Page 10 of The Lies of Lena (The Otacian Chronicles #1)

Chapter Nine

H e gently began to pull away, but I wouldn’t have that. I grabbed the sides of his face and pressed my lips onto his again, parting my mouth and then sucking on his bottom lip. He moaned softly, a noise that sent heat throughout my body.

He slid his tongue into my mouth. His sweet taste had me running my hands through his hair as our tongues did delicate circles around one another. Over and over and over again.

It felt like electricity was pooling at my fingertips—like my entire being was buzzing with every stroke of his tongue, every brush of his fingers against my body.

I couldn’t contain my urge to grind up against him, so I rubbed myself against his thigh that had me propped up and groaned with pleasure.

Fuck. This felt so good.

Taking things slowly was probably wise, but I couldn’t think straight. I just wanted him. I wanted to see and feel and kiss every single part of him.

I pulled my left hand out of his hair, trailed it down his chest and perfectly defined abs, and then gripped his hard length, causing him to inhale sharply.

“Lena—” he breathed, then devoured my mouth hungrily.

He was perfect, and the skin on him was so smooth.

I had never been so aroused. I hoped I knew what I was doing. I had never touched a man before, but I did what I thought would feel good for him. I began rotating my hand along his shaft, barely able to grip his size. His moans kept me sliding my pussy against his thigh harder and faster, the friction becoming unbearably pleasant.

He cupped my right breast with a firm grip and circled his thumb against the hardened peak as his lips trailed to my neck, kissing it desperately.

“Fuck, Quill—” I panted. I stroked him faster, and his deep growls against my neck were about to send me over the edge.

I want him in my mouth, inside of me. I never want this to end.

He slowed and began to pull away, and before I could protest, he lifted his hand to my cheek.

We breathed heavily as we stared into each other’s eyes. His pupils were dilated, his eyes half-lidded.

He is perfect. Beautiful. Kind. And he sees me…maybe not that I’m a Mage, but everything else about me. All the good. All the bad.

I ran my thumb against his lips.

And he still wants me despite it.

As he went in to kiss me again, a cracking sound came from beyond the grove of trees surrounding us. Quill quickly turned, immediately on alert. I knew better than not to trust his instincts, and the simple fact became clear.

We weren’t alone.

“What was that?” I whispered.

Quill released me and focused on scanning the forest.

“I’m going to get out. You stay in here for now, understand?” His voice was low, his words spoken in an icy tone I’d never heard from him before.

I nodded as he lifted himself out of the pond. I admired the view of him, just as beautiful as I imagined, but I couldn’t focus on it entirely as fear began to settle over me.

Who is here?

Quill quickly put on his undergarments and pants, not bothering with his shirt, as he unsheathed his sword.

We stayed frozen, scanning the forest, when we heard another crunch, absolutely confirming something was around us. A person? An animal?

Or, as Quill may be thinking, a witch?

“Lena, get out and get dressed. If someone appears, I want you to run.”

“But Quill, I can fight—”

“No,” he snapped. “If I tell you to run, you run.”

I hesitated, then moved to leave the pond when the crunching continued and got louder, freezing me in place.

Footsteps. Multiple of whatever was approaching .

I held my breath as he shifted his body in the direction of the sounds, and three males appeared just beyond some trees. Males we knew.

Those bastards from Serpent’s Cove.

Damnit! This is why you don’t fuck with them!

“Oh, please don’t stop on our account,” the male whom Quill had stared down chimed, his oily, dark hair rustling in the wind. “It seemed like you two were rather enjoying yourselves.”

I felt sick.

How long were they watching us?

“We don’t want any trouble.” Quill gritted, clenching the handle of his sword.

“Really?” The man looked to both of his comrades. “Cause when you stared us down earlier, it sure seemed like you wanted trouble.” They inched in closer to Quill, and I made to move out of the pond to stand by him.

“Stay, Lena,” Quill barked.

I froze, and the men laughed. “You know,” the dark-haired one continued, “you pompous asses from the Inner Ring think you’re so much better than us.” He chuckled. “Well, not above fucking one of us.” His eyes gleamed with desire as he shifted his gaze toward me. “She is rather fuckable, isn’t she?” He grinned, exposing yellow, crooked teeth.

I tensed. These men were pigs.

“If you know what’s best for you, you will leave here immediately.” Quill’s tone was nothing but calm fury.

“Ooh, that sounds like a threat, doesn’t it, boys? ”

The men smirked and drew their weapons. The dark-haired one and the one with a long beard drew swords, and the more petite man wielded a dagger.

“You know what we should do? Drag that bitch from the pond, plow her, and force him to watch.”

Quill’s face paled, his eyes glowing with intense rage. He bared his teeth, and he swung at their leader.

The man fumbled back, angling his sword to a fighting position. “You’ve made a big mistake.”

Quill gave a sinister grin. “We'll see about that.”

Quill attacked in the blink of an eye, his movements smooth and precise, like a true warrior. All three men dived for him at once, Quill dodging their movements until the one with the dagger dragged it across Quill’s chest. I gasped as blood began to flow from the wound.

“Quill!” I cried and went to exit the pond to help.

“Stay put!” he snarled. It took everything in me not to jump out. How could he expect me to sit back and do nothing?

He performed a series of movements, sword clashing against sword until Quill found an opening and impaled the one with a beard in his chest. Blood spurted out of his mouth.

Holy shit.

My breathing staggered, watching Quill withdraw his sword from the man’s chest. The man slumped to the ground, a pool of blood forming underneath him.

“You bastard!” The one with the dagger bellowed and charged once again at Quill, simultaneously as their leader. Quill held up his sword and blocked both of their blows at once, then kicked the legs of the man with the sword out from underneath him. He then twirled his own sword and stabbed the man with the dagger right in his neck, a sickening amount of blood spilling out.

The leader glanced at Quill in fear, which quickly turned to anguish as he raised his sword again.

“When I’m through with you, I’ll make sure she suffers,” he spat, ticking his head towards me.

Quill growled as their swords clashed once more. His chest was still bleeding, but he fought as if nothing were hurt. It was clear just how much Otacian soldier training he had. He moved gracefully, like someone who would quickly ascend the ranks.

The man knocked into Quill, causing him to fumble back, leaving a perfect opening for the man to strike him.

Panicked, I instantly searched around me and found a decent-sized rock. I hurled it for the man’s head, and it made a cracking noise on impact. He gripped his head and cried out in distress, and Quill saw his opportunity and plunged his sword into the man’s back.

He cried out and tumbled to the ground just before the pond, his eyes unfocused as his head fell to the grass.

Blood. There was so much blood.

I panted, my eyes averting to Quill as he stared at the bodies in horror.

As quickly as they had arrived, they were all gone.