by Lacey Thorn
Sorrancaught her around the waist and held her to him. His lips brushed soft kisses across her belly. “From this day forward your pleasure will be my pleasure.”
Drew stood before her and cupped her face with his hands, turning her to him. “From this day forward you will belong to us and we will belong to you.Body, heart and soul. Already I feel love for you. Already I feel that my life has new meaning with you in it.”
“I feel the same for you,” she told him before dropping her gaze toSorran .“For both of you. How did I get so lucky?”
“We are the lucky ones, little warrior,”Sorran said, standing before her.
She felt their cocks hard and thick against her thighs and without thought sank to her knees between them. Her hands reached for them and she reveled in the feel of the soft flesh over the steel erections. How could something so big and hard feel so soft?
“There is no need for you to do anything for us,” Drew said through teeth clenched tight with pleasure.
“I want this. I want to share with you what you shared with me.” And she did. More than anything in the world she wanted to taste her mates on her tongue.
She leaned toward Drew and drew the tip of his erection into her mouth, sucking on it. He caught his breath then released it on a groan as she slowly worked more of him inside. She used her fingers in conjunction with her mouth, moving up and down along his shaft until she found a rhythm that they both seemed to enjoy. Slow and steady she worked him, centering most of her effort on the head and the little groove just underneath that seemed to be most sensitive to her touch. She licked and nipped and sucked, greedy to see the pleasure he had given her reflected in his eyes. She took her other hand fromSorran’s cock and moved it to cup Drew’s balls. They tightened further at her touch and when she gave them a gentle squeeze Drew shouted and thrust his hips forward.
Aleaalmost choked as his cock pushed deeper than ever before into her mouth. She gripped the shaft tighter in her hand and eased her mouth back so that she could suck hard at the head, flicking her tongue against the small slit centered there. Hot jets of semen burst from him, flooding her mouth with a rich musky taste she had never experienced before. She swallowed as much as she could but there was so much that some slipped from her mouth, coating her chin and fingers.
He used his hands to ease her from his shaft and laughed when she grinned up at him with his cum still on her face and lips. “You honor me, little warrior.”
“I hope to honor you many times more, my warrior,” she informed him, and it was Drew’s turn to grin down at her.
She turned toSorran’s cock and buried her nose in the curls that grew just above it. He smelled wonderful, of the sex they had already shared as well as the desire that he must be feeling again. She used her lips and tongue to bathe his cock, getting every inch of it wet before using her hands to stroke up and down his engorged shaft. She moved her mouth below, wanting to taste his swollen sac, that tender place that housed the seed that would one day find life within her.
Sorranthrust his hips moving his cock through her tight grip. His hands were in her hair but it was a gentle touch. She moved her mouth from his sac to his cock and laved the tip with her tongue. He tossed his head back, the beautiful silver streaks catching in the first light of the rising sun.
“I’m going to come, little warrior,” he grunted.
She moved her mouth only long enough to say, “Feed me, my warrior. Give me your seed.” Then she took the entire head into her mouth and sucked greedily.
His cry filled the air just as his seed washed across her tongue. Not as thick as Drew’s and with a taste uniquely his own,Sorran gave her all he had and still she sucked for more until he tugged her head from his softening shaft.
“That was…”Sorran caught his breath, unsure of what to say, so deep was his satisfaction.
“Yes it was,”Alea told him and she leaned in to place one last kiss on him.
“On your feet, little warrior,” Drew said as he reached to help her do just that. “It is time to place the mark of theXandova warriors on you. It is time to make you one with us.”
“Yes,” she sighed as she was turned intoSorran’s arms. He took her hands in his and wrapped his arms around her so that they were crossed over her chest. Drew picked something up from behind them and she figured he must have placed it there earlier when he first left the cavern to join her.
It was cylindrical in shape and she had noticed it many times hanging from the weapons’ belt of the island warriors.
“This is what you will use to mark me?” she asked witha calm that she was surprised to be feeling.
“Yes,”Sorran told her. “I am told that it will be a little uncomfortable but it shouldn’t hurt too badly.”
“I’ll be sure to let you know,” she informed him and nodded at Drew.
He knelt before her and placed a soft kiss on her abdomen, on the right side where soon the mark of theXandova would appear. He pulled back and looked up into her eyes before lifting the weapon against her flesh.Sorran tightened his hold andAlea couldn’t prevent the tightening of the muscles in her stomach.
“With this mark we claim you as our mate, our heart, our beginning and our end. As we provide you with our shelter and protection, so shall you provideus. As we give you pleasure and love, so shall you giveus. From this day forward never shall you walk alone again, but always at our side.” With those words Drew placed the cylinder against her flesh. There was a burning sensation, a tingle along her skin as the mark took form.
“It’s Caspian,” she said with awe as she got her first good look at the mark of theXandova .
“’Tisa lion, little warrior, the sign of theXandova ,”Sorran told her with pride.
“How do you feel?” Drew asked her as he came to his feet in front of her.
“I feel wonderful. I feel alive.” She smiled at him and turned her head to includeSorran in the moment beforeadding, “Now it is your turn to bear my mark.” She gave a sharp whistle that more than rivaled her mate’s and within seconds Vulcan’s cry filled the air above them.
“With his beak, huh?”Drew asked.
“By biting us?”Sorranquestioned.
“It will be a little uncomfortable,” she told them. “But it shouldn’t hurt too badly.”
“I’ll be sure to let you know,”Sorran told her with a grin andAlea let her laughter flow freely, feeling alive and happier than she had ever been in her life. Yes, she was already falling in love with her warriors.
* * * * *
The knife found its mark and the force of it jarred up her arm and into her shoulder and neck. Never before had she stabbed with the intent to kill. Never had she desired to spill the blood of another human. She released her grip on the handle of her ritualistic dagger and watched her mate fall to his knees before her. Gone was the man she had fallen in love with. Gone was the man who had loved her. But still a part of her shattered and once again tears fell like rain from her eyes at the unbearable pain this moment brought with it. Both mates gone, leaving her alone for this last walk. One killed by the hand of the other and one dying by her hand. How had life come to this point for her?
She knew the answer to that all too well. Had not her mother, the island priestess, warned her of what the coming of the Guardians would require? The Goddess of Altair would demand her tribute and she would take it in blood. Yet hadn’t enough of her people died? When would enough be enough? For the first time in her lifeAsme found herself questioning her very beliefs, the religious foundation of her entire life. She was, after all, the last blood descendent from the goddess. And as such she knew what she must do, the path she must walk to prepare the final way for the rise of the Mystic.
She took a deep breath and let it out as she knelt besideGodar .If only, she began to think but quickly pushed such thoughts from her mind. If only was not an option for her and she had to gather her remaining strength around her to endure what the next few days would hold. She felt the brush o
f his hand along her arm and glanced down with startled eyes to seeGodar looking at her. Gone was the madness that had possessed him. Gone was the anger and resentment that must have been growing inside him for a very long time.
Here was the last remnant of the man she had fallen in love with. Here was theGodar of her heart and soul. Finally, the man who lay before her dying was the mate she loved.
“I always loved you,” he murmured. “But so didhe .” He blinked his eyes at her and she gripped his weakening hand tightly between hers. “I brought them here. I helped them to reach our shores and helped them to hide.”
“No,” she shook her head, not wanting to believe any worse of him.
“I wanted to destroy him so badly that I cared little for those who also suffered from my actions.” He smiled sadly at her and as much as she hated to hear his words she knew that he needed to share them with her. “I hoped that if enough of them died, if enough of them lost their mates or daughters or sons, that Micah would crumble and fall. But he never did. He just continued on and fought twice as hard at their sides.”
She couldn’t stem the flow of tears for Micah and forGodar , brothers who should have loved and supported one another. Instead one had been so consumed by jealousy that they had never really had the chance.
“I watched them surround him. It was a note from me that led him there. He came because I asked him to and then I watched as they riddled him with arrows. Finally I saw Micah fall to his knees. Finally the great prince was brought low.” He looked at her and she cried harder at the tears she saw in his eyes, on his cheeks. “And do you know what he said to me when I knelt beside him as he died?”
She shook her head, unable to say anything. Her voice was gone and it was all she could do to stop the sobs from leaving her throat.
“He smiled at me. He told me that he would always love me.Told me that I had been a wonderful brother.” His eyes were a faucet now, the tears streaming unchecked as he shared the last moments of Micah’s life with her. “He told me to tell you that he loved you. He was never happier than the moments he spent with you.” She did sob then, her grief so overwhelming that she could no longer contain it. “Then he told me that he forgave me.” He found her gaze with his and implored her to share the same with him. “He forgave me. Can you forgive me? Can you?”
She shuddered, letting her eyes squeeze tight for one instant before she opened them again. She shook her head sadly, refusing to lie to him even in death. “No. I cannot forgive you. Not only does Micah’s blood stain your hands, but that of many of our warriors and women. The blood of the people, the women and children who shared your life before you even came here.” She shook her head at the horror of all that he had done.“So much blood. So much hate.And for what,Godar ? Did it get you what you desired? Did it give you the happiness that you wanted?”
“It led me to you,” his voice was soft and weak and she knew the end was near. “For a brief time I had everything.”
“You could have had it for more than a brief time. I loved you and once I would have died for you.” She leaned over him, demanding his full attention. Anger—she was consumed by it, overflowed with it. “Damn you. Damn you and your hatred. Be glad that Micah could forgive you because I never will. I will never forgive what you took from Micah, what you took from me. But most importantly I will never forgive what you denied yourself by letting this fester and grow until it consumed you.” His blood soaked the earth beneath him and even as she finished speaking she saw the light fade from his eyes and knew that he was gone.
“May you find the peace in death that you denied yourself in life,” she whispered as she closed his eyes. She placed one kiss on his forehead in memory of the love she had once shared with him. She stood on shaky legs, digging deep for strength when all she wanted to do was fall back to her knees andcontinue weeping.
She threw her head back and screamed her anger at the sky. She screamed with fear and sorrow and a hurt that fractured her very soul. “Damn you,” she cried, shaking her fists. “When will it be enough for you? How much blood do you need? How many must die before we earn the right to the Guardians youpromised us?” She shuddered out a harsh breath and dropped her hands back to her sides. “How many more must die?” She whispered the last question, knowing that no answer awaited her. Or at least not one that she wanted to hear.For she could feel the answer in her heart, in the very blood that flowed through her body.
There was one last task to complete before the Mystic would awaken and strengthen the call. And it was a task thatAsme must complete alone. With sadness in her heart she took slow steps toward the home she had spent many happy moments in with her mates. Once it had been a temple to the Goddess of Altair and there was still one secret it held from all but the last female of the blood line. Destinyawaited , and with it everything would change.
Chapter Six
Aleafloated in the pool, enjoying the soft lap of the water over her skin. They would be leaving the cave today. She knew it, could feel it in her blood like a call from some primal force. She knew where they would head even though it was a part of the island that she had never been before. And she knew that theXandova would travel with her, protect and keep her safe. She had dreamed it all the night before.
A woman had appeared to her in her sleep.A dream that seemed more. Though she couldn’t recall the woman or anything really about her it was as if her spirit recognized the other woman. And there had been others in the dream as well, three women the same height as her. And all of them had the same green eyes, except for the one who had called them. For some reason she knew that her eyes were different—a shade of blue. Why she recalled that,Alea had no idea. And she was taller. Again just a feeling but she was sure it was right.
They were the Island Guardians. It was as if some hidden part of herself had awakened during the dream, a piece of her that had always been there but was dormant. She had always felt she was different somehow, and not just because of the way she dressed or the lack of feminine guidance early in her life. The air had always seemed thicker around her.And Vulcan, her first friend.A flying bird of prey that was almost like a second part of her.
She knew Willow, the Guardian of Water.Alea had met her at the last camp, the one where the prince had been killed. She had watched Willow use her powers to control the water and send boats away from their island. She had watched and felt a stirring in her own blood.The roar of air, the feel of it not just on her skin but in her skin. And the feeling had only been growing over the last few days.
The woman in the dream had told her that it was time to awaken and embrace who she was. She had shownAlea what power lay within. In the dreamAlea had whispered a chant to the Goddess of Altair and invoked her power. The rush of wind had been like nothing she had ever known. Around and over and inside her it rushed with a power that was consuming. Vulcan had flown high in the sky above and with a few words she had been able to see as if she were looking through his eyes.
And there was more, so much more to the power that she had. She could control the wind, control and contort the very air around her. Powerful gusts that could lift and destroy the earth and trees and anything that was in its path. And she could control it, could wield it like a warrior’s sword. And she had. In the dream they all had. Four of them, united as one in a circle. Each called unto the goddess, invoking that power which she had been gifted.
And together.Together they were unstoppable. They were all to travel to the same spot and perform some type of ceremony. It was imperative that they all leave soon, before the rising of the next moon. Time was of the essence. And they must take care to arrive safely.For if even one of them were to fail to arrive, then everything would change and the island would be doomed to war and death. Until no one was left to fight.
She felt a ripple in the water and knew without opening her eyes that one of her warriors had joined her. He grabbed her ankle and floated her across the surface of the water until she lay just in front of him. Hands
brushed up her thighs, lightly over her cunt and higher still to cup her breasts and fondle her ripening nipples. She sighed with awakening desire and opened her eyes to smile atSorran . His hands were so different from Drew’s. Or at least to her they were. His touch was softer somehow.
“I wondered if either of you would miss me,” she exhaled as his hands continued to work magic on her body. One strong arm circled under her hips, keeping them above the water and in his view.
“I knew the moment you slipped from between Drew and me,” he whispered, bending over to kiss her softly on the lips. His tongue glided over her bottom lip before dipping between them to taste her. Slowly he released her from his kiss, using his hands to lift her so that she was upright in front of him. He cupped her hips and she wrapped her legs around his hips.