He was guiding us towards the tent.
“It is time,kalles,” he rasped in my ear, his hand again curling between my legs. “You are my queen now. I will wait no longer.”
Chapter Twelve
My back hit the furs of the bed.
Heat registered as a fully nude, fullyarousedDakkari male lowered himself over me, his head dropping to lick the column of my exposed neck, his tongue hitting the golden collar of the necklace I wore. He hadn’t taken it off, had only stripped me of my short skirt the moment we stepped foot inside the tent with a rough, tearing pull.
I let out a small gasp as Arokan ran one massive palm up my bare leg, spreading it, sinking our naked bodies more closely together until I felt something I’d never felt before: a body pressed against mine, so tightly that it felt like my own.
My eyes fluttered closed, my lips parting when he stroked his hand up my body, over my hip, my waist, up to my breasts, where my nipples were still painted gold. I realized that the fermented drink at the celebration feast had probably been for the best. It had loosened my muscles, helped me relax. While I’d been nervous about this moment, about the inevitable, I wasn’t afraid of the pain, of him tearing past my flesh, but I was afraid of how it might…change me. I was afraid that I would like it.
His head rose from the column of my throat, those dark eyes watching me. His expression was a little wild, a little untamed. Saying his given name had unleashed something within him, something he kept tightly reined in, hidden from his horde.
I shivered, unsure whether I wanted to explore that part of him, that dark, exciting, unfamiliar place.
“Rei Morakkari,” he murmured, his eyes tracking over my face. They settled on my lips as his fingers trailed back down my body, until they reached my sex.
A small whimper left me when he parted my folds, when he stroked me so gently, much more gently than I’d ever think he was capable of.
“Rei kassikari,” he rasped.
Arousal pricked me when his fingers shifted over my clit and I bit my lip, holding back a groan.
“Lysi?” he asked.
Yes? Was that what he was asking?
“Tell me something first,” I managed to get out, though my voice sounded a little breathless.
“Neffar?”
“Why?” I asked softly, one question that had been on my mind more than once.
“Why?” he repeated, his brow furrowing. Despite his confusion, his fingers never stopped moving between my legs, never stopped stoking the fire deep inside me that was threatening to break free.
“You could have had any Dakkari female,” I said, looking up at him. Mirari had told me as much. “It would have been easier. So why? Why me?”
Arokan let out a sharp breath and dropped his head to my shoulder, pressing his lips there. His surprisingly soft lips. I wondered if the Dakkari kissed, like humans. I wondered what it would be like to kiss him.
Or perhaps that was the fermented drink wondering.
He lifted his head, meeting my gaze, and said, “I heard the courage in your voice before I ever saw your face. A humankallesdaring to stand against the Dakkari…I was intrigued. I needed to see you. And when I saw your face, your eyes, I knew. Kakkari revealed you to me. I knew you would be my queen. You are strong and you are brave and you were loyal to your kin. That is why.”
Whatever I had been expecting…it hadn’t been that.
My heart pounded in my chest as I absorbed his words.
“Lysi?” he murmured, that low voice caressing over my skin like a touch.
This was my new life now. He was myhusbandnow, a horde king of the Dakkari. It was unbreakable. It was…done.
I could fight against it and make life harder for myself. Or I could try to assimilate into the horde, to build a new life for myself while continuing to champion my village for aid. I couldhelpthem, whereas before, it was hopeless.
Perhaps my brother’s fire had been a blessing in disguise.
“Lysi,” I said softly, meeting his gaze.
