The Claiming of a Virgin King (12 page)

The first time he had seen it as
practically burned into his mind. He had been in the castle,
working on some papers. Even back then William had started to pick
up some of his father’s work. It suited them both because it freed
his father to deal with all the events he was required to attend,
and allowed William to get a feel of what being king
entailed.

The noise had been the first
indication that something was wrong. It was like a great clap of
thunder. William knew now that it was something called a sonic
boom, and it was created when a ship of great mass entered the
atmosphere.

That ship had been Dragan’s, and
looking at it now was like moving back in time. Of course, all
those years ago, William had only seen it from a distance, but the
shape was so distinct there was no denying that it was exactly the
same one.

Here.
In
the island.

It looked like it had been here all
along.

“
I always wondered what
you had done with it,” William said. “But I don’t think I ever
imagined that you simply parked it somewhere.”

“
This island was perfectly
suited,” Dragan said. “Though it would also have been ideal for
settlers. It is shielded from the harshest of the winter winds,
although keeping on top of the constant snow might be a
problem.”

“
It’s been here ever since
you arrived?”

Dragan nodded. “We took a great deal
of stuff from it,” he said. “Things we needed to build our society.
But the bare bones are still inside. It will still fly and it still
has the ability to support life.”

“
And the stasis units?”
William asked.

“
Are also in there,”
Dragan said. “We’ve been adding more things over the past weeks.
Maylor and his army will need supplies when they awake from their
sleep.”

“
What if they find another
world?” William asked because this was something he had thought
about since Dragan had told him of the plan. “And terrorize it just
like they have ours?”

“
I think that is
unlikely,” Dragan said. “It took us almost a generation before we
could find yours. Worlds like this, ones where it is possible to
live, are very rare. It is likely that Maylor and his people will
spend the rest of their lives on this ship.”

“
It almost feels like that
is too good for them,” William replied.

“
It is the only option,”
Dragan said. “The only humane thing to do.”

They came to a stop at the bottom of
the bowl. William jumped out and was surprised to find that the air
down here was fairly warm. That had not been the case on the ship
they had used to travel between the islands. In fact, he had
shivered his way across the water and more than once had looked at
Dragan’s brawny form, and thought about what it would be like to be
held tight in his arms.

Warm.

Comfortable.

Exciting.

William exhaled unsteadily, shocked by
how quickly his thoughts had moved in that direction. But then, was
that any wonder considering what had happened between them last
night?

He felt a flush travel up his neck and
turned away quickly so that Dragan would not see it. His cock
twitching in his pants as he did so. Because William would be a
liar if he didn’t admit that he was thinking about doing it all
over again, and he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with
that.

He had imagined that he would wake up
sore. That his ass would ache and his cock too. But in actual fact,
William had woken up with a feeling up deep satisfaction thrumming
through him. A moment later and he’d thought about Dragan. The
satisfaction had soon turned into something else
entirely.

Desire.

There was no denying it. It was right
there. And now that it had been awoken, William was not sure how to
make it go away, or even if he wanted to.

“
Do you want to look
inside?”

Dragan’s voice was right behind him.
William jumped and turned. Dragan reached out to steady him, and
then, the next thing William knew he was being dragged into the
alien’s arms.

“
We’ve fucked,” he
whispered. “But we haven’t even kissed.”

“
Kissed?” William
said.

“
It is traditional between
your people,” Dragan said. “And I have come to like it.”

“
Dragan…” William shook
his head. “We’re out in the open.”

“
There is no one to see
us,” Dragan said. “They are all inside.”

And then he pulled William against
him, so that their bodies were pressed tightly together, and before
the king could do a single thing, he kissed him.

The first touch of their lips made
William shiver. He was a weird combination of nerves, excitement
and worry. But Dragan didn’t seem to notice, or maybe he didn’t
care, because he demanded a response, and William was helpless not
to give it. He wrapped his arms around the alien’s neck, let out a
sigh, and moved his lips in tandem with his. By the time they
pulled apart both males were flushed, and both were achingly
hard.

“
I could kiss you all
day,” Dragan sighed. “You taste exactly like you
should.”

“
And how should that be?”
William whispered back, his heart pounding, his skin
shivering.

Dragan smiled, a soft sort of smile,
and his next words were completely unexpected. “Like you’re
mine.”

William’s eyes widened at that. He
opened his mouth to reply, but Dragan gave him no chance. He simply
tugged on his hand and pulled him towards the star ship. “Come. Let
me show you inside.”

The king followed silently behind
Dragan, his head spinning , his heart racing. It occurred to him
then that this whole journey had been like that, from the moment he
had stepped foot off the ship. First, the meeting with Lei. Then
the meeting with Dragan. Not to mention convincing his people to
return to the capital. And then the sex…the bargain…the
desire…

When, William wondered, would things
begin to settle back to normal? Never, he realized with a shocked
flash. Because if Dragan did what he was promising, then there
would be a whole new world to create. A whole new society to build.
And William knew, he just knew, that as much as he might want to
walk away from it, as much as he would simply like to shut himself
away on an icy island, he would never get the chance to do
so.

For better or worse, this was his
life.

“
William?”

He looked up to find Dragan’s eyes on
him. “Yes?”

“
Are you okay?”

“
Of course,” he said. “I
was just thinking.”

“
Good things I hope,”
Dragan said. “Considering what we’re going to do.”

He gestured to the door in front of
them. William walked towards it and then inside. Dragan was
immediately behind him.

“
It is so odd to come back
here,” Dragan said once they were inside. “I lived my whole life on
this ship before settling on your world. Part of me still thinks of
it as home.”

“
It is like I imagined,”
William replied.

“
And how is
that?”

“
Like the inside of a land
craft.”

Dragan grinned and set off down one of
the corridors. “All of our tech is built from the same materials.
We were once a people united after all.”

Something occurred to William then and
he halted. “You’re sending them back to the stars on your
ship?”

Dragan looked over his shoulder. “It
is the only way. As I said, their stasis units were
destroyed.”

“
But if you lose your
ship…”

“
We have no way off this
world.” Dragan said. “William, we have considered that.”

“
Your home…”

“
William,” he said.
“
This
is our home
now. For better or for worse. We do not
want
to leave it. We have no further
need of the ship.”

“
Still,” William said.
“The sacrifice…”

“
Will be worth it to being
peace. Now, come, we’re going to the control room. Some of my
people are waiting for us there.”

And they were. There were eleven in
all and most female. They all had an air to them which reminded
William of Niahm.

Smart.

Capable.

Efficient.

He unsurprised to find that he missed
her already.

He nodded to each of them as they
moved inside and Dragan asked after their progress. Two of the
females, clearly those in command, replied to him. The others fixed
their stares on William…and kept them there.

He shifted uncomfortably. Looked
around the room. Took in the surroundings. Listened to what Dragan
was saying. When he looked back at the females they were still
staring at him. A moment later and three moved across the room and
towards him.

“
King William?”

He nodded.
These are your people
.
“Yes.”

“
We’re pleased to meet
you,” one said. “I’m Kellie.”

Her skin was a very dark blue. Darker
even than Dragan’s. Where before William would have found it to be
very alien that was no longer the case. After all, he had
experienced Dragan’s blue skin against him…pleasuring
him…

“
Are you enjoying our
islands?” Kellie asked. It occurred to William that she was
actually very pretty.

“
They are very beautiful,”
he said.

She beamed, and then to William’s
surprise reached out and placed a hand on his arm. He looked down
and noticed that she wore a thick silver bracelet on her wrist. A
memory stirred and he realized that Dragan wore one also. He had
seen it last night when Dragan had wrapped his fingers around
William’s cock. Quickly, William looked at the wrists of the other
aliens, and noticed that they all wore them. What were they for?
Was it some sort of cultural expression? He had never noticed them
on the northern aliens.

“
We think all the islands
are beautiful,” Kellie said pulling his attention away from the
bracelets. “Have you seen them all? We live on
Parleih
. It’s the fifth biggest
island. Perhaps you would like to come to our house tonight? We can
prepare a meal. And then, in the morning, we could give you a
tour?”

“
We?”

She nodded and gestured to
the other females next to her. William noted that they were also
very pretty, and yes, they also wore the bracelets. “We live
together,” she said. “And we would be very pleased to host our
king.
Very
pleased indeed.”

William wasn’t quite sure what to say
to that. It certainly wasn’t the first time he had received such an
invitation, but never in quite such a blatant manner, and all at
once Niahm’s words returned to him.

You are ridiculously good
looking, William. Do you have any idea what many of the males and
females in the capital would give to be invited to your bed? You
are lusted over constantly. And the fact that you bed none of them
only increases your appeal. Our sexy, handsome, aloof king. It is
enough to fuel countless fantasies...

He coughed slightly, trying to work
out what to say to the females. When nothing came to mind he turned
and locked eyes with Dragan. The alien lord was watching him with a
look stamped on his features that made William both nervous and
excited. It was quite plain what that look said.

Mine.

And in that moment, with the memories
of last night so fresh and so vivid, with the knowledge of Dragan’s
willing sacrifice, and with the three very pretty females making
him feel nothing but uncomfortable, William realized the
truth.

His desire was for Dragan and Dragan
alone, and right there and then, he could not find it in his heart
to disagree.

Mine
.

For now it seemed that was the
case.

Chapter Twelve

A week later Dragan, William and a
number of Dragan’s strategists, stood around the large table in the
strategy building, looking at the maps laid out on there. Dragan
had requested the maps first thing mainly because William was
beginning to get restless. Dragan picked up on it easily enough and
he was not surprised. The king wanted a firm date for when they
would sail to the mainland, and because Dragan could not give him
one, he had decided to do this instead.

Still, looking at the maps was always
useful. They confirmed, almost justified, the decision that Dragan
had made. And so, when he leaned forward, palms placed either side
of the fabric, the anger on his face was real, and the king saw
that.

Because much had changed on these maps
since he had last looked at them.

Much.

Where before, the northern line had
been bashing against one of the major cities north-east from the
capital, it was now completely below it. Worse, that brought it
painfully close to the king’s energy barrier. That barrier extended
all the way around the capital, and had been put in place in the
very early days of the war. Dragan remembered being very impressed
with it, and had assumed back then that the natives had more
technology at their disposal to fight the rebels. They hadn’t of
course, the energy barrier was as good as it got. Still, how long,
he wondered, would it take Maylor to breach it? From what his
strategists had said a prolonged assault would weaken it bit by bit
until the whole thing collapsed. And now that Maylor was close that
attack would start soon enough.