Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
This woman will be the death of me.
“Mayah!” I call, running after her through the trees. She’s skiesdamned fast when she wants to be. Twigs snap beneath my booted feet, branches scraping my arms, as I follow the sound of her thudding footsteps.
A few more minutes, and the night falls silent.
No more frantic footsteps ahead. No more heaving breaths.
I slow to a walk, mindful now of where I step.
Her energy signature pulses faintly in the distance, the currents thrumming with agitation.
A few more feet, and I sense her clearly—she’s kneeling behind a thick bush, completely concealed from view.
Smart girl.
I maintain my pace, walking past her line of sight, pretending I haven’t noticed her.
And when she cautiously rises, wide eyes darting around the dark forest—I’m waiting.
Mayah yelps as I haul her out from the underbrush. She struggles in my grasp, but I only hold her tighter.
“Let me go!” she shouts before I silence her with a rough hand clamped over her mouth.
“Do you want the rebels to find us?” I glare down at her, resisting the urge to shake her until she sees reason. This isn’t her fault. “Let’s go.”
She wrenches her head back, still fighting like a wildcat, and Skies damn me, it arouses me more. That defiant streak, that unrelenting fight inside her, is what first tugged at my heart.
“I do want the rebels to find me,” she hisses, eyes blazing. “Maybe one of them will help me. Or two or three, it doesn’t matter, they can take turns or have me all together or—”
A sudden, searing rage burns through my veins at the thought of anyone else touching her. My grip tightens on her arms, but it doesn’t help—she’s still fighting me. Nothing is working.
So I try something else.
I ease my tight hold and drop my voice to a husky whisper.
“All right, baby,” I murmur. “All right, I’ll help you.”
She shakes her head, unconvinced.
I press her flush against my chest with one hand, tilting her chin with the other until I can gaze down into her turbulent blue eyes.
“You don’t want any rebels, do you, baby?” I pitch my voice even lower, slowly dragging a thumb across her lips. She shakes her head again, slower this time, eyes glazed.
Skies help me.
“That’s right,” I whisper. “You want me. You’re aching for me. That need inside you? That’s my power trying to get back to me.”
I wish she really wanted this. I wish this were real.
“Let me take you back to camp and make you feel better.” I slide my hand down her neck, fingers grazing the teardrop necklace that rests between her collarbones. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she breathes, nodding frantically.
“Good girl,” I croon, and she almost melts at the praise.
I nearly do, too. Her arms twine around my neck, and she climbs my body with ease, legs wrapping tightly around my waist. I grip the backs of her thighs—she’ll have bruises tomorrow in the shape of my fingers, but it’s all I can do to not touch her elsewhere.
I walk us back. She leans toward me, angling for a kiss, but I arch my head out of her reach—our first kiss will not be when she’s completely senseless, lust-addled from sharing my power.
My steps falter.
There will be no first kiss.
Not for us.
She’s betrothed to my brother.
I swallow hard, resuming my pace, trying to ignore the searing kisses she’s sucking into my neck, the scrape of her teeth along my collarbones, the way she’s grinding her center against my abdomen.
I’m so hard, it’s painful.
“Are we there yet?” she whispers in my ear, teeth nipping my lobe.
“Almost, baby,” I rasp, fingers digging harder into her thighs. “Almost.”
“I’ve pictured it a thousand times at night, you know. When I’m beside you under your tidesdamned cloak.” She nuzzles the damp skin of my neck. “That you’d reach over and touch me. Taste me. Take me.”
Not a single prickle. A ragged groan claws free from my chest.
Back at camp, I set her down on the blanket. Mayah lies back, spreading her legs wide, and fuck me if my eyes aren’t riveted to her center. I watch her through hooded lids, slowly unbuckling my belt.
“Face down, baby.” I tug the belt free.
She flips over, cheek pressed against the blanket, ass swaying in the air. “Like this, Zev?”
“Yeah,” I groan. “Just like that.”
I lower myself over her, futilely trying to ignore the press of her backside against my arousal, the sweet sound of her breathy moans. My hand trails through her hair, over her back, skating down her sides as she squirms beneath me.
“Zev.” It’s a breathy plea moaned through parted lips.
Skies, I could come from the sound of my name on her tongue alone.
I trace long lines down her arms, gathering her wrists behind her back in my hands. She’s too far gone to realize I’m binding her arms with my belt.
“You’re driving me insane, Mayah,” I growl into her ear when I’m done. And then I climb off, immediately missing her warmth.
“Wha—”
But I’m already tying her ankles together with a length of rope I snatched from beside the blanket.
“Zev, what the fuck?” she snaps, thrashing on the floor before managing to roll over and glare at me.
I regard her through narrowed eyes, chest heaving, hands clenched.
“I’m just a man, Mayah. I only have so much restraint. You are not going to say another word. You are not going to make another sound. You are going to sleep. Skies help me, don’t make me gag you.”
She doesn’t listen. As per fucking usual.
“I’m a virgin, Zev,” she says, her voice a low, husky whisper. “You can be the first to—”
Fuck, fuck, fucking fuck.
I can’t bear this. I’m at risk of ripping off her clothes and ravaging her right now if she doesn’t shut up.
A guttural growl claws from my throat, and I stalk over and tear off a strip from the blanket.
My hands shake as I press it between her teeth, fingers stumbling to knot it behind her head.
Too tight, then too loose, then too tight again.
I swear under my breath—I don’t want to hurt her.
“I’m sorry,” I say when it’s done. Tears stream down her cheeks, dampening the fabric of the gag, as I tuck my cloak over her. Accusing blue eyes track my every movement. She’s upset with me now, but she’ll be grateful in the morning.
I settle down a few feet away, waiting and watching until she eventually drifts into a restless sleep.
As soon as her breathing evens out, I jump to my feet, walking stiffly behind a tree. My hands jerk angrily as I shove down my trousers. It’s embarrassing how quickly I come.
At least she’ll never know my shame.
Cleaning myself up, I trudge back to where I left her sleeping. She’s rolled onto her stomach again, thighs clenched together tightly. Carefully, I kneel beside her and remove the gag, fingers lingering on the soft skin of her cheek.
“Zev.” It’s faint but unmistakable, in even her sleep-roughened voice. A soft, mewling moan, cracked with need. Then again—“Zev.”
Skies damn me. I stomp back behind the tree.