Zercy (The Nira Chronicles, #2)

by Kora Knight

The way he just uttered his name. Like a honey-drenched purr wickedly manipulating that last syllable, flooding his brain with visions of zealous tongues.

“You are lying. There was no female. You were dreaming of me.” Alec stiffened. “No, I wasn’t.” The king’s grin widened. “Tah. You were.” Dropping back onto the furs, he shoved his hands behind his head. “You were dreaming of me and begging me to touch you.” “What—I didn’t beg!” Zercy chuckled. “Tah, you did. I believe your exact words were—” “Okay! Whatever!”

“You are scared. My giant cock frightens you. You are afraid.” Alec blinked, brows furrowing. “What the f—No, I’m not!” Zercy laughed. “I was jesting.” He grabbed Alec’s wrist. “Are all humans so adorably gullible?”

“Does this human thing have a name?” Alec fought the urge to smile. “Yeah. It’s called kissing.” Zercy quieted, then seemed to try the word on for size. “Kissing,” he rumbled. “A peculiar act, indeed. But I liked it… It was pleasing. Kiss me again.” Alec’s eyes shot back to his. “Uh… No.” “Tah.” “No.” “Why not?” “Because,” Alec scrambled to explain. Kríe were so dense. “That kind of thing’s intimate.” “Intimate.” “Yeah.” “As in, reserved for someone to whom you are attracted.” “Yes. Exactly. Not just any—” Alec froze. Son of a bitch. Zercy grinned, fangs flashing. “That is right. You are attracted to me, Alick. So, we kiss.” His lips engulfed Alec’s.

“I like kissing.”

“Don’t be expecting that on the reg, Kríe. I ain’t your ho.”

“You soothe me,” the king murmured, sounding reflective. Somber. “The light in my black night. You are mine.” He pulled Alec closer. Pressed his nose against his ear. “My Alick,” he mumbled. He was falling asleep. “I hope those humans you wait for never come.”

“Would you like me to clean away the dirt? I am king, but I would do this for you.”

“I want to kiss you.” Alec stiffened. “What?” Zercy focused on his lips. A happy rumbled emerged. “All morning, all I could think of was your mouth against mine. How good your kisses felt. I want that now.” Oh, crap. That was Zercy’s I’m-about-to-take-what-I-want tone. But before Alec could dodge, the king dipped down and captured his lips.

“You do not see me,” he finally muttered, “though I stand right before you.”

You do not see me, though I stand before you. Those words had stuck with Alec. In fact, they’d really bothered him. “I do see you,” he heard himself murmur in the quiet. Zercy’s gaze dipped a little. “Do you?” His voice sounded guarded. “Yes... I have for a while… And what I see is not a monster.” Zercy didn’t reply at first. “What do you see?” he finally muttered. “A king who’s dealing with a lot. Who’s had to make some difficult choices. I jumped the gun before and… I’m sorry. It just… looked bad. But the more I think about it, the more I believe that all of this is happening because it has to.”

“If you’re tired, then let me carry the weight.”

“My back is sturdy. My back is strong. Lean on me. Let me be your support.”

Zercy’s soft chuff brushed his skin. “My Alick missed me, too.” Alec nuzzled him back. “Yeah... It sucked.”

“Mine,” he growled. Alec smiled, lips curving against his mouth. Couldn’t help it. He loved when Zercy went all dominant. And how that one four-letter word made him feel. Wanted. Desired. Treasured. Needed. Feelings that, in that moment, were totally mutual. Every single one of them. Even the last.

Alec took him in. His sculpted chest. His abs. That captivating birthmark. King? Hell, no. This Kríe was a motherfucking deity.

“Your eyes on my body… It heats my blood. My loins. Makes me drunk.”

“I can’t help it. You’re beautiful. I could look at you forever.” And that was no lie. Total truth from the start. He’d just always been so determined not to admit it.

“So many reasons,” Zercy rasped, “why you and I should be incompatible. But we are compatible, Alick. I see this now. I feel it. Like the brightest stars of the cosmos, we align.” Alec’s heart stumbled. “Please,” he breathed. Zercy couldn’t say things like that. It’d make Alec want to stay, and he couldn’t.

But as he rode out his release, caged tight in the king’s arms, Zercy suddenly felt like Alec’s stars. Like Alec’s home.

But on my end? I hadn’t been waiting. That hadn’t been the case for me at all. You were just this big frustrating magnet I couldn’t escape. But now? In the aftermath of what we just did?” He shook his head, perplexed. “I dunno, it’s hard to explain, but it suddenly feels like I’d been waiting for this all my life.”

“We align.”

“Alick…” Alec opened his eyes and met his gaze. “Stay,” the king murmured. Alec frowned. “What do you mean?” “When your people finally come for you. I will let them all go. All of them…. If you stay.” Alec’s ribcage squeezed tight. “Zercy… I… I’m responsible for my team.” Zercy nuzzled his cheek. “Let them go, Alick. Choose me.”

“I dunno that, either. But I do know he’s important to me. When he’s stressed, I want to comfort him. When he’s sad, I am, too. And when I make him laugh, it’s like, my whole chest lights up.” He smiled a little, but then frowned again at the severity of the situation. “I want to help him, because if Nira dies, it’s going to destroy him. And I can’t…” He shook his head and looked back at his cup. “I can’t bear the thought of that. I just can’t.”

“Your gods must long to see your face.” “They’re my home.” Alec held his gaze. “Maybe I’m theirs, too. Maybe they miss me… like I miss them.” Something dimmed in Zercy’s eyes. “I would like to be your home. If you left me, I would miss you more than they.”

“Leo?” Zercy asked. “Yeah. Latin for lion.” Alec turned to him and grinned. “A great nickname for you, actually.” Zercy’s brows rose. “For me? Why, what is a lion?” “King of all predators. With a brave, ferocious heart.” Zercy’s eyes returned to thoughtful. Then he gave a little nod. “I should like to be this for you. Your lion heart.” Alec stilled. “Mine?” “Tah. I will be fierce for you.”

“You have always been this to me. My shelter inside the storm. That quiet melodic music that soothes my beast.”

Cause while you haven’t exactly calmed any inner beast of mine, you have managed to fill some pretty empty spaces.”

It was beautiful. Surreal. Alec pretended he was among them. Finally, back in the heavens, where he belonged. Thing was, in that moment, it didn’t feel the way it used to. A black-abyss embrace amidst the cosmos. Yeah, he still felt that quiet comfort deep inside, but now it seemed to come from somewhere else. Not high above, but rather, firmly on the ground. Alec’s chest tightened. He turned his head and gazed at the king. Studied every nuance of his face. His heart sank in realization. When he finally left this planet, he wouldn’t be going home. He’d be leaving it.

His insides were a storm of churning turmoil, relentlessly demanding he go back. Because this wasn’t right. None of it. Leaving Zercy had been wrong. He could feel it in the marrow of his bones. Instinct and fate, the goddamn universe, shouting that he’d severely veered off course. Lungs accelerating to accommodate his rapid heartbeat, he opened his eyes and stared into the darkness.

“I found you, Alick. I will always find you. Your blood runs hot in my veins.”

“Why have you forsaken me, Alick? Why would you leave me? You are my heart.”

“I would have cherished you forever…” His words were ragged, his breaths choppy. “But you drove a blade through my chest, Alick…” His deep timbre cracked. “My heart is bleeding… I can feel it… I want to die…”

Tears sprang to Alec’s eyes. Zercy was ripping him to shreds, crushing him under the weight of his broken heart. Alec needed to make him see, needed to make him understand.

Not caring who saw, Alec gently palmed the side of Zercy’s face. “Leo…” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Zercy had gone postal because they’d taken his mate. And despite their efforts, Alec had never wanted to leave.

“I am your king! You must comply!” “You’re not my king where orders count!” “Esh!” he barked, exasperated. “In what other way does it count to be king?” “King of my heart, you fucking oaf.”

“Mah, Alick,” he murmured, his hunger laced with emotion. “I do not want this, for us to bond, as a way to ensure you stay… I want it because now I know with absolute certainty that you would stay with me even if we did not.”

“You are my heaven, Alick,” he rasped. “Not up in the sky amidst the stars. Not with Nira, nor with the gods … Mah. Buried in your heat, sharing your breath, your chest to mine… This,” he stated intently, “this is my heaven.”

“You are everything to me,” he rumbled. “I want you to know this. That I put you above all I hold dear. Nothing means more to me. Not my kingdom. Not my crown…” His hips started to move. His black lashes fluttered. “Not even life, or Nira herself. I live for you.”

“You’re my whole world too, Leo.” He smiled and shook his head. “You drive me crazy… But I love it… It makes me happy like nothing else… No one in all my life has felt so right.”

“I am your home,” he murmured roughly. “Just as you have become mine.” Alec nodded a little. “Hadn’t realized I’d been without one all this time. Always thought home was the stars. But even the stars can’t hold a candle to you.” Zercy blinked. Blinked again. Then a grin lit his face. “I am your home and your lion heart.”

“I love you, Kríe. Do you hear me?” Their lips brushed as he spoke. “On a level that is ludicrous. Looks like I’ve lost it.” Zercy chuffed, sounding equal parts flattered and perplexed. “I have never heard it used that way. Love... But I like it.” Hooking Alec’s leg over his big beefy shoulder, he grinned. “I should like to do the same.” Alec grunted, bent in half. “Do the same?” “Tah,” Zercy growled. “Love you.” Thrust. “To a level that is ludicrous.”

It is said that, when two souls embrace for the very first time, they can actually feel their bonded spirits singing.”

“Thank you,” he murmured. Zercy regarded him tenderly. Cupped his cheek. “For what?” “Coming for me. Not letting me go… For entrusting me with your heart.” His voice grew thick. He shook his head. “No one’s ever loved me the way you do.”

And just like that, the world around them melted out of existence as the Kríe king’s full attention fell back to his mate. His mate.

“Your blood, it called to me. I could feel it in my veins. Beckoning me to come for you. To find you.”

“I do not know. I have never experienced anything like it. But the moment I felt it, I knew what it was.” He paused and looked back up. “You. Inside of me. Telling me to run. As fast as my legs would carry me. As fast as I could go, before it was too late.” Alec’s heart squeezed in his chest. Zercy frowned and held his gaze. “So that is what I did... I ran as fast as I could… I did not stop. I did not rest. Not when fire burned my lungs…. I just… kept running… toward you.”

“I’m glad,” he murmured roughly. Peering up, he met Zercy’s eyes. “So glad you didn’t stop running.” Zercy gazed at him tenderly. His rugged features softened. “I could do no other, handsome prince. You are my beating heart.”