LW Browning - Krystile Warriors 01 - Warlord's Honor (18 page)

Claire looked at him over her shoulder. Her eyes were puffy.

"Let me heal you," she offered.

"No, pita, I have this." He washed the wound to discover the skin underneath the blood showed no sign of the wound he had received. He heard her heartbeat speed up. She did not like to see blood. She had seen plenty since he had taken her, and she would see more. He lived in a world of violence and death.

"The wound is healed," he spoke.

Claire made no comment, as if she did not understand. He knew she was somehow responsible even though she did not react.

"Did you heal me?" he asked.

"No," she answered.

"How?" He looked up at her.

Claire shook her head. "I do not know."

Koda sighed.

"You sent me a thought. I felt it in my mind. You warned me of the attack. Did you do that on purpose?"

"Yes," Claire whispered. "I did not know if it would work at that distance."

"It did and it very likely saved my life." He sighed. "Why did you leave me and come back to the tent?"

"It appeared that you had no further need of me. I did not want to be in your way."

"When you are with me, you will stay with me until I tell you to leave or until you ask and receive my permission to go." 

Claire looked over her shoulder at him.

Angry as he was, he kept tight control of himself.

He glanced up at her. "Yes, I am serious. I realize you did not know. Now you do."

"Warlord Leader, I have no wish to stay in close proximity while you mate with others." She lifted her chin.

"I am your mate. I mate with no others. Do not walk away from me again without my permission."

"Then I shall ask permission to leave next time, Warlord Leader." She turned to lay down on her bedroll. 

"Move your pallet back beside mine." Koda said.

She moved her mat beside his, and lay down with her back to him. 

"I do not mean to be harsh, pita, but you cannot run wild. It is my duty to teach you. I want you to feel safe here. Why did you not tell me Ramil killed my parents?"

Claire sighed. "I did not remember – until tonight. Sometimes when I read evil emotions or thoughts, I cannot deal with it. Eventually, all the thoughts and emotions come to me. Some of the darker ones take time."

"I begin to see why so many fear the MX. Any evil a person has ever done can be read or seen by an MX and passed along later to any other person."

"That is part of why we are not supposed to touch people," she whispered.

"I had suspected Veck might be involved. Now I know for certain." Koda’s voice had no inflection.

Claire breathed slower now. A small cry escaped her in the soft darkness when she felt Koda’s arm around her.

He pulled her body close to his and stroked her hair. "Shhh, pita. You are safe. I am here. Close your eyes and sleep now. No harm will come to you this night. I vow it."

He threw a leg over the lower half of her body and placed a kiss in her hair. It was the last thing Claire remembered.

***

M
ardalane and Claire walked through the gathering. Claire saw the female, Pirea, who had pressed herself against Koda the night before. As they walked past, the female said to her friends, "Poor Koda, that is the little foreigner he took for a mate out of pity."

The words hurt, but Claire could make no response. Pirea was right.

"What did I miss?" Mardalane asked.

"That female wants Koda. She is angry at me because he mated with me." Claire tried to control her voice.

"Pirea has always been a troublemaker and she has always been mean," Mardalane said.

"I do not mind if Koda has her, but she wants to humiliate me in front of him. She is right. He mated me because it was his duty."

"No, he cares for you and you love him."
Mardalane smiled.

"I do not know," Claire replied. "I try to please Koda. I try to find my place here and I am intent on survival for myself and the other MX. Survival may be the best thing I can hope for. Is this love or is what I feel just necessary for me to stay alive?"

"Yes, I think you are in love," Mardalane said.

Claire had no answer.

"Oh my, you have it bad." Mardalane laughed. "You have much to learn about the ways of females and males."

Claire felt Koda before she saw him. She pulled Mardalane with her and ran behind a tent.

"Why are we hiding?" Mardalane giggled.

"I am avoiding Koda. He is always angry at me and I am just – I do not know what to do to make him happy."

Mardalane's smile was thoughtful and knowing. "I know some things that will make him happy."

Mardalane led Claire to a bench under a shade tree with very little foot traffic nearby.

"I will tell you of mysterious things, Claire. And someday, you must tell me some mysterious things that you know." Mardalane giggled.

S
he was still awake when Koda lay down beside her in the tent. He pulled her to him and covered her with one of his legs. She turned to face him and placed a sleepy kiss on his chest. He smelled of evergreen trees and exotic spices. His strong arm closed around her as he brushed her hair back from her face. She tilted her face up and kissed him.

He tasted of ale, dark and earthy. She moved her hands down to find his shaft already hard. Claire touched him lightly with her fingertips. She had wanted to touch him for so long. Claire stroked him slowly. He kissed her carefully, as if he were afraid she might break. His tongue teased her lips until she opened them to allow him in. When he pulled back to look at her, she saw surprise on his face and interest.

Claire tentatively kissed his chin before placing little kisses along his jaw. She covered his face and neck with her kisses. It was glorious to touch him. Moving down his body, loving the feel and taste of his skin over those hard muscles, she kissed and licked. She reveled in his strength, his power. She moved lower to caress his body with her mouth.

"You have become bold, pita." His voice was husky in the semi-darkness of the tent.

She froze.

"Do not stop." His voice was rich and husky in the near darkness.

Claire smiled. She kissed his thighs and slowly moved her mouth to his shaft where she nuzzled him and let him feel her hot breath. Her hair wound around his shaft as she moved her hand up and down. When she freed him from her hair, she touched her tongue to taste him. He groaned and throbbed in her hand. His hands were in her hair now as he caressed her hair and touched her face.

Encouraged by the sounds he made and the quickening of his breath, Claire kissed and licked the entire length of him. She was surprised to find wetness. She licked it away before she pressed her lips together and pushed down to take him inside her mouth. His groan made her smile again. She made a noise in her throat and his emotions flowed out to her. Yes, he liked it.

She was enveloped in his scent and his pleasure. It was wonderful to know that she made him feel so good. His emotions guided her while she pleased him. 

She circled the crown with her tongue while she held him inside her mouth. He caressed her hair. All of his strength and power were in her control now. She had never experienced anything like this. It was a perfect sharing of their emotions.

Koda fisted her hair, pulled her mouth off of him. Did she do something wrong? Maybe he did not like it after all. Then she was on her back and he was over her, kissing her neck. When he found the wrap she wore as a gown, one pull of his hand ripped it off leave her naked beneath him. "Open for me." His voice was hoarse with sexual need, low and commanding.

"No..." Images of being held down by Ramil and those....

Koda stopped and rolled to her side.

"I am sorry..." Claire wondered if she could go through with this. She wanted to.

"Shh," he said as he stood up and pulled her to her feet. Koda grabbed the cloak she had worn earlier and led her out to the tree where she went to meditate. He pushed her back to the tree and lifted her up to position her before sinking deep inside while he kissed her neck.

The sound of her "Ohhhhh" as he filled her caused him to clench his teeth as he strained every muscle in an effort to go slow.

She was hot and sweet and ready for him. Her whimper, when he began his slow torment of her senses, strained his control. She wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders and held on tight. He moved slowly until their mutual need overcame them. 

"Pita." His voice in the dark, low and hoarse, made something deep inside her catch fire. She writhed on him.

Her pleasure stirred his most primal instincts. He felt her climax physically as well as through their link. The shared emotions and feelings of their lovemaking left him stunned at the power of their joining.

He continued to move inside her, building her desire again. He lifted her and let her slide down. Over and over, he pushed deep inside her. Each time he filled her was more glorious than the last.

"Look at me," he commanded. "Know who is inside you, pita." He looked into her eyes as he invaded her soft heat again and again. Her eyes glowed violet in the semi-darkness. She clung to his massive shoulders, feeling hard muscles moving beneath the smoothness of his skin. She received his feelings and fed her own back to him. He was amazed at the emotions she felt. She reveled in his erotic thoughts; beat his shoulders with her small fists to encourage him to move faster, harder. He laughed, but did not speed up.

She knew such exquisite pleasure it was almost pain. Claire felt how much he enjoyed being within her, understood what it took for him to go slow when drawing almost completely out of her and then gradually sinking back in. He knew how much she wanted him to fill her, to push faster and harder until she reached the pinnacle she needed. She felt his certainty that they both would find it. He wanted to hold out just a little longer. He made her beg him. Koda plunged into her hard.

Another orgasm ripped through her, tore her apart. Sudden and violent, she gave herself over to him. He kissed her and swallowed her screams of pleasure. At last, her body went limp, but he did not let her rest. He smiled because he felt her orgasm through their bond. Felt it coming and felt what it did to her.

No longer moving slowly, stroking faster now. Deeper and stronger, he stoked her need until it burned out of control like a wildfire. She was helpless to do anything other than want until he was no longer able to hold back. He thrust inside her hard and fast. She rose higher and higher and when her orgasm hit, he felt her ecstasy as her muscles tightened and her back arched.

He reached his own summit then. It felt as if they rode the crest of a wave that flowed through both of them like a raging storm, a force of nature, unstoppable and wonderful. He groaned as he released into her while a scream of pleasure tore from her throat.

It came in waves for her, with all the power of the ocean. She was helpless as the orgasms tore through her soul. Wave after wave hit her while he pumped into her. Her back arched, pushing her core up to meet his powerful thrusts, then she jerked forward in a frenzy of need as she rode another wave of ecstasy. His chest and arms held her in place against the tree while the orgasm ravaged her body and soul. He held her as the last twitch milked him. She whimpered at the feel of it and smiled to know how much he had enjoyed it. 

He kissed her face. With a deep sigh, she looked into his eyes. Every bone in her body had turned to water. He lowered her to the ground when she unwrapped her legs from his waist. She kissed his chest. Her movements languid, she kissed lower. 

He made no effort to stop her. She kissed him as she moved her mouth down his body. On her knees, she darted her pink tongue out to touch him. She licked and kissed, tasting the mix of their essence. She licked him clean, thorough and slow. He groaned as he let her have her way. 

When he could stand it no longer, he tossed the cloak on the ground and pulled her on top of him. He helped her sit astride him and held her hips with his hands. Lifting her up, he slid into her. His hands firmly on her hips, he watched her breasts as she moved. The look on his face made her smile at him. He caressed her and flicked the pads of his thumbs across her hardened nipples. They tighten even as her muscles constricted around him. "I love how sensitive your nipples are, sweet." His voice sent a thrill down her spine and her muscles gripped him again. "Oh, you like that, pita? Tell me what else you like," he whispered to her.

Claire's hair cascaded down and tickled his chest as she leaned forward and kissed him. She buried her face in his beautiful blond hair as she rocked in slow motion on top of him and kissed his neck. She could not get enough of him and he would never tire of her.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Your voice,” she gasped.

He whispered sweet, sexy things to her and smiled when he felt her response. Koda let her go at her own pace until she found the release she sought. The heat of her silken core tightened around him and brought him to another climax. 

She collapsed on his chest while he stroked her hair. Koda eased her off of him and rolled onto her back. He lay beside her and kissed her, took his time kissing every part of her. When he moved between her legs to tongue and kiss her, she thought she would die. Later, when he drove her to another orgasm, she was certain she would not survive it.

When they were both exhausted, Koda wrapped her in the cloak, picked her up and carried her back into the tent. Claire thought that finally they had a bond between them. They shared each other's feelings this time instead of his feeling overwhelming her. Koda kissed the top of her head as they lay in each other's arms.

"What you did with your mouth was very nice, pita. Where did that come from? Did you read it from me?" Koda's voice was a soft whisper.

"Mardalane said you would like it, that it’s part of my job.” Claire yawned, already slipping into sleep.

***

K
oda frowned. Did she think it was her job to pleasure him? Was that what Claire thought she was doing? Koda wanted to be more than her job. He wanted her to need him and want to be with him as much as he wanted her. He sensed that she had resigned herself to her fate here and decided to make the best of it. What he wanted from her was her love and her trust.

She had been doing a good job all her life and now that those she had served decided they no longer wanted her talents, she and all like her would be destroyed.

He loved her and wanted his sexual needs to be more to her than just a job. They had shared tonight. After waiting for so long, she had initiated the sex between them. Did she do that because she thought it was her duty and she was now able to tolerate sex again? Koda was disgusted with himself that he had allowed it. He had thought she was ready for him, wanted to be intimate with him.

Had the little thing been so bold as to use sex as payment for her life? Is that how she saw him? Was he some tyrant who bought her and took her from all she had ever known, lied to her, took her virginity and forced her to be his mate... Did she think the only way to survive was to do her 'job' and pleasure him with sex?

Koda tried to see it from her point of view. She was trying hard to fit in here. Her entire life had been a job. Doing a good job was how she stayed alive.

The ones who had kept Claire isolated and enslaved and then decided to destroy her were uncivilized hypocrites. Koda remembered a saying his father used often. “Hypocrites see only the hypocrisy of others, never their own.” For not the first time or the last, Koda cursed the people who had done this to Claire. And by doing so, he had to curse himself and his own part in it.

***

C
laire finished her morning meditation. Koda and some of his warlords came toward her.

"We have located another MX," Koda said. "I would have you come with us to collect her. You have run out of time to think on it, pita. I would know if you will help when we retrieve her."

"I will help, Warlord Leader. There really is no other choice."

"You always have a choice, pita. You will not regret this one," Koda promised.

There was a tension in Koda’s shoulders. After last night, she expected to see something different when he looked at her. He was all business today. She bit her bottom lip, and followed as they went to the paccar. Koda took her hand.

"We are going to meet some foreigners and take possession of an MX. I do not know how well she has been treated."

They arrived at a small shelter in the woods. After dismounting, they formed a circle.

Dare used one of his many gadgets. "Shields are down," he reported.

Koda regarded Claire. "We will use the Krystiles to travel to the meeting place. You have never traveled in this manner. It is safe. I will be beside you. Trust me."

Claire nodded as Koda removed a light green stone from the leather band he wore on his forearm. He held the stone in his hand while he held Claire with the other. The light began to shimmer so that Claire no longer saw the trees around them. "Look at me." Koda's voice. He shimmered.

Nausea threatened to overwhelm Claire. It stopped as suddenly as it began. They were inside a room. Claire was so queasy it took her a moment to register the shock that their location had changed. Koda pulled her to him to ensure that she stayed on her feet.

"It can disorient, pita. Take deep breaths." Koda's voice again, in front of her. Claire blinked to focus.

The room was luxurious. No one in the Conglomeration could afford real wood but this room had polished wood floors, paneled walls and heavy furniture of a dark wood. A desk and several large wingback chairs filled the space. The chairs here were covered with rich fabrics in deep hues. Calming paintings of blues and greens, mountains and seas, hung on the walls. The room implied understated elegance and wealth. The warlords stood at intervals around the room while Koda sat on a broad leather bench that had no back. 

Claire opened her mind and flinched. She received hostility that had boiled over to become violence. Bitterness, hatred, and greed were the strongest emotions she read. They were close and came from different people. She frowned as she looked around for the source.

"Are you ready to meet the foreigners?" Koda asked.

"Of course, Warlord Leader."

Koda spoke to her. "Whatever happens, remain calm and do not speak."

He nodded to Revi. "Bring them in."

Revi winked at Claire before he opened large double doors. A man dressed in flowing silks entered the room. Claire did not like his eyes. Behind the first man, five more came in dressed like men from her home society. They were large men, though not as large as Koda and his warlords. Their reaction at seeing her hit her senses hard. Dressed in black suits and shades even though they were indoors, Claire read that their purpose was intimidation. Two of them held a chain in their hands. The MX girl stood between them. It was Anna.

She wore green camouflage pants with a button-down camo shirt and combat boots. Her hair was a dark mahogany with bright red highlights. It was difficult to tell beneath the dirt, and bruises, and swelling, but her heart-shaped face showed a chin that was slightly more pointed than Claire's. Her citrine yellow eyes found Claire even though her expression remained impassive.

Claire felt the emotions of the warlords when they saw Anna. Bruises and cuts showed on her pale skin. Underneath the grime, Claire knew there were freckles.

Anna felt the hostility flowing off Koda's warlords. Claire communicated in her mind to assure Anna the rage from the warlords was not for her, but for the men who harmed her. 

Dare sat at a desk with a computer, his shorter blond hair pulled into a queue at his nape. He nodded in answer to Koda's unspoken question.

"Greetings, Warlord Leader Koda," Benson effused. He was a rotund man with a dark swarthy complexion. He had little hair on his head and his small brown eyes darted from person to person around the room.

"Benson," Koda barely inclined his head in greeting to the portly man wearing the silk robe.

"As agreed, we brought the MX," Benson said. His voice was thin and reedy. He let his gaze rest on every person in the room. Claire read him. He wanted to be able to describe them later.

“She is damaged," Koda said.

"She killed two of my men," Benson whined. "I would have killed her, but I had already agreed to bring her to you."

"Was I unclear when I specified that I wanted the MX unharmed?" Koda said. 

Benson blanched. "Her injuries are from a struggle with my men, she was hurt while killing them. I trust you will punish her accordingly, Warlord Leader Koda. Perhaps you can compensate me for the ones she killed."

“I already included a bonus,” Koda spoke flatly.

Claire noticed Benson shrink under Koda’s scrutiny. She thought Benson had almost wet himself before he recovered and picked up the wooden box Ache placed on the desk in front of him. His fingers fumbled when he opened it. The glow from the Krystiles lit his face in an eerie red light when he raised the lid.

Benson's demeanor become self-satisfied, arrogant. Claire read him, his thoughts matched the smirk on his face.

The two males who flanked the MX pulled her with them as they walked forward to hand the chains to Koda's warlords. The warriors stood with arms crossed over their chests.

"Drop the chains." Koda's voice cut through the tension like a sharp knife.

Benson moved his bulk faster than Claire thought possible as he and his men hurried to get away from them. When he was closer to the door, Benson turned back to Koda. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you Warlord Leader Koda. And good luck with these – things."

Claire wondered if the sneer was Benson’s most frequent facial expression.

"Another time, Benson." Koda dismissed him.

Revi closed the heavy doors behind them. "Pity you killed only the two," he said.

Claire removed her gloves as she approached Anna. "Anna."

"Claire." 

"We are safe here," Claire began. "This is Warlord Leader Koda, and some of his warlords."

"Mercenaries," Anna commented. She and Claire clasped hands. The eyes of both females began to glow violet before they closed them. They stood for several minutes while the bruises and cuts on Anna's body appeared on Claire and then disappeared. When the healing was done, they opened their eyes. Anna stood straighter and breathed easier. 

"Dren, get those chains off her," Koda said.

Dren moved forward and stood waiting. Anna held up her delicate wrist. The manacle she wore was huge, the chain attached to it, heavy. "A little overkill," Dren said. "They must have been terrified of you. This will feel warm, but it will not harm you."

Dren pulled a red Krystile from his leather wristband and touched it to the heavy manacle on her wrist. The lock dissolved. The chain fell to the floor with a heavy clank. Dren moved to the other side and waited for Anna to lift her other wrist to him. Once again, after a few seconds of the red Krystile, the metal fell to the floor.

Anna rubbed her wrists and scanned the room and the warlords.

"I am Koda, Warlord Leader. Welcome to your sanctuary."

Anna met Koda's gaze, "I am Anna, MX, thank you for sanctuary, Warlord Leader Koda."

"She is hungry and thirsty," Claire said.

Dren was already holding out a bottle of water, a small loaf of bread, and an apple.

Anna’s hands shook while she took a deep drink of the water. She began to eat the apple as she continued to take in the room. She and Claire made eye contact often.

Koda addressed Anna. "My people are having a meeting of some members of our tribes. It is similar to a fair in your society. You can come back to the meeting with us or you can go to our home with Dren. It is very close to where we are gathering. The choice is yours."

Anna leveled her golden gaze on Koda. "I will go wherever Claire goes."

Koda nodded. "Do you feel well enough to travel now?"

"Yes," Anna replied,. "I can travel now."

Claire took one of Anna's hands. "It is different, their method of travel."

As the warriors closed around them, Koda took Claire's other hand while holding the light green Krystile.

Dren held his hand out to Anna. "We need to hold hands for the travel. It helps with the dizziness."

Anna gave her other hand to Dren. They stood in the center of the circle of warriors. The Kyrstile shimmered light green until nothing else was seen. Claire kept her eyes open to watch Anna.

Then they were back at the shelter in the woods. Claire was unsteady from the trip for only a few moments. Anna recovered soon after and nodded to Claire before she looked at the wooded area and the shed.

"Yeah, these people love camping out," Claire said.

Dren turned his head to hide a smile.

Koda turned to Anna, "Is there anything you need?"

Anna shook her head. "I am fine, thank you. They can see you, out in the open like this."

"They see us no longer," Dare said as he adjusted something on one of his many comlinks. "Shields are up."

"Strange looking horses," Anna said when she saw the mounts.

"Yeah, they uh – they like to travel on these things, but they call them paccar," Claire explained.

With Claire in front of Koda and Anna behind Dren, they started back. It was late morning when they arrived at the Gathering.

"I have some things to attend to," Koda said. "I would have you stay with Anna and Dren."

"Of course, Warlord Leader," Claire answered. Her voice broke. She felt a sudden welling of love for Koda. The barbarian had treated the wounded MX with dignity and compassion. He had saved Anna from horrible abuse and certain death. He had done what he promised her. 

Koda pulled Claire aside and leaned down to whisper to her. "I have one question before I leave."

"Of course, Warlord Leader," Claire said.

"You said you did not fraternize with the other MX, yet you and Anna appear to know each other," Koda said.

That was not a question, Claire thought. Koda missed nothing.

"We were housed together. I knew the other MX by sight though we were not allowed to speak to each other," Claire answered.

Koda took a long moment to digest this. He knew there was more to this story. Claire felt it, yet he and the other warlords left them alone with Dren and Revi. She was going to have to explain to him. Soon.

"If you would like a bath, we have a building for that," Dren spoke.

After Anna soaked off the tension and dirt from her ordeal, Claire handed her a wrap-around dress of a pretty gold color that matched her eyes. 

Claire laughed when Anna struggled to get into the garment. "These people, they um – do not believe in buttons, and although they can travel fast and far with the Krystiles, they prefer camping out and traveling on their paccar."

"Who knew mercenary barbarian warlords were so eccentric?" Anna laughed as they left the bath house.

Claire led Anna to a shade tree. Dren followed them, a little closer than usual.

"Are you always guarded?" Anna asked.

"Yes, always," Claire smiled. 

"Do they protect you or prevent you from escaping?"

"It is difficult to tell," Claire answered with a rueful smile. "Perhaps both, but there is no place to go if I were to escape."

"You avoided a complete answer to Koda when he asked how we knew each other," Anna said.

"Koda is curious about our special abilities. He is worried we might present a danger to his people," Claire said.

"You'll have to explain that to him eventually," Anna said.

"No contractions." Claire reminded her with a smile. She proceeded to share with Anna what she knew of the people here, the society and its customs. In time, Anna shared with Claire how she had escaped with her life, on two separate occasions. They had both been close calls.

"Benson was going to sell me to someone,” Anna said. “His customers were going to kill me. I wondered why he changed his mind about that."

"It must have been Koda," Claire decided. "The Krystiles are much sought after and people will do anything to possess them."

"And Koda controls the Krystiles. Why does Koda want MX?"

Claire shook her head and looked down. "I do not know for sure. He has told me that he wants us to integrate into this society. These people are a mix of several different races and cultures. They have a prophecy. I think he expects us to mate with his warlords."

"Mate with... What? What is your relationship with Koda?" Anna asked.

"Koda has taken me as his mate. They call it claiming. It is similar to marriage although I think I may be some sort of concubine. He calls me 'pita', some sort of endearment."