Courting Kel Read online

  “I…want you to come with me.”

  “I will. When I am certain you are satisfied completely.” For a time, at least. Caressing her clit, he brought her to the edge. Urging the horse to gallop, he took Kel over the precipice to completion. He soon followed but his shaft retained its hardness. Grinning, he anticipated another long, glorious meeting of their juices. The horse stopped so suddenly, he and Kel slid off its back and his shaft popped free.

  “Are you hurt?” Helping her to stand, he saw she wasn’t but her eyes swirled with so many colors, he knew lust held her in its unrelenting grip.

  Looking around, he realized they’d ridden to Honey Springs. Although she’d been eager to fuck many times, he suspected Kel had made the trip earlier that night. Alone. Knowing what the springs had done to him with only a few sips, he prayed he would have stamina enough to please her through the long, lust-filled night.

  “Do you intend to stand there like a stick?” Impatience laced her voice but her eyes told him she suffered in her need.

  “Tell me what you want, Flame,” some devil made him say.

  Her face heated but she ground out, “You. I want your stick in me.”

  “In plain language, Flame.” He stroked her distended nipples, savoring her helpless mewls.

  “I want your cock in my pussy.”

  “Plainer.”

  “Fuck. Me.” She grabbed his neck and used her leg to topple him to the blanket someone had laid on the dirt. Straddling him, she mounted his shaft and rode him to climax. As he watched, she found her clit and stroked it while she pinched one nipple, crying out, joyous pain in her voice as she climaxed again.

  He could take no more. Shoving her to her back, he fucked her hard and fast until their combined juices flooded their thighs. At last he looked down and saw she’d gained a bit of relief from her urgent need to fuck.

  “How much did you drink, Kel?”

  A half smile curving her lips, she said, “A cup. Mmm…maybe two. L-legend says imagining the one you want will…make the fucking sweeter when you are…finally together.” She rushed the last phrase as if thinking was nearly impossible.

  “Was it? Was the fucking sweeter?”

  Opening her eyes she stroked his sweat-drenched forehead. “You are the vainest man I know, Aren. Could I not have dreamed of someone else?”

  “Had you dreamed of anyone else, Flame, I would not be here with you now. You’d have sought that someone else and brought him here.”

  “But you’re the only man I know who wants to fuck me. Can you do so again? Now?”

  “Not yet,” he admitted, withdrawing reluctantly. Glancing around, he spotted a leather drinking bag nearby. “Is that water from the springs?”

  “No.”

  “Then why did you drink from the springs, Kel?” This whole delightful scene proclaimed she’d planned it.

  “Silly man. To see if the legends are true.”

  “You are the one who’s silly. Only couples should drink from Honey Springs.”

  “I know that. Now.” Giggling, she stroked her breasts then glided one hand to her mons. “Are you certain you cannot fuck again?”

  “If you touch yourself, Flame, I’ll not fuck you at all.” Although he would enjoy watch her masturbate, he selfishly wanted her to come on his tongue, his fingers, his shaft. Standing, he retrieved the water bag and poured some of it over her nether lips and curls.

  “Not even with your fingers? With your oh so talented tongue? I love it when you finger-fuck me while you lick and—and suck my clit.”

  If he expected to last the night he knew he should drink from the springs. But he could wait. The restless circles Kel’s hips made alerted him to her rising need.

  “Put your heels on my shoulders, Flame. That will make the face- and finger-fucking even sweeter.”

  She obeyed without a murmur of protest. With her feet on his shoulders, she spread her knees, affording him the glorious sight of her pink-flushed lips and dew-soaked curls. Those lips quivered, then opened as if inviting him to plunder. Her rigid clit begged him to suck it.

  “Hurry, Aren. Please.”

  “One day soon you’ll beg me again, Flame. Without drinking from any bespelled spring, you’ll say the crudest words because you know how hot they make you—and me.”

  “Aren…please.”

  Despite her urgency to fuck, he wanted to give her the greatest pleasure he could. Skimming his fingertips down her neck and over her collarbone made her skin quiver and her eyes darken. Soft moans escaped her lips as she writhed to bring his shaft closer to her cunt. He soothed her with his voice, murmuring sweet, nonsensical sounds that calmed her for seconds at a time. But everywhere he touched or licked or kissed her flesh heated and vibrated with need.

  “Aren, please,” she cried, her voice choked by lust.

  Like a man dying of thirst, he fell upon her and drank her nectar. She climaxed quickly, her entire body shaking. Even knowing her passion came from the Springs, he relished her uninhibited lust. One day he alone would take her to these heights. She climaxed again, her cunt clutching at his tongue. Finding his shaft ready and eager for this sport, he lunged into her and brought her yet another quaking release.

  Smiling up at him, she said, “These Springs might be worth trading for, eh?”

  “I think them too dangerous, Flame. Besides, certain things a man wants to accomplish for himself.”

  “Like mating?

  Realizing his prim and proper princess was returning, Aren took them both to shattering release. Sated, he wondered if he would miss the wanton who had brought him here.

  * * * * *

  Dawn

  “Do you think we should allow their scheming to continue?” Aren asked Kel when she had fully recovered from the Springs.

  “Since their latest scheme involved tricking you, I think you should decide.”

  “Then you have forgiven Basalia?”

  “If the prophecy cloth had stayed on Ondrican I might never have forgiven her. Since it came to us I can no longer deny its powers. When did you discover we had landed on my real homeworld?”

  He shrugged as he kissed her neck, making her tremble. “I had suspicions, but didn’t know for sure until after I went out riding.”

  “Hence the journey around my world. She tricked us—most of all you—which means you should decide her punishment. If this guan— No more swearing, I promise, lest I do it in public.”

  “And why is that suddenly so important to you?” he said, tiptoeing his fingertips up her calf to her thigh.

  “Well…” She brushed his hand away then shifted so they lay face-to-face. “It seems to me that we should make a good impression on the people. My swearing in public might make them think you should have looked farther afield for a…” She shrugged.

  “A wife,” he provided then sighed. “Talk about seeming shortsighted, I should have realized we were actually on Amazonia sooner. You’d told me enough about your lack of technology I should have known.”

  “Storr could have done it all on his own.”

  “Not for the scheme to work. Thanks to Storr having cameras installed on our spacecraft, all of Ondrican saw our landing here. I just wish I had spotted them before we left Ondrican—especially since that likely allowed my father to proclaim he had negotiated a truce between our people. My lack of chains verified his statement that, with our marriage, Amazonia is no longer forbidden to his people.”

  “If you value your head, don’t tell Basalia that bit of news,” Kel advised.

  “I worry more about my personal wealth.”

  Laughing, Kel stood to stretch. “I suppose we could thwart them by insisting on two ceremonies—one here, another on Ondrican.”

  Following her up, Aren took her hand. “Is that what you want, Kel?”

  “It would serve them right if we did. They’d have no reason—”

  “No excuse.”

  “To meet face-to-face.”

  “In truth I want
to see them together,” he admitted.

  “In truth,” she repeated, “so do I.”

  “That would be a fitting beginning. Our marrying on a planet between our two worlds.”

  “Far enough away from both to build the kind of home we want for our children and our people,” Kel added, once again smoothing her hand over her belly.

  Drawing her into his arms, Aren rocked her gently from side to side. “What shall we call it? Our new home, I mean.”

  “Ondrimonia?” she suggested.

  “Amazican?” he countered. Sighing, he tilted her chin to gaze into her eyes. They held a mixture of blues and greens and browns that moved slowly through them. He’d more than enjoyed their fucking the long night through but he loved even more Kel’s quiet acceptance of their future together. Her eyes proclaimed it even though she’d yet to say I love you. “If we marry elsewhere, I will have to break my promise to you, Kel.”

  “What promise, Aren?”

  “To love you here on our wedding day.”

  Looking down, she said, “You threatened to mate me here.”

  “You know what I meant.”

  “How would I know? You said nothing about love, Aren.”

  “The prophecy cloth—”

  “A woman needs the words.”

  “So does a man.”

  Tilting her chin to look into her eyes, he willed her to say the words. She smiled a secret sort of smile that dared him to speak first.

  I can outwait you, love, he thought as he tipped her chin and kissed her, “forever” on his lips.

  She pulled away and he watched her dress. “Did you think to bring me clothes?”

  Mischief swirling in her eyes, she grinned. “Suddenly feeling shy, Aren? I assure you Mother’s warriors have seen a naked man before today.”

  “You said you wanted your women to only imagine me, Kel. But if you wish, I’m willing to show off my personal wealth.”

  Laughing, she tossed the blanket to him.

  * * * * *

  A Week Later

  Two days before the wedding, the parties arrived on the bride and groom’s new world. Storr’s architects and builders had managed to construct several facilities to house rulers and councils and guests. His technicians had set up equipment to transmit the ceremony to both homeworlds. The to-be-wedded couple had yet to settle on a name for their new home but their parents had no qualms about voicing their suggestions at the top of their lungs.

  Taking Kel’s arm, Aren led her away from the milling crowd of workers and arriving guests. “They fight,” he explained to calm Kel’s nerves, “because they want to fuck.”

  “Then find them a room!” Kel snapped.

  Aren kissed her anger-flushed cheek then said, “I believe your Aunt Gracia has put them in adjoining rooms. Without a lock on the connecting door.”

  “Perhaps we should have the door removed altogether.”

  Aren laughed. “I think they’ll manage.”

  “I’d like to see who makes the first move.” As if the idea horrified her, Kel stopped in her tracks. “Oh Aren, promise me there are no vidscreens in our rooms. Any of them. I-I don’t really want to watch them mate.”

  “I promise. I inspected every room myself.”

  “Tak,” she said, exhaling a sigh of relief. “I cannot believe how quickly this all came together.”

  “It is not as if our parents started from bare dirt. Our people—Amazonian women and Ondrican men—have inhabited this planet for many years. That’s why we saw so many houses and farms before we landed.”

  “Is this where…?”

  “Your outcast warriors, their mates and children came when they left Amazonia? Yes.”

  “I wish I’d known.”

  “Why? What would you have done?”

  “Nothing to hinder them!” Hearing the asperity in her own voice, Kel shrugged an apology. “Storr— Your people have done so much, while Basalia and Amazonia have contributed little if anything.”

  “Untrue, Kel. Your women brought their skills as farmers. This planet was not always so lush, nor its fields so fertile. More than feeding their families, they gave their mates serenity and a sense of accomplishment. Of freedom.”

  Storr’s bellow preceded Basalia’s shriek.

  “And we have brought them chaos,” Kel observed, cringing.

  “Pray to heaven that will end tonight.”

  Aren tugged on her hand but Kel refused to move. “What if the people resent us? They have formed their own governments. Established their own businesses. Built homes and roads without help or interference from our parents or us.”

  A smiling couple, holding hands, approached them. The white-haired woman bobbed a curtsy, the gray-haired man bowed. Two pairs of bright blue eyes studied them with delight and welcome.

  “We came here years ago,” the man said in a deep basso.

  “With the promise of having a new queen and king—”

  “King and queen,” the man corrected as if this was a long-standing albeit good-natured argument.

  “To give this world equal standing with Amazonia and Ondrican,” the woman finished, her expression one of loving exasperation.

  “Meaning no disrespect to Ondrican or Amazonia.”

  “No apology—” Kel began.

  “Is needed,” Aren finished.

  The older couple’s grins widened. Apparently finishing a mate’s sentences was a good thing. “Majesties, we welcome you to your new home,” the man said.

  “On behalf of all your people,” the woman added, winking at Kel and Aren.

  “May we know your names?” Kel asked.

  “Merry,” the woman replied.

  “Nicolas,” said the man.

  Aren laughed and stuck out his hand. “Your names remind me of Gavigainm. It is my favorite holiday.”

  “And mine,” Kel replied, offering her hand to Merry. Amidst their overlapping laughter, the couples shook hands.

  “It is our favorite holiday as well,” the older couple said as one.

  “Allow us to show you your new home.”

  “Tak,” Aren and Kel replied, smiling at each other when their voices blended in a single response.

  Merry looped her hand around Aren’s elbow and led the way down a wide path bordered with shade trees.

  “My Amazonian warrior still appreciates a handsome man,” Nicholas said, shaking his head. “By your leave.” He offered his arm to Kel.

  Placing her hand on his, Kel said, “Lead on. And please tell me about yourself and Merry and…” She laughed. “I feel like a fish on dry land.”

  “Merry and I have lived here thirty years. We came after our oldest son was born. He is married and has given us three grandchildren—a boy and two girls. Our daughters—three beauties if I say so myself—remind me of Merry when we were young. Two are mated in Amazonia fashion. The third—” He slanted Kel a wry smile. “Wants to see what life is like on Ondrican and Amazonia before she settles for one man or one planet. I told Merry we should have chosen her name rather than letting her pick her own.”

  “Ondrican fashion, I believe.” From somewhere overhead a songbird trilled, a lovely welcome to her new home.

  “Yes.”

  “What name did she choose for herself?”

  “None as yet. Next summer she’ll select her name. Just now she’s vacillating between Sailor and Traveler.”

  “She sounds determined to have her own way,” Kel observed, squelching a laugh at the girl’s stubbornness and silently approving of it.

  “That she is. Reminds me of Merry when we were young. Determined not to let me leave Amazonia with our son—despite the hardships coming here brought her.”

  “She must love you a lot.”

  “She loves our son a lot.” He chuckled as if the memory were bittersweet. “Chose to come here with me rather than go to Ondrican for The Choosing. She said that was too much like mating rituals on Amazonia and claimed she’d rather stay with the devil she knew.
”

  Kel glanced at Aren as he laughed at something Merry said. Oh yes. The devil she knew was a fine devil indeed.

  “But she grew to love you?” What if Aren never says the words? Can we still build a life together—one like Merry and Nicholas have?

  “Admitted it when she birthed our third son. Admitted it even as she cursed me up, down and sideways for not giving her daughters.”

  “But you have—”

  “Three girls, yes. Seems as if her saying she loved me… Well, the gods blessed us with our daughters.”

  “Six children.” Kel gulped, looking around for any signs of technology. “Have you hospitals?”

  “Yes. And clinics for care until the hospital’s needed. Our first five were born at home. Merrythree… Well, we thought we were too old to have another child.” He shrugged and his smile widened. “A trial at birth, a trial still.”

  “And well loved.” Kel murmured, her free hand on her belly.

  “Well loved, yes.” That goes without saying echoed in his voice.

  Nicolas cleared his throat and pointed ahead. “We had a fine series of arguments about your home. The women argued you’d feel more comfortable in a single-story round house. We men insisted Aren should feel comfortable as well.”

  “You found a way to compromise?”

  “See for yourselves,” Merry and Nicholas said together.

  Aren took Kel’s hand. Walking together, they rounded a curve in the wide path, halting as one when they saw their new home.

  Built of wood and stone and glass, it reminded Kel of the Princesses’ Palace and Aren’s country lodge. It rose four stories without a single angle visible—every corner rounded, which recalled her Amazonian heritage, its height a tribute to Aren’s.

  “It’s—” Aren began.

  “Beautiful,” Kel finished.

  “Tak. We all recalled features from our visits to Basalia’s and Storr’s offices.”

  “We kept most of those confined to your official quarters in town,” Nicolas explained.

  Merry continued. “But rulers are seldom truly off duty so—”

  “We included offices and receiving rooms for each of you here.”

  “And a large receiving room for grand occasions,” Nicholas finished once again, as if his were the final word on the matter.