Heart of an Emperor [Daughters of Lyra Series] Read online

  "It will matter a lot when Varka—"

  "Van, that's enough,” Emperor Varka said and she blushed with shame when she looked at him. “We will take the Count of Sagres to his room."

  "I'm sorry about all this,” Sophia said and tried to move but Regis was holding her too tight. “I think I might have to go too."

  Her father nodded.

  Taking Regis's hand to show him that she wasn't going to leave him, she started walking. He released her and followed, holding her hand so tight that she could feel her bones creaking. He was strong. He was incredibly strong. Yet she had brought him to his knees. She followed the emperor and count up through the palace, back to Regis's room.

  "Emperor Varka,” she said and the man didn't respond. She walked a little quicker to be closer to him. “Emperor Varka?"

  The man turned to look at her with wide eyes and then smiled. “What is it, little one?"

  They stopped outside Regis's door and she glanced at it and then looked back at the emperor.

  "I'm sorry. I don't love you. It wouldn't have worked."

  He continued to smile. It held a hint of darkness that unnerved her. Something about it, about him, spoke of intimate knowledge of violence and death. He looked like the royal assassins did sometimes when she chanced upon them in the city.

  "Give the Count of Sagres more blood and he will calm down. We must call home to apprise them of the situation but will not be far away. If he loses control, we will sense it and come to you. Come, Van."

  With that, he was walking along the corridor. She had expected more of a protest or perhaps disappointment. He didn't seem at all bothered that Varka's ties with Lyra weren't going to be strengthened through marriage. Perhaps he was only thinking of the money he could save and the fact that Lyra wouldn't be getting Varka Two.

  She opened the dark wooden door and walked in, leading Regis to his bed. He sat down on it and she was relieved when she released his hand and he didn't make a fuss. She could sense him watching her, studying her every move. His feelings were still as strong as they had been when they were last in this room together, ebbing and flowing through him, through her. Looking him over, she sighed at the cuts that marked his pale skin, cutting over the contours of his muscles. No one had admitted hurting him. Had they all been guilty to some extent? Even his friend and the emperor? Even her father? She supposed they weren't to blame if they had hurt him in order to protect themselves. After all, he had been attempting to kill the Count of Aeris when she had arrived at the cell.

  "Are you alright?” she said and touched his cheek. His blood red eyes never left her face. “I'll clean you up."

  She went to the bathroom, unsure of what to do. She had never had to clean wounds before. She ran water into the stone basin until it felt cold and then wet a cloth with it. She returned to Regis and sat beside him on the bed. He turned to face her when she did and for a moment, his eyes flickered to her throat. Ignoring the spark of desire it lit in her, she cleaned his cuts, carefully washing away the blood, and bound the wound on his arm. She couldn't help noticing how fantastic his body was, or the white scars that marked his skin. He wasn't a stranger to wounds and pain.

  Her gaze wandered his body until it reached his hands. They rested on his knees, relaxed but holding them. She could sense the tension in him, the desire to touch her. It seemed he was in control of himself, at least for now. She frowned when she noticed a black finger thick band that ran up both of his arms on the outside. She looked a little closer at it, fascinated by the intricate markings that created the line, markings that varied from slashes to swirls to what looked like symbols. Her eyes followed the black line upwards over his biceps to his shoulder and from there up his neck. They were beautiful.

  Without thinking, she ran her fingers down the line nearest her, tracing it and revelling in the warmth of his skin. The marks were familiar but nothing came to her—nowhere she had seen them before or what they might mean.

  Dropping the cloth, she took hold of his hands, one in each of hers, and then ran her fingertips along the marks, following both at the same time towards his neck. When she reached it, she caressed the line of his jaw and then brushed his lower lip with her thumb.

  Regis growled, grabbed her upper arms, and pushed her onto her back on the bed.

  Give him blood.

  That was what they had told her.

  Sophia shut her eyes when his mouth closed over hers, his kiss stealing her breath and setting her body on fire.

  Give him blood she would.

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  Chapter 6

  Sophia stared at the ceiling when Regis's mouth left hers and he kissed a trail along her jaw and then down to her throat. She swallowed and lay sprawled out on the bed, ready for anything. Ready for everything. A moan left her lips when he kissed her throat and then wrapped his lips around it, sucking the skin. She longed for him to use his teeth.

  She ached for him to bite her.

  She would give anything to feel it again.

  Involuntarily, her body arched against his, her thigh rubbing between his legs. He growled and sucked her throat harder, but still didn't bite her. She would surrender everything to feel it. Her birthright, her family, her blood. There wasn't anything she wouldn't sacrifice in exchange for him.

  It didn't matter that he wasn't the emperor or that her species would gain nothing from the match. She didn't care.

  She only wanted him.

  She loved him.

  Her eyes shot wide when he nicked her neck with his teeth and she shuddered along with him when he growled and sunk against her, his body half covering hers. Her hands swept up his arms and she clawed his back, lost in the glimmer of pleasure and the promise of exquisite ecstasy. His hand roamed down the other side of her neck and covered her right breast. She bit her lip and moaned her approval, hoping to encourage him.

  They had told her to give him her blood.

  She wanted to give him more than that.

  So much more.

  Regis growled again and shifted, moving to kneel between her legs. Sophia gasped when he ground against her and she felt his hard length. Her heart raced. She had decided to give herself to him but it still hadn't quite prepared her for the reality of it or the fact that he didn't seem quite with her.

  She had thought perhaps that he would come around a little once he'd had a taste of her blood. Right now, he didn't seem at all conscious of the fact it was her.

  Or was he?

  "Regis?” Sophia whispered as he devoured her throat with kisses so intense that she yearned for his touch. They drove her wild with need and when he pushed his hand beneath her skirt and placed it over the bite mark on her thigh, it sent her out of her mind. She raised her body into the touch, into him, and threw her head back. Her breasts pressed against her corset, straining for contact with him. Her heart ached and thundered, begging him to relieve her.

  He muttered something in her ear, his breath hot and sultry, his words carrying a promise of seduction even though she couldn't understand them. She longed to know what he was saying, what words he husked against her skin between kisses. He felt hungry, full of desire and passion as strong as her own. There was an aura of desperation around him, of hope and fear.

  Her hips bucked into his touch when he pressed his hand against her mound, fingers teasing her through the material of her underwear. She willed him to remove the snug material, to invade her body with his own and take everything that she was offering him.

  "Regis.” As she uttered his name in sheer need, he ran his fingers over the front of her underwear and she blinked as she felt cool air against her. His fingers quickly followed it and she realised he must have used his claws to rent the material in two. She gasped at the thought of him touching her with his claws out and then relaxed when she looked at his other hand and saw his fingernails were normal.

  Her eyes met his and she opened her mouth to speak but her words came out in a garbled moan when
he slipped his fingers into her folds and drew wetness up to her pert nub and circled it. The feel of his touch was intense, mind-blowing.

  Regis growled, a pleased smile on his face.

  She had to stop him. She needed to know that he was actually in there, that it was him speaking to her and he was conscious of what they were doing. Her hands pressed against his chest but he didn't stop. His fingers slid lower and she melted into the bed when he inserted one into her slick channel.

  "Regis?” She bit her lip and stared into his eyes.

  They brightened, turning crimson.

  "Shh, Sophia, before you turn me insane. I am already half there.” He flashed her a smile that was all sharp fangs before burying his face in her neck and kissing it.

  At least he was still with her, even if he was on the verge of losing control again.

  He needed blood or, well, she didn't know what he would do or how violent he could become. The others had told her to give him blood to calm him down. Taking hold of his other hand, she brought it up to her neck and then remembered that his claws were retracted and she really didn't want them out again when he was touching her down there. She had to cut herself though. She had to convince him to bite her and take her blood before he lost control. She could feel that he was slowly regaining a sense of awareness about her and his surroundings. She didn't want him to lose that again. She wanted to make love with him, not have him lost in a haze of bloodlust as he had sex with her.

  His finger moved inside her and all reasonable thought left her. She gasped with each plunge of it into her core, each smooth slide that sent sparks of hunger gathering in her abdomen. She writhed against his hand, moaning into his ear and desperately trying to retain a sense of cohesion within her thoughts so she could figure out a way to make him bite her.

  He thrust against his hand where it covered her mound and the solution dawned on her.

  He wanted to bite her.

  She didn't need to make him.

  She only had to let him know that she wanted it too.

  There was something else that she wanted first. She wanted this torture to end and him inside her. Her hands skimmed down his back to his buttocks and she slid them around to the front of his trousers. He lightly bit her neck as she undid the front ties of his trousers and her heart thumped hard against her chest when she swallowed her nerves and slid her hand inside. The feel of his hard shaft in her hand was electrifying. She licked her lips as her mind raced to imagine it inside her, stretching her body and making it his. She ached for that moment.

  He ground his length against her hand and she instinctively wrapped her fingers around it, gripping it. A groan left him when he thrust again, his length pushing through the tight circle of her fingers. His tongue traced a line along her throat that left her tingling. Insensitive. Was this why the patch around his bite mark on her leg felt numb? Could he anaesthetise the area that he was going to bite? It explained how she hadn't felt any pain earlier when he had bitten her thigh. She had felt only pleasure.

  His finger slid free of her body and he removed her hand from his length. She swallowed her pounding heart as he moved between her legs and the head of his shaft pressed into her. Closing her eyes, she waited with bated breath. It was torn from her throat in a deep sigh as he pushed into her, filling her body with his own. She licked her lips again and clung to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pushing her fingers into his hair. He thrust into her, slow and deep, taking her out of her mind as her body hummed and tingled with each plunge of his length. He moaned against her throat and then growled. Before she could even think about reacting, his fangs penetrated her neck and he pulled on her blood. Her entire body arched into his as a wave of heat crashed through her followed by a shockwave of pleasure. This time, she bit back the scream as she climaxed.

  Regis growled and continued to thrust into her, drawing on her blood at the same time. She held his head to her, not wanting him to stop drinking. He didn't. He drank deeper, biting hard enough that she felt it this time. It hurt, but the intense feelings of arousal and desire that it brought with it made the pain seem a small price to pay. His hand went to her breasts and he growled into her throat as he sliced the front of her corset open. She gasped at the cool air as it washed over her body and then at the feel of his bare chest against hers. She wished they were fully naked, but didn't want him to leave her. She wanted him to stay inside her. Wanted to feel him.

  He thrust deeper inside her and she raised her pelvis up, drawing a moan from him. His drinking slowed but remained deep enough that her head spun with each mouthful he took from her. Her thighs trembled against his as warmth coiled tight in the depth of her stomach again. His pelvis slammed against her clit with each frantic plunge of his length into her and before she knew what was happening, heat exploded through her again. Her body convulsed around his, milking his shaft and this time sending him crashing over the edge with her. He jerked up hard inside her and shuddered as he spilled himself. Her harsh breathing was joined by his own as his fangs left her throat and he licked the wound, pressing kisses against it occasionally.

  Her eyes widened when he rolled onto his back, taking her with him so she was lying on top of him, and then closed when he wrapped his arms around her. She drifted off to sleep as Regis whispered words to her that sounded a lot like the song he had been singing to the moons.

  * * * *

  Sophia sighed as she woke and then smiled when she saw Regis lying beside her, half dressed and looking as wanton as she probably did. She reached out to push the long strands of his black hair away from his face so she could see it better and then paused as it hit her.

  She would have to marry him now. In her haste to have him, she hadn't thought about the consequences. She hadn't thought about protecting herself. He murmured something in his sleep and smiled. He had a beautiful smile. If they had a child, perhaps it would also have his smile. In a way, she hoped it would have his eyes too. Now that she was used to them, his eyes were stunning.

  She brushed his hair away from his neck and ears, and smiled too as she mused what life would be like with him. Her smile faltered when she realised that she might not have a life with him. Her father hadn't consented to the match and Regis might not want to live on Lyra Prime. What if her haste had left her pregnant and Regis didn't want to stay with her? What if he didn't love her enough or still refused to believe that he could love?

  He could. Her mother was right. Everything Regis had done had proven that he loved her. She had felt all the feelings in him, everything that she had been feeling herself. He couldn't deny that he loved her. Would it be enough to make him stay on a planet that didn't suit him though?

  Or was her love for him enough to make her leave Lyra Prime for a world and a species that she knew hardly anything about?

  A place where the brightest the day got was evening light?

  Her fingers traced the black band of marks that started just behind his ear and followed them down his throat and over his shoulder. They were so familiar.

  It dawned on her where she had seen them before.

  They had been in one of the books from the palace library.

  Pulling her clothes closed around her as best she could, she rushed from the room intent on reaching hers unseen.

  There was something important about the marks.

  Something very important.

  She had to know what.

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  Chapter 7

  Regis smiled up at the hot Lyran sun through his visor. It warmed him to the bone but it wasn't the reason that he was smiling. He lowered his gaze to the garden and his smile widened as he saw Sophia. She was beautiful in her flowing sky blue empire-line gown, her wavy black hair tumbling around her smooth graceful shoulders. He laughed with her as she danced around, her smile broad and infectious. The laughter of the two small children joined theirs and he stopped to watch them again, fascinated by the sight of her and the younglings. />
  Younglings.

  Their red eyes told him that they were Varkan. Or at least in part they were Varkan. They had their mother's beauty.

  His younglings.

  Their younglings.

  He had never seen such a beautiful sight as her playing with them, never in his long years. A sigh escaped him and he allowed himself the moment of whimsy as he watched them. In this moment, he was no longer a commander of his people but a man with a family.

  It was a beautiful dream.

  No. It would be a beautiful reality.

  Sophia turned and looked at him, waving as she laughed, the light breeze tousling her hair and dress.

  She was a beautiful reality.

  He flinched and gritted his teeth as something hit him. The dream slipped through his fingers as the pain came again and he was torn from sleep. He frowned as he opened his eyes and then smiled when he saw Sophia kneeling beside him on the bed.

  "You utter sekta no uso cruskin nyaaeso!"

  She hit him again with something rectangular and very hard. His head ached and he blocked her next strike with his arm, unwilling to be beaten up any more. His translator hadn't understood the last part of what she had said but judging by the thunderous black look in her eyes and the fact that she was beating him to a pulp, he deduced it wasn't words of love.

  "You lied to me."

  He understood that.

  Sitting up, he placed his hands out behind him to prop himself in place and looked at her. The marks on her neck were deep and sore. He had been a little harder on her than he had hoped he would but the bloodlust had been too intense and he hadn't been able to stop himself from losing control.

  "Lied about what?” he said, his head still reeling. One moment, he was dreaming about their future family and the next he was being hit with, he glanced at what she was holding, a book.

  "You,” she said and opened the book. She turned it to face him and he stared at the markings on the page. Perhaps some things about his species were better documented than he had expected. He hadn't let slip about these markings so it must have been his father or one of his other predecessors. With a sigh, she dropped the book and her shoulders slumped. “Why didn't you tell me?"