He felt stronger and his body moved with precision as he leapt backward and flipped into the middle of the ring of dancers. They parted and he reached out, easily catching the five large rings one of the villagers tossed at him. Twirling them around his arms he tossed the hoops in the air above his head, keeping them airborne as he performed a complicated training routine on the ground. He could feel Dawn’s gaze on him but didn’t dare look at her yet. She’d destroy his concentration in a heartbeat.
The music flowed around him, raising the natural energy of this world. It flowed through him like a river, up from his legs and out along his arms to his hands. He didn’t have to touch the wood hoops to keep them up. The energy flowed from his hands and moved them around him as he continued to move. Faster and faster, he whipped around, concentrating on executing his routine with precision. This is what kept the Midnighters in shape and ready to fight and protect. The energy that hummed around him and moved the rings was the same energy that could be narrowed and concentrated in their hands and used as a weapon. It was the same energy he used when crafting his arrows or letting them slice through the air. This was their life force. They were connected to Lu’um and life on Earth wasn’t the same.
He could feel the admiration of his warrior brothers and the complete trust they extended to each other. But it was Dawn who shone the brightest to him. Her natural energy was like a beacon to his soul and he could feel her arousal, the growing need for him. Her soul’s life force reached for him and he stretched out his sense to caress her as he moved. The steady hum and chanting of the villagers’ voices rose, expanding the energy they’d raised to encompass everyone present. Storm caught all the rings with a swipe of his hand and ended at the exact moment the song did.
The Midnighters present roared their approval as the villagers clapped and cheered but Storm didn’t care about accolades. His entire focus was on his Atan. Her cheeks were flushed. He could hear the rapid beating of her heart and the soft panting of her breath. Derechos had his arms wrapped around her but as soon as Storm stopped dancing he let go and she ran to him.
He tossed the hoops to the ground beside him and caught her as she leapt up, catching her as she wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms around his neck. She kissed him with a hunger that made him stagger. His aching cock jumped and twitched against the fabric of his pants. She moaned, a soft, need-filled sound that almost had him dropping to his knees and claiming her this second.
“I want you. Now.” Dawn nipped at the side of his neck and he gripped her ass tighter.
“Home first and then I swear we will give you anything you need. You’re our Atan and I can’t wait any longer to claim you.”
Derechos pressed up behind her, trapping their woman between them. “You’re going to be watched, Atan. Our warrior brothers will all witness us claiming you.”
“Yes,” she moaned and reached an arm back to hold onto Derechos. Storm could feel her nervousness but the arousal and trust she felt toward each of them was humbling.
A horrified scream pierced the bubble they’d existed in. Instinct as well as trained habits had both he and Derechos spinning around trapping Dawn between them as they assessed the situation. A large group of Kimil were rushing the field where they were holding their celebration. The villagers scattered as the Midnighters immediately went on the offensive. Tanja was running with Oyama in her arms as the baby’s mother met with them and they both ran. The men from the village instantly moved to protect the women and children as the Midnighters fought to protect them.
Storm had never felt so torn in his entire life. He wanted to help out his warrior brothers but he refused to put Dawn in danger. Her safety was a priority over everything in this world. He didn’t have to look at his brother to feel the same strong conviction emanating from him. Derechos refused to leave her side either.
“Dawn!” Destiny ran up beside them and held out her hand for their Atan. Primal instincts roared through his system as Storm blocked Destiny’s path. No one was taking his Atan.
“Both of you go. Hope and I will keep her with us. She’ll be safe.”
Dawn looked up at him with confusion. He could feel her fear and reluctance in leaving them. “Go.” He pressed a fast kiss to her lips as did Derechos and then they both ran toward the fight. The only reason he was able to step away from her was that he saw six of the village men crowded around Hope and a few small children. Thunder and Blade were both running for Destiny. He knew they would protect the Atans with their lives.
Derechos let out a battle cry as they both charged into the melee. He reached for his shoulder out of habit, cursing when he realized he’d left his quiver at their home. Foolishly he’d thought they’d be safe. The Kimil rarely attacked a village this close to the kaah. Unlike their mutated Earth cousins, these Kimil were highly trained and organized. They had no respect for Lu’um or her energies. Like the locusts on Earth, they’d devoured the natural resources on their world over the last millennia. The people of Lu’um lived in harmony with their world, so the energies were strong and the Kimil hungered for it. Storm’s internal energy felt the strongest it had ever been after the dance as he threw out long bolts of concentrated energy at their enemy. Sleek and narrow, they sliced through the invaders as one of his arrows would do on Earth.
The Kimil used weapons they’d created to fight back, launching projectiles at them that used up the warrior’s natural energy trying to divert or destroy. All the Midnighters fought with a single-minded focus but he and Derechos both carried an additional layer they’d never felt before. Fear for the delicate woman who had claimed them as her own. It made them faster and more determined and he didn’t doubt Rock, Jag, Falcon, and Wolfe felt the same way. Their Atans were huddled with Dawn, being protected as they were rushed back to the safety of the walls that surrounded their home.
He caught a glint of movement out of the corner of his eye and tackled Derechos to the ground as a number of small, multibladed weapons whistled over top of them. “Cowards!” Derechos roared as they charged the creatures trying to kill them.
* * * *
Dawn’s arms shook as she held the long knife that had been passed to her. “Stick the pointy end into anything ugly,” Hope had said. The three of them were standing back to back with four small children huddled in the small space behind them. The men from the village were fighting the most terrifying creatures she’d ever seen. No, that’s not true. You’ve seen scarier. The creatures that had attacked her on her ranch were wild and primitive. They’d moved fast on all fours with pitch-black orbs for eyes and scaly skin. Their teeth were sharp and vicious looking when they snapped and attacked with long arms and clawed hands.
These beings that attacked the village were dressed in a black material that made them almost completely invisible in the shadows. They were as big as the warriors and it looked as though the ground turned black under each of their steps.
She’d gone with Dawn and Hope but they hadn’t made it all that far when another large group of invaders cut off their route. The two huge Midnighters charged at the group as the men herded her and the others out into the middle of the field. Within seconds the creatures started circling around them.
The three women each kept watch all around them. They were standing in the middle of a large field surrounded by a furor of fighting. There wasn’t anywhere to hide but neither could anything sneak up on them. These things did remind her of the creatures that had knocked her from her horse last night. Only, then she had Storm and Derechos to protect her. Right now she didn’t know where they were or if they were injured. She, Destiny, and Hope had been led back toward the temple but had been surrounded by more of these creatures than she could imagine. It was one of the villagers that had given Hope three blades and told them to protect the children. Four small children had been separated from their families and had run out of the forest at them.
Small hands gripped the back of her dress, and Dawn reached behind her and patted the li
ttle girl on the shoulder. The children hadn’t said a word. They didn’t cry or scream in fear. She was amazed by their obvious trust that they’d be kept safe.
Both men and women fought with the Midnighters, felling the creatures with a skill Dawn didn’t have. Even Hope and Destiny were holding onto their weapons with a confidence Dawn didn’t feel.
“Dawn, point your blade slightly toward the ground,” Hope said softly beside her. “It will be easier on your arms than trying to hold it up. If anything comes close, whip the blade up as fast as you can if they get that close.”
“Do you think they will?”
“No,” Destiny replied. “Blade and Thunder won’t let that happen.” She pointed to the left. “See, Steele and Blaze are working their way over here as well.”
Two men were felling the Kimil in very different ways. The one with bright-red hair hollered and raged as he attacked each one with his bare hands. Bright bursts of light illuminated in his hands and he threw them. It stretched and engulfed the creature and it vanished, leaving nothing but a puff of dust. His warrior brother didn’t share the same vibrant coloring and obvious temper. They both managed to fell dozens of the creatures, cutting a large swath in the circle that surrounded them.
In contrast to Steele and Blaze, the two massive warriors Destiny had called Blade and Thunder were almost silent as they fought with their bare hands. They did use that bright light thing a few times but it was obvious they preferred a hands-on approach, breaking their enemy before obliterating them with the bright light. Dawn did her best to keep the small child behind her protected from the violence that circled them.
Almost as fast as they attacked, the creatures turned and ran for the shadows of the trees. The villagers followed, hollering out in rage but the Midnighters remained with her and the others.
One of the bigger men came closer to them. “Are any of you injured?”
“We’re okay, Thunder,” Hope replied.
Dawn turned and knelt down to hug the young girl who had hidden behind her. There was a small boy with his thumb in his mouth and Dawn wrapped her other arm around him and gave him a hug as well. “You both were very brave,” she said as she kept them close and tried to keep her voice as confident as possible.
Her stomach churning, she looked over the children’s heads and scanned the area looking for her men. My men? Thinking of them like that still made her nervous but it in the deepest part of heart it felt right. She’d never be able to choose one of them over the other and if one of them was hurt she’d be devastated.
“They’re uninjured.”
She looked up at Thunder, surprised by his observation. “How do you know?”
“If a Midnighter falls, we’d all feel it. Lu’um herself would shudder in sadness and every living creature would feel her sorrow.”
A few villagers came running out into the field from the trees and the children scattered as they ran to the very relieved parents. Dawn stood up and a heartbeat later was caught up in a tight embrace. Derechos took the blade from her as he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and crowded against her. She felt his lips on her forehead, and Storm pressed kisses to the side of her neck. Trapped between two large men, she felt the tightness in her heart ease with their presence. She wrapped her arm forward around Derechos and the other back around Storm’s hip. The fear-driven adrenaline started to wane, making her feel tired. Her body trembled slightly and both Storm and Derechos pressed closer to her.
“Even though we knew you’d be kept safe, we were so worried about you.” Storm eased the tight grip on her torso and stepped back. She refused to let go of her grip on his shirt so he didn’t move far from her side. “Thank you for protecting our Atan.”
“You know you don’t need to thank anyone, Storm.” Destiny came over and patted Dawn on the shoulder. “She did very well for her first big scare here.”
An icy-cold shiver danced along Dawn’s spine. “This happens often?”
“No, thank god,” Destiny said as she shook her head. “It’s a very rare occurrence which is why we weren’t entirely prepared for tonight’s attack.” She nodded her head to Rock and Jag, who were quickly moving toward her. “Of course, this means Misters Over and Protective are going to freak out and we’ll be lucky to go to the market on our own.”
“I completely understand how they feel.” Storm scooped Dawn up and cuddled her close to his chest. With one of his arms under her knees and the other around her back, she wrapped an arm around his neck and pressed a kiss against the side of his jaw. She felt almost giddy with happiness that both of them were unharmed.
Derechos cupped her cheek and she turned her face against his touch, rubbing her cheek against the palm of his hand. Can he and Storm do the same strange light thing with their hands that I saw the others do? She looked up and met Derechos’s gaze, pressing a kiss against his palm, knowing she didn’t have anything to fear from them. His quick intake of breath and darkening of his eyes made her wonder if he knew what she’d been thinking.
“How in the blessed dual suns did they manage to get so close without any of us sensing them?”
Blaze’s angry question popped the intimate bubble that had started to cloud her awareness of the others. Funny, she hadn’t given a thought to the men standing around as she kissed Storm and Derechos. It was as if the cloying fear that shrouded her senses lifted the moment they surrounded her. Now that she was thinking about it she had to admit there was a certain thrill to it. Both men had made exhibitionist comments here and there and she’d assumed they were teasing her, but as Rock and Jag both grabbed Destiny and openly caressed and kissed her, she started to wonder if she’d been correct in her assumption. Destiny didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the fact that there were people surrounding them.
“They must have come up with a dampening field of some kind to hide their energy patterns,” Storm replied. “Did we manage to capture any of them?”
“No, and the Kimil we managed to fell were taken away by the survivors.” Derechos looked out over the field where they gathered. “I think it would be in our best interest to regroup behind the walls and assess this.” The big man frowned slightly and stepped away from their group as a young boy came running up to them, his father following close behind.
“I found this but my father said I have to give it to you.” The child held up what looked to Dawn like a cell phone.
Derechos dropped down to one knee but even then he still towered over the young boy. The child didn’t show a smidge of fear of the Midnighter and seemed to be very calm considering everything that had just happened to them.
“Where did you find it?” Derechos asked.
“On one of the Kimil,” the boy’s father answered. “We told him to hide within the roots of one of the great trees until it was safe.”
“The Kimil landed on the roots right over my head.” The animated child acted out what happened, including ducking. “It didn’t move right away and this was attached to the back of its neck. I was careful that it was dead and then I pulled it off right before the others came to collect him.”
Dawn noticed the color in the boy’s father’s face was decidedly pale. She didn’t blame the man for his fear. She couldn’t believe the child hadn’t been more terrified. Obviously the boy didn’t really understand how dangerous that was. Derechos took the metal box from the child and patted him on the shoulder. “You showed a great deal of courage today. Thank you for your help.”
He stood and clasped arms with the boy’s father. “Your son showed bravery that any Midnighter would be proud to have. I don’t envy you guiding him.” The boy’s father smiled and nodded before ushering the excited child away.
“I’ll take that to Shadow. Hopefully this is what they have been using or at least it will be another piece of their technology we can reverse engineer a defense against.” Derechos handed it to the redheaded man and then turned back to Dawn.
Even though Storm had his arms wrapped a
round her, she felt chilled to the bone. “Let’s take you back to our rooms. We’re going to have to hold you for a few hours before we can breathe properly again.”
“What would they have done to us if they’d caught us?” She knew the answer wouldn’t be good but she had to know what she had been facing.
“They would have killed you slowly by absorbing your life’s energy from your soul.”
Storm looked sick and Derechos cupped his hand around the back of her neck and bent down, staring straight into her eyes. “We will never allow that to happen, Dawn.”
“Sometimes bad things happen, Derechos.” She’d been attacked on her ranch and was now realizing there were dangers to staying here, too. At least on her ranch she knew how to defend herself. Here, she felt like she was lost.
“We and every other Midnighter will protect you. Trust me.”
It hit her then that she did trust him. She trusted them both with every fiber of her being, but was it enough? She’d been taken from her ranch without a word to anyone. Her foreman would take care of everything for a while, that she knew, but what if something went wrong? She was so close to making the ranch a success.
She lifted her face when she felt the soft pressure under her chin. Storm’s eye’s looked darker than normal and the light-amber rim glowed around the edges. His expression was filled with concern and that made her melt against him. “Are you all right? Anything hurting that you haven’t told us about?”
No one had ever taken care of her like this. Her grandfather had loved her but his was a tough love that she’d needed at the time. Storm and Derechos coddled her and treated her like a princess. She couldn’t help but like that. “I’m all right, just processing everything.”
“I need to wrap myself around you,” Storm stated. The amber rim around the brown of his eyes flashed again.
“You’re carrying me, Storm. I don’t know how I could get any more into your arms.” She knew what he really meant but wanted to tease him. Being held against him was already warming her body and her pussy felt slick. She’d worry about the ranch tomorrow.
Corralling Dawn [Midnighter Seductions 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 9
