“Of course not, my Lord only you can choose those.”
Nodding, Ynyr began to walk through the doors they opened for him, then he spun around. “The doors have been changed.”
“Yes, my Lord. Your Lady ordered them changed when she discovered they were not the original. Master Woodworker Cairbre knew the location of these and had them reinstalled along with the ones to your resting chamber.”
“My Lady…”
“Was protected the entire time, my Lord. As the doors were very heavy it took many males to carry them, she remained with us while the second level doors were changed, supervised by Master Paganus and then remained on that level when these were.”
Ynyr grunted at them. He didn’t like that he had just found out about it, but could find no fault in how it was handled.
“Very well. Have a good evening.” Ynyr told them, then proceeded inside.
“You also my Lord.” Their voices followed him.
Ynyr moved quickly across the second level, his steps echoing in the empty room. He was grateful to whoever left the energy crystals glowing dimly for him for it allowed him to see his way. His eyes were focused on the set of doors on the far end… or tried to for they blended in so well with the mianraí dubh that they were nearly invisible.
“Amazing.” Ynyr stopped in front of them, realizing they had been designed to do just that, to disappear. You couldn’t attack the King in his chamber if you couldn’t find it. “King Varick was a genius.”
The doors opened silently, admitting the new Lord to his resting chamber. It too had changed since he had rushed out earlier that morning, there were now rugs on the floors, the couches had been rearranged and the bed now had a mattress and sheets. All this Ynyr took in, thanks to the light of the fire along with the fact that his Abby was curled up asleep at the end of one of the couches instead of in the bed.
Quietly he moved across the room, crouching down to gaze at her. Goddess she was beautiful… she was sleeping so peacefully, her hunaja colored curls flowing over the arm of the couch, her long eyelashes forming golden crescents under her closed eyes.
Lying next to her on the couch was the kril. Reaching out he picked it up. It was just a simple piece of golden material, but how was he going to explain his wearing it to her? He knew he had upset her that morning by not answering her question, but how did one tell someone that they had spoken to a God and Goddess and not have them believe you were crazy? Maybe just as important was why had Raiden let him keep it?
Oh, he understood Raiden wanting him to wear it in front of the Goddess. Ynyr wouldn’t want another male naked in front of his own Goddess either. But to have him still be wearing it when he woke. There had to be a reason… but what?
Abby silently watched Ynyr stare at the kril. She knew he didn’t realize she was awake and it gave her the chance to watch him unobserved. She was still hurt by his actions that morning. By not answering her question he had ripped away her security… her belief that he would always tell her the truth, that he would tell her everything… that she could tell him anything and together they would work it out. Now…
Ynyr looked to Abby and found her watching him, her eyes filled with hurt and confusion, both put there by him, by his actions. It was not acceptable. Kneeling before her, he dropped the kril and framed her face with his hands.
“I am sorry Abby. I never meant to hurt you.”
“You lied to me Ynyr… not with words, but without them… I…” tears filled her eyes. “You vowed you would answer my questions, but you didn’t. How am I supposed to trust what you tell me now?”
Ynyr dropped his forehead to hers as he realized the full extent of the harm his actions had caused. He had broken a vow… one he made to his Abby… now he had lost her love and trust. Because of his pride. Goddess what was he going to do?
‘Tell her truth Lord Ynyr.’ Raiden’s voice suddenly filled his mind. ‘Believe in her even when you doubt yourself. Letting her see them will make you stronger, not weaker.’
Lifting his head, he looked deep into his Lady’s eyes and spoke truth. “While we slept, I was taken to the heavens.” He spoke in a voice so low she had to strain to hear it.
“What?” While her eyes widened Abby didn’t pull away.
“While we rested the Goddess’ mate, Raiden, took me to the heavens… it seems your words… intrigued him.”
“My words? What could I have possibly said that would intrigue a God?” Abby searched her mind trying to remember what she had said.
“It was your comment about me… about my body.” Ynyr felt his skin begin to darken.
“You mean that only the Goddess could have created something as magnificent as yours?”
“Yes and you wondered who her inspiration was.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Did you find out who was her inspiration?”
“Uh, yes. Her mate…”
Abby’s eyes widened and she pushed herself up, a huge smile breaking out across her face. “A God! She fashioned you after a God!”
Ynyr nodded, blushing further.
“And this?” Her smile faded as she reached down and picked up the kril.
“I was naked when Raiden… took me and he didn’t want his Goddess to view me that way.”
“Well, I can agree with that!” Abby snapped. “Goddess or not, no one sees what is mine.”
Ynyr’s mouth opened and closed several times before he could finally speak. “Abby…”
“You thought I wouldn’t believe you. If it hadn’t been for this,” she shook the kril slightly. “You never would have told me?”
“Yes and no I would not have.” he answered and watch the hurt flash through her eyes before she handed him the kril and rose from the couch.
“I guess that says it all doesn’t it.” She walked over to a window looking unseeing out over the dark landscape. “The bed has new sheets on it. You should rest. You’ve had a long day.”
“Abby.” Slowly Ynyr rose and followed her. He couldn’t stand the distance that was suddenly between them and he didn’t mean the room. He had hurt her. His truth had hurt her, but so had his silence. What was he going to do? How could he fix this? “I am sorry Abby.” Carefully, he put his hands on her shoulders, pulling her back against his chest and while she stiffened she didn’t pull away. “I should have told you everything this morning but…” He searched for the words. “I have never had anyone believe in me the way you do. Not even my manno. You chose me when you could have had any male in the Empire. You talk to me. Listen to me. Rest with me. You see me as more than I am and it makes me want to be more… but… I am still just Ynyr, a third male… and if I ever fail you…”
“You would still be the male I love.” Slowly Abby turned in his arms, looking up at him. “I don’t expect you to be perfect Ynyr. I’m not. There are going to be times when I disappoint you too. What are you going to do when that happens? Will you send me away?”
“Never!” Ynyr pulled her tight against him as if to prevent her disappearance. “You are mine and only mine nothing will ever change how I feel about you. You are my life! My love!”
“You love me?” Abby felt her eyes fill, he had never said those words to her before.
“Of course I do!” His voice softened when he saw her tears. “You know this Abby.”
“You’ve never said it before.” She burrowed into his chest, wrapping her arms around him.
Ynyr frowned down at her as he searched his mind and suddenly realized she was right. “I am sorry my Abby. I have said it so many times in my head that I thought I had.”
“I… I thought you did, but to hear it… words have power Ynyr. They can harm or they can heal.”
Ynyr thought back to the painful words that had been said to him over his life. Words that had caused him to think less of himself, of his family. His Abby was right. “That is truth, Abby.”
“That’s why it hurt so badly this morning when you refused to tell me the tr
uth about the kril.” Abby lifted her head from his chest. “I want you to be able to tell me everything Ynyr and know that I will not think less of you even if you don’t have all the answers. There are going to be times when you need help and I want to be there to help you like you have been there to help me, even if it is only by listening.
“You wish to listen when I am struggling? When I am not sure how to solve a problem?”
“You do when I am.” She reminded him.
“Yes, but that is different.”
Abby rolled her eyes apparently this is something that was universal. Males thinking things should be handled differently because it involved them.
“It’s not Ynyr. It lets me be involved in your life, even when I’m not with you.” Looking up at him she saw his struggle and realized there was something troubling him, more than the kril. “What’s bothering you Ynyr. Why were you so late tonight?”
“I will tell you my Abby.” Ynyr told her, knowing he must. “After I cleanse. I am covered in dirt and grime from the afternoon training session.” Easing out of her arms, he turned towards the cleansing room. “I won’t be long.”
Abby paused just inside the door of the cleansing chamber appreciating the amazing view she was being given. The cleansing unit was basically one big walk in shower, its clear walls allowed her to see Ynyr who was facing her, his head tipped back under the spray, in all his naked splendor. Damn the male was built!
“I can see why the God was jealous.”
Ynyr whipped his head out from under the cleansing spray. “What?”
“I said, I can see why the God Raiden might be concerned with the Goddess seeing you.” A rumble of thunder was suddenly heard in the distance. “You are beautiful to look at Ynyr.” Abby loved how Ynyr flushed at her words.
“Raiden does not like to be called a God.” Ynyr told her shoving his head back under the spray hoping it would cool his skin as his hands ran over his body to remove the day.
“Why?” Abby asked, her eyes following Ynyr’s hands traveling over his body wishing they were hers, then she realized they could be and with a little smile she started to remove her gown.
“Because he wasn’t born a God.” Ynyr tipped his head back to finish cleansing his hair not realizing what she was doing. “He was mortal once, an Emperor. The Goddess made him immortal, so they would always be together.” Ynyr jolted when he felt Abby’s small hands on his chest. “Abby!” Opening his eyes, he found her naked in front of him. What was she doing in the unit with him? Males and females could not cleanse together… could they… but Goddess her hands felt wonderful.
“Go on, tell me more, I’ll just help you finish up while you do.” She hid her smile at his blank look. “So the Goddess made him immortal.”
“Yes.” Ynyr felt his shaft start to stir as her hands moved over the chest he had already cleansed. “Apparently the other Gods weren’t very happy about that, especially Daco.”
“He is the one that stole the Goddess?” Abby asked as her hands began to follow the path the water was taking down his body until she found his stiffening shaft.
“Yes.” He choked out, widening his stance to give her better access.
“The one that King Varick saved the Goddess from?” Slowly she began to stroke him from root to tip, her thumb circling the large mushroom shaped head before beginning her downward stroke.
“Yes… Abby…” Ynyr could not believe how quickly she had been able to arouse him, that she would want to after… groaning, he slapped a hand against each wall, bracing himself between them as her mouth captured first one nipple and then the next.
“Yes Ynyr?” She asked, looking up at him through her lashes.
“If you continue to do that I am going to Join with you. Right here in the cleansing stall.”
In response she tightened her grip around him, stroking him faster.
Growling Ynyr grabbed her generous ass and lifted her off her feet, pressing her against a wall. Abby’s legs immediately wrapped around his waist and she rubbed her core against his shaft. Reaching up Ynyr sunk his fingers into her hair, pulling her head back, he thrust his tongue into her mouth as he thrust his shaft into her hot welcoming core.
Goddess! Nothing had ever prepared him for his Abby. She was so soft and giving and not just of her body, but of herself, of her spirit and her feelings. She told him things, asked him things, she made him feel as if he were important, especially to her. Just him. Ynyr. She had shown him that Joining was more than just the physical act, that it was about more than just the creation of offspring. It was about being close and open, vulnerable and protected, loved and loving the one you were Joined with. The one you chose. It made you whole and completed your soul. That is what his Abby had given him and he would make sure he gave it to her too.
Abby’s arms wrapped around Ynyr’s head and she sank into the kiss as his hips slowly began to thrust. Goddess she loved it when he got all demanding and controlling like this. When he seemed to need her so badly that he just took control. She hadn’t realized her joining him in the shower would be new to him, but it should have. She was Ynyr’s first and even if she hadn’t been, no Tornian female would have done this. Being with Ynyr made her stronger, bolder. His love and acceptance had changed her made her whole.
“Yes!” She gasped out ripping her mouth from his as he hit that spot. “Goddess Ynyr!”
“You are a goddess.” Ynyr told her, his eyes blazing down into hers as he made sure to hit and stroke that spot that gave her so much pleasure. “My goddess! Release for me Abby!” He demanded, feeling her channel tightening around him. It was making his balls tighten and he knew his own release grew near but he refused to allow it until she had hers. “Now Abby!”
“Ynyr!” Abby cried out, her nails digging into his shoulders as her body obeyed his command.
Abby’s cry and the pulsating grip of her channel had on his shaft as she released was too much. His fingers sunk into her hips with a bruising grip holding them still so he could grind his hips against her and with a roar his release exploded out of him.
It only occurred to Ynyr later, after they had dried off, shared a few more kisses before together they climbed into their new bed for the first time. Ynyr lay in the center of the massive bed, his Abby in his arms with one of her small soft hands resting on his chest her fingers making small circles. He had not told her what was bothering him.
“I am not sure I was meant to be a Lord.” He told her quietly and her fingers paused for a moment before they began circling again.
“Why?”
“There are so many things I don’t know. Things I never realized needed to be addressed. I just trained.”
Abby propped herself up on an elbow, keeping one hand on his chest while she rested her head on the other and looked at him. What she saw nearly broke her heart. Ynyr was looking at her so lost and confused. She knew what it had cost him to say those words, especially to her. Tornians only respected fit and worthy males. Males that had honor and succeeded, they didn’t like failure. They had that in common with Bertos but they also respected a failure that came with honor. Abby hadn’t forgotten what the Warrior Jago had told the Assembly about how King Rask and Captain Busto had died. What their final words had been.
‘A Death with honor before a Life without!’
She remembered seeing the heads of the males there nodding their agreement. Now Ynyr was worried he would fail… without honor… and that she knew he would never do.
“What don’t you know?”
“How to manage the books. How to schedule the deliveries. There are so many things that go into the running of a House that I never knew existed.”
“So you have suddenly been thrust into a strange world and you are struggling to understand everything.” Abby told him quietly.
“Yes.” Ynyr’s eyes widened in shock as he realized she was talking about herself as much as him. “I am sorry Abby. I never fully understood how difficult this has been for y
ou… not until just now.”
“It has been hard, especially in the beginning, but it got better because I found someone to help me. Someone who understood what I didn’t and explained things to me. Someone I trusted to tell me the truth whether I liked it or not.”
“Who?” Ynyr frowned down at her.
Abby smiled slightly at his question. “You Ynyr… I found you.”
Leaning down Ynyr gave her a gentle kiss. “I thank the Goddess for that Abby, but I am afraid you cannot help me with this.”
“I know. I know even less about running a House than you do, but there must be someone who can help you. Your manno.”
“That would not be possible Abby. He must run his own House.”
“But he has others that assist him right? I mean, he’s the one in charge, like a school superintendent.”
“I do not understand this title Abby.”
“Umm a school superintendent… well first a school is where children… offspring go to learn.” She waited for Ynyr to nod his understanding. “The school superintendent is the head of a school district, like your manno is the head of Betelgeuse. He has principals that report to him, like your Captains, each one of them is in charge of a different school as I’m sure your Captains are each in charge of something different.
“They are. Some are responsible for training, others for protecting the walls.”
“And you have Masters, like you made Paganus who are also in charge of just certain things.”
“Yes.”
“Each principal has teachers under them, that’s what I was going to school for, they are the ones that do the actual teaching of the offspring on a daily basis.”
“There are those here too. They report to the Masters or Captains.”
“Who report to you, I can’t believe your manno is the one who actually decides what room gets cleaned on what day. Or needs to know that some cooking supplies need restocking. Or even who gets what shift in guarding the walls. That would be the responsibility of the Captain or Master he put in charge wouldn’t it?”