by Nicole René
“What—?”
“Why does she seem to think that you wouldn’t care where she’s at?” Leawyn interrupted him.
What? Tyronian thought. His brows furrowed in confusion. “Leawyn, I—”
“What did you do? Because I swear to all the Gods and Goddess, I will cut you if you hurt her!” Leawyn, once again, interrupted him before he could get a word in. Tyronian’s brows rose higher at the threat. Was it him, or did Leawyn seem particularly more violent with this pregnancy?
“When I told you to break her heart, I didn’t mean as soon as you wed!”
At this point, Tyronian was beyond exasperated. “Leawyn!” He yelled, cutting her off mid-rant and gaining the attention of everyone in the hall, including Xavier. “What are you talking about?” He asked when she (finally) quieted.
Leawyn’s lips narrowed in the same fashion as her eyes.
“What’s going on here?” Xavier came up behind Leawyn, leveling Tyronian with a dark look over her shoulder. Leawyn leaned back against Xavier’s chest, welcoming his embrace when he wrapped his arm around her waist. The move was both protective, and possessive.
Tyronian almost rolled his eyes. He would never hurt Leawyn, and Xavier knew it. But that didn’t stop his crazy tendencies when it came to his wife. Bastard still growled whenever he thought a man was looking at her longer than what he felt was appropriate. Which, unfortunately for him––or maybe unfortunate for them?––was often.
Leawyn was a beauty, and people noticed regardless. He's surprised he hasn't locked her in their hut forever.
Oh wait, he tried once. It didn't work. Now he just stuck to growling and stabbing and killing.
Tyronian shook his head. He needed to get back on topic. Which is whatever Leawyn is accusing him about.
“I’ve had to send Castic up to deliver Namoriee her meals the past few days because she seems to think that you wouldn’t notice, nor care, that she plans to stay with Aggod until she’s well.”
“What happened to Aggod?” Xavier asked.
“Quiet, Xavier. The adult is talking right now,” Leawyn shushed. Xavier scowled.
Tyronian didn’t miss the insult she aimed at him, either. He sighed and rubbed his temples where a headache was slowly forming. Leawyn’s pregnancy hormones were driving him crazy. He can’t wait until she popped the kid out.
The sudden silence made Tyronian realize he said that out loud. He winced at the dangerous look he was receiving from both his cousin’s.
“You get your ass over to Aggod’s hut and fix whatever you did, or else you’ll really see what pregnancy hormones can do to you,” Leawyn growled, jabbing an angry finger in the direction of the hall entrance. His eyes widened at the threat.
“Leawyn, I’m sorry I didn’t mean—”
“GO!”
And like a puppy with his tail between his legs, he did.
Besides the time that Namoriee woke Aggod up to feed her, it was the only time that she stayed awake for a long period of time. It worried Namoriee greatly, but she held onto the hope that the deep sleep was Aggod’s body trying to heal itself. She had just finished setting up her make-shift sleeping space on the floor, when the hut’s door opened. It was probably Leawyn checking up on her again.
“I’m fine. I was just about to settle,” she called over her shoulder.
“Avoiding me again, wife?”
Namoriee whirled around with a gasp.
It wasn’t Leawyn at all.
“Tyronian w-w-what are you doing here?”
Tyronian almost smiled at the stutter, a sure sign that she was unnerved, if it wasn’t the fact that she was about to get ready to sleep here—alone—instead of with him in their hut.
“Funny,” he said, closing the door behind him. “I was just going to ask you the same. Care to enlighten me?” he asked, looking down at her when he came to a stop in front of her. Namoriee licked her lips nervously, an action that made his cock twitch to life. The things he could make her do with those lips…
“I-I was j-just…” Her breath faltered out of her when he pulled her closer to him. His nose nuzzling the top of her head and breathing in the scent of her.
“You were just...what?” he prompted, enjoying how his proximity affected her.
“Aggod is sick so I j-j-just thought that I’d—”
“You just thought that you would avoid me by hiding out here, instead of coming to bed with your husband.”
Her silence told him that he was right.
“You can’t escape me, Namoriee. No matter how hard you try. If you run, I’ll catch you. If you hide, I’ll find you.” His hands traveled down the length of her, relishing in the tremble he felt at his touch.
She gave the slightest moan at the sensation, so quiet he wouldn’t have heard it if he didn’t have his lips on her throat. Her skin tasted salty, and sweet at the same time. It was addicting. He gripped her hips, pulling her close enough that she could feel the bulge in his pants. His body’s natural response to her presence.
“You’ll find that the man I was with you before is gone. The one who would have let you try and avoid him, and not do anything about it. He was a man who wanted someone bad enough that he was willing to wait for her to grow up without a man binding her. That man is dead.”
“D-d-dead?” Her voice was positively breathy
“Dead,” Tyronian confirmed, nipping the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
“What man am I looking at now, then?” She shivered when his tongue apologized for the nip.
He pulled back and smiled, but it wasn’t a smile. It was primitive, possessive, and completely venereal.
“One that has been starving for two winters, which is a lot of time to figure out exactly what he’ll do once he has the woman he’s wanted. And believe me, she’ll get just as much pleasure out of the experience as he will.”
He pulled away completely from her then, looking around the healer’s hut. He wasn’t sure why, as he’s been here more times than he could count. His eyes landed on the pale form of Aggod, who did, in fact, look sickly. He turned his attention back to Namoriee. Aggod was normally a light sleeper, something she had to be as the healer of Izayges warriors. The fact that she didn’t wake up during their exchange was troubling.
“How long has she been like this?”
“Days.”
Tyronian frowned, his concern for the healer growing. He’ll have to inform Xavier.
“You can stay here for the night,” he relented. “But make no mistake wife, come tomorrow night and every night after, you’ll be sleeping next to me in our bed.”
Not giving her time to try and pull away, he bent down and claimed her lips with his. He used her surprise to push his tongue into her mouth, entwining it with hers. Before his self-control vanished, he pulled away from her instead of throwing her down on the floor and burying himself deep inside of her like he wanted to. He brushed pressed one last kiss to her lips before he spun around and left.
True to his word, Tyronian had made sure that Namoriee slept in their bed every night since he found her in Aggod’s hut. Confusingly, he hasn’t laid with her since their wedding night, even after everything he said in Aggod’s hut. She refused the feeling she felt was almost reminiscent with longing for his touch. Namoriee opened the door to Leawyn’s shelter and watched in amusement as she tried and wrestle Xillix into clothes. Xillix was in a stage where he refused to wear pants or his napkin diaper. It wasn’t uncommon to find him running around the tribe naked, having to of found some way to get out of his cloth confinements.
“Need some help?”
Leawyn looked up at the sound her voice, sagging with relief at the sight of her.
“He won’t stay still!” Leawyn exclaimed, tears of frustration building in her eyes. “He won’t stop squirming, and I can’t, I can’t....”
Namoriee’s eyes rounded when she promptly burst into tears. She rushed over to her.
“I’m a horrible mother!” Leawyn wa
iled, when Namoriee wrapped her arms around her, gently guiding her to sit down.
“You’re not a horrible mother,” Namoriee soothed, keeping one eye on Xillix who had used his mother’s melt down as a distraction and slipped off the bed.
“I am!” Leawyn cried, “I can’t even get my own son dressed, and even my husband can’t stand the sight of me now!”
Namoriee didn’t know how she went from Xillix hating her to Xavier not standing the sight of her, but she wasn’t going to say anything about it. Besides, she highly doubted the last part. This pregnancy was harder for Leawyn, and she seemed to be more emotional than she was with her last two.
“That’s not true,” Namoriee told her, rubbing her arm. “Why would you say that?” In her peripherals she saw Xillix now trying to get out of his diaper.
“Last night he wouldn’t have lay with me,” Leawyn turned to her, tears coursing down her cheeks. “Xavier never does that! Half the time, I could barely walk by the end of the day with how much he takes me. He’s never denied me before, never!”
If the whole village didn’t already know that fact, it was probably way more information Namoriee needed about Leawyn’s relationship with her husband.
“Leawyn, you’re with child. He probably did not want to risk you miscarrying again.”
Immediately, Namoriee knew she made a terrible mistake.
“What?” Leawyn sniffled, her tears subsiding in her confusion. “What do you mean by that? I didn’t miscarry, she was born still-born.”
Namoriee blanched, and something about the look on her face must have given her away because instantly, Leawyn’s body language changed.
“What did you mean by that Namoriee?” Leawyn demanded.
Namoriee opened her mouth, trying to speak, to say something to cover up her error, but the words got caught. Leawyn shot to her feet (well, as much as she could pregnant), bearing down on her with the full weight of her eyes.
“Why did you say that? Tell me!”
“I-I-I…” Her throat felt tight, making it impossible for her speak around the panic choking her. “I-I didn’t m-mean…” Could she really look into Leawyn’s eyes and continue to lie to her, like everyone else?
“Tell me,” Leawyn whispered. The fear in her voice, as if she knew Namoriee was going to confirm something she felt deep in her gut.
Her shoulders slumped, and Namoriee knew that she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t utter another lie to her.
“It was early into your marriage...” Namoriee began with a tremor in her voice.
Leawyn slowly lowered herself back on the bed in a daze as Namoriee began to tell her everything.
“You want to do what?” Xavier asked incredulously.
Tyronian sighed. They were inside of the war room, and Tyronian had just got done reporting back to Xavier about the small skirmish against the poachers of their land when he brought up his request.
“She’s struggling to accept our marriage. I think some time away together would help.”
Xavier leaned back in his chair, cocking an eyebrow at him. “So what if she’s struggling? She’s your wife, and you claimed her. Nothing she could do about it. You either make her accept it, or she’ll learn it on her own,” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the land.
Tyronian rolled his eyes. It’s not like he could say he was surprised at his cousin’s response—it was what Xavier did with Leawyn, after all. Xavier didn’t have much compassion, and in the rare occurrence that he did, he showed it to Leawyn or his son. It’s always been his way to take something he wanted without questions.
“I’m not like you,” Tyronian pointed out. “I don’t want to force her to love me, I want her to do that on her own.”
Xavier grunted, clearly disgusted at his notion. “If that’s true, why did you marry her if your plan was to woo her?
The answer to that was simple: he didn’t want to give her a chance to fall in love with someone else. He staked his ownership over her the moment he killed for her.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” Tyronian said instead, “all I need is your permission.”
Xavier smirked, an expression that said he knew he was right even if Tyronian didn’t want to admit it aloud.
“Do whatever you want,” Xavier shrugged, sitting forward to tidy up the desk. “Don’t know why you bother asking—it’s not like you cared about my permission, or not,” he grumbled.
“True,” Tyronian grinned.
The door slammed open, and they both lurched in surprise. Xavier stood up when he saw it was Leawyn, a furious expression on her face as she marched over to him. Namoriee was quick on her heels, panic splayed across her face.
“Leawyn?”
“Namoriee?” They asked simultaneously.
“You bastard!” Leawyn yelled, rounding around the table and slapping Xavier across the face in one swift move. Tyronian’s jaw dropped in surprise.
“You lying, good-for-nothing…!” she raged as she attacked him, her palm raining slaps on his face and body.
“Lady Leawyn, please stop!” Namoriee cried, moving as if to stop her. Tyronian intercepted her, grabbing her around her waist and holding her back. Xavier gripped Leawyn’s wrists mid-slap and herded her against the wall, keeping her trashing contained.
“Stop it Leawyn, before you hurt yourself.” Xavier demanded angrily, his grip on her wrists tightening to keep her pinned against the wall.
“You mean before I miscarry?” Leawyn snapped back furiously, shocking them. Tyronian stilled with Xavier, staring at her in shock. He looked down at Namoriee, at the terror on her face and instantly he knew what this was about.
Namoriee told her about the baby she lost, and how they kept it a secret.
To Xavier’s credit, he didn’t react, he simply stared down at Leawyn stubbornly. “You need to get a hold of yourself,” he told her calmly.
“You were never going to tell me, were you?” Leawyn asked, emotionally.
“No.”
“You snake! Let go of me!” Leawyn hissed, struggling against his hold. “You disgust me!”
Tyronian could feel Namoriee shaking, and he held her tighter. Xavier was keeping his temper under control for now, but he could tell that his patience was wearing thin.
“What good would it have done you for me to tell you? Huh?” Xavier demanded, giving Leawyn’s wrists a slight jerk. “You know what it was like then. I couldn’t change the outcome, and either could you. I saved you heartbreak.”
“I deserved to know!” Leawyn screamed back at him furiously. “It was my baby!”
Xavier and Leawyn seemed to have forgotten that they weren’t alone in the room. Tyronian could feel Namoriee shaking in his arms, her fear for her friend evident. He could do nothing but hold her against him tighter, as they watched the spectacle play out in front of them. They were both no stranger to Leawyn and Xavier’s fighting, the couple’s love was as volatile and explosive as a volcano. They both seemed to revel in heat, in the combustion. Their pattern was simple: they fought furiously, and they made up by taking their residual anger out on each other’s bodies.
But this time...Tyronian wasn’t quite sure if that will work. There was a difference in the air, and Tyronian was worried about what this might mean for Namoriee.
He didn’t think that his cousin will appreciate that she broke her vow of silence—his wife or not.
“You deserve to be taken over my knee and spanked for your defiance.”
“That won’t change anything,” Leawyn sneered up at him.
“You’re mine to do as I wish.” Xavier slid her wrists up higher on the wall, moving so that he wasn’t obscured by her belly. “That won’t ever change.”
“You lied to me,” Leawyn choked out quietly, blinking against the tears rolling down her face.
“After the war, you said there was no more secrets between us. That we were going to start over. I believed you, and you lied to me. You haven’t changed, and I was
a fool to trust in you.”
The atmosphere thickened almost unbearably after Leawyn’s remark, and protective awareness slithering down Tyronian’s spine, making it stiffen.
“Everybody out,” Xavier ordered in a dark tone, his eyes never wavering from Leawyn’s. Tyronian wasted no time and started to lead Namoriee away. With a hand on her lower back, and the other around her elbow, he ushered her resisting form to the door.
“No, wait!” Namoriee cried helplessly. “Please don’t punish her. It was me, all me. You can punish me!”
“Shut up, Namoriee,” Tyronian gritted out behind clenched teeth, tightening his grip on her.
Angry eyes shot over to them. “Control your woman, or I’ll do it for you,” Xavier threatened darkly.
Over my dead body, Tyronian thought. But nonetheless...
Namoriee screeched when he lifted her up with one arm wrapped around her waist, and hauled her thrashing form the rest of the way out.
“Stop it!” he growled once he door slammed shut behind them.
“How can you just leave them!” Namoriee cried, still wiggling in his grp. “Xavier, he—”
“He won’t hurt her, not in her condition.”
As if to prove him wrong, a crash sounded behind them, followed by Leawyn’s choked cry, and the distinct sound of a palm meeting bare skin.
“Much,” Tyronian amended.
Namoriee was pale when his long legs quickly ate up the distance as he carried her away.
“This is all my fault,” Namoriee whimpered woefully. “I shouldn’t have told her.”
“Yes, you shouldn’t of,” his lips were pressed down in a grim, angry line. “I’ll be sure to spank you later for it.” He looked down at her when she stiffened. “Relax, I’ll make sure you’ll enjoy part of it, as reluctant as you’ll be. Much how Leawyn probably is right now.” His grin was smug and lecherous.
Namoriee scowled. “You’re despicable.”