Escaping Destiny (23 page)

I’d wait until the next camp, and ask him to
put up a thicker tent. I might be Fae, but I’d been raised by
humans and being in the middle of an open camp, surrounded by
others wasn’t where I wanted to feed. I wasn’t shy about nudity,
but screaming with pleasure was another subject. I’d be damned if I
screamed his name where everyone could hear it.

“Coffee?” Ristan’s voice caught me off guard,
but the mouthwatering aroma was welcome. I turned to find him
holding out a cup of coffee.

“How did you manage to get this?” I asked, as
I took it and brought it up to my nose for inspection. It smelled
like heaven, and I’d figured there would be no coffee available
during the trip.

“I lived as a human for a while, Flower. I
have many moves,” he held his arms out wide, “and moves you haven’t
seen yet. Stick around; I am also a master on the grill.”

Leave it to the Demon to be a coffee expert
over a campfire. I could see water being tossed on several as I
sipped the coffee, wondering where he had gotten the cream and
sugar. But then again, I probably didn’t want to know.

I finished the cup and handed it back to the
Demon, who held his hand out expectantly. He didn’t move from where
we stood. “You pissed that I chose you for guard duty?” I asked,
lifting an irritated brow.

“Nah, I eat hearts and fuck shit up. I
specialize in the shit, so obviously I’m the right man for the job
when it comes to protecting my delicate little Flower. Besides, I
got to watch your little handmaiden blush when I tried to tell her
you and I went way back. She didn’t buy it, can you believe that
shit?”

“Delicate?” I flipped him the finger even as
he started to laugh. I’d noticed that out of all of Ryder’s men, I
let the Demon get away with more than any of the others. He gave me
a lot of shit, but he was also the one who was helping me adjust
more than the others were.

I was still trying to come to grips with the
idea, that it was his visions that had set off the chain of events
that had brought me to this point; he himself did not deliberately
do this to me. I found I just couldn’t blame him for something he
had no control over; he was only telling it how he had seen it. The
guy was cursed.

It had to be hell to be given glimpses of the
future, and then told to figure it out. I’d walked in one of those
visions with him, and the pain I had from it still lingered in my
mind. How many of those visions did he get on a daily basis? How
was he still sane? Well, somewhat sane.

“When do we leave?” I asked, since he had yet
to break the silence from me flipping him off.

“Soon; Ryder and a few of the men went to
check the perimeter of the camp. When they come back, we should be
ready to go. Most of the tents are coming down now,” he said as he
watched the movements around camp.

“Thanks for the coffee, Demon.”

“Hey, I like you better with coffee in you.
If you need to use the bushes…I will escort you there,” he
offered.

“I do,” I replied.

When I’d finished, and was walking back to
the camp with Ristan, the men were riding back in. Ryder was atop
his black warhorse, proud and beautiful as always. His men flanked
his sides as they rode in a V formation through the remains of what
had been the camp.

When he reached us, he dismounted and patted
his horse lovingly. He wasted no time as he walked to me briskly.
“Feeling better?” he asked, and I smiled.

He’d held me through the night, as if I was
his most prized possession. “I am. I was just drained from healing
the men.”

“Good. We need to move out,” he said, nodding
his head to his men who left to help get rest of camp moving.

“Trouble?” Ristan asked.

“No, but that in itself is trouble. Silas
couldn’t pick up their scent. I’m not sure it’s worth finding this
fucking relic, when your safety is my main concern now, Pet.”

“I’m fine, Ryder. Besides, this relic is one
of the keys to the survival of this world. This world,
has
to accept our unborn children. Too much depends on us getting
them.”

“It’s not worth it if it threatens you,” he
argued as fire lit behind his golden eyes.

“It threatens our children if we don’t finish
this, Ryder. We finish it, period. This isn’t up for discussion. I
want this place fixed, like yesterday, for our children. Their
lives hang in the balance, and depend on the Goddess and this world
to accept them, so don’t tell me we’re going home! What we’re doing
is finishing this trip, and getting the damn relic. If we find any
of the Mages, we’ll kill them. Shit, Ristan can gorge on their
hearts!”

“Now that’s a woman,” Sinjinn said as he
winked at me when I turned to where he stood.

“Sinjinn,” Ryder warned with his tone
threatening.

“Hey, he’s just saying what the rest of us
are thinking,” Sevrin said with a roguish wink in my direction.

Twenty minutes later, we were riding again.
Once again, I rode in Ryder’s arms, pressed against his massive
chest. “You know, you may yet cause a mutiny with my men,” he
rumbled in my ear.

“They’re loyal to their king. But, I have
tits, and you don’t. So I guess it’s possible,” I replied, resting
my head against him and enjoying the feeling of being safe in his
arms.

He laughed and shook his head. “You do have
really nice tits,” he agreed.

“Good enough to cause a mutiny over?” I asked
as a smirk covered my face.

“Good enough to cause a war,” he replied,
causing me to laugh.

“Good to know. Next time you argue with me,
I’ll just start playing with them,” I replied impishly.

“You do that, and I’ll let you win,” he
replied silkily.

“After I’m done playing with them, I’ll make
sure to award you with a gentle nibble…” I continued to tease him,
enjoying the subtle peace that sat between us out here in the
open.

“Nibble on me, Pet, and I’ll fuck you until
the bed breaks.”

“Really? I don’t see any beds out here…but
I’m willing to try,” I said, turning to look into the fire that was
now lit in his eyes. I loved his eyes, but I loved them more when
that fire started to kindle, and then burned for me.

“I wouldn’t offer that right now. I may be
tempted to stop this horse and make a bed just to fuck you on it,”
he said smoothly, his voice already growing hoarse, as he pressed
his massive erection against my back.

“You wouldn’t,” I said, trying to sit up. He
wouldn’t allow it, though. Instead, he pulled my body closer to
his, and his hand lowered until it was pressed hard against my
sex.

“You wouldn’t,” I repeated, even as I pressed
his hand closer with my own, moving it to where I needed it. The
others around us seemed oblivious to our antics, but Ryder covered
me with the cloak, and his hand in the process.

“I would. Now lean back; and no sounds, Pet,
I mean it.”

The authority in his whispered command had me
leaning back quickly. I smothered a gasp as his hand lifted the
skirt I wore, and parted the panties out of his way. The movement
from his horse, and his hand worked against me. I wanted to moan.
Hell, I wanted to beg him to make a bed, just so we could break
it.

“Good girl. You want me to fuck you, don’t
you?” he crooned.

“Ryder,” I whispered as his fingers played
gently with the soft flesh between my legs.

“God you smell so fucking good; so ripe and
ready to be fucked,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “I want
you, right here, right now, beneath the sky. I want to take you
until you beg me to stop,” he continued, his voice growing thick
with lust.

“Please,” I begged, even though I wasn’t even
sure what I was begging for. I just wanted him, and right now I
felt as if it didn’t matter that eyes were watching us, or that we
were mounted on a horse. It only mattered that he do as he was
threatening to do now.

His hand moved away and my brain began to
function. Ristan was riding up beside us with a smirk on his
face.

“Ryder, the Shifter would like permission to
approach you,” he said.

“Not now,” Ryder growled.

“I think you should hear what he has to tell
you.”

I remained silent through their exchange. My
body was still fighting to gain control after Ryder’s magic fingers
had set it to blaze. I swallowed as heat lit my cheeks. Ristan
knew. I could see the quirk of his lips, and the knowing look he
gave me. Sex was a necessity to the Fae, but I’d been raised
differently.

“Fine,” Ryder replied.

The moment Ristan turned his mount around and
nodded, the Shifter came forward. Silas eyed me, before turning his
attention to Ryder.

“We’re being followed. I’ve caught his scent
five times in the last hour. This one is on his own, and not a
Mage, Ryder,” Silas said, pinning me with those stunning eyes.

“How many?” Ryder asked, as his arm came down
protectively over my waist.

“Only one following us, and he is strong. I
can catch his scent, but every time I think I have pinned his
location, he moves.”

“Which Caste is he from?” Ryder asked
calmly.

“No idea, but he is moving with a purpose.
He’s been on each side of us. I think he is throwing his scent,
trying to keep his presence masked,” Silas said with a sharp twist
to his lips. His eyes once again landed on me, and that uneasy
feeling came broiling back to life.

“Zahruk,” he shouted over his shoulder, “take
two guards and scout ahead, but stay within shouting distance. No
magic unless a life is dependent on it. I would rather repeat the
trial than lose one of my men to the Mages.”

It was several hours before Zahruk and his
scouting party came back to the group. We’d been traveling for what
felt like forever when Ryder called a halt next to a bubbling
stream. I was still looking lovingly at the natural springs that
seemed to bubble up from nowhere.

“We will camp here,” Ryder announced.

“We are moving about as fast as snails,” I
griped. My ass was sore, and my legs hurt from the endless gait
that his horse had trotted here with.

“We are making good time,” Ryder replied.
“You are in need of respite. We will leave at dawn, and push on
further into the Gnarled Forest. Tonight, we need rest, and those
who have never been in the forest need to know the dangers of
entering it.”

“Like what?” I asked, feeling my curiosity
spike.

He slid from the horse, and looked back up at
me expectantly. When I made no move to get down, Ryder smiled
devilishly and easily plucked me from the horse. “Like don’t tempt
the beast, because he likes a good game of cat and mouse.”

I swatted at his shoulder. “I’m serious.”

“So am I,” he said as he leaned over and
kissed my forehead. “Come; I’ll bathe with you in the springs.”

I eyed the spring, and then eyed the beast in
front of me. “I’m not getting naked in front of an army of
men.”

“You think I would allow anyone to see what
is mine?” Ryder asked, as he turned back to look at me, hiking his
brow up until it wrinkled.

“Who says I’m yours?” I taunted him.

“I do,” he said to me. To Sevrin, who stood
closest to us, he issued orders and the poor guy jumped to do it. I
watched from where I stood, as they erected a cover around one of
the springs that was surrounded by large oval rocks.

“They are heated, so it should help to heal
the soreness of traveling,” Ryder said when he caught my curious
look as the bubbles floated up disturbing the watery surface.

“Oh!” I said, surprised.

“You think the humans have the only natural
hot springs?”

“No, but I honestly didn’t expect to find one
here.” But I was thrilled that he had. The little cove with the
blood-sucking flowers was interesting, but this place looked
safer.

“Darynda,” Ryder called to the group of girls
walking by. When Darynda came up to us, he told her what I would
need, and where to put up the tent. When she ran off to secure the
items from the many packs that were laden on the wagons, he turned
and grinned at me mischievously.

“I’ve seen that look before, Fairy,” I
replied, while trying to keep the grin from spreading across my
lips. “It always ends up with us and a bed.”

“Does it?” he asked as he pulled me closer to
him. “It also ends up with you screaming my name as I make you come
for me.”

I shivered deliciously. He had a point there.
“We’re surrounded by people,” I pointed out.

“So we are. I fail to see what that has to do
with what I intend to do with you,” he replied with an intensity
that made me squirm.

“If you make me scream, everyone will hear
us,” I hissed, as his lips tipped higher in the corners. “I’m
serious, Fairy! You may not care if everyone hears you getting off,
but I do!”

“So you don’t want them to hear me scream
your name with passion?” he asked with a twinkle of mischief in his
eyes.

“No, I don’t want them to hear us doing it!”
I replied hastily as Ristan walked up to us.

“Doing what?” the Demon asked with a devilish
grin on his lips.

“Nothing!” I almost screamed, but caught it,
and it came out more as a strangled growl.

“Oookay! Someone is a little hormonal today,”
Ristan said with a wide smile. “Ryder, your oasis awaits you.” He
executed a slight bow before he took off again.

“It’s this way.” Ryder laughed as he pulled
me toward where black curtains had been set up.

When I entered the area, I gasped.

Partially because I knew they had done it all
without magic. Cherry blossom petals floated above the welcoming
water. A few candles had been set on the smooth surfaces of the
rocks. I shook my head with wonder, before turning to catch Ryder
smiling.

“We won’t be disturbed here,” Ryder assured
me.