Page 10 of Hers to Rule

She watched him, breathing hard. “I hope he makes you beg too.”

He showed her a devastating smile. “He always does.”

Chapter 4

Rio helped Mari up from the poolside lounge, and they walked hand in hand toward the barracks. Anticipation curled in her belly, low and tight. She didn’t know exactly what Cisco had planned, but she knew guards wandered in and out of the break room frequently throughout the night. And sometimes the parties there got wild.

She was just turning toward Rio, seeking some reassurance, when klaxons sounded all over the compound at once. In a swift movement Mari couldn’t track, Rio scooped her up into his arms and sprinted toward the break room. He moved at an unbelievable speed that made the world blur.

Cisco charged out of the break room door, his face a mask of fury. The tight expression eased when he saw them. “Get her inside.”

Rio nodded and moved past Cisco where he held the door open. “Stay safe.”

Cisco spared a moment to squeeze Rio’s shoulder and then surged into the sky on a beat of his powerful wings.

The break room was empty as they moved inside. Distant gunfire rent the silence of the night a moment later. The noise was muffled as Rio closed the door.

Mari took a breath to calm herself. She knew all the doors and walls of the compound were bulletproof, but she worried about the guards who were still outside—and Cisco. “What’s going on?” In all her life, she’d never heard those alarms going off.

“That means the perimeter has been breached.” Rio looked over his shoulder, concern evident on his face.

His pain made something ache in her chest. She didn’t want to be the cause of his discomfort. “You think you should be out there. I’ll be okay here if you want to go.”

Rio returned his attention to her and smiled softly. “No, I’m exactly where I need to be.” He hugged her to his chest. “If anything happened to you after you stayed to help him, he’d never forgive himself.”

“Did you know he was planning on telling me to leave?”

Rio nodded. “I told him you wouldn’t do it, but he was adamant to try.”

“He seemed so sure I would.”

Rio set her on her feet and reached to touch her face. “It was hard for him to watch you be hurt all those years without being able to stop it. He wanted to protect you from what’s going on out there and hoped that you would accept it.”

“And leave all of you here to pay the price for that protection?”

“We would have done what we had to.” He shrugged as if there had never been any other choice. “But I’m glad you stayed.”

The tenderness in his voice brought her up onto her toes to stare into his eyes. “So am I.” She leaned in to press a soft kiss to his mouth.

He rested his hands on her hips as he parted his lips, silently encouraging her to deepen the kiss. Her magic surged forward, urging her to accept his invitation. Unable to resist the throbbing of her power, she gripped the back of his neck and pressed her tongue into his mouth. The soul-deep groan that vibrated against her lips was extremely satisfying.

The power sang along her nerves, swelling in response to his rising desire. She pulled back from the kiss, breathing hard, feeling guilty about chasing her pleasure when lives might be in danger just on the other side of the door.

Rio lifted her hand and nipped the lower knuckle of her thumb. “He’s okay, princesa.”

Mari bit her lip, wishing she wasn’t so easy to read. “How do you know?”

“If something was wrong, I would feel it.”

She exhaled a sigh that released some of her tension. “Is that a bond thing or a cat thing?”

He shrugged. “All I know is that it’s a me thing.”

Sometimes, she forgot she wasn’t the only member of this household who had been sheltered and improperly educated by the oppressive will of her father. She ran her fingers through the tail ends of Rio’s hair behind his neck. “Well, so far, I’m a fan of all the you things.” She pulled him into another kiss.

He opened to her at once, his mouth soft and pliant. Kissing him was so different than kissing Cisco. She plundered him with reckless abandon as her power spread through her once more, simmering along her nerves. Rio broke the kiss, ducking slightly to grab a double handful of her ass to lift her so her legs wrapped around him. “I know how to make you stop worrying.”

“Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?” Mari peeked over her shoulder to see where he was taking her while arching against him in invitation. He was headed for the table that Cisco had said he would fuck her on. It was big and sturdy and stood in the center of the comfortable room.

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