Journal

Monday, January 09, 2006

Chapter One of Christmas King

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Once upon a time on the planet Warcon…

There was a mighty warrior and prince named Alcron, part the prehistoric beast of his heritage and part the man of evolution. He was the only Warcon born part Warcon and part Fae, possessing the strength of three human males and the speed of a lethal panther. This Prince was a brave creature who would one day be King. A magical being only beginning to know the full potential of his skills. And he was a sexual creature. One who could only control his beast so long without claiming his true mate. Until that day, Alcron had to wait. To endure. To battle his beast.
Alcron, like all the Warcon and Fae, could have lived for centuries. But over time the man would die, and the animal inside would eventually gain control. The beast would then be put to death, his heir assuming the role of King. It had happened to all the Warcon leaders except Alcron’s father.
See, Alcron’s father had done the unthinkable, throwing away convention, and claiming a Fae as a mate. He’d insisted this Fae beauty called to him, both man and beast. That she was his perfect woman, capable of proving the Warcon male was not destined to destruction and death. With this act, by claiming a Fae rather than a Warcon wife, a miracle had occurred. The beast in the king had calmed, leaving peace for the man within.
Logic said Alcron could find his perfect mate in Fae, especially being half Fae himself. But as time pressed onward, no mate appeared. Just when his beast began to pull him beneath in dark victory, hope emerged. Alcron knew the moment his perfect mate was born. Felt it in every inch of his existence. It no longer mattered that his wilder side raged with a passion to steal his honor, threatening his existence. Somehow, Alcron would survive until his mate, who bore the name Alexis, achieved the age of twenty-five. Not until then was it safe for a Fae to mate. But knowing he had found Alexis, and made his claim on her, receiving her parents’ approval for their future union, brought comfort to Alcron.
And so time progressed, and Alexis grew. Alcron’s people knew nothing of his battle to control the beast. They saw only a brilliant young leader who stood by his father’s side.
Everything should have been a fairy tale from there. A handsome prince who knew he would one day claim his princess and show her the meaning of happily ever after. But there was darkness in the future. His battle for happiness had only just begun. For when Alexis was a mere three years old, a violent attack by the Warcon’s deadly enemy left both Alcron and Alexis without parents, forcing him into the role of king without his queen. With most of the Fae also destroyed, Alcron had no choice but to hide his future queen until she came of age to mate.
To protect both his princess and the ability to produce a future heir to the Kingdom, Alcron chose Earth as the shelter for his beloved mate. With Alexis, Alcron sent a powerful elder Fae to act as Guardian Angel. Now, Alcron waits for his mate, battling his beast, impatient for the day his princess will become his queen.

Chapter One

Alexis Martin plugged in the Christmas lights and stared at the tree, now twinkling in various colors. Today was her birthday, but she felt no joy. Only pain over losing a loved one.
With a twist of her stomach, she reached for the angel tree topper and pushed to her tiptoes. Her grandmother had loved that Angel, just as she loved Christmas. A tear trickled down Alexis’ cheek as she thought of the past week’s events. A small funeral with only close friends and a good-bye to the only person she’d ever called family since losing her parents in a car accident when she was an infant. And Christmas only two days away.
Decorating the tree was meant to honor her grandmother. A private way of saying how much she missed her. How much her grandmother had touched her life. With a loud sigh and heaviness in her heart, Alexis walked to the darkened kitchen, not bothering with the light. She didn’t have to. For some reason she’d never discovered, she could see even without lights. Complete darkness did nothing to dim her vision. Her grandmother had told her it was a family gene.
Alexis pulled open the refrigerator door and retrieved a jug of eggnog. Alexis set the container on the counter and eyed the symbol on her left arm. Her fingers traced the dark ridges of the black, half circle. It looked like a tattoo that she didn’t get finished, like a half moon that hadn’t been completed. Her grandmother claimed it to be a birthmark, but Alexis knew better. The mark was too perfect. Too much like artwork. Somehow, she knew it was some sort of symbol and the secret to why she felt so different from others. With a heavy sigh, Alexis grabbed a mug and poured her drink, thinking of the lectures her grandmother had given her often.
People turn things they don’t understand into problems. It’s best for your safety you keep your differences secret. One day, when the time is right, I will tell you more of your family history. Then you will understand.
She played the words over again as she replaced the carton in the refrigerator and blew a lock of long red hair from her eyes. Leaning on the counter, palms on the edge, Alexis let her head drop between her shoulders. She’d never understand her differences. Her one link to her true origins had left her with no hope of answers. So many times she’d wanted to push her grandmother, even tried. Her response had always been the same. When you are ready. Have faith.
And Alexis had listened and believed. But that was then and this was now. With no ties to the past and no real ties to the present, she felt like a ship out of water. She grabbed her mug and walked back to the coziness of the tiny living room. Though their apartment was small, it had always felt like home. Big cushioned couches in warm browns, matching chairs and a fireplace often in use, comforting and calming even in the toughest of times.
Sinking onto the couch and curling her bare feet to the side, Alexis sipped from her mug and stared into the crackling fire. Over the years she had made friends, but the secrets she held often felt like obstacles. Holly, the one person she would call close, had recently married and moved ninety miles away. Still, Holly had come to the funeral and stayed with Alexis as long as she could. Since her departure, the emptiness inside had grown and taken a more raw form.
Swallowing another sip of her drink, Alexis set it on the table. She had an interview the next day for a teaching job, but she really wanted to cancel it. She wasn’t herself. Yes, that’s exactly what she’d do—cancel and hit the library. She looked at her wrist. Somewhere in some book, she’d find the meaning of the mark on her arm. And she wouldn’t stop looking until she did.
For the first time in days, her eyes felt heavy. Not wanting to go to her room, she grabbed the crocheted blanket her grandmother had made off the back of the couch and lay down. As her eyes drifted shut, she prayed her dream lover, the one who’d been visiting for as long as she could remember, would come to her. Alcron.. Her dark hero, her warrior. Her mind conjured his image. Long dark hair, wildly framing his strong jaw and high cheek bones. A smile touched her lips, even as heaviness claimed her body. He had a body of steel and the sensual touch bred of something magical. He was her secret escape. Sadness slipped into her happier thoughts of Alcron and the pleasure and comfort he often gifted her with.
Because now, her dream lover, someone not quite real, but not quite imaginary either, was all she had left.
* * * * *
“Alexis.”
She heard his voice, the deep resonating sound like music playing in her dream. Alexis sighed, enjoying the sweet bliss of slumber and the escape it offered from so many days of pain. Alcron.
“Hello, Princess.” The words were spoken near her ear, the warm trickle of his breath teasing her neck. Alexis turned toward him, finding him sitting on the edge of the couch, his muscular body nude and as perfect as a fine work of art. No human was made as fine as he. No man of flesh and blood. But in her fantasy world, she could conjure perfection and had been for years.
His hand slid to her cheek. “You are in pain.”
Reaching for him, her fingers settled on his wrist and she leaned into his palm. The sharing of mutual touch brought comfort. He felt so alive. So real. “I’m better now. Much better.”
“There is much we have to discuss, Princess.”
She laughed. Over the years he often talked her through her tough times. Even as a small child, before their relationship had turned sexual, he’d comforted her. She’d aged, but he’d remained the same. “Conversation isn’t what I need tonight.”
“It is time—”
Sitting up, she pressed her lips to his, cutting off his words. Needing the passion and tenderness of his lovemaking. No. She wanted him to show the wildness of his beast. The part of him that took her and claimed her as his. She needed to feel…taken. Like she belonged somewhere. With someone. For an instant he hesitated, but the second her tongue slid past his teeth, his resistance faded. With a low growl, he claimed her mouth, his hands sliding around her body and pulling her close. And just like that, her nightgown disappeared. God, how she loved his magical way of undressing her.
Pressing into him, she tried to get closer. “I need you,” she whispered into his mouth. “I am yours. I always have been. Just as you are mine.”
“I wish that were true,” she said, breathless as emotion and desired welled inside. If only he were real. If only she could be his.
“You are mine,” he replied, conviction low and intense in his voice. “You know I speak the truth.” But instead of holding her tighter, he moved away, his actions contrasting his words. He sat on the far end of the couch, putting distance between them, leaving her aching for his touch. And she knew why. He was proving a point. That she had to go to him. That she would. Because she couldn’t help herself.
Alexis shifted to her knees, biting her bottom lip as she stared at Alcron, knowing the truth in his challenge. Not caring. Feeling desire burn in the ache between her thighs and the tightening of her nipples. She wanted to be his. And though this was a dream, she had no problem slipping into the fantasy. Here she felt safe. Strong. Like she belonged.
He sat there, arms on the back of the couch, cock thick with arousal, looking like some sort of warrior prince. She licked her bottom lip, watching his erection bob in response. Her eyes lifted to his, and she smiled. She loved knowing she affected him.
Extending her arm, she wrapped her palm around his width, feeling him pulse beneath her skin. The temptation to lean over and draw him into her mouth called to her, but tonight, she wanted him inside her.
“I missed you,” Alexis said, spreading the dampness on the tip of his cock. “It’s been days—”
“That felt like lifetimes,” he responded, his hand closing over hers and urging her to stroke his length.
She did as he wished and scooted closer to him, leaning so that her mouth lingered just inches from his. “Why didn’t you come to me?”
“I was never far away.” His hand slid to the side of her face and then into her hair. He pulled her lips to his. For long moments they simply held the position, and it felt as if they were absorbing each other.
Alexis settled her hands on his shoulders and climbed on top of him, straddling his hips, feeling his hard length against her ass. The look in his eyes, sizzling with desire, made her skin warm even more than the caress of his hands up her back. His gaze held heat. Fire. And…love. So much so that she shivered with excitement and emotions, yet, at the same time, burned with desire and yearning.
When his mouth claimed hers, hungrily devouring her as if he was a starving man taking what he needed, she thought she might catch fire. She needed this in a way she’d never been able to understand. It had been years since she’d tried. Still, each time she dreamt of him, felt him touch her, tasted his unique male flavor, she marveled at the absoluteness of her pleasure. At the completeness of the minutes spent with him.
He made her feel whole.
“Take me inside you,” he ordered in a husky voice.
She didn’t argue. His hands went to her waist, and he urged her into position. Alexis wrapped his shaft with her fingers and guided him to her core, sliding the top of his erection into her body. Anticipation had her anxious. Desire drove her wild. Slow wasn’t an option. She took his cock in one long slide and settled him deep in her core. He pressed downward on her hips and lunged upward in one grinding move. “This is where I belong. You are mine.” Possessiveness came from him in the husky declaration, and she felt his cock thicken inside her, as if the thought of owning her made him hotter.
It certainly did her. Her arms went around his neck. “Yes,” she whispered, the pleasure of his words, along with the hard pulse of him inside her, making it hard to keep her eyes open.
He pulled her mouth to his, hungrily taking it as he palmed her breasts and pinched her nipples with hard tugs. Just the way she liked it. He knew her so well, she thought, arching into his touch. He was the reason no flesh and blood man had ever drawn her desire. And deep inside, she knew a fantasy man shouldn’t own her, yet, allowing another to be this intimate felt wrong. Even unwanted.
There was something different about him tonight, she realized, as he molded her breasts against the dark hair of his chest and began to rock. In slow caresses, his cock moved against her inner wall, pushing her excitement higher, making her burn for more. Her body gushed around him, muscles tightening, hips rocking.
Frenzy built between them. A flurry of urgency expressed in a rush of touches, a press of bodies. Inside her he moved. Inside her he breathed. It was as if he existed as a second part of her. Yet still, she ached for more. She couldn’t move fast enough, take him deep enough. She could simply never get enough.
And then, out of nowhere, the rise toward orgasm came upon Alexis. “No,” she cried out, desperate to stop it. Not wanting this to end. But it was too late. The room twinkled, her vision going blank as the first wave of pleasure literally shook her body. What she felt was nothing shy of explosive. She seemed to travel to a different place, to a far-off distant land where pleasure ruled and nothing else mattered.
A low growl came from Alcron and, hands on her hips, he lifted his body as he pulled her down his shaft. Alexis started on the downward slide from bliss, sinking against him and burying her face in his neck. The warmth of his release spilling inside her brought a different kind of satisfaction. A feeling of completeness at their shared release.
When finally his body calmed, he stroked her back with his hand. Touched her hair. Kissed her cheek. With a smile on her lips, she let him maneuver their bodies to lie down. She curled under his arm, half on top of him, and for the first time in days, Alexis slipped into peaceful sleep.
* * * * *
The dark-haired sorcerer, Gamlin, stood inside a circle of truth. A circle drawn with blood and rich with answers. Incense filled the air, rich with the taint of a bittersweet bite.
“The Fae guarding the princess has been dealt with,” Gamlin stated. “She will no longer shield the Princess from my vision.”
Coplan, the leader of the planet Rosmon, smiled at the good news. This confirmed that his quest to control Warcon, his neighboring planet, was close to completion. For years, the final fall of Warcon had depended on the destruction of the last female capable of producing an heir. The mate of Alcron would soon be his. Coplan’s rebels had weakened the Warcon king’s resources. And without his mate, the King would lose the battle against the primitive beast merged within his being.
Already, King Alcron grew weak, his beast tearing at him, begging for life. The Warcon people saw these changes and grew uneasy. How Alcron had managed without his mate for so many years, Coplan had no clue. “Where is she?” Coplan demanded of the sorcerer.
Gamlin fixed him in a hard stare, pure evil in his eyes. “Mind your tongue. I am not an animal like the Warcons to be ordered about. You are lucky I hate them as much as you do. Otherwise, it might be you I make crumble.”
“But you do.” Coplan sneered. “The Warcon killed your son for sorcery as they killed my father in war. I will deliver your revenge, just as I will see my father’s wish to control Warcon come to life.” He paused to let his words take root. “So where is she? I will retrieve the princess personally.”
Long minutes later, the location of the princess established, Coplan smiled. The great beauty and power of the Fae Princess would soon be his. He’d claim Alexis as his Queen. The thought brought great satisfaction. Nothing would destroy the Warcon more than to have his woman not only controlled, but pleasured, by his worst enemy.
Perhaps he’d even make Alcron watch.

Posted by Lisa Renee Jones :: 8:17 PM :: 0 comments