Jealousy fills my chest. I’m trying to stay calm when Herrix throws fuel on the fire. “He’s been teaching you to shoot?” he demands. “Him?”
His entire life, Herrix has resented me because I was the Firstborn of Laris. My patience snaps. “I have,” I tell him with a smirk. “She’s a very good student. In fact,” I pause and let my smile widen, “I’m pretty sure she’s better than you.”
Olivia raises her eyebrow. What are you doing, she seems to ask.
Belfox can’t be easily baited, but as I expect him to, Herrix reacts immediately to the provocation. “Shall we wager on it?” he says, lifting his chin.
I start to reply, but Olivia cuts in. “Sure,” she says tightly. “What do you want to wager?”
“Not you,” Herrix says dismissively. “Liorax. If I win, Liorax will hunt for me for the next year.” He smiles gloatingly. “I’ve always wanted to be served by the Firstborn of Laris.”
Olivia:
Herrix is a dick.
This situation has trouble written all over it. Part of me wants to defuse it, but there’s also a part of me that’s getting pretty damn tired of Herrix’s ‘women-can’t-do-anything’ attitude. Combative-Olivia wins out.
“Deal,” Liorax says easily. “And if I win, you give up your claim to Olivia.”
I’ve been wondering what on Earth has gotten into Liorax, but when I hear his wager, the dots connect. Clever, clever Liorax. He’s buying me freedom. If Herrix loses this wager, I’ll never have to go out with Herrix and Belfox again.
There’s a lump in my throat. I’ve no doubt that if I lose, Herrix will lord it over Liorax mercilessly. This might be the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me.
Win or lose, he’s so going to get a thank-you blowjob.
“No.” A smooth voice cuts in. Dariux. The Draekon appears from out of nowhere, moving as silently as the karvil. I hadn’t even heard him approach. “The mating bond is too important to be a prize in a wager.”
Damn it.
I want to press the issue, but I don’t. Dariux is clever and manipulative, and he has managed to win the support of nearly everyone in camp. If I go up against him right now, I will lose.
For the moment, I’ll let his ‘master of the universe’ act go unchallenged.
Liorax frowns. “Fine. If she wins, you give up your time with Olivia for the next month.”
Dariux looks thoughtful, and then he nods. I turn to Herrix, my eyebrow raised. Will he bite?
He does. The prospect of humiliating Liorax is too much to resist. “That is acceptable,” he says. “Do not worry, Olivia,” he adds, his voice dripping with condescension. “This contest is not your fault. You will not shame yourself when you fail.”
When I fail? My blood boils, and resolve stiffens my spine. I am going to show Herrix.
Dariux isn’t done bossing us around. “We’ll do ten ends of three arrows,” he announces. “Any objections?”
I shake my head. Herrix doesn’t have any objections either. We flip one of Zunix’s syn coins to see who will go first—a human custom that we’ve taught the Draekons—and it comes up heads. That’s me.
“Wish me luck,” I say softly to Liorax.
He smiles confidently. “You don’t need luck, Olivia. Trust me, you are more than capable of winning this wager.”
Definitely getting a blowjob.
My three arrows find the second ring of the target. Herrix goes next, and he’s better than me, but not by much.
Liorax is right. I can do this.
My next three shots hit the center of the target, and Dariux whistles admiringly. “Well, well,” he says. “Herrix, I think she might indeed be better than you.”
Herrix doesn’t react well to the taunt. He flushes with rage and rapidly fires off three arrows. Neither of them hit the center of the target.
I’m not going to fool myself. On a normal day, I’m not better than Herrix, but today’s not a normal day. Today, I’m absolutely determined to beat him, and I’m at my best.
And Herrix is at his worst. He walked into this contest, expecting it to be a cakewalk. He isn’t prepared for me to be competitive, and it’s messing with his head. Dariux’s open amusement doesn’t help either.
Less than an hour later, it’s over, and I’ve won. I turn to Herrix to shake his hand, but he spins away from me. His face red with rage, he raises his bow. Out of the corner of my eye, I see his target, a familiar orange shape. Fluffy.
I don’t think. I act on instinct, barreling into him just as his arrow leaves his bow. It misses Fluffy and bounces harmlessly against a tree. “You jerk,” I scream at him. “You were going to kill Bryce’s pet.”
Liorax steps in front of me just as Herrix raises his hand. “Go ahead,” he says, his voice icy. “Try it. See what happens.”
Dariux looks furious as well. Bryce is easily his favorite person in camp, and she would have been broken-hearted if something happened to her karvil. “Get out of my sight,” he snaps. “I don’t want to see you in camp for the next week.”
Herrix glares at Liorax, then at me, his hands clenched into fists. Then he turns around and walks away, Belfox on his heels.
I won. I should be jumping up and down with glee. But as I watch the men walk away, I can tell that I haven’t heard the last of this matter. Things aren’t over between us.
15
Zunix:
I hadn’t expected Dariux to loan me his skimmer, but he was happy to trade for access to my ThoughtVault.
He’s searching for something. Under normal circumstances, I’d be curious to know what he’s looking for, but these aren’t normal circumstances. Right now, my instincts tell me that it’s far more important to find out what Herrix and Belfox are hiding.
Unfortunately, my search is fruitless. I ride up and down the eastern edge of Lake Tuli for an hour, looking for anything that seems out of place, but I find nothing. Frustrated, I make my way back to camp, only to run into Liorax and Olivia by the lake near my house.
She’s wearing a happy smile on her face. “Guess what?” she calls out. “I beat Herrix in an archery contest.”
“Should I be surprised? I’m not.” I brush a kiss against her soft cheek. “Did Herrix wander away in a sulk? Is that why we have the pleasure of your company today?”
Her expression darkens. “Herrix tried to kill Fluffy,” she bites out. “It’s a good thing he wandered away because otherwise, I would have throat-punched him.”
Liorax gives her an affectionate look. “I’m happy to punch him for you anytime you want, little human,” he says. “Herrix wagered that Olivia wouldn’t be able to beat him,” he explains to me. “If he lost, he agreed to give up a month of her company.”
“That was a brilliant wager.” Her eyes shine with appreciation as she looks at Liorax. “I owe you a favor.” She winks at me. “And you owe me one,” she says. “Are you going to tell me why I supposed to keep Herrix and Belfox away from Lake Tuli?”
“They’re up to something,” I reply. “I’m trying to figure out what.” My voice lowers to a growl. “Take off your clothes, and I will be happy to repay my debts.”
Her breathing catches. Then, holding our gazes, she lifts her shirt over her head. “I like the sound of that,” she whispers.
Olivia:
No regrets.
I probably shouldn’t go all the way with them today, not unless I’m prepared to risk splitting the camp up into factions. And I’m not. It’s almost time for us to set out to find the other women, and we don’t need anything distracting us from that. For Viola, Harper, Ryanna, and Sofia’s sake, I’ve got to stay strong.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t fool around with the two of them. Liorax is definitely getting a blowjob. He went down on me, and I still haven’t reciprocated.
I’m a big believer in equality.
Zunix opens his front door and tugs me inside. The moment the door shuts behind the three of us, Liorax pulls me into his arms, and his lips meet mine. “You taste so good,” he breathes in between kisses.
“You too,” I tell him, running my fingers down his chest, tracing each of his tightly corded muscles. “But I want more.” I kneel before him and tug impatiently at his pants.
He inhales sharply, and his eyes glaze with need. “This shouldn’t be about repaying a favor, little human.”
“It isn’t.” The favor is just a convenient excuse to do something I’ve been dying to do.
“You’re sure of this, Olivia?” he asks once again.
As sure as I’ve ever been about anything in my life. “Are you going to make me beg for your cock?” I retort, holding his blue eyes in mine. “I want this. I want you.”
A smile curls the corner of his mouth. “Good.” He strips out of his pants, and his cock bobs in front of my face, already hard and with a drop of pre-cum at the tip. I cup his balls, massaging them as I flick my tongue over his head.
Zunix kneels behind me. “You are wearing too many clothes.” I lift my head off Liorax long enough to let Zunix tug my rest of my clothes free. His big hands come around me to massage my breasts, and I moan around Liorax’s cock.