Hunted Intensity

by Rebecca Airies

  She wriggled beneath him, her inner muscles rippling and tightening. He again lowered his mouth to one of her reddened nipples and drew the taut peak into his mouth. Her back arched, pushing the bud deeper into his mouth. He drank in her soft whimpers and the catch in her breath. The sounds spurred his own hunger.

  His thumb flicked over her clit. She drew her hands from his hair and over his shoulders. Her palms felt hot, her touch searing through him. He drove his fingers deep and his thumb pressed on her clit. Her body lunged upward and her nails sank into his back. He couldn’t wait any longer. His balls were pulled tight against his body and he could feel the pulse of blood through his hard shaft. He drew his hand from between her thighs and brought it up to his mouth. Lapping at the slick digits, he drew her taste into him. He loved the way she tasted.

  She pulled at him and her legs came up around his hips. Her thighs tightened, trying to pull him closer. He didn’t want to resist. His cock brushed against her wet folds and he drew in a breath at the contact. The feel of her slick moisture seared through him. He reached between them and fitted his cock to her. Her muscles clenched around his shaft as he pushed into her tight sheath. His eyes closed and a groan rumbled as the feeling slammed straight up his spine. It was all he could do not to come at that instant.

  He couldn’t take a moment to stop and savor the way she held him or the prod of her hardened nipples against his chest. He thrust into her and pulled back only to plunge deep again. Her nails sank into his back and her hips slammed up into his each time he withdrew, thrilling him with her hungry response. Her lips slashed across his in an aggressive kiss and teeth nipped at his lips. He kissed her back and continued to drive into her.

  She gave a small cry as her hips punched up against his. He rocked into her as his balls drew even tighter to his body. The pleasure hit him like a bolt of lightning slamming up his back and exploding through him. He ground his hips against her as his entire body trembled with the force of his orgasm. He collapsed against her and nuzzled her neck, savoring her scent and nearness. He didn’t want to move, but he lifted up until his cock slid free of her and moved to the side. He didn’t want to crush her.

  Chapter Seven

  Tori sighed and glanced over at Tyson. Not talking to him last night might have kept them from a fight then, but that didn’t mean they now agreed on everything. Even if time to think about it had let her see that he might have a point, at least about the possibility of running into some of the men who were hunting him. There was no way to know how many people were after him or where they were.

  As much as she wanted to go home, she had to admit that it was probably safer to stay with him. Admitting that he was right about that annoyed her, but she wasn’t going to be telling him any time soon. The arrogant man could wonder about whether she was going to stay or go. He could have tried talking about it instead of slinging out orders and then marching her along with him.

  She definitely didn’t agree that going up the mountain was the best idea. She’d told him what direction the city was, but he didn’t believe her. Not that she could blame him there. Still, they should be going straight there. She assumed he had friends there who’d back him up against the people who were hunting him. Then after he settled the issue she’d go home. She wasn’t entirely sure about what a mate meant to him, but she knew almost nothing about him. Whatever he meant, she wasn’t ready to make a decision that was based almost entirely on hot sex. It was great, but there was too much about the situation that was strange to make any rash choices. The magnetic pull to get closer to him was only one of those things.

  They were nearing the tree line and soon he’d see that she’d told him the right direction. Which meant that soon they’d be heading back down the mountain and likely toward anyone hunting Tyson. Those men would know that if he was out from under the effects of that drug he’d head back to the city. That was where they disagreed on the right decision the most. She thought they should perhaps go a more circuitous route and Tyson wanted to get there as fast as possible. Neither of them was willing to give on their arguments. She just hoped he could use that sword he’d stolen because they’d probably need it. She had a feeling they were going to meet some more of the people chasing him.

  They left the trees and stepped onto the sparse, thin-bladed grass and gray rock on the mountain. He kept guiding her up until they could see over the trees. She turned in the direction she knew the city was and waited. He finally stepped up beside her and put a hand at her back.

  “We’ll start back down the mountain and should get nearly to the base before we have to rest tonight.” He looked down at her. “You were telling the truth. Does that mean you’ve decided to stop fighting me?”

  “It means that the sooner we get to the city, the quicker this is over. Although I don’t think going straight there is such a great idea considering they’ll know that’s where you want to go.” She couldn’t resist pointing that out again.

  “Yes, they do know, but I wouldn’t count on them not having someone watching alternate routes to the city. We’ll face trouble either way and I believe the faster way will be safer in the long run.” He pulled her closer to him. “Aside from that, the people from my thent will be looking for me. We’ll have help soon.”

  “I hope so.” She sighed and took a step down the mountain.

  “Do I want to know what you mean by over?” His hand remained at her back as he walked beside her.

  “Probably not.” She smiled. She’d thought he’d accepted her comment at face value since he hadn’t confronted her about it before.

  “I thought so. You’re not ready yet to admit what’s between us,” he said softly. The certainty in his voice drew her eyes to him.

  He wasn’t smiling, but she could see that he was more satisfied than he had been before they’d spoken. He looked as if he thought he knew something she didn’t, but that he thought she’d discover eventually.

  “The only thing between us now is some very hot sex. We don’t know much about each other and we only met a few days ago. No one should make lifetime decisions based on that little information and I don’t know how you can even talk about that mates stuff without wincing. I know of some women who’d marry almost anyone to get a secure home but that’s not me. And that’s another thing. I don’t even know where you live.” She rolled her eyes and tried to keep her tone even when her frustration was building. She focused on walking over the uneven ground. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Mirlu. The large gray animal was trotting through the forest off the path, but she wasn’t worried. He wouldn’t go far without her.

  “When a Santir discovers a mate, it’s not about how much he knows of her. That can be learned later. It’s about recognizing the one person meant to be with you.” He looked at her and his gaze sharpened. He’d definitely noticed her change in tone.

  “How many of your matings end up badly? With one or both of the people hating each other or worse?” she asked, but didn’t bother to hold back the sarcasm. When people jumped into something so fast, it couldn’t be good. There had to be times when the two people made each other miserable.

  “Actually, not as many as you’d think. There’s the occasional mating that goes horribly wrong, but generally, nature doesn’t lead us wrong.” He shrugged. “The same can be said for marriages where the people know almost everything about each other.”

  That was too true. Life had a way of throwing changes on people and knowing someone wasn’t any guarantee that they wouldn’t be at each other’s throats at some point. She didn’t know what to say to that other than he was right in some ways.

  That didn’t mean that she had to blithely agree with what he was saying about him being her mate. She couldn’t jump into it like that no matter how much she was attracted to him and she’d admit that she wanted him intensely. She needed time to learn what he was like beyond this bizarre situation. His relaxed reaction did confuse her a little in some ways. He seemed certain that she was
his mate yet he didn’t press it too much. If the subject came up he’d mention it, but he wasn’t trying to prod her around to his way of thinking. He seemed confident and that made her wary.

  How could he be certain that she would see things his way? Why didn’t he feel the need to try to persuade her more than he was? The only reason she could think of was that he thought he knew something she didn’t. She couldn’t think of anything that would give him that level of assurance.

  They traveled down the mountain. She was silent, because her mind was turning over the situation and his reactions. She just couldn’t stop wondering why he seemed so calm about it when he had to know that she didn’t plan to stay with him once they made it to the city. After he was back with his people, she should be able to get back to her own home without trouble.

  Darkness came early with the canopy of leaves shielding them from the sun’s rays. She knew they’d have to stop soon and set up a camp. Tyson was becoming more cautious as they traveled down the slope. She could see the tension gathering in his muscles and the way his hand stayed near the sword, the fingers flexed and ready. Mirlu seemed to pick up that guarded attitude and he kept closer to her than he had for most of the day.

  She didn’t know what was wrong, but both Tyson and her canil seemed to be expecting something to happen. Her tension began rising as she saw the intense way Tyson watched the area. Two men burst out of the bushes, one on either side of the trail.

  She stumbled back and screamed, surprised and scared. The men weren’t focused on her though. In fact, she wondered if they’d even noticed her with the way they moved in on Tyson. Looking around frantically, she searched for something to use as a weapon. She couldn’t let Tyson face those two men on his own. She found a fallen branch near a bush and picked it up. She heard a yelp and saw Mirlu sprawl on the ground, but he jumped to his feet and lunged at one of the men again. Anger surged through her—they weren’t going to hurt her canil or Tyson. Hefting it, she cautiously approached the men as they fought. She didn’t want to chance hitting Tyson. Mirlu lunged and caught the arm of one of the men, but jumped back when the man kicked at him. The only good thing about it was that the men didn’t seem to want to kill Tyson. That wasn’t holding Tyson back though.

  Swords clashed as the men tried to force his sword away. Mirlu snarled and pounced again. His teeth sank into one of the men’s shoulders, pulling him off balance. Before she could over-think it and become too scared to move she stepped up and swung. The branch landed with a loud crack against the back of the man’s head. He stumbled forward, his sword fell from his hand and he crumpled to the ground.

  The other attacker was startled and his attention strayed from the fight for only a moment. Tyson’s blade sank into his chest. The man grunted, but tried to swing his blade up at Tyson. Tyson caught his arm, held it as he drove the blade deeper and then pulled it free. He gave the man a hard push. He watched as the man stumbled backward and fell into the bushes. Even though he was mortally wounded, the man struggled to get to his feet. Tori could see the strength slowly draining from him and he didn’t make it to his feet before he collapsed back to the ground. She turned her attention back to Tyson to find him cutting the clothing off the man and then ripping it into shreds.

  “What are you doing?” She frowned down at him. Shouldn’t they be getting out of here and keeping moving? They didn’t know if there was anyone close by to help these two men.

  “I’m going to make sure that following us isn’t going to be on his mind when he wakes up and gets free. Here, hold these. We’re taking them with us.” He handed her the man’s weapons, the sword and three knives. Tyson finished shredding his clothing and his boots and tied the man to a tree.

  He did the same to the dead man’s clothing, not leaving even the option of taking his friend’s clothing or weapons. It didn’t take too long. Tyson’s expression was grim as he began leading her away from the area. She simply followed without saying a word. The fight had reinforced the fact that they were in danger and there probably would be more attacks before they reached the safety of the city.

  She didn’t know how long they traveled or if they were going straight to the city anymore. At first, she’d remained silent because she didn’t want to draw anyone to them, but soon the darkness made it almost impossible for her to see and Tyson didn’t seem inclined to stop. She had to keep close enough to see him or risk getting lost in the dark. Not that she thought he would simply leave her, but she didn’t want to wander around lost while they tried to find each other again.

  Tyson stopped at a river at one point and took most of the weapons from her. She kept a knife because after the attack she didn’t want to be caught without a weapon again. The branch had worked, but there wasn’t any guarantee that she’d be able to find one if she needed it again. They kept traveling for a while longer and her feet felt heavy by the time he stopped.

  They were near the base of the mountain now and he’d found a shallow cave, little more than a hollow in the brown-streaked gray rocks. To Tori, it was welcoming. She hadn’t wanted to sleep out in the open where someone could creep up on them from any direction. Having something at their backs would be reassuring. She took a step toward it, eager to catch at least a little sleep before they had to begin walking again.

  Tyson spread their pallet in silence. He dropped the bag he held and his fingers wrapped around her wrist, swinging her around to face him. Even in the dim light of the moon filtering through the trees she saw his eyes narrow and his jaw clench. She took a step back and he followed. He kept pressing her backward using only the bulk of his body and sheer intimidation until her back touched the wall.

  “Tyson.” She licked her lips and put her hands on his chest as she looked up at his face. The difference in their height hadn’t seemed so great before now, but he looked absolutely huge and intimidating.

  His head lowered until their noses were almost touching. His warm breath puffed against her lips. “You put yourself in danger tonight.”

  She shivered. His voice was low and rumbling, almost a growl. The sound seemed to roll over her body. If she could, she would have taken a few quick steps back, but the rocks at her back made that impossible. What was she supposed to say to that? She couldn’t very well deny it.

  “We were both in danger.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

  It wasn’t that she was afraid he was actually going to hurt her. She wasn’t. Although she didn’t understand it, she trusted him. It was his sheer bulk and that look that gave her pause. Looming over her like he was, he was intimidating and she hadn’t ever seen him like that.

  He bared his teeth and a louder rumble emerged this time, a very definite growl. His hands pressed to the wall on either side of her shoulders. Looking into his eyes, she’d never seen them so hard.

  “He could have sliced you open. Do you think a log would have been much defense against a sword?” he asked and she could hear the snarl in his words.

  “He didn’t get a chance. They both forgot about me being there after the swords started swinging. I couldn’t let you face them both alone. There were two of them and no matter how good you are two against one isn’t in your favor.” She frowned up at him. If he wanted her to say she wouldn’t do it again, he was in for a long wait.

  “I can face any danger as long as you’re safe.” He didn’t move back or forward.

  “They might not have been going at you to kill you, but you had one blade. They could have at least sliced you badly even if they do want you alive. I know you may have a problem with me coming to help you because you’re a big man and can handle anything, but that’s not me. Backing away when I can help isn’t in me. I was worried that you’d get hurt. Don’t expect me to run away while you’re fighting for your life.” She put a hand on his chest and pushed. The intimidation hadn’t worn off, but now she was getting angry.

  His jaw clenched. She knew he wanted to deny that they could have hurt him at all, but they both knew i
t was possible. Sword fights were deadly. Even in practice people got hurt.

  “I wasn’t in any danger and your sudden appearance nearly distracted me as much as it did him. That could have gotten me killed instead of him.” His hands fastened on her shoulders. “I want you to take care of yourself and put your life before mine. If you think I’m losing the fight, I want you to run. I’ll find you later, but we both know from your first encounter with these men that they won’t hesitate to try to kill you.”

  “These were different men.” She knew it was a weak protest and they probably weren’t any different from the one who’d wanted to kill her.

  His head rose and he glared down at her as if he couldn’t believe she said that. “I could make you promise to run if we meet any of the others on our way to the town, but I know when it happens, you wouldn’t remember any of that.”

  “You could make me?” She narrowed her eyes at that arrogant statement.

  His hips arched against hers in demonstration of just how he thought he could convince her to say what he wanted. She rolled her eyes. Leave it to a man to think that good sex was a way to end an argument.

  “I could make you.” His hips rolled against hers and his lips turned up in a very confident smile.

  “My saying whatever words you wanted wouldn’t change anything except to make me angry. I’d still do what I thought was right and leaving you if I thought I could help won’t ever seem right.” She shook her head. She fully expected that statement to cause another argument.

  “You were lucky tonight. They didn’t try to use you to get me to cooperate. I don’t think we’ll be that lucky again. If one of them tries to grab you, I want you to run if you can. It will give me time to take care of whoever is coming at me. You’ll help me that way.”