Deep River Shifters 4 Book Box Set
Page 90
Her lips brushed his as she craned her neck, and he kissed back, sighing into the touch. His hands clasped her blonde hair, pulling her in close, and she pressed into his body, her cheeks flaring, her spine rippling with sudden arousal.
The arousal pooled in her core, sent warm, fuzzy feelings through her body, and she let out a little whimper against his lips, causing him to grip her tighter.
Slowly, they headed towards his bed, kissing the whole time, hands groping one another, seeking each other's skins and leaving trails of burning lust all along the surface. When the back of her knees hit the bed, Ruelle sat down, and Kerric gradually helped position her so that he hung above her, and she lay comfortably beneath, as he delicately started taking off her clothes.
He often took the opportunity to dip his head close for more kisses, to allow their tongues to intertwine, and for soft moans to escape their throats.
Ruelle could sink into his touch forever. She wouldn't mind this feeling staying with her, smelling his manly scent surrounding her, feeling his hard skin press hers, along with the way his muscles rippled and his body shifted above hers.
She worked at his clothes as well, her cheeks on fire, electricity flickering and raising the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck, feeling the sheets rustle around her as he unzipped her wonderful red gown, and let it fall onto the floor. With her breasts out, her nipples hardening, Kerric quickly worked on her leggings and shoes, until she lay bare and vulnerable before him, trembling from the idea that this would be their first time together.
Her first time, ever.
Slowly, he took off his robes, his powerful body unveiling itself, and Ruelle needed to suppress her instinct to start drooling from the sight. She ran her fingers over his supple body, sighing at how smooth and strong he felt under his touch, how well defined his muscles were as they curved around his frame.
When he revealed his manhood, Ruelle stared at the huge erection in astonishment, wondering if it would hurt to have that inside her.
Kerric tested how wet she was, and groaned in lust. “You're so hot for me...”
Ruelle groaned as well, feeling the heat emanate from her core, waiting for Kerric to take her. Her heart throbbed, longing for him, crying out for him.
When he did, slowly inserting himself inside, she let out a long, continuous groan, holding hard onto his shoulders. She cried out when he buried himself to the hilt, and he paused.
“Are you okay?”
She moaned her assent, and he began moving in and out, his face hard in concentration, his body thrusting into hers, moving her further along the bed, ruining the sheets.
Feeling him inside made her soul soar, her heart pound ever faster, and her lips utter sounds of pleasure. The emotion boiled inside her, threatening to overwhelm everything there, grasping all her worries and fears and transforming them into something else.
Kerric moved inside her faster, his stomach muscles contracting, and tension built up in Ruelle's thighs, hot like molten metal, filling up her veins as the tension increased. Part of her felt ashamed, the other part wanted him to never stop. The pressure culminated in a wave of joy as her body shook and orgasmed.
She cried out, even as Kerric came inside her, and clung to him tight, keeping him inside. Her limbs fell limp shortly afterwards, boneless from the pleasure.
When he withdrew, he whispered, “Goodnight, princess,” into her ear, and let her head rest on his chest, wrapping her comfortably in his arms.
With a huge smile, her body buzzing from delight, she fell asleep in his arms, feeling on top of the world. As if her luck had increased on her at last.
As if she belonged here.
Chapter Four
The memories of last night hit her in force, along with the sight of her crumpled dress on the floor. Kerric slumbered peacefully next to her, his chest exposed in the dimly lit room, gently lifting up and down.
Ruelle stared at him, trying to fathom what she felt. Happy? Sad? Complete? Safe?
Safe. How odd, to feel safety, in the heart of the Wilderness, far from home and surrounded by monsters on all sides. Monsters, and the cats, of course.
Maybe... maybe the curse isn't as terrible a curse as everyone made out. If this is the interpretation of it. A dragon who lets me dress up, trains with me, and intends to take me out to fight by his side. Even if he's kind of a bastard for making me drink that potion.
In his position, though, she honestly didn't know if she would have done the same thing. If she happened to be a dragon fighting to defend against Questers, keeping his princess close... maybe she would have found a similar method.
When she asked Kerric once how rare the potion was, he admitted that the witch famous for brewing such potions was long since dead, so the number of them left in the world was unknown, but suspected to be few.
“The Gold Goblin I bought this from had no idea of the limited value of it, because he didn't know the witch was dead,” Kerric had explained. “And I've saved it ever since. Waiting for the right person to come along for the Trial of Lovers.”
The Trial of Lovers. An ordeal that required no enchanted weapons. Only the ability of their bodies and the magic of their minds. (If they had it, of course.) An ordeal that held some kind of legendary artefact at the end if they succeeded – something all Questers strived for, but rarely obtained. If word spread around of Ruelle possessing such an artefact, she'd go down in history as a warrior woman, surely. Bards would sing about her, books would be written, and they'd probably invent some terrible love story to go along with her achievement.
Unless the love story existed. She bit her lip as she examined Kerric. Her heart reached out to him, enveloping him in affection, and she lifted her hand to stroke his cheek, brushing along the rough hair there.
His eyes fluttered open, and he stared at her fondly, yawning. “Good morning, princess.”
“Morning,” she replied, suddenly shy. He kissed her on the lips, before rolling out of bed, stretching.
“It's time, princess. We will attempt the trial today.”
Excitement pulsed within. Eagerly, Ruelle got dressed, armoring herself and tucking a mithril sword into her sheath. A strong metal, but not enchanted with any spells to make it stronger. Kerric did the same, and once both had slapped on all their armor and ate breakfast together, they left the confines of the cave.
He shifted into his vibrant black dragon form, and she clambered awkwardly onto his back. He ran through a horde of cats and beat his great wings, lifting off and soaring high.
Too late, Ruelle realized one cat had made it onto Kerric's back with them, and the terrified tabby dug claws into her backside, until she prised it off and let the creature sit between her legs.
The Wilderness unravelled beneath them in a myriad of greens, grays and browns, before they approached what looked like a rather ominous and dormant volcano. Kerric dived towards it, and she spotted a gateway in the center of the volcano, with two gargoyles flanking it.
Landing in the volcano, the gargoyles turned their stone heads towards them. Kerric shapeshifted back into his human form, and the tabby cat landed beside them.
“Been a while,” one of the gargoyles said, scratching his head. “Ten years since the last couple attempted the trial.” He sniffed at them, as did the other.
“Good. No enchantments. Alright then. Off you go.” The lead gargoyle smiled, though it looked more like a grimace, and he bowed them through. The gateway sparkled into life, showing a humming blue portal, obscuring the other side.
That's like what the Dark Clan used to transport me a month ago!
Ruelle examined the portal cautiously, though Kerric held no such concerns. He smiled blithely at Ruelle, took her hand, and tugged her towards the portal.
The cat sat outside, tail swishing, and the gargoyles glared at the cat, until it chose to rub itself against one of their legs.
“Awh... kitty,” one of the gargoyles said, picking it up and petting it.
The arena glowed with a bright green light, giving an eerie, sickly feel to it.
“Have you been here before?” Ruelle hissed, hand resting on her sword. Kerric kissed her forehead, rubbing her shoulder in comfort, before shaking his head.
“Nope. Be prepared for anything.”
Two figures materialized in the center. Both resembled humans at first glance, though both held soulless, black eyes on their stiff faces. A man and a woman. The woman, clad in black armor, with long, flowing white hair, strode towards Ruelle, before halting in front. A huge claymore hung on the woman’s back, heavier and larger than what any normal woman could wield. She unsheathed it with ease, holding the weapon in one hand.
“I challenge you to a fight, Ruelle of the Hallow Kingdom.”
The male halted in front of Kerric. His chestplate was almost twice as wide as his body, and his muscles bulged impressively. Black eyes stared from his helmeted face, the visor lifted to reveal a squashed nose and pale skin.
“I challenge you to a fight, Kerric of the Lost Brood.”
“How do they even know who we are?” Ruelle hissed.
“They're magical beings, Ruelle. How the fuck would I know?”
She snorted, even as the women bowed, introducing herself as Arlain, and the man as Jacen.
“May the best fighter win.”
Arlain lashed out her claymore. Ruelle dodged to the side, and rolled to avoid another slash. She arrested her movement as Arlain jabbed forward, and jumped over the downward slash.
In the same movement, Arlain closed the gap and slashed one handed with the impossibly huge weapon.
I can't block that! Ruelle backflipped away as the claymore scraped the ground where she'd been standing a second earlier. Kerric tanked Jacen's hit, and she saw his elbow jar from the force. Jacen used a scimitar, rather than the huge monstrosity.
Arlain wielded, though it clearly remained hard going to dodge the blows, since both opponents fought with deadly skill and impossible strength.
Ruelle fought tooth and nail, trying to use her speed advantage, since even with Arlain's speed, the weapon created drag as she swung it, giving Ruelle the time needed to avoid.
Ruelle watched Arlain like a predator waiting for when the drag became too much, or she made an error in her movement. Ruell spotted it when Arlain stepped in too close, too fast. Ruelle leaped on her advantage, closing in on Arlain with a body tackle that sent the woman clasing to the ground. Ruelle got two blows to Arlain's wrist, forcing her to let go of the heavy weapon, and a few more in the fighter's face, before placing her blade near Arlain's throat.
The woman coughed, smirking through bloody teeth. “I yield.”
The fight had taken two minutes for Ruelle, which was about average fight time, since people tired, people made mistakes. It went on longer for Kerric and Jacen.
“Can I assist Kerric?”
“No. If you do, the door will remain shut,” Arlain said, coughing as she sat up. Her black eyes scoured Ruelle's sleek form. “A worthy fighter. It's not often you get a princess well trained in combat.”
“Yeah, I was forced into it,” Ruelle said, shrugging. They continued making light conversation, until Jacen tripped up Kerric. However, the shapeshifter dragged Jacen down with him and slammed his sword into Jacen’s neck, impaling him. Kerric instantly jumped back, and Jacen pulled himself off the sword, the bloody wound healing up instantly. Jacen held up a finger, patting his throat with the other hand.
“Sorry. I needed to let my voicebox heal. You win.”
Ruelle’s jaw dropped. “Are you guys immortal?”
“We are Guardians. Comes with the territory,” Jacen said, rubbing his throat. “Doesn't mean it feels nice, though. Ugh. Well. Off you two go. Through the door.”
Ruelle blinked. “What? This is all the Trial of Lovers is? A fight?”
“Nope.” Arlain said. “Now go.”
Kerric and Ruelle glanced at each other, confounded. Both of them went through the door. A woman with a serpent tail and snakes in her hair waited behind it, with gleaming yellow eyes.
“Right. Second part,” she said, as if she’d been listening to the conversation outside.
“There's a second?” Kerric scratched at his stubble. The serpent lady smiled, her hissing snake hairs twisting up.
“Yes. Right, you two need to go and kiss one another now. Show me that your love is genuine and heartfelt, and you get to pass to the next door.” She pointed to the golden door behind them. “Go on, then. Smooch.”
Ruelle narrowed her eyes. Kerric shrugged, giving a boyish, oh well smile. “Come here, darling. Pucker up your lips for a 'smooch.'”
Sniggering, Ruelle embraced Kerric and placed her lips to his. Her heart pounded fast, and although some faint memories of the night they shared stirred in her heart, it was hard to get into the mood with the serpent lady glaring at them.
Really forcing the act, Kerric and Ruelle grabbed at one another harder, crushing their bodies together and suctioning their lips to the point where neither of them had air left in their lungs. Ruelle ruffled his hair, before pulling away, gasping, and Kerric looked slightly dazed, possibly because of oxygen deprivation.
“Well?” he demanded, out of breath.
The serpent lady folded her arms as the snake hairs hissed at one another. “Eh, that was good enough. Off you go, then.”
Both out of it, Kerric and Ruelle headed to the door, feeling more and more confused by the minute.
The Trial of Lovers was nothing like either had expected.
Through the third door, they saw a room full of stone statues. A trough of glistening water lay ahead, with a number of bejewelled artefacts, ranging from diamond studded chalices to manky, dirty wooden mugs.
They passed the statues cautiously. Ruelle half expected them to spring to life and start attacking. Most statues looked human shaped, though their forms were indistinguishable from male or female.
They halted at the water, and a small mouse sat on his rear legs to look at them.
“Congratulations,” the mouse said. “Your reward is here. If you drink from the Water of Life, you will retain your youth forever more. If you have power, it will be enhanced. All you need to do is drink.” The mouse twitched his tiny whiskers. Displaying a smug grin.
Immediately, Kerric reached for a platinum chalice.
“No! Wait!” Ruelle slapped his hand before he seized one. “Don't be reckless. You think it's a coincidence that all the statues are human shaped?”
Kerric clenched his fingers, eyes wide. “Oh.”
“Yes. I bet you my socks they've been cursed from the water. Don't touch anything.”
Ruelle picked up the mouse by his tail, though he merely glared at Ruelle for her treatment.
“Are you lying to us, mouse?”
“No,” the mouse squeaked, twirling in her hand. “You do have to use one of the containers to drink from. But only one of them's good enough.”
Ruelle dropped the mouse. “There's hundreds!”
The mouse did an approximation of a shrug. “Yes, well. Good luck.” He vanished into a hole before they could ask any more questions.
“May as well pick one, then,” Kerric said.
“If we touch the wrong one, I'm pretty sure we'll be turned to stone,” Ruelle said, before adding, “I've heard of a trial like this before. It's always the most unassuming container that's the good one.”
Kerric stared at a diamond chalice. His eyes filled with longing. “Are you sure...?”
“You're like millions of years older than me. You should be the one telling me this.”
Kerric laughed, but followed Ruelle's lead as she sifted through the collection of chalices. They continued scouring through the containers, with Ruelle trying to oust out the mos
t insignificant and grimiest one possible. She debated between a stone one, a wooden mug, and something that looked suspiciously like a chipped wooden egg timer – and decided to go for the egg timer.
It wasn't the smallest by any means, but it was the smallest and least appealing object she saw. Squeezing her eyes shut, she grabbed it, waiting to be turned to stone. When nothing happened, she dipped the tiny cup in the water and drank it.
Warm affection flooded through her as the water trickled into her body. Kerric waited a moment to see if she was about to turn, and when she didn't, he took the cup as well and drank.
“Congratulations!” The mouse squeaked, now poking out of his hole. “You've completed the Trial of Lovers. You can go home now.”
Kerric glared. “Wait. Isn't there supposed to be a legendary artefact here?”
“You used a legendary artefact to drink from a legendary water source. Is that not enough?”
“I'm nearly immortal anyway! What a useless gift!”
“But she isn't,” the mouse pointed out, twitching his whiskers towards Ruelle, before he disappeared back into his hole.
Kerric flushed at that statement, abashed. They stood in silence, before he muttered, “I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about... that. What the reward meant for both of us.”
“Don't worry.”
The Trial of Lovers completed, both of them stood there. The Water of Life invigorated them, igniting a new future in Ruelle's brain. She held Kerric's hand, gazing into his green eyes, inhaling his scent and ruffling his hair with her other palm.
“Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Kerric,” Ruelle said softly. “Rather than having me be sold to some other dragon, who probably wouldn't have put my skills to use.”
“No worries.” He leaned to kiss her hand, eyes still fixed on hers. The noble bow he gave made her smile. “If you want, we can go on more Quests after this. If you're up for it. If you want to stay.”
Ruelle bit her lip, heart fluttering fast, creatures wriggling in her stomach. “If I stay, I want the potion gone from my system. I don't want to stay because I'm forced to. I want to stay because my heart wishes it.”