“Told you,” I whispered.
“Hush.” He whispered the word back, his lips lingering over my ear. He inhaled deeply, taking the scent of my hair into his body. It was erotic and I imagined his face somewhere else. Inhaling something else.
My pussy tightened again, the muscles clenching in preparation for another orgasm, for his cock was still hard, still deep, even though we’d both just come.
God. No. I needed to listen.
The lights came on in the next room and the elder cleric and her guard entered the outer office. I heard the creak of her chair as she took a seat, the soft padding of his feet as he paced in front of her desk. She spoke first.
“They are keeping an unauthorized prisoner on Optimus Cell Level C. I want to know who it is and who authorized it. Do you understand? The queen is still missing. Her daughters, the revered princesses, aren’t talking, and we don’t know anything about the third female who entered the citadel. I assume it’s another one of Celene’s daughters. But we can’t protect them if we can’t find them. And neither Princess Faith nor Princess Trinity trust me enough to talk. The fact that they have reason to suspect the clerics is not acceptable. I will not allow our order to fall, is that clear? The role of the clerics is to protect the queen, and her daughters now that we know they exist, whether they trust us or not. Which means I need answers. At any cost. Do you have any questions?”
“Are you authorizing the use of deadly force?” The question was quiet, but not alarmed, and my opinion of the man in the other room shifted. He was not what I’d thought he was… which hadn’t been all that much. I had assumed he was a standard mall-cop. Mild. Not much more than a pencil pushing assistant who checked video feeds and followed the elder around so she was never alone. If he were this deadly, that meant none of the elder’s guards were as harmless as they seemed. He sounded like a soldier. A hunter.
“Yes,” the elder replied. “You have one day because the triad is coming.”
I heard Crayden’s swift intake of breath. Who the hell was the triad and why was he surprised?
“Here?” he asked.
“Yes. Elder Clerics Marna, Forge and Severil want updates about the queen in person. Since Princess Faith announced the queen had been kidnapped—and not just missing—they want answers. They are demanding I set up an audience with Princess Trinity for them.”
“Doesn’t Elder Cleric Forge live in Corseran?”
“Yes, and if she’s coming from that great a distance, then you know the trip is not an idle one. Having the queen missing was one thing, but knowing she’s been kidnapped and at someone’s mercy is another. It goes against every principle of the clerics. I want answers and I don’t care what you have to do to get them. I must give the triad something. They are militant and unforgiving in the wilder regions. They won’t be satisfied until we have answers. And neither will I.”
Damn. The old woman’s tone was hard and unforgiving, full of rage. In one breath, she spoke of the principles of being a cleric. Peaceful and full of reverence for the crown. Eons of protection and honor, and in the next, carte blanche to do whatever was necessary to learn the truth, even violence. And yet, I was reassured. She was one of the good guys.
“I’ll kill them all if I have to,” came the male’s reply, confirming they would not remain passive to find their queen, or at least answers.
But kill who? I wasn’t sure. But his tone held no mercy and I could respect that. More danger.
My pulse skyrocketed. Excited. My pussy fluttered, and I held back the orgasm with a force of will. Big. Hard. Cock.
Nix shifted. His cock slid deeper. Opened me up. Wide.
Fuck.
Too late. I came. My body lost control, draining Nix dry in every way I could. Skin on skin, taking his energy, his heat. His seed pumped into me and he threw his hand over my mouth again to muffle the small sound I hadn’t realized I was making. We were insane. Hard core insane to be fucking like this. Coming like this. Who came from just standing still? No thrusting, rubbing, moving?
After a few minutes that felt like hours, the elder and her guard left. Turning off the light and locking the door behind her. We were safe.
I kissed Nix again, thanking him the only way I could at the moment, with slow, deep kisses. Gentle kisses. Thank you kisses. I felt almost… human again. Sexy. And the fact that the energy pouring off his body and into mine was like a drug didn’t hurt either. I could do this for hours. Hell, for days. But I knew what he was going to do. He was going to insist I go with him so he could keep me ‘safe’ and feed my Ardor again.
I’d come three times and he hadn’t even tried. I could only imagine what he could do to me if we weren’t interrupted and had a bed. If he was this skilled just wielding his big cock, what could he do with his hands… or mouth? My pussy clenched at the thought. But, I felt better. Cooler, calmer. My mind was clearer. Yeah, I was thinking about Nix’s head between my thighs and his tongue on my clit, but I wasn’t feeling the Ardor haze I’d been in for days.
Well, this hot sex fix would be enough to keep my body under control for a while, and safe was a word I had no interest in, not with my mother still missing and Lord Wyse dead. Not after hearing the elder mention someone important was kept in Optimus Cell Level C. I had no idea where that was, but I was going to find out. And find Mom.
“I need to get dressed, Nix. We can’t stay here.”
“Agreed.” Slowly, he pulled out of my body and set me on my feet. We both moaned when he slid free, my pussy grasping after him like a greedy little bitch. I mentally told her to get herself together—that Nix wasn’t that hot. But as he stepped back I got a good look at those pecs and abs peeking at me through his open shirt, at that big, hard cock—glistening with cum and my arousal—still straining forward as if it was reaching for me. Chiseled jaw. Dark eyes. Silky hair I loved to pull. Not that hot?
Oh, hell yes he was.
And if I were being completely honest with myself, I loved his alpha male, chest pounding, mine-mine-mine business, too.
Talk about messed up in the head. I didn’t need a man. Didn’t want a man. Not for more than hot sex, anyway. I did not need a man trying to run my life, telling me what to do, trying to keep me safe.
No. No fucking way. And Nix had proved he was all for doing that. He wanted me safe and secure and eating chocolate bon-bons and giving my sisters pedicures, while the men went out and saved the world. As if.