God Draka, he hoped he didn’t awaken and frighten the poor little thing.
He sighed. What had possessed the lass to ever make her think she could do Queen Adrina’s Challenge? It was a VoT hard quest, concentrating on heart, diplomacy skills, and might. It had only ever been accomplished successfully by one other person in the last nine-hundred years. And that one person had been Queen Adrina herself.
Born the only child of the king of the barbarians, Adrina was ambitious, beautiful, and very smart. Knowing barbarian law declared only a male could rule, she devised a challenge and presented it before the council of dukes, earls, and barons.
All any man wishing to become her mate and possibly the ruling king had to do was sit back and wait for her to fail before presenting himself. But if she successfully completed the challenge, then whatever man she chose would not only take his seat at her side, but he’d take her name in place of his own. She’d be the one to sit upon the throne of Alaria, and she’d be the one to rule over the barbarian people. Their queen.
After Adrina agreed to make sure all of the proceedings were completely fair by having the three events witnessed by someone of the council’s choosing, the council members had unanimously sanctioned her challenge.
With his musings, the door to Mia’s chamber stood before Talon much sooner than he’d anticipated. He raised his fist, poised to knock.
He shook his head again. Little Mia Hammerstrike? Contemplating taking on something as nearly impossible as Queen Adrina’s Challenge? The barbarian princess and now heir to the throne of Alaria had obviously lost her pretty little mind. Zander was right. There was no way she could win. How in the VoT was he going to convince her to give up this crazy scheme and simply choose an acceptable male to rule in her place?
It had been at least four years since he’d last walked the halls of this castle, had last set eyes on Zander’s little sister. Back then she’d been a shy, meek, little thing, still a ways from womanhood, more pigtails and knobby knees than siren, seductress, or queen.
Yet, the vaguest memory of vibrant, ass-length candy-apple red hair, hauntingly beautiful lips and piercing eyes more gray than blue had hinted at what she would someday become. The thought invaded his mind and had his cock springing to life. Mia Hammerstrike would be no child now. She’d be twenty-one and full grown.
“Down boy,” he warned his cock. Full grown or not, if he were being truthful with himself, he’d have to admit he wasn’t worthy to even look upon Princess Mia’s face, let alone allow lust for the lass to enter his mind, and he’d better not forget it. For God Draka’s sake, she’d someday take her rightful place beside the next king of Alaria. She wasn’t for the likes of him.
And what of him?
Where would Talon Starkweather be those long years from now when King Adan was gone and Mia took her rightful place? Not at her side, that was for certain. Though good enough to protect and possibly even to teach a princess how to defend herself, the descendant of a well-known traitor wasn’t worthy to actually serve in any other capacity.
He shook his head, took a deep breath, and rapped three times.
Oh, yes, Talon knew exactly where he’d be. Other than the hard-earned title of trusted best friend and guardian to Zander Hammerstrike, Talon was now and would always be the too many great-greats to remember grandson of Flint Starkweather, the barbarian accused as traitor to his people and the real cause behind the Castle Kuropkat War. And as such, Talon was considered by many to be no better than a traitor himself. Blood is as blood does.
After this job was finished, he’d travel back to Castle Kuropkat where his long ago ancestor had made that fatal mistake, and he’d return the little creature who’d followed him home from there. That was, if the blasted thing even still waited for him at The Academy. And from there, he’d travel on to Halla and take his rightful place at Zander’s side, away from barbarian politics and pretty little princess. And he’d do it with his debt of honor to his friend finally paid in full.
“Come in.” A voice as sweet as a spring time shower beckoned from somewhere beyond the door.
Talon turned the knob and straitened his spine. He could do this. He could. After all, he’d fought giants, he’d slain enemies too numerous to count, he’d stood back to back with Zander in more arenas than he could even begin to remember. This was simply a teach-the-princess-to-defend-herself-and-keep-her-safe-while-decieving-her-and-ruining-her-chances-to-ever-rule kind of job. How hard could it be?
He swung open the door, and his heart thudded to a complete stop. His breath caught in his chest. Princess Amelia Zoe Cassidy Hammerstrike wasn’t all pigtails and knobby knees anymore. The woman standing across the room from him—right next to a huge four-poster bed—and looking anxious was mind-bogglingly, breathtakingly, the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes upon.
Her hair was no longer a pair of vibrant red pigtails, but that didn’t make it any less impressive. Now, it hung loose, down past her slender waist, and it flowed in wave after wave of rich, dark cinnamon delight.
His cock sprung to life as his fingers itched to run through every single strand, to tug, to yank upon them, to use them to pull her down. And when he had her right where he wanted her? Then he’d do what he was so well known for. He’d cover her with his body, possess her, make her cry out in pleasure, and make her his own.
And her lips… God Draka help him, but her lips were even plumper, pinker, and if possible, more temptingly kissable than when he’d seen her last. And the fact she chose that very moment to slide the tip of her tiny, pink tongue out to wet both of those luscious lips had his balls aching and his cock stretching and hardening too VoT fast.
He gulped as he looked her in the eye. The same blue-gray depths that had once twinkled with innocence now burned with something much less naive and much more carnal.
He stood transfixed, awaiting with anticipation her words of greeting. Would she even remember him?
“It’s about time you got here, barbarian. Get naked and be quick about it. I have a powerful need to fuck…now!”
His breath left him, like a hard punch to the gut. She didn’t know who he was? How could she not remember him? He’d certainly never forgotten her.
If he were truly an honorable man, he’d turn on his heel this very moment and walk out the door. To VoT with Mia Hammerstrike and her stupid challenge to become a ruling queen someday. To VoT with the promise he’d made to Zander. And double VoT to any woman who looked at him as if he were simply a slab of meat here to service her pretty, little ass.
Talon sighed. Not that he hadn’t looked that exact same way at more women than he could even begin to remember. But being on the receiving end of that particular facial expression was harder than he’d imagined.
But God Draka help him, she was beautiful. Her body was perfectly proportioned in all the right places. Her ample breasts were high, her waist tiny, her hips just wide enough to firmly grasp while thrusting deep into what would most assuredly be an amazing pussy between those amazing legs.
He hardened even further, and for a moment, a sense of guilt flooded him.
He should tell her exactly who he was, and that his purpose in her room had nothing whatsoever to do with servicing her.
But then she tapped her cute little toe and placed her hands on her hips. “Barbarian? You do realize it isn’t polite to keep your princess waiting, don’t you?”
Well, Zander had told him to do whatever Mia asked. And there really was no better time than the present to begin his…task. And though perhaps not quite as nicely as he was used to, she certainly was asking for it. And after all, didn’t he first need to earn her trust before he could ever begin to shred it into a million pieces?
Before one more grain of sand had the opportunity to shift through the hourglass, his belt, sword, and kilt all clattered to the floor. He kicked free of his boots, and naked as the day God Draka made him, Talon Starkweather slowly sauntered toward the princess.
He didn’t wish to move too quickly. He was half afraid he’d scare her off and half afraid he wouldn’t.
Though he was without a doubt the direct descendant of a traitor, he knew himself to be, first and foremost, a man of honor. Even if this job he was about to undertake was one heartbeat away from honorable, in and of itself, he’d freely given his word to Zander, and undertake it he would. But he was also a fair man, and he’d give Princess Mia Hammerstrike the time it took for him to walk across the room to remember who he was, and change her mind.
But not a moment longer.
Chapter Two
Mia’s mouth went desert dry as the gloriously naked man made his way toward her. His cock swaying back and forth like a large angry cobra ready to strike and the gleam in his eyes promised that pouncing upon her was precisely what he was about to do. She shivered in anticipation.
Oh, my God Draka, where had this fine specimen of barbarian male fortitude come from? The outer providences most likely. Halla or Bane perhaps? After all, they did tend to grow slightly bigger barbarians in the higher altitudes. At least that’s what she’d been told.
One thing was for certain, though, she couldn’t remember ever seeing a barbarian this tall, this handsome, this manly anywhere else in Alaria. And if he was half as good in bed as he was to simply stand and gape at, before this night was through, she’d definitely be beholden to whoever had the forethought to hire him.
The closer he came, the more unsure of herself Mia grew. What if she couldn’t remember how to please a man? After all, it had been more than two years since she’d had carnal knowledge of…anyone. But then, did it even really matter? This was his job after all, what he was paid to do. For some reason, though, the thought of him being disappointed in her did matter…very much. She’d seen the look of regret on a man’s face once before when she hadn’t lived up to his expectations. It was a sight she hoped to never see again. Especially not in the rich, molten chocolate brown eyes gazing so intently at her now.
He touched her hand, and she jumped. “Easy, princess, we have all night.”
She shook her head. “Na…no, we don’t. We need to do this quickly, before I lose my nerve.”
He chuckled, and his eyes held as much amusement as his voice. “Making love with a lass as lovely as yourself should never be a hurried event. That would be a crime.” He nuzzled her neck and whispered against her skin. “It’ll take at least the rest of this night and half of the morrow to do proper homage to one such as you.”
Mia shuddered. “I don’t want you to—to—to make love to me. That’s much too personal. I want you to simply fuck me, fast and hard. Just do it and get it over with.”
This time he laughed out loud, and Mia smacked him, though her heart wasn’t really in the blow. He didn’t even seem to notice. Instead, with one hand, he unclasped the broach holding her gown together at her shoulder, and with his other, he gathered her close as the deep-blue gossamer silk slithered to the floor and pooled between them.
He nuzzled her neck again, and shivers of delight scampered up and down her spine, landing with a resounding thud right in the middle of her belly. “When a starving man is set before a fine feast such as you, princess, he does not simply gobble his meal down and walk away. Oh, no, he savors every morsel of it, dines to near bursting, and thoroughly licks his plate clean afterward in appreciation.”
She gulped and a heartbeat later found herself flat on her back in the middle of the soft furs covering her bed with a very large, very handsome, very sexy barbarian straddling her. Something about the way he smiled, the gleam in his eyes, suddenly seemed familiar, and the very smallest of grains of memory began to form in the back of her mind. She started to speak. She started to ask him if she’d by chance met him on one of her trips home from school, but then, he leaned forward and his lips touched the edge of hers.
Her mind went blank as their breath mingled and every thought she’d ever had was suddenly replaced with him, his essence, his taste, his power, his being. He pressed his lips to hers more firmly, and warmth infused her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes as his tongue flicked out, capturing hers and forcing her to admit, with her body if not with words, that she did indeed want this. All of this.
She drank of him, and him of her.
The sensation was heady. He tasted of freedom and lust, hot spice and smoldering heat, and he smelled of midnight, stars, moons, and faraway lands where responsibilities and quests and thrones didn’t exist. His sighs spoke promises of pleasure she couldn’t wait to see fulfilled while his hands began blazing a path of uncharted ecstasy along the plains of her trembling body.
She fought for control as, along with his kiss, his long, strong fingers found and cupped her breast, squeezing, tweaking her nipple, and sending quivers of excitement shooting downward between her thighs, deep into her pussy. His other hand gently stroked her cheek.
A sudden knock sounded at the door, and the man stilled. “Expecting someone else, princess?”
She shook her head and gulped in air. “Only you.”
He chuckled, and his hand continued caressing her breast as his lips once more captured hers in a kiss. Sensations assaulted and flooded her mystic spiritmaster mind—warmth, safety, a sense of being cherished, a sense of truth, a strong sense of honor. His touch held no deception, no lie, and Mia relaxed again into his embrace.
The ability to know truth or lie from a touch was the only part of the spirtmaster legacy she’d received, but it was a part she was very grateful for. On many occasions her gift, as her aunt Lark called it, had prevented her from making some very bad mistakes. She trusted her ability completely now. She trusted her sixth sense and gave herself over to it and into this man’s care.
The knock came again.
“Ignore it,” she sighed.
He replaced the hand on her breast with his hot mouth, and spiraling shockwaves of delight ricochet back and forth between her ribs.
He nipped, sucked, and licked her nipple playfully.
She squirmed beneath him and moaned.
“Easy, princess, we have a long way to go.”
She fisted her hands into his hair. “I want…now,” she gasped.
He chuckled. “If you simply want, then you aren’t anywhere near ready for what I have to give. Tell me again when you need, princess, when you must have, when you can’t live another moment without, when you’re willing to beg.”
Her? A royal princess of the house of Alaria beg? The arrogant bounder had lost his mind. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell the obviously overpaid gigolo it was she who had hired him and it was she who would decide when and what she received. But then his fingers feathered across her rib cage and along her belly to the junction between her legs. A single warm digit slipped through her folds and grazed the hood of her clit. Sparks shot through her, and she rose to meet his stroke. Gentle then hard, fast then slow, his thumb stroked her while his index finger probed her pussy.
God Draka, it had been so very long. “For VoT sake, fuck me.”
He simply chuckled. “Not until you beg, princess.”
She shook her head but felt him smile against her belly, and she couldn’t help but smile herself as he scooted downward, lower, between her thighs. She held her breath.
With the very first swipe of his tongue, she came. Not a sweet little tiptoe into the outer reaches of ecstasy, but an all-out implosion of such sweet release it racked her body with spasms while bringing tears of joy to her eyes. And it didn’t stop there. Even though she tried her best to clamp her thighs together, he wouldn’t permit it. Over and over, he lavished her tender flesh with his tongue. Nipping and teasing, sucking and stroking, lapping and tasting.
She lost count of the times she came. Had it been three or four? She lost track of the sand trickling through the hourglass and where she was, she even forgot her name and why she was here in the first place. None of it mattered. All Mia Hammerstrike could recall at this precise moment was the wonderf
ully raspy feel of this man’s tongue upon her oh so tender clit and spiraling out of control.
For a fleeting moment, she wondered if it were possible to die from such exquisite torture, and with another swipe of his tongue, she forgot to care.
****
Oh, my God Draka, Princess Mia was like molten lava mixed with sweet honey in his arms. She tasted of ambrosia, sweet and fresh, and she smelled of sunshine. Never, not in his entire twenty-six years and very active love life, had Talon Starkweather ever held a woman as responsive, as giving, as open and perfect as Mia Hammerstrike. She came apart again with the next pass of his tongue, and he was humbled. How had he been so lucky to have been gifted with this prize if even for an hour?
He was so caught up in the feel of her skin, the sound of her sighs, the taste of her juices flowing, he almost missed her whispered, “Please.”
He smiled and licked his lips. “Please what, princess?”
She had the audacity to smack him on the top of his head. “You know what barbarian. For God Draka’s sake, fuck me.”
“Ah,” he sighed as he slid up her body and positioned his cock at her opening. “Have you been a good lass and cast your PDUP spell today, princess?”
She glared at him. “Of course I have. Every female over the age of twelve casts her prevention of disease and unwanted pregnancy spell first thing every morning. I’m not an idiot.”
He watched her face as he slowly slid the first thick inch into her hot pussy and stopped. “Humor me. Say it again just to be on the safe side. I’m a very potent man, princess, and the last thing you need, if you hope to ever complete Queen Adrina’s challenge, is a babe in your belly.”
She glared at him and shook her head, but when he simply remained still, with just that one inch inside, she complied. “Protect my body, protect my soul. Let not the specter of disease be bold. Protect my body, protect my soul. Let not the spirit of a babe take hold.”
Tested by the Night Page 2
