Llewellyn’s Song (4 page)

Another, sharper shudder stabbed her. This time it started
in her lower belly and her womb contracted. A low moan escaped her lips. How
often had she felt this craving, this need to mate? It affected all the females
of her tribe, but mating was reserved for a select few. Her clan mother had
warned her about this—that close proximity with a man would sometimes bring
this on. But she had to resist—familiarity would lead to disaster. Her clan
chose the men needed for mates. The rule had been written and must be obeyed.
It was vital she escape. She had to get away from the elf man before something
happened they both regretted.

But why? whispered a voice in her head. Why? She cast her
mind back and tried to pinpoint the exact moment things had changed.

Everything had started during a massage. As Llewellyn slowly
rubbed feeling back into her muscles, his hands sliding up and down her thighs
and belly, her head had begun to spin. She’d wanted to ask him to stop, but the
words stuck in her throat. Instead, she’d closed her eyes and let the
sensations wash over her. His hands were so deft and so strong. When her clan
sisters had massaged her, it hadn’t felt like this—as if each nerve answered
his touch with a quiver. Dazed, she’d uttered a soft moan.

“Are you all right?” He’d stopped and leaned over her, his
face inches from hers.

She didn’t know what came over her. An irresistible urge
raised her chin so that her lips touched his, and then…he’d pressed his mouth
against hers. She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her, her
hips lifting, an incredible longing in her womb. An ache, as if her whole body
was empty and needed filling, had shaken her. Her arms had tightened even more,
and he’d responded, his body hardening.

As he pressed the hard ridge of his cock to her belly, a
flood of heat washed over her. Her thighs parted and she lifted her hips…and a
stabbing pain in her back had nearly made her pass out.

He’d pulled back as if stung, and she’d turned her face to
the wall, confused and humiliated.

How could she have done that? He was a man! A brutish man,
and her clan mother would kill her if she ever found out. She clutched at her
covers, shivers racking her body. Sometimes she and her clan sisters had gone
to spy on the traders. They’d hidden and seen them from a distance. Looking at
men! The law forbade it, and so it had excited them, but when they’d been found
out their punishment had lasted for weeks, and she’d hardly even seen anything
but vague silhouettes. This broke all the rules of her clan.

So each time he left the cave, she’d do her utmost to speed
her healing, before her body betrayed her once more. He’d made it easy, keeping
his hands to himself, only lifting her to help her turn over. But each time he
touched her, her skin tingled with delight.

He was a healer, she told herself sternly as he washed her.
He’d taken care of her when she lay unconscious and he knew her body. But it
didn’t change the fact that she was awake now, and whenever his fingertips
brushed against her skin, or she caught his gaze, she forgot all about the law
of her clan.

As she lay there, her mind in turmoil, things began to
clarify. Why had she always volunteered for the jobs furthest from her cave?
Why did she seem to seek the solitude and uncertainty of scouting, rather than
the comfort of the warm caverns and the company of her tribe? Because she was
unsatisfied, that’s why. The realization was like a spark of light in the
darkness. Finally things she’d been afraid to face crystallized into fact. She
was not made to spend her life in the caverns. She wanted to go out into the
world. It still frightened her, and the idea that she might never see her clan
again made her physically ill. But deep in her heart she knew now what she had
to do.

She only hoped Llewellyn would forgive her.

Forces of Night

The moment she’d been waiting for struck just as Tamara
finished healing her back. Llewellyn didn’t realize that she’d spurred on the
healing process. She’d poured all her energy into it, draining her chi until
she felt it fray like a thread about to snap. A couple times she’d nearly
broken that thread, feeling her life slipping away and holding on to it by the
sheer power of her will. But it had been worth it. Today, while Llewellyn was
out hunting, she’d stood up and managed to take a few shaking steps.

She’d stood, bracing herself against the wall, and made her
way to the cave entrance. The sun had set, and a hard frost lay on the ground.
Wind whipped the tree branches, and she saw dark clouds piling up on the
horizon. Winter came on soft feet. Soft, silent and deadly. A chill breeze
stirred her hair and she shivered. The fire needed tending and Llewellyn would
be back soon. She’d shuffled back to her bed, exhaustion making it hard to
breathe. Sweat covered her body and she’d shivered suddenly as cold air struck
her. But she’d walked on her own. Fierce determination had always been her
biggest asset, her clan mother said. She certainly needed it now.

Lying in her bed, she wrapped the blanket around her and
tried to get warm. The fire died but she didn’t have the strength to get up and
put more wood on it. Cold seeped into her bones, leaching her life energy away.
She knew that to sleep was to die, and she struggled against the lethargy that
enveloped her but it was a losing fight. Her plan had failed. She had misjudged
her strength. In her world that was fatal. She tried once more to stand, to go
put some wood on the fire, but it was too late. Her limbs shook uncontrollably
and darkness settled over her mind.

* * * * *

Llewellyn pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders. The
freezing wind whipped it, but he didn’t feel the cold. He did feel hunger
though. In order to heal, Tamara needed lots of food, and he’d given up his
portions so that she could eat. Now his stomach felt as if it melted into his
backbone and he clenched his teeth against his hunger pangs. Game was getting
scarce though. Winter arrived, and the deer had already left the mountainside,
heading for sheltered valleys. They should do the same, as soon as Tamara could
move.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw a rabbit in his
snare. Dinner would be rabbit stew. He hurried back to the cave, not wanting to
worry Tamara. He stepped into the cave and glanced at her out of habit. She lay
still, her eyes open and unblinking. His heart gave a painful leap. The rabbit
fell from his hands as he knelt at her bedside.

“Tamara!” He felt for a pulse, and found it faint. Her body
was like ice. Her blanket was damp and freezing.

Cursing, he threw more wood on the fire. Flames licked the
dry wood and it crackled as the fire caught, but the air in the cave remained
icy. Llewellyn hesitated, then shucked off his clothes and slid onto the bed
next to her, pulling his cloak over their bodies. He wrapped his arms around
her, drawing her close, curling around her back. As his body warmed her, her
heart started to beat strongly and she sighed, cuddling against him.

He tried not to notice her breasts but his hand kept
brushing against them.
It’s just to keep her warm
, he told himself, and
he cupped her breast in his hand, stroking her nipple with his thumb. Her
nipple stiffened, and Tamara shifted in the bed, cuddling even closer to him
with a little sigh.

As she moved, her buttocks came in close contact with his
cock and all the longing he’d tried so hard to repress flamed up. His shaft
pulsed, lengthened, and pressed even harder against her buttocks, nestling
right between her thighs. Holding himself absolutely still, he tried to think
of ice demons, of ice cubes, of icy cold rushing streams.

It did no good. His cock got even harder, and he trembled
with the effort of not thrusting into the hollow formed by her inner thighs. He
should get out of the bed, pull away, but then her arm slid over his belly as
she turned over.

A surge of blood stiffened his cock until it hurt, and he
groaned. Seeing her, touching her, being with her day by day was making it
impossible for him. He had needs, and one of those needs lay pressed next to
him, her satiny skin growing warm under his touch, her soft hair tickling his
cheek.

He opened his eye. She looked back at him, a flush on her
cheeks. “Thank you for warming me up.” It was the first time she’d ever thanked
him.

“You’re welcome.” He shifted, trying to move his cock away.
It slid across her belly and touched her pubic hair. Immediately a surge of
desire shot through him. He tried to say something and failed, his voice
catching in his throat.

Tamara uttered a little sigh and before he knew it, put her
arms around his neck and pulled him close. Now her soft breasts crushed against
him and his cock pushed between her legs. She didn’t pull away. Instead, with a
breathless laugh, she said, “I want to see what all the fuss is about.” With
that, she reached down and took his cock in her hand.

The shock of her cool fingertips on his burning cock made
his balls contract and he drew his breath in. Didn’t she know she played with
fire? She pulled back, her wide eyes staring up at him. “It’s so hard,” she
whispered. Her voice trembled.

Her fingers tightened on his cock, but he managed to gasp, “Let
go, I’ve got to skin the rabbit.”

Instead, she turned around again and pressed her buttocks
against his cock. “No, I want you.” She caught his shaft between her thighs and
squeezed tightly, pulling his hand to her breast. His hand didn’t protest. He
cupped her breast, his fingers curling in delight over her taut nipple.

Tamara thought her whole body would burn to a crisp. Her sex
ached with a longing she’d never thought possible. In the clan, she and her
sisters had eased their needs with deft caresses. She knew what an orgasm was,
and she knew what a man and a woman did together—but according to her clan
mother, it would be a brutish, violent experience. Obviously, her clan mother
had never been with a wood elf.

Her clan mother had warned her about the mating lust…but the
warnings had faded into a red mist in the back of her mind, because all she
could think of now was screaming, “No, don’t stop, whatever you do, don’t stop!”
She wanted to scream, but only a sigh escaped her lips.

As Llewellyn pinched her nipples, rolling them between his
fingers, her head spun. Dizzy, she tried to speak, to tell him how good it
felt, and then he reached between her legs and gently slid his finger into her
slit.

“Oh yes, please!” There, she’d said it. Or at least, she
thought she spoke. Little whimpers seemed to be all she could manage. Oh, by
the mother earth! He touched her clit. Touched it, rubbed it, teased it with
the tip of his finger.

Wetness surged out of her cunt, and a spasm of sudden need
shook her from head to toes. Now the whimper turned into a cry, and she
tightened her legs around his cock, thrusting her hips backwards. Her cunt was
so wet that his fingers slipped and slid into her tender flesh, dragging
sensations of tingling and delight.

“Oh Llewellyn!” She teetered on the edge of release. The
tingling grew into a burning, and then he pushed a finger into her sheath. One
finger, then two…and he wiggled them gently back and forth. His thumb still
thrummed her clit, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe.

Her muscles tensed, her nipples stung, and he eased his
fingers deeper. He pushed his thumb against her clit, his calloused skin rough
against her hypersensitive nub. As her sheath clenched around his fingers
everything went black. Her head spun right off her shoulders and the whole cave
bucked and tilted. An orgasm like nothing she’d ever experienced ripped through
her and her cunt contracted violently around his searching fingers. She grabbed
his hand and pulled it closer, feeling his fingers sliding even deeper, and a
scream tore out of her throat as the throbbing in her womb intensified.

He bucked against her, his hand tightening on her breasts,
and suddenly his cock began to quiver. He groaned, the sound low and rumbling,
growing like a volcano on the brink of eruption.

Nervous shudders racked her body. Was this where he turned
brutish and raped her? Had her clan mother been right after all? Still dizzy
from her orgasm, weak, she couldn’t hope to get away. She tensed, waiting for
him to go berserk.

Instead he put his hands flat on her belly and held her to
him while his hips thrust against her. His cock, caught between her thighs,
slid back and forth, and then wetness spurt from it as he groaned louder and
arched his back, his skin shivering like a wild horse’s.

Tamara cried out as he did, caught up in his passion. She
tightened her thighs and reached down, seeking his cock. Her hand touched wetness,
and the tip of his cock, and her thighs, sticky now with his seed. As her
fingers brushed against the tip of his cock, he groaned once more and thrust
against her hand. She felt his seed spurting against her palm and her body
responded with a sharp mini-climax. It was too much. Dizzy, spent, exhausted,
she let sleep drop over her like a blanket made of stones.

Llewellyn drew a deep, shuddering breath. In his arms,
Tamara slept deeply, her breathing light and even, her body warm. Warmth stole
around him, wrapping him in its embrace, luring him toward sleep.

His stomach growled and he blinked. Sitting up, he gently
extricated himself from Tamara. He slid out of the bed and tucked his cloak
tighter around her. She stirred, but didn’t waken. Her face, in sleep, lost its
arrogance. Her mouth went soft, she looked… What was he thinking? She was d’ark
t’uath! They had no future together. Her clan forbade relations with males and
she would never leave them. There had never been a d’ark t’uath who left her
clan. Never.

But he could dream. He seemed good at impossible
relationships. Stooping, he picked up the rabbit and then skinned it, putting
it on the spit to cook. As he turned the spit, he watched Tamara. Her eyelashes
fluttered and she looked at him. A pink flush spread across her cheeks. Her
gray eyes, immense in her pale face, sparkled.

“That smells good.”

“You’re hungry, it’s normal.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“You’ve never eaten rabbit?”

“I’ve never had sex with a male before.” Her dimples
deepened. Dimples? He hadn’t noticed before… He suddenly realized he’d never
seen her smile.

“Technically it wasn’t sex.” He found himself grinning back
at her. Her smile lit up her whole face, and he had the most absurd urge to
gather her in his arms and squeeze her tight.

“We made love,” she said, her dimples still in place.

“No, you’re still a virgin.” His words, for some reason,
made her pale.

“Are you sure?” She didn’t look happy.

“Yes. What would your tribe say if they knew you made love
to a man?” The words were out of his mouth before he could call them back, and
the smile slid off her face like water from a stone.

In three strides he was at her side. “I won’t say anything,
I swear by…”

“No. Don’t swear.” Her voice was bloodless and her cheeks
had paled. “If they found out, I could be punished. But nothing happened, so
don’t worry about it.”

“I won’t betray your trust. Believe me. Now eat. You need
your strength. We have to leave as soon as possible. Before anything else
happens between us.”

Firelight made deep shadows on her face and he couldn’t read
her thoughts. But it seemed to him that the sparkle had gone out of her eyes
and he wondered why. Was it fear that her tribe would banish her? Did she
regret what had happened between them? “I’m sorry,” he said, handing her a
wooden bowl of grilled rabbit.

She picked at it listlessly. He crouched next to her and touched
her shoulder. “I want you to eat and regain your strength.”

“So you can send me back to my people.”

“Isn’t that what you want?” He knew he sounded surprised,
and he caught a flash of hurt in her eyes.

“I thought so. But now I am not sure. I’m confused and feel
as if the winds of winter are shredding what beliefs I held true. My tribe
believes males are violent beings, only useful for procreation and best left
alone. But you are not like that. I…” She broke off and shook her head. “I don’t
know what I want anymore. Part of me never wants to leave you, and part of me
only wants to return to my tribe.” Her strength lay in her absolute
fearlessness. She faced everything, even her doubts, head on.

Impressed with her honesty, Llewellyn said, “I think it would
be best for both of us if you returned to your tribe. I have a mission to go
see the ice demon king, for it is possible that the Mouse King is back.”

“The Mouse King?” Now Tamara’s eyes widened with real shock.
“No!”

“I fear it is true. That is the real reason I’m going north.
The ice demon king must see me. Years ago Frostbone called me his friend. I
hope he will look upon me kindly now and pledge his help when I tell him the
news.”

“The Mouse King. How can you be sure?”

“Dreams.” He grimaced. “I know, that’s not very substantial.
But Branagh, King of Hivernia, suffers from them, and so do I. All those who
fought against him have recurring dreams of the Mouse King. That, and the surge
of ice demons in Hivernia, tell me something is very wrong. The Mouse King is a
shape-shifter, so he can take the form of an ice demon. I think he’s somehow
worked his way into their hierarchy.”

“If it is so, then you run a terrible risk going into their
territory.”

“I think not. Frostbone will protect me if he finds out what
I say is true. Remember, the ice demons have more to lose than we do. Once,
they were slaves to the Mouse King.”