Chosen By The Berserker (Warlords 0f Farian Book 5)

by Bailey Dark

  The deluge was growing stronger, pounding down on us, and it was weighing on me, when Skarde started moving. He crept closer to me, then was kneeling in front of me. My heart beat even faster. I couldn’t look down at him, couldn’t move my concentration from demanding the rain not touch us, demanding the waves not over-roll our little skiff, that the lightning not strike us, that the sail keep the right course.

  “Ilisa,” Skarde said, “I will let you control me…” Then, he ran his hands up my legs, a firm, sliding touch, and my heart nearly exploded, leaping into my throat.

  Lightning glorified above and around us, the raging ocean lighting up, sparks danced all around us on the whitecaps, the reflection of our diminutive mast showing on numerous waves, and then his hands were on my waist, squeezing, and his fingers were finding their way under the band along my pant line.

  I gasped, my pulse out of control.

  “What are you doing, Skarde…?”

  “May I, Ilisa?”

  I couldn’t believe what was happening, what I was feeling… The extreme power and fatigue of the telekinetic pull of the storm, and then Skarde was unbuttoning my pants and tugging them down my hips. I cast a quick look down at him and then back at the storm, unable to spare a moment away from what was life or death if I was distracted.

  This power… This power I had never felt before…

  Permission… Was I giving him permission?

  “I think you have already given me permission, Bravo Ilisa…”

  How had he heard my thought? Had I said it in his mind? But… “Yes… I want this...”

  Then his fingertips were pressing into the skin on my hips as he tugged down my pants, just a little… just enough… As I braced us, held the sail steady, fought off the waves, the rain, the lightning, the storm surge, and I was gasping for breath.

  Skarde bit my hip and I moaned.

  The storm raged around us and I directed it.

  Not us, you will not take us, storm!

  He licked down my hips, down my pelvis, then found my clit and I nearly faltered where I was standing. The sail shook, fell flat, and the sailboat swooned.

  I shook my head as his hands gripped me and shook me back to my task.

  I giggled and took a sharp breath, redirecting my attention steadily.

  The storm! Fight the storm!

  Let him enjoy me… Enjoy this… But keep us alive…

  I had to get us home…

  Skarde’s hands wrapped around my ass, his fingers kneading the flesh and his tongue flicked at my clit. I moaned. I wanted to wrap my hands in his hair, his luscious long hair, but I kept my hands trained on the storm, the telekinesis that was flushing through my body, that was directing us home, that was making me a god.

  And we were so close. We were just upon the mooring field. Now, to weave through the boats and head to the dock.

  Skarde sucked in hard and my eyes rolled back in my head a moment and I breathed in sharply… I have to focus… I can’t believe this is happening… I blinked rapidly as his tongue explored me… tasting my pussy juices… His talented tongue curling in and out of my curves and then his fingers entered me, thrusting in and out as he sucked.

  Then I slotted us into a slip at the dock and grabbed for a cleat.

  As I lunged for the dock and let my hands drop, so did the telekinetic bubble protecting us, and the rain unleashed, the gale hit us full force. The sail had dropped, and I had telekinetically wound it up, but it was still flapping a little loosely. Skarde wiped his mouth and hopped up to secure it more fully. I moved to tie us to the dock, feeling weak-kneed, fighting against the mighty winds hitting us.

  The rain was swamping us and I was bare ass to it. I lashed the lead to the cleat and then pulled up my pants. I looked at Skarde as he hopped up on the side of the dock and bent down to offer me a hand up. He pulled me up and held me in his arms.

  I was unsteady, lightheaded. He smiled at me and I blushed furiously, the sensations of his fingertips burning into my rain and sea-wettened skin.

  What the hell had just happened?

  “I don’t… I don’t understand…”

  “Bravo Ilisa… You proved yourself. I hope I proved myself, a bit. We both have a long way to go for each other, I know, but… A little more trust, I hope…” Skarde brushed a strand of my hair away and I ducked away from his hand. He grabbed my jaw and pulled it back, similar to how he had done on Vailstor, what seemed so long ago. But, this time, it was softer, kind, and, in his eyes, was longing.

  I shivered to think of his tongue between my legs and the amazing power I had felt coursing through me, the mesmerizing spell of the telekinesis and just being lost in it… Lost in him…

  I took his hand and squeezed it. “Let’s go get dry…”

  Skarde looked at me and smiled, a more genuine smile than I had seen from him yet. It was alarmingly charming.

  “I’ll race you.”

  Then, without warning, he shoved back from me, presumably to get a head-start, and took off running up the docks. I laughed and sprinted after him in the rain, leaving the little sailboat bobbing in the storm.

  Seven

  Skarde

  We passed only a few people on our breathless haste to my quarters. They saluted properly, but didn’t question our run. We had no need to answer any questions they asked, anyway. It was known that Bravo Ilisa was my Chosen Farian liaison. She was my right hand here. That would just become more apparent in the next few weeks as we moved forward with whatever military strategy King Kajo was going to present at the meeting tomorrow.

  There was already festive music coming from the main hall, but we ducked quickly away from that passage and headed upstairs. We had at least an hour before our absence at the feast would be suspicious and Ilisa was right: we needed to get dry.

  But, I wanted to get her more wet, first.

  I unlocked the doors to my chambers and then locked the doors again behind us. Ilisa walked behind me, her hands clasped tightly in front of her, eyes shining bright, those blue flecks dancing in the brown shine from the lights as they flickered on. I was finding it hard to look away from her. She was intoxicating. I could still taste her on my lips…

  “Please, pour us some wine,” I said, gesturing to the table nearby that held my liquor. She walked toward it and I headed to the dormer windows that lined the harbor facing wall. I drew open one set of the windows that reached the height of the tall ceiling.

  The giant bed’s canopy cover fluttered in the wind as the storm rushed in. I braced myself in the open air, looking out to sea over the ramparts of the castle. The storm we had just battled in the fair little sailboat was bearing down on my new kingdom, the mighty rain unleashing, the lightning flaring, the thunder cracking.

  I had a few different types of storm to face in this new kingdom… I took a deep breath and turned to face Ilisa.

  My heart nearly stopped.

  She was standing naked, holding two wine glasses, the lightning flashing against her naked body, revealing the dark circles of her nipples, the luscious curves of her body, the rippling tone of her athletic muscles, the desirous area I had already explored, and the slight imperfections of battle scars that glinted differently in the flashes: stories I hoped I would hear.

  Ilisa strode toward me, slinking, step by step in pace with my heartbeat, picking up the pace, my pulse loud in my ears, heat rising in my chest, in my temples, in my torso, and in my pants, which were steadily tightening.

  “Would you like some wine?”

  I reached for the offered glass and our fingertips brushed and I shivered at the touch of her skin. There was really something so unique about her… A challenge, a battle, a toughness. Here she was, naked, but there was in the air a remarkable truth that still made me know that she wasn’t mine to have, yet. This was a taunt, a challenge, I still had to earn her.

  I drained the glass, surprised I was a little shaky. Her eyes were intense as they watched me. Damnit, was she reading my min
d? She looked away as I had the thought and that made my fists clench and teeth grit. Was that a confirmation of the idea? Was she reading my mind?

  “There is a battle coming, Skarde…” Ilisa sidled up to me, lips moist, eyes open and inviting. She drained her own wine, then put her glass on a nearby table. She moved all the way close to me. I gasped as her fingertips traced my cheek, down my jawline, moved to my lips. They reached down and tugged at my wet tunic. “I’m ready to battle beside you.” She let her hand trail down my chest, then moved her fingertips to her own chest, wove a line between her breasts, drawing my eyes to watch the curves of them swell with her breaths, then she moved her fingers over their luscious rise and played with each of her nipples. I moaned, an involuntary gasp of desire, because I wanted to be the one touching those nipples, I wanted to be the one playing with those naked peaks of desire…

  I reached out and put one of my hands on her cheek. She nuzzled into it, then moved it down to her waist, then took the glass from my other hand and put it on a nearby shelf so she could place my other hand on her hip. Her skin was cool, cold to the touch.

  “You’re freezing cold.”

  “It was cold in that storm. I expended a lot of heat using the telekinetic powers. I need warmed up.”

  Her eyes looked up at me calmly, no judgement, no real intention either. Just open.

  Why was I hesitating? She was so gorgeous… Her moon-shaped face, so round, so pale in the striking lightning from outside, the wind rushing in the window blowing back her hair, drying out the raindrops from its shining light brown sheen… And the way each strike lit up her skin…

  I let my eyes rove up and down her body, then I guided her to the bed, just gently pushing her, my fingertips still where she had placed my hands. Then I gripped her, picking her up effortlessly, and laid her on the bed. I pulled the covers around her and tucked her in.

  “Warm yourself up, Ilisa.”

  She snuggled deeper into the pillows and watched me from deep within their nestle as I pulled my shirt off, then tugged the rest of my clothes off. I enjoyed watching her eyes go wide as I revealed every piece of my body, knowing I was a rippling muscular masterpiece from all my years in the mines.

  I lifted the covers of the bed and curled into the bed with her. I pulled her in close to my chest.

  “Ah shit, I should have lit a fire,” I said, and began to move back out. She pulled me back, then sat up. She waved her hands toward the fireplace, signaling the logs and matches and kindling to arrange, then deftly made a fire with her tele powers. It flared to life, gained a bit of air, then flushed forth. Lastly, she closed the dormer window, and dropped her head back to my chest.

  Ilisa nuzzled into me and I braced her against myself, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead.

  “We have twenty minutes to get warm, dry off, and then we will need to get dressed and make it down to dinner.”

  “I know. Let’s just enjoy this…”

  I kissed her on the forehead again and thrilled with the little spark that went through my lips as I kissed her. I remembered the electricity that seemed to pulse from her pussy through my mouth and lips as I tongued her while she braced us on the boat in the storm. Maybe the process of learning telekinetics would be worth losing some of my control… Maybe… Maybe this Bravo warrior alone would be worth it.

  I shook my head slightly as she sighed into my chest and hugged me tighter.

  I couldn’t imagine I would ever be completely sure of that, but Ilisa was doing a bloody good job trying to convince me.

  Eight

  Skarde

  Kajo, Cartari, Axis, two Harthens, and the five Bristolans were already in the command room when I entered that morning, including Ilisa. I locked eyes with her for a moment and her lips curled in a slight smile that I hoped was just for me, but then her look returned steady and her eyes moved to King Kajo as he opened his arms wide to welcome me. Everyone was standing around a tall, oval table that was really a large computer screen.

  “Welcome, Duke Skarde. I trust you slept well after the feast last night.”

  “Thank you, King Kajo. Indeed.”

  Actually, I had slept hardly at all. I had been too restless with thoughts of Ilisa. I had wanted to run to her quarters, and might have indeed, if I had known where they were. The feast had been splendid, and I had sat next to her, but the presence of so many other people in the room had been a separation that we couldn’t cross with anything more than the occasional look and brushing of fingertips under the table. I had done my Dukely duties and responded to many offers of support and alliance from the surrounding nobility as they came forward and presented themselves to both the King and myself with tithes and pledges, but, all night my mind had been on those kisses and the riveting electricity of lightning playing on Ilisa’s bare skin.

  I hungered for more.

  We had gone separate ways after the feast, Modifi escorting me back to my room with an all-too-knowing look that made me recognize he had read far too much of my mind and was being protective of his Bravo and friend.

  And, now, I had to watch my thoughts while my hands ached to touch her skin and my tongue ached to explore the curves of her neck because I was in the company of the most skilled mind-readers of the kingdom…

  Or, at least in the company of the ones who wielded the most power.

  I heaved a sigh and looked at the giant screen in front of us, flashing different information about the Duke and his faction leaders.

  “Let’s get started,” Kajo said, clapping his hands and gesturing to the two Harthens. “You know Commander Damox and Bravo Renin, the two leaders of the military forces here in the Harthen Dukedom. They will be your spearheads, alongside your trusted Chosen Bravo Ilisa, of course. Ilisa and Renin trained under Prince Axis when he Commanded the Special Operations, actually, in the Bristola units. Both fought under Commander Cartari for quite some time.”

  I nodded to the two Harthen soldiers. They looked strong and capable, both rakishly good-looking, muscular, well-outfit, like they could handle themselves, and surveyed me with an openness that stated the would hold their respect until I had earned it but without granting contempt until I had earned that either. That was all I could ask for.

  “Our biggest weakness is in the northern mines. Those workers, and their leaders, are still behind Fenvitz. Not only that, they are independently provided for, as far as resources, outlets, and access go. They can survive without Harthen for quite a while. They are commonly called the Kall. There’s really only one access point to get to them from Harthen main mine entry, so they can hold us off from taking them back.” Renin pointed down as the diagram showed on the screen on the table. I studied the layout to memorize the mine schematic. The technology of the flashing computer screen was certainly more advanced than what we had on Vailstor.

  “How can they hurt us from the Kall? Why can’t be just let them be?”

  “The trains. Our main holding depot is stationed right beside the Kall’s water source. So they protect the depot. Or, more, hold it hostage at this point.”

  I looked at the beautiful aerial view of the depot. They must have taken the shot with drones, or planes soaring over it. It showed gentle hills rolling back from purple forests and yellows plains with fully loaded train cars, frajili spilling from the stacks and men and women in workers outfits rushing about. For the first time, an earnest desire to get rolling, to get started with this job General Truloy had tasked me to, really pulled at my heart. I did love getting a good job done. There was a reason Astrida pulled out the best calasis and most efficient loads on Vailstor: I could do this.

  “The water source, then.” I pointed at the cool mountain pool just off from the train depot.

  King Kajo nodded.

  “Yes, that’s what we are thinking, too. We need to limit their access to the source, but we haven’t figured out how, yet. Other than a full scale attack, which will risk life lost on both sides. Not just soldiers, either. There will
be civilian casualties. So, until Fenvitz draws us out into that battle, we will wait.”

  “We must wait for him to strike at Harthen again? Even after he stole so much from our armory? He has already declared war!” That familiar heat was rising in my chest and I took a sharp breath to calm it.

  “We will prepare a tactical approach to attack their water source, but we will wait until he attacks Harthen again.”

  I glared at the Beast King. His eyes never wavered, the scar over his right eye not so much as quivering. The silence in the room was tense.

  Prince Axis finally coughed. “So it be, then. There are other weaknesses we must also be concerned about.”

  I swung my head to look at Ilisa, knowing exactly what they were going to talk about next. She was already stepping toward me, hand outstretched. She rested her hand on my arm, and her touch soothed me, so that I anchored myself in the sensation of her fingertips, rather than reaching out to grab a water carafe off a side table and smash it to the ground.

  “I have spoken with Duke Skarde about the mental tactics we need to take to defend his mind,” Ilisa said.

  “It is not a simple concern.” Kajo’s words were serious and firm again. “Fenvitz will very likely create an entire unit intent on mentally controlling you, Duke Skarde. We cannot have this happen. I know you might find it hard to believe, that such a thing can happen, but I can assure you, it is a very real possibility. We must make sure you are armored in every way.”

  My chest was starting to heave, my breath coming short: I was seeing red. Heat had risen in my temples and fists were clenched. Ilisa’s grip had tightened on my arm.

  “I don’t believe I can be so easily controlled.” I could only get the words out through fully grit teeth.

  King Kajo frowned at me.

  “It is not about it being easy for us.” He gestured at Cartari.