by Stacy Jones
As stubborn as she was, her men could be worse, and if they thought they were protecting her? There’d be no reasoning with them. Hell, if she pushed them too far just then, she wouldn’t put it past them to find some way of collapsing the tunnel so she couldn’t return.
Knowing she only had seconds before her men reached them, she made a decision and clasped his wrist. He immediately tried to jerk away, but she held on. When he realized she wasn’t going to let go unless he pried her off, he sucked in a short breath and went still again.
Flipping his hand over, she set her last throwing star and the extra healing ring in his palm. She reached for his other hand and traced his fingers over first one, then the other.
“Use the star to break the chain and the ring to heal yourself.”
She very quickly told him how to operate both, just in case he wasn’t familiar with them. With her men rapidly approaching, she slowly released his hands, letting her fingers trail over his.
“If you want to find me, just follow your nose. We’re in the tunnel to your right when you enter the main cavern. We could use your help to get out of here and… I’d like to get to know you.”
The words felt entirely inadequate, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say. With a final sigh, she turned away to intercept her men, but hesitated long enough to add, “I hope you come.”
After ushering her two angry mates, still angling for a little revenge, to the entrance, she set down a few of their food and water pouches then glanced back.
An idea hit her. Purposefully speaking loudly enough for him to hear, she announced, “Let’s go find the other prisoners. See what they know.”
Her men immediately opened their mouths to object, but she managed to stave them off until they were out of earshot of the dragon.
They’d just reached the main cavern when a faint boom reached her ears.
A smile curled her lips. She’d known he wouldn’t be able to stay behind if he thought she was headed into a potentially dangerous situation, not after his reaction to a little scratch.
Overprotective men. So predictable.
Speaking of, Kix and Tirox were stubbornly leading her back to their cave. They made valid arguments as to why finding the other prisoners was a bad idea just then. Well, Kix made valid arguments, skilled peacemaker that he was. And she knew he was right. Smelling like arousal and blood on top of being naked was asking for trouble. Tirox mostly just growled, still a bit peeved she hadn’t let him shoot the dragon.
She didn’t argue, and, yet, for some odd reason, they didn’t seem to believe she was agreeing with them.
Hmmph. I’m not that damn bullheaded.
They kept at it until they decided they had no other choice than to wear her out with sex.
Hiding a wry smile, she threw her hands up and sighed, “Fine. You win! I guess we could hold off for a couple of hours.”
She caught them exchanging victorious grins over the top of her head and snorted.
She knew it was selfish, but just then, she was thankful they’d ended up in the dungeon. There were people to save, bad guys to take down, and, yes, she felt more than a little guilty for not trying harder to escape, but this time with her men was precious, and she planned to enjoy it.
Chapter 29
Aria…
She’d come, after he'd struggled for what felt like eons to convince himself the wraith that haunted his thoughts was a fabrication of his broken, fractured mind. The fierce female with golden skin and flowing, black head filaments that he could not remember and, yet, could not forget, could not possibly be real.
But, she was there, her scent filling his nose, her touch on his scarred body, her need like honeyed sap on his tongue.
He did not need sight to know her. He would recognize her anywhere, no matter how many senses they stole from him.
But, as with all things in his life, pleasure came with pain.
The males he scented were not threats, but mates. Her mates.
For one shining, intoxicating moment, he’d felt his mind returning, calming from its constant storm of rage, and then those words…
“They’re my mates.”
The pain was crippling, worse than any wound he endured during his many, many battles.
His Light, his Only had found him, but too late.
She was taken from him before he had even really accepted that she was real.
The rage returned, and with it, the Beast. It filled his mind with whispers, urging him to kill her mates, to take her for his own, to claim her.
And then, he’d done something unforgivable, something more shameful than the thousands of deaths that tormented his dreams.
I hurt her.
He could still feel her lifeblood under his claws, could still hear her hiss of pain—pain he caused—echoing in his ears.
Clarity returned in an instant, drowning out the whispers, but with it came horror.
Her mates had been ready to kill him. He had been ready to die. But, she’d stopped them, spoke to him in soft words, telling him she was alright.
She did not understand.
He knew the wound he inflicted was not fatal. It was that he’d caused her pain at all that proved he was beyond hope. Her blood on his hands confirmed his worst fears. The damage to his mind was irreparable. He was too far gone to be saved.
He’d been a slave for longer than he could remember, but some things you never forget. A Thrarian’s only purpose in life was to protect his Svarian, his roínseah. A male’s only honor was to ensure she never came to harm, to feed her, care for her, protect her with his life, should needs be.
He was left with only two choices now. He could either kill himself to make amends and regain even a shred of his honor, or he could resign himself to a lifetime of punishment and take on the mantle of Vrasai.
Vrasai were males who’d shamed themselves beyond forgiveness. They were outcasts whose lives were forfeit. They spend the remainder of their days guarding their roínseah from afar, never to bathe in her Light again, forced to watch as she took another.
Aria had two mates. She did not need a Vrasai. He should show her his sorrow by cutting out his own heart and presenting it to her with his last breath.
He should do that and, yet…
Her parting words before she left him alone in the darkness decided it for him.
She was going to search out the males that shared this prison of stone with him. All were deadly. He could not leave her alone to face them. He had only one choice.
I choose Vrasai.
He quickly slid the healing ring on his finger and gathered every stone his chain allowed him to reach, then piled them on top of the weapon she’d gifted him.
He must free himself first. Healing could wait. He did not need his eyes to track her. He would heal himself later. It was a gift he’d neither earned nor deserved, but one she bade him use, and so he would, if only to better protect her. But, not now. Now, he must find her and ensure she did not come to harm while he was selfishly tending to himself.
Hardening the skin of his back, he braced. The explosion made his ears ring and filled the air with a choking cloud of dust, but the shrapnel bounced off of him harmlessly.
With the broken chain held in one hand, he sprinted for the exit, only to skid to a stop when he picked up the scent of food under the dust.
Raising his chin, he pulled in more of the smell. He was sure, at first, that he was only imagining it. It would not be the first time his mind had tricked him into thinking he could smell something to fill the aching hole in his stomach. But, when he dropped to his knees and felt around, he found them. Five, no, six, pouches of food and water.
For a moment, he was angry, full of rage and bitter amusement thinking Zhrovni had left this pile just out of reach to torture him, only to fail, because he had not known they were there. But, when he raised the packages to his nose, he caught her scent.
He could not have been more stunned if he’d woken
to find himself free and back on his homeworld.
She left these? She… feeds me?
He had not thought he could feel more shame, but he was wrong. It was not the way for a female to feed a male, but he did not care about that. Unheard of or not, he would never reject a gift from her. No, that was not what had his lungs squeezing until he could scarcely draw breath.
It was that she would leave something as precious as food for a male who’d lost all honor that made him feel as though he’d been gutted. It told him exactly what kind of female she was and exactly what a rare and precious gift he’d lost.
She was without equal.
Forcing his heartache down, knowing he had no time to indulge his pain while she moved farther and farther away, he gathered the bounty she’d left him and pushed to his feet.
Once he picked up their scent trail, he followed at a distance. Not too far that he could not get to her should she need him, but just far enough to remain undetected.
When he overheard her mates urging her to return to their cave, he relaxed. They were wise. It would, indeed, be reckless to hunt for the killers down there while she smelled of blood and sex.
Now that he knew she wasn’t headed directly into danger, he allowed himself to eat. He hadn’t been willing to do so before, thinking he needed to be ready to fight at any moment, but they would’ve cleared their dwelling already.
He wanted to savor the gifts she’d given him, but hunger robbed him of that restraint. He devoured all the food and water in a matter of moments then immediately paid for his lack of self-control. His stomach cramped so violently, unused to having anything filling it, that he almost lost everything he’d just eaten. Bowing over, he grit his teeth and swallowed hard, but forced himself to keep moving, keeping his steps silent.
Focusing on her voice to distract himself from the pain in his stomach, he caught the various names she called her mates. It reminded him that she’d asked his name.
And I did not give it to her. By the stars, I am a fool.
He swore to tell her at first opportunity, then frowned. He could not remember…
His various masters usually called him Beast or Killer, but that was not the name by which he wished her to know him.
It was there, in the back of his mind, teasing him. He could almost taste the sound of it.
Thrasin. I am Thrasin.
There was more to it, but he could not find those sounds. Still, pleased with what he remembered, he vowed to share it with her… if he was allowed the chance. She would not choose another for him as she had her mates: Red, Firefly. Those she said with affection, warmth. He did not deserve that honor. But, just hearing her taste his true name was a blessing he would treasure.
All thought of names disappeared when they reached their cave, and the unmistakable sounds of mating immediately reached his ears.
Thrasin came to a halt as quickly as if he’d run into a wall.
The scent of her arousal drifted back to where he stood in shadow. It arrowed through him like a spear. In an instant, his cock was as hard as the shackle still locked around his ankle.
This was what it meant to be Vrasai. And, yet, the darkness rose in his mind, whispering…
Take her.
Kill her mates.
Fuck her.
No!
He’d been a slave too long. That other side had grown too strong.
He fought against it, forced his feet to stay rooted on the stone beneath him, but the effort left him shaking.
Fisting his hand around his cock, he squeezed until the pain brought back a sliver of clarity. He meant to stop there. He tried to stoically endure the agony of smelling her pleasure.
But he could not.
His cock, slick with the wetness meant to ease his entrance into the tight clasp of her opening, instead eased his fist down his length.
He had to clench his teeth to silence a groan when he slid over the ultra sensitive ridges lining the top of his shaft.
Her moans filled his ears until they were all he could hear. He was drowning in the sweet scent of her cunt. He could not stop.
Turning to lean against the wall, he yielded, shuttling his fist up and down his cock, his movements rough, jerky, almost as much pain as pleasure. It was either this or go in there, slaughter her mates, and fuck her over and over again like the beast his owners labeled him.
He would not—could not—give in to the whispers.
So, he remained in the darkness, listening to someone else bring her pleasure, and forced himself into release again and again until the urge to take her, willing or not, quieted to a dull roar in his mind.
By the time he’d emptied himself, he was shaking violently, and his cock was aching from the abuse, but it barely took the edge off. He was still hard as stone and struggling to keep the feral darkness in his mind from consuming him.
Knowing if he stayed there any longer he’d break, he did the only thing he could. He retreated until her scent no longer filled his nose, until her pleasure was just a whisper in the distance.
But, not too far. Never too far.
Guarding, protecting, waiting…
He had to remain in the shadows until he could control the darkness in his mind, because Beast did not wait for her to need him. He waited for her mates to leave her vulnerable so he could claim her.
And Thrasin could not allow that.
Chapter 30
Aria sighed blissfully and a wicked smile curled her lips as she floated in the river, still recovering from not one, but two bouts of mind-blowing sex.
Her pussy was still throbbing, her nipples were dark red and swollen, and, if she had a mirror, she was sure she’d find her neck and shoulders a mess of mottled hickies and bite marks to match the ones decorating her inner thighs.
Kix got to her first when they arrived at their cave, taking her with the same unbridled wildness he’d unleashed their first time together. And Tirox, instead of leaving as he had before, watched.
Exibitionism wasn’t her thing… or so she thought. They proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it most assuredly was, with them at least.
Feeling her barbarian’s hungry gaze on her while she rode Kix to a shattering orgasm was intensely erotic. When they finished, she hadn’t even stopped twitching before Tirox hauled her up and fucked her hard until she came for him again and again, not allowing his own release until she was hoarse from screaming.
Was there a bit of one upmanship going on?
Absolutely.
Was she upset about that?
Her smirk widened into a grin.
Not in the least.
Now, she was floating in the river while Tirox gently bathed her. Kix was under the water somewhere, exploring where the river led and if it would serve as a way out of the dungeon.
It was a delay tactic to keep her in the cave a while longer, but she was fine with that. It needed to be checked, he was armed in case he ran into river monsters, and she was content, for the moment, to just breathe.
Right up until something touched her foot.
Gurgling on a scream, Aria was up and out of the water like a shot. She climbed Tirox like a tree until she was wrapped around him like a wet, naked monkey.
“Jesus fucking Christ! Go, go, go! Get out of the damn water!”
In response to her panic, he chuckled.
Appalled at his reaction, but more concerned with becoming something’s meal, she twisted around, frantically searching the water for whatever human-eating monstrous creature had just touched her. She almost had a damn heart attack when she spotted something big and shiny streaming toward them from the dark depths of the middle of the river.
It surfaced less than two feet away.
It was a… It was…
“Kix!”
He rose like a shimmery, grey leviathan until his laughing blue eyes were visible, his pupils sparkling and flashing with mirth, then higher until she could see his wide, devilish smile.
“Oh, y
ou sonofa… ”
She was working up to a really good rant when he stood and began prowling closer, his grin never fading.
Her words slowly trailed off to nothing as her eyes fell to follow the water droplets streaming over his deliciously muscular chest and abs. His skin, usually pearlescent, was shimmering so intensely it looked like he was carved from dark grey opal, and he had that predatory sharpness to his features that never seemed to fail to make her breathless.
Just before he could grab her, she glanced up and caught the scheming look he sent to Tirox.
“Oh, no you don’t!” she growled.
Hooking her feet on Tirox’s hips, she used him to push herself into a backflip. She landed in a crouch on the bank, then stood and gave them both a droll look.
“Did you find a way out?” At his reluctant head shake, she sighed, “Then no more distracting me with orgasms. It’s time to track down the other slaves.”
Turning, she headed for her pile of weapons and began strapping them on, ignoring the splash as they followed her out of the water. She gathered up a few each of their remaining food and water pouches as well, tucking them into her various harnesses, in case they needed to bribe someone into talking with them.
“Come back to the nest, my heart,” Tirox rumbled coaxingly. “Let us taste your sweet cunt but one more time before we leave.”
She went still as an image of his swirling golden eyes watching her from between her legs flashed through her mind.
“Tempting… ” she breathed.
Damned tempting.
“But no. Strap on your weapons and join me or stay here and keep the… nest warm. Either way, I’m going,” she declared, throwing an amused look back at them.
She started up the shaft leading out. The moment she was out of sight, she heard them scrambling to dress and stopped to lean against the tunnel wall.
She heard her barbarian grumble, “Should have made her clench until she dropped to slumber.”
Smirking, she shook her head and answered back, “I look forward to seeing you try.”
He was in the tunnel not half a second later. Glancing up at his face, she realized she’d made a mistake in issuing that challenge.
