Star's Storm: Lords of Kassis Book 2 (20 page)

Gods, everything about her heats my
blood,
he thought fiercely.

He knew one thing, the Grand Ruler better be
a man of his word because if he tried to harm one hair on his mate
or River he would kill the male without a second thought. He was
tired of those who thought they could harm him, his mate, or his
family. It was time to end this once and for all.

*.*.*

Ristéard stood at the edge of the landing
platform watching as the Kassisan shuttle slowed for landing. He
was an imposing sight. At close to seven feet of pure muscle, he
carried an air of barely suppressed violence in his stance. His
light blue skin was swirled with darker blue tattoos that he wore
proudly. He had earned each in either battle or competition against
those who thought to take his title. Those who were stupid enough
to dare either one died a slow, painful death. He did not show
mercy to anyone, be they male or female. There had been three
females who thought to take his place, one in battle, two by
deceit. He had killed them as slowly as he had killed the numerous
males who had tried. If they wished to cause him harm, he felt they
deserved the same punishment.

His people knew he could be a brutal,
heartless warrior but they also knew he was a fair ruler who gave
to them. His research showed Lord Ajaska Ja Kel Coradon, Leader of
Kassis, was the same. After he was informed that Ja Kel Coradon
wanted to meet with him, he had ordered Commander Rue to return. He
had wanted to know everything she knew about the Leader of Kassis….
everything. He could tell by the increase in her breathing and the
flush to her skin that she was withholding information from him at
first. His softly hissed command warned her not to hold anything
back if she valued not only her position but her life. She told him
of the night she and two other officers had spent with the leader
almost forty years before when they had just completed training and
were partying on a distant Spaceport. She relayed what she
remembered in specific detail. Her insight to that night gave him
an idea of the type of male he would be facing. It had also left
him highly aroused which was a constant state for a Elpidios male.
After he had dismissed her, he had called for one of the women he
kept for his pleasure. As he bent her over his desk, taking his
time with her, his mind focused on the information he had. His
release came swiftly, taking the edge off but never satisfying him.
He pushed the disappointment to the back of him mind. He had more
important things to deal with than the constant hunger that ate at
him. After the female clean him, he dismissed her back to the rooms
where the females he kept for his private use lived without another
thought.

Now, he was focused solely on the pale
skinned female that Commander Rue said was the first sign of the
prophesy stating his bride, the female who would save his world,
was coming. The shuttle landed and within moments the platform
opened, allowing the passengers to disembark.

Ristéard’s eyebrow lifted when he saw the
huge figure of a Tearnat male walk down the platform first and look
around with a deep scowl on his face. He stared intently at
Ristéard for a moment before he dipped his head in respect. Only
when Ristéard responded in kind did he motion for the others. A
slender, darker green Tearnat female walked down the platform with
her head held high. Ristéard bit back a smile at the scowl the
huge Tearnat gave the female who waved her hand at him as if
brushing away an annoying speck. She stepped off the platform and
turned to stand next to the male who immediately wrapped a huge arm
around her waist, drawing her protectively against him.

The next one down the platform was a huge
male that could only be Ajaska Ja Kel Coradon from Commander Rue’s
description. He was almost as big as Ristéard, both in height and
in strength from the look of it. He paused, looking over at
Ristéard before he looked up the platform and nodded. Ristéard’s
attention was truly caught at the protectiveness of the males for
those who were still aboard the shuttle. He understood why the
moment he saw the next two couples descending. His eyes were
riveted to the two beautiful females descending the platform,
surrounding by four males who searched the area intensely for any
signs of a threat.

The females had golden, pale skin. Their
coloring and size contrasted each other as if they had been painted
with two different brushes by two different artists. One was
taller, with dark hair hanging in a long braid down her slender
back. When she glanced at him, he could see that her eyes were
indeed the color of their oceans. The dark, dark blue that pulled
at the soul of the searcher. His eyes roamed her sleek form pausing
on the slight swell of her abdomen. His eyes moved to the slightly
taller male who glared back at him in warning.

Her mate,
Ristéard thought.
He
would not be an easy adversary to beat.

Ristéard bowed his head slightly in
acknowledgement of the male’s warning. He would give him the
respect of knowing he would not harm another’s mate unless it was
necessary. He held sacred the bond between mates and a female while
she was breeding.

His eyes moved to the other female who
fascinated him with her unusual coloring. Commander Rue did not
mention a second pale-skinned female. She was so small he might
have wondered if she was a child if it had not been for the way the
other male had his hand on her. Her hair was a color he had never
seen before except in the crystals that used to litter his world.
The few crystals that were left had belonged to the ruling family
and his father had turned them over to the scientists in the hopes
they could discover the property hidden inside them. Only a handful
remained. The others used up or destroyed in the experiments.

The color was so intense, he wanted to run
his hands through the silky strands to see if it felt as soft as it
looked. She turned and looked at him with eyes the lightest of
blue. It reminded him of the color of the few infants still being
born. An Elpidios infant was born a pale blue and slowly became
darker as it matured. Ristéard tilted his head in confusion as he
felt another ache deep inside that he had never experienced before,
as if his body was craving something that was missing. The feeling
disappeared almost as soon as it appeared. The female smiled
brightly at him and waved her hand in greeting drawing a quick
response from the male touching her. Her soft laughter echoed as
she responded to whatever the male said. It was obvious she was not
in the least intimidated by him. This confused Ristéard even more
considering the female was so tiny compared to the male.

He approached the small group as the last
six stepped from the platform. His small, elite guard following him
at a discreet distance. He stopped in front of Ajaska, assessing
him.

“Welcome to Elpidios,” Ristéard said. “I am
Ristéard Roald.”

“I am Ajaska Ja Kel Coradon. This is Gril
Tal Mod, Leader of the Tearnat and his mate, Madas,” Ajaska stated
calmly. “The other two are members of our security team,” he
continued without giving either man's name. “They will remain with
the shuttle.”

Ristéard ignored the two men before bowing
in respect to Gril and Madas. His eyes turned to the two females
standing between the other two males. “And these are?” He
asked.

“My oldest son, Torak, and his mate, River
Knight,” Ajaska responded cautiously, not sure he liked the edge of
curiosity in the Elpidios leader’s voice. “The other is my youngest
son, Jazin, and his mate, Star Strauss.”

Ristéard took a startled step back when
Star stepped forward unexpectedly and held her hand out. “Hi,” she
said with a bright, infectious smile lighting up her face. “I’m
Star. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Ristéard’s lips twitched as he noticed the
slightly daring look in her eyes, as if she was testing him to see
if he would pass some secret test. When she raised an eyebrow in
challenge, he found his own hand swallowing her smaller one. She
squeezed it briefly before pulling back with a small giggle. The
low growl coming from the male by her side and her rolled eyes in
response drew an unexpected chuckle from him.

“Welcome, Lady Star,” Ristéard said with a
deeper bow before he looked at her mate who took a step closer in
warning. He paused before turning to address Ajaska with a calm he
hadn’t felt in years. “Please follow me. We have much to
discuss.”

Ristéard escorted them to where several
transports waited. He did not ride with any of them but instead sat
upon was looked like a motorcycle without wheels. His elite guard
rode similar types of vehicles. The transport they were escorted to
was almost identical to those on Kassis.

“I want one of those,” Madas said with a
mischievous grin as they slipped into the transport. “They look
like fun.”

Gril snorted. “No.”

“Have you ever ridden one?” Madas asked her
mate with a raised eyebrow.

Gril flushed a darker tan. “Yes,” he
responded reluctantly. “But the answer is still no.”

Madas stared at Gril intently until he broke
eye contact with a sigh of resignation. “You are breeding. You
shouldn’t do anything dangerous,” he muttered defensively.

Star and River giggled as the huge Tearnat
fought giving in to his mate. Star loved watching Madas with her
mate. They reminded her so much of her own parents. Her dad was
forever trying to coddle her mother and her mother was forever
driving him nuts by doing the exact opposite.

“It wouldn’t be dangerous if you were on it
with me,” Madas purred tenderly as she laid her head down on her
larger mate’s chest.

Gril looked at the other men with a pained
expression. “Do you see what she does to me? I lose all common
sense when she wants something,” he growled out.

Ajaska laughed while Torak and Jazin looked
at River and Star with a mutinous expression on their faces. “Well,
it does look like fun. I’ve ridden motorcycles before. It can’t be
that much different,” Star said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Absolutely….,” Jazin started to say
stubbornly before he noticed the teasing curve to his tiny mate’s
lips. “Maybe if we ride together,” he grunted before he glared at
Gril who was chuckling.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into an
underground area under the huge palace made of the same type of
black stones from the fortress. Star shivered at the memory of it.
Her eyes searched out Jazin. She let them roam over his smooth
skin. He still bore the thin scar from where Progit cut him. Her
eyes moved down to his bare arms. He was wearing the black leather
vest, pants, and boots that she had come to recognize as being
their military uniform. Ajaska and Torak were dressed the same. Her
eyes lingered on the smooth skin of his shoulders and the small
area of his chest that was visible. She remembered the torn flesh.
If she looked close enough, she could still see a light spider web
of scars where the skin healed together.

The scars were fading faster than the
memories,
she thought wondering if she would ever be able to
forget what Tai Tek had done to him.

“What is it?” Jazin asked quietly in her
ear. “What upsets you?”

“We still don’t know where Tai Tek could
have gone,” Star said quietly. “How are we supposed to find him if
he keeps disappearing? The guy scares me, Jazin. I don’t ever what
him to hurt you again.”

“We will find him, my little warrior,” Jazin
murmured in her ear as he pulled her close to him as the transport
drew to a stop. “Dakar, Armet, and Jarmen are working on it. Those
three can find anything. Dakar knows all of Tai Tek’s hiding places
and Jar, well, let us just say he has talents few others possess,”
he added as he let his hand slid behind her back to massage the
curve of her hip.

“I hope so,” she answered softly as the door
opened for them to get out. “I really, really hope so.”

The small group was escorted up a series of
wide, polished steps. The walls of the palace were polished so
smooth that the surface resembled a highly polish mirror. The only
light came from what was reflecting down from the large windows.
Star reached her hand out to touch the surface with her finger and
gasped as threads of gold blossomed from where her fingers touched
it. She touched it again and more threads of gold shimmered before
fading.

“The stone contains a natural chemical,”
Ristéard’s deep voice explained from the top of the staircase.
“Run your hand along it.”

Star looked up at the huge blue man in awe
before doing as he suggested. She ran her hand in a large wave
along the wall. Hundreds of gold threads appeared, flowing outward
to make brilliant designs before fading again.

“That is so awesome,” Star giggled as she
did it again. “River, you have got to try this!”

River and Madas reached over and ran their
hands over the wall. “Okay, we’re happy. You guys can go talk the
boring stuff. We’ll stay and play with the walls,” River said as
she looked over her shoulder at Torak.

“This is better than when we saw all that
phosphorescence when we were crossing over to Europe that time,”
Star exclaimed excitedly.

Jazin, Torak and Gril each wrapped a beefy
arm around their respective mates and tugged them away from the
wall that had them so fascinated. They were never going to get
anywhere if the giggles the females were emitting were anything to
go by.

“Come, you can play with the walls another
time,” Jazin said with a chuckle.

All three women groaned but followed the men
as they ascended the stairs until they were even with Ristéard.
They followed the huge ruler down several different corridors until
they came to a set of huge, solid black doors with intricate
cravings etched into it. The doors must have weighed a ton because
it took two warriors on each side to open them. Even then, Star
could see the men’s arm muscles straining to pull the doors
open.