by Jess Granger
“I’m wonderful.” She smiled in spite of the aching pain coursing through her whole body. She’d probably be sore for a week after that run, and the other things.
Cyani stifled a giggle as she thought about the frantic passion of those other things. How long had she been sleeping? She was clean. Her hands gleamed in the soft light. He had bathed her while she slept. A shiver of excitement blossomed in her belly. No one had ever given her such tender care.
She breathed in the sweet perfume of the flowers filling the room. The walls of the room seemed to be carved from seamless wood. Relief sculptures of different animals and plants surrounded them in beauty. Clusters of flowers adorned the walls. Draperies similar to the ones she had seen in Nu’s quarters covered the window, while a soft white light glowed from two golden sconces on either side of the bed.
“Are you okay?” Soren asked, concern seeping into his voice. Vicca leapt onto the bed, turned a quick circle on Cyani’s feet, and plopped herself down. Cyani chuckled but her abdomen hurt from the strain of the run.
“I’m fine. All Azralen pass out when their bodies need to recuperate from something. It keeps us from falling out of the tree if we’re wounded enough to compromise our balance.” Suddenly her mind cleared. “How are you? Are you still ill?” She pressed her palm to his forehead. His skin felt warm, but not feverish.
“I’ve never been better,” he admitted as he pressed a loving kiss to her lips.
“Good, because I’m going to kill you.” She grabbed a pillow and whapped him across the head with it. “You lied to me.”
He laughed.
“Damn it, Soren. You knew you had bonded to me, and you didn’t tell me.” She drew the blanket up over her breasts. “You were going to die because of me.”
“I kept my promise. I gave you a choice.” He planted a soft kiss on her collarbone, right beneath the edge of her necklace.
“You are too damn noble,” she grumbled.
“No, I just love you.” He plucked a deep violet blossom from the post of the bed and offered it to her.
Cyani’s heart fluttered and her hands trembled as she took it. He smiled at her, his eyes glowing a clear bright blue, the exact color of hers.
He gathered her hand in his and planted a soft kiss to her knuckles. “Will you stay here with me? Will you make this your home?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I love you, Soren.”
“What about Azra?” he asked, his tone still doubtful.
“As my brother so eloquently put it, it’s not my fight.” She looked down and smoothed her hand over the blanket.
Soren slid his hand up her thigh and began a delicious massage of her taxed muscles.
“Cyn will be fine. He’s too much like you.”
“I hope so . . .”
He captured her words in his kiss as his hand brushed over her abdomen.
She smiled as she relaxed back into the soft bed. She wouldn’t deny him, not now, not ever. She was addicted to him, too.
She reached for his shoulder, and pulled him on top of her. He slid into her sore and grateful body, soothing the deep ache and creating a new one.
Slowly he made tender love to her until a new dawn touched the sky.
SOREN’S MOTHER CHUCKLED AS CYANI PICKED AT THE HOPELESS TANGLE OF yarn in her lap. The elder woman’s fingers flicked and spun a hooked needle, creating a soft cushiony fabric. Cyani hadn’t mastered the art of untangling the thread.
“Patience, Cyani. It will come to you,” she encouraged.
“I was much better at shearing the silkas,” Cyani grumbled.
Soren’s mother laughed. “I’ve never seen anyone immobilize one in such a hands-on manner.”
Soren entered the house with a laden basket slung over his shoulder.
“Cyani, come with me,” he urged, pulling her up from the wild tangle of yarn threatening to swallow her. “I have something to show you.” He led her outside.
They crossed the vineyard and entered the forest on the other side. She hadn’t explored the forest yet, and didn’t want to get too distracted by Soren’s hungry looks. She wanted to know the garden the way Soren did, every creature, plant, and insect. She wanted to care for it and watch it grow. It was her home, a place of acceptance and peace.
She finally gave up her fight against his amorous hands as Soren kissed the back of her neck and pulled the edge of her skirt up her thigh.
A flash of white caught her eye.
“Soren?” She turned to him, but his gaze was locked on a glade in the distance. He waved at her to be quiet as they crept closer.
“I saw them earlier. I was hoping they hadn’t left,” he whispered.
Cyani couldn’t speak as she peered into the glade. Two pure white horses, each with a single horn in the center of its forehead, stood in the clearing. The bigger male arched his neck as he touched his nose to the female’s in a loving gesture.
“They’re fragile creatures, very rare. They only come to gardens that are perfectly balanced and truly blessed,” Soren whispered. “If they choose to foal here, we’ll have many children.”
“We are blessed,” she murmured as his strong arms closed around her shoulders.
The beautiful creatures whinnied then chased each other through the woods. They seemed to bring with them a promise of joy, love, hope, and peace.
Epilogue
CYN HID HIS SMILE BEHIND HIS RELAXED HAND AS HE LOUNGED IN THE PILOT’S seat. Cyani’s image floated in the holo-screen above Bug. She beamed with pride as she held up a lumpy mass of cloth that looked like a crump fungus.
“It’s lovely, sis, really,” Cyn encouraged. “How’s the cooking coming?”
He kicked his feet up on the controls as he leaned back in the seat. He played with a lock of his hair behind his ear. He hadn’t had his hair this long in years. It was good to be free of the Union.
“Soren isn’t allowed to complain. He’s worse at it than I am,” Cyani responded.
She glowed. Her eyes shone with laughter, love, and a good bit of frustration that was healthy for her. She needed the challenge.
Nothing could have made him happier.
“Perhaps Nu will let me stop by in a month or two, and I can help with the cooking. At the very least you both deserve one good meal this year,” he taunted.
“Hey,” she protested, but she brightened with excitement. “We’d love to have you stay. Vicca should have had her pups by then.”
“And what about you?” he asked.
“We’ll see.”
Someone shouted in the background, and Cyani looked behind her. “I’ve got to go. Vicca just got stuck in a vat of blackwine. She’ll be purple for a month. Stay safe.”
“I will,” he promised.
With a flick she disappeared.
Suddenly the ship seemed very quiet and empty.
He couldn’t think about it. If he did, it would distract him. He had work to do.
Static buzzed in the com. Cyn glanced at it. Who would be calling him?
“Cyrus, you there?” Xan’s voice boomed through the com. “I’ve got something for you.”
Cyn brought his image to the screen. “What’s up?”
“Take a look.” The image of Xan flashed off, and in its place a picture of a tall Azralen woman filled the screen. Cyn felt his pulse quicken as he looked at her. She had light hair, bright lime green that flew in a haphazard array of short wild wisps around her face. Her burning gold eyes were focused, intelligent, and there was something else in them. Something that drew Cyn closer to the screen.
“So this is Yara.” Cyn couldn’t stop looking at her eyes. “She’s pretty.”
“She’s a Union commander and an Elite bloodhunter, so don’t get any ideas. I intercepted a communication to the Union calling her back to Azra. She’s been ordered to hunt down Cyn of Cyori.”
Well then, I’ll make sure she finds him.
“Thanks Xan.” He tapped his finger on the edge of the control screen. Xa
n’s image blinked off.
Cyn smiled as he set his course.
There was an old saying on Earth. Keep your friends close.
And your enemies closer.
