by Lisa Daneils
“Why are you doing all of this? I thought you were supposed to be enjoying a break from reality, not diving further into another messy world that clearly is more of an annoyance to you than amusing. So why are you doing any of this?”
The door swung open just as she finished. Aiden entered and moved over to the dresser. “Not something you should be worrying about.” It was the only thing that he offered her in the way of an explanation.
Alannah sat up, “But what do you get out of this? Seriously?”
Aiden didn’t even look at her. “Does it matter?”
“Yes, I think it does.” She threw the covers off of her. “If I were to guess, you are used to being the smartest person in any room. Even back at your home. How much of what you know do you ever share with your friends?”
“As much as they need to know.” He did not glance at her.
She walked over and stood beside him. “And you decide how much they need to know, right? Do they have a say?”
“They have their own problems. They hardly need anything else to concern them. My being absent for a bit caused one of them to run off to look for me, leaving his pregnant wife and newly bonded land behind. It’s a terrible thing to do, but he couldn’t help it because he was worried. If I were to tell any of them about the real issues, they would probably destroy themselves trying to help. That is why they are my friends and that is why I don’t tell them anything.”
Again, he said a lot that she didn’t understand, but Alannah felt she had the most important piece of information. “So, who do you talk to when you need help or even advice?”
“No one.” He glanced over at her. “There is no one who has the answers to my problems, so there is no point in burdening anyone else with them.”
It was Alannah’s turn to take a deep breath. “Aiden, before I met you, I believed that too. All of the problems I had, everything that I was dealing with, there was not a person in the world who could help. Yet, here you are, not only helping me, but the people who were hurt because of me.”
“You didn’t have a say in any of it, though.”
“That’s my point. You drifted into my life, unexpected, unasked for, and initially unwelcome. Yet, what you have done for me is… probably more than anyone has ever done for me. My parents largely ignored us growing up because they were too preoccupied with trying to extend the reach of the kingdom. It made it easy for people to exploit their desire for power, and that’s where Riley was able to enter and slaughter most of us. My youngest brother was killed first, but it looked like an accident, so my parents simply would not listen to me. I tried so hard to tell them. They didn’t even inquire into what happened. When Rachel, my sister, died, they were a little less indifferent, but there were still enough descendants to keep their line going. My other brother died trying to protect me. Killed by that coward while pushing me out of the window. Riley stabbed him with a sword, and I saw it burst out of his chest as I plummeted to the cushioning my brother had placed there earlier in the day. That was how I escaped. I was captured, my parents imprisoned, and my sister’s family killed. I escaped by seducing one of the guards, and I’ve only trusted one person since them. I ended up killing him when he… proved to be someone else. Not at all the person he pretended to be. After all of that, I was certain that the rest of my life would be on the run. I occasionally get close enough to the city to learn that my parents are still alive, but I thought there was nothing else I could do.”
Aiden continued to work, packing items for the morning. His words were cold as he said, “Since that story doesn’t seem to have a point, I suggest you go to bed before it gets any later. You will be walking for several days, and if you stay up, you will live to regret it tomorrow.”
“The story did have a point, Aiden, whether or not you want to acknowledge it.”
“And what was it you wanted me to learn from that story?” He turned to look at her, his expression one of seriousness, a look that was quite rare. “That you are just as foolish as you were then? That humans are as barbaric as the stories about them suggest? That you are willing to run to save your own skin? Or was there a deeper meaning in there that is too opaque to find?”
“The point is that I’m here for you as much as you are here for me, Aiden. I can do more than just amuse you. Sure, I may not understand everything, but at least I can listen. Maybe somewhere in my meager human understanding, I’ll be able to provide you with some solution to a small problem so that you don’t have to. There’s no risk of you feeling like you placed a burden on me because I already know that there are slim odds that I can do much. But sometimes just having someone to talk to can help.”
He scoffed at that, then turned away from her. “Spoken like a simpleton.”
“And you are talking like someone who’s given up on everyone.”
He turned and glared at her, “I’ve told you everything you have asked about that pertains to you, and you have barely understood any of it. What good will telling you about Liam’s bonding to two new kingdoms and the associated risks do? How will either of us benefit by me talking about Ethan’s perpetual insistence on being an intermediary when there is nothing he can do, and the way it is eating him up inside? Or Grayson’s vast amounts of emotional baggage for having fallen for a human and now being forced to marry one? How can you possibly give me any kind of benefit by hearing that my father is reaching the end of a very long road to insanity for trying to do almost exactly what Liam is doing? How will any of that help?”
Alannah bit her lip, “Your father’s insane?”
“Really? That’s what you got out of that? Of all of it, that is the problem that I have the most control over.”
“It’s the last one you mentioned, which means it’s probably the one that you least want to discuss. How many people know? Or are you dealing with that one on your own too?”
Aiden threw a pair of pants into the suitcase. “Go to bed.”
Before he could reach the door, Alannah had run up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
“Get. Off. Me. Human.” His voice sent warning signals directly to her brain.
Alannah ignored them. “No.”
“So help me, human, I’ll—”
“You’ll what, Aiden? Hurt me? Refuse to help me? Condemn me to the life I’m already accustomed to? There is no threat you can make that will make me release you.”
His hands were more like claws as Aiden yanked hers off of him. She grabbed his arms, refusing to let him go.
“Gods damn it, human! Why are you ruining this too? Why? It was the first time in so long where I didn’t have to worry about my problems, and you are—”
“It’s alright, Aiden.”
“It is far from alright. You have no idea how far from alright everything is. It’s like no matter how much I do, it’s never enough.”
“I know. I’ve been there too.”
“No, you really haven’t.”
“It’s a much smaller scale, but it is similar enough.”
“You’ve no idea how inappropriate your comparison is. The entire kingdom isn’t on the verge of collapsing because the king is insane.”
“You are right. It isn’t an exact comparison. From everything you’ve said, no one you love has died yet. But I’ve lost nearly everyone.”
“I…” Aiden’s words died before he could say anything else. His shoulders slumped. “You really should go to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day, and you are ruining everything.”
“And you’ve already ruined my plans, so consider us even.”
This got a small snort, “Yeah, but I’m ruining your life in a good way.”
“I’m not ruining your life. Just your source of amusement.”
“That’s probably worse.” Aiden’s voice was quiet as he spoke.
Alannah released him. “Look at me, Aiden.”
“You need to go to bed.”
“So do you.”
He turned his head and gave her a sad lo
ok. “I’ve slept recently, so I won’t need to sleep again for a few more days. At least.”
“What? Really?” This was definitely something she didn’t know, but it did explain why she hadn’t seen him sleep. “How often do you sleep?”
He couldn’t help but laugh a little, “Even after all of that, you get caught up on the strangest things.”
“I’ve never met anyone who can literally go for days without sleeping.”
“Then you’ve only known humans.”
“Be fair. We don’t get a lot of other kinds of species here.”
“Sure you do. There are plenty of my kind roaming around this far north. Well, not exactly my kind. We prefer warmer, drier climates, but similar to us.”
Alannah watched the smile flash across his lips, and again she found herself unable to resist. Throwing her arms around him, she pressed her lips to his. At first, he just stood there, his body stiff in shock. Gently pushing her away, he chuckled, “I don’t know what you are trying to do, but that really is not a good idea right now.”
Taking a step back, the young woman looked away. “Sorry, I just… you looked like you could use a distraction.”
He stood still for a moment. “That’s not even remotely the kind of distraction I had considered when I first saw you.”
“I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have—”
Before she could finish, Aiden had wrapped an arm around her back and was running a hand along her face and down her neck. Haltingly, he drew closer until she could feel his breath on her face. It was sweet and cold at the same time. “This is a terrible idea,” he murmured. “A really, really, really bad idea.” Then whatever was holding him back broke and he pressed his lips to hers.
His tongue slid into her mouth as his hand moved down her back and under her pants. Alannah was shocked by the ferocity of the passion, but found that her body was responding to his touch in a way that she had never experienced before. Everywhere he touched seemed like it was on fire, and she threw her head back and moaned as she moved a leg up onto his hip. He did not need any more of an invitation as his lips trailed down her neck. Aiden’s teeth tore through the ties that kept the top of her shirt closed. One hand seemed to slice through the new bindings he had given her to hide her chest, and the scraps fell to the floor as he lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his hips, but instead of moving to the bed, he pivoted and pushed her back against the wall. One of his hands covered her wound as the other undid the ties to her pants.
His movements were so dexterous and quick that she did not notice that she was completely undressed by the time he slid his tongue back into her mouth seconds later. Her hands pulled his shirt up, forcing him to move back a little and lift his arms so that she could slide the shirt off of him. The feel of his skin against her breasts was like the feel of jumping into cool water. She gasped at the sensation, and he held the back of her neck, his lips nipping down her neck.
“Gods, I want you, Aiden. I can’t—” She let out a little gasp as his teeth pulled at the skin between her neck and shoulder. Her hands ran up his black hair, encouraging him. “I can’t wait. I want you.”
No sooner had she said it again, then she felt him slide into her. Letting out a scream, she arched her back, only partly aware of how he was moving her body along him. There was an urgency to the way he held her, and she found it impossible to think of anything outside of the moment. She screamed out his name as he adjusted her hips to fully penetrate her.
In response, he threw her on the bed. She landed on her back, but he was on top of her before she could fully understand what had happened. His movements were fast and desperate, almost as if Aiden was afraid she was going to disappear if he stopped.
“I’m here, Aiden,” Alannah breathed into his ear. “I’m here. For as long as you need me, I’ll stay with you.”
His movements became a little more gentle, almost as if her words had alleviated a worry. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” his words were whispered, but there was a sadness behind them, almost like he was pleading.
Instead of answering him with words, Alannah wrapped her legs around him and quickly rolled on top of him. Twining her fingers through his, she began to slide up and down as she lowered her body against his. The surprise he felt appeared to fade quickly, and he let her take control.
Chapter 8
Facing the Challenge
Light was beginning to stream into the room when Alannah felt a gentle kiss on her shoulder. Giggling, she turned and opened her eyes. For the first time in a long time, she remembered exactly where she was waking up and what had happened. Lying beside her was the person who had made that possible. She gave him a groggy smile, “Good morning, my angel.”
He winced. “After what we did last night, that is decidedly a wrong classification.”
She pressed into him, “Not from where I’m resting. There is nothing you can say or do to convince me otherwise.”
“Sure, I could. All too easily.”
Alannah opened her eyes and looked at that gorgeous face. The smile on those perfect lips let her know that he was picking on her. She quickly stole a kiss, then pulled a pillow under her head. “You’ve reminded me about hope and that there are people out there who are willing to act, even if there is nothing obviously in it for them.”
“You make it sound like I’m being altruistic.”
“Deny it all you want, but you have done far more for me than you are going to get.”
“Perhaps you have forgotten about last night.”
Alannah shivered, “I’ll never forget last night.” She leaned her head against him. “I’m looking forward to more nights like that.”
Suddenly, she fell back against the bed as Aiden slipped out of bed. “Not going to happen. The fact that it happened at all is bad enough.”
Alannah turned to look at him, but this time he wasn’t smiling. Sitting up, she held the covers over her chest. “Are you… is everything alright?” Her eyes tried to focus on his face, but it was difficult not to take in the sublime figure in front of her.
“Not really. It’s not great to be reminded that I can be weak from time to time.” He pulled on his pants.
“Sometimes it’s alright to be vulnerable.”
He gave her a caustic look, “That’s a luxury that some of us can’t afford.”
“Yet, you can afford to take a break from reality,” she shot back at him.
He ran his hands over his face. “I’m going downstairs. Don’t dawdle.” Aiden didn’t give her a chance to respond before he left.
Frustrated, Alannah began to reprimand herself. Why did you ruin that? Why bring anything up? He’s already made it clear that he’s got a lot of burdens, and then you go and pretend that you can advise him on being weak. That’s one of the stupidest things you’ve ever done. She continued to berate herself as she dressed.
By the time she entered the bar area, her face was creased with worry.
Mrs. Flannery greeted her. “Oh dear. It looks like poor Ally didn’t sleep very well. Do you think he will be alright?”
Aiden didn’t even look at her. “The lad didn’t listen when I told him several times to go to sleep. He’s in for a very rough day today because we are starting out on foot.”
Before she could say anything, a couple of large men entered from the kitchen. “Well, as we were telling you, Aiden, we—” The one speaking noticed Alannah and a smile spread across his chiseled face. Unlike Aiden, it was clear that both of these men could grow some very bushy beards, but at the moment, they sported some stubble that managed to highlight both their faces and thick necks. “Well, well, well, and who do we have here?”
Aiden focused on his breakfast as he said, “Gentlemen, this is that unruly squire I told you about.” He turned his face and gave the men a meaningful look.
“Oh, so you finally found him.” One of the men slapped Aiden on the back, and he jolted forward, his eyes rolling as soon as he got his balance
back.
The other strode forward and offered a hand to Alannah. “I’m Tolenka, and the ugly fellow over there is Filip, my cousin.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tolenka. I’m Ally.”
“My, but you are a pretty young man. If I didn’t know better, I would have mistaken you for a woman.”
Alannah froze, the smile on her face now completely forced. He gave her a wink as Mrs. Flannery said, “Now, Mr. Tolenka, that is no way to treat a young man. You’ll make him self-conscious. While he may be a bit of a problem for our kind knight, Ally is an incredibly sweet young man, and I would rather that not be destroyed. He even helped to rescue our little Lilith.”
“Did he now?” Tolenka asked, a smile on his face as he looked at Alannah knowingly. There was definitely an aura of mischief around this one, though not even remotely like Aiden’s aura.
Alannah sniffed, “It was just a couple of roving thieves. Easy enough for a squire to dispatch. Especially if it meant protecting a young girl and her dog.” She looked around. “Where is Lucky? I haven’t seen him since all of the excitement yesterday.” Only after the words were out of her mouth did she remember that the family had been through a lot. Trying to play it off, she looked around.
To the young woman’s surprise, Mrs. Flannery didn’t seem to mind. “Oh, he missed out on that horrible group of men. He was out with Lilith, even helped bring her home when she sprained her ankle.”
“Really?” Alannah looked at Aiden, but he didn’t return her look.
Instead, he rose and smiled at the innkeeper’s wife. “Thank you very much for the breakfast. If you will, please make sure little Ally gets enough food to help him with the tiring day we have ahead of us.”
“We could lend you a horse or two. It would be no problem at all.”
The two visitors laughed as Aiden bowed, “That is most kind, but wholly unnecessary. Part of his punishment is walking. It will teach him a valuable lesson about running away.”
“Ah,” Mrs. Flannery nodded, “that does sound fitting. I’ll go get him some food.” With that, she headed into the kitchen.
