She obeyed and was stunned as images… no, memories began to play through her mind. Only they weren’t her memories, they were his.
Max had gone to bathe and fetch fresh water in expectation of her arrival. For over a fortnight, he’d been forced to endure the excruciating misery of living among the Amazons without her. Because of his promise, he was locked in her village where they wouldn’t allow him the most modicum of hospitality.
While she’d known some of it, she hadn’t realized that he’d been banned from their meals, too. That whenever she returned home to find food waiting for her, it was something he’d hunted and prepared for her because they wouldn’t allow him to take her portions unless she was there and she got it for them.
He wasn’t even allowed to draw water from their well lest he contaminate it. Rather, he had to hike to the stream to gather his own and carry it back to their tent.
As he returned to fill their stores, he found Nala in their tent, waiting.
“Where were you?”
Worried by her unexpected presence, he’d set his water down and frowned at her question. “Has Sera been hurt?” It was a natural assumption since that was the only time the queen came to visit someone’s mate.
Laughing, she’d circled him. “No. I sent word to them. They won’t be back for a few more days.”
His stomach had shrunk at the prospect of going even longer without her. “Oh.”
“So tell me, dragon, what do you do here while she’s gone?”
Shrugging nonchalantly, he refilled their water stores. “I wait.”
She’d arched a brow at that. “And?”
Unsure of why she asked that, he’d set the jug aside. It was what his kind did. They weren’t a creative bunch. Rather, they checked their perimeter, marked their territory, and guarded whatever fell under their protection. Hobbies served no purpose except to distract them from their duties.
“And what?”
“Don’t you get bored waiting?”
“Not really.”
She tsked at him. “You know, I could help you with your doldrums.”
“How so?”
Nala had stopped in front of him then. Her eyes hungry, she’d reached out and traced a line down the center of his chest that had headed straight for a part of his anatomy that wasn’t meant for her.
Max caught her hand just as she went south of his belly button. “I’m mated.”
Instead of being daunted, she’d hooked her finger in the waistband of his breeches. “Do you know what I keep thinking about?”
“No idea, my basilinna.”
“The night Seraphina brought you in for our inspection.”
Heat had suffused his cheeks at the bitter reminder of a night he’d rather forget. To appease her queen and her sister tribeswomen, Sera had “presented” him to them so that they could inspect him and be assured that he was tame enough to reside in their village. Completely naked, he’d been forced to endure their bold scrutiny and rude groping of his body as they made sure he was “man” enough to live among them.
No part of him had been left unexamined.
Or fondled.
By the end of it, he’d been so furious and hurt that he would have left Sera, but she’d apologized and promised him she wouldn’t let them treat him like that again. That this was a one-time event, and that she would make it up to him.
Even so, the humiliation and pain had stayed in his heart. Especially since he knew they didn’t do that to Arcadian males. The Arcadians were respected and allowed their dignity.
Never him.
The animal.
“What of that night?” he’d asked her, stepping back, out of her reach.
She’d closed the distance between them and reached out to touch the feathers braided into his hair. “You’re the most handsome male in our tribe. Did you know that?”
“No, basilinna. I haven’t paid much attention to the other men here.”
She’d laughed at that. “You know, part of your job in this tribe is to please and serve me.”
Those words had sent chills over him. Especially when she reached for the laces on his breeches.
Grabbing her hands, he’d stopped her. “Basilinna, please. I can’t do anything. You know the laws of our people.”
“And what a waste they are. Still… you have other parts that are capable of pleasing me.” She’d led his hand to her breast. “Tell me that you haven’t been as curious about other women as we are about you.”
He’d tried to pull away, but she was relentless.
“Do you know how many times I’ve seen the two of you rutting like animals? I know exactly how capable a lover you are with your mouth and hands.”
Anger and embarrassment made a deadly mix in his heart. “You spied on us?”
“It was human curiosity. Something an animal wouldn’t understand.”
The insult had stung him. He always hated whenever they said that to him.
“Now as your basilinna, I command you to submit to me. Give me what I want!”
He’d grabbed her more forcefully to keep her hands out of his breeches and off his body. “No.”