The Academy Volume One

by Maxine Mansfield

  Adan shuddered, and his stomach turned, the thought of Lizbeth in harm’s way enough to make the succulent boar meat dance in his belly. There had to be a compromise, something they both could live with. The sheen of a single tear caught Adan’s eye, and he gently kissed it away. In her sleep, Lizbeth tossed once more.

  Adan chuckled. Perhaps he couldn’t make her obey him, and perhaps he wasn’t so sure he really wanted her to. Lizbeth’s fire was one of the things he loved best about her. Not that he would ever tell her that. There would be no living with her at all if he did.

  So, what should he do with his wife?

  His groin tightened as his fingertips brushed across her tunic and settled upon a pert nipple. He rolled the hard nub between his fingers before lightly squeezing her breast. Lizbeth sighed in her sleep, and Adan’s cock begged to be set free of his breeks.

  He loosened the ties of her tunic and freed her flesh instead. As the cool, desert night air touched her skin, he marveled at the perfection of her rose-pink pebbly- hard nipples. The worry lines in Lizbeth’s brow unfurled, and he bent, captured the nipple in his mouth, and sucked. He heard her gasp of surprise, but he didn’t look up and he didn’t stop.

  She tasted of warm ambrosia, of sweet night air, and of more, much…much more. Even though his hunger for food had been well sated, his hunger for this woman never would be. He needed her in his life. He needed her with each breath he took. Without Lizbeth at his side, his heart would simply cease to beat.

  Adan lifted his head and looked at her then, and she was staring back at him. She smiled, and he finally understood. There were still many things he didn’t know about this woman, his wife, but one thing he did know was there was love between them. A fledgling love perhaps, but it was there. It was alive, it was raw, it was real, and it was precious.

  “Are you just going to stare at me all night, or do you mean to put that…thing I feel pressing against me through your breeks to use?”

  Adan chuckled as he rubbed his cock against her leg once more. “What did you have in mind, Lizard?”

  She scowled. “I’m not a lizard. Quit calling me that.”

  He laughed. “Oh, my dear wife, you are very much like a squirming little lizard at times. Like when you’re beneath me and my cock is buried deep inside you. You wiggle that sexy ass of yours in the cutest way.”

  Lizbeth opened her mouth to comment, but whatever she was about to say was lost as Adan seized her lips with his own. The heat of her breath, combined with the teasing of her tongue, fueled his passion.

  They sparred, the barbarian side of them both taking over. His tongue attacked hers while her mouth captured his. It was primal. It was instinctive. It was barbaric.

  His hunger for her refused to be sated. He plundered the tender skin of her neck before sucking first one nipple then the other. Lizbeth gasped, leaned up, and nipped his neck, hard.

  Adan growled, but there was no anger in his voice, only passion. “My little barbarian lizard is full of surprises tonight. You did learn a thing or two from those Adan Hammerstrike classes after all, didn’t you? Let’s see you put them to use.”

  She flipped him off her as if he weighed no more than a feather and straddled him before he could take another breath. “I was a very good student, my lord. Prepare to be plundered.” Then she grinned.

  Lizbeth made a production of removing what was left of her tunic. Her breasts jutted out proudly, her nipples kissed by the moonlight. Adan watched in wonder as she stood, slid off her traveling pants, and with a gleam in her eye issued an order. “Get naked, Barbarian.”

  He complied.

  “Now touch yourself.”

  His cock spasmed with need. “I’d rather you touched me,” he demanded.

  She shook her head and wagged her finger at the same time. “No, no, no, Barbarian. Not yet anyway.”

  Lizbeth slid her hand down her belly and between her legs, gripping her mound. With her other hand, she motioned to his cock. “If you wish to put that in here, then you’re going to have to do what you’re told…first.”

  He liked this game. He liked this new Lizbeth. He liked this woman who refused to shrink or cower. And though he’d never admit it, even on penalty of being tossed into the fiery pits of VoT, he very much liked the wife who’d dared to ride across a desert and defy her husband.

  Adan grabbed his cock with both hands and pumped. There was something about masturbating himself in front of her that was beyond erotic. It was powerful and freeing.

  Her eyes gleamed with the same passion he knew she saw reflected back in his own as she watched him. It was mesmerizing. He held his breath as she loosened her grip on her mound and slid one finger deep inside then out, over and over. He almost came.

  “Have mercy, Lizbeth.”

  She grinned. “Is this what you want, Barbarian?” She slid her finger from her pussy, leaned over, and ran it across the head of his rock-hard cock.

  Spasms shook him. “Oh, yes.”

  She didn’t slide down and mount him like Adan thought she would. Instead, she turned until her cute little ass faced him, went down on her knees, and straddled him backwards. Reaching back, she grabbed his cock, and guided it into her welcoming warmth. Without preamble, she rode him hard.

  He couldn’t breathe, and he was going to die. Pleasure shot from the pit of his belly and straight out his ass.

  She was magnificent. All Adan could do was hold onto Lizbeth’s hips and enjoy the ride as, from this vantage point, he watched his own cock slide in and out of her sweet pussy.

  And what a ride it was. With her every glide up his cock, his toes curled and the roots of his hair tingled, and with each plunge downward, spasms of pleasure raced down his spine.

  Faster and faster, she rode until Adan was no longer sure where his body ended and hers began. Time slowed, the universe drifted away, and all that was left was sensation. Mind-blowing, breath-taking, ball-exploding sensation.

  Lizbeth’s muscles clenched hard around him, and Adan gave up the fight to hold back his orgasm. With a shout of release, he let it all go. Hot fluid shot forth, spurting deep within her still quivering depths, and with one last spasm, Adan relaxed.

  She eased off his spent shaft, turned, and cuddled into Adan’s embrace. “So, did I pass my exam as an Adan Hammerstrike student?”

  He chuckled. “Oh, honey, you didn’t just pass, you are the master.”

  The sound of her gentle snort was her only response.

  Cradling her in his arms, he held her close to his heart. She immediately fell back to sleep.

  Adan used his body to protect hers from the hard ground. She didn’t wake but snuggled contently and covered him like the warmest of blankets. Tomorrow would bring what tomorrow would bring. For this night, though, he would do the only thing he had energy left to do.

  He slept with his wife.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The camp was utter chaos.

  Lizbeth stood with her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes, glaring at Sarco. “Would you please at least give us the falling of a few grains of sand through the hourglass to explain our plan before you shoot it down?”

  Adan had the sudden desire to cheer his wife on and champion her cause, but fear for the safety of not only her but also their child kept him quiet for the moment.

  “Karla is a woman. We are women. Let us at least try talking with her first. What can it hurt? If you men go riding into Karza, demanding she allow you the use of the Blade of Gin, the outcome will be disastrous. After all, it is trolls we’re talking about here. They aren’t known for their hospitality. Look what she did to poor O.T.T. when she got angry.”

  Adan almost chuckled as he watched a look of horror cross the faces of the other men.

  Lizbeth didn’t seem to notice, or at least the men’s reactions didn’t slow her down at all. She just kept championing her cause. “Laycee has come up with an idea, and, well, we believe we have something we can use to bargain with Karla. What can
it hurt to let us try? If we fail, then it’s your turn.”

  Sarco shook his head. “Lark’s not going anywhere near Karza.”

  Thunder rumbled across the desert.

  He stood his ground as he glared at his wife. “Go ahead, make it rain. Make it pour. I’ll still not allow it.”

  Lark smiled. A dark gray cloud appeared overhead, and a torrential downpour fell on Sarco. Just Sarco.

  “I’ll have you know I’m your wife, not your property, Sarco Sunwalker, and I don’t need your permission. I love you with all I am, but I’m going to Karza with you or without you, and that’s that. We all are. We have just as much invested in the outcome of this venture as you men do. Either see reason, or prepare yourself for a very long, wet, miserable day, husband.”

  Sarco shook his head and droplets of water flew from the tips of his hair. “Lark, be reasonable.”

  He pointed toward Briar, and the hue of his skin turned a sick shade of green. “And…and…and her! We can’t take her with us. Uthiel will kill us. He’ll have our heads for sure.”

  Briar shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “I’m already here. There’s nothing to be done about that. Which do you think would make my husband angrier? That I went on a simple overnight trip to Karza within the protection of big strong men like yourselves, or that I was sent back across a dangerous desert, all alone, by men he considers to be his very best friends in the whole world?”

  Adan laughed. “She’s got us there. If we stand around arguing with them all day, Sarco, no one will be going to Karza.”

  Sarco sputtered. “Okay, okay, okay, I give up. Make the rain stop, Lark. I’ll agree to let you come along. Not because you’ve soaked me to the skin, mind you, but because it’s the only way to keep all of you out of harm’s way.”

  The rain stopped, and the sky cleared.

  Leeky Shortz began pacing back and forth. “Ya say it was Laycee who came up with this plan? God Draka, help us.”

  The female gnome snorted and was about to open her mouth when her brother spoke. “If it’s my sister’s plan, then I for one say let’s try it. What can it hurt? Anyway, she’s always been the really smart one in the family. I trust her judgment completely.”

  Adan wasn’t sure if it was a moment of guilt, surprise, or panic he saw streak across Laycee’s face. Right then, it didn’t matter. He needed to get them moving.

  The sun was already high in the sky, and he knew for a fact the nogard wouldn’t be wasting time getting to what it would consider its feeding ground—the dragon caves high above Castle Kuropkat. And furthermore, he needed to give in to Lizbeth, without letting her know that was exactly what he was doing. A moment later, Ray gave him the perfect opportunity to do just that.

  “I thought I made myself perfectly clear last evening when I said the women must not be allowed to accompany us. They have no place here. This is men’s work. I will not only inform the council, but also your mother. I gave Queen Allanna my personal assurance that quest protocol would not be breached in any way.” He pointed toward Lizbeth. “Especially by her.”

  When had seeing his wife’s eyes fill with tears become so much more important than even his next breath?

  Adan stood and raised a hand for silence. “I’m leading this quest, and it is I who will say who goes and who does not. As far as the council and my mother, to VoT with the lot of them. Tell them whatever you wish.”

  He winked at his wife and smiled. “The women can come along if they like, and they can even speak to Karla first if they wish.” He took a moment to look directly at each of them. “But you better be able to keep up, because we won’t be waiting around or slowing down for anyone.”

  The look Lizbeth gave him wasn’t quite a smile, but it wasn’t a glare either. Adan considered it progress.

  ****

  Though the dry air surrounding her was still hot enough to parch her throat, chills skittered nonstop the length of Lizbeth’s spine and had done so from the moment they left the desert and entered the Karzan Swamps. Strange little blue insects flittered to and fro, forcing her to swat at them while trying to keep an eye out for whatever was making the horrible water-slapping, teeth-grinding, loud-breathing sounds off to her right.

  And Adan, he certainly wasn’t being helpful. As a matter of fact, he was making the situation worse. And if the sounds coming from his direction were any indication, he was enjoying that fact immensely.

  With his horse being a full hand taller than anyone else’s, his pace was almost impossible to keep up with. He was at the lead of the pack, and not once since they’d left camp had he so much as glanced backward at her. For all he knew, she could have been eaten by whatever was making those horrendous noises or swallowed by the swamp itself. Not that he would’ve heard it with what he was doing.

  Eyes straight forward, relaxed in his saddle, Adan looked every inch the prince. A prince she would very much like to throttle at the moment. He was whistling loudly, not just whistling, but over and over whistling the same incessant tune, and it was driving her mad. It was as if he were out for a ride in the park instead of in the middle of a dangerous swamp on an important quest. After last night, she’d expected to be treated differently.

  Suddenly, he stopped and held up a hand. Even the sounds of the swamp around them ceased.

  Then the foliage opened and out of nowhere, at least a dozen angry-looking trolls surrounded them. “State yout business and be quick about it.”

  Adan hopped down from his horse and extended a hand toward the troll who had spoken. “We’ve traveled far and have need to speak with your leader.”

  The troll ignored the hand and glared. “Speak with our leader, yout say? With Karla?” He chuckled, but the sound held no humor. “Yout picked a fine day for it. Hope yout aren’t too overly fond of yout heads. She’s been in a foul mood all morning.”

  Adan’s shoulders heaved, and Lizbeth almost felt sorry for him as his deep sigh penetrated all the way to her very core.

  “Well, of course, she is,” he said. “Why wouldn’t she be? After all, she’s female, isn’t she?”

  The troll cackled out loud. “That she is for certain, Barbarian. That she is.”

  In unison, the trolls turned, parted the greenery before them, and led the group into the village of Karza.

  Lizbeth looked first to Lark, then to Briar, and finally toward Laycee. She straightened her spine, took three deep breaths, sent a quick prayer to Draka, and followed. The time had come to negotiate.

  ****

  The heat, not to mention the smell of unwashed troll inside the confines of the meeting hall, was stifling. Lizbeth dabbed at her forehead, took in deep gulps of stale air, and fought back her nausea. The last thing she could afford right now was to be sick all over the leader of the trolls.

  Karla was bigger than she had imagined. Being half barbarian, not many females could stand toe-to-toe with Lizbeth and look her straight in the eye, but Karla easily could and did so without flinching.

  Lizbeth averted her gaze downward out of respect and tried not to steal a peek at the dark green female with the stringy black hair and razor-sharp tusks. This only served to bring her gaze level with the troll leader’s tight-fitting leather breeks and the distinctive outline of the camel toe she’d heard so much about. She wasn’t sure which urge was stronger, the one to laugh or the one to gag.

  “My men tell me yout think yout have business with me. What could a barbarian possibly want with the leader of the troll clan? Speak and be quick about it before yout all become my lunch. It’s been a long time since I’ve tasted fresh, white meat.”

  Karla bent and tweaked Laycee’s cheek. “Especially gnome.”

  Laycee balled up her fist but stood her ground.

  Lizbeth cleared her throat. “A nogard is loose and on the way to kill the dragons. If it’s not stopped, magic will cease to exist on Albrath. We have need of the Blade of Gin to defeat the nogard. We’ll return the knife to you as soon as our quest is done. You ha
ve my word.”

  Karla scoffed. “A nogard? What do yout take me for, an idiot? Nogards have been extinct for centuries. I should have yout head removed from yout worthless body for telling such a tale.”

  Lark, Briar, and Laycee all started to speak, but Lizbeth held up a hand to silence them. She raised her eyes and looked directly at Karla. “I speak the truth. It was I who accidentally created the creature, and it is I who must see it destroyed. We realize your people hold The Blade of Gin in high regard, and we don’t expect you to simply hand it over without assurances it will be returned. Perhaps we have something with which to bargain.”

  Karla laughed. “Bargain with barbarians, elves, and gnomes? I think not. What on Albrath would the four of yout have that I could possibly want?”

  Lizbeth, Lark, Briar, and Laycee looked at each other and smiled.

  ****

  The sun glinted so brightly off the length of metal, Adan was momentarily blinded. He shook his head once and then shook it again. He couldn’t believe his eyes. They had done it. Somehow, Lizbeth and the other three women had actually talked Karla into relinquishing the Blade of Gin. Would wonders never cease?

  When she placed the knife reverently in his hand, it was as if it pulsed with a power of its own. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Adan, realized the energy most probably came from the heat of Lizbeth’s touch, but it didn’t matter. It was still magical.

  Grasping the wooden handle while running the pad of his thumb along its eight inches of serrated blade, he marveled at the sharpness of the instrument. Tiny droplets of his blood welled along its length. Even after centuries, the knife still had a razor’s edge.

  He studied the knife closely. At its base, right above the handle, was some ancient writing. The word Gin could plainly be seen. Adan used a corner of his tunic to rub off the blood and was immediately amazed. It didn’t say just Gin at all, it said Ginsu. Right under that, it read “Made in Ohio.” What an amazing knife, and what amazing creatures the humans were for bringing it to this world.

  Adan strove to remember his history. Was Ohio a human world all of its own or simply a major country from the world of London spoke of in the Chronicles of Sha Spere? It didn’t matter, all that mattered was they had in their possession the magical Ginsu Blade, and they now had the power to stop the nogard.