“You think Killian will understand you disobeying him?” I huffed through my nose, my eye already swelling. “That you are taking liberties he has not ordered?”
“He said not to kill you… but nothing about beating you within an inch of your pathetic human life.” She grabbed my hair, yanking it back until I heard a pop, strands tearing out of my head. “I have been his faithful guard for over four hundred years. You won’t even be a flicker in his memory. And eventually, he will see you are nothing more than a waste of space.”
Without hesitation, her hand smashed into my gut, heaving me over with a gasp, a blaze tearing through my organs. A desolate wail shredded from her throat as her knuckles crashed across my cheek, pitching me off the chair to the floor.
“You took her away from me!” Her boot cracked into my ribs, the feeling all too familiar. “You took everything!”
Crack.
My bones protested as her foot dug into my stomach.
“I want your death to be so slow and tortuous you are begging me to end you.” She smacked my face, the sound of knuckles against cartilage ringing in the air.
“Nyx!” A voice boomed. Magic burst violently into the room, my body freezing from the onslaught. “Stop!” His power dominated every molecule in the space.
Nyx drew in sharply, halting, her teeth bared, a trickle of saliva leaking down her chin.
“Move away from Ms. Kovacs.” Barely disguised anger hummed in his voice. “Now.”
She wiped her mouth, stepping back. Killian stood in the doorway, his jaw clenched, his frame rigid.
“Get out.” His voice was low.
As if she snapped out of a trance, she peered down at her hands, taking in the blood dripping off her knuckles. “My lord… I’m…”
“I. Said. Get. Out!” he bellowed, and I was surprised to see her jolt back in fear. She swallowed, dipped her head, and turned away, rushing toward the door.
He watched her, his expression stone, but a nerve along his neck convulsed, his jaw rolling. She bowed her head in submission.
“Keys.” He vibrated with rage.
Her throat bobbed, placing the cuff keys in his palm. “My lord—”
“I will deal with you later,” he seethed. “Leave.”
Her thick, tall frame trembled under his power. She dipped her head again before exiting the room.
He closed his eyes briefly as his fingers curled around the keys, his nose flaring. He took another breath before he bent his head over me.
I couldn’t move, pain eclipsing my ability to function. The desire to close my eyes seeped in at the edges of my vision.
There was no sentiment as his gaze moved over my body, curled up in a ball, blood pooling from my nose, coughs hacking from my lungs.
He stooped down and unfastened my arms. Without a word, his hands tucked under me, picking me up, and carried me into the bathroom, where he set me down on the rim of the grand bathtub.
He leaned over, turning on the water.
“I’m going to undress you,” he said matter-of-factly, his palm resting on my shoulder.
I nodded numbly, my face aching too much to speak.
He stood in front of me, slowly lifting my gray top over my head, using it to wipe the blood from my nose before tossing it in the corner. His gaze snaked down my torso. I barely had any curves left, but the low dip of my sports bra displayed my pert breasts.
He reached out, his fingers grazing over the bruises already forming over my ribs. His soft touch, filled with magic, made me inhale sharply, which sent spikes of pain through my lungs.
Steam swirled around us as he turned on the hot water. He leaned over, his eyes staying on me as he slid off my pants. Pain coursed through my veins, but it was the ache tightening near my thighs that had my breath puffing harder.
I stared at the blood marks I left across his suit, oddly concerned I messed up his expensive clothes. I reached out and touched the silkiness of his yellow tie.
“Brexley,” he whispered, his mouth close to mine.
My lashes lifted up to his dark irises, desire heaving off of him in waves.
“You better get into the bath before I do something very foolish. Again.”
Swallowing, I looked away from him.
He’s the enemy, Brex. Don’t be an idiot.
I moved to climb into the tub, a moan slipping from my lips, my arms quaking as I lowered myself down into the water. By chaining my arms back, Nyx made sure it hadn’t been a fair fight.
“I will have someone bring healing salts and potions.” He stood.
“You’re leaving?” Did I sound disappointed?
A small smile hinted at his mouth. “I will be back. A matter has come up. I was just stopping in to check on you.” He ran his hand across his chin, his brow furrowing. He shook his head, clearing the emotion away. “I will return as soon as I can. I promise.” He leaned over like he was about to kiss me, but stopped. His eyes widened for a moment before he pulled back and hastened out of the bathroom, the bedroom door shutting a few seconds later.
Sighing, I slumped deeper into the hot water, willing it to heal and dissolve away the pain. The warmth instantly tugged my lids down, exhaustion and pain slipping me quickly into defenseless sleep, with no barriers against the monsters trying to get in.
Chapter 6
The sensation of calloused hands skating up my legs made me groan, replacing the throbbing pain with pleasure.
A bell tapped the back of my head, but I turned away from it, letting myself drown in the bliss, sinking deeper into pleasure. Into a peace I had never known.
Palms grazed my ribs. Heat pulsed against them like a magical rope wrapping around the cracked pieces, fixing their fractured parts.
As if lips grazed over my nipples through the thin fabric of my shirt, my back arched, demanding more. Another soft moan puffed from my lips.
A growl hummed against my ear, once again tickling at my unconscious. I had a distant awareness of water swishing against my skin, cool air caressing my breasts under the wet cotton.
“Fuck, Kovacs.” His gritty voice dragged over my body, yanking me out of the last bit of oblivion. My eyes opened with a start, my spine knocking against the tub as a man crawled over me.
Feral.
Ruthless.
Savage.
His severe energy punched my chest with a gasp. As if I had been asleep for weeks, the hit of adrenaline burst through my veins, everything in me screaming with both life and death. Peace and violence. Lust and abhorrence. Calm and terror.
His long, dark lashes lifted to mine, pinning me in place, his face only inches from mine. The weight of his physique, his skin touching mine, his wet clothes rubbing against my mostly naked figure was so real.
“Getting into fights again, Kovacs?” he rumbled, his thumb passing over my cheek, his lids flinching as if he experienced the pain I should have felt from his touch. But there was only warmth. Fear blocked out everything other than my pounding heart. How was this possible? Was he actually here? Was I dreaming?
“Can’t leave you alone for a moment.” He smirked, his lids narrowing on me. “Even got Killian wrapped around your finger.” His hand trailed between my breasts, over my stomach, gliding over my underwear, tracing over my folds. I inhaled sharply, my hips reacting without thought, seeking the unbelievable pleasure from his simple touch. “I told you. Your life is mine. I own you… and I own this.” He rubbed harder, my lids fluttering, my mouth gasping.
“Fuck you. You betrayed me.” Anger and desire choked my throat, my voice low and tight. “And I told you. No one owns me.”
“Really?” He snorted. “Look around you, Kovacs. You are someone’s pet. Soon you will have a shiny collar to match.”
I snarled, but my body behaved in opposition to my hate, tilting into his touch.
“Time to stop playing house, Kovacs.” He grunted into my ear, pressing his erection into me, his mouth grazing my neck. “Be ready… It’s all about to go t
o hell… in three, two, one…”
Booooooom!
The explosion ripped through the air, hurling me back to reality with a violent jump. I bolted up as tremors shook the room.
What the hell was that? What was going on? Confusion caused me to tremble as I pitched forward, scrambling out of the tub. I was alone. I had been dreaming. Though inexplicably, I still could feel the imprint of where he had touched me, his lips on the curve of my neck.
“Brexley!” An anxious voice screamed for me, lurching me toward the doorway. Zander’s expression was etched with tension, but he came to a stuttering stop, his gaze moving down me.
My eyes lowered, aware I stood before him in only knickers and sports bra, both white, wet, and see-through. But it wasn’t that which flooded me with shock and fear. My skin was unmarred.
Not a hint of a bruise or cuts where Nyx had kicked and beat me. It was all completely healed. Gaping, I glided my fingers over my pale skin, feeling no pain.
What the hell…?
Boom!
Another blast rattled the crystal chandeliers, jerking me to the window. Smoke and fire billowed up into the twilight from the river right below the palace gates.
“We have to go!” Zander snapped out of his trance, heading to a cupboard.
“What’s going on?”
“Put this on now!” Zander tossed me a pair of pants, a shirt, and slip-on shoes. I hadn’t even noticed the closet had been stocked with items for me. “Hurry!”
“Zander?” I grabbed the garments as the bellows of guards filled the corridors. My heart leaped into my throat, my brain still trying to wrap around all that was happening.
“Getting you out of here.” He jogged back for the door, putting his ear against it to listen to movement on the other side.
I quickly dressed, his statement sinking in. Leave. Escape. My stomach tightened, a whisper of sorrow trickling into my gut. No! You want to leave, Brexley. What is wrong with you?
“Come on! We have to go now.” He bounced at the door, waving me forward. Shoving my feet into the shoes, I ran to him.
Cracking open the door, he peered out, every muscle tight and ready to react. He motioned me forward, creeping down the corridor. My pulse echoed in my ears. Distant shouts, bangs, and movement haunted the hallway, scraping my nerves. We could be caught at any time.
Zander led me down the hall toward the lift, but he skirted me to a bookcase, his hands pushing and stabbing at every book on the shelf.
“What are you—” I yipped in surprise as the bookcase shifted, swinging in. Stone steps descended into a pit of blackness.
“Stay close.” His hand clutched mine, pulling me in. The moment the door shut behind us, a firebulb flickered on, giving us enough light to see in front of us.
“Killian and his main guards use this tunnel all the time, but it’s the only chance we have.” Zander moved down the steps. “If they decide to use it…”
“We’re screwed,” I finished.
“Basically.” His warm brown eyes glanced back at me, his fingers threading through mine. We padded down the secret stairs, passing a few doors inserted deeper into the stone wall, heading under the ground.
Zander came to a sudden stop, going rigid, his head tilting to listen as he sniffed the air. Below, a door slammed, and so did my lungs. I swallowed back the rush of fear, feeling my heart rebound off the walls like it was trying to tattle on me.
The thud of footsteps hitting the stone beat in tune with my heart. We were done. Our escape was about to be exposed in seconds.
Zander’s head snapped around frantically, his eyes locking on something behind me. He surged for me, his arms wrapping around as he yanked me into a doorway we had recently passed. His hand covered my mouth, his body tucking me tightly to his, trying to make us dissolve into the shadows. He pressed us against the corner, the uneven stone cutting into my vertebrae.
The steps grew closer, our pounding hearts knocking against each other.
A crackle of a voice filled the chamber, the guard’s gait slowing.
Oh. Baszd meg… of all guards.
Nyx came into view, half her face swollen and cut as if she had been violently reprimanded. She brought a device to her mouth. “I’m heading to her now, my lord.”
“If you hurt her, I will kill you, Nyx. There are no second chances if you disobey me.”
“Yes, sir.” She clicked off, pausing on the same platform as us, a snarl curling her lip. “Szuka…” Bitch.
Terror engulfed me. I couldn’t breathe or even think. All she had to do was shift her eyes just a little more toward the door, and she would see the lumpy silhouettes in the corner. Discover us.
She rolled her head, letting out her annoyance. Her frame went stiff, her hand reaching for her gun.
Fuck. Fuck. Bile scorched my throat.
A distant boom seeped through the tunnel, and she took off, racing up the steps. Her footsteps ebbed away.
My body sagged into Zander’s, relief whimpering in my chest. Zander exhaled, his hands rubbing my arms. “That was close.”
I scoffed. “That was beyond close. I thought we were done.”
“Come on. We have to go.” He squeezed my hand, pulling me back down the steps. My legs wobbled under the stress, but my training kicked in and I stayed upright.
We descended quickly to the bottom, then ran down an underground path, stopping at a heavy door. Zander dug out a set of keys, and potent magic hummed off them, telling me this door was protected with a spell. No one could get in or out unless they had the key to the spell.
He unlocked the door, but instead of opening it, he turned to me, hands gripping my shoulders, his gaze drifting back and forth between mine.
“Once again, I am forced to watch him take you away.”
My brow furrowed with confusion, but he gave me no time to ask. Pulling me into him, his mouth slanted over mine, and he gave me a quick kiss, his lips soft.
“Our paths will meet again. I promise you.” He cupped one side of my face, his eyes filling with adoration. Then he shook his head, inhaling, and yanked the door open, letting in the commotion outside. “Head that way.” He pointed behind me. “Go!”
I jolted between the doorway and Zander.
“Hurry!” The intensity of his voice shifted my legs, and I scrambled out the door. Act first; ask questions later. It was instinct. Survival. I peered over my shoulder at him. He gestured, pointing the way. Deep purples and reds painted the sky, reflecting the last bits of light in his brown eyes. They were filled with a sorrow I didn’t know how to decipher.
The roar of a motorcycle wrenched my attention away from Zander to the outline in front of me. My feet came to a grinding halt, my heart leaping up my throat as my gaze took in what my brain had yet to fully comprehend.
No.
No way.
“Come on!” His deep gravelly voice vibrated through my body, like his words could physically touch me.
My muscles were frozen, oxygen blocked from my lungs, tilting me off-kilter as if I were hallucinating again. I could think of no other way he would be here. The man who betrayed me. The reason I had been locked up here in the first place.
And he was even sexier than I remembered.
“Goddammit, Kovacs! Hate me later. Just get on the fucking bike,” Warwick growled, his aqua eyes burning into me like fire through the dusk, the bike engine revving.
Was this another trap? He had already betrayed me once.
“Stop!” A voice shouted from behind me.
We’d been caught. There was now only one direction I could go.
“Megallas!” Halt!
Bullets vaulted by my head, making me duck, lurching out of their direct line. Killian had been kind, but I knew if I was caught trying to escape, it would be a betrayal to him. And as I’d seen, he had no tolerance for that.
“Kovacs! Now!” Warwick yelled. The back wheel squealed as he twisted it around, dust and smoke billowing up off the cobbled str
eet in a hazy mushroom.
Shoving away my doubt, I sprinted forward, jumping on behind him.
“Hold on tight.” He punched the accelerator, lurching us forward, forcing me to wrap my arms around his thick muscular torso to stay on. Twisting the motorcycle sharply, he aimed for the only single, winding cobble road exiting the side of the castle. Screaming guards ran after us, my heart leaping into my throat as pops of gunfire pinged off the back of the bike and ground. Night blended the bike into its embrace, making it harder to see.
Zooming around a curve that led around the front of the castle, Warwick hit the accelerator again. To the side, built into part of the old city wall, a metal gate squealed, rolling open. The sound of men and engines crashed against my nerves when we passed until we turned the opposite way down a lane.
Warwick’s muscles strained underneath his shirt, his head darting behind at the sound of other motorbikes coming alive behind us. Following his gaze, I spotted six guards on motorcycles and a huge SUV barreling out of the tunnel underneath the castle. Headlights broke through the dusky light, trying to pinpoint us and lock on.
“Don’t you have a gun?” I patted his sides, searching for a weapon.
“You think they’d let me close to the palace with a weapon? Killian has never trusted me.”
Huh?
“How do you think I even got up here? He thought I was here to see him.”
“A matter has come up.”
Warwick was that matter?
I was sure there were guardhouses on every road leading up to the castle, probably several layers of them to go through to get to the king himself. I realized Warwick wouldn’t have been able to sneak up there. He used the connection to Killian to get close. And now Killian would know he outright betrayed him…
A barrage of bullets came at us.
“Shit.” I pressed so tightly to him every breath he took vibrated through me. His hands clamped down on my thigh, ramming it against his hip.
“This is going to get very bumpy. Do not let go for any reason,” he ordered over his shoulder. He didn’t give me a chance to respond before he hit the gas again, traveling down toward a walking path, my ass almost slipping off the tiny speck of seat I had. I clamped down like an octopus, every muscle locked around his frame. Bullets raced by me, the motorcycle flying down the dirt road, cutting and weaving through the winding park lane, taking us down from the hill the palace sat on.
Wild Lands (Savage Lands Book 2) Page 6