Forsaken Talisman

by Ashleigh Raine

  Holding her close, he couldn’t help but notice the sweet scent of apples and honey. Her hair, her skin, the smell of her surrounded him. Dusty’s mouth watered. This woman was intoxicating every one of his senses until he couldn’t think of anything but her. His calf burned with every step and he tried to use the sting to clear his mind. He’d surely pay in pain for what he’d gained in knowledge of her flesh. Dusty gritted his teeth and traversed the short distance to the cave, making sure he didn’t trip and land on the woman. Then again he’d much rather land in her and he had to stop thinking about how delicious that would be.

  In an effort to help his situation as well as hers, he kept whispering words of promise and protection as he clicked-in to Fiero. I need you at the cave if you can make it. A little bit of healing to do. Hopefully nothing worse than a bruise or two.

  Sure. Be there in a few. I’m lookin’ in on some stuff for Stephan but I’ll get over there as soon as I can. A demon get the best of you, or somethin’? Fiero chuckled, then the tone of his voice changed. Wait, you were supposed to be watchin’ Craze’s house. What happened?

  It isn’t me. Look, don’t tell Stephan yet, but I went in and rescued the woman. She’s got some bruising, but I don’t think there’s anything worse. She’s fighting me and she’s scared and really pissed off. And she looks…well, I’ll leave that for you to see when you get here.

  You do realize Stephan’s gonna lose it when he finds out you went against orders?

  So what else is new? I saved her, he can deal with it. Just get here soon, okay? I’m gonna need your help. Dusty clicked-out.

  Dusty stepped through the rock wall and into the cave. At his entrance, sconces along the wall burst into flame, lighting the interior. As he passed by the manacles on the walls they used for subduing unruly demons, her fighting resumed with ferocious intent. Her eyes widened and she made screaming sounds through her gag.

  Dusty ached for her. He wanted to comfort her, remove the fear and anger from her eyes. “Look, I swear I’m not gonna hurt you. Here.” He gently laid her down on the soft white sheets covering the mattress that was set in a natural indentation in the rock.

  He was suddenly thankful that Mariah had taken it upon herself to keep the living area of the cave clean and well-stocked with all sorts of necessities. He would’ve hated to put this woman down on dirty sheets. And tomorrow he’d be able to offer her a fresh change of clothes when they woke up. They could even take a bath together in the hot springs…

  Where the hell had that thought come from? He would be watching this woman all night, not fucking her. There would be no baths, no sex, and no stroking those perfect legs teasing him from beneath her nightgown. He swallowed hard as he took off the scarf that had served as her gag and did his best not to notice the inviting curve of her calf and the smooth flesh of her thighs and the perfect—

  “Dammit Dusty!” Her voice came out on a harsh whisper and she coughed. As he leaned forward to tug the skirt of her nightgown down over those bewitching legs, she backed away and glared up at him. “What the hell are you doing? Where’s Stephan? He’s not coming over here, is he? He’s gonna kill me.” She pressed herself against the stone wall, as far away from him as she could get.

  Dusty froze. She spoke as if she were Mariah. She knew him, knew Stephan… Who was this woman and what was she talking about? He had to think of the right questions to ask, the right way to approach her without scaring her further. And, he reminded himself, he had to stop looking at her nipples showing through the nightgown.

  “Okay, slow down. You think Stephan wants to kill you?” He desperately tried to get his mind back on track.

  Her eyes flashed angrily at him as she spat her reply. “Who do you think punched me and left this bruise on my face? And promised to kill me if I ever left him? You saw how angry he was with me tonight.”

  Dusty’s mind raced. Hearing those words coming out of this woman’s mouth was disquieting. Stephan was overprotective, but he’d never hit Mariah, would he?

  Dammit, of course he wouldn’t. Stephan would never hurt Mariah. And this wasn’t Mariah…couldn’t be her. He spoke slowly. “When was Stephan angry with you? Was it after the meeting?” Something had to start making sense. Nearly everything about her was shrouded in mystery. Well, except for all those graceful curves underneath that nightgown.

  He forced his gaze up to Mariah’s eyes—no, not Mariah’s eyes, he couldn’t think that way—and they looked at him confusingly as she spoke. “What meeting? What are you talking about? It was after the ball. Stephan was mad at me after I kissed David. I didn’t mean to kiss David but he was so…nice.” Her lower lip trembled and her eyes beseeched him to understand.

  “Nice? The guy kissed you—Mariah—not the other way around. I’m thinking the man who held you captive in his house roughed you up.”

  “Held me captive? He took me in, gave me a safe haven away from Stephan. David was never anything but a perfect gentleman to me. Why did you take me from him? I thought you were my friend. I thought I could trust you. I guess I should have known. You protect Stephan’s interests, even if that means getting me killed in the process.” She closed her eyes in resignation and rested her head on her bent knees.

  Dusty sighed. It was hard for him to balance his instinct. His gut was telling him that she was in serious need of help and his Shadow Walker brain was telling him that she could be a deadly trap if he fell into her. And unfortunately, his cock was telling him that it wanted to slide into her slick pussy and never leave. But all of those feelings just seemed to be an amplification of his need to keep her close to him, to take care of her, to make her realize that he would never do anything to hurt her. He shook his head to straighten himself out. “I am your friend. I always will be. Nothing can ever change that. Look, I promise to keep Stephan away from you if you don’t try to fight me anymore. I want to untie you, but I don’t know if I can trust you to stay here with me. Can I, Mariah? Your name is Mariah, right?”

  She raised her head from her knees and looked at him like he’d gone crazy. “Yes, you stupid ass. Did Stephan hit you, too? Just let me go!”

  “Take it easy. I can’t let you go just yet.” With insults flying at his back, Dusty walked over to where the miscellaneous demon restraining and torture devices were kept. Some were rusted from lack of use and others were in complete disrepair. It’d been a long time since they’d used the cave for its original purposes.

  There had to be something small that she couldn’t escape from. Some old manacles would do the trick. The length of chain between them was long enough that she’d be able to get off the bed, but not get out of the cave. And there was no way she could chew through metal.

  Dusty turned around in time to see the woman undoing the belt binding her feet together. He couldn’t help but grin. She was a firecracker. And pretty damn flexible if she’d been able to get her still tied hands from her back to her front. In spite of himself, he couldn’t keep his mind from wondering what she’d look like with those arms wrapped around him as he brought her to orgasm.

  She looked up and met his eyes as she slipped the last loop of belt free from her ankles. Jumping to her feet, the belt still held in her bound hands, she glared at him. “I won’t let you chain me up.”

  Dusty sighed. Shit. He was stuck. He couldn’t not chain her up. Yet more than anything, he wanted her to trust him, to understand that he wasn’t the enemy.

  She advanced toward him, holding the belt in front of her like a weapon. Dusty swallowed hard. How was he supposed to deal with this? A beautiful woman facing off with him made it hard enough to focus, but add in the fact that her nightgown was nearly transparent from the light shining behind her, and he was useless.

  Raising his hands in the air, he approached her slowly. “Look, you know me. I’ll go up against Stephan for you. But until I know what happened to you—”

  She darted around him, wielding the belt like a whip, but her escape attempt was over before it had be
gun. He grabbed the belt, yanked her to him and caught her around the waist while she kicked and screamed at him. He inhaled her sweet scent, nearly able to taste her on his tongue. Gritting his teeth, he laid her back on the bed, using the full weight of his body to hold her down. During the struggle, her nightgown had twisted up, allowing him a glimpse of the pussy he’d been fantasizing about. He quickly pulled the fabric back down to avoid doing something he might regret. She bucked against him and he fought the unheroic urge to kiss her into submission. His body could only take so much and just looking at her almost had him over the edge.

  With most of his weight still on her, he pulled off his shirt. Her eyes flared and she stopped fighting. “J—Just what are you planning on doing to me?”

  Dusty gave her a sardonic stare. “Not what I’d like to.” He caught her feet and clipped one manacle around her ankle after using his shirt to protect her delicate skin from the rusty metal.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” She looked up at him, the fight still visible in her eyes.

  With increasing difficulty, he climbed off her body, trying to hide the evidence of what their tussle in the bed had done to him. Could she be more enticing?

  Her eyes widened. “Oh.”

  He obviously hadn’t hidden it well enough. He clipped the other end of the manacle to a steel bench that was bolted into the bedrock and then returned to the bed, sitting on the edge. She watched him closely but remained silent as he untied her wrists. When they were free, he massaged away the marks left by the purse strap. “Sorry about that. I don’t like having to keep you restrained, but I need you to talk to me. You’re not the real Mariah.”

  “What?” She jerked her hands free from his grasp. She appeared briefly stunned and then laughed like he was some kind of idiot. “Real funny, Dusty. I’d forgotten about your odd sense of humor.”

  As she’d laughed, her breasts had bounced, teasing him with their fullness. He forced himself to stare not at her, but at the wall behind her. She was too damn tempting. There had to be a way of cooling himself off, but then again, she would just reignite his fire as fast as he could extinguish it.

  Fiero appeared in a quick flash of light, in effect saving Dusty from further torment.

  The woman looked up with a wry smile. “Hi Fiero. You didn’t happen to come rescue me from my kidnapper, did you? The oaf here doesn’t trust me.” She sighed and gave Dusty a sideways glance. “I don’t blame him.” Her eyes returned to Fiero. “You’re not gonna take me to Stephan either, are you? Please don’t.”

  Fiero clicked-in as he approached the woman. Damn, Dusty. Craze must have done a pretty hardcore mindfuck on this woman. I can tell without even touching her that she absolutely believes what she’s saying. I’m gonna go in and see what I can do other than just healing the bruises. Out loud he spoke to the mystery woman. “I won’t take you to him. Especially if he was the one who hurt you like this.”

  She vigorously nodded her head. Dusty could see the fear in her eyes.

  Do what you need to do. Just see if you can get her to understand I’m not gonna hurt her. Hopefully she’ll figure it out on her own that we’re the good guys.

  I’ll do what I can. Fiero sat next to the woman and placed his hand over her bruised cheek.

  “I’m not in any pain, Fiero. You don’t have to heal me. I’m fine.”

  Dusty climbed off the bed to give Fiero more room to work and to help cool himself off. The woman shifted into a fetal position, pulling away from Fiero’s healing touch, tucking herself as far away from the two of them as she possibly could. Her voice was a small whisper. “Would you both just leave me alone? I’ve had a long night and would like to sleep.”

  Fiero leaned over her, placing both hands on the top of her head. “I just need to check—”

  “I said leave me alone!” She kicked out with both feet and would probably have shot Fiero straight off the bed if he hadn’t quickly changed to his intangible form. Although Dusty was worried about the woman, something within himself cheered at the sight of her tenacity. In her own way, she was a fighter, too.

  Fiero shifted back to corporeal form and placed both hands on her forehead. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly as her eyes closed and she slipped into unconsciousness.

  “Is she okay?” Dusty rushed back to her side. She looked so innocent and helpless and worst of all, trapped. He smoothed out her nightgown once more. He noticed his hands were shaking as they slid the fabric over her body and he instantly felt guilt for the pleasure touching her allowed.

  Fiero’s hands remained on her forehead. “Physically, she’s fine. It’s her mind I’m worried about.” He closed his eyes and green light sparked from his fingertips. “She’s had severe memory rearranging, if you will. She has some of Mariah’s memories, but not all. In her mind she absolutely believes she is Mariah. I dunno how Craze did this and I don’t think I can completely undo it, but let me at least see if I can get her to understand that she isn’t Mariah.”

  Dusty watched in silence for several minutes as Fiero remained locked on to the mystery woman. Drops of sweat glistened on Fiero’s face and his jaw clenched in concentration. Finally, Fiero lifted his hands from her forehead and let out a sigh of relief. “It’s done. I untangled the weave of Mariah’s memories…removed the hex on them that made her believe they were hers. I tried to break through to her real memories, but it’s like a huge barrier is in place. I can’t get through it. Funny thing is, I think she threw the wall up herself, to protect her mind from Craze. I don’t feel like it’s dark magic in place. She’s gonna have to lower her defenses. And until then, I have no idea who she is.”

  “Thanks Fiero. I don’t wanna keep her all locked up, but I don’t want to chance that she’s gonna freak out and run, either. Poor thing is terrified.”

  Fiero climbed off the bed and stood next to Dusty. “Well, all I can say is watch your back when you’re around her. I don’t know what she’s gonna be like when she wakes up. She might be even more terrified or she might be just fine and be able to tell you who she is. Or maybe none of the above. All we can do is wait and see.”

  “Thanks, man. And don’t let Stephan know about her yet, okay? I don’t want him to be pissed about her because I went against him. Give me some time with her, see what I can find out.” Dusty smoothed the hair back from her face. In the short time he had been in this woman’s presence, she’d really brought out the protector in him. He placed a blanket over her and tucked her in, thanking his lucky stars that she had fallen into his life.

  “You’ve got until morning. You know that Stephan will figure it out by then when he starts planning her rescue. If she’s still pretty messed up when she wakes, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.” Fiero disappeared.

  Dusty watched the woman sleep. She’d turned on her side, curling one hand underneath her cheek. She let out a quiet sigh and snuggled deeper into the bed, a small contented smile covering her face.

  He gave in to his urge to touch her, tracing his fingers down her cheek and along her jaw. Her skin was so soft, so delicate, belying the strength and determination she’d shown earlier. Now that Fiero had removed the bruise, she looked even more like Mariah, although at the same time he could see subtle differences. Her face was slightly rounder, her hair had a bit of red tint. And her body wasn’t as tightly molded as Mariah’s. This woman didn’t have a dancer’s body; she was more naturally shaped with feminine curves in all the right places.

  What was it about this woman that made him want to hold her tight against him, soothe away her fears, and promise her things he’d never promised anyone else?

  Instead of climbing onto the bed and wrapping himself around her, Dusty sighed and ran his hand through his hair, settling himself in a chair next to where she lay. This woman was a mystery, her presence creating so many questions for him. Who was she? Where had she come from? What did Craze have planned for her? What part did she play in Craze’s game of revenge and death? How could he protect
her?

  And how the hell was he gonna keep his hands off of her in the process?

  Chapter Five

  Twyla managed to hold back her grin when she glimpsed Dusty run out of Craze’s house with a woman in his arms. They’d done it! Now it was her turn to get out of there.

  She followed Craze back inside the house, celebrating her multiple successes tonight. He had yet to learn that she’d picked up images when she had blocked his invasion of her mind. She wanted to be far away when he made that discovery.

  But then an hour crawled by and she was still there with Craze, purse strap still over her shoulder ready to leave, still talking about the latest Talisman Bay gossip, fun places to hang out on Saturday nights and how nice the weather had been. Every time he asked an inane question, she tried to steer him back to something of substance but it never quite worked.

  Her role as the welcome wagon in his charade of being a new neighbor had to end before she lost all of her patience. He was acting like a different person—almost devoid of bitter hatred. But Twyla wouldn’t let herself be fooled. She drank her wine and let him talk even though she couldn’t get much out of him other than that he wished the local wine store had a larger selection of French Bordeaux. And that didn’t tell her anything about him that she didn’t already know—that he was a snobby rich boy who wouldn’t know anything truly worth having if it bit him in the armpit.

  Craze set his wineglass down on the coffee table and turned to face her. “It’s nice to see that out of his many faults, Freeze’s taste in women was not one of them. I am starting to see how you mesmerized him into betraying me.”

  So the small talk was finally over. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried. Twyla lifted an eyebrow and returned his stare, pretending nonchalance. She didn’t want to talk about Freeze anymore…she didn’t want to talk about anything with Craze anymore. She just wanted out of there. “I didn’t do a damn thing to him other than fuck him. Then again, men really are that easy, aren’t they?”