RuArk allowed her to break away and run for their bedroom. He gave chase and caught her just as she tried to close the door on him. He tackled her gently, landing with her cushioned in his arms in a sprawling heap on the floor. She hadn’t thought much about it when he’d suggested she nap in one of his large linen shirts that buttoned down the front. But now that he’d captured her, she understood perfectly. Buttons flew everywhere as he exposed her ripe round breasts and every inch of her skin from head to toe.
Instantly aroused, she was almost annoyed with herself when reason intruded. “RuArk, it’s the middle of the day. What if somebody comes?”
He carried her up to their massive bed and tossed her into the middle of it. “The only person I want to come is you,” he said slyly.
“But what if one of your warriors needs you? Oh.” Her eyes closed as his strong, rough fingers closed over her tender breasts, testing, teasing.
“Then perhaps they will receive a lesson in the intimate details of how a warrior makes his woman writhe like a cat before he fills her with cream.”
“You are so dirty.”
The man’s words were enough to melt her bones. His mouth came down on hers, hot and seeking. His touch was urgent, and kisses became rough and untamed. He was relentless in his pursuit of her lips and tongue, sucking them into his mouth and biting down. When she did the same, he became wild and desperate, laying a fire trail of wet, carnal nips from her lips to her cheeks to the sensitive spot behind her ear.
He nibbled at the cords of her neck and was rewarded with a gasp of pure pleasure. Oh yes, he knew what she liked. And Rhia knew he would give it to her until she couldn’t take anymore.
He didn’t leave a single patch of skin untouched as he made his way to her aching breasts, then laved and suckled the sensitive tips until they throbbed. RuArk moved from one full mound to the other as if he couldn’t get enough. Finally, he took the full crown into his mouth and sucked hard until she writhed and panted harshly.
“Oh god!” she cried as he moved down her rib cage. He rubbed his face back and forth across her belly and the rippling cage of her stomach, inhaling her scent. Mmm. It felt so primal. Natural.
“Tell me what you want, Fire Storm,” he breathed raggedly, his lips and tongue warm against her skin.
“I want... Oh, yes. I want you to touch me. Please.”
“I love to do just that. I love the scent of her arousal, your skin. He planted a kiss on her slightly rounded belly and smiled, surely thinking of his child who slept peacefully inside her. She grabbed him gently by the hair and pushed him closer to her dewy wet center.
“Taste me, please. I need you to...”
She let out an unsteady gasp as his thick silky hair spilled across the sensitized tips of her swollen nipples. He liked that she loved his hair, soft as feathers and long as a horse’s mane. He noted her reaction, and gathered the thick mass in his hands. He caressed her sensitive skin with it, tickled her navel and slid it all along the inside of her thighs.
He sent her over the edge when he dropped his hair over her stomach like a sensual curtain and buried his face in her moist coral folds. She arched her back on a scream, bowing so hard she practically buried the top of her head in the thick, plush bedding underneath her.
“Oh RuArk. Yes.” RuArk continued his sweet assault. He made her fly until she was flush against the hot summer sun. And just when she couldn’t take anymore, he hummed against her swollen clit and she exploded in a spectacular show of brilliant sparkling lights.
Soon she was a boneless, writhing, aching mass of strength in femininity.
As her second orgasm became to release its grip, RuArk loosed the leather thongs that held his breech in place. Rhia stared in wonder as he tossed it across the bed.
Then he was on her, and it was magnificent. Every part of his body, including his velvet-covered cock, was hard and taut, corded with sinew and muscle. And when he entered her, he was so big, so hard. And so there!
They both let out a cry of urgency as he pushed inside. RuArk gritted his teeth against the sensation of her wet folds closing around him, squeezing him, milking him. Rhia's legs wrapped around his waist, and he sank deeper. One stroke, and then two. She was coming, her body bucking and thrashing.
This new release was swift. Hard. The pleasure so complete, she was oblivious to everything except the hot steel of her husband moving inside her. Taking her to complete satiation. She yelled his name, and then chanted it. A litany of praise and awe on her lips as wave after wave of sensual pleasure washed over her.
RuArk joined her in the dance, responding to the tightening of her sugared walls. He lurched forward with a roar, releasing his seed deep within her. Like a storm of lightning and thunder, his warlike cry shook the very foundations of their bond. Rhia might have been startled at the intensity of it had she not been floating outside of her own body in sensual awe.
Later that afternoon, Rhia stood out on the terrace, as was her habit when she needed some quiet time. As she watched RuArk head down the hill, he stopped and looked back toward her. He raised his hand and waved. While he usually kept himself clamped down tight, right now his side of their mate bond was thrown wide open. He let flow through all the things he couldn’t say right now, and Rhia let it fill her until her heart overflowed with awe.
The man was thrilled about her pregnancy. He was even more thrilled that he’d made a baby with her.
She waved back and he turned away. She watched him pass through the courtyard and beyond the trail that would have taken him to the soldier’s barracks and stables. Rhia’s eyes remained on him until he’d made it all the way out of the low gates and out of sight toward the center of town.
She stood beneath azure blue skies until the sun began to sink from its highest point. Thinking on her current situation, she rocked back on her heels.
“Guess becoming a mom does that to a woman,” she mused to herself.
But it was more than that. Much more.
Her life had taken a huge turn long before her father had ever summoned RuArk to the High City to investigate the plot against her life. She just hadn’t known it yet. Had it always been her destiny to be here, in this place, with this man, these people?
She couldn’t say whether she now believed in fate, but she knew when to take a step back and reassess her situation. Life was one big strategy session. Sometimes things went as planned and sometimes they didn’t.
As she sat, Rhia’s thoughts turned to Sharyn. Sharyn Miwatani was as bad ass as any soldier she’d ever trained or met. The woman was second to no one, yet never needed to steamroll her way into, or out of, any situation. Sharyn was an alpha, no doubt about it, yet she didn’t wear it like a warning sign. Most impressive was that she was an expert at choosing her battles.
It was something Rhia had been trained to do in true warfare, but she hadn’t had a clue how to be wise in an intimate relationship. A conversation they’d had when they’d first met came to mind. “You could have so much more from the Wind Storm if you bend but a little, Rhia. Bending branches do not break. If you give your mate what he wants by wearing the sarand and learning the ways of the Gaian, what have you lost by doing so?”
Rhia now had her answer. Nothing. She’d lost absolutely nothing at all. Giving her mate, her husband, what he’d asked for had made her no less of a soldier, no less of a woman. In fact, he’d given her plenty without her even asking, including things he’d already known she needed, even though she hadn’t had a clue herself.
And now, here they were. This wasn’t a crossroads, or even a point of contemplation. This was an acknowledgement of the fact that some of her old ideas were no longer relevant. Period.
The against-all-odds need to prove herself to RuArk was a fallacy. In fact, the man had never asked her for such a thing in the first place. No, that was baggage she’d brought all on her own. And now it was time to cut it loose.
Would she morph into some other person? Not a chance. She was
still First Heir. Still a Blademaster. Still Rhia Greysomne Miwatani. Yet, she was more now, not less—a lifemate, and a mother.
The latter thought almost sent her into a panic. Like her first foray into her relationship with RuArk, motherhood was something she had no idea how to do. Thoughts of her own parents brought a jumble of joy and pain. Fulfillment and utter loneliness. Love and loss. Fear.
Facing all of it head on, Rhia made a decision.
I’ll learn to be a mom just like I’ve learned everything else. But without the giant hole in her soul that used to be filled with nothing but her own ambition. Now it carried new hopes and dreams. A new family. New friends. New places to call home.
Rather than strive, perhaps she’d finally reached a point in her life where she could simply... be.
Surely she and RuArk would still bump heads about things, but bumping heads for the hell of it? Nope. No more exercises in futility. No more almost losing someone to a permanent death before realizing how much they meant to her. No more stubbornness just ‘because’.
Oooh, I’ll need to work on that one. This calls for emergency reinforcements.
She sucked in a fortifying breath and headed to Joan’s for a cup of strong spiced chocolate.
Chapter Twelve
As the months slipped by, Rhia bloomed with good health, her body lush and ripe. RuArk took every possible chance to make her feel like the most desirable woman he’d ever seen. Though large with child, she wouldn’t hear of him leaving their bed even though he only wanted to make sure she was comfortable.
On her last check-up to the Physicians, she’d even asked if it was normal for abstinence to be the last thing on her mind. The further along she got, the more she craved RuArk’s cock. She’d even taken to teasing him by walking around their apartments naked. All. The. Time.
Just last night she’d stretched out in front of the fireplace in the living room on the plush carpets and palmed her breasts until he’d pounced on her. Hells, he walked around with a perpetual hard-on. The fact that it was her fault only made her grin wider.
New Spring was around the corner and Rhia was more than ready for some raucous frivolity, über pregnant or not. While it was a legal holiday in the province, the history behind it had been lost long ago. All her life, it had been something she’d indulged in for fun simply because it’s what they’d always done.
Now, thanks to Sharyn’s history lessons, Rhia knew exactly how the celebrations originated. For the Gaian, who were participating in the fun this season, it symbolized renewal, growth and birth, demonstrated by thanking the Ancestors and the exchanging of gifts, which symbolized new beginnings.
Rhia and Sharyn spoke very little about the Foreknowledge of RuArk’s brush with death and focused instead on preparing for the holiday.
After all, what she’d seen had clearly happened in summer, and that season had come and was long gone. There’d been no more attacks or attempted kidnappings. No strange dreams. No odd messages from home. Nothing. She hadn’t seen anything like that bloody scene since then, so why dwell on something she’d obviously mistaken. Perhaps it had all been a fluke that came with learning to use her new Gifts?
With several weeks left to prepare, and Lunis’s help, all of the public spaces, town centers and Society buildings were prepped for decorating.
Outside the villa, the courtyards and walks were cleared. Inside, the linens and wall hangings were washed and aired, and the walls, floors and carpets scrubbed.
An emissary from the High City’s branch of the Society of Historians arrived with a few reproduced pages from an old culinary book. Joan jumped right in and planned menus for the feasts. RuArk then selected the meats that would be smoked with the special wood he had brought across the river from Gaia.
After the main meals were planned, including some of the typical Draeman dishes for those who couldn’t quite get used to non-synthetic food, the kitchens were thoroughly scrubbed and buzzed with activity.
Sometimes, she was still amazed at the turn her life had taken, even with something as simple as food. Ever since she’d been truly immersed in the culture, Rhia had to admit, the stuff was damn tasty.
Next to conquer was the list of treats for all of the children—a fun, but monumental task in itself since there were so many.
After the abduction by Bryan and Ricard, Rhia had reassigned several of her former, fully-vetted students from the High City to Province Springs. They, along with Gaian warriors and their families, had poured into the township. The place was fabulously overrun with little ones.
When presents from across the river began to arrive prior to the scheduled festivities, Rhia was so excited that RuArk had threatened to send her up to bed if she didn’t relax a bit. His threat failed miserably, especially after he’d had the men fell a huge evergreen and drag it into the main hall. When they’d settled the Festival Tree into place, he’d given up trying to keep her calm when she’d pretty much flipped with joy and then waddled off on a quest to find decorations to cover it.
That same night, the first gifts they’d opened together were from the High Prince of Gaia, RuArk’s older brother. Away visiting the eastern provinces on the other side of the world, he’d taken the time to make sure the presents arrived in time.
The enclosed note read:
To my dearest brother, the Wind Storm and his lifemate, Fire Storm. Congratulations on your joining. May the years bring you prosperity and happiness beyond measure. Mother contacted me to tell of your celebrating the Draeman holiday of New Spring this year and I thought it only fitting to send something worthy of you. My only regret is that I cannot be there to deliver these gifts in person but please accept them as tokens of love and care.
Sincere regards,
Your brother,
Rogear
Wrapped in the softest doe hide had been a pair of eastern-styled swords, double edged and etched with gold. The sigil of the wind danced across RuArk’s blade from the razor sharp tip to the hilt and the pommel was highly polished ebony inlaid with onyx stones. Rhia’s sword, a smaller version of RuArk’s, held the symbol of fire while her pommel was a solid chunk of polished ivory with red gems inlaid in the top.
Suddenly she slipped into a bit of melancholy as thoughts of her blood kin danced through her mind. RuArk’s family and friends were fully engaged, yet, neither Rhia’s father nor brother had arrived.
RuArk’s firm hand had settled on her belly as he sat next to her in the main hall among their people. His presence wrapped around her consciousness like a warm blanket as three simple words quietly filled her head. “I am here.”
A smile had bloomed and lit her from the inside out as she’d locked gazes with her mate. A moment later, Drefan had hauled a huge package in front of her.
“We are to open these now. The rest will wait until the actual celebration,” RuArk had whispered.
It turned out that Queen Mila had sent bolt after bolt of fine Gaian silk in every color imaginable. After removing what seemed like endless bundles of greens, oranges, pinks, blues and more, Rhia had called for help and several tables were piled with a mix of vibrant and soft hues as the hall rang with laughter and good times.
She had immediately put the Society of Tailors to work making both traditional garb and sarands for the women of the township since many, to Rhia’s surprise, had taken to occasionally wearing the wispy garb to imitate their lady.
RuArk’s father had sent a small cache of antique weapons for his son. These weren’t just old, but original, well preserved articles carried by the first Protector of the Realm appointed immediately after the Breaking. These weapons were several hundreds of years old and had been lovingly restored.
When RuArk had come in from patrol the next evening, he had been simply undone to see them polished and hung on the walls of the main hall along with his other blades, maces, long knives and bows.
With only a few days before New Spring, the greatest gift of all had shown up last night and now poked
his graying head through a partially opened door.
“Rhia?” She was greeted with a magnificent smile by none other than Grey Greysomne, her father, also known as “the complete wreck”.
His arrival the night before had almost thrown Rhia into labor, she’d been so shocked. The High Counsel and RuArk had conspired to surprise her for the holidays, but RuArk hadn’t told her father about her pregnancy. He’d waltzed into the main hall in the middle of the evening meal, got one look at her oversized belly and went pale as a sheet. That was quite a feat given how dark his skin was. And there he’d stood, rooted to the spot as she’d waddled across the room to greet him properly.
Hugging was not something Rhia and her father had done often, but she’d been so glad to see him that she hadn’t hesitated to reach out to him, bumping bellies, unable to suppress her giggles.
Then the questions had begun.
“Are you eating enough? Are you resting enough? Have you seen the Physicians? What did they say?” And on it went as he’d given RuArk the evil eye as if the pregnancy of his only daughter, with the largest baby in all creation, was his fault.
As far as Rhia was concerned, New Spring hadn’t even arrived yet but her father’s appearance last night was more than she could have hoped for.
The High Counsel of the entire province of Draema, commander-in-chief of the Society of War, was the epitome of the anxious grandfather.
Shaking her head with a wry grin as he stepped into her apartments and settled in next to her on the couch, Rhia poured him a cup of coffee.
“I’ll be going with some of RuArk’s men for a ride in the groves. If you want, I can stay with you. Did you have breakfast yet? Is there anything you need? How are you feeling?”
“Father, I’m fine. Really. I’ve never felt better in my life.” She absolutely glowed and was bursting with energy regardless of the constant pressure in her lower back.
Reckoning Page 10
