Page 48 of By the Horns (Royal Artifactual Guild #2)

Raising a shaking hand to my brow, I wonder if I can handle this.

How am I possibly going to control myself going in and out of the tunnels every day?

It feels impossible. “I…I…” I lean back against his strong chest, sagging in his arms though the voices continue to whisper in my ears. “Are the others nearby?”

“No. They’re back in the cavern. I can hear them complaining. Why?”

“I need you to finger me and not ask why.”

His breath huffs against my head, even as his grip tightens over my shoulder. His muzzle rubs against my hair. He holds me tight, my back to his front, but he doesn’t let go of me. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, Gwenna.”

“Just call me crazy, then. But I need it.”

Raptor groans, and then one big hand is cupping my breast. The other slides down my waist, and I grab my belt, unfastening it so he can have access.

When his hand slips into my pants, I whimper, even though he hasn’t touched me yet.

It’s because I know relief is coming. My senses are completely distracted, and I’m so ready for his touch.

When his fingers brush over my folds, breath explodes from me.

“Quiet,” he murmurs. “Do you want to call the entire cavern down here?”

I turn my head, biting at the bicep over my shoulder. He palms my breast, then strokes his thumb over my nipple. Then he’s touching my clit, and my knees nearly buckle with the shock of pleasure.

“I’m going to make this quick,” Raptor whispers. “And then when I get you back to the dorm, I’m going to take you somewhere private and fuck you hard so you can scream as loud as you want.”

I moan against his sleeve.

“You like the thought? You want to be stuffed full of my knot, pretty wench?” With quick, skilled circles, he teases my clit and my nipple at the same time as I press against his chest and try not to collapse.

“I haven’t had my mouth on this fat cunt yet, either.

I bet it tastes like the sweetest nectar.

I bet it drips so much honey for me that I’ll have to tongue it all up. ”

As he whispers filthy words into my ear, I come hard and fast, my trousers flooding with my release.

I gasp and wheeze as I bite down on his sleeve, trying to stay silent, even as he gives my aching, quivering pussy one last stroke and then pats my mound like a well-behaved dog.

I don’t know how Raptor manages to get me off so damned quickly every time, but I’m grateful for it.

I relax against him for a moment longer, and then straighten, my senses humming. I buckle my belt again and try to adjust my clothing in the darkness. The ghosts still feel like they’re in the air nearby, but it’s not as oppressive as it was before. It feels manageable.

There’s a sucking sound in the darkness, and I realize Raptor is licking the taste of me off his fingers.

Heat creeps up my face, and my heart flutters at what he said earlier.

That he hasn’t tasted me yet. That he wants to do it when we get back.

By Asteria, I want that as well. I have no idea where we’re going to go so that we can fuck in private, but I’m utterly game.

“Do I need to ask?” Raptor’s voice is amused as it floats through the darkness.

“No. Best if you don’t,” I tell him tartly. “But I’m ready to rejoin the others.”

His hand grasps mine in the dark, and I expect him to put it on his arm. Instead, he lifts it to his lips and kisses my knuckles. “You’re the strangest woman I’ve ever met.”

“I know. I probably seem like a lunatic to you.”

“I also can’t stop thinking about you. If you’re crazed, so am I.”

I smile to myself.

He leads me back to the others. At least, I’m reasonably sure that was the goal.

I follow him in the pitch-black, trusting Raptor to lead me forward.

I can tell even in the dark when the tunnel opens into the cavern, due to the echoes of our footsteps.

There’s the sound of a striker, and a spark in the darkness that illuminates Hemmen’s and Arrod’s faces, with Kipp shooting them a look of pure annoyance from below.

Just as quickly as the spark flares, it goes out again.

“By the bull god’s testicles, you still don’t have the lamp lit?” Raptor’s voice booms so loud in the darkness that I jump. He tucks my hand into his arm, pats it, and then leads me forward. “Here, let me do it.”

“Did you find Gwenna?” Arrod asks.

“I’m right here,” I chime in. “I just needed a moment.”

“If you’re scared, you can hold on to me,” Arrod jokes.

Raptor growls, and there’s a heavy jingle of gear. A scuffle.

“Put me down! I was just joking!”

Raptor snarls. “Apologize.”

“I’m sorry, Gwenna! I’m sorry!”

“It’s all right. He’s just being fussy.” I reach out for Raptor and only encounter his lashing tail. It swats at my hand, and I grab it and hold on to the fuzzy tip. “Can we please light the lamp already?”

Another jingle of gear, and the sound of feet hitting the floor. “Give me the strikers,” Raptor says.

More jingling.

Light flares into the darkness again, and Raptor’s long face is illuminated by the flicker of fire as he adjusts the lamp. He lifts it into the air and gestures at our group. “Go on.”

“Go on, what?” Arrod adjusts his tunic, an indignant expression turning his mouth down.

“Master Jay wants you to find an artifact. Probably should get to it.” Raptor winks at me.

Arrod and Hemmen look at each other. Then at me. Then at Kipp.

“Our sword should probably be in the lead,” I remind them, picking up my pack from where I’d dropped it earlier. “That’s you, isn’t it, Kipp?”

Kipp gives our group a fierce nod and then picks up the loose end of the rope, eyeing me and then Raptor.

Right. We should tether ourselves again. I take it and loop in at my belt, then hold it out to Raptor.

“Want to do me the honors?” he asks, gesturing at the lantern he’s holding aloft.

I put the rope around his waist, and as I do, I notice the raging erection tenting the front of his pants. My face gets hot.

It’s a good thing that it’s so dark in here.

It’s very evident after a while that we have no idea where to begin.

Kipp leads us up and down the tunnel, and we examine our surroundings, searching for the very things that Master Jay told us to hunt for—ruins hidden under moss.

Rock falls. I desperately want to point out the broken column on the lip higher up the wall, but I also don’t want to be the one to call attention to it.

Instead, I deliberately avoid looking there and gamely shoulder my pickaxe and shovel as Kipp points out one spot, and then another.

And we dig.

We hammer at the rock. We look for clues.

Aspeth—er, Sparrow—mentioned to me once that everything from Old Prell has a layer of the salty lichen that preserves it all.

We look for that, but the tunnel here—the practice tunnel—is heavily traveled, and I can see no sign of where an artifact might be hidden. Neither does anyone else.

Raptor refuses to help, too. He holds the lantern and shoots amused looks in our direction. “You four need the experience, not me.”

After what feels like hours, we dig at a spot of crumbling rock until we’ve dug a Kipp-sized hole and find nothing of value. It’s the seventh hole we’ve dug in the last while, and I’m tired and sweaty, and the buzzing from the dead is starting to peck at me again, like a thousand angry birds.

It’s that uncomfortable shiver under my skin that makes me speak up, makes me reckless. “Why don’t we look near the columns? It’s as good a place as any.”

“Why?” Arrod asks.

“Because they’re ruins,” I point out. “Maybe we’ll find something near one of those.”

“It seems obvious, but I agree,” Hemmen says. “We’re not getting anywhere right now. Might as well try the obvious.”

They immediately turn toward a crumbled column near our feet, and I want to scream in frustration.

Instead, I bite my tongue and dig near it alongside them.

When we take a water break, I pretend to scan the cavern and then point out the spot that’s been bothering me all day. “Oh, look. It’s another column.”

Instead of looking over at it, they turn to look at me. “How’d you see that?”

Uh-oh.

“How’d you miss it?” I toss back. I mean, sure, it’s at least twenty handspans up the cavern, near the tall ceiling and practically hidden by a long stalactite drooping from above. But if one looks closely, one can see just a hint of a shelf of rock, and on it, more of the infernal moss.

Raptor holds the lantern higher, frowning. “You must have good eyesight for a human.”

“The best.” I keep my tone casual and flirty. “Besides, there’s a hard corner under all that moss. Don’t tell me that happens naturally in a stone cave.”

“Actually, it does with certain types of rock,” Raptor says, moving past me. His tail flicks my ear, and it feels like a caress more than anything. I rub my earlobe as he strides over to the spot I’ve pointed out and holds the lantern higher. “That’s definitely a column, though. Good eye.”

“Thank you.” I’m glad no one else is questioning my ability. It is rather far up the cave wall.

He turns to look at our group. “Now the question is, how do we get up there?”

That ends up being easier than anyone expected.

Kipp sheathes his sword and adjusts his overlarge, battered shell on his back.

Then he climbs up the wall as nimbly as, well, a lizard.

When he makes it to the top of the shelf, he disappears behind the column and reappears a moment later with something in his hand.

Something that sparkles in the lantern light.

“Aha,” says Arrod, and claps his hands with delight. “Master Jay tried to trick us!”

Kipp crawls down the wall and lands with a triumphant thud. He holds the item aloft, and we all lean in to take a closer look at it.

It’s a cube of some kind, made of metal covered in runes. Raptor takes it in hand and turns it over, and as he does, the sparkle turns to a soft yellow glow, with one set of runes lighting up. As he turns it over again, a different word brightens, this one in pale blue.

“Can you read what it says?” I ask, captivated.

I’ve only been close to true artifacts a few times in my life, but each time I’m utterly fascinated by them.

They’re not meant for common people. They’re the domain of the rich and powerful, and even though the cube looks like nothing but a child’s toy, it feels special. Valuable.

Raptor turns it over again, and the writing becomes a deep pink. “This symbol is the one for ‘mistress,’ like lady of the house. And this one means ‘activate.’?” Arrod reaches over and touches the “activate” rune before anyone can react.

Raptor flinches back as one side of the cube opens…displaying what looks like a tiny pair of metal scissors.

Thank the gods.

He glares at Arrod, then peers inside and makes a humph of amusement. “It’s got a sewing kit in there and a key. Not important stuff, so I imagine that’s why it’s being used for training.”

Hemmen touches the object and the scissors sink back in again, the compartment closing. He flips it and touches the blue symbol, and a tiny hair comb protrudes. “I thought Master Jay said what we were hunting for wasn’t working?”

“Maybe we’re not supposed to fuss with it?” I suggest. “Close it up and let’s just turn the damned thing in.”

We rope together again, and Hemmen takes the artifact, because he insists upon carrying it.

Kipp looks slightly annoyed at being passed over, but he shrugs and takes the lead again.

Arrod complains as we head back to the front of the tunnel that we didn’t get to fight anything, and Raptor explains to him about how you don’t want to fight things in the tunnels if you can help it.

He also says all of this while keeping a hand on the small of my back and making me incredibly aware of his nearness.

By this time, we’ve been in the tunnels long enough that any wet spot on my pants is long dried, and thank goodness for that.

I’m more than relieved to be free of the tunnels once we make our way back to the surface. We untie the rope at our waists, and Hemmen proudly presents our find to our teacher, who’s waiting nearby.

Instead of praising us, however, Master Jay stares at the artifact, and then back at us. “That…that’s not the one I buried. Where did you find that?”

Well, shit.