“I don’t think so.”

  “No?”

  “All the cameras were on Tina so I hope they didn’t catch me leaving. If Tina’s plan goes right, it will look like I killed myself. I wrote a suicide note taking full responsibility for the unintended effect my book has had on women. I apologized and said that I had tried to stop my friend, but that Tina’s obsession with finding love with an Nman had made me realize that I couldn’t live with myself. I wrote that my heart was heavy with grief and guilt and that I didn’t wish to live without my family any longer.

  “But if there’s no physical body, will they believe that you died?”

  Devina swallowed and looked down. “We burned down the house.”

  “Your house?

  She nodded and the immense sadness from her made me pull her in for a hug.

  “Tina prepared everything with papers on the dining table and left a short candle to burn down and ignite the spark. The plan was for her to stay and argue with the border patrol until the smoke was visible in the sky. That way no one would suspect she set the fire and it would be too late for anyone to save the house before it burned to the ground.”

  “But wouldn’t your suicide letter burn with the house then?”

  “No, because I stuck it onto a tree outside of the house.”

  I shook my head. “Damn, I can’t believe you’d burn down your family house. I know how much it meant to you.”

  “It needed to look real.”

  “I know, but won’t the police still search for your body in the ashes?”

  Devina exhaled noisily. “We’ve had thousands of people dying this year from the epidemic. It’s a rural, understaffed area of the world with little technology. I doubt they will search for my remains since no friends or family will push them. Tina will go back home unless she’s forced to check in to a place of reflection.”

  “Shit!”

  “I know, but she said that she would use it as inspiration for her next novel. She had an idea of a plot with a lazy woman faking mental instability in order to get out of working.”

  “Wow!” I kept touching her. “You faked your own death to come here. Just like Mark in the book.”

  “It was the only way. Please don’t be mad at me for coming.”

  I had heard enough. With my hands on her shoulders, I looked deep into her eyes. “Why would I be mad? All I want is to be with you. I’m thrilled! You saved me the trouble of coming to get you.”

  Her brow lifted. “But you ignored all my letters. I thought you were mad at me.”

  “I would have answered your letters if I’d been here.” Cupping her face, I kissed her. Feeling her lips against mine and knowing there was no wall between us any longer was exhilarating and better than all the food and drink I’d enjoyed after starving. “I hate that you put yourself in danger to get here, but I’m eternally grateful that you came.” I pulled my head back; our eyes locked. “I’ve fucking missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too.” Her eyes teared up.

  “Hey… shhh… what’s wrong? Don’t cry.” I pulled her into my arms. “You’re here now. We’re together.”

  Devina covered her face, her shoulders bobbing from the crying.

  “Talk to me, love.”

  “I’ve tried to be strong, but I was so scared that you’d be mad at me. I’ve lost everyone and I thought I’d lost you too.”

  I groaned and held her tight. “No. I’m right here.”

  “But there’s something I haven’t told you and you’re going to be so mad when I tell you.”

  Chills ran down my neck and my posture stiffened. “Did you sleep with someone else?”

  “Nooo…” She creased her eyebrows.

  “Then what is it?”

  With her eyes full of tears, Devina took my hand and placed it on top of the cover where her stomach was.

  From the look in her eyes, I knew she was telling me something.

  My heart rate increased to a million beats per second and I pulled the cover away to see the most beautiful bump on my woman’s belly. “You’re pregnant?!”

  “Yes.”

  My eyes were staring down at her round belly. “It’s mine?”

  “Of course it’s yours.”

  We had only shared one night together and that was back in August – my mind was frazzled as I tried to count.

  “I’m four months pregnant.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Her hand lifted to caress my face. “I figured we could never be together and that telling you would only make things worse for you.”

  I got under the cover with her and wrapped myself around her body. To feel the warmth of her made everything better. These past two weeks had been hell to me – her goodbye letter that tore my heart to pieces followed by King Jeremiah’s bombshell that he claimed the right to marry any widow he wanted to; failed attempt at poisoning him, and two weeks being locked up and unable to protect our women. The trauma I had experienced healed a little as I lay in my bed listening to Devina’s heartbeat and held a hand on her belly where our child was growing. “You should have told me about our baby. I almost died today.”

  “What do you mean, you almost died?”

  I told her everything about our attempt at killing King Jeremiah and how it had gone wrong. She teared up when I explained about the small cell and the long days with almost nothing to eat.

  “So that’s why you look thinner. How can anyone be so cruel?”

  “It gets worse,” I explained about being led to the room with the long table and seeing my mother, sisters, and Starr being paired with hideous men and forced to sit next to them and listen to our last words.

  “And then what happened?”

  “Well, like most men in this country, Jeremiah had no real experience with women. He mistook them for innocent and weak fairy creatures that can only do good, so imagine his surprise when Wilma jerked a knife into his throat.”

  Devina gasped. “What?”

  “We Nmen will die for our mates, but it turns out that our women are just as fierce in times of trouble.”

  “Wilma stabbed him?”

  “She basically cut his throat from here to here.” I showed from under my chin and down to my Adam’s apple. “None of us men in that room will ever think of women as fragile after we witnessed five women take on five men and kill two of them. You should have seen the way Marni kept stabbing the captain like she was taking out years of pent-up rage on men.”

  “That’s awful.”

  “Yeah, but it was them or us.”

  She wet her lips. “I’m glad you lived and came back to me. Imagine if none of you had come home and someone else had showed up here. I could have been in big trouble.”

  “True.” We were quiet for a while before I spoke again. “I still can’t believe you risked everything to come here. I was going to track you down in the Motherlands, and then I found you in my bed. Whomever said females were the weaker sex must not have met the same women as me.”

  Devina narrowed her eyes. “Where did you hear that women are the weaker sex? That’s nonsense. We rule most of the world.”

  “That you do, but not on this side of the wall.” There was humor in my smile when I began kissing her jawline and moved up to her lips. “We like strong women, but we don’t submit to them.”

  She was kissing me back and making small sounds of pleasure. “Maybe in time, you’ll submit to me.”

  I chuckled while kissing her. “Never. That’s a promise.” My hand had lifted her shirt up over her belly and I pulled it higher, curious to see if the pregnancy had made other parts of her body swell as well. “You don’t know how much I want to make love to you right now.”

  “Do you think it’s safe with the baby?”

  “I think so. Frederick told me that he and Starr did it up until a few days before she gave birth.” My hands were weighing her breasts, which had indeed grown. “God, you have no idea how sexy you are.”

  “Tyton, do you believe everything happens for a reason?”

  “Sure.”

  “What are the odds of my getting pregnant from one night of sex?”

  “Well, we did do it several times.”

  “I know, but I still feel like this was meant to happen and that my nana worked her magic from the other side.”

  “Could be. But I’m happy to take it from here.”

  She smiled at me and lifted her face to meet my kiss. Our tongues twirled around each other as if they too were hugging a good friend. We might only have spent one night together but being close to Devina felt like the most natural thing in the world. I had played the sound of her arousing little moans in my mind a thousand times these past months. Now that I was suckling on her nipples and letting my hands slide down between her legs, she made those same amazing sounds.

  “Ahhh…”

  I took time to feel and kiss every inch of her. The first time we had been together, I’d been eager to get inside her, but now that she was pregnant, I took time to investigate my mate and enjoy her soft curves. “You are gorgeous.”

  “So are you.”

  “Yeah? Are you getting used to my muscles?”

  “I guess, and I always loved your eyes. They’re very pretty.”

  A low groan sounded from me. “Don’t call me pretty.”

  “Handsome then.”

  I moved up to kiss her, deep and demanding. It only made her breathing faster.

  “Tyton…”

  “Mmm…?”

  “I want you inside me.”

  “Patience, sugar.” I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment when Devina pushed me onto my back and climbed on top of me. Her perky breasts were like something from an ultimate fantasy and the beautiful bump on her belly made chills run up and down my spine.

  I reached up to push her hair back so I could see her eyes better but she intertwined her fingers with mine and scooted into position.

  My eyes widened a little and I held my breath when Devina slid herself down on top of me. At first it was only my tip but that alone made me moan out loud.

  “Fuuuck…”

  I had remembered sex with Devina as spectacular, but that was before she had chosen me and my child was growing in her womb. With the way I’d come close to death today and with the fear that I’d lost her forever, this moment was pure bliss. If there was a paradise on earth, then this was it.

  “Ahhh…” Devina leaned her head back and sunk lower on my cock.

  My free hand grabbed her hip and I began guiding her up and down on me. The way her tits bounced a little and her pussy made slurpy sounds from her wetness just about made me come. “This is so good. Being inside you… ahhh… it’s heaven.”

  Devina placed her hands on my chest to support herself and increased the tempo.

  “Ohhh…” I groaned and feared that I wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer.

  “Do you like it?” she panted.

  “You have no idea… to see you… ahhh… riding me like this… it’s fucking amazing.” All the words were pushed out as I was clenching my core muscles and trying to hold back the orgasm that was building up too fast.

  With my ball sack tightening, I scrunched up my face. “I want this to last so bad.”

  Devina had her eyes closed and moaned, “Yeah, me too. Don’t stop.”

  The only thing I could do to avoid coming was to pull out.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” With a strong grip, I pulled her to the edge and sank my head down between her legs. Devina arched up and began panting. Focusing on her pleasure gave me a chance to get myself under control. It was such a turn-on to hear my woman fall apart in my arms as my tongue and fingers took her close to her release.

  “Yes, Tyton, yes.”

  She was holding on to my head wanting me to keep licking her, but I broke free and pushed myself inside of her again. This time I didn’t have to hold back. Devina was close to the edge and moving her head from side to side with her eyes closed and her moans growing in volume. “Yes… yes… ohh, yes.”

  The friction of my cock sliding in and out of her took me right back to nirvana. When she grabbed on to my wrists and squeezed hard while arching and screaming out her orgasm, I let go too.

  “Oh… fuuuck!!”

  I could feel burst after burst as I emptied myself inside Devina’s warm, tight pussy. My orgasmic high made me hold on to her and press myself against her.

  I was kneeling on the floor and after a long moment, I kissed her navel and caressed her stomach before resting my torso on top of hers. Devina wrapped her legs around my hips and held on to my shoulders like she needed the closeness between us as much as I did.

  “Give me a few minutes and I can go again,” I muttered against her neck.

  “Tyton, how is it possible that I love you so much when I hardly know you?”

  “You know me!”

  “I don’t understand how I can feel so safe with you but it’s like an instinctual thing inside me.”

  “That’s because I’m your mate.” I was trying to get my breathing to calm down.

  “Whatever this thing between us is…” She inhaled deeply. “It’s powerful.”

  I smiled and nuzzled my nose against her neck feeling like the luckiest man alive.

  “Does Wilma know about us?”

  I pulled back to look into Devina’s eyes. “Not yet, but she will soon because tomorrow morning I’m calling her and Emmerson.” I paused for a second. “At this time tomorrow, we’ll be husband and wife.”

  “We’re marrying tomorrow?”

  “Yes. I know it’s strange for you, but it’s the only way I can protect you and our kids.”

  Devina looked serious. “If I marry you will the other men leave me alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay then.”

  When she kissed me, I couldn’t help deepening the kiss. The taste and scent of her made me insatiable and on cue my cock stirred. Cupping her face, I smiled. “This is like a fantasy come true to me, you know that, right?”

  She just gave a sweet chuckle and let me seduce her again.

  CHAPTER 35

  King Slayer

  Devina

  The next day Tyton and I were glued together. We both reached out and touched each other at random times as if to make sure this wasn’t a dream. When he was on the phone with Frederick or Emmerson, he pulled me down on his lap and played with my hair or stroked my arm.

  “We need to go and see the others. Emmerson has agreed to wed us. That way my claim on you will be official.”

  “And there will be no tournament then?”

  Tyton’s eyes dropped to my stomach; he wore a satisfied smile. “Tournaments aren’t for pregnant women. It’s pretty clear that you’ve been claimed.”

  “Oh...” I thought about it. “But then my fear of being auctioned off in a tournament was irrelevant. Now I feel stupid. All this time, I believed we couldn’t be together because I wouldn’t be safe here in the Northlands. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered. Jeremiah was selfish and unpredictable. It’s impossible to say what he would have done if I’d asked permission to marry you.”

  We intertwined our fingers and sat with me leaning against his shoulder for a moment. “I have a question.”

  “Okay.”

  “You tried to poison the king to protect the people you love.”

  “Uh-huh. We felt sure that Jeremiah was up to something and that he would kill the man of the woman he had his eyes on.”

  “But if I understood you correctly then the man who kills the ruler becomes the new ruler.”

  “That’s right.”

  “So, if you had succeeded you would be the new king of the Northlands.”

  Tyton shook his head. “No. I never wanted that role. I would have let other men fight for power and supported someone more suitable.”

  “Like Emmerson?”

  “Emmerson is young. He wouldn’t have been my first choice, but from what I saw yesterday he has what it takes to stand in front of a crowd and shine with confidence.”

  I let my fingers play with his hand, trailing over old scars, his short nails, and callused skin. “But if you didn’t want to be king, then why did you volunteer to kill him?”

  “Because I naïvely thought that if it didn’t work, only I would get punished. If I’d known they’d try and destroy my entire family, I would have chosen a different method.”

  I looked down. “You know I don’t condone violence.”

  Tyton snorted. “Trust me. Jeremiah was so vile he could have made even you capable of committing murder. He was a menace, and many are celebrating that his head is rotting on a spear.”

  I lifted my gaze to meet Tyton’s eyes and raised an eyebrow. “Metaphorically speaking you mean?”

  “No. Jeremiah planned to chop off our heads and exhibit them on spears outside his palace for everyone to see. Now it’s his own ugly head that hangs with four of his friend’s heads.”

  I covered my mouth and furrowed my brow with disgust.

  It made Tyton close his eyes for a second and sigh. “I know, pixie, but he did say he had a taste for the macabre, so in a way we’re honoring him.”

  “You’re honoring him by placing his head on a spear?”

  Tyton rubbed his face. “It sounds bad when you say it like that.”

  “Because it is bad. It’s barbaric and…”

  Nuzzling his head against my neck he muttered, “I adore your innocence, but you’re in the Northlands now. You’re not going to like everything here, but I hope I’ll be worth it.”

  My innocence was challenged when, a few hours later, we went to the royal palace.

  “Cover your eyes,” Tyton instructed and led me past the tall spears with the five bloody heads, but I’d already seen them from the air before the drone sat down.

  We were welcomed in the courtyard by Wilma, who came running with all her youthful energy.

  “I can’t believe that you returned.” She hugged me tight and then she leaned back, glowing with happiness and laughing. “I’ll bet you never suspected that I’d be the queen of the Northlands when you saw me again.” There was such pride radiating from her that I couldn’t help but smile.

 

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