His stomach growled and he blinked. Sitting up, he gently extricated himself from Tamara. He slid out of the bed and tucked his cloak tighter around her. She stirred, but didn’t waken. Her face, in sleep, lost its arrogance. Her mouth went soft, she looked… What was he thinking? She was d’ark t’uath! They had no future together. Her clan forbade relations with males and she would never leave them. There had never been a d’ark t’uath who left her clan. Never.
But he could dream. He seemed good at impossible relationships. Stooping, he picked up the rabbit and then skinned it, putting it on the spit to cook. As he turned the spit, he watched Tamara. Her eyelashes fluttered and she looked at him. A pink flush spread across her cheeks. Her gray eyes, immense in her pale face, sparkled.
“That smells good.”
“You’re hungry, it’s normal.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“You’ve never eaten rabbit?”
“I’ve never had sex with a male before.” Her dimples deepened. Dimples? He hadn’t noticed before… He suddenly realized he’d never seen her smile.
“Technically it wasn’t sex.” He found himself grinning back at her. Her smile lit up her whole face, and he had the most absurd urge to gather her in his arms and squeeze her tight.
“We made love,” she said, her dimples still in place.
“No, you’re still a virgin.” His words, for some reason, made her pale.
“Are you sure?” She didn’t look happy.
“Yes. What would your tribe say if they knew you made love to a man?” The words were out of his mouth before he could call them back, and the smile slid off her face like water from a stone.
In three strides he was at her side. “I won’t say anything, I swear by…”
“No. Don’t swear.” Her voice was bloodless and her cheeks had paled. “If they found out, I could be punished. But nothing happened, so don’t worry about it.”
“I won’t betray your trust. Believe me. Now eat. You need your strength. We have to leave as soon as possible. Before anything else happens between us.”
Firelight made deep shadows on her face and he couldn’t read her thoughts. But it seemed to him that the sparkle had gone out of her eyes and he wondered why. Was it fear that her tribe would banish her? Did she regret what had happened between them? “I’m sorry,” he said, handing her a wooden bowl of grilled rabbit.
She picked at it listlessly. He crouched next to her and touched her shoulder. “I want you to eat and regain your strength.”
“So you can send me back to my people.”
“Isn’t that what you want?” He knew he sounded surprised, and he caught a flash of hurt in her eyes.
“I thought so. But now I am not sure. I’m confused and feel as if the winds of winter are shredding what beliefs I held true. My tribe believes males are violent beings, only useful for procreation and best left alone. But you are not like that. I…” She broke off and shook her head. “I don’t know what I want anymore. Part of me never wants to leave you, and part of me only wants to return to my tribe.” Her strength lay in her absolute fearlessness. She faced everything, even her doubts, head on.
Impressed with her honesty, Llewellyn said, “I think it would be best for both of us if you returned to your tribe. I have a mission to go see the ice demon king, for it is possible that the Mouse King is back.”
“The Mouse King?” Now Tamara’s eyes widened with real shock. “No!”
“I fear it is true. That is the real reason I’m going north. The ice demon king must see me. Years ago Frostbone called me his friend. I hope he will look upon me kindly now and pledge his help when I tell him the news.”
“The Mouse King. How can you be sure?”
“Dreams.” He grimaced. “I know, that’s not very substantial. But Branagh, King of Hivernia, suffers from them, and so do I. All those who fought against him have recurring dreams of the Mouse King. That, and the surge of ice demons in Hivernia, tell me something is very wrong. The Mouse King is a shape-shifter, so he can take the form of an ice demon. I think he’s somehow worked his way into their hierarchy.”
“If it is so, then you run a terrible risk going into their territory.”
“I think not. Frostbone will protect me if he finds out what I say is true. Remember, the ice demons have more to lose than we do. Once, they were slaves to the Mouse King.”
“True. Frostbone has a huge debt to you. I hope he will honor it. Demons are strange beasts. One never knows what they are thinking or how they will react. We avoid them at all cost.”
“Very wise,” said Llewellyn. He nodded toward her bowl. “Eat!”
“I am eating.” But she didn’t. She took a small morsel and nibbled it. “What do you feel for me?” she asked.
The question took him by surprise. “I like you.” Oh, wrong thing to say. Her face darkened. All right, he could be as brave as she was. “Do you want the truth?”
She nodded warily.
“I’m confused. I know you must return to your people, but I want to keep you near me always. I love watching you when you sleep, when you eat, when you laugh and even when you cry. I think you are beautiful and strong. You are stronger than I am. That amazes me.”
“Huh. Physically you can tie me in knots.” She looked pleased though.
“Perhaps. But mentally you seem to be able to face things I cannot. I don’t know if I would have survived being savaged by a behemoth and left in a cave to die. If someone I considered an enemy saved me, I don’t know if I would have given my trust. That would have made healing nearly impossible. You trusted me with your life, and that took such strength I can’t imagine.” He grinned at her. “Eat.”
“I’m not hungry.” She set the bowl down and looked up at him, her eyes huge. “Or rather, I’ve got another hunger. One only you can assuage.”
He didn’t know how she did it. Her eyes seemed to fill with darkness, like swirling clouds, and the darkness was deep, pulling him closer. Before he knew what happened, his body had reacted. He took her bowl from her, setting it down before stripping his leggings off and sliding onto the pallet with her. She opened her arms and legs and he sank into her embrace.
Her skin was hot, her eyes incandescent with desire. When she arched her back, his cock, already stiff, found her sex. He reached down and felt with his fingers. She was ready. Her wetness coated his fingers and he groaned. His cock drove into her passage. It was tight, but she grabbed his hips and pulled him into her. His cock slid into her sheath smoothly and she uttered a little gasp.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No!” She gave a little laugh. “It’s just surprising, that’s all. It feels…heavy inside me.” She moved her hips, and his cock lodged into her sex right up to his balls. The feeling nearly drove him mad. He knew that if he started thrusting he’d lose it. He hadn’t made love in too long.
“Don’t stop,” she pleaded.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He buried his face in the crook of her neck, breathing in the musky sweetness of her skin. He closed his eyes, his whole being concentrated in his loins.
“Next time it will be better,” he moaned, trying to control himself. He managed to slide in and out a few times, but then Tamara lifted her hips with an amazed cry. It undid him. He shattered into a million spasms of delight, thrusting with all his force into her.
She wrapped her legs around him, her breathing getting gradually slower. Then her arms slid off his shoulders, her legs unwound, and he saw she was sound asleep.
He pried himself off the bed and managed to stagger to the spring and fetch a bucket of water to heat next to the fire. Then he went back to the pallet and collapsed next to her, burrowing into her warmth with a deep sigh.
Chapter Five
Forces of Day
The next day dawned cold and bright. Tamara woke and stretched. She’d done it. There was no going back. She waited for a minute, motionless, afraid to think too far ahead. But there was no sense of imp
ending doom, rather, she felt a strange lightness in her bones, as if invisible chains had been shed. Her body felt both sore and supple. Her back had healed. Her health had returned. And she was so hungry she could eat a behemoth. She poked Llewellyn.
“Husband. Go fetch me something to eat. I’m starving.”
He raised his head and his one good eye stared at her with a mixture of emotions she couldn’t put name to. Mostly disbelief, she thought.
“Excuse me?”
“What part didn’t you understand? I’m hungry!”
He raised his eyebrow. “No, not that part. Why did you call me husband?”
Well, here it was. The moment she’d both feared and hoped for. “Because you are my husband now. In my tribe, a d’ark t’uath is considered married once she loses her virginity. Usually we marry between ourselves, but the tradition is inviolate. We made love. I was a virgin. You are my husband.”
There was an awkward silence. His smile seemed to last longer than a smile should. The muscles on his face hardened, but his good eye gave nothing away. “Did you know this when you decided to make love to me?”
“Yes.”
“And you made love to me anyway. You made your own decision.” He was speaking more to himself than to her, so she didn’t answer. He sat still, staring over her shoulder.
She didn’t like his silence. She sat up and pushed him. “Out of bed. Food.”
With a movement like a quick snake, he turned, pinned her arms over her head and held them there. She’d forgotten how strong males were. “I’m sorry. I don’t take orders very well.” He lowered his head to her chest and took one of her nipples in his mouth. He sucked it, teasing it with his tongue. The effect was a violent, stabbing sort of ache in her cunt. It grabbed her womb and tightened it. A flood of wetness dampened her inner thighs.
“Are you angry with me?” She had to know.
He paused, but didn’t let go of her. “No. But I think you need to learn that some decisions are better made together, not alone.”
“I had to do this on my own,” she whispered. “I didn’t want anyone to influence my choice.”
“It doesn’t seem that way to me,” he said, and taking her nipple in his teeth, he bit down gently but firmly. Pain and pleasure stabbed through her.
She struggled and he let go of her nipple, but he didn’t let go of her arms. Instead, he took both her slender wrists in one hand, and holding her immobile, with his other hand began to explore her body. He stroked her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, her belly, and then dipped between her legs and stroked her sex. He inserted one finger between her labia and slid up and down, just brushing her clit and teasing the entrance to her passage so that it gaped wide, wanting to take him in.
“Please,” she gasped, arching her back. She needed him to plunge inside her to still that ache!
But he continued to tease her. His fingers were agile and gentle. His touch featherlight and yet masterful. Soon she was weeping with frustration, writhing to escape his grasp. She could see his cock, it was erect.
“Take me,” she begged.
“Please?” He paused.
“Please!” she hollered. The cry tore from her throat.
He let go of her hands and parted her legs, then slowly inserted his cock into her body. She watched, fascinated, as his body melted into hers. They became one. He moved, his hips lifting and thrusting and his cock, shiny now with her wetness, slid in and out of her sex. Llewellyn held himself up on his forearms so she could see.
And she watched, more and more turned on, as he penetrated her. She loved watching it pull in and out. But soon her vision blurred and a burning, urgent longing took hold of her.
“Harder,” she begged, and he obliged. The wave crested over her, submerged her, and left her panting and drained. Llewellyn uttered a hoarse cry and she felt small spasms deep inside her, and she knew he’d ejaculated. It set off another orgasm, smaller this time, that shook her body. She wanted to slide back into sleep again, but she had to get up.
“Husband, I need to leave the bed.” She paused. “Please?”
He chuckled. “Go ahead. I brought in some water and filled a bucket last night. The water should be warm.”
Tamara sat up and stretched. Tiny whispers of pain reminded her where her wounds had been, but the healing powers of the Earth Mother and of the wood elf had worked. Her bones had knitted, her organs mended and her skin was once again smooth and flawless. And dirty. She missed the sponge baths Llewellyn gave her. With a grin, she went to the bucket and began to wash, making sure he was watching her.
He pretended not to notice, but he kept his good eye in her direction. She hid a smile and drew the sponge over her neck and chest, swirled it around her breasts, then dipped it between her thighs. She washed the sticky proof of their lovemaking away, all the while keeping an eye on Llewellyn. His cock hardened again. She felt an answering ache in her belly, but her sex was sore. She winced as the water stung. She would have to wait a while before impaling herself again on his wonderful cock. The thought made her dizzy and she took a deep breath.
There were herbs in the water—herbs to clean and to scent. The wood elves smelled like the forest. There was balsam and birch, and some other things she didn’t recognize. When she finished, she took another sponge, wet it and went to the bed.
“Bare yourself, husband,” she said.
He cocked an eyebrow.
“Go on. I won’t hurt you.” She knelt and washed him, paying most attention to the parts of him that most fascinated her. How interesting! What a fascinating texture. Soft and hard, smooth and rugged, his scrotum was so soft, and his cock was so hard.
She glanced at him and saw his eye was closed, his fist clenched.
“Let yourself go,” she purred, and stroked him some more.
He did. All over her hands. Interesting. The sight sent tremors all through her body. She hadn’t known she could have an orgasm just by looking at a man ejaculate. It was exciting.
She washed him off and then stood slowly. She put the sponge back in the bucket. Llewellyn rose on his elbow and looked at her.
“It is the time to dress and talk. There is much to be decided today.” Now that she was married, she had a different set of responsibilities. And they started with letting Llewellyn know all about her tribe and their traditions, so he would know just what she’d chosen, and what she’d given up.
He nodded and got out of the bed. She couldn’t get enough of his body. So tall, with his straight black hair and muscles that looked to be carved from stone so sharp and hard-edged they were. She could stare at him all day. But she had other things to do now. She pulled her tunic over her head and put on the warm leggings Llewellyn had given her. He dressed too, and put a pot of water on the fire to boil. When their breakfast was ready—a pot of tea and some dried berries and smoked fish—they sat together near the fire.
Llewellyn hadn’t said a word, and when they finished eating he put his empty bowl down and looked at her expectantly. “Am I really your husband now? What does that mean for you and your tribe?”
She was glad he didn’t sound angry, and she took the time to consider her answers. “Yes, you are my husband now. We have no ceremony to mark a marriage. What seals a marriage is the act of making love and breaking the hymen. Usually a marriage is between two women. Men are only for making babies.”
“I wish you’d told me this before,” he said softly.
Stung, she replied, “Would that have changed anything?”
He hesitated. “I don’t know. I just would have preferred to know beforehand, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry.” She raised her head. “You can divorce me whenever you wish. All it takes is that you say three times, ‘I divorce you’. Then you will be free. Since men cannot live in our tribe with us, this is what they do. They proclaim the divorce and then they leave.”
“But what about the children?” Llewellyn wanted to know.
Tamara shrugged. “
If the child is a girl, she stays with the tribe. If it is a boy, the father makes a pact to come and get him, and raise him in his tribe. Is that what you want?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“I know. I’m sorry if you feel I’ve trapped you…”
“I didn’t say that either.” He reached over and grasped her wrist. “I want you. I need you. The moment I saw you I thought you were the most fascinating woman I’d ever seen.” He let go and leaned back. “I accept that you chose me as your husband. It’s over and done. But I would know more. Continue.”
“We—”
“I would like to know one thing,” he interrupted, and she saw a twinkle in his eye.
“Yes?”
“What do you use to break your hymens in your tribe?”
She felt a flush warm her cheeks. “What do you think? We have toys made for loving. They resemble your cock—though I admit they are not as fine.”
He grinned, and she realized he’d been teasing her. “You are too curious for your own good. My tribe would have taken great joy hanging you by your wrists and coaxing your seed from your cock. That’s how the clan mothers mate. The male is tied so he can’t become violent.” She giggled at his expression.
“It sounds like every male’s dream come true.” He cleared his throat. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of your traditions. Now, continue. What does being your husband mean for me?”
“We are bound to one another. We are as one. Everything I own is yours, and vice versa. If we divorce everything is divided fairly between us. It means I will accompany you to the north to speak with Frostbone. I have linked my destiny to Hivernia and given up my place in my tribe. I cannot ever go back. Not even to gather my belongings.” Her voice faltered, but she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “I’m afraid I didn’t bring much to this marriage. But I swear I will try to be a good husband too.”
He blinked. “You’re my husband too? I thought you were my wife.”
Llewellyn’s Song Page 4