Read Twilight War for Free Online

now I have enough to deal
with.” She walked over to Raef but kept her eyes on Naami. “You
found your way here, now you can find your way back. If you didn’t
appoint a proxy and you’re gone too long, they will banish you from
your throne.”
    “Fine, I’m
going,” she huffed. “Unlike you, I travel by plane. I have a
roundtrip ticket.”
    “Good.” Flame
slid her arms around Raef’s neck. The fragrant and heady scent of Marabella lingered on his bare chest. Gazing up at him, she
pulled his head down for a kiss.
    Immediately his
arms tightened around her waist as he drew her against him. He
released a heavy sigh as his tongue explored her mouth. They kissed
ardently for several minutes before Naami let out a growl of
displeasure.
    “Oh for
heaven’s sake, must you show off? I get it already. He’s hopelessly
in love with you just like the others.”
    Flame eased
from the kiss and turned her head toward the young queen. “Oh, are
you still here?” She smirked. “What’s wrong? Didn’t he kiss you?
Did you actually entertain thoughts of stealing him from me with
trickery? You may have coerced him into sex but you cannot use
deceit to win someone’s heart when it belongs to another.”
    Naami’s face
flushed angry red. She opened her mouth a few times as if to speak
but seemed at a loss for words. “Ugh,” she growled. “Don’t forget,
Raef, to ask her.”
    “Ask me
what?”
    “Raef was
worried about living behind a lie but I told him he’s not the only
one.”
    “What is she
talking about?” Raef arched questioning brows.
    “I have no
idea.”
    “Ask her about
the Satellite,” Naami snipped with a toss of her head. “Ask her
about Von Calder.” And with that, she breezed out the door,
slamming it behind her.
    Flame buried
her emotions deep. Clearly, Naami has been doing more than
snooping in the lab. She must’ve been following me. Damn her! She closed her eyes and drew a calming breath. I’ll deal with
her later.
    “After what
just happened,” Raef began. “I don’t have the right to question
you. The inner workings of your sisterhood are very complex and at
times downright cold.”
    “They can be.”
She looked up at him, relieved he didn’t press for answers that she
didn’t have. “Naami used an experimental fragrance the biochemists
have been working on. Marabella is supposed to be an
aphrodisiac. Apparently it works.”
    “I’m sorry. I
don’t know what else to say. I blasted you earlier about trust and
look what I’ve done.”
    “No need to
keep rubbing it in. You’ll just have to live with your mistake.”
She pulled away. “You’ll never know if tonight’s mating will result
in conception. She is bound by our laws to never tell anyone who
the father is. The records are sealed and only unveiled if there is
a health concern that requires DNA or blood from the sire.”
    A baffled
expression traversed his face. “The kiss…was it just for show so
Naami would give up and leave?”
    Flame spoke
through clenched teeth, keeping her voice low. “I will never give her the satisfaction of winning and I will never let
her get to me.”
    “The fire runs
deep between the two of you, doesn’t it?”
    “Let’s just say
I enjoy the life of a warrior because it keeps me on the road. I do
not like competing with a twenty-five-year-old narcissist even if
she is our queen.”
    “But you
could’ve taken that title away from her.”
    “It’s not my
calling.”
    “What is your
calling? What is this talk of a prodigy?”
    “Nothing I want
to discuss right now. You just slid down a few rungs on the trust
ladder. I thought you were beyond the temptations of ordinary
men.”
    “I’m confused.
You laid a hot kiss on me then put me on ice. Is this my
punishment?”
    She flung one
arm back around his neck and ran the fingers of her free hand down
his chest, tracing the soft trail of hair below his navel. “If I
wanted to punish you,” she said in an airy voice. “I’d get you