CHAPTER 20
C HAPTER 20
RAIDER PREFERRED WALKING. Actually, he preferred riding, but that wasn’t an option, at least not on horseback. He had no interest in riding in the palanquins, no matter how fabulous Seth seemed to think they were. In fact, he hadn’t set foot in one since he and Seth had fucked during the rainstorm two weeks ago. So today, like every day, Raider was walking at the back of the caravan.
When Seth had complained about barely seeing Raider, they had compromised by sleeping in Seth’s tent. But there were so many damn people around that they’d barely gotten to enjoy each other. With different people—literally any people other than Zarina’s Hammer and Hand—they would fuck anyway. But Seth was so damn tense, so tightly controlled that it had been more frustrating to fuck than not fuck. (There was a time when Raider would have accepted whatever kind of sex was available, but things were different now. If Seth wasn’t positively ruining him, it just didn’t cut it.)
So they were both a little frustrated and cranky, and since Raider felt that it was mostly Seth’s fault, he felt no guilt about teasing Seth constantly. At first, he’d been subtle about it, brushing Seth’s arm or thigh or hip at any opportunity during the daytime stops.
For a while, Raider had been content with the way Seth’s nostrils would flare and his eyes would spark like emerald fire. But that wasn’t enough anymore. So today, it was the skirt.
The gold-patterned green sarong hung to about mid-thigh. It was tied at Raider’s right hip, so it rose higher on that side and parted noticeably with every step. Raider had very much enjoyed watching Seth having to climb into the palanquin this morning with a distinct bulge pressing against the front of his pants. Once the fun was over, Raider had thrown on his kaftan and kaffiyeh to keep the blistering sun off his skin.
That’s how he was now, trudging along behind the last palanquin. The hard pack had softened to sand two days ago, which was harder going on foot, but at least it meant they were moving deeper into the al-Hatan. It wasn’t clear, however, how much farther they had to go. Seth had been pretty vague about the distance and direction to his “best guess” at the location of Ulam.
A few palanquins up the line, Nasrin hopped down. Waterskin in hand, she started walking back as though to talk to someone. Unfortunately, that someone turned out to be him.
Raider wished he could simply admire her. She was, quite simply, magnificent. Her powerful and unapologetically feminine physique. The confidence in her walk and her slightly upward tilting chin. Her incredible skill. He didn’t blame Zarina one bit for being in love with her.
But Raider would strongly prefer to avoid her. In fact, that was what he’d been doing even since that night Seth had gotten him out of the palace. She had witnessed a little too much, and he saw it in her eyes every time she looked at him.
Seth had been quick to dismiss what Raider had said about seeing his own past in other people’s eyes, but that was because he hadn’t experienced it. How the weight of it settled over you when you saw it. How it defined you. Trapped you.
Raider felt it now as Nasrin looked at him just a little too carefully. She held out the waterskin. Raider took it and popped the cork. After a long drink, he handed it back. She attached it to her belt beside the coiled length of her silvery whip. Her sword was angled across her back, like Seth wore his. She didn’t have as many gadgets as Seth did and looked more streamlined in her leather breastplate and skirt. She wasn’t wearing her golden armor right now.
“Why the skirt?” he asked teasingly, trying to set a lighter tone than Nasrin’s why-are-you-back-here-by-yourself expression was setting.
Taking the bait, she made a show of looking him over, eyeing the open front of his kaftan, where his bare torso, sash, scimitar, and mid-thigh sarong could all be seen quite clearly. “You’re one to talk.”
Raider chuckled. Damn it. Why did she always have to make him like her in spite of himself?
Then she explained, “It’s comfortable, practical, and very sexy.”
Raider grinned. “Agreed. I’m sure someone is able to picture it quite clearly, even in your absence.”
Her eyes, a little wary, slid sideways to him. “She said you noticed.”
“I’m happy for her. For both of you.” He added intently, “I wouldn’t hurt her.”
Damn it. Raider had meant to keep this light and easy, and here he was jumping into the deep end.
“Not by your own will, no. I know that. So does she.”
Raider didn’t want to talk about that. Ever since Zarina had told him that Kahzir was being apprehended and brought back to Kastari, there had been a worm of fear writhing in his gut.
“This thing she wants,” Raider said, refocusing. “It’s not good. The Alchemist’s Stone? You know the story, right?”
“It’s supposed to be the greatest alchemical work of all time,” Nasrin said defensively.
“Don’t fool yourself. It’s men like Kahzir who create such things.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That thing led to the destruction of an entire city—”
“No one knows the circumstances.”
Raider raised an eyebrow. “Well, if that makes you comfortable, Nasrin.”
Her jaw clenched. She insisted, “Its other name is the Life Stone . Do you get that? It protects. It restores. It can ensure that nothing happens to her or to—” Nasrin cut herself off.
“Her child.” At Raider’s whispered words, fear flashed through Nasrin’s eyes. “I would never tell anyone,” Raider assured her (except maybe Seth, he acknowledged privately, but that was different). “But, Nasrin, one of the basic tenets of alchemy is balance. The Life Stone? What’s the balance of that?”
Nasrin sniffed. “When did you become such a philosopher?”
“I’ve had a lot of cause to think about these things. I know I act like I don’t think about them, but I do.”
Nasrin regarded him. That look was back in her eyes. The one he didn’t want to see.
Raider looked away across the sands.
Nasrin insisted, “If anyone can be trusted with the Alchemist’s Stone, it’s her. She’s not like her uncle, or even her father. She’s good. Truly good.”
“Tell that to someone she isn’t blackmailing.”
“Ah. So you do resent her.”
Zooming in on something not quite right out in the sands, Raider replied distractedly, “Not for doing it to me. But she’s doing it to Seth. That’s different.”
“She has to,” Nasrin said, sounding pained. “Look, since you know anyway, I might as well tell you. This isn’t her first child. She birthed another, and the babe didn’t survive the first night. Our daughter—” Nasrin’s voice broke. “I mean, her daughter was poisoned.” She snapped, annoyed by his distraction, “Raider, what are you looking at?”
“I don’t know. Something.” Raider focused on the hump of sand that didn’t quite fit with the contours of the dunes. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be— shit .”
“What is it?” Nasrin asked, her tone alert, all annoyance gone.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s moving this way. Fast. Under the sand.”
“Sand serpent?”
“No. But it’s big.”
“Shit,” Nasrin muttered and took off at a run, shouting for the caravan to spread out and the Hammer to arm itself.
Raider didn’t really want to know what that thing was, but he found out soon enough when a jointed black tail taller than a man came curving out of the sand, its vicious stinger unmistakable.
Raider jolted at the sight, all his instincts shouting at him to run. He did run, but not in the direction that his instincts told him he should (which, obviously, was away ). Instead, he raced across the sands, hoping to cut the creature off before it reached the palanquins. Quicksilver cascaded down his left arm, and he yanked his scimitar from its scabbard at his hip.
Sensing Raider’s approach, the gigantic scorpion veered his way. It burst from the sand, stinger poised to strike and huge black pincers snapping.
Raider dove aside as the articulated carapace curled and the stinger came punching down. He swung his scimitar, but the curved blade glanced off the armored segment of stinger.
Shouts behind him announced the arrival of the others, but Raider was too busy to make out the words. He leaped over a snapping pincer and darted around the scorpion, trying to get outside its striking zone.
It spun to face him. The stinger came punching down again, but this time a length of gleaming silver wrapped around it, yanking it back. As the scorpion spun once more, one of its pincers slammed into Raider, knocking him off his feet. He tumbled through the sand.
As he scrambled up, he got one glimpse of Nasrin hanging onto the end of her quicksilver whip as she was yanked off her feet. Then Seth, racing Raider’s way, grabbed him around the waist and hauled him several paces. Raider lost sight of Nasrin as Seth dumped him on the ground.
Bewildered and angry, Raider burst to his feet, ready to dart past Seth to the fight. He assumed that Seth meant to beat him to it. Why the hell didn’t Seth understand why it was so important for Raider to be at the front of these things? If Seth got hurt—
But Seth wasn’t racing toward the fight. He put up an arm, holding Raider back, keeping them both out of it.
“Seth—!”
“Let them deal with it!” Seth shouted, and Raider now saw what he hadn’t had time to notice before.
Two of the palanquins faced the scorpion. Their canopies were retracted to expose the bed of each, where an armored member of the Hammer stood behind a ballista of some kind.
Spears launched from the machines. One skimmed a pincer, but the other punched into the scorpion’s articulated body. Nasrin barely got her whip free in time before the creature was thrown back. It thrashed and jerked, throwing sand. The Hammer reloaded the ballistae as the drivers maneuvered the palanquins into position. They fired again. Both spears struck true this time, and the scorpion twitched to stillness.
Seth’s arm was still braced across Raider’s chest as he looked around, only then realizing that there had been a second scorpion that must have been hiding under the sand ahead of the caravan where Raider hadn’t been able to see it. It was also dead, but one of the palanquins lay on its side. Raider didn’t see any bodies. No one was screaming.
Seth seemed to come to that same conclusion. Dropping his arm, he wheeled to face Raider. His eyes were blazing with emerald fire.
“Goddamn it, Raider! Why the hell do you have to go charging into every conceivable danger?”
Raider was about to shout back, maybe even push Seth away, but Seth’s hands were roaming all over him, pulling his kaftan aside, hunting for blood. It cooled Raider’s temper.
“I’m fine, Seth. Stop fussing. I was trying to head it off.”
“I could see that, but the Hammer is here to protect you , not you to protect them .”
Raider snorted. “I don’t think that’s why they’re here.”
“Regardless, that’s still part of their job, and they’re well equipped for it, so next time, stay the hell back. You don’t need to get hurt for them.”
“I didn’t know about those weapons.”
“With the way you’re keeping apart from everyone, I’m not surprised.”
Raider stepped back and sheathed his scimitar. He started walking back to the caravan. “Are you done lecturing me? It’s very irritating.”
“Irritating? Raider, you scared the shit out of me when I saw you running toward that thing! You need to ride with me in the palanquin.”
“No.”
Seth grabbed Raider’s arm.
Raider spun on him and grabbed his utility belt, yanking him close. “You only get to order me around in bed. Do you understand?”
Seth’s nostrils flared. His jaw bunched. He was still angry, but now he was also turned on.
Raider lowered his voice. “If you really want to tell me what to do, tell me with this.” Raider reached down and grabbed Seth’s stiffening dick through his pants. Seth grunted.
Raider tilted his head and gave Seth an it’s-your-choice look. Then he let go and walked away.
It only took about twenty minutes for Raider to get what he wanted. (Really, though, it had taken weeks. He’d put a lot into this.)
Most of the Hammer and Hand were gathered around the damaged palanquin, working to repair it. A few were using the time to see to other things, like the constant chore of cleaning sand from the jointed legs of the palanquins.
Seth was helping (naturally). At least, that’s what Seth was doing until Raider walked by to snag a waterskin from the supplies.
The irony was, this time, Raider wasn’t trying to tease Seth. He’d actually given up. (Well, for the moment anyway). He hadn’t even removed his kaftan to show off the skirt. But Seth stared at him like he could see right through the kaftan’s red silk. Seth kept staring at him as he walked toward the back of the caravan.
When Seth started following him, Raider’s nape prickled. He felt the urge to run. He liked when Seth chased him. He liked the thrill. He liked the spike of fear when he was caught. With Seth, it was a safe fear. He could trust Seth with his body, even with his mind. That was why he wanted Seth to throw him down and force him. He could trust Seth to take him over like that so he could let go.
But then Raider felt the easing of tension behind him. The absence. He glanced back. Seth was gone.
Goddamn it.
By the time Raider reached the back of the caravan, he was extremely pissed off. He tossed down the waterskin and leaned back against the back of the last palanquin. His cock was hard and aching. His body was empty and he was so fucking lonely that he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to scream or cry.
Then footsteps swished in the sand. Raider froze.
From the corner of his eye, he tracked Seth’s approach, then Seth stepped fully into his line of sight. Seth’s eyes were intense and dark with arousal. His body was practically vibrating with tension.
Raider demanded, “Where the hell have you been?”
The bottle of oil in Seth’s hand was the only answer he got. “Take off your kaftan,” Seth ordered. “I want to see you before I fuck you.”
Raider had to close his eyes to ride out the tidal wave of arousal that rocked him at Seth’s rough tone. It promised him everything he so desperately needed.
As Raider shrugged out of the kaftan and let it drop, Seth watched with hungry eyes.
“Belt,” he said curtly, and Raider unbuckled his sword belt with trembling fingers. When it was gone, Seth grabbed Raider’s violet sash, tugging it free. “I’m glad you have this—because I know you can’t be quiet when my cock’s in you.”
“Oh, fuck,” Raider murmured, shivering at the burning intensity in Seth’s green eyes, at the anticipation of Seth’s intrusion into his body.
“Turn around,” Seth ordered. When Raider only closed his eyes again, trying to get through the fresh wave of arousal, Seth grabbed and spun him, gritting out, “You need to do what I say, when I say it. No more arguing, no more playing, no more teasing. Right now, you need to just take it.”
“Fuck,” Raider breathed, planting his trembling hands on the palanquin frame, his cock leaking and twitching at Seth’s harsh words. Then he heard the sound of ripping cloth. Instantly furious, he started to spin back. “Did you just—”
Seth caught him and forced him to face the palanquin again. “Yes,” he said as he roughly covered Raider’s mouth with half of the torn sash.
As Seth tied the cloth behind his head tight enough to seal his mouth shut, Raider experienced two conflicting responses from his body. Fear flashed—and his dick gave a hard jerk. This was the fear he needed with Seth. The intensity of it. The promise.
Seth checked that the cloth wasn’t covering his nose, making sure he could breathe. Then he planted a hand on the palanquin beside Raider’s.
Tucking his thumb under, Seth said, “This is your signal to stop, since you can’t speak. Show me.”
Raider mimicked the gesture.
“Good. Now don’t move.”
Raider squeezed his eyes shut, shivering as he listened to the sound of Seth unlacing his pants then uncorking the bottle. He let out a muffled moan at the unmistakable sound of Seth slicking his dick. Then Seth hooked an arm around Raider’s hips, yanking him into position to be fucked, and lifted his sarong.
“Gods, this fucking skirt. You have no idea what this has done to me all fucking day.”
Seth bit the crook of Raider’s neck, sending a zing through Raider’s blood. Seth’s hand reached between Raider’s legs, grazing his balls then his cock. He tucked a piece of cloth, undoubtedly the other half of the ruined sash, into Raider’s sarong and said, “You can come in that when I come in your ass.”
Raider’s breathing shallowed, then he gasped at the sudden press of Seth’s broad, slick cockhead against his hole. Raider made a sound of pleasure-pain as that fat tip started to penetrate him, stretching the tight ring of muscle, forcing its way inside Raider in a slow but relentless glide.
Raider gasped and moaned at the intrusion. Seth gave him a moment to adjust to it then he glided back out and in again. Raider’s cock twitched upward, brushing teasingly against the silk as Seth grazed his prostate. Seth gave him one more easy stroke—then he started to fuck him.
It was deep, it was hard, and it had Raider moaning against the gag, nearly out his head, even before Seth hauled him upright. Raider let out a muffled cry as the change in position roughly shifted Seth’s cock inside him. Then Seth hooked an arm under Raider’s right leg and hiked it up to get deeper.
“ Mmmmm ,” Raider moaned. He felt his foot resting on the back the palanquin, felt his back pressing against Seth’s chest as Seth drove up into him, taking total possession of his body. Raider’s head fell back as he gave himself completely to Seth.
“Fuck,” Seth gasped, “this is what you do to me. Since I first met you, this—” Seth fucked into him. “— this is what you do. I can’t think about anything but you. I need you all the fucking time.”
Seth drove up into him so hard that Raider felt his left foot come slightly off the ground. It hurt so fucking right.
Waves of intense pleasure rolled through Raider’s body as Seth’s cock thrust into him again and again. There was nothing in the world like this. There was nothing in the world but this.
Then Seth’s hand found Raider’s weeping cock under the layers of cloth and, screaming against the silk, Raider started to come.
Seth fucked him through it, biting back his own shout as he flooded Raider’s ass with his release. Seth’s hips snapped up as he pumped deep, his thrusts forcing every last drop to spill from Raider’s cock.
As the aftershocks wracked him, Raider let Seth hold him up. Seth’s dick remained thick and heavy inside him. At every convulsion of Raider’s body, Seth gasped against his ear. Raider moaned into the silk.
“Oh, baby, hold on, let me take that off you.”
Raider squeezed his eyes shut as Seth carefully pulled out of him, but the drag of Seth’s cock through his channel still made him cry out against the silk again. Seth gently tugged Raider’s right leg off the palanquin, the movement stirring a delicious soreness inside him, then Seth untied the cloth binding his mouth. Raider reached for the silk that had caught his release, but Seth got there first, reaching into the sarong to gently take it away.
Raw and shaken, Raider turned his face away, not wanting Seth to see his emotion, but of course Seth did. Dropping the ruined silk, he pulled Raider into his arms.
Then he showed how fully he understood because he said, “I know, baby. I needed it too. Gods, I did.”
Raider clung to Seth. He wanted them to be alone. He wanted to be able to talk to Seth, really talk to him.
But that couldn’t happen. The rainstorm had given them a unique moment of privacy, but it wouldn’t happen again, not in this company. There could only be this stolen moment.
Desperately, not even sure what he meant, Raider asked, “What are we going to do?”
Something passed through Seth’s eyes. He looked like he was going to say something. Confess something? But he only murmured, “Don’t worry, baby. We’ll be okay.”