Freedom (Delroi Prophecy) (16 page)

“Are you ready?”

She nodded and he smiled, looking forward to surprising her. He didn’t leave the room. Instead he took her hand and tugged her into the deep closet. He shoved all the clothes on the back rod aside and pressed a knot sized spot. It looked innocent enough but it was a sensor plate coded only to his family. The wall slid aside, opening onto a dark tunnel that lit when he stepped into it. She followed, her expression delighted and surprised. She laughed when the wall slid shut behind them.

“Wow. How many tunnels are there?”

“
I have no idea. This is the only one to the guest quarters from my wing. It splits into several passages on my side. My suite has two that can only be accessed from it. One into the Keep and one into the city.”

“
Escape routes. Cool.”

The tunnel was wide enough they could walk side by side. He put his hand on the small of her back and prodded her forward.
“I think they were for servants originally. Other than my family they haven’t been used for generations, and they’ve been wiped from all the blueprints we’ve found.”

“
Smart,” she murmured. “And there’s an exit from your rooms into the city?”

She asked it much too innocently and he wasn’t buying it for a minute. That was a particular bit of slang he didn’t need to borrow from Earth. He came from a people who lived on the edge of a desert. Bartering was nothing new.

“There’s an exit from my wing. That’s information only shared with my family and my mate.”

“
So you’ll only tell me how to escape when it’s too late?”

It was a damned good thing he’d brought this up before they got too far. He took a turn that would lead him to the corridor outside his mother’s rooms.

“I don’t want you to escape,” he said lightly. “So I won’t tell you anything to aid it.”

They came to the door and she stopped, leaning close and looking up at him. Such a temptation and she had no idea.

“How can you be so sure, Roarr?” she whispered. “You are so certain we should be together. I don’t believe in destiny, and even if I did, that doesn’t mean we’d make each other happy. That we would be compatible or even like each other.”

He stopped her before she could open the door.
“First, we do like each other and we are compatible.” Where did the woman get these ideas? “Second, our destiny is what we make of it.”

“
So you admit that some of these matings,” she said, holding up fingers like punctuation marks, “don’t go well?”

Did he dare answer that? Or not?

“What makes you think otherwise?” he asked instead of answering.

“
Oh gee. I don’t know, Roarr. Maybe meeting your mom and hearing about your sister and brother, but no one has once mentioned your father. That might have made me wonder about these great matches of yours.”

He hadn’t talked about his father in years, and hadn’t seen him in even longer, but she had a right to know. He pressed the panel on the door and ushered her through.

“We need a drink and some privacy for this conversation,” he said.

She followed him into the private sitting room off his mother’s suite and accepted the glass he handed her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to bring up old ghosts.”

She was obviously already reading him very well. He shook his head.

“You should know.” He took a deep breath. “Before I was born, my mother was heir to the Keep. The clan comes to me through her. This isn’t that unusual on Delroi. If there is only a female heir the line will pass through her. But because there wasn’t a male heir, the clan was weakened. Which is why my mother made the choices she did.”

Kareena nodded, but he felt her unease.
“I understand.”

“
At some point though, if you are a female heir, you need children. My parents met in their thirties. They liked each other, they knew they weren’t mates, and it really didn’t matter as long as they were content and there were children.”

“
And your father?”

“
He returned to his clan when Kayna turned eighteen.”

“
And? That’s it? Not much of a story, Roarr.”

He saluted her with his glass.
“No, it isn’t but there really isn’t much to tell. They knew they wouldn’t stay together permanently, they hadn’t met their
der’lans
, and they both wanted children. It was a simple arrangement.”

That was all true.

“What aren’t you telling me?” she asked.

He sat on the sofa across from her and leaned back. Debated how much to tell her, thought about his parents odd relationship.

“Roarr?”

She stood and crossed the small space between them. He grabbed her hand and tugged her to his lap before she could sit next to him. She met his gaze calmly, her expression and her eyes almost gentle.

“My parents weren’t mates, Kareena. They didn’t have the connection we have. My mother is loving and warm and open.”

She cocked an eyebrow and he laughed.

“She’s also driven and tough and protective,” Kareena said.

“
She is that too. My father…is a warrior through and through.”

“
What does that mean?”

“
He’s tough. Reserved. He isn’t open or emotional.”

“
And by emotional you mean affectionate, don’t you?”

“
Yes. Except with Kayna. He’s different with her, but as a general rule women seem to undo us, so that isn’t a surprise,” he said with a teasing smile, hoping to change the subject. She didn’t take the bait.

“
So you never see him?”

He shook his head.
“Kayna visits him every summer, but I haven’t seen him in years.”

She struggled to free herself and he let her go with reluctance. She was no longer open and easy to read. Somehow he’d said the wrong thing.

“Why are you so upset, baby?”

Her eyes were shiny with held back tears. She pressed her lips together and shook her head.
“It’s not you. I lost my father a long time ago. He was all I had. I can’t imagine us being at odds if he were alive.”

“
At odds? Did I give you that impression?”

She shrugged. He wondered if she realized she’d moved closer again, unconsciously seeking comfort.

“It’s what you’re not saying, I guess. Also, I
am
a telepath. You’re conflicted telling me about this.”

“
I don’t want you to get the idea that we’re like them.”

“
Because we’re destined,” she said, dripping sarcasm. Damned if her irritation didn’t just make her sexier.

“
Yes. Fate, as you’d say.”

She shook her head and looked down.
“That’s not enough.”

Not enough? What more did she want from him? Sweat, tears, blood? His heart wasn’t enough?

“I would give you everything, woman,
everything
you ever dreamed of. If you would just let me.”

She stared at him like he’d lost his mind and he knew he had.

“You can’t say things like that,” she said waspishly.

“
Why not?” he countered. “Because it makes you want something real? Because it makes you doubt your path? It’s true, so why shouldn’t I say it?”

Why shouldn’t he indeed? This was his world. He didn’t see anything wrong with it. Or unusual. Or just plain odd. And the weirdest thing was a part of her wanted it. Wanted the fairy tale. Wanted the impossible. What the hell was that about?

“
I haven’t decided and pressuring me is not helping your cause,” she said, almost wincing at the breathlessness in her voice. She was losing her mind. She wanted him. But she didn’t. Well, she didn’t want him for his brains. Was uncomplicated sex too much to ask for? Apparently. It was also a total lie. The man had the gall to grin at her.

“
It is not just sex.”

That was so not cool, his being able to pick up her thoughts so easily. She had to focus on something real and not fantasy.

“Aren’t we supposed to be having dinner with your mother and sister?”

If her change of subject bothered him, he didn’t let it show in his expression or leak from his mind.

“Dinner. Yes.”

His shields slipped a little. She caught a glimpse of what he wanted at the moment and it sure as hell wasn’t a meal with his family. The image was erotic and graphic. She was naked,
spread across a table with him leaning over her, thrusting inside her. Her breath lodged in her throat and she felt a blush rush up her face.

“
Stop that,” she whispered.

“
Why? You want it too,” he said, stepping close. He cupped her breasts and stroked his thumbs over her nipples. “Look at you, baby. Responding so quickly. Hard and tight, waiting for my touch.”

He leaned down to nibble her neck right above her collarbone, while sliding one hand to the small of her back. He urged her closer, his hard cock pressing against her abdomen. She remembered all too well what he felt like in her pussy. Her response was instant and fierce, and she moaned. She’d waited all day. She needed him
now
.

She tugged the shirt from his pants and slid her hands up his bare chest. His skin was smooth and soft, the muscles under it hard and bunched. She scraped her nails back down to his waist where she slid one hand into his pants to grip his cock. His shaft jerked in her hand. Suddenly she wanted to taste him. She wanted him filling her mouth before he claimed her body.

“Do we have time?” she whispered, then decided fuck it and dropped to her knees.

He didn’t protest when she unbuttoned his pants and worked them over his hips.

“Anyone could walk in,” he said.

But he didn’t pull away. He held himself rigidly still as she licked a drop of pre-come from the head of his cock. His taste drove her crazy. Masculine and hot, like the blistering desert air. She’d never get enough of him. She took him into her mouth and sucked, stroking one hand along the shaft as she did. He tunneled his hands in her hair and seized control, taking over the speed and depth of his thrusts. He possessed her and she was lost to his dominance. The spell was broken by an abrupt knock on the door. He groaned and stepped back, pulled his pants up and tucked his cock inside before snapping up. Then he pulled her to her feet. The knock came again and he called out.

“We’ll be right out.”

She heard footsteps walk away, but it was hard to focus on who might be outside the door. Lust was a steady burn in her body. She thought she’d go mad from it. There was no way she’d make it through dinner without embarrassing herself.

“I can’t do this right now.”

He took her hand and practically dragged her through the door, but instead of leading her farther into the apartment, he exited it. In the corridor, he led the way to another suite. When the door slid open, he picked her up and strode to the large desk. He shoved everything out of the way and laid her down.

He shoved her shirt up over her breasts and took one aching nipple into his mouth. He sucked it, then bit. She swore she felt the small tug in her pussy and she reached between them, covering his restrained cock with her palm. Not enough. It wasn’t nearly enough. She tried to get to the buttons open, desperate to free him and fill herself, but he easily held her still. He growled when she continued to struggle though, and jerked back. He pulled her to her feet, spun her around, and bent her over the table, yanking her pants down before moving back to her.

His cock prodded her ass and she held her breath as he positioned it at her pussy. His first thrust was hard, his second controlled and gentle. She didn’t want tenderness. She wanted rough and out of control. She moved against him, trying to take him deeper, faster and he slapped her ass for her trouble. She gasped as she responded in a way she’d never anticipated. She grew wetter. Hotter. The little sting of pain made her want more, a thought she inadvertently shared with him.

He groaned and moved quicker, harder, as his hand came down on the other cheek. Then he switched. It wasn’t much, just a few slaps. It didn’t really hurt, but damn it was hot. Before she knew it she was coming. Her muscles clamped around him and he fucked her harder. One orgasm, became two and three when he moved a hand between her and the desk and pinched her clit. She cried out, squeezing her eyes shut as her vision clouded, her body locking under his until his voice joined hers.

He collapsed over her, but she didn’t care about being crushed. She didn’t care about anything other than relearning how to breathe and putting her mind back together. He moved too soon. Cool air washed over her as he rose, and she whimpered a weak protest when he slid free of her pussy. She wanted him again already. Clearly, she was insane. He pulled her upright and turned her around, tugging her clothes off with quick efficient movements. Then he swung her up in his arms and walked to the bedroom, then the bathroom. She got the water going while he undressed.