Page 102 of Decadence

Ikriss stiffened. She swore the temperature just dropped a few degrees.

“He threatened you?” His voice turned cold.

“It was implied, in the way that you Kordolians do so very well.” She turned and looked up at him, frowning. “But you have to promise me you won’t rip his head off. He was just being protective of you.”

“Huh,” Ikriss shook his head and gently caressed her cheek with his thumb. “Protective or not, he should know better than to frighten my mate. I will have words with him.”

“He didn’t frighten me at all,” Sienna said calmly. “Because I would never do anything bad to you anyway.” She turned and looked out across the stars, wondering if Earth was amongst those distant glittering points. “So, tell me about this Enkaladu business, then. I’m intrigued.”

Ikriss let out a soft snort. “That is an old Aikun word.”

“Aikun?”

“My tribe,” he replied, a note of nostalgia entering his voice. “They did not always regard me so favorably, but I suppose I did protect them when the Empire was at its worst. We Aikun… we are not so fond of the former Imperial Military.”

“We? I don’t understand. I thought you were a commander in the military. How can you…”

His roving hands slid over her shoulders and down her chest. He teased her nipples to perfect tautness.

Damn male. They were supposed to be having a serious conversation, and he couldn’t keep his hands to himself.

“It is true, my love. I’m not proud of it, but I was the Empire’s perfect tool. Obedient to a fault. Effective. Efficient. I knew how to exploit an enemy’s weakness and crush dissent using the fewest resources possible. I knew how to win at all costs. They had no choice but to elevate me. I’d seen enough of the Universe to know that I had to make myself indispensable to them.”

“For survival?” A chill ran through her.

“No. For power. You see, once I became valuable to them, I had a bargaining power of sorts. They had to find a way to ensure my continued loyalty.”

A glimmer of understanding dawned on her. “You did their bidding to… protect your people?”

“As you correctly observed before, my kind are so very good at implied annihilation. The Empire and I had an implicit understanding. As long as I remained their loyal varhund, they would refrain from wiping out what was left of my people. For a long time, I became what I most despised.”

“That must have been hard,” she whispered reverently, sensing that this was a side of himself he rarely showed.

“One learns to live with oneself,” he shrugged, sliding his devious hands over her belly, her hips… “It didn’t matter in the end, because my General and I fooled them all.” He closed his arms around her and held so tightly she wondered if he would ever let her go.

That was okay, though.

“I know what evil is, Sienna. Sometimes, one has to become evil to defeat it.”

“You’re not evil, Ikriss. I’ve seen evil too, and you’re not it.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed. He brought his fingers to her hair and gently teased through her messy strands, pushing them away from her face. “For some reason that we do not yet understand, you carry the so-called royal blood of our ancestors. I do not revere royal bloodlines, but they do. You are valuable to my enemies, but to me, you are beyond precious. I’m just a simple man, Sienna. If anyone tries to take what is mine, I will do whatever it takes to destroy them.”

“I know that.” She leaned into his caress, drawing comfort from him. He made her feel safe in a way that nobody else ever could. “And you’re anything but simple.”

His presence erased every trace of darkness from her existence… even though he himself was the darkness.

But then she was struck by a terrifying thought. “If I have this… Kordolian gene, or whatever it is, then won’t my relatives on Earth have it too? I’m told my mom and sister are already under your protection, but what if it comes from my… father’s side?” She couldn’t keep the distaste out of her voice as she thought of the man who had refused to acknowledge her existence.

“You are not fond of your sire, are you?” Ikriss’s voice grew cold, and Sienna got the feeling he was contemplating doing very bad things to a man she had never met.

“Never knew him,” she said softly. “And I don’t care to, either.” Sienna felt surprisingly calm as she stared out across the stars. That small, niggling emptiness she’d felt for as long as she could remember… it wasn’t there anymore. “Maybe he has his reasons, but you know what? Some of my kind are just assholes, and there’s no changing them. Still, if my Kordolian gene came from his side of the family, then you should probably find him. I probably have relatives—maybe even siblings—that could be in danger.”

“Hm,” Ikriss rumbled. “Huh.”

Sienna turned to face him again. She looked up at him in confusion. Perhaps there was just a hint of wonder in his voice.

“You are not a vengeful creature,” he murmured. “Instead, you ask me to protect the one who has wronged you.” Her buried his nose in her hair and kissed her gently on the crown of her head, his tender touch raising goosebumps across her arms. “That is why I need you, Sienna. You give me the strength to master my worst instincts.”

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