Wicked Ties (The Tether Trilogy Book 2)

A dinner commences, and a bonfire roars to life in the middle of the clearing. The women eat, drink, and dance while a group of five tap away at conga-like drums or play melodies through flutes.

Maia and Minka run in the clearing with other girls, playing tag, or using sticks as pretend swords. The shops are now closed, and everyone has gathered here to cap the night.

Women young and old flit around with chatter and laughter, and it’s like one big family reunion—only Caz and I are the outsiders. We don’t belong, but the women of Kessel don’t make us feel that way. They give us food and plenty of wine.

Carra tries getting me to dance with her, but I shake my head with a smile, and she shrugs, finding another woman to dance with.

“She wants to lick your pussy, you know?” Caz says with his eyes ahead.

I nearly choke on the swig of wine in my mouth. “Excuse me. What?”

“Hassha says the women here serve each other, and that the whole rubbing of the feet thing…well, it’s done when someone develops a great respect and admiration for another in Kessel. So yeah…Carra there, wants to fuck you.” The flames reflect off his blue eyes as he sits forward with his elbows on his thighs.

I’m not even sure what to say to that. First of all, it’s the bluntness of his statement that caught me by surprise. He said it so casually, like he told me his favorite color was blue or something.

“Well…” I clear my throat. “That’s…interesting to know.”

He glances at me. “You wouldn’t let her, would you?”

“What? Caz, no!”

“Good. Because I can’t fight off a woman. But if that’s something you want, well…who am I to stop it?”

I laugh as he drops his arms to pick his wine glass up and bring it to his lips. “Wow. You are seriously so jealous.”

“Hey, what’s mine is mine. Besides…” He sighs, leaning back on the log we’re on and spreading his legs farther. “It’s the Tether that makes me so territorial of you. I think of anyone having their hands on you other than me, and I want to rip them to shreds.”

Caz places his wine glass down while I polish mine off and shoot to a stand. “Come dance with me,” I insist.

His eyes slide up my body before shifting to the women around the fire. “Don’t you think Carra will be offended that you turned her down if she sees us dancing?”

“Don’t change the subject! Come on.” I grab his hand, tugging on the tips of his fingers.

“Willow,” he laughs. “I can’t dance.”

“You can’t, or you won’t?”

He eyes me, head going into a tilt. “I’ll make a fool of myself. None of these women want to see a man dancing.”

“Who cares? The point of dancing is to have fun, let go. Be careless.”

He looks toward the fire, then lets out a long breath as he swings his eyes to mine again. “Very well.”

“Yes!” I cling to his hand and lead the way toward the fire with a wide smile. The music is lively and fast, and I have no clue what I’m doing or how to dance to it, but I move anyway, twirling my hips and throwing my arms in the air. Caz watches me, hardly moving.

“Dance!” I shout, grabbing both his hands and reeling him toward me.

“This is ridiculous,” he mumbles.

“I don’t wanna hear it. Come on.” I force him to move his feet with mine while lacing my fingers with his. He finally moves, shifting left to right. “Good. Now loosen those hips. I know you know how to do that.”

He smirks at that, those blue irises connecting with mine, and finally livens up. For the first time in my life, I watch Caspian Harlow dance. His hips shift and thrust, his feet stepping in rhythm. He takes my hand, raising it in the air and rocking with me. I can’t help the laughs bubbling out of me as he tugs me in by the hand and steals a kiss.

When the music slows in tempo, I drape my arms around the back of his neck, and we sway on the field. The moon is full, beaming on us as the stars twinkle in the background. I hear whispers from the women, and I bet they’re all watching us, but I don’t care.

We move in sync, the heat of the fire caressing my skin. I toss my head back, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. His hands skim down my waist, slowly moving down to cup my ass. He gives it a squeeze, and a deep groan fills the base of his throat.

“Why can’t it always be like this?” I sigh.

He says nothing to that, so I look up. He pulls his hand from my ass, but only to grab one of mine and lead me away from the fire.

“Wait—Caz! What are you doing? Where are we going?” I ask, peering over my shoulder. The music has picked up again, and the women have resumed dancing.

Caz makes his way toward a path, shoving branches out of the way, my hand fastened in his. Ahead, I notice glowing purple flowers shaped like lilies and gently swaying with the breeze. Caz finally slows down, and I work to catch some of my breath as I stand at his side. I touch one of the flowers, and it’s silky to the touch. Up close, it’s not fully purple. Only the tips of the petals are. The rest of its body is white, the thick stems a deep green.

“Wow. These are so pretty,” I breathe.

“They are,” he says. “But wait until you see what this path leads to.”

He walks by my side on the path, past more groves of the glowing lilies, until we’re met with a large body of water. The water shimmers in the night, glowing a wondrous, luminescent blue. It’s a lake surrounded by trees, bushes, and more flowers, and at the end of the body of water is the mouth of a cave.

“Care for a swim?” Caz is already taking his shirt off, the blue lagoon glowing on his skin. His muscles ripple as he tosses the shirt, and when his pants are off, he lobs them aside too. “Meet you in.” I’m not allowed a word as he runs ahead completely naked and cannonballs into the water.

There’s a loud splash, and when he resurfaces, he sucks in a breath, then smiles. “Come on, Willow Woman! It’s warm!”

“Are you sure? How do you know there aren’t any sharks or anything?”

“Willow, you’d see the bloody sharks. The water is as clear as glass,” he shoots back.

I bite into my bottom lip, studying the body of water. Caz tips backwards, floating on his back, and my goodness, his dick looks amazing in this light.

“Okay, fine!” I call.

Once my dress is off, tossed into a puddle on the side, I do the same as Caz and run naked toward the water.

When I cannonball, he is indeed correct. The water is warm and feels amazing right now, like a lukewarm bath. When I resurface, Caz chuckles, then swims in the opposite direction.

“Follow along.”

“You’re going toward the cave?” I shout. Now he’s really out of his damn mind. Going into a cave? At night? In another world with all kinds of crazy shit around?

“Don’t worry!” he calls. “There’s nothing inside. I made sure.”

I swallow hard, and with a bit of reluctance, swim after him. When he disappears into the darkness of the cave, my heart is pounding. Everything inside me tells me to turn back and not to make this a Black and White thing, but Black people don’t just willingly wander into caves at night.

But I remember I’m with Caz, and he’d never let anything hurt me. As I swim past the rocky mouth, I realize the cave isn’t so dark inside. The water still glows, and on the ceiling of the cave, wedged between various sized stalactites (funny, I remember the term from when Warren used to read all those National Geographic books), are specks of light scattered across. They appear to be stars, running from the top to the rocky edges and trailing into the water.

There’s a soothing glow inside, and suddenly the cave doesn’t feel so daunting. In fact, it’s so mesmerizing I figure I must be dreaming.

I point my gaze ahead to find Caz climbing out of the water to sit on a built-in bench near one of the cave walls. The bench is made of gold, with stars reflecting off of it. It has a wide seat that can fit up to at least four people, with a base built beneath that keeps it a level above the water.

I study Caz in all his naked glory, taking deep breaths as I float. His chest rises and sinks, his dark hair clinging to his forehead like wisps of ink. His body is like a god’s, chiseled in all the right places. His abs are pronounced, beautiful pecs I want to lay kisses on, and his chest is firm as he flexes. Even with the scars and bruises, he’s gorgeous. His eyes flicker up to mine, and he looks at me beneath dark, damp lashes.

Come here.

I swim in his direction until I’m floating between his legs. I can’t help looking at his dick, the way it sits on his lap, thick and glistening from droplets of water. I have the sudden urge to take him into my mouth, but I refrain, and as if Caz senses it, he laughs.

“You know it’s yours, right? You can do whatever you want with it.”

I fight a smile. “I know.”

I swim backward, and he eases into the water, collecting me into his arms when he’s close. His lips meet mine once, twice. The third time, his tongue slips between my lips, and he tastes like wine and fruit.

“I have a question for you.” His voice is husky.

“Okay?”

“What’s something you desire most?”

His question catches me completely off guard, and my mouth falls open. “What makes you ask that?”

“I’m just curious. You’re my mate. It’d be nice to know what you really want. Sure, I can read some of your thoughts, but I haven’t heard you thinking about anything of that nature.”

I let that marinate a moment, while also aiming not to let other thoughts slip. I don’t want him to hear it before I tell him.

“Okay, well if you must know…” I can’t help the giggle that bursts out of me. That damn wine. It’s got me good. “This is going to sound so silly out loud.”

“Go on,” he encourages, a tiny smile claiming his lips.

“Okay, well, in my world, women have what we call…vibrators. When I feel lonely and horny, I use it.”

“Ah. Yes, we have vibrators in Vakeeli as well.”

“You do?” I ask, eyes widening.

“Yes. They’re quite expensive actually.”

“Oh. Well…it’s good you have them.” I clear my throat. “Anyway, I’ve always wanted someone to use it on me while doing…other things.”

“Other things like what?” he asks, voice husky.

“You know, making out, sucking…licking.”

“You mean having someone use it on you to make you come over and over again?” His question is more of a statement.

I shudder a breath as his mouth nears mine. “Sure, that.”

“That I can do.” His lips crash down on mine, and I moan, stroking his dick beneath the water. He groans, growing harder by the second.

“Fuck. Those hands of yours always get me.”

When he’s hard in my palm, I pull my hand away, and a guttural noise erupts in his throat. I smirk as I swim to the other side of the cave.

“So, a vibrator, eh?” he asks, coming close again.

I shrug, dipping lower into the water. “Yeah, but it’s not like it can happen right now. I highly doubt they have vibrators in Kessel.”

He moves closer, the water rippling between us. “What if it can happen?”

I narrow my eyes. “How?”

Caz tilts his chin so that he’s looking at the stars above. “Hassha says this cave is magical—that if you ask for what you truly desire, you will have. But only in here.”

I take a moment to look around at the glittery stars, then whisper, “Seriously?”

He nods with a smirk.

“Wow, that’s…” I huff a laugh. “That’s very interesting.”

“So, what do you say? Shall we give it a go?”

“We can…but only if you’re sure.”

“This isn’t about me. I want you to be sure.”

I look around the cave again. We are completely alone in here, and there’s something alluring about that…but there’s no way a cave can create a vibrator. How would that even be possible? Then again, this is Vakeeli. Many unexplainable things have happened that I have not been prepared to witness.

Sensing my hesitation, Caz looks me all over before settling on my eyes and says, “Let me put it to you this way. I want to satisfy you in every way, Willow. I want to take care of you, protect you, please you.” He brings his lips closer to mine, so close I can feel his breath spilling down my chest. It makes me shiver in the most delectable way. “I want you to get everything you desire and more, especially if I’m allowed to be involved.”

“Okay,” I breathe as his lips press to my cheek. “Fine. Let’s do it.”