Tip of the Spear (11 page)

Hinto
let go of her nipple and looked up. He met her gaze, his eyes darker, like the
sky before a storm. “Want me to stop the hurt, honey?” he asked in a guttural
voice that stoked her heat higher.

“Yes,
please,” she whispered, anything to get her body back to its normal calm.

He
scooted down her body.

She
stopped him by grabbing the collar of his shirt. He couldn’t leave her now,
could he? “What are you doing?”

His
gaze moved from her face to her breasts and lingered. “I’m going to put out the
fire. It’s between your legs, right, Thais?” he asked and lowered his mouth to
her crotch. To her astonishment, he kissed her right through her jeans over the
spasming bud.

“Yes,
yes. There.”

“I
told you I won’t use my hands.” The rumble of his words excited her even more,
though she couldn’t have said why. Scents, sights and sounds merged, until she
could only follow his lead and hope for the best. He’d said he could help her. And
she wanted to know what more she needed that he could give her.

“I
trust you to keep your word,” she admitted, surprised to find she meant it.

“Then
take off your pants for me. And spread your legs wide.”

She
didn’t falter. He moved away while she undressed, until she lay down again, clad
only in her unbuttoned shirt.

Under
his gaze, the fire lingered. “The heat, it’s not going away.” The longer he
looked at her, the more the discomfort built.

He
shook his head. “No, it’s not, is it?” He cupped himself though his pants,
stroking his shaft that looked as hard as the nub between her legs. “Let me fix
that, since I started all this.” The satisfaction in his voice should have
warned her.

Then
he was between her thighs, and his mouth settled over her most private part.

She
cried his name, shocked, scared, and thrilled at the need building inside her.

He
sucked her into his mouth, groaning as he did so. His tongue licked along her
slit, and when it paused at the entrance to her channel, she moved under him,
wanting to be filled. But Hinto wouldn’t help her. He brought his tongue back
to her tight flesh and licked and sucked until she couldn’t think, could only
feel.

Pressure
built inside her brain, scents and sounds and touch colliding until Hinto
sucked her harder than before and scraped her with his teeth.

Thais
screamed out in astonishment as pleasure, the likes of which she’d never before
experienced, exploded throughout her body. She gripped Hinto’s head and arched
up into his mouth, not sure when she’d grabbed him in the first place. The ecstasy
consumed her, turned her world inside out, and devastated her.

Hinto
pressed kisses along her thighs as she eased her hands from his hair, confused
and alarmed to feel such intensity. She’d been right here with him, yet, she’d also
been somewhere else when he’d taken her so deeply into his mouth. Flying with
the Goddess, swimming through an expanse of time and space where bliss ruled
her every thought, her every desire.

She
slowly blinked at him when he rose to his feet and stepped away from her.

“That’s
what the joining—sex—feels like when it’s done right. That’s what I felt when
you milked my seed from me,” he said hoarsely. His gaze wandered over her body
and locked onto her wet sex. “And it’s even better when I’m filling you with
this.” He gripped himself through his trousers, and she wondered if he’d
spilled inside them again. “When I’m thrusting this inside you and stoking that
heat hotter. Then when you explode, you’ll clamp me tight. And I’ll fill you,
Thais. I’ll fill you right up.”

He
turned away without another word and disappeared into the woods behind them.

Thais
had a hard time catching her breath as she lay there. Wet and spent, she didn’t
know what to make of what had just happened.  Great Mother, but if this is what
she’d done to him, it was a wonder he hadn’t abandoned her days ago. Such a
loss of control countered by a huge euphoria she wanted to feel again, just as
soon as she could make her body stop shuddering.

She
couldn’t fathom the extremes she’d just encountered.  She had some answers to
the mysteries of sex, but the knowledge brought no relief. Only more questions.
When his tongue had pressed against her and neared her channel, when she’d
tensed in surrender to the rapture upon her, she’d felt joy and she’d felt…
empty.

Memories
of his thick shaft made her wonder how he would feel within her flesh, if even
he’d fit inside her. Her body clenched at the thought, and she cringed at the
moisture gathered there, now running down her thigh toward her bottom. This was
what she’d worried about. This jittery sensation, an uncertain craving for not
just any man, but Hinto. He’d prodded her curiosity and challenged the warrior
within her. But the woman would have to meet this new test, and Thais didn’t
want to set her free.

Then
when you explode, you’ll clamp me tight. And I’ll fill you, Thais. I’ll fill
you right up.
His words stirred her despite the danger
of his suggestion. When a man shoved deep into a woman’s body, he chanced
getting her with child.

Thais
couldn’t afford to have a child. A child distorted a warrior’s body and made
her weak. Now, when Thais should have been tracking Bartel and the Amazons
responsible for her tribe’s destruction, she lay under a bed of stars and
longed for a Territory man.

Grimacing,
she sat up and sought something to clean herself with. Instead of the focus she
needed to deal with Gregor and her own enemies, she feared she’d constantly
dwell on Hinto and the pleasure he’d bestowed.

She
recalled her mother once saying,
The consequence of temptation and the means
to do wrong are married by the evils of men.
Thais had never understood
that particular phrase, but now she had an inkling about what that “temptation”
might mean. Hinto had said it would just be a kiss. Another snake-tongue, just
like the men who’d raided her village.

Fuming
that she’d been fooled by his soft spoken words and seeming apology, she
redressed herself and found her knife among his belongings, which she tossed to
the other side of their small camp.

When
he returned, she could see tension in the set of his shoulders and the firm
line of his mouth.

“That
will not happen again,” she promised.

He
raised an eyebrow but said nothing. His expression, however, said what he did
not. He declared an open challenge, one she had no intention of losing.

Hinto
straightened his bedroll and lay down without another word. After closing his
eyes, he released a soft sigh.

Thais
waited a few moments. “If you touch my knife again, I will gut you where you lie.”
She didn’t expect a reply.

“Fair
enough. Now let me tell you something. The next time my mouth is on that sweet
little pussy of yours, I’m not gonna shoot my seed anywhere but deep inside you.
And you’ll be begging me for it, honey. I can promise you that.”

She
swore at him in her native tongue and had to hold herself back from stabbing
him when he laughed at her. Begging him for it? Oh, he’d soon see differently.  Damned
if she’d beg a man for anything. Not even her life.

She
turned her back on him and gripped her knife tight.

Sleep
refused to come.

***

Hinto
woke refreshed and in a helluva good mood. He couldn’t remember the last time
he’d had so much fun riling anyone. With just a smile he had Thais scowling at
him like a thundercloud. And his day turned brighter from there.

Hell,
he had an unfair advantage and he knew it. When he’d come of age, he’d followed
his dick into more trouble than he could handle. But his older brother Mahpee
had been there to guide him. Poor Thais had no one. He glanced at her with open
pity and chuckled when she said something mean-sounding in that language he
found so sexy. Thais had no one to help her but
him
. He couldn’t wait.

“Hungry?”
he asked in a pleasant voice and tied his hair back in a leather thong. The
wind whipped through the trees with a viciousness he didn’t want hampering his
vision. He fastened  his hat to a loop on one of his saddle bags, not wanting
to lose the thing. Third hat he’d been through in a year.

“I’m
fine.”

“You
sure are,” he added, aggravating her even more. Gentle seduction wouldn’t work
with this woman. Goading her would, and it salved the bruised ego she’d
unwittingly given him days ago.

“Let’s
focus on finding Gregor, if your feeble, male mind can handle that?”

“Sure
thing, honey.”

“My
name is
Thais
.” Her glare could have cut steel.

“Yes,
ma’am, it is. You know what? If it makes you feel better, feel free to call me sweetheart
or honey. Or master, if you like.” He winked, captivated by the fury in her
eyes.

“Master?”
She choked and spun around, mounting her horse in a hurry. “You son of a snake.”
She grumbled to herself and shot him nasty looks as they broke camp and made a
periphery of the town.

It
took them two hours to map Morrow. They arrived from the south, so Hinto knew
what to expect there. To the east sat more mountains. To the west, a mining
camp. And to the north a well worn trail, suggesting housing some distance away.

Like
he’d told Thais, Morrow consisted of a shabby but well-used bar and whorehouse,
a church, and a general store. The church saw its business through the mining
widows and wives, the bar through the miners and criminals stupid enough to
think they’d find anything of value from the idiot miners.

The
UTs avoided Morrow, mostly because they had their hands full in Four Corners’
bigger towns. But if Morrow kept growing, no doubt they’d plant a UTO smack dab
in the center of town. And then the miners would be out of luck, because no way
the UTs would sanction blast mining, not for a handful of fancy rocks and a
thin vein of sky gold—leftover minerals from the sky rocks of long ago.

 “Thais,
I need to hit the bar.” He dismounted and handed her the reins to Beast.

She
frowned. “Why are you giving me this? I’m coming in with you.”

He’d
been hoping she’d cooperate without too many questions. He should have known
better. “Honey, have you seen the shitheads in this town? Most of them would
like nothing better than to throw you down and rut until they passed out. We
can’t afford the attention.”

“In
my hat and bandana, I pass for a man.”

“No.
You don’t.” Not when she turned around and showcased that sweet ass.

A
few drunks passed by and gave them second and third looks, but Hinto couldn’t
tell if that was due to Thais or Beast, who had a time snarling at anyone
stupid enough to walk close by.

“Hinto,
I’m coming with you.”

“Why?
This isn’t a pissing contest. I want to find this guy as much as you do. I find
him for you, you kill him, and DeeDee’s free.” He watched her frown and wished
he could attribute her negativity to jealousy. But that would be too easy. “I’m
not gonna ditch you. You have Beast.”

Beast
swung his mighty head and bared his incisors.

“Besides,”
Hinto continued, “The women inside will tell me something before they open up
to you. Fancy women like to strut their stuff around a man. They’ll only see
competition when they look at you. Another woman taking away their hard-earned
gold.”

“Hard
earned?” Thais scoffed.

“Not
every whore chooses to become one. Some can’t bear young. Others refuse to
marry the men their folks choose for them. And others have nowhere else to turn
and need the nuggets,” he said quietly, thinking of DeeDee and so many others
he’d run into, forced into the life. “I’d think you of all people would be
sympathetic.”

“Why
me?” she asked, her hold on the reins tight, her knuckles white.

“Because
you didn’t seem to like being with me much, did you?”

She
opened her mouth and closed it with a snap, looking like a fish out of water. He
thought the comparison apt, especially when a woman cried out and drew their
attention. A half-naked whore hung out the window, shaking as if being pounded
from behind. Several passersby stopped in the street and stared while the woman
moaned and faked her way through an orgasm.

Thais
blushed scarlet.

“Layla
seems to like it well enough,” he remarked. At her wide-eyed stare, he nodded. “Yeah,
I know her.” Not as a client, but as a source of information. Though Thais
didn’t need to know that.

“Fine.”
She scowled. “I’ll hold onto Beast and wait for you beyond the church. But if
he tries to bite me in any way, I’ll be having vore for my next meal.”

Beast
grinned, and Hinto knew that his ride approved of the Amazon. Probably
recognized the wild call of like to like, he thought with a snort.

Thais
wasn’t done. “If you think to lie with her, think again. I’m not here for your
entertainment. I have things to do. As soon as I find Gregor, I can get the
information I need from Kitty. And you and I are done.”