Driven

by Megan Hart

  "I don't know," Del said, walking her back toward the bed. "What you have between your legs can pretty much get me to do anything."

  She put a hand on his chest to stop him. "Except get you to ignore this challenge."

  "Except that."

  She sighed. "You're sure you can beat him?"

  "Positive." He bent to lick the line of her jaw.

  The caress sent a shiver through her. Her nipples rose against the thin fabric of her robe. Instant moisture pooled between her thighs. Del had a magic touch that could almost make her forget everything else. Almost. "And then what will happen?"

  She felt the press of his erection against her belly as he walked her a few more steps toward the bed.

  "Then I take the seat on the Melekim Gadol, and I buy you the most beautiful house in the city. Buy you whatever you want."

  "What if what I want can't be bought?" She'd meant the question to sound light, but the waver in her voice gave away her apprehension.

  As he'd always done since he'd met her, Del seemed to react to even her unspoken fears. He kissed her, then put her hand to his chest, over his heart.

  "Then I'll find a way to get it, whatever it is."

  She let her fingers splay out. His nipple tightened beneath her palm. She felt the subtle increase in the tempo of his heart, matched by the slightly faster rise and fall of his chest as his breathing quickened. She put her other hand on him, both laid out flat. Even with her fingers spread as far as they could, her hands didn't come close to covering his entire chest.

  She slid them down to his trim waist and the band of his trousers. "Take these off."

  Without a word, without hesitation, Del did as she said. Her clit pulsed at the sight of him, his perfect body and the hard cock rising just for her. Linna backed up and sat down on the bed, keeping her eyes on Del as he followed her.

  "I want to see you touch yourself. The way you did that first time we were together."

  Feet planted shoulder-width apart, he put his hand on his dick, covering the smooth head and stroking downward to the dark hair around his balls.

  Linna put a finger to her clit, already hot and rigid with desire. She slipped it down into her folds and smiled as Del's hand moved faster in response. She drew her slick finger over her pleasure bead and let the sparkles of ecstasy run through her as she rubbed it.

  "Tell me what you're thinking about," she told him.

  "You," came his unhesitating answer. "Licking you. How you taste. How you feel wrapped around my cock."

  His honest words sent sparks of desire coursing through her. Thighs spread wide, she lifted her hips upward to expose herself to him.

  "Come on then," Linna said. "I'm waiting."

  He moved toward her so fast it might have been frightening if she weren't already so aroused. Faster than a breath, he was between her legs, his mouth unerringly finding her swollen clitoris and his hands under her ass to lift her to his tongue and lips. He suckled her fiercely, and she would have cried out in pain if the pleasure hadn't been so deliriously exquisite.

  In the next breath he left her pussy and found her mouth; his cock slid inside her without resistance and she did cry out at the sheer, sudden thrill of being so filled.

  He bit at her shoulder, and she bit his as he thrust inside her. With a roll of her hips, she threw him over, still seated deep within her.

  Now she straddled him and threw back her head as she rode him. No words of tenderness this time, no soft caresses. This was wild passion at its best--pure, raw fucking, and her body convulsed as the first orgasm exploded inside her.

  Del grabbed her hips to guide his thrusts. Linna reached around behind her to find his balls, and she stroked them in time to his thrusts. The arch of her back pressed his dick against the spongy bundle of nerves just behind her pubic bone, sending another climax through her.

  She cried his name, and he answered with hers. Together, they rocketed toward their final release, completely in tune, in tandem, each a part of the other.

  She collapsed on top of him. She listened to the words of love he whispered in her ear and murmured the same to him. Then she felt him shift beneath her, saw him get up from the bed and stride, still naked, to the sword and shield he'd put down to make love to her.

  "I have to go, Linna."

  "I know you do."

  The door closed behind him with a gentle thud she couldn't block out even though she'd pulled the covers up around her ears.

  Sweat ran in his eye and blinded him, but Del didn't need to see to know what his brother was going to try next. The ritual moves couldn't be erased from his brain, no matter how long it had been since he'd last used them. Vardek was wrong about him being soft. Aysh katan had learned that the hard way.

  Del hadn't gotten this far in the battle without wounds of his own, though. His right side stung painfully from a shallow cut, and he'd have more than one or two new scars for Linna to complain about. His brother was smaller, but he was fast and determined.

  "Give up yet?" he called to Vardek, who had paused to wipe his face free from the sweat and dust. "You called it. You can end it."

  Vardek shook his head, teeth white in the mask of dirt. "No way, aysh gadol. Not until you're crying."

  Del spat to the side and risked a glance into the sidelines. His mother and father sat in their box with the other members of the Melekim Gadol around them. There was no sign of Linna anywhere.

  Vardek must have been watching for just that chance because he leaped forward and swung. Del's blade came up just in time for him to keep his ear intact. The clang of metal against metal echoed throughout the war field.

  "Nice." He gave the compliment easily enough. "You've been working."

  "I've been challenged a few times while you were away." Vardek grunted. "A lot of men seem to think just because I look easily beaten, I am easily beaten."

  He thrust forward again. Del leaped back. A line of red opened up on his forearm. He muttered a curse.

  "Some didn't think I deserved to take the place you left vacant, since I was the second son."

  This time, Del leaped forward to slash at Vardek's exposed side. His blade opened a slash that had already begun to clot closed. Vardek spat and switched his sword to the other hand, a trick Del knew well. He'd taught it to his younger brother.

  "Those same people think I should just--" Another slash from Vardek. "--give it up to you!"

  Del parried, then stopped, blade raised. "You should've just let me tell them I didn't want it."

  "You want it. You keep saying you don't, but you do. What the hell else would you do here on Xanderra, if you're not a melek?"

  The two men squared off, swords raised, but not clashing. Del spat again to clear the taste of dust and blood from his tongue. He had one stunningly clear memory, so vivid it made him stumble back with the force of it.

  Vardek wobbled to him on chubby legs, arms outstretched. Delek caught him up, swung him around, set him back down and tumbled beside him while the little boy laughed and kicked his legs in the air.

  Del blinked, the vision fading as he heard Linna's voice echo in his head. "Don't you love your brother?"

  "I do love him," he said aloud, just as Vardek swung his sword at Del's head. "Vardie, you son of a bitch, cut it out!"

  Vardek stopped so suddenly, his face pulled into a look of comic disbelief, that his sword scraped the dirt. He lifted it warily, but Del didn't step forward to take the blow he could have.

  "You haven't called me that in a long time," Vardek said.

  "Call off the challenge. This is over."

  Vardek shook his head, but seemed uncertain. "Are you willing to stand down? Admit defeat."

  In answer, Del dropped his sword into the dirt. It pained him more to mistreat the weapon than it did to give up to his brother. He raised his hands so everyone watching could see.

  "Why are you doing this?" Vardek asked, his own blade still raised.

  "Because I love you," Del replied.
"You're my aysh katan. And we shouldn't be fighting like this. I don't want your seat and I never did. I've never wanted anything you had."

  "That's a lie." Vardek, who had seemed willing to end the challenge, now pointed his weapon at Del again. "You took something really precious from me, and I've never forgiven you for it."

  Del heard the rising murmur as the crowd speculated about what was happening on the war field. He'd thrown down his blade, admitted defeat, but Vardek wasn't calling off the challenge. Del was just as confused as they were.

  "What did I steal from you?"

  Vardek's eyes were hard and flinty, nothing like the blue-eyed gaze of the little boy with chubby legs who had once followed Del around begging to be lifted up and swung.

  "Kella."

  Del had a vague recollection of blond hair and green eyes, but beyond that, the name meant nothing to him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "No, you don't." Vardek sneered. "You wouldn't, would you? She was one of the ones Ima and Aba put out for you, but she wasn't good enough for you. It didn't matter to you that she loved you. You didn't care that she'd have given anything to become your behshera."

  "Vardek, I barely even remember her!" Del was aware his brother's blade was close enough to slash his throat, if Vardek chose to close the distance between them with a single step.

  "I loved her," Vardek growled the words through clenched teeth. "And she died crying out your name!"

  Del jumped away from the sword as Vardek raised his arm. His years in Newcity, where you fought with your hands if you had to, kicked in. He took his brother down with a swift blow to the back, then a kick to the knees that sent Vardek reeling into the dirt.

  "I'm sorry," he said to his brother, who rolled and got to his feet. "I didn't know."

  Vardek hadn't let go of his sword. "But I did."

  Del heard the crowd murmur again, louder this time, as he refused to pick up his weapon. He heard his father's shout, but ignored it. This was between him and Vardek.

  "I've thrown down my blade and submitted to you. The challenge is finished."

  "Not until I say it is." Vardek swung his sword in a circle, passing it from hand to hand.

  Del shook his head. A long time ago, he'd have fought his brother until both of them were bloody, just because it would have been too shameful to step down. Now he knew better.

  "There's no shame in saying you're sorry or admitting you're wrong. Defiance for the wrong reasons is more shameful than submission. I'm submitting to your challenge, aysh katan. Don't take it further."

  "I loved her." Vardek's face had become a mask of pain. "But even though you were never behsherit, you might as well have been. She never loved me. She loved you."

  "I can't change that." Del spread out his hands.

  "Get on your knees." Vardek lifted his blade.

  Del's fists clenched. His eyes met his brother's alight with fury and grief. He forced himself not to react with the same anger.

  "You don't have to do this, Vardek."

  "On your knees! You will be marked with the tav al parar for all to see and know your shame!"

  Del dropped to his knees in the dirt, arms outstretched. "There's no shame in refusing to fight someone you love. Go ahead and mark me."

  Vardek raised the sword high, and Del bent his head, preparing for the pain of the dual cuts to his shoulders that would mark him defeated in the challenge.

  "Don't let your blade waver, aysh katan," he said.

  "Don't challenge my honor," replied his brother.

  Del felt the soft touch of the sword on his shoulder blade as Vardek marked the spot he'd be cutting. Del relaxed his muscles, ready for the pain, open to it instead of tensing against it. The sword point moved away. Del let out his breath, waiting.

  "No!"

  He kept his eyes closed, head bent, and hands on his knees. The cry came again, closer this time, and he still didn't feel the bite of his brother's sword. Del opened his eyes. Linna had run onto the fight field.

  "Linna, no!" He sprang to his feet to stop her from running toward Vardek, who still had his sword ready to swing. "Stay back!"

  "I won't let you do this!" she cried, throwing herself between the brothers. "You barbarian, you can't kill him!"

  Then she launched herself toward Vardek, who took a step back in surprise, but kept his sword up in front of him. Her arms flailed at Vardek, who blocked her blows easily enough with his free arm.

  "Your behshera doesn't know her place yet, aysh gadol."

  Linna shouted, "Fuck you!"

  Vardek raised his eyebrows as the crowd's murmur turned to an angry roar. "Maybe later, kallah."

  Del grabbed at her arm. "Linna, stop."

  "He was going to kill you with that thing." She pointed accusingly.

  Del put his hands on her shoulders, aware of the way every eye in the seats was turned on them. He could see his mother's frown all the way from here, and she leaned over to jabber in his father's ear. He didn't want to think about what garbage she was spewing.

  "Not kill him. Just give him the mark of defeat, the tav al parar. Mark him a loser." Vardek kept his sword up. "Something he agreed to by submitting. Something you know nothing about."

  Linna straightened her back. "You must be awfully insecure to insist on marking your brother."

  Vardek's expression twisted and he let his sword point drop. "Get off this field, you stupid cunt. Before I decide to mark you, too."

  Linna's cold voice belied the fury Del sensed inside her. "Go ahead and try, little man."

  "Linna--"

  But Vardek had pushed her too far. She stepped up to him, her lovely features hard as stone, oblivious to the way the crowd jeered and mocked her. She didn't care what they thought. She was fierce and proud, and more beautiful than any woman Del had ever known.

  She leaned in so close to Vardek's face her breath made the fringes of his hair flutter. "Go ahead. Use your fists to make yourself feel better. I'm sure that'll prove you're a real man."

  Vardek slapped her face. Linna rocked with the blow and caught his hand on the back swing. Del saw the way Vardek's muscles bunched and tensed with the force of his blow, but Linna held him back from hitting her again.

  "In case you hadn't noticed," she said calmly, holding him still. "I don't go for that sort of thing."

  She threw his hand away from her so fiercely Vardek took two steps back. Now the crowd became a seething, riotous mass.

  Without hesitating, Vardek threw another punch while he brought his sword arm around. This time, Del's hand stopped the blade from swinging. The force of his brother's swing rocketed through his arm all the way to the shoulder, and Del felt something snap in his wrist.

  He bit back a shout of pain, but kept Vardek's sword from meeting Linna's body. Linna didn't move. She and Vardek had locked eyes.

  "Put it down," Del ordered.

  Vardek did. "You've broken the protocols of the war field, Linna Fortense. Do you know what this means?"

  "I'm sure you'll tell me."

  Del stepped between them. "It means you'll be given the tal al harash, Linna. The mark of silence."

  Now she looked at him. "Okay."

  Del shook his head. "You don't understand. The tal al harash is a punishment. It means nobody can talk to you. Nobody will see you."

  She looked back at Vardek, who was grinning. "What...I'll be invisible?"

  "You'll be inked on your right cheek. That means you can't be spoken to, you can't buy goods, you can't work." Del turned her to look at him. "It means you're dead to the community. Shunned."

  Linna touched her cheek, already going purple from the blow. "I thought he was going to kill you."

  "How sweet." Vardek spat into the ground at their feet. "Tell me something, aysh. Does your woman fuck as poorly as she fights?"

  It took every bit of willpower that he had, but Del managed not to punch his brother in the jaw for his remark. Instead, he did something intended to hurt far wo
rse. He turned his back on Vardek, dismissed him, made him insignificant by refusing to react.

  "You admitted defeat of the challenge," Vardek called after him, but Del didn't turn.

  He took Linna's hand, and together they left the war field, prepared to face whatever punishment awaited them.

  Chapter 16

  Linna had already paced the small cell too many times to count. She was surprised she hadn't worn a groove in the floor. This time, she paused to look out the small, circular window.

  The view wasn't much. The street bustled with Xanderrans and Esheethim going about their business, none of which involved her. Nobody even looked up to the window she was looking out, but she knew that, even if they had, their eyes would slide right past her as if she wasn't there.

  She'd seen it already, just in the few days since the trial. Trial. Ha. It had been a joke. Del's father had screamed so loudly his face had gone purple and he'd collapsed. The Melekim Gadol pronounced sentence on her without giving her any chance to defend herself.

  Not that she had any defense. She'd have done the same thing over again, a hundred times if she had to. It just rankled to have been judged for standing up for herself and the man she loved.

  Unfortunately, standing up for them meant she'd completely ruined Del's life.

  Linna turned from the window with a sigh. She hadn't seen him since they'd been separated coming off the war field, seven days ago. She'd suffered through another inking, this time for a small teardrop at the corner of her right eye, and without the benefit of the elixir that had made the last time so memorable. Now she waited for them to release her from this cell and send her out into the city again...to be ignored.

  She heard the soft whish of the door behind her, but she didn't turn. The guards who brought and took away her food trays didn't acknowledge her, and she'd learned it was useless to try and talk to them. The small mark on her face had made a big difference.

  "Linna."

  "Del!" She turned and flew into his arms, not caring that she rocked him backward with her weight. "God-of-Choice, it's good to see you!"