I thought the sound of their cheers woke me, but it was the howl of the wind through the impromptu camp I had built. My mind continued to spin out of control from my memory. For a few seconds I didn't remember where I was. Then I felt my arms around Jessmei's naked body and remembered the river and the desperate gamble to save her. Her body was warm inside of my embrace and her heart beat in a relaxed and normal manner.

We were both swaddled under four different blankets so I pulled my body from around the princess and tried to exit the pile without disturbing her. The wind roared again but the trees offered shelter from most of their torment. The horses were still where I had left them and I saw that the fire had burned down to orange glowing coal. From the ashes I predicted that I might have been asleep for about six hours. There was a small amount of snow on the ground but the branches above were so thick that most of the ice was kept off of us. The dense foliage above also prevented me from viewing the clouds and guessing how much more of the storm was left.

If it had been six hours, it would be close to nightfall. I needed to prepare the camp before we set in for the night. I stood up from the blankets and almost fell over as my head spun and ached. It felt like every muscle in my body had been gnawed on by bears.

I went over to the fire and used the discarded flint to light another small pile of needles and cones. They lit quickly and I added the larger pieces of dried wood to get it burning. The small pot of broth was warm but needed more time to heat. It had probably gotten hot enough during my unconsciousness but I didn't agonize over the time I wasted preparing it.

I went back over to the horses and unsaddled the last one, taking time to rub each one down and inspect them for sores or ticks. The Elvens had taken good care of them and I couldn't find anything that needed attention. The animals did need to be covered with their riding blankets, but before that could happen I would need to move Jessmei into the tent.

I had set up many tents in my life and this one I easily put together. It was made of green, oiled canvas with wood support beams and stakes. Within ten minutes it lay positioned near the fire, absorbing warmth from the flames. I didn't think I could move Jessmei without waking her, so I went back to inspect the rest of the bags. I found more food, some repairing equipment, spare cotton pants and shirts the Elvens wore under their armor, a few more water skins, grain for the horses, and the standard weapon maintenance gear. I wondered how they managed to get all the horses loaded from inside the castle. My best guess was that they had probably assigned a few of their squad to stealing the Nia mounts and procuring traveling supplies while the others kidnapped the princess.

The pot of broth was steaming so I moved it away from the fire and dipped in a small cup I found in the pack. I hesitantly sipped on the salty concoction. It tasted amazing. My head and body still hurt like I had just been crucified by a lightning bolt, but the broth would get me in the right direction. I grabbed a wax bag of dried crackers from one of the packs and dunked it into the broth. They tasted as good as the food at the banquet in Nia.

Once I finished the small cup, I gathered more branches and needles for the fire, checked on the horses, and decided it was time to move Jessmei into the tent. I was able to carefully pick up the bedding she lay on and lift it off the ground; I kind of half-crouched, half-dragged the pad inside the shelter. The princess seemed to be deeply unconscious; the movement didn't wake her or even disturb her slumber. Although, it was hard to tell since she lay wrapped up like a cocooned caterpillar before it turns into a blue and silver butterfly.

I carefully unwrapped the top blanket and exposed her naked, sleeping form. Her skin was white and creamy like the fresh snow that littered the floor of the forest. Her breasts were smaller than Nadea's but created a perfect hemisphere of support for her erect pink nipples. My eyes followed the line of her taut stomach down to her hips and smooth thigh muscles; her entrance was hidden by a small amount of fine blonde and silver hair that matched the mane on her head. I felt my body respond to a different type of hunger than what the beef broth and crackers would satisfy.

It would be so easy to lean down and wrap my mouth around her nipple, to lick across her smooth skin and then taste every inch of her.

I shook my head to get my imagination in check. My body was naked and my erection stood straight up against my stomach. I sighed with regret and carefully pulled the two horse blankets off of her body and wrapped her in the ones I found in the other traveling packs. Before I left the tent I checked her toes to make sure that there were no signs of frostbite. They looked fine.

I covered up the horses and moved them near a tree where they could be tied. Then I knelt by the fire and inspected my weapons. I hadn't really paid them any attention during the last few weeks while I pursued Jessmei, and they probably needed care. The activity took my mind off devouring Jessmei's unconscious form and gave me time to think about the recent memory.

Was that the last battle I fought? Iolarathe was their general? It seemed so serendipitous, but I guessed she would be alive. I wondered what happened between Shlara and Malek. The note on my stone bed had made it seem that Malek regretted what he had done to me. Was that because of Shlara? Did I kill Iolarathe in that battle? I tried to remember more, but it was like trying to catch an individual drop of water falling from a rain storm.

I flipped the long sword over to inspect it one last time. The edge of the blade was now returned so I oiled it a final time before sheathing the weapon. I pulled out the short sword and began the same process while my mind wandered like a bee seeking pollen from a field of brightly colored flowers. My mind finally settled on a topic I had forgotten until now.

The O'Baarni.

I stood up as I remembered what I had said in the dream. My eyes closed as I repeated the words again.

The O'Baarni wasn't a man. It was us. It was the humans. It was the people I led.

We were the Ancients?

I still didn't understand. Why were the Elvens calling themselves Ancients? Why did the legends Paug told me seem to implicate the O'Baarni as the person that destroyed the Ancients when I knew them to be the same thing? Perhaps history was tainted by hundreds of years of lies and mystery. In the end it didn't matter. Elvens were alive here and I needed to destroy them. I recalled the scorching fervor of the man I used to be. Parts of that heat still burned strongly in my chest.

I didn't feel the same passion, either love or hate, when I thought of Iolarathe. Perhaps time had healed that wound in my heart. Maybe somehow we were bonded and her death had caused me to escape the obsession I had for her.

The wind blew again and I heard it soar across the river far below, up the canyon, through the field of long green grass, and into the forest where we camped. The rustle of the tree needles sounded like thousands of melancholy whispers.

"Kaiyer?" Jessmei's voice called out from inside the tent. I sheathed my sword and walked back over to the entrance.

"I'm here, Jessmei. How do you feel?" She sighed in relief when she heard my voice.

"I'm okay. Very tired, hungry, and thirsty." Her voice died down to a whisper at the end.

"I've got some broth. I'll get you water too. Just stay there." I gripped the small cup I used earlier and filled it with broth from the pot and then I grabbed a few of the hard crackers and a water skin. I opened the entrance to the tent and bent over double before I crawled inside.

Jessmei sat up with the blankets wrapped around her chest to keep her breasts hidden. She smiled at me in undisguised joy and the inside of the tent seemed as bright as daylight. I pushed the cup of broth into her hands and she sighed in delight as she drank the first sip.

"This is so good. I am very hungry." She took another sip and the blanket began to fall off of her chest. Before it could, she hastily grabbed it with her left hand.

"Here are some crackers." It was very dark in the tent. I could see fine but she probably couldn't make out more than my shadowed silhouette. She hummed in satisfaction as she dipped them in the broth.

"They didn't feed me much for the last few weeks." She sounded like she was about to cry, but I couldn't tell if it was from the painful memory or because she was happy.

"They are dead now. You're safe here with me. We'll be back at the castle in a few weeks. Your father must be very worried about you." I handed her the water skin as she finished the cup. "Want more?" she nodded and I went back out to the pot to fill the cup and grab more crackers.

"He probably isn't that worried. Although I'm surprised you came alone. I would have thought that Greykin would have come with you." She smiled again as I passed her the refilled cup.

"Why wouldn't your father be worried?"

"Well, I had prayed that you would come after us. He asked you to, right?" I didn’t understand what she was saying exactly. It must have been another language issue.

"The last time I spoke to the king it was a few days before the night the alarm sounded." I hoped I had explained it to her correctly. She set down her cup and looked at me in shock.

"So who sent you after me?"

"I saw them take you out of the city. I didn't think there was time to get help, so I ran after you."

"You ran after us?" Her mouth hung open. The blanket started to fall off of her chest again but she re-wrapped it over her breasts. "How did you run after us?"

"Don't worry Jessmei." I laughed and lay down on the mat next to her. "You're safe now. I spent a few sleepless nights tracking your new friends before I caught up to you. Then I planned the ambush at the river. How did they capture you at the castle?" She looked back over her shoulder at my body and turned in her blankets so she could face where she thought my voice was coming from.

"Greykin made it to my room a few seconds after the alarm had sounded. An Ancient came through my window and Greykin killed him in a horrific struggle."

"He killed an Ancient?" I asked in surprise. The big man was impressive.

"Yes. Then he grabbed my arm and we tried to get to the armored Safe Room where the rest of my family would be guarded during an invasion. We almost made it there when we were attacked by three more. They put a dagger to my throat and Greykin stopped fighting." She let out a sigh. "I hope they are all okay. You didn't see them before you came after me?"

I nodded and realized she couldn't make out the movement.

"No. They are probably still worried about you. I'm sure they have sent soldiers to track you. I imagine when we turn back south we will run into them in a few days." Jessmei nodded and finished off her second cup of broth.

"Want more?"

"No I am fine. Just water is good." She took a long drink from the skin. "Did you eat? Are you thirsty?" I realized that I was still hungry and thirsty, but I wanted to make sure she got what she needed.

"I'll get some in a bit. Do you feel okay? I was worried that you were going to die of hypothermia."

"I feel tired. That may be because I am so warm and relaxed." She set down the cup on the mat between us and finished drinking the rest of the water. "I knew that you would come for me. At least, I believed that you would. Then the days passed and I began to fear that you wouldn't come. Then weeks passed and I became certain that you wouldn't come. When we were crossing the river I began to imagine what they would do to me when we reached our destination." She shuddered again like when she had been exposed to the cold.

"It just took me a long time to catch up with you. But I never fail," I said to her with a smile. My stomach grumbled.

"You should go eat." I nodded and made my way out of the tent with the cup and began to finish off the rest of the broth.

"Where are we?" she asked through the closed flap.

"About a mile, maybe two, south of the river. I didn't find a cave for shelter but we are in dense woods that seem to be protecting us from the snowstorm."

"It is snowing? No wonder it feels so cold outside of these blankets."

"Don't leave the blankets! You need to relax and be warm." I gulped the rest of the broth and then covered the pot with its lid so it wouldn't attract any animals. I moved about two armfuls of wood onto the fire, grabbed my swords, another water skin, and then went back into the tent.

Jessmei was sitting up and had started to shiver.

"Cold?" I asked as I put my weapons to the side of our mats and lay back down next to her.

"A little."

"Here, open the blankets." She did and I slid my body next to hers and wrapped the opening closed behind me. My arms circled her shoulders again and I pulled her back against my chest. "Is that better?" I said after I had situated our bodies.

"Mmmm. Yes." She sighed. "You're really warm." I smiled at her words. She didn't need to know that my body felt like it was being ripped apart and my headache made me want to bludgeon myself unconscious with a rock. Her body wiggled back and forth a bit as she nestled closer into my arms. Then her movements stopped abruptly.

"Kaiyer?"

"Yes?"

"Are you naked?" she stuttered.

"Yes. Why?" I felt her body tense. Shit. I forgot that they have this aversion to anything carnal.

"We cannot be lying here under these blankets without clothes on!" she whispered. Her heart rate quickened as she scooted a few inches away from me.

"You don't really have any clothes left. I ripped off your nightgown and threw it on the dirt by the fire. Your undergarments are out there in a pile with my clothes. If you want to go out and grab them you are welcome to, but it is cold out and they are probably still soaking wet." I didn't bother to tell her that there were other garments in the Elven's gear. It was comfortable here with her warm skin against mine.

"You ripped my nightgown? What am I going to wear when we travel back?" She didn't seem angry.

"We'll figure that out in the morning." I pulled her back into my chest and nuzzled the back of her neck with my nose. Her hair was dry now but still a tangled shower around my face. She murmured something soft when my face touched the nape of her neck and she didn't try to move away again. I took a deep breath and filled my sinuses with the scent of her.

We listened to the wind pass overhead and the fire crack from outside the tent flap.

"Thank you for coming after me," she interrupted the howl. Her heart started to beat fast again. I hummed in agreement and tightened my arms a small amount around her shoulders.

"I've . . . never been like this with a man before," she whispered, the tone of her voice hesitant. Her words triggered my desires and I became aroused.

"I know," I whispered in her ear.

"I am supposed to wait until I am joined," she said quickly. "I, I know what to do. Yera, Levie, Damina, Siliah, and Cerra told me." Her heart was beating fast now. "Father just . . . he would be upset if I didn't wait until I was married."

"I know," I said again. My fingers made small circles on the smooth white skin of her shoulders.

"It's supposed to hurt the first time, right? They said it would, but that I would get used to it and enjoy it." She shivered again but I didn't think it was from the cold. It was close to boiling underneath the blankets now.

I didn't answer her. My mouth was watering with hunger and my erection pushed into her lower back, desperately seeking guidance into her entrance. She had to feel it against her. I placed my lips against the spot where her neck and shoulder met and lightly kissed it. She gasped in surprise and her body tensed as I kissed slowly up her neck to her earlobes. She finally moaned and her back relaxed back into mine when my teeth gently scraped across the soft skin of her ear.

"Kaiyer," she sighed. "I can't do this. My father would be angry with me."

"Why?" The tip of my nose nuzzled her ear as I whispered into it.

"He thinks I should wait until I am married." I heard the disappointment in her voice.

"Who will you marry?" I said before my tongue licked lightly behind her ear.

"I don't know. Whomever he picks for me. I'm surprised he hasn't yet. I am old enough. I think he is waiting for the right proposal," she said between sighs as my tongue tickled her.

"Proposal?"

"Yes. It will help strengthen the bonds with the kingdom of my husband. Didn't we talk about this when we lunched in the garden?" Jessmei moved her head around slightly and my mouth kissed up across her cheek and to the corner of her lips. She tried to turn around more to kiss me but I held her too tightly. She sighed in frustration when my lips moved back to her neck.

"So your father gets to decide whom you can love and marry?" I whispered softly into her ear again. Her hips were rocking back into mine rhythmically.

"He determines whom I marry. But not whom I love," she whispered back.

"Then you will love me tonight," I said as I kissed her ear once more.

She moaned again when the tip of my tongue explored the inner lobe of her ear and gently moved down the side of her neck to her shoulder again. When I got to the top of her shoulder my teeth softly bit her white skin. Her hands wrapped around the outside of mine and clenched them fiercely as she let out a long moan of pleasure.

"That feels really good," she sighed as I continued my administrations to her neck.

For five more minutes I concentrated on her shoulders and neck. Kissing, licking, and softly biting while she moaned in approval. Eventually I slid my hands from where they wrapped around her arms and moved them down to her chest, cupping her small breasts in each hand. She gasped again at the new sensation when my fingers first made contact with the soft mounds and her firm pink nipples.

"Mmmmm," she murmured as my hands squeezed and caressed her breasts. Her hands gripped mine tightly again and pushed them into her chest, forcing me to massage deeper while I nibbled on her neck.

Her breathing became quicker as it turned into panting. She spun herself around in my arms so that we were facing and savagely kissed me. Her tongue was soft and slick. She pushed it into my mouth with a moan of longing and her hands scrambled up and down my chest and shoulders until she hooked them around my head so she could more aggressively kiss me. My tongue slid past Jessmei's and explored her sweet mouth. She moaned again in pleasure, since our mouths were locked the sound echoed in my head.

She pulled my head away and our mouths separated. We both gave a gasp of pleasure and relief. She smiled and leaned back into me for a gentler kiss. This time I enjoyed the fullness of her lips on mine. I was able to lick them with my tongue as it darted around her own tongue. I noticed that she tasted salty from the broth we consumed earlier. When we finished our second bout of lip exploration I pulled her hair back and forced her mouth up so I would have access to her throat.

She moaned my name as my tongue traced fine, wet lines down the front of her chin and to her left nipple. When I got to the pink piece of candy, my mouth wrapped around it and bit softly. These movements made her gasp in surprise and then pull my head against her breast tighter. My right hand came up to pinch and rub the nipple I wasn't giving any attention to with my lips. Her pants were now transforming into soft cries of pleasure and I couldn't help but moan along with her. Her skin tasted sweet and salty.

I moved to her other nipple, nibbling and sucking until she gasped sharply. Her nails raked across my bare shoulders and back. Their speed increased as her body became more aroused. Finally, I kissed and licked down her flat, smooth stomach and to her enticing hips. My fingers and tongue shared massaging duty here for a few minutes until her voice grew quiet. I briefly looked up and saw her biting the side of her right hand to keep from crying out. Her eyes reflected the shadowed orange hunger of the flame outside the tent as she gazed across her naked body at me.

The blankets had been thrown to the side during our hunt for position. The night was frigid, but the coldness didn't penetrate the heat we were creating inside our tent. I moved my hands down lower and rubbed the sleek muscles of her thighs while my lips and tongue did their walk down to the silky hair in front of Jessmei's entrance. She gasped as my tongue reached her pubic hair.

"What are you going to do?" she asked. Her voice was just above a whisper and I could hear the fear in her words.

"I'm going to taste you," I rubbed her thighs more and spread her legs, revealing the moist, sleek lips around her entrance. She didn't resist me.

"What? What do you mean?" her wetness smelled like lavender flowers.

"Relax Jessmei. You will enjoy this," I said before the tip of my tongue gently licked her wet labium. She tasted as good as she smelled, like flowers with a hint of citrus sweetness. I made my tongue dance across her lips in a circle pattern before I pushed my tongue halfway into her entrance to get the full flavor of her wetness.

"Oh my. Oh my. Oh Kaiyer. That is unbelievable. Soooo good." She barely kept her voice a whisper. I grunted in satisfaction to her response and pulled my tongue slowly out of her. I focused on the tiny nub of flesh on the top of her entrance that I ignored until this point. My mouth fastened around it like I had to her nipple and I gently sucked and licked it. Her hands grasped tightly to the back of my head, her hips bucked upward, and she let out a wheeze like someone had punched her in the stomach. After a few seconds of her body being incredibly tense, she began to relax. Jessmei let out a long sigh and lessened the grip on my hair. I looked up from my licking and saw that her eyes were closed and her face was a mask of enjoyment mixed with anticipation.

I didn't know how she wanted to be licked, so I tried a few different movements with my tongue and lips for the next ten minutes. From her moans of approval and the sudden tension on her body I figured out she preferred for me to lick across the surface of her sleek lips in an upward motion with the middle thick part of my tongue. I repeated the movement several times in a row before I would push it deep into her again to feel and taste her wetness.

It only took a few minutes of this before her body couldn't take anymore.

She moved her hips sideways across the mat and bottom blanket while her moans increased in volume. Her left leg wrapped around my neck and her right leg straightened out before she let out a light scream.

"Ahhhhh. Kaiyer don't stop!" she gasped through clenched teeth as her hands forsook the rubbing of my scalp and clutched the blankets to her side. Her body shook and quaked for half a minute as I slowed down my licking and sucking. Finally, she sighed in exhaustion, like she had just completed an hour long battle, and pushed her body away. She lay before me panting still, with her legs spread and her hands grasping her breasts. Her eyes were closed and she took long, deep breaths and let them out with gentle sighs. Her breath reminded me of the breeze through the forest on a late summer night.

"That felt so good, Kaiyer. How did you do that?" her eyes opened to look at me. They were filled with adoration.

I will give you what you want if you give me what I want. I heard a voice echo in my head. It wasn't Iolarathe's voice. Was it Shlara's? I ignored the memory and smiled down at Jessmei as I settled on my left side next to her content body.

"You learn things when you've been around a while." I smiled at her and ran my right hand lightly over her stomach and circled her soft breast.

"My handmaidens talked about being with men. They told me it was to help educate me but I think part of it was that they wanted to boast. They never said anything about what you just did to me." She sighed again and raised her right hand to touch the side of my jaw. She appeared to be ignoring my hand that was playing with her nipple, but it had become erect with my attention.

Jessmei looked down her body toward my penis and then back up to my face. She bit her lower lip in worry and then her right hand left my jaw and floated down to my member. I gasped a tiny bit as her smooth hand touched the tip and then wrapped around the length.

"How is this going to fit inside of me?" she asked with concern as she rubbed slowly down the shaft. It pulsed eagerly in her hand as she stroked it. I hadn't experienced relief in a long, long time. I thought of Nadea in the bathtub. I lusted after her like I did Jessmei. Would she be angry about what the princess and I were about to do? Perhaps it didn't matter. My mind was consumed by the thought of filling Jessmei right now. I hadn’t made any promises to Nadea and she hadn’t asked me to commit.

"I'll go slow. You are definitely wet enough," I said to Jessmei.

"Thanks to you," she sighed again. I couldn't tell if it was one of pleasure or regret. With a gentle tug of her hand she pulled the rest of my body over her. It was probably a sigh of pleasure then.

I sat up on my knees and looked down at her. Her hair spread out from under her head like mist rolling down a hillside in the morning. I ran my hands down her sides slowly again and she groaned and lifted her hips a bit so that I would have easier access to her entrance.

I reached down to my erection and leaned over slightly so it could angle into her. We both gasped in amazement when my tip slid into her slippery entrance. At first it would only go in an inch or so. I had to pull out and push back into her. I did it slowly and she seemed to gasp and moan with each small movement. I looked at her face and saw that her eyes and mouth were opened wide with the new sensation. After a minute or two of her moans and my small in and out movements I was about halfway inside of her.

"You feel really good," I said to her. It was more of a growl of desire.

She tried to say something but it came out as a flurry of moans and sighs. Her eyes closed again as I pulled out all the way and slid back into her accepting velvet tunnel. She was very wet, but the passage was tight and it took an additional half a minute before I slid another quarter of the way inside of her. I stopped and leaned down to kiss her deeply. She returned it with the same savage intensity she used when she previously kissed me. The walls of her entrance tightened more around me and I couldn't help but moan into her wanting mouth with approval.

We kissed like that for a few minutes as I pushed deeper inside of her. We both gasped again as I felt my tip brush up against the wall that protected her womb. I was all the way inside of her and we took a few moments to enjoy the sensation of each other's bodies.

"Are you okay?" I said as I leaned over her again and kissed her mouth and the side of her neck.

"It feels amazing. I thought it would be painful. I don't think I am bleeding," she whispered. I nodded in the darkness since I didn't smell any blood.

"I'll go slowly again. Tell me if you hurt and I'll stop," I whispered in her ear as I withdrew and then pushed back into her. Our bodies made a wet sliding sound as I entered her at a slightly faster pace. She gasped, but it was one of pleasure. I did it a few more times at the same tempo and when she did nothing but moan in approval I increased my speed.

Her walls wrapped tightly around my shaft as I slid into her each time and her gasps of pleasure began to take me over the edge after a few minutes. I slowed down my cadence again and rose up to my knees to get a different angle. Her eyes opened and her hands touched my chest in appreciation as I kneeled up between her legs and thrust into her a bit deeper than I had before.

I was able to keep that position up for another ten minutes before I felt myself starting to lose control. With an agonized growl I stopped and left myself deep in her while I kissed, licked, and sucked on her mouth, neck, and breasts for a few minutes. Her heart was beating quickly and her breaths came out in ragged exclamations that made me think she was probably as close as I was to orgasm.

"Wrap your legs around my hips and your arms around my neck," I instructed her. She did so and our mouths hungrily devoured each other as I sat up and carried her with me. She gasped when the full weight of her body was impaled on me. I rubbed her back gently for a few moments and then pulled on her hips, forcing myself deeper into her.

"Ahhh!" she said in surprised pleasure. She repeated the moan when I slid out of her a bit.

I was strong enough to lift her up one handed over my head with ease, this position let me manipulate her body down onto my erection and control the angle I slid into her. Her breasts slid against my chest as my hands supported and rubbed against her back. Within a few more minutes we were both panting in ecstasy as our bodies made quick, wet movements against each other. I was so deep inside of her that I brushed against her wall with every thrust.

"You feel so good inside me," she moaned in my ear over the sound of our love making.

I growled into her ear before I pulled her hair aside and lightly bit her neck. She whimpered again and her body began to spasm like it had when I had used my mouth on her.

"I'm going too . . ." she started to say before she cried out again in carnal pleasure. I could feel her body spasm and the walls of her entrance squeeze around my erection. The sensation made me lose control and I felt my own body start to shudder. I gasped with pleasure and my penis convulsed. Then we both gasped again as my seed filled her like a tidal wave. The orgasm was intense and my vision began to blur as I felt another quickly follow after the first one. We both cried out and kissed each other passionately again as our climaxes subsided and I finished filling her.

We kissed and licked each other for a few more minutes as we detangled from the sitting position and re-tangled on the soft surface of the mat and blankets.

"That was amazing," she traced her hand across my chest again as she snuggled up next to me. "It didn't hurt. It felt so good. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I took as much pleasure from your body as you did from mine." I smiled as I pulled her head into my shoulder and wrapped my left arm around her body. We lay silent for a few minutes and allowed the night air to cool our steaming bodies. Eventually I had to pull the blankets back on top of us.

"Any regrets?" I said to her.

"No. Why would I have any regrets?" She lifted her head off my chest and looked into where she thought my face lay.

"You spoke about your father and--"

"No. Don't worry. I wanted this," she said with confidence. "I can decide whom I make love with."

"Good," I said as I pulled her back into my chest. My headache had left at the same time I had climaxed and my body was just left with its incredible exhaustion.

"Kaiyer," she whispered before I drifted off to sleep.

"Yes?"

"Can we make love again tomorrow morning?" she asked eagerly.

"We definitely will," I said with a smile as I tried not to chuckle.

"Good." She wiggled her body into me more. "Can you . . .”

"Of course. Whatever you want, princess." This time I did laugh a little, she had really enjoyed my mouth tasting her.

"Oh. I do want it, and you. I can't wait until the morning," she said before her eyes closed. Within moments she twitched gently as she dived into a deep sleep. I lay awake for a few more minutes. My body felt extremely relaxed and my mind was content. The headache was gone and my skull felt wonderful. Was this what Shlara had been trying to give me all those years ago? I may have been foolish to deny myself the pleasure of her body. Then again, I had an army to command and having a relationship with her would have created negative consequences.

The wind was picking up speed. It almost sounded like a woman wailing in despair as it cut through the trees. I listened to it for a few more minutes before I drifted off to Jessmei's dream world.