King of Spades (18 page)

From where he was hiding in the forest, Darronn neared the ring of tigers, hoping that he would be considered one of Mikaela’s
bakirs
. If any of them recognized his scent, they would attack at once, and Alexi would be in even greater danger.

His heart pounded and fear for his mate grew as he slipped into the ring of tigers and heard Alexi’s words of fury to Mikaela. His anger magnified as his mate’s cry tore across the plains and as he saw her fall from Tok’s back and heard the thump of her body as she landed on the ground.

To the dark hells
, Darronn thought as he bunched his muscles, prepared to spring forward and rush to his mate.

But one of Mikaela’s tiger’s whirled on Darronn, striking out with sharp claws and teeth and a roar that alerted the other weretigers.

Darronn ignored the pain as claws raked his cheek and shredded flesh and fur. He drove his muzzle into the tiger’s neck in a furious motion and ripped open its throat. Another tiger attacked Darronn, and around him rose the sounds of roars and fighting. He and his brothers were fierce warriors, but they were far outnumbered. Sheer rage and the desire to save his mate propelled him forward despite the odds.

A wolf’s howl tore through the melee and then the answering howl of countless werewolves.
Lord Kir!
The werewolf lord and his pack had come to join in the battle against Mikaela.

Claws shredded Darronn’s flesh but he destroyed one weretiger after another until he reached the innermost ring. Even as he continued to fight, he saw Mikaela with her whip wrapped around Alexi’s neck. His mate was on her belly, her features a ghastly shade of purple, her aqua eyes large and glossy as her gaze met his.

From their saddles Kalina and Kira dispatched tiger after tiger with their swords. The tigers had blocked the Spades women and Tok from reaching Mikaela and helping Alexi. Tok and the other two
jul
steeds lashed out with hooves, but even their fine coats were bloody.

Three weretigers pounced on Darronn at once and with a mighty roar he fought them off. His fury was so great at seeing his mate near strangled that his strength was that of a dozen weretigers. In quick, efficient movements he eliminated his opponents and charged toward Mikaela, the sister he had once loved.

The betraying bitch.

Mikaela shifted into a white tigress and bolted into the maelstrom of fighting weretigers and werewolves. Darronn started to charge after her but went to his mate instead. He shifted into his man form, withdrawing his sword and fighting off tigers even as he reached Alexi. Ty and Karn arrived in the inner circle and battled any beast that came near as Darronn slit the leather binding his woman’s throat.

In a rush he rose back up, prepared to fight more of Mikaela’s minions when he saw that the fighting had all but ended. Werewolves chased the remaining weretigers into the forest and the tall grasses of the plains. Bodies of both tigers and wolves were strewn everywhere and blood soaked the clearing’s pale ground.

Darronn knelt beside his mate. Alexi’s body was limp, her face now pale instead of the horrid color it had been. With more fear than he remembered feeling in his long life, Darronn checked the pulse at her throat. Relief unlike anything he had ever known filled him in a heated rush.

“Wake, my love.” Darronn gathered Alexi into his arms and held her tight to his chest. He kissed her forehead. “You
must
come back to me.”

Alexi moaned and her eyelids fluttered. “Darronn?” she whispered.

Intense joy filled him at the sound of his name upon her tongue. “Whatever you desire in this or any world, it is yours.” He brushed his lips over hers and murmured, “I love you, Alexi. My heart and soul belong to you.”

He pulled away to meet her gaze. “Bastard,” she said, her voice hoarse from the near strangulation. The corner of her mouth quirked and she added, “You’d better remember that promise. I intend to make you keep it.”

Chapter Thirteen

Even though Alexi had been anxious to hurry to Hearts to see her sister, she realized it was necessary for all six of them to recover from the fight and to doctor their many wounds.

Her knuckles were swollen from decking Mikaela and of course it hadn’t helped that she’d punched Darronn the day prior. Alexi’s throat ached and it was still difficult to talk, but she was far more concerned about her companions and especially Darronn, who had fared far worse than the others.

His clothing was soaked with blood and claw marks had slashed his handsome face from his temple, across one cheek to his lips. His jaw sported a purple bruise, too, but Alexi had a feeling that was from the blow she’d landed to his jaw the day before. Darronn made light of his own injuries, and every time he saw her throat, which was apparently bruising rapidly, he scowled and muttered a Tarok version of an obscenity under his breath.

While helping the werewolves with their wounded, they had learned that Lord Kir’s seer had visioned the attack by Mikaela and her minions. Darronn had thanked the werewolf lord and had promised to one day return the favor.

After helping to burn the carcasses of all the dead, the werewolf pack left, vanishing into the forest as silently as spirits in the mist.

Darronn and Alexi then tended one another’s wounds with the Tarok version of a first aid kit. When they were finished, he took her deeper into the forest and to the Tarok River, away from his brothers, Kira, and Kalina.

The acrid stench of fire and burning flesh faded the farther they went, and were replaced by the rich and welcome scents of the forest. Over one shoulder he carried a saddlebag filled with food and ale. He’d held her hand as they walked, his grip firm and strong. They didn’t speak on their way to the river, but the silence between them was charged with both questions and need.

When they reached a secluded location along the river, Darronn dropped the saddlebag and brought Alexi close to him. He cupped her cheeks with his hands, his green eyes studying her as if memorizing all her features. His wood-brown hair fell around his shoulders in a sexy tangled mass, and the gold earring glinted at his ear.

She placed her palms against his muscled chest and clenched his blood-stained tunic in her fists. It still made her heart twist to see the scratches across his face and all his other wounds. He could have died trying to save her.

“Why did you tell me your sister died?” Alexi asked quietly.

Darronn sighed as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. “The sister I knew and loved is dead to me. Once Mikaela betrayed me and my brothers…she ceased to exist. In her place is a ruthless, heartless woman.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “Because of her treachery I had closed off my heart from loving anyone outside my brothers, and then my nephew and niece…until I met you.”

For a moment Alexi studied Darronn’s handsome wounded face. “Why didn’t you tell me Alice was alive?”

“Long ago I should have told you of your sister, but I was…” He paused as if searching for the right words. His jaw set like he’d made up his mind to be completely honest with her. “I was afraid you would leave me before I had the opportunity to win your heart. Once you told me of your love I intended to explain all to you, but it became more difficult each day. I was afraid you would leave me.”

Alexi swallowed the urge to forgive him right away. “You know how important trust is to me.”

“I was wrong, firecat,” Darronn said, his deep voice causing a familiar tingle in her pussy. He brushed his calloused thumb across her cheek and she shivered at the sensual touch. “Will you forgive me?”

“On two conditions,” she replied, keeping her tone stern.

Darronn’s features remained grave as he nodded and moved one hand to her neck gently stroking the bruised flesh so lightly she felt nothing but pleasure at the touch. “Anything you name, my love,” he murmured, “it is yours.”

She clenched her hands tighter in his shirt, ignoring the throb in her knuckles, and gave him a firm, unwavering look. “First, you swear to never withhold anything from me again.”

“With all my heart, I pledge that I will always be honest with you,” he said like a Boy Scout swearing a solemn oath while Alexi barely kept her own expression sober.

“And second,” she said, leaning closer to his hard muscled body, “you must promise to love me as long as we both live.”

“My love is forever yours.” His mouth curved into a sensual smile and his expressive green eyes flashed with both a fierce kind of joy as well as desire. “Will you…” He hesitated, almost like he was afraid of what her answer would be. “I wish for you to become my queen and rule at my side. Will you join with me?”

“I’d be the Queen of Spades?” Alexi grinned at the image of herself decked out like one of the queens on a playing card. “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, Darronn. But I can’t imagine being anywhere but with you. Yes, I’ll marry—er, join with you.”

Darronn’s smile was broad as he moved his hands to her hips. “I love you, firecat.”

“About time.” Alexi released his shirt and moved her hands up to his neck, beneath his dark wood-brown hair and pulled him down to meet her. “What are you waiting for? Make love to me already.”

Darronn was still smiling when his lips met hers. His mouth was firm and demanding, but loving and caring all at once, and her head spun with a wild kind of desire. She ached for more and a part of her wanted it wild like it was when he released the
tigri
pheromones.

Yet this was incredible…seeing and feeling Darronn’s gentle side. He was a big fluffy teddy-cat beneath the ferocious exterior.

With a slowness that about drove Alexi out of her mind, Darronn removed her clothing and tossed it aside. When she was naked from head to toe he studied her and gave a primal purr that caused her pussy to ache.

The grass along the riverbank was soft beneath her bare feet. A breeze swept through trees and against her naked skin, caressing her ass, breasts and pussy, and making her nipples harder than ever. It made her even hotter to be naked when he was fully clothed.

“Have I told you how much you mean to me, firecat?” Darronn cupped both of her breasts in his large palms and rubbed her nipples with his thumbs. “When you left me, I feared that I had lost what means more to me than anything else in this world.” His serious green gaze met hers. “Your trust and your love.”

Before she could answer he lowered his head and flicked his tongue against one of her nipples. Alexi gasped and closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation of his mouth on her. When he moved to her other nipple, she clenched her hands in his hair and tipped her head back. With the wind blowing against one wet nipple, and his warm mouth fastened to her other, she thought she’d go crazy with need for him.

“Lick my pussy. Please, Master,” Alexi said and his answering groan told her how much he enjoyed her allowing him to control their lovemaking.

“When I choose to reward you, firecat, I will,” he murmured in a teasing tone. “Perhaps you need punishment for leaving your Master.”

She moaned, her pussy growing wetter as he moved his lips to the sensitive place between her breasts. His stubbled cheeks abraded the soft skin as he flicked his tongue along a line down her flat belly to her hairless mound. “I want your thighs spread wider,” he said in that commanding tone she loved.

“Yes, Master.” Alexi needed to come so badly that her knees were weak. Bracing her hands on his shoulders, she moved her legs farther apart, granting him full access to her wet folds.

Darronn continued his sensual punishment, rubbing his stubble roughened cheeks and his nose over her mound and between her thighs. “Your taste, your scent,” he murmured as he spread her folds with his fingers, “I can never get enough.” And then he licked her pussy in one long swipe of his rough tongue.

Alexi gasped and tightened her hold on his shoulders. Her legs trembled, she was so close to coming. But he was a master tease, driving his tongue into her core one moment, then flicking her clit with his rough tongue the next.

Darronn slid two fingers inside her and began to thrust while he sucked her clit. Heat swept over Alexi and she cried out as her orgasm flamed through her. All of the emotion she’d experienced in the last two days added fuel to the intensity of her climax until it was all burned away and what was left was simply her love for her man.

She was still riding her orgasm when Darronn got to his feet and caught her by the shoulders and gave her a fierce kiss. She tasted herself on his tongue and lips, caught her scent mingling with his elemental male musk. He released her and started to pull off his tunic, but Alexi stopped him by putting her hand on his.

“Take me now,” she said, “with your clothes on.”

He growled and picked her up, then laid her in a soft patch of grass. The ever-present roar of the river joined with the blood rushing in her ears as he unfastened his leather pants, released his powerful erection, and lowered himself between her thighs. He placed his cock to the entrance of her core then hooked his arms beneath her knees and spread her farther open.

He was so gorgeous, so fierce looking as he stared down at her. Sweat trickled down his injured cheek and he tensed his jaw. “I claim you, firecat.”

“No,” she said. “I claim
you.
You’re mine, Darronn.”

With a shout of triumph, Darronn thrust his cock inside her. Alexi’s already sensitive folds spasmed and she arched up to meet him, taking him deep. His leather-clad hips chafed her inner thighs and brushed her pussy, making the moment all the more exciting. She loved the way his black clothing looked against her pale skin as she watched his cock moving in and out of her.

Another orgasm built up inside Alexi, and this time her cry was loud and strong when she came. Darronn continued to fuck her, not letting up until she came two more times. He roared when he came and she felt the powerful throb of his cock inside her pussy, felt the warmth of his semen filling her.