip into the waistband of my pants and slide down the center of my folds.
"Hmm?" He pressed a kiss to the side of my neck.
"I want…" I couldn't think beyond the spinning of my head. All that was on my mind was this. His fingers against me. The feeling of needingmore. "I want Kael and River," I rasped. His hand stilled. "I want you to watch us and do nothing. I want you to f
eel what I felt when I saw those women on you."
I was playing with fire, I knew. But I didn't care. Not when it coursed through my veins. When I was its wielder. When I was the one in control.
Akir pulled his hand from my pants and leaned his forehead against the crook of my neck. "You're a cruel woman. But if that is your heart's desire, I will not take your freedom from you."
I shuddered in pleasure at his words alone and stood from his lap. "Kael, River," I whispered. They came forth obediently, looked me over with desire in their eyes. They were as affected by the display as I was. As empowered by it. They needed me. And I needed them. "I want you both," I whispered. I didn't take my gaze off Akir. He'd leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs and watched as Kael went behind me and River to the front.
I held my breath as Kael, gentle Kael, placed his hand against my neck, trailing circles against my skin with his thumb before bending down to kiss my flesh. I arched, leaning into River.
River's hands were at my hips, tracing feather light touches over the front of my body, stopping just over my breasts. He squeezed me in his palms and I briefly cursed the leather restrictions before he kissed me.
His lips were slow against mine. He took my bottom lip between his teeth and bit down.
I gasped.
Warmth and pleasure assaulted me from every side. Sandwiched between the two, I felt everything. I felt their every inch over me. And still I wanted more.
"Take it off." I tugged at River's shirt desperately. He pulled away from me and complied, tugging it over his shoulders. I watched the workings of his muscles, of every ridge and bump shadowing against the flicker of orange light.
The warmth at my back left for a brief second as Kael pulled the vest from his body. I stole a glance at Akir. His eyes flared as they took me in. I wondered what it was he was seeing. What it was he thought. But my thoughts flew when I felt River's hands at my chest again, pulling the zipper down and pushing aside the lapels to bare my breasts like a feast before him.
He bent and took a nipple between his teeth, suckling on me in torturous movements. Just as I started to gasp and pant from that pleasure, I felt a new torturous sensation tease me from different angles.
The buttons on my pants were undone and Kael was pulling my pants over my hips from behind. He got to his knees, tugging the material off me, over my legs. He made quick work of tugging off my boots before pulling my pants completely off.
If I'd expected him to stand back up, I'd been wrong.
Kael stayed on his knees behind me, hands gripping my hips, trailing down to my ass and squeezing.
My knees nearly buckled.
But Kael held me upright from behind until I found steady footing. He slid his body up against my back, causing me to shiver. And as he slid up, River slid down, his tongue trailing down the valley between my breasts, down my stomach and lower still.
It was like they were in sync with one another, with me. They knew what I wanted. What made me pant, shiver and what would make me beg.
And then I felt the hot rasp of River's tongue at my center and Kael's fingers flicking my nipples. He teased them to torturous peaks, pressing lovely open-mouthed kisses to the back of my neck. River's hands gripped the outsides of my thighs, his tongue parting my folds to delve in.
I cried out, digging my fingers into his scalp at that contact. At what it made me feel. The wet, hot rasp of his tongue was heaven. He dove in and out, swirled, working with every gasp and whimper, moving so expertly against me. I wanted it faster. I rocked my hips against his mouth, urging him on.
Meanwhile, Kael tilted my head up, kissed along the edge of my jaw until he found my mouth. His tongue was hot on my lips. I moaned as I took him in. As I kissed him desperately, rocking my hips against River's mouth while Kael devoured my own. It was breathtaking. It was...it was…
I tore my mouth from Kael's to gasp. I was high on that painful edge. So close. I wanted to fall into the drop below.
River's fingers ran over my clit then his tongue and teeth were there, sucking, pulling me to the edge of insanity.
I turned away from Kael, to Akir.
He was still there. He was staring at me. His eyes were flaring with desire but he gave no notion that that's what he felt. And I think it was the look in his eyes, the dark half-smile that he gave me that sent me over the edge, spiraling down...down...down…
It was sinful.
It was right.
I melted against the man kneeling before me. The one behind me held me up. I was aware of their bodies. Of their presence and masculinity. Of the beating of the drum pounding through the air. We were invisible on our dais. We were our own little world.
Slowly, deliberately, Akir stood to his glorious height. His eyes never left mine. That was his challenge. To see who would break first and look away. But I would not.
He peeled the jacket from his body and dropped it on his throne. The naked planes and ridges of his chest were revealed to me. His tattoo spiraled from his chest to his arm. I couldn't make out the design. My ears rang too loudly. My mouth was too dry.
He stepped down, eyeing me like his next prey, like he meant to devour me whole. And the anticipation was killing me.
"It's my turn, now," Akir said darkly, dangerously.
Kael chuckled lowly, pressed a kiss to my neck before stepping away. River was more reluctant to go but eventually he parted and went to sit at the throne beside Kael. To watch. As soon as they were gone, Kael seemed to growl at me. "On your back. Now."
Because I otherwise felt I might fall if I didn't, I complied. The ground was cold on my backside but that didn't matter. I'd soon be warm.
The vibrations of the music shook the floor, making it look like I was trembling. Akir bit his bottom lip a brief second and I lost all sense at the gesture.
He kicked off his boots, undid the button of his jeans, then the zipper. "If you thought to piss me off with your little display, sorry to say you'll be entirely too disappointed." He pulled his jeans down and off his body then stood before me. Proud. Dangerous. Erect.
He let me take my fill of him. And I stared. Stared at the impressive length jutted up against his stomach like a strong pillar. At the thickness of his thighs, the strong arms, the rippling muscles of his chest and abdomen.
"Mine," I whispered.
Akir smirked and came down to lay on top of me. I welcomed his heavy weight. The feel of his skin on mine. I hadn't appreciated it earlier in our rough, angry joining. I hadn't the time to explore, to tease. The look in his eyes told me I wouldn't get to do much exploring this time either.
"You want to know what I felt while I watched them pleasure you?" Akir asked, trailing a finger down my cheek. I nodded. "I felt desire. I felt it like a flame inside me." His hands slid down to cup my breast. I groaned, arching into him. "You're beautiful when you moan, when you come. I didn't get to see it earlier." I felt his cock against my entrance. I wanted him there. I wanted him inside. "I'm not like your other men, lass. Do you understand?" He nudged his tip inside, ever so slightly.
"Yes," I moaned.
"Good." He replied. "Because I'm in control now."
And he thrust to the hilt inside me.
Chapter Six
A map marked up in red covered the entire wall; photographs of tire tracks, of men and women I didn't recognize and places I'd never been to were tacked up alongside it.
Akir stood in front of the maps, his back to me. He looked refreshed this morning, his hair still damp from our early morning bath. My back still ached from where he'd pressed me against the tub.
We sat around a table, River, Lex, Kael and I as well as Akir's personal guards and his two younger brothers.
His brothers, Braxtyn and Cole Murtaugh, looked a bit like him, if a little less worn down by life. They were free of scars and beards but were covered in pie
rcings and tattoos.
Cole, the youngest and smallest of them had a spike running straight through his eyebrow. He wore mauve leather pants with a looped chain dangling from his pocket and a black, too-tight shirt that showed off his biceps. The tips of his short, blonde hair were dyed an electric blue.
Braxtyn appeared to be the more serious of the three. A man as tall and as muscular as Akir, his face was prominently grave, bright eyes stern and judgmental. His clothing wasn't as eccentric as Cole's, but simple in jeans, boots and a T-shirt. The moment I'd walked in, he'd glared at me.
"Tell me what you've found," I said to Akir.
He turned slowly to face me before he waved a lazy hand over his mysterious cork board of information.
"My father disappeared on the outskirts of the city." He gestured at the map of the Broken World. A place once so grand, billions of people had lived and thrived from it. Now, it was nothing but ruins, a world divided into clans with uneasy relationships. "He'd been missing for hours before we noticed and went to investigate. Tire tracks were found near burnt into the ground here." He pressed a finger against a spot on the map. "Along with my father's collar." He procured from his back pocket a snapped leather collar, the kind Helga wore, and tossed it onto the table.
I stared at it like it was a bad omen, remembering my own mother's necklace. A necklace I had to remind Akir to give back to me.
"What was your father doing on the outskirts of the city alone?" River asked, tapping the tip of his dagger against the table. He was looking at them all suspiciously, as if he still hasn't decided whether to completely trust them or not.
Braxtyn eyed the dagger, a crease forming between his eyebrows. He looked at River judgingly, angrily. "He wasn't alone," he stated. "I was with him."
River stopped his tapping, gripping the handle tightly. I didn't miss the way he edged closer to me in a protective way. I doubt Akir missed it either.
"Really," River drawled. His voice held a strong edge of disbelief. Like he couldn't quite fathom why two royals would wander that far away without their personal guards.
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