The Hard Way (Box Set) (6 page)

“I always thought that the gods finally agreed with my decision, for my people flourished, something that never happened under Thinker rule. But I could never find a mate, was punished by being alone and hunted. But then I found the waterfall, Sinopee. I found the cavern and the words to the spell, and they brought me you. And now I think that the gods were testing me, Sinopee. I think that they are testing me still. And if I can overcome this latest problem, you will be mine forever. But I must prove myself first. And when I prove myself, you and I will be joined as one forever.”

“There has to be a way to keep me here, Luster,” I sighed, watching the waters swirl.

I didn’t believe in his gods punishing or testing him, but there had to be a reason his magic had brought me here. I didn’t want to leave his side, and I just knew he was going to do something foolish to keep me here.

“I know you can’t go home with me because of the Titans. They would destroy your people and all that you have built here. So the only solution is for me to stay here. I will help you in your battle, Luster. You have a Thinker on your side.” Then I sighed as I realized what I was facing. “But here, I don’t belong.”

“
You belong
!” he almost shouted, turning to grip my shoulders. “You are mine, Sinopee. You belong here with me.”

“But I will never fit in.”

“You can!” he insisted.

“Lust, look around you!” I pulled away from him and pointed to the waterfall we were admiring. “Where I come from, there are no pink waterfalls, Luster. Waterfalls don’t exist underground! People are not pastel colors! Where would I fit in?”

He stared at the waterfall for a moment.

Its waters were pink. It fell almost eight feet to the small river that flowed through the Citadel and disappeared again under some rocks. It was beautiful and enchanting with its white mists and sandy bank. But still, it was a pink waterfall. An underground, pink waterfall.

“You fit in next to me,” he replied. “And nothing else really matters, Sinopee. You are mine, as I am yours.”

His words, the certainty in them, caused me to blink back a few tears as they touched my heart. Seeing them, he lowered his head to gently lick the salty droplets away.

That set off a reaction in my chest that rippled over my body. I wanted him.

It was easy to dispose of the dress. I tossed it aside, not caring that anyone could venture into this secluded spot. Hell, the thought of getting caught heightened my arousal. I just wanted Luster.

Groaning, he quickly doffed his boots and pants, and stood before me gloriously naked. His body seemed to shine in the bright light of the mist as I watched him step near.

“For this time, in this place where you are safe, my Thinker, I am going to fuck you so hard you will never forget your place is with me. And then I am going to love you so that you will always remember.”

I reached for him, but he backed away, beckoning me with his eyes as he backed into the water itself. “Come to me.”

I went.

Lust disappeared beneath the flowing waters of the waterfall, and eagerly, I followed. As the pink water touched my skin, I let out a gasp of amazement. It was almost thick and had an oily feel to it. And it was very warm.

I giggled, trying to imagine what he was up to. I stepped through the waterfall and gasped at what I saw.

Behind the flowing pink waters, there was a smaller cavern, almost like the one in our glade. There, coated in the pink waters, Luster lay back against some pillows and furs.

“What is this stuff?” I asked, using both hands to pull my wet hair back from my face.

“Healing waters,” he replied. “They keep the Citadel alive and feed the needs of the plants here. It maintains a balance.”

“And this place?” I stepped forward, loving the way the odorless waters seemed to cling and bring heat with their very presence.

“This is the place where I will claim every part of you for my own.”

Before I could blink, he was beside me, the waters shimmering almost purple as his skin began to take on a faint glow. He placed his hands on my shoulders and applied a gentle pressure until I found myself kneeling, facing the object of my most recent erotic fantasies.

Luster was built thick. The head of his circumcised penis was leaking pre-cum with his arousal. His ten inches pointed in an almost forty-five degree angle, jutting out from his body like the powerful weapon it was.

Gently, I wrapped my hand around the base and pulled him low enough to run across my lips. I looked up at him, wide-eyed, wanting to see his every reaction, wanting him to know how much I enjoyed servicing him.

His purple eyes beamed at me. They seemed to be lit with an inner light that transformed his masculine face into a thing of beauty. He raised his hands to his hair, to push the wet strands behind those pointed ears, and then he smiled at me.

Grinning back, I stuck out my tongue and ran it along the ridge below the head of his cock, tasting him, the slightly salty, slightly sweet taste that was Lust. His hands burrowed in my hair as he began to feed me his cock. I opened my mouth, covering my teeth with my lips, then almost inhaled his whole length.

“Gods, Sinopee!” he cried out, and his knees began to shake.

Still looking up at him, I placed my hands on the firm globes of his ass and pulled him in tighter. Breathing through my nose, I was able to take him deep in my throat for a few moments. I moved my head up and down along his shaft, encouraging his movements as I sought to please him.

But doing all of this had the desired effect on my body as well. My nipples began to grow hard and my body clenched in arousal. I could feel the warm pink waters heat the core of my being, adding to the moisture my body produced as I turned myself on by having Lust at my control.

And at my control he was, for any slight motion I made, he automatically adjusted, his eyes telling me that it was my game, for now. I winked at him, then began to swallow, caressing his cock with the strong smooth muscles of my throat.

Quickly, the lines of power shifted. Lust pulled himself from my mouth and I found myself on my back in the furs. Grinning up at him, I cupped my breasts for him, offering him a taste. His body covered me completely as he spread my legs and made himself a home between them.

His lips latched onto one nipple. He held it gently between his teeth, laving it with his tongue. Heat rushed through my chest at the small pleasure-pain. His other fingers gently caressed the underside of my breast, gentling me, then his nimble fingers gripped my nipple and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger.

“Lust? What are you doing?” I gasped. Never had he treated my body so roughly.

I liked it.

“Taking you places, Sinopee,” he growled. He ground his pelvis into mine, making sure that his hard-on skidded across my throbbing clitoris.

I arched up into his caresses, loving the feel of his body dominating mine. I ran my hands through his hair, tugging on fistfuls, forcing his head back to my nipple.

But Lust had other plans.

Pulling away, he spread my legs wider as he dropped his head between them. Inhaling deeply, he buried his face in my crotch. His hands pushed my thighs wide as he began to feast on me as if I were pure ambrosia. I threw my head back, my hands going to my own breasts, tugging and pulling at the nipples as he excited my body in ways he had never done before.

The oral incident at the boulder only heightened my feelings for him, served as foreplay for this event. His fingers came into play, running through what pink water was left on my body, then invading the hollow of my needy being. I arched up off the furs and cried out as I felt his fingers, two fingers, penetrate me.

Pulling his head up, his lips wet with the essence of me, he asked in a low husky voice, “Do you like that?”

I nodded frantically, wanting only to keep this feeling growing inside of me.

“Want more?”

Again I nodded, knowing if I opened my mouth the screams of passion would emerge.

Quickly he removed his thrusting fingers, replacing them with something considerably larger. The blunt cap of his mushroom-shaped head pressed against me and he lifted my legs around his waist while I waited for the pleasure to begin.

But he gripped my legs and pulled them higher still, until my heels rested on his shoulders. Then, as he began to sink inside, I felt his fingers tapping at my back door.

“Lust?” I began, a bit worried, but the sensations I got from that caress sent sparks flying through my system.

These new sensations, coupled with the feeling of him driving himself deep inside my core, had my senses reeling and my mouth watering. I began to pant as my hands reached for and clutched at his shoulders, digging my nails into his flesh. He growled at the pain.

“Keep going!” I screamed, never having felt this stimulated before.

Tangling my hands in his hair, I shuddered at the feel of its silky strands sliding through my fingers. I clenched it tightly in my fists and urged him on. Slowly, his finger pressed against my rosebud, then with a slight sting, it popped through the muscular ring.

I jumped in shock at the feeling, but his finger stopped moving, and he lowered his head to thrust his tongue deep into my mouth. My eyes, wide from the pain of the new entry, slowly closed and I moaned into his mouth. There were lots of interesting things going on down there now.

With his finger invading no-man’s-land and his cock thrusting strongly in my cunt, I was almost ready to swoon with pleasure. And the more he moved, the better the feeling got. Soon I was thrusting up, forcing his steely rod deeper into me, then pushing back to let his finger hit nerve endings that had never been touched before.

“You love this,” he purred as his tongue invaded my ear, making me arch my breasts up into the wall of muscle that made up his chest. “You want me to stop?”

“No,” I whined, lost in the pleasure, hardly paying any attention to what he was saying.

“Then beg me not to stop.” He punctuated his request with a deep thrust.

“Please, don’t!” I gasped.

“Say my name.”

“L-Lust!”

“Again!”

“Lust!”

“Again!”

“
Luster
!”

Hearing that explosion of sound from my throat, Lust bent over me and began to pound into my willing flesh. Harder and faster he moved his cock and his finger, working in tandem to bring me orgasmic delight. The tension in me wound tighter and tighter, and soon I knew that one more sensation would send me over.

“Come for me,” he hissed. I whimpered as my body stiffened underneath his. “Come on! Come for me!”

I shuddered, and the world came to a grinding halt. I felt my body arching against his, demanding that one more move, that one final caress that would send me hurtling to the stars over the precipice of infinity.

“Fucking come!” He slammed home within me one final time, and my world exploded into a sea of red-hot fireworks and deafening explosions.

“Oh
God
!” I screamed as my body was wracked with shudders. I bucked so hard underneath him that he had to use his weight to hold me down.

Vaguely, I was aware of his shout and the feel of his cock growing larger before it too exploded in passion, but I was too far gone, lost in climactic pleasure, to pay it more attention.

Finally, the waves of release passed and I collapsed under him, the soft furs beneath and his warm hardness above.

“I love you,” he whispered, so tenderly that tears filled my eyes. “And I will return to you.”

I closed my eyes, wrapped my arms around his sweating, heaving body, and prayed.

Tears ran silently down my cheeks as I watched Luster depart. He did not look back as he made his way to the roots of a large tree.

Glimmer suddenly appeared at his side. Solemn, she placed her hand beside his. “The tree says that all is clear.”

I didn’t react. Oh, in normal circumstances, I would have had a million questions for that one comment. But I only saw Luster, my man, leaving to travel into what could very well be his death.

“Listen to Glow,” Luster said to me. He closed his eyes and his whole person began to glow. The tree shimmered and shook, then suddenly vanished as if it had never been.

He said that he had displaced it when I asked before. But seeing and hearing about something were two different things. Still, my sadness took precedence over any burning questions that I could ask. My man was still leaving, to save me, to save us both. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

“My heart beats for you,” he said. Then he was gone.

I tried to hold the confident face, the face of the woman watching her warrior go off into battle, the face of the maiden watching her knight battle a dragon. But as soon as he disappeared from view, the smile faded.

My head dropped, my shoulders drooped, and I was just another woman watching her man go away.

I sniffled, trying to hold back the torrent of tears that threatened to break free at any second, but the pressure was too much.

With my sobs echoing through the cavern, I raced toward the area Luster called home, the place where he brought me for safety. Once there, I could give free rein to my tears and cry out all of my grief in privacy.

My bare feet raced over the soft green grass. Ignoring the shocked faces of the others, I ran to his quarters and threw myself down upon his bed. Big mistake.

Lying across his bed, I could smell his special scent. In the warmth of his blankets, I could feel him. If I wrapped them around me it almost felt as if he were holding me once again. My body shuddered and my eyes burned with my tears. My heart had broken and nothing would repair the pieces until he was safe in my arms again.

I never realized when the crying stopped and the ache in my center began.

All I could think about was Luster. His smile, his lavender eyes, his long flowing hair, his body. Every aspect of his being was being broken down in my mind and the pictures whirled around in my head.