Dragon Lord (27 page)

She certainly shouldn’t have been surprised to see it didn’t look like any weapon she’d ever seen, not when she knew Audric, none of them, were from her world. When she sat back, he slipped it off, unholstered the weapon and lay it within easy reach before he shrugged out of his coat and shirt.

His shoulders were broad and muscular, his arms like the arms of a weight lifter, huge and hard and bulging with muscle. She skated her hands along his shoulders, feeling the ripple of reaction that went through him with a dizzying sense of pleasure.

She thought abruptly that she was going to enjoy this far more than she’d expected to. She hadn’t really thought beyond giving. She was still far more interested in giving him pleasure than finding pleasurable release for herself. It would bring her just as much enjoyment, she thought, if she didn’t come.

He speared his fingers through her hair and dragged her close, tilting his head to cover her mouth with his and reminded her instantly of how good his mouth had felt on hers when he’d kissed her before. His scent, that unique perfume that belonged to him alone, that nearly intangible essence of Audric that had come to represent protection and comfort was magnified tenfold as his mouth opened over hers and she sucked it into her lungs with his breath. He tasted heavenly, felt heavenly as he thrust his tongue into her mouth and rubbed it along hers.

A hard shudder went through him and he broke away to stare at her, breathing hoarsely, his eyes nearly black with desire. He was waiting to see if she was still willing, if he’d distressed her or unnerved her. She dropped her gaze to his hard mouth, drifting closer.

He dropped all pretence of restraint. This time when his mouth closed on hers, she felt the hurricane force of his need. The power of it shook her to her core, banished any thought of merely accepting, or giving only for the sake of charity and caring. The demanding, almost violent assault commanded her passions, seized control from her, and she welcomed the breach of her defenses.

Dimly, she realized this man was a stranger to her, not the gentle supplicant that Audric had always shown her. He was a man who took what he wanted with the same untamed lust that she’d felt in Simon.

She knew it was Audric’s mouth that held hers captive, though, Audric’s tongue that made her feel faint and breathless, giddy with excitement, drunk with pleasure. Her head fell back weakly as he hooked an arm around her shoulders and dragged her upward on her knees to meet his mouth in descent. Dimly, she heard him fumbling with the opening of his pants as he moved his mouth hungrily over her breasts, first one and then the other, suckling and tugging at her nipples with his mouth and tongue and the edge of his teeth. And each love bite sent a fresh, harder wave of mass destruction by fire through her blood stream.

She gasped in sharply as he dragged the head of his cock along her cleft and seated himself in the mouth of her sex, thrusting her downward to impale her on his shaft. Shaking all over, his face contorted with rapturous anguish, he drove into her without restraint, without rhythm, hard, desperate lungs. His breath hissed through his clenched teeth. “Gods, Raina! I can not hold it. Come for me dearling. Come for me, Raina,” he groaned as he heaved upward to drive into her body in jerky, frantic thrusts.

As if he’d summoned it from the depths only with his voice, her body seized with blinding, mind-blowing abruptness and intensity. She uttered a choked cry, groaned, moaned long and low as her body erupted with pleasure. He crushed her against him, shaking and groaning as the clenching convulsions of her sex brought his own climax upon him.

Completely drained, Raina dropped her head weakly to his shoulder. His arms tightened around her, holding her upright, holding her tightly to him. “Sweet,” he murmured gustily, nuzzling his face against hers. “My sweet, Raina.”

She smiled hazily and dropped into oblivion.

Chapter Sixteen

Whether by design or accident, Raina thought with some wryness, Audric found the magical elixir to drive her pain from her mind. She roused when he stood up with her and strode into the bedroom, settling her on the cool sheets, discarding his pants and then joining her in the bed.

And thereafter, he gave her little time for rest and less for thought. He didn’t leave the apartment and rarely allowed her to leave the bed more than the time it took to take care of her personal needs. When they needed food, he called and had it delivered and as often as not they sat in the bed and ate it, brushing the crumbs off when they’d finished and making love again.

Anytime she became pensive or sad, he dragged her into his arms and kissed her, or made love to her, or both until she was amazed that he could still wring pleasure from her.

She didn’t count the days. She didn’t want to and Audric made it easy for her to lose track of the passing time.

He never mentioned it, and yet the morning she woke and saw his face was taut, she knew the time had come to say goodbye to him.

At least she got to say goodbye, she thought.

She hadn’t gotten to tell Simon goodbye.

After studying her face for a long while, as if he was trying to memorize it, he’d made love to her and then dragged her into the shower for a bath and made love to her in the shower. Clad in nothing but a towel, weak and shaky, she watched him as he dried himself and dressed, shoving his weapon last of all into the shoulder holster. He hadn’t put on more than his pants in days and it was a clue that he was leaving even if not for the look in his eyes.

Raina cleared her throat. “I guess this means you’re going?”

He looked at her, but this time his gaze skated away from hers. “I must,” he said gruffly.

Her chin wobbled. “Then kiss me goodbye.”

He crushed her against him instead, rocking her slightly. “I will miss you, dearling,” he murmured hoarsely against her hair.

“I’m going to miss you, too.”

He squeezed her so tightly she couldn’t breathe, but she didn’t complain.

“If … this business does not keep me from it … If I could come back,” he said hesitantly. “Would you welcome me, dearling?”

Raina couldn’t keep the tears back any longer. She knew he wouldn’t come back, no matter what he said. He didn’t belong here any more than she belonged on his world or there would’ve been no question. He would’ve asked her to go with him. “If you came back to stay,” she said finally. “Don’t ask me for a little while. I can’t do that, Audric. I love the hellos, but I can’t handle the goodbyes.”

He nodded and finally released her. After staring at her for a moment, brushing at the tears on her cheeks, he pulled a handful of crumpled papers from the inside pocket of his jacket and placed them in Raina’s hands. “Simon asked me to give you this.”

She stared at them, trying to focus through the tears and finally just nodded at him. She didn’t walk him to the door. She sat weakly on the edge of the bed and stared at the papers blindly while she listened to him stride across the living room and close the door behind him.

Alone again, she thought miserably.

Pulling the towel off, she mopped the tears from her cheeks and sniffed. When she felt like she’d regained some of her self-control, she opened the sealed envelope.

I have never more deeply regretted anything in my life than leaving you, but I think you know I have no choice. I hope you do, and that you will understand how grateful I am to have known you.

I have opened an account for you to see to your needs and to give you the one thing that I know that you wanted--travel. Go and see the world you want to see, and think of me from time to time, for I will always be thinking of you.

Simon

Tears streamed down her cheeks in rivers as she read the note, dripping off her chin, but despite her sorrow, she felt warmed and cheered immeasurably by the fact that he hadn’t wanted to leave her. Mopping at her face again with the towel, she unfolded the other piece of paper and saw it was the deed to the island estate.

She stared at it for a long time, stunned by his generosity.

But she couldn’t live there. She would wither and die being surrounded by memories of Simon day in and day out. The only way she was going to survive was if she could somehow push him from her mind.

Taking a shaky breath, she set the papers aside and stared down at her belly. Lifting a hand to settle it over the slight swell, she felt just a flicker of hope. “I guess it’s just you and me, now, little guy.”

“Not quite.”

Riana shot up from the bed in fear and whirled toward the man who’d spoken.

“What are you doing here?” she gasped, knowing she wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

“Emperor Jaelen awaits you. He has always liked to keep a few steps ahead of his enemies,” he said, setting the large, black case he was carrying down. “I have come to take you to Schalome.”

Raina stared at him, feeling a flicker of hopefulness that cost her. The man reached her, grasping her by one arm. Her eyes widened with fright. Her mind went blank with fear. “What’s that for?”

He glanced down at the case. “It is a portable sleep pod--for one’s pets. Fortunately for you you should fit in it very well without the need to remove any parts you might be fond of.”

“You’re not putting me in that thing!” Raina gasped, realizing even as she tried to struggle that it was far too late.

She didn’t see the strange looking object he pulled from his pocket until a split second before he calmly stabbed it into her neck. Instantly, an icy cold wave flowed from the spot and through her and in its wake it left nothingness.

* * * *

There were a hundred things that should have been on his mind, details that, if they did not require his immediate attention, still needed to be considered, but none of the things that should have been running through his mind were.

It was the restlessness to be gone, Simon told himself, that had him in such turmoil, that had his belly tied in knots and his temper on edge. It was the irritations of preparing for the voyage that had seemed endless, his eagerness to see his homeland again, his impatience to deal with a situation that should have been dealt with long ago.

He had not simply accepted defeat and never intended to bring Jaelen to account. He had always known that he would go back, that he had to--when the time was right, he would go back and do what both his conscience and his duty compelled him to do. Somehow, though, he had just lost track of time. Time had ceased to have any meaning to him at all, as if, when he had arrived on this alien world, time had simply stood still.

He was appalled that so much time had passed him by, that he had made no attempt to bring Jaelen to account, none to avenge Evie in all these years.

He had not wanted to rule. He had been young and wild, and he had chafed at all the restrictions imposed upon him by his birth, but even when he had rebelled against it, he had
known
that he would rule when his time came, known that when his father died he would ascend the throne as his father had before him, and his father before that, for generations.

He had known when he was exiled that it was his duty to return, to die if need be in an attempt to take back what was his by right--but not accept, never to simply accept.

He had done the right thing, the only thing that he could have done, he told himself as he paced the bridge restlessly, listening with a half a mind to the conversations flowing around him as they prepared for take off. He had made the only decision his conscience would allow.

Why then, did it feel wrong, he wondered? Why did he feel a far stronger pull to stay than to go?

Why was it that he could not put Rainie out of his mind?

Guilt, he decided. Regardless of the pact she had made with him, he should not have simply sent her away as he had. He should have told her something. He could not have told her the truth, but he should have told her something.

Instead, he had made excuses for why he could not tell her anything, made excuses for why it would be best to simply send her away.

She would be angry, he knew, and it was better that way, better than hurting her if she did care for him.

The unpalatable truth was that it was just better for him, because he had felt himself wavering the moment he had made the decision to go, found himself trying to think of reasons why it would be better to wait a while longer--to stay, only because the thought of leaving Rainie was unacceptable.

He had known all along that he would not want to leave her. It was for that reason that he had ordered everything set in motion--while he had still had some will to resist the pull of staying with her--because he had known if he could find an excuse, he would.

There was no choice now--none. An army had been raised, preparations made, promises made that he could not break and still look at himself in the mirror. He had failed in his duty by not returning before, failed his people, failed Evie, failed himself.

She would be all right. Even if she thought that she cared for him, it was only because she had no idea of whom or what he was.

The kindest thing he could have done, he supposed, was to have to told her. Then there would be no question of hurting her. She would have been eager for him to go, eager to escape him--probably horrified to discover the man she had given such passion to was not a man at all, but dracon.

He could not have done that, though, even if he had wanted to, and he had not wanted to.

He paused in his pacing as Audric came aboard, searching his face for … What? He had no idea. Some sign that Raina had rejected him? Some sign that she had sent him off a happy man?

That thought brought his temper from a simmer to a slow boil.

The look in Audric’s eyes did nothing to tamp it.

Audric looked as miserable as he felt and he knew at once that he had spent his time ‘consoling’ her.

It was unreasonable, he knew, when he had sent Audric to her, but he did not care how gods be damned unreasonable it was. It still infuriated him.

He turned away when he felt his beast stir within him, that primal, territorial part of him that he had been at pains to keep hidden.