Into the Ashes [The Arcadians 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  “We shall give you some time to rest as you asked,” Kadan finally said after a long pause. “I was wrong. I do not want to change you, Raven. You are no slave to us. You are beloved in every way. You will see how much you mean to us.”

  She looked away and waited until she heard the sound of the door to the bedroom shutting before she could breathe again. She had felt their remorse through whatever fucked up bond they had created with her. Hell, she still felt them, but she was too angry to care. They had seen her ugly past and it sickened her that they knew what had happened to her. She had been a victim once, and swore it would never happen again.

  Unfortunately for her, it was.

  She was stuck here and now essentially belonged to three men she didn’t know. They had overwhelmed her, and part of that shame was hers. She had felt their hunger for her and it had fueled her own. Truthfully, she had wanted them with a passion that shocked her to the core. Until Tristan had grabbed her hands like that and held her down.

  Confusion filled her mind. She knew that she should be grateful that they had stopped when they had. Raven understood that another set of men might not have. She was in a strange world, with strange customs, and could be forced into a number of horrifying scenarios. But the true reason she was so upset was that she had felt a connection with them. A part of her had believed Kadan when he had said they wouldn’t hurt her.

  But they had betrayed that trust, not matter that it had been unknowingly.

  She felt their self-loathing and their desire to make it up to her, but it was too hard to just let it go. She’d been hurt by too many people in the past for her to trust easily and now that they had betrayed her she wasn’t sure what to do.

  Hearing the door open, Raven slowly slid off the large bed, wanting to be on her feet when she confronted Kadan and Tristan again. She had officially reached her limits for today and couldn’t deal with anymore bullshit. She turned around prepared to blast them, only to freeze in shock.

  Holy fucking shit…

  Raven stared at the large lion-like creature as it butted its head against the door, slowly opening it so it could enter the room. It padded into the room, looking around then locked eyes on her. It let out a soft growl that had Raven backing away slowly. Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. The large creature followed her every move, tracking her as she slowly pulled the thin blanket from the bed and backed away, out to the balcony.

  Fuck!

  After all that she had been through, she was damned if she was going to let herself be eaten by a frickin’ hell-cat. Part of her wanted to call out, to scream for Tristan and Kadan to come save her, but she had depended on herself for far too long to leave her survival to someone she barely knew.

  Without taking her eyes off the large animal stalking her she quickly looped the blanket around one of the stone columns of the balcony then tied the two ends together, praying that the damn creature wouldn’t follow her outside. She risked a quick glance over the edge and gulped at the sight of the long drop below. Of course they would have to be as high as the heavens. The castle had been built into the side of a mountain overlooking a large pink sea and the balcony seemed to be carved out of the mountain itself. If she fell into the water from this height, it would surely kill her. She hoped with everything in her that she wouldn’t have to use her make-shift escape route.

  Her heart dropped as the large creature slowly continued to track her. It let out a loud roar that had her scrambling over the side of the balcony in terror.

  Shit! She really was going to have to this.

  When the animal lunged forward Raven wound her hands into the material in a firm grip and slid down so she was sitting in the makeshift sling she had created. The good thing was that she was now out of the creature’s reach so she wouldn’t be eaten.

  The bad news was that she was fucking terrified of heights.

  Fear had her paralyzed as she held on with a death grip, closing her eyes as she prayed. She dimly heard the sound of a door crashing open but her blood was pounding too loud in her ears for her to pay any attention to what was going on above.

  “Raven!” Kadan yelled.

  She jerked as she heard his voice, but couldn’t respond or open her eyes. If she did she knew she would look down, and maybe throw up.

  No. Eyes were staying closed.

  She heard a low growl from above and, after taking a deep breath, found the courage to pry open her eyes and look up. Standing at the railing looking down at her was Kadan and another man who she assumed was Savitar, the oldest brother of the trio.

  Savitar looked almost identical to Kadan, only slightly bigger. He had on black leather pants and around his waist he wore a belt with a sword attached. Across his broad, chiseled chest he had on a black leather vest with a variety of knives and other weapons sticking out of it. He had his light-brown hair pulled back and Raven could see a vicious scar across his neck and chest that disappeared under the leather of his vest.

  She should have been terrified of this new brother who looked like a warrior of old, but as her eyes met his she saw him as safety instead. His glowing golden eyes were bright with concern and his knuckles were white with strain as he gripped onto the top of the balcony railing. She felt both of their fear for her through the bond she had with Kadan. She refused to look away from Savitar, using him as a focal point so she wouldn’t freak out and look down.

  A wave of sadness emanated from Kadan that made her heart hurt. “I felt your terror through our bond. What are you doing, Raven? Was your fear of us so great you thought to escape us this way?”

  “The only thing I was trying to do is not get eaten by the ginormous lion in your room,” Raven said through clenched teeth.

  Savitar growled softly at her and reached down his hand.

  “Reach up and grab hold of Savitar, sweetling. Let us pull you up,” Kadan ordered softly in her mind.

  “I…can’t.” She could see the sadness deepen in Savitar’s eyes as they dimmed and wondered how the hell she could know what he was thinking simply by watching him. Still, he held her gaze as he stretched his hand out to her, beckoning her to him.

  “Please, Raven. Do not blame Savitar for what Tristan and I did. Let him pull you to safety,” Kadan pleaded.

  Tears of embarrassment filled her eyes. “I mean, I can’t. Literally. I can’t let go. I can’t move.”

  Understanding had the sadness clearing from Savitar’s glowing eyes and she saw sheer determination fill their depths. He quickly removed his sword and, after a moment’s hesitation, took off his leather vest, baring his muscular, scarred, golden chest to her view.

  Wow, now that was definitely the way to distract her.

  Eye candy…yum!

  Focus Raven, she scolded herself. Her breath caught as she heard Kadan’s inner thoughts. He was hoping she wouldn’t be cruel to Savitar because of his imperfections, and she knew instinctively that he hadn’t meant for her to hear what he was thinking.

  Keeping the knowledge to herself, she kept her gaze on Savitar as he swung himself over the balcony so he was on the outside with her. Before she knew it he had crouched down and jerked her up onto his lap with one arm wrapped securely around her waist. Raven reacted without thought and let go of the blanket to latch on to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head into the crook of his neck so she wouldn’t have to see over the edge. Her legs came up around his waist as she tried to climb him like a tree as he slowly stood up.

  She heard him growling softly to her as he awkwardly climbed over the railing with her attached to him. Kadan was careful not to touch her as he helped his brother over and stepped back once they were safely back on solid ground. A low animalistic growl had Raven practically squeezing the life out of her savior as her head whipped around to look at the large beast standing beside Kadan.

  “This is Var, our pet argos,” Kadan explained as he patted the beast’s large head. A low purr erupted from the animal as it pushed his head into Kadan’s hand.

  Of course, the giant glowy-eyed men had a fucking lion for a pet.

  “He knew he was not supposed to come into the room, but he smelled you and was curious.” Kadan frowned down at the animal who lowered its head as if in remorse.

  Raven’s brow winged up. “You…can talk to animals?”

  “Not talk…exactly. It is more like impressions. We raised Var from birth and have a special connection to him. He will not harm you.”

  Raven clenched her jaw to stop a scathing remark from spilling from her lips. Her body stiffened as Savitar lowered into a squat, still holding her.

  Shit, shit, shit!

  “Wait! Jesus, are you crazy? What are you doing?” A tremor wracked her body as she pressed closer to Savitar, as if trying to crawl into him when the large lion-like creature took a hesitant step forward. Savitar’s chest rumbled with a soothing purr as he stroked a large hand over her braided hair, holding her close to him.

  He reached up and putting a finger under her chin to lift her head back so she was staring into his golden eyes. He whispered something to her that she didn’t understand. Breath quickening until she was almost hyperventilating, she allowed him to take hold of one of her hands and together they stretched out their arms toward the animal.

  Her hand trembled in his, but she fought the urge to pull away as he guided her hand to the head of the beast. Raven looked down at the animal and held her breath as she felt the soft fur of the argo under her shaking fingers. It was amazing. Breathing again, she watched as Savitar’s large hand guided hers in slow strokes through the animal’s thick fur. She grinned as a purr of pleasure erupted from the great beast. Var sat down on his hind legs and a startled laugh escaped her as he licked her wrist with his coarse tongue.

  Okay, this was seriously cool!

  She looked back up at Savitar’s growl and had to fight back a shiver of desire at his intense stare. His golden eyes seemed to pierce straight through to her soul, holding her captive in his gaze.

  “Savitar said he could listen to your laughter to the end of days,” Kadan said, breaking through the connection between her and the eldest brother. “Var likes you.”

  Embarrassed now, Raven looked back down at the animal who was nudging her hand as if to ask for more stroking. “I like him, too, now that I know he’s not trying to have me for dinner.”

  Savitar growled something, making Kadan sigh. “This would be easier if we could implant you with an L-CON unit so you could understand us.”

  Raven thought for a minute then nodded. “Fine. But I want him to do it,” she said as she jerked her head toward Savitar.

  Kadan nodded then left the room. She yelped as Savitar picked her up and easily carried her back through the bedroom into the living area. He sat down on one of the large couches keeping her in his lap. Both of them seemed surprised when she made no effort to move. There was something about the large man that made her feel safe and, after the day she’d had, she could use the feeling of security, no matter where it came from.

  Kadan walked over to them carrying an instrument connected to a small gray box that he handed to Savitar. Raven eyed it suspiciously. “What do you have to do with that?”

  “We will inject a small device into the back of your neck that will allow you to understand the languages loaded into the mainframe,” Kadan explained. “Place your hand on the box, sweetling. This will sting for but a moment as it updates the mainframe.”

  Raven was hesitant to do what he asked, but she did want to understand them. She placed her hand on the gray box as Savitar swept her hair away from the back of her neck. She felt his breath on her skin as he held the instrument up to the back of her neck and depressed it against her. Her neck stung for a second then her spine tingled, reminding her of the pain she’d felt when the lightning had struck her. The gray box vibrated slightly under her hand, and she felt lightheaded. She appreciated the way Savitar held her close to him, protecting her with his large body through the process.

  “It…feels weird.”

  “Just breathe, my queen,” Savitar said softly before he pressed his lips to her brow. “Let the L-CON connection merge into you. Be at ease, beautiful one.”

  Queen? Well, hell. The shocks just kept coming.

  The uncomfortable feeling faded and she opened her eyes to see Kadan and Savitar staring at her, their glowing eyes filled with concern. She fought the urge to fidget under their intense scrutiny.

  “Can you understand me, Raven?” Kadan asked.

  “Yes,” Raven replied then sighed. “This is real, isn’t it? This isn’t just some fucked up crazy illusion that I’m having due to being struck by lightning?”

  Savitar’s brow winged up at that. “You were struck by lightning?”

  “Yep, which is how I got here…wherever this is.”

  “This is Arcadia,” Kadan told her, again.

  She huffed out a breath. “Yes, but I don’t know what that means. And how the hell did lightning hitting me bring me here? Talk about a messed up mode of transportation.” she muttered.

  Kadan hesitated before standing. “I shall leave you with Savitar now and spare you my presence as you requested while he explains everything to you. If you have need of me you have only to think of me and I will come.”

  Raven almost asked him to stay but stayed silent instead. She watched his eyes dim with sorrow again and wanted to curse.

  She was not the bad guy here!

  Kadan looked at Savitar. “I shall join Tristan on the hunt. Send word if you need us.” He shot her one last glance of longing before leaving the room.

  Raven wasn’t prepared for the sadness that filled her as she watched him leave. A nudge on her leg had her swinging her gaze down to where Var was butting his head lightly against her knee. “You’re a big baby, aren’t you?” she cooed as she stroked the soft fur on the top of his head, making him purr loudly.

  Her hand paused mid-air as she shifted forward and her ass landed directly on what felt like a steel pipe nestled between the globes of her ass. Suddenly, she was acutely aware that she was still sitting on the giant alien warrior and his ginormous penis was hard and poking at her in demand.

  Savitar slowly lifted her body and set her next to him on the couch. She couldn’t help when her gaze shifted down and she gulped as she saw the large bulge in his lap. Fear mixed with arousal as the sight of what had to be the biggest erection she’d ever seen straining against the soft leather of his black pants. Savitar cleared his throat causing her eyes to shoot up to meet his. She could feel a blush staining her cheeks at being caught ogling his junk.

  “Ah…sorry. I didn’t mean to stare like that.”

  “There is no need to apologize for looking at what belongs to you,” Savitar replied softly.

  Well, hell…how did she respond to that? “Yeah, about that…” she began, at a loss for words. “What exactly does that mean? Kadan said I was your mate now, but I don’t understand.”

  Savitar nodded. “Ask anything you want of me, Raven. I will try to answer whatever question you may have and vow I will not lie to you.”

  Okay then. “Tell me what I’m doing here and what you mean by saying I’m your mate.”

  Savitar sighed. “The truth is I do not know exactly how you came to be here, only that the God of the Sun and the Goddess of the Moons have brought you forth from your world to ours. Arcadia is a world that has faced centuries of wars. As a result our population has suffered and has caused a shortage of females on our planet. Males are born as trios and births of females are rare so each trio shares a mate amongst the brothers.”

  “Doesn’t that cause all kinds of jealousy and anger between the brothers, though?” Raven couldn’t help but ask.

  Savitar shook his head. “Trios are born with a special bond. It is difficult to explain, but the simplest way to explain it is we share thoughts and memories like a collective being. Each night when we rest, our brains…merge. When we awaken we have the other brother’s memories of the last rising so nothing is secret from one another.”

  “That’s…wow.” Raven couldn’t imagine the lack of privacy that would mean for each of them. “Speaking of bonds…what is that blood bond thing that Kadan and Tristan did to me?”

  She watched Savitar’s large body tense and his eyes glowed with intensity. “They claimed you as our mate. A mate is…it is like the equivalent to your word for wife, only it is a much deeper bond for Arcadians. By creating a blood bond we are able to create a pathway between our minds. I know this is all strange to you and my brothers did not introduce you to bond with the care they should have, but seeing you overwhelmed them. We have been searching for a mate for a long time and from the moment we saw you, we knew you were fated to be ours.”

  “H–how did you know that? You don’t even know me,” Raven whispered. Despite her apprehension she was entranced by the lust burning in his glowing eyes. Never had a man looked at her with such hunger before and she felt his gaze straight down to her very core.

  “I feel it in here.” He thumped his large fist over his heart, never looking away from her. “There is somewhere I would like to take you. Will you go with me?”

  Raven nibbled on her lower lip and she noticed that his gaze seemed riveted on the small action. There was something about him that made her want to crawl back on his lap so she could press her lips to his when he looked at her like that. Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge.

  “Yes, I’ll go with you.”

  Chapter Four

  Savitar led his small mate down the dim corridors until they reached the back of the castle in companionable silence. He was glad that the halls were empty of the other palace inhabitants. He knew Raven had to be frightened after all she had been through since her arrival on Arcadia, but the truth was he didn’t want to spare a moment of his time alone with her with anyone else around.

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