Darkeen Dynasty 1: Raeder's Woman Read online

  RAEDER’S WOMAN

  An Ellora’s Cave Publication, April 2004

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

  PO Box 787

  Hudson, OH 44236-0787

  ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-84360-833-2

  Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

  Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML

  RAEDER’S WOMAN © 2004 ANGELINA EVANS

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Edited by Pamela Cohen.

  Cover art by Syneca.

  DARKEEN DYNASTY: RAEDER’S WOMAN

  BY

  ANGELINA EVANS

  Prologue

  Founded by a pirate who made himself a king, Illusions became the most successful business in four dimensions and the cornerstone of a dynasty founded on perfect genetic matches.

  Illusions

  Where Fantasy Is Truly

  Better Than Reality

  And for the women found to be genetic matches for the men of the Darkeen dynasty…the motto was true.

  Chapter 1

  Raeder, his shield-brother Kael behind him, translocated to the surface of Callen Minor. Except scorched rubble, nothing else was left. Everything and everyone was gone and he hadn’t been here to defend them.

  “They didn’t have a chance.” Kael’s voice was hushed.

  Raeder’s jaw clenched. The attack had come from space. Bolt after bolt of energy rained down. Explosions rocked the world. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and no one to come to their aid.

  He had failed and people had died.

  How many men and women had screamed for him and his kin? How many children had died staring at the sky as it was torn again and again by silver-white power bolts? His chest felt tight, but he couldn’t cry, he didn’t know how. He wished he did.

  “Incoming communication.”

  He ignored the voice from the communication implant behind his left ear and strode away from Kael and the others who had translocated to the planet. The welfare and safety of this planet had been his responsibility. It felt like steel bands squeezed his chest; there was a bitter taste in his mouth.

  The burden of death and destruction were his alone to shoulder. He couldn’t bring back the people who had died, but he would find their killers. He wouldn’t rest until they were dead.

  Kael’s voice broke the silence. “Raeder, you’ll want to hear this. It’s from the Illusions outpost on Centera.”

  Hands fisted, heart pounding, Raeder stared at the devastation all around him. The legendary Illusions. He wanted to tear each outpost down with his bare hands. There hadn’t been a genetic mate found for an Allourian male by any of the Illusions outposts in over two generations. It was a failure. If his family hadn’t relied on the fantasy of Illusions, the people on this planet would still be alive.

  He and his kin would find a way to keep Allourian Space safe, and it wouldn’t be dependent on the Rilirian Field and perfect genetic matches.

  “They found your mate.”

  A hard smile touched his lips. His genetic match had been found. Why now when it was too late for Callen Minor? It wouldn’t bring back the people who had died. It wouldn’t bring back his lost honor.

  He didn’t want a genetic mate. When he married it would benefit the people he’d been born to protect, not the illusion of genetic perfection Illusions wove.

  A tiny spot of color in the black debris caught his attention. He knelt and pulled a tiny object from the rubble.

  His stomach knotted as he stared at the tiny shoe. Half burned, what was left still a bright pink, the shoe wasn’t even as long as his thumb. He didn’t want to see it, didn’t want to feel the searing pain in his gut. His life had been dedicated to protecting his people and he hadn’t done that. He hadn’t been here.

  He wouldn’t let another child die. He couldn’t walk away from a chance to save his people.

  “Where is the woman?”

  “She is being translocated to the Grand Mourian Ball.”

  Raeder took a deep breath and straightened, his hand fisted around the tiny shoe. He would keep it safe as he hadn’t kept the child who had worn it safe. It would remind him that he had failed and that he couldn’t fail again, ever. Even if it meant using the woman they’d found.

  “What is the closest Star-Strider to Mouria?”

  “Traiden’s ship, The SunRunner.”

  “I want him there now. No one is to touch the woman.” If Illusions was right, she was his by right of birth, and he would exercise his right to have her. And the Stars help Illusions if she wasn’t the key to reenergizing the Rilirian Field, because he would destroy each and every one of them if she wasn’t.

  Kael watched the last shred of boyhood fade from Raeder’s face and felt the pain of loss. The laughter and light in his prince’s eyes was gone. His childhood friend was dead. A warrior forged from the death and destruction of his people had taken his place.

  “Anything else?” Kael asked.

  Raeder nodded. “Get two more Striders to Mouria. The security around this woman is to be impenetrable.” He opened his hand and stared at the tiny shoe. Tears burned in his eyes, but they would never fall. He would hold the pain close and use it. Whatever he had to do, his people would be safe.

  “No child is going to lose her life again because our defenses were weak. Never again.”

  He would use the woman to bolster the defenses protecting his people if that were possible. But this was the last time. Men and Striders would protect the Allourian Alliance with intelligence and power. His family and people were through depending on fantasies.

  He translocated back to his Star-Strider, The Summit. He had a woman to snare and defenses to build. And the memories of a world that no longer existed were captured in the tiny shoe lost in his fisted hand.

  * * * * *

  “You won’t believe it. It’s so real. Except for the sensations being a bit muted you’d never know it was simulated. You can’t imagine sex that good.”

  Aleea NaDeera’s mind replayed Gabria’s words as she tilted her head so the Illusions proprietress could use the dermaject she held. Hopefully it wasn’t a lie. Her whole life’s savings were riding on this fantasy.

  There was a small sting at the base of her neck. She lifted her head and rubbed the spot.

  “You’ll start feeling the effects soon. The arousal will be intense.”

  “What is it?” She nodded at the small injector Gabria held.

  “A concentrated dose of male pheromones. When you meet Prince Raeder, you’ll know.”

  She nodded, hoped she looked more sure on the outside than she felt on the inside. Prince Raeder. The fantasy man of her dreams.

  Dread and excitement in equal proportions swirled through her.

  What was she thinking? Aleea NaDerra, credential checker for Centera’s Interstellar Port Authority, was a quiet, introverted, safe and sane woman. She went home each night to her singlet, watched holo-vision, and had dreams she never shared with anyone. She consistently turned down the sexual advances of Phripil Halak, the only man who ever issued such invitations to a woman like her. She didn’t date princes.

  So what was she doing dressed in a gossamer sheath? It was clear from her tight nipples to the vee of her legs that she wore nothing underneath.

  Who ever heard of a Port Authority worker spending their life’s savings on a neural-induced virtual reality fantasy?
r />   Of course, the setting was an interstellar ball. It would be filled with powerful people from every known dimension and galaxy. And one of those powerful men, an Allourian Prince named Raeder, would find her irresistible. How could she resist that?

  “Are you ready?”

  Ready to faint. She clamped her lips together to keep from saying the words out loud.

  “Aleea?”

  “Sorry.” Hopefully her smile didn’t look as sickly as it felt. “I think I’ve got a huge case of stage fright. Ridiculous, right? This is a cyber-fantasy. It’s happening inside my own mind. What’s to be afraid of?”

  Gabria opened her mouth, but Aleea waved her to silence. “Don’t worry about me. I can have my mental meltdown while I’m having my fantasy. It shouldn’t interfere with the great sex or anything, right? And you did promise it would be great sex.” It had better be stupendous sex for the price she was paying.

  The taller woman’s smile was slow. “Sex beyond anything you could ever imagine. All you have to do is walk through the portal.”

  Aleea took a deep breath and turned back to the gateway in front of her.

  “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

  “Until you step through the portal, you aren’t.”

  Aleea grinned. “You’re right. And I’m going to do what I’ve told myself for years to do. I’m going to be exciting, give up being a coward, and squeeze life out of every moment.”

  “I’d say the first step is taking the first step.”

  There was a bite to the other woman’s voice. No doubt she had other customers to work with.

  “Thank you.”

  Gabria smiled and nudged her forward. “Enjoy yourself.”

  Aleea nodded, closed her eyes and stepped into her fantasy. When she opened her eyes, she had to bite her lip to keep from gasping aloud.

  Stars, it was more than she had ever imagined. The walls glowed with a rose-colored light. There were races she recognized, the amphibian race of Mouria and the teddy bear-like beings of Gadrian. There were others she didn’t and that was saying something. Centera wasn’t a major stellar hub, but it got a lot of traffic from different dimensions and galaxies. She’d never seen the insectoid beings standing on the open balcony overlooking the sea or the multi-armed blue humanoids across the room.

  Everyone was dressed in fabrics that shone like jewels or were plush and sumptuous looking. As bare as she felt, she was showing nothing compared to the intergalactic servers, men and women, who circulated around the room. A woman walked up to her, dual breasts on one side bare, her skirt barely long enough to cover her backside.

  “Refreshment?”

  Aleea smiled, shook her head and started down the stairs. She’d never felt more out of place in her life and that was saying something.

  She tried not to stare at the man walking up the stairs toward her. He should have just left his leggings home. His penis was small but that wasn’t stopping him from showing off its rigid little length.

  “Like what you see?” His face was flushed, his voice slurred and his eyes unfocused.

  “Excuse me?” She met his bulbous gray-green eyes and wished she hadn’t. He made her skin crawl. Someone really should take pity on the man and let him know he wasn’t showing anything anyone would want.

  “If you like it, it’s yours.” He thrust his hips forward.

  She swallowed hard and bit her lip. Laughing at him wouldn’t get the reaction she was after. Whoever he was, he wasn’t part of her fantasy. He was more like a nightmare. Where was her dream prince when she needed him?

  “Excuse me.” She hurried down the stairs past him.

  * * * * *

  Lips thinned, Raeder stayed in the shadows on the terrace. The usual mix of those anxious to be seen or to be with those worth seeing filled the ballroom.

  Suddenly she was there. She shimmered into being at the top of the steps. He didn’t just see her, he felt her. Desire sizzled through his veins. He wanted her.

  He watched the little Neurian approach her and fire burned in his gut. He’d like to hang the little male by the insubstantial jewels he was so intent on advertising.

  His gaze was drawn back to the woman.

  Aleea. The holo-images he’d studied hadn’t done her justice. She was small, delicate. Golden-brown hair fell to her waist. He wanted to grab her little pointed chin and force her to look at him, to acknowledge him as her rightful mate. She didn’t know it yet, but she was his.

  He wanted her. His cock was hard just from looking at her. He could imagine her channel, hot and tight, squeezing his erection. As small as she was, he would have to take her carefully, at first. Later it could be as fast and fierce as they both wanted it. And she would want it as rough and primal as he did.

  She looked like a living flame as she walked down the entrance steps. Her dress was vivid red, molded to her like a second skin. The skirt covered her thatch without an inch to spare. If she raised her arms, her nipples would spring free.

  He wanted to kill the men staring at her. They were thinking the same things he was. Would her breasts be creamy? How dark were her nipples? Would they be plump or thin, long or not?

  Her breasts would fill his mouth. How sensitive would her nipples be?

  He growled low in his throat and strode out of the shadows.

  Aleea stopped halfway down the stairs. The way everyone was watching her, she might as well be naked. She wanted to reach up and cover her breasts, but at the same time it made her stomach clench and her breasts tighten to have so many eyes on her. It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. Wouldn’t that surprise the people who knew her? She was the one who always stayed in the background.

  The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she shivered. Glancing over the crowd, she saw a huge, powerfully built man striding toward her. She felt his eyes rake her. His expression was unreadable, but she could feel his eyes on her breasts. Her nipples stabbed against the thin material of her dress. When his eyes dropped to her thighs, she grew moist.

  It couldn’t be Raeder? She was in trouble. He was huge. Male perfection from his chiseled features to his heavily muscled frame. Just looking at him made her melt inside. If he wasn’t Raeder, she wanted to change her fantasy. Whatever happened, she wanted him to be part of it. Lips trembling, she smiled.

  He didn’t smile back. The crowd parted before him.

  She pressed her hand to her suddenly queasy stomach. Stars, what was she supposed to do? What was she thinking? She wasn’t ready for this, wasn’t ready for him. He looked at her as if she belonged to him, as if she was his next meal.

  Heat built between her thighs. She pressed her legs together but that made it worse. She wouldn’t mind being his next meal. Talk about exciting, but scary too.

  She looked away and hurried down the steps. Shivers skated down her spine. She could feel his gaze like a touch. Even across the crowded room his presence was palpable. He was more man than she could handle even if he was only a fantasy. Yet she wanted to try. She hadn’t said a word to him and he was already the most interesting man she’d ever met.

  The choice of meeting him or not was taken from her.

  Raeder caught her arm and pressed his hand to the small of her back as she took a half-step back. He’d come to Mouria for her and he wouldn’t leave without her.

  He looked down at her and his cock gave a hard jerk. Her breasts and nipples were starkly outlined, more showcased than hidden by the flaming material. His mouth watered. He wanted her pebbled nipples in his mouth, to feel them against his tongue. They looked long and plump. Delicious.

  Staring up at him, her black eyes were huge and wary. He could feel her trembling even though her chin was lifted defiantly.

  He looked back toward the open doors to the terrace and the gardens. Outside she would be away from the hungry eyes watching her, exposed only for him.

  She tried to step back.

  He wrapped his arm around her waist. She wasn’t going anyw
here except with him. He wanted to lay her on the ground, pull the offending material from her breasts and feast on her. He wanted to suck the hard tips, to swallow her breasts whole.

  Teeth gritted, he controlled his thoughts. He could be a gentleman—for now!

  “Dance with me.”

  Aleea couldn’t catch her breath. Her coworkers would be shocked if they knew what she was thinking. She wanted to strip off her dress and bare her breasts to his hot eyes. She wanted to feel his lips sipping, his teeth biting, his mouth suckling. Her nipples were hard and hurting. And that wasn’t the only place she felt achy.

  Her sheath clenched. She was wet, hot. Her skin felt feverish, almost prickly. What would he do if she pushed her breasts against his heavily muscled chest? What would it be like to have his cock buried inside her?

  She’d never thought about doing anything so dangerous before. He was more man than she had ever imagined. Could she handle him?

  He stripped her with his crystal green eyes.

  If he wasn’t Raeder, it didn’t matter. She wanted him.

  “What’s your name?” she asked.

  He shuddered at the sound of her husky voice. He wanted to hear it again, to hear her moan his name as he drove his hard cock into her tight sheath. He’d never before experienced such instant need.

  “Raeder.”

  Her breath caught. It was him. Gabria should have warned her.

  His arm curved around her, his hand firm and hot on her backside. He took the decision to dance or not from her as he swept her onto the dance floor. It wasn’t enough but it would have to do for now. Soon, she would be naked, open, and ready for him.

  The music, dark and sensual, wrapped around them in a glide of notes as he caught her hand in his. He cupped her buttocks in one hand, squeezed as he pulled her snug against him. He breathed in her scent, felt it spread through his blood like an aphrodisiac. Where he was hard she was soft.

  His cock was rigid against her abdomen. As she moved her hips back and forth she rubbed against it. He felt huge. What would it feel like to have him inside, stretching her, making her feel like the only woman in the world? She’d read about women being with men like him. Now it was her turn.