Chapter Twenty-Four
Tears filled Naura’s eyes as she watched Tony practically run from the room.
She’d attempted to get inside his head in hopes of discovering what had him so angry, but she’d never been able to penetrate his mind against his will. And his will was the strength of a Bracadyte’s.
Adjusting herself to a more comfortable position, she swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and focused on moving her feet.
The pain in her back, burned and throbbed, but it was bearable. Tony’s blood had already set her healing in motion.
Her fingers trembled as she gingerly touched her lips, the lips that Tony had kissed only minutes before.
Naura had never felt anything as amazing as Tony’s mouth covering hers.
She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, glorying in the taste of him, the scent of him still lingering on her skin. Butterflies erupted inside her stomach at the memory of his tenderness.
She shifted on the bed, marveling at the wetness present on her thighs.
Naura knew enough about mating to understand the workings of a female’s body, and hers had begun preparing itself with that one precious kiss. She could only imagine what it would feel like to take him into her body, to have him love her the way that she loved him.
Unsure of how long she sat there lost in thoughts of Tony, Naura noticed a shadow pass by her door.
“May I come in?” Abbie called from the hall.
Naura quickly covered herself and relaxed back against the fluffy softness of her pillows. “Of course.”
Abbie took a hesitant step inside the foyer, craning her neck to meet Naura’s gaze. “Zaureth is with me. Do you mind?”
“He is always welcome,” Naura replied with a small smile. The fact that Tony hadn’t returned with them wasn’t lost on her.
Zaureth accompanied Abbie into the bedroom and took a seat on a nearby stool. “How do you fare, daughter of our king?”
“I am feeling much better, Zaureth. But I have asked you to refer to me by my given name.”
The healer dipped his head. “It is difficult for me to change. I will strive to do better.”
Abbie sat on the side of the bed. “Roll over, sister of Hauke,” she teased with a chuckle. “I’d like to have a look at your wound.”
Naura returned her smile, but couldn’t quite manage a laugh. She slowly rolled to her side, giving Abbie her back. “It does not pain me as it did earlier.”
A gasp escaped Abbie. “Zaureth? Come have a look at this. It’s amazing.”
“Human blood is nothing short of a miracle to the Bracadytes,” the healer confessed. “We do not need it to survive and consider it a crime punishable by death if taken without consent.”
“By death?” The tone of Abbie’s voice left little doubt in Naura’s mind that she didn’t approve.
Zaureth stood and moved around to the foot of the bed in Naura’s line of vision. He clasped his hands in front of him and pinned Abbie with a serious stare. “If we were permitted to take the land walker’s blood at will, the humans would soon become the minority in a world of Bracadytes bent on bloodlust.”
“And if it’s given freely by a human?”
“It is definitely frowned upon, but does not break any our laws.”
Abbie went back to studying Naura’s wound while continuing to question Zaureth. “So, the Bracadytes would disapprove of me giving blood to Hauke if he needed it?”
Zaureth shook his head. “You are his mate, and therefore one with him in the eyes of our kind.”
“People,” Abbie corrected. “In the eyes of your people.” She patted Naura’s shoulder, letting her know that she could abandon her side position.
Abbie rose from the bed to face Zaureth. “No matter where you come from or how different our DNA, you are still walking, talking, breathing people.”
Zaureth chuckled, startling Naura. In all the years she’d known him, she had never heard him laugh.
“You missed your calling,” Zaureth teased. “You should have been a politician.”
Abbie’s mouth dropped open. “And what do you know of politicians?”
“Only what I have read. Now, I must take my leave. I am being summoned to a birthing.”
He paused inside the foyer. “Anthony Vaughn waits in the hall. Shall I send him in?”
“Yes, please,” Naura blurted, blushing as Abbie sent her a wink.
Hauke’s mate moved to follow Zaureth from the room. “I need to go also. Arcanum should be waking soon, and he’ll be hungrier than a horse.”
Naura’s lips twitched. “I love your human sayings.”
“Well, I love you. Don’t let Uncle Tony keep you up too long. You don’t want to overdo it.”
Naura nodded, watching her brother’s beautiful mate leave the room. She suddenly felt awkward. How was she to win Tony’s heart with her hair in tangles and two small fangs peeking out from beneath her top lip?
“Naura?” Tony began as he entered her bedroom. “About what happened earlier—”
“Do not apologize for giving me the best gift that anyone has ever offered me. I will cherish it with my whole being.”
He stopped next to the bed and sat. “It was wrong. Don’t you see? You should have never risked yourself for me, Naura. And I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
Pain sliced through her heart, leaving the wound in her back to pale in comparison. “You…you do not want me.”
Tony’s expression turned to something dark and dangerous. He laughed without humor. “Want you? I want nothing more than to throw you against a wall and take you in ways you could never imagine. Hard and fast. That’s what I want.”
“I do not care, Anthony Vaughn. If that is how it is done in your world—”
“You should care.” He was suddenly hovering above her, his eyes glittering in the light of the moonstone next to her bed. “Because your injury is the only thing stopping me from doing just that.”
Naura shrank back from him, stung by the harshness of his voice. “It does not matter in what fashion that you take me, Tony. Only that you do.”
His expression hardened even more if that were possible. “How many men have you been with?”
“Men?”
“Bracadyte males,” he growled, his gaze boring into hers.
Tears of embarrassment filled her eyes. How could she tell him that it was forbidden for the king’s daughter to give herself to anyone but her mate?
“No one.” Those two words slipped from her mouth in a whisper of shame. It was unheard of for a Bracadyte female to reach thirty years in age without finding a mate.
Tony went completely still. “What did you say?”
“Please go,” she murmured, covering her face with her hands.
He pried her hands away, forcing her to look into his beautiful blue eyes. “You’re a virgin?”
Naura would give anything at that moment for a hole to open beneath her and swallow her up. “Yes.”
“Jesus. I’m such an ass.” He kissed her fingertips and stood, not meeting her gaze. “Are you hungry?”
She’d just admitted to being an untouched thirty-year-old virgin, and he wanted to feed her?
Naura rolled onto her side to block out the view of his handsome face. “No thank you. I wish to sleep now.”
“Hey…”
“Please do as I ask.”
A sigh escaped him as he left the room. Naura managed to hold her tears at bay until the echo of his footsteps could no longer be heard.