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  "I…I can't help but wonder why me. You are truly beautiful, and I…I am just plain, ugly. I have freckles, and dull red hair."

  Adalardo moved swiftly, taking gentle but firm hold of her. She gasped as he tugged her towards a long mirror which stood in the corner of the king's large bed chamber. He held her hand pinned to her side as he stood towering behind her, keeping her in front of it.

  "Tell me what you see?" he demanded firmly.

  She forced herself to look at her reflection. Penny always avoided mirrors at home, glancing to neaten her hair, or tie a scarf, but never really looking at herself, because she hated who she saw.

  "I see me and you behind me." She struggled to keep the tremor out of her voice.

  "I see that too, but what do you see when you truly look at yourself?"

  "I see a woman who is fat, has ugly freckles and horrid red hair."

  "Then you see wrong," he rumbled. "I see a woman with soft brown eyes with a hidden warmth and fire. I see a face of beauty, fine pale skin, blooming pink cheeks, and lips full and ripe that I will never tire of wanting to taste. I see hair, soft with colors of ruby flame. I see a woman whose body is small, delicate, perfectly rounded for me to hold, to give pleasure too, and take pleasure from."

  Penny blinked at her reflection, trying to see herself as he did. He sounded so confident, so sure. Did he truly see her that way? Penny wasn't sure how to process the bubbling feelings welling up inside her. She knew in that moment she had fallen utterly in love with this alien King. Not only did she want to look beautiful to him, she wanted to feel beautiful for him. She met his reflected gaze in the mirror.

  "You are everything I want Penny, and you are everything I need. I have shown you the truth, but only you can believe it in here." Adalardo released her arms to touch her chest just above her breasts. She knew what he meant; she had to feel it in her heart. She had to reject all those inner voices telling her how worthless and ugly she was, and start believing the truth. She had to believe she was worthy and beautiful. "Believe in yourself as I believe in you Penny." His soft breath came from just above her ear. She trembled again from the desire he ignited inside her.

  Penny nodded. "I understand, thank you Adalardo." He turned her in his arms to gaze down into her eyes with a warm smile.

  "Now you must go bathe before I forget myself and ravish you." He pushed her back towards the bathroom. Penny did something she had not done since she had been a carefree teenager. She actually giggled.

  With his large hand on the center of her back, he gave her a gentle push into the room and closed the door behind him.

  From a nightmare into a beautiful dream, yet something nagged at the back of her mind. The old saying if something seems too good to be true then it probably was. Right now she didn't care. She was in a safe place were Darrel would never get to her. Darrel was nothing but a cancer, poisoning her life and slowly killing her. Adalardo was her cure and hope for a future. By the gods of every land that ever existed, she was going to take it for all she was worth. Already she was beginning to believe she was of great worth.

  Chapter Six

  Back in the Hell Realm…

  It had not taken Nasten long to reattach his severed arm. But it had drained him of some valuable power. Nasten had used the residue of Tuthal's recent portal and more power to create a viewing window into the world in which Tuthal had escaped.

  Nasten watched through the portal he had disguised as a long oval mirror and placed unnoticed by the humans. Nasten was in a deep rage. Tuthal was going to pay for his deception. He only needed to find a way to track him. This human realm seemed the best place to start.

  This human realm was on a planet called Earth. Yet it was clear that it had only been used by Tuthal to try and cover his tracks. The sorcerer was clever but not clever enough to outwit Nasten. He listened to the human men moving about searching for 'missing women.' Nasten had no care for their affairs. He only wanted the blood of Tuthal to squeeze between his fingers.

  He was a soul dealer. His power and magic came from those who offered their souls to him. Tuthal, the young Kell, had come to him wanting youth and power; like every other fool, willingly giving up the most valued and powerful part of any creature. The soul was the part that held the most magic; the part that held their eternal presence that could never be destroyed. Nasten thrived on each and every one he took.

  "Let me in, where is she, where is my wife?" The screech of a man caught Nasten's attention. A pale skinned human man was glancing around the small dwelling. "That's her basket." His voice was one of distress, yet there was falseness about it that Nasten easily picked up on. "They have taken my wife."

  "Mr. Summerton, we are going to find your wife, along with all the other women they have taken. If you will wait here a moment, I'll go get a pen. You can give us a description of your wife and of her last movements."

  The man moved in front of the mirror and began to preen, smoothing back his dusty blond hair, gazing into his blue eyes. Nasten snorted with disgust. This human was clearly a man of deceit and deception, a darkened tainted soul if ever he had seen one. A man whose viciousness and vindictiveness was one of a coward.

  The Kells had taken his mate. Not that he could blame the Kells for doing so. They had no doubt rescued her rather than abducted her from such a man as this. Nasten could see the malevolence and cruelty in the man's eyes. But that was just the kind of creature Nasten could use to his advantage. Nasten needed a soul to take and a body to use. This one would do. It was true, he would be limited, but he could still use his powers through the human, even if the body was weak.

  Nasten waved his hand, giving himself a more acceptable human appearance before letting himself be seen by the human known as Darrel.

  "Human, come forth," he beckoned the human closer.

  "What the heck? Who are you?"

  "I am the one who can make all your dreams come true, return your little wife to you and make you very, very wealthy."

  The man glanced around to make sure he was alone before his blue eyes gleamed with greed. Yes, Nasten thought, this human would do perfectly.

  "How can you make me rich?" was his first question.

  "By letting me use something you have and I need, and in exchange I can give you great riches."

  Nasten opened the palm of his hand, making jewels and gold appear. "Tis but a small trinket of what I can give you, human."

  "Okay, what is it you need from me. What do you want me to do?"

  "Step through my magic mirror, human, and we will bargain."

  The man hesitated." I don't see how. It's just a mirror."

  Nasten bit back his irritation at the man's stupidity.

  "Place your hand to the glass, my friend, and you will see." When he did so, Nasten reached forward, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him through.

  ~ * ~

  Crystal Palace, Kell…

  Tamara yawned, stretching her arms towards the ceiling. She was in a chamber just down the hall from Jane's and Drystan's. She had insisted on her bedchamber being not too close to Jane and Drystan. She did not want to hear what was obviously going to be going on between the loving couple. She realized in annoyance all the clothes Tuthal had brought her were still in his tower. She cursed him under her breath again.

  During dinner, she had eaten hungrily, demolishing every morsel that had been placed in front of her by some younger male servants, much to the approval of a few of the single warriors who had come to join her at the meal table.

  How quickly word had spread that there was a single woman available. Strangely, she had expected Tuthal to sit and brood or try and chase away the warriors, intent on making themselves known to her. The warriors complemented Tamara on her beauty, but were not shy in pointing out the fact she was not as rounded as her sister. Then they suggested she eat more to help her gain more weight. Tamara did not take offense, but was amused at the topsy-turvy way the Kell men liked large women rather than skinny ones.
r />   Apart from Jane, she had never been accused of being too thin. Tamara was far from stick thin with a curvy size twelve figure that she had learned to use to her advantage.

  Tamara was tired; she excused herself from the dinner hall and found her way back to her bedchamber. She wanted nothing more than to just fall into bed and sleep away her problems.

  Tamara stripped off her clothes and crawled into bed naked. She shivered with cold. Her mind instantly remembered the warmth of Tuthal's body next to hers. His lager frame wrapped around her had always kept her warm. She closed her eyes and Tuthal's dangerously sexy face came to the forefront of her mind.

  Even the scar that ran down the left side of his cheek to his eye had added to the dangerous lure of him. He said he had lost his amber eye in a battle with a dragon. Tamara sighed. He had told her many things without really revealing his true self. While she had been nothing but an open book to him. Tamara's heart was heavy and sad. She blinked back the tears. Her heart and body were still yearning for him. Even if her mind rebelled at what he had done.

  The men who had come and gone from Tamara's life had been much like her, young attractive and shallow. It was the last man she had been with who had woke her up to her state of emptiness with his complete and utter lack of care for anyone but himself. In one way she was grateful for her ex-boyfriend's selfishness. It had made her question what she really was doing with her life.

  She had uprooted herself, left Melbourne and gone to see her sister who she knew was living in Hobart, Tasmania. Jane had been the sensible sister, breaking away from the domineering, degrading influence of their mother as soon as she was able.

  Tamara thought perhaps she could take a leaf out of her younger sister's book. What she had discovered of course had changed her life and swept her into the arms of Tuthal and into the land of Kell.

  The man had sold his soul for power. She had to give him credit for wanting to do the right thing. But how he had done it still grated her the wrong way. When she thought about it, she and Tuthal were very similar. They both wanted and needed change in their lives.

  Tamara sighed and rolled over again, still cold. As tired as she was, she knew sleep was not going to come readily. She closed her eyes, and in the next moment, a strong arm snaked around her waist, pulling her back against a familiar warm body.

  "You're not meant to be here, Tuthal," she said softly, without even opening her eyes. "I'm still mad at you." His lips found the back of her neck, placing a soft kiss upon it.

  "You only punish yourself, to deny yourself pleasures as well as my warmth, my little beauty."

  Tamara smiled inwardly. It was true. She had become quite addicted to the mind-blowing pleasures Tuthal could give her.

  "Did you truly believe I would let you go so easily? That I would allow anyone to ever touch you but me?" He splayed his fingers over her stomach, sliding it up to cup her breast. "You are mine, we belong together. I will be your protector."

  Tamara bit back a moan as rolled her hardened nipple between his thumb and forefinger, pinching it. His other hand slid over the curve of her bottom, pushing her legs apart to delve between them, coming to play with her clit as he teased and tormented her nipple.

  She had no hope of resisting Tuthal, nor did she want to. She was already wet and wanting, so apt was he at manipulating her body.

  "A…are you taking a…way my…freedom…of choice?" Her words were coming now on breathy little pants.

  "Beauty, you chose me the moment you placed your hand in mine, that first time back on Earth."

  His hot breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine as his fingers inflamed her body. She surrendered to his skillful touch. It was almost annoying how he made everything so logical. She had chosen him and knew deep down there would be no other.

  "You…you hurt me," she managed to gasp out as one of his thick fingers slid deeply into her hot, wet pussy. He began to slowly finger fuck her while keeping his thumb on her swollen clit, flicking it from side to side, pushing her towards release.

  "I feel deeply your pain, my beauty. I regret that I hurt you that way. I assure you it will never happen again."

  Tamara let out her moan when he added a second finger alongside the first. Greedily, she pushed her hips back, wanting more, needing more.

  "Say you forgive me, my Tamara; say you will be my protected," Tuthal murmured huskily in her ear.

  Her mind was hazy with the pleasure washing over her. She could not deny Tuthal, but he couldn't get away with it that easily. She gathered her wits just enough to answer him.

  "I will forgive you, but you must be punished."

  Abruptly his fingers stilled and withdrew from her body. Tamara bit back her wail of protest and turned in his arms to gaze up into his mismatched eyes.

  "You wish to punish me?"

  She could have laughed at the confused expression on his face.

  "Oh yes, don't you think you deserve punishment for what you put me through."

  He looked thoughtful for a moment. "What do you have in mind for punishment?"

  Tamara's lips curved up into a wicked smile.

  "How about I get to tie you to the bed and tease you with my tongue to the brink of insanity." She could see Tuthal was having difficulty suppressing a smile.

  "If this is your punishment, then so be it."

  "Oh, not until you finished what you just started big boy. Make me come, make me scream with pleasure then fuck me until I don't know where you begin or I end."

  "I vow that you will. This means you are mine now?"

  Tamara gave a small chuckle.

  "Yes, I will be your protected." Tamara gasped as he held out his hand and a small gold bracelet appeared in the palm of his hand.

  "You know, you're going to have to teach me that trick one day," she mumbled, as he snatched up her wrist and put the bracelet around it, snapping it in place with the small heart shaped lock.

  "It is done, you are claimed. You are mine for eternity." The pride in his voice was evident.

  She smiled with all the love she felt in her heart for Tuthal. There was no reason to keep it hidden any longer. She reached up to put her arms around Tuthal's neck. The gold of her new wedding bracelet gleamed in the pale light of the glow crystals in the walls around them.

  "Well, husband, I love you."

  "I did know that, but it will always be a pleasure, a joy to my heart and soul to hear it from your lips," he said with an arrogant gleam in his mismatched eyes.

  Tamara laughed, rather than feel insulted.

  "And I love you, my beautiful Tamara." Her heart soared at his words.

  He lowered his head, capturing her lips, kissing her with a heated passion. Tuthal shifted his body over hers as he plundered her mouth with his tongue, possessing every recess of her mouth until she her head was spinning.

  His lips trailed kisses down her throat, across her collar bone, and down between the valley of her breasts. His hands skimmed up across and over her body, leaving not once inch of her untouched.

  Tamara loved the feel of his hands. His right one, which held his staff and swung his sword, had rougher callouses than his left. She loved the delicious friction she felt as he glided it across her sensitive skin.

  "Oh, Tuthal, I burn for you," she gasped, as his tongue swirled around her right nipple before taking the mound of flesh into his mouth, sucking really hard, making her stomach clench and clit pulse. Good god, he knew how to flip every damn switch in her body and turn the dial up to overload.

  She writhed beneath him when his fingers once again found their place between her legs. He flicked her clit several times. Tamar's hips cantered off the bed when he pinched her swollen clit hard between his fingers and bit down on her nipple just hard enough to cause a small level of pain to shoot through her. It was all it took for Tamara to come screaming. Her breast fell from Tuthal's mouth and his fingers were suddenly gone from between her thighs.

  Tuthal quickly shifted, moving his big body
down the bed. He shoved her thighs wide, his face disappearing between her outstretched legs to her exposed and quivering pussy. Tuthal's strong hand gripped her hips as she tried to pull away from his questing hot tongue then he lapped at her pussy with low growls of pleasure. Tamara moaned; she undulated and writhed as his talented tongue speared into her deeply.

  Good god, he was doing it again. Well, she had demanded it of him, hadn't she? All Tamara could do was ride out the wave as he pushed her body towards another climax.

  He hovered above her; she growled her protest when he stopped. Tuthal shifted again, rising up to cover her body with his larger one, and in the next instant she felt him thrust his large cock into her body. The sudden force of his penetration pushed open the inner wall of her wet channel and had her coming, hard.