in my mind, but kept my teeth firmly clenched.
He was growing more and more frustrated too and I would hold out for as long as I could. In my mind, it wasn’t even about the food anymore. It was about so much more and I couldn’t let him succeed. I wouldn’t.
Even when I felt something harden beneath my lap, even when he used his tail to keep my head still, even when I started panting from the exertion, I still fought.
Finally, the horde king let his hand fall away, though he kept me pinned. Relief went through me, thinking I’d won that battle. And if I could win one battle, I could win another.
“It seems you are feeling much better this day, kalles,” he finally rasped, something entirely different in his voice. Sucking in a sharp breath through my nostrils, I felt dread pool in my belly when he maneuvered our position, dragging my legs apart wider with his own, using his strong, flexible tail to wrap around my arms, holding them in place. I felt cool air rush over my sex and when I glanced down, I saw my skirt was barely concealing me. “Let us forget about the food then.”
I made an alarmed, muffled sound when his other hand came to cup my exposed sex. Biting my lip, I resumed my struggles when one of his fingers stroked over my slit, teasing the flesh.
I was all too aware that he still held the dried meat in his other hand, hovering just on the edge of my vision. The battle wasn’t over, he was just employing very different methods than before. That frustrated me, made me desperate to get away.
“Lysi,” he hissed, “you are making me ache, kalles.”
Stop, I screamed in my mind, please stop!
But he continued to slowly, almost languidly, stroke me between my thighs. He found my clit, pressing and rolling it with the rough pad of his finger.
And goddess help me…I felt my treacherous body responding to his surprisingly gentle, expert, exploring touch.
No, no, no!
Whimpering, I resumed my struggles tenfold, trying to scratch at his legs like a caged animal, muffled noises emerging from my throat.
But he never stopped. And I never gave in.
Soon, panic sank into my gut, my breathing going ragged, trying to fight against the heady pleasure that was building between my thighs.
In my ear, he rasped, “You are growing hot for me, kalles.” A dark chortle came next and I felt my cheeks heat with humiliation, with shame. “Vok, you need this. I need this too, kassikari.”
It was building and building, the heat growing hotter and hotter. I feared what would happen next.
Finally, desperate, I pleaded, “Stop.”
“What, kalles? I did not hear you.”
“Please, st—”
He shoved the piece of dried meat between my open lips.
Disbelief shot through me but before he could clamp my mouth together, I spit it out, though the delicious flavor burst on my tongue, making my stomach cramp with even more hunger. But I was used to it.
The horde king growled in dark frustration and, to my surprise, released me entirely, pushing me forward so he could stand.
The pins in my hair had fallen out, all of Lavi’s hard work destroyed, and I pushed back a tendril of escaped hair when I looked up at him, stunned. His expression was thunderous, though his cock tented the cloth covering him. Behind him, his tail flicked dangerously, back and forth. He was so large, he seemed to take up all the space in the palatial tent.
“Go hungry then, kalles. It is your choice,” he rasped. “Rest today. Because when I return tonight, I will have what you promised to me. It is obvious you have recovered your strength and I will not wait another night to claim your cunt.”
Glaring up at him, I felt my heart racing in my throat.
The horde king turned and stalked out of the tent, letting in a brief, blinding chunk of sunlight, before it closed. Then it was dark once more. Outside, I heard him bark something in Dakkari before his footsteps retreated.
Alone, I stared at the cold food on the low table in disbelief, at the dried meat I’d spit out, which had landed on the plush rug. Slowly, I picked it up and placed it back in the bowl.
My body was still humming from his touch. My body felt like a stranger’s.
I may have won that battle between us, but I felt like I’d won nothing at all.
Chapter Seven
Later that night, Mirari and Lavi