Marquart sneered. “Then, unless yout wish me to inform yout father of yout propensity toward those two mutant halflings, I suggest yout do my bidding and do it quickly. And if yout don’t do a better job of asking my questions and getting my answers, the pain all of yout will feel is going to be excruciating and much worse than anything Daddy has ever thought to do to yout.”
Asla gulped and lightly shook Kitrina’s shoulder. “You must answer me, please. Are the two stones the same?”
When Kitrina spoke, it was barely a whisper, more of an audible sigh. “I honestly don’t know. I wish I did.”
Marquart shook her head and pointed to the parchment. “Just get on with it. We’re running out of time.”
Asla read. “Is there any way to separate yourself from the Dragon Heart Opal?”
Kitrina nodded and smiled. “With the birth of my first child, the stone will bind to him…or her.” Her smiled faded. “Or upon my death. Then the Dragon Heart Opal would simply pass to the next in line, to Lara.”
Marquart stomped her foot. “I knew it. That’s what all my research told me. I might as well kill her right now and move onto her sister. They must run out of relatives at some point.”
Asla put a finger to her lips. “Shh, she’s trying to say something else.” She patted Kitrina’s arm. “Go on. What?”
The words tumbled unheeded from Kitrina’s mouth with a giggle. “Or, of course, if Kit becomes Cat. Because when Kit is Cat, the Dragon Heart Opal doesn’t care about her, nobody does. Not even the oath, not even the dragons.”
Marquart shook her head. “What the VoT does she mean? She’s not making any sense. I must’ve given her too much of the elixir. Her brain’s scrambled.”
Asla shrugged. “Perhaps.” Then she asked. “What oath?”
Kitrina smiled in her sleep. “From this day forward, ’til time is no more. I pledge you my dagger, I pledge you my sword. I pledge you my service, I pledge you my brawn. I pledge you my heart ’til my last breath is drawn.” She sighed. “The paladin’s oath, of course.”
Just then, the sound of boots clacking as they hurried along the cobblestone floor of the library rang as loudly as thunder.
Marquart snatched the parchment from Asla’s hand and hurried back to her seat. “Betray me, and I’ll do worse than kill yout. I’ll tell yout father what I know.”
Quickly, she laid her head upon the table and closed her eyes…almost but not quite.
Asla wasn’t as lucky or as fast. The barbarian female turned to scamper away, but Talon engulfed Asla within his firm grasp and held her tight.
Zander roared as he knelt at Kitrina’s side and scooped her into his arms. “If one hair on her head has been harmed, Asla, as God Draka is my witness, you will pay.”
“I didn’t hurt her, I swear.” Asla squealed and swatted unsuccessfully at Talon’s grasp. “I was just trying to wake her.”
Talon didn’t release her.
Marquart chuckled softly to herself. Asla wouldn’t tell Zander or the other barbarian anything of her involvement. Of this she was certain. The silly chit was too concerned with protecting her own ass.
But perhaps she should suddenly appear to wake. She could cry foul and accuse Asla of a misdeed, and Zander might just be honor bound to do away with the female barbarian for her. After all, did she really need Asla anymore? She had served her purpose and outlived her usefulness, hadn’t she? And it would save her the extra added inconvenience of cleaning up that particular loose end later.
Marquart chuckled, just a hair louder but not so loud as to be heard. No, she wouldn’t go quite so far as to insure the disposal of dear little Asla just yet. Who knew what tasks needed to be done that she herself didn’t wish to waste her time on?
Instead, slowly, she lifted her head and shook it back and forth, as if trying to clear it from a fog. Glancing up at Zander who still held the sleeping human female snugly within his arms, Marquart cried, “No, please, not on my watch. What’s happened? Has Kitrina been injured? I’ll never forgive myself if she has.”
Chapter Eleven
The irate little gnome paced back and forth before the woman Zander loved with every fiber of his being, and he wished there was some way to protect her from what was coming. He couldn’t, though, and wouldn’t if he could. If he himself hadn’t been able to convince Kitrina of the unnecessary dangers she’d put herself in, perhaps the red-faced, purple-glove-wearing, lecture-giving Leeky Shortz could.
“What the constipated cramps, bouts of bilious burping, and fits of festering farts plaguing a dwarf dandy who consumed more than his fair share of pickled, peppered water buffalo penises were ya thinking, lass? I thought I taught ya better. A rogue, any rogue…even a really bad rogue, doesn’t let herself get caught sleeping on the job with her panties flapping in the wind and at the mercy of her enemies.”
Kitrina hung her head. “I know, Uncle Leeky. I know. I failed you. I failed myself. And worst of all, I’ve failed my family. I don’t deserve to lead this quest. I should turn it back over to Zander.”
Zander scowled. “No, you shouldn’t.”
He didn’t understand this Kitrina. Where was her fight, her fire, the determination he so loved? He didn’t know this woman who sat so still and defeated only a few feet away. He wanted to cross the room and shake her. He wanted to scoop her up safely within his arms once more and never let her go. He wanted to kiss every inch of her body until she burned, until she once more became the Kitrina he recognized. He needed to assure himself she was still in there somewhere. Right now, though, he wasn’t so sure she was.
Even though this Kit’s voice sounded like the Kitrina Dragonheart he knew and loved, that was where the real similarities ended. This woman looked as Zander had never seen his Kit look. Not even the day of her deflowering when she’d been so deeply humiliated. This Kitrina Dragonheart looked...as if she’d died in that library instead of simply succumbing to the effects of a potion.
Her normally spiky midnight-black hair hung limp and dull about her ears. Her stormy blue eyes were cloudy and red rimmed. Her lovely peach skin had lost its luster. She was so washed out, she appeared almost bloodless.
He shuddered. His heart stuttered and, in a moment of fear, slammed to a stop before once more resuming its pounding. He should do something, say something, anything, but what?
Leeky Shortz’s face pinkened, and he quickly patted Kitrina’s hand. “Now, don’t go being ta hard on yaself, lass. Wasn’t all ya fault, ya know.”
He made a production of crossing the room and kicking the shins of the very repentant Limburger brothers. The action brought the first real smile of the day to Zander’s face.
“What the smelly bellybutton lint marinating for a month in the dusty, crusty navel of an ogre onion farmer were ya two dunderheads thinking? Ya were sent ta protect our Kitten here, not laze about daydreaming of pizzle-twiddling Zander’s ex. And don’t ya dare insult my intelligence by denying it. I’ve seen the way ya both look at Asla.”
Ten opened his mouth to speak but then shook his head in defeat and shrugged his shoulders.
Zander had plenty to say on the subject of his ex-fiancé. “I caught her standing over Kitrina. I’m not sure what she was doing, but I have a very strong suspicion she’s up to her teeth in mischief. I don’t trust her.”
“No, she’s not.” Ten loudly insisted, with Levin nodding his head right beside him. “Asla’s not like that. You don’t know her the way we do. We’ll vouch for her innocence. If anybody’s to blame for what happened at the library, it’s that troll, Maycee. I’d stake my family’s secret cheese recipe on it.”
Kitrina shook her head. “No one’s to blame but me. This was my quest, my responsibility, and I let my guard down. It won’t happen again, I swear.” She took a deep breath. “Since we didn’t take those bottles of wine with us from here, we must assume that the drink could’ve been tampered with long before we ever got to that library, by whomever for whatever reason. And since we confi
scated those bottles without permission for our own use, we shouldn’t accuse anyone of wrongdoing without solid proof.” Her spine stiffened and a hint of a spark lit Kit’s previously dead eyes. “But, God Draka help Asla or Maycee or anybody else who tries to harm me or those I care for, ever again. I’m done playing nice, and I’m VoT tired of following the rules when others don’t.”
Zander nodded. Kitrina Dragonheart might very well have suffered a setback today, and she might very well have a ways to go to get back on her A game. But if the gleam now shining in her eyes was any indication, there was one thing Kit wasn’t. She was no longer defeated.
****
Zander’s lips grazed the sensitive spot right below her left ear, and Kitrina sighed. After the meeting with Leeky and the guys finally ended, they’d made their way back to Zander’s room and quickly undressed each other without either one of them uttering a single word. A fact Kitrina was very thankful for.
The last thing she wanted right this moment was to discuss what was or wasn’t found and what did or didn’t take place at the library. What she did want, what she desperately needed, was to be held tightly in this man’s arms, touched by this man’s hands, and kissed by this and only this man’s lips until every memory of the day, real or imagined, faded into oblivion.
He nipped the pulse point at the base of her throat and desire shot like lightning straight through her chest landing deep in her belly. Her nipples hardened, and her pussy ached with a want to be filled.
Still, they didn’t speak, not a syllable, not a groan, not even a moan, but she had no problem understanding exactly what Zander Hammerstrike was telling her with his hands, his mouth, his body, and his heart. He loved her, and she gloried in that knowledge.
The fingertips of one of his big hands grazed a nipple while the other held the back of her head steady and firm. His lips teased and flirted with first one eyelid and then the other before fluttering kisses upon her nose and cheeks. His leg slid its way up hers and wedged between her knees, parting her, opening her, readying her for what they both wanted, needed.
His cock rubbed her hip, hard and hot, first slow, then fast, and then slow again. His breath mingled with hers as he finally captured her lips in a kiss.
And God Draka, what a kiss it was—hot, hungry, and demanding, his tongue warring with hers, plundering her mouth, stealing her breath, and capturing her soul. He tasted of comfort and safety, of coming home, of desire, lust, laughter, and love all combined into one glorious flavor. A promise without words meant to last a lifetime and beyond. She kissed him back with a reverent silence she could only hope he understood.
Her heart hurt. Why him? And why did their destinies have to be so polar opposite and unchangeable?
He kissed away tears she hadn’t realized she allowed to fall and whispered against her hair. “Shh, forget everything else for just a while, my lady, and let me love you.”
And she did.
His entire body became a dazzling force of nature as his mouth, his fingers, his legs, and especially his cock all meshed into one magnificently functioning instrument of pleasure. Her skin tingled everywhere he touched her, and her heartbeat pounded in her ears as he slid over her and nestled his hips between her legs.
Time and place lost all meaning as, with one powerful thrust, his cock slid home. Her pussy clenched around him, her breath mingled with his, and her very heartbeat matched the cadence of his as their fingers intertwined.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the different textures, the sounds, the very essence of the man with her, above her, and most enjoyably inside her.
Ever so slowly and thoroughly, he fucked her. God Draka, he was big and hard and wonderful. The ridge of the head of his cock slid expertly along her pussy wall, leaving spirals of pleasure in its wake, while his thick shaft pulsed within her with a heat that lusciously burned from the inside out. His stroke was firm but controlled. Every clench of his thigh muscles, every undulation of his hips perfectly orchestrated to eke out the most pleasure possible…for her anyway.
But what of him?
She swatted his shoulder. “Let go, damn you. How many times must I say it? I’m not some fragile little flower. I won’t break. Fuck me like you mean it, barbarian.”
Zander chuckled. “I’ve never thought of you as a flower, Kit, fragile or otherwise.” He slid his cock home once more and she shivered. “A sleek tigress or a snarling leopard, even a cunning lioness, perhaps,” he whispered. “But never ever something as passive as a mere flower.”
Tears stung her eyes, and Kitrina gulped. “You have no idea how much I wish you were right.”
His response was to slip a hand between them and locate her clit. Once, twice, then a third time he stroked it, and Kitrina gasped as waves of delight washed through her. Her breath quickened, her thighs tingled, and her stomach tightened.
He leaned in close, nuzzled her neck, leaving tendrils of excitement shooting outward in his wake. “You, my lady, are my wild cat, and in charge of me and our quest. And in that quest, your wish is certainly my every command. But as to this endeavor,” he stroked her once more, “I’m the one on top at the moment and in charge of this particular fucking. I’ll see to it as I see fit. Though, I am a reasonable man and willing to compromise. Would you like to practice the art of compromise with me, Kitten?”
He enunciated his question with a quick deep thrust of his cock and a playful pinch to her clit that left Kitrina trembling and incapable of any answer but a nod.
Zander chuckled. “So, my lady truly is a little wild cat, isn’t she? And she really does wish to…copulate liked a barbarian?”
Again, she nodded.
Zander’s eyes lit with a mischievous gleam, and what could only be described as a wicked, wicked smile curved his lips. “It’s time for a change of strategy and pace then, I suppose.”
Kitrina held onto the man above her for dear life as gone were his slow sure strokes replaced with quick, wild, deep plunges. The fingers of his one hand flicked and stroked the super sensitive membranes of her swollen clit while his other hand stole away behind her and those fingers found the opening of her ass.
He smiled lecherously. “Turnabout’s far play, my lady, don’t you think?” Slowly, gently, and carefully, he inserted the tip of his middle finger into her ass, slipped it out again and back in. All the way back in.
She held her breath at the unexpected invasion, waiting for the beginning of a pain that never came. What did come was a deliciously overwhelming assault on her senses. Her pussy throbbed and quaked with every stroke of his cock. Her clit hummed and her ass tensed and tingled around every stroke of his fingers.
Pressure built higher and higher, starting in the pit of her belly and radiating outward. Consuming, engulfing, scorching her pussy, her clit, and her ass to the point she had no choice but give into her body’s demand or die from the simple gratification of it.
But still, Kitrina fought to stave it off. “No, no, not yet,” she cried as spasms of pure white heat flowed and rolled and pulsed through her.
When the orgasm was done, she lay panting in his arms. His cock still deep and hard within her body spurted forth its seed. She’d known it was about to happen, but her orgasm had come as a surprise and was, in a way, a disappointment. Not that her release hadn’t been just as marvelously magnificent as she’d known it would be, because it had been.
It was just… She wasn’t ready to give him up for even the remainder of this night, let alone…forever. She gulped.
Never, ever, in all of the times she’d lain with this man, whom she loved so dearly, and shared with him the ecstasy of her body flying apart into so many different pieces, had she ever regretted their lovemaking coming to its natural conclusion. But this time she did. This time had been too fast, too final. This time had felt, in some ways, almost like a goodbye. She wasn’t ready. She needed more time. She needed Zander for a lifetime. She’d need him forever.
“Don’t even think about fa
lling asleep on me yet, my lady. I’ve only begun to take my pleasure of you this night.”
Kitrina blinked back tears, smiled into the darkness, and wiggled her ass in invitation. “What a wonderful mind reader you are, barbarian. Carry on.”
Zander’s cock hardened within her sheath, and he began to fuck her once more. Her pussy thrummed about his cock, and she put away her fears and worries of the future. The anticipation of what lay before them this night was more than enough to occupy her mind, and it had her heart pounding and her thighs clenching him tight.
A smile that not even the threat of being cast into the pits of the Valley of Torment could wipe away graced her face, and she fucked him back with all the enthusiasm her heart contained.
No more words were said. No more words were needed. But she was gifted with four more orgasms, two more for him, before the first rays of a new dawn broke across the horizon and they closed their eyes in slumber.
****
Kitrina stretched. The muscles of her inner thighs ached, but she didn’t care. Last night’s wonderfully wild lovemaking session with Zander had been more than worth the few well-earned friction burns and scattered bruises that graced her body.
She gazed at the man she loved slumbering so contently beside her and couldn’t help but smile. Temptation to reach out and shake him awake for an encore filled her. She didn’t, though. For waking Zander might very well mean another bout of fun-filled frolicking, but it would, without a doubt, mean it was time to answer questions he hadn’t asked last night. Questions, she wasn’t so sure she was quite ready to answer.
She sighed, lay back, and snuggled up against the warm flesh of his chest. Not that she’d willingly admit it to him, but Zander had been right. What had she been thinking traveling to the library of human history with only Ten and Levin for protection? Not that anything really bad had happened, had it?
Kitrina chewed her bottom lip as glimpses of a memory or a dream, she wasn’t sure which, invaded her mind. Asla standing over her with Maycee in the background, asking... Asking questions she hadn’t wanted to answer but couldn’t seem not to. Questions about the Dragon Heart Opal. Questions about its properties, its possession. What had she told Zander’s ex? What had she said? What secrets, if any, could she have possibly divulged to the pair?
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