by Fiona Sweet
Varyx stopped and gave me a confused look, but he didn’t pull out.
“Did you just…”
My cheeks burned again. I nodded and bit my bottom lip. “I’m sorry. You’re just. Really. Big.”
He grinned. “No need to apologize. I’m not a man to complain. I’m not all the way inside of you yet.”
I sighed with breathless contentment. I was so wet it didn’t matter. “Keep going then.” I snaked my arms around his meaty neck and drew him closer to me. He smelled natural and it was appealing and fresh, like the ash from the fire and the sand from the desert.
He opened my legs further and pushed himself deeper inside, wedging his swollen cock between my thighs. Varyx groaned. His eyes rolled back in his head as he began to thrust, grinding our hips back and forth.
It felt good, but he was so enormous that I had to hold onto him for dear life. He seemed afraid to crush me, so I brought my knees up to his chest to make it easier for him as he continued to rock back and forth inside me.
He had a look on his face that was pleasure mixed with worry. He didn’t want to hurt me, and I could tell he was holding back from the rough sex he was probably used to—but I appreciated him containing himself for my benefit.
He began to quiver and then his massive muscles stiffened. He let out a long groan and I felt the flood of his hot seed emptying inside of me. I too felt exhausted and spent from that first experience of sex—ever. It had been magical, and I found myself craving to do it again as soon as possible.
Afterward, we lay on our backs gazing up at the canopy ceiling. My eyelids became heavy and fluttered closed. I nestled myself in the safe nook between his arm and drifted off to sleep easier than I ever had before. Perhaps being Varyx’s fate-marked was a blessing in disguise.
10
Varyx
I wandered from the tent early to go pluck some supplies—mainly fruit from the orchard of the oasis and to steep a mug of hot herbal tea for Cherish. My main goal was to make her feel as comfortable as possible.
It had been difficult to leave her naked, restful body. She was warm and soft and made an excellent bed partner. I could watch her breathing forever—it was so pacifying to me.
When I peeled back the cloth cover of the tent to reenter, I found Cherish sitting with her legs crossed, looking uncertain until she saw me and the bounty of fresh fruit tucked protectively in one hand and two mugs of tea in the other.
“Good morning. I meant to be back before you woke up,” I told her.
Cherish’s eyes dazzled. I wanted to fuck her again. So suddenly, I thought about sex with her every moment that I spent breathing—which meant every moment.
She was so soft and feminine, and her presence was an enormous comfort to my soul. I would practice restraint for now and let her eat some breakfast. Now was the time where we could talk and get to know each other and figure out what happened next.
Cherish gratefully took the fruit and began stripping off the rind to get to the juicy center in the middle. She took the tea as well, gulping it down even though it was piping hot.
She acted as if she was both famished and parched—reinforcing the fact in my mind that reform and accountability was going to be vitally necessary among my men, so that people like Cherish didn’t go without basic necessities.
I let her eat in peace, watching her contented face as the juices from the fruit dripped down her slender fingers.
She noticed me watching her. Our eyes locked and her organic beauty took my breath away.
“Thank you for bringing these delicious delicacies back to me,” she said. Her authenticity and sweetness made me want to be a better man to her. “I can’t even remember the last time I had something so wonderful in my mouth…”
I can, and it was you—last night, I thought to myself, taking a deep breath and swallowing down my intense craving to ravage her immediately. I wanted to be inside her so badly that it hurt.
Cherish gulped down the last slurp of her tea and gave me a solemn look. “Will there be a trial today, for the—villagers?”
“I’m putting it off, for now.”
I measured her reaction. Her eyes glistened with relief and her posture relaxed. I had pleased her—and in turn—I hoped it would provide me with additional favor from her.
“I need to wait until the tension cools off among my men first,” I explained.
“Oh.” Cherish looked slightly disappointed as if she assumed ‘putting it off’ somehow meant ‘forever’ in her mind.
“Rathum is unfortunately pushing for it to happen immediately.”
The man was a savage. Bloodshed excited, no—thrilled him, as long as the blood wasn’t pouring forth from his own veins.
Cherish eyed me curiously. Her intense gaze made me—hard.
“Why do you continue to allow Rathum to defy your command?”
“It’s complicated,” I said.
“So, you say.” Cherish adjusted herself on the palm fronds. “In what regard?”
“Our fathers were close friends,” I explained. “Even though he’s gone, I still have great respect for Rathum’s father.”
“I can understand that.” Cherish nodded. “I, I lost my parents too.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I waited to see if she would elaborate.
“They died in a visit from your swarm.” Cherish’s eyes briefly locked with mine, but she hastily skirted them away again, down toward her lap.
“My father died that day too,” I gently told her, hoping that it would help her better relate to me.
Cherish gazed at me with intrigue.
“I was just a boy then. I wasn’t the Swarm King when that awful attack took place.”
“I was just a little girl, myself,” Cherish admitted. “I had to take care of my younger brother and sister after we became orphaned.” She sighed delicately.
I didn’t want the sins of my forefathers to corrupt my relationship with Cherish.
“I was part of a hunting party when the battle took place,” I said. “I wasn’t even there.”
“Why weren’t you with your father?” Cherish brushed a few strands of her sandy colored hair off her cheek.
“It’s customary for the younger Byromians to be sent to hunt at the rocky hills along the way as we travel,” I explained.
“Do you have hunters out now looking to restock supplies for the group?” Cherish asked.
She was a sharp one, my fate-marked.
“Indeed, I do.” I smiled. “In fact, they are set to return today with fresh meat.”
Cherish pondered this revelation a moment. She looked at me with contemplative regard. “Why don’t you just set up villages at each oasis?”
I frowned. “I don’t understand…”
Cherish licked her lips and sat up straight as if she was gaining momentum for something exciting. “You could set up your own villages at various oases and allow the humans to do the same at different ones. That way—everyone can have enough. There’s no need for dictatorship when goods and property can be shared equally instead.”
“I appreciate your role as a revolutionary, but it’s not that simple to just order that kind of command on a whim,” I said.
“Why not?” Cherish’s lips pursed with determination.
“Well for starters, it’s not the swarm’s way. We can’t just live in peaceful harmony with the humans. You forget—the Byromians still need fate-marked women.”
“Maybe if you went about getting the women in the villages a different way, they might be more inclined to go with you—in a more humane way where they weren’t automatically put on the defensive or thought of as a prisoner.”
“Do you feel like a prisoner?” My heart sunk into my stomach as we locked eyes. I was trying to make everything as nice as possible for her.
Cherish’s eyes went wide. She adamantly shook her head.
“No. Of course not. You’ve been very kind to me. That’s why I thought of a suggestion of an altern
ative might bring about a less disruptive way to get you the fate-marked you need.”
“How so?” I was skeptical, but willing to listen.
“I think that if you offer a wonderful life to a fate-marked woman—one where she’s not starving and dying of thirst and desperately trying to keep her family in survival mode—that you would be more successful.”
“Meaning?”
“In that kind of situation, I feel like the women would be more likely to volunteer themselves.”
“With the promise of a better life in and around an oasis camp?” I was starting to understand where she was going with this.
Cherish nodded enthusiastically. Her hair cascaded beautifully over her shoulders, making me yearn for her again.
“If you offered them a new start where they would never have to worry about lacking food or shelter, then I am fairly confident that you wouldn’t receive as much backlash as you do now. It could halt the violence surrounding these interruptions from the swarm. It would also help erase some of the fear that comes along with the Byromians’ reputation.”
Cherish was a clever girl. I had to take her advice to heart and find a way to put it into action with my own swarm.
There would be some resistance, of course, and I expected that, but I had to remain optimistic that most of my men would be have my back. If my following was willing to see this through—in the long run, it would benefit them too.
We could create our own villages surrounding the oases where fate-marked women could live alongside us. This would mean our treks through the cruel and vicious desert could come to an end, too. There was a lot to think about.
“I am intrigued by this and will mention it to my most trusted generals,” I said.
Cherish’s eyes lit up with excitement. She draped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. I inhaled the scent of her femininity and it surged me with lust and longing. My primal urges were going to kick in soon.
“That’s all I ask,” she whispered into my ear. “Just give it a try.”
I never assumed that humans would want to be with our brutish kind—but perhaps I had been wrong from the start. Perhaps my kind had all been wrong.
11
Cherish
I knew that Rathum and his supporters had been secretly been colluding while we were stagnant around the oasis. It was no surprise to me that he and his slimy advisory team was trying to configure a mutiny against Varyx.
It made me furious—and I wished I could do something about it. However, I didn’t have a leg to stand on against him and his followers. I was a human—after all, and my opinions had no merit in the swarm. I respected that and wouldn’t expect it to be any other way.
I was sitting in the tent I shared with Varyx when Rathum stormed in—unannounced and most certainly not invited.
Rathum had an aggressive scowl on his face as he cut a leer between me and Varyx.
“Can we help you?” Varyx asked dryly.
“We need to talk,” Rathum said, clearly fuming and not on the same aggressive temperament level as Varyx.
“Go ahead.” Varyx looked casual as he gestured for Rathum to continue.
Rathum tightened his jaw and glanced at me briefly. “I’d prefer we spoke in private.”
“Anything you have to say, you can say it in front of my fate-marked,” Varyx declared.
Rathum’s eyes were angry and the tips of his black horns were sharp and intimidating. “Fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “How can you defend these people who killed your own father? When are you going to realize you are making a mistake? Lest you not forget that the humans are the enemies here, not your own swarm.”
Varyx sat up straight and sighed as if he was trying to reason with a toddler.
“These people have shown me no violence or aggression. Why should I hurt them for the sins of others?”
Rathum shifted his weight and gave Varyx a condescending smirk. “Need I remind you that they were caught stealing from the oasis?”
“I don’t need reminding,” Varyx said calmly with another casual shrug. “I know exactly what happened. I witnessed it in the flesh with my own eyes.”
“Then when are you going to do something about it?’ Rathum pressed.
Varyx inhaled sharply. I didn’t know him very well yet, but I had seen enough of his behavior to know that he was losing patience.
“That’s no concern of yours.”
“I’m first general, so I contest that it is my territory to argue against it,” Rathum declared patronizingly. “And to aim for justice.”
I didn’t think a loose cannon like Rathum should be the first general of anything, but again, it wasn’t really my place to offer up an opinion. I bit my tongue when he started speaking of justice.
“Rathum, I’ve already told you. If you don’t approve of the way I lead the swarm, then again, I openly invite you to a formal challenge. If that isn’t an option that you favor, then I ask you to stop running your mouth and leave me in peace with Cherish.”
Rathum released a ridiculing laugh. “Cherish? Is that what you’re calling her?”
Varyx stared blankly at the man. “What else would I call her? It is her name…”
Rathum’s huddle of dissenters began to slink away, clearing in no position by their own accord to battle Varyx They didn’t take any definitive action to go against his will—but I would have been extremely surprised if they did.
It was all fun and games for them to plot and scheme against the power and authority of Varyx.
They were happy to do it in private, with Rathum at leading the bandwagon, sure. While the men were alone around the fire—they could talk all the shit they wanted about their fearless leader—but once they were in front of Varyx, they hardly had the nerve to say it to his face.
Unlike Rathum, even his followers still had a minuscule enough wit about them to keep themselves out of trouble.
“Well?” Varyx shot Rathum an expectant glance once his tribe of men had left the tent I shared with the Swarm King.
The only one still standing forth was Rathum, and he seemed in no mood to back away today.
“Well, what?” Rathum frowned curiously.
“Are we going to have a battle in front of the swarm, or are you going to get out of my face?” Varyx asked.
Rathum’s eyes darkened even more than they already were, naturally. He gave me a wicked sneer.
“You are making a mistake. These humans aren’t what you assume them to be.”
“Change my mind, then,” Varyx declared.
Rathum appeared to be at the end of his rope. He balled his fist and cracked his knuckles. I stiffened, bracing myself for a fist fight to begin inside this tent. I was trying to think of ways to escape before I became the blunt end of one of said fists when Rathum spun on a hostile heel and thundered out of the tent, nearly tearing down one of the canvas walls in the process.
As soon as he was gone, Varyx turned to me and began stroking my knee consolingly.
“You needn’t worry about him.” His eyes penetrated me in a sensual way.
I nodded, at a loss for words and finding myself yielding to the bonding touch Varyx was giving me.
“I know,” I whispered, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. If I had anything to do with it, Rathum would be put on an extremely short leash.
“You can trust me.”
“I want to.” I nodded enthusiastically.
Varyx seemed disappointed with my answer, as if he had anticipated me to automatically tell him that I trusted him above and beyond the stars and back. I wasn’t comfortable with giving him those assurances quite yet, but we were on the right track at least.
“The world is a savage place.” Varyx’s shoulders wilted with melancholy.
I wished I could tell him that everything was going to work out, but my tongue wouldn’t allow the words to slide from my mouth.
“We can’t be blamed for what our parents did,” I said. “The best we can do is lea
rn from their mistakes.”
Varyx glanced up at me and blinked as if my words brought him solace.
“I can’t speak for you, but it’s difficult for me to fully commit myself to someone who by all accounts and traditions should be my sworn enemy,” I bravely said.
Sometimes the truth hurt, and I felt like Varyx needed to hear it. I knew he wasn’t going to let me go, but I hoped that maybe on some level he agreed with me.
Varyx eyes glistened with struggle. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be a leader. I need to be diplomatic all the time, even when I my temper flares.”
I realized being diplomatic wasn’t always about appeasing personal feelings, but I was afraid that facade extended to me, too.
12
Varyx
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” I said, making eye contact with Cherish.
Cherish’s expression went from diluted to anxious in a flat second.
“But—”
She might have been my fate-marked, but she still needed to understand how crucial it was to obey my command. This was my swarm, and I was going to rule it as I saw fit—no exceptions.
“That’s enough.” I held up my hand to cut her off before her argument could sprout.
I hated being so brazen with her, but she was getting too comfortable with her opinions and it was starting to set me off.
“Varyx—”
I quickly turned to face her. “This is the final word we’ll have on the matter. I don’t want to hear about it again.”
This was the first time I had treated her like she was one of my underlings. I could tell she was upset with me. Her face collapsed and she had a wounded expression etched into her features as if she felt betrayed by my blunt tone. I couldn’t blame her, but she had it coming with her argumentative nature.