Dark Warriors: A Dark Lands Anthology (Darklands) (33 page)

Just a little loving….they had waited so long.

She didn’t protest when he feasted on her breasts. Instead she clutched his head and cried out for more. It didn’t help his logic. Logic flew out the window when he unlaced her pants and tasted her honey. The hands in his hair tightened and she screamed her pleasure to the night. Even when he slid two fingers into her and felt the evidence of her virginity, she didn’t stop him.

She was absolutely wild.

Feminine hips arched upward, begging for what he now knew she’d never tasted. Her nails scored his back, speaking in the most primitive manner of her feral pleasure.

Pity made him gentle his touch, attempt to gentle her. Pleasure in any form must have been scarce in these last years. No wonder she lost her restraint now.

“Don’t stop,” she gasped, though he doubted she knew what she was saying. “Please!”

“I won’t.” Though he would not take the selfish pleasure his body demanded. That he would save for his wedding night.

He placed a gentle kiss on her stomach as he continued to love her with his hands. Let her have this night.

Dey lay quivering when he finally released her from his lover’s spell. Nor did she protest when he carried her to the fire and the blanket he’d lain out. His body felt so right curled against hers, and she couldn’t think of any reason why it shouldn’t be there. Heaven was in his arms, and she intended to stay there as long as he let her. Drunk on love, she fell asleep.

Dawn woke her, and Keg gave her new pleasure. His hands and lips made her wild and ready, then took her over the edge again and again. He demanded that she surrender all, yet when her hands moved over him, he captured them and placed them around his neck.

“Later,” he whispered. “I can’t stop if you love me now.”

Sometime later, she gasped, “Do you want to stop?”

His hands slowed, soothing her to a calmer state. “I have to take you back and marry you first.” He smiled at her as he brushed her hair back. “I want to do you that honor.”

Though she was too sated to get up, Dey hid her face against his chest. “Keg…”

“Tell me what the problem is and I’ll fix it.”

His uncertainty hurt. “You don’t want me.”

He whispered something naughty and a little raunchy in her ear.

She gasped and sat up. “What!”

Unrepentant, he smirked at her. “You heard me.” He mellowed. “It’s not my feelings in doubt, so don’t try to project your fears onto me. I’ll disappoint you.” He rose and hauled her to her feet, then grabbed his blanket and shook it out.

Annoyed at being managed, she raked her hands through her tangled hair and tied it back with a thong. She’d probably scare elders and small children this morning, but it wasn’t her fault.

Keg was staring at her.

“What?” she asked defensively.

A slow, hot grin inched over his face as he scanned her. “I’m thinking about staying an extra day or two.”

She shoved him and went to sit on his sled.

Grumbling good-naturedly, he followed and stashed away his gear, then slung a leg over the machine.

“You did tell your brother to find you if you didn’t show up by noon,” she pointed out.

“I could send him back after he showed up.”

“Drive, Keg.”

“Slave driver,” he said with a smile in his voice.

They’d driven for a little while when he asked, “So what kind of dress do you want for your wedding?”

She sat up straighter. “I haven’t said I’ll marry you yet.”

“Why stall? Besides, I captured you, remember? And Beasts always marry the women they capture. If you look at it right, getting married will be all my fault.”

“That’s so soothing,” she said dryly.

“I’m happy to take all the blame,” he said generously. “Now, what’s your favorite color?”

Groaning silently, she shook her head. “I beat up your servants and tied up your mother. She’ll hate me.”

“You’re marrying me. She’ll love you.” He was silent for a moment. “We’ll get her a peace offering, just in case.”

“I won’t be a captive.”

Long moments passed. “I had hoped you’d want to stay with me, adajah,” he said softly.

Unfair! He had to know that the softness of that word wreaked havoc on her control. “What does that mean?”

“‘One whom I admire, or adore’, and you’re dodging the subject. Do you or do you not care for me?” he demanded.

That wasn’t the issue. “You know I do, but…”

“No buts. We’re getting married. I’ll deal with your fears later. Sometime after the wedding night.”

Men! “Is that all you think about?”

He shot her a look of disbelief. “After the way you begged in my arms all night? Oh, yeah.”

“I don’t beg!”

“Baby, you do, and I have the scratches to prove it.”

She didn’t talk to him for the next twenty miles.

Keg’s mother was not wearing a smile when they pulled into the yard, but she wasn’t holding a gun, either.

Roac, who was checking something on his sled, presumably preparing to go after them, looked up and grinned. “Hello, brother. I was just getting ready to retrieve you. Glad to see she didn’t stab you and toss you in the swamp.”

Dey glowered at him. As a potential brother-in-law, he was not promising.

Apparently Keg agreed. “Careful how you speak of my future wife.” He helped Dey from the sled as if it was a grand conveyance and she was wearing silk instead of leather.

Roac’s brows shot up. Clearly Keg’s actions were unprecedented. “You must have come to terms while you were gone. So when’s the wedding?” He scrutinized the two of them closely.

“We haven’t decided,” Dey said repressively.

“Tomorrow,” Keg said at the same time. He stared her down. “She’s going to pick out a dress today.”

Dey nodded. “Good idea. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just go hunt up a garment maker.” She turned away from the house and took one step.

And was snagged by the collar. Keg gave her a sarcastic smile. “Very funny. My mother will escort you.” He frowned. “And five or six of my brothers.”

Surprised, she said, “You have that many?”

“No, and since I don’t, I guess Roac will have to do.”

Dey appraised his big blond brother and grunted. He didn’t need more with that hulking Beast following her around.

Roac smiled pleasantly, not fooling her for a minute. She knew dangerous when she saw it.

“You’ll enjoy yourself, little sister. I know every embarrassing thing Keg’s ever done. As his future wife, it’s only fair that I share them,” Roac promised, wagging his brows evilly at his brother.

“And I’ll be there to make certain he doesn’t get out of hand,” their mother promised, halting Keg’s budding retort with a look. “We’ll leave after the meal.”

Dey was very surprised to meet Keg’s sisters at the table: all eight of them. She tried not to stare as she was introduced, but must have failed, for Vana laughed.

“The city is swarming with young ladies these days. We wives are expected to make up for the deficit from so many years of infertility.”

Eyes wide, Dey shot Keg a look.

Adopting an expression of innocence, he slung an arm around her and found them seats. “I like children.”

“I’m not having a herd of children, Keg. Believe it.” She shuddered. Motherhood material she was not. She could just imagine the chaos that would result if she attempted it.

Undercover of everyone sitting, he whispered in her ear, “Hey, you play, you pay.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “I can forgo playing.”

Under the table, his hand slid up her thigh.

She inhaled forcefully.

“Oh, yeah, sweet thing. You have great self-control,” he mocked in her ear.

She bared her teeth at him.

Unfortunately, Keg’s sister Amee, the oldest of the girls and a pretty brunette, distracted Dey from her revenge.

The fourteen-year-old bubbled with enthusiasm. “I’m so excited to finally meet you! We were so disappointed that we couldn’t last night. Keg’s been looking for you for years. It’s so romantic that he finally found his lost love.”

Dey frowned doubtfully.

Keg cleared his throat. “Ah, Amee…”

She dimpled at him. “I’m so excited about the wedding. I won’t be able to wed for another two years.”

“Two years?” Dey swiftly calculated, wondering if she’d misheard Amee’s age. “You’ll only be sixteen!”

“Our women mature much faster than yours,” Dagon interjected. “We are already considering potential suitors for her.”

“Though we might wait an extra year before we let her wed,” Vana said with a forceful look at her husband. This seemed to be an old argument.

“Can I go shopping with you, mother?” Amee pleaded, ignoring the strife. “You said I have excellent taste.” Immediately her sisters clamored to go as well.

Dey looked at Keg and whispered under the noise, “One baby. Maybe two. Anything else and I might have to geld you myself.”

He just smiled.

Shopping was an adventure. Though understandably edgy about being in the middle of a Beast city, Dey was awed by the number of tall, armored Beasts striding around the city, occasionally accompanied by timid, often veiled women. Occasionally she saw groups of young men or boys running about the paved streets, but no girls. Dressed as she was in her customary huntress garb, Dey received her share of stares.

“Why are they so timid?” she asked Roac, who was fully armored and scanning the street in a menacing manner.

It was Vana who answered. “It comes from the days when women were a rarity. Although there have been more of us…imported, many women still fear being snatched. You’ll notice how diligent their escorts are.”

“Are they made to wear veils?” Dey demanded, frowning so fiercely at a passing woman that she ducked her head and hastened past. The idea of subjugation didn’t suit her.

Vana smiled. “Those who cover up fear their beauty will make them more appealing targets. We often hide the least bit of attractiveness behind veils.”

Dey scanned Vana and Amee’s naked faces. “You’re pretty enough, and seem unafraid.” Dey was convinced that she would never where a veil. To her mind, there was little allure to hide.

With a fond glance at her son, Vana said, “We are too well-known to hide. Besides, a woman can rest easy when she has one of the house of Dagon guarding her.”

A grunt was Dey’s answer. She was well able to guard herself. “Your women should learn to carry arms if it’s so dangerous.”

“Many of us do,” Vana surprised her by saying. “Though male armor is hard to penetrate with small firearms.”

“Wear armor yourself, then, and learn the dirty tricks to take them down. My people managed it.” She ignored the scowls that earned her. Her point had been personal protection, not politics.

A moment later, that abstract argument became personal reality. A glance to her left, and she saw him. Dybell.

Trying to fade away, she slipped behind Roac, but it was too late. He’d spotted her.

“You!”

Her worst nightmare had three others with him, and Dey was never one to hide behind others. Racing for the sidewalk, she leapt up, grabbed the low wall above a shop front and swung up. Stone shattered over her shoulder as she dropped down flat. Swearing about her confiscated rifle, she crawled on her belly to the roof’s edge. Climbing claws formed around her fingers as the living metal of her symbiont shifted from her wrists to her hands. Undercover of the shouts below, she jumped up, twisted, and grabbed onto the rough stone blocks of the building, rapidly scaling them to the roof. Only when she was safely on top did she dare risk a peek. Roac was fighting Dybell’s companions.

Dybell was looking at her through his rifle sight.

Stone shattered as Dey jerked away, running flat out. If Dybell had a hover sled handy, she was dead. She searched urgently for a place to hide.

It was just her luck to run into him here. Oh, she’d known the odds were good, for it was said there were few Beasts and fewer cities left. It made sense that he would get supplies here, but she hadn’t expected her first outing to end in such rotten luck. Men like him were the reason she hadn’t wanted to come to Keg’s city. She knew too many by sight; too many had died by her gun.

She spotted a rooftop door and sprinted to it. A sharp tug didn’t budge it, so she used the symbiont to flow into the lock, popping the mechanism. Flinging it open, she found herself in a dusty storeroom. There was old furniture, boxes, nothing of use except…hah! She spotted some curtains flung haphazardly over an old chair. Dust swirled in the air, and she sneezed as she flung one on, forming the enveloping robe so favored by Beast women. Careful to keep her head low, she hurried down the stairs, surprising the proprietor of the furniture shop on her way down.

“Just looking for a bathroom,” she explained. Before he could question her, she shot past him and into the street, joining the throng of women being rushed from the scene. Acting panicked, she hurried up to one group and their protector. “Help! I lost my escort!”