All the King's Men (14 page)

The scorching heat that emanated from Thor’s shaft was
mirrored in the warmth of the object between her legs. It felt softer than it
should, yet hard as steel. It plunged inside her in one smooth thrust, impaling
her pussy, stretching it around its massive girth.

Nelina threw her head back. She didn’t recognize the
frustrated cry that echoed through the room as her own but it must have been
because nothing else made sense.

It’s not the toy. You’re letting him fuck you.

Kirel buried his cock inside her balls-deep and the taunting
whisper fled to the darkest recesses of her mind.

He leaned forward, the solid bulk of his body pressing the
slimmer object
deeper into her ass, trapping it against the bed. “You
liked that, didn’t you?” he murmured against her hair. “Being thoroughly taken
by three men. Being spanked. You loved every moment of it. I
knew
you
would. I know everything about you, Nel.”

Denial settled thick and heavy on her tongue. Tears burned
the back of her throat. She wanted to scream, to tell him she hated him for
what he’d done to her—for what he was
still
doing to her—but the words
wouldn’t come.

“I’m going to continue fucking you now.” It was a promise
and a threat all rolled into one. “Your sweet pussy is going to ride my cock
until you can’t take it anymore.”

Nelina gasped. Gods help her, she knew she should say no,
push him off her. But she didn’t want him to stop. Not ever.

It was as though her body had a mind of its own. Her hips
rocked back and forth. Kirel’s thick shaft filled her needy cunt. Each motion
drove him deeper inside her. His chest was pressed against her breasts and she
could feel the rhythm of his heartbeat thudding through her.

The intimacy of the position caused her to bite down on the
inside of her cheek. A lick away from her mouth, Domenic had taken himself in
hand. The head of his cock was flushed a deep purple and clear liquid oozed from
its tip as the man jerked his shaft with firm, even strokes.

Arousal filled her veins, muddled her mind. She felt half
drunk with it. The sensations that poured through her intensified with every
hard thrust of Kirel’s cock.

His thumb found her clit trapped between them. A rush of
heat turned her sex into liquid fire, sending deep tremors pulsing through her
blood-engorged nub. Kirel rotated the tip of his thumb over her clit just a
fraction and the world once again exploded around her.

Her cunt tightened and fluttered, spasming in rapture.
Kirel’s breath came in hard rasps in Nelina’s ear.

“Oh fuck, woman!” He grunted one final time, and through a
fog of frenzied ecstasy, Nelina felt him unleash his seed inside her.

The knowledge that she’d caused him to lose control with
nothing more than her pulsing inner walls caused her climax to intensify. Every
muscle in her body tightened and rippled, matching the frantic rhythm of
Kirel’s seed spurting inside her cunt.

Domenic grunted and Nelina watched awestruck as he clenched
both hands around his shaft hard enough to turn his knuckles white. Pearly
fluid burst from the tip of his cock. A hot blast of cum hit her cheek,
splattered over her throat and dripped down to the sheets.

It didn’t take long until Thor released his pent-up desire
as well. Hot liquid spilled into her palm and oozed between her knuckles.
Thor’s heavy grunts filled the air.

The musky aroma of cum was intoxicating. She breathed in
deeply, drinking her fill of the exhilarating scent.

Numb with exhaustion, she didn’t protest when Kirel
collapsed on the bed and pulled her down against him. Her legs splayed over his
in a tangle of limbs. His chest rose and fell with the force of his breathing,
pillowing her head.

He drew a deep breath into his lungs then released it on a
shuddering sigh. A small smile curved his lips. She sucked in a breath, wanting
to savor the sight, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving her to
wonder whether she’d seen it at all.

Nelina fought to keep her eyes open. Fatigue coursed through
her muscles, enveloping her in a deep fog that tugged at her lashes. Held close
in his powerful arms, she wanted to pretend all was right with the world.

From behind her, she heard the rustle of clothes. “Gods, she
fucked like a queen.” It was Domenic’s voice. Nelina knew she should have been
offended, but she couldn’t bring herself to muster the depth of emotion it
would take to argue with his assessment.

“That’s because in four days, she will be,” Thor said.

Kirel tightened his grip and pulled her closer to his chest.
“Four days,” he murmured. “So soon?”

Silence stretched on a beat too long. Thor sighed. Nelina
opened her eyes just in time to see him lay a hand on Kirel’s shoulder. “We
have to go.”

Kirel growled low in his throat and tangled his fingers in
Nelina’s silky locks. He twirled a section around his thumb, marveling at the
way the dark tendril contrasted with his pale skin. It had been too long since
he’d felt the kiss of the sun on his flesh. For years, he’d been a prisoner of
his duty, trapped inside the stone walls of the castle.

“Not yet.”

The grip on his shoulder tightened. “Now, Kirel. I can’t let
you be alone with her. There’s too much at stake.”

Kirel narrowed his eyes. The turmoil swirling through his
mind must have been evident on his features if Thor thought it necessary to
forbid him from seeing Nelina outside the training sessions.

He sighed and closed his eyes for a brief moment, inhaling
her scent. He wanted to imprint her on his senses, to remember what it felt like
to hold her long after she’d become queen. Long after he’d turned her over to
share Shivar’s bed.

With a groan that seemed torn from his soul, Kirel released
his hold on her. She smiled up at him through somnolent blue eyes. The sight of
that sleepy grin, so tender and vulnerable, clenched his heart.

A soft cloth had been left on the nightstand beside a bowl
of clean water. Rising from the bed, Kirel reached for it. After submerging it
in the clear liquid, he wrung out the excess moisture.

Leaning over the bed, he slowly slid the cloth over her
cheek, her throat, down her chest into the valley between her full breasts.
Thor scowled while Kirel circled a dark areola, watching the nipple tighten
appealingly beneath the soft caress.

Longing tore him up inside. He wanted nothing more than to
sweep her into his arms and press her down into the soft feather mattress. He
wanted to hear her murmur his name. And then he wanted to watch her eyes widen
with passion as he made her come again and again and again.

Domenic was already dressed and waiting by the door. “If
you’re done fondling our lovely queen, some of us have other things to do
tonight.”

“Future queen.” The correction came out as a whispered
growl.

Nelina’s lashes fluttered closed. She wriggled beneath his
touch and his hand slid down farther, over her belly and lower still to swipe
at the cream between her legs.

Gods, that was
his
cum he was cleaning up. He yearned
to wrench the cloth away and lave her with his tongue, lapping up every last
drop of moisture on her skin.

She stared at him through half-closed eyes. The smile had
disappeared. For a chilling moment, he thought she could see right through him.
Not just into his thoughts but into his very soul.

“Do as they say, Kirel,” she whispered. “You don’t belong
here any more than I do.”

Her words caught him by surprise. Struggling to make sense
of what she meant, he dropped the cloth on the nightstand. When he’d turned
back, Nelina had already removed the toy from her body and pulled the velvet
bedspread around her. The thick material clung to her breasts, outlining each
sphere to mouthwatering perfection. A hint of beaded nipple pushed against the
fabric.

A muscle jumped in Kirel’s jaw, alerting him that he’d
clenched his teeth and fisted his hands at his sides without knowing it. He
forced his tense muscles to relax.

“Right.” He yanked his pants off the floor and pulled them
on without looking at her. He stepped into his boots and tugged his tunic over
his head at the same time, not caring how disheveled he’d look as he strolled
through the castle. A moment later he had the mask tied back into place and the
hood drawn over his head. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t look back as he stormed through the door. Thor and
Domenic followed, their footsteps echoing hollowly in the empty corridor.

“There’s going to be a guard placed at this door,” Thor
said, his voice booming impossibly loud against the stone walls. “In case
you’re thinking about coming back later, don’t bother. He’ll have strict
instructions not to let anyone in…or out.”

Kirel spun around quickly, fingernails digging into his
palms. His knuckles itched to punch something and at the moment, Thor made a
tempting target. “Would you also like to hold my cock for me while I use the
urinal?”

Thor crossed his arms over his chest. Strong muscles bulged
against the fabric, showing off his toned physique to perfection. Despite his
anger, Kirel felt himself grow hard.

“I’m not concerned about your ability to handle your cock.
It’s keeping it in your pants I’m worried about.”

Unable to keep his feet still, Kirel paced the width of the
hallway. “I thought she was here to be trained.”

“She is. By
all
of us. Being alone with you right now
would be detrimental to the progress we’ve made.”

Kirel felt his upper lip curl. “You don’t trust me.”

“Hey, no one’s saying that.” Domenic stepped up to Thor’s
side, a sleek black shadow against the older Guardian’s much larger form. “But
right now, being with her isn’t in your best interest. Or in hers.”

Kirel clenched his teeth so hard a jolt of pain traveled up
the side of his jaw into his temple, causing a throbbing headache to build
behind his eyes. “Like you have a clue about what’s best for me.”

The slow, roiling anguish that had been building in his
chest exploded against his breastbone. Fearing he’d do something he’d later
regret, Kirel swept past his friends and kicked up his stride. A heartbeat
later he was running, putting as much distance between himself and the
Guardians as possible.

This time he intended to go somewhere they wouldn’t find
him. He couldn’t handle any more well-meaning bits of advice. And he certainly
couldn’t take another visit like the one they’d surprised him with in the hot
springs. Just thinking about the way Dom and Thor had touched him and coaxed
him to climax made fire sweep through his veins. Between the effect they had on
him and Nelina’s intoxicating presence, no wonder he wasn’t able to think
straight.

Outside, the wind slammed fragmented bits of rock against
the side of the castle, clinking against the windowpanes. Changing direction,
Kirel headed for the central tower. He needed to be sure he could get a
moment’s peace. No one would think to look for him up there.

His booted feet rang out as he raced up the narrow, circular
steps leading to the turret. He pushed hard against the wooden door and felt
the wind shove back from the opposite side. Grunting with the effort, he rammed
the door with his left shoulder and gave a satisfied cry when the portal budged
to give him access to the outside world.

Dust swirled around his body, lashing at any part of him
exposed to the intense gale. The wind whipped his hood, snatching it back,
baring his head. The storm attacked almost at once, depositing bits of flayed
rock and infernal red dust in his hair.

He didn’t care. Up here, far above the bustling activity of
the castle, away from the pressures of duty and loyalty, he could finally
think.

The mere act of ruminating over everything that had happened
in the last few days was enough to make his limbs quiver. If he’d known Nelina
was out there somewhere, he’d have searched for her. Despite the Tradition’s
edicts that clearly stated Guardians could not take a mate, he’d have found a
way to be with her.

He wasn’t able to leave the castle unless he accompanied
Shivar on state business, but he could have attempted to bring Nelina here, to
him. A fleeting smile tugged at his lips. She was a divine cook. The castle’s
chefs could have easily made use of her talents in the kitchen. Over the past
eight years, she could have warmed the king’s breakfast in the morning and
heated up Kirel’s sheets at night.

Instead, she’d spent that time thinking the king had
snatched her lover from her bed simply to satisfy his own cruel desires. And
Kirel had tossed and turned in an empty bed, bringing himself to shuddering
climax again and again with no more than the haunting memory of her ghost for
company.

The wind lashed his face. He turned his head away from the
worst of it and his gaze fell on an oval-shaped stained-glass window trimmed in
shades of pale emerald. The tri-colored beams of the moons illuminated it, as
though shining a beacon meant just for him. He knew that window. Just behind
the tinted pane, Nelina slumbered restfully, recovering after the sensual
diversion that for her had been no more than a way to pass the time until she
could figure out a way to escape her fate.

He grimaced and tugged his hood back into place. Little did
she know there was no escaping fate. If there had been, he’d have found a way
to accomplish that a long time ago.

The Tradition toyed with them all. It did so under the
pretense of protecting them and ensuring their magic-driven civilization
continued to thrive in a universe ruled by technology, but Kirel knew better.
The Fates delighted in tormenting those they were supposed to protect. They
trifled with the people to amuse themselves and likely cackled at the inability
of Arisians to take control of their destinies.