All the King's Men (11 page)

The first genuine amused grin since she’d arrived at the
castle played upon Nelina’s lips. “Why don’t you let me worry about my own
odors and how displeasing they might be to the king’s men, hmm?”

With a final furtive bow, the girl left the room, shutting
the door quietly behind her.

Nelina sucked in a deep breath, closed her eyes and leaned
her head against the frigid windowpane. She could hardly believe they’d all
gone. Finally, she could have a moment of much-needed solitude to gather her
thoughts.

A sudden knock on the door made her eyes jolt open. She
should have known this newfound privacy was too good to last.

“What is it now?”

A woman she didn’t recognize slipped into the room on a
cloud of spiced incense. The scent should have been too strong to be pleasant
but it filled the air with a musky, almost comforting odor that reminded Nelina
of home.

The newcomer looked almost ethereal. A gauzy white gown
enveloped her slender body, the thin fabric hugging her full breasts and narrow
waist to perfection. Hair so blonde to be almost white framed a heart-shaped
face. Her skin was the color of alabaster, pale enough for Nelina to make out a
few fine veins beneath the surface. Even her eyes were odd. Jade green flecked
with sparks of amber, they seemed much too wise for a face so young.

“I’m sorry,” the woman said. She leaned on a black staff
finely etched with jagged runes. At its top, an orb hovered in an outstretched
palm, claws wrapping over its smooth pearl surface.

Magic seemed to envelop this mysterious visitor even while
it emanated from her every pore. She wore it as she would a cloak, with comfort
and ease. The sight of that much power and grace stole Nelina’s breath.

“For what?” She’d meant the question to come out firm and
authoritative, but it echoed as a breathless whisper instead.

“For this.” The woman raised her hand and gestured around
her, indicating the room, the castle, maybe even all of Aris. “For bringing you
here.”

“You… You’re…” This time, words failed her entirely.

“Call me Vida.”

As much as the day’s events had exhausted her, a jolt of
adrenaline surged through Nelina’s veins. “Why are you here? Haven’t you
meddled in my life enough?”

As soon as the questions were out of her mouth, she
instantly regretted them. She flinched, expecting a swift magical rebuff—maybe
a bolt of lightning or a gust of air strong enough to lift her off her feet and
slam her against the opposite wall. She received neither.

Instead of being insulted, one of the most powerful women in
all of Aris laughed, the genuine sound imbuing the cold room with an immediate
warmth. “No wonder he loves you.”

Nelina instantly stiffened. The careless remark stung much
more than it should have. She averted her gaze, fighting to ignore the stinging
ache behind her eyelids. “Don’t pretend to know anything about me, because you
don’t. Or about Kirel for that matter.”

Vida lifted a pale eyebrow. “Are you really so sure about
that?”

“If you were truly as good as everyone thinks you are, you’d
know that the Tradition was wrong when it chose me. I can’t mate with your
king. I
won’t
mate with your king.”

Blonde eyelashes swept down, hiding Vida’s eyes. For a
moment, Nelina thought she’d caught a glimpse of sadness in those ethereal
orbs.

“He’s your king too,” Vida pointed out gently.

“Only because the Tradition says he is. I refuse to bow down
to a man who chooses his mate based on some random universal force.”

There was no mistaking the pain in Vida’s eyes when her head
came up. “You think he has any more choice in this than you do? We’re all
servants in our own way. Some more than others. You, the king, me…even Kirel.
We’re all following a path that’s been laid out for us. One we’re helpless to
change.”

Nelina crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “None of us are
helpless. We have the ability to make choices. We’re not mindless, heartless
drones like other beings in the universe! We’re Arisian!”

“Precisely! The Tradition has protected us for millennia.
Who are we to go against its wishes now?”

Nelina didn’t answer. She strode to one side of the room
where a massive bed took up the majority of the space. The servants had draped
its broad form in rich velvet for the night, clearly believing that plain
sheets weren’t good enough for what was to come.

Just the thought of the training sent a fiery jolt to her
pussy. A drop of cream slid down her inner thigh. She was grateful for the
voluminous skirt that wouldn’t be easily stained from the inside of the heavy
folds. Her clothes had been washed sometime in the night and had been returned
to her, since she refused to wear anything else the servants had provided. The
closet that stood against the far wall groaned under the weight of a dozen
bejeweled gowns but she’d barely glanced at them.

“They call to you, don’t they?”

Vida’s voice intruded upon Nelina’s thoughts. She blinked
rapidly and found herself staring at the colorful tapestry that hung above the
bed. It showed the king’s three Guardians exactly as she’d always thought of
them—as threatening figures dressed in black standing just behind their king,
one hand clasped on the hilt of the curved blade each of them carried.

That had been the way she’d imagined them before she’d known
Kirel walked among them. As threatening, domineering, arrogant creatures who
made her shiver with hatred and fear. Now the heat that curled in her stomach
and spread outward couldn’t be explained by either emotion.

Her pussy pulsed with renewed arousal each time her gaze
lingered just a little too long on the men’s broad shoulders, the firm chests,
the lean hips. Most arresting of all were their eyes. It was the only part of
them left uncovered by the
skella
. Their gazes glowed with an inner fire
that looked almost supernatural, sending a wave of longing through her limbs.

She cleared her throat and pried her gaze away from the
tapestries. “Not at all.” To prove it, she glanced around the room, struggling
to find something else to focus on.

In a heartbeat, she found it.

The servants had brought in a looking glass. Tall as a man
and wide as half the longest wall in the room, it stood at the edge of the bed,
clearly mirroring the velvet-draped surface in its limpid pool. On a nearby
table sat a number of instruments of pleasure. Her gaze wandered over the
silver bowl filled with glistening liquid and the two phallus-shaped glass
objects that rested on the table. After a moment’s pause, she jerked her head
away from the too-tempting sight.

Vida sat on the edge of the bed, set the staff down on the
mattress and patted the space beside her. The woman’s reflection shimmered in
the full-length mirror.

Despite the apprehension that knotted her stomach, Nelina
sat beside her. The need for comfort was stronger than her fear. She didn’t
pull away when Vida clasped her hands.

“I wish I could say I understand.” Vida’s fingers felt cool
against her skin. She tightened her grip. “But I really don’t.”

“Understand what?” Nelina asked, perplexed.

“Why you won’t allow yourself to enjoy this. Kirel and his
men will take good care of you. The Trials can be immensely pleasurable for a
queen who grants herself permission to really
feel
what the Tradition is
offering her. And the king’s Guardians… Every one of them aches for love just
as much as you do.”

Nelina yanked her hand away, suddenly uncomfortable. “I
don’t ache.” The lie fell easily enough off her tongue, but her heart clenched
inside her chest, as though an unseen force had reached in to squeeze it.

“Is it the Trials then? Are they worrying you? Because they
shouldn’t, you know. The men will be gentle with you, and they’ll show you
bliss unlike any you’ve ever imagined.”

“Would you like to switch places with me?” Nelina asked,
only half joking. She eyed the white body-hugging dress the woman wore and her
matching veil. “Give me your clothes and I can be out of here before anyone
notices anything’s amiss. Blow out all the lamps in the room and when they come
for me, you’ve only to pretend. That way we’ll both get what we want.”

Vida’s melancholy smile caused Nelina to look away. “You
don’t know anything about what I want.” Although she was tossing Nelina’s words
back at her, there wasn’t a hint of venom in Vida’s voice. There was sorrow
though, and so much despair that it seemed to turn the aura of magic that hung
around her a deep gray color. “The Tradition didn’t choose me. It chose
you
.”

The door opened abruptly, saving Nelina from having to
answer. She glanced up and her heart kicked into a frantic rhythm. One by one
the Guardians filed into the room, Kirel leading the way. Their presence
suddenly made the spacious chamber feel much too small. The fact that they
hadn’t knocked or announced their presence in any way was as typical as it was
infuriating.

“Think about what I said,” Vida whispered. Reaching over to
give Nelina’s hand one last squeeze, she rose and then headed for the door. She
nodded to each Guardian as she passed him. In turn, the men bowed low at the
waist, showing her the respect she was due.

Without the additional female presence to temper the pure
male essence radiating from the Guardians, the vulnerability of her situation
tightened Nelina’s throat, making it hard to breathe.

What was she still doing here? She should have figured out a
way to escape the moment Kirel had come to her room that first night and had
made it clear what was expected of her. But like a fool, she’d stayed. She’d
told herself there were too many people, too few chances to make a break for
it. And perhaps that had been true. But she hadn’t even tried.

All because her cunt had so eagerly welcomed Kirel back into
her body. Gods, how she still craved his cock. She wanted to feel it sink deep
into her pussy, to admire the sight of it glistening with her juices, to feel
it spurt every last drop of cum as her muscles milked him.

Except this time, she’d do it on her terms.

“I’ve made it clear I have no intention of mating with the
king.” She tilted her chin, trying to sound as haughty as possible. “I don’t
understand why you’re here.”

“You didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, did
you, Nel?”

Nel
. Recognition prodded her heart. He used to call
her that infrequently and the nickname had always made her smile.

She wasn’t smiling now. “I’d hoped.”

Their eyes met. His dark orbs simmered with longing and
lust, muddling her mind, making it hard to think straight. How could he seem so
much like the man she’d fallen in love with and yet be so different?

His voice was deeper now, more arrogant and authoritative,
but it reverberated with the same husky tonality she’d longed so desperately to
hear just one more time.

Distracted by the pounding of her heart and the rampant
desire enflaming her body, Nelina hadn’t noticed she’d wrung her hands together
in her lap. With a sigh, she unclenched her aching fingers and averted her
gaze. The seasonal storm that had been lashing at the windows all day had
intensified once darkness had fallen and now it rattled the windowpanes,
sending a low, howling moan to slither through the wooden shutters.

“You’re going to let us begin your training, Nelina.” He
moved to stand beside the bed but made no attempt to touch her.

She thrust her chin up. “Why would I do that?”

Kirel lowered his head. His warm breath caressed the column
of her throat, making her tremble. “Because you want us to.”

Chapter Six

“No.”

Kirel would have been more inclined to believe her if she
didn’t look at him with those wide fuck-me eyes, if her lips weren’t parted and
glistening and if the scent of her arousal wasn’t strong enough to make him
want to inhale huge lungfuls of the stuff until her feminine aroma was all he
could smell for the rest of eternity.

“No?” He quirked an eyebrow, pretending to consider her
rejection. “How can I be sure you mean that?”

She set her mouth into a grim line. “You’ll have to take my
word for it. It’s not like I can prove it to you.”

An idea struck, the thought so devious to be almost too
perfect. A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He knew she couldn’t see it
through the face mask, but she must have noticed something in his eyes because
she pulled back a fraction.

Her eyebrows drew down over the bridge of her nose. “What?”

He drew down his mask, placed one hand on either side of her
and leaned in until her mouth was only a breath away. “You
are
going to
prove it to me, Nel.” He stroked his tongue over her lower lip. A tremor ran
through her and she pressed her lips together so tightly they turned white. He
could almost see the inner turmoil raging behind those beautiful blue eyes.
“And you’re going to prove it to Thor and Domenic too.”

She glanced up and behind him, startled. The color drained
from her face as her gaze darted from him to the Guardians then back again.
“You wouldn’t!”

His grin broadened. “Oh yes, sweetheart. I would.”

She flung herself backward on the bed and scrambled to get
away from him. He had only to jerk his head in her direction and the men moved
toward her, their steps determined and graceful, almost predatory. The
controlled aggression in their movements made his cock ache.

If not for the night before, when they’d come to him in the
hot springs and had so skillfully soothed the chaos thundering through his
soul, he wasn’t sure he could stand here now. He was far from detached where
Nelina was concerned, but being able to release some of that pent-up
frustration had given him back a measure of control.

It wasn’t nearly enough to make him forget that he was
ultimately here to train Nelina to pleasure another man. Nothing would wipe
away that cruel knowledge. But at least his heart no longer threatened to break
through his rib cage at the mere suggestion of Domenic or Thor touching her,
tasting her, pleasuring her.