Warden (Elemental Paladins Book 1) (18 page)

With nothing intelligent left to say, she simply twittered another, “Oh, my!” as she battered her lashes once again.

“You said that already!” The snarl from Ryker rudely interrupted Max’s in-brain movie of herself in a sweaty triplet sandwich. She shoved him with her shoulder not even sparing him a glance as she spoke to the trio.

“Don’t mind him. He has some kind of brain disorder that I haven’t quite figured out yet.”

The choking gasp from Ryker could be heard over the several loud snickers and chuckles. Max rolled her eyes, “See what I mean?”

Clenching his jaw, he rumbled, “Would you please try to contain yourself? It’s embarrassing!”

“Who’s embarrassed? I’m not embarrassed. You guys embarrassed?” She asked the triplets and received three vigorous head shakes. She turned to Caspian, “Yo, Cas. You embarrassed?”

“No ma’am,” he replied swiftly, “you could very well live out a favourite fantasy of mine if you continue down this path.”

Lawson gave him a playful swat to the rump, “Watch yourself, brat.”

Max smiled, those two were so cute! She tucked her unruly hair behind her ears and stood a little straighter, causing her breasts to push against her tee shirt. Good posture was very important. It was times like these that she wished she had some nicer and newer clothes, maybe a little make-up or hair product. And wow, was she really standing here lamenting over her lack of feminine wiles? She had truly hit rock bottom but what was a girl supposed to think when she was a frumpy dwarf surrounded by a bunch of beautiful amazons? She was so out of her league, but if Ryker and the others didn’t want her then she would damn well prove that somebody else did. The three hotties in front of her were a good place to start.

“How about I buy you boys a drink?”

The middle one, Kai, smiled. “Drinks are free here.”

Max grinned back, “Even better.”

A giant shadow seemed to suddenly block out all the light in the room. Max craned her head back, back, back, only to see a scowling Ryker directly behind her, his oversize head obstructing the above light. Max could tell by the look in those yummy eyes of his that he was going to ruin all her fun.

He flicked his eyes forward. “Go away now.” Just three little words but it was enough to bring about a flurry of movement. Although Ryker insisted they weren’t the most respected paladins in the room, it looked like they were the most feared for everyone scattered including the three pretties.

“That was not appropriate behaviour.” He intoned.

Max spun around and poked a finger into his hard chest, “Are you kidding? Those three are my reward for being a lone wolf all these years! I totally deserve them! You can’t have them!” Max yelled a little hysterically at seeing her new toys slip through her fingers.

Ryker rolled his eyes, completely unmoved. “You’re being ridiculous. You can’t keep them.”

“Actually, she can. Isn’t that the whole point of coming here today? So she could be introduced to unbound paladins and find those who would share their vitality?” Cali inquired.

“It’s not going to be them.” Ryker stated.

Cali placed her hand on a slim hip, “And why is that?”

“Cali …” Ryker’s low voice held a warning that she was pushing him past his limits.

“Ryker …” Wow, Cali had a pretty impressive growl of her own.

“That’s it. Show and tell is over. We’re leaving.” Ryker actually grabbed Max by the arm and began dragging her from the room. She managed to throw a ‘nice to meet you’ over her shoulder at Caspian before she found herself outside once again.

“Hey! Wait a minute Bullwinkle. You can’t just drag me around like a piece of meat. I heard you lecturing the pretties about respect, how about you start showing some?” Max demanded, hands on hips. The others had followed them out and she noticed they were standing around her in various poses of displeasure. Looks like they were on her side for once.

“Ryker man, she’s right. You can’t be treating a warden that way, especially not in front of the other paladins. It undermines her authority.” Beyden said.

Lark quickly followed up with; “And as a warden – a Life Warden nonetheless – her authority is absolute.”

Max tried not to look smug. It was nice to have defenders. Ryker ran his hands through his hair in exasperation as he appeared to take on board the criticism. She had to give him that at least; he always listened to his fellow knights and weighed and measured their opinions before forming a conclusion of his own. She bet he would have made a formidable Captain.

“You’re right. I apologise.”

Max nearly fell over. “Was that an apology? I don’t believe it.” She turned to a stunned looking Darius, “Can we stop at a newsagent on the way back? I need to buy a lottery ticket.”

“Yeah, yeah. Live it up while you can. I am sorry. I had no right to manhandle you but those three are not what I had in mind when I said you needed to bind yourself to your own paladins.”

“Heck, Ryker. I didn’t want to bind myself to Kane … I just wanted to sit on his face.”

Could someone go into a catatonic state while standing up? Because that’s what Ryker seemed to do. He was standing so still she wasn’t even sure he was breathing, he was no longer blinking, and his face looked like it was carved from granite. Max glanced around at the other paladins and saw various looks of astonishment on their faces; Darius was blushing, Axel was grinning seductively as if he was picturing Max on
his
face, Beyden’s amber eyes were wide in disbelief, Lark was laughing uproariously, and Cali was giving her a thumbs up sign. Clearly they weren’t quite used to her yet. Too bad they didn’t want to take the time to try, she thought, feeling dejected once again.

NINETEEN

She wanted to sit on his face?
She wanted to sit on his face?
Two hours later, Ryker was pacing the length of his room as his brain tried to compute Max’s outrageous statement from earlier. He had been absolutely livid when he had heard her refer to the other paladin in such a way. He wanted to hunt the triplets down and mess up their pretty-boy faces so no female would ever be attracted to them again. After the green-eyed monster had calmed the fuck down, his one-eyed monster had decided to chime in with nothing but images of a naked, writhing Max. He wanted her to sit on
his
face.

After the tension-filled drive back to camp, everyone had separated to do their own thing. Ryker didn’t know where Max had disappeared to, she had been studiously ignoring him the whole ride back, which was just as well for her. One more word out of that smart mouth of hers and he was liable to turn her over his knee and give her the spanking she so obviously needed. He groaned and pressed the palm of his hand against his straining erection – that imagery was so not helping. He had already undone the button on his jeans as a concession to his hardness and stripped off shirt and shoes in an attempt to cool his overheated skin. His lust had been on a slow simmer since she had first walked through the door sixteen days ago but he was now at boiling point. It was taking all of his iron-willed control not to seek out the woman and throw her over his shoulder, cave-man style. Maybe if he pounded his frustrations out on a punching bag, his body might deflate enough to allow him some sleep.

Although not the type of pounding his idiotic cock wanted, he decided to head down to the gym anyway, that was until he opened up his bedroom door and saw the object of his unanswered lust standing on the threshold. One look at the stubborn tilt to her chin and the flashing fire in those strange eyes of hers and all reason flew out the window.

“The only person you’re going to be sitting on is me!” Okay, so that was totally
not
what he was intending to say but damned if he would take it back.

****

Max had been standing outside Ryker’s door for over five minutes rehearsing the butt-chewing she intended to unleash on his unsuspecting arse. Who the hell did he think he was? He didn’t want her but he didn’t want anybody else to have her either?
So
not cool! Raising her fist to knock curtly, she almost swallowed her tongue when a half-naked Ryker opened the door. He was wearing a pair of unbuttoned jeans … and nothing else save those two little silver bars through his tanned nipples.

“The only person you’re going to be sitting on is me!”

Say what now? Had he just said …? His hungry brown eyes were all the confirmation she needed. She had a split second to make her decision and considered her choice made when she stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her. Apparently that was all Ryker needed as well as he began to stalk forward. Max swallowed hard as she took in his predatory grace. The man moved like a jungle cat, all muscle and sinew bunching and flexing in an erotic display of power. He was all muscle, not an ounce of fat on him and she found herself surprised at his leanness. She thought he might be bulky, but he was more smooth lines. She licked her lips in anticipation even as she felt a flutter of nerves in her belly. She had wanted to let the lion out of its cage and it seemed like she just got her wish. So what was one more stick on the fire?

“Really? You want me? Come and get me, big man.” She taunted right before she turned and fled.

She made it one step.

One step, before she found herself sandwiched between two hard surfaces. The one at her front was hard and unyielding, cold and smooth against her palms. The one at her back was also hard, but dipped and yielded in the most interesting places. It was also hot. Very, very hot. Two large hands began a rough exploration of her legs and her back side and Max realised he was frisking her for weapons. She smiled as Ryker managed to find every last one of her blades and even her garrotte wire she kept in the waistband of her pants. The paladins had removed all their weapons before entering the training facility but she didn’t go anywhere without her blades. All the weapons were carefully placed on the bedside table including her tanto sword. The last made her pause for a moment but Ryker was thoughtful and kept it in plain sight as if he knew how important it was to her.

She felt the breath rush from her lungs as she was swiftly spun around and Ryker’s mouth wasted no time in swallowing her gasp of shock. Her mouth opened under the demand of his surprisingly soft lips and she welcomed his tongue as he swirled and plundered, mimicking what was to come. Moaning, she arched her back and hooked one leg around his hips, rubbing herself against the man like a cat in heat. He felt so good and all she could think was
more, more, more
. So she was a little bewildered when she felt Ryker pull back and do nothing but stare down at her with eyes darkened by desire. His strong, callused hands cupped her face as he leaned down once again and used his tongue to explore the inner cavern of her mouth, this time at a more leisurely pace as if he had all the time in the world. She growled in frustration at the change in tempo. Here she was about to self-combust and he wasn’t even winded! Ryker obviously read her growl correctly for he said;

“Easy there. Let’s slow it down.”

Slow? Nuh uh
. “Want fast. Want now.” She demanded and cupped her hand over the sizeable bulge in his jeans. She had a second to think,
come to mumma,
before her hand was removed and chained with her other above her head by one very large, masculine fist.

“If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right.” Ryker stated, nibbling a path along her collar bone before nuzzling her right breast through her shirt with the tip of his nose. The action was oddly affectionate and caused a pang of nerves to buzz through her system. Surely the man wasn’t trying to get cuddly?

“Oh, we’re doing this.” She assured him confidently. She just had to get the predator back instead of this odd demonstrative version of the paladin.

Those russet eyes of his gazed at her in silence for a couple of seconds before a deliberate grin morphed his features into pure sin. He leaned in close and ran his mouth along the line of her neck this time causing her to break out in goose bumps, before whispering in her ear, “Then let’s do it right.”

She let out an undignified squeal as she was picked up and tossed unceremoniously onto the middle of the bed. She was then privileged enough to have a front row seat to the most erotic strip show of her life. It consisted of Ryker lowering his zipper carefully over his straining erection, hooking his thumbs under his waistband and sliding the denim over his legs. So okay, the man merely took off his jeans, but damned if it wasn’t stimulating. He also went commando ... nummy! He prowled forward, the thick, long length of him bobbing up and down as she marvelled at his size. Was it even going to fit?

He straddled her torso as he began removing her clothing piece by piece beginning with her shirt and bra and ending with her jeans and underwear in one fell swoop. So much for taking his time, Max thought dizzily. When there was nothing between them but heat and lust she began an early exploration of those dips and valleys with her palms. Rough pebbles distracted her and she licked her lips in anticipation as she pulled back and eyed Ryker’s piercings. Hers – all hers!

She placed her open mouth over the piece of metal running through Ryker’s left nipple, outlining it teasingly with her tongue. The hard nub beaded perfectly and she gave it a hard tug with her teeth in reward. Ryker’s growl vibrated in his thick chest and sent an answering shudder of desire straight to her clit. She moved to the other side and delivered the same treatment, tugging and pulling and licking until the constant rumble in Ryker’s chest seemed more like a purr. Maybe he was a jungle cat after all.

Moving on, she smoothed her hands over broad shoulders and down strong flanks before finally coming to rest over two taut mounds of delicious buttness! She arched her back and rubbed her breasts against the ripped plains of his chest as she squeezed his firm cheeks … hard. Ryker bared his teeth and hissed, jerking forward harshly and grinding his impressive erection against her clit. Max couldn’t help herself, she cried out and anchored one leg over his hip as he began to rut against her in earnest, her pleasure ensuring a smooth glide. His cock provided a delicious friction along her sensitised folds and she knew she could orgasm from this alone. Before she was able to prove herself correct however, Ryker gripped her hips halting her frantic movements. He then proceeded to torture her to the point of insanity. He sucked on her stiff nipples, massaged her engorged breasts, teased her belly button with his tongue, and took her to the brink time and time again with lips, and teeth and tongue. Her nub was so ultrasensitive she was on the verge of begging when Ryker, aka the Sex God, reared up, hastily donning a condom and began to press forward slowly, stretching her exquisitely.