HeroUnleased (2 page)

“Boys, company’s on the way,” Brett shouted. “Call just came
over the radio. Reutgers pulled a van over for speeding three miles from here.
The occupants stated they were heading toward the meteor.”

“We’re done here.” Lucian jumped onto the flatbed next to
Kristos and thumped the top of the cab where the others were squashed inside.
“Don’t bother taking it easy, Harlan. Time is of the essence.”

“Watch the ruts.” Lucian heard Brett caution. “We don’t know
what injuries he has.”

“He can take it. He’s a
Llanos
.”

The look she shot him through the back window relayed
exactly how she felt about that statement.

Despite Brett’s sentiments, Harlan took the most direct,
which also meant the bumpiest, route back to the house. Once they were safely
ensconced in the garage, they all piled out.

“I appreciate the concern, little cousin,” Dhavin chided
with a smile in his voice as Brett took his arm and lead him into the living
room. “But I need to walk on my own. You don’t show weakness in front of the
general.”

“That was back on Skandavia. Around here, I’m in charge. You’ve
just experienced a major trauma and need to rest. You can lie down in Kristos’
old room.”

“This lounge will do fine.” Dhavin all but melted over the
couch’s leather upholstery. His exhaustion and pain belied his easy smile, but
Lucian sensed the difficulty it took him to simply draw a breath.

“Do you think your stomach can handle anything to eat? What
can I bring him?” she asked.

“Tea and some bread will be fine to start,” Lucian answered.

“I’ll be right back. And don’t bother talking in another
language. I will find out what’s going on.”

Dhavin watched her leave with an admiring gleam in his eyes.
“By the Gods, Kristos. Her coloring matches yours. You didn’t just bond, you
mated. Congratulations. Leave it to you to make a haven from what was to be a
punishment.”

“Thank you.” Kristos pulled at a blond lock of his hair.
When he bonded with his mate, the black strands changed to match her honey
tresses and her eyes had gone from hazel to equal his jade in the mating
tradition of their people. “We’re still finding our rhythm, but even our worst
days are among the happiest of my life.”

“She’s beautiful. Very strong of heart.”

“That she is. And if you think one inappropriate thought
about her, I’ll break every bone in your body.”

His rusty chuckle turned into a cough that nearly bent him
in two. “Gah, I hate this weakness.”

“It will pass.” Lucian sat on a nearby chair, eager to
bypass the pleasantries of reuniting. “Dhavin, what happened? You said the king
was dead.”

“Ya. Not long after you were sent away, the king began to
lose his command over the guard. Many were loyal to you and Kristos, even
though they would never admit it out loud.”

“They shouldn’t have been,” Kristos said. “It was my fault
the queen was killed.”

“We all knew you would have given your life for hers. You
did your best. That is why we remained loyal. Stavos was picked as your
replacement, Lucian, but he didn’t have your knowledge or the heart. It was too
easy for Hamerkind to regroup his men and defeat the throne. The king was
executed, as well as a good number of the guard, including Stavos.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, Dhavin. Your brother was a good
man.”

He closed his eyes and took several long breaths then
whispered, “Nothing was the same after you left.”

His grief reached out and squeezed Lucian around the heart.
Desperation for more information tightened his throat, but as much as he wanted
to interrogate his cousin, he knew the man had to tell his story at his own
pace.

“The rest of the men in my ring and myself took to the
tunnels, gathering information and rebuilding the guard. Hamerkind has the
throne, but he does not have the people. The lords were dissatisfied with the
king, but they don’t want Hamerkind. Since he is not royal, they aren’t
complying with his wishes, and he doesn’t have the manpower to implore a
dictatorship…yet. There is talk that if the princess returns, the Hall of Lords
will recognize her authority and Hamerkind loses his power. Especially with you
as her guard.”

“And how were we to return?” Kristos snorted. “They sent us
away in a craft clearly meant for one flight, without any forms of
communication. The only reason we had our weapons is because Stavos hid them in
the pod before we launched.”

“Please, your brother is the great General Lucianllanos. It
was only his honor that got him banished. If anyone could find a way to return,
it is Lucian.”

Kristos choked on a laugh as Lucian straightened in his seat
and inclined his head. “Thank you for the compliment, but it is practically
impossible to return. I’ve tested the possibility.”

“Practically. That is not a for certain, and this Hamerkind
knows, which is why he sent the assassin.”

“Who?”

“Bale.”

“Impossible,” Kristos scoffed. “Bale would never accept such
a mission from Hamerkind.”

“Yes, he would.” Lucian stood and paced the few steps from
the chair to the window. “He blames me for what happened to his wife and
child.”

“You had nothing to do with that attack on their colony.”

“No, not directly, but we knew they were one of the
potential targets and I forbade him from going to their defense.”

“Bale would have died with them if he had gone.”

Lucian looked his brother in the eye. “He died with them
anyway.”

All of the
Llanos
had died a bit when they discovered
the smoldering carnage that had once been a thriving farming community.
Agriculture was a highly prized industry that the little colony had excelled
in, which also made them a prime target for Hamerkind to use against the king.
No man, woman or child survived the decimation.

After he buried his family, Bale had gone on a rampage and
singlehandedly took out the entire platoon who had destroyed his colony. The
quiet, steadfast man Lucian had relied on in the thick of battle had been
replaced by a cauldron of hate that boiled so hotly, it burned everything in
its path. Consumed with rage, Bale left the guard, but not before he attempted
to take Lucian’s life. He had the passion, but Lucian had the skill and was
able to defeat the attack. Barely. He was a threat Lucian would never
underestimate.

“So Bale gets his revenge by killing you. But what does he
get out of murdering the princess?” Kristos asked.

“Anything he wants.” Dhavin chuckled mirthlessly. “All he
has to do is return with your heads and Hamerkind will give him whatever he
desires.”

“That’s all well and good, but he’ll have to defeat us
first.”

“Careful, Kristos,” Lucian warned. “We have to assume that
Bale will receive the same powers as we did. He’ll be a danger to us and anyone
else he comes into contact with. We have to be prepared.”

Dhavin struggled to sit up. “And the princess. She must be
warned.”

“Good luck with that,” said Kristos. “Have any idea where
she disappeared to?”

His eyes widened with surprise as he looked toward Lucian.
“You didn’t tell him?”

“Tell me what?” Kristos shot his brother a frown.

Lucian narrowed his gaze at his cousin. “What would you
know, Dhavin?”

“Are you serious? I was her guard, and her friend, like I
wouldn’t suspect. Why didn’t you tell Kristos?”

“Tell me what? Lucian?” Kristos got in his face, his bright
eyes blazed a brilliant green. “What are you keeping from me?”

He lifted his chin and confessed, “The princess is here, in
the city.”

Chapter Two

His erection was impressive, but it was obvious he had no
idea how to use it.

Amaryllis turned away from her dance partner and bit back a
smile when he pulled her against his wildly gyrating hips. Her handsome Latino
was a sexy thing, but he danced as if his pants were on fire. Alejandro was so
eager to please she didn’t have the heart to bruise his ego and damage the
confidence she sensed it took him to gather to ask her to dance. She took his
hands to guide his arms around her waist and swung her hips in a slow sway. He
quickly fell into her rhythm, cuddling her close enough to brush his lips along
her bare shoulder and bathe her skin with a soft sigh. Hmm, perhaps he could be
trained.

She took her own deep breath and soaked in the energy of the
bodies writhing on the dance floor. The Cavern was her personal playground,
created to celebrate life. A place that accepted all types, no matter race,
shape or orientation, and the only thing that turned you away from the door was
a piss-poor attitude. It was a paradise created out of mahogany and leather.

Sex and adrenaline rode along the air in waves that vibrated
like the booming bass from the nearby speakers. Within these walls fears were
being faced, taboos broken and the limits of the human body pushed to the
extremes. Above the dance floor acrobats swung from trapezes and showered the
dancers in bursts of confetti, ratcheting up the mayhem. With her empathic
abilities, Amaryllis siphoned myriad emotions, maintaining a high of arousal
and excitement greater than any drug in the known universe. These were her
people. This was living.

“May I touch you, please?” her potential lover murmured in
her ear, tightening the hold around her waist.

That he asked permission pleased her. Yes, he most certainly
was a candidate to be trained.

“Where do you want to touch me?”

“Everywhere.” He chuckled and nipped at her neck. “Right
now, your breasts.”

She smiled in response and settled in his embrace. “You may
touch me. Go slow.”

He raked his fingernails up over the silk covering her torso
and back down her belly. Up and down. Up and down. Each stroke brought his
palms closer to the mounds that grew heavy with anticipation.

Just as quick as a candle being snuffed out, her arousal was
quenched. To those who continued to dance, nothing appeared amiss, but a
disturbance ripped through the air that made her nipples tighten even as the
hair on her arms stood on end.

“Let her go,” came the gruff command.

The authority in his tone plucked the strings of a forgotten
memory. Where did she know that voice?

“She’s fine with me,” her dance partner protested.

“You will leave her now.”

A cool breeze hit her back a second later, as she was
suddenly left on her own to face the interloper.

Hmm, perhaps he was a bit too submissive.

Amaryllis straightened her shoulders and turned to politely
tell the dance-crasher to fuck off, only to rock back on her heels. She didn’t
think her tongue fell out of her mouth but her eyes definitely boggled as she
looked her fill. The Gods did well when they created this impressive male
specimen.

“Lucianllanos,” she whispered, trapped in a vortex of past
and present.

She had forgotten how tall the head of the guard was, how
broad his shoulders and how massive the muscles that stretched his long-sleeved
chambray shirt. Black wavy hair fell to his shoulders and framed his strong jaw
and high cheekbones. But his eyes… Oh now his green gaze was just as fierce as
she remembered.

In her former life Lucian was what she’d label as “other”.
He had been her father’s personal guard as well as commander of all
Llanos
,
so she never allowed herself permission to give the general much thought, aside
from the appreciation a woman felt when looking at an attractive, virile man.
But as he stood before her now, that admiration was escalating into a rolling
boil of awareness that made perspiration gather along her hairline.

The don’t-fuck-with-me vibe he wore was so effective, the
crowd of dancers gave him a wary glance and took a step back, yet for some
unfathomable reason had the opposite effect on her. She wanted to invade his
personal space and rub up against him to explore the terrain of his hard body.
By the Gods, there didn’t look to be an inch of softness about him.

At least there won’t be if I have my way.
A grin
flirted with her lips at the very un-princess-like thought.

“Your Highness.” He bent slightly at the waist. “I come with
news.”

The formality of his greeting was an unexpected splash of
cold water.

Two years. Two years since she’d seen anyone from her
kingdom. She had thought that once the guard had found her location, they would
greet her like a long-lost sister. Apparently, that was not to be the case.

She shook off the disappointment and settled her hands on
her hips. “What? No hello? I haven’t seen you in years, and this is how you
greet me?”

“Princess, if I can have a word with you in private. I have
news of great importance I must impart to you.”

“Of course it is, otherwise I’m certain you wouldn’t be
here.”

Lucian batted at the confetti falling in his face and
glanced pointedly at the encroaching dancers. “Please, let us retire to a
more…quiet location.”

As fast as a blink, the disapproval in his tone snapped her
into the past where her father, or the court elders, looked upon her with icy
contempt and an unveiled disbelief that she was actually one of their species.
She shivered as a coldness she hadn’t experienced since stepping into that
spacecraft years before washed over her.

“Shall we?” Lucian gestured for her to precede him off the
dance floor.

Amaryllis turned and took a timid step.

A million miles of distance, a different culture and a new
identity. None of that mattered as in one breath she was once again that girl
desperate to perform as was expected, all the while knowing she was going to
fail miserably.

Wasn’t time supposed to lessen the humiliation of the past?
Didn’t overcoming adversity strengthen one’s spine and provide the fortitude to
say “fuck you” in the face of public opinion? Where was that strength now, she
wondered as her knees shook. Her high-heel wobbled and her ankle twisted as she
stumbled back into a group of dancers.

“Amaryllis? Are you okay, honey?” asked one of the club’s
regulars. The woman leaned close to whisper, not so quietly, “Is this guy
bothering you? I can get Angus to take care of him, no problem.”

“I, um, I’m fine, thank you.” Amaryllis straightened. “I’ve
got this.”

Yes, you’ve got this.

No longer was she the awkward princess. On this planet what
made her different was admired, even loved. Men begged for the pleasure to
share her bed and women longed to be her friend. She built a tiny empire by the
sheer sweat of her own back. The Cavern was a haven where all who entered
received what they needed and that included her.

What she needed now was to be cradled in the proverbial arms
of those who loved her as she was. In the center of all this chaos she was in
her element. She was strong because she brought all of these people together,
they gave her courage and on the dance floor she would stay.

“Whatever you have to say can be said amongst friends.”

Lucian closed his eyes as his hands fisted at his sides. “As
the head of your guard, I request that you come with me now.”

Wow, he barely moved his lips to grit that out. His refusal
to loosen his formal constraint in even the slightest made her want to dig in
her stilettos all the more. “No.”

“If you—”

“No. This is my favorite song and I want to dance.” She
turned her back to him and gestured to the deejay to pump up the music.

Lucian stepped into her vision. “Your father is dead.”

The blood froze in her veins before her two hearts kicked in
her chest.

She had always wondered what she’d say or feel when she
finally heard those words. Sorrow. Relief. Happiness? Now the time was nigh and
all she felt was a vast expanse of nothing.

In a land where the people were tall, lean and dark, King
Renauld had been bestowed with a short, round daughter with hair so blonde it
looked silver and little control when it came to her emotions. Only his bond
with her mother convinced him of her legitimacy.

And now he was dead.

If Lucian expected her to collapse in grief, he was bound
for disappointment. She had mourned her former life and all it included during
the long journey between worlds. There was no more left to grieve.

“Did he finally choke on his own arrogance?” Well, the grief
was gone, but the bitterness lingered like rotten garlic.

He tilted his head and frowned. “That’s uncalled for, Your
Highness. He loved you dearly.”

“Right.” She chuckled without humor. “That is why I was sent
to safety to the same place he found fit to be a prison for you and your
brother.”

“That was not his reason. He wanted you as far from danger
as possible. I chose—” He pursed his lips and took a surreptitious glance
around. “I chose here. I wanted to be close in case you had need of us.”

If his earlier declaration had been a surprise, this bit of
news had her downright gobsmacked. “In need of you? Yet I say again, I haven’t
seen you or your brother once since I received the missive you were banished to
Earth, and it appears you’ve known my exact location this entire time. Why
should I believe you?”

“Because it’s the truth. Once I saw that you had established
a life and were doing well, I thought it best to keep my distance.”

Doing well? She guessed that compared to being beaten and
disavowed, floundering around in a new culture entirely on one’s own might be
considered “doing well”.

“Well, how kind of you to assume I wouldn’t want to say
hello to two men who once swore fealty to my family and protected us with their
lives.”

Confusion tightened his brow. “I meant no disrespect with my
distance.”

“For certain.” She threw a thick blanket on her scattered
emotions and strove for her most serene smile. “I thank you for your effort,
General. It’s been lovely to see you. Feel free to stop by again, perhaps under
more pleasant circumstances.”

He placed a hand on her arm and immediately pulled back,
staring at his palm as if she burned him. He shook his head and said, “Your
Highness, I have more news.”

And didn’t he sound excited. What more could there be? When
she had gone into exile she had resigned herself on never returning home. With
both of her parents dead, that infinitesimal spark of hope was effectively
doused and was now nothing more than a soggy, smoldering pile of ash. And the
fact she wanted to weep for that loss depressed her more than anything.

“If it’s as jovial as the last, I don’t think I want to hear
it.” No, all she wanted was to throw herself into the deepest well of human
emotion and not think for a long, long time. “You’ve delivered your message.
You may go.”

“I insist to be heard.”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Princess.”

“Dance with me.”

His eyes widened and he actually jumped a step backward.
“What?”

Laughter welled in her chest at his reaction. One would
think she asked him to drown kittens. “Dance with me. You have made me sad with
this news. Make it up to me and dance.”

“I don’t dance.”

To her surprise, the great General Lucianllanos actually
looked terrified. Her inner devil jumped with glee at the opportunity to needle
the stalwart soldier. Why should she be the only one to feel as if her skin was
peeled back, leaving her exposed and raw? Besides, if he was insisting on
treating her like a princess, then he could follow her orders.

She sashayed up to him and placed her hand on his chest,
leaning into his rigid stance. “I’ve seen you during training exercises. You
are very graceful. Pretend you’re holding your sword.” A quirk of naughtiness
touched her grin. “And do what comes naturally.”

The pink in his cheeks darkened. “I. Don’t. Dance.”

“Then I. Won’t. Listen. It’s obvious you wish to be gone
from here post haste and as unobtrusively as possible. Do you realize you’re a
head taller than everyone here? And you are so stiff. You’re like a giant tree
in the midst of swaying reeds. How can you not be noticed?” She dug her fingers
into the thick muscles of his shoulders and was immediately lost in the heat of
his skin. Ah, what it would be like to feel that warmth without the barrier of
fabric, perhaps even slick with sweat.

Focus. Focus.

“Relax. Drink in the energy around you. You give me one
dance and I’ll give you my complete attention.”

His frown deepened as his hands landed on her hips and
pushed her back enough to leave plenty of distance between their bodies. With a
frustrated grunt, he began a step-touch, step-touch beat that reminded her of a
youth at his first social dance.

“Bend your knees a little, Lucian. Follow the music. It’s a
dance, not a military march.”

“I don’t remember you being so disagreeable,” he groused as
he relaxed enough to soften his stance.

“I wasn’t allowed to be. Demureness at all cost was the
mantra I was expected to live by.”

“Is decorum not something you adhere to here as well?”

“When it suits my purpose.” She laughed. Had he always been
such a… What did they call it here? A branch in the muck? Yes, that was Lucian.
He needed a serious shot of excitement. “I find Earth-men like it when I behave
contrary to what is expected. It keeps them on their toes.”

His fingers flexed on her hips and a thin bolt of
indignation burst through his controlled shell. “And what is it that these men
expect from you?”