King's Throne

by D' Arc, Bianca

  Silence greeted her revealing words. Then Mandy spoke again. “Tad said something special happened up at the circle. It sounded like Mitch has been Goddess-blessed.” Quiet respect filled her voice.

  “Yeah, I think he was. It was quite an experience—unlike anything I’ve ever seen or felt before up there, even with my dad. Mitch is special,” Gina admitted.

  “Special enough to mate with?” Adele asked the obvious question.

  Gina couldn’t speak the word, but she knew the answer in her heart. She nodded and felt the surprise of the women behind her. Each of them had known her almost all her life. They’d played together as children, gone to school together and learned about being tigers together. They knew her better than almost anyone and knew she’d never dared to give her heart to any man before.

  Mating among shifters was something instinctive. Something special. Among shifter monarchs, it was slightly different, but Gina had always wanted a man who would be her true mate, not just a mate of convenience. She thought she’d found him in Mitch, but it would take Mitch’s cooperation to take that final step and join their two souls.

  If they mated, it would be for life. She wanted that with all her heart. She was beginning to crave it with every fiber of her being. But her female nature demanded more of her mate. It demanded that he claim her in the way of their ancestors. Her inner tigress deemed him worthy, but it was going to take Mitch to make that final connection. The claim. The demand for submission that her tigress was all-too-willing to give him—and only him.

  The girls didn’t have time to comment on her admission because the men chose that moment to pause for a water break. They were all sweaty and in various stages of undress. Most of the Millers had their shirts on, but Mitch’s clothing hadn’t been that good of a fit to start with. He’d shed his T-shirt already and was clothed only in the borrowed sweatpants.

  Gina found it hard to look away from his gleaming skin and the muscles that played just underneath. He was a specimen of masculine perfection if she’d ever seen one.

  Tad tossed him a towel and Mitch wiped his face. The Millers kept their private dojo stocked with supplies. A small refrigerator held bottles of water and sports drinks and Paul handed out bottles, tossing them across the length of the barn to each of them.

  “Shall we show them how it’s done, ladies?” Gina asked with a sly grin.

  Mandy giggled and ran for the hidden control panel. She hit a few buttons and several items slid out from hidden cupboards in the walls, among them was a set of uneven bars, an extra-long balance beam, a pommel horse and a vaulting horse and several other items used in gymnastics. Adele and Violet moved everything into position while Mitch whistled once through his teeth.

  “That’s some setup,” he observed, coming over to stand beside Gina. “You aiming for just a workout or something more?”

  “Watch and learn,” she countered, enjoying teasing him. “We’re tigers. We’re good at tumbling and jumping, and we use it in conjunction with more traditional martial arts.”

  “I’m familiar with the concept.” Mitch looked down at her through slitted eyes. He seemed both skeptical and intrigued.

  “You do gymnastics?” Gina wanted to know. He was big for it, but he definitely had the body. Those muscles were long and lean. She didn’t doubt he could do more than just plain old fighting with them.

  “I’ve been known to tumble a bit. It didn’t come quite as naturally to me as to some of my shorter brethren.”

  “There are rings up in the rafters and a high bar we can put out if you like. Paul will probably get it out of storage before long. He likes going round and round.” She made a silly face, used to Paul’s antics. “There’s plenty of space for even a guy as big as you to fly a bit.” She nodded toward the rafters of the barn, high above their heads. The entire space was open and voluminous, built that way for just this reason.

  Gina’s attention was caught by a bead of sweat sliding its way down Mitch’s throat as he raised a half-empty water bottle to his lips and proceeded to gulp the remainder down. He held it upward, his neck stretched as he emptied the clear plastic bottle. His throat worked, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed. Gina caught her breath. The man was so sexy, even his simplest motion made her wet.

  She looked away before he finished with the drink and caught her staring. Again. She really had to stop ogling the man. Or…maybe not. He was just too handsome not to look at.

  Violet jumped onto the balance beam and ran at a rapid pace, jumping and tumbling as she went on the tiny ribbon of only slightly padded wood. Mitch watched her, his eyes narrowing as if assessing her skill. He didn’t seem surprised. He’d definitely seen this sort of thing before.

  Adele started running and jumped into a simple vault, starting off slow as Mandy started stretching and tumbling a bit on the mats. Mitch’s gaze went from one to the other, his gaze measuring.

  “Is this the way regular Royal Guards train?” Gina had to ask.

  “More or less. We all get tumbling and the unique fighting style that combines our more gymnastic abilities with self-defense as well as offensive fighting. Looks like our training in many respects, though I guess your version of it is truer to what it once was. I heard one of my teachers remark once that when your father went into exile, he took the best of the Guard with him.”

  “He didn’t ask any of them to come. They all volunteered.” She was quick to defend her father.

  Mitch turned toward her. “I meant no disrespect. I’m sure they followed your father of their own free will. He is the king after all, no matter if he doesn’t want to rule. If I’d been in the same position as the Millers, I probably would have followed him too. But it left a bit of a vacancy in the tigre Royal Guard ranks. Most of the best and most senior teachers went with your father. Those who were left to carry on were good but not exactly in the same league as those who departed. Which is part of the reason I went to the pantera to complete my training.”

  “I didn’t realize…” Gina trailed off, thinking. “You went to the panthers and stayed. Why didn’t you go back to your own kind? I know my uncle still fields a team of Royal Guard to protect him.”

  “It was a combination of reasons. First, Cade and I hit it off. He is my best friend as well as my—or he was—my partner.” A look of sadness passed over his features for a split second when he mentioned the partnership that had been dissolved by Mitch’s injury. “I wanted to partner with Cade and he’s dedicated to the Nyx by both desire and blood.” Mitch’s voice dipped into low, confidential tones so that nobody else could hear what he disclosed.

  Gina realized Mitch was sharing a secret with her. His ex-partner was related by blood to the Nyx. Which meant Cade was probably in line for the panther throne if something happened to the young woman who currently ruled. If the panthers were anything like the tigers, they kept such things a closely held secret, and Gina didn’t blame them. Being a royal put limitations on a person and a big fat target on your back.

  “So you wanted to stay with Cade. That’s understandable.”

  “I never really had a family,” Mitch admitted, each word gritted out between his teeth as if he hated talking about it. Yet, he was. He was sharing a part of his past with her that still pained him to admit. That meant something. She treated his revelations with the respect they demanded. “Cade is my brother in all but blood. His family welcomed me and made me part of their tightknit group. I will miss them.”

  Gina reached out to him and put one hand on his hot skin. She didn’t dare touch him anywhere but the forearm, but even that contact made a little frisson of electricity dance down her arm to her spine, sending tingles throughout her body. She ignored them. It was time to offer comfort and support, not jump his bones.

  Besides, there were too many people around. And they were all watching her and Mitch out of the corners of their eyes. She’d have to join the workout sooner or later, but for this quiet, stolen moment, she and Mitch were conn
ecting on a deep level, in spite of—or maybe because of—the setting.

  “You don’t have to give them up completely, do you? I can’t imagine they’d forsake you, no matter what’s happened.”

  Mitch turned toward her and she read a brief moment of vulnerability in his gaze before he shuttered it. “They wouldn’t turn me away, but my duty is to protect them, not put them in danger. I can’t go back to the way it was before. I’ve been compromised. The Nyx’s enemies knew I guarded her, even if they didn’t know my name. I will not compromise my friends by going back to them. Not now. Maybe not ever.”

  “I respect your devotion to duty, but where does that leave you? Alone?” Gina’s heart went out to him.

  “Not alone. The Mother of All has seen fit to point me in the direction of my own people. I haven’t spent much time among tigers since going off for training among the pantera, but I know now it’s time to return to my own kind and do my duty to my monarch, not the Nyx.”

  “You’re right, Mitch.” Gina squeezed his arm, facing the mats. “You’re not alone anymore. You’ll never be alone again if I have anything to say about it.”

  Dropping that bombshell for him to think about, she let go of his arm, then strode away toward the uneven bars. It was time to work off some of her sexual frustration and kick some ass—or have her ass kicked.

  As it turned out, the score was about even by the end of a grueling workout with both the male and female Miller brood. They mixed and matched—Mitch and Gina going up against opponents of both sexes. One never knew who they’d be facing on the field of battle and enemies didn’t always fight fair, so they tried different combinations of sparring arrangements.

  At one point, Mitch took on all of the Millers plus Gina and knocked everyone on their asses by the end of the bout. He was something to watch, and hell on wheels as an opponent. Gina liked sparring with him, trying to score hits with her slightly quicker reflexes.

  It wasn’t so much that she was faster than him, more than that she was smaller. She was able to dart in and out, under his guard.

  Until he caught her. The Millers were sprawled all around the dojo, having run afoul of Mitch’s lightning-fast reflexes and unfamiliar, but incredibly effective fighting style when Gina danced a little too close to the dragon.

  Mitch seized her, pulling a kick that otherwise would have knocked her block off. Instead, she ended up encased in his arms, held tight against his sweaty body and her entire nervous system short-circuited. Well, that’s what it felt like, at least.

  The seconds ticked by in slow motion as she realized she was completely immobilized by his hold. He could do whatever he wanted with her and she was powerless against him—on so many levels. She wanted to surrender, to tell him to do his worst. Because she was certain his worst was better than the best she’d ever had. But they weren’t alone.

  Not that it mattered much among shifters, but Gina had been raised a little apart from the rest of her kind. She didn’t always like the distance other shifters put between her and them when they knew who she was. And the only shifters she’d ever interacted with closely enough to want that normal shifter intimacy with were those she’d grown up with. In the city, she’d steered clear of Others of every kind and gave shifters in particular a wide berth. Until Cade and Mitch had sniffed her out, she’d never gotten close enough to another big-cat shifter to have been discovered.

  Mitch held her in his arms, his hold loosening by slow degrees as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do with her. It got to the point where she had a little bit of wiggle room and might’ve been able to counter the hold, but why would she? Her body was exactly where it craved to be—plastered against Mitch.

  The only thing that would be better was if they were both naked. She looked up at him and their gazes caught and held. He dipped his head by slow degrees.

  “I think you can let her go now.” Her father’s booming voice came from near the doorway.

  Shit.

  Mitch tightened his arms for a fraction of a second before he complied, releasing her. Gina cursed inwardly. He’d been about to plant one on her and she’d had just enough of his kisses to crave more. She thought maybe she was becoming an addict. Addicted to Mitch. Yeah, it was a harsh truth that she’d have to live with. Gina almost laughed aloud at her thoughts, but her father was waiting and the king wasn’t known for his patience.

  Mitch, to his credit, faced the tiger king after unwrapping his arms from around her, but he didn’t let go of her completely. He kept hold of her hand as they faced her father’s possible wrath side-by-side. Together. A united front. Only she was pretty sure Mitch would jump in front of her if her dad made even the slightest angry motion toward her.

  But her dad wasn’t going to get violent. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He enforced his will with loud words and frowns, more than anything else. At least where she was concerned. He’d never raised a hand to her in anger and she knew he never would.

  “How much did you see?” she asked her father, trying to defuse the situation.

  “Enough.” The king nodded, the frown on his face speaking of the intimate hold he’d broken up. But then his expression cleared and he looked intrigued. “Is this what the tigre Royal Guard is taught now? I have never seen anything quite like that fighting style. It’s athletic but subtle. More stealthy than our usual fare.”

  Mitch finally let go of her hand and stepped forward, reaching for the towel he’d discarded earlier as he walked off the mats and went to talk with her father. Everyone else got up and toweled off, clustering around her dad to see what Mitch would reveal about the techniques that had put them all on their asses. It wasn’t something they were used to. Each one of the Millers and their extended family were highly trained and very capable warriors.

  “I wasn’t trained fully by tigers. When it became apparent that I was outstripping my teachers, I was sent to the pantera noir for more advanced study. I was thirteen,” Mitch revealed.

  “I knew you were working for the panthers, but I didn’t realize you’d trained with them too. How did that come about?” King Frederick asked. Everyone listened, waiting to hear what Mitch would say.

  “One of my teachers had a contact among the pantera noir and he used it to get me into their training program.”

  “The only Guard I knew who had friends among the panthers was Geir Falkes. His aunt married into that secretive Clan, I believe.”

  Mitch shouldn’t have been surprised by the exiled king’s knowledge. Geir had been a young Guard when the king had left. He hadn’t been part of Frederick’s inner circle, though he’d been a hellacious fighter, even back then. The void left by the departure of so many of the top Royal Guards and their families had allowed Geir to move up the ranks quickly so that he’d become a teacher of other Guards at a much younger age than most of his predecessors.

  Mitch had been a protégé of sorts. Almost a younger brother to the highly skilled warrior, who was still in his prime. It had been hard for Mitch to leave Geir behind when he’d finished his training, but he had known it was for the best.

  “Master Geir was indeed the man who took me to the pantera. He looked after my training until I was old enough to be out on my own.” And that had felt good to his seeking soul. Geir had taken Mitch under his wing and treated him like a younger brother. He was still one of his most favorite people in the world.

  “You were young to leave your kin,” Frederick observed.

  “The Thorburns weren’t my blood, though I can never thank them enough for adopting me. I took their name out of respect, but I was born Mitchell Gustavson. The Thorburns told me my parents died in a car accident.”

  The king looked at him sharply. “If your parents were Emile and Maria Gustavson, they didn’t die in any accident.” Frederick turned to face Mitch, his gaze troubled. “They died protecting me and my family. They were both Royal Guards and two of my dearest friends. Sweet Mother of All.” Frederick’s gaze turned heavenward as his face showed the
pain he felt at the memory.

  He took a moment, during which Mitch’s mind spun. He hadn’t known. Nobody had ever told him the truth about his parents, though they all must’ve known. But why?

  “Mitch.” The king looked back at him and put one hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.” The king hugged him then, a back-pounding hug of both comfort and sorrow shared.

  Mitch didn’t know what to say. He wanted to know the exact circumstances of his parents’ death, and yet…he was almost afraid to ask.

  When the king let him go, Gina was beside Mitch, her gaze filled with understanding and compassion. She reached for his hand and he took it like a lifeline. She was so good to him. He needed her touch to ground him, regardless of what her father might think. Mitch knew his place.

  Mitch had just learned more about his true parents than he’d ever known. They’d been Royal Guards. Nobody had seen fit to inform him of that fact before, and Mitch had to wonder why.

  “What’s the big secret?” he asked aloud. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about them before?”

  The king sighed heavily. “Probably because of the way they died. You see, it was the last straw. The final battle that decided me on exile. Gisli came at us himself, along with a group of his loyal followers. We only had the Gustavsons and Petries with us. Both couples died to give us time to escape. Your mother shielded Gina, who was only a cub at the time, until Candis was clear of the fighting. She suffered grievous wounds getting Gina to her mother and collapsed at my wife’s feet while your father was ripped open by Gisli, himself. The Petries held off the rest of the attackers until we could escape. Sadly, they too died in the attack. We met up with the Millers and a few others and hit the road. We left that very day. I didn’t want any more of my friends and protectors to die in my service. I knew you existed, but I was assured you would be placed with a good family.”