Empress Hiding Read online

  Rafal felt as though his skin would erupt in tiny flames at any moment. And his female’s words moved so quickly from what seemed like one issue to another that he could not even keep up with the transitions much less the issues themselves … but the whole thing was laced with her pain, and that was the one thing he would not have.

  Neither he nor his beast could tolerate it.

  Rafal and his beast growled in unison as he lifted the babbling Chiyoto off her feet and shoved her – as gently as possible in his present possessive and protective state of mind – against the wall and pushed his hips between her legs against her crotch and wrapped her legs around his waist, essentially trapping her there.

  The move completely took her breath away – and, with her gasp, the insane tumble of words ended abruptly as he kissed her hard and demandingly on the lips – both he and his beast needing her pain to stop.

  He continued to kiss her – to ravish her mouth and her neck with his lips and his tongue and his teeth – and oh, gods! she tasted heavenly! And, as he deepened and hardened his kisses, one hand snaked up her back as he extended a talon to slice through the strap on the fastener – he grinned against her neck as she gasped at his action.

  And only then did he begin to speak in-between his tastes of her.

  “Hear me, Chiyoto,” his breath came in heavy gulps now and Chiyoto could feel his hard length rub against her insistently, “If you braided your hair, I could not hold onto it as you know I prefer to do,” he yanked her hair to reveal a tender part of her neck which he teasingly licked oh so slowly – until she shivered, “I hate all that paint the females wear” – he breathed a deep breath of her peppermint essence into his lungs, “and I am not ashamed of you” – he lowered his hand from her back and shoved one hand up either side of her tunic until both palms found the godsforsaken fastener strap that went under each arm – “I am simply loathe to share my time with you with any one of the useless and annoying beings that play political games because of who I am” – he extended a talon on each hand and cut the straps under each of her arms, grinning again as she sucked in a breath and her eyes grew wide with the snapping noises – “and the only female I prefer to have beside me” – his beast growled in protestation through his breath – “the only female we will have against us” – Rafal leaned away from her torso just in the slightest, just enough to reach a hand under her tunic in the front and grab a firm hold of the fastener and yank it firmly such that the whole fastener came over her shoulders and out in his hand from underneath the front of her tunic – “is you, shioliah”.

  Rafal tossed the now useless garment over his shoulder as he pulled his Chiyoto’s body with those perfect and now unfettered breasts against him, and both he and his beast snarled long and low in relief and contentment – his face buried in her neck – his olefactory drowning in her scent.

  She giggled contentedly as she tightly fisted her hands in his hair and held on so tightly that her hands trembled as she breathed in his fresh water and strength.

  And smiled.

  “But Rafal, about the elder, dressed-up male that …,” three of Rafal’s fingers blindly found their way to her lips and sealed them closed.

  “I would finish, shioliah,” His voice gentle yet firm.

  She teasingly licked his fingers against her lips, and she felt him shudder at the action, but she remained quiet as his action demanded.

  Rafal slowly raised his head so that their gazes met, and, once again, Runa knew that her Chiyoto’s heart was no longer her own.

  “I am not genteel and am especially not a gentle male, my Chiyoto,” Rafal’s eyes were softer than she had ever seen them – even Runa felt the depth of his emotions that weighed on his words, “And my beast’s lust for violence gets difficult to control at times, especially when it is a matter of righteous anger or ire in the face of injustice.”

  A small smile breached her trembling lips as Runa’s magenta flashed in her eyes as she reached forward and touched his cheek – her warm and stimulating sensations rushing through all that he was, “It is because you are so strong, Rafal. Both you and your beast share that same strength, the same anger and ire, whether either of you admits it or not,” Rafal’s beast shook its head and sat back in wonder as the Crowned Prince’s eyes widened at her words, “Sometimes that anger and that ire are what it takes to control an Empire such as ours – but it is truly knowing when to exercise one or the other or when to appeal to an absence of both that makes you a true monarch.”

  Chiyoto could not believe the words that fell from her mouth, and Rafal simply stared at her as if he were studying her. As if he was deciding whether or not …

  Oh, Makers! She should never have said …

  Suddenly, before Chiyoto knew what was happening, Rafal’s lips were on hers again – his tongue demanding entrance – his hands possessing every little part of her body – his beast growling from within in unison with his groans of hunger that consumed Chiyoto completely. She felt her contact with Runa fall away somewhere as her whole world once again became Rafal.

  Her Rafal.

  She breathed him in as he ran his teeth along her neck – his hands fully kneading her breasts until he pinched their taught nipples – the action sending sensations through her entire body and resulting in a throaty gasp that Chiyoto barely recognized as herself. Her inhalation was answered by a long, low rumble from inside of Rafal as he wrapped what seemed like his entire body around hers and squeezed so hard she could barely take a breath.

  And, as she felt the blood pressure rise in her neck and head area such that she could almost hear the forceful push of that blood through her veins, she thought she heard him say something – a single word, perhaps? But, in addition to her hearing being affected by the blood flow, Rafal’s voice was muffled with the positioning of his mouth in the crook of her neck where it met her shoulder.

  But then she knew she heard Runa growl – in her head? Audibly to Rafal? She was not sure …

  Rafal stepped away from the wall – another of his challenging grins adorning his face. He, once again, bared his teeth and snapped them together just a hairsbreadth from her face – oh, he and Runa had exchanged something although Chiyoto was at a loss as to what it was or when, exactly, it had transpired. Then Rafal slowly lowered Chiyoto to her feet as he gently and even tenderly kissed her before slowly pulling himself to stand upright.

  “That male now wears the warrior’s mark of a tabansıs, shioliah,” his entire insides relaxed as he watched a contented smile breech her lips. He reached out and, once again, grasped her mane – noticing that Runa did not growl in protest to the action this time, “He will never disrespect you again, and he will wear the mark forever.”

  Chiyoto nuzzled into his chest, and Rafal swallowed hard with the deep and unfamiliar emotions that filled him now.

  “Thank you, Rafal,” she whispered against him.

  You see? The violence … they enjoy it, ahmak!

  All he could manage was a tight closing of his eyes as he securely held his female – their mate – to him. His beast hummed along with the contented sighs that emanated from his Chiyoto.

  After what was far too short a time, he heard her mirth-filled giggle again. Rafal loosened his grip on her mane so that she could look up at him, her eyes sparkling with a childish mirth.

  “You are not wearing any shoes, my Rafal.”

  Rafal hrumphed and let slip a crooked smile of his own as, with one arm securely around her, he turned them toward the entrance to the Royal Suite.

  “I tell you what,” he whispered in her ear as he felt her body tense again with their heading toward his quarters, “Dalis can make you a big morning meal – anything you want or need, understand? – while your Rafal showers and readies for the day. How is that?”

  Runa roared loudly and unexpectedly in agreement – her apparent disagreement with the Crowned
Prince obviously forgotten with the promise of needed sustenance, and Rafal frowned down at her grinning face as he keyed the entry code.

  “Was that your stomach, shioliah?”

  Chiyoto tensed and gently covered her mouth as some blush crept into her face – she had been too relaxed in Rafal’s presence to mask the intensity of Runa’s reaction, and she embarrassedly shook her head as Rafal held the hatchway open for her to enter with him.

  “I think Runa may be just a bit hungry as well, Rafal.”

  Rafal only nodded and took a deep breath and let it out – his hand tightening slightly in her mane as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head to reassure her trepidation.

  Some day soon they would broach the subject of the identity of his mate’s dangerous animal – the obvious predator that clearly did not like his use of the word ‘mine’ in reference to his Chiyoto – the animal that demonstrated a protectiveness of its cognate like none other of which Rafal was aware.

  Or had even known was physically possible.

  But not this day.

  Rafal thought of everything else he needed to handle before he brought his Chiyoto out for a public walk and a public meal so that she would know he was in no way hiding her or ashamed of her.

  No, the subject of this Runa would definitely not be broached today.

  “Dalis?”

  Rafal hailed his trusted steward as he turned and latched the door behind them.

  Chapter 16

  “He only sensed the three with Crimson blood,” Kilgar’s tone was harsh as he walked through a few preliminary plans with Hondo.

  “I thought you said there were four Blood-bornes of the six?” Hondo shoved another large bite into his mouth looking over the second troop layout Kilgar brought up for discussion over the map of Tristanin.

  Tristanin was the location of the Royal Palace. The millennia-old structure was built early in the before-times on a huge parcel of land spread across the base of the only other substantial range of mountains on Bohrea Cardinal save the ones in Hondo’s territories. Unlike Hondo’s mountainous region, however, the Ac Gorkem Mountains that were a backdrop to the magnificent Royal Palace were immense, dangerously steep, and devoid of any land-born life. There were any number of winged creatures that made their homes there, but that was simply because they were the only animals that could gain access to the green-covered areas that adorned an extremely narrow region of the mountain sides that began at approximately 1100 feet and ended just past 1500 feet. Below the minimum height was nothing but nearly vertical and extremely weather-worn solid rock faces that jutted up almost inexplicably from the ground, and above the tree line was nothing but a beautiful array of multi-colored – due to the wide variety of striated and banded elements contained therein – rock spires that rose so high into the air that the clouds usually settled well below their peaks.

  And the Royal Palace was built such that it was perfectly back-dropped by the un-scaleable peaks in the rear and a great expanse of open landscape in the front. The expanse was dotted with some of the largest Tristana trees on the planet – thus, the name of the region being Tristanin.

  Kilgar grunted to indicate he was still chewing a bite as he nodded his head in agreement with Hondo – the Captain took a big swallow of his fermenti and continued, a sly grin spreading across his face.

  “Two were Crimson, three were Blood-borne, and one was of mixed heritage,” Kilgar’s eyes sparkled with intrigue, “I was not sure how that one would play out, but I like it,” Kilgar took another deep swallow and continued, “Just means we will need only our pureblood Blood-bornes as snipers within the palace walls – we can use the rest of the talent in plain sight. They are the only ones fully welcome by invitation anyway except the Somdech, of course.”

  Hondo’s wartrige growled long and low.

  “What about the Incas?”

  Kilgar grinned again as he pointed to a few select places on the layout.

  “What is left of their numbers after the shocking virus runs through the herd will be more than a bit distracted with the heated females that will decidedly be loose in the surrounding countryside,” Kilgar paused to gauge his Prince’s reaction – which, of course was exactly as he had expected.

  Hondo stared at his friend in disbelief as he froze with another bite headed toward his mouth.

  Kilgar waved him off.

  “Do not even start with me, Hondo,” the Captain’s tone was firm, “We are talking about the future of the kahrolasi Empire here – your and Rafal’s lives, for the gods’ sake – if a few kahrolasi creatures go down instead of our soldiers or either of you, then so be it.”

  The two stared at each other intently – their beasts growling across the map table at each other, but neither moved. Finally, Hondo broke the stare and continued to shovel the bite into his mouth as he tried to speak through the mouthful of food.

  “Wuh abow duh guhds?”

  Kilgar furrowed his brow as he chewed his own large bite of food.

  “Huh? Duh wuh?”

  Hondo rolled his eyes as he continued to chew, but this time he pointed to and fervently tapped his nose to help in the translation.

  “Duh guhds! Duh gahds, ahkmok!”

  Kildar’s entire upper body nodded in understanding as he grabbed his fermenti and took a large swallow before answering.

  “Yeah, the nose-guards can be thrown off by some of that expensive sidik the Blood-borne orospus use for their Crimson customers,” Kilgar chuckled to himself as Hondo made a distasteful cringe with his entire face, “The soldiers will use it daily for at least eight or so days prior to make sure it is practically part of their chemistry – they will definitely not like it, but it will eventually wear off.”

  Hondo shook his head and actually rubbed his nose profusely, as if he or his beast could actually smell the stuff at this moment. Kilgar laughed out loud at him.

  “Siktir git,” Hondo mumbled under his breath even as a smile tried to breech his pursed lips.

  The Prince lifted his sise to have another drink when there was an insistent scratching on the door. Kilgar immediately brought down the digital battle overlay as Hondo sniffed the air.

  And instantly relaxed.

  Hondo nodded at Kilgar to stand down as the expectant Prince coded the passcode into the pad on the maproom table to let his Shelvana enter.

  The Somdech was clothed in her short, flowing yet fitted tunic and usual bare feet. Yearlan had designed Shelvana’s clothing style based on her true desire to not wear any clothing at all as she always had in the Barrens before she was mated to Hondo – short and unrestricted though providing coverage as necessary to adhere to social conventions – although she did deign to wear longer tunics in the dead of winter since she could not walk around in her natural fur coat. As it was, she refused to wear undergarments of any kind. And shoes were right out unless she was dressing for an affair of state and had to wear some slip-on rope sandals to accompany her Prince. Not that any of these adaptations bothered Hondo in the least – it certainly gave him and his wartrige easier access to their mate, and what male would be bothered by that?

  Shelvana nodded at Kilgar before turning her full attention to her Hondo.

  “Good morn, Kilgar,” she politely stated in passing as she approached Hondo who sat on one of the raised chairs on the opposite side of the map table from his Captain. She held out her hand with a communiqué of some kind as she stopped such that she stood between Hondo’s parted knees on the stool.

  “This came for you, my …,” Hondo interrupted her to capture her mouth in a kiss as he reached a hand beneath her short shirtdress and immediately found her precious slit into which to slide his searching fingers. Shelvana quietly moaned into his mouth as he speared her twice with two fingers and promptly withdrew both his kiss and his hand.

  Hondo took the paper from her with his free
hand as he quickly sucked her moisture off his fingers on the other – a guttural sound emanating from his beast at her taste. As Hondo opened and read the letter, Shelvana’s chest began emanating a thrumming sound as she firmly rubbed a hand up and down his solid bicep leaning over to gently sniff him there – her tongue lightly flicking out to occasionally taste his skin.

  Hondo grunted as he read, passing a hand over Shelvana’s long, motley-colored hair, eventually thrusting his hand back under her skirt to simply pet her this time – his touch light and tender and affectionate in that most private of areas.

  And her thrumming sounds increased in intensity – her rubbing on his arm moving to his neck and chest.

  Not removing his hand from his Shelvana, Hondo tossed the letter to Kilgar.

  “Your thoughts?”

  Kilgar acted as though it were still just the two of them there – Hondo’s interactions with Shelvana hardly registering with his planning and strategizing. He grabbed the communiqué Hondo had tossed across the table to him and let his mind digest the contents.

  As he did so, Hondo turned and spoke softly directly into his Shelvana’s ear as he proceeded to massage her mound rather than just pet it.

  “Was there something else, kedi?”

  Shelvana’s thrumming faded and she nodded against Hondo – her hands slowly transitioning to a kneading motion as she widened her stance in front of him. She moved her mouth up to his ear.