"Over my dead body." Nikolai muttered to himself and made his way across the room to tap on the general’s shoulder, like he’d seen him do to Akari's father. It was possible he used a bit too much force, as the man made a surprised, sputtering sound and whirled around to face him, his face flushing dark red. “Excuse me,” Nikolai said calmly, looking past him to Akari. “I’d like to dance with my consort now.” The man had the nerve to glare at him, then glance back at Akari, who was looking a little panicked. “Is that all right with you, Akari?” he asked. Nikolai growled again, despite his best efforts to keep it in, and Akari slipped between them, holding out his arms to Nikolai. “Of course. He’s my husband now, John. Let’s dance then, Prince Nikolai. Please…” Nikolai gathered her close in his arms, then he looked back at the general. “All right,” he said, and swept his wife away, trying to mimic what he’d seen the general do on the dance floor. He stumbled a little, narrowly avoided
“Is it all right if I come in and talk to you for a moment, Akari?” John said, interrupting his thoughts. “Your father said you might not mind.” Akari shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I think I must have had a little too much to drink last night is all. I don’t remember much.” “I’d think not,” John said in an amused voice, coming farther into the room and plopping down on a chair by the bed. He motioned for the servant to set up the tray by the bedside. “You did tie one on. You had a good reason to get drunk, though. Have some coffee; it might make you feel better. I’d like to talk to you about something before you leave today, if it’s all right.” “Leave? Today?” Akari sank down on the bed, her stomach turning over at the thought of leaving this place later to travel to the Werewolf Lands. The country, though it was once called Russia had become an isolated kingdom of werewlves, and asnof now the place had become a mystery to the Federation with all the fog covering it now.Her whole
“Now see here…” the general blustered. “She’s not your slave—you can’t tell her what she can and can’t wear, damn it.” The prince never moved from his side, but growled low in his throat, and Akari jumped to the ball of her feet and stood between his new husband and his friend. “John, please. Don’t speak to the prince that way—you forget yourself. I appreciate the visit, but I think you should leave now and let me talk to my…my husband.” John whirled on Akari and for just a moment, he seemed ready to snarl back at her, but he seemed to think better of it, visibly swallowing his rage. He looked from Akari back to Nikolai and nodded his head curtly. “As you wish, Akari. If you need me, I’ll be close by.” He gave a long warning look to the prince. “All you have to do is call.” He walked rapidly toward the door. Akari sighed and turned towards her husband. “Was that really necessary? I know he was rude, but you didn’t have to bait him like that.” The prince raised one eyebrow. “Me bai
“I did not agree to share your bed.” The prince tilted his head. “I beg your pardon? How did you plan to consummate the marriage? Or have my babies? You do know how it works, right?” “Of course I do! But-but surely it’s not necessary to share a bed every night. I was told I’d have my own rooms.” “You are the lover of the high prince. Everything we do from this point on will be noticed and remarked upon. You will have your own private sitting rooms at the palace, but my people wouldn’t understand if my fiancé, especially a beautiful lover like you, sleeps apart from me each night. Concessions will have to be made on both our parts.” He shook his head. “I make the offer to you for the second and final time. If the terms of this marriage are not acceptable to you—if you refuse to become my mate and my lover in every sense of the word—then say so now and we can end this. I’ll take you back to your people before this goes any further and we can both get on with our lives.” Akari glared
Akari drank another shot of the anise-flavored liqueur that she liked with her dinner as Nikolai poured himself a glass of water and watched her silently. Nice of him to order some of her favorite food and drink to take along with her to her new home. She wondered if Nikolai was trying to butter her up for something and glanced over at him suspiciously. He’d been so nice to hèr since the wedding that it was hard to fathom. Akari had an idea about what the Bloody Prince would be like—the man was supposed to be cold and ruthless, totally without mercy toward his enemies. But Nikolai was gradually tearing that image to pieces. Was that deliberate on his part? Was Akari seeing the real prince or some faked imitation? Was he only biding his time and would he show his true nature later on? It was Akari's fourth shot, and she was beginning to get a little tipsy. Nikolai kept staring at her eyes like he was fascinated by them. Indeed, he’d told her earlier that
Nikolai continued to tease her with his lips and teeth and then he put one of his hands downwards, opening her legs. She begin breathing hard. And when Nikolai's hand finally touched her most private place Akari started squirming. She felt though her body was going to melt under the touch of that big hand, which was caressing the place that no one had touched before besides herself. "How absolutely wet you are..."His lips naturally slid down as well. They passed those lovely lips of hers even though he didn’t want to let go, as they slid over her chin, her neck and finally he reached towards the tip of her chest. Her body flinched as soon his lips touched her nipple. When his hot breath tickled her breast with every whiff she felt a tingle right at her lower abdomen. He rubbed the surface of her flesh with his finger before straight away plunged her insides. His finger, which had penetrated the tender flesh then flicked the most prominent part of her by using his forefinger. “Wait
Their arrival on the Werewolf Kingdom was full of fanfare. King Davos himself came to the docks to meet the ship and Akari thought the king very handsome. He was tall and large, of course, like all the others, and his hair had much more gold in it than red, but he looked a lot like Nikolai. He had a strong jaw and a stern-looking face. That is, until he spotted Beatrice and held out his arms to her. Beatrice ran to him and he swept the consort off her feet, swinging her around in his arms. He leaned in close and whispered something in her ear that made Beatrice laugh and blush. Akari watched him with fascination as he kissed his consort tenderly. Then, keepingan arm around Beatrice, he came forward and gave Nikolai a greeting that Akari had never seen before, a kind of fist bumping with both his hands held up high in the air, almost like a high five, but with closed fists. Then he released Beatrice and grabbed his son for what looked like a bone-crushing hug. “Wh
Akari walked over and looked inside, Instead of the dark red and black of Nikolai's room, this room was done all in shades of pink. She turned with astonishment to Nikolai, who looked back at her blankly. “What? Don’t you like it? Beatrice had it done for you before we left. She said she thought your sister might like the color very much. Is it not to your taste?” “Pink is for little girls,” she said softly, turning to look at Nikolai. “I’m not one, as you may have noticed. It was a nice thought of Beatrice's for Allison, but…” “But not for you.” Akari sighed and stepped inside. “It doesn’t really matter.” Before she’d gone more than two steps, her arm was taken and she was turned around. “Of course it matters—I want you to be happy here. Now tell me your favorite color.” “I-I don’t really know. Blue, I guess.” Nikolai drew her into his arms and kissed her on the forehead. “Good choice. Then blue it is. I’ll have workmen to come in right away.” Akari felt herself blush again,
It took a little over an hour to make it back to their ship, and Akari spent all of that time sitting as close to Nikolai as she could.After an hour of torturing Winters and Guzman they finally told them where they had kept the survivors. Thankfully other than the young soldier who was murdered in cold blood everyone else were spared. Looking at the man she's so worried about, she started touching him all over and couldn’t seem to stop, just to reassure herself he was really there. This whole thing had been a nightmare from start to finish, and she needed to get Nikolai and the others back home as soon as she could.As soon as they got back to the ship, all of the men they had rescued, including Nikolai, were thoroughly checked out by the physician that Akari had insisted be brought along with them, not knowing what they’d find on their search. “I don’t know what you’re doing here like this, but I thank the gods for it,” Nikolai said, nuzzling Akari's neck. “When we got closer to t
Submarines were faster than warships and operated with ruthless efficiency against any of them they might have encountered. Cigar-shaped vessels, long and sleek and unbelievably fast, dotted with an array of weapon batteries and shields, they were massive crafts, and the king’s personal submarine was both luxurious and deadly. The kitchens, however, still served werewolf food, which, in Keanna's opinion, left a great deal to be desired. After Akari realized something from the grainy pictures that was sent to them she immediately went to the King to asked them if she could go and find out if Nikolai was still alive. Because she knew it in her heart that her mate couldn't be dead just like that. She has to do something or she'll become crazy from grief. Beatrice who also wanted to believe her gave her permission and the king is helpless when it came to his beloved's plea so he agreed and even gave them permission use anything for their disposal. Beatrice even asked Keanna to help Aka
King Davos paced up and down the length of his council chamber, his mind in turmoil. He had torn at his robe in agony when he first got the news and it was hanging off his shoulder on one side. He couldn’t be bothered to care about his disheveled appearance. It was the last thing on his mind. He’d just received news that he still couldn’t fathom, and he couldn’t think clearly about how to break it to Beatrice. Or, great gods, to Akari. Running his hand through his hair again, he wished he could pull it all out instead—he needed to inflict some kind of pain on himself to distract from the awful pain in his mind and his heart. It couldn’t be true, and yet he’d seen the images, brought to him personally by his old ally, a Sechuan general named Cadimun Pax. He had arrived only an hour before and told the guards that he had urgent business with the king. Davos, who had been in council, had allowed him to enter and the general had laid out the images on the table in front of the king, his
Beatrice stood in the middle of the small arena, waiting. She didn’t have to wait long. Her opponent came out slowly, stalking toward her to the middle of the ring, posturing to the small crowd of observers watching from the stands. Beatrice watched silently as the tall, muscular young man posed and flexed his muscles. He was dressed all in black, with a close-fitting metal helmet covering the top of his head and the upper part of his face. When he turned and faced Beatrice, he bared his teeth in a sneer and stepped forward. He swung the chain at Beatrice's feet and Beatrice jumped over it easily, landing on her feet as she’d been taught, and swung her huge club at her opponent’s head, almost in one motion. The younger man got his shield up just in time, but the impact caused him to stagger backward. Yelling in rage, the young man surged forward and swung his own club, but Beatrice sidestepped the blow, ducking low and coming in at the opponent’s side to jab at him with his short s
When Akari got back to the palace she went immediately to her and Nikolai's private quarters. She flung open the door to see Nikol sitting quietly in his cordoned-off play area, banging a rattle on the floor and gurgling some baby nonsense. He looked up at Akari when she came in and gave her a toothless grin. Unable to bear the cuteness, Akari scooped him up and kissed him. “You’re such a good baby, yes you are.” She held him up over her head as Nikol grinned down at her, a long string of drool sliding from his lips. “Where’s your father, sweetheart? Surely he didn’t leave you all alone? If he did, Mommy will kill him. Yes, she will.” “What kind of thing is that to say to our baby?” Akari turned and grinned at her mate. “The truth. But he doesn’t understand what I’m saying anyway. He’s not quite seven months old, you know.” “He’s a very intelligent child.” “Yeah, yeah….” Akari crossed over to him, and Nikolai automatically opened his arms for her. Stepping into his embrace, Akari
Akari realized she was trembling a little and stuck her hands under the table to hide it. She'd had a long time to think about what her sister had done, but to hear this…that her crimes had even extended to ordering the death of an innocent child. It had shocked her like nothing had for a long time. She sat very still, not knowing what she could possibly say in the face of this awful revelation. Across from her, Keanna was speaking again, her eyelids thankfully falling down over the haunted blue-green eyes, hiding some of the pain. Akari pressed a hand to her mouth for a moment and then shifted her gaze back down at the scarred table. “How?” she asked quietly. “I suppose she left orders. Or maybe she had contacts still left in the palace. I don’t know.” Keanna's shoulders slumped. “She could have been lying. She’s good at that. Always was.” Keanna looked up hopefully, but then sighed. “No, I don’t want to get my hopes up about that. Not when I can’t do anything to help him in an
A knock on the door startled Keanna out of her daydreaming of those first days of training and she stood up as the door opened. It was Haggoz and he’d brought the consort with him. Akari Kingston stood behind him halfway in the corridor as if she hadn’t quite committed to entering yet. Keanna noticed what a warm shade of brown her eyes were and how they framed her eyes with long eyelashes that make her too pretty. It was said that the Bloody Prince had taken one look at her and fallen instantly and irrevocably in love with her. And seeing her again Keanna could easily believe it. “Hello, Akari,” she said softly and Akari's eyes narrowed as she stepped into the room. She frowned, looking angry, and Keanna took a step backward, sitting down hard in her chair. This was a mistake—she should have known the royal consort would hate her guts and have no use for anything she had to say. Instead of speaking to Keanna, however, she whirled around to glare at Haggoz. “What have you done to
Nikolai's full lips covered Akari's mouth, as Nikolai gave her a scorching kiss. The kiss gentled and deepened as Akari relaxed into it and a low hum of satisfaction began in Nikolai's chest. He ran his hands possessively, hungrily over Akari's bare body, pulling her closer and grinding against her. He shoved Akari around, face first against the fence again. One hand held Akari's head against the rough wood of the fence, while Nikolai kicked against Akari's ankles to make her spread her legs. The other hand jerked Akari's hips out toward him so that she was entirely vulnerable. Akari gave in to him and another hum of approval came from Nikolai's throat. Akari felt Nikolai rubbing his thick cock against her wet pussy, spreading his pre-cum over her. Nikolai was still exerting his dominance and showing Akari who was really in charge, so Akari braced herself against the fence, ready for him. The head of Nikolai's cock nudged inside, the tip barely breaching her, pushing against the ba
Haggoz watched the play of emotions on his prince’s face go quickly from shock to outrage. His mate’s reactions were more subtle, but she was just as startled as Nikolai. Haggoz suspected he was trying hard not to show it. He had noticed this tendency in humans before—a striving not to say something rude or bad-mannered to another person’s face in an attempt not to insult them, though humans thought nothing of saying the same things behind that person’s back. So different from his own people, who ranked honesty and outspokenness above everything else. Haggoz had been searching for some time now for something to help the prisoner, some way to break him free from what Haggoz thought of as a downward spiral. Perhaps this would be a way for him to provide a useful service to the man Keanna had wronged and still give Keanna some diversion. Perhaps it would be the key to restoring the fire that used to burn so brightly inside her. “That’s out of the question,” Nikolai said, angrily, turn