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pieces. ”
This time, Nikolai was barely quick enough to catch Jagger as he drew his dagger with lightning
speed and leaped forward to plunge it into the chief, snarling and cursing. Grabbing Jagger by the
scruff of his neck Nikolai threw him behind him to the other soldiers and growled, “Hold him!” He
turned and faced the chief. “Harm one hair on the lady’s head, and you’ll answer to me. ” Garth turned pale and nodded. He had seen the red eyes glowing in Nikolai’s face and from his many confrontations over the cycles with Lycans, he knew exactly what they were capable of doing.
“Sh-she’ll come to no harm. ”
“Good. You’ll get your shipment in a few days. ” He turned on his heel, taking Jagger by the arm
and dragging him from the room. His prince was spitting mad, and fought him all the way outside to
the waiting transport. The other Jayronians followed uneasily, not sure if they should go to their
prince’s aid or not. Some of them, too, had gotten a glimpse of Nikolai’s face as he turned back to
them.
Once he got Jagger back in the transport and headed out the gate, he released him from the
headlock he had on him. Jagger sat up and would have struck him, if Nikolai hadn’t grabbed his arm. “Settle down, Princeling. If I hadn’t gotten you out of there when I did, they’d have attacked all
of us. You really need to watch that temper of yours. ”
Jagger pulled his arm back and sat back in the seat with a huff, contenting himself with a furious
glare at Niki, one that promised retribution later on. He crossed his arms and refused to look at
Nikolai all the way home. Nikolai knew he was still upset about the chief’s words and decided to
leave him alone. By the time they reached the castle, Jagger seemed to have calmed down some, and
when he got out of the transport, he held out his hand for Nikolai’s arm.
“I’m still furious with you for laying hands on my person like that. I may decide to beat you after
all. ”
Nikolai tried valiantly to hide his smile. “Yes, little Master. Whatever you say. ”
Chapter Four
Jagger was quite irritated at his concubine and when he got him to their room, he’d told him to wait there for him the rest of the afternoon. Really, Niki had overstepped himself by throwing him back to his men and telling them to hold him while Niki himself faced Jagger’s enemy. He admired his loyalty, but he needed to learn his place. He did inform the servants to bring Niki a big midday meal. He didn’t want him to go hungry, even if he was angry with him. With his huge appetite, he knew Niki wouldn’t be able to go long without food.
Jagger stayed away all afternoon, busying himself with the accounts, trying to make sense of the mess their finances were in. It seemed as if the country was virtually bankrupt. If something weren’t done soon to mitigate this appalling mess, their people would revolt and remove his father from the throne by force. Late in the afternoon, he finally stood up and stretched, ready for his supper and a long hot bath, preferably one that included his big, handsome concubine. He was tempted to give him a sound spanking after all, if he hadn’t thought Niki would enjoy it too much. Instead, he had plans to let Niki make things up to him in bed later on.
Jagger left orders for his supper to be delivered to his rooms and went down the hall to deal with Niki. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do yet, but he was determined to force his submission to him. His stepbrothers would be coming for him soon, and he needed Niki to know that he belonged to him and that he would protect him. They needed to forge a strong, unbreakable bond between them before the group arrived. When he got to his rooms, there was no sign of Niki, either in the bedroom or in his bathing chamber. He was about to become alarmed when he heard a noise coming from his private balcony. Jagger’s room was on the second floor of the castle, right at the back, so his balcony had a lovely view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Niki was standing by the rail, looking out at these mountains as Jagger stepped out.
Nikolai turned to smile at him. “Still mad, baby?” “Master,” he said, frowning. “And yes, I am. I can take care of myself, Niki. I don’t need your interference. ”
“Well, Princeling, you did say I was to act as your bodyguard. ”
“Yes, but only if I need backup. I could have taken care of that fool without your help. ”
“To what end, Princeling? If you had managed to kill him, all twenty or thirty of his men would have jumped on us, probably killing most of your men in the process when they tried to protect you. A leader needs to have better control. ”
