“A-ah! Uttin!” Zakai gasped, his channel tightening around me. I had to pause for a few moments to not embarrass myself by coming too soon.
Drawing my hips back slowly, I listened to the sounds he made, readjusting the angle and thrusting inside him again until I found the perfect position. He cried out, shoving his hips back to meet me again. I kept this going for a little while, basking inthe feel of the tight slickness wrapped around me, but he said he wanted to be fucked mindless. While enjoyable, what we were doing now wouldn’t succeed in doing that.
Slipping an arm around his chest, I drew him upright, guiding his hands over his head and around my neck. He made a breathless sound of inquiry, but didn’t stop me. Careful not to cause him any injury, I slipped my hands around his thighs, lifting him off the bed and into my arms.
“Uttin!” Zakai cried, fingers tightening in my hair. He was helpless to do anything else. When I shifted my hips back and thrust back inside him, he wailed, back arching as I hit the key to his pleasure. “Uttin, Uttin, Uttin!”
“Ungh, yes, tavi. Let me hear you.”
With the tight grasp of his body on my cock and his sounds filling my ears, I knew I wouldn’t last long. Especially not when he was so lost in pleasure, he didn’t seem to know what he was saying. His words were babbled half in my tongue, half in his, with a few common tongue words thrown in there. Sweat slicked our skin and my grip tightened to keep him where I wanted him, drawing more sounds from Zakai that made my eyelids flutter in an attempt to stop myself from losing control. If I had the ability, I’d stroke his cock to put both of us out of our pleasurable misery.
One particularly hard thrust made Zakai choke on his babbles, a spurt of cum escaping his cock. I repeated the movement, watching as Zakai’s mouth opened in a silent scream, his channel tightening as he drew closer to his release. But he was fighting it, tormenting us both by dragging it out.
“Zakai…” I gritted out a warning. If he made me put him down to finish us off, I would spank his ass later.
“I-I love you!” he cried out.
Then, on my next thrust, he came with a scream of pleasure, his body gripping me so tight, it dragged my orgasm from mewith such force, my knees went weak. I only had enough energy to carefully tumble us both to the bed before they gave out completely.
Zakai lay on his stomach, panting beside me, but refused to look at me. I knew it was because he was embarrassed—he took no joy in expressing his deeper feelings—but he had no reason to be. The gift he’d given me was an amazing bonding present.
Forcing him to turn over and look at me, I twined our legs together and pulled him tightly to my chest. He buried his face against me to hide, and I allowed it, knowing he needed to hear my words more than he needed to see me.
“You are my other half, tavi. There is no Uttin without Zakai. I love you too.”
I said it in both my language and his so he understood every word. And when he lifted his head, tears in his eyes, I captured his lips, telling him again without uttering another word. He was mine and I was his, and if I had anything to say about it, it would always be this way.
Twenty-Seven
ZAKAI
When most of the clans chose to stay in Al Nuzem, I was surprised and overjoyed. They were still nomadic, still moved from place to place, and I introduced them to the best hunters in the country to teach them what meat could be used to sustain their people, but they were no longer outcasts when they passed a town and stopped in for a visit. They were welcomed, especially in towns without much in the way of protection. They were happy to host the barbarians in exchange for the protection the barbarians were so good at providing.
It surprised me when Uttin brought a plan to his people for a vote. To combine with Clan Urthazrak and settle on the border of Salval woods, a half day’s journey from the capital. For Clan Urthazrak, the move was necessary, as many of their people were older and no longer fighting fit. For the Northern clan, it was political. As the point of contact between the clans and the palace, Uttin didn’t want to stray too far to where we couldn’t return easily if necessary. As the clan had many young families and the move was difficult with the little ones, most agreed. Those that didn’t had the option to join an ally clan that choseto stay nomads or join the clan’s trade delegation that journeyed around the cities and towns of Al Nuzem, returning to the clan when they needed rest.
A small group went north, including Uttin and I, to begin passing the word through the towns about the freedom of Al Nuzem for same sex couples. It wasn’t an easy task, since those who went into the towns to spread the word were put at risk. The barbarians accompanying couldn’t venture into the towns. Neither could I as someone so obviously foreign to them. Mostly, the word was spread by Briar and Simon, with Matthew coming along as protection. The man might be shy, but he was trained by Einar and knew how to protect himself better than any other bondmate in the clan, except perhaps Simon himself. I’d seen him fight, and he agreed once we returned to train me with daggers like he’d learned from his mother.
I’d expected it to take months before we even saw the first trickles of couples and individuals fleeing their towns. Instead, there was a mass of people who joined our group to travel safely to Al Nuzem. In fact, there were so many that we had to split the journey into two so we could bring people back before attempting to pick up others. And when we returned and started in new towns, the word had spread already, and people waited in secret, sneaking out of the village before Briar or Simon had even set foot inside.
The number of people who left the towns ended up crippling those they left behind. Men and women crucial to the town’s survival, tired of living in secret, left in droves to join us instead. Blacksmiths, bakers, inn owners, even some people in government who’d secretly attempted to make a difference and were tired of failing. It got so bad for the towns that the king of their country threatened war with Al Nuzem for stealing his people away. By that point, people were leaving their towns without us being there, so there wasn’t much they could doabout it. If it came down to a choice between happiness and responsibility to their town, people chose their own happiness, as they should.
We had one more town to visit before heading back to Al Nuzem. I’d wanted to go to this town straight away, but Uttin talked me out of it, saying if we began our journey by murdering people, it would send the wrong message.
“We save murder for dessert!” Simon had crowed, cackling. He was still giggling about it several weeks later.
“You are not funny,” Uttin said blandly as the town came into view. I always thought it was an ugly place with tall wooden structures that seemed to lean in ways that made me think they’d collapse with a strong breeze. The whole town was dirty, even the upper class area. I didn’t enjoy returning, even if just for a short time.
“Of course I’m funny,” Simon riposted cheekily.
He didn’t ride his own stallion, instead choosing to ride with his bondmate, who seemed to enjoy the arrangement, his arms around Simon’s middle. Every once in a while, he gave Simon a kiss, giving him the attention he needed. I wanted to be jealous—it was hard for Uttin to get close enough to do that to me—but we had raced several times and that was a joy for me. I could wait for kisses. For a little while, anyway.
Our company was small going to this town. We didn't want to draw too much attention to ourselves. Aside from me, Uttin, Simon, and Feigrind, we were also accompanied by Umaira and Abdul, both of whom wanted revenge on Hameed for putting me at risk. There was also my family’s spy who waited for us inside the town proper to show us where the rats were hiding. My father hadn’t been happy with the small numbers, especially when Einar and Matthew only accompanied us for so long before returning, but I’d expected that. Einar was more thanoverprotective. He didn’t want Matthew near an actual fight. Letting him go into towns alone was hard enough.
We came in without banners or anything to identify who I was, aside from the signet ring on my finger. It was a happy coincidence I had left it in Al Nuzem when Hameed stabbed me in the back. If he’d gotten his hands on it, it could have spelled trouble for trade agreements. There were no guards on the front gate, the town too cocky to think they had enemies. They assumed wrong.
“Where to first?” Simon asked, practically vibrating to take action. I cast a sidelong glance at Uttin since he was the leader of our little company. He shook his head.
“I don’t know this town, tavi. You and Simon should decide.”
