Tempting The Dark King [Enchanted World Series Book 2]

Chapter 6

Lyrah felt the shift in the air behind her and the whoosh of a blade as it cut through air. She knew she was about to get attacked so she stepped to the side and a blade came swinging down inches from her face. She gasped and turned to see the warrior female she saw last night; Zafrina.

“What--” before she could finish what she was about to say, Zafrina attacked again sending her mesmerizing jeweled sword stabbing the air right in front of her stomach.

Lyrah saw the movements in almost slow motion. She could almost tell what the other female was going to do next. That was a part of her strong instinct and it kept her alive most of her time. Lyrah hopped back away from the sword as energy pulsed down her hand into two orbs the size of basketballs. Without a sword, the second best weapon of hers was disarming the opponent.

She let Zafrina have the first one, tossing it to her a lightning speed. Zafrina's braid uncoiled from her neck and smacked the energy orb away. It splintered as the braid coiled back like a snake. She smiled maliciously and attacked her again.

Lyrah avoided the sharp cuts of the blade but she noted that Zafrina was backing her to a corner where she was going to be disadvantaged. Lyrah quickly replaced the orb in her hand and cartwheeled out of Zafrina's way. Something caught her leg and yanked her back. Lyrah found the dark braid again and this time is was tangled around her ankle. So, that was another attack strategy for the Jinns? No wonder they never cut their hair! Lyrah shook the braid away just as Zafrina came in for the kill. She didn't know why the other female was attacking her when she was very nice last night. Or was this the reason why Rhol told her to keep to the quarters? If she was going to survive this, she was going to start listening and carrying out the orders that she was given!

Lyrah back-flipped and Zafrina's sword clanged on the stone sending sparks around her. She growled as her icy blue eyes sparkled and attacked.

Lyrah felt her energy waning. She had to put a stop to the attack so as Zafrina charged towards her with the sword in hand, Lyrah charged too. She saw surprise skitter in Zafrina's eyes and before the other female knew it, Lyrah kicked her hands and the sword went flying out. Lyrah took that opportunity and forced the female down by pushing her on her chest with one leg while the other kneed her abdomen. Zafrina fell back and there was a satisfying crack of her collar bone.

Lyrah saw red behind the haze as she pinned the female down. Blood spurted from Zafrina's mouth and to Lyrah's surpise, she began to laugh.

“You're good.” Zafrina rasped.

Lyrah's eyes widened as she moved away quickly. “What did you think you were doing? I could have killed you."

Zafrina sat up and rubbed away the blood on her mouth. “You could never kill me with your rusty skills. I was quite easy on you but I underestimated you, my lady.”

“Are you okay?” Lyrah clasped her hands together.

Zafrina rolled her shoulder and Lyrah watched in amazement as the collar bone snapped back into place. “I'll live yet another day.”

 “You deserved every bit of that ass-whooping you got, Zafrina.” The male voice that Lyrah came to know very well in such a short period of time came through.

Zafrina came up on feet and inclined her head lightly. “My king, my lady.” Then she flared behind black smoke.

Lyrah turned to the brooding male but was a little a ease when she saw the amusement swimming in his eyes. “I told you not to leave the quarters.”

Lyrah swallowed visibly. “I needed some fresh air. I needed to clear my head.”

“And ended up re-opening old wounds.” His eyes strayed to the blood pooling around her wound.

Lyrah bit back a cry when pain suddenly shot up her leg. She would have staggered onto her butt if Rhol hadn't shot forward and scooped her off the ground. “This is not necessary.” He was getting into the habit of picking her up and she didn't want that, especially after he rejected her.

“You can barely stand up. Don't make this a fuss.” He warned her lightly as he took her back into his fortress.

Lyrah snapped her head around and looked up at him. His chiseled face was hard and grim and his eyes were dark pools of mystery. “A fuss? You are the one making a fuss over a small thing!”

“You endanger your life at every chance you get. Do you believe that will aid you in getting on my good side? I should paddle your ass for it.”

“She attacked me first!” Lyrah protested. “I didn't know whether she was out to get my head or she was just taunting me. You sure have some strange people in your army, Rhol.”

“If you had kept into the quarters none of this would have happened.” Rhol assured her quietly now that they were inside in the presence of the helpers.

“I'm not your prisoner!” Lyrah yelled catching everyone's attention. Rhol sighed and flashed them up to his quarters. The moment they got there, Lyrah struggled to get away from the maddening male but his grip on her was tight and even his tattoos had managed to wrap themselves around her. “Put me down! I said put me--” Lyrah slid out of his hands down his body and came into contact with the hard, throbbing presence in front of her.

It throbbed against her stomach, mimicking Rhol's heartbeat. Lyrah's mouth ran dry as she looked up at him. His jaw was set and his mouth was in a thin and tight line. His eyes were full on contempt and she didn't know whether that contempt was directed towards her or what.

So, what did this mean? She didn't know but she was shocked to learn that her body too was getting hot and tight against his. Her n*****s tightened under her bra to the point of pain and her womb clenched deliciously inside her.

Rhol's eyebrow arch up and a malicious smile appeared on his lips. “What, you never thought this would happen? I'm your mate for crying out loud. Thanks to you, I can't be with anyone else.”

Anyone else? What did he mean by that? “You—you kept a mistress?” She had to ask and she didn't understand why that matter disturbed her greatly but it did.

“Yes, I kept a mistress. I don't look like a saint, do I?”

Lyrah swallowed down the painful lump clogging her throat. He was no saint but at that moment he was being very mean and she hated it. He kept a mistress. Did that mean that the female was still in the fortress? Was that where he slept last night? “You're the devil himself.” She found herself whispering as she pushed him away and wanted to walk away.

“Where are you going?” He drawled tightening his hold on her arm.

“I'm getting the hell away from you.” She gritted her teeth. Should he have waited for her? Why was she upset by learning that another female shared his bed. He rejected her for crying out loud!

“It's too late for that, dirani peeta.” he assured her darkly as he yanked her back to him. He drew down until his face was just a breath away from hers. “You should have ran away when you had the chance...but now, it's too late.”

“It's not.” Tears prickled behind Lyrah's eyes as she struggled against him. The more she struggled the more snuggled she found herself. “I'll not accept you, Rhol. I don't want you!”

Rhol drew back and eyed her for a moment then ground his teeth and whirled her around until she collapsed on the bed with a yelp. “I'll tend to your wound.”

“I don't want you to.” she yelled at him as he made his way to the bathroom. She didn't want anything from him anymore. She felt betrayed and crushed by his confession. He had a mistress, a female who tended to his s****l needs. He had a female who did things for him that she only read in stories and he wasn't even ashamed to let her know. Lyrah found herself hating the female even though she didn't even know who she was? Was it Zafrina? She looked like the type that Rhol would have loved to have as a mate. Or perhaps, that female was lingering around the fortress somewhere.

Rhol returned with some clean water, a healing balm, a towel and some clean bandages. When he got closer, Lyrah pushed back onto the bed. Her leg was throbbing but she didn't want Rhol to touch her. She didn't want to feel anything for him other than anger and loathing but the moment he wrapped his fingers around her hips and pulled her body down to the edge of the bed, she was helpless and couldn't fight the heat searing throughout her entire body! He touched the material of her pants lightly and ripped it apart just above the wound. He exposed her thigh and the bleeding wound.

“You should take more care of yourself, Lyrah.” He muttered as he cleaned away the blood revealing the gaping claw grooves underneath. “This body is no longer only yours...” he stopped and looked up at her. “It's mine too.”

Lyrah's eyes widened in shock. “You never wanted me here--”

“You give me no choice.” He gritted his teeth.

He applied the healing balm and Lyrah's muscles clenched with the sharp pain. Rhol bent down over it and blew hot air onto it like the way one would sooth a child's wounds. It was true she gave him no choice by showing up unannounced on his doorstep but she never thought it would be so complicated. Only he would have seen that the Mage were not at fault and since a lot of people feared him, his word would have been taken seriously.

She watched as Rhol unrolled out the bandage and did further damage to that beautiful pair of pants. His hands were warm against her skin. His fingers worked meticulously, weaving the bandage over her wound and sliding over her sensitive thigh which caused havoc in places she blushed just thinking about them. Rhol must have noted her behavior because his eyes snapped up to hers as he clipped the bandage into place and let his fingers linger a little while longer on her flushed skin. She held her breath when she saw the unadulterated hunger dancing in his eyes. They bore straight into her very soul.

 “Now that you are here, I'm no longer aroused by other females. I can't think of anyone else. I'm a potent male, Lyrah, and I have needs.” his fingers caressed the inner part of her thigh sending fireworks cartwheeling throughout her body.

She shivered at the intensity of the touch. She was afraid of that dark and dangerous look that had entered his eyes. “Rhol--”

“I know you have needs too. I can smell your arousal from a mile away. It's like a deadly pheromone drawing its victim close to his doom.” he drawled getting up on his feet while pushing Lyrah down on the bed.

Lyrah's heart thumped so hard against her chest. She was helpless against him. Even though her mind was telling her to fight him off and run, her body recognized him and his need for his mate and readied itself to receive him.  

He climbed over her, his face hovering inches from hers. She was on fire, anticipating what he going to do to her. He rake his fingers through her hair, removing the braid. The silky silvery strands became undone and Rhol watched them in wonder.

He nuzzled the hair then he drifted down and nuzzled her temple and cheek and finally her neck. Lyrah's body quaked with shudders. It was frustrating how just a simple touch from him could do so much in her body.

“I should take you right now. I should grind into you until you will never, ever get rid of the feeling of me deep inside you again. I should keep you here for my pleasure.” he purred against her sensitive skin making goosebumps appear on it.

Lyrah needed strength to resist his spell weaving words. She needed to get away from him before she lost herself in it for all the wrong reasons. This was never going to be something that they both wanted. This was just lust between them. The only reasons that they were going to stay together was because of that. Rhol didn't want her there and neither did she but she had traveled for days to get there. She was not leaving until she got what she wanted. He said that her body was his. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. He was such an egoistical prick! Her body was hers and hers alone. And even though at the moment it refused to heed her commands, she still decided how far she was going to go and now that anger was seething through her veins, she wanted him off her!

“Get off!” she pushed against him. It was like pushing against a brick wall but she didn't give up. “I said get off!”

Finally, Rhol moved away from her and stalked to the large window. “This was what you wanted, right? When you asked me about my mistress? I saw how angry and jealous you were because of it.” he turned to her and leaned on the window sill then crossed his arms and glanced at her. “Is this what you expected from me?”

“What are you talking about?” Lyrah cried angrily. “I expected you to aid my brother, not seduce me!”

A soft rumble of laughter escaped Rhol's lips. “Seduce you? Dirani peeta, I don't need to seduce you to have you. You are already aroused. And your brother is an ancient male, sweetheart, he can clean up his own mess without me intervening.”

Red blush stained Lyrah's cheeks.

“Don't worry.” Finally Rhol decided to take Lyrah out of her misery. “I'll not take your body until you allow me to.”

She wasn't like the other females he was ever with. She had never been touched by a male before. He could tell from the way her body responded to his. Females could have s****l relationships with other males provided they have not laid their eyes on their mates. The moment they do, they lose interest in other males. It's a much slower process in males so they could continue with other females until their true mates are in close proximity for long periods of time.

Lyrah never knew she was his mate until the night he went to the Mage Fortress and she saw him yet she had never had a relationship before that. He was proud of the fact that his mate's body was still pure and her innocence still intact.

Her eyes were large as she stared at him. She didn't trust him and it was good that she didn't. For her own safety, she needed to be very wary of him.

“If it keeps you at ease,” he began lightly. “You will use my quarters as yours until when you are strong enough to travel. I will shift elsewhere.”

“To your mistress?” She asked clasping her hands together.

Rhol frowned. Even if he did go to Jezeray, what good would it do?

“You shouldn't worry yourself about such things.” He assured her tightly. “Just concentrate your energy on getting better.” Then he pushed off the window sill and stalked out.

Rhol's tattoos protested and he snapped his teeth at them. They immediately stopped and lazily undulated around his skin.

“My king.” one of the guards quickly approached him. “The Ghoul, my king. He’s...dead.”

Rhol frowned and stormed towards the dungeons.

Several of the guards were there assessing the dead body of Marcus. Rhol looked down at him and noted that the Ghoul's body had shriveled and turned a sickly gray color. His eyes were black and fathomless and his mouth was gaping open as if in terror.

“What happened?” Rhol asked the guards.

“The coughing had worsened throughout the night. So much black goo was coming out from his mouth. At first were thought it was blood and later we noticed it undulating as if it was alive.” One guard explained.

Rhol looked around the cell where Marcus was but there wasn't any black goo. “What happened to the goo? Did you clean it? Did someone take a sample of it?”

The guards looked at each other then shrugged.

“When we brought him food this morning, we found him dead, my king.”

Rhol looked down at the bloody chunks of meat in a bucket then up at his guards. Something was not right and he felt it all the way into his bones. “Take his body down to the incinerator and burn it then get Muriel to come cleanse the cell.”

Muriel was part of his court and a very strong Mage. She too was mated to a Jinn.

“Yes, my king.” The guards bowed and went on their way.

Rhol looked down at the stiff body and frowned when he noted something burnt on his skin just behind his neck. He sank down and pushed the clammy locks of decaying hair out of the way. The tuft came right out with the skin. Bile rose up in Rhol's stomach as a choking and nauseating smell rose up.

Rhol swallowed back the bitterness in his mouth and studied the mark. It had three circles connected together by a triangle and in the middle was a word written in the old language that sent shivers down Rhol's spine because it wasn't the first time he saw it and it was a very bad omen; resurrection.