Chapter 10 #2
But I’m still relieved. Elated, even. We may have only postponed death, but five days gives us time to come up with something.
The chief nods to us in passing. “You can stay in your caves. Or do you only need one?” He gives me a meaningful look. Yeah, they noticed that Nator’ax came to my cave last night.
“You are bringing this tribe close to dishonor and death,” Nator’ax growls.
“We’re clearly innocent of trespassing. And now you have changed our alleged crime to something else!
When this is over, my Borok tribe may have no other choice than to challenge yours.
No warrior can stand being accused of lying. ”
“We shall see,” the chief says, and glances at the shaman, who’s still sitting in the same place, staring up at the stars while his lips move with what is almost certainly a prayer.
“Not all of us agree with this judgment. But the council has spoken. You may not leave this village unless several hunters come with you. There is food left after the common meal. Please eat as much as you want.” He walks off.
I have a feeling this sentence was not his idea. He’s too level-headed a man to take risks like this. I think I know who’s behind it.
The shaman stands up and walks towards us. Nator’ax places himself between the shaman and me.
Up close, his presence feels heavier. His one arm holds the staff, sinewy and thin.
“You speak of fire and beasts,” he says softly, not looking at Nator’ax, but at me. “Of things that destroy men and tribe.” His eyes flick upward, to the dark sky. “Such things are rare. But not unknown.”
Nator’ax’s body shifts, subtly placing himself between us. “The council is finished, shaman. Are you trying to continue it on your own?”
The shaman smiles faintly. “The council is over for now, indeed.” His gaze returns to me, sharp and curious. “But there remains much to be said. I wonder, such power as you speak of… if it can be commanded by one man, perhaps it can be better commanded by another.”
A chill slides down my spine. “It would be a mistake to try. Praxigor is not patient with those who lack the will and the strength. Do you have either?”
His smile widens just a fraction. “A man who is not the strongest in limbs must be strong in other ways, Dame Riley. Perhaps you shall see it.”
Nator’ax’s voice drops, low and dangerous. “Do not test things you do not understand, ice hunter.”
Crelt’ax studies him for a long moment, then inclines his head, as if acknowledging a point in a debate rather than yielding it. “We shall see what comes in five days. Truth has a way of revealing itself.” Then he turns and walks away, his figure swallowed by the shifting firelight.
I let out a breath. “I don’t like him.”
“You shouldn’t,” Nator’ax says. “He’s a man with much pain in him. Such men want to inflict pain on others.”
We stand there a moment longer, the tension slowly bleeding out of me now that the immediate threat is gone.
“Come,” he says at last. “You need food.”
- - -
We eat quickly. I barely taste it. It’s some kind of roasted meat, tough but hot, and more of the frit booze. Around us, the tribe resumes its low murmur, though I can feel eyes still lingering, curiosity and something else mixed together.
Five days. It echoes in my head with every bite. Five days to live. Five days to fix everything.
Five days with Nator’ax.
A tingle shoots down my body at the thought. That cave is very comfortable, the furs very soft. And I have a lot of time to make up for.
The cave feels warmer when we step inside, but I know it’s not the air. It’s the way everything finally lets go. The tension drains out of me all at once, leaving my limbs light and unsteady. I make it two steps before I hit the stone wall and brace myself there, a breath tearing out of me.
Then I laugh, a bit too loud in the enclosed space. “We’re alive!”
Nator’ax doesn’t laugh. He watches me, eyes dark, fixed, like he’s still standing in front of the council, still measuring threats. “Did you doubt it?”
I push away from the wall, moving toward him because I suddenly need to. “I did,” I admit. “For a moment there, I really did. Didn’t you?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Just looks at me, slow and searching, like he’s making sure I’m real. Then his hand comes up, rough with callouses from a hard life, but warm. He cups my jaw, thumb dragging across my cheek, catching the edge of moisture I didn’t even realize was there.
“Oh, I did,” he says quietly. “You were brave.”
“I was terrified.”
“There’s no bravery without fear,” he rumbles. His hand stays where it is. “I thought I might have to…” His voice cuts off. The words don’t need finishing.
A cold shiver runs through me. It’s a delayed reaction, finally catching up.
“Yes,” I whisper. “Me too.”
For a second, neither of us moves.
Then I step into him, closing the last bit of distance, pressing in like I need it. Which I do. I need his heat again, all over me. “But you didn’t. You didn’t. We’re here.”
His breath shifts. I feel it all through me.
“We’re alive,” I add. “And we’re alone.”
“What do you suggest?” he asks, but there’s already a rough edge to his voice.
I don’t answer right away. Instead, I reach for him.
My hands find his chest, solid and warm under my palms, and I feel the strength there, the steadiness that kept us alive. My fingers trace the stripes on his skin.
“I think…” I murmur, stepping closer until my body brushes his, “I need to stop thinking about how close that was.” My gaze lifts to his. “And start feeling something else.”
His hand tightens at the back of my jaw. “I think we both need that.”
I lean up, close enough that my lips almost touch his. “You have honored your oath,” I whisper. “Perfectly. This won’t break it.”
For a heartbeat, he holds himself back. Then his hand slides to the back of my neck and pulls me in hard, and the kiss hits deep, stripped of restraint. All the fear, all the pressure, and all the almost-ending disappears under the force of it. Heat, breath, hands, him.
I thought I was about to die. Now I want to live, so hard it hurts.
I gasp into it, clutching at him, fingers digging into his shoulders as he crowds me back a step. Good. I don’t want distance. I don’t want control. I don’t want careful. I want him.
I want heat and pressure, something real enough to drown out the memory of standing there waiting to die.
I pull at him, and he comes with me, backing me toward the furs. My hands are already moving all over him, learning, needing. When they reach his loincloth, the hardness under it makes the breath stick in my throat. “Oh…”
His answer is immediate. The weight of him, the heat of him, the way his hands slide over me like he has to make sure I’m still here, still his to protect.
The world narrows fast, down to breath and skin and the rough drag of his touch, to the way my body reacts without permission, chasing sensation instead of fear.
Outside, the tribe is quiet. This cave is the very center of the village right now. In here, only Nator’ax and I exist.
His mouth claims mine again, hotter, deeper, fangs grazing my lower lip just enough to send a spark straight between my legs. I moan into the kiss and tug desperately at the simple dinosaur-skin dress that suddenly feels far too heavy.
“Off,” I gasp against his lips. “Take it off me.”
Nator’ax doesn’t hesitate. His large hands grab the stiff leather and yank it upward in one rough motion.
Cool air kisses my bare skin as the dress slides over my head and drops to the cave floor.
I’m completely naked beneath the firelight.
There are no barriers left. My nipples tighten instantly from the change in temperature and the raw hunger in his glowing eyes as they rake over me.
“Riley…” he growls, voice thick with need. The blue suede-like stripes across his powerful chest and shoulders seem to darken as his muscles flex. He shrugs off his own loincloth, and my breath catches hard.
His two cocks spring free.
The larger one is thick, ridged with swollen bulbs and pulsing alien veins that move under the smooth skin. It curves slightly upward, already leaking a glistening bead at the flared tip. Below it, the smaller, softer cock strains like it was made for me. It’s smooth, flexible, and already seeking.
Before I can overthink it, Nator’ax crowds me down onto the thick furs.
His massive body covers mine, radiating heat that chases away every memory of the freezing snow outside.
One huge hand palms my breast, thumb circling my nipple while his mouth descends to the other, fangs scraping lightly before his tongue soothes the sting.
I arch with a sharp cry as the smaller cock finds my clit. It strokes me in slow, perfect circles, warm and silky, sending liquid heat flooding through my core. My hips buck involuntarily.
“Oh yeahhh…”
The bigger cock drags heavily along my inner thigh, leaving a wet trail of his slick. He’s so big. The thought makes me clench with a mix of nerves and raw want.
He lifts his head, eyes burning. “Tell me you want this,” he rasps, voice rough as the cave walls. “Tell me you want me inside you.”
I spread my thighs wider, trembling with adrenaline and lust. “Yes. I want you. All of you. Now.”
He answers with a deep, possessive growl and shifts his hips, pressing the thick head of his primary cock against my slick entrance while the smaller one continues its relentless, teasing caress on my swollen clit.
He answers with a deep, possessive growl and shifts his hips, pressing the thick, bulbous head of his primary cock against my slick entrance while the smaller one continues its relentless, teasing caress on my swollen clit.
“Relax for me, little woman,” he murmurs against my throat, fangs grazing my pulse point. “Breathe.”
I try. I really do. But the moment he starts pushing forward, the sheer girth of him stretches me open in one burning, delicious slide.
The first thick bulb pops inside me, and I cry out, nails digging into his striped shoulders.
He’s big, but not impossibly so. My walls flutter and clench around the intrusion, struggling to adjust as another ridged swell forces its way in, spreading me wider than I thought possible.
“Ah, careful…” I whimper, thighs trembling around his hips.
He stills, breathing hard, every muscle locked with restraint.
The smaller cock keeps stroking my clit in slow, slippery circles, coaxing more wetness from me, helping my body soften and yield.
Pleasure and pressure tangle together until the burn slowly melts into a deep, aching fullness.
I feel every ridge, every pulsing vein as my inner walls ripple and stretch around him, gradually taking him deeper.
“That’s it,” he praises, voice ragged. “Let me in. You’re so tight… so perfect.”
When he finally bottoms out, the head of his cock kissing my cervix and those bulbs swelling inside me, I’m shaking. The smaller cock presses firmer against my clit, vibrating slightly with his heartbeat. The dual sensation is too much.
He starts to move with slow, deep thrusts that drag every ridge along my sensitive walls. Each stroke forces another helpless moan from my throat. The smaller cock never stops its perfect, slick massage on my clit.
Pressure coils tight and fast in my belly.
My thighs clamp around him as the orgasm crashes over me without warning.
I come hard, crying out his name, my pussy spasming and gushing around the thick invasion of his cock.
My vision whites out with the intensity of it, inner muscles milking him rhythmically as wave after wave rolls through me.
Nator’ax snarls, hips snapping forward harder now, chasing his own release. The bulbs along his shaft swell even more, locking him deep inside me as he thrusts once, twice—
He roars, fangs bared, and floods me with hot, thick pulses of cum. I feel every jet as his bigger cock throbs and empties inside my still-clenching pussy, the smaller one twitching against my oversensitive clit and drawing out the last trembling aftershocks of my climax.
We collapse together onto the furs, panting, sweat-slicked, his massive body still buried deep inside me as the firelight dances across our joined skin.
“I needed that,” I manage. “Stay with me. I need your heat.”