Wilderness Untamed

by Butler, J. M.

  "Barbaric, veskaro." Naatos's smile did not waver. "Why the eye?"

  "I am choosing to trust you. I am blinding myself—blinding my fears. I am choosing to trust that when I fall you're there to catch me. That on the day when the Tue-Rah on Earth is restored, if it is restored, that it will be with your hand over mine and the tears in my eyes will only be tears of joy and tears of relief. That you are who you say you are now."

  "Very well." The smile tugged higher. "If I break the vow, you take my eye. And I will not reform it until all is well between us. Unless you would like to add something else."

  She lifted her chin, her pulse throbbing faster. "What do you want in exchange?"

  "I want you. All of you. And I want you now."

  She glanced around. The sunlight dappled the branches and his face. "You want to vestov in a tree?"

  He nodded.

  Somehow she found herself smiling. Her heart thundered as her core tensed. "You know, I can think of a thousand reasons not to have sex in a tree over massive carnivorous creatures that are all in an incredibly hostile and exhausted state."

  "I won't let you fall, veskaro. And if I do, I will catch you," he said, moving closer. "Will you trust me?"

  She nodded slowly as she stood. "I trust you." Her breath caught in her throat. "Yes."

  That look returned, pinning her in place and heating her through. As he approached her, she lifted her hand. "But you make the vow first."

  He stopped in front of her, his breaths already uneven as he focused on her eyes, then her lips. With one hand, he took hers and with the other, he cupped her chin. "Amelia, you are my veskaro, this bond we share is the most sacred and precious of my life. You are mine and as beloved as my own blood, bone, flesh, and soul. For you and on the sacredness of this bond, I vow not to conquer the Tue-Rahs, not to conquer any world or nation unless they desire my rule, and not to permit any genocide in practice or effect. And should I break or violate this vow, then you may take a lover of your choosing to satisfy your needs and who will be welcomed into this family and this cadre, and you may take my eye. So long as there is hope that our reunion may be mended, I shall not replace my eye. It shall remain as you leave it until you deem the relationship mended. So I vow this and so it is from now until the end of days and time itself."

  She wanted to cry. What came out instead was a halting sound, halfway between weeping and laughing. "I don't want another lover."

  He nipped at her lips. "At least let me ruin you for all other lovers first, veskaro. Then I'll take that as the compliment it is."

  This time she laughed and shook her head. The tree trunk kept her from moving back any further. "I don't know how to transition. Or what to do. I—I actually haven't made any plans for being in a tree."

  "Well, I have plans." He placed his arms on either side of her as he leaned in. For a long moment, he looked her up and down, his gaze hungry. That light shone through his eyes and radiated from him. "I plan to ravage you. To take you and take you until your legs betray you and you cannot stand. So I'm going to give you a choice. Do you want me to use that exquisite dream you sent me as a starting point or should I show you my own?"

  She put her hands on his chest, spreading her fingers out as she slid them down his muscular torso. Hooking her fingers on his belt, she kept her gaze fixed to his. "You've had a lot to say. So… impress me. Or else…"

  His mouth twisted into a crooked grin, his crystal blue eyes flaring with delight. His hand dropping to her side, he lifted her skirt and flattened his palm against her bare thigh.

  She released a narrow breath, everything in her tightening. Even just his hand felt so good against her right now, but—she needed to kiss him.

  Reaching up, she swept her lips to his. His tongue stroked hers, seeking her out and drawing her in, both gentle and relentless. As she moaned against him, he took the advantage. He kept every inch of his body pressed against hers as he kissed her, long and slow.

  She nipped at his lip, teased with her tongue. Every move she made he countered, stronger and more intense until he had her pinned entirely against the trunk of the tree, her cheeks burning and her breaths fast.

  "Patience, veskaro," he whispered. "We have hours before us."

  She closed her eyes as he kissed her again, at once insistent and yet in control.

  Some part of her had expected him to be unhinged, unleashing upon her all the pent-up lust and desire that surged beyond his walls. Yet he teased her. Playing, tasting, delighting.

  Her breaths quickened. The need inside her intensified. She pushed against him, another moan escaping her involuntarily. As she pressed her hands to his face, she pushed her elmis against his cheeks and forehead. The resulting surge of energy brought him into focus, making her aware of the intensity of his own pleasure, the pounding of the blood in his veins, the ferocious passion. She tilted her head back to relieve the intensity but kept her wrist elmis against him. He hadn't even touched the ones on her lower back, the ones that were supposedly for sex.

  He groaned in response. "Do you want me, veskaro?"

  "Yes." It tore out of her. Some small measure of relief trickled through her to even admit this. "Do you want me?"

  The ragged gasp of breath answered her before his words. "More than anything. But don't think you can rush me." He growled in her ear.

  "I would have thought you'd be in a hurry." Tilting her head back, she lifted her chin.

  He pushed closer, rubbing against her as he put her arms over her head. "Why would I do anything to hurry this? Especially now that I have you exactly where I want you."

  "What if I hurry you?" She tried to tug her hands free, but he held her fast.

  "You can try." He thrust his hips between hers as he pushed her up against the trunk. "But I don't think you'll be able to focus."

  She gasped. There were nerves and aches inside her that she didn't even realize could exist. "Really? You want to challenge me? Now?" She was about to come undone even as he shifted to a much softer and lazier rhythm. Her own hips twitched; she nearly pulled her arm free.

  Eyes closed, he kissed an aggressive line along her neck, trailing his lips up to her ear. "There will come a time when I simply seize you and take you as fast as I can, unleashing everything within me all for you. And there will come a time when you will do the same to me. But that's not tonight."

  Giggling she twisted back just enough to see his face. "I'm not failing to notice that it's still the afternoon." She bit her lip as she studied him. "Are you trying to slip something by me?"

  "How unfortunate you caught me," Naatos responded dryly. "I was going to be utterly horrid and unleash everything on you from afternoon to sundown and then sunrise to sundown the following day. But you foiled my plan."

  "Does this mean we should start again some other time?" She grinned at him with impish delight.

  "Utterly evil." He lifted her higher, keeping her back to the tree. His hands slid up along her thighs beneath her dress. The heat that spread from him sent her arching back as she wrapped her legs around his waist. The soft yellow fabric slid back as he exposed her. The cool air made her straighten her spine, warring with his intensity and heat.

  "I have been smelling you for weeks," he growled. "All of this beauty that I couldn't even taste and could barely touch." As he held her up with one hand, he swept his other along her thigh. "But I knew—I knew you were wet for me." Groaning, he leaned against her. His free hand curled around her neck as the other slid along her thigh. "Your scent has been almost enough to drive me mad. If I let myself go, I would rip you apart. But we'll take this slow."

  The rumble of his voice vibrated through her, every bit as hypnotic as his touch.

  His hand trailed along her outer thigh. Once he reached her knee, he drew it up again, moving a little farther inward. This time he stopped before the knee, curled his hand around her thigh a little more. Each time the stroke was shorter and closer until at last his fingers brushed against her mound. Sh
e stiffened and choked back the gasp that nearly broke free.

  "Hmm." He nuzzled her cheek. "Don't hold back on my account, veskaro. I want to hear your screams and moans and gasps. All of them. I want them all. Unless you're trying to save your strength. Which…that won't matter. Because I will spend every ounce of strength you have and more besides before I am done with you."

  She laughed. "You talk a big game, but—" She gasped as he lightly flicked his fingers at her lower lips.

  He grinned sardonically. "Really? You want to challenge me now, veskaro? You're about to melt in my hand already."

  Her cheeks burned. All of her was molten, intense, and—"First, I'm not melting. Second, you surprised me."

  Chuckling, he pushed her legs farther apart and leaned into the space. "You're a remarkably strong woman, veskaro. But you're already on the brink. Not that there's any shame in that. You've wanted me for days, almost as much as I've longed for you. But you've tried to pretend, and you've hoped I haven't noticed. You have to know I've been thinking of all the things I want to do to you. Including this." He slid his fingers between her legs.

  This time she did yelp, a combination of surprise and intense sensation. When she started to move, he grabbed hold of her hips and kept her in place as he explored and pleasured her at once.

  It was hard to talk now. Hard to do anything more than recognize the barest details of what was around her other than what he was doing to her. And that was—

  When she closed her eyes, she saw the dark room and the glowing tendrils, the red and the green and gold, all shimmering and coiling, expanding and tightening, pulling her, coaxing her. As he kissed her again, his fingers stroking deep and shallow at intervals, she found herself on the brink of falling into that ecstatic darkness. Instead, she pushed back. This she wanted to spend with him. Not away. Not gone. Not trapped in her own mind.

  She pressed back into the kiss, her hands slipping up to run along the cut of his jaw and the blades of his cheeks. The waves of her own desire rose up on invisible tides, so strong that while she was aware of him and what he wanted, there was no mistaking that this was of her and just as much what she wanted.

  His arm pulled her tight to him as he guided her back against the upward bend of the thick branch. His other hand roamed from her breast up to her collarbone, searching the neckline of her gown. As his fingers curled beneath the fabric, they scraped over some of the deeper ridged scars.

  She stiffened, alarm cutting through her. "I—"

  "Shh shhh. We don't have to do everything now." His hand moved at once to the back of her head as he kissed her cheek.

  How he recognized that response as distinct from pleasure, she didn't know. But she loved him all the more for not pressing her on that.

  Each time she pressed her elmis to him, she became more aware of him. Not simply of this moment but of him in his entirety. Strands of thread coiled around her and him, gold, green, and red. They entwined and spread and separated, each time drawing them closer.

  He continued to kiss and tantalize before at last, with one hand, he kept her up and with the other he unfastened his belt and his trousers. He pressed against her, the thrusting motion gentler now as he let her get used to him. She tightened, wincing.

  "You're all right?" he asked.

  Drawing a deep breath, she focused on relaxing. This was normal. Ordinary. It was fine. She just had to stay relaxed. "It's just—just a little uncomfortable."

  "If you need me to stop," he said.

  She restrained a laugh. If she told him to stop now, he probably would die. "No. I'm fine. It's just going to take some getting used to."

  He went slower now, supporting her with his arms as he pressed more and more of his length into her, watching her intently. She kept her arms on his shoulders, her fingers tangled in his hair and light against his neck as she gazed into his eyes with her elmis pressed to him.

  Gradually the threads returned, overlaying her vision, appearing each time she blinked. As she rocked against him, he pushed into her. Again and again and again until she wanted to leap out of her skin.

  He took hold of her face, ensuring her gaze was locked with his. Then he sheathed himself inside her once more in a single smooth motion. She gasped, her body tightening around him. He withdrew and thrust again. Her back arched as her body formed its own intense rhythm without requiring any thought from her, grinding and pulling against him. When she started to look down or away, he pushed his hand beneath her chin to guide her back.

  Energy built between them, powerful, intense, ferocious. She braced against the trunk and shoved back against him, half because it felt good and half in frustration at how intense her own feelings were and how hard they made it to think. The movement swept her farther and farther into a blissful state that threatened to break. Her eyes slid shut.

  His hand clamped along the back of her neck, tangling in her hair, his thumb beneath her chin. "Look at me," he growled. "Look at me, veskaro."

  "You look at me," she demanded. The pleasurable sensation spiked within her, taking her to the brink as those threads coiled and spun. Every inch of her burned and sang and tightened as she moved her hips in rhythm with his. He pounded into her hard and fast now, his pace intensifying. Building, building, building—

  He slammed her back against the tree trunk, bellowing as he released. She grabbed hold of his head as she screamed as well. For a moment, he kept her pinned there, his breaths long and deep.

  She kept her eyes shut for a few breaths longer, her own heart racing. The threads in her mind's eye had stilled, the light moving along them gentler and slower now. She let her head fall back against the tree trunk. "Are you all right?"

  He laughed, then lowered her to a seated position on the broad branch. "More than." Planting a kiss on her forehead, he held her there. "And what about you?"

  "I—I'm good." She was surprised to find herself panting, gulping in great mouthfuls of air as she tried to collect her thoughts.

  He leaned his forehead against hers. "You are mine," he whispered in her ear. "Always. Forever."

  "Don't make me regret loving you," she whispered.

  "You will never regret it." He pressed his cheek to hers and then kissed her again. His lips lingered on her cheek as he nudged her. "I would never abuse your love or devotion." A crooked smile pulled at his lips. "Truly, the only regret you will have is that you did not say yes sooner."

  "Of all the regrets I may one day have, I think I can live with that one. I can even appreciate it because of what it will mean." She rested her head on his shoulder. Some small part of her twisted with discomfort despite the overall happiness and contentment that radiated through her. They were trapped here. It was safe to love him. It had to be. She held him tighter.

  He continued to stroke her, his arm wrapped comfortably around her. It was true. Or at least he believed it enough that there was no shade of deception within it. Just as the vestov vow.

  And another truth shone deep within her, impossible to deny in any fashion.

  She loved him dearly.

  And he was hers.

  Her veskare.

  62

  The Sunset

  Naatos held her fast. He'd almost missed this, almost missed her entirely. When he looked back on all that had happened, he could scarcely believe how close he had come to losing her forever. How could he have even debated wanting what they had before to continue on and on without ceasing?

  Perhaps if there was no chance of being with her in any other capacity, the teasing and kisses would have been enough.

  But now, now that he had a taste and some small measure of satisfaction soothed his veins and calmed his blood, he could never imagine going back.

  He was far from satisfied. Euphoria was several hours away. But he could wait and be with her. She fit in his arms as if she had been made for him. Perfect and precisely what he needed. What he wanted. There had been many heartaches in his life, many points when he had thought no good co
uld ever exist. But all those faded here.

  It was good.

  Wonderful even.

  She breathed more easily now than he had ever seen her, her gaze half closed as if she bordered sleep, her hand slipped between the toggles of his doublet. She kept her elmis pressed to his arm or neck.

  He had never been so aware of her presence or her mindreading. Compared to most Neyeb he had encountered, she was an oddity in that her presence as a mindreader didn't always reveal itself. In her first attempts, it had appeared like a vague cloud or struck him between the eyes like a dull butterknife. At others, it was light and halting. Right now, she was breathing, resting, and feeling him. Not pressing deep or searching through his thoughts.

  Just being.

  With him.

  And seemingly uninterested in undressing him. He debated reminding her that his clothing did come off as she continued to run her fingers along his chest, but he decided against it. At least he'd neglected to put on the tunic beneath his doublet so her fingers were against his skin.

  In all the times he had contemplated and fantasized about their first time, he had not actually planned for her to remain fully clothed. She was surprisingly protective of her breasts. Each time he did more than graze them, she withdrew.

  It might have been the scars.

  It might only have been because they were in a tree.

  But probably not.

  She was opening to him. Slowly. Not that he was fully open with her yet either. Annoying as it was, AaQar was right. They both feared one another. He'd never looked at it that way. As much as she feared her mind collapsing and becoming his puppet, he had concerns he hadn't wanted to admit.

  That had been a problem lately.

  And who was he even convincing now?