by Nicole René
“Tyronian, take my place,” he ordered darkly as he passed him.
Xavier didn’t look back to see if Tyronian followed his orders. He never once turned around when Tristan was hauled to his feet and escorted away.
Xavier didn’t look back.
Not once.
It was strange to be walking through the camp and not seeing a single person. Not that it was surprising; they were all witnessing the Choosing. Leawyn glanced at her husband, trying to get a read on his mood.
He was still dragging her behind him, his steps quick—almost urgent. His guard was up, his emotionless mask in place. She couldn’t get a read on how mad he was, which made her nervous. It never boded well for Leawyn when he was mad at her.
She stumbled, her outstretched arm jolting as she started to fall while Xavier kept walking. He turned, simultaneously catching her, and hauling her up into his arms and over his shoulder, growing impatient with her.
Leawyn wisely kept her mouth shut as she rolled her eyes behind the safety of Xavier’s back. It wasn’t her fault he walked too fast for her to keep up.
A few tense moments later, he reached their tent, pulling aside the curtain and storming in. He swung her around so she was facing him, holding her by the globes of her ass. Her legs wrapped around his waist.
Xavier walked forward, his eyes staring into Leawyn’s with a strange intensity that had her heart pounding in both fear and excitement.
“Xavier...” she bit her lip uncertainly, watching his eyes zero in on the action. Her back met the modest bed pallet that was provided in their tent, and Xavier followed her down so he hovered over her.
Goosebumps broke out on Leawyn’s skin when she felt the long, hard length resting against her thigh through his breeches.
“What you did today...” Xavier’s voice trailed off, teeth grinding together as his fists clenched. Her heart pounded, fear gripping her throat.
“Xavier, I’m sorry. Please, I didn’t—”
Leawyn quieted when he put a finger to her soft lips. Her breathing accelerated as he stood, his hands going to his belt and undoing it. His swords clattered to the ground, followed by his pants. He gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing it aside. Xavier stared down at her, fully naked. His erection touched his stomach, hard and ready.
“Xavier...” Leawyn said nervously, sitting up so she could scoot backwards. He reached for her as his knee touched the bed, pulling her forward and effectively stopping her escape. His rough hands trailed down her body, and before she knew what was happening, her dress was ripped over her head and landed with the rest of the clothes.
Xavier gripped her cheeks with both hands, tilting her head up, positioning her right where he wanted. They both exhaled hard when he slammed his lips onto hers in a searing kiss. He wrenched his mouth away, and Leawyn stared at him dumbly, a bit dazed.
“What you did today,” Xavier said, his voice a husky growl, “no one has ever done anything like that for me before.” He lowered her to the bed again, his hand burying between her legs. Leawyn gasped, back arching as he brushed his thumb against her nub, slowly rubbing.
“Why did you do it? Why did you stop me?” Leawyn whimpered when Xavier lowered his fingers, dipping to gather the wetness there before continuing his ministrations until he had her gasping and writhing beneath him in need.
“Why, Leawyn?” he asked again, bending down to capture a nipple with his mouth. She groaned when he sucked hard, tongue swirling around the puckered bud. Her body started to shake, her climax building rapidly.
“Xavier,” she whimpered in need, her eyes squeezing shut.
“Tell me,” he said against her skin. His hand dipped to slowly thrust a finger in and out of her, curling it inside her as his thumb brushed against her clitoris with each stroke.
“Because,” Leawyn gasped out, her whole body jerking when he added another finger inside of her, pumping faster.
“He’s your brother. I couldn’t let you,” She cut off with a moan, eyes closing when he added a third finger, curling it upwards. “I didn’t want—”
“You didn’t want to lose me,” Xavier interrupted, ignoring her frustrated cry of “no!” when he stopped moving his fingers. “Answer me,” he demanded, his other hand gripping her chin and making her look at him. Leawyn’s eyes were hazy with lust when she met his own.
“You said you didn’t want to lose me,” Xavier said seriously, eyes blazing with emotion. “Did you mean it?”
“I didn’t want you to do anything you would regret. I couldn’t watch you destroy yourself, and if you killed Tristan, it would haunt you for the rest of your life. I couldn’t do it.” Leawyn’s eyes watered. “I couldn’t watch you kill someone you love. So, whatever you plan on doing to punish me, do it. Because I’m not sorry...not about that.”
Leawyn blinked as Xavier leaned forward. He watched in near fascination at the tear she felt trailing down her cheek. For once, this tear wasn’t because of him, but for him. She had never cried for him before.
Xavier wiped said tear away and lifted his eyes back to hers.
“I’m going to make you love me,” he whispered roughly, his eyes fierce.
“You can’t make someone love you, Xavier,” Leawyn whispered back. “It has to be their choice.”
“Then I’ll make you choose me.”
“Why?” She breathed, closing her eyes as he started to slowly rock against her, mere inches away from entering her.
“Because I want you to...I need you to,” Xavier said, kissing along her ear and trailing down to her neck.
“I didn’t think you needed anything, or anyone.”
“I didn’t,” Xavier replied, pulling away from her neck to ensnare her eyes with his. “Until I met you.”
Leawyn was silent, searching his eyes. He was a fierce warrior—she saw proof of that today. His body was riddled with scars, the canvas for his art of war. But, for the first time, she saw past the hardness in his eyes. She saw past the cold depths of merciless feelings shielded by the absolute loneliness within. In that moment, he was a lost boy to her, trapped inside a man’s body he couldn’t escape due to expectations and responsibilities.
Having no words to offer, Leawyn simply lifted her head, claiming his lips with her own in a soft, sensual kiss. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down so he was flush against her while her legs snaked around his waist.
Xavier gripped her thighs, his nails digging into the soft flesh as he brought his lips to her ear.
“Choose me, Leawyn,” Xavier whispered, and then he shifted, pushing into her slowly, inch by inch. He didn’t stop until he filled completely, and she didn’t know if she could survive the pleasure of it all.
His hips rocked into her with soft, unhurried movements. The pleasure was a slow build, bringing them higher and higher with each thrust. Their heavy breaths mingled together, bodies slick with sweat, and as each minute passed, they grew more desperate for each other. They used each other to chase away the pain inside of their hearts they didn’t know they possessed until fate brought them together.
“Xavier...” Leawyn whimpered, fingers digging into his shoulders at her peak. He reached up and cupped the back of her head, fingers fisting in her hair as he brought her up to meet his mouth, swallowing her cry of release. Xavier wrapped both his arms around her, lifting her by her ass. She had no choice but to dig her fingernails into his back and hold on as he pounded into her, no longer being able to be gentle as he chased his own release.
“Xavier! I can’t...” Leawyn moaned, the familiar heat rising within as she felt another orgasm coming.
“You can, and you will.”
Xavier reached between them, pinching her there as he continued to pound into her.
“I’m going to own your heart, Leawyn. I’m going to make you want me. Make you crave me. You’re mine. I claimed you the moment I saw you, and now I’m going to make you need me. Because this?” Xavier drew back until
he was almost all the way out of her hot, needy warmth. He watched in rapt desire as he gripped his length and rubbed it up and down her slit.
“This wants me. This needs me, and sooner or later, you will too. I’ll make sure of it.” Xavier continued his assault, rubbing himself until he was covered in her juices. He caught Leawyn’s hands and held them above her head.
“Look at me,” he ordered huskily, staring into her pleasure-filled eyes when they fluttered open. He thrust back into her, burying himself to the hilt and causing Leawyn to cry out, gripping his hands tightly. His hips slammed into hers in rapid succession, his hand squeezing her hands tightly as he came closer and closer to his own climax. It only took a few minutes of his pace inside her for her to orgasm again, her mouth open in a silent scream.
It didn’t take much longer for Xavier to follow. As Leawyn felt her pussy muscles squeezing his cock tightly, she watched as his eyes rolled back in his head. His thrusts were disjointed, growing more urgent the closer he came to climax.
He squeezed Leawyn’s hands tightly as he stilled, going rigid as he pulled out, watching his cum shoot onto her stomach. Marking her.
“Do you still hate me?” Xavier panted down at her, smoothing back her sweaty hair from her face.
“Yes!” Leawyn groaned, low in her throat. Her body was still thrumming with the after effects of her orgasm.
His grin was absolutely carnal.
“No, you don’t.” Then he flipped her over onto her stomach. She shrieked when his palm swatted her ass, hard.
“Xavier!” Leawyn yelped when he swatted her again, trying to wiggle away from him.
“Don’t ever come between me and my sword again when I’m in battle,” Xavier growled, swatting her other cheek. She could feel the heat of his slaps, no doubt leaving red handprints on her skin.
“Stop!”
“By rights I should take my belt to you, like any other husband would,” he said. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to you if I didn’t stop myself? I could have killed you!”
“I’m sorry!” Leawyn gasped, jerking when he slapped her ass again in quick succession. Her eyes stung with tears, and she couldn’t help but try to shy away from the fiery pain his spanking caused her backside. He hold held her down, forcing her to take his punishment, until she was begging him to stop around her tears.
He brought his palm down one more time before he flipped her back over, gripping the back of her neck.
“I mean it. That cannot happen again. No matter what the reasons are. I don’t want to risk hurting you,” Xavier told her gravely.
“I understand,” she sniffled. He sighed, using his grip to bring her head down to his chest as he lay down, pulling the covers over them both to ward off the chill.
“I definitely still hate you,” Leawyn mumbled petulantly against his chest.
Xavier let out a low chuckle in response. “No, you don’t.”
A few moments passed in silence, both lost in their thoughts. Even though it was still early, Leawyn was too emotionally exhausted to stay awake.
“Xavier?”
“Hmm?” he hummed, his fingers pausing in her hair, tilting his head down to look at her as she propped herself up on her elbow.
“I’m sorry about Tristan,” she said softly.
Leawyn lay back down when Xavier didn’t reply. She was moments away from sleep when she heard his whisper.
“Me too.”
“Some might not be as accepting of me breaking tradition by sparing Tristan’s life,” Xavier told her, lifting his head to look at her as he finished cinching the straps of his belt that held his swords. He made his way over to her, stopping in front of her and tying the rest of the strings that held her dress.
“You’ll have to be careful,” Xavier told her seriously, dropping his hands when he finished.
Leawyn’s brows furrowed. “You think someone will try to hurt me?”
“You did stop me,” Xavier pointed out. “It could put a target on your back.”
“Because I stopped you from killing your brother?” Leawyn frowned.
“Because I listened.”
She swallowed at the look in his eyes she couldn’t quite place. She didn’t think that by stopping Xavier she could potentially endanger them both. That was the problem, wasn’t it? She didn’t think.
“Well...what about you? Wouldn’t you be in danger too?”
Xavier smirked. “You don’t need to worry about me. I can handle myself.”
“Yeah, but I’m still going to. I can handle myself too, you know.”
“You haven’t been trained like I have,” Xavier pointed out. Leawyn watched in interest as he went to where he kept all his weapons. He plucked up a short bow and its quiver of arrows. He held them out to her, and she tentatively grabbed them. Looking up at him, she saw he was smirking at her confused expression.
“I want you to start carrying that with you, as well as a small dagger you can hide in your dress.”
Leawyn raised a slim brow. “You trust me with a bow?”
“I’ve seen what you can do with a bow,” Xavier replied wryly. “I think you can handle it.” He watched as she swung the bow and quiver onto her back, settling it in place.
“Carry it everywhere; I mean it. It’s not just the tribes people you have to worry about,” he said gravely. “It’s only a matter of time until they attack, and it won’t be to test our strength. This attack will be for annihilation.”
“I understand,” Leawyn whispered with just the slightest tremble. “How do you know this?”
“Because my gut is telling me so, and it’s never wrong. Something is coming, soon, and it won’t be good.”
Well, that certainly is comforting, Leawyn thought, but nodded in understanding.
The Izayges won the competition, which wasn’t surprising.
They always won.
All the tribes were set to celebrate before they made the journey back to their homes. Everyone was in good spirits, the huge feast well on its way.
Yet...Leawyn could feel the stares many gave her as she walked past. Whispering about her behind her back, some merely curious and praising her for her bravery—she stopped two brothers from killing each other, after all. But it was the other looks and whispers that bothered her and made her hand itchy for her bow.
Leawyn knew what they were saying about her. How she ruined tradition, their laws. But what really bothered her was what they said about her husband. How can a man be chief if he was swayed by a woman? Xavier wasn’t powerful; he was weak in their eyes now.
Because of her.
The whispers were like a disease, spreading through her mind and consuming her heart until she felt like she was going mad. She had to escape, which was how she found herself on top of a modest hill that overlooked the camp and the celebrating bodies below. The sounds of laughter and music floated up to her as they ate and danced around the multiple fires.
She would have to return soon. Xavier wouldn’t be happy to know she wandered off.
“It’s a funny thing, isn’t it?”
Leawyn jerked in surprise at the sudden husky voice behind her. She turned around and was met by the stare of a woman she had never seen before.
Her skin was dark, darker than Leawyn had ever seen. It was the color of wet soil. She had long, thick, straight black hair that fell over her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. One side of her hair was shaved, revealing a spiraling tattoo on the side of her head.
She was exotic, but the most shocking thing about her was her eyes. They were multicolored: the right eye a vivid green that was the exact color of grass, while the other one was such a light gray it looked almost white. It was the color of the sky right before it rained. She would have been beautiful if it weren’t for the hideous jagged scar that ran from the top of her brow straight down to her chin, as if her attacker tried to cut her face in half.
“What is?” Leawyn asked finally, hesitant. Her eyes followed t
he strange woman as she walked towards her. Her steps were light and silent, the dirt underneath her bare feet not once making a sound. Leawyn shifted a step away from the woman as she came to a stop beside her, looking down to the bodies below.
“War,” the woman said in her rough voice that sounded like two rocks grinding together.
“Life is such a fickle thing,” the woman mused. “It can be created by both love and hate, and then destroyed for the very same reason which made it possible in the first place. It’s an ugly truth that is beautiful in a tragic way. Don’t you agree, Lady Leawyn?”
“Who are you?” Leawyn whispered, her voice thick with unease. “How do you know my name?”
“I’ve come to warn you,” the woman said in lieu of answering Leawyn’s question, her gaze still locked on the people below.
“Warn me of what?” Leawyn asked shakily, a chill going down her spine.
The woman met Leawyn’s eyes, and she gasped at what she saw reflected in her strange-colored gaze, stumbling back away from her. The look was pure ice; cold and lifeless. It instantly brought goosebumps to Leawyn’s skin.
“Death.”
It was at that very moment a shrill scream shattered the silence, the pain within it echoing to the depths of Leawyn’s soul.
“I can’t believe he betrayed us,” Tyronian said, nursing his cup of ale as he glared broodingly at the liquid. “That traitor,” he growled, launching his cup angrily. It shattered when it hit the ground.
“He made his choice; there’s no use lingering on the subject,” Xavier said, taking a long pull of his ale.
“How can you be so calm?” Tyronian asked incredulously. “He’s your brother!”
Xavier’s eyes narrowed at Tyronian. “He was my brother,” he said darkly. “He’s not my brother anymore.”
Tyronian was silent, his heart heavy with pain and betrayal. Xavier took another big gulp of his drink, slamming it down on the table hard enough for the whole table to shake when he was done. He scanned the crowd, looking for Leawyn.