“Okay.” He took her hand and conjured a length of rope, wrapping it around their wrists.
He bound them like this often. She never bothered to ask him why he did it. She liked the closeness of being tied to him. What was once a symbol of anger had become a show of connectedness. She missed him when he wasn’t nearby, and judging by how many times he bound them each day, he missed being close to her too.
She led him into her family’s fields, walking a path through rows of fruit trees. “Have you thought about where you want to go after we leave Akash?”
His lips curved into a small smile, and he glanced at her for a few moments before staring ahead. “No. I don’t know all the realms. I guess we can travel to the ones I haven’t been to.”
“And then what? Are you surveying them for takeover?” She’d be by his side, but she needed to know what she was signing on for, and what she might have to caution him against.
“I hadn’t thought about it.” He squinted as he looked into the distance, as if he realized for the first time he didn’t have a plan. “We’ll know it when we see it, right?” He squeezed her hand and locked eyes with her, halting their steps.
Ghena ran through the trees in front of them, chasing flutter flies.
“Maybe, maybe not, but I’ll be with you.”
His features softened. He stepped into her, lifting her chin with his free hand. “Why are you so…?” He seemed to be at a loss, opening and closing his lips.
She stared at him, seeing more emotion in his face than she thought possible. He didn’t stand before her as a tyrant or a killer. He was uncertain, and he was her kan’na. She’d never met anyone like him, never felt so drawn to anyone. He didn’t need words. His expression alone reached into her heart and made her want to give him everything he ever wanted and more.
She’d killed for him, and even though she regretted it, she’d do it again in the blink of an eye if it would keep him safe.
“As long as you’re with me, I can figure out the rest.” He kissed her as they stood among the trees, filling her with sensation, binding her to him even more as she let the essence of him surround her.
She didn’t have to fully understand his need to rule. She was prepared to do whatever she had to do to help him realize his dream, and gods help the poor soul who intended him harm.
* * * *
Three weeks had passed since the courier had arrived, but he wasn’t the last. Others came bearing messages, and Rhuul refused to even open them, burning them as soon as he got his hands on them.
Despite her intense interest in Veen’s correspondence, she didn’t push the topic, not wanting to upset her kan’na. On this day, she sat outside in her backyard with Ghena in her lap. The clash of weapons pierced the air, followed by grunts and curses. Braka and Rhuul were at it again, fighting in the warmth of midafternoon.
“Hit him on his weak side. Force him to toughen up!” She watched the smirk move across Rhuul’s lips, bringing a smile to her own. When Braka snorted, she laughed.
“I have no weak side.”
“Doesn’t look like it from here.” A blur of movement forced her attention to the side of her house.
It was Talloc, in his male Omala form. “Hey there, hot stuff.”
“Hey, Talloc. Haven’t seen you for a good while.” He sat down on the soft grass next to her and let his head fall back.
“Are you enjoying your woman, Braka?” Rhuul must have noticed Talloc’s arrival too. A larger, more evil grin curved his lips as he swung his swords in violent strikes.
“No Eidon would be so crude as to speak of such things.” Braka parried Rhuul’s swings and attempted to slash his abdomen.
Talloc leaned in close and spoke in a quiet voice. “He’s an animal!”
“Really? What’s he like? What does he do?” Avalea stroked Ghena’s fur while he munched on berries. She’d spent the majority of her time with Rhuul. The guard captain was still something of an enigma to her.
“He has a thing for biting. He’s almost never sated. I’ve taken the form of plants, furniture, and even rugs to make him search for me so I can leave.”
“When are you going to tell him you’re a Bruna?” Ghena tilted his furry little head and stared up at the shape-shifter.
“Soon. Staying in that form for so long is boring, and I’m tired of how grumpy he gets whenever a message arrives from his ruler.” He sighed and leaned back on his elbows. “He hates Rhuul’s disobedience, so he takes it out on my ass. Literally.”
Avalea nearly choked on her laughter and cleared her throat to regain her composure.
“He might slow down if you told him you were a male.” Ghena smiled wide, showing his teeth.
“You are so limited in your thinking. Bruna don’t have male or female genders, we’re just Bruna. We can be anything.” Talloc rolled his eyes, as if the concept was obvious for all to see.
“How do you have offspring? Can you just decide to be the female?” Ghena sounded intrigued, and he stopped chewing to hear the answer.
“We don’t discuss that with outsiders.”
* * * *
Rhuul looked on from the edge of the fields as Lea picked a few pieces of fruit and handed them to her brother and his friends. The smile on her face was infectious, and he couldn’t help chuckling at the scene.
He drank down the last of his tea and rested his cup on a windowsill. It was a brew Lea made from things in her garden. She drank a different blend, specially formulated to keep her from getting pregnant. He trusted her knowledge in this area, but he still avoided spilling his seed into her depths. The tea might work with Omala, but he wasn’t sure if the brew would be 100 percent effective against his dual nature.
Seeing her with children, her ease in interacting with them, the way she brought smiles and excitement to their faces,it made him think, made him want to imagine a similar future with her. But that would have to wait. Damn that Omala life lover for making him even consider such a thing.
With the last youngster served, Lea strolled over to him. She stared at him, her gaze moving over his wings. She spent a lot of time looking at them, touching them. The feel of her hands over them always turned him on, and he watched her, his body tingling with anticipation.
“I think I know how to get you off the ground without a breeze.”
“What?” This wasn’t the conversation he expected to have. A flash of disappointment moved through him, making his shoulders slump.
“Spread your wings for me. I want to try something.”
He slanted his eyes at her before doing as she asked.
She lifted her hands and tensed the muscles in her jaw. He’d never seen her focus on something with such intense concentration. Especially when he didn’t know what the hell was going on.
He was about to ask about the purpose of the exercise when a burst of warm air bloomed beneath the sensitive skin below his wings. “Lea?”
“Fly, Rhuul. Use the warm air to lift you.”
He flapped against the heat, his feet leaving the ground. He flapped harder, rising higher while she stretched her hands up to him, still sending hot air. When he was above the houses, he felt a strong breeze, allowing him to soar around the village.
His smile was immediate. Gods, she’d managed to do something he never thought he could achieve. How long had she thought about this? Was that why she stared at him so often? She thought enough about him to give him this gift?
He banked a large arc around a group of buildings, his eyes on her. “Hold out your arms.” He clasped her forearms as he passed, lifting her into the air and flying higher, catching the swift air current higher up.
The flames of her hair whipped in the wind, and she held on tight to him. “It worked! It really worked, Rhuul.” There was so much excitement in her voice and not a trace of fear as she looked down at the world around her.
Flying with her was a new experience, one he never thought of. Carrying her through the air had an effect on him. It ca
lled to a part of him he’d never noticed before, and it drove him higher in the sky. He scanned the land, looking for the highest peak.
Instinct drove him toward a mountain, the need to reach its summit urging him forward from somewhere deep within.
He circled the zenith, searching for just the right spot. A series of outcroppings jutted out not too far below the mountaintop. He set Lea down there while he flapped in the breeze above her.
“Why are we here?” She was facing the stone wall of the mountain. When she tried to turn around to face him, a guttural screeching reverberated from deep in his throat. The vocalization surprised him, as if it didn’t come from his own body. “Rhuul?” She looked over her shoulder, her voice wary.
He lowered himself to her level before flying to her, pressing her against the cold stone. His blood felt like it had been exchanged with lava. Moving through the air had changed something in him, making him see her in a different way, making him want her in the highest place, needing to claim her in the sky. He was hot for her, his dick aching with need.
He licked a slow trail up the back of her neck before grazing the skin with his teeth. She sucked in a breath, the sound whipping him into a frenzy. He pulled the fabric at her waist, yanking the garment over her head.
“Rhuul, you—” She tried to turn around again, but he wasn’t having any of it. He screeched once more, holding her shoulders to keep her in place.
He dropped down to the slight outcropping just below where she stood. His wings moved in rhythmic beats, keeping him balanced. He was at the perfect height to grip her ass. He swiped her rounded cheeks with his tongue, moving lower and lower, biting and teasing his way between her thighs.
Her breaths were shaky as she widened her stance to let him in. He spread her open in front of him, eyeing the hint of her dew peeking out from her entrance. He lapped at her with greedy strokes of his tongue, filling his lungs with the scent of her essence as he tasted her on top of the world.
She rocked against his mouth, her moans on the wind, her heat against his face. He couldn’t think, couldn’t see beyond the need to complete the act of joining with her in this place. His muscles contracted in erratic patterns while his cock twitched and bobbed up and down.
He needed to be inside her, buried as far as he could go, sinking into her slick, satiny walls, surging into her. He pushed his pants down with his free hand and gripped his shaft while he flicked her clit with his tongue. When her body seized, he nearly lost it, and pumped along his length, feeling the seven ridges along his shaft as he stroked himself.
A change was sweeping over him, making him suck on her pulsing bud with pressure. This wasn’t going to be a tender dance of lovers. He was going to drive into her with force, taking her hard until she couldn’t utter a sound. The need to take her over was out of his control, and as he flapped up to align himself at her entrance, a small voice in his head protested. You’re going to hurt her.
*
Lea held onto the rock face for dear life as Rhuul rose up behind her. She braced herself, expecting him to press forward, but he didn’t. She looked over her shoulder, seeing the deep ridges in his forehead, his clenched teeth, his hands balled into fists. “What’s wrong?”
This encounter with him was different, that was clear. She’d never heard him make the sounds he had on this day, and she’d never seen him so distressed. “Rhuul?”
“I need … control.” He spoke through his teeth, his eyes screwed shut.
“Control of what?”
“I don’t know … what this is.” His breaths were ragged, his erection standing tall.
“Try to tell me.” She cupped his face.
His hand moved as quick as lightning, gripping her wrist and holding her palm away from him. “Don’t! I don’t want to hurt you, Lea.” He opened his eyes, his irises glittering like crushed gems.
The move surprised her, but she wasn’t afraid. “You’d never hurt me, Rhuul.” She pressed her hand forward, feeling him relent. She stroked his cheek and leaned in close. “If you want to do it up here, we can.”
“No.” He shook his head with jerky movements. “Something’s wrong with me.” When he tried to flap away from her, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Rhuul, I’ve never denied you.”
“You don’t understand.” He breathed in deep. “I can’t explain it…” His nostrils flared and he shook his fists in apparent frustration.
“Try.” She kissed along his jaw, hearing the quickening of his breaths.
He reached out and held the back of her neck with firm pressure, pulling her to the edge of the stone.
She felt her heart race in fear, but she swallowed it down and met his eyes. “Tell me, kan’na.”
“I need to take you against this mountain. I need to have you here, right now, hard and fast no matter what. It’s like I’m going to die if I don’t fuck you this instant.” He held his breath, and leaned his head back. “Gods, I don’t know this part of me. I don’t know if I’d be able to stop, Lea.”
It was clear to her what was going on, and she pulled him to her, her hand gripping his shaft possessively. “This is your Celestan instinct. That’s probably why you flew me up here.” She moved her hand against him with pressure, enjoying the feel of his hips as he bucked against her.
“Lea, please. I could hurt you.”
“You’re my kan’na. I’m your dranaiya. We were made for each other.” She turned her back to him and moved back to the rock face, bracing herself, feeling the heat of desire rush through her body. “This is what you need?” She stood on the balls of her feet and wiggled her ass at him as seductively as she could.
“Lea…” His voice was deep, gravelly, and filled with warning.
There was no fear in her heart. If he wanted it rough, she’d allow it and she’d return his intensity with her own. He was trying to resist his nature, and that just wouldn’t do. “Come on, Rhuul. Time to fuck your dranaiya.”
He was on her in the blink of an eye. His hands on her shoulders, gripping tight, guiding her down until she bent at the waist. She felt his swollen head at her entrance a moment later. He made a grunting sound, and then he pressed forward, impaling her, stretching her to her fullest in one motion.
She called out his name and held on tight. He pulled back and sank into her, over and over, the force sending shudders through her body and pleasure deep in her belly. She flattened her palms against the jagged stone. The mountain bit into her, but she ignored the cuts and scrapes as she pushed back to meet each thrust.
He groaned and moved his hands to her hips, yanking her to him, increasing the force. Gods, she was almost delirious with pleasure as the ridges of his shaft found every nerve inside her, teasing them, stimulating them with delicious friction and force.
Electric currents of euphoria danced over her skin and through her core. The charm in her left nipple seemed to vibrate against her, adding to the potent cocktail of ecstasy surrounding her.
He burrowed into her with relentless abandon, all but stealing her sanity as her climax built. Her legs were shaking, but she pressed back onto him, feeling his pace change as her walls stretched even more. He was swelling within her depths, sending pleasure up her spine and back down again, arcing around her needy clit.
Rhuul let out a strangled cry followed by a barrage of curses she’d never imagined. His right hand left her hip, teasing into her folds before circling her clitoris. It was her undoing. She nearly bucked off him as her orgasm took full ownership of her faculties. She would have fallen to her knees were it not for Rhuul’s hold around her waist.
He bowed over her, still pumping into her. When he erupted inside her, she shivered, feeling the heat of his seed inside her for the first time.
Long moments passed as they recovered. There were no words between them, no declarations, no promises, and yet, he’d shown her a different side of himself, bringing her closer to him than she was before.
“Shit!”
>
Well, the closeness was nice while it lasted.
“Did you drink all of your tea?”
“Yes.”
He breathed out a sigh before he sucked in a quick breath. He turned her to face him and looked her up and down. He held her hands in his, a frown pulling down his features. “Damn it!”
“No, this isn’t your fault. It’s from holding the rock.” She reached into the stone of the mountain, finding the life in the crevices and cracks below and tapping into it. Her cuts healed in the space of a few breaths.
“Did I … were you hurt anywhere else?”
“No, I’m fine.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled under his chin. “We could do this again, you know.”
“I didn’t mean to … What did you say?”
“I liked it.” She smiled into him and let out a light titter. The muscles of her legs and arms were still trembling with aftershocks as he held her close. “You don’t have to try to protect me from you or fight what you are.” She paused, looking down at her bare arm. “Do me a favor, though. Take a couple passes around this mountain and find my dress.”
Chapter 11
“Avalea, there’s another courier.” Renna waited for her to get up from the grass and followed her as far as the house.
She’d been watching Rhuul and Braka fight, chuckling as she urged her kan’na on.
“I’m going to give Kieran a bath. Have fun watching Rhuul burn more paper.” Her mother smiled and went inside.
This time, the courier waited at the entrance to the village. He was a tall Eidon male. He stood in front of a dark metal carriage pulled by two irtha beasts. They were stout creatures with thick legs and long, curved tusks. The courier’s face was expressionless as he looked her over. “Veen, ruler of Karn, requests your presence at the palace immediately.”
“Me? Why?” She’d already had her hand out to receive the usual letter. She pulled it back and stared at him in disbelief.
“It is not my place to question my ruler. I follow his commands. Come with me.” He held the door open for her and waited next to it.
Rhuul's Flame (Realms of Possibilities, book 1) Page 13