Olivia (53 page)

“My Olivia,” he growled, and threw the covers back, replacing its small weight with his own.  “My Olivia!”  He pierced her, sinking his shaft deeply inside her even before the last shudders of her climax had fully receded, driving her at once back to the crests of pleasure.  He reared over her, forcing her to lie flat where all her raptures must be displayed for his enjoyment, and claimed her body with his slow, determined strokes.  “My Olivia!” 

She could only groan wordless affirmation, holding him as best she could while he held her at arm’s length and closing her eyes to better feel every searing sensation: the dull prick of his claws at her shoulders, the soft scour of his pelt at her belly, the bellows-hard wind of his breath blowing down at her, and over all, the relentless, burning conquest of his cock.  She climaxed again, wrapping her legs around his hips and cinching them tight, trying to trap him deep inside her as she rode out her frenzied waves of pleasure.

Now he groaned, arching hugely as her body seized on him, and came at once, pouring heat into her throbbing womb.  One last gasp, a shudder, and then he sank down to press his brow to hers.  “My Olivia,” he breathed.  “My mate.”

She smiled wearily, reaching down his back to rub between his wings.  Her feet hurt.

He bumped her brow again, rolled back to turn off the lantern, then moved beside her in the pit, wrapping her solicitously in the sleeping bag he had thrown aside before spooning up against her.  His arm came around her waist.  His wing half-opened and draped her.  He closed his eyes and soon was sleeping.

Olivia listened to his soft, half-snoring breaths and rubbed restlessly at the unfamiliar weight of her brand new wristwatch.  At last, she found Murgull’s medicine in the dark and took another small swallow.  She looked at the fireplace.  It stayed dark.  She curled on her side under Vorgullum’s arm and outstretched wing and eventually slept.

CHAPTER SEVEN

SHADOWS

1

The first thing Olivia did when she was healed enough to walk was go in search of Victoria.  By this time, Horumn had put her foot down refused to admit any of the humans in the women’s tunnels, proclaiming that it was difficult enough to keep the tribe fed and cared for, and she could not be expected to do it while breast-feeding the humans.  Instead, it had become habit for those humans who still wanted to be useful to gather in the commons and learn what they could from one of the female gullan slippery enough to escape Horumn’s clutches.  This was usually Crugunn.  Participation in these training sessions was not exactly mandatory, and Olivia had already noticed that there were certain women who joined in—Amy, Tina, Tobi, and Sarah J. were always there—and certain women who did not—Mojo Woman, who rarely even showed up, Sarah B., who never did unless her mate bodily pulled her into the commons and left her, and Victoria, who seemed to join the training groups solely to make a point out of storming out of them.  The other women might or might not show up, and Olivia supposed she really couldn’t blame them for avoiding the primitive chores if that was their choice; they all had mates to take care of them, and in the case of those like Beth or Liz, it wasn’t so much that they were lazy as much as embarrassed over not being able to
do
anything.

Olivia got lucky on her first day out and walking.  There were three loose circles of humans and gullan in the commons, and nearly everyone was there. In the largest group, Rumm and Thurga patiently instructed humans in the art of tanning hides for leather.  In another, Crugunn, along with Ellen, Amy, and Anita, sewed human clothes and loincloths with catgut and bone needles.  In the last, Carla and Karen had joined three other unfamiliar gullan females for a snack and some gossip.  Close to the hearth, Victoria sat rigidly reading a magazine.  And in the furthest corner, Doru appeared to be teaching ‘his’ Tobi how to tell the right end of the spear from the wrong end.

Curious, Olivia limped unobtrusively closer to him, and heard his rolling, deep voice say, “—a head taller than the length of your body, wingless…but of course, you already come wingless, so that should be easy to remember.  I doubt you will ever be pressed to fashion your own spear, but if you do, make sure the length of the tang is equal to half the length of the head.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tobi interrupted, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet.  “When do I throw it?”

“I haven’t dropped that particular stone on Vorgullum’s foot yet.  First, learn to hold it.  Maybe by the time you master that, I’ll have grown some guts.”

“No problem.”  Tobi giggled.  “I can be pretty good with
this
spear.”

Olivia saw Tobi’s hand dart out, and had a pretty good idea of what she did with it because Doru hissed and jumped back as if burned.  He started to say something, caught sight of Olivia, and shifted around Tobi, stretching out his wings to cover his human from view.  She heard him mutter, “
Now
try it, and see what you get.”

Smiling, Olivia left them alone and went to deal with Victoria.

The other woman made a bitter production out of having her reading time interrupted when Olivia asked for a moment of her time, making a point of slapping her
Hunter’s Digest
down and drawing as much attention as possible.  There was no shortage of little bench-lined alcoves in the commons, although finding one out of easy eavesdropping range was a tricky thing with so many people here, and it was with an audible sigh of relief that Olivia was finally able to find a seat and rub gingerly at her bandaged feet.

“I’ve been asked to speak to you,” she said.

“Naturally.”  Victoria folded her arms in that upper-class, waspish way—fingertips tapping lightly at her slender arms and back as straight as a ruler.  “You wouldn’t go through all this bother just to socialize.” 

“You know the gullan have a highly developed sense of smell, right?  Well…”  Olivia felt a blush crawling up the sides of her face like flames.  “Well, so they can…smell you when you…you know.”

“No, I don’t know,” Victoria snapped.  “What are you talking about?”

Well, she’d known this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation.  Olivia took a deep, stabilizing breath and started over.  “The thing is, your mate has noticed—”

“My
mate
!” Victoria echoed, shrilly enough to halt conversation all around them.  In the far corner, Doru looked around.  “I don’t have a
mate
, you degenerate little whore!  I am being held captive by a hideous, perverted
monster
and I have no intention of standing here and discussing him with you!”

Olivia took a deep, cleansing breath, aware that Doru was striding silently, menacingly towards them, spear in hand.  “—have noticed,” she continued, “that you haven’t had a menstrual period yet.”

“That is absolutely none of your goddamned business!” Victoria spat.  Blotchy color had begun to bleed in high along her cheekbones.  “I refuse to stand here and discuss my private medical life with a…with a
secretary
!”

Doru had stopped, unseen, just behind Victoria.  He cast an expectant eye at Olivia, and she shook her head very slightly.  He stared inscrutably at Victoria’s back and did nothing.

“Well, the fear is that you might be…you know, a bit too old for—”

“
How dare you
!”

Olivia waited for a few seconds in the hopes that the other woman would calm down, and when it became obvious that waiting wasn’t going to help, she sighed and said, “Look, I understand this is pretty personal and I’m sorry.  It’s just obvious that you’ve had a little work done and—”

“You little bitch
-whore
!”  Victoria whipped her arm back for a slap and Doru caught her wrist.  The human actually staggered with the aborted momentum, then turned, blinking in shock at the huge gulla that had, from her view, materialized as if by magic. 

“I have never,” Doru said now, slow and thoughtful, “ever in my life struck a female, but I think I am going to strike you now.”

“Please don’t,” Olivia said softly.

Doru eyed her almost without emotion, then returned his gaze to Victoria, who did not even try to struggle free of his massive hand.  “I believe Olivia asked you a question,” he said.  “Answer it.”

Rage had taken a cadaverous effect on Victoria’s features.  Paled by fury, her eyes appeared sunken and too dark, her lips pressed into blue slits, and the shadows of her unkempt hair cut across her face like claw marks.  She did not merely look old, but haggard, trollish.  She said nothing.

Olivia waited while everyone in the commons watched them.  “Fine,” she said at last, and sighed again.  “Okay, that’s all.  I’m sorry I disturbed you, or… whatever.  You can let her go now, Doru.”

“Kick her ass, Doru,” Tobi called helpfully.

Victoria turned her scathing glare on Tobi and opened her mouth.

That was as far as she got before Doru heaved her by her wrist alone into the air over his head, grabbed the neck of her crude clothes, and shook her hard, once and twice.  “Say it,” he growled, his voice scarcely audible.  “Say anything and give me a reason.”

“Enough,” Olivia said.  “Put her down.  Now.”

Doru dropped her; Victoria’s feet struck the ground, buckled, and sent her flat on her butt on the stone floor.  She gaped up at him while he glowered down at her, horns low and teeth exposed.

“Doru, enough.” Olivia put one hand gingerly on the vast expanse of his chest and he permitted himself to be pushed back.  She reached out to help Victoria stand.  “I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” she said.

Victoria sneered at her empty hand and smacked it away.  She stood slowly, ran her hands down the sides of her rumpled leather jerkin, then marched with great dignity from the cavern towards her chambers.  At the doorway to the main passage, she stopped and turned around.  “You are all whores,” she announced.  “You are all whores who fuck animals.  And you!”  She pointed at Olivia.  “You are the foulest slut of them all, because you
like
it!”

The gullan in the room cast curious glances at the humans, clearly hoping for a translation as Victoria concluded her speech and took herself away.

Olivia rubbed at her eyes with the heels of both hands and sighed.

“Fine,” Tobi called irritably.  “I’ll kick her ass.”

“You’re not helping, Tobi.” 

“It’ll help when her ass is kicked!”

“Hush now,” Doru said simply, still gazing at the empty doorway Victoria had vanished through, and Tobi turned her back on him with a grumble and twirled her training spear.

“You’re not having a good day, are you?” Amy called, smiling faintly.

“Oh, it’s about to get better,” Olivia said with a sigh.  “Now I’m off to see Cheyenne.”

Doru had been moving away.  Now he turned back, his face set resolutely.  “Not alone, you’re not.”

“Why not?”

He met her challenging eyes with an expression of thunder and fire.  “The leader’s young belong to the entire tribe.  It falls to me as much as any other male to protect them.” 

“Oh, have it your way.”  Olivia stalked from the cave, and he followed her like a shadow.  “Honestly, you act like you think she was going to jump up and attack me or something,” she added when they were well away.

He stopped suddenly and dropped one massive hand over her shoulder, yanking her back and spinning her to face him.  His eyes were blazing, but his voice was very calm and even as he said, “What are you playing at, Olivia?”

“What do you mean?”

He tossed his horns hard, cutting the air in a curt whistle.  Before she could think to move, he had hooked one claw around the loose neck of her robe and pulled it into a taut V, exposing her throat (and, thanks to the gullan design of this backless robe, exposing much of her chest as well).  “That’s the mark of a human hand, or I’ll eat my own wings.”

“I fell down.”

His eyes narrowed, but burned just as brightly.  “I see.  Tell me how you managed to drop your iron claws, step on them,
slide
on them, and throttle yourself half-killed in the process.”

“I didn’t have a plan!”

“No.”  He leaned back, his tone softening even if his stare did not.  “Oddly enough, that much I believe.  But someone surely put a hurt on you, and for the life of me, I cannot imagine why you’re protecting her.”

Olivia looked at him, expressionless.  “What are you suggesting?  That I strangled myself so Cheyenne could escape?”

“That wouldn’t make much sense, would it?”  He released her robe and watched her straighten it.  “But then, there’s a lot about that night that never made sense to me.  What were you doing in the depths anyway?”

“I wanted a bath.”

“You were nowhere near the baths when Kodjunn found you.”

“I got lost.”

“Well, that’s easy enough to do, I suppose, especially since you climbed down the Deep Drop by yourself after dark without any kind of a light.”

“I had a light!”

“What happened to it?”

She had no idea.  She’d had it until Cheyenne had hit her, and after that…  “I dropped it.”

Doru folded his powerful arms and leaned back, fanning and half-unfolding his wings so that he appeared as large and menacing as possible.  “And by no means would it be the second light the beast had with her when she fell?”

She was blushing.  She knew she was blushing.  Damn him.  “No.”

“Well, those human lights are such useful things to have,” he mused.  His eyes on her stayed hot.  “Let’s go look for the one you lost together.  I can follow your scent well enough if it’s fresh.  I can follow hers too, but of course, I’m not going to find hers down there, am I?”

To that, she had no answer at all.

He searched her face, grimly satisfied with what he saw, and quietly said, “You can hardly see them yourself, but I can’t fathom how Vorgullum is missing the blood pooled in the corners of your eyes.  No one gets that falling down.  Someone choked you.  Someone nearly killed you.  And there are scratches on the little beast’s face and arms.  Did you make them, Olivia?”