Destiny. Grace Goodwin

       Destiny

      God. He was going to kill me. His cock was so big. So deep. So fucking perfect. Muscles on muscles. So strong. Hot. So hot. His heat poured into me and my body gobbled it up like I’d been stuck in the Arctic for a week with no coat. I was starving for him.

      Aleran Ardor sucked.

      And it was fucking amazing, at least now that I was riding a nice, big cock. He felt so good. I never wanted to stop. Never.

      And then my weirdo ears heard Elder Cleric Amandine and one of her aides talking quietly as they made their way to her office.

      This office.

      Shit. “Someone’s coming.”

      He listened, then ignored the warning and kissed me. Deep. Rough. Exactly the way I wanted it.

      But those damn voices intruded. Again. The elder’s voice. What was she doing back up here? And with Crayden? I’d seen him around, always within a few feet of the elder and with a bored expression on his face. He was another set of eyes and ears. Protection. Although, if he had to take on a real threat—like me—I wasn’t sure he’d be much help to the older female he protected.

      There were more of them, the clerics, both male and female who watched over the planet’s elder. They were security. I recognized their true purpose despite their ordinary uniforms and unassuming presence. But they were not like Leo, or his father. They didn’t strike me as real soldiers. More like rent-a-cop variety security.

      The elder’s next words made me tense, which didn’t help my situation, making Nix’s cock rub harder against my rigid body.

      “I want to know what’s going on with the Optimus Unit. Do you understand? I know you’ve heard the rumors, that Lord and Lady Jax are dead, that Lord Wyse is as well. I need you to investigate, Crayden.” Elder Cleric Amandine’s voice was matter of fact, but what she spoke of weren’t rumors but reality. She was in her seventies and sharp as a tack. No one wanted to mess with her. Including me. I just had to wonder why she was here, in a building that was supposed to be locked down for the night. She didn’t work late. Ever. Well, not once in the two weeks I’d been stalking everyone in this fortress.

      I was one to talk, being out in the middle of the night. But I was breaking in. The two of them were here on purpose.

      “I don’t know where to start, my lady.” That male voice belonged to Crayden. “With Wyse dead, they’ve closed ranks.”

      Wyse? Why were they talking about the asshole who tried to kill Faith? And Trinity? And who was closing ranks?

      “I can give you a contact, on the inside.” The elder cleric’s voice was easy to recognize. I’d been listening to her sermons every morning for two weeks. Well, not sermons, exactly, but reminders—that’s what they called them—reminders of the responsibilities of the clerics on Alera, their duties and the honor they carried in serving the royal family and all of Alera. They weren’t a religious order as I’d first assumed, but something else almost holier. Strangely reverent in their devotion.

      The voices were coming closer.

      Dammit. I didn’t want to stop. I needed more. More of this man. More of his energy. More kisses. More cock. Just more.

      But as my dad liked to say, Want in one hand and shit in the other. See which hand fills up first.

      Homegrown, small town wisdom of the first order. And he was right. He was always right. I tore my mouth from Nix’s and grasped at enough air to talk. “Someone’s coming. Shit. Move. We can’t be here.”

      He didn’t let me go, as I’d expected. Instead, he kicked at my clothes, moving the discarded things into the elder’s study. Once my clothes were gone—he still had his on because I’d been so damn impatient—he carried me into the study and pressed my back to the wall in a dark corner. And he’d stayed nice and deep the entire time.

      I should insist he let me go. Get dressed. Get the hell out of here.

      But damn. I needed more. All of his movement, the kicking, the walking—my pussy was riding the edge of another orgasm. I wasn’t calming down. I was spinning up. Out of control.

      And the closer the voices got, the more I liked it. The danger of being caught heightened my senses, made my pussy clamp down even harder. Tighter.

      One thrust. He moaned and pushed deep. That was it. I came apart in his arms, the orgasm even more intense than the first, his hand covering my mouth to keep me quiet. His seed filled me, and it was as if my body craved him like it needed food or air or an essential nutrient. I hungered for him. For his body. For his heat. For his kiss. His touch. His seed.

      I was out of control, and I hated being out of control.

      Nix was the most dangerous man I’d ever met, and here I was impaled on his cock, naked, risking my life for a quickie. And every orgasm made me worse, not better.

      I’d lost my damn mind.

      The outer door opened and Nix froze, pressed me harder into the wall once he realized the danger was real.

      “Told you,” I whispered.

      “Hush.” He whispered the word back, his lips lingering over my ear. He inhaled deeply, taking the scent of my hair into his body. It was erotic and I imagined his face somewhere else. Inhaling something else.

      My pussy tightened again, the muscles clenching in preparation for another orgasm, for his cock was still hard, still deep, even though we’d both just come.

      God. No. I needed to listen.

      The lights came on in the next room and the elder cleric and her guard entered the outer office. I heard the creak of her chair as she took a seat, the soft padding of his feet as he paced in front of her desk. She spoke first.

      “They are keeping an unauthorized prisoner on Optimus Cell Level C. I want to know who it is and who authorized it. Do you understand? The queen is still missing. Her daughters, the revered princesses, aren’t talking, and we don’t know anything about the third female who entered the citadel. I assume it’s another one of Celene’s daughters. But we can’t protect them if we can’t find them. And neither Princess Faith nor Princess Trinity trust me enough to talk. The fact that they have reason to suspect the clerics is not acceptable. I will not allow our order to fall, is that clear? The role of the clerics is to protect the queen, and her daughters now that we know they exist, whether they trust us or not. Which means I need answers. At any cost. Do you have any questions?”

      “Are you authorizing the use of deadly force?” The question was quiet, but not alarmed, and my opinion of the man in the other room shifted. He was not what I’d thought he was… which hadn’t been all that much. I had assumed he was a standard mall-cop. Mild. Not much more than a pencil pushing assistant who checked video feeds and followed the elder around so she was never alone. If he were this deadly, that meant none of the elder’s guards were as harmless as they seemed. He sounded like a soldier. A hunter.

      “Yes,” the elder replied. “You have one day because the triad is coming.”

      I heard Crayden’s swift intake