by V. K. Ludwig
"So in about two hours." Dropping the waterskin, I took his hand and pulled him behind me toward the tree. "Even the urizayo needs rest, Toagi, or you won't lead us anywhere next sun."
Rather than arguing with him, I didn't say a word when he picked me up and draped my legs around his waist to climb the tree. Young as it was, the bark was too slick for me to get a good grip anyway, so I let him carry me to our nabu — a much smaller one since he'd given ours to those with children.
Tail wrapped around the branch above, he let himself collapse onto his back with a groan. He reached his hand out, giving me something to hold onto as I climbed in beside him. Rather than letting me lie down, he pulled me to sit astride him, hips rolling upward against me.
I gave a playful shove against his chest. "I brought you here to sleep, not for sex."
"You should have clarified." His hands grabbed my waist firmly, pushing me down onto his swelling cock. "Nothing would restore me more than being inside my female."
"Everyone who looks up can see us."
"They could if they cared. None of them do, including those in their nabus who are becoming one before Mekara right now. How many do you hear fucking?" He must have read my confusion because he grinned as he pointed toward each bark and chirp resonating from somewhere behind thick foliage. "Heat or not, my kind has a very healthy sexual appetite."
A tingly warmth crept into my earlobes. "I thought those were wild animals."
Now he laughed at me.
"Wait until the females come into heat and the unbonded males fall into a rut, and you'll see just what animals we can be." He pushed himself up to sit, his smile lingering only for a moment longer as he took my hand and let it slip underneath my dress. "I'm making you another promise, kunazay, for when all this is over."
Guiding two of my fingers behind my panties, he dipped them into my pussy as he whispered against my ear. "When you come into heat, ready for my child, I will take you out into the plains."
The wet lust on my fingers glistened underneath the shafts of moonlight as he returned my hand, which penetrated the gaps between leaves. He brought my digits to his mouth, but his eyes were on me when he curled his tongue around them. His moan roused a delicious shiver that hardened my nipples, and my breath caught when he suckled my fingers into his mouth. Sharp and tantalizing, his fangs scraped along them, suckling them clean.
He released them with a wet pop that vibrated the air between us. "Give me more of it, kunazay, let me gorge on my mate's sweetness. Touch yourself."
Our eyes connected in the most intimate way, and he kept my gaze while I dipped into my pussy. I circled my drenched entrance, brought what I'd gathered to his mouth, and waited for him to lick it off.
His pupils flicked to my fingertips before locking with mine again, but he shook his head, rasping, "Feed me."
My muscles tensed. I'd never done anything like this. Wasn't used to such explicit demands that clouded my head and made my pussy clench.
After a breath of courage, I painted his lips with it. When they parted, tip of his tongue licking it off in a circle, I stroked my fingers into his mouth. Toagi moaned, eyes falling shut as he licked them clean.
"You will take me out into the plains," I reminded.
"Into the plains." He undid his loincloth, stroking that engorged cock which jerked at the bottom of my vision. "There, I will give you a generous head start so you can run from me and hide. Still, the sweetness of your heat will drift on the wind, and I will lick the air, taste it while I chase you down. My cock will be hard, my ava swollen with seed—" Seed he stroked from his shaft and slathered onto my lips, teasing them open before he dabbed it onto my tongue. "You will fight me. I will win and, by Mekara, you better form armor around your ribs, or I might just sting you again when I pull you onto all fours and rut behind you like I should have the night I stole you."
Hot flares surged underneath my skin, amplified by how our bond vibrated. Everything ceased to exist, the chatters of the tribe a mere echo of the moment. The rawness of his words, the way he'd committed himself to us so fully… I wanted all of that. Might not even raise my armor.
He lowered himself back into the nabu, his muscled torso curled slightly with how he kept one arm propped behind him. The other hand, he stroked into my hair.
He gave it a slight pull, asking for my mouth. "Drink from me."
I climbed off him and crouched between his legs, gesturing him to shift up a little to give me more room. As much as I might have been a virgin a few suns ago, this, I'd done before.
Whatever he might have expected, purple eyes burning down at me, it wasn't how I trailed my tongue over his sack. A deep groan rumbled from his chest as I sucked on the smooth, hairless skin, fondling it with my lips.
I let my tongue first press against one testicle, then the other, sensing their weight before I trailed toward the base of his cock. His grip tightened in my hair when I stroked along his ridges. Tremors shook his legs when I kissed his ava.
Fed by dark purple veins, his knot swelled against my mouth. The harder I kissed it, trailed my tongue around it, the more cum beaded at the tip of his cock. Nothing tasted more enticing than my mate's seed.
Hungry, ravenous, I trailed my tongue up along his shaft and licked it up, moaning at the sweetness. The taste was so unlike anything else, like cream mixed with honey, smooth and delicious.
"Drink," he said once more, pressing his broad crown against my mouth. "I showed you how to stroke my ava. Take it, Ceangal. Make it yours."
My nipples stiffened further at the thought, and I wrapped my hand around the base of his thick shaft. Squeezing tightly, I ran the clasp slowly upward, empowered by his little whimper when I reached his ava.
I drew his head into my mouth. When my fingers stroked across his knot, a small swell of cum pooled onto my tongue. Another, bigger one followed right after, allowing me one suckle, maybe two before I had to swallow.
"Yeki!" He almost choked on the syllable, fangs bared. "Milk my ava, kunazay."
I did, running the tight clasp of my hand up and down, bobbing my head with the motion. Deep, masculine groans rumbled from his chest, and I relished how the muscles on his stomach clenched and shifted. He was gorgeous with how the wind swept through his dark silver hair and that virility coming off him in waves.
He rocked his hips, asking me to take him deeper, and yet he groaned, "Slow down."
Because he was close, the way my clit throbbed told me as much. But not close enough, so I sucked harder, faster, taking in more of his seed. Drinking it, which made so much more sense now that it dripped down my throat, gums struggling around his swollen, jerking flesh at each lazy swallow.
His breathing turned labored. His fingers curled in my hair, warning me that he would come at any moment now. With a pop, I broke the seal and released his pulsing crown, letting his cock slap against his stomach.
"By Mekara," he growled low and flashed his fangs. "I was so close."
"I know, so was I." Grinning, I struggled my panties off before I sat astride him. "But I want you deep inside me."
"Deep," he repeated but made no attempt at impaling me on his length.
Toagi released my hair and leaned back, folding his arms underneath his head. For a moment, I thought he'd ask me to take my dress off, but he didn't. Instead, he watched, waited, wanted me to initiate it.
I grabbed his shaft, parting my own lips with his crown. Although it was nicely tapered, the wide flare made me suck in a breath. A breath I held as I swallowed his shaft inch by inch, but it stuttered from parted lips when his knot stretched me. It filled all of me, kneading my walls from the inside as I gave slow rocks.
"You are so beautiful," he said, staring up at me in awe. "Grab the branch above you to steady us."
I did as told, which caused my back to arch and my clit to rub over his hard muscles. "This feels good."
And not just for me but him as well. As much as I sensed the throbbing of my clit whenever delici
ous pressure spread across, a tingle zapped along my walls each time I tipped my pelvis and took him deeper.
Thrusting at a sensual pace, Toagi rolled his hips, lifting me ever so slightly to the sound of his guttural groans. I met him beat for beat, leisurely, in no hurry, and little gasps escaped my lips. Our pleasure rose gradually, then fell, only to rise a bit higher the next time we connected as deeply as we could.
As we became one before Mekara.
We kept our rhythm. As people shuffled about below and leaves rustled between branches, we rubbed against each other, our eyes locked. Underneath my sternum, zovazay pulsed like a third heartbeat; the one we shared. It strengthened with each ripple of bliss, each pound of lust, each word of affection our gazes exchanged.
He hissed past clenched teeth right in time when first spasms flared in my lower belly. I gripped the branch tighter. He unfolded his arms and gripped the nabu.
Everything around me darkened, and I bore down on his cock. Arched my spine until I could no more, letting that last pulse of my clit burst and radiate. Radiate into my womb, over aching nipples, across pebbled skin, and into splayed toes.
Toagi panted, and his hips bucked uncontrollably as he swelled even further inside me. My orgasm was still coming off its crest when another one thrust me into mindless heights, and the world faded into white for a second.
Spurt after spurt, Toagi released, each throb of it so intense it ripped little whimpers from me. My walls clenched in time, milking him to the last drop until the pressure of his ava eased away.
I didn't notice how our nabu swayed until he, with a hoarse chuckle, wrapped his tail around the branch again to stop it. "Our timing is too precise for a nabu this small."
I let myself collapse onto his chest, where he immediately wrapped his arms around me. "You need to rest, Toagi."
He nuzzled my temple. "My mind won't let me."
I knew because that anxiousness coming through our bond interfered with this content settling onto my body. I felt so at peace, my mind quiet; there was no room for worries, plans, backup plans. Neither mine nor his. With Toagi, my heart and purpose were in harmony. With him, I could be a bridge between worlds, yes, but one with hopes, dreams… love.
I started humming a lullaby.
It came off-tune, but Toagi didn't seem to mind and held me tighter, whispering, "I love it when you hum for me. Nothing calms me more."
And I loved doing it.
Because I loved him.
Loved how he was my calm, my assurance, my peace, that rebel warlord who'd stolen my soul but earned my heart more each sun.
So I returned some of the calmness he'd gifted me one hum at a time until the last one faded into what was left of the night. "Want me to keep going?"
No answer.
Toagi was asleep.
I kept humming anyway.
Hummed until the sun rose.
Twenty
Toagi
Raw. Blistered. Weeping.
Those same fingers which had pointed a gun at me not too long ago, now stroked over my chest to rouse me. Ceangal gifted me a smile, its beauty framed by those first streaks of the sun; not a word of complaint on her lips.
While I couldn’t say I felt energized, having found an hour of sleep in her arms had eased my restless mind. Another half sun’s ride, and we would find a decent tree, bringing enough distance between Katedo and us to plan our next step.
I placed a kiss onto her forehead even as I sent my fingers searching for my loincloth. “Did you find some rest?”
“Yes,” she said, but those dark rings underneath her eyes stirred doubt. They always appeared when she was exhausted. “Mayala and I will help the other females hand out rations. Once everyone has something to eat, we can start moving out. Earlier, I saw Nafir strapping the first nabus to the yuleshis.”
“Or, in short, you haven’t slept at all.” I put my loincloth on, then motioned her onto the branch so I could roll up our nabu, which hit the dirt underneath with a thud. “Hold on to me.”
Shaking her head, she pointed at the nabu not far from us. “Mayala is still asleep. Let me go wake her, and I’ll come down with her.”
For some reason, my eyes lingered on the unmoving uiri. “As much as I despise her confrontational demeanor, that female has not once not waited at the bottom for you, dutiful as she is.”
“She braided nabus even as we rode, and only came up here half an hour ago.”
“Mmh… I want her to rest, but we can’t allow any delay,” I said, then stroked her cheek and climbed to the gathering area.
The air lacked the familiar billows of smoke and the heartiness of sizzling meats. Instead, cold sweat drifted on the current, and something yeasty lingered beneath. I didn’t like it.
Nafir hurried up to me. “Uresha has woken, but her mind is confused. The old female keeps rambling on about the chill, asking for her paints.”
“The storms are biting,” I said and glanced up into the tree, not happy about how many nabus still dotted the foliage. “By the time we reach a tree, the grit will chafe the urizaya’s bloody.”
“Her body is not Jal’zar.” Just as I expected him to grind his fangs into his upper lip, he smacked his tongue. “But she spills her blood onto Solgad as if she was, and her spirit certainly carries the strength of a warrior.”
That was the closest to a compliment I’d ever heard from his lips, making it clear he shared in my pride over my urizaya. “We need to clear the tree. As soon as everyone carries a ration of dried meat, I need this tribe to set into motion so—”
A high-pitched scream cut through the camp.
Zari cried once more, the girl this time draped over Reyja’s arms. The harder her mother hugged her, the louder she screamed, small limbs tossing, turning. As if on instinct, my eyes flicked toward the branches again. Why were those nabus so… still?
The longer I stared, the more my ears pricked: at the groans coming from young warriors in their prime, the inconsolable wailing of children, the ragged breathing of an elder male limping past. All common occurrences if isolated. But when it all happened at once?
“Something’s wrong,” I mumbled.
That hollowness spreading in my stomach confirmed as much because that sensation belonged to Ceangal, who poked her head from between branches and shouted, “Toagi! I think Mayala is sick!”
Nafir and I exchanged a quick glance, then we both hurried up the tree. What we found froze the blood in my veins, took my breath, and disabled my heart all at once.
Knees tucked against her chest, body shivering hard enough the leaves rustled on the twigs, a soft sheen of sweat glistening on the uiri’s temple. Mayala groaned in pain, a wet, bubbly sound, the back of her throat likely already swollen with blisters. Soon, her skin would peel wherever it touched something, requiring the softest furs, many of which we’d left behind at the old tree.
“She won’t react at all,” Ceangal said. “This is more than just exhaustion.”
“Yes, more than exhaustion.” A catastrophe, really, and already that self-doubt crept onto my shoulders, whispering into my ears, taunting me, calling me a rebel, a nobody. Certainly not a warlord, given how I failed my tribe, my urizaya. “It’s Jal’zar ice fever, and she’s not the only one with symptoms.” I turned my attention to Nafir. “Go find the softest fur you can for Zari. The girl’s sick, which is why she fights her mother’s touch. I should have known something was wrong when she showed up crying last night. Chances are Tjala fell off the yuleshi for the same reason. We need an accurate count of those with symptoms.”
“Yes, urizayo.”
“Don’t touch her, or you’ll cause her more pain,” I said to Ceangal. “Please tell me you’re vaccinated.”
Deep frowns settled around her green eyes as she nodded. “But shouldn’t she be as well? You told me Noja has the vaccine.”
“Your kind requires little more than three rounds to become immune, but Jal’zar are different. We’ve been trying for ove
r a decade to eradicate the virus, but the freeraiders made it impossible, and we all require a booster each moon.”
“Which she was probably due for.”
Mayala, I… my entire tribe.
My chest tightened, allowing my lungs little more than shallow breaths. Warriors, females, children: everyone reeled at the edge of exhaustion, many still in shock from the solar flare. How was I supposed to develop a plan with Ceangal if Mekara kept throwing disasters at me?
“Ice fever ran rampant a few moons back,” I told her. “The virus goes dormant after that but can flare up within a sun cycle if the host experiences distress.”
“And we had lots of that in the last two suns.”
“Someone had symptoms that went unnoticed, and now it’s spreading again.” I sunk my forehead into my palm, the burdens I was racking up so heavy I couldn’t seem to hold my head up straight anymore. “Last time, it killed twenty-two people.”
Back then, the fever had brought me close to giving up my tribe and handing myself over to the other warlords. As much as I could hide in the plains and still keep us all fed, there was no hiding from this disease.
Ceangal’s hand stroked along the base of my horn. “We’ll find a way to—”
“To fix this?” I hissed through my fangs and, as if that wasn’t unforgivable enough, I pushed her hand away, crushed by the reality of all this, feeling so damned unworthy of her. “We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, exposed to the storms. The food is running low. Game is sparse in this area. All we have is a shallow yoni. Your fingers are bleeding. My people dying…” My voice suffocated under a hard swallow that went down like grit. “I need to get us to safety, but the sick can’t travel.”
My shoulders slouched more with each second of silence between us, the echo of my harsh words a reminder of how my father had spoken to his urizaya. Perhaps I had inherited more of his flaws than I wanted to admit. Why else would I snarl at her like this when I needed her most?
My vision darkened.
Ceangal encapsulated my head in her embrace, slender arms sheltering me from my doubts, my shame… that anxiousness pricking my skin.