Mutual Desire

by Donna Grant

  Falcor nodded with a smile. “You look delicious. The Kellian dress suits you.”

  She laughed and walked toward him. “The gown is so soft. I feel as though I’m wearing nothing.”

  “It is made from a special thread from the wool of the ucas that graze throughout the jungle. They are difficult to catch, but their wool is the finest to be had.”

  He pulled out a chair for her and waited until she sat before he took his own. He handed a platter of boiled twinega eggs to her.

  “Have you ever thought to trade the wool?” she asked after placing one of the eggs on her platter.

  Falcor shrugged and passed her a piece of roasted fegan. “The meat is from one of the best-tasting foul in the jungle. I think you’ll like it. As for trading, there have been occasions we’ve given the wool to a kingdom as a gift. Why do you ask?”

  “I know the market at Aldvale, and I know that my people would pay handsomely for fabric such as this.”

  Falcor considered her words as he chewed his food. “Kellian is a rich enough kingdom, but it is something to consider.”

  “It would also allow other kingdoms to know the Kellians instead of fearing you.”

  “Sometimes fear is good.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Because of the jungle. Too many people die each year because they don’t know the dangers.”

  “So it isn’t because you don’t want visitors?”

  Falcor thought over her words as he chewed. “My people don’t care for visitors, but we do have them on occasion. We’ve gone so many generations mostly by ourselves that it has become our habit.”

  “Yet, if you start selling the wool, people can learn of the jungle and its dangers.”

  He grinned. “Were you sent to take the wool then?”

  Her answering smile was genuine. “Nay, but I may ask if I can keep this lovely gown.”

  “Consider it yours.”

  She blinked, the smile slowly fading. “Truly?”

  “Truly. Now, eat. The roasted fegan is one of our specialties.”

  The moon hung full in the sky, and the jungle was alive with sounds, even in the dead of night. Falcor sat on the window seat in the king’s tower and thought of his evening with Linarra as he looked over his home. She was a rare gem, a woman pushed into being a spy by a man who had once sought her hand.

  The message from his man in Aldvale had given him a brief warning that a spy would be coming to Kellian just before Usotae’s missive arrived. Falcor had known Usotae would try something unexpected.

  What continued to worry Falcor was how caught he would be had he not been warned of Linarra. He’d been unable to think of much else but her since the moment she rolled from the carpet in all her beauty. His lust was so strong, Falcor began to doubt if he could have kept anything from her.

  Linarra’s exotic splendor had captured his attention, but it had been her body that had pulled him completely under. Falcor had never likened himself for a fool, but he knew Linarra would have made him one. He just thanked the gods he’d been cautioned ahead of time.

  “Do I keep you from your bed?”

  He turned at her voice and found her beside him. “Nay. The jungle often draws my attention.”

  “I suppose having grown up here, it doesn’t frighten you?”

  Falcor laughed. “There is much about the jungle that would frighten anyone. There are carnivorous plants big enough to eat a grown man.”

  “Nay.”

  He nodded. “I do not jest. I’ve seen them, and they are vicious. There are predators who, with a swipe of one paw, could sever your head from your body, and small bugs whose bite can kill you.”

  She shuddered and wrapped her hands around herself. “I’m amazed I made it to the castle in one piece. Had I known ahead of time what awaited me, I don’t think I would have come.”

  “I’m glad you did come.” He hadn’t spoken truer words in a long time. Despite her being a spy, he was glad to have her with him, even if it was only for a short while.

  She clasped her hands together and leaned her head to the side. “I think I believe you.”

  “As you should.”

  “Tell me more of the jungle,” she said as she sat beside him. “Were we in great danger coming to your castle?”

  “Nay. My men brought you here. Without them, you might very well have ended up somewhere you shouldn’t be. If you know what to look for, you can walk just about anywhere in the jungle. It’s one of the reasons visitors who don’t have my men escorting them usually end up dead.”

  “And you ran the jungle freely as a child?”

  “Oh, aye. Every day.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Did your parents never worry? I don’t think I would allow a child outside these walls.”

  He glanced out over the tall trees and thick foliage as he recalled the long days of his youth when he hadn’t had the worries that rested on his shoulders now. “My parents most certainly worried. Especially my mother.”

  “You miss those youthful days.”

  He looked at her and gave a brief nod. “When you have such carefree, wonder-filled days, it’s hard not to miss them.”

  “Where you ever injured in your outings?”

  “Nearly every time,” he replied with a smile. “My father would laugh and tell my mother to get used to my ways, but she never did. She was always waiting for me when I returned, ready to clean the wounds I had sustained. She didn’t scold, though.”

  Linarra sighed. “She sounds like she was a great woman.”

  “The very best. She was kind and giving, and willing to open her heart to anyone in need. She was a good match for my father.”

  “What was he like?”

  Falcor crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. “Tall, stern, unforgiving as kings have to be at times. He was also honest, fair, and wise.”

  “Sounds like you learned a lot from him.”

  “I did. He often told me my mother made him a better man, that she softened his edges.”

  Linarra smiled as he spoke. “They sounded as though they were meant for each other.”

  “My mother often said as much.”

  “What happened to them?”

  Falcor took a deep breath and felt the familiar stab of pain that accompanied thoughts of his parents. “My father was wounded by a tougar. His men weren’t able to get him back to the castle before an infection set in. For three days he hung on, a fever raging in his body, before he died. My mother went a month later from grief. I think she died the moment he did, it just took her body a little longer to realize it.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Linarra said, and she placed her hand on his.

  Falcor stared at her hand against his. Her touch was soft but sure. “It was a long time ago.”

  “Tell me of your childhood,” she said as she dropped her hand. “Did you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “Nay, only me. What of you?”

  She glanced away from him. “My mother died eight years ago, and my father just last year.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She waved away his words. “My father was very sick. It was for the best.”

  “Siblings?”

  “Aye, I have one. A sister.”

  Instantly, he knew she was the eldest. “She’s younger?”

  “How did you know?”

  He shrugged. “A guess. Does she know where you are?”

  “Aye.”

  Falcor pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and looked into her golden eyes. “I cannot help you return to her if I don’t know why Usotae is using you.”

  She put her hand to his lips. “Don’t,” she begged. “I like you. I wasn’t expecting to, but no matter what my feelings are, Usotae has to think I’ve succeeded.”

  “Or you die?”

  She shook her head.

  Falcor snorted as he leaned his hands against the railing of his window. “He has your sister, doesn’t he? He’s using your sister to
get you to spy for him.”

  When she didn’t answer him, he looked at her. “I can help you, Linarra. I can get your sister out of Aldvale.”

  She laughed then, her eyes wild with panic and resignation. “If only you could.”

  “If I could, would you trust me then?” She hesitated, and he took her by the shoulders. “Linarra?”

  “Nay,” she said softly. “He’ll be expecting you to try to take her. I know him, Falcor. I know just what he’s capable of. If you try to take her, he’ll kill her.”

  “He wouldn’t dare, because if he does, he knows he has no more hold over you.”

  Her brow furrowed as she thought over his words. “Maybe, but I cannot be sure. You’re asking me to betray my people.”

  “Nay. I’m asking you to trust me.”

  “I don’t know you.”

  “Your body knows me,” he said just before he pulled her against him and claimed her mouth in a fiery kiss that set his heated blood raging.

  One taste of her had only teased him. Her body was like a drug, one that he wanted to return to time and again. The taste of her sweet lips made him only want her more. And the more he sampled her, touched her, the more he felt the stirrings in his soul.

  She melted against him, her breasts pressing against his chest. His body, inflamed with need, wanted her immediately. He clawed at her gown, eager to have her body bared to him. Once it was pulled over her head, he tossed it aside and stared down at the beauty before him.

  With a groan he fell to his knees and cupped her breasts, loving the way they filled his hands. Her bronzed skin was smooth and unblemished, warm and alive at his every touch.

  He leaned forward and bent her to take a nipple into his mouth, letting his tongue swirl around the tip until it hardened and she pressed her chest against his mouth. His tongue ran back and forth over the tiny bud, making Linarra moan and her hands clench in his hair.

  His mouth then moved to the valley between her breasts and down to her navel. He nudged the stone, eager to see it gone and replaced with a ruby to match his sword. But he didn’t linger. His hands moved to her hips, kneading and caressing her.

  Her legs parted when he kissed the tawny triangle that hid her sex. He lifted her in his arms and placed her on the window seat, then he opened her legs and flicked his tongue over her pearl.

  The startled cry that tore from her lips made him smile. He settled between her legs and pushed a finger inside her. Her liquid heat nearly made him spill.

  Linarra leaned back on her elbows and gloried in the feel of Falcor’s mouth on her sex. His tongue was doing amazing things while his finger stroked her. Her body tingled with desire as she closed her eyes and let the feelings engulf her.

  Rapture spread through her as she felt her orgasm building. Each lick of his tongue and push of his finger inside her sent her toward the precipice of desire.

  Hunger for Falcor consumed her. She wanted to touch him, to feel him, but when she started to rise, he pushed her back. Linarra gave in, certain she would have her turn.

  She spread her legs wider, loving the feel of his tongue on her pearl. Her eyes closed and heat centered on her sex. She felt herself building, and she eagerly sought the release. She cried out as his fingers pushed deeper.

  And then she climaxed.

  Her world went black as her body convulsed with the orgasm. She drifted on a sea of pleasure, her body awash in ecstasy.

  When she opened her eyes it was to find Falcor kissing the inside of her thigh as he watched her.

  “I love watching you peak.”

  She smiled and sat up. “Do you?”

  “Aye.”

  She knelt beside him and reached for his pants. “Twice now you’ve touched me. ’Tis my turn.”

  He stood and let her pull down his pants, freeing his thick, hard cock. She reached up and took it in her hand. He was smooth and hard and hot.

  His eyes watched as her fingers encircled him and slowly move up and down his length. He sighed and briefly closed his eyes when her tongue flicked out to lick the head of his rod.

  Linarra loved the feel of him. Legs of thick muscles held him still as she rose on her knees to place tiny kisses up and down his cock. When she reached his tip, she raised her gaze and took him into her mouth.

  He let out a loud moan and gripped her head as her lips closed over him. Remembering her instructions, she cupped his sacs and gently rolled them in her hands while her mouth moved up and down his length.

  This was one instruction she had thought never to use, to never to want to use. But with Falcor, everything was different. She couldn’t get enough of him, and the more he pleasured her, the more she wanted to satisfy him.

  His fingers threaded through her hair as he urged her to take him deeper in her mouth. Linarra widened her lips and took him deep in her throat. His moan was enough to tell her she had done just what he wanted.

  She knew he was close to climaxing when he began to move his hips faster, his hands holding her head harder. And with a shout, he came.

  Linarra licked her lips and leaned away as Falcor fell back on the window seat. She hadn’t expected to enjoy having his rod in her mouth, but seeing how much he liked it made her want to do it again.

  He touched her face, his eyes tender. “No one has ever done that before.”

  Bliss filled her. She shouldn’t want to please a man who was supposed to be her enemy, but she couldn’t stop the feelings within her.

  Nor did she want to. Not when he promised such pleasure, such…surrender.

  6

  Falcor scratched his chin as he listened to Eldon. They sat in the great hall, which was empty except for a few servants. His commander began to recount what he had learned while spying in Aldvale.

  “You’re right, my king. Usotae is gloating about how Linarra will seduce secrets out of you.”

  Falcor sighed. “What did you learn of her? Anything?”

  “She was once betrothed to Usotae. She called off the betrothal, but reports conflict as to the reason.”

  “Anything else? Why did Usotae send her?”

  Eldon smiled, his dark blue eyes full of hate. “Several lords have asked for her hand, but Usotae refused them all. She won’t have him, but he won’t let anyone else have her.”

  “Then why send her here?”

  “Punishment, I imagine,” Eldon said. He clasped his hands behind his back. “Usotae isn’t in favor with all of his people. I don’t think I’ve seen, or heard, of a king as brutal as he.”

  Falcor leaned forward in his chair. “You said he sent Linarra here as punishment. Why? Because she wouldn’t marry him?”

  “That is part of the speculation. It is well known in Aldvale that she is here. Many expect her to fail, for Usotae has given her a daunting task, especially given how you’ve discovered the other spies.”

  “Only with your help, old friend. Now what happens if she fails?” Falcor had an idea, but he wanted to hear it from Eldon.

  His spy let out a long breath. “She has a younger sister that Usotae is holding. She was suspected of murder several years ago, but before the trial could begin, he released her. Now, it is rumored that should Linarra fail, her sister will be tried for that crime and hung in one day.”

  “Well before Linarra could return to save her,” Falcor said. He rose and walked the empty hall. “Did the sister commit the murder?”

  “Some say nay, others say the evidence doesn’t prove anything.”

  “For a man who refuses to allow anyone to have Linarra, I find it extremely odd that he would send her to seduce me.” He turned to Eldon. “Would you send a woman you wanted, a woman that you had kept from everyone else, to sleep with your enemy?”

  “Nay,” Eldon said. “But then again, Usotae isn’t a normal man. He wants power. Lots of power. He’s looking to Kellian first, and afterward he plans on using the same strategy as he works his way through Hesione, Pereth, and all the small kingdoms. From what I hear, he even has
his sights on Shadowhall.”

  Falcor snorted. “He’ll never get Shadowhall.” He paced the hall a few moments, gathering his thoughts before he stopped next to Eldon. “Can you get to Linarra’s sister?”

  Eldon’s eyes widened. “You mean take her from Aldvale?”

  “Aye. And bring her here?”

  A slow smile spread over Eldon’s face. “Aye, my king, I can. I’ve been waiting for an excuse to enter Usotae’s palace.”

  “He’ll be expecting you.”

  “He won’t be expecting what I have in store for him.”

  “If he thinks any Kellians are in Aldvale, he will kill Linarra’s sister.”

  Eldon lifted a brow. “He’s never known I was a Kellian before; he certainly won’t now. Narune is kept at the palace. He’s keeping her in the dungeons. I’ll get in as soon as I can.”

  Falcor ran a hand down his face. “This mission calls for more men.”

  “I cannot bring many more in lest Usotae get suspicious. I may be able to bring a few of our men into Aldvale, but I’d never get them in the palace.”

  “Do what you can, old friend.”

  “I’ll bring her to Kellian, Falcor,” Eldon vowed.

  Falcor watched one of his most trusted personal guards leave, confident that Eldon would return with Linarra’s sister. Eldon never made a vow he couldn’t keep. Falcor just hoped he returned in time.

  He blew out a breath. Now, he had to make Linarra trust him enough to confirm all of what Eldon had heard.

  Linarra rose from her bath and dried off. Falcor had left early that morning before she woke. When she had come downstairs, food had been waiting for her.

  She had gone to bed with a smile on her face that was still there. Falcor had delved into her past, wanting her to open to him, but she had been afraid of the consequences. He might be able to free her sister, but would he still want her once he knew the extent of why Usotae had sent her? Would he still look at her with such passion and desire if he knew what she had done?