by Elena Lawson
Liana mouthed thank you to me once I’d finished, some tension in her shoulders abated.
…the Mad King…
“Yes,” Liana said. “We must find him. We must know how many fighting soldiers he has in his army.”
…What you ask of us…
“I ask that you find them.”
The Wriaths eyes narrowed to tiny slits, and it made a hissing sound through its thin lips.…kill them?...
The other Wraiths behind the first one raised their heads from the water too, hissing and swaying back and forth.
“Liana,” Alaric warned.
Tiernan’s falcon screeched.
“It’s fine,” she called back to Alaric, but her resolve was weakening.
I drew on my Grace, coaxing it out from the center of my being in case I should have need of it. I took her hand, trying to lend her some of my strength.
“No,” she said to the creatures as she turned back to face them, “I would not ask that of you.”
…we help you. We help the queen…
“You will search the seas?” I asked the Wraith, ensuring the primitive creature understood our request, “And you will tell us what you find?”
No answer.
“Oh, here,” Liana said, pulling the ruby from her vest. “A gift.”
Liana let go of my hand, moving to the edge of the drop-off. The Wraith came to meet her there. I clenched my hands into fists to keep from following her. I didn’t want to scare the creature and ruin her plans.
She’s fine. She’ll be fine.
Liana held out the gem for the creature, and it reached out with a thin arm and snatched it from her hand with small webbed fingers. Its black eyes widened at the sight. Then it moved away, it’s tentacles propelling it backwards.
I sighed in relief.
…three days…The Wraith’s scratching voice said in my mind. …we return to this place…
“Meet you here, in only three days? Is that enough time?” I asked.
…time?... We are many, winged male…we find the ships...
The Wraith blinked its double eyelids, and I heard Kade make a disgusted sound behind us.
I wondered how he was holding up. He didn’t like to admit, but he’d had a run-in with a Wraith once as a younger male. I don’t know how he thought fire would win out over water when he dove in off the docks to catch one. He’d come back up sputtering and rubbing at his skin as though it were covered in acid instead of a bit of algae and a couple angry red tentacle marks.
“Thank you. I will not forget this,” Liana said to the Wraiths, bowing to them to show her gratitude. I did the same.
…three days… The lead Wraith reminded us and then sank back under the water and the seven of them disappeared like streaks of moonlight into the deeps.
Chapter Five
Liana
He’d tied back his golden hair. Wearing nothing more than a light tunic and his trousers. No shoes. No armor. And yet Tiernan looked more like a warrior than any male I’d ever seen as he circled me in the ring. His muscles taught, and eyes focused on me like a predator. He waited for me to initiate the attack.
I watched his movements, how one step crossed over the other as we circled each other. How his arms were raised, ready to block an attack. He didn’t have a weak point. We’d been at this for over an hour and he hadn’t even broken a sweat.
My hair stuck to my neck and back where the long ponytail brushed against my skin and the small hairs at my neckline broke free from the leather band. Sweat beaded on my chest and dripped between my breasts. I had three new bruises, though they were healing quickly even without the use of my healing Grace.
It was because of my healing Grace that I told him not to go easy on me. I could heal any injury he gave me so long as he didn’t break any bones.
I’d likely need Healer Loris’ help to heal that and the old crone has been recluse and extra bitter since we told her Aisling wouldn’t be returning. My eyes pricked at the mere thought of her. I tried to shake off the feeling, but it lingered in bones. A heavy, hollowness.
Focus, I demanded of myself.
I lunged, quick as I could, spinning at the last second to use the force of gravity to make the kick more forceful. He caught my leg and threw me back. I stumbled but stayed upright.
“Not fast enough,” he said, his green eyes shining. Challenging me. “And you must hit harder. Remember to use your full body weight—that’s the only way you’ll be able to do any damage. And don’t aim for me—”
“Aim through you,” I finished for him, “I know.”
“Then do it,” he taunted, and I lunged forward again, feinting left before going right, raising an elbow to his throat. Using the force of my entire right side to make the blow stronger. He ducked at the last second and I sailed through the air until he kicked my legs from under me and I fell to the sandy ground.
I grunted past the pain, trying to regain my breath. Gritting my teeth. Fire raged to life in my core as my frustration took hold.
Tiernan tsked, “No Graces,” he reminded me, taking a cursory look around the outskirts of the sparring ring. We hadn’t used it since before we even knew about my Graces. We had to practice those in private now, but for hand to hand combat training, we could have an audience. So, an audience we had.
I tried to ignore them like Tiernan said, and it had been working, but when I fell yet again, I heard their gasps and whispers. Some worried I would be hurt. Others whispered how weak I was. But the vast majority seemed put off by the fact I was sparring at all—and in trousers no less. As if I should spar in a gown. Because that wouldn’t be a hindrance at all… did they think I couldn’t hear them?
“Just order them away,” Tiernan said, stepping in to help me stand.
His mistake. I grabbed hold of his forearm and threw a kick into his abdomen, using the strength in my legs to lift his feet from the sand. Tossing him over my body to land with a hmphh on his head.
Dazed, he stood, trying to find his balance.
The crowd cheered.
I smiled.
But he swayed, and I saw the dizziness in his eyes. Had he fallen that hard?
“Tiernan?” I asked, “Are you alright?”
He barrelled into me as though he were a rogue wave. His shoulder connecting with my breastbone, expelling all the breath from my lungs. I fell back, gasping, and he landed atop me. Stradling me. Pinning my arms painfully hard against my sides.
I looked up to find a cheeky grin and lustful eyes staring into mine. My body ached everywhere, and I was still struggling for breath, but he didn’t yield.
“Give up?”
I swallowed something that tasted like blood in my mouth. My lip throbbed. I must’ve bitten it. I shook my head at him. “You bastard,” I said between panting breaths.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, and stood, offering me a hand.
I took it, and he pulled me from the ground.
“You did well,” he said, “You’re more skilled than I thought you would be.”
“Show’s over!” I hollered at the gathering of nobles and servants watching us. They scattered like mice.
Tiernan’s eyes lingered on the glistening sweat coating the mounds of my breasts. He licked his lips.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he said, and I looked down to see an ugly bruise spreading over my breastbone below my tunic.
Focusing on the healing Grace and drawing on its warm, soothing power, I healed the bruise in the matter of a minute, and all the other marks Tiernan had riddled my body with.
“There,” I said, opening my eyes, “It’s as though it never happened.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He would do as I asked him because he knew going soft on me would teach me nothing, but I saw how it affected him.
Tiernan peeked down the front of my tunic, seemed pleased with what he found there, “Alright,” he said. “But I’d still like to make it up to you.”
I cocked my head at h
im, catching his true meaning.
“How do you intend to do that?”
“It would be easier if I showed you…” he trailed off, “Can I escort you back to your chambers?”
The instant the door to my bedchamber shut behind us, Tiernan locked his lips onto mine, shoving me roughly against the wooden grain of the door. He had my tunic untied and over my head within seconds. His own threadbare shirt fell to the floor, too.
His tongue parted my lips, slipping into my mouth. Hot and insistent.
He pulled away, his gaze boring into my soul. “I can’t wait for the ceremony,” he said, his voice husky and deep. “I was going to try, but I can’t.”
I yanked him back, pressing my bare breasts against his chest. His hair came loose from the tie, and I reached up and yanked it free. Grabbed a fistful of it.
“Then don’t,” I said, and he growled, descending upon me like an animal.
My legs were around his waist, and he lifted me onto him. I could feel his hardened length pressing against me, begging to be freed from the confines of his trousers. He dropped me onto the bed and stood back to admire me as I lay there, shirtless, and panting.
“You are incredible,” he said, his eyes wild and hungry. Slowly, like a cat readying to pounce, he knelt before me, tugging my legs to the edge of the bed. He undid the fastenings of my trousers and peeled them from my sweat-dampened skin. The thin silk panties I wore beneath were already soaked with hot, silky moisture.
He pinched either side at my waist and pulled them off—maddeningly slow.
I moaned, arching my back. Trying to get closer to him. To urge him to move faster.
“Tiernan,” I whispered, a plea.
I lifted my head to find him with his lips parted, his mouth mere inches from my sex. His warm breath brushing against it. He kissed the inside of my thigh and I whimpered. He kissed the other side and my body shook.
“I want to taste you,” he said, and his mouth closed over my clit. My hips bucked as his tongue flicked against the sensitive spot. Over and over and over. The quickening began, and I had to fight to keep from crushing his head between my thighs. My legs twining around his head.
“Not yet,” he said, and I shoved his head back down.
“Don’t you dare stop,” I said between panting breaths.
My muscles tightened and contracted as I moved my hips to the rhythm of his tongue.
Almost…
As though he knew I were about to lose myself he moved expertly fast. Flipping me over, and sheathing himself inside me in one quick, hard thrust.
Chapter Six
Tiernan
I drove my cock into her, gripping her by her hips. She trembled beneath me and I watched her slight hands curl into the soft linens like talons. Her hair splayed like liquid silver over the unmarked flesh of her back. She ground her hips against me as I thrusted. Her sharp moans driving me to the brink.
Her silky wetness—and that heat inside her… I hoped she could keep her Grace of fire at bay because there wasn’t anything in the world that would make me stop. I’d let myself burn before I stopped.
Liana. My Liana.
I’d had my fair share of females, but none had this effect on me. This dizzying, chaotic sensation. I’d tied them up. Made them beg for their release. And now I was near ready to beg for my own.
Not her. Not my queen. I’d never tie her down, or make her beg… Not unless she wanted me to. No, I would give her every possible ounce of pleasure I could.
I dug my fingers into the flesh at her waist, trying to stall my own satisfaction. Not yet. Not until she was shaking. Not until I made her forget her own name. I reached around her, slipping my fingers along her skin from navel to clit. She gasped at the dual sensation. I pressed two fingers to her, circling the tender flesh of her mound, finding just the right spot that would undo her.
Her breaths came quicker, harder, and I thrusted harder and deeper, never ceasing the quick circular motions of my fingers. She tightened around my cock. The sound of her release was a crescendo. She shuddered, her entire body quivering as she came.
But I didn’t stop, I only slowed, letting her ride the wave of her ecstasy.
Gods, the small sounds she made tormented me. My cock throbbed inside her and I didn’t think I could wait much longer.
She pushed herself back, forcing me deeper, urging me for more.
I lifted her leg from the bed and over me until we faced one another. Her eyes were glazed with passion. She yanked me to her and my lips found hers as I moved inside her with alternatingly slow and then quick jabs.
She was close, I could feel it. Her nails bit down into the tight skin of my back and the pain was exquisite.
“Come with me,” I whispered in her ear and her body tightened as I came inside her—finding our release together in a mass of tangled limps and shuddering, broken breaths.
I awoke to find the sun already on its path down the sky to slumber. Alaric would kill me if he knew I’d fallen asleep while on watch, thank the gods he hadn’t already arrived to relieve me. I reached out for Liana, wanting her closer, but my hands came up empty.
I bolted upright, my blood chilling. Where had she gone? Throwing the covers and pillows from the bed, I found it empty. The door to her chamber remained closed. I’d have heard it open, wouldn’t I? Not in her bathing chamber, either.
Where did she… I saw it. The seam in the wall where the secret passageway loomed behind the hewn stone walls. Alaric wanted to have it sealed up, but Finn had argued having it sealed would only draw more attention to its existence, since it was clear no one had used any of the passageways in hundreds of years.
I shook my head, tugging on my trousers, boots, and vest. Raced into the passageway. The darkness swallowed me whole after only a few feet and I fumbled through the blindness until my hands closed over a torch set in a sconce on the wall. I pulled it out and used a stone from the ground to strike a spark and light it.
“Liana,” I called, but only the skitter of rats and a drip drip, drip drip, answered me. Cursing, I searched the ground and found her footprints leading off into the gloom. She was barefoot, and I was lucky there was a fine layer of stone dust on the floor of the tunnel to show which way she went. My right hand twitched into a fist and my breathing turned ragged.
Why would she leave without waking me? And why—or how had I even allowed myself to fall asleep in the first place? I never slept with females—bedded them, yes, but never slept with them afterwards. There was foul play at work, I was sure of it.
Her footprints were staggered, as though she were drunk, and I followed them quickly and silently. I said a silent thanks to whichever gods would listen that there was only one set of footprints. She’s alone, I thought, at least she hadn’t been taken. For whatever reason, she’d gone of her own accord.
See? It’s alright. She’s alright. I’m alright. Everything is fine.
She had turned right, and then right again and then left. It had to have been nearing a half hour since leaving her chamber by the time I came upon a set of stone stairs leading downward. The air in the passageway was cool, but the air coming from below was colder still, and my panting breaths puffed in great clouds of steam around my face.
She went down there. She must’ve. Her prints left a wobbling trail on each step.
My blood chilled.
Breathing deeply to keep a clear mind, I raced down them two at a time. There was light up ahead, and I threw down my torch, trading it in for my blade, my pulse franticly beating against the bones of my ribcage.
“Liana,” I called, running down the last few steps. I faltered when I got to the bottom, dogged by the grandness of the wide, domed chamber before me. Dragons crouched for the kill, their faces snarled and hissing. And Morgana was there too, standing amidst them, her hands outstretched and face as calm and placid as Lake Serin.
At her feet, within the stone dragon barrier knelt Liana, rocking forward and back, her shoulders trembl
ing.
Swallowing, I sheathed the sword. It was the chamber her and Finn had described. She’d found it again, but why had she come back?
“Liana?” I said, hesitant, approaching her with caution. I double-checked the surrounding chamber, ensuring there was no one else within before I ran the last few yards and knelt beside her. “Liana,” I said, laying a hand on her shoulder, jerking it back when my skin met hers. Her flesh was like ice and seemed covered in a thin layer of frost. She made no indication of knowing I was there.
Her head remained bowed, and she continued her slow rocking.
Moving in front of her, I took her frozen face into my hands, tilting it up to the light. It took me a moment to realize she was asleep.
“I need you to wake up, love,” I begged, trying to stay calm. Her eyes were closed, and twin streams of tears ran down her cheeks, freezing into drops of ice against her skin.
She was dreaming—having a nightmare.
I shook her softly, “You have to wake up,” I said, but she didn’t stir. “Liana, wake up,” I said, louder—near shouting. But still she did not wake.
Forgive me, I thought, my stomach twisting, before I slapped her cheek as hard as I dared.
She came back to herself with wide blinking eyes and hands raised, searching for something solid to hold onto. “Don’t!” she screamed.
Chapter Seven
Liana
Tiernan’s worried jade eyes came into focus as I surfaced from the pull of the dream. I tried to blink away the remnants of it, but fragmented pieces remained, flashing behind my eyelids every time I closed them. Blood, fire, ash, and smoke. The screaming—it was everywhere, interrupted only by the deafening clash of steel and the roaring of thunder in the black clouds above.
“Don’t what?” Tiernan said, and my cheek stung as my consciousness found its way down from the clouds and back into my body.
“Ouch,” I said, rubbing at the sore spot with numbed fingers. Wondered why I was so cold. Why I seemed to be barefoot.