The Necklace Read online

  The knocking came faster, louder.

  Marissa shuddered, and the muscles in her thighs tightened when she tried to lift her legs from the armrest of the chair, causing the tempting pink flesh to quiver as bits of cream streaked down between the folds.

  Entranced, Tylan trailed his index finger along the puffy labia, caressing her pussy.

  Growling low in his throat, any and every form of sanity was lost under a fierce wave of lust. He didn’t care who was on the other side of the door. He had to fuck Marissa—NOW!

  Rising from his kneeled position, Tylan pulled her gingerly from the chair, steadying her legs as they shook like restless ocean reeds. Easily, he replaced their positions, sitting as he released the buttons of his pants, freeing his cock.

  Effortlessly, he pulled Marissa down and plunged into her exquisite warmth, sighing like a man coming home from war as her muscles clamped on the length of his cock.

  He smoothed the long material of her dress over her legs, keeping the back raised so he could continue fucking inside her slick passageway, and called out, “Enter!”

  “Tylan! I don’t care how used you are to … ahhh … nudity and sex. I don’t want to be someone’s persona l… ahhh … por-no.”

  Thrusting inside her tight body, Tylan quieted Marissa’s complaints and watched through narrowed eyes as Cowan and Keanan stepped into the room. “What is it?” he demanded.

  “Your Majesty, There-there is some disturbing news from the surface. Your presence is requested in the meeting chamber,” Cowan stammered, his face flustered and red.

  Breathing heavily, his cock still embedded inside Marissa, he rocked his hips subtly, feeling the flexing of her vaginal muscles. “Tell them I will be along shortly.”

  “Tylan, you may want to come now. It’s very important.” Keanan added his weight to the argument.

  Marissa, who had been leaning forward, her hair curtaining her features, lolled back against his shoulder and moaned softly, her body shuddering in orgasmic release. He clutched at her waist, surging forward with sure, steady strokes.

  If his brother and his chief advisor hadn’t known what the two had been up to before, they certainly knew now, their startled eyes glanced at him before turning toward his mate.

  “Leave now. I will be along shortly.”

  “My Lord, it’s impor…”

  Tylan groaned, as Marissa’s pussy tightened further on his cock. “Leave! I said I’d be along shortly.”

  “As you wish, my Lord.”

  Both men bowed hastily before turning and striding out. Tylan didn’t even hear the door shut. His focus was so intent on Marissa and the pressure building in his groin, a propulsion blast could have rocked the palace and he would have remained totally oblivious to anything aside from the fiery heat of her tight pussy.

  God! Her pussy felt like molten lava. He couldn’t hold back any longer. Flexing once … twice … thrice … his cum shot from the depths of his groin, and into her heated core, flooding her body with rich, potent semen.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  “Whatever it is, it better be as important as you say, Cowan,” Tylan stated, as soon as he stepped through the doors of his chambers, not surprised in the least to find his chief advisors standing nearby, obviously awaiting his emergence.

  “It is, my Lord.”

  “Have you found any evidence proving the land dwellers presence in Liacin?”

  “No, my Lord,” Cowan mumbled.

  “Has the Committee contacted you?”

  “No, Sire, there has been no word on when they will convene.”

  “Well, you have already disturbed me. Don’t hold the news in suspense. What is it?”

  “Omea has returned, your majesty.”

  Tylan paused, shifting his eyes toward Cowan’s tense posture. “When?”

  “I’m not sure. She used one of the hidden entry points. She sent me a message during Kaylelle’s dance, asking for council and a private meeting with you.”

  “Have you spoken with her yet?”

  “No, my Lord. I didn’t want to arrange a point of contact in the open, especially with so many people around.”

  Tylan continued walking, quickly sending a shyre around the cavernous corridors leading to his private chambers.

  He had personally consigned each and every guard assigned to protect his person, and Marissa’s person, but he couldn’t be too careful.

  “And you didn’t think to inform me of this during the ceremony?” Tylan asked, casually sparing a glance at Cowan.

  “You were … otherwise occupied with the Queen, your Majesty. I thought it best to wait till after the introductions, and then later you were…” Cowan’s voice trailed off, and Tylan could feel the rise of embarrassment in the air.

  “Say no more, my friend.” Tylan snorted. “Having a mate is a wicked and wondrous thing. They have the uncanny ability of taking away your sense of perspective. Though I am sure you will find this out one day when…”

  “I’ll gladly leave the discovery to you, Sire. Dealing with Omea after our father and mother’s deaths has been enough for me to contend with. I am too leery to take another female into my house.”

  “So you say now, my friend.”

  “As it is, I hope you are not upset over our disturbance?”

  Tylan chuckled, grasping Cowan by the shoulder as they walked along the hallways. “You did the right thing. Though I am curious as to how my brother came to be involved with this matter?”

  “I needed help, my Lord. I asked the Prince if he could smuggle my sister through the crowd under the guise of … a playmate. He carried her through the horde while she was in mernia form. Your brother is well known for his exploits, including those with married women. No one would question his ardent desire for a woman so heavily disguised. It was the only plan I could come up with at short notice, Sire.”

  Tylan grimaced, knowing full well about his brother’s exploits. He’d been trying to counsel Keanan on his behavior since he had reached the age of sexual maturity.

  “That was a good plan.”

  “I’m sorry, Tylan. I didn’t mean to call out your brother’s…”

  “Say no more, Cowan. I already know,” he interrupted, despairing once more for Keanan. At least, at this moment, his brother’s reckless behavior had served some good.

  “He has more fortitude than you give him credit for, your majesty. Much more.”

  “I know,” Tylan responded, thinking back to his request of Keanan right before he underwent the Am’an. He hadn’t told his friend about that yet, but he figured now was definitely the time.

  “I think I should tell you that I underwent the Am’an to bring Marissa from the darkness plaguing her mind after she was captured. I’m surprised you haven’t already learned of the matter, considering how fast news travels in the palace. Yet at that time, I had never sensed a greater resolve in my brother. I know he has fortitude, Cowan, but I feel he is hampered by the legacy he tries to live up to.” Tylan sighed loudly. “My father was a great man, Cowan. Keanan doesn’t see himself commendable of the tradition, and he lives recklessly trying to compensate. I have been thinking of sending him to the surface as a permanent liaison to the Committee. Now, more than ever, we may need a representative there. At least, he can have a chance to find his own destiny.” He inhaled deeply, staring at his friend, gauging his response. “What think you of the notion?”

  “I think that is a tremendous idea, my Lord.”

  “Good, after we deal with this threat, make the arrangements.”

  “As you will, my Lord.”

  They walked the rest of the distance to the meeting chamber in silence. Tylan didn’t see any need to converse further, and apparently neither did Cowan.

  Several moments later they reached the huge double doors of the hall, one of the few rooms in the palace, along with Tylan’s protected chambers, that could withstand any mental probe or shyre.

  Two sentinels, who Tylan knew were Cowan’s
most trusted warriors stood watch, their backs stiff at attention, their faces unyielding and fierce.

  “Continue your guard, and make sure no one enters. I don’t care who it is. Make sure we are not disturbed,” Cowan ordered, mentally throwing the doors wide.

  “As you wish, Sir,” they responded simultaneously.

  Tylan nodded at the two warriors, acknowledging their respectful bows, before entering the meeting chamber.

  The first thing he noticed was Keanan sitting grimly at the long table, his faced lined with concern. And, as the doors closed shut behind him, Omea stepped slowly forward from the shadows in the corner.

  Tylan grimaced at her haggard features, at the multitude of bruises covering her gaunt face.

  A cold rage filled the air, and he glanced at Cowan’s stark profile, knowing the emanations were coming from him. This was his first glimpse of his sister in over six months, and as Tylan’s gaze returned to roam over Omea’s swollen, puffy features, he knew this was not how his friend wanted to see her return.

  “Who has done this to you!” Cowan rushed angrily, striding forward to stand directly in front of his sister.

  Omea flinched from her brother’s words as though she’d been attacked. “Please. Sit down. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  “Goddess, someone has beaten you, and you tell me it isn’t as bad as it looks!”

  “They look a lot worse, brother! Why can you not give me some credit as a warrior? Am I so weak in your eyes?” Omea screamed back in anger.

  “I should have never allowed you…”

  “You didn’t have a choice! What right do you have thinking you can control my life? You may be my brother, but you are no longer my guardian. I am way past the age of ascension.”

  “You are my sister!”

  Stepping forward, Tylan spoke in a loud, forceful tone. “Calm down! Both of you take a seat.”

  He sensed Cowan’s resolve, the deep-seeded anger coming to the fore over his sister’s disappearance and subsequent attack. But he needed both Matans functioning at top level.

  Staring down their anger, till both Omea and Cowan seated themselves, he waited for a moment as the tension level lowered before sitting at the head of the table.

  “Now Omea, tell us what you know and why you feel this clandestine meeting is vital,” he said, tapping his fingers against the hard metal surface.

  Omea gulped visibly before beginning. “I did as you asked, Sire. I trailed Coulter for nearly a month, finding out about his life and practices. I gained the codes necessary to access the institute records and security system. Though, you were right, my Lord. It would have been an easy task to buy the delaphin. Coulter was heavily in debt. I was about to make contact, when I realized I wasn’t the only one following him.”

  “What?” Keanan exclaimed.

  “Yes,” Omea continued, nodding her head. “I hadn’t noticed at first because they were also hunting me.”

  “You were probably tracked from the departure point. There were a lot of people around,” Cowan said, clenching his fist against the table. “Yet who would have known what your mission was to entail?”

  Tylan raised his eyebrows in response to Cowan’s question. “I doubt it would have been difficult to figure out. Omea is a warrior,” he said, acknowledging her status to what looked like Cowan’s utter dismay. “And she rarely travels to the surface. It probably was not a great mystery to solve.”

  Keanan sighed, shaking his head. “But why would any Eritrean want to follow you, especially if they knew you were on a mission to help rescue the delaphin?”

  “I didn’t say that the person following me was Eritrean,” Omea replied, tensing visibly. “It was a Vampire. That’s why it took so long for me to discover he’d been tracking me.”

  Silence engulfed the room, and it took a moment for Omea’s statement to seep into Tylan’s conscious. “Finish,” he ordered succinctly, determined to hear the rest.

  Omea nodded briefly. “When I tried to make contact with Coulter, I discovered his mind had been clouded. I couldn’t break through the puzzle. It was like someone had mixed up his thoughts, turned left to right. I figured the best course of action was to return home and inform you, Sire. But I was ambushed at the entry point.”

  “Ambushed?” Keanan and Cowan roared at the same time.

  Tylan raised a hand for silence, while his own thoughts twisted back to the time he’d taken control over Coulter’s mind. He had sensed something odd about the man then, but he’d been too preoccupied with Keanan to pay it much attention.

  Sighing, upset at his oversight, he looked back at Omea, signaling her to continue.

  “I fought him,” Omea sighed warily. “It should have been a simple victory. He was young, but he knew things. Things about us that he shouldn’t have known. I’m positive he couldn’t have been acting alone, my Lord. Some one, an … Eritrean had to be helping him. There is no other explanation.”

  Cowan rose from the table angrily. “Is he the one who beat you?”

  “Sit down, Cowan,” Tylan interjected. “Let her finish.”

  “He didn’t beat me, brother. We fought,” Omea said, rolling her eyes toward Cowan. “And, I killed him.”

  Cowan glared at his sister. “All I want to know is why you didn’t return home. You could have used the secret entry points at any time. Why didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t want to risk him finding the secret locations, brother!”

  “I am sure you could have found a way, sister,” Cowan snarled.

  Omea ran a hand through the long locks of her thick black hair. Tylan could sense the agitation rolling from her body. She dreaded whatever she had to say next. He could read that in every expression of her body, in every bead of sweat that dripped into her ragged land dweller clothes. Leaning back against the cushions of his chair, he waited, his gaze swinging back and forth between Cowan and his sister.

  “I couldn’t return. Whoever is behind this didn’t want me to come back, ever! I figured by staying away, I could help draw them out into the open.”

  “And did you? Did you do this or did you put yourself in danger trying to prove some useless point?” Cowan asked heatedly.

  “No,” she sighed, frustration heavy in her voice. “I tried, my Lord. I took refuge in the caves nearby the institute and waited, but he must have been wise to my plan. When I tried to make contact with Coulter again, he was there. I had no other choice but to kill him when I could. I tried to bring his body along, but it decayed too rapidly. It was then that I made for the hidden entry point.” Cowan snorted loudly, and Omea turned on him suddenly. “I’m sorry if you don’t agree with that, but I had a job to do!”

  Tylan sighed, rolling his eyes upwards, glancing at the elaborate lighting structure hanging from the ceiling. The brother/sister arguing was becoming old and tired. He needed to get to the heart of the matter.

  “Cowan, I know you’re upset and worried about your sister, but please allow her to finish.” His words were stated casually, without rancor, but he made sure to inject enough force in his voice to let his chief advisor know he meant business.

  Cowan sighed, closing his eyes briefly, before looking toward Omea and then Tylan. “I’m sorry, my Lord. This is just very trying.”

  He nodded in understanding, before turning toward Omea. “You say you are sure that the Vampire had to have Eritrean help. Were you able to identify anyone?

  “No, my Lord, whoever it is kept a low profile, and the Vampire wasn’t known to me.” She sighed. “But, I fear this is a lot larger than imagined.”

  “I still don’t understand. Why would anyone here want to stop you from retrieving the delaphin?” Keanan, who had remained silent for the better part of the meeting, spoke up quickly, his gaze moving around the large hall in confusion.

  “I don’t think they wanted the delaphin retrieved, breha.”

  “You think someone let it out on purpose, Tylan? Released it, so it could be captured?”

/>   That was exactly what he thought. And, as much as he didn’t want to admit it aloud, Tylan knew it was true. Many times since the capture, he had wondered how the delaphin could have escaped. The xerilon-enforced barriers were impenetrable. Yet, he hadn’t actually entertained the idea of someone freeing the creature after the attack on Liacin, and the notion of a land-dweller intruding in his realm.

  “The delaphin are guarded at all times. If someone did let it out then it would have to be someone with considerable influence,” Cowan offered.

  Keanan nodded in agreement. “Someone with access to the interior control room. That’s the only place that allows you to breach the borders.”

  “But that place is guarded by warriors. Your warriors, your Majesty,” Omea said, clenching her fist against the table.

  “Whoever let the delaphin out is the same person who let the intruders into Liacin,” Tylan gritted.

  “What intruders?!” Omea and Keanan asked at the same time, staring at him expectantly.

  “This makes no sense, my Lord. I can understand the Dissident scum conniving to bring in the land dwellers. But to free a delaphin hoping it will be captured? What purpose would that serve?”

  “What a minute. What happened in Liacin? Was there an attack?”

  “I’ll tell you later, sister. Suffice it say, there have been a lot of occurrences since you left.”

  Tylan couldn’t agree with Cowan more. He had sensed the dark intrigue running through his kingdom, but never would he have imagined it reached this far. The capture of the delaphin, the convenient attack on Liacin, the treachery visited on Omea. It all added to a horrible, nefarious plot. One he had been blind and ignorant to before tonight.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  “Good Lord! I’ve got to get out of here,” Marissa screamed, pacing around the large chambers.

  Tylan had left nearly two hours ago, and she, like some stupid wife from Little House on the Prairie, had stayed behind waiting for his return.

  This is totally ridiculous!

  Marissa wanted to scratch at the walls.

  Damn it!

  She’d already counted every floor pattern, wall pattern, and sheet pattern. Jeeze, there were no other patterns to count.