Her Secret Champion, page 11
part #5 of Lunarian Warriors Series
“I see the training is going as well as I had hoped.” Lieja gave me an approving nod. “Well. I will not keep you then. I merely wanted to ask…”
“Anything, Your Highness.”
“It is only…” Lieja pouted slightly. Her voice was as cloyingly sweet as the candied gilly-fruits I had seen her gulping down over breakfast the day before. “We have missed the entertainment our little human gave us very much at night. Would she perhaps be willing to dance for us again tonight, do you think? After she has been checked for weapons, of course.”
Lieja touched the place just above her breast where Atlanta’s dagger had nearly penetrated. As much as she enjoyed watching Atlanta dance, I was certain she would not be forgetting Atlanta’s assassination attempt anytime soon.
“She would be happy to,” I told Lieja. “Whatever you desire. She is at your disposal, as am I.”
“Careful, Apex.” Lieja batted her lashes at me and blew me a kiss before she turned to leave. “If you were truly at my disposal, you would have been sleeping in my bed last night instead.”
I let out a breath of relief as Lieja closed the door behind her and left us alone once more. It was a relief that was short-lived, though. As soon as Lieja’s footsteps disappeared down the hall, Atlanta shot up in bed to glare at me.
So. We were back to that again, apparently.
“Why did you tell her I’d dance for her?” Her voice dripped with accusation. “You know I don’t want to do anything of the sort.”
“And you would not be forced to, if you had the luxury of choice,” I reminded her. “If you want to stay out of cages and dungeons, you will seek to keep Lieja happy. It is as simple as that.”
“And are you going to be seeking to keep Lieja happy?” A new accusation. She was full of them this morning, it appeared—nearly as full as she had been of my seed last night. “If you’re going to offer me up to her like that, you might as well do your part and start sticking your dick in her, too.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Is that what you wish? For me to bed Lieja, while you sleep here in this bed and pine for me?”
“I’m not pining for you.” Atlanta’s scowl deepened in an instant. “Just because we did…you know…last night doesn’t mean I’m in love with you or anything.”
“No one said anything about love, Atlanta,” I pointed out, a small smile tugging at one corner of my lips.
“Yeah, well, good. Because I’m not in love with you.” She turned her head to look away from me and tilted her chin up high. Dramatic little minx. “Last night was a one-time thing. It won’t happen again.”
I chuckled. As willing and generous as she had been last night, she was haughty and high-strung this morning. It did not displease me to see her like this. She had spirit. Plenty of it. One night with her mouth around my cock would not break her of that.
And though I loathed to admit it, she was likely right to put a moratorium on future encounters of that nature. I longed to tell her of my plans for her, to lay everything out and answer all of her questions until she understood the full scope of what we would have to do in order to steal her away from this place, but I knew I could not. The less she knew, the easier our little act would be for her. With that in mind, it was for the best that we did not take pleasure in each other’s company in such carnal ways again.
“I will keep that in mind,” I told her. “Are you awake now, or do you require more sleep?”
She furrowed her brow, then shrugged. “Awake, I guess. It’s not nice, being startled out of sleep like that, but now that I have been…yeah. I’m up.”
“Good.” I pulled myself out of bed and went to the shelf where our clean clothes were kept. Our outfits would be the same as yesterday, the color of Lady Idria’s house. Brixta black. I passed Atlanta her pants and top, then began to dress in my own. “Then shower, dress, and meet me in the gardens.”
“Why?” Atlanta looked to the window. “It’s barely morning. It’s not even light out yet.”
“Because,” I explained as I fastened my belt around my waist, “we are both awake and given that we have nothing better to do—” Like falling back in bed together so I can drive my cock between your thighs. “If you are going to dance tonight, you will need to train today. We have been given the benefit of an early start. We might as well make the most of it.”
While Atlanta prepared herself for the day, I laced my boots and wandered the halls in search of Ronan and Gallix. I found them asleep in the servants’ quarters. Ronan, with all four of his hands folded peacefully over his chest, Gallix hugging a flask of wine he must have stolen from the kitchens. They were nearly as thrilled to be awoken so early as I had been.
“Good morning, warriors. Any news?” I asked, striding into their room as they grumbled and stirred.
“Yeah,” Gallix growled. “Hear ye, hear ye. Local specter is an insufferable prick, wakes innocent soldiers before the bloody sun is even up.”
“Nothing worth mentioning.” Ronan sat up and rubbed his head. “Two of Lieja’s harem members sound most displeased with you, but if what they are saying is true, I imagine you already know that.”
“I do,” I assured him. “Anything from Lunaria?”
Gallix snorted. “Nothing good.”
“We went back to where your ship is stored last night,” Ronan said. “A message from Leonix was waiting for us there. Idria has called upon all of her specters to return to Lunaria. She assumes they are assembling to help manage forces against our allies at Lord Haelian’s palace in the mountains.”
I frowned. That was news. And as Gallix had said, not the good kind. “Idria’s brother is king now. Why has he not called upon the other generals instead?”
“They’ve all pledged to Kloran and Haelian,” Gallix said with a small laugh. I understood why he took joy in that. He and Ronan had both served with Kloran and Haelian for most of their careers. The rebel lords and their human wives had been a thorn in Idria’s side ever since we had first become aware of the humans’ ability to breed with our kind. It was no surprise that it pleased Gallix to see the other generals side with his commanders as well.
“They’re being attacked as they try to return to Lunaria to help Lord Kloran and Lord Haelian, though,” Ronan reminded Gallix. “Having allies doesn’t matter if they’re not able to bring their warriors and ships back to the planet to defend our people from Idria and her brother.”
“Rutharians?” I guessed.
Ronan nodded. “I suppose Idria’s alliance with the Rutharian king is playing out in her favor. Leonix wanted me to ask you when their wedding was going to be. Soon, I imagine?”
“It is hard to say.” News of Idria’s impending marriage to the new Rutharian king had surprised even me when I learned of it. My lady told me much—but even I had not been privy to information as terrible as her intention to join our race with that of the Rutharians. “Do not worry yourselves of any of that, though. It will all work out in the end.”
“How do you know?” Gallix barked at me.
“I am a specter, Gallix. I know many things.” I glanced between them, then cocked my head toward the door. “Now that you’re awake, you may as well make yourselves useful. Dress and meet me in the gardens. I need your help with something.”
“Something Atlanta-related, I’m sure,” Gallix said with a rough laugh.
I merely smiled.
Now that I had Atlanta exactly where I wanted her, when you got right down to it, most things I did, I did for her.
11
Atlanta
I didn’t know why I thought things might’ve changed after, well…
Getting down on my knees for Apex and putting his dick on my tongue?
Sucking Apex off in the shower until he came in my mouth?
The incident. I guessed that was what I was calling it.
But they hadn’t.
No good morning kisses. No tender words or loving caresses after we were so rudely startled awake by Lieja. No kindness. No heartfelt confessions. And definitely no I love yous—though, even I wasn’t naive enough to expect that.
Lieja had barged into Apex’s room and demanded that I dance for her again, and Apex had offered me up to her like a hunk of meat on a silver platter.
Nothing had changed at all.
I paced in the garden, looking up only to see if Apex was finally coming to find me. He’d said he wanted to meet me here, and here I was. Showered, dressed, and completely alone. The sun was just starting to rise over the palace walls, and part of me wondered if I shouldn’t try to run again. This was my first opportunity after my last failed attempt, after all. But before I even began to seriously consider escaping, I knew it was a bad idea.
Lieja’s guards were posted along the walls, and occasionally some of the other courtiers who lived here would come out from the palace to take a stroll. After the way my last bid for freedom had ended, I knew better than to try another before I had a plan. Thanks to all the walking we’d done yesterday, I knew the gardens pretty well now, but as for the palace itself and the landscape around it? I didn’t have a freaking clue.
If Apex didn’t find me, someone else—either Lieja’s guards, Votan, Razael, or worse—would.
Given the way that the other people here stared at me when they crossed my path, like I was some kind of peculiar animal at local zoo, I was actually relieved when I finally spotted Apex coming down the path. He was wearing the same all-black outfit that he always wore. A few steps behind him were the other Lunarians, Ronan and Gallix. The nice ones whose dicks I hadn’t been dumb enough to suck. They wore the same outfit that Apex did, only in white. Somehow, it made me feel like they were the good guys, and Apex was just some kind of villainous creature who’d been sent here to torment me with his handsome features and his awful little smirk.
It was just as well that we weren’t going to be alone today. If Apex spoke to me one on one, I was pretty sure I was either going to wind up hitting him, hitting on him, or maybe just bursting into tears.
Of course, one blowjob wasn’t going to change anything. The small amount of power I’d felt with my lips around Apex’s cock was gone the second I woke up, almost like the whole thing had happened in a crazy wet dream.
I was still a slave. He was still my master. And no matter how I might’ve liked to pretend otherwise, the collar around my neck was an ever-present reminder of the fact that I was still a prisoner here. No amount of sucking or fucking was going to be able to change that.
“Good morning, gorgeousness!” Gallix raised his hand to wave at me as they approached. I didn’t have the hots for Gallix, but at least every time I’d spoken to him, he’d been consistently nice to me. The same couldn’t be said for Apex himself. If I’d been in a better mood, I might have been flattered by the compliment.
Actually…
“Good morning yourself, handsome.” I fluttered my fingers at him and gave him a broad, beaming smile—then immediately relished the way the little exchange made Apex’s nose twitch.
Surly bastard. Even when I was openly flirting with his buddy, he didn’t have the good grace to frown.
“Enough of that.” Apex waved Gallix back as he came to stand right in front of me. He was keeping his distance, which, on a metaphorical level, I guessed was a nice touch. “Are you ready?”
“I might be.” I looked over Apex’s shoulder at Gallix and Ronan, then shrugged. “But I didn’t agree to dancing for an audience. Or am I just your little toy ballerina now? You wind me up and I dance whenever you want, for whoever you want?”
“You are not being asked to dance at all.” Apex’s voice was as cold and hollow as I’d ever heard it. “You are training.”
“What’s the difference?”
Slowly, that wicked little smirk appeared on Apex’s lips. Even though I was cross at him, it made my heart flutter a little bit and sent my stomach doing cartwheels.
“I suppose that is something you will soon find out.”
“Harder!” Apex roared as sweat dripped from my brow. “Faster! Are you even trying?”
I panted and bent over. My chest was on fire and every muscle in my body was aching with frustration. His dagger slipped from my fingers and clattered down to the soft green grass beneath my feet.
“I am trying.” My lips curled into a snarl as I glanced back up at him. I had to swipe my hand across my forehead to keep the sweat out of my eyes. “But none of you are helping. At all.”
Gallix and Ronan chuckled to each other as Ronan patted Gallix on the back. They switched places dutifully while Apex looked on, expressionless. None of them looked the least bit fatigued, which only made me feel worse.
“Go again,” Apex ordered me. “This time, like you mean it.”
I let out a huff of air, then filled my lungs with another breath as I picked up the dagger and got into position again. Left foot forward. Weight on my right. Dagger in hand, positioned low and concealed behind the billowing black fabric of my pants. I looked to Apex, and he gave me a slight nod. Begin.
I launched myself forward, building up momentum in a single step. Just before my foot hit the ground again, I raised the dagger high, aiming for Ronan’s collarbone, and—
“Sorry,” Ronan said as he snatched my wrist from the air. He twisted, and in an instant, I was thrown to the ground.
Again.
“I don’t think this is working.” I picked myself up off the grass and assessed the bruise I knew must have been blooming on my hip. Every time I touched it, it hurt a little more. Great. “I’m not strong enough, or fast enough, and—”
“Enough.” Apex held up a hand, then strode forward. “Complaining will get you nowhere. You will go again, until you are able to hit your mark.”
“If I hit my mark, I’m going to kill one of your buddies,” I pointed out.
“Well, now you know how much Apex likes us.” Gallix winked as he traded places with Ronan again. “Or how little faith he has in you. Still puzzling that one out.”
I stared up at Gallix and felt completely defeated before I even began. Just like Ronan and Apex, he was practically twice my size. And just like the others, he could move so fast it made me feel like he was either going in fast forward, or I was in slow motion somehow. There was no beating that. I was just going to get thrown to the ground again. I couldn’t believe it, but I was actually wishing that all Apex had wanted me to do here in the gardens was dance—audience or no.
Dancing was child’s play compared to this.
Still, I got myself into position again and prepared myself for yet another defeat. Only this time, when I looked to Apex for his signal, he shook his head and moved behind me instead.
“You are at a disadvantage in this. On that count, you are more than correct,” he said, his voice low as his lips hovered near my ear. “We are faster than you. Taller. Stronger. Better trained.”
“Not reassuring, Apex,” I said through my teeth.
“So, think. You cannot make yourself faster, or taller, or stronger. Not right now, at least. You will never match all the years we have trained. But still—if Gallix wanted to kill you just now, you would have to do everything in your power to stop him, or face death at his hand. What do you have?”
“A knife.” I shrugged. “Fat load of good it’s doing me right now.”
“Think harder.”
I sighed. “I’m small, which means that maybe I’m…more difficult to hit?”
“Good. More.”
“And even if he’s faster, he’d have to bend down to grab me, I guess.”
“True. But you are still thinking defensively.” Apex clucked his tongue at me in disappointment. “Any move he makes at you sets the tone for the rest of the fight. You must place yourself on the offensive before he can do that. Strike first, and at least you are able to choose the dance.” He chuckled, obviously pleased with himself. “So to speak.”
“Very clever.” I mulled the question over in my head, but it felt like I was getting nowhere. “I could run.”
“A tactic that has served you so well in the past.”
“Shut up.”
“Then stop dodging the problem. There is no running from this. You must take your disadvantages and turn them on their head.”
“Well…” It felt like I was running in circles now. “Okay. I’m small.”
“Yes.”
“So…I could go for his ankles, I guess. If he bends over too quick, maybe he’ll fall over trying to catch me.”
“Interesting. Go on.”
“And I’m…well, I look like this.” I gestured at my face, and Gallix put his hand to his forehead, pretending to swoon. “I doubt he’d be expecting me to attack him. Being small, and all dainty-looking and everything…if I were his size, I’d expect me to run. Or at least, to hesitate.”
“Very good.” Apex took the dagger from me and turned it in my hand, so it was pointing up instead of down. “There. When you are facing an opponent larger than yourself, it is better to stab up rather than bring the dagger down from overhead.”
“Okay.” I tried not to roll my eyes. “You could have told me that from the start.”
“And rob you of the chance to figure it out for yourself? I would never.” Apex shifted his legs behind mine, so that I was practically standing on the tips of his toes. Being close to him like this, after last night—after everything—was kind of weird. Kind of hot. If he would have been hard (which, unfortunately, he wasn’t) I would have been able to feel his cock pressing against my ass, positioned like this. “Follow my steps now. Let me guide you. When we move, watch how he moves. Anticipate. And when he responds—”
Pressed along by Apex’s legs and body, I was suddenly able to move at the same speed as Gallix. Apex shot me forward quickly and guided my hand. From my new striking position, underhanded, Gallix couldn’t grab my wrist when I raised the dagger to him. Instead, he had to reach across his body to try and disarm me with his other hand. But when he did, Apex spun me to the side. We side-stepped Gallix’s move with ease. As Apex and I twirled, just like two ballet dancers, we gained even more momentum. When Apex moved my wrist out to strike again, the dagger wound up nestled neatly in Gallix’s armpit. Another fraction of an inch more, and we could have easily slashed it deep into his skin.
