He easily flattened them with his own power and continued toward her, evident by his voice as he called out to her. “Pazo aci arimora, vina!” he shouted his demand, his voice growing desperate as he crawled and stumbled up the hill toward her hiding spot, his hands and feet crunching in the carpet of dead leaves. She didn't know what he said, but she found herself snickering silently. “Ayez a-soca tumo! I am yours!” he wailed. “You win, just come to me, please.”
He was near now. She rolled around to the opposite side of the tree and sprinted. He saw her and dashed after her, catching her easily by the upper arm, then spun her toward him and grabbed her other arm. They were two feet away from a tree and he backed her into it, putting his lips to hers immediately and forcefully.
She gasped for air and battled for breath as they kissed more hungrily and urgently than they ever had. Desire, real desire, erupted through her entire body as though Turqa had been heating her blood. Her core was aflame with need, aching and craving the feel of him. She whimpered with want and he growled in response, lifting her legs by her supple, firm thighs and wrapping them around behind him.
He pressed his body against hers and she gasped, feeling the solid urgency that signified he was just as ready as she was.
“This is familiar, isn't it?” he remarked playfully through panting breaths as his hands explored her backside through her pants, and his lips and teeth explored her neck and ear. “Up against a tree?”
“Mmm...” Veria purred, “yes, it is. But last time I didn't do this.”
She cracked the bottom of the tree, just above their feet, and let it fall straight backward, with them laying on it, the thud of the landing jarring them both and knocking the wind out of their lungs. With all her physical strength, Veria rolled over, which sent Andon to the ground four feet below them with a painful sounding thump and the crackling of leaves, with her landing on top of him. He writhed against the pain from the drop, which inadvertently pressed him against her as she straddled him. She couldn't stop herself from swiveling against him, which caused both of them to moan and arch with desire.
She plunged her mouth down to his and took his bottom lip into her teeth, an act that pulled a carnal roar of approval from deep within his chest. His hands were instantly on her back and he bucked against her, reminding her of the urgent desire she had aroused in him. She grabbed his arms and pinned them above his head on the forest floor, another action that he greatly enjoyed and audibly approved.
But as he was distracted with her passionate kiss and his untamed desire, she snaked a few of the thinner branches of the falling tree over his limbs, knotting them around his wrists and ankles. By the time he realized what was going on, they were secure, and as tempted as she was to stay there and have her way with him while he was bound, she jumped out of her straddle position to her feet and ran.
“Veria!” he called after her.
She knew he was perfectly capable of escaping the branch restraints, so she sprinted as fast as she could, filling her lungs with icy winter air as she prepared for the next part of her plan. As she ran, hearing him scramble to his feet in the leaves behind her, she hauled up two more large trunks from the clearing and stacked them atop the row of three she had made earlier and Andon had pushed to the ground. She heard him closing in on her as she reached the stack of fallen lumber and climbed up the first trunk, then onto the top row.
He was right behind her, and she started back down the opposite side as he hopped easily on top of the stack. As soon as he was standing on the top row, she hopped off of her log and pulled the middle bottom tree out, which sent every other tree in the stack crashing down or rolling wildly. Andon started to plummet with the top tree before jumping down to the ground nimbly, meeting the forest floor with enough force that he fell to all fours, narrowly stopping another of the rolling trunks from plowing over him with his powers.
One tree stood between them, and she could still feel his desire raging through him as he stood up and stalked toward her, climbing over the log when he came to it. He continued to pursue her and she backed up, but only a bit.
“I win,” she panted. “All I have to do is pull that log toward you and you're pinned. Your legs would be crushed.”
To illustrate her point, she latched onto the trunk just behind him and started it on a roll toward his back, and just as she was about to stop it an inch from him and declare her winning 'near-miss', he stopped it himself and her stomach dropped as she realized...he had his focus back.
And he was coming right toward her.
Before she had time to react, the sickening drain of emotions hit her, the incapacitating calm filling her like a warm, fuzzy numbness. With every step he took toward her it grew and spread and settled deep into her skin and bones and felt heavy on her chest. When he was right in front of her, her legs couldn't even hold her up, so relaxed they didn't even feel real attached to her body, and she collapsed. Andon caught her quickly, slowly lowering her down to the ground and laying her flat on her back and straddling her this time.
Through heaving breaths, he looked down over her and smirked triumphantly. “I win,” he stated plainly with a cocky jerking tilt of his head, causing a chunk of his sweaty, wavy black hair to fall out of its pony tail and into his face.
As he removed the natural state from her, he plunged his lips into hers and laid his body completely over her. He ran his strong hands over the sides of her body, finding the bottom of her shirt and running his hands back up underneath it to the ties of her bodice. He released each one until he freed her breasts, full, swollen and tender from nursing the baby, and took them into his large, rough hands.
“Take me now,” Veria whispered, her lip quivering and her breath broken by desire.
“Shame on you, vina, for toying with my desires,” Andon murmured devilishly into her ear, the sound of his smooth, earthy voice driving her wild. She writhed underneath him in desperate agitation, certain her body would not survive if he didn't satisfy the need he had aroused. He pulled back and looked her in the eyes, his still filled with hunger and lust. “I was trying to maintain your honor.”
With all the strength she had left in her body after the exertion of the duel, she flipped him onto his back and he laughed out loud, gripping his hands into her back as she started to unbutton his shirt.
“Andon, I have given birth to two of your children, and you have been living in my house for over four months,” Veria stated breathlessly, freeing him from his sweaty shirt, taking a moment to hungrily admire the smooth, tan skin of his lean but muscular torso before moving on to his pants, which elicited a heavy, sensual groan from him. “I don't think there is anyone in the kingdom who believes I have a shred of honor left to maintain,” she finished her statement and lowered her lips to his for an urgent, passionate kiss.
His hands went to work, quickly removing her blouse and pants and undergarments.
“Well, in that case,” he purred seductively, pulling his lips away to speak, “let's give them some meaty gossip that involves you walking down the aisle at our wedding, beautifully round with another of my children.”
He emphasized his suggestion with a smirk and a sharp buck of his lower region in between her thighs, causing her to gasp then sigh as a fresh wave of warm arousal flooded every inch of her body. Sharp pangs filled her chest as the immense love she felt for the man beneath her joined the flames of desire he had kindled in her.
“It will be some time still before that's possible,” Veria pointed out, licking her lips as she swiveled on top of him in her straddle.
“Mmm...well then, we have some time to work on it,” he stated plainly as he lifted her and positioned himself under her, then slid their bodies together, joining her in a moan of anguished pleasure as he settled inside her.
She threw her head back and arched her spine all the way up to its top at her neck as she moved against him, every shift and motion giving him more room, setting him deeper within her, and stoking the fire that
raged through her core. He writhed and moaned beneath her, using his hands on her hips to pull her down into him.
They stayed, joined together, completely connected where they wanted each other most, aching tension building until they were desperate for release, battling for breath and more depth and more friction and more pleasure until neither of them could take another movement without breaking. Veria arched completely, throwing her head back violently and gasping for air as ripples of release gripped her entire body, and Andon roared and bucked under her thighs as he filled her with the warmth of his finish, digging his fingers into the supple flesh of her backside as he did.
When they were completely spent, they took each other into a kiss, then a tender embrace, laughing and panting softly into each other's hair.
“The apprentice becomes the Master,” Veria sighed with facetious begrudging when she had almost regained her normal breath, rolling out of her straddle onto her back, admitting her defeat in the duel.
“Well, you're still a Master in some things,” Andon raised his eyebrows at her playfully. “And you didn't completely lose the duel.”
“Stop trying to make me feel better about it,” Veria laughed. “When Strelzar finds out about this, he is going to kill me. His star pupil, his 'all-powerful Birdie', defeated by her own apprentice who had only a month of battle training, before succumbing to lust.”
“I doubt he will be upset about that last part, if what I know of him is true,” Andon chuckled as he sat up and fumbled for his clothing, discarded across the forest floor.
“Good point.” Veria rolled onto her front and pushed herself up to standing, every muscle aching from the athletics she had partaken in during the duel, especially her legs from the sprinting and scrambling and climbing.
They were both about halfway through dressing, their undergarments and pants back in the correct places, but still working with shirts, when they heard a voice in the forest behind them.
“Veria?” it sounded, raspy and gravelly.
They both jumped, and Veria clutched her shirt around her breasts, which were covered by the bodice she had been wearing to support her heavy, full breasts during the nursing stage, but she would still be incredibly indecent for a stranger.
Maybe not a stranger, she thought...the voice sounded vaguely familiar.
“Who's there?” Andon barked into the trees, abandoning his shirt to hold in front of her like a curtain.
“Sarco Pyer!” the voice called and Veria gasped.
Her grandfather.
“That's Tanisca's father,” Veria told him. He continued to hold his shirt in front of her as she slipped hers on completely and buttoned it quickly.
“Your grandfather?” he asked. “The one on the Red-List?” he added in a harsh whisper.
Veria nodded.
“Grandfather, what are you doing here?” Veria questioned as he approached.
“I was called here, by that physician fellow,” Sarco explained with a wide smile, squeezing her hands in his when he was close enough to take them. “I had been considering it for some time after you visited me and mentioned little Irea, but to be honest, I couldn't really afford the cost of a carriage and driver, nor a horse. The supplier of my, uh, monthly stipend seems to have forgotten me since he reportedly left Plazic Peak.”
“Strelzar...” Veria sighed, though she did take a moment to marvel that Strelzar had taken care of her grandfather for twenty years without expecting anything for it.
“Anyway, I got a letter from Turqa Coriant with carriage fare, remembered he was the physician that delivered you, and thought maybe something was wrong,” Sarco explained. “I see you two are healthy,” he added with a chuckle.
Veria and Andon exchanged embarrassed grins.
“Oh, please excuse me for not introducing myself,” Sarco uttered quickly, grabbing a still shirtless Andon's hand and forcefully shaking it. “Sarco Pyer.”
“Andon Villicrey,” Andon said. “I'm her...she's my...”
“He's the father of my children,” Veria said when she realized Andon was nervous to be admitting to an intimate relationship with her to the Fire Mager, widely known as a violent offender.
“Children?” Sarco echoed, his mouth and eyes wide with shock and excitement. “Multiple? I mean, another?” Veria nodded at him affirmatively and he abruptly pulled her into a hug.
“Oh, that's wonderful. Congratulations!” he said. “I always wanted more children, before...before Mitala left me.” He broke from his hold on Veria, and turned his unexpected and enthusiastic congratulatory affection toward Andon, pulling him in sharply and slapping him on his bare back. Andon looked at Veria in confusion and she giggled. “You're taking care of them well, I hope,” Sarco asked sternly as he pulled away, pointing a finger at Andon's face.
“Yes—yes, of course,” Andon replied, nodding fervently. “I love them more than life itself.”
“Good,” Sarco said. “Well, I can't wait another minute to meet these great-grandbabies. Where is this fancy Estate your mother insisted upon living in all these years?”
“This way, we'll show you,” Veria said, grabbing his arm. “We were heading back that way.”
“Thank you, dear,” Sarco said as the three found the path back to Longberme and started the trek back. “What do you suppose this Turqa fellow wants with me? Please tell me my Tani is not ill?”
“No! No, she is fine,” Veria assured him. “Healthy as prize mare.”
“And both your children?”
“They are healthy, as well.”
Andon cleared his throat behind them and they stopped to turn and look at him, finally wearing his shirt, to Veria's dismay. “I think I know why he has called you.”
“Well, don't keep us in suspense, Landon,” Sarco said.
“Andon,” Veria corrected with a smirk.
“Andon. What does he want?”
“I believe he intends to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage,” Andon declared.
“Is he rich?” Sarco asked and Veria suppressed a throaty laugh.
“He has been a renowned physician in this kingdom for over three decades, so he is certainly well off,” Andon answered.
“But not a Lord, or some haughty merchant?” Sarco asked with raised brows.
“No, his wealth would be modest in comparison to any of the Estates or successful tradesmen.”
“Well, damn,” Sarco mused. “Tani must be head-over-heels this time.”
Veria and Andon smiled at each other as Sarco took off down the path toward Longberme.
Andon put his arm around Veria's waist as they followed him.
“I certainly know how she feels,” he said quietly, leaning his head toward her ear.
A radiant smile spread across Veria's entire face, the warmth of love spreading through her as she slipped her arm around his waist, too. “So do I,” she sighed blissfully. “So do I.”
-XIV-
Andon had certainly been right about Turqa's reason for bringing Sarco to Longberme. Privately, before dinner that night, Turqa had pulled Sarco, and Strelzar, into the den and asked permission to propose.
At dinner, however, Sarco had taken quite an interest in the other goings on at Longberme, inquiring as to why it looked like they had torn up the forest and they were all exhausted, his daughter—who featured a chunk of singed hair—especially. Once he heard the story, and the details of their training regimen, he wanted in.
“Never did like that Browan fellow,” he had said with a mouthful of what Veria figured was probably the first decent meal he'd had in decades.
Sarco, though mildly out of practice, was quite formidable. He had handily defeated Tanisca and Turqa right out of the gate. Despite being seventy years of age, he was nimble and quick, and the power of his flames was potent. His age made them all initially underestimate his ability, and they paid for it with singed clothing and many defeats at his hands.
Still, no one could beat Andon's natural state, though Strel
zar had started to stray from their investigative research into some research on how to block it. He was convinced the answer would lie in a different element, and he was trying to convince the rest of them it would be Fire, though he had no real reason for his assertion other than his preference of his own element.
Veria and Tanisca had also added wedding planning to their already busy days, though Veria had to admit, her schedule had cleared up quite a bit after Andon had proven to not need much of her teaching anymore, and Aleon had started to eat solid foods which took the brunt of being his sole source of nourishment from her shoulders. The time that had been allotted for lessons was now generally filled with Andon and Strelzar testing out various skills and discussing elemental theory with Turqa and Sarco over meade while Veria and Tanisca made the preparations for the upcoming nuptial ceremony.
A few times, Veria had joined the men, at their behest, for their discussions in the library, generally because Strelzar still insisted she was the most talented Mager in the world. Most of the time, though, she'd get about halfway through a statement on whatever topic was at hand before Aleon woke up from a nap and demanded to be fed, or Tanisca called her into the kitchen to taste a cake or look at a floral arrangement or survey some fabrics.
The day of Tanisca and Turqa's wedding had arrived, after two months of preparation, and Veria stood in front of her mirror in her bedroom, naked and dewy with moisture from the bath she'd just taken. Any signs that she'd carried two children were gone, besides her breasts, still rotund and weighted down with milk for Aleon. The three months of intense training had left little fat on her body and had carved quite a few lean, solid muscle lines into her figure—in her arms, the sides of her thighs, and the flanks of her waist and back.
Her scar jutted up off her skin, a large, ugly reminder of the event that had started so many things in her life. Since their revelations about her father's death three months prior, Veria had often found herself wondering why King Browan would take such interest in her, if their assertions that he had been responsible were true. How could he sit at a table with her? she wondered. How could he touch her and hold her and make love to her knowing that he had killed her father?
Daughter of the Diamond: Book IV of the Elementals Series Page 13
