“That’s why the mermaid ambassador is the only female I have seen since landing?” She’d only just realized this was true. No women in the tent city. Not one. Then he slid his fingertip down the scales on her arm, and all thought fled her mind. Her breath tangled in her throat. She leaned forward to bite his collarbone and sooth the sting with her tongue.
He groaned, his palm moving to cup her breast and rub his thumb over her hard nipple. “Yes. Your family is descendant of Kelyn, the most powerful matriarchy on Harena. I—”
Standing on tiptoe, she pressed a light kiss to his jaw, his chin. Her fingers gripped his inky hair to drag him down to her mouth. “Tarkesh. Be silent and kiss me.”
Dropping his forehead to hers, he gave a strained laugh. “I cannot.”
“Why not?”
“Because the evening meal is upon us, and if we are late Baleel and the Amira will come chasing after us. I prefer to savor my pleasure. For hours.” She shuddered as he whispered in her ear before sucking her lobe between his teeth. He nipped at her flesh, and her pussy spasmed hard. Gods, she wanted that, too. Savor. Hours. With him. Inside her. Yes.
As though Tarkesh had conjured him to prove his point, Baleel stepped out from behind the Gila. “My lord. The caravan is prepared for the morrow. The dune-racers have been checked, the Gila beastmasters will have them packed or saddled by dawn.”
“Excellent.” Tarkesh nodded to indicate they begin walking toward the tents, and they fell into step with him.
The sunlight seemed to have winked out in an instant, without much fanfare. Twilight lasted for hours on Vesperi, and it was one more reminder that she was out of her element.
An enormous fire danced in the middle of the tent city, with what looked like a Gila beast roasting on a spit. Mahlia and Varad stood on the far side talking to the mermaid ambassador and a rotund dragon with pink scales. The man looked…odd in that color. Katryn bit the inside of her lip to keep from giggling. He laughed, and his jowls shook, the movement making his scales twinkle in the firelight.
“He’s very proud of his scales. As are all dragons.” Tarkesh’s breath brushed against her ear as he bent to speak softly to her.
“I’d heard that somewhere.” She shuddered as his fingers drifted down the scales on her arm. Clenching her teeth, she tried to fight the rising passion that slicked her sex. Gods, help.
She jolted when his hand closed around her elbow, her body arching at the harder contact with her sensitive flesh. Tarkesh gave her an innocent look as he guided her over to her friends. She returned a skeptical glance and snorted.
The evening passed in a blur of feasting and dancing under foreign stars to wild music that tickled her memory. She spun in Tarkesh’s arms until she was breathless with laughter. Sweet, tender emotions wrapped through her that she could do nothing to stop. He passed her to Varad, to Baleel, and even to the pink dragon. Her feet ached, and her mind whirled with too much wine when she collapsed into her bunk onboard the weretiger ship.
Chapter 4
The next morning came too soon, and Katryn had barely closed her eyes when Mahlia shook her awake.
“Noo,” Katryn moaned and curled into a ball. Tears flooded her eyes to streak down her cheeks, everything she’d been holding back for months exploding from deep within her.
“Shh, shh. We will see each other again someday. I have faith.” Mahlia crawled in next to her in bed, wrapping her arms around her. Katryn laid her forehead against her friend’s shoulder and sobbed until her throat was raw. Mahlia shook with her own crying, and they held tight to each other.
“I don’t want to go. I don’t want to do this.” Katryn met her friend’s blue gaze and balled her fists in her royal-blue gown.
“I know.” Mahlia’s lips twisted, and she stroked Katryn’s hip-length black hair away from her face. “I wish I could—”
Shaking her head, Katryn closed her eyes for a moment before sitting up. Her head pounded from all the alcohol the previous night. Gods’ blessing. She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “You can’t…you can’t save me from this. It would ruin the trade relations between our worlds, and I’m not worth that.”
“Sad but true.” Mahlia’s eyes had the same hard truth in them that Katryn knew. One person’s happiness was not worth the prosperity of many.
Resignation filled Katryn’s chest, hollowing her out. “It’s time.” She sighed. “I have to dress. Baleel had them load my things on the Gila beasts, so…it’s just me that needs to get ready.”
Mahlia slid out of bed, shoving her blond-and-brown-striped hair back. “I know.”
Bending to the floor, Katryn scooped up her traveling clothes. She had no idea how they’d gotten down there. They had been folded neatly on her bed the day before, ready for her to wear them. She tugged on her pants, tucked the bottoms into heavy leather boots, and shrugged a layered, filmy tunic over her head. When she looked up, Mahlia stood in the open doorway holding her travel pack for her. They walked in silence to the ramp that led down to the landing site, their hands clasped tightly together. After the initial storm of tears had passed, Katryn felt numb. This was it. There was no going back, no hope of escape. Unlike her friend, she had little faith that they would ever meet again. From what Tarkesh had said, Katryn would never be allowed to leave the capital again, and Mahlia would never be allowed to leave the landing site even if she ever made the trade run again, which wasn’t likely. No. There was no hope for it. She would never see her friend after today. A band of emotion cinched around her chest, cutting off her breath. Each footstep echoed in her mind, a death toll on her closest relationship.
She glanced over and saw silent tears streaking down Mahlia’s cheek. She squeezed the other woman’s hand. Varad awaited them at the bottom of the ramp with Tarkesh and a saddled Gila beast. When they reached the men, Katryn wrapped her arms around her friend. She whispered in her ear, “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Pulling back, Katryn turned to Varad. He engulfed her in his strong arms, lifting her off the floor to squeeze her tight.
“Take good care of her,” Katryn said.
The big weretiger nodded against her temple, stroking a hand down her hair before he stepped back. Mahlia leaned against him for support, and his arm curled around her shoulders.
Tarkesh climbed aboard the Gila and twisted to offer her a hand up. She scrabbled up to land in front of him. His thighs flexed, and the Gila rocked to a start. Katryn leaned to the side, looking back at Mahlia and Varad to wave until they were no more than a speck on the horizon.
They merged into the middle of the long caravan, dune-racers buzzing up and down the column of Gila beasts. The sand they kicked up made her sneeze, and Tarkesh tugged a wrap up to cover her mouth and nose. Tears made tracks down her face, and her chest shook as she suppressed her sobs. He said nothing, just cradled her against his chest while she cried.
The twin suns blazed down hot and fierce upon them, and her mouth felt dry and sticky. She laid her cheek on Tarkesh’s shoulder and tried not to allow her stomach to heave at the constant rocking motion of the Gila beast. After what felt like centuries, she fell asleep in his arms.
So responsive, so fiery and passionate. Katryn held nothing back. She loved fiercely and openly, had a deep loyalty to those she cared for. Tarkesh admired that, and in so short a time, he already respected her steady resilience. No protestations—she just tucked her chin down and faced a painful loss without flinching. His gut clenched at the thought of her tears. He’d wanted to comfort her, to make it right for her, but he could do nothing. To let her go would mean losing her himself, and he couldn’t do that. Her family would never allow it, and she was just what they needed. He could feel it in his bones. Perfect. Nadir would adore her. His cock hardened at the thought of his mate. At the thought of watching his mate make her scream with pleasure. He’d assumed she would compete with him for Nadir’s attentions, but now that he’d met her, tasted her himself, he no longer feared t
his.
“Tarkesh.”
He nodded a greeting to Baleel as the other man reined in his Gila beside them. Katryn still slept in his arms. He checked the scarves over her mouth to make certain she didn’t inhale the sand.
“The dune-racers have located a good place to camp tonight.”
“Good.” They could never camp in the same place twice or take quite the same route from the landing site to the capital. To do so would leave them too open and vulnerable to renegade bands of outcast dragons. The inconvenience of new routes was worth the safety it offered them.
Baleel’s gaze fell to the woman sitting before Tarkesh. “Lord Nadir will approve of her, I think. But that is why you came along, is it not? To get the measure of her first?”
“More or less.” He had wanted to get the measure of her, had he not? He’d worried about whether her presence in their bond would drive a wedge between Nadir and him. If she could be trusted, if she could love them both. Nadir was a man of practicality, of duty, but Tarkesh knew that wouldn’t be enough for him. If Tarkesh had wanted mating to be easy, he would have mated to a woman and been done with it. Instead he’d mated to Nadir—a rough nobleman who challenged everything Tarkesh believed in. Nothing was easy with Nadir. He chuckled. Watching his mate clash with the passionate, independent Katryn would be…entertaining. He could already tell she was a woman often left to her own devices, with no matriarchs to guide her or make demands of her. If her father had neglected her to the point that she knew nothing about her heritage, her home world, then he assumed most of her decisions had been made without consulting anyone else. Life among the matriarchs would be a shock for her. Nadir and he would be there to help her where they could, but men and women had little influence in each other’s affairs. He sighed, worry for her well-being nagging at him. He stroked a hand down the length of her silken hair. It slid like water through his fingers. It would wrap around both him and Nadir as they fucked her from both sides. Had she ever been with two men at once? A woman as responsive as she would enjoy the experience, he was certain.
As if echoing his earlier thoughts, Baleel spoke up. “She…seems to know very little of her own people. You can have some influence there, but her family may want to take her in hand.”
“True. Though she doesn’t seem the kind to be easily taken in hand.” He frowned. She seemed to think she was mating only with Nadir. He was unsure how to tell her that wasn’t the case. Did she even know what a harim was? He didn’t know. How much should he reveal, and how quickly? He feared that giving her too much information would scare her. And her feelings had become vitally important to him. Something deep within him had shifted when he’d met her. Mate. She would be his. His and Nadir’s. He wanted to slide his cock into her wet heat and thrust until she fisted tight around him. The possibilities with all three of them were…exhilarating. He couldn’t wait.
Baleel’s saddle creaked as he shifted. “Adriana will love her.”
“Adriana is an easy woman to love, isn’t that so?” Tarkesh slanted a glance at the other man, who harrumphed and remained silent. Tarkesh grinned but said nothing more. Everyone knew Baleel had been courting Adriana for months with little success. A part of him felt sorry for the man, and another part was simply grateful he didn’t have to deal with such a complicated courtship. He had Nadir, and now Katryn would be theirs soon enough. He heaved a sigh of relief.
She stirred in his embrace, and he fought a groan as her sweet little ass rubbed against his cock. Dear Goddess, if he had to endure her lush curves rocking against him for the next five days, he might explode. No matter what Nadir had said, he had no intention of bedding her until after his mate had met her and they were bound together for the rest of their lives. Ah, but he could kiss her, stroke her, tease her. He couldn’t resist how quick she was to react to his touch, how hot she became in his arms. He shuddered, slipping his fingers under her tunic to rub the taut skin of her belly.
Shivering, she straightened. Her breath caught, and her fingers clamped over his. “Tarkesh,” she whispered.
“You were expecting someone else, my lady?” He nuzzled the back of her neck, flicking his tongue out to taste her flesh. She moaned softly, her fingers biting into his forearm, but her head arched back on his shoulder to afford him freer access. Moving his mouth up the length of her neck, he caught her earlobe between his teeth and tugged.
Tarkesh, she moaned in his mind. He dipped his fingers over the fabric of her pants to rub between her thighs. Her legs parted subtly to admit him. She flicked a frantic glance around. He met Baleel’s gaze and jerked his chin down. Baleel nodded and reigned in his Gila, slowing to allow them to pass before he turned to ride back down the column of the caravan. Tarkesh tugged his cape around them both so his hands could roam freely. Her hips squirmed, her ass moving against his stiff cock. She froze when she came into contact with his hard flesh.
He could feel the heat of her through her pants, and he groaned. “So hot, so sweet. If I slipped inside you, you’d be tight around my cock, wouldn’t you?”
Oh, Gods. Her hand closed over his, guiding him deeper between her legs. He stroked one finger down the seam in her pants. She rocked against his fingers.
Goddess. Dragons worship the female form. Like this. His other palm lifted to cup her breast. Her hard nipple stabbed into his hand. He pinched her through the silken layers of her tunic, and she arched and twisted in his arms. He rubbed his finger against her pants, stroking over her clitoris. Low keening dragged from her throat, and his cock throbbed at the sensual sound. He rocked with the rhythm of the Gila, lifting his hips to rub himself deeper into the soft curve of her buttocks.
“Gods. Goddess. Please. I’m…I’m going to…”
“Come? Oh, yes.” A dark chuckle dragged from his throat. “I’m going to make you scream but not today. We wouldn’t want everyone in the caravan to know how hot and sweet you are, would we?”
“No. Yes. I don’t—I need… Please, Tarkesh.” She shook her head on his shoulder, and her silky hair brushed against his skin. Her light fragrance caressed his nose. He drew in the sweet scent, so exotic, different from the heavier oils worn by the women of his world. It made his blood burn to have her in his arms. Everything about her brought out the possessive dragon within him. That, more than anything, made him believe this bonding between the three of them would work. None had ever elicited this reaction from him, save Nadir. The thought of both of them made his cock jerk in his pants. Heat slammed into him, made his skin feel too tight, as if he would explode from its confines. He squeezed his eyes closed, surprised that orgasm fisted tight in his gut. He’d meant to push her, but he had pushed himself, too. He couldn’t detach himself at all—her passion called to him, dragged him under.
“I know what you need. I’ll give it to you. Now.” He ground himself into her from behind, pressed down on her clit and stroked fast, and twisted her nipple hard. He froze, his muscles locking as he shuddered and came. Her breath caught, and her body bowed, arching into his harsh caresses as she came as well. She twisted in his arms, her hips jerking. He lifted one palm and clamped it over her mouth, working his other hand against her soft pussy. Her wetness had leeched through to dampen the fabric of her pants. She moaned and whimpered behind his hand, her breath panting through her nose. A tear leaked from the corner of her eye to slide down his fingers.
She collapsed in his arms, and he cradled her against his chest. Shivers racked her body. He smoothed his hand down her hair. This couldn’t happen again, not until they reached the capital. He reversed his earlier decision to toy with her until then. Goddess, she lit him on fire. If he was going to keep his promise to himself to wait until he and Nadir were mated to her, he couldn’t risk touching her again. And he had four more days of her rocking up against him on the Gila beast. He bit back a groan.
She stiffened in his embrace, drawing as far away from him as she could, which wasn’t far, because the rolling stride of the Gila pressed her back to him.
She twisted around to meet his gaze. “This can’t happen again, Tarkesh.”
He frowned. What had brought on this abrupt change? “Why not?”
She hissed impatiently, the fire that always simmered beneath the surface flaring to life. Isn’t it obvious? We aren’t mated, and we barely know one another. This cannot happen again, Lord Tarkesh.
Confusion and anger whipped through him. She wanted to deny this connection that had formed between them? What did it matter how little they knew of each other, that they weren’t yet mated? He ignored the fact that he’d just made the decision not to touch her. It rankled that she wished to refuse him. He ground his teeth together, trying to rein in the dragon within him that wanted to mark her, claim her as he and Nadir had claimed each other. This wasn’t like him, this kind of impatience. He let his hands fall away from her, leaning back. He shoved his temper away, forcing himself to some semblance of his normal calm. Nadir would be highly amused to see him so disgruntled about being denied by a woman when he agreed with her about the need for abstinence. He snorted an ironic laugh at his own expense.
“If that is your wish.” He nodded down at her, forced an easy grin to his face. Of the two of them, Nadir was never the diplomatic one. That was Tarkesh’s place. So, what was wrong with him now? Katryn. She was the problem, and he wasn’t certain there was a cure. Or if he even wanted one.
A tentative smile graced her full lips, and it was a punch straight to his heart. Goddess on fire, he was in so much trouble here. They needed to get to the capital fast—now wasn’t too soon. She was a temptation he wasn’t certain he could resist. She cleared her throat and turned to let her gaze scan the endless sea of rolling sand dunes. “Well, we’ll be riding this beast for a long while. What shall we talk about?”
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