by Moira Rogers
Now she knew how much she had left to learn—and how much she had to lose.
“Kisri?”
When the power had been in her hands, she hadn’t feared for her heart. No boy had ever threatened to strip her of her defenses, but in choosing the only man who had nothing to gain by claiming her, she’d miscalculated. He might not take her dowry, but he could so easily abscond with something far more precious.
Even knowing that, she wanted him. Needed him. “I want to—” Make love sounded too much like romance and mating. Fuck sounded like she was trying too hard to be the exact opposite. Trapped somewhere in between, she groped for words before settling on the ones he’d used. “Show me how to ride you.”
His blue eyes heated. “I thought you wanted to run.”
“I’m beginning to think the urges come hand in hand. Can’t we skip the chase and you can catch me now?”
He laughed and drew her closer, onto his lap. “I caught you once. Does it take more to satisfy you?”
“Yes.” Giving in to another urge, she trailed her nails down the strong curve of his biceps, not quite firmly enough to scratch. “Would you expect me to be easily tamed?”
“Never,” he whispered. “I would expect you to be this spirited. To make me fight for it every single step of the way.”
“So tame me.” His jaw tempted her with its fascinating roughness, and she pressed a kiss to his skin before giving him a hint of teeth. “Just for today.”
“Mmm.” He stroked her back, all the way down to the swell of her ass. “Are you ready for that?”
“In general?” She licked his ear this time and smiled when he shuddered beneath her. “Or right this moment?”
“Either.” He bit her ear—quick but sharp. “Both?”
With her body pressed to his, he couldn’t miss her own shudder of reaction. “I’m ready for you.” She eased back, then slid her fingers down his chest until they reached his cock. “You’ll need to help me be sure I’m ready for this.”
Ennon hissed in a breath. “To take me?”
No turning back, but this time she’d keep her control. She needn’t offer submission to accept his guidance, and Ennon seemed unlikely to demand it of her. Not when they both understood the danger in playing such games. “Yes.”
He stroked one hand against her, his fingertips teasing over her entrance. “And how shall I prepare you?”
Kisri kissed his cheek and his jaw. She teased her tongue along the stern firmness of his lips and moaned at the perfect taste of his mouth. “I trust you,” she whispered and kissed him hard enough to banish her lingering worry, until nothing remained but heat and him.
He thrust those fingers into her, slow but unyielding. He began to rock his hand, a slight, careful movement that shouldn’t have unraveled her world. Swaying, Kisri clung to his shoulders and closed her eyes, savoring everything from the silken brush of skin on skin to the way stretching discomfort gave way to an aching need for more.
It would hurt, but it wasn’t fear of pain that made her shiver as she pressed her cheek to his. Every moment must be fixed into her mind. The scrape of his stubble along her jaw, the soft scratch of the hair on his chest when he held her close. So little time to memorize the feel of his fingers tying her into skillful knots and the rumbling noises of encouragement he made every time she whimpered.
That was all they could be. Memories, and ones she couldn’t savor too closely until after, when there was no danger that longing and affection could bind her to him in ways that could never be undone. Somehow—somehow—she had to hold something back. She couldn’t give him everything.
His voice rumbled, rasped in her ears. “Open your eyes, Kisri. Look at me.”
Obeying him had everything to do with her need to cling to that image of him, blond hair disheveled, dark gaze hungry for her pleasure.
She opened her eyes, and it was better than she’d imagined. He rocked his hand one more time and curled his fingers inside her, oddly intent. The feelings inside her shifted lightning fast, from lazy to so intense her body jerked. “Ennon—” He did it again and again, inexorably driving her toward madness. She didn’t know if she wanted to twist closer or squirm away, not until his final touch sent her flying, release gripping her with such fury that she cried out.
He moved his hand and lifted her, his lips brushing her chin as a different sort of hardness prodded against her. “Yes, darling?”
With her body still shaking in the grip of climax, all she cared about was having him back inside her. She hissed her displeasure and fought his grip, taking half of his length inside her with one desperate movement.
He cursed and held her still, gripping her hips. “Kisri—”
She closed her teeth on his jaw hard enough to bruise. “Now.”
Ennon dragged her down with a snarl, driving deep. Her hips slammed against his, and he stifled a groan against her cheek.
Maybe it had been too fast. Kisri squeezed her eyes shut so Ennon wouldn’t see the pain there and took a deep, unsteady breath. “I’m all right.”
He trembled under her. “Are you certain?”
She hadn’t been before, but each passing moment eased her discomfort. Kisri nuzzled his cheek and slid her hands down to his, where they curled tight on her waist. Wrapping her fingers around his wrists, she urged them up. “Touch me, Ennon. I want you to touch me.”
He sank his hands into her hair first, tilting her head back a moment before his mouth descended on hers. He kissed her fiercely, but with an unmistakable edge of tenderness echoed in the way he stroked her shoulders, her arms. Her breasts. When his fingers found her nipples, she moaned into his mouth a moment before turning her head. “Ennon. Ennon.”
“Yes.” He teased at her nipples, rolled them between his fingers. “Say it again.”
“Ennon…” She rocked, and pressure began to give way to the sweetest friction. Not quite pleasure, not yet, but so far from pain that she could barely remember hurting. “I like the way you feel inside me.”
He dropped his hands to her hips and guided her, showing her how to move as he spoke through gritted teeth. “I like the way you feel around me.”
“How?” She lifted her body, just a little, and moaned at the stretch as she sank onto him again. “How do I feel?”
“Like—” His head fell back, his throat working. “Like heaven and hell, all at once.”
“Yes?” She couldn’t resist the lure of his neck, strong and beautiful. With a quiet snarl of satisfaction she closed her teeth on his skin.
Ennon tensed and drew her closer with a rough clutch of his hands. “Fuck, again—”
“Mine.” She didn’t care how foolish it made her sound, how he might misunderstand. Need consumed her as she closed her teeth over his pulse and thrilled at the taste of him. “I want to make you come.”
He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and shuddered. Then he caught her gaze. His eyes blazed amber, wild and out of control, as he thrust up into her.
The air escaped her lungs in a sharp gasp and the world danced, pleasure turning everything blurry. His fingertips dug into her hips, forcing them to an angle that made every touch before seem tame in comparison.
Light sparked every time he dragged their hips together, until tension unspooled so suddenly she could do nothing but cling to him when release claimed her. Hard and beautiful, and more intense with his body buried so deep in hers that for one perfect moment they were one.
Ennon shouted her name and jerked in her arms, but he didn’t stop. He kept moving for what seemed an eternity, prolonging pleasure with every thrust, until finally he drew her against him with a harsh groan and stilled. “Kisri.” He pressed his face to her shoulder, his hair damp with sweat, his and hers.
“Yes.” She slid her fingers to the back of his head, cradling him to her chest as she fought for breath. He was the one trembling now, undone by pleasure, and she’d never felt so safe. Ennon might tear apart the world to protect her, but in her a
rms, the most dangerous man on the plains was tamed.
“One more day,” he whispered, “and we’ll be on our way again, yes? Surely no one will miss us for one more day.”
One more day wouldn’t be enough, but somehow she’d make sure it was everything.
He’d fucked up horribly, and Malrion was going to kill him.
Ennon didn’t blame him, of course. He’d been given a mission—clear and simple. Return the High Lord’s cousin to the safety of his custody, unharmed and unmolested. Instead, it could be argued he’d done both, and worse. Because taking her hadn’t only bound together their bodies, but their magic, as well.
He’d mated Kisri, and now he was going to die, to say nothing of what might happen to her.
He watched her as she gathered her few items of clothing and rolled them neatly into the pack he’d provided. She seemed oblivious to his turmoil, her thoughts clearly somewhere else. A faint smile tugged her lips up, an almost daydream-like satisfaction that proved her utterly pleased with him and the world at large.
At least she was oblivious to his lapse. She’d been caught up in pleasure when the mating bond had taken hold, and there was no reason for her to have noticed the flare in magic unless she’d been looking for it. But she hadn’t been—because what could be more reckless than mating her without her consent?—and now she would never know what a fool he’d been.
He’d make sure of it.
He hefted two bags and secured them. “Almost ready?”
“I suppose I’ll have to be.” Her smile faltered. “My cousin will eventually begin to wonder where we are, I suppose.”
“Yes.” And dreading Mal’s angry, disappointed reaction was no excuse for dallying even longer. Especially not if it might bring the same down on Kisri. “We can make his camp by daybreak.”
“I can run, even if I didn’t sleep enough last night.” She rose and pressed both hands to his shoulders, leaning up. “One last kiss?”
He caught her around the waist, though it took him a moment to speak. “Surely we can steal a few more before we reach our destination.”
“As many as you’ll let me,” she whispered, then covered his mouth with her own. She’d learned to kiss, how to stroke her tongue against his lips, half plea, half demand.
It stoked an already-familiar fire to life inside him, one only she could quench, and he clenched one hand in her hair and kissed her harder.
By the time she pulled away, she was panting. “I think I’ll miss kissing you more than I should,” she whispered, and it sounded like an uncertain confession.
Ennon wasn’t ready to talk of such things, not when he knew his need for her would not abate—even if he had to let her go. “We have a ways to go yet.”
“Yes, we do.” She kissed his chin and nuzzled his cheek with sweet, open affection. “Thank you for giving me this, Ennon.”
“It was no favor, Kisri.”
“It was more than I could have hoped for.” Stepping back, she eyed what remained of their camp, her gaze tripping over every place he’d had her. His imagination couldn’t have painted the sadness on her features as she nodded once. “Shall we run?”
The smart answer hung in his throat. “In a bit. A nice day, isn’t it?”
“Beautiful.” Sadness faded, replaced by a wicked little smile as she waved toward the nearby trees. “Maybe we could walk awhile. I’ve never had much luxury to stroll through the forest without worrying about bandits.”
Her fire burned brighter than ever now, without the prickly defensiveness she usually wrapped around herself. He swatted her ass with his open hand and smiled. “Fancy another chase?”
Just like that, she was gone, her strong legs carrying her across the rolling grass in confident strides. Ennon dropped the packs instinctively, diving after her into the trees.
Four heartbeats, long enough to let her get up to speed, and he caught her around the waist. She shot off her feet with a shriek, and Ennon turned her around and backed her against a tree. “You like that so much,” he whispered. “I can feel how much.”
“Because you want me enough to chase me.” Those lean legs locked around his hips as she brought her fingers to the ties on his breeches. “And when you catch me, you deserve me.”
He ripped her clothes, and he didn’t care. All that mattered was this—her desire, her pleasure. “I don’t deserve you.”
“You do, you do—” Words faded to a groan as she wrapped her fingers around his cock and stroked. More confident, now that she knew what he liked and what she wanted. “Help me, Ennon. Take me. I need you.”
He pulled her hands up and pinned them to the rough bark as he drove into her. As he sank home, sating the instinctive need that twisted him while fanning another desire to life. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to move more slowly.
Not that she made it easy. She fought his grip, teasing him with the thrill of subduing her even as the heels digging into his back urged him to quicken his pace. A wild lioness, hungry for passion and for him.
He released her wrists, and she slipped her hands under his shirt, scratched his back. Ennon shuddered through a groan. “Yes?”
“Yes.” Her lips parted, and she tilted her head back. “I want to come. Help me, help—”
Lifting her a little more provided the leverage he needed, changed the angle of his next thrust, and her body obeyed his silent command as if he held the key to her pleasure. She was beautiful in release, free and unashamed. Her voice rose, meaningless pleas in time with the sweet spasms gripping him, and Ennon let go.
Home.
An eternity later, soft fingers stroked his shoulders, and her lips tickled across his throat. “Ennon.”
Her voice and touch barely pierced the haze of pleasure that still surrounded him. “Are you all right?”
“I’m wonderful.” Her breath blew warm over his ear, the only warning before she nipped at him lightly. “Are you?”
“I’m—” He couldn’t even explain it, because she wouldn’t understand. “I wish it didn’t have to end.”
She hesitated. Stroked him. “Does it?”
Ennon pulled away and set her down, tried his best to right her clothes. “You know your cousin, do you not?”
“I don’t need his permission to—” The words cut off abruptly, her teeth sinking into her full lower lip. A moment later she continued, her voice softer. “But your life would be difficult, if it did not end. You serve him.”
He’d be lucky to escape claw or blade if Mal found out what he’d truly done. “Your cousin desires better for you. I am his second, but I fear he knows me too well.”
“Oh?”
She was so wary, and Ennon forced a smile. “I am, apparently, not to be trusted. Not when it comes to women.”
Kisri retied her tattered shirt and reached for his hand. “I trust you.”
“I would not hurt you.” It wasn’t her fault, and none of it was fair, especially not to her. “But I’m a careless bastard, Kisri. I always have been.”
It looked like she wanted to fight him, to argue in favor of his honor, Instead she brushed her thumb over his fingers before her hand slipped away. “We need to run.”
To relieve tension or to reach the High Lord’s camp faster? It didn’t matter. Ennon nodded. “You’re right, of course.”
“Of course.” A small smile played at the corners of her mouth, mysterious but amused. “Perhaps I’ve tired you out enough that I’ll be able to keep up with you.”
“I have no doubt.” Too bad he couldn’t say the same in a broader sense. He had nothing but doubts about what would happen to them once they reached the High Lord’s camp.
Chapter Five
Years at war had changed many things about her cousin, but not the way Mal commanded attention and respect simply by being who and what he was.
He met them at the edge of camp, broader than she remembered, and clad in the rough leathers of a warrior instead of the ceremonial armor of a noble lord who
held himself above the fray. Kisri found herself relieved that Ennon had insisted they stop and cover the last quarter league on foot. Her attuned chemise was packed safely away, and she was in the same clothes she’d been wearing when Ennon had found her. Judging by the stern set of her cousin’s jaw, arriving in anything else could have been disastrous.
But he opened his arms wide to her. “Kisri. It’s good to have you here, safe.”
Just like that she was young again, throwing herself into the arms of the man who had been her friend and protector. The man who had taken her into his heart like a sister and encouraged her to learn the ways she could protect herself while quietly ensuring she’d never need to use them.
Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how desperately she’d missed her family.
“Shh,” he whispered, holding her tight. “You’re all right now.”
She shouldn’t tell him that she had been all right. That the relief washing over her was that of a woman who’d found her loved ones, not a girl afraid of the world. She hadn’t been afraid since the first night Ennon had run with her, when he’d tumbled her to the grass and let her go. All that strength at her disposal, and how could anyone be frightened with the First Warlord of the plains at her back?
She couldn’t tell him, couldn’t open Ennon to her cousin’s suspicion, so instead she eased back and fought for the bored disinterest of a noble lady complimenting an underling. “Ennon was an excellent guardian.”
Mal’s brows drew together in a fleeting frown, one that vanished in an instant. “Ennon?”
The other lion stepped forward. “My lord?”
The High Lord glanced at his second with enough shrewd curiosity to make Kisri wonder if she’d tipped her hand, exposed them both. But he only said, “You have my gratitude.”
Ennon dropped his gaze to the ground. “My lord.”
She wished she’d said her goodbyes properly. She wished she’d kissed Ennon another time, had whispered to him that it wouldn’t be the last time. She wished she’d had the courage to ask him if he wanted it to be the last time, or if he’d fight for her as she wanted to fight for him.
