“Argh,” Malak grumped, slamming his game piece down on the table. He nodded at Andor, one of his lycan guards. “This game is yours. I forfeit.”
Andor laughed and picked up his goblet. “I accept your defeat.”
Malak growled good-naturedly at him before turning to follow his steward toward the stairwell. There was no pleasure in him as they walked silently up toward his bedchambers.
“I’ve already ordered the fairies to change your bedding when he leaves,” Gaston said. “Kaatja wanted me to extend her offer to stay in your bed after it is refreshed, should you have need of refreshing yourself.”
Malak shook his head in denial. He hadn’t been able to think about touching anyone but Sophia since first seeing her in Lycaon. Many of the women of his court were upset, but what could he do? His body still felt a connection to Sophia. If anything, that connection grew to torment him.
The passageways through his castle were dark due to the black stone it was built out of. If he listened closely, the sound of water could be heard in the distance. It was a stream that ran through nearby forest. Torches lit the way, their orange glow giving the uneven stone walls an eerie contrast. His bedchamber was in the highest part of the main tower with access to the high roof. He liked spending his nights outside and the view was particularly splendid from the tower’s height.
His bedchamber was a large, circular room. A fire burned in the fireplace, an eternal flame always lit by magic just like the torches throughout the castle. It was one of the few spells Malak had learned to cast over the years, mainly thanks to Merrlyn. A large trunk was in the corner, near a narrow slit of a window. A stream of red moonlight came from outside. He hadn’t realized it was so late. Malak had been too busy trying to find ways of not thinking about Sophia. Even now, it was as if he could feel her presence around him.
Looking at his bed, he grimaced. His steward was right. The bedding would have to be changed. Cupid lounged in the middle of the large bed, his horrid little body nestled into his favorite blue and silver coverlet. Malak frowned. “What is this about a present, troll?”
Cupid sat up, grinning widely. Somehow the happy expression made Malak apprehensive. If Cupid was happy it usually didn’t bode well for anyone around him. “Take care, she understands our language. I got tired of repeating myself so I cast a language spell.”
Malak sighed heavily. Cupid gestured to the end of the bed. Something moved within a dirty sack on the floor. “You brought me an enchanted goat?” Malak laughed, though the sound was dark.
“I brought you revenge, my lord,” Cupid said, poking a gnarled finger in his ear.
Now Malak was worried. He leaned over to untie the sack. The troll’s stench was so great he couldn’t smell anything beyond it. At his handling, whatever it was started to kick. Reluctant to reach inside, the lycan pulled the material down to expose a clump of muddy hair.
“Take your anger out on her. No one knows of her presence, I made sure of it.” Cupid stood up on the bed, jumping lightly in excitement. He clapped his hands. “A perfect compensation of a life debt. The one creature you hate above all others.”
As the troll said it, Malak flinched as two startling blue eyes were revealed to him. Sophia glared out at him from her dark, muddy prison. How…?
“Cupid,” Malak growled, torn between freeing her and strangling the troll. He looked up just as the troll was stepping into a small black hole.
Cupid’s body was whisked away, but not before he mumbling, “Bah! I am done meddling in the affairs of lycans until they cross me again. If I have to look at one more of those horrifically sweet humans again I’ll retch.”
Malak closed his eyes briefly before springing into action. Not caring that she was covered in foul mud or smelled horrible, he grabbed Sophia and began freeing her. Inside the sack her limbs were tied together and her mouth was gagged. Letting a claw form on his fingertip, he cut her free.
Sophia gasped for air, her body slow to move as she rubbed her wrists. Malak reached to help her up, but she hit his hand away. “You.” That one word was enough to express all she felt, and she definitely wasn’t happy with him.
“Sophia,” he said, nodding. His body instantly pulled toward her. He wanted to hold her, to shout with pleasure that she was returned to him--no matter how it came about. Malak lifted his hands, eager to pull her to his chest and demand she never again leave his sight. Life had been hell without her. He’d tried to resign himself to never seeing her again, but now that she was here he knew he could not let her go. His duty was done. It wasn’t his fault Cupid had brought her back.
“You,” she repeated, her tone hateful. “How could you hire that… that creature to kidnap me from my home? Let me guess, you ordered him to enchant me too. That’s what that pink stuff was. That’s why I can’t stop thinking about you, isn’t it? You bastard! How could you? All I ever wanted was my freedom, but you couldn’t give me that much, could you? Can’t you take a hint? I don’t want you. I do not want to be here! I don’t want Larus. I don’t want Devlin. And I don’t want you.”
Malak’s gut tightened at her words. Had Cupid tried some sort of spell on her to make her want him? Did he think that by doing so, Malak could better extract revenge on Sophia--whatever that meant? Who knew what went through the twisted little trolls head.
“You actually think that I am capable of…” He motioned to the sack.
“I want a bath,” Sophia announced. She wobbled on her feet. “You can do at least this much for me. I want a bath. I want a change of clothes. And I want to see my sister.”
“Your sister is with Larus on their honeymoon,” Malak said. “Then he is taking her to meet the elders.”
“Then I will wait for her at Lycaon.”
“Fine,” he growled.
“Fine,” she said. He started to walk away. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”
Turning toward her, his body tight, he bowed. “To get my lady a bath before she stinks up my home.”
Sophia gasped. Malak was torn between intense pleasure and pain. His heart squeezed in his chest. It would seem their time apart didn’t cause any tender feelings to grow in her. Sure, she wanted him, admitted to as much, but she didn’t like him. She even thought him capable of hurting her. His limbs shook as he thought of her tied up in a bag, covered in mud and gagged. If he ever found Cupid he’d beat him senseless.
* * * *
Sophia chewed the last of the bread as she slowly lowered her body into the first of two baths of hot water. She was so dirty, Malak had sent up fairies with two tubs as well as a plate of food. Apparently, just like Lycaon, fairies worked in Fenris as maids. The vain little wretches giggled and pointed at her, making a great show of holding their noses. Scrubbing off as much mud as she could, she stood and hurried to get into the second tub where hair rinses and soap awaited her. Unfortunately, the soap smelled like Malak and she had to choose between intense sexual desire for the frustrating lycan or being dirty. Cleanliness won.
After her bath, she quickly dried off before the fire. The fairies had left her a gown on the bed. It was a long blue piece of material like many of the lycan women wore. Sophia frowned as she tried to wrap it around her body. No matter how she did it, the gown she fashioned didn’t cover enough of her flesh. Her arms were bare and her legs poked out from under the skirt. It might be acceptable for lycan women to go about in such a state, but she felt exposed.
While she bathed, she had studied the bedchamber. Undoubtedly it was Malak’s. What it lacked in feminine décor it made up for in weaponry. Swords were displayed along the wall, along with some strange looking weapons she’d never seen. Small pouches were lined up along a long table, differing only by the color of their material.
Her eyes fell on a small door in the corner. Slowly, she walked toward it. Behind the door, a long row of stairs led up and she followed them. Her limbs shook and she was tired from her long days with Cupid. The troll had kept her tied up most of the time, at
least when she wasn’t drugged. Luckily, the troll found her as repulsive as she did him and didn’t lay a hand on her, except to smother her ‘grotesque’ face and clothing with stink mud.
The stairwell led to the top of a tower. She hadn’t realized she was so high up off the ground. Slowly, she edged toward the side of the battlements. The red moon gave a bloody cast to the land, making her skin look as if it glowed. She could see well beyond the Fenris’s front gate. Cupid had made no secret of where he was taking her and she knew this to be Malak’s home. There was something gothic to the castle’s appearance, almost like a cathedral she’d once seen as a girl, both awe-inspiring and fearful at the same time.
The enclosed stairwell hid a large corner of the roof from view, as it extended into a wall. Walking around the side, she thought to have heard a noise, almost like a long sigh. She debated on whether or not to turn back, but finally determined it must have been the wind against the stone.
Still, just to be cautious, she leaned around the edge of the wall to peek. Suddenly, she stopped, gasping in fright. An eyeball about the size of her head awaited her, its dark center dilating beneath its scaly lid. The creature huffed, blowing a small ball of fire from its nose. Sophia felt the dragon’s heat as she jumped back, screaming in fright. The sound of her voice must have alarmed the creature, because he too threw back his head and roared, blowing a long trail of fire into the night air.
The creature towered over her as it stood tall, roaring again into toward the stars. It was hard to tell its exact color in the red light, but the creature had dark flesh that ridged into sharp-looking points along its tail and back. Sophia stumbled back, only to be caught against a warm chest. Instantly, she knew it was Malak. A feeling of security washed over her as she turned in his arms. She wiggled, ducking under his arms to hide behind his back.
“Dr…” she tried to speak. “Dr…”
“Dragon,” Malak said softly.
“They… hibernate. When Larus was leading us through a forest, a creature said that dragons… sleep.” It was all she could eek out, but he seemed to understand. Amazingly, Malak didn’t seem afraid.
“They wake up,” he answered. Lifting his hand, he said to the creature, “Welcome, old friend.”
Sophia realized that they were speaking in the gruff language of the lycan people, but she understood it perfectly, as if it were her own. That’s one thing she could thank Cupid for--the spell he cast so she could understand all languages.
The dragon snorted, blowing a puff of smoke. “Do the wizards grow humans again to feed us?”
Sophia gasped. She held tight to Malak’s bare arm. His chest and back was naked, like always, and she pressed herself to his natural warmth. “Did that thing just…?”
“Talk?” Malak asked.
“Say he wanted to eat me?” Sophia corrected. “And, now that you mention it, yeah, and talk?”
“We did not enjoy the humans last time. Too salty,” the dragon snorted. “And definitely too rude.”
“Sorry, old friend,” Malak said. “Cupid opened the portals between the realms and she’s been brought through. She means no offense. Right, Sophia?”
“Ah…” Her mouth worked and she nodded eagerly. “No offense. Yes. No offense.”
“Ah, well, keep your woman in line, Malak.” The dragon snorted and Sophia got the impression the giant creature was laughing. “I never took you for settling with a mortal, but congratulations to you and the lady of Fenris.”
“Oh, I’m not--” she tried to deny. Malak lifted his hand to cover her mouth, pulling her close to his chest. She blinked in surprise as his warmth curled into her.
“She’s not been officially announced as my mate,” Malak said. “She has yet to accept my proposal.”
Proposal? Sophia grimaced. Did he actually think he was funny, saying such things?
“Harrumph. She accepted the marking well enough by the smell of her.” The dragon flapped its tail and lifted two very long wings off its back. Sophia hadn’t noticed the wings before that moment. She’d been too busy staring at his enormous face. “I never did understand female mortals. I don’t think they know what they want.”
Sophia frowned. Did her whole race just get insulted by a dragon? Something that spewed fire from its mouth and looked like an overgrown lizard?
Pushing away from his chest, she opened her mouth to defend her human gender. Malak grabbed her arms and pulled her to him once more, planting a hard kiss to her mouth. Sophia moaned in surprise, her whole body melting against him. She’d thought she’d never feel him or taste him ever again. When he held her, all fear seemed to melt away.
Mindlessly giving into the pleasure, she ran her hands over his chest to his neck. Malak lifted her off the ground, her body pressed tightly to his. Long strands of his hair blew over her shoulders, cocooning her within the silky locks.
Malak pulled his lips away first. His lids heavy, he said, “Excuse us, old friend. Stay as long as you wish. You are always welcome here.”
“Aye, go convince her then,” the dragon said.
Sophia blinked, her mind coming out of the fog his kiss had wove around her senses. She struggled to be let go and he set her down. A hard breeze beat across her back and she shivered, turning just in time to see the dragon take to flight. When it was far off into the sky, she realized Malak’s hands were still on her waist. He leaned over, kissing her neck.
“Ah!” She hit him in the arm. “What do you think you’re doing? I told you, I don’t want you!”
“You keep saying that, and yet…” Malak let go of her and took a deep breath. Was he smelling her? She gasped, taking a step away from him.
“I told you, I’m stronger than any enchantment. I won’t succumb to you. I don’t care what that troll did to me, or hit me with, or what spell he cast. I am a free woman and I make up my own mind.”
“Not this again,” he sighed, leaning against the stone wall. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You are not under a spell and even if you were, I am immune to troll magic. Cupid’s little love spells don’t work on me. What is between us is between us. I saved Cupid’s life and he brought you here to repay the life debt.”
“Ah-ha! So you did put him up to it because he owed you a favor.” Desire pumped through her veins and she wanted desperately to be back in his arms, kissing him, exploring him. “You might be unaffected by his magic, but I know for a fact that I’m not. You made him put a lust spell on me. That’s why I want you in my bed.”
Malak grinned. It was an impossibly sexy look as his eyes roamed over her length in a slow caress. “He wouldn’t have enchanted you because he thinks that I want revenge against you.”
“Revenge?” She laughed in disbelief. “It is I who have been wronged.”
“Not by me,” Malak growled, his eyes narrowing in anger. “Never by me.”
“Well...” She couldn’t really argue with that so she said the only thing she could think of. “You kissed me without permission. Just now. And you kept me from defending myself against a stupid dragon.”
“Dragons happen to be very smart and very temperamental. Had you debated him, he would have eaten you to win the argument. I saved your life by kissing you. In fact, this is the second time I’ve come to your aid and you have yet to thank me for it. Maybe I should have let him eat you. Then I could go back to living my normal carefree life.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to get kidnapped for the second time. I didn’t mean to disrupt whatever sordid thing you have going on here with my presence.” She threw up her hands, trying to act nonchalant but secretly jealous of the idea of Malak with other women. “If you recall, I left willingly. It is not my fault your world keeps dragging me back!”
“You’ve had a rough time. Why don’t you go get some rest and we’ll discuss this later.” Malak looked as if he were going to leave her.
“I don’t need rest. I’ve been resting for so long I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to. What do you think Cupid had me do
ing for the last several days? It wasn’t like we had lively conversations over mead. Every time I woke up, he’d knock me out again with his powders.”
Malak looked up. “He took you from your home right away? Hmm, he must have been waiting for the red moon to deliver you to me knowing you couldn’t go home until the season was over.”
“So glad you have it all figured out.” She lifted her hands. “So, tell me, what exactly are my choices here? I’m trapped in this world for however long. My sister is off touring the magic realm with her husband and the only people I know are…”
“Are?” he prompted when she didn’t finish.
“I don’t want to be a burden.”
“Then don’t be.” He said it like it was the easiest decision in the world.
“What other choice is there for me? At least back in my world I could fend for myself.” She laughed in disbelief. “I know my options, Malak. Larus made them clear before I left. I can either marry a complete stranger or I can live off him and my sister. Mina has felt responsible for me all my life. I do not want to impede upon her happiness.”
“Is that the real reason you went back?” Malak studied her intently. She didn’t know who had stepped closer, but the distance between them had lessened. The night breeze hit her back and she shivered, rubbing her bare arms.
“One of them,” she admitted.
“And the others?”
“I don’t expect a man like you to understand.” Sophia sighed, shaking her head.
“Try me. You might be surprised.”
“No. You won’t understand. You have more women than there are days in a year. You were probably down in the hall with them when Cupid brought me here.” Her eyes were drawn to his lips as he spoke. She could still taste him on her tongue from when he kissed her.
“I haven’t been with anyone since I first saw you.”
She’d never seen him look more serious. Foolish or not, she believed him. Her heart fluttered and she couldn’t breathe for a long moment. “Really?”
Naughty Cupid Trilogy Page 35