“Fine,” I said. “Will you at least tell me of Drukkar?”
He set his sword to the side, giving me the full weight of his stare, and suddenly, I wished I could take the words back. Whenever he looked at me this way, I felt pinned in place, wanting to move, but also wanting to stay completely still.
“The only thing you need to know about Drukkar is that he will punish any who threaten or harm Kakkari,” he said, his voice low and soft, “in any way.”
“Why?”
“Because he loves her,” he replied simply. My chest jolted at the word, longing shooting through me with a sharpness that stole my breath. “He is bound to protect her at any cost and to seek vengeance on those that wrong her.”
“As are you,” I reminded him softly, knowing that it was his duty to punish those that harmed Kakkari, who embodied the earth, who embodiedlifeitself for the Dakkari. Whispers had recently come to our village that another human settlement had set fire to their land…and that the nearest Dakkari horde had gone to execute the one responsible.
“TheVorakkarare extensions of him,lysi,” he said, but his voice held something strange I couldn’t place.
“And is that what you did, or one of the otherVorakkar? Did you punish those that wronged Kakkari in the Dead Lands last year?” I probed. “Or was Drukkar still not satisfied and that was why the winds came so strongly?”
He knew what I was doing and he stood, his hands going to the tied leather belt that held his fur pelt in place over his groin. I held his eyes, not about to be frightened into submission as his pelt dropped to the rug and he was standing nude in front of me.
I could see his cock at the bottom of my vision, though I kept my eyes glued on his. It was large and seeing how it was almost fully erect—a state I’d grown so used to the past few nights that I wondered if all Dakkari males were like this—it made it near impossible to miss.
However, unlike other nights before, my eyes dipped, seemingly on their own because surely, I would never look intentionally. My eyes widened when I saw the thin golden markings, similar to the tattoos covering his flesh, around the thick base and head of his cock, glimmering in the low light.
The astonished words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Surelythosearen’t yourVorakkaroath as well.”
He made a sound in the back of his throat—low and deep and amused—even as his cock twitched. My head swam, my face heated, and I jerked my gaze away, that strange sensation of warmth prickling my skin again.
“Nik,” he rumbled, walking around me, his bare thigh brushing my shoulder. “They are my oath to my futureMorakkari.”
I stared across the domed tent at the bed of furs, hearing the demon king enter his bath. I waited for his small groan and when I heard it, my lips parted and my breath hitched in response.
HisMorakkari. His queen. Hiswife, he’d told me.
“Why is it that you haven’t taken aMorakkariyet?” I asked next, itching to know exactly what the oath said, yet too cowardly to askthatquestion. Something told me he would tell me, too, if only to watch the tapping on my wrist increase in rhythm.
“Would you like to add another week,reialukkiri?” he replied, his tone almost lazy, and I knew it was another answer he didn’t want me to know.
When I was certain he was safely cocooned in his bathing tub, with only his broad shoulders and the top of his chest visible, I turned to regard him.
“Is it required that you take one?” I asked, squeezing my fist together when my fingers started twitching. “Perhaps there is a time limit for that sort of thing once you becomeVorakkar.”
“A time limit?” he repeated slowly, his lips quirking again into that maddening smirk.
The ends of his hair darkened into brushed gold as it pooled in the water. Disappointed, I licked my lips and asked him quietly, “Will you answer none of my questions tonight?”
Something in his face softened, but I thought that surely it was just a trick of the light.
“Come here and I will answer your question,thissie,” he murmured, looking over at me from the edge of the bathing tub.
For a moment, I stayed completely and utterly still. His voice was deep and quiet, but somehow, both panic and calmness infused my veins at his command.
That was when I knew he was truly a paranormal entity—a demon or a god, I couldn’t be certain—because right then, with that voice, with those eyes, I thought that surely he could make me do anything he wished.
Curious, though my hands trembled and a shiver raced down my spine, I drew closer. With a heavy gaze, he watched me inch over to him. Only when I was kneeling next to the bathing tub, when I was within arm’s reach, did he say, “It is not a requirement to take aMorakkari, but noVorakkarhas led a successful horde without one for very long.”
“Why is that?” I asked, my voice edging towards a whisper, my gaze rapt on his own. Though the winds outside the domed tent had picked up in intensity, I still felt the need to whisper.
“A horde is only as strong as itsVorakkar,” he told me. “And aVorakkaris only as strong as hisMorakkari.”
Lips parting, I heard the truth of it in the reverence of his voice. His grey eyes bore into mine and I sensed him shifting closer towards me.
