With the exception of Rath Dulia—who would climb up theDothikkar’srear end if he could—we were all in agreement that thevekkirineeded to be questioned. We needed to know if the message was a serious threat and, more importantly, how great an army this Ghertun king truly had. We’d all heard the reports from the scouts. The Ghertun’s numbers grew rapidly. They fucked and bred likenekkisauin heat. It was reported they birthed in litters.
Rath Tuviri and Rath Kitala had wanted to question her, seeing as how theirMorakkariswere human. They believed they could put Vienne at ease.
Only, I’d gotten to her first and I only wished I could see Rath Kitala’s face when he ventured down to the dungeons later this night to find her gone.
I told myself it had nothing to do with the fact that Iwantedto see her, to speak with her again. I told myself I was doing my duty asVorakkar, to my horde, to the Dakkari I had sworn an oath to protect. I didn’t trust anyone else.
Vok, I didn’t even trust myself.
“We can protect you,” I murmured, keeping my voice low until it sounded like a purr. “You do not have to return to the Dead Mountain. You can be free. We can return you to your village. You do not have to fear him.”
A laugh erupted from her, throaty, raw, and desperate. My nostrils flared with that laugh, my body tightening. I swore I felt hot, searing seed rising up my cock, the heat of it making me growl.
With a laugh like that, I almost believed theDothikkar’sworry to be true. That shewasa sorceress, that she’d been sent here to end us all. Endme.
“You wish to protect me?” she whispered after her laugh died down. The pain in her voice was evident,cutting. “Then help me get a heartstone and return me to the Dead Mountain. I must be back before the black moon.”
The black moon would come in four weeks.
“Or what?” I growled.
She sucked in a whistling breath through her nostrils and she lifted her gaze to meet mine. Her eyes were wet and wide, but beneath their glassy surface, I saw determination.
Tendrils of heat curled low in my belly. That same possessive instinct, the one that wanted to claim her, burst in my chest once more.
Her hand curled around the goblet of brew and she brought it up to her lips, chugging down the liquid in one swift motion. I watched as she set it back down, licking the remnants from her lips. Underneath the table, I wrapped my hand around her slim ankle and her only reaction was a soft, audible swallow.
“I need to return by the black moon,” she repeated, holding my gaze. “Will you help me?”
I leaned forward, brushing my thumb against the soft flesh of her ankle. The inside of it felt like cool silk.
“And what price would you pay for the help of a horde king?” I taunted, a small smirk appearing. “What would you give me in return?”
Her chest heaved. Her eyes flickered in recognition.
“I would give you anything,” she replied, soft and determined, though her voice trembled as she said it.
A dark sound rose from my throat, wicked fantasies tearing at my mind. She knew exactly what I had meant. She knew exactly what she offered to me so freely.
“Lysi?” I rasped. “I am not a gentle male and I do not fuck like one.” Her ankle twitched in my grip. “You believe you could satisfy my desires?”
Her gaze burned into mine. Her brows lowered until I felt her small glare. She wanted to slap me across the face again but she was too frightened to.
“I—I would try.”
The room felt thick, the fire burning too hot. This was a dangerous game I played. I’d only meant to place her on the edge of discomfort but I feared it wasIwho suffered for it.
That was when I felt it again. The strange electric buzz around me, prickling the back of my neck, making me tense. My eyes never left hers and I watched them widen, watched her throat bob with her swallow. I knew it came from her. Three times now, I’d felt it, and only with her. I didn’t know what it was, or what it meant, but she was the cause.
I let her have her secrets, however, because she pushed to her knees, my hand releasing her ankle in the process. She came over to me, kneeling at my side. Warmth poured from her and when she slowly reached out to put her hand on my chest? Shesearedme.
Her fingers brushed a scar over my pectoral. Softly. Delicately. Likeshefeared hurtingme. The thought would’ve made me laugh had I not tensed, my entire being focusing on that simple touch. All the blood that wasn’t diverted to my cock seemed to rush towards it, blooming under her fingers.
Acting purely on instinct, my hands shot out, curling around her slim waist and dragging her forward until she was in my lap, her thighs straddling my hips. Leaning forward, I angled my head and heard her startled gasp when I bit at her neck,hard. My tail wrapped around her leg, like I was afraid she’d pull away before I had a taste of her.
A part of me was tempted to take what she offered. Because right then, I would’ve liked nothing more than to bury myself in her hot cunt, to spend the seed boiling in mydevainto her.Vok, Ineededto!
“You do not know what you tempt,leikavi,” I growled, suddenly furious with her. Her scent wrapped around my mind, dulling my senses. No longer did she smell like rot and filth from whatever she’d used to hide the color of her hair. She smelled soft and warm, like a female in heat, and her scentmade me crazed.
