Текст книги "Scars of his warth"

Автор книги: Zoey Ellis

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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The next day, irritation dominated Naya's mood.

Even though she'd had a powerful release, more overwhelming than any before, she’d resisted going back to sleep in case the nightmares returned. At home she had the forest to escape to, the vast night sky to watch, and the City of Athens with its reliable moods. Here, she couldn't even get out of the cart.

She was irritated at what the beast told her to do, irritated at how easy it was to do it for him, and irritated that the Alpha, who had so incredibly aroused her, had not touched her. Intellectually, she didn’t want him to, but instinctively, the need was powerful. When he passed her to mount his horse-creature, she couldn’t even look at him, and had to drink from the tmae to cool the warmth of embarrassment that heated her to the core.

That evening, the healer allowed her an escorted walk around the fleet so she could stand and stretch, which she appreciated even if she was surrounded by guards. Usually if she couldn’t get to her forest, she’d tire herself out until she collapsed from exhaustion, then she'd have no nightmares. An escorted walk wasn’t enough to tire her, but it felt good to stretch her muscles.

She learned it took at least two people to disable the magical dome across her cart—both had to access it from two outside corners of her cart at the same time. So if the beast had done it on his own, he either used it differently or had a specific skill the others didn’t.

The beast watched while she was eating again, but the look on his face had changed from a watchful intensity to a fierce hunger. It made her feel strange, like an anticipation building in her stomach. Thankfully, by the time she settled down to sleep, he disappeared, which she was grateful for. She didn’t know how to deal with him yet. He was a dangerous Alpha who would brutally kill to take over her empire, and he rejected her as his mate, yet he forced her to orgasm in front of him without touching her. Humiliation now seemed to be his form of torture and amusement.

The dome above her disappeared, and the wind rushed in.

Naya was almost expecting him this time. This was the third visit in a row. She'd wondered if he would visit her cart nightly until they arrived at wherever he was leading them. Considering she hadn't woken from a nightmare tonight—hadn’t even slept—but it seemed that didn’t matter. He was clearly trying to break her. He could try as hard as he liked but it wouldn’t happen.

She turned to him, and a jolt of surprise and arousal twisted through her.

He was dressed in a mixture of tough leathers and fabrics designed with sharp angles that had to be a style familiar to his people. It was striking. His hair was also pulled back into one long plait.

A gleam danced in his dark eyes. "If you're not going to sleep, you can entertain me. Come." He jerked his chin to something behind her.

When Naya turned, all she could see was the darkness of the desert. What kind of entertainment was she supposed to provide out there? She curled up tighter in the cart. “No, thank you.”

"Get up," he ordered, walking around her car and headed out into the darkness. “You say you’re a warrior. Let me see.”

Naya frowned, once again annoyed at his assertions about her warrior ability. She hadn’t fought or trained for a long time but she was her father’s daughter, and she didn’t like anyone disparaging her ability. She rose to her feet and glanced around. The camp was completely quiet, like it always was when he visited her cart. No one was awake, and only the slight stirrings of the nnirae could be heard over the wind. An urge gripped her to jump out of the cart and run in the opposite direction. But he’d already told her what would happen if she did that, and she still didn’t know where she was going.

"Come," he growled, almost too far away to see his outline.

The fabric around her neck began to tighten slowly. Naya climbed out of the cart and followed him away from the camp. The farther away she was from him, the tighter the band around her neck squeezed, so she tried to keep up. Just when she thought she'd lost him, a blue glow caught her eye.

The beast stood a few feet from her, holding the strange rock she’d seen before. It was huge, the size of his fist, and the blue light glimmered. He placed it on the ground between them. A burst of magic shot from it, spreading along the sand and turning it into a smooth, flat surface, and creating a huge dome over the two of them. The magical dome was brighter than the ones over the campfires, enough light to see the area it covered. She needed to figure out that rock; it would be the key to her escape.

"What—um. Why…," Naya stumbled over her words, unsure if she still wasn’t allowed to ask a question.

The beast held out a sword. “Strike me.”

Naya frowned. This was a strange request. Was this an excuse to kill or harm her? What if she actually killed him? What would happen to her then?

She glanced around them. The camp was at least one hundred feet away and almost invisible if not for the dome shimmers. There didn’t seem to be anyone patrolling the camp either. Where there no guards on watch? She thought back to the previous nights but she couldn’t remember. His people would certainly retaliate if she harmed him, and it wasn’t as though she could escape from the middle of the desert, even if she did get hold of the blue stone. “No, thank you.”

The beast watched her, amusement on his face. “I want to see for myself if you can strike me."

“I may harm you.”

Amusement spread on his face. “I doubt it.”

So fucking arrogant. Naya reached up and lifted the sword from him, weighing it in her favorite hand. It was a good quality sword with good weight. She glanced up at his weapon, a similar weapon but designed differently. “I haven’t trained in a long time.”

“That is your problem. The way your people boast about you means you should live up to their standards at all times. Otherwise you embarrass yourself and them.”

Fury burst in Naya’s gut and she straightened, mouth tightening. This bastard knew how to hit a fucking nerve. The beast let out a satisfied sound that made her stomach flutter, but she was too angry to register it.

“I like to know the name of the person I’m sparring with,” she said through gritted teeth, “so when I carve out their throat and leave them holding their own guts, I can find their next of kin.”

Hunger spread on the beast’s face and the whisper of a smile graced his lips. “Akoro.”

Akoro. Finally she had a name for her father.

Without a second’s hesitation, Naya darted forward, swinging for his neck.

He jerked back just in time, but Naya continued, slicing and swiping at him at an incredible speed, pushing him back toward the back of the dome. To his credit, Akoro didn’t make a sound. Not even a grunt left his throat as he dodged her blade across the dome. Reaching the far end of it, she was out of breath and her speed had slowed.

She paused, lowering the sword and was annoyed to see that she hadn’t even nicked him once. But her annoyance was reflected back in the contorted look on his face. She wasn't sure why he was annoyed, but she took pleasure in it. She lunged for him again and this time he raised his sword.

Their weapons clashed, ringing out across the dome. Naya quickly learned that he fought like a typical Alpha, with heavy-weighted blows and minimal dodging. She slipped into the pattern of attacks she usually used when she sparred with heavy-footed Alphas, and dashed in different directions, forcing him to move in ways he didn’t plan. It threw his balance off, making his heavy swings work against him, and with the speed they were moving, it altered his balance.

She lunged in and added blows and kicks, as much as she could manage in what she was wearing, but the Alpha proved to be more versatile on his feet than she’d first assumed. He dodged every single one of her attempts and defended with his sword when he felt like it. Her focus tightened as she sunk into the feel of their fight, and her attack became bolder and wilder. But no matter what she did, Akoro found a way to avoid being hit. His instincts were finely tuned and she got the feeling he wasn’t even trying hard, while she was dripping with sweat.

The air between them deepened, both of their scents flavored the dome with a sweet and pungent blend of aggression, arousal, alertness. It was impossible to deny that they both were affected by the fight. Naya could feel the slickness between her legs—every move the Alpha made, every bulge of his muscle was a marvel, a pure example of a strong and powerful male. But she forced her mind to focus—she couldn’t let that get in the way of winning.

And then it happened. She correctly anticipated when his weight was changing, and she kicked his leg just above the knee, throwing him off balance.

He fell, hitting the floor hard on his left side. Lunging forward, she lifted her sword with both hands, aiming to plunge it into his chest but he rolled away as her sword came down, and it dug into the sand instead.

The Alpha rolled back up to his feet and roared, a deep, resounding thunder ripping through the air. All hair on Naya’s body stood on end, fear edging into the anger that had bolstered her. The roar had a torturous edge to it, torment and longing and need fused into the long animalistic sound. Akoro threw his weapon aside and charged her.

Naya wasn't sure what to do. No longer in her focused fighting haze, she stumbled back as he came closer. He wasn’t sparring with her now, she could sense it. Something had changed—primal, stormy, violent. It drove him forward, the enormous bulk of him coming at her.

She raised her sword but he batted it aside, sending it flying across the dome. He tackled her to the ground, taking the brunt of the fall on his shoulder, and they rolled across the dome, finally stopping with him on top. Naya groaned and tried to push him off, but they were tangled together, the warm heat of him bearing down on her. The Alpha started pulling up her tunic and lifting her legs

"No," she panted, even as her slick gathered from the taut feel of him. "Stop!"

He could cause so much damage to her if he tried to force himself on her in this state, but the aggression was no longer clouding his scent. Instead a thick, potent beam of rich desire made her whole body arch, even as she kicked and pushed.

Then his mouth was on her inner thigh, biting and sucking the skin as he moved up to her middle. Naya stilled, her fists still pushing him away, but the feel of his mouth on her skin was singing to every nerve. When he reached her middle, he wedged his tongue through her wetness and released a gravelly rumble of satisfaction that made her hum in delight. He flicked his tongue between her folds and eased his whole mouth onto her, and finding her clit wet he devoured her. Wild and rough, he licked and sucked on her, swirling his thick tongue into her aching channel in a relentless rhythm.

The pleasure ravaged her, jostling her whole body, every lick and every suck and every nibble. The sounds coming from the Alpha were obscene, as though he was feeding on the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted, and it turned her on even more. When his large hands ran up to her breasts, squeezing and rolling her nipples between his fingers, her peak hit, and she soared, her whole body shaking.

The pleasure was so blinding, she clung onto him and he rode her through it as it ravaged her. And then she went limp.

The Alpha looked down over her, his mouth and beard shining, his dark eyes heated. Naya stared at him, pliant and soft. In this state, she expected him to fuck her, and even though she’d never had sex before, she craved it right now with him. But the Alpha did something strange. Instead of spreading her wider and easing himself into her, he gathered her into him, crushing his weight on top of her. Rolling down the fabric on her neck that she forgot was even there, he pressed his nose onto her skin and inhaled.

She smiled at the hoarse sound of his pleased moan and when he settled on top of her, breathing her in, she let the drowsiness of her exhaustion drift her into dreamless sleep.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Akoro. That was his name.

The name of the Alpha who had wrestled her to the ground only to give her the most incredible orgasm with only his mouth. A wave of shame swept through her, mortified by her behavior—thrashing and trembling under him and wanting more. This was the Alpha who had kidnapped and brutally tortured her and was planning to invade her home. She’d told herself her attraction to him wouldn’t get in the way, but somehow the sparring yesterday had turned into something raw, sinful, and volatile. It was surprising he hadn't fucked her right there on the flat sand, and it annoyed her that if he had, she would have reveled in it.

She'd woken up back in her cart in the early morning, the camp preparing to travel. The usual women came to replace her squat pot, give her breakfast, and take her to bathe. She scrubbed the Alpha’s lingering scent from her skin, hoping that the women who escorted her couldn't smell it. It was embarrassing enough that she had craved it, luxuriated in the feeling he gave her, and came so hard in his mouth her whole body had seized, but it would be embarrassing for everyone else in the camp to know.

When the beast—no, Akoro—approached his nnirae, she’d stayed low in the cart, keeping her eyes averted,

As they traveled that day, Naya thought things through. She had agreed to help him, but right now she had no plan and no priorities. That would not work if she wanted to find a way out of here.

Yesterday Akoro had some kind of device that had flattened the sand into suitable fighting pitch and created a dome that provided them with warmth and, she assumed, privacy. Surely, the noise of their weapons and his roar, and… their sex would have woken the camp. It was windy enough for the sounds to carry, so the dome must've had a dampening effect too. She’d seen that stone when he'd taken her, and she was convinced it was the key to getting back home through a portal.

That night Akoro didn’t come to her cart. Naya was partly relieved and partly disappointed, but she shoved the disappointment down to the pit of her stomach. She didn't sleep, keen to avoid the nightmares and any reason for him to visit.

After two nights of no visits, she settled into the rhythm of travel. The healer didn’t need to check her for lingering pain anymore but encouraged her to keep drinking the tmae. Her escorted walks were the highlight of her days—she enjoyed seeing the nnirae and getting to stretch.

On the third night, she was exhausted enough to sleep with no nightmares, but in the middle of the night, the dome above her disappeared; Akoro climbed in. The cart was large, but not big enough for an Alpha. She tried to get up, but he was already straddling her body, his knees on either side of her, pinning down her arms.

"What are you doing?" she gasped.

He said nothing, the wildness in his eyes as hungry and intense as when they fought.

Naya struggled against his weight. "Let me up."

He started undoing his pants.

"Stop!” Naya tried to wriggle out from his heavy weight. “What the fuck are you doing?”

He braced the side of the cart, leaning over her, expression fierce. "How did you knock me over? You shouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Naya almost rolled her eyes. Of course he was angry about her beating him. That overbearing Alpha pride. “I… uh. Technique. My father’s technique.”

His face flickered with something ugly. “Are you going to tell me what this supposed trauma is?"

Naya stared up at him. “Why does it matter so much?” she whispered, aware she had asked a question but didn’t care. Why did he keep bringing it up? This man was intending to invade her Land. He didn't need to know any more than necessary—especially not her weaknesses. Voluntarily giving someone like him a weapon to wield against her was beyond foolish, and it didn’t mean she wouldn’t still endure whatever depraved thing he was about to do.

He scowled. “Do you know how you sound when you’re having a bad dream? It is… unpleasant.”

Naya’s eyes narrowed. “And it wasn’t unpleasant when you broke my⁠—“

“Quiet.” His face hardened. He leaned back up and finished undoing his pants. “I helped you sleep. Tonight, you will help me.”

Naya pressed her lips together to stop them from quivering and watched his cock bound down to her face. She didn’t expect it to look so monstrous, broad and long, with veins scattered all over, the shapely tip dripping. But as he was a beast, it was no surprise his cock looked like a blunt weapon made of flesh.

Naya stared at it, so close to her face, her breath uneven. Her core tightened at the sight of it. Would that fit inside her? Its smell was incredible—his pungent animalistic scent heightened a thousand times. Pure intoxication.

The beast stroked his fingers into the crown of her head and tapped the tip with her lips. She opened, allowed him in. The saltiness on the tip dragged on her tongue and tasted of him. It wasn’t unpleasant.

“Wider,” he said, that rich voice hoarse and straining. “I want your throat.”

She did as she was told, and he surged in, filling her mouth with a groan. Naya's head moved an inch as she tried to figure out how to take him, but he was already pulsing back and forth, dragging his flesh along her tongue. Surprisingly, the monstrosity was smooth and salty. It wasn’t bad. In fact, the taste of him set her whole body alight. She wiggled her tongue against it, trying to feel for the veins, but instead found ridges under the tip that made the Alpha groan. So she did it again. And again, the pleasure of pleasing him overloading her senses.

From below, he looked incredible—a huge wall of muscled Alpha on top of her, hair wild, eyes hungry. His hips surging forward to take pleasure from her mouth. She sucked harder drawing a low groan from him that made her slick gather.

He slowly built a rhythm, sinking deeper and deeper into the back of her mouth. Naya tried not to gag, but the urge was powerful. He kept surging forth, until his huge tip was tight in the slimy recess of her throat. He muttered words in his language that had to have been curses because when he withdrew, the scorching look in his eyes was savage.

“I can smell you, tmot zia,” he rasped, feeding his cock back into her mouth. “That succulent little cunt always smells so good. Why are you always wet? Do you need to be knotted? Hmm? Stretched wide until you see stars?”

Naya moaned around him, squeezing her legs together and trying to put pressure on her clit, but it wasn’t enough. The ache of emptiness between her legs was like a sweet agony, yet she had in her mouth the perfect enormous solution. If she could, she would have pleaded for him to sink it into her, but her mouth was otherwise occupied.

He pushed in and out, sometimes going deep into the back of her mouth, other times staying on her tongue and letting her work on him.

“You look so good with cock in your mouth,” he groaned, building a rhythm. His breathing increased, gruff groans getting rhythmically louder, balls slapping her chin. His eyes darkened, locked onto hers as though wanting to watch her through his orgasm, just like she'd watched him.

When he came, he braced the side of the cart and groaned, sending a bolt through her whole body. His seed poured into her mouth, and she was unprepared for the quantity. She swallowed the salty, pungent fluid, the rest surging out of her mouth and down the sides of her face.

Akoro breathed heavily over her, keeping the tip in her mouth until his cock stopped pulsing. Stroking her head, he lifted up and pulled out of her mouth. Naya whimpered at the loss. He climbed off her slowly, getting out the cart with his cock still hanging out of his pants. Their eyes remained locked—something volatile, heavy, and intimate passing between them.

He reached over and rubbed her cheek, smearing his seed into her skin, marking her the way she marked him. “It is good to know you are just like any other female prisoner,” he rumbled, a slight contempt in his eyes. “Feed your mouth some dripping cock, lick your clit, and you’re ready to be fucked—no matter how much you say you don’t want to be here.”

Coldness gripped Naya and she froze.

“Goodnight, Lox Princess,” he murmured, moving away from the cart. “I won’t be needing you anymore on this journey.”