by Sharon Kay
GUNNAR DIDN’T BREATHE until he had Nicole behind the closed door of her room. He hadn’t let go of her as they walked through the colony. They’d offered to help move the wounded nymphs to the infirmary, but Rivkin’s healer insisted that she had more than enough volunteers. Some nymphs looked dazed, and others looked at Nicole with a new, awe-filled adoration.
He didn’t want to think about what could have happened to Rivkin if he and Nicole hadn’t been here today. Her display of power had astonished both sides of the battlefield, and word of her existence would spread like wildfire. That was one more reason to not let her out of his sight. Although many would not believe that the Solsti had returned, others would jump at the chance to capture a creature as rare as she.
He hated knowing that she was close to the action on the field, but his strategic battle instincts won out over his protective instincts. Though she had yet to develop her ability to its fullest potential, she could still help the nymphs. And as he had stated before, she wasn’t defenseless. Having only watched her tussle with a few ignorant criminals in tough human neighborhoods, he never imagined how much power she could wield in a true battle. Seeing her courage today, her utter determination to help the nymphs only heightened his feelings for her. When she had turned the Vipers’ own arrows against them, the creatures weren’t merely shocked, but were confused and afraid. And that had sealed their fate.
Still holding her upper arms in his hands, he gazed down into her green eyes. “I am so proud of what you did today.”
She smiled. “Me, too. I mean, I’m glad I could help. I...I didn’t know exactly how things would turn out.”
“With Vipers, you never do. Remember that.” He cupped her chin and tilted her mouth up to meet his lips. She kissed him hungrily, no doubt the heat of the battle still flowing in her veins. He indulged her for a minute, then pulled back reluctantly and studied her. “You looked a little pale out there. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m always pale,” she murmured. “But if you get me all revved up, I won’t be pale anymore. I’ll be nice and–”
“Stop, vixen.” He laid a finger on her lips, and then remembered the things she had done to his fingers with that mouth. He caressed her silken cheek instead. “Have you ever used your ability for so long, and in that capacity? Directing multiple air currents at the same time?”
“Not really. I did it in practice a few times, but only for a few minutes.” She pouted at him. “I’m fine, Gunnar. More than fine.” She started to trace circles on his chest with her fingertip, and then stopped and made a face. “What on earth is that?”
Some Viper’s blood and a bit of tissue was stuck to him. Well, he thought wryly, he did want to change the direction of her thoughts, for the time being anyway. There would be time later to thoroughly examine his Solsti and make sure she was truly okay.
He looked down at his chest and frowned. “I need to get cleaned up and make a call.”
“You have a phone here?” she asked in surprise. “Cell phones work on Torth?”
“Not a cell phone.” He pulled a small device from his pocket. “On Torth, we have gem phones.”
She held out her hand and he gave it to her. “Wow.” She gazed at the small device. “I don’t remember seeing any cell phone towers around here.”
Gunnar chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Ley lines, my dear.”
They had been so occupied in the last few days that he hadn’t thought to show it to her. The gems were, like their namesake, saturated with deep colors. His happened to be a rich garnet. Any creatures on Torth could find them, usually in the cities, and always for a price. They were used in much the same way as cell phones were on Earth, but his had the addition of an energy-recognition feature. With hundreds of different species roaming around, it helped to have a virtual encyclopedia on hand to identify different creatures’ strengths and weaknesses.
“I need to call Raniero and let him know what happened.”
She handed the gem back to him. “Of course. We need to go home, but we can’t leave Rivkin undefended.” She paused. “Do you want me to leave? Do you need to speak privately?”
He grinned at her politeness. “Stay. Anything regarding today is your business as well as mine. And I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
She smiled and collapsed on the huge bed. “Good. I’m going to take a nap, since I didn’t get much sleep last night.” She winked at him, then curled up into a ball on top of the coverlet and closed her eyes.
Raniero sat high in a tree, surveying the clearing below. The Serus demon would be coming through any minute to get up close and personal with one of his custom-made barbed arrows. He normally didn’t use anything special, just a quick strike to eliminate his targets. But this mark had pissed him off with his uncanny ability to avoid his fate. When Raniero had a job to do, both his colleagues and his enemies considered it done. Not that he had many enemies; at least not many who were still breathing. His official responsibilities among the Lash Watchers, as well as his unofficial and covert one as a conscripted killer, made certain of that.
His demon hearing picked up the snap of a twig a hundred yards away. He readied his bow. There was no way the Serus would anticipate Raniero’s presence here. As the creature lumbered through the trees and into view, Raniero let the first arrow fly, swiftly followed by a second, just to make sure the demon was incapacitated.
The Serus’ bellow was cut short as both arrows sank deep into its flesh. It tried to pull them out but only succeeded in aggravating the wounds. Raniero leapt down from his branch and hurled a ball of demonfire at it, finishing it off.
He stood a short distance away and watched the burning corpse. Finally. That bastard had been a pain in the ass to kill. Luckily, his fellow warriors hadn’t had any reason to question his absences; they assumed he was entertaining female company or on an extended patrol. Which he frequently was. Raniero always covered his tracks.
He hadn’t always been so guarded. But decades ago one man’s cruelty had forced him into a lifestyle of secrets and shadows soaked in death. It had been a century ago. The meeting stood in sharp relief in his mind, vivid brush strokes that no amount of time could fade.
Raniero paused in his briefing when the conference room’s heavy door opened.
“Father, I–” echoed in the quiet. The voice, dulcet and husky, caressed his skin. The female that it belonged to peeked around the door, stopping Raneiro’s heart.
“Later, child. We’re not finished here.” Cale gestured for her to leave.
But not before she looked toward Raniero, rendering him speechless. Huge, luminous green eyes gazed at him from her heart-shaped face. Straight ebony hair cascaded around her shoulders and down her back. Her toffee-colored skin was warmed by the summer sun, and a diaphanous pale coral gown clung to her sweetly curving breasts and hips. Her eyes darted from his to glance back at her father, and then she backed out of the room.
Later he sought her out. Ashina. Her name rolled on his tongue like fine wine, his senses overloaded with the melody of her voice. The image of her standing in the doorway, bright colors and feminine curves, called to him.
He spotted her standing at a window, her back to him. Closing the distance between them, he stood close enough to inhale her sweet scent. He leaned in, lips at her ear, and said, “I’ve been looking for you.”
He anticipated her gasp and whirl, catching her upper arms to steady her. The look of joy on her face was a sunrise in the desert: bright, shining, not a cloud to cast a single shadow.
“You wanted to talk to me? Not my father?” Her voice came out higher than it had earlier, but by the smile that reached her eyes, it was from excitement and not nerves.
“You.” He smiled and released her arms, only to reach for her slender hand. “Walk with me?”
They strolled in the vast, sprawling gardens for hours, talking and laughing. Though he had known her for less than a day, his soul reverberated with the sense that s
he was different from any woman he had met. A mix of emotions built as he walked at her side: the desire to touch, to claim, and to protect her. His body also roared with the urge to tuck her against his side. Forever.
“Looks like the first oranges are ready.” He pointed to the ripe fruit hanging from several trees in a nearby grove. The tropical scent filled the air as he led her into the trees. He plucked one and scored it with his dagger, removing the peel in one long strip.
“I love oranges,” she whispered.
He raised a segment to her lush lips and she bit into it, giggling as a tiny trickle of juice ran down her chin. She went to brush it away but he caught her hand.
“Let me.” He traced his finger along her jaw and down her throat, capturing the drop. The smile faded from her gaze, replaced with startled wonder. Lips parted, her eyes tracked his hand as he brought it up and sucked the droplet into his mouth.
He released his finger and extended it to trace the contours of her lips. A shaky breath escaped her, and his control abandoned him. He pulled her close and covered her mouth with his.
She tasted like oranges, her lips soft and giving under his. And inexperienced. He processed the thought with a flare of satisfaction. He would be the one to bring her pleasure one day. She was young enough that her father still saw her as a child, but old enough that no one else did. Her innocence melted his heart.
In the days after, he requested an extension of his assignment at Ashina’s enclave. But a nest of marauding Neshi demons marched relentlessly on Torth’s Western Forest. All available Lash demons were needed to fight. Forced to leave, he held her and kissed the top of her head.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised, stroking her hair.
It took longer than expected to subdue the Neshis. Weeks passed before Raniero retuned, his heart bursting as she rushed through her doorway to greet him. Being away from her was one of the hardest things he had ever endured.
They planned to meet in the gardens later that night, when everyone else had gone to bed. Arriving first, he waited in the orange grove, acutely aware of her delicate steps growing ever closer. She tiptoed into his line of sight. Their eyes locked as she broke into a run and leapt into his waiting arms.
He savored her sweet kisses, the scent and taste of her a balm to his soul. And when she unexpectedly licked the seam of his lips with her tongue, his world went black. He opened for her exploration, her tentative forays driving him wild.
With a growl, he set her down and guided her deeper into the gardens, to a section that had been allowed to grow more wild. Finding a secluded copse of silver birch, he backed her against one pale trunk and kissed her with raw possession. A soft moan escaped her lips, sending fire through his veins. His muscles shook with the need to claim her, but he forced himself to go slow. She was his. They would have a lifetime together.
He pulled her silky blue dress over her head, sucking in a breath at her exquisite form. Clad only in white lace panties that stood out against her toffee skin, she bit her lip and looked down.
“Sweet Sheena.” He captured her face between his hands. “You’re beautiful.” He kissed her lips reverently, shaping them with his, until her boldness returned. She opened for him and he swept his tongue inside the warm cavern of her mouth, tasting honey sweetness that made his body harden in anticipation.
He lowered her to the soft grass and stripped off his clothes. She watched him, radiance lighting her face, arms stretched toward him.
“I love you.” It came out as a husky growl as he prowled up her body, kissing every inch of baby-soft skin.
“I love you, too.” She tugged him up for another delicious kiss.
He covered her body with his, claiming her mouth with slow, deliberate strokes. She met his tongue with her own, proving to be a quick learner. Her eager passion ignited his own as she arched toward him in encouragement. She fit him perfectly. He nipped at her throat, unable to hold back the waves of love and desire. Lying under the stars, she exuberantly gave him her innocence, forever marking him with her devotion and trust. She owned his soul.
The night was as perfect as anyone could ask for, and they lay watching the moon rise high overhead. Foreboding prickled along his skin just as a crashing in the trees tore their world apart.
“What the fuck is this?” bellowed Cale, bursting into the copse with two of his men.
Raniero pushed Ashina behind him, but the men grabbed him, dragging him several feet away.
“Whore!” Cale’s face turned red with rage as he drew back his arm for a brutal backhand that sent Ashina flying to the ground.
Raniero lunged for her, but the men held him in a vise grip. Cale’s sword was already at his neck when she landed in the grass.
“I have every right to kill you,” Cale hissed. “But I have another use for you. If you want her to live, you’ll agree.”
Another of Cale’s men stepped from the trees and picked up Ashina’s sobbing form, holding a dagger to her throat.
“No!” Raniero surged against his captors’ arm, but only brought his neck against Cale’s blade. The tangy scent of blood wafted up to his nose.
“She dies right now unless you agree to work for me,” Cale said, his voice full of menace. “One hundred years. You will do what I ask. And you will never lay eyes on her again. Ever. Or I will kill her.”
Blood boiled in Raniero’s veins. The need to kill Cale, or anyone who would lay a hand on Ashina, filled every fiber of his body with rage. But he could never cause her harm. In one beat of his heart, the hardest choice of his life morphed into the easiest one. He would sacrifice everything to keep her safe.
“I agree,” he said, though the words tore his heart as jaggedly as Ashina’s soft weeping.
Eventually, her father would soften his stance. Eventually, Raniero would find her. Eventually…
Raniero cursed the smoking corpse in front of him. His contract of one hundred years’ service was nearly up. At first he had searched continuously for her. In every city and forest, in his work for the Lash or as Cale’s mercenary, he inquired as to her whereabouts. He was able to discover that her father had banished her to another realm; but which one, he didn’t know. He had no idea if she was still alive, if she still loved him, or if she had mated another and moved on with her life.
The uncertainty began to drive him mad, and after a few decades the part of his heart that belonged to her had been buried under the weight of his frustration and grief. Being forced to work for her father was constant salt on the wound, but he learned to hide all emotion when dealing with the demon. He completed each assignment and then waited impassively for the next one. And if he ever had any free time, he spent it buried between the willing thighs of beautiful females. He never had to look hard to find them; in fact, they seemed to stumble upon him wherever he went. He gladly let his reputation as a ladies’ man grow to precede him, because then the twin darknesses of his past and his present would remain unseen and unsuspected. As if the man he had been, as well as the woman he had loved then, ceased to exist.
He looked down and saw that the Serus was nothing more than a pile of ashes. Pulling his gem phone from his pocket, he notified Cale of the completed task. He turned and broke into an easy jog as he headed for a nearby safe house.
His thoughts turned to the call from Gunnar he’d received earlier. The Vipers’ unprovoked attack on the peaceful wood nymphs pissed him off. It didn’t make sense. The vicious snakeheads already occupied a decent amount of territory in the area. Perhaps they wanted to tip the delicate balance of power that the Lash demons strove to protect. Perhaps it was a harbinger of the reason for the reemergence of the Solsti.
He had been shocked to learn that they were real. As would most residents of Torth, he surmised. After all, the legends had been passed down for so many centuries that most creatures weren’t even sure if the Solsti had ever existed. But meeting Nicole and seeing her power first-hand had been exhilarating. He knew she had yet to
develop her potential to its fullest, but she and her sisters would be truly formidable one day.
His friend Gunnar was a lucky bastard, he thought wryly. Raniero wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between his comrade and the pretty Solsti. But if the lingering looks they had been giving each other were any indication, Raniero could guess. That and the fact that when he had departed the safe house early in the morning, Nicole’s T-shirt had been on the living room floor and they had been tucked away in the other bedroom.
Raniero grinned, knowing he would find his own fair company among the wood nymphs. He and a few other Lash Watchers would take the first several days of guarding Rivkin. The nymphs’ reputation for delighting in the pleasures of the flesh well exceeded even his own. Coming to the aid of the nymphs would be among the most coveted of assignments, despite the threat of Vipers.
“Anything further?” Taszim asked the group. Sunlight filtering through the trees shone through the glass walls of the conference room, lending it an open air feel. The rays also illuminated Nicole’s blond hair with a soft light, making her look like an angel.
My angel. Gunnar pulled his attention away from her to respond to Taszim. “I think we’ve covered everything. Tomas and I ran a wide perimeter patrol earlier. You’ll continue those at regular intervals. More sentries round the clock. And Lash guards will arrive tomorrow.”
Taszim glanced around the table at his sentries, then nodded. “We implement the changes immediately. That is all.” He stood, and the rest of the nymphs followed suit.
As they filed out the door, Taszim laid a hand on Gunnar’s shoulder. “Come with me.”
Gunnar took Nicole’s hand as they followed Taszim through the trees to his nearby office. The nymph leader gestured for them to go inside and entered behind them.
“I believe we have business to finish.” Taszim crossed the room and walked to a colorful tapestry hanging on the wall. Drawing it to the side, he revealed a door secured with a silver lock. He unlocked it and reached inside, pulling out a small glass jar. It was round, with a raised circular corked opening on top. “Rivkin is in your debt. The ash is yours.”
