Dark Paradise (10 page)

She looked down into the face of her attacker, her heartbeat slowing and her anger fading as her amazement grew.

The creature was a girl, partly human with huge, glasslike eyes. They were like bits of green mirror, and Cin could see her own reflection staring back at her. The second thing was her unbelievable speed.

The girl had no expression on her face, and her eyes were completely unreadable. She lay still as a stone, her breathing even, her body relaxed.

“What do you want?” Cin asked her. She gave a quick look around, and her unsurprised gaze landed on Mach, leaning against a slender tree trunk with his huge arms crossed, watching them. He must have heard the commotion and come to check on her. Another point in Mach’s favor that he’d waited to see if she could handle herself with the creature and hadn’t just stepped in to protect her. She looked at the girl. “Are you alone?”

The strange female said nothing, just lay there with her calm glass stare on Cin, waiting. Her hair sprouted from her small head in tangled disarray, various colors competing for attention. Her features were small and delicate, but there was absolutely no fear on her face. She simply waited.

Cin glanced at Mach. “What the hell do I do with her?”

The girl darted her gaze toward Mach but was unable to actually see him until he strode into her field of vision. Then her eyes widened, and she almost succeeded in bucking Cin off her tiny body.

“Hmmm,” Cin said. “She’s afraid of you. Do you know her?”

“No.”

“Well, back off. She’s terrified.”

Mach did as she demanded, and the girl looked once more at Cin. Fearful still, but not as much.

“Do you want food? Can you even understand what I’m saying?”

The girl stared, quiet and strange.

“What do I do with you?”

Nothing.

“I’ll give you food and send you on your way, but if you bother us again, I’ll…” What? What could she do? “I’ll give you to the big man over there. Let him deal with you.”

The girl began struggling again, which told Cin she could definitely understand her. Still, she didn’t speak. She made no vocal sounds at all. No grunts, no moans, no speech.

“Good. You understand me. Do you want to stay with us?”

The girl shook her head no, violently.

“Do you want food?”

Another shake of her head, but less emphatic.

Poor kid, probably lived out here alone, surviving the only way she knew how. Attacking people who crossed the reach.

“Sweetie, that’s dangerous, what you do. Come with us. We’ll take care of you.”

The girl sneered, then spit at Cin.

“Ugh.” Cin stood, and when the girl attempted to follow her, put a booted foot in the middle of her chest. “Not so fast, sister friend. I’m going to load you up with some goods, and then I want you to hightail it out of this area. Got it? I won’t hurt you.” She pointed her chin in Mach’s direction. “Neither will he.”

The girl nodded, slowly.

It was impossible to tell her age, but Cin judged her to be in her late teens, at the most. What was she doing here? Who was she?

“One condition,” Cin told her. “Tell me your name.”

The girl frowned.

“I’m not joking. What’s your name, kid?”

“Elf.”

“Elf?”

“Elf!”

“Elf.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “E-L-I-F. You should go back. There’s danger ahead.”

Cin raised an eyebrow. “Huh. I guess you can speak when you want to. Okay, Elif, come on.” She jumped up and held her hand out to the dirty urchin. “Let’s get you some—”

But as soon as she was free, Elif was gone. Sighing, Cin watched her speed away in a blur of movement. Well, she’d tried.

Mach stood beside her and stroked her hair. “It’s best.”

“I feel like…”

“Yes?”

“I feel like I know her.” She stared in the direction the girl had gone, uneasy. “I don’t think that’s the last time we’ll see little Elif.” She shrugged and moved away from Mach and began to pick up the sticks she’d dropped earlier. “She wants us to turn around, not go through the reach. Or maybe to the post, I don’t know.”

Mach grasped her upper arm and hauled her around to face him. His gaze caressed her face, and then he began running his hands over her. She thought he was being romantic, until he pulled a strip of cloth from his pocket and began wiping blood from her face.

She pushed him away, even though she’d rather have wrapped her arms around his big neck and melted against him. “I’m fine. I’ll get cleaned up after I get this wood back to camp. You
could
help.”

But he must have decided he had more important things to do, because when she looked up to see if he was indeed going to help gather firewood, he was nowhere to be seen. “Fine. Jerk.”

Once more loaded down with kindling, she made her way back to camp. The sun would be gone soon, and the area was already growing darker. Spending the night in the reach was not her idea of fun. Maybe she should have agreed when the men debated on taking the long way to the trading post.

She walked into the clearing with her arms full of sticks and found Mach and Elder stripping.

“What are you two doing?” Not that she minded. She stood and watched them, forgetting that her arms were getting numb.

“We bathe.”

“You do? Where?”

“There’s a lake not far from here,” Elder said, sliding his pants over his hips. He smiled as her gaze automatically lowered to his cock.

She cleared her throat, then busied herself with building a fire before she could get too distracted. “I’m not bathing in front of you.”

“We didn’t expect you to,” Elder replied. “You’re going to stay here and watch camp. Cook dinner. We’ll be back in a little while.”

She opened her mouth to argue, then quickly snapped her head back around to her wood after she caught sight of the two men standing side by side, nude, sexy, and so very irresistible. She wanted them to force her to go with them, and instead they were refusing to even let her.

“I’m not cooking,” she said.

“You haven’t since we’ve been together, sweetheart. It’s your turn. If you want to eat, you’ll cook it this time. When we get back, after dinner…”

His voice became soft before it trailed off, soft with promise. She held her breath, unable to look at them, unable to resist.

“What?”

Elder smiled.

Mach put his hands on his hips, his gaze sharp.

“Well?” she asked, impatient. “What?
What
after dinner?”

Mach ran his hand over his hanging, heavy dick and squeezed it, holding it toward her.

“This,” he said.

It began to harden immediately, and she knelt there with her mouth open, her pussy throbbing.

And before she could remember how to speak, they walked away.

She had the meat roasting and half done when they walked back into camp. The night sky was far overhead, filled with big, bright stars. The moon cast a warm glow, caressing the men’s skin and highlighting their hair.

They were beautiful enough to take her breath. And she could think of little but Mach’s promise. Awkward, she motioned them toward the cooking meat, then turned her back on them as, without bothering to dress, they hunkered down and began to eat.

“Good,” Elder said.

She ignored him and finished what she could. Her stomach was too full of butterflies to hold much food.

And that was just silly. Still, there it was.

After what seemed like hours, she turned toward them and for one panicky minute couldn’t find them. Then she saw them, a few feet from the fire. They lay on a blanket, wrapped in each other’s arms.

Red-hot jealousy raged through her, and she walked toward them. Not jealousy because they touched each other, but jealousy because they seemed to be happy doing it without her.

She didn’t even hesitate. She stomped her way to them, drew back her booted foot, and kicked the first naked ass she came to.

Elder yelped. “Hey! What the hell?”

She said nothing, because she didn’t know what to say. Embarrassed, enraged, disappointed…all these emotions collided inside her, and she simply didn’t know what to say. So she kicked him again.

But suddenly, she did know what to say. “Liars!

They sat up. Mach’s lips twitched and he rubbed his face.

She scoffed. As if he thought he could hide his amusement from her, the bastard.

Elder held out a hand to her. “We wanted you to willingly come to us, darling. That’s all. Come here. Come on.”

She drew back her foot again, but Elder had decided enough was enough. “If you kick me again, I’ll strip you naked and take a switch to your behind. Is that what you want?”

She hesitated, then put a finger to her chin. “Gosh, I don’t know. Do you want me to cut your throat while you sleep?”

“Enough!” Mach reached up and grabbed her arm, yanking her off-balance. She fell half on top of Elder. Mach rearranged her like she was a rag doll, putting her on the ground between him and Elder.

Mach wasn’t one to waste time. He took her hand and placed it on his semierect sex, squeezing her hand lightly. “Play.” Then he lay back, put his forearm over his eyes, and waited.

She almost laughed aloud. He was one strange man, this half Mehnarthi. She bit her lip and began massaging his genitals. She would play.

Elder moved to her feet and pulled off her boots, his hands sure and quick. She watched him as she masturbated Mach, her gaze roaming over his shadowed body, her own body responding immediately to the nude maleness surrounding her.

Mach lowered his arm and made a sound of protest when she stopped touching him in order to get her top off, but his protest became appreciation when she was as naked as he.

He sat up. He ran his hand up her belly and squeezed a breast, then gently rolled her sore nipple between his finger and thumb. “That hurt?”

She swallowed. “Yes.”

He started to pull his hand away, and she grabbed it roughly. “But don’t
stop
!”

His grin was wide and wolfish, his stare so hot she could barely breathe. “Never, Cin.” He thrust his hard cock toward her, and as she took it in her hand once again, he rubbed his rough palm over her distended, sensitive nipples, first one, then the other.

Elder watched for a minute, his eyes glittering, then took her free hand. He didn’t have to tell her what he wanted. She moved her hands over their erections simultaneously, loving the feel of their smooth, soft skin over their rigid, hard cocks.

Mach continued caressing her breasts, and Elder slid his hand up her leg. She let her thighs fall open, shuddering as he lightly ran his fingers over her pussy.

“Good,” she whispered. Hot threads of desire shot through her, and her sex became heavy as all that desire settled between her legs.

Mach stared into her eyes, his gaze scorching hot. “I always want to fuck you, woman.”

She bit her lip. “So what’s stopping you?”

“You’re such an impatient little thing,” Elder said, then took his fingers from between her legs.

“Hey!”

He grinned and slid down until he was lying on his belly, his face between her thighs, his mouth dangerously close to her aching clit.

He darted his tongue out as she watched and jabbed it at her clit, his eyes darkening at her cry of pleasure.

“Wait,” Mach ordered.

“What?” she asked, already half dazed from Elder’s tongue.

“Get on your hands and knees.”

She hadn’t been disappointed by him yet, so she scrambled with embarrassing eagerness to her hands and knees. “Bossy,” she said, breathless.

“You love it,” Elder said.

She could hear the strained humor in his voice as she presented him with her naked ass. “Yeah. So?”

“So shut up.” He grabbed her hips and started licking her clit.

She forgot quickly whatever retort she’d had ready, and it was just as well because Mach was in front of her, his tempting cock hard and huge, waiting for her. He lay on the ground, using his hands for a pillow, thrusting his hips at her.

She lowered her upper body, her ass in the air, her pussy being probed by Elder’s tongue and hoped she could stay sane enough not to bite down on Mach’s erection when she came.

She wasn’t going to make any promises.

From behind her Elder began to lick faster and harder, and she felt him slide a finger inside her as his mouth worked her clit.

She made a strangled sound halfway between a groan and a curse, then gripping Mach’s balls with one hand and the base of his cock with the other, took him into her mouth.

She couldn’t help but writhe against Elder’s mouth, and her own mouth hesitated on Mach’s cock. After the third straight time she stopped sucking him, he finally hooked a hand around the back of her neck and reminded her to move when she forgot.

Elder kept his fingers moving on her but stopped licking her to peer around and watch her sucking Mach. “That’s so fucking sexy,” he murmured.

She lifted her mouth from Mach and gave him a long, slow lick from the base of his cock to the head, where she flicked the beading moisture with her tongue. She was already feverish with lust, but his moans made her hotter.

“Come here,” she whispered to Elder.

She missed his fingers on her pussy but wanted to watch him with Mach even more. She cupped Mach’s huge sac and ran her hand up and down his cock as she waited for Elder to join her.

It didn’t take him long. His eyes were dark with passion and his lips slightly parted, his dick looking almost painfully hard.

She folded her legs under her and smiled at Mach when he opened his eyes, his mouth already opening to protest the neglect. “Be still,” she told him, and leaned forward to put her fingers against his lips.

He bit the tip of her index finger, gently, and watched as Elder settled in beside Cin.

“What do you want?” Elder asked.

She bit her lip and ran her fingers down Mach’s chest, over his hard abdomen, finally grasping his erection once again. “I want you to help me take care of him.”

“I can do that.” He stared down at Mach, his gaze sharp, hot.

Mach began breathing just a little harder. He reached up to caress Cin’s bare breasts, one after the other.