“Do you and your companions seek the safety of Sylvan Mintoth?”
She frowned. “No. We’ve come from Sylvan Mintoth. We travel east to Nyth Uchel.”
“East? You don’t want to be going east. I left my farm not two days ride from here and you’d think me mad if I told you the unnatural things I’ve seen.” He shook his head and a shudder ran through his lanky frame. Up-ending his mug in a long swallow, the farmer thunked it down on the floor and stood. “Take some advice from an old man, mistress. Turn around and go back to Sylvan Mintoth. Don’t go east.”
Adonia watched as he climbed the stairs and wondered at his words. Too tired to do anything as strenuous as worry, she sank back into the comfortable chair, the blissfully unmoving chair, sipped at her drink and gazed into the flames.
The hour had been late when she sought her room, and the bed felt especially fine as she crawled between the sheets. She appreciated anew the luxury of being clean, well fed and in a comfortable bed. A low moan disturbed her just as sleep started to relax her body. She sat up and fatigue fled as she listened to the sounds coming from the room next to her—the room occupied by Ramsey and Steffania.
There! Again, a soft feminine moan and then a low masculine murmur in response filtered through the shared wall. A pause. More feminine groans, a quiet male laugh and then a pause. A choked-off plea, then Ramsey’s masculine voice clearly giving an order though Adonia couldn’t make out the words. “Please! Ramsey, please!” That was definitely Steffania begging. Again, she heard Ram’s low masculine laugh and more indistinguishable words uttered in his deep baritone. A low feminine wail answered. More male laughter and then a deep groan. A number of indeterminate sounds followed.
Adonia fell back onto her mattress with a whimper. Sex. They were newlywed, and from the sounds of it, enjoying a passionate encounter. She jerked the pillow from beneath her head and covered her face, holding it over her ears to stop the sounds. Oh, Goddess. It had been so long—over two years since her thighs had parted for a lover.
Arrogant eyes above a silky black beard flashed through her mind. She moved her legs restlessly, sliding them against the mattress and rubbing them together. One hand abandoned the pillow and slid to the small, hard bud of her nipple and gently rolled it between thumb and forefinger. Gods! The pleasure of that soft touch exploded in her clit. A small whimper escaped her mouth, and she abandoned the pillow altogether as her other hand crept to the soft folds between her legs. The plumped flesh was already slicking with her moisture. She dipped her middle finger into her hot center and slid upward to circle her tender bud as pleasure coiled like a wound spring in her pussy. A firm pinch to her nipple and a faster circle of her clit, and her flesh spasmed into a series of contractions that shot pleasure through her in spears of sensation. Her back arched, and her legs split, thrusting her pelvis forward as though meeting the penetration of a hard cock. Her soft keen was lost into the pillow.
Gasping, she collapsed limply on the bed. She lay alone, solitary. No loving arms held her. No satiated male snored in her ear. No warm body cradled her, driving away the cold. The pillow still over her face, silent tears of heartbreak slipped down her cheeks, the hot wetness tickling as it ran into her ears. There was something so lonely and desperate about masturbation. Now she remembered why she rarely did so. It was province of the unwanted. It reminded her that she had no partner and no prospects of ever finding one. In a land of petite, softly curved women with sultry eyes and exquisite manners, no male could possibly desire the lanky, mannish body of an ordinary desert woman—particularly one who lapsed into incoherence when faced with an attractive man.
At sunrise, after a restless night’s sleep, Adonia joined the group gathered for a hasty breakfast of hot kaffè and buttered bread, consumed standing up, while the stable hands prepared their horses. Hel speared a resentful glance at a relaxed-looking Ramsey and grumped between mouthfuls about sleeping poorly because of “cats yowling” throughout the night.
Ramsey swallowed and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “I slept very well, thank you. I never heard a thing.” He snaked an arm around Steffania, pulled her to him and kissed her soundly.
Adonia stood apart, stuffing her mouth with bread, trying not to watch, trying not to feel hollow and diminished. I am content with the rewards of healing people. My accomplishments define me—not some man’s desire.
She took her horse from the stable hand, tied her pack behind her saddle, checked her girth and mounted. Ignoring the protest from bruised flesh as her body settled into the saddle, Adonia put her horse to the walk and left the others to follow.
~~~
The small track Adonia rode resembled a game trail more than a byway of commerce. Her horse lunged up the steep, rock-strewn trail. In spite of the increasing difficulty in maneuvering the grade, the constant insults and rude comments volleyed between Ramsey and Hel lifted her foul mood with a growing sense of amusement. She heard the frequent cackle of Steffania’s laughter and her taunting jabs at both men.
“Loyal to you, DeHelios? Ha! Your retainers only stay because they are frozen solid to that block of ice you inhabit. I should relieve your people of the burden of gazing on your flea-infested, hairy face,” said Ram.
“Bring it on, dickless wonder. There aren’t any trees for you to fall out of to give you an advantage. Your wife inspires more fear in me. You aren’t half the man she is.”
“Oh, your death at my hand is all but assured, DeHelios. Only the knowledge it would be pointless stays my sword. The Hound of the Seven Hells would vomit you up as an indigestible hair ball, and I’d be back at square one.”
Adonia pulled her horse up and turned to face the two men. The absurdity of their exchanges had finally pushed her over the top.
At Hel’s irritated, “What?” hilarity welled up inside Adonia until she clutched at her belly and then her horse’s neck to remain seated. She finally abandoned the attempt and simply slid down and lay on her back on the rocky ground, convulsed with laughter. Ramsey a ‘dickless wonder’? Hel an ‘indigestible hairball’?
She registered Ramsey’s, “I don’t know. Something we said?”
She flopped her arm in the air to motion them on and was aware Hel and Ramsey continued past her. When she opened her eyes, she looked up at a mounted Steffania grinning down at her.
“They’re well-matched, don’t you think?” Steffania chuckled. “One might be fooled into thinking they didn’t like each other.”
Adonia could only blink and summon the strength to remount, still giggling from time to time. Her depression evaporated as if it had never been.
~~~
Hel spurred his horse past the healer as she lay on the ground, wrapped in helpless laughter, and an unwilling smile creased his face. For a moment, his vile mood lifted. He didn’t know how she did it, but the healer both soothed and inflamed him. She was the only one capable of lifting his brooding worry about returning to Nyth Uchel without a magistra. He’d failed to acquire the one key element necessary to lift the black affliction that haunted his city. Only the healer possessed the power to make his thoughts dwell on something else ... on someone else. And when he touched her? By Her light…
His intense sexual reaction every time his bare skin met hers felt uncanny. He was beyond denying it. He’d tested it too many times. She felt it too. He was certain of it and he wondered what it meant. It wasn’t only her body he wanted. The totality of the woman fascinated him. Who was she? What moved her? Why did she offer to come? He’d sought her out in the evenings before they’d all collapsed into their blankets, though all he’d done was observe. What he saw pleased him. She was gracious and uncomplaining, and ever ready to lend a helping hand.
Hel realized with an uncomfortable grunt that the healer had been the focus of his speculation since he’d first seen her in the audience hall. His ill-humor descended again with the knowledge that he had nothing to offer her but a city cased in ice. He sighed wearily. His thoughts returned to the f
ruitless rehash of what he might do to change that without a magistra to work the Great Rite with him.
~~~
Adonia squinted up into the mid-day sun as Hel pulled their group to a halt with a grim expression. He pointed to an area on the downward slope where a section of skeletal, rotting trees encroached on the trail ahead of them for as far as the eye could see. “It’s the contagion I told you about—a growing stain of death on my lands. This mountain pass was open when I came down. We cannot risk the chance of infection by going through it.”
“All right,” said Ramsey. “We go around. Easy enough.”
Hel shook his head. “The only other pass takes us through forests infested with soul-wraiths, leeches. They are a parasitic scourge that rode in on the Haarb and stayed when the Haarb fled. They prey on life-force and attack anything warm-blooded. They wait until daylight fades and then descend in lethal swarms of gray shadow.”
“Yes. I know all about soul-wraiths.” Ramsey frowned. “How did you avoid them in the past?”
“Set a perimeter of energized diaman crystal. That will keep them at bay.” Hel smiled without humor. “I have the diaman crystal in my saddle pack. I lack a sexual partner to energize them. I had intended to return with a magistra but a magister will work as well. Care to volunteer?”
“Only if I top,” Ramsey snapped.
“You’d have to kill me first,” returned Hel.
“With pleasure.”
Steffania took a breath. Ram cut her off. “No. I don’t share you, Vixen.”
Fear of the unknown almost froze Adonia’s tongue, but she was the obvious answer. She could do this. The opportunity would never present itself again. “I’ll be your partner.”
At her faltering words, three pairs of eyes swung to Adonia and she shrugged. “I am the solution. I’ve always wondered about the ‘mystical sexual rites’ of the aristos. Now I’ll know firsthand.”
In spite of her heart’s attempts to pound itself out of her body, she produced a wobbly smile. A momentary pause stretched into a lengthy silence. Her smile faltered and humiliation at Hel’s failure to respond swamped her. “I suppose I’m not your idea of womanly appeal but, hey, I’m less deadly than doing Lord Ramsey.” She chuckled weakly. No one laughed. Goddess, please open the earth and let me disappear. Perhaps her common blood made her too distasteful? “That is, unless you need someone highborn.”
“No. Though it’s preferable, I don’t need someone highborn for this rite. I accept your offer, Healer. Thank you.” Hel’s head jerked in a curt nod, and Adonia was left wondering if Hel might have preferred Ramsey after all. How depressing.
Adonia followed the three riders in front of her in silence. What have I done? The insane ranting of Sylvan Mintoth’s mad magistra haunted her. It was said the Great Rite drove the woman into a catatonic state for weeks, and when she awoke she had lost her mind completely. Will I go crazy? No, DeHelios won’t risk his healer. Would he? It would only be sex and by the Goddess, she could stand a little of that. I’ll be that much closer to knowing those mysteries. Still, she wished the evening closer at hand so she wouldn’t have so long to dwell on unknown terrors. I wonder if we’ll do this in front of Steffania and Lord Ramsey? Goddess! She’d never considered that possibility. She straightened in the saddle when Steffania reined in her horse and took up a position beside her.
“You look a little shaken. Are you going to be okay?”
Adonia smiled faintly. “Yeah. Better this than dead.”
Steffania smiled in return. “Yes. And I’m sure looks are deceiving. I mean, he looks rough, but DeHelios must have some finesse. The diaman crystals absorb energy from your sexual arousal. If he cannot make you feel for him then it’s pointless.”
“Thanks,” she said dryly. “If I don’t get aroused sufficiently for Prince DeHelios to complete the rite, we die. No performance anxiety here. Nope. None at all.”
Steffania burst into laughter. “Oh, Adonia. I’m sorry. But I’m certain you have nothing to worry about. Verdantian noblemen are formally trained in this sort of thing. They are experts in arousing women.”
Adonia looked at Steffania sideways. “Ah, what if…what if.” She let out a gust of air. “Shit. What if he sees me naked and can’t, uh...can’t…” She vaguely gestured toward her groin. “What if his…doesn’t work?”
Steffania pulled to a stop and aimed an incredulous look at her. “What do you see when you look in the mirror?”
“I don’t look in a mirror if I can help it,” Adonia muttered.
Steffania snorted. “Let me assure you that is not going to happen.”
Adonia kept her mouth shut and her eyes straight ahead. She’d already embarrassed herself enough for one afternoon.
They worked their way steadily up the mountain trail and an uneasy foreboding built within her as distressing signs of the wraiths’ predation appeared. Game animals, whose contorted bodies displayed the agony of their death, dotted the area they rode through. Even their travel-weary mounts sidestepped and jigged anxiously in reaction to the aftertaste of evil that lingered to taint the very air. When the group stopped at a small lake to water and calm the fear-lathered horses, Adonia fought hard to control her nausea at what she glimpsed by the water’s edge.
“Oh! Goddess! A man,” she called. “Just beneath the surface.” Beside her in seconds, Hel and Ramsey dragged the poor soul to the shore. A heavy stone was tied to his neck with a rope. The men undid the water-swollen knots and turned him over.
“He hasn’t been in the water long. He still has a face,” Ram remarked. “Do you know him?”
“Yes, he is a shepherd who came to Nyth Uchel from time to time.” Hel’s features were set in a rigidly severe mask.
“What happened? Who would drown such a defenseless person? He cannot have had anything of worth,” Adonia said.
“He drowned himself,” Hel murmured. “He must have known the leeches would get him when darkness fell, and rather than suffer the torture of that death, he drowned himself.” Hel sighed heavily. “I don’t have the tools to give him a proper burial, but we can at least cover him with rocks to keep the predators from his body.”
Adonia wondered what sort of monsters they would face that evening to make death by drowning preferable.
~~~
They had been leading their horses for some time, roaming in seeming circles through an area dotted with trees, tall up-thrusting boulders and thick grass. The late afternoon light began to turn hazy when Hel hollered back, “I’ve found it. We will camp here tonight.”
Adonia let out a slow breath. The time had arrived. She could blame fatigue for her trembling legs—but she’d be lying. She stripped her mount of gear, hobbled him and turned him loose to graze. Apprehension-induced weakness flooded her but she resolutely walked up to DeHelios.
She examined the third button on his coat—he would lose it soon if not sewed on tighter— and shoved her hands into her pockets. “What do I do?”
His massive hand tucked under her chin and raised her head until their eyes met. “I chose this place because hot springs reach the surface there.” He nodded his head. “And there is another behind those trees. The thermal pools provide a natural spa.” Adonia thought he smiled. With all the facial hair, she sometimes guessed at his expression. “Ramsey and Steffania are going to use that pool. I would like for you to bathe with me in the other.”
“All right. I have a request, also.”
“Yes?”
She wondered if she dared ask. “Will you shave?”
His eyebrows rose. “Shave?”
She dug her hands deeper into her pockets and looked down at her feet. “If I am going to be intimate with you, I want to see your face.” She glanced up at him through the fall of her hair.
“Huh.” He pulled off his cap and scratched his head, considering, then turned. “Ramsey!”
“Yo!”
“Lend me your razor…and a knife.”
“By the Goddess, wha
t are you going to do to the poor woman?” Ramsey walked up and slapped a blade and his razor into Hel’s outstretched hand.
“Not her. This.” Hel flipped his beard.
“Good. It won’t change your uncouth behavior, but you’ll look less of an animal.” Ram shot Adonia a glance. “Steffania and I won’t be far. If you want me to hold him down for you, just call.”
Adonia dared a smile at Hel’s growl in response. Ramsey just chuckled and walked away.
“Come on. It’s this way.”
Adonia followed Hel past a tall stand of trees and up to what looked like the vertical face of a cliff. A small split in the sheer rock face, just enough for a person to squeeze through, ran up to the sky. The claustrophobic press of stone on either side of her body made for tense moments as she followed Hel through the gash. What lay on the other side was worth it. A pebble-strewn shore along an aqua blue pool beckoned them. Some god had stretched his hand down and scooped out a portion of rock, leaving an irregular basin filled with hot water. Steam rose from the pool and wafted off on the breeze that flirted with the water’s surface. A slight sulfurous smell tinted the air, and the temperature in the grotto was noticeably warmer.
Hel turned and studied her for a moment before sighing. “You look as if a touch will shatter you. We are simply going to bathe together, and you will help rid me of this beard.” Adonia felt his rough hand cup her chin, and his thumb moved over her mouth in a caress. “I know this is awkward for you. Do you want me to go first?”
“Why don’t we do this together?” She smiled tentatively and began to undo the buttons to her coat.
Hers to Claim (Verdantia Book 4) Page 4