Chapter 41

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

“ I t was a memory.”

Daris’s eye drifted open, and he stared up at the canvas of his tent. He pulled Terena closer, letting his hand drift down to her thigh and up to her hip, drawing lazy patterns across her fair skin. He’d fallen asleep, sated and at peace for the first time in ages. Terena lay tucked at his side, her soft breaths on his chest. It was nice to fall asleep like this, even nicer to wake up with her snuggled against him.

“What was?” he asked, his voice sleep roughened.

“Your dream of me,” she whispered. Gooseflesh rose on his skin from the movement of her lips. Daris ducked his chin to look at her. She moved her head to meet his gaze.

“Aye.”

The quiet lengthened as she continued to stare at him, and he held her gaze. “Was that the only one you’ve had of us?”

He stared at her a moment more before nodding. “Aye.”

She shifted, her gaze now following the path of her hand as it trailed across his chest, tracing old scars, and then around his nipple. His breath hissed as his nipple hardened, heat coursing slowly down his belly to his groin, and he gripped her hand. He folded his fingers around hers and brought it to his lips .

“If you keep that up, we won’t be getting up for a long while,” he muttered.

Terena stretched up, holding his stare as she straddled him. His face tightened as he dropped his hands to her hips.

“I wasn’t trying to be subtle,” she whispered, and he groaned when she rolled her hips.

The tent flap rustled and Daris bolted up, shielding Terena’s body with his own.

“Messene better be under attack,” Daris shouted when he caught sight of Jason. The younger man’s face heated. He spun around, his back stiff.

“Apologies, Commander,” said Jason. “Captain Athanasi and his men are moving out. He wants a word before he leaves.”

Daris swore under his breath. “Tell him I’ll be there shortly.”

Jason moved to the tent flap and called back, “Good to see you feeling better, Commander.”

Daris waited until the man had gone before looking at Terena. She was staring down at him with a small smile.

“Does ‘shortly’ mean we have time to play, or…”

Daris grinned and settled onto his back. “If you want to play, I will not stop you.”

Terena lost her smile and her eyes glittered as she shifted again and his cock bucked at the friction. He hissed, his grip tightening on her hips when she lifted and moved her hand down to guide him to her entrance.

“I want you to have more dreams about me,” she whispered, her gaze holding him captive until she took him completely. Her head fell back, and she sighed, tightening around him. Daris’s breath came out ragged and he stared up at the beautiful woman who had captured his heart, his soul, his being. His pulse raced when she moved, languid at first, then faster, her breaths coming in quick, short pants as she rolled her hips, taking him deeper.

Daris gritted his teeth, his mind and body consumed by her. His hands slid up to her breasts, cupping the fullness of them as she rode him. When she looked back down at him, her eyes hooded and her mouth open, he was lost. Never in his life had a moment burned itself into his mind so thoroughly as the sight of her taking her pleasure from him.

Heat suffused his skin and he leaned forward, trying to regain control. Hooking a hand over her shoulder, he captured those pretty lips, swallowing her gasp as his tongue slid inside, dueling with hers. Holding her in place as he bucked his hips, grinding harder and harder against her soft wetness, Daris pulled back to stare into her gorgeous eyes.

The wonder he saw in them as she climaxed made him lose the last thread of his composure and he shouted, his own release barreling through him, and he clutched her to him as they shattered.

They stayed like that forever.

Daris felt her body calm, and she melted into him, her arms sliding over his shoulders as she leaned her forehead against his head.

“I’ll dream about you for a lifetime,” he said raggedly, recalling her words from earlier. “A thousand lifetimes.”

She smiled against his head. Pulling back, her eyes searched his face. He wasn’t sure what she saw. Her chin trembled, and she ducked her head.

“Daris,” she said as he lifted her chin to see her eyes. “Promise me something.”

He stared back at her and smiled. “Anything.”

His hand moved to her cheek, pushing back a lock of her sable hair to tuck behind her ear. She licked her lip, and he was mesmerized.

“No more secrets,” she whispered.

Daris’s hand stilled. The vulnerability in her eyes made his stomach fall.

For a long time, he stared back at her, reveling in the feel of her around him, in his arms, a lifelong dream come to life.

Cold slithered through his chest, but he smiled, hoping she wouldn’t see anything other than happiness on his face. The tension in her body faded as she relaxed against him, tightening her arms.

“I promise,” he whispered. “No more secrets.”

And hated himself when she kissed him .

Because of the lie he’d just told her.

They departed the following morning, shortly after dawn. Everyone was in high spirits, laughing and joking as they set off. Daris and the Liodari—Jason, Michael and another man by the name of Fane—leading them out of the city with Terena and the others filing behind. The rest of the Liodari stayed behind to hold the city.

At dusk, they veered off the main road and onto a less travelled path, one Daris said would take them into dense woods where they’d camp for the night. An hour later, Daris called a halt. Terena and Sonah walked off to gather wood for a fire while the others set about caring for the horses or laying out the bedrolls.

After dinner, they conversed by the fire, and Gabriol shared a story from the early days of their journey. How Sonah had dropped the firewood she’d gathered and run screaming when a fox had come darting out of the woods at her. Or the time Gabriol had been showing her how to hold a sword and almost lost a hand when she turned to say something to Croak with the sword still in her hands. Jason offered to show her some basic sword maneuvers, but Rydon had cut him off, letting him know they’d already been teaching her how to handle herself.

“But I would still like to learn all I can,” Sonah said, shooting Rydon a pointed look. He smiled and scratched at his beard. “It’s not every day one gets to learn something from the legendary Liodari.”

Croak began to tease her about the things he thought this particular Liodari wanted to teach her.

Rydon slapped the back of his head.

Terena was grinning when she caught Daris’s eye. He stared back at her for a second before gesturing with his head. She pulled in her lower lip and gave him a quick nod.

“I’ll be right back,” she muttered to no one in particular. The others were still engaged in teasing Sonah or making fun of Croak. Even Fane, new to their group, was laughing and joining in .

Terena walked a few feet away from their camp before she heard the crunch of leaves and twigs behind her. She turned, smiling when she saw Daris. He came close, taking hold of her hand and led her further away, neither of them speaking.

A few minutes later he turned, lifting his hands to either side of her jaw, his thumbs stroking gently as he bent his head to kiss her. Terena sighed, welcoming his lips, hungry for more as he flicked his tongue across her lower lip. She opened her mouth wider and his tongue swooped in, slowly at first, so slowly heat slid down her thighs. She stepped closer, pressing flush against him as she gripped his waist.

“I’ve wanted to do this all day,” he whispered, breaking the kiss to move his lips down her jaw, feathering soft kisses on the underside of her ear to her neck and down to the hollow at her collarbone. She shivered and pressed closer. “I’ve been hard ever since you left my bed yesterday.”

Terena moaned, tipping her head back to give him more access, his thumbs sweeping down to her neck, caressing lightly.

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” she said, her voice breathy. She ached to feel all of him. “Do you—we can’t… can we?”

“What?” he asked as he moved his lips along her jaw, teasing the corner of her lips. He ground his hips into hers and she felt the hard length of him against her belly. She whimpered.

“I want to fuck you,” she said, her face heating with her words, her embarrassment quickly fading as he took her lips again. His kiss was hot, urgent, his tongue deep in her mouth in long, achingly slow strokes.

“Please,” she said when he broke the kiss, her hands on his chest, running over it as she tried to find a way inside his clothes.

“Not here, Ren,” he groaned. She slid her hand down to his breeches, enjoying his hiss of pleasure as she put her hand over his cock. It bucked in her hand and she laughed.

“He says otherwise,” she murmured, biting at his lower lip.

“He always does,” Daris said through gritted teeth as she stroked him through his breeches. He put his hand on her wrist to still her but she kept it there while she traced his lips with her tongue.

“What if?—”

“This is where we all piss, you know,” Croak called out in a loud voice.

Terena started, whipping her head around when she heard others laughing softly. Daris swore, wrapping his arms around her.

Terena was about to tell them to leave them alone when she heard a trickling noise. “Gods! Are you really doing that now?”

“Can’t stop midstream,” Croak yelled. “We started pissing before we heard you two. Thought it was a couple of animals.”

More laughter.

“Guess we were right,” Gabriol said.

“Fucking gods,” Terena hissed. She grabbed Daris’s hand and pulled him behind her as they heard one of his men call out.

“Apologies, Commander.” She thought it might be Fane.

More laughter followed, and Terena fumed. When they were far enough away, Daris reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist, stopping her as he pulled her against him. When she looked up, he had a big grin on his face.

“I don’t know what you think is so funny,” she said, pushing against him.

He tightened his hold and laughed. “It was a little funny.”

She started pushing against him in earnest, but he laughed and bent his head to her neck. He bit her softly and when she stilled he soothed it with soft kisses.

“I promise,” he said between kisses he trailed up her jaw and back to her lips. “The next village we come to tomorrow, we’ll get a room.”

She mumbled under her breath about shitty brothers and he chuckled.

“But,” he said when she’d relaxed against him once more, “I’d like to sleep by you tonight, if that’s all right with you. Watching you from across the fire isn’t good enough.”

Terena melted but threw him a sour look before she turned and started walking back. “Fine.”

His chuckle as he followed her back was his only response.