Panting raggedly, I pulled away as Father joined us. He sighed.

As I gazed into Trillian's eyes, they took on a gleam of victory, and the edge of his lip quirked into a sardonic smile as he inclined his head in a polite nod.

"Advisor Sephreh, how good to see you again," he said, his arm snaking around my waist as he pulled me close to him.

Father cleared his throat. "Trillian, as always, I'm glad you're well. Don't feel you have to stand on ceremony with me. I won't. But then, you know my feelings about you and my daughter."

Whoops, we were being blunt here, so it seemed.

Trillian dismissed the comment with a wave of the hand. "Over the years, you've made your disapproval abundantly clear. I don't expect that to change. So I accept your greeting for what it is." He reached out with one hand and my father let out a long huff, but took it, rolling his eyes.

Just then, Morio and Iris joined us, and Trillian let out a short cry. He leaned down to hug Iris. "My lady," he said, gently. "I did not expect you to be joining us but I'm happy to see you."

Iris had always been able to tame Trillian-just like she was able to keep Smoky in line. Whatever charm the woman had, I envied her. She could stop an argument with a soft-spoken word. n.o.body ever laughed at her when she complained. Now, she broke out of her gloom and kissed him on the cheek.

"Trillian, I'm so glad you're well. We've missed you sorely."

"I'm sure some more than others," Trillian said, turning to Morio. The two men stood for a moment, then Morio clasped Trillian in an embrace and Trillian returned the hug, clapping Morio on the back. "Fox Boy, it's good to see you. Have you been taking care of my woman for me?"

Uh-oh. Now was so not not the time to spill the fact that I'd married Morio. Or Smoky. I prayed that Morio would keep his mouth shut, but where men and testosterone were concerned, there was no telling whether the big brain in their skull would override the little brain in their pants. the time to spill the fact that I'd married Morio. Or Smoky. I prayed that Morio would keep his mouth shut, but where men and testosterone were concerned, there was no telling whether the big brain in their skull would override the little brain in their pants.

Morio glanced at me, a teasing grin on his face, then nodded. "Smoky and I have kept her safe, but truly, you have been missed."

"So, now that the reunion's over, when do we see the King?" My father interrupted us, still looking put out as his gaze fell on Trillian. I let out a low growl. He didn't like him just because he was Svartan. That was the only only reason, and it was getting on my nerves. reason, and it was getting on my nerves.

"Give it a break, Father. Trillian's been missing for six months-"

"It's all right, Camille." Trillian kissed my forehead.

"No, it's not not all right." all right."

"Your father is more concerned with matters of state than our love life. In fact, I'm here to take you to King Upala-Dahns. I've been working with the Dahns Unicorns for the past couple of months. Your father knows all about it."

That stopped me cold. Working with the unicorns? Tanaquar sent Trillian on some odd missions, all right. I was dying to know what he'd been up to during the time he'd been missing. I'd finally accepted that his disappearance had to go unquestioned, but now surely he could tell me what had been going on.

Father let out a short laugh. "Yes, I know and that's why I'm so anxious. Camille, Trillian's correct. While I make no pretenses to liking the fact that you are a couple, the subject is moot and has been for a long time."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm impatient because I must discuss certain matters with the King. There are still renegades supporting Lethesanar roaming the land, as well as other concerns that affect both Dahnsburg and Y'Elestrial, the demon menace among them. As a member of the Intelligence Agency, you should understand how fatal it can be to jump to conclusions."

I let out a long breath. "Right. Okay then. So will we see Feddrah-Dahns today? I'd like to pay my respects to him. I miss him." I'd grown fond of the Crown Prince during his brief stay over Earthside and thought about him every time I used the horn of the Black Unicorn.

"Oh yes, you'll see him. But first, the King wishes to speak with your father." Trillian motioned to two Dahns Unicorns standing nearby and they loped over. They wore sashes designating them as members of the royal guard. "His Excellence, Advisor Sephreh ob Tanu from Y'Elestrial is ready for his audience with His Highness. Please escort him into the throne room."

One of them whinnied, tossing his mane, and turned to canter toward the central tent. Father followed, speaking in soft tones to the other guard who walked by his side.

I watched them go, wondering what was up, but it wasn't my place to ask. By the time I spoke my first word, I'd learned that state secrets were just that. Many times Father had come home burdened with information that he couldn't share with us. As the daughter of a Guardsman, I'd grown up accepting hierarchy and protocol as a matter of fact.

Turning back to the others, my gaze fastened on Trillian. The tension between us was palpable, a hunger that throbbed. Morio looked at the two of us, then motioned to Iris.

"Let's explore the surrounding gardens," he said.

She gave him a brief smile. "You mean, let's give them some privacy? Good idea. Meanwhile, I'm looking for someone in the city and you might be able to help me find him. The Great Winter Wolf Spirit, to be precise."

"Who's that?" Morio asked. He glanced back at me and blew me a kiss, then followed Iris to the outer gardens.

I turned to Trillian, one thing on my mind. "Is there a place?" My voice was husky, and I tried to calm the trembling in my stomach. I'd tell him about Smoky and Morio in a while but right now all I could think about was how much I needed him. "Do we have time?"

Trillian gazed at me, his lips so full and luscious I wanted to bite them. "Come." He held out his hand.

We hurried down a side street so small it might be an alley until we came to a door leading into a two-story building. Trillian pulled out a key and unlocked the door, and I followed him into a narrow foyer. The hallway led into a s.p.a.cious apartment.

"Who lives here?" I asked, gazing at the finely crafted furniture and antiques that littered the room.

"I do," Trillian said. "The King furnished me with this place during my stay." He turned then, dropping all pretense. "Get your a.s.s over here," he said, opening his arms. "I need you, woman."

With a gleeful cry, I threw my arms around his neck as his lips began to trail hot kisses down my chest. He walked me backward, still kissing me, into a bedroom, all the while working at the zipper of my bustier. By the time we neared the bed, my b.r.e.a.s.t.s were free and he pushed me down to land on the feather mattress covered with a linen bedspread.

I let out a long moan as his lips sought my nipple and his hand snaked under my skirt. He slid his fingers under the silk of my panties, fingering my c.l.i.t, tweaking it with soft flicks as he buried his face in my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"I've missed you so much," he growled. "I've missed your b.r.e.a.s.t.s and your body and your p.u.s.s.y and your lips . . . Camille, I've missed you, you, more than I ever thought I could." more than I ever thought I could."

I reached for his trousers, tugging on the belt. He leaned back on the bed, letting me unbuckle him and slide the material down over his hips. His c.o.c.k was rigid, dark, and pulsing. I remembered it all oh so well oh so well, the smooth skin, the salty taste of him. Slipping out of my skirt and panties, I started at his feet, crawling up him, rubbing against him as he laughed in delight, low and throaty. I pressed my b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his legs, trailed my nipples up over his hips.

He let out a low grunt as I pulled him to his feet. I sat on the edge of the bed, my legs spread as he pressed his shaft against me. It nestled between my b.r.e.a.s.t.s and I squeezed them together, holding him tightly as he began to thrust. My breath came heavily as I gazed at the tip of his c.o.c.k rubbing between my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Drops of pre-c.u.m clung to the tip, tantalizing and smelling of salt and musk and fresh sea breezes.

"d.a.m.n it, Camille, you make me hornier than any other woman ever has," he said, his voice ragged. "How did I get so lucky?"

"Thank the Fates," I murmured, unable to stand it another minute. I bent down to tickle the head of his p.e.n.i.s. He let out a shout as I began to work him, my tongue sliding up and down his length, swirling around the smooth skin, then fluttering lightly against the head.

He thrust up to meet my waiting lips and I pursed them tightly, so he had to slowly force himself inside my mouth, offering the resistance that I knew drove both of us wild. He inched his way in, my teeth lightly grazing the skin as he filled me full with the taste of him. He braced his hands on my shoulders and I began to suck, softly at first, then hard, sliding my mouth up and down his shaft as I encircled the base with one hand and cupped his b.a.l.l.s in my other, squeezing just enough to make him gasp.

"Stop," he thundered, pulsing so hard I thought he was going to come right there, but he managed to keep control as I broke away.

Feeling heady with power, I leaned back on the bed as he slipped his head between my legs, bracing my knees over his shoulders as his mouth sought my center. Now it was my turn to cry out as he laved tongue against c.l.i.t, sending me along an ocean of pleasure, each wave higher than the last.

I let out a series of sharp cries as the o.r.g.a.s.ms began, a string of minor explosions rocketing through me, but before they ended, he rolled over and pulled me on top of him. His touch sent me into another tailspin of hunger as I straddled his body, aching to feel him inside me.

With a triumphant shout, I plunged down as he held his c.o.c.k rigid and upright for me. I slid down the length, reveling in the feel of his p.e.n.i.s. As I sank onto his b.a.l.l.s, he reached down and began to finger me and I ran my fingers over my nipples, then pressed my b.r.e.a.s.t.s hard, rubbing them with abandon.

One hand on my waist to steady me, with the other he played at my c.l.i.t, stroking me as we synchronized movements. As he began to thrust, I rode him hard as my breath came in ragged pants. He clasped my waist with both hands and rolled me over again, this time onto my back while he was still inside, then hammered against me, his b.a.l.l.s bouncing as he thrust himself into my core, hard and fast.

Then, with one last thrust, he drove down, impaling me. I let out a sharp cry as the o.r.g.a.s.m rocketed through me. Trillian arched his back, his arms pressed on the bed to either side of me, and I felt his warm explosion as he came with a loud groan, so deep within me it felt as though he were trying to reach my center core with his c.o.c.k.

Limp, exhausted, he slowly rolled off of me and I curled up in his arms, his s.e.m.e.n trickling down my leg. There were no words for s.e.x like that. Nothing save the warm afterglow of being thoroughly, totally, wrung out.

After a moment, he stroked my face and kissed my nose. "You like f.u.c.king me, baby?"

"Oh h.e.l.l, yes." I let out a contented sigh.

"You love riding my c.o.c.k?" he asked gently.

"I love you you, and your c.o.c.k."

"So when were you going to tell me?" he whispered.

"Tell you what?"

His eyes narrowed as he leaned up against the headboard. "That you married Fox Boy and the lizard?"

Oh c.r.a.p, he already knew! And one look at his face told me that he wasn't a happy camper. I scrambled to sit up. "Trillian, I-"

He slowly stood. Even when he was naked, he wore his power and charm like a pro. He could stand in front of a crowd without his clothes and n.o.body would ever think to point it out to him.

"You what? I knew you wanted the lizard, and I accepted it. You're a woman with l.u.s.ty needs, but to go behind my back and bind yourself to him? Fox Boy I can somewhat understand. I accept that you have a connection with him. But the lizard only had claim to you for one week. You want to tell me what the f.u.c.k happened, my little heartbreaker?"

I slowly slid off the bed. Trillian was angrier than I ever remembered seeing him. "You vanished and I thought you'd been captured by the goblins. The only hope we had of finding you was to home in on your energy and there was one way of doing that. I had to increase my ability to sense where you were. And the best option I had was to bond with Morio and Smoky to give me that extra boost in power."

"Give me a break. You couldn't wait to pull Smoky into the mix. Fox Boy I can live with, but the lizard?" His eyes were blazing now, and he threw my clothes at me. "Get dressed. The King's going to want to see you soon."

"How can you be such an a.s.s? You know I'm telling you the truth. You know that I was worried sick about you." Now furious myself, I glanced around the room for a washbasin. "Do you at least have a bath so I can wash up a little?"

"Why, traitor? Don't like the memory of me in your p.u.s.s.y? Worried that your reptilian lover will smell me on you? Worried that he might be offended I f.u.c.ked you? Why didn't he come with you today? Does he have better things to do than guard the woman he's married to when she journeys to a dangerous land? At least Morio had the guts to come with you. I'll have to hand it to him, he's got a sense of honor." His face was clouded with jealousy. I couldn't believe he'd gone from being so caring to such a b.u.t.thead in under a minute.

"Record time, dude," I said, yanking on my clothes. "Go ahead and fly off the handle before you know what the h.e.l.l's going on, you idiot! You're You're the one who told me to turn to Smoky if something happened to you. Well, as far as I knew, something the one who told me to turn to Smoky if something happened to you. Well, as far as I knew, something did did happen to you and I was beating my head against the wall trying to figure out how to rescue you!" happen to you and I was beating my head against the wall trying to figure out how to rescue you!"

"I told you not to try! I told you not to come after me if something happened. I had to stop you from trying to find me because I knew this was going to be a long, dangerous undercover mission and I couldn't let you blow it for me. I couldn't let you put yourself in danger!"

We were both shouting now, once again back to the hate part of our love-hate relationship. In a weird way, it felt all too familiar and comfortable.

"Oh for the sake of the G.o.ds. Cover yourself up. You're bouncing like a pair of jingle b.a.l.l.s." I threw his pants and belt at him. "Why the h.e.l.l did you tell me to turn to Smoky if you knew what was going to happen? Good G.o.ds, man, are you really that stupid? I was crazy to ever get involved with you, but fat lot of good hindsight does me now."

Trillian let his clothes fall without trying to catch them. He leapt forward, trembling as he stood there, his fists clenched. "Camille, I told you to turn to Smoky if something happened to me because . . . because . . ."

"Because you knew he could protect me you knew he could protect me. That's what you said back then." I wanted to cry but I was too angry. "And now that I did what you told me to, you're jumping down my throat, calling me a traitor. Don't you realize how terrified we all were? How terrified I was?"

He said nothing, just stared at me. I couldn't read the look on his face now. He just waited for me to continue.

"I thought the goblins had you. I thought you were being tortured tortured. I thought you were going to die die. So I married Smoky, yes. And Morio. And we worked on tracing you-unsuccessfully, I might add. You're d.a.m.ned good at hiding your signature. There were times that-in my heart-I was ready to give up. To accept that you were never coming back."

"Why didn't you?" His voice had gone scary quiet.

"Because I love you, d.a.m.n it. I couldn't give up hope. And then I ran into Darynal on a trip to Darkynwyrd and he told us he'd seen you. You don't know how incredibly happy I was, even though I was furious. But at least I knew you were alive and on a secret mission, even though I didn't know if you were ever coming back to me. Morio and Smoky kept me going during the past six months, you moron. Because without them, I would have been lost, thinking you might never return."

And then I ran out of steam as the worry and stress of the past few months caught up with me. I dropped to the bed, staring numbly at my feet.

"Camille?" Trillian's voice was low, the accusation as suddenly gone as it had come. "Camille, are you okay?"

I shrugged. "How the h.e.l.l should I know? I'm just a p.a.w.n in this G.o.dd.a.m.n game the Fates have going on. I'm just here for them to use and abuse, to steal the phrase a certain creep recently used on me." I c.o.c.ked my head to one side and stared up at him. "You want to hate me? Fine. Go ahead, get in line. I love you, but I can't do this. I can't play these testosterone games. We're in this together, Trillian. Delilah and Menolly, Morio and Smoky and Iris and Vanzir-"

"Vanzir? Who's that?" He frowned.

"Why? Worried I'm f.u.c.king somebody else? Don't be, he's not really my type, but he's on our side and that's what counts." A bitter taste settled on my tongue. What the f.u.c.k had I expected? I knew Trillian wouldn't be happy with the situation. I should have antic.i.p.ated him setting me up like this, though I never thought he'd do it right after we had s.e.x. And speaking of s.e.x . . .

"While we're on the subject, why did you f.u.c.k me if you already knew about Morio and Smoky? You just want to get in one good last screw before you kick me out of your life?"

That did it. Trillian dropped to his knees beside me, his eyes downcast. He reached for my hand and I yanked it away.

"I'm sorry, Camille. I apologize. I just get so . . . you do something to me that no other woman does. You always have, from the first time I set eyes on you in the Collequia. Svartans aren't supposed to mate for life, not like this. But from the first time you told me off . . . the first time you kissed me . . . the first time I took you to bed and tasted just how sweet you are. I knew from the beginning I'd never be able to forget you."

h.e.l.lo, this was new. Trillian detested sentimentality. What the h.e.l.l was going on? "Are you okay? You aren't sick or anything, are you?" I gazed into his eyes, trying to read him.

He reached for me again and this time I let him take my hand. He stroked my palm gently, then wrapped his fingers over my own.

"No, I'm not sick. The past months while I've been on a.s.signment, I saw more death and torture than I ever wanted to. Up close and personal. You weren't far off base in your worries. There was a point where Lethesanar's men caught me. They decided to teach me a lesson before handing me over to the Opium Eater. They . . ."

He choked, his words thick in his throat as he stared hard at the floor. My gut told me that something horrible had happened. I put my other hand on his.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. We're two of a kind, Trillian. I won't turn away from you." And I meant every word.

Slowly, he met my gaze. "One of the guards was a big bruiser. They caught me in the forests of Darkynwyrd, a couple of days after I stopped at Darynal's. Camille, you know I'm no lover of men. It's not in my nature."

Oh h.e.l.l. I knew what was coming and I didn't want to hear it. It would kill his ego to admit it, but as the words began to spill out, I realized that he needed to talk. To tell me his horrible secret.

"Strall. That was the guard's name. The night they caught me, they dragged me over next to the fire where he was waiting. The men held me down, pushed me onto my knees in front of him, and he forced me to blow him. And then, when I was done, the men turned me over and held me down while he reamed me up the a.s.s."

Trillian stared at the wall as he spoke, his voice clear and unwavering, but the control he was exerting over his emotions was so tremendous that I could actually feel it vibrate through him.

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to pull him into my arms but I knew that it wasn't the right time. He wasn't done talking, so I just squeezed his hand, bringing it up to my lips where I gently kissed his palm.

Trillian's mouth tightened. "This went on for three nights. The fourth night, I'd had enough. I figured it was better to die than let them abuse me any further. But when Strall came to me that night, the other men weren't with him. I suppose they were off gathering firewood. They'd gotten lazy, complacent out there. Stupid motherf.u.c.kers."

"Maybe they thought they'd broken you," I whispered.

He shrugged. "Perhaps. But it never pays to take chances in Darkynwyrd. Or with a Svartan. Or a mercenary. Anyway, Strall had to untie me in order to get what he wanted. I waited for the right moment. When he grabbed me by the hair and was forcing his c.o.c.k toward my mouth, I took one big bite and spit it out on the ground. While he was screaming, I took his knife and eviscerated him."

His voice was deadly calm. Trillian could be ruthless. I knew right there that none of the men had made it out alive, and that they'd all died with fear in their eyes.

"As the other men came back one by one," he continued, "I surprised them. They were carrying firewood. They'd gone a ways into the forest and apparently hadn't heard him scream. Either that or they thought it was me. They paid the price for their lack of caution."

"Did you make them hurt, love?" I whispered, leaning close to his face.

He nodded.

"Good. I hope they knew you were going to kill them."

Lethesanar was famous for her tortures, and she'd taught her most fawning guards well. My father had stayed on the perimeter of the Guard Des'Estar as things grew worse and the men grew more violent. Had he ever witnessed events like this? Had he been forced to stand by and watch? I didn't know. But then again, Father had been cross-posted, working with both the Guard and the OIA. Everyone had known how strict he was, so chances were any raping and pillaging had been done well out of his sight.