CHAPTER EIGHT #2
A hand nudged me toward his bedding. With a sigh, I plopped my butt down on it and then looked at him. He loomed over me, tension in the set of his jaw, pinning me with an intense glare.
I frowned, bewildered. “I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that. It isn’t my fault someone tried to kill me.”
He kept glaring, not moving a single muscle.
“You can’t really be holding me responsible for this.”
More glaring. More silence. More stillness.
Unbelievable. “Fine. You want to be irrational? Have at it. But I haven’t done a single thing wrong.” Huffing, I laid back. “There’s no reason for you to be mad at me. I might have stabbed the cowardly little prick, but he deserved it.”
He didn’t look as though he whatsoever disagreed, so … I was lost. I had no idea what could possibly have him all worked up.
I raised my head. “Hey, look, I get that it isn’t convenient for you to have to watch over me. But if you don’t want me in here, you should have left me with Jelani.”
His eyes went slitted and … did he just growl? I was pretty sure he did, but it was hard to be certain when the wind was still howling loud enough to wake the dead. Either way, it was clear that he didn’t like the idea of me staying with Jelani.
Realization dawning on me, I gave him a tight smile. “Oh, I get it.”
A mocking Do you? grunt slipped out of him.
“Yes. You don’t want Jelani fucking more candidates in case it leads to more fights.
” Understandable. But it rankled that the person before me would try to control who I slept with.
Like he had any right to do such a thing.
Plus … “You’re automatically assuming I’d have let him have me.
What, you figure I’m one of those humans who’s all godkin-struck? ”
He raised a challenging Aren’t you? brow.
I felt my jaw tighten. No, I wasn’t. But, outside of Xalbia issues, I didn’t need to prove anything to Talon. “You could be right,” I lied. “After all, I’m totally obsessing over Jelani. This cock-blocking attempt is pointless, you know. If I want to fuck him, I will.”
Something dark and menacing swallowed Talon’s pupils. He dropped to his knees near my feet, snapped his fingers around my calf, and dragged me toward him.
What the—
He seized my wrist, yanked me upright, and fisted a clump of my curls. He brought his mouth crashing down on mine, hot and hard and … oh fuck, he was kissing me.
And it was good. Rough and aggressive. All sharp nips of his teeth and wicked strokes of his velvet tongue.
I kissed him back. Couldn’t help it. The anger buzzing in my veins ebbed and swirled as it became something else. Something carnal, thrilling, and as wild as the wind that roared outside.
Talon briskly yanked off my tunic and tossed it aside. He then whipped off his own, and my attention got snagged on all those hard, roped muscles. I’d seen them bunch and flex beneath his clothes many—
His mouth again took mine with not one tiny bit of restraint. He impatiently pushed me down to the woolen sheet as he lowered his body over mine. His hand curved around my throat, big and warm and strong.
Damn, this man did not need words to assert himself—he did it with his body. With the demands of his mouth. With the dominance and entitlement in his touch. With the way he used his lower body to pin mine to the floor beneath me, letting me know that I was going nowhere.
I dug my fingers into his sides as I arched as much as his weight would allow, grinding over the hard bulge that settled over my clit. I was lost in the untamed air of the moment. It dragged me along for the ride.
All sense of time disappeared as he feasted, nipped, teased, and grinded. Until an unbearable tension coiled and twisted in my belly. “Fuck me,” I said against his lips, unable to take any more.
The flare of predatory promise in his gaze told me that it was exactly what he planned. He pulled at my breeches, dragging and twisting … and somehow they ended up pooled around one of my legs, along with the garment I wore underneath.
I gasped as his hand cupped me, clamping tight. Oh, yes. He plunged a thick finger inside me, the move so abrupt that it made my body jolt in surprise. Then he sharply tugged down my breast band, cupped one globe hard, and closed his mouth around a nipple.
Gods, I didn’t know what felt better. The way he suckled and bit on the taut bud like it was a treat, or how expertly he pumped his finger in and out of me.
All too soon, that finger was gone. As was his mouth.
Reaching down, he fussed with his breeches. Something warm and hard suddenly prodded my opening. His hand delved into the hair on top of my head and tugged, tipping my head back slightly. He snared my gaze.
And rammed deep.
I dragged in a stunned breath at the burning stretch. Shit, he was thick. And long.
And moving.
He fucked the way he kissed—rough, raw, feverish. The urgent, forward snaps of his hips made my back scuff the woolen sheet. The smarting friction did nothing to detract from the pleasure that streaked up my core with each slice of his cock.
I curled my bare leg around him, using my calf to pull him deeper. The sounds of my moans, his grunts, and the hard smack of flesh got lost beneath the loud flapping of canvas and the moaning of the wind outside.
His gaze never moved from mine, always awash with need, avarice, and something wholly indecent. It wrecked my nerves, battered at my defenses, and made me feel far too seen.
Something began to build inside me. A tension that kept tightening. Twisting. Contracting. Sharpening.
My head started to feel light and fuzzy as I drowned in sensation. Every time my eyes began to close, he pulled at my hair, making my lids snap open.
The muscles in my thighs trembled as my core began to heat and spasm. I was heading fast toward an implosion and I knew it. Felt it.
I scratched at his back, my breath hitching. “Talon.”
His jaw firming, he hiked up my leg and began slamming deeper and harder.
My release surged closer. Little sparks of pleasure danced in my bloodstream. And in a matter of moments, those sparks became lightning-fast whips of white-hot bliss.
His mouth dropped down on mine, capturing the scream that tore from my throat as my inner muscles spasmed around his dick.
His pace turned frantic as he powered into me like a savage, pursuing his own release.
Then a thick fuck, yeah grunt spilled from him as he shoved his cock unbearably deep and went still above me.
I felt his dick swell and throb. Felt the hot splashes of his come. Felt the tension drain from him little by little until, finally, he collapsed on top of me.
Our breaths noisy and ragged, we both lay there, shaking with the aftershocks.
Well, he definitely had a tongue. I’d been ninety percent sure that he had before now, but it was nice to have it confirmed.
Moments later, he withdrew from me and went to his knees. He stared down at me, his languid gaze inscrutable. I didn’t like that. Didn’t like that he’d pulled back from me so fast.
But what had I expected?
It was common knowledge that Talon seemed to view sex as no more than a release valve. He’d kissed me, something that was apparently rare for him, but I wasn’t reading anything into that. The kiss had just been too punishing, too loaded with anger. A substitute for words that he’d never say aloud.
Still, despite having no illusions here, I felt a twinge of disappointment all the same. And it didn’t feel nice to know that he would inevitably view this as a mistake, given he never tangled with candidates.
But I was a big girl. I’d deal with it. And I really had far bigger problems right now.
He stood, crossed to his knapsack, and pulled something out of it. A small cloth. He threw it to me, and I caught it easily.
I cleaned myself up and, like him, quickly redressed. As it occurred to me that we had failed to use anything to prohibit conception, I froze momentarily. Recalling a conversation I’d had with Khalida, however, I quickly shook off my anxiety …
“It kind of surprises me that Eva and Talon didn’t conceive any children, given the length of time they’ve been together,” I had once remarked.
“Vitus took away his ability to procreate,” Khalida had told me. “The god wanted a singular being, not to begin another race. Talon is definitely singular. There’s no name for what he is, really.”
Right then, he opened the tent flap and made a clicking sound. Three Laelaps padded inside. Wanting to thank them for coming to my rescue earlier, I would have headed right for them if Talon hadn’t first gestured for them to lie on their blankets. Fine, I’d do it tomorrow.
He settled on the woolen sheet and patted it once, silently ordering me to lie beside him. No sooner had I positioned myself flat on my back on the bedding than he dragged the cloak over us.
Though he lay on his side facing me, he didn’t close the small distance between us. Didn’t touch me. Didn’t do anything at all.
I really should cuddle him just to freak him out. The fun thought made my lips tremble.
Instead, I rolled onto my side, wanting to face the tent flap. After what happened earlier, I’d much rather have a clear view of the entrance just in case someone tried creeping inside, though I doubted they’d dare.
As I was drifting off, I thought I felt something. A gentle tug on one of my curls, maybe. Too close to the land of sleep to care, I let myself drift.
◆◆◆
On waking, it took me a good few moments to realize where I was. The hard ground beneath me was the first clue. The panting of dogs was the second. The third was the dark, spicy scent coming from the material covering me.
A scent that belonged to Talon.
The events of last night rushed back to me. I felt my face harden. I hoped Klemens was dead. I really did.
As for my little encounter with Talon … Bad move. Sleeping with a person who had a position of authority over you was never the best idea. Still, I didn’t regret it.
Feeling a warm weight on my feet, I raised my head and looked down to see that Valor had settled there at some point through the night. Chief and Zinc were still sprawled on their blankets. As for Talon … he sat a few feet away, tugging on his boots.
“Morning,” I said, my voice a little raspy.
His attention settled on me. Or, to be more specific, his glower settled on me. Nothing new there.
I couldn’t stifle a smile. Which only made his glare darken. How fun.
He curtly pointed to a nearby knapsack. It was mine, as were the boots beside it. He’d apparently grabbed my stuff for me.
“Thanks,” I told him.
His grunt was nothing short of grumpy. Without another look at me, he got up and left the tent.
Charming. And a very clear message that last night would be a one-off. As if I hadn’t already known that.
I also knew that it was for the best. Knew that I’d never get the things I wanted from Talon. And if I felt a bite of disappointment, I completely and utterly ignored it.