Authors: Jenna McCormick
Sage
turned again and stared into the flames as though they held the answers she
sought. She’d been naked and unconscious. Totally at his mercy and yet he’d
just held her, kept her warm and safe. Maybe she really could trust him.
She
heard a bark and scrambled for her thermals. Even if they were still damp, she
would rather wear them than sit around naked under his heated gaze. She’s just
pulled up the zipper when Lily rushed into the cave, little claws clicking on
the stone floor. Berrick was right behind her, a pack slung over one arm.
“Hey
baby,” she cooed to her dog. Her eyes filled with tears at the sight of Lily’s
wriggling little form. She scooped her up and buried her face into the wiry
fur, letting it hide her tears. If Berrick really was psychic, he knew she was
crying, but was gentleman enough not to say anything about it.
He
did scowl at her clothes though. “You’re shivering.”
“I’ll
be fine,” she pushed the words out through chattering teeth and plucked at the
clammy fabric to keep it from molding to her breasts.
“Stubborn
woman,” he dropped the pack on the floor and retrieved one of the blankets.
“Put this on if you feel the need to cover yourself. Though you don’t have to
on my account. I’ve seen all of you there is to see.”
She
blushed, turning away from him with the blanket clutched in one hand. Her body
wasn’t impressive by any standards, other than her height, which was just
freaky. Too tall, too plump and currently battered and bruised from their
ordeal. But Berrick looked at her as though she was a fine treasure worthy of
study.
She
studied him, where he crouched by the fire, opening a can of some sort. “I owe
you a thank you.”
“What
for?” He didn’t look up from his task.
She’d
lost count of the reasons for her gratitude. “For everything. You’ve been
decent to me since we first met, even when I’ve been a less than ideal
companion. Most men wouldn’t have bothered to come after me when I took off
like that.”
He
did look up then. “I’m not most men.”
She
was well aware of that fact. Not just his physical differences, he was bigger
than any man she’d ever seen, large enough to make her feel small in comparison.
Nor was it his other side, the beast that had fought off…
“Hey,
what was that thing that attacked us earlier? I’ve never seen or heard of
anything like it before.”
Berrick
poured the contents of the can into a pot and set it on the stones that encircled
the fire. “I don’t know. Most of the larger predators died out when the Earth
stopped spinning. The food chain above ground all but collapsed. No sun for
half the year and nothing but sun for the other half makes growing things all
but impossible, as you well know.”
She
did. Sage had devoted most of her waking hours to her garden. She didn’t ask
how he knew that, his mind reading ability was unnerving but oddly, she was
growing used to it.
“So
with nothing to eat, herbivores grew extinct. The carrion eaters survived
longer, feeding off the dead, but eventually the meat spoiled and they too died
off. Only the domesticated beasts, like your little friend here, that the Born
and Bred managed to save are still around.” Lily had come to investigate the pot
of warming food and he scratched the top of her head.
“What
about below ground? Have the cyborgs created anything like what we saw?” Her
eyes were fixed on her dog, waiting for Lily to turn and lunge at him,
surprised she hadn’t done so already. Lily had been kicked and swatted but most
of the males she’d ever encountered, and typically led with her teeth whenever
an unknown man approached her.
To
her astonishment, the dog turned and licked his hand. When had they become such
bosom buddies?
Or
maybe it’s a canine thing. He did sort of resemble a big scary dog when he
changed.
Berrick’s
eyes met hers and she glanced away, embarrassed that he’d heard that thought.
“No,”
he said at length, returning to the earlier conversation. “The cyborgs have
not created predators. It’s illogical to try and reestablish the food chain
from the top down. Any sort of future earth has needs to start with flora, not
fauna.”
“If
we have a future at all,” she muttered darkly, her thoughts on what he’d been
explain to her before.
They
remained silent for a time, each lost in their own thoughts. Well, he probably
heard hers, but he didn’t comment on them at least. She watched him divide the
contents of the pot into two chiseled stone cups that were still intact. It was
a hearty vegetable soup. They had no spoons so they sipped their dinner.
“Why
did you agree to the mating?” Berrick asked.
His question caught her off guard. “What do you
mean?”
His green eyes glowed in the dimness. “You fear
males. It makes no sense that you would bind yourself to one you had never
met.”
She laughed. “I wasn’t given a choice, Berrick.
Either the Born agree to the terms of the contract or we have to die. My
marriage was one of those terms.”
He didn’t like her answer at all. She knew it
even before he deposited the remains of his mug at Lily’s feet and strode out
of the cave.
Chapter Six
Dayen paced at the mouth of the cave. The beast’s restless energy
and the frequency of Sage’s thoughts had him halfway to crazed. She didn’t want
him, had been forced into accepting their union to save her people. Never had
the idea that she would be so unwilling ever entered his mind.
Not until her thoughts put it there.
Her rapist was already dead. He should be glad
of that fact, but it left him with nothing to do, no way to atone for forcing
her into his life. Because if this afternoon had taught him anything, it was
that he didn’t just want her, he
needed
her to keep him whole.
Despite the quagmire of turbulent emotions, his
thinking had been clearer in her presence. Before, when he’d bathed her and
held her in his arms he’d experienced a blessed silence unlike any he’d ever
known. Everything in him had been content to simply stroke her soft skin, inhale
her sweet fragrance. He hadn’t lied when he’d said he’d seen all of her. He
couldn’t help but look as he’d dried her after the bath. Patted the dark curls
between her thighs, glimpsing the hidden pink folds beyond with only the flimsy
excuse for a blanket between his skin and hers. He wanted to taste her there in
the worst way.
From stray thoughts he’d picked up over the
years, Dayen knew that was a Bred trait. Cyborgs tended to mate the way they
did everything else—efficiently. Borns were often preoccupied with their own
satisfaction, but Breds…
Breds reveled in exploring one another with
every sense they possessed.
Isaac’s memories of sex had both unnerved and
aroused him. The dead male had taken his time pleasuring his Only One, had
loved to lick her between her thighs until she cried out her release. After the
dreams had started, Dayen had done his level best to avoid spending anytime
with Rothguard and Mel. It was uncomfortable, having such carnal knowledge of
his honorary aunt.
But it was Sage he wanted to explore, to lose
himself in. Not just her luscious little body, either. Her sharp questioning
mind helped him see beyond the stray thoughts of others, to focus on the task
at hand.
And she wanted nothing to do with him. He wanted
to howl, to run through the barren wilderness rending his flesh from his
miserable bones until there was nothing left.
“Berrick?” Her voice, clear as the darkened sky.
He turned, and frowned when he saw her standing
barefoot at the mouth of the cave. “That’s a good way to lose a toe to
frostbite.”
She looked away, but he heard her thought as
clear as if she’d spoken directly in his ear. Heard the shame.
She couldn’t get warm enough.
At once he moved to her side, chastising himself
for making her come out to him. He scooped her into his arms and carried her
back into the cave, around the bend to the heated spring.
“Your clothes,” she protested as he carried her
directly into the warm water. “You don’t have to come in with me. If I’d known
this was here….”Her teeth sank into her lower lip.
If she’d known about it, she wouldn’t have come
to him for help. He tried to ignore the reminder that she wanted nothing from
him, not even his shared body heat if there was another alternative. “I’m
warmer than the water. As for my clothes, these are ruined and I have another
set in the bag. You should leave the blanket here so you have something to dry
yourself with though.”
“I can manage by myself,” she protested again.
He couldn’t help it. He growled at her. “Do you
really think I’ll force myself on you when you’re half frozen and entirely
unwilling?”
His hand was on her bare leg so he couldn’t hear
her thoughts but he could guess the answer when she wouldn’t meet his gaze.
He deflated. “Sage, I can’t hear your thoughts
when I touch your skin. So if you want privacy, this is the best way to get
it.”
Her lips parted and she blinked at him. Then,
she released her white knuckled grip on the blanket.
Dayen kept his eyes on hers as he set the cloth
aside before he strode into the water. He sat as he had earlier, with her on
his lap, covered up to the tops of her decadent breasts, her modesty preserved.
He couldn’t help his reaction to her nearness, but he did his level best to
keep her far enough away from his aching shaft so she wouldn’t be distressed by
it. She sat stiffly for a moment but the hydrotherapy gradually eased her back
against his chest.
“Is it like this for you with everyone?” She
asked, her voice soft. “Touch takes away your mind reading ability?”
He shook his head even as he stole another whiff
of her decadent scent. “Usually it’s the exact opposite. I touch someone and
their thoughts drown out my own. I usually avoid contact with others.”
“Why?” Her brows drew down , forming a deep V
over her tiny nose.
“It’s
painful for me.” Dayen cringed at how pathetic he sounded. He hadn’t meant to
whine.
She made a sort of humming sound that he took
for understanding compassion.
“I’m
different though? Is it because I’m Born?”
It’s because you are made for me, mein Schatzi.
But he simply shook his
head.
It was completely different, holding her while
she was awake. She moved against him now, not quiet squirming but minor
adjustments as she sought a more comfortable perch. His unruly cock throbbed in
time to her sinuous movements. “Be still,” he growled.
She froze. “I’m sorry. Am I hurting you?”
“No. You’re
killing
me
,”
he rasped
and before he thought better of it he put her hand on his erection.
She gasped, and he expected her to leap up off
him and run away. What the hell had he been thinking? Other than he wanted to
feel her hand wrapped around the stiff length?
Which—much to his surprise—was still on him.
Cool hands and warm water seeped through the cloth and into his ridged flesh.
He dared to look at her face and was relieved to see no disgust or fear on her
face. Only curiosity.
The hand moved, experimentally. He bucked, nearly
knocking her off him into the water. He steadied her and her free hand clung to
his shoulder for purchase. Blue eyes flicked up to his face. He couldn’t read
her expression, she was damn good at hiding what she was on her mind and he was
unaccustomed to having to dig for information.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he commanded.
Her
eyebrows drew down and she shook her head. “I’m not, not really. I just want to
touch you.”
His Sage was inquisitive about his body? Perhaps
even as drawn to his flesh as he was to hers? He’d been afraid to hope, but the
way she held him….
He rose abruptly from the pool, pausing only
long enough to retrieve her blanket and drape it over her.
“What are you doing?” She asked as he set her
down before the fire and stripped his wet clothes from his body.
He shooed Lily from the pallet he’d made earlier
and lay flat on his back, folding his arms behind his head in a non-threatening
manner before meeting her startled gaze.
“I’m yours to explore.”
****
Sage stared down at his massive body in awe. Did
he mean what he’d said? That he wanted her to touch him? To explore him?
Did she dare take him up on it?
“Of course I mean it,” he answered her unspoken
questions. “And remember, if you’re not touching my bare flesh, I can hear
you.”
She frowned down on him. “That sounds
suspiciously like blackmail.”
He shook his head, his green eyes locked on hers.
“Just our unfortunate reality,”
Needing a minute of mental privacy to consider
her options, she pressed her bare foot against his calf. He didn’t complain at
the chill in her toes. He had more than enough heat for them both. It radiated
from him like the sun on the light side of the world—unyieldingly hot,
relentlessly burning. His lids slid down and he made a sound of acute pleasure
at the minor contact.
Just because she craved his heat, didn’t mean
she wanted to touch him. Her gaze slid over his hard body. He was masculine
perfection, all lean muscle, a naturally bronzed skin tone, so different than
her pasty pale self. She skimmed down over the thickly bulging muscles of his
arms and shoulders to the wide expanse of his chest, the drum tight stomach.
She skipped past his sex, trying not to recall the feel of him hard and wet in
her hand and moved down to his long legs, sprinkled with hair as dark as that
on his head.
Then slowly, as if pulled by a magnet, her stare
returned to his cock. Thick as her wrist at the base and almost as long as her
forearm—the epitome of masculinity.
She swallowed hard. Her hands clenched into
fists. Much to her surprise, she wanted to touch him, no matter how often she
told herself she was playing a dangerous game. He’d nearly lost it after a few
heated kisses and seeing her bare breasts. Would he be able to control
himself—and she couldn’t forget that beast that lurked inside him—if she needed
to stop?
What about her future mate? She recalled what
Uncle Rand had said after he’d seen to her rapist. He’d looked her over with
disgust on his face and grumbled, “Pray the cyborg still wants you after this,
for we have nothing else to barter.”
Those words hollowed her out like he’d plucked
her organs from her body.
She didn’t know if Dayen would want her, but
Berrick definitely did. He wasn’t even trying to hide his physical response and
the look in his green eyes begged her to lay her hands on him. Maybe because
she was he only woman he’d been able to touch pain-free. Her heart still hurt
from hearing his confession. Outwardly they couldn’t be more different, but he
understood what it was like to shy away from others, even as deep down, the
body craved physical contact. He accepted her ghosts because he carried his
own.
Sage believed everything happened for a reason.
Some called it fate or predetermination but whatever term was used, she thought
that her being sequestered in this cave with this man at this exact moment in
her life was ordained. She was here with him for a reason. Maybe to relieve him
of his virginity and reclaim her sexuality.
Whoa there, who said anything about sex?
He’d offered to let
her touch, to sate her curiosity, so why was she imagining using anything on
him but her hands?
She looked him over again, her gaze hot and
hungry.
That
body was made for sex and some cruel twist of fate denied him what should have
been his birthright. Sage could relate.
So
why not take it back?
“
Mein Schatzi
, I can feel your eyes on
me.” He sat up. One hand wrapped around her ankle, gently massaged the calf
muscle and lulled her into complacence. There was nothing manipulative about it
though when he breathed a simple, “
Please
.”
“You’ll control yourself?” If that beast came
out while she was touching him, she’d die on the spot.
His eyes showed only sincerity. “If you say
stop, I’ll stop, no matter what.”
Decision made. Keeping the blanket wrapped
around her, she sank on the makeshift pallet next to him. He released his grip
on her leg and folded his arms behind him once more, biceps bulging enticingly.
She started there, on the underside of his arm,
her gaze slipping back to his face. His skin was so smooth, his muscles more
unyielding than even the walls of the cave. He brought new meaning to the term
rock solid.
From there her hands moved in to his chest. Running
her fingers through the springy dark hair that covered his pecks and trailed
down over an eight pack stomach, she reveled in the coarse texture. His back
arched as she scraped her thumbnail over a tightly puckered male nipple and he
begged her, “Do that again,”
She repeated the gesture on the other nipple,
watching his lips part on a gasp. Green eyes fixed on her face and he hissed,
“Is that how you like to be touched?”
She didn’t know how to answer, wasn’t sure that
she should give him any information about the best way to seduce her. This was
supposed to be about exploring him, not him touching her. Was she even ready
for that? Instead of replying, she bent her head to the nearest nipple and
circled it with her tongue.
He made an inarticulate sound and she lifted up
to ask, “Do you like that?”
“Yes,” he panted and she felt his fingers slip
into her hair. The wet ends fell forward onto his chest but she was too
preoccupied with her work to pay much attention. The tight peak throbbed as she
flicked it again and again.
She toyed with him for a while, alternating
sucking and biting with licks and sweeps of her fingertips, steadily working
her way down his long, lean torso. A small pool of precum beaded on his belly,
just to the left of his naval. She lapped it up, savoring the saltiness of him.
He made a hoarse sound as her breath fell on the damp head of his cock.
Answering wetness gathered between her own thighs in response.