by Anya Bast
* * * * *
A sound jarred Rue from his sleep. He opened his eyes and stared up into the smattering of bright stars above him. Lilane whimpered and he turned his head to look at her. Her beautiful face was contorted in anguish. She whimpered again, louder this time. Firelight flickered over her hair as she tossed her head in her sleep.
Rue rolled up onto his feet, closed the distance separating them, and knelt beside her.
“No,” she whispered, then louder, “No!”
She’d drowsed on and off all day long, and Rue had allowed her it since they didn’t have anything to do but wait anyway. She appeared to need sleep and food, two things that he’d been sure she received.
She seemed tough, but beneath that façade was a vulnerable woman wracked by grief and sorrow. She tugged on more than simply the strings of his lust, but also on strings of his heart. Lilane stirred emotion in him that he’d long thought vanquished by the sight of a broken, female body and the knowledge of his failure to prevent it.
She threw her head from side-to-side, her face contorted by her nightmare and Rue could stand it no longer. He drew her carefully into his arms in an attempt to wake her gently.
* * * * *
Lilane woke with a start and gulped in air. Warm, strong arms held her close. Her breath came fast and her heart pounded hard in her chest. Strands of hair clung to her damp forehead.
“It’s all right,” a deep voice soothed. “You were trapped in a nightmare.”
Rue.
She stiffened, but she was loath to move. His touch felt good to her, especially now. Yes, she did feel safe in his arms. That was ridiculous since he was her captor, but true nonetheless.
“You sounded like someone was trying to kill you. What were you dreaming?” he asked.
All at once her nightmare crashed into her mind. Her cottage burned and smoke clouded her vision and choked her. People ran, lost children wailed. Soldiers raided their way through the village, cutting the men down, raping the women. She held her sword in hand, searching desperately for her mother and father. She spotted Dal across the village square, a Sudhraian solider running him through….blood coursing….
She flinched in Rue’s arms, tears stinging her eyes. She pressed herself against him, searching out his warmth, because despite the hot summer night, she’d gone deathly cold. “Goddess,” she swore under her breath.
His arms tightened around her. “I’m sorry I asked,” he murmured. “Are you all right?”
She just needed to be touched and held. If it was Rue that did the touching and holding, that was more than fine. She only shivered in response to his question.
“I’ll get you a blanket.” He tried to pull away from her.
She cursed her bonds that she couldn’t grab onto him. “No!” she cried. He stilled and looked at her as though she’d grown an extra head. She looked away, blushing. “I mean I prefer human warmth, body warmth.” She glanced up at him. “If you don’t mind.”
He didn’t hesitate. He pulled her close and up against him. Knowing he couldn’t see her face, she closed her eyes and sighed. He stroked her hair, and she laid her head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. She snuggled against his bare chest and laid a kiss there.
Rue went very, very still.
She wanted so badly to feel the length of him within her. Would there be any harm in seducing him just a little, just for tonight? She stretched against him, rubbing her breasts against his chest and moving her hips against his. Pleasurable shivers ran the length of her body.
His body tensed. “What are you doing?” he growled. “Do you want me to take you?”
His breath stirred the fine hair around her face and his face was shadowed, lit only by pale moonlight. Still, she saw that his blue eyes had darkened and that his full lips were parted.
“I need the comfort now of something real, something hard and long stroking into me to give pleasure and drive away the pain.” She laid her mouth to his chest, reveling in the smooth muscle that pulsed beneath her lips. “Yes, Rue. Please.”
Her hand went to the waistband of his trews and tugged. The coarse line of hair running from his stomach to his cock brushed her knuckles. She shivered against the loss of his body heat for only the few moments it took for him to shift and remove the garment.
He parted her thighs with his knee and positioned himself between her thighs. Chest-to-chest, stomach-to-stomach and hip-to-hip, he stayed that way, looking down at her with a dark expression and an aroused gaze. He moved to press the head of his cock against her passage, and then hovered there above her, unmoving.
She moved her hips and moaned. She was wet and she was ready. What was he waiting for? “Don’t tease me, Rue. Not now. Please. Chase away the demons of this night. Will you?”
He pushed the head of his cock within her and she gasped at the breadth of him. His cock stretched the muscles of her pussy further than they’d ever gone. He eased out, drawing out her moisture and sliding back in a little further. He did this several times, using her natural lubricant. He pressed until he was halfway in.
She threw her head back into the bedding in pleasure and he kissed along the length of her throat.
“Lilane, you’re so tight,” he said, shuddering against her. “Am I hurting you?”
She bit her lip. “A little, but it’s good. You are making me forget, Rue. I need to forget the nightmare. I need you to drive it away. She jangled her manacles. Please, I want to touch you. Let me. I promise not to run away. “
He hesitated, and then covered the manacles with one large hand. With a couple twists and turns in some secret combination, he released her hands. She sighed.
“If you try and escape, I will catch you,” he threatened darkly. “I’m warning you now.”
“I promised I wouldn’t run.”
She laid her hands to his chest and ran them over his muscles, touching his long scar and the bandage covering his more recent wound, in awe at the exquisite feel of him. She could not think of it long, however, because he chose that moment to surge into her, touching her very womb.
She cried out at the combination of pleasure and pain, and a climax ripped through her instantaneously. Her fingernails bit into his arms as she tossed her head back and forth and moaned. The muscles of her vagina pulsed and contracted around his thick shaft.
His arms shook as he held himself motionless, as though allowing his cock to absorb the tremors of her orgasm. While pleasurable spasms still racked her body, he began shafting her slow and easy. His eyes glittered in the moonlight, concerned and full of lust and affection for her. It was the last that held her gaze to his.
She took advantage of her freed hands and touched him everywhere she could, running them over his shoulders and back, and cupping his fine, rounded buttocks as he plunged himself in and out of her.
He stared into her eyes and she held his gaze until the dark heaviness of it, the intenseness of it became too much to bear. She averted her eyes and arched her throat. “Faster, harder, please, Rue. You’re killing me with this slow pace.”
He obliged and his strokes became progressively harder and faster until he pushed her over the edge once more. She splintered beneath him and pulled him along with her. His seed bathed her womb and she sighed with contentment as he collapsed next to her, drawing her against him and laying kisses along every inch of her exposed skin within reach of the crane of his neck.
Lilane savored the sweet aftermath of her climaxes and the slight ache of her pussy where the breadth and length of his cock had breached her. She missed him inside her even now, she realized with a start.
What a strange notion.
She shifted onto her side, away from him, suddenly upset by that idea and stared into the star-lightened darkness leading up to the thick blackness of the surrounding forest. The clouds from the earlier rain had passed and the full moon and bright stars lit the clearing they were camped in.
“Can you not sleep?” Rue a
sked.
“No. I’m weary, but my mind is too active now for sleep.”
Rue stood, went to his saddlebag and extracted a bottle that made a sloshing sound when he carried it back to her.
Lilane sat up and watched him in curiosity.
He uncorked the bottle with a pop and offered it her. “The finest Sudhraian sweet juice flourentimes can buy.”
Lilane raised an eyebrow. In other words, very potent liquor. “I’ve never drunk anything but watered down wine and Nordanese ale, dark lord. I fear such an exotic brew might prove my complete undoing and you may undo me even further, then.”
“Would that be so bad?” His lips quirked in a sexy little smile. “Most women enjoy being completely undone by the right man.”
“Yes, but I am not one of them.”
He brought the bottle to his lips and drank deep. He closed his eyes and groaned. She watched his throat work as he swallowed. The liquid sloshed enticingly as he lowered it. “Suit yourself, but it will aid you in sleeping.”
If that were true, maybe it would stave off more nightmares. Relenting, she shrugged and reached for the bottle. The brew was rich and smooth and passed her tonsils easily. The night was summer-warmed, but the liquor warmed her further. She passed the bottle back to Rue and sighed contentedly.
“So how do you know where the troops are?” she asked, watching him take another swig.
He handed the bottle back to her. “I hear and smell and see for great distances, a skill bequeathed to me by my heritage. They are there, passing to our south, but will move on soon, I suspect.”
Lilane took another pull on the bottle and grew lightheaded. She put a hand to her temple. The liquor was strong. “We’ll beat Sudhra, you know. Regardless of your secret errand for Marken.”
Rue shrugged. “I don’t know. The countries are evenly matched, though Nordan has the great advantage of being underestimated. I saw first hand how well the Nordanese are trained. Sudhra believes all the Nordanese men do is lie around with numerous women, rolling over to fuck one of them occasionally. That is far from the truth. Nordan has well trained warriors to back them.”
Lilane took another pull from the bottle and furrowed her brow as her entire body began to tingle. “Idiots,” she muttered. “The Nordanese are simply not afraid of their sexuality. That doesn’t mean we are weak.”
Rue extricated the bottle from her hand and set it to the side. “You are definitely not weak.”
Lilane stuck her chin out. “I’ve trained all my life to fight with a sword, a dagger, or without any weapons at all.”
“No weapons at all? Just those delicate hands?”
Her voice hardened. “They’re not delicate when they’re fisted and connecting with flesh.”
Rue stood up. “All right. If you’re so strong, show me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, get up and punch me. Give me your best hit.”
She went silent for a moment before speaking. “But I’ll hurt you.”
Rue simply laughed.
Lilane stood, annoyance rippling through her. She staggered and caught herself on a nearby tree. She hadn’t realized how much the sweet juice had affected her until she’d stood. She gripped the tree trunk and glared at him through the hair that had fallen into her face. “You’re so goddess-bedamned arrogant, dark lord.”
“I’m not trying to be arrogant, Lilane. It’s a simple, undeniable fact that most men are larger and stronger than women. I simply want to see if it’s true that you can defend yourself adequately against someone of the opposite sex. Most women in Sudhra cannot.”
Lilane straightened. “I’m not Sudhraian, and I can defend myself just fine against either sex.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Then put your fists where those claims are and show me.”
She went at him without warning, her fist clenched. Her swing went wide as the sweet juice controlled her limbs. Lilane staggered to the side, stumbled, and nearly fell. She bent over and braced her hands on her knees and let a loud laugh escape her.
Rue echoed her laughter. Combined, it ricocheted off the leaves of the trees, and eased the tension. He walked toward her to help her stand. “Perhaps we should do this when you haven’t drunk so much sweet juice.”
She stood and he faced her before him. He widened her stance, situated her arms in fighting position and closed her hands into fists. The fact that they were both completely nude was not lost on her, but for some reason it was all right. In some strange, twisted part of herself, being completely exposed to this man didn’t bother her a bit.
He stood in front of her, bending a bit to make their heights more even. “All right, go ahead. Swing at me.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Completely.
She screwed up her face. “Absolutely sure?”
Rue sighed and straightened. “Woman, you are not strong enough to—”
Lilane swung fast and hard and her punch landed true this time—right in the jaw. Taken by surprise, Rue staggered back against a tree trunk. She watched as he rubbed his mouth with his hand. He looked at his fingers and shook his head in seemingly surprise. Had she blooded him? She waited with her breath caught in her throat, wondering at his reaction.
A loud, booming laugh filled the air. The genuine sound of his mirth warmed her to her toes. “All right. I guess you gave me what I asked for.” He winced. “You have a quite a punch in that delicate hand.”
She cradled her sore fist. She’d pay for it, too. The impact would leave a bruise.
Dark blood seeped down Rue’s stomach from the wound she’d made the night before. Suddenly ashamed at how hard she’d let loose on his jaw, and walked to him. “I made you bleed.” She glanced at his bottom lip, where a thin line of blood trickled. She sucked in a surprised breath. “In two places.”
He took her chin in his hand tipped her face up to his. “I have a feeling you’ll be able to do that most easily,” he murmured.
She glanced away from the look in his eyes and the double entendre. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m happy to know you can defend yourself, Lilane. It gives me ease.”
“Why?” She cocked her head to the side. “Why do you care?”
He shrugged and worked his jaw back and forth gingerly. “Not sure, actually. Still working on the answer to that one.”
She regarded him, biting her lower lip. Finally she said, “Come, let me treat those wounds for you. I’m feeling a little guilty, though goddess knows why.”
Rue sat down on the bedding beneath the canopy and Lilane gathered the small tube of ointment that lay nearby. She settled down beside him and wiped the blood away from his abdomen and his lip with a scrap of towel and squeezed some of the ointment onto her index finger.
She looked up from her work to find Rue’s gaze intent on her. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Why are you staring at me?”
“Do I need a reason?”
She looked down at his stomach nervously and smeared the ointment on the length of his wound. The gash wasn’t deep enough to cause any serious harm, but he’d definitely have a second scar to match the first that ran the length of his chest from shoulder to hip.
When she was finished, she laid the ointment to the side and Rue drew her into his arms. “Sleep now,” he said.
She nestled down against his chest and closed her eyes. Again, intense weariness—a catharsis of the last month of her life—took over and darkness sought her.
* * * * *
She woke not much later, as the light began cracking the blackness of the sky. Rue’s bare limbs were wound around hers. His chest rose and fell against her back in the easy rhythm of sleep.
Biting her lower lip, she eyed Rue’s sword, sheathed in its scabbard and braced against a nearby tree. Her smaller, lighter blade lay against it. She wiggled her free hands in contemplation.
She’d promised she wouldn’t escape, but would she ever have such a perfe
ct opportunity to free herself again?
The thought of staying here with him had fear arching through her, but not because she feared he’d hurt her physically. No, this man did strange things to her and they didn’t all concern her body. The look as they’d loved each other earlier had been too close to true affection for her tastes. If she stayed she felt sure she’d return that look at some point in the very near future. She could not afford such entanglements, such emotional bonds. It hurt too badly when they were broken.
What if she truly did start to care for this man and what if he were killed? What if she had to witness his death as she’d watched Dal be murdered? What if she had to find him dead, as she’d found her parents dead?
No, far better to be on her own, without any such emotional ties. No possibility of repeating the depth of grief she’d experienced so recently.
With care, she extracted herself from him and stood. With one long, lingering look at him laying there with his tousled blond hair and his broad arm flung out to the side in his sleep, she made her way to her sword, picking up her shirt and trews that lay over a tree branch as she went.
She slipped into the early darkness of morning as she picked her way quietly into the trees. She’d almost stolen her horse, but thought the noise of it would wake him. Instead she’d steal away on foot and hope for a nearby village.
She hadn’t gone far when Rue’s furious yells echoed through the forest, practically shaking the leaves of the trees above her. At the enraged sound, Lilane didn’t hesitate, she ran. Dodging trees and leaping over bushes and fallen branches she fled. Pine needles and other sharp objects stabbed her bare feet, branches slapped and scratched her bare skin, but she had no time to entertain the pain.
A crashing sound in the woods behind her signaled Rue’s arrival. He seemed to fly toward her he came so quickly. She remembered his wings and risked a glance behind her. No wings. Only a very angry looking, and very naked, Rue bearing down hard on her.
He pushed her roughly to the ground and her sword and clothes went flying. Her sword was only just in front of her and her fingertips gouged the ground, straining to reach its grip.
