her breasts, she didn’t try to shrug him off. “I have to ask if you’re certain you feel the same way, Falcon girl. I’ll be enough for you?”
“Don’t call me that,” she’d chided. “My name is Jola.”
“Be proud of our heritage.”
“I am, just as I know you are. But when we’re in human form and together, all I care about is being a woman, a woman who is with the man she loves.”
As their arms floated around each other, lips had met, and she’d bent and locked her legs around him. His cock had found her opening, and she’d contented herself with the moment. At least she’d tried. Still, a part of her had stood apart to ponder the complexity of their existence until his warmth and weight and pulsing need filled her hungry hole and became everything.
Sex was belonging. Raci was hers, and she lived to be with him.
Until the day he’d bled until he had nothing left to bleed.
Trusting instinct to guide her now that tears blurred her vision, Jola reached the edge of the lake and walked into it. Cool mud slipped between her toes. After a few more steps, water began caressing her ankles and then her calves. Seeking solace, she continued until the water washed over and between her legs. When it lapped at her buttocks, she acknowledged that the water had imprisoned her. But the lake was more than a force preventing her from fleeing. It was also touch, proof that she was still alive.
Promise. Please let this life-giving water bring me peace.
3
Were there water fairies in Screaming Wind? On the tail of his question, Nakos reminded himself that if there were such things, surely someone would have seen one by now. The likely explanation was that he’d been in the right place at the right time to spot a naked Wilding female enter the lake.
From where he crouched behind a thick bush, the bright sunlight gave the creature an almost transparent appearance as if he was looking at her through a thin layer of water. Her back was to him, affording him a view of loose black hair that reached her shoulder blades. He’d never seen such thick hair, straight and glistening from the sun’s touch. When he’d first spotted her standing at the shoreline with water caressing her feet and ankles, he’d been hesitant to breathe for fear of drawing attention to himself.
There’d been something unworldly about the way she carried herself, youth and strength woven together, that made it difficult for him to accept her as mortal. Her legs were impossibly long and, from what he’d been able to tell before she entered the lake, deeply muscled. Her arms, too, were long, her shoulders wider than any Ekewoko woman’s. She’d yet to turn toward him so he could only guess at what her breasts looked like. Hopefully they were in keeping with her narrow waist and lushly rounded hips and buttocks.
Graceful step by graceful step, she’d made her way into the lake until it now reached her waist. Waiting to see what she’d do next, he tried to formulate a plan. She was a Wilding. As such, he should be planning how to capture her. Once he’d accomplished that, he’d turn the creature over to Tau and Sakima who, he had no doubt, could compel her to tell them everything they wanted to know, whatever those things were. But how could he concentrate on practical matters when he’d never expected to see anyone like her? Granted, he’d come out here in search of a Wilding, but it had been days since one had been seen near the lake. Why she’d exposed herself this way mystified him.
It wouldn’t for long. Once he’d captured her, he’d force the truth from her, although from the looks of her, maybe that would wait until he’d used her to satisfy his sexual hunger.
Instead of the sense of power he expected at the thought of molding her to his needs, he felt unsure. It had to be, he told himself, because he was still learning about this land and the possibility of unknown danger lurking in its shadows. Just as a chill touched his spine, he reminded himself of the open land all around. He’d been here any number of times and had yet to see the slightest hint of a threat. From what everyone had determined, the Wildings were shy and peaceful, more like deer than wolves. Granted, he occasionally sensed he was being watched, but whenever he looked around, he saw nothing except a hawk or other bird of prey.
Instead of measuring the distance between him and the lakeshore, he recalled Tau’s and Sukimo’s reaction to what he’d told them about seeing a bird that flew so fast it was nothing but a blur—and an expert killer. They’d been both excited and nervous but had refused to explain why his description mattered so much to them.
What hadn’t they shared with the others? Maybe a warning from the spirits about small predatory birds capable of killing humans?
This was insanity! He wasn’t afraid of a bird. And he certainly had nothing to fear from a naked woman with long, black hair, a straight back, and womanly hips.
After mentally shaking his head, he studied the distance between them. They were too far apart for a dart to reach her, but among his arrows were two with tips he’d soaked in paralyzing brine. If she was on land, he’d have no hesitancy about using one, but if he fired it now, he’d have to hurry to make sure she didn’t drown before he reached her.
Of course, he could wait until she was done with whatever task or whim had taken her into the water, but what if others of her kind arrived? He’d be compelled to fight them, which meant she’d escape. Another possibility struck him. Even if no one came upon them, she might spot him. If she was as strong a swimmer as she appeared, what was to stop her from setting off for a distant shoreline?
He was still debating that possibility when she lifted her arms over her head and leaned forward. Her lean form sliced into the water and she disappeared. Cursing, he took off at a hard run, reaching behind him for one of the treated arrows as he did.
After too long a period of time, she appeared again, arms moving smoothly and legs beating against the water’s surface. He nearly made the mistake of firing and probably wasting his weapon when inspiration struck. Still running, he yelled.
As he hoped, she stopped swimming and turned toward him with just her face and arms showing. Pulling back on the bow and sighting down his arrow, he held his breath and fired. At first the arrow sped just above the surface at a slight downward angle. Then, as he’d planned, it struck the water. That caused it to change direction slightly but it would still reach its target.
Not waiting to see her reaction, he dropped his weapons and plunged into the lake. Water closed around his legs, slowing him. From this angle, he could no longer see her arms. However, her head remained above water, letting him know that the poison hadn’t yet entered her system. He didn’t for a moment doubt that his arrow had struck her; he didn’t miss.
As soon as he was deep enough, he started swimming. His powerful arms cut through the water, and his legs propelled him forward. Still, he wondered if he’d reach her in time. And if he didn’t…
Refusing to give freedom to thoughts of having to repeatedly dive in an attempt to retrieve her, he acknowledged how cold the water was. The unexpected chill left no doubt how deep the lake was here or how quickly the bottom dropped away.
Damnation. She might drown.
Strength surged through him. He now likened himself to a fish cutting effortlessly through the water, but he wasn’t one. Instead, he was a man suddenly afraid that a valuable life might be lost. Even as he ordered his body into rhythm, he once more questioned why both his shaman and lord had been so determined to get their hands on a Wilding. Untamed the way she was now, she had almost no value.
Beyond her sleek limbs and glossy hair, he corrected. Beyond her unabashed nudity. Beyond her breasts and hips and that sweet, dark space he knew existed between her legs.
He wasn’t sure he’d reached the exact spot where he’d last seen her, but he had to be close. Stopping, he treaded water as he looked around. It was impossible to determine whether the small waves and bubbles were caused by his movement or whether she was responsible for any of them. What most concerned him was that he saw no dark hair, no thrashing or even floating arms.
Needing