Boulder
I watched the women drink tea and talk. Bloody hell, that councilwoman used a lot of sugar. I saw her dig into the sugar bowl at least ten times.
After I’d stood in the sun for half an hour Magni and Khan came out to join me.
“Are you going to be her protector?” I asked Magni with a hand shielding my face from the sun.
He scoffed. “I would be happy to. That would give me a chance to pressure that woman like a grape until she admits that they know where Laura is.”
“Which is why you’re not going near her,” Khan said in a low, grumpy tone. “She says they don’t know.”
Magni hissed back, “And I told you that it’s a fucking lie. Of course, they know. Give me an hour alone with the blonde and I swear I’ll get her to talk.”
I got the feeling that my brothers had argued about this before coming here.
Rolling my shoulders and neck, I asked in a nonchalant tone of voice, “So, if Magni isn’t her protector, then who is? Finn?”
Khan crossed his arms and straightened up to his full height, which was only a tiny bit shorter than me. “I am.”
“You?” My jaw fell open in surprise.
“Why not?”
I grinned. “Is that a joke?”
“Do I look like I’m fucking joking?” he asked dryly.
“No,” I answered at the same time as Magni leaned closer and made a threat.
“You’d better watch her closely, brother. If I find that councilwoman alone, I will do what it takes to make her talk.”
Smack! The sound of Khan’s fist hitting Magni’s cheek sounded loud, and I immediately stepped in to get between them.
“Go, Magni, just go,” I said and pushed the large man back. Magni’s hand was on his cheek, his eyes flashing with anger, and I sympathized with him. I couldn’t even imagine how I would feel if Christina had left me without a goodbye. Since Laura ran away, Magni had become a laughingstock, and jokes were being told about how he was so bad in bed that his wife would rather be with a Momsi boy than him.
“Don’t hit back – just go,” I insisted, knowing full well that if I unleashed Magni on Khan it would be bloody. Khan was a great fighter, but Magni was bigger, stronger, and pumped with lethal anger that was just waiting for a target.
“Think, Magni, fucking think,” I shouted and desperately held on to him.
Angrily, he shook his arm free from my strong grip and pointed to Khan. “You’re lucky there’s an audience, but know this; if you ever fucking hit me again,” he snarled at Khan, who scowled back at him, “I will hit back so hard you’ll need dental implants.”
“You fucking deserved it. If I had threatened Laura you would have done the same thing. So don’t think for one second that you get to threaten a female under my protection.”
Both men were scowling at each other.
“You’ve done enough damage kidnapping the priestess,” Khan reprimanded him.
Magni growled in frustration but left us without responding; and sure enough, it took Khan only a few seconds to regain his calm presence.
“So,” he said, brushed off invisible dust from his leather shirt, and shot a glance toward the women who were now looking over to see what was going on. I raised a hand and waved to signal everything was fine.
“You finally claimed your right as a husband.”
I stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“You fucked her,” Khan said without shame. “Too bad you didn’t do it in the daylight so I could have seen more clearly.”
My jaws tightened. “You have no right to spy on us.”
He just shrugged. “You promised her something; what was it?”
My heart started beating faster. “What?”
“You were whispering so I couldn’t hear you, but it sounded like she wanted something from you and you agreed if she had sex with you.”
“Oh, right.” My brain was running in circles. I had been so sure we had whispered too low for him to hear, but there were only two scenarios. Either he knew what we had spoken about and was waiting to see if I would admit it freely, or he really didn’t know the details.
If he knew I was lying to him, I would be in deep trouble.
“Christina wanted to learn how to fly my hybrid,” I said – which was true in a way.
“Really?”
“Yeah, they only have automated drones and she’s fascinated that I fly mine manually.”
He wrinkled his nose and looked in Christina’s direction. “And she was willing to sleep with you to fly your machine?”
“I think it was just an excuse. She’s been ready for a while.”
“Huh.” He smiled at me. “So, how was it?”
A smile erupted on my face too. “There’s nothing like it.”
“Hmm… you seem all smitten with her.” He looked me up and down. “Don’t let her get inside your brain.”
“I won’t.”
“Good. I need you to keep a sharp mind. We’ve got work to do.”
“What kind of work?”
With a secretive smile, he gave a discreet nod toward the women. “Why do you think I’m protecting the councilwoman myself?”
“I don’t know.”
“Because this is a great opportunity.” His eyes lit up and he lowered his voice into a conspiratorial mutter. “Wouldn’t you say it’s time men returned to power in this world?”
“Definitely.”
“That woman…” he gave another minuscule nod toward Pearl, “…holds influence with the council. I’m going to learn as much from her as I can, and before she knows it, she’ll be doing my bidding.”
“How?”
He laughed, low, with a cunning grin. “Leave that to me, my friend. That poor woman doesn’t stand a chance against my superior intellect. When she goes back to make changes, she’ll think it’s all her idea.”
“So you’re going to brainwash her,” I clarified.
“Something like that.” Khan gave a last long glance in Pearl’s direction before he left me again with a final order. “Take Pearl to my private bedchamber and tell her I will kindly share my bed with her tonight.”
My hesitation made him arch a brow.
“What?”
“You’re not thinking about taking her by force, are you?”
Khan looked over in Pearl’s direction. “That won’t be necessary. My tongue is my sharpest weapon and I will find her weak spot. Maybe she wants to learn how to fly a hybrid too.”
Shifting my balance, I furrowed my brow.
“Oh, for the son of the devil, just do as I tell you,” he ordered with a slight fit of temper.
I nodded. “Understood.”
Khan waved a hand over his shoulder when he walked away. “I’ll see the three of you for dinner in an hour.”
Christina
Boulder approached our cozy spot in the park, and Pearl and I immediately grew silent at the sight of the large, intimidating, and brooding man.
“Khan asked me to take you to your room. Dinner is in less than an hour and he thought you might want to freshen up,” he said a bit stiffly.
Pearl rose gracefully from her chair. “Thank you. I don’t think you and I have shared a proper greeting.” She smiled. “Forgive me, my manners seem to suffer when I’m out of my comfort zone.” With a few decisive steps Pearl walked to Boulder and reached out both hands to him. His eyes flew to me and I signaled for him to take her hands.
It was a peculiar sight to see Boulder frown down at Pearl, who leaned her head back and smiled up at him. “May peace surround you,” Pearl said softly.
His face softened too and he mumbled, “Yeah, same to you.”
When the ten seconds were up Boulder let go of her hands and pulled back. I had to stifle a laugh when he gave me a quick glare, as if to be sure I was really okay with him touching another woman.
“He has kindness in his eyes,” Pearl whispered to me when we followed him inside the house.
Her comment made me smile because somehow it validated that it was okay for me to be friends with this man. Of course, I hadn’t told Pearl that our friendship had developed into a physical relationship.
The direction Boulder took when we got inside the house brought me out of my ruminations. We didn’t go up the staircase as I would have expected, but instead walked into a part of the mansion I didn’t know.
“Where are you taking her?” I asked Boulder, but he didn’t answer until we got to a set of double doors that had two guards posted outside.
“This is the room you’ll be staying in, Pearl,” Boulder said and one of the guards activated a locking mechanism, making the doors swing open.
I gaped at the opulence of the room. There were thick oriental carpets that had likely been fabricated before the war, high ceilings, and an odd mix of modern details and antiques. The room was bigger than the apartment I lived in with Kya back home. Both our bedrooms and the bathroom could have fit into this suite at least four times.
“This is very nice,” I commented and looked at Pearl, who was gazing around the room.
“Come in.” Boulder waved us closer and pointed ahead. “Your bags have been brought here already.”
“Thank you,” she managed to say.
“The bathroom is over there and dinner is in forty-five minutes, so we’ll be back to pick you up.” Boulder led me out with a hand to the small of my back.
Turning my head, I called to Pearl, “At least the room is nice.”
Boulder stopped and looked back at Pearl too. “I should probably mention that you’ll be sharing it with your protector.”
“Oh?” Pearl said distractedly, still looking around in the large suite with the huge bed and two seating areas. “And when do I get to meet my protector?” she asked.
“You already did. This is Khan’s room.”
“Khan?” I shrieked beside him.
That got Pearl’s attention and she fixed her eyes on Boulder. “Are you saying Khan will personally protect me and share his accommodations with me?”
“Yup, that’s what he told me.”
Her eyes went to the bed, and it wasn’t hard to guess what was on her mind. With a frown, she moved closer to one of the sofas and muttered, “I’ll sleep here, I think.”
Boulder shrugged. “I’ll leave the details for you and Khan to figure out, but I’ll give you this bit of advice: stay away from Magni.”
“Why?” I asked next to him.
“Because he’s convinced that Pearl knows where Laura is.” Boulder lowered his voice and turned to look at Pearl. “I would strongly suggest that you avoid him as much as possible.”
“Do you think he would harm me?” she asked.
“I would like to say no, but Magni is a desperate man who wants his wife back, badly.”
Pearl nodded to Boulder. “Thank you, I’ll keep my distance.”
“See you in a little while,” Boulder told Pearl and gave me a last nudge to get me out the door.
“Why Khan? Couldn’t Finn do it?” I asked worriedly when we walked away.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“For several reasons.”
“Explain them to me,” I insisted.
Boulder didn’t stop but took the stairs two steps at a time, and only when we got into our room did he face me. “Pearl is a councilwoman, which is equal to a ruler, so it makes perfect sense that Khan shows her the highest honor by protecting her himself.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I protested. “He has a country to rule; he doesn’t have time to look after her.”
“He’ll make time.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” I pressed him.
“How much did you see today with Magni and Khan?” he asked in an exasperated tone.
“They had a fight.”
“Yes. And that fight was over Pearl. Magni wants to interrogate her and pressure her.”
Understanding dawned on me. “Ahh, so Khan is protecting her from his brother?”
“Yes. Magni is the second in command in the Northlands. It would be hard for Finn to deny him access if he wanted to speak to Pearl. Only one person outranks Magni.”
“Khan,” I breathed, my eyes wide. “But will he treat her kindly?”
Boulder huffed out air. “Who knows? He has little experience with women and he’s used to getting his way.”
“But he won’t hurt her, will he?”
Boulder wouldn’t meet my eyes and it worried me.
“Talk to me,” I pressed him.
With a look of frustration, he finally sighed heavily and walked close enough to whisper into my ear. “Let’s just hope she doesn’t rile him. Khan can be a real ass.”
“Why are you whispering?” I whispered back.
“For no reason.” With a sigh, Boulder stepped away and stripped out of his shirt, revealing his hard abs. I stared in fascination and was a little ashamed of my reaction to him.
He was the epitome of masculinity: something I’d been raised to see as a bad thing. But my body was reacting and I felt my cheeks heat up and a hotness in my lower regions. Men had almost destroyed our civilization, and Nmen were certainly brutal and primitive in many ways, but there were a few redeeming qualities about them. At least when it came to Boulder. The way he made me feel when we were physically together was nice. Very nice!
“Do I have something on me?” he asked and looked down at his chest.
I jerked my eyes away from him, flushing red. “No, I was just thinking about Pearl,” I lied.
He frowned. “Don’t worry about it. She’s going to be fine. Khan isn’t…” He stopped himself but added. “I mean he has a good side.”
I scoffed, my ingrained politeness overruled by my frustration. “He’s the worst!”
Boulder ignored my outburst and found a thin charcoal gray leather shirt to put on.
“You can’t wear that.” I pointed out to him.
“Why not?” he asked and continued to put it on.
“It’s offensive,” I complained. “You’re wearing the skin of another being. What if someone killed and skinned you to wear you as a shirt?”
Boulder rolled his eyes. “Quit the drama, Christina, this is my favorite shirt and I’m fucking wearing it.”
“But Pearl will find you barbaric.”
He tilted his head and stepped closer. “And that bothers you?”
I met his gaze.
He asked his question again but a little differently. “You want her to like me?”
My chest rose in a deep intake of air. “I guess so.”
The edges around his eyes softened and he caressed my cheek with his fingers. “You’re falling for me.”
“No, I’m not,” I defended myself.
With a small grin Boulder placed a kiss on my forehead before he turned me around and smacked my butt. “Then find me something to wear that will make you proud.”
Stunned by the itching pain of his palm on my behind, I took a few steps before I found my voice. “Did you just hit me?”
A chuckle came from behind. “No, love, I smacked you lightly.”
Confusion filled my mind. Boulder had clearly hit me on my behind. It was a known fact that domestic violence had been an issue of the past, and I would have sworn that if any man ever laid his hand on me, I would report him instantly.
While I stood flabbergasted trying to reconcile his use of the word “love” with his act of brutality, Boulder snaked his arms around me from behind. “I’m flattered that you want Pearl to like me,” he whispered by my ear.
“You hit me,” I said again, unable to get past that offensive behavior.
“Only a coward would truly hit a woman, Christina. I just smacked your butt playfully because my hands are drawn to that amazing ass of yours.” He nibbled on my earlobe while letting his large hands knead my buttocks in greedy movements. “I could just undress you and bite into your creamy skin, it’s that delicious.”
“First you hit me, and now you want to bite me,” I said and tried to push him off me.
“Did it hurt… or did it excite you?” he teased in that deep voice of his.
Oh, no – the warm moist feeling between my thighs had returned and I was mortified. At the University, I had taken part in discussions about the enlightenment of modern society and argued that women had evolved from the days when we would allow men to dominate us. I had even argued that women from the past had suffered from general low self-esteem, and that would explain why they had allowed men to oppress them with sexual violence.
Boulder had hit me and now he was biting my earlobe while squeezing my breasts. This could be classified as sexual violence, couldn’t it? So why wasn’t my body reacting to it with disgust? I should be repelled, but instead my body was humming with a fire that made no sense.
I’m sick! Closing my eyes, I let the shame roll over me and then I did something desperate to salvage my pride and restore balance between us. I bit him back. I’m not as evolved as I thought I was, but at least I can dominate him back.
Boulder reacted very differently from what I had expected. He made a low sound in the back of his throat and fisted his hands into my hair, pushing my head back and meeting my eyes full on. “You wanna play rough?” he asked excitedly.
“No, I…” I blinked a few times and didn’t have much time to react before he’d picked me up and carried me to the bed with a grin. “Bite me again,” he said encouragingly and followed me down to kiss me deeply, sucking on my lower lip.
“I’m not a violent person,” I said, disturbed by his suggestion.
With mischief pouring from him, he tickled me until I laughed. “Come on, beautiful, fight me.”
“I’m not going to fight you,” I got out in between his tickling attacks.
“If you can get on top of me, I’ll shave my beard off,” he tempted me, and it instantly made me stare at him.
“You will?”
“Uh-huh,” he said with a grin. “But you have to fight for it.”
Adrenaline was pumping through my body and with an intoxicating feeling I let loose a side of me that I had never explored. I bucked him off me with determination. He got up on his knees and lifted his hands to grab my shoulders. Amusement flared in his eyes when I rudely pushed at him to get him down on his back. He was too big and strong for that and didn’t budge.
“You gotta use more than your hands,” he challenged. “Use your whole body if you want to succeed.”
Narrowing my eyes, I got up, standing with my hands on my hips looking down on him. With me standing and him on his knees, he still reached my chin.
“So what are you gonna do?” he asked.
I had no plan and acted from instinct when I jumped him and pushed at him, placing my hands on his shoulders and using my entire body weight to get him down on his back. He laughed and the minute we hit the bed he rolled me under him. “So close.” He grinned from ear to ear. “Now what are you gonna do?”
With a small cry of battle, I bit his earlobe. It was hard but without drawing blood.
He retaliated by twisting my nipple painfully and it made me let go of his earlobe to cry out.
“Come on, tiger, fight me,” he encouraged and ground himself against me, letting me feel how aroused he was. My heart was drumming, my blood boiling, and I bit my lip unsure how to deal with these surreal emotions of raw desire that our fight brought out in me.
“You can do better than that,” he encouraged and with a new scream I rambunctiously bucked him off me.
Boulder kept on top of me, panting, and lowering his head to kiss my collarbone. His hand was still under my shirt and squeezing my breast. I used the dirtiest trick I could think off and pulled his hair.
He didn’t scream in pain, but he growled low when I combined my pulling his hair and bucking him off.
And it worked. With a cry of victory, I scrambled up to straddle him, holding him down with pressure on his chest.
We were staring into each other’s eyes, out of breath and with our mouths open.
“You will shave off that beard,” I said triumphantly.
“I will.” Boulder’s smile looked confident and satisfied – as if he had won and not me.
“And you’ll take off this shirt,” I said and lifted my hands from the soft leather.
His hands found my hips and he pressed his groin against me while moaning low. I didn’t move away but closed my eyes for a second, overwhelmed with the tingling of butterflies taking up flight between my ribs.
“I don’t want to go down for dinner,” he whispered. “I would much rather stay here with you.”
Part of me wanted that too. To be exact: my body wanted that. I opened my eyes enough to see him.
Boulder’s gray eyes were fixed on my puckered nipples, which showed through the shirt. My skin was on fire when his right hand slid up under my shirt and cupped my breast.
With hooded eyes and shallow breathing, I let my hips swivel against him slowly, pressing against his large erection, meeting his rhythmic bump and grind.
“Fuuuck, you have no idea how sexy you are right now,” Boulder muttered low with half-lidded eyes of his own.
While my body was giving in, my mind was holding on to the last part of my self-control. “We have to go down. Pearl needs my support,” I said but made a small moan myself when his erection pressed at my most sensitive spot.
“I just wanna stay here and play with you.”
“Play with me?”
“Tussle with you and make love to you,” he whispered and weaved a hand into my hair, pulling me down for a long explorative kiss that felt amazing.
“Go shave,” I said and finally pulled away from him, my hands shaking from what we had just done. I had never done anything remotely as violent as pushing and biting a man.
“All right.” He groaned and got out of bed. “But just so you know,” he said and walked close enough to pull my back against his chest and lean his head on my shoulder. “When we get back here, I’m burying myself inside of you.”
“Maybe,” I said and froze when he lovingly kissed my neck. It’s just an experiment, I reminded myself. Nothing more than a first-hand experience of a physical relationship between men and women. It means nothing. Yet, I couldn’t take my eyes off him when he walked to the bathroom, stripping out of his shirt on the way and showing off his broad muscled back. Before he closed the door, he gave me a killer smile and teased, “Are you sure you want me to shave it off?” He was touching his beard.
“I’m sure,” I said with conviction.