The Dark Prince's Prize

Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Is there anything else you can remember?” Annalisa asked.

Samara shook her head and wrapped her arms around her waist. Annalisa reached out and touched her arm in a compassionate gesture of support. Tears burned Samara’s eyes, and she shook her head in annoyance.

“So… what… what’s going to happen to them?” she asked in a voice thick with emotion.

Annalisa closed the notebook she had been writing in and sighed. “A lot depends on how much evidence there is against them and how much they are willing to cooperate. They all have lengthy records. I won’t lie to you. It isn’t going to be pretty,” she replied.

Samara nodded and brushed a tear from her cheek. “What about me?”

Annalisa squeezed her arm. “Your brothers confirmed that you knew nothing about what was going on. I would be surprised if the prosecutor even called you in to testify. I know turning in your own family was difficult for you, but you did the right thing. Who knows? It might straighten them out.”

Samara released a strained laugh and brushed at the dampness on her cheek again. “Yeah, well, according to two of them, I’m no longer family,” she grudgingly shared.

“Rob and Jerry don’t deserve to have you as their sister, both Gary and Brit know that. Hopefully, those two will use this as a chance to break away from Rob and Jerry’s influence,” Annalisa replied.

“I really hope they do,” she murmured with a tired sigh.

Annalisa grimaced when her cellphone buzzed. “Listen, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me,” Annalisa stated before she answered the call. “This is Hollins.”

Samara stood outside of the barn and watched as Annalisa returned to her truck. She lifted her hand in a brief wave as Annalisa pulled away. Pressing her uplifted hand to her chest, she absently rubbed the aching spot over her heart and wondered for the millionth time if she had done the right thing by turning in her brothers. Feeling depressed, she slowly went back up the stairs to her apartment.

The last three days had passed in a blur. After using the device that Adalard had given to her and Bear to knock out the guards, the two of them had escaped out the back where Bear’s truck was parked.

She didn’t know what happened during the poker game between Adalard and Campeau except that Adalard had won. Bear had been strangely silent since that night. Adalard had disappeared three days ago, and she hadn’t seen him since. She wiped another tear away before pushing open the door to her apartment.

A pair of strong arms circled her waist, lifting her up off the ground, and she gasped when a pair of warm lips caressed her neck. She laid her hands over Adalard’s and laughed at his playful affection. Tilting her head back against his shoulder, she smiled at him.

“I thought you left,” she confessed.

He lowered her to her feet and turned her in his arms so that she faced him. She held onto his forearms when he bent his head and kissed her. Several breathless minutes later, she clung to him to keep from melting into a puddle on the floor.

“I think you missed me,” she teased.

“Very much,” he acknowledged with a crooked smile.

She shivered when a draft of cold air blew in from the open door. He reached behind him and closed it. Clearing her throat, she removed her coat and hung it by the door before she turned and walked into the living room.

“Where have you been the last three days?” she asked.

“Ha’ven and Emma have returned. I had to return to my ship,” he explained, following her.

“I guess this means you’ll be leaving soon,” she replied.

“Yes.”

Adalard’s simple response was like a hot poker through her heart. She kept her back to him and held her hands out toward the hot air blowing from the pellet stove. The brief feeling of joy she’d experienced was quickly replaced with a sharp, aching pain in her chest again. This time the ache was far worse than it had been minutes before when she was talking with Annalisa.

She’d known this time was coming, but it still felt like it had happened too soon. She closed her eyes when he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his body.

Why do bad things always seem to come in series? she silently wondered.

“Wh-when will you be leaving?” she asked in a voice husky with emotion.

“Tonight. It is imperative that we return as soon as possible,” he explained.

“Tonight!” she breathed out in a shocked whisper.

“Samara—” He paused and gently cupped her face between his palms.

She looked up at him. Her harsh denial froze on the tip of her tongue as she gazed into his violet eyes. He looked down at her, his softly glowing eyes filled with warmth—and love.

“Samara, I want you to come with me to my world.”

She started to shake her head before she stopped. What did she have left here? There was no telling what would happen to her brothers. The only one who might still have anything to do with her was Wilson, and she had no idea where he was. News of what the rest of them had done would already be all over town—the last shred of any honor in her family name destroyed by her brothers’ actions. The only one who meant anything to her was Adalard, but—

“What happens if things don’t work out between us? What if something were to happen to you? How would I survive in an alien world?” she asked, trying to voice all of the reasons she shouldn’t go.

He pulled her closer and kissed her hard. She immediately responded. She groaned as their tongues tangled. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

“You tie me up in knots. I’ve never understood what it would mean to feel something like this. Our bond is not something that will fade. I need you, Samara. You bring harmony to my energy—a balance—that only a true mate can bring. Look at it. Look at us,” he commanded in a rough voice filled with need.

He held his hand up, palm out to her. She lifted her hand and placed it against his. Her smaller hand looked dainty and pale against his darker skin. Swirling colors of vivid reds, blues, and violets mixed with a sparkling white that danced through the mixture.

“You are the white energy. Your energy is the purest I’ve ever seen,” he said.

A surprised laugh slipped from her. “Pure… me? I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone say that about me before,” she confided.

“I want you to come with me, Samara. I… my feelings for you will not change. You will be loved and protected by my family. You also won’t be alone. Emma will be there. If you ever wish to visit here, I will bring you back. I need you. My people need you,” he quietly said.

“Your people—the thing on your ship,” she replied.

He nodded. “Yes. Whoever created that has the power to do great harm to my people. With your help, we may find a way to protect ourselves.”

Her heart thumped heavily in her chest. She pulled away from him and walked over to the window. Below her, she could see her dad’s old truck that she had restored and Mason and Ann Marie’s house. She pressed her hand over her heart.

“I’ve never been anywhere really except for a trip to Seattle in high school. You’re asking me to-to—” She couldn’t continue.

He walked up behind her, stopping before he touched her, but she could feel the heat from his body. The colors that always surrounded him washed over her and she breathed in.

She parted her lips at the intimate sensation of his mental caress. As she closed her eyes and embraced the sensation, she was unaware that she was sending her own energy out to surround him. She arched her back as the force of their combined energy surged through her. Behind her, she heard Adalard take a deep breath.

“Yes, I’ll go. I’ll need to tell Mason,” she murmured, opening her eyes and staring out the window again with a sense of renewed determination. She turned around and looked at him with a shaky smile. “I’ll go.” She beamed with a laugh.

He swept her against him and captured her lips in a passionate kiss that seared a path straight to her heart. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with the same passion. They both moaned when he scooped her up in his arms. She pulled away and gazed up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I could get very used to this,” she teased.

“I wanted to do this the first day I met you,” he confessed.

She laughed. “That would have definitely gotten you shot,” she giggled.

“It would have been worth it,” he admitted.

Her throat tightened at the emotion in his eyes. “I love you,” she said, caressing the scar on his cheek.

Samara’s quietly spoken words washed through him, and he tightened his hold on her as he walked down the hall to her bedroom. His return to the ship would have to wait for a little longer. He wanted to embrace the last few hours that they would have alone. He knew once he returned to his warship, his duties would take away a lot of the time he would rather spend with Samara.

By the time he made it to her bedroom, he was on fire. She was nipping at his earlobe and pressing hot kisses anywhere she could reach. When he laid her on the bed, she dragged him down on top of her and captured his lips. A groan slipped from him and with a thought, he envisioned them both n***d.

She pulled back in surprise when she felt the cool air against her n***d skin and stared up at him. He gave her a crooked, devilish grin. She giggled, tangled her hands in his hair, and kissed him again.

He responded, opening his mouth and tangling his tongue with hers. She wrapped one leg around his thigh and applied pressure to his shoulder. He realized she wanted him to roll over so that she was on top. He did, without breaking their kiss.

I’ve always wanted to do this, she silently confessed.

Do wha-at… ah…

His breath huffed out when she wrapped her hand around his full c**k and rose up on her knees. He kept his eyes locked on her face as she rubbed the tip against her soft mound, then slowly impaled herself on his throbbing shaft.

Oh yesssss….

“Goddess, Samara, you are beautiful!” he murmured as he captured her breasts in the palms of his hands.

She rose up, sliding along his c**k before pressing down until he was buried so deep he felt the tip of his c**k brushing her womb. Her eyes were closed, her pink lips slightly parted, and she had a dreamy expression on her face as she rode him.

He uttered a hoarse inaudible curse when she found his n*****s and pinched them. Pressing his feet into the bed, he rocked his hips in motion with hers. A sly smile curved his lips when she gasped.

Adalard breathed as he pulled almost out of her. It was pure t*****e feeling her soft, slick walls stroking the entire length of his c**k. Rolling her pebbled n*****s between his fingers, he pinched them, applying a tiny spark to give it a little sting. She popped her eyes open, and her channel walls tightened around him.

She splayed her hands across his chest. “Do that again,” she requested.

He pinched her n*****s again, sending a little more spark to them. She cried out, her body clenching him again as she moved up and down. She wrapped her hands around his as she began moving more frantically. He continued rolling her n*****s and sending the tiny shocks to them.

Her sheath turned to molten liquid, slick with their combined desire, as the friction between their bodies heated from the force of their joining. He gritted his teeth, determined to hold on long enough for her to come. When the tingling spread, he knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

“Now it is my turn,” he grunted.

She opened her mouth to protest when he lifted her off him, but still started to roll so he could be on top. He shook his head. Understanding dawned when he rolled to his knees behind her and held her hips. She bent forward when he entered her swollen folds. His breath hissed out as he watched his c**k slide into her.

“Goddess, but you have no idea how sexy this looks,” he muttered.

He pulled out to the tip of his c**k and thrust his hips forward, impaling his shaft as deep as he could go. Bending over her, he slid his hand across her stomach to her mound and parted her soft lips. He found the hidden nub and gently stroked it, sending the same tiny sparks to it that he had to her n*****s, while rocking his hips.

“Adalard!”

Samara’s hoarse cry filled the room as she wrapped her hands in the bedcovers and pushed back against him. Her body shuddered as she came. He slid his hand back to her hip and increased the pace of his thrusts to match the pulse of her o****m. Fire spread through every nerve ending in his body before pooling in his c**k. A cry tore from his throat as his o****m erupted from him, washing her womb with his hot seed.

He shivered in extreme pleasure when she squeezed his overly sensitive c**k. He drew in shuddering breaths, waiting for the intensity of their joining to fade enough for him to move. Samara moaned, wilting from the aftermath of their lovemaking. He wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her to him as they rolled until they were both lying on their sides.

“I never knew what the big hoopla was about s*x until now. I could definitely get addicted to this,” she murmured.

He chuckled, kissed her shoulder, and rocked his hips enough to remind her that he was still buried deep inside her.

“I’ll be happy to fill your need anytime you like,” he replied.

She laughed, caught his hand, and pulled it to her breast. “How long before your battery recharges?” she teased.

His c**k twitched, swelling again, and he sent a slight charge through his fingertips to her n****e. “What makes you think I ever run down?”

Her gasp turned to a moan. I told you I couldn’t lie to you.