DarykRogue

by Denise A. Agnew

  Rayder shrugged.

  “Why did you come back?” Aramus hissed the question.

  Rayder’s arms went down to his sides, as if he sensed that Aramus wouldn’t start a fight. “For my wife.”

  Xandra’s heart filled with warmth. Rayder had come back for her, and she couldn’t wrap her mind around the idea.

  “Are you all right, Yoanda?” Rayder asked.

  Yoanda nodded, her eyes now sparkling with unusual glee. “I’m wonderful now that you’re back, Rayder. We were all so worried.”

  Rayder chuckled, and at this angle, Xandra couldn’t see his face, but she heard the sarcasm in the sound. “I doubt the admiral is happy I interrupted…whatever it is I interrupted.”

  Rayder kept his body angled so he didn’t turn away from Aramus. He took Xandra’s arm as he opened the door. She placed the statue on the table. Rolling and tumbling, her stomach danced with nervousness. She couldn’t wait to get out of there.

  “My wife and I bid you good night.” Rayder nodded as they left and he closed the door. He started away without speaking.

  “Rayder—”

  With his grip still on her upper arm, he walked so fast she had to trot to keep up with him. Men hailed him, but he hurried without acknowledging their calls.

  From the fury on his face, she didn’t know if he was angry with her or the situation. Either way, she didn’t like his expression. Her heart beat in her chest with leftover fear.

  When they reached his quarters and he closed them inside, she’d had enough of being dragged along. “Rayder, you didn’t have to drag me. I’m capable of walking myself.”

  He clasped her shoulders and searched her face. “I wanted to get us the hells away from him.” His voice was rough with concern. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, but I’m glad you came when you did. I went to the admiral to beg him not to leave shore. I thought he’d leave you behind.”

  “He probably would have. Why did you take the risk of going to his quarters?”

  “I was worried. I would have done anything…” And she almost had.

  “By the god, I don’t know whether to strangle you for putting yourself in so much danger or kiss you.” He groaned low in his throat and dragged her into arms.

  His mouth came down on hers just as he stuffed one hand in her hair and bracketed her close to his body with his other arm. As his mouth tasted hers, his tongue thrust deep, teasing and stroking. Flame ignited in her belly, and she clutched at him.

  Rayder’s arms made her instantly forget that she’d suffered an agony of not knowing if he’d been injured or killed. Relief filled her heart. His tongue stroked, not teasing but taking, caressing, desperate in his passion.

  He drew back and she trembled at the fire in his eyes. “Phili told me the admiral might move the ship before you got back. I was afraid of being here alone without you.” Her fingers gripped his shoulders as anger made her say, “And I couldn’t stand that. I should be strong here without you. I should—”

  “You couldn’t have stopped him if he wanted to move the ship. As it is, he didn’t leave because he knows he can’t run this ship without me.”

  “I was willing to…” She shuddered at the thought of what might have happened if Rayder hadn’t appeared.

  His eyes narrowed. “Willing to do what?”

  “Offer myself to him to make certain he wouldn’t leave you on shore.”

  Rayder’s grim expression didn’t frighten her, but the disapproval in his expression left no doubt what he thought. “By all that is holy, Xandra. Are you out of your head? I’m not worth putting yourself in that much danger.”

  She’d say it even if he didn’t want to hear it. She tapped her chest with two fingers. “Maybe you aren’t worth it. But even if I don’t like it, I need your protection.”

  She wouldn’t admit to anything more, to heavier, more elaborate feelings. No, admitting that would only lead to problems later when she had to leave him.

  That luscious red, as rich as a sunset, filled his eyes. Passion stirred in her stomach in response.

  He kissed her again, his tastes lingering, gently passionate. He ignited a yearning within her core that grew like a fireball. His kiss didn’t coax her it threw her into a maelstrom and demanded an answer. She gave it. She met his tongue, using what he’d taught her. He groaned against her mouth as she became the aggressor. She explored, tasting Rayder with the same passion he’d shown her. His hand slipped down, down and cupped her butt. He squeezed her bottom, and she clenched, her pussy aching deep with a desire to hold his thickness inside, to feel it stroking her thrust after hard thrust.

  Curling her fingers against his hard chest, she wished he were naked. The thought flew through her head, shocking but completely true. She wanted to experience that tenderness, that ravenous passion he’d introduced her to not long ago. This time, though, she wanted to know him in every way possible. She wanted his body inside hers to discover the ecstasy she’d already found. Before she could show him how much more she wanted him, he drew back quickly.

  Words backed up in her throat, tight and almost impossible to say. “When I was locked up in the hold with the other women—”

  “What?” Anger crossed his face.

  She shook her head. “It is a long story.”

  “One that you shall tell me in short order.”

  “Take your rest first.”

  Rayder cupped her face. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back last night.”

  Her hands clutched his waist. “What happened to you?”

  “Complications.” He released her and headed for the bathing bowl. “Several.”

  “I’ve had some complications of my own.”

  He removed his shirt and belt in short order. Pectoral muscles shifted, moved, his muscular stomach tempting her. She wanted to feel the strength under that light dusting of hair.

  “Are these weapons yours?” she asked when she didn’t recognize the sword and dagger in his belt.

  “No. Mine were taken from me.” He splashed water across his face.

  Back muscles bunched and rippled as he moved, and she licked her lips. By the god, she loved his muscles.

  “Drakus Fina wanted me dead,” he said.

  As water dripped off his face, she puzzled over this information. “I thought you were compatriots with Drakus Fina?”

  He grunted. “Yes and no.”

  He explained his adventures in more detail and how he escaped Drakus’ men with the help of Daryk Ones. “They apparently didn’t like the idea of killing me.”

  “Thank the god.” She wanted to hold him again, wanted to experience the reassurance that he was really here. Really alive. She might have lost him, and the thought staggered her. “You might have been killed.

  “Every time a man goes into the jungle, he puts his life at risk.”

  She sank down on the side of the bed. “What does this mean for your slave trading? Will the admiral be angry with you?”

  “It means that Drakus Fina is probably my enemy now. It means he might be the admiral’s enemy now. I’m not certain.”

  “Oh dear.”

  He laughed, the sound unconcerned but weary. “An understatement of amazing proportions, my beauty.”

  “What happened after you escaped Drakus’ men?”

  He wiped his face with a towel. “I headed to Minilos Willburi’s tavern outside Grimnald Castle. That’s when I ran into another Daryk One.” Rayder’s mouth twisted with regret. “We used to be friends. I helped him rescue his mate from a slave trader.”

  Her eyebrows went up. “You’re a slave trader, yet you helped your friend save his mate?”

  “My loyalty to Dane Charger is far stronger than my loyalty to a slaver.” He smoothed a wet cloth over his torso. “You’ll be happy to know Dane’s mate is your friend from the ship, Ketera Aldrancos.”

  Xandra gasped with delight. “That’s wonderful. She’s alive.” A bad thought interrupted her joy. She grabbed his a
rm. “Was she harmed? Is this Dane Charger treating her well?”

  “I got the distinct impression, though he wouldn’t admit it, that he was desperate to recover her. She’s his true mate, and he would die for her.”

  Xandra exhaled. “I’m so relieved she’s alive. I would love to see her.”

  “Not much chance of that at present.”

  Xandra recalled what Phili had said considering Rayder’s protective attitude toward the women on the ship. Taken together with his loyalty to his fellow Daryk One in recovering Ketera and she’d begun to doubt the evil slave trader personality he wished to cultivate.

  “You are a fake,” she said softly.

  “How?”

  “From what I learned from Phili and from Malena, you’ve helped the slave women. Tried to keep them as safe and comfortable as possible.”

  He sniffed. “Do not believe everything you hear.”

  She snatched the cloth out of his hand and smoothed it over his pectorals. Her skin brushed his, hot and undeniably potent. She savored his masculinity, wanting to explore and touch with abandon.

  When she dared look up, his eyes flamed that potent red. He gasped and held her hand to his chest. “Why do I have the feeling you’ve much to tell me?”

  “I do.”

  His head tilted to the side, his eyes devouring her. A tingle started low in her belly. Heat gathered and pooled. Moist need dampened her between the legs. Restless need demanded she act. Before she could try anything reckless, he eased the cleansing cloth from her hand and stepped back. Disappointment pinched her until he continued to undress.

  He removed his boots, shucked his pants and kicked them aside. Her heartbeat increased as she eagerly took in sculpted muscles, hard thighs, and his thick, erect cock. Her breath caught at the sight of him so aroused and ready.

  “Tell me what happened to you while I was gone,” he asked.

  She barely heard him.

  “Let me help you.” She snatched the cloth from his hand again and swallowed her inhibitions. “Turn around.”

  His eyes widened a little with disbelief, but then a smile touched his mouth. “As you wish.”

  When he turned away from her she almost closed her eyes to block her overwhelming reaction to his sculpted form, the powerful line of his wide shoulders, the way his back tapered down to that intriguing firm butt. He was a sight to feast on, and her mind whirled with possibilities. Sinful thoughts dominated, and yet she could barely dredge up a smidgen of guilt for feeling them. He looked over his shoulder, and the fire in his eyes made her breath catch.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  In a halting voice, as she cleansed his back, she told him about Phili locking her in with the rest of the women, of the admiral attempting to lure her upstairs, and Phili’s surprising revelations. To her surprise, he listened without interrupting. Men on Magonia frequently interrupted women.

  Each movement of the cloth over his skin raised her temperature until she believed she might burn. His skin gleamed with moisture as she allowed the cloth to skirt those firm ass cheeks. She knelt to touch his thighs, one hand touching the left, the cloth making quick work of his other. Hair sprinkled over his hard legs, and the masculine lines of one muscle after the other made her heartbeat quicken, her mind filled with appreciation. Yes, she’d seen him naked before, but this close and touching him so intimately changed everything.

  His muscles twitched slightly, and she wondered if her touch affected him that much. Disconcerted, she stood slowly. He turned toward her, his eyes filled with red and an anger that was almost palpable.

  “That bastard Aramus. To think he could have taken you out of there and—”

  He cut himself off and clenched his fists.

  Once she’d been a bit afraid of that red. His passion was high, and if he wanted her, she didn’t have it in her to deny him. Instinctively she understood if she told him not to touch her or take her, he would honor it. He’d said he wouldn’t hurt a woman, and once she’d seen how the slaves below adored him, she wondered which was the true Rayder? The honorable man or the dishonorable one?

  Everything in Rayder’s expression said if Aramus had been in the room he would have killed the man and damn the consequences.

  Rayder would kill for her.

  She didn’t know how she knew, but she felt it. A scary feeling, to be certain.

  “You musn’t believe what Phili tells you,” he said, interrupting her thoughts.

  “I wouldn’t have, but she was sincere. I could see that.”

  He shook his head. “She lies.”

  “Perhaps. But only to survive.”

  “She lies to survive, but she also lies to get what she wants. She’s not the worst woman I’ve met, but she is far from the best.”

  “Who is the best person you’ve ever met?”

  He shook his head. “Perhaps my sister.” His voice was hushed, his gaze caressing hers. “But she’s gone.”

  “How did she…”

  His face darkened, and his anger seemed to increase. “Not now. I can’t tell you now. It’ll only make me more angry, and you don’t want that.”

  Some of his tension eased, and then his closeness surrounded her, his masculine beauty so potent she couldn’t ignore him. She felt overwhelmed and protected at the same time.

  Perhaps she should change the subject. “Phili also told me Yoanda is not what she appears to be. That Yoanda is as much a manipulator as she is.”

  “Yoanda is timid enough.”

  “Not according to Phili.”

  “Take what Phili says with great caution.”

  She plunged onward. “She’s also planning to escape this ship.”

  He looked surprised then indifferent. “Let her try. It is on her head.”

  “I could go with her. You would no longer need to keep track of my whereabouts.”

  “No.” His voice lowered to a determined rumble. “Do not dare to think about it. She’s not to be trusted.”

  “And you are?” She heard the doubt in her own voice.

  “You can trust me with your life, damn the hells.”

  His statement transfixed her. Rayder, for a flash in time, looked totally stricken. Vulnerability filled his eyes she’d never seen before, and it melted something hard and cynical in her chest. She didn’t know what to say or how to say what his statement did to her. She’d never imagined a man wanting her this much physically. Could he feel more for her emotionally? No. Perhaps not. This mating thing he spoke of was more physical than anything, a biological imperative that glued men and women together to ensure continuation of their species.

  His took the cloth away from her again and tossed it on the table. “I’m sorry.”

  “About what?”

  “That I couldn’t return fast enough to get you out of that damn dungeon. By the god.” His voice lowered to a harsh whisper. “That bastard Aramus!”

  She flinched at the sharpness in his voice. “You couldn’t have known. I’m glad you helped your friend, otherwise I never would have known Ketera is safe.”

  His fingers slid over her shoulders, and she touched the dusting of dark hair on his chest.

  She feared what she wanted. She wanted his touch, more of the lovemaking she’d experienced before.

  His hand slipped through the tumble of hair at the back of her head. “I’m angry and I might scream or even break something. The thought of the admiral harming you fills me with a rage I’ve never experienced in my life before. I don’t know how to control it.” He drifted for a moment. “But always remember, you should never fear me.”

  Comfort eased into her tension, and she closed her eyes. “I only know that you’re here safe and alive. That’s all I need for the moment.”

  He lifted a strand of hair to his nose and sniffed it. A low rumbled cleared his throat. “My beauty.”

  His husky voice sent a wild thrill through her body, and she shivered. He gathered her close.

  Before this moment sh
e’d always wondered what it would be like to possess a man as much as he possessed her. On Magonia such a thing couldn’t happen with their morals and beliefs. Yet it hadn’t stopped her from wondering.

  His eyes burned into hers, conveying the message of how much he needed her. Rayder brushed his lips over hers, teasing each lip with one sweet kiss and then the next. She didn’t respond, too drugged by the feeling. All she could do was enjoy. Jerking her closer, he kissed her with a ferocious taste of lips and tongue. He delved deeply. Stroking, he teased, flirted until excitement danced along her skin with sweet, sweet tingles.

  Xandra responded, wanting him inside her though she’d never experienced his masculinity within her most private flesh. She needed his flesh melding, stroking until desire consumed her. She skimmed her hands over his nakedness with greedy desire, enjoying the metal-hard muscles as they bunched and flexed. Her body understood what her mind hadn’t.

  This was inevitable.

  Destined.

  Exploring him, she brushed her fingers over his chest, tantalized by the arousing sensation of his chest hair along her skin. When she touched his nipples, he gasped against her mouth. She did it again. Again. Each time he quivered, his throaty moan delighting her, giving her power she never imagined she’d have over a man.

  He cupped her butt and lifted her slightly until her pussy nestled over his cock. He rubbed his length against her clit and a fire started deep in her womb. He walked her backward until the back of her knees hit the bed. She sat down and he knelt to slip off her shoes. He tossed them in a corner and looked at her. He yanked her pants off then lifted her tunic above her head. She was naked in moments, breathless with the quickness of his approach, stunned by desire.

  Ruthless need heated his eyes as he stared at her with clear hunger. His gaze turned as red as a star extinguishing at night. She crawled onto the bed then scooted backward to make room. Rayder hovered over her.

  “Show me…” she whispered.

  “I’ll show you everything. Everything your heart desires.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Desire pooled low in Xandra’s belly. She’d never seen him like this, beyond frantic, eager and overwhelming with passion. With any other man, the swiftness of her craving would have astonished and perhaps frightened her. Yet they’d been here before, and with skin against skin, she craved what they’d had. That silky slide into heat, the unstoppable plunge straight into euphoria. Pleasure like what he’d shown her couldn’t be explained, catching a human’s soul and stripping away barriers.