Chaos Born: A Sci-Fi Menage Romance (Warriors of the Seven Stars Book 2) Read online

  From the little I could see, the temple was empty, except for a raised dais under the center of the dome with what looked like a throne atop it. Huge braziers surrounded the dais, piled with glowing hunks of incense. It smelled exotic, like the whiff I got of the goods from a spice market I passed in the city. Smoke from the braziers hung in a cloud around the dais, obscuring my view. Was there a statue on the throne?

  I came closer and nearly cried out in fright when the statue moved. Stretched out a hand and beckoned me nearer.

  Then I saw it wasn’t a statue. It was a woman. A beautiful woman in a long purple gown with silver-blonde hair flowing nearly to her waist.

  “Who are you? What is this place?”

  “I told you before. My name is not important. This is the temple of the Goddess.”

  Told me before? I rubbed my forehead. My mind was playing tricks on me again. Maybe I was delirious and this all an illusion. Even now, my body might be lying at the foot of the cliff where I collapsed, life seeping away.

  “This is no illusion.” She spoke as though she’d read my mind. “You told the Goddess you want to be a great warrior. The greatest warrior who ever lived. I believe those were your exact words.”

  Her appearance had changed, but I recognized the slightly mocking tone of her voice. It was the old woman who called herself the Oracle.

  “You! You heartless bitch!” I charged at the dais, ready to throttle her, female or not.

  She waved a hand, and suddenly my feet were rooted to the spot.

  “Let me go! I swear by all the gods, I’ll send you to the seventh hell for what you did to me!”

  She laughed. A full-throated hearty laugh. “You made it, didn’t you? Now tell me, what did you learn?”

  “I learned I hate you,” I spat.

  She was unfazed. “Hate alone is not enough to make a warrior great. What else?”

  “I learned not to drink all my water the first day,” I shot back.

  “Self-control. Planning for the unknown. Good. What else?”

  I remembered the scarf and how the memory of my mother made me rise and keep going when I wanted to lie down and die. How despite exhaustion and fear, I climbed a cliff I thought unsurmountable.

  “I learned…I learned I can keep going far beyond what I ever dreamed I could.”

  “Congratulations, young warrior. You passed your first test.”

  Thus began my training.

  Chapter One

  Melisandre

  Drums.

  I heard the faint sound when I entered the temple. A slow, somber beat, muffled, like the leather-wrapped head of a long stick striking an animal hide stretched over a hollowed-out log.

  At first I thought it was the pounding in my head. Goddess knows, it hurt badly. I’d fought my first real battle, felt the weight of deciding life or death for another living being. Faced a fiery doom at the hands of my lover, the dragon lord, then watched him consumed by flame when I defended myself with a power I never knew I possessed. Ended with another unbelievable flight on the back of a mythical beast.

  All in all, it had been a hellish night. All I wanted to do was curl up in Drayke’s arms and sleep, safe in the fortress hidden deep within the heart of Mt. Jarazal.

  I’d left my dragon lord outside, on the wide terrace in front of the doors to the temple where he’d shift back to his human form. Though he said it grew easier each time, I knew the process was still painful. I couldn’t bear to watch.

  While I waited, I wandered through the temple.

  Something was different. I didn’t realize what it was until I drew near the dais. The throne was gone. In its place stood a stone altar. Two objects lay on it, side by side.

  I moved closer. Ventured up the steps of the dais for the first time. The faint sound grew louder when I picked up the object nearest me. As if a second drum had taken up the slow, steady beat.

  It was a diamond, the largest I’d ever seen, fashioned with an intricate multifaceted design. When I lifted it from the table, the facets caught the light streaming in from the opening in the dome above. Glittering rays danced around the room and for the first time, I saw symbols carved in a relief running along the top of the walls. The same figures, repeated over and over. A stylized dragon, breathing fire. A wave cresting. A spiral that seemed to whirl as I watched, like a tornado, with a winged upright figure in its center. But it was the last that drew my eye. A rough dark chunk of rock, protruding from the wall, studded with a diamond as big as the one in my hand.

  It caught the sparkle of light from the one I held, sent it shooting around the room. Picking up the reflection, sending it from wall to wall until the entire ceiling filled with dazzling rays of sun, illuminating the golden dome.

  I gasped. Every rock in the frieze held a huge diamond in its center.

  Power so great it can turn a lump of coal into a priceless jewel. The power of the earth. The second element the Lord of Darkness seeks.

  I heard the voice of the oracle so clearly, I whirled around, certain she was somewhere in the shadows. But the temple was empty.

  I put the diamond down, and the sparkling rays disappeared.

  The second item was a scroll, so old and fragile it crumbled in my hands as I unrolled it. But not before I read the words inscribed there.

  Fate whispers to the warrior,

  “You cannot defeat the storm.”

  The warrior whispers back,

  “I am the storm.”

  I heard footsteps and turned around with a smile. But it wasn’t Drayke coming toward me.

  More invisible drums took up the rhythm, the sound echoing off the walls. The stranger walked in time with their cadence, as though they beat to herald his arrival.

  He looked like the hero stepped from the pages of an epic tale. Broad chest, bare and glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. A dark half-tunic slung around his narrow hips, sandals held on by thick leather thongs that crisscrossed up his calves. He had a long blue cloak tossed over his shoulders, and gold cuffs as wide as the palm of his hand circled his thick wrists. A huge sword hung from the belt around his waist, and I saw the hilt of a dagger protruding on his other side.

  He stood head and shoulders above the average man in our kingdom. A rough stubble couldn’t hide the square jawline and chiseled planes of his face. The faint line of a scar on one cheek that ran from ear to jaw didn’t detract from his looks but rather added a dash of bravado, though he cut such an imposing figure he didn’t need it. He had a high forehead and dark, thick hair down to his shoulders. I wondered how it would feel to run my fingers through it.

  As he came closer, I saw he wore a medallion around his neck. A silver disc on a silver chain, surrounding a black hunk of rock with a glittering diamond in its center, as big as the one I’d held in my hand moments ago.

  The drums beat louder and faster as he came up the steps to where I stood, towering above me. I felt their deep vibrations flowing through me. Keeping time with my heartbeat, suddenly racing.

  The stranger took a knee but didn’t incline his head. Instead, his deep-blue eyes looked straight at me, unfazed by my royal title. I knew instantly this man bowed to no one.

  His gaze traveled up and down my body, lingering on my breasts, before returning to my face. I glanced down and realized my nipples were visible under the thin white shirt I wore, standing out in hard little peaks from the cold wind hitting me as I rode on the dragon’s back.

  He raised one eyebrow and gave me a wicked smile. In the past, I’d have called his behavior arrogant. Insolent. But the rhythm of the drums was stirring a dark desire deep in my core, as raw and savage as their primitive beat. The wanton wench Drayke’s passion had awakened within me responded with a shiver of lust.

  “Forgive my appearance, my queen. My journey was arduous.”

  The drumbeat quickened, rising to a crescendo. Sending the vibrations thrumming through my entire body. He showed no notice, an
d suddenly I wondered if only I could hear it.

  I didn’t recognize the stranger’s voice, or his face. But I knew those deep blue eyes. I’d seen them before. Here in this very temple. They were the eyes of a shadowy figure the oracle showed me that night long ago. The eyes of the warrior.

  The One the Goddess decreed would join me in my battle – and in my bed.

  Chapter two

  Melisandre

  I forced myself to ignore the savage drumbeat stirring a wave of lust inside me. Or was it the thought of being fucked by this arrogant stranger?

  “You have the advantage of me, sir. You know who I am, but we have not been formally introduced.”

  He rose and took my hand. Brought it to his lips, his blue eyes boring into mine. Stripping away all my defenses.

  “I am Magnus Markhan of Linderal, Warrior of the Seven Stars.”

  I was familiar with Linderal, and with the name Markhan. As a young girl, I’d visited Markhan Manor with my father on one of his many journeys through the kingdom. Papa made a point of checking on the welfare of his subjects personally instead of relying on reports from advisors. The man before me looked to be about ten years older than I was, and I didn’t recall hearing about a Markhan male who was a warrior, famous or not.

  His hand held mine possessively, the grip more forceful than polite society would condone. Though his lips were warm, the intimate touch of them on my skin sent a shiver down my spine.

  “Warrior of the Seven Stars? You say that as though it were a title bestowed on you.”

  “It is, my lady.”

  I shook my head. Not only arrogant but a liar as well. This was the man the Goddess chose to aid me in my Quest? To join me in my bed? “There is no such title in our kingdom.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “I beg to differ, my lady. For here I stand.”

  Yes. There he stood, exuding raw masculinity from every pore. I pulled my fingers away, tucked both thumbs into my belt with my elbows sticking out like a cocky lad, to keep him from seeing how much my hands were shaking.

  “Pray tell, who bestowed this title on you? It wasn’t my father the king – and I am certain I did not.”

  “That is true, my lady. The Goddess herself granted me the name.” He swept an arm around the temple. “Right here. I knelt on these very steps.”

  The Goddess herself. I sighed. Was every man the Oracle chose for me raving mad? I glanced around. Thank heavens Drayke would be coming in soon. I might need his dragon to protect me from this huge lunatic.

  “So you’ve met the Goddess?”

  “I’ve met her priestess. The Oracle. You’ve met her, too. It was she who conveyed the words of the Goddess to me. She is the living representation of the Goddess here in our world.”

  “Yes, so she says,” I replied drily.

  The grin he gave me was genuine. “She can be infuriating, can’t she? Many times I couldn’t decide whether to kneel before her obediently or grab her around the neck and throttle her. Especially during the long years of training she put me through.”

  The disarming smile, the deep, rich voice, pulled me in as though we shared a bond. And perhaps we did. We’d both been victims of the oracle’s mysterious machinations, our lives taken hostage by her powers and prophecies.

  My curiosity was aroused. When I met her, the old crone didn’t look capable of teaching combat skills. “What kind of training did she give you?”

  He gave a dismissive huff. “Give me? At the time, it didn’t seem like much of a gift. I’m still not certain I’d call it that. It was more like a series of trials to see just how much punishment a body and mind can bear.”

  I thought of Drayke, the agony I’d seen him endure when he first shifted into his dragon. “Do you take on another form?”

  He shook his head. “No, my lady. The Goddess did not grant me that blessing. I have been trained in the ways of a warrior.”

  “I’m not sure I’d call the ability to shift a blessing,” I replied, shaking my head. I remembered the unearthly scream my dragon lord uttered as the fire of transformation burned his flesh the first time. “So – you’re a soldier.”

  “Not a soldier. I am the Warrior of the Seven Stars.”

  I was growing a bit tired of his arrogant attitude. He showed very little deference to his queen. I decided to put him in his place. “You’ve been trained in combat by an old woman? I have had training as well. By the master of my Royal Guards.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve had training by a master? I envy the man who made you kneel in submission before him.”

  “You ass! How dare you speak to me with such disrespect!” I drew the dagger out of my belt, brandishing it in front of me. “Not only am I your sovereign, I could have slit your throat as you knelt before me. I suggest you mind your tone.”

  He grinned again. “You’ve drawn a weapon. Are you challenging me?”

  I’m not sure what possessed me. Perhaps I was still heady from the powerful rush of my first real battle. Here was another insolent male who thought because he was bigger, he’d be able to best me. I marched down the steps from the altar to the main level of the temple and took up a battle stance. Feet planted firmly, holding the dagger in my fist, tip pointing down the way Pieter taught me. He said only amateurs held a knife straight out.

  “Come and take it from me, great warrior Magnus.”

  He took the steps in a single leap and landed in front of me. After a mocking bow, he unfastened his cloak and tossed it aside. “As you wish, my lady. But I’m bigger and stronger than you. My honor won’t allow me to take unfair advantage.” He unbuckled the scabbard at his waist and laid his sword on the floor, along with a dagger in its sheath, then kicked them out of the way.

  “I’ll fight with my bare hands.”

  The drumbeats intensified, echoing off the walls of the temple, vibrating from the stone floor through the soles of my boots into my entire body. And still he seemed oblivious to the sound.

  I drew in a breath. The scent of him filled my lungs. Potent, virile, with a hint of clean male sweat. And oh, sweet Goddess, that magnificent warrior’s body! Powerful shoulders, bulging biceps. Broad chest with a patch of dark curly hair, tapering to a narrow waist. The well-defined swells and hollows of his abs gleamed with a faint sheen of perspiration, as though he’d run all the way up the mountain.

  A line of dark hair ran down the center of the lower part of his chest, disappearing beneath the garment slung around his lean hips. I followed it to the bulge under his half-tunic. I’d only seen one male cock. Were all men as large as Drayke?

  “I trust my…appearance…meets with your approval.”

  His deep voice held a note of amusement. My head snapped up, and I felt my face flush with embarrassment. He’d caught me staring at his crotch.

  “I was pondering why warriors feel the need to go into battle half-dressed,” I replied frostily.

  “Extra clothing restricts our movement – and it’s inconvenient for celebrating our victories afterward with fair maidens,” he finished with a waggle of his eyebrows.

  Gorgeous body. Quick wit. Supreme confidence. What other attributes did my new hero possess? I fought back a flood of erotic images and started circling him, looking for any weakness. Magnus grinned at me and moved as well, keeping us face to face with his arms wide open.

  I’d never fought someone who was smiling at me. I didn’t find it charming. I’d already embarrassed myself in front of him, and now he was treating my challenge as a joke. This was a man who badly needed to be put in his place.

  I smiled back sweetly then darted forward, curled into a ball, and somersaulted under his outstretched arms, delivering a slash to his bare lower thigh as I did. Not enough to do him harm. Only a shallow cut, one that would get his attention.

  In one continuous move, I sprang to my feet again and danced away. Magnus looked down at the thin line of blood welling up on his thigh, threw back his head, a
nd laughed.

  “Well played, my lady. Perhaps I underestimated you.”

  It was my turn to laugh. “That’s the first thing you’ve said that I agree with.”

  “Shall we make the contest more interesting?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “How about a wager? Surely you are familiar with the tradition of sparring partners making wagers on who will win the day’s contest.”

  I’d never made a wager in my life. My sparring partners, all members of the Royal Guard, were in awe of their queen. I had all I could do to convince them to fight me fair and square without holding back. They wouldn’t have dared to celebrate victory when they knocked me on my backside.

  “Of course,” I lied. “What sort of wager do you have in mind?”

  He fingered the thick silver chain around his neck.

  “Draw blood again, and you win. I’ll renounce my title, kneel before you, and present you with this medallion, proclaiming you as the true Warrior of the Seven Stars. But if I manage to take the dagger from you before you can strike again…” He paused.

  “Then what?”

  His eyes darkened. Bored into mine.

  “Then you will kneel before me, call me Master, and do whatever I command – from now until sunrise.”

  Chapter Three

  Magnus

  I saw her eyes widen. The flash of arousal. I hadn’t been wrong earlier, when I thought she’d reacted in a similar way to my remark about being mastered by the captain of her Royal Guards. Though she hid it behind the authority of her title, my queen had a submissive streak.

  One I’d enjoy exploring with her.

  “That is completely unacceptable,” she replied haughtily. “I could clap you in irons for even suggesting such a thing.”

  “Your indignant response couldn’t hide the fact that you took a moment to consider it.” I glanced around the vast chamber. “Besides, I don’t see anyone here who would carry out your order. It seems to me you’ve been coddled far too long. You think you can fight, but you’ve never had to face any real competition.”