Page 26 of Owned

“Be careful. The rebellion will implode without you. And I would miss my brother.”

Laidon shook his head and indulged in a secret smile. A few words of encouragement had been all he wanted all along. “Get back to work. I’ll check in when I have something worth reporting.”

* * *

A feather-light touch penetrated the tranquil darkness enveloping Raina. Her limbs felt weighted and an unfamiliar ache was still present in her pussy and bottom. Her power was banked, the Altorian Fire contained, yet not quite controlled. She could feel it smoldering, waiting for a gust of metaphysical wind or drop of fuel to send the flames soaring again.

Someone brushed their fingers along her cheek and she heard her name called from very far away. She couldn’t quite identify the caller, but the timbre of the deep voice was familiar. And welcome. She knew and trusted this person. Emotions stirred deep inside her, affection and desire drawing her closer to reality.

“Raina. Can you open your eyes for me?”

Cylex. Her heart fluttered but her mind was still foggy. Where the hell was she? How had he gotten here? How had he known where to find her? Blinking repeatedly, she finally dragged her lids open and focused on his face.

He sat on the edge of the bed, holding her hand between his. “There she is.” He smiled and his gaze shone with masculine awareness and affection. He’d never looked at her like this before. “You gave me quite a scare, but Mistress Air assures me that you’re well on your way to recovery.”

Raina sat up and Cylex quickly arranged a pillow behind her back. The impulse separated their hands and Raina immediately felt the loss of contact. She was dressed in simple, unfamiliar garments, a loose, short-sleeved top and drawstring pants.

“Where am I?” She glanced around, but couldn’t see much. She was in a generic bedroom, like in a hotel or someone’s little used guest room. “Who is Mistress Air?”

A middle-aged female with salt and pepper hair moved forward. The long strands had been drawn back from her face and secured in a messy bun. A light blue, floor-length dress swept from her neck to the floor in graceful pleats. The sleeves were long and fitted. The fabric was decorated with fluffy white clouds around the hem making it look like the woman was floating across the sky. “You are on Pyron,” she told Raina. “This is the Temple of Air. It is a training center similar to the Citadel. I am the high priestess or Mistress Air, but you may call me Udora.”

“Did Kern bring me here or did your people take me away from him?” She instinctively reached for Cylex. Were they both prisoners of the Pyronese? What was going on here?

“You are safe, Raina,” Udora said. “From this point on you will make your own decisions, choose your own life path.”

Raina wanted to believe her. Cylex’s encouraging smile and supportive touches made it seem even more likely, but no one in this star system had offered her freedom. Even her cousins and their mates had tried to pressure Raina into doing what they thought was best. “How’d I get here? Last I knew, I was being taken to Torret.”

“Kern is my grandson,” Udora explained. “He knew that there was no one on Torret with the skill to save you. The Pyronese are the most powerful healers in the star system and we still struggled to stabilize your power.”

As if in response to her claim, heat rolled through Raina. Her chest burned and her core ached, clit tingling painfully. “It’s not over, is it?” Raina shivered and drew her legs up to her chest. She slipped her hand out of Cylex’s and wrapped her arms around her legs. “I can feel my Fire smoldering, ready to erupt again.”

“You still need to choose your mates. You are a conduit. Nothing will change that fundamental need,” Udora confirmed, her silver gaze unwavering. “However, the choice is now entirely yours. We can keep feeding you energy until you are comfortable with your decision.”

“There’s a complication,” Cylex warned, drawing Raina’s attention back to him. “Laidon is here. We were on our way to Torret to rescue you from Jevara when Laidon announced that your kidnapper was really a rebel so you now belonged to him.”

That explained how Cylex got here, but did it also mean that he too had been recruited by the Torretian rebels? She sighed. There were too many factions in this conflict and they all wanted to control her.

“Laidon can lay claim to you all he likes,” Mistress Air stated angrily. “I am far from powerless. I will not allow him near you.”

The support was welcome, but Raina still shook her head. She couldn’t be that selfish. “I need to leave. I don’t know a lot about the Pyronese, but I do know that most of you are pacifists. I will not be the cause of an armed attack on the Temple of Air.” She looked at Cylex and took a deep breath. “Do you have a ship? Can you get me out of here?”

“Laidon bribed my crew. If I try to take you anywhere but Torret they will likely mutiny. However, I have somewhere we can go that is safe and secluded. No one knows about it, so it will give you time to think, to analyze your options.”

“I sense abutcoming.”

“But,” he smiled then grew serious. “Kern is the only one I trust to take us there.”

She gasped and scrambled off the other side of the bed. “Why in God’s name would you trust Kern for anything? He is the sonofabitch that kidnapped me!” He had done a lot more than that, but she wasn’t going to discuss any of it with her bodyguard and Kern’s grandmother.

“He was protecting you from Jevara,” Cylex said firmly, but his gaze remained warm. “If Kern hadn’t taken you, someone else would have. Someone willing to deliver you to Jevara. Do you understand what the emperor had in store for you?”

“Yes, but Laidon is not much better.” She crossed her arms, nervously rubbing her biceps with her opposite hands. She could still feel Kern holding her down, his long hard cock thrusting into her ass over and over. “Kern’s loyalty is to the rebels. Won’t he tell Laidon where he is taking me?”

“Kern is not a rebel,” Udora insisted. “The rebels hired him because of his unique abilities. My grandson does not trust Laidon.”

“Then why the fuck was he taking me to him?” she cried, angry tears blurring her vision. “If my power hadn’t activated, I’d be in Laidon’s bed right now. We all know it.”

Clearly agitated, Udora began to pace the small room. “Kern believed that Laidon was a better choice than Jevara, but Laidon’s reaction to the crisis made Kern reassess the situation. He has known Cylex most of his life and considers him a trusted friend. Kern easily concluded that Cylex is a much better choice than either of the other two.”

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