“What happened? Who did this to him?” Kitrina was horrified. Zander’s body, what she could see of it anyway—and that was quite a lot considering he wore only a kilt—was covered with red, angry-looking welts. Only his handsome face appeared to be untouched.
The man glanced over his shoulder as if the answer should be obvious. “I did, of course. Do you think just anyone could beat down Zander Hammerstrike?”
A heartbeat later, she had the razor-sharp points of her matching daggers pressed against the flesh of the stranger. One at his throat, and the other up under his balls. “You, then, must die.”
Zander cracked open one eyelid. “No, Kit, don’t. He only did as I asked.”
She slowly took a step back and resheathed her weapons.
The big barbarian held out a hand. “Talon’s the name.”
She begrudgingly took the hand he offered. “Why? Why would he ask such a thing of you? What possible reason would a man have for willingly taking a beating such as this?”
Talon laughed. “You can’t guess? ’Tis the only way the hardheaded man could assure himself he wouldn’t touch you. He is a barbarian, lass.”
Zander tried to sit but failed. “You weren’t supposed to tell her that, you idiot.”
Once more Talon chuckled, but Kitrina wasn’t laughing. She stared in horror at the man lying on the bed. His once flawless chest was covered in big purple splotches. And his long, strong legs were a mass of knotted muscle, with deep bloody scrapes and scratches.
How he must either hate or desire her, to go to this length to keep his hands off her. If it wasn’t hate, and somehow Kitrina knew it wasn’t, perhaps her father had been right after all. Perhaps fulfilling his destiny was not an easy task and tormented him as much as it did her. Perhaps, even though he must someday marry a barbarian female, they could suspend time for a little while here and make memories to last them both through the coming years. Perhaps, if she didn’t take advantage of this chance, there would never be another.
She turned toward Talon. “Thank you for bringing him home. I’ll take it from here.”
The big barbarian with dark, shoulder-length brown hair and laughing eyes to match nodded. “I’ll be right outside the door. ’Tis another promise he made me swear. He did not wish you unguarded while he could not do the job himself.” Talon winked at her. “He’s right not to trust just anyone to guard you either. You truly are as beautiful as he said. It’s plain to see why he wants you. Any man with blood running through his veins would.”
Zander groaned. “Quit flirting, Talon, and get out. You’ve done enough damage for one night.”
The big barbarian laughed. “I’ll be right outside, lass.” He pointed toward Zander. “After that one’s asleep, if you want to see what it can be like with a real barbarian, just come on out and join me.”
Zander opened both eyes and glared. “Don’t make me get up from here and kill you, because I will.”
Talon just chuckled as he backed out the door.
****
She watched him sleep.
Zander’s eyes were closed in slumber, his breathing unlabored. After Talon had left them alone, they hadn’t talked like Kitrina thought they would.
Instead, she’d simply heated a basin of water over the fire in the fireplace and silently cleansed his wounds. Then she’d made him a pain and sleeping potion from the herbs her mother insisted she always carry. Finally, she lay beside him, wide awake, watching him.
She’d been wrong when she thought his face was the only undamaged place on his body. When she’d removed his kilt to examine the rest of him, she found his cock to be unscathed also. And what a fine cock it was, even soft and resting between his thighs, it hung well past the halfway point to his knees, and even flaccid was still thicker than her wrist.
Her pussy contracted in response. She wanted to touch it, to taste it, to watch it expand and grow beneath her fingertips until it stood proud. She shouldn’t, though. Zander needed his rest in order to heal. Didn’t he?
With a sigh, she slid from the bed and paced the room. What was she thinking? She couldn’t just reach out and touch him, could she? Touching led to other things.
Anyway, she hated him, didn’t she? He’d broken her heart and crushed her tender little eighteen-year-old dreams. And after she’d planned them out so perfectly.
He was supposed to deflower her, then realize he couldn’t live even one more turn of the hourglass without her. He was supposed to drop to his knees right then and there, declare his undying love, and beg her to be his wife.
She would’ve eventually accepted, after his third or fourth time of pleading, and they would’ve lived happily ever after at his castle in Alaria with their two children. One son, Prince Axel, one daughter, Princess Adriana, and of course, her dragon, Sid. But that didn’t happen. Oh, no, the scoundrel had already been betrothed to that horrible Asla.
She stood beside the bed and watched him. She wasn’t eighteen anymore, and she certainly was no longer a believer in happily-ever-after, and he was no longer betrothed. She now understood why she herself could never be his wife and he never her husband. Would it be so wrong then if they used each other during their forced time together, for pleasure, for comfort?
According to the principals and laws of Albrath, it wouldn’t be.
Unless married, any man or woman was free to have sex with whomever they chose. It was considered good, clean fun, healthy activity, encouraged even.
She sighed, and her pussy tormented her. Why not have what she wanted, take it even? After all, Zander didn’t look as if he could put up much of a fight.
With a chuckle, she climbed back in bed and snuggled up against the barbarian prince’s side. Immediately, her breasts tightened and tingled. She ran her hand down the curves and concavities of her own naked body, stopping to tweak the perky, protruding nipples along the way.
Kitrina had never been one to wear clothing when sleeping. She hadn’t liked the confinement and was glad for the lack of them now.
She didn’t take her eyes from Zander’s face as she slowly teased herself, sliding her hand down farther, parting the folds of her pussy, and allowing a single finger to circle her clit and slide the length of her dampness to probe her opening before once more making her way back up to stroke her hardened nub.
With her other hand, she reached over and lightly petted Zander’s cock, glorying in the instant change in diameter, length, and stiffness.
He opened his eyes, and she could see questions in their depths. Questions she wasn’t sure she had answers for.
“What are you doing?”
Kitrina shrugged. “Touching you. Touching me.”
Zander grinned. “Aye, I can see that, but why?”
Her words came out almost like a purr, but she couldn’t help it. “Because I want to.”
Zander laughed. “Do you always do what you want, Kit?”
She didn’t stop stroking either one of them, but her voice did take on a more serious tone. “No, if I did, I would’ve been in your bed every night for the last three years.”
He sighed. “I can’t allow myself to fall in love with you, Kitrina, and you know why.”
She did stop touching herself then and turned toward Zander. She switched hands and used the one she’d had on herself to continue stroking his expanding cock. She leaned up on her free elbow and looked him directly in the eye. “I’m not asking you to fall in love with me, for I certainly am not free to love you. I’m as bound by the Dragon Heart Opal and the choice it will someday make for me, as you are by the rules of the barbarian throne of Alaria. All I’m asking for—no, what I’m about to take from and give back to you is comfort and pleasure. There’s no reason we should be tortured, either of us. Since we must share the same bed until this…situation is resolved, we should be free to do whatever we wish within the confines of this room. We can be, umm, fuck-buddies…so to speak. No strings attached, no hearts broken. I’m not a little girl anymore, Zander. I’m a woman.”
She squeezed his cock for emphasis. “I will have you, and I will have you now.”
****
Oh, sweet Lord Draka, she was beautiful.
Zander watched in awe as Kitrina rose above him like a warrior goddess. The flickering light from the candles beside the bed illuminated every glorious inch of her, from the intensity in her eyes to the full lushness of her breasts, even the gentle concavity of her flat belly, the muscles of her thighs, and the smooth pinkness of her shaved pussy.
When she leaned down, pressed her lips to his, and slipped her tongue deep into the recesses of his mouth, for the first time in his life, Zander forgot to breathe. When he recovered his composure enough to take a breath, he kissed her back with all the pent-up desire he’d held at bay for three long years.
Their tongues warred with first her the victor, then him. After the dropping of a smattering of grains of sand through the hourglass, she sat back up, frustration clear in her eyes. “I need more than kisses this night, Zander.”
He chuckled. “The mind is willing, my lady, but I’m not so sure the body can comply. Talon did a thorough job. I can’t even move my arms or reach out and touch you with my hands.”
She shook her head, but she was grinning. “Oh, no, you don’t, barbarian. You aren’t getting out of this that easy. There’s nothing wrong with your mouth or your cock. They’re both in fine working order. Arms and hands are overrated in my opinion. I bet we can do this thing just fine without them.”
He tried to nod, but the pain in his neck prevented it, so instead, he simply grinned back at her. “I’m willing if you are.”
If he thought her rising before him moments before was a spectacular sight, when Kitrina turned her back to him and straddled his chest with her feet tucked up under his arms, her knees up close to his side, and her mouth mere centimeters above the head of his cock, the sight was mind-blowing.
She dipped her head ever so slightly and oh-so-slowly before licking her way across just the head of his cock.
Zander spasmed in response, and pain shot up the muscles of his back.
“God, Kitrina, you’re gonna kill me.”
She had the audacity to giggle. “It’ll be a fine death, Zander. I’ll even speak well of you at your wake.”
Then she took his whole cock in her mouth and down her throat. Zander forgot about pain. He forgot about everything around him as the most exquisite sensation he’d ever experienced rocked him to the core. It was like ripples of fire and quivers of ice, shivers of pleasure and tingles of excitement all rolled into one. She sucked and licked him along his shaft, around the underside of his cock’s head, and she even probed the small hole on the top with her tongue, over and over and over again.
And above his head, just out of reach of his own tongue, poised the prettiest pussy he’d ever set eyes on. It was smooth, pink as bubblegum, and just as sweet looking.
He chuckled to himself. She was concentrating so hard on his cock, she’d obviously forgotten about her own pleasure. “Um, Kit, you’re torturing me.”
She lifted her head a moment, concern in her voice. “Am I really causing you pain? I’m sorry. We can stop…I suppose…if we must.”
Zander chuckled out loud this time. “You’re fine where you are. I just can’t reach your pussy, my lady. Put it where I can get to it…please.”
She laughed, wiggled her ass in his face, did what he’d asked, then went back to where she’d left off.
God Draka, her pussy was hot. She tasted of the forbidden, and her juices flowed sweet as honey. So sensual, alluring, scorching, and tangy.
He was like a man long denied and set before a feast. His tongue toyed with her clit and lapped along the length of her folds before delving as deep as it could into the opening of her slick channel as she rode his face.
And what a ride it was. They moved in opposite directions but in complete unison. She rocked forward and sucked the length of his cock all the way to its base as he licked his way up her folds, then she licked her way back up his cock as he latched on and sucked her clit.
Zander forgot about the pain every touch of Kitrina’s skin upon his own caused and lost himself in the glory of the woman she had become. Her soft sighs filled his ears and overflowed into his heart. Her fingers about his cock caressed, her mouth upon it devoured, her knees up under his arms and against his side held him steady, and her pussy quenched his thirst like the sweetest of ambrosias.
His ass bunched in response to Kitrina’s attention, and Zander was reminded of the beating he’d unnecessarily taken as pain shot up his back and down both legs. He stiffened, and Kitrina stopped and pulled away.
He groaned.
“Am I hurting you overly much?” she asked.
Zander breathed in the womanly musk of what was once more out of reach. “Was just a twinge. God Draka, don’t stop now.”
Kitrina laughed as she turned, faced him, and once more straddled his chest. Slowly, she slid down his body until his cock rested snug against her ass.
She rocked back and forth against it. “Are you sure it’s all right to go on?” She smiled, and her eyes gleamed with mischief. “I wouldn’t want to make a big strong barbarian like you cry. Perhaps you need a break, Zander? Am I too much for you? Have you had all you can handle for the night?”
It took every bit of strength and determination Zander could muster to raise his arms, grasp Kitrina’s waist with his hands, lift her, and slide her down the length of his cock until he was completely sheathed within her pussy, but he did it.
He was panting by the time he finished his task, but he didn’t care. “You’ll never see the day, my lady, when I will have had my fill of you. It’s not possible. Now, be quiet and fuck me like a good wench.”
She did just that, slowly at first, then picking up speed. Her back ramrod straight, the muscles of her thighs flexing, her head thrown back, her eyes closed, and her succulent lips slightly parted.
The fingers of one hand teased her nipples to tautness while, with her other, she sought her clit. She stroked the hard little nub, grazing his cock with every other downstroke, making him quiver.
Zander gloried in not only the sight before him but also the feel of her hot, slick pussy sliding up and down his throbbing shaft. The muscles of her sheath hugged his big cock tight, massaged it, caressed it, tormented and tantalized it.
Pressure built back behind his balls and low in his gut. His cock pulsed with pleasure, and his heart pounded. His breathing quickened as he bunched the sore muscles of his ass and added his thrusts to hers.
Kitrina’s eyes flew open, and Zander locked gazes with her. He wanted to watch her come. He wanted to know it was he who was responsible for giving her release.
He saw the beginning of her orgasm a mere second before it happened. Her nostrils flared, her breath came in quick, short gasps, and her stormy-blue eyes glazed over as the first clenches of her inner walls enveloped his cock.
He redoubled his thrusts, pumping furiously into her, and never took his eyes from her face. He shuddered in ecstasy as hot liquid shot up his shaft. His ass spasmed, and his cock spewed forth its own release, coating her, claiming her as much as she’d just claimed him.
****
Kitrina stretched. The heat of Zander’s body snug up against her own filled her with contentment and more than a few naughty thoughts. She could lie here in this bed with him forever and never get up.
She purred.
Last night had been wonderful, magical even. The memory of Zander’s slick, hot tongue upon her lips and her clit elicited tingles of excitement that skittered along her spine and landed deep in her belly. And his cock, oh my God Draka…he had fucked her near to oblivion with that magnificent cock of his, and she had given her all to fuck him back in kind.
Kitrina giggled, though the noise she heard resonating from her throat sounded more animalistic than female. She smiled and licked her lips in anticipation.
Perhaps she would wake Zander with a little sunrise
surprise. Perhaps she would lean over and take his cock inside her mouth, suck, lick, and kiss it until it stood rigid and proud. Perhaps she would then climb on top of the big barbarian, sheath herself upon him, and give him a proper good morning.
She was about to do just that, when his fingers lightly scratched her belly. It tickled.
“Where’d you come from, and where’s your mistress?”
She smiled as she tried to answer his silly question with an equally silly answer, but all that came out was a “Meow.”
Kitrina stiffened and glanced at herself. Her black fur was shiny, and she was curled up into a ball. Her paws were lightly kneading Zander’s side. Her paws! All four of them!
Again, he petted her, this time his long strong fingers running the length of her cat body. An uncontrollable purr escaped her throat.
“You have the most amazing mistress. You do know that, don’t you? And the things that woman can do with her…”
She locked gazes with him, and he chuckled.
“I suppose I shouldn’t really be discussing such things with a cat, now should I? Let me up, if I can even stand this morning, and we shall go find her.”
Kitrina jumped from the bed as the proud barbarian prince struggled to stand. When he had, he slowly made his way toward the door, still limping and bruised but just as gloriously naked as the day he’d been born.
She paced back and forth between and around his feet, rubbing her cat body against his legs and wrapping her tail around his ankles. How was she going to explain this?
“Don’t trip me. I doubt I could get up if I fall.”
She backed away.
Being able to shift into another creature was probably something lovers shouldn’t hold back from one another. It was a matter of trust. But it was her secret and, at the same time, her worst shame.
Kitrina didn’t think she could bear the look of disappointment or disgust in Zander’s eyes when he realized her most special talent in all of Albrath was the ability to turn into a plain, ordinary house cat. Especially, since he himself was a powerful spiritmaster who could control the skies with thunder and lighting, rain and wind. And to boot, he was a decorated barbarian warrior and the heir to the throne of Alaria.
Tamed by the Fire Page 6
