It was the early hours of morning. Even the drums from the frost feast had finally died down, leaving my horde wrapped in the quietness of the night. Unless, of course, they’d heard my female’s pleasured screams.
Her chest was heaving, her body sweating despite the chill. She was spent and was begging for mercy. The smallest of touches set her off, flying up to new heights. Her flesh was sensitive, sore, and tender, no doubt.
I groaned out a harsh breath, my throat raw and scratchy from my bellows. I’d been…relentless. Even I recognized that.
I didn’t trust my voice. So, after our last orgasms, the last of many we’d shared throughout the long night, I tucked her close, though I never left the tight sheath of her sex.
Her hot breath came in pants against my chest. Between us, I felt our thighs slick with my seed and her arousal. I’d pumped endless amounts into her tonight and the knowledge made that beast inside me immensely satisfied.
“Veekor, my starling,” I rumbled. “I will have you again before dawn. So rest now.”
Her eyes were closed before the last words fell from my lips. And even though she slumbered deeply, her little blunt claws still clutched tightly to my chest, as if afraid to let me go.
I’d never known such peace as I did at that moment. I felt it settle around my shoulders, loosening decades of old tension. I felt it cocoon the both of us, the rest of the universe floating away, until all I saw was her face.
I knew what this feeling was. I’d never experienced it before, but I knew what she pulled from me, from the dark depths of my mind and my heart.
Brushing my lips against the top of her head, I inhaled her scent deep, memorizing it.
Then I followed her in sleep.
* * *
Perchedon the edge of the bed, clutching the furs around her naked shoulders, she looked at me with a solemnness that tugged at my chest.
It was too soon to leave after the night we’d shared, but I no longer had a choice. The moon would be full in four days’ time. If I rode Lokkas hard, I would reach the capitol in time.
My female watched me dress in my warmest clothes, watched as I sheathed my sword and pulled on my boots. Thevolikiwas utterly silent, save for the fire crackling in the basin.
Outside, the horde was quiet, still slumbering away after the night of celebration. Dawn had just broken and stale blue light filtered through at the entrance. Life would be slow in my horde that day and time would move even slower still, the further from mythissieI was.
“It is already difficult to leave,kalles,” I murmured softly, eyeing her. “Do not make it harder.”
She sighed and pushed up from the bed. I watched her expression pull and I knew she was sore from our matings. It was the only thing I regretted…that she was hurting from it.
“Come,” I rasped, holding my hand out for her. She came into my arms as if she belonged there, as if she’d been in them her entire life. “I will send for a hot bath once I leave, to help with the pain.”
“I’ll go to the commons,” she told me. “Don’t worry. No one will be there at this time of morning and I would hate for you to wake the warriors. Let them sleep.”
I frowned, but knew that even if I roused a few warriors to bring her hot water, she would still go to the common bathingvolikiregardless.
“Very well,” I rumbled, running my fingers through her dark hair.
“Will you see your mother inDothik?” she whispered.
My jaw clenched. “Lysi. I will see her as soon as I can.”
She nodded against my chest and then her eyes met mine. “Be safe on your way and on your return, alright?”
I was reminded of her words when I’d taken her out onto the plains. That, regardless of what happened, she was still my friend. That she would still worry for me, that she would still miss me.
Pressing my lips to hers, I kissed her deep and slow, unlike the frenzied, overwhelming way of last night. Even still, when I felt her respond, my body heated, banishing the chill and dread. Her breath hitched and I felt her eyelashes flutter against my face as her hands clutched my shoulders.
With a groan and a soft curse, I pulled away, knowing that if we continued, we would end up right back in the furs. I needed to leave. It was my duty and I could not disregard that, no matter how much I ached to.
She licked her lips and met my gaze. She’d always been so expressive, but through her desire, I saw her sadness.
“I will return to you,rei thissie,” I promised her, cupping her cheeks. I pressed one last kiss to her forehead, lingering.
