The Hunter's Surrender by Kaenar Langford Page B

“Your Majesty? For Joram’s sake don’t call me that. It makes me feel like you’re trying to distance yourself, and I don’t like that. Not at all.”
    Santara drew back his hand. “Maybe that’s what I should be doing. Distancing myself. I don’t know. How am I supposed to feel?”
    “She won’t come between us. I won’t allow it. The moment you were given to me on my sixteenth birthday, I knew you were more than a companion, a lover. Our bond is much stronger than that. You know that well,” King Rochar said forcefully.
    “Bond or no bond, you have no choice. You’re the king. The law states that when you reach your thirtieth birthday, you are to impregnate the woman chosen for you and produce the heir to the throne of Tentalia.”
    “She’ll never come between us. She’ll only be here for as long as I need to fuck her and make her pregnant. I want you to be there, as well. I can’t bear the thought of sex, making love, whatever you want to call it, without you there.”
    The king’s lover slowly shook his head. “The woman is a bounty hunter, strong and skilled. She’s a perfect choice as the mother of your heir, and I have a feeling things are going to play out much differently than you expect.”
    King Rochar strode to the only chair in the room and flung himself down. He knew the discontent he felt was written on his face. “It all seems so crazy. Tentalia is a world of men. We make love to other men, yet we take these women as brood mares then erase their memories, keep their sons and send them on their way.”
    Santara walked over and knelt at the king’s feet. “It’s the way it has always been done. We need them.”
    King Rochar gently stroked Santara’s soft hair. “Do you ever think about your mother?”
    His lover frowned at the abrupt shift in the conversation. “What?”
    “Your mother. Do you ever think about her?” the king repeated.
    Santara shrugged. “It’s hard to think about someone of whom you have no memories. I was raised by my father, the same as everyone else. Male caregivers, male tutors, male friends—that’s all I’ve ever known.”
    “You’re right. It’s all we’ve ever known. This woman will only be here a few days and then gone. I don’t know why I’m so worried.” He stood abruptly, slamming his body against Santara’s. “I want to make love to you. For the rest of the day. Whatever needs doing, can be put off until later.”
    “As you wish, Sire.”
    King Rochar grabbed his lover’s hand and pulled him toward the door. “You are very cheeky to your sovereign. I might have to punish you.”
    “With your big, hard cock?” Santara asked.
    King Rochar’s laugh filled the small room. “Most definitely.”

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    Maddie Graham was edgy as the crowds in the vast docking bay milled about within a few feet of her. The speeder pod from the ship, The Duskrider, should have been there to pick her up twenty minutes before, but there had been no word from its crew. Although she was tucked into the shadows near the massive entry doors, she still felt exposed, vulnerable. She had garnered too many enemies in her life, but that came with her profession.
    Being a bounty hunter wasn’t a job for the faint of heart, and she’d learned to always be cautious, knowing there was no sense inviting trouble. So she did her best to stay hidden. Finally, she heard the gravelly tones of Finn, the pod’s navigator, in her ear bud.
    “Hey, Maddie. Sorry about the delay. The multilateral generator on the little beast was acting up again, so we had to wait until the fix-it guys had a chance to check it out.”
    Maddie had to laugh. ‘Fix-it guys’ made it sound like the engineers were using Old Earth hammers and nails to clap something together when in fact they were wizards who could tune anything, fix anything, salvage anything and revamp everything. She knew from first-hand experience that if she were to give them a snaffled piece