Tip of the Spear (10 page)

Hinto
chose a defensible spot, dismounted, and began to set up camp. She followed
automatically, falling into a familiar rhythm. Take care of the horses, take
care of the bedding, eat and sleep.

“So
you’re an Amazon.”

She
started and stared at him. Hinto stood next to Beast, gently brushing the
vore’s tangled mane.  “I—what?”

“You
mentioned that only an Amazon selected to breed could take a man into her body.”
His eyes glinted as they rested on her. “So you were never selected to breed?”

Thais
hadn’t said those exact words. But she couldn’t believe she’d spoken openly
about the tribe. Though their origins were not secret, to protect themselves
from outsiders, Amazons normally only shared details of their life with one
another. Then again, with the few individuals left among her people, did it
really matter?

“I
am a guardian.”

“What’s
that?” He seemed genuinely interested as his large hands stroked the course
hide of the vore. Such graceful fingers tugged through the creature’s hair.  “Thais?”

She
blinked and focused on her horse to ease her embarrassment. Goddess knew she
had no business fixating on any part of Hinto. Not hands, hair, eyes, or…  She
snuck a gaze at his crotch and as hurriedly looked away. How large that part of
him had grown just two short days ago, a morning she couldn’t forget, no matter
how hard she tried.

Thais
cleared her throat and removed her mare’s saddle. “All Amazons are warriors. We
live to protect one another.”   

“A
bunch of crazy women living together in one of the Territories,” he muttered.

She
adapted his explanation to mask the truth. “We live together in Temeco, but
we’re not crazy women.”

He
snorted. “No, you just think you’re from a legendary tribe of warrior women who
use men for sex then cook the meat off their bones and eat them for sacrifice.”

“
What?
”

“Hell.
I used that one on my little brother years ago. ‘Bout scared the snot out of
him too. Took Wolf a long time to warm to girls after that.” He grinned, and
the beauty of his smile took Thais’s breath away.

She
shook her head, irritated his mouth could make her lose composure. “Amazons do
not eat the flesh of men. That’s nonsense.”

“Hey,
I’m just telling you what little boys say to scare each other. We all know
Amazons don’t exist.” He gave her a sharp look.

“Right.
Just a fantasy.” In truth, Amazons
were
a fantasy, now that Pilar and
her traitorous sisters had decimated a once-proud tribe. Thais drifted into
silence, caring for her horse with automatic motion.

Reminders
of so many senseless deaths made her lose her appetite. When Hinto suggested
tearing into the hard tack he’d brought along, she rejected the notion of food.

“I’m
not hungry. Just tired.”

The
sun had yet to set, but Thais suddenly felt the drain of her responsibilities. Such
a small mistake years ago, a yearning for a last bit of fun with friends, and
she forever paid the price of survival.

She
laid down and shifted her hat over her eyes. She had just drifted asleep when a
rustle over the grass told her someone approached. She tightened her fist
around the hilt of her knife and didn’t settle until she caught Hinto’s scent.

“Easy,
Thais. I’m just gonna lay beside you, where we’re sheltered by the trees from
that wind blowing harder. Easy now,” he murmured and finally stopped moving.

Used
to his presence, Thais shut out the rest of the world and accepted the rest she
knew she needed. She didn’t stir when callused fingers grazed her cheek. Instead
she sighed and rolled closer to the source of contentment always just out of
reach.

Chapter Five

“Thais?”

Her
name seemed to come from a great distance. Annoyed at the disturbance, she
tried to push it away. Her hand connected with something solid, and she blinked
sleepily at Hinto.

He
rested on his side, his elbow bent and his head propped on his hand as he
stared at her.

“What?”
she mumbled, still caught between sleep and awareness.

“I’ve
been doing some thinking.”

She
yawned and closed her eyes. She’d been having the best dream. In it, she and
her mother hunted a giant boar that had gored Pilar to death. Blessed by the
Goddess, they’d run forever without tiring and felt no hunger or thirst as they
closed on the enemy, a beast with Aaron Bartel’s watery eyes.

“Thais,
I just wanted to apologize.”

Hinto’s
low voice interrupted her lassitude, but his words brought her fully awake. An
apology? “For what?” Perhaps now he’d admit he’d been in a serious pique for
the last few days.

“I
left you with the wrong impression.” His palm flattened against her stomach.

Her
heart beat faster. “I don’t understand.”
Why is your touch so enticing?

He
nodded. “I know. And that’s the problem. I need to correct this, and then I’ll
let you get back to sleep.” He leaned closer, his lips full, his breath clean
and minty. He stopped so close the moonlight illuminated the individual
eyelashes framing his piercing eyes. “Thais, you trust me not to hurt you,
don’t you?”

She
tensed and reached for her knife—that wasn’t there.

“Give
me back—”

“Not
until I’ve fixed this. I told you I’d never force a woman, didn’t I?”

She
felt like a fool for trusting him. “I want my knife.
Now.
”

“Honey,
I’m a smart man. If I’d really wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t have woken you to
do it.”

Trying
to reason while her body reacted to his nearness was nearly impossible. She
tried to match his calm tone. “That would not make sense, no. Then again, you
are a man. And men don’t often make sense.”

He
rubbed her stomach with a soft touch, stirring butterflies of sensation. Her
loins pooled with an excitement she couldn’t seem to turn off. “No, I supposed
we don’t seem like we make much sense.” He chuckled, and her fear faded under
the sincere pleasure of his smile. “I’m not gonna do anything but kiss you. I
need to show you something.”

“With
just your mouth?” Surely he couldn’t hurt her with his lips? And if it meant
he’d let her get back to sleep, she’d be a fool not to allow his touch. She
dearly wanted to dream about her mother again, where she might stick the enemy
with a guardian spear that should have been hers.

“Just
my mouth. I’ll keep my hands here.” In a flash, he rolled on top of her. Before
she could protest, he planted his hands on either side of her body and leaned up,
pressing his groin against hers in a curiously unsettling manner.

She
swallowed, annoyed to feel even a frisson of unease. She knew many ways to
incapacitate an enemy so close. Males had a vulnerability squarely between
their legs. One swift shove with her knee and she’d end him before he could
think to begin. She shifted so that her thigh pressed against the taut line of
his groin, and she forced herself to ignore what “taut” looked like, the
memories of him too close to the surface.

“If
this will hurry things, please do whatever it is you need to. But make it quick.
You interrupted my rest.”

Hinto’s
gaze centered on her mouth. “Sure thing, honey. And you keep that leg where it
is. You don’t like what I’m doing, you take me right out.”

His
awareness of the precariousness of his position relaxed the last of her worries.
As quick as Hinto seemed to be, even he would not be able to stop her should
she wish to smash his tender organ against his body. By deliberately leaving
himself open to attack, he put his fate in her hands.  She liked the control.

She
nodded. “Get to it, then.”

Hinto
didn’t wait another second. He leaned down and pressed a whisper-light kiss
against her lips. Before she could catch her breath, he did it again. The
sensation of his firm mouth against hers surprised her. She felt the kiss
vibrate through her mouth to her belly and further down, tingling between her
legs.

“Mmm,
you taste good.” He held himself up by his hands and used only his mouth, but
even his words began to stroke her into a pleasurable state of being.

His
lips trailed from her mouth to her cheek and down her neck. She’d never known
how sensitive certain parts of her body could be. When his mouth hovered over
her earlobe and sucked the flesh inside, she trembled, seeking something more. He
kissed her ear, the shell of it, the spot behind it, and she found herself
trying to press closer to him.

Her
thigh pushed against his loins, not hard enough to hurt, but to seek more
bodily contact. She liked the way his breath caught when she moved with him. He
murmured something she didn’t understand, then sucked harder at the base of her
neck, which managed to affect her breasts.

Her
nipples beaded under her clothes, rubbing uncomfortably against the binding
when she sucked in a breath.

“Now
let me kiss you again,” Hinto murmured and trailed his mouth back toward hers.

More
than willing to see what else he could do, she nodded and had to blink her eyes
open, not sure when she’d closed them. His heavy-lidded gaze made him seem more
feline and predatory than she would have thought. The sense that these kisses
might not be a good idea surfaced, and then he pressed his lips to hers again.

She
opened her mouth to protest when he did the strangest thing. He penetrated her
mouth with his tongue.

She
tensed, and he immediately stilled with her. His tongue slid over her teeth,
the roof of her mouth, her own tongue, and pleasure washed through her body to pool
in her sex.

She
inhaled in shock, not having expected so much excitement from a man’s mouth.

He
groaned and deepened the kiss, and the control she thought she’d had vanished
between one heartbeat and the next.

Thais
clutched at his arms, planted on either side of her. His thick forearms
strained but he didn’t shudder, didn’t move. And he didn’t stop kissing her.

She
didn’t like the wetness between her legs but couldn’t stop it. The place
between her thighs pulsed, and she squirmed, only to gasp as fire snaked
through her body when she accidentally brushed her nub against the fabric of
her pants.

“There’s
more,” Hinto whispered in her ear before nipping at her lobe again.

She
arched up, unable to stop herself. The pressure against her chest bothered her
more than she could say.

As
if he read her mind, Hinto pushed himself to a sitting position, straddling her
waist as he sat back on his feet. She clearly saw the large bulge between his
legs, but he made no move to release himself from his pants.

Instead,
he eyed the button of her shirt. “Thais, open your shirt. You like my kisses,
right? Just do it. Trust me, you’ll like this just as much.”

She
nodded, wondering what else he could do with that mouth.
Don’t do this. Don’t
let him take over. Stop this before it’s too late.
But her curiosity wanted
to be appeased.
Before what’s too late?
Better to know so she could
prepare herself later, she rationalized.

In
seconds, she’d unbuttoned her shirt and bared her bound breasts. He frowned at
the material. “Doesn’t that hurt?”

Unknotting
the band between her breasts, she began to unwind it with Hinto’s help. He lifted
her with each pass of the band, using little effort, as if she weighed nothing
of substance.

“It’s
uncomfortable,” she said when she could catch her breath. He’d already seen her
naked, so she didn’t see the harm in letting him relieve her. If anything, the
less pressure over her breasts, the better.

After
he helped her remove the last binding, he licked his lips. “Remember, you said
I could kiss you.”

She
didn’t understand, until he lowered his mouth and took her nipple between his
lips.

“Hinto,”
she breathed, not aware of anything but the heat of his mouth.

He
licked and tugged her flesh with his teeth, and all the while his hands once
again remained firmly on the ground. With just his lips and that wicked tongue,
he pushed her into a blaze of excitement that felt as if a fire had gathered between
her legs.

“I
don’t know what this is,” she gasped. “I burn.”

“It’s
called desire,” Hinto murmured as he left her nipple to torment the other. He
sucked it into his mouth and moaned her name. “You taste so good.”

Thais
didn’t like the loss of control, the alien feel of her own body caught in
something she had no idea how to handle. She needed more, but she didn’t know
what more she needed.

“I’m—It
hurts.” She reached up and ran her fingers through his thick hair, pressing him
harder against her breast. When he bit down, then soothed the sting with his
tongue, quakes spread through her sex.