Empress Hiding Read online

  Hondo nodded and ran his fingers into Shelvana’s tussled hair.

  “Yearlan is here, my güzel kedi,” Hondo’s voice was gurgled with affection, “Would you like your drink?”

  Shelvana inconspicuously moved her hand over Hondo’s manhood and caressed it gently as she moved her face in contact with his buttocks and licked the deep gash there in earnest with small, steady strokes of her rough tongue.

  The pain her attentions produced brought sweet pleasure to both him and his wartrige.

  “It is time, perhaps, to go without again, my Hondo?” Her intense, glowing blue eyes stared up at him in question.

  The beverage was a particular mixture of herbs and spices that a number of wild predators were known to consume to prevent pregnancy even during a “heat.” Since Shelvana’s cycle or ability to conceive was completely unknown, Yearlan had developed the beverage shortly after her conception with the twins. It worried them that marabillas in the wild had such a low reproduction rate without any recordings of multiple births, and the preventative beverage had been to allow her body ample healing time after carrying the two large male infants to full term.

  Hondo raised an eyebrow in surprise – glancing quickly across to Yearlan and then back down at Shelvana, although the excitement that started to build in his eyes certainly was not masked well. He took a deep breath as he tightened his grip in her hair.

  “I was letting you make that decision, shioliah,” Hondo pushed a bunch of hair off the side of her face to gently caress her cheek, “Our sons are certainly a handful these days.”

  Shelvana growled in agreement but let her caressing of him increase just slightly as she smiled fully up at Hondo.

  And her eyes never left her mate’s gaze as she raised her voice and answered quite adamantly, “Only the salve for a while, Yearlan. Thank you.”

  Hondo inhaled deeply and sent up a prayer of thanks for his beloved mate. He then opened his eyes to smilingly acknowledge Yearlan – the loyal Blood-borne steward smiling back with respect and admiration as he bowed and turned to leave.

  But then Hondo remembered the conversation with his lunatic sire’s assistant just as Shelvana ran a searching leg over his own – a deep, contented purring beginning to emanate from her as he felt the beginnings of her calling to him through the ethereal bond that had been born the first night of their mating – a night that bond called for him to literally repeat and relive for her whenever Shelvana needed it. Hondo had decided it must be an emotional need for her, but it certainly served to keep him grounded in their relationship. He had no recorded information on which to rely as there was no recorded history of another marabilla mating – the animals were simply solitary beings that made no bonds and no ties with others of their own kind or otherwise – that much was evident in much of his shioliah’s behavior even after their seven cycles together.

  But his Shelvana certainly belonged to him – and she was as strong and as sure a mate as he could have ever hoped for – and she was even more of a tenacious and devoted mother for their sons. Yes, his shioliah truly was his life.

  And it was evidenced in all the little and the big things that she did and said that Hondo was hers as well – no questions, no doubts. Hondo had certainly been blessed with his Shelvana, so, he simply accepted the re-enactments and treasured every second of every one.

  “And Yearlan?”

  Yearlan stopped and turned to face Hondo.

  “Make sure the Prime Magistrate and I have a face-to-face immediately upon his return from his negotiations at the ICT,” Hondo darkened his tone just in the slightest, “And make sure it has been on the calendar for some time.”

  Yearlan nodded in full acknowledgement of the Prince’s meaning.

  “Yes, my lord,” Yearlan ran a somewhat stubby palm through that odd-colored hair, “I will arrange everything with Dalis just as soon as I leave here,” Yearlan paused slightly before continuing, “And tomorrow?”

  Hondo tossed his work to the floor and ran both palms roughly over his face and growled in aggravation.

  “Should I prepare lunch and the dining area for the Khedive’s visit, my lord?”

  Even Shelvana growled from beside the Prince.

  “No!” Hondo aggressively raised his voice unconsciously, but caught himself when he saw his Yearlan flinch in response. Hondo raised a clasped hand in aegis gently across his chest and continued more evenly this time.

  “No, faithful one,” Hondo took care to reassure his steward verbally, “You will accompany the Somdech and our sons to the play area over the east ridge.”

  That playful gleam re-appeared in Yearlan’s eyes – he adored Erol and Matin and protected them almost like a father would.

  “Yes, my lord. And would you like me to direct the kitchen staff …?”

  Hondo interrupted him – his Shelvana’s purring increasing in intensity and tone. And he was beginning to feel her almost physical tug inside of him along their bond.

  “I do not wish him to stay any longer than necessary, Yearlan.”

  Hondo fidgeted just enough in place that wise, old Yearlan figured out what Shelvana’s noises must mean, and the steward turned to leave as he quickly summarized his orders verbally simply for clarification – he spoke loud enough that Hondo could hear him, but he never turned back around.

  “Outing for the morning for four with a picnic lunch, and your Guard will await you outside the hangar for a brief visit from the Khedive. No lunch necessary for you or your visitors, but a special meal to be prepared for tomorrow evening for you and the Somdech.”

  Yearlan opened the door and turned around briefly as he closed it behind his exit, “And Dalis and I will set an exact time for the meeting you and the Prime Magistrate planned during your comm session last week.”

  The old steward winked at Hondo as the prince graciously nodded, and the door latched and locked.

  With the noise of its latching, Hondo pressed the privacy button on the side table and re-activated the one-way transmitter from the twins’ room just off their own.

  He pulled the covers back from his Shelvana just as her long arm reached up and pulled his face down to hers. He felt their bodies press together as the bond between them went active and he was virtually transported back to the very moments prior to his claiming her the first time. . .

  He had been in his quarters at the Red Guard remote training grounds in one of his outer provinces – even now, the re-enactment was so real that he could smell the mustiness of the walls and of the material coverings throughout the room.

  Hondo felt Shelvana’s lithe, muscular limbs and abdomen rub against his hard body positioned over her as she spread her legs in welcome. There would be no violence, no clawing, no playful bites and jousting in this joining – no, this was simply the feelings they had for each other that first night reinforced through sight and sound and deed.

  She must have been flush with the ceiling in full marabilla form when he had entered the quarters because the window had bars, and he had locked the door behind him before strolling to the window to pull the curtains. Both he and his beast had sensed her presence but had sensed no danger. The two of them had kissed briefly the evening before, but she had run off without explanation, and he had not heard from her since … even though he could not forget her haunting blue eyes or the heat of her touch and how such excited both him and his beast.

  Hondo eased his hard length inside of his Shelvana’s heat as she moaned softly into his ear at his entrance.

  There was slight rustle, and then he heard her take a step toward him. But he dared not turn around – not yet. He did not wish to spook her again – he truly needed her touch and her taste, but he knew she had to want him or she would be gone without a trace.

  Again.

  It was she that spoke first.

  “My kind does not mate, Prince Hondo.”
r />   Simply the sound of her voice wrapped around both him and his beast and pulled at his manhood as he tried to control his emotions and settle them both.

  Shelvana arched her breasts against Hondo in open invitation as she wrapped her legs around his waist – all this while he rocked steadily and slowly in and out of her.

  “And yet here you are, kedi, in my bed chamber room,” he dared not look over his shoulder as he grasped the curtains to release some tension.

  He knew she would be nude from her change from beast to now, and he needed a little more control before turning to her fully.

  A growl that could only have been her beast rolled around the room as a sublime, almost mystic blue shown on the walls and curtain in front of him – his shadow well defined against the wall in front of him due to her now close proximity.

  “We could not stop thinking of your hands on us and of your lips against ours,” she sounded almost out of breath as he felt the air around him stir – her skin’s warmth reaching him even though they still did not touch, “It is almost as if we need you physically.”

  Hondo captured Shelvana’s mouth in his and gently pressed for entrance as he palmed her breasts with one large hand and grasped her firm buttocks with the other – pressing their lower bodies so tightly together that the only motion he felt was her sleeve as it pulsed around his shaft. Hondo groaned in delight.

  “As it should be with mates,” Hondo turned slowly so as not to cause her any reason to back away, “As it always will be with us.”

  So amazingly beautiful and perfect – her entire body bore the markings of the marabilla, simply an indication of how wild she was – how close to her animal his female would always be.

  An uncharacteristically shy smile lit her face as she reached out a strong, taloned hand to lay upon the middle of his chest – she stood just under a head shorter than he – a substantial portion of her body lined with muscle and strength and silky-thin fur, but still with the soft curves that made her female in all the right ways and places.

  Hondo closed his eyes when her hand reached him as he willed his beast to control its lust.

  “But we will never be tame as the females in your world,” her eyes fell from his as she looked to the side – almost expecting a negative response from him at her admission.

  Using enormous restraint, Hondo reached up and grasped her chin, forcing her face to look at him again.

  “Only one of the many reasons, kedi, I will never even look at another female in this world or the next.”

  Both she and her beast growled low as a larger smile peeled across her wild yet alluring features.

  “Your kiss last evening was like none other,” her words were becoming more and more breathy now as her hand fisted on his chest to grasp the shirt and the hair underneath it – the scent of her arousal captivating and enthralling him and his wartrige to just shy of an explosion, “Will you always kiss us like that, my prince?”

  His breath caught in his throat at her use of the possessive pronoun.

  Hondo deepened their kiss at the memory as his muscles began to tremble with the intensity of the emotions that had begun to take him over. And Shelvana’s soft moans of euphoria began their slow build-up to what was always her most powerful orgasms – this re-enactment was an aphrodisiac both her mind and her body craved.

  He moved his hand from her chin to hold her hair as he grasped her hip with the other.

  “Every day that the Gods put breath in our lungs, my güzel kedi,” he breathed out as he pulled her into him and leaned forward to fully inhale her scent for both him and his beast to know from this moment forward. But before he could move his mouth to hers, she reached up with her other hand and grabbed a handful of his long, black hair, jerking his head back just far enough that their eyes were locked with one another.

  “Then bind us to you so that we may never again be without you,” she bared her predatory fangs as an inviting snarl escaped from deep inside her, and she rubbed her body against his excruciatingly hard length, “We choose to be mated, Hondo Sadid.”

  Not hesitating even for a moment, he lifted her onto his bed and ripped his clothing from his body and mounted her writhing and fully aroused body.

  “And mates we always will be, my Shelvana,” he declared as he claimed her fully and completely, leaving no doubt to whom they each belonged.

  Hondo felt Shelvana’s body explode beneath and around him – her fangs sunk deep into his vein as her cries of ecstasy muffled in his neck and in his hair – the sensations resulting from such driving his own climax. It pushed an elated growl of release from him – holding each other so tightly they were but a single being suspended in time and space.

  And as the realistic image faded and Shelvana’s blood need was sated, Hondo whispered the words he knew she longed to hear from him, “Your prince, my güzel kedi,” he gently kissed each closed, tear-soaked eye and the tip of her nose as he gently nipped and nibbled her chin line multiple times, “Every day that the Gods put breath in our lungs,” he rested his forehead on hers as he sensed her fade off to sleep beneath him, “Yours.”

  Hondo remained inside of her for some time as both he and his beast simply enjoyed the connection – neither of them ever imagining such a precious and complete bond could even exist between mates.

  Until he finally slid off to her side to sit up again as he began to apply some of Yearlan’s salve to the deep gashes and bites on his own arms and chest from their earlier session. His mate could be quite dangerous with her nails and, yes, her teeth sometimes – especially when her prince made her lose control of herself in pleasure.

  Hondo chuckled to himself with pure male enjoyment as he glanced over at her beautiful face so peaceful beside him. He paused to gently run a thumb over the intriguingly-colored marbling of the smooth skin on his Shelvana’s cheek.

  Oh, yeah – it was good to be that prince.

  Dalis had just wrapped up his short vis-comm session with Yearlan – his Mischief always enjoyed his conversations with Yearlan because they were always an exercise in stealth and code. Sneaky – just the way Mischief liked things.

  And no one but Yearlan and Dalis was the wiser.

  Unexpectedly, an insistent entrance-waiting signal chimed from the main suite hatchway.

  Dalis lifted his shirt and glanced at his timepiece on the band he wore around his torso – the band accommodated both his and Mischief’s sizes so that it was always on even though Dalis had to remove the remainder of his clothing before changing lest Mischief hide them or, worse yet, shred them for stuffing into his favorite nesting bed.

  Both Dalis and Mischief were very suspicious of a caller at this hur given that it was quite late, and they knew Rafal would not need to signal for entrance – they also knew that whoever it was must have gained approval from the Guards at the door to even hail with the signal chime. Without opening the door to the inquiry, Dalis warily turned on the security seal just before he activated the vis-comm panel beside the entrance to reveal a way-too-close-for-comfort image of Jaylis – the Black Guard Captain’s hard predator eyes cutting through even the screen. Even though Dalis tried to hold his body stiff, he still blinked and withdrew his face only in the slightest when the image appeared.

  Almost in response to Dalis’ flinch, an extremely disconcerting grin appeared on Jaylis face as Dalis swallowed hard, looking for his unquavering voice.

  “What could I help you with, Captain?”

  Even as Dalis fought to maintain a calm composure, Mischief began plotting the Captain’s untimely demise through hanging or having his head caught in a security door on emergency shutdown or other such unlikely means all the while muttering incessantly about how the male could not be trusted any further than either he or Dalis could throw him which was, given their diminutive size compared to the brawny Captain, not a bit.

  Mischief had not li
ked Jaylis even in the least from the day of the Captain’s arrival on orders from the Khedive, and, on this matter, Dalis and Mischief stood as a united front. Especially when the useless piece of Crimson trash had kicked Mischief simply because he was in the room one evening – it seemed the Captain did not like them either.

  But, after Prince Rafal had dealt with the Captain, he had not so much as growled at them again. Neither he nor Mischief was sure what had transpired between the two males; however, it was a given that no one crossed the Prime Magistrate and won – most were lucky to be alive.

  Needless to say, however, both Jaylis and Mischief still felt threatened and quite intimidated by this Jaylis when their Prince was not around.

  But the Captain, at least for now, seemed intent on playing nice this evening.

  “I simply dropped by to pick up the treaty and accompanying seals so that all can be in order for secure transport back to the Khedive in the morning, Dalis.”

  Both Dalis and Mischief read only deceit in the male’s voice – that syrupy-sweet tone with which he tried to speak did nothing but raise Mischief’s hackles along with the fine hair along Dalis’ back.

  “The Prime Magistrate is unavailable at the moment,” Dalis decided not to let on that Rafal had gone out the back without his Detail on purpose – the less the Captain knew the better as far as they were concerned, “And we know nothing of which you speak, Captain.”

  Actually they knew quite a bit, but that was none of Jaylis’ concern.

  “I realize the Prime Magistrate is not here, Dalis,” Red flags went up all over Dalis’ being – how did he know the Prince was not here? Was he keeping track of the Prime Magistrate? Was he watching their quarters?

  And it was obvious that Jaylis had little patience – that he was trying valiantly to maintain his composure so, Mischief’s desire to play won out over Dalis’ nervousness, “If you simply allow me entrance, steward, we would help you locate the official papers and then be on our way.”

  “Ahhh, yes,” Dalis put on his best confused face, “Entrance. Hmmmm.”