Royal Obsession

by Friberg, Cyndi

  Something blunt and warm pressed against her opening. She trembled beneath him. He wouldn’t hurt her. She’d had sex before, yet it had been nothing like this. Kiel had been tender and sweet. Varrik conquered, ravished with passionate skill.

  “Relax. You’re more than ready, I made sure of it.”

  He drove inward. Her body opened, surrounding him, accepting him. He pulled almost out, then thrust hard. She gasped, and a violent shudder racked her body. He drove in farther and farther, not stopping until their bodies were flush. She felt incredibly full, stretched just short of pain.

  “Am I hurting you?” he whispered into her damp hair.

  Unable to form the word, she managed to shake her head.

  He slipped his hands beneath her bottom and rocked back onto his knees. Keeping his length buried inside her, he bent to her breasts, nuzzling first one and then the other. He sucked and licked while she marveled at the persistent fullness of his thick shaft. How did he restrain himself when he was obviously desperate for release?

  With infinite care, he pulled back, until only the flared head remained inside her. He eased his hand between their bodies and circled her clit as he steadily filled her again. His first thrust had been hard and sudden. Each stroke that followed seemed incredibly long and deep. He stretched her, filling her more completely than she’d ever imagined.

  He kept his movements slow and smooth until her body welcomed him with liquid heat. “Oh, yes,” he murmured. Shifting both hands to her hips, he thrust faster. Her breasts quivered, and each firm drive pulled against the cuffs. She canted her hips, relishing the pressure around her wrists and ankles. His pace turned frantic, self-control at last exhausted. His hands returned to her ass, squeezing and lifting as he took her with his powerful body and burning eyes. Pleasure soared, sweeping rational thought aside.

  Heat swirled through her, cascading along her spine and erupting in her core. He thrust deep one last time. Tension corded his neck and his chest heaved. Gritting his teeth, he threw back his head and shuddered violently. His shaft bucked inside her, his seed exploding in forceful streams. Pleasure rolled through her, each tingling wave more intense than the last. She cried out and tightened her inner muscles, holding him the only way her position allowed.

  Varrik shifted to his knees, and Echo whimpered. “Please.” The plaintive word escaped before she realized how much it revealed. She didn’t want to lose the fullness of their joining, but admitting the weakness was foolish, dangerous.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” His passion-bright eyes burned into hers as they basked in the afterglow. “I should be angry with you, but this felt so good I won’t hold your lie against you.”

  The Mystic barrier she’d created to block her womb wasn’t a lie, exactly, more like a deception. “I never lied to you.”

  “You weren’t a virgin.”

  “I never said I was.” Protected by the truth, she boldly met his gaze. “You overheard E’Lanna’s telepathic plea, and I told you I wasn’t as innocent as my sister believed.”

  “So you did.” Reaching backward, he deactivated her ankle cuffs and drew her legs up along his chest until her heels rested on his shoulders. He pushed the cushions beneath her bottom and began to arouse her all over again. “You seemed to enjoy having my mouth on you. Have you ever pleasured a lover with your mouth?” She shivered, her inner muscles rippling around him. He chuckled at her reaction. “Does that mean you did and you enjoyed it, or you wanted to and—”

  “I haven’t pestered you with questions about your lovers. What gives you the right to know all my secrets?”

  “For the next five days, I’m your master. I have a right to anything that pleases me.” He bent her knees and spread her legs wide, thrusting deep. She gasped, bracing herself for the onslaught promised in his unyielding expression. His gaze narrowed, and his lips pressed into a furious line. He shifted his hips, his expression turning thoughtful. “What have you done?”

  This time she knew exactly what he was asking.

  “You know I can sense Mystic energy. Why did you believe I wouldn’t feel this?” He pulled out and crawled off the bed, his erection ebbing as his anger grew.

  “I told you I would resist you with my dying breath,” she stated quietly. “You expect me to give up my child.”

  He clenched his hands into fists, the blue rings in his eyes glowing brighter than they’d ever burned before. “You call this honor?” He gestured toward the apex of her thighs. “When I give my word, I keep it. I stayed true to my vow, even when my body—” Someone pounded on the privacy panel, interrupting his tirade. “Not now!”

  The door slid open, and Echo tugged frantically at the wrist cuffs. Having Varrik see her like this was one thing. She would not be put on display!

  Uncaring of his own nakedness, Varrik spun toward the door. “I said— Can this please wait, sir? I’m punishing my female.”

  The abrupt change in Varrik’s demeanor sent a chill down Echo’s spine.

  “So I see.” The panel slid closed behind the stranger, and he approached the bed.

  Echo bent her knee and angled one leg over the other in a futile attempt at modesty. The man carried himself with the calm assurance that came only with great authority. Varrik had called him sir. This couldn’t be good. What was he doing here?

  His dark eyes were ringed with blue, just like Varrik’s, but there was no resemblance in their features. Where Varrik’s were sculpted with unforgiving angles and high cheekbones, this man’s face was rounded and somewhat blunt. She looked back into his blue-ringed gaze and shivered. How many of the Shadow Assassins had Rodytes in their linage? She glanced between the two men, helplessness chewing at her gut.

  “What can I do for you?” Though Varrik’s words were correct, his tone was tight and angry.

  “Who is this woman?” the stranger demanded.

  “I claimed her and her sister when I ventured to the world above.” The utter lack of expression in his features was telling in itself. “You gave me permission to hunt, sir. Is there a problem?”

  Instead of reiterating his question, the stranger looked at Echo. “What’s your name, child?”

  She hesitated. Would her situation go from bad to worse? At least she understood what Varrik wanted and why. She knew nothing about his superior. “Why do you want to know?”

  One of his dark eyebrows arched, and his gaze swept over her naked body. “Are you content with your situation?”

  “How do you intend to better my situation?”

  To her utter mortification, he ran two fingers in between her thighs and raised the shiny digits toward his nose. “I won’t chain you to my bed and cover you with my seed.”

  “My claim is valid. It was pre-approved and—”

  “Did you snatch her from Mystic Valley?”

  Varrik moved closer, insinuating himself between the bed and the other man. “She is not a Mystic. Ask her if she is allowed inside the Conservatory.” His broad back partially obscured her view of the intruder.

  “Are you a Mystic?” His angry gaze darted toward Echo, then returned to Varrik’s face.

  Technically, she wasn’t a Mystic. Her abilities were scattered and unpredictable. She’d never bothered applying to the Conservatory. The Mystics tended to be passive and politically neutral. Early on, she’d chosen a different path.

  He will barter you to the Rodytes. You must trust me in this. He is—

  The man backhanded Varrik so hard his head snapped to the side and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. “It is rude to talk behind an elder’s back, and you know it.” Shoving Varrik to the side, he faced Echo, his dark eyes narrowed. “Are you a Mystic?”

  “No.”

  “Then what were you doing in Mystic Valley?”

  “My…cousin was getting married.” She suspected he knew her identity. If she lied now, it would only cast doubt on anything she told him.

  “Why would a shapeshifter not be accepted by the Conservatory
?” His tone snapped with demand.

  “I can only hold a shift for a second or two. Though unusual, the ability is of no real use.”

  “Except scanning open doors,” Varrik muttered.

  “Did you know who she was when you targeted her?” the man asked Varrik.

  Varrik took a moment to answer. He didn’t so much as glance at Echo. With his hands clasped behind his back and his gaze fixed on the older man’s face, he stated his case in a calm, precise tone. “When you gave me permission to hunt, you told me to choose carefully, to find a strong, healthy female, full of passion and energy.”

  “I didn’t mean Mystic energy!”

  “The Customs only precludes Mystics, sir,” Varrik insisted. “I know the law. She is not a Mystic. I am within my rights.”

  The men stared at each other in strained silence, Varrik’s expression inscrutable, the elder’s filled with hostility. Taking advantage of the momentary lull, Echo reached out for E’Lanna.

  “I will confer with the other elders and get back with you.” He turned on the ball of his foot and left the room.

  Echo barely heard his departure over the rushing of blood through her ears. E’Lanna didn’t respond to her seeker pulse. Echo felt no shield, no telepathic trail, nothing. “She’s gone.” Echo twisted against her restraints, trying in vain to sit up. “I can’t sense her. E’Lanna is gone!”

  * * * * *

  North stomped down the corridor unable to decide if he was angry or amused. Varrik was up to something. After seeing Echo naked and rosy with carnal fulfillment, he could see why any man would risk the wrath of the elders to claim her. His steps faltered. Was that all Varrik had done, taken a woman unattainable to most men in the world below? He would love to believe Varrik’s motives were no more malevolent than that. It was just too hard to swallow.

  He returned to the meeting room and took his seat without interrupting the heated debate going on between East and South. South loved to argue. He generally took an opposing position regardless of the issue.

  “What did you find out?” West asked as South paused to take a breath.

  “My wily nephew is bending the rules as far as possible without breaking them.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? Did he realize this woman was a shifter when he chose her as his mate? What about the sister? Does she have abilities, too?” South rattled off the questions, content to abandon the other subject, at least for the time being.

  “I suspected Varrik would only breed once, so I encouraged him to set his sights high. He followed my advice to a greater extent than I intended.”

  “You’re still hinting at meaning,” West said. “Spell it out.”

  “Though not technically Mystics, the females Varrik targeted would never have been considered for our program.”

  “And why is that?” South wanted to know.

  “Because his twins are E’Lanna and Echo dar Aune.”

  After a stunned silence, West said, “They must be returned immediately. Their mother will declare war on us while their father rallies every Mystic on the planet. Their uncle is best friends with the overlord, and his sister just joined with a Bilarrian dignitary! Varrik could not have chosen a woman—”

  “More worthy of his seed!” South cut in. “I say balls to Varrik. No other descendent has imagined what he just dared.”

  “Did you hear what North told us?” West pushed back his chair and stood. “The High Queen’s daughters are…” He swung his head toward North. “Has Varrik mounted them yet? How long have they been down here?”

  “He should be commended.” South folded his arms across his chest and nodded, the blue rings flashing in his eyes. “Mystics are forbidden because of the security risk, but why do we restrict our descendants to peasants and underlings? They should be allowed to mate with any woman they choose.”

  “There is more to this than wanting a mate.” West shared his glare evenly with the other three elders. “What is Varrik’s true motivation for putting us in this position?”

  “It could be an interesting test.” East tended to be the quietest of the elders. He listened as the others argued and only offered his opinion when he felt it was relevant. South and West could learn from his example.

  “Interesting in what way?” North prompted him.

  “If all the powers in the star system are called to arms and they still can’t find our maze, we will know once and for all that our relocation is successful.”

  “And if they find us, of course, we’re all dead.” South’s support of Varrik’s boldness evaporated in an instant.

  “The deed can’t be undone,” North reminded them. “The royal twins now belong to the world below. I would like to leave Echo with Varrik, for now. We can learn much from his treatment of her, and as South said, his daring should be rewarded.”

  “And the other?” Interest sparked in South’s gaze.

  “I haven’t decided yet.”

  “We are all elders,” South insisted. “Why is her fate yours to decide?”

  “Because Varrik descends from the north.”

  “Be that as it may,” East said, “we need to know how the world above is reacting to Varrik’s boldness.”

  North nodded. “I’ll pay a visit to Fortress Joon.”

  Chapter Seven

  Varrik released Echo’s cuffs and gathered her into his arms. “He must have moved her. He has nothing to gain by harming her.”

  “I can’t sense her.” She stared at him, eyes wide, lips trembling. “Even if she were shielded, I should be able to sense her shield.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Hell, no,” she snapped. Then much slower, “Yes. Can you help me find her?”

  “If you allow me into your mind, I can boost your telepathic range.”

  “Is that all you’re going to do?”

  “For now.” He grinned and took her face between his hands. “Form her image in your mind.”

  She wrapped her fingers around his wrists and closed her eyes. Distracted for a moment by her unexpected touch, his gaze gravitated downward. She knelt before him, thighs parted, her position more submissive than she realized. He spared her delectable body one last look, then sank into her mind.

  Control was not her strong suit. He smiled, wondering why the discovery surprised him. Chaotic images and flares of random emotions swirled around a perfectly formed likeness of E’Lanna.

  Think of her expressions. Picture her eyes, her smile. I can project the scan beyond your range, but I need you to guide me. She didn’t need to know he could locate E’Lanna in a matter of minutes without her assistance. She was wary enough without knowing the full extent of his telepathic strength. Besides, Echo would never take his word for her sister’s wellbeing. It was imperative she experience it for herself.

  I think… No, wait that wasn’t…

  Concentrate.

  The clutter began to clear and E’Lanna’s image focused. Much better. Echo turned her scan toward the faint signal and propelled them along the energy stream. Surprised by her sudden rush of power, he applied a subtle hindrance. Elder North would have surrounded E’Lanna with telepathic traps, easily triggered and hard to detect.

  Varrik fused his signal with Echo’s, governing what she could see, a small, dimly lit room, not unlike the holding cell. E’Lanna lay upon a flat cushion, covered to the waist by a thin sheet. Her arms were folded over her stomach, and her eyes were closed.

  Not too close, or he’ll know we’ve been here.

  I don’t care if he knows, she objected.

  There is no way you could have found her without my assistance. Helping you is a punishable offense.

  He felt her sigh. Why is her signal so weak?

  Elder North used a stasis compulsion. It’s harmless and allows a person to be kept in a remote location for several days with minimal supervision.

  Can you free her from its effects?

  A compulsion can only be deactivated by the person who c
onstructed it. There was another way, but he wasn’t willing to tell her, yet. He had risked enough for one day. Are you satisfied that she’s unharmed?

  Do you know where this is? Her mind shifted restlessly. It looks sort of like the maze, yet different, older maybe.

  The maze was built over many cycles. Some parts are older than others. Let’s go. You can’t communicate with her. It will only frustrate you to try.

  With discernible reluctance, she released her hold on the visualization, and they sped back across the metaphysical plane. Weightless and free, he relished the sensation of motion, unencumbered by the physical realm. They returned to their corporeal bodies, and she opened her eyes.

  Will you help me free her? she whispered in his mind.

  I can’t. They will be watching every move I make, trying to figure out why I chose you for my mate. If they realize my true purpose, we’re both dead.

  * * * * *

  Concealed within an illusion of invisibility, North moved unhindered through Fortress Joon. The Shadow Assassins had enjoyed a profitable alliance with the House of Joon for many cycles. The only secret the elders kept from the various Joon leaders was the location of the maze.

  Early in his reign Lilt dar Joon had suppressed his hatred for the High Queen and participated openly in the Joint Council. Then twenty some cycles ago, Lilt’s involvement with the Rodytes came to light, and he had fallen out of favor with the other great houses. His standing as an outcast had forced him to strengthen his other alliances, which translated favorably for the Shadow Assassins.

  Guards paced in front of Lilt’s chamber door. They were required to remain in motion, assuring their attentiveness. North smiled as he slipped by them unnoticed. He released his corporeal form and passed through the locked door. After a moment of suffocating closeness, he emerged in the antechamber. He was aware of his surroundings in a way that transcended sight. The large, sparsely furnished room was empty, so he floated across the marble floor, rolling like mist over water and swirling under the bedroom door.