Captive of the Horde King (Horde Kings Of Dakkar #1) - Zoey Draven Page 0,18

prepared me for the inevitable.

They bathed me again, though I’d protested that I was clean. Naturally, Mirari insisted, saying that all the horde bathed daily, which seemed like a great waste to me.

After my bath, they dressed me in the night dress the horde king had given me, which had already been cleaned, though my old clothes still had not been returned to me.

The piki brushed my hair until it fell in softened waves down my back and lit the wax candles and fragrant oil pots to burn for the remainder of the night. The tent was cast in a golden light, the gentle flames flickering and swaying.

When they finally left, Mirari took the tray of food she’d brought that morning with her, casting a frown over it, obviously inspecting it to see if it’d been touched. Ever since they returned that afternoon, she’d been pressing me to eat, telling me how pleased the Vorakkar would be if I did.

Wisely, I’d held my tongue and eventually, she’d stopped pressing, though every time my stomach growled and she cast me a speculative, hopeful look, it made me blush.

I was alone then, clean, practically naked, sitting on the edge of the bed facing the tent’s entrance. I’d decided that afternoon that I needed to be brave, that this was the cost I’d willingly paid. The horde king wanted me in his bed and I would be. My brother was alive because of his mercy and while he couldn’t make me eat…he could make me do this.

It didn’t matter that my stomach was in knots—and not just because of my hunger. It didn’t matter that I worried he would tear me in two or that he would be rough. It didn’t matter that I was a virgin, inexperienced with males and sex.

I’d made a deal with the Dakkari devil and I would hold up my end.

Heavy footsteps approached the tent and I sucked in a breath. I heard him, his unmistakable deep voice speaking in Dakkari to the guards stationed at the entrance. After a moment, I heard their footsteps retreat, dismissed from their duties for the night and my spine straightened, my heart tripling its beat in my breast.

There was silence for a moment, as I waited for him to enter. But he took his time, as if composing himself, before he suddenly ducked inside.

Across the tent, his eyes found mine, his yellow irises contracting and then widening. He straightened to his full height, swallowing the space with his broad shoulders and massive bulk.

Gone was his anger from earlier that day, I noticed. It had been replaced by desire, by lust, the same expression on his face that he’d had when he’d cut open my cloak in my village.

I’d been right. For some strange reason, the horde king wanted me. I didn’t know why.

My nipples pebbled tighter underneath the transparent shift, but thankfully my long hair covered them. Warily, I watched him as one might a predatory beast, studying him for a weakness. His hair was plaited down his back, his skin looked even more honeyed from his day in the sun, with a slight shimmer of sweat gleaming on his bare chest, though the star had long set. Not for the first time, I wondered what his duties were during the day, when he wasn’t patrolling the lands of Dakkar.

His hands went to the gold belt at his hips, which he unclasped. With it went the piece of cloth that shielded his sex. He dropped it to the floor of the tent with a small thud and then he was naked, his cock already hard, his dusky, dark sack hanging low beneath it.

I sucked in a small breath when he approached, my hands twitching against my legs. I’d had Mirari smear some of the healing salve on my thighs after all, since it was obvious I wouldn’t be able to rebuff the horde king’s attentions after all. It had helped take the stinging pain away, which I was begrudgingly thankful for. It would make this easier.

Though there was a fresh, steaming bathing tub in the corner waiting for him, it was clear that he didn’t intend to use it. At least not yet.

“Leika,” he rasped, his voice brushing over my skin when he pushed me back onto the bed, the furs beneath me tickling my arms. “Rinavi leika, rei kassikari, rei Morakkari.”

With one decisive tug, the horde king pulled my shift over my head until I was as naked as he