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  Speaking quietly into his shoulder made it less embarrassing, but when he lifted her chin to face him, there was no judgement in his features. His mild surprise was enough proof that he thought she was being silly.

  Orphia raised her hand to touch his cheek, but a light flared from her skin before she touched him.

  Images of a forest came to her and of a child who entered the glade where Orphia was to stand with Xeric at her side.

  The next image came, and the child was older, this pattern repeated until it became clear to Orphia that they were to be there every time she needed them.

  Orphia wanted to know whom this young girl was.

  “We have an assignment.” She got off his lap and stepped out of the tub with a whoosh of water that was dwarfed by Xeric rising like a sea god from the deep.

  “We?”

  “Yes, we. Get into some leathers. We have to go and play forest god.”

  He chortled and smacked her ass lightly as she towelled off. “Good, I know how to do that.”

  She rolled her eyes and then flicked her towel at his backside, crowing with delight when the snap was successful. He gave her an astonished glare and stomped into the bedroom.

  Snickering, she skipped along behind him, ignoring the puddles and heading for the Acquisitions terminal. She selected the clothing that she saw in her memory of the future and once again smirked. Tenses were hard.

  She waited in the kitchen and nibbled on some crackers that she found in a cupboard. Tea seemed called for, so she prepared a pot while waiting for her clothing.

  Xeric swaggered in, and she held out a cup for him.

  “Acquisitions is running a little slow today.” She smiled happily. He was wearing darker brown leathers and black boot cuffs. His hooves were shiny, and his antlers had an oiled glow.

  She had to admit. “You look very nice.”

  “You said dress like a forest god, so I did.” He preened, his head high and antlers endangering the walls.

  Her parcel slid through the chute, and she rubbed her hands gleefully. As annoying as parts of her job had been, she did love the dress-up part.

  Grabbing the box, she tiptoed past him and into the bedroom. “No peeking.”

  The leggings were wound leather. Open spirals showed a line of flesh from ankle to hip. Sandals, a leather coat with sleeves that matched the leggings and a bodice that lifted her breasts and cinched around her ribs, leaving her midriff exposed to all and sundry, all went on.

  The high collar added a lovely touch when she pinned her hair into a loose mass on top of her head.

  She walked out into the kitchen, and Xeric dropped his cup of tea. She looked like a dominatrix preparing for a tea party, and she loved every minute of it.

  Chapter Ten

  The little girl was a pastel pink, and she looked far too grown up for such a young child. They were standing in a group of ruins, and the little girl was stepping carefully but with head high.

  “Ancients, I need advice. Please, come to me and offer me help on this sacred day.” She spoke deliberately with words she had memorized.

  Orphia stepped forward, and Xeric walked next to her. “Yes, child? What do you need?”

  The little girl opened her mouth wide in surprise. “You are real.”

  Orphia looked to Xeric and back to the little girl. “Apparently. What help do you need, child?”

  “Sorrow. My name is Sorrow.” The girl’s stoic features buckled, and she started to sob.

  Orphia walked forward and took the young girl’s hands in her own. Her voice expressed her sympathy. “Hello, Sorrow.”

  “Oh, lady.” The little girl lunged into her arms and sobbed.

  Orphia held the small body in her arms while the child spilled out her tale of woe. Sorrow was the new queen of Hammio. Her father died two months earlier, and she was now in charge of fifteen thousand souls. This girl of nine had no idea how to handle the demands that were being placed on her head.

  Xeric sat nearby, but he let Orphia take the lead.

  “Sorrow, what happened on the day your father’s body was brought to its resting place?”

  The girl sniffled and cuddled against Orphia. “We walked him to the lake, set him on the barge and let the beasts of the water take him.”

  “That is how you need to treat those who come to you for boons or requests. They are the beasts of the water, and you are the body of the queen. They will try and take pieces of you. Some will have genuine need, others will be gorging. You have to determine the difference between the two.”

  “How do I know what they want?” The girl was curious.

  “You will know, Sorrow. You will always know. Think of your father, and do what he would think was right. Listen to your heart, and if it tells you something is wrong, something is wrong.”

  Xeric stood, “It is time to go.”

  Orphia pressed a kiss to Sorrow’s forehead and smiled. “You will do great things, Sorrow.”

  Orphia stepped to Xeric, and he transported them both one year into the future.

  They waited on the ruins, and Sorrow came to them again.

  She smiled with delight. A flat metal band adorned her head, and she bowed low, “Lady, I have come on this sacred day to gain wisdom from the ancients.”

  “Speak and tell me what you will.”

  Sorrow ran forward and hugged her tight around the waist.

  Orphia laughed, and they talked about the last year and how Sorrow was doing as queen until Xeric once again called time.

  Ten times later, Sorrow was a woman who was dealing with the hazards of being an attractive queen with no affianced husband.

  “The offers are coming from everywhere, Lady. I don’t know what to do.”

  Orphia sat down on a rock, and the elegant Sorrow sat next to her. “Well, I will give you the advice that I heard generations ago. Always look for the man you can like. Love is wonderful, it is the best feeling in the universe, but if you don’t like the person that you love, it will fade quickly.

  “For me, I like him as well as love him.” She turned to smile at Xeric who was sitting in shock. “He offers me support when I must act and keeps me in mind when he must act. It is a good combination, and I trust him with my life, my soul and all that I am.”

  Sorrow looked over at Xeric and blushed. “He does seem like a lot to handle, Lady.”

  He was grinning.

  “I can manage him. The key to handling someone like him is to give him what he wants, but to make sure that you get what you want first.”

  Sorrow frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  Chuckling, Orphia wrapped her arm around the woman who was about to make a very nerve-wracking decision. “When it happens, you will know. Don’t fight fate, and let time take you where you need to be.”

  Orphia got to her feet and walked to Xeric.

  “Will I see you again, Lady?”

  Orphia inclined her head. “One more time, Sorrow. You will see us one more time.”

  Xeric wrapped his arms around Orphia, and they moved into the next year.

  A storm was brewing, and they waited for Sorrow.

  With a gown covered in crystals, Sorrow appeared out of the forest and walked up the steps of the ruin, every inch a queen. Her husband followed her and stared in shock at the Nameless on the ruin.

  Orphia extended her hands, and Sorrow embraced her.

  When the queen released her, Orphia curtseyed gracefully. “Greetings, Queen Sorrow.”

  Sorrow smiled, “I have changed my name to Ayartha, an ancient word for laughter. It suits me much better to be Queen Ayartha, don’t you think?”

  Orphia kissed her pink forehead and brushed back her snow-white hair. “I am glad that the time of Sorrow is over. Laughter is always preferable when I am given a choice.”

  “Thank you, Lady. Thank you for coming to me when a lonely child called for wisdom. Your words have never steered me wrong, and my people are happy.”

  “You were to f
ollow your heart, I only confirmed that it was the right course of action.” Orphia was blushing.

  Ayartha laughed. “Thank you, Nameless, for coming to a lonely child.”

  Orphia’s lips twisted, “How long have you known?”

  “Five years. Your hair never changes, and there is a tuft poking out like a fan in the back. It is obvious that you were moving through time and around the normal progression. It simply took me some time to find the records that explained what you were and why you came to me.”

  Orphia smiled. “You are exceptional, and you needed a bit of help. Time provided it and sent me to carry it out. It was an honour.”

  Xeric took a few steps forward and wrapped his arms around her. “It is time.”

  “Thank you as well, Forest Lord. It has been three thousand years since a Hirn touched our soil. We are glad that you are not one of the lone gods. She is a good match for you.”

  Ayartha grinned and pressed a kiss to Orphia’s hand. “Thank you, Lady. I will treasure your words always.”

  Orphia opened her mouth, but Xeric took her away in a burst of light. She sighed and turned in his arms. “I will miss her.”

  “You knew her for six hours out of twelve years of her life.”

  “I know, but watching someone grow puts them into a special place in your heart. Don’t argue with me, just pat my back and say, there, there.”

  He stroked her back and rubbed her spine. “There, there.”

  She chuckled and looked up at him. “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome. Now, where did you get the idea for that clothing? It has been driving me mad for the last twelve years.”

  She laughed as he flipped her up and over one shoulder, the tight leather kept his shoulder from digging into her too harshly, but his hand sliding up to cup her ass and then deliver a sharp smack that told her she was about to have an experiment of the discipline kind.

  Frankly, she had always been curious as to what all the fuss was about. It seemed it was time to find out.

  Chapter Eleven

  His hand was coming down for the ninth time when her skin started to glow again.

  “Damn it!” She had just started to turn from pain to pleasure, and her hands started to glow while her backside did the same in a very different way.

  Images of a carriage, a gemstone and a small cottage showed her that this was not her ordinary target.

  “Sorry to call off the fun and games, Xeric. This one is a solo mission.”

  She rolled off his lap and onto a sore backside, winced and got to her feet. She was fortunate that he had only flipped the back of her coat up and over her head. She was still dressed.

  “I will come with you.”

  She buckled on her belt and dagger while the Orb filled her and turned her translucent. “Fine, but you will have to catch up.”

  She heard his roar of protest as she was hurtled through time and space to land on top of the carriage in question.

  The fabric called out for a knife, and so, she drew her dagger, slashed a hole and then dropped into the interior, stealing a bracelet with a huge gem from the startled male sitting inside.

  Bracelet in hand, Orphia kicked open the carriage door, jumped to the ground, fell on her sore ass, got up and ran for it.

  She heard a shout behind her, but her body was still see through, so it was not too likely that they would catch up to her.

  As she ran, she thought to herself that the Nameless needed a treadmill or a gym to keep their bodies capable of this type of exertion. Three blocks, two barking guard animals and a jumped fence later, and she was at her target, she casually flipped the bracelet over a fence and into a garden.

  Her duty discharged, the Orb switched her into watcher mode.

  Orphia leaned on a wall in a nearby alley and waited.

  Her victim came running through the street, and the young woman who lived in the cottage paused and lifted the bracelet from her garden.

  “Sir, oh, sir, this was lying in my garden. Is it yours?”

  He froze and looked her up and down. He must have liked what he saw, because he bowed low and accepted the bracelet, but he offered the woman something in exchange.

  Orphia didn’t need to stay any longer. Her purpose was to bring these two people together. She had completed her mission, so she returned Home.

  She had barely gotten back into her living room when arms clasped her and lifted her from her feet. Her new coat and leggings were peeled from her in seconds, and she was turned to face a very irritated Xeric.

  “I had to do the whole thing invisible, Xeric. Don’t be mad.”

  He didn’t speak, but she was almost sure she could see steam shooting out of his nose.

  He carried her into the bedroom, took a seat on one of the comfortable chairs and pulled her over his knee.

  His hand fell with every word. “You. Will. Not. Go. On. Orb. Missions. Alone. Ever.”

  There was no sensuality in this. It was punishment and nothing else. She was furious at him, but when he slid two fingers into her, she was shocked.

  Despite her better judgement, her body had reacted with alacrity. His thumb stroked her clit and she was arching against his hand. He stopped a moment before her cries indicated her peak.

  With cool deliberation, he lifted her from his lap and put her on the bed, on her back.

  Orphia was so close, she knew that only a little friction on her clit would put her over, but the moment her hand snaked between her thighs, vines whipped out and pulled her hands up over her head.

  “You have not eaten. I will remedy that.” Xeric left her alone, her body aching as he went to order food.

  Five minutes later, or five hours, she only knew she was miserable the whole time, he returned with a tray. Instead of freeing her, he placed the small morsels on her body, her breasts wearing tiny canapés, her belly holding fruit, he turned her into a cold buffet from neck to knees.

  Every portion of her body was decorated with some kind of food, and she found the cruel irony of being hungry and covered with food as being rather a sucky end to her day.

  She thought that being covered in food was part of her punishment, but when he started to eat the food off her skin, feeding her with his mouth every three bites or so, she knew the meaning of cruelty.

  His lips and tongue woke parts of her, inch by inch. He licked at her inner elbow, and she sighed. His teeth nibbled at her breast, and a high-pitched whine came from her throat.

  He was studiously ignoring the tidbits he had placed around her thighs, but when he finished licking and sucking the last of the food from her neck, he worked his way down to where she wanted him the most.

  The capricious vines held her thighs tightly together, but when he moved up her body to give her a sample, she groaned. Her groin was covered by apple crumble, and her torment was going to get worse before it got better.

  He worked his way down to the skin at the top of her mons, and from there, to the upper thigh on either side of where she desperately wanted his tongue. He lapped, burrowed and sucked before he had the vines part her thighs to allow him full access.

  As he lapped upward and scraped her clit, Orphia arched her hips with every stroke, but on the down stroke, she ran afoul of the stinging pain left by the spanking.

  To her consternation, she was wetter than she had ever been in her life, and he continued to lick, stroke and slurp until her orgasm ran up her body to signal him by her harsh cries.

  He continued to lick and burrow into her, his thumb worked its way into her ass and she twisted as the ache in her buttocks added to the sensory overload that she now realized he was counting on.

  Her next release struck her in a surprising wave. It swamped her and took her under, leaving her body shaking in endless ripples trying to escape the attentions that drove it once again.

  Xeric gave no signs of stopping, and when she finally surrendered and begged him to stop, he did.

  Without a word, he released her, lifted
her, brought her to the lav and bathed her.

  She was exhausted, her eyes were puffy from crying, and her lower lip was swollen from her teeth.

  When he carried her back to the bed, which had been made in their absence by Acquisitions, she sniffled and curled against him before she slept.

  “Orphia, will you go on a mission without me again?”

  Pouting like a disappointed toddler, she shook her head. “No. You can come along and wait for me.”

  “Good. I do not like you being where I cannot help if you need me.”

  She nodded, yawned and wrapped her arm around him. When he stroked his hands down her back, she winced until he healed the marks from her punishment.

  Pain free, she let images of her day follow her into her dreams, and when she woke up astride her partner, she grinned.

  Riding a Hirn was not a skill that she had ever seen on a resume, but it was definitely something that you needed a certain amount of focus for. Too deep and you were uncomfortable, too shallow and he was upset, wrong angle and you hurt him, so she finally surrendered and dismounted, posing for him on hands and knees.

  He did not resist but was on his knees behind her, lifting her to him and sliding back inside her before he set up a hard slapping rhythm.

  She whimpered as her release got closer, but when he roared as his cock pumped into her, she let him have this one to the multitude she had had earlier that day.

  It was only fair after all.

  With a smile on her face, she let him bear her to the bed. He rolled her to her back and started suckling at her breasts. The wet heat of his mouth got her entire focus as he sucked, drew and sucked again. His sharp teeth were a silent threat during the entire procedure, but it added a thrill to the feel of a mouth sucking her.

  She threaded her fingers through his hair, and when he moved lower, she gripped his antlers for support.

  Orphia had to admit that Xeric lived up to the Hirn reputation for being a bit sex mad, but she also had to agree that she was not too far behind. It might be the Hirn genes in her bloodline or the Hirn in her bed, but one thing was certain, life as a Nameless had its perks, and while they may have all of time to spend together, every moment was precious.