I gasped as they grazed over the peaks of my breasts. Fire erupted in my veins and I grabbed the back of his neck with my hands and pulled his head down to mine. I bit down on his bottom lip as his hands found my breasts again. This time they stayed there, kneading the softness, rubbing over the hard peaks pressing into them through my bra. I bucked against him and wrapped a leg around his, leaning my hips into him. I moaned against his mouth, caressing his lips with mine.
Stars exploded in my head as his hands made their way under my bra, the calloused skin of his palms grazing over my erect nipples.
Dark Sky. I needed him. I needed him so badly I couldn’t breathe. I needed him more than air, more than life itself. I would give anything to feel his body pressing me down underneath him. To feel the long length of his legs intertwined with mine. To feel him entering me and moving inside me.
I gasped and pushed against him, feeling the hardness of him pushing through his pants into my groin. He was so close. So close. All I had to do was….
‘Ahh, Izzy.’ Isla’s voice intruded.
I shook my head and ignored her, revelling in the sensations he was creating within me. I kissed him deeper, grabbing his buttocks with my hands and urging him to press even harder into me. He broke the kiss and moved his mouth along my jaw and down my neck.
Oh boy, I hoped those lips were heading where I thought they were heading.
‘Izzy.’ Isla’s voice was harder. More insistent.
His mouth was exploring the edges of my shirt, and one hand was working its way back down my stomach to the edge of my pants. The tips of his finger teased the skin under my waistband.
‘Yes,’ I moaned, lifting up on my toes so that his mouth was closer to my breast.
He chuckled. ‘My little hell cat.’ He pulled my shirt up and licked one of my nipples.
I let out a yelp and jammed his head against my chest as I raked at his hair with my hands. He licked my nipple again and then drew it into his mouth, sucking on it gently. A thousand nerves fired in an arc, radiating out over my body. It was exquisite.
I fumbled for the front of his pants, wanting to pleasure him as much as he was me. He moaned as my hand brushed over the top of his mound and suddenly I was desperate to take him in my hand. To stroke the velvety length of him.
‘Don’t say you didn’t ask for this.’
Cold water cascaded over my head. I let out a shriek and opened my eyes, blinking in the early light of the day. The time-lust continuum I had been in disappeared and suddenly Turos and I weren’t the only people in the world.
‘Sorry.’ Isla smiled ruefully and gestured behind her.
I could see Emerald and Lance through the trees. They were pressed up against each other. Their tails were entwined and one of Lance’s wings was wrapped over Emerald’s back. Her head was thrown back, her eyes closed as he bit her on the neck. He let out a low rumble, a dissatisfied animal wanting more. She shook her head and leant into him.
‘Oh no.’ I batted Turos’s hands away from me, feeling a strange mixture of relief and disappointment when he let go. Part of me wanted to ride him to the ground and have my wicked way. The other part wanted to get as far from him as possible.
Lance snorted again and jostled Emerald, working his wing further over her back. She wiggled her haunch and urged him on. Dark Sky. If he mounted her. If he took her this close to Turos and me, I didn’t know if we would be able to stop ourselves. Already my relief was fading away leaving only a desperate need for Turos.
‘Izzy.’ His voice was a low growl as he clasped my buttocks with both hands. ‘Izzy.’ He bent his head to my neck and nipped at the soft skin there.
We could stagger further into the trees, find some soft ground there and I could magic away our clothes. It would be faster that way. We could get straight to where we needed to be, him biting into my neck as he rode me like an animal.
No. I shook my head from side-to-side. I didn’t want this. I didn’t. I think. It was hard to see clearly through the fog of desire. Maybe I did. Maybe this was me. I mean his hands on me felt wonderful. Felt right.
‘Fight it Izzy.’
I sucked in a deep breath, pushed him off me and turned away. He let out a growl and grabbed me from behind, pulling me back against him and wrapping his arms around me. I could feel his manhood pressing into my buttocks and suddenly I wanted it like that. On all fours.
I groaned as his hands found their way back up under my shirt, back to where they belonged on my breasts. He growled again and bit down on the back of my neck. I pushed my bottom into him, wriggling it against his hard bulge. He panted, his hands moving down to unbutton my pants.
Oh, yes. Yes. He was going to take me here. Like this. I nearly cried with the knowledge. The deliciousness of the thought of him entering me. Of sliding into me. Of pinning me against him as he did.
He let out a snarl as he wrestled with my button. A sound of feral need and desperation that matched the sounds coming out of my own throat. I needed him. I needed him now. I would go mad if I didn’t have him.
Air hit the bare skin of my buttocks and his hands left me for a second as he wrestled with his own pants. His breath came in desperate rasps, and I was reaching back to find him when there was a sound similar to something hard smacking into a coconut.
Panting, I spun. He wasn’t there.
Well, he was. He just wasn’t standing. And he didn’t appear to be conscious.
‘What?’ I panted a few more times, the lust leaving me like an out-going tide.
‘It was the only thing I could think of.’ Isla stood over him, a small branch in her hands. ‘I hope I didn’t hurt him too much.’
Emerald let out a bellow and I tried to avert my eyes, the view of Lance mounting her far too confrontational. But I couldn’t. I could still feel it. Even though Turos was no longer pleasuring me, I was still a part of their mating ritual.
I pulled my pants back up and re-secured them, disappointment curling in my groin. I could feel Emerald’s ultimate pleasure mounting. Feel her getting close to her release. And I wanted it too. I wanted my mind to be soaring toward the sun, my eyes rolling back as wave-after-wave of intense sensation rocked through me.
Lance let out a roar and flapped his wings, using the momentum to surge him forwards again-and-again. Emerald’s cries matched his, each roar bellowing out around the forest. And then, a bolt of lightning rocked through me as Emerald threw back her head and let out a scream of pure, unadulterated pleasure.
Turos jerked on the ground as Lance echoed her cry. His pale-blue eyes snapped open, burning into mine. He held my gaze as the glory of their love flowed through us, both of us rocking in time with our dragons. As the last vestiges of their climaxes echoed away he said, ‘You’ve got to admit, that would have been incredible.’
***
‘Thank you.’ They were the first words I had spoken since we had left the meadow half an hour ago. Now we were gathered in a loose circle around the fire near the command tent, sharpening our swords and checking our bows.
‘So…you’re not upset I stopped you?’ Isla pulled a face and gestured towards Turos.
A bruise was starting to blossom on the side of his face. I hadn’t healed him. Hadn’t trusted myself to put my hands on him in case we had decided to finish off what we had started. As it was, sexual frustration was my number one emotion, but that wasn’t enough for me to want to lose my virginity. Not like that. I had to know it meant something more than just raw, animal lust.
As if he knew we were talking about him, he glanced over, his eyes pinning me in place with promises of what he could do to me.
‘He looks pretty frustrated.’
She was right. He did. His spiky, pale hair was even more ruffled than normal, evidence of where my fingers had curled into it, urging him on.
‘I know how he feels.’
‘Oh, you are upset with me.’
I glanced over at Aethan. He was sitting on the far side of the circle,
a brooding look on his face as he glanced between Turos and me.
I let out a sigh. ‘No. I’m not. I would have regretted it. After it was over.’
‘I’m not sure if you would have. You looked like you were enjoying yourself. A lot.’ She grinned at me and pulled another arrow out of her quiver, looking down its length before placing it in a neat pile beside her.
‘What would you have regretted?’ Sabby looked up from where she lay on the grass next to me.
‘Oh nothing.’ I pulled a face and looked toward where Thomas sat next to her. I really didn’t want him overhearing that conversation.
‘Oh.’ She nodded wisely and closed her eyes again, no doubt making plans to pin me down for more information once we were alone.
The army around us also readied itself for the coming battle. Incoming scout reports informed us that the enemy army was still stationary on the far side of the Pass of Bones. It didn’t make sense. Why would they wait while we fortified our position? My skin itched whenever I thought about it, and I was thinking about it often.
I ripped at a piece of jerky with my teeth, working it around my mouth as I tried to get enough moisture into the dried meat to allow me to swallow it. The mundane action made me miss Scruffy. If he were here he would be pawing at my leg, his eyes huge as he begged me for my share of breakfast as well as his own.
‘You need to keep your strength up.’ Isla handed me another piece of the hard meat.
Grams let out a laugh from the other side of the camp, beating at her leg with her hand as she chortled. Tamsonite was regaling her with a story and Lionel didn’t look that pleased about it.
Isla glanced over to Grams and I stuffed the jerky into my pocket. I didn’t need food. I needed sex. And lots of it. But since I wasn’t going to get that I would have to get rid of my excess energy another way.
I stood up and stretched my arms above my head. Then I bent forwards and touched my toes. Perhaps I should go for a run. I hadn’t done that for a while.
Before I could suggest it though, Lionel hopped to his feet. ‘Izzy has the right idea. I haven’t swung a sword in a while. Anyone care to train with me?’
Not surprisingly it was Tamsonite who sprung to his feet. ‘I’d be delighted old chap.’
Lionel’s face hardened at Tamsonite’s use of the word old. He walked over to a pile of training weapons and grabbed a wooden sword, waving it from side-to-side as he warmed up his muscles.
‘This should be interesting,’ Isla murmured. She looked down the shaft of the last arrow in her quiver and nodded her head.
Grams clapped her hands together and said, ‘You two behave yourselves. Athol, if you break any of Lionel’s bones you’ll have me to answer to.’
Lionel’s face was a mixture of pleasure that Grams was siding with him and pain that she obviously thought Tamsonite was better than him. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders and then moved into an en garde position.
‘Ready old man?’ Tamsonite mimicked his position.
Rather than answering him, Lionel swept his sword in an arc toward him. Tamsonite blocked it, and the fight began.
‘Turos,’ I said, ‘maybe you could continue your training with Thomas and some of the others.’
Thomas jumped to his feet. ‘That would be awesome.’
Turos nodded and climbed to his feet. ‘Grab a wooden sword,’ he said.
I winced on Thomas’s behalf. I knew from first-hand experience that that lesson was going to hurt.
‘I think they may be an even match,’ Isla said, pointing her sword toward Lionel and Tamsonite. She looked down its gleaming length and then took the sharpening stone to an almost invisible nick on its surface.
I sat down and picked my sword back up. She was right. Lionel was holding his own as he dodged, parried and attacked. He held his wand in his left hand and every few seconds he would flick it at Tamsonite. Tamsonite would respond with a flurry of his own wand.
‘Impressive,’ Sabby said, putting an arm behind her head. ‘Duelling and sword fighting at the same time.
It was impressive. I had only ever fought with the Guard, so I had never seen witches fighting in earnest.
Sweat started to appear on their foreheads and their faces turned red, but still they battled on. Grams had her hands pressed to her mouth, a look of delight on her face. And then Lionel stumbled over a rock. It was only a small movement but it was enough to give Tamsonite the edge he needed.
He closed the gap between them, stepping inside Lionel’s guard, and he cracked him over the head with his wooden sword. There was a resounding crack and Lionel dropped to his knees, both hands pressed to his head.
‘Lionel.’ Grams let out a terrified shriek and launched herself at him. His eyes rolled back in his head as he toppled to the side. ‘Izzy,’ she yelled as she clutched at his hands.
I leapt to my feet and raced to his side, laying my hands on him to feel for his injury. I closed my eyes and kept them closed, fighting to keep the smile off my face.
He wasn’t hurt badly at all. A little bump on his head which would be sore tomorrow.
I was tempted to leave it, to teach him a lesson for scaring Grams like that. But then I figured that she probably deserved it, what with how she had been flirting with Tamsonite. And then that made me wonder what sort of fright I deserved for leaving my heart hanging between two men.
I let out a sigh as I healed him.
‘What is it?’ Grams tugged at my shoulder. ‘Is he going to be okay?’
‘I got it in time,’ I said. ‘But he’s going to need some rest and perhaps some extra care.’
Lionel let out a groan and opened an eye.
‘I’m sure I didn’t hit him that hard,’ Tamsonite said.
Grams hopped up and waved a finger at him. ‘You did too, you bully. I heard it from all the way over there.’
Lionel winked at me and I winked back, then I helped him into a seated position. ‘Grams. We’d better get Lionel into a bed. General Tamsonite, may we use your tent?’
‘What?’ Tamsonite rubbed his moustache with his hand and Grams glared at him with her hands on her hips. ‘Yes, of course,’ he said quickly. ‘Be my guest.’
Aethan helped me get Lionel up and we supported most of his weight as he staggered towards the tent.
‘Don’t lay it on too thick,’ I murmured out of the corner of my mouth.
Aethan shot me a quick look and then understanding creased the corners of his eyes.
Grams rushed ahead of us, opening the tent flap and then fussing around the bed, straightening the sheets and plumping the pillow.
‘You sure he’s going to be all right?’ she asked me.
‘I’m quite sure.’
Aethan placed his hand on my arm as he exited the tent, stopping me from heading back to the others. ‘Is that what I need to do?’ he asked.
‘What do you mean?’
‘To get you to admit that you love me still. Do I need to fake an injury?’
‘Shhhhh,’ I said. ‘She’ll hear you.’ I gestured at the tent opening. I didn’t want Lionel getting sprung. And there was also Ebony to consider. She had said she was going to wash her hair but she could burst from her tent at any moment.
He took my hand, his beautiful eyes serious as they stared into mine. ‘Is that what it will take?’
I pulled my hand away, guilt warring with indignation. Why couldn’t I just choose Turos? Why couldn’t I set Aethan free? He wasn’t mine any more, and giving him any sort of hope was a cruel joke. Especially with Ebony actually there in the camp. The woman he was being forced to marry.
The truth swam up from the depths of my subconscious. It wasn’t this Aethan I was holding out for. It was my Aethan. I couldn’t let go because if he ever got his memories back I knew I would do whatever it took to have him.
‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘You don’t have to do that.’ I gazed into his eyes, searching for the man I grew up with. The man who had crafted me into the wom
an I was today. But he wasn’t there.
I blinked back tears and squeezed his hand, suddenly drained of all my excess energy. ‘I need to get some sleep,’ I said. A smile flickered over his face and I shook my head. ‘Can we make each other a deal?’
‘It depends what it is.’ His face became wary.
‘The next few days are going to be intense enough without all of this.’ I waved a hand between us. ‘I need my friend, not my jealous ex-boyfriend.’
His face distorted at my use of the word ex-boyfriend. ‘So Turos, he is your boyfriend now?’
‘This,’ I poked him in the chest, ‘is exactly the sort of thing I am talking about. No. He is not my boyfriend. But seeing as how you are betrothed, neither are you.’
He sucked in a big breath of air, letting it puff out his cheeks before releasing it. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll make that deal. As long as you promise me that the minute this is all over, you’ll let me do whatever I need to, to make you mine.’
Thoughts of dark-faery wrath flashed through my head but I was too tired to be responsible. Too exhausted to try to fight him any more.
‘Deal.’ I stuck my hand out and he grabbed it, spun me into his arms and lowered his mouth to possess mine. Part of the kiss was like coming home to a warm fire and a hot meal, and climbing into my pyjamas and fluffy slippers, but the rest of it? Dark Sky help me, the rest of it was fire and ice shooting through my veins.
His breath mingled with mine as I curled my fingers into his back and tried to remember exactly why we shouldn’t be doing this very thing.
‘Hey,’ I said, when I finally came up for air. ‘That wasn’t the deal.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s only fair that I get to give you a bit of me to think about.’ His eyes glanced over to where Turos had disappeared with Thomas and the remaining Guard.
I tried to control my expression but I could feel a blush start up on my cheeks.
He looked back at me, tilting his head as he examined my face. ‘I thought so,’ he said. ‘So I’ll keep my bargain if you keep to your end. But I’ll not stand back and watch him take what I can’t have. Not unless you declare yourself for him that is.’ A look of pain flashed across his face. ‘If that happens, I will bow out of the competition. Maybe.’
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