Chapter Sadie
Sadie
WE’D SET UP CAMP A GOOD TEN-MINUTE WALK AWAY FROM THE wagon.
Clearly Navin didn’t want anyone seeing or hearing me in a controlled state.
And while I relished his protectiveness, I needed him to put his concerns to the side.
We only had a few more weeks to practice this magic before we had to be ready, and yet Navin insisted we only practice in a tent far from the others.
Calling it a tent felt as much of a misnomer as calling Galen den’ Mora a wagon, for inside it was so much more.
A lush carpet covered the tarping, soft upon my bare feet.
A leather-bound chest served as a low table holding a copper tray of dripping candles.
And in the center of the room sat a bed.
The interlocking posts that created the frame were rudimentary but easy to disassemble.
And the bedroll and blankets that covered it seemed just as plush and comfortable as in any home.
It was a magical feat that such a cozy space could be created out of the single cart of supplies that we hauled through the forest.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked, eyeing Navin as he tied shut the flaps to our tent, double-checking each of the knots.
“Unless you want to abandon this ludicrous plan?” he asked again.
I gave him a flat look. “Controlling Wolves in battle seems a far safer plan than hunting monsters,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time.
“You saw how well the encounter with the visturong went. We can’t let the balance of this war be tipped by a sneeze.
We have Haestas and soon we will have control of Wolves and that will be all we need. ”
Navin huffed, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t like this.”
“You’ve made that abundantly clear. So let Ora do it. Not everything has to fall on you.” I moved to push past him, and he grabbed my elbow, smoothing his thumb across my skin. I bit my lip as I looked down at where he touched me.
“When it comes to you, Sadie, I don’t trust anyone else,” he murmured. “Only me.”
I sighed, sliding my hand up his chest and up to cradle his face. “Only you.”
Navin released me and reached for his lastar propped against the bed frame. He perched on the bed and began tuning the instrument. I started undressing, not wanting to tear up my clothes just for the practice. I set my knives belt and weapons on the dresser, slowly unbuttoning my trousers.
“You have to resist me like our enemies would,” Navin said as he plucked the strings. “If it gets too much, shift and I’ll stop.”
I nodded, letting my clothes pool on the floor and shifting straight away. I knew if I stayed there naked for too long, we wouldn’t get any practice done.
Navin rolled his shoulders, his eyes narrowing at me as I stood across the cabin in my furs.
“Ready?”
I didn’t respond and he started playing that familiar tune.
I was starting to pick apart the intricacies of it.
I wasn’t a musician, but I knew that different notes corresponded to different words, different types of communication that when woven together could make instructions like when Ora had told the visturongs to “go home.”
It started off as a beautiful song, just like any other, but then I felt it—the hooks in my mind, like someone’s dirty paws digging through my thoughts. A voice both foreign and known started speaking to me—not of any pitch or gender—just a deep-seated knowing.
“Come to me,” it said, and I was met with the overwhelming urge to crawl forward.
My jaw clenched, my paws digging into the threadbare rug beneath me.
I leaned backward against the force as if I could fight my own body.
Sweat beaded on Navin’s brow as if the magic infused into the song drained him as well.
His expression was tense as he watched the way I struggled against his magic.
“Come to me,” the voice insisted, pushing harder.
One paw moved, then another, the effort of trying to stay put was splitting my brain in two. It felt like being dragged by the strongest force, being tied to a weighted-down cart tumbling down a cliffside. I moved, unable to resist, even as my muscles strained and fought.
“Stop,” the voice said, and I froze, my muscles shaking.
“Stick your tongue out,” it commanded.
A snarl curled my maw. This was so degrading. I tried to fight it off, but the music pushed me harder and harder. My vision began to spot with the exertion, my survival instincts finally kicking in, and I shifted, crumpling to the floor.
The music stopped all at once. The claws in my mind retreating with such speed it left me reeling.
“I’m sorry,” Navin said again and again as he dropped to the floor.
I pushed him away, trying to regain my senses. “Keep going,” I said. “Try to see if it’ll work in this form.”
“Sadie—”
“Keep going,” I urged, shoving him back toward the bed. I rose up on my knees, naked before him, and I saw the way his eyes lingered over every inch of my exposed skin. “Go on.”
“What—?”
“Who says we can’t have a little fun with this?”
His brow arched in mirror to my own, his cheeks dimpling as he picked the instrument back up.
I brushed the hair out of my face and placed my hands on my hips, waiting, bracing as his music started again.
Navin went slower this time, the tune more soft and melodic but still forceful.
I felt it more distantly than I had in my Wolf form.
It was more playful and taunting like this, more of a suggestion than an outright command.
I knew then for certain that the Wolves wouldn’t be as easily controlled in their human forms. They needed to shift for the Songkeepers’ magic to truly take hold.
I kept my gaze hooked on Navin as I listened to the unspoken wills of his song.
When it finally became clear what he was asking me, a smile split my lips.
“Touch yourself,” the music instructed.
Navin’s eyes were filled with heat as I cocked my head, my hand trailing down my side and to the apex of my thighs.
His music picked up speed, the feeling more insistent in me.
I could break away from this control in this form, but it was still compelling, like I wanted nothing more than to perform for him.
“Touch yourself,” the music pushed more, and I felt myself falling under its spell again.
Parting my sex, I circled my clit, my eyes hooding as I watched Navin. His gaze was transfixed on my core, his lips parted.
“Faster,” his song commanded, and I picked up speed, touching myself faster.
“Add your fingers.”
I did, fucking myself for him while he watched. His gaze lifted to meet mine and he looked like he wanted to devour me. The pleasure of his song, my touch, of him watching me with those wanton eyes was building me higher and higher.
Then another command came.
“Come for me.”
And I did, the orgasm taking me without warning. I moaned, dropping onto my side, stroking myself through the last of my release. It was a sharp sudden burst of pleasure, one that quickly ebbed when Navin released the lastar and dropped to the floor beside me.
“Gods,” he cursed. He scooped me up from the floor and pulled me onto the bed, cradling me in his strong arms. “That was . . .” He swept the hair off my sweat-stained brow and lifted my chin to search my eyes.
“Incredible,” I panted, dropping my forehead to his chest. “Gods I thought I was going to pass out.”
“Passed-out enemies would certainly be helpful on a battlefield,” he murmured into my hair. Navin trailed his fingers down my bare back.
“As long as you don’t make them pass out like that,” I added with a chuckle.
“You are so breathtaking, Sadie,” he murmured. “I love the way you move to my music.”
A blush crept up my cheeks, a reignited heat pooling in my core. “We are too easily distracted, you and I.” I let out a light laugh. “We should keep practicing,” I said, pulling away from him, but his arms banded around me tighter.
“Later,” he said, dropping his mouth to mine, his kiss searching and insistent. “You just collapsed. I need to know that you’re okay first. That we’re okay.”
“We’re okay,” I assured him.
“Thank you for trusting me,” he said, kissing me more fervently. Heat flooded my veins once more.
“If you could use your song on me right now,” I goaded, pulling back to meet his eyes. A mischievous smile curved my lip. “What would you have me do?”
A little rumbling sound caught in his throat. He swept his thumb across my bottom lip and tugged. “Does that idea turn you on?” he asked. “Me controlling you?”
He already knew the answer, his eyes lit up with lust.
I pulled away, climbing off his lap and back to stand before him again. He reached out and I took a farther step, tsking. “Try again.”
“Sadie—”
“Use your magic.” I flashed a toothy grin. “Make me do all the things I know are swimming around in your head right now.”
Navin’s jaw clenched, the muscle popping out as he stared at me, anger warring with desire, but I knew I had him right where I wanted him now.
Navin tossed the lastar onto the pillows in the corner and dropped his head into his hands.
But when he looked up, I could see the heat in his eyes, the gauntlet I’d thrown down being picked up.
He started singing, so low and deep it rumbled through me.
A tingling flush burned across my skin as I started to feel the pull of his song.
“Oh, Sadie,” the song seemed to call to me, singing my name like a prayer.
My lips parted at the sweet, heady lure.
“Get on your knees.”
My pussy fluttered at the sheer command, but I was fully given over to his song now. I dropped onto my knees and looked up at Navin with lust-filled eyes as he rose from the bed and stalked over to me. His song continued as his hands drifted to his belt.
“Open your mouth.”
My mouth fell open of its own volition, my pulse ratcheting higher as he pulled out his hard cock from his trousers.
“Suck me down like a good little Wolf.”
And I did.