“Really,” Tyrian said. Once he was about ten paces away from Rayn, he grabbed the dagger by the blade and sent it sailing through the air. The dagger landed above the knee in Rayn's leg.
“Ah, fuck.” Rayn cursed and his body started jerking as if he shocks of electrical bursts zapped through his body. He fought it and tried to stay standing, but the power of the electricity was too much for him and he fell to his knees, yanking the blade out of his leg viciously.
Tyrian nodded with approval. “Very good. If we get a similar reaction or worse from the idummi then this will prove to be an excellent new weapon.”
“Agreed,” Telal said.
“Good work,” Tyrian said to Rosa.
She smiled. “Of course.”
Tyrian ordered Rayn to the medical ward and after he limped out of the room grunting and cursing, Tyrian took a seat, his expression all business.
“What happened in the rift?”
“My father died during the Great War and my brother Alrik has been king ever since. My mother still reigns as queen.” That twisted bitch.
“Your brother? Hm... How did the kingdom look?”
Telal looked away. He wished he could say it had turned out to be everything he thought it'd be if Alrik became King, but that'd be a flat-out lie.
“Bad,” he answered honestly. “Alrik has become corrupted worse than anything I've ever seen him. It's actually affected him physically, discoloring his natural appearance.”
“I've never heard of such a thing.”
“I have but I thought it was a myth. He appears to be ruling with an iron hand. Even his eyes are black.” Telal's chest tightened; he curled his hand into a fist as some kind of outlet to the anger twisting inside him. How did everything turn out so wrong?
“Has someone helped to corrupt him?”
“I have no doubt my mother has. She's always been a twisted bitch.”
“He won't accept the proposal then,” Tyrian said. It wasn't a question. “What do you plan to do?”
“I don't know.” It almost hurt to say. No, wait, it did hurt to say.
“If you plan to take the throne back then I'll support you,” Tyrian said, his voice quiet.
Telal stood, nodding. “The weapons should be finished in...” Fuck he didn't even know. He looked to Kearnyn who spoke up.
“In the next two weeks, sir.”
“Good, I look forward to it.” Tyrian came forward and thrust out this hand. Telal shook it then touched Rosa and Kearnyn and got them the hell out of there.
He ported to Rosa's first then grabbed hold of Kearnyn.
“Wait,” Kearnyn said, stepping out of his hold. “I need to talk to Ms. Delgado.”
Telal arched a brow and looked at the both of them. Yup, if they weren't already sleeping together, they’d soon be hitting the sack.
Telal left them and reappeared in his office. Lily Bellum sat on his desk, a wicked smile on her face. Seeing her actually made him feel better.
“Get off my desk,” he said out of habit.
Surprisingly, she did. She hopped off but ran up to him and jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck. He was so stunned by the action his hands went around to hold her.
She pressed a kiss to his mouth and before he could kiss her back, which he realized he really really wanted to do—if only to lose himself for a while—she kissed along his jaw and to his ear.
“I have a surprise for you,” she whispered in his ear.
His hands tightened on her. Another one? He still hadn't gotten over the shock of the pen. “What is it?”
She laughed a low and provocative sound. His cock must like the sound because all the blood in his body pumped to there. He closed his eyes as she began nuzzling his neck with her soft lips. God, she'd felt amazing wrapped around him. She'd been so generous and soft in bed. He'd taken her where no other man has. A hot fiery surge of pride filled him. His hands reached to her ass and squeezed, bringing her against him so he could push his cock against her—to remind her of what he'd done. He felt more animal than man.
She moaned and licked up his neck. “Come on. I want you to see it.”
“See what?” he asked, his voice deep with arousal. She wore another dress, this one a light shade of pink. Just the thought of all the ways he could take her in that dress pulled his balls up tight.
She pulled back to look at him, her eyes shining with excitement and desire. “Your present!”
Cursing and mumbling, Telal let her lead him down stairs, out the main lobby, and outside. His guards sent him a varying degree of shocked expressions to which he glared at them—daring them to remark. Each time one of them glanced at Lily or the bare skin of her legs, a growl started from deep in his chest.
At the curb sat something with a black tarp over it. Judging by its shape, he had a feeling he knew what it was.
“What is it?” His lips curled with distaste.
She hopped to the curb and grabbed the black tarp pulling it a way with a great flick of her wrists like a magician. His jaw dropped at what he saw and he quickly shut it.
“You bought me a bike?”
Her eyebrow cocked. “Not just any bike. A Harley Davidson Iron 883. Just came out this year.”
Telal had to admit, the bike looked sharp and sleek in a badass kind of way. It had a black body with two chrome exhaust pipes coming off the side. Everything from the seat to the handles was black. It looked manly. A part of Telal actually flexed at the idea of riding with that between his legs.
Lily caught his expression and smiled, knowingly. “Yeah, you like it.” She crossed her arms with a satisfied expression.
He sighed. “I do.”
She came up beside him, a little smirk on her face. “Now you just need to learn to ride so I can go with you.”
“How would we fit on there?” A part of him was surprised he'd even asked. But then he remembered his plan had been foiled; there really was no reason to push her away anymore. Besides, not that he'd ever admit it to her, but he wanted her again. He hadn't touched her nearly enough since their first time. He had so much more to explore with her. Plus, he'd had a lingering hangover at the time and hadn't been able to etch into memory everything like he wanted to.
She moved to stand in front of him and he had to crane his neck down to look at her. Her eyes were warm and inviting. Or maybe he just saw what he wanted to see?
“By me holding real tight to you.” The image flashed in his mind. Him driving her on a dark night, the wind flying past them, the vibrations of the roaring bike rocking between them. She’d wrap her dainty arms around him, squeezing him tight with her legs pressed against the back of his.
Suddenly, he was grabbing her hand and hauling her back through the lobby.
“Hey, what're you doing?” She sounded breathless and he wanted to roar. She wanted him. He made for the elevator then thought better of it and practically ran down the hallway to the stairs. Once inside the stairs he tugged her up about two flights before he stopped and pushed her back against the wall, his body crashing down on hers.
“Telal?”
Her wide eyes were beautiful. He'd hated her when he first saw her. She had lush, dark curling hair, a ripe young body, and eyes the color amber and golden brown around a black pupil. The way she'd pursued him without qualm to his history, his demonic ancestry had surprised him, and angered him. He'd taken out his anger by calling her on her foolish actions. He could still remember the night she'd slapped him in front of Lyonis Keelan's cabin. So he'd been late. He still managed to save Lyonis' life.
“Where did you go?” she asked softly.
He blinked and remembered he had her plastered against the wall in the stairwell.
He looked down at her supple body in that flowing pink dress and all of his instincts flared to life.