*****
Gorzo stroked the pale skin of his concubine as she lay languidly beside him. He couldn’t get enough of touching her, exploring her body, learning the feel and the taste of her. Being with her was better than he’d hoped it would be. Though she’d been guarded, she’d responded to his touch with eagerness. She’d wanted him, and it had showed in how fast her body made ready for his claim.
She curled against his chest as his hand trailed down to her flat stomach. He traced the path of one of the silvery scars that marked her lower abdomen. They weren’t raised like they had been actual cuts in her skin. He knew that humans scarred very easily. Umbrose only scarred from adurian-crafted weapons or weapons made of light. His facial scars had been made with a crystal from a shattered Heart of the Father.
He wondered what these scars were from. He was about to ask when she tensed, grabbing his hand and stilling his movement.
“Don’t.”
He sat up, bracing himself on one elbow to look down at her beautiful face. Her eyes, which had been drifting closed after their lovemaking, were now wide, the soft gray of them darkened by some emotion he couldn’t name.
“They cause you pain?” He pulled his hand away from the markings, afraid he’d inadvertently hurt her.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She rolled onto her side, turning her back to him as she pulled her legs up to her chest.
“Do they hurt you?” Though her back was a clear sign that she was rejecting him, and that wounded him, he wouldn’t allow her to ignore this question. He had a responsibility to her. Seeing to her safety and comfort was part of his claim, but it was also more than that. He wanted to protect her with everything in his being.
“Not anymore.” Her words were clipped, abrupt, as if she was angry that he wouldn’t just let it drop.
Her anger sparked an answering ire in Gorzo. After the intimacy they’d shared, she should be opening up to him, not growing more distant. There was no need for this stubbornness. “What caused them?”
She made an impatient hissing sound and rolled off the bed, jumping to her feet and searching out the tattered remains of her dress. “I said I don’t want to talk about it! I realize we’re communicating through a translator, but it should be pretty damn clear to you how I feel at this point!” Realizing the dress wasn’t going to cover anything, she wrapped the shreds around her waist, casting a glare in his direction.
Gorzo rose to his feet, stalking Jessa even as he whispered a summons for his servant ordering that her personal belongings be delivered. The translator didn’t pick up his softly spoken words, nor did Jessa seem to notice them as she wrestled with the pointless rags he’d made of her clothing. He should feel shame at that, but he felt only further arousal watching her nearly naked body shifting with her movements. Still, his irritation at her anger persisted. “The problem is that we aren’t communicating. I desire you, Jessa. That much is obvious.” He pointed to his straining erection. “But I don’t want to share my bed with a stranger forever. I want to know about you. I’ve answered your questions. Do you think it’s unreasonable that I have my own?” He stood in front of her, debating whether he should simply snatch away the fabric she kept fidgeting with since he found it annoying. There was no need for her to hide her body from him.
Jessa turned her back on him, revealing flawless pale skin, unmarred by anything other than little spots that he’d been told were called freckles. The scars were only on her lower abdomen. “I’ll tell you about myself. I’ll answer your questions, but only if you respect that some things are off-limits.”
It wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Nothing should be off-limits between them, but he had to concede that this was still very new to both of them. Though they’d rushed in their lovemaking, they still had time to get to know each other. There was no reason he should expect all the answers about the mystery that was Jessa within the first few days of their relationship. He could drop this subject and give her time to learn to trust him. “I’ll respect your wishes on that.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently urged her to turn around. When she did, he pulled her close in an embrace, closing her tight against him with his wings. “We have time, Schodecora. I apologize for pushing you.”
As he held her against his chest, he felt something damp against his skin. Someday, she will tell me why those scars make her cry.
Chapter 11
Jessa had never felt happier in her entire life. She was actually having fun, and fun had been a rare thing for her to experience before meeting Gorzo.
After their intimacy, she’d feared there would be awkwardness between them. Instead, it had the exact opposite effect. They were now more relaxed in each other’s company, though it was difficult for her not to touch him at every opportunity and—given that his hands were rarely away from her body—he must have felt the same way. Still, they managed to get some things accomplished during the first day other than spend it entirely in bed as Jessa would have preferred.
Buying décor for Gorzo’s room took the longest time because he insisted she check every shop in the sprawling market before making her selections. He wanted to know what her tastes were and didn’t want her to simply settle for the first thing they saw, which was what she’d intended to do because she knew she wasn’t going to be there for that long.
That thought plagued her throughout their shopping trip as she stocked up on things that were supposed to adorn her home, but would only remain as a reminder to Gorzo of her betrayal.
Fortunately, she was distracted enough by her desire for Gorzo that she was eventually able to push away her unhappy thoughts and get into the spirit of the experience. Once she did that, she had a blast.
Originally, she’d felt hesitant to choose items that were too pricey, but Gorzo insisted she spend lavishly. It seemed that the austerity of his quarters was a result of his disinterest in decorating rather than from a lack of funds.
The furniture on display was beautiful. All handmade and carved from woods grown in the surrounding jungle or stone quarried from the area. Less appealing was the presence of staring shopkeepers and gawking shoppers. It seemed that even though both Lady Lilith and Princess Stacia Dornan had been living in Sanctuary for a while, the umbrose were still not used to dealing directly with humans.
There weren’t any protesters here, but Jessa got the impression that only the draconian laws she’d been warned about kept her safe. Then she glanced at Gorzo, noting the way he eyed the other umbrose, and recognized that laws had nothing to do with it. He would kill to protect her. That was both terrifying and exciting.
Some of the stares and sideways glances were not directed at her, but rather at Gorzo. At first, Jessa thought it was because he was in the company of a human, but then she recalled what had happened at the mixer where she’d first met Gorzo. The umbrose treated him differently.
“Does it bother you?” She hadn’t meant to ask that thought aloud during one particularly obvious incident where the shopkeeper of the furniture store they were in deliberately avoided being in proximity to them.
Gorzo didn’t have to ask what she meant. “Their ignorance doesn’t bother me. Their insolence remains beneath my notice. However, if they bother you, let me know.” His expression was fierce as he sought out the shopkeeper practically hiding behind a massive chest of drawers.
Jessa regretted her question. She was only drawing attention to the fact that he was considered different. Although she’d always felt out of place among her fellow humans, most people hadn’t treated her that way. At least, not until they got to know her better and decided she simply wasn’t cheerful and charismatic enough to keep them around. “We can go somewhere else.” Some of the other shopkeepers had been more welcoming, despite the discomfort that had been obvious in their body language. It seemed that entrepreneurship trumped bigotry most of the time.
Gorzo smiled down at her, revealing his large canines. “If you’re unhappy with their products or service, w
e’ll leave, but don’t do so on my account. Running away from people like this solves nothing.”
Jessa shook her head. “I’m not going to patronize a shop where we’re not welcome. They don’t deserve your money. Let’s leave.” She spoke loud enough for the shopkeeper, but her translator only operated at normal volume, frustrating her attempt to shame the umbrose bigot.
Gorzo chuckled and took her hand, lowering his head to whisper in her ear.
This time, when she repeated the words exactly as he’d said them, the shopkeeper came rushing out to apologize for his delay in approaching them.
After his effusive apologies and a deep discount on a table-and-chairs set that had initially caught Jessa’s eye, the shopkeeper bowed multiple times on their way out the door, promising immediate delivery of the furniture to Gorzo’s quarters.
Once they were out of the store, Jessa paused and turned to Gorzo, stopping him with the slightest touch on his huge bicep. “What did I say to him?”
“You said that if this shopkeeper continues to insult you with his behavior, you’d have your champion challenge him in the arena.”
“Ah.” She grinned. “And my champion would be….”
He framed her face with his hands, brushing back a wild curl that had escaped her messy bun. “I will always be your champion. You can trust me to protect you, Jessa.”
Though the incident had put something of a damper on the shopping trip, their meal at one of the nicer restaurants in the market helped cheer Jessa up again, especially since they were seated in their own private dining room away from all the staring eyes of the other umbrose. “This food is amazing! I’ve never tasted such a variety of produce!” She helped herself to another berry that had come in a glass bowl along with their desert.
Gorzo watched her enjoy her food, barely touching his own. When she’d asked him if he wasn’t hungry, he’d replied that his appetite couldn’t be sated by the food on his plate.
Jessa caught his meaning and flushed, not for the first time cursing her pale skin.
Perhaps sensitive to her embarrassment, he changed the subject. “Most of our produce is now harvested by human laborers. It’s a strange state of affairs for the umbrose to be reliant on the humans for anything.”
Jessa recalled that the umbrose had once kept adurian slaves to work the majority of their agricultural jobs. She wasn’t clear on what had happened to them, but almost three years ago, the alliance between the Common Counsel and the umbrose opened up trade and allowed humans desperate for work to find a job in the fields outside Sanctuary, though they were never permitted within the city or beyond its boundaries. “What do you think of that? Are you resentful of the presence of humans?” Given her presence there, the answer should be obvious, but it wasn’t. He could still resent humans in general while enjoying having her around to share his bed.
Gorzo shrugged, the muscles in his chest and shoulders rippling with the movement in a way that distracted Jessa from her question so much that she’d forgotten she’d asked it when he answered. “When I was young, my tribe would travel to a common hunting ground where many tribes met each warm season. There, even adurians were welcome. We worked together as a community with a common goal, all of us preparing for the cold months when food was scarcer. The adurians hunted the prey that was active during the day and shared their meat. We hunted the prey that was active at night and shared our spoils. It worked for all of us. I will not resent people simply for being different, when we can do so much to benefit each other.”
Jessa had stopped eating, fascinated by his words. “That’s incredibly open-minded, given how much enmity exists between your people and the adurians.”
Gorzo’s heavy brows pinched in a frown. “In my land, we did not see the adurians as enemies simply because of what they were. However, things were not perfect. As I grew older, fewer tribes traveled to the common grounds. I don’t know what happened to most of them. Perhaps they simply dispersed, or maybe they died out. Eventually, there were only a few tribes left, but famine had struck. There were fewer animals, which meant less food for even the small number still hunting. Fights would break out over scraps, and we couldn’t harvest enough to last us through the cold months.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“Life is always in flux. We cannot grow too comfortable with the way things are, assuming they will always remain that way. My people stopped going to the hunting grounds too. That didn’t stop hungry raiders from coming to us.”
Jessa’s food was now completely forgotten on her plate, despite the deliciousness of the shadowberries. “What… what happened?”
His frown deepened, turning his expression into forbidding crags, unwelcoming and deadly. “The raiders were formed from the remains of several tribes. There were many faces I recognized. Many I had gotten drunk with during past warm seasons when prey was plentiful. They were gaunt and starving. They had taken to cannibalism—which is sadly not that uncommon among my people when a situation grows dire. They’d come for our utepis, but they were willing to eat us as well.”
Now she felt sick, all of the food she’d just eaten heaving in her stomach as she thought of the horror he spoke of. Cannibalism was an unforgivable sin according to the Diakonos, who used to burn cannibals alive to purge them, and though she no longer subscribed to those beliefs, she had to agree that it was a horrible crime.
Gorzo appeared oblivious to her distress, seemingly trapped within his own memories. “They killed my tribe, down to the very last spawn. All but one. They left my body behind with the rest of the warriors, not knowing that I still drew breath. They had their food in the corpses of our herd and the softer females and children.”
She grabbed his hand, which lay on the table curled into a hard fist. “Stop! Please, Gorzo! Don’t do this to yourself! I’m sorry I brought up bad memories.”
He shook himself, awareness of their surroundings spilling back into his expression as he glanced down at her hand clutching his fist. He opened his hand and turned it over to capture hers. “I apologize, Schodecora. I had believed those memories no longer wielded power over me. I was apparently wrong.” He tugged her towards him, and Jessa went willingly to curl up against his side, fitting her body against the hard planes of his as his wing curled around her. “I didn’t mean to disturb you or ruin your meal.”
Jessa rubbed her hand up and down his chest, unsure if she was soothing herself or him. After a time, touching him was no longer soothing. As heat suffused her body, she trailed her fingers down his washboard stomach to his lap, where she discovered that he was no longer soothed by her touch either. “You know, I think I need a little exercise to work off my dinner.”
Gorzo’s chuckle reassured her that his earlier mood had lifted. “And I think it’s going to be a long trip home.”
Chapter12
The trip back to his room was a long one, but only because neither of them wanted to stop touching each other enough to focus on walking. Eventually, Gorzo seemed to lose patience. He scooped Jessa up in his arms and leapt into the air.
Her first flight with Gorzo was an exhilarating one. It was probably a good thing she hadn’t been prepared for it and therefore hadn’t the time to work up her fear. She needn’t have worried. Not only was Gorzo incredibly strong, not even revealing any sign of strain carrying her in flight, but he was also quick and agile, ducking suspended walkways and diving beneath stalactites with apparent ease.
The only real problem Jessa had was that the flight was dizzying. It wasn’t the smooth, steady glide of a cruiser but rather more erratic. By the time the Trilospires came into sight, she was ready to land.
Gorzo’s landing was as effortless and as smooth as his take-off.
“Your flying ability is impressive,” she said once he’d set her back on her own two feet in the palace courtyard.
He shrugged his massive shoulders, his wings rustling as he folded them back against his body. “I’ve been flying so long that it’s second
nature to me. I don’t think. I just do.”
“It seems like you love it though. You weren’t just flying a straight line. Some of those aerial maneuvers would have been impossible in even the smallest cruiser.”
Gorzo rubbed the back of his neck. “I apologize if my flight path was too wild for you. I didn’t even consider… I don’t usually carry someone in flight, so—”
Jessa placed a hand on his forearm, sliding her fingers down to take his hand and bring it to her chest, where her heart still beat rapidly. “It was exciting! I understand why you love flying.”
A slight frown creased his brow. “It was stupid. Your first flight with me should have been a smooth one. I was showing off like a newly-fledged spawn.” He gently extracted his hand from her hold and turned away from her, shaking his head as he studied the Right Anchor where his quarters were.
Jessa suspected that they didn’t have a lot of time. The Holy Order would make their move soon enough. She didn’t want to waste a single moment of this time with Gorzo feeling regret or self-disgust. It was perfectly natural to want to show off to someone you were attracted to. She suspected words wouldn’t convince him that she didn’t hold him to blame. Instead, she slipped her arms around his waist, pressing herself against the wings folded at his back.
The tension in his body eased. His wings shifted against her cheek as his hands dropped to encircle her wrists and hold her embrace tighter against him.
Jessa rubbed her cheek against the smooth, leathery skin of his wing. “I enjoyed our flight, and I’m looking forward to doing it again, but I’ve got something else in mind for now that will keep my heartbeat elevated.”
He didn’t need any more convincing.
*****
As soon as they entered his room, he tensed again, pushing Jessa behind him as he positioned himself like a blockade between her and the chamber beyond, growling in a way that made her shiver.
Jessabelle's Beast (Shadows in Sanctuary Book 3) Page 9