Primal Quest Page 18
Raven laughed at her look of distaste as she stared at the cup. “I talked with a few of the healers while I was waiting for word. They all recommended that a pregnant woman should drink plenty of juices, broths, and hovasa milk, instead of wine all the time. Cider was the only thing that was easy to get to you.”
Caidi shook her head at him, at the lengths he was willing to go to ensure her health and happiness. She was slightly amused at the forbearance he had shown. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he had found a hovasa giving milk on one of the worlds as he passed through and dragged it along with him.
“Hovasas are too slow,” he said with a smile, letting her know that he had been with her in her mind and had caught her amusement.
Caidi resigned herself to being cosseted. She faced the fact that he was a dominating, caring man. He would see that she had her every need fulfilled and was always well cared for, protected, even though she could protect herself. She ate as much of the food on her plate as she could and drank the cider without raising an argument, although aiska cider wasn’t what she wanted. Only to make him happy did she suffer it.
When they were both finished with their food, Raven left her to go to the river and bathe. The men who were still sitting around the fire occupied her by telling her of their battles and questioning her about her journey.
Chapter Twenty
Raven came back to the fire carrying his black shirt. The defined muscles of his chest glistened with a few stray droplets of water in the flickering firelight. His wet black hair was slicked back and hung down his back. Caidi thought he looked very sexy like that in just his pants and boots, just waiting for someone to finish the job of undressing him. Raven took her hand, drew her to her feet and led her to his tent.
It was brown like all of the others, but a little larger than the one she had been using. Caidi looked around the tent. Lamps hung on poles around the tent giving plenty of light. A large pallet had been placed near the center of the tent, along with a collapsible stand and the bags of clothing. The clothing Teril had brought for her had been moved to this tent and Raven had brought her bag. She would have more than enough clothing for the stay here. Raven secured the flap and then walked over to her, taking her into his arms. He held her tightly, savoring her closeness for a moment.
Caidi stepped away from him and slowly began to undress. Eager and hungry for his touch, her silver eyes burned with desire. She dropped the last of her clothing to the floor just as he doused the flame in one of the lamps.
Raven was thankful for the thick material of the tent walls. It was impossible to tell where the occupants were inside it even with the lamps blazing. He had always appreciated that fact when it came to battles and an enemy could never be sure if the tent’s occupant was awake and planning or sleeping, but now, he found that he also liked the privacy it gave him when he was alone with his chalie. Intertwined shadows wouldn’t be visible on the dark walls of the tent. He needed to sink into her depths soon.
Raven undressed and with a few long strides joined her where she lay on the large, padded pallet. She reached for him as he came down beside her, slightly leaning over her. On a groan, he threaded his fingers into her hair and kissed her with all of the passion within him, his lips moving over hers heavily for a few moments, his tongue thrusting deep within her mouth. He wanted her beneath him, over him, in whatever position he could have her again and again. The Zarain within demanded a mating. He knew that he wouldn’t be completely satisfied that she was safe, that she was back where she belonged until he was deep within her heat.
Caidi returned his heated kiss with an eagerness and wanton desire only strengthened by the length of their separation. When he shifted over her, his knee nudging hers, she readily opened her thighs to him. The nights had been long, especially since she had known she was safe. When his weight settled in the cradle of her thighs, she sighed in satisfaction. This was what she needed. She felt his hard length press against her and tightened her legs around his hips to hold him in place if he tried to move away from her.
His hands moved to her hips, his fingers sliding under her to grasp her buttocks as if he too wanted to be sure that she didn’t go anywhere. When he lifted his head away from her, she nipped at his lip with her sharp, white teeth before running her tongue over his lips in a deliberately provocative move to encourage him to resume the kiss. Raven merely chuckled at her and kissed her briefly, thoroughly, thrusting his tongue into her mouth and stroking it along the roof of her mouth, tangling with her tongue. He broke the kiss and came to his knees between her thighs.
He wondered if she knew how he loved it when she became aggressive.
An inarticulate sound of protest escaped from Caidi’s lips, a cry of frustration and anger, as she tried to pull his large, muscled body back down to her. His lips brushed over her neck in a teasing flutter of a caress. The insistent tug of her hands on his muscular arms didn’t work to pull his lips back to where she wanted them. Those marauding lips touched briefly on both crests of her breasts, his teeth grazing the already hardened tips. In a move of frustrated desperation, she sank her nails into his back and tried to pull him back to her. The scrape of her nails across his back only earned her the deep rumble of a warning growl from her mate.
By the time that his lips reached her navel, Caidi had guessed what he was going to do. He knelt between her thighs, his breath fanning over the triangle of golden hair. He was going to do what he had wanted to do that day in the bathing tub. He was going to put his mouth on her, the way he had done before. The sensations had almost made her insane. He could take her to heights and keep her there with the touch of his lips upon her should he desire or bring her to glorious pleasure.
Raven inhaled her scent. He smelled her growing arousal, her anticipation of all that he would give her. He knew that her eyes would just be clouding with the haze of need and her skin from breast to forehead would be flushed a delightful red. He spread her labia with the fingers of one hand and lowered his lips to her swollen, aching clit. He sucked it between his lips, flicking at it with his tongue. The sweet, tangy flavor of her nectar filled his mouth. He loved that taste. He lapped at her, tracing a path to her slit and the honeyed nectar seeping from her.
He chuckled against her as her hips bucked against him in involuntary response to the stabbing drive of his tongue. Caidi whimpered, her hips undulating. Her hands fisted in his hair as fire lanced through her, curling into a tight, hot, pulsing need deep within her.
Raven eased a finger into her hot, tight cunt. She moaned as his finger thrust fully within her, lubricated by the slick fluid, and again in disappointment as he withdrew it. Her frustration was short-lived. He teased her for a moment, running the tip of his finger over the sensitive tissue around the entrance to that snug channel before thrusting two fingers within her.
“You like that, don’t you?” Raven lifted his head to ask softly.
Caidi’s only verbal response to his question was an irritated groan as he slowly withdrew his fingers from her. She ached for his touch, any touch. With a less than gentle tug on his hair she tried to bring him back to the needy ache he had caused.
With a growl at that stinging pain, he lowered his head to her. Her legs tightened about his shoulders, trying to hold him there. His tongue swept out, lapping at the hardness under the hood of her clit.
“So beautiful.” Raven slurped at the honeyed warmth spilling from her. “You taste so good, baby. By the Goddess, woman, I missed you.”
Caidi could feel his every breath and the hot fan of moist air only further excited her. She trembled with the mounting desire. She knew that the liquid warmth of her cum was flowing from her, she could feel it against her butt cheeks and knew by his smell that he was incredibly excited by how much she wanted him. His mouth moved over her, lower, and his tongue thrust into the needy heat of her sheath.
That was all it took to send her over the edge. Caidi shuddered, trembled with the power of her release. She moa
ned, her back arching, her hands tugging at his hair, biting back a cry as the waves of her orgasm shook her.
Raven savored her taste and the glorious smell of her passion as he continued to stroke his tongue over her heated pink flesh, not nearly finished with her for the evening. He nibbled at her clit, rubbing it with his lips and tongue and was delighted by her immediate, eager response to his touch. Her hips moved slightly against him, urging him to touch her again. Her hands held him to her as her hunger once more grew from his sucking and nibbling upon her clit. His fingers stroked inside her slick slit. Her inner muscles clenched around his fingers, trying to draw him farther into her.
“I can see you missed me. You are starving for my touch, taneen,” Raven said.
After a last long stroke of his tongue over the swollen nub of her clit that caused her to arch up into him with the shock of the sensation, he drew away from her. Caidi wasn’t ready for him to stop. Her body was unbearably sensitized, tuned to his touch, straining for more. The desperate sound of need that came from her lips was more cry than groan.
A pleased, very wicked smile flashed across his lips. He needed her like this, desperate, aching for his touch. His body slid up over hers, deliberately brushing over the hardened, aching crests of her breasts.
Raven slowly entered her. His cock slid gently into her clinging warmth. He knew how close she was to coming. Gritting his teeth, he waged an inner war against his own desire to forge deep and hard into her. He wanted her to burn for him even when he was fully within her. Raven slowly withdrew from the tight channel of her pussy, he felt her inner muscles clench around him as if she would try to hold him within her. Pleasure-pain shot through him, nearly rending his last desperate bid for control from his grasp.
Caidi groaned as he slowly pulled himself almost completely from her. Conflicting desires fought for supremacy within her. She needed the tight, full feeling that she only felt when he was deep inside her, but she also needed him moving within her, against her.
Raven thrust deep within her, hard against her. He loved the tiny moan of yearning which escaped from her, the rapid, shallow pace of her breath as she became more and more aroused. The way her hips tilted to take more of him and the clutch of her inner muscles around him as she tried to draw him deeper while he withdrew drove him wild. Reveling in the slick heat surrounding him, in the clasp of her tight sheath, he pumped into her.
He loved teasing her. He would retreat a little to feel those muscles tighten around him like a fist and then forge back into her as deep as he could go, grinding his hips against hers. He brushed his chest across the pebbled hardness of her nipples, drawing a low moan and a shudder of raw need from her as he withdrew from her until only the rounded head of his shaft remained within her.
“Please, Raven.” Caidi gazed up at the teasing man above her.
Caidi arched her hips upward, just as he thrust back into her, taking him within her, accepting, needing the forceful surge of his hips against hers. She moaned, biting her lip to hold back a scream. Everything within her was tightening and exploding, her eyes closed tightly as streaks of light and color washed over her vision as she found release from the raging fire of arousal.
Raven thrust within her again, feeling her inner muscles tighten and release around him as she trembled at the power of her orgasm. He moved against her, faster now, seeking his own pleasure as the last of his control fled. His hips ground against hers, his thrusts deep and hard. He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her fiercely as his hips surged against her.
Caidi could feel the contentment within her beginning to return to the familiar hunger of passion. The press of his hips, the brush of his chest over hers, all kindled her just sated needs back into full life. His hard, thick cock moved within her sending jolts of ferocious longing through her. Caidi moved with him, her legs moving to circle his hips as he thrust hard into her, seeming to find and hit a spot deep within her that caused her to shiver with pleasure at his every stroke.
Raven stifled a shout, pressing his lips against hers as his body burned with release. Fire washed over his body, racing up his spine. He still thrust within her as his seed poured into her body in hot jets.
Caidi tensed against him. Wave after wave of ecstasy washed over her bringing her immeasurable bliss as the slightly alien sensations washed through her mind and body.
Caidi lay beneath him for a long time waiting for her heartbeat to slow and her rapid breathing to calm.
Raven stared down at Caidi as she lay beneath him. He wasn’t surprised when she went to sleep. Without disturbing her slumber, he withdrew from her and moved to the side as he lay beside her, his body half covering her. He wrapped her in his arms certain that he would wake if she should move or try to leave him. Raven soon fell into sleep as he lay there beside her. A deep contentment burned within him. At last, she was back in his arms.
Chapter Twenty-One
Caidi woke to the darkness provided by the thick tent walls, but she knew that it was still deep in the night. It was probably not even close to dawn. She could hear nothing outside the tent. If it was close to dawn, from her experience over the past days, she knew that there would be noise of the warriors moving around the camp as they began the chores of the day.
She thought about those feelings that always hit her when that psychic orgasm, the re’kai, rolled through her. It was so strange. Even now, she couldn’t define all of them. The emotions were easy—joy at release from that pleasurable tension, possession, need. It was the physical impressions that were too fleeting to identify.
She saw that Raven had extinguished all of the lamps before he had fallen asleep and pulled a light blanket over them against the slight chill of the night. Carefully, she flipped it off her. There were things she wanted to do now that he was here, but it wasn’t quite that simple. She was wrapped in his arms. He held her as if he were afraid she would escape. With infinite patience and a light touch, she grabbed his hand lifting it away from her and placing it between their bodies. She eased onto her knees.
Caidi moved the blanket completely off Raven. She gently pushed him onto his back, careful to ease him down. Once again, she looked at him to make sure that he hadn’t awakened. Zarain night vision was partially heat-based so she needed no light to find her way around the body of her chalon. She wanted a little time.
She saw no movement from his body or even the tiny flicker of an eyelid. His breathing was still deep and even in the rhythm of sleep. She considered it fortuitous that it was as dark as it was within the tent. If there was light and Raven woke now, he would plainly see her heated cheeks and know exactly what she was thinking about doing. The thought excited her, but she didn’t quite know how to do it.
She knelt beside him, gathering her courage to carry through on the deed which curiosity and desire were urging her to attempt. Her eyes tracked over his large body, mapping the muscular frame sprawled so temptingly before her. He took every opportunity to shed his clothing when he was around her. The man hadn’t a drop of shyness in his body.
His straight, black hair would be wild around his head and shoulders. His handsome face, even relaxed in slumber, would be predatory and sensual. His wide golden chest was covered only by the black-inked tattoos. His muscular arms, the upper part banded in black designs, would ripple with muscle. The large, calloused hands, capable of immense strength and amazing gentleness, would be relaxed. His flat stomach flexed displaying the muscle at each breath.
His penis was long and thick when aroused and Caidi seldom saw it when it wasn’t erect. The tip, rounded, slightly bulbous, darkened to a reddish purple at those times. The vein along the length would throb beneath her fingers as she caressed him. The two globes at the base of the shaft had always interested her, the skin so silky. He responded to her touch there almost as readily as he did to the stroke of her hand around his shaft.
Caidi lowered her head toward his hips as her hand searched for the thick length of his cock. A hard, strong ha
nd fastened onto her shoulder, pulling her up, and another grabbed her wrist just as her fingers touched the smooth skin of his shaft. Raven sat up abruptly, a chuckle escaping his lips even as he restrained her.
“Half the pleasure in the act is in the seeing, my sweet reha. Don’t you remember how you watched me as I lapped at your sweet juices? If you truly want to do this, we will need some light, so I too can find the enjoyment of seeing you take me in your mouth. Do you really want me this way, my chalie?” Raven’s tone was faintly challenging as if he expected her to quickly change her mind when she learned that he wanted to watch.
The doubt in his tone made up her mind. “Light a lamp.”
Raven said nothing in response to her emphatic demand. Caidi didn’t know if he was surprised, shocked by her boldness or pleased with her. He cautiously let go of her hand as he stood and went to light a lamp. Caidi saw a faint spark and then the lamp flamed to life as Raven lowered the crystal flame guard. He turned back to her and Caidi saw that he was already aroused.
He didn’t immediately lie down after he had placed the lamp on a hook on a nearby tent pole. He walked a short distance away and returned with a few of the sitting pillows. He pushed the thinner sleeping pillows out of the way with his foot as he placed the sitting pillows at the end of the pallet in a pile. The sleeping pillows were put on top of this pile.
He sat in front of them and leaned back against the stack of pillows, reclining with his hands at his sides. Now, he was apparently ready and waiting for her to make her move. The look on his face indicated that he thought she would change her mind before she went through with it.
Caidi took his doubting attitude as a challenge. He either knew her very well or he didn’t know her at all, she decided. There was no more certain way to make sure she did something than to make a challenge of it. She moved onto her knees beside him and bent over him, one hand braced between his legs as she lowered her head toward his waiting length. Her golden hair fell forward, shielding her face and his sex from his view. With an irritated grunt, Raven put his hand on her shoulder stopping her before her lips touched him.