Talia's Match [Coalition Mates 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
Page 8
“I think I always have,” Misha answered, not making eye contact. Talia could tell it shamed the other women to have these feelings for a man other than her husband.
She continued, “When we were children, we were almost inseparable. I think it was just accepted that we would marry when I reached the age of betrothal. No one could have guessed that Caxill would claim me as the right of heir. He had never even spoken to me before then. My parents really didn’t have any right to object, as they’d offered my betrothal to the Royal Family, and they accepted…just not with the brother that I had hoped for.”
Talia’s heart broke for both Misha and Dhover, as she could easily tell from the way his eyes had followed Misha at dinner that he was still as much in love with her as she was with him. It was an awful situation and it made her think even less of Caxill, if that were even possible.
“I’m so sorry, Misha. That man does not deserve you. I wish there were something we could do to make things better for you,” Talia said as she pulled Misha in for a hug.
“Having you here now is all the happiness I need, sister. I shall have to thank the Goddess for bringing you into our lives,” Misha said as she hugged her back.
“Okay, let’s gather our purchases and get home before your men are out here tracking you down!” Misha seemed to gather herself and put her regal persona back in place.
Chapter Twenty
They rode back to the palace in silence, enjoying the view and each other’s company. Talia had asked Misha to join her in their rooms for dinner, but she declined, saying that she didn’t want to be in the way once Talia’s men got home from missing her all day. That particular thought had her smiling to herself as she decided to have a nice, long bath while she waited for them to return.
About ten minutes into her bath, she heard the door chime and figured that Misha had changed her mind, deciding to hang out before the guys got back. She had just stood up and began to walk up the steps when she heard the doors swoosh open. Since Ash and Grae were the only ones beside her with the door codes—aside from the staff, of course, none of whom would ever come in while she was in their rooms without announcing themselves—she was excited to see them. But as she came out of the bath in a small robe and Caxill was standing in front of the door, she stopped abruptly.
“What are you doing in our room?” she said in the most polite tone she could manage while holding her robe tightly together.
The large man seemed to bristle slightly at her tone, but then he turned to the door panel and typed some sort of code into it that had the mechanism locking. Panic began a slow crawl through her body.
“Now, Talia, is that any way to address your King?” he said as he wandered around the room, looking at everything and trying to appear nonpredatory. Which, of course, only made her more nervous.
“With all due respect, sir, you are my mates’ King, but you are not mine.” She made sure to emphasize the word “mate” to see if she could derail what she was afraid was about to happen.
“Your mates? I was not informed that you had taken a mate, my dear,” he said as he tried to get closer to her.
“I’ve accepted both Ash’s and Grae’s offer to mate. Grae marked me last night. It’s already official,” she answered, hoping like hell that the guards were still outside her door. “Now if you would please leave, I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to be in here alone with me,” Talia continued as she inched closer to the large doors to the entry.
Caxill barked out a cruel laugh. “Appropriate? What would you know about propriety, female? You are a purchased concubine, nothing more. Ash may have toyed with your emotions to get between those thighs, but he has not filed a courtship or mating request. He has lied to you, female.”
Talia could see him try to make his face look passive and compassionate, but she wasn’t buying what this crazy bastard was trying to sell. She needed some help here before things got ugly.
“Guards! Please open the doors and escort his Highness out of my rooms!” she yelled as loud as she could while not taking her eyes off the large man.
“No need to yell, Talia. I have instructed my guards that they are not to interrupt us for any reason, lest they lose their heads along with the rest of their families,” he said with a genial smile, like he didn’t realize he was a complete sociopath.
“Now, wouldn’t you rather be a Queen than a simple concubine to two lesser men? I can make you a Queen, Talia. All you would have to do is give me an heir.” He continued to creep in closer to her.
Talia was trying not to panic at this point. She was basically naked, with no weapons, and Ash’s brother was a massive man. If he decided to stop humouring her and take what he wanted, she didn’t think that she’d be able to stop him. Could she really expect the guards to risk their own lives as well as those of their families?
She tried to get her breathing under control, but when he darted forward and grabbed her arms, she went into full-blown panic, clawing and kicking out at him. Obviously, he didn’t think she would have physically fought him. She got in a few good knees to his junk before he roared and, with a vicious backhand to her cheek, threw her back onto the bed.
“How dare you strike me, whore! I will show you how a male of my calibre tames a woman like you. You will be begging me to extend my previous offer once you’ve had a taste of my discipline!” he spat at her, as he began to peel off the layers of his clothes.
There was a pounding at the door that had him snarling at them, spittle flying, eyes wide and crazed. Talia knew he had truly snapped and she had to find a way to survive this.
Chapter Twenty-One
As Ash and Grae boarded the shuttle for home, they were both trying to understand why the King had asked them to fly to Volda. The so-called “shifter threat” they were sent to validate was clearly nonexistent. Either the King had become completely paranoid, or there was some reason that he had wanted both Asher and Grae out of the palace today. Unfortunately, since the Chancellor had them there, he wanted to review plans for the next summit Ash and Grae were to attend, so they had spent several hours there anyways.
“Did this trip seem off to you, Grae?” Ash asked, trying to calm himself and keep from alarming his consort. When someone turned into a huge, fire-breathing beast when they were riled, it was a good thing not to overreact before it was warranted.
Grae looked back over at Ash carefully. “I was just thinking the same thing. Did Caxill personally com you this morning to assign this task, or did it go through Dhover?”
Grae got a sick feeling in his gut when Ash immediately tensed and looked toward home. Ash contacted Dhover to get an update on their mate.
“Dhover, have there been any problems at the palace today? This assignment was clearly fabricated to get us away from home. The Chancellor of Volda had no record of requesting an inquest with the King,” Ash said as soon as Dhover answered his com unit.
“Are you certain, Ash? There has been no unusual activity here at the Palace, other than our dear brother refusing to attend the senators’ meeting this afternoon, but he’s been a mood all day. The last update I received from Misha and Talia’s guards was that they are still at the market and fine. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding about the inquest?” Dhover answered.
“Perhaps.” Ash tried to release the breath he was holding, but something still didn’t feel right. “Will you please make sure to let me know when the ladies return from shopping and put an extra guard on Talia once she’s in her rooms?”
“Of course, brother. See you soon,” Dhover said before the com shut off.
“I still don’t feel right about all of this, Ash. Something’s not right.” Grae was pacing back and forth in the small shuttle.
* * * *
“Caxill! Brother, what are you doing in there! You cannot do this! Asher has mated Talia, and you are married!” she heard Dhover scream as he tried to get the doors unlocked. “This will cost you your crown, Caxill! Do not touch her!”
But not before she left a large, bleeding bite mark on his cheek did he realize he couldn’t get that close to her mouth. He had transferred both her wrists to a grinding hold in one of his large hands and was reaching down to his pants to free his cock when she began crying uncontrollably, screaming for him to stop over and over. Just as she’d felt his hand brushing against her, moving his member into place, she felt a blistering gush of hot air and a roar that almost deafened her. Caxill was ripped from her and crashed against the wall with a sickening sound of cracking bones.
She was in a daze, but she thought she saw Grae in half-dragon form picking Caxill up from the floor and banging him against the wall, smoke coming out through his nose and his mouth.
“You hurt my mate! You touched what belongs to us!” Grae could barely be understood as he fought for control over his beast.
Just as Talia was going to go to him, the doors crashed open and a flood of people entered their room. Misha ran over to Talia and helped cover her up while Dhover rushed to stop Grae from barbequing their King with about ten other guards. Ash pulled her onto his lap as he felt to see if she was hurt. Tears were freely falling down her face, and now that her men were here, she let go completely as she thought about what had almost happened to her.
“Gods Talia, are you all right? Did he hurt you? I’m so sorry. We didn’t think he was capable of something like this. Can you ever forgive us?” The words were falling out of Ash’s mouth as he rocked her back and forth.
Grae had finally released Caxill, but she took a small look and could see by the looks of shock and fear on the faces of the guards that the King hadn’t survived his tangle with the dragon. Now she began to wonder what would happen to Grae for protecting her.
“It’s not your fault. He was crazy,” she said to him as she reached for Grae’s hand. He looked afraid to touch her after his display.
“Will Grae be punished for protecting me?” she asked them.
Dhover stepped up to the three of them, a sad look on his face.
“No, Talia, Grae was within his rights to protect you, as any man would have been. What my brother tried to do…well, it’s atrocious, and we had no idea he was so sick. I apologize for not being able to get to you sooner,” Dhover said as he bowed low, clearly torn up about what his King had tried to do.
“Brother, there’s no way you could have anticipated that Caxill had fallen so far into this madness. Now it will fall to you to sort everything out and move this family forward,” Ash said quietly to the other man.
“Should I summon the healer, Talia? Are you all right?” Misha asked gently.
Talia could see the tracks of the tears silently running down the other woman’s cheeks. She had obviously been dealing with Caxill’s cruelty on her own for some time now. Talia reached out and took her hand.
“I think I’m just in shock, Misha. The rest is just bruises. Thank you for being here with me, though. It means a great deal,” she answered, snuggling up under Ash’s chin.
“If I’d have known he was contemplating this, Talia, I swear, I would have found a way to stop him...” Misha finally began to break down, as Dhover moved to support her.
“Shhh, Misha. He was sick. There’s nothing you could have known. Let me take you back to your rooms to rest,” Dhover said as he picked her up and left the room.
After her men had bathed her and tucked her gently into the bed in her room between them, Talia lay awake, thinking about the events that had taken place, realising that in those few moments when she was certain that the King was going to rape her, all she had wanted was Ash and Grae. She no longer questioned whether a relationship with the two men would work. She knew she would do anything in her power to make sure it did.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The next morning, she woke to Ash bringing her breakfast in bed. He was rather insistent on feeding her, which wasn’t that bad, she thought, considering that Grae wouldn’t even let her go at all while sitting behind her supervising her meal. After a rather frustrating bath, since the men thought she needed time emotionally to recover before they had sex again, she wanted to see Misha. One man on each side, they made their way to the main sitting room where Misha was in front of the fireplace, staring into nothing.
“Misha, can I sit with you? Are you all right?” Talia said as she sat and shooed the boys off toward the other side of the room where Dhover was speaking with some council members.
“Talia.” Misha looked up with a relieved expression. “How are you doing? I was hoping to see you before I left. I didn’t know if those two would ever let you out of your room again.”
“Left? Where are you going, Misha?” Talia started to panic at the thought of her only friend leaving.
“Well, I am no longer Queen. I am going back to my family now, Talia,” Misha said quietly as she took Talia’s hands. “I do hope you come and visit me often. I don’t have many friends, and I will miss you a great deal.”
“I don’t understand.” Talia was getting even more agitated. “Why can’t you stay?”
“I don’t think it would be appropriate, Talia. Besides, now that Dhover will be King, he will be expected to marry, and that’s not something I think I can endure being here for,” Misha quietly confessed.
Well, Talia had just about had enough of the foolishness of aliens and all their rules and propriety.
“This is bullshit,” she said as she stood and stormed over to Dhover. Who was talking with her two mates?
“Dhover, are you in love with Misha?” she stood in front of him and asked him, point-blank, to Misha’s horrified gasp.
The poor man at first looked flabbergasted to have been asked such a question in front of a room full of people, but then he seemed to gather himself and a stubborn and proud look took over.
“Yes, I love Misha Callis, and I intend to make her my wife if she will have me,” he answered, looking boldly at the former Queen.
Misha just stood there with a shocked look on her face, while the council members in the room whispered furiously about the drama unfolding before them.
“Misha!” Talia whispered. “Answer him.”
Misha blushed a furious shade of pink, and then she smiled brightly and rushed over to take Dhover’s extended hand.
“Yes, Dhover. I will marry you,” she said though her tears of obvious joy.
Dhover let out a whoop of uncharacteristic joy as he grabbed Misha and hugged her, while Ash and Grae just looked at them all with a dumbfounded expression.
Talia just laughed. “Finally! Apparently I have to do everything around here by myself!”
Then she grabbed the hands of her men and dragged them back to their rooms to show them what a real happy ending was all about.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Marsh was born in British Columbia where she still lives, she has only recently began her writing career finding it the perfect outlet for taking the edge off a nine to five office job. She’s been a science fiction and romance junkie for years and when her imagination started to take the characters she’d read about even further in their adventures she decided to try writing something of her own. Sarah’s also a former pastry chef and spends a lot of time cooking and baking for friends and family as well as painting and knitting. She loves to garden and grow things and has a weakness for animals of any kind; she’s also a sucker for a happy ending.
For all titles by Sarah Marsh, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/sarah-marsh
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