The Lord of the Clans Read online

  Out of the blue, a recollection flashed in her mind. The brothel. The purple boudoir. The tall stranger handing him a big purse. Why would anyone give him such a huge amount of money unless he had accepted to side with one of the kings? But which one? Why would he lie about it?

  Before pointing the finger at him, she’d better put the matter to rest until further developments allowed her to grasp the big picture. She didn’t want to believe he was untrue to his principles or a traitor to his people, despite the ambiguous scene she had witnessed at the house of pleasure. She dropped her gaze, finished the stew and wiped the corner of her mouth.

  “It sounds to me like you stand alone in the middle of a complex quagmire. Surely, there must be someone you’d be willing to trust?”

  “There is.”

  “Who is it?”

  Only when the flat of her hand hit the blanket did she realise she was leaning toward him. Who could have earned his respect? Holding her breath, she shifted her legs as he fiddled with the tip of his knife.

  “The leader of the resistance.”

  She emptied her lungs in a single whoosh. As famous as the Lord of the Clans, the man’s reputation preceded him everywhere he went. The staunch defender of peace. He had enrolled hundreds of men to form the resistance and fight alongside Palance and Moonstill. If the rumours about him were true, he was also said to be on friendly terms with the Amazons.

  Besides her lord, the leader of the resistance was the only man she had dreamt of meeting some day. So many tales circulated of his bravery and prowess. Even her healer friends gossiped about his handsomeness.

  “What does he look like?”

  “I don’t know, I’ve never met him. But why the sudden interest, I wonder. Have you, by any chance, heard of his good looks?”

  Darkness might conceal the sudden heat rising up her cheeks, but the fire didn’t. Averting her eyes, she studied a brownish design on the blanket. The simple pattern seemed to dance around the glow from the flames, and she observed it with attention until he chuckled.

  “You’re blushing again. Is it because I mentioned the leader of the resistance’s irresistible charms? By the Creators, you can be so demure sometimes. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you look like a virgin whose most precious dream is to be touched by a man for the very first time.”

  Now was the perfect time to get to the bottom of why he'd acted like a pig-headed lummox since their mating. He served her the opportunity on a silver platter. All she had to do was take it. Discounting the monotonous pattern sewn on the blanket, she raised her gaze.

  “But you know better.”

  He pushed his bowl aside. Quick as a mountain lion, he was up on his feet, and feeding branches to the fire before she registered the empty spot in front of her. He’d dodge the issue again and pretend she had imagined the horny man pushing his cock between her buttocks, the almighty ruler who wanted her so much that he had quivered inside her.

  She couldn’t spend days like this. She didn’t possess the mental capacities to tiptoe around him and his unfathomable ego for the Creators knew how long. If he insisted on shutting himself off from her, she certainly wouldn’t make the same mistake. Not after watching the life seep out of him. Not after believing him dead. For better or worse, her world had changed then.

  Tightening the lapels of the cloak over her front, she got to her feet. Orange and red hues played across the side of his face as he cut a piece of wood in half. She didn’t move, didn’t try to catch his attention. Just stood there while slowly taking in the longest breath.

  “My promised is waiting for me at home. His name is Kelton. I gave him my pledge last winter, and we are to be married when I come back from Frahern. I’m sorry if you mistook my apparent reservations for shyness. Although I admit modesty runs strong in me, that isn’t what impedes my actions.”

  He threw a chunk of wood into the fire. As he appeared intent on studying the higher flames, she carried on.

  “I know my shaman doesn’t like the idea of me marrying Kelton, but I’ve chosen to disregard his opinion. My promised has always been kind to me as well as respectful of my trade. I intend to honour him, love him, and bear his children with pride. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  His silence magnified the dark night weighing down on their shoulders. The blaze cast a twining radiance over his muscular chest. Caught in the midst of its reflection, he looked like a golden titan. She blinked at the sight of such virile beauty but didn’t lose her resolve.

  “I’m not a deceitful person, or a betrayer. I mated with you because I couldn’t control myself. I’ve never been attracted to any man like I am to you and the feeling is so powerful that it frightens the nether out of me.”

  At last, he turned his head toward her. Brilliant, intense, and infused with silver streaks, his gaze lanced her heart.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I didn’t ask for the story of your life.”

  “Yet I’m giving it to you.”

  She took a step toward the fire, toward him. An abrupt wave of heat prickled her skin and stirred her courage. Chin up, respiration steady, she let her soul speak, say the real words she wished him to hear.

  “I desire you so much that I believe I might lose my reason. My body yearns for yours, and I crumble every single time you touch me. I’ve tried to be stronger but the memory of you inside me burns me. No man has ever made me feel the way you did. Whether you believe me or not, I just want you to know I will cherish that unforgettable moment for the rest of my life.”

  Unable to keep on looking him in the face, she turned tail to walk to the tent. Her insides knotted as though the unbearable silence between them lasted for hours. She wanted nothing more than to run into his arms, to be cuddled, to be loved. She lifted the flap of the tent instead.

  “Ariana.”

  “Yes?”

  Coiled around the thick fabric, her fingers quivered. She blew out constricted air. She bit the inside of her cheek, and stared at the tent while his steady voice seemed to caress the back of her head.

  “I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through, but I was under the impression that our night together proved to be a disappointment to you.”

  She turned round as though her body moved without her consent. Brow gathered, nerves holding by the last thread, she breathed more freely when she discovered the genuine look he offered her.

  “Why in ether’s spirits would you think that?”

  “Because I know when I please a woman.”

  She shook her head, unable to conceive why he assumed he hadn’t satisfied her. The feel of him still hot and so real in her mind made her speechless. Even when he left the fire to come up to her. Even when his gaze devoured her face as he traced the contour of her bottom lip with his thumb.

  “You gave me unbelievable pleasure that night, but I...”

  His voice dwindled to less than a murmur and she didn’t catch the end. Whatever he couldn’t tell her, she’d keep him on track. Because he towered over her like a giant protecting a treasure. Because his thumb on her lip ignited delicious sparks in her belly.

  “So did you.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  Well, he wasn’t in her head. He had no way to realise he'd just given her the orgasm. Then her thoughts went up in smoke when he wrapped his strong arms around her. As if she weighed no more than a cloud drifting in the skies, he carried her to the blanket and laid her down with care.

  “But I will now.”

  Her heart stuttered like a broken piece of machinery. Her long-winded speech retreated to the back of her mind. Had she really lectured the Lord of the Clans about her being faithful to her promised? If so, she couldn’t remember a single word, and Kelton’s features withered away.

  Utterly conscious of Cameron's burning gaze above her, she shuddered. The urge to touch the long scar across his cheek forced her to clench her buttocks, yet she didn’t dare lift a finger up to his face, twisted with lust. Overwhelmed by an i
rresistible bout of shyness, she remained still under his massive shadow.

  All she perceived was him. Animal fascination pinned her to the blanket. Raw magnetism bound her to the powerful man who could precipitate her into daunting, virgin abysses, and would.

  He brushed a lock of hair off her brow. So gentle, the caress robbed her of breath. So soft, the simple gesture dissolved her into a quivering body. His eyes shone silver gray. He passed a light finger along the bridge of her nose, across her parted lips, down to the line of her jaw.

  “Do you desire me, flower?”

  For the life of her, she couldn’t respond to his demand. Nothing made sense but the heat flaring up her loins, the wayward pounding of her heart, the hungry calling between her thighs.

  He brought her arms up to remove her shirt. Her skin prickled, petted by both the night breeze and the hot fire. He bent over her and she saw the dark sky glittering with a myriad of brilliant stars.

  When he kissed her nipple, a shooting star blinded her. She moaned instantly, arms stiffening along her sides, butt digging into the rich soil under the blanket. She looked at the moon, the silver celestial body witnessing her downward spiral into unrestrained sexual cravings.

  Her nipples hardened. They turned to stone as he trapped her erect bud between his lips and squeezed. She clenched her hands, the soft pressure wrenching a long sigh out of her. The tips of his hair brushed her cleavage, fair streaks mirroring the glow of the moon.

  Then she felt his tongue lapping her taut flesh, and the infinite sky seemed to drop down on her. Her wet pussy grazed against her pants as if it wanted out of the constricting fabric. Out in the open, and within reach of the man’s ministrations. Eager to swallow the nearby cock.

  Streams of pleasure descended on her when he sucked her nipple into his mouth before flicking it back and forth. She let out a harsh moan, instantly crushed under the relentlessness of his strokes.

  Her cry of enjoyment spurring him on, he swirled his tongue around the pink flesh that had become her centre. He licked it. He suckled it long and hard until she spread her legs. He caught the movement, and released her briefly to speak in a husky voice.

  “If you don’t want me, I’ll stop.”

  The shining stars twinkled above her. Fuelling her inner torment, the fire seemed to crackle and blaze for her. He kissed the small hollow between her breasts, glided his mouth along the upward curve of her expecting mound. All coherent thoughts took off as she gasped for air.

  “Touch me, Cameron. Please.”

  He seized her shoulder with firm fingers, locked it in the palm of his hand. She wanted his mouth on her, needed his lips to fondle her aching nipple. When he did, she shut her eyes. She closed her mind to the world. Riveted to the swamping sensation he elicited, she surrendered.

  He dandled her bud until her whole body tensed with anticipation, and a single consideration ricocheted in her brain: his manhood. She longed to shiver at the sight of it, at the feel of it breaching her wet slit. Unable to wait any longer, she fastened her hands around his sides.

  “I want you now.”

  He stiffened at her words. She winced when he released her nipple. Her eyelids flew open and she saw he was already up, removing his pants. His yearning face spoke of unbridled passion while he stared at her. She held back a gasp as his erection sprang up in the moonlight.

  The impressions lingering in her mind from the first time at the tavern didn’t quite match reality. His rigid member looked bigger, consistent with this giant of a man, maybe too big for her. How had she ever been able to take it inside her?

  She couldn’t help but gawk at his disclosed hard-on as he knelt beside her to pull off her pants. When he covered her body with his and looked into her eyes, she felt compelled to tell him.

  “I don’t think I can. You’re too big.”

  The corners of his lips tipped upward, yet she wasn’t sure if her sudden alarm called forth amusement or pride.

  “Don’t worry, flower. Let me take care of that.”

  Still, her stomach cramped as soon as she felt his tip brush against her opening. Focusing on the chiselled lines of his face above hers, she plunged her gaze into his. Relying on him. Trusting him.

  She hissed when he slowly pressed his cock between her folds. Buttocks clenched with apprehension, she also understood why he had found her too narrow before, and told her as much. She tensed, but he kissed her brow and lowered his mouth toward her ear.

  “I won’t hurt you.”

  As though his promise held an eternity of patience, she breathed more evenly to loosen her quivering limbs. He pushed himself in a little and her pussy expanded, hungry for the thick shaft requesting entrance, avid to suck up the hard flesh coming at it. Coming and demanding.

  Instincts taking over, she trembled and watched the blatant desire enhancing his gorgeous features. Yet she had to close her eyes again when an overwhelming sensation gripped her guts as he slid his cock all the way in. The pleasure she’d experienced in his arms the first time rushed back intact. Ardent. Even stronger. His body deliciously weighing on her, she sighed as he cupped her face.

  “Does it feel good?”

  “Yes. Dear Creators, oh, yes.”

  He moved inside her. Not much, but enough to spur her to wrap her legs around his waist. Ankles locked, she relished the feel of him buried inside her, the weight of his chest on her breasts. Then he withdrew without hurry, and the beat of her pulse fluttered against her temples.

  Night shadows enveloped them while the fire continued to cast auburn shapes over their bare bodies. He entered her for the second time and she forgot everything that wasn’t him. Her belly vibrated, shooting wave after wave of heat between her thighs. Utterly stuffed with his large erection, she laced her legs tighter around his waist and opened herself up to his careful thrusts.

  He reacted to her instinctive bidding by moving into her a little quicker. His acceleration brought forth whimpers she had no control over. Although she heard her moans, they appeared to come from a distance because her life now consisted solely of the flaming dick weaving its way into her. And leaving her. And penetrating her again.

  She gripped the blanket with both hands. She tugged at the woven cloth, then pulled hard on the edges. The fabric resisted her frantic motions, but her heart skipped about. Her ribcage seemed too small to contain its wild jumps. She clenched her fingers, and a ripping sound ensued.

  Yet she clung to the blanket, submerged by the flowing delight she drew from the repeated strikes of his cock. Unintelligible talk flew out of her mouth. Gibberish without meaning, small cries kicking to be let out.

  She gulped air when he lifted his muscular chest off her to plant his elbows into the earth. Forearms resting on each side of her head, he dropped his face in the crook of her neck and uttered a harsh groan.

  “Damn, I don’t believe this! Not again.”

  Dragged from the depths of her pleasure, she gently tilted her head to brush her nose against his cheek.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  She felt him shudder. Suddenly aware of the massive body against her, she sensed his restraint, perceived a gradual decrease in his movements, but her pussy wouldn’t let go of the hard cock buried inside.

  “This has never happened to me before. You’re so tight, Ariana, that my thirst for you bests me.”

  Clueless as to what he was talking about, she nonetheless heard the ache in his voice. Was he hurt?

  She loosened her hold on him when he pulled out his pulsating, rigid erection. Her legs tumbled down on the torn blanket. Fearful to breathe, she glanced at him. His gaze shone bright, although his contorted features showed his predicament.

  “Lie still, flower. I’m going to make this right.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  He shifted his body. All of a sudden she felt weightless, light enough to soar toward the moon. He kissed her cleavage, then traced a fiery line down to her belly. Blood racing in her veins, she tried to q
uell the tremors coursing through her as she realised he was about to touch her down there.

  She hadn’t let anybody do that to her because only married people were allowed to perform this act. She should halt him now, before they committed a sin, but he nuzzled her bush and all her nerve endings vibrated.

  Sin or not, the time to dwell on her choices was long past, along with the notion of resisting the passion they seemed to bring into being. Back glued to the blanket, she stretched her legs for him.

  He must have settled in front of her opening, but she didn’t hear it. He must have taken hold of her splayed thighs, but she didn’t feel it. She had expected the firm touch of his fingers, but they never touched her. Yet she shook from the unknown emotion taking her breath away.

  Like an upside down waterfall spindling her insides, flooding them. She couldn’t tell if he kissed her pussy, glided his mouth along her folds, or maybe licked her. Her mind didn’t belong to her anymore but to the inflammation swelling between her thighs. Life began and ended there.

  He licked and suckled her flesh. The paralysing pleasure rooted her to the ground, shoulder bones grinding leaves, back exuding sweat, buttocks compelled to rise to the mouth consuming her.

  Back at the tavern, she had thought that the delightful sensations he ignited in her summed up the act of mating. Maybe they did, but she wasn’t so sure now. Because his lips on her brought forth a new upsurge of pleasure, a cascading deluge wanting to engulf her in its maw.

  An abrupt pressure made her gasp. And whimper. And wail. His fingers tightened around her thighs as he inserted his tongue into her pussy to lap her up from inside. She kicked, but he maintained his strong hold on her and sucked. She dug her heels into the soil. He darted in and out of her.

  Every flick of his tongue wrenched little cries out of her. He lingered on a particularly sensitive spot, and the stars overhead swam before her eyes. As if suffering from a never ending fever, her belly crumbled under an imperious sensation rising from her loins.