“I’m sorry, flower, I can’t—”
His voice broke off. She’d never heard such aching intensity in his tone before, but the exhilarating pangs whipping her belly wouldn’t let her dwell on it. Laboured breaths made her throat itch as his whole body hardened like stone, and he clenched his fingers around her thigh.
When he suddenly pulled back, she had the impression that the simple move demanded an impossible effort. What was going on? The sudden void in her called out to be filled again. Ruled by the need to reach something she couldn’t fathom, she followed her instincts and pressed her butt against him. He jerked. She felt his erection quiver against her slit as he uttered unclear words.
“Damn, I can’t bring you there.”
He rammed his cock into her. Needles of pleasure spread all over her body. Her pussy throbbed with unbroken pulsations as a strange sensation stirred within her, like a mighty force asking to be let out. Like a revelation she didn’t quite understand.
Long shivers ran him through while he let himself go. Shaft embedded in her, hand gripping her hip, he grunted so roughly that she pictured the roar of a mountain lion. A ferocious beast brought down by a devastating impact. He twitched inside her. He trembled against her back.
The uncanny feeling tossing her about subsided by degrees and she was able to inhale more easily. She took deep breaths while listening to the decreasing beat of her heart. Although she hadn’t yet recovered from this wonderful experience, she sensed an abrupt tension between them.
She needed to tell him that she had never felt anything like this before, that their astonishing mating had changed her life, but he pulled out of her before she found the right words. He released her hip, fumbled with the covers, and rolled over to the other side of the pallet. Coldness crept over her. Did she hurt him somehow? Was he displeased with her?
Kelton’s handsome face entered her mind. They mated whenever he asked her to, but she always welcomed the end of his rubbing and twitching. Afterward, she sometimes needed to apply a soothing balm over her private parts to ease the itchiness. In spite of his charming ways and gentle caresses, he certainly never turned her into a living flame.
Yet the fact that he didn’t ignite violent emotions in her didn’t change what she had just done. She’d been disloyal to him. She had broken the pledge. Without plausible reason, but a compelling heat in her loins, she’d given herself to the Lord of the Clans and betrayed Kelton. Could she ever face him with such dishonour in mind? For that matter, she feared her shaman even more.
She might have found some measure of comfort if Cameron had shown a propensity to listen to her and alleviate her distress, but he’d turned his back on her as soon as the mating was over, and she knew what his gesture meant. He’d soon discard her like a used bauble.
She needed to sleep, and forget. A yawn stretched her mouth as she closed her eyes to avoid looking at the motionless shape beside her. Then the world of dreams snatched her into its inescapable grip.
A rough pull on her shoulder jerked her awake. He stood by the bed, fully dressed, his blank expression chilling her to the bone. His cold gray gaze fixed on a point above her head, he spoke to her as if she was a stranger.
“Get up. It’s time to go.”
He strode out of the room before she could dispel the last tendrils of sleep. Well, he didn’t want to catch a glimpse at her bare body now. He had seen and touched all of her after all, so what was left for him to discover? Clearly nothing, yet the idea hurt.
Whatever his issues, she needed him to guide her to Frahern. Shivering from cold, she got dressed, fastened the double sling across her back, gathered her belongings, picked up her saddlebags, and went down to the stables.
He already sat astride his horse, his face inscrutable. Without dawdling, she got on her mount and followed him through the cobbled streets. They cleared out of the town in no time. As soon as they found themselves on open ground, he took a direction she hoped would lead them to her aunt.
He avoided all main roads and beaten pathways, as did Coreen the previous day. Also, like her, he didn’t open his mouth.
They rode on for hours. To top her discomfort, it rained most of the afternoon. Heavy showers slowed them down a little, but he maintained a fast pace and she barely managed to drink a few sips of water from her goatskin.
She was famished and exhausted by the time the sky darkened on the horizon. Just when she thought of shouting at him to call a halt, he reined in his horse to glance back toward her. Did he have in mind to stop for a while?
She trotted to catch up with him, hope spurring her forward. Although he clearly meant to inform her of something when her mount came abreast of his, he didn’t get the chance to say it.
An ear-shattering, high-pitched noise pierced her brains. She howled. A blinding pain stabbed her. She flattened her hands against her ears but couldn’t muffle the atrocious skull-splitting shrill. Her legs lost tension and she felt herself sliding off the horse. Then her head exploded.
Chapter Ten
The shower brought her back. For the love of the Creators, would this damp weather ever relent? As she opened her eyes, she realised the rain had nothing to do with her rude awakening. His goatskin had. Bent over her, a worried look painted on his features, he splashed water all over her face.
“Thank the Mighty Gods, you’re back. What happened?”
Stones stung her buttocks, even through the layer of her cloak. Where were her swords? She lay on her back, air filling her lungs, pins and needles pricking her toes. Mercifully, the shrill and the pain were gone.
“That horrible noise. I thought my head was about to burst out, but I guess I passed out.”
“What noise? I didn’t hear anything.”
His quizzical look wasn’t feigned. He enjoyed playing with her, but not in this circumstance. Clan peoples’ lives were too important to him. So how come he hadn’t heard the deafening shrill? She grabbed the strong hand he held out to her and pulled herself up.
“That’s impossible. It was loud enough to wake up the dead.”
“Okay. Take a deep breath, and try to calm down. We rode past a village about three leagues back. Maybe you heard the church bell.”
A bell? Three leagues away? Was he trying to lift her spirits up, or beginning to believe she’d gone insane?
“I’m not mad. I know what I heard. Besides, the sound of church bells doesn’t make anyone faint.”
“Whatever it is, there’s an explanation. It might be a bad time for you. I mean, is this the moment when nature weakens your body?”
She couldn’t believe him. The double sling secured in his hand, he stood like a king before her, insinuating that the side effects of her monthly blood flow were the cause of this mysterious incident. How dare he? Any other man would have deserved a slap in the face, but he was the Lord of the Clans. Keeping her temper in check, she stared at him.
“If this was the moment you’re referring to, don’t you think you’d have noticed last night? Or were you too busy to pay attention?”
For the first time that day, the hint of a smile played on his mouth. Her heart stuttered as he raised his eyebrows.
“Since when did you become so bold, Ariana?”
“Right about the time I met you.”
Although he pursed his lips, she caught the silver twinkle in his eyes. The first since he had rolled away from her after mating, and switched to a grumpy mood. Handing her the double sling, he ignored her last comment and let her wipe her face with the front of her shirt.
“All right. Let’s pretend you heard something—”
“I did.” She cut him off before he could come up with another implausible excuse. “And it came from there.”
She extended her arm toward a hill in the distance. Tall, leafy trees screened the bottom while lush turf covered the top half. No wonder the green grass flourished, what with all that rain. A vast, deserted plain stretched out all around the hill, making it stand out in the landsc
ape. Her horse started to fidget, so she grabbed the bridle with her free hand.
“Do you know this place?”
“It’s called the Shrine of Fate. Actually, it’s one of several temples in Borgom built by the Ancients.”
Her pulse quickened. The name didn’t sound familiar, but she’d never been one to listen to her shaman’s long lectures about past eras. Potions, ointments, and healing concoctions interested her far more than old, cryptic prophecies guarded and treasured by long dead people. Right now, something attracted her to this intriguing place.
“We have to go there.”
“Not really, no.”
“Aren’t you a little bit curious about this noise?”
“The silent sound, you mean? Absolutely not, and I’d rather cover more distance. Come on, we haven’t got all day.”
She wanted to see this temple. Ancients or not, she needed to understand the source of the shrill noise. She turned toward him and mustered up what she believed her most appealing smile.
“How long do we have?”
She had trouble reading his expression as he simply looked at her. Then he ran a hand through his fair hair and exhaled a long sigh.
“I guess we could spend the night here. It’s too late to ride much farther anyway and we should be safe there.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
Gratefulness overriding anything else, she followed her impulse and threw her arms around his neck. Her outburst of joy didn’t last long because his body hardened as soon as she touched him. The surly mood he had displayed all day came back in a wink as he detached her arms to take a step back.
“Let’s get going.”
He got on his horse without waiting to see if she followed suit. How long would he chew over whatever darkened his spirits? She’d betrayed someone but, as far as she knew, he hadn’t. Shrugging, she kicked her mount to ride after the Lord of the Clans.
He slowed down when they reached the base of the hill. The dense trees blocked off their passage but he soon discovered a trail in the wilderness, so narrow that they had to dismount. By the look of it, not many people went through the place. He led the way upslope.
She hiked behind him, pulling on her horse’s bridle. The animal neighed at first but didn’t show too much reluctance crossing through the thick, darkening vegetation. When the hillside steepened, she wished the trail allowed them to ride instead of walking. She gritted her teeth and carried on, raspy breaths warming her lungs, breasts covered with perspiration.
He appeared to make the climb more easily than her. Although she could only see his straight back, he didn’t pant like a worn out old dog and maintained a regular pace. Why couldn’t she be as strong as him? Why did she have to put up with nature’s weaknesses?
A breach appeared in the profuse growth of trees and plants. She followed him through the gap, her arm strained from pulling the horse. If her ribcage hadn’t ached so much, she’d have gasped.
Moss-covered wide cracked steps led up to a massive gateway shrouded in vine. Climbing and twining, the plant crept along the structure and overspread the two huge figures of stone guarding each side of the entrance. Evening cast shadows over the abandoned temple, but the dying light gave it an air of mystery, profound sadness and death.
She shivered, as though an arcane and dangerous world lay at the top of the steps. She only brushed off the uncanny sensation when he took the bridle from her hand to tie the horses to a tree. With grass all around and a streamlet running past the tree, they’d be fine for the night.
She watched him sling both their saddlebags over his shoulders and walk to the base of the steps. He glanced back at her.
“Well?”
“I’m coming.”
They climbed together. The thick layer of moss rendered the ascension slippery but she made it to the top without twisting an ankle. The shrine had been built inside the hill, so only the entrance showed.
On both sides of the gateway, the tall figures of stone faced the way they had come. Carved in stone and about twenty feet high, they dwarfed her to the size of an insignificant ant.
She swallowed, heart beating, a humble prayer almost rising to her lips. He didn’t look hindered by the same considerations. Face impassive, he indicated the black maw they meant to enter.
“I still can’t hear anything.”
Neither could she, but that was beside the point. His sense of humour, on the other hand, fell short of the merit it deserved. She’d have enjoyed his remarks a day earlier, but the coldness he treated her with affected her more and more. Ignoring him, she stepped forward.
“Shall we take a look inside?”
They passed under the gateway together. An oppressive darkness surrounded them, penetrated her core. He found torches and lit them, all the while appearing impervious to the spine-chilling atmosphere that had her gasping for breath every so often. What was he made of?
The huge cave seemed carved in the round from the natural rock. Painted all over in tarnished colours, of which red and yellow predominated, its walls depicted images of battles and colossal warriors striking down their enemies. Who could those people be? Kings? Gods? The Ancients?
He raised his torch higher as her gaze travelled over the fabulous paintings. The height of the place gradually decreased in an arc toward the floor on the interior side. Without much consideration for the fabulous past era displayed in front of their eyes, he headed toward the recess he’d just discovered and let the saddlebags fall down.
“This will do for the night.”
As though he’d completely forgotten about her odd accident, he looked ready to settle down and call it a day. Frustration pricked her nerves. A little shaky, she walked to him.
“We’re not looking for a place to sleep.”
“We’re not?”
His innocent tone did worse to her nerves than his aloof attitude. Watching the candid expression on his face, she felt like gripping his strong arm and jiggling his body until he dropped the pretence.
“No. We need to find the source of the noise.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
The laconic tone he used finished the sapping job he had started in the morning. He was so good at trampling on her feelings that she wondered if he did this on a daily basis, or if she happened to be the sole recipient of his unfathomable mood swings.
Before her temper got the better of her, he slowly extended his arm to point a finger toward the back of the cave.
“I’d say that’s the way into the temple.”
She had to lift up her torch to make out a lower opening in the wall. Chin up, she strode to the place he indicated and discovered a dark tunnel probably leading into the bowels of the hill.
Her fingers quivered around the base of the torch. Her dry mouth asked for water. She stalled, looking at the blackness with extreme reluctance. He chuckled behind her.
“Enjoy yourself in there, Ariana. Just don’t forget you’re not a natural when it comes to directions.”
Did she have the right to kill him? At least she was free to picture herself ramming his words down his throat. He was challenging her to step into the scary unknown, and she wouldn’t disappoint him.
“Watch me!”
She didn’t glance back. She walked into the tunnel. To her relief, it ended a few seconds later. She found herself in another cave, smaller than the one she’d left, but decorated with as many war pictures. While she pivoted to get an overall view, she discerned three different entrances. Three more dark tunnels.
Dear Gods, but this was getting complicated. Although she hated the thought of sinking into those opaque depths, she wanted to show him he didn’t dictate the rules. Well, he did, actually, but they weren’t in the Longrocks Mountains any longer, and the life of the clans seemed far away.
Besides, he had driven his thick cock into her, hadn’t he? That alone ought to give her a particular status.
The flame from the torch flitted. Without understanding the sour
ce, she realised air flowed through the place. The gateway guarded by the figures of stone might be the way in, but there was a way out somewhere.
For now, her instincts kept silent regarding which direction to take, so she entered the closest tunnel to her right.
She came out onto yet another large cave. Shards and bits of wood resembling planks littered the place here, the floor strewn with open books. Maybe she stood in the centre of the Ancients’ library? Awesome as the idea sounded, the sight of four new tunnels disappearing into the dark made her heart drop.
Wherever the noise originated from, she’d never find it on her own. Not even with a guide. This place might be called a temple, but it strongly resembled a maze, and navigating in mazes wasn’t her forte.
Nevertheless, he had challenged her.
Fully aware she should go back to her point of departure, she headed toward an opening. This was madness, and she knew it. The light from the torch dwindled. Darkness enfolded her. Then she uttered a cry when someone grabbed her arm to pull her out of the tunnel.
“That’s enough, Ariana. You’re a brave woman, and you’ve made your point. Now let’s get back to the first cave.”
Happiness overloaded her brain. Despite his unconcerned and mocking demeanour, he had come for her.
All of a sudden, she didn’t care about the uncanny noise, the deserted temple, or even the fact that he hadn’t shown her any kindness since their mating. He didn’t want her to get lost in the maze but, holding on to her arm, he stood right by her side.
Infused with a burst of joy, she wished to tell him what his presence meant to her. She didn’t get the chance as the same horrendous, ear-shattering shrill split her skull open. She fell to her knees.
Chapter Eleven
Both torches lay on the floor, their flames weakening from lack of air. The shrieking sound had vanished. On his knees beside her, one arm around her shoulder, he held her unconscious body.
She didn’t move when he brushed stray hairs off her brow. His features twisted with anxiety, he mouthed her name, but she couldn’t hear him. How in ether’s spirits, with her eyes shut, was she able to witness this scene?