Last Strathulian Standing Read online

  “That’s all right.” Aydon watched the tip of her tongue peek out to traverse lips that appeared bone dry. “Thank you. I appreciate your concern. Where are you headed?” she asked.

  “Zalvanus.”

  “You don’t resemble a Zalvanean with their slender, lithe forms,” Jia-Nian noted, giving him a thorough once-over. “And your voice bears a different sound from theirs.”

  “I am from Yassaria,” Aydon explained. “Our tribe was also aided by the wise, generous and capable Zalvaneans. Generations ago they bestowed upon our people added physical strength and inborn survival skills. We have gladly used those gifts in service to them and have since earned the honor of becoming sanctioned Guardians of Zalvanus.”

  Jia-Nian nodded. “I have heard only good things about them. Do all the Yassarian men become guardians?”

  “Willingly. Every male is trained from the age of twelve. At sixteen they proudly bear the title of Guardian. We have pledged our loyalty, our might, our hearts and souls to keep Zalvanus safe. It is a good and worthy life we live.”

  A familiar flapping of wind caught Aydon’s attention and he glanced skyward. Though still far in the distance, the flying beast was instantly recognizable.

  “A dragon approaches,” he said. “Probably one of Tordanuk’s. There is no time to spare, Jia-Nian. No more time for conversation.”

  “You will take me to Zalvanus with you,” Jia-Nian stated, “so that I too, may offer my services there. Now help me mount this great beast of yours, Aydon the Bold. We must make haste.”

  “Jia-Nian, I already told you—”

  For one so small, her sigh of frustration was mighty.

  “I have already told you what I have been through these past days, Aydon. Do you truly believe that I will be deterred by your protests? If so, think again.” She glared up at him, eyeball-to-eyeball.

  Aydon admired her resolve but the last thing he needed was a woman slowing him down. Especially a grieving woman. He looked at her garments. They were ragged and the same mud-color as her face and hair. Her limbs were caked with dirt and blood and the gods only knew what else. Dung, from the smell of her. The woman was in sore need of a thorough soaking in the river.

  The good people of Farkol would see to her cleanliness needs as well as provide sustenance. The scrawny woman could do with some meat on her bones.

  “Traveling with me is not safe, Jia-Nian. I am targeted for death by Tordanuk. Your life is at risk as long as we remain together, which is why—”

  “Which is why you need me with you to protect you, to see to your wounds.” She feathered a touch around the gash on his biceps and circled the one on his chest. “I can tend to your torn flesh, Aydon. I learned healing skills from my mother and grandfather. He was a Zalvanean, schooled in the healing arts.” She gazed upon him intently, gripping his forearm. “You need me.”

  Aydon noticed then that her eyes were gray. Like stormy seas. Like the sky before thunderous rain. She was so firm, so unwavering. The little bit of a thing honestly believed she could be an asset to him. Were it not for the fact that it would insult her, Aydon would have let loose with laughter.

  “You waste precious time with the dragon fast approaching,” Jia-Nian continued. “Like it or not, I am yours. If you abandon me to some village or under the stars while I sleep, I will track you. I will find you. I will adhere to you like mud adheres to brick in the hot sun. I swear to you, Aydon, I will—”

  Aydon lifted the woman by the waist, setting her atop Danior. She let out a gasp of surprise.

  “If for no other reason than to give me sweet respite from your unceasing chatter, I will allow you to accompany me.” He mounted his horse, settling behind the woman, hoping for a shock of wind to come blow the stink from her.

  “We will find a place to sleep.” He caught a substantial whiff as she turned her head to offer a smile of thanks. “Near a river,” he added.

  Chapter Two

  With her back nestled firm against her valiant rescuer, Jia-Nian felt safer than she had in days. If the big brave barbarian hadn’t emerged from the forest in a burst of fury, assailing the hulking twin foes, she would be dead by now. Or worse.

  Even before he told her he was one of the elite Guardians of Zalvanus, Jia-Nian somehow sensed that Aydon was principled, honorable. Or perhaps it was no more than wishful thoughts calming her soul as he spoke to her, assuring her his only interest was for her safety and well-being. In any case, it seemed as though a lifetime—a grueling, horrific lifetime—had passed since she’d felt safe and secure in the company of a male.

  An indulgent sigh escaped her lips. If only the time and circumstances were different. She’d dreamed so often of one day meeting a man like Aydon the Bold. A handsome, dark-haired stranger with bronzed skin and eyes the color of the sunlit sea. Of being swept up in the arms of a broad-shouldered warrior with a wide chest and narrow waist. Of feeling well-muscled arms and thighs close around her as he claimed her and made her his own.

  Her feminine core throbbed at the thought and damp desire settled between Jia-Nian’s thighs. Odd how even after all of the carnage, all of the grief, the fear, hate and despair, her body still responded to the romantic notion of a more innocent time. A time when she was young and carefree and eager to be bedded for the first time by her husband.

  That magical night she would offer the prize of her virginity to the man she loved.

  Looking blindly ahead as Danior trotted through the forest, Jia-Nian sneered. Her naïve dreams and fantasies had been cruelly snatched away, replaced by the stark, repulsive ugliness of reality.

  She all but sighed as Aydon’s strong arm wrapped around her belly in a protective gesture as they rode. Her eyes closed as she held her hand against his. There was a blessed inner knowing that she had no need to fear Aydon’s touch.

  Perhaps for their brief ride together she could pretend. She could imagine that she was still innocent and lighthearted and that Aydon was transporting her to his house. To their marriage bed, where they would begin a happy life together.

  Jia-Nian’s eyes popped open. Such thinking was foolish. Stupid, pointless and irrational.

  Remembering the oft-repeated teachings of her mother and grandmother, Jia-Nian was well aware she no longer possessed anything of value to offer a good, fine man like Aydon. Sullied and robbed of her virginity, her future held no hope of love or a husband who would love and respect her.

  All she was good for now was securing a role as a concubine…or hiring herself out as a whore.

  The bleak idea chilled her, until she thought of Aydon and his needs. A reassuring inner voice whispered to her that it would be different with him. There would be no cruelty, no ugliness when he touched her. She felt certain.

  She owed her life to him. Perhaps he would welcome her services as a concubine. A frown took hold as Jia-Nian imagined standing by and watching as he one day took a sweet virginal wife. He’d cherished her, treat her like gold, while he satisfied his carnal urges by fucking his concubines simply for the sake of fucking.

  After she had set her brother’s funeral pyre and that of her fellow villagers alight, Jia-Nian feared Aydon would refuse her company and deposit her in the hands of the kind villagers of whom he spoke. And what would come of her then?

  There could be no pairing or wedding. No birthing and nurturing her man’s babes. No tending her husband’s abode as a good wife should…

  It was just as well, Jia-Nian decided. After surviving one heinous bloodbath after another, she was probably no longer capable of providing such gentle, womanly comforts as a soft lap for babes or to tend to garment repair or see to the preparation of meals.

  Perhaps once, but no more.

  No, Jia-Nian felt certain it was her destiny to reach Zalvanus, as her people had strived to do before their slaughter. While she may not be constructed of sinew and muscle like Aydon the Bold, who could no doubt slay great throngs of Pushgans, she would proudly represent the Strathulians. Her skills at
healing would be welcomed during a siege. And she already knew how to use a knife and short sword, how to wield a spear and manage a bow and arrows.

  She may be dishonored and alone in the world, but she still had value. Worth. She was needed. The Zalvaneans needed her and she’d make damn well certain Aydon the Bold realized he needed her too.

  “I am familiar with this spot,” Aydon said from behind her, drawing Jia-Nian out of her reverie. “A small river flows to the right and there are stunted rock formations to provide adequate cover while we slumber. We should be relatively safe here for the night.”

  “Is the water drinkable?” Jia-Nian asked as he brought Danior to a halt. “My throat is so parched. I can’t remember the last time I had anything to drink.”

  “Safe to drink…as well as for bathing,” Aydon answered, looking away from her. “Should you be so inclined.”

  Jia-Nian laughed at that. It was the first time in days she’d felt so much as a speck of good humor. She could well imagine her soiled appearance, not to mention the smell. The stench of death that she feared would never wash off.

  “What a foul and filthy eyesore I must be. My apologies, Aydon. Tending to personal cleanliness has not been primary in my thoughts these past days. Will you stand guard for me as I bathe and wash my garment? I won’t take long.”

  “I will. Take all the time you need,” Aydon responded with a smile. “Please.”

  After giving the site a broad check, certain it was reasonably safe, he led Jia-Nian to the river. The air was balmy. A brush of his fingers through the water proved it to be temperate as well.

  As Jia-Nian stepped into the water, fully clothed, Aydon watched, wondering what might be beneath that crust of muck covering her from head to toe. It was probably too much to hope that she was mildly eye-catching, through he certainly wouldn’t mind sitting across a fire from an appealing woman. It had been far too long since—

  “Oh, Aydon, never have I felt anything so wondrous, so life restoring,” Jia-Nian called, interrupting his lusty recollections. “The water is just right and so refreshing. You must come join me so I can clean your wounds.”

  “It’s best if I remain on the riverbank to keep watch for intruders,” he said, smiling at the spirited sound of her voice. He knew the feeling of a good soaking after staring in Death’s grim face.

  He focused on the woman as she ducked under the water. She remained beneath its surface for so long he became concerned. Just as he stirred from his spot against a tree to come after her, Jia-Nian’s naked form sprang up. Her arms outstretched, she held her garment in one hand. She’d clearly taken some time to scrub her face and hair, not to mention her torso.

  By Ko’Loran, Aydon had never expected such a sight. The woman he beheld was lithe and shapely. In the milky glow of moonlight her pale limbs were like alabaster, her countenance the loveliest he could remember. And her breasts, ah, her breasts were generous handfuls with dusky nipples from which water beaded and dropped.

  As Aydon gaped, his cock grew hard. Anticipation to glimpse her cunt uncoiled with a slow burn through his loins. He shifted his stance, the soft buff-colored leather of his breeches molding tight against his expanding dick.

  “Come in, Aydon. You must experience the soothing tonic these waters provide.”

  A lifetime of guardian training seemed to flee his senses as he stood watching her, wanting her. It was madness. Lunacy! The woman had just set a funeral pyre for her dead brother and the rest of her people. What sort of man would be fixed on the idea of filling a grieving woman’s cunt with his cock?

  Jia-Nian scrubbed her clothes together, alternately rinsing and wringing. Aydon found he was unable to shift his gaze from her breasts, which bobbled in the water like ripe fruits as she rubbed the garment, plunging it in and out of the water.

  “I could have slit your throat from ear to ear before you even realized it,” a voice came from behind Aydon, startling him. “Look at you with your lust-fogged expression. Guardian indeed.”

  “You,” Aydon said, looking over his shoulder. “Is it that time already?” He looked to the sky and its full lustrous moon before returning his attention to the lush woman in the river. “I know. I’ve been lax. Foolish. But can I be blamed? She’s a beauty, isn’t she, Danior? Who knew that under all that filth a goddess dwelled?”

  “She has my cock hard as granite,” Danior replied.

  “Mine as well,” Aydon admitted. “But she’s grieving the loss of her brother and her tribe. This is no time for us to be—”

  “Look at her,” Danior coaxed. “She’s so beautiful and all but offering her ripe, womanly gifts to you, Aydon. Anyone can see she’s in need of a man’s strong arms, a few tender words whispered in her ear, broad fingers stroking her flesh, seeking her soft, wet cunt.”

  “If I as much as touch her I doubt I’d be able to control myself,” Aydon said, hating to admit the weakness, especially after he’d come face-to-face with more than one evil sorceress in the form of a seductress. He should know better. He should have more control over his wayward cock. The ill-disciplined appendage would be his downfall yet.

  “I have a feeling she’d welcome the flesh-to-flesh contact, my friend.”

  “A comforting, companionable squeeze, perhaps,” Aydon said. “The way my loins smolder at the sight of her I’d be more like to pounce, ravaging her.”

  “Gods, Aydon, it’s been near an eternity since I’ve been gloved by a woman’s hot core. Think of it…you in front and me in back. At least the first time. We’ll take turns. We can keep at it all night, until the first light of dawn when I am no longer human.”

  “She was a virgin, Danior. Tordanuk’s men despoiled her just days ago,” Aydon explained.

  “Pushgans…callous, merciless scum,” Danior said. “If I could only have one night of battle with them, I’d gut them and stuff their mouths with their own cocks.”

  “I’d like nothing more than to face them in battle with you at my side again, Danior.” Aydon clasped the man’s shoulder, giving it a hearty squeeze. “We always made a formidable team.”

  “That we did,” Danior agreed.

  “As for our naked little goddess,” Aydon cautioned, “before we come to the point where we’re courting any notions of thrusting into her warm, wet slit, there’s the matter of explaining you to her, Danior. Have you forgotten that?”

  “She likes me already,” Danior boasted, a satisfied grin evident in his voice. “She said I was a magnificent animal.”

  “Aydon, please, won’t you join me?” Jia-Nian called.

  Aydon saw her eyes widen as she spotted Danior, wearing the furs that served as his saddle earlier. She lowered her body into the river until only her head was above the rippling water.

  “Are you all right, Aydon? Do you need me?”

  Her question brought a smile to Aydon’s lips.

  “The sprite strives to be your protector,” Danior noted with a chuckle.

  “She has spirit. Fortitude,” Aydon answered. “A braver woman I’ve never met.” He called to Jia-Nian, “All is well. There’s nothing to fear. This man is a friend. A fellow Guardian of Zalvanus.”

  Jia-Nian’s arms came up high as she slipped her drenched garment over her head. Standing tall, she clasped her long wet tresses, wringing the water from them before wading for the shore.

  “Pity to have those glorious tits cloaked,” Danior told Aydon.

  “We’ll have to coax her out of that sopping garment,” Aydon said. “For her own good, of course.”

  “Of course,” Danior agreed.

  “She’ll succumb to the night air if she stays like that.” Aydon looked at his friend. “You’ll give her your furs to keep her warm.”

  Danior’s eyebrow arched. “And what will I wear?”

  Aydon’s gaze dropped to the considerable bulge at Danior’s groin. He reached up, plucking a slender olive leaf from the tree they stood under. Sporting a devilish grin, he offered it to Danior.

 
Danior’s laughter was full and deep. “You’d best secure an entire branch of leaves to cover what’s under these furs.” He patted his groin.

  “Your garments are where they always are,” Aydon said, thumbing toward his saddle bags. “These,” he fingered the furs slung over Danior’s shoulder, “will be warmer for Jia-Nian.”

  “It’s good to meet another Guardian of Zalvanus,” Jia-Nian said as she neared the pair. “If it were not for Aydon’s brave intervention, I would be drifting among the shades now, with little hope of safe passage to Niranjan.”

  Danior took one of her hands in his, smoothing his thumb across her knuckles before kissing them. “It’s good to meet you as well, Jia-Nian. Finally.”

  “Finally?” Her brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

  “Do you know of Shivrane?” Aydon asked. “Tordanuk’s evil—”

  “Sorceress,” Jia-Nian finished, clutching herself as if a sudden gust of northern wind had chilled her blood. “Yes, I have had the great displeasure to be in her malevolent presence.”

  “So have I,” Aydon said. “And so has Danior.” He gestured to his friend.

  Jia-Nian frowned again. “Danior…but that’s the name of your—” Her eyes widened with comprehension as she eyed Danior and gasped.

  “His horse,” Danior completed her thought. “It is my hope, Jia-Nian, that you find me as magnificent an animal in human form as you did when I had four legs.” He offered a charming smile.

  “Shivrane of Pushga did this to you? Why?”

  “It was during an escape from Tordanuk’s dungeon,” Danior said simply.

  Aydon’s arm came up and around Danior’s shoulder, clasping it. “Danior and a small band of guardians found a way inside Tordanuk’s fortress. They saved not only me, but three other guardians and near twenty villagers from nearby lands. We were torn, bloodied and near death after days of torture. Danior carried me on his back to safety.”

  “And I’m still carrying him on my back,” Danior quipped, rubbing his spine.