by Lexi Johnson
Aranion was a Ranger, but he wasn’t a hunter. Bright elves – his people -- only hunted to secure, their borders and refused to eat of flesh. In the neighboring kingdom, of course, the Dark Elves had no problem with eating meat. In fact, they prized the flesh of thinking creatures, and used the bone, hair and tendon to make instruments to serenade their dark Gods.
A mortal body would be a fine prize for the Bane Sidhe -- another reason he’d been eager to get himself and Sade away from the corpse of Sade’s attacker. With the upcoming wedding, the Bane Sidhe were all over his father’s court; it was possible that they’d be in the surrounding wilds as well.
Feeling that press of urgency, Aranion worked swiftly to gather wild mushrooms, sweet-nuts, and some edible flowers and mosses. Once he had enough for a simple lunch, he returned to their shelter.
Sade was nodding off, still hugging the satchel to her chest, the knife in her right hand. Aranion deliberately disturbed a fallen branch before he stepped into the open. Sade flinched, eyes springing open and her grip tightening on the knife, and then relaxed when she saw him.
“I’ll set these with some water and make soup,” Aranion told her, showing her his bounty.
He was grateful that he’d had the presence of mind to seize a piece of elven cookware from the court kitchens before fleeing. It was a spherical gourd, that shone with a warm lacquer. The wood was enchanted; with a simple incantation, it would heat anything inside of it.
Filling the bottom of the pot with water, he put the foods he’d gathered inside, covered the top with the lid, and rested it the soft moss near the opening to the tree.
“How long will that take?” Sade asked. “You should sit down.” She looked at him, and her eyes sparkled despite her obvious weariness. “Or do elves not get tired?”
“We get tired,” he said.
In truth, Aranion was exhausted. He’d been running for days -- and that had been even before he’d crossed the gate, killed a mortal, and pulled magic between worlds to incapacitate the other mortal girl.
But if Aranion allowed himself to relax while he was so close to Sade, what little willpower he had would fade… and he’d take her.
Already, he could taste the sweetness of her submission to the bond they shared.
Would she be as desperate for him as he was for her?
“I—“ Aranion started, seeking for some kind of distraction.
But then Sade took his hand, and pulled him down toward her.
Instantly, Aranion was lost.
Mindlessly, he cupped her chin with his free hand and kissed her, the shimmering sweetness of her full lips bringing his simmering lust to a full flame. Her lips parted, and he took and took, twisting her hair in his fist as he settled in beside her. She moaned, squirming beneath him.
“God,” Sade breathed.
“We shouldn’t,” Aranion said. “We can’t.”
“Why the fuck not?” Sade pushed herself up so that she was on her knees and wrapped an arm around his back, sucking at his exposed collarbone.
Aranion closed his eyes. The musk of her sex, sensation of her lips, the hint of her teeth, was enough to drive him mad.
He pushed her back against the hollow of the tree, intending to move away, but the sight of her, pupils blown, open and wanting him, was too much, and instead he took both of her wrists in one hand. Holding them above her head, he kissed her roughly along her neck. She was panting with the touch, pulling against his grip as she pushed herself into him.
Aranion slipped his free hand beneath her shirt to cup her waist. Mortals must run hotter than elves, he thought dimly through the haze of lust, because her skin was velvet fire. Aranion’s cock swelled. His trousers were too tight. Too much fabric between them. He needed her.
Sade must have thought the same because when Aranion released her hands, she quickly lifted her shirt off over her head, tossing it to the ground. Her breasts were sheathed in a wine-red cupped contraption, with lace running over the top. Sade reached behind her, unhooked it and threw it aside. Her breasts were big and ample, with wide areolas and hard, brown nipples that Aranion longed to suck. Aranion hastily stripped off his tunic and undershirt. He would take his time – he would taste her all over, taste every part of her exposed skin, until she was begging and pleading with him to take her.
Aranion untied his trousers and pulled them down, freeing his cock.
Sade ran her tongue over her bottom lip, and the glittering wetness compelled him to kiss her again.
Now, skin to skin, she thrust her hips, the softness of her pussy against his shaft making him want her impossibly even more.
“Fuck me,” she said. “Please.”
“Not yet.” Aranion wouldn’t spend himself in mindless animal pleasure until he had brought her to that edge.
Aranion took Sade’s nipple into his mouth, teasing it with his teeth before sucking on it, hard. She gasped, whining in the back of her throat. Pleased, he let his tongue trace the areola and took the other breast in his mouth, nipping and sucking it until she was whining his name and that of her God.
Aranion smiled down at the strong, beautiful mortal woman who he had dragged to the purest depths of animal lust.
Sade opened her eyes. She reached a hand up to his chest. “Let me touch you,” she said huskily.
She ran her soft brown fingers upward, along his neck, jawline – and, last and most maddeningly, traced the outline of his ear.
Aranion thought his eyes rolled back. He couldn’t think. The touch was too intimate, too good.
“I see,” she murmured, and, rising to her knees, traced his ear with her tongue.
Aranion helplessly closed his eyes, overwhelmed with the wet heat of it. She kept on – she didn’t stop -- teasing it with her tongue, nibbling at the lobe with gentle, agonizing pressure until he felt he might come right then.
No. Not yet.
He managed to open his eyes. “Not yet,” he got out.
“Aranion?”
How to distract that clever mouth? He pulled her into another kiss.
His cock was pressing into her stomach, a delicious friction. She moaned. He cupped her rear, so much plusher and more compelling than any elven woman with whom he’d ever shared night pleasures. She was so responsive! Aranion wondered what it would be like to bind her legs and arms apart in silk, and tease pleasure from her for hours until she begged for him.
Aranion teased and nibbled down her body, owning it, until she gripped his cock and pumped her sweat-dampened palm over the hard flesh. He was dripping now, in his want for her, and her hand on him felt too good.
She smiled -- a mischievous expression – and, shifting her position, lowered her mouth onto his cock.
The wet heat of it was too good. She ran her tongue over the head, a light, teasing touch that brought tears to his eyes. He’d never been so hard in his life. Every point of her touch raised his desire and frustration. He desperately wanted to thrust into the warm heat of her mouth.
But he couldn’t spend himself so soon. Not without fully satisfying her.
“Hmmm…” Sade hummed against his cock, and he dug his nails into the flesh of his hip to keep from cumming right then.
“Stop!” he managed, panting as he grabbed her by her hair and pulled her off.
The tickle of the cool forest air was maddening. Her body compelled him, and he loosened his grip on her hair, licking down her neck, nibbling gently around her breasts and nipples before going downwards, tickling the sweet curves and valleys of her body until he reached the soft mound of her pussy.
She spread her legs wide, and he teased at the lips of her pussy. She was wet for him. Wet and slick. He plunged his tongue inside. Elves and mortals weren’t so differently made that she wouldn’t have a similar center of pleasure…she gasped--yes there!—where he could lick and suck her to greater heights.
She rutted against his face, moaning and gasping, bathing him in her juic
es. His cock rubbed against the soft moss as he pleasured her. Soon. Soon she would be ready.
Suddenly, her body went rigid in a final thrust, her pussy pulsing as the orgasm ripped through her.
Now!
Taking her by the hips, he pushed his cock inside.
Her orgasm wrung pleasure from his cock. Mindless now, he thrust inside of her, too far gone to hold back anymore.
For an endless moment, all he could see was light.
As Aranion collapsed beside Sade, spent, he felt the bond seal between them.
She curled against his chest, kissing him softly.
He stroked her hairline, lost in the sensation of her precious skin. And he knew himself a monster.
He’d do anything to keep her safe -- anything to keep her close through the eternities.
But, even if he hadn’t broken one of the most sacred of elven laws to bring her here… he was still promised to someone else.
Chapter 5: Bound
After Aranion had left to gather food, Sade huddled in the tree hollow and studied the dagger he had given her. It was a dull silver, and still warm from where it had rested on Aranion’s waist.
As terrifying as it was to be left to her own devices in this alien jungle, Sade was also glad to have a few moments to herself. Aranion had swept her senses up on a whirlwind of desire punctuated by abject terror, and she was falling too far, too fast.
Good Lord, Sade, she thought. A renegade elf? Wasn’t the psycho-possessive drug lord bad enough?
The air was cool beneath the forest canopy, full of the soothing rustle of leaves and chatter of birdsong, and Sade found herself drifting off in spite of herself.
A twig snapped loudly, and Sade woke in alarmed, gripping the dagger as she peered out. It was Aranion. He stood, haloed in the rays of light streaming through the canopy above, his exposed skin shining from his exertions. In his right hand, he carried a rough woven sack.
Sade stared. Her mouth had gone dry at the sight of him -- his slight, yet strong body moving towards her. His eyes, blue as a storm, looked at her with both hunger and guilt. She wanted to touch him. To be captured in his arms and claimed.
Yes, she was in trouble.
Aranion put the food he’d found in a wooden gourd. He explained that it would cook on its own while they rested, but Sade was too distracted to listen. With him that close by, she couldn’t care about elven cooking methods. He smelled of sweat, earth, flowers, and something else… sweet, yet undeniably male.
She wasn’t sure what it was about Aranion that drew her so strongly. She had never gone for skinny men, and she liked her men with a little color. Even aside from the fact that falling for Aranion was an incredibly stupid idea, he was the opposite of her usual ‘type.’
“You should sit down,” Sade encouraged him. He had to be tired. “Or do you elves not get tired?”
“We get tired,” he said. He sat down beside her.
God, but his eyes! The stormy blue was almost entirely swallowed by his pupils, as he stared at her with obvious desire that he was trying – unsuccessfully – to repress.
To hell with being smart.
Sade took his hand.
“I—“ Aranion started.
But Sade didn’t want to waste any more time with talking. Heaven knew when some horrible creature might kill them – or, worse, they might be found by his people, who so far sounded even more terrible than the vague monsters she’d been forming in her mind out of the shadows surrounding her.
She pulled him toward her, and after just a moment’s hesitation, he kissed her, hard. It was the kind of kiss she liked best, deep and rough, and she allowed herself to be carried along by the wave of lust that heated her body from that brief contact.
Aranion was an incredibly good kisser. His lips had just the right give, and the magic he worked with his tongue sent tickles of electricity through her entire body.
“God,” Sade breathed.
“We shouldn’t,” Aranion said against her mouth. “We can’t.”
“Why the fuck not?” They could die at any time. One thing this entire experience had shown Sade, emphatically, was how short and unpredictable life could truly be.
Sade pushed herself up so that she was on her knees and wrapped an arm around his back, and started to suck at his exposed collarbone.
Aranion closed his eyes. She grazed her teeth over his exposed flesh, marking him. How could a living body be in such perfect shape?
He pushed her backward against the hollow of the tree. Staring down at her with predatory desire, he took both her wrists in one hand and, holding them above her head, kissed her roughly. She was panting with the touch, pulling against his grip as she offered herself to him.
Aranion slipped his free hand beneath her shirt to cup her waist. Glancing down at his trousers, she saw evidence of his arousal obvious in the bulging fabric. So elves and humans did have those parts in common, at least. Her mouth watered to see it. To touch and taste it. They were both wearing too many clothes.
Aranion must have felt the same, because he let go of her hands. Sade quickly lifted her shirt off over her head, and tossed it aside. His gaze rested curiously on her bra. Maybe elven women didn’t need them?
A little shy that he might find the difference between her and one of his own kind off-putting, she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra.
Aranion’s eyes widened, as his gaze rested on her breasts. He ran his tongue over his lower lip. Staring at her as though she were a feast to be savored, he stripped off his tunic and undershirt, exposing the sculpted beauty of his bare chest.
Then, in a single deft motion, he undid his trousers, and they fell in a silken wave, freeing his cock.
It was a beautiful cock, rising in a perfect curve from a thatch of soft, white hair upward towards his belly. The head was flushed, the base thick and powerful, and Sade wanted to touch it, to see if the skin had the same calfskin smoothness of his arms.
Sade ran her tongue over her bottom lip, and he kissed her again.
Now, skin to skin, she thrust her hips, the velvet rod of his cock rubbing over her pussy, making it throb.
“Fuck me,” she said. “Please.”
“Not yet,” Aranion said. His tone was both dangerous and enticing.
Instead, he took Sade’s nipple into his mouth. He teased with his teeth before sucking on it, sudden and hard. She gasped, whining in the back of her throat as his tongue traced a delicious circle around the hard nub.
Her breast was a fire of pleasure, and she closed her eyes, unable to bear it. What was it about this elf that made him know her body so well, that he could wring pleasure from his every touch? He moved to her other breast, nipping and sucking it until she couldn’t think. She was lost, calling his name, calling for God -- she didn’t even know what she wanted except more and faster…
Sade opened her eyes. He was smiling down at her like a cat who had drunk an entire bowl full of cream.
As much as she enjoyed the sensations he was wringing from her body, she suddenly wanted to do the same for him. To make him scream her name, and for whatever deity he believed in.
She reached up to run her fingers along his chest. “Let me touch you,” she said.
Before Aranion could distract her again, Sade took used her free hand to grip his cock firmly. They were both damp with sweat, which was good because it made the area slick enough. She pulled her sweat-dampened hand over his hard flesh. He gasped, cock twitching, a bead of pre-cum flowering from the tip.
She wanted to taste it, so she shifted her body so she could lower her mouth onto his cock. First, she just ran her tongue over the tip. He groaned, thrusting his hips a little into her hand.
Pleased, she grabbed at his firm rear, and relaxed her jaw so that his cock could fill her mouth. The head of it pressed against the along the back of her tongue. His hips and rear were tensed in an effort to hold himself back, and she desperatel
y wanted to break him of that control, to have fuck her mouth until she was choking on his need.
“Hmmm…” Sade hummed against his cock.
His entire body went rigid, and she realized dimly that he was digging his fingers into his upper thigh with enough force to draw blood.
“Stop!” Aranion gasped. He grabbed Sade by her hair and pulled her away.
Holding her by the hair, he took a couple of deep breaths, his legs shaking and cock twitching in the air. Then, he loosened his grip and kissed her again, her lips and jaw, before letting go her hair completely, as he nibbled gently around her breasts and nipples, tickling the sweet curves and valleys of her body until he was breathing just above her slit.
Sade spread her legs wide as he teased at the lips of her pussy. She was wet for him. Wet and slick.
He plunged his tongue inside, licking at her in enticing circles until his tongue caressed her clit. She gasped, rutting against his face as he licked and sucked her to greater and greater heights. She was wet, so wet, and she wanted him more than she had ever wanted anyone in her life.
It was too much. The orgasm ripped over Sade in a wave of pleasure so intense it was almost painful. Suddenly he was in her, pounding full and satisfying, his frenzied thrusts heightening the sensation, and all she could do was take him deeper, the walls of her pussy clenching and releasing around him like a promise. They were both making mindless, animal noises. He wasn’t holding back now. He fucked her as if to claim her, and she received him, took every part of him and made it hers.
They collapsed together.
A strange feeling came over her: like an ongoing, mild shock just beneath her skin. Aranion rolled to lie beside her, and she couldn’t stand for him to be so far away, so she curled herself up to her chest, not even minding the cooling stickiness that always came after good sex. No -- great sex. Incredible.
To tell the truth, she didn’t have any words to describe the experience.
Gently, Aranion stroked her hairline with his fingertips. It was a sweet gesture. But something in it made Sade feel sad. No… not sad; remorseful.
