“And I want you, but I will not hurt you.”
“Then I will give you pleasure.”I bent my knees, intending to slide to the floor, but he caught me about the waist.
“You have forgotten what my people say.”He kissed me gently.“Ladies first.”He lifted me as though I weighed nothing.I wrapped my legs about his waist, unable to resist the urge to slide against his erection.He bent to retrieve something then carried me to the table wedged against the door.He pulled off my undertunic and tossed it aside, dipping his mouth to kiss the swell of my breast.I arched as he lowered me to the table and, still teasing my nipple, slid my under leggings off.My breath hitched in anticipation as he moved between my legs and used his mouth to kiss a path from my breast to my belly and lower.He made a sound of enjoyment when he reached the juncture of my thighs.His tongue parted me and made me gasp when he rasped it along my seam.
And then his hand was there, and I caught the familiar fragrance of the ointment Omira had given us to repel biting insects.I lifted my head and saw he held a small jar and had dipped his hand in it.“May I?”he asked.
“I thought that was to keep insects away.”
“It has that use too, but we discovered that by accident.Its primary use is as a...I do not know the word in your language.”
“Lubricant.”
He made a sound of agreement.Had I been wearing lubricant all over my body this whole time?
He moved back slightly and slid the lubricant over his member, gliding his hand up and down the length of himself and making my mouth go dry.“My turn,” I said, holding my hand out.
“Allow me.”He dipped his hand in the jar again and lowered it to my sex, skating the ointment over the sensitive flesh there.I reached up and put my arms about him, kissing him as he touched me.Two fingers dipped inside me, and I felt no pain, only need.I wrapped my legs around him as our kisses grew deeper.His cock slipped over my entrance, and I gasped at the friction.The ointment had made that tender flesh warm and tingly, and when he slid against me again, I had to swallow a moan.Taio nipped at my shoulder as his hands dragged down my back.Then he caught my hips and angled them so he might enter me.He moved slowly, but by now I’d realized the ointment seemed to heighten sensation as soon as friction was applied.I was desperate for more of that friction, desperate for him to fill me, stretch me, bring me to climax.
“I want you,” I said, biting his shoulder.“Deeper.”
He moved deeper, still cautious, and I thrust my hips up, taking more of him.The sensation all but blinded me, and I grasped his arms and threw my head back in a soundless cry.Taio thrust again and tears stung my eyes.I never wanted this to end.I’d never felt anything so mind-numbingly pleasurable.“Harder,” I demanded.
He did as I asked, and I bit his shoulder again to keep from crying out.His hands were still on my bottom, and he angled our bodies, adjusting me so he didn’t thrust as deep but every thrust rubbed against my pulsing clitoris.He slid in and out, his rhythm slow and regular and I met his every plunge.I could feel his heart beating against mine, and my skin pebbled when his warm breath feathered over it as he panted with need and the effort at control.
His arms shook as they held me, as I reached for the orgasm.“Yes, yes.Oh, gods!”I whispered.
“There?”he murmured in my ear.“Right there, yes?”
“Yes!”I sighed.My climax crashed over me like a storm, and I ground against Taio to heighten the sensation.He plunged deeper inside of me, swallowing his guttural groan as he pulsed with his own climax.For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, we clung to each other.Then he lifted his head, and our eyes met.A tenderness like nothing I’d ever felt before rushed through me.The strength of the feeling frightened me and excited me at the same time.I wasn’t used to such strong feelings, and part of me wanted to look away, to break our contact.
“I would die for you,” Taio said, his voice little more than a growl.“I once heard you say words I will repeat now.My life for yours,” he said, echoing the phrase we often said in Earsleh.Then he added, “My body for yours.”His arms trembled with the force of his convictions.I stared at him, unable to look away and uncertain what to say back.I kissed him instead, showing him with my lips and tongue that I cared for him too.He lifted me and carried me to the bed, placing me on it carefully then coming down beside me.My eyes felt heavy, and he was warm as he pulled me against him.Was this what life in Zulen would be like?Taio and I tangled in silk sheets?
I would be naïve to believe that life could be that simple.He’d spoken to me of revolt and factions and a gathering of Hollows coordinating an attack.He might have been attracted to me, but he’d told me himself that wasn’t the only reason he’d chosen me.His kingdom needed a miracle cure.If that cure didn’t work, he would need a warrior, aguerrira.
Taio had his warrior now, and neither of us could afford to let down our guards.
Although we would have both preferred to stay in bed as long as possible, eventually we rose and washed and dressed.The sun was high in the sky now, and we wanted to be ready to go at the first opportunity.But every time I looked out the window, I counted at least six Hollows.At one point, we heard at least two on the side of the cabin with no window.They’d moved against the outer logs, and we heard their grunts and hisses.The cabin swayed slightly as that was the weaker of the four walls.Taio and I stood rooted in place, reaching silently to hold hands.We didn’t move for almost an hour, long after the Hollows had moved away.
At dusk we ate more preserves then took turns through the night listening and watching.At one point during Taio’s watch, he woke me with a hand over my mouth.Finger to his lips, he bade me to sit and listen.The grunts of the Hollows had grown louder, sounding almost like a faint buzzing.“How many?”I whispered in his ear.
“Too dark,” he whispered back.
We were exceedingly quiet after that.If the pack caught one stray sound and charged the cabin, it could come down around us.For the first time since we’d hidden here, I wondered if we’d ever be able to leave.The Hollows might stand about in the same place for days or weeks or months.Perhaps years.We could ration the preserves, but we would run out of food in a few more days.Then we would have the choice to either starve or be eaten by those monsters.
I think I’d rather take my chances and be eaten than sit here and wait to die.
I was on watch at dawn.I crouched under the window, not wanting to check it too often for fear the movement of the curtains might be noticed.Besides, I could hear the Hollows outside.From the sound of them, even more had joined the ones who’d been here before.
And then suddenly a scream rent the air, slicing through the grunts and hisses.It was a distinctly human sound, and it seemed to echo through the forest.I jumped to my feet, and Taio sat up, reaching for his weapon.“What was that?”he asked, his voice at a normal pitch as the sound of the Hollows had risen and he had to raise his voice to be heard.
“I don’t know!”I moved to the window, but my hand shook as I took hold of the curtain.What if it was Omira or one of the others?What if they’d come looking for us and the Hollows had attacked?
The scream sounded again, and Taio and I both stilled.I crouched, as though a defensive stance could protect us or the one who screamed.The cabin shook slightly as the Hollows moved past it, colliding with the structure in their haste to charge toward the sound of the scream.
Taio finally went to the window, lifting the curtain with such care and slowness that I had to clench my hands not to force him to rip it aside.We both looked out.The Hollows were lurching away, slowly and with awkward stumbling, but they were headed to the north, toward the sound of the scream.
“This is our chance,” I said.“We have to go now.”
