Savage Kingdom

by Deanna Ashford

  Two of the guards went to leave, but the other held out his hand. “Your gown, lady.”

  “Allow me some dignity.” She walked over to the bed.

  Nerya slid the gown from her body and slipped beneath the covers, pulling up the sheet to cover her naked breasts. Barely even glancing at her, the guard picked up the discarded satin robe and followed his comrades from the room. The door closed and locked with a loud click. There was no escape for her now, but where would she go if she tried?

  When she’d first been imprisoned in the citadel, she’d been determined to find a way out, but Asumi had kept insisting it was impossible. She pointed out that even if Nerya managed to get out of the seraglio, she’d be caught before she’d gone more than a few paces, especially as Nerya had no idea of the layout of the huge building. After a while she’d given in to Asumi’s pleading and decided to bide her time in the hope Jaden would break in and rescue her. It wasn’t an illogical assumption. After all, he intended to try to rescue Brion. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined any of this. Perhaps she shouldn’t have taken any notice of Asumi. It had been easier to surrender herself to the luxuries of the seraglio, instead of using all her warrior instincts to find a way out. Yet, if she’d escaped, she would never have known Brion’s exact location, or even that he was alive and well despite the spell Lord Naga had put on him.

  Jaden was here in the citadel and he was a Dai’Shi-en and a loyal servant of the Empress of Acheron. She didn’t know exactly what a Dai’Shi-en was and she’d no idea how Jaden had managed to convince everyone he was a member of this strange, frightening sect. It was clearly part of some clever charade to gain a position of power in the citadel so he could help them all escape.

  Of course, once he came in here and they were alone, he would again become the Jaden she knew.

  Or would he? She shivered and clutched at the bedclothes as she remembered the strange darkness in his eyes.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jaden laid his weapons and his sword belt on a low chest and slipped off his velvet robe. A cool evening breeze drifted through the windows, ruffling the long drapes. It brought a chill to Jaden’s flesh as he removed his boots and breeches, but he could still feel the warmth emanating from the dragon pendant which rested against his upper chest.

  He’d all but ignored Nerya when he entered the room, and yet he was very conscious of her sitting in his bed, staring at him, clutching the sheet to her naked breasts as if it was a barrier which would keep him away from her. Her beauty astounded him, as it always did, and he wanted to reassure her—tell her he would do her no harm—but somehow the words wouldn’t come. At present he fought an internal struggle to prevent the darkness from taking over his mind. The constant battle made it difficult for him to even think rationally at times. Ever since he’d put the dragon pendant around his neck again, the seductive voices had filled his head with iniquitous thoughts and sent dark, malevolent visions into his dreams at night.

  He’d never worn the pendant when he’d been away from Acheron. He’d kept it concealed in the special box he’d had constructed to help keep its power at bay. Even so, he’d never been able to bring himself to go anywhere without it. When he’d left Percheron to travel to Kabra, in order to keep it safe he’d had the box sewn inside Barsan’s saddle. The day Nerya had returned the stallion to him, she’d unwittingly reunited him with the pendant as well.

  After his capture, he’d been obliged to reveal he was a Dai’Shi-en, and the loyal warriors of Acheron wore their dragon amulets at all times. It was a potent symbol of their absolute fealty to their masters. At Jaden’s personal request, the seneschal had sent soldiers into the city to find Barsan and recover Jaden’s belongings. Once he’d slipped the pendant around his neck, it had become one more powerful link in the chain that bound him to Eridea once more.

  “Jaden.” Nerya at last spoke. “I don’t understand.” She sounded confused and even a little nervous.

  “I won’t harm you.” He approached her. The terror he’d often seen in others when he was close to them could be a powerful aphrodisiac, but he had no wish to see such fear in her eyes. He’d had her removed from the seraglio to keep her from Naga, and even the mage would not dare challenge him on this. Nerya was safe, at least for the time being.

  “Will you not?” She clutched at the thin sheet as if it would somehow prevent him from touching her.

  “I desire you.” Her gaze slid downward, and he heard her slight indrawn breath as she saw his erection. “I always have.”

  Jaden ripped the sheet from her grasp and climbed in beside her. Nerya didn’t pull away as he might have expected, but neither did she lean closer. She didn’t move a muscle as he slid his arm around her. The tension did not leave her body when he pulled her to him. Jaden trailed his fingertips down her spine. She’d always loved such seductive caresses, but she didn’t react. She felt stiff and unresponsive in his embrace.

  “It’s all right, Nerya,” he said in a soothing tone. Jaden brushed his lips across the jasmine-scented skin of her neck, fighting the fire of lust growing inside him.

  “Is it?” she asked, her voice shaking.

  To his relief, her body started to soften as he tenderly stroked the generous curves of her breasts and squeezed her nipples. He leaned forward and sucked on one sweet teat, pulling at it with his lips. With slow deliberation, he trailed his hand over her flat stomach toward her sex. She tensed as his hand slipped between her thighs. Her inner flesh was not as moist as it usually was. It soon would be. Nerya belonged to him. She was his alone.

  He caressed the narrow valley of her sex, then focused on her small pleasure node—circling it, stroking it until the tenseness at last began to leave her body. Nerya gave a faint whimper of pleasure, her flesh becoming moister beneath the seductive movements of his fingertips.

  “Please,” she said as he pushed her back against the pillows. “I need to know who you are.”

  “I am who I’ve always been.” How could he say any more when he didn’t even know the answer himself?

  “Your face…” She shuddered. “When I saw you in Brion’s room, your eyes were so black and unfeeling. I thought I’d lost you.”

  “You’ll never lose me.” Jaden eased two fingers inside her, moving them gently, trying to be as tender as he could, even though the raging fire in his loins became difficult to suppress.

  The blood roared in his ears as his desire grew to fever pitch. No one would take her from him, and here in the citadel he was the only protection she had against the menacing forces surrounding them. Jaden eased her legs apart and kneeled between her thighs, just managing to keep a hold on the powerful lust that poured through his veins. It was far from easy. The dark forces swirling inside him were difficult to resist.

  “No, Jaden.” Nerya tried to push him away. “I can’t do this. I need you to explain what happened to you first.”

  “Nothing has happened to me.” Instinct prompted him to respond to her reluctance by grabbing her wrists and forcing them above her head. “All is as it should be,” he found himself saying as he thrust into her brutally.

  Nerya gasped, all the breath forced from her body by the power of his entry. She went limp, making no attempt to fight him now as she closed her eyes and submitted to his sensual demands.

  Jaden let go of her hands, supporting himself on his arms as he fucked her. All of a sudden the tension inside his head exploded, setting his veins ablaze with lust. He needed to be closer to her. Sliding his hand behind her back, he pulled himself onto his knees, lifting her unresponsive body toward him. Locking her against him, her soft breasts crushed against his muscular chest, he continued to thrust into her, so aroused all he could think about was his own release. He kissed her, grinding his lips against hers and pushing his tongue into her mouth.

  A salty liquid trickled over his lips. Was she crying? A small ray of sanity penetrated the darkness in his mind, and he pulled back his head to see tears streaming from her e
yes. “I’m sorry, I’m being far too brutal,” Jaden murmured, filled with contrition. “You’re my light in this endless darkness.”

  Struggling to keep hold on his all-consuming passion, he rocked his hips, slowing his pace in order to give her the pleasure he knew she craved. Focusing on the love he felt for Nerya, he somehow managed to overcome the savage fire seething inside him. He forced himself to become gentler with her as a measure of sanity returned to his mind. Tears still stained her pale cheeks, but he was certain in the last few seconds something had changed.

  “Jaden,” she whispered as she slid her arms around his neck and threaded her fingers through his hair. “Don’t leave me.”

  “I’ll never leave you, Nerya,” he vowed as his hands splayed across her supple back. He nuzzled her cheek with his lips. “I care for you too much.”

  Jaden slowed his pace even more, his movements now fueled purely by his desire to satisfy her as well as himself.

  The intensity of his passion appeared to arouse her. “I need you,” she murmured, pressing her lips against his shoulder, urging him onwards. “I want you too,” she gasped, twining her legs around him.

  Jaden rotated his hips, eager to give her the pleasure she craved. His climax was all too close as he slipped his fingers between her buttock cheeks and pressed his thumb against her nether opening. She gave a soft groan and dug her teeth into the flesh of his shoulder as he pushed a little harder, invoking a seductive pressure on the small brown ring of muscle.

  Her hot breath brushed his cheek, and she bit deep enough to draw blood. He didn’t care. The pain helped him keep a check on the sinister forces writhing in his mind as his climax came, incredibly powerful, but sweet all the same.

  Tarn rolled over, scratching at his face as something soft tickled his cheek. He came fully awake and realized it was only the fur blanket covering Senshu’s bed irritating his skin. How could he ever forget what had happened last night? She’d used him, and he loathed her for it. Senshu was insatiable. She’d worn him out, and he’d barely gotten more than a couple hours of rest.

  He turned his head, hoping not to wake her, seeing her sprawled on the mattress beside him. By the gods! She wasn’t asleep. The bitch had her hand clamped between her thighs and was pleasuring herself. What was wrong with her? He couldn’t even begin to count how many times they’d had sex during the long night, in an endless variety of ways. Every time his strength had failed him and his cock had refused to accede to her demands, she’d used the keitan on him, forcing his shaft into full wakefulness again, until she’d drained his body and he’d fallen asleep from exhaustion.

  “So, you’re awake at last?” She sat up, her hair in disarray, her lips swollen by his kisses. Here and there he could see bite marks on her pale flesh. The fact that he’d made them disgusted him. “It’s about time. I’ve been waiting ages.”

  “You seem to be managing well enough by yourself. It appears you no longer have need of me.” As soon as he’d spoken, he realized the tone of his voice was far more scathing than he’d intended.

  “Get out!” she snapped, shoving him away from her. “When I was finished with you, slave, you should have crawled from my bed and slept on the floor.”

  “Willingly.” Tarn sprang from the bed. “It’s my pleasure.” Senshu reminded him of a tavern whore with her legs spread lewdly open waiting for her next customer. How could he have let himself be so weak? He’d submitted himself to every one of her perverse sexual demands. Not only that, he’d gained a bizarre kind of pleasure from their couplings. He now had to live with the fact that on occasions he’d even enjoyed fucking her.

  “How dare you be so disrespectful, slave,” she blazed. “Kneel and beg my forgiveness.”

  Tarn’s suppressed anger raged to the surface again. “Here.” He picked up the keitan and threw it at her. “Use this if you want. This time, ensure it causes pain. I’d rather have that than be obliged to fuck you again.”

  Tarn blanched, at once regretting his furious words. Brion’s life could well depend on the fanciful whims of this bitch. He was an idiot. For one stupid moment, he’d let anger overwhelm reason.

  Senshu’s expression darkened. Tarn knew he should fall to his knees and beg her forgiveness. Pride prevented him from doing so. He forced himself to lower his eyes. Consumed by misery, he waited for her fury to swallow him up and destroy him completely. All he hoped was his foolish loss of control wouldn’t cause her to harm his precious son.

  “I have to admit, I find you quite amusing at times.” To his amazement, she laughed. “Were you serious?” She picked up the keitan. “Do you want to taste this again?”

  “It’s your choice. Is it not, my lady?” How his life had changed. He, a powerful monarch, was now forced to bow down to this despicable woman.

  “And absolute power is such a wonderful feeling. You must know that.” She rose, tossing her tangled blonde hair behind her shoulders. “There’s so much I have to teach you. Under my instruction you’ll even learn that pleasure can be gained from pain.”

  “Pleasure for you, or pleasure for me?” he grated.

  “Why both, of course.”

  Tarn shook his head. “No, I think not. I could never gain pleasure from pain.” He frowned as a thought struck him. “Does Lord Naga, perchance, enjoy being punished?”

  “Tarn, you’re a slave.” She smiled slyly as she stroked the keitan, and he concluded his wild suspicions might well be correct. “You’re not permitted to ask such impertinent questions.”

  “But you enjoy inflicting pain?”

  “Why not?” She casually brushed the tip of the keitan against his limp cock, and a surge of unwanted desire filled his loins again. Tarn would have sworn it was impossible for him to get another erection after the many times she’d abused his manhood last night. His gaze fastened on the keitan. He longed to wrest it from her hand, use it on Senshu and cause her untold pain. If only he knew how the damn thing worked.

  “Why did you choose me?” he asked. “Why not Sarin?”

  “Not that Sarin isn’t attractive, but as I said in the dungeon, he’s a little too scrawny for my tastes.” She pursed her thin lips. “I like big muscular men, but I also have a penchant for variety. After I’ve finished with you, maybe I’ll try fucking Jaden of Iberim. I’ve heard that coupling with a Dai’Shi-en is a unique experience. They’re cruel, powerful creatures. The brutality of their indoctrination ensures they’re the finest and most fanatical warriors in the service of the Dragon Lords.”

  “Brutality of their indoctrination? Are they somehow forced into becoming Dai’Shi-en?”

  “You’re curious about Jaden of Iberim.” She shook her head. “Don’t be. All you must remember is that he’s no friend to you now. He’s your most formidable enemy.” She trailed her fingers over his belly. “Have I drained you yet, slave? My need for fulfillment can prove taxing at times, even for the most powerful of men.” She circled him, slapping the keitan against her hand. “You should know it was I who persuaded Lord Naga to kidnap your son.”

  Tarn had learned his lesson. He didn’t let his anger show this time around. “Do the Dragon Lords want to use me to somehow gain control of Kabra?”

  “I’ve no interest in what they want. I’m only interested in you.” She stood in front of him and smoothed back her disheveled hair. “Look closer, Tarn.”

  He frowned. “Why?”

  “You don’t recognize me, do you?”

  “Recognize you—should I?”

  She walked over to a chest and picked up a cream velvet robe. “My name wasn’t always Senshu. Before I came to Acheron, it was Sera,” she said as she slipped on the robe.

  “Sera?” He remembered that, many years ago, when he was but a child himself, he’d often played with a little blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl called Sera in the gardens of his father’s castle. “Chancellor Ralin’s daughter?”

  “I am she,” Senshu confirmed. “I was ten and you were thirteen when I last saw you.”r />
  “We were friends.”

  “As much as small children can be friends,” she agreed, picking up a brush and running it through her hair.

  “Your father took you back to your country estate.” He remembered her clearly now. Senshu had changed a great deal, from a small delicate child to this cold bitch of a woman. “A year later Kabra was conquered and I was taken to Percheron as a hostage to ensure my father did as he was told.” Tarn frowned. “I could never forget the traitor Chancellor Ralin. He became rich and powerful by siding with the invaders. Not only did he betray my father, he betrayed all the citizens of Kabra as well. They suffered much under the rule of the Percheron invaders.”

  “And when you drove out Lord Sarin’s army and became king of Kabra, you betrayed my father. You forced him from the land of his birth, leaving my mother and me destitute and alone.” Tossing the brush aside, she picked up the keitan and advanced toward him.

  “Banishment was surely better than the execution he deserved,” he said, recalling it was Rianna who had persuaded him to be so merciful.

  “When you took all he owned, we were left with nothing. Did you consider our fate?”

  “No,” he admitted. “I was far too busy setting his country to rights. I presumed he and his family would take refuge in Percheron.”

  “Father died before he’d a chance to send for us. Mother and I sent messages to Lord Sarin pleading for his help, but he never responded. Our friends deserted us. We were left destitute and homeless. We had to beg on the streets.” He heard pain in her voice, but anger as well. “My mother died within months. I was young and alone. It was terrifying. I was forced to do terrible, humiliating things in order to survive.”

  “If you’d have come to me, I would’ve helped.” Tarn regretted the oversight, but it would have been impossible at the time to be concerned with the fate of all the families of the traitors he’d banished from Kabra. His spies had told him most of them had settled in Percheron under the protection of Lord Sarin.