Romancing the Sweet Side

by Tianna Xander, Elle Boon, HA Fortman, Trinity Blacio, Cheryl Dragon, Caitlyn O'Leary, Dawn Montgomery, Megan Slayer, Viola Grace

  His blank expression made it difficult to decipher what he expected her to say. Should she agree to his terms or insist that he leave?

  “Chosen a protector? I thought that was your job, regent. Do you wish to resign?”

  “I was your father’s choice of protector, a young man who would accompany you everywhere without quarrel from you.”

  “In other words,” she said, giving him a glare, resting her hands on her hips. “You would turn my head, get me to love you and then I wouldn’t mind having a guard everywhere I went.” She shook her head. “You couldn’t have been very old yourself. What were you, twenty, twenty-five when I was fifteen?”

  “I was twenty.”

  Kendra turned away when he pulled his shirt over his head and placed it on the table. “I think I’ll go back upstairs and sit with Gram for a while before I go to bed.” She walked through the door and stopped at the foot of the stairs. “Wake me in time to grab something to eat before we leave.”

  Slowly, she climbed to the second floor, her hand sliding along the shining banister as she crept up the stairs toward the room where her grandmother lay so still.

  “What do I do, Gram?” she asked as she stared down into the deathly pale face of the only woman who had ever encouraged her to do more and be more than she ever thought possible. “I’m not ready.” She shook her head. “How can I protect the power when I don’t know how?”

  Kneeling, she grasped her gram’s listless hand and rested her head on the edge of the bed. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she cried for everything that could have been, that should have been, if only she had been able to return ten years ago as she had planned, when she’d still believed in magic.

  “I don’t know what to do, Gram,” she sobbed. “How can I protect you and Grandpa if I don’t know how to fight our enemies or control the magic?”

  Chapter Seven

  “And we couldn’t have breakfast, why?” Kendra glared up the sheer cliff. “How in the world do you expect me to get up there? That ledge is at least five hundred feet up. There’s no way I’m climbing up there on an empty stomach.” Hell, she couldn’t climb up there on a full stomach. She gestured to the sheer cliff face. “I don’t know a thing about rock climbing.”

  Alaster wrote something on a small piece of paper and placed it in a canister on his saddle. “Off you go, Cirrus. Take our message to the guard and have them waiting for us tomorrow.” He gave the horse a shove, and it trotted off toward their village.

  “What were we saying? Oh, yes, breakfast. You must be fasting to enter the arch. Your body can have no impurities, and since even fruits and grains contain such things, it’s best not to have eaten at all.” Alaster grasped her upper arm and pulled her through a narrow passage to their left.

  The passage opened to a wider area with low ledges leading up the side of the mountain like huge steps.

  “Come along, love.” Alaster lifted her onto the first step. “This would go a lot faster if you tried climbing as I lift you.” He pulled himself up behind her.

  “That’s not a very chivalrous thing to say, is it?” She climbed up the next step, not waiting for him before moving to the next. She’d be damned if she’d allow him to help her ever again.

  “Probably not.” He grinned. “But it brought out the determination I knew you’d buried deep within you.”

  Pausing, Kendra glared up at the next step. “Are these natural steps, or were they carved by a bunch of giants?”

  “I do believe they are natural.” He grasped her by the waist and lifted her high enough to grasp the ledge then pushed her rear as she scrambled up.

  Did his fingers linger longer on her bum than they should have, or was that just wishful thinking? Kendra couldn’t help but stare as his muscles bunched while he pulled himself up onto the wide ledge.

  A path wound around the mountain, leading to a dark cave. “I hope you don’t suggest we go in there.” She shivered. “Anything could be hiding in there.”

  “I will protect you.”

  “Right.” She headed toward the cave. “But who will protect me from you?”

  “Do you think you need protection from me?” He smiled again, making her go weak at the knees.

  “Stop that!” She pushed past him. “I’m no gullible teenager anymore. I don’t go weak at the knees just because a handsome man smiles at me.”

  Liar!

  “You think I’m handsome?” He strode next to her, his gait slow and even.

  “The least you could do is pretend you’re having a difficult time keeping up.” She glanced over at his long legs and scowled.

  How could any one man be so perfect? He was just the right height so that her shoulder fit under his arm just so. His hair, black as jet and just the right length, always had an unruly lock falling over his forehead that her fingers practically itched to brush back, and those silver eyes could stare deep into her soul.

  She fisted her hands at her sides to keep from reaching up and running her fingers through his glossy hair.

  “Stop.” Alaster grasped her arm when they reached the entrance to the cave. “We cannot enter the cave with so much animosity between us. The arch of Magon will sense our discord, and it will not transfer the power to you. It will assume we are enemies and that I plan to kill you as soon as the mantle of power settles upon you.”

  “Then, we’re screwed, because I don’t know that I can feel anything other than animosity toward you.” She glared up at him, resting her hands on her hips. “Why didn’t you come for me?”

  “Your father forbade it.” He paced away from her before turning back, his expression earnest. “Do you not think I wanted to come for you? Do you think that I sat here waiting for you, being lazy in the knowledge that you loved me so you would return?”

  “You still could have—”

  “What? Should I have disobeyed your father, the man who made me what I am, the man to whom I pledged my undying loyalty the day that I realized I loved you and would die for you? I gave you both my life that day. How could I have taken any of that back and still remain worthy of you?”

  “But you did take it back when you got married,” she cried. Spinning around, she stared at the dark entrance to the cave. “How could you marry someone else, Alaster?” The words came out little more than a whisper.

  “The Sculoul killed her intended. She was with child and had nowhere to go. I knew I could never love another. Marika knew I could never love her, but she didn’t care. She needed a father for her babe, and I needed... purpose.”

  “And now she’s dead and you’re stuck raising another man’s child?” How could she ever come to terms with what he had done, with what they all had done?

  “No. The child died with her. She was still pregnant when the Sculoul murdered her.” He leaned against the dark stone, his expression filled with what appeared to be guilt and no small measure of anger. “They killed her because they thought she carried my heir, that it would distract me from my duties to know that I had lost my precious child with the woman they were sure I loved.”

  “But you didn’t love her.” She moved closer, wanting to give him the comfort he so obviously needed.

  “No.” He shook his head. “She deserved so much more than to die lying in the dirt, her life’s blood spilling onto the cold ground, but I wasn’t there for her. No one was there for her.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Kendra drew closer. Reaching out, she placed her hand on his forearm, feeling the hard muscle contract beneath her fingers. “Stop blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault she was pregnant, and it wasn’t your fault the Sculoul killed her.” She met his tortured gaze and cupped his cheek. “You did what you thought was best for her and I... I don’t blame you. I can see how you would have thought your arrangement for the best.”

  Though knowing that he had given up hope for her return still hurt, she couldn’t blame him. Eight years was a long time to wait for someone who
had promised to be back within the week.

  Kendra bit her lip as she stared at the third button on his shirt. How could she not forgive him for giving up hope when she had done the same?

  Her heart swelled at the thought that he’d never stopped loving her. If it was true, there was no reason they couldn’t be together now. They were both here and both free to marry. What happened in the past could stay in the past, as far as she was concerned.

  “You said you would never stop loving me.” She met his gaze. “Do you still feel the same?”

  “I have never, nor will I ever, stop loving you, Princess. You are my very heart.” He grasped her shoulders, his gaze searching hers. “I would ask you to tell me it’s not too late for us, but there is the matter of your husband.”

  “What husband?” Kendra wanted to laugh, to cry out that she was free to marry whom she wished, but there was that little matter of miscommunication between them. She hadn’t lied. Not once had she told him she was married, but he had assumed it, and she’d let him. Now was the time to tell the truth and face his anger for her lie of omission. “I never said I was married.” She bit her lip. “You jumped to that conclusion all by yourself.”

  Alaster tightened his grip on her shoulders and bent his legs to meet her gaze. “Then you’re free?” He dragged her against him, his arms wrapping tight around her. Thrusting his fingers through her hair, he fisted his hand and tilted her head back. “Tell me you’re free to become my wife.”

  “Yes, Alaster.” She nodded, swallowing thickly. “I’m free. There’s never been anyone but you.”

  Chapter Eight

  Alaster held her gaze as he lowered his head. Firm lips pressed against hers, and her head spun. His tongue trailed along the seam of her mouth, and she opened for him. Reaching up, she snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

  Years she’d waited for this moment. Ten long years she’d dreamed of being in Alaster’s arms while he kissed her until her toes curled.

  Large hands pressed against her back, his fingers splayed wide as he drew her tighter against him. The evidence of his desire dug into her lower abdomen, and she moaned.

  “I’ve waited a long time for that,” he said, lifting his head to gaze down into her eyes. “I have wanted to do that since the first time I saw you standing outside your grandparent’s home looking so lost and alone.” He rested his forehead against hers. “But you were too young, still a child. It was all I could do to let you go back to your Earth with that one chaste kiss.”

  He stepped back. “And it is one kiss where we will stop yet again. We must enter the cave where you will accept the mantle of power beneath the arch of Magon.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to do this.” She pressed two fingers against her lips, as though that action alone would hold the warmth of his kiss in place. “I wish... I wish we could go back to Earth and forget this place.”

  “And yet, if we did, your grandmother would die and the magic would fall into the hands of an evil clan, led by a man who has no love in his heart.” The swirling silver of his steady gaze forced her to face what would become of this world if she refused to accept her birthright.

  “Right.” She sighed with a nod. “Then, let’s get moving. The sooner I do this, the better. I might chicken out if we don’t hurry up.”

  Alaster smiled, laced his fingers with hers and pulled her into the mouth of the cave.

  “Um... it’s dark in here. Did you think to bring a torch?” She cleared her throat when he shook his head. “You don’t have a lighter, a match, anything to light the way?”

  “We will not need it. As soon as the power of Magon recognizes you and the blood that flows through your veins, you will be able to see well enough to find the arch.”

  “And you know this how?” She rested her hands on her hips and tapped her toes. “Where do you get your information, Alaster? I’m not sure it’s all that reliable,” she complained as she glanced around the darkened interior.

  “It is written in the texts of the regent protector passed down from one protector to the next over the last three thousand years.” He glanced at her with a wink. “I think it can be trusted.”

  A low rumble sounded deep in the cave. The ground shook beneath their feet, a mist forming near their heads.

  “The cave is collapsing!” Kendra turned to dash from the cave, but Alaster caught her around the waist and held her in place.

  “Take it into your lungs, princess. Take the magic within you. Let it know who you are.”

  Unable to hold her breath, she gasped, pulling the mist deep into her lungs, and she stilled. It moved within her like a living thing, searching her mind, her memories and settling somewhere near her heart.

  Welcome, heir of the power. Find your way to the arch of Magon and receive the power that is rightfully yours.

  The words came to her in a deep voice, as though the mountain itself spoke to her. Light glowed around her in the silence that followed, and she stared at the cave in awe. This was a geologist’s dream. Beautiful stones lined the walls. Sapphires, rubies, diamonds and more glittered, throwing off a rainbow as the light shone from behind them.

  Feeling a confidence she hadn’t known she possessed, Kendra led the way down through the long tunnel, down into the ground where the air grew warmer and thick with magic.

  “This is where the magic is stored during the kageh,” Alaster whispered as they made their way deeper and deeper into the mountain. “The mountain called to you, pulled you here from your other world.”

  “My grandmother pulled me here. I felt her need.” She rubbed the center of her chest. “Here.”

  You felt the need of the arch, heir to the power of Magon. You will always feel its need as it will always feel yours.

  They rounded a bend, and the tunnel opened into a large cavern. A huge, glowing, underground lake drew her attention. In the center was a small island, and on that island was the arch.

  “How do we get to the arch? It’s surrounded by water.”

  “It’s the ritual lake of Magon. You must strip and swim to the arch. The swim acts like a ritual bath purifying you before you take the magic within you.”

  “I don’t think so.” She shook her head. There’s no telling what kind of weird creatures are swimming around in that lake waiting to take a bite out of me.”

  Swim through the ritual waters or forfeit the right of rule. The choice is yours.

  Kendra bit her lip. She wanted to trust the booming voice of the mountain. After all, if whatever it was wanted her dead, it could easily crush her beneath a mountain of rock. However, a childhood of watching shark-attack movies made her hesitate.

  “What if I swim with you?” Alaster asked as he hopped on one foot, taking his boot off. “Will you go then?”

  “Can you go with me? Isn’t there some sort of rule against that?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “Mine is the roll of protector. I can accompany you anywhere within this mountain or without.”

  “Then, why could my father forbid you to follow me to Earth?”

  “Because his word was law, and he was always your primary protector until his death.” Alaster sighed. “Will you not forgive me for keeping my word to him?”

  “I will.” She smiled sadly. “Sometimes, I just wish you weren’t so honorable, and other times, I’m glad you are. I think I should warn you, though.”

  “Warn me of what?” His gaze never left her as she grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head.

  “I’m not the skinny little girl you fell in love with anymore. I’ve grown rather—”

  “Beautiful.” The sound of awe in his voice drew her attention.

  “I’m too curvy to be beautiful.”

  “No.” He yanked his shirt off, tearing the material in his haste. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

  Kendra spun around, afraid that if she stayed facing him, she’d sta
rt to drool. Hell, the man really is perfect in every way, and he thinks I’m gorgeous. Life really couldn’t get much better. Well... if they could manage to change or get rid of their deceptive rival clan, life would be perfect.

  Chapter Nine

  Standing naked before Alaster’s physical perfection was out of the question. As soon as Kendra removed her clothes, she dived into the lake, having completely forgotten about the things that could be lurking below the surface.

  Alaster dove in behind her, caught up quickly and matched her pace. The cool water swirled around them, washing the dirt of the trail from their bodies. Halfway to the small island, the water seemed thick, like pudding, and Kendra panicked as it drew her down beneath the surface and held her there. It was drowning her.

  Her lungs ached to draw breath and still something held them both beneath the surface. She only calmed when Alaster grasped her arm and visibly breathed the water deep.

  He smiled at her and said something she couldn’t hear nor understand, but it was evident the water hadn’t drowned him. Could she also breathe this strange, magical water?

  Kendra gave up the fight and exhaled, the air forced from her lungs turned the water a gray-brown, just had Alaster’s now that she thought about it.

  Now that the last of the impurities have been washed from your vessel, you are free to enter the arch. Receive the power in your purified form. Accept your mate beneath the arch, and you both shall remain purified for the rest of your days.

  Accept her mate? Had the magic of the mountain sensed that they loved each other, that they wanted to be together?

  Together, they swam to the surface and stepped upon the center island.

  “The mountain has given her blessing,” Alaster said as he knelt before her. He should have looked ridiculous kneeling before her while naked as the day he was born, but he looked stronger than ever. “I love you more than life itself, Kendra. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”