Suddenly a sound like nothing Kayla had ever heard before vibrated on the air, making the leaves on the trees shake and a cold shiver run up her back.
The cry came again, and this time it was closer.
“And, unless you’re real interested in meeting his mate, we need to be leaving here real soon,” the stranger informed her as he began moving away from the bank.
Kayla followed, but finished working loose the leather strip binding her knife to the shaft as she walked. Remembering the way the stranger had been so careful to clean the possibly corrosive gore from the blade of his sword, Kayla stopped long enough to wipe her crystal blade in the tall grass. She was about to replace it in the sheath when his hand shot out, closing on her wrist.
He turned it in his tight grip to examine the set of initials carved just below the hilt. “K-M. Are those your initials?” he demanded gruffly.
Startled by his sudden change of temper, Kayla stammered, “Y-yes, I mean no.” She twisted her wrist from his hand and rubbed at the red marks circling it. “The knife belonged to my father, Kyle McAddams. I-I’m Kayla.”
Before he could respond, the thrashing of brush and sounds of heavy hoof beats brought them both spinning to face the trees behind them, weapons held ready.
The branches parted to expose the tall, silver stallion herding a squealing black mare before him. With a sharp nip to her satiny flank, he drove the protesting mare to a stop before his mistress.
Hawk’s eyes locked on Garth and his ears flattened to his head in warning. Striking an angry hoof to the ground, he snaked his head toward the stranger.
Garth’s quick reflexes were all that saved him from Shadow Hawk’s slashing teeth.
“Whoa! Easy, Hawk. He’s a friend, I think,” Kayla said as she grabbed a handful of the stallion’s mane and pulled his head away from the frowning man. Affectionately, she rubbed Hawk’s neck, trying to calm him.
A soft snort and neigh reminded her of his newly acquired companion. “And who’s this that you’ve brought with you, lover boy?” she coaxed him in a soft voice.
Hawk flicked his ears forward, snorting loudly at Garth who was trying to approach them again, but the beautiful ebony mare only nickered a greeting and rubbed her head against Garth’s chest.
“Her name is Star Dancer,” he announced in a tone of voice that spoke plainly of his affection for the black mare, “and, girl,” the tone of his voice hardened as he leveled a stern look at Kayla, “you had better explain how you come to be companied by one of the Ral’i, and a stallion no less! It’s well known throughout the Chain that the Ral’i offer their services to no less than the most powerful of sorcerers or sorceresses.” He grabbed at her arm roughly, only to quickly release it to keep out of reach of Hawk’s striking hoof.
“Whoa there, great one. I’d not harm her, only have some answers.” He looked into the stallion’s angry, glowing eyes, seeming to commune with him for a moment before returning his gaze to the face of the slender girl who had cautiously retreated a few paces away. His expression was now one of respect and surprise.
“Come, get him saddled and let’s get moving. We can talk later.” Seeming to notice the girl’s mud-streaked face and clothing for the first time, he added, “We’ll find a place a little safer to make camp, and you can get cleaned up there.”
With a sullen nod, Kayla waded through the high grass with her hand on Hawk’s neck toward the tree where she had left his tack and her few possessions.
Practice had taught Kayla the best and fastest way to saddle the tall stallion, and she was soon ready. A fleeting thought of caution crossed her mind but was immediately forgotten when another anguished roar reached her ears. This time it had come from the vicinity of the slaughtered dragon.
Kayla decided that this was not the time to be coy or worry about a stranger in this place of total strangeness. Pulling herself into the saddle, she leaned forward and kicked Hawk into a gallop that quickly brought them even with Garth and the mare as they raced across the meadow toward the promised safety of the mountainside.
They made good time getting to the end of the valley where Garth led them away from the low-lying meadow and onto a path that took them into the foothills, but the twisting path quickly gained altitude and became too steep for the horses to maintain their speed.
Even slowed to a walk, they slipped several times on the loose stones and gravel and sent small avalanches cascading down the hillside as they scrambled to keep their footing.
As they continued to climb higher, the air began to thin and the trail narrowed, forcing the heaving horses to walk single file. When they finally reached the level plateau at the top, Garth stopped and waited for Kayla to draw abreast of him.
“We’ll turn off here,” he told her. “There’s a good place to camp for the night on the other side of this ridge.”
Out of breath from the climb, Kayla could only nod as she used her legs to urge Hawk onto the new trail behind the mare.
The red sun was just beginning to slip below the tree-lined horizon when the path suddenly opened into a clearing.
Hawk’s steps slowed and he would’ve stopped, but Kayla urged him on. Keeping her eyes on the high cliffs that surrounded the meadow, she cautiously scanned the rough walls for any sign that something might be lurking in their shadows.
“Don’t worry, water dragons prefer the deep, quiet waters of a lake,” Garth assured her, indicating with a nod of his head the small waterfall cascading from the rocky heights of the cliffs into a sparkling pool at its base. “The mountain streams and pools are too cold and shallow for them.”
Drawing the mare to a halt, he dismounted and waited for Kayla to drop to the ground beside her mount. “I’m going to make camp under those fir trees. Why don’t you go for a swim and get cleaned up before it gets too dark,” he told her with a meaningful look at her mud-caked form.
“That sounds like a great idea.” With more bravado than she felt, for she was very conscious of the way she must look covered in grime and wearing such scanty clothes, Kayla threw her saddlebags over one shoulder and quickly unsaddled Hawk so that he could graze with the black mare.
Finding a large, flat rock to sit on beside the pool, Kayla rummaged through her bags. She was relieved, and still puzzled, that most of her things had survived the rough trip from the orange grove. Unfortunately, one of the items that had not survived had been her spare jeans. Made partly of man-made material, they had disintegrated into mere scraps of rotted material.
Shrugging her shoulders in resignation, Kayla leaned back against a large slab of stone and removed her muddy boots and, hesitating for only a moment, she peeled off all of her filthy clothes and tossed them into a nearby water-filled stone hollow to soak.
“Well, here’s hoping that lake monsters really don’t live in the mountains,” she mumbled to herself nervously as she grabbed her bar of soap. Climbing to the top of a large boulder at the edge of the pool, she dove into the clear, green water.
Swimming under the surface, she emerged in the shallows to stand waist deep in the sun-warmed water where she vigorously and thoroughly soaped her hair and body, determined to remove the stench of dried blood and muck clinging to her.
Feeling much too tired and sluggish to dwell on the day’s strange events, Kayla rolled over and floated on her back, basking in the simple pleasure of having clean skin again. As her mind cleared and she was able to think back on the day, she was only mildly surprised that, in spite of the danger she’d encountered, she felt no particular desire to return to what was already beginning to feel like someone else’s life, or perhaps a faraway dream.
Diving to rinse the rest of the soap from her hair, Kayla chased a school of small fish along the bottom until she needed to surface to breathe. Rising, she stood and shook her long, pale mass of hair back and wiped the water from her eyes. She was studying the odd pattern of colors in the walls of stone enclosing the meadow when her gaze fell on Garth, standing naked on the same b
oulder she had used, preparing to enter the water.
Entranced, she stared at the beauty of his heavily muscled body, the skin dark with an all-over suntan as he prepared to dive into the water. He broke the spell when he leapt from the rock, arching into the water where he cleaved the surface so cleanly that he barely made a splash.
Suddenly remembering her own nakedness, Kayla splashed into the deeper water uttering a small shriek at its coldness.
Garth erupted from the water in front of her, his deep brown eyes brimming with laughter. “Hey, where are you going? You don’t have to leave on my account.”
“I thought you were making camp!” Uneasily, she back-paddled away from him, her arms folded protectively to hide her breasts from his gaze.
“Now, how can you swim with your arms up like that?” he laughed. His hand darted under the water and snagged one of her feet, jerking her under.
Kayla broke the surface sputtering, modesty completely forgotten as her temper flared hotly at being dunked. Taking a deep breath, she dove to the sandy bottom and used it to propel herself back to the surface. She emerged only inches from Garth’s body, bringing a tidal wave of water with her to surge over his smiling face.
Bobbing about, laughing hysterically at her prank, Kayla managed to swallow a mouthful of water and began to choke.
Wiping the water from his face with a rueful grin, Garth reached for her and slapped none too gently on her back to clear the water from her lungs.
Still hiccupping with laughter, Kayla allowed herself to remain in his arms as he held her close against his bare chest, still patting her back.
“Were you planning to drink all of the water, or are you finished now?” he laughed at her. Bending his head, he gently nuzzled her neck and kissed her small ear.
Full awareness of her compromising position striking her, Kayla stiffened in his embrace and tried to push away from him. In spite of her innocence, she knew that she had let things go too far already.
“No! We cannot do this!” She struggled desperately to escape his powerful grip. “You don’t understand,” she moaned. “Stop!”
“Don’t be afraid, little one. I won’t hurt you.” Garth held onto her firmly, continuing to cover her neck and face with kisses as he moved them into shallower water. Feeling her struggles easing, he held her more gently and claimed her mouth with his to silence her weak protests.
Kayla allowed her fears to be appeased and gave into the feelings that had assailed her from their first meeting. She could feel the firm muscles of his body as he crushed her against him. His kisses were so unlike what she expected, she thought irreverently as his probing tongue ignited a fire deep within her.
Moving her body against his, she could feel the fully aroused maleness of him pressed to her soft belly. She returned his kisses with a fevered passion that was new to her and brought her small hands to caress lightly the bulging muscles of his biceps.
Garth lavished her firm breasts with kisses and took her nipple in his mouth, sucking gently until it felt so hard. She thought that surely the skin would burst. He closed his teeth on the swollen tenderness of the nipple and felt her body go rigid.
Kayla threw her head back, moaning in pain and pleasure. “Oh please, I don’t think I can bear it any longer,” she gasped as he brought an expert hand between her legs and touched the center of her being, tormenting her until she begged some more, “Please, Garth, please.”
Unable to wait any longer, he grasped her hips, bringing her to him.
Out of her mind with need, Kayla wrapped her legs about his waist and screamed with pain as he pulled her down onto his swollen penis. Yet the pain she felt as he drove into her so deep, seemed only to enhance the devouring lust that burned away all reason. She twisted her hips, grinding her body onto his with uncontrollable passion as she was consumed with need, and she knew that she would surely die if he were to stop.
Matching his kisses with those of her own, she felt Garth’s whole body tense, and it seemed that the world around them exploded as they reached climaxes together.
His kisses gentle now, Garth gathered the limp young woman in his arms. Looking down into her innocent face as she snuggled trustingly against his shoulder, he experienced feelings that he’d thought were not possible for him stirring in his heart of stone. Without waking her, he carried her from the pool to the camp he’d prepared earlier and laid her on the sleeping pallets that he had carefully arranged over piles of pine needles to provide cushioning against the damp ground.
The gentle stroking of his hands and tongue lured Kayla from the sated sleep that had claimed her. A soft moan escaped her bruised lips as she stirred, her body trembling with renewed desire.
Leaving her sweet lips momentarily, Garth laid his long body beside hers on the blankets before returning to reclaim her mouth in a lingering kiss, his tongue gently probing hers. And when he could bear to leave her lips, he moved slowly down her body, trailing kisses along her neck and chest, his tongue teasing her nipples until they were throbbing points of anguish before abandoning their torture to move between her legs. Kissing and nipping with sharp teeth, he made her buck wildly.
Kayla locked her fingers in his hair, alternately caressing and trying to push him away.
“Oh, please, I want you so much,” she pleaded, gasping for breath.
Retracing his path with maddening slowness up her squirming body, Garth reclaimed her lips in a deep, passionate kiss as he entered her.
Pulling her head free to gasp for breath, Kayla sank her teeth into the soft place where his neck joined his shoulder, savoring the saltiness of his flesh and the musky male scent of him. The ecstasy seemed endless as he increased his rhythmic thrusts, only to slow them until she screamed, twisting her small body beneath his to bring him deeper and harder into her until the pleasure was beyond endurance. As she drew her sharp nails down his back, she felt something deep within her respond and reach out for the very essence of her lover.
The shock of the pure power flowing into the center of her being brought her to the brink of an orgasmic chasm and blackness as they plunged into its depths together.
MySoultoKeep
Chapter Three
The aroma of meat roasting over an open fire set Kayla’s empty stomach rumbling and lured her from the confused dreams tumbling through her head.
Ordering her eyes to open, she slowly focused them on the hulking form of Garth, silhouetted against the light of a campfire. Clad only in leather pants and boots, he was slowly turning some kind of meat over the fire. And when he leaned forward to cut a thin slice from the meat, she saw a flash of orange reflect from the crystal blade of a knife almost identical to her own.
Still half asleep, Kayla watched dreamily through her half-closed eyes as he worked. In the dim light, his aura was plain, radiating from his body in soft waves of thick red, tinged with a grey that bled into a dull murkiness toward the center. But at the heart of him, encased in blood red as though hiding in fear of the outer radiance of passion and ill, came a glow of pure white.
“It’s about time you woke up, lazybones, now that all the work is done!” Garth rumbled. Using the back of his hand, he wiped away a trickle of meat juice that was leaking into his beard and casually leaned back to watch her as she raised to a sitting position.
Unconsciously flinching slightly as her body remembered its recent use, Kayla pulled the blanket about her nakedness before getting to her feet. She was halfway to the fire before her full memory returned.
“Hawk? Where is he? Is he alright?” Her eyes searched the surrounding darkness, anxiously seeking him. Not waiting for Garth to answer her, Kayla left the circle of firelight so that she could bring her night vision into focus, trying to catch sight of the horse.
Before she’d gone more than a few steps into the night, there was a soft nicker in answer to her unspoken call from a nearby clump of trees.
“He always hears your summons, even before you call aloud for him, doesn’t he?�
�� said Garth as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“Y-yes, but how did you know?” Kayla turned in the circle of his arms and looked up into the deeper darkness that was his face. “You p-promised me that we could talk later about the things that happened back there at the lake.” Her voice broke but she went on. “I’m really confused. Do you have any idea how I got here to this place? And just where is here? Please, if you know anything at all, you have to tell me.”
Garth tightened his grip on her for a moment to calm and reassure her. “Yes, I have answers for you but sshsshh,” he put a finger to her lips to stop the flow of questions.
“Let’s have something to eat first. Then we’ll talk all you want.” Taking her arm, he led her back to the fireside.
“Here, try some of this duck,” using a large, flat leaf as a plate, he cut a leg from the animal roasting over the fire, “and these tubers may not be quite what you’re used to, but I think you’ll find they taste much like the potatoes you’re used to.” He passed her the improvised plate and a narrow fork.
“Mmm, smells good. Where ever did you get them?” Kayla nibbled at one of the small tubers, exposing the rosy-pink flesh within.
“Well, fortunately for us, I had already been hunting along the lakeshore when I heard all the ruckus between you and our not-so-friendly lake monster or we’d be supping on beef jerky tonight,” he told her as he watched her hungrily eating the food he’d prepared.
Having helped Garth clean the eating utensils in the stream, Kayla returned to the camp. Wrapping her blanket securely about her against the chill of the night air, she made herself comfortable beside the fire and waited for him to return from the stream.
Garth joined her a few moments later. Taking in the look of determination on her face, he settled beside her. “I would like to hear your story first, if you don’t mind. Tell me what happened to you before you found yourself at the Lake of the Water Dragons, then I’ll try to fill in the gaps and help you to understand what has happened, and maybe, why.”
MySoultoKeep Page 4
