Primal Quest Page 26

  She sat on a stool at the table being used to prepare the fruit brought in before it was cooked. She took up a knife and began to peel the aiska fruit in front of her. She saw women begin to filter into the kitchens and heard them begin recount what had happened in the hall to those who had had to stay and watch the simmering pots.

  “You always were very quick with your knife.” Mira stirred one of the bubbling pots of thick fruit. “You also had an almost uncanny aim.”

  Caidi merely raised an eyebrow at that observation. After all of the practice that she had put in with a knife when she was younger, it would be much stranger if she couldn’t hit her target when she needed to do so.

  “Do you think that the Achan is angry with you for killing Avera, for taking matters into your own hands?” Viki asked.

  “I think that he is angrier at being surprised by a woman than he is that I killed the woman responsible for the trouble.” Caidi smiled easily, unworried about her chalon’s possible wrath. She couldn’t feel sorry for anything she had done, even if it angered Raven.

  “You have been taking the Achan by surprise since he met you. You would think that he would come to expect it.” Mira pointed a spoon at Caidi.

  “What do you think he will do to her mate?” Viki asked.

  “I don’t particularly care what he does with him. Avera was the motivating force behind this bid for power. With her gone permanently, there shouldn’t be any trouble from him.” Caidi shrugged as she continued diligently peeling the aiska fruit. As Avera’s daughters had been unsupportive of their mother, there shouldn’t be any more incidents.

  “I think it is sweet how he treats you as if you are a piece of the most delicate pottery when we all know from long experience that you are as resilient as a dewy sprig of spring grass.” Mira’s grin turned into a full smile. “He obviously cares for you.”

  “You don’t have to live with it.” Caidi chuckled good-naturedly in spite of the way he frustrated her. “Actually, that man more than cares for me. That man loves me. I have known it for some time.”

  “He hasn’t told you?” Viki raised silver eyebrows.

  “I have merely been waiting for him to see that what he feels for me is love. It might take some time. He tends to think more in terms of possession and sex, so it might take him a little longer than it did for me to recognize his feelings.” She was confident that he would tell her when he recognized it.

  Viki chuckled in commiseration. “They are all like that, these big, tough Shadatai males. They think of us in terms of ‘mine, my woman, no one else can have her’ and ‘I want you’ and let’s not forget ‘I need you beneath me’. They don’t often look at what lies beneath all of those things. My Kalen is no different in that way. He still hasn’t seen that he loves me when it is blatantly obvious.”

  “It might be interesting to know for certain just how different Shadatai males are from the normal Zarain males. We know that their instincts are more focused. Maybe we have been misled in some of our beliefs about life within a normal Zarain pack.” Mira peeled the fruit in front of her with well-practiced movements.

  Viki laughed. “That would be interesting. We would probably be in for some surprises.”

  “Normal Zarain are still Zarain, even though we were always told that the Zarain males let their women do almost anything and had freedom from the restrictions we now have. Our mothers didn’t really know much about life as a bonded mate, only what they remembered from their life with their parents for the most part.”

  Caidi laughed and nodded. “I think that you could probably safely say that any Zarain whether Shadatai or not would be possessive and protective of his mate.”

  Raven cleared his throat, announcing his presence as he leaned against the jam of the door. “It is late, Caidi.”

  Caidi smiled in spite of the momentary fear that he had overheard her boasts to the other women. She knew he loved her, but didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on him. She looked at him and decided that he hadn’t heard her.

  The flat, unemotional statement and the lack of expression on his face were usually indicators that he was angry with her, but she couldn’t feel any anger from him when she touched his mind. All she felt was a deep satisfaction rolling through his mind. She wasn’t worried about his reaction to what she had done. She had done what was necessary and she would do it again if she had to.

  Caidi nodded, put down her knife and the half-peeled fruit she held, wiped her hands on a nearby cloth and then walked calmly with him out of the kitchen and back to the larger living area. He led her down to their room without saying another word. After she had entered before him, he followed then shut and locked the door.

  “Now, what do we have to talk about?” Caidi asked easily as she took a seat on the bed and looked up at him expectantly as he came to a stop in front of her.

  If he hadn’t still been so stunned by what he had heard her tell the other women while he had been standing outside the kitchen, he knew that he would be angry at her patent display of innocence and ignorance of exactly how she had broken pack rules.

  “The knife, where did you hide it while you waited to find out if you needed to use it?” Raven gave her a stern look as he took a firm grip on his temper.

  Caidi simply pushed up the sleeve of her dress, revealing the empty sheath concealed beneath the flowing material.

  Raven stepped closer to her and pushed up her other sleeve, revealing an identical sheath with a blade in it. “Did you think that you would miss her with the first throw?”

  “No, I merely wanted to be prepared for anything that might happen.” Caidi gazed up at him, not at all intimidated by that steady, hard stare.

  “You admit that you knew you were walking into what you thought would be a dangerous situation, yet you still did it.” Raven’s voice remained calm, but his body tensed.

  “I knew before you reached the hall just who you had captured. I also knew from past experience that you weren’t likely to consider Avera a threat based solely on her gender,” Caidi admitted. “I took precautions to limit the risk to both of our lives from a woman I knew was treacherous.”

  “The risk that you took was too great!” Raven paced across the room, incensed by her easy admission. “You should have made me come out of the hall for you and then yelled at me until I listened to what you had to say or you should have yelled at me on our mental path until I had the woman searched and bound just to get you to stop. There were many things that you could have done that would have involved far less risk than simply walking into that hall.”

  “I wasn’t the one at risk. It wasn’t me that she threw the knife at. You were her target.” Caidi arched an eyebrow at him, daring him to deny it.

  “You could just as easily have been her target. She only turned her focus on me at the last,” Raven stated. “You know the rules of life in a Shadatai pack. I spelled them out clearly to you. You swore to obey them. You knew that you were taking a chance with your life when you walked into that hall without even trying to make me listen. You endangered yourself when you knew how important you were to me and you knew equally well that you were pregnant. You knowingly broke the rule.”

  That did it. The man refused to see reason. She leapt off the bed and looked up at him with a militant, angry frown on her face. “When I walked into that hall, I knew that there was no damned danger to me. I knew from the beginning that she was a treacherous bitch and I expected her to do exactly as she did. I expected you to be the target.”

  Raven raised an arrogant eyebrow. “Why would you think that?”

  “You were the one she would see as the true impediment. She never feared me. When she focused her anger on you at the last, I knew for certain that you would be her target. That was why I crossed in front of you. I knew that she would try to take her revenge through you even if it meant her death. I did it so I could guard you.” Caidi pointed at him.

  “You were in danger.” Raven paced back to her.
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br />   “I am very good at judging the aim of an opponent’s dagger almost as soon as it leaves their hand. Your life is hardly the first life that I have saved in that manner, but the others at least thanked me.” Caidi gritted her teeth, angry and hurt by his doubt in her abilities.

  “Yes, I will admit that you are very good at it, but you have a duty to keep yourself out of trouble and safe and you will learn to do so even if I have to put guards on you every time that we have visitors or leave the world to visit others.” Raven had never been more serious. “You need to accept that you aren’t alone, that I am here. It is my duty to guard you and the Taivain.”

  “Are you done with this lecture?” Caidi looked toward the door, wanting only to leave before she lost her temper. “I have work that needs to be done.”

  Raven blinked at her tone. He had lost control of the situation and his own temper when she had been so uncaring, so oblivious of the danger she had placed herself in as she had boldly faced a woman whom she knew was armed. The fact that she hadn’t even tried to tell him, to convince him of the woman’s treachery had heightened his anger at her actions. Now, he had to calm both of their tempers, before she tried to walk out of the door and blithely return to work as if nothing had happen. He knew that that would succeed in enraging and unleashing the beast he was barely managing to hold in check.

  Raven put his hands on her hips for the sole purpose of holding her where she was. He could see that she was getting ready to storm out of the room. He pulled her close to him as he lowered his lips to hers. His lips brushed over hers and his tongue slipped between her startled lips to stroke lingeringly over hers.

  Caidi was in no mood to be cajoled by his drugging kisses. She pushed against his hard chest and tore her mouth away from his. “I am angry with you, Raven. I don’t want to kiss you.” She shoved against him again, succeeding in pushing her upper body away from him, but firmly plastering her hips to his at the same time. Immediately, she was left without a doubt that he wanted her fiercely. His cock pressed hard and insistent against her stomach.

  “I know that you are angry with me, my chalie, yet that doesn’t change what will be. Now, it is time for you to apologize for taking a risk with your life and kiss me.” Raven held her still when she jerked against his restraining arms. His tone left no room for compromises.

  Caidi’s eyes rounded at that arrogant, assured statement. She knew that arguing would probably not get her anywhere, but she couldn’t let that go unchallenged. “I didn’t take a risk with my life. I told you that. I knew what I was doing.”

  “Remember the first rule that you agreed to obey. You have already broken one today,” Raven cautioned very quietly.

  The man was utterly serious, Caidi knew. The first rule, Follow your Achan’s commands swiftly and without question. Caidi growled, wriggling in his grasp. “You are making apologizing to you an order, a command? An apology is worthless if it isn’t freely given. I don’t think that I have anything to apologize for.”

  “We both know that you aren’t sorry for so blatantly, and in front of so many witnesses, breaking one of the pack’s governing rules. You must, however, apologize for the transgression. Since I know that you aren’t sorry for what you did, it is an order. I will see that you don’t again put yourself in such danger.” As he spoke, his hands slid from her hips to her buttocks. He cupped the taut globes in his palms, lifting her more firmly against him.

  Caidi glared at him, but knew that there was no way of getting out of this apology. “I am sorry that I endangered myself and the baby,” she forced from between clenched teeth. “Now, you can let me go. I have done what you wanted. I have work to do with the other women.” She pushed against his chest in a demand for release.

  Chapter Thirty

  “You forgot to give me the kiss I wanted.” Raven gave a slow smile as his eyes narrowed. Anger flared in her bright, silver eyes. He was certain that with very little encouragement on his part that anger could be transformed into a soaring desire that would burn them both with its flames.

  Caidi exhaled loudly at his pickiness. She knew of no way out of it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like kissing him. She was infuriated by his demands. Lifting her chin, she met his descending lips. She meant to keep the kiss light and quick, just enough of a contact to satisfy his command.

  She hadn’t accounted for Raven’s very active participation in the kiss, the way his hands were kneading her buttocks, lifting her against the hard ridge of his cock. His scent surrounded her, that warm, spicy, pure male essence that always made her want to wrap her legs around him and ride him until they were both exhausted. Anger faded before rising passion. Caidi gave up the fight and returned his kiss eagerly.

  His tongue drove into her mouth in bold aggression as he rocked her hips against him. Caidi’s nimble fingers untied the small strip of leather securing his hair at the nape of his neck. Her hands tangled in his silky hair as she pressed against him. Her breasts were crushed against his chest. She moved her shoulders from side to side, brushing her breasts over the hard planes of his chest. The pressure sent sharp tingles dancing through her.

  It wasn’t enough. Her breasts were swollen and ached for his touch, the feel of his lips around the hard nipples. As much as she enjoyed the sweet ache caused by the friction as he rocked her against him, she hungered for him to touch her clit, for his hard cock to surge deep within her, to fill her.

  “You want me, my chalie,” Raven whispered as he ran his lips down her neck, nibbling on the slender column. “I can smell the sweet scent of your arousal calling to me, even as you try to fight it. You want me now. You want me within you, my cock deep inside of your tight cunt. Without touching you, I know that you are wet and creamy for me, ready and hungry. Tell me that this isn’t true.” The last was delivered in a taunting hiss against her ear.

  Caidi’s eyes closed as she felt warm, slick moisture spill onto her thighs from the arousing imagery, the sound of his voice and the memory of how good it could be between them. His intoxicating scent wrapped around her, heightening her arousal with every breath. She felt Raven lower her to her feet in front of him. She stood in front of him, her hands running over his chest. His hands traveled to the buttons at the front of her dress, unbuttoning it enough to push the dress halfway down her arms, baring her breasts to his hungry gaze and skilled mouth.

  He once again lifted her in his strong arms and took one of the red nipples into his mouth. He shifted her a bit, but Caidi felt no fear, only desire. One of his hands held her up while the other began to play with the neglected breast, tugging at the nipple, cupping its weight in his palm, flicking at the nipple with his thumb.

  Caidi moved against him and made a frustrated sound. It wasn’t enough. She wanted to wrap her legs around him. She wanted to feel his hard length nestled against her, but she couldn’t manage it with the length and narrowness of the skirt of the dress. Goddess, he was pushing her toward madness. In a teasing manner, his teeth scraped over the tip of her nipple as he released it with a light, wet popping sound.

  Caidi groaned and her hands clutched at his hair. With her grip on his hair, she arched her upper body trying to keep those tormenting lips away from the sensitive crests of her breasts. She couldn’t take much more of his teasing without her mind turning to mush. Drawing in a gasping breath, she shuddered as his tongue licked the slope of one breast, down into the valley between and then up the other. She needed him. She needed him deep and hard within her. His unrelenting attentions sent a spike of hunger straight to her pussy. Her clit throbbed, begged for his touch. She needed to feel his weight over her, the warmth of his body and him moving against her.

  “More, Raven,” Caidi ordered on a shaky whisper as she writhed against him. “I need you in me.”

  The feel of her body moving against him caused an ache so fierce that it almost destroyed the last of his control. He couldn’t deny her or himself.

  “You need me no more than I need to be in you, taneen,”
Raven growled, moving her away a little so that he could reach between them to rip at the laces of his breeches and free himself. He gathered the length of her skirt and bunched it around her hips. His cock was hard, aching with the need to sink into her sweet heat.

  The moment her skirt was pulled out of the way Caidi wrapped her legs around his hips. Raven spun and pressed her against the wall. He was desperate to feel the heat of her snug channel wrap around him, the liquid warmth of her desire surround him. Gods, he burned for it. He lifted her and with slow deliberation lowered her onto his cock, gritting his teeth as she sank onto him, taking his length within her cunt. He pressed her against the wall, rocking his hips against her.

  The dual sensations of the cool, hard wall against her back and the warm, solid flesh of her chalon pressing against her fanned the need burning within her. She moaned, arching against him, trying to get away from that cool wall and closer to him. The movement drove his cock deeper.

  The feel of the hard length of his shaft probing so fully within her was almost too much for her. Release lay just out of reach. Everything in her wanted, craved the hot bliss. In the highly charged state of her arousal, his next stroke sent her straight into orgasm. She screamed, arching as he withdrew only to drive hard and deep into her. Focus flared and came apart and dissolved as a scorching orgasm hit her and left her shaking.

  Raven thrust within her. At the first quivers of her pussy, he stopped to feel the tight clench of her clinging inner muscles as they drew at his cock, pulling at him. He loved the clench and pull of her muscles, drawing him deeper into her wet channel.

  He closed his eyes, withdrew from her until only the round head remained inside and surged forward needing to be as deep within her as he could possibly get when he came. His hands gripped her buttocks, pulling her hips to his as he thrust hard and deep within her. His balls slapped against her buttocks with each surge of his hips. He slammed into her, felt her peak again, her nails scoring his back just before he reached his own climax. A harsh groan tore from his throat and his seed spurted hot and deep within her.