Warlord and the Waif by Chloe Parker

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ELLA

I MAKE MY way out to the courtyard, seething with rage at the injustice of this place. For some reason, I always imagined that space would be utopian, that any people capable of science like space travel would have things figured out. But the Alpha Worlds are archaic, brutal, and inequitable.

I wish I could just go home.

The sun is shining through the clouds, a bright day compared to the normal glum weather here on Myste. I sink to my knees next to a pool in the stream that rolls from the highest tower down into a lush garden, the one place of beauty I’ve found here in this wasteland. Calder rarely comes here, the sun too bright on his shoulders, so it’s served as a place where I can be alone.

I bark out a bitter laugh. Calder. My “rescuer.”

I don’t forgive him. I still feel angry at the Skoll warrior, at the situation I’ve found myself in, at the fact that my whole life was stolen from me.

But I’m beginning to realize that, from the highest echelon to the lowest, we’re all prisoners here. Calder himself, the warden of this city in the clouds, is held captive by the Hyperboreans’ promise of salvation. And how could I understand the desire to be free when the other people trapped here have been this way for centuries?

I lean over the pool, staring at my reflection in the clear water. It’s deep enough that I could swim, or drown. I wonder if that would be preferable to what I’m in for.

But I have to keep fighting.

I lean closer and splash some water on my face, fighting back tears. I want to go home. I want my mom and dad. I want to tell them I’m okay, and to visit my brother’s grave together one last time.

And I hate that I want to forgive Calder. That I ache for his touch, and that I regret getting out of his bed two days ago. There’s something between us, no matter how hard I try to deny it, and I don’t know how I’ll resist him if I’m trapped here as long as the books suggest. I think back to when he held me so tenderly in his arms after I passed out last night, and to the relieved expression on his face as I came to.

I run my fingers over the surface of the water, my reflection distorting. The serenity of the pool is a refreshing reprieve from the chaos of the castle.

I could just bathe out here and clear my head.

I unlace my bodice slowly, my fingers stiff from folding napkins all morning. Once it’s undone, I toss it to the side and step into the pool, pulling up my chemise as I go. I look around to make sure I’m alone before I shed that too, and wade into the cold water.

In the summer of 1966, my friend Lucy and I drove out to a remote part of Lake Michigan after we graduated college. We went skinny dipping one June night in the starlight, laughing and talking about what the future held for us. I try to remember the girl I was, so full of promise with a taste for adventure. The cold water around me reminds me of that night, showing my body what it was like to be wild and alive.

It calms me, bringing me comfort, and I wade into the deepest part. My hair is bound into a knot at the nape of my neck, and I tug the hair tie free to let it free to float around me. The water is about five feet deep here, but I’m tall enough that it only comes up to my chin, and I let myself sink deeper.

Then I hear footsteps in the grass.

My eyes snap open and I turn to see Calder, out in the open for once, squinting in the sun. I don’t know how he’s so quiet, or why he’s here, but I stay still as I wait to find out if he’s spotted me.

His eyes fall to mine, the starlight blue visible even from this distance.

He definitely sees me.

I’ve told him I can’t do what I know we both want, but a fire lights in my belly at the hunger clear on his face. My core tightens in spite of the cold, and I watch him boldly, waiting for him to make the first move. I know it’s only been a few weeks since I arrived at Kaer Idunn, but it feels like we’ve danced around one another for ages.

Calder walks slowly toward the pool, his cloak drifting at his ankles. I can see the pain in his eyes as he winces in the sunlight, but it vanishes when his eyes fall to my naked body underneath the crystal clear water.

I stand still, staring up at him. I know I should cover myself, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I like that he’s looking at me, my already pebbled breasts suddenly all too sensitive to the chill.

He shrugs off his cloak, steps closer.

I breathe, the air catching in my throat.

Neither of us speaks, though I feel I should say something. He takes a step into the water. I gulp, watching him. He doesn’t undress anymore, leaving his trousers on, a buffer between the two of us. I wonder if it’s a buffer I want. Within seconds, he’s just a few feet away from me, relaxing his knees so his shoulders are submerged.

I bite my lip, and I know that I wish it was his teeth sinking into the sensitive flesh. His gaze settles on my mouth, his eyes hooded and hot, my body burning up even in the cool water.

“I cannot resist you, woman,” he rumbles, his voice low. “You deny my advances, yet here you stand, naked before me.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” I tell him truthfully.

I don’t tell him I’m glad he came.

He steps closer, and I feel the delicate currents wrapping around his body and pushing toward mine. The swirl of the water seems hell-bent on drawing us together, just like the currents of the universe carried me here.

“So why don’t you cover yourself? Why don’t you flee, or scorn me again?”

I inhale sharply as he steps ever closer, no more than a foot away.

Will I continue to deny him? Or should I give in to this exquisite desire?

And then I decide, raising my eyes boldly to his.

“I want to feel something other than despair.”

I don’t take my eyes off his when I feel his large hand settle on my hip, his fingertips pressing into my skin and drawing me close.

“So you desire me.”

I nod, barely able to speak.

“Yes.”

I gasp when I feel his erection press against my core, straining against the leather of his trousers, and he raises his other hand to graze his thumb over my lower lip.

My body seems to take over when I tilt my head to pull his index finger into my mouth. He tastes just slightly like copper and cinnamon.

It’s the first time I’ve tasted him, but it won’t be the last.

“Brazen woman.” He yanks me closer by my hip, then lowers his hand between us, his fingers pressing against my sex. I sigh, releasing his finger from my mouth, and he grasps me by the chin with surprising tenderness. I’m helpless in his arms as he starts to stroke me up and down, watching my reactions with hooded eyes.

“So many pieces of you I’ve yet to explore,” he says. “Tell me, beauty, where do you like to be touched?”

I don’t have an answer for him; I’ve never had a lover take an interest in my pleasure like this. And my brain is scrambled, my thoughts in disarray at the sensations pulsing outward from my core.

“Answer me,” he growls.

I open my mouth to speak, but he plunges his fingers inside me and I fall against him, splaying my hands across his well-muscled chest. He fingers me with slow deliberation, teasing out the tremors across my skin. I hitch my left leg up around his waist to give him better access, and he hisses out a breath when I grind myself against his erection. My nipples graze deliciously against his ribs, sending a hit of warmth to my every limb.

“Calder!”

I jerk my head away at the sound of the voice, though Calder keeps his hand on me, holding me close, bringing me closer and closer to the edge.

“Are you out here!” Another call. It’s Portia.

Calder lets out a frustrated sigh and pauses. His fingers are still inside me, my muscles pulsing around him, his dick pressed into the soft flesh of my stomach. When I take a chance and glance to the left, I see Portia walk over the crest of the hill.

She averts her eyes with a grin.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she says, not looking at us.

“What do you want?” Calder growls.

“The Hyperborean Delegation has arrived,” she says. “Lucien went to town to meet them at the spaceport.”

“When are they due at the castle?”

“Any moment now.”

I look up at him, still lusting for him, my leg around his waist as I beg for more.

I puff out a breath when he extracts his fingers from my center and steps away.

“We’ll continue this later,” he promises.

Yes, we will.