Heart of a Sorceress

Chapter Two - part two

In the time that followed, he taught her some gentle stretches to prevent too much soreness in her muscles. Many of the movements he showed her required that he hold her hands and gently pull on her arms or have her pull on his. Lara was surprised at how much he needed to touch her in the course of teaching her, yet she didn’t mind at all. Sha’ul’s touch was always gentle yet firm, conveying without words a tenderness she’d only felt from Ariana.

They spent the rest of the morning in the meadow for instruction on herbology, which Sha’ul explained was an essential part of magery. Sha’ul explained the medicinal properties of the various flowers and plants. He had her taste them and feel their textures, familiarizing her with their names.

When they finally went back to Sha’ul’s cottage, Lara felt the tightening of soreness in her muscles. Sha’ul offered to let her rest, but she insisted on serving him the meal of smoked fish, cheese and bread her aunts had prepared as an offering for Sha’ul.

Halfway through the meal, Sha’ul regarded her, his brow furrowed. “You’re beginning to move stiffly,” he remarked. Setting down a chunk of bread he’d been eating, he rose from the table and stoked the fire in the hearth. “You need to soak in a hot tub immediately,” he told her. “If you don’t, you won’t be able to move tomorrow.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. I tried to push you as little as possible. I don’t want to hurt you.” He picked up a bucket and started for the door.

“It’s not your fault I’m so weak, my lord. It’s because of…the palace.”

He regarded her with sympathy pooling in his obsidian eyes. “Aye, I know. I just don’t want to make it worse.”

She bowed her head. “You’ve already made it better, my lord.”

He nodded solemnly. “Thank you, Lara.” With his hand on the door he paused again. “I swear to you I’m not trying to…misuse you…with the bath.”

“I know. My body grows stiffer each moment.”

“I’ll be right back.” He went outside, returning moments later with a large bucket of well water, which he poured into a kettle over the fire.

Lara watched him from her seat. Her stomach coiled warmly as she pictured him in the tub with her, his bare wet skin glistening…

Sha’ul opened a large chest at the foot of his sleeping pallet and retrieved a small pouch tied with a leather cord. “These are special crystals I’ve made that dissolve in the bath water. Once you soak with these, you won’t have any trouble.” He placed the pouch on the table near her.

Without thinking, Lara rose from her chair. “Thank you, my lord.” His nearness made her slightly dizzy. Her gaze was even with his broad chest. Dark hairs peeped through the laces of his shirt. She squelched the potent desire to graze her fingertips across them.

“Are you all right, Lara? You seem a bit unsteady. Perhaps you should sit back down.” He reached for her upper arms, squeezing them gently. His touch weakened her and a reflex made her tilt her face upward, her eyelids fluttering. His dark eyes radiated a heady mixture of sympathy and desire.

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore, my lord.” Her voice trailed out in a whisper before she could stop herself. She felt the huskiness in her own throat. Her breasts tingled, ached for his touch. She caught her breath. The ache in her breasts fanned downward, filled her body with heat. Who was she?

Sha’ul continued to gaze on her and she felt him delve more deeply into her soul. “How do you mean afraid, Lara?” he answered, his voice notches lower than before.

Her lower lip trembled. “Of…love.” Her vision blurred as masculine heat simmered in the air, the musky scent of the man before her filled her senses. She couldn’t believe the words that were slipping from her, yet was unable to stop herself.

The obsidian pools smoldered as his gaze swept her face and neck, to her chest, which had begun to rise and fall more heavily.

Lara braced herself for his rejection. “I know you visit the forest witches, my lord, but I—“

His deep chuckle broke off her words and her gaze was trapped on  the dimple folding in his cheek. He cupped her face in his hands, brushed his thumbs across her skin. The callused touch, soft in its movement, made her sigh. “I haven’t been to the forest witches since the Wise Ones told me you were coming,” he said softly.

A tear pooled in her eye and slipped onto her cheek. He brushed it away, the pad of his thumb gliding on her skin with incredible tenderness.

She blinked. “Oh. I though—

He stopped her with the brush of  his lips across hers, softly at first, then more firmly.

Lara’s eyes fluttered closed and a soft whimper escaped her throat. She reached up, pressed her fingertips on the corded muscles in his arms. She parted her lips, offering herself to him, breathing in his musky scent, blended with earth and herbs and wood smoke. She moaned as his tongue danced lightly against hers, smoothing across her teeth in languorous motions.

Her body weakened. She stepped into him and sagged against his hard chest, pressing her body the length of his. His maleness, hard and pulsing, pressed into her stomach as his hands slipped around to her back, pulling her more firmly against him.

Lara allowed her hands to explore the ridges and bulges of his arms and shoulders before smoothing her palms over the wide expanse of his back. The sheer strength that quivered under her hands stoked the rapidly building heat in her s*x and when her fingertips skated down his spine between ridges of muscle, he groaned softly into her mouth, sending a warm vibration through her entire body.

Sha’ul pulled his mouth away from hers and held her, breathing heavily into her ear. The soft wind tickled her skin and his chest heaved against hers. “Lara,” he breathed close to her ear, “are you certain you want this? I’m determined not to force you in any way.”

At his question, Lara fisted his shirt and stared up at him. The heavy fringe of dark eyelashes rested halfway on his eyes and the skin of his face flushed with obvious desire. “Aye, my lord.” She took a small step backward. “Don’t you?” Her heart already began to plummet.

“Of course I do.” His voice was almost a growl. “I want to make love to you. But…after what you’ve been through, I want it clearly to be your choice.”

Hope surged again, along with the fire pulsing through her loins, pooling heat in the core between her thighs. “It is my choice,” she whispered. Who was this brazen woman? Where was the timid girl she’d been just the day before?

He nodded, smoothing his hand down the length of her silver-blonde braid. “Praise Galen,” he murmured. With both hands, he worked open the laces of her bodice.

Lara felt her breasts swell forward when they were unbound.

“You’re so very beautiful, Lara,” Sha’ul breathed.  He covered her left breast with one hand over her blouse. With gentle fingertips, he squeezed the hardening tip, causing it to tingle.

Shards of heat radiated into her belly and downward. She felt her s*x moistening and swelling. Her heart fluttered like a bird trapped in a cage.

Sha’ul’s kiss deepened. One large hand cradled her back while the other worked her n****e into a hard peak.

Lara grasped the iron muscles of his arms, clutching them against the waves of pleasure pounding through her breast. The vibration of a moan echoed against her lips. Sha’ul pulled his mouth from hers, panting, dark eyes smoldering. “Lara,” he whispered, a ragged sound that shuddered through her.

Without thinking, she tipped her head back. Sha’ul took the silent encouragement, raining warm moist kisses over her throat. His hand left her breast to span her back with the other and he dipped his mouth to her chest, anointed the skin above her breasts with small, hot licks.

Lara gasped with each tiny dart of heat. Her n*****s tingled, ached madly for more and her hands slipped up his arms, over his shoulders and clutched into his dark hair.

Another groan vibrated on her skin and Sha’ul’s fingers pressed urgently into her back. His lips trailed lower…lower, followed the increasing softness into her breast, then closed, hot and slick over her n****e.

“Ohhh!” Her head tilted back and her body melted. Never could she have imagined a pleasure such as this.

Sha’ul’s lips tightened on the small bud and he tugged it gently, in rhythmic pulls. Lara’s fingers moved wildly in Sha’ul’s hair. The moisture seeped from her s*x, wanting more and more—

She gasped when a sudden pounding came on the door to Sha’ul’s cottage.

“Sha’ul, sir!”

Lara recognized Danni’s voice. Sha’ul pulled away from her, visibly gathering himself before answering Danni’s call.  Lara’s hands flew to the laces of her bodice and she pulled them closed again.

When she’d covered herself, Sha’ul opened the door. Danni’s face held an expression both of sheepishness and urgency. “I’m sorry, sir.” His gaze stole inward and found Lara, still standing by the table. “Forgive me.”

“What is it, Danni?” Sha’ul asked.

“Ariana. She’s in labor.”

Lara gasped. “Is she all right?”

Danni nodded. “Ariana asked for Lara. Can she come?”

“Of course she can,” Sha’ul said. He went over to Lara and put his hands on her shoulders. “Go in peace,” he said softly. “Just let me know what has happened.”

Lara nodded, her eyes open as far as they would. The heat of his touches and kisses still spiraled through her breasts. “Thank you, my lord.”

He released her shoulders and reached for the pouch he’d placed on the table earlier. “Whatever you do, Lara, make certain you soak with these before too long.”

Lara accepted the pouch. Sha’ul steered her toward the door where Danni waited before she could respond. Already, her muscles groaned from the movement and she wondered how she would even walk the short distance to Karan-ver.

Her inner question of how to get back to the longhouse quickly was immediately answered. Danni’s tame chaya beast, Growlie, stood in the yard, licking absently at his chops. Lara shuddered. The sight of the large beast with its coarse hair, glittering eyes, large jaws and griffin-like talons always inspired fear in her. Yet Danni had found the creature as a wounded pup and had hand-raised him. Growlie was unerringly loyal to Danni, his adopted master and had fast earned his place as mascot of the guard barracks.

Danni gave Lara a leg up onto Growlie and seated himself in front of her on the creature’s back. Normally he refused to ride Growlie, insisting his friend was not a beast of burden. Apparently, he had made an exception for Ariana.

Lara glanced at Sha’ul.

He watched her, his eyes reflecting a mixture of desire and concern. He held up a hand in farewell and she returned the gesture, suddenly forced to grasp Danni’s shoulders as he bid Growlie to move. She held him firmly, clutching the pouch of bath crystals while bracing her aching body against the chaya beast’s rocking gait.

“How far along is she?” Lara asked as Growlie loped down the path in the direction of Karan-ver.

“I’m not certain,” he answered over his shoulder. “But as soon as the news reached the barracks, I knew you’d want to be with her, so I jumped on Growlie and rode right to Sha’ul’s.”

Lara bowed her head. “Thank you,” she murmured as a pang of guilt stole through her heart. The memory of Sha’ul’s touch on her breast remained. She’d only known him a day and had been about to make love with him. She’d known Danni for nearly an entire year, and although she found him handsome, she’d never let him touch her. She wondered why she hadn’t fallen in love with Danni who obviously cared so deeply for her.

When they stopped at the door of Karan-ver, Danni slipped off Growlie and helped Lara down. The bumpy ride on the chaya beast had not helped ease the soreness gathering quickly in her muscles. The pouch in her hand reminded her of the bath she needed to take. That would wait. Ariana was far more urgent. “Thank you, Danni, for coming to get me.”

He nodded. “Don’t worry about it.” He watched her for a moment and Lara could see him suppressing the longing in his eyes. He went to the heavy door, an ornately carved slab from which hung a giant iron knocker, and pulled it open for her. “I have to get back,” he said as she passed over the threshold.

She stopped and looked at him. “Go in peace.”

He smiled. “You too.”

Lara turned and made her way through the great hall into the corridor that led to their sleeping rooms. Ariana’s labor cries echoed off the walls, urging Lara to move more quickly in spite of her stiffness.

She found her father in the hallway outside the bedroom he shared with Ariana, pacing back and forth in front of the doorway.. His large, muscled form practically filled the hallway and the torchlight in the sconce by the door glinted off his silvery-blond mane. One large hand stroked his thick beard absently.

Lara’s gaze locked with his and he came to a stop. She approached him and came to stand a few feet away. In that moment, seeing him so distressed, the usual tension she felt around him was absent.

“The midwife won’t let me go in,” he growled. “She says I’m making Ari nervous.” He sighed and raked a large hand through his hair. “Perhaps she’s right. I’m a wreck.”

Lara stared at her father. Seeing him in moments like this was unusual, considering he’d led so many men into battle and was still known as one of the world’s greatest and fiercest warriors, as well as once with a conscience. At least that’s what everyone said about him. She’d had her own difficulty believing such a thing. Otherwise, how could he have let her languish so long a prisoner in the palace and then send a women in to rescue her?

He looked down at her, his blue-gray eyes sad and nervous. “I was exactly this way when you were born,” he said. “The midwife forced me out of the room then, as well.”

She felt her eyes widen. Never before had he said such a thing. “Is that true?” Seeing him like this, it was easier to believe that he truly cared, and couldn’t have gotten to her sooner than he did.  She smiled shyly. “I…didn’t know that.”

He returned her smile, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder, just as Ariana cried out again. Both Lara and her father’s heads whipped in the direction of the sound, which was followed by the tiny scream of a newborn.

Her father’s hand sagged heavily on her shoulder as they both sighed in relief. Karan slipped his arm across Lara’s shoulders and they stood together, waiting, until one of Lara’s aunts poked her head out the door and smiled warmly. “Brother,” she said softly, “come meet your son.”

Aunt Valia looked at Lara. “And you, young lady, come in and meet your brother. Ariana asked for you.”

Lara followed her father into the room. Ariana lay propped against the pillows, cradling the newborn. Lines of exhaustion ringed Ariana’s eyes and mouth and perspiration glowed on her skin, her red hair damp and clinging to her forehead. But she looked content, glowing with joy as the infant, tiny and pink with a swirl of red hair on the crown of his head, sucked at her breast.

Lara stood at the foot of the bed while her father knelt down beside Ariana, his gaze locked on the child in her arms. She stared at her brother, mystified.

“Meet Eshav,” Ariana said to them. She looked at Lara. “That was my father’s middle name. I wanted something of him to carry on after…” She stopped speaking. They both knew her father had been slaughtered by the Pierrans during their quest to dominate all of Adamah. Not long after they’d kidnapped Karan himself.

Her father smoothed back Ariana’s hair with a gentle hand. “Thank you, Ari,” he said softly.

Ariana looked up at him, her green eyes misted over. “Thank you,” she whispered. She smiled at Lara. “Do you like him, Lara?”

Lara nodded quickly, an ache tugging at her heart. She set down the pouch of crystals and took a few steps closer. “I do. He’s beautiful.”

Ariana relaxed against the pillow. “I’m sorry I interrupted your first day of training.”

Lara’s cheeks burned as her memory rose along with the shadow of feeling on her breast. “You didn’t…interrupt. We’d just finished.”

Ariana sighed. “I’m glad.” Eshav finished nursing and Ariana lifted him gently to her shoulder. “Valia said to do this after he finishes.” She rubbed her hand gently over the swaddling cloth covering the baby’s back.

Lara felt suddenly like an intruder and wanted to leave her father and Ariana alone in this special moment. “I’m going to help in the kitchens,” she murmured. “Do you need me?”

Ariana smiled at her. “No, sweetheart. I’m so glad you were here.”

Lara bowed her head. “Me too.” She looked at her father who rose from kneeling.

“Come here, Lara,” he said.

She approached him and he held his arms out to her. Her breath caught softly in her throat. There had been other times he’d wanted to show her affection, but she’d refused. Now, she stepped into his arms and let him embrace her. The words he’d said earlier had gone a long way to healing her anger, irrational as it may have been.

“I’m sorry, daughter,” he said. She felt his caution in not holding her too tightly. His physical strength could be overpowering and he knew it.

Tears crowded her eyes. She felt like more of a baby than her infant brother and hoped she would grow up. Still, the tenderness in her father’s voice meant so much to her. She pulled away gently and looked up at him. “I’m sorry, too,” she answered. “I know you couldn’t have done anything…different.”

He cupped her cheek with one large hand. “It means everything to hear you say that, Lara.” Behind her father, she heard Ariana sniffle.

“You should let her go before I begin to bawl,” her stepmother said.

Lara smiled and moved reluctantly away, her body more sore than it had ever been in her life. Carefully, she bent down and kissed Ariana’s cheek. “I’ll come back later, if it’s all right.”

Ariana nodded. “I’d like that.”

Lara smiled at her again and turned to leave. The movement brought her awareness back to her increasingly sore muscles. She made her way slowly to her room a few doors down from her parents and sank down on her bed. Renna and Kira, with whom she shared the cozy chamber, were absent, each doing her chores. Guilt washed through Lara who had been exempted from most of her duties in the longhouse because of her training. She was incredibly grateful that her cousins did not hold any resentment toward her for it and determined that after a short rest, she’d go to the kitchens and help prepare the evening meal.

She stretched stiffly out on her fur skin pallet and closed her eyes…

When next she opened them, she caught her breath.

Sha’ul stood in the doorway of the bedroom, smiling at her.