Jade in Grindalor (High Fantasy Erotica) (2 page)

             
Those hot eyes of his seemed to glow faintly in the waning light, a brilliant orange in his anger, slipped from her face to her throat. They roved hungrily over her flesh, raising the tiny hairs at the back of her neck in acute awareness. One of his hands came away from the wall to gently cup the slender column of her neck, caressing her flesh with the pad of his thumb almost absently.

             
A smirk just barely tugged at the edge of his lips as he noticed the upbeat tempo her pulse had taken. He then decided that two could play at the wicked game she had tried to use against him earlier that same evening. Leaning in ever closer to her, he nuzzled the curve between her neck and the underside of her delicate jaw.

             
She nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected touch, now thoroughly flushed by the intimate gesture. She could feel the heat of his breath fanning out against the sensitive flesh in tantalizing little puffs. It was enough to send a shiver down to the base of her spine and her knees to feel close to buckling under her weight. Why was he doing this to her? Placing her palms against the rough hewn stone wall behind her, she weakly struggled to support herself. Her mind tried to deny the fact that this was a last ditch tactic to keep from acting on the strong urge to wrap her arms around him and pull him closer.

             
Try as she might though, in one tell tale instance, her attempt to seem unfazed by his assault was blown. An instinct she wasn’t familiar with had her tilting her head back further, to allow the alpha male better access

to
the fragile line of her throat by the slightest of inches. That was all he needed. A small, knowing smile crossed his features, though she couldn’t see it. Parting his lips, he ran the tip of his tongue over the spot where her life’s blood was beating in a swift and erratic pace.

             
Sharply inhaling, she mentally forced her spine to go rigid, fighting another strong urge, this time to arch against him. Even as she did, she could still feel her body going soft, her breasts feeling tender and heavy and aching to feel his touch again. A sudden scraping sound could be heard as she curled her fingers to make fists, digging the nails into her palms as he firmly nipped at her neck.

             
Languorously, he dragged the velvety hotness of his tongue up to the edge of her jaw line. Masterfully he made a tiny swirling motion just at the curve and nibbled ever so softly. His brilliant orange gaze fell on the shocked yet dreamy sapphire hues that were now darker than usual. He found himself amused at the wary and expecting way she was watching him, as if she were debating fight or flight. Marion lifted his face to bring his lips an inch from damnably lush, full lips. Never taking his eyes from hers, ever so slowly leaning in.

             
He’s going to kiss me.
Jade
thought simply to herself

             
With the blazing desert sun beating down on her, Jade wiped away a bead of sweat that had formed on her forehead. The heat was almost unbearable and she was thankful that she wasn’t still wearing the black dress that she had started out in. Complaining under her breath about the damned jelwin that had destroyed her favorite dress, she immediately pushed the thought of why he had done it from her mind. Every time she was about to remember that night in Grindalor she quickly changed her line of thought. She couldn’t explain to herself what had happened to herself that night, so she wouldn’t examine it too closely. It was just another botched escape attempt to her. The horrible tempered beast underneath her spit to the side causing Jade to grimace in disgust. She would have never agreed to ride one of the foul beasts if it wasn’t for the fact that horses were a rare commodity in the desert.

             
Glancing over at her “companions” if thats what one could call them, she saw that Marion made no obvious show that the heat was bothering him; wrapped in his white desert clothing that he had bought at a border post at the entrance to this damn sand trap. Kern on the other hand seemed to look like she was enjoying herself. She had her head thrown back, her chocolate curls bouncing over her shoulders due to the rough gated creatures they were riding.

             
That the girl was in good spirits irked her enough to say something. “How can you look so happy, doesn’t the heat bother you?” She asked the girl in a sullen tone. Kern opened her eyes and looked over at her with a cheery smile that was almost as bright as the sun above them.

             
“To be honest, I’m just so excited to be out of the forest. This is my first time outside of it and there’s so many different things to see. The heat does bother me a little but my ears are good for catching any breezes and letting out a good amount of body heat.  One of the many perks of being an elf.”

             
Wishing she had her own set of pointed ears right about now, Jade tucked her head under the white turban she was wearing. Seeing her retreat from the conversation, Kern shrugged to herself and went back to immersing herself in a new experience.

             
Reaching the crest of a large sand dune, they saw another group of people traversing through the burning sands. They were smart enough to bring their own caravan that provided shade though. As they came down the sand bank and got closer to the others, they waved to them in a friendly manner. Suspicious, Jade tensed and looked over to Marion who she saw must be thinking the same thing because his hand was on the hilt of his sword.

             
Of course Kern in her naivety waved back to them. Rolling her eyes, she moved her beast in to get closer to Kern. “Pull your hood up before they notice your ears fool. Be on your guard they could be marauders, so don’t get too friendly with them.” She whispered into one of her dainty long ears. Kern looked a little surprised but hid it well. Jade could see when the girl readied herself by the determined set of her shoulders.

             
The group of people didn’t look much like thieves she observed as they drew closer to the caravan. A portly woman sat at the head of the caravan with the reigns to the desert beasts in her capable looking hands. Three men in make shift looking armor rode close by to it keeping their eyes on them warily the whole time. Jade smirked as she realized they were probably thinking the same thing of their motley crew.

             
A two women poked their heads out of the back to get a peak at the reason for the halt. The older woman smiled and waved them in closer. Marion spoke just loud enough for her and Kern to hear.” Just be careful all right?” With that he kicked his heels into the beasts side, spurring him on to the caravan. Following suit, Jade hoped this wouldn’t turn into a show down because in this heat she wasn’t feeling like doing much.

             
The smiling woman looked friendly enough she supposed, with gentle wrinkles at her eyes and mouth that gave her the impression that she did indeed smile a lot. Her dark skin was a testament to harsh desert life.

             
“Ho there travelers, what brings so far into the Burning Sands?” She asked, a trace of suspicion in her inquiring words. The men still had not taken their eyes off them, nor their hands off their weapons.

             
Marion as always spoke up as the party leader, which Jade was just fine with him doing so. She had no desire to speak to them, in her mood she would probably just make matters worse for them.

             
“We’re trying to get to Sargin. We’ve come all the way from Elsif City looking for a friend of ours who said he’d be here.”

             
“Ah. Well lad Sargin’s gates of been closed off to strangers for some time now, have you not heard?”

             
From under the hood of his turban Jade could see his brows draw together in thought. She herself was curious too, why would such a large city do that? Strange.

             
“No, milady. I had not heard this. This is most troubling, we’ve come a long way for him. Is there no way the guard would let us in?”

             
The woman chuckled, a warm hearty sound. “They would let you into the prison if you try to walk right up there and ask them. I suppose you three have just run into a bit of luck then running into us. We’re a small merchant band who comes into the desert every so often to look for wild herbs that grow in some of the small oasis’s around here. You could ride in the caravan with us to get into the city if you like. Now be of a mind that I’m only doing this because you have two ladies with you and the desert is no place for them without a proper guard.

             
Jade felt like laughing at that, the old woman doubting his abilities. She bet that his pride had to sting just a little bit. If it did though he gave no sign of it, exactly the opposite actually. Nodding his head in agreement, he said. “Then you see how dire our situation is that we would come unprepared through the desert.

             
“All right then. Tie up your beasts to the back and hop in. Mind your feet though we don’t need our merchandise trampled on.” The old woman motioned to the young men that it all was well.

              As Jade was dismounting she thought of how lucky it really was they had run into these people. There wasn’t enough water to turn back around and trek back to the other side of the desert from where they had came from. Not that she thought Marion would have done this anyway, he would have recklessly forced his way into the city to look for this run away frost blight for some woman he didn’t even know.

             
Tying the reigns of her beast to some pegs that were on the back of the wagon, she dusted some sand off of her clothes. Climbing up into the wagon, she made sure to move gently around to find a spot to sit, careful not to step on anything. Looking up from her feet she noticed that the two women were staring at her in awe.

             
Arching a brow at them, she just tucked her hood a little lower and hunkered down in her corner by the entrance of the caravan. After a moment Kern was next clamoring in with a little too much energy for her liking, then Marion. The wood creaked at his extra weight and they huddled together and giggled. When he sat down with his back turned to everyone, staring out at the blue sky, whispers erupted from them.

             
Jade didn’t have to hear to know what they were all talking about. She could take a wild guess that it had something to do with the dashing looking mystery man in the cart. Sick of having to even think of him, she rolled her eyes again and kept them on a few sacks of goods off to the side.

             
“Ha!” She could hear the woman whipping the reigns to kick the beasts into a canter again. The wooden cart lurched forward then began to move at a steady pace. At least the ride was a little smoother than being on the actual animals themselves, she thought to herself as she reached down to rub a kink out of her side. As if she had physically called the beast herself, the one she had been riding poked his head in through the opening and nuzzled her affectionately. Gagging at the beasts awful smelling breath, she quickly pushed its large head away from her, causing it to whine in protest.

             
“Get away from me you filthy thing. Shoo now.” She muttered to the thing as it still struggled to push its head forward to cuddle with her. She could have sworn she heard Marion snicker at this but before she could say something the women laughed which caused her to blush and look their way. The youngest with a pretty thick black braid falling down to her waist spoke up.

             
“It’s said that if one of them shows affection for its rider, that the rider will be blessed with good fortune in the very near future. They are mostly fouled tempered creatures that can be docile at best, but never loving. We’ve never seen one do that before so forgive us for laughing like that my lady.” She moved from spot in between the others and came to sit next to her. Digging in one of the bags she had previously been staring at, she produced a vibrant orange fruit and threw it to the creature. It immediately caught it in its mouth and turned his attention from her to its meal.

             
“What’s your name stranger?” She asked kindly. Jade thought about not answering her because of the dark mood she was in, but remembered that they’d probably be dead soon if it wasn’t for them. Mollified slightly, she mustered a hint of smile.” My name is Jade. What’s yours?”

             
“Oh my names Irena, and this is my sister Ilia.” The other sister smiled pleasantly at her when introduced. Turning back to her, she leaned over placing her elbow on her knee and rested her chin in her hand. She stared a long hard moment that made Jade feel a little uncomfortable. Just as she was about to say something, Irena spoke again.

             
“Please don’t be offended when I say this, but you’re so pale!” She exclaimed. “You remind me of our father you know.

             
Jades mouth dropped open in shock and she could only ask a little incredulously. “I...remind you of your father?

             
Looking horrified at her poorly chosen words, she sat up straight and said quickly. “I only meant the paleness of your skin good lady, forgive me. Our father wasn’t from the desert either so he was also fair. But your skin is so beautiful, like the full moon on a cloudless night. He was traveling from another town on a much bigger merchant caravan and got lost in a sand storm from the rest of his group. Our mother was riding with her family in this very same wagon like we are when they found him near death. They saved him and took him in until his injuries healed but by the time he was all better he had fallen in love with our mother.”

             
She had noticed that the women were of a lighter skin tone than the woman outside. She had just thought that because they were younger that they hadn’t spent as much time out in the sun. Curious now as to what their father looked like, Jade decided to ask her about him.

             
“So where is your father? Shouldn’t he be out here as part of your guard or something?” By the expressions that suddenly befell their faces, she immediately regretted asking.

             
“I..I’m sorry if I..” She began to say but was cut off by the other sister, Ilia. “No, its all right. Papa passed into the mists a year and a half ago when a plague spread through the city. It made the inflicted wither away and they thirsted terribly, but there wasn’t enough water for everyone. Many people were lost with the sickness.” Her sorrow tinged voice made Jade think it wasn’t just her father that she had lost; a close friend or a lover perhaps?

             
A moment of silence reigned heavy as the sisters seemed to be lost in the memory of their father. When Irena spoke again, she nudged Jades shoulder in a friendly gesture. “But the Sheik has improved things a hundred times over now. The city always has water and our overall way of life has improved as well.”

             
The dreamy eyed expression she wore now bespoke a greater fondness than a simple admiration for the Sheik. She wasn’t the only one to notice because Ilia smirked. “Irena is smitten with Sheik Dhajarum, she hopes that one day he’ll notice her and then make her his wife.” She said teasingly, causing two bright pink spots to appear on Irena’s face.

             
“Oh like you don’t like him yourself!” She said defensively, hopping over to sit next to her sister. Bumping into her in a rough yet playful manner, she grinned.

             
“I admit he is very handsome but the difference between you and I dear is that I can face reality. His harem is said to have over three hundred women! Do you really think that a man like that would choose having one wife over a whole palace full?

             
Sighing Irena shrugged and gave a wistful smile. “Well I can dream though, can’t I?”

             
The two sisters began to chat with each other then, leaving Jade to her own thoughts. The way the two of them acted with each other made her think it must be nice to have that kind of sibling bond. Her own older brother was nothing if not vicious, holding no love or respect for his little sister. His jealousy over how she had quickly become father’s favorite was evident in every word he ever spoke to or of her. So to see something like this was refreshing, no bitter words or poisoned barbs, just affection and warmth.

             
Smiling a little to herself, she turned her eyes to stare out at the great blue sky just as Marion had been doing the whole trip. When her father finally drifted into her thoughts she started worrying over some of the strange things that she couldn’t explain to herself. Like why he had her go to Freyn in the first place to transport the elementals through the crystal. Which was strange in itself that he even wanted them, because what could he possibly do with a few people with less than desirable talents?

             
The fact that he hadn’t even told her why she had been sent out or why he wanted them was another troublesome thought. She was not only one of the strongest but also one of the brightest soldiers which is the reason why she had been promoted to second general right under Regrieth the legendary commander of the dark imperial army. She had been privy to several different secrets over the years dealing with army tactics and other such matters so for her father to withhold information like that bothered her.

             
All she had to do now was just wait for Karigor to get word to her father about her whereabouts and what had happened then she was sure her father would send a whole squadron of his finest to come get her. The thought that she even needed to be rescued stung her warriors pride but she would just have to swallow it although she’d never hear the end of it from War. It would take a week and half if Karigor rode hard and didn’t stop to get to the crystal outside of Freyn then it was only a matter of time before she could expect to see fellow Larins.

             
Noticing Kern fidgeted anxiously she looked over to see what was wrong. The girl was trying to sit up tall enough to see ahead from over all the cargo. Now it made sense, they were almost there and she could hear city life going on. Shaking her head at the girls energy she decided to take a peek herself. About a mile away she could see great sandstone stone walls stretching high into the air and so far on either side she couldn’t even see the end of them.

             
This city was truly an impregnable fortress in its own right with those kind of battlements, she thought. An arched gate with a lowered portcullis was fast approaching with many guards standing on either side of the metal gate. The woman that had invited them to ride turned and stuck her head into the caravan.

             
“Quickly now cover up as much as possible and don’t say anything unless you’re spoken to all right? Remember its jail time if strangers are caught trying to get in so I hope you all appreciate the risk I’m taking here to help you out.” Then without another word she turned back around and whipped the reigns once more to hurry the beasts along.

             
Rushing to do exactly what she said, Jade pulled the cowl of her cloak further down as did Kern and Marion. Luckily since desert clothing was designed to hide you from the rays of the sun it would hide them from the prying eyes of the guards.

             
The caravan slowed and then finally come to a stop a few feet from the gate, the shade from the towering walls a welcome relief. Tense and uneasy Jade’s gaze darted to Marion and Kern and saw they too were on their guard. If they were discovered they could probably fight the guards here at the gate but it was very likely their were many more ready to come and fight. A city this size would have soldiers a plenty to heed the call of duty and the three of them would be outnumbered a thousand to one if that happened.

             
Jade could hear mens voices, one of which was asking the woman what was their purpose.

             
“I own a stall in the market. We were out gathering fresh herbs and now we’d like to get back home if you don’t mind.” The annoyance Jade heard in the old woman’s voice amused her. It was apparent that she thought the city being closed off like this was just a nuisance.

             
“All in due time. We have to check in the back and make sure you’r not trying to smuggle in fugitives.” She heard the man say then, laughing at his own remark. She almost felt like laughing too at the great amount of irony. The beast that she had rode through the desert and was now tied to the back grunted. Once it moved over to the side a guards deeply tanned face appeared to inspect the back as promised.

             
He looked over the sacks of goods that filled most of the left back of the wagon. It was obvious from the way the sacks were overflowing with different herbs that the old woman’s claims were true for the most part. Next he looked over each one of the passengers, his eyes studying each one of them lazily. As he went from one person to the next, Jade had a sneaking suspicious that once he got to her there was going to be trouble.

             
When finally he did, just as she had thought his eyes narrowed. He was looking at the small bit of her hand that was uncovered by the cloth of her sleeve. Impulsively she moved to pull her sleeve down to hide it and damned herself for the telltale sign.

             
“What do we have here?” He said, followed by the sound of sword being drawn.
Why does it always have to be me?
She didn’t even have a weapon of any sort to defend herself with. The man reached in quickly, grabbing her hand and practically dragging her out of the wagon.

             
Hauling her to her feet, the guard released her hand and flipped back the cowl that covered her face. She could hear alarmed voices stir and the shuffle of boots in sand as other guards coming to see what was going on.

             
Blinded by the sudden light, she closed her eyes, lifting a hand to shield them. Even without her eyesight she could feel the tense silence and wondered desperately what was going on. Why wasn’t the guard, or anyone for that matter, saying anything else.

             
After a long minute she forced her eyes open but still needed to squint from the brightness. The man was starring at her in what seemed to be amazement. Clearing his throat he turned her around by her shoulder roughly for the others to see. One of the men let out a long whistle and the others murmured appreciatively.