by Tammy Walsh
He held me up there, suspended. Any thoughts I might fall, that his strength might fail him, fell by the wayside as he used his other hand to lift my hood and lick my clit.
He sucked on me, slurping and groaning with joy at my taste.
Even pinned to the wall, my hips bucked as he tore an orgasm from my throat.
He brought me down and placed me on the bed. He dropped to his knees and kept his head down there, his tongue tickling me deliciously. His long tongue slipped inside me and my eyes widened with shock.
The tip of his tongue pressed against the ridged upper wall of my g-spot, pressing and probing.
I had never felt anything so wonderful my entire life.
“Oh my God!” I screamed as the second orgasm leaped into being with no preamble whatsoever.
How was he doing that?
And then he sucked another rise from me, and my legs were already shuddering.
He removed his tongue and nibbled at my thighs as his hand rubbed me back and forth in endless circles.
It was exactly how I touched myself when I was alone.
It was like we were linked. Every time I wanted him to do something, he was already doing it.
The third wave was powerful. My hands gripped the bed sheets and I almost tore them off as my juices flowed. I pressed my hands to his head against me as he worked his magic.
It was too much.
“I want you,” I said. “I want you inside me now.”
He raised his lips, wet with my juices, and grinned at me. He licked his lips dry and then joined me on the bed. I’m not going to lie. His huge cock was intimidating.
A real challenge.
“Are you sure you want this?” he said, placing the tip of his cock at my entrance.
“Give it to me,” I said. “Give me everything.”
“Okay. But only because you asked so nicely.”
I sat up on my elbows and watched as he slid inside me.
I hissed through my teeth. He wasn’t halfway inside yet and I was still struggling to take him.
He paused and pulled out slightly, concerned.
I reach for his thigh and pulled his firm ass toward me.
He entered me again, deeper this time, deeper, until I had absorbed all of him.
We were both surprised I managed to take him.
Then he rocked back and forth, grinding inside me. I was already on the cusp of screaming. His size rubbed me in all the right ways.
Ways no one else ever had before.
He pinned my legs back with his powerful arms and drilled me mercilessly.
I threw my head back and let out another scream.
He was going to kill me.
There were worse ways to go.
He licked my nipples as he hammered me hard, giving me more than I could handle with each pummeling stroke.
One orgasm nipped at the heels of the next in a series of relentless waves, culminating in a giant tsunami of pleasure.
Then he rolled over onto his back and brought me up with him. He let me take charge. That giant tsunami was still heading my way. I carved a path through the destruction and despair to intense pleasure on the horizon.
I gripped his abs and bucked wildly on him, helping him spear me hard. I threw back my head and shut my eyes. I felt him stiffen inside me.
He grunted as he watched me on top of him, riding him, my breasts bouncing and my pussy clenching around his thick girth.
Only then, once I opened my eyes, did I notice—
His face was fully healed.
During our lovemaking, the last of his scars had healed. He had a handsome face that matched his bewildering frame. He had a square jaw and a slight nod in his chin. His eyes were big and wide and his cheekbones rode high.
It was the sight of his true face that brought the tsunami down on me. My body struggled to contain itself. My legs shook and my body ached. I felt him thrust inside me, filling me to the brim.
I collapsed on top of him, his chest broad enough to be my own personal bed.
We both panted, exhausted. Sweat beaded our foreheads.
Once I was capable of speaking, I said, “That was amazing.”
“The best,” he said.
He wrapped his arms around me, his cock still inside me. We lay there, calm in each other’s embrace, knowing that no matter what, nothing was ever going to be the same again.
We shuffled down the tunnels and followed the other Titans. They seemed to know where they were going.
Fiath held my hand and peered over at me with a smile on his lips. I grinned back at him but it was hard to make out his features with the hood he was wearing.
Why he insisted on wearing it, I didn’t know. He focused on the other Titans around us with lines of concern around his mouth.
He was worried about something.
But what?
Our lovemaking was second to none. He thrilled me more than any other man. It wasn’t even close.
His immense strength allowed us to enjoy positions I’d never even dreamed of. I doubted they even had them in the Kama Sutra.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for my fiancé. It wasn’t his fault I’d never been in love with him.
But I refused to live with a lie. Not when the rest of my life depended on it.
I had chosen my mate and he had chosen me.
It didn’t matter what he looked like. Not since I’d long lost my heart to him. But it sure didn’t hurt that he was gorgeous!
When he told me how Titans heal faster when they make love, my initial response was, “Then why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
He chuckled.
“I’m not sure many nurses would sign up for the job if it meant they had to jump into bed with every patient who came in with an ailment,” he said.
I burst out laughing at the idea of it.
“Yeah,” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. “I suppose it would get a bit tiresome after a while.”
We stepped into the great hall and joined the immense crowd. There were thousands of Titans, most wearing warpaint. In the center, a raised dais where four Titan chieftains stood. I recognized A’nshon who had rescued us from the Changeling soldiers on the surface.
He wore traditional Titan armor complete with dents and scratches from a lifetime of battles. The others wore similar but different plates of armor.
Fiath pointed each one out to me.
“See the one with the thick plume on top of his helmet?” he said. “His name’s Qi. He’s one of the most fearsome chieftains in the empire. And the smaller Titan, the only female, wearing leather armor? That’s Nus.”
“Nus,” I repeated to myself in an attempt to memorize their names. “And Qi. The one with the feather.”
It was hard to miss the fourth chieftain. His armor shimmered and changed color each time he moved.
“That’s M’rar Thres,” Fiath said. “His tribe is one of the most peaceful in the empire. They still fight but only when all other options have been worn out.”
“M’rar Thres,” I said.
I loved their names. They sounded like something from the fantasy books I used to read as a kid. I always loved to read.
The four chieftains sat on stools. M’rar Thres and Nus sat facing away from each other. No one made eye contact with Qi, but everyone seemed quite happy to talk with A’nshon.
Not all was well among the leadership.
A general buzz filled the huge antechamber from the thousands of gathered Titans. Stalactites jutted from the ceiling and pointed down like dangerous spears.
This antechamber didn’t have the same appearance as the tunnels. If I had to guess, I would have said this room was natural whereas the tunnels were Titan-made. More tunnels wound into this central hub along the other walls.
A’nshon stood up and eyed the crowd.
“Silence!” he said, his voice booming in the cavernous space.
The audience quietened and listened to what he had
to say.
“Congratulations on making it to the Fallen Temple,” he said. “There are fewer of us than I would like but more than enough for us to launch an effective attack on the Changelings. They attacked and killed our emperor and the beacons are lit. They thought they could quell our resistance by destroying our tribes. But they were wrong. Now, it is time for us to respond to their attacks with full force!”
The crowd roared. At least, they did for the most part. Some shuffled their feet.
M’rar Thres leaped to his feet, his shimmering armor holding everyone’s attention.
“We should not attack, not yet,” he said. “More Titans are coming. If we wait, if we gather a larger force, then we should attack. We will overpower them and there will be no way to stop us. Until then, I suggest we communicate with them. Peace is always better than war.”
His comments were met with hoots of approval from those who shuffled their feet earlier. They wore similar, if less shiny, armor as their chieftain. I realized the gathered Titans were divided by tribe.
I wondered how united the resistance really was.
“Peace? There can be no peace,” Qi said, his plume giving him an extra foot to his already intimidating height. “Every trade embargo, every attempt at peace we’ve made has been met with disaster. There can be no peace with these creatures. We cannot afford to wait. Every minute we wait, the Changelings get closer to discovering us. We must attack now. It’s the only chance of success we have.”
More hoots of acceptance. The gathered Titans seemed split roughly down the middle.
Nus, the only female chieftain, got to her feet next.
“The truth is, we don’t have the weapons we need to defeat the Changelings,” she said. “We should wait, but not for when we have enough warriors, but when we have enough powerful weapons.”
Before she even sat down, Qi was on his feet and up in her face.
“You would wait until the Changelings attack and bring the Fallen Temple down on our heads!” he spat.
Nus growled and slipped a knife from the sheath at her side. Qi had a foot or more on Nus, but she showed no signs of backing down.
Hatred borne from centuries of bickering and squabbling came to the fore. The Titan audience broke apart and squared off against each other.
A’nshon got between the chieftains about to come to blows on the stage and shoved them apart. He glared at them with his one good eye.
“Do not fight!” he said. “This is exactly what the Changelings want! If we’re going to mount an effective battle against them, we must work together.”
Qi ran a hand through his thick plume.
“No one doubts your bravery, A’nshon,” he said. “I’ve met you on the battlefield many times and always came away with a fresh scar, but you are asking for the impossible. Never in all our history have our clans come together.”
“You’re wrong,” Nus said, getting to his feet. “Our ancestors put aside their differences during the Great Welding, when we fought a similar foe all those millennia ago.”
“We had the emperor to lead us,” Qi said. “But now, he has been taken from us.”
The Titans whimpered on the stage and in the crowd. It could never be said often enough: the emperor was the heart and soul of the Titans.
“This isn’t going well,” I said. “The Changelings will win if they don’t work together.”
“It’s difficult for them to go against their nature,” Fiath said. “They’ve spent so many years fighting each other. It kept their skills sharp but dulled their wits.”
“They need someone to follow,” I said. “Someone to unite them against their common enemy.”
Fiath was quiet. Then he sighed and those lines returned to his mouth and eyes.
“We could leave, you and I,” he said. “We could leave this place right now and no one would notice. We could creep into the forest and go anywhere in the empire. We could set up a home somewhere, live out the rest of our lives in peace. If you could do that, would you want to? Or would you prefer to stay here and fight?”
I could see by the haunted look in his eye that he was being serious. It wasn’t an idle suggestion. He meant what he was saying.
I squeezed his hand tighter in mine and smiled at him.
“If you let an enemy like the Changelings do what they want, if you let them walk all over you and don’t put up a fight, they will never let us live in peace,” I said. “I’ve known enough bullies in my life to know that. The only chance at peace we have is in the hands of these chieftains. If they can’t come together, if they can’t find peace between them, we’ve already lost.”
My response wasn’t a surprise to him. Still, he looked disappointed. He turned to face the stage where the chieftains were now in each other’s faces, and so was the audience, growing even more belligerent and aggressive. They began to shove each other. A couple even pulled out weapons.
It was going to be a slaughter.
“For our future then,” Fiath said.
He released my hand and stepped through the crowd, heading toward the stage.
“Wait!” I said. “Where are you going? Fiath? Fiath?”
No one stopped him or prevented him from climbing the steps to the stage. They were too busy preparing to fight each other.
The chieftains paused when they saw him approach. They glanced at his hands and body for weapons. He had none.
His appearance, at least, had stopped them from fighting.
My heart was in my throat. What did Fiath think he was doing?
He was going to get caught in the crossfire and get seriously hurt.
Or worse.
“And who are you, friend?” Qi said, a small smile on his face.
“I am a lone and weary traveler,” Fiath said.
“Which tribe do you belong to?” M’rar Thres said.
“I belong to every Titan tribe,” Fiath said calmly. “The same as all of you. We are brothers. We are sisters. We’re here to fight the enemy, not each other.”
Even the audience had paused to watch the scene taking place.
“For hundreds of years, we’ve fought bravely against each other,” Fiath said. “For power, for glory. Sometimes for the fight itself. Now we must fight for all those things. But it must be together. We cannot let our petty squabbles defeat us. We must destroy the Changelings.”
Qi snorted and shook his head.
“And who do you think is going to lead us?” he said. “I will not bow to M’rar Thres, and he and Nus will not bow to me. I respect A’nshon but even he can’t unite all the tribes.”
“You must follow the one true leader of all Titans,” Fiath said simply.
“And who’s that?” Nus said.
“The emperor,” Fiath said.
Qi waved a hand dismissively.
“The emperor is dead,” he said.
“He’s not dead,” Fiath said.
“We all saw the attack,” Qi growled. “No one could survive that. You’re a fool to think anyone could.”
Despite his harsh words, his sadness and desperation were etched on his face. Even he respected the emperor.
Fiath paused a moment and turned to look into the crowd.
At me.
His expression was concealed by his hood and I wondered what he was thinking.
“The emperor did die,” Fiath said with a nod. “Then, he was reborn.”
He reached for his hood and pulled it back, revealing his gorgeous face.
A gasp was torn from every Titan’s throat.
“It can’t be!” someone shouted at the opposite end of the room.
“He died! It’s impossible!”
The chieftains’ eyes dropped to Fiath’s wrists, looking for a band of skin. Of course, there was none. Fiath was not a Changeling.
The Titans whispered to each other.
“It’s the emperor!” they said. “It’s him! It’s the emperor!”
They dropped their weapons and prostrated
themselves. An entire sea of Titans fell to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the floor.
Nus and M’rar Thres immediately dropped to their knees too. Qi and A’nshon remained standing. They were most powerful chieftains and less likely to want to give up their power.
They shared an uncertain look.
“How… How do we know you’re the real Emperor?” A’nshon said, voice shaking with reverence.
“Do you doubt your own eyes?” Fiath said. Then he spoke with a strong and steely voice. “Do you question me?”
A’nshon dropped to his knees.
Only Qi remained. The most powerful and aggressive.
“I… I saw the explosion,” he gibbered. “Every… Everyone said you were dead.”
His voice was full of pain and anger.
“We mourned you,” he said. “The entire empire mourned you. And you’re still alive?”
He wasn’t being angry or combative, I realized. Tears shimmered in his eyes and his voice shook. His knees smacked the floor hard and he bellowed: “The emperor has returned! Long may he reign!”
“Long may he reign! Long may he reign! Long may he reign!”
The entire hall erupted with the mantra.
Fiath and I were the only people still on their feet. Me, just barely. My knees felt weak and could have collapsed at any moment.
He looked at me, with the Titans—his Titans!—prostrated around him as far as the eye could see. He looked unsure. He didn’t know how I would react.
Neither did I.
With tears in my eyes—but for entirely different reasons than the Titans—I turned and ran.
Somehow, my feet found their way back to our room. I never could have done it consciously. I was too busy reliving the past twenty minutes of my life.
I couldn’t stop pacing. I ran my hands through my hair and shook my head. I even screamed.
How was this possible?
How did I not know who he was?
Because you aren’t a Titan.
He was so burnt and battered and bruised, even his people hadn’t recognized him.
Then why hadn’t he told me earlier?
I kicked the bed and immediately regretted it. I hissed through my teeth and rubbed my toe.
Why did he let me discover the truth like that?