Krygor’s Hope: Braxians 3 Read online

  “Hello, gentlemen,” she said with a glowing smile. “I am your waitress, Azoria. What’s your pleasure today? Food? Drink? Private entertainment? Or would you like to hear of your options?”

  “We will each have a tall glass of your Bacchus Special,” Roman said cordially to the female who seemed barely a day over nineteen. “Trust me, you will love it,” the broker added when I raised an eyebrow at his presumption in ordering for me. He then turned back to the waitress. “I am shortly meeting with clients for some business discussions in the Pagan Booth. My entertainment requirements were included with the reservation.”

  “Excellent,” Azoria said, her long nails covered in an ivory polish flying over the interface of her small datapad while taking the orders.

  “And for my friend here, I have scheduled him an appointment with Hope.”

  “Oh,” she said, slightly taken aback. “For a dance or a massage?”

  “For the Royal Treatment,” Roman deadpanned.

  This time, the Dantorian lost all semblance of stoicism. Mouth gaping, her head jerked towards me, and her horrified gaze roamed over my massive body. I was used to that reaction. Part of me wanted to laugh, but another, deeper part of me licked a wound I refused to acknowledge.

  Regaining her composure, an embarrassed expression creeping up on her delicate features, she turned back to Roman.

  “With Hope?” she insisted.

  I frowned at the way she’d said the female’s name as if it was a ludicrous idea.

  “Yes, with Hope,” Roman said, frowning as well.

  “Right,” Azoria said, clearly not convinced. “I will get your drinks and inform Hope.”

  She hastened away, her hips swaying sensuously with each of her steps, her legs made infinite by her crazy heels. How in the world females managed to walk, dance, and even run on such perilous footwear always baffled me. Yet, I couldn’t deny how beautiful and sexy it made them look.

  “What was that about?” I asked Roman.

  “The confirmation I was right to get involved,” he replied cryptically, his gaze still locked on the Dantorian.

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I asked, getting annoyed.

  “In due time my friend, I will tell you everything. For now, I just want you to enjoy yourself.”

  Azoria busied herself at one of the two bars where the barmaid had already begun preparing our drinks. Then, the holographic curtains hiding a corridor between the left stage and the main stage parted to reveal a tall, tan-skinned female, with silver-blond hair, a nearly non-existent black babydoll split down the middle that exposed her flat belly, and a sheer thong that hinted at the plump lips of her bare pussy.

  Shock, fury, then confusion coursed through me in quick succession at the sight of the breathtaking human. I blinked, taking a second look to make sure my eyes weren’t tricking me. The female looked around the room, her gaze searching before landing on us. Her eyes slightly widened, and she licked her lips in what I could only interpret as nervousness before approaching us in a sensual strut that had my blood immediately rushing to my groin.

  “Is something wrong?” Roman asked, a slight worry in his tone.

  “Is that your Hope?” I asked, my gaze still locked on the female continuing her approach.

  “Yes,” Roman said cautiously. “Is she not to your liking?”

  I turned to look at him, a severe expression on my face. “Do you know Marla?” I asked, ignoring his question.

  He slightly recoiled, the genuine confusion on his face appeasing the anger that had been rising within me.

  “Marla?” he repeated. “I’m afraid not.”

  “She’s the human mother of my firstborn,” I replied.

  Understanding dawned on him as he cast a worried look towards Hope before looking back at me, his shoulders stiffening with a tension I couldn’t quite understand.

  “Hope looks like her?”

  “They could be sisters,” I retorted.

  “I can assure you they are not,” Roman said forcefully. “Whatever transpired between you and your son’s mother, it has nothing to do with Hope. She’s a good woman. Don’t punish her for the sins of another. Give her a chance.”

  A chance for what?

  Something greater than him gifting me a pleasant fuck with a stunning woman was at play here. But Hope reaching our table kept us from discussing the matter further.

  “Hello, Hope,” Roman said warmly. “You’re breathtaking, as always.”

  The words immediately made my back stiffen as I suddenly wondered if she’d serviced him before. But the look he cast onto her struck me more as fraternal than as that of a former lover. Despite it crossing my mind, I dismissed the notion. For a reason I couldn’t explain, I felt certain Roman would never pass off a woman he’d bedded before to me.

  “You’re too kind, Roman. It is good to see you well and in such impressive company,” she answered, her eyes demurely cast down in contradiction to the insanely revealing outfit she wore.

  Despite her undeniable resemblance with Marla, seen up close, they were clearly not the same person, and unlikely of the same bloodline. Hope’s features were softer, her heart-shaped lips fuller, her doe eyes slightly more almond-shaped and wider. Her long eyelashes cast a slight shadow over the mesmerizing deep green of her eyes. Contrary to Marla who had dyed her hair in the sun kissed, golden blond color that had first caught my attention, Hope’s silver-blond hair appeared to be natural, including her eyebrows. Although taller and sturdier than Anton’s mother had been, the delicate curves of her body made my mouth water. Her perky breasts were smaller, but real, instead of the generous implants Marla had given herself.

  “My friend is indeed impressive,” Roman said in a teasing voice. “Hope meet Krygor. Krygor, this is the lovely Hope.”

  “Greetings, Hope,” I said, my voice involuntarily taking on a purring tone. Her golden skin erupting in goosebumps gave me the sudden urge to lick every single one of them, one by one. “Roman tells me you want to play with giants.”

  “I would like to play with one giant,” she said, boldly taking one step closer to me. Despite the assertiveness with which she spoke, everything about her screamed submissive. And that made the dominant in me even hungrier. “The question is: does that giant want to play with me?”

  “Who wouldn’t want to play with you?” I countered, letting my gaze slowly roam over her.

  She is far more beautiful than Marla had been.

  I immediately chastised myself for the thought, although I did believe it. Roman had been right in his last comment about not punishing her for the sins of another.

  Or myself, for that matter.

  I could spend a delectable time with this stunning female or let the memory of a bitch who happened to vaguely look like her ruin the moment. But right now, my cock was dying to further make the acquaintance of the delicate beauty.

  Hope smiled timidly, the glimmer of relief in her eyes upon hearing my approval of her didn’t go unnoticed. She wanted me to like her. That both aroused the fuck out of me while also setting off my alarm bells. Unless she was a social climber, what could a breathtaking woman like her possibly want with a beast like me?

  Turning around sideways, I extended an open palm for her to come around the table to me. Obedient, she complied, stopping directly in front of me between my parted legs. From the corner of my eye, I saw Azoria returning with our drinks. Her curious eyes flicked between Hope and me as I slipped my hands between the parted panels of her black babydoll to hold her narrow waist. I vaguely heard Roman thank the Dantorian, but my mind was focused on the beauty before me. Hope bit her bottom lip as my thumbs caressed the sides of her flat stomach.

  “Tell me, Hope, why do you want to play with that one giant?” I insisted.

  She took a moment to look at me, her green eyes lingering on the bulging muscles of my arms and chest before examining my features. Unlike most other females, she didn’t recoil at the sight of my brutish feat
ures typical of Braxians. Instead, a certain amount of genuine awe settled on her gorgeous face. Hope raised her hand as if to touch my biceps but caught herself, casting a sheepish look towards me for almost doing so without having first received my consent. I wished she hadn’t stopped. And yet, her timid and respectful restraint only turned me on further.

  “Because I want to touch the embodiment of true power, of nearly supernatural strength,” she said in a breathy voice. “I want to feel it around me… Inside me,” she added in a whisper, her face heating. “I want to unleash the passion of hands capable of snapping me like a twig, but that will instead gently bend me to their will. And I want to feel that power come alive beneath my touch, my caresses, and my lips. I want to see the fearsome giant melt for me.”

  Baring my teeth at her, my palms slipped down the soft, rounded curves on her bare bum and drew her closely against me, her pelvis pressing against my crotch. Hope’s lips parted, and she softly gasped, feeling my hard cock through the thin fabric of my pants.

  “Inside you, little Vaya?” I asked, my lips a hair’s breadth from hers. “You think you can handle the giant?”

  Of all the reactions I had expected from the apparently timid female, her leaning forward and sucking on my bottom lip before giving it a gentle nip had definitely not featured on the list. With a boldness I’d never thought her capable of, Hope slipped her hand between us and gently rubbed my cock over my pants, her eyes darkening. Her lips traced a path along my cheeks up to my ear before nipping my earlobe.

  “I can and want to handle all of this giant,” Hope whispered in my ear. “I can do for you what only Braxian females can. Better still, I can make you feel things no other female in the entire Eastern Quadrant can.”

  “That is quite the boast, little Vaya,” I growled, one hand tightening over one of her butt cheeks, while the other caressed a path up the silky skin of her back beneath her babydoll.

  “I do not boast,” she said smugly, straightening to stare me in the eye. “Facts are facts.”

  “Then I shall put it to the test,” I said, my voice dipping even deeper with the fire the little minx had ignited in my loins, and my crotch throbbing beneath her touch.

  Hope shivered almost imperceptibly. Seeing the little nubs of her nipples hardening through the sheer fabric of her nothing dress, and the maddening scent of her blossoming arousal wafting to me almost had me insane with lust.

  “As you wi—”

  “Hope! What are you doing?” a tall human male in his late fifties, early sixties, exclaimed in a loud voice just shy of shouting, interrupting her.

  I glared at the intruder who was scowling at my female with barely repressed seething rage and something akin to betrayal. Jealousy and bloodthirst surged within me at the dominant and possessive way he stared at her. Hope stiffened, yanking away her hand rubbing my crotch, while the other, slightly trembling, tightening its grip on my waist. The delectable scent of her arousal soured with a sliver of fear. My protective instinct immediately flared, and I snarled at the slightly balding brown-haired male, plain looking but stylishly dressed in an expensive charcoal shirt and black pants.

  “As you can see, she’s tending to me,” I said in a threatening tone.

  Hope slightly leaned into me, as if seeking my protection. I drew her even closer to me, daring the male to challenge my claim. I didn’t know what rights he had over her, nor did I care. The silver-haired beauty had set my blood on fire, and I would gladly face off against any who would dare attempt to deny me my prize.

  The male’s head jerked towards me, his eyes widening as he took in my appearance, recognition flashing in his dark blue eyes.

  “M… Mr. Aldriss!” the man exclaimed. “Such an honor to have you visiting my humble business. If I had known the big boss’ sire was dropping by, I would have ensured you received a proper greeting. My name is Luther, Luther Stromland, the owner of Bacchus.”

  Realizing the weasel was her boss, not a potential mate—or wannabe mate—dimmed some of my anger… barely. He closed the short distance to our table, his hand extended towards me. I glanced at it, back up at him, then turned to my woman who gaped at me, wide eyed.

  “Mr. Aldriss?” she repeated in a whisper laced with awe and disbelief.

  “Krygor to you,” I replied in a gentle voice, my fingers caressing the naked skin of her back in a soothing motion.

  Hope licked her lips nervously before giving me a timid smile that made me ache to kiss her. That she hadn’t known my identity when she’d been so bold in her attempts at seduction tremendously pleased me. Even merely as Anton’s father, people sought to ingratiate themselves to me either to help them curry favors with my son or to increase their status with him. That it hadn’t been her case only made me want her more.

  “Hope, I will need you on Stage A right after Latena’s performance. Then you will have a series of massages to perform,” Luther said in a clipped tone after dropping his hand. “Mr. Aldriss, I will have my finest girls come see to your needs and satisfy your wildest fantasies,” he added in a syrupy voice that made my fist itch with the urge to punch his throat and crush that annoyingly prominent Adam’s apple bulging on his unusually long neck.

  “Hello, Luther,” Roman intervened in a slightly stern voice before I could give the wretched human a piece of my mind. “I have personally secured Hope’s services for a Royal Treatment as a gift to Mr. Aldriss who is both my friend and one of my best clients. Her time is already reserved and paid for in full.”

  “A Royal Treatment?” Luther sputtered, a horrified look on his face. Once again, he stared at Hope with murder and betrayal in his eyes. “That is out of the question. She’s not suitable for such services to Mr. Aldriss. I will refund you and send—”

  “What you will do is stop testing my patience,” I snarled. “I care not what other females you deem more suitable. If they are so great, send them to your other clients who will thank you for it. I have the female I want, right where I want her. Unless you would rather go perform on that stage?” I asked, turning to Hope.

  She firmly shook her head, the intense look in her eyes all but pleading for me not to let her go. The furtive glance Hope cast towards Luther only seemed to increase the fear steadily rising within her.

  “But—”

  “Mr. Stromland,” Roman interrupted before Hope’s boss could spew more nonsense that would have made me lose the last shreds of my already frayed patience, “what seems to be the problem? Are you preventing one of your Indentured Servants from providing your more lucrative services to impede her ability to repay her debt?”

  “What?! That’s preposterous!” Luther exclaimed, his pale skin turning crimson in either outrage or shame at being caught, although I suspected it was a mix of both.

  “I would certainly hope not,” Roman said in a hard voice. “Although, your insistence on denying her a visibly mutually consensual deal in favor of lesser services raises questions.”

  “I was merely trying to ensure Mr. Aldriss experiences the best that my house has to offer,” Luther snapped back defiantly. “And how do you know she’s an Indentured Servant? I certainly do not advertise it anywhere,” he asked Roman before casting an accusatory look towards Hope.

  “Her collar did,” I said rising to my feet, while still holding her tightly against me.

  Luther had the good grace to look embarrassed for yet another display of his stupidity. Nevertheless, my gaze flicked towards the sturdy but rather plain collar around Hope’s neck. This mark of Luther’s ownership on her further fueled my anger.

  “Now if you are done meddling in our affairs, Hope and I have places to be.” I turned to Roman, ignoring Luther babbling some lame apologies. “I will see you later, my friend.”

  “Enjoy yourself,” Roman said with a naughty smile.

  “I intend to,” I replied with a predatory smile.

  But even as I turned back to my female, I didn’t miss the encouraging look Roman gave her. I wasn’t half
as brilliant as my son, but it didn’t take a genius to realize Roman’s gift had been motivated by far more than giving me a fun ‘roll in the hay’ as he loved to put it. That particular human saying made no sense, but then that species as a whole gave me headaches.

  Since I’d joined Ravik’s Council, learning to interpret people’s true desires and motivations had become almost second nature to me; an essential skill to help defend him against those who sought to usurp his throne. I was getting a pretty good idea what Hope, my little Vaya, truly wanted. If she proved herself to be half as delectable as she’d let me glimpse earlier and, above all, if her boast proved true, I’d be a fool not to reap the sinful benefits of making her wish come true.

  One arm possessively wrapped around her waist, hers around mine, I let Hope guide me through the holographic curtains to the hidden corridor where the elevators to the private suites were located. The smell of her fear receded, taking on the spicier aroma of excitement and anticipation. But it was the scent of her arousal I wanted filling my nose again along with the sound of her raspy voice whispering my name.

  As soon as she finished selecting our floor on the lift’s interface, I towered over her, invading her personal space, a famished look on my face. She swallowed hard, stepping back until the cabin’s wall prevented any further retreat. Pressing my palms against the wall on each side of her head—caging her—I leaned forward, my gaze locked with hers. Hope’s breath caught in her throat, yet it wasn’t fear that burned in her eyes as they flicked between mine.

  “I’m going to do very naughty things to you, Hope,” I whispered in an almost threatening voice before claiming, at last, what I’d wanted since she’d sucked on my lower lip.

  She immediately responded in kind when my mouth pressed against hers, and her lips willingly parted in response to my tongue’s imperious demand for entry. It invaded her mouth as a conqueror, demanding complete submission. Once more, she complied, her hands timidly caressing my abs. The damn female was intoxicating, perfect in every way. I wanted to drown in the divine nectar from her lips but, too soon, the chime from the lift announced we had reached our destination.