Dark Lord (10 page)

“You bastard
.
What did you do?”
She
appeared uncomfortable with her nakedness and he watched as she frantically searched the room
for her missing clothes.

“You won’t find them.”
He was enjoying watching her and he wasn’t sorry that she had thrown her clothes out the window.
She had certainly had the privilege of watching him run around naked without his consent.

After searching fruitlessly, she gave up and stalked toward him.
“Where are they?
What did you do with them?”

“You don’t remember?”

She gave him a hostile look.
“No.
I don’t remember.”

He didn’t know why she had no memory or awareness of some events, but decent recall with others.
He wasn’t going to make things too easy for her right now, as she would go on attack mode if she thought she was safe.
“You know, I don’t have to tell you.
You still haven’t agreed to my requests.”

Her breathing grew
more shallow
and he could sense simmering sensual interest
.
“What do you request of me?”

He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by thoughts of sex.
“Your agreement to not discuss me with the
Countess
and to stop talking about hybrids.”

“Alright, I’ll agree to not discuss you with the
Countess
and I will not talk to her about hybrids.
Where are my clothes?”

“You threw them out the window.
”
He pointed toward the window and
she
raced toward it, peering below at the ground.
He heard her mumble some curse words.
She then slammed the window shut and stormed over to him.
He was not entirely shocked when she slapped him on the face, but he reacted instinctively and grabbed her arm.
She struggled to free
it
from his grasp, and failing to budge it, she stomped on his foot.
He
grunted in pain and
grabbed her other arm
to restrain her movements.
Moving
forward,
he backed
her into the wall.
When she tried to kick him, he pinned her against the wall
more
fully with his body.
He felt his fangs enlarging along with his manhood and his eyes grew riveted to her throat.
He saw the star shaped mark there and
he felt the urge to lick it
.
From what he had learned from
Helsina
and information contained in the prince’s book on hybrids
, the mark was a type of branding.
After one was bitten, powerful and irresistible urges to mate
would trap them both, ultimately leading to unstoppable episodes of carnal behavior.
The urges would not lessen until the female had been impregnated.
He had also read that the markings could fade in time, if one was able to resist the mating urge.
He knew he had to resist it, because unheeded sexual escapades
inside the mansion
would lead to discovery, and for
Briella
, that would mean certain death.
He traced the mark with his finger as he thought about all of the reasons he should let her go.
He lifted his weight off her, not wanting to frighten her.
She began struggling again, but instead of trying to push him away from her, she was pulling at
the bottom of
his tunic and trying to push it upwards.
He restrained her arms again, but several swift kicks
of
her feet against his shin loosened his grip.
She returned her hands to his tunic, tugging at it frantically.
He quelled an urge to panic as he tried to gain control of himself.
The overwhelming intensity of her sexual needs had caused her
to lose all reasoning and sense, although he knew it wasn’t strictly desire for him.
She was under the influence of that mating bond he had heard about and that was driving her behavior.
It would be so easy to give into it, to seek relief between her thighs.
That male hybrid had warned him not to give in to the mating bond if he did not wish to be a slave to sensation.
If they both lost their heads and cemented that bond, they would have to copulate vigorously and copiously.
He remembered hearing something about that fact.
If they ended up mating like wild animals,
heedless of the location or the danger,
uncaring of being caught and punished, they would both wind up dead.
Apparently if he wished to take a lover, he needed to ensure he didn’t bite the female.
Since he had already bitten
Briella
, she couldn’t become his lover.
She certainly could never be his mate, as neither of them
were
free to make their own selections.
He wouldn’t
wish to
choose her for a permanent
mate, not when she was tied to the house of Avenal and related to the Deranged Dominatrix.
She would never choose him, a mixed breed hybrid mongrel whose own mother, a princess of the realm, barely claimed as her son.
He did not fit
Briella’s
ideal image of a perfect blond haired
Flourdan
.
“Still your hands, woman.
Do you wish to be violated by a hybrid?”

“Of course not, you conceited beast.
I’m trying to get away from you.”

Her denials lacked conviction.
“The exit is not located underneath my tunic,
Briella
.
You’ll only find one thing under there
and it’s for coming, not leaving.”
He placed his hand on the star shaped mark
at her throat
.
“It’s the mating urge
that is affecting you
, but you cannot give in to it.
I didn’t know what I was doing when I marked you.”

She stopped struggling and looked at him in horror.
“What did you do to me
?
What does it mean to be marked?”

Dev
didn’t want to tell her the whole truth; it may cause her to panic.
“The mark will fade in time.
It will not be a problem as long as I don’t mark you again.
I need to stop touching you.”
At least, he hoped that was the case.

“You talked about a mating urge.
Do you feel it with me?”
After he nodded, she asked,
“Is it because of the marking?”

“Yes.
I should never have marked you
.”

“Why did you?”

“Instinct, I guess.
You should keep the mark hidden.
I don’t think the
Countess
knows what such a mark indicates, but you shouldn’t chance it.
They would all assume that we are lovers and they would judge you
accordingl
y.”

“
I would never be your lover.
This branding is associated with the hybrid race
, is it not?
You cannot convince me that you
are not one of them.
You should leave Avenal.”

Her claim that she would never agree to be his lover angered him.
She may think she was too good to welcome a hybrid into her body, but he knew the truth.
He could make her eat her words, but he had no intention of seducing her.
“I am
Flourdan
and the
Queen
is my grandmother.
I was born and raised in
Flourda
and I will die in
Flourda
.
My loyalties lay with
Flourda
.
You will need to learn to accept my differences because I am here to stay.
The
Queen
accepts m
e as I am.
D
o you not realize that she knows my full heritage and has still accepted me into the family?
They have kept the knowledge of my heritage secret, of course.
They kept it secret from me until recently.
If the
Queen
wants Nefertiti to know about me, she will tell her.
Otherwise, you will be committing an offense.
”

A myriad of expressions crossed her face as she absorbed the knowledge.
“I understand.”

He realized that he was standing t
oo close
and her hands were steadily making their way upwards underneath his tunic.
His breath caught as she reached his upper thighs.
She did not seem aware of what she was doing and he needed to stop her
while he still had the ability.
He wouldn’t be able to hold out against her much longer
.
He reached for her hands, only to find himself pushing her against the wall again.
His gaze landed on her full lips.
“Will you yield to me as you’ve promised?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

He noticed the glassy look in her eyes and he knew that he had unwittingly put her under some type of trance–again.
“Because you recognize my dominance?”

“Yes.”

This hybrid mind control business was a bit entertaining, but he shouldn’t overuse it.
That would just be wrong.
“Would you let me fuck you?”

She didn’t flinch as she responded.
“Yes.”

“Because of my dominance?”

Her eyes started to clear and she gazed at him with bewilderment.
“What did I say?”

“You agreed to fuck me just now.
How quickly a woman can change her mind.
You just announced your refusal to ever consider being my lover just moments ago, yet you were perfectly willing to let me fuck you just now.”