All the King's Men (5 page)

Wasting no time, Domenic went straight for Kirel’s weapon
hand. He wrapped one arm around Kirel’s elbow and grabbed for the blade,
bending Kirel’s wrist back with enough force to make his eyes water. Kirel
shoved back hard but Thor advanced and positioned the sharp edge of his knife
against Kirel’s throat before he could gain the advantage.

“Don’t do this,” Thor whispered fiercely between clenched
teeth.

Domenic’s hold tightened. Kirel loosened his grip on the
hilt of his blade. The weapon dropped to the ground, the thick carpeting
muffling the clatter as it landed.

“Let him go,” Shivar said. “I deserved that. Probably more.”

With one last warning look, Thor neatly sheathed his weapon.
Kirel stumbled out of Domenic’s grasp. His limbs wouldn’t hold him. He
staggered and grabbed on to the edge of the hearth, his fingers digging into
the hard marble with all the strength he possessed.

“Holy Moon Gods,” Kirel whispered. “She’s
alive
.”

“I needed you.” The king’s voice seemed to reach Kirel from
somewhere far away, barely breaking through the shroud of grief that surrounded
him. “You’d been trained to take your place as my Guardian for longer than I’d
ruled. There was no one else. I didn’t know what else to do.”

The violent reaction that had made him attack the man he’d
sworn to protect with his life shifted into a dull, throbbing ache. It settled
like lead in his gut. Nelina’s image shimmered just out of his reach, taunting
him with his inability to find her…to claim her as his own.

For the first time, he felt the guiding hand of the
Tradition behind the erotic imagery swirling through his mind. He swallowed
past the lump in his throat, knowing he’d been played like a puppet.

“I should have known,” he murmured. “All this time…I should
have known.”

Vida came up beside him. “How could you have? Your duty lies
with Shivar. What happens outside these walls isn’t your concern.”

He glanced at her but as usual her face betrayed no hint of
what she was thinking. Only her amber-flecked green eyes gave any indication of
her feelings. They seemed to soften as she looked at him.

A growl broke free from his throat. “You have no idea what
it’s like to suffer endlessly while the one person you love most in the entire
universe is taken away from you.”

A sad smile curled the corner of her mouth. “You’d be
surprised.”

“I doubt that. Others have made every decision for me since
before I was born. I’ve had no say in
anything
.” He whirled around and
slammed his fist against the hearth. “And now you want me to bring Nelina here
and hand her over to another man?”

“Not exactly.” Vida passed her hand over the top of the orb
on her staff. The pearl-colored glass ball shone brightly, causing him to avert
his eyes. “We want you to train her. Fully. She has to pass the Tradition’s
trials. After that… What happens isn’t up to me.”

The pain that always hovered close to his heart reached out
and squeezed, making it suddenly hard to breathe. Kirel collapsed into the
settee Domenic had vacated earlier, the wind suddenly knocked from his lungs.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. For the last eight years,
he’d lived with the knowledge that because of him, the only woman he’d ever
loved was dead.

As a final test to end his long years of training, he’d been
sent on the ultimate mission. The task assigned to him had been to live among
commoners for a year. He was allowed to choose the name by which he’d be known
and his profession. All in all, it should have been an easy assignment. There
was only one rule. He had to ensure he made no emotional attachments during his
stay.

When he’d ridden out through the castle gates, he’d thought
that rule absurdly easy to follow. After all, he’d made no emotional
attachments in his entire life. Why would that change just because he now lived
among commoners rather than courtiers?

But he hadn’t counted on Nelina. He’d never met anyone like
her. She sent his heart racing every time she came near. Her beauty was
mesmerizing, sure, but it was more than that. She was stubborn and determined.
She’d never been intimidated by his strength or his authority. She hadn’t given
in to his whims just because he asked and she had a way of driving him
absolutely mad with desire. The nights he’d spent in her arms had been the happiest
of his life. He wanted to lose himself in the heat of her soft pussy, to drown
in the smell and taste and feel of her.

And then, in the blink of an eye, his ecstasy had ended.
When he missed his deadline for returning to the castle, Shivar had sent his
men after him. Thor had been one of them. Gods, he still remembered how
fiercely he’d fought, how desperately. Only he hadn’t expected Nelina to jump
into the fray. To this day, he could still hear the sickening crack of bone as
Nelina’s head had connected with the nightstand. The night she’d died, a part
of him had died with her.

Shivar had assured him she’d met her end instantly, but that
fact had offered little comfort. Kirel had known he was the reason Nelina was
dead. And that knowledge had tormented him for the last eight years.

Vida leaned on her staff in front of him, her piercing eyes
seeming to bore right into his soul. “You’ve never struck me as a man who gives
up so easily on what he wants.”

Kirel’s chuckle held no humor. “What I want doesn’t matter.
You of all people should know that.”

“But your duty matters. The king needs an heir granted him
by a suitable queen.” She sucked in a breath between her teeth, her eyelashes
fluttering low to cast long shadows over her cheeks. “The Tradition has chosen
Nelina to fill that role.”

“And if I refuse?”

From behind, Thor placed a hand on his shoulder. His grip
was firm but insistent, the threat all too clear. “You won’t.”

* * * * *

“Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?”

Vida curled into the crook of Shivar’s outstretched arm.
They were alone, the Guardians having left almost an hour earlier.

“No.” She inhaled his scent, spicy and masculine, and closed
her eyes. “But what choice do we have?”

“You could have told him what you’d seen. If the Tradition
demands a new king, Kirel should know it could be him.”

She looked up, blinked away the tears that sprung to her
eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know which Guardian is meant to take your
place. The Fates kept that from me.”

The worry lines etched on Shivar’s brow deepened. “But
you’re certain I’m meant to step down? Now? When Aris needs me the most?”

Vida nodded wordlessly. Guilt clutched at her heart. Gods,
she was selfish. She’d been so relieved to learn Shivar wouldn’t be mated with
Nelina and so preoccupied with what this could mean for her that she’d barely
given a second thought to the turmoil he must be feeling. He’d been a good king
to Aris. If not for his inability to father an heir, he might have been
remembered as one of the best.

“Aris needs the Tradition now more than ever,” she said
softly. “We need the protection of the Fates and their favor. They’ve chosen a
new king. For better or worse, we have to obey their wishes.”

Shivar cupped her ass, pulling her closer. He rested his
cheek on the top of her head. “Kirel hates this, you know. He wouldn’t want to
rule. He’s longed for freedom for as long as I’ve known him.”

“There’s more than one way to experience freedom. Perhaps
he’ll find what he’s looking for in Nelina’s arms.”

“And if he’s not the one the Tradition has chosen? What
then?”

Vida drew in a breath then released it on a shuddering sigh.
She’d served the Fates willingly for almost three centuries but that service
had taken its toll. The Fates had blessed her with unnatural long life, yet the
Tradition’s gifts always came with a price.

Over the years, she’d watched family members, friends and
lovers grow old and perish. She mourned them all, aghast at the way they were
so quickly forgotten by the new generation that sprung up to take their place.

Vida remembered each of them. Every face, every laugh, every
touch had been permanently imprinted on her memory. Each time she lost someone
close to her, she feared the space in her heart would finally be filled, like
adding one more drop of wine to an already brimming goblet, and she’d never be
able to care for anyone again.

She knew she couldn’t endure watching Shivar wither away
into nothingness to be erased from the world as though he’d never existed at
all. Yet now for the first time, there was hope. Her duty was almost at an end.

She’d finally be allowed to step back from the
responsibility of being the vessel that carried the Fates’ wishes to the people
of Aris. She could settle down, grow old…perhaps even at Shivar’s side.

Tears clogged her throat.

All she had to do was carry out this one last task. The
Fates had made it clear she wouldn’t like the consequences if she
disappointed
them. Until the Tradition revealed its true intention, Kirel had to be kept in
the dark, like everyone else.

“At least he still has a chance,” she said. “If Nelina had
been meant for you, there would be nothing he could do to stop fate from taking
its course.”

Shivar’s hand came up to rest on Vida’s hip. He swirled his
thumb over her bare skin. “Kirel will never accept another man laying claim to
his woman.”

Vida’s teeth dug into her lower lip.
And you
? she
wanted desperately to ask.
Would you have let your woman go so easily?

Failing to give voice to her thoughts, she cleared her
throat. “He may not have a choice.”

Chapter Three

The dream was always the same. It began with exquisite
pleasure and ended in more pain than Nelina thought she could endure. Yet she
lived through it every night, helpless to change the course of the events that
spiraled out of control around her.

Her hips arched up to meet Kirel’s cock. He lay on top of
her, his weight held on hands splayed out on either side of her head. His eyes
bore into hers. The sheer magnitude of what she saw there took her breath away.

“I love you,” he whispered again and again and again. His
low, husky chant tormented her even as it drew her close to the brink of
release. Her entire body hummed with a low, throbbing intensity, as though he’d
set her nerve endings on fire with his lips, his hands, his cock.

Nelina writhed, fighting against the memories that tugged at
her mind. She struggled to break free but the vision held her firmly in its
grip, taunting her with images of everything she couldn’t have.

When the door burst inward, sending shards of wood to rain
down on Kirel, Nelina screamed. She lashed out against the arms that pulled
Kirel off her. Sobs clogged her throat. Tears ran down her face but she paid
them no heed.

As he always did, Kirel leapt from the bed. This time,
however, was different.

Instead of attacking his assailants, he nodded to one of
them. “She’s yours. Do whatever you want to her.”

The breath fled from her lungs. Nelina opened her mouth to
cry out but before she could make more than a strangled sound, powerful hands
clamped down on her shoulders and pushed her back onto the bed.

Panic clawed at Nelina’s mind. This wasn’t the way the dream
was supposed to unfold. Hoping for his comforting reassurance, she glanced at
Kirel but could make out nothing in his face except for a faint flicker of
amusement.

“She likes it rough,” he told the Guardians. “Make sure you
give it to her good and hard. She’ll beg you for more.”

Abruptly one of the Guardians yanked her up and settled her
on his lap. His clothes were gone. She slid down smoothly on his solid cock and
he thrust his hips upward, impaling her until she took him balls-deep inside
her body.

“No!” Her stunned cry was lost in a barrage of masculine
chuckles.

She slammed her closed fists against the Guardian’s chest,
her blows failing to even make him flinch. Dark golden hair curled around his
ears and fell over his forehead. He moved inside her as though he belonged
there, with the strong assurance of a man used to getting what he wanted.

The rhythm was remorseless. He pounded her pussy with
frantic thrusts that speared her to the core. To her horror, her body continued
to respond to him as it had to Kirel only minutes earlier.

Cream coated her channel, smoothing his glide. His hands
were clamped to her waist and he easily bounced her up and down on his massive
girth. Her nipples beaded to stiff nubs. A flush spread over her chest,
alerting her to her growing need, her building orgasm.

“I knew it! You love a big cock inside you,” Kirel taunted.
“Let’s see how you handle two.”

Kirel’s triumphant jibes brought a fresh wave of tears to
Nelina’s eyes. She wasn’t supposed to be enjoying this! These men were her
enemy. She’d spent years trying to banish them from her nightmares and now here
she was, eagerly fucking one of them, digging her nails into his shoulders with
wild abandon as she rode his massive shaft.

“Hold her.” She didn’t recognize the other Guardian’s voice.

“No need,” Kirel replied. “You’ll see.”

Before Nelina could wonder what he meant, she felt the
thick, unmistakable head of a cock prodding her bottom. It slid through the
crevice of her nether cheeks while fingers held her open then thrust inside her
well-oiled anus.

The man’s shaft plunged into her past the tight ring of
muscle and nestled in her back channel. Her eyes watered. He felt huge inside
her, stretching her to capacity. Dark slivers of pain and pleasure raced
through her body.

The two cocks moved inside her simultaneously. Each
well-placed thrust glided against her overheated flesh. Her clit pulsed. Liquid
heat ran down her swollen, cream-slicked labia.