Flame of Cytherea: Cytherean Chronicles book 1 (3 page)

Too tired to think about it, he just stripped then fell into
bed.
 
His body was tired, but his mind
was still moving too fast, thinking about all that happened during the day, and
the craziness of it all.
 
A few minutes
later he heard a knock on the door.
 
He
wrapped the sheet around his waist and opened the door.
 
Kat stood there, wearing a thin robe of some
kind and he stared at her blankly for a second before stepping back.

“Would you like to come in?
 
Sorry about this, but those are the only clothes I have,” he waved a
hand at the food soiled clothes.

She nodded and walked in.
 
After a time she spoke haltingly…
 
This was the first time he had ever seen her less than confident, and he
found it endearing.

“Justin, I wonder after today if something else is different
where you come from.
 
For us… a man and a
woman joining for the first time…
 
Well,
it is neither casual, nor a sign of commitment but something in between.
 
It is more an indication of interest in
pursuing a relationship… which may, or may not, lead to something more.”

She blushed, “I find you a fascinating man, you are strong,
yet restrained.
 
You also worked hard
today and didn’t complain, despite finding yourself in a strange land.
 
I want to get to know you more, and…
intimately.
 
If you don’t share that…
desire, then I will leave.”

Justin was never one for one night stands, but from what he
understood that wasn’t what this was.
 
As
best he could figure it was sort of like a first date with the hope of getting
a second.
 
It sounded alien to him, but
then he was on a different world.
 
Different social rules.
 
And he
did like her, alarmingly so for just a day knowing her.

He stepped forward, close to her, and pushed his door closed
gently.

“I do share that desire, you have an inner strength tempered
by kindness that draws me in.
 
You are
also beautiful, stunningly so, and grow more so with everything I learn about
you.”

He decided to quit talking at that point while he was ahead,
he stepped even closer and tilted his head down.
 
Only when she moved toward him did he
complete the motion and their lips met, brushing tentatively against each
other.
 
He let go of the sheet and pulled
her body close against his as they slowly explored each other’s lips, their
soft tentative kiss slowly growing more confident, and more passionate, with
each second.

He was completely lost in the silky soft feel of her lips on
his when he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, playing with her hair
and teasing her skin with his fingertips.
 
The other hand caressed her cheek softly before tracing down her back.
 
He sensed the robe falling from her body,
then her skin was suddenly against his as she moved into him, melding her body
to his, and her hands started to explore his body.

He moaned into her mouth and kissed her harder when he felt
her soft breasts and tight nipples against the skin of his chest.
 
The heat of her core against his leg caused
his cock to jump and harden faster.
 

Her voice, throaty, sexy, full of need, tore at his control,
“Please Justin, take me now.”

He lifted her and carried her to the bed, and placed her as
gently as his control would allow.
 
He
got his first view of her naked body.
 
Her breasts were firm, her nipples hard.
 
She had a perfect hourglass body, both silky soft yet firm and in
shape.
 
She had a look of desperate need
on her face, that he imagined perfectly mirrored his own.

He retained just enough of himself to check her first, she
was wet, and her labia was swollen and parted slightly.
 
He crawled up between her legs and looked
down, to line up.
 
The smell of her, the
taste of her lips and skin, not to mention her pleading words, had driven him
to the edge of control, he needed her now.
 

He pushed firmly but gently until he was engulfed inside her
molten core.
 
He kissed her passionately
as he gave her time to adjust to his size and penetration.
 
He was exploring her neck and earlobe with
his lips and tongue when he felt her squeeze his ass.
 
He took it as a signal and started to slowly
pump in and out of her.
 
It felt
incredible, her core was tight, wet, and silky smooth.
 
It seemed to be a perfect fit, just for him.

She whispered into his ear as she started to move her hips,
thrusting up against him, meeting his every thrust with her own, “Faster, oh
goddess more, faster.”

His body seemed to respond directly to her wishes as he sped
up.
 
He was pounding into her now, hard
and fast.
 
She had added a minute swivel
of her hips on his down stroke that was driving him wild.

He reached back and grabbed her legs pulling them up and
over his shoulders, thrusting inside her as deeply as he could.
 
He let her legs hold him in place as one hand
slid down her silky skin to her honey pot.
 
He teased her clit with a fingertip, light brushes.
 
When he sensed she was close he pushed down
hard on her swollen nub as he slammed his pole deeply inside her as hard as he
could.

She gasped out as her whole body locked up in ecstasy, “OH
goddess, I’m…
 
I’m…” she couldn’t seem to
finish with words, simply crying out in pleasure instead.
 

Her core gripped and milked him so hard he had to stop
thrusting, only starting up again when she started to come down.
 

She was without a doubt the most beautiful, sexy woman he
had lain with, and the mouth watering scent of her skin and arousal was almost
overwhelming.
 
The pure physical pleasure
was more than he ever remembered having as well, so how the hell hadn’t he lost
control yet?

He dismissed it as unimportant, he could think about it
later.

He noticed her clit was oversensitive so he started teasing
her nipples and kneading her breasts.
 
This too gave him pause for a moment, he had always been a generous
lover, but he seemed to have an instinct now, of where to go and what to do
without her even telling him.
 
He just…
knew…

“Oh goddess,” she gasped, “I’m going to… again… don’t
stop…
 
Please…”

He did one better than not stopping, and picked up the pace
and pinched her nipples hard.
 
A short
few strokes later she screamed in pleasure and her core locked down on him
hard.
 
The vision of her coming so hard,
the expression of absolute bliss on her face, and the intense milking and
squeezing of his cock finally overwhelmed his control.
 
He felt the walls of her core grow even
tighter around his pole as he expanded within her.

He gasped in pleasure and whispered her name, “Katrina,”
half in amazed pleasure, and half in warning.

As his legs grew numb he heard her encourage him, “Fill me
Justin, I want to feel you explode in me.”

He started to empty himself into her ready womb.
 
When he finally had control of his body back,
he kissed her softly and stared down into her widened eyes.
 
He could see his surprise mirrored in her
eyes, it wasn’t just him that was caught off guard by the intensity of the
pleasure from their joining.
 
What did
that mean?
 
Not that he would complain…

He slowly pulled out and rolled to the side, pulling her
with him so her head wound up resting on his chest, her leg strewn over his
own.
 
He kissed her again tenderly for a
moment, then just held her.

After a moment she broke the silence with a giggle.
 
When he looked down and met her eyes she
blushed and whispered, “If I had any idea, any idea at all, we’d still be in
the forest right now.”

He laughed along with her, he knew that wasn’t true, it was
just her mind dealing with the intensity of their coupling.
 
All he knew was now wasn’t the time to think
about it, not with her in his arms.

They talked for a while about inconsequential things, he
told her a bit about his world and what it was like there.
 
Then, slowly they explored each other’s
bodies with their hands and fingertips.
 
Long kisses with exploring tongues and teasing caresses led to them joining
again, but without the earlier urgency.
 
They took their time, savoring every sensation and reaction they
engendered in their lover.

He filled her again while she was slowly riding up and down
his pole, her breasts swaying in his face as she too reached her peak.
 
The beauty of her body trembling in ecstasy
while riding him overwhelmed his senses.
 
He held her close after and kissed her softly, then played with her hair
as she lay her head on his chest.
 
Completely sated, with the feel of her against him along with her scent,
overpowered his worries, and he fell asleep for the first time in a new world.

Katrina was lying on her side leaning against him, her leg
thrown over his, held inside his arm.
 
She had her head rested on his chest as he fell asleep, listening to the
steady slow beats of his heart.
 
The
feeling of staying here felt… safe, which for her, was a new feeling.
 
She knew she should go back to her room, not
spend the night, it was too early for that… but she didn’t want to move.

When she had met him, and she blushed realizing that it was
just this morning, she hadn’t thought much of him.
 
He was worthless in the woods after all and
had almost ruined her hunt.
 
After
learning he was new here, and talking to him however, she wanted to learn more.

When he’d asked her about it, she had downplayed the
resistance in her society of a woman actually being in charge of a
business.
 
The last three years hadn’t
been easy since her parents died in the raids.
 
She had given a handful of men in the past a chance, but they were all
arrogant, treated her as… less.
 
One had
even suggested a union where she would continue to run the place, but the
ownership and profit should go to him, since it was only natural for a man to
own things.

She held back the snort, not wanting to disturb his sleep.

Outside of personal relationships, she had blocked a number
of men from taking the tavern away from her.
 
Simply by threatening to leave and take Ben and Cynthia with her.
 
Ben and Cynthia were old family friends who
she was grateful too.
 
Without them she
couldn’t have stayed in business.
 

Ironically their own attitudes that cooking and cleaning
were woman’s work made them back off at that point.
 
They may have been able to replace the
servers easy enough, but without her hunting the food, the cost of buying it or
hiring a good hunter would severely cut into profits.

She had thought Justin attractive, and could tell he
returned it.
 
But it was the way he
treated her as an equal that had piqued her interest and prompted her to get to
know him more.
 
She was also surprised by
the way he actually listened and gave weight to her words.
 
He was a strange mixture of competent,
hardworking, strong… but also completely clueless about the world, as if he was
a baby just born to life.

The more she had spoken with him and the obvious respect and
attraction he had shown her was what led to knocking on his door tonight.
 
She blushed again remembering how awkward she
had felt, what she had told him was the truth, but she left out the part of it
being the man that usually went to the woman showing interest and initiating
sex.

She wasn’t too worried about it though, it wasn’t the first
time she had gone against the grain after all, and he didn’t seem turned off by
a strong woman.
 
In fact, it seemed to
her the opposite was true.
 
Plus, he had
no idea how things worked here, which she found almost unbelievable, how would
he have known she was open to it, or even that it was an option if she hadn’t
taken the lead?
 
That led her to wonder
how far away he came from, and why did he?

She really should get up and go back to her room, sleeping
the night was supposed to be only after growing closer, and actually was a sign
of commitment.
 
She sighed softly and
gave up on that idea.
 
She felt warm,
comfortable, and safe.
 
She was lulled to
sleep by the steady beat of his heart…

------

Nora ran so fast she was practically flying.
 
Her feet were barely touching the ground
every twenty feet or so.
 
The tears in
her eyes were not from the wind, the wind obeyed her and did not bother her
eyes, in fact, it was the wind that buoyed her and pushed her along at such a
fast pace.
 
No, her tears were for her
sisters in arms.

She hadn’t had an easy life once she turned thirteen and
became a woman.
 
The power she had gained
set her apart, had made her strong, but in turn caused problems.
 
In a world where women were supposed to be
meek she had dared to try and soar.
 
It
had only gotten worse as several of the boys her age tried to set her straight,
and wound up beaten and broken instead.

She could have faked it, acted in a correct manner just to
get along, but it was not in her nature.
 
Like her power, her personality was wild and free, and at times
unpredictable.
 
The wind would not be
tamed…

She had been independent but miserable for three years, but
at sixteen she had come to the attention of the kingdom’s elite women
warriors.
 
At first she resisted their
attempts at recruitment, but they had been persistent, and understanding.
 
For each of them were like her, had magical
talents that made them strong, stronger than most men.

They simply did not fit in, not with anyone, except for
themselves.
 
The king was wise enough to
recognize the problem of women with too much power and no place to call their
own.
 
There had been incidents.
 
To try and fix things, he created their
military unit.
 
While they were really no
more accepted, they at least had a place to belong, and for the most part, were
left alone.

When she finally consented to join, she had not had occasion
to regret it in the last two years.
 
The
group of nine women had been a law unto themselves; she had found acceptance of
who she was, and a place to call home.
 
Simply put, they had become her family.
 
But now… she was once again alone… and it was her fault.

Two months ago, she had heard a young brazen knight in
training going on about how women couldn’t be warriors, and that the king was a
fool to allow it.
 
She was already in a
bad mood that day and had promptly, and rashly, challenged the young man, then
trounced him.
 
She didn’t just beat him,
she toyed with him and embarrassed him badly.

It wasn’t until later; she learned his father was highly
placed in the nobility.
 
The king in a
tough position, decided to send them on a six month mission to the southern
border on patrol duties.
 
He hoped that
would give time for emotions to settle.
 
She knew the king wrestled with having enough troops to cover the
southern border at all times, and the raids that came every few years caused
suffering down there.

They always managed to force a retreat when a response was
made, but it never seemed to be enough.
 
He had briefed them to keep a close eye out, that another raid was
likely to happen soon and to do what they could to protect the villages down
there, and get an earlier warning back to him than usual.
 
Perhaps that would help keep the casualties
to a minimum.
 

The king had been killing two birds with one stone when he
sent her group south.

They were tough, the nine women were confident they could
handle anything, after all they had already proven that singly before being
recruited.
 
Together they were
unstoppable.
 
The talents in their group
were air, fire, earth, telekinesis, affinity with weapons, hypnotism, mind
reading, speed, and their most powerful member was a mage, the ability to
control actual magic.

Just a few days ago, they had found an army gathering on the
other side of the border.
 
They spied the
best they could from the Abelaweth side of the border for three days to get the
enemy numbers.
 
Her and
Bria
, the speed talent, were going to run back north and
warn the king, if he responded quickly enough, perhaps it could be stopped
before it started.

They were confident… they were fools and underestimated the
enemy.

A simple assassin had infiltrated their camp with a silence
talent as far as she could figure.
 
Whatever led up to when she awoke or even why she did she would never
know.
 
All she knew was she woke up with
a spike of fear, fully alert.
 
She could
hear nothing, the forest was silent and a man stood over her, a knife aimed for
her throat.

She reacted instinctively.
 
I tight blast of air snapped his neck back while twisting it, it was so
strong it stripped the skin off of one side of his face and he died as his
spinal cord snapped.
 
She stood and
looked around, the rest of her unit was dead, she could see the blood pooling
beneath them.
 
What had waked her up?
 
She took notice of the sounds coming to life
around her as the assassin’s magic died with him.
 
She appeared to be surrounded.

Instincts and training took over, she took three steps to
the north and jumped, calling the wind to her.
 
She flew a few hundred yards, over and past the enemy.
 
She had cushioned her landing and started the
run north.
 
She wanted nothing else but
to turn around and kill them all in revenge.
 
She was so tempted to just keep fighting and killing until she was taken
down.
 
Her family was dead.
 
Once again, she was alone.

But… she had a duty.
 
Her sisters would not thank her if she did not warn the king, if she put
her revenge over ensuring the protection of the southern villages.
 
Once her duty was done… then she would seek
revenge.
 
She was moving so swiftly, she
knew she would arrive back at the capital in hours, when it took over a week to
reach the southern border at a normal walking speed.

She ran wondering why she was still alive, wondering why she
had even woke, she should be with her sisters, she should be dead.
 
By tomorrow afternoon she would once again be
in the south, her duty satisfied she would not need to run again…

--------

Arnath
stared coldly at the dead
assassin on the floor.
 
The fool had let
one escape.
 
He growled, wishing he could
kill the other incompetent as well, but the air user had already seen to
that.
 
He was old for a soldier in the
Egerian military.
 
Had reached the rank
of colonel.

He had already participated in five campaigns.
 
In the past, they had simply raided the
southern villages, taking everything of value, along with young woman and
children for slave labor.
 
Then they
slipped back out across the Egerian border before any serious engagements with
the Abelaweth military.
 
Their king was a
coward and never followed them past the border.

But this time it was different, his king had died.
 
The successor to the throne had ordered a
full invasion, he wanted to expand, gain more power.
 
There were also rumors the king had made a
deal with a new god, trying to usurp the world from Cytherea.
 
Arnath
really
didn’t care about that, as long as he got his fill of conquest and fresh women
to train, he would be satisfied.
 
Still,
letting a woman escape, no matter her power, was inexcusable.
 
Not when they had planned so meticulously.

“Remove the corpse, and get ready to march.
 
Send orders for the rest of the troops to
catch up when they can.”

He was still furious, he had lost the element of
surprise.
 
They would still win of
course, but he had been looking forward to having a new slave girl for a few
weeks before the actual battles happened, not to mention choosing where and
having his men fortify the location to engage the Abelaweth troops.
 
Now everything would be rushed.
 
He had a week if that now to get everything
set up.

He looked down at the young woman kneeling before him.
 
She was beautiful, and very talented, but
boring to him now.
 
She had no fight left
and followed his every order just as a female should.
 
He was not unaware of the irony of this.
 
He gestured for her to take care of his
needs, he needed a distraction from his anger, and she would do… for now…

--------

Cytherea sighed.
 
She
knew she had been pushing the boundaries when she woke the young woman.
 
It was surely a gray area, did waking someone
usurp their free will?

It wasn’t always like this, just a couple of thousand years
ago the gods had interfered at will, which she admitted to herself, had led to
chaos.
 
She had been angry, as had all
the other gods when the creator stepped in and banished them all from Earth.
 
Since that time, she had changed
greatly.
 
At first, when her father had
given her this world to watch over she ignored it and stewed in her anger.

Eventually however, she had fallen in love with it, and now
that she was in danger of losing it she was terrified.
 
She was more worried about the humans if this
dark god succeeded here than losing her place.
 
Her best hope were the humans she had chosen.
 
She had ensured they were in the right place
and had a chance to make a difference, but ultimately, it was their choice…