Authors: Liia Ann White
Dark Waters (7 page)
Damn she was beautiful when she came.
****
After drying and composing herself,
Adora
rummaged around the food and water emergency supply she always kept in case she
was holed up in the hideout for an extended period of time. Returning to the
lounge area with water, she paused for a moment and took in the sight before
her.
Randor
, in all his naked glory, was sprawled
out on the lounge, a piece of fresh fruit in his hand.
Adora
watched as he bit off a piece, juice sliding over his lip to his chin. Sliding
his tongue out, he licked it up, the movement sending a shudder throughout her.
She was a goner. She might have thought the whole soul mate
deal was ridiculous before meeting
Randor
, but now
she understood. For the rest of her life, she’d have him by her side. No matter
what they went through. That much she knew.
Randor
eyed her as she entered his
line of sight and stretched his arm out, gesturing for her to join him.
“Quite handy, aren’t you?” he murmured into her hair when
she lay beside him.
“Never know when I’ll need to bunker down here for a while.”
She stretched her leg over his, running her foot up and down his calf. “After
all, I’ve got assassins after me.”
Looking at him through her lashes, she caught the flash of
regret in his eyes before he blinked and gave a small smile. “I’m not sorry I
kidnapped you.”
With a small smile, she retorted, “I’m not sorry I stabbed
you.”
He shifted back and stared. “Why?”
“If I hadn’t stabbed you…” She leaned forward, her lips
grazing his as she spoke. “I wouldn’t have healed you and found out we were
soul mates.”
His brow creased into a small frown of concern. “Did you
sleep with me to get away from me?”
Adora
didn’t know whether to feel
hurt or offended. They had just had two marathon sessions in the hot spring
pool where she’d clearly shown him how she felt about him. She let herself go
in a way she’d never done before. “Excuse me?”
“At my house you said it wasn’t the first time you’d slept
with someone to get what you wanted. Did you fuck me in the bathroom to get
away from me?”
“Oh.” That. With a little smile, she turned to face him,
throwing her leg over his waist. “That I did because I had to get rid of the
arousal that had built inside of me. From the second you touched me it had been
burning and I was getting hotter and hotter.”
Her body reacted to being so close with him naked, core wet
in an instant,
tingles
running along her limbs and settling
in her stomach.
“Just like now.”
She reached her tongue out and licked his bottom lip,
tasting the sweet fruit he’d just eaten.
Randor
awarded her bold move by groaning and gripping her butt, yanking her until she
was on top of him.
“Good” was all he said before he claimed her mouth in a kiss
so dominant it had her insides warming and set her arousal
soaring.
“One more, then we rest,” he breathed against her lips. “We
have a hard fight ahead of us.”
Hours later,
Adora
woke to find
herself tangled in
Randor’s
limbs. Looking up, she
found him staring down at her adoringly. She leant up and kissed him softly
before snuggling against his frame, revelling in the feel of a warm sexy body
against hers for once.
While enjoying the silence,
Adora
felt the need to ask a question that had been on her mind since she’d found out
her was part human. “You said your mother was human?”
“
Mmhmm
.”
“What happened to her?”
“She died,” he replied simply, his voice void of emotion.
“And your father?”
“He was
fae
, that’s all I know.”
She had the feeling there was more to the story and wanted
to pry, but at the same time knew he’d tell her when he wanted.
“So what’s your connection with the elf and queen?”
Adora
noted the look of mild irritation on
Randor’s
face and followed up. “I’m just trying to
understand how you became an assassin who was allowed to leave the army.”
“Elvira raised the two of us–
because of the circumstances in which I was raised…”
She looked at him, waiting for him to continue. He just
looked blankly at her, eyes narrowed.
“There’s a reason I’m the most feared assassin in the land,
Princess.”
He shuffled and removed his arm from around her before
sitting up.
“We should get ready. The sooner we get going, the sooner we
can be free.”
Adora
tried not to focus on the
hurt and annoyance at
Randor’s
dismissal and got
herself dressed. She found a combat outfit she left in the safe house in case
of emergencies and equipped herself with all the weaponry she could find.
Randor
conjured up his own spare
clothing, choosing an outfit almost identical to hers. He wore fitted pants and
a long sleeved shirt, all black, with scabbards and sheaths for knives and
blades that she didn’t realise he’d had on him earlier. He looked absolutely
mouthwatering
.
No time to get caught up
again. Keep discussing the plan.
The two of them leaned against the back of the lounge,
finishing off their quick breakfasts while triple checking their arsenal.
“So those who attacked you yesterday…”
“Were sent by the
Unseelie
queen,”
he answered her question before she asked it.
“Elves and
Fae
.
Some of whom I used to fight alongside.”
Hurt flashed in his eyes momentarily. She was about to reach
out and say something comforting but his eyes glazed over with a cold harshness
that she only recognised because she had the same expression. He was ready to
fight. Pushing off the lounge, she stood, one hand on the scabbard of her
sword, the other hanging loosely by her side as she clenched and unclenched her
fist.
“So we enter the castle, then what?”
His lips twitched as he obviously recognised her stance.
“First of all, I have to take your sword. If we enter the castle and you’re
armed, they’ll know something’s up.” Begrudgingly, she unhooked her belt and
handed it and the sword to him so he could don it himself. “The
Unseelie
queen has apparently had Maleficent, her witch, searching
for us. It’s the only explanation I have for why we were attacked immediately
after stepping through the portal.”
“Or your elf friend isn’t as trustworthy as you thought.”
It was harsh, but it needed to be said.
Randor
nodded, the only acknowledgement he gave that she’d spoken as he continued his
thoughts.
“Maleficent is too powerful to hide from so I say we just
come out guns-a-blazing so to speak.”
“
Gunsa
what?”
“Sorry, human term.” He cleared his throat and continued.
“The queen’s expecting me to deliver you to her, so I say that’s what I do.”
Adora’s
heart dropped. She stared at
him as hurt filled her chest, causing magic to brim on the surface of her skin.
“
Adora
,” he said, his voice calm
and soothing, “I’m not going to turn you in.”
He took a careful step toward her and held his hands out.
“I mean we go in with a plan. If we can wipe out Maleficent,
we’ll be free to leave without being tracked.”
She eyed him suspiciously, releasing her magic to return to
a calmer stance. “And how do you propose we take out the most powerful witch in
existence?”
“We need someone you can trust.
Someone
who will be unrecognisable to the
Court
“The only person I trust, other than myself, is standing in
front of me.” It pained her to say it out loud.
Adora
had never truly trusted anyone apart from her mother and, now,
Randor
. Even her father had proven he put his and the
kingdom’s needs before that of his only offspring. He’d been doing that for
decades.
“Princess.”
He closed his hands around
hers and brought them to his mouth, kissing the back of each. “You have me now.
That’s all you’ll ever need.”
“I hope you’re right,” she almost whispered.
“You trust me one hundred per cent?” She nodded. “Good,
because you’re not going to like what I’m about to suggest.”
****
To say she didn’t like what
Randor
suggested was an understatement. It went against everything she’d ever been
told to go along with his plan.
Randor
planned to
take
Adora
to the
Unseelie
queen
with
tow as backup. The problem being that the elf could quite easily turn around
and throw both
Adora
and
Randor
to the mercy of the queen and have them marked as traitors or, worse, murdered
on the spot.
“I feel you haven’t thought this through entirely,”
Adora
said in a calm tone though her senses were buzzing,
warning her of all the danger around her. “You can’t trust the elf.”
He flashed
her a
look of
irritation. “The only one you have to trust is me,
Adora
.
Can you do that?”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded. As
much as she hated to admit it, she trusted him. Her half-human,
Unseelie
rogue assassin soul mate.
“Okay then. We need to be invisible and completely silent.”
He brought up a barrier of magic around his body. “I’m going to open a portal
that will lead us right into the
Unseelie
kingdom, to
the throne room. You need to be prepared for anything that happens.” His tone
was suddenly very stern and
Adora
felt invisible
fingertips on her cheeks, followed by the softest, sweetest kiss she’d ever
received in her life.
Randor’s
invisibility disappeared for
a moment and he looked her in the eye. His blue irises glistened with emotion
as he stared at her. “If I tell you to run, you run. No matter what’s
happening. I won’t have you hurt because of my mistake.”
“Only if you’ll do the same,” she whispered. “I have my ways
of working around
Maleficent’s
magic and the queen’s arrogance.”
A smile appeared on his lips but didn’t reach his eyes. “I
don’t doubt you do, Princess.”
Taking a step back,
Randor
used
his magic to disappear from her sight again. With a deep breath,
Adora
called to her magic and did the same. She double-checked
her scabbard for her sword and flexed her fingers. She was ready.
The air before them ripped as
Randor
opened the portal, and a stone and marble throne room appeared on the other
side.
Adora
felt
Randor’s
hand grip hers and squeeze. Sucking in a deep breath, she squeezed his hand in
return and followed his pull through the portal.
Chapter Six
Randor’s
heart beat so hard he thought
it might explode out of his chest. He’d been on thousands, probably millions,
of missions for various people, including
Adora’s
own
father, in his long lifetime, but none had been so dire. If his plan didn’t go
exactly as he planned, he might end up losing
Adora
.
And that just wasn’t an option.
somewhere. Whenever he left the house they shared without a specific
destination or agenda, he returned to the place he’d grown up. All
Randor
had to do was find him and explain things to his
best friend. Well, explain most things.
While
Randor
had never screwed up this badly. It was the worst mistake he’d ever made,
bringing the
Seelie
princess to his home. But he
wouldn’t ever regret that decision. In a few short hours, she’d managed to
change something inside of him. He would do anything for her. Even betray his
best friend’s trust.
Randor
kept a constant hold of
Adora’s
hand as he opened the door to make sure the hallway
was clear. He led her with him through the throne room to the main hallway of
the castle. Sure enough,
elvish
form, he appeared fierce as he walked.