Chapter 29 #2
His hands roam from my face down my sides to my hips, then slip around to my ass.
He grips it, hoisting me up. I wrap my legs around his waist. I can feel his length hardening through my trousers.
My hands itch to pull it out. He spins and presses my back into the trunk of a tree, his kiss hitting deeper, his tongue claiming, the exquisite friction between my thighs nearly causing me to melt.
He breaks away and begins peppering my neck with languid kisses and nips.
His beard is rough on my skin and I find myself imagining what it would feel like on my inner thighs.
My breathing is coming rapidly as I reach down between us, pulling on the drawstring on his trousers.
My hands are snatched away and held over my head against the rough bark of the tree with one of his.
His other hand roams my body as he brings his lips back down on mine.
I grind my core against the hard ridge of him, earning a low groan from him in return.
“Please, Caene,” I beg against his lips.
A deep, dark chuckle is my reward.
“I like it when you beg.” He grinds more firmly into me.
“But I won’t take you up against a tree, little Aelavi.
No. When I take you, I want to take my time to taste and feel every inch of you.
” A whimper escapes my lips. He smiles, flashing me his delicious dimples.
With one last, deep, slow kiss he releases me and guides me gently to my feet.
He doesn’t move away, instead holding me pressed against the bark as both our breathing slows.
A twig snaps to my right. Caene whirls away from me, pulling his sword from the sheath along his back. I bend to retrieve my dagger.
A disapproving tongue click comes from somewhere in the trees.
“Don’t stop on our account.” I can’t tell where the voice is coming from.
I stand with my back pressed to Caene’s as we pivot, searching.
A man materializes from the fog between the pines.
His smirk sends chills down my spine. We turn in unison, pointing our weapons at the gaunt man.
A rustle of underbrush draws my attention to my left, where another man emerges.
To my right a woman comes into view, and another man and a woman appear behind us. We are surrounded.
The man in front of us, the one who revealed himself first, looks me up and down, his gaze making my skin crawl.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty thing.” He takes a step forward, the few teeth in his mouth glistening as he grins. Caene angles himself in front of me. “Oh come now. You don’t mind sharing, do you?” A rumble of warning emanates from somewhere deep in Caene’s chest.
“She’s got a lovely mouth.” Drool spills over his lips. I suppress a gag. “And since you clearly aren’t using it, we might as well.”
The man nods once.
The group pounces.
One of the women is on me quicker than I expect, grabbing my scalp, wrenching my head back, knife at my throat. The other, smaller woman comes at me as well, a small knife in her hands. I can’t help but smile. This will be easy.
I reach up, slicing my dagger along the hand that wields the knife at my throat. The woman yelps as she drops the weapon.
Idiot.
I drop, surprising her, forcing her to release my hair.
Luckily, all the abuse my scalp suffered at the hands of Bottom over the years has made me nearly immune to the pain.
I turn on the woman and plunge my dagger into her abdomen.
Her hands fly to her wound as she wails and collapses to the forest floor.
The other woman is on me now, climbing me like a godsdamn tree.
I didn’t realize how tiny she is until she is practically perched on my shoulders, knife raised to drive into my neck.
I spin, trying to knock her off balance, but she’s skilled.
She grips me tighter. It’s an unusual tactic and has caught me off guard.
I can fight men and women twice my size, but a woman the size of a child might best me.
I must admit, I’m impressed but I briefly wonder why I didn’t see it coming.
Why didn’t my gifts help me here? I reach up and wrap my hand around her ankle, pulling hard.
Her back slams into the ground as she topples off me. It’s my turn to climb.
I lift my dagger with both hands prepared to drive it straight through her heart, but she’s faster, her knife presses into the skin between my ribs.
If I move, the spot will surely kill me, slowly and painfully.
Neither of us moves to kill the other, our breathing coming hard, aged.
I watch her for any twitch or hint that she’s going to push that dagger into my lungs.
I’m taken aback by how young she looks, though her bright blue eyes are hard.
The grunts and clangs of metal behind us dwindle until there’s only one voice left.
“Drop the knife.” Caene’s low voice finds us as he slides his sword under the girl’s chin. She sighs, rolling her eyes, seeming more annoyed than afraid, and does as she’s told. She knows she can’t win this now. I lower my dagger and get off her.
She climbs to her feet, pushing away from the two of us. I realize quickly she actually is a child; she can’t be much older than twelve. She’s also filthy and shivering, with yellow hair matted to her sweaty face, torn hands, and threadbare and moth-eaten clothes. She’s had it rough.
“What’s your name?” I ask. She eyes the weapons still in our hands. I bend to stash my dagger. I nod at Caene to do the same.
“We won’t harm you.” My tone is calm, placating, my hands up to show her I’m unarmed. “What is your name?” Her eyes flick between Caene and me, then down to her companions scattered on the forest floor.
She turns tail and sprints into the mist.
“Wait!” I call. I’m drawn to the child. I can almost see a younger version of myself in her. I feel the need to help her. Save her. Be the person I needed when I wasn’t much older than her. Cane’s hand grips my wrist, stopping me from going after her through the woods.
“We can’t just leave her in this forest, Caene. She’ll be killed,” I plead, hoping he’ll help me find her.
He shakes his head. It’s only now I notice all three men are dead and the other woman is well on her way.
“We have to go.” He points to a tattoo on one of the men’s forearms. A skull with a knife through the eye socket.
“These people are part of the Horde. More will come, and soon, if that girl makes it back to them.”
My heart drops, the urge to help her even stronger now.
I know what it’s like to be involved with dangerous people when you’re too young, too inexperienced to change your circumstances.
I look in the direction she fled, swallow the ache in my throat, and nod.
Caene knows this road better than I do. It’s probably best to do as he says without a fight this one time.