Wrapping both large warm hands around her hand that held the reins, Borna squeezed gently. A taste of his heartfelt energy cascaded through her body. A golden melting sensation lit Danae’s heart, flowing down to her very core.
His luminous eyes plunged deep into hers with a look so open, so vulnerable – Please. I need you. Only you.
Danae was stunned. Beguiled. Pierced by that one look. This look came with a shocking sense of recognition. As if a beloved friend had returned. At long last. She repressed an intoxicating urge to run away – laughing.
She nodded acquiescence and approached Soma’s left shoulder. The stallion shifted his feet, and arched his neck. The horse was excited at the close proximity of the herd.
Borna had ridden the stallion bareback, a good thing because she could not leave Zargon’s valuable tack behind. She had intended to catch a quiet gelding to ride home.
“Do you think Zargon’s saddle will fit him?” She pointed at the saddle lying on the grass. “I can’t leave it here.”
“I think so.” Borna quickly tacked Soma up, but left his own bridle on. “I will carry your bridle.” He slung it over his shoulder. “Here you go.” He cupped his hands to make a stirrup for her.
She put her left foot in his hand and he bounced her effortlessly up onto the stallion’s back. She let Soma prance then canter softly around them.
“Ah, for such a big horse he is very athletic and so comfortable.”
“Aye. Soma is like me.” Borna flashed her a provocative smile.
They rode back to the camp with Borna running along behind. The black stallion was brimming with energy and Danae let him into a relaxed canter. She glanced over her shoulder to see the Vukari easily pacing them on his long muscled legs.
He laughed at her shocked look, then threw back his head and howled as if calling his pack. From behind the hills an answering howl shimmered in ululating waves.
An uneasy chill raced through Danae’s spine. An image flitted through her mind of Vukari sorcerers gifted with the power of changing shape, running wild across the plains in search of prey. Can I trust this powerful wolf man from secretive Neuria?
Upon reaching Skopasis’ yurt, they put all the horses except Soma in the corral and threw them some hay. Holding hands, bodies swaying in unison, Sava and Sorsha started to walk away. Brata also disappeared, headed back to the feast to find Toxaris. That left Danae with Borna. Alone together.
“Sava - Are you leaving?” Danae called out, edgy about being left with the formidable Vukari.
“We are going down to the river.” Sava threw back over his shoulder. “Don’t worry little sister, Borna doesn’t bite, hard.”
Her brother’s laugh echoed in her ears as the couple disappeared into the night. No one was around, the feast was still going strong. Still astride Soma, Danae assessed her situation. She felt more secure on the stallion’s back. That way if the Vukari got too aggressive she could make a quick getaway. She hoped.
But she did not have long to plan her escape. Her eyes were drawn inexorably to Borna’s smoldering gaze as he prowled toward her, moving with the intense, focused grace of a practiced hunter.
The man radiated charismatic lust. And then there he was, standing right next to the stallion’s shoulder. He placed his left hand on the horse’s arched neck, his right hand on Soma’s back, effectively caging her.
Do you fear me? She read his questioning look as if he spoke aloud.
Borna gazed up into Danae’s blue eyes with the intense regard of a dominant male. She returned his mesmerizing stare and then… the rest of the world seemed to fall away.
The music and ribald laughter coming from the feast slid away to some forgotten realm. A profound silence descended. A warm scented wind blew. Not steadily but in waves, like an inland sea. An inner ocean, a free flowing lover’s breath.
“What do you want Danae?” Borna leaned in, too close. His hot torso lightly pressed her thigh. “Ever since your brother told me about you, I have longed to meet you. Tell me - How can I please you?”
How can you PLEASE me? I can think of many ways. Gazing full into those luminous, probing eyes she glimpsed a genuine sincerity there.
A wild thought flitted through her mind. One she dared not say aloud. Touch me. I want to feel your warm fingers slide up my thigh, all the way to my woman’s mound.
As if he heard her, Borna’s eyes took on an added glow. His gaze locked on hers, he placed his large warm hand on her thigh. Slowly his fingertips slid up to her core where his thumb traced gentle circles over her sweet spot. A tingling pulse there increased to throbbing pleasure as her yoni came alive to his touch.
“Is this what you want? Hmmh?” He hummed.
Aye. More. Touch me THERE. She spoke with her eyes. With the arching and flexing of her body.
As if unveiling a sacred treasure he slowly raised her skirt. His warm callused hand drifted over her bare thigh. Tingling flames spread to her core. His sensual fingers lightly rubbing, caressing her yoni over the short pants she wore under her skirt.
His thumb found her pearl of desire. Circled it. Squeezed lightly. Danae’s eyes fell closed. Her back arched. A soft humming purr came from somewhere within her.
“Is this what you like Danae? Hmmh?” Borna rasped, basking in her enjoyment. A shameless grin played across his face, sparking those glowing eyes.
Can he hear my secret thoughts?
The Vukari’s subtle, mind-bending assault on her senses was coming on too fast. He sought to beguile her with his stunning touch, his luminous kako mati eyes and the mesmerizing timbre of his voice.
She found herself becoming rapidly ensnared by his charms. Somehow he had enthralled her. Repressed her anxieties until all she could do was feel Him.
“Aye that’s it. Just Feel me.” Borna rumbled.
Placing both large hands on her hips, he bent his head reverently over her throbbing yoni. Nostrils flaring he inhaled her musky scent, kissed and blew warm air on her mound. Essential breath full of tenderness and passion. Warm breath that permeated the thin layer of cloth separating her pulsing sweet spot from his lips.
“Ahh… the scent of you… sets me on fire.” His eyes flickered up to hers and she saw an expression of awe there. As if she had offered him an invaluable gift. A treasure beyond compare.
Pressing sculpted lips to her pulsing pearl, the Vukari prince began to blow, kiss and massage the sensitive bud with lips and tongue. He blew airy fire through the cloth to melt that throbbing place between Danae’s thighs.
The wolf prince cupped his large warm palm over her mound. It emitted a heat that seared through the thin material. At the same time he fixed mesmerizing, light reflective eyes on hers and plunged into her soul.
Chapter 30 – This I Revere
A rose in full bloom was tucked
Between her breasts
She glided towards me
And kissed me firmly.
She wove some roses
Into a garland for my head
And sprinkled the bed
With the petals of the rest -
Apuleius, The Golden Ass
Borna pressed another warm, melting kiss to Danae’s yoni. ““I don’t just like this, I Revere it. This is sacred to me. All blessings flow from here. Sublime pleasure flows from here. This is the fount of new life.”
And he kissed her yoni again with a deep, hot, clinging tenderness. An unspoken promise of much more to come.
Mata Drakaina…What have you brought me from far away Neuria? Danae’s fingers sank into his black hair, grinding his lips against her throbbing mound. Her senses swimming in a daze of lust-filled intoxication.
Moving with deliberation as if each movement was part of a pre-ordained dance, the Neuri prince gently took Soma’s reins from her hand and tied them to a post. He transfixed her with glimmering wolf eyes.
“I burn to give you pleasure in my embrace Danae.” Her name rolled off his tongue. “Will you let me?” He pressed his le
an hot body against her thigh, then bent to plant another hot moist kiss on her pulsating core.
When she did not respond, he added – “Don’t worry, I will not take your maidenhood. Are you still a maiden?”
“Aye.”
“Swing your leg over Soma’s neck to face me,” he touched her opposite thigh. “Wrap your legs around my waist.”
Sliding off the horse and onto his muscular, supporting arms, Danae lashed her legs around his middle, her arms around his neck. She liked this position of looking down at his moonlight-carved face. She kissed his eyes, then his warm giving lips.
Lifting his wolf headdress she dropped it to the ground and fisted a hand in his long black hair, arching his neck back. He complied easily, flexible in her hands. Now she felt more in control.
Slanting her lips over his partly opened mouth, she tongued him in a passionate, sucking kiss.
Hmmh, Borna groaned, pulsating with need as his tongue met hers, alternately stroking, twining and sucking. She pressed against him, soaking up the radiant heat of his naked chest in the cool, breezy night.
He released a low growl and molded her body to him, sensuously grinding her core against his turgid arousal.
“You don’t know how I have waited for this Danae. Dreamed of this moment.”
His hand slid under her skirt. Rippling waves of pleasure streamed through her nerves as his thumb pressed her sensitive anus and his fingers caressed her nether lips while he ground her pearl against his stiff bulge.
“Ah. I am here for you. Whatever you want…You have only to think it…Is this good My Heart? Hmmm? Is this what you want?” He hummed, warm breath tickling her ear.
Danae could not help releasing a soft moan. She definitely wanted more of this. Her legs coiled tighter around his waist in response.
A shudder convulsed Borna’s body. His cock was hard and aching, ready to explode just standing there rubbing himself against her core.
Ah… oh… His body began a slow deep pant. She responded, panting in rhythm with him. Senses saturated with overpowering lust his beast howled, craving, nay demanding - More.
Somehow his rational mind hung on. Not yet. I need her trust. She must come to me of her own will. Want me above all others.
With a huge effort Borna forced himself to let Danae slide down to the ground. Winding a fist in her long mahogany hair he pulled her head back and bent to drink from her soft full lips. A thrill shot through his body.
She groaned as he cupped her breast, rolling and pinching the nipple. Ahhh… she hissed a long sigh.
Still holding her in the warm circle of his arms, Borna heard himself croak in a voice husky with repressed desire: “Want to see what Soma can do? I trained him to defend at close range in battle.”
Soma’s moves were actually the last thing he wanted to show Danae right now. But he had to distract his ravenous beast before he dragged her into the grove next to the horse pen and had his wicked way with her.
What?!? Stunned by his sudden change of focus, Danae did not answer immediately. In fact she had forgotten all about the black stallion. What she really wanted was more of Him.
“Show me.” She finally murmured. If you must.
Mesmerized by the profound magnetism between them, Danae would have allowed the Vukari prince anything. Watching him ride Soma was the last thing on her mind. Borna’s change of tactics threw her off balance.
Feeling the chill of loss, she watched as Borna vaulted onto Soma’s back and put the black stallion through his paces, the collected trot in place, the spins, kicks, leaps and rears. At the end he dropped the reins and looked down, studying her with glowing eyes.
“When I marry I will gift Soma to my wife.”
“Your wife will be a fortunate woman to have such a generous and loving husband.”
He nodded, saying nothing. The very air crackled from the powerful current arcing between them. He both taunted and tempted her with his radiant body, those luminous wolf eyes. His sensual lips curved in a slow smile, white teeth glinting in the moon light as he turned the horse to leave.
“Good night My Heart.”
“Will I see you tomorrow?” She found herself asking, the balance of power now shifted, her voice tremulous, wanting.
“Aye. Tomorrow night after the war council. I will find you.” His body hard and on fire, Borna turned the stallion and rode away.
Danae was left standing there just the way he wanted her, in a surprised and smitten state of anticipation and arousal. Controlling his intense lust for her was Borna’s way of proving that his intentions were sincere. To see and hold Danae tomorrow without acting on his virile instincts would be an even more difficult test.
And there was Voivode Skopasis to consider. He had been able to secure this first private interlude with Danae because her parents were still at the feast.
Tomorrow night he would have to be more careful until he found out whether Danae truly wanted him. Only him. Then he would make his intentions known to Skopasis.
Chapter 31 – Messages of the Spirit
Not often nor regularly
But occasionally and fortuitously,
The room is filled with a fragrance,
A breeze as if the inner shrine
Were sending forth essences
Of the sweetest,
Most expensive perfumes -
Plutarch, Priest at Oracle of Delphi, Moralia 437c
“Brata - I fear what may happen at the war council tomorrow. I know you crave revenge, but I beseech you - Do not let them lure you into revealing yourself. You must remain hidden. Invisible. If you show yourself at the war council the Black Cloaks will take you back to the Dark House. I could not bear to lose you.” Toxaris whispered in Brata’s ear as she lay in his embrace that night.
Jaw clenched, Brata rolled onto his back and stared up into the darkness. Toxaris `heard’ his bitter contempt – `Messengers of the gods’ – Hah. Those arrogant ennerei butchers. It is time someone taught them a lesson.
“Brata, there is a saying – One who seeks revenge should first dig two graves.”
But he was adamant. I will have justice. If the gods won’t give it, then I will TAKE it.
“Please Brata - I implore you, stop nursing this bitter rancor. If you kill Koldun, your Black Cloak brethren will hunt you down. And in the end those bloodsuckers will have the last laugh.”
His gaze remained fixed upward. Toxaris knew he was plotting, locked into another time, another place. Dreaming of how he would kill the high sorcerer.
If only her words, her warm arms, her love could pull him back from the edge. Back to heart-beating, vibrating Life. But she could not sway Brata’s implacable demand for justice. In her heart she feared a deadly confrontation was coming...
Hand in hand, bodies swaying in unison, Sava and Sorsha walked down to the Tanais riverbank. The moon was at its zenith in the sky. A cool wind blew off the water. The rhythm of lightly lapping waves was peaceful, eternal.
Sava leaned against a large boulder and drew Sorsha’s warm curvy body snug against his hungry aroused flesh.
She wore a sleeveless vest with leggings and boots. The low cut of her vest revealed the upper globes of round breasts. Her golden skin, sleek as a panther’s pelt, invited his caress. Gazing into each other’s eyes, they kissed, hot, wet tongues twining, sucking.
Molten passion rippled through Sava’s veins. He cupped her ass cheeks. Pulling them apart, he drew her firmly against him, grinding his erection against her core.
Ahhh…Mmmh… He groaned low, husky. “Long have I have waited for this moment with you Sorsha.”
Lifting her right leg up to curve around his thigh, Sava reached under to massage her sweet throbbing cleft as they kissed. She coiled herself around him, sensuous as the great Drakaina.
Looping her long black hair tight in his hand, he pulled her head back and placed his lips under the lobe of her ear, dropping tender kisses down her neck. Dipping a finger into her snug vest, he
pulled out a nipple and sucked on it, tweaking and nipping lightly.
“Mmmm, for this privilege alone I would give my blood.” His voice hoarse.
“Take me with you Sava. Wherever you go, I will ride by your side. Fight by your side. After the war ends, we can marry.”
He pulled back. “After the war ends? That could take years, assuming we survive. For you and I to sleep side by side without mating?” He shook his head. “Not possible. Not the way you make me feel. Not the way I want you. We Sauromatae are very fertile. I will not get you with child in the middle of a war.”
“I would die for the honor of protecting you Sava.”
Nay. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He held her close, inhaling her warm sweet scent.
“There are ways to avoid a babe My Lord.”
“But the temptation –” He grasped her hand and pressed it to the hard shaft between his legs. “You will be a distraction. I will be constantly looking out for you. People get killed that way.”
“As I will worry for you. But I will be always watching your back. You will see Adoni. Please, don’t fight our destiny. Let me stay with you, or we may never see each other again.”
Sava’s ominous dream of the White Mare came to mind. He had let the White Mare go, assuming he could always find her again. Could always come back to her. Until life ran away with him and the White Mare disappeared forever.
Sorsha would not be the only woman warrior fighting in the Sauromatian light cavalry. There would be thousands of young Skythian and Sauromatian women in the alliance forces. Women were excellent archers and riders, very useful in a war of cavalry maneuvers and surprise attacks.
But he just could not risk taking her on the arduous journey to unknown Sogdiana, or in battle against the vast Persian army. She will be safer in Taurica. King Yagya will not join the alliance.
Even so, the war would inevitably come to Taurica. Darius would demand submission from all the tribes. What if Sorsha was killed in Taurica where he could not protect her?
Wine God's Sorcery: The Horse Lords Page 16