Grayson Cole: The Delicious Dark Side of Love

The Lover's Opalus

When is an Empire not an Empire? When it rules the West, the North, and the East, but the Death White Border to the South must never be breached... 
 

The Empire

The Empress, all darkness and allure, has betrayed the Emperor. Now Raeche doesn't know what the cruel and calculating warrior will do when the baby growing in her belly is born and Lanus will know it is not his. Only... when her child is born, blonde and green-eyed with milky skin, the girl is the very image of the Emperor. 

Raeche is shocked... and intrigued. The game is afoot. Deception becomes unique seduction as the keys to the true Empire are unlocked in this first book of the series.

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

Alone in her chamber, staring out at the dense, night-green  forest to the East, Raeche felt safe. No one ventured to that part of the palace unless bidden and Raeche, who cultivated and nurtured and was seduced by her solitude, rarely bade. Even Taritana, her Personal, only came once at Light and once at Dark, at which times the Personal waited and monitored--hunger of a different sort in her eyes--to make certain Raeche took enough food.

On this day, the Personal had long come and gone, so Raeche exploited her freedom to do as she always did when alone. Sitting at the window with one hand tangled in the thick, embroidered window covering, she studied the sheltered entrance to the East Forest--though it never changed, nevermore produced a dream in the shape of a man. Having a thought to be sad about this, Raeche sometimes summoned sorrow. Her throat closed when she realized that the emotion, though carefully constructed, remained completely inauthentic. Manufactured longing where true longing should have been.

In truth, these past few rings, though Raeche had grieved, it had not been for the loss of a true love, but for the absence of definition. She was nothing of her own, had never been anything of her own. Raeche had always been the Empire.

What is your greatest fear?

A spark jolted her heart and she jumped. Her arm curved reflexively around the swell of her belly. The Emperor had frightened her when the deepness of his voice pushed through the silence.

Perhaps he had knocked at the door, and she had not heard. He usually knocked despite the glaring and sharp truth--an Emperor did not have to knock to gain entry anywhere.

In moments like these, when a surge of electricity signaled his nearness and her heart began to race, Raeche understood in her Spirit that she would never be safe.

Yet, as dictated by breeding, she recovered quickly. She stood to face him.

Perhaps he had intentionally startled her. What is your greatest fear?

Emperor. Her voice more air than tone, she raised her right hand, thumb and forefinger together, then bowed her head slightly in a greeting which showed respect but was absent of deference. For in this strange, strange world to which she had been born, Raeche was his equal.

Your greatest fear, Empress, he continued, once was my bed, but now that I no longer require you in it

A single slow step brought him into the room. Another and he stalked her. Two heads taller than she, with shoulders almost as wide as the doorway, his presence shrank the large room. Raeche believed she might never breathe again. He took yet another step. When she did finally breathe, his earthy scent curled in her nostrils, filled her lungs. He smelled of the East Forest. Eyes--the color of the Clear Pool beneath the trees there--bored into her.

From childhood to present, she had never truly mastered gathering her thoughts when he came close. Pregnancy had only enhanced that affliction. He both repelled and magnetized her. Her response caused confusion which served to excavate more of that certain madness and fear which constructed her nature. Wildly, she wondered if he could or would kill her while this babe grew inside her. He had never been known for violence toward women or children, but perhaps a man who had bathed in the blood of so many would have no conscience when seeking revenge for such intimate treachery.

I wonder what it is now

Closer still he came.

A thump and thrum within her started Raeches chest to heaving. She placed one hand over her belly, the other over her heart, though she took care to hold his eyes with her own despite the insistence of instinct that she lower them. Desperation sped her pulse. Something foolish made her stand her ground, refuse to step back and make herself even smaller, more fragile.

This infant rebellion had started within her months ago and grew as her baby did. Even though her life and her childs could be forfeit, she felt something when in the Emperors presence she had yet to unravel. The emotions were, perhaps, easy to identify--anger, fear,  and misery.--but their cause remained a mystery, for he had only brought her pain in one way and it had been unintentional. More than anything, he treated her both coolly and formally. His fine masculine features rarely creased or lined or even colored to demonstrate that his Spirit yet lived behind his deep green eyes. He spoke pretty platitudes to her.

Distance. The Codex of the Empire listed the Spirit of Distance in the Appendix of Cultivation. The Emperor wielded the Spirit of Distance as weapon and armor both.

Standing before him, close to him, she raised her chin. She dared him, though all reason urged against it.

He licked his lips and bent closer. Your greatest fear. Soft, smooth, his tone rippled over her skin like the fur of a shaksa. Another woman may even have found it seductive.

Through inheritance, intelligence, and brutality, the young Emperor ruled the West and North with absolute power. Now, through his marriage to Raeche and his deserved legend, he preserved his rule of the East. At rest, he appeared cool and calm and even amiable. Even now, with a soft tone, golden hair, and hooded, pale green eyes, he cultivated the Spirit of Distance and reflected the appearance of peace and serenity. It was an alluring faade.  Inside he raged.

Invisible sparks rained from him--showering over her, scalding her skin, burrowing into her body, heating her with fear and something she dared not confess. Inside the Emperor dwelled a beast, a beast he unleashed at will and with joy whenever he needed to secure what he believed to be his own. This included all things--plant, beast, soil, sky, water, hearth--in the great Empire. It included a virginal and frightened Raeche in his bed so many rings before.

Raeche knew these things, and this knowledge made clear the picture of her doom. For as long as he practiced Distance, she would seek to bring forth the beast.

Lost in thought, she had somehow lost track of him. The heat of his presence had become molten and if she looked up her nose would be a mere inch from his throat. He placed his hands on her stomach so lightly she could barely feel the touch, but inside her, the child  rolled and kicked and reached for him in greeting.

The Emperor smiled, and Distance shattered. Expressive lines around his mouth and perfect white teeth turned an already handsome man into one that both mesmerized and frightened her. Wed for nearly three circulations, betrothed and known to him since birth, Raeches abject fear of him had been immediate and had not lessened in all this time. In recent rings, it had developed into an all-too-physical, near-debilitating reaction. Even in this moment, even as he smiled in pleasure and peace and his body radiated warmth, Raeche vibrated with tension and anxiety. What would he do when the babe came?

My greatest fear is for her, the Emperor confessed, interrupting her flailing thoughts. My Rucha, she will have my intelligence, and more. Your indefatigable will, and more. My Spirit, and more. Your Spirit, and more. Yet our combined gifts will not be able to protect her from the Road of Pain.

We all walk the Road of Pain. It is on the Map from--

It is on the Map from Birth to Earth, he quoted the old proverb. Indeed.

He said no more. Instead, he gave her belly a pat in a farewell to the babe. Before he quit the room, he said, You need not fear me, Raeche. You have never needed to fear me. He closed the door quietly behind him.

Raeche exhaled before dropping back onto her bed. Her chest rose and fell, struggling for breath and calm. Hand on her stomach, she tried to ensure she did nott upset the child. The girl. She had not known she would have a girl.

Rucha.

The name the Emperor had given her meant Raeche in his language.