Ecstasy Claimed (The Guardians Of The Realms Series) Read online

  “Go in the bathroom. Take off your panties, or I’ll tear them from you. I don’t like things in my way. Make sure you’re good and wet. I want your skirt over your hips so I can see your ass when I get there,” Dorian instructed.

  She let out a little moan, and Gregoire smelled her desire. She got up, gave Dorian a heated look, and moved quickly toward the bathroom. Dorian’s attention moved to the blonde. She had inched over to his side and was running a hand over a bicep that was barely contained in the bright orange tee. He looked like the extra-large version of a beach bum, from his hair down to the ripped jeans. “Go into the bathroom with your friend, get undressed, and make sure she’s good and wet before I get there. I recommend you both get nice and slick, lube if you have it. I’m big, and I like to slide in fucking easy.” He slid his big hand over her hip and up to her big fake tits, tweaking her nipple, which made her gasp in delight before sending her on her way. Fucking his friend wouldn’t be a hardship for the working girls. Dorian finished his beer and laid out cash before heading in the direction he’d sent the females.

  Gregoire lifted the cool glass to his lips once more. The hot scent of sex was all around him. He saw that Bastian’s hand was working slowly underneath the brunette’s skirt. He’d pulled her hair back with one hand and was holding it while his other was between her thighs. Her eyes were dilated as she sat on his lap and enjoyed the pleasure that was forced on her. He could hear her breathing escalate, and soon he heard heavy moans over the music. As soon as the needy noise stopped, Bastian lifted her onto wobbly heels, smacked her ass and directed her to another bathroom. Gregoire looked around. It seemed the club was filled with doorways into rooms. He’d never been much for that type of environment.

  Conn sat silently drinking his beer as Gregoire took in the rest of his whiskey. Gregoire knew his friend was picky. It had to do with his wolf’s sense of smell. Perfume, stale booze or smoke was the fastest way to turn the Lykos off. He came to the bars and clubs purely to drink and unwind with his brothers.

  Gregoire needed to get out of there. He still had things to do before going to collect his mate, and he felt agitated.

  Chapter 2

  Outside The City Of Lofodes, Tetartos Realm

  Alyssa darted through the soft grass of the meadow as quickly as her legs would move. She wanted to rage at someone. She felt tears threaten, and she beat them back as she made her way through the lush green expanse and up the rise. Birds sang, and their joy did nothing to improve her mood.

  She took a deep breath. How could her parents have kept her in the dark, and why had they forced the issue of her going through Emfanisi after Emfanisi, being displayed like a prized ox ready for breeding? The only enjoyable part about those yearly, week-long events was that she got to wear the beautiful dresses she’d made. The rest of it was nerve-racking and uncomfortable. She was introduced and expected to dance with any male she’d not met since her first attendance five years prior. Touch and scent were the indicators in finding one’s mate, and that was what it was all about… populating the Realm.

  She passed moss-covered trees. The scents usually relaxed her, but nothing so simple could take away the pain and betrayal, the rejection…

  Rain, Alyssa’s vibrant and energetic friend, always enjoyed herself at the horrendous events. But then, Rain was everything Alyssa was not, adventurous and bold to Alyssa’s staid and quiet. Her friend’s hair even showcased her individuality, cut to her shoulders, a sexy light blonde with purple tips, whereas Alyssa kept hers in long, plain brown waves that hit mid back. Rain’s aqua-colored eyes sparkled with mischief, and if she was particularly inclined to trouble, her dimples would make an appearance. Alyssa’s eyes were a muted green, overly light and odd. The one similarity she and Rain shared was their body style. Both were short, which, while totally acceptable for a Mageia, who were mortals able to wield elemental magic, not so much for a Hippeus, Immortal, half-warhorse. They both had tiny waists with full bosoms and slightly smaller hips. Lastly, and probably the most pathetic difference was that Rain chose to live her mortal life to the fullest while Alyssa had spent most of her life burying herself in work.

  She loved her business and her designs, but it didn’t keep her body warm and sated in the dead of night.

  If what she’d heard her parents say was true, she already had a mate, one that had known about her for years, yet continued to reject her. Why had they made her suffer through appearing as a broodmare every year if they knew she had a mate? Was she an embarrassment to him? He had to have some basis not to come for her for the five years since she’d hit her majority. Screw that. She had done what was expected of her for years. She was finished. He didn’t want her, fine. She’d never met him, so it wasn’t like she had been pining for the jerk. She rubbed at the ache in the pit of her stomach. She shouldn’t be shocked that he didn’t want her. None of her own race had ever seemed at all interested, with or without her father’s protectiveness coming into the mix. They’d always seen her as too small, and that, apparently, translated to weak in her race. It had been visible in the way they looked at her for her entire life.

  There would be no more hiding away and doing what she thought would make everyone else happy. It was time she found out who she was. There would be no more living by other people’s expectations no matter how much they loved her. It was not the first time she’d felt like she was suffocating. It was just the worst.

  There would be no more ridiculous tears. She panted to catch her breath through the sensation of being stabbed in the chest. She ground her teeth. She had no one to blame but herself. Yes, her parents were overly protective, but she had never done anything to dissuade their tendencies, especially her father’s.

  Interestingly enough, her parents betrayal wasn’t nearly as painful as the rejection and humiliation eating her up inside. The pain in her heart was from the male. She tried not to think about it. It wouldn’t change anything. Those of her race had never failed to make her feel like less; why would she think having a mate would be any different? He was of her race. The biggest and most powerful Hippeus since he was one of the twelve Guardians that watched over the Realms.

  Her mate was supposed to covet her as something special, not hide her away. She blamed her mother and those damn human tales from her youth for fostering such ridiculous notions. They’d made her imagine that someday a male would come along, take one look at her, and fall deeply in love as they wildly succumbed to the mating frenzy. Sickening. It was the way of their world, ingraining those dreams into young females.

  It was those tales mixed with the haunted eyes of the centuries-old Immortals that ventured every year to the Emfanisi searching for their mate. Birthrates were incredibly low, and very few of the mortal Mageias seemed to be compatible. There was a need in their eyes that made her believe that every Immortal wanted to find their mate. That rare gift said to be the most beautiful and incredibly intense experience one could ever have. Apparently that applied to every other Immortal but her destined mate. He was able to travel all the Realms in his duty. He, no doubt, enjoyed himself with whomever he wanted. He had freedom and didn’t want or need a mate. Or it could be as simple as his knowing that she was basically the runt of the litter and didn’t want to claim a potentially weak mate. She had no idea why he didn’t want her, but her insecurities were lining up with all kinds of options.

  She’d never even met the almighty Hippeus, seen pictures… everyone had. He was huge and looked brutal. She had no idea how her parents knew for sure he was her mate. They didn’t seem to doubt it.

  She blew out a breath and ran her fingers through her hair. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that he was the most gorgeous male she’d ever seen, and she could have had fantasies in her youth that he was hers. There was a hint of red tinting his brown hair, and his muscled frame was bigger than all the others of her race. Stupid that she enjoyed looking at the big male, since she was the smallest of their kind. How ridiculous would they
look with her standing next to him, probably two feet shorter? It grated that she found him attractive. Somehow, that just made it even more humiliating.

  A beautiful green expanse surrounded her. She was crossing over the border and out of the territory surrounding Lofodes. Her mother and father were the mated pair charged with the safety of the population inside the borders. Stepping mere feet out of her parents’ domain had always felt freeing. She was finally getting her breathing under control, but her chest still ached, as she walked over the top rise.

  Rain had partaken in some of the more wicked offers given by the males at the Emfanisi and had shared every erotic detail. She wanted that. She wanted to experience life at its fullest. She was strung too tight. She needed to feel warm hands and lips on her skin. She breathed deeply of the crisp air, feeling freer.

  It was a beautiful sunny day, and the peaceful meadow shone with morning dew. Rain was obsessed with Earth Realm, and according to the books she had acquired through the years, this particular section of the Realm would be considered a wilder version of Earth’s Scotland. Rain collected anything she could find about the Realm of humanity to sell at her shop and to appease her own fixation.

  It was her friend’s collecting that had resulted in Alyssa’s infatuation with clothing. Fashion magazines from the other Realm had forged Alyssa’s fascination. Seeing the joy she garnered from creating, her mother and father had happily acquired fabrics and sewing equipment for her. That was how her business had begun. It gave her a sense of pride that she had talent that others enjoyed enough to spend their hard-earned coin in acquiring her pieces. Her designs and business had provided a sense of worth that she had so greatly needed through the years.

  She looked over at her destination, the sparkling lake just outside the border and far from the city. Its restfulness called to her. She needed to think and plan her next course of action. At least some luck had been on her side; she didn’t see any of her father’s warriors. She was in no mood to deal with them. She felt her shoulders relax a fraction as she walked to the bank. Using air currents, she lifted her body into a tree and sat astride its sturdy limb. She didn’t care how scratchy it was or that her green cargo shorts and white tank top were getting dirty. She tried to stave off the myriad of emotions beating at her, but they settled inside her bones without her permission. Leaning her head against the rough bark, she looked out over the smooth, dark water. The lake usually soothed her when she felt like she was suffocating. She found herself escaping to its banks more and more often in the last couple of years.

  The morning light filtered through billowing clouds, and the air was cool on her skin. One of the benefits of being Hippeus was that her temperature was higher. Rain wouldn’t be caught dead in shorts right now. It would be too chilly for her mortal friend.

  She heard birds flutter from the trees further down the shore. A lake serpent lurched out of the water, catching a bird that had flown too low and taking it below the frigid depths. The rippling waters mesmerized her, the smooth and glassy expanse replaced with rolling waves. It perfectly matched her mood. She took a deep, thought-clearing breath of the mountain air that held earthy scents of wood and leaves.

  For long moments she sat and welcomed the peacefulness of the place.

  She heard crackling branches and leaves to her left. Damn, she just needed a moment to herself. She knew what she’d see when she peered down from her perch. Their scent preceded them as they ambled closer. Yep. Wonderful. Looking down, she saw not just one, but three akanthodis she’d be forced to deal with. Her mother and father had trained her well through the years, so dispatching the evil creatures wouldn’t be difficult.

  As far as hell beasts went, they were the weakest of the bunch. She watched to see if there were more, but detected only the three below. They stank of tainted blood. Double sets of crimson eyes looked around the bank as they sniffed snubbed noses along the ground. Sharp, poisonous spindles fanned from their backs. They were close to her height of five foot three and a third inches; you counted every fraction as if it were gold when belonging to a race of big-assed Hippeus. The next smallest member of the half-warhorse race was her own mother, who topped out at a slightly more suitable five foot eight inches. She sighed, annoyed at the interruption.

  The soft noise brought the first batch of eyes to her level, and the beast let out a piercing screech, no doubt to alert the others who were standing right next to it. She called to the earth, a power from her father’s side. Roots lifted and caught and twined along all of the beasts’ legs. They shrieked and fought, breaking some limbs before spewing fire in her direction. She snuffed the flames with a thought, the power over air a gift from her mother’s side. She took the air from the flames as well as the beasts’ lungs. She pulled hard. It was taxing on her energy stores to use those particular abilities, but they were her best alternative when up against fire-breathing hell creatures. They gasped and writhed, unable to get air for long minutes before finally collapsing; then more moments passed while she made sure they were dead. Her breathing was ragged, and she kept inhaling, knowing it would even out. If they weren’t so evil, she would have felt bad for killing the creatures.

  She shook her head and then turned to the trunk of the tree. Closing her eyes, she touched a hand to the rough bark, soothing and repairing the damage she’d wrought. When she opened her eyes again, she saw it. Big, hairy and not an inch from her hand. Shrieking nearly as loud as the downed hell beasts, she lost her seating and flailed toward the ground. She managed to save herself a few aches and pains by calling the wind to ease her descent. She lay there taking deep breaths to still her racing heart. The spider was huge, and if she had stayed up in the tree, it would have gotten in her hair. She shivered at the thought, trying to suppress the itching feeling she knew she’d have for the remainder of the day. It felt like little furry legs were crawling all over her body. What a wonderful morning.

  “Alyssa! What are you doing outside of the border?”

  Damn, it just kept getting better. She knew that deep hearty bellow. She closed her eyes a second, and she listened to hooves clopping in her direction. Looking up, she saw that she was, indeed, correct. The rich, chocolaty muscled flank of her father’s half-warhorse form stood beside her. All Hippeus chose partial horse form while patrolling. His sword was strapped to his back. His long brown hair waved to his shoulders, and his beautiful hazel eyes peered at her under dark, furrowed brows. His eyes held a world of concern, and her stomach clenched. She shook her head, irritated that she still felt bad for worrying him. He and her mother had been keeping a huge secret from her. About her life. She clenched her teeth and stood, feeling anger boiling up inside her. She needed to get the hell out of there before she said something she would regret.

  “Sweeting, are you all right?”

  At his soft tone, she pasted what she hoped looked like a smile to her lips. It felt brittle, but she didn’t want to discuss anything with him until she had figured out exactly what she was going to do.

  “I’m fine, Father. Just lost my footing in the tree. I went for a run and ended up here,” she said as she brushed off the back of her shorts. No way was she mentioning the spider. She noticed, to her complete mortification, that it wasn’t only her father that had come running. Standing behind him were his two favorite warriors. She had been distracted and hadn’t even heard their approach, and she’d been trained better than that. She felt her face heat in embarrassment. Curran’s eyes scanned the area for threats. His shoulder-length light hair was back in a band. He turned and gave her a look of amusement. Being found laid out on the ground was not something she ever wanted those of her race to see. She was aggravated and mortified.

  Duncan, her father’s second in command, nudged the downed hell beasts with a hoof. “Dead. We should take their heads and burn them.” He didn’t even give her a glance as he said the words. He had dark hair, brilliant green eyes. The behemoth was sought after by all the females in the surrounding areas,
and he hadn’t spared a single glance in her direction. Not shocking.

  She turned away before she tore into the idiot.

  She’d been the one to kill the beasts before the big bad warriors came along. Yes, they were easy to kill, but, come on. The ass couldn’t at least give her credit on having minor skills?

  She shook her head. It was how they’d always treated her. She had spent the first twenty years of her existence sheltered away from the clans. Her mother had insisted that it was bad form to flaunt her good fortune because mates and young were so rare and coveted… right. There were no other children her age within the local clans. There may have been more in the outlying areas, but her family never traveled the roads. She mentally shook her head. She’d been completely alone until befriending Rain so many years ago.

  She was done with them all. She headed back in the direction of the city. “I’m going into the city. Bye, Father,” she said, lifting one hand in a wave, not bothering to look behind her. She could feel her father’s confusion coming in her direction.

  She needed space. She needed to talk to Rain and get the hell away for a while. It was far past time for her to make some changes. This was her life, and she refused to allow anyone to rule it, and that went for the stupid Guardian as well, if he ever decided he wanted to claim her. She clamped her jaw tight at the thought of his finding her untried. That was not going to happen.

  She rushed through the trees and meadows up to the city, her heightened emotion giving her legs flight.

  Once she arrived on the cobbled streets, she felt her tight muscles relax a bit.

  The bell jingled overhead as she entered Rain’s shop. She spotted her friend unboxing some books and setting them on the shelves for sale. She wore a tight pink sweater with a deep V and some dark jeans. It looked good with her pale coloring and light hair.