When she was sure she was close, Tierra lowered herself to her knees and crawled through the brush. Sticks and rocks bit into the tender flesh of her palms and knees, but she continued on until she spied a small meadow.
An enormous black stallion stood in the center of the clearing, with a bridle on its large head. The splendid animal whickered and tossed his head, a fiery gleam in his obsidian eyes. His coat shone as black and as polished as nordai feathers, his mane combed and evenly trimmed. The saddle upon his back was a simple design, but looked of the finest craftsmanship…and a sheathed sword was strapped to the saddle.
This was no knave’s horse.
This beast was a warrior’s mount.
“What in the devil ails you, Feymir?” a deep voice rumbled from across the clearing.
Tierra’s gaze snapped toward the sound—and came to rest on the man from her dreams.
Sweet mother of the gods.
He was real.
Everything around her faded to nothing, except for the man beside the stream. Despite the thick scar across one cheek, and the slight crook to his nose, he was male perfection. His hair, as black as the stallion’s, hung straight and thick to his shoulders. A square jaw, high cheekbones, and those lips, firm and sensuous…mouthwatering.
Dark hair dusted the man’s tremendous bare chest. Tierra’s breath caught as he rubbed the back of his neck, as though assuaging an ache, his powerful muscles rippling with his movements.
“If you’re not quiet, you demented beast, you shall bring the dragons upon us,” the man growled while he bent and yanked off one boot. The horse he called Feymir tossed his head and whinnied again.
Dragons? Tierra’s eyes widened at the thought that she was actually in dragon country as she had feared earlier. The warrior removed the second boot and set it on the ground, next to the first. His hands moved to the waist of his skin-tight black leather breeches…
All thoughts of dragons fled her mind as he began to untie the laces.
Yes. Tierra clenched the grass beneath her hands, her throat dry with wanting. Take them off.
Even as she begged in her mind, her plea was answered. The man pushed the breeches past his hips, releasing his thick cock.
Gracious lords above. Tierra’s core flooded with wet heat, dampening her cloth breeches. The man wasn’t even aroused, and his rod was at least three times the size of any she had seen when she’d watched the wenches being fucked at the inn. Even Stefan’s, and that man sported a prime package.
The dark warrior eased out of his breeches and tossed them over his boots. Turning his back to where Tierra hid, he grabbed a haversack and dug through it. A scar jagged across his back from his left shoulder down to his right hip. It was thick and pink, the skin shiny where certainly a treacherous wound had healed.
And oh, yes…he had one fine ass, muscled and tight.
He withdrew a cake of soap and strode into the shallow stream, and Tierra found herself mesmerized by his fluid movements. For such a big man, he moved with ease and virile grace unlike any man she had seen before.
Not that she had ever seen a man like this one.
In moments the warrior was in the middle of the stream, water skimming just below his bollocks.
Tierra’s nipples tightened to aching nubs. She shifted, trying to ease the pressure between her thighs, but cloth rasped over her breasts and rubbed along her clit.
The sight of his pleasing cock all but hypnotized her. She wanted that cock. Wanted to taste it. Wanted to feel it thrusting into her.
What would it feel like to have that cloud of hair pressed tight to hers, the soft sac slapping against her as he fucked her?
Good gods. What was she thinking? This man was a stranger. For all she knew he could be a servant of Zanden.
The mere thought iced her lust, but only for a moment. Her breath came in painful gulps as she watched the man soaping his body, wishing she could soap him.
Better yet, she would like to be that cake of soap. Traveling over every inch of that fine body.
When the man finished cleansing himself, he tossed the soap cake onto the shore and rinsed himself off, scooping water with his big hands and splashing it over his skin. He paid special attention to the hair around his cock, stroking his bollocks, and then moved his hand to his shaft.
Tierra squirmed as the warrior’s cock lengthened. By the moon and the gods, she had never seen anything so arousing as watching this man pleasuring himself. Her fingers itched to slide into her breeches where she might stroke her clit. But she held herself back.
Later. She would hold this sight in her mind and think about him fucking her as she brought herself to orgasm.
For now, she had to continue her journey.
No matter how badly she wanted this man, her first duty was to her halias. She had to find them. Tierra knew she could not risk any distraction, no matter how delicious that distraction might be.
Oh, and she was certain he would be delicious, indeed.
The warrior tilted back his head and pumped his cock into his fist with almost furious intensity. A low moan slipped through Tierra’s lips.
The man’s horse snorted and looked directly at Tierra’s hiding place, his ears cocked in her direction. Her heart pounded loud enough for the gods to hear. The beast called Feymir couldn’t see her, could he?
Could a horse raise an alarm?
The horse blew out another whinny and tossed his proud head. Tierra tensed, ready to bolt at the first sign that she had been discovered.
Renn soaped his body, wishing he had a woman to do it for him. A willing woman who would cleanse his skin, then lie on the grass and spread her thighs wide, wanting only to be fucked again and again. Unfortunately, every maid in Phoenicia wanted more than a mere fuck. They talked of love and commitment. Traps for the unwary.
Renn would never fall prey to such foolishness.
The desire to mate after moonchange was fierce for a Nordain warrior. But Renn had been called away the very eve of his brother’s wedding to come to his newly rediscovered sister’s aid, as well as that of his brother-at-arms, Jalen.
Despite Renn’s own dislike of the thought of marriage, it pleased him that his sister had joined with Jalen. No matter what difficulties Ranelle might face, Renn knew with absolute certainty that Jalen would protect her with his life.
For the two nights Renn had been in Seraphine, he’d had the pleasure of fucking two and three Elvin maids at one time. While he soaped the hair around his cock and bollocks, he smiled at the memory of Damianne straddling his thighs and riding his staff. At the same time Kerriel sat on his face and he suckled at her sweet juices ’til she screamed with her climax. He had fucked them each ’til they came repeatedly, before spending his seed inside Kerriel’s tight core.
Damianne, a skilled Elvin warrior, had offered to join him on his hunt for the daft human maid called Tierra. But Renn refused to fuck any woman more than one night in a row, not wanting anything remotely resembling a relationship. He might choose to bed a woman a second and third time, but only if days or weeks had passed, and only with the clear understanding that all he wanted was a good fuck.
And he traveled with no one. He relied on none but his brother Aric and his brother-at-arms Jalen.
Splashing cold water over his body and rinsing off the soap, Renn considered his hunt thus far. For two days Renn had followed the trail of the missing woman, the friend of his sister Ranelle and Queen Liana. The gods only knew why this Tierra had fled into the depths of Merth Darkling, the most dangerous part of the D’euan Forest, stronghold of the lycidian dragons.
Had she not been in Merth Darkling when he began tracking her, Renn would have assumed his nordai form and flown ahead of Feymir, searching for the maid who must not have a brain in her head to choose such a route. But he dared not leave his warhorse. Feymir could fend off one dragon, but two would leave him naught more than a pile of bones.
Renn had no doubt he would find the maid. Once he lo
cated her, he would take her back to Phoenicia and be done with it. Then he could get back to fucking and to preparations for the war-storm brewing.
The memory of his prey’s sweet fragrance came to mind, and Renn cupped his bollocks, enjoying the weight of them in his hand. The missing maid’s scent of honeysuckle musk had been clean and strong whenever he reached a location where she had spent the night, and his cock had stirred each time.
He moved his hand to his staff, stroking it ’til it grew to its full length. Perhaps this maid he sought would be a good fuck.
Harder and harder Renn worked his staff, picturing his cock thrusting in and out of the woman’s quim.
Feymir’s piercing whinny cut into Renn’s lust ridden thoughts. He paused in his strokes and his gaze snapped in the direction the stallion was looking.
Renn’s muscles tensed, ready to propel him after whoever might be in the forest. As he stared unblinking into the foliage, he spied a pair of emerald eyes.
Watching him.
Chapter Two
For one long moment Tierra’s gaze locked with the dark warrior’s.
Silver. His eyes were silver, like Ranelle’s.
In the next instant, the man bolted from the stream, straight toward Tierra.
A gasp tore from her as she scrambled to her feet and darted into the darkening woods. Her almost empty pack bounced against her back as she fled. Sounds of crashing came from behind, but she dared not look back.
Gods above. What had she done? Yet even as she dodged through bushes and trees, a strange thrill coursed through her, knowing that the naked warrior pursued her.
Like a hunter after his prey.
Blindly she shoved branches out of her way, ignoring the scrape of rough bark against her skin. Her heart pounded like drums in her ears, and her fear had the coppery taste of blood.
A branch snagged at her hair at the same time she tripped over a root.
Crying out, Tierra stumbled forward.
Big hands grasped her waist, keeping her from falling. But in a movement so quick she scarcely had a chance to catch her breath, he flipped her around. The world spun and she found herself flat on her back, her wrists pinned over her head, her pack crushed between her body and the ground.
And a wet and naked warrior straddling her, a hungry look in his eyes.
Already water from his body seeped through her clothing and to her skin. Her gaze darted to the huge cock pressed tight to her belly, droplets of water still glistening in the soft hair around the base of his shaft. Tierra bit back the urge to lick her lips. When she glanced again to the man’s face, his smile was smug, confident. As though he knew she wanted him to fuck her.
Fury and embarrassment replaced her desire and she struggled against his hold. She glared up at him as she realized her efforts were entirely futile. “Get off, you—you giant dragon dropping!”
The man quirked an eyebrow and his look turned feral. “You interrupted a most enjoyable fantasy.” His deep voice rumbled straight though her as he spoke. “No small punishment is in order.”
Tierra’s eyes widened and her voice cracked as she repeated, “Punishment?”
“Mmmm.” The warrior’s gaze roved over her tunic-covered breasts. Keeping her wrists pinned above her head with one hand, he brought his other to her waist. “Although it is certain you would enjoy what I have in mind.”
She started to deny his words, but gasped instead as he pushed her tunic top up just enough to expose her belly. He stroked the soft flesh above the waistband of her breeches, his mere touch sending searing heat throughout her. “Perhaps I should bare your beautiful ass and spank you,” he murmured.
“No,” Tierra said, even though the thought of being turned over this man’s knee and spanked was incredibly arousing.
“Oh?” His hand moved higher, pushing her tunic up just high enough to expose the undersides of her pale globes, but still covering her nipples. “Are your breasts as soft as the fair skin of your belly?”
Heat rose through Tierra and she knew she was probably bright pink from the tips of her ears to her toes. “Who are you?”
“Other than the man who will possess your fine body?” He brushed the back of his hand against her ribcage, his knuckles skimming the rise of her breasts. Her nipples tightened at the sensual contact, and it was all she could do not to moan. “I am called Renn.”
Renn. Her dark warrior’s name was Renn.
No. Not her warrior. A man. Only a man.
“What prize have I found in Merth Darkling?” he said as he again brushed the curve of her breasts with his hand. “Your name, sweet maid. Tell me.”
Tierra pulled against his hands, attempting to twist away from his touch. “It matters not.”
“Ah, but it does.” His voice grew husky as he continued his slow teasing touches along her sensitive skin. “I need to know the woman I’m going to fuck.”
Her jaw dropped and she went completely still. The certainty in his words both thrilled and frightened her. “You—you would force yourself upon me?”
“Never.” The warrior trailed his hand from her belly, up along the side of one breast to her neck, causing her to shiver. “You desire me as much as my cock needs to be in you. It would take no force to bring you to my bed.”
“No—” she started to deny, but Renn pressed his hand over her mouth. His palm felt warm over her lips and she had the overwhelming desire to dart her tongue out and taste his skin. His male musk, combined with the cedar scent of his soap, was heady, intoxicating.
“Be truthful, denai, sweet innocent.” He lowered his head and trailed his lips above her brow, the warmth of his breath stirring the tendrils of hair upon her forehead. “You desire my cock inside you. You want me to fuck you.”
Most merciful gods, but his words excited her. Tierra tried to shake her head, tried to deny the tingling in her core, but the hand over her mouth kept her completely still.
She had often fantasized of sex with a stranger, and to have her dream man here in the flesh…naked and willing…
He slid his hand from her mouth, brushing her lips with his thumb, his silver eyes deepening to a dark gray. His desire for her was palpable, and she longed to experience his unleashed passions.
Yes. She would fuck this Renn.
He would be her first of many, and a fitting specimen for such a task.
Perhaps the relief would free her mind, allow her better focus on her quest.
And given the man’s arousal, from what Tierra’s knothole-spying had taught her of how easily men could be made to finish the job at hand—this shouldn’t take long.
Tierra’s fear and amazement eased as she made her own decision, and she felt the blaze of her confidence returning. Adopting the bored, carefree expression she had so often seen on the tavern wenches, she gave Renn a smile sure to challenge his oversized opinion of himself.
“I would be willing to give you such a fine opportunity,” she purred. “Provided you think you can please me.”
Renn’s cock throbbed near to bursting, and the maid’s mere words made his staff jerk against her belly. She was denai, sweet innocence, and he intended to be the first to teach her what it was like to be pleasured by a man.
“You will be far more than pleased,” he promised as he stroked fiery red hair from her face with his free hand. The maid’s honeysuckle scent had given away her identity immediately, but he enjoyed teasing her. “But first, your name.”
“Names are not necessary for fucking.” She tossed out the words with a worldly air, yet the tips of her ears were as pink as perna feathers. From the moment he pinned her beneath him, everything in Renn’s gut told him this was no experienced wench, but an untried maid.
Such an intriguing combination. Innocence and sensuality.
And her beauty…almond-shaped eyes like flawless emeralds and skin as fine as pale silk. And her breasts, their full and tempting curves made his hands ache to touch them. When he had embarked on his quest to find the m
aid, little did he know that his search would lead him to such a fine wench.
Renn moved his lips to her shell-like ear. “When I fuck you I will call out your name. And when you come, you will scream mine.”
“I never scream.” The maid’s breathing grew harsher as he flicked his tongue into her ear.
He nipped at her lobe, lightly sinking his teeth into the soft flesh. “You will when I fuck you.”
Her gasp of arousal made his cock even harder. “You—you are crushing my pack,” she said as she squirmed beneath him. “Let me up.”
“Of course.” Renn eased his lips along her jaw line, darting out his tongue to taste the saltiness of her skin. “Once you have given me your name.”
“You bastard.” Her voice was not more than a whisper. “Tierra. Now free me.”
“Tierra. So beautiful.” He lightly brushed his lips over hers, tasting her warm breath. The desire to possess this woman nearly overpowered him and he had to fight to rein back his lust. She wanted him, yes. But she was an innocent, untouched by any man.
And that pleased him. Greatly.
“You promised to release me,” she said, her voice trembling—not from fear, but arousal, he was certain.
Renn drank in her sweet scent as he murmured against her mouth, “I did not say when.”
It was all Tierra could do not to moan aloud as the warrior lightly nipped at her lips, slow and gentle bites. The sensation was incredibly erotic, sending a thrill straight from her belly to her core. She had never been kissed, and she found herself wanting that more than anything from this man called Renn.
Her eyelids drifted shut and she parted her lips…and he stopped.
She opened her eyes to see the bastard’s arrogant grin. Before she had the opportunity to gather her thoughts, Renn released her wrists and drew her to her feet in a movement so fast the forest whirled.
Tierra cried out in surprise, falling against the man’s muscled chest, her palms splayed against his skin. He caught her to him, trapping her along his naked length, his very aroused cock pressed to her belly.
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