by Tana Stone
Holding her hands with one of his, he grabbed the rope he’d hung near the tent entrance.
When she saw it, she struggled even harder. “Not this shit again.”
“I do not want to tie you up, mate.” He dragged her to the tent pole and pressed her body flush to it to keep her still. She faced the pole with her hands high over her head as he looped the rope around them. “But it is dangerous for you to leave, and I cannot lose you.”
“I should have stabbed you when I had the chance,” she yelled, once he’d secured her to the pole and she could not kick him.
Rukken watched her struggle for a moment, her body one long, lean line from her arms down to her feet. He pressed himself against her—feeling her heaving breaths against his own chest as his body covered hers—and she stilled. “I thought we both knew why you didn’t kill me, mate.”
He took his hands and moved them slowly down her body starting with her hands, his fingers skimming her breasts and finally clamping onto her hips. “I thought you were glad you decided to fuck me, instead.”
Her body jerked and she let out a small moan. “You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t what?” He slid his hands up and under her shirt, her bare skin warm and slick with sweat.
“I’m tied up,” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper.
“I can see that.” He moved his hands under the stiff fabric covering her breasts, thumbing her nipples and feeling them contract into hard points. She pressed into his hands, and Rukken knew that she needed more. Despite her initial protests, she wanted this.
Lowering his head so that it nestled in her neck, he nipped at the soft skin of her throat, feeling the vibrations as she let out a throaty sound. He moved his mouth to her ear, sucking on the lobe as she rocked into him.
“You don’t play fair,” she said.
He let one hand skim down her flat belly and under the waistband of her pants. “I’m not playing.”
She ground her ass into his cock, and it was all he could do not to rip her clothes off. He slipped his hand into the silky fabric covering her sex, and his knees almost buckled when he touched her wetness.
“I thought you regretted not killing me,” he whispered in her ear, as he parted her slick folds. “But you’re soaked for me already.”
“I do regret not killing you.” She opened her legs to him and whimpered when he circled her swollen nub with one finger while he pushed another inside her.
“So, you don’t want me to do this to you?” He worked another finger inside her snug heat, and she sucked in a breath and bit the edge of her lip. “You don’t like this?”
Caro shifted her hips so she could take him deeper, and shook her head desperately as breath escaped her in jagged pants. “Not at all.”
His cock was swollen and jutted fiercely away from his body. “You do not want me to fuck you hard?”
She bucked against him, her body hot and wet as he moved his fingers faster and she made small keening noises. “No.”
“No?” he asked, kissing his way from her neck to her jaw. “So, I should not tear your pants off your perfect ass and bury myself inside you?”
“Not unless you want to feel me come on your huge cock,” she said, before he crushed his mouth to hers.
Twenty-Three
Caro didn’t know what had gotten into her, but she was so turned on she thought her skin might actually ignite. She’d never wanted anyone as much as she wanted him, and she knew she shouldn’t.
She shouldn’t want to fuck the guy who’d kidnapped her, but apparently her body didn’t care about any of that. All it cared about was quenching the fiery need that was making her almost vibrate with the intensity of it. Her body hummed from his touch and the excitement of his hands moving over her skin while she was tied up.
She didn’t know when she’d become the kind of woman who liked to be dominated, but right then, she couldn’t care less. All she knew was that it felt so good to submit to him, to let him take what he wanted, what they both wanted.
Rukken’s kiss was hard and forceful, his beard scraping her skin and sending frissons of pleasure shooting down her spine. She melted into it, her tongue tangling with his while her release built. His fingers had not stopped moving, and soon she was jerking against the ropes as her body clenched around his fingers, pulsing as all the sensations in her exploded.
When he tore his mouth from hers and slipped his fingers out of her, she was nearly boneless. Rukken moved so quickly she didn’t have time to make a sound, yanking her pants down below her hips and angling her ass up.
She wanted him inside her so badly. She twisted her head to lock eyes with him, the hungry look on his face giving her a forbidden thrill. “I need you to fill me, Rukken. Now.”
He grunted, removing his animal skin quickly and tossing it onto the ground. His cock rose up, thick and hard. Fisting it with one hand, he stroked it before sliding between the slickness of her folds.
He dragged his broad crown up and down before notching it at her entrance. “You are sure?”
Even though her hands were still fastened to the post and over her head, Caro moved back into him, wiggling her ass so that his thickness started to push inside. “What do you think?”
With a groan, he thrust inside her hard.
Her cry filled the small tent. Even though it wasn’t the first time, he stretched her so hard that the pain startled her. A pain that soon gave way to the pleasure of being filled like she never had by anyone before.
Rukken wrapped a hand around her waist as he held himself deep. “This time we go slow.”
She shook her head. “Hard. I need it hard and fast.”
He lowered her head and kissed her neck, drawing himself out so slowly she wanted to scream before plunging himself back in. “I did not say it would not be hard.”
She moved her hips restlessly. “More, Rukken.”
He chuckled low, his lips buzzing her skin and sending tremors through her. “This from the female who wanted to run from me.”
She moaned as he stroked out and in, angling her hips up higher so that he could slide deeper. There was nothing she could say to explain how wantonly she desired him, even as she knew she should run away screaming. Not that she could run now. She could barely move, and she secretly loved it.
“But you want me now,” he whispered. “You want this.”
She nodded, her eyes fluttering closed as every nerve in her body screamed for release again. Heat arrowed through her, and his hands scorched her skin as they moved across her hips to her belly and down to her clit. When he swirled his fingertip over it, she tipped her head back and let out a husky sound.
He impaled her on his length again, grinding his hips into her. His finger moved slowly over her clit as he pumped himself in her, holding himself deep each time. Rukken looked down as he held her hips and stroked in. “You stretch so tight around my cock. Like you were made for me.”
It was too much for her to take, and the low simmer in her belly erupted, her body contracting around him as she jerked and screamed, her second orgasm even more powerful that the first. Her body shivered, as the sensations slammed through her and left her sagging from the ropes, gasping for breath.
His steady pace faltered. Caro glanced behind her and saw that his jaw was clenched and the veins in his neck were tight. Her body twitched around his cock as he pounded into with her a fierce rhythm, then buried himself to the hilt, bellowing as he pulsed hotly into her.
Rukken shook, circling her waist with both arms and pressing his body against hers. His breath came out ragged and he trembled, his cock still hard inside her. “Are you okay?”
She fought for her own breath. “Sore, but okay.”
He instinctively glanced down, but she shook her head.
“Not there. Yet.” She looked up at the tent pole. “My wrists.”
Rukken untied her without saying a word, kissing the pink flesh of her wrists, then cocooning his body around hers and pulli
ng her down to the bed. His bulk wrapped easily around her and he squeezed her softly as he kissed her neck.
“Why did I like that so much?” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have liked that.”
“No?”
She shook her head. “My mind seems to want one thing, and my body has no interest in listening.”
Rukken moved one hand to cup her breast through her shirt. “I prefer to listen to your body.”
She couldn’t help laughing. “No kidding.”
“You are upset that you enjoy it so much? You wish it was not so good?” He sounded confused, and she didn’t blame him. She wasn’t making a bit of sense.
“I don’t know. I guess I’m not used to focusing on myself and what I like. I’m used to working as a team, and making sure everyone else is okay.”
He tugged her closer. “Maybe it is time for you to have something that feels good.”
She twisted to meet his gaze. “And that something is you?”
He smiled, shifting so that his cock moved inside her. “You tell me.”
She attempted to give him a severe look, but failed miserably when she let out a breathy sigh, instead. “Being cocky seems to be a Dothvek trait.”
His brow furrowed. “You have seen other Dothvek cocks?”
“No. Cocky. It means pretty fucking sure of yourself.”
He tucked his head into her neck and breathed in deep. “I am only sure of myself when I am with you. That is one of the ways I know you’re my mate. When I am inside you, I am finally complete.”
Her heart stuttered. She’d felt the same sensation when he’d been inside her—like he filled her perfectly for a reason—but she pushed that thought aside. She didn’t want to be anyone’s everything. Especially since she knew she couldn’t stay. Not for good, at least.
As amazing as whatever she had with Rukken was, it wouldn’t last forever. Nothing did.
She put her hand over his, threading her small fingers between his large ones. But for now, she could forget about all that and just go with it. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was time for her to do something just because it felt good. And fuck, did he feel good.
Twenty-Four
Rukken bent low and let the cool water cover his shoulders, dipping his head back to wet his hair. The pond behind his tent was not very deep, so he had to stand on his knees in order to be submerged to his neck.
“When was the last time you brushed this?” Caro asked from behind him, running her fingers through his thick mane and stopping when they snagged.
He closed his eyes. Her fingers felt good against his scalp, and he didn’t want her to stop. Knowing that she was wet and naked, it took all his willpower not to spin around and grab her. “I do not brush it.”
“You don’t say.” She laughed as she carefully pulled her fingers through his wet locks. “Have you ever considered a haircut?”
He grunted. “Dothveks do not wear short hair. Only Cresteks do that.”
“I’m not saying a buzz cut, but maybe a trim?”
He did not know what a buzz cut was, but he did not like the sound of it. “Would you like my hair with a trim?”
“I like your hair long, but you have a lot of tangles.”
He turned and pulled her to him, running his fingers in her hair. “Your hair does not tangle.”
“Because it’s stick-straight. I can’t do anything with it but put it in a ponytail, or wear it down.”
He studied the strands that had gone black when they’d gotten wet. “It is perfect.”
She grinned at him, one hand on his bare chest. “You’re just saying that to get into my pants.”
Rukken raised an eyebrow. “You are not wearing pants.” He was very aware of this fact, because it had been a source of constant distraction since they’d decided to take a dip in the pool, and he’d watched her strip down on the sandy bank. He also knew she was sore, and not only her wrists, so he was trying to keep his mind on other things, which was proving to be difficult now that she was facing him and so close he could reach out and touch her.
“Smart ass.” She splashed his chest and spun out of his reach.
Rukken did not understand all of her words—expressions, she called them. Many of them made no sense, but he’d stopped asking her to explain them. The explanations rarely made things any clearer. It was easier to feel her mind, and at the moment, her contentment was like warmth running through his veins.
She swam to the other side of the pond, flipping onto her back and floating with her eyes closed.
Sons of the goddesses. Even though her legs dipped below the water, the soft curve of her breasts protruded, the light-brown nipples tight, wet buds. His cock, which had already been twitching, hardened almost instantly.
He closed his own eyes. He’d seen her flinch when she’d walked into the water, and knew she needed time to recover. Even if it killed him. Rukken tried to think of anything but the feel of her soft breasts and the taste of her hard nipples as he rolled them around his tongue. His cock jutted out stiff from his body, reminding him that he was doing a very bad job of thinking of other things. He imagined the underbellies of sand serpents, instead, and his heart rate steadied.
“So how did you find this place again?” Caro called out, forcing his thoughts back to her “I know you’re in exile and all, but it’s a pretty sweet set-up.”
He glanced around his small camp. He’d been allowed to take the bare necessities when he’d left, and it had taken him much searching before he’d come across his small oasis. Even now, he could remember the feeling of relief when, after too many settings of the suns to count, he’d seen the flash of blue in the distance. At first, he’d thought it was a mirage. He’d been almost delirious with thirst, after going through the last of his water.
But he’d kept trudging toward it. Even if he was imagining it, he remembered thinking that he’d rather die believing he was on his way to someplace wonderful than to lose hope. Then the blue flash had become a patch of green and blue, and he finally stumbled up to the small copse of grasses surrounding a single, spindly tree. He’d practically crawled to the edge of the water, letting himself drink great gulps before crawling all the way in.
“The goddesses sent it to me.”
She laughed, then stopped suddenly. “Wait. You’re serious?”
“Of course. Our planet was created by goddesses, and they still guide our suns and moons. They are the reason we can communicate with our minds and they are why our plants can heal.”
“So, you think they’re the reason you found this place, and not just blind luck?”
Rukken knew she did not understand his planet, so he did not mind explaining. “You could walk on the sands for many settings of the suns and never find a place like this. It is a gift only the goddesses could send me.”
She splashed behind him. “I’ll admit it’s pretty cool. So, if these are rare, there was a pretty big chance you’d never find one when you were exiled?”
His stomach hardened as he remembered wandering alone. “I was never expected to find shelter or water. Being exiled is the same thing as a death sentence. It is just a delayed one.”
“So, this Zatvar probably thought you were as good as dead when you were sent away?”
He turned and saw her staring at him from across the water. “Yes.”
She nibbled her bottom lip. “But since you helped T’Kar and helped him get to the Dothvek village, he knows you didn’t die.”
“I suppose that is correct.”
“And now that you’ve taken me, they’re going to be looking for both of us. The longer I’m gone, the more time they have to track us down.”
Her worry was palpable. He wanted to savor the fact that she was talking about them as an ‘us’, but he knew Caro was right. If Zatvar had felt safe because the Dothvek who could reveal his treachery was dead, he now knew that was not the case. Would he consider Rukken’s existence a personal threat to his power? Would he come after him, himself?
A low growl built deep in his chest. If he did, Rukken would be ready for him.
“You can’t fight them,” she said, startling him. “They’ll outnumber you.”
“You’re reading my mind?”
“I’m reading your face.” She waved a finger at him. “Your scowl tells me you’re eager for a battle.”
“Only if I need to defend you.” That was only partially true. He did not know if he would be able to stop himself if Zatvar challenged him.
“They’re not going to try to hurt me.”
“They will want to take you from me.” He reached for her, looping an arm around her waist and tugging her until her body was flush with his. “I will not let that happen.”
She rested her chin on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his chest, brushing her fingertips absently along the ridges running down his spine. “No way am I letting you get killed over me.”
“If they take you, it will be the same as death. I could not survive without you.”
She pulled back and met his gaze. “You’ve been out here a long time without me.”
He traced a finger down the side of her face. “And now I know what I have been missing. Now I know what it is like to have a true mate. Now I know what it is to love something more than your own survival.”
He met her gaze. “I also know I should not have taken you. It was wrong to force you to be with me even though I knew you were meant to be mine.”
One of her dark, arched eyebrows rose. “Are you finally apologizing for kidnapping me?”
He was not sorry she was with him, but he regretted scaring her. “I should have found another way to convince you that you are mine. But it has been so long since I have been around others that I forgot how to do anything but act.”
She angled her head at him. “It would have been nice to meet you without being terrified.”
He dropped his eyes to the water, remembering her fear when she’d first seen him. “I regret every moment of unhappiness I have given you.”
