Page 19 of Mated to the Alien Warlord

Tight black leather breeches covered his glorious ass and rock-hard thighs. The same thighs that had pressed against mine. I swallowed and almost felt their pressure against the inside of my legs as they pushed them apart. Lying on the bed, I had a hard time keeping mine closed at the memory and was glad for the furs covering me. A soft moan escaped me, however, when I remembered those hips driving his cock into me.

His head turned in my direction and a smile spread over his lips. "You are awake. Good morning."

"Good morning," I replied, noting the hoarseness of my voice.

"The camp is breaking. We don't have much time, but I wanted to let you sleep for as long as possible."

His consideration pleased and surprised me. I had already noticed that he wasn't like what I had imagined a warlord to be, at least not with me, but all his little acts of kindness toward me were adding up into the kind of man I would have chosen as a husband had I been given a choice.

"There is some food and tea for you." He pointed at one of the trunks where an assortment of small trays had been left. "And the servants brought more clothing last night. Nothing fancy, I'm afraid, but they will adequately cover you." At that he winked, and I noted just a slight hint of regret, making me giggle.

Upon closer inspection, the clothes were clean and dry, and just like he said, nothing fancy but adequate. I picked a brown dress with long sleeves that could be detached as needed, depending on the weather conditions, which, as the cold season was only a few weeks off, would be chilly in the morning and evening and hot during the middle of the day.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I was dressed, nibbling on bread and cheese.

"The khazar wants to cut Fionbyr off. We are going to ride to Steppenfort."

My disappointment must have been easy to read on my face, because, amused, he responded, "That doesn't seem to please you. I thought you would welcome the idea of returning to your hometown."

"I lived there all my life," I stated, shaking my head. "I hoped to see more of Thyre, see the Dark Sea."

"You want to see the Dark Sea?" he asked.

I nodded. "I heard so much about it. I want to see the wharosses—large whale like sea creatures—and smell the sea salt."

He pulled me into his arms. "And you shall," he promised. "As soon as this business is over, I will take you to Wyrkymburg."

"I will hold you to it," I smiled.

"Warlord Vandor," a voice called from the other side of the tent.

"Enter," Vandor said with a sigh of regret.

Servants entered and stopped respectfully by the entrance.

"They are ready to take the tent down," Vandor explained.

I took a long drink of my tea and nodded. "I'm ready."

He held out his elbow for me and led me out of the tent. The sun was just coming up, surprising me, because I thought it would have been much later. But warriors were already seated on their impatiently stomping horses, and I noticed two waiting for us.

Vandor helped me into the saddle of one before he swung himself onto the other. Confused, I stared at the army ready to go and the many servants just taking the camp down.

"They will catch up with us when they are done," Vandor explained after he noticed my inquisitive expression. "Getting all these warriors in gear will take a while."

If it did, I didn't notice, because we rode at the tip of the procession. But then I remembered how yesterday we had made our way from the back to the front and how long it took to pass first the camp followers, then the foot soldiers, and finally the mounted warriors, and I understood.

The khazar and my father joined us, and soon I tuned out their discussion over which route was better to take until the khazar mentioned, "Warlord Kendryx has an outpost not far from here. We will make camp there tonight, and with any luck, he will already be there waiting for us."

"Kendryx will probably be at his stronghold," Vandor cautioned.

"Normally he would, kar, but you forget what a foresighted khazar you have," Gryck grinned. "I sent word weeks ago that I wanted him there with an army waiting for us, just in case."

"Very wily, my khazar," Vandor praised.

"I imagine he won't be very happy, having been sitting there waiting for weeks, but that can't be helped," Gryck added.

The thought of a bed and real walls around me after having traveled for over a week pleased me, even though I had enjoyed Vandor's tent last night and I was sure I would miss it.

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