Chapter Four
KNOWING THAT THE CASTLE ARMORER would be irate with me did not stop me from hacking into a wooden pell with a standard-issue sword.
Three days. Three days of endless hours spent seated—at the mahouk’s request—within whispering distance from Teryn.
Three days, three feet, three inches of wood now missing from the dense hickory log in the ground.
Each thunk of blade into wood should be helping to loosen the knots of frustration between my shoulders.
Should have but was not. This fourth day would be a true test of my ability to resist the way Teryn’s warm voice washed over me like a scented bath.
Why was I acting so bespelled? I was no virgin.
My adult years had been filled with many lovers, male and female, as I enjoyed both sexes under me.
Many had been favorites, some even more, but none had pushed and pulled me in both directions as Teryn Nouradi did.
I swung out with all my might in a bruising circle.
The impact into the strongest hardwood found in the Verboten woods sent shock waves up my arms.
Perhaps it was time to stop before I broke the blade in two.
Lowering my arms, aching from the pummeling I had given the pell, I let the morning sun shine on my face as my eyes closed momentarily.
Songbirds began to sing from their nests.
I felt no better now than I had when I started.
The discomfort across my shoulders only added to the broiling frustration trapped in my body.
Tonight. When my shift was done, I would bathe, dress well, and go find that adventurous stablehand in the city.
He would be willing to take me on, I was sure, to let me hold him down onto his thin, straw-filled mattress, and thrust into him like a stag in heat.
For that was how I felt. Like a wild beast in the prime of rut with a mate within reach but unable to mount them.
Sweaty and panting, I checked the blade of the sword.
It was dulled badly. Running my thumb over it was akin to rubbing your finger over the edge of a waster blade.
Sighing, I made my way to my quarters, pleased not to run into anyone with any problems or questions.
My skin felt too tight. Stalking into my room, I paused.
The faintest aroma of sand sage lingered in the still air.
Unsure if I was truly losing my mind or if the damn envoy with the gold eyes was hidden here or not, I tramped over to the armoire and placed the ruined sword beside it.
I would return it to Kinney, the head armorer, myself. He would rant. Rightfully so.
Throwing it open, I found nothing but clothes, freshly laundered ones folded neatly on shelves, and dirty ones in a basket on the floor of the wardrobe.
The scent was stronger now. Dropping down into a crouch, I lifted my chemise and braies from yesterday to my nose.
There it was. That alluring mix of Sandrayan lime, dried rose petals, and black ginger root.
That was the smell of Teryn. Placing one knee to the floor, I buried my face into my dirty chemise.
Yes, this scent was him. As I drew it into my lungs, I felt the rush of blood to my cock as my mind spun out of control.
Flashing imagery of the older elf taking me into his mouth, his ass stretching to accommodate my swollen cock, his flashing amber eyes hot as the lava that bubbles in the caldera of the Witherhorn Mountains as he rode me like a stallion.
If not for the knock on my door, my hand would have freed my cock from my breeches to stroke myself off, spending onto the shirt as if it were Teryn’s plush lips.
“Captain? I have the day’s duty roster,” a young elf nervously called out.
I flung the shirt back into the basket, closed the wardrobe with care, and pulled my shirt from my trousers to help hide my erection. I gently opened the door to take the papers. The new recruit looked up at me with concern.
“I was training,” I said to cover the fact that my face was flushed. “Perhaps you should do the same after you return this to Lieutenant Greenleaves with my permission to post?”
“Yes, sir, Captain, sir.” A long, awkward moment passed. “Would you like to read it, sir?”
Fuck. “I know what it says. I drafted it.”
“Sir, yes, of course, Captain, sir.” He tore off, remembered the roster was still in my hands, and darted back to pluck it from between my fingers. “Ihdos blessing to you, Captain.”
“And to you.”
He bolted like a frightened hare. I closed the door, threw the bolt, and proceeded to strip and douse myself with yesterday’s cold water sitting in the washbasin.
It helped slightly, but not enough. Yes, tonight I would head to town and soak my wick, as Tezen would say.
Nothing cleansed a man’s mind like a good fuck with an agreeable partner.
“I’m quite pleased to see that you’ve shed plate armor for a lighter protection,” Teryn commented as we made our way from the day’s lengthy meeting.
Things had slowed a bit today as Umeris had felt well enough to sit in on the dry negotiations.
The talks had been progressing well with Le’ral at the king’s side and Teryn’s daughter at his.
The first few days had dealt mainly with sovereignty issues and who would hold control over the port’s territory as well as daily operations.
It had been agreed that representatives from Melowynn and the Black Sands would work jointly with several port officers on each side at each dock along the western coast. Today was mired down with the topic of funding and investments.
This was where Umeris, working with the whispers of the vill’s owners in his pointed ears, I had no doubt, began arguing most points.
Little progress had been made, and all in those stuffy chambers were weary.
“As you requested,” I stiffly replied, eager to shed the leather armor and find my way into the seedier parts of Celear. Seated behind Teryn for close over ten chimes of the bells had me tighter than a finely strung harp.
“Well, I suspect that you’re not only more comfortable but less irritable.”
I glanced at the man striding along at my side through the maze of corridors within the castle. His head was high, his smile playful, the soft swish of his lavender robes comforting in a way I did not wish to investigate.
“Not to argue with my betters, but I am rarely irritable.” I made a point to unfurrow my brow.
“Oh, that was a mistake on my part then. Perhaps you are in need of a tonic to release bowel pressures? I did notice a lack of fruit at the midday meals. My son is a noted healer. I’m sure he could whip up a potion to alleviate the tightness in your viscera.”
“My viscera are fine.”
“Good, good. Then perhaps your fractious face—”
“My face was not fractious,” I snapped. “My role is not that of a jester to jape and toss pennies in the air. I am at your side as your protector. That is a role I take quite seriously.”
He stopped just outside the door to his suite, hands still behind his back, honied gaze finding mine and holding it.
“Yes, I have noticed. Perhaps you need to take a night off and engage in something that will give you some enjoyment.”
“That was my plan.” I opened the door to his room, nodding at the duo of Sandrayan guards on either side of the door, and bowed slightly to Teryn. “May you sleep well, Mahouk Nouradi.”
I spun on my heel and left before he could poke another witty thorn into my side.
Why in Ihdos’ name did the man rankle me so?
Generally, I was of lighter humors. Perhaps the role of captain of the guard tasked with protecting such a valued dignitary was weighing even heavier than normal.
Not that guarding the king was something I took lightly.
It was that this assignment carried such import.
Aelir and his consorts had been working tirelessly to bring about a closer union with the clans that we’d pushed away.
It was a slow, arduous process to gain back trust once it was lost.
I stalked through the castle, taking note of my guards at their posts, until I was back at the barracks on the far side of the keep.
I called for a bath. Soon the large metal tub behind the screen was being filled with buckets of hot water toted in by new recruits.
Once the last bucket was dumped, I stepped into the tub, sinking down to wallow in the lavender-scented water.
Lavender. From the lavender steppes. A wholly Melowynn aroma.
No traces of lime or black ginger root. Nothing but sweet lavender.
As was my soap. Crafted by the Sisters of the Steppes for sale here in Celear.
The hot water began to ease the rigidity of my muscles.
Even my jaw ached. I slid under the water to soak my head, coming up with a gasp.
I thought only of the night ahead. Of finding a lover.
A masculine one for sure this eve. I was in no genteel state of mind to take a slight, feminine elf to bed.
No. Tonight, I required a lover who could give as well as he got.
Perhaps I would allow him to mount me after I spent myself deep inside his—
A robust knock startled me out of my sensual daydream. “Unless the castle is afire, I gave orders to not be disturbed,” I bellowed.
“I’m sorry, Captain, but there’s a summons from the Revered Mahouk Nouradi,” a tentative female voice called through the crack between the door and the stout frame. I sighed so deeply that dots appeared in front of me. “I’ll slide the note under the door and wait for your reply.”
“Ihdos damn the man,” I snarled, stood, and stepped out of my tub, water sluicing down over me, and stamped wet feet to the door. A rich envelope of ivory lay on the floor, the address somewhat formal. Guard Captain Greenleaves.