Obsessed (17 page)

In moments Liana would be going to the Grand Hall to be officially joined with Aric in the eyes of his people. Elvin, Nordain, and Human royalty would be in attendance, along with Liana’s birth parents.

If only Ranelle and Tierra could be with Liana now, the day would be perfect.

She pressed her hand against the flutter in her belly as she stood before the mirror in her bedchamber, waiting for Angelei to finish fussing with her tresses. The diaphanous gown Liana wore had been a gift from the Elvin women—Liana thought it beautiful, although she was nervous at how revealing it was.

The front of the bodice was a mere two strips of gathered material from shoulders to waist, not quite enough to completely cover each of her breasts. The train of her gown was as long as the length of Liana’s bedchamber; however, the material at the front of the skirt was gathered nearly to the apex of her thighs, completely exposing her legs.

Angelei slid the gold and ruby circlet upon Liana’s brow, stepped back and smiled. “Come, ’tis time.”

Liana’s lips trembled as she attempted her own smile. “Thank you,” she murmured as she reached up to touch the circlet with her fingertips.

Heat rose in Liana’s cheeks as they walked past the mirror and she saw how much of her pale breasts showed beneath the silvery strips of fabric. The gown shifted over her breasts, her nipples jutting out prominently.

Ye gods.
One wrong move and she would spill out of the gown, allowing the guests to see more of their Queen than she would like them to.

Angelei and Liana left the bedchamber and were met by Kerriel and Damianne on the landing. “You are truly a beautiful Queen, Milady,” Angelei said.

“I’m going to be an exposed Queen if I’m not careful,” Liana muttered and the Elvin women laughed.

Earlier, Liana and Aric had been forcefully separated the moment they left their Tanzinite guests in the drawing room. Giggling with fiendish delight, the Elvin women had swarmed around Liana and had taken her from Aric in order to prepare for the joining celebration.

But by the gods, she had wanted to have her own private joining with Aric before the celebration.

Nordain men, including Renn, had been on hand to thwart Aric’s attempts to remain with Liana, and to ensure he would be readied for the celebration as well. From the men’s remarks, Liana had a feeling that Aric’s preparation involved a great deal of ale and male bonding.

Surely he would rather have been bonding with her.

While damselflies invaded Liana’s belly, the Elvin women escorted her from the bedchamber to the Grand Hall. When Liana and her attendants reached the closed doors of the Hall, Liana stopped to take a deep breath and shore up her courage.

Kerriel stood before the doors, prepared to open them at Liana’s command. Like the other Elvin women, Kerriel was clothed in a transparent thigh-length gown that clearly showed her lovely form, from her dark nipples to the enrli symbol between her thighs. No doubt after this celebration countless more ballads would be written about the sultry and sensual Elves.

“So fair you are, Queen Liana.” Kerriel tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her pointed ear and smiled. “You and the King shall make a most beautiful joining.”

“Aye, Milady,” Damianne agreed with a sly grin. “If you wish to broaden your pleasures in your marriage bed, Angelei, Kerriel and I would be delighted to join you and the King this eve.”

“I think not.” Liana groaned and rolled her eyes to the ornate ceiling. “You are all too much.”

“Or perhaps just right?” Angelei teased and pressed her soft lips to Liana’s ear, causing Liana to shiver. “May the blessings of the goddess be with you and King Aric during this joining celebration, and for all eternity.”

* * * * *

Aric clenched his hands as he stood alone before the dais and ceremonial table at the head of the Grand Hall, waiting for Liana’s entrance. Behind the table was an enormous carved throne cushioned in deep red velvet. Nordain delicacies were arranged upon the surface of the ceremonial table, all surrounding a single gold chalice with a blood red ruby in the middle of the stem.

At each corner of the head of the room were large pots of living jensai, lending the Hall with their sweet perfume. The sacred vines were in full bloom—the same shade of rose as Liana’s delightful nipples, Aric thought with a lust-filled sigh.

Thanks to his brother, Renn, and Nordain warriors plying him with ale, Aric was more relaxed than he otherwise would have been as he waited for Liana—yet he still managed to feel restless and edgy.

What was taking his Queen so long?

Countless guests filled the massive Hall, seated at dozens of tables lining both sides of an aisle that ran the length of the long room. The Hall buzzed with laughter and conversation, along with the clink of glasses and sounds of chairs scraping against the stone floor.

Every table was set with fine linens, sparkling crystal goblets, glittering silver plates, and bottles of the finest Elvin wines. Delicious aromas filled the room: roasted, steamed, and fresh vegetables, fruits of every variety, baked breads and rolls, pastries and sugar seed cakes, and myriads of other gourmet dishes.

Roses of every color from the royal gardens lined the aisle Liana would walk upon as she came to him. Huge bouquets of pink roses occupied the center of every table.

Someone clapped Aric’s shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. Aric turned and saw that it was his brother.

“What would you like as your joining gift, brother?” Renn asked.

“Joining gift, eh?” Aric frowned as he considered Renn’s question. “It would please my Queen if you would seek out her friend, Tierra. The maid lived in Fiorn with Liana, but my zjenni believes Tierra has vanished from the village.”

Renn cocked an eyebrow. “A vision?”

With a nod, Aric replied, “Yes. And I fear my sweet Queen will not rest until Tierra is found.”

“Consider it done. For our Queen and my future nephews.” Renn bowed and moved to a nearby table to sample a seedcake from a tray.

Aric turned his gaze to the rich tapestries that hung along the walls. Each panel depicted a scene from Nordain life and customs. Among Aric’s personal favorites was a tapestry showing a couple making love in their human forms; as well as the one next to it that depicted the same couple enjoying sex as nordai, their wings spread wide and the male riding the female from behind.

Aric groaned as his cock throbbed to mate with Liana. It had been a week—far too long. He would not be able to experience a true nordai mating with his zjenni, but truly only Liana mattered to him. When they were joined, he planned to keep her in their bedchamber for twice the length of time he had been kept from her.

At least.

To Hades with the ceremony—he had waited long enough. He would track Liana down and claim her in his own fashion.

As Aric started to step forward, the double doors at the opposite end of the hall opened, and he stopped in his tracks.

Damianne and Kerriel glided in, and then stood to each side of the doors. Aric almost smiled at the sound of nearly every male in the room sucking in his breath at the sight of the nearly naked Elvin women.

But then Liana walked through the entrance and Aric’s heart nearly ceased to beat.

Gods, but she was lovely. From across the Hall her sea green gaze met his, and it was all he could do to rein himself in. He couldn’t take his eyes from her and the sparkling gown she wore—if one could call it that—that barely hid her nipples. And if it had been cut any higher in the front, she would be showing even more to every man in the room.

As Liana slowly walked toward him, Aric swallowed. Hard. His throat grew dry as he vacillated between wanting to take her right here in the Hall, guests be damned—or cover her, hiding her near nakedness so that no other man could look upon her beautiful body but him.

He was leaning rather heavily toward taking her right here and now.

Angelei trailed Liana, holding up the end of the long train. Aric was profoundly pleased that following Liana there was an almost naked Elvin woman for the men to stare at, rather than his Queen.

Liana’s radiant smile grew brighter yet when she reached him. As she finally stood at his side, Angelei arranged the train at Liana’s feet and then stepped to the guest table to the right of the ceremonial dais.

“Zjenni, my Queen,” Aric murmured as he took both her hands in his and kissed the back of each one. “Gods, but I am the most fortunate of men.”

“As I am the most blessed of all women, my king.” Liana reached up to kiss him and he almost stopped breathing when her gown pulled against her breasts and he saw the edge of her rosy areola.

Her lips met his and applause broke out in the Hall.

Lord Ir, but he had forgotten anyone existed but the sensuous woman before him.

Aric lifted his head and smiled when he saw Liana blushing a pretty pink from the tips of her pointed ears down every part of her exposed flesh.

Clasping one of Liana’s hands and raising it between them, Aric turned to the guests and bowed, as did Liana, whose breasts moved dangerously closer to freeing themselves from their scanty bonds. The room burst into another round of applause, and did not quiet until Aric held up his free hand.

“I present to you my wife, Queen Liana,” Aric’s voice boomed through the now silent room. He looked down at his woman and smiled. “My zjenni, my heartmate.”

When Aric’s gaze met Liana’s, her heart filled near to bursting with love for him. The way he looked at her, the intensity in his black eyes, made her feel as though she was the most beautiful and most loved woman on all of Dair.

More applause thundered through the Hall until Queen Yanea of the Elvin Kingdom of Seraphine rose from the guest table to the right of the dais. Liana caught her breath at the sight of the ethereal woman, and sensed that everyone else in the room had done the same.

Not even a whisper broke the silence as the golden-haired Elvin goddess glided across the floor toward Aric and Liana. She wore a sheer gown, her dress similar to the Elvin women who had attended Liana.

The amethyst-eyed Queen’s enrli symbol glittered upon her forehead as she came to a stand before the ceremonial table. She wrapped her elegant fingers around the stem of the ruby and gold goblet, and brought it before the Nordain King and Queen.

Yanea inclined her head first to Aric and then Liana. “I am honored that you have asked that I assist in your joining.”

He bowed and replied, “The honor is ours, Queen Yanea.”

Liana’s heart beat faster as she wondered what was in the goblet, and prayed it was not the erotic orlai or the Seer’s potion. Gods only knew what she might be forced to do in front of all of these people if it was either of those fluids. And what of the babes she carried?

The elixir will not enter your womb,
Yanea reassured Liana in thought.
Your sons will be fine, as will you. This is neither orlai nor Seer’s potion.

With a smile, Yanea lifted the chalice to Aric’s lips. “Drink of the Nordain joining elixir and share with your mate.”

Aric sipped from the elixir, then bent down to Liana and placed his mouth to hers. She closed her eyes and parted her lips to welcome his kiss, but to her surprise, he slowly released the fluid into her mouth from his—like a raven feeding his mate.

Liana’s mind whirled as she accepted the elixir from Aric. She grasped his powerful arms, digging her nails into his biceps and clinging to him for fear she might fall from the intense sensations. Heady warmth filled Liana as the raspberry taste flowed over her tongue, and her hair tingled from her scalp to the end of her sensitive tresses. Her desire for him soared, her abdomen tightening.

Aric finished feeding her the liquid, but then pressed his muscled body tight to hers, deepening the moment with a kiss that inflamed her senses even more. She felt his stone-hard cock against her belly and sensed the fierce desire emanating from him.

When he withdrew from the kiss, Liana opened her eyes to see that Aric’s were heavy lidded. His hands gripped her shoulders as though he feared losing control of his passion. Liana could think of nothing but how much she wanted her husband to let loose his desire and how she wanted him deep within her.

Yanea’s clear voice interrupted Liana’s thoughts, jarring her back to the present. “’Tis your turn, Queen Liana.”

Intoxicated from the small amount of elixir, Liana’s belly fluttered at the thought of doing the same to her husband. Carefully she drank from the cup when Yanea lifted it to her lips, and then held the elixir in her mouth.

Aric bent down as Liana reached up to meet him. When their lips touched, she opened her mouth and he gently sucked the fluid from her until it was gone and he had swallowed every drop.

In the next instant, Aric vibrated with lust. His cock ached and throbbed to be buried in his zjenni, and his muscles trembled with the force of his desire. He wrapped his huge hands around Liana’s tiny waist and picked her up, molding her soft body against him as he claimed her mouth. She clung to him and returned the kiss, matching all the passion in his soul.

Applause erupted in the room.

Aric and Liana stilled.

“I keep forgetting we are not alone,” he muttered as he lowered her back to the floor.

“Are we finished?” Liana whispered in his ear before he straightened. “May we go to our bedchamber now? I need you so badly I can hardly stand it.”

“Ah, my sweet zjenni.” Aric groaned, barely able to pull himself away from her. “The ceremony has only just begun.”

The look of intense disappointment on Liana’s face made him smile, and he brushed his fingertips along her jaw. He clasped her hand and turned to the crowded room. “Let the joining celebration begin!” he shouted.

The crowd roared and the guests began eating the first course spread out upon the tables.

Aric swung Liana up into his arms and she squealed with surprise, wrapping her arms around his neck as though she feared he might drop her. He carried her around the ceremonial table to the throne where he seated himself with Liana in his lap. The joining elixir thrummed through his veins, and he had to struggle not to feel and taste her right here in the Great Hall.