by Treva Harte
His back began moving rhythmically, his body twisting against the ground. She saw the sweat trickling down his back, heard his harsh grunts. Jewel bit back a sudden whimper and ground harder against him.
“You’ll destroy me, woman. But go ahead. Do your worst. It still feels wonderful,” Mio panted.
Ah, she was powerful enough to command a male. Sex was an amazing thing.
Then he turned over. “But do it this way.”
Almost before she could gasp, surprisingly strong arms lifted her up and dangled her. He let the head of his cock brush against her pussy. Jewel gripped the wrists that held her just as hard as she could, trying to force him to plunge her down, hard against that fierce erection. Mio didn’t so much as twitch.
“Please, Mio?” His cock felt even better than his back. Why had she refused to use it before? Stubborn was one thing. Stupid was another. His erection nudged against her, slyly, promising her a treat. “I want your penis. In me.”
He held her in the air, dangling, for a long moment. They stared at each other, eyes narrowed. Goddess, she was excited enough that his strength aroused rather than infuriated her.
Finally, Mio’s smile flashed. “I thought you’d never ask.”
She slid down easily, slickly, wetly, impaled on his cock. He slid up, just as easily inside her. That was all it took. Her climax came whirling, rushing through her with a giddy tightening that surged through her like the gale winds outside.
She gripped Mio’s shoulders hard, reaching for someone else’s strength to keep her from blowing away to the ends of the earth. For one moment, his touch was the only thing that kept her whole and safe.
Pleasure scattered her, leaving her boneless and weak. His seed shot inside her, just moments later.
“Ohhh.” Jewel collapsed onto Mio’s chest.
She was wet. She was hot. Moisture made her stick damply to his skin. For the moment, she didn’t care. She wanted to stick to him. She wanted to be just this exhausted and limp.
He kissed the top of her head and she smiled. Even the aftermath of sex with Mio was wonderful.
* * * * *
Ulrich roared and then tossed her tiny daughter up in the air. Maryam clutched at her throat. He wouldn’t--
Stefani squealed as he caught her on the way down.
“So you’re angry at me, are you?” Ulrich demanded, all his carefully learned formality gone as he spoke to the girl.
“Maybe.” Stefani looked at him speculatively, anger forgotten for a moment. “You have hair on your face.” She touched it with her hand. “Nasty! It scratches.”
“I forgot to shave.” Ulrich passed a hand over his cheeks, looking almost as guilty over Stefani’s words as he was when Maryam scolded. “I forgot…a lot of things these past days.”
Oh, no. Maryam’s hand, which had loosened, clutched again. Absolutely, no. She wouldn’t have it. The man looked like nothing but a hulking brute. Stefani was right. His face bristles scratched. He had a tendency to belch and say the crudest things while in bed. Even when he tried, he had no manners, no polish with women.
“I’ll shave you,” Stefani offered.
He roared with laughter again.
But he was adorable with children. He tried to please, much like a large, overgrown puppy might. Ulrich turned toward her, his face still bright with amusement. His face softened, as if he was pleased to catch sight of her and share in the joke.
Oh, dear. He was tolerant and brighter than he looked and an absolute bull in bed. He never tired of sex…or her. She’d forgotten, if she ever knew, how delightful that could be.
Maryam sighed. He had such a sweet look in his eyes, such a tender curve to his smile when he watched her now. There seemed to be no help for her. She just might have to fall in love with him.
What a disaster that would be.
Chapter 6
“I need to go outside.” Jewel stretched.
“I’ll go with you.”
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t go alone outside. Not here.” Mio scowled. “Mewts particularly like to stay where humans used to live.”
“Mewts exist?” Jewel gasped. “I thought they were fairy tales.”
Strange snakelike creatures that could crush or spit poisonous venom? They had to be imaginary. Didn’t they?
“Not hardly.” Mio shifted his machete closer to him. “I’ve seen the remains of what some mewts did to a man. So…anywhere you go, I go.”
“I need to relieve myself.”
“I’ll turn my back. But, err, hurry.”
A sudden loud crash shut them both up. Jewel stared at Mio and saw the truth in the way he tensed. “That wasn’t thunder or lightning. Was it?”
Mio shook his head.
“You need a weapon.” Jewel swallowed. “Mewts are big. A mace or…”
“Warriors have maces. I’m not a warrior.” Mio gave her flickering smile, a faint remnant of his usual expression. “The machete will have to do.”
He stood, the point of his blade raised.
“Go.” All emotion was erased from his voice. “You can get away. I’ll delay as long as I can. When you get through the pass--”
“How am I to do that?”
“I know you’ll find a way. We’re close enough. I have no time to tell you more than when you get through the pass, if you look carefully, you will see Bloomingdell in the distance. Make your way toward it. Ha!” They both heard the crashing of the underbrush.
Warrior or not, Jewel saw his body grow taut. He was prepared to fight. He was prepared to have her run away from the scene. She looked around, wildly, for some better way they could both escape.
Goddess, the man couldn’t run. That was why he didn’t call himself a warrior. He didn’t even have any proper fighting weapons--a sword or lance to help even the odds against one man fighting a mewt.
But he was going to stand and do battle, despite his limitations.
Jewel’s chest hurt. This was what it was like to be free of the keep--the dream she’d held for years. Life was dangerous without the support of strong walls and other people. Mio lived alone and he expected to die alone.
But he also expected to save her.
“Go!” His voice, still calm, raised just a fraction. But every other faculty he possessed was concentrated on his foe. Both of them knew the attack would come soon.
Now!
The long, snake-like figure leapt from the brush with the peculiar half-strangled cry it was known for. Mio’s blade nicked it hard under the throat. He twisted, but it wasn’t enough. The mewt struck at his head with its heavy tail and Mio staggered back, blood spurting.
Go? Run? Curse her if she would. Mio wasn’t staying alone for this.
Jewel slung the first rock hard at the creature’s spine. It gurgled and swung its head back, looking for the new assailant.
“Damn it, Jewel!” Mio sounded strong enough. “I told you--”
She threw the next rock and pinned its tail.
Mio didn’t waste any more time talking. His machete sliced the head from the long spiny tail with a solid whack. The blade shivered against the thickness of the mewt and then separated from the hilt.
Mio stared at the useless handle in his hand and then threw it between the creature’s tiny eyes. The head rolled. For a moment those eyes held a nasty intelligence and seemed to stare directly at Jewel. Jewel held her breath.
Then the eyes clouded. Dead.
She relaxed.
“We did it.” She slicked her sweaty hands down her side. She heard his sigh echo hers.
“But we’re not safe. The damn things live in nests with their kin.” Mio scowled at the machete. “I have nothing to fight them with now. What the hell were you thinking of, staying here?”
She’d scared him witless. Even before she stayed to help him--help fight a mewt, by the Sacred Name!--he’d been terrified.
He’d wondered once or twice, if he could face death bravely. When the time came to find
out, he’d been so afraid for her, he’d almost forgotten his fate. He hadn’t wanted her left alone. Even if the mewt hadn’t eaten her as dessert, she had no more idea of how to travel through the jungle than--than he had in how to conduct himself within a keep.
“You’re an idiot. The sooner I get you to Bloomingdell, the sooner I can count you safe.” Mio glared at her.
She glared back. “There is a storm outside, in case you missed it.”
“I know that, curse it!” The weather would delay everything. No doubt things would be slippery and new trees would fall in their path. Even if the weather cleared this instant, they’d be two days, three perhaps, on what trail there was. He’d be sweating to keep her safe every instant. There were so many ways she might be harmed. Double and triple curse it, he’d be happy if they were in front of the keep today except…except then he’d never see her again.
Why the hell was she taking this insane trip anyhow? Why had he never thought to ask? Fool that he was, he just thought of her as his present.
“I never asked why you needed to go to Bloomingdell.” He cleared his throat, trying not to let his voice shake now that his adrenaline was dropping back down. Had she needed to flee? Done something criminal? He could think of no other reason why a woman would run from the safety of her own home. Perhaps she wouldn’t be safe within any keep. Perhaps he could think of some way to have her stay outside.
“I never told you why, either.” She sank down to sit on her haunches, as if her legs could no longer keep her upright. No doubt reaction had set in for her, too. “But I’ll tell you if you wish. Since you did save my life and all.”
He fought a swelling of pride at her words. “To be truthful, you saved mine.”
“We saved each other, perhaps. Anyhow, enough of giving credit. I’m going to Castle Bloomingdell to help heal some of the women. Their healer died.”
“Did she?” Mio scowled. “How have they gotten on without one?” What happened if they were ill--curse it, at least one of them must be ill to require a healer to come all this distance. And double curse it, Jewel would have to fulfill her mission.
“Well, I’m going to find out.”
“Is anyone deathly ill?” Mio asked, his voice suddenly sharpening.
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Then why…” He stopped. “Are you going to stay there?”
Jewel blinked. She shouldn’t have told him what she had so far, she was sure. But if any man was deserving of her trust, it was Mio. Besides, what would happen if she did tell? He might capture her again?
“I’ll stay until I’m no longer needed. Then I suppose I’ll need to figure out how to return.” There would still be a chance for more adventure, another journey outside confining walls.
Mio gave her his most innocently winning smile. “You may need a guide back.”
“I may.”
“I could wait. If you want. If it is permitted.” He looked uncertain. “The journey will be just as dangerous, or more so, on your return.”
“I’d appreciate your help.” Jewel glanced over at the dead carcass. He needn’t know she wanted him to wait for reasons beyond attacking mewts and ferocious storms. But he probably had already guessed. “Very much.”
“Sacred Name, Jewel.” His skin was still crawling from fear at her close encounter with death and yet he’d offered himself up as her guide and protector again. A crippled protector without a weapon to his name. Was he insane? Was she? Jewel smiled, hesitantly, at him as if to thank him. She looked soft. Still a little frightened. Not at all like her usual feisty self.
Another surge of emotion shot through him. Curse it, he was insane. Mad with lust. He ought to be watching for another mewt attack. Trying to find a new machete or sword.
Curse practicality. He wanted her. To burn off the sudden dizzy surge of adrenaline that made him almost sick. To feel her alive and whole against him.
“Now.” He growled the word. He’d hold her to her bargain. He wouldn’t ask if she’d come to him without her promise. He didn’t want to know right now. All he wanted was her.
Safe and whole, wrapping herself around him, clinging as if she would never let go. Mio pushed her to her back easily, buried his face against her throat. He felt her pulse pumping hard in her neck. Jewel. Jewel. The blood beat her name into his ears.
She was sobbing a little, her nails digging into him. He winced when she caught a spot the mewt had hit. Her fingers eased instantly.
“You’re hurt.” She kissed the shoulder she’d clawed.
Need surged.
“You can make me forget any hurt.” He slid inside, so effortlessly, it was as if his first fumbling journey to find her hot core had never been. He knew where her heat was now. He knew the slick walls that could tighten ferociously around his cock. He knew her body. For right now he owned her body. It was his to command.
He wanted more.
The little tremors that milked his penis made him gasp, made him thrust deeper. Fool. He didn’t need more. Not right now.
“Mio.” She whispered his name in his ear, her voice trembling and harsh. “Mio. I want you so much.”
More. She was giving him more. Not just her sexy voice. Her hips slid upward in a tilt that tried to take all of him. He pounded harder, his wet skin slamming against her. She moved, dancing with him, increasing their friction, sending harder, racking pangs of lust through him.
Now. Jewel. Now.
As if she heard him, her body tightened for a heart-stopping moment, like she would squeeze his cock dry. Mio could feel his come roaring up to meet her demand.
He fought for a half second, just to prolong the deep pleasure, to feel her sweet little body against him, and then there was no use fighting any longer. He screamed in defeat and triumph, sliding into a vortex of dark and flashing light, of emptying desire.
He collapsed on top of her, too exhausted to do more than half raise himself on his elbows. She was smaller than him. Maybe she was tougher, but he could crush the breath out of her if he wasn’t careful.
She shoved him with sharp elbows. “Roll off me, you male. I’m not your pillow.”
Mio let his body rest against her just a moment more, then with a supreme effort, he rolled to his side, still gasping for air. Sex with Jewel was dangerous. A man could die from satisfaction. A man could die from longing for more.
Mio scowled. What more was there? She was there for the asking, then wrung a man out. Why did what was left of his working brain, keep crying for more? He turned his head.
Her eyelids had fallen almost shut. Her purple-black hair had tumbled back into her thin face, the way it usually did. One strand was resting against her half-open mouth. He saw, a little gratified, that she was still panting, too.
What more could a woman give him? What more could he possibly want? He reached a hand out to smooth against her skin. To have her lie quiet against him was almost as good as when she writhed under him. He would be happy if she was always there.
Was that the more he wanted? Mio frowned. If so, he was a fool. Women were never allowed to stay forever with one man. Not in this world. He was dreaming of an impossibility.
* * * * *
He entered as lightning flashed, opening the door to the smell of the wet and the feel of the wind. Ara sat up in the bed, refusing to clutch the bed sheets around her body. She wasn’t ashamed or afraid of her nudity. They stared at each other for a long moment.
“Very attractive.” Quinn kept his hand on the door despite his words. “You make a lovely picture in repose.”
“Do I? You don’t seem convinced.” How did one seduce a man? She’d never had to before. Perversely, she wanted to show her sexuality more now that her companion showed no interest than she ever had when a male panted over her.
“Do you intend to convince me, Lady Ara?” He unbuckled his sword belt, carefully draping it over the chair.
In response, she got up, and began to unbutton his wet tunic. She wouldn’t le
t her fingers tremble. Or her lips, as they almost met his. He lowered his head, put his fingers under to her chin so she had to lift her face up to meet him.
He didn’t kiss her even then, with his breath on her mouth. Instead he stroked her hair.
“Sugar maiden, all gleaming white.”
“I’m no maiden. And I’m too white. Silver white hair, dead white skin…I burn in the sun. It can be a big problem when I’m displayed for you men. I need a great deal of body paint or shade to do so properly.” She was babbling. Babbling over something that was far from attractive, at that.
“You look fine.” His eyes were glittering again.
“Merely fine, sirrah?”
“Fine enough to have for a sweet dessert.”
“You intend to make a meal of me?”
He turned and bit the side of her neck, just sharply enough to make her jump. “I might. You look like a tasty dish, Lady.”
“And you? Are you tasty, too?”
“Try me and see.” She’d never had such an interesting invitation before.
How did one taste a man? She wasn’t sure she’d ever thought about the matter before. And did she want to? She ran her tongue against her lips, imagining what might be done.
This Quinn was oddly seductive. He paid court to her with what seemed half his attention. But even that was almost enough to entrance her. He was looking at her now, assessing, as if he was deciding just what he wanted her to do. That was odd all in itself. She’d never had a man wait and have her do things before. At least not when they were about to have intercourse.
They were going to have intercourse, weren’t they?
He watched her tongue lick her lips after he’d spoken and his unthinking cock responded with a hard twitch. By the Ruler, she was pretty. Delicate, fragile. At least she looked to be. Then again, she’d stood down Ulrich and the rest, so appearances could be deceiving. She must be tougher than she seemed. She could withstand more. Curse it, what did it matter?
A few months ago he’d have leaped into bed with her, taking her up on the unconscious invitation she sent with her lithe little tongue. He wasn’t unwilling now. He just--needed to be sure of other things first. More important things than whether a woman’s alien eyes were uncertain and a little hurt when she looked at him…whether her lips trembled a little as she tried to smile.
