The arranged vows, p.18
The Arranged Vows, page 18
Or, to hell, for how sinful it feels.
“Catriona,” I groan, my hand guiding her as she moves her head up and down along my length. “I cannot...” I’m not sure how to say the next part. I want her to be prepared, for what is to come.
She pulls pack slightly and smiles at me. “It is okay. I know. I want to taste you.”
“You’ve done that, princess,” I grit through my teeth.
“I want to taste all of you,” she whispers.
Her words hit me like a train. When her lips descend on me again, I can’t hold myself back. My orgasm builds across my spine in a crackle of lightning, and by the time I realize that I am about to come, I rupture, pulsing into her mouth.
My girl, my sweet Catriona, drinks down every last drop.
It is the most powerful release I have had yet.
I shudder as she licks the last drops from me. Catriona slides up my body to nestle herself in my arms, and I weakly surround her, holding her to me.
“I...” I try to make words, but I can’t. She laughs and kisses me softly.
We lay there for a moment longer. I feel her heart pulse, coming down from a rapid to a softer beat. Eventually, I stir, thinking that I would like to return the favor.
I want to see what she tastes like again as well.
“Catriona,” I whisper, pressing my lips to her forehead. She doesn’t respond for a moment, then blinks at me.
“Yes?”
“Hold still, darling.”
She yawns and tucks herself closer. “What if we went to bed?”
For a moment I’m disappointed. Does she not want to have me there? “But you...”
Sleepily, she waves a hand at me. “I do want that. But I want it tomorrow.”
“Why’s that?”
“The promise of tomorrow is what sustains me. And I like to wake up to you. And I like to wake up to your lips on my body. So, perhaps tomorrow,” she mutters.
I laugh.
I can’t argue with that.
“Sleep then, Catriona,” I whisper into her hair.
I’m rigid again at the thought of tasting her as she tasted me, but I can wait. She’s right. Being married means that we perpetually have the promise of tomorrow.
And that, I realize, is something that I’m coming to look forward to.
I hold her in my arms, letting her rest. My little princess might seem like a non-stop, perpetual motion machine, but she does have her limits. I treasure the trust she is showing to me. As I hold her, our breathing synchronizes, and soon I, too, fall asleep.
Chapter twenty-one
Dreams and Schemes
Catriona`
I dreamed that an elephant was stroking my earlobe. It was a strange sensation, but one that wasn’t altogether terrible. I woke to find Leland nibbling gently at my ear. It felt odd, weirdly good, but definitely odd. I wiggled around to face him.
He smiled at me and worked his way along my jaw with little nibble kisses until he got to my mouth, which he gave a tentative kiss.
Already semi-aroused from the ear nibbles, I kiss him back. Tentative became definite, and we indulged in a full contact kiss that leaves no doubt as to our growing attraction.
I run my hand down his lean back. I could count ribs and backbones, but he also has muscle. A great deal more muscle than is evident when you first look at him. His body is hard, like the bones of the mountain. Down near my pelvic region, something else is hard, communicating his need for me.
I feel myself melting into him, even more warmth pooling in my belly. I reach down and grasp the hard length of his manhood, and he gives a low groan of pleasure.
He reaches around me, grasping my behind, and pulling me closer to him. Our kiss deepens, lighting fires to rival the heart of Ild.
We lie on our sides, and without any discussion, he slides inside me. I grip one of his buttocks with my free hand, bracing us so that we are tethered in our mutual pleasure.
I delight in the way he slowly withdraws, then equally slowly plunges into my depths. Each withdrawal is like a lifeline being pulled away, each thrust a roaring increase in pleasure. I let all our troubles flow away and focus on this point in the flow of time.
The marvelous mattress floor of the tent embraces us, giving with our motions. There are no pointed rocks, no hard surface as one might expect in a lava cave.
We are cradled in comfort, melting into each other. We are timeless, embracing all time. Something low in my pelvis shifts, my pleasure mounts to almost unbearable heights.
Leland explodes inside me, new moisture leaving my insides with hot pleasure. I am melting, melting into him. I am caught, a trout in a brook, hooked on his barb of pleasure.
I hold onto him, and I hold him. He holds me, crooning softly in an unknown language that is both tender and beautiful. “I think. . .I think I love you,” I whisper. He squirms around so we can look at each other, eye to eye. “I know I love you,” he whispers back in English.
“What did you say to me?” I ask. My heart is thundering in my head, and I cannot believe what he said.
All of my hopes.
All of my dreams.
In this moment, they’re coming true.
I am no longer just the product of duty. Of royal obligation.
If what Leland just said is right, he loves me. Me, Catriona, the princess who was given to him. The one who he supports and encourages, the person who guards her people and who wants to live her own life as well.
He loves me, not just the role that I play, because for Leland I have removed some of the barriers that I usually keep to make sure I am separate from my people.
Leland loves me.
And I love him as well.
He kisses me gently on the lips, almost a brotherly kiss, but tender and gentle. “I love you, in as many languages as I know,” he answers, still speaking softly.
“How many languages do you know?” I ask, admiring the arch of his eyebrows, and his thick, curling eyelashes.
“Six,” he says. “Now I must learn your island Gaelic, and improve my ability to read English, for I want to say it in as many ways as possible.”
I laugh softly, delighting in his fervor. “I only know three,” I say, “And I think I need to learn to write better in French, just so you don’t have to work so hard to read my notes.”
We kiss again, melting into each other, just enjoying our shared warmth and this moment of peace.
We cuddle, unwilling to let go of the moment. Sadness, weariness, the need to seem strong for those around us, we let it all go and simply revel in this bubble of joy, this just being with each other.
“I love you,” he says again.
“I love you deep as the mountain,” I say.
“I love you high as the stars,” he says back.
We laugh softly, an expression of joy, and just take the time to catch our breaths. I bury my face in his neck. Neither of us have had a chance to shower. He has the deep scent of elephant, the titillating aroma of an unfamiliar herb, but mostly just smells like himself and our love making.
“Not the most romantic setting,” he says.
“But uniquely ours,” I say. “Who else could make love inside a mountain, surrounded by people?”
“We do have this nice tent,” he notes.
“Yes,” I say, “I don’t think I’m bold enough to do this with witnesses. In the very earliest days, it would have been required.”
“Would it? I think you said something like that on our wedding night. I’m happy we were afforded the privacy of that nice yurt, and of this nice tent.”
“So am I. But I think my arm is going to sleep,” I say.
Leland grins at me. It is a sweet grin, one part pride of performance, one part boyish happiness. He turns on his back, pulling me over to sprawl on top of him. “Better?” he breathes in my ear.
“Much,” I say, letting myself melt over him drowsily. For a moment, it seemed as if the mountain was purring, just a soft, far-off rumble.
Then I nearly jump out of my skin when someone begins banging on a pot right outside our tent flap.
“Leland,” Zuri’s voice says, “You need to get up. Lord Idovu is restless, and Snowdrop is doing a tap dance over here.
I snap out of my daze immediately. The mountain gives another low, distant rumble. “Oh, Gods!” I say. “Ild is speaking.
I roll off Leland and snatch my clothing out of the crate. He sits up beside me, and we dress in haste, pausing only to make sure we’ve not left any pointed or slashing items behind inside the tent.
Leland unzips the tent flap, and we look out into an orderly pandemonium. People are packing up gear, folding tents, and looking about them for loose or strayed items.
One of the villagers hurries toward us. “Up or down, Princess?” he asks.
“Follow Snowdrop,” I say. “She will lead us to safety. But try to keep to the wider ways. We can’t leave the elephants behind.”
Leland is out of the tent almost before I finish speaking, heading straight for Ildovu. Zuri is already at Lady Tembo’s side. That is when I realize it is not the mountain speaking. It is something outside the mountain. The sound of it reverberates inside the cavern.
A stalactite drops, arrowing straight down to stick in the top of one of the vardos. “They are bombing the hillside,” Leland gasps, going an ashen shade of grayish tan.
“Follow Snowdrop,” I repeat my earlier instructions. “She will find the safest way, and I think she will know where the elephants can fit.”
“Smart burro,” he says, already striding to his elephant’s side.
I go quickly to Snowdrop, leaving my people to put the tent away. They know what to do, and now is not the time to be dawdling over trivialities. If we have to lose a tent or two, it will be a small price if we can get all the animals and people safely to the more protected inner valleys.
Two more days, I think inside my head. It is two more days travel to the high meadows. Will they be able to fly there? The copters and planes, the ones we ordinarily see going over, cannot. But clearly this is something new and different.
Snowdrop is picking her way daintily down the center of the widest lava tube. This leads deeper into the mountain. If Ild wakes, whatever is going on outside will not matter to us at all. We move along at a good clip, weaving between bits of downed debris. This way is usually clear and clean. I feel extremely uneasy.
Richard zips up to me on an electric Segue. The small vehicle is amazingly well adapted for the smooth floor with its scattering of jagged bits.
Richard can run for short distances, as demonstrated by his dash that nearly stampeded, elephants, burros, and horses. But an old football injury left him with permanent damage to one hip and his lower back. Therefore, in situations that require extensive walking or running, he needs mechanical “legs.” On these floors, smoothed by generations of use, the Segue works well for him.
“What’s the plan?” he asks. “We got small aircraft exploding ordinance against the mountain.”
That was a super question. Ildogis was not equipped for modern warfare. I look over at Leland. He has the most experience with this kind of situation.
“That depends on who is shooting at us and why,” he says while tightening a strap on Ildovu ’s harness. “Also, how strong are these tunnels? What kind of direct hit can they take?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “A few of the lower ones have filled up with lava, and some of them melted. So we stay out of there except for the most extreme circumstances. But these tubes have been inert and solid for the last three hundred years, at least. Possibly longer. Some scientists who visited a year or two ago said that the tunnels have a high percentage of titanium, which makes the walls strong, plus a wild assortment of odd minerals that gives it all the colors.”
Leland tapped his chin. A gesture I’m beginning to understand is a worry tell. “I think we should get through and out of the tunnels as soon as possible. What will the terrain be like at the end?”
“A high meadow area. In high summer it is grassland, when the weather gets cold, it snows. Historically, planes have trouble with it because of the odd updrafts and downdrafts. But I’m not sure about the newer aircraft.”
Zuri had come up to them. “So, out of the frying pan into the fire? We need a diplomatic solution. Or someone we can yell to for help.”
“That didn’t work so well last time,” Leland says. “We wound up battling well-equipped mercenaries with farm equipment. If Andrew hadn’t called in the resources of Lane Industries, we’d all be dead. We left enough people behind as it was.”
“Why were you attacked?” I ask. “No, never mind. Let’s get everyone moved, then you can tell me. Unless it is relevant to getting people to safety.”
“If I could get to an Internet outlet, I might be able to work on the diplomacy end of things,” Richard says. “But my phone not only doesn’t have any bars, it’s out of charge.”
“There’s electric and a tower in the high meadow,” I tell him. “Providing they are still standing, and that no one has landed there and taken them over.”
Leland nods. “Let’s get going,” he says. “At the very least, we can be a moving target.”
I nod. “I’ll take point with Snowdrop. She works best with me. I don’t like the looks of that machine, Richard. Leland, can you put our diplomat up on your elephant?”
“We’ll put him on one of the herd members. Ildovu is a war elephant, if we equip him right, and a herd leader even if we don’t. It can be dangerous to ride him if he is in combat mode.”
Richard sighed and patted the handle of his mechanical steed. “Sorry, Steve. Maybe later.”
“Come on,” a young elephant handler said. “We can put your Segue up on my elephant along with you so you will have it when we get there…wherever there is.”
I head out with Snowdrop, confident that Leland will encourage everyone to move along. I don’t hear any more of the explosions.
I wish I knew more about lava tubes. I have a lot of training for running the island, but I’ve never before considered that Ildogis might need a bomb shelter, or even if it was possible to have one on an island that is mostly volcanic rock and ice.
What exactly did happen in Africa? I care about my husband, and by extension, about his people. But is this affection and trust misplaced? Am I falling in love only have to choose between Leland and the safety of my people? I glance at him, and I am not sure I’ve hidden my emotions.
He sees the doubt in my mind.
And I see the pain in his eyes when he realizes it.
Chapter twenty-two
Fleeing Through the Lava Tubes
Leland
My wife does not trust me, and I am not certain I fully trust her. Even though we just declared our love, I can see the emotions written on her face.
My soul feels crushed.
I am not good for Catriona. I am not good for her people.
I never was.
And now she has realized it.
I want to talk to her. To see what she is feeling, and how I can help her to see that I love her, and through that love, we will make a future happen. That she can trust me. And, that if I must leave to save her and her people, it is not because I don’t love her.
But it is because I must.
However, I have no choice but to follow her and her white burro as we go out of the cavern into a broad tunnel.
Zuri rides up beside me on Lady Tembo. Yes, it is that wide. We could fit three elephants abreast here. She asks what is on my mind. “Lel, what happens if the tunnel is too small for the elephants?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “Princess Catriona assures me that the burros will know where it is large enough for them.”
“How can they?” Zuri puzzles over this answer. “they’ve never seen elephants before.”
“I understand,” I say. “But we are in the flow of the rapids now. Our only choice is to go forward and hope we don’t get caught on the rocks.”
“You know what they say about white water rafters who plunge into the spume without life jackets.” Zuri grins at me. In the gloom, her beautiful teeth and the gleam of her eyes are the most visible part of her. Even her wide, wild hair seems to meld with the shadows.
“When the alternative is going down with a burning ship, the choices are limited,” I point out. “She says she loves me. I don’t think she will willing lead us to our deaths. She has a lot of her own people along on this expedition.”
An explosion shakes a shower of stalactites off the ceiling. “That’s another thing,” Zuri says, “I don’t see how we are safer up here in these vicious lava tubes than we would be down by the ocean.”
“I’m unsure of that myself,” I say. “Catriona said something about leaving the animals and the two of us escaping across an ice bridge into the glacier.”
Zuri looks at me as if I have lost my mind. “What would become of the rest of us?”
I sigh. “It does seem odd to me. But Catriona seems to think that if we are away from everyone that the people, we leave behind will be safer. She said something about it being like a game of chess where the king and queen must be preserved.”
Zuri snorted. “Have you ever played chess, Leland?”
“Well, no, I actually have not,” I say, “Never had time for games.”
“Let me tell you something. The king and queen are vital pieces, but a pawn can become a queen. The king cannot be killed, only captured. When he is taken, it is game over. But, unless one player is truly inexperienced or the other player is exceptionally good, if you are down to just the king and queen, then all the other pieces in the game have been killed or captured. At that point, the best thing you can hope for is a stalemate, where neither side can do anything.”
I feel a cold chill go down my spine. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“When the pieces are living beings, it isn’t good at all,” my sister says. “I know this marriage was arranged by your biological father, but I’m beginning to wonder if we would not all have been better off if you had walked away from it, and we had taken our chances in the jungle.”
