Temperance

  The woman, who was standing in the shadows by the window, looked tired. Her shoulders weren’t quite as stiff as they usually were, not quite so proud, and when she turned to face him, her familial eyes found his and her lips curved in an acerbic smile.

  “Brother.” Her voice was chilling.

  Li’Am knew that every day he kept her here his painful death was assured. But that was a fact he would deal with later. For now, there were other more pressing issues.

  “Seraphine.”

  Seraphine looked at her brother on the opposite side of the bars holding her prisoner and imagined all the ways she planned to end him. She was still trying to work out how Li’Am had accomplished everything he had. He’d never been a particularly smart boy, but the man standing before her had clearly gained his knowledge from somewhere—or someone.

  She walked forward, past the cot in the room, and when she reached the bars, she could feel the magic that had been cast over them, pulsating like a life-force, warding her away. The spell had been woven in dark magic, and she could smell the scent of the mossfire bark that the metal had been soaked in.

  It was a spell to weaken, to disable her magic—it was a spell that had worked.

  Yes, Li’Am had knowledge, and she would see to it before he died that he spilled how he’d obtained it.

  “Welcome to my humble abode,” she greeted with a mock curtsy.

  Her brother’s sharp eyes watched her every move, and she took distinct pleasure in knowing that he was still wary of her, even with the precautions he’d taken.

  Then she let her eyes move to the other person who was seated on the stool outside her cell. He had his head bowed, and she noted the way his body shuddered every time he took a breath. He was terrified, and his fear—it was intoxicating.

  Seraphine licked her lips and brought her gaze back to her brother’s, wondering how far he would go to get what he wanted. It seemed he was more like her than she’d ever given him credit for.

  “You brought me a gift,” she said, bringing a hand to her neck. She scraped one of her nails along her bare flesh and enjoyed the slight sting of pain, which reminded her that, even without her powers, she was still very much alive.

  “He is not a gift. He is a tool. I want something, and to get it, I need you slightly stronger than useless.”

  It was interesting to her that Li’Am thought he held the power when, really, he was bargaining for the use of hers. In reality, Li’Am held nothing.

  “What makes you think I will do anything for you?”

  Li’Am walked over until he was standing directly before her. Then he gripped the bars, proving to her that, in here, he was the one calling the shots.

  “Believe it or not, sister, we want the same things.”

  Thinking he was not referring to his own death, Seraphine’s lip curled. “I highly doubt it.”

  Li’Am brought his face in close so his nose and lips were pressing between the bars. “I know you have the keys, and I know what you’re doing with them. I want what you want—to get inside the Tower.”

  His revelation was shocking. So much so that the man seated beside him was now looking up at the Commander with a look of confusion.

  Aww. Poor man. He’d thought that Li’Am would be the one to show mercy—apparently not.

  “And why would I help you? You have imprisoned me, brother. Even I did not stoop so low as to hold you captive.”

  Li’Am stepped away and said coolly, “This is not a negotiation. If you agree to this, I will set you free once I am inside.”

  Seraphine let out a scornful laugh and spread her hands. “Excuse me if I do not take your word for it.”

  “Seraphine,” Li’Am warned.

  “Yes, brother?”

  “You will not get what you want without cooperating with me.”

  “And you will not get what you want without me. So where does that leave us?”

  Li’Am clasped his hands before he spoke again. “It leaves me out here and you in there.” He looked down at the prisoner and ordered, “Come. We’re leaving.”

  As he stood, Seraphine noted his height and broad shoulders. Instantly, her sensualeer side was interested. She wanted to strip him of his clothes, run her hands down his long body, and sink down over him. She craved that feeling she knew she would get when she took him inside her.

  The satisfaction of satiating the ache and recharging her powerless being caused her pulse to speed up, and she heard herself say, “He stays.”

  Li’Am looked towards her, and the fear she’d sensed earlier in the other man returned.

  “Not unless you agree.”

  She knew the hunger was evident on her face. Her brother’s smug look verified it.

  “I agree to be your puppet—under one condition.”

  Li’Am narrowed his eyes and shoved the man who’d been beside him back down on the seat.

  “I, along with the fourth daughter, am brought to the Tower to place the final key. It is the only way I know you will keep your word and set me free.”

  She figured that whatever it was Li’Am was willing to go to such lengths for must be big because he nodded his agreement and then removed an object from a small, leather pouch. There, clutched in his palm, was something she’d taken great lengths to hide the minute she’d taken the role of Empress.

  It was an amulet. The only one known that could paralyze a sensualeer without the use of the mossfire bark. It was a weapon originally forged by the Guardians and passed down to each who ascended to keep a sense of balance between both races.

  Her arms and legs locked up until she was frozen in place, and Li’Am reached for the lock on her cell door. The man on the seat let out a noise that could only be described as a whimper as the gate swung wide and Li’Am told him, “Get in.”

  The man remained seated, shaking his head from side to side, and Seraphine was curious just how far her brother would go. She soon got her answer.

  Li’Am pulled the dagger from its sheath at his waist, and held it to the prisoner’s throat. “Get. In.”

  It seemed he valued his life more than his virtue because he stumbled to his feet, tripped, and fell when Li’Am shoved him inside her cell. As the door was shut and locked, Li’Am lowered the hand holding the amulet and placed it back in the pouch.

  “Do with him what you must. He killed one of the farmers who was still managing to survive out on the West plains. I’ll be back at nightfall to tell you what I need.”

  Seraphine looked down at the bound man on her floor and made her way towards him. She gathered her skirts in her hands and slowly began to raise them up her bare legs. As she stepped over his thighs, she saw his body vibrate and wondered for a split second if he’d gotten the same thrill from killing as she would from fucking him into a state of unconsciousness.

  “Li’Am?” she called out as she crouched over her prize. She glanced back at her brother as she ran a nail down the man’s shirt. “Don’t come back until morning. I won’t be done with him until then.”

  “Very well.”

  And when Seraphine turned back to her ‘tool,’ she gave a smile and flicked open the button on his pants.

  It was time to feed the hunger.

  * * *

  Kai couldn’t sleep.

  He’d been staring at the canopy of material over his bed for the last several hours and listening to the soft sighs coming from the woman lying beside him.

  Tonight had changed things for him.

  When he’d first brought Naeve back to Claremont, his main reason had been to protect her. He’d wanted to keep her safe from Li’Am, his brother, and—of course—the threat of Seraphine. But as he continued replaying her words to him from earlier, he realized he’d merely brought her to a place full of a different kind of danger—men.

  He’d foolishly believed that Marcus could be trusted to watch over her in his absence. But it was clear that something much more binding would need to be in place for his men to know the gravit
y of their actions should they ever lay a hand upon what he considered his.

  He rolled to his side and studied the face, which was peaceful in sleep. Her blond hair was spread out around her head on the pillow, and she’d pulled the furs he had thrown over his bed under her chin. He reached out wanting to touch her fair skin, and when she rolled to her side and he saw the dark lines webbing across her temple, neck and chest, he lowered his hand back down to the covers.

  “Naeve,” he whispered.

  When she didn’t wake, he repeated it a little louder. This time, her eyelashes fluttered and opened, and her blue eyes came into view. Her soft lips parted as she gave way to a small yawn, and when they came back together and she brought her hands up under her cheek, she looked at him with an expectant expression.

  “Are you feeling all right?” he inquired.

  She frowned at what he knew must have been his own expression of concern. “Yes. Why?”

  He touched the tips of his fingers to her cheek and explained, “The markings on your skin… They have expanded.”

  She rolled to her back and gripped the covers, raising them to look under. He heard a quick gasp as she quickly pulled the fur back down and moved to the other side of the bed, taking what was covering them both with her. Then she stood, and before he had a chance to move, she faced him.

  When she saw him lying there as naked as when he’d crawled into the bed an hour or so before, whatever words had been about to come out of her mouth…disappeared.

  Uncaring of his nudity, Kai sat up and looked at her. “Has it spread down your body? Farther than your chest?”

  With her hair disheveled all around her and her cheeks rosy and pink, Kai thought she looked adorable. Adorable and extremely beddable.

  “Naeve?”

  “Yes?” she answered in a guilty voice as she flushed an even deeper shade of red.

  “The markings. Have they spread further?”

  Clutching the fur as if it were a shield, she nodded, so Kai moved over to the edge of the bed. Then he swung his legs over the side and widened them slightly before gesturing with a crook of his fingers for her to come closer. When she swallowed, he wondered if she was about to run. But no, Naeve stepped between his naked thighs instead.

  Kai reached for the furs and she let them drop, revealing the markings trailing over her body. On the same side as her face and neck, the strange, black lines appeared now over her breast, ribs, and belly and stopped just shy of her hipbone. He touched the end of the shadowed line above her hip, and when her body tensed, he looked up to see her watching.

  “When you touch them, I swear I feel it inside me.”

  Kai licked his lips before he asked exactly what she meant.

  “It’s as if you are touching me between my thighs. It felt that way earlier too. Like an ache, a hunger, and when you touch it, I become crazed.”

  Kai drew his fingers away, but Naeve reached out to take them.

  “It’s the mark of the sensualeer,” he explained. “They are born with it. Usually, it is golden and traces their veins in a marking for all to see. It is to let others know who they are—beings governed by physicality and emotions, which is why yours are heightened right now. Add in that that marking is tainted and I don’t know what you should expect.”

  Naeve pulled his hand back to her skin, and as his fingers brushed up her side and over her ribs, she trembled. “I like it.”

  Kai’s mouth opened, and he was about to tell her that it wasn’t really her until she grasped his shoulders and placed a knee on the bed beside him, climbing onto his lap in a straddle. Wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her, he groaned when one of her hands snaked down between them to circle his cock.

  “It makes me feel…hot. Needy.” She gave him a squeeze before sighing, “Hungry,” against his lips.

  Kai closed his eyes and tried to tell himself that he should stop her. He should lift her from him, tell her to get dressed, and work out how to keep her safe. But when she started to rock against his shaft, any thoughts of stopping her were discarded.

  * * *

  Naeve closed her eyes as she held Kai’s shoulder and undulated against his body. She felt as if her skin were pulsating, throbbing all over, and the only relief she would get would be to have him pounding into her over and over until she could explode around him.

  His hands came down to clutch her bare ass, and when he tugged her close, she removed her hand from between them and held on to his other shoulder. Leaning back, she let out a moan when the position rubbed her clit against his hardened flesh, and when one of his hands came up to cup her breast, she bucked against him, wanting him inside.

  “Oh yeah. God. Just like that,” she panted, rolling her hips, trying to relieve the ache. She felt the fingers Kai had on her ass digging in hard as he bent down and sucked her nipple between his lips, and that was when she just about lost it.

  She could feel her pussy clenching, wanting something inside it, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she was aware that she’d never felt this way before. Not ever. But this desperation, this need to be filled, was one she couldn’t ignore any longer.

  “Now, Kai. I need… Ahh…I need it.”

  She felt his lips leave her skin, and then his strong thighs bunched under her ass as he stood and turned them around. With little decorum, he threw her onto the bed, pushed her knees to her chest, and spread her wide before he thrust his cock inside her.

  The cry that left her throat should have alarmed her—that she could ever feel such emotion, such raw, carnal hunger for another. But the fact that it was Kai, and the way her body seemed to ignite under his hands, did not surprise her in the least.

  She cupped her breasts and squeezed them together as he watched, and then she pinched her hard nipples as he pulled back and slammed into her once more. Gasping at the rough treatment, she reveled in the way it made her feel as her body tightened around him.

  Kai’s muscles strained as he held her legs apart, and his abs tensed with every flex of his hips. When he looked down to watch the way he slid in and out of her greedy body, his hair fell forward and shadowed his face.

  Naeve closed her eyes, blocking the intense man focused on taking her, and let her emotions drag her under. She jammed her hips up and twisted her sensitive nipples as she bit her bottom lip and then loudly screamed Kai’s name.

  The orgasm was brain destroying, and the heat of his come shooting thick and hot inside her was like a balm on a burn.

  She’d soothed the sting for the moment, but she could already feel it coming back.

  Ry’Ker tracked down two bottles of the strongest ale he could find and was making his way back up to Ai’Den and the sensualeer. He knew that what was about to happen wouldn’t be pretty. Li’Am had explained that removing the cuff from Si’Bastian would not only be painful, but it would take hours for the effects to wear off.

  So why would he do this to his own son? It was still a question he didn’t find he had a satisfactory answer for.

  He was halfway up the stairs to the chambers when one of his guards ran up after him.

  “Ry’Ker, you must come quickly.”

  He turned to see Niall leaning against the wall, slumped over, his hands on his knees. He was breathing hard, as though he’d run for days, and as Ry’Ker came back down to stop before him, he could see the worry on his face.

  “What is it?”

  Pulling himself up to stand straight, he faced him with a grim look but said nothing.

  “Speak, Niall. What is it?”

  Glancing at his feet and then back to him, Niall took a deep breath and then spoke. “The women, sir. They are gone.”

  * * *

  “This is a really stupid idea.”

  Siobhan turned to face Fiona, who was standing between her and Audra. They’d just finished climbing down from the two-story window of their prison via the crude sheets that’d been on their beds and now had their backs pressed up against the outside of the k
itchen’s wall.

  “Well, I didn’t see you coming up with anything better,” Siobhan hissed before she stuck her head out to peer around the corner.

  “In case it slipped your attention,” Fiona whispered, “you’ve been unconscious for the last couple of days.”

  Shifting back out of sight, Siobhan frowned at her two sisters. “I know, and now, I have some weird disease. I was there for the play-by-play from Sir Lancelot. But if it’s all the same to you two, I’d like to find Naeve and get the hell out of here.” Then she thought, Wherever the hell here might be.

  Audra reached across and tugged on the jacket she’d shrugged back into. “Maybe we should go back. That other man—he helped. Maybe he can heal you. You know, the one with the—”

  “Goat? No, thanks. I’d rather take my chances. We need to find Naeve, knock some sense into her, and work out how to get home.”

  “You don’t understand, Siobhan,” Fiona stressed. “Wherever we are, these men… They carry weapons. As in knives and swords.”

  “Well, it seems like the men have underestimated us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be standing outside the room they locked us in.”

  “I’m just saying—”

  Siobhan heard the footfalls of men and pressed her finger to Fiona’s lips. She quieted immediately. The three of them silently stood in the shadows as several men dressed in strange-looking pants and billowy tops walked by. To her, it looked like they were at some kind of Renaissance festival.

  When it seemed they were in the clear, Fiona finished her thought. “I’m just saying, I don’t know what they’ll do to us if we’re caught. That Ry’Ker guy threatened me the first night we met. And the guy that has Naeve? He’s just—”

  “Scary,” Audra supplied. “He wouldn’t let us anywhere near her the night in the forest when he brought you two to meet the rest of us.”

  “Wait… I’ve seen this guy?” Siobhan asked.