“Faren… oh gods, fuck, yes, you feel so good…”
She could hear him too. The position didn’t let them see each other’s reactions, but they could hear and feel. Leiya caught every moan from Faren’s lips just like he undoubtedly caught hers. The feel of his fingers slipping on her skin, his powerful hands holding her in place long after her legs had lost all strength, it was everything Leiya had ever wanted.
Her orgasm rose like a wave, pushed on by Faren’s rhythm becoming erratic. His breathing was growing heavier, the moans under his breath almost words sounding like her name. Near the end, his thrusts were so hard Leiya bit into her pillow so as not to scream her voice hoarse. She’d come before, but not like that.
Every last fiber of her shivered in Faren’s sure grip, then froze as the peak hit her. There were bite marks on the pillow already, but then she really felt the fabric tear under her teeth. She trembled so hard it must have been too much for Faren.
She heard the general gasp under his breath and felt his hot seed spill inside her. Leiya moaned at the feel of it, numb to everything but the overwhelming pleasure. She was finally allowed to collapse on the bed as he let her go. He lay down beside her, halfway on top of her.
Never in her life would Leiya have thought she’d hear what Faren sounded like when breathless.
She didn’t understand the way fate and destiny worked, but right then and there, Leiya was glad that it worked.
You’re alright, gods, she thought. You’re fine by me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Faren
“I think you created a monster.”
Diego seemed honestly amused by that suggestion. He looked over to where Isolde and Leiya were in the middle of talking excitedly over each other a little farther away.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve created two,” Diego said.
Faren humphed at that, but in truth he didn’t mind. He knew Leiya was still not overly fond of warriors, despite loving him, and that she found the Unbroken gloomy to say the least. It was good for her to have another friend whom she could talk to and who would understand her. And another human, more so.
News of Leiya not being a Brion had spread all over Briolina in less than a day and the overall reaction was positive. Brions loved their star and had no problem with her being a human. Even other artists approved, now that they knew why she'd been so different.
The few critical voices that arose were all directed at the girl's father and the games politicians played. Leiya had to speak up herself at last, protecting her father.
But no one else was as glad as Isolde was, to have a new friend and a new human friend. They could finally share and talk to another person who understood. Faren, who had been alone most of his life, knew how important that was.
“I think they’re having a competition,” Diego went on musing. “I’m not certain of the rules, but I think the one that gets to say more words wins.”
Faren had honestly been a bit concerned. Of course Leiya was his gesha, and after a few weeks everything was just as good as it had been on their first day together. That was the glory and the power of the Brion bindings. Nonetheless, he wasn’t sure what Diego’s gesha thought of him and wondered if she’d say anything to upset Leiya.
Diego had laughed.
“Don’t worry,” he’d said. “Isolde likes you. But she’s also smart enough to be completely and utterly terrified of you.”
The voices of their geshas carried over to them quite easily, especially when they talked excitedly, which Faren was glad to see they did most of the time. For all of Leiya’s love for him and her peculiar fondness for the Unbroken and its dark passages, she still sometimes turned sad when she had to be near the training areas. It was good to see her laugh so freely.
“No, no, it’s not in your head at all!” Isolde was saying. “I swear to gods I’ve always thought he reads minds and just doesn’t tell people. Every time he looks at me it feels as though he’s staring straight through me.”
“I know!” Leiya said. “Thank you, for real. I thought I was the only one. Do you think he actually can? Like I heard rumors that they can do incredible things to warriors, but of course we couldn’t know about that…”#p#分页标题#e#
“Do you think they know we can hear them?” Faren asked.
The thought of them thinking he was psychic was more amusing than upsetting. Faren found a smirk tugging his lips upwards. It kept happening more, but of course only around Leiya.
Diego snorted.
“Probably not.”
His friend turned to Faren then.
“How is the little songbird?”
From anyone else, that might have been an insult, but Faren knew what Diego meant. They’d talked about it, after all. There wasn’t much singing on the battle ships, at least so far. Now that Leiya was there, something had to be done. He had no intention of killing her spirit.
“We agreed that she’d stay on the ship for most of the time,” he said.
“She thinks it would actually add to her artistic mystery. The humansinger raised by Brions who descends from space to sing to them only every once in a while. And when she’s on the surface, she’ll be guarded, of course.”
“Not taking chances anymore?” Diego asked with a knowing smirk.
“Of course not,” Faren said. “I only trust her with my best. Luckily she’s quite fond of Roven.”
Diego nodded.
“And the whole thing with you being you? Do you skip the cup of blood in the morning?”
Faren glared, but he knew Diego was merely joking with him, making light of a topic that wasn’t really one.
“I’ve debunked most of the nonsense they talk about me.”
For a moment, Diego’s eyes were serious.
“And the things that are true?”
“As best as I could,” Faren said, shrugging.
“And she understands?”
“She’s my gesha.”
The knowing smile on Diego’s face said everything he needed to know.
“You have got to be kidding me,” they heard Isolde’s voice. “I swear in the name of everything that’s holy, that can’t be true…”
“Well,” Leiya argued. “I wouldn’t call it redecorating as such. It’s still a war ship. But a little color, a little light. I don’t know how they live like that, in the darker parts of the ship you can’t see your own outstretched hand.”
“If Faren lets you redecorate the Unbroken, that’s the day I know hell has frozen over.”
“The what?”
“It's a human thing, I'll have to catch you up on so many things... But I definitely have to see what you’ll make of Faren’s ship.”
“You think she’s still in danger?” Diego asked.
Now it was Faren’s turn to laugh, but he did it in his own way, grinning without truly laughing out loud.
“Of course. In a way, she always will be. So is Isolde. You know that. We lead dangerous lives, and we have many enemies. There will always be those who would want to take advantage of them to get to us.”
Diego nodded and his eyes were dark as he did so.
“Agreed,” he said, his voice almost a growl.
“Luckily it also means we are able to protect them.”
That was true as well. Faren was pleased that Leiya found Roven much more to her liking after her escape with him through the streets of the capital. The big warrior had taken horrible wounds, but they were nothing new to him. A lesser man might have died; an even lesser one live but become unfit for duty. Roven did neither.
He’d suffered through the treatment the healers had told Faren was in no way painless. Then he reported to him the next day, ready to follow his commands. Faren knew he could trust only him with something as precious as Leiya. So now the warrior had regular guard duty whenever Leiya was on Briolina.
“Is Eleya following up on Primen’s possible contacts?” Faren asked.
“Yes,” Diego said. “It seems whoever remains by this point are too afraid to make any real moves. The worst of them died on Rhea. Primen’s gone too. I predict they’ll just have to get used to us.”
Faren found that hard to believe. Seeing the look on his face, Diego laughed.
“Not truly, of course. But I doubt anyone is going to pull something that stupid again. I’m tempted to make lessons for my warriors out of the recordings of this mess. Mainly those idiots who just let you crash into them on the street. I have a meeting with the man in charge of the academy those things crawled out of.”
“I’m sure he’s delighted to get to explain the actions of his former students to you.”#p#分页标题#e#
Diego’s eyes burned bright and fierce as he smiled the same smile all Brion generals used when a task they relished was waiting ahead.
“Oh, you should have heard him. I’m still amazed at how quickly one can forget how to speak when confronted with us. He finally said something about regret and changes, but I’ll let him repeat that to me in person.”
Faren could imagine quite well how that conversation would play out.
“Yes, I imagine he’ll be glad for the honor of meeting you. No doubt he’ll remember you’ve killed more warriors than he’s taught.”