Текст книги "Eyes of devious burgundy"

Автор книги: Lacey Lehotzky

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 28 (всего у книги 43 страниц)

I would not die for Rokath as Banand had.

“Exactly. So don’t worry, Assyria, we’ll be strolling through Sivy in no time, and then all this hiding will be over.” Rapp straightened and went to pick up the discarded clothes.

“Thank you, Rapp. For everything. Especially for telling me the truth,” I murmured, disbelief still clinging to every fiber of my being.

He merely nodded and slipped outside.

Tears burned my nose and eyes a moment later. I strode to the bed, throwing myself on it and allowing them to soak into the blankets while I grieved the loss of everyone I loved in an entirely new way.

OceanofPDF.com

35

Assyria slid from her horse’s back after another day of utter silence between us, landing with a pointed thud. All around us, males dismounted or approached the supply carts, dragging tents from their depths to erect around us.

At least today, we were camping beside a small lake. The water glittered as the sun began its descent over the mountains at our backs. She grabbed Blaeze’s reins and started to lead him toward it when I let out a low growl. “Where do you think you’re going?”

She whipped around and offered me a glare hotter than the midday sun. Rage burned right back at her as my eyes narrowed on her through the slits in my ebony horned helmet.

“What? I can’t let my mount take a drink after a long ride?” she shot back like a cracking whip.

“Not without me present, you can’t,” I snapped. Snatching my horse’s reins, I dragged the black stallion forward, determined to force this fucking female to obey me.

She scoffed and pulled Blaeze along, refusing to walk alongside me. I lengthened my stride to prove a point. Grem and Zeec started trotting. We waged a silent battle all the way to the edge of the water, where dozens of soldiers were already allowing their horses to drink. That was why I had to be with her, so that they didn’t get any wrong ideas and try to approach her.

No one had attempted to speak with her yet. My presence was enough of an intimidating factor to ensure it remained that way.

Whispers about my personal fallen abounded in the camp, and her identity remained a hot topic of discussion, much to my anger.

Assyria tugged on the sleeves of her dress, trying to hide her healing wrists. I gritted my teeth around the possessive thoughts rising within me. I would not succumb to the bond’s desires to fuck her senseless again. That had been a one time ordeal.

We reached the water’s edge, and both the horses dipped their muzzles into it and drank greedily. Grem and Zeec trotted straight into the water and then swam out some distance, barking at one another and snapping their sharp teeth.

At least someone was having fun because I was fucking miserable.

More males appeared around us as the horses continued to slake their thirst. When Assyria’s mount finished drinking, she grabbed his reins again. “Come on, boy,” she told him, not bothering to wait for my stallion to finish.

“No.” I barked the order like she was one of the dogs. She ignored me and kept walking.

Fury tore through me, and I stomped after her, grabbing her arm and jerking her to a halt. “You will wait for me.”

She turned slowly, then exaggeratedly rolled her eyes. “I know exactly where I’m supposed to go, Rokath. I don’t need you to escort me.”

I ripped my helmet off, letting her see the darkness etched into my expression as she loosed my name. A muscle jumped wildly in my jaw. “Watch your mouth.”

I saw the moment realization settled in those devious burgundy eyes at what she’d done. An impish smile curved her lips. “Or what, Rokath?” She flung my name like a rock into the lake behind us.

By the way heads jerked up around us, she certainly made a splash.

“Say my name in front of all these males again and I will have no choice but to punish you. My word is law. No exceptions,” I snarled into her mind.

“Except you’ve made a massive one for me already,” she snapped back. “So why would I believe that you’d punish me for letting these soldiers overhear your name?”

My lips pulled back from my teeth, revealing the sharpened canines in a move that was meant to be entirely sinister. “If that is the game you wish to play, then we shall play it.”

I ripped my attention to one of the males leading his mare back to camp. “You,” I snapped my fingers, “take these horses to the corrals.” I snatched Blaeze’s reins from Assyria and handed them to the male. He accepted without question, but the wide way he held his eyes told me he wouldn’t have dared to say anything at all.

Assyria’s fists clenched as he walked away, and her cheeks hollowed as she bit back the words she wanted to say. Over the days spent together, I knew well enough when she waged a war within herself to hold her tongue. That didn’t stop the curses flinging my way down our mental connection though.

Rage rising, I grabbed her upper arm and hauled her toward the center of camp. “I told you before very few knew my name and I wanted to keep it that way. Do you know why?”

She jerked in my hold, trying to dig her feet into the ground and slow me. But it was useless when my bulk and brawn outmatched hers threefold.

“No, and I don’t care, Rokath,” she snarled, nearly tripping over a rock as we passed through the outer rim. I hauled her upright and kept marching us forward.

More heads snapped up at the commotion we were causing. We were quite a sight, after all: me dragging my fallen in one hand and fisting my mask in the other with the threat of violence rolling off me in waves.

“I also told you I’d make a point to scare you, little imposter. It seems that time has come.”

The threat in my tone was clearer than the water of the lake and finally got the reaction I wanted from my fucking mate.

“Let me go!” she exclaimed, half-walking, half-stumbling, and clawing at my fingers and trying to pry them away.

I hauled her deeper into the camp, not even glancing around at the soldiers as we stomped by them. My gaze was pinned firmly on the black pennants whipping in the distance in a failed attempt to regain a semblance of calm. “The reason no one knows my name is twofold–”

“I already told you, I don’t care,” she repeated. I dragged her around the final corner, revealing the wooden platform that marked the center of camp. It was constructed every day, without fail, as a reminder that punishments for disobedience were swift and severe. It wasn’t used every day, but the threat was enough.

“Oh, little imposter, you will soon enough,” I growled, sick satisfaction coursing through my veins as I imagined exactly what I was going to do to Assyria. After this, she would not challenge me again. I would have the control that I craved back. Order would be restored to my world.

The bond vibrated with anticipation. I smacked it like I was about to do to my fucking mate to get it in line. This would not lead to me sticking my dick in her again.

Yet from Assyria’s side, a tidal wave of emotion crashed down it—fear, grief, and pure, unfettered loathing. “I fucking hate you,” she shoved into my mind.

I ignored her and dragged her the remaining distance to the platform. A crowd of curious onlookers had already gathered, and their whispers increased in volume as I whirled Assyria to face me. Those bow-shaped lips were pursed, and she shook, hands fisted at her sides. All I saw was red as she opened her mouth to speak again. Before she could pronounce my name in front of the males, I shouted, “My personal fallen has broken a sacred army rule. For that, she shall be punished.” I whipped my attention around the soldiers. “No one, and I mean no one, is above them. Do I make myself clear?”

The soldiers’ shouted assent rolled into background noise as I grabbed Assyria by the shoulders and spun her to face a wooden beam. She twisted in my hold, trying to break away. But I was far stronger than her. “Grab the bar,” I growled.

“Fuck you,” she snarled out loud. Her continued contempt only served to enrage me further.

“Use that mouth one more time and this punishment will turn into your servicing me publicly,” I threatened. Her teeth clicked shut, and she whipped her gaze forward. Flexing her fingers, she grabbed the bar. Various tools of punishment waited off to the side. I walked there, trying to decide what would get my point across most effectively as I refastened my helmet.

A nine-tailed whip? A cane? Perhaps a paddle?

I settled on the latter. Pleasure swept through my veins as I wrapped my hand around the leather handle. A sense of calm settled over me as I faced my recusant mate again. Our bond pulsed with a heady mix of desire and animosity.

The crowd had thickened, and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Rapp emerging from the command center. His mouth was set in a firm line, and I fucking knew he was going to chastise me for this later.

But I didn’t care.

I stalked forward, hoving mere inches from Assyria’s pointed ear. “Say my name one more time and your punishment will triple.”

She sliced a glance at me and bared her teeth. “Are you going to keep talking or are you going to take action, Halálhívó?”

My nostrils flared as I sucked in a steading breath. Blood ran hot in my veins. I took a step back, trying to snatch at the self control she so successfully unmoored with every one of our interactions.

Silence fell as I raised the paddle to strike her.

Then, I made the mistake of glancing forward, beyond Assyria, and saw a dozen males raking their teeth over their lips and nudging each other. Like they were going to picture this scene later, after night had fallen.

A beast, so wild and foreign, roared inside me, calling for their heads for daring to think about my fucking mate in that way.

I grappled with it for control because I was the Fates’ chosen, the only male capable of slaughtering the Angels before they could exterminate us, and

I

Did

Not

Yield

To

Anything.

Especially for this female who had so unceremoniously upended the trajectory of my life.

But that beast fought harder, aided by our bond. I gritted my teeth and tried to force my hand to move forward. It wouldn’t budge. Muscles bulged in my neck.

Assyria glanced over her shoulder at me, boasting a self-satisfied smirk.

That snapped the last thread of my self-control.

With a growl, I tossed the paddle to the side and snatched her waist. In one smooth motion, I threw her over my shoulder, and then I was striding for the command center, the quickest way back to my tent where I’d deliver the punishment without the lecherous eyes of my soldiers drinking in the sight.

I paused for half a step, Assyria pounding against my back, to snap at Rapp, “The ones who looked a little too happy about watching the punishment, secure them to the bars for my return.”

Without waiting for a response, I blew past him, adrenaline and primal urges pumping my legs forward. Assyria was about to receive every ounce of abhorrence I had for her. I would break her to my will and regain control of this dynamic if it fucking killed me.

OceanofPDF.com

36

Rokath’s rage was like a thunderstorm—violent, clashing, and promising to drown me in a deluge. Yet he couldn’t follow through with his threat in front of his precious soldiers, and that pleased me greatly. Especially after he’d called me his personal fallen in front of them all.

I gritted my teeth around the audacity of Rokath’s explanation as to why I was accompanying the army north. The brands on my wrists burned at the reminder. Especially as I smacked them against Rokath’s backside, asking the Reaper to curse him for his brutish behavior.

I couldn’t find it in me to be sorry for speaking his real name aloud either.

The flaps of the tent were still tied back, allowing Rokath to easily sweep me inside. Finally, he released his grip on me. I spun on my heel and bolted for the exit, but Rokath anticipated my move and snatched me from behind.

A scream ripped from my throat as a memory of Vagach doing exactly that the day I killed him surfaced. Maneuvering us to a chair, he settled us into it, finger digging into my hip bones. I thrashed as the black tent morphed into the kitchen at the estate in Stryi. The scent of oranges assaulted me. Something firm wrapped around me, and then that scent disappeared, replaced entirely by spice.

“Assyria, it’s me,” Rokath’s voice broke through the fog of my trauma. But Vagach’s garnet eyes burned into me, clawing me back to a time where I was helpless on the floor beneath him.

My heart thundered against my ribs, and I trembled from head to toe. He squeezed harder. “Find me,” Rokath commanded in my mind, and my thoughts latched onto him like he was the path out of the dark.

With a heaving cough, I returned to myself. Rokath’s metal armor bit into my arms, pinching my skin. I clung to that sensation to ground myself to the present moment. Swallowing, I forced myself to take long, slow breaths.

As I calmed, Rokath relaxed his hold on me. “I am so sorry, Assyria. I didn’t mean to trigger a flashback.” The anger that had boiled inside him now simmered.

“How did you know?” I breathed, closing my eyes to prevent the tears from falling.

“Mental connection. I saw what you saw.” His tone took on a hard, violent edge, just as it had when I’d thrown Vagach’s abuse in his face during our first encounter.

“You must have gotten off on it then,” I said, though my tone lacked the bite I wanted.

“There is a difference between abuse and punishment,” Rokath rumbled, easing me around so I faced him. Then, he gripped the horns on his helmet and pulled it off his head. He set it gently to the side. The concern with which he regarded me nearly stole my breath. “Many soldiers develop the type of trauma you have after watching their friends die on the battlefield. It is different, but your reaction is not new to me.”

I looked away, unable to meet his heavy gaze. “But you still punish them.”

“If they break the rules, I do. No one is above them, as I stated to the whole army.”

I scoffed, snatching at embers of rage to protect myself. “Except for you, Xannirin, and Kiira. Probably Rapp too.”

A muscle feathered in his jaw. “Do I need to add that to the list of information you need to keep to yourself or risk facing reprimand?”

“Might as well,” I grumbled. “I can’t do anything without your permission anyways. Should just add speaking in general.”

Something sinister flashed through his eyes. “Don’t tempt me.”

I rolled my eyes.

Rokath raised a dark brow. “Does that reaction indicate that you are sufficiently recovered to receive your punishment?”

My mouth popped open. “You’re really going to do it after what just happened?”

“When you are ready, I absolutely am. Can’t have you thinking you can use your emotions to avoid the consequences of your bad behavior,” he growled, hand coming up to grasp the base of my skull.

He was entirely serious about this. I bared my teeth at him.

His face closed in on mine, and my breath hitched. But he didn’t stop there. “Bend over,” he snarled in my ear. The heat of his breath made me shiver.

“No,” I said, shoving against his arms and trying to rise.

He pulled away, showing me the fury in his burgundy eyes. “You said my name, three times. And two of those were after I warned you. You’re going to take your punishment, and you’re going to do it right now.”

“Make me,” I shot back. A flood of lust swept down our bond, and then, I realized it was the wrong thing to say.

Because Rokath did. In one smooth motion, he flipped me so I was on my stomach splayed out across his lap. He pressed one large hand into my back, while the other smoothed over my rear. Beneath my heaving breasts, his cock thickened.

“Normally, I’d pull up your skirts and do this on your bare skin, but after what happened to you, I am not going to be that much of an asshole. This isn’t meant to traumatize you but to remind you that I am in charge here,” he explained like I was some fucking child.

A hard smack landed against my ass, and I yelped in surprise. “Did you seriously just spank me?”

He did it again, harder this time. “Much like the rest of these males, you have rules to follow.”

Twisting, I punched him in the side. My knuckles met with his hard armor, and I cursed, shaking out my hand. “Fuck you, Rokath.”

A sinister laugh rumbled in his chest. “While you only said my name three times, your insolence deserves more than that. So start counting to thirty.”

“Thirty?” I exclaimed, whipping my head up to look at him. He flattened his hand harder on my back to keep me from moving enough to strike him again. Not that I would with how my hand ached.

One dark brow raised. “Unless you’d like to hear why no one knows my name?”

I bared my teeth. He spanked me again. And again. And again.

Our gazes never unlocked.

We might have been far from the Angels, but a battle was playing out all the same. Rokath’s pupils dilated with each strike. Heat pooled between my thighs as he smacked lower and lower. On the seventh, something between a pant and a moan escaped me.

Why did I like this so much?

The bond thrummed and pulled taut, like it wanted us to come together again.

Rokath paused, his hand hovering a breath off my skirt. “You haven’t been counting. Do I need to start over?” His voice was all gravel, and the possessive energy rolling off him made my core clench.

This is so fucked up.

Like everything else with him.

“Ten,” I gritted out. He spanked me again, this one the hardest yet.

“Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen.” On the fifteenth, a yelp escaped me. My ass burned, and despite the fabric between my skin and his hand, it was starting to hurt more and more.

“What number was that?” Rokath questioned.

“Fifteen,” I whimpered. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of breaking me. I’d reach fucking thirty just to prove a point.

He gave me five more in quick succession, and I counted them out. More and more desire swirled between us, and his dick was so hard a brief worry of it ripping his pants flashed through my mind. The memory of how thick he’d been inside me, of how hard I’d come around it, appeared next, and I shoved it away before the bond got any crazy ideas about forcing that to happen again.

“Are you certain you want to continue?” Rokath checked in with me. Sweat beaded both our brows like we’d been fighting rather than sitting.

“Just fucking go,” I snapped, digging my fingers into his thigh. For some strange reason, I felt like I had some control over this situation, unlike when I’d been with Vagach. Rokath wasn’t trying to hurt me for his own sick, twisted pleasure. While I didn’t understand why the fucking brute loved his rules so much, I would win this exchange if it killed me.

“Count,” he ordered, spanking me again.

“Twenty-one,” I said, voice wavering. The sting brought a wave of euphoria over me, and I embraced the pain, using it to steel my resolve.

“Twenty-two,” I panted on the next one. And the one after that. And the one after that. At twenty-five, arousal gushed down my thighs. I squeezed them together, trying to relieve the ache.

Instead of doling out the last five, Rokath’s fingers dipped beneath my ass and caressed my slit. A moan slipped out of me before I could smother it, and I hid my face. Closing my eyes, I attempted to think of anything but what Rokath was doing to my body. He shifted us slightly, and then, my legs opened wider, giving him better access to my center.

He cupped it again, and I almost combusted.

“Five more,” he growled, removing his hand.

I whimpered out the remaining five numbers. When he finished, both our chests heaved. We sat there for a moment, him caressing the spots he’d made ache, and I moaned again. “The reason no one can know my name is because then I won’t be an omnipotent figure. If I have a name, I am someone who can be killed. If I have a name, I am not someone to be feared. Much like the Weaver, the Giver, and the Reaper. Their honorifics make them easier to venerate, easier to obey.”

He hauled me upright and settled me in his lap, my dress bunching up around my thighs. I hissed from the press of his muscled legs against my rear. Those riotous burgundy eyes tumbled with furor. He dipped a hand between us and stroked my overheated core. “As the Halálhívó, these males both respect and fear me. They listen to orders without question. That keeps them alive.”

At that moment, I hated that I was wearing pants with how I wanted to feel him against my skin. There was entirely too much fabric between his expert fingers and my dripping pussy. He pressed harder against me, and I had to brace my arms on his broad shoulders to prevent myself from tumbling backward. In one powerful motion, he captured my waist and rose from the chair, leaving my legs dangling in the air. Using his free hand, he unlaced the pants and ripped them from my legs.

“It will also keep you alive.”

He settled me on his lap again, his cock digging into me. Then, he hiked my skirts around my waist and fingered the underwear still covering me. He twisted and ripped it away, stealing a gasp from my throat.

Arousal dripped, unrestrained, onto his hand. A low, masculine groan rumbled in his chest. He swept a single finger though the wetness, then swirled it around my clit.

“Do you understand?”

My hips bucked as he pressed harder. Then, he slid to my entrance and teased it with the back of his knuckles. “Answer me,” he growled, ceasing his movements.

“Yes,” I breathed, lust overtaking all rational thought. I shouldn’t want him to touch me as desperately as I did.

“Believe it or not, little imposter, protecting the Demons is all I am trying to do.”

He slipped a finger inside me, so torturously slow. “I’m going to make you come, because you deserve it after taking that punishment so well.”

A small laugh slipped out of me. “Is this how you treat your soldiers after they fuck up?”

Rokath released a warning growl. “I’m making an exception for you. Don’t make me regret it.” Then, he slipped a second finger in and curled.

“Oh,” I whimpered, gripping him harder. My head lolled back as he stroked that perfect spot that made me clench.

“Are you going to say my name in front of the army again?” he asked, a threat woven into his tone.

“No,” I whimpered, rolling my hips in an attempt to keep him moving inside me.

“What will happen if you do?” He sank deeper, and I spread my legs wider.

“I’ll be punished,” I replied, walls tightening around him. The tease of pain from my sore ass had me careening toward the edge of an orgasm. When he added his thumb to the mix, I was ready to promise him whatever.

“Good girl. I feel how close you are to coming. When you do, I want you to do it quietly, so no one hears how good I make you feel,” he commanded.

I dripped at his words. A slick sound filled the air as he worked me into a frenzy of pants and muffled whimpers. “Oh, fuck, I’m–”

Ecstasy shattered through me, and I sank my teeth into my bottom lip to stifle the explosion of sound that wanted to rip free. My core fluttered around Rokath’s fingers, and he didn’t stop moving them until my hips stilled and I released a shuddering breath.

Exhaustion pulled at my limbs, and if it weren’t for Rokath holding me upright, I probably would have collapsed on the floor. Removing himself from me, he wiped his hand clean on the inside of my dress. Like I was nothing but a feather, he lifted me and laid me on the bed, then fetched a cloth and the water pitcher and rinsed me off.

I remained there, dizzy and reeling, as he stripped off his armor and changed into more casual clothing for the evening. Then, he came to sit beside me on the edge of the bed. “I hope you learned your lesson. Should you test me like this again, I will not hesitate to increase the punishment. Now, I have some other reprimands to dole out.”

And with that parting statement, he swept out of the tent, leaving me to process just how fucked I was to be mated to the most dangerous Demon in Keleti.

OceanofPDF.com