Captive of the Horde King (Horde Kings Of Dakkar #1) - Zoey Draven Page 0,60

bribe the mrikro grump into giving me a better job, one that didn’t include shoveling shit.

I grinned and laughed slightly. “Hji, huh?” I nodded, already forming a plan for the morning. “Thank you, warrior. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Arokan returned in the middle of the night. I’d been tossing and turning, thinking of the story he’d told me about his father and mother, about the Ghertun.

So, when I heard the clattering of hooves across the earth and hushed Dakkari voices, I sat up in bed, clutching the furs to my chest. Soon, I heard heavy footsteps approach the tent and my breath hitched when Arokan ducked inside, looking tired, but unharmed.

Relief trickled through me. His eyes burned into mine but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he extinguished the sole candle I’d let burn, undressed until he was nude, and then climbed into bed beside me.

He smelled like salt and the earth and pure Dakkari male. Greedily, I dragged him into my lungs as I settled back down onto the furs.

Arokan gripped the back of my neck, pulling me towards him before running the tip of his nose along the column of my throat. My breath hitched, desire building at the small touch.

“Did you find them?” I whispered into the darkness, finding the familiar glowing yellow of his ringed eyes.

“Lysi,” was all he said, his voice floating over the flesh of my neck. He ran his tongue there next and my hands trembled underneath the furs.

“Were any of the warriors hurt?”

“Nik.”

His scent muddled my thoughts as his hand trailed down. I could feel him hard against my body. I was quickly learning that Dakkari males had a healthy need for regular sex and just remembering that consuming need made my belly quiver.

I stayed as still as possible, torn between reaching for him and simply lying there, frightened by the potent desire I felt for my captor husband.

Never in a million years did I think I would want him this way. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind when I made that initial bargain.

He felt me tense when his fingers reached my sex, when he gently ran his thumb along my slit. He stilled and pulled back, peering down at me with those observant, watchful eyes.

Whatever he saw made his jaw tick and with a rough sound, he pulled his hand away, settling back against the cushions.

“Sleep, kalles,” he ordered and then promptly shut his eyes. “Veekor.”

Confusion, frustration, and perhaps even relief, flooded through me.

I bit my lip, still able to feel the heat of his hand between my thighs, the warmth of his tongue ghosting across my neck. Squirming, I blew out a quiet breath and then hesitantly settled back into my cushion, facing away from him.

What was that about? I wondered.

Closing my eyes, I listened to his steady breathing, trying to calm my racing thoughts and my burning body.

And I fell into another restless sleep wondering why he’d stopped…and realizing that I hadn’t wanted him to.

Chapter Twenty-One

The pyroki master was happily munching on his hji fruit that I’d brought him from the market stalls that morning.

While I wasn’t shoveling shit anymore, the task he’d given me wasn’t much better and one that terrified me more.

I had to groom the pyrokis that had returned with their horde riders late last night. Except for my husband’s, of course. No, the pyroki master seemed to think that taking care of Kailon was his sole responsibility and one he took great pride in.

Kailon had eyed me carefully as the master demonstrated what I was to do for the rest of the morning. My heart had fluttered madly in my chest, thinking that any moment, the black-scaled, red-eyed beast could tear off a chunk of me…just like a pyroki had done to my mother. My hands had trembled. I could feel rivulets of sweat stream down my back. I thought I would throw up my morning meal as I stood as close to Kailon as I dared.

The beast was just like my husband in a way. Big, intimidating, powerful. It had eyes like steel and didn’t seemed impressed with me at all.

The master gave me a stiff bristled brush and led me over to a pyroki, which stamped its feet and made a hair-raising sound at my approach.

“Do not fear them,” the master ordered me, giving me a frown. “They sense it. They will take advantage of it.”

It was impossible for me not to fear them. That fear felt imbedded within me as I thought about