Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series)

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  Rykhan and Wyst had gone still as stone, their eyes wide and unblinking as she’d explained. “So as you can see, there’s no reason for you two to be here or anything. It just suddenly appeared and she got scared, maybe even more so when we couldn’t get it off…” Pam let her voice trail away because she didn’t think the men were paying her or her explanation a damn bit of attention. Not from the way they were staring at one another. A look that they shared for more than a few heartbeats.

  Turning his face back to her, Rykhan swallowed. “She did not like her wahrom?”

  “Her what?” Pam wasn’t sure that even Rykhan knew what he’d said. Not when his eyes still held more than a measure of wildness. “I don’t even know what that means.”

  Without saying anything and without taking his eyes from her face, Rykhan slowly lifted the sleeve of his t-shirt.

  At the sight, Pam’s knees crumbled as the world swirled to black.

  *.*.*.*.*

  Wyst caught the much smaller female before her body slid to the floor and gathered her onto his lap. “What did you do to her Rykhan?” he demanded with a glare as he shifted her closer, tucking her head under his chin.

  “I didn’t do anything except show her my warrior’s mark. Is she okay?”

  Wyst twisted to look down at the female’s face only he could not see anything because her blonde curls covered her features. Using a hand, he pushed them aside and as soon as his fingers touched her skin, she moaned. “Pam?” Wyst’s voice gentled as he called to her softly and relief spread through him when he saw her eyelids flutter. “Are you alright, pixie?”

  “Mmm,” she mumbled in reply but it appeared she was trying to open her eyes.

  “That’s it, little one,” the large warrior encouraged as he began to rub the skin that covered her spine. He did not know if his touch would help her come back to herself but it sure, as Tsiran’s beard helped him!

  Soon her frosted blue eyes were blinking up into his hazel ones and Wyst felt his face split into a grin at her befuddled look. “What happened to me? And why are you cuddling me on your lap, Wyst?”

  “I do not know,” he confessed. “One minute you were looking at Rykhan’s wahrom and the next it appeared you went unconscious.”

  She tried to sit up a little straighter but he stopped her movement by placing his cheek against the top of her head. “Shhh, little Pam. Be still and allow your body to come back to itself.”

  He could feel her breath against the opened collar of his shirt and decided he liked the feeling, just as much as he liked having her on his lap and within the circle of his arms. Even though he had met her the same night and at the same venue where Rykhan and Leah had met, he and Pam were only friends who sometimes accompanied their friends on their dates.

  “Okay, so I fainted. Guess there’s a first time for everything,” she whispered and Wyst found he liked her summation and how it seemed as if she was speaking for his ears alone. “But you gotta admit that for both Leah and Ryk to have the same damn bracelet is hella weird, right?”

  “It is normal for our males to have the warrior symbol.” Wyst was uncertain if his reluctance in going into any greater detail was a good thing or a bad thing. He waited to see if she demanded more information.

  It took a couple of seconds but she pushed back to again look him in the eye. It appeared she did wish to talk about it but not in the direction he had anticipated. “Do you have one?”

  “Certainly,” he agreed, having no knowledge that he had nodded his head as he gave his one word answer.

  Her fingers glided over his biceps through his long sleeved shirt as her eyes remained on his. “I can’t feel it.”

  “That is because I do not carry mine on my arm.” His voice stayed hushed as hers wondering why they were speaking so low. Speaking quietly softly caused Wyst to consider the two of them in a cocoon, as if they were the only two people in the room. “Feel the back of my neck, little pixie and you will find it.”

  Her hands had moved to his chest but at his words, her fingers shifted to his shoulders before gliding underneath his hair until she touched the side of his neck. “Higher and more to the back,” he instructed, continuing to hold her gaze as her fingers explored. He knew that she had found his own symbol by the jolt of electricity that ran through his body. When her eyes flared, she jerked her fingers away.

  “What was that?” she demanded on a harsh whisper, holding herself very still as she frowned up at him.

  Wyst felt another jolt move through him but considered it only a shock at her reaction. “Wait. You felt that?”

  Pulling her fingers away, she twisted in his lap. “You betcha I did. Now what the freak was that?”

  He did not know and tried to logically think through why some wisp of a human female felt the involuntary reaction of a warrior’s wahrom. Had she caused it with her touch?

  As his mind raced to make sense of it, Pam twisted even further on him until she was half-hanging over his shoulder gathering and holding his long hair away from his neck. With her other hand, she yanked his collar down and gasped.

  He knew what she saw since he had also spent hours in his ‘tweens staring at his gift. Of course, it had been hard to do because of its positioning. However, by learning to use two mirrors and determining the best angle to view it in, he had studied it closely.

  It was a circle of blue steel, cut and polished so the piece of circular metal held leaf-patterned cutouts amid etched vines that gamboled over the shiny surface.

  To his mind, both then and now, he found it very, very striking. He wondered if Pam would think so as well.

  Rykhan leaned closer but had his eyes on the receptionist. “What is your female doing? By the looks that horrible one is giving us from her behind her glass, I do not think she finds Pam’s position acceptable.”

  Wyst gave a one-shoulder shrug since Pam was over the one on the right. “She wanted to see where my wahrom was located, since I do not carry it on my arm as you do.”

  Either the petite woman had completed her research or because she had heard her name, she turned back around and settled herself. Wyst wondered why she remained on his lap, but he was enjoying the contact. So much so, he did not want to question her and have her move away.

  After straightening her clothes, she glanced at Rykhan and then up at him. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “No, little one,” Wyst was quick to assure her. “Did you see it?”

  Her eyes widened and she glanced away from him before nodding.

  “And did you like it, pixie?”

  She nodded again and Wyst wondered at her silence. In all the time he spent in her company, the short but curvaceous woman always had something to say and had not been shy in sharing it. “It’s amazingly beautiful,” she murmured after a lengthy pause. Her gaze came back to his. “But what I don’t get is how come your thingy is exactly like Granny’s necklace.”

  Wyst was not sure what she meant. That was until she reached to the neckline of her t-shirt and started pulling on a fine silver chain until a heavier piece caught on the edge of the fabric. He watched Pam’s small fingers disengage the piece carefully before she held it up to his face. “Why does it look just like this only in metal the color of my eyes?”

  Wyst dragged his eyes from hers to what she held in her fingers and stiffened in his chair before glancing at Rykhan.

  Why, indeed?

  Chapter Eleven

  “So what you’re telling me is that it can’t be removed?” Leah scowled so hard at the doctor in front of her until she gave herself a headache.

  The doctor shook his head while his eyes drifted back to the x-rays under review by two of his colleagues. It seemed that she wasn’t the only person on the face of the planet who couldn’t understand the metal on her arm.

  “Not even with surgery,” one of the younger men answered as he also stared at the ghost images on the heavy film. “See how it’s anchored within the muscle?”

  “Even wh
en she flexed both her biceps and triceps brachia, the metal shifted as if to allow muscle action. Amazing!” The third doctor, some kind of ortho-specialist, was appeared the most intrigued with the shit that had made an overnight appearance on her body.

  Leah hung her head and closed her eyes. “There’s nothing you can do?”

  “But you aren’t in any pain, correct?” The doctor who’d performed the original examination glanced her way.

  She shook her head and sighed. “No, I’m not in pain. I just want to know what it is and how to get it off.”

  The youngest of the three stepped towards her with a small professional smile. “As we have been trying to explain, we’ve never seen anything like this before. And as far as we can tell, there is no way to remove it.”

  “And since it’s not causing you any discomfort nor any other medical issues, then I would suggest you just learn to live with it,” the specialist finished, patting her knee before moving to the door. With his hand on the doorknob, he stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. “If you change your mind about allowing me to write a paper on it…”

  “I won’t,” Leah said firmly, scooting herself to the edge of the table and hopping down. “Since there’s nothing you fellows can do to help me, is it okay if I go home now?”

  At their nod, Leah eased out the room and made her way back to the lobby after a nurse told her where Pam waited. Pushing through the heavy door, Leah pulled her lightweight sweater tighter around her chest and waist as she searched the small waiting room. While it held more people than it had when they’d arrived, it wasn’t a large space yet Leah didn’t to see Pam anywhere. Just as she’d decided to go look for her outside, Pam’s distinctive giggle caught her ear. Leah glanced at the two broad backs were turned away from her and shook her head.

  “Let me show you, Ryk,” Pam’s voice trilled before a very feminine hand bunch the hair at one of the men’s necks and held it aloft. Rocked to her core, Leah slowly walked to where the group sat, only just then realizing to whom the broad backs belonged.

  Rykhan leaned his head to the side, his eyes following Pam’s finger as Wyst twisted his head away. Pam practically straddled Wyst’s thighs in the chair, the view shooting Leah’s eyebrows up sharply at the sight. “See that vine there? It’s on his right but on the necklace, it’s on the left. But that’s the only difference I think.”

  After crossing her arms on her chest, Leah cleared her throat again. All three of them were caught up on a subject pertaining to Wyst’s neck. They were so deep in their conversation, her noise hadn’t even given them pause. “Excuse me?” she said finally and saw all of their eyes shoot to her.

  “Leah!” Pam yelled and jumped up off Wyst’s lap to hug her tight. “How are you? What did the doctor’s say? Are you alright?”

  Rykhan and Wyst stood as well, towering over her much more than she remembered from the times previously, but she’d been wearing heels then instead of her favorite pair of flip-flops. As well as dressed for going out instead of wearing a pair of pink sleep pants and a matching tank top. Thank god she’d put on a bra and grabbed her sweater before they’d left the house.

  “There’s nothing they can do,” Leah muttered, patting her shorter friend on the back before jutting her chin at the two large bodies that were standing shoulder to shoulder. “What are they doing here?”

  “I became worried when I could not reach you on your phone cell,” Rykhan said, his Caribbean-blue eyes searching her face. Deep concern crossed his features and matched the emotions Leah could sense rolling off of him.

  “He means cellphone, I think,” Pam corrected.

  Wyst added, “I called Pam and she said you were seeing a physician.”

  “Big mouth,” Leah muttered low but loud enough for her best friend to hear. “Well thank you for coming but I’ve got to go home now.” Turning away, she picked up her purse from the floor and headed to the nearest exit.

  “Leah, wait!” Rykhan caught up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I think we need to talk.”

  At his touch, the metal on her arm increased in temperature and her insides began to unknot.

  Ignoring those changes, Leah huffed and met his gaze. “I don’t think this is a good time, Rykhan. I’ll give you a call and we’ll get together later in the week, okay?”

  “No, Leah,” Pam cut in. “I think you’re going to want to hear this.”

  Wyst threw in his two cents as well. “It might even make you feel better.”

  Was it team up against Leah day?

  “Listen, folks.” Leah’s bit out a little more forcefully than she intended, but she couldn’t help it. “I’m tired, I’m frustrated, and more than a little freaked out. This means I’m not in the mood to socialize. So if you’ll excuse me and Pam, she can just drop me off at my place and then you all can go back to whatever it was that you were doing.”

  Each of them blinked in surprise and Leah knew she’d made her point, maybe a little too well.

  “Now you listen to me!” Pam whispered fiercely, going up onto her tiptoes to point a finger up at Leah. “You got me up at the butt-crack of dawn, scared the shit out of me to boot and made me wait around for hours, all without a drop of caffeine!”

  Uh-oh. In her distress over her new body jewelry, Leah had completely forgotten how Pam could barely function without her morning ration of extra strong coffee. Amends needed to be made and fast. “We can stop at Cleo’s before you drop me off. My treat.”

  Arched brows dipped low over glaring eyes but Pam pulled back her finger. Leah could tell Pam was still pissed as hell. “That’d be a start. But you are going to listen to what Rykhan and Wyst have to say!”

  Leah bristled at Pam’s bossiness, especially after everything she’d been through this morning. “Fine! Only not here. Anywhere but freaking here, okay?”

  Turning away from the group and stomping towards the doors, she stopped and twisted back over her shoulder. “But I need a shower and breakfast first!”

  Rykhan rused to her side and pushed open the door. Leah didn’t even glance at him as she stormed passed aware of the whispers between Wyst and Pam who followed. Spotting Pam’s SUV, Leah made a beeline for it, unconcerned if Rykhan kept up with her long strides.

  Surprise held her immobile when she stopped and glanced behind her to see all of them again looking at her with worry in their eyes. Huffing as she adjusted the purse-strap on her shoulder, she frowned at them. “What?”

  “Erm, Wyst and I decided that Ryk will take you back to your place and I’ll go with Wyst on his motorcycle.” Pam chewed her bottom lip then rushed out the rest of her latest scheme. “We’ll pick up coffee and breakfast on the way.”

  Leah couldn’t believe the words coming out of her best friend’s mouth. “So I’m just supposed to make Rykhan wait as I take a shower and then you two will join us later? And somehow the promise of you bringing coffee and breakfast is supposed to make me feel better about everything because you’ve spent a couple of hours flirting with each other in an urgent care waiting room while I was losing my ever loving mind?” She almost, but not quite, screeched at the end of her speech, but damn! Pam’s choice of activities was too much!

  Pam glanced up at Wyst, and Leah couldn’t help but wonder at their newfound unity.

  “Your suggestion has upset her,” Rykhan declared, crossing his massive arms over his chest surprising the woman now standing open-mouthed by his side. “What would make you feel better, my Leah?”

  “Oh, ah,” she stammered, more than a little out of her depth and a little bit ashamed at creating such a scene, especially when Rykhan was being so solicitous of her feelings. “Can you guys give Pam and me an hour? Then we can meet someplace and talk.”

  “Easily done,” Rykhan rumbled giving her a small grin. “I will phone you in an hour and we can decide our destination then.”

  Inhaling deeply, a small grin of relief crossed her face. She liked that he was so willing to be flexible and seemed to
understand her need to process both her morning and his unasked for, unexpected appearance.

  “Good! Now that we’ve got that settled, can we get this show on the road?” Pam cried, throwing up her hands. “I’m going through withdrawal here and am in desperate need of coffee, people!”

  Leah glanced at Rykhan and silently mouthed, ‘thank you’ before climbing into the car. Te warmth of his responding smile throbbed deep within her, taking away some of the stronger emotions of her morning.

  *.*.*.*.*

  Leah felt even better when she and Pam climbed back into the car a little more than an hour later. The coffee, food, and shower had gone a long way in almost calming her into accepting the presence of the band on her arm.

  She’d spent several minutes in the bathroom looking at it in the mirror and replaying all the different tests and the doctor’s reactions to it before deciding the bracelet really was very pretty in a badass sort of way. The physicians had used several instruments to try to find any opening in the links or between her skin and the metal, but they had been just as unsuccessful as she and Pam were earlier.

  They had even tried to get a scraping of it, explaining that perhaps if they knew the composite of the metal, then they could determine the best way to remove it. Instead of obtaining a shaving, their scalpels had broken every time they made an attempt. The x-rays had been their last resort.

  Well, that and the request by the specialist to study it further in order to submit a paper on it. However, once the man explained that while she believed it had simply appeared overnight without her knowledge, he’d needed her to take a psychiatric evaluation first.

  Leah knew she wasn’t crazy.

  She just wanted the damn thing off.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with us meeting with them in their backyard?” Pam wove her car in and out of the small amount of daytime traffic on the 101 freeway. “I don’t think I could take two freak-outs in one day.”