The Beast King's Bride (Warlords 0f Farian Book 1)

by Bailey Dark

  “Is my prestige ample enough?” His voice was even deeper, husky, and his breath was coming short and hot, too.

  I looked back at him where he was positioned, hands kneading into the bed over my shoulders, as he was on hands and knees over me. I didn’t stop engaging his eyes as I gently slipped my hands, which were shaking, around to his waist. I let my fingertips glide lightly over his skin under the tunic where they met his pants, and he audibly shivered a gasp, until my full palms smoothed down his thighs, then moved over, and grabbed full handfuls of his ass. His eyes grew wider in a bolt of stunned reaction, and I winked at him.

  He hooted with delight, the sound of a wild animal prepared to play with its prey. In an instant, his hands were on mine on his ass and he was swinging me out from under him, through his legs, up into the air, then gathered in his arms, and he was crushing my lips with a kiss.

  I couldn’t believe how soft his lips were…the animal smirk, the feral desire…I had never thought he could be so gentle and so fierce at the same time. Prisms of color split through my mind and every emotion I had ever held blurred into a fantastic ecstasy of bliss.

  He held my hands behind his back with one strong hand while the other wound its fingers into my hair. His tongue flicked into my mouth and I captured it, sucking it hard as he responded by grabbing my head and pinning me to his face. He released my hands and both of his grabbed my arms, pushing me back to the bed with a force that made me lose my breath. I managed to catch my breath right before he swooped in, as if to kiss me again, but instead tilted my chin away and kissed my cheek…so sweetly…so lightly…as if he cherished every freckle and flaw of my face.

  His hand moved down from my chin to gather around my neck, feathering his fingers lightly over my exposed skin, as if he knew the wind that breathed through my lungs made me precious, then he was kissing my forehead, my eyelids, my nose, and finally, my lips. No tongue. Just a sweet pressure.

  My hands quivered on his back and butterflies were shooting through every pore of my body. I thrust my hips up into his hardened member, but he grabbed my hips and moved them back to the bed, sitting up and moving away from me.

  I let loose a stunned gasp as he stood up from the bed. My eyes strayed from his to look at the constriction in his pants, which couldn’t be pleasant. I couldn’t help but lick my lips as I saw the size it was. That length and girth would surely split me in two.

  I wanted it. I wanted him. I might not forgive him or forget what he had done…but I could enjoy every inch of him.

  “I would like you to join me for dinner tonight, Daphne,” he said, and he was attempting to recover his breath, too. “There are numerous dresses in the closet here. You are welcome to any of them. I had my staff prepare them while we were en route.”

  I gulped deeply, pushing myself up to one elbow, and nodded. “Where do I meet you?”

  “Delicha will come get you. We have something serious to discuss.”

  As my breath calmed, so did the blur in my brain. My emotions were raging. How could he stop us? The electricity between us was so pure and clear! What was this serious business to discuss? How could he have such restraint? Why was he again telling me what to wear? How could he stop us?

  “Thank you. I will see you later.”

  Then he walked out the door.

  I collapsed to the bed and pounded my fists at my side into the soft covers. Dinner? After that kissing? Just dinner?

  I took my measured three breaths and sat up. What was wrong with me? How could I let him touch me and kiss me like that, after he had captured me?

  Delicha was right, of course. He had saved my life, too. That was something…

  And, that electricity…that spark between us. There was no denying that when we touched, it was as if fireworks were rocketing over an ocean sunset.

  I sighed and walked to the closet. The dresses inside were lovely. I would pick one out that was red and white. As opposite from the black and blue colors of his kingdom as I could get. He wouldn’t give me what I want, fine. I would make him work for it.

  I slipped into the dress and admired myself. I would make sure he admired me, too.

  Seven

  Rhone

  They had landed their spaceships in a remote part of the Bordash region on Farian. Rhone didn’t want Kajo to know that he had returned to the planet. It was just three days until the Day of Joy, when the Civil War had been declared at an end, and the Curan had taken back the ruling elite from the Bordash. Rhone’s plans were well in motion, but there was still much to do. Most of the Bordash who felt contempt for Kajo, the Curan, and the current state of affairs, had moved to this remote area. Luckily, as the high-tech savvy species on Farian, they were able to build their army, their weaponry, and their plots in secrecy. Fyland had been a beneficial tool; mainly, because he had been all too willing to prove to Rhone just how in-the-dark Kajo was. The King had no idea about the overthrow that was on its way.

  Rhone walked off his ship, stretching and regaining his landlegs. There was always a small adjustment period after stepping out of space. Being anchored to the floor with magnetic boots, then floating at will through the hallways in Zero-G, made a much more interesting flight experience, and was easier on the tech of the ships.

  Siteer followed his leader off the ship and readjusted his daggers at his waist. “Three days, boss. What’s the plan now?”

  “Has everyone gathered here?”

  “Yes, the last group arrived yesterday. They are all waiting to hear from you. I told them you would likely want to eat, get some sleep, see your woman, and then we can have a meeting tonight with all the leaders.”

  “That sounds fine.”

  “What kind of battle are you expecting on the Day of Joy?”

  “Not much of one...they can’t possibly know we are coming their way. Kajo may have won the war, but he hasn’t won the hearts of the people, yet. All the Bordash present at his ceremonies will turn and fight with us. I know it.”

  “And what about the Bordash who don’t side with us?”

  Rhone’s black eyes darkened, and he clenched his fists. He lifted a rock off the ground, telekinetically, and smashed it into a nearby rock wall.

  “We will deal with them as they should be dealt with: they can serve the same sentence as their chosen Curan brethren…”

  “Death or imprisonment?”

  “Yes.” Rhone put his hands on his hips and nodded. “And we don’t have that big of prisons…”

  Siteer smirked and the two Bordash leaders sauntered down the spaceship’s landing platform to board a hovercraft to take into the nearby Bordash town. People either quailed away from them as they flew down the streets, or ran behind the hovercraft a few steps, pumping their fists in the air, yelling encouragement and excitement for the upcoming battle.

  Soldiers lined the pathway to Rhone’s home as they turned up the drive. They saluted, left hands beside their cheeks, parallel to their face, then lifted their left arm straight into the air. Rhone responded with the same, standing up in the hovercraft as Siteer piloted.

  They could have teleported home, but then they would have missed the fabulous welcome, Rhone thought. He couldn’t wait to hear his name shouted from the rooftops. To have that circle of gold on his head. To claim any woman he wanted—even that Earthling—as his own.

  His current girlfriend skipped out the house and into his arms as he exited the hovercraft. She was just what he needed. He was, after all, distracted by dreams of conquest.

  She held onto his arm as they entered the house. He could feel her need, too. Her other hand roamed across his back, kneading into his skin, and her breath was hot on his neck as she draped her body over him. As soon as they were inside, he grabbed her arms and pushed her back against the wall, following her in quickly to crush her mouth with his. One hand on her ass, he lifted her small frame up, her legs wrapping around him, the other hand clenching her neck so she gurgled a gasp, eyes wide, hands gripping his back, leani
ng into the choke so that he could flick his tongue against her lips, and then he was swinging her around and carrying her into the bedroom.

  Rhone tossed the girl onto his bed, ripping her dress’s neckline from the top down to her breasts as he threw her. He stripped off his shirt, preparing to lunge at her as she hiked her skirt up over her hips.

  “Rhone!”

  Rhone spun around as Siteer entered the bedroom. The man’s eyes strayed to the half-naked girl on the bed, licking his lips. Then he pulled back as his boss stepped toward him, fists clenched, eyes flashing.

  “What, Siteer?”

  “I’m really sorry, but Galoon just arrived. He said that Kajo is bringing in military from all over Farian. He is using the Day of Joy to make alliances across the planet. We have to change our attack.”

  Rhone spun around, arms in the air, cursing, yelling, windows smashing as he lanced vases from their tables and tapestries from the walls. The entire room swirled with his telekinetic power. Even the girl was caught up, torn dress floating up and revealing every curve of her body. She screamed as she was lifted in the air, swirling in a tempest of broken glass and bruised flowers. She twisted and turned in the air, fighting to get back to the bed.

  Rhone yelled one more time and then flung the girl back to the bed, where she lay in a swarm of petals and glittering glass shards. He bent down and picked up his shirt, tugging it back on, nearly tearing it in his fury.

  “Let’s go. Call in the Commanders right away. I want to speak with Galoon.”

  “He is outside in your hovercraft.” Siteer looked at the sobbing girl as she tried to cover herself back up, then he followed his leader out the door.

  Rhone smashed his way through the house, throwing every vase he saw so it shattered. When he reached the hovercraft, he glared at Galoon. The Curan spy kept eye contact, though he did slither a little to the side. Rhone climbed into the hover.

  “Tell me everything.”

  Eight

  Daphne

  The morning dawned lovely, small rays of sunlight streaking across my face through the curtains. I stretched and swung out of bed. I opened the doors to my little balcony and surveyed the dawn’s light stretching across the castle gardens.

  I wondered if I would be asked to join Kajo for breakfast again this morning. The past few days, we had eaten each meal together. I still couldn’t quite discern what he wanted with me. There were times he looked at me with what couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than disgust, while at others it was admiration, or at least desire. In between meal times, I had been allowed to freely roam the castle. I had spent a lot of that time in the library, trying to learn about Farian’s history. Most of their history was available to listen to, and the little iPod shuffle translators made it easy enough for me to understand what the book was saying, no matter how ancient the text.

  Today, though, felt different. I could sense a tension in Kajo that had steadily been growing. Tomorrow was their big Day of Joy to celebrate the end of the Civil War 10 years ago, the War that had set Kajo up as the Beast King.

  I had found myself opening up to him. About my stepbrother, about our shitty childhood, about Vania, who I missed more than I thought I could ever miss someone. She was part of my heart. I wondered if she was still eating lunch at our little place in the business center’s courtyard garden. Most of all, I hoped she wasn’t having to deal with Rhone in anyway…That would be just terrible…What did she think had happened to me? She would go to the ends of the Earth to find me, as I would for her.

  Unfortunately, I was not on Earth. She would never find me…

  I was stuck here.

  It had started to feel less like “stuck”, though. I was able to imagine a life here. Delicha was nice to me, but it also seemed like she was cautious and sometimes contemptuous of me. Humans were definitely a despised race in the grand universe, for our willful ignorance and wars against each other based on small religious or political differences. I was starting to see the inner peace that flowed from one Curan to another, from one Bordash to another, and then the peace that was flowing between them now, because of King Kajo.

  I was changing into one of my, now many, outfits when the door swung open and Kajo walked in.

  I yelped and ducked behind the changing divider wall with the remainder of the outfit.

  “You can’t just barge in!” I yelled, tugging the bralette over my head and buttoning up the corset. I slammed my feet into the boots and exited the changing curtain in a huff, one hand on my hip, the other pointing a finger into his face. “King or not, you can’t just come into my room without knocking!”

  His face set in a sour look, mouth scrunched, brow furrowed, bottom lip sticking out.

  “I can do as I like. This is what I wanted to speak with you about this morning.” He clenched his fists and nodded to himself, encouraging himself, it seemed. “I have decided I would like to do what I want to do to you. I deserve to have what I want. It is time.”

  My mouth dropped open as he stepped toward the bed and held his hand out.

  “Fuck that! How dare you presume something like that?” It had been what I had been fearing. There was no way I could get away from him if he tried to overpower me. He was huge, he loomed tall, muscular, fit, no escape. My heart leapt into my throat and I made fists with my hands, both to hit him and to keep them from shaking.

  “No, wait, that’s not what—”

  “Just because you kidnapped me, stripping me away from my home planet, doesn’t give you the right to me, ever. You deserve nothing from me. There’s nothing you can do to force me—”

  “Daphne, stop, that’s not what—”

  “Until you can see it through my eyes, you will not touch me!” I sprinted for the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it behind me. “Get out!” I yelled through the doorway, a mixture of panic and anger knotting my throat so that the cry was choked out of me.

  “Daphne—”

  “Leave!”

  I heard him sigh and then retreat. The bedroom door closed. I sank to the ground, back against the bathroom door. How dare he? He has decided it is time for him to get what he deserves. That was laughable.

  No man, ever, would have the right to me.

  Not even a King.

  I looked around the bathroom quickly and realized I had never noticed how closely the tree outside was to this window…A strong branch reached nearly inside the bathroom. I bet I could climb out and down it, if I had the guts…

  I jumped up from the floor and leaned out the window. Sure enough, it wouldn’t be that difficult.

  He would likely be sending Delicha in to fetch me for breakfast, unable to take no for an answer. I wouldn’t have time to gather anything else, I just needed to get out.

  I reached for the branch, pulled it as close as I could, then stepped out onto its length. I waited for it to break under my weight and then shimmied, crouching low, all along it, until I was close to the tree trunk itself. Luckily, the woodwin trees had many strong branches and I was able to wind my way down it with little difficulty. When I got to the bottom, I crept along the hedges and then fled up the driveway through the fruit tree orchards and out the front gate.

  How long would it be before they noticed I was gone?

  How long would it be before they wrangled me up and I was back at the castle?

  More importantly, what kind of punishment would there be?

  I wasn’t sure if I was escaping with the intention to never be found again, or if I was just escaping so as not to be found at that very moment…

  I shrugged. The distinction wasn’t so important. I needed some time, unprogrammed by someone else, to try and clear my head and embrace Farian a little. If this is where I was going to be for as long as I lived, however short or however long, I had better find a reason to care about it.

  I walked down a few side streets, hovercrafts whipping by overhead, light posts suspended in the air without anchors or stands. Flowers of different s
triations and hues than I had ever seen lined the walkways. I was starting to get to a busier part of the town. There was an open-air marketplace, stands set up with fruits or vegetables, poultry like animals flapping in their pens to be killed upon command. Skinned meats, still bloody, some with six legs, hung from the roofs of other stands, far enough away from the vegetables to avoid contamination. There were other booths with all manner of goods and wares, from clothing, to kitchen items, to tool piles. It didn’t look that dissimilar from many open-air markets on Earth. The main different was that each person was paying with high tech, clear glass tablets and each vendor was making a tally on their own tablet that projected 3-D images of the market values above the tablet glass. Not only that, but everyone seemed gifted with telekinesis and telepathy. Whereas, in markets on Earth, vendors hawked their wares, loud and proud, these markets were relatively silent. Mainly, the only sound was laughter or an occasional cathartic curse word. The deals were taking place in private, through mental communication. Though many vendors still wore gloves, they also rarely touched their items, but instead used their telekinesis to guide the item into the buyer’s suspended canvas sack.

  I wound my way through the narrow streets and stopped as I came around a corner to a statue of Kajo. He was at least 12 feet tall, chest out, hands on his hips, one muscular leg planted on the back of a gruff-looking Bordash man, the previous King whose picture I had seen in their library books. His face was very well-constructed: that chiseled perfection I had started to feel drawn to, but was fiercely angry with in the moment. They even had his scar down through one eye. Not only that, but the stonemason had captured his energy: wild and fierce, untamable, unconquerable. Feral.