Tested by the Night

by Maxine Mansfield

  Algen Daggertoss had raised his nose in the air and informed her in no more words than it took to form a single sentence that he’d be in touch when the details of the next quest were decided upon.

  And that had been that.

  “A platt for your thoughts,” Talon whispered as he hugged her and nuzzled the lobe of her ear.

  She didn’t want to admit her fears. She didn’t want to spoil this moment by allowing him to think she hadn’t had complete trust in his ability to stay alive until she could get back to him. Instead, she shrugged and settled for a less volatile discussion. “I was going over today’s negotiations in my mind. I think they went well, don’t you?”

  Talon chuckled. “Oh, yes, princess, they went very well. Jaxson is beside himself with how well they went. But then who wouldn’t be pleased. Both bear and barbarian alike will benefit for years to come from the agreement you bartered today.”

  She leaned upon one elbow. “Was it enough, though? Was I enough?”

  He kissed her lips, at first gently, then deeper and deeper still and with hunger. “Yes, my love. You conducted yourself like the queen you’ll someday be.” He squeezed her ass and nudged his thick hardness up against the softness of the junction between her thighs. “Are you enough you ask? Oh, VoT yes, princess. You are so much more than simply enough. Allow me to show you how much more than enough you are.”

  He slid the length of his cock up and down her belly and teased at the folds of her pussy.

  She swatted at his shoulder and laughed. “Not yet, barbarian. We’ll get to that in a minute. You know what I’m talking about, the agreement. Was the agreement enough, was it fair, will it adequately benefit our people?”

  The sound of Talon’s sigh echoed off the ice walls of the lodge-house. He flipped onto his back, bringing her with him. “Can’t this wait, princess? For God Draka’s sake, I’ve been sleeping with bears and Jaxson for the last week. I have a powerful need to plunge deep within you and plunder the treasures I know to be waiting there. Give me a few days of making love with you, and then I’ll be ready to discuss diplomatic stuff and such. Promise.”

  He nipped the soft skin of her neck, and tiny sparks of excitement skittered along the curve of her spine. “You did VoT well, princess. Hold still and let me show you a few skills of my own.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to argue when, with no more than the touch of his lips against hers, all sense—common and otherwise—completely fled. How could a man’s lips be so very soft, yet at the same time his tongue be so delightfully raspy and wonderfully demanding? And how could a man, any man, taste like an enticing mixture of the brightest sun-shiny day she’d ever seen combined with the naughtiest midnight secrets she’d ever dreamed possible?

  But he did.

  Over and over, he lavished her face, her lips, her ears, her neck, and even the tip of her nose with his kisses, as if he were starving for even one taste of her and her alone. And all the while he was kissing, licking, and nipping, his hands caressed her breasts, her belly, her thighs, and toyed at her opening. Almost delving within her folds, almost touching her clit, almost stroking what so desperately needed his attention.

  But not quite.

  Her breath caught in her chest. She hummed with need and throbbed for his touch, anxious for the moment his cock would finally be buried deep inside her. “Make love to me, Talon,” she yelled. “Fuck me now. Fuck me all night long. I need… Oh, my God Draka, you know exactly what I need.”

  “Shh,” he whispered against a particularly sensitive spot right below her left ear. “Don’t worry, you’re going to get what we both want just not as fast as you think you must have it. I’ve missed you, Mia, and I have a need to make long passionate love to you, not simply fuck. Lay back and let me show you how very much this unworthy barbarian missed his princess.”

  She sighed into his embrace. Tendrils of excitement danced upon her skin as he bathed her with his tongue. He laved her neck and her shoulders with his raspy, warm wetness before settling his concentration upon her breast. He swirled his tongue around her areola and flicked her pebbly hard nipple before drawing it deep into his mouth, sucking it, letting it go with a loud pop, and then repeating the process with its twin.

  She giggled, squirmed, and swatted. “Quit teasing and get on with it, Barbarian.”

  He laughed. “You think I’m teasing? Oh, princess. You have no idea how very serious I am.”

  Talon flipped her onto her stomach and continued his tongue bath. Shivers of delight followed the path he forged as he licked and nipped his way across her neck before paying particular attention to both of her shoulders and every single boney process of her spine. By the time he made it to her ass, Mia was panting.

  Her heart skipped a beat as he angled himself lower, positioning himself between her legs, his breath puffing warm air against her cheeks. He really wouldn’t, would he?

  A wonderful heat filled her, and her juices flowed. She tried to press her legs together, not wanting him to see how he affected her, how vulnerable she was to something as simple as the feel of his breath against her skin. He wouldn’t allow it, though. He nuzzled in deeper, and with a single swipe of his tongue along her ass, she came apart.

  She whimpered and clamped a hand over her mouth before Talon could hear her.

  He must have perceived something, however, because he chuckled right before he slipped a single finger into her pussy, pumped it fast and hard as he doubled his efforts of licking her ass. He took turns nipping her sensitive cheeks and then licking the sting all better before nipping and licking and nipping and licking some more. All while stroking her clit.

  Moments later, she screamed as yet another orgasm took her. Wave after wave of all-consuming tremors rolled over her, through her, exploding outward. She took in deep gasping breaths and tried to steady her racing heart and the trembling of her thighs. It was no use, though, as Talon began tonguing the opening to her ass while deeply pumping her pussy with his finger.

  Mia was lost in a sea of sensation, and before she could catch her next breath, Talon slowly inserted his thumb into her ass. She clenched her cheeks together, not sure how she felt about this particular change in his love-making technique, but then he began thrusting the finger still deep within her pussy even faster while probing her ass with his thumb.

  She forgot to care about anything other than the wonderful way she felt.

  And caring wasn’t all she forgot about.

  She totally forgot to breathe as spots formed before her eyes and the roof of her mouth, along with the hair follicles on the very top of her head, the bottoms of her feet, and everything in between tingled.

  Shivers of excitement shot straight though her middle, and the muscles of her belly contracted with the ebb and flow of his stroke. She closed her eyes with complete trust and gave herself up to his ministrations. For tonight at least, she wasn’t a princess with two more daunting quests before her. She was simply a woman in love and his to do with as he pleased.

  He removed his finger from her pussy and his thumb from her ass. She almost cried out in protest, but then he flipped her over until she was flat on her back beneath him, and the intensity in his gaze had her holding her breath. He stared at her as if he were in great pain, as if he wanted or needed to say something that he knew was going to hurt her but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it.

  Had leaving him with the bears and putting not just his life but also Jaxson’s in danger been the last straw of his patience? Was he about to tell her he was done with her and her quests? That when they returned to The Academy in the morning, it would be time for someone else to take over the duty of bodyguard? That their time together was over?

  Mia shuddered. She’d never seen Talon Starkweather rendered speechless, and she’d certainly never seen him look uncertain about anything. Her heart pounded in her chest, unsuccessfully preparing itself for what was to come, getting ready to be shattered into a million pieces.

  “Wha
t’s wrong?” she cried. “Tell me.” She choked back a sob. “Go on, say it.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t you see? What’s between us isn’t right, Mia. Everything about us being together like this is wrong. But God Draka help us both, I can’t help myself. I’ve gone and done the one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do. I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  Her heart stuttered and stopped for a moment before pounding furiously once more in her chest. And a smile lit her face.

  “No, Mia. Please, don’t look at me like it’s a good thing because it isn’t. I tried not to fall in love with you. Nothing can come of it, and I have no right. We both know I’m not worthy, can never be worthy. But I do love you, so there it is. And what makes matters even worse is, I know all I have to offer you, other than my loyalty, my devotion, and my life, is this.”

  With one quick, powerful thrust, he filled her.

  She gasped as his thick, hard cock parted the slick passage of her sheath and embedded itself deep within her. Forging them together, making a single one where there had once been two. Tears of joy stung her eyes. He loved her. He really loved her. He wasn’t leaving her, and everything was going to be all right—eventually. She hoped.

  It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him she loved him, too, but then he did the strangest thing. He closed his eyes as if in great pain and pumped into her wildly, whispering over and over, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, so very, very sorry.”

  She held him close, glorying in the rippling of his muscles beneath her fingertips as she wrapped her legs about his waist, meeting him thrust for thrust, hoping to give as good as she got, hoping to relay with her body what her tongue was too afraid to say.

  The sound of his breathing roared in her ears, and the feel of his heart pounding in his chest matched her own pulse, but still she didn’t say a word. Though Talon had declared his love, he wasn’t quite ready to hear those words said back to him. Perhaps he would never be.

  She wanted to shake him. She wanted to cry. She knew exactly what he was thinking. He wasn’t worthy because of his parentage. Well, fuck his parentage. She was VoT sick of that excuse. But the problem wasn’t something she could remedy tonight, and it wasn’t something she could even do anything about in the very near future. Growing up the grandson of a traitor had been a way of life for Talon.

  What would it take to change his perception of himself? What would it take to change the entire barbarian race’s perception?

  Mia tried to concentrate on the problem at hand, but Talon slowed his pace and began pumping into her with long leisurely strokes. She could feel every ridge and vein of his magnificent cock as it slid in and out and in and out.

  She lost her ability to concentrate on anything but what she was feeling as pressure built deep in the pit of her belly radiating upward and outward. She quivered as sweet spasms of release rolled over her, contracting the walls of her pussy, and sending ripples of pleasure sky-rocketing throughout every fiber of her being.

  A heartbeat later, Talon shuddered above her, and his hot seed shot forth, coating her inner walls. With a shout to the icy rafters of the lodge-house, he collapsed, his weight upon her a welcome, comfortable warmth.

  She swatted his shoulder playfully and kissed his neck. “Now that we’ve had our pleasure, back to work, knave. Was the agreement enough? Would…” She gulped. “Would my father, the king, and my Uncle Cyrrick, the diplomat, and his wife, Aunt Aryanna think it to be enough? I need to know.”

  Talon chuckled. “Well, let’s see. You got an entire tribe of blood-thirsty bears to agree not to raid villages, but to wait upon the sighting of hunting parties to make their move. And you got an entire race of bull-headed barbarians to agree not to hunt close to dens or caves or stalk the young or prey upon any of the bears during hibernation. And you got them both to go along with signaling each other when a sacrifice ceremony or a coming of age hunt by either bear or barbarian was about to take place.”

  A sense of peace filled her. She, the tiniest of barbarians and the most unlikely of political translators, had truly gotten Talon’s Uncle Holbrook, the leader of the Bane bears to sit down across from each other and actually negotiate.

  Talon nuzzled her neck. “Your aunt, your uncle, your father, your mother, and every citizen of Alaria will be proud of the diplomacy skills you exhibited this day. You wait and see.”

  With a grunt, he rolled to his side, brought her close into his embrace, and within moments, was snoring. It was then, and only then that Mia found the courage to whisper, “I love you, too, Talon, with all that I am and all I will ever be.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Mia wrapped her arms around her middle, took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and simply watched Talon sleep. What on Albrath was wrong with the drat man? And what, if anything, could she do to fix it?

  Two weeks, that’s how long it had been since they’d walked side-by-side back through the gates of The Academy. And two very long weeks since he’d stopped really talking to her about anything of substance, especially his declaration of love.

  She was VoT sick of his silence.

  Not that he’d become completely quiet, for he hadn’t. He did still actually carry on coherent conversations with his friends Wally, Uncle Leeky, and Pierced. But with her, the most she got out of him these days was a combination of mumbling, grumbling, and the occasional nod if she were lucky.

  During the daylight hours anyway.

  Each afternoon, he, along with Cousin Wally, taught her self-defense class. And in that class, Talon was a consummate professional and as cold as the ice-covered tundra of Bane had been. Not that he was mean or cruel, for he wasn’t. He didn’t yell, he didn’t curse, he didn’t cajole, but neither did he smile.

  He simply instructed.

  He corrected her poor technique without batting an eye and even made coldly clinical comments on how she could improve her skills at the end of every class.

  She wanted to hit him.

  Instead, her gaze traveled over his sleeping face.

  He was relaxed, his eyes closed, his dark-chocolate lashes kissing his cheeks while one wayward lock of matching brown hair curled playfully upon his forehead. His full luscious lips were slightly puckered, and the morning stubble upon his jaw looked velvety soft. Her fingers itched to touch him, stroke him, wake him slowly, and kiss him deeply.

  But with the morning light, would he even welcome her advances? She wasn’t sure anymore.

  At least when darkness fell each night and they lay together in this bed, entwined within each other’s arms, he made sweet love to her as if he meant it. But then, the night was also when his silence in general and lack of words of love hurt the most. And though she did still thank God Draka every time he did reach for her and hold her and love her with his body, she missed his shouting his release to the rafters.

  For Talon Starkweather made not a sound while making love with her anymore. Not a sigh, not a moan, and certainly not a roar of pleasure.

  And even worse, he hadn’t again voiced anything close to his one and only declaration of “I love you”. And not only had he no longer broached the topic of feelings and such, but he had refused to allow her to bring up the subject. If she even attempted to talk about what she felt for him, he’d silently rise, dress, leave her suite of rooms, and not return again until morning.

  For some reason, Talon Starkweather was obviously bent on proving to his princess that he, unlike she, could control silly things like emotions, and had no need for mushy attachments that made mortal men weak. Sentiments like love and tenderness, affection or…or even a beating heart had no place in his day-to-day life.

  And what, instead of talking with her, had the stubborn barbarian done after those hot bouts of sex, when she wasn’t foolish enough to push him for conversation? Time after time he simply turned his back upon her and went to sleep without a single word.

  If she didn’t love him so VoT much, she was pretty sure she could grow to hate him
right about now.

  Mia swiped at the tears clouding her eyes. What could she do? What had she done that had been so very wrong? For God Draka knew, whatever had gone wrong in her relationship with him had to be her fault. For every single crush, every romance, even the few minor dalliances she’d indulged in over the years had always ended badly.

  She had to be defective.

  Other women knew exactly what to do to keep a man’s interest. Why didn’t she? Had she missed that class? Not read that chapter?

  The very first steaks of morning sunlight filtered through the window heralding another very long day. She sighed as dread filled her.

  Though Talon’s silence of the night was hard to take, at least she did still get to lie beside him, touch him, have him touch her, hold her. But in the light of the day, she rarely saw him at all, and when she did, it was like starring into the eyes of a stranger.

  Of its own volition, her hand snaked out to touch his face, yearning for the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips, but then she hesitated. He looked so peaceful, so handsome, and even if he had been acting like an ass lately, he still deserved whatever little rest he got.

  But even in slumber there seemed to be something off, an underlining tension she couldn’t quite put her finger on. What could be so disturbing it was affecting his sleep?

  Did he so long to be rid of her, rid of his obligation that it overflowed into his dreams? Did he crave to tell Zander to find someone else to watch over his spoiled little sister? Had he finally come to the end of his patience?

  She was on the verge of shaking him awake and demanding to know when she heard the knock on the door.

  ****

  Talon turned in a circle, desperately trying to gage his whereabouts. Black ice crunched beneath the heels of his boots and spread out in front of him for as far as the eye could see.