Protector of the Flame

by Isis Rushdan

He invaded her in a single, merciless thrust.

  Crying out into his mouth, she wrapped her other leg around him. Pleasure seized her in a savage grip and she shivered from the scalp of her head to soles of her feet.

  Their bodies undulated in unison, wicked desire driving them hard.

  He released her hands and clutched her hips. His flesh blazed with molten passion, and she was happy to be consumed.

  The thick length of him rammed deep. “You’re mine,” he growled in her ear.

  “Yes,” she sighed.

  “Say it.” He clasped the nape of her neck and squeezed as he grinded into her.

  Growing wetter, she shuddered and tried to spread her legs wider. “I’m yours. All yours.”

  He lifted her buttocks, drilling deeper, stretching her, filling her. He pumped hard and fast as if he wanted to punish, to conquer. Panting, he kissed her, his mouth on fire with desperate need. He bit her neck and chest, licking and sucking.

  Breathless, she lost all sense of time and space. His rough hands covered her breasts, thighs, stomach, back. She didn’t recognize the gleam in his eyes, feared it even, as he plunged into her again and again, unhinging her soul.

  Her body rocked against him, climaxing in a torrent.

  Tugging her hair, he moaned into her mouth and punched a hole in the wall with the other hand as he pumped his essence deep inside with ferocious thrusts until he was spent. Still hard, he kept forcing her body down onto his shaft as if this was only the beginning.

  Ecstasy flayed her, tears streamed from her eyes.

  Drenched in sweat, they slid to the floor, pelvis to pelvis, rocking as one. He sighed in her hair. His heart hammered against his chest.

  He cupped her cheeks and brought her face close until their foreheads touched. “This link with Adriel…”

  “He’s my—”

  He silenced her lie in a savage kiss and tightened his hold on her body. “Brother or friend—” he shook his head, “—there’s more between you. The way he looks at you.” His fingers entwined in her hair, fists shook against her skull. He shut his eyes and his face contorted in pain. “The way you look at him. I won’t abide it. I swear I’ll kill him first, regardless of the repercussions.”

  His words yanked the taut tether that bound her to Adriel. It reverberated through her, the aberrant hold resounded in her core, wrenching her heart.

  “You’re my husband and the only kabashem I could ever have. He respects our union. He’d never try to come between us. Nothing can change or even put a dent in what we share.”

  “It only takes a scratch to ruin some things,” he said in a whisper.

  No matter how much she cared for Adriel or how tempting his scent, she would never violate her vows to Cyrus. She could only have one sun, one moon, and his place was indelibly fixed in her heart and soul.

  Endeared or not, without her kabashem, she would be lost in the wilderness.

  “Have faith in our love. Trust me.” She caressed his face, wiped his brow, and forced him to look at her. “You’re my only love. You’re my life. All that I am belongs to you and I will never be another’s.”

  She kissed him, rocking her pelvis, tightening the sheath of her sex around him. Her stream, enmeshed with his, suckled his core. He buried his face in her bosom, kissing and nibbling her breasts and neck. She massaged his head, swiveling her hips, drawing his cock deep.

  He sighed and relaxed in her arms, relinquishing his tension, fear and anger into their mutual pool. His kisses turned tender and he groaned in her ear. The feel of his fingers along her spine and neck sent shockwaves of pleasure through her.

  As she rode him harder, their bodies stiffened in joint climax.

  He sank into her embrace, assuaged for now. If she could balance her tether to Adriel and her love for Cyrus, she could keep the peace between them while they were stuck in this hell, waiting for their blood grievance to be heard.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Cyrus slept on his side, arm draped across Serenity, pinning her to him in a spooning position. His hand and arm were like a stone clamp. He never needed a nap after they made love in the middle of the day before.

  Dark bruises splotched her arms and hips. Her body ached, but she wasn’t in any real pain, mainly sore and restless. She couldn’t be sure of the time, but the sun hung low in the sky. For at least four hours he must’ve slept, and she’d been subsequently restrained.

  She clawed at his arm and fingers, trying to pry them from her body, all to no avail. She shimmied and thrashed, determined to break loose. She elbowed his gut and her head knocked into his chin, sending shards of pain radiating through her arm and cranium.

  His cock stirred across her lower back, springing to life. A moment later, the rest of his body roused. He kissed her shoulder as she endeavored to wiggle free.

  “In a hurry to go somewhere?”

  “I don’t like being chained down.”

  “You used to enjoy sleeping in my arms,” he said playfully, his mood much lighter after his nap.

  She relaxed against him. “You were the only one sleeping.”

  He had the gall to tighten his grip. “What am I keeping you from?”

  Adriel. She shut her eyes, horrified the thought had crept in. “The bathroom.”

  With a yawn, he released her.

  She slapped his arm. “Don’t do that again.”

  He laughed as she went into the lavatory and shut the door.

  She sagged against the wall, wondering if Adriel was all right. The blow to his body might have paled in comparison to the blow to his heart. All of them innocent victims to his ingenium’s self-defense mechanism.

  No one could be blamed, but she had to find a way to keep him from her thoughts.

  She faced the mirror. Aghast, she stood frozen, transfixed by her reflection. Purple hickeys marred her honey-colored skin from the lobe of her ears, down her throat, on her breasts. She dragged her fingers over each one. After the twelfth, she stopped counting. She closed her eyes and tempered her irritation.

  If Cyrus needed this to help him adjust to their delicate situation, she could endure it. If it meant Adriel wouldn’t be harmed and perhaps their friendship preserved, she would have to find a way to bear her kabashem’s brand with humility.

  She grabbed the toiletry bag and left the bathroom. A dent with deep cracks ran about one foot wide and two feet long in the damaged wall, and a little farther down was a hole the size of his fist.

  As he crossed the room to her, a solemn look on his face, she noted his earlier playfulness had evaporated. Although she had won a battle, the war wasn’t over and she was not yet in the clear.

  His gaze flowed thoughtfully over her body and up to her eyes. He enveloped her in a tender hug. “Are you in pain?”

  She shook her head against his chest.

  They threw on clothes and went to shower in the waning light of the day. As they dropped off their stuff in the room, she put on the gold filigree bracelet he’d given her as a wedding gift. He watched but didn’t comment.

  Hand in hand on their way to the dining hall, she willed herself not to fidget. Covering her neck with her hand would do little good. She’d need a scarf to hide the evidence of his jealousy. She combed her hair forward with a hand.

  The dining hall brimmed with activity and chatter. More record-keepers arrived each day, recalled from across the globe. Only ten tables scattered about were empty.

  Greeted by a multitude of looks, veiled whispers and blatant pointing, they glanced around for a table to join. She picked out Sothis wearing cream instead of team leader blue and Adriel. He sat in between Nikos and Ximena, their backs to the door. Rabi and Dante sat across the table. Neith, also seated with them, paid their entrance no attention.

  The whispers and looks only increased the longer they stood there. It had been less than twelve hours and everyone already knew what had happened in the library.

  Amongst those who stared three types of expressions sho
ne on their faces, reflecting the opinion of the collective. Some looked at Adriel with gross contempt, while others glared at Cyrus and Serenity with similar regard, but the vast majority gawked, simply fascinated by the scandal.

  She finger-combed curls down to hide her neck as best she could. Cyrus put his arm around her and brushed her hair back from her shoulders as if to display his marks, making her face burn. Her husband’s stance was confident, his Black Dragon eyes daring anyone to say a word. This must have been ten times harder for him to bear, but when he met her gaze she saw he didn’t care one bit what any of them thought.

  Caelius walked up and stood beside them. Giving Cyrus a pat on the back, they acknowledged one another with a nod. If ever they needed support, it was now.

  “We’re so late, I hope there’s enough food left,” Caelius commented.

  Cyrus turned to him. “We’ll eat tonight.”

  A deep growl came from behind. They spun to see Tony pacing, eyeing Cyrus as he snarled.

  Cyrus lowered his arm and met the tiger’s gaze. “Ximena!” His voice filled the hall and a heavy curtain of deafening silence fell. Tony circled closer, bearing his teeth in a roar. “Call your kitten off or we’ll have tiger steaks tomorrow night.”

  “I could go for a bit of meat.” Caelius smiled.

  Tony snapped and lowered into a position as if preparing to pounce.

  Cyrus put Serenity behind him and cracked his knuckles. Caelius nodded in excitement.

  Ximena walked out of the dining hall along the periphery and snapped her fingers. Tony growled once more and then trotted to her. She shot Serenity an icy glance and the squirrel monkey on her shoulder hissed and clawed at the air.

  Ignoring them, Cyrus put his arm back around Serenity and moved decisively through the dining hall. Nakia waved, but there was only one seat left at her table. Caelius shook his head and motioned for her to join them. Her face twisted in irritation.

  Cyrus made a beeline for a table with warriors that had five empty seats, her mother’s table. Elianus, Spero, Ptolemy and other sentinels sat around Sothis. Serenity stopped in her tracks, but her mate ushered her forward, pushing until her feet moved. She glanced at him in dismay, but he responded with a gentle smile. She should have been grateful there was any room left at a table with allies, even if it was her mother’s table.

  “I’m sure she won’t want me to sit at her table,” she whispered to Cyrus.

  “I’ve learned from Elianus and Abbadon how difficult it is to love one you are charged to protect and safeguard them properly at the same time. An element of distance is required. Sothis puts space between you because she loves you.”

  She slowed and hugged him. Even though she’d cast a spotlight of shame and humiliation on them, still he showed her incredible tenderness she didn’t deserve. She was unworthy of his love.

  Talus, Amon and the rest of the warriors of Herut sat at the next table. Talus’s gaze fell to Serenity’s neck and her jaw dropped.

  Instinctively, Serenity raised her hand to hide her throat, but Cyrus caught her wrist.

  They sat at Sothis’s table and Cyrus greeted everyone. Elianus, seated to her right, acknowledged her with a nod. Her mother, two seats down and across the table stared at them with a neutral expression. Sothis handed a warrior a pitcher and he passed it down. Caelius took it and filled their cups.

  Cyrus loaded her plate with food, then his own. “Sothis, I hear your training program is excellent.”

  “You should join us. It would do you good in the days to come,” Sothis said flatly.

  “Perhaps you could mention it to Neith.”

  “Your wife has her ear and I’m sure more influence than I.”

  Nakia stomped to their table, hands on her hips, and stood in front of the empty seat Caelius saved for her. “Why didn’t you join me at my table?”

  “There weren’t enough seats for all of us.”

  “I wasn’t done with my meal. We could have joined them in the lounge after.”

  Caelius sighed. “Then you should have finished eating before coming over. Why are you complaining? I rarely inconvenience you.”

  “A true gentleman would never inconvenience me.” She put her hand on his shoulder and sat across from Serenity. “You should make it up to me by taking me for a walk in the garden.”

  “No,” he said sharply.

  Nakia rolled her eyes, and then glanced at Serenity. “Oh my poor sister!” She jumped to her feet, leaned across the table and touched Serenity’s neck. Nakia’s cool fingers moved the collar of her tunic aside and she gasped. “What happened to you?”

  “Nothing,” Serenity said, not wanting to have more attention called to the marks.

  Nakia continued to examine her. “How did you get these bruises?”

  Caelius snickered.

  “Why is it funny?” Nakia snapped.

  “It isn’t,” he said through a chuckle, and shoveled food into his mouth.

  “Everyone is talking about you two,” Nakia said, taking a piece of bread from Caelius’s plate, “but I don’t know why. No one will tell me.”

  “It’s true,” Caelius added. “I heard about your outburst all the way down in the fields. The news has spread like brushfire.”

  Elianus cleared his throat.

  “What happened?” Nakia looked around at everyone.

  “Adriel happened.” Caelius took a deep drink of wine.

  “Oh,” Nakia exhaled with raised eyebrows. “Did he heal you?”

  Sothis watched Serenity, chewing on something like a masticating cow. No one at the other end of the table spoke. Serenity’s face grew flush with heat as Cyrus ate, only pausing to take a swig of wine.

  “You suspected as much,” Nakia said to Caelius, “but you seemed confused by Adriel’s behavior.” Nakia put her elbows on the table and glanced between Cyrus and Serenity as she continued. “After Adriel heals someone, they’re lucky if they just want to be his best friend. When he healed Ximena of the dark veil, poor girl made a fool out of herself. She followed him around in a daze, completely lovesick. Isn’t that what you said Cae?” Nakia shook her head. “I was very young when it happened, but I remember when she laid siege to the library, all for love of Adriel.”

  Cyrus twitched and his stream surged through hers.

  “Every day she’d send a bevy of birds in there to bring him love notes, but he wasn’t the least bit interested. He was flattered, of course, who wouldn’t be, but he didn’t desire her one little bit. It took Neith to set her right.” Nakia grabbed Caelius’s cup from his hand and took a sip. He snatched it back. “Now they’re friends, but you can tell she still has great affection for him.”

  Serenity closed her eyes, longing to crawl into a deep, dark hole and die.

  “I cut my arm once,” Nakia prattled on. “I lost a pint of blood.”

  “You didn’t lose a pint of blood,” Caelius said, annoyed with her exaggeration.

  “I lost so much blood I became woozy, but my Cae refused to let Adriel heal me. He said it would be better if I were dead than to let him heal me.”

  Serenity’s heart shriveled as she rose from the table.

  Cyrus grasped her forearm. “We’re on an island, my love. We can’t hide.”

  The love in his voice broke her heart and tugged greater still at the ever tightening tether that brought them this humiliation.

  “I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that,” Nakia said apologetically. “You’re nothing like Ximena. I doubted he had healed you at all. In fact, Cae was strangely more worried about Adriel than you.”

  “Serenity,” Sothis said, holding up a bowl. “The mussels are rather good this evening. You should try them.”

  Elianus grabbed the bowl and put it in front of her. “They’re the best thing on the table.”

  Praying the discussion would change, she scooped some onto her plate.

  “Caelius,” Sothis said, “I heard young Nakia mention she wanted to take a walk with you after din
ner. Why have you denied her the pleasure of your company?”

  Narrowing his eyes, he swallowed the food in his mouth. “Nakia lacks self-control. It’s a flagrant problem amongst our young females.”

  Serenity’s stream churned at the dig meant for her. She could give just enough of an energy wave to knock Caelius out of his seat and onto his backside.

  Cyrus squeezed her hand. “Please don’t,” he whispered.

  She commanded her energy stream to settle. “It only would have been a tap.”

  Although he smiled, he didn’t look the least bit pleased.

  “One can’t master self-control without practicing in the presence of temptation,” Sothis said. “Perhaps young Nakia is failing to improve because your methods are counterproductive and archaic.”

  Nakia’s eyes brightened. “I think she’s right. It could be a quick turn about the garden. And I promise no performances if you give me your undivided attention.”

  As he finished the last of his meal, Caelius didn’t speak. He stood with his dishes, glaring at Sothis. “A quick turn then,” he said to his kabashem.

  Nakia’s cheeks turned rosy and she looked as if she might bust from joy. She slid down the bench and hurried beside him.

  Relieved to be out of their presence, Serenity ate a sporkful of mussels. “They’re very good,” she said to Sothis who met her gaze with a wink. A wink!

  Maybe this catastrophe had a silver lining after all.

  Cyrus and the other warriors discussed training and the new techniques they were learning. Sothis listened to the conversation, but said nothing.

  Talus and Micah joined their table. Mesmerized by the marks on Serenity’s neck and exposed area of her chest, Talus stared until understanding dawned as to what caused them. A smile floated to her face.

  When Sothis rose to leave, her pupils stood and bowed, including Spero and Elianus. She acknowledged them with a nod of her head.

  “Wait,” Serenity called out. Sothis looked at her expectantly. “Neith wanted me to discuss something with you. It’s a time-sensitive issue if you could spare a moment.”

  “I have a little time.”

  Serenity got up and Cyrus stood as if to accompany them. “Neith wanted me to talk to her privately.”