Page 4 of Immortal Alliance

“It?”

“Something not of this world. I know it sounds crazy—”

“No, not crazy.”

I want to help her. I can’t explain why. Yes, I want to fuck her and she’s clearly offering her body. But, even if I didn’t agree to help her, I could still fuck her. I’m the king, after all.

But, no, there’s something that calls to me, something within me that wants to do whatever she asks of me. I don’t understand why. “I’ll do it. I’ll protect your family.” My hand reaches down and I trail my fingers along the top of her skirts, feeling the way she shivers at my touch.

“Thank you, liege,” she whispers.

“Beautiful,” I breathe. “So very beautiful and fragile, even as you hold magic within yourself.” I force myself to look away as I feel beguiled by her innocent seduction. Something I suspect she is unaware of. My lips brush hers, just a faint kiss, but it sears me to the bone….

In a blur of movement and gasps of air, we tumble to the bed, tugging away layers of clothing that keep our hands at bay. She’s naked underneath me and I can’t tear my eyes away from her. She’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.

I spread her legs and look down at the pink folds of glistening flesh. My cock is throbbing and begs me to slip inside her but I want to look at her first. I feel my mouth salivating.

I lean down and taste her as she bucks underneath me. She begs me to enter her and I chuckle, appreciating her need. I push myself between her legs as I grip onto her hips and I thrust inside her. She screams out and digs her fingernails into my back. The feel of her is both exquisite and devastating.

Each thrust builds toward something that rocks me to my core. Her hips roll and we grind against one another in an erotic dance of limbs. She drenches me in her passion. I feel more alive than ever before. I’ve fucked many women before, yes. But, I’ve never felt this. I’ve never wanted to lose myself in a woman before.

When Eilish shudders with release, clenching and milking my flesh with the force of her climax, I see light behind my eyes and tumble over the edge with her…

I should never have crossed this line…

The sound of rattling chains wakes me from my slumber. Though I was with Eilish in a lover’s embrace, the dream isn’t one of happiness, but pain. I knew what I was doing was wrong, and yet I allowed my body to be enthralled by her feminine wiles. Even now, flashes of pale skin and rosy nipples seep into my mind. More shuffling in the darkness draws my attention. Aima. I’m glad I’m not alone, but my comfort shouldn’t come at her expense.

Daylight finally spills into the cell, illuminating the healing cuts and bruises on her face. I never wished for this. I never wanted my old friend to suffer at the hands of my brother.

“Don’t do that,” Aima demands in a biting tone. “I can practically smell the stench of your self-hatred and pity from over here. It doesn’t matter whose fault this is—there’s no going back now.”

“Looking past it doesn’t make it right,” I rasp.

“Neither does looking back, either.” She snorts and shakes her head, causing her chains to click against the marble we’re tethered to. “I’m leaving, by the way. After we’re rescued, I mean.”

“You think we will be rescued?” I laugh.

“I know we will be.”

“Maybeyouwill.”

“Both of us,” she insists. Then she takes a big breath. “And when we are rescued, I don’t think I’m coming back... what happened in that room, Cambion... I can’t go through all of this for a third time. I can’t sit around and wait for the real Theren to return.”

“Where will you go?”

She chuckles. “Wherever. I don’t know yet. I just... I feel so broken. They took something from me, and I want it back. Torture changes people. But being tortured multiple times? I’m lucky to still be breathing. My sister didn’t last a third round... I won’t, either. I know it.”

“What about Kolvar? Perhaps you can stay with the mercenaries,” I suggest.

She looks down at her feet and I notice how far we’re hanging off the ground. My toes are numb and the skin around my wrists is raw and bleeding. I dangle here like some fish at the market waiting to be purchased. Aima shakes her head and quirks a little smile.

“Don’t even think about escaping. I tried while you were knocked out,” she says. “I couldn’t get high enough to look at the locking mechanism before my feet went numb and I fell back down. Just a tip: don’t drop more than once, or else your wrists will look like mine.”

I glance over at her hands and grimace. The skin is torn and bleeding, eating through almost to the bone as the shackles bear all of her weight. “I’m sorry, Aima. This never should have happened.”

“Look, I’m all right. And, for the record, I don’t think you betrayed us.”

“I did.”

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