“It’s been a while since they’ve seen your kind here,” he stated softly, baring his teeth when one man got too close for his liking.
“Your king banished my kind,” I muttered, dropping the cloth back into the bucket while Torrin grabbed the cloak. I frowned as he stepped forward, draping it over my shoulders. His knuckles brushed my collarbone, and I shivered, watching his eyes gradually lift to hold mine.
“So he did, but with good reason. Your kind wanted to dissect our people,” he growled, tightening the cloak with his clasp. “If you make a scene in here, I’ll make tonight really uncomfortable for you.”
“Do you intend to tie me up again?” I asked, holding his heated stare with one of my own.
Torrin wasn’t beautiful. He held the look of strength and masculine beauty around him. His eyes whispered of a dark soul, one that knew pain viscerally. It called to mine, and that created a curiosity that bothered me.
His armor hugged a body that was hard lines of strength and muscle that rippled with power so much it exuded from him. Soft-looking, feather-like black hair dusted his shoulders, loosened from the tie that held most of it back. He was taller than me by a good foot and wore his height with easy self-assurance.
The five o’clock shadow on his face looked right on him, exposing full, lush lips that promised pleasure. His teeth were clean, even, and white, unlike most men who held some yellowing from uncleanliness. This morning when he’d awoken, Torrin’s disheveled appearance had made my body heat with a need I didn’t want or understand.
He had a dominant personality and an arrogant air to him. His mannerism was confident, yet I wasn’t sure if he looked at me with disdain or hunger burning in his eyes. He was hard to get a read on, which I could usually discern in the first few minutes of assessing someone. I couldn’t get much from him, though, as if he was some persona that didn’t match up.
Torrin and I entered the tavern, and he paused to look around. There was a large crowd gathered around the long table where the rest of our group sat for dinner. Torrin grabbed my hand, intertwining his fingers through mine, then stared down at our hands, where tingling started from his touch.
A dazed expression dominated his features, and then wintery eyes lifted to mine, narrowing to curious slits. His voice was low, echoing in my ears, while the others boomed around the behemoth room in which we stood. Torrin yanked me forward, and I released the breath I’d been holding.
“What?” I whispered, chewing my lip nervously while he searched my face.
“Stay close, woman,” he snapped, pushing his elbow through the crowd of onlookers to reach the table. Once there, he pulled out a chair, and I lifted my brow, silently sliding into it with uncomfortable warmth filling my cheeks.
Pheasant and other meats were piled in heaping amounts on plates that sat in the middle of the table. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the tavern would turn a massive profit tonight because of who had walked through the doors. Amo elbowed my ribs, forcing me to turn to look at her. Arms wrapped around me, and I chuckled.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
“I am. Are you guys?” I asked, pulling back as something poked into my side.
Turning, I glared at Torrin, who watched me through darkening eyes. I righted in the chair, my mouth watering at the thought of actual food I hadn’t needed to hunt, kill, or skin. The men watched us, slowly noting that we sat silently waiting.
“Eat. You’re too damn skinny,” Torrin grunted, and I gave him serious side-eye from the comment.
“I am not skinny,” I grumbled crossly.
It offended me that he thought I was thin when, in fact, I was all muscle. I trained for battle and had since before I could even hold a blade. I’d spent my childhood learning strategy, war tactics, and how to maneuver an entire army onto a battlefield before the enemy ever sensed we were within fifty miles of them.
“Eat, because I intend to sleep so we can slip out in the morning,” he muttered, lifting a goblet of ale to his lips. Something grabbed my shoulder, and Torrin moved swiftly, yanking the man up by his robes. “Do not touch her,” Torrin seethed, his eyes flashing a warning.
“She’s beautiful,” the man hissed, and I turned, staring into black, sightless eyes with dark, pulsing veins, spider-webbing down his face. Even dangling from Torrin’s hold, he reached for me, forcing me to scoot back.
“Isn’t she, though?” Torrin grunted, sending the man sprawling onto the floor. “She’s under King Aragon’s protection, and your unwanted attention is preventing his guest from eating her meal. Now, stop gawking and go back to whatever it was you were doing before she and her team got here,” he ordered, and I watched the crowd immediately disburse. “Eat, Alexandria.”
I shook off the weirdness of the man’s touch and lifted the ale, downing it in one drink. I turned, looking at my girls, who were wide-eyed and looked as confused as I felt. Torrin began dishing up my plate while I polished off another glass of ale, and a woman rushed forward to refill it.
Her eyes never left mine, holding them as the ale sloshed over the rim of the goblet. Her mouth lowered, and before I could prevent it, her lips touched mine, and she moaned loudly. My eyes grew large and rounded, and then her tongue slipped into my mouth, searching for mine. I pulled backward, but she dropped the pitcher of ale, pushing talons into my arms while she sucked my face, literally. Gone was her tongue, and in its place were thousands of tiny suction prongs that I felt were draining me.
Something warm splattered over my face as her mouth went lax against mine. I pulled back, staring at the top of her head where a sword had pushed through her skull. I backed up onto Amo’s lap, and her arms wrapped around me, holding tightly.
“So, that happened,” she offered, both of us watching as Torrin withdrew his sword, shoving the body aside before he sheathed the blade and lifted his ale.
“Eat,” he stated, and I didn’t move. “We’re about to be in an area with little to no food available to hunt. I suggest you enjoy your meal and the ale tonight,” he growled, shoveling food into his mouth, staring at me.
Crawling off of Amo’s lap, I grabbed the fork, tasting the meat and frowning. It was deliciously roasted to a texture that melted in my mouth. I moaned around the fork and heard a deep growl. I turned with the utensil still in my mouth to find a new male studying me with interest burning in the azure-colored stare.
“New pet, Torrin?” the man asked, walking around the table to sit opposite of me. “She’s rather—delicate for your appetite. Hello, beautiful. I’m Zane. You are?”
“Alexandria,” Torrin answered, glaring at me before his attention moved to my plate and back to the male watching us through sparkling eyes.
“Beautiful name for a beautiful girl,” Zane snickered wickedly, leaning both his elbows on the table before sliding his attention around it slowly. “Aragon allowed an entire assassin squad of moon-touched pussy within the Darklands? He has lost his fucking mind, hasn’t he?”
“Did you need something, or did you just come in to drive me bug-fuck crazy, Zane?” Torrin sneered, pushing his plate away before peering at the male through cold eyes.
“Are you fucking him, sweetheart?” Zane asked, his eyes leveling me with a dark stare of curiosity that sent discomfort flowing through me.
Zane was beautiful, with a heart-shaped face framed by dark, cropped hair. His eyes sparkled with amusement, and his mouth curved into a beguiling smile that made my heart ratchet up a beat. His voice was smooth. It was like dark magic bathed over sinful wickedness that made something within me feel uneasy in his presence.
“I don’t see what me riding his glorious cock has to do with you, sir,” I whispered demurely, kicking into the character of a naïve beauty that made men underestimate me.
“Oh, gods, you’re absolutely precious,” Zane chuckled. Leaning closer, he smiled hungrily. “Has Torrin marred that beautiful flesh yet? He enjoys punishing his bedmates, beating th
em until they beg to be freed from his touch. It’s why he and King Aragon share their women often.”
“Who doesn’t like pain with their pleasure?” I asked in a sultry tone, feeling the heat of Torrin’s stare charring my flesh. I turned my hooded gaze toward him, licking my lips. “Isn’t that right, big boy? You do enjoy marring my flesh and making me ache so wickedly. I especially enjoy when you let that dark side out, and you push my legs up, so you’re buried so deeply into my womb I weep when I come for you.”
Torrin’s eyes burned while he watched me. I swallowed past the lump that grew in my throat from holding his heated stare. I’d intended simply to mess with him, playing a part for the asshole who was too pretty to be my type. However, I hadn’t expected heat in Torrin’s gaze to burn me so fucking hot that my insides melted and my body grew aroused from the stare alone.
“I especially love it when you come for me, Lexia. Your noises for me are fucking delicious when I stretch that pussy with my cock, and you beg me to fuck you harder,” Torrin growled. His raspy voice rolled over me like sex and silk, grating against my nipples, which pebbled from the sound of his voice alone. A throbbing started in my belly, and my mouth went dry with need while Torrin dared me to act on the urges rushing through me. “And your skin reddens so beautifully when I mark you, doesn’t it, gorgeous?” Well, fuck. That went sideways fast.
I swallowed hard, unable to tear my eyes from his while he searched them for permission. My core clenched hungrily with desire, tightening as heat pooled between my thighs with readiness for him to play with me. My tongue jutted out from between my lips, wetting them, which caused his hungry stare to lower, slowly noting the path it took until it vanished back into my mouth.
“Uh, you broke your vow of celibacy, Lexia?” Amo asked, her hand touching my shoulder, dispelling whatever was happening between Torrin and me.
“What?” I asked, shaken on how I’d reacted to Torrin.
“Your vow of celibacy you took when we lost the others?” she questioned, her hand tightening on my shoulder. “I’m all for you feeding that starving kitty. Lord knows she needs the cream. Feed that hungry pussy as much cream as you want her to take.”
I slid my stare back to Torrin’s, finding him watching me with dark interest. I shuddered involuntarily, imagining his body against mine. Sweat beaded on my neck, and I couldn’t look away from the promise of pleasure in his pale eyes. His tongue snaked out, slowly running over his bottom lip before sliding back into his mouth. The entire table was silent while we intensely studied one another.
“She’s very ravenous,” I whispered thickly, unable to look away from the fiery heat burning in Torrin’s frozen stare.
“Is she?” he asked, leaning closer until his hand touched my thigh, and I parted my lips on a sigh of need.
“Anyway,” Zane snorted. “I was summoned to join you for the duration of the trip home. It seems our king needs me.”
Neither one of us was willing to look away from the other. Something wicked was happening between us. I hadn’t ever felt desire like I felt it at this moment. My body was on fire, and worse, there was a pulse between my thighs I’d never experienced in my lifetime. I swallowed hard, dropping my gaze to break the spell Torrin held over me.
I reached for the pitcher of ale and lifted it to my lips, chugging from it without using the goblet. I polished it off, silently setting it back down. I grabbed my fork, filling my mouth with food. Amo chuckled, tapping my shoulder.
“It’s okay, just breathe through it, girlfriend,” she whispered, leaning closer to my ear. “That’s called lust, Lexia. It’s a normal reaction when wanting to fuck someone. I know you haven’t experienced it before, but that’s what the rest of us feel. If I were you, I’d ride that dick tonight because maybe you’ll finally come on a cock instead of having to self-soothe that poor kitty cat after he’s left the room.”
I choked on the food in my throat, coughing until Torrin slapped me on the back, peppering Zane with the meat that had gone down the wrong pipe. Zane glanced down at his shirt, dusting the food off, hiking one brow higher than the other. It caused Torrin to chuckle at the face filled with horror as Zane took in his shirt.
“You shouldn’t have?” Zane snorted, slowly moving his gaze to Amo, who drug herself down his body. “Yummy.”
“Zane,” Torrin said to the male beside Amo, “I’ll be sharing a room with Lexia tonight. Pair the other women with a male in each room, so they remain guarded.” Torrin pushed away from the table and held out his hand out for mine. “It’s late, and you stink of reaper blood, woman.”
I stood as he pulled the chair out for me, swallowing past the tightening in my throat as my stomach turned with nervousness. I slid my stare to Amo and Tabitha, finding both women eyeing men with interest burning in their gazes. Torrin moved his eyes to where mine had landed, and he smirked.
“Be gentle with the ladies, men. They’ll be riding hard through the Badlands in the morning,” he grunted. “After you, Lexia,” Torrin stated, sliding his eyes to my breasts, which were hard pebbles visible through my top.
Chapter Six
Moving slowly up the stairs, I entered the room carefully with mistrust while lost in the way my body had responded to a single look. No man had ever made feel heat rushing through me until now. I’d never experienced the butterflies or lust that the others spoke about after landing a male for the night. My experiences had been pleasurable, and yet I had never felt fully satisfied afterward. It was always as if something was missing, which Amo had pointed out not so gently—were orgasms.
Inside the bedroom, the lanterns burned brightly, and a fire crackled within the large fireplace. The room’s warmth was inviting until it became apparent that only one bed sat within the room. My heart fluttered like bird wings had replaced it the longer I stared at the enormous four-poster bed with vibrant red drapes wrapped around it.
“Bathe,” Torrin ordered from behind me, causing me to yelp and turn toward him.
His eyes studied me before he spun, closing the door that thudded like a nail in my coffin. He moved deeper into the room, removing his heavy armor. He stopped beside a chair and slowly slid his sparkling, wintery gaze to where I still stood, wordlessly watching him.
“You fucking stink. Bathe, Lexia,” Torrin growled, and I nodded slowly in agreement. I stank, but I wasn’t too keen on being nude around this male, either.
I wasn’t shy about being naked around people by any means. I’d grown up in a group setting where men and women bathed together all the time. We were taught to embrace who and what we were, and sexuality wasn’t something we thought of when we were naked. Yet the idea of getting naked with him was causing my brain to hiccup. My heart was thundering against my chest wall, while wings were fluttering in my belly.
The shit happening within me was making me off-kilter. I wasn’t sure why it was happening, and I didn’t like it. I knew Torrin had magic since I’d grown up on tales of who this man was and what he did to entire armies in battles. Shit, there were legends about his expertise on and off the battlefield.
I’d entered taverns and listened to the working women who gushed over Torrin. They’d shared their experiences in his arms and how hard and vigorous he went against their bodies. Rumors were that he was like a crazed warrior lost in the bloodlust declaring war on the female anatomy. I’d scoffed and made fun of those women for being amazed at the male behind closed doors.
Now, I was the woman with him behind the closed doors.
I walked to the bathtub, slowly undressing while I faced away from him. Sliding into the water, I noted how large the tub was. It was much larger than the ones I typically bathed in, and the room itself was elegant, considering it was within a tavern that doubled as an inn.
I stared into the dancing flames while I washed my body, pouring water over my head to work the soap into my hair, noting the room’s silence. A prickling sensation settled on my neck, and I swallowed past the know
ledge that Torrin was watching me bathe. Slipping beneath the water, I rinsed my hair out before I turned, staring up into frost-colored eyes.
Torrin stood naked, his wealth of muscles on display with his overly large cock hanging between his legs. Swallowing, I backed up in the tub, covering my breasts with my arms while he climbed in, tossing a glass bottle toward me, forcing me to uncover my body to catch the tonic.
“I need you to put that on my chest and back,” he demanded. “After all, I got them from protecting your pretty skin from the poisonous droplets.”
I nodded slowly, trying to get as small as I could manage. Climbing into the tub, Torrin spread his legs, forcing me to slide between them. He hung his large arms over the sides of the tub and rested his head against the back, staring up at the ceiling, making me look to see what had captured his attention above us. My eyes dropped back to Torrin, finding him studying my face intently.
“How long have you been celibate?”
My emotions slammed shut, and I snorted, shaking my head. “Let’s not do that. Let’s not pretend either of us cares about the other. You don’t care about me being celibate any more than I care about whatever is happening between you and the man downstairs. I’m your hostage, not your fucking girlfriend.”
His eyes narrowed, and the tic in his jaw came to life. I exhaled, creeping forward. I’d slammed home the point that we weren’t friends, and that should have stopped the fluttering in my belly as I moved closer to the warlord who put that quivering need there.
Torrin’s chest was peppered in burns from the reaper’s blood that had scorched through his suit of armor. I opened the bottle of tonic, settling between his legs, uncaring that I was entirely on display or that his massive cock was about to be very close to my naked sex. His eyes lowered to my breasts, and I admittedly wondered if he had found them as lackluster as the last male who had seen them.
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