80. Clash of Stone and Steel
Clash of Stone and Steel
Several Days After the Training Camp Samhail
Samhail let his thumb graze along Talyn’s stomach as he lay in bed with her at the Citadel, more content than he could remember being in a long time.
Her back was tucked up against him while she slept, and he’d curled his giant body around her to hold her close as morning sunlight streamed into the room.
Despite what she’d told him once about liking her space, this was how they slept at night now, and he loved it.
It was new to him as well, but he’d adapted surprisingly fast.
He brushed his thumb higher so it skimmed the underside of her naked breast. She didn’t move, and he smiled.
A week ago, any touch would’ve woken her instantly, ready to fight.
That she didn’t stir now told him she was comfortable enough to relax her guard around him, that she trusted him to watch over her while she slept.
He didn’t let himself think too deeply about why this made him happy. If anything, it just meant she might consider staying with him once all this was over. That, in turn, meant he could continue to fuck her whenever he wanted, which was his new favorite thing to do.
He’d taken her straight to Tide’s End from the training camp that first day, rather than messaging Phaedrus for a portal back to Callanus.
He’d just wanted to be alone with her, and he’d pushed her against the wall as soon as he’d gotten back to his room at the manor.
He’d been rock-hard already and needed a minute to collect himself after flying back with her in his arms.
“What’s wrong?” she’d asked, her body tense.
“What’s wrong,” he’d said breathlessly, “is that watching you take out half a unit of my soldiers today made me want to fuck you so hard you’ll feel my cock inside you long after I’ve pulled out.”
Her eyes had flared, and he’d kissed her soundly before he picked her up, laid her on the bed, stripped her naked, and buried his face between her thighs. He’d made her come until her legs were shaking.
He’d given her a few minutes to recover after that as he undressed, then he’d reached into his nightstand to pull out his bottle of oil. He’d pulled the key to the caronium cuff from his pocket and removed the cuff, then flipped her on her stomach. To his relief, she didn’t port.
“I’m going to take your ass now,” he’d told her as he pulled her to her knees and pressed her shoulders down to open her fully to him.
“I thought you were going to take some time to prepare me?” she’d said over her shoulder.
“You have your powers back. What more do you need to prepare?”
She’d whimpered softly but didn’t object.
Despite his eagerness, though, he had in fact taken the time to prepare her slowly, using his fingers to stretch her open while he massaged her clit.
When she was moaning beneath him and pushing back against his fingers, only then did he slather his cock liberally with the oil and notch himself at her ass.
He wouldn’t have considered trying it with any other woman, but he’d been counting on her body’s malleability to accommodate him, and it did.
Talyn had let out a long moan as he’d pushed past the first ring of muscle, and Samhail’s eyes had rolled back in his head to feel her close around him.
Even with her body’s ability to shift, she was so tight.
He’d continued to go slow, entering, waiting, withdrawing, then pushing in a bit further each time until his hips were pressed tightly to her body. She let out a low groan of pleasure when he was finally all the way in, and his cock had twitched at the sound.
“Are you alright?” he’d asked, willing himself not to move.
Her breath had stuttered, and her “Yes” was nearly a whisper. He’d been about to question her again to be sure when she started to move on her own, to rock herself against him so his cock slid in and out of her.
“Fuuck.” He drew out the word as the fact she was letting him claim her in everyway possible made him harder than he’d ever been.
He’d tried to go slow, but the feel of her squeezing around him had made him erupt inside her after only a couple minutes.
It was the quickest he’d come in decades, but he’d been unable to hold back his climax at the feel of her and the thought of what she was letting him do.
He’d always wanted to try this, but he’d resigned himself to never being able to.
He’d fucked Talyn every night since then, but only one other time in her ass.
Now that he’d done it, he didn’t feel the need as strongly anymore.
It was enough for him to know he was the first and only one to ever claim all of her entrances, although he took care not to show her how much that pleased him.
Talyn still made a show of trying to resist him every night when they went to bed, but the one time he’d called her bluff and turned over to pretend to sleep, he’d felt her fingers trace down his back a few minutes later.
She’d insisted she was just fascinated by his muscles, but she hadn’t protested when he’d spread her legs, settled between them, and drove into her until she’d come three times on his cock.
Actually, for someone who once claimed to be unseducible, she spent an inordinate amount of time with him inside her now.
For one, she enjoyed being woken by sex.
She’d told him once, semi-jokingly, that he could go ahead and fuck her in the morning as long as he didn’t wake her, and he’d taken her up on it the next day.
He’d dipped his head below the covers, parted her thighs, and licked her until she’d popped awake with a cry of pleasure.
Sometimes he hooked a hand under her knee to pull her leg open, then pushed into her from behind as she slept.
He’d fuck her slowly until she woke, then he’d drive into her until she found her release.
He liked to see how long it took before she became conscious and began moaning into her pillow.
Once, he’d been able to slide carefully in and out of her for two whole minutes before she jolted awake and gasped with pleasure. Then he’d fucked her in earnest.
Outside the bedchamber, they’d fallen into a routine this week.
Once they got up, they bathed, dressed, and met Axenus for breakfast, where the merman would greet them with the beleaguered sigh of a man who wished the walls and doors of the fortress were thicker.
They’d gone to Seatherny once more to talk to Jasper, and Talyn had made another appearance as Aidan.
The other days they trained together in the mornings.
A couple times they’d gone for a run around the grounds, but usually they fought with blades to keep their skills sharp, although Samhail didn’t fight as hard as he could, and he suspected neither did she.
Still, they didn’t go easy on each other either, and it wasn’t unusual for them to both be bloody and bruised when they were done.
That inevitably led Samhail to push her into the storage room or some other secluded place and fuck her some more.
Those times she begged him to take her harder, and more than once he’d had to clamp his hand over her mouth to stifle her scream so the house guards didn’t come running.
Their afternoons were spent at the army training camp, and Samhail was pleased to see the men now showed Talyn a deference that bordered on awe.
Even those from other units who hadn’t seen her fight treated her as if she were a general, saluting her and calling her ma’am, much to her amusement.
Even more amazingly, they paid close attention when she instructed them, and they seemed to try harder when she was around.
Samhail still saw a resentful look here or there, and he took note of who made them so he could tell Talyn who to keep an eye on.
He had the urge to let those men see his gargoyle side, but he didn’t think Talyn wanted him to fight her battles for her, so he let her handle things her own way. Usually.
Talyn’s own way had included nearly breaking the finger of one man who’d dared to slap her ass one day. Within seconds she’d grabbed him and forced him to his knees where he whimpered in pain as she bent his finger back at a harsh angle.
Samhail hadn’t heard what she’d said to the man when she whispered in his ear, but the man had gone pale and apologized profusely.
He should’ve left it at that, but Samhail hadn’t been able to help himself.
He’d strode over to the man on his knees after Talyn walked away, offered his hand, and pulled the man up.
Then he’d grabbed the man around the back of his neck and said under his breath, “Touch something that belongs to me again, and I’ll rip your hand off. ”
The man had gone even paler and hurried away.
It was the wrong thing to do. The next day, word had spread about Samhail’s threat, and the men were too afraid to even look at Talyn. She’d been livid when she pried the story out of one of the soldiers.
Samhail had seen her stalking toward him and frowned at the murderous look in her eyes.
Before he could ready himself, she’d rammed her knee into his stomach, and he’d doubled over.
She’d then somehow swung her legs up around his neck and used her body weight to pull him the rest of the way so he flipped and landed hard on his back.
It had just barely worked, but his breath punched out of him when he hit the ground, and he’d had enough sense to stay down as Talyn rose and brushed herself off.
“First of all,” she told the men, who were now gaping at her, “I don’t belong to him. If any of you touch me inappropriately, it’s me you should worry about, not him.”
A murmur of ascent went up among those watching.
“You should keep your hands to yourself because I deserve your respect,” she went on, “and that respect shouldn’t depend on what I may or may not be to him.”
There was another murmur of ascent, softer this time, and a number of men cast their eyes to the ground. Samhail hadn’t bothered to move from where he lay flat on his back.