DarykRogue (8 page)

“There you have it then. From the mouth of one who knows.”

“I would rather see for myself, but I don’t have time. I
need to return to Magonia.”

“What is so important there?”

She shook her head, unwilling to give him more. “Business.”
Before he could press her to ask more, she swerved toward a new subject. “Your
parents were good people?”

“My father was a professor who taught children their sums,
and my mother also taught very small children. They were gentle people.”

Surprised that he’d revealed his childhood to her like that,
she relaxed in his grip. “That’s wonderful.”

“It was. I had a happy childhood. But it wasn’t perfect.”

“Is it ever?”

“Perhaps not.” He released her but didn’t move away. “When
it was apparent I was to become a Daryk One, they tried to hide my abilities.”

Daryk One. Oh my god Magon.
“You’re a Daryk One?”

His smile held wicked teasing, his gaze losing that
intensity for one moment. “You’ve heard of us? What do you
think
you
know?”

She licked her lips and his gaze flicked to her mouth and
settled there. Heat flowed and filled her up. “Daryk Ones are powerful. Men who
are stronger than the average man and brutal killers. And you’re all in
alliance with Drakus Fina, an evil man who wishes to bring down the Magonian
government and enslave every Magonian man, woman and child. Your slave ships
are filled to the brim with Magonian women who Drakus uses as breeding
material.”

Teasing left his eyes, replaced by a hard, unforgiving air.
“Some of your story is completely wrong. But I’m not sure I want to take the
time to tell you which parts are right.”

He started to turn away and took a couple of steps toward
the bed. His wide shoulders were sculpted with muscle, waist trim, his butt
hard. And his legs. Ah, his legs fascinated her. Thighs peppered with dark
hair, corded strength through his calves and into his big feet. Xandra couldn’t
help but stare, and when he turned to look back, he caught her assessing his
body.

She couldn’t avoid seeing his manhood without acting the
complete ninny, the full prude. His cock, she’d once heard this part of a man
called. Somehow the word fit so well. Thick and long, his arousal stood erect
from a thatch of dark hair that grew between his thighs. Her mouth opened, her
breath caught. Her body reacted beyond her control as an ache grew between her
thighs. He nipples peaked, grew taut, her breasts feeling larger and rounder.

Taris Elian hadn’t looked anything like this.

And his cock certainly hadn’t either.

She should look away—all the teaching of Magon said she
shouldn’t even see this part of him once she married him. Of course, Taris
wasn’t concerned about that. He’d showed her his cock the moment they were in
the marriage bed. Rayder didn’t need to know that. “A man and woman never see
each other’s…”

“Nakedness?” His voice dropped, going deeper and harder. He
approached again, his stride sure, his power evident.

She couldn’t tear her attention away as stood close in front
of her. Every inch of sculpted, finely honed man created conflicting emotions.
“Yes.”

“Does it scare you?”

“Yes.”

“There’s nothing to fear. I can show you.”

“No. Our marriage is a sham. We can’t…consummate it.”

He speared his fingers into her hair and drew her slowly
against him. “We can if we wish to.” His mouth hovered over hers, his breath
fresh and warm on her lips. “You might not like it, my beauty, but there’s
something between us. It’s hot and it’s real. There’s no shame in it.”

Thunder roared outside and she flinched.

“You can deny it all you want,” he said, “but I feel that
you want me.”

Fire blossomed low in her stomach. She sucked in an
uncertain, shocked breath.

“We can partake of pleasures of the flesh then dissolve the
marriage when convenient,” he said.

That stung, even when it shouldn’t have. “You would toss
aside a wife so easily?”

“Yes. The marriage is binding on Dragonia, but we can get it
dissolved once we’re on dry land. It’s of no consequence since we don’t love
one another and we’re not mates.”

Love? Did this man truly believe in love? The idea started
an ache way deep inside both in her mind and body. She didn’t know why, but the
thought of Rayder in love with a woman sent strange sensations bolting around
inside her. She didn’t understand love between a man and woman, yet she still
didn’t like the idea of him bonded with another woman in an undeniable way.

Feeling bold and angry, she pushed at his chest to get away.
Hard, warm muscles moved under her touch, her fingers tickled by the hair that
sprinkled over his chest. Heat blossomed in her belly.

He tugged her closer and slipped his hands down her arms to
her waist. “Why are you provoking me? Do you like making me insane with your
questions and insinuations?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never wanted to provoke a man the way I
do you. Maybe because I’ve never met a slave trader before.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me, Xandra. Don’t presume
to know my motivations.”

“There’s nothing I need to understand about a slave trader.”

He jeered. “There’s nothing I need to know about you other
than your body. From the moment I pulled you out of the water, you’ve haunted
my every waking thought. Your hair is so beautiful.” He tangled his fingers in
the strands. “Your body is soft in all the right places.” His fingers caressed
her hip then returned to her cup the back of her neck. “Your breasts burn into
my chest whenever I hold you. I can’t wait to see you in that bridal dress. And
you don’t know how much I want to suck your nipples and sink my cock deep
between your legs, fucking you until you’re screaming in ecstasy.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock, but she couldn’t retort,
couldn’t think of one thing as she drowned in powerful sensation.

“You think I’m nothing more than a dirty bastard.” He
whispered close to her ear, his hot breath teasing her until she shivered. His
tongue wisped over the side of her neck and shot fire through her body. “If
there’s nothing I can do to prove you wrong, then I guess I’ll have to prove
you right.”

She wanted to growl at him, her pique growing as he pressed
his naked body against her. She gasped as his hardness nestled against her
belly. She understood that hard column of flesh. He wanted her, and that
frightened her more than the storm and grief recalled. For she wanted the same
thing, her curiosity rampant, her longing deep and unaccountable. It was if
he’d erased every moral she’d learned in the Chronicles of Magon. How could
this disreputable man make her respond, challenge everything she knew?

His gaze flickered, a spark of red that took her off guard
and made her gasp.

“Your eyes—”

“You don’t see anything,” he said raggedly. “I swear you’ll
be the death of me yet.”

Before she could move, he cupped the back of her neck,
anchored her body around the waist and kissed her.

Rayder’s mouth settled upon Xandra’s, tasting so much richer
and hotter than it had before. As his arm braced her waist and he kept her
anchored to him, she shivered with myriad sensations. Achy, feral, needy
feelings. Heat shot through her belly, boiling upward as his mouth twisted across
hers. Taste after taste, he urged her into response. She clutched at his
shoulders and hung on tight as every hard inch of his body demanded her notice.
His legs braced apart, and when he cupped her ass cheeks in his hands, she
moaned softly in protest. Thick cock pressed intimately against her pleasure
spot, and she gasped again as frantic pleasure rocked her. As her lips parted,
he thrust his tongue into her mouth. She gasped at the invasion, but it felt so
good, so right. Again and again his tongue caressed hers, creating a fire far
more tempestuous than any storm she’d endured.

He tore his mouth from hers, breathing raggedly as he buried
his face in the side of her neck. His tongue traced tiny patterns on sensitive
flesh, and she shivered with wanton need. She craved—no, she died for more of
what he was giving her despite the immorality of what she did. But it was too
wild, to uncertain, too amazing to abandon.

Before she could gather air, his touch became far more
intimate. His palms slid down over her waist and hips then back to cup her
breasts. With a soft pluck, he teased one nipple. She moaned as heat as fierce
as the lightning outside jolted her. He wedged one strong thigh between her
legs and pressed upward. The ache between her legs burst into serious throbbing
need. She writhed on his leg, pressing, retreating, allowing the upward
movement of his thigh between her legs. One hand plunged into the front of her
pants and touched her pussy lips. She gasped.

In the back of her melting sensibilities, she knew she had
to stop this. She pressed against his chest. Under her touch, his chest muscles
bunched and wiry hair prickled along her fingertips. Before she could speak, he
teased a spot at the top of her pussy. She inhaled sharply as pleasure danced
and tingled in that one spot.

“That’s right,” he said softly, hotly into her ear. “Feel
it.”

She couldn’t think of anything else as unbearable pleasure
spiraled out from that sensitive point. He dipped one finger between her pussy
lips and drew the wetness upward, circling and brushing over the sensitive spot
with soft touches that drove her one step away from madness.

Must stop.

Must.

His other hand reached into the back of her pants and
smoothed over her bottom, cupping, stroking and adding fuel to her already
fiery needs.

“What’s happening to me?” She whimpered the question, too
far gone for embarrassment.

He licked her earlobe and a shiver went through her body.
“Pleasure.”

He slipped one finger into her pussy and she quivered, more
surprise and more pleasure hitting her hard. With steady rhythm he pumped his
finger inside her. The fire increased, threatening to tear her apart. She threw
her head back, eyes closed, body out of control and writhing in his arms.

“I can’t.” She gasped, wanting to beg for something.
Anything to stop this staggering pleasure that must surely be a sin.

“You can.” His voice was a husky demand. “You will.”

His fingers swirled over that sweet spot outside her pussy.
He then slipped two fingers deep inside and thrust with a steady, gentle beat.
Higher and higher sensations piled one upon the other. She ached deep, wanting
something she couldn’t define but didn’t want to abandon.

Rayder pushed her to the edge with the steady movements of
his fingers as he touched her inside, caressing over tender surfaces that
tingled and ached.

She didn’t understand what she wanted, and she wriggled,
grasping at his shoulders with desperation. “Please. I need…”

A low growl left his throat, and she dared to open her eyes.
Red burned there. It should have frightened her, drove her out of his arms.
Instead, the conflagration within her rose higher and hotter. He lifted her
tunic, baring her breasts. She caught his hand and for a moment thought he’d
relent.

Rayder’s eyes glowed and he took a deep breath. “So
beautiful.”

He leaned forward and touched his tongue to one already hard
nipple. She jerked in reaction to the intimate caress. It was too much, too
sensitive, too incredible. He suckled her and returned to caressing her between
the legs. The combination of wonderful sensations threw her closer to the top,
until she fell into the abyss without looking backward.

The rhythm caught her in its control, and his touch danced
again. She rose with the tempo and became part of the song, drawn upward until
she’d reached the tallest mountain and teetered on the precipice.

He slipped his hand down her butt cheeks, and with one
finger teased her back entrance then dipped his finger partway inside. A hot
tingling throbbed outward from her womb to that tender button at the top of her
sex. As his fingers continued to plunder inside her creamy channel, the finger
teasing her back passage plunged deep.

Startled and astonished by the pleasure, she came apart with
a gasping, shivering delight that shook her from the core outward. She’d never
felt anything as glorious and beautiful, and it took her breath away. She cried
out at the apex, unable to control her delight. As her breath came in gasps, he
withdrew his fingers and released her breast. Dazed, she tried to catch her breath.
Xandra stared at Rayder in fascination as the red remained.

Rayder peppered gentle kisses to her lips, down her neck and
once more to her ear. “There’s more, but I’ll save that for our wedding night.”
Gently he released her and stepped over to the washing basin. After he’d washed
his hands, he strode back to the bed. He slipped under the covers and gestured.
“Come. Sleep beside me. I promise not to touch you again tonight.”

She almost refused and said she’d take the chair, but
lightning sent a sharp dagger into the room and she started. The ship rocked
harder. Fear vaulted upward, and against her better judgment, she padded across
the floor to the bed. She crawled under the covers swiftly.

Once she’d covered herself to the neck, she lay as far on
the other side of the bed as she could. She stayed stiff and unmoving. She
didn’t know what to think. What she’d just experienced with him threw her into
a tizzy of confusion. Taris’ touches, his groping, fumbling actions hadn’t
caused this type of pleasure. Only revulsion. Why was it so different with
Rayder?

“Was that…” Embarrassment burned in her face. “Was that
sex?”

“Yes.” His voice was gruff. “But there’s more. Go to sleep.
Tomorrow is an important day.”

She licked her lips. “Nothing like that has ever happened to
me before.”

“I guessed as much.”