Talon nodded. “So be it.”
****
Mia snuggled a little deeper into the hot bath and sighed. It had been a very long day, and every single inch of her body ached. Her shoulders, her arms, her belly and thighs, even the skin between her toes and the hair follicles upon the top of her head. What the VoT had she been thinking taking a hand-to-hand combat class in the first place? She was no fighter.
No, she’d never been one to use brawn and brute strength. But then, she hadn’t needed to worry about such things before deciding to take on the quest.
Mia cringed and shook her head. God Draka, what a spoiled, selfish, little, whiny diva she truly was. And though she wasn’t anywhere ready to give up, perhaps she should’ve listened to her best friend, Kitrina Dragonheart, when her human ally urged her to take at least one self-defense class along with her pretty-pretty princess curriculum.
Oh, yes, she should’ve listened to Kit about a lot of things.
If Kit had been out on that mat today, she wouldn’t have been knocked flat on her ass, by her itty-bitty gnome cousin no less. And Kit would’ve put not only Pierced, but Talon and Wally on their backsides staring up at the ceiling of the arena. And Kit would’ve knocked the lot of them right back down if they’d even dared tried to rise.
But then, Kit was a rogue and Kit was a shifter. Kit could wield a knife, and Kit was smart and brave and fast and strong, and everything Mia was not.
A tear rolled unchecked down her cheek. For God Draka’s sake, what was wrong with her? She was a barbarian by birth and by blood, yet she lacked the majority of the skills most barbarians were famous for while her very human, very unbarbarian friend, Kit, had them all in abundance. Adan and Lizbeth Hammerstrike would’ve been so much better off if Kitrina Dragonheart had been born their daughter instead of becoming a daughter by marriage.
Having Kit instead of her as his sister certainly wouldn’t have made Zander happy. He’d always been in love with Kitrina, and she with him. Mia was glad they had finally stopped fighting destiny and given into that love. They deserved to be happy. They were meant for each other and always had been. Even their individual skills complimented the abilities of the other. Two peas in a pod, two halves of a whole, two equal parts of the same beating heart, that’s what they were.
That didn’t make it any easier to swallow the fact she herself was completely and totally inept at anything other than being a pretty-pretty princess.
The feel of large hands pulling her up and out of the water startled Mia. Her eyes flew open, and she almost screamed before she realized it was Talon. A very warm, very naked Talon.
“What are you doing? You scared me half to death.”
He chuckled as he wrapped her in his big, strong arms and carried her toward their bed. “Any longer in that bath and you’d look like a prune. I have something that’ll help ease the pain of your sore muscles better than hot water will.”
He dropped her face first in the middle of their bed and straddled her hips. The cool air around her and the crisp sheets below her sent chill bumps skittering along her spine and arms. The only warmth afforded her was the heat radiating from his thighs as they braced against her sides and from his cock as it nestled against her ass. It was on the tip of her tongue to complain about the cold when another glorious source of warmth chased the chills away.
The feel and fragrance of hot liquid slowly poured along the length of her spine almost had her purring, and when Talon added his big, strong hands, rubbing it deep into her sore muscles, she gave into the urge and did just that. She purred, and then she purred again.
The oil smelled of jasmine and rosehips with a hint of orange blossom perhaps. It reminded her of summer and sunshine, of long lazy days and star filled nights.
“Ohh, that’s wonderful,” she purred again. “Where ever did you get it?”
He leaned in close and nuzzled her earlobe. “Lady Briarlarn gifted it to me when I was at Castle Kuropkat.” He chuckled again. “She told me with as many bumps and bruises as I get on a daily basis, I’m sure to have need of her special liniment.”
Mia smiled. “Oh, yes, Aunt Briar truly is a very talented healer.”
Over and over, Talon kneaded her arms, her shoulders, her neck, her back, her sides, and even her ass until she was almost numb with pleasure. And when she was on the verge of drifting off, he shifted around until they were ass to ass and he faced her feet. Then he started on her thighs and calves.
“We shouldn’t have pushed you so hard today,” he grumbled.
Mia smiled again. “I’m glad you did. Don’t get me wrong, I hurt everywhere. But I know if I’m to successfully complete this quest I’m going to have to toughen up a lot. Thank you for helping me, Talon. Thank you for believing in me, and thank you for caring whether or not I succeed. I’m so glad Zander sent you to me. I really should send him a thank you missive.”
She could’ve sworn she heard him gulp, but he didn’t say another word. Instead, he flipped back around until he was once more facing her prone form. He spread her legs wide, nudged himself between them, and lifted her hips until she was positioned on her knees with him behind her. His proud, stiff cock nudged at her opening.
“Let’s forget about your quest for the time being, shall we?” Talon whispered against her skin. His voice shook. “I have a powerful need to be deep inside you, princess, and I hope you have as much of a need for me. But if you are too tender, too tired, I’ll understand. I’ll simply tuck you in close to my heart and hold you while you sleep the night away.”
“Don’t stop.” She wiggled against him. “Fuck me fast, fuck me hard. I need… Oh, Talon, you know exactly what we both need. Give it to us.”
In one powerful thrust, he filled her, retreated about half way, and then filled her once more, and then again and again.
Mia gasped as tingles of excitement pooled in her core, and her pussy contracted around him. She clenched a handful of the sheet beneath her for support, held on, and gloried in his possession as his balls rhythmically slapped her clit and his rock-hard cock kissed her womb.
The heat of him, the length, the girth, the strength, the very essence that made up Talon Starkweather had never felt as barbarianly wonderful as it did this very moment. She trembled as shivers of delight cascaded along every inch of skin he touched. Tiny sparks of hot pleasure, so intense they had her eyes crossing and her breath coming in short pants, shot straight through her belly and all the way to her toes.
Without missing a stroke, he leaned forward, kissed her back, nipped her shoulder blade, and fondled her breast. The warmth of his breath against her naked skin and the pressure of his fingers tweaking her nipple, teasing it to pebbly hardness, had tiny spasms of pleasure gathering deep in her core and skittering downward, causing her clit to throb.
The longer and deeper he thrust, the more intense the tremors became. The walls of her sheath spasmed around him and clenched his cock tight, holding him in place, milking him of his essence. He stiffened behind her, slammed into her quickly twice more, and shouted his release to the rafters.
The sparks of her own orgasm morphed and coalesced into full out quakes of ecstasy so intense they took her breath away and shattered the reality around her. The night faded, the room blurred, and even the feel of the bed beneath her hands and knees disappeared.
Mia smiled in wonder as Talon gathered her close, and with a sigh of contentment, she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Nine
No matter how many Alarian Mountain Sheep Talon counted, sleep would not come—again.
He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling above their bed as he’d done every night for the last two weeks since Mia had first told him how thankful she was for his help and for believing in her when it seemed so few others did.
God Draka, what was he going to do?
He sighed into the darkness of pre-dawn. How had his well-plotted-out life become such a complete and total mess? And what could he do to fix it? He
’d always followed the rules, at least he had since the incident. He’d done exactly what was expected of him. He’d even willingly and without complaint gone to the school chosen for him and taken classes he’d had no say whatsoever in after it had been decreed that he must. And he’d done it all without so much as a single act of rebellion.
Well, perhaps that wasn’t quite true. There had been that one grievous episode, the one that led to a promise that needed to be fulfilled in the first place.
The promise. Talon sighed into the darkness once more and breathed in the scent of the woman sleeping so contently at his side. He’d come a long way from cold, desolate, lonely Bane to sharing a bed with a princess. The smell of the sweet liniment he’d continued to rub into Mia’s sore muscles over the last couple of weeks blended nicely with her natural feminine essence in such a way his cock awoke and immediately hardened.
“Down boy,” he whispered. “Now is not the time.”
Though there was nothing he’d rather do this very moment than slip deep inside her and make fast, passionate love with the oh-so-exquisite Mia Hammerstrike, there were much more important things to contemplate. Things like what the VoT was he going to do about the promise? If he kept his word, he’d without a doubt destroy any chance Mia had of ever becoming a ruling queen, and if he didn’t, he’d betray the one person who’d always stood by him, his best friend Zander.
He’d been a teenager when he’d made that promise to a boy he’d never laid eyes on before that week. It had been his very first semester at the Madra Conservatory for Exceptional Young Men. A school his parents had dreamed of sending him to one day but never got the chance. His father had died in a bear hunting accident that had been partially his fault the year before, and his mother followed not long after from what Talon suspected was a broken heart and disappointment in her son.
They would’ve been so upset at him if they’d known he’d earned his chance at an education from the most prestigious barbarian prep school in the entire country not because of his brains or brawn, but because of his acts of vandalism and a ruling set down from the new magistrate.
The judge had told him, “I knew your father. He was a good man. Because of him, I give you this chance. Complete this program without incident or find yourself thrown into the deepest, darkest dungeon I can find.”
Talon had decided to go to school.
He’d been so out of control and angry after the loss of his parents. And since he wasn’t old enough or fast enough to become a paid hunter like his father, he’d done his best to live up to the traitor side of the Starkweather name instead. He ran with barbarian gangs, stole from others in his own village, and even used his size and strength to intimidate those smaller and weaker. He wasn’t proud of what he’d done, and if it hadn’t been for Zander Hammerstrike, he would’ve ended up in that dungeon after all.
His fourteen-year-old self had felt so important that afternoon when two of his fellow schoolmates, Alistair Daggertoss and Jagger Swiftriver, invited him to go exploring the surrounding woods with them. It was the first time any of the boys residing at The Conservatory had invited him to do anything let alone hang out. Paid tuition or not, he hailed from Bane and would always carry the taint of being the distant relative of a well-known traitor.
And it wasn’t like it had been just anybody who’d asked him. It had been Alistair Daggertoss, one of the most popular boys in school, for God Draka’s sake. No one said no to Alistair, ever. Not unless they wanted to be ostracized and shunned. Talon had had enough of that to last him a lifetime.
Alistair was the first-born and very important son of Duke Algen Daggertoss. The very same Duke Algen Daggertoss who set at the head of the council deciding Mia’s quest. Alistair was then and still was the heir to not only the dukedom, but also the leadership of the city of Madra. Even at thirteen, a year younger than Talon, Alistair wasn’t someone lightly crossed.
And his buddy Jagger? He was Alistair’s best friend and constant companion. Where you saw one, you always saw the other. They were inseparable.
The day had dawned bright, and the Lughnasadh breeze of early autumn was crisp and clean. Leaves had already begun to fall, and they crunched beneath his boots as he followed the two younger boys deeper and deeper into the woods. When the trees suddenly opened into a plush, wide open valley, Talon had been surprised. There beside a pretty little lake sat a rustic looking cabin, and on the porch of that cabin sat a big wooden rocking chair, a spittoon, and a fishing pole.
Alistair had picked up three stones. “Bet I can hit everything on that porch from here without a single miss.”
Jagger had laughed and picked up three stones of his own. “Bet ya can, too, and I know I can. But I bet Talon here can’t. Matter of fact, I bet he misses with his very first throw.”
Talon had shaken his head. “Where I come from, if you aim at something you’d best hit it. If anyone misses, it’ll be one of you guys.”
“We never miss,” Jagger Swiftriver hissed as he threw all three of his stones in quick secession. The first binged off the wooden rocking chair while the other two clipped the spittoon and glanced off of the fishing pole. “Beat that, I dare ya,” the young barbarian crowed.
Talon bent down and collected three stones of his own. He knew this probably wasn’t the wisest course of action since a large picture window graced the wall right behind the rocking chair, but he didn’t want to be labeled a coward on top of his title of grandson to a traitor. He took a deep breath and tossed the first stone. It thunked the back of the rocking chair. With his next throw, he took two deep breaths and squinted his eyes for better aim. The hook at the end of the line smacked against the fishing pole itself with the force of the impact. For his third toss, he lobbed the stone. It flew in a perfect arch, slid right through the narrow opening of the spittoon, and clanked loudly on the container’s bottom.
Alistair nudged him out of the way. “Not bad for a newbie, but step back and let an expert show you how it’s done.”
His fist stone whizzed through the air and struck the spittoon dead center. He chuckled and winked arrogantly as he quickly threw his second stone. It hit the reel so hard, the entire fishing rod toppled over. Jagger high-fived his friend, and Alistair took a bow.
Starring up into the darkness, Talon couldn’t help but see and remember what happened next. But then how could he not? It was the throw of that third stone that ultimately changed his life forever.
He hadn’t realized Alistair was already primed for his next fling. He’d simply wanted to congratulate his new friend on his great toss with a high five as Jagger had. But somehow, he connected with Alistair’s elbow.
The rock flew out of Alistair Daggertoss’s hand, missed the back of the rocking chair, and crashed straight through the window behind it. Shards of glass rained down upon the porch, and Talon gasped. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…”
Alistair whirled. “You idiot. Look what you’ve done.” He turned toward Jagger. “Let’s get out of here before old Roly-Poly gets wind of this. Didn’t I tell you it was a mistake to try and befriend a traitor’s spawn? My father’s right. Troublemakers, that’s all that ever comes out of Bane.”
Talon saw red. “Go on then, get going. Run as fast and as far from this stinking traitor’s spawn as you can get. I don’t need you. I don’t need anybody.”
The door to the cabin burst open and out stepped the biggest, meanest looking barbarian Talon had ever seen in his life. He was eight feet tall if he was an inch. His shoulders were as wide as a bull oxen, and his arms and legs as long and as big around as tree trunks. But it was his clenched fists that were the most frightening. They were as big and thick as sledge hammers.
Alistair and Jagger slinked backed into the woods, but Talon didn’t move. He couldn’t. He stood there, frozen in place, as one very angry looking, Roland Stonecrusher, the headmaster of the Madra Conservatory for Exceptional Young Men, stomped toward him.
Before he could turn and flee, Talon
felt one of those big fists grab his tunic and lift him off the ground. “Oh, no, you don’t. You aren’t getting away. What do you mean throwing rocks at my cabin and breaking my window? Can’t a barbarian get even an afternoon of peace away from you little trouble-making peckerheads?”
The headmaster glared at him. “You’re that vandal from Bane, aren’t you? I knew I should’ve refused your admittance. Blood is as blood does. It’s a fact of life, boy. There’s no changing it.”
Talon shook his head. “Let go of me. I didn’t break your stupid window.”
The headmaster glanced around. “Well, I sure don’t see anybody else, do you? And I’m going to enjoy sending you back to Bane. They can deal with their own juvenile delinquents.”
“Do whatever you want. I don’t care.” Talon glared. “But it still wasn’t me.”
Roland Stonecrusher laughed. “If it wasn’t you, then who was it, boy?”
Talon clamped his mouth shut and shook his head. The only thing worse than being the great whatever grandson of a traitor was being a snitch.
The headmaster growled. “Oh, it was you, all right, and I’m going to expel your useless arse for this. A criminal from Bane has no business around decent barbarian folk. I told the courts that. Maybe now they’ll listen to me.”
From somewhere behind came another voice. “He’s telling the truth, Headmaster Stonecrusher. He didn’t break your window, I did.”
The big barbarian suddenly dropped Talon on the ground and whirled around. “You? You broke my window? I don’t believe it.”
Talon gulped. He’d only ever seem this particular boy a couple of times before, and that had been from a distance. But then, princes didn’t keep company with the relatives of traitors.
Tested by the Night Page 10
