by Cassi Carver
“So it was like a last resort? A failsafe?”
“Yes. A very effective one.”
“Hmm…” She scanned the field again, pushing aside her concern for how Julian was dealing with the news that Gavin and Kara had made love. She didn’t regret her time with Gavin in the least, but she missed Julian terribly. The whole thing was a mind-boggling mess. “So what are your plans?”
“Abbey is being difficult about the battle. No doubt, my peace at home is dependent on whether or not I train tonight. So…how about if you and I go a few rounds? That way training with the men becomes spending time with my good friend Kara.” Jaxon clapped her on the arm, and his grin reminded her of a teen who’d successfully snuck the keys to his dad’s convertible.
Kara chuckled through her still-protruding fangs. “Let’s go spend some quality time together, Jaxy.”
They walked to a section of the training ground where they didn’t think they would get in anyone’s way. Jaxon selected a sword from the rack for himself and held one up for Kara to see. “This one?”
She frowned. She couldn’t compete with these men when it came to strength. It would come down to her speed. “Anything smaller? I like it long, but not too wide.”
Jaxon chortled. “And here I thought girth was what mattered.”
Kara smiled and shook her head. “Sexual harassment in the workplace. Lovely. The smaller one, please. I’m woman enough to ask for what I want and not be ashamed when I get it.”
Jaxon tossed the sword to Kara and she caught it easily by the hilt. She did a few practice swings, getting the feel of it. “Rules?”
“How hard do you want to go?”
Kara grinned. “Don’t kill me. Other than that—show me what you got, harem boy.”
Jaxon made a slow circle around Kara. “Harem boy? She tries to provoke me?”
“Yeah, would you suggest that in the battle? Think it helps to get inside your opponent’s head?”
“Absolutely. Stick to your mama jokes. Demiáre are very sensitive about their mothers, and the Aniliáre never had a mother, which somehow makes the joke twice as hurtful.”
Kara snorted then did quick sidestep when Jaxon thrust his blade out. “So what type of weapons do you think Brakken’s men will use?”
When she saw an opening, Kara lunged, stepping forward with her left leg while her right straightened behind her. Jaxon spun and met her blow with one of his own.
“I’m not sure,” he answered, and they were both straining, their blades locked together. His strength was throwing off the angle of her sword, but whoever broke contact first would be giving the other a chance to strike.
“There is no one in the Shadowland who can match Brakken’s bow skills,” he continued, “and he prides himself on having warriors trained in archery as well. Of course, these won’t be your average human arrows, but on the bright side, it still takes a hell of a lot of arrows to decapitate a silver-wing. The ones you really need to watch out for are anything launched by Brakken himself.”
Kara’s fangs were fully extended now, and her long red claws were coming dangerously close to throwing off her grip. When her arm started to quiver, she twirled with superhuman speed to get out of the way of Jaxon’s next strike.
“You can decapitate a person with arrows?” she asked, breathing harder and moving faster. Jaxon was respecting her enough to treat her as an equal and not take it easy on her. When they clashed swords so hard it rang through Kara’s arm and into her skull, she had to remind herself that his full effort was a good thing.
He eyed her hand, as though trying to predict her next move. “Yes, you can decapitate a demibreed or a silver-wing with arrows, but it’s not a fast or easy death.”
“Ick.” Kara grunted, bringing her blade down hard on Jaxon’s. They exchanged a few heavy blows, metal ringing against metal, and then they danced back a few steps, both reassessing the other’s vulnerabilities. “What do you think my greatest weakness will be?”
Suddenly, Jaxon was gone, and a fraction of a second later, something as large as a boot struck her in the spine—hell, since she wasn’t skewered and bleeding, it probably was his boot. She went down in an explosion of pain, rolling into a somersault and coming back up on her feet in an awkward crouch.
“That is your greatest weakness,” Jaxon told her. “It’s not that our women aren’t tough, Kara. Many have some very fine gifts. But you are as vulnerable as a demibreed if you can’t flash.”
“Shiiit.” She coughed and sputtered, and her upper back felt like it was literally broken into three pieces, exactly where it had hurt after her run-in with the Sanctiáre. She crouched on the balls of her feet, but it was all she could do not to roll into a ball.
“Kara?” Jaxon rushed forward. “Did I hurt you?”
Kara used the tip of her sword to tangle his up and flip it from his grip. The sword went flying into two other warriors’ training space. “Screw you, Jaxon. I can handle a little kick or two. Don’t treat me like a hothouse flower that’s gonna wilt if you touch it.”
She surged to her feet, and had to swallow back a mouthful of blood that seemed to well up from her lungs. Her claws had already been extended, but they felt different now, like literally itching to sink into her opponent, and her father’s ring was warm against her fingers. The words tear and rend came to mind, but Jaxon was one of her best friends. What in the hell was wrong with her?
Jaxon didn’t go after his sword. “I don’t care what type of sturdy, stubborn flower you are—I’m done. Abbey and I have calculated that we have approximately twenty-seven thousand, three hundred seventy-five nights left together. I’m not going to spend one of those on the couch because I hurt you.”
“Hey, Hex! You dropped your sword,” another warrior called, and he and his buddy who had been sparring together walked to Jaxon and handed him his weapon. “How about two on two? Are you and Lady Kara up for it?”
“No, I’m finished,” Jaxon answered.
Kara practically limped to him, but with every step, she was feeling stronger. And it wasn’t even that she was healing that fast, it was as if her body was taking it to another level where nothing mattered but to attack and defeat. “Don’t you dare wimp out on me,” she whispered by his ear. “Remember the day I chose you and saved you from humiliation? Well, it’s payback time. I need to show these island assholes that I’m more than just a baby-booty-knitting damsel in distress.”
Jaxon shook his head. “Look at the other ladies on the sidelines, Kara, watching as if this were a tennis match. You are the only Mercury female who would even consider fighting alongside the men. A booty-knitter you are not.”
“Great! I’m glad we agree,” she replied, then she turned her gaze to the men. “We accept. And here are the rules, gentlemen: don’t get killed.”
She might later wonder if Jaxon appreciated her approach, but in that instant, Jaxon barely had time to lift his sword before the other silver-wing attacked.
The second was a dark-haired man who wore his hair so closely cut, it looked like his scalp had a five-o’clock shadow. He sneered at Kara as he circled with his sword. “Since the day I saw you, lady, I was hoping for some action. Let’s start with this and see where it leads.”
Kara bared her fangs and snarled. “It may lead you to the infirmary.”
He laughed and lunged with lightning-fast reflexes, but Kara was faster, a true blur when she sidestepped his attack and brought the hilt of her sword down on his stubbly skull. He darted back and his scalp was bleeding, just a small trickle down the side of his face and into his ear. It looked disturbingly delicious.
“Ah…so the bitch bites.”
Kara smiled. “Yep. And this bitch is hungry, pup. I’d roll over and submit before you get neutered.”
He laughed, and when he disappeared before her eyes, she didn’t even waste time to stop and ponder where he’d appear next. She spun and thrust—plunging her sword straight through his middle.
The wa
rrior made a strange coughing-moaning sound, bringing his hand to his gut when Kara pulled the blade free.
“Oh, shit.” She dropped to her knees beside the man, and Jaxon and his sparring partner jogged to their side.
“Kara, what happened?” Jaxon asked, but he didn’t sound as angry or judgmental as Kara would have thought.
“Healers!” the man’s friend called out. “We need a stretcher here!”
But the wounded silver-wing stood and spat blood. “To the Abyss with a stretcher! I can walk.”
“You’ll be out of the battle now, for sure,” his friend said.
The injured warrior uttered what sounded like curses in a language Kara had never heard and began to amble toward the sidelines of the training area. “I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean it,” she called to his back.
He turned and gave her a wicked wink over his shoulder. “You are a worthy female, Lady K. Maybe next time I can do the spearing.”
“Ugg,” she groaned. Nasty. That’s what the normal part of her brain said, but there was something so, so wrong with her. The fangy part was getting a thrill out of the blood and violence. Abbey had called it a fang erection, and judging from Kara’s skin, which was rapidly beading with moisture, and her throbbing, desperate eyeteeth and claws—that was a fairly apt term.
Gavin came to a hard landing just three feet in front of Kara, and the whoosh of his wings blew her hair back. “What in the name of the Maker just happened?”
“He…uh…”
“Are you hurt?”
“Not exactly.”
Jaxon tilted his head back and scrubbed his hands across his eyes. “How did I ever endure life with these volatile females? Give me a witch any day.”
“Hey!” Kara protested, ready to literally claw that look right off his face. Breathe, Kara. This isn’t like you. Meat. That’s what she needed. “Gavin. I need a breather. And a snack.”
Liel materialized near them. “The scouts are back. They estimate we have three hours before we fly. Can I tell the men?”
Gavin nodded. “Do it. I’ve already prepared the silver-wings for what to expect, and the demibreeds are ready to defend the island and our females.”
Liel smiled and slapped Gavin on the shoulder. “Yes, my lord. They are ready, and so are we. This will be a great night in our history. This puts even the Great Black-wing Blood Battle to shame.”
“That it does.” Gavin glanced at Kara and frowned. “I need to look after Lady Kara. I won’t be long.” Liel bowed and flashed.
Gavin put the back of his hand to Kara’s forehead. “You’re still ill, princess. If you won’t consider staying on the island, then you need to rest and replenish your strength.”
When he wrapped his arms around her, ready to flash, she went up on her tiptoes and pressed her cheek to the warm, fragrant skin of his neck. “I just need some meat.” She set her fangs to his throat. “But I’ll settle for you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kara bit down just as they materialized in the tropical forest outside the palace. The rush of Gavin’s blood hit her taste buds like pure nirvana.
“Kara!” He pushed back, startled, but she drew hard on the wound, her neck craning to stay connected as he was setting her from him. He brought his hand away from his neck, his fingers bloody. “What’s the matter with you?”
She growled. With the taste of Gavin’s essence on her tongue, nothing was the matter at all. She felt strong. She felt right. Everything felt right.
She thrust her body toward his and wrapped her hands behind his neck, clinging tight. As she lapped at the wound, soothing it with her tongue, her knee hitched against his hip and she ground her pussy against him. He wasn’t even hard yet. But he would be. She growled in his ear and nipped his earlobe, running her tongue over the silky-soft skin.
“What’s gotten into you?” he asked again, but when her hand went to his crotch, his nostrils flared, and he pressed his hand over hers. “You need this?”
Her mind skipped back to when he’d asked that same question so many months ago, back when he wasn’t willing to follow through. But he was her lover now. Now she could take him.
With a sound like a broken purr, she smashed her body against his, thrusting her tongue into his mouth and clutching her legs around his lower back.
“Gently,” he rasped, using his hand to loosen the viselike grip of Kara’s legs around his waist. “You understand that this isn’t like you, don’t you? You’re not a violent woman.”
She licked the tips of her fangs. “I’m a violent woman today. Can you handle it, Gavine?”
He surveyed her face, still seeming to grapple with something. “If you need it—I can handle it.”
Forgetting the remnants of pain in her back, Kara released him and shucked her clothing faster than she’d ever moved. Gavin’s eyes went wide with surprise, but she didn’t give him time to ponder. Her hands flew to his pants, untying the strings of his buckskin and peeling it from his legs to leave him standing nude in the jungle, more than six-and-a-half feet of hard, raw male.
His muscled thighs were huge and dusted with hair so blond it was like thin gold wires on his skin. And where his massive cock stood away from his body, there was another nest of golden hair. After all the months she’d wanted him, she couldn’t believe she was about to have him again.
The growl in her throat was almost unnatural as she leaped at him, clutching him tight and latching onto his neck as she slid down his stomach and used her hand to guide his thick shaft into her hungry body.
Between the taste of him and the feel of him filling her, Kara couldn’t help her moan. It was too soon to have an orgasm, and yet, the rhythmic pulsing of her pussy around his hard cock told her it was coming. She seated herself deeper on him and cried out, having to release his neck to shout her completion.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
One lip turned up in a snarl. “Not even close,” she answered.
With a laugh that morphed into a growl, Gavin turned her back to the smooth trunk of the tree and used it as a wall to pump into her harder. His hands under her ass moved her just how she needed it, and with every strong thrust, he ground against her, bringing the flesh above his cock ramming into her clit. Before she could stop herself, she cried out again.
Her pussy spasmed, and a rush of her wetness coated them both. She felt frantic, unwilling to let the orgasm stop. She sank her claws into his backside and gripped him tighter, riding him hard. But when she went for his neck, one of his hands left her ass to tangle in her hair and hold her away. “No more blood. Do you understand?”
She closed her eyes to block him out, and lifted up just to drop herself on his shaft again. Her orgasms should have left her satisfied, but she felt desperate instead. Frantically bobbing up and down on his perfect erection. “Hard.”
He lifted her away from the tree and laid her down on a patch of short grasses and decaying leaves. With the ground under her, he thrust his hips and rode her hard, capturing her scalp in both hands to hold her in place. “Is this hard enough for you?”
Kara moaned, her clit so swollen it almost hurt. “Harder.”
Gavin pulled out almost completely then rammed his cock back home. “Like that?”
Kara only growled in response, licking her lips for the last remnants of Gavin’s essence.
Probably taking that for a yes, Gavin kissed her, breathing out as Kara breathed in, sharing her air. Seated deep within her, he ground his pelvis against hers, as if unwilling to pull out again. “Forever, Kara. That’s how long I will want you in my life. Forever.”
Feeling his love, thinking past her blood-induced stupor, Kara pulled him closer until her bare, sweaty breasts rubbed against his chest. “Forever, Gavin. That’s how long I’ll love you.”
His breathing changed. Deeper and more guttural were the sounds he made as he lost himself in her. She knew he was going to come, and she wanted him to. Wanted Gavin in every way possible. His seed, his blo
od, his life and his love. Forever.
Kara cried out as he groaned and thrust deep, then held. She felt his life force flowing into her, actually felt it, like an explosion of energy deep in her being. And with the invasion of his purity and love, the last flame of her anger and aggression sputtered out…and Kara with it.
“Kara,” Aiden prodded. “Wake up.”
She gasped and shot into sitting position, yanking the sheet further up her bare body. “Huh?”
“Fuck.” Aiden stood and took a deep breath. “I’m glad you decided to join the living—again.”
Kara looked around. They were back in Gavin’s room, but he was nowhere in sight. “Where’s Gavin?”
“He’s where he needs to be, preparing the invasion against Brakken’s army. He’s gone to sort out the final details with Julian, and the silver-winged warriors have started a steady trickle into the Shadowland, so the energy levels don’t shift too abruptly. They’re amassing in the Land of Desolation, near Julian’s ‘kingdom’.”
“Without me?”
“You’ve been passed out for the last four hours, Kara. Gavin already missed the window of when the invasion was to begin. He was sick with worry for you! And why, I ask myself—why, in the name of all that is holy—do we need to be worrying over Kara Reed when there is so much more at stake happening in the world?”
Kara was speechless. Had she really thrown off the battle plans with a post-coitus snooze?
“Is it true? Did you take Gavin’s blood?”
“I only took a little.”
“You shouldn’t have taken any! Females don’t imbibe blood. What the hell happened to you on that mountain? You fail to get the feather but come back a bloodthirsty hellion?”
“It’s not a big deal. I’m better now. I can accompany Gavin to the battle.”
“Hell no! You’re not going to distract him at the time he most needs to focus. You did your part. You convinced Mazeki to help Julian, and Julian is doing better with his gifts than we ever imagined. Now you will wait here, in this very room, and not move a muscle, until we return.”