Tip of the Spear (9 page)

“Ss-top.
Let me go.”

He
groaned. “Dammit, stop squirming.” He removed his hand from between her legs,
but every time she bucked against him, she shot his lust sky high.

“Why
are you rubbing against me?” She tried to turn in his arms and pushed harder
against him.

Completely
lost, he groaned as he came, messing a perfectly fine pair of trousers. He
heard her call his name in concern, but he couldn’t stop. Hinto finally found relief
from a hard-on he’d suffered from most of the night, but his orgasm was less
than ideal. He’d prefer to fill her instead of his damned pants.

“Are
you all right?”

He
opened his eyes to see Thais leaning over him, her shirt unbuttoned, her
breasts hanging free. He shifted to lay flat on his back and lifted his arm to
cover his eyes and block the view, when he caught the subtle fragrance of her
moist need still coating his finger.

Unable
to stop himself, he shoved the digit in his mouth and tasted her. By all that
was holy, he wanted more.

She
flushed and sat back on her heels, straddling his hips. “Why did you do that? And
why did you do
this
in the first place?”

“Damn,
you taste good.” He worked to regulate his breathing and tried his best to
explain. Thais didn’t look so much angry as confused. And downright sexy. “I
was dreaming. I told you I’d dream about you, didn’t I?”

“Yes,
but why are you over here? Last night you sat across the fire.”

“You
stared moaning in your sleep. Restless, upset.” Her pain had bothered him on a
level that made him uncomfortable. “You were also shivering from cold. Probably
should have dried out that hair before falling asleep. So I put my arms around
you and you fell asleep. I was tired enough to rest with you.”

She
flushed. More embarrassed because of a nightmare or because of the near sex
they’d had? It was something he’d ask her about… once he cleaned himself up.

“I’m
sorry I woke you. But this—I—”

“This
wasn’t intentional. I swear.” He shifted underneath her and groaned, not
needing another erection with her so close.

“What’s
wrong? Did I hurt you?”

Damned
innocent. The brief joy from his climax faded under an annoying need to make
her
feel better. Well, screw her. He didn’t need to play nursemaid to Thais. The
woman could fend for herself just fine.

“You
want to see what you did to me?” he rasped. Without waiting for her answer, he
unbuttoned his trousers and parted them. He showed her his semi-hard shaft
covered with seed. Masochist that he was, he wrapped her hand around him. “
That’s
what you did. You got me so hard I came from dry humping you. Made a right
mess of myself.”

She
stared down at him, speechless. Her gaze fastened on his cock and stayed there,
especially when it hardened in her grip. “Does it hurt?” she asked in a low
voice.

“Not
now. But it’s going to again, real soon. I can feel it.” He groaned, losing his
ability to think beyond the pressing ache in his groin.

“You
spilled seed,” she said, examining him with curiosity. “For breeding.”

“You
could say that. Hmm, rub it some more. Up and down.” He watched her watching
him and thought it the most erotic thing he’d ever witnessed. Seeing Thais get
him off had him harder than stone.

“This
is what makes it leak? When I do this?” She rubbed him right where he liked,
and his eyes rolled back in his head.

“Fuck,
yes,” he hissed. “Thais, feel how hard I am? That’s because I want you.”

“To
spill inside me?”

“Hell,
yeah, to spill inside you. You’ve never had anything inside you before, have
you?” He shifted under her, gratified when she squeezed him tighter.

“No.
Only Amazons selected to breed may,” she murmured, apparently caught in the
same wave of lust that he was to mention a part of her past. “You feel harder
to me. As if you are growing.”

“More.
Rub faster just under there. Feel how hard my balls are?” He shoved his jeans
down and tried to widen his legs. He pulled her other hand closer and groaned
when she cupped him. His hips arched into her touch, completely under her
control. “I want to come inside you, in your mouth, your cunt. You have no idea
what I want to do to you,” he breathed, staring up at her with promise. “Just
say the word and I’ll give it all to you, honey.”

She
frowned. “I feel… funny. I’m as slick as you are.” She slid her fingers over
his shaft and balls, rubbing his semen into his skin even as she looked at him
with suspicion.

She’s
wet. Oh shit. She wants it and doesn’t know what it means.

“I’m
aching inside,” she continued, killing him. “Burning. Is this what it feels
like to you?”

Fuck.
I’m nearly there.
“Yeah, oh yeah, aching. Fuck me, I’m
coming again. Hold me tight,” he urged before he grunted and spattered his
shirt with more come than he’d thought he had left.

She
eventually removed her hand and stared at the moisture coating her fingers. Linking
gazes, she mimicked what he’d done earlier. She stuck her finger to her tongue
and tasted him.

“That’s
even better than seeing you naked. Watching you lick my seed.” If he’d had the
energy, he would have shown her how to ease that ache inside. But he couldn’t
do much more than lie there feeling drunk.

Thais
regarded him with speculation. “This is the joining, then. Sex? This is the great
mystery?” She smiled, looking strangely relieved. “A man ruts and spills, and
your women hunger for it.” She shook her head. “I think I will never
understand.”

He
flushed as she moved away and disappeared in the direction of the stream. Damned
if she hadn’t taken him to heaven, only to rip it away with a smile. His self-esteem
drowned in a sea of mortification. But he couldn’t deny he deserved it. Not
only had he—though unknowingly—taken advantage of her while they slept, but
he’d come twice when she’d yet to have an orgasm.

“I’m
crazy for even thinking about pursuing this,” he muttered to himself while he
cleaned up. He visited the stream, unsure of what to say to Thais. Unsure of how
to talk to a woman. A first in his life.

Thais
spoke first, her voice full of confidence.  “Thank you, Hinto. I learned much
from our encounter. I find your physical reactions curious. Do all men react
this way to a woman’s touch?”

“When
a woman looks and acts the way you do, a man would have to be dead not to react
the way I did,” he growled, defensive.

She
fucking
grinned
at him. “I didn’t mean offense. I found your taste not
unpleasant.”

He
closed his eyes, not needing that reminder again, especially when his dumbass
dick twitched.

She
shook her hands free of the water clinging to them. “I will wait for you by the
camp.”

He
watched the little witch go back to camp.
Witch or Amazon?
She couldn’t
possibly mean
Amazon, as in, legendary warrior woman from beyond the
border. Probably some wacko group of women living in a remote section of the
Territories who pretended to play tough. Then again, from the way Thais handled
her conflicts with fists and feet, one might assume she’d come from that mythic
tribe.

He
cleaned himself as best he could and shivered in the morning air that made the
cold spots on his pants even colder. He didn’t like the feeling that he’d been
set aside, a curiosity and threat no more, as if Thais thought she’d seen what
he had to offer and could so easily dismiss him.

Grunting
with impatience, Hinto finished by the stream and took a moment to regroup. He’d
taken the damned job for Kitty to be closer to Thais. Crazy notion. Because now
that he had his wish, he almost wanted to go back and forget all about her. The
damned woman had wormed her way under his skin. He wanted to sleep with her
something fierce, but more, he wanted to help her, and he already had his hands
full trying to help himself.

He
knew better than most that happiness was a God-awful illusion. A chance at
security was the best any of them could do in these times. So why did he want
to find Bartel for the Amazon? Why did he itch to make her feel the way he had just
moments ago? Why not take the pleasure and forget about giving it back, focus
on his father’s health and finding the ones who’d hurt him?

“Because
I’m a dumb shit who’s as likely to get shot as he is to find his father a
cure,” he muttered, and tromped back to camp.

He
found Thais clean, dressed, and ready to ride.

And
ripe to be plucked from that innocence shining in her bright green eyes.

“Whenever
you’re ready,” she said in a throaty, accented voice that made him think of
soft sheets and sweaty sex.

I’ve
been ready since the moment I laid eyes on you.
He
wanted to yank her off her horse and show her just what an orgasm felt like,
and why so many lucky women in the Territories claimed him the best they’d ever
had. Instead he glowered and moved past her to Beast.

The
next few days were going to be the longest in his life, he just knew it.

Thais
did her best to shrug off what had been the most exhilarating experience of her
life as she rode beside Hinto. She’d held him, throbbing, in her hands. Had
watched his life’s seed explode from his body.
She’d
done that. The
power had been all hers.

She
eased at the knowledge, gratified by his scowl. For too long she’d secretly
feared the idea of being taken over by a man, to lie passive as he speared her
with that blade of flesh while his seed took root in her belly. She knew the
rudiments of procreation, but not the finer points. She hadn’t thought desire
would ever prove a problem for her. Thais, like her mother, was a warrior, a
guardian. Duty above all else, the art of war and the polish of victory her
constant bedfellows.

No
longer worried about the mating act itself, she nevertheless remained wary of
Hinto’s allure. Hinto in the heat of climax was a thing of beauty. Such strength,
he’d been all hers to command. Her curiosity awakened, she wanted to know more.

A
definite problem.

She
had to rid herself of this odd excitement. Her limbs felt light and her mind
dizzy. Her sex throbbed. Might she someday experience that same loss of control
Hinto suffered?
No. I’ve seen the truth of a joining. I have no need to know
more…  Liar.
As if her acquiescence earlier had been about knowledge.

A
glance beside her showed Hinto, stone-faced. He didn’t seethe with anger, nor
did he appear pleased. She didn’t know what to make of his new mood and wished
she didn’t care what he felt. Men were puzzles and not to be trusted. Hadn’t
Chow Yen admitted as much? It shouldn’t matter that Hinto had stuck by his
word, that she found him more appealing with each step toward their
destination, or that she couldn’t stop herself from looking at him whenever she
could without detection.

She’d
do best to put the mystery of the man behind her and worry about more important
matters. Like Pilar and Bartel.

Thais
left Hinto to his quiet and absorbed the mountainous view with pleasure. The
crisp sky and burning sun made for a pleasant enough journey as they rode in
silence for the rest of the day.

And
night.

And
the day after that.

Frustrated,
because where before the silence had calmed her, it now irritated her, she
sighed, determined to end the stalemate. “Hinto?”

He
turned at the sound of her voice.

“What
have I done to displease you?”

He
gave her an odd look. “Displease me? Why, nothing, honey. I’m just dandy.”

He’d
been treating her like a stranger for two days. No gentleness, no pleasantries,
just a cold, aloof hunter who happened to travel along the same path she did. She
couldn’t have said why the distance bothered her, but it did.

Then
again, perhaps it was better this way.

“Forget
I said anything.” She pushed ahead of him, her mare eager to put space between
herself and the vore, who had begun to pay more attention to the jaunty brown horse.

“We’re
close to town. I think we should settle in for the night, early. Get a head
start in the morning fully rested just in case Gregor’s still there.” He hadn’t
said so much in days.

“Makes
sense.” She agreed, and not just to soothe his upset, which he insisted he
didn’t have. Hinto not only possessed brawn and physical strength, the man had
a hunter’s savvy that few could grasp. Not all Amazons could hunt or guard,
though they’d been born to the life. Just as she imagined not all bounty
hunters could track as well as Hinto. He found rabbits for meals when she’d
seen nothing of them at all. He tracked wild dogs and mountain lions—great cats
that took her breath away in awe—with a skill she considered astonishing.

Yet
he continued to ignore her, stirring her disquiet.