I let myself feel it, then. I let myself take it all in. The adrenaline, the excitement, the way my blood flowed into my veins as though it was forming just now. The beating of my heart that stretched out into my entire body, the pure joy that flowed through my senses.
“It feels amazing,” I admitted. In truth, it felt like a drug. Like it would follow every single one of my commands and that it would make me proficient at whatever I was doing.
“It only feels like that to those brave of spirit. Men cry for their mothers when they step in here for the first time, littleflame,” Dahr explained, his adamant eyes shining into me with golden pride. “I have seen it with my own eyes. There are only a few who embrace it.” He stepped closer to me, closing the distance in between us and pushing me against the side of the ring, against the ropes tied to metal poles that formed its shape. “It gives you the courage to do whatever you want,” he explained as his body leaned into mine.
Itgives me the courage to do whatever I want,I repeated to myself, when the idea pushed against my mind, forcing to be released.
“The reason why I’m here is because I needed to talk to you. It’s urgent and it cannot wait,” I tested the truth in his words to find that they flowed so much easier than they needed to. Dahr did not seem to share my idea however, because he seemed interested in anything but this conversation.
“Sure,” he said before he planted his lips on my shoulder and started kissing slowly up to my neck, his tongue brushing hot caresses against my skin.
“It’s about this mate business,” I said quickly, not wanting to give him the wrong idea.
“Uh-huh,” the warrior barely replied. His mouth had reached the shell of my ear, and his scraping tongue started raising shivers across my body, filling me with a sense of joy and deep need. Need for him. Need for his body against mine.
“Dahr, I cannot be your mate,” I spat out the words and tried to remove myself from his reach, but his arms rested on either side of my body and my back pressed against the ropes. I was utterly trapped and at his mercy. Dahr unhooked his lips from my body and leaned back just enough to let me see the expression on his face, the hunger in his eyes.
“Then you should have worn a different dress, little flame,” he said as he pressed his lips on mine.
“I am so tired,” I sighed as I stretched my back and rolled my neck to get rid of the knots pushing against my tendons. My entire body was shattered, and I could barely keep myself awake. But I had promised Karisha to help her with the final stack of reports for the month and she had been overly excited to announce that it was the first time ever when she finished with plenty of time ahead. Which gave her around ten days to relax.
Ten days, I thought to myself. That was the time I had to do something about this situation. To try to change Dahr’s mind.
“I don’t doubt it,” Karisha snickered. She even felt the need to stop putting on makeup and fully turn to me to watch my expression as she said. “Word is you and Dahr spent a loooong time in that training ring,” she threw joyful blinks at me.
I rolled my eyes, but did not hide away a blush. “Yeah… we… trained,” I grimaced at the weird way of putting it.
“I’m sure your legs must be very tired. Everyone saw them wrapped around Grannicus’ waist for most of the afternoon,” she giggled for a few seconds, until curiosity overcame her. “Didhe seriously fuck you in the training ring? Against the ropes? For hours?”
My stomach twitched at the memory. At the thought of how perfectly Dahr fit between my legs, how he’d stretched me out while supporting my body weight against those ropes and how he’d made me scream. My core throbbed at the thought, at the anticipation and desire that started building through me.
“By the gods, Nora,” Karisha looked at me with an astonished gaze. “You truly are mating this man,” she chuckled with joy, then pushed her elbow into me playfully.
“I’m sorry, I was…” I shook my head to banish the thoughts, to force my mind to bring me back to the present.
“Thinking about Dahr’s dick?” she snickered again, and I knew that I would not get rid of her comments for the rest of the day.
Which was why I hurried to finish my assigned tasks and left Karisha to celebrate her new freedom. I chose to return to the tent with the excuse that I wanted to take a walk and clear my head, but when the tribe lady replied with an ‘uh-huh’, I knew she saw right through me. I did not say anything and waved her goodbye as I walked home.
Home.
My heart twitched at the thought. Of the pure sentiment of joy I was experiencing, of the happiness that weighed so heavy over me I was almost bursting out. Of the fact that, I had found my place.
A place where I was accepted, a place where I was starting to build friendships. A place where I was finding love.
Love.
Every time thoughts of Dahr invaded my mind and shattered my body, I was starting to feel closer and closer to it. Was it truly possible to let myself fall in love with my captor? Could I truly forget my entire life and continue living nestled in theircustoms? Shamefully, I didn’t have to think too hard to know the answer.
I guessed there were still a few hours until the training day finished and took the opportunity to ask for a nice warm bath and lingered in the bubbly water Mira had prepared for me. My new friend offered to stay and help me get ready for the evening but I thanked her with a smile and told her I would not be needing much clothing. Just like Karisha, she giggled and bid me farewell as she retired from the tent.
I let myself float, lingering in the warmth and fuzzy sensations that twinkled across my skin. I let myself drift away and ignored the twists my stomach made every time the thoughts that Dahr would be back soon came.
When two females I didn’t know entered the tent with warm plates of dinner, I jumped out of the bed where I had lingered for a while and offered to help, moving some of the maps away. The anticipation started building again, the thought that Dahr would be returning soon almost made me fly with joy. Whatever this sentiment was, I had never experienced it before, that was for sure.
Even though my stomach grumbled at the sight of the feast these ladies had prepared for us — I took the opportunity to thank and compliment them before they left — I did not want to start without Dahr and I guessed he would be starved from an intense day of training. Adding the fact that I planned to make him waste even more calories, I thought it would be nice if I waited for him so we could have dinner together.
I remained at the table, planning to wait for him with a ready-made dinner — by someone else — like the good wives from the old movies and looked over at the maps that started piling on the side of the table, making a mental note to clean some of this mess.
