Another groan left him, his hips rising ever so slightly to her beat. Up and down she smoothed her hand in over him to a pace that came from deep inside. He arched, his hands clenching the bedclothes. Primitive sounds left his throat. Grunts, groans. The way he felt safe doing this in front of her added to her arousal, made her want this act more and more.
He whispered, “By the god, please. Faster.”
She wanted to hear more, to see more, to feel more. Seconds later tried the one thing she didn’t think she’d ever want to do. She moved downward until his long length reached far into her mouth.
“Oh sprite.” The words barely made it past his lips before his breath hitched violently. “If you don’t want my cum down your throat—”
She ignored him, ready for the finale. She quickened her pace. His breath came faster and faster. Ketera flowed with her instincts, using her tongue, flicking, caressing.
His fingers tangled in her hair. “I’m going to…if you don’t want to…”
Frantic to give him satisfaction, she pumped him harder, and with a loud growl of pure male animal, he let loose. A hot stream of liquid hit her mouth and she gulped him down, took his essence into her with a sense of satisfaction and pleasure. His ecstasy-filled groan made her smile as she looked up at him.
“Oh god,” he said between gasps for breath. “Draconus, that was good.”
His smile said it all. She’d pleased him well. Between her legs a new need throbbed, an ache even higher than what she’d experienced with him before. She crawled upward toward him and powerful arms came around her fiercely. He kissed her, tasting her deeply, perhaps even finding the flavor of himself on her lips. Wild urgings encouraged her to continue with this quest, to learn mysteries she’d read about but never believed she’d experience.
“If you want me, Dane, have me.”
There, she’d said it.
What he did then surprised her tenfold. “No.”
“What?” Shock held her immobile.
He released her, shifted her off his body to sit against the headboard. “No. I see now you’re not ready. You need more time. As much as I want you, I want your happiness more. Sprite, it’s a drive inside me that will continue to build and there isn’t a way around that. But I won’t push you.”
Dumbstruck, she eased back to the bed and propped up and her left elbow. “Do you speak the truth?”
“I always speak the truth.”
She pondered that, and it occurred to her she’d never known him to lie. At least not that she could tell. She valued that about him more than she could dare allow him to know. “You will still help me rescue my father?”
Doubt clouded his face. “If you lost the texts, how will you bargain for his life? Won’t you need them to get him back?”
Frustration and sadness battled inside her. “At this point I don’t care how I get him out of jail. If I have to break him out, I will.”
He grunted. “And you want me to break him out?”
“Who better than a Daryk One?” She poured on the flattery, half in truth and half in amusement. “After all, you can kill dragons, save women from perils of the jungle, kill slave traders with a single blow and have sex all night long.”
His eyes burned, but this time the glow inside them was redder, more sensually hot and unforgiving. The look he gave her burned her up inside. “That wasn’t sex all night long. But don’t worry, if you ask me I will give you all the sex you want.”
Her face heated with the thought, her belly clenching in reaction, her pussy aching with the thought. “Tell me once and for all, will you still help me, or do I find someone else.”
“You will not find anyone else.” His voice caressed her, but there was also a hard edge to it.
“Do not be so certain. Perhaps your former friend Rayder Tyrus would help me.”
As the red light burned high in his eyes, she realized she pushed him toward a dangerous edge. “He won’t if he values his balls.”
“Well, since he isn’t my mate, I wouldn’t have to worry about him demanding sex all the time.” He smiled, and she saw the glitter within his eyes that said the joke was on her. “What are you smiling about, Dane?”
“You’ve already had sex with me.”
“What?” Shocked didn’t describe her. Despite her knowledge of sex, she suddenly felt as stupid as the day was long. “We didn’t. That was just…preliminaries.”
“Keep telling yourself that, sprite. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve had sex with me.”
She shivered, the word sex on his lips causing sweet tremors low in her belly where she still felt unfulfilled in some primary way she couldn’t define. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Think what you like. A man and woman engaging in cunnilingus and fellatio are considered having sex, Ketera. So if you planned on avoiding sex with me, you failed.” Before she could object, he continued with, “Let us bathe again and prepare for the day. After we take our morning meal, we must head back to Grimnald Castle.”
Chapter Nine
As Dane walked through the forest with Ketera, he wished for two things. A bertog to ride, and that he’d never agreed to keep his hands off Ketera. He could be forgiven for changing his mind, for vowing that he’d leave her alone rather than try to seduce her. A man could change his mind as often as a woman. He wasn’t used to confusion or altering his plans for a female. In his world, things tended to one way or the other, without that much variance. Violence or peace. Frequent sex or none at all.
As he touched Ketera’s slim back, he acknowledged confusion. He hadn’t lied to her when he said they’d had sex. Technically they had. Yet he wanted more. By Draconus he wanted far more from her.
Never you mind. She’ll come around some day.
He’d gone from denying she was his mate to being unable to say that she wasn’t in a very short time, and this highly unstable state didn’t appeal. After all, Daryk Ones had a reputation to uphold. They were daryk. Strong. Brutal when need be. He didn’t want to forget that.
After she fallen into the hands of that bloody slave trader, he didn’t want to leave her, his fear too strong. He couldn’t lose her. Logic played no part in his feelings. Doubling his trepidation was the fear she might go to Rayder, and he didn’t trust the bastard well enough to put her into Rayder’s hands. Rayder had experienced excitement during the fight too. If she’d been willing, Rayder would have had sex from her to relieve his lust.
Though he’d never experienced sharing a woman, he’d heard that Rayder had enjoyed two women at once. By Draconus, Rayder would be dead if he touched Ketera, and he didn’t relish fighting with his old friend, even if the man had become a slave trader.
He pushed away violent thoughts and apprehension and vowed to keep his eyes open. Last evening he and Rayder had passed through a particularly dangerous stretch of jungle. A few miles remained before the jungle would part and welcome them back into the relative safety of Grimnald Castle.
“How much longer to go?” she asked.
“A couple of miles. Not far now.”
“I always thought I was well-conditioned until I started this adventure.”
“Is that what you thought it was? An adventure?”
She shrugged, her held high. There was some pride in this woman for certain. “No, not really. All that is on my mind is finding a way to get back to my father.” Worry lines or perhaps anger lingered on her face. “I haven’t done right by him.”
“You’re trying.”
“I need to find a ship that will take me back to Magonia, and instead I’m traipsing about the country.”
Impatience rolled up inside him. “Do you always complain this much?”
“Complain?” She stopped dead and glared at him, her gaze as icy as a glacier in Imekland. “What are you talking about?”
He caught her upper arm and continued walking. “You can’t do anything about the situation right now and yet you’re complaining.”
“Damn it, Dane,
I won’t be told how to vent my anger. You’re allowed to be this big brute with anger issues but I’m not?”
“Anger issues?”
“Yes. Someone who always blusters and boldly goes wherever he wants because he’s so strong and indelible? I thought women here are allowed full expression.”
He barked out a laugh, half offended and thoroughly amused. An inkling of shame worked its way into the recipe too. “You’re right.”
She halted so fast she jerked him to a stop. “What?”
“I said, you’re right.”
Her mouth opened then closed then opened again when she found her voice. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“I’m a reasonable man. At least as reasonable as any Daryk One can be, given our abilities and notions. We’re beastly men, Ketera, I acknowledge that. It takes a lot for us to admit we’re wrong.”
“I see.” Her voice held an ironic tone. “How are the Daryk Ones governed if they cannot agree who is right and who is wrong?”
“We’re extraordinary. We work as a team whenever we’re in each other’s presence. At least that’s the way it used to be until Drakus broke away and gathered rogues to his cause.”
She nodded, and Dane started them moving again as he released her arm. “You saw how Rayder and I worked to save you, even though we are within an inch of killing each other.”
“Because of his betrayal?”
“Right. No Daryk One should ever consider being a slave trader. It goes against every oath we take to protect the innocent and those unable to help themselves.”
He glanced over to see her mouth twist slightly, and her gaze catching his was full of doubt. “Have there ever been Daryk Ones who were of mixed blood? Magonian and Dragonian.”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
Her mouth softened, as if she wanted to speak but thought the better of it. “Curiosity. Now back to the original subject. How do I find a ship to take me back to Magonia? There must be a way.”
“Minilos knows a man who can help you. Someone we can trust.”
“Another Daryk One?”
“Finius Dow. You must never utter his name to anyone you cannot trust.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s a pirate of sorts. Not the kind who rapes or murders. But he does steal. Minilos wouldn’t deal with a scourge who hurt other people.”
Ketera laughed softly. “A kindly pirate then.”
“Of a sorts. He’s dedicated to robbing the Magonian ships of their goods. Your tyrant stone, which Dragonians use in their mating vows, for example.”
“Mating vows?”
“Marriage, as you’d know it.”
“Do Daryk One’s perform mating vows?”
“Yes. Didn’t your precious texts tell you that?”
“Yes, but not specifically Daryk Ones. The texts didn’t mention Daryk Ones at all.”
Another glance at her made his heart thud slow and thick. Heat poured into his body at the thought of having her permanently linked to him. Then it dawned on him what she’d said. “How old did you say the texts are?”
“Not quite two thousand years old. Perhaps less.”
“Did the texts explain how our two continents came to be such bitter enemies?”
“They mentioned a great war between two ideals but little about what those ideals were. Our scribes tell us that both our people lived on Magonian at one time, but that after the war, the Dragonians moved to this land mass. The texts seem more interested in describing the differences between our peoples and the commonalities. It’s those commonalities and truths about Dragonians the scribes don’t want us to know.”
“Do the texts explain why our languages are the same? Why they haven’t evolved apart?”
“They have…a little. Your names for things are often different than ours.”
“There is much more you have to learn about Dragonia, Ketera—”
A loud roaring came from nearby, and Dane came to a complete stop. “Damn it.”
“What is it?” She glanced around frantically.
“Another dragon. Only this one sounds like it’s in distress. There might be hunters nearby.”
“Dragons are hunted?” Genuine surprise colored her voice. “By Daryk Ones?”
“Never. We only kill to defend. Poachers kill them for sport and their hides. Even though dragons are mostly dangerous, our laws forbid us to hunt them.”
As if he’d cursed them by mentioning the dubious safety of the area, a strange rumbling echoed in the forest.
Startled, Ketera looked around. “What on Croan was that?”
Dane’s focus shifted, his eyes scanning the area with intensity. Another low rumble came from the jungle and in the distance the very tops of huge trees swayed.
Ah, shit. No denying that sound.
We’re here in the jungle with nowhere to hide. No castle. No walls. The dragon is coming near.
Fear started its slow creep up Dane’s spine. Every Daryk One, if he knew his worth, feared a dragon encounter. Even with his extensive training, his lightning-fast reflexes, dragons were nothing to play with.
“This is the time, Ketera. If I say run, run. If I say stop, stop.”
Vibration started under their feet and a low, throbbing pounding echoed in the ears. A dragon’s unimaginable weight trembled the ground beneath their feet.
“Is the dragon close?” she asked.
“It’s running. So should we.”
Before she could gasp out another question, the pounding became harder, more intense. He grabbed her arm and they were off. Dane’s zig and zag took them through the thick fronds, hanging vines and tangling shoots. Then something happened he didn’t expect. One of the shoots jumped up and grabbed Ketera’s left ankle. She cried out in pain. Blood rushed through his veins, his instant need to protect surging to life. A ridigulate plant, at least six feet across at the base, had lashed out for a meal.
Fuck.
He should have steered clear of the plant.
Behind him the pounding was louder, and now the shouts of poachers driving the dragon came in the far distance.
Ketera gasped but nothing came from her throat. No time to warn her not to try to get the vine off.
Instinct gave him extra speed as he grabbed his sword, swung and cut the vein from the main plant. With a rasp the plant drew back the rest of its vine and remained still. Fuckin’ ridigulates were cowards.
Ketera’s pale face reflected intense pain, and he knew it had to come from the poison already invading her body. She reached out for him, and panic clenched his throat. He fell to the ground and grabbed at the dead vine. He drew it away with swift moves, unwinding it and tossing it aside.
A second later he caught her in his arms as she fell. Large welts spiraled around her ankle and halfway up her calf. Her face flushed, her breath coming quickly. “Dane, what’s happening?”
“Damn the hells! You’re poisoned.” He drew her into his arms, his mouth coming down on hers in a swift, hot kiss.
As his tongue plunged deep, he hoped his immunity would do the trick. He’d been correct earlier saying his kiss would protect her from any threat by beast or bug. She met his tongue in desperation, twining around his in a sexual thrust and parry that made his groin harden instantly. He ignored arousal in favor of making sure she received a full measure of his immunity. He couldn’t turn this into a sexual session. The dragon and poachers were getting closer.
He groaned and grabbed her hand. “Come on. We’ve got to run!”
He heard her gasp of pain as she followed, but he couldn’t indulge her injury. Time demanded otherwise. They ran, careening through the jungle, still heading for the castle but at a slight angle to the northeast. He kept his fingers tightly entwined with hers. He couldn’t afford to lose her in this thick mess. He kept his eyes peeled for any more vines, creepers and snakes. Draconus knew the place teamed with anything and everything that could kill.
Two men jumped from the clearing in
front of him. He released her hand, his sword in hand with one swift move. “Ketera, stay back!”
The tall men were obviously followers of Drakus, but they weren’t Daryk Ones gone bad. Both men wore tunics, black long breeches, and had braided their dirty, dark hair in two plaits. Nope. Definitely not Daryk Ones. Not as big or as strong either, but not to be ignored. Especially not with Ketera in need of his protection.
“Dane, there’s two behind us!”
He turned quickly to get the lay of the land, snatched his dagger from his waist and handed it to her. These brutes were dressed similarly to the two men on his side. “If anyone comes near you, cut him and ask questions later.”
Perspiration dampened her face and her breath came in great gulps. “Dane…” Her voice held a shaky uncertainty. She didn’t look good. By the god, if he hadn’t gotten all the poison—
The men charged. She screamed, but in a defiant cry that meant business. He turned in time to block one man’s sword thrust then the other’s, and soon his movements flowed as he’d been taught since he was young, a flow of thrust and move and swipe and cut. He’d known all his life how to fight and knew he was faster than these men. Ketera’s life depended on him. He slashed one man across the throat, almost enough to sever his head. The man dropped.
Ketera cried out in female rage, her fighting fierce. All he could hope was that she did some damage. He couldn’t let fear for her cause him to make a mistake.
But it did.
One flinch the wrong way and the attacker feigned to the left and slashed him across the ribs. Pain didn’t come, but Dane felt the hot blood. It only made him angrier. He growled, the sound coming from deep in his chest as he spun, slashed, and with a clean stab to the chest, the other poacher fell dead.
Dane turned in time to see one of the other poachers on the ground, the dagger in his chest. The last attacker circled her, ready to play.
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