The Choosing (The Pruxnae Book 1) (15 page)

“Soon,” he
murmured. He grazed his teeth lightly along her skin, shifting his whole body
down as he tasted her. His hands delved under her shirt and yanked it up over
her breasts, exposing her to the cooler air of the room, and she shivered.

“Sorry,
sunshine,” he said. “Pull the blankets up over me.”

She did as he
asked, tucking the covers over his head almost to her neck, holding them in
place with one hand. She raked the other through his silky hair. The inky locks
were so fine, they slid through her fingers as soon as she captured them,
escaping before she could learn their nature.

Ryn’s mouth
fastened on her nipple and lightning arced through her, drawing a muted gasp.

“Ryn,” she
pleaded.

“Soon,” he
promised.

He dragged his
tongue over her nipple, raising fire along her skin, and she bit her lip,
stifling her low mewls. On and on he touched her, exploring every single iota
of her breasts, her stomach, her thighs. His fingers pushed her underwear aside
and explored her sex, teasing her relentlessly, and she arched into him,
silently begging him to quench the heat sparking within her.

After an endless
age of his gentle touches and her writhing under him, he pulled her panties
down her legs and braced himself above her. His panted breaths blew gently
across her lips and his heart pounded against hers, and need burned so hot
within her, it was all she could do to wait for him.

He shifted his
hips, prodding the tip of his erection into her core. “If you want to stop,
tell me now.”

She shook her
head, rolling it along the pillow in frantic bursts. “Please don’t stop, Ryn.
Please don’t ever stop.”

He thrust gently
into her, each one carrying him a little farther inside her, each one slowly stretching
her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and skimmed her hands along his back
over scars old and new, and licked the side of his neck, taking him into her in
every way she could. Ryn, beautiful Ryn, and at last he was deep inside her,
all of him.

He flexed his
hips and thrust into her. “We have to be easy. The bed creaks.”

“Ryn,” she
breathed. “You feel so good.”

He moved within
her, slowly pushing her higher and higher. The need whirling through her
coalesced into a fragile thread of tension, so thin, she scarce dared to
breathe for fear of breaking it. Ryn’s thrusts shortened and his hips shoved
hard against hers.

“Ziri,” he
whispered. “Ziri, please.”

And she
complied, shattering into a thousand pieces of starlight. Her body throbbed
around his where they were melded together. He thrust into her a final time and
came, spilling into her in long waves of pleasure he shared in soft kisses
pressed across her face and slow thrusts of his hips, prolonging their passion.

They drifted
down together, their breaths slowing, their pounding hearts gradually matching
rhythms. Ryn slipped out of her and onto his side, gathering her close within
his strong embrace.

She skimmed her
fingers across the sculpted muscles of his chest, admiring the firm planes and
tightly peaked nipples. “I think I’m warm now.”

He laughed and
kissed her temple. “I told you I’d warm you inside and out.”

“A man who keeps
his promises.” She sighed and snuggled closer. “Such a rarity.”

“I always keep
my promises, Ziri. Remember that.”

“I will,” she
whispered, and drifted into sleep.

Ziri bounced
down the stairs of Gared and Alna’s home, humming an old Tersi folk song under
her breath. She’d awakened that morning alone to a toasty room and a slight
soreness between her thighs. Ryn had loved her again after that first glorious
time, and she’d reveled in every tick of his touch.

To think, she’d
had to be kidnapped to experience such fulfilling sex. Her previous two unions
had been awkward and stilted in the bedchamber, probably why they’d failed.
Maybe if she’d been able to find men who could ignore her social position as
the only daughter of such respected and well-placed parents, it would’ve been different.
Or maybe the fault was in the restlessness she’d always felt, in her inability
to settle on what she wanted out of life.

None of those
things mattered to Ryn.

She hopped down
the last few steps and skidded to a halt. An unfamiliar man was sitting on the
long couch she and Ryn had shared the night before. He had shoulder-length dark
blond hair and a neatly trimmed beard clinging to a firm jaw under serious eyes
and a straight nose, and wore a thick, black sweater, the loose homespun pants
the people of Hrelum favored, and sturdy boots.

He stood and
nodded toward her. “Lady Ziri?”

She placed one
hand on the newel and assumed her best company smile. “I’m Ziri.”

“I’m Enel, Lady
Ziri. Enel ab Awd. Lady Alna said I could wait here in hopes of persuading you
to interview me.”

“If you don’t
mind my asking, why am I interviewing you?”

“For the
Choosing.” Enel held a hand out to her, palm up, offering her a small, round
disc. “I’ve brought a list of my holdings, bearing the seal of Tyrl Sigun.”

King-leader
, her mind supplied,
thankfully without the pain usually accompanying an unfamiliar Pruxnæ term.

“Sigun is a
cousin on my father’s side,” Enel continued. “A good connection, considering
your own status.”

Ziri crossed the
room and took the disc. Enel’s hand hadn’t wavered once as he’d held it out to
her. The steadfast determination he exuded unnerved her. “What status is that?”

Enel’s arched
eyebrows shot upward. “The daughter of a queen on your home world. Gared sang
your praises when I stopped by this morning for the breeding.”

“Molnog,” Ziri
murmured. Did everybody in Hrelum have a flock? “Would you excuse me, please,
Enel?”

He nodded
respectfully. “Of course, Lady Ziri.”

She walked as
gracefully as she could into the kitchen area, following the scent of baking
bread. Her stomach rumbled and she pressed a hand to it. Would she be able to
eat soon or would she have to interview Enel first? Pray it be the former. Ryn
had used up all her energy last night and then some, and she was hungry.

Alna stood at
the sink embedded in the counter running along the far wall. She turned as Ziri
approached and smiled. “Good morning, Ziri. Did you sleep well?”

A blush heated
Ziri’s cheeks. She always slept well when Ryn was nearby. The previous night was
no exception, though she’d gotten little actual sleep. “Yes, thank you. There’s
a man waiting for me in the other room, an Enel ab Awd? What am I supposed to
do with him?”

“Ask him
questions about his life and his property.” Alna shrugged and dropped whatever
she was working with into the sink. “Determine if he’s a suitable choice for a
future mate.”

Ziri clutched
the disc he’d given her. “A mate?”

“A husband, a
lover.”

“But I…”
Have
a lover
, Ziri thought, one she wasn’t supposed to be doing anything with
according to the rules the woman in front of her had laid down. “I guess I’m a
little confused.”

“Did Ryn not
explain about the Choosing?” Alna shook her head and her blonde braid twitched
across her back. She plucked a square of faded red fabric out of a drawer and
dried her hands on it. “You’ll fight for a mate on that day, one you’ll be tied
to for the remainder of your life. Ryn hopes you’ll choose him, but other men
will try to sway you. Women are too rare on Abyw for competition not to spring
up.”

A strange weight
pressed into Ziri’s chest, pushing the air out of her lungs. “That’s what the
Choosing is? I have to pick a permanent mate?”

“Of course. What
did you think it was?”

“I had no idea,”
Ziri said faintly. She staggered to the table and sank into the chair Gared had
occupied the previous night. “Ryn said he’d take me back home.”

Alna set the
towel aside and joined Ziri at the table. “If he said so, then he means to do
it, though I wager he intends to bind you to him first.”

“Onu’s breath.”

Tears clogged
her head. Ziri swallowed them down and searched for sanity in the muddled mess
her mind had become.

You didn’t
really steal me for a wife, did you?

What would you
think if I said yes?

A harsh,
humorless laugh burst out of her. He’d been honest in his own way, and she
should’ve listened instead of hearing what she wanted to. She should’ve
gathered the clues he’d placed in front of her, his gentleness, his insistence
on sleeping with her, teaching her to pilot the
Yarinska
and buying
scads of yarn for her so he could clothe her in something he’d made, a gift
from his hands and heart. He’d made such beautiful love to her last night, such
sweet, tender love, and she’d fallen for it, fallen for everything like the
onka-brained lanoo she was.

“I’m not ready
to be a wife.” The words left her in a rush, overlapping one another in their eagerness
to be heard. “We barely know each other.”

“That’s the way
of things here.” Alna bracketed Ziri’s cold hands with her own and chafed them.
“The men are so eager for wives, so desperate for love and a family, they’ll do
anything. How do you think Gared claimed me? He stormed into my bedroom in the
middle of the night, threw me over his shoulder, and a month later, I faced his
family on the Choosing field.”

“And you stayed
with him after what he’d done to you?”

“I came to love
him,” Alna said gently. “Have you no feelings for Ryn?”

“I…” Ziri stared
at Alna, at a loss to describe the turmoil consuming her in relentless,
mind-numbing waves. “He kidnapped me.”

“Yes.”

“He landed us in
the middle of a bunch of Sweepers.”

“He nearly died
trying to save you, didn’t he?”

Ziri closed her
eyes and shuddered. “That wouldn’t have been necessary if he hadn’t stolen me
in the first place.”

“It’s the Pruxnæ
way.”

“You say that
like you believe it’s ok for the men here to steal women out of their homes on
a whim.”

“Look at me,
Ziri.”

The brisk tone
whipped across Ziri. Her eyes popped open and her vision filled with Alna’s
scowling countenance.

“Ryn has spent
most of his life planning for his bride. He worked every tick he could, saved
every vud he came across, took jobs most men would sneer at, and often did
without, for
you
. Once he learned about the raid on your home world, he
began surveying it, searching for exactly the right woman, and he spent weeks
observing the people there. There was no whim involved in what he did, Ziri
Mokuru, none at all. If he chose you, it’s because he knew he’d be a good
husband for you, and you a good wife for him. He’s always had his eye on the
long term, has Ryn. Never think for one tick that he hasn’t.”

Ziri gripped her
hands into a tight knot, well aware of the small disc resting between them.
“That doesn’t make stealing me away from a place I loved right.”

“Perhaps not.”
Alna’s expression softened. “Consider this as well. Would a man acting on a
whim risk his mother’s wrath by sneaking into your room and making love to you
all night long, when she’d expressly forbidden him to do so?”

Heat scalded
Ziri’s cheeks for the second time that morning and she groaned. “We were trying
to be quiet.”

A wide smile
stretched Alna’s mouth. “You weren’t doing anything I wasn’t.”

“I don’t think I
needed to know that,” Ziri muttered. “I’m not saying I forgive him.”

“Time will take
care of that.”

“You sound so
certain.”

“Experience is a
good teacher.”

Ziri lowered her
voice. “What about Enel? What should I do?”

“Speak to him.
Give him a fair hearing, as you would any other suitor. Take care not to
encourage him beyond that.”

“I guess
inviting him to eat with me would be encouragement.”

“That it would.”

Ziri sighed. “I
was afraid you were going to say that.”

“I’ll ready a
meal for you. He won’t be the only one to drop by, though we’ll need to find
time for training once the day warms.”

“I can’t believe
I have to fight to keep the man who kidnapped me.” Ziri slipped her hands out
of Alna’s and laid Enel’s disc on the table. “Is there any way I can go back
home without choosing a mate?”

“No, Ziri,” Alna
said softly. “Women are too precious here. If Ryn can’t find a way to persuade
you to claim him, you’ll be forced to go through the Choosing again and again
until a husband is found for you. You’ll never be allowed to leave without
one.”

Ziri swallowed
the bitterness clinging to her throat. “So I’m stuck with Ryn.”

“You can choose
Ryn,” Alna corrected. “And you can have a good life with him, unless you allow
pride and anger to consume you. Is that really how you wish to live your life,
clinging to the past, when you could have a good future with a man who’ll
cherish you every day the gods give him?”

It wasn’t how
Ziri had imagined living. She’d always thought she’d find a man who’d give her
children during the handfasting. A small part of her might’ve longed to find a
man who’d want to sign a lifelong contract with her, the way her parents had
done, but it was so rare on Tersi, she’d never let herself hope for it. Ryn was
offering that to her, if she could make it through whatever obstacles she faced
during the Choosing. Her heart wasn’t quite ready to forgive him for the harm
he’d placed her in, though. In spite of that, she vowed to ponder Alna’s words
as she would the wise words of her own absent mother.

She rose and
pressed a kiss to Alna’s smooth cheek. “I’d better go interview Enel now and
get it over with.”

“Take your time.
I’ll fix a meal for you and we can talk some more.” Alna’s blue eyes sparkled.
“I have plenty of hair-raising tales of Ryn’s youth to share.”

Ziri mustered an
answering smile. “Will all the men from here to Fevl really stop by for an
interview?”

“If Gared’s
telling everyone you’re a princess, I imagine so.”

Ziri winced.
“You heard that?”

“Very clearly.
Go. Correct Enel if you can. He’s a good man and deserves the truth.”

Ziri ambled to
the door. She hesitated there and glanced over her shoulder at Alna. “Thank you
for explaining.”

“You’re welcome.
Daughter.”

Ziri
acknowledged the acceptance with a brief nod, threw her shoulders back, and
marched into the outer room where Enel sat, patiently awaiting her return.

* * *

Ryn strode
through the streets of Hrelum, a stuffed tote slung over one shoulder, another
in his hand. In his eagerness to join Ziri the night before, he’d neglected to
provide for her welfare during the time she’d stay with his second parents
beyond the single overnight bag Byungar had carried there. That morning after
waking early and sneaking out her window, he’d gone to the home he’d built in
anticipation of winning a wife, prepared himself for the day ahead, and
gathered enough clothing to last her from then through the day of the Choosing.
He’d tucked the scarf she was knitting into a side pocket and grinned over the
lopsided garment. She’d get the hang of it, if she practiced hard enough, and
he didn’t mind teaching her. It gave them something in common and served as
another tie binding them together.

She’d welcomed him
into her bed last night and into her body, without the reserve she’d cloaked
herself in since he’d found her. He kicked his boots against the rock stoop of
Gared and Alna’s house, knocking the snow and grime off. Maybe she’d found
enough pleasure in his touch to welcome him again that night.

He entered the
house and spotted Ziri speaking with Enel ab Awd. Ryn’s grin slipped away. Already,
the men were lining up, trying to tempt Ziri away from him. Her gaze swung to
his, and instead of the warm pleasure he’d hoped to find there, her eyes were
dull and impersonal.

What had
happened in the short time he’d been gone to cause such a radical change?

He placed the
bags containing her clothing on the floor next to the front door and nodded brusquely.
“How are you, Enel?”

Enel rose to his
full height, a good head above Ryn’s own. “Well enough. I heard you were
looking for a ram to cover your flock.”