Page 15

Chapter

Fifteen

T he way Samir’s eyes glittered at her sent a quiver through Abby as she approached his side. His threat of eating her had toppled over the line of suggestiveness straight into lurid and it should have worried her. If she was the huntress that she’d been upon entering the cave, she would have found a way to put some distance between them while he was looking at her like that. Instead, it sent a tingle of warmth through her, betraying her interest, and her lips tipped in amusement at how much the dynamic between them had changed. She wanted to challenge and push him until he did what he threatened. Hadn’t she just been dreaming about the warmth of his body curled over her as he mounted her, his cock plunging into her with all the fire of his passion.

It was so tempting, and she shivered a little from her barely suppressed longing. She needed to get herself under control. Trying to push him into a frenzied mating hadn’t worked so well last time. Thank the gods he had believed her sincerity and came back for her. In any case, despite the lurid nature of his words, he obviously intended that they leave immediately and so waited patiently with the jugs harnessed to him. Abby groaned inwardly. This was liable to be torture. As it was, she bit the inside of her cheek to distract her as she climbed carefully over the jugs and seated herself awkwardly on his back. Her awareness of him was disconcerting.

Thankfully she had another distraction readily available as it seemed that there was nothing arousing or even moderately comfortable being seated on him and she grimaced at her unusual perch. Her legs dangled over his shoulders due to the way that she was forced to sit, which she couldn’t imagine was terribly comfortable for him. Not only was it not the image of high eroticism but it didn’t escape her notice that seated that way put her calves and feet in convenient biting reach. She might have been worried about having them in such a vulnerable position if she wasn’t confident that Samir wasn’t going to harm her. On the other hand, it also put her feet in a convenient striking place, which he had to be aware of as her feet slid into position. A sharp blow to the back of his jaw, if delivered with enough force, could potentially do enough damage to give her the upper hand if she was of mind to. Sitting that way demanded a lot of trust from both of them.

Gods, it was a good thing they hadn’t run out of water earlier.

Still, she couldn’t help but be a little annoyed that he didn’t give her legs more than the briefest of passing glances when they were right there in optimal viewing level. She had great legs, too, so it stung that he barely seemed to notice them. The way he looked at them didn’t hold even a hint of desire. They might as well have been two sticks attached to her with how little interest he gave them. There was nothing in his expression except mild curiosity and assurance that she was properly seated on his back as he requested before he started off at a startlingly brisk pace that had her tightly gripping his mane to maintain her balance.

Samir had an easy, springy lope as he left his den and wound his way quickly through the cavernous chambers of the cave system. Very quickly. Her lips twisted in a faint grimace, recollecting how quickly she’d been caught when she had tried to escape, but she bit back a small giggle of amusement in spite of herself. She didn’t know what the king was thinking by sending hunters after him. Anyone who had truly seen him in motion had to have reported back the superior speed of the manticore. Decort was just throwing hunters after him, wasting lives needlessly. Abby certainly couldn’t blame Samir for lethally defending himself. There was rarely any other recourse to stop a hunter, as much as it pained her to admit it. What would she do if her own family was sent after him? Could she watch them be slaughtered? And if by some miracle they got the upper hand, could she sit by while they killed him? She knew that they wouldn’t stop, not even for her. Duty came before blood, and even before love. That was what she was bred and raised to believe, too, but it was impossible to go back to that now. If she’d ever truly believed that in the first place.

Looking back, it was hard to make a judgement on it, except she recalled all too vividly the look of worry on her mother’s face and the insistence of finding her a partner to anchor her. Perhaps her mother had seen it and had known the truth even back then regarding Abby’s heart.

She wanted to vent her frustration and pour out her words, but Samir wouldn’t understand. Even if he could comprehend the strange position she was in having been raised as a huntress, he had already ascended from the cave and struck out across the desert at a speed that had the air whipping into her face and past her ears. It was impossible to speak much less hear, so Abby leaned forward, despite the uncomfortable angle, and buried her face in Samir’s mane. His scent filled her nose, and she breathed in the spicy warmth, allowing it to settle deep within her, warming from the inside out as the desert air began to rapidly cool.

With her face concealed, she didn’t know how much distance he covered, or really for how long he had run. She felt the slowing of his gate as his shoulders began to roll more pronouncedly, losing their fluid stretch as his pace slowed. Abby lifted her head from his mane and blinked the sand from her eyes as a green frond tickled her nose the moment the sand yielded to the green growth of the oasis. And it was… glorious.

The heat of the sun was cut by the palm trees stretching out their massive fronds overhead and everywhere she looked. Among the trees she saw those heavily laden with dates and fig bushes were visible within the near distance, their branches nearly bowing the weight of the fruit. There was so much potential there alone that she licked her dry lips and glanced down at the top of Samir’s head.

“If we stay for a few days, we can dry those dates and figs to bring back with us,” she suggested.

Samir’s mane swayed as he shook his head. “We did not bring any sacks to transport them back and they will mold if we try to fill one of the water jugs with them. Eat your fill while we are here, kitten. We can return another time, properly equipped, to do as you suggest.”

Her mouth downturned in disappointment but she couldn’t argue against his logic. She squinted at a nearby tree and sighed longingly.

“I think I see an olive tree, too, but I believe that this would be the wrong time of the year for them. But then again, I’m surprised to see ripe figs when it is far too late in the season for them,” she observed aloud.

“Not for the desert,” Samir gently corrected. “This is the beginning of the fig season. You will see different bushes full of ripening fruit for a few months yet.”

“Oh,” Abby murmured. “You know outside of dried preserves, I know how to make a good jam from the figs, and we can have them sugared and baked in a dessert, and?—”

“I shall leave it to you,” he interrupted with a chuckle. “Just point me in the direction to assist next time we arrive, and I will help however you require.”

“You are nearly perfect boyfriend material,” Abby teased. “You know exactly the right thing to say and are eager to take directions.”

Oh gods, did it sound like she was flirting with him? She bit her lip as heat filled her face, and it only seemed to get worse—but for entirely different reasons—when Samir purred as if in agreement.

“Do not go quiet now,” Samir rumbled playfully. “But as for your olives, you may get lucky. Some varieties ripen as late as into the beginning of the winter. Just be glad that you were not sent to murder me in the midst of the summer. You would not be able to enjoy such plentitude from the oasis then. At least not of these fruits.”

“I think you would not have needed to worry about anything in that case. The heat would have surely done me before I even got to your cave,” she joked lamely.

“Then I am doubly fortunate that you arrived to me in this time,” he purred, and Abby smiled privately as warmth filled her chest with pleasure.

“You may regret that when you see me making a pig out of myself,” she returned. “You have no idea what a glutton I can be.”

“I look forward to feeding you then.”

His words fell between them like a vow and Abby fidgeted, her fingers twisting within his mane. She didn’t know what to say to that, but apparently, he did not expect a response because he said nothing further as he made his way among the trees, bushes, and tall grasses that sprouted from the sand. The route to the fresh water took them within such close range of the figs that branches hung within their path, giving all the opportunity she needed to pull a couple fruits free in passing. Pinching the bottoms to break open the skin, she peeled it back to slurp up the soft, sweet innards. She ate them slowly, savoring each bite as she watched the blue water get closer and closer until finally Samir lowered himself onto the grassy banks and waited patiently for her to swing her legs over and slide off his back.

Grass and sand shifted slightly under foot, but she found her balance quickly and turned to pull the water jugs from Samir’s harness. Murmuring his thanks, the manticore freed himself with a groan and slowly stretched out his back as she peeled the harness off him.

“My thanks, kitten,” he groaned. “This is always such a chore to do by oneself. I am grateful for the assistance.”

Abby grimaced sympathetically. “I can imagine. You are at least more limber than I am, but it still looks like it would require a lot of awkward—and very careful twisting, especially once the jugs are full.”

“Indeed,” Samir agreed with a faint grin, and he collapsed leisurely in the grass. She went to pick up one of the jugs to fill it, but he waved her off. “There is no hurry. I will need to rest a while before attempting the return. Swim and refresh yourself for a while if you like. We can fill the jugs at the spring head just over there here in a little while.”

Sounded like a good plan to her. Without a word she began to strip and toss her clothing to the ground at her side. A strained look rose to Samir’s face, but he didn’t object. In fact, he appeared to be trying to ignore her. She smirked, unable to resist getting a rise out of him, so she slowed down and accentuated every movement until every muscle in his body was rigid. His control was really remarkable. Giving him one last sassy smile, she spun away with a little bounce that drew a strangled moan from her audience of one and she headed down to the water’s edge, walking with a bit more jiggle than was necessary.

Dipping her foot into the water, she recoiled with a screech. “Oh my gods, cold, cold, cold!” she yelped. “We are in the middle of a desert, how is it so damned cold?”

“The pool is constantly being fed by a cold spring that runs underground, before erupting from between the rocks over there,” Samir replied drolly from where he was stretched out on the grass. “You complain overmuch. It should feel pleasant against the heat of the evening.”

Abby gave him a dark look, but he smiled guilelessly as his tail curled at her.

“Of course, if it is too much, you are welcome to stretch out here beside me,” he purred.

A quiver shot through her belly. It was so tempting and yet, the desire to finally be completely cool and clean was strong and eventually won. Hardening her jaw against the anticipated shock of the cold water touching her skin, Abby splashed abruptly into it and waded in to about waist-deep before turning to look back at the manticore. His eyes glowed in the early morning light. Now that she was in the pool, the cold water was beginning to feel good on her stiff muscles and overheated flesh, and she moaned softly as her muscles gradually relaxed under the influence of the cold water. She sank slowly into the water, pausing for a moment as she released the softest of gasps when the water teased the sensitive flesh of her nipples. Samir’s ears tipped toward her and his gaze fixed on her chest. She smiled and sank further until her chest was below the surface, her hair fanning out in the water around her.

“Feel good?” Samir rumbled.

“Very. Why don’t you come in? Don’t you swim?”

“I can when the occasion calls for it,” he replied to her taunt.

“Then come swim with me,” she cajoled and proceeded to splash a little water in his direction.

His ears twitched at her, his scorpion tail curling in itself slowly as he regarded her. Was he considering? Perhaps he needed a push in the right direction. She didn’t want him safely on the outside watching her in a detached fashion. She wanted him there with her, in the water, splashing and playing—intimately connecting with her rather than being so restrained and aloof. She wanted another glimpse of the real Samir, and she was so certain that the moments of playfulness from the male hinted at something that there was a whole lot more of just beneath the surface.

“Come on,” she called again and finally, with a faint smile curling the corners of his mouth, Samir rose and rushed into the water with a growl that had her shrieking as she backpedaled through the water.

His thick mane flattened ludicrously to his head and neck, giving his face a slightly more pronounced feline appearance as more of its natural shape was revealed. Even with his fur plastered and sodden, Abby thought he was the most beautiful male as he splashed toward her. His playful snarl sent a tingle of awareness through as he lunged, and she gasped with laughter as she made a valiant attempt to escape. It seemed that he was just as quick in the water as he was on land, though because his long tail lashed the water as he propelled himself to her so that he was able to scoop her up effortlessly in his arms.

Abby choked a little on the water that splashed up into her face as she shouted her accusations. “No fair! I call foul on that damned rudder attached to your ass!”

Samir’s roar of laughter made her grin as a crazy giggle escaped her and then she screamed again, this time with laughter as he dropped backward with Abby firmly in his arms, plunging them both into the cold water. Their bodies sensually grazed each other as they twisted in the water and Abby shivered at the flex of his pelvis against hers. The contact was brief, however, before he shifted away and his big hands pulled her quickly back to the surface.

Abby broke the water sputtering, but she didn’t give up, instead she threw her weight as she jumped on him, dunking him into the water. On and on the play, wrestling in the water. She managed to break free, by fair means or foul, and swam away a few times but he always quickly caught her. They played until they grew too tired to play and dragged themselves back up onto the grass embankment where they sprawled.

She had to hand it to Samir. Not only was he stronger and faster, but he recovered quicker too, which presented some interesting possibilities that she was curious to explore. Abby kept such thoughts to herself, however, as she rolled onto her side, her eyes following the manticore as he began to pull down large fronds.

“What are you doing?” she called over to him.

“Saving you from sun sickness,” he replied with a surprising amount of enthusiasm, his tail curling and swishing as he worked.

She watched him curiously, but her confusion melted away when the rough form of a lean-to began to take form. He was making shelter for her. She had made her own shelters since she was eight years old, as required by her father for her first lessons of hunter training. A hunter ultimately could only depend on themselves. That had been the hardest lesson that he made sure she had understood from a young age to the point where any coddling at all by those trying to gain her attention had felt like personal insults toward her capabilities as a hunter. From Samir, it just felt different. He wasn’t coddling her. He wasn’t making her a shelter because he believed that his performative actions would endear him to some primitive female need to be taken care of rather than fend for herself as a means to woo her. No, Samir was just made differently. He made her the shelter merely because he wished for her comfort. And that was seductive to her, right down to rolling and piling fronds and thick leaves inside to make for a comfortable bed.

Even his smile when he finally stepped back, satisfied with his work, was infectious and she found herself returning to it as he hurried back to her and helped her to her feet.

“Come rest in here,” he purred. “You tire more easily than I so allow me to provide for you. The olives are not good to eat directly from the trees as they require soaking for many months in brine to cure them but remain here and I will provide for you a small feast so that you can sufficiently recover from the day’s exertion.”

Abby crawled into the lean-to and sank down onto the cool leaf beds with a small, content sigh. It seemed that Samir was intent on spoiling her, after all. Her eyes fluttered closed for a while but she awoke briefly to the smell of cooking food to find the manticore crouched just beyond their shelter, roasting some unidentifiable beast he had caught over an open flame. Piled on leaves there were figs, some sort of large orange fruit, and dates. He peered over in her direction and, seeing that she was awake, pushed the leaves toward her with a shy smile. She happily picked at the fruit, eating it as she watched him cook. She was proud to say that no matter how much she wanted to devour all the fruit in front of her, she didn’t make a complete glutton of herself. She picked at it slowly, sharing bites of the fruit with him as he turned the spitted meat. It was only when the sun was rising higher in the sky that he finally finished and removed the meat from the bone to pile it on the leaf that he carried inside with him.

“I really shouldn’t eat too much,” she said quietly. “If I do, I will get sleepy, and we still need to fill the water jugs.”

“Already taken care of,” he rasped quietly. “You were very tired. I have not only filled the water jugs—which was no effort at all—but also hunted plenty of beasts to keep us stocked on meat for a few weeks. It is being smoked as we speak some distance away on the sand.”

Abby frowned at that. “You needn’t have done all that by yourself. What else am I here for?”

“You are here as my hostage, remember?” he rasped with a quiet chuckle that brought a smile to her lips.

“So, you are saying I should just lay back and enjoy it like a queen?” she teased.

“Certainly. Enjoy it while you can. I will work you hard in the future,” he replied, his eyes gleaming with his amusement. “For today, because necessity dictated your unwilling presence, you are the queen of this oasis.”

“Okay, I accept, though I cannot claim that this is a bad deal for me.” It was only fair to warn him that she had been far from reluctant since arriving.

“It is not a bad deal for me, either,” he rumbled enticingly as he squeezed himself into the shelter with her, their bodies intimately close. “Would it frighten you to say that I have enjoyed today?”

“Oh, I’m absolutely terrified,” she breathed. “Now queen me.”

Samir grinned as he lifted a piece of meat to her lips, and she nearly moaned at the rich, juicy aroma that wafted up from it. She opened her mouth, and he slipped it tantalizing over her tongue. They both moaned in unison and Abby lifted a bite of meat to his mouth. Surprise flashed in his eyes, and she smiled.

“A small token for my knight,” she murmured and then shivered as his tongue slipped of her fingers, and he took her gift.

They ate their small feast, feeding each other little bites until nothing remained. And afterward, when Abby was lying on her back with one hunger satiated and more than a little aroused, Samir curled toward her, his bright eyes gleaming with an internal fire. He held her gaze as his head dipped as he slowly drew down the length of her body until he was crouched at her feet. He rubbed her feet and then calves and thighs, giving her true royal treatment as he eased the tension from her muscles while taking care to keep his claws sheathed. Though her muscles eased beneath his ministrations, her belly tightened as hot arousal slipped from her cunt to paint her thighs.

Samir paused, his hands massaging her hips and his nostrils flared. He met her eyes questioningly and Abby replied by spreading her thighs. Hunger brightened his gaze, and his tongue stroked along the inside of her thigh, its silky soft length that bore the texture of neither a cat nor a man, gathered up her arousal in long strokes. He licked one thigh and then the other before sealing his mouth over the core of her pleasure. His tongue bathed her and began to press into her, filling her with its girth as his humanoid mouth closed over her folds and sucked eagerly. Her hips rolled with his strokes, her body arching with the need as the heat of her climax consumed her. Pleasure rose and broke within her repeatedly as she offered her body’s nectar to the male that greedily drank it down until she was limp and weak from pleasure. She barely had the energy to twitch anymore by the time Samir pulled away with a deep chuckle.

Through exhaustion and her lust-fog, she stared up at him as he wound himself around her, curling his body around her snuggly so that his back faced the sun, casting the whole interior in shadow.

“Rest now,” he murmured with a yawn.

Abby peered into his shadowed face, her brow puckering. “What about you? Don’t you need to… you know?”

Another raspy chuckle rumbled from him, and he nuzzled his cheek affectionately against the top of her head, drawing her forward so that her head rested on his broad chest just above the powerful beat of his heart.

“Unnecessary,” he quietly replied. “This was only for you, my queen.”

A smile drifted over Abby’s lips as she drifted into the best sleep of her life.