DarykHunter (13 page)

The thought swam in her mind that being mated with him, being subject to his power and purpose could snuff the independence and life from a woman. Just as such an agreement did to Magonian women. She didn’t want that.

“Would your mate have to do everything you said?” She tried a piece of the white meat and the taste burst on her tongue. She didn’t know what she was eating.

“No.” His answer came quickly. “I told you our women are free.”

Surprise followed her. “But your culture is barbaric. You were willing to take pleasure in front of two women at the same time.”

He shrugged as he reached for a tankard and sniffed the contents. “You have much to learn about our ways. Give yourself time to get used to it.”

“I do not want to get used to it. You make it sound like I’m staying in Dragonia forever. I must get back to my father.”

He smiled and took a long swallow from the tankard. “Scullidig finds the best drink.” When she gave him an impatient look, he answered, “My mate is the only woman I could or want to fuck.” As she licked one finger of juice, his nostrils flared. “And after tonight, I have to admit the truth to myself. I didn’t want to believe it.”

She eyed him with caution. “What truth?”

“That as much as I’ve denied it, you are the woman who I am meant to be with all my life. You are mine.”

“Ridiculous.” Alarm raced through her, as well as a treacherous warmth that flooded from her loins and straight into her chest and face. “I must go back to Magonia and save my father. I can’t stay here with you.”

He lifted one eyebrow. “I saw how you shoved that woman out of here. You did not want her to see me take my pleasure. Why?”

She sputtered. “Because you…I…”

He wiped his hands on a cloth and came toward her. He lifted his hand and tilted her head to the side, his gaze on her neck. “I think it’s because you care for me. You did not want another woman to touch me. If I’d been alone, if I wasn’t mated, I would have let her suck my cock, or perhaps if she’d been clean, I would have fucked her.”

No. By the god, he wouldn’t look at another woman. She wouldn’t allow such intimacies with that wench. “No.”

Oh no.

To feel this out of control around him, to want him with an ache that bordered on painful, she’d have to harbor feelings for him. Carnal and personal feelings. “I’ve never felt like this before. It’s odd. It… I don’t understand it.”

“You’re awakening to your sexual side, Ketera. The one the Magonians have denied you. You think Dragonian mates are barbaric, but they are not. As I’ve told you before, our women enjoy all freedoms except putting themselves in danger. Magonians deny you school, play, clothing, enjoyment, everything we can provide. We are alive. Magonians live day to day in a skeleton world of half promises and lies. You know this from these texts. You’ve told me so yourself. Do not deny what you’ve found here with me.”

Speechless, she watched as he returned to the table, reached for a cloth and dipped it into a salve that sat on a small dish. “This is for your cut. It will heal in a few moments.” His touch stayed gentle as he cleaned her, the slight sting gone. “There is a bathing room through that other door if you’d like to clean up.”

She quaked inside, stunned by his change about. They’d gone from sex to baths in a heartbeat. “Yes, of course.”

Ketera rummaged through the clothes the woman had brought and found a woman’s purple tunic and shirred pants with wide legs. “Too delicate for a jungle journey.”

“Indeed. But at least you have clean clothes.”

Realizing she didn’t have a choice, she hurried away from him, eager to remove herself from the power in his gaze, the seduction in his touch. Watching him spill his life force had been amazing. Forbidden. Tempting as a cake eaten in the morning rather than saved for an evening meal.

The narrow door opened, and she reached for a candle lit upon a table. It barely illuminated the room, but she could see well enough. She closed the door and noted there was no lock. If Dane wanted to enter and see her nakedness, he could do so with no problem.

While Ketera explored the bathing room, she tried to grasp what she’d experienced since leaving the tavern near Grimnald Castle. She turned to the basin attached to the wall and used it to wash her hands and face. Several thick cloths lay stacked on a small wooden table by the basin, and she used them to dry off. After using the commode and stripping naked, she pulled the cord on the wall that allowed water to rain down from a pipe. It cascaded over her in a warm spray, which she hadn’t expected. At home she’d become used to cold water. She didn’t take long to wash her hair with the soap provided, and quickly lather and rinsed her body. She felt so much better. A little lightheaded in a pleasant and sleepy way, she dried off again. She stepped out of the bathing room and found Dane standing by a window, looking through parted curtains.

When he turned to look at her, she shivered, but not from the cold of her damp hair or the cool night. Heat invaded her at his look—a look that suggested he’d never seen anything more beautiful, more edible than her. He would devour her, she knew, if she didn’t take care. A man, a warrior like this, apparently didn’t have the social manners she’d become used to on Magonia. Getting used to that fact would take more time.

“What are you looking at?” she asked, full knowing the answer.

He grinned but didn’t speak. Without another word Dane stripped off his metal breastplate and unbelted his tunic. He tossed the belt on a chair and the breastplate against the leg of a chair. The tunic ended up on the chair too. Bare-chested, he reminded her of what attracted her in the first place. Sheer animal power. As she watched without thinking, he unlaced his trousers Once more his thick erection was bared, and she couldn’t help but look. She jerked her gaze away as he drew his trousers off his legs. He’d apparently removed his boots while she cleaned up. Watching him undress shouldn’t do anything to her. After all, she’d seen him do it before. This time it had a significance she couldn’t articulate.

He walked past her and into the bathing room. After he closed the door, she yawned. She was so tired, her body aching from the ordeal. She lay on the bed and turned over on her right side, her heartbeat pounding as she allowed his naked body to form an image in her mind over and over. Water splashed in the bathroom, and she closed her eyes. Before long she felt the bed sink down beside her. She was too tired and sore to care, hoping that Dane wouldn’t either. His arms came around her, pulling her close so that he cradled her back against him. Within moments the heat of his body eased her.

His hand brushed over her hair, his warm breath teased her ear. “Rest, sprite. No harm will come to you in my arms. Rest.”

No harm will come to me in his arms, just a lot of tossing, turning and trying to figure out why I feel all squirmy and so hot.
That was her last thought before she forced her eyes shut and hoped that sleep would erase the image of his hand sliding up and down his cock.

Chapter Eight

Ketera awakened to warm palms sliding over her with sweet attention. She sighed at the comfort, mixed with an aching arousal that already built between her thighs. Dane’s powerful arms turned her over on her back, and as she opened her eyes, he propped on his right forearm and looked down at her. His other arm bracketed her, making certain she couldn’t escape. She hovered between asking him to release her and falling into his eyes, never to return. Curiosity burned with a solid yearning she battled hard to suppress. She wanted to know what it felt like under his touch, to experience passion once more, to discover what it would feel like with his long, hard cock inside her.

She glanced to the curtains and the dim light showed enough to prove morning had arrived. Time to move on, to finish her quest, no matter the cost.

What of Dane? Would he vow to continue his help? His eyes blazed red, but then softened to a glow more golden than fiery. Within them she saw genuine affection, and it warmed her to the core. She lifted her arms and slid them upward over his forearm, upward to his biceps, testing muscle as she went.

When she reached his broad shoulder, she caressed. “There’s so much about this world I don’t understand.”

“Stay with me and I’ll teach you.”

She shook her head. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t. My father needs me.”

He nodded, and for the first time she thought she saw more understanding inside him than she ever had. “Very well. I would rather help you than have you run off. And you are certainly clever enough to do it. I warn you though, if you stay with me I’ll try to seduce you at every turn.”

“You can try, but I’m not one to be intimidated by an aggressive man.”

She licked her lips, remembering that Bantu had told her some strange things. Was now the time to tell Dane?

Before she could speak, he lowered his head and kissed her. As his palm slid down to the side of her breast, her skin prickled with awareness and sensitivity. She gasped into his mouth and shivered.

He drew back. “Stay with me. Let me give you pleasure.”

“I need to get to my father.”

“Not yet. You’re tired. You need to rest a while longer.”

“Is kissing me a part of my rest?” Doubt colored her voice.

With a grin he dipped his head and gently brushed his mouth along her jaw, sprinkling small kisses until he reached her ear.

“Yes,” he whispered into her ear. “Yes.”

His affirmation sounded like urging, like a demand to do his bidding. She squirmed under his touch. “Please.”

“Please what?” His voice rumbled, an animal urging her to allow him to devour her with pleasure.

His tongue touched her earlobe, his hand cupped her rib cage, his other hand tangling in her hair. “Tell me anything, Ketera. I will listen.”

“There’s so much about you I don’t know.”

“Then ask me and you’ll know the answers.”

She yawned.

He laughed. “Perhaps we should leave this until tomorrow, after you’ve slept.”

“No. There are things I have to understand.”

He didn’t loosen his grip on her, but the fire in his eyes lessened. “All right.”

She blinked, trying to decide what to ask first. “You never explained why people mate up. How is a man certain a woman is his mate?”

“I mentioned that before. The physical reaction.”

“So the draw is instant?”

“Yes.”

“Then you knew from the time you found me on the beach that I was your mate?”

He sighed, closed his eyes and waited so long to answer she was certain he wouldn’t. He opened his eyes. “Yes. And no. I felt a tremendous pull toward you. But I also knew you were Magonian. That made me wary because of the differences between our cultures. It made me want to deny how strongly my body craves yours. I know it sounds barbaric to you, but when I realized that your body and soul belonged to me, there was no hesitation. No denying it. You will be mine.”

Anger started slowly. “Regardless of what I want.”

He grimaced, a short burst of understanding mixed with impatience. “I will honor what you want. You want to rescue your father, and I’ll help you. But not at the risk of your life.”

“Magonians do not have this mate thing. We don’t crave others sexually.”

“You don’t?” His eyes narrowed. “Then how do you procreate?”

“In marriage of course.”

He shook his head. “I don’t believe it. Some of your kind must want sex outside of marriage. It isn’t normal.”

“Just because you say so doesn’t mean that it isn’t normal. Dragonians do not know everything. What is right for one people may not be for another.”

She half expected his indulgence, a grin. He glared. “Are you asking me these questions to fight with me? Because you’re trying to distract me from sex?”

Was she?

“Uh…no. Of course not.” She shifted under his grip, aware that his fingers were still twined in her hair, his arm anchored around her waist. He swiveled his hips, a warm touch with just enough to make her heartbeat quicken and a sweet burst of pleasure arching between her legs.

“I didn’t read anything about the mate phenomena in the ancient texts. But I read something about sex. What it is and how it happens,” she said. “At least in a superficial way.”

“Then maybe I should show you more. Take the mystery away.”

“I thought what you did that one day…when you made me feel such pleasure…I thought that was most of it.”

He shook his head. “Only some.”

He scooped her into his arms, taking her mouth in a languorous kiss, tongue plunging deep. Ketera felt his cock pressing her, naked and bold. So much for clothing. His nakedness contrasted against her tunic and filmy pants, a rasp of raw fabric against his strong, hair-roughened skin. His body seemed to grow harder, more purposeful. Dane’s fingers cupped the back of her neck, his other hand reaching beneath to grasp her butt cheek. Overwhelmed by his touch, she didn’t struggle. He rolled over on his back and pulled her on top of him. He squeezed her butt, a low groan slipping from his throat. His mouth still devoured hers, but she tore her lips from his.

“What are you doing?” she gasped the question.

“Trying to make love to you.”

“Trying?”

He pressed kisses to her cheek, to her chin. “You keep talking.”

His touch drifted upward until he slid beneath her pants and inserted his fingers between her legs from behind. She gasped again as he smoothed her wetness around the entrance to her womb. His touch was delicate, tantalizing, gentler than she expected. Though he’d made her shudder in pleasure before, this was different. She knew that if she didn’t push him away now, he’d have her. That scared her more than anything.

“Wait.” She gazed into those blazing eyes.

He didn’t stop touching her, but his fingers ceased exploration. “What is it?”

“What will you do when I go back to Magonia permanently?”

His jaw clenched. “I dare not think of it. Feel what you do to me.” His hips surged upward and bumped that pleasure spot he’d caressed before. “That is me wanting you more than I’ve ever wanted anything or anyone.” The glow in his eyes softened. “Do you understand what happened inside me when I thought you’d left and put yourself in danger?”