Tales of the Golden Judge: 3-Book Bundle - Books 10-12

by Hart, Melissa F.

  “Can't you guess?”

  “No, that's why I asked!” she answered hotly.

  She watched him with wary eyes as he looked at her. He seemed to try out one answer after another, discarding them as quickly as he thought them up. She was ready to tease if he tried to be serious, ready to snap if he wanted to fight, ready to laugh if he made something that sounded like a joke.

  What she wasn't ready for was for his mouth to come down over hers, kissing her with a kind of skill that made her weak. She wasn't ready for the way he held her so close and so carefully. When he broke the kiss, he looked deep in eyes with something that she could only describe as a passionate demand.

  “Is that clear?” he asked.

  She hesitated, but at the end of the day, she was still her, and if he was asking her to be something different, he was going to be seriously disappointed.

  “I don't know, maybe you would like to show me all over again? You know us foxes, we are something like slow learners.”

  Ulfrik made a sound deep in his throat that would have terrified someone who didn't know him, but snug in his arms with a history of slugs between them and his ring on her finger, Tonna only smiled.

  “Show me again,” she said softly, and this time she hooked her hand around the back of his neck and drew him down.

  They kissed for long moments, learning each other's mouths, their tastes and their scents, and after a moment, Ulfrik put her down so that he could spread his cloak over the sandy ground of the beach. Unselfconsciously, he stripped to the skin, and when he did, Tonna could only stare.

  Ulfrik was a young man who was known for his feats of strength and his prowess at the hunt and on the battlefield, but somehow she had not thought that would translate so well to his frame. He was fit without an ounce of fat on him, and everything from his dark brown eyes to his muscled body to his tousled black hair was perfect.

  I will always think he is perfect. Tonna was never more aware that this was the beginning of their lives together.

  “Can I see you?” he asked, and she knew from the reverence in his tone that if she had said no, he would have heeded it. That as much as anything else was why she reached for the laces of her dress, finally letting it fall into a red puddle around her feet. Underneath her dress, she was entirely bare, and she stood proud and unafraid as he looked her over. She had never done this for a man before, but this was Ulfrik, and she knew him.

  “You're lovely,” he said softly. “I wouldn't mind looking at you every day I live.”

  “Just looking?” she asked with an impish smile, and with a laughing groan, he reached for her.

  Ulfrik lay her down on the spread cloak as if she was something precious, and he lay on his side next to her. He stroked her face gently, as if he wanted to learn every curve of it, and he reached down to kiss her mouth over and over again. His tongue slid between her lips with a gentle insistence, and when she opened her mouth, he explored that as well.

  Tonna found her hands tracing over his bare body, from his wide shoulders to his taut stomach and the ridges of muscle on his torso. This close and naked, he seemed even larger, looming over her. She skated her hands skittishly over his belly and his thighs, and when the backs of her hands brushed over his cock, hard and growing harder, she found herself blushing.

  “Have you done this before?” he murmured.

  Biting her lip, she shook her head. Vixens had reputations for being wild and wily, but despite her flirtatious eyes and her confident stride, this was something that was beyond her understanding. She was ripe for it, ready for it, dreamed about it, but something had kept her back. She realized now that it was her desire for this man.

  “Trust me, then, little love. I'll play no tricks, and I will never, ever hurt you.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to say that was foolishness, that of course he would hurt her, just like she would hurt him. It was the way of the world, and it was the price for love, and she would pay it gladly.

  She almost said it, but then he was kissing her again. The tingles of pleasure it sent through her entire body made her shake, and then his mouth was moving to her chin, and then down her neck. He teased the point of her pulse with his tongue, and when she made an encouraging noise, he sucked lightly at the skin there.

  Tonna almost yelped as he slid his palm over the dark hair between her legs, and self-consciously, she clenched her legs tight. She could have kicked herself for being so cowardly, but his touch was gentle, demanding nothing, offering every kind of pleasure. He ran his palm down her legs and over the curve of her thighs, and then his mouth was trailing down her body as well, pausing to lap at her taut dark nipples and to nuzzle at her soft belly. She whimpered, twisting her fingers in his dark hair, and then he laughed, pressing his face against her skin.

  “Will you let me lick you?” he asked. “Between your legs?”

  The idea shocked and astonished her, but it only took a moment before she was nodding her assent. He moved to take a position between her sprawled legs, and unlike the onslaught she expected, he spent some time kissing and nuzzling her inner thighs, and the soft crevice where they joined her hips.

  Then his clever thumbs were spreading her open, pressing the hair to either side, and he was nuzzling her in her most private places. She was tense at first from the foreign feel of his tongue, but in a short amount of time, she was twisting up hard against him. His warm lips and his hot tongue lit a hot fire in her lower belly, and she felt herself grow wet and warm. She could smell her own arousal, and it made her thrash under his mouth until he had to take hold of her thighs and hold her still.

  She realized that she had her fingers knotted so tight in his hair that it must hurt, but when she yanked, he only growled encouragement. She realized that he must be pressing his cock against the cloak when she saw his hips move, and in that moment, she decided that she didn't want to wait any longer.

  “Up,” she said urgently.

  When he lifted his head, she could see that his eyes were wide with desire and his lips were red from her juices.

  “I want you now,” she said, and he hesitated.

  “We don't have to take it any further than this,” he said, and she grinned at what a good boy he was, at what a gentleman he was at his core.

  “I'll be very disappointed if that is all you give me,” Tonna retorted, and she tugged his hair hard.

  That was all the encouragement he needed, because he came to lie on top of her. He supported most of his weight on his elbows, however, and this close, she could look into his eyes. Tonna reached up to lick his lips, learning the taste of herself on his skin, and she giggled.

  “I'm a little nervous,” she admitted, and he kissed her comfortingly.

  “This is not such a frightening thing,” he answered. “I am still me, and you are you. I would never hurt you, so why would I do so now?”

  “I've heard there's some pain...”

  “Sometimes. But if you want me to stop, all you have to do is tell me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, her voice small. “Can we try now?”

  “Darling, we most certainly can.”

  He reached down to position his cock at her entrance, and she reveled in the alien feel of the head parting her fleshy folds. Then he started to push forward, and for a moment, she was sure that he was far too large, that he wouldn't fit.

  “All right?” he asked.

  Biting her lip, she nodded. “Slow.”

  He nodded, and with painstaking gentleness, he pressed his cock inside her. She breathed deeply when she felt him part her virgin flesh, but though there was pressure, there was no pain, and after several long moments, he was seated fully inside her, their bodies as close as two people could be.

  “Tonna? Look at me.”

  She hadn't realized she had closed her eyes. She looked up at him, and he looked so worried that she laughed softly. Her gentle movement sent shock waves of pleasure through both of them, and Ulfrik gr
itted his teeth.

  “If you keep on doing that, I won't last long. Tonna, tell me if this hurts.”

  “No,” she said after a moment. “It's not as powerful as the pleasure before, but oh, I love being this close to you.”

  He kissed her sweetly on the mouth, and she thought that she could get used to a lifetime of this.

  “You've not even begun to see what I can do for you.”

  She started to question him, but then he drew back and thrust into her again with exquisite slowness. The motion of their bodies together, of the way his cock dragged against her flesh and the way it pulled against that perfect pearl that he had so lately been teasing with his tongue and lips all conspired to make her moan softly.

  His movements were slow and steady, and she felt the pleasure lapping at her like the waves of the ocean. Then he began to move quicker, and because it felt so good, she wrapped her long slender legs around his hips to draw him in close.

  “More,” she cried imperiously. “I want more than this...”

  He laughed, but this time it was a hoarse thing. Never slowing his powerful thrusts, he pushed his hand between their bodies, finding her clit with unwavering accuracy. He strummed it with a touch that knew her body better than she did, and in a few short moments, she felt herself begin to tighten, wrapping tight around him.

  The pleasure spiraled higher and higher, and on and on, and she couldn't contain herself any longer. Her climax struck with the force of a lightning bolt, making her cling to him as if her life depended on him. She buried her teeth in his shoulder to prevent herself from screaming out loud. It was as if her entire body went up in flames, and there was nothing left in the world, just her and him and the pleasure they made together.

  She was still in the throes of her climax when he tensed, burying his face in her neck and groaning softly. She felt him spill inside her on the final thrust, and then she simply wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close.

  After a long while, he rolled to one side, but he did not let her go. Instead, they simply breathed together, creating a space in the world that was just for the two of them.

  “I love you,” she murmured. “I mean, for what we just did, but not just what we did. I think I've loved you for quite some time.”

  “I think I've known in some way since the first day I met you,” Ulfrik said softly, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.

  “Well, you could have mentioned it to me,” she said teasingly, but then they both stilled as they heard a voice calling her name.

  “Oh no,” Tonna whispered. Despite her fervent prayers, the voice called again, and this time, she recognized it.

  “Oh no, it's Aeson,” Tonna moaned. “He can't see me like this!”

  Frantically, she started scrambling for her dress, but Ulfrik gestured her still and quiet. She froze where she was, eyes wide and convinced that she was going to be seen at any minute. In the meantime, Ulfrik went around the tree, and he whistled for Aeson.

  “Oh, Ulfrik. I don't suppose you've seen my sister, have you?”

  “Tonna? I think I have...”

  For a brief moment, Tonna remembered everything that she had done to Ulfrik, from slugs to live birds to creating songs about his hunting mishaps. She wasn't sure how much of it would be paid back by being seen naked and disheveled by her brother, but she knew she had a lot to make up for.

  “Well, Mother's looking for her.”

  “Ah, well, I saw her heading west, over to the old cistern about an hour ago. She mentioned going for a walk, so she might be on the trails there.”

  “Oh, thank you.”

  Tonna let out a silent breath of relief, but instead of moving on like a decent person would, her brother paused.

  “So, wolf prince... you and my sister?”

  “Yes?”

  “Do you... do you care for her?”

  There was a pause, and Tonna braced herself to hear just about anything. She was ready for Ulfrik to call her a pest, a scamp, a bother, or even worse.

  Instead, there was a long pause before Ulfrik answered. “I care for her a great deal,” he said softly, “and I know that she has hidden depths.”

  “She does,” Aeson agreed. “And, well, I don't like to gossip, but I think she thinks on you kindly as well.”

  “Really? I always thought she wouldn't spit on me if I were on fire.”

  Tonna could hear the lurking laugh in Ulfrik's voice, and she could have strangled him.

  “No, no, you mustn’t take her pranks to heart! She thinks very deeply on them before she does them, and that means she thinks of you.”

  “Do you think it's possible she has some regard for me?” asked Ulfrik in the most innocent of tones, and Tonna gritted her teeth.

  “I know she does! But, well, now I need to go find her before Mother skins us both.”

  “Good, and when you find her, perhaps ask her if she has any kindness for me?”

  “I will,” Aeson called cheerfully.

  Ulfrik waited until he was on his way before leaping down into the root hollow with Tonna again, wrapping his arms around her even as she struggled away.

  “You monster,” she cried. “How could you?”

  “I think that's what its like to be you,” he teased. “I now know why you like it, I think. It was great fun!”

  “Great fun is when I fill your bed with slugs,” she retorted. “It is only cruel when you threaten to show my brother how I've been spending the day!”

  “Cruel,” Ulfrik mused, running a gentle hand over her flank. “I think I've been nothing but kind to you so far.”

  Tonna meant to reply, but then his hand crept around the back of her thigh, teasing the crevice between her buttocks before sliding down between her legs. She was still soft and wet from their activities, and she realized that she couldn't be angry with him while he was touching her with such expertise.

  “Cruel,” she murmured, her breath coming a little faster. “I think I might like seeing you be a little... cruel...”

  With nothing more than that, she was flipped on her back on the blanket, and the wolf prince rose above her, pinning her wrists to the ground by her head. She gasped, but there was only awe at his strength and his speed; she had no fear at all from this man.

  “I can be cruel,” he whispered in her ear. “I can make you love it.”

  She opened her mouth to tease him, but then his sharp teeth nipped at her shoulder, and she moaned instead.

  ***

  It was sunset by the time they walked back to the moot, and though they had dusted each other off and bathed in the shallows of the river, it was still obvious what they had been doing. There were livid love marks on Tonna's throat, and because Ulfrik's tunic needed washing so badly, he had it slung over his shoulder. His bare back was raked with claw marks, and there was no mistaking the silly smile on his face.

  “I wonder what your mother needed you for,” Ulfrik was saying, and then they both realized that there was an enormous commotion at the moot.

  Tonna's mother darted out of the crowd, and she took Tonna's shoulder hard.

  “Your brother, have you seen him?” she asked urgently, and Tonna was struck by the fear in her voice. She bit her lip, wondering what to say.

  “I saw him hours ago,” the wolf prince said, stepping up. “He went west, toward the old cistern.”

  Tonna's mother nodded, worry written on every line of her face. “We'll send searchers there, instead. We've already searched the south and the east.”

  “I'll go with you,” Tonna said, stepping away from Ulfrik's side. When he made to follow, she shook her head.

  “Stay here, and coordinate a search if necessary. We're family, and we know his scent.”

  She and her mother strode off, and Tonna's heart clenched for some reason.

  Nothing will ever be the same, she found herself thinking. Nothing at all.

  ***

  Tonna was not a woman who prayed often, but when she did, she woul
d always thank the gods for the fact that it was neither she nor her mother who found Aeson. Instead, it was Alrik, the oldest member of the bear clan. He was almost eighty years old, and age had diminished none of his great wisdom or his strength.

  In his bear form, he towered above all his family, and even in his human form, he was built like a great oak. He carried Aeson's body back to camp cradled tenderly in his arms, and for a single blessed moment, Tonna thought that her brother was merely asleep.

  Oh foolish, she thought with aching clarity. He's merely wandered off, and now old Alrik has to bring him home as if he were a little cub gone to sleep in a sunbeam.

  For years after that, she would think of that moment as the last bit of peace she would ever know. In that moment, all was well with the world, and any moment, her brother would open his eyes and she would tease him for worrying everyone so much.

  Then she saw the unnatural angle of his neck.

  Then she saw that his eyes were half-open and that his tongue, unnaturally dark, stuck out between his lips.

  Numbly, Tonna watched as Alrik lay him down on the ground, taking great care to straighten his limbs.

  “Rivka,” he said, calling for Tonna's mother. “Rivka, I am sorrowed to bring you your son, who was living and is now dead.”

  A high thin scream rent the air, and Rivka was there, on the ground by her son. Her lean brown hands ran over his face, searching for signs of life, for breath, for something that would deny the truth the old bear had proclaimed, but she was a wise woman, and even in her grief, she knew when life was fled.

  Tonna flew to her mother's side, trying to pull her back, but in the space of a moment, the grieving mother was gone, and in her place was a spirit of vengeance and fury. She rose to her feet, and even though she was small and slender, the shapechangers closest to her pulled back. Tonna held her mother's hand tightly, shaking with grief, but unwilling to let her mother go through this tragedy alone.