by Hensley,Alta
“This icy land brought us together,” he said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“You are so beautiful in the glow of our love, but I still remember how beautiful you were the first time I saw you.”
I laughed. “I was covered in snow, blood, and my filthy hair was knotted and matted, hardly beautiful for any woman.”
“It was the fire in your eyes and your spirited courage that made you stunning then. It is not looks, but your heart and spirit that make you beautiful to me. I was hooked the minute I saw you.”
“So you had me chained? Naked?” I asked as I playfully shoved him in the arm.
“I had to gain the upper hand somehow. Trust me, your eyes and the way you looked at me were more powerful than any weapon you could have ever used. I was hypnotized.”
I huffed. “Is that why it was so easy for me to kick your ass when you were testing my abilities?” I giggled.
Rigby chuckled. “I let you win.”
“You did not! I surprised you.”
He smiled a large, toothy grin. “All right, you kicked my ass. And yes, you surprised me. I had no idea that such a fighter could be inside such a beautiful woman. I can’t wait to have children with you, for no doubt they will be just as wonderful as you.”
My smile faded and I looked up to the starry sky. “We can’t have children. I’m mutated, remember?” The thought of never being able to have his children broke my heart. But this wasn’t a gift I could give him.
“Why the hell not? And don’t ever call yourself a mutant again unless you want another taste of my leather.”
“But I am,” I insisted as tears filled my eyes. “The cDermo-1 runs through my veins and, therefore, would run through any baby’s I brought into this world.”
“So? What is so awful about that?” He reached for my wrist and ran his fingertips along the edges of the feathers softly. “I like your feathers. I don’t like that they were forced upon you, nor the beliefs behind the Penna, but they do serve a good purpose. You never have to worry about freezing to death. You don’t feel the bitter cold as I do.” He brought my wrist to his lips and gently kissed the feathers. “I love that you can give the gift of warmth to our children.”
I started to sob as all the insecurities, all the hate of my body, all the deep disgust of what I thought I was—a mutant—left my body. With Rigby’s simple and honest words, he freed me from a darkness I had carried my entire life. He loved me. He loved every inch of who I was, both inside and out. He allowed me to be strong, and also allowed me to be weak. He loved the blood-stained, dirty soldier just as much as he loved the jeweled and gowned woman. He embraced me. He loved me… a Penna. He loved me… his dark feather.
Rigby led me back to his tent as the stars glinted in the deep indigo vault of the heavens. We walked into his tent, which would now be ours. Gently, he guided me to the bed. I slipped out of my clothing and stood alongside him, completely nude, as he did the same. It was as if we had done this so many times in how natural we were. My body, my soul, and my heart now belonged to him.
Lowering me onto the bed, Rigby reached for my wrist and placed soft kisses along the feathers. When he was done with one wrist, he grabbed my other wrist and kissed there, as well. Mumbling against the kiss, he whispered, “So exotic, so sexy,” he moaned, “my dark feather. Never doubt for one minute how beautiful I feel they make you.”
Still new to the art of making love, I tentatively lowered my hand to his hard cock and stroked it as he licked along the edges of my feathers. He eventually made his way, one delicate kiss at a time, to my pert nipple and took it into his mouth, rolling it along his tongue, and squeezing it between his lips. Arching my back, closing my eyes, I moaned in pleasure, almost forgetting that I had his large cock held firmly in my hand. The silky smoothness of his dick as it flexed in my palm, brought me back to the now.
I wanted him.
I wanted him this very second.
Now.
Rigby continued to suck my breast, then moved to the other to give it equal attention. Lowering his hand to my mound, damp with my own arousal, he dipped a finger to my clit and applied pressure as he roused an overwhelming longing that had me gasping for air. Moving from my clit, he pressed his fingers past my silky folds and pushed one, then two, digits into my sex. I forced my hips up to drive them inside my pussy even deeper. They weren’t enough. I wanted to feel the small bite of pain as his cock stretched me as he claimed what was now his. I wanted to feel him so bad that the hunger changed who I was.
I was an animal.
I was a hunter in search of its prey.
I was a woman who needed to be fucked hard by her man.
Not being able to hold back the fever that scorched me, I begged, “Please, Rigby. Please…”
“Please what?” he asked as he danced his fingers inside of my core. “Say it, Tudor. Tell me what you want.”
“I want you,” I panted, desperately wanting to feel the orgasm that rested just beneath the surface, begging to be set free. But I needed Rigby’s cock to make that happen.
“Say it, Tudor. Say what you really feel.”
“Fuck me!” I blurted out as a moan followed my command. “I want you to fuck me hard, and make me remember the feeling between my legs for days. Make me sting. Make me hurt. Fuck! Fuck me!” I was absolutely desperate at this point as his fingers hit a spot inside my pussy that had me gyrating uncontrollably. I needed more! I needed him so bad that I could have lost my mind in wild thirst for more if he didn’t mount me and take me right then.
Merciful as he was, he did just as I needed. Feeling his weight on top of me, I was soon rewarded when his cock pressed up against my opening, and easily slid in with the aid of my wetness. Wrapping my legs around him, I held on in fear that I would cede complete control over to the lust.
I was so hungry.
I had such a craving and an urge that only he could quench.
And with a forceful shove of his hips, he drove his thick cock all the way in, claiming me completely. Yes, yes, yes… I was his. I was finally his.
In and out, he thrust, deeper and deeper with each one. My moans blended with his as our bodies merged as one. He was my commander, and my body would forever be his to lead, to master, to conquer.
“So fucking good,” he growled as he powered into me, his muscles taut, his eyes glazed over. “Come for me,” he groaned. “Come for me.”
As if I needed the command, like a dutiful soldier, I did just as he ordered. A wave of warmth that had been resting on the cliff since he took my nipple into his mouth finally released. Pure carnality shook through my body as I screamed out his name… my husband’s name. Moaning with each pulsation of decadence that attacked my pussy, I truly melted into an abyss of sexual heaven. With a few more thrusts, Rigby joined in with the pleasurable moans, and he too joined me in our own utopian paradise.
After a few moments of deep breaths on both of our parts, he looked deep into my eyes. “On this day, I make a promise to you. We will end this war in peace. Somehow, some way, we will reclaim our lives in peace. You and I will stop the fight. I am ready for calm. I am ready for stillness. But above all, I am ready for a life with you.”
“And then what?” I asked warmly, as I positioned my body so I could snuggle on his chest. “All we know is war. What will we do if we don’t have to get up and battle every day?”
He pulled me close to him tighter and thought for some time before speaking. “Go back to Danis and have babies. Live a simple life. Somehow figure out how to better survive this harsh land and make it better for the next generation. I want more for our children. But basically I want us to be bored out of our minds.”
I smiled at such a wonderful thought, and felt like I had been lit up from the inside by a ray of sunlight breaking through my internal storm. Wiggling on top of Rigby, I kissed him firmly on the lips. “We will never be bored. Adventure is in our soul, I will not let us be
come soulless.”
He chuckled. “Life with my warrior will be full of adventure, I have no doubt.”
“You would have it no other way,” I teased, embracing him with my whole body.
Rigby laughed before tumbling me over and pinning me down. Gently, he kissed along my jaw. “You are right; I would have it no other way. I promise you, Tudor. I promise you that we will end this war side by side. But it will end.”
Our perfect bubble popped with the sound of shouts and chaos erupting outside. The sound parted and died away. Footsteps came closer, and the door of the tent was swept aside to reveal a soldier. Rigby and I inhaled sharply as I scrambled to conceal my body.
Rigby stepped forward in fury, trying to block me with his large frame. “How dare you just storm into my tent! Never enter my—”
“Forgive me, sir. But the scout has just arrived and warned that an army of a hundred are marching our way. A surprise attack, no doubt.” The soldier looked down at the ground as I quickly dressed. “The Penna will be here by dawn if we don’t head them off.”
Rigby glanced over at me with regret in his eyes before turning back to the soldier. “Prepare the men,” he ordered.
The night passed in a whirling blur as the army prepared to meet the Penna head on. Dawn came too soon, and the snow turned a shade of rose in the new light. As I exited the tent, Rigby approached me gravely. “Would you stay back if I asked you as your husband, not your commander?”
“Would you ask me to stay back as your best archer and not your wife?”
Rigby frowned. “No.”
I nodded and mounted my snowmobile. “Then I think you know the answer,” I said with a warm and loving smile. I started my engine and gave him a reassuring look, silently promising him that all would be well. “We have a battle to win, my love,” I declared before turning my snowmobile and heading toward the enemy.
Rigby caught up to me on his own machine and grabbed hold of my handles, causing both of us to stop. “I would like a kiss from my bride before we leave.” He swatted the side of my bottom and added, “And I am the commander. I declare when we leave for battle.”
“Yes, sir,” I said with a wink.
I smiled as my heart soared with love. I leaned in and met his lips with mine. Offering a last smile, and a kiss upon his cheek, I turned to make my way toward the battle.
My heart was calm, my mind at peace. I could never have the sweet, gentle life of a wife and mother until this war was over. But I believed that we could end it. We were close. We were so very close. And until the white flag was flown above the equally white landscape, I would fight beside my commander and my husband.
Epilogue
Five more years of bloody battles ensued. So many died, and so many paid the price for… for what? If you asked the soldiers why we were fighting, many could not clearly answer that question. Hate? Vengeance? Power? The need for blue-green algae? Maybe all of the above, but the main question that had loomed in all of our minds was: why? And that question weighed heavy on all of our souls until finally the day came when enough of the mercenaries, soldiers, commanders, killers alike—on both sides—had had enough. We needed to unite—both Penna and Cyan—to defeat Death before he won the battle over all. So, like Rigby had predicted, the white flag finally rose on both sides, and a truce had been negotiated.
The day on which the peace talks came to an end, and General Dablin Becker and the general for the Penna signed a declaration for peace and unity, the icy world celebrated as one. The war was over.
It was also on this momentous day that Rigby and I celebrated our own victory. After five long years in battle as husband and wife, fighting side by side, we could finally stop. And we could finally have what we had always wanted—a future.
The day the declaration for peace was signed, we welcomed our little baby boy, Oakes Penna Moss, into the world. He was born a Cyan but would always have a bit of Penna inside of him. And though Earth was nothing more than a large ball of ice, I was able to give him the greatest gift of life.
Feathers.
Warmth.
“He’s perfect, Tudor,” Rigby said as he swiped my sweaty hair from my forehead and wrapped his arm around my tired body. I snuggled into his embrace as I held my baby boy, admiring how he looked in his first moments of life.
“He is. He has feathers like we predicted.” I stroked my fingers softly against the white fluff of feathers that rested on his shoulders and ran along his spine. “He’s our perfect angel.”
“Well look what we have here,” Dablin said as he knocked on the door just before he entered the room. “Cousin, you just gave birth to a new mighty warrior for the Cyan.” He walked up and patted Rigby on the back. “Too bad that, as of today, it looks like the war with the Penna is over.” Dablin leaned down and kissed me softly on the forehead. “How is mother holding up?”
“I’m absolutely perfect. Better than perfect,” I gushed as a happiness I never knew possible filled my soul with warmth. “Meet Oakes Penna Moss.”
“Yes, quite a fine man you have on your hands,” Dablin said with a beaming smile.
Rigby looked up at him with pride exuding from every ounce of his being. “Did you sign the declaration? Was there any resistance?”
“Everyone signed and shook hands as men of our word. It’s over. I didn’t think I would see this day come in my lifetime, but I can finally say that the war with the Penna is over.” Dablin leaned in and touched the feathers on the baby’s shoulder. “Stunning. What a magnificent being he is. Maybe this little man will be our next Cyan leader someday.”
“What do we need a leader for if we are no longer at war?” I asked, still not able to take my eyes off my son. I never believed that you could actually see peace, until I watched my baby boy breathe deeply in his sleep.
“To lead us in our new battle. The battle of our lifetime is still ahead of us,” Dablin informed.
“How so?” I asked.
“When we signed the declaration of peace, we also signed a declaration of war.”
Rigby looked up in shock. “War? What happened?” All the ease, comfort and satisfaction had left him instantly, and his warrior pose resumed. “The Penna? Did they betray us?”
Dablin shook his head. “The Penna and the Cyan have signed a declaration of war against the planet Earth. We have agreed to work together to find a way to master this planet before it masters us. There is so much we can still do to utilize the blue-green algae that both the Penna and Cyan can agree on. We all want the best for mankind, and have agreed to work together on that one purpose. And it’s quite possible that we may utilize the cDermo-1 to help us battle the freezing world. I think the Cyan need to admit that the Penna may have been right in regards to that. Without it, we may all eventually freeze to death. The temperatures of Earth keep dropping.”
I looked at Rigby with a smile and said, “It appears that your son and I may not be the only ones in this family with feathers on our skin.” I giggled. “I won’t be your dark feather anymore if we are all the same.”
He leaned in and kissed me on the lips before saying, “You will always be my dark feather. Nothing will ever take away that fact.” Rigby smiled and once again, a calm and stillness washed over him as he watched baby Oakes sleep in my arms.
Dablin touched the baby’s hand. “This little guy is the next generation. I have no doubt he can lead this fucked up world back to civilization. Not just survival like we do now, but true advancement. He will be part of creating a new empire. An empire of evolvement that can thrive with the ice rather than be at its mercy.” Dablin smiled when Oakes stirred a little and opened his eyes to stare up at him. “I have no doubt in my mind. This little boy will master the ice.”
“Master the ice,” I whispered, liking the sound of that. I silently vowed in that moment that his father and I would give our beautiful boy the tools to do so, and we wouldn’t stop until he did.
“Yes. You are right, Dablin. My son will be the pe
rfect soldier for such a mission.”
Yes, my little angel would make the perfect soldier in this new war. He had the best of the Penna, and the best of the Cyan inside of him. Oakes was the first good thing that came from this war. He symbolized peace, unity and progression. I looked up into the eyes of the man I loved, and saw that he too felt the same. Rigby leaned toward me and gently kissed my lips as he held baby Oakes’s hand lightly. It was time we started the next siege. It was over, and yet, it had just begun. We were soldiers, and would forever fight the war… together.
The End
Alta Hensley
Alta Hensley is a USA TODAY bestselling erotic romance author who has had #1 top-selling books in Contemporary, BDSM, erotic science fiction, humor, and historical. She writes the naughty... and then the cure for it.
Being a multi-published author in the power exchange genre, Alta is known for her alpha heroes, sweet love stories, hot eroticism, and engaging tales of the constant struggle between dominance and submission.
Visit her website here:
www.altahensley.com
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Other Titles by Alta Hensley and Blushing Books
Dark Feather
Caring For Citrine
Traditional Love
Traditional Terms
Traditional Change
Poppa's Progeny
In the Palace of Lazar - Harem (Book One)
Conquering Lazar - Harem (Book Two)
The Slave Huntsman
Ruby Rose
Of Yesterday
Captured by Time (with Carolyn Faulkner)
A New Forever (with Carolyn Faulkner)
Enrolling Little Etta (with Allison West)
The Nanny (with Allison West)
Little Secrets (with Allison West)