Untouchable Lover (26 page)

He glanced at her, and his eyes narrowed. “You mean, when I take my queen?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“In my anger, I made a vow I have regretted since the moment I gave it.” He held her gaze, and the intensity in his eyes made her chest ache.
 

He stood and moved away from her, placing his hand on the back of the worn wooden chair. This time, he didn’t look at her when he spoke. “I condemned my soul.”
 

He paused for a moment, the stillness in the air like a heavy weight. “When I take my queen, I will break my own promise. My soul will bear the scar, and when I die, my spirit won’t be allowed back in Lemuria.”

A drop of fear eased its way into her gut. “What will happen to your soul?”
 

“My essence will fade into the ether, the space between space, never to be reborn again.”

Melissa couldn’t breathe as she absorbed his words and the implications of his vow. His spirit would no longer exist. He would—disappear.
 

“Why did you agree to bond to a queen? You could’ve remained a warrior and kept your soul.”

He didn’t respond, and a tic started in his cheek. His lips pursed and his jaw tightened. He wasn’t going to answer.
 
She thought about his character, what she’d learned about him, and the truth bloomed in her mind.

She walked over to him, forcing him to look at her. “You did it for your kind. You sacrificed yourself to help them.”
 

“It’s what a king does.” He shrugged.

“You are…an
honorable
male.” Her breathing picked up as she tried to control her emotions. A tear threatened at the corner of her eye. She couldn’t stop it as it slid down her cheek.
 

He wiped the moisture away with a soft caress. His gentle touch ignited a fresh batch, and they spilled over her lashes.
 

“Little kitten.” His low comforting voice only added to her anguish.
 

She ran her fingers over his marking and rested her hand at the back of his neck. As she gazed into the eyes of this male she’d fallen for, her chest constricted. Before she could stop herself, she stood on her toes and kissed him. She poured all of her love for him into her kiss, pressing her mouth hard against his, bruising her own lips.
 

His response was instantaneous. He wrapped one hand in her hair, the other around her waist, trapping her in his grasp. Returning her kiss, he devoured her lips like she was his last meal. The heat between them escalated to a new level, and she was lost to him, completely at his mercy.

He stilled, and released her, pushing her away. He shook his head from side to side, as if trying to clear his mind.

“What’s wrong?” She didn’t understand his reaction. A mixture of confusion and rejection swirled in her head.

His slack expression turned hard. He circled her, his predatory glare turning possessive. His agitation grew by the second. He breathed through clenched teeth, his eyes now a vibrant orange.

He seemed menacing, but she didn’t fear him. On the contrary, the possessiveness in his eyes excited her. Hot sweat drenched her dress, the soft fabric clinging to her skin. She wanted to feel the power and strength of his body. Fighting her own selfish desires, she put her hands out, palms up, to try to calm him.
 

He took a step back and appeared confused, his head tilting to the side as he studied her. His gaze roamed down her body. He sniffed the air, a low growl erupting from his throat.
 

Her body responded to his glare, her nipples hardening under her tight dress, straining against the soft fabric. They would protrude and show through the cloth, and that made them tighten all the more. She wanted him, but the last time this had happened hadn’t ended well. The rejection still stung.
 

She wasn’t going to get hurt again. Not. Going. There.
 

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she blocked her nipples from his view. She lashed out with her only weapon against him, her words. “You pull me in, then push me away. What are you so afraid of?”
 

His eyebrows shot up at her question and he blinked. He put his hand over his eyes and hunched over, as if he were in pain. “Ahhhh—”
 

He stumbled away from her in a rage, ran to his desk, and swiped everything on the surface into the air. Charcoal pencils, erasers, and pens ricocheted off the wall. His crown crashed to the floor. Loose papers fluttered through the air. One in particular caught her attention.

She stared at the paper as it fell to the ground—a sketch of her, drawn in charcoal, wearing a necklace with two crystals. It was the necklace Noeh had described from his memory. Lightheaded and dizzy, the ramifications of the picture hit her.
He cared for her, maybe even more than he realized.
 

He leaned over his desk, his large hands flat against the wooden surface. His head hung down, and he breathed in large, quick breaths, his body shaking.
 

“I’m afraid…to bond to a female.” He spoke so quietly, she almost didn’t hear him.
 

She placed her hand on his back and rubbed his broad shoulders. His hard muscles under the soft texture of his woven shirt made the nerves on her hands extra-sensitive.
 

He must be afraid to lose his soul, but there seemed to be something more. She had to know what it was. “Why?”

He strained against the desk, his muscles bulging as he pressed his weight down into the wood. The desk creaked and popped under the pressure. His breathing accelerated, his breaths ragged and rough. The once loose fabric of his shirt stretched tight over his skin.
 

“Leave me, now!”

The Keep rumbled. Small shards of rock fell from the ceiling, pelting their bodies.
 

Melissa stepped back as Noeh changed, his body getting bigger right before her eyes.
Riiippppp
. His shirt tore down the middle, and he flung the garment to the floor. Long blond hair grew over his entire body. His pants disappeared under the fur that covered his skin.
 

“No, I won’t leave you. Not like this.” Her heartbeat loud in her ears, she held her ground.
 

“Run!” He grunted the nearly unintelligible word.
 

The room quieted, his ragged breaths the only sound in the stillness. He raised his head and looked over his shoulder at her. The tall handsome male with the pale blue eyes no longer existed. In front of her, a beast towered.
 

A large brow ridge hung over his amber eyes. His flattened nose twitched as he sniffed the air. He turned to face her. As he opened his mouth, two large canines protruded from his jaw.
 

 
Her first instinct was to flee, but she held the urge in check.
 

“Noeh.” She said his name in an effort to reach past the beast. Settling her hand on his arm, his hair was thick beneath her palm.
 

His eyes narrowed, their eerie glow casting an orange light as his feral gaze wandered down her body.
 

“Mine.”
 

He grabbed her, crushing her against him. Her small frame barely reached his chest as he topped out at over nine feet tall. His large arms enveloped her in an embrace so strong she struggled to breathe. He moved fast, rushing across the room and pinning her back against the door.
 

Although he was a beast, he was still Noeh. She wanted him, but she wanted the man, not the beast. His hair caressed her cheek as her face lay against his strong abs. Contrary to his appearance, his hair was smooth and soft. She struggled and tried to push him away.
 

“Noeh, please,” she stammered.
 

He growled again, the sound possessive and demanding. Placing his hand on the door next to her head, he tried to touch her with his finger but it was too large. He roared his frustration, and the sound reverberating off the walls hurt her ears. His downcast mouth made his canines protrude further from his face, and his nose quivered.
 

“Mine?” he grunted, half statement, half question.

That one word broke right through the floodgates of her will. He loved her. His beast knew, even if the man didn’t.
 

“Noeh, please let me go.” She pushed against him, but he didn’t budge.
 

“Let. Me. Go!”
 

He relented, the giant beast stepping away from her.
 

“I’m going to help you come back.” She touched his arm, running her hand up the soft hair.
 

His jaw muscles flexed. She had to change him back, and fast.
 

“Nomo comae dos tiquas.”
She chanted the words Noeh had spoken to Torbin when he was in beast form. They must be important, but she didn’t know what they meant.
“Nomo comae dos tiquas.”
 

Noeh crouched down and growled. His upper lip pulled into a snarl. He didn’t touch her, even though he could rip her in half. Encouraged, she stood her ground and continued to chant, adding a soft lilt, turning the words into a tune.
“Nomo comae dos tiquas.”
 

Chapter Thirty-Six

Noeh towered over Melissa, her back pressed against the door of his bedchamber. As he looked into her warm emerald eyes, his beast recognized this female—
mine
. A soft moan escaped his lips.
 

Nomo comae dos tiquas.
 

He closed his eyes, and his body swayed to her lyrical voice. The words were like a cool breeze pushing him along and his mind floated, as if he were in the clouds. He went with the flow, his body and mind recalling the long lost thread connecting the man with the beast. As he reached for the strand, the energy eluded his mental grasp, frustrating him.
 

Nomo comae dos tiquas.
 

The chant became louder, infiltrating his senses, smoothing out his frustration. This time, he connected with the force, his mind relinking the pathway.
 

He felt whole. He hadn’t felt like this in over five hundred years.

“Noeh.” A soft voice seeped into his mind, and a warm hand touched his arm. He ached to feel that gentle caress all over his body. The stroke became more insistent—tapping—gaining his attention.
 

“Noeh.”
 

He opened his eyes. The floor of the Keep came into focus, and the smooth stone was cool against his hands. Melissa crouched next to him.
 

“My little kitten.” He caressed her cheek with the back of his finger.
 

She closed her eyes and sighed, her shoulders slumping forward as if in relief.
 

A fine sheen of sweat coated his bare arms and chest. His pants had reformed on his legs, replacing his long hair. He swallowed, his parched mouth yet another indication of his transformation.
 

He stood, bringing Melissa upright with him. Her hands rested on his arms, her touch both fire and ice. A stray strand of hair covered one of her eyes, and he brushed the unruly lock away.
 

“Thank you.”
 

“For what? I didn’t do anything.” She moistened her lips.
 

He leaned closer, mesmerized by her inviting mouth. “You brought me back from my beast. No one has been able to do that since the great scourge. For that, I am thankful.”
 

“You did this on your own. I chanted the words I heard you speak to Torbin, but you were the one who took control. It’s amazing what you can do if you try.” Her smile lit a fire in his heart.

“Your faith helped me find my way back.”
 

“What do the words means?
Nomo comae dos tiquas?
”
 

“Return to me. The words are from the ancient texts, the ones we don’t use anymore.”

She stared into his eyes, and a sense of unease ran along his spine.
 

“Before you went into your rage”—she stalled and bit her lip—“you said you were afraid to bond to a female. Is it because you’d lose your soul?”

“No. I’d gladly sacrifice my spirit for my mate.” His heart ached at the confession.

“It’s about your father and mother. Isn’t it?” Her tender and passionate tone soothed his nerves and dragged the information right out of him.

“My father couldn’t save my mother and watched her die. As a result of his bonding, he went with her and left a child to rule a kingdom. I can’t go through that. It would destroy me.”
 

He stilled, his fear warring with his need to be honest with her. His marking for truth pulsed above his eye.
He had to tell her.

“I’m afraid of losing her.” He shook with the admission, a chill running over his body.
 

She must have noticed the change in his demeanor, for she leaned closer. Her brow knit together, and her hand traced up his arm, her fingers light on his skin. “My mother once told me it’s better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.”
 

She peered at him, his pretty little kitten, and the block of ice in his chest melted.

“Your mother was very wise.” He was falling for her, hard, and a part of him thought her mother knew exactly what she was talking about.
 

Unable to resist her mouth any longer, he kissed her. Her lips were as soft and plump as he remembered. He pulled her closer, his hand entwined in her hair, securing her in his grasp. A delicate moan escaped her lips as they kissed, the vibration sending jolts of desire to his groin.
 

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he picked her up, overcoming their difference in height. Enveloping his waist with her legs, she squeezed him, driving him crazy. The top of his shaft reached her bottom, and he felt her warmth and softness through the thin fabric of her panties. He rubbed himself against her, deepening their kiss.
I could lose myself to this female. Maybe I already have.