Rion

by Susan Kearney

  “She may not have been born here, but her heart is with us. And it may have cost her…” Rion swallowed hard.

  “When Marisa linked telepathically with me,” Lex sighed, “she suffered what I was suffering.”

  Rion’s gut wrenched. “You’re certain?”

  “After we linked, she dropped to her knees.” Lex frowned at Rion. “I owe her my life. If she hadn’t come… I’d still be there.” Face grim, Lex brushed back his wet hair.

  “She disobeyed—”

  Lex placed a hand on his shoulder. “She risked her life so you wouldn’t have to risk yours.”

  “She saved both of us,” Rion admitted. “And I’m afraid it may have killed her.”

  “You love her?” Lex asked.

  “I can’t have her.”

  “You’re the future king. You can have what you want.”

  Rion didn’t answer. If only the world were that simple. But if they managed to throw off the Unari domination, he owed it to his people to marry someone from Honor. Someone who could help heal the wounds—not an offworlder whom they wouldn’t understand.

  Lex stood. “Tell me how to handle the floater and I’ll go get Darian and Mendle.”

  “If they’re in dragonshape…”

  “I don’t think they are,” Lex said. “We were separated. Only my group went straight to work.”

  “You sure you’re up to going back?” Rion asked.

  “I can do no less for them than Marisa did for me.”

  Rion nodded and gave Lex the simple instructions to direct the floater.

  Lex took one last long, slow drink of water. Then he entered the floater, shut the door, and ascended into the sky.

  Rion was now alone with Marisa. He sat with her under the shower, cupping water and tilting it into her mouth, pleased when she swallowed. He fed her water until his fingertips puckered and she refused to take more. Eventually the burning heat in her body eased and she slipped into a natural slumber.

  But she mumbled in her sleep. Fretted.

  Had her brain suffered any damage during her ordeal? Would she remember what had happened? Would she recognize him?

  Once, her eyes opened.

  “You look… so good,” she said, then closed her eyes again.

  MARISA AWAKENED TO the distant sounds of dragons in pain. A rumble, a shriek.

  It all came back, the floater, her escape. With a groan, she forced open her eyes. Her head rested in Rion’s lap. His fingers toyed with her hair. Sweat trickled down his temple over his cheekbone and along his jaw, which sported a sexy dark stubble.

  He held water to her lips. “Drink.”

  She sipped, then sipped some more.

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  “Fine.”

  In the distance, beyond the wall, a dragon bellowed.

  Marisa shuddered. “We have to save them. They’re in so much pain.”

  He leaned over her and smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear. “You’re in pain, too.”

  He was clearly worried, but damn, he looked good. Hot. Sexy. Alive.

  “Where’s the floater?” she asked.

  “Lex went back for the others.”

  “So we’re alone.” She locked gazes with him. “Make love to me, Rion.”

  “You’re half dead.”

  “You can bring me back to life,” she teased. While there wasn’t a woman on the planet that wouldn’t be turned on by all that protective male testosterone, she wanted to do more than make love. She gazed at the distant wall, where dragons worked in misery. “And maybe we can test your theory. See if lovemaking can shield them from pain.”

  His eyes darkened and his voice turned low and husky. “You aren’t up to—”

  “The only thing that isn’t up around here is you.” She chuckled and slid her hand over his thigh. “But I know a perfect remedy.”

  His gaze locked on to hers, and he shot her with a piercing stare that raked her with sizzling heat. His sex pulsed, rock hard. Oh, yeah. Just the mention of lovemaking and he was good to go.

  He’d cleaned himself up, and with his hair still damp and his dark locks curling around his neck, her fingers itched to touch the soft hair, to trace her fingertips along his neck.

  She could read the desire in his eyes. Marisa loved having all his intense concentration focused on her. Reaching up, she slid her fingers into his slick, damp hair. Hungry for him, she dragged his head down for a kiss.

  His mouth was blistering hot, savage, rough. Ravaging her lips, he plundered her mouth, his five-o’clock shadow soft and erotic. Heat shimmied through her and settled in a hot aching pool between her thighs.

  Her reaction was instantaneous. His scent, his kiss, his touch, were primal and elemental, and need raced through her with a ferocity that made her mind swim.

  He tasted like torrential rain during an electric storm.

  She couldn’t get enough of his mouth. His touch.

  Their mouths fused, and she scraped her palms over his shoulders to his collarbone, then to his muscular pecs, which were crying out for a good stroking. She wanted him. Ached for him. She needed him inside her.

  The friction of his hot skin against her palms had her crazy for more of him, and she squirmed to her knees, straddled his thighs.

  And kept right on kissing him.

  She loved the way he lay back, grabbed her butt, and pulled her tight against his length. Loved the feel of his heartbeat against her ribs. Loved the way he made her feel all hot and feminine.

  Rion grabbed her cheeks, splaying his fingers between the seam of her pants, and she almost jumped out of her skin. Damn, he felt good. She was wet, slick, so ready for him she ached with need. Her breath came in long, thick gasps.

  Craving for him to take her, she broke the kiss, stood, and unsnapped her pants. Rion sat up and slid his hands onto her hips, and she straddled him, one foot to either side of his knees. He cupped her butt and tugged her forward until his warm breath blew into her soft curls. Her nipples tightened.

  She closed her eyes and savored the delicious feel of him dipping his nose into her core and breathing in her scent. In anticipation, moisture seeped between her thighs. After all she’d been through, she wanted this moment to last forever. She ached for this lovemaking to go on and on. And yet, when his breath blew onto her center, she arched and moaned. “That tickles.”

  “You want me to stop?” he teased, so low and husky an answering tremor rippled through her.

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  “That won’t be a hardship.” He blew again softly, and her toes curled into the warm sand.

  She was standing before him naked in the hot sunshine. She’d never felt so vibrant. So alive. So ready for a man.

  Rion played his fingertips over the sensitive skin along the insides of her knees and the inner curves of her thighs. Her expectations spiraled as he worked his way up her parted legs, and as he gently stroked the folds of her plump flesh, she trembled for more.

  Her every cell tensed as she waited for his lips. When he flicked the tip of his tongue over her sensitive clit, she bit her lip to keep back a scream. But she couldn’t contain the tiny coos of pleasure that escaped her throat.

  His lips closed over hers. As he laved her with wondrous long strokes, it took all her will to remain still and let the burn pulse through her. When she would have bucked her hips, his hands squeezed her bottom, and his tongue flicked mercilessly, keeping her in place.

  She couldn’t hold on. She was too close to the edge. He was recklessly driving her over. Her muscles bunched, tightened, clenched, straining for release.

  She tried to wait. “I want… you… inside me,” she demanded.

  He kept his mouth nibbling on hers. He slipped his fingers between her cheeks, teasing oh-so-sensitive flesh, driving her straight over the edge. She was falling, flailing, gasping, and laughing as she swam in a fiery explosion of stars.

  She never even noticed when he changed positions o
r removed his pants and drew her down onto him. But finally she was free to move her hips. While his teeth captured her nipple and his fingers slid between their bodies to caress her nub, she rode him like a wild woman, her head thrown back, her lips clenched, back arched, and breasts thrust forward. She was beyond thinking, only feeling.

  Feeling him slide into her and filling her with delicious friction.

  As that feeling built, she never stopped coming. Didn’t know one explosion could follow so hot and hard after the other. If he hadn’t placed his mouth over hers and swallowed her scream, no doubt the dragons even miles away would have heard her pleasure.

  As she slowly came back into herself, she realized he was still hard inside her. With a wicked grin, he flipped their positions until she was on her back, staring at his face silhouetted against blue sky.

  And then he began to move again, slowly, sensuously, seductively pumping inside her. The delicious friction had her winding her legs around his waist, hanging on to his shoulders. Her breath came in gasps, and the desire burned anew. And this time when she exploded, he came with her.

  Moments later, he tenderly held her head close to his heart.

  When she could finally draw a breath and looked up, his gray eyes had gone dark, serious with a gleam of fire. He gazed down at her, his face alight with pleasure. “Listen.”

  “I don’t hear anything.”

  His grin widened. “Exactly.”

  “The dragons’ pain… it’s gone?”

  “You did it.”

  He sounded excited, but she sighed. “The pain-free minutes won’t last. I should try to send a message.”

  “Tell them we need to find my father.”

  Marisa tried. Opened her mind. No pain entered, allowing her to focus on the message. Where is the king?

  No one answered. She dragonshaped.

  Where is the king?

  Still, no one answered and she quickly humanshaped.

  “It’s not working. I’m not getting through.” Her heart thudded against his, and she wanted to weep.

  She’d failed. “Every time I try to send the message, it slips away. The dragons can’t hear me.”

  Rion cuddled her against him. “At least you’ve given the dragons a few pain-free minutes. Even the dragons I can see in the distance are flying with a new strength. And your efforts didn’t harm you, either, thank the Goddess.”

  “But there’s a problem. I can’t send emotions and a message at the same time. At least not the heavy-duty emotions needed to break through the pain.”

  Not even his arms around her could soothe her frustration. She’d so badly wanted to help, but for now, she saw no solution. She couldn’t help Rion. She couldn’t help the dragons. And until she did, she couldn’t help Earth.

  Use your anger… for the greater good.

  —LADY OF THE LAKE

  26

  Lex had returned with Mendle, then gone back for Darian. While Marisa gave the man water, another flash hit Rion.

  A shining golden machine that reminded him of a computer motherboard, with its circuits and wires embedded with glowing crystals, squatted on a platform.

  The Tyrannizer?

  Space itself seemed to ripple in a golden glow around the machine.

  The scene broadened in scope until Rion could see high rock walls shaped in an octagon. On one wall was a countdown clock, with a date. Two days and two hours left.

  But it was a countdown until what? Until the Unari finished the structure? Until the Grail arrived?

  Eight dragons stood chained to the walls, and next to each dragon stood a Unari guard holding a whip.

  Blood ran from the dragons’ every orifice. The dragons were so weak they could barely hold up their heads. Still, they bellowed, throats raw with pain.

  Rion’s gut roiled. And then he gasped. Sweet Goddess.

  One dragon’s eyes blazed in fury. Just as he’d feared, the Unari had captured his father.

  The countdown clock blinked a new time but added a sinister tagline:

  “Two days and two hours until your death.”

  Rion came out of the flash to find Marisa, Darian, Mendel, and Lex watching him. He felt like the Unari had ripped out his own heart. He’d doubled over from the pain. Crushed by the horror.

  Sweet Goddess.

  Fighting to control his breathing, he shoved to his feet, squared his shoulders, and began to pace. “The Unari are holding my father and seven other dragonshapers around the Tyrannizer in the palace.”

  “You’re certain?” Lex asked.

  “The room had octagon walls, and there are three rooms like that in the palace. I saw a clock ticking down. We have two days to free them. My father has only two days to live.”

  Rion stared at the rebels. As badly as he wanted to mount an attack right then, they needed more help. The last few days of captivity, on top of years of little sustenance, had taken a toll. Through their shirts, ribs were visible beneath their skin. All the men had gaunt cheekbones. Darian swayed on his feet. When Mendle tried to steady him, both almost toppled over.

  They needed more than rest and human food. They needed platinum to strengthen their malnourished bodies.

  A cawing Cuttee soared over the wall and drew Rion’s gaze to the sky. He shaded his eyes. Beyond the Cuttee, Unari skimmers in fighting formation flew straight at them.

  Rion sharpened his voice. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “Run. Run. Run!” Lex shouted.

  Rion grabbed Marisa’s hand, and together they raced toward the tunnel. The rebels sprinted into the opening and quickly climbed onto the makeshift transport device. Darian fired up the antigravs. And Lex shot them down the tunnel.

  Marisa held her hair back with one hand, but tendrils escaped and whipped around her face. “Do you think the Unari saw us?”

  “Perhaps it was just a scouting mission,” Darian suggested.

  Rion and Marisa exchanged a look. Clearly she didn’t believe Darian’s speculation, either, but both of them said nothing.

  Lex frowned and hunched over his door. “This tunnel forms a Y. When we get to the fork, we should split up. Lessen our chances of being spotted.”

  Rion shook his head. “No. We stay together.”

  Marisa cocked her head and eyed him. “What are you thinking?”

  “We aren’t going straight back to camp. We can’t risk leading the Unari there.”

  “What do you suggest?” Lex asked. “A more circuitous route could take days.”

  “We climb into the mountains and bring back platinum.” Despite the flash that had warned him of danger in the mountains, they had to go for food. His people were little more than skin hanging on bones. “To fight the Unari we need to keep up our strength.”

  “The babies could use nourishment, too,” Marisa added. She squeezed Rion’s hand and lowered her voice so only he could hear. “I’m sorry about your father. But he’s alive.”

  Rion squeezed her hand back but said nothing. He didn’t want to speak of it. Didn’t want to think about it. He had to stay focused on a rescue plan.

  “Don’t you think we’ve tried to forage for food?” Lex stared at the ground speeding by. “We’ve sent men into those mountains many times. No one ever comes back.”

  “Why not?” Rion asked.

  Lex shrugged. “The Unari have cut off access to the mountains.”

  “Oh, God.” Marisa tugged on Rion’s arm. “Look.”

  Rion’s gut tightened. A Unari skimmer craft barreled down the tunnel, its guns aiming right at them.

  “Jump,” Rion yelled, leaping off the makeshift train and pulling Marisa with him. His men did the same.

  Hanging on to Marisa, Rion landed with a hard thud, protecting her from the worst of the blow. He looked up just in time to watch the skimmer shoot down their makeshift train, which disintegrated in a white flash of light.

  The skimmer ripped through the air over their heads. Rion didn’t wait for his ears to stop r
inging. Scrambling to his feet, he tugged Marisa up with him.

  Her eyes were wide. She had a scrape on her cheek, but she looked otherwise unhurt. “Are they coming back?”

  “Probably. We have to get out of here.” Rion looked at Lex, who had gotten up much more slowly. “How much farther to the fork?”

  “Maybe a mile.”

  Rion began to run. “I want us there in five minutes.”

  It took ten. Lex and his men stumbled the last steps, exhaustion on their faces. Marisa breathed heavily, too. No one complained.

  “Good job.” Rion looked around. This part of the tunnel was overgrown with shrubs and dead trees, plus mounds of dirt from several cave-ins. “Let’s rest.”

  “At least a skimmer can’t fly through here,” Darian muttered, settling down with his back against a root.

  But the Unari could shoot a missile through. Rion kept that thought to himself. He also kept his father’s weak condition to himself. No one, not even the Honorian king, would survive such torture for much longer. But neither would these men live if they didn’t get them some platinum.

  Rion had wanted all of them to go for food, but the men’s lack of physical vigor had him reevaluating his position. Lex, Darian, and Mendle could barely walk. Jogging had sucked out the last of their strength.

  Rion changed his mind about their staying together. “Lex, you were right. We should split up.” These were proud men. And they’d done their best for years under terrible conditions. “After you return to Winhaven, send word for the local rebels to meet me here in two days.”

  “Yes, sir. We’ll take a different route home. But now that the Unari know about this tunnel, we should set the meeting somewhere else.”

  “Good point. Where would you suggest?” Rion asked.

  “Where the Unari wall dams the river and turns its course is a good spot.”

  “All right. Do what you can to get out word of our plan, and Marisa and I will go for some platinum.”

  MARISA TRUDGED BESIDE Rion where the path allowed and dropped behind when it narrowed. She hadn’t spoken in hours. Instead, she’d saved her strength for walking through the uneven grasslands.