He groaned again as his hand moved faster. Mila, Mila. Briefly an image of her shadow popped unexpectedly into his mind. He growled and forced it out again. Damn shadows. They were evil little creatures, insinuating themselves into his brain.
Mila on her hands and knees, Cho behind her with his tongue in her pussy, her breasts brushing the ground…those were the images that stayed in his mind as he masturbated, and with one last, long groan, he shot his seed in a high arc into the water.
If someone did spy and carried tales back to the councilor, he had no doubt he’d be in for a tongue lashing at the very least, for wasting precious seed into the water instead of Mila’s womb. The girl drove him to it. He was weak where she was concerned.
He climbed with angry intent from the water, grabbed his clothes and headed back to the village as naked as the day he was born. All his clean garments were in the watcher’s wagon, and with any luck, the slowpoke would be even now unloading his possessions.
He ignored the twittering, giggling villagers as he headed back to his hut, but was moved to hold his bundle of dirty clothes in front of his man parts. Perhaps the Ednians were not quite as free as he’d pretended to Mila.
He’d surprised himself with his willingness to do as the Myaian villagers did, as though it was completely normal for an Ednian to watch females having sex, running around with unashamedly bare, pussies scraped free of hair and asses flashing in the sun.
If his people had seen…he couldn’t imagine their reactions. Probably not as accepting and happy as his own had been. Not from the elders and women, anyway. And a lot of the men. In their secret hearts, he couldn’t doubt that they would have been as fascinated and randy as he.
Who could blame him?
He was thankful he’d already emptied himself at the river, because as he neared his hut, he spied the girl Vera lounging by his door, looking like a sexy vixen in dire need of a hard, hot bedding. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed that she’d decided to don her dress.
She purred when she caught sight of him and his still damp, nude body, clutching his clothes against his cock. He wished he’d put his breeches back on, dirty or not.
“Ednian,” she said, licking her lips like he was a bite of supper and she hadn’t eaten for a long while, “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Run along, sweet thing. I haven’t the time nor the inclination to tangle with you right now, enticing as you may be.”
Her smile was wide and pleased, and he hoped his words would be enough to satisfy her and send her on her way.
“I’ve only come to tell you your watcher has arrived. I’ve always enjoyed that man. So tempting, so handsome…” She giggled and licked her lips.
He paused. Handsome? Slawomir? “Err…if you say it’s so, then it must be.” He almost laughed. Taciturn, quiet, unassuming…Slawomir was all those things. But handsome? Not so much.
He’d have to warn the man that Vera had her eye on him. The Myaian would eat his poor watcher alive. Then her words sank in. “You’ve seen my watcher before?”
“Sure, honey. Your watcher is not just your watcher.”
Not that Slawomir would have anything to do with any of the Myaians. He was here for Lake. Should the watcher be the type of man to renounce his life-long vows, Lake wasn’t sure what would happen. Watchers were not ordinary rutting men. They were meant for higher callings. Watchers did not fuck.
Poor bastards.
It wasn’t his problem. He was a chosen donor, and like it or not, he’d be leaving a child behind when he left.
He stood stock-still and grabbed his stomach. Leaving a child. His child. Shit.
“What’s wrong, honey? You look like you’re in pain.”
He stared blankly at Vera, until finally her words registered. “Nothing. Yes, go fetch Slawomir. I need some clothes.”
“That’s your opinion,” she said, slinking to him, wrapping her body around him like she was a lazy cat. She trailed her hand over his bare ass, and he grabbed her wrist.
“Not in the mood,” he said.
Something in his face must have warned her that he was serious and not to be fucked with, because she stumbled away from him, her eyes a little wide. She hugged her thin body and bared her teeth. “I do like a dangerous man.”
“Girl—”
“I’m going, Ednian. But I think I just might be back. When you are in the mood.”
“You’re determined to get us both in trouble, aren’t you?”
“Only if we’re caught, love. Only if we’re caught.”
He should have told her that the only Myaian he was interested in was Mila, but that was too much for him to admit to even himself. Instead, he sauntered toward her, dropping the bundle of clothes hiding his dick.
She gasped and held a white hand to her chest, and he grinned as he walked by her and into his house. Vera might be more bark than bite. Somehow, he doubted it. That girl was trouble.
Chapter Five
Mila ground her teeth together as she watched Lake drop the bundle hiding his cock and strut past Vera. Bastard just couldn’t stand not having every female around drooling over him.
She’d had to force herself to remain still when Vera had grabbed his bare ass, but watched with raised eyebrows as Lake pushed her away. Maybe he was afraid they were being watched.
Officially, the Ednian belonged to her, and only her while he was here. If Vera wasn’t careful, she’d find herself cast from the clan. That might not be a bad thing. Then she sighed. She’d known Vera since they were children. The other girl had given her a lot of trouble over the years, true, but still, she was part of the clan. If Mila was going to hate her, it wouldn’t be because of the Ednian. He wasn’t worth all that.
When he closed the door and left Vera gawking, Mila breathed a little easier. Still, a warning was in order. Vera needn’t think she could take what belonged to Mila. Mila had been a soft touch before, but when it came to this union, to the babe she would gain from it, she would be hard as stone. It was time Vera found that out.
Vera did not go home, instead veering off to the Ednian’s loaded wagon, where Lake’s tired looking watcher leaned against a tree, eating an apple and drinking from a skin of water.
The watcher had his own hut near Lake’s and would make sure Lake did his duty. It was a stupid rule. What man would refuse to fuck a pretty girl? But it was the Ednian’s rules, and who could understand them? Maybe there were other things the watcher watched for, but she couldn’t imagine what they were.
Shrugging, she hurried home to change into a dinner dress. After she changed, she hurried back to see Vera. Some things did not need to wait too long.
Most of the villagers did not scratch at the door when they called at a dwelling, and Mila was no exception. She pushed open Vera’s door, Cho right behind her, and walked inside.
Vera sprawled in a chair, naked and smiling, her legs hooked over the arms. Her shadow knelt between her thighs, gobbling at the bounty she offered.
Her breasts were tiny, topped with long, stiff nipples that she lazily toyed with. “What have I done?” she asked, not sounding like she cared in the slightest.
Mila leaned against the wall, watching the scene, wondering what Lake thought of Vera’s body. Would he prefer her slimness to Mila’s curves? Would he be driven to take into his mouth the long, pink nipples she’d heard a few men, and women, praise?
“Leave the Ednian alone, Vera. He is mine.”
Moistness gathered in her pussy as Ponga pulled his mouth from between Vera’s legs, his fingers probing, massaging her swollen red clit.
Vera threw her head back, gasping. “Oh, that’s good. That’s so good…I bet Lake could make it even better,” she added, her dark gaze on Mila.
Mila pushed herself away from the wall. “Stay away from him, Vera. This is the only warning I’m going to give you.”
Vera writhed beneath Ponga’s touch, rolling her nipples with her slender fingers. “Go away, Mila, a
nd leave me to my pleasures. Unless you’d like to join me, of course.”
“No.”
“Don’t pout, sweet. Come here and let me take care of you.”
But Mila left the room, Vera’s mocking laughter following her. “Damn her, Cho. She doesn’t listen to me.”
“Your warnings may not stop her, Mila, but she knows the rules. She would be stupid to break them.”
“Vera isn’t known for her intelligence,” Mila said, then smiled sheepishly, ashamed of her cattiness.
“Don’t underestimate her, Mila.”
“I wouldn’t think of it.”
Walking into the long, weathered gathering hall, she was instantly surrounded by curious villagers. This evening meal was part of the celebration that would commence tonight, with singing and dancing and entertainment that the Myaians only saw when an Ednian had arrived to join with one of their females.
The few precious children—two of them twins—would be put down for the night in a long hall with two girls to see to them, and the adults would drink and be free to do whatever they wanted to do, with whomever they wished to do it. Except, Mila thought, the Ednian. And her. She could have no male until the Ednian was gone, except for her shadow, and just this night.
If Lake made her pregnant, she would have no male until after she delivered. In her long days of abstinence, she would have Cho, or any female she wished to lie with. Even Creasy would be off limits while Lake was trying to impregnate her, and until after her pregnancy ended, simply because it was not seen as a pure, good thing to do. Attempts were made to keep the gods well pleased.
Losing her body was a little fact Creasy was not in the least bit happy about.
As though her thoughts had conjured him, Creasy appeared before her, his normally cheerful expression clouded and grim. He looked pale, unusual for a Myaian male who spent countless hours in the sun and the wood, hunting and building and fishing…fun things, nothing like cooking and preparing foods for winter and all the other countless tiring chores the women did. Sometimes she wished she had been born a male, but then she could not have had a child. She smiled, content.
“How do you like him?” Creasy asked, grasping her arm and pulling her away from the crowd.
“Ow, Creasy, let go.” She jerked her arm from him, tired of his constant pouting. He knew the way of their world. “Why must you fight it?”
“Because I can’t give you a baby,” he said, his teeth clenched. “How do you think it makes me feel, knowing the Ednian will have your pussy?”
She waved a dismissing hand at him. “Oh, Creasy. You can’t think of the Ednian as an actual man. He is a donor. That’s all.”
“He donates with his cock,” he spat. “I will not have it.”
“Of course you won’t have it,” she said, deliberately misunderstanding, hoping to lighten his mood. “I will have it.”
He was not to be appeased. He ran his hand through his short, dark hair, causing it to stand on end. “You should not do this.”
She put a hand on his arm. “Creasy, once he is gone, you and I will have a babe to raise. Together.” Perhaps. Unless he continued his immature ways, in which case she might be tempted to give him up. Not that he’d officially asked for her in the first place. She pursed her lips at that thought, her eyes narrowing. He wanted to be the only one to have her, but he seemed content to continue letting his family think he was going to ask for the yellow-haired Maire, who was more than willing to give up her shadow at Creasy’s command. Did Mila feel jealousy at this? Not one drop.
She caught sight of the huge Ednian entering the hall, and realized quite suddenly that there might be something wrong with her. Vera entered behind Lake, and streaks of red-hot jealousy shot through her. Yet Creasy, to whom she expected to be promised, managed to raise none of the same emotion in her.
“See how you stare at him, with your nipples hardening and your mouth open,” Creasy said, his voice low, furious. “Let him fuck you, then, but do not expect me to care for a babe from his loins. You will give it to another to raise, if we are to be together.”
She gasped, unable to comprehend what he’d just said. “Did you…did you just say…?” She folded her arms across her breasts, just in case proof of her lust was indeed showing through the thin cloth.
Creasy relented at once. “Oh, dear. I am…I am monstrous. I should never have said such a thing.” He touched her arm, his eyes pleading. “You know I didn’t mean it, Mila. You know that.”
She shook her head, feeling slightly dazed. “I can’t talk to you right now. Go away, Creasy.”
He stepped away, his eyes big with hurt. “I said I was sorry, Mila. Don’t be so unbending.”
Fury shot through her. “Creasy! Leave me alone!”
Creasy was well known for his temper. He grabbed her upper arms and shook her, his grip punishing. “Bitch…”
Over his shoulder she spotted Lake striding toward them, his face stormy, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Creasy—”
“Shut up, Mila.” He grabbed her breast, kneading it desperately, his face now flushed. “I’ve fucking told you—”
Lake grabbed Creasy by the back of his neck and snatched him away from her, his face a terrible, frightening dark storm of fury. He tossed Creasy against the wall and stood over him, fists clenching. “Get up,” he said.
Creasy stared up at him, mouth agape. “Mind your business, Ednian, or I will—”
“You will what?” Lake said, snarling.
Creasy stared at the people surrounding him and stood, slowly. “You need not interfere with our business. It has nothing to do with you.”
Lake pointed at Mila. “She is mine while I’m here, little man. If I so much as see you talking to her again, I will slaughter you. Am I clear?”
“Mila is—”
Lake grabbed Creasy by the throat and slammed him against the wall, holding him there. “Am I fucking clear?”
Mila slammed her fist against her lips and backed away, a riotous beat of confusion pounding through her. On the one hand, she was furious that her clansman was being taken to task by an Ednian, but on the other hand…
Lake was magnificent.
Chapter Six
She backed right into Vera, who wrapped her arms around Mila’s waist and held her fast. “Oh, just look at him,” she whispered, her breath stirring Mila’s hair. “You are a lucky, lucky little bitch, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t call it lucky,” Mila snapped, breaking Vera’s hold. “Two pompous, rutting stags, fighting over their…their territory.”
Vera glared at her. “I would trade you, Mila. Step down. Go on. Step down if you’re so unhappy with your stags. I will gladly take your place.”
Mila looked away, heat climbing her face. “Be quiet, Vera.”
Vera laughed. “I thought not.”
When Mila turned to look at her, she saw that Vera watched the men with longing in her eyes and looked, for a brief second, like she was ruled by loneliness. Mila softened and put her arm around the girl.
Vera glanced at her but did not push her away. “Let’s go see to the men.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve had enough of both of them for now.”
“Looks like one of them is coming to you, sweet.”
Mila had known he would come to gloat that he’d so easily put the Myaian male in his place. It wasn’t particularly Creasy she wanted to defend, but her entire clan. The Ednian could not come into their lives and rule them, put them down, cause so much chaos. He was here for one reason, and that did not involve humiliating her people.
His eyes were serious and stern when he stood before her. “Are you all right?”
“Of course I am,” she said. “What you did was unnecessary. Why do you feel you need to be such a…an Ednian?” She put as much contempt into that word as she could muster, trying to cover the fact that she was impressed, pleased, half in love already. With a fucking Ednian. They could never, ever be. Why
torture herself? “I do not need your help. I can take care of myself. Creasy is right. You should not insinuate yourself into Myaian business.”
He stiffened and stared at her for a long moment, silent. Finally, when she nearly crumpled beneath the shame of her emotions, he inclined his head and stepped away. “As you wish, Myaian. Run back to your brutish idiot. I will not interfere again.”
Vera smiled up at him, making herself look soft and innocent, of which she was neither. “Come sit with me, Lake. You should enjoy your celebration meal.”
He snorted, but allowed her to lead him away.
Mila watched him walk away, realizing for the first time how dressed up he was, how handsome he looked in his new clothes. His tunic was such a deep, dark green it appeared nearly black, open at chest and back to show the fresh white shirt beneath it. Wrapped low on his waist was a lighter green sash, into which was tucked a short sword. His breeches were tucked into high leather boots. His longish hair was gathered back into a loose knot at the back of his nape, and his face had been newly scraped clear of any bristling hair.
For a moment the noise of the gathering faded into the back of her mind as she watched him. Vera pulled him into his place of honor at the head of one of the middle tables and sat down beside him. And that was just wrong.
This was a celebration of the babe to be made, of her, of Lake. Not of Vera. Angry, furious, she stomped across the hall, shoving her way past the throng of people gathered. Already half drunk and in high spirits, they tried to stop her for conversation, but she was having none of it. Soon the councilor would arrive, and if he saw their fights and misbehavior, he was likely to order them all whipped. In front of the Ednian. She shuddered with horror at the thought.
Lake looked up at her arrival and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. She found herself wishing the wood would break, and he would go tumbling backward. Of course no such thing would happen, not to him. The chair wouldn’t dare anger him.
First Night Page 4
