Exiled Read online

  “Oh!” she groaned aloud, unable to help herself. “Oh Goddess…Saber, please…”

  “Lissa? Lissa, are you all right?” A large warm hand on her shoulder woke her and she gasped, sitting bolt upright in the darkness.

  “Saber?” She reached for him and felt him by touch, standing by the side of the bed. “Lights, dim,” she said, just as she had in her dream. For it had been a dream, hadn’t it? Frantically she examined the front of her gown but the myriad of tiny round buttons were all still firmly in place. So then why did her nipples throb as though someone had been sucking them? Why was her pussy so wet and hot and swollen that she nearly cried out when she shifted her legs under the covers?

  “Lissa?” He was peering at her anxiously now. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes. Yes, I think so. I just had the strangest dream that you were…were…” She trailed off, feeling her cheeks heat.

  “That I was what?” He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her.

  “That you were…were examining me to make sure you got all the, uh, all the elixir off my…off me,” she stuttered, twisting her fingers in her lap.

  “That’s strange.” Saber frowned. “I was having the exact same dream. Did I…had I unbuttoned your gown? And was I…” He cleared his throat. “Was I tasting you again?”

  Heart pounding, Lissa nodded. “Yes. Yes, you were. I was…it felt so…” She shook her head. “But it was only a dream, right?”

  “Right,” Saber assured her but he looked troubled too. “I just wonder why we’re having the same dream at the same time. It’s so strange. I would almost say we were dream sharing but—”

  “But that can’t be,” Lissa said quickly. “I mean, we’re of the same clan. We couldn’t form a bond like that—it isn’t possible.”

  “It shouldn’t be possible for us to touch each other without disgust and revulsion, either,” Saber pointed out quietly. “But I feel nothing but pleasure when I touch your soft skin, when I taste you, amalla.”

  “Moch Daer…” she whispered, giving him the old, cherished nickname before she thought about it. Then, somehow, she got hold of herself. If they weren’t careful, the dream was going to turn into reality and Lissa knew she couldn’t have that on her conscience. “I mean, Saber,” she corrected herself. “That…anyway, that’s not how dream sharing works, is it?”

  “I don’t know.” He still looked troubled. “I didn’t think so.” With a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair. “Go back to sleep, Lissa. I’m sure it was just a dream and everything will seem better in the morning.”

  “All right.” She allowed him to tuck her securely back under the covers. When he was done, Saber leaned down and gave her a soft, chaste kiss on the forehead.

  “Sweet dreams, amalla.”

  “You, too,” Lissa whispered. But she wasn’t sure if she meant it or not. After all, the dream they had somehow been sharing was the sweetest she had ever had but it was also forbidden. Forbidden and so very, very wrong…

  Chapter Ten

  “You’re looking lovely, as always, L,” Draven drawled, smiling up at her from the plush fur covered sofa he was sitting on.

  “Thank you.” L returned the smile with no warmth in her eyes. She’d been here only a day and already she was ready to leave. It wasn’t just that Hrakaz was a bitter, barren world peopled almost entirely by idiot trolls and sniveling imps—it was Draven. He…bothered her.

  Oh, he was handsome enough, she had to admit. With those broad shoulders and that lean, muscular body, he was enough to tempt any female. She even liked the neatly clipped goatee and mustache that matched his black hair. As far as she was concerned, not many men could get away with facial hair. But Draven wore his with style and élan—it made him look slightly sinister and emphasized his strong jaw.

  But though his face was handsome and his body was mouthwatering, there was something missing in his eyes. And it wasn’t just that they were pure silver disks with no pupil, it was something else. Some fundamental warmth that all living creatures possess—or should possess, anyway. It was lacking in Draven and the resulting emptiness behind those silver eyes made her nervous—she, who was never nervous around anyone!

  I can always just kill him if he bothers me too much, she told herself. But after being here for a while, she wasn’t so sure. When he looked at her with those empty eyes, she felt frozen inside. Frightened and yet also somehow…intrigued. Was that the right word? She wasn’t sure. Why should a man who scared her also turn her on? He doesn’t, she told herself fiercely. I’m just reacting to his strength. His presence. And she had to admit that Draven had more presence about him than any other male she’d ever met. There was something inside him…something she sensed but couldn’t name. Some kind of past tragedy perhaps? But no, that couldn’t be right. Well then, maybe—

  “Who are you wearing tonight?” Draven asked, breaking her train of thought. L knew he was talking about the outward appearance of her body, not the clothing she had on.

  “I’m an exotic dancing girl from Julo.” L twirled slowly in front of him, showing off her pale pink hair, vivid blue eyes and lavender freckles. The shape of her body was slender but full in the breasts and hips, which was basically the same as her original form.

  “I like it.” Draven nodded thoughtfully. “But not as much as the form with black hair and light brown skin. You know the one I mean—with the amber eyes.”

  L couldn’t keep the surprise from her face. He was speaking of her original form, the one she almost never wore. As far as she could remember, she’d only showed it to him once. Why would he pick that out from all her myriad of disguises as his favorite?

  “I…don’t wear that one much,” she said, turning away and pouring herself a glass of some eye-wateringly strong alcohol. She wasn’t sure what it was but it was blue and fermented—good enough for L.

  “And why, may I ask? It suits you very well.” Draven was suddenly right behind her, purring in her ear. L felt a shiver run up her back as the heat from his big body branded her spine.

  “I don’t like it,” she said, moving pointedly away and taking a sip of her drink. It burned like fire going down and she had to fight not to choke.

  “But I do.” He moved up behind her again, refusing to take the hint, and brushed the long pale pink hair from the side of her neck. “You’re beautiful,” he breathed, nipping lightly at the side of her slender throat. “In all your forms, darling.”

  L tried not to shiver as his hot breath bathed her throat and his warm, spicy masculine scent enveloped her. Between her thighs, her pussy was getting hot and wet. Gods, for being such a bastard he certainly seemed to know what he was doing when it came to sex! Not that she would ever let him finish what he was trying to start.

  She waited until he was sliding one large, capable hand down the inside of her thigh and then quickly morphed into one of his own trolls, complete with thick, wrinkled gray skin and appalling body odor. As an afterthought, she added a huge, erect penis, which jutted out from between her thighs and thrust into Draven’s seeking hand.

  With a low cry, he jumped away and L turned to face him, grinning from a face that had a wide, drooping mouth and six inch tusks. “Not so pretty now, am I?” She leered at him and made a few obscene thrusts with the immense phallus. Of course it was fake—a mere extension of her skin. L was fundamentally female and could only project the outward appearance of a male, but Draven didn’t know that.

  At first he looked disgusted but then, to L’s surprise, he threw back his head and laughed. Against her will, she found herself liking the sound. It was a low, pleasant chuckle that sounded more real than anything she’d heard from him yet.

  “No, you’re not pretty in that form,” he said at last, grinning at her. “But you are formidable. And smart. Which is extremely sexy, no matter how you may try to disguise it.”

  L frowned and let herself melt into her usual form—that of a curvy female with pale skin and dark blue hair. “I appre