Fugitives of Fate

by Morganfield, T. L.

  He accepted the challenge, wrestling her tongue with his as he lifted her onto his lap. She squirmed against him as the tension built higher.

  Eventually the need for breath left them both panting, but she managed, "I want to touch you, all over. Will your guards arrest me if I do?"

  Cuauhtemoc uttered a soft predatory chuckle. "They might arrest you if you don't." He kissed her chin. "Denying me your touch might kill me."

  She slid her hands under his cloak, spreading her fingers over the curve of his shoulders, to the taut muscles of his neck, tracing her thumbs over the divot at the base of his throat where she found the surgeon's puncture scar from his near-death ordeal. It was faint enough to be mostly invisible but it couldn't hide from her fingers. She moved her hands down onto his flexed chest where he wore a curious map of battle scars; one from an arrow, another from a steel sword. He named them in turn for her: "I earned that one my first year out of the House of Warriors, when bandits ambushed us along a trade route. And that one came from Cortés, when he slashed me with his sword. I took his head for it."

  The arrow wound looked deeper and more life-threatening than the sword scar, but she stared at the latter, tracing her fingers back and forth over it before leaning down to kiss it gently. She felt curiously tied to him through that scar, as if it were a map to their future together, set in motion by a man now long dead but never forgotten. And when she saw more than lust in Cuauhtemoc's eyes, she knew he felt that same pull of destiny.

  He removed the pins from her hair then tangled his fingers through it, hugging her tightly and peppering her neck with kisses. She shivered as he moved his hands down her body, under her dress, pushing her thighs against him. He ground slowly against her, his shoulder muscles tense and solid under her fingers. Still so much left to touch and explore. She reached between them, wending towards his loincloth.

  But he grabbed her wrist, gentle yet firm. She tensed, her cheeks burning. Am I moving too fast?

  The look in his eyes wasn't of discomfort but rather eagerness. "You first, my beautiful flower." Before she could respond, he pulled her dress over her head and tossed it aside.

  She scrambled to cover her body with her arms—funny how she could want so badly and yet feel so self-conscious about it—but he rose to his knees and she slid off, tumbling into the luxury of pillows. She held her breath as he leaned over her, his dark, intense gaze making her heart thunder in her chest.

  He grinned jaguar-like as he bent and kissed her, ferocious at first but then with increasing tenderness that left her aching. She closed her eyes and drew deep, calming breaths as he moved to her breasts, tending to each with his teasing, sensual tongue. In the past, if men paid any attention to her breasts, it was to squeeze or pull or bite at them for their own satisfaction. She'd had no idea how nice this could feel. Her stomach fluttered as he pulled her undergarment off her hips with deliberate slowness.

  I should undress him too. But the distracting feathers on his cloak tickled her, sending tiny spasms through her tense muscles. He smoothed her raised flesh with his rough palm as he moved down her belly, and lower still, between her legs, sliding his fingers between the folds of her tepilli. But when he started massaging her, she completely lost her train of thought.

  Heat built at the base of her spine and spread through her whole lower body, and the deep-seated tension began unfurling inside her. Like a bone flower in the morning sun. The slow loss of control made her heart throb and the blood pound in her ears. The ache grew still more intense, but when Cuauhtemoc slid his fingers into her, any notions that this could—or even should be controlled—fled her. She cried out, hardly aware of her own body's writhing reaction as a torrent of pleasure swept over her. Her toes scrunched; her teeth turned numb. Her whole body came alive as never before.

  Cuauhtemoc slowed his ministrations but didn't stop as the waves turned to jolts, intense yet strangely pleasant despite the pain of her tightened muscles. Unable to take any more, she grabbed his hand to still him, and he chuckled then kissed her cheek softly.

  No one had ever made her feel so good; no one had ever tried. Logically she knew sex was supposed to feel good—why else would her body crave it?—but she'd had no idea it could feel this wonderful. She'd always thought herself quite experienced—too experienced—but now it all felt new again, and she couldn't wait to explore it more with Cuauhtemoc. If only I could find the will to move, she thought with a chuckle of her own.

  The feathered cloak moving across her bare skin made her jolt, but almost immediately her muscles turned sluggish again. She blinked, startled and confused. "What—?"

  Cuauhtemoc set his hand against her chest, encouraging her to remain lying down. "You fell asleep."

  It took a moment for the confusion to give way to mortification, but then she stammered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—."

  He pulled his cloak over her like a blanket. "The body wants what it wants."

  She didn't hear anger or disappointment in his voice, but it didn't stop the guilt. "But I should be taking care of you too. After what you did for me, I owe it to you—"

  Now his smile turned sober. "You don't owe me anything; that's not how I want it to be between us. Anything we do, it should be because we want to do it."

  "But I want to." She barely restrained a yawn though.

  "And there will be plenty of time when you're not so exhausted. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."

  "But you made me feel so good...I wish to do something for you."

  "Then let me just hold you while we sleep, and I shall wake a happy man in the morning."

  Malinali still doubted the fairness of this trade-off, but her sleep-hungry body cared not, so she lay in his arms and rested her head against his chest, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart keeping time with her own. As the music of their bodies lulled her to sleep, the drumming synced to the point that she couldn't tell which was hers and which was his.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cuauhtemoc felt as if he'd only just gotten to sleep when someone woke him again. He blinked in confusion at the man leaning over him, but once his brain shook off the fuzziness, he recognized one of his body servants. "Already?" he muttered as he closed his eyes again.

  "The day's first hour is nearly upon us, My Lord," the man whispered. "You asked to be woken by then. Do you wish me to summon the lady's handmaiden for her?"

  Cuauhtemoc glanced over at Malinali. She was sound asleep next to him, tangled in a mess of blankets someone had covered them with during the night. He smiled as he touched her chin with his fingertips. "No, let her sleep. She's going to need the extra rest to get through today." He sat up and followed his servant into the bath yard.

  Once bathed and dressed in his riding clothes, he slipped out of his quarters to the main courtyard, to oversee the packing of the caravan and ensure the horses were properly saddled for the journey. While he brushed Tlazocozcatl in preparation for putting on his saddle, Ixtlil came out of the open doorway.

  "My, aren't you looking happy this morning," he said with a sly smile. "I haven't seen you this happy since the first time I got us some courtesans back at school."

  Cuauhtemoc snorted.

  "It's about time you two stopped dancing around, especially after all that gawking at each other in the garden last night...." He shook his head. "You should listen to me more often. Who knows women better than me?"

  "Women are the last thing I'd take advice from you about," Cuauhtemoc chided him. Ixtlil might know all the delightful secrets about the female body, but he sorely lacked when it came to their minds or souls.

  Ixtlil laughed. "So, are you going to ask her to become your concubine?" When Cuauhtemoc shot him an irritated glare, he added, "It's not as if you can marry her. At least if she's a concubine, you'd have obligations to her and any children she bore you; she'd always have a home, and food in her belly."

  The whole conversation set a pall over Cuauhtemoc's mood. He'd fallen asleep last
night holding Malinali and thinking about how wonderful it felt. He'd often held his wife while she slept, too, at least until he became the huey tlatoani and obligations such as to Tecuichpo stepped between them. And here he was setting himself up for that disappointment again.

  He set the reed saddle atop the blanket on Tlazocozcatl's back with a sigh. "I suppose that is the best I can offer her," he conceded. Funny how the things that impact us the most are so completely beyond our control.

  As he finished dressing Tlazocozcatl in his bridle then started working on Pialoni, a soldier came up and bowed low to the ground. "My Lord."

  "Yes?" He gave the man only a cursory glance before turning back to the horse.

  "You said yesterday we would speak later," the man started, his voice stoic.

  Taking a second look, Cuauhtemoc recognized the man finally. "You're the one who pursued the slave."

  "Yes, My Lord, and I come before you to accept my punishment for failing you. I did not adequately protect your property and I humbly accept any consequences you deem worthy of my offense." He remained bowed, staring at Cuauhtemoc's feet.

  "What is your name, soldier?"

  "Tenoch, My Lord, of the Order of the Jaguar."

  "Are you angry that she got away from you?"

  "I am angry with myself for letting you down, My Lord, but as for the woman...it wouldn't be honorable to begrudge her skill and resourcefulness when the fault clearly lay with my underestimating her."

  "I think far too many people underestimate her," Cuauhtemoc replied. "Would you feel belittled if I assigned you to be her personal guard on this mission?"

  The man raised his head; not enough to meet Cuauhtemoc's gaze, but enough for him to see his astonished expression. "I would be honored, My Lord."

  "Good. See that slave girl over there?" Cuauhtemoc pointed to Malinali's friend, who was packing a large wicker chest onto the back of a wagon hooked to a large dapple draft horse. "That is My Lady's handmaiden. Go tell her it's time for her to wake Lady Malintzin and get her ready. Then report to your post."

  The soldier bowed low again and thanked Cuauhtemoc for his mercy, then he hurried off. Protect her from harm and you shall continue to have my mercy, Cuauhtemoc thought as he went back to dressing Pialoni.

  ¤

  Given how tired she was as Xochitli bathed her, Malinali was glad Cuauhtemoc had let her fall asleep when she did. It had taken quite a bit of prodding to get her up, and the thought of riding a horse right now made her curse under her breath. But memories of Cuauhtemoc's passionate kisses and delicious pleasure mad most of her grumpiness melt away. The warmth spreading through her belly did more to wake her body than the heat of the bath.

  But that elation didn't last long. Where was her bag? The one she'd filled with her change of clothing and other necessities for the trip? The last she'd seen, it was tied to Pialoni's saddle, and with everything now cleared from her room, it was nowhere to be found. "Did you happen to see a leather bag with some dresses in it?" she asked Xochitli. "A servant would have brought it from the stables yesterday?"

  "Nobody brought anything for you yesterday." When Malinali frowned and made another search of the quarters, she asked, "Was it something important?"

  "My whole supply of chipahuacxihuitl for this trip is in that bag. I left it strapped to the saddle yesterday and forgot all about it."

  "Oh! That is important." Xochitli looked around a moment then suggested, "Perhaps it's still on the saddle."

  Malinali headed for the courtyard where the caravan was staging. Funny how these last few years she'd taken the medicine faithfully every day and yet she found herself without any when she really needed it. She and Cuauhtemoc might not be intimate yet, but she couldn't risk complicating her new-found freedom with an unexpected bundle. She didn't even know where she was going to live, let alone what she would do to support herself once this trip was over.

  These worries gave way to a whole new set when she stepped out of the living quarters to find the soldier who had hunted her down yesterday waiting for her. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, her stomach sinking.

  He bowed and went to one knee before her. "I have been assigned to be your personal guard, My Lady."

  "So you can keep an eye on me and make certain I don't run off again?"

  "To watch over you, yes, but I haven't any instructions to keep you from going anywhere you wish," he answered, bemusement in his voice.

  Malinali scowled. "Who gave you this task?"

  "The huey tlatoani himself."

  "To punish you?" Or maybe me? Cuauhtemoc was a man with a peculiar sense of humor.

  "It's not punishment, My Lady. I am honored the huey tlatoani trusts me to perform such a task."

  "Or maybe you're laughing at him for giving you the perfect opportunity to make me miserable."

  The guard looked up. "I am not angry at you, My Lady. If anything, I admire your skill, especially on a beast I've heard you've only been learning to ride for a week now."

  Malinali stood straighter, surprised by his response. "If I'm any good, it's only because the huey tlatoani is a decent teacher. And you did catch me; you simply couldn't keep hold of me."

  The soldier bowed again. "I promise to show better diligence in guarding your life and honor." He then rose to his feet. "The huey tlatoani is waiting for you in the courtyard."

  At least a hundred slaves stood in a loose line in the main palace courtyard, talking while they waited for the signal to don their packs. Soldiers milled about, many on foot, but quite a few on horseback. All of the delegates had their own horses as well, and they nodded in greeting as Malinali passed them.

  Cuauhtemoc stood next to Tlazocozcatl and Pialoni, and he smiled when he spotted her. Seeing him brought the flush of heat and yearning again. "Did you sleep well?"

  She wrung her hands behind her back, not meeting his gaze, embarrassed to remember last night now that so many people were around. "Quite well, thank you."

  He handed the reins off to the guard and then motioned her to follow. She did so, over to a couple of servants holding trays of food. "Eat something" he told her. "We'll be leaving soon."

  She continued avoiding eye contact as they ate honey-sweetened maize cakes and bits of fruit, and even more so when Ixtlil came to speak with Cuauhtemoc. She barely heard what Ixtlil said to her, but nodded and was glad when he finally moved off. His wife arrived shortly after with Achicatl, who cried and hugged Cuauhtemoc and asked why he had to go.

  "It's only for about a week, and I will be back," he promised. "Have fun with your friends and try not to work your handmaiden to death, all right?"

  Achicatl nodded, but when she looked up at Malinali, she leaned back into him again and whispered something in his ear. A sad smile crossed his face then he said, "We'll talk about it when I get back, all right?" The girl nodded. She simpered at Malinali but then ran back inside the palace without a word, her handmaiden following her.

  Cuauhtemoc finished his last bite of fruit then motioned Malinali to follow him back inside too. She did so, sucking the remnants of the maize cake from her fingers.

  Once they were around the corner, out of sight of everyone in the courtyard, he pulled her into his arms then pressed her against the wall with his body. He moved his mouth to hers, parting her lips with his tongue. She kissed him back, digging her fingers into his bare arms, desire roaring in her ears. When they separated to catch their breath, he asked, "Is everything all right?" He cradled her cheek with the palm of his hand.

  "Everything is wonderful." She didn't want to let go of his gaze this time.

  The worry lines at the corners of his eyes softened, then he leaned in to kiss her again. She laced her arms around his neck then giggled when he lifted her from her feet by standing up straight. He nuzzled her ear, sending chills through her.

  But then someone cleared their throat and Cuauhtemoc leaned against the wall next to her, shielding her from whoever had interrupted them. "What is it?" he aske
d over his shoulder.

  "We are ready to leave whenever you are, My Lord," a man replied in a painfully formal tone.

  "A moment more, if you wouldn't mind?" Cuauhtemoc grumbled.

  "Of course."

  Cuauhtemoc continued watching off to the side for a moment before turning back to Malinali, his nose so very close to hers. "May I steal your tongue one last time before we go? I fear you will be too tired for such things when we make camp tonight."

  "I shall try not to be." She kissed him again and they held it longer this time, as if one of them were leaving for a month rather than making the three-day journey to Tlaxcala together. When they finally separated, Malinali shivered with pleasure and joy and pulled him into a tight hug. She couldn't wait until she could repay his selflessness from last night.

  After straightening themselves, they emerged from the palace and went to their horses.

  Seeing Pialoni again reminded Malinali about her missing bag. She checked all around the saddle, but it wasn't there. When the guard came to help her up, she asked, "Did you take the horses to the stable yesterday?"

  "I did, My Lady." He hoisted her up onto Pialoni's back then held the reins to steady the horse as she shifted under her.

  "What did you do with the bag I'd tied to the saddle?"

  "I found no bag, My Lady."

  Malinali cursed under her breath. It must have come untied during the chase. She looked around for Xochitli, and when they spotted each other, Malinali motioned her over. "Any chance you can get some chipahuacxihuitl for me from the King's apothecary?"

  "I'll try." Xochitli headed off at a jog.

  "Forget something?" Cuauhtemoc asked as he backed up Tlazocozcatl, so they sat next to each other.

  "Nothing important," she assured him.

  ¤

  When Xochitli didn't seek her out by the time the caravan began moving up the mountain pass, Malinali started worrying. And when she still didn't come to find her by the time they stopped for the first rest period, she feared she'd been left behind in Texcoco. While Cuauhtemoc spoke with the scouts, Malinali went to find her friend, her guard following on his own horse. She rode down the line, pausing every few paces to search the crowd of slaves sitting on the ground eating fruits and nuts to keep up their strength.