“You have to trust me too,” she snapped, pulling out of his embrace. “I said I could handle questioning both of them and you would need to carry me out. I wasn’t lying. We don’t know each other well enough yet, but I knew if I told you I would pass out, you would try to stop me. Or, you would have stood there fighting with me until they woke up and caught us. It’s like a bad headache, but it’s not going to kill me. It needed to happen. You can’t treat me like a delicate flower. I can handle myself, Elan!”
She was frustrated and she could tell he was too. Normally, she could handle herself just fine. Just not where Elan was concerned. Jovin constantly warned her to not be as blunt as she was with him when she met Elan. She had no problem telling Jovin what she thought about him when he was irritating her, but she couldn’t tell Elan what she was feeling.
She had no idea why Elan broke into a grin. “Fine. Prove it. Nevoo style. It’s one of the oldest on your planet. If you can knock me off balance, you win. If passing out and bleeding from your nose is all it is and there’s no lasting damage, then I’m afraid you’re just going to have to show me.”
She grinned back. She really needed to eat first, but he had no idea she learned Nevoo first at seven. Nevoo was more about power than speed. Crashing into your opponent over and over until one finally hit the floor. Jovin told her he taught her that first because she would always be at a disadvantage fighting Nevoo against a bigger opponent like him and now Elan. He taught her a Nevoo attack before they set weight classes like they did with the old earth fighting.
It was a legitimate fighting move. Elan was very tall, but she could still execute The Hangman. It was an older move, so he probably hadn’t been trained to counter it.
“And what happens when I knock you on your back?” she taunted as they walked back out to the sitting area.
“You won’t. I picked a fighting style from your planet, but I picked one I have the upper hand.”
Isolde just smiled to herself. He may have bested her the night before, but he was losing this go around. They faced each other and bowed. He did exactly what she thought he was going to do. He barreled forward aiming for her waist. He meant to either knock her backwards or pick her up and slam her down. She grinned and stood totally still, like she was going to let him.
Before he could grab her, she leapt over his crouched form and wrapped her legs around his shoulders. She used her momentum to twist them both to the ground. Elan landed on his back with a grunt and her on top of him. His face was red and she could feel his heart thumping in his chest. She could feel he was excited again and she was too. This time, she didn’t hold back. She caught his lips with hers and nibbled on his bottom lip. She didn’t fight him when he rolled her onto her back.
“Shouldn’t you be the one stopping me, if you think we should wait to bond?” he asked, his red eyes searching hers.
“We should resolve all of our arguments like this,” she purred, pulling him back down to kiss her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and moaned when he moved to her neck.
Neither of them realized Sartika had been standing there clearing her throat until she decided to make her presence known as loudly as possible. “You appear to have recovered from passing out, Isolde. You should eat now. If the two of you are going to try getting to know each other before you attempt the bond, perhaps you should avoid fist fights? I’m guessing that’s why you’re both on the floor.”
Elan climbed to his feet and offered her his hand. He hauled her up so they were both standing next to each other sheepishly. Sartika shooed her back to the back of the armoire so they could send for food. Isolde thought it was pretty obvious she hadn’t left his chamber’s except once. Sartika wanted the pretense they were having dinner alone to talk about Elan’s new toy since that man made him cause a scene.
She didn’t hear any noises when she was standing in the passage, so she listened for thoughts. All she could hear were Sartika’s thoughts since she never could hear Elan’s. She knew she had to stay hidden, but something had Sartika riled up. She was trying to think of anything else so Isolde didn’t pick up on it until she could tell both of them.
She was getting impatient just standing there in the shiny black corridor that was hidden behind the armoire. She wanted to know what the bloody hell was going on. Finally, Elan opened the door with a smile and asked her to come out. They had what she asked to get rid of her headache as well as several other foods she’d never heard of before. She didn’t want a cooking lesson today.
“What happened while I was asleep? You’re hiding something,” she shot at Sartika.
“Can you give me a chance to speak before you force it out again? It won’t do if you pass out again and I have to wait to tell you all this. It’s important.”
Sartika slid a device over. It was similar to an older model COMM on Avala. There was one for Isolde and one for Elan. Sartika said she had one as well and they would be talking to Fjola and Viljar, the leader of the faction on Avala. Isolde didn’t even let her continue.
“Viljar is the faction leader? He’s Fjola’s lover. They think it’s this big secret, but I’ve known what they were up to since Jovin explained sex to me.” She never liked him much, even before she found out he was sleeping with Fjola. He always stared at her when he thought she wasn’t looking and she never could figure out what those looks meant.
“Cut Fjola some slack, eh? She played her role just like I did. Viljar and Fjola have a plan that will allow them to have a faction scientist and guard question all the slaves. We know the man that attacked you was with the Children. Fjola and Viljar are trying to determine if all their slaves are with the Children and helping them.”
“Should I go home and help?”
“No, dear. You know Avala has the science to question them without you. We need you here. Elan needs you and we have no one here that can do what the two of you can do. Elan, you’re going to have to carry her out a few rooms before this is over.”
Isolde waited for Elan to argue. He put his hand over Isolde’s and shot her a grin before he looked back at his mother. “She’s already proved to me she can handle it and we’ve already figured out how to settle our arguments after we wed.” She let her thumb come up and stroke his.
“You two are so strange, but oddly, two puzzle pieces that fit together.”
Isolde was glad she didn’t turn around and kiss Elan the first time they sparred now that she knew she had an audience. “You aren’t watching now?” she demanded. “Then how did you know I passed out?”
“All of the cameras are still active except the ones in this room. Would you really not prefer more eyes at your back when you’re in places you shouldn’t be? I had a clear view of every single door in the arena when you were in there. I’m guessing you couldn’t see the room at all and Elan was only seeing you. Would you put both of you at risk to prove a point?”
She knew Sartika was right and she was actually glad Fjola was watching too. When she was stealing thoughts, she lost her surroundings until she fainted. Fjola and Sartika could warn Elan to carry her out if someone was coming.
“How many cameras do you have? I think I saw ten screens in your closet.”
When Sartika realized she wasn’t going to argue, she gave her a coy smile. “Everywhere Elan might go. The entire palace, essentially. It’s trickier in the forest. I can get a heat signature and that’s it. We did try to set up cameras, but the swarms destroyed the hardware. The two of you should stay out the forest for now. You did well getting into Meida’s head and I might need you to do it again. Your mother claims she is helpless when you try to influence her. We may need to see if Meida deserted because she had to or because she wanted to.”
“I don’t think I can sway her back to your side if she willingly betrayed you. I think Jovin was a little afraid of that gift and me ever using it against him to get out of training. He never really pushed me to my limits with that the way he did everything else.�
��
“I can’t see you ever shirking your training,” Elan scoffed.
“I still had lessons on how to be a princess. I think you can tell by now, I prefer fighting and hunting to playing instruments and making tapestries while gossiping. If I could have, I definitely would have used that gift to get out of those lessons to fight or hunt.”
“What instruments do you play, Isolde?” Sartika asked. Isolde had no idea why she was asking since she just said she hated the lessons.
“It’s—I don’t know if you have them here. It’s an old instrument from earth that came over on the ship. We’ve kept it and learned how to make others similar to it. It’s called a Theremin and all the instruments on Avala are like it now. You don’t play it by touching it. It’s kind of like making music with science. You touch a series of proximity sensors and it makes music. We now have the original Theremin and entire orchestras of instruments like it.”
“I learned instruments too,” Elan pointed out. “I think I enjoyed mine more than you did. Ours are left over from earth too. You blow in them, pluck them, or beat them. I play the drums. You bang on them and they make noise that gives the other instruments the beat.”
“I think I would have been happier to play your drums. We use computers to make an artificial beat. Maybe they either don’t know about drums or found computers superior. You’ll have to play for me.”
Isolde wasn’t all that fond of Avalian music. She found it cold and hard to enjoy. Maybe there was more passion in banging something, she didn’t know. She had no idea why Sartika had steered the conversation in that direction instead of what she planned to do with Meida. Isolde decided to just be blunt, end the music conversation, and ask.
Sartika sighed. “Let Galih and I handle Meida for now. Let Fjola and Viljar handle the assassin. We’ll let you know when we need you. The two of you are supposed to be getting to know each other.”
“We are—”
“No, you aren’t. You were sleeping all day. When you woke up, you started some sort of fist fight. That’s not getting to know each other.”
“Mother, yes, it is,” Elan said, coming to her defense. “I learned Isolde needs protection when she’s using her mind gifts. She learned mine have defensive abilities. Just because you don’t understand what happens to either of us when we spar together doesn’t mean it’s not intense for both of us. Now, if you don’t mind, we’ve all finished eating and I’d like to be alone with Isolde.”
Sartika gave them both a curt nod and left them alone. She did the only thing she could think of. Nevoo always made her sore from the brute force of it, so she suggested the hot spring. She actually really liked that spring. Sitting in water wasn’t done on Avala. Clean water had to be rationed, so it didn’t make sense to make it dirty by sitting in it. They had steam showers to get clean. Elan looked like there were other things he would rather do, but he didn’t argue.
She was removing her clothes quickly because she could feel Elan staring like there was something wrong. Would he prefer someone softer with more curves? She lowered herself into the water and averted her eyes while he undressed and joined her.
“Isolde? Why doesn’t it bother you to sit here nude with me? It hasn’t bothered you since the first night. I was going to give you clothing to wear in the pool, but you just took all of your clothes off and got in.”
“Should it bother me? You don’t wear clothes when you join me. You should have told me it was expected to wear clothing in these pools. Why did you let me embarrass myself so many times before you said something?”
“Isolde, calm down!” he said, scooting over to put his arm around her. “People wear clothing in the public hot springs. When I use this pool alone, I don’t wear clothes either. I was going to offer you clothes because I thought you wouldn’t want me to see you like that. Botak told me you might be embarrassed at first when we tried to bond.”
“Why would being naked embarrass me?” She had a feeling this might be some Cendian thing she was unfamiliar with.
“Have you gotten naked in front of many men on Avala? Is that why it doesn’t bother you?” he demanded. His hand tightened on her shoulder like he was angry.
“Is being naked shameful here? You’re the first person to see me naked aside from my mother, nannies, and doctors. It doesn’t bother us on Avala because we are born that way. We wear so many clothes because most of my people can’t handle the cold anymore.”
He finally relaxed and kissed the top of her head. “So, it’s an Avalian thing and not an Isolde thing? You haven’t been going around naked in front of other men before you got here because you were told lies about me and didn’t want to come?”
“Some of the dresses you have for me show a lot more skin than Avalian clothing, but your people get embarrassed at nudity? Would you prefer I wore the clothing you wanted to give me?”
“I don’t know, Isolde. It’s hard to hide my reaction to seeing you. The water is pretty clear. I have to undress and jump in so you don’t see.”
“Why is it bad that I see it or feel it sometimes? You know what we’re supposed to do to bond.”
“I don’t know, Isolde! It doesn’t bother you that I react that way all the time and you want to wait?”
She slid over and straddled his lap. She kissed him, then took his face in her hands so he had to look her in the eye. “Don’t you ever ask yourself why I say to wait, but you’re the one that always has to pull away?”
“I don’t know. Every time I try to talk about it, you change the subject.”
“Maybe I react to you the same way you react to me, it’s just not obvious like with you. I know why we need to stop, I just don’t want to.”
“You finally want to talk while we’re both naked and you’re sitting in my lap like this?”
“We can talk later. I think your mother has essentially benched us until we’re needed again. Kiss me.”
“Isolde, you’re going to kill me,” Elan moaned.
“Not yet. I told you last night we could find out together what we like without completing the bond,” she said, kissing him again.
“Not in the pool,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and standing up. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and let him carry her over to the bed. They were both still dripping wet when he laid her on her back. “I’ll change the sheets before we sleep so they’re dry.”
“Forget the sheets,” she commanded, kissing him again.
He let her roll him on his back and take control. She knew in theory how all this was supposed to work and hoped she didn’t do it wrong. If she did, she hoped he told her. She sat up and raked her fingernails down his chest. She was trying to decide what to do first, but he didn’t want to wait, apparently. He sat up and pulled her hair, kissing her neck.
“You’re beautiful, amazing,” he said between kisses.
They were frenzied with their kisses. He kept pulling her hair and she found she liked it. He would groan and attack her neck when her fingernails dug into his back. She wasn’t going to be able to take much more of this without demanding the bond. She shoved him away, back onto his back, to get some relief from the heat of their kisses.
She knew what she wanted to try, so she trailed kisses down to his belly button. She’d felt him, but had never gotten this close to him before. It was bigger than how it felt against her and what she saw before he jumped into the pool. She had been told it would hurt at first and she had doubts about it fitting. First, she had to get it into her mouth.
Elan hissed when she ran her tongue down it, exploring the veins. It was velvety smooth in her mouth and she took the tip in, swirling her tongue. Elan’s hands tangled in her hair and he moaned her name. He seemed to be enjoying himself and she had hardly gotten started, but he stopped her. She looked up at him, confused. Had she done it wrong?
“It’s good, amazing,” he swore. “I read about something. Can we try it? Lay the other way and bring you
r feet up by my head.”
She had no idea what he intended. The courtesans on Avala hadn’t mentioned this to her. She did what he asked and concentrated on taking him in her mouth again. It was difficult to fit and she was trying not to gag. She could only fit a little until it hit the back of her throat, so she used her hands for the rest.
She could feel Elan kissing her thighs. He prodded like he wanted her to part her legs, so she did. She nearly forgot what she was supposed to be concentrating on when she felt his tongue making little circles between her legs. It was like little electric shocks shooting up her body. His breath was coming fast against her inner thigh like this was intense for him too. She was trying to concentrate on everything she was feeling and took him back into her mouth.
When he sped up, she did too. Neither of them was doing a very good job of staying still while the other worked them with their mouth. His hips thrust up and he hit the back of her throat. It was more of him than she could handle before, but she didn’t gag. She started adjusting her mouth and hand to his thrusts. She was doing a horrid job staying still too. He was trying to hold her hips down with his hands.
His tongue sped up to a speed she couldn’t match and was almost too much to handle. Her moans were muffled by him deep in the back of her throat, but she tried to go faster like he was. His body tensed the same time hers did. Shockwaves ripped through her body. This was better than her first solo flight in a pod or her first kill when she was hunting. She felt like she was flying without a pod.
The same thing must have been happening to Elan. Hot liquid hit the back of her throat. She swallowed and nursed the rest of it out. The courtesans warned her about that, but said she could spit it out if she didn’t like it. She wanted every part of Elan right now and took every drop. She didn’t let him go until he had gone soft because he was still giving her these slow, teasing licks that seemed to draw out the explosion she had earlier.
Child of Fire, Child of Ice-A Sci-fi Romance Series Page 8