Rapture

by Jacquelyn Frank

  Indeed, he was. Which, in truth, wasn’t a good thing. Tristan retired earlier and with a vengeance when his mind was heavily weighted. It was as if her brother feared he would snap if he didn’t purge his demon thoughts through the release of his sexual self. She had listened to his athletics, although she was hardly able to avoid listening to them, and had already noted that despite his partner’s joy, he had yet to find release of any kind. This after over an hour already.

  Malaya slid her gaze over to Guin, her bodyguard and deeply entrusted attendant. The big, braw male warrior had been by her side for fifty years, which meant he had also known Tristan for that long. He was well aware of her worry over her brother, and as he stood there at a silent, monolithic attention, he was frowning.

  “You’re a man.” She spoke suddenly, startling his attention to her.

  “Yeah,” he said slowly, his brow curling in amused puzzlement. “I can pretty much show proof of that every time I wake up.”

  “Oh my. Too much information.” Rika chuckled.

  Malaya smiled. “I think it’s safe to say Tristan has him beat in the ‘too much information’ category for life,” she noted. But she went back to Guin. “What do you think would drive a man to such distraction?”

  Guin hesitated, as if he were stepping around a field of land mines.

  “No. Be honest,” she encouraged him. “I don’t keep you here for your ability to blow smoke up my backside.”

  “Good, because he sucks at it,” Rika said with a giggle.

  Malaya had to laugh. It was good to see her vizier in such good spirits. It was a good week for the ailing Rika. A not-so-good week for Tristan. Therefore, a vacillating week for his twin sister.

  The bodyguard thought on it for a moment. “Well, I can’t presume anything because your brother and I don’t think the same way about very many things. We agree on the important topics, though. Like keeping you safe. But I might venture to say it’s a woman. Not these he keeps spending himself on, but another one. Maybe one he doesn’t feel he should touch? A woman he thinks is too good for him.”

  Malaya thought about it, but it didn’t ring very true. Her brother was confident almost to a fault. If he wanted a woman for his own, he would go and take her. She shook her head. “I find that difficult to imagine. As Chancellor, no woman is out of his reach…except perhaps a handmaiden. But I highly doubt…” She hesitated, then shook her head again. “No. He doesn’t waste his energy on useless infatuations. That cannot be it.”

  Guin gave her a dark and narrowed look, a muscle jumping in his square jaw as if her remarks had ticked him off, though she couldn’t see why. “Why do you ask my opinion if you are not going to take it seriously?” he demanded testily.

  “I did take it seriously. Then I analyzed it and dismissed it. Give me a new opinion.”

  “I think you should consider that topic you mentioned where you and Tristan are in agreement, Guin,” Rika suggested.

  Guin raised a brow and thought about that. “True. One thing guaranteed to upset your brother as much as it would upset me is you.” Guin nodded his heavy, saturnine head toward Malaya.

  “Me!”

  “Yes. You. You and your safety. Your life in threat. Your health, emotions, or well-being in danger of being harmed in any way. This threat of a traitorous vein in the Senate and in Sanctuary—”

  “But this started before we knew of that! Long before!”

  “Gods, woman!” Guin exploded, marching up to her, his leather armor creaking over the sound of snug denim and rustling weapons. He reached out for the hair at the back of her head and gently gripped and pulled until she was looking all the way up at him. “Ask him! Tell him you have had enough of this and demand he tell you, just as you would me! Tell him his tireless cock is driving us all out of our minds because I promise you, if I have to listen to this for six more months, I am going to do something rash about it for myself! Not everyone here has the freedom to indulge in the needs and desires listening to this night after night that presses upon them, Malaya.”

  Guin suddenly seemed to realize what he was saying to her, a tremor cutting through his big body that she could feel through the hand in her hair. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat, looking at his booted feet in discomfort for a moment.

  “Guin,” she said softly. “I hadn’t even thought…If you need time for yourself, you should take it. This suite is your home just as it is mine, and you know you are free to entertain a guest if you—”

  “Bituth amec!” The guard exploded in furious rage, and Malaya stared at him in astonishment. “I don’t fucking want to entertain a guest!” he roared, snapping back away from her and pacing in quick, angry steps. “If I want sex, K’yatsume, I know how and where to go to get it and how to arrange to be away from you to go about it! This is not my point! Fuck! Rika, what in Light is my point?” he demanded with total frustration as he ran a hand through his hair.

  “I think he means your brother is driving the entire palace crazy in one form or another, and it is high time you confronted him about it and forced him to tell you what is happening before we all go quite insane,” Rika supplied.

  “That’s exactly what I mean!” Guin huffed sharply, a hand slapping down hard on a thick thigh. “I am sick of watching you worry yourself over him when he’s in there having a balls-happy time.”

  “Guin, really,” Rika scolded, biting her lips to keep from chuckling.

  “I’m just being honest,” he said harshly. “Trust me, he isn’t going to come to the resolution he is looking for while he’s…he’s”—Guin growled in frustration when it went against his nature to edit his coarse way of expressing himself—“while he’s dick deep in pussy night after night!”

  Malaya covered her mouth, pressing back a snicker, but he noticed anyway.

  “This isn’t funny,” he warned her.

  “Oh, Guin,” she tried to soothe him around a giggle. “I know. And you’re right.” She stood up in a smooth gliding movement and walked up to him. She slid her arms around his ribs and hugged herself to his rigid body until, as always, he relaxed in her grasp and reached to hug her back with an arm around her that squashed her tightly to him. Malaya didn’t see that his fists never opened or that he turned his nose against her hair to breathe in her scent as his eyes closed for a brief moment.

  “You love to test me,” he accused her, his deep voice rumbling beneath the ear that lay against his chest.

  “For once, that was not my intention,” she assured him.

  Guin sighed and shook his head. He fell silent under her affection, just long enough for the sounds of her brother’s activity to dominate the room again. This time Malaya sighed, tipping her head back to look up into the turbulent granite of her bodyguard’s eyes.

  “I think at this point I am afraid to know what drives him so.”

  “You mean besides his—”

  “Guin.” She giggled, cutting him off and making the brute grin down at her. “I’m serious. I’ve never seen him like this. And it isn’t as though I haven’t been pestering him for months about it.”

  “Stop being sisterly about it, K’yatsume. Be a queen. Kick his ass. Before I do,” he added gruffly. Guin disengaged her arms, stepping out of her sphere and walking away. He reached out and popped a finger on the tip of Rika’s nose affectionately as he passed.

  “Where are you going?” Malaya asked.

  “Out of earshot for ten minutes. I’ll send someone in. Ihram, probably, because I think Kill is off duty. Start thinking about knocking that sibling of yours around.”

  “Oh, I am,” she assured him.

  Guin exited the room and, after sending Ihram in to watch over the women, he walked down the long corridor of the royals’ private wing. He paused, leaning back against a wall for a moment and finding himself surrounded by the nearer moans of Tristan’s efforts of the moment. He closed his eyes and actually thought to pray to Drenna for the strength to bear this until Malaya got her twin under
control. He didn’t think he could take much more of listening to rabid sexual antics every night while Malaya insisted on torturing him with sweet hugs of affection and the jasmine scent she washed through her hair. Her total ignorance was all that saved him, but it wouldn’t last for long if he ended up getting a painfully obvious erection within notice of her as he had just almost done.

  Well, the erection had definitely happened, but he had moved away in time, allowing his clothing and his exit to hide what he could not.

  Fuck.

  Something had to give.

  Since he had no intention of pursuing a woman ten times his worth and who clearly looked on him like a big oafish brother, it meant the environment had to return to normal or…

  Or he would have to leave.

  The idea of leaving her, of entrusting her constantly endangered life to the care of anyone else but himself made him sick to his stomach. It infuriated him to find himself so weak and affected. He had no right to risk getting her killed just because he couldn’t keep control over a ridiculous…

  Infatuation.

  That’s all it was. He had never been so devoted to a single person before, never had the honor of being the companion of someone so pure of heart and intention that it dazzled his jaded eyes. It had been like that from the very first night he had met her, and it hadn’t wavered once. It was all just a stupid fantasy; one that a big, undereducated ex-mercenary like him had no cause to indulge in, yet he did it just the same. Malaya shouldn’t have to pay any price for the fact that he had a libido and an imagination that liked to crave perfect, exquisite things far, far beyond his reach. And even if he ever did get his hands on that perfection, how in Light would he know how to treat it?

  It was best to maintain the status quo, of course. She would remain infinitely untouchable; not only to himself, but to anyone who wished harm upon her. He trusted no one else to care for her. Not even the one he had left her with. Not even her brother.

  Guin frowned at the thought of Malaya’s twin, his sharp hearing knowing quite well by now the sound of the man finally reaching the point of climax. Thank the gods! He had been dead serious before. If Malaya didn’t resolve this soon, he was going to approach the damn fool himself. Guin hated to see Malaya hurting, which, despite all her laughter and giggles, was exactly what she was doing. It wounded her deeply that her beloved twin would not come to her and entrust her with his troubles. In her room at daytime, beyond the door he slept in front of to guard her, he sometimes heard her give in to pained tears of worry and angst so deep it tore through him without mercy.

  If he hadn’t known how much it would hurt her to lose her brother, he would have killed the selfish bastard months ago.

  Something had to give.

  Daenaira was on the second floor of Sanctuary, in a large hallway, finding things pretty quiet because it was during classes and she was in the educational section of the building. She came up on a large glass dome set in the middle of the floor for seemingly no reason. It was surrounded by a low rail and there were book rests at regular spaces. She was trying to figure out who would read a book while standing and facing a big hunk of glass when she looked down through the dome leading to the room below.

  “Holy Light,” she whispered.

  There, many feet below her but more than easy to see, was a large bed. In the middle of the bed was a couple. They were completely naked and…

  She jolted back, her face flaming as she quickly looked around. They were having sex! Right where everyone could see! Then some other things began to register and she peeked back through the glass.

  She was looking down on a classroom!

  There were about twenty-five people sitting all around the center bed on various chaises and sofas, and they were all watching the couple. Some were even taking notes. Daenaira pressed a cool hand to her burning cheek as she looked down at the center attraction again. The woman was a plump and pretty girl with very dark skin and shoulder-length black curls that hung in dozens of corkscrews. She was on her knees, but not her elbows, while the male penetrated her from behind. The male had a lean, whipcord strong physique and short brown hair that hung over his eyes a bit. Neither one of them was moving, as if they were frozen in time. His penis was only half inside his partner’s body and he was actually breathing quite steadily, by the rise and fall of his chest, and exhibiting a strong impression of control.

  “Who can tell me what is important for our male to keep in mind in this position?”

  Holy Light! She’d know that voice anywhere! Sure enough, the lecturer stepped away from the far wall where he had gone unseen by her until that moment and he moved to approach the tableau in the bed. The closer he got, the more his voice carried up to her. Not that it needed any help. It resonated right through her.

  “And, no, Henry, I will not accept ‘oh, yes, baby!’ as an answer.”

  The class erupted in laughter, including the models, and Dae snorted out a soft laugh.

  Just like that, Magnus’s head shot up and his sharp golden eyes looked straight at her. Her first ridiculous instinct was to duck, like some kid caught doing something wrong, but it would be stupid to move. First of all, he’d already seen her. Second, she wasn’t a kid. Dae watched him as he hesitated significantly, and then she finally got up the cheek to give him a little wave.

  He looked away.

  But she saw a twitch of a smile stroke his lips just before.

  “Jalia?” he addressed a young woman to his right.

  “Depth?” she asked more than answered.

  “True. Depending on the male, of course, the instinctive urge for deeper penetration should be tempered if there is a size issue. The cervix is easier to strike and bruise for many women in this position.” He cleared his throat and looked up at Dae again. “Kiren?” he said without looking at the student.

  “Stimulation. A woman isn’t as easily brought to orgasm because of the way he moves across her pleasure spots. Or rather, doesn’t move across them.”

  “Not naturally, no,” Magnus agreed. “But this is easily rectified by bringing her up onto her hands, perhaps, and canting his stroke at a steeper angle.”

  The models moved as he spoke, demonstrating what he meant, and Dae heard the woman keen in a soft, lustful moan after several steady strokes by her partner.

  “Oh my,” Daenaira breathed softly.

  When Magnus looked up this time, she gave a little jump. Damn it, she had to keep her mouth shut. The man had incredible hearing.

  Magnus’s lecture was completely shot the minute he had heard that first unmistakable laugh, and he had no idea why. Drenna, he’d taught just about the whole damn city how to have sex. What did it matter if Daenaira was watching him do it?

  But when she whispered that breathy little “oh my” in response to what she was seeing, she completely blew out his focus. He felt his very blood jolt in his veins, and suddenly all he could remember was seeing her in a full, glorious temper, naked from the waist up and showing off her outstanding breasts.

  “M’jan?”

  Magnus snapped his attention to the student calling him.

  “Yes, Avel?”

  “I know you say there’s never an absolute right and an absolute wrong, but he isn’t touching her anywhere except by penetration. Isn’t that a little…I don’t know…selfish?”

  “I don’t hear her complaining,” Henry noted with amusement, making his classmates snicker.

  “Shut up, Henry,” Avel shot out petulantly. She was an unusually sensitive girl and hard to draw out sometimes. Magnus would have to speak to Henry after the lecture about keeping the smart remarks limited to just his teacher. He didn’t want anyone’s curiosity curtailed for the sake of a class clown’s easy laugh.

  “Perhaps. He needs to listen to her. He needs to judge what she might need. And she needs to ask for it if he’s being thickheaded.” Magnus refused to look up again and turned to his models. “Killian could reach around to stimulate her clitoris or to
uch her breasts. Likewise, Dae—uh, Diana could reach to…”

  Thank Drenna Diana’s actions were self-explanatory, because he couldn’t seem to spit out the rest. Gods, had he really just done that? More importantly, had Daenaira caught it up where she was?

  Magnus looked up, unable to help himself. Sure enough, there it was, that sly little smile of hers and the most incredibly speculative look he’d ever been on the receiving end of. Meanwhile, Killian was working magic on his enthusiastic partner and her moans of pleasure were filling the space between them as their gazes locked and held.

  “Magnus!”

  Magnus jumped, though he quickly told himself it wasn’t from guilt. When he saw M’jan Daniel hurrying through the doors, he knew something was very wrong.

  “Killian, feel free to finish,” he said quickly, hurrying toward the other priest. “What is it?”

  “Brendan sent me to fetch you. He said he found someone you were looking for and that he was hunting him in Shadowscape.”

  Daenaira’s attacker. Brendan had been quietly seeking answers in hydroponics and had apparently flushed out the culprit. But Brendan wasn’t a penance priest. He was capable, but not up for a pitched battle if the enemy was well trained. Like the assassins that had tracked and hunted Trace a few months ago. Those sorts of professional killers were nothing Brendan could match himself to.

  There were only five penance priests: Magnus, Shiloh, Cort, Ventan, and Sagan.

  Then Magnus had the horrible thought that it might be one of those highly placed males that Brendan had ferreted out. If that were the case, he was as good as dead. Magnus darted into the corridor and took a breath. Deep in the darkness, he began to zone out everything around him, focusing on the energy inside him that would help him to Fade. Fade was the dissolving of a Shadowdweller’s physical existence in one dimension so they could arrive in another. There was a long moment of shuddering suspension and a metallic taste across his palate, and then he was in Shadowscape. An exact replica of Realscape, Shadowscape was a completely lightless dimension both inside and out of the underground ’Dweller city. It was just a step out of phase with the real world as they knew it, but it was enough to keep out anyone who wasn’t in Fade.