And then it happened. She correctly anticipated when his weight was changing, and she kicked his leg just above the knee, throwing him off balance.

He fell, hitting the floor hard on his left side. Lunging forward, she lifted her sword with both hands, aiming to plunge it into his chest but he rolled away as her sword came down, and it dug into the sand instead.

The Alpha rolled back up to his feet and roared, a deep, resounding thunder ripping through the air. All hair on Naya’s body stood on end, fear edging into the anger that had bolstered her. The roar had a torturous edge to it, torment and longing and need fused into the long animalistic sound. Akoro threw his weapon aside and charged her.

Naya wasn't sure what to do. No longer in her focused fighting haze, she stumbled back as he came closer. He wasn’t sparring with her now, she could sense it. Something had changed—primal, stormy, violent. It drove him forward, the enormous bulk of him coming at her.

She raised her sword but he batted it aside, sending it flying across the dome. He tackled her to the ground, taking the brunt of the fall on his shoulder, and they rolled across the dome, finally stopping with him on top. Naya groaned and tried to push him off, but they were tangled together, the warm heat of him bearing down on her. The Alpha started pulling up her tunic and lifting her legs

"No," she panted, even as her slick gathered from the taut feel of him. "Stop!"

He could cause so much damage to her if he tried to force himself on her in this state, but the aggression was no longer clouding his scent. Instead a thick, potent beam of rich desire made her whole body arch, even as she kicked and pushed.

Then his mouth was on her inner thigh, biting and sucking the skin as he moved up to her middle. Naya stilled, her fists still pushing him away, but the feel of his mouth on her skin was singing to every nerve. When he reached her middle, he wedged his tongue through her wetness and released a gravelly rumble of satisfaction that made her hum in delight. He flicked his tongue between her folds and eased his whole mouth onto her, and finding her clit wet he devoured her. Wild and rough, he licked and sucked on her, swirling his thick tongue into her aching channel in a relentless rhythm.

The pleasure ravaged her, jostling her whole body, every lick and every suck and every nibble. The sounds coming from the Alpha were obscene, as though he was feeding on the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted, and it turned her on even more. When his large hands ran up to her breasts, squeezing and rolling her nipples between his fingers, her peak hit, and she soared, her whole body shaking.

The pleasure was so blinding, she clung onto him and he rode her through it as it ravaged her. And then she went limp.

The Alpha looked down over her, his mouth and beard shining, his dark eyes heated. Naya stared at him, pliant and soft. In this state, she expected him to fuck her, and even though she’d never had sex before, she craved it right now with him. But the Alpha did something strange. Instead of spreading her wider and easing himself into her, he gathered her into him, crushing his weight on top of her. Rolling down the fabric on her neck that she forgot was even there, he pressed his nose onto her skin and inhaled.

She smiled at the hoarse sound of his pleased moan and when he settled on top of her, breathing her in, she let the drowsiness of her exhaustion drift her into dreamless sleep.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Akoro. That was his name.

The name of the Alpha who had wrestled her to the ground only to give her the most incredible orgasm with only his mouth. A wave of shame swept through her, mortified by her behavior—thrashing and trembling under him and wanting more. This was the Alpha who had kidnapped and brutally tortured her and was planning to invade her home. She’d told herself her attraction to him wouldn’t get in the way, but somehow the sparring yesterday had turned into something raw, sinful, and volatile. It was surprising he hadn't fucked her right there on the flat sand, and it annoyed her that if he had, she would have reveled in it.

She'd woken up back in her cart in the early morning, the camp preparing to travel. The usual women came to replace her squat pot, give her breakfast, and take her to bathe. She scrubbed the Alpha’s lingering scent from her skin, hoping that the women who escorted her couldn't smell it. It was embarrassing enough that she had craved it, luxuriated in the feeling he gave her, and came so hard in his mouth her whole body had seized, but it would be embarrassing for everyone else in the camp to know.

When the beast—no, Akoro—approached his nnirae, she’d stayed low in the cart, keeping her eyes averted,

As they traveled that day, Naya thought things through. She had agreed to help him, but right now she had no plan and no priorities. That would not work if she wanted to find a way out of here.

Yesterday Akoro had some kind of device that had flattened the sand into suitable fighting pitch and created a dome that provided them with warmth and, she assumed, privacy. Surely, the noise of their weapons and his roar, and… their sex would have woken the camp. It was windy enough for the sounds to carry, so the dome must've had a dampening effect too. She’d seen that stone when he'd taken her, and she was convinced it was the key to getting back home through a portal.

That night Akoro didn’t come to her cart. Naya was partly relieved and partly disappointed, but she shoved the disappointment down to the pit of her stomach. She didn't sleep, keen to avoid the nightmares and any reason for him to visit.

After two nights of no visits, she settled into the rhythm of travel. The healer didn’t need to check her for lingering pain anymore but encouraged her to keep drinking the tmae. Her escorted walks were the highlight of her days—she enjoyed seeing the nnirae and getting to stretch.

On the third night, she was exhausted enough to sleep with no nightmares, but in the middle of the night, the dome above her disappeared; Akoro climbed in. The cart was large, but not big enough for an Alpha. She tried to get up, but he was already straddling her body, his knees on either side of her, pinning down her arms.

"What are you doing?" she gasped.

He said nothing, the wildness in his eyes as hungry and intense as when they fought.

Naya struggled against his weight. "Let me up."

He started undoing his pants.

"Stop!” Naya tried to wriggle out from his heavy weight. “What the fuck are you doing?”

He braced the side of the cart, leaning over her, expression fierce. "How did you knock me over? You shouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Naya almost rolled her eyes. Of course he was angry about her beating him. That overbearing Alpha pride. “I… uh. Technique. My father’s technique.”

His face flickered with something ugly. “Are you going to tell me what this supposed trauma is?"

Naya stared up at him. “Why does it matter so much?” she whispered, aware she had asked a question but didn’t care. Why did he keep bringing it up? This man was intending to invade her Land. He didn't need to know any more than necessary—especially not her weaknesses. Voluntarily giving someone like him a weapon to wield against her was beyond foolish, and it didn’t mean she wouldn’t still endure whatever depraved thing he was about to do.

He scowled. “Do you know how you sound when you’re having a bad dream? It is… unpleasant.”

Naya’s eyes narrowed. “And it wasn’t unpleasant when you broke my⁠—“

“Quiet.” His face hardened. He leaned back up and finished undoing his pants. “I helped you sleep. Tonight, you will help me.”