Queen's Rules 2: King of the Castle Read online

  Praise for the writing of Treva Harte

  Every Good Boy Deserves Favor

  Every Good Boy Deserves Favor is a highly unusual tale. With a futuristic setting, interesting characters, and some spicy sex, it entices the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because of the eccentricity found within the characterization and the plot itself. Ms. Harte does an excellent job writing a story that is eccentric, while tantalizing the reader with sex and heat.

  -- Ansley Velarde, The Road to Romance

  A journey with these three women and the men who interact with them will make a pleasant afternoon’s read. Mio, a crippled man living on his own with no hope of ever having a woman, helps Jewel reach Castle Bloomingdell. Ulrich is a battle hardened warrior, looking to prove himself to everyone.

  There is practically everything you could ask for in Every Good Boy Deserves Favor. Action, romance, futuristic life, and a connection with women who live in a different time period, yet are so much like us.

  -- Carolyn Crisher, Romance Reviews Today

  Every Good Boy Deserves Favor is a compelling look into a future world where women live in protected keeps and men fight to win the chance to have sex with and impregnate the women. I found the plot to be refreshing and the character development of each woman and man to be believable. Ms. Harte’s second foray into this world will surely bring more adventures and challenges for the three couples and the women and men of this world.

  -- Jennifer Brooks, Karen Find Out About New Books and Coffee Time Romance

  Every Good Boy Deserves Favor is now available from Loose Id.

  QUEEN’S RULES 2:

  KING OF THE CASTLE

  Treva Harte

  Warning

  This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Loose Id e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  * * * * *

  This book is rated:

  Contains explict sexual content and graphic language.

  Queen’s Rules 2: King of the Castle

  Treva Harte

  This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published by

  Loose Id LLC

  1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-29

  Carson City NV 89701-1215

  www.loose-id.com

  Copyright © October 2004 by Treva Harte

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing, photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

  ISBN 1-59632-042-7

  Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

  Printed in the United States of America

  Editor: Catherine Gilbert

  Cover Artist: April Martinez

  www.loose-id.com

  Chapter One

  Ahhhh. There was nothing like the City of Thieves in full summer rot. Ka sniffed the air, the stench of garbage thrown into the water mingling with the sweat of unwashed flesh. Then he buried his face in the soft flower petals his protector had brought to him last night.

  Home.

  Noisy, quarrelsome, unpredictable. How could he help but love the city he’d adopted and made his own?

  “How much, beautiful?” A soldier, half-drunk but holding himself upright on a crumbling wall, called out to him. “You’re the prettiest sheman I’ve had the pleasure of leering at in a long, long time.”

  “I’m the prettiest sheman you’ll ever have the pleasure of leering at in your life, sweet cock.” Ka let his voice purr as he reverted to the Sylvanian tongue. Thieves City was one of the few places where enemies mingled in a tentative truce. You never knew who might accost you. Fortunately Ka knew many languages. And many ways to deal with all kinds of enemies.

  “How much?”

  “Too much for your…taste, sweet cock.” Ka let the flower drift slowly down until it tickled just the very bottom of his lip. “I’m this pretty for a reason and it’s not to please you, darling.”

  “Tease!”

  Ka bent his head low, deferentially, letting the long ebony strands of his hair dip almost to the dirty street. The poisoned dagger he concealed behind his carefully laundered sleeves bumped slightly against his wrist. Beauty was beauty, but sometimes force was necessary.

  “The very, very best of teases. Look at me and weep over what you’ll never have.” He pirouetted, showing off the flash of silver at his ears, allowing a glimpse of his long length of leg. He let slip the white shirt and showed off just a trace of his perfumed shoulder.

  “Bitch!”

  Ka blew the man a kiss with the tips of his bejeweled nails before he sauntered around the corner, his ears alert for any chance the drunken fool might be able to release his grip on the wall and stumble after him.

  Ah, the city. One never knew what might happen next.

  * * * * *

  Out!

  Jewel stepped past the walls. Outside. This was the second time in her life she’d ducked past a castle’s walls. The sudden rush of excitement hit her even more strongly than the last time. She had no attachment to the keep at her back. Castle Bloomingdell had never been home, so there was no pang of homesick regret. All she felt was the adrenaline leaping.

  Outside. Freedom. Excitement. Cool, green trees and fresh sights wherever you looked.

  Deadly vines and animals. Men who would attack you.

  Danger.

  She took a step toward the trees a few feet away. She’d hide there, wait for the rest.

  “Ack!” A hand slapped over her mouth.

  She clawed at the hand, kicking backward. Nothing she did made a difference as she was dragged from the entrance of the secret passageway into the green canopy of forest. The most she got for her struggles was a fiercer than usual rustle as she disappeared into the vegetation.

  Others were there. They’d hidden among the trees, just the way she’d planned. Three ‑‑ four ‑‑ more. Too many more. Goddess! Jewel was almost grateful for the hand that was still at her mouth. She didn’t have to fight the whimper, since no one would hear her anyway. They crowded around her.

  Too close. Too much danger. She’d pushed her luck and her luck had come to an end.

  A tall man, one who looked less reptilian than the others, made a fierce gesture with his hand. The others immediately let her go. Jewel sucked in her breath to scream and he put the point of a blade to her throat.

  “I don’t know who you are, but you’re female. For that reason I’d rather you live, so I can use you. But if I kill you as an example to the others, that would not grieve me.” The words were clear, even though he hissed them out.

  Her scream died before she even had time to part her lips. Everything inside her froze. She could barely force the breath out of her lungs, she was so petrified.

  Do something!

  That thought rushed into her mind first, right before Jewel’s stomach knotted up. Do what? This was the worst. She’d led her already frightened women into the worst scenario possible. Not only were men about to capture them, but enemy men. The men of the Hinterlands. Lizard men from Belliza, the Western House, the most alien of all the enemy. The Grea
t Explosion had scarred all members of the planet differently, but the Belliza people were the worst marred of all. For them, scales clung where skin used to be.

  Their appearance alone was terrifying, but she’d heard whispers of their ferocity. All men were dangerous to women ‑‑ the reason women hid behind castle walls in the first place. Enemy men were the stuff of nightmares.

  Oh, Goddess. Oh, Goddess. She didn’t move, but her mind screamed for the rest to beware. Stay inside. Fight. Escape wasn’t possible.

  Of course no one heard her internal scream. Instead Jewel saw Leesha peek out, fearfully, from the passageway. The rest of the men were already waiting at the entrance, hidden from sight. Her guard jerked her head away to face him and his knife. She didn’t want to see the scaled, flaking face of her captor. Sweat trickled down her neck as she tried to look with her peripheral vision. Why those women of all the group? Why not Ara instead? Ara would do something if she got the chance. But she wasn’t there. Even if Jewel risked it all to sound an alarm, Leesha and Reina, the idiots, would be useless.

  Goddess, Maryam was probably coming next with little Stefani. Maryam was clever, but she would do nothing if she had to risk her daughter.

  All of them. All of them taken and Jewel was helpless to prevent it.

  One squeak. That was the best either of those two mice managed before they were captured and dragged away. As the men got closer to Jewel and her captor, carrying their new prizes, one of them said something in his alien tongue. From his inquiring look, it was obviously a question. Their leader shook his head and held up four fingers. The other man nodded, casually pinched Leesha’s nipple through her thin dress before moving back toward the castle’s walls. Leesha opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She was too terrified to do more than gasp.

  Four more left. Goddess, their captors knew everything about them, even to how few of them there were. Jewel tried to think, tried to block out the horrified faces of Reina and Leesha. No. He didn’t know everything. He thought all of them were leaving. He didn’t know the Eldress was determined to stay behind, to cover their departure as long as possible.

  He didn’t know about Mio. No one knew about Mio. Not even Maryam knew that Mio was planning to follow them, to offer his protection and guidance back to the Castle M’Cee.

  Her Mio… Her brave, crippled Mio. If anything happened to him, that would be her fault as well. They mustn’t find him. One male could never withstand a group of armed men.

  But he might try. For her. He’d fought for her before, risked death. But there would be no risk here. If there was any way out, she’d have done it herself. Fighting would mean death, sure and certain. There was nothing that could be done. Not with the people and weapons they had.

  Jewel shut her eyes to keep the tears from falling.

  * * * * *

  “Ulrich! Curse it, hurry!” Maryam straddled him, her hands tangled in his hair. “Fuck me.”

  “Gladly.” He managed the word with a tongue that seemed too thick to use.

  He wanted to pull her down, use just a little of his strength to force that tight wet warmth to cover and hold him. He’d be careful not to bruise her, he’d --

  His hands were manacled like a prisoner’s. He pulled and the chains creaked but didn’t give way. Why did even that excite him?

  But he didn’t have to be careful when bound. He didn’t have to do anything but enjoy the rush of lust that seized him. Maryam bucked on top of him, riding him. She’d take care of it all.

  All he had to do was let go ‑‑

  “Sir! Please, my lord, wake up! Don’t kill me…at least not yet.”

  Maryam. The last remnants of the dream jumbled together with a voice that sounded like hers as he began to wake up. ‘Twas just like the woman to insist on waking him up early, though generally that meant they were going to fu ‑‑ lie together. The idea snapped Ulrich’s eyes open.

  He’d been a warrior long before he’d been Maryam’s lover and old instincts held true, even in his half-awake state. He understood why Maryam had begged him not to kill her. His weapon had slid into his hand without thought. For a moment, still befuddled with sleep and dreams, he thought he held the point of his knife against Maryam’s throat. By the Sacred Name, she’d have his hide for that! She had near flayed him alive just for saying the word fuck in front of her. She’d draw and quarter him if he threatened her with a weapon.

  Before sweat could make him fumble, he blinked hard. No. His soldier ways had held true. The figure before him wasn’t Maryam, though for one moment he saw a resemblance to her in the boy’s face. Ulrich shook his head to clear it.

  He was going mad. A few days away from his lady’s favor and he was starting to imagine Maryam in half-starved little ruffians who dared ‑‑

  “What in the seven shades of hell are you doing here, boy?” He allowed one drop of blood to slide down the ruffian’s jaw when he pricked the skin. “I don’t take kindly to street whores who try to enter my tent.”

  “I’m not a street whore and I didn’t try anything. I did exactly what I planned. I’m here in your tent.” The jaw jumped under his blade but the boy’s eyes flashed. Like Maryam’s might if he were so foolish as to reprove her.

  Ulrich scowled. He’d had a bit too much to drink last night to forget his farewell from his lady, but that didn’t account for the boy’s ability to get past his guards. Then again, he’d been drinking with them. Old comrades were the best ones to make you forget new troubles ‑‑

  “I take even less kindly to thieves.” Ulrich’s voice slid to its lowest growl.

  “I’m not a thief! I came to get help for the women of the keep.” The boy stumbled back, just a little, his gaze meeting Ulrich’s . The intruder swayed, trying to keep his balance. Ulrich’s lips thinned. The stripling was trembling.

  Ulrich looked again. No. He wasn’t shaking from fear. He couldn’t stand straight because the street rat was a cripple. Ulrich scowled. A cripple had made his way into his tent? His men must be losing their touch ‑‑

  “Maryam? Errr, the women? What help do they need?” Ulrich suddenly fastened on the actual words the boy was speaking. “And why do you think I can provide it?”

  “You’re the most powerful warrior in the area and command the most men. The wom ‑‑ er, Maryam has been kidnapped. All of them taken.”

  ”What?” Ulrich almost dropped his blade. Almost. “What fool among this encampment would dare --“

  “No. Worse. The enemy has them.” Tears stood in the boy’s eyes now. “Please. Hurry. We have no time. I’ve wasted enough time rousting you but there was no other way. I couldn’t save my lady alone. Not against all of them.”

  His lady? What had Maryam been doing? Ulrich put the knife in its sheath, throwing clothes on as he began to bellow, “Tor! Anselm! Where are you cursed scoundrels? Get the men armed and ready to move. Now!”

  Ulrich whirled around and fastened a hand on the shoulder of his morning caller, though the boy didn’t show any sign of fleeing. “If you’re lying, you’ll be spitted.”

  “I’m not lying. Just hurry…sir.”

  Ulrich was fully awake now but he still imagined the boy had a touch of Maryam’s commanding tones in his voice. “What’s your name, ruffian?”

  “Mio.”

  “Tell me what you’ve seen and where as the men gather.” He heard the sounds of running feet. At least his men still obeyed and feared him. Apparently he was only disregarded by street ruffians.

  “I’ll tell you everything, but does it matter where and what at the moment? They must be taking them to the seaport. There’s no other place.” Mio brushed his eyelids to force back what looked like more tears. “They’re going to sell them there or take them back to the Hinterlands.”

  “The Hinterlands is a big place. We have to get them before they set sail.” Ulrich’s throat tightened. “Wait. Why are you so sure they’ll go there?”

  Maryam might be pregnant with his child. Maryam, pregnant a
nd kidnapped. Lost forever. He couldn’t bear the thought.

  “They were lizard men. There is no other place for them to go, other than the Hinterlands.”

  “Western House? They’re from one of the Western Houses?” Ulrich felt the fear creep up higher in his throat. “That’s the most remote part of the Hinterlands. The most dangerous. We have to get them before they reach the City of Thieves. That place could swallow them up whole. And once they leave the port, there are too many routes, too many dangers. We’ll likely never see them again.”

  “Yes. I know.” Mio didn’t have to repeat the word hurry.

  * * * * *

  “You’ll be treated well enough if you obey.” The kidnappers’ leader spoke the Sylvanian tongue perfectly. Of course he did. That’s how Quinn had fooled them all. He spoke and looked like one of their own. When they allowed him inside their keep to breed with Ara, no one had dreamed he might be an enemy, ready to sneak into their castle to destroy them. “Do you understand?”

  None of them spoke. Ara didn’t dare look at the women around her ‑‑ Maryam, Jewel, Leesha and Reina. The little girl, Stefani. The only little girl left in Castle Bloomingdell. Jewel had promised them safety at another castle. But they had to reach it first.

  Less than a minute outside of Castle Bloomingdell and they’d failed. Failed thanks to a man she’d bestowed favor on. A man who had used her. Goddess, she wasn’t going to cry. Not in front of him.

  Or if she did, it would be tears of rage. Yes. She was angry. She’d rather be angry than humiliated. Ara wrapped her arms around her body, hoping she looked defiant rather than in need of consolation.

  “You better not try anything with me!” A tiny voice, filled with menace, broke into her thoughts. “And if you try to hurt my mama, you are dead, mewt breath.”