“House Jacoby? But…”
“But you have been taught that it was always House Berto.”
“Yes.”
“You were taught wrong. Many generations later, after you began to travel to the stars and the memory of Rawnie’s sacrifice had faded it was decided that the original name should be returned. It is what began the decline of that bloodline of the House while the other eleven remained strong.”
“Eleven!”
“Yes, during their time together Rawnie presented Varick with twelve offspring, six males six female.”
“Twelve?!!” Ynyr’s widened in shock, he had never heard this before! His mind was spinning.
“Yes.” The Goddess watched him for several moments wondering if he would figure it out on his own or if she would have to guide him.
“There are twelve Houses in the Tornian Empire.” Ynyr said quietly.
“Very good Lord Ynyr. What does that tell you?” The Goddess asked, staring at him.
Ynyr silently returned her gaze for several minutes, his mind furiously calculating. There were twelve original offspring that were half god/half mortal. There were now twelve Houses in the Empire… could it be…”
“Keep going...” The Goddess encouraged.
“Every Lord somehow descends from King Varick and Queen Rawnie.”
“They do now.” She nodded.
“But how? House Luanda and House Torino are of the same blood line. My manno is a Lord. That is short one offspring.”
The Goddess smiled at how quickly he had figured that out. “It might seem that way, but what you don’t know is that House Bertos never had a pure bloodline back to my sister.”
“What?!!”
“The records were altered to make it appear that he did, but it was not the truth. The male that should have ruled, who would have prevented much was cast out, never knowing his true heritage.”
“But…” Ynyr was now totally confused and the Goddess took pity on him.
“Your manno has a pure blood line that he can trace back to my sister’s first female, Princess Ori and your mother descends directly from their second male Prince Rada.”
“But that means….”
“Two millennium of time no longer makes them from the same House Ynyr. So you and your manno now represent two Houses, yours being from Varick’s second male, Rada. His bloodline would have ruled the House had his older brother, Varick’s first male, had not. Now with Ori’s bloodline on Betelgeuse and Rada’s in Etruria the Tornian Empire is once again whole and strong. It also means that Daco will now attack you and those you love even more viciously.”
“What do you mean?” Ynyr demanded tensing in his seat.
“Daco will search for a weakness, like the one he found in Lucan.” The Goddess’ eyes filled with sorrow and regret as she looked at him. “I should have responded differently, had I but taken a moment I would have realized that what I was doing was exactly what Daco had hoped. I was condemning my mate’s people to death, a long, slow, painful death that in the end would cost them their honor and that would finally destroy them.”
“The great infection,” Ynyr whispered.
“Correct. When I discovered that my sister’s offspring were abused in the same way that…” she snapped her mouth shut her eyes as she shot off her chair to pace the room, her hands rubbing up and down her arms as if she were suddenly chilled. “It was intolerable. I had vowed to her that I would watch over them, that they would suffer as…”
“We suffer now,” Ynyr told her quietly, suddenly realizing what she wasn’t saying. King Varick hadn’t arrived in time to prevent Daco from abusing her. His eyes shot to Raiden and saw his rage… and his guilt.
“Yes, but it is starting to change.” The Goddess stopped pacing to look at him. “Now your decisions will determine whether they continue to or if Daco finally succeeds.”
“My decisions?”
“Yes. Yours. You now control the House you were always meant to rule.” The Goddess tipped her head slightly to the side. “Did the stones not greet you?” She asked.
“The stones?”
“Yes!” The Goddess asked impatiently. “You entered your ancestral House, with a Lady that has had to overcome a great deal to be with you! Did the stones greet you warmly or not?!!”
“There was a flash of hunaja in them as we first approached. “ Ynyr told her remembering. “Abby saw it too… I thought it was a trick of the light.”
“It was not. It was the stones acknowledging the return of a true heir, their full power will now return if you do as King Varick did.”
“What did he do?” Ynyr asked, worried he could not live up to the myth of King Varick.
“He loved his Queen even though her bloodline was not like his, some even considered it tainted, but he did not care. He loved her openly and truly….”
“It is what you must do with your Lady.” Ynyr looked to the male who had moved to his side while Ynyr’s focus had been on the Goddess. “If you do not all will be lost.” And with a sweep of Raiden’s arm the floor opened and Raiden pushed Ynyr through.
Chapter Seventeen
Ynyr was instantly awake, but he didn’t open his eyes, didn’t change his breathing pattern or move as he let his senses take in everything around him. He could hear the soft crackling of a fire, could smell the smoke. He was on his back with something soft and warm covering him.
Opening his eyes ever so slightly, he took in the ceiling above him and followed it until he found the wall it joined with. Traveling down the wall he found a low fire burning in the hearth at his feet and looking to his right there was the faintest of light that was just starting to come through some windows, everything else was in shadows. Slowly, so not to draw any attention, his hand moved searching for the sword that was always by his side when he slept. Finding it, he now knew he could defend himself against a sudden attack.
The softest of sounds followed by something moving along his chest and hips had Ynyr’s hand tensing on his sword and his eyes jerking down. Something was draped across him, no… not something he thought as he saw the head, a hunaja colored head that the glow from the dying fire had warmed to a deep golden color.
Abby.
His Abby was draped across his chest. He was in their resting chamber in Etruria. His Abby was back in his arms. Releasing his sword he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, absorbing her scent and feel. As he did Abby mumbled in her sleep and shifted closer to him. When her bare knee rubbed against his bare hip, he realized that while they had been resting her covering had ridden up and her channel was now open to him. It seemed to be something his shaft had realized long before his mind as it had thickened and grown so that its head was now nudging her entrance, wanting inside. It would take but a single thrust and he would be in heaven….
Heaven… Ynyr’s dream suddenly came back to him…. It had been a dream had it not? He could not have really met the Goddess and her mate could he? But it had been so real…
Just then Abby moved, her channel, pressing against his shaft, and his hips instinctively thrust. All thoughts left Ynyr’s mind except those concerning his own personal Goddess and the heaven she always took him to.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Abby snuggled deeper into Ynyr’s arms. She didn’t want to wake him, he had been so exhausted the night before, but she couldn’t make herself leave the comfort of his arms. Not when she felt safe, protected and even loved when she was in them. Ynyr had never said the words to her, but she felt it every time he touched her. It was something she needed to discuss with Lisa and Kim but that was for later, right now she just wanted to be in his arms.
Shifting slightly, she felt something hard and hot bump against her channel before she pulled away she realized what it was. It was Ynyr… Ynyr’s wonderful shaft was at her entrance… tilting her hips, she pressed against him and he thrust inside.
“Ynyr…” she gasped, her eyes flying open to find him staring up at her h
ungrily.
Before she could take another breath Ynyr had hooked an arm under the knee she had thrown across his body and rolled her onto her back, keeping her open to him as he sank deeper and deeper into her.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
The moment Abby opened her eyes Ynyr had seen the desire in them and he had known there would be no way he could contain his passion long enough to pleasure her with his mouth first. Her hot, moist depths were pulling him in deeper and he willingly went.
Refusing to be separated from her for even the time it would take to properly lay her back and enter her. Instead, he hooked an arm under her knee and kept her open to him as he rolled her onto her back. The movement and position made it possible for him to sink even further into her amazing depths allowing him to find new places that brought her pleasure and he exploited each and every one. He would make sure that his Abby found her release even though he had not properly pleasured her first. She would find her pleasure while he was inside her and then and only then would he allow his seed to fill her.
Keeping his thrusts slow and strong Ynyr watched as Abby’s eyes darkened. Her breath quickened as her fingers dug into his shoulders. She met him, thrust for thrust, taking all he had to offer. Her little cries as he hit that deep hidden spot over and over again told him she was close, so did her channel tightening around him trying to keep him inside.
But Ynyr wanted more. He wanted to hear his Abby scream out his name as she released. He wanted to feel her fall apart in his arms and know that he was the only one that could make such a thing happen. He knew he was not his Abby’s first male, but he would make sure he was her last. She had told him she loved him… it was an ancient word that expressed the depth of her feelings for him… and he would show her how much it meant to him… how much he loved her…
“More Ynyr… please… harder… faster… I’m so close…” she begged and he knew what she needed. Increasing the speed and strength of his thrusts he leaned down, capturing one of the taunt nipples that were jutting up at him through the thin material of her covering. A covering he had not been able to remove before sleep claimed him the night before. Sucking it deep into his mouth, he consumed her.
When Abby cried out, her channel tightening painfully around his shaft as her back arched up, offering him more, he knew she enjoyed what he was doing so he continued to do it with her other breast.
“Release for me Abby!” Ynyr ordered lifting her leg even higher as his eyes bored into hers, sweat was beginning to run down his face as he pounded into her. Harder. Faster. He felt his balls start to draw up and that tingle at the base of his spine begin. He was not going to last. “I want to see it! Hear it!” He told her and thrusting even deeper he twisted.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Abby felt her entire body tightened at Ynyr’s words. She could feel every inch of Ynyr’s hard thick shaft pressing against the walls of her sensitive channel as he moved in and out of her, each thrust stronger, harder and deeper than the one before, driving her higher. She was so close… when he gave her an even deeper thrust… she saw stars… when he twisted… her entire being exploded.
“Ynyr!!!!” She screamed.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Ynyr’s head flew back, the muscles of his neck straining as his shout echoed off the walls joining Abby’s. Her channel was convulsing around his shaft demanding his seed and he could no longer contain it. It erupted out of his body in wave after hot wave until he was completely drained. Collapsing onto his side he continued to hold her leg, unwilling to lose this connection, keeping them joined.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Abby rested her head against Ynyr’s heaving chest trying to catch her own breath. Goddess what a way to wake up in the morning. Slowly she lifted her head and found a look of satisfaction on his face that she knew mirrored her own. Reaching out she ran a gentle hand along his sweaty chest. It was immediately covered with his much larger one.
“Good morning,” she said, stretching up placing a soft kiss on his lips. Letting her eyes roam over his face, she could see that the lines of fatigue that had been so prevalent the night before were gone. His rest, as short as it had been, must have done him some good.
“Good morning.” Ynyr repeated back lowering his head to capture her lips for another kiss. “I missed you.”
“I was right here the whole time,” she teased, giving him a confused look.
“It felt like we had been separated,” he told her remnants of his dream, of him looking down at her from a great distance… returning.
“Well, we weren’t.” Abby told him laughing softly. “I was right here in your arms the whole time. Promise.” Pushing herself up, she smiled down at him. “I’ll order first meal then we can eat it here in front of the fire and you can tell me all about your day yesterday and then I’ll tell you about mine.”
Ynyr’s hand on her arm stilled her movement. “I cannot Abby,” he told her regretfully. “I must cleanse. I have to meet with Dai.”
“So early?” Abby couldn’t hide her disappointment.
“Yes.” Ynyr did not like the sadness he saw on her face and knew his meeting with Dai would have to wait. “But I do have time to eat first meal with you.” He saw her face instantly brighten.
“I guess I’ll have to settle for that. I’ll contact the kitchen.” Crawling across the cushions to the table that held last night’s platters and her comm, she missed Ynyr’s low growl of appreciation for the sight she presented him. Her generous backside teased him as it swayed with her movement and his shaft started to harden again at the thought of taking her from behind. Would she allow it? He began to consider canceling his meeting with Dai altogether to do as Abby suggested and stay in bed with her. Although they wouldn’t be eating.
Hearing her talk softly on her Comm brought him out of his lust filled thoughts and he realized there was no way he could stay. There were still too many things he needed to see to before he could insure her safety.
“I need to go cleanse.” He rose, meaning to do just that, only to freeze when something brushed against his legs.
“Ynyr…” Abby’s eyes widened as she turned to look at him. “What is that?” She asked, gesturing to the hunaja colored fabric wrapped around his waist.
What was it doing there? Ynyr’s thoughts began to churn. In his dream Raiden had said it was a kril and he had covered Ynyr with one so he would not be exposed to the Goddess. The one Raiden had been wearing was white, matching the covering of the Goddess, he had never noticed the color of his.
“It’s called a kril.” He told her absently.
“But… you… you weren’t wearing it last night. I helped take off your pants and you were naked before you fell asleep.”
“I…” Ynyr paused, looking from the kril to his Abby. What was he supposed to tell her? Could he tell her he was beginning to believe he had been visited by the Goddess? Would she believe him? She had already laughed when he said he felt as if they had been separated. Telling him she had been in his arms all night. If he told her of his dream… would she laugh at him again?
“Ynyr… what’s wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong, Abby. I need to go cleanse.” Grabbing his sword he spun on his heel and left her alone.
Abby watched Ynyr’s retreating back in shock. He just lied to her. She knew he had. Why? He had never lied to her before. He had never ignored one of her questions before? He had answered every question she had asked through that hedge. He had always been honest with her even when she hadn’t liked the answers… hadn’t he… how could she be sure… would she have known if he had lied to her?
Slowly she rose from the cushions and shivered. Suddenly she felt very lost and alone. More than when she had lost her family. More than when she had first been abducted. Moving to the fire she put more wood on it, just as Paganus had shown her and hoped its heat would drive away the chill that seemed to fill her. Working unthinkingly she began to fold the blankets and sheets that had been us
ed to make up their bed. It was a place that not five minutes earlier she had known she was where she belonged… maybe for the first time ever and more importantly, she was with who she belonged… now she wasn’t so sure….
“He will never love you…” a sly voice whispered though her brain. “How could he? You are nothing. Come from nothing. You will never be fit or worthy enough for a Lord! Soon he will see that!”
“No!” Abby denied, then cried in fear and jerked away ready to defend herself when a hand gripped on her shoulder.
“Abby!” Ynyr asked, his eyes searching the room for a threat. Finding none they returned to her. “What is wrong?”
Abby’s hand covered her racing heart as she looked at Ynyr. His dark hair was damp and there were beads of moisture still on his chest, testifying to his being in the cleansing unit. But around his hips now was a towel not the kril.
“I…” Before Abby would have immediately told him what was bothering her, she wouldn’t have hesitated to tell him what had frightened her. Her faith and trust in him had been that strong but now…
“Abby?” Ynyr questioned again reaching out to touch her cheek.
“It’s nothing,” she said and moved quickly away before he could touch her. She didn’t think she could take that right now. “I have your clothes unpacked and laying out over here.” She quickly changed the subject. “I’ll get them hung up in the closet today… I suppose I could have done it yesterday, but I wanted to make sure everything of Bertos’ was gone first.”
Ynyr frowned as she quickly fluttered around the room, away from him. He could care less about where his clothes were, he wanted to know what had upset her.
“Oh, and there is a bowlful of jewels and gold in the closet. It’s what I found in the pockets of Bertos’ clothes. I don’t know what to do with them.”