EIGHTEEN
Destin was awake before most of the other inhabitants of the village on the shore. As soon as the rest of them stepped out of doors, they could hear him working down by the water’s edge, sanding and scraping endlessly at the hull of the small vessel he’d made for himself.
The way he worked made many of those in the village nervous around him. As soon as he began each day, he worked with the ferocity of a demon until the sun went down and there was no more light for him to see by. That morning was no different, especially since that day was the day the entire village knew he intended to depart.
As he worked, he continued to curse himself as he had done for the past month of his stay among the humans, on what he had learned they referred to as the Free Isle. He had fallen asleep in Elyra’s house and had not woken again until the Fulness several days later, when he’d found himself caged in the house for the night. In the morning, the humans found nothing damaged and nothing out of place besides Destin in a different corner of the room than he’d been in before, so he was permitted to run free on the High Night, though he noticed most of the village locked themselves indoors while he hunted for his meals.
The month following had not improved his mood or his frustration, as winter storms ripped through the island and blanketed everything in snow and ice, including the trees he had hoped to use to build his boat. The ice was hardly an issue for Destin, but it had rendered the wood unworkable, at least for the time being.
The work had progressed slowly, and he had been forced to pass a second Fulness with the humans just as the boat neared completion. It had warmed him, though, to rise on the first morning of the Fulness and see several of the humans working on the boat for him while he was unable to do so. He knew it was mostly because they wanted to speed him on his way, but he appreciated their help nonetheless. With the Fulness past, he hoped to be on the move even before the sun set, but there was still much to do by way of gathering supplies he would need for the journey home.
When he saw Elyra coming down the beach with a small basket, he wasn’t surprised. He stopped in his work long enough to smile up at her, and ran a hand through his hair to get it out of his face. He looked a great deal more human than he had when he first arrived on her shore, but there was still something undeniably wild about the man that didn’t go away even when he was in skin instead of fur. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Destin.” She approached him with the basket and a similar smile. “You look like you are quite ready to find your way home.” Elyra held out the basket, which was heavier than he thought it would be when he took it from her hands. “There is dried meat and fruit in there to last during your trip. The bread might last you a day or two.”
He looked over the basket twice as he crouched on the side of the ship near her. “These are from your winter stores.” He said with concern in his voice. “Any winter that starts as early as this one will last longer into the spring. You should hold onto these for yourself.”
“I will be perfectly well without them.” She replied without any hesitation. “You have helped me in a lot of ways, Destin. This is the least I can give to thank you.”
“I think permitting me to share your fire and your home for two Fulnesses is more than enough thanks for anything I’ve done.” He had helped as best he could in their small community during the time he’d been with them. He cleared the snow from the entire settlement and packed the ice so thick around some of the common areas that it actually insulated them from the cold, but such things had been nothing more than a trifle for him in the face of the hatred he could feel from all of the humans nearby every day. “I am the one in your debt, Elder, not you in mine.”
She looked over at his boat and back up at him before she spoke again. “I am sure your family will be glad to see you. Do you have everything you might need?”
“Almost.” He yanked a rope into place and looked over his work to make sure it would hold. There were just a few items he needed to secure before he got on his way, but there was something more pressing he wanted to be sure of before he left. “Beylan’s daughter brought over some bread for me this morning as well. I’d like to talk to you about something, if I may. Will you share it with me?”
“Of course.” She nodded toward her house. “Let’s go where there’s a fire to keep us warm.” After he secured his boat, Elyra walked with him back to her house and they sat down at the table. “What’s on your mind?”
He settled into the chair and broke the bread, dipping his own in the small plate of fruit preserves that came with it. “I’d like for you and the rest of the Elders to know something about what’s going to happen when I go home.” He chewed slowly, his eyes lingering on the bread as if it would answer his uncertainties about the future in front of him. “I’m going home to start a war.”
Her eyes widened slightly, but she didn’t react otherwise, since she did not know what that would really mean to her. Or what he thought it meant to her. Their island was not about to get involved in a war between wolves. “I see. Why do you want us to know about it? There is no way that we can help you with that, and no one would want to.”
“There is one way. And I hope you will want to.” The rest of the bread remained untouched between them at his announcement. There had been secrets behind his eyes since he arrived. In the hesitation, she could see them forming themselves into words finally ready to be shared.
“If you came from the Isles, then you know of Chainhome. Or perhaps you lived there yourself at one time. You know how many humans live there as our slaves. There are easily more than a thousand there, and thousands more throughout the rest of the Queen’s Isle.” His fingers shook slightly with the weight of the plans he had in mind, but he was committed to his purpose, more than ever before. “I mean to free them, if they wish to be free. And when my people and I go to war with the Queen, any humans who wish to leave will leave the Isles with us.”
“You mean to free them.” She repeated slowly since she had a hard time believing that he would be able to accomplish what he proposed. “And I assume when you say that you will free them, that means that you don’t intend to keep them as slaves of your own. Why?”
“Because I love one of them.” He said simply, though it was one of the first times he had ever actually admitted as much to anyone but Adriana herself. “And there are complications regarding my relationship with the royal family which prevent us from living in peace beneath their rule.”
“You’re starting a war with your own kind over a human?” Elyra could hardly believe her ears, but she let out a chuckle as she sat there across the table from him. “You know, if you had mentioned that after you arrived, I think a lot more people around here would have liked you.” She shook her head slowly as she thought about what he was planning to do. “So where do we come in? Are you going to bring your human here and leave her after a war? That does not seem likely.”
“No. I intend to bring them all here.” He watched her carefully as he spoke, watching for any signs of anger or rejection in her expression. He knew he was asking a great deal of her people to accept strangers, but he also knew from a month of experience that her people were serious about saving as many humans as they could. He was telling her that he could accomplish in a single revolution more than they could hope to accomplish in decades of picking off slaves from one island or another. “All I ask is that you and the other Elders consider permitting me and a small group of my followers to remain here for a time afterward, until we are able to find a new home for ourselves elsewhere.”
“We will gladly take everyone in and do what we can. I am certain that there will be those that argue against wolves coming along, but if you can bring us that many humans, then you deserve a temporary home here.” Elyra reached out to touch his hand lightly. “Do you really think you can do it?”
He was grateful in that moment that she’d been kept by an Oceanborn so many years before, because he didn’t have to explain the tears that escaped his eyes as she agreed without hesitation. He had grown to respect and admire Elyra for everything she had helped to make of her world, and he was glad to have someone like her on his side, no matter the opposition he knew she would face from the other Elders or the opposition he would face from the rest of the Isles upon his return.
“They believe I’m dead, and for all I know, my siblings may be dead already as well. But as soon as I can bring my people together from all the Isles, they’ll know otherwise. Yes, I believe I can do it.”
Elyra actually smiled at his tears and picked up a small cloth off the table and slid it over to him. “Your human is lucky. Wolf or not, there are not many people in this world who would start a war for the one they love.”
“Starting a war is not going to be the hard part.” He nodded his thanks for the cloth, but he didn’t need it, the water droplets disappearing in his beard or otherwise quickly fleeing his face once the moment of emotion passed. “Finishing it will be.” He took in a deep breath and glanced at the window before looking back at Elyra. “You believe you can convince the other Elders not to kill us on arrival?”
“As long as they are convinced you will leave and leave us in peace, then they will be flexible. I have a lot more power than I like to show.” She smirked. “I don’t know how they would think that you will hurt us if you bring humans to us. Don’t worry about what happens when you get here, just worry about getting here.”
“I’ll do that.” He promised quietly, reaching out to pat her hand once as he stood up slowly to leave her home, walking the short path between her door and the broad shore. It wasn’t as though he had anyone else in particular to say goodbye to in the village, so he just stood by the side of his boat for a moment and looked the place over, hoping to see it again soon. “Thank you, Elder.”
He stepped into his boat and pulled up a few of the braces that kept it in place, as he saw a few of Elyra’s people beginning to gather up the shore. He wondered if they wanted to see him go with their own eyes so they could be sure he was gone. He gave them a wave that only a few of them returned, then turned to face the sea and took his accustomed place at the stern.
The ocean rose calmly from where it lingered at a safe distance, a portion of it swelling up the beach like some kind of rapid high tide, until a large pool of it gathered around the boat. The remaining braces fell off as it righted itself in the water, and Destin held on for a few moments just to make sure that nothing was wrong, even though he’d tested it previously just to be sure.
Once he was satisfied that the boat was at least provisionally seaworthy, he relaxed a little against the short railing of the stern, and the pool of water he’d called up from the ocean swept him rapidly off the sand and into the waves. He looked back once to see Elyra again, but once he’d given her a final wave, the sea rose behind his boat and plunged it into high speed across the surface, skipping almost like a stone under the power of the ocean pushing it along.
The storms of the winter were far from over, and Elyra’s companions had been able to give him only the most rudimentary instructions as to how they normally navigated between the Isles, but he knew that he would know familiar waters when he reached them. If he reached them.
He shook his head to put all such thoughts out of his mind, and narrowed his eyes to focus on the horizon, and the home that was too many days away for his taste.
“Great mother beneath us,” he whispered into the spray kicked up by the waves he worshiped, “see me safely home, and help me set to right all that has been done to my family and your children. I have never dishonored you, nor will I ever. Give me safe passage, that I may continue to make my home upon your shoulders.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that his gods were listening, though he knew better than to expect certainty one way or the other. All he could do was hope, but hope was enough.
* * * * *
After a solid day of mostly sleep and a meal or two, Daiva was fully recovered from her burns and injuries in the fight for Hassir. She sat up slowly from her marble slab, which still had an imprint of her body in it. It moved beneath her like water, bending and rippling with ease, but once she got up from the marble, it instantly went rigid behind her.
Daiva stretched lazily as she headed toward a small table in her room where there was always a pitcher of water, but as soon as she noticed someone else was in the room, she momentarily froze. Hassir was in a chair by the fire, and it appeared he was reading over a communication by parchment before he tossed it into the flames.
“You’re here.” For some reason she thought he would go back to his ship, even though he mentioned staying back with her until they saw everything through. She hadn’t expected him in her room. Daiva didn’t move to cover her nudity, most wolves rarely did, as shifting in and out of their wolf form was more work with strict modesty. There was no reason to hide their skin, as they never hid their fur. She proceeded with quenching her thirst and moved to brush out her brown hair and plait it to keep it out of her way. “I suppose you did say you would stay.”
“I did. But you would have been forgiven for forgetting, given the state you were in at the time.” In the style of many of the wolves of the Reef, the only clothing he wore was a wrap of simple black cloth at his hips that was tied at one side, falling around his calves. It settled around him as he stood and approached her, his eyes tracking over her body to look at the various sites of her more prominent injuries from the day before. “You appear well-recovered.”
Daiva looked down at herself as well, though she didn’t feel any aches. The burns had healed completely, and any cuts or bruises were also similarly gone without a trace. She reached up to her shoulder, and the worst of her burns had healed as well. “Nothing a warm bed of marble cannot repair. Unless perhaps I lose a limb.”
“That would be an impressive feat. I’ve never seen restoration on quite that scale, with any element.” He stepped closer to her, following her own look to her shoulder as if he was there to give his own inspection of the results. “I have rarely seen anyone fight with the skill you showed that day. Who was your instructor?” He raised one hand to her shoulder, brushing aside some of the light stone dust that l settled on her skin so he could continue his inspection.
“My instructor? My father, if I can give anyone credit. My parents were more peaceful people than I am. Rebels, they did raise, however.” Daiva watched curiously as he inspected her. “If you’re looking to judge me on my physical attributes, I can answer any questions. I was not raised in a harsh environment, but before Devon’s death, I went frequently among Stoneborn and Earthborn to fight in a pit, and won more than I lost. Devon and I used to go together, Destin would be there to drag us home if needed. Otherwise, I’m healthy and have no reason for concern regarding reproduction, if that is also a curiosity. I have no children, so that has not yet been tested. We did risk it when you were here before.”
“I have no concerns on that score. Everything I know about you, either directly or by reputation, convinces me of your honesty on all counts. If you had any concerns that would render you a liability to me and my continued rule of the Reef, I believe you would have made them known long before now.”
He walked around her for the inspection, his hand never leaving her skin as he considered her. “As for your ability, you proved that on the docks, in my eyes. Word of that challenge will spread through the Reef when those who witnessed it return home. My people will know by reputation that it would be a mistake to challenge you.”
“I expect that they will test it again, regardless.” His touch was warmer than the rest of the room, and more than once it sent shivers down her spine from the way his hand traveled a path along her skin. He could feel and see that her body was defined enough to show strength, but she also had curves at her hips, and thighs that were not merely skin and bones. Daiva had more softness than she had tight muscle, which also made her very different from her younger siblings. Taimon and Kaia were taller, thinner, but they were still much younger. Daiva had the body of a female who chose to look the way she did, strength and curves both.
“And you will destroy them as you destroyed the challengers on the docks.” He sounded entirely confident in her abilities, coming around to stand in front of her again. “Once we are finished with Melyssa and her sycophants, of course. First things first.”
“First things first.” She agreed as she met his eyes momentarily before she stepped up to him. “Are you inspecting me or are you actually teasing me?”
“I am appreciating you.” He corrected, grinning as he met her eyes. “Something I intend to do frequently and for extended periods when we are mated and we have returned to the Reef.” His hands were warm as they rose to her neck, brushing her braid back over her shoulders. His thumbs rubbed along her jawline to tilt her head back.
“Too often, even my own people feel the need to retreat after they’ve been threatened. To recover. For you, I imagine if Melyssa had walked in here even the moment you were ready to collapse, you would have done away with her.” The red of his eyes was dark enough to resemble blood in the dim lighting of the room. His eyes dropped to take in the full sight of her in a slow sweep that was as scorching as his touch at her skin. “I enjoy that about you.”
His perusal and praise at the same time was more than enough to ensnare her attention for a very different reason. She reached out to run a hand over his exposed chest, but her touch didn’t have heat like his. At least not a Fireborn type of heat. “Typically I prefer some opportunity to strategize. But if I have learned anything between my two brothers, it is best to employ simple strategy, then dive in wholeheartedly.”
“Enthusiasm does sometimes have a way of making up the difference for a lack of opportunity to plan.” He stepped into her touch, kissing her with warmth in his lips as if to wish her the very best of mornings, taking his time to celebrate the fact that she had woken up rejuvenated.
She made a small noise of pleasure as he kissed her, but she wrapped one arm around his neck so she could hold him in place. Daiva ran her other hand slowly across his side. “Our mating will start a war. I better enjoy you now while I am not currently fighting to kill Melyssa.”
His body was already responding to her as she held herself against him. He let go of her only to pull aside the knot on the fabric at his waist to toss it aside on the floor, his eyes never leaving hers. “You are welcome to enjoy me whenever and however you wish, both before and after our war. When the killing starts, I do prefer to remain focused on the pleasure of that, rather than any other.”
“I like that about you. I appreciate your focus and drive to complete what you set out to do.” Daiva kissed his lips again before she let her hands explore further, now that he was also naked. “Enjoying you during the Fulness is one thing. Enjoying you now means I have a little more control.” She bit down on his shoulder, but not hard enough to break skin. “If you burn me, I don’t mind. Sometimes Fireborn think they need to hold back. I don’t want that.”
“You’re not the only one with more control away from the Fulness.” His hand warmed as it cupped her breast, his fingertips nearly scorching the skin, but stopping short right at the edge between pleasure and pain. “When we are mated, and you share my power, I will have you in the middle of a raging inferno, and you will feel only me. Until then, it will have to be your element for our bed.”
Her breast throbbed in the best way, which compelled her to answer his promise with a kiss that nearly bruised. He definitely had the power to burn her alive, but she was the one who had the power to break his bones with no effort at all.
She pulled him back to her bed, and when they collapsed into it, it was as soft as water. He laid back and she threw herself on top of him. If she wanted to, she could trap him in the marble and take complete control. She considered it as she licked and nipped her way across his skin. “Is it possible to torture the Lord of the Reef like this? Or are you immune to being tortured by pleasure?”
“I’ve known wolves who consider themselves immune to pain. I pity any who consider themselves immune to pleasure.” He laid back as she had placed him, lingering with his arms along the stone as if giving her the opportunity to shackle him if she was so inclined. When she didn’t, he propped himself up on his elbows just enough to be able to watch her and her progress.
Daiva made her way down his body to take his cock into her mouth, and while she greedily laved up and down, one of his wrists found itself encased in hardened marble. It prevented him with one hand, but she only acted more excited when he gripped her head with his other hand, his fingers digging into her scalp. When she popped off, she licked slowly around the head. “I’ve been entirely wrapped up in the rebellion. I need this.”
“There should never…be more work than pleasure in life. Even for those who rule others.” He didn’t fight the stone that bound his wrist, but he growled in pleasure as her stone bed moved to support him so he could watch what she was doing to him. The woman’s confidence was breathtaking in the best of all possible ways. “The celebrations…of our victory…will last a lifetime. A lifetime to which I am very much looking forward.”
“Your heir will be the ruler of the Reef, and Melyssa’s time as queen will not even be a memory.” Daiva didn’t resist or struggle even when his hips bucked against her mouth, but she did punish him by sucking harder and yet not allowing him to reach climax. When she pulled away again, even against his hand in her hair, a tendril of marble whipped out to bind his other wrist. “Now you’re really caught. My lord.”
“I’ve been in worse positions. Certainly less pleasant ones.” He didn’t struggle against his bindings any more than to test the strength of them, the commitment and solidity of the stone. “I would say that you have me at your mercy, but I know you well enough by now to know that you have none.”
The marble reclined a little and she straddled him again, her knees at his waist as she slowly lowered her body against his. Her breasts pressed against his chest and she ran her nose against the column of his throat. “I will confess that I prefer your company to your distance.”
“Good.” He growled his approval as she explored him at her leisure. His skin was a blanket of scars, like many wolves she’d known, scars were true testaments to the challenges he had endured and survived. Only the deepest injuries would leave scars at the rate wolves could heal. “I have no intention of taking you as Lady of the Reef only to leave you behind when I move about our dominion. You should accustom yourself to my company.”
“Excellent. I vastly prefer the notion of fighting at your side. I wouldn’t tolerate being left behind.” Daiva bit his skin in a few more places before she slid herself down on his rigid cock. Daiva cried out as he filled her completely, her arousal quite obvious as she slid up slowly. Going slow was torture for her when she just wanted to fuck him wildly, but now that she had control, she wanted to keep it. She also knew that they wouldn’t have time to savor each other in the coming days. This was her chance.
The heat of him suffused every part of his body, steady and inviting under every touch. He laid his head back against the stone under her control, molding itself to every contour of his body to let her have every bit of leverage against him she liked. “You told me not to hold back about burning you, yet you decide to be gentle with me?” He lifted his head enough to give her a challenging look through the growl in his chest. “Harder, my lady. I am not fragile.”
“I’m savoring. And teasing. There is a difference.” She leaned down to kiss him, but afterwards she had his lip between her teeth, and she bit hard enough to draw droplets of blood she then licked up. “Don’t tell me what to do.” The marble gripped his backside along with his wrists before she straightened up and stared into his dark ruby eyes but she did increase her pace and fervor although she didn’t give him any opportunity to touch her. He just had to watch as she rode him.
Even restrained, the lord of the Reef was never powerless. The harder she rode him, the more of his power moved through them both, scorching through her veins, as foreign as it was to her nature. The recuperating sleep she’d had in stone was one thing, but his own power afforded no such rest, no such contentment. It wanted more, always and everywhere, from him, from her, from the world. It was a demanding, bottomless resource offering a sip of itself to be tasted.
His wild Fireborn energy demanded, and she gave in. She never liked to be out of control, but in the moment, all she could think about was chasing her climax on his cock. Daiva released his hands because she wanted his touch, but she didn’t look away as she gripped his shoulders. Her grip was definitely bruising his skin, but she couldn’t stop now. She was so close to climax that she was groaning with each thrust.
When his hands were free, all he did was encourage her further, grabbing her hard by the waist to pull her into him roughly. His hands were a sudden rush of heat against her hips, scalding her skin with the rush of power between them. His own climax was becoming a pressing need, driving out all thoughts of teasing or holding back. But even as his own power flowed in her, he could feel her Stoneborn nature settling him, helping him to hold back for as long as she wished to savor him before they both took what they wanted from the other.
His scalding touch only heightened her pleasure with the stinging against her skin, and she couldn’t hold out. She arched back slightly on top of him and he could feel her body lock up like a vise around him. Daiva grabbed onto him and kept thrusting her hips against him so she could prolong her pleasure. Just when she thought she was coming down, he slid his heated hand between them and his hot fingers against her clit had the marble around them cracking under her cries of pleasure.
“More.” He commanded, locking eyes with her as hers lost focus, his other scalding hand gripping her thigh as her legs shook under waves of pleasure.
Even if she didn’t want to bend to his command, her body had other ideas, and no one had given her the kind of pleasure Hassir was capable of. Her hands still gripped his shoulders but he could feel her hold back from breaking his bones, only just so, as his touch sent her through another intense climax. Her fingers dug into his skin and drew blood, but every time he burned hotter, she loved it even more. He could brand her skin and she would moan his name.
The frenzy of her pleasure, her strength, the way she shook as she rode him, was enough to send him into his own orgasm. He wasn’t shy about his own cries of pleasure, Daiva’s name roaring out of his throat to echo off the stone of the house she had built for herself and her family. She was powerful, and demanding, and he loved every moment.
The floor cracked beneath them, as well as a few walls, but she would worry about mending them later. Once the inferno of pleasure had torn through them both, Daiva collapsed gracefully on top of him, dripping in sweat, extremely relaxed and satisfied. Other than sex with Hassir during the Fulness, this was the best thing she could ask for. Not only were they compatible in goals and ambitions, but clearly they were compatible lovers. “That was…absolutely excellent.”
Hassir relished the way she clung to him even after their shared climax, the pleasure and the power of it lingering in their bodies by way of the shared connection. Some things remained instinctive in both halves of their dual nature. The way she writhed against him in satisfaction had the stone rumbling beneath him in time with the growls in his chest. “You conquer in this as you do everything else.” The compliment crackled from him like the low coals of a bonfire, his hands moving constantly over her back to excite and soothe the muscles along her spine.
She basked in his compliment, feeling more confident than ever that they were a match made in perfection. Daiva slowly stretched out on top of him before she met his lips with a languid kiss. “Let’s do that again. Then prepare ourselves to kill Melyssa and her family.”