The Falcon Prince

Chapter 13

Ria spread her towel on the ground and lay down. The sun was hot, but the leafy branches of an old and gnarled oak tree spread out, giving them plenty of shade. She closed her eyes and sighed. Kristor spread his towel next to hers, dripping water across her back.

She gave him her evil-eye glare. “You did that on purpose.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

He lay down beside her. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t think you are.” His eyes twinkled with mischief. No, he’d definitely meant to drip water on her. Damn, he was just too sexy. Bare, tanned chest, rock-hard muscles, and all of it exposed for her pleasure. This had to be what heaven was like, or at least pretty darn close.

“So you do want to mate,” he said.

It took a moment for his words to sink in. When they did, she quickly looked away, turning on her back and draping her arm across her eyes to block the glare of the sun, and the temptation to look a little longer at Kristor’s delicious body. She’d meant it when she told him she wanted to slow down their relationship. She barely knew him.

And it was time to face the facts. As much as she’d like to think she had dreamed everything, she hadn’t. She had really shifted into a frog. She really did have an animal guide. She really was part alien.

“Tell me about New Symtaria,” she said. “Tell me about who I am, where I come from.”

He was silent for a moment as though carefully choosing his words. “Symtarians are a proud people, but our ancestors were brought to their knees when Symtaria was dying. They had worn out the planet, polluted its resources. When they went in search of a new one, they vowed to learn from the mistakes of the past. We live a more simple life now.”

“How so?” she asked.

“We’re very careful with waste. We’ve learned to enjoy the simple things.”

She rolled onto her side and looked at him. He’d turned onto his back, staring up at the sky. She loved watching him, and she loved hearing him talk about New Symtaria.

“And how did you become shapeshifters?” she asked.

“Long ago, gods and goddesses walked the land. They were one with the people. Part human, part animal. Their powers were great, and helped the people. Then they mated with some of the chosen. The offspring were not human, nor were they animal. Two living as one, they were both. One cannot truly survive without the other. Eventually, everyone had their own animal guide to help them when they were needed.”

“It sounds like a fairy tale—a fantasy.”

“Not quite. We angered the gods when we destroyed our planet through our carelessness. That is why we had to search for many years until we found this one.”

“And now you’re trying to make everything right by bringing the impures home.”

“Yes.”

“And what if they don’t want to return?”

Silence.

“Kristor?”

“It is in your best interest to return with me.”

She sat up. “And if I don’t?”

He sat up as well, watching her. “I hope you will want to return on your own. The Queen Mother bade me exercise diplomacy.”

The Queen Mother. Wait, hadn’t he told her he was a prince? “This wouldn’t happen to be your mother?”

“Yes, my mother.”

She was going to throw up. He was a prince. A real true prince. She almost laughed out loud at the irony—and she’d been a frog.

“Now we will mate.” He pulled her against him, his lips finding hers.

For a moment, she lost herself in the sensation of his body heat as it wrapped around her, enclosing her in a cocoon of sensual desire. His tongue stroked hers. His hands caressed her back, untying her top.

She jerked away, holding the little slip of yellow material against her chest. “No, we can’t do this.” She jumped up and turned her back, re-tying her top.

“Why not?” He came up behind her, pulling her close, lightly running his fingers over her bare stomach.

For a moment, she forgot why they couldn’t make love. She lost herself in the sensations he stirred inside her. His fingers tickled over her flesh, dipping lower and lower.

A small animal rustled in the underbrush, drawing her out of the web of pleasure he was weaving around her. She remembered exactly why they couldn’t make love, and stepped out of his arms.

“You’re a prince.” She turned around and faced him.

His forehead wrinkled. “What does that matter?”

“You’re of royal blood.”

“As are you. A princess.”

She opened her mouth to refute his words, then shut it without saying a word. That was right. She remembered his telling her.

“You were serious?”

“Your lineage can be traced as far back as mine. Your ancestors have also been rulers.”

Something fluttered inside her. She was a princess. Like Cinderella. Well, except she used a Swiffer to mop her floor so she was pretty certain it wasn’t quite like scrubbing. And she’d never cleaned out a fireplace in her life.

Fred had talked to her, though. Her parakeet from childhood had communicated its thoughts.

Wow, her life was almost parallel to the fairy tale. How weird was that? Except she’d had loving parents. And no prince had…Okay, scratch that. Her prince had arrived to carry her off to his castle, even if it was on another planet.

No, it didn’t matter. She was not going to fly off to another planet and play dress-up. “But you know how to be…to be royal and everything,” she told him. “You’re a prince.”

“And you’re a princess.”

She shook her head. “But I don’t know how to be a princess, and the next verse is that I don’t want to be a princess. I don’t know the first thing about being one.”

“It’s only a title.”

“Only a title. Easy for you to say, you didn’t grow up in Miller Bend. We don’t have royalty here. I’m just small town. I’m jeans and boots, longneck beer, and burgers from Dairy Queen.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how to be a princess. I can’t leave with you. Ever. I need to go home now, please.” The sooner she left, the better.

But when she moved to gather up their towels, Kristor pulled her into his arms. “I can show you everything you need to know.”

“But it still doesn’t change the fact I refuse to shift again.”

So you will let me die. Shintara’s thoughts filled Ria’s head, followed by sniffles.

Was Shintara crying? Oh, God, more guilt heaped on Ria’s shoulders. It wasn’t fair. “I mean, I’m not sure I can,” she said, breaking. How could she not shift? Her animal guide was a part of her. Ria didn’t want her to die and, worse, knowing she had caused her death. “I’ve never even been on a plane,” she whimpered.

“You won’t have to fly if you shift,” Kristor said.

She studied his face. “I wouldn’t?”

He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes. “No. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he said.

He looked as though he was telling the truth. “I could shift, and not fly?” She wanted to be perfectly clear.

“Yes.”

She still didn’t trust him, but she forgot everything when his mouth covered hers. Sweet Jesus, this was what she’d been missing all her life. Heat ignited inside her as desire swirled around her stomach. His hands cupped her butt, pulling her closer until she could feel his need.

Ria didn’t protest when he guided her back down to the towels. Why would she, when she wanted him as much as he wanted her? Rather than let him control the situation, she took charge, pushing him onto his back. She ran her tongue across his nipples and over his abdomen, nipping, then kissing.

She straightened, tugging at his swim trunks. He raised his hips to accommodate her desire to have him exposed and stretched out in front of her.

Slowly, she peeled his trunks down. Her throat went dry, and it was all she could do to take a breath, as memories flooded her mind. She remembered last night, when he’d plunged inside her, filling her, making her come again and again.

She stroked her fingers down the side of his erection. He drew in a sharp breath. She encircled it, squeezing lightly, sliding the foreskin down.

“You’re magnificent,” she breathed. Leaning forward, she licked down him, then back up. He grabbed her shoulders, squeezing lightly, massaging, hips raising. He needed more from her, and silently begged for more.

Ria wouldn’t hold back. She drew him inside her mouth, tasting the man. Her tongue caressed the soft tip, swirled around, then sucked him deeper inside her mouth. Her nipples strained against the material of her top, and she grew damp with her own need.

With his free hand, he pulled at her top, as if he guessed her thoughts. It came loose, and he tossed it away. Then his hand was touching her, tugging on the nipple closest to him. Heat flooded her body, settling between her legs as small spasms erupted inside her.

“Don’t stop,” he said.

Stop? Not a chance. She liked what she was doing to him. The taste, the feel of him inside her mouth. No, she wasn’t about to stop.

He raised enough to grab her waist and move her so that her legs straddled his face. Then he untied the strings on each side of her bikini. The warm air caressed between her legs, causing the most incredible sensations to wash over her, but it was nothing compared to when he sucked her inside his mouth.

She closed her eyes for a moment, unable to move, to breathe as she came from just one touch of his mouth, but he didn’t stop as he continued his assault.

Nor did Ria as she brought him back inside her mouth, sucking and licking, cupping his balls, massaging with her free hand.

The inner muscles of her legs tightened as she tried to hold on to each spasm that assaulted her body with unbelievable pleasure.

She closed her eyes, and cried out, unable to think straight as her body began to quiver. She’d never…It was so…

“Enough,” he moaned. Kristor nudged her head and she stopped. He continued to massage with his finger, though.

He moved her body so that she straddled him, but rather than enter her, he moved so that her sex was nestled against him.

Ria didn’t think there was anything left inside her until he moved her sex against his erection. Her body tingled to awareness. She began to rub against him, the fire inside her building to a fever pitch. He held her in place, making the contact complete.

“I love watching you in the throes of passion,” he whispered. “Seeing the desire burning in your eyes as you rub yourself against me. Knowing I have tasted the essence of the woman you are. The little bounce in your breasts, the curls between your legs covering you. But I have seen what hides beneath.”

Oh, God, he was killing her with words. She couldn’t see through the haze of her desire. She could only feel the friction building between them. She moved against him faster and faster. Harder and harder. Her body clenched, but she didn’t stop. She wanted him to come. Through the fog of her desire, she watched his face, saw his need.

“Did you like it when I sucked you inside my mouth?” she asked, gazing down on his face and seeing how tightly he kept his own passion in check. “When I ran my tongue down your length? Did you like that? I loved tasting you, feeling you inside my mouth.”

He jerked to a sitting position, pulling her tight against him as he came. Growling.

She wrapped her arms around him, holding on, panting as she sought air. She continued to move against him, the heat inside her building until she stiffened and cried out her own release.

Their ragged breathing was the only sound. As that quieted, everything around them grew still, their world coming back into focus.

“That was good,” he said. “Very good.”

“Messy, though.”

He laughed close to her ear.

This was what they’d meant by pushing the boundaries. She’d read about it in a magazine. Ria had a feeling she’d pushed a lot of boundaries and tried something new today. This was the first time she’d had sex outdoors. The first time she’d had sex when the man didn’t come inside her.

Did that make her bad? If it did, she had a feeling she liked being bad.

She suddenly frowned. “This is not taking our relationship slow.”

“I thought we mated slower than the first time.”

She leaned back and looked into his face. “That is not what I meant.”

He sighed dramatically. “I thought as much. But you enjoyed it.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Yes, very much.” Probably too much.

He suddenly groaned and doubled over. She knew what it meant. Great, now she would be stuck out here until he shifted back. She wondered how long that would be. As she looked up at the sun beating down on her, she wished she’d brought some sunscreen.

Crap! The Women’s League meeting was tonight. If she missed it, there was no telling what she would get volunteered for.