The Twelve Zenati

Authors note: Hello everyone.

I guess I should tell you about the connotations of Australian Indigenous people being on country or back to country rather than being in the country as you might say in other English speaking countries. Saying "Back to country" is like saying I am going home or back to my roots. The indigenous use the word country as home but in an individualised way like the Yugambir tribe would call the area where I live country and say going back to country as coming to the Gold Coast and its surrounds in southeast Queensland. They would be on country when they are here, not in the country, if that makes sense. There is no "THE country"; it is just country. I hope that helps calm all the grammar nazi's out there.

Again, I am grateful to MsSensualiT for her continued help to be my second set of eyes as we crawl slowly towards the end. I hope those of you who enjoy this series continue to do so.

~ellie.

The end of the last chapter:

Gideon raced through the streets of Darwin, heading for Madrina's home. The silly old woman had come home from the gathering early. As he pulled into her street and saw her house, he breathed a sigh of relief. Now to get her to a safe place if he could. He stepped out of the car and approached her door, taking long, rushed strides in his urgency. Taped to the door was a note with his name on it. He pulled it off to read the message.

"Dear cheeky boy, I am not so old and senile that I would not head for safety on a night such as this, but I knew when I couldn't get hold of anyone that you would come. So trust that I will be around to embrace my grandchildren." He could hear her cackle in his head, but it was interrupted by a rumble, then a flash of light and Gideon's world went dark.

*****

Genesis and Olivia had already left the ship when the first of their small fleet was hit with a missile of some kind. They were swimming as stealthily as they could toward shore when a hail of bullets sprayed the water and the boat they had been aboard only minutes before. Genesis kept Olivia close to him. She cried out in what he thought was fear until she continued to cry in a high pitch wine and clutched her shoulder.

Looking up at the sky as the helicopters veered away, Genesis decided to head back to the boat rather than try for the shore while there was blood in the water attracting sharks of all kinds. Distant cousins helped him back onto his ship, having gotten there first from their own vessels intent on protecting the couple.

The helicopters did not turn to ensure they had completed their job, and Genesis led their small, waterlogged group inside the one remaining ship so he could see how badly Olivia had been hurt.

*****

The one opening in the dark room, the door, gave little light when Marcella woke in the cave-like hut. She guessed it would still be early by the lack of light and noise from beyond that door. In this place, isolated from the people they cared about, it seemed to Marcella that the world was against them and the only people they could rely on now were each other. Their hearts were becoming more entangled, and she couldn't remember why she had wanted to fight it so hard. She moved her head forward from where it nestled in the crook of his shoulder so it was over his chest where she could hear his heartbeat.

Noah stroked a hand up her body as she repositioned herself and felt her satiny smooth skin underneath his hands. He fit an ass cheek in each hand and pulled her closer, lifting as he rolled her onto him until her expectant face was even with his. His lips latched on to hers as if she was the only oxygen source in the room.

Marcella had never been kissed like this, not even his other rousing kisses compared. It was impetuous, wild, and romantic, obliterating any thoughts in her head and at the same time tasting blissfully sweet. Maybe it was the experience of the crocodile almost dragging her into the sea or realising how much he loved her as they fled to this remote place. She went from scared out of her mind to panic because she wasn't sure about his plans to keep her safe when they both knew it was an impossibility.

Both were panting hard when the kiss ended, and their eyes glued together with a heartfelt ache for something neither of them had been looking for but had come to them regardless. A maelstrom of emotions passed back and forth, but both had a deep ache inside only the other could fill. Whether it was the disasters that plagued them, or the fear of losing each other, it was vital at that moment to have their arms around each other. They could both feel it now, and Marcie had given up fighting him for an independence that left her lonely and without even her family in the end.

They both became desperate, their kisses becoming frantic. Each felt fiercely alive, basking in their tempestuous feelings for each other. Everything around them faded into insignificance, and they only heard their heartbeats thundering in their ears. Noah rained kisses on Marcella's face as she passionately tried to kiss him back.

Marcella leaned back, her heated eyes taking him in. She wiggled in his grasp until he let her move down his body where she could easily slide his boxer briefs over his hips. She wrapped her hand around his rapidly hardening cock and sucked it into her mouth as if she was starving. Hearing his groans sent chills down her spine as she worshipped his cock with her mouth. It satisfied her in a way she had never known with another man, and his moans were food for her soul.

Feeling his hands pulling her head to his cock, and feeling him grow in her mouth made her glow with the power she had over him. Even when she gagged on his cock, it made her yearn for more. She felt powerful and sexy, blazing with the heat of genuine desire for him inside her coming to life. Deep in her heart, she knew he belonged to her, just as much as he claimed she belonged to him.

Marcella was lost in a lust-filled headspace where her only focus at that moment was Noah's cock. She felt him throbbing in her mouth, smelled his scent and tasted his manly essence. She was free to be the wild, sensual animal she wanted to be with him. She wasn't constrained by who or what she was expected to be by the man she was with, for once. His was not the expectation of a man using a toy or possession for pleasure. Theirs was a mutual exchange, and she could see that difference now, which made her enjoy him and the power over him he allowed her all the more.

Noah may not be perfect for others, but he was perfect for her. The world around her had faded away, and it was just her and the man she was choosing to claim as her own. She could feel the quiet pleasure of her softer inner voice and the grudging respect of her harsher voice which made it more pleasurable for her to take him like this. She swallowed around his cock, taking all of him in then.

Then suddenly, Noah yanked her off his cock and pulled her up by her arms. Her eyes were hazy and glazed as she looked at him questioningly. The question was answered almost immediately when she felt the head of his cock prying open her heated, wet pussy. Marcella wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. As she slid down his cock her whole body reacted to the feel of his tremors running through her as he filled her.

Usually, he would warm her up with multiple orgasms during foreplay, but this early morning drive towards release, they both felt was a train that couldn't stop. This morning she was raw with sensations, and he felt big as he pounded into her tight pussy and gripped her breasts hard as if holding on to her was a matter of life and death. She took deep gasping breaths as his exquisite erotically painful torture exploded within her body. Her scream of ecstasy echoed throughout the canyon. If the camp weren't awake before, they would be now as she cried out to God and anyone else who would listen about the pure pleasure she felt.

Each pounding thrust created more fireworks behind her eyes as he filled and stretched her like never before. It was excruciatingly rapturous, as his unforgiving and relentless cock filled her in the most brutal of intimate dances. Marcella felt his cock slam deep into her and crush her clit between their joined bodies with the back-and-forth movement. From the very first tingle, she felt her climax consume her. She didn't know how it was possible, but his hands and his cock seemed to touch everywhere at once. Each stroke of his hands or cock set off another round of pleasurable explosions inside her. It seemed to her that he was bigger and deeper inside her than he'd ever been, but she was helpless to resist him. It was unbearable pleasure bordering on ecstasy and was everything she'd ever wanted from a partner and never been able to let go enough to ask for or receive, she realised. The revelation of what she was giving in to him and the absence of the walls he had battered down to access that hidden part of her was so overwhelming that tears pricked at her eyes.

Tsunami after tsunami of ecstasy washed over her as the orgasms piled on top of each other. She could barely catch her breath, and her heart was beating so fast she was afraid it might explode. Her man, because she could accept that now, was sending her into orbit with each pounding movement, and it was exactly where she wanted and needed to be. Each day since arriving back from Perth with Noah had led her to give up a little more of herself to him, yet here, in the middle of the desert, she had finally surrendered that last barrier to him.

He took her the way she wanted and the way he wanted. She was free, yet he claimed her body and soul. Noah loved, adored and protected her, guiding her and making her his queen. He filled her mind with passion and wonder while the bliss exploded in her body. He was wild, almost feral, as he thrust into the willing sweetness of her body. Marcella gave him her all, her reluctance entirely falling away, as her gift to the man who loved her like no one else ever had before.

He pushed her hard, continuing to fill her with more orgasms than she could count. Each was more searing and fulfilling than the last. Finally, Noah freed his hands and rolled over, looming above her. He slid his hand through her silky hair and grabbed a fistful of it. His fist jerked her head backwards, exposing her delicious neck. The jolt of pain and pleasure rippled down her back as his lips and teeth claimed her neck. Her veins throbbed beneath his voracious mouth in this very primal act of domination. Marcella's exposed neck told Noah that she trusted and believed in him. The erotic chills of having him feast on her neck only enhanced the pleasure she felt as he filled her with his cock.

"Fuck, I never knew I could love someone this much," he groaned, his lips caressing her lips with the vibrations of his voice. Marcella felt the whole world shake all around her as if she hadn't heard the earth-shattering words before but knew it to be the realisation that in the cave in the middle of nowhere, she finally understood the difference between fucking and making love. Her heart and mind were filled with a bone-deep sense of love and belonging. Every time they made love, she felt him worm his way deeper inside her heart. She freely gave him whatever he wanted because she belonged to him, but she also knew he belonged to her. That it was an equal playing field, they were on. That's what she felt deep inside. One couldn't exist without the other.

Powerful waves of sweet ecstasy lifted her and swept her effortlessly along in their wake. She was lifted and carried from the crest of one wave to the next. Only when the ecstasy overwhelmed Noah, and he pumped his climax into her, did he tenderly deposit her back on the shore of the soft bed they slept in and curled his body around hers. They held each other close as Marcella's body throbbed in continuing sweet waves of pleasure and glowed with satisfaction.

Marcella took stock of herself in that warm moment, luxuriating in a new form of freedom where she wasn't alone and didn't have to fight the world that way. It wasn't easy to believe it could be this way, but she could feel the warmth of his love inside her, and she was confident he meant everything he had told her. She hid inside his arms, afraid to let the world intrude and as she felt his arms tighten around her, she knew he felt the same.

Noah had thought he would have to fight for the rest of his life to get Marcella to open herself up and realise her potential, just as his father had with their mother. Only in this past week, she had proven him incredibly wrong and had given herself to him with the kind of love and passion he had only dreamed of from her. He realised that he had closed himself off from genuine love choosing the Kept rather than real relationships, and that Marcella had saved him, just as much if not more so than he had saved her.

He didn't know if it was the curse or not. None of his symptoms was like his brothers, and he knew he would never share Marcella with another soul as Xavier and Dom did. However, he could also recognise that he had hurt her early on in the relationship and deserved her wrath. Once Marcella made up her mind about someone or something, she was all wind and lightning, and he had gotten too close to hurricane Marcella. She had swept his heart away, and while he was trying to catch her heart, she had given him the greatest gift a man could ever receive, her trust.

Her smile intoxicated him, while her soft, sad eyes tore open his heart. Whatever happened next, he belonged to her as much if not more than she belonged to him. She had stolen his heart with her love and passion. He softly and lovingly kissed her as if he couldn't help himself.

Marcella kissed him back just as gently. Everything about him told her that he loved her, and she gave him a lopsided grin that got bigger as she snuggled deeper into his chest. She kissed the side of his neck and purred contentedly like the kitten he called her so often.

Noah groaned quietly at the sound and pulled her tighter against his chest. Suddenly he stiffened, as noise from the camp started to feed into their tiny haven. He kissed her again and began to unfold himself from around her body so he could get dressed and find some clothes for her. However, he found Marcella's hands tightened around his body, and he looked down at her, a small chuckle rumbling from his chest before he dropped his head for another kiss.

"Don't want to get up yet?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Then he chuckled again as she shook her head and burrowed into his chest again.

It wasn't that Marcella was lazy. On the contrary, her whole life before Noah had been all work. She worked damn hard to get where she had and only allowed small snippets of time to socialise with the others in her law firm's office. It was almost as if her life before Noah had happened to another person entirely. The ball busting bitch she had been known as had been softened and moulded into an unrecognisable version of herself, one that would happily ignore all of their problems right now and stay curled up in bed with him.

He made her feel free and powerful, yet she felt soft and pliable at the same time. She felt equal amounts of anguish, tears, laughter and euphoria. For the last three months, she had been on a roller coaster of emotions full of euphoric highs and terrifying lows. They involved love, satisfaction, freedom, and adoration as if she was finally finding her home. However, when her roller coaster hit the lows, she felt guilt, fear of failure or inadequacy, insecurity and disappointment in herself. She had doubts about herself that washed over onto him. Yet, he seemed to always be there for her. He became a friend, lover and protector who seemed to know her strengths better than she did.

She was finally ready to admit she trusted him with her heart and her life. He had proven himself by coming for her time and again. He had taken her when he loved her. Her practical side wondered where this was going and how it could ever really work, but her spiritual side felt she had finally found the man who wouldn't let her down. Despite all the conflicts, she knew she couldn't be without him now. He was a part of her, and she needed him just as she needed food to survive. Tears filled her eyes again as the thought didn't make her flight or fight instincts rise even a little.

*****

Noah and Marcella were well and truly awake and considering breakfast when someone arrived with the news that there had been several attacks on the family in Darwin and the family property. There was also concern that no one could contact the boats that Genesis and Olivia sailed on. Noah grabbed at his phone and immediately tried to reach Gideon. Wedging the phone into his shoulder as he pulled on clothes haphazardly, he redialled several times before giving up and feeling the knot of dread pull tightly in his belly. Finally, he pulled the now dressed Marcella to him.

"Do not leave my side for anything today, understand?" he asked seriously. She nodded, and they left their cave-dwelling to join the anxiety-ridden men and women of the camp who were preparing for battle even though there was no outward sign anyone knew who was in the camp aside of the usual ringers and jackaroos from Kriol country communities.

Again, Marcella was assailed by Mad Max images when she watched as different vehicles were used to cordon off the open area between the shed and the cliff face. It was odd, but she shook her head while clutching Noah's hand in hers because she was as worried for him as he seemed to be for her. She followed him to where Whipper stood with a group of equally elderly men and women discussing the information they'd managed to glean from their scouts.

"There are groups of bikers coming from the southeast and the west that are still at least half a day away or more," Whipper said as soon as Noah had reached them. "There's another group of bikers in the northeast who have been sitting on the border, but not moving until today. Not all have moved, but a few are heading our way and could be here in a matter of hours if they have extra fuel with them. Nobody seems to be in the wetlands that our men can see, at least no one out of the ordinary, but there is a road train travelling from the southwest that will be on us in an hour at most. The big trucks of the road train will find it hard to cross this rough territory, but we are watching them. It's time to sit tight," Whipper advised after telling him what he knew. "They could just be touring groups, it's not unusual to get them up here, but we are monitoring them closely."

"The family?" Noah asked, dread making him clench his teeth.

"No news is good news. They have people watching their backs just as surely as you have me," Whipper chuckled. Another man, Noah knew as Vinnie, moved closer with his phone clutched to his ear, and his brows furrowed in concentration as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"The ghost-walkers are moving toward us," Vinnie said with quiet awe in his voice. "They so rarely leave their desert home, but twice in a season doesn't bode well."

"Friends," Noah said without any inflexion in his voice. "I have information that the Varangian tried to double-cross them too, and their allegiance is with the Princess who lives with the Vitalis now. At least most of them anyway."

"How do we know if they are the most? Or if they side with him?" Vinnie asked.

"You can trust me as my family does, I guess. I've been wrong before, but it doesn't happen often," he smirked, feeling confident rather than arrogant about the Tartar's intentions. They seemed to be coming to their aid. He looked down at the crude map in the dirt at their feet and could see they were being assailed on practically all sides. Now the question was. What was the plan to get through this?