CarnalPromise (22 page)

So was Jinn. The name would remind her to be on guard.

“Pixie?” Drakkar arched a brow at her as the corner of his
lips twitched.

“Pixie.” Jinn nodded. “That’s my name. I come from one of
your remote planets. Make it an exploratory post or something more isolated.”

“Themisto.” Ástrid nodded. “That’s as remote as you can get.
You’ll be an ore miner’s daughter. I’ll send you the details after I’ve worked
everything through.”

“A miner’s daughter?” The lead trainer huffed with his deep
gruff voice. “We’ll see how long she can keep
that
up.” His barreled
laugh surprised Jinn until his eyes shifted and narrowed. He dipped his chin
and scowled at her from under his heavy brows. “I’ll certainly have fun with
that.”

The silent warning was clear. Jinn returned his glare with
an answer of her own—she would meet his challenge.

“Well?” Craddock stopped pacing as soon as Cassius walked
through the door. Edgy, the former headmaster pulled his shoulders back and
locked his hands behind him. A stance intended to make him look strong but
Cassius knew. Craddock feared. If the ex-headmaster were caught, the full wrath
of the Svendians would be thrown at him, especially that of Rurik, a man who
had shown little mercy thus far in the pursuit of his father’s killer. Craddock
had been quite clever in that one. The ruse the ex-headmaster engineered had
lasted many, many solar cycles. The ruler had devised and implemented the
attack that killed his brother, Rurik’s father, then redirected the blame to
Drakkar, causing the war to continue and Rurik’s pursuit of Drakkar to be
particularly brutal. But showing any emotion to Craddock would only make the
man more suspicious of Cassius’s feelings, emotions that as a biodroid, Cassius
wasn’t supposed to have.

However, with Craddock’s deadly scheme revealed, Cassius
still wanted to laugh. Instead he simply closed his eyes a moment and shut the
door behind him. “Fenden knows of Jinn’s fertility. It seems one of the council
member’s contacts on Vulgaria has intimate knowledge of the situation, however
I don’t know which member or who the Vulgarian contact is.”

Craddock’s lips thinned as he nodded. “You know each of us
on the true council only have a limited amount of data. To protect the
organization in case one of us is compromised. Yet I too am curious who the
Vulgarian could be. Knowing would give me more power.”

Cassius nodded. He wondered who the Vulgarian cohort was as
well but for different reasons. “I know Fenden didn’t get the information
directly, not even from the council member. He got the knowledge through others
but he was told to inform you. The council wants you to stay hidden. The plans
you have devised to upset both governments are almost in place.”

Craddock narrowed an eye and studied him. “They want me to
stay put with Rurik after us? The boy knows we’re on Telrusia. How much longer
do they want me to wait?”

Cassius shook his head. “I know not. Their only instructions
were to stay hidden, thus we can flee should you desire to do so.”

“Humph.” Craddock huffed then lifted the corners of his
mouth with smug criticism. “And where would that be, my friend? One of those
cold lonely rocks you crave to free yourself upon?”

Cassius forced the look of stoic indifference in his face.
“I will find safe haven.” He opened the door.

“Make sure you do.” Poison dripped from Craddock’s words.
Cassius understood his warning.

With that, Cassius hurried toward the Nyphosian outlet.

The water of the warm spring tickled Jinn’s skin. After more
discussion on logistics, Drakkar had sent the others away then spirited her off
to the natural tarn in the wilderness not far from his home.

His home
. Now hers, he had told her.
But not yet
.
Not yet. Not until she had completed her secret mission.

Jinn dipped her head back and floated in the mineral-laden
water, the warmth relaxing her after the tension from meeting the others.

She heard the splash and watched Drakkar’s nude form plunge
to the bottom. Turning, she swam to a small cascade. That, along with the water
that bubbled up from beneath, fed the small pool. Jagged black rocks protruded
from the sides. On this, Jinn found a short ledge to balance a foot upon.

Drakkar swam under the water to her, rising in front of her
to tread the crystal pool. “I told you it would be warm.” Grasping the rock
jutting behind her, he balanced next to her on the ledge.

She allowed herself a coy grin, dipping her mouth just below
the surface to blow bubbles.

He circled his arm around her waist and pulled her to him,
nestling her pussy into his hips, her breasts against his chest. Jinn reveled
in the wealth of sensations, the lapping of the warm water, the chill of the
air, the carnal heat radiating from Drakkar.

The feel of it all was so right, so good. So precious. She
didn’t want it to end.

But by tomorrow, it would.

Slowly, Drakkar dipped his chin and bent his head. His lips
met hers in a slow, sensual taking, as one who searched carefully and
discovered her anew. Yet underneath Jinn felt his passion—a deep well that
built, a fiery turmoil that Jinn likened to the internal forces that lay
beneath the spring, one that could build and erupt into something more wild,
more free.

He controlled himself though, controlled the unbridled
actions that she sensed he wanted to spew forth.

With heavy breath, he pulled his lips away. “I had hoped we
would have more time to be together.” He paused then his gaze pierced her. “I’m
sorry about this.” He kissed her once more.

Jinn wanted to sigh. To give herself completely to him
without reservation. Without worry of anything else. But she couldn’t. Not yet.

Not yet
. She hammered the reminder in her brain. She
couldn’t allow the emotions that Drakkar’s kindness stirred within her breast
to get in her way.

The irony of the situation hit her and she released a quiet
giggle under Drakkar’s tactile onslaught.

“I like to hear you laugh.”

Drakkar’s deep yet whispered tone and the warmth in his
smile touched her heart and created a quiet yearning for more. Still, a
desperation of the pain his continued presence would bring sliced through her,
the knowledge that the pleasure she had with this man was ill-deserved.

Drakkar’s breaths deepened and caressed her earlobe. The
carnal tingle in her core that this one touch caused overrode her caution,
allowed her to forgive herself for this small space of time, to enjoy what this
man freely offered.

Peace entered her. A heady feeling that she had not embraced
in so long. Strange that in such a short time that she had known Drakkar that
his being could be so intertwined with hers, with her body, her thoughts.

Her soul.

Drakkar was as much a part of her as she was to herself. At
least in times as they were now, when the need to bond took them both. Jinn
could only marvel at this realization and wondered if Drakkar felt the same.

She frowned. How could he? At least not in the way she did.
As if they were one flesh. Yes, he had forsworn to protect her, even die for
her, but he didn’t love her.

Love. Oh, God
. Was this what she felt? It had been so
long since she’d fantasized about that emotion with some make-believe mate. Yet
she had never truly known it, not from a lover.

Her eyes fluttered open and she studied the hard lines of
Drakkar’s back as he laved her neck, her shoulder, unaware of her thoughts. He
stroked the pads of his fingers along her rib cage with one hand as he gripped
her buttocks with the other and held her against the top of his erection.

Jinn looped her arms around his shoulders and fingered the
hair at the nape of his neck, reveling in the sensation. Drakkar was like his
planet. Often cold on the outside, yet underneath, a tempest burned.

But he didn’t love her and she needed to embed the thought
in her soul. His presence so easily swayed her. She did not want any more
deterrents to her mission. The training sequence would be enough for her to
handle. Jinn sighed with the thought, wishing things could be different, but
she was a realist. They weren’t. His actions were only those of their race’s
natural response to their mating instincts—and Drakkar’s desire for peace.
Something she knew he had sacrificed much for although she was unsure how deep
his losses were.

Still, she had to at least give him that much. A man who
made personal sacrifices to attain peace for his people was an honorable man.

Much like her father.

She felt the crease in her brow but she could not stop it.

“What is it, Beloved?” Drakkar’s arms cradled her. His cheek
caressed hers as his head rose and his keen forest-green eyes studied her.

Her breath caught with his enigmatic gaze, the deep
connection he made when he looked at her like that. Drakkar stroked the pad of
his thumb across her forehead, knowing she was troubled.

Jinn felt the tears well but still she could not reveal her
thoughts. She shook her head. “Nothing.” Her voice croaked with the lie but
Drakkar’s patience availed him.

He touched his forehead to hers. “Someday we will not have
these secrets between us. I promise you. But for now, know that I understand.”

Jinn allowed a melancholy smile to etch across her face. She
couldn’t help it. The magic of the man, the essence of him, touched her in ways
that no other had before. Would it always be this way? Or in time would their
differences drive them apart? More importantly, if he discovered her secret,
would the truth destroy their bond completely?

Relish the moment.

The notion came from some nameless place but she understood
its plight. Life was too unexpected, too unknown not to appreciate every moment
of peace and contentment that filled her now.

And that feeling had become increasing rare. Would continue
to be so, she surmised, for the rest of her days in this realm. She had been
the one, the reason her father died, and the cause of the war’s brutal
continuance for so long.

She flinched at the desperation that flooded her but as
Drakkar pressed his lips again to hers, she savored every touch of him, every
scent, every taste.

A man such as this, one who showed so much care for another
who had been an enemy, who wanted in his deepest being to make peace and have
their bonding work, a man like this, Jinn did not deserve, yet, he had made
himself hers.

For now, she could only do her best to return his affection,
to care for him as a true mate would.

His teeth nipped a path up her neck, causing her skin to
shiver with anticipation. He suckled on her earlobe then whispered, “Methinks
you reflect too much, my lady.”

His heavy breaths tickled her. She giggled at that and at
his coarse usage of words from an Earther romance era, a planet he knew she
adored. “Aye, milord.” She pulled away and studied his heady gaze. “I believe
you true.” A desire of more than lust lay heavy in his gaze.

He held her tight against his torso. “Jinn, there’s so much
I want to share with you, show you about this planet. I think you will enjoy it
as well as you have enjoyed Earth.”

With her fingertips, she outlined a crease around his mouth.
“I believe you.” She brushed her lips over his.

Drakkar groaned and grasped her buttocks, locking her hips
against his. She felt the passionate inferno that he’d held at bay erupt within
him. His cock jutted against her flesh and he rubbed the crevice of her pussy
against it as he plundered her mouth with his tongue.

His taking dissolved the last of her shredded defenses. She
became the softness to his hardness, allowed his dominion over her body, her
spirit.

Nothing had ever felt so right.

Her soul soared as Drakkar stroked the head of his erection
against her clit, teasing her by sliding just the tip into her vagina, stirring
her hunger for more.

His lips left her mouth, traveled against her skin as he
arched her back to allow him access to her breasts. He nipped and suckled one
nipple then the other. As she cleared the final remnants of her somber
thoughts, her lust surged.

“Drakkar, I…” She swallowed before she could say anything
more but there was no hesitation in him. He covered her mouth with his lips,
claiming hers once again.

“I know.” His gruff voice reverberated against her mouth. He
knew even her thoughts?

“Seems I cannot help myself when I’m around you either.”

Relief flooded her. He spoke only of the need between them.
Jinn kissed him with all the fervor that she sensed within him. He lifted her,
balanced her on one of the jutting rocks yet as he laid her back, she felt only
the softness of the moss on the banks. Grasping her ass, he hefted her up
farther so that she sat on the mossy edge. Her legs dangled in the water. The
cooler air caused her nipples to harden. A slight chill took her body but as
Drakkar eased between her legs, the breeze stroked her clit. She bent backward,
allowing her elbows to fall against the soft turf, moaning as Drakkar’s warm
breath caressed her sex. The tip of his warm tongue touched the nub of her
femininity. He stroked her clit lightly at first then progressed slowly into a
more vigorous form. His wet mouth outlined her labia, lapped her essence,
nipped her skin as the cool breezed tap-danced against her breasts and the
warmer water lapped the underside of her knees.

She had become so enthralled in the diverging sensations
that she only smiled when the thought hit her—Drakkar was not only an
accomplished warrior but a gifted lover too. How many woman had he had in the
past?

It didn’t matter. In the moment, he was hers.

His thumbs traced a path from the inside of her knees to her
cunt, strumming her labia and fingering the rim of her anus. His tongue plunged
inside her as his teeth raked her clit. And yet the cool breeze blew.