by Missy Lyons
Just then, a tall woman with golden skin came into the open area. Her hair flowed behind her like corn silk, her golden eyes sparkling in the morning light. She had a concerned look on her face as she called for her children. “Anna, Brock! Time for lunch!”
Kivra felt a pressure wrap around her chest. She would recognize her sister anywhere. “Katrina?”
The stranger looked up, curious about who called her name. Still not recognizing her sister, Katrina looked confused. Kivra stood up, welcoming her with open arms. “Its me, Kivra!”
“Kivra?” Katrina’s chest rose sharply and the light in her eyes grew brighter as she recognized her sister. She ran into her sister’s waiting arms, giving her a long tight hug. “Oh my God! I never thought I would see you again.”
“Me either. I worried for you when I heard about your kidnapping and then the man refused to ransom you.” Kivra broke into tears remembering how she could do nothing to retrieve her sister. She’d felt so helpless, and the kidnapping sent her father into a depression he never recovered from.
Katrina wiped away the tears. “It’s all right. I am married now to Dustin and very happy. We have two children. Anna! Brock! Come here!”
Two small children came out of the bushes and approached the group of women. Kivra swept them up in a hug immediately, kissing them both on each cheek. “They are beautiful, Katrina. I only wish you could have had them in a marriage that was a love match.”
“Oh, but it was a love match. I mean, it is a love match. That is why I never went back. Dustin offered me a choice and I wanted to stay more than I wanted to go. My place is at my husband’s side. Dustin is a good father. I don’t think I could have chosen better.” Katrina’s eyes were sincere and her words sounded heartfelt.
“But he is a Barbarian! Just like Kona.” Kivra looked away from her sister with the sudden turmoil she felt. Katrina couldn’t possibly be happy living here, could she?
“Kona is a good man. You would be lucky to have him as a mate.”
Kivra could feel the tears begin to burn her eyes as she turned away from her sister and Kona’s mother. “Well, lucky me, I don’t have to worry about that. He is not my mate.”
* * *
Kivra was trying to get her emotions under control. She was strewn out across the impressive bed, holding the pillow to her face. The bedroom obviously belonged to a male: the décor was in rich burgundies, and the walls carried trophies from previous hunting expeditions, next to treasured weapons. Furs lined the bed, soft against her skin, but all of it reminded her of him.
The pillows carried his masculine scent.
She felt his strong, callused hand moving the silks she wore to the side, and caressing the bare skin of her back.
“Kona, leave me alone.”
“I thought you would be pleased to see your sister Kivra.” His voice was tender.
“I am.” But Katrina wasn’t supposed to be happy! She was supposed to be miserable. I wanted to rescue her, not know that I could know happiness with you. Kivra wanted to scream at him.
“Perhaps you are just tired after the long hard ride here.”
“Yes, tired.” She raised her head, revealing her red puffy eyes.
“You have been crying, Princess?”
“Yes, I have. And do you know why, Barbarian?”
“I am tired of living like this.” She was tired of pretending. With each word, she drew herself up straighter, and her words carried more venom as her confidence grew. Her hands flew out, waving hysterically. “This is not how I was raised. I am not your sex slave. I was raised to be the queen of my people, and yet you interfere with every avenue of my life. You may as well have used your cousin’s dirty tactics and kidnapped me, because it is the same type of force you try to use on me.”
Kona played with a strand of her hair almost tenderly. “Katrina learned to submit over time. In time she became happy with her husband and I was hoping you would see her and know in your heart that you belong to me. You, too, can be happy.”
“I will never submit to you, Kona. Do you hear me? Never!” She eyed him fiercely. But just as suddenly, she regretted her sudden outburst.
Kona’s hand dropped from the tender caress. His face darkened with a thunderous rage that chilled her straight to the bone.
She didn’t know what to do next. So she ran.
Chapter Seven
“Don’t you dare come any closer!” Kivra was backing up warily, keeping her eyes on Kona as he followed her retreat.
“You should have listened to me when you had the chance, Princess. Now I will have to give you some well deserved discipline.” He used his body to block her escape.
“No! You have no right!” She shook her head vehemently. She didn’t know what to expect with him, but she took notice at his determined face and his fighting stance.
“But I do. Didn’t you agree to submit to me?” he asked mockingly.
“No. I never—”
“But I remember you did tell me that you surrendered—and your heart was pumping with desire and your breath came in short pants as I licked—” his voice was an octave deeper, and she knew he was remembering their first night together, because so was she.
“But I didn’t mean forever,” Kivra interrupted, not liking the direction he was headed with that train of thought. Memories flooded Kivra’s mind as she remembered that first night. That first day she had spent in bed with him. The passionate night that followed. This last month had gone quickly, and her service as his lalani was nearly at an end.
She had thought she had served him well—despite his desire to interfere in her ruling the country, despite his domineering attitude that made her want to slap that smug smile off his face, and despite that sexy body that made her want to use him as much as he used her. But she feared if she gave her body so freely her heart would follow—and she couldn’t trust him with her heart yet. “Haven’t I done everything you asked of me? Haven’t I pleased you as you have asked? Haven’t I given my body up in service to you?”
“Aye, that you have, but when I asked if you surrendered to me that night, I meant completely Kivra. I want more than your body. Come here.”
Kivra shook her head, not trusting her voice to respond.
Kona wasn’t about to accept “no” for an answer. With an animal-like growl, he leapt at her, cutting off her possible escape. She squealed in outrage, squirming in his arms, but struggling was futile.
He held her tightly against his body, and the heat from his skin warmed her in the way it always did, from the inside out. But this time she felt something more than the usual carnal hunger she usually felt. This time she was a little fearful, not quite knowing what he was capable of. His words confirmed his anger with her.
“As my woman, I expect you to keep your word.”
“I am not your woman, Warrior. It’s not like you have taken me as your wife. You and I have agreed to terms that are temporary. I am your lalani and nothing more.” She said the word “lalani” with contempt. She hated what she had become, how she had given everything to him, and for what? He still wanted more than her body. He wanted everything, and her heart she wasn’t ready to give up yet.
Not too gently, he carried her to the bed and laid her across his lap.
“Wh—What are you doing?”
“Something I should have done a long time ago.”
When he tossed her skirts up, revealing her plump rump, she panicked. “No!”
One hand held her back to his lap firmly and the other hand massaged her buttocks, moving to that sensitive area between her legs. “What’s the matter Princess? Not prepared to pay the price for breaking your word with me?”
She felt his hand firmly cupping her sex, two fingers moving deliciously along her sensitive flesh, just inside the line of her undergarments. She tensed, waiting for the spanking he was preparing her for.
“I didn’t break my word, Barbarian.” She twisted to glare back up at him with daggers in her eyes. His
powerful hand came down on her backside before she could finish.
Smack!
Her skin stung where his hand had hit her flesh. She let out a cry of pain, before his open hand hit her again on her bottom.
“Stop it!”
His only answer was to hit her again firmly on her rump. He held his hand on her flesh, still hot from the previous spanking. He was unrelenting. “Admit it.”
“There is nothing to admit.”
Another smart spanking met her words.
“Ouch.” She gritted her teeth. “Fine. You are stronger than me, and you can force your will. Do you think that changes things? What do you want from me?”
This time his touch grew gentle. “I told you that already, Princess. I want everything. I want your complete surrender, and I want you to be my woman.”
“I served my time as your lalani.”
“I would have you as my wife, if you would stop fighting me, Princess.”
That brought Kivra up with a violent start, and when she sat up on his lap he did not fight to restrain her.
“Your wife?”
“What say you? Will you be my wife?”
Stunned, she nearly said yes, but remembered what he had just put her though, the humiliating spankings she had endured. “And if I don’t will you try to force me, as you have in everything else?”
“It is the way of my people to punish their wives when they disobey their husbands.” His eyebrows came together disapprovingly.
“First you challenged me to a fight, Warrior, and when you don’t get your way, you punish me. Well, what if I said I wanted more?”
“More? Whatever you want it will be yours, Kivra. I will get you a necklace of pearls from the Kravian Sea for a wedding present. You will have a stable full of Bantas. Exotic clothes, servants, whatever you wish. But you belong to me, whether you admit it or not. I want you to marry me. You could already be growing our son.” He touched her stomach for effect.
She pushed his hand away. “Then I could raise him alone.”
“A child needs his father, and you need me to help care for you.”
“I don’t want your gifts, Warrior.” Her tone was cool and collected, but she felt anything but calm. She could buy her own jewels if she desired them. Any of her suitors would have showed up with jewels on the first day if she showed even a little promise of being interested in them.
But she didn’t want to be bought.
She wanted to feel loved, and although she felt he desired her, she had not once heard him say he loved her. She felt her chest clench tightly at that thought. What if he didn’t have the same feelings for her? Could he grow to love her or would they have a loveless marriage?
Same feelings? Oh no.
It was true. It was already too late. Over the course of their month together she had grown fond of her warrior, perhaps even loved him. Did she love him?
Already it was too late to think of what life would be like without him.
She had already lost her heart to him, just as she had feared. She whispered the words, almost too low to hear, but he heard them clearly. “I don’t want your gifts, Warrior. I want your heart.”
He cupped her chin with his hand, tipping her face up to his. “You already have it, Princess. I have loved you since the first day you stood up and faced me as brave as any warrior.” With his thumb he stroked her cheek. “You will make a fine mother and a good wife. I know this because I feel it here.” With those final words, he placed her hand over his heart.
She was not the kind of woman to cry easily, but hearing those heartfelt words from him made tears well up in her eyes. “I love you too, Kona.” She uttered the words just before he kissed her passionately, his tongue requesting entrance at her mouth. She opened to him as he plundered her with his silky tongue. She darted her own tongue in response, attempting to capture his.
Chapter Eight
Their sweat-drenched bodies were entwined in a sea of legs and arms. Sex was so much better since they admitted their love for one another.
Kona crouched over her, preparing to enter her, when Kivra put her hands against his chest to stop him. “Ow. Not yet, Kona.”
He pulled back, the question obvious on his face. He didn’t want to stop, but he would if she asked him to. “Oh, Lass, what is it?”
“Nothing that won’t heal, but my bottom is still a little sore. Perhaps I should be on top this time?”
Kona grinned down at her wickedly before rolling over and switching places with her. She straddled his thighs and he massaged each of her round cheeks in his hands. “Better?” He asked.
“Much.” She leaned down to nibble on his chin. There wasn’t a part of him she didn’t like tasting. His masculine scent permeated her nostrils, and her own scent mingled with his. “Of course, I wouldn’t be hurting at all if someone had been a little more diplomatic about asking me to be his woman.”
“I am sorry I hurt you, Kivra. Sometimes I do things I regret.” He buried his face in her chest, pulling her tightly to him. “I should not have been so hasty in my punishment for you.”
“Well, if you admit it wasn’t fair, then you should let me punish you in return.”
He pushed her back to examine her reflection. His face went crimson as he seemed to realize that was no jest.
“Punish me? What kind of punishment are we talking here?”
Kivra smiled wide. He was considering it, although he may not consider it for long if he understood how she planned on torturing him. Then again, she never knew Kona as the type of man to turn down a challenge. She splayed her hands across the expanse of his naked chest. “The worst kind of a punishment for a warrior like you.”
“Bring it on, Princess.” He kicked up a wicked grin.
“We play by my rules for once, Warrior. “ She waggled a finger at him. “That means we don’t finish until I say so.”
“I can be patient.”
She arched one dubious eyebrow up at him.
“As patient as you can be, Princess. I am willing to bet your own needs will make it not last longer than my own endurance. You want me.”
“Arrogant man. You need to be punished.”
“Then punish me, Princess.”
“Pffft.” She let out the breath between her teeth. “I can last longer than you—but this isn’t about me—it’s more about you…” She traced his chin with her lips nibbling on the skin, drifting lower, sucking the skin in the sensitive hollow of his neck. Still it wasn’t enough for her. She wanted him begging her to finish him. It was not enough to hear him gasp as she brought his nipple into her mouth.
She dropped kisses onto his chest, licking and sucking his flesh, giving careful attention to his belly button.
He pushed at her shoulders, urging her to move lower.
“We go at my pace, Warrior, not yours. Remember?” Kivra cocked her head sideways at him.
He stifled a groan as her hand wrapped itself around his cock. His breath came faster as she moved her hand slowly up and down the length of him.
“Damn that was good, Woman, but I have to wonder in what other ways do you know how to please a man?”
She smiled mischievously as she thought about other ways she could please him tonight. How this all worked so well into her plans. It only served to whet his appetite and by the end of the night, he would be begging her for satisfaction. If things worked out well, she would have her own pleasure too.
Kivra licked the tip of his cock and then withdrew when he gasped. “Is it too much for you, Warrior?”
“Nay.” He said but his voice was strained with obvious pressure. “Do it again, Kivra.”
She smiled before dipping down again to lavish attention on his cock. Her magic tongue caused him to harden even more than he thought possible.
“By the Gods, Kivra! That feels good.” She swallowed him whole, the length of him hitting the back of her throat.
When she began moving up and down on his rock hard cock, he thought he
was going to burst. He buried his hands in her silky hair, the ends of her hair spread across his belly tickling his skin.
“I won’t last much longer, Kivra.” He groaned out. “I need you, Woman.”
“Then you won’t have to last much longer, Kona. Those were the words I was waiting for.” Kivra smiled wickedly as she sat up. He was too much to resist, and she wanted to feel him between her thighs. She knelt over the top of him and positioned him between her thighs, pressing the tip of him into her already slick entrance. She had been wet for him the moment he had touched her.
She slid down on him with ease, until she felt the base of him against her. Then she began to move on him in slow easy strokes, building them in intensity to finally match her needs.
He thrust up under her, matching her hungry need with his own until finally they crested over the edge. Kivra climaxed on his cock as he spent his seed in her womb. They lay there together in silence for a few minutes, her womb clenching around him, sucking every last drop from him.
“If that was punishment, Princess, I hope you punish me often.” He kissed the tip of her nose.
“Of course, often as a wife should punish her husband.”
Life as a warrior’s woman would never be the same for her.
About the Author
Missy Lyons was one of four girls born in Santa Maria, California. She grew up along the beach and back in the country, catching lizards and climbing trees. No one knew she would grow up to have such a romantic heart from the tomboy she was as a child. She is currently trying to be a city girl living with her family in Nashville Tennessee.
Missy loves to write romance almost as much as she loves to read it. Her heroines are always strong women that can stand up for them selves. She is a multi-genre author ranging from contemporary romance to fantasy. Her favorite genre to write is paranormal romances. From dragons to druids, her work is inspired by fairy tales and daydreams.
You can see more of her work at www.missylyons.com. Missy loves hearing from her fans and you can reach her by her website or by email at [email protected].
