He wasn’t just listening. He was absorbing, taking in every word like she was preaching a sermon imparted by the Goddess. The intensity in his eyes radiated his need to know. The range of emotions - from anger to sorrow - marring his face show that he wasn’t just listening, he was connecting with her, feeling these things with her, and it was that very action that drew her physically closer to him, because emotionally, she was already attached.
Her throat flexed a hard swallow, and she threw out the biggest confession of the night, “I’m not with the hunters because I want to be.” Admitting it to herself, in her head, was one thing. Confessing to someone outloud, someone she hadn’t known very long, was foreign and unnerving. “I’m here because I’m convince
In the bedroom of the diplomatic residence, Greg pushed her up against a wall, mouth sucking and teeth nibbling on her cheek, her jaw, her neck as his hands roamed her body, bolder than before. Her moans came out louder as he trailed down her cleavage, mouth snuck underneath the garment and the padding stitched to it before his tongue greeted her peak with a wet, seductive stroke.She groaned, eyes rolling back and hands clinging onto his hair for support when her legs gave way. Her underwear was already drenched as heat radiated in waves from her body, need coursing through her veins and making her lower region throb.“You should know,” he began in a low rumble, kissed her breast, and continued, “I’m anything but gentle when it comes to this.” With that, he took a nipple between his teeth and bit, letti
The next day did not start with good news, nor did it progress with any.Abbott and his deputy were dead, as were many others who were exposed to the poison. Only three of the sixteen archers survived the coma, with the doctors reporting that the survivors’ ability to make a full recovery remained uncertain, thus they were under strict monitoring. Hazel survived, but her condition remained under supervision as well. And she was awake for not more than four hours a day, as were the three archers. Even during their short hours awake, they weren’t completely lucid enough to recall the events from the other day.The next Chief Archer had to be appointed, but the discussion and vote wouldn’t be for another week, so Valor was chief in name, Sush and Patterson were co-chiefs behind the scenes. Everyone, including the entir
Seated side-by-side at a circular lunch table that they weren’t sharing with anyone else, Sush disclosed - in hushed tones - of Kenji’s “joke”, and Greg decided the wimpy eastern octopus was humorous enough to not get himself killed. This time.Fear his cousin? Please. That softie’s rules were so much less rigid and so much more standard and boring than Greg’s own ever had been.Sush promptly added, “I’m only telling you this to come clean. Don’t spread this around. For all I know, he either told me that in confidence or during a temporary lapse of judgment.”“Well, that’s his mistake, isn’t it?” Greg smirk
In the evening, the official training of the chameleons and octopuses in preparation for them to replace the archers at the borders began. They used the simulator in teams of ten - the maximum number of archers stationed at a particular location. They’d gauge their competencies from there and would eventually work their way down to three - the minimum number on any given team standing guard.Greg was in the control room behind Patterson, Sush and a recently called-back Millicent who’d been at her post for two days before the massacre happened. Their eyes trained on the chameleons armed with guns and knives in the simulator, dodging and running.One of them couldn’t run fast enough along the running belt making up the floors and slammed against the simulator wall. A team of octopuses went next and their perform
Greg scooped her from the chair and fastened her around his hips as his hands on her butt pinned her to him, bringing her to the wall, where he locked the door and was immensely grateful for the lack of cameras in this room as she began grinding his steel-hard rod.Holding her still so he didn’t cum before he wanted to - before she did, his fingers and thumb moved skillfully along her shirt, unbuttoning from the top and her black lace bra got him even more aroused. He never thought he had a thing for lace lingerie. And he didn’t. Not until it was on her.Undoing the front clasp, he devoured her softness and his tongue toyed with the hard peak as she gasped, jerked and moaned, fingers in his hair pulled at his locks at delicious intervals.His hand headed south, u
In the midst of brainstorming with Patterson, Millicent, and Jason, Greg excused himself from Sush’s side with a light kiss to her temple when he received a link from Nash Beaufort.‘Your Grace, I hope I’m not interrupting.’‘If you were I would have blocked you out. What is it, Nash?’‘This is about the inventory of poisons you requested a few days back.’The poison room on the archers’ floor had been infiltrated and destroyed, most poisons in the inventory gone, and their supplier was facing a shortage, so Greg offered to help stock them back, sending the list of substances that the hunters needed to Nash.
Greg wasn’t sure. He was definitely sure how he felt about Sush, but he wasn’t sure if those feelings would be accepted by his little sweetheart. Still, he wanted to give this a chance.Sush was more nervous about meeting the pup than she was about meeting the other octopuses on her first day as a hunter-in-training. She unpacked her clothes the previous day and had been going through her options so long that she and Greg didn’t have time for sex.Greg was on his routined call with Enora as he watched Sush swap one shirt for another on the bed, pondered, then swapped the pants for another pair of pants. Brows arched deep like she was trying to crack a code, she then brought the shoes she intended to wear and placed them at the foot of the bed, then swapped the shirt again.
Enora grinned, showing her incomplete set of teeth when her arms shot to the sky and she exclaimed, “Lionel MacDonald changed schools! Yay!”“Enora, pipe down,” Lucy reprimanded, trying not to make eye contact with any of the parents looking at her daughter either in bewilderment due to their unfamiliarity with her classmate’s name, or in amusement because their own pup had been victims to Lionel’s misbehavior as well.Another pup not far away even threw his own arms up in the air and exclaimed “yay!” at Enora’s announcement, even though he’d already celebrated the day before when their class was told the news. Only then did Lucy have the courage to meet the other set of parents’ sheepish gaze and smile.
Days after Kenji’s update, Sush was no closer to figuring out the last time she came in touch with Upshaw, and Asahi pointedly told the eastern leader that despite the eastern attacks - which he was still blaming Kenji and his octopuses for - he would never stoop below professionalism and hunter hierarchy. That assertion was entirely believable because Asahi has never broken a single rule in his career - be it something as serious as committing treachery or as trivial as abiding to lunch hour to the dot. That brought them back to the lead itself: what did Upshaw mean? When did she and Sush last meet? It was probably when Upshaw was still in the western headquarters, and the exchange was either in a queue during lunch at the cafeteria or that they brushed past each other on the archer’s floor when their practice sessions coincided. In both scenarios, they wouldn’t have even spared each other a nod or greeting. Did that count as being in touch? “What’s on your mind?” Greg’s drawl bru
After the meal, the families strolled around the greenery of small trees and flower beds, mingling with other families and teachers. Pups either left their parents’ side to play with their friends or were clung onto tightly by their respective parents as their teacher spilled every detail on their grades and behavior in class. Some grinned with pride while others hid behind their parents’ legs, which were as good a hiding spot as having none. Little Ken was well-loved in terms of character and behavior, but could use some help in sports. Reida and Ianne were a lovable pair mostly due to their inquisitive nature, but their chatter during lessons was incredibly hard to stop. The teachers - especially the science teacher - appreciated that their chats were about the scrawls of facts and processes on the board, but he made it a point to note that he’d appreciate it more if their discussion didn’t come when he was still talking and trying to get the pups to pay attention. Lewis was ado
Dear readers,We’ve come to the end of The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke, and I want to thank everyone who has stuck around. I hope you can spare a few minutes to rate this novel and leave a review here and on *Goodreads*. It'll help a lot in seeking new readers and sharing the love!Thank you for the gems, comments, reviews, follows, and - most of all - patience throughout this journey. When I started Book One, I would have never thought this would be the direction I’d take in Book Three, especially not when I was writing the first few chapters of my debut, but here we are.I named the female lead Sushmita after my closest friend in the sixth form (she doesn’t know yet), coupled with Alagumalai which means “beautiful mountain” and is part of the name of my favorite English teacher (she doesn’t know either). I almost chickened out and was going to use something generic, but the tale didn’t carry the spark I wanted as I began writing, so I swapped it back. If either of them e
Xandar’s jet landed next to the Forest of Oderem and everyone trailed out to meet Pelly, Octavia, Rafael and Amber. The forest greeted them with the waft of freshly baked goods and a gentle breeze, growing pink and amber-colored flowers around Enora and bringing the butterflies that she always loved seeing. One landed on her nose and Enora’s hands were about to catch it when it flew away. The breeze brought along dried leaves of different shape, color and texture, raining them on Reida and Ianne who collected them. The girls even brought a small sack to gather them after their first visit, always patting the branch that would magically extend toward them as a way of conveying their thanks. Sush lay her eyes on the forest for the first time, feeling an undeniable
A week after they’d returned from their honeymoon, the pups came over. Christian had been adamant about keeping his family away from Greg in the beginning, but it was difficult to keep his son away from Sush, so trust was built over time. In the first twenty times Sush and Greg brought Lewis to the park when they took Enora, Christian and Annie went along, staying on the benches solely to observe, learning from there that their son had a knack for something other than his camera. Unlike Ken, Lewis wasn’t good with puzzles - wasn’t patient enough, but he picked up catapulting quite quickly, shooting fake nests off high branches, even accidentally catapulting Greg in his ass in his first try when Greg was placing the nests into trees. Lewis gasped and quickly hid the weapon behind his back the moment Greg turned around with a
In the following week after returning from the kingdom, a paternity test was taken, and it confirmed Sush carried Ferdinand’s genes - a fact that didn’t surprise him but disgusted her. Of all the things she imagined her birth father to be, a defense minister that was the epitome of an irresponsible, disloyal, and unreliable hypocrite was not one of them.Upon learning this, Sush sat on the couch and stared into space.Greg came over soon after, placed her on his lap and asked whether she wanted to talk things through; preferred if he just held her and stayed silent; or simply wanted to be left alone so he should leave for now. At the mention of the last option, Sush grabbed onto his shirt - her action conveying that she did not want him to leave before her words did. She asked for the second option, and a very quiet
Back at work, many were pleased to learn that media scrutiny and public pressure were immense enough to force Ferdinand and Valor to take a temporary leave from office pending investigations of the reports made. Therefore, the two defense systems that human territories relied on now fell into the hands of the deputy defense minister, Agu, and for the hunters, the majority decided they wanted Sush, who received the same magnitude of support from the ministry with Agu placing the discussion of lifting her suspension as the first thing on the agenda in the first meeting held without Ferdinand.The second thing on the agenda was to officially remove the defense ministry’s superiority over the hunters, letting them exist as a separate entity with its own independence, working with them as a partner rather than a subordinate. Agu’s proposal was not well-received, and many suggested they
Before her eyes opened the next morning, Sush’s heightened sense of smell detected the distinct scent of musk and sandalwood wafting stronger than before from the creature lying next to her. Her eyelids slowly lifted as her vision adjusted to the darkness, and she was welcomed with a very clear view of the most gorgeous man in existence. She wondered if it was possible to find him more alluring simply from being able to smell him better now. The tip of his lips quirked, lilac eyes gazing into hers.He dozed off seconds after her the night before, and woke up just minutes before she did, using the time alone to watch her sleep, then watch her wake, which was better than watching the sunrise or sunset. He never understood the point in those. It was something that happened everyday. Surely, at some point, anyone would get bored of it.
After a very long day of surrendering the hostages to the police and making reports, submitting a public statement for the media to circulate throughout the kingdom, empire and human territory in case someone did something to cover-up the truth, everyone dragged their exhausted selves back home.In the diplomatic residence, Sush was in sweatpants and one of Greg’s shirts as they lay in bed. She lay on her side facing him, head resting on his arm, hand on his bare torso as Greg’s fingers fiddled with her hair, relishing in the tiny sparks that dotted his fingers when he touched the strands. When he wanted to feel a higher charge, his fingers went to her shoulder, pulling up the sleeve to feel her bare skin, leaving goosebumps that his fingertips continued stroking through.“Hey,” she began in a whisper.