Breathing Her Air (5 page)

He laughed. Threw his head back and laughed a full-body laugh that horrified her. “I expected the great island goddess to strike him down when he stormed her temple. I expected the priestess to kill him. I expected the women to put up more of a fight. And I chose you because I thought if ever there was a woman who could hate as I did, it would be you.” He stroked his fingers through her hair. “Such fire burned inside you. I told him that he must assert his dominance and control over the island by taking you on the steps in front of everyone. I told him that you couldn’t possibly be a virgin at your age. And as always he listened and obeyed.”

“He loved you. He trusted you.” The words were a cry of pain from her throat. She remembered that day, that instant on the steps when she thought she had seen regret in his eyes. She and Micah had never discussed it, never talked about that day. Now so much was becoming so clear to her. Perhaps it wasn’t that he had known of
Godar’s
betrayal as he felt unworthy of the love she gave to him so freely. He often told her that he didn’t deserve her and she had just laughed those words off.

“He took my life. He had everything that was denied me.” His fingers tightened their grip in her hair and she cried out at the sudden pain. “And you. You failed me as well. Why couldn’t you hate him like you should have? Why couldn’t you be the one to kill him? Why wasn’t I enough for you?”

“I loved you,” she told him and tears fell like rain from her eyes.
Tears for what was gone, for what had been and for the blood on their hands.
“I loved you from the moment you cleaned me up and carried me inside. I loved your quiet strength and your gentle nature. I loved you and through you learned to love Micah as well.”

He shook his head as if to deny what she said but she wouldn’t let him.

“With every word you shared with me about your brother I fell in love with him as well.”

“No,” he cried, shaking his head fiercely with denial. “I told you all those things so that you would see how weak he was, how he allowed those around him to suffer and die. You should have felt contempt for him. I had him basically rape you in front of all of our people. How do you love a man like that?” He roared this question at her, spittle flying out and coating her face.

“He took my body, claimed me but I never saw it as rape. It seemed to be the way of the warriors. I never thought to see it as anything other than a mating. And no matter how much I wanted to hate him at first, I couldn’t. Your stories opened my eyes and then I began to watch and observe him when he was at the temple. I saw him with his men, his kindness toward the other women and with the island children. And slowly I began to see who Micah was. And I fell in love with him.” She cried out as his fingers tightened further, as his other hand came up to slap her.

“Bitch,” he roared. “How could you love him? Why would you even try? Why wasn’t I enough?”

“I never compared you,
Godar
. I never would have considered it. I loved you both and felt complete because of the two of you. I loved Micah, loved him with all of my heart. He was my heart. But you were my first love, mate of my soul.”

“Mate of your soul. Mate of your heart. How do you separate one from the other? How do you love both without putting one before another?”

“You just do. The women of this island have been doing it for the last twenty-five years.
Since you arrived here.
We have learned to live with our warriors, to love them and accept them into our hearts as well as our bodies.”

“I watched you with him,” he whispered the words, disgust on his face. “Every time he came home and you welcomed him into your bed I watched and hated you both for what you took from me.”

“We took nothing from you,
Godar
. Nothing,” she yelled at him, placing her face close to his. “You were the one who refused to join us in that bed. You were the one who always disappeared while Micah was here.”

“Because you were mine, damn you.
You were mine and I could not tolerate seeing you with him. It disgusted me. It was all I could do not to kill you both as you slept afterwards.”

“I loved you. Micah loved you. Why,
Godar
? Why did you have to kill him? Why?”
Asme
let her hand find purchase as she slid it and the object she now held from the band of her skirt.

“For you.
I did it all for you. Now we can be happy. Now we can be alone, just the two of us.” His hand finally released its death grip on her hair and he began to stroke his fingers through it once again.

“Would you have died for him,
Godar
? If he needed you to protect him, would you have died to save him?”
Asme
searched deep inside his eyes, seeking his soul when he answered the question.

“Never,”
Godar
stated without hesitation. “Why die for him?”

Asme
sighed with a sorrow that shattered her heart and left her empty. “He would have died for you.
Without thought, without hesitation, without question.
He would have died for you. And that is why he was the prince.”

“No,”
Godar
shook his head, not wanting to hear what she said.

“He loved you. I loved you,” she whispered the words just before she pushed him away and plunged the knife she held toward his chest, toward the heart she once treasured.

Chapter Five

Alea
stood just outside the opening of the cavern they had loved in. Morning would be upon them soon but her men were determined to do their own unique ceremony before then. She heard a noise behind her and turned to see
Sorran
coming out to join her followed closely by Drew. They were all still naked and she had to admit that she would gladly stay that way in the presence of her mates for the rest of her life.

“Where is Caspian?” she asked them.

“He guards from just inside the woods. He will ensure that we are not caught unaware during our ceremony,”
Sorran
informed her, coming to stand beside her and taking her hand between both of his. “Are you ready to do this?”

“Yes,” she sighed as he bent to taste her lips with his.

“You know that it won’t be the official ceremony, just a personal one shared between the three of us?” Drew questioned as he came to her other side and took possession of that hand.

“It will be even more beautiful and special for just that reason,” she assured him.

“Good,” Drew murmured before leaning down to take her lips with his and plunging his tongue deep within the cavern of her mouth.

When he finally pulled away from her she asked them the question on her mind. “Do either of you know of the ceremony? Have you ever been to one?”

Sorran
smiled and shared a look with Drew who was also grinning. “We’ve heard of them but none are allowed to attend other than the mates and their families. The ceremonies are conducted by the village elders,”
Sorran
answered her. “There is no need to be nervous, little warrior.”

“Besides,” Drew inserted, “we have our own ceremony planned.” He ran his hand over her cheek, cupping it and lifting her face once more for his kiss.
A soft touch of lips and nothing more.
“I think you will find it pleasurable.”

She smiled at that. So far she had found everything they did to her and with her much more than merely pleasurable. “I will trust you.”

Both men bowed as if her words brought them extreme honor.

“Your trust will never be misplaced, little warrior,”
Sorran
promised.

“We will serve and protect you unto our deaths,” Drew swore.

“And I you,”
Alea
stated, not realizing the effect her words would have on them.

“You are more than we ever hoped for,” Drew smiled at her.

“And far more than we deserve,”
Sorran
stated softly.

Before
Alea
could move or even respond both men fell to their knees before her and bowed their heads down over her feet. She felt their lips on the top of her feet and almost fell to her knees with them.

“I bow at your feet, little warrior, to show you that I will always seek to provide you shelter and a place to rest.”
Sorran
looked up and met her eyes with his.

“I bow at your feet to show you the respect I offer you as both warrior and mate. You will be equal in our eyes in all things.” Drew met her eyes then and
Alea
felt like the luckiest woman on the island as she viewed the growing love in her mates’ eyes.

Both men sat back on their heels and moved their hands up her thighs, spreading her legs gently so that her lush cunt was on full display to their eyes. Drew leaned into her and gently separated her plump folds. Softly he ran his tongue over her, circling her clit and flicking in and out of her opening. He inserted one finger and stroked her from the inside while concentrating his oral stimulation on her clit. Another finger joined the first and he sucked and flicked the bud just a bit harder until he bit down on her. She came with a rush of fluid that he lapped up greedily as if it were the sweetest ambrosia he’d ever tasted.

Her knees felt weak and she thought she might fall but her men kept her steady on her feet. Drew eased her down from the orgasm while
Sorran
used his hands to hold her on her feet. She had one hand braced on his shoulder and the other on Drew’s head. Until they switched places and
Sorran
began to work her pussy with his mouth and fingers. She climbed higher again, her breath coming in small pants as an orgasm rushed toward her once more.
Sorran
used his entire mouth to bring her pleasure, teeth, tongue and lips. His middle finger pumped in and out of her pussy, working faster and deeper with each stroke until she climaxed. Stars burst in front of her eyes and her knees did give out then.

Sorran
caught her around the waist and held her to him. His lips brushed soft kisses across her belly. “From this day forward your pleasure will be my pleasure.”

Drew stood before her and cupped her face with his hands, turning her to him. “From this day forward you will belong to us and we will belong to you.
Body, heart and soul.
Already I feel love for you. Already I feel that my life has new meaning with you in it.”

“I feel the same for you,” she told him before dropping her gaze to
Sorran
.
“For both of you.
How did I get so lucky?”

“We are the lucky ones, little warrior,”
Sorran
said, standing before her.

She felt their cocks hard and thick against her thighs and without thought sank to her knees between them. Her hands reached for them and she reveled in the feel of the soft flesh over the steel erections. How could something so big and hard feel so soft?

“There is no need for you to do anything for us,” Drew said through teeth clenched tight with pleasure.

“I want this. I want to share with you what you shared with me.” And she did. More than anything in the world she wanted to taste her mates on her tongue.

She leaned toward Drew and drew the tip of his erection into her mouth, sucking on it. He caught his breath then released it on a groan as she slowly worked more of him inside. She used her fingers in conjunction with her mouth, moving up and down along his shaft until she found a rhythm that they both seemed to enjoy. Slow and steady she worked him, centering most of her effort on the head and the little groove just underneath that seemed to be most sensitive to her touch. She licked and nipped and sucked, greedy to see the pleasure he had given her reflected in his eyes. She took her other hand from
Sorran’s
cock and moved it to cup Drew’s balls. They tightened further at her touch and when she gave them a gentle squeeze Drew shouted and thrust his hips forward.

Alea
almost choked as his cock pushed deeper than ever before into her mouth. She gripped the shaft tighter in her hand and eased her mouth back so that she could suck hard at the head, flicking her tongue against the small slit centered there. Hot jets of semen burst from him, flooding her mouth with a rich musky taste she had never experienced before. She swallowed as much as she could but there was so much that some slipped from her mouth, coating her chin and fingers.

He used his hands to ease her from his shaft and laughed when she grinned up at him with his cum still on her face and lips. “You honor me, little warrior.”

“I hope to honor you many times more, my warrior,” she informed him, and it was Drew’s turn to grin down at her.

She turned to
Sorran’s
cock and buried her nose in the curls that grew just above it. He smelled wonderful, of the sex they had already shared as well as the desire that he must be feeling again. She used her lips and tongue to bathe his cock, getting every inch of it wet before using her hands to stroke up and down his engorged shaft. She moved her mouth below, wanting to taste his swollen sac, that tender place that housed the seed that would one day find life within her.

Sorran
thrust his hips moving his cock through her tight grip. His hands were in her hair but it was a gentle touch. She moved her mouth from his sac to his cock and laved the tip with her tongue. He tossed his head back, the beautiful silver streaks catching in the first light of the rising sun.

“I’m going to come, little warrior,” he grunted.

She moved her mouth only long enough to say, “Feed me, my warrior. Give me your seed.” Then she took the entire head into her mouth and sucked greedily.

His cry filled the air just as his seed washed across her tongue. Not as thick as Drew’s and with a taste uniquely his own,
Sorran
gave her all he had and still she sucked for more until he tugged her head from his softening shaft.

“That was…”
Sorran
caught his breath, unsure of what to say, so deep was his satisfaction.

“Yes it was,”
Alea
told him and she leaned in to place one last kiss on him.

“On your feet, little warrior,” Drew said as he reached to help her do just that. “It is time to place the mark of the
Xandova
warriors on you. It is time to make you one with us.”

“Yes,” she sighed as she was turned into
Sorran’s
arms. He took her hands in his and wrapped his arms around her so that they were crossed over her chest. Drew picked something up from behind them and she figured he must have placed it there earlier when he first left the cavern to join her.

It was cylindrical in shape and she had noticed it many times hanging from the weapons’ belt of the island warriors.

“This is what you will use to mark me?” she asked with
a calm
that she was surprised to be feeling.

“Yes,”
Sorran
told her. “I am told that it will be a little uncomfortable but it shouldn’t hurt too badly.”

“I’ll be sure to let you know,” she informed him and nodded at Drew.

He knelt before her and placed a soft kiss on her abdomen, on the right side where soon the mark of the
Xandova
would appear. He pulled back and looked up into her eyes before lifting the weapon against her flesh.
Sorran
tightened his hold and
Alea
couldn’t prevent the tightening of the muscles in her stomach.

“With this mark we claim you as our mate, our heart, our beginning and our end. As we provide you with our shelter and protection, so shall you provide
us.
As we give you pleasure and love, so shall you give
us.
From this day forward never shall you walk alone again, but always at our side.” With those words Drew placed the cylinder against her flesh. There was a burning sensation, a tingle along her skin as the mark took form.

“It’s Caspian,” she said with awe as she got her first good look at the mark of the
Xandova
.

“’
Tis
a lion, little warrior, the sign of the
Xandova
,”
Sorran
told her with pride.

“How do you feel?” Drew asked her as he came to his feet in front of her.

“I feel wonderful. I feel alive.” She smiled at him and turned her head to include
Sorran
in the moment before
adding,
“Now it is your turn to bear my mark.” She gave a sharp whistle that more than rivaled her mate’s and within seconds Vulcan’s cry filled the air above them.

“With his beak, huh?”
Drew asked.

“By biting us?”
Sorran
questioned.

“It will be a little uncomfortable,” she told them. “But it shouldn’t hurt too badly.”

“I’ll be sure to let you know,”
Sorran
told her with a grin and
Alea
let her laughter flow freely, feeling alive and happier than she had ever been in her life. Yes, she was already falling in love with her warriors.

* * * * *

The knife found its mark and the force of it jarred up her arm and into her shoulder and neck. Never before had she stabbed with the intent to kill. Never had she desired to spill the blood of another human. She released her grip on the handle of her ritualistic dagger and watched her mate fall to his knees before her. Gone was the man she had fallen in love with. Gone was the man who had loved her. But still a part of her shattered and once again tears fell like rain from her eyes at the unbearable pain this moment brought with it. Both mates gone, leaving her alone for this last walk. One killed by the hand of the other and one dying by her hand. How had life come to this point for her?

She knew the answer to that all too well. Had not her mother, the island priestess, warned her of what the coming of the Guardians would require? The Goddess of Altair would demand her tribute and she would take it in blood. Yet hadn’t enough of her people died? When would enough be enough? For the first time in her life
Asme
found herself questioning her very beliefs, the religious foundation of her entire life. She was, after all, the last blood descendent from the goddess. And as such she knew what she must do, the path she must walk to prepare the final way for the rise of the Mystic.

She took a deep breath and let it out as she knelt beside
Godar
.
If only
, she began to think but quickly pushed such thoughts from her mind.
If only was not an option for her and she had to gather her remaining strength around her to endure what the next few days would hold. She felt the brush of his hand along her arm and glanced down with startled eyes to see
Godar
looking at her. Gone was the madness that had possessed him. Gone was the anger and resentment that must have been growing inside him for a very long time.

Here was the last remnant of the man she had fallen in love with. Here was the
Godar
of her heart and soul. Finally, the man who lay before her dying was the mate she loved.

“I always loved you,” he murmured. “But so did
he
.” He blinked his eyes at her and she gripped his weakening hand tightly between hers. “I brought them here. I helped them to reach our shores and helped them to hide.”

“No,” she shook her head, not wanting to believe any worse of him.

“I wanted to destroy him so badly that I cared little for those who also suffered from my actions.” He smiled sadly at her and as much as she hated to hear his words she knew that he needed to share them with her. “I hoped that if enough of them died, if enough of them lost their mates or daughters or sons, that Micah would crumble and fall. But he never did. He just continued on and fought twice as hard at their sides.”