Abziarr and his unwilling Queen (Lords of Arr'Carthian 1.5) (2 page)

I nodded.

The general placed his large hand on my shoulder.

“I wish you luck,” he said. “And that you’ll be as happy as I am.”

His attention returned to his mate and for the first time I saw movement in his ice-cold countenance. For a brief moment the mask relaxed and an expression of tenderness, desire and wonder spread across Kordan’s features. But then the frozen mask was across his face again and he turned to me.

“I’ll try to bide you some time, but when Marruk comes, I’ll be with him. It’s best for you to have your mate on your side by then, Verkuzzi.”
 

With these words he disappeared into the darkness and I looked towards the spot where Susan had been standing a short time before. She was gone! I swore quietly. Where could she have gone? Hopefully she was not walking around alone in the dark in the grounds.
 

Indeed no one here would harm her, but other warriors could seize the opportunity to approach her. I had to find her and then I would not hesitate a second longer. I would take her with me. The thought filled me with joyful excitement. Soon! Soon she would be mine. MINE!

I met her in the company of two other earth females. Laughing, the three females were coming out of the palace, where they had probably been to the bathroom. I only had one option: I had to knock them all out so that I could abduct Susan. The opportunity was now favorable because there were no males around. Decisively, I stepped out of the darkness into the light of the torches.
 

“Good evening, ladies,” I greeted them, smiling at all of them.
 

The three females jumped in fright, then the other two females composed themselves and began to look at me with interest. Only Susan was staring at me, still in shock. I would first stun the other two. They made it easy for me as both of them seemed to find me attractive. I smiled at them, moving closer.
 

“Do the ladies need an escort back to the party?” I asked, stepping between them.

“That wouldn’t be bad,” said one of them, whilst the other looked at me hungrily out of big blue eyes. I put my arms around their shoulders and they laughed. One look at Susan told me that she was put out. She made a move to walk away and I knew that I did not have much time. I moved my hands down to the females’ necks and pressed. Energy waves streamed through my fingers, paralyzing the nervous system of both females. They collapsed and, with difficulty, I broke their fall - I did not want them to get hurt, of course. Carefully I let them slip to the ground. Susan turned round and stared in horror at the two motionless females. Her mouth opened to scream and in a matter of seconds I was at her side, pulling her into my arms and closing her mouth with mine. That was not the way I imagined our first kiss, but I could not find a better solution in a hurry. She pushed against me and I grasped her firmly by the neck, stunning her in the same way. Weakly, she sank against me and I lifted her quickly into my arms. Now it was a matter of hurrying before anyone discovered the two females. I rushed through the darkness to my glider. I saw the three royal gliders alongside mine and knew what I had to do. After placing Susan safely into my glider, I removed the steering equipment from the other three gliders and took it with me. It would take a while before they would be in a position to pursue me, if indeed they had the necessary spare parts. They would need a lot of time to cross the Jade Mountains - time that I needed to win over my mate.
 

Chapter 2

“I must say, I am surprised, Your Highness,” declared Maara, my palace computer. “It appears that abducting females is gradually becoming second nature to you. I’m not sure what to think of this.”

“You’re a damn computer,” I replied, annoyed. “You shouldn’t have any thoughts about it!”

“With all due respect, Your Highness, I need to warn you. I …”

“That’s enough now!” I cut Maara short. “Don’t forget what I did last time you became rebellious. I could do that again at any time.”

“And you, Your Highness, should not forget that I still succeeded in booting myself up last time,” responded Maara, her tone disparaging. “What I once succeeded in, I could do again!”

I sighed. This is what I had gained for installing an intelligent computer system into my castle. I only wondered why Ceyla, the computer system in the Arr’Carthian palace, was not so awkward. Why specifically my damn computer?

“I see we have an understanding, Your Highness,” said Maara, clearly pleased with herself.

“If you’re attempting to persuade me to release Susan, you can forget it,” I snarled glumly. “I’d rather destroy the whole computer system in such a way that you never manage to re-boot your program.”

“I was not intending to ask you to do that, Your Highness. I think it will be very amusing to see you having a rough time with your intended!!”

“Well, what makes you think that I’ll have a rough time?” I asked angrily.

“Well, your intended has been going wild for a good half an hour in your room and I see that she’s equal to Lady Keela in every way,” said Maara smugly.

I clenched my fists. I could still remember, all too well, how Keela had torn apart the room that I had put her up in.
 
It must come down to their race. The earth females all seemed to be quite strong-willed and rebellious. But they were also extremely amusing and I liked strength in a female. My mother had been weak and, likewise, my first mate, Morika, otherwise she would have resisted the orders of her parents to take Prince Marruk as her mate. I had mourned Morika for a long time, but since meeting the earth females I doubted whether I could have attained true happiness with Morika.
 

“I will win her over, Maara - no problem!” I snarled, leaving the room to go to my chambers where I had put Susan up. I was thinking about my priceless collection of antiques and hoped that at least some pieces had survived. I should have put my mate in a different room first, where she could cause less damage. But it was too late for that now. Decisively, I rushed through the corridors. It was time to show my mate who was in charge here!

On opening the door to my chambers, a one thousand year old vase from Splixz3 flew towards me. The Splixz dynasty ended about a hundred years ago. The vase was worth a fortune. I tried to catch it, but it struck me with such force that I was not able to grasp it. It hit my shoulder with a crash and I swore angrily.

“Damn it! Have you any idea what that vase was worth?” I shouted.

“I’m not in the least bit interested, you damn ass-hole!” she yelled at me, grabbing one of two antique daggers hanging on the wall. A sinister smile spread across her face as she first looked at the dagger, then at me.
 

“Do us both a favor and put the dagger down.
 
You could hurt someone with that.”

“You, for example?” she asked, raising one of her well-shaped eyebrows.

“I don’t think you could do it. I’m more afraid that you could injure yourself with it.”

I saw her eyes flash, milliseconds before she raised her arm, but she really was damn quick. The blade flew at me with incredible speed and although I moved aside, the edge scraped along my left upper arm, tearing open my tunic. I shouted out in shock then looked at her. She was reaching for the second blade - I ran to stop her. I caught her but she had already grabbed the dagger handle and was trying to stab me with the weapon. Swearing, I moved aside, grabbing her wrist. Considering that she barely came up to my chin, she was damn strong. She turned and kicked me in the shin before I finally managed to grab her properly and press her against me until she could hardly move any more. But it was a long time before she gave up her resistance and stopped struggling. Breathing heavily, she stared at me. Her brown eyes were flashing and her full lower lip was trembling.

“Bastard!” she said. “Why have you done this?”

“You wanted to kill me,” I defended myself. “What was I supposed to do? Let that happen?”

“I don’t mean that!” she snarled. “Why did you abduct me?”

“Because you’re my mate,” I replied calmly.

“Let me tell you something,” she said. ”Where I come from, you don’t simply abduct a woman just because you think she’s your mate! Perhaps I don’t even want to be your mate! Has that even occurred to you? Or do you think you’re so irresistible that any woman would fall joyfully at your feet?”

I smiled and looked her directly in the eye, raising an eyebrow.

“And you ...,” I paused, pushing her back against the wall. She gasped and I could feel her heart beat speeding up. “… don’t want me, do you?” I said, finishing my sentence.

“Let! Me! Go!” she hissed, trying to push me away.

“You haven’t answered my question,” I said quietly. “Tell me that you don’t want me!”

“Ass-hole!” she spat at me, glaring furiously. “I don’t want you! Right - and now what? Are you going to let me go now?”

“I would,” I said calmly. “If that were the truth.”

“It is the truth!” she screamed into my face. Again she began to fight me, although it must have been clear to her that she had no chance against me. I liked her passion and being this close to her was both arousing and torture.

“So how come I can smell desire from you?” I confronted her with the truth.

“You’re insane,” she spat at me. “You’d probably like that.”

“Are you going to deny it? I could prove it to you. Tell me, Susan, if I were to put my hand into your panties, what would I find there, hmm? If my nose isn’t deceiving me - and it never does - you’re wet and completely ready for me. Shall I show you proof of your desire?”

“Don’t you dare touch me, you bastard!”

“I’ll touch you,” I said quietly. “… everywhere – on your whole body – but when you’re ready for it, not now. It’s enough for me that you know that I’m right. And you do, don’t you, Susan? You know that your body already belongs to me. Your spirit and your heart will belong to me, too. I can be patient.”

“You can wait until you’re blue in the face,” she said, but she avoided looking directly at me.

I could see her jugular - it was beating wildly and I could not resist the temptation. I bent my head and moved my tongue over the pulsating point. Her taste exploded on my tongue and my cock suddenly became hard. I knew that she was ready for me - at least physically. I could take her without causing her pain, but I would not do it. I wanted her to ask me once she was ready. I could have a little taster, though. I let her go so that I could put my hands on her face and force her to look at me.

“You are mine,” I said firmly. “Whether you want to admit that to yourself now or not.
 
Sooner or later you will beg me.”

She laughed sarcastically, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice when she responded: “Dream on, ass-hole!
 
I’d rather kill you!”

“You really could use your mouth for better things than making threats that you won’t carry out.”

“I’ve already tried to kill you,” she hissed. “Forgotten that already?”

“You knew that I’d dodge the dagger. You’re not a cold-blooded murderer. I saw it in your eyes when the blade scratched me - you didn’t want to injure me - you were sorry.”

“That is not true!” she contradicted me, but I could tell from her eyes that she was lying.

“You can deny it, but we both know that it’s as I say.”

She tried to turn her head but I was holding her face tightly between my hands. My eyes wandered to her beautiful lips, now pressed together in anger. I moved a thumb over them and to my satisfaction she visibly trembled under my touch. Incapable of resisting the temptation, I lowered my mouth onto hers and tasted those full lips. They were so soft - I could not suppress a quiet growl - my tiger was running amok inside.
 

‘
Take her
,’ it growled. ‘
She belongs to us!
’

I was tempted to give in to the pressure of my tiger, but I knew it would be a mistake. I only wanted a kiss. I had to know what she tasted like. I explored, moving my tongue over her upper lip before taking it between my lips and pulling on it slightly - her pupils widened. Encouraged by that, I gently pushed the tip of my tongue between her lips. She put her hands on my chest, first pushing as if she wanted to resist me, but as my tongue touched hers, her hands moved higher and were then around my neck. My cock quivered in anticipation as her taste flooded my senses. Her quiet groaning made me almost forget my intention to go slowly. The temptation to take her here and now, leaning against the wall, was huge. But I wanted more than just a fuck, so I forced myself to stop kissing her before I completely lost control. She stared at me. Her lips were wet from my kiss - and puffy.
 
Damn it! It was tempting when she was looking so damn compliant. But it was not long before she realised her own mistake and her expression grew dark.

“You’re revolting! I hate you!” she said, pushing against me.

“Your kiss was giving me a different message, Susan. But I’ll leave you now - for the time being - so that you can lick your wounds.”

“What wounds?” she asked.

“Your pride,” I replied. “Your pride is wounded because you gave in to me – because, for a moment, you were ready to give yourself to me. If I hadn’t interrupted the kiss, how far would you have let me go, Susan?”

“You’ve got a wild imagination. You need to get straight to a psychiatrist for help with your reality problem.”

I did not continue, but moved away from her. Before I let go of her face, too, I stroked her still wet lips once more with my thumb.
 

“We’ll see one another later, Susan. I need to tend to something.”

I had only taken a few steps when her voice sounded.

“Ass-hole!” she shouted and I turned around.

She had picked up the dagger that had slipped out of her hand and she was holding it, ready to throw.

“I can kill you!”

“So why are you giving me a warning?” I asked, walking towards her slowly. “Why didn’t you just throw it?” I was now standing directly in front of her. “Stab me! Do it! Kill me and you can go!”