better than I thought it would be.”
He turned his head to look at me and I found myself looking directly into his eyes, our faces only inches apart.
“Do you have a father?” he asked.
“What?” I asked, laughing a little at how surprising the question was, how unexpected.
“You never speak of one. You only speak of your mother.”
“You think I just sprung out of the ground?” I teased. “A little gift from Kakkari?”
He growled, leaning forward to nip my fingers in frustration. I chuckled, my belly swarming again.
He elaborated his question by commenting, “I had heard that the old Earth colonies, before they were destroyed, had the ability to create offspring without a father. Just a mother.”
“Oh,” I said. “Yes, but it was long ago. And for your information, I was created the old-fashioned way.”
He shook his head, grumbling something in Dakkari at my teasings.
I sobered a little.
“My father died a long time ago,” I told him. “Even before my brother was born. He got sick and it took him quickly. I was four at the time, so I hardly remember him. Mostly, I just have these vague impressions or memories. My mother never wanted to talk about him. I think she never stopped mourning him and not remembering made it easier to move on.”
I used to think about my father a lot when I was little, how different life at the village might be. When my mother was alive, she struggled to have her voice heard. As a female, with two small children, the village council, Polin included, had never taken her seriously. It had always angered me, watching her get dismissed.
“What were your parents like?” I asked, curious. “Were you happy as a child before…before the Ghertun attack?”
“Lysi,” he murmured. “I was.”
I nodded, glad.
“Dakkari are not shy about showing their offspring their affection,” he told me. “They showed me every moment. My mother was gentle, yet strong. My father was everything I wanted to be. He would train me himself, even in Dothik. He wanted me to be strong because he told me that one day, I would need to protect my mother, my queen, and my daughters.”
My breath hitched and emotion welled in my chest at his words.
“He could be hard,” he continued. “But his lessons, not only during trainings, have directed my life. The memory of them have led me to this. I have felt both of their presence, their guiding hand, in every action I have taken. For that, I am grateful.” He met my gaze again. “I felt them when I saw you. Their force and Kakkari’s force led me to you. They knew that I needed you.”
My lips parted, my heart throbbing.
He was just…so wonderful.
Overwhelmed, I didn’t know what to say, so I simply leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. He breathed me in deep and shifted, so I laid more comfortably in his arms.
When we pulled apart, I whispered, almost shyly, “I’m glad they did. I’m glad they led you to me.”
Because it was becoming obvious to me that I was falling in love with my horde king. I’d fought it at first, but the past few days had only intensified my budding feelings, had only proven to me that somehow, some way, I’d been given a gift.
A precious gift. One I had never expected.
But Arokan was real. He was right there, pressed against me, whispering sweet things that made my spine tingle.
He was offering me everything.
Yet, I was holding back.
Why?
Was it because of my brother and his uncertain future? Was it because nothing in my life had gone as planned or because Arokan seemed too good to be true and I distrusted that? Was it my doubts and fears and insecurities about leading the horde that continued to plague my every step?
It was everything.
And until the answers to those questions became clear, I couldn’t give him everything in return.
I just hoped it wouldn’t destroy us both in the process.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Lysi,” Arokan growled, his hands gripping my hips. “Rin nekanevexi rei kakkiva, rei Morakkari!”
You ride my cock so well, my Queen, he’d said. Dakkari words I knew like the back of my hand now.
I gasped, feeling my horde king’s large palms slide up my bare torso and I groaned deep in my throat as his fingers pinched my nipples, making my hips snap over him harder.
“Arokan,” I moaned.
Building, building, building…
Too much, too much!
Then I was destroyed, falling into a powerful orgasm that made me scream, that made me fuck my hips