Esyth moaned loud in his ear, her breath gushing quick and shallow against neck. Her pelvis slammed against his, begging and pleading with him. Then she let out a groan so deep, so throaty, he realized that teasing her only served to tease himself. As if knowing the direction of his thoughts, Esyth leaned back, looking up at him beneath quivering lowered lashes.
"S-Stop teasing me, Gideon!" she gasped, her hips bucking as he fingered her still. "I want your cock now. Please! Fuck me, Gideon."
He needed no more invitation than that. Gideon lifted her left leg, supporting it as far as it could go up over the inside bend of his right elbow. He then slammed his mouth over gets again, sucking on that talented tongue as he buried himself deep inside her tight pussy.
"Shit!" he hissed, the slick walls of her cunt tightening around him, threatening to milk him dry.
"Yes! Oh yes! Harder. Fuck me harder. Ahhh..."
Gideon withdrew in one fast pull and them thrust deep again, filling her to the hilt. Esyth screams echoed around them in the darkness, sending his ego up another notch. He fucked her hard and fast, drilling her as if there weren't to be a tomorrow and he didn't care one bit. He'd gone too fucking long without his pussy.
"Wrap your legs around me, baby," he grunted. "Take me all in." Esyth wrapped her legs around him, locking tight at the ankles, moving up and down his cock in a sweet slow rhythm. "Oh damn! Your pussy feels so good." Esyth moaned, eyes shut tight in the spasms of pleasure. Gideon grunted and grabbed her ass firmly, rocking her against him as he pounded her fiercely. He held her tight around the waist, his other hand pulling on her hair as he forced her to look at him. "This is my pussy," he hissed in her face. "Who's pussy is this?"
"Your pussy!" she screamed, shaking her head frantically. "Only yours."
And he never let go until Esyth shouting out his name and shivering from a mind-blowing climax so unreal it was likely to be stamped into her mind forever.
Only then did he let go, his own release coming surely after as he came full-force inside her, his seed shooting up and across her womb.
Chapter Sixteen
The bright morning sun blinded him the moment he forced his eyes open. Feeling awfully assaulted he shut them back immediately, groaning as his senses finally took notice of his painfully stiff muscles.
Damn it! He had overslept but somehow the realization did not send him into an instantaneous fit to rise. Instead, he found himself remaining completely still in his form and willing--rather begging--himself back to sleep. Gideon felt unbelievably dreary and a bit insane. A part of him desperately wanted to give up all hope of ever finding Esyth but the much saner part yearned to keep searching.
He'd often been told, growing up, that dreams were the windows to a man's desire; a subconscious communication with oneself. If only such dreams did not feel as real and equally as threatening as reality, more so than often, did. He had been so caught up in the dream for it had offered all he had ever wanted. Needed. He had felt the qualms of happiness, and was so filled with joy and relief that he had finally found his woman.
So, what indeed had caused him to be still lying beneath the heavily branched tree and soaking up precious time was the disappointment that he actually had not found Esyth.
Yes, Gideon was disappointed. And angry. Utterly angry.
Gideon felt Malakai's approach long before he probably would have seen the man, followed by Mia's; the intensity of their presence strengthening until he could feel it hovering over him like death itself. He quite preferred such hovering any day over the disappointment he was currently feeling.
But Gideon neither gave way to a blink or the tiniest of flinches, rather waited, the darkness within him—the anger—boiling to a massive heat he knew he would not be able to contain. Beneath all the emotions currently roaring within him, though, he was quite content that neither of them made any attempt to touch him, for he would never feel guilty for what would transpire afterwards. Malakai Baamel would put up a fight; it was a guarantee, really, but Mia... Mia was a simple mortal and that within itself was self-explanatory.
"You think he's sick or something?"
Mia's voice came, tinged with true concern and slither of fear.
Gideon could feel Malakai's ridiculing scowl. "Hardly," the man replied, dryly. "My only concern is if the Marujan wanted to lie around in bed all fucking day and waste my time, he should have said something!"
Mia sighed. "I'll just wake him then..."
A feral hiss escaped Malakai's lips as he dragged her back a safer distance from Gideon. "Don't touch him! If you must know, I don't find the idea of cleaning up your minced body parts all over this damn place a very enticing pastime." He then nodded and cleared his throat, averting his eyes from her then horrified gaze. "For all we know, the bastard is already awake."
"Then why the hell are we still here? It's the middle of the morning, for god's sake!" She then threw up her hands exasperatedly and stomped away through the bushes. "I'll be over there when you two lunatics are ready."
As soon as she was out of sight, Malakai chuckled and shook his head. Gullible woman. He then returned his gaze to Gideon, sprawled across the rugged ground. Sighing, he inhaled deeply and summoned on his Kankul energy, watching as the glazing fire descended from his finger tips and down into his palms, forming into a rapidly spinning ball of crackling electricity and combusting heat. Smiling, and now satisfied with the reaction, he stepped back a good few feet and inhaled again.
It was now or never. And he swung back one arm, flinging the rotating ball of fire in Gideon's direction. There was a large booming sound followed by a piercing snap. The tree directly behind Gideon Maruj went flying, root and all, through the thick bushes, taking much smaller trees and shrubberies with it. Malaria grinned, impressed, and whistling at what he had just done.
Mia came rushing back out from the direction she had just gone, eyes wide with fright and her sword already clutched in her tiny fist, ready for a fight. Malakai smirked at the awe on her face and maybe if he had been paying more attention, he would have seen the bolt of red electricity slicing through the air towards him soon enough to dodge it.
But he hadn't been paying attention and the bolt struck him fiercely, knocking the living breath out of him and sending him hurling into the trunk of a thick tree.
When he finally regained his strength, and some of his senses, a good couple minutes later he managed to ease his stiffened back from the now dented tree and jumped to his feet to see a maddened Gideon Maruj glaring back at him.
Well, at least he was awake!
* * *
Gideon was three-quarters pissed off and the rest enormously perplexed. Better, and he would have been hugely grateful, if Malakai Baamel had left him to wallow in his own damn misery. But to interrupt it and in such a loud and presumptuous manner was unforgivable.
Staring back at his partner in this current journey, and yet his eternal enemy, Gideon wanted nothing more than to murder him; to slice the little piece of shit to a thousand pieces.
Then his gaze slanted to Mia standing a good distance away and staring at both of them as if she would kill them if either of them tried anything. The entire notion of it was ridiculous but a bit amusing, nonetheless. Gideon shook his head and turned to find a spot where he could momentarily cool his head for a couple minutes.
Then he stopped. His right ear perking with the familiar notice that someone was approaching. Blinking twice, he arced a brow and listened carefully. He heard the light footsteps now, some fifty meters away.
"What is it?" Mia asked, her eyes slanted with curiosity.
"Someone's coming," answered Malakai. "Stay back."
"Shhh..." Gideon scowled, still listening, and trying to study the person's energy. It boasted no threat. No signs of danger within it either. No fear. Then it hit him so hard, he almost stumbled. "What the hell? Amelia?"
Then the footsteps halted.
Mia rushed forward. "Who's Amelia?"
"You
have got to kidding me!" Malakai marched over to him, his face bent into a deep ugly scowl. "First you brought this yapping woman along with us and now you brought your sister-in-law to seal the deal? I thought we agreed to do this fucking thing alone!"
Mia rolled her eyes and yanked on Gideon's sleeve, finally getting his attention. "What's going on?"
Then something dark and blue came dashing through the thicker side of the bushes and all three spun to look what it was when a sharp blade went hurling and was positioned tip-first against Malakai Baamel's throat.
Mia yelped, taking a wise three steps back while Malakai, even when undergoing his current near-death experience, managed a belittling smolder and sighed. And holding that blade was the raven-haired blue-eyed vixen Gideon called his sister.
"Amelia, relax. This isn't what you think it is," Gideon attempted to coax her, slowly and deliberately lowering his voice. "Put the sword down."
Amelia scoffed. "I know you can't be serious." She then inclined her head, glaring up into the face of Malakai Baamel. "I could smell this one from miles away. And now that I'm here, I don't think I could ever forget the face of one of the front-men who had been planning on my death years ago."
"With all due respect, sweetheart," Malakai drawled, seeming bored by her little speech. "Your scent ain't so thrilling either but since I'm apparently a stinking snake, let's just call it a truce, eh?"
Amelia's frown deepened. The bastard had the gall to patronize her...and smile about it too! Glancing at Gideon, she raised a brow. "Should I just slice his fucking head off right now or take my time?"
Gideon sighed, his lips twitching uncontrollably. Leave it to Amelia to bring a little amusement in a time like this. "Why don't you just lower the weapon and let me explain things to you?" When she made no effort to do as he'd asked, Gideon sighed. "Come on, Amelia. You know you can always trust me. Don't you?"
That one got her. Issuing out a blazing set of expletives over Baamel's head, she eased back a few feet before lowering her sword. "I'm listening," she said, never taking her eyes off the enemy. "And you'd better have a good explanation for this, Gideon."
Gideon chuckled and slapped a gentling hand on Amelia's shoulder. A good explanation? Well, he wasn't too sure about that. "Malakai's helping me find Esyth."
"What?!" Amelia swirled around, her eyes round with suspicion and anger. "Surely, you don't expect me to believe that shit!"
"Yes. I do. Can we go talk about this in private?"
"And leave the Kankul wandering? I don't think so." She flung a finger in his face, her usual reprimanding stance. "I don't know what shit you've been feeding on, but this is a Kankul soldier we're talking about. You know, the same asshole who'd been alongside Deorci that night at the Hub?" Amelia then huffed and glanced at Mia who was staring at her as if she was some goddess come to claim her to a distant land of paradise. "Who's the human girl?"
Gideon swore beneath his breath. Amelia would never shut up now, and the sooner he explained things to her, the sooner he could get on with his journey. He sighed. Besides, he knew just the right thing to say to make her bite her tongue.
He eyed her carefully before grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her a good distance from their other two onlookers. Thankfully, his sister-in-law hadn't tried to stop him. When they were behind the security of a wide upstanding tree, Amelia yanked her hand back and pouted.
"You'd better be glad I love you as if you were my own brother," she said, massaging her wrist. She then glanced around her once before continuing, "So are you ready to explain things a little better now?"
"It's exactly what I told you. Malakai Baamel is helping me find Esyth."
Amelia's eyes narrowed to slits. "Why?"
"He wants Deorci's head."
A long fierce whistle escaped her lips. "And you mean so say that Deorci's first-in-command is now a hater?"
"Exactly that."
“And you're sure about that, because?" she asked, eyes lit with dubious curiosity.
"Instincts," he smiled. "Pure instincts." And Gideon said nothing more about that for he knew Amelia knew the importance their people placed on instincts. It was a part of their lifestyle, really. It was a part of everything they did.
Sighing and shaking her head, she glanced up at him. "I'll still be keeping my eyes on the Kankul soldier."
Gideon chuckled. "I knew you would."
She nodded, glint of mischief in her eyes. "So should I assume the mortal girl belongs to either of you?"
Almost choking on a momentary inhale of breath, Gideon coughed once and hissed. "I'm trying to find Esyth. You know—"
"Hey. Relax. I'm just kidding." Flashing him an adorable smile, Amelia then looked up into the light blue sky overhead, the tiny cottony whisks of cloud floating around and barely shielding the hot morning sun. She then averted her gaze back to her brother-in-law and shrugged. "Hadaen will be pissed when he hears this."
Gideon turned towards the beaten tree that Malakai had just fallen, lying on the ground. He knew she was right. Hadaen would be angry. Very angry but Gideon supposed that it would all be worth it in the end; finding Esyth and destroying Deorci. Whichever was the case, he must could be able to earn back Hadaen's good graces with such results.
Gideon sighed. "I know." He then looked down at her, watching him back as if expecting him to say more. Then he chuckled and decided to goad her. "Speaking of my uptight brother, it's kind of nice of him and all to let you come all the way here. And all by yourself, I mean."
If Amelia's face could get anymore red, Gideon vowed he'd want to be the first to see it. Biting back a laugh, he crossed his arms, waiting for her answer.
But instead of giving him her usual hot-tongued lecture about his sense of sometimes annoying sense of humor, Amelia none but smiled sweetly up at him and said, "My husband has no idea that I'm here, if that's what you're asking. So I would dearly appreciate it if you did not try to contact him about it."
Gideon finally released the laugh he'd been holding on to for so long. "You and I are in the same boat, sister. Hadaen might yell my head off and cut me off for a few weeks or so but you...? You wouldn't be able to escape him if you wanted to."
"Oh shut up. Shouldn't you be continuing on. Now that I'm here, I think we have a better chance of finding Esyth."
Gideon cleared his throat. "We might have already found the location." And he told her about their incident back at the Baamel village and the mysterious letter that was left by someone bearing coordinates to a specified location. He also told her about the meeting with Deorci's onetime right-hand-man and how the 'mortal girl', Mia, had come to be in their company.
"Interesting," Amelia murmured.
"Yeah. But, hey, I still don't understand how Hadaen hasn't missed you yet."
"Let's just say I haven't seen him since he went all giddy on me about an invitation from Noble Rally. About a hour later he came back, grabbing his cloak and muttering something about Sienna. Then he stormed off saying not to wait up for him. I've contacted him a few times and he says everything's fine." Amelia shrugged. "He's alright."
Gideon thought on her words a moment. So there was something surrounding Sienna that might be key to discovering Esyth as well, but what was it? He had kept his assumptions ever since the day Abel Macintosh had spoken of the red-haired beauty. Maybe he needed to pay closer attention to it.
"Okay. We'd better get going then. We have to get inside that dungeon by noon tomorrow."
Chapter Seventeen
The brisk wind gushed against Gideon's face as he shouldered his way through the hot desert of dried weeds and thirsty cracked ground. There wasn't a tree in sight. At least not for another three miles, he deduced. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he blew out a harsh breath and shrugged, his shirt sticking to his skin like a wet sheet. And inside his pants was a dense layer of heat that spread all the way from inside his hard boots, up along his legs and across his thighs, lodging like a heavy thick discomfort around his groi
n.
Gideon tugged on the front of his leather pants, yanking the fabric away from his sensitive organ. He desperately needed to find a village soon. He was badly in need of a bath and certainly a more sensible change of clothes. The rubbing of the hard leather against his balls was oddly reminding him of how much he missed making love to Esyth.
Cursing beneath his breath, he groaned deep within his throat and glanced next to him where Amelia walked. She was frowning, brushing occasionally at a lock of hair that always made its way back into her eyes. As if sensing his gaze, she looked up and shook her head.
"The girl is slowing us down," she whispered, eyeing Mia who walked alongside Malakai a good few feet ahead of them.
He sighed. "I know."
Her eyes narrowed on him. "Why is she here? It's dangerous. She could be killed."
"You could be killed."
"I can defend myself leagues better than she can."
"Mia wanted to come. I guess she needed the adventure, you know. And I kinda know the feeling..."
Amelia looked up at him, watching him for a long while before she let out a long heavy breath. She did, in fact, know what he meant. If anyone really understood the nature of true freedom and adventure, it was Gideon. His life had been built around it; to never just live but to enjoy life. And she somehow envied him for that. Nodding, she stuffed her thumbs inside the front pockets of her jeans.
"I still have my eyes on the Kankul wretch, though. Any slight slip, I'll have his head, don't doubt it."
"Doubting you would never be an intention of mine, sister," he chuckled and rubbed her shoulder affectionately. He then narrowed his eyes on a thick white puff of smoke rising above the distant tree tops and smiled. "We'll reach a village soon enough. Then we can continue on. Don't worry. We'll get there." Gideon's jaws clenched, determined and fierce. "I have no other choice."
Gideon closed his eyes briefly as memories of his so sweet Esyth came rushing back to him. He sighed. If he did not love that woman as much as he thought he did, then he was prepared to be called stupid for the rest of his life. No simple emotion could ever feel like what he was currently feeling. He knew that much. Either that or he was seriously losing his mind, and Gideon knew that he was probably in one of the sanest phases of his life.
Gideon [The Marujan Brothers Series] Book Two Page 11
