Barbarian King’s Mate by Ivy Sparks

Chapter Four

Garath

I staredup at the leaves and twigs glowing above me. The luminescent fluid swirled in their veins and gave off a vaguely hypnotizing effect. It distracted me from all the many questions crowding my mind since I had left the glade.

When I turned my head, I saw the female. Daphne. She was hunched near the fallen log, hugging herself and rocking. What was she thinking? She struggled to maintain her composure, but she kept glancing back the way we came. If she was so afraid of the Vorlax—as she should be—why did she seem more afraid of me?

Regardless, if they showed up here, I could get to her quickly. As the darkness settled over the forest, she was still sitting there. I could only see her outline now. My eyes drifted closed when a loud squawk echoed through the trees.

I recognized the night call of the ekoidian honey-sucker, but in half a second, the female shot off the ground and snatched up a sharp stone to defend herself. I smiled. She had courage, at least.

She backed toward my hut, searching all around her for a threat. The vines and leaves blocking the hut rustled as she pulled back the curtain.

“So you finally came to your senses,” I said, moving aside as much as I could for her. “Well, come in. It’s the only safe place in the entire forest.”

Still, she didn’t enter. She merely stood at the entrance. “There’s no room. I won’t be able to lie down there without touching you.”

“You could always lie on top of me. There’s plenty of room there.” She smacked her lips in peevish annoyance and I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. She was even more appealing when she got flustered.

To my surprise, she got down on her hands and knees. From here, the luminescent plants gave just enough light so I could see into the cleft between her breasts. Did she have any idea how suggestive this position was? Her hips protruded from her narrow waist in a glorious bloom of flesh.

She inched inside. “Don’t you even think of trying anything, buddy.”

I had to turn my face away to stop myself from laughing. “What could I possibly try?”

“You know what I mean.” She angled to one side and tried to lie down as far away from me as she could.

No matter how hard she tried, she still ended up smashed against me. Her breasts pressed against my stomach, but she was so small, her head only came up to my chest.

She bent her knees and one of her legs slipped between my thighs. Her other leg came to rest on top of my other leg. She shot me a terrible glare, but I couldn’t get away from her if I tried. I bit back another grin. This was better than I had hoped.

Her head shot back, and she narrowed her eyes. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing at all.” I shut my eyes. I would start laughing if I saw her face twisted in frustration. “I should tell you that these leaves emit a scent of their own. It dulls the senses, so it will put us both to sleep. As soon as we both drift off, we won’t be much of a bother to each other anymore.”

She groaned, then attempted to soften her expression. “I hope you don’t take offense,” she began, trying to regain some composure. “It’s just that not too long ago I was being molested by disgusting scorpion monstrosities, and I’d rather spare my body any more of that for the time being.”

I chuckled. “Of course. I understand.”

She grumbled something else, her little ornery voice like that of a cute child’s trying to assert its independence, but soon her eyes grew heavy. My head already started buzzing too. The leaves were taking effect. In the haze before I fell asleep, I became aware of her skin making contact with mine. She felt so smooth and unique, not like the heavily muscled women of my clan. The sensation of her body sinking into mine sent me into a hypnotic haze more than the leaves themselves.

I inhaled the wonderful scent that had brought me to the glade. Without thinking, I let my face fall into her hair. That intoxicating aroma came from her scalp and skin and… everything. She filled me with irresistible desire.

My blood warmed to her. I didn’t mean to lean into her, but it happened against my best efforts to keep myself away. I slipped my knee deeper between her legs, and it slotted into the cleft of her softest tissues.

Instead of pulling away or jolting on high alert, she melted into me, too unaware from the effect of the leaves. She collapsed into my arms, and her head fell against my chest. Her short frame fit perfectly inside my embrace.

She let out a long breath. Did she know she was rubbing herself against my knee? Did she know her hips were rocking like that? My cock swelled, and I didn’t even try to stop it. I wanted her—all of her. I wanted her rocking like that on me. I wanted to feel her essence engulfing me and to taste her sweet breath that was driving me out of my mind.

As quickly as it started, she succumbed to slumber. Every trace of tension drained from her and she fully went limp. Her head lolled to the side and her breathing lengthened. She was asleep.

I lay there, too alert to sleep. The leaves affected me differently. They aggravated my nerves so I couldn’t ignore her body pressed right against mine. Her nipples poked through their covering and grazed my chest. At odd intervals, her thighs squeezed involuntarily and faint peeps came from her throat when she clamped around my leg.

I ached for her, but I couldn’t indulge her body any further. She needed sleep. She needed safety and rest. If I took that from her now, I would never see her again, and I couldn’t stand that.

This female did things to me no other woman had in the past. It was as if I had been waiting for her my entire life.

I shook my head at the thought. It was ridiculous to think. I had simply gotten caught up in the excitement of having rescued an outsider. But this—whatever this was—couldn’t last long. My father would never permit her to take refuge in our tribe, not even temporarily.

For what seemed like hours, I trembled in the excruciating tension against her tempting flesh, but eventually I fell asleep with her. That was the only way I could get any relief from this madness.