Lahn disappeared from sight, casks were produced, jugs came out and leather covered cups were passed around.
It was time to party.
Bain and Zahnin moved to flank my chair at the sides rather than the back.
A woman came forward and handed me a leather covered, resin lined cup which a sniff told me held zakah.
If I had a choice, I would have preferred wine. Korwahk wine was excellent.
But zakah was offered so zakah it was.
I looked up at Bain, lifted my cup when he dropped his eyes to me and then turned my head to Zahnin who was already looking down at me.
“Suh Dax!” I cried, The Dax!, and then I belted back a slug.
Before I righted my head I heard both warriors chuckle.
Yes, even Zahnin.
* * * * *
Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
“Harder, baby,” I begged, so close, this close and damn, it was going to be huge.
I had paint on me, I even had another man’s blood on me and I also had on my hands a savage warrior who bested a challenge for his throne and took the life of a man not fit to walk this earth and he was in the mood to celebrate.
I was on my hands and knees in front of him, Lahn was thrusting inside, deep and hard. He’d already gone down on me, not letting me come; let me ride him while he rolled my clit with his finger, not letting me come; let me take him in my mouth while touching myself, again not letting me come; and now he was fucking me hard. I was primed. So primed, I’d never been this primed.
When it came, it was going to shatter me.
Lahn was leaned over me, one arm wrapped around me, fingers tugging not very gently but ever so effectively on my nipple, his other hand was wrapped around my jaw, holding my head back much like the first time he fucked me in a way I liked… but better.
So much fucking better.
His hands released me and one went into my back, shoving me down.
“Atoo luh nahna Dax, kah Dahksahna, uvoo zan nahna xaxsah,” he grunted through his thrusts, Bow to your king, my queen, give him your cunt.
I did as ordered, arching my chest into the bed, pressing my cheek to the mattress, my arms straight in front of me, I reared my ass back to meet his drives.
His big hands spanned my ribs and he yanked me back hard even with my violent jerks.
“See lapay tee, kah rahna Dahksahna,” he growled, “uvoo kay nahna rahna xaxsah.” That’s it, my golden queen, give me your golden cunt.
“Yes, my king,” I breathed, coming closer, “kah rahna xaxsah lapay nahna.” My golden cunt is yours.
“Kahna,” he growled, mine.
“Nahna,” I gasped, yours.
“Jak kahna,” he grunted, pounding deep, all mine, and I lost it, my head shooting back, my hair flying, my hands clenching the hides and my hips slamming back into his, it overwhelmed me, making me cry out in ecstasy, no joke, ecstasy as I went into a mini-orgasm trance as the sheer force of it swept through me. But I still didn’t miss my king’s powerful shout of release as he buried his cock deep, yanking me to him one last time, his hands tightening fierce on my ribs.
I was nowhere near recovery when he jerked my body up roughly like he had what I liked to consider our (real) first time so I was virtually suspended, impaled on his cock. His hands moved from my ribs to cover my breasts and his breathing in my ear was still labored when he spoke, his voice thick and hoarse.
“Kahna,” he grunted, squeezing my breasts.
“Nahna,” I agreed, turning my head and pressing my forehead in his neck.
One of his arms circled to hold me around my midriff as his hand cupped our connected sexes.
“Kahna,” he grunted again, tweaking my clit, my hips jerked and I whimpered before whispering, “Nahna.”
Then his hand slid up my body, up my throat and he forced his thumb between my lips. I accepted it readily and instantly sucked it deeper. This time his hips jerked and I heard his growl emanating low from his throat.
“Kahna,” he grunted yet again, my tongue swirled his thumb, he slid it out and it glided along my lower lip as I whispered, “Nahna.”
“Uvoo nahna lisa luh kay,” Give your mouth to me.
I tipped my head back and he took my mouth until I moaned down his throat.
He broke his mouth from mine but I opened my eyes and his captured them as his hand went to my belly and he reverted to English.
“Tonight, I planted my seed in your womb, my Circe. Tonight, we made a warrior. Tonight, your gold and my paint mixed and we created the greatest warrior this world will ever see.”
Okay, um… that scared the freaking shit out of me. I was steadfastly ignoring the fact that I was having unprotected sex, repeatedly, with a very virile man whose “seed” was probably as virile as he was. I was handling it in an, “I’ll deal with it if it happens” kind of way (the “if” in that sentence as the days went by truthfully being more like a “when”). In other words, I was ignoring it and stupidly hoping that what would be was meant to be.
But, honestly, even if threatened with death, I couldn’t kill the mood.
“That’s impossible, my Lahn,” I whispered, lifting a hand to curl it around his neck, “the greatest warrior this world will ever see already walks this earth and right now he’s inside me.”
I watched his eyes blaze, exposing the golden spirit within before he growled and took my mouth again, plundering it until I was whimpering then he broke free.
When he did, my hand not at his neck slid between my legs, going deep until I was cupping him.
“Kahna,” I whispered and watched his golden spirit glow brighter.
“Nahna,” he whispered back.
Yes, mine.
My fingers at his neck squeezed and I repeated, “Kahna.”
Without hesitation, he agreed, “Nahna.”
I stared into his heated, gleaming eyes and said softly, “Kah Dax, kah tunakan, kah Lahn.” My king, my warrior, my Lahn.
His lips came to mine and he whispered, “Meena, my Circe, jak nahna.” Yes, my Circe, all yours.
My lips curved into a smile seconds before his tongue slid between them, the tip of mine met his for a sweet touch before he broke that connection, pulled me off of his cock, turned me and planted me on my back in the bed. He pulled my legs apart, came down on top of me then yanked them around him as I circled his broad shoulders with my arms. Then his hand roamed my body, all the skin he could touch that wasn’t being touched by his body as his other arm rested in the bed taking on the bulk of his weight.
All the time he did this, his beautiful, dark, painted-black eyes stayed locked to mine.
Eventually, my limbs gave him a squeeze and I whispered, “I like our paint, honey, but I don’t like Dortak on me. Can we take a bath?”
He dipped his head and touched his mouth to mine as his hand came up and curled at the side of my neck.
Then he spoke softly and I knew he meant what he had to say because he didn’t bother with English, he used Korwahk, “I understand this is not of your world, my Circe, but he shares our bed tonight.”
Oh no, I didn’t like the sound of that, like, at all.
Lahn kept talking. “His body has been burned on the pyre, his head has become a toy or trophy, the Korwahk celebrated his death with cheers and chants, drink and dancing. And he knew humiliation, beaten, disarmed and immobilized before his defeat, cut down by his own steel. But I am not done with him. His blood shares our bed as I take you with my mouth, with my cock, with my fingers, your mouth sucks me deep and I make you beg and gasp and cry out. And he shares it as you sleep underneath me, my seed leaking from between your legs. Tomorrow, I will bathe him away from you, tonight, if there is any part of his spirit left in this realm, he will know the beauty we share in our cham and, since he threatened to defile my queen, this is my way to shove it up his ass.”
All right, I could get where he was coming from, I knew my man was pissed after what Dortak said. But now that the pas
sion was spent and the cuddling had begun, I wasn’t all fired up to sleep with some guy’s blood on me.
And I started to tell Lahn this. “Lahn –”
He shook his head and his thumb moved to my lips. “No, Circe. This will be. Your king commands it.”
When he slid his thumb from my lips, I whispered, “But, baby, it’s gross.”
He blinked. “Gross?”
I nodded. “Gross. Icky. Yuck. Blech. Nasty. Gross.”
He grinned. Then he reminded me, “You didn’t think it was… gross… when you gave me nahna xaxsah while carrying his blood and my paint.”
“But –”
“Or when you begged for my cock harder.”
“But, La –”
“Or when you pushed your hips into my cock so violent –”
My arm moved from around his shoulders and my fingers covered his mouth. “Okay, okay, I get it. You’re right. And this means something to you so all right…” I moved my hand from his mouth, sighed and gave in. “I’ll sleep with icky blood on me.”
I caught his grin before his face disappeared in my neck where he murmured. “Shahsha, kah rahna Dahksahna.”
“Nahrahka,” I muttered, sliding my hand down his neck to the back and then down between his shoulder blades, thinking, jeez, the things I do for my king.
“Kah teenkah tunakanahsa was very brave today,” he said in my ear and lifted his head, his thumb moving to sweep my cheekbone. “I know that took effort, Circe, to watch that. I was very proud of you.”
I felt my pique fade away as his sweetness invaded.
“Thanks, honey,” I whispered.
His eyes moved over my face and he whispered back, “I could not dream a better you.”
Oh my God.
Oh… my… God.
Did he just say that?
I stared into his warm eyes.
He just said that.
And that was so sweet, so unexpected but so welcome, my breath arrested and all I could do was continue staring at him.
He wasn’t done. “A better wife, a better queen. Not even in a dream could I create better than you.”
“Stop it,” I whispered because I couldn’t take anymore and I couldn’t take anymore because the happiness blooming inside me threatened to overwhelm me.
He lips tipped up slightly but his eyes warmed even more. “Okay, kah Lahnahsahna, I will stop it.”
I sucked in breath through my nose to control the tingling there and then I lifted my head and shoved my face in his neck, holding on tight with all my limbs.
Lahn spoke in my ear. “My queen, do not get drowsy. I am not done fucking you.”
Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have taught him the f-word. Sure, when I explained it to him, he laughed loud then he picked me up, threw me on the bed and acted out its meaning.
But his saying it was hot, too hot.
My head dropped back on the bed and I stared up at him in disbelief.
“You’re not?”
“No. Not close.”
I felt my eyebrows shoot up. “Not close?”
“No.”
“Wow,” I whispered. “Maybe you are a god.”
He burst out laughing and he did this a long time, his massive body shaking with it, moving mine as it did in a way that I didn’t like, I loved.
Then, still chuckling, he dropped his forehead to mine and whispered, “Kay lapay el Pahnsahnak, kah Pahnsahnalla.” I am a god, my goddess. “And I will prove it to you.”
Then his mouth took mine and he proved it to me.
Boy, did he ever prove it to me.
I thought my man kicked ass on a field of battle, and he did, I was in awe.
But I was more in awe at what he could do in our cham.
Much, much more.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Decision
A month later…
“Circe, oh, Circe, I couldn’t,” Diandra breathed as she stared at the heavy gold bracelet inlaid profusely with garnet and amethyst that she’d been examining with obvious yearning but, being so weighty with gold and gems, likely could not afford – a bracelet that I’d just cuffed on her wrist.
“You can, my friend, and you will,” I whispered and her head tipped back from her study of her new bracelet, I saw wet shimmering from her eyes and I finished, still whispering, “As you promised me, you stood by my side and I know, my sweet friend, I know,” I shook her wrist once for added emphasis, “that there were times it wasn’t easy. But I want you to know there will be times when being at my side will provide you with the bounty you deserve because you are kind, you are patient and you are generous. I want you to have this gift, from Lahn and me, as a token of our gratitude for all you have given us.”
I watched one tear slide down her cheek as her hand not captured by mine lifted to cup my cheek.
“You made every minute, even the difficult ones, a pleasure, my true, golden queen,” she whispered back, I felt the tears fill my own eyes and I smiled at her.
Then, to lighten the mood before I burst into unqueenly tears, I joked, “Even now, you’re being generous. I know I can be a pain in the ass.”
She stared at me a second, probably not knowing what a “pain in the ass” was but definitely understanding it. Then she burst out laughing, pulled her wrist from my grip and yanked me into her arms for a tight hug.
I gave it back as good as I got.
When we pulled away, I grabbed her hand for one last squeeze, smiling into her shining eyes. Then I let her go and smiled at Teetru.
“Give the man some coin, sweetheart,” I said in Korwahk, Teetru jerked like she’d been pulled from a trance even though her eyes were on Diandra and me. She nodded and jumped toward the merchant, opening the drawstring leather pouch she carried that was filled with Lahn’s coin.
I grabbed Diandra’s elbow and turned her away from the stall, looking back and smiling at my entourage.
The night before a large travelling band of merchants had approached and through the night set up on the outskirts of the Daxshee. This morning, the people of the Daxshee fell on it like it was the day after Christmas sales.
So, of course, I gathered my girl posse of Diandra, Narinda, Sheena, Nahka, Oahsee, Claudine, Sabine, Anastasie, and Nahka’s two BFFs who had been adopted by the troop, Char and Vuntus and away we went… shopping.
Being queen, and followed by Bain who carried weapons, was huge and muscular and barked orders, I or my girls got to go to the front of any stall that caught our fancy.
It was awesome, I was having a great time, the vibe in the air was excited and I was happy. I was happy because I was with my friends. I was happy because I was shopping, something I loved to do. And I was happy because they were happy, giggling, talking and buying.
But mostly I was happy because Lahn would be home tomorrow.
* * * * *
Needless to say, I made my decision.
Magic or not. I had the power in me or not. Savage nation or not.
I was staying.
This was because, here, I was queen.
This was because, here, I had awesome clothes.
This was because, here, I held beautiful magic.
This was because, here, I had great friends whose friendships had been tested beyond anything I could ever imagine and held strong and true.
And this was because, here, I was in love.
Perhaps not with the man of my dreams, but with a man that was more man than any I’d ever encountered. He was savage, no doubt about it. But, to me, he was unbelievably sweet.
And he thought I was a woman beyond his dreams.
And that worked for me.
* * * * *
I pretty much knew I had been denying the pull of the crazy, Korwahk world for awhile.
And I had been denying, too, the strange connection that held strong as steel between Lahn and me throughout the weeks we’d been together, the dramas and the heartbreaks.
But after he defeated Dortak and c
elebrated with me, I knew.
I knew I was in love.
What would happen the next day would only prove it irrefutably.
* * * * *
He had woken me with a gentle, “Wake, my Circe,” whispered in my ear.
When my eyes fluttered open and my head turned to take him in, I saw something on his face I’d seen once before – when he was looking at me after I sang to Mahyah.
God, that look was beautiful.
“What?” I whispered back.
“You will see,” he replied quietly then bent, I heard water splashing and he came back to me with a wet cloth. “We will bathe properly later. But you must see now and Dortak does not share this with us.”
Then he set about tenderly washing the blood from my skin and I saw that he’d already done it to himself.
I came up on my elbows and started, “Lahn –”
His eyes went from my chest to mine. “Quiet, my golden doe.”
His strange tone and that gorgeous look on his face which hadn’t faded made me quiet. He didn’t wash off all the paint but he made certain to wash off all the blood. Then he dropped the cloth in a bucket by the bed, scooped me up and put me on my feet. He walked to grab my robe from where it was hanging on the back of a chair. He was already in hides. He held it out for me; I slipped my arms through and tied it around my waist.
Then he took my hand and guided me to and through the cham flaps.
I saw it was just dawn; the Daxshee was still, most were asleep.
With his hand in mine, he took me around the cham to the back where the creek flowed passed.
But I saw it before I got there and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
All along the banks of the creek was a riot of flowers like the one I’d put on Mahyah’s pyre. They had been there before but not nearly as many and most of those had been cut by the Korwahk to give to Mahyah. Now, those cut blooms had been replaced, overnight, and their number had more than tripled.