by Sam Hall
“So where’s mine?” I said through the mic. “If this is a spear sequence, you should have enough for both of us.”
“Not a spear sequence,” came a feminine growl. She jumped to her feet and fell into a fighting stance. “That was a lucky shot. Let’s see what you’ve really got.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve got to jump in 30 or Keya will reign hell on both of our arses, so can we get this done quickly?”
She answered with a strike. I blocked her arm, then her leg easily with the spear. The wooden training spears were lighter than the plasma and perfect for this kind of thing. When I heard her huff of frustration, I began to spin the weapon in front of me, the wood slamming into her limbs each time she struck. She paused, her breath coming hard, so I took the opportunity to strike instantly, bringing the butt up in a wide sweep. She reacted too slow, so I caught her on the chin as she flipped backwards. “Fuck!” she yelped. Her trajectory was off, she was going to end up landing off the dragon.
“Pick up needed in—”
“I don’t need a fucking pick up,” she grated. She was clinging to the side of the dragon, the beast shifting under her as her nails dug into its scaled skin. It must’ve been her beast as it began to get agitated, bucking underneath me as it struggled to help to her.
“Let go,” I said, “I’ll jump and your animal will catch you.”
“Don’t need—”
I shook my head. “Whatever. Pick up needed in fifteen,” I said.
“Roger that. Jump now, I’m close and en route.”
It wasn’t until lunchtime finally came that I found out who the rider I’d fought was. As soon as she landed, the rider marched over to me, took off her helmet and threw a punch. I jerked back once, twice, then kicked out a leg and swept hers out from under her when she wouldn’t stop. Sabelina looked up at me from the sand, wide-eyed and out a breath from her fall. “What are you doing?” I said. “What is your fucking problem?”
Captain Keya appeared at my shoulder, steering me away as someone ran up to see if the rider was OK. “Don’t worry about her, she’s just a bit jealous. Have a drink and something to eat with the other cadets. You’ll be fine.”
I sat down with the small group of people I’d shared lunch with for much of the three months. Everyone looked up and smiled as I came over, Grey passed me a large flask of water, Vella offering me food from one of the silver trays spread out on the sand. I noted we had a pavilion pitched above, protecting us from the sun, something the riders missed out on.
“Try the salmon,” Alden said, pointing to some canapés on a nearby tray. “It’s delicious.”
“I’m not sure something as dainty as that is going to cut it,” I said, helping myself to several sandwiches on Vella’s tray. “I didn’t bother with breakfast.”
“When you had a morning of throwing yourself off dragons ahead of you? I don’t blame you,” Rylen said.
“Don’t you guys have to do the same?” I said. My training always happened well away from the other riders. I saw glimpses of the acrobatics they had to perform but didn’t really know what they were required to do.
“A group of future civil servants?” Rylen snorted. “They wouldn’t be risking his lordship’s neck at the very least.”
“We each have our roles and each is important,” Alden said, sipping what looked like a glass of wine. “Sabelina is obviously quite put out, not only did you take her spot in the performance, you appear to have ousted her from the Lieutenant’s affections as well.”
“Is that why she’s so pissed at me?” I said, helping myself to more food. I’d built up a huge appetite. “I wasn’t aware of either thing, they told me what to do to get citizenship and I did it.”
“Including sleeping with an officer?” Alden’s brow arched. “My, you are very biddable.”
I flushed red. “That just happened. It’s...” My voice trailed away. I couldn’t really explain what was going on with Keel because I didn’t know. We hadn’t talked that much, it was all training and fucking. I looked back over my shoulder to see Sabelina had moved over to sit with Keel and the other officers during the break. Maybe now we were coming to the end of the performance, we were coming to the end of everything else. I watched them openly. I wasn’t worried about him turning around and noticing, or her. I wasn’t worried about him reading anything into my actions, because I realised, I didn’t really care. My eyes travelled over his lean form, one that was identical to another that I’d spent all that time gazing adoringly at. I didn’t really want him, not really, not Keel, not Merlin. The realisation dropped like a stone into the pool of my mind and I was left looking at the ripples. So what did that mean?
You’re not in a love triangle, you’re just scared.
It wasn’t Miazydar speaking to me. If I’d broached my shambles of a love life with him, he would’ve torn me a new arsehole. This was the voice of something deeper, further within. I tossed the idea around in my mind, baulking at its content. Ash was notoriously gun shy, keeping everyone and everything at arm’s length where she could organise your life and keep you safe without actually engaging with you. I was way more approachable, more open than she was. I’d had plenty of relationships, not many since Kinky-Arse Ken but...
Merlin was always just an idea, a personification of all your old romantic ideas, a teenage phantasm. Of course there’s nothing to your relationship, you don’t really know Keel or Merlin, they just look the way someone you want to love should look.
So what does Flea look like? I thought.
Future.
The word was baldly stated, dense with meaning that hadn’t yet been unpacked. The sandwich fell from my limp fingers. I didn’t have the mental space to deal with this right now, but obviously my mind felt otherwise.
“That won’t happen anymore,” I said belatedly, smiling as I felt the truth of them. While the sex had been great, somehow I was relieved to walk away from it. “Sabelina’s welcome to him and my role in the war games.”
“Now, now.” I turned around to see Keya had returned. “I can’t replace you at this late a stage and you still want to avoid the sundering sword, don’t you?” I nodded. “Well, come on then. You need to jump until you drop or puke, whichever comes first.”
By the time the sun started to lower, my muscles were trembling all over from exhaustion. So much so, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it back. I didn’t quibble when Keya finally said I could go, just tucked my helmet under my arm and hobbled away.
“Hey!” I was a quarter of the way home when Keel stopped me. He ran up to me, taking my state in with a rueful smile. “You’ve taken a beating.”
“It’s almost over and I have ibuprofen in my bag, that’s all that’s keeping me going. Your girlfriend can take her position back with my blessing, really.”
“Tess...”
I waved his protest away. “Keel, I think we both needed to scratch an itch with no strings attached. But I don’t need that now, do you?”
“I...”
“Keel!” We both turned to see Sabelina run up, only to snake her hand around his waist. She stared me down, head tucked into the hollow of the man’s shoulder. “I thought you were coming to the Arms?”
“I am, I just wanted to check up on Tess.”
“Why?” she said, turning to face him, her arms wrapped around him. “She’s not worth wasting your time on, she’ll be gone the day after tomorrow.”
He pushed her away, unwinding her limbs and then stepping free. “Enough, Sabe! This jealousy shit is getting old.”
“Jealousy? You’re going to keep up—”
I walked off, glad I could do so without a pang, well, only with my physical aches and pains, not the emotional ones and the further I went, the better I felt, right up until I got back to our rooms.
“What happened to you? Did they...?” Scalla said, leaping to her feet and offering me an arm. I shook her off, shucking off the dirty flight suit and letting it fall to the ground. F
lea’s door opened and his eyes widened. He quickly went to my side, looking me over and then sweeping me up in his arms after he’d inspected me.
“I can walk,” I said. “I walked all the way back here.”
“Not for much longer,” he said. “Those muscles you’ve flogged today are starting to cool and then the real pain starts.”
“Real pain?” I whimpered. He set me down outside the bath, closed the door and then proceeded to run the water. He sniffed the various glass containers of salts and scattered them across the surface, releasing an astringent bergamot like scent. He tested the temperature with his hand and then his hands went to my clothes. “I can undress myself,” I said.
“Fair enough,” he said and then his hands went to the hemline of his shirt and he pulled it over his head.
There’s a unique pleasure that comes from looking at the naked form of a guy you’ve chosen. Not someone who’s worked their way into your bed or affections. Not someone who clogs your mind with lust, leading you around by your clit, but a guy you make a conscious decision to be with. My hands went to my waistband and stopped, my eyes caught on the lean terrain of his naked body, the many hot spots of awesomeness signposted by his tattoos. I froze as his hands went to the buttons of his jeans, a lazy smile spreading across his face as he noted he had my full attention. It deepened into something darker, sexier as he stripped his body bare. I swallowed as his half-hard cock came into view, the thick length twitching under my gaze, stiffening.
“Tess...”
“I ended things with Keel.” My words burst out, harsh and not a good fit for the current mood, but I couldn’t keep it in anymore. It was like now I’d realised what I wanted, I needed to tell at least him.
“Yeah?” he rested his wrists on my shoulders, drawing his body, his mouth closer. “What brought that on?”
“I...I just realised, it meant nothing with Keel. It took me a really long time to work that out, I know, but it was just...mechanical. Insert slot tab A into slot B kind of shit. I was stressed, tired, needing to train constantly and he filled—”
He put a finger under my chin and tilted it up gently. “I’m pretty sure I know what he filled.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “No, it’s not that. I realised today, I needed someone between us and he seemed happy to play that role.”
“Someone... Why would you need someone between us?”
My eyes dropped, but I moved in so I could feel his chest against my cheek. “Because then it would be just me and the guy who came through the portal twice, facing the unknown, all to make sure I was OK. The guy who didn’t tell me ‘I told you so’ when I realised how Prince Damon was duping me. The guy who cued up 80's movies and found chapters in books so me and Ash could save the world. You’re sweet and funny, talented, scarily talented, calm, you solve problems rather than let them overwhelm you and you’ve always got my back. Waking up next to you was a privilege I didn’t yet understand. I feel safe with you like you’ll take all I am and hold it carefully, not tear through me like tissue paper.” My words were little more than whispers, spoken onto the surface of his skin. He pulled back slightly so he could see me, my lips moving, the words come out. “I needed something between us because rather than looking like the kind of guy I thought I’d fall in love with, you acted like him.”
“You...” his voice was a rasp, a murmur, a plea.
This is it, I realised, a lot harder than jumping off a damn dragon. “I think I love you, Flea. As much as I can love anyone. It’s not something I’ve felt before. It’s a timid thing right now. It gets pushed to the side by the near-constant adrenalin. One of the dumb side effects of jumping off of a dragon all day is it strips the adrenalin out and the other feelings can come to the fore.”
“No more talking,” he said, pushing me against the wall, his mouth descending on mine, his fingers digging in my hair, his tongue forced between my lips. “God, Tess, if you had any idea how long I’ve waited...” His tongue couldn’t shape any more words, it gets tangled with mine and for a moment all we did was try to crawl as far into the other as we could. I moaned as I felt his rigid length press into me, his fingers clawing, his teeth grinding against mine. Finally he pulled away, not initially successful as a series of nipping kisses brought us together again and again, but then our mouths pulled apart and he stared at me as I listened to the rapid hiss of his breath in his chest. “I’ve been gone on you since we walked into the shop. There’s Ash and Jez out there, thinking they deserve attention and getting it, but not you. You hovered at the edges, thinking you escaped people’s attentions, expecting to be passed over for the main event and I wondered why. You’re a beautiful girl, Tess, even with your nose peeling.” He kissed the sore tip. “But more than that, that brain of yours that’s always running a mile a minute, caught up with a million worries, inventing new ones every second but at the eye of that hurricane is a big heart that cares for everyone. Why would you worry so much about what people are thinking or feeling if you didn’t? That’s the girl I wanted, the girl who loves the world.”
“I’m not sure how much love there’s going to be if I don’t get into that bath.”
“Fuck, it's nearly overflowing.” I got undressed while he hastily switched off the taps then emptied some of the water. He paused when he turned back to me, eyes raking down my no doubt dirty, stinking body, a hungry expression on his face. He seemed to collect himself, holding out a hand before escorting me into the bath, the hot water a balm on my aching calves. He stepped in behind me and then we dropped down together. For a moment, all I could think of was the heat relaxing my muscles, my body supported by his and he held me between his thighs. Then his hand moved.
With a bar of soap, he mapped my limbs, taking a slow pace we’d never really been comfortable with before. He traced every hollow, every curve, every aching bloody muscle and each came to life under his touch. By the time he was dipping down to wash my hips and lower, I was floating up, breasts breaching the water’s surface, my nipples pulling tight in the cool air. A faint moan slipped free as the soap slid down, my thighs parting to let him in. “Fuck this,” he muttered, drawing his hand free to drop the soap in the dish on the bath’s edge and then plunging it back down. His hand dived between my legs, dragging me back so I was hard against his rigid dick and then slipped them between my folds.
“Oh God...” I cried. I wanted to turn, tangle my fingers in his hair, run them along his body but he seemed to sense this and held me fast with his other hand around my waist.
“No,” he whispered, “just feel. Just let yourself feel.” I settled back against him almost regretfully, but then his hand began to move again. Sex in the water can be a rougher than expected experience, particularly during penetration, but right now his fingers rubbed over my aching cunt, pulling at my swelling clit with little drag, it was all pleasure. My arms went around his neck, a huge pressure beginning to build inside me, something that was almost as painful as it was pleasurable. My clit had begun to swell, the rubbing sensation forcing little jerks from my hips, the burning pleasure there growing in intensity, a hot flush spreading throughout the area. In some ways it was too intimate. Having sex was a mess of limbs and tongues and fingers and cocks, there was so much going on it was almost a blur. There was no mistaking what was happening, I couldn’t lose myself in anything, rather I had to bear witness to his slow, methodical pushing of me higher and higher. My fingers dug into his neck, my hips floating up, up, towards what I wasn’t sure.
“Flea...” I said, jamming my body back into the water and grinding on him but he followed me down.
“No babe, just feel.”
I couldn’t do anything else. Something inside me wound up tighter and tighter, his fingers becoming frantic. I braced my feet against the bath, my back arching without thought. A terrible pleasure seemed to build right behind my clit, my breath coming in short pants as it got more and more intense and then it broke. “Ah!” I was dimly aware I thrashed within the w
ater, some slopping over the sides but I didn’t care as a hot flare of pleasure erupted from my clit, intensifying for a moment as I gasped, then suddenly spreading throughout my body in a series of waves. His mouth covered mine as I sobbed out my response, my hands clawing at his hair, clinging like a limpet until my orgasm slowly trailed away, leaving my body like the most reluctant of lovers. I turned in the bath now, my heated muscles able to obey me with less protest. I fell upon him as I straddled his lap, reaching down to tug at his hard cock, peppering his raspy jaw with kisses before pulling him forward.
“On your feet,” I insisted, dragging him up when he protested.
“Tess, I don’t need...oh fuck!” I didn’t waste time, covering his cock with my lips and sucking him down. He groaned as my fingers curled around his base, jacking him off as my mouth bobbed up and down. “Oh Tess, oh fuck...” he ground out, his hips thrusting slightly as if he couldn’t help himself. I increased my pace. “Not gonna last.”
I pulled away with a pop, placing a couple of kisses on his aching head. “You don’t have to. Just go with it, just come.” I swallowed his dick, increasing my pace, his breath coming in short, hard pants, his hips jerking in time. I could feel the shaft of his cock begin to swell further as his pants became sobs. His fingers tangled lightly in my hair and then he stopped. I swallowed his cum down as his cock jerked in my mouth, his moans filling the air.
36
My eyes snapped open the morning of the war games and I jumped out of bed, or at least that was the plan. Flea and I lay together in a tangle of limbs and bedding. I tried to wriggle out, holding back a rising wave of frustration. Of course we were enmeshed, we’d had sex a few times last night, then passed out from exhaustion. I finally fought my way free, landing with a flump on the floor. I collected myself quickly, getting to my feet and striding to the bathroom.