Calling the Wild Read online

  Kiron must have sensed her discomfort, because a small mound of earth rose up against the small of her back. With her back supported Moira was able to relax her belly, the aftershocks of pleasure moving softly though the unclenched muscles.

  When Kiron knelt and lowered his head towards her sex, Moira stared at him in shock. She was far from the village whore, but Moira had had her share of relationships, both casual and committed, but could count the number of times she’d been given oral sex on one hand.

  Usually it was given in response to a long campaign, or as a gift to ensure compliance, but, on this bright morning, amid the still of dawn, there was no reason for Kiron to do it, except to please her.

  His tongue touched her, and all thoughts and worries over why he would choose to do this, when so many others wouldn’t, evaporated. His tongue over her wet flesh was exquisitely soft at times, hard and pressing at others.

  Like the rise of the sun, her orgasm built, but unlike the sun’s slow progress across the sky, Moira’s completion came hard and fast, slamming through her, a great wave breaking on the beach of her body.

  As her lower abdomen fluttered, Kiron pushed into her, tunneling through orgasm-tight flesh. He lifted her legs from the prison of the branches, locking his elbows behind them and leaning into her.

  Moira cupped his cheek when he buried his face in her neck, his chest pressing down on her breasts. He stroked into her again and again as the sun rose, cresting the trees.

  There was a tugging at her breasts as the vines released her, and then Kiron slid his hands from beneath her knees, grabbed her waist, and rolled them over.

  Moira dug her knees into the soft earth and rode him. Lacing her fingers with his, she leaned her body weight forward into his arms, which were braced at his sides. Thighs and ass flexing, Moira worked to regain the sweet rhythm he’d built, and they both shuddered when she found it.

  Moira threw her head back, tilting her face to the rising sun, and rode him until there was nothing but the feel of him beneath and inside her, the smell of warming earth, and the taste of rich, green air.

  When completion found them both, their laced fingers clenching tight, Moira tilted her head, sharing a long gaze with Kiron, just before pleasure fluttered her eyes closed.

  Moira’s hips started to hurt from her odd position. She’d collapsed down onto Kiron’s chest, but kept her knees alongside his hips. Her inner thighs and hips were not having it, so she rolled off him, collapsing in the dirt at his side.

  Kiron had thrown one forearm over his eyes, protecting them from the sun. When she moved, he peeked at her from the shade of his raised arm.

  “I hope you intend to go back to sleep,” he murmured.

  “Sleep?”

  “It is just after dawn, and we were awake well into the night. We can’t have slept for more than a few hours.”

  “I couldn’t sleep. I feel like I could walk all the way to the amulet right now if I needed to. The cleansing gave me more than enough energy for both of us.”

  Moira lifted to her knees, then pushed to her feet, planting a hand on his chest to lever herself up.

  Kiron let out an umph of breath, but made no motions towards rising. Moira indulged herself giving him a once over.

  He was thickly muscled, his body massive, even in his human form. He looked like a Spartan warrior, or coliseum gladiator. Repressing the urge to drop to her knees and taste the defined muscled of his stomach with her tongue, Moira stepped over him and headed for the pool.

  Though the waking forest chirped and clicked in the distance, the meadow and pool were calm and still. The circle still stood, each of the watchtowers represented by the element she had called for it.

  Her mood soured when she entered the pool and began to wash the long smears of dirt from her skin. Nothing was truly resolved between them. Just as she’d feared, sex had made it more complicated. She could not, would not, give up her quest for the prophecy at the cost of her life, even for him. She needed him, as he had been—her companion, friend and comrade in arms. But he’d made it more than clear, through words and actions, that he would not help her anymore.

  She was a fool for having slept with him. Knowing that he hated her, that he believed she deserved death, she’d taken him into her body.

  Moira dunked down to her shoulders, willing her tears to stay hidden in the place where she kept all her hurts.

  “I can feel you thinking.”

  Kiron stepped down into the pool beside her, hand sliding across her back. Moira moved away, keeping her back to him. There was a moment of pregnant silence.

  “Why do you move away?”

  Moira moved deeper into the pool, and pulled her hair over her shoulder, rinsing the earth from it. Kiron came up behind her once again, hands on her shoulders, sliding up to her neck.

  As his fingers crept around her neck, Moira asked, “Will you kill me now?”

  “Kill you?”

  “You made your opinion of me clear. You would have let the gargoyle kill me, you think I must be stopped. My death would free you from the spell.”

  “You think I would kill you?”

  “What reason would I have to think differently?”

  “This,” he slid his hands from her neck, around the front of her chest, to cup her breasts. “You think I would lie with you, then kill you?”

  “I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to do, or what will happen.”

  “No one knows what will happen.”

  “I mean between us.”

  “As for what you will do … you will tell me what you know, we will find out where the amulets you seek are and then we will get your prophecy.”

  Moira turned to him, surprised. “You will help me?”

  “Yes, I said so last night.”

  “What changed your mind? The sex?”

  “No.” Kiron cupped her face and pressed a long soft kiss to her lips.

  When he pulled away, Moira let a smile spread over her face. His kiss was like no other kiss she’d ever had, maybe it was the flavors of The Wild, or the way he focused on her when he kissed, as if there were nothing and no one in the world but her at that moment.

  “What changed my mind was you. As you pointed out to me last night, as you made evident by the power of the magic you called, your quest is supported by the God and Goddess.”

  “That makes sense—”

  “But I had already decided I would help you, before you said that. I still do not fully support what you do, and if I think you will use information I’ve helped you obtain for petty gain, I will stop you.”

  Moira shook her head, prepared to start her protests once more, but he kissed her to silence.

  “Why?” she asked when he pulled away.

  “You keep your secrets, and I will keep mine.”

  “If I don’t know why you’re helping me, how can I trust you?”

  “I could say the same about you.”

  He was right. She’d kept the secret of why she needed the prophecy, and would continue to leave him in ignorance.

  “Do you trust me?” he asked.

  May the heaven and earth protect her, she did, despite all the reasons she should not, she did.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Then I will trust you.”

  Fingers slipped through the water and over her ass, pulling her against his groin.

  “Again?” she asked in considerable surprise.

  “Yes, if you are sore…”

  “I’m not sore, but we just finished.”

  “And?”

  “Apparently centaurs aren’t made like the guys I’m used to.”

  Kiron snorted and urged her legs around his hips. Moira hooked her ankles together over his ass and clung to his shoulders.

  “They were human.”

  He slid inside her, thick and perfect, the cold water of the pond delightfully erotic against her heated flesh.

  Testing his strength, Moira let go of his shoulders, l
eaning back in the water, her hair fanning over the surface like oil. Kiron balanced her, hands tight on her hips, and began to thrust.

  “You may have ruined me for human lovers.” She moaned as he thrust into her.

  “Definitely.”

  “The trick with the plants? Fantastic.”

  “You enjoyed that?”

  “Kinky sex with vegetation is my new favorite thing.”

  “That was hardly kinky.” He pulled completely out, reached between her legs to stroke her, forcing her closer to orgasm, and then thrust in again.

  “Not, kinky?” Moira was finding it hard to talk, hard to form sentences with her brain muddled by pleasure.

  “If you want kinky, I will give you kinky.”

  “When?”

  “Soon, greedy witch.” This time it was a caress, not a curse.

  The conversation dissipated as they came together, moaning in pleasure.

  Replete, Moira relaxed, only Kiron’s hold keeping her from slipping under the water. He staggered to the edge of the pool and laid her on a rock at the edge. Moira turned on her side, not a comfortable position when lying on a rock, but one that allowed her to watch Kiron bathe.

  “Where are we?” he asked, splashing water over his chest.

  “Nebraska.”

  “Why?”

  “It was the biggest forest I could find.”

  Kiron dunked himself under the water, shaking his head when he emerged. Cocking his head to the side he sent out feelers of magic, which spread from him like thin white spider web threads.

  “An interesting forest, diverse. There is both forest and meadow, a special place, for there are many beasts that cannot live without both.”

  “That’s what the map said.”

  “There is much to explore here,” he looked at her, “there are riches in this forest I could show you.”

  “I wish we had time.”

  “We must go?”

  “Yes.”

  “When.”

  “As soon as we can.”

  “Don’t you need to scry or divine for the location of the amulets?”

  “Amulet. Just one.”

  “One only?”

  “I only need one of the prophecies, not all.”

  “And do you know the location of this one amulet?”

  “I think so.”

  “Tell me.”

  “After I came back from the cave—”

  “What cave?”

  Moira sat up, dangling her feet in the water, and told Kiron everything. She didn’t know if anything she described would tip him off, but after everything they’d just shared, didn’t feel that she could hold anything back.

  She described the cave, the rock with feelings, her experiments to test the cave floor, the tunnel, and what she’d found at the end of the tunnel. Kiron listened to it all, holding up a hand to pause her tale when he changed to his true form and washed himself again.

  “All this happened when you touched the tapestry?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “What did the writing beside the tapestry say?”

  “Wait, you didn’t look at the plaque?”

  “No.”

  Kiron scooped her off the rock and walked out of the pond with her in his arms.

  “Then how did you know they were the Dark Prophecies?”

  “I could feel it.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yes. I knew what it was once we made it inside that wall of magic, which is why I did not go any closer.”

  He didn’t know which prophecy she’d looked at.

  “It…it said,” Moira, still reeling from relief at discovering he didn’t know which one she was looking for, stumbled to answer his question, “that the tapestry was only recently discovered, though they dated it at almost a thousand years old.”

  “It would be no great feat to fool the humans regarding its age.”

  Kiron set her down at the cauldron fire, and Moira drew on her homespun robe and the emerald. Pressing the emerald into her skin she reabsorbed the two spells into her body, shuddering as they took hold. Her skin paled, hair lightening to brown and acquiring a slight wave. The exotic slant of her eyes smoothed out.

  She looked up to find Kiron watching her.

  “You are beautiful. Why don’t you wear that form always?”

  “I stand out.”

  “Because you are gorgeous.”

  “I’m very… ethnic looking.”

  “Ethnic?”

  “Sometimes it’s easier not to stand out in a crowd.”

  “Do something for me?”

  “Yes?”

  “When we are alone, don’t hide from me, be as you are.”

  Moira’s heart trembled. “I can do that.”

  He smiled and went down on his front legs to gather her things, lifting her cauldron and sword, which he slipped into its sheath and slung across his back.

  Watching him, guilt zinged through her. She should tell Kiron which prophecy they were looking for, but she feared his reaction. Yesterday was still too fresh.

  She would break if he turned from her again. If she were forced to face his derision, his scorn, she would not rise to fight again.

  And it was possible that he knew more things about the prophecies than she did, things she would not want to hear from his lips, but find for herself.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “I hope this is your idea of a joke.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Then you are wrong.” Kiron was petulantly close to pouting.

  “Nope, I don’t think I’m wrong.”

  “You are.”

  Moira took her eyes off the road to look at Kiron with exaggerated exasperation. “I’m not wrong.”

  “You did not see it in a vision or scry for it, it is only a feeling.”

  “I can’t believe you would scoff at my ‘feeling’. Feelings have kept me alive this far.”

  “I scoff because I simply cannot believe it is there.”

  “Think about it, it’s a fantastic location to hide something.”

  “It is full of humans.”

  “Exactly.”

  He groaned in disgust.

  “Come on, you might like it. I’ll teach you to play blackjack.”

  “The Earth will come to an end, the waters of the sea covering every living thing and drowning them in the salty depths, before I ‘like’ Las Vegas.”

  “Calm down, calm down.”

  They traveled in silence for several minutes until Moira started humming “Viva Las Vegas”.

  “Stop it.”

  “How do you even know what song I’m humming?”

  “Pervasive American culture has infected the world, including my island.”

  “Why are you so grumpy? We have a thousand miles to go, that’s fifteen hours of straight driving I have to do, the least you could do is be cheerful.”

  Kiron crossed his arms over the green soccer jersey he’d opted to wear when he changed to human before climbing into the cab. Moira contemplated his bad mood. When she realized why he was pouting, amusement trickled through her, escaping her lips as a giggle.

  “Why are you laughing?”

  “Are you still mad because I won’t let you drive?”

  “I offered to help.”

  “You’re a terrible driver.”

  “I am not.”

  “You were given four legs, that’s a sign that you shouldn’t drive.”

  “I know how to drive a—”

  Kiron stopped and looked out the window. Moira reached over and poked him, but he didn’t respond. Maybe he could drive. After all he did live on an island with a human presence.

  Moira remembered an old TV ad she’d seen, one of those cheesy tourists commercials. As hot pink words flashed “Come to Greece” the background showed a happy couple motoring along the beach on a—

  “You drive a Vespa!”

  Kiron’s one visible cheek pinked as Moira broke out in ga
les of laughter. She tried to imagine him, tall, muscle-bound and fierce, hunched over a little Vespa, motoring across the countryside.

  She laughed until tears streamed down her face, and almost ran them off the road.

  “I could drive better than this, that is certain.”

  Moira, more for safety than to ease his ego, pulled over to the side and let him drive. She sobered, fast, as he put the gas petal against the floor and the van screamed into motion.

  “Ease off! Ease off!”

  Luckily there was little traffic on US-20 as they crossed into Wyoming, and Moira taught Kiron the joys of varying speeds, and slowing down for turns. She uncurled her fingers from the door handle once she was sure he wasn’t going to plow them into something at sixty miles an hour, and leaned back in her seat.

  “Tell me again. Tell me why you think it’s in Vegas,” he said.

  “Like I said, just a feeling. As soon as I came back from the cave I just knew where it was. I didn’t see or hear anything, but later that night, when I asked myself, ‘where’s the amulet?’ the answer was there.”

  “How easy will it be to find in Vegas?”

  “I think I know which hotel it’s in too.”

  “Which?”

  “I’ll save that until we get there.”

  “Good, I didn’t want to know anyway.”

  They rode in silence for a while, Moira playing navigator as they jogged through little towns to follow the broken highways. When they reached the WY-220 Moira leaned her head back, dozing until Kiron pulled over, the bump of the tires over gravel waking her. She watched sleepily as Kiron climbed out and disappeared into the trees, wondering what he was doing, until her own bladder, as if in sympathy, set up a protest.

  When she returned from the woods after relieving herself, Kiron was beside the truck in his centaur form.

  “Tired of being a human?”

  “Yes.”

  “Want to ride in the back?” He sent her an evil glare and Moira shrugged. “It was just a question.”

  He looked at the truck in distaste, then held out a hand to her. “Run with me.”

  Using the running board of the van Moira climbed onto his back, holding on tight as he galloped through the dense woods that lined the road. It might have been a half hour, it might have been days, that passed as he cantered through the tree. Moira rested her head on his shoulder and told herself the tears on her cheeks were caused by the wind.