“I belong with my people.” Really, what good would it do to continue the same discussion they’d had when they first met.
“I spared your life that day in the desert.”
“And I spared yours in Dognelle. What is your point, Lycan?”
He sighed and moved to the side of the bed, sitting next to her. She inhaled his freshly bathed scent—tantalizing, spicy, making her think of forests in the summer.
Of freedom.
“I don’t really have a point. You confuse me, Starr. You make me doubt the laws of my land.”
Now there was a revelation she hadn’t expected. Despite the pain, she sat up. “Care to explain that?”
“Not really.” Instead, he reached out and grasped her hair, pulling it through his fingers. The light tug against her scalp made her shiver and think of things she had no business thinking of. But she had missed his hands on her, his lips against hers, his body taking hers to heights of sensation she hadn’t known existed.
Scrubbing his hand over his face, he looked away, toward the window where the full moon cast its silvery glow. “No, I don’t care to explain it. I only know that I don’t want you to be free.”
She sighed. “We’ve been through this before, Lycan. We are warriors and always have been. You have to let us go.”
“I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay with me.”
He turned to her then and she was taken aback at the pain in his eyes. A part of her wanted to reach out, comfort him, and tell him she wanted to be with him forever. But she wouldn’t, couldn’t. Instead, she said, “I’ll never give up my freedom. No matter how we both feel, Lycan, I can’t live with you if that means living as a slave.”
“I love you, Starr.”
Pain lanced through her chest, her heart squeezing tight. Her eyes welled with tears as she heard the words she had hoped he felt in his very soul.
Oh this was so unfair! To find the man she had wanted, someone who was her equal in every way, and to hear words of love pour from his lips was more than she could ever hope for.
And yet a barrier still existed between them.
How could she answer him? If she told him she loved him, she would lose her freedom. But how could she not tell him what was in her heart?
“I love you too, Lycan. But that doesn’t change anything.”
He leaned in, so close their breath mingled together. His eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen, the same color as the ocean in this wondrously prosperous land. Palming the back of her neck, he drew her closer, pressing his lips lightly against hers.
She sighed against his mouth, then shivered as he slipped his tongue inside to taste her. Her hands moved to his arms, clutching his muscled strength and wishing with all her soul that things could be different.
Lycan moved back and looked at her, his eyes glazed with the same passion she felt.
“I want you to be my queen, to spend the rest of your days with me here in Raynar.”
Her heart tore in two at his words. A part of her longed to stay here, for truly they were one. “I can’t stay, Lycan.”
“Because you don’t want to.”
“Because I can’t! I have to be free, and so do my people.”
“Starr, you’re not listening.”
“I heard you.” She leaned back against the pillows, feeling emptier than she ever had before. To be this close to love, knowing that they could never be, was nearly unbearable.
“You are the strongest woman I have ever met. You are intelligent, a great warrior. You have captured my heart and for the first time in my life I am giving my love. I can think of no other woman who I would have rule by my side.”
Please don’t do this to me, Lycan, Don’t make me want what I can’t have. “You have many women available to you.”
“I only want one.”
She closed her eyes, torn in ways she could never have imagined. But she remained steadfast. “I can’t stay here.” Despite the pain, she knew she couldn’t remain another moment. Throwing the covers off, she inched to the side of the bed. Her thigh touched Lycan’s and burned through the thin gown she wore.
Lycan reached for her arm to still her progress. “What if you stayed here as a free woman?”
Tilting her head, she regarded him as if he’d spoken in a language she didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”
He smiled. “I told you. You weren’t listening. I know now that you could never remain in Raynar unless you were free. I’m offering you freedom, Starr. To you and to all your people. Come live with me, be my queen, and we will rule our people together.”
Had she heard him correctly? “That is not the law of your land.”
Shrugging, he said, “Laws can be changed. And I think we are past time for that to occur in Raynar. During preparations for battle, our women showed their strength. Perhaps my forefathers were incorrect in their assumption that women were weak and needed to protected.”
She knew what it cost him to admit that to her. “You would free your own women?”
He nodded. “This won’t be easy. Many here will rebel against such a drastic change in our way of life.”
“It can be done, though.”
“Yes. But it will take time. Time and patience, and the help of very strong, very intelligent women. What of your clan? Will they accept this?”
Years of mistrust would be difficult to make disappear overnight. Starr knew this, and yet she also saw this as an opportunity for a new life for her people. “You’re right. It will be a struggle. Many of my people will no doubt object. But we can try.” This just might work.
What a wonderful new life they could build for all their people. Excitement strengthened her. Could she really have the best of both worlds? A fruitful land, the man she loved at her side, and freedom for her people?
Reaching for her, he nuzzled her neck. “I can be very persuasive. Do you think they’ll listen to me?”
A whimper of need escaped her lips as his lips blazed a fiery trail along her throat. “Yes, I’m well aware of your powers of…negotiation.” Her nipples beaded against the gown, her breasts swelling and aching for his touch.
“I fear hurting you,” he said, pulling away.
She reached for his face, guiding his lips to her mouth and tasting him. She licked at his lower lip and tugged it between her teeth, then laid her palm on his chest. “Don’t stop. I feel fine.”
His eyes darkened like storm tossed seas. He reached for her breasts, flicking her nipples until she cried out. “Yes, you feel very fine, indeed.”
Lycan pressed her down against the mattress and stood, quickly undressing and sliding under the covers with her.
“Marry me, Starr,” he whispered, trailing his fingers over her abdomen and lower. “Tell me you’ll share my bed every night. Promise to help me build Raynar into a kingdom of power. A kingdom where everyone is free.”
How could she think when his fingers slipped between her slit to caress her aching sex? “Yes,” she breathed on a contented sigh. “Yes, Lycan, I’ll marry you.”
No further words were needed as he took her to a place where only their bodies spoke. A magical language like theirs required no voice other than murmurs of the love they felt and caresses that promised many nights of ecstasy ahead.
Lycan pulled her gently on top of him, allowing her to find a comfortable place. No longer feeling the wound at her side, she eagerly grasped his rigid shaft and guided it to her entrance. She moved over him, panting with need as she slipped his cock inside her wet pussy.
She rode him slowly, tangling her fingers into the fine hairs of his chest, leaning over to capture his mouth and slide her tongue between his lips. He pulsed against her and her cunt tightened around him, squeezing him, needing his essence more than she needed to breathe.
Lifting his hips, he drove harder until she was gasping above him. He reached for her breasts, cupping them in his hands and tugging lightly on her nipples. Shooting arcs of pleasure sai
led to her sex and she felt the first pulses of her orgasm.
“Ah, your pussy squeezes my cock, my love. Come for me,” he said, thrusting up against her until she screamed and flooded him with her juices.
With a fierce growl he reached for her hips and impaled his rigid shaft within her, tensing and pouring his seed into her. She collapsed on top of him, reveling in his touch as he stroked her back and kissed her forehead.
“Each day will be like this. We will work together to change Raynar, and at night we will lie in each other’s arms and make love until we can’t move.”
She chuckled and leaned up to gaze into the eyes of the man she loved. “Sounds like a very filling day.”
“The filling will come at night, when I fill you up with my cock.”
She grinned and kissed him, then snuggled against his body.
“Rhia will hate this,” she murmured.
His laugh rumbled against her ear. “So will Tor. No doubt they will hate each other, too.”
Starr nodded against his chest. “Your laws won’t be easy to change. My people will be distrustful of yours, and your people will be resentful, feeling that the Dognelle forced the reversal of their laws.”
He stroked her back, his touch producing a calm that no words could provide. “I know this will be difficult for both the Raynar and the Dognelle. But if we want it, we will convince them. We are stronger united than separated. In time, they will see that.”
They had much work to do, and it would not be an easy task to convince Rhia and the rest of her people that living in Raynar was the right choice. But as long as she had Lycan by her side, she could accomplish anything.
After all, she had accomplished the impossible already. Raynar would free their women, the Dognelle would have access to prime lands with plentiful food and water, and she had found a man her equal, a man she could raise children with. Something she’d never thought she’d find. Something she had never even searched for, until she met the man who was her destiny.
Tomorrow they would start a new life. One of freedom for all her people, and one filled with a love that she knew would only grow with each passing day.
A new home, a new love.
A new beginning.
About the author:
Jaci Burton has been a dreamer and lover of romance her entire life. Consumed with stories of passion, love and happily ever afters, she finally pulled her fantasy characters out of her head and put them on paper. Writing allows her to showcase the rainbow of emotions that result from falling in love.
Jaci lives in Oklahoma with her husband (her fiercest writing critic and sexy inspiration), stepdaughter and three wild and crazy dogs. Her sons are grown and live on opposite coasts and don’t bother her nearly as often as she’d like them to. When she isn’t writing stories of passion and romance, she can usually be found at the gym, reading a great book, or working on her computer, trying to figure out how she can pull more than twenty-four hours out of a single day.
Jaci welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at P.O. Box 787, Hudson, Ohio 44236-0787.
Jaci Burton, Lycan's Surrender
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