Empress Hiding Page 11

  As crazy and as far-fetched as the whole thing sounded in this messed up society. . .

  “Then we must assure you have many other opportunities to practice, yes?”

  Rafal breathed her in as his grip tightened on her entire being with his words – he leaned closer until their foreheads were touching, “I will hold you to that, ashia.”

  “I pray to the Makers that you …,” Chiyoto’s beautiful smile ran away from her face, and her entire demeanor fell away along with her words as she remembered his question and the reason she was even here in the first place. Her turnaround was so abrupt that Rafal felt it both physically and emotionally, “But …,” and her hands dropped from his face and chest.

  Rafal tried to calm both himself and his beast at the sudden turn in her attitude, and Rafal could tell that she was trying to grasp for her personal composure while once again searching for her ‘so very proper’ words. When Chiyoto finally began to speak, Rafal had to reach down and turn her face up toward his again.

  “In answer to your original question, Prin . …”

  Both Rafal and his beast growled in unison at her attempt to use that proper title – not only because he did not ever want her to address him on any level except the personal one but also because he knew she was doing it, whether consciously or unconsciously, to create a distance between them – and she furrowed her brow and cocked her beautiful head in question to his action.

  “Rafal, ashia,” his voice was firm and brokered no argument even as his eyes and caresses remained gentle, “My name is Rafal. Is that clear?” And, after only a slight hesitation, a hint of childlike mischief crossed his features and he added, “Although I would be your Prince if you would have us.”

  Once again, there was no aggression in his voice, and Chiyoto half-heartedly smiled at his personality that she was not sure was something from which she could ever easily walk away … but she was leaving this place permanently for a reason he could not follow to her destination.

  And it was a destiny from which she could not turn back or ignore.

  “Yes, of course, Rafal,” she tried to make herself smile even as the thought of leaving him and perhaps never seeing him again was actually starting to hurt all over again. Her Prince …

  Chiyoto cleared her throat to continue as she tried to step away from him, “But I depart on the morrow for Capital City, and …”

  But Rafal was having none of her pulling away from him, and neither was his beast. He held firmly to her body, keeping her solidly against him, even as her push against him gradually increased.

  “Which shuttle, ashia?”

  Still no animus – no aggression, and Chiyoto once again stopped her struggling and searched his gorgeous face for answers.

  But Rafal only raised a questioning eyebrow in response to her visible searching, and Chiyoto continued to stare.

  “Ashia,” the demand was there, but the command was not, and his voice gentled as he finished, “I asked you a question.”

  Chiyoto’s hand almost instinctively returned to his chest as her body relaxed once again – a slight smile almost returning to her lips.

  Runa sighed in aggravation – she suppressed a growl even as she sharpened her long talons one against the other.

  “The morning shuttle, Rafal,” she felt a ragged breath leave his body even as she was comfortably nestled next to him again – that held breath was her realization that he did not want for them to part either, “It departs at …”

  “I will be at your shuttle cabin to receive you tomorrow for our walk and evening meal together at khamsa hurs, ashia,” Runa silently fumed at the Crimson’s confidence and at her Chiyoto’s apparent cowering to it, “What is your sur name?”

  Chiyoto lay her head against his chest to listen to the purring of his beast – it was a purring that reached inside and reminded her of just how tired she truly was. Even Runa felt herself lulled into a state of relaxation, although she would say that it was her Chiyoto’s calmness that affected her – not the arrogant and domineering Crimson or his obviously quite over-sized beast.

  “Darrè.”

  Chiyoto smiled as she felt Rafal’s breath pouring through her hair again as he growled in satisfaction.

  A small yawn escaped her mouth, and, even though she tried to hide it, Rafal noticed it – he knew now that he would begin to notice more and more little things about his female.

  She was, afterall, their mate – he and his beast could imagine no other scenario now.

  “You are tired, ashia.”

  She nodded against his chest, losing herself in his scent again – a scent that had almost begun to sing to her with a silent tune of its own. A tune that was practically an invitation, although Chiyoto had not quite figured for what the actual invitation was.

  But Rafal was certainly correct about her being tired – the more she relaxed into Rafal right now, the more she simply wanted to crawl onto the small bed and go to sleep.

  With him beside her.

  But, she thought, he had already changed his mind about her once today and pulled away – what if he had second thoughts after he walked away this evening? What if he simply never returned? It seemed he wanted and needed her scent as part of the deal … what if, in the absence of that scent, the thought of her being a Blood-borne simply became the over-riding factor by tomorrow’s dawn … or, for that matter, only a few hurs from now?

  She hated society, and she hated that she was not part of his society.

  And Runa grew agitated at her line of thinking – reminding Chiyoto in no uncertain terms that, as Heiress, she was much better than and much more than any Crimson could ever hope to be!

  Much less this particular Crimson!

  Chiyoto sighed heavily as an angry sob tried to edge up into her throat, and that anger fed the doubt that now crept into and through her being again.

  And Rafal felt the enjoyable tingling on his skin just slightly shift toward the prickling that preceded the burning sensations earlier as his Chiyoto raised her eyes toward his.

  “You will not walk away this night and try to forget us, Rafal, will you?”

  A momentary look of horror flashed across his face, and his beast snarled with indignity at her words until they both realized she was completely serious – her pleading eyes and almost imperceptible trembling belied that fact.

  As did the sensations on his skin.

  But forget her? Rafal knew he would go through the tortures of godsfall until he could hold her again – if his beast did not kill him before then for walking away from her this night.

  Rafal reached down and firmly grasped her chin even as his unrelenting hold on her mane strengthened again.

  “Banish your doubts, ashia,” Rafal smiled only slightly, and the warmth of him flowed through every fiber of her being, “Our ilk tarih will be one we will speak of for years to come,” His confidence was there, and his honesty and conviction coated every word.

  And Runa’s talon-sharpening froze in disbelief at the Crimson’s implication.

  But, as the first few words fell from Rafal’s lips, Chiyoto reveled in those sensations that his reassurances fed into her, and a relaxing smile spread across her face – a contented sigh escaping her being. In fact, she was suddenly so sedate that she took little to no notice of his concluding words – the ones that had Runa fighting for a foothold in reality somewhere other than here.

  And swearing that not only was this Rafal an arrogant ahmak but that he was a raving lunatic as well.

  “We will see you on the morrow, Rafal,” she smiled and reached up to touch his beard-line one last time as yet another tiny yawn escaped her.

  Rafal breathed slowly as he reveled in the sensations her touch never failed to introduce as he reluctantly released his hold on her mane.

  “Sleep, my Chiyoto,” Rafal found himself sucking in a c
ontrolled breath as her warmth was ripped from his side, and he got a full frontal view of her ample breasts with taut nipples veiled only by her loose-fitting top.

  His beast lunged for her quite forcefully as Rafal had to fight to still himself and the beast. Holy Gods! His female was beyond enticing to more parts of him than he even knew existed before now!

  And he felt a desire and a power flow from his beast as never before – and, in that moment of rare emotional connection with the beast, Rafal lost his heretofore total control of his own actions as their desires blended, and he gave in to what the lunging beast and, yes, parts of himself needed right now.

  Rafal leaned into the top of his Chiyoto’s head and took a clump of her hair near her forehead between his large front teeth and bit down hard as a savage, low growl escaped through the bite.

  But before Chiyoto could respond to his odd behavior, she apprehensively felt Runa growl with an odd mixture of both challenge and contentment and, perhaps, something else – her proud altare’s immediate stance strange in a display Chiyoto had never sensed as Runa’s large, muscular hind legs spread and her powerful tail brushed to one side at an awkward angle. A heated sensation raced to Chiyoto’s breasts and, more notably, to between her legs where an ache immediately began to throb. Her hands instinctively grabbed Rafal – both shirt and flesh this time – and fisted as both she and Runa growled a long, subdued warning. From one moment to the next, Chiyoto bared her teeth, her entire focus on Rafal’s neck as the throbbing between her legs increased dramatically. The aura that had surrounded him now solely highlighting what must be the veins and arteries that ran through his neck and upper body – the sound of the blood flowing through those pathways making her mouth begin to water profusely for a taste of him.

  Of his blood.

  And Chiyoto’s breathing rate increased dramatically as she felt Runa’s state of aggression rise substantially, but she was having trouble seeing her Runa, discerning her beloved’s thoughts, determining anything other than the over-whelming needs that were rapidly consuming her entire being.

  Needs centered completely on Rafal. A need for his touch – did she say ‘touch’? No, she meant grasp with aggression and boldness. For his taste – no, not ‘taste’, feast. A feeding on the strength he housed. For him to make the throbbing stop and to soothe the aching – with his mouth, with his hands, with that hard rod she now felt running almost the entire length of her abdomen.

  And even though only mere moments had actually passed, the low growl that had begun grew in intensity from within until she was fully lost in an unfamiliar state of being.

  Finally, so completely unsure of what was happening to her body, Chiyoto closed her eyes as she whispered and, yes, pleaded his name, “Rafal. Ple-e-e-e …”

  Immediately after his teeth sank into her hair, Rafal felt the demanding lust of his beast infiltrate his own physical being – the sensations hitting him like a vehicle at high speed, nearly knocking the breath from his lungs. And just as that impact hit him and he took a deep breath to control his own reactions to it, the staggeringly strong scent of arousal began to pour from his female. The scent was accompanied by the undeniable challenging call of a female predator in heat that sang to his entire being – daring him to dominate and provoking him to attempt a physical claim.

  But just as both his and his beast’s blood began to boil and rise to that challenge, that dare, and, yes, that provocation, Rafal felt Chiyoto’s small yet powerful hands grasp fistfuls of his flesh as his name fell from her mouth in an over-whelmed plea …

  His powerful female was suddenly afraid of him? Not possible …

  Rafal’s true being found clarity in separation from the lust of his beast.

  Chiyoto was innocent – innocent! She was undefiled, untouched, inexperienced … and his primitive, aggressive beast had taken full advantage of that. Somehow, his beast knew how to subdue and entice the predator that lived inside of Chiyoto – or at least the beginnings of such – and, with his actions, Rafal had given it full reign to do so … and Chiyoto knew nothing of how to respond to what their beasts’ interactions meant!

  Rafal immediately removed his mouth and enclosed her body against him again, “Settle, ashia,” But internally he warred angrily with his beast – the beast’s own language the angry focus of Rafal’s words –complete with promises to the beast there would be no water play, no nothing, for days as Chiyoto trembled and tried to settle against him – his hand finding its reassuring hold on her mane, “Never again,” Rafal reassured her through his internal conflict, “Not like that. Never like that, I promise, ashia.”

  Chiyoto nodded, her face rubbing against his chest as her grip on his skin slowly – ever so slowly – relented. But Rafal could sense that she warred internally with this Runa – he was familiar with the signs: the muscle twitches, the small sounds she tried to mask with sniffles and feigned coughs.

  And he figured he had probably just lost any ground he may have gained with that dangerous protector his Chiyoto housed within her – which made Rafal all the more angry at his beast. But there would be more opportunity when they were together tomorrow evening – the most important thing right now was to settle them both so that she could sleep. Rafal could sense her exhaustion even though she could not yawn in her battles with Runa as she clung to him …

  She. Clung. To. Him.

  Rafal sighed in contentment even as he wanted to pummel his beast senseless for its boldness – and himself for his momentary compliance in such – a reaction which he figured Runa wanted to accomplish on him as well.

  Rafal chuckled to himself as he caressed her mane and continue to shush her gently – yes, his Chiyoto clung to him and did not cry to her Runa for help as she had done outside the noshery just an hur or so ago – and Rafal knew such a hold was probably another part of what was provoking to Runa.

  As one of his hands continuously ran the length of her mane in appeasement, his mind determined that its coloration was definitely wrong even though he still had no real fact on which to base that knowledge.

  And no idea what color it should actually be.

  And, as he mentally shut off any means of communicating with his beast for the moment – ignoring the beast’s pounding and delaying its apparent attempts to communicate with him with an effective use of the term ‘siktir git’ – Rafal sighed in satisfaction as he began to mentally map out what he needed to do before he held her again.

  One thing was for certain, though. Rafal vowed that his beast would never again dictate or even participate in actions associated directly with his Chiyoto – the beast’s motives were obviously fueled solely by its selfish and very primal desires and nothing else.

  Their mating had enough visible obstacles on the path ahead without introducing other such unpredictable ones as the untamed, mindless, and, yes, reckless actions of the primitive beast that had already cost Rafal the only other important female in his life.

  Rafal, I …

  Rafal shut off the beast’s words with the emotional heaviness that engulfed Rafal fully and completely at the thought of his beautiful and gentle mamè. And it stilled within him as he lifted his Chiyoto’s small yet perfect frame onto the bed so that she could sleep. He buried his nose briefly into her neck to drown again in her creamy peppermint and musk as he laid her gently onto the small bed. Chiyoto instantly rolled into a tight fetal position the moment her body hit the bed – the action reminding Rafal of his small, twin nephews when Shelvana, Hondo’s mate, would lay them down for their naps during their visits.

  Rafal sensed Chiyoto’s breathing and relaxation indicate a sleep state almost immediately.

  It made him momentarily wonder just how much younger than himself she actually was as he stared lovingly down at his Chiyoto – a firm hand running down along her side and over her beautiful and wonderfully substantial buttocks as he did so.

  And, altho
ugh her body remained relaxed, Chiyoto’s eyes flew open – Runa’s full and bright magenta glow illuminating the pillow on which her beautiful head rested. The action was accompanied by another of Runa’s feral and threatening growls of warning at Rafal.

  But it was obvious that Chiyoto remained sound asleep.

  Rafal only slightly shook his head in recognition as he allowed his hand to rest on his Chiyoto’s perfect hip, refusing to yield to her beast’s challenge. His response, however, was gentle and unchallenging.

  “We will need to call a truce of sorts between us, proud Runa.”

  The clearly malicious chuckle that emanated almost made Rafal take pause, but he would not let Runa know that.

  “Not necessary, Sadid,” her voice was hushed yet dangerous, “You flinched once already at who we are, and whatever hormonal infatuation both you and your water iblis” – her sentence was broken by an almost evil hiss – “have for us will quickly degrade again into disgust once you see us truly feed as we must to survive.”

  Rafal’s hand slightly tightened on her hindquarter as he closed his eyes remembering Chiyoto’s pained face as she had trembled and stared at her palms before he had held her and apologized.

  Runa growled again and continued.

  “Then I will be forced to kill you for the pain your rejection will inflict upon my Treasure.”

  Even with her inflammatory words, Rafal’s beast was uncharacteristically silent and unmoved, especially in the presence of a threat such as that. But Rafal had never depended upon his beast for his response in any situation, and he actually welcomed the non-interaction right now.

  He sighed again as he pulled the cover up over his Chiyoto and lightly nuzzled her neck, noticing the Keeper on her hand that lay just under her chin. Rafal fiddled with it slightly as he whispered his response to the protective beast inside her.

  “You are wrong, proud Runa,” Rafal stood to full height still obviously intrigued by the odd metallic attachment as his Chiyoto wore no other jewelry besides it, “So very wrong,” he walked toward the door – a sudden, unrelated realization finally occurring to him, “We have accepted our mate and all that she is,” Rafal opened the door and turned only to finish his statement, “It is time you begin to do the same.”