Empress Hiding Page 24

  Jaylis seemed to relent somewhat in his intensity as he tried to be inconspicuous about his sniffing of the premises to discern the owner of the other place setting.

  “But with the Onteerian negotiations …,” the Captain’s voice trailed off as his attention was drawn to the approaching Chiyoto – the female slightly slowing in her approach as she realized Rafal was still not alone.

  Rafal stood immediately, conspicuously placing himself between Jaylis and the arriving Chiyoto – a warm hand with the accompanying sensations landing on his back only to be drawn away in the moments following.

  But Rafal did not have time to consider the meaning behind such an action/reaction at the moment – he was far too busy controlling a beast that had been ready to dismember Juristin for his comments and now wanted to shred Jaylis for any number of reasons to include even laying eyes on their Chiyoto. And the problem was that the Prince was in favor of both actions, but he was still not ready to subject Chiyoto to that side of them.

  Not yet.

  Rafal noticed Sila stand silently at the service island and faced the silent confrontation – an indication that he was ready if Rafal needed him. Through eye contact only, Rafal bid him stand down, and the trustworthy guard sat, though his attention never left the three.

  Jaylis – so preoccupied with Chiyoto – did not even notice Rafal’s distraction in the direction behind him to Sila as the Captain strained to get a better view of the female of whom Rafal seemed to be uncharacteristically protective.

  “Well, well,” Jaylis smiled a very disingenuous smile at Chiyoto as he chuckled with disdain, “And you are . . . ?”

  But before Rafal could cut him off with an answer, his entire body began to tingle with those slight burning sensations again as his Chiyoto surprised them both.

  Even as he silently prayed to every God ever believed to exist that Jaylis not be able to actually feel her unrest as sharply as Rafal’s own skin began to do.

  As they had approached the two men, Chiyoto had recognized the man in black that stood beside Rafal’s table as the meddling guard from the vid-screens in Togo’s yesterday – the one whom she had wanted Rafal to simply finish when his hand was around the guard’s worthless neck.

  And now the urge to do so herself began to take root.

  Even the guard’s aura projected evil and, yes, murderous intentions, and, suddenly, Chiyoto forgot her anger at Rafal. Because a protective feeling took over – she did not want the guard anywhere near her Rafal. Chiyoto did not like the guard nor did she trust him, and Runa internally growled her agreement.

  Unexpectedly, Rafal stood and placed himself between them and the guard, and Chiyoto was taken aback. In fact, Rafal’s motion threw her off her stride such that she reached out a hand to steady herself on his back as she tried to take in and analyze the whole situation. Why would Rafal hide her from his personal guard . . . ?

  “Oh, please! Why do you think he has seated you away from everyone else?” The painted Blood-borne’s words again …

  Was he really ashamed of her? Chiyoto looked down again at her clothing and out across the dining room to the other richly- and colorfully-adorned and brightly painted females as she smoothed a hand through her loose black mane and down her bare, paint-free neck.

  “It is obvious you have not earned enough for a real wardrobe yet.”

  Chiyoto bit her lower lip.

  Runa felt Chiyoto’s anger – or, more to the specific, her hurt – rise even as Chiyoto withdrew her hand from where it rested on Rafal’s back. Let the damnable guard hit him for all she cared, thought Chiyoto. Rafal was ashamed of her – so much so that he did not even want his despicable personal guard to see or meet her.

  Fine. Then both Makers-forsaken males could go take a long walk off the very short pier at the quarry so far as she was concerned – even though those thoughts wrenched her chest and threatened to fill her eyes with tears. Makers! She was such an idiot for even considering this whole acquaintance thing with Rafal – what had she been thinking? Then the physical memory of what Rafal did to her body back in her room seared through her – yeah, she really had not been thinking while he held her, had she?

  She was about to quietly excuse herself as she physically suppressed a sob when the contemptible guard spoke – the drivel that fell from his worthless mouth an affront to both her and Runa.

  “Well, well,” the disgusting male tried to smile as he angled his head in an attempt to lay those beady little eyes on her, “And you are . . . ?”

  Chiyoto growled very low – Runa actually not participating in that one – just before she retorted.

  “Obviously none of your concern, beyfendi,” Chiyoto let the disdain sound forth in her voice as she nearly spat the stupid title of respect and looked Jaylis up and down in a very cool, aloof motion, “As I am sure you and the Prime Magistrate have much more important things with which to concern yourselves.”

  She stepped forward and turned to face Rafal – the entire existence of Jaylis having been wiped from her address as she somewhat bowed her head and curtsied slightly to the Crown Prince.

  She felt more than heard Rafal growl in annoyance with her formality – it was strange, that connection between them, but she let it go and ignored the apparent reprimand. He had no grounds on which to reprimand her so, she would not even justify his implication with a reaction.

  Runa just shook her head almost amusedly.

  “We will be sure to pay you for our portion of the meal on the morrow, Denka,” her clear pink eyes flashed a bright magenta at him and then quickly returned to normal even as the tears continued to well-up there in the bottom – she tinkered almost nervously with the Keeper on her hand, “We bid you farewell, Prime Magistrate.”

  She turned and walked determinedly away – her heart so heavy it almost hurt to take those steps – to leave her Rafal.

  But wait; he was not her Rafal, right? She had just made that whole “my” thing up in her mind some time this evening. Then why did this parting hurt so badly if she had made it up?

  Because you are wrong on this one, my Chiyoto, she heard Runa protest vehemently.

  But Chiyoto knew she was not the one that was wrong – it was Rafal that was wrong for treating her the way he had. Skipping their walking time before their meal, and sequestering her away so that her appearance did not embarrass him? Well, then he could find someone else to sate his needs … whatever they were …

  What about our needs, Chiyoto? The power in just that little sample of him earlier …

  Chiyoto simply growled at her altre, trying to hold back the sobs and the tears as Runa’s question brought the emotions from Rafal’s tasting and holding her against him washing over and through her once again – they were so strong that they made Chiyoto catch her breath, and she felt her breasts tighten in desire.

  “Damn him and his … well, his everything!” Chiyoto cursed under her breath.

  Runa sighed but let it go right now because she was glad to be away from that other male – simply the Black Guard’s presence made the dangerous altre’s skin crawl and her hackles rise. She and her Chiyoto would have time to talk when they were alone again back in their quarters.

  Runa felt Rafal’s eyes on them, and the altre took care to put a little more swing in her Chiyoto’s hips.

  They would see Rafal again – the Crowned Prince might be mad, but he was obviously mad about Chiyoto – of that much Runa was certain.

  As Chiyoto was mad about him.

  Even though Runa’s emotionally exercised Treasure would not admit such right now.

  Rafal silently laughed within himself at his Chiyoto’s clearly-displayed disdain for Jaylis – yes, she was certainly his mate with her correct judgment of the meddling Guard Captain. But the anger and hurt mixture that emanated from her once again troubled both him and his beast.

  Even
as she completely shut Jaylis’ question down and tuned him out as if he no longer existed to her, the hurt in her eyes and that played on his skin as she formally addressed him and fiddled with that hand jewelry – yes, he would definitely ask Dalis about that later this evening – made the control of his beast even more of an issue. So much so that when she did address them in that purposefully official manner, he could only growl in his mind – it was taking every bit of his physical strength to leash the monster that wanted to maul more than one being at this moment.

  And he was still not ready to let his Chiyoto see that side of him.

  But it is who you are … who we are.

  His beast’s growled communication caught the Prince off-guard once again. Nevertheless, that same beast still seethed inside of him, and it needed an outlet.

  Soon.

  And even though Rafal knew that to soothe the beast as well as his shioliah all he needed to do was hold Chiyoto to him and breathe in her essence – let her body mold into him and cling to him – her pacifying peppermint and musk the most wonderful elixir both he and his beast had ever discovered. Damn it all to godsfall! How his hand itched to be in her mane right now, even with his beast’s need for retribution running through his very essence!

  But holding her against them was not going to happen right now – not with Jaylis’ prying presence. And when he saw Runa flash her eyes at him through his Chiyoto’s tears, Rafal somehow knew it better to let her go for now – he would seek her out later after they both had time to calm – when he could forcefully hold her into him as Rafal surmised she would need.

  Again.

  Yes, his Chiyoto was quite the emotional and, yes, stubborn female – she had a fire and a magic all her own that had already crept inside of both him and his beast.

  Even though that magical fire needed the right kind of tempering with his firm hands periodically.

  He actually felt his beast chuckle in agreement.

  Now, you are beginning to get the idea …

  Rafal felt himself almost visibly smile at that thought as he watched that wonderfully grippable buttocks of hers saunter away from him – a rush of blood to a place he did not need right now accompanying the visual display of such desirable hips – his beast’s lust only adding to the force of its assault on his control as Chiyoto’s taste and her feel against him invaded his memory and added to the bulge below his waist.

  And, even as the Prime Magistrate nodded almost undetectably to Sila to stay with his Chiyoto, he tightly clasped his fists and turned to Jaylis – the Guard Captain returning his gaze very annoyedly.

  “Not a very respectful little puta, is she, Prime Magistrate?” Jaylis’ eyes lit with his jab – the baiting so obvious to Rafal that his beast even calmed at the male’s stupidity, “Probably ought to learn some respect if she wants to get anywhere with that fat ass of hers.”

  But Rafal knew better than to court Jaylis’ suspicion and take the bait his comments were certainly meant to be – Rafal would be the one to announce his choice of mate to his sire, not the piece of animal dung that sire had put in place to keep tabs on him. The Crowned Prince merely rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck in response to Jaylis’ taunt.

  And then changed the subject completely – his only goal now to provide both he and his beast an outlet for their frustration and need to do bodily harm.

  Rafal forced himself to sit back down at the table – the loss of his Chiyoto’s presence ebbing through both him and his beast along with their lust for a fight, but he would not reveal that loss to Jaylis.

  The bloodlust, however, was a different story.

  “Sit Captain Yulstantis,” Rafal stated almost emotionless as he motioned to a nearby table, “I have need of …”

  “Well, since you said …,” Jaylis began as he stepped to follow Chiyoto, but he got no farther before Rafal’s beast growled dangerously close to the surface – the Prime Magistrate’s arms even shimmering with the ripples of its desired presence.

  “We said sit, Captain,” the command was more beast than cognate as Rafal put a large bite into his mouth – struggling to breathe through the control he was trying to maintain, “We have need of your presence at an amercement when we are finished with this meal.”

  Even as he sat, Jaylis was almost defiant, his desire to find out more about Chiyoto evident in his restlessness.

  “Amercement?” he cocked his head at his Prime Magistrate, “But you have rendered no judgments on this foray, Prime Magistrate.”

  Rafal and his beast growled in unison as a blood-lustful smile spread easily across his face framed in the unfettered curls his Chiyoto seemed to like so much.

  “We said ‘sit’, Captain!” The growl that emanated from Rafal nothing short of murderous in its intent, “This has nothing to do with a judgment, Captain,” Rafal looked at and through his Guard Captain – saw Jaylis’ monsecrit step back in fear – as yet another of his beast’s snarls escaped him, “This is personal.”

  Another bite of food. Another growl.

  Yes, it was best that his Chiyoto had to leave for now.

  Rafal never took his eyes from Jaylis as the Prince slowly and purposefully devoured every crumb of food on his plate.

  And Jaylis swallowed hard under that scrutiny as both he and his monsecrit could only sit still and wait.

  Wait to see whom this dangerous Prime Magistrate thought was deserving of a personal amercement.

  And, no, Jaylis had not ruled himself out of that category in some time.

  Not since his appointment to this position, actually.

  Juristin’s face bled from the gash marks along the width of his forehead and the length of one side – his breathing was taxed, and his eyes were wide with fear. His left arm hung limp at his side – Rafal had broken it when the sniveling legate had raised it to block the Prime Magistrate’s initial blow which had been drawn by Juristin’s taunt regarding Chiyoto and “Rafal’s disgusting beast.”

  Apparently, the soft courtier had not taken seriously Rafal’s arrival at his quarters as a true challenge. And, obviously, the fact that Rafal had Jaylis escort the legate’s female – the Prime Magistrate was not sure if it was his mate or not as it was not the same female as had accompanied him in the dining room – out into the passageway had not made an impression. In fact, Rafal was now convinced this self-righteous member of his sire’s inner circle had no true idea of the power that lurked within the Prime Magistrate of Bohrea Cardinal – but the elder councilman at least now had an inkling.

  Both he and his sniveling spotted bear did.

  But the legate’s bear cowered so far within his cognate form that the elder legate was having trouble detecting that the beast still existed inside of himself – it had not even allowed itself to become present when Rafal’s beast had presented in obvious challenge.

  Both the bear and Juristin had been so over-whelmed by the strength and power the great red beast merely exuded that they had literally been paralyzed with fear.

  The gash combination on the Legate’s face was the warrior’s mark of a coward – a mark he would wear for the remainder of his days – Rafal’s beast had made sure of that with its poison and serrated claws.

  “You will never again speak to me out of disrespect or without regard to my station above you, is that understood, Juristin?” Rafal demanded as he fastened his pants and confidently draped his shirt over one shoulder.

  His beast was appeased for now – it had felt good to mark Juristin for the coward that he was, but the beast had begun calling for another taste of their Chiyoto – to mark her as theirs and theirs alone.

  The only response to the Prince’s inquiry was a slight whimper that escaped the terrified Juristin’s mouth.

  But Rafal was not letting things go that easily – he wanted pure submission from this pompous esholeshek – anything less was not enoug
h.

  The Crowned Prince leaned down and into the cowering male’s face – a face that quickly lowered in a submissive gesture. Rafal let his beast growl again.

  “Is. That. Understood. Kuçuk adam?”

  “Yes, Prime Magistrate,” the elder male practically spat the words through his anger and humiliation even though his focus remained on the floor, “We understand.”

  Rafal let his beast growl as he lifted Juristin’s chin to see his beast through his eyes – a spotted bear so far in submission that it lay on its back waiting to die. Rafal’s beast growled in annoyance at the cowardice.

  “And that respect will extend to any in my company at any given time, is that clear?”

  Juristin clenched his teeth in a moment’s delay – a moment for which Rafal had no patience. The Prime Magistrate snarled as he let his claws pierce the legate’s skin again.

  Juristin shuddered as he replied, “Clear, Prime Magistrate.”

  Rafal stood to his full height.

  “Good. Then we look forward to your presence at the upcoming Celebration at the Royal Palace, Juristin,” Rafal felt his beast shudder at attending, but this was not about his beast right now, “I am sure my sire would be distraught without all of his Inner Circle Councilors there,” Rafal purposefully kicked Juristin’s foot out of the way on his way to the door, “And you would not want to anger your Khedive would you, Legate?”

  Rafal let himself chuckle sadistically as he unlocked the hatchway and swung it wide – Juristin’s female rushing past him to fall beside her male on the floor.

  “You may tend to your tabansıs now, Hanfendi,” Rafal strode past the gaping Jaylis as the dumbfounded Captain stood in the doorway staring down at the broken and bleeding Juristin – the elder legate’s bare chest heaving for breath.