Surrender by Rachel Carrington Read Free Book Online

me?”
    “I will not tolerate such open hostility from you, Kira. You may have climbed the ladder to reach your ultimate success, but you will never, ever match my abilities, is that clear?” Set shot forward to loom over her with every ounce of ire seeping from his pores.
    “Kira?” Set barked out her name, practically quivering with fury.
    She folded her arms and relented. “Very well, Father. My apologies. Now, what is it you think I’m going to do with Jarek?”
    “You want a sex slave.”
    Her blood poured sluggishly through her veins. Was she so easy to read? Not that she wanted only a sex slave. She wanted much more than that from Jarek. And still didn’t understand why. All she knew was she couldn’t see herself casting him out of the city, even if he did fight her every step of the way for the kingdom. “If you know why I want him alive so badly, why don’t you tell me why you want him dead just as much?”
    Set’s eyebrows rose. “We were not discussing me. You deny my thoughts?”
    She flicked her hair over her shoulders and strolled toward the floor-length curtains. “Of course not, but there’s more to it than just sex, Father. I want children. Who better to give me children than another god, especially one as powerful as Jarek? Our offspring will never be defeated, and one day, they will rule these great lands and ensure that no other god will ever overtake Timara again. I could not ask for a better god to father such children.”
    “You require no children to take your place. You will soon have immortality.”
    “True, but I’ve always wanted children.” She wouldn’t share with her father the desire in her heart, the crying passion to hold a child of her own in her arms. He would consider it a sign of weakness.
    Set snorted his derision and began to pace the chambers. “Do you actually believe Jarek will service you?” His hand rested on the gilded frame of a portrait of Jarek’s parents.
    Kira smiled and captured one end of the satin tieback in her hand. “He will have no choice.”
    “You would take him against his will, then?”
    The gleam in her father’s eyes disturbed her. “Stop grinning, Father. Jarek will be more than willing by the time I am finished with him.”
    Giving a sigh of relief, Set dragged a hand through his mop of red hair. “I must return to Enun.”
    Instant concern filled Kira. “Is it Mother?” She took a step toward him. “It’s time to bring her here.”
    He walked to where she stood by the window and took her hands in his. “Not yet. You must ensure that the gods here accept your control. I will give your mother your best.” His forehead bumped hers. “She would be proud of you now, Kira.”
    Her eyes filled with tears, and she wanted to question his decision or, perhaps override it. “Do not let her go, Father.”
    He touched her cheek. “Sometimes, we have no choice.”
    Dammit. They did have a choice, and she wouldn’t stand by and allow her mother to die because her father’s fury overrode his heart. She closed her eyes, preparing to negate his words, but in an instant, her father disappeared.
    She didn’t understand Set’s objection to returning her mother to her homeland. Perhaps he believed her mother would never be comfortable here, not after the humiliation they’d endured when they’d been exiled, but that didn’t matter to her. All Kira wanted, all she needed, was her mother’s survival.
    “My queen,” a small, hesitant voice called to her through the thickness of the door.
    “Enter.” Kira couldn’t hide the thrill at the words. My queen. She’d made it. She hoped her mother really was proud of her.
    A thin woman with long, brown hair and eyes like a sparrow walked into the chamber, back held erect, and her hands clasped together in front of her. She bowed low and then straightened. “My queen, if you would be so kind as to allow me to speak.”
    Kira settled herself on the settee and waved a hand, at once intrigued,