Earth Borne

by Rachael Slate

He bent to Philaeus’s ear and growled low enough so Melita wouldn’t hear. “You step near my family again, Lapith, and I’ll feed you yer ballocks through yer nose.”

  The bastard whimpered and bobbed his head with short, jerky nods.

  Thereus’s lip curled in disgust. He’d better not regret this. Sheathing his dagger, he rose and angled toward Melita. She beamed at him in gratitude, making his effort of restraint seem like a feat of Heracles he’d performed for her. His chest puffed as he plucked her from the ground and set her astride his back.

  Unwilling to tempt his bloodthirst any longer, he stormed from the tent and galloped to Westgard.

  Thereus’s shoulders sagged in a deep sigh. He had her back, and well, at least physically she appeared unharmed. A light was missing from her eyes. Had he done that? Had he extinguished the fire in her soul? He prayed to the gods not.

  What had been a lie and what was truth about their time together?

  Melita slumped against him, asleep. Poor nymph. He beat back any lingering betrayal over her true identity. For once, he would draw upon the wisdom of his ancestors. If he studied this with a clear mind, he was the cause of everything. Melita had made the best of his bad situations. He owed her everything. Lucian, his castle, his village.

  He would die for her, or more likely, would kill a legion to be with her. But would she reciprocate? Never in his existence had he been so vulnerable, and he loathed the sensation.

  He was irrevocably bonded to her. Regardless of her affections, he couldn’t change this bond. In the back of his mind, his fears festered. Would he become like Hector, bonded to a female who was indifferent? Or worse, like Oreius, to be hollowed out because one’s mate deserted one, whether through death or other means?

  Thereus gulped in the heavy night air. No, he refused to entertain such doubts. They would destroy him. Melita had to be the person he’d fallen in love with these past few weeks.

  The revelation jolted him. His shoulder scraped against the bark of a tree. Nimbly swerving another tree, Thereus carefully traced to the thought. Had he been hiding behind the bond? Using it as an explanation for his affections? He grimaced as he summoned his memories. No, he’d never once uttered those words, never once told her he loved her.

  I love her. The realization exploded in his heart. It wasn’t the bond. He desired Melita because he loved her. If she left, he would be devastated because it would break his heart.

  Bond be damned, it didn’t change a thing.

  Gods, how blind he’d been. How crafty. He’d called her sweetling, love, dearest, and never declared his love outright.

  He’d safeguarded his heart, completely unaware Melita possessed a key of her own.

  Inside the castle, Thereus pressed a finger to his lips to quieten Alkippe’s exclamations and strode to his chambers. Careful not to disturb her, he carried Melita to the bed and set her upon it. Despite his efforts, her eyelids fluttered open.

  He flashed to human form and slid onto the bed next to her. “Shh.” He smoothed the hair back from her forehead. “You’re safe, my love. I promise, no one will ever harm you again.” The last traces of bruises stained her cheek and neck with their mulberry hues. A cut sliced open her bottom lip. How hadn’t he noted her injuries earlier? Damn his poor centaur eyesight.

  The bruises evaporated and the cut sealed. Healed, through her powers? He gaped at her in awe. What strength his nymph possessed. She hadn’t required his rescue, yet he guessed her yearning for redemption burned as bright as his.

  He brushed the backs of his fingers across her once-abused cheek and cursed Philaeus. Had he observed this earlier, the Lapith would not still be breathing. Because, peace or no peace, he’d assaulted Thereus’s wife.

  Wife. Yet if he comprehended the situation, they weren’t truly married.

  “Thereus, I’m so sorry.” Her words tore at him, lashing through his chest.

  “No, my love. I’m the one who’s sorry. I caused this and yet… That my transgressions have led me to you, I cannot regret.” He bent and softly kissed her. Her heat seared him as she parted her lips. His horse roared. His fears shattered. Everything he hoped for was in this kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and dragged him on top of her. Though he’d not intended to make love to her, who was he to deny his mate?

  “Thereus.” The entirety of her emotions resounded in that one word, his name.

  He grinned. Aye, deep in his heart, whatever their struggles, their love would overcome everything.

  “Surrender to me, nymph,” he purred, his hands cupping her breasts while his tongue teased a path downward to meet them.

  Melita clung to Thereus. This must be a dream, or else a trick. She’d been certain that as soon as they returned to Westgard, she’d never touch him again. In desperation, she entwined herself with him, inhaling his dark, earthy scent and memorizing the ecstasy of him in her arms.

  Melita moaned. She was on fire. His caress, how could she live without it? He promised so much more than seduction. Thereus had forgiven her. He desired her. Not Kalliste. She was not the bride chosen for him, but she was the one he lusted after. Perhaps even, loved.

  She grasped his hard shaft in her hands. He growled with the urgency she detected growing feverishly hot inside of him. She shoved his breeches down and stroked him, while he worked at removing her clothes. He freed one breast from her bodice, his lips burning hot against her skin. Abruptly, he wrenched his head from her breast and panting, rolled onto his back.

  “Sweet nymph, I hadn’t…” He clenched the fabric of the bed so fiercely it would surely tear. Her centaur lover was so desperate in his need, yet he made one last attempt to rein in his beast.

  She shook her head at him and smiled. “Thereus, my love, my centaur, my mate. I fathom what you are as surely as you do me.” She rose and straddled his thighs with a sly grin, inching the hem of her skirts upward with teasing fingers. “When have I ever desired you to hold back? No, my love. I don’t want you tamed. It was the wild in you I have always loved.”

  He grinned back, rubbed his bicep, and cupped her cheek. “This is ‘Melita’ then, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” The passion, the heat inside her, consumed her. She’d never thirsted for Thereus more. He didn’t hesitate to call her by her true name. He’d spoken it so naturally, as if he had always called her such. Even though he’d been aware of her nymph heritage, he’d never known her true identity.

  She dipped forward and kissed him. His thick erection jutted, rigid between them. Her core pulsed in demand. Moisture slicked between her thighs, her body ready to welcome him. She curled her tongue against his and moaned into his firm lips.

  Leaning back, Melita smiled at the beauty of the male beneath her. His broad shoulders stretched more than twice the width of hers. Though his normal state of dress left his bare chest visible, her greedy gaze hungered still. His skin was thicker, tougher than hers, like armor, yet silken beneath her fingertips. She scraped her nails down his chest, along firm, dense muscles that bunched as her touch passed over them, and delighted while he hissed in pleasure.

  With a hooded stare, he followed each of her movements in tempered patience. This massive centaur could overpower her with a mere flick of his wrist and yet, he surrendered to her exploration.

  “Would you have killed Philaeus, a man unarmed and bound?”

  His brows drew together. “‘Twould not have made a difference, even should our positions have been reversed.”

  Ah, yes. This powerful male below her was right. No fight between him and Philaeus would ever be fair. Honor hadn’t been a part of it. He’d given disposing of Philaeus equal consideration to tossing out a chamber pot’s contents.

  “Enough talk, me buxom beauty.” He arched a brow and jerked his chin at his proud erection. “I’ve need of you.”

  Her fingers swirled through the curling trail of dark hairs leading to his firm, rigid sex. He arched his hips off the bed. Eager lover. She glanced at him from beneath her las
hes. She rather liked this change of sovereignty. He’d been so controlling in their matings, and her nymph nature screamed for retribution.

  She avoided the obvious destination and squeezed his sac. His shaft jerked, as though eager for attention. Glistening beads sprung free from its soft tip, a dam about to burst.

  She dug into her arsenal of nymph talents and seized control of her centaur’s lust. He groaned and sank his weight against the mattress. She located his racing pulse and captured his heavy breaths in her ears. After a moment of respite, she gave his sac another firm, demanding squeeze, and gripped his eager length. Rising on her knees, she impaled herself in one hard, swift movement.

  He threw his head back and she whimpered in pleasure as he stretched and filled her to the edge of ecstasy. This was the only place she’d ever be complete. Without him inside her body, and inside her heart, she was empty. She leaned forward, her breasts flush against his chest, and pressed her ear to his firm flesh, drowning in his heartbeat.

  Thereus snared the fabric of her dress and with those large, capable hands split it open. Ah, so the beast wasn’t finished with her yet. His roughened fingers coveted her bared breasts as murmurs of praise passed his lips. He thrust his hips up, driving deeper into her body. His love, deeper into her soul. Seizing her hips with both hands, he pounded upward.

  She planted her hands on his shoulders and rocked in time to his frenzied rhythm. His right hand slid to squeeze her bottom, his other dipped between them and rubbed her bud.

  She moaned as her body convulsed around his hard length. Ripples of pleasure erupted through her veins while she ground against him, racing to prolong the bliss. Her sheath clamped around his shaft, determined to milk him for every ounce of rapture he’d given her. He roared and the heat of his seed shot into her body. A second crescendo sang in her blood, melting her muscles to foamy nothingness. She collapsed onto his broad chest and his arms enclosed her, his lips pressed to her hair.

  Peeling off the remnants of her dress, he withdrew from her, and rolled her onto her side. He spread his hands across her body as he hovered above. “You are the most beautiful nymph the gods ever created,” he purred, his voice rough and deep.

  His hands clasped her thighs and parted them. He flicked his tongue across her bud. Her toes curled and her spine arched. She tangled her fingers in his hair and urged him down, licking and sucking at her until she burned with an ache only he could quench.

  “Claim me, Thereus,” she moaned, opening her thighs wider.

  Lifting his head, he gazed intently at her. “No more secrets between us, nymph, promise me.”

  She raised her lashes. “I promise.”

  He swallowed thickly, his throat bobbing. “Then are you certain you would choose me, that it’s not your nymph—”

  A laugh chimed from her lips. “Yes, sweet Thereus. It’s you I choose. I’ve always chosen you.”

  “Just checking.” An eager grin splitting his face, he sprang on top of her and settled his large weight against her. He pressed his face next to hers while he entered her, slowly now, gently. His hands wrapped over hers, on either sides of their bodies, as Thereus made love to her.

  Melita moaned into the pillow. She loved the sensation of her body pinned by his glorious weight. Of the trust between them. He thrust with ease, with tenderness into her. How had she ever doubted him?

  His strokes became urgent, and her need augmented within her, to match his. Her passion would always rise to meet his.

  Thereus purred into her ear while he pumped inside her with deep, hurried thrusts. As his hot seed filled her body, Melita welcomed it, her convulsions intensifying, her body drawing his precious gift even deeper.

  She whimpered his name, demanding more. More of him, everywhere. He answered her with feral growls, giving her everything his body possessed. At last, he collapsed on top of her. Melita smiled, a secret satisfaction flooding her. The world was theirs, the future, theirs. The past was behind them. While not forgotten, it would no longer be a wall between them.

  At last, she was free.

  “I vow I will cherish you until both of my hearts stop beating. I love you, Melita,” he murmured against her neck. Tears welled in her eyes as she listened to the words she’d never dreamed she would ever hear.

  “And I love you, Thereus,” she whispered back.

  ***

  The morning sun shone through the colored glass windows of the atrium, creating rainbows on the ground. Lucian scampered about, searching for frogs. And Melita, yes, Melita, Thereus grinned, sat next to him, a vision to worship. He stretched out his legs and sighed in contentment.

  The time had come to discuss the past, so they might plan their future. He placed his hand atop hers. “Melita, sweetling, will you tell me what happened? Alkippe has told me some, but I would hear your tale from your own lips, my love.”

  The memory must be difficult for her, so he endeavored to be as patient as possible, even to sit still. He squeezed her hand and waited.

  “I came with Kalliste, my half-sister, but you knew me not, for I was cloaked.” Her words came softly, and then rushed. “She intended to make use of me, of our similar countenance, should the war ever resume.” Her shoulders slumped. “Kalliste might have been unkind, but she was exiled to a land she believed full of enemies. Where I found sanctuary, she encountered a prison. Our entire lives, we were told centaurs were monsters. Yet when I first gazed upon you,” she caressed the fingers of her free hand down his cheek, “I knew I had finally found a home.” She drew her hand away from his. “Yet it wasn’t so for Kalliste. That poor woman was a victim of Philaeus as much as I was. After you wed, she threatened to throw herself off her balcony if forced to mate with you. I believed her desperation, so I employed a spell that allowed me to switch places with her. You mated with her body, but it was me inside.” She folded her hands in her lap. “I’m so sorry for my deception, Thereus.”

  He whistled low. Good gods, that was quite the revelation. Her tale revealed so much, snapping the pieces of the puzzle together. Though she seemed to suffer from the guilt of her actions, how could he blame this selfless woman before him?

  He seized her hand, clasping it firmly. Simple. He could not.

  “Don’t apologize, sweetling. I, too, am well-accustomed to living a life of ruses. For years, I’ve hidden my bonding from my most trusted friends. I’ve snuck off with females, only to spend hours imbibing with them, in the hopes of persuading them I was their lover.” He snorted, disgusted with himself.

  “You have?” Her raised brows and parted lips were empty of accusation; instead, pity softened her features.

  “Aye. You are the one I should have been with, this whole time. In truth, I am glad the gods bound our fates together, no matter how that happened.” He puffed wistfully. “I only wish I hadn’t been so blind, that I had recognized my mate when she stood right in front of me.”

  “The night before you left, that was me.” She squeezed his hand. “I shouldn’t have been in the stairwell. Kalliste asked for something from the kitchens, I was in a rush, so I forgot to cloak myself. I decided to take the stairwell between your chambers since it was never used. I should have stopped you, should have run away. I was unprepared for what you intended, but I wanted you so badly. I wanted so desperately for you to see me.”

  She licked her bottom lip, and he leaned in to steal a taste as well. Releasing her mouth, he nuzzled her cheek. “I am sorry I did not perceive your true identity. I would have changed so many things, Melita. These past five years have been torment. Each time you haunted my dreams, I fought the bonding harder, teetering on the edge of madness. ’Tis a relief you’re real.”

  She smiled at him. “That one night has kept me warm for hundreds of others.” Her teeth nibbled her ruby lip and he growled lowly. They’d never finish this conversation if she didn’t stop tempting him.

  “Kalliste is dead.” Her tone fell flat.

  “Aye, Alkippe told me. I’m sorry.”
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br />   A tear slipped from her eye and she lowered her lashes. “She died in childbirth to a child she hadn’t wished for, captive to a life thrust upon her. But she never would have renounced Lucian to her brother.” Those thick lashes lifted, revealing defiant sparkling depths. “In her last weeks, Kalliste grew to love her son. She named him Lucian—the light in her life—and she never would have forsaken him.”

  He brushed away the tear. “I believe you.”

  She stiffened. “Agrius and Hector are aware of my identity. Agrius spoke with me at Great Meteoron.”

  “He did?” Thereus scratched at his jaw. That explained their suspicious behavior when he’d displayed his bonding mark.

  “He said the two of you would speak with King Cheiron.” She pressed her lips so firmly together they turned white.

  “Easy, Melita. I’m sure, if my father wishes to speak with us, he will.” He gripped her in a tight, reassuring embrace. Pulling back, he murmured, “’Tis not something you need concern yourself with, aye? I will take care of you.”

  She offered him a strained smile. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. His father had encouraged Thereus’s courting of Kalliste—Melita—and he didn’t doubt his father had known all along her true identity. Philaeus had been adequately subdued, so he didn’t sense an urgency to smooth the revelation over with the Lapiths. What concerned him was the situation within his household.

  “Nymph, I’m tormented by far too many questions. Alkippe said there was…” His heart twisted like a laundress wringing it out for the drying line. “A child?”

  Her lashes dropped. “Yes. A little girl.”

  He wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her to his chest. “Forgive me, Melita. I should have been here.” Grief overwhelmed him. A daughter didn’t seem abstract, not when he considered Lucian. How precious, how treasured a girl would have been to his family. Such a rare gift, yet the gods had taken her away.

  “So many nights I’ve spent weeping over my sins. The gods have punished me for what I’ve done.”

  “Both of us, my love.” He wrapped his arms around her, as though he might shield her from their wrath.