Chapter 9
DAIGEN
Dawn hadn’t yet broken when I gave the order to ride.
We rode hard until the horizon bled pale across the sky and my pulse matched the hooves thundering below us.
The weight of Narya sleeping against me was torture. Another mile with her in my arms and I'd forget about kingdoms and oaths and being on the brink of war. I’d think only of her throat beneath my teeth and the sweet little sounds she’d make when I finally claimed her and made her mine.
I raised my hand. My men stilled at the command. Narya stirred in my arms, and fuck, the edges of my restraint frayed again.
Mate. Mine. Now.
The words slammed through me like steel into bone. I’d waited centuries for my mate, burned through lives, wars, and kingdoms in search of her, and now that I had her, I couldn’t let a single man look at her without wanting to spill blood for it.
We needed to break camp before I let that happen. I couldn’t afford to lose any more men. We still had a long way to go before we reached my border.
I waited until she woke before I swung down, focusing on the road to keep from looking at her.
Like most Moonstone roads, it was poorly constructed, winding into a forest that no longer hummed with the gods’ presence but with something darker.
I'd felt it since dusk, pressing against my magic, like the land itself wanted me gone.
We were close to the Sunstone border but still in Moonstone territory.
At least I'd be able to keep an eye on any riders headed for the Gate and could intercept their messages. I’d kill every last one of them.
As soon as I put some space between us, the pressure in my skull eased. The burn in my throat for her didn’t. It hadn’t since she’d dared lift a knife to me. That flash of defiance had branded itself into my flesh and made me want her more.
One more mile and I’d have taken Narya on top of Shadowmane.
I didn’t trust myself to keep the beast in me leashed for much longer.
Saddles dropped as soon as I gave the command.
Feedbags lowered over muzzles, and perimeter blades were drawn in the dirt.
Even the youngest of my warriors moved with the swift gait I’d drilled into all my warriors.
Move fast, eat faster, and sleep with one eye open.
Discipline was survival; hesitation was a corpse.
But one of my warriors had been keeping eyes on Narya a glance too long and made me want to rip his guts out.
He looked at her again as he gathered feed for the horses.
Just one look, and my hand found the hilt at my hip without a second thought.
The warrior found me glaring at him and hurried away before I spoke, his throat already knowing what waited if he didn’t.
I’d let him keep his eyes for now. He was young, and the journey had one of our longest ones.
I git my teeth and brushed my hand down Shadowmane’s neck.
‘You rode well, old friend.’
His nostrils flared. ‘Old enough to know when my rider is distracted.’
‘Careful,’ I said, my hands clenching.
‘Careful, Daigen.’ The beast’s voice laughed in my head. ‘You’re losing, old friend.’
I didn’t answer. Lies were wasted on a beast who could hear the truth in my pulse. But he was right. I was losing, and I didn’t fucking like it.
I turned to Narya. She ignored the hand I offered and slid down on her own, stubborn to the bone.
Her defiance made my pulse thrum. There she stood, her hair still lying to me—still dyed—and her satchel clutched to her chest like a blade she refused to drop.
Everything about my mate screamed resistance, even the way she breathed and looked up at me. It was driving me wild.
She tried to walk off. My voice stopped her.
“Where are you flying off to?”
Around us, my men stilled. They knew that tone.
Knew what came after it if it was ignored.
"To relieve myself,” she said, turning to glare at me. “Privately.”
Her cheeks were flushed that delicious shade of pink I liked too much.
Anyone else who tried walking away from me in the dark would already be bleeding on the ground. She didn’t know how thin the line was tonight, and that she was the only reason it hadn’t been crossed.
I stepped towards her. Just one step, and she retreated. I didn’t like her fear of me. But fear sometimes keeps you alive. There would be times, such as now, when it could be useful.
“You don’t leave my sight,” I warned. “Not unless you want your name shouted by dying men.”
Her eyes widened for a moment, then they hardened. “It’s not far. I’m not going to—”
“I said no.” The words came out low, edged with the growl I usually reserved for my men. “Not alone."
She lifted her chin, higher than her tired shoulders would allow. I could see how exhausted she was. The kind of weariness that didn’t come from battle but from betrayal. I knew it well. Still, I couldn’t let her walk into the dark alone. Not while she bore my scent and had a warrant on her head.
“I’m not your prisoner,” she said, glaring at me. “Am I?”
I chuckled at that, the sound barely masking my irritation.
“No, Narya. You’re not my prisoner. But you belong to me now and I protect what’s mine.”
Her lips parted and then slammed shut again. Something flickered in her gaze that made the beast in me bare its teeth.
“Then come with me,” she said, looking up.
It was a dangerous invitation.
If Narya knew the real reason I called camp, she’d have run to the trees away from me. Instead, she turned towards them, and after a moment, I followed behind her; every step drew the bond tighter between us.
The shadows thickened, damp earth swallowing the sound of our boots. I tasted iron in the air, frost, and the stench of Moonstone soil.
‘You’re following her like prey,’ Shadowmane’s voice echoed in my mind.
‘Enough,’ I warned him.
‘You even stopped for her.’
‘I stopped for the men,’ I growled.
A huff. ‘Keep lying, old friend. Perhaps one day you will believe it.’
I bit down a curse. The beast knew too much.
A river appeared ahead, winding through moss-covered stone. The water shimmered like crystal glass. I scanned the area for possible ambush. The clearing looked safe enough, well guarded by my men, but I didn’t like the quiet.
The way the air shifted and every instinct in me sharpened, drawn to Narya.
"I’d like to wash first, please,” she said, her voice tight as she set her satchel on the rocks. "I need to get some of this dirt off me.”
I said nothing at first. My beast already answered with an unspoken growl as my fingers twitched against the hilt at my hip. It was that or reach for her. Either would end badly.
“Then do it,” I said, calmer than I felt. “My men know better than to touch what belongs to their king.”
Her fingers froze on the strap of her satchel. “A king with no decency?”
I let the insult hang for a moment. Decency had no place in men who’d been forged from war.
“A king who does not pretend otherwise,” I said. My voice stayed even, though every muscle in me coiled. “I’m not a priest, Narya. Or a gentleman. Never claimed to be.”
She looked over her shoulder at me, the moon bouncing off her skin. Skin I wanted to taste and mark as mine.
“So what are you then?”
“Exactly what they warned you about,” I said.
She met my gaze then, unblinking, as she lowered the strap of her dress slowly.
My cock jolted. I arched a brow at her, amused.
If she wanted to test me, I’d let her try. For now.
I leaned against a tree and crossed my arms, my muscles drawn tight.
The bark bit into my spine, but I didn’t trust myself not to touch her if I moved.
I could see how scared she was behind this facade.
How her fingers shook as she lifted her tunic, hoping I’d leave her alone, give her some privacy.
Not for all the gold in the realm. She was a terrible temptress. And I was a terrible beast.
I could feel the line between restraint and ruin thinning by the second.
My throat worked as her hands pulled the material over her head, revealing more hints of delicious skin to me. Her shift barely covered her. The light caught the bruises on her exposed arms and legs. I would make Gravyn suffer for every one of them.
I gritted my teeth as she dropped the tunic to the ground. She was playing a dangerous game, baiting me like this. I was the Bloodstone King. I took what I wanted, when I wanted it. But tonight… I wanted to see how far she would go to push me away.
I ran my eyes over her body, taking in every inch of her.
Every nerve in me screamed to leave her alone.
None obeyed. She was testing my leash, and the leash was fraying fast. The way the moonlight seemed to bend around her as if she were carved from it, reflecting off her hair… Did she know how much I wanted her?
My crystal knew the moment I saw her.
The aelith pulsed, flaring to life for the first time.
It had burned in the alleyway even before she appeared to put that dove out of its misery.
I was about to end the dove’s suffering myself when she arrived.
How ironic, that at that moment, I felt as helpless to my desire as the dove had been to its death.
The aelith just confirmed what I already knew: Narya belonged to me.
Yet at this river, I belonged to her. But she could never know it.
For a king belonged to no one but his crown. Not even his fated mate could change that.
She stepped into the water, and my hands twitched to rip that shift off her. I watched it cling to her and turn sheer. Nipples hardened as the delicious slopes of her body revealed themselves. She ducked under, the river swallowing her whole.
My pulse spiked until she resurfaced, gasping for air and shoving back her hair. Silver streams of water slid down her skin, racing over her curves to that sweet mound between her thighs.
I should have turned away. I should not have stayed.
Yet I kept still until the ache in my loins had me a step away from dragging her out and into my arms.