Into the Ashes [The Arcadians 2] (7 page)

around to look at the large beast

standing beside Kadan.

“This is Var, our pet argos ,”

Kadan explained as he patted the

beast’s large head. A low purr

erupted from the animal as it pushed

his head into Kadan’s hand.

Of course, the giant glowy-eyed

men had a fucking lion for a pet.

“He knew he was not supposed to

come into the room, but he smelled

you and was curious.” Kadan

frowned down at the animal who

lowered its head as if in remorse.

Raven’s brow winged up. “You…

can talk to animals?”

“Not talk…exactly. It is more like

impressions. We raised Var from

birth and have a special connection

to him. He will not harm you.”

Raven clenched her jaw to stop a

scathing remark from spilling from

her lips. Her body stiffened as

Savitar lowered into a squat, still

holding her.

Shit, shit, shit!

“Wait! Jesus, are you crazy? What

are you doing?” A tremor wracked

her body as she pressed closer to

Savitar, as if trying to crawl into him

when the large lion-like creature took

a hesitant step forward. Savitar’s

chest rumbled with a soothing purr as

he stroked a large hand over her

braided hair, holding her close to

him.

He reached up and putting a finger

under her chin to lift her head back so

she was staring into his golden eyes.

He whispered something to her that

she

didn’t

understand.

Breath

quickening until she was almost

hyperventilating, she allowed him to

take hold of one of her hands and

together they stretched out their arms

toward the animal.

Her hand trembled in his, but she

fought the urge to pull away as he

guided her hand to the head of the

beast. Raven looked down at the

animal and held her breath as she felt

the soft fur of the argo under her

shaking fingers. It was amazing.

Breathing again, she watched as

Savitar’s large hand guided hers in

slow strokes through the animal’s

thick fur. She grinned as a purr of

pleasure erupted from the great beast.

Var sat down on his hind legs and a

startled laugh escaped her as he

licked her wrist with his coarse

tongue.

Okay, this was seriously cool!

She looked back up at Savitar’s

growl and had to fight back a shiver

of desire at his intense stare. His

golden eyes seemed to pierce straight

through to her soul, holding her

captive in his gaze.

“Savitar said he could listen to

your laughter to the end of days,”

Kadan said, breaking through the

connection between her and the

eldest brother. “Var likes you.”

Embarrassed now, Raven looked

back down at the animal who was

nudging her hand as if to ask for more

stroking. “I like him, too, now that I

know he’s not trying to have me for

dinner.”

Savitar growled something, making

Kadan sigh. “This would be easier if

we could implant you with an L-

CON unit so you could understand

us.”

Raven thought for a minute then

nodded. “Fine. But I want him to do

it,” she said as she jerked her head

toward Savitar.

Kadan nodded then left the room.

She yelped as Savitar picked her up

and easily carried her back through

the bedroom into the living area. He

sat down on one of the large couches

keeping her in his lap. Both of them

seemed surprised when she made no

effort to move. There was something

about the large man that made her

feel safe and, after the day she’d had,

she could use the feeling of security,

no matter where it came from.

Kadan walked over to them

carrying an instrument connected to a

small gray box that he handed to

Savitar. Raven eyed it suspiciously.

“What do you have to do with that?”

“We will inject a small device into

the back of your neck that will allow

you to understand the languages

loaded into the mainframe,” Kadan

explained. “Place your hand on the

box, sweetling. This will sting for

but a moment as it updates the

mainframe.”

Raven was hesitant to do what he

asked, but she did want to understand

them. She placed her hand on the gray

box as Savitar swept her hair away

from the back of her neck. She felt his

breath on her skin as he held the

instrument up to the back of her neck

and depressed it against her. Her

neck stung for a second then her spine

tingled, reminding her of the pain

she’d felt when the lightning had

struck her. The gray box vibrated

slightly under her hand, and she felt

lightheaded. She appreciated the way

Savitar held her close to him,

protecting her with his large body

through the process.

“It…feels weird.”

“Just breathe, my queen,” Savitar

said softly before he pressed his lips

to her brow. “Let the L-CON

connection merge into you. Be at

ease, beautiful one.”

Queen? Well, hell. The shocks just

kept coming.

The uncomfortable feeling faded

and she opened her eyes to see

Kadan and Savitar staring at her,

their glowing eyes filled with

concern. She fought the urge to fidget

under their intense scrutiny.

“Can you understand me, Raven?”

Kadan asked.

“Yes,” Raven replied then sighed.

“This is real, isn’t it? This isn’t just

some fucked up crazy illusion that

I’m having due to being struck by

lightning?”

Savitar’s brow winged up at that.

“You were struck by lightning?”

“Yep, which is how I got here…

wherever this is.”

“This is Arcadia,” Kadan told her,

again.

She huffed out a breath. “Yes, but I

don’t know what that means. And

how the hell did lightning hitting me

bring me here? Talk about a messed

up mode of transportation.” she

muttered.

Kadan hesitated before standing. “I

shall leave you with Savitar now and

spare you my presence as you

requested

while

he

explains

everything to you. If you have need of

me you have only to think of me and I

will come.”

Raven almost asked him to stay but

stayed silent instead. She watched his

eyes dim with sorrow again and

wanted to curse.

She was not the bad guy here!

Kadan looked at Savitar. “I shall

join Tristan on the hunt. Send word if

you need us.” He shot her one last

glance of longing before leaving the

room.

Raven wasn’t prepared for the

sadness that filled her as she watched

him leave. A nudge on her leg had

her swinging her gaze down to where

Var was butting his head lightly

against her knee. “You’re a big baby,

aren’t you?” she cooed as she stroked

the soft fur on the top of his head,

making him purr loudly.

Her hand paused mid-air as she

shifted forward and her ass landed

directly on what felt like a steel pipe

nestled between the globes of her

ass. Suddenly, she was acutely aware

that she was still sitting on the giant

alien warrior and his ginormous

penis was hard and poking at her in

demand.

Savitar slowly lifted her body and

set her next to him on the couch. She

couldn’t help when her gaze shifted

down and she gulped as she saw the

large bulge in his lap. Fear mixed

with arousal as the sight of what had

to be the biggest erection she’d ever

seen straining against the soft leather

of his black pants. Savitar cleared his

throat causing her eyes to shoot up to

meet his. She could feel a blush

staining her cheeks at being caught

ogling his junk.

“Ah…sorry. I didn’t mean to stare

like that.”

“There is no need to apologize for

looking at what belongs to you,”

Savitar replied softly.

Well, hell…how did she respond

to that? “Yeah, about that…” she

began, at a loss for words. “What

exactly does that mean? Kadan said I

was your mate now, but I don’t

understand.”

Savitar nodded. “Ask anything you

want of me, Raven. I will try to

answer whatever question you may

have and vow I will not lie to you.”

Okay then. “Tell me what I’m doing

here and what you mean by saying

I’m your mate.”

Savitar sighed. “The truth is I do

not know exactly how you came to be

here, only that the God of the Sun and

the Goddess of the Moons have

brought you forth from your world to

ours. Arcadia is a world that has

faced centuries of wars. As a result

our population has suffered and has

caused a shortage of females on our

planet. Males are born as trios and

births of females are rare so each trio

shares a mate amongst the brothers.”

“Doesn’t that cause all kinds of

jealousy and anger between the

brothers, though?” Raven couldn’t

help but ask.

Savitar shook his head. “Trios are

born with a special bond. It is

difficult to explain, but the simplest

way to explain it is we share thoughts

and memories like a collective being.

Each night when we rest, our

brains…merge. When we awaken we

have the other brother’s memories of

the last rising so nothing is secret

from one another.”

“That’s…wow.” Raven couldn’t

imagine the lack of privacy that

would mean for each of them.

“Speaking of bonds…what is that

blood bond thing that Kadan and

Tristan did to me?”

She watched Savitar’s large body

tense and his eyes glowed with

intensity. “They claimed you as our

mate. A mate is…it is like the

equivalent to your word for wife,

only it is a much deeper bond for

Arcadians. By creating a blood bond

we are able to create a pathway

between our minds. I know this is all

strange to you and my brothers did

not introduce you to bond with the

care they should have, but seeing you

overwhelmed them. We have been

searching for a mate for a long time

and from the moment we saw you, we

knew you were fated to be ours.”

“H–how did you know that? You

don’t even know me,” Raven

whispered. Despite her apprehension

she was entranced by the lust burning

in his glowing eyes. Never had a man

looked at her with such hunger before

and she felt his gaze straight down to

her very core.

“I feel it in here.” He thumped his

large fist over his heart, never

looking away from her. “There is

somewhere I would like to take you.

Will you go with me?”

Raven nibbled on her lower lip and

she noticed that his gaze seemed

riveted on the small action. There

was something about him that made

her want to crawl back on his lap so

she could press her lips to his when

he looked at her like that. Taking a

deep breath, she took the plunge.

“Yes, I’ll go with you.”

Chapter Four

Savitar led his small mate down the

dim corridors until they reached the

back of the castle in companionable

silence. He was glad that the halls

were empty of the other palace

inhabitants. He knew Raven had to be

frightened after all she had been

through since her arrival on Arcadia,

but the truth was he didn’t want to

spare a moment of his time alone

with her with anyone else around.

Shortly after the sun had risen that

morning, Savitar had left the palace

determined to spend the day on the

hunt for rogues that plagued his

beloved Citadel. The Citadel was

one of the largest inhabited cities on

Arcadia, making it a Mecca for

warriors and females alike. Located

near a mountain range rich with iron