Captive of the Horde King (Horde Kings Of Dakkar #1) - Zoey Draven Page 0,21
his tail curl around my calf.
“Arokan,” he rasped softly, sending goosebumps over my arms. “My given name is Arokan of Rath Kitala. Now, sleep, kalles.”
Arokan.
I did as he asked with his name ringing in my mind.
Chapter Eight
When I woke, Arokan was gone again. Only that time, I hadn’t heard him leave the bed.
In the light of day, some of which filtered through the very top of the domed tent, casting little pools of light on the furs, I was even more confused than I’d been the previous night.
The furs tickled my bare legs since my shift dress had ridden up during the night. I could distinctly remember the heat of his tongue running up my body, the feel of it between my thighs.
The absence of it when he stopped.
I exhaled a sharp breath through my nostrils.
Whatever thoughts I had about the horde king, however, I didn’t need to dwell on so I pushed them from my mind as I pushed up from the bed I’d shared with him.
As if waiting for any sign of movement within the tent, my two piki entered without hesitation. Mirari was carrying another tray of food and Lavi had her bundle of supplies they would no doubt use on me again that morning.
Was this what my life would be like until the horde king tired of me? To sleep beside him and stay sequestered in a tent during the day, to be bathed and clothed and coifed for no reason at all?
“The Vorakkar sends you this,” Mirari said with a slight incline of her head in greeting. She set the tray down onto the same low table as yesterday. Except this time I saw that instead of numerous bowls of food…there was a single bowl filled with steaming broth. “He says you are to eat it all and if you do not…then we must tell him.”
It was a giant bowl of broth.
I pressed my lips together, remembering our agreement. He’d said he would give me his name in exchange for eating the entire portion he would give me. Only, he hadn’t mentioned that the portion would be four or five times larger than what it normally would be in our ration packs.
“Right,” I said softly, pressing a hand to my empty stomach. Then I sighed as I walked to the low table and sat on a cushion.
Mirari watched me out of the corner of her eye as I picked up the bowl in both hands and brought it to my lips.
Flavor burst on my palate, delicious and savory. It was possibly the best thing I’d ever tasted and I only felt a slight twinge of guilt as I swallowed the mouthful I’d taken in. I could feel how the broth traveled to my waiting belly, how it warmed a path inside me.
Closing my eyes, I drank more and I hated that it tasted so good, nothing like the bland, watery soup we were given in our rations. It was rich and fatty and delicious.
It took me only a few moments to finish the entire bowl. By the time I was done, I felt…full. A strange, foreign, even uncomfortable sensation. I felt like my stomach would burst.
But the hunger was gone. That was something.
After my meal, I let the piki do what they did yesterday without a fuss. From their bundle, they dragged a fresh outfit—two different outfits in two days when I’d had two in total for the past couple years—just as revealing as the last.
It was a gold-collared top, just like yesterday, that showed my naval and left my arms and most of my back bare. The skirt was asymmetrical, long on one side, while short on the other, so short that it barely covered my backside. The same pair of sandals were strapped to my feet and Lavi did what she did yesterday with my hair.
Thankfully, Mirari didn’t touch the cosmetics, nor did she try to convince me to use some.
I stayed silent through the whole process. Even when Mirari put some salve on my inner thighs.
However, she hesitated as she asked, “Would you like some for inside?”
Inside? I thought, my brow furrowing in confusion.
It took me a moment to realize what she meant and when I did, my cheeks flamed.
She assumed Arokan mated me last night, seeing as how she’d prepared me for it the previous night.
She thought I was sore, or perhaps that he’d been too rough or too large.
I cleared my throat and shook my head. “He didn’t…we didn’t do