Chapter 19
Elessan
Elessan shifted in the saddle as he pulled Aliya onto the horse in front of him.
When he’d snuck out of the castle, he’d lamented not taking his own mount, even though the animal would be more noticeable than walking.
Had he known it would result in him and Aliya sharing hers for the return trip…
Well, he wouldn’t have been so concerned.
As she settled, her perfect backside pressed tight against his inner thighs, he adjusted his weight. Before he let himself get distracted by the beautiful woman in his arms, they were long overdue for a talk.
For once, Zadé didn’t argue or give him any flack when he caught her eye and nodded for her to ride ahead. Likely the general wanted some time to herself to mourn. It was just as well. He didn’t need extra ears overhearing what he had to say to Aliya.
As Zadé gradually pulled away and out of earshot, Elessan tightened the arm he had wrapped around Aliya’s waist, pulling her from her rigid posture until she leaned against his chest.
“So,” he rumbled, his lips near her ear.
She shuddered, her breath hitching.
His cock pulsed. Clenching his jaw, he forced his attention back to the topic at hand. “You left the castle, without adequate protection. Without me. Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I realized you were gone?”
She wiggled, trying to pull away from him.
He held her close. “Don’t do that, My Queen, or this conversation will take a turn neither one of us will be able to do anything about for the next few days.” Unless they wanted Zadé teasing them, or worse, interrupting.
She froze, seeming to realize what he was referring to. There was no way she’d missed the bulge between his legs. “I’m not a child,” she said. “I’m the ruler. I don’t need to ask your permission to leave the castle or attend to the needs of my kingdom.”
“No,” he growled. “But as the monarch, you owe your realm your safety, and the only way to accomplish that is to take me or a contingent of guards with you when you decide to take a field trip. Preferably both, until such time as we can apprehend and deal with Brooks.” He pulled her against him, groaning into her ear.
“By Abaddon, Aliya. He used a Whisperer in Brisimin. Do you have any idea how close I came to losing you? If you’d been there a day earlier, you could well have died!
” His life would be nothing without her.
And her realm… The spoiled human aristocrats didn’t know it, but Aliya was the only person holding back the dwarves and the elves from taking their revenge on her people. And she had no blasted clue.
She swallowed hard enough for him to feel the vibration through her chest. “I’m sorry, El. I had no way of knowing Brooks was going to be there.”
He took a deep breath, savoring her scent, and the tickle of her golden hair against his face.
“That’s just it. Until we figure out his end game, we have no idea where he’ll be, or what he’s going to do and with whom.
Please, if you need to leave the castle grounds again, at least take me with you. ”
She nodded.
“And,” he said, unwilling to let it go, as he brushed his hand up her leg, stopping when it came to rest over the dagger he’d given her. “I’m going to teach you how to properly use that blade of yours.” He squeezed her thigh.
She arched her back, groaning deep in her throat.
He glanced up the road. Zadé was several minutes ahead, but all she had to do was glance back and she’d likely be able to make out the adorable flush covering Aliya’s cheeks.
Dancing his fingers up to her waist and below her tunic until he felt the warm skin of her stomach, he dragged them upward to brush the soft undersides of her breasts.
Aliya moaned again.
By Abaddon, that was his favorite sound. “What do you want?” he whispered into her ear, his voice gravely with his own need.
“To feel alive,” she said, her words breathy. “After so much death, I want to live, El.”
A common response when faced with what they’d seen. He brushed his thumb over her hardened nipple, savoring how she tensed beneath his touch. “Can you be quiet?” he asked, sucking her earlobe into his mouth and pulling at it with his teeth.
“Okay,” she gasped as she bucked.
“Don’t do that,” he said, holding back a self-satisfied chuckle. He loved how responsive she was. “Or you’ll startle the horse.”
She pressed her lips together to stifle a moan.
Pinching her breast, he kissed down the column of her throat.
She tilted her head. “More, El. Please.”
“You never have to beg.” Undoing the laces on her pants, he slid a hand between her thighs and moaned at the moisture collected there. “Is this for me?”
Aliya nodded as he danced the fingers of his free hand down her neck and between her breasts.
“Spread your legs and roll your hips forward,” he paused as one side of his lips curled upward, “My Queen.”
Aliya adjusted her posture to give him better access, then groaned as he dragged one hand up her center to circle the sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs.
She moaned loud enough the horse’s ears twitched.
Sliding his other hand over her mouth, he tilted her head back until it rested against his shoulder as he flicked her clit.
“Be quiet or you’ll spoil our fun.” He plunged a finger inside her, coating it in her arousal as his cock throbbed with its own pulse.
Moving in and out as her muscles contracted around him, he bit back a groan of his own.
By Abaddon, if he could spend the rest of his days doing this, it wouldn’t be long enough. “What do you want, sweetheart? How can I make you come for me?”
Aliya whimpered beneath his hand, so he loosened his grip on her mouth.
“More, faster.” Her voice was breathy—just the way he liked it.
He smiled. “As my queen commands.” Adding a second finger, he curled them until he hit the spot she loved as he moved his fingers inside, circling her clit with his thumb.
She tensed, her entire body going taught with a muffled whimper.
A heady sense of pure male satisfaction filled him as she hovered on the edge. “Come alive for me, sweetheart.” He applied pressure with the palm of his hand.
With a final cry he managed to smother with a kiss, Aliya did.
She was the perfect mix of heat and satin as her muscles pulsed around his hand.
What he wouldn’t give to be buried deep inside her right now.
But this wasn’t about what he wanted. He was used to death, and to the cruelty of the realm.
This was about Aliya and helping her balance the harsh realities of life with its highs.
She sighed, slumping against him.
“Better?” he asked.
Nodding, she swallowed. “Yes, but I also feel guilty.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Whatever for?”
“Brooks killed two hundred prisoners. People who suffered and, if I’d acted sooner, would’ve been freed before he got to Brisimin. And here I am, thinking of how much I want you.”
“Hmmm.” He mulled over his words, choosing them carefully.
“Don’t let survivor’s guilt eat at you. Soldiers have the same instinct to affirm their lives, both ahead of and after a battle.
” It was part of why so many camp followers trailed after armies, eager to relieve the troops of their coin in exchange for pleasure.
“Don’t beat yourself up for a normal response.
And regarding Brooks,” he paused, taking a breath as he adjusted to the shift in conversation, “you didn’t know about Brisimin three days ago.
As I said, even if you’d jumped on a horse and come here straight from the council meeting, you’d have been caught up in his attack and killed, too.
” He took her chin in his hand and turned her face until she met his eyes.
“There was nothing you could have done for those prisoners. No doubt many of them yearned for the release death brought.”
She shuddered beneath his fingers. “It hurt, touching the goo that trapped them there.”
He nodded, remembering the terror that had sliced through his chest at her scream when he’d first entered that cursed space. If he hadn’t been there to pull her free… “I remember.”
“I can’t imagine being subjected to that for years.” She swallowed. “Decades.”
“You’re a mage, and a powerful one. It likely caused you much more pain than them.”
She raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
“To the non-magical, like myself, it felt more like a slow sucking of my energy. Like a constant tugging in my soul.” He cleared his throat, pushing the memory away. “You saw the physical effects, what it did to them with prolonged exposure.”
She was staring at him with round eyes, her jaw loose. “Were you there? In Brisimin?”
He shook his head. “No.” And thank Abaddon for that.
“But I’ve seen that magic-draining substance before.
It’s a mix of Drake Husk and Leeching Barberry, with a few other things I couldn’t identify.
At the beginning of the war, the humans would coat shackles with it.
They’d use it on prisoners deemed valuable enough to keep alive. ” For a while, anyway.
Aliya tensed. “Like spies.”
He nodded, though it wasn’t a question. “I haven’t heard of it being utilized in such vast quantities. I was under the impression it was quite expensive and difficult to manufacture.”
“You had it used on you?” Her eyes were wide, her skin a shade paler.
So much for distracting her. “Once.” He swallowed, steeling his spine as the memory threatened to overwhelm him.
“I’d been detained and my captors were going to interrogate me.
Tsara found out and sent someone after me.
He was able to free me before the inquisitor made his appearance.
” Elessan took a deep breath, steadying himself against the sudden weight compressing his chest. “I got out. The elf who came for me didn’t. ”
Twisting her torso until she faced him, an impressive feat considering she still straddled the horse, Aliya met his gaze. Squeezing his arm, she said, “I’m so sorry.”
Pressing his lips together, he nodded.
“What happened to him? The man who rescued you?” Her words were a whisper.
“An archer caught him in the heart as we were trying to escape. He was killed instantly.” Elessan shook his head, swallowing down the bile that crept up his throat.
“I tried to carry his body out, but the humans were catching up, so I had to abandon him.” He exhaled, hoping she didn’t hear the tremble in his voice.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
He was a friend and deserved a hero’s burial.
” Or at least, cremation like Aliya had done for Zadé’s comrade. “But war makes monsters of us all.”
She nodded, her focus drifting from his face into the distance for several breaths before she shook her head and brought her attention back to him. “You should follow your own advice, you know,” she said.
He quirked an eyebrow at her. That was the last thing he’d expected her to say. “Oh? How so?”
She poked him in the chest. “Don’t let survivor’s guilt consume you. Your friend wouldn’t have wanted that.”
A warmth spread through him at her words. He hugged her, pulling her tight. “You’re right, of course.” Though that was easy to say and much harder to do.
“Can I get that in writing?”
He chuckled despite his dark thoughts. “That I said you were right?”
She nodded. “I can’t recall the last time you admitted it out loud, and there are no witnesses here to corroborate the occasion.”
Smiling, he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “Anything you want, My Queen.”
“Hmm.” She bit her lower lip and reached between them, searching for the laces to his trousers. “Now, I think it’s you who needs the distraction.”
Grabbing her hands with his, he pulled them away with a groan.
As much as he craved her, wanted the diversion, with her on the horse, the angle would be awkward, and he couldn’t allow himself to be inattentive to her safety.
Urging her to turn so she faced the front again, he murmured in her ear, “I want so badly for you to touch me, but now’s not the best time. My distraction could put you at risk.”
Furrowing her brows, she glanced at the empty woods surrounding the path then stared at him. “Worried the scary tree branches will get me?”
He dropped his voice to the pitch he knew sent shivers up her spine. “No, but I want to wait until we get back, where I can take my time with you.”
Her cheeks bloomed red as she bit her lower lip.
By Abaddon. He’d never tire of seeing her like this.
“Hey, guys!” Zadé’s words jolted Elessan out of his reverie.
He glanced ahead, to where she waved frantically at the top of the next rise.
“The castle’s on fire!”