but I was afraid of how it might…change me. I was afraid that I would like it.
His head rose from the column of my throat, those dark eyes watching me. His expression was a little wild, a little untamed. Saying his given name had unleashed something within him, something he kept tightly reined in, hidden from his horde.
I shivered, unsure whether I wanted to explore that part of him, that dark, exciting, unfamiliar place.
“Rei Morakkari,” he murmured, his eyes tracking over my face. They settled on my lips as his fingers trailed back down my body, until they reached my sex.
A small whimper left me when he parted my folds, when he stroked me so gently, much more gently than I’d ever think he was capable of.
“Rei kassikari,” he rasped.
Arousal pricked me when his fingers shifted over my clit and I bit my lip, holding back a groan.
“Lysi?” he asked.
Yes? Was that what he was asking?
“Tell me something first,” I managed to get out, though my voice sounded a little breathless.
“Neffar?”
“Why?” I asked softly, one question that had been on my mind more than once.
“Why?” he repeated, his brow furrowing. Despite his confusion, his fingers never stopped moving between my legs, never stopped stoking the fire deep inside me that was threatening to break free.
“You could have had any Dakkari female,” I said, looking up at him. Mirari had told me as much. “It would have been easier. So why? Why me?”
Arokan let out a sharp breath and dropped his head to my shoulder, pressing his lips there. His surprisingly soft lips. I wondered if the Dakkari kissed, like humans. I wondered what it would be like to kiss him.
Or perhaps that was the fermented drink wondering.
He lifted his head, meeting my gaze, and said, “I heard the courage in your voice before I ever saw your face. A human kalles daring to stand against the Dakkari…I was intrigued. I needed to see you. And when I saw your face, your eyes, I knew. Kakkari revealed you to me. I knew you would be my queen. You are strong and you are brave and you were loyal to your kin. That is why.”
Whatever I had been expecting…it hadn’t been that.
My heart pounded in my chest as I absorbed his words.
“Lysi?” he murmured, that low voice caressing over my skin like a touch.
This was my new life now. He was my husband now, a horde king of the Dakkari. It was unbreakable. It was…done.
I could fight against it and make life harder for myself. Or I could try to assimilate into the horde, to build a new life for myself while continuing to champion my village for aid. I could help them, whereas before, it was hopeless.
Perhaps my brother’s fire had been a blessing in disguise.
“Lysi,” I said softly, meeting his gaze.
Something flickered there at my word, at my affirmation. I felt the shift between us, as palpable as a touch.
He kept his eyes on mine when he ducked his head. When he found my gold-painted nipple and drew it deep into his mouth.
I cried out, twisting a little underneath him, as I felt that raspy, warm tongue. It felt good and I groaned as he flicked my budded nipple, until I felt that small pleasure sizzle in a straight line down my body.
My hands flew to his bulging biceps when he switched to my other breast, when he began speaking in guttural Dakkari, words I didn’t understand but words that sounded…reverent. I felt the twisting shift of his muscles beneath my hand, felt the cords of his arms tighten as he continued to stroke his hand between my thighs.
In the distance I could still hear the drums of the celebration, even that far away. The pulsing rhythm that seemed to mimic the way my sex began to throb.
His body was so warm, so hot, like a furnace. His mouth grew ravenous at my breast, tugging and laving, like he was starved for me. When he finally released my nipple, I looked between us, past the heavy plate of my necklace, and saw that he’d cleaned them of the gold. Now they were flushed a dark pink, sensitive and pointed.
“I will spill my seed deep inside your body this night, Morakkari,” he rasped, his voice dark and gravelly. “You will be heavy with my heirs. You will bear me a horde warrior that will be strong enough to lead, to be Vorakkar.”
My breath was coming out fast, my chest heaving. Children.