Obsessed (6 page)

She gasped and her lips parted, and he couldn’t restrain himself any longer. He swooped down, taking possession of her mouth. Slowly he moved his lips over hers, then slid his tongue into the warm recesses. Liana moaned into his mouth, her tongue gently mating with his, until the kiss became frantic, their mutual need building and building.

“Sweet zjenni,” he murmured as sensations whirled through him. The taste of her, the feel of her nipples against his chest, her womanly scent mixed with the heady perfume of the jensai…it was too much.

Just as Aric broke the kiss and grasped Liana around the waist to raise her up, ready to drive his cock into her—he came to his senses.

He froze, for a moment unable to move, fearing that he would take her and damn the consequences.

Gods, no.

His people. How could he forget them? How could he betray them?

“No,” he roared and pushed her away from him, toward the center of the pool. She stumbled back in the water and stared up at him, her features etched with confusion—and hurt.

In that instant he could see the pain and humiliation in her expression. After being abandoned by her own people, after a lifetime of being scorned and maligned, she thought that he, too, was rejecting her.

She raised her chin and crossed her arms over her chest, and turned her back on him.

His heart twisted and he moved so close that there was but a hair’s breadth between them. “Zjenni,” he murmured.

“Leave.” The word sounded low and sorrowful coming from her lips, and he heard the ache in her voice as she continued, “I will bathe as you wish. Just leave me be.”

“It is not as you think.” He placed his hands on her small shoulders and his gut clenched when he felt her flinch. “Do you think I do not want you?” He pressed his throbbing erection against her buttocks and groaned. “I want you more than any woman I have ever known.”

Liana sniffed, and he feared she was crying. “Why then did you push me away?”

“I—” He paused, unsure of how much to tell her. “It is not to be.”

“Because of who I am.” Her voice was mocking. “The Tanzinite woman who was discarded by her own kind for her imperfections.”

“No, zjenni.” He grasped her shoulders and spun her around. Her eyes widened as he held her tight against him. “I watched you in Fiorn for far longer than you know. I have seen all that you are.” His eyes held hers as he tried to make her understand. “You are grace and beauty. You are kind, generous and loving. You are perfect. You are everything I have ever wanted in a mate.”

His heart ached as he realized the truth in his own words. “But I cannot have you because of who I am.”

She sighed and looked down at the water, and trailed her finger along its surface. “I do not understand, but I thank you for the kind words.”

“Liana.” He caught her chin in his hand and tilted her head up. “I speak the truth.” And with that he gave her a gentle kiss and then released her.

Aware of her gaze following him, he moved to the edge of the pool, reached for his saddlebags and retrieved the flask of cleansing gel. When he returned to Liana, he took her in his arms and carefully leaned her back so that her flaxen hair became saturated again. He stood her up and poured some of the gel onto his hand. Leaving the flask to float on top of the water, he began massaging the soap into her tresses.

He could almost swear that he felt a sigh reverberating through her wet hair as he cleansed it. The gel smelled of almonds, its scent mingling with her sweet perfume. When he finished, he leaned her back again, rinsing the soap from her hair.

Once he had again retrieved the flask and squeezed more gel into his palm, Aric began soaping Liana’s body, taking care not to rub too hard in the places where she had been scraped during their escape. He frowned at the sight of the red marks against the pale skin of her wrists. Almost without thought he lifted both wrists to his lips and kissed them, one at a time.

She moaned and tilted her head back, her breasts jutting forward. He became lost in the sensations of washing her, moving his hands to the soft white globes, enjoying the sight of his tanned skin against her pale flesh. He reveled in the feel of her soap-slick breasts against his palms. He rinsed the soap away, dripping handfuls of the crystal water over her front, noting that her nipples were so hard they all but cried out for his mouth to taste them.

He knew he was not allowed to find his release within her body, but he could pleasure her again. He moved to the edge of the pool, where the water came to his knees. Her eyes widened as he placed her on the steps so that she was a good two feet higher, almost as tall as he.

“What are you doing?” she asked, then gasped when he lowered his head and lapped at her nipple. With a groan, he captured the nub between his lips and began sucking and fondling her, moving from one breast to the other. She cried out and slid her hands into his hair, pulling his head tighter to her breasts.

“Pleasuring you, my sweet one.” He eased one hand between her thighs and thrust his finger inside her folds, then rubbed her swollen clit.

“Please,” Liana cried as his motions intensified and his mouth suckled her nipples harder. “Aric!” The sound of his name on her lips was like the most potent of wines. “I need you inside me.”

Yes—he could picture himself spreading her thighs and thrusting his cock into her hot quim. Over and over again he would fuck her, spilling his seed in her core.

“Oh, my gods,” she screamed as her orgasm took hold, her body shuddering with one aftershock after another until she collapsed against him.

His cock throbbed painfully, and he gritted his teeth as he held Liana in his arms. He would not take her. Would not betray his people. He closed his eyes, willing the sensation to lessen, but if anything, it only grew in intensity and he trembled with lust for this fair maid.

She moved out of his embrace, and then warmth slid over his cock.

His eyes flew open and he saw her on her knees before him, her mouth enveloping his thick shaft. She gazed up at him as she moved her hand along his balls and sucked his hard length.

The sight and the feel of his cock in her mouth was almost too much to bear, and he had to struggle not to come at once.

She pulled away. “Does that not please you?”

“Gods, yes,” he groaned. How could such an innocent creature know exactly how to touch him?

She smiled and took him into her velvet warmth again. Her mouth, so hot, so wet. Her hands fondling his balls and then stroking his cock in rhythm with her movements.

He was lost. He grasped her head as she eased up and down his shaft, his hands buried in her wet hair. He thrust into her mouth as he wanted to thrust into her virginity, but could not.

She took him, measure for measure, licking and sucking his cock until he came in a rush. Like a mighty bull, a bellow tore from his throat as the seed burst from his cock and into Liana’s mouth. Still she sucked him until he was dry and she had swallowed every drop.

Liana made hungry purring sounds, as though she couldn’t get enough of his cock or his seed. She didn’t let up, even after the last of his semen was spent. Her fingers continued to move, caressing him, taunting him. Heat filled Aric as she continued her sensual assault.

Like lava within Mount Taka, Aric’s lust rose and rose. He filled her mouth again, wanting naught more than to plumb her tightness. His orgasm erupted through him like the fiery volcano and he spewed his seed into Liana’s enchanting mouth.

And then, by gods, he hardened again.

* * * * *

The morning sun had eased high overhead, and Liana snuggled against Aric as they lay sated beside the Bewitching Pool. It had been hours since breakfast, and her stomach growled its demand for food. She could hardly believe that only last night this man had kidnapped her from the village, and now she was lying in his arms.

Aric snored softly while her head rested upon his chest, her leg straddling his waist, his cock hard against her thigh. A keen sense of pleasure flowed through her, knowing that he still wanted her even after she had brought him to orgasm and swallowed his salty-sweet seed three times. One right after the other.

She had heard that a man could come once and then it would be hours before he could climax again. Yet this man was different.

Liana did not understand why he refused to enter her, but for now she would not let that dim her enjoyment of this man.

The feelings stirring within her were overwhelming, yet intoxicating.

She had known him for such a short time, but it felt as though he had been in her heart forever. His presence drew at her woman’s core and she wanted him in a primal way. But she reveled in the times he had smiled, in the moments he had shown such caring and concern for her.

Her tresses had dried, and they caressed Aric’s chest and her own nipples. She sighed at the feel of him, amplified by the heightened senses of her hair.

Now that it was clean, her hair absorbed Elvin magic from the Bewitching Pool. With her increased awareness, Liana fully understood what she must do next, even though Aric had not spoken of it.

She lightly stroked his hair from his brow, and discovered that a raven’s black feather had landed in the soft strands. After setting the feather aside, Liana eased away from Aric, careful not to disturb his sleep. Somehow the magic of the place had allowed his warrior’s senses to relax—he was resting as peaceful as a babe.

A breeze caressed Liana’s naked skin as she walked down the ancient and crumbling steps, into the pool. Her hair danced and sang on the light wind, absorbing energy from all of nature. Energy that was needed for the constant renewal of Liana’s lifeforce.

All was silent in the forest, as though waiting. The only sound was the gentle sloshing against her thighs as she walked deeper and deeper into the pool, until the water teased her breasts.

Crisp air filled her lungs, and the rich perfume of the jensai. Liana allowed her essence to seep into the Bewitching Pool, opening herself to whatever message the waters had to offer. An eerie emerald green began to glow from the normally crystal blue pool, as though light shone up from its depths. Liana closed her eyes, releasing her essence to merge with Elvin magic.

Complete blackness filled her senses, and then a vision began to form.

An image that nearly shocked Liana out of her trance.

In a room filled with gold velvet cushions, Tierra reclined on a chair—completely naked. Her head was thrown back, her red tresses almost reaching the floor. Her breasts jutted forward, her nipples large and hard with arousal. Tierra’s long legs were splayed wide, her hands buried in the dark hair of the person between her thighs.

And then Liana realized that it was a woman who pleasured Tierra.

A woman?

Despite her surprise, Liana felt a tingle between her own thighs while she watched Tierra, who moaned as the woman pleasured her. And then it was as though Liana could feel the sensations building within her, as though she was being licked and sucked, just as Aric had tasted her after they had first arrived in the clearing.

As she would like for him to taste her again.

She watched Tierra move her hands from the woman’s hair to cup her own breasts, pulling and twisting at her nipples. Moments later, Tierra cried out, her body shuddering with the power of her orgasm.

And to her incredible surprise, Liana came in sync with Tierra.

Liana barely had time to recover from the orgasm, or to accustom herself to the idea of her friend enjoying sex with a woman, when Tierra’s image faded.

A new vision replaced the erotic one of Tierra and the dark haired woman.

Liana was on the rainbow sands beside the Mairi Sea. The familiar scent of the ocean filled her senses as she saw a man crouched on the shore, looking as though he was searching for signs of something—or someone.

Jalen.
The man’s name was a whisper in her mind. Somehow this man was connected to Aric, and his future was intertwined with hers…and another person whom Liana could not yet see. But it was someone close to her. Ranelle, or perhaps Tierra?

Jalen was a sapphire-eyed, muscle-bound god of a man, and when he stood, Liana realized that he was as tall as Aric. As he wiped sand from his palm onto his breeches, the man’s biceps bulged from a sleeveless tunic, and hair the color of sunbeams flowed past his shoulders. He had a glittering symbol on his forehead, and as he brushed an errant strand of hair behind his ear, she saw that the ear was pointed. He was not fair enough to be Tanzinite, and he had no wings—could he be Elvin?

Liana watched as Jalen began to jog along the beach, a warrior’s bow strapped to his back, his movements as fluid and effortless as a massive cat. His powerful thighs flexed beneath his tight breeches, his sapphire gaze searching the horizon. What—or whom—did he seek?

Liana caught a flash of white, and then saw a wolf loping behind Jalen—the one Aric had called Toen.

Jalen’s image dissolved, and in the next moment Liana’s vision took her to the edge of a precipice.

At first she saw naught but miles of green forest below, and in the distance the peak of Mount Taka, a wisp of smoke spiraling from its cavernous mouth. Her heart pounded as she caught sight of a great winged creature. Could it be one of the irani, searching for her?

It came closer, and closer yet, until she realized it was a giant nordai.

Before her very eyes, the raven transformed, shifting into the form of a man and landing at the top of the cliff with masculine grace. He was an enormous man with a feral look in his silvery eyes and a scar across one cheek.

Chills overtook Liana and her stomach clenched as she feared the man might be Zanden. Her visions of the Sorcerer had always been from a distance, thus she had never seen him close enough to clearly discern his features. She only knew that he was powerfully built with long black hair.

And an even blacker soul.

She had to know who this man in her vision was. With all her strength she concentrated, searching for his identity…

Renn. His name was Renn. Relief flowed through Liana, but then she realized this predator of a man could still be one of Zanden’s minions.