Taken By The Passion (The Academy Series)

by Mansfield, Maxine

  The gnome hesitated and it looked to Lizbeth as if he were waiting for her to agree with him before he spoke again, so reluctantly, she nodded.

  “At first, Karla didn’t notice me. I must’ve thrown myself in her path a good twenty times before she finally fell for me. Skinned her knee and I suffered a few broken ribs and a concussion, but after that, we were inseparable.”

  O.T.T. got a far away look in his eyes, downed his ale once more, quickly refilled it, and continued. “We went everywhere together. Ta the market and ta the opera, ta church, out ta eat, and even ta the artifact dig site. Life was good.”

  Lizbeth watched as the gnome’s smile faded and a shadow crossed O.T.T.’s face. “I didn’t pay any real attention ta what the other guys said. I thought my fellow core members were just jealous of my vast expertise with women when they’d walk by, snicker, and call her Camel-Toe Karla, then wink. After all, trolls don’t wear shoes often and I’d seen her toes plenty of times. And though I have ta admit, they were big, green, smelly, and had cracked, ingrown nails, they looked pretty normal ta me, for a troll anyway.”

  Lizbeth wasn’t sure if it was the fact she hadn’t eaten all day or O.T.T.’s descriptions that was making her nauseous, but something was. Her stomach grumbled its protest, and she closed her eyes and prayed the story would end soon.

  The mug met his lips once more, and O.T.T. gulped down its contents in fast order. Returning to the Tug fountain, he didn’t even bother with his container. He leaned back, positioned his mouth under the stream, and drank his fill.

  Just as Lizbeth was beginning to worry the gnome would drown himself, O.T.T. came up for air, belched twice, farted once, and shook off the excess like a wet puppy. Refilling his mug, he went on. “Then tragedy struck. We’d been dating a little more than a phase of the first moon when we decided it was time ta take things ta the next level. Karla invited me over for dinner, and after her Papa fell asleep, she snuck me up ta her room. In my defense, I’ve never been able ta see well without my glasses, and well, her kisses had them all steamed up so I took em off. Then we began getting undressed so we could get down ta doing the nasty.”

  O.T.T. shook his head as if trying to decide how best to proceed. “You’ve gotta understand. Troll women are naturally well endowed and, well…hairy. So in retrospect, what I said ta her was perfectly reasonable at the time.”

  He got a far away look in his eyes as if watching the scene unfurl within his mind. “After I shed my clothes and freed all three and a half—I mean, seven inches of my Russell the Love Muscle, I turned, ready ta finally get a glimpse of my naked troll beauty. It was then I made the biggest mistake of my life.”

  Lizbeth braced herself and held her breath, instinctively knowing, whatever was to follow was going to be very disturbing.

  Tears glistened in the gnomes eyes. “For a moment, I couldn’t understand what I was looking at. There was something long and brown and hairy hanging right above me at eye level, and its sides were flapping back and forth as she walked toward me.”

  Once again, O.T.T. drained his mug. This time, however, he didn’t bother to refill it. He didn’t even look up at his audience as he continued. Lizbeth knew he was too lost in his own story to care about who was listening anymore.

  “I looked up into my Karla’s sweet face and said without blinking an eye, ‘Ahh, now I see what the guys all meant by camel-toe.’”

  He broke out in sobs. “That’s when she got a lot closer ta me very fast. Just before her fist connected with my face, I finally realized she didn’t consider camel toe ta be a compliment.”

  It took a moment for O.T.T.’s words to sink in, and when they did, all Lizbeth could manage to do was hold onto Adan’s arm as if it were a lifeline and stare at the gnome with what she knew to be her best fake smile plastered in place.

  O.T.T. sat down heavily on the floor. “That’s the last thing I remember. Woke up three days later in the desert with a VoT of a sunburn, two black eyes, a busted nose, and missing not only my clothes but one of my favorite testicles ta boot. It looked ta have been chewed clean off. There was a scrap of paper attached ta my chest by a safety pin pierced clear through my left nipple. The note read, ‘Don’t ever come back ta Karza, or I’ll bite off the other one, too.’”

  He looked up into Lizbeth’s eyes, and the pain in his made her almost want to hug him. Almost.

  “So, now ya know my shame, lass. That’s how I got the nickname One Testicle Thad, or O.T.T. for short.”

  Lizbeth couldn’t think of a single thing to do but nod and pat the gnome on the top of his bald head.

  ****

  Adan slipped an arm about Lizbeth’s shoulder on the pretense of safely guiding her through the maze of hallways when in reality, his whole purpose for touching her was to assure himself she was, at least, physically okay. Mentally was another matter all together. He doubted, after this night, she would ever be the same again.

  Though her breathing did seem calmer and the pulse visible on the side of her neck no longer pounded erratically, she still occasionally shuddered as if sleepwalking through a nightmare. Not one word had passed between them since leaving Leeky and Laycee’s apartment, and if the glassy gaze in Lizbeth’s eyes was any indication, conversation of any kind for the rest of the evening was going to be sparse. Perhaps that was best.

  Adan sighed and mentally kicked himself. Why had he taken her to the gnome party in the first place? It wasn’t as if he’d wanted to. He’d even tried to talk her out of it.

  As usual though, Lizbeth had misjudged his motives, and instead of being the bigger man and seeing to his wife’s wellbeing, his pride had gotten in the way. He had wanted her shocked to the very tips of her pretty little toes so that the next time he told her not to do something, perhaps she’d listen to him. A little shocked was one thing, but even Adan had been surprised at the depth of gnome depravity he’d witnessed this night. He couldn’t blame her if she chose never to speak to him again.

  They reached the hallway leading to Lizbeth’s dormitory, and as gently as possible, he nudged her in that direction. She turned and grasped hold of his tunic with both hands as she fisted her fingers into the material.

  “Let me stay with you tonight, please Adan, I’ll do whatever you want, I promise.” Her voice held more than a hint of desperation and hysteria. “Just don’t make me go back to the dorm. Laycee will be bringing Tug with her when she makes her rounds. I know she will. She might even bring O.T.T. and Leeky. I simply can’t face any more gnomes this evening. Please, I beg of you.”

  As gently as possible, Adan lifted his wife into his arms and cradled her securely against his chest. “I would be honored if you’d stay with me, my lady. My bed and I are at your service anytime you wish.”

  He smiled and softly whistled a tune as he turned and carried Lizbeth toward his room. If it got his reluctant wife into his bed, perhaps the gnome party hadn’t been such a horrid idea after all.

  Chapter Ten

  After a long night filled with the sights and sounds of thunder, lightning, steady rainfall, and nightmares filled with white trunks, gnomes, trolls, and dragons, the streaks of early morning sunlight filtering through the windows of the tower room were more than welcome. Lizbeth finally mustered the courage to open her eyes. For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was or why she was naked. Then weight shifted somewhere on the other side of the bed, and a strong, long-fingered hand slid about her waist, pulling her snug up against its owner’s warm, well-defined, equally bare body.

  She smiled and stretched, breathing in the familiar essence of her barbarian husband. The tingle his lips induced as they lightly grazed her ear and the sound of his words being whispered against her skin sent shivers of pleasure scampering down her spine.

  “Good morning, my lady.”

  Lizbeth marveled. However had Adan made a whisper sound so like a hungry growl? Yet, somehow, he had. Instinctively, she knew the hunger she heard in his voice had nothing whatsoever to do w
ith food. Her body reacted with a craving of its own as she wiggled her bottom suggestively against the soft skin of his rapidly hardening cock. Immediately, her nipples responded in kind, and her pussy began to throb.

  “Good morning to you, my lord.” Even to her own ears, her voice sounded breathy with anticipation. Never had she felt so wanton, so powerful, and yet at such a loss as to how to come right out and tell this man what she wanted, desired, needed.

  The next growl she heard certainly wasn’t whispered as Adan quickly flipped her to her back and straddled her. A heartbeat later, they were nose to nose, and her husband wasn’t smiling. His face was taut and serious.

  “You little tease! All night long, you’ve been my tormentor. You’ve allowed me nothing but to share with you the warmth of my bed. Not even a taste of your lips did you offer. You have exactly the space of a single grain of sand falling through the hourglass to tell me you don’t wish my attention before I ravish you to my heart’s content. My patience is at an end, wife.”

  Lizbeth tilted her chin, grinned, and gazed into Adan’s eyes as she slowly closed the short distance between them. Lightly, she brushed his lips with her own. “There’s your taste. Now, what are you waiting for, husband? I’m sure at least one grain of sand has fallen by now. Ravish away.”

  The startled look on Adan’s face would have been laughable if his lips hadn’t chosen that very moment to capture hers. And what a kiss it was. All thoughts of laughter or anything other than the feel and taste of him quickly disappeared from Lizbeth’s mind. He was fire and ice all at the same time. Ambrosia, cool and sweet, mixed with spices, hot and wild. Where he ended and she began, she wasn’t even certain anymore. The only thing that mattered was her desperate need to get even closer.

  Time slowed, and Lizbeth’s surroundings became almost dreamlike as Adan’s lips journeyed lower, first to her neck, then her collarbone, until finally latching onto the nipple of her right breast. Shock waves of pleasure undulated all the way to the tips of her toes, and of their own volition, her toes curled inward. She fisted her fingers in Adan’s hair and held his head firmly in place. Taking deep breaths of tangy air mixed with the sweet smells of morning dew and lustful Barbarian, she tried powerlessly to slow the pounding of her heart.

  Not wanting to give in to the urge to beg him to take his kisses even lower, Lizbeth turned her head to the side in hopes of finding something, anything to distract from the persistent, ever-increasing throb between her legs. She concentrated on watching the sheer curtains at the window billow inward with a loud hum, and even the streaks of sunlight made a sound all their own. Somewhere in the distance, Lizbeth could’ve sworn she heard mewling moans and gasps, then suddenly realized they were coming from her own lips. Of all the men in Albrath, why was it this particular man who held the power to turn her body to jelly and her mind to mush with no more than a touch?

  In the space of another heartbeat, he flipped her over as if she weighed no more than a feather and positioned her straddling his face and looking toward his feet. As his tongue flicked out and captured the tiny pulsating nub between her folds, no more questions came to her mush of a mind as it melted into liquid sensation right along with the rest of her body.

  The remainder of the room faded away, and all Lizbeth’s eyes could see was Adan’s glorious body stretched out before her and his huge, proud cock beckoning her forward. Tentively, she leaned toward it, flicked out her tongue, and tasted the very tip. The moan she heard resonating from its owner only served to spur her on. She wrapped both hands around the girth of its base, gloried in the power of the blood coursing beneath her fingers, opened her mouth, and with glee, took as much of his magnificent cock as she possibly could deep within and sucked.

  She tried to concentrate and remember her lessons, really she did. How many hours of Adan Hammerstrike classes had focused on this one simple task? Lizbeth knew without a doubt her barbarian husband thoroughly enjoyed oral satisfaction, and now that she had the opportunity to once again show him how skilled she truly was, she couldn’t keep her mind on the undertaking long enough to bring it to fruition. And to make matters worse, it was all his fault.

  She tried swirling her tongue around the ridge just under the head and then nibbling the tender area where the shaft began as she’d been shown, but just as her tongue touched the skin above the vein that ran the length of the back of his cock, Adan nipped at her clit. Her eyes crossed, her thighs quivered, and a jolt of pleasure exploded outward and upward until even the roots of the hair on her head zinged with an electrical charge. It was all Lizbeth could do to remain upright and conscious.

  “Oh, you do so like that don’t you, Lizard?” His words, murmured against her already over-stimulated membranes, as well as the deep rumble of his laughter had her panting as if she’d run a very long race.

  Lizbeth tried to think of a witty retort, something to take the smugness out of his voice, but all she could manage to do was squirm against his mouth and bite her own lip so she wouldn’t scream her joy to the rafters.

  He nipped her once more, a little harder than before, then slid his hot, wet tongue along her pulsating opening. Adan’s smugness became the last thing on Lizbeth’s mind. She never knew she was capable of it, but it was as if something inside her snapped and a completely different woman burst out and took over. One who was brazen and wild, one who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to take it.

  She sat up as straight as she could, threw her head back, grabbed hold of Adan’s cock with both hands, and stroked.

  A breath and a half later, she found herself flipped over and around again. Her hands and knees met the coolness of silken sheets, and Adan’s thick, hard cock impatiently prodded the opening of her pussy. Lizbeth wiggled her ass, teasing, tempting, anticipating.

  His warm breath caressed her cheek. “What have you done to me? I have a powerful need of you, Lizbeth. A hunger I can’t seem to sate no matter how many times I have you.” He kissed her neck and nibbled the lobe of her ear. “I need to bury my cock deep within that sweet pussy of yours and plunder. I need to feel my balls against that scrumptious arse of yours. I need to fuck you until your pussy clenches around me and you scream my name. I need…I need…” With one quick, decisive thrust, he entered her and Lizbeth forgot to breathe.

  Her pussy clenched tight about him. Ripples of pleasure followed along the path his cock took. Every inch of her sheath tingled and quaked at the intrusion.

  Harder and harder, he thrust, his cock pounding her pussy unmercifully as his balls slapped her ass, lightly stinging in a way that brought a smile to her lips. Lord God Draka, he was good and kind and loving and everything in between. The sound of his harsh quick gasps and the feel of his sweat mingling with her own fueled the already out-of-control spiraling of her heart.

  For a moment, she almost froze. God Draka, was it possible? Was she actually in danger of falling in love with her husband? She couldn’t. Not now. It was too soon. There was too much yet to accomplish.

  Then he bellowed, and she knew he didn’t care if all of Albrath heard. “Tell me what you want, Lizard. What you need. Command me, for I am yours, now and forever.”

  All other thoughts but one fled her mind. He was hers. For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in all things, he was hers.

  Lizbeth didn’t recognize the woman she became as she shouted, “More, faster, harder, there. Yes, right there.” And she didn’t care who might hear as long as each demand was met with immediate and thorough compliance.

  Throbbing centered around her swollen clit and deep within the recesses of her pussy. It grew in intensity until it pounded in her ears. A warmth spread deep in her belly and flooded her pussy at the same time Adan’s cock pulsed and he shouted her name. Hot cum shot forth coating her. Before she could let out her next breath, spasms shook her body and shooting stars of pleasure exploded behind her eyes. As if in slow motion, she fell forward and her face came to rest on the silken sheets.

 
The rumble of his laughter proceeded his arrogant “Ah, yes, I do believe my little Lizard liked that very much too.”

  She didn’t have the energy to respond. All she could manage was to grin like an idiot and nod. He lifted her gently, turned her in his arms, and tucked her in beside him, close to his heart. Lizbeth couldn’t prevent her eyes from fluttering shut and the world from slipping away.

  She woke with a start as the sting and the sound of a loud whack upon her ass startled her. If Adan hadn’t been grinning so adorably at her, she would’ve smacked him back. Instead, she couldn’t help but return the smirk as she teased, “I see you’ve come by the title Barbarian quite honestly, husband.”

  Lizbeth found herself flat on her back again a heartbeat later, with her legs spread wide and that selfsame barbarian between them, pressing his still rock-hard cock against her pussy. He leaned down and nuzzled her neck. “Oh, I have every intention of showing you just how much of a barbarian I am, wife.”

  Then he thrust forward…again.

  ****

  Lizbeth sighed with contentment as she nibbled the last morsel of a piece of toast before pushing the tray away. She snuggled once more beneath the warmth of the thick coverlet on Adan’s bed and smiled. Outside, the sun shone brightly and the day had long ago started, but she didn’t care. There were no classes today, no gnome parties to attend, not even any unfinished studies to worry about, and after the wondrous lovemaking session with Adan a little while ago, she needed a day of rest.

  Lizbeth giggled to herself. Her body completely relaxed, lethargic, and heavy. She smiled, knowing it would require more energy than she had left to raise her hand once more. Yet, at the same time, certain nerve endings still zinged with excitement.

  Her nipples puckered and hardened as they rubbed against the thin linen of the shirt she’d borrowed from Adan, and her center still hummed with a steady rhythm matching her heartbeat. Even though it was now more than a turn of the hourglass since he’d ordered her breakfast in bed and then promptly fallen back to sleep, she could still feel his presence against her skin.