To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(83)

He reached down to capture her hand, rubbing her palm over his tip. It was wet with slippery fluid that coated her palm. “Now try it,” he urged.

She did, sliding her hand up and down his length more smoothly. She gripped him harder, stroking all the way down, loving the way his penis bucked against her hand a little bit. She looked up at his face. “Can I use my mouth like you did?”

“Yes. Do it.”

She bent forward to kiss the tip of his shaft gingerly. “This won’t hurt you?”

“Your sweet kisses? It’s like torture, but of the very best kind,” he managed.

She smiled and licked him, tasting the salty fluid that continued to seep a bit, then covering him with her mouth. She sucked gently, and he groaned.

After a few more minutes of her kisses, he shifted away. “I can’t wait any longer,” he said, laying her on her back. He pushed her legs together, then straddled her body and positioned himself so that he could press his cock between her thighs, rubbing himself up against her folds. She was still sensitive and tingly there, and shivered in response to the contact. He pushed himself deeper into the crevice, then pulled out, shuddering. In again, out. His breathing was hot and labored near her ear. One more push, and his entire body convulsed with a groan. Graciella felt hot fluid spill over her thighs, and then he gathered her into his arms, his heart thudding against the wall of his chest.

She hugged him tightly. “Yavi—just take me all the way. I want you to.”

“No, sweet,” he rasped, his voice thick. “Not without the bride oil. That is the way I want to do it.”

“When can we get married, then? We’re in the middle of a war.”

He nuzzled her ear, her neck. “Tonight. I’ll ask Volkan to perform the ceremony, if you agree.”

She squealed with delight. “Of course I agree!”

Hi kissed her. “It means you won’t have a temple wedding, wear a fancy dress, invite guests, or have a lavish banquet, Sheir-zin. Are you certain you want to do it here, tonight?”

“More than certain. I want to be your wife right now. But where can we get the oil?”

“I’ll ask Volkan about that too. If he has the ingredients and can make it, good. If not, I’ll ask him where I can buy it in Parvata, the village in the foothills near here.”

“Yavi, I love you so much.” She snuggled against him happily.

He held her close, stroking her hair. “Ohkfu shah denahmay. I love you too. Now sleep.”

With his pectoral muscle for a pillow, she did just that.

§

Yavi felt her fall asleep, lying on his chest. He absently reached up to place his hand over the emperor’s ruby, feeling strange to find it absent for the first time in six years. No doubt Uman wouldn’t rest until he had hunted them down again. Even though he now had the ruby, with the Zulfikar line still alive and living in Nandala, Uman’s authority would be tenuous at best. The palace guards, Black Armies, and general populace of Nandala were fiercely loyal to Yavi and his brother. Uman would have to murder many, many innocents with his Vyrkune in order to maintain control.

As selfish as it sounded, he was tempted to take Graciella and flee—go into hiding somewhere in Villeleia just as he’d suggested to her, be a peasant farmer, and raise a little family in safety and seclusion. But he knew that was impossible. He could not abandon his homeland to these flesh-eating creatures. Whether he was emperor now or not, he was still one of the highest-trained assassins in the Black Armies, with a sworn duty to protect Nandala.

He stroked Graciella’s soft cheek and the dark swath of her hair draped over his chest, touching the silky strands with his fingertips. Whatever it cost him, she must be protected. He knew the right thing to do was to send her back to Villeleia, well out of harm’s way, as soon as he had a chance. But the thought of parting with her now drove a dagger deep into his gut.

He would consult with Master Volkan when they awoke, ask for his consent to marry them that night. And pray. Perhaps Tejeshwar would speak with him if Jiandra asked him to, here at the monastery, tell him what to do to protect his bride and his country.

Clinging to that hope, he drifted off to sleep.





Sixteen


Uman dropped the ruby to the table in front of his mother’s face, and she stared at it with glee.

“You did well, my son!” Zelbikan wheezed, scooping it up in her claws.

“The girl escaped.”

“I know. My runes told me.”

“She will not escape again. I swear it, Mother.”

“I know this, too, from the runes. I will have the pleasure of slitting her throat myself as I take her place as Empress of Nandala. The honor Thakur should have given me.”

Uman nodded. He didn’t tell his mother that when the time came, he planned to take Graciella for himself, make her Vyrkune, and name her his empress so they could rule the continent together forever.

§

Yavi awoke with a start at the sound of a light tap on the door. He extracted his arm from around Graciella, rose from the bed, and donned his robe. When he opened the door a sliver, Eliv was there with a tray laden with flatbread and bowls of rice porridge topped with cinnamon, dried fruits, and pumpkin seeds. There was also tea and fresh apricot halves. Yavi nodded his thanks as he took it from the young monk. He closed the door, and set the tray on the small table near the bed.