Clans of Luteri Ch. 07-09

"I like this game, Corsaire, and I'm happy to continue, but you're running out of time," he said, his breathing rough, his hand leaving her and his body coming down on hers. His weight wasn't heavy, on his elbows, but he pushed himself against her. She could feel his hardness there as he rubbed on her, his trousers rough. "You're going to give me your answer one way or another in a moment, so if you're going to say no, you'd better do it soon."

His fingers were there again. She was aching between her legs, pulsing on them. She felt the sensations beginning to rise, pushing herself against his hand, one finger slipping into her again, feeling his eyes on her face as she arched and spread her legs wider.

"What's your answer, Aslin," he said gruffly.

She reached an edge, trembling on it as his fingers slowed.

"Yes," she said, her breath catching on the word.

She felt the most profound twinge of loss as his fingers left her gently, and then his body, and she heard the snick of the door closing behind him, staring at it in disbelief.

**********

Clans of Luteri

Chapter Eight

Kane walked through the house to the front door. He held the spitting, miserable creature by the nape of its neck, as Jaime had said it should be carried when the man brought it to him in a box an hour ago. It was a baby and it was still a vicious little monster, scratches all over his hand, his wrist, attaching to his finger only moments ago and savaging it. It had drawn blood, and he wanted to shake it, controlling himself. He would take it and throw it in the stall and Shaol could stomp on it.

Kane planned to take the Corsaire early in the morning tomorrow for a walk to explain about their marriage now that she'd accepted. He had things he needed to do to prepare for his journey home to Luteri, things he had put off to court her.

Jaime looked up from his letter as Kane crossed the room, his eyes going to animal in Kane's hand. The Corsaire come out of the library and Kane immediately put the animal behind his back, still hearing the tiny hisses and delicate coughing, gritting his teeth and trying not to grimace or move as it found his wrist again.

"What is that?" Aslin said suspiciously, coming toward him slowly.

"Nothing."

She stopped. He winced lightly, needle teeth sinking into the flesh between his thumb and first finger.

"What have you got behind your back, Kane?" she demanded.

"I am getting rid of something. It doesn't matter."

She walked to stand in front of him.

"Show it to me, please."

He wrinkled his nose at her briefly, involuntary, and winced again as he brought the little animal around, currently attached to his wrist, wrapped around it like a bloodsucking casherum, its back legs thrusting.

"A kitten," she breathed, walking forward and taking the small animal from him.

The wretched predator immediately relaxed into her hand. She cradled it gently and pulled it to her breasts as he watched. She stroked it, making small suk-suk noises, putting it under her chin.

She turned to Jaime, the question in her eyes, hope, excitement, and Jaime, the betrayer, the traitor, waved his hand like it meant nothing. Aslin smiled at the man, lighting her whole face, so pleased, like he'd given her a wonderful gift. Kane watched the whole wordless interaction, perplexed. She turned to go upstairs.

"Where are you taking it?" Kane demanded, touching his wrist gingerly, narrowing his eyes at Jaime and then looking at the scratches welling with blood.

He would have to dispose of the animal and then wash the wounds. He would drown it. Who knew what kinds of diseases it had. It was the same size as a rat.

"He's sleeping with me," she announced, taking the stairs.

Kane looked up immediately, frowning. Sleeping with her?

"It is not," he said.

He hurried to catch up with her. She turned around on the stairs, the vicious thing now belly down on her shoulder, her fingers stroking its small round head, massaging it, its tiny triangle ears now up where they had been flat before, its head wobbling.

"It is an animal, Aslin," Kane said. "You can't sleep with it."

"What are you talking about?" she said, that look she gave him when she thought he was acting crazy.

He heard Jaime laughing downstairs. The tiny cat opened its mouth and hissed at him. The Corsaire immediately looked at Kane as if he'd done something. She turned and kept going up the stairs. He followed her.

"I don't trust it, Corsaire. Did you see what it has done to me?"

She glanced at his wrist, entirely unimpressed.

"You scared him," she said, as if this justified the attack, going to the door of her room and opening it.

He walked and put his hand flat on the door, keeping it open. She sniffed and walked to the bed, getting in and lying on her side, depositing the small animal there. Kane watched in disgust as it walked around stupidly, its fur sticking in every direction, and then curled up directly against her breasts and began making a noise, a thrumming noise.

"What is that," he said, his nose wrinkling again. "Is it growling at you?"

"Why do you make that face? He is purring."

The face was involuntary. He didn't like the smell of the little animals. It was not unpleasant, it was just...wrong. Kane stepped forward.

"Why?"

"They do it when they're happy, Kane," she said, stroking the creature again as the noise got louder. "I will call him Mica."

Kane looked jealously at the little animal pressed against her breasts, in her bed, her hand stroking him.

"Why would you name it?" he said.

She sat up halfway on her elbow, the cat not minding the movement, not budging.

"You named your horse."

Kane coughed in indignation that she would make the comparison.

"Shaol was given his name because he is a Luterian warhorse with a bloodline going back thousands of years!" he said hotly. "And I do not sleep with him!"

She sniffed. He stared at her. This was unreasonable. He gestured at the small, miserable thing.

"It is unpredictable. Maybe it will attack you while you are sleeping."

The kitten stopped its purring to hiss at him again.

"You wouldn't know anything about that, Kane," she muttered, stroking the animal curled up against her warmth.

The Corsaire and the cat both looked at him from her bed, similar flat stares. His eyes narrowed at the creature.

#

Kane came in her room at dawn, if only to make sure the small menace hadn't savaged her in the night. It was sleeping in the crook of Aslin's elbow as she lay on her side, right by her face. It looked up as he came in, its eyes gleaming with feral malevolence. He bared his teeth at the animal and it hissed.

Jaime had explained to him yesterday about Alverians and their pets, where they kept animals with them in their homes to sleep sometimes in their beds of all places, cats and birds—although the birds would not sleep with people, being sane creatures that knew their own kind—and dogs, which was disgusting, filthy animals, cuddling with them and stroking them.

Kane couldn't understand it. In Luteri, there were horses and sheep, both having uses. Occasionally dogs for hunting, although they didn't tend to live too long in Luteri, not with the wolves.

He approached and quickly grabbed the small animal by the nape of its neck. It was hissing and spitting, and he tossed it into the air, aiming it toward the floor several feet from the bed, releasing it where it flew in an arc. It landed on its feet and slid for a time on the wood floor, crouched, its claws out, adept, the wicked thing.

"What are you doing?" Aslin said like it was one word, sitting up, her hair all around her, looking around for the creature, confused, and then she glared at him.

Kane looked back at her and grinned, feeling a wave. He loved waking the Corsaire in the morning, loved the look of her when she was mussed and hadn't found her manners yet, loved how flustered he could make her, the flush of annoyance in her cheeks, her dark Corsaire eyes snapping with temper.

He was looking forward to waking her and getting her mad and then fucking her, looking forward to her fighting him and those noises she made when she surrendered to her pleasure. Then he would take her walking with him, and maybe he'd do it again in the woods, have her there, and again when they went to bed until he'd taken the edge of this lust he had for her, if that would ever happen.

He had thought of all the ways to do it last night, lying in his bed, his knee crooked, handling himself, the scent of the Corsaire's arousal still on his hands. Since he'd taken on this courtship, with its no-touching rules, he had pleasured himself more than he had since he was fifteen.

"I want you to come walking with me and you cannot bring the little predator," he told her.

The animal in question was clawing its way up the covers back to her, determined, and she scooted and reached far and took it up, its claws catching on the covers. It made that sound again, the tiny ongoing grumble. Kane's nose wrinkled. He walked to the door.

"I'd kiss you, but I do not want to have my face clawed off. I'll meet you outside when you're ready, Corsaire."

By the time she came out the front door, looking trim and tidy and as desirable as ever, the Corsaire had found her coolness and was polite with him again. They walked, Kane heading them for a place he had in mind. He took her hand as they walked, and she smiled at him, looking so pretty and sweet. He was suddenly nervous.

When they reached it he had her sit down on a high log, her cloak protecting her from the damp and dirt. He sat down beside her, still holding her hand.

"I have a thing to talk to you about," he said, entirely anxious now, although he hid it. "I'm hoping you won't be angry with me for not telling you sooner, Aslin. I wanted you to have the chance to know me, and to be courted the way you were raised."

"Okay," she said warily.

She'd sensed his anxiety, he could tell.

"You know that Tavishi and Corsaire have been in blood feud for over three hundred years and it's bitter between our clans," he began.

She nodded. He took a deep breath, continuing.

"My father, Bache, and your father, Kavini, the High Lords of our clans, wanted peace, to stop the feud. So it was arranged that the only son of Tavishi, which was me, and the only daughter of Corsaire, which was you, should marry to unite the two clans and put an end to the bloodshed. You were only a small girl of five years old, but I made my oath to you and we were married in Luteri."

She was frozen, staring at him.

"We were already married in Luteri?" she said faintly.

He nodded, running his hand through his hair, wincing. It was a surprise to her, he knew it would be.

"Are we still married?" she asked him.

"It is my oath while I live, Corsaire. I want you to understand, I didn't know it when we first met. I wouldn't have been cruel to you if I'd known. I am very sorry for it, Aslin."

She shook her head.

"I was there? In Luteri?"

"Yes. You were there until you were five."

She didn't say anything, looking at her hands.

"I hope that it doesn't dismay you too much," he said, dipping his head to see her expression, his stomach tense. "You were a pretty little girl. You came to Tavishi Hold with your mother and gave me a white flower from the Corsaire gardens and greeted me. Do you not remember it at all?"

Something crossed her face, then doubt. She shook her head.

"What happened to me?" she asked.

"I was told you died, that you drowned. You were the one I said I gave my oath to that I lost, Corsaire."

He waited for her to understand. She slowly found it.

"But how do you know for certain that I am—," she began.

He dropped her hand and withdrew the bracelet from his pocket and showed it to her.

"That's mine," she said, reaching for it slowly. "It came with me when I was brought to the orphanage."

He gave it over to her. He'd like to put it on her right now.

"It is a Luterian oath bracelet," he said. "We use them like Alverians use a ring, to remind the wearer of the oath. It has our bloodlines written on it, yours going this way, you see?" he said, pointing to the delicate lettering, "and mine going the other. This is your name written in Luterian, Aslin, and there's mine, Kane. I gave this to you in the oath box for your mother to hold until you were grown and I could put it on your arm and take you to Tavishi lands to live as my oath."

She looked down at the bracelet, touching it.

"I always wondered what it said. How did I get here, Kane? Who brought me to Alveria? Why?"

"I don't know yet, Corsaire. I didn't know you had lived. I was you drowned with your mother. As far as I know, your father mourned you both. I will learn the answer for you, I swear it."

Her eyes were searching his, and then her face went pale. She stood up, holding the bracelet out to him. He hesitated and then took it, putting it back in his pocket.

"I'll keep it for you, Corsaire, until you're ready to wear it," he said.

"That's why you changed your attitude toward me so quickly," she concluded. "You found this in my things. You were going to leave me here to be retrieved by Corsaire clan and you said I would never see you again. But you learned who I was. That's why you courted me as an Alverian. So I would more easily accept our Luterian marriage."

"Yes," he confirmed.

She nodded and swallowed, backing away. He waited. He'd known it would be a shock.

"We don't need to go through the Alverian ceremony, Kane," she said, her face still pale, her hands in her skirts like she did when she wanted to hide their shaking. "As you've said, we are already married."

He stood, approaching her, looking down at her face.

"Don't you want to, Aslin?"

She gave him that quick, false smile she did.

"It was considerate of you, Kane, to arrange it. No, it's not necessary."

She looked like she was going to cry. He stepped closer.

"What's wrong, Corsaire? I know it's a shock, but it's not so terrible to learn we're married, is it? You were going to marry me in two days anyway."

"I'm fine," she said. "I just need a moment."

She wasn't fine, she was lying and she looked exactly like she did whenever he'd hurt her feelings in the past. He reached and touched the back of his fingers to her face. She pulled away gently. He dropped his hand.

"Tell me what is going through your head that you don't want to marry me anymore, Corsaire. I cannot read your thoughts."

Her chin lifted.

"I just don't see why it's necessary. You don't need to pretend feelings for me anymore. I'm reconciled to the marriage. You have said that's why you courted me. There's no point in meaningless gestures."

Reconciled to it? Pretend feelings? Meaningless gestures? Well, he'd asked for the contents of her head. He stepped away from her.

"If there is one thing I do not care for, Corsaire, I must admit," he said. "It is that you hear the things I say but you don't believe them. My feelings are not an illness that comes over me and the rest of my time I am untroubled by them. They were not pretense from me, if you're saying yours have vanished. I cannot decide if you are calling me a fickle person or a liar."

He turned, striding back to the estate, slowing and waiting for her to catch up. They returned to the estate in tense silence. He left her at the front stairs and saddled Shaol. He would ride the horse until this feeling in his gut had eased.

#

He came back to the estate later, caring for Shaol. He shook his head at Jaime's invitation for a drink, going upstairs heavily. He went up to his room, pulling items from his chest, neatening them, finding better places for things, restless. He turned around and Aslin was in the doorway, watching him.

"Hello," she said.

"Hello, Corsaire," he said, putting the last things away and closing the lid.

He walked to the dresser, opening the top drawer and checking his supply of paper. He would borrow some from Jaime. They were leaving soon anyway.

"May I come in?"

"Yes," he said, indicating the chair at the table.

She crossed to it, stepping past him and sitting. He went and got his boots and put them by the bed to clean and polish. He pulled out his cloak and examined it, deciding it was still clean enough, folding it and opening the wardrobe, placing it in and closing it. When she spoke, her voice was low.

"I wanted to tell you that I have often thought of myself as someone who was not wanted. This afternoon, when you told me our marriage was arranged, I was afraid I was nothing more than an obligation to you. It was prideful, Kane. I hope you will forgive me for it."

Kane realized he was frozen, staring at her. He moved, going to her and raising her to her feet. He bent and lifted her, her burden light, sitting on the bed with her on his lap.

"When my father asked me to give my oath to you for the sake of our clan," he said gruffly. "I admit I believed that duty was all I could ever feel for you. Then when we met again, I didn't know you and I was cruel and I will always regret it, not only because you were my oath but because you didn't deserve it from me. I have no excuse except to say that it was far easier for me to pretend I hated a Corsaire than

to tell her I had come to love one."

He waited. She slowly smiled, relief going through him.

"Will you marry me in two days, Aslin?" he said. "Maybe if I do this enough times, I'll get it right."

"Yes."

He turned her, putting her on the bed, laying on his side next to her. He took up a strand of her hair, playing with it, his eyes roaming over her.

"But considering we've been married for fifteen years and by Alverian customs I own your body, Corsaire," he said, grinning. "You could invite me to your bed tonight. I would not refuse."

She looked at him, seeming to consider it.

"In two nights," she said, swinging her legs off the bed and disappearing out the door.

#

The man to officiate the marriage ceremony was large and his skin was startling in its redness and he had a smile that used his whole face, even his ears that twitched back. When the Corsaire came in her pretty dress, a braid of tiny white flowers in her dark hair, the man practically shone with delight, glancing at Kane and making a satisfied noise of approval.

"Very good, very good," the man muttered, chuckling as if Kane had said something clever.

Other than the large man, only Jaime was there, similar to a Luterian ceremony, just the couple and the priestess and a witness. They were married in the gardens on Jaime's estate, the sun shining. Kane held her hand and said the words in Alverian, and she did, and he knew looking at her face that Jaime had been right to urge him to do this, as difficult as it had been.

He had worried she would miss the other things for the Alverian ceremony, a special dress she would have worn instead of the pretty Alverian day dress she had chosen, the food and many other people celebrating and music Jaime had described, but Aslin said she only required him and didn't mind.

The only time the ceremony was stalled briefly was when Kane pulled out the oath bracelet.

"I know that the ring is traditional in Alveria, but I was wondering if you would wear this for me instead, Aslin," he said to her, his eyes searching hers for any sign of disappointment. "Would it bother you to replace it? If you would rather have a ring as well, I can have one made for you."

She smiled up at him, looking so beautiful and full of life that he lost sight of the ceremony, just lost it all for a moment, only realizing when the Alverian man made a throaty noise and Jaime laughed that she was holding out her arm to him. He grinned and took up her hand, fitting the bracelet, which opened with a hinge, and clasping it over her wrist, the small click as he pressed to close it sounding exactly right.