Warden (Elemental Paladins Book 1)

by Montana Ash

  “It’s nothing Max. Just let it go.” Cali was the one to respond.

  “It’s not nothing! Look at Lark’s face! Someone hurt him!”

  “I’m okay Max. I’m a fast healer, remember? It’s character building to get the snot beat out of you every once in a while.” His usual crooked smile was even more pronounced now given his newly split lip and Max winced in sympathy when it started to ooze fresh blood. She wasn’t buying it and found the whole situation entirely unacceptable.

  “This is all completely unacceptable and I can’t believe you all would just …” And there it was; her very own lightbulb moment. “Was this because of me? Because you’re associated with me and I called out the wardens on their dickiness?”

  “Max …” It was Darius who attempted to calm her this time.

  “No. Tell me the truth. Are you hurt because of me?”

  “He’s hurt because some paladins don’t deserve the title and are bigoted fuck wits. It’s not your fault any more than it was Lark’s. Leave it be Max. This will be dealt with in due course.” Ryker’s tone was all alpha and signalled the end of the discussion. Well, too bad for him she was an alpha too. She had also picked up on one key word;

  “Bigoted? Ignatius’s paladins did this?”

  “Max …” Darius tried again.

  “Take me to them.” The four words were a clear demand but no one in the room moved. Max looked around the room, slowly and deliberately making eye contact with the seven warriors. “I said; Take. Me. To. Them.”

  “Look Max, there’s really no need –” Lark started.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and cast her eyes around the room again, “You may not have accepted me as your liege and your honour may not be mine to uphold officially. But you are my friends. Mine, mine, mine!” Max stomped her foot for emphasis, “And I take care of what’s mine. Now … where are they?”

  Everyone looked at Ryker who was gazing steadily at Max. They all knew what it might mean if Ryker were to answer her. She felt warmth unfurling in her stomach when Ryker slowly nodded his head, “They are at Lonnie’s.”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Lonnie’s could be found in the opposite direction from Dave’s Dive by about six degrees of cesspool-separation. Ryker’s feet didn’t stick to the floor as he walked across the room but the noise and the smell were very similar. He actually preferred Dave’s if he was honest. Sure, it was filled with human scum but Lonnie’s was filled with paladin scum and Ryker always thought that was far worse. He didn’t frequent such establishments often, he wasn’t a big drinker. But the others often came for the drink, the conversation and the companionship – as shitty as it was. Most of them tried to stay in the loop and heroically ignored the frequent jibes of ‘reject’, ‘loser’ and ‘stray’.

  A hush descended as they walked en masse towards the pool tables where Ignatius’s five paladins were attempting to make the coloured balls go into the holes. They were predictably sucky at it. Max didn’t stop or slow or hesitate as her keen oceanic eyes locked onto the bastards like a predator onto prey. Her eyes swirled with colour and her hair lifted subtly as her power surged through her but she was in control, Ryker knew. And she was absolutely glorious, Ryker thought, utterly spellbound. She was magnificent, a warrior in her own right, a queen among peasants, a Goddess among ants. And the second he got her home? She was also going to be a well-fucked one. He was going to claim his stubborn warrior queen as surely as she had claimed them back in the kitchen. What was it she had said? Oh yeah, mine, mine, mine. It was precisely Ryker’s own thoughts and he intended to follow through as soon as humanly possible. He noticed a few startled looks as people focused on his now scar-free face. That’s right, fuckers. Ryker’s back.

  “Show me your hands.” The order was softly spoken but an order nonetheless and the five pieces of shit looked to each other before Marco, the Captain, replied to her;

  “I’m sorry?” Feigning ignorance won’t save you now, Ryker thought. His woman was on the warpath.

  Her smile was chilly and Ryker felt his balls shrivel from the frigid air that seemed to suck all warmth from the humid bar. “I said, show me your hands.”

  And now they were starting to get it. Ryker could see the bobbing of Adam’s apples as they gulped and began to shift nervously on their feet. Max was a Warden and they could do no more than obey. They hadn’t thought anyone would defend Lark – a paladin who had never been bound to a warden because he had been deemed unfit. But one was, and very publicly.

  “Hands. Now.” Max repeated.

  All five held out their hands and Max walked forward slowly, making a show of examining skin and knuckles. It wasn’t necessary, everyone in the room could see the darkening bruises and scrapes. If not for the fact that this was Max’s little show and if his man Lark didn’t need the display of loyalty and kinship so desperately, Ryker would have lunged and broken some teeth. Max walked along the line of them slowly, almost lazily before stopping in front of Marco. His hands were by far the worst.

  “Knights …” Max’s scathing voice lashed into the silence of the room. “You seem to have touched what’s mine … and I don’t like to share. I’m greedy like that.”

  “We –”

  Max held up a hand and arched an eyebrow, “Did I say you could talk?” Marco shook his head. “No, I didn’t. Because I don’t want to hear it. I’m not interested in anything you or your fellow haemorrhoids have to say. In fact, I don’t want to even look at you, because honestly? All I see are skid marks.”

  Max continued on as if she couldn’t hear the shocked gasps and murmurs of disbelief in the room; “I just came to inform you all that if you ever desecrate my things again with your filthy, fetid hands I will use what is vital in me. I will wrap my powers around your scrawny chicken neck and squeeze until you bleed from every orifice. Your eyes … your ears … your mouth ... your arse! Even your meatus.” She leaned in close and although she whispered, everyone in the room heard her next question, “Do you know what your meatus is?”

  The five paladins didn’t respond, probably too freaked out by the mild voice and the fact that she was calmly circling around them, eyeing them like specimens under a microscope. There was no anger, no rage. Just calm, just facts … it was freaky as fuck!

  “Answer me boys. That wasn’t a rhetorical question.” Max spoke sweetly again, a serene smile lighting her face.

  All five paladins appeared to gulp in unison and Marco replied with a stuttered, “N … No.”

  Max eyed the speaker up and down, gaze finally resting on his crotch as a very unpleasant smile lit her face, “It’s the slit at the end of your dick.” The room seemed to inhale as one as Max continued, “Would you like me to squeeze your neck so hard that blood starts to leak from your dick slit?”

  By this point two of the warriors had gone pale and passed out, Ryker figured they had probably forgotten to breathe. He noticed no one rushed to check on them. The entire room was enraptured in some kind of morbid awe at the display. The other three looked like they weren’t far behind their brethren; one was clearly hyperventilating, one looked like he was choking down vomit, and the last one, Marco, had a sickly grey pallor to his skin and was sweating profusely. He still had enough presence of mind to jump when Max leaned in close and ran a fingertip over his zipper, she smirked;

  “Answer me, boy. That wasn’t a rhetorical question.”

  It was a true testament to a paladin’s will, that he managed to stutter out a garbled; “No, My Lady.” If Ryker wasn’t getting so much enjoyment seeing these jerks put in place for harming his brother, he would have felt a smidgeon of respect.

  “Good. That’s good.” She patted the guy’s now well and truly – and probably forever – flaccid cock. “Because if I ever hear of you or any of your boys touching what is mine again, your dick slit will be the first hole I’m coming for.” She smoothed her small, seemingly harmless hands up Marco’s chest and proceeded to straighten his collar as he tre
mbled and sweated and panted. Max smiled coolly one more time before turning on her heel and swaying her delicious hips toward the door, hypnotising everyone with a Y chromosome. As she was nearing the entrance however, she paused and spoke over her shoulder, always keeping her back to the room;

  “Oh, and the same goes for your Warden. Do not think for one minute that I don’t know your warden put you up to this. If he has a problem with me, tell him to come to me. Not my kids. Because even though I’m sure the target is small – tiny even – I will eventually find his dick!”

  ****

  Max suffered through yet another awkward silent car ride back to the camp. After sashaying her butt out of the pub, the paladins had followed her silently, no one speaking except for Ryker who had held open the car door with a growled, “Get in.” Now she was standing in the front yard and despite the twenty minute drive to calm down, was trembling with the need to storm back to Lonnie’s and follow through with her threat. She could totally do it, she knew she could. She wasn’t one to make idle promises. She always kept her word. One wrong move from those despicable entities and she would ensure none of them ejaculated ever again! Filthy, dishonourable cretins! She raged internally. She never could understand why some people had to hurt others in order to make themselves feel good. She just hoped the others wouldn’t be too mad at her. She had probably embarrassed them once again. She figured there was only a very tiny chance that threatening paladins with permanent erectile dysfunction was actually permissible. Hearing the gang behind her, she opened her mouth to fake an apology – she wasn’t sorry at all – but before she could get a word out, she felt herself lifted off the ground and surrounded by a pair of strong, muscular arms. Not a bad place to be all-in-all. That was until she felt wetness splashing against her neck. Lark was crying. Her poor, happy paladin of the earth was emitting waves of gratefulness and disbelief and she knew no one, present company excluded, had ever gone in to bat for him before.

  “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you … for standing up for me.” His voice was muffled against her neck. Not wanting the knight to feel embarrassed or ashamed of his tears, she used her powers to absorb the small pearls of distress and revelled in the now familiar warmth as she reached out to heal his poor battered face. She was just finishing on the last cracked rib when he jumped back.

  “Max! What are you doing?” He asked, touching his face.

  She shrugged, “Fixing your boo boos.”

  He lifted the hem of his black tee shirt and treated her to a view of his fine, washboard abs. “You don’t need to be wasting your energy on the likes of me.” He stated, but the relief in his voice was obvious.

  She shrugged, “No biggie. I’ve got energy to burn now since Cali and Di shared their go-juice with me!” She blew a kiss to said ladies but to her surprise didn’t receive a kiss back, or a wink, or even a smile. Instead, all seven paladins obscurely gripped their left forearms right where their coat of arms would be had they been bonded in an Order before bringing them to their chest and bowing their heads. Weird! Max thought but before she could puzzle out their strange antics Lark stepped forward still grasping his left arm, head tilted in deference, but his green eyes were like flashing emeralds as they made contact with hers.

  “I hereby swear fealty to you Max, Warden of Life. I pledge finite service, protection, loyalty and honour to you, my liege and my Order. This is my solemn wish and I do so freely without reservation.”

  “Say what now?” Her heart was beating hard and fast in her chest and she could hear her pulse pounding in her ears. Did he just say what she thought he just said? Did he just do what she thought he just did?

  “I did just say what you think I just said. I did just do what you think I just did.” Lark smiled gently, “You’re talking out loud again, sweetheart.” He stood tall now, masculine face proud and blemish free, “I have just sworn to be your paladin … if you will accept my service, my liege.”

  She could manage no more than a small incoherent squeak but it didn’t seem to matter as Beyden took one step forward and spoke; “I hereby swear fealty to you Max, Warden of Life. I pledge finite service, protection, loyalty and honour to you, my liege and my Order. This is my solemn wish and I do so freely without reservation.”

  As if in a procession Axel, Cali, Diana and Darius all stepped forward one by one to repeat those clearly sacred vows. Feeling adrift, she sought out the one thing she knew would be her anchor. Ryker’s head wasn’t bowed nor was he holding onto his faded coat of arms. He offered no heavy words, just stared at her with a fusion of admiration and desire. She found herself just as ensnared with him as she was with the shining moment. The moment where all these wonderful people were pledging their very lives in service of her.

  She was going to have a family.

  Her joy burst from her, unrestrained and unchecked as a smile split her face wide, dimpling her left cheek. That seemed to be sufficient to tip Ryker from admiration to full blown desire and she watched in fascination as his brown eyes darkened almost to black and his nostrils flared wide. He stormed forward and snatched her up, tossing her over his shoulder as he sprinted into the house and up the stairs. She heard a variety of wolf whistles and vulgar suggestions before she was tipped dizzily right side up and pushed firmly against a flat surface.

  TWENTY-NINE

  “Stop … stop!” She pushed but it was like trying to move a mountain. “You can’t just pick me up like some Neanderthal and drag me back to your cave!”

  “I can’t?” The cocky bastard reached out deliberately and cupped her breasts. “But you haven’t held up your end of the bargain.” His fingers flexed.

  Do not arch! Do not arch! “What bargain?” Why did her voice sound so breathy like that?

  “You were supposed to sit on my face.”

  “Wha?” The slurred syllable was all she was able to stutter out as Ryker abruptly dropped to his knees and took a firm grip on her hips. His mouth covered her cotton-clad crotch and instead of acting as a barrier to her pleasure, it heightened it. He opened his mouth and exhaled hard, causing heat to spread over her most private parts. She felt her knees buckle and she was gently lowered to the floor. Although her mind was rapidly beginning to be overcome by a haze of lust, she had just enough presence of mind to speak;

  “I’m not going to put you in a position to hurt me again.”

  Ryker paused his sexy ministrations and she felt herself falling into the abyss of his brown eyes. “You’re safe with me, sweetheart. I promise.” Then he kissed her and Max knew it was all over.

  The removal of clothes was almost perfunctory, a task he seemed intent on but made no attempt to pretty up for seduction. Once they were both naked, he threw her onto the bed before rolling on a condom and following her down. His lips joined hers in a slow thorough tease as his thick fingers tested her readiness. Lifting her legs and encouraging her to wrap them around his hips, he seized her waist before pausing at her moist entrance. She thought he might tease her or at least attempt some form of foreplay but it seemed he was a knight on a mission, albeit an apparently patient one.

  He took his time entering her, his thick shaft stretching her delicate inner muscles exquisitely. She was so sensitised she swore she could feel every ridge, every vein on his glorious prick as he slowly but surely shuttled into her depths. When she felt him bump against her cervix and knew he could go no further, she figured he would start fucking her into oblivion to prove who was boss. But he didn’t. No, he pulled out excruciatingly slowly until only the thick head remained before slamming back into her with an intensity that had her back arching and heels digging grooves into his arse cheeks. He then proceeded to repeat the process over and over and over again. Max gasped and panted her way through the onslaught, struggling to breathe and retain some semblance of sanity in the light of his claiming. For that is surely what this was – a claiming. The knowledge both thrilled and terrified at the same time.

  His thrusts increased in strength and intens
ity but never in speed and he didn’t try to get fancy by playing with her nipples or her clit or even her tonsils. He just gripped her hips to better guide him to her willing core and sucked up bites on her neck. On her part, she made sure to keep her head buried in his neck, unwilling to see the truth in his eyes because she was still holding on to a smidgeon of self-preservation and doubt. She felt him shift slightly, his angle changing just enough that he was now hitting that elusive spot inside of her on every downward stroke.

  “Give it up, baby.” The sexual sadist on top of her growled roughly, sending shivers of anticipation down her body.

  She shook her head; no way was it going to be that easy. Apparently that wasn’t the correct response for Ryker broke her stranglehold on his back and brought her arms up above her head, holding both wrists in one strong hand. He stared down at her intently, brown eyes shining feverishly with desire and determination before clutching her hair roughly with his other hand. She gasped out a keening moan as his wrenching fingers caused her scalp to tingle deliciously.

  “I said … give it to me.”

  His wish; her command apparently, for she instantly felt her body coil tighter before exploding in an orgasm of epic proportions. She screamed and felt the air thicken with power and colours once again. She spared a second to be grateful for not blowing anything up before her vision dimmed and she maybe, sort of, kind of, passed out from pure bliss.

  THIRTY

  Even though he just had the most intense orgasm of his life, Ryker remained hard and firmly seated inside of his feisty warden. He leaned down to nuzzle the mark his teeth had made on her neck, “You didn’t claim me.”

  “Hmm?” The sleepy reply made him smile. It seemed he had found a way to shut that smart mouth of hers – screw her into unconsciousness. She was draped across his chest, her feet tucked under his calves, hair splayed over his pecks as her fingers traced lazy patterns across his skin. He ran his hands over her back from nape to thigh, revelling in the warmth of her skin.