Urden, God of Desire (2 page)

He held his breath for a time before shaking his head. “Why? What makes you think of him?”

She chewed her lower lip. “I overheard the news just now. My father is cleaning out Irnia’s south district. He’s declared Irnia a free nation.”

“Ah.” Razi cupped her cheek. “Then perhaps he is not such a bad man after all.” He glanced around them, his dark eyes narrowing. She recognized his look. He wanted something, and he’d have it too.

“Not here,” she said when he pushed his hips against hers, revealing his arousal. “Someone will see us.”

“Let them see.” He nodded at the little barn on the outskirts of the pasture.

“Ew.
It smells like cattle dung in there, and you know it. We can go back home.” She winked and when he frowned, she asked, “What? You can’t wait that long?”

He thrust his body closer. “Does it feel like I can wait?”

“Looks like you’ll have to.” She nodded behind him at an approaching child, one of the messengers from the cottage rental office. The thin boy raced along the path, his bare feet hardly making a sound. “Razi!” he cried. “Folar has a message for you and it’s from Sister Lensi!”

Razi released Sima and placed his hands in his pockets. The child stopped short, panting. He rifled through his pocket for the paper and found it. Grinning, he handed it over.

“Go on then,” Sima scolded. “The less you
know,
the better.”

The child scowled and stalked off, his shoulders hunching. They waited for the boy to be far enough not to hear before they read over Lensi’s message.

Razi,

Shiemir Alonwei’s troops are infiltrating the Unangi jungle. I’ve gathered the refugees and plan to arrive this evening. Please prepare for them. The rebels will stay behind to fight as they always have.

Lensi

“Do you think she’s still with Leuj?” Sima whispered, curious.

“If so, she’s smart enough not to say it in writing.
Should your father find out Leuj’s whereabouts, he’d bomb the whole area to be sure the man is dead.” Razi slipped the note in his pants pocket and took Sima’s hand. He guided her off the path toward the guava orchard.

“It wouldn’t be out of any vengeance for my
death.
”

He chuckled. “You don’t know that for sure. He is your father after all.”

The grass was overgrown on the edge of the orchard. No one had pruned the trees for a while and they appeared more like bushes. He pulled Sima down into the dew-dampened grass and smiled. “Wake me up now.”

“You’re already awake.” She prodded his chest with her forefinger. “I’ve spoiled you.”

“I think you have that the wrong way around.” He rolled her beneath him and straddled her to sit up.
“Spoiled.
I’m not spoiled.” Gliding one hand beneath the hem of her blouse, he massaged her stomach, his thumb tickling her navel.

This was a beginning to foreplay she enjoyed. His hand warmed her to the core of her being with simple side-to-side strokes. She relaxed and closed her eyes. Slowing her breathing, she took in the perfume of the wilds, the scent of moist loam and grass, the musky flavor of her lover’s skin and a little farther away, the odor of the cattle. She crinkled her nose.

He continued to rub her skin with his right hand while his left cupped her breast. Fingers curled around her softness, heating her body, calming her thoughts and centering her in the moment. “You’re good at this,” she said in a low voice.

“I better be.” His lips grazed hers. “Do you remember the first night we were together? How I wanted you?” He nibbled her jaw-line. “You turned me on from the moment I saw you on my couch.” He bit at her lower lip. “Are you wet for me?”

“Mm.”
She squirmed beneath him. His hand left her stomach. He pressed his body against hers, weighing her down. She embraced him with her legs. “I remember,” she said, breathless.

“Are you wet?” he asked again. His fingers slipped beneath the waist of her skirt and delved into her panties. He cupped her cleft and chuckled at the moisture he found there. “That’s how I like you. Always ready for me.”

She bucked when he slipped a finger inside, and he kissed her hard before she could utter any protest, not that she felt like stopping him now. Tomorrow they’d be married. She hoped life would continue like this in all its simplicity. The village they were in was quaint and small. Razi had a job at the mill, and Sima worked for Folar, keeping track of the rents and taxes.

Razi raised his face and narrowed her eyes. “What are you thinking about?” He circled her clit with his thumb. “You’re so tense.”

“Nothing.”
She shuddered and caught her breath, returning her attention to him fully. “How can I think with you doing that?”

He smiled and forced a second finger inside her, massaging her pussy in a ticklish rhythm. “Good answer.”

She tried to relax, and he made it easy. His thumb soon had her legs quaking with the circular motions drawn across her center. Her breathing hitched and caught. Razi groaned, his desire mounting in time with hers. She clenched her teeth to avoid screaming when her orgasm gripped his fingers.

“That’s it,” he whispered in her ear. “Good girl, all wet and ready for me.”

She lay still in the grass, unable to form a coherent thought. He pulled his fingers from her body, leaving her empty, but blissfully content. Razi pushed her skirt up, tugged her panties free and pushed his knees beneath her ass, raising her pussy to him for easy access. Unlacing his pants, he pushed them down, freeing his cock. It bobbed above her entrance, thick and ready. Grasping her ankles, he set them on his shoulders. He looked down at her parted center in admiration.

“I’ll never get enough of you.” He grinned sideways and positioned himself to take her.

“I’ll never get enough of you either.” She arched her back, his knees supporting her from beneath and gasped when he pulled her up and thrust deep inside her body. He claimed her as he had time and again, though this delicious position was new.

He swayed and she felt his thickness filling her body. This sensuous dance teased her. His thumbs caressed her inner thighs, tracing her skin, gliding close to their joining only to slide away. The scent of their coupling mingled with the natural, fresh odor of the crushed grass.

After a while, she longed for him to pull out and ram in. She knew this was one of his games. He liked it when she begged for him. “Do it,” she whispered.

He grasped her ass and pulled her back ever so slowly, his length sliding out.

“Razi, do it…”

He pushed in and grunted.

Anxious, she found his wrists and clenched them, tugging so he’d understand. She stared up at his face, his playful but sensual parted lips she so loved to taste. His mouth became a firm line. He crushed into her, a raging beat of bodies slapping and releasing. She couldn’t hold her voice back any longer, nor did she want to.

His release burst in her body, heating her and causing his face to tighten, his jaw to tense. He shoved in and held himself there, rigid in her body and quaking with each afterburst. Sliding his hand in position, he set his free thumb to work her clit until she begged him to stop.

“But I want you to cum again,” he explained. “I like to watch your face.”

“You just want to laugh at me when we go to the temple and I can’t walk a straight line.” She released his wrists and let her hands fall to the ground.

“You know me too well already.” He fingered her gently, grinning.
“All right.
I’ll let you go this time, but tonight—“

“Lensi will be here tonight.”

“She’s not staying in our room.” Razi splayed his fingers over her pubic mound and rested his palm higher on her stomach. He lowered her body to the ground and pulled out. “I’ll go talk to Folar about a place for the refugees.”

She nodded. “And now that you’re
awake,
you’d better get off to work. Don’t be late. You have a future wife to support.”

He groaned. “Yes, that’s right. You ruined my simple life of pleasuring women and lazing about in the luxury of south Irnia.” He tugged her skirt down, adjusted his pants and stood. “I must go work now, like a real man.”

“Spoiled,” she reminded him.

Chapter Two

Melia Dargon

With her ship orbiting the fourth planet in the Em-7 solar system, Melia stood before the view-screen staring at the image of Shiemir Alonwei. He was at least ten years her senior and handsome for a man of such power, especially with his fair skin and hazel eyes. A wisp of his brown hair fell across his forehead, and he brushed it away with an impatient swipe. He was also human, and all humans had a weakness. She intended to find his. Tapping her chin, she thought their meeting might be a break from the rigors of her usual missions. She had strict orders to assassinate him if he denied Kyleena’s proposition. Her left eye twitched when the com-tone alerted her that the sound was on.

She forced a smile. “Shiemir Alonwei, I am Cossia Melia Dargon from Kyleena headquarters in C-9. I have news from—”

“Cossia?”
Alonwei grimaced.
“Such a low rank.
I see how little the Empire regards me. Good.” He reached forward to disconnect, his expression confident.

“One moment more, Shiemir.
I have orders to meet with you.” She took a step closer, her gaze intent as if he were standing in front of her and not on the planet’s surface. As most men’s did, his eyes flickered over her shape, but he did not smile or seem the least bit entranced. His non-reaction intrigued her.

“What is the purpose of this meeting?” His hand withdrew, and he tucked it in his silver sash belt.

The sash of an Irnian ruler,
Melia realized. He had not seized power more than a few months ago and already he claimed it. Leuj’s body was never recovered. This proved how sure of himself the Shiemir was. “Kyleena has a proposal for you.
Terms, if you will.
It is not uncommon for rulers in the outer reaches of the Empire to usurp each other’s power. Kyleena merely wishes to acknowledge your new territories and to—”

“To verify my loyalty?”
He sneered and reached once more to disconnect. “I’ve no use for a
Cossia.
Tell the Kyleena Emperor to send me someone of higher rank.
Someone worthy!”
The com clicked and his image vanished.

“What a bastard,” she muttered. Melia swept a hand through her hair, drawing the fallen blue-black locks from her face. She frowned and wondered how difficult it would be to get close enough to assassinate Alonwei, and if it would be necessary to do so. “Set a course for Alga,” she ordered. “I will have my meeting with the Shiemeir, whether he likes it or not.”

Her navigator turned. Half human and half machine, he always startled her when he stared. His left eye, a red light, twinkled while his right appeared blind. A metal hand with wires strung through its joints saluted. “On your orders,” he droned before spinning around and entering the coordinates.

Annoyed, Melia stormed out of the command chamber and hurried through the silver-walled tunnel. A shower sounded inviting, and maybe a little time alone with her vibrator. She swallowed and punched in the keycode. The door swished open sideways allowing her to enter a minimal chamber. She glanced over her single cot-like bed and the study desk. She shunned personal effects. The more her crew knew about her, the more they could become close to her, and that was the last thing she needed or wanted. She was a loner, an assassin under High Daschia Thoman. The title of Cossia was merely a front.