HeroUnleased (15 page)

Amaryllis didn’t let his silence deter her. She continued to
coo in a deep, sultry voice. “Earlier you wouldn’t answer my questions. Perhaps
you’ll be more inclined to answer me now.”

She ran her fingers through his thick hair, trailing the
backs over his cheek and down his neck. Alternating between the pads of her
fingers and the scrape of her nails, she caressed him over his chest and
shoulders. The only outward response Bale gave was a slight flare of his
nostrils, until she pinched his sensitive nipples between her fingernails.

Both men gasped with the pain as a fissure of fire raced
down Lucian’s belly to inflame his cock.

Bale seemed to notice Lucian’s presence for the first time
and tried to block his hatred but didn’t even come close. His eyes narrowed and
a tic pulsed in his jaw as a million pinpricks scratched across Lucian’s skin.

Amaryllis looked back and forth between the two men with an
interested arch to her brow. “I see there’s no love lost here. Tell me, Bale.
Why do you hate Lucian so?”

He drew in a large breath but remained silent. With a slight
smile, Amaryllis continued to caress his chest, leaving pink lines on his skin
as she dug her nails into his flesh. His abdominal muscles flexed the lower she
touched and his breath caught as the tips of her fingers slipped beneath the
codpiece.

Lucian gasped as heat erupted around his groin. Amaryllis
was twisting the hair around Bale’s cock and the sensation traveled straight to
Lucian. The biting pain tapered off, leaving him surprisingly aware of his
aching erection and the pressure building in his balls.

“The story I heard is you blame Lucian for the death of your
family. Is that true? Tell me your story, Bale.”

His breath grew ragged and as harsh as a rusty chainsaw.

“Tell me, Bale.”

When he continued to remain silent, she pulled away. His
body followed, betraying his eagerness for more of her touch.

“What was your wife like? Was she cold? Unfeeling? A
vicious, cruel bitch?”

That broke his silence. “She was perfect,” he spat. “Gentle.
Kind.”

Amaryllis smiled. “Beautiful.”

“Yes.”

“A good mother.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. “Yes.”

She resumed running her hands over his chest. “How many of
Hamerkind’s men ambushed your colony?” She stopped her caress when he didn’t
answer.

His throat worked as he swallowed. “Fifty-five.”

She rewarded him with more touching. “How many left that
night?”

“Fifty-five.”

“How many are alive now?”

“None.”

“You killed them all?”

He nodded.

“Good.”

He looked at her sharply and blinked with surprise. “What?”

“If I were your wife, I’d want them all to suffer for what
they did to me and our child. And you made them suffer, didn’t you, Bale?”

“Every last one.”

She swayed as she moved behind him. From the side table
Lucian saw her retrieve a whip and uncoil the long length. “And who did you
kill after that?”

Lucian tensed, sensing Bale’s confusion.

Amaryllis ran the blunt end of the whip down his spine and
Lucian felt the pressure along his own vertebrae. “After you killed those
soldiers, who was next? Tell me. As your wife, I’d have the right to know.”

A thin whistle preceded the crack of leather on flesh.
Lucian and Bale arched with a surprised hiss as the burn of the lash raced
across their backs.

She flicked the whip a second time, scoring his other
shoulder. “Tell me, Bale. Tell your wife who it was.”

“No one,” he panted. “No one she’d know.”

“Then why?” She threw the whip twice more. “Why kill if it
wasn’t for her? Is that who you thought she was? Bloodthirsty? Cruel? Is that
how you remember her? As your wife, I’d demand an answer.”

With each question, the whip fell in steady strokes. The
scorching heat mellowed into a sizzling simmer that tightened all of his
muscles and constricted his chest. Lucian bucked in his restraints as did Bale,
whose body swayed in time with his punishment, not to get away from the lash
but to seek more of the pain.

“Answer me, husband. Did you think I’d be honored by you
spilling innocent blood? By living a life drenched in vengeance? Is this the
type of father I’d want for my child?” Bale held back a strangled sob. “You
were my husband. As my bonded mate, how could you think I would want this?”

Bale froze and Lucian’s hearts stopped with him. His throat
closed up as a sense of shame filled his lungs, drowning him with such guilt,
his knees buckled.

Amaryllis sucked in a breath as her eyes widened at the
concession. “You never bonded,” she murmured and laid her hand on his shoulder.
“Why?”

The big man shuddered and bowed his head.

“I loved you?” she asked.

“Yes,” came the choked reply.

“You loved me?”

He closed his eyes and nodded.

She brushed her lips down his corded neck. “Why didn’t we
bond?”

His grief ripped through Lucian as he whispered, “I didn’t
trust you.”

“That’s not true. You trusted me to care for our home and
our family. But that’s not what you mean, is it?” She lifted her gaze and
stared at Lucian with those all-seeing lavender eyes that speared right to the
heart of the truth that both men harbored. “There’s a darkness that lives
inside every
Llanos
. It allows you to give your life for your people, to
fight for innocents like me. It allows you to do unspeakable acts if needed and
drives you to live a life of extremes. That darkness is what you couldn’t trust
me with. Am I right?”

“You were so pure,” Bale muttered, lost in his memories.
“You deserved so much better than me.”

“But I wanted you anyway, Bale.” Amaryllis stepped back.
“Your fear that I would regret bonding with you kept us apart.”

Lucian fought the tears Bale’s remorse brought forth. To
bond with another was the most sacred and humbling of experiences. You were
laid bare, every fear, every hunger exposed to your mate in an inseparable
connection. Bale craved dark hunger, he liked the fight, he liked the bite of
the whip and the rake of a woman’s nails over the welts. Lucian imagined that
in Bale’s mind, Natalia had been so delicate and pure, he refused to blacken
her in any way. It was the same reaction he had when it came to protecting
Amaryllis from his darker nature. Only now was he realizing that his mate was
more than capable of handling all of him.

“I couldn’t.” Bale shuddered. “Couldn’t give you what you
asked.”

“And that’s why you kill. I died and you were truly on your
own. Alone with the regret that you somehow failed me.”

Crack!

She had moved so quickly, Lucian didn’t see her lift her
hand until the leather struck Bale’s back.

“I ask you again. How does bathing in the blood of others
make up for your lack of trust? Hamerkind destroyed us, yet you willingly
become his lapdog to inflict the same pain. Make me understand, husband,” she
shouted and let the whip fly.

“I’m sorry,” Bale wept. The chains around his wrists kept
him from doubling over. The realization of his acts washed over him and Lucian
in an icy waterfall that hurt more than the lashes falling on his back and
legs. “I’m sorry.”

Soon the room became filled with the primal beat of groans,
sobs and the crack of leather. Bale’s defenses were shattered and all his
emotions were funneling directly to Lucian. That’s when he realized that
Amaryllis had been right.

Along with the pain came relief and with it, pleasure. Yes,
in this he and Bale were very much the same. They both failed their families,
yet no one else believed as they did, and so no one gave them the punishment
they felt they deserved. Lucian’s isolationism, Bale’s descent into ruthless
killer were attempts to atone for crimes they believed they committed, but it
wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. Until a penalty was carried out by
someone else’s hand, the sacrifice would never outweigh the guilt.

Amaryllis was the avenging goddess who understood exactly
what they needed. Her pale skin shimmered with perspiration and the skirt of
her gown billowed around her. Her lavender eyes glittered with determination
and a knowledge that sent a bolt of heat from his chest to his groin.

“Give me your darkness,” she commanded them. “Let me take
care of you and give you what you need.”

Lucian couldn’t look away from the tableau before him as
sweat poured off him. His cock was so stiff, the slightest breeze coming from
the whip was as firm as a lover’s grasp.

The buck and sway, the writhing bodies, as Amaryllis worked
both men over like a master conductor was breathtaking. Her will was strong,
yet Bale continued to hold out, relishing in his punishment but maintaining a
thread-thin hold on his emotions.

Amaryllis narrowed her stare and swung her arm in a round
arc, the tip of the whip kissed his tight sac, detonating the last of his
control.

Lucian clenched his jaw, holding back a scream as his cock
erupted and his seed jutted out onto the floor. His head swam as if filled with
helium as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

Amaryllis dropped the whip and wiped at the sweat on her
brow. She wrapped her arms about Bale’s heaving shoulders and found Lucian with
her steady gaze.

When she spoke, her words were for her mate as well. “You
were meant to be more than a harbinger of death. Your purpose is to fight for
justice because no one understands injustice better than you. Not even our
great powers can change the past, and wallowing in regret dishonors those who
loved us. You have been given the gift of today and the possibility of
tomorrow. Don’t fix yesterday’s regrets by making new ones. Live, truly live.
Use your wife’s memory to do good. That’s how you can honor her.”

Lucian, so overwhelmed with love and pride in his wife,
collapsed. The ropes around his arms were the only thing keeping him from
tumbling to the floor.

A strong arm wrapped around his waist, startling him. Male.
Solid. Lucian struggled to focus on the man loosening his bindings. It was the
smug grin stretching his lips that revealed his identity.

“Don’t be angry with her, cousin,” Dhavin said as he helped
Lucian down. “She loves you. As do I.”

“Which is why I haven’t taken you out at the knees,” he
slurred.

Dhavin half-dragged him to a bed and helped him lie down.
Lucian kept an eye on his mate who was releasing Bale from his cuffs. Jorges
worked the chain and stepped back as Amaryllis lifted Bale in her arms and set
him on a second bed. After Bale was secured to the headboard by cuffs around
his wrists, she hurried to Lucian’s side.

“Thank you for not being mad at me.” She brushed the hair
from his damp brow.

He caught her hand and pressed it to his lips. “You would
have made a magnificent queen. I am so proud to be your mate.”

Her eyes sparkled. “I’ll be reminding you you said that
later. Please, let Jorges see to you. I need to care for Bale.”

“Go to him.”

She pressed a kiss to his forehead then fit their mouths
perfectly together in a kiss that was more about their bond and respect than
about lust.

What Gods had he pleased to receive such a treasure? Lucian
sighed and continued the descent from the wild high.

“You’re a lucky man, Lucian,” Jorges murmured as he bathed
the sweat from Lucian’s arms.

“That I am.” He allowed his eyes to close, but not all the
way. He needed to have her in his sights and bask in her loving gaze as she
glanced his way. “That I am.”

Chapter Ten

Amaryllis kept one eye on her sated husband and the other on
the broken warrior shaking violently on the bed. She ran a cool cloth over his
body, removing sweat and tears from his golden skin.

Bale and Lucian were made from the same mold. Both sturdy in
muscle but incredibly weak when defeated. One-hundred-ten percent of their
effort was not enough. Those they loved were sacred and any slight against them
was a sign of their failure. They allowed their capacity to love to become
their greatest weakness.

Only when they were broken down to their essence could they
have the capacity to comprehend that they were part of a whole. They were but a
single cog in the wheel of humanity and not solely responsible for the
continuation of the universe. Amaryllis imagined that for these two men, a fact
of such magnitude would be difficult to accept.

With softly murmured words and tender touches, she eased
Bale down from the rush of submitting to his desires and fears. Tonight he took
a small step toward the light. An important step, for certain, but he had a
long journey back from the darkness he had resided in for so long. His path was
still in his hands, but Amaryllis was confident he would continue in the right
direction, especially with the support of her and Lucian.

“Why?” Bale whispered. His eyes drifted open to gaze at her
with a mixture of awe and humility creasing his brow. “Why?”

“You had a need. It is my duty to see to my people.”

He shook his head, as if unable to comprehend such
compassion. “Lucian was right. You are a queen worth fighting for.”

“Are you swearing your fealty to me,
Llanos
?”

He drew a deep breath before answering. “I am.”

Amaryllis let the statement hang in the air like a promise.
Bale’s devotion wasn’t her objective, but it was a gift she’d gladly accept as
quietly as it was offered.

A few more seconds passed when he asked, “What’s it like?
Being bonded.”

A giggle burst from her lips. “It’s the most wondrous and
maddening thing to ever befall a person.”

“And it frightens you,” he noted with a quiet surprise.

“Yes. Right now I can feel Lucian’s love for me, his pride
that I am his mate. But I can also taste his worry. Will he be able to provide
for me in all ways? Will he have the courage to let me have my independence
when all he wants is to lock me in a cage?”

“I doubt a cage will hold you.” He shied away from her
touch. “You don’t need to care for me any longer. I’ll be fine. Go to your
mate. I can taste his hunger for you. Go, Your Highness.”

She placed a kiss on his forehead. “Rest, my
Llanos
warrior.”

She pulled a velvet drape to afford him some privacy then
hurried to her husband’s side.

“Wait.” Lucian stopped her with a raised hand before she
reached the bed. “Take off the dress.”

The force in his command sent a current of heat through her
veins. He propped himself up on one elbow and readjusted the position of his
growing erection. The leashed power in his hot gaze and coiled muscles charged
the air between them, ratcheting up the temperature as control shifted from her
to Lucian.

She slowly pulled her arms out of the filmy sleeves and
shimmied the gown down her body. Lucian held out his hand, pulling her onto the
bed and into his arms the moment their palms touched.

His kiss was hard and fiery. A final warning that his will
would be obeyed and a wicked promise Amaryllis was frantic to collect.

Lucian pulled back and ran the tips of his fingers over her
cheek. “I love you. All of you.”

A lump formed in her throat as the truth of his words
cascaded over her in warmth and softness. She kissed his fingers, too overcome
to speak.

“I need, Amaryllis.” He pushed at her shoulders, fisting his
heavy cock and guiding the wet tip to her lips. “Open that pretty mouth and
suck me deep.”

Oh yes, her general was in charge. Just how she liked it.

She licked her lips and eagerly took the rigid shaft to the
back of her throat. His legs fell open as he held her by the hair, taking his
pleasure as he saw fit. That left her hands free to stroke his thighs and hips,
leaving pink welts with her nails as she ran them up his legs to his tight sac.

Lucian released a moan of pure bliss then hissed as she
scraped his length with the edge of her teeth and her tongue danced along the
underside.

“
Ack jus
,
akita
, you’re going to make me come.
Up.” He pulled at her hair. “I want to hear you scream. On your knees. Ass high
in the air.”

She obediently climbed to her knees and lowered her chest to
the mattress. Her hearts beat so hard, she swore they made the mattress
vibrate. The bed dipped as Lucian disappeared from her field of vision. She
gasped when his big hands tilted her hips higher. He spread the cheeks of her
ass wide and notched the head of his cock at her entrance.

“Please, Lucian.”

“You’re so wet. You like sucking my cock, don’t you?”

“Yes. Gods yes.”

He drove deep and fast, lodging all the way to the balls in
one lunge.

Amaryllis slapped her hand against the mattress to keep from
pitching forward. She braced her knees farther apart to steady herself against
Lucian’s powerful thrusts. Now it was her turn to fight for breath as he took
her hard and fast.

This was not a gentle lovemaking but an all-out carnal
assault meant to rob them both of their senses. He ran his hands over her
shoulders, down her breasts to tweak her nipples before delving into the folds
of her sex to rub her clit.

“That’s so good,” she groaned and arched her back to take
his thrusts deeper.

She lifted her sex-drugged eyelids and was caught by Bale’s
dark gaze.

The curtain had been brushed aside and Bale watched them
with a deceptively blank expression on his handsome face. He might not have
looked it, but he was intensely interested in their coupling. The muscles in
his arms flexed, the links of the broken cuffs jangling softly. His chest rose
in a rapid rhythm until it matched her own ragged breathing. Most of his body
was concealed by the drapery, but she was able to see down the line of his
torso to the jut of his hard cock.

Curiosity and longing shone in his eyes, not for her
specifically, but for a love and connection he had been too afraid to trust in.
She hoped he could see the power that came from entrusting one’s inner self to
another. Was it frightening? Bloodcurdlingly so. But the reward was far greater
than the risk.

“You need more, don’t you?” Lucian panted in her ear and
nipped at her shoulder.

“Yes. Yes,” she sobbed.

He smoothed his hands down her spine and cupped her hips.
His fingers fanned out over her rear and his thumbs brushed the crease of her
ass before he pushed both digits into the tight hole.

“
Jesu
, Lucian!” she screamed as the sharp burn stole
the last of her composure. “Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”

Stripped to her animalistic core, she pushed back into the
double invasion and begged for more of the intoxicating delirium that came with
being pushed to the edge. How long could she ride along the precipice? Torn
between the high of orgasmic ecstasy and the white-hot cleansing that came with
the exquisite rapture.

Could Bale feel her? Could he taste both hers and Lucian’s
desire? Did he understand that as a bonded mate, you didn’t have to hide your
darkness, because your mate shared the same hungers?

She reached out with her powers and fed him her frenzied
emotions, pumping him with an elixir of sex and love that made his cock bob in
the air. She watched the cum drip from the narrow tip and wondered about his
flavor, flicking her tongue along her lips as if she could taste him on her
tongue.

That was enough to push Bale into oblivion.

The veins in his neck stood out in stark relief as bit his
lip and his back arched. His cock erupted, splashing his belly with his cum.
His orgasm struck her and Lucian like a concussive wave. Her pussy seized,
clamping firmly down on Lucian’s shaft so that she felt the kick in his cock as
he bathed her walls with his cum. Even after his shout of release stopped
ringing in her ears, his hips kept thrusting in an erratic rhythm, drawing out
the pleasure until she wept with the onslaught.

Overcome by Lucian’s acceptance of her sexuality, she
sobbed. Words were only hot air, but actions spoke volumes. To have him in her
mind, loving her, all a dream come true. He wrapped her in the safety of his
love as strongly as the arms that gathered her close. He swept the hair out of
her eyes and fruitlessly wiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. Kisses
were peppered over her face and along her shoulders as soothing palms tried to
calm her teeth-chattering shudders.

“I’m—so—so sorry,” she stuttered.

“You’re perfect and amazing,” Lucian murmured into her ear.

She glanced over his shoulder and saw the curtain was once
again drawn, but the velvet was no barrier against the well of grief that bled
out of the big man who was alone on the other side.

She moved to jump off the bed to ease some of his pain, but
Lucian stopped her, pressing his lips to her ear to whisper, “No,
akita
.
Not yet. Let him have his space.”

“He hurts,” she whispered back. Bale’s pain made her realize
how fortunate she was to have Lucian and how devastating it would be to lose
him.

“I know.” He pulled her down by his side. “He’ll be okay,
Amaryllis. You’ve changed him. I’m so proud of you.”

Tears slid down her cheeks. There was so much she wanted to
say, so much she wanted to share about how amazing she found her mate, but
exhaustion robbed her of speech and she melted into Lucian’s arms, convinced
she was the most loved woman on Earth.

* * * * *

“Going anyplace in particular?”

Bale paused with one hand on the door leading out of The
Cavern. He turned toward where Lucian stepped from the shadows. He shrugged.
“Not a clue.”

Lucian nodded and tucked his hands into the pockets of his
jeans. “Do you have the means to return to Skandavia?”

“Yes.”

While the reply was in the affirmative, Lucian knew Bale
would never return to the homeland.

“Here, take these, please.” Lucian withdrew a cell phone and
some cash from his pocket. “I know you’re capable of taking care of yourself,
but Amaryllis will be angry if I didn’t send you off with something. Don’t know
how familiar you are with the technology here, but it’s a communications
device. All of our numbers are programmed in the phone. Please call if you have
need. We’ll be there.”

Bale took the offerings. His brow furrowed as he rubbed his
thumb over the screen. With a nod, he placed the items in his jacket pocket.
For several long seconds he stared at Lucian. His lips pinched and rolled with
the words that showed in his eyes yet remained unsaid. “Good luck to you and
your mate, Lucian.”

“Thank you, my brother.” He held out his hand, palm up with
his fingers curled to form a cup.

More ticks of the clock passed before Bale locked his
fingers around Lucian’s, completing the yin to his yang. They then grasped each
other around the forearm and bowed at the waist.

Bale stepped back and opened the door to late-afternoon sun.
He blinked at the bright light, hesitating with his hand on the door. His chest
expanded with a deep breath, then he stepped through the exit, the door closing
softly in his wake.

Lucian headed up the stairs to where he left his sleeping
bride. Along the way he looked around the kingdom Amaryllis had built for
herself. At the moment it was nothing but walls and tables. Catwalks and
darkened lights. Each night she opened her doors and tapped into the needs of
all who crossed her threshold. True to her word, all were welcome. Even hired
assassins.

Perhaps
his
hair color should have changed during
bonding to match her silver. He had a feeling his dark strands would quickly
turn to white with her as his mate.

He crept into her playroom and paused by the bed to strip
off his clothes.

“Did he take the money and the phone?” Amaryllis asked
without opening her eyes.

“Yes, he did.”

He climbed onto the bed and pulled her against his chest. He
kissed her on the forehead. “If you ever do something as foolish as that again,
I will paddle your luscious ass and you will not find it pleasurable.”

She snuggled deep and he felt her smile against the area
above his hearts. ”I believe what you mean to say is, ‘I’m sorry I doubted you,
Amaryllis, and I promise to trust your instinct in the future’.”

He snorted so hard, he hurt his sinus cavity. Once he began
laughing, he couldn’t stop until his belly ached and Amaryllis slapped his arm.
“I promise to pause for a few seconds before trying to impose my will upon you
and eventually getting my way. That’s the best I can do.”

“For now,” she amended. She threw her leg over his hips and
settled her slick pussy over his hardening erection. “Well, General, the threat
is over, the damsel is safe. Do you no longer have a purpose?”

He rolled her onto her back and wedged his hips between her
thighs. “Oh no. My purpose has expanded to encompass so much more. First, I endeavor
to be a good husband to you and make sure you orgasm frequently and well.”

“I approve. Continue.”

He smiled and dropped kisses along the underside of one
plump breast. “I will also spend more time with my family and be a better
brother.”

“No one has doubted your love for your brother.”

“But I can always improve.” He laid his cheek on the soft
plane of her belly. “But my most important purpose will be to be a good
father.”

Silence. A long, long silence.

He looked up to see her staring at him with wide eyes.