DarykRogue (24 page)

“Where are you going?” she asked, panic lacing her voice.

“I must think.”

“Rayder—”

“No.” He turned back to her, and contempt crawled across his
face. “Do not talk to me now.”

He left, slamming the door behind him.

Misery twisted in her gut as she buried her face in her
hands and allowed sobs to come.

Chapter Sixteen

Rayder watched Xandra covertly as she wandered along the
ship railing. Phili had brought her a new tunic and pants as well as a
wide-brimmed hat that kept the sun off her head. She wore the hat and clothes
today, her lithe body barely visible under the formless garments. Rayder liked
the way Xandra’s hair tumbled about her shoulders, and unlike some men might,
he hadn’t insisted that she put it up or cover it. Many men would be tempted by
the beautiful tumble glowing with a fine and rare beauty. He didn’t care. He wanted
it out where he could see. He moved toward her, damn glad the tunic and pants
hung on her like a sack. Since Rayder had returned, none of the other men on
the ship dared even look her way. That included the slimy Farcam and Oscan, who
stayed out of Rayder’s way too.

Rayder’s duties as second-in-command kept him busy far more
than he liked. It meant more time with Aramus and less with Xandra.

Still, Rayder didn’t regret the way he’d stalked out of the
cabin two days ago and left Xandra alone. In fact, he’d stayed away until late
in the evening then come to bed after she was already asleep. He hadn’t held
her in his arms or tried to make love to her again. He’d need time to process
what she’d told him and how badly it had twisted inside him.

She couldn’t have his children.

The vow he’d made to his mother, the necessity of
repopulating Dragonia, the deep and overriding compulsion in his blood to have
children had been thrown back in his face.

He didn’t know what to think about that.

Xandra’s prickliness, her nervousness as she’d stayed quiet
proved that his mood showed. He had nothing to say to her. Nothing at all.

For two days they’d danced this way, quietly and without
more than the basics to say to each other. She’d grown harder under his
coldness. He felt her drawing away more and more.

Perhaps it was for the better.

But by the very god, their estrangement didn’t wipe away
this drugging, gnawing desire for her. He’d wanted her fiercely even when she’d
pronounced she couldn’t have children. He wanted his yearning to disappear so
it wouldn’t torture him. It didn’t.

He hated that.

He still hated what she’d had to go through with Taris
Elian. It made him want to hunt the man down and rip out his throat.

But, of course, the man was dead and Rayder couldn’t avenge
Xandra’s loss.

Just as he hadn’t yet avenged his sister’s death.

Frustration bit into him and sliced like a knife.

He took a deep breath to quell the rising anger inside him,
knowing it wouldn’t do any good.

Instead, he concentrated on the sight of the port near
Felican Castle, and he watched Xandra’s reaction as the giant fortress came
into view.

While all the castles in Dragonia were massive, Felican was
the biggest. No other castle commanded such a picturesque or strategic point.
The building sat inside the jungle on a high ridge, surrounded by huge trees
and other vegetation. Toward the right of the castle, the searing desert leapt
up in black-and-cream-colored dunes. Harsh winds blew across the panorama,
surprising anyone not expecting it. A man could step into the jungle and
experience sticky heat then wander into the desert and find the blistering heat
parching to skin and mouth. Such a sharp contrast in landscape didn’t have an
explanation—at least not one that anyone could recall. Rayder knew how deadly
both areas could prove to any man or woman.

He left his post near the center of the ship and came up
behind Xandra, eager to explain to her the realities of the land.

She started and turned quickly, apprehension marked in her
wide eyes. When she saw him, she sagged against the railing.

“Is something wrong?” he asked when she didn’t speak.

Tiny frown lines appeared between her eyes. “Perhaps it is
this strange land, but I feel…uncomfortable. As if someone or something is
watching me.”

He glanced around. No one paid the least attention to them.
“You’re tired. Our journey hasn’t been easy. I have business on shore again,
but when I return, we’ll have dinner and relax.”

He’d hoped to see her eyes clear. Instead her frown
increased. “I want to go with you. I don’t feel safe here.”

“You are far safer here than on shore. Felican Castle is
beautiful and in any other circumstances we could visit. I have—had—friends
there who might still welcome us. But this trip it is not to be.”

He drew closer, eager for her touch. He wanted to drag her
close and take her into his arms for a kiss, but he resisted. He ached to
return to the cabin and slide deep into her silky, wet heat. What he wouldn’t
give to take her away from here now and make certain she never had to worry about
ruthless men again.

Huh. That would mean she wouldn’t be exposed to my basic
nature again either.

The thought of leaving her life ate him alive. No, he
couldn’t do it. He’d just have to take whatever measures necessary to keep her
safe.

“Rayder, there’s something wrong here. I can’t tell you what
it is because I don’t understand it myself. I feel it in here.” She touched her
midsection.

Worried, he asked, “Are you ill?”

“No, no. Nothing like that.” Her smile was strained and
uncertain. “It is instinct, if you will. It tells me that I shouldn’t stay
here. I need to go with you.”

He pondered, but the answer came swiftly. “No.”

Anger tightened her mouth and blazed in her eyes. Before she
could retort, Yoanda wandered toward them from across the deck. Unlike the last
time he saw her, she appeared unmarked—perhaps Aramus had let off beating her
for a blessed while. Self-assured steps brought her closer. Her eyes seemed
brighter and more at ease than normal. Perhaps she’d found a peace somewhere in
the life she led aboard this godsforsaken ship.

Yoanda waved at them and came to a stop close next to him.
“There you are. It is good to see you both. Are you going ashore today,
Rayder?”

“I am.” He gestured to Xandra. “Would you keep a close watch
on my wife so no one will bother her while I’m gone?”

Yoanda looked delighted with the idea as she turned her
attention to Xandra. “Most definitely. I’d be pleased to spend time with you.”

“I’m afraid I’m not feeling as well as I’d like.” Xandra’s
face turned icy.

Yoanda’s face showed concern. “I can give you some holic
tea. I hear many a new bride experiences discomfort or tiredness after her
wedding nights.”

“I’m not sure it is fatigue.” Xandra tossed a long length of
hair back from her face. She rubbed her belly again. “I think my stomach is
complaining.”

“Yoanda is known as a healer. If she has a potion to help
you, you should try it.”

Bleekness marred Xandra’s eyes. “Very well. Husband, I will
retire to our cabin while you go ashore.”

Yoanda touched Xandra’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, my dear.
Should I send for the medical man?”

Xandra shook her head. “I am certain it will wear off as
soon as I’m inside the cabin.” She glanced at Rayder expectantly.

Rayder sighed but kept what he really wished to say to
himself. “Pardon us, Yoanda. I’ll see Xandra to the cabin.”

Yoanda nodded. “Of course. Stay safe, Rayder.”

After Yoanda left, Rayder turned to Xandra, ready to
question her thoroughly. “What in the seven hells was that about? You told me
you’re not ill.”

He’d never seen his wife look as angry as she did now. “I
think my mood suffers from being on this wretched ship for so long.”

She left it at that, and from the high color in her cheeks
and the taut line of her mouth, he guessed she couldn’t be ill.

“Very well,” he said as he took her upper arm in a light
grip and started for the cabin.

He walked fast, eager to see her safe in the cabin. She
trotted alongside him, and he made no concession to her smaller steps.

Once inside the cabin, she turned on him with pure fury.
“There is something not right going on here, and I don’t know what it is, but
this entire day feels wrong. You cannot leave me here.”

Tired of her nagging, he made a chopping motion with his
right hand. “No amount of caterwauling or arguing will make me change my mind.
You aren’t going with me.”

“There is no safe place on this ship. Unless you count the
dungeon. Maybe if I was down there with Malena Humbola and the other slaves, I
could count on strength in numbers.”

“The admiral could try to trick you again if he was there.”

She shrugged. “He wouldn’t dare with so many women ready to
come to my aid.”

“You don’t understand how evil he can be.”

She shrugged. “He seemed ineffectual to me.”

He snorted. “You haven’t seen nor felt his true wrath. We
can’t trust him with your safety.”

“If he wanted to get into this cabin while you’re gone, he
could anyway. Yes?”

“Perhaps. But he knows what I’d do to him if he tried.”

“Then let me spend time with the women downstairs. I could
take them more food.” Desperation gleamed in her pretty eyes as she twisted her
hands together. “Since I am as much your slave as I am your wife, maybe I
belong in the bowels of the ship like the other women.”

Anger as he hadn’t known in some time boiled up. He growled
his answer. “That is rubbish. You know I don’t think of you that way.”

“I know you think of me
this
way.”

She headed toward the bed. With her back to him, she drew
her tunic over her head and dropped it on a chair. She leaned over to remove
her shoes and tossed them aside. His gut clenched. What the hells was she
doing? With a shimmy she slid her pants down to her ankles and kicked them
away.

By all the gods above and below. He drew in a startled
breath as his body reacted instantly. Sweat beaded his forehead as his gaze
took in the creamy length of her back, the smooth rounded shape of her ass
cheeks, the long line of her legs. Her body fascinated him even though he’d
mapped it time and again with his tongue, his lips and his hands.

She turned toward him, hands on her hips. Her expression
held pure heat and desire. Surprised, he watched in stunned fascination.

A fine-edged blade of anger overran caution. He stalked
toward her. “Are you trying to drive me mad?”

“Why would I want to do that?”

He towered over her, his cock aching with an instant desire
to find a home within her. “To stall me leaving.” Before he could register that
he’d moved, his arms surrounded her, his mouth hovering near hers. “Do not
tempt me. Whether you like it or not, I’ll go on this venture to Felican Castle
and no amount of pouting will change it.”

Before she could protest, he kissed her. Hot need slammed
him in the gut, and with merciless desire, he reached between her legs. As his
tongue took her, his fingers explored, his arousal spiking as he realized she
was already wet. He smoothed her cream along her femininity and over her clit.
As he stroked her with mouth and fingers, she shivered and twitched.

He groaned into her mouth. “You are wet. Ready.”

“I’m always like this with you.” It sounded real and raw,
but he wanted proof. Her eyes were wider, lips parted and luscious. “I can’t
seem to control it.”

“Neither can I.” He resented it, wanted it, couldn’t deny
it.

He lifted her, laid her on the bed and crawled over her. He
opened his pants, lowered between her thighs and slid straight inside her. She
gasped, eyes open and staring into his with shocked delight.

“Rayder.”

“I know, my beauty. I know.”

“This is…”

“I know.”

Xandra hadn’t expected this. She’d thought maybe seduction
would slow him down, give him time to revaluate and reconsider leaving her
behind. Instead, the feral heat she felt within his arms surged with such force
she couldn’t escape. Her arousal around him didn’t abate, refused to leave her
even in her anger. As his cock stretched and plunged deep within, she gasped at
the overwhelming pleasure.

Two days without sex with him had driven her mad. Despite
his coldness, she couldn’t seem to stop craving him.

He glared down at her, eyes red. “What are you doing to me?”

“I just wanted to get you into the cabin so we could have
this at least one more time. No matter what you think of me, you won’t be able
to forget this.” Her voice sounded raspy and weak in her throat.

He thrust, and the friction made her belly clench and her
pussy walls tighten over his thick, hard length. He ground his hips against
hers and touched that special area deep inside her channel. “No.”

“Yes.” She arched against him, closing her eyes as she
shivered in pleasure. It felt so good, so incredible she didn’t believe she
could stand it a moment more.

“No.” His hips gyrated, small thrusts that rubbed and
caressed.

Sparks of pleasure shot outward, making her squirm.
“Rayder.”

He pushed up onto his palms and the action shoved his cock
deeper into her welcoming body. She couldn’t stand this. Anger moved her to
restrain the desire, to corral it until he’d come deep inside her. He would
fall before she did. She struggled with her body’s desire to climax, wrestling
with her wanting.

His lips slid down, down until he captured one nipple and
sucked. A hot flush spiraled outward as desire climbed higher. As his tongue
lapped at one nipple and the next, he stirred his hips into a seductive retreat
and return that burned her from the inside out.

“You can’t keep me here. You can’t make me your slave
forever.” Her voice broke, tears coming at the same time the pleasure vaulted
forward in leaps and bounds. “Maybe you should just let me go. Let me go. I
don’t want to be with another man who hates me.”