Ruined Kingdom Read online

  This was uncharted territory, so Gypsy moved into Kharon’s thoughts, hoping, for once, that he was still nosing around in hers. Can I do this? Should I?

  Thankfully he was there for her.

  No one expects you to obey any societal rules, Gypsy. You have always done as you pleased, so why should now be any different? There will be talk, but you’re used to that. Be gentle with Falken. You are his first crush. When he marries out of duty and grows older, his heart will grow hard. You may be all he ever knows of love.

  Falken stepped in close, placing his palm against her cheek. Then he touched his lips to hers. It was a sweet, tender motion that surprised and moved her. Leaning his head close, his lips caressed hers playfully, tickling, teasing and delighting her. Gypsy’s breath escaped through her nose. The young warrior was tapping something delicate inside her that she wasn’t even aware she possessed. Aside from Kharon, he was the only other male who had ever made her feel softer and more feminine. Her pussy grew moist, throbbing in time to her racing pulse. Kissing him back, she pushed her body into his.

  Her thoughts suddenly shifted back to Kharon. This doesn't upset you? I don't want you to pull away from me again. I'll stop this if you want.

  In response, Gypsy could feel the humor in his thoughts. I am comfortable that no one can take away what we share. It is as unique as you are. I won't intrude into your feelings...unless you let me. Though, I will say there is not much else to entertain me out here in the woods.

  That made her smile. There was no reason to shut him out. If he didn't mind then she shouldn't either. You want a show? You're going to get one.

  “Are you going let me stay?” Falken whispered against her lips.

  Gypsy ran her fingers up into his thick dark hair as he ruggedly dragged his lips along her cheek to her jaw. Then his arms encircled her waist in a demanding embrace. His muscled body seemed to meld against hers while his hands found their way into her robe to massage her breasts. The dance of his mouth on the shell of her ear was charged further by the intensity of his erection pressing against her stomach.

  With a gentle but commanding force, he brought her with him as he went down to the stone floor. Pulling her tightly against him, he buried his face in her neck. His hands were roaming everywhere, arousing her more with every place they touched. Surrendering, she lost herself somewhere in the depths of his rising emotion. With the fervor of a freed prisoner he tugged open her robe then stripped off his own clothing, tearing a few gold buttons from his uniform.

  Falken kissed a trail of fire down the center of her body to her pussy, where he buried his tongue into her tender flesh, awakening a wildcat inside her. Sliding her fingers deeper into his hair she gripped his head, unable to get enough of his carnal attentions. Her climax was a fierce explosion of desperate need. Something in her mind roared to life and all she could think of was getting more and more from him.

  Grabbing his neck, Gypsy rolled him onto his back with such force that her nails left long, deep scratches. The fiery intensity of his movements calmed as she took over. The tautness in his muscles softened like she had taken a great burden from him. With her body still quaking from her first release, she straddled his hips and guided his hard cock into her. Her skin became an instrument of pleasure so sensitive that all time and scenery melted away. Relentlessly she rode him through several tempestuous climaxes until they were both drenched in each other's sweat, too spent to go on.

  As she lay in his arms, hating the hardness of the floor, both her body and mind were numb from exhaustion. Once again he had made her feel damn good. Mirthfully she hoped Kharon enjoyed the show.

  Since Kharon had been cured of Serillian Fever, no one but Doctor Krull knew how deep her connection with her husband went. If it became common knowledge that they could see and feel each other's thoughts and emotions, things could get even weirder. After an awkward discussion with the good doctor, they all agreed not to share this information with anyone, not even their families.

  “You still haven't answered me,” he asked after his panting had slowed to calmer breaths.

  “About what?” Gypsy was still lazily enjoying the afterglow of their encounter and wished he wouldn't ruin it by talking.

  Sighing in his usual impatient way, he brought her hand up to his mouth and pressed a rough kiss onto the back of it. “The Imperial ball tonight. What's the matter? Does a little sex empty your head?”

  “I see now that you have orgasmed you don't feel the need to be nice to me anymore. Sure, I guess I'll go.” She was trying to sound casual while running her index finger along the angry, crimson scratches that started at his jaw line and pulled down the side of his neck.

  Her lips pulled down slightly. “I'm sorry I clawed you up. I didn't mean to leave something so...visible.”

  Falken leaned down and caressed his lips against her temple, grinning. “I'm not. These aren't wounds I'm ashamed to show.”

  They both got up and Gypsy watched him dress. She pulled her robe back up over her shoulders but didn't refasten it. Once again she was caught in a torrent of so many emotions.

  He came over and gave her a smoldering kiss. Then he broke it off and just held her for a few more moments. “I'll see you later tonight. Don't worry. We’ll have fun.”

  “I suppose I have to wear a ball gown?” she said laughing.

  When he smiled back, he was so bloody handsome she could almost forget what an ass he could be.

  “Gypsy, you could show up completely naked and I'd be one happy warrior. Wear a gown, your uniform, whatever makes you happy.”

  Chapter 11

  Gypsy came in through the frosted glass doors of the hospital and was shocked by all the mess and chaos. Intricate medical equipment had been disconnected and piled into the hallway. Packing crates were strewn all over the white tile floors and metal countertops. Several of the builder's employees were dismantling nurse stations and taking down the embedded wall monitors that tracked all of the patients on a given floor. The few patients still there were outside their rooms lying on transport gurneys or sitting in waiting room chairs because their beds and monitoring equipment had been removed. Some very pensive looking medics tended to them.

  Down the hall, her mother could be heard arguing with someone. There was an exasperated fury to her tone that Gypsy had never heard directed at anyone...well, anyone but her father. She follwed the raucous sounds around a corner and ran into her brother, Desmond, standing guard outside his wife's room.

  Desmond glared at everyone that passed by and kept a hand on the pommel of his sword. His handsome face was worn and angry and his body language hummed with barely restrained violence. Being only slightly smaller than their father, anyone who did venture past him immediately looked to the floor and quickened their pace. He was still in uniform and armor instead of civilian clothes. His long, dirty blond hair was tied back in a loose ponytail except for the two traditional temple braids worn by most warriors. He looked like he was about to deliver the killing blow in an arena fight and Gypsy was almost afraid to talk to him. She pulled in a deep breath through her nostrils and decided to risk the most important question at the time.

  Gypsy peeked around her brother into the room. “How’s Scarlet?”

  Desmond glanced over his shoulder into the room where his wife lay sleeping. Next to her bed was an incubator with a smallish Kirillian-looking baby in it. The child, too, was asleep. Obviously no one dared take Scarlet or the baby’s hospital bed or equipment.

  One of the builder's employees trotted past. Desmond scowled at him. When the man was gone, he finally said, “Your mom said she's stable...for now. She just got out of surgery.”

  Gypsy was afraid to ask for more details. Her brother looked way too fragile to answer any more questions about his wife's health, so she left it alone and changed the subject.

  “What’s going on with the hospital? Why is everything being taken out?”

  “Megolyth is too fucking busy redecorating the p
alace to pay his bills. Neither the builder nor the Kirillian technicians have been paid in months.”

  Almost on cue, a Kirillian man with frost-white hair cut down to his scalp came storming down the hall with her mother in fast pursuit. Harlan looked like she hadn’t slept in days. With her lab coat flying behind her like a white cape, she jogged beside him to keep up with the man's big strides. Harlan was yelling, switching back and forth between AEssyrian and Kirillian.

  Harlan was trying desperately to reason with him. She pleaded that patients would die if they continued to remove equipment from the surgery and recovery rooms. Gypsy only knew some Kirillian, mostly swear words that her brother had taught her. But she did understand the words for please, time, and anyone could make out the name Megolyth. It wasn't hard to figure out that her mom was begging the man to wait until she could talk to the Emperor. Both disappeared around another corner, their voices still rising as they struggled to shout over each other.

  Gypsy turned her attention back to Desmond. She decided to broach her other pressing concern.

  “What about Gavin? On my way over here one of the soldiers told me he heard a rumor he has been arrested.”

  Desmond let out a long, exaggerated sigh like he was trying to forget about this new source of stress. “That is not a rumor. He was arrested last night while Scarlet was in surgery. His Royal Fuckness is holding him in the cells under the palace.”

  Her gut tightened. “Is he okay? I can't imagine after last year's events he went without a fight.”

  “Unfortunately for Gavin, the Guard Captain on duty this time was actually smart. They went to Fossix and collected Missy as a hostage. They would have killed her if he hadn't surrendered.”

  A headache threatened over the bridge of her nose. “They didn't hurt her did they?”

  “Not physically, but the whole thing was pretty traumatic for her. Harlan told Missy to hide in the room with Scarlet.”

  Gypsy could barely contain her fury. All she could envision was cutting Megolyth's fucking throat. She took another peek around her brother into Scarlet’s room. Gypsy spotted her baby sister sitting in a chair with her knees pulled up under her tunic. Only the lower part of her brown boots stuck out. The chair was in a corner of the room not easily seen from the hall. Missy’s small arms hugged her shins as she gazed solemnly out the window. The little girl looked so sad and lost, Gypsy’s heart broke.

  “I'm going to go in and sit with her for a few minutes.”

  “Good idea. I haven't been much of a comfort to her because I am not moving until these vultures pack up their shit and get the fuck out of here for the day. Krull told me that the plundering usually ends by lunch time. They'll be back tomorrow for more stuff. Pretty soon there isn't going to be enough left in this place to even call it a hospital. What a waste.”

  “Does my mom know about Gavin yet?” The rock of fear in her was literally painful. I can't believe this is happening again.

  “I told her when she came out of surgery. She was upset but said her first priority was to make sure Scarlet and the baby were stable. As if things didn't suck enough, that white-haired Kirillian shows up to take more of his equipment back. If your mom hadn’t intervened, I would have filleted that asshole and tossed his remains in a boar pen.”

  “What is she going to do about Gavin?”

  “She hasn't said. What can she do? All I've seen her do is fight with the Kirillian and tend to Scarlet and the baby. My guess is she will appeal to Megolyth for Gavin's release.”

  Gypsy spoke through her teeth. “You should have accidentally killed that piece of shit during one of your training sessions.”

  “Keep your voice down,” Desmond growled. He shoved her roughly into Scarlet's room. “You’ll get us all arrested if you start spouting treason. Gavin’s fate will affect what happens to the rest of us. You are a Theron. That family name binds us to Gavin through his reputation, enemies, and alliances, whether you like it or not. Sometimes it's an asset; most times it's a liability. Now shut your mouth, use your head, and go see to Missy.”

  Desmond had really pissed her off because he was right. So she went to comfort her sister. Having essentially been an only child for over twenty-five years, Gypsy loved having a little sister. It was almost like having her own child. When she and Kharon had conflicting duty times, she would often collect Missy and take her for a ride or to browse in the city shops. Sometimes she would even take her to Fossix to play on the beach.

  Sadness filled Gypsy as she remembered a spirited debate she'd had with her father not long ago. The bastard had baited her by commenting on how well she tended to Missy and how close they were. Naturally that was followed by the suggestion that she and Kharon start having children of their own. Jokingly, sort of, she'd replied that he could just give her Missy and save her the down time of a pregnancy. Gavin didn’t take her playful ribbing well. Even though he was stone sober, he had icily dismissed her from his office and given her a shit duty to perform as punishment. What a spiteful bastard he was.

  But it had driven home the realization of just how very special Missy was to him. Gypsy accepted and understood his need to have the child’s innocence in his life. Oddly, it hadn’t made her jealous. Gypsy loved her baby sister more than she thought it possible to love any child that wasn't her own. Hopefully Missy would have a better relationship with their father than she'd had.

  Her father had such a long and complicated history with his children. It had taken almost two centuries for him to value her brother Desmond as both a loyal son and an excellent soldier. Desmond had left Kirillia and came to live on AEssyria at the age of thirteen. His mother had sent him to live with his father, Gavin, who at the time was more interested in conquests than kids. To this day Desmond swore the harsh training methods inflicted on him by Gavin were better than the life he left behind. Gypsy had wanted to know more, but that was all she could ever get out of him regarding his early childhood. If you wanted to shut Desmond down, all you had to do was question him about his life with his mother. He wouldn’t talk to you for days after.

  As for her, Gypsy had been lucky in her relationship with him. Gavin, who had at first opposed her chosen career, eventually gave in. If her father had continued to fight her she would have eventually lost. Her father's entire career had been built on wearing down and destroying all who stood against him. He always won. Gypsy would have become just another opponent to be vanquished. As traumatic as the rape she suffered at the hands of a senior warrior was, it had enraged her father enough to relent to training her. He wanted the fucker dead by Gypsy’s hand and would do anything to ensure it happened. It was both loving and proprietary.

  Gypsy moved quietly through the room so as not to wake Scarlet or the infant. She picked Missy up out of the chair, sat down, and put her sister on her lap, enveloping her in a warm embrace. Missy pushed her face into Gypsy's uniform jacket and cried silently.

  “They took him away,” she hiccupped out.

  “I know. Desmond told me. Don't worry, we'll go get him back and everything will be okay.” Gypsy wasn't sure who she was trying to reassure more, Missy or herself.

  The last time Gavin had been arrested by Megolyth, the Emperor had come very close to executing him...too close. Those fears resurfaced, but Gypsy remained positive for Missy's sake. To create a sense of normalcy, Gypsy raked her nails through her sister's blonde locks and wove them into an intricate braid. When she'd finished, she secured the bottom with a leather tie. Missy calmed, but the somberness remained.

  Missy looked almost as human as Gypsy and her mother. But like Gypsy, Missy's growth rate was that of a pure AEssyrian child. To Gypsy, Missy looked to be the size of most children her age. AEssyrian children experienced growth acceleration, and since Missy was a half-breed, she would go through that too. The quick development meant that AEssyrian children weren’t vulnerable for long. A human child of the same age as Missy would barely be walking by now. In fact, it would only be babbling a few wo
rds, and certainly not eating meat strips for lunch. Gypsy wondered how children on Earth survived being helpless for so long. It amazed her that humans hadn't gone extinct by now.

  Human DNA always threw a wrench into the breeding mix. Gypsy thought about Desmond's son who, although human, Kirillian, and only a fraction AEssyrian, still needed a much longer gestation than any AEssyrian or Kirillian child. His development took so long he almost killed Scarlet and had to be surgically removed from her. Maybe that was a good thing. At least it increased his chance for survival.

  “Are you hungry? I may have a few snacks left in my saddlebag,” Gypsy said.

  Missy shook her head and remained silent. Gypsy lifted the little girl off of her lap and placed her back in the chair. “I'm going to go find mom. I'll be back.”

  The little girl didn't answer, just resumed her previous position and went back to staring out the window.

  While Gypsy was comforting her sister, the fight between her mother and the Kirillian contractor had stopped. Gypsy wondered if some agreement had been reached or if the man had just called it quits for the day. She squeezed out of the room, past her brother, and headed straight for her mother’s office. As she approached she noticed a large male standing in the hallway outside. A chill encircled her heart. At first she thought it was her evil grandfather, Titan, but she couldn’t be sure. She quickened her pace. As she drew closer she realized it wasn’t. The male was speaking to her mom in soft, warm tones through the open office door. Then she recognized him. It was her Uncle Dragon. An icy shudder ran across her shoulder blades and tingled down her spine.

  Dragon looked surprisingly normal since she’d seen him during the Serillian Fever outbreak. His appearance was a huge contrast to the first time she'd laid eyes on him all those months ago. Back then he’d looked like a complete madman. Today he wore a black, faded, long-sleeved shirt with charcoal grey pants and short black boots. The shirt was thin and showed wear around the buttons where small holes speckled the fabric. Instead of his usual creepy arthritic hunch, he stood tall with his head up. Gypsy noted that he had gained a lot of muscle over the past few months which suited him. There was an eerie resemblance to both Gavin and Titan without favoring either. But like both those males, he definitely had a presence, only in Dragon’s case it was the frightening dark whisper of hidden madness.