The Ruby Fortress (Kingdoms Of Oz Book 1)

by Carrie Whitethorne

  “What external influences?”

  “There are two powerful witches battling one another for control of Oz. Either could be working against you, Ella. Working against us. Either could have interfered with our emotions. Both have reasons to push us together.”

  Two witches? So he acknowledged that Glinda was part of the problem here?

  I could have pushed for an elaboration on his comment, but there was something else… “Us?” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. There was no us. Was there? Okay, he’d been very kind to me, and he was really friendly, but I wasn’t prepared to accept that it meant anything. I was happier assuming this was just how they were, since Glinda kept holding my hands and stuff. That led me to ask, “Why did you kiss me?”

  He looked at me and the corners of his lips twitched. “Because I wanted to.”

  “Why? It wasn’t just because you like me, was it?”

  He stepped closer and I continued focusing on the scar on his chest. Whatever had done that was big. Powerful. Sharp. My eyes flick up to his face and my cheeks heated when I saw how intense his gaze was, so I looked back at his chest as he said, “Oh, I wanted to. I haven’t been able to think of anything else since I first saw you.”

  “It’s only been a few days—”

  “Weeks,” he interrupted, cutting me off. “I was sent to you weeks ago and I pretended not to have found you. I followed you. Watched you dance. Saw you safely home. You weren’t aware of me then. Or the time after that when I watched you sit on the front porch and cry. I’ve been getting to know you for weeks, Ella, and I tried to keep you from this, but Glinda was insistent, and I couldn’t fight her power.”

  I swallowed. He tried to resist her. Tried to keep me away from Oz. The obvious question was why? The question I asked instead was, “But you have… magic?”

  “Yes. But I could never hope to contend with Glinda.”

  That struck me as an odd statement to make. Surely if he was working for her, he was her ally, so contending with her wouldn’t be a consideration. Would it? It seemed my growing distrust of Glinda was founded. “Would you want to contend with Glinda?”

  He pressed his lips together and sighed through his nose. I shared his frustration.

  “That is one question I cannot answer and I can’t tell you why. Suffice it to say my loyalty lies with the one who holds the power to destroy worlds, yet chooses to only do good.”

  He was standing right in front of me, but I didn’t look away from the scar. I couldn’t. His tone suggested he wasn’t talking about Glinda or her sister. It suggested it was someone much closer to home.

  I didn’t want our eyes to meet. I didn’t want to confront the look in his gaze. So, I changed the subject. “What did that to you?”

  “Your feathered friend across the border,” he said mildly, brushing the scar with the thumb of his right hand.

  “Why?”

  “Because we disagreed.”

  “You know… it?”

  “I used to,” he clarified, shrugging his shoulders. “Why did you kiss me?”

  “Because I wanted to.” His question was unexpected, but not half as unexpected as the answer that came out of my mouth without any effort at all. I resisted the urge to slap my hand over my lips and finally allowed my eyes to travel up the scar. It ended in line with the scar on his lip, that white blemish on his now smiling, gorgeous mouth. The griffon that saw me back at the palace, that had sought us out and chased us over the border, had done that to him. “Because I like you.”

  “And you don’t find that odd?”

  I frowned. The question was odd. Why wouldn’t I like him? Okay, he’d kidnapped me, but he was helping me understand why. He was revealing what he could as far as I could tell. If anything, he was trying to help me, wasn’t he?

  It was all so frustrating. Like Glinda had him tied in knots and he wanted me to try to undo them. I wanted to, I just wasn’t sure how. “No… should I?”

  He moved closer still, and I looked into his eyes as he answered, “I thought so to begin with. I didn’t trust it, but it seems it really is just good old-fashioned attraction.”

  I’d never had such a frank conversation about it, so I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. But I didn’t need to. Sayer was already reaching for me, taking my waist with his right arm, and pulling me upright. In nothing but my bra and panties, I stood at full height, my skin against his, and smiled as he kissed me again. There was something different about this kiss. A knowing, an acceptance, his relief that it was of our own free will. He wanted me and I wanted him.

  The sun was still warm, trees not providing any shade over the part of the pond we were standing in, making the water a comfortable temperature. But everything became insignificant when his lips met mine. I focused on his hand brushing up my back as he pulled me closer. There was no point fighting it.

  Too fast? I’d gone faster. But there was something about him that was so different than any guy I’d met before. I’d spent more time with him over the last few days than I spent with most guys I’d ever taken home. I liked him. He made me smile and I hadn’t done much of that recently, and he truly listened, wanting to know me. He made other things happen to me too. Like my pulse race and my stomach flutter when he touched me. It had been a long time since anyone made me feel that way.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked between kisses.

  The question pulled me back into the moment and I stepped away. He let me go, looking at me with concern rather than the frustration I expected. “Nothing. I… I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  I lowered myself back into the water and waited for his response. His eyebrows knit together, but he didn’t say anything for a few long seconds, then he sucked in his bottom lip and looked me over. “I disagree.”

  “Your boss…” It was a weak excuse.

  He stepped closer, following me into the center of the pond. “Has nothing to do with this.”

  I swam back, trying to keep some distance between us, knowing that if he touched me again I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. I’d throw myself at him and that would be it. “She’ll be pissed…” That excuse was weaker still.

  “It’s none of her business.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “But I am. She brought me here to kill her sister. Is that all she wants from me?”

  He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He looked physically uncomfortable for a moment, and guilt tightened my throat.

  “She’ll be jealous.” Like I gave a shit. I just wanted to change the subject.

  “I don’t care,” he said, taking another step closer. He was too close. I pushed farther back.

  This felt different, and I knew if I followed through I’d get hurt. I’d been there before. I swore never to go there again.

  Hit and run.

  But I didn’t want to run from him. Not really.

  “She didn’t send you with me so that we’d… did she?”

  His expression changed. He wasn’t playing around now. He was coming to get what he wanted and I wanted to give it to him. “No, being here proved that, but it would be a wonderful diversion on an otherwise unpleasant trip.”

  “So, I’m a diversion until we get to the fortress?” I asked, cocking a brow.

  He stopped, his lips twitching with amusement. “Absolutely not. You, Ella, are a marvel. I have had the opportunity to get to know you a little better than I had hoped, and find you to be as engaging as you are beautiful.”

  That threw me off guard. Guys didn’t usually articulate their feelings quite like that, and all my apprehension faded away.

  To hell with Glinda. To hell with all of it.

  I didn’t let myself think, thinking brought doubt and I had no reason to doubt him. He’d done nothing but help and protect me since before I’d met him. I knew that was the truth.

  He let me swim to him, not touching me until I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed him. The water was still deep and he moved back until
he was able to stand firmly in the water, supporting me by my hips as I wrapped my legs around his waist. I don’t think I’d ever been kissed like this before. It had never felt like this before either, knowing he wanted me for me. I knew the erection I could feel rubbing against me was his honest-to-goodness attraction and entirely for me. And I wanted it, all of it, inside me.

  His hands felt soft against my skin, his breath hot in my mouth as I gasped for air. His tongue probed, searching for mine, dancing over it as he explored, and the tension building inside me was agony.

  When he pulled away I moaned my disappointment, but he carried on kissing along the length of my jaw to my neck, and down my chest.

  I ground my hips into his, a silent plea, a request for him to take it further, but he wasn’t giving in. Not yet. Not until he’d explored all of me with his hands. Normally, I wouldn’t be complaining, but I was so turned on I needed some sort of release. As his fingers traced the edge of my panties my muscles clenched in anticipation. Even though we were in the water, I knew he could feel how wet I was. His fingers slid beyond the elastic, along my silky folds, and I shifted my hips to encourage him, but he didn’t need it. The relief when he entered me was fleeting, but it was something. A small reprieve from the building arousal that was raging like a tempest around his fingers.

  He gripped me tighter with his free hand and turned, before walking from the water with his fingers pumping my pussy. His thumb found my clit, rubbing it briefly, and distracting me as he stepped from the pond. Then he laid me on a blanket—I’ve no idea where it came from—and lowered himself down over me, withdrawing his fingers and keeping eye contact as he said, “You’re so beautiful, Ella.”

  I moved to kiss him, but he sat back between my legs. I propped myself up on my hands, following him, chasing the kiss I wanted, but he refused me, shaking his head subtly. “Let me see you. All of you.”

  Reaching around my body, he unfastened my bra, and I let him pull it gently away. Discarding it, he bent his head and kissed my breasts in turn, lowering me back onto the blanket. His hands were already at my waist, sliding my panties down over my ass, and I lifted my hips, helping as much as I could while he sucked my right nipple into his mouth and nibbled the sensitive bud. The sensation that shot through my body was different than any I’d felt before. More intense. My body seemed more responsive after being in the water. My panties slid down, over my thighs, and down to my knees. His mouth moved lower on my body and I tilted my head back, resting my weight on my elbows, and reveled in the feel of his tongue on my stomach. Of the panties sliding down my calves. He left them around my ankles and lowered himself between my thighs. I looked down when he glanced up, and ran his tongue along the slick folds of my pussy. I held my breath, watching him as he licked me again. Then his finger and thumb parted my lips, exposing my clit to the cooling, early evening air, before he covered it with his hot, soft mouth.

  I was already so close to coming undone, arching my back and tilting my hips toward his face, demanding more. He gave. He gave and gave until I was a shaking, stuttering mess, and when I reached my limit, when I didn’t think I could stand any more, he plunged two fingers inside me again. Then his mouth moved up the inside of my thigh, my stomach, and my breasts until he lowered his body over mine. I opened my eyes, relaxed beneath him, and smiled as he licked his bottom lip.

  “You taste better than I could ever have imagined.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but he covered it with his own, his tongue seeking mine. I could taste myself on him and it brought me back to the edge. I raised my right leg slightly, hooking my heel around his thigh in invitation. His fingers stopped pumping, and he withdrew them, skimming them up my body and cupping my left breast. He shifted, nudging at my opening. Teasing.

  I welcomed the thrust of his cock, the hard length of him filling me up. My pussy gripped him, pulsed around him, as his tongue caressed mine. He was perfect. He was everything I needed. More. He was mine and I was his, and in those few minutes, we were us.

  “Ella…”

  I reached between us, rubbing my clit in frantic circles, and racing against his nearing climax. I needed one more. I needed the release. I needed more time, but he couldn’t give it to me. Then he lowered his head to my ear and ordered hoarsely, “Come with me.”

  It was the hottest thing anyone had ever said to me. Not for me. With me. And God I did. My pussy gripped him so tightly I felt every pulse of his cock as he spilled into me. The tiny aftershocks that racked my body were soothed by his hand stroking my hair as he kissed my temple, and murmured, “I’ve waited so long for you.”

  I didn’t have a reply, instead moving my hand from between us and stroking up and down his back softly.

  He shifted his weight, lying beside me and looking down at my face. We watched one another for a few moments before a second blanket settled over me and he pulled me into his arms. I yawned, fatigue finally catching me up, and I turned onto my side.

  With one arm moved to cradle my head, Sayer held me, and I drifted off to sleep at his side feeling oddly safe, content, and satisfied.

  Chapter 10

  The weird thing about waking up with Sayer wasn’t that I was waking up with Sayer. It was that he was laying there watching me sleep with a smile on his face.

  I stretched out, yawning, and his hand traveled up my body, following the curve of my waist. “Good morning,” he murmured.

  “Hey. What time is it?”

  Lowering his head to kiss my shoulder, he replied, “An hour after dawn. You slept soundly.”

  “Hmm. Can’t think why,” I teased.

  He brushed his lips over my shoulder and then my cheek before rolling me onto my back. “We should think about setting out. We have two more days of walking.”

  “As long as that?” I asked, frowning. My feet were still aching, and the thought of walking for that long filled me with dread. “I don’t think I can walk for two more days.”

  He chewed his lip and looked down at me. “We can follow the road for a while. It won’t add much to the journey but will make it easier on you.”

  “Why couldn’t we just magic there?” I was trying not to whine, but it was incredibly difficult. I was tired and sore. Hell, I was even exhausted and sore before I even got to Oz. I noticed he was trying not to smirk.

  “It’s expected. Traveling this way allows you to accustom yourself to using your gifts while keeping eyes off you. The last thing I want is for you to be compromised, to be led in any direction too easily. It’s my intention to keep you safe for as long as possible. This is the easiest way, for now.”

  “For now?”

  “When we reach the fortress, there is another who can protect you.”

  There was something in his tone that triggered a stab of warning in my gut. I frowned and said, “But you’re going to back to Glinda, aren’t you?”

  “I have to. Going back keeps her from coming to you too soon.”

  “Too soon for what?”

  “That isn’t important. The priority now is getting you to the fortress, establishing your rule there, and acquainting you with the Watcher.”

  “The Watcher? Not a steward?”

  “No,” he said with a soft laugh. “The best he’s likely to provide is a hot meal and protection. If you want staff, you’ll have to recruit them.”

  I looked at him with my brows raised. “Staff? Who the hell do you think I am?”

  He laughed and kissed the end of my nose. “Not someone who wants staff. The Watcher can keep you safe. Glinda knows he is waiting for you. She also knows you are the only person he’ll serve. She tried to recruit him, but his family members were the stewards, and when he learned of the horrors his ancestors were forced to commit, the horrific acts they carried out in the name of their mistress, he vowed never to serve as one. Instead, he watches over the place, keeping the legions from taking it over, waiting for the rightful heir to take her place.”

  “Oh,” was all I could
say. I didn’t want to imagine what the horrors he mentioned were, but I knew who that place had belonged to and I knew she wasn’t to be messed with. Obviously, nobody told my great grandma because she threw her drink at the bitch and watched her melt. Thinking about it, I realized she went on a sort of accidental killing spree, and I wondered if I was about to do the same. It certainly sounded like that’s how it was going to play out. “What legions?”

  He ran his hand up and down my stomach, the feel of his fingers on my skin soothing despite the topic. “The flying monkeys are still there.”

  “That sounds…”

  “It isn’t. They’ll flock to you as soon as you take ownership of the fortress. They’re servile, and with the right leadership they’re good people. Evanora corrupted them. That’s not you.”

  He kissed me deeply then, and I honestly could have stayed there all day giving into the urge that was growing in my core, but we couldn’t. He hadn’t told me much, but I understood enough. He was taking risks. For me. For Oz. He needed me to make it to the fortress and he had to go back to Glinda. The emotion that stirred in me took me completely by surprise. “We really should eat and get going.”

  He was right, I didn’t want her to come looking for him, and I really didn’t want her near him. I realized then that I didn’t trust her. I never really had. For all her sweet appearance, and apparently kind and gentle personality, there was something about her that didn’t feel right. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

  I sighed and rolled onto my side, reaching for my clothes. Sayer dressed and presented me with breakfast—two oversized fruit muffins and a bottle of water—and soon we were on our way.

  My questions had been interrupted the night before, for a very good reason, and I certainly wasn’t complaining, but I needed more information. The longer I was here, the more bizarre I was finding it. Okay, so I was being led around on the orders of the fairy godmother on acid, that much I expected, or as far as I expected things to be given the circumstances. But Sayer? I hadn’t expected him in the least.