Suddenly his eyes changed. They were grey still but now they seemed to glow. Fiery amber rods shooting from them seemed to pierce the very core of her being. Why did she have to taint the big bad Altarian? Nah'Dara had heard all the stories of what they are capable of. She knew to choose her battles carefully, but now she knew that she clearly overstepped those boundaries. She did not step, she jumped over them and kept running.
Eriq was on the very edge of insanity. Their bodies were too close. He could feel other emotions that he could not otherwise push out of his mind. Desire crept from with in him, tickling the rim of his brain like a warning. Spirit, he wanted her. He wanted to ravage her, taking her here and now without another word, until she screamed his name repeatedly.
It was getting harder and harder to control himself. He could already taste her sweet lips, savoring her taste as he devoured her, feel the soft mounds of her breast between his fingers and still he wanted more. He wanted to feel the press of her against him, feel her sweet heat as he pumped into her, her hot center clenching around her.
Suddenly, it dawned on him. This was not his emotion but was hers. He could feel her in his mind wanting this; wanting this anger and this rage even his passion. His smile was slow and cunning. Give the lady what she wants, he thought as he pulled her closer sealing the gap between them.
Nah'Dara looked at him as he towered over her, her eyes wild and wide with fear. He wrapped one arm around her forcing her closer than she had intended. Oddly, she found that her own body betrayed her, actually melting into him. He looked into her eyes as he lowered his head sealing their lips together. He was the first to taste, to explore, and then to claim.
Her eyes rolled closed, a soft sigh escaped her lips as she responded to the caress of his. Had it been so long since he kissed her? Really, kissed her? Despite his anger, his warm lips moved with the finesse of a lover expressing his love. Her emotions melted away replaced by sensation. Every stroke of his tongue was like a shock of electricity going through her very being.
Eriq pulled her closer crushing her breast to his chest relishing in the feel of the soft mounds against him. He was enjoying this a little too much. The feel of her lips caressing his and the way her soft brown skin felt as he moved his hands along her arms. It had been so long since he freely explored the lips of another woman since his Mireya...
An image of her dark brown eyes entered his mind clouding his every thought. He smelled her. He tasted her. He pushed the image away focusing on the woman he held in his arms. This was not Mireya. This was Nah'Dara, the one that he was going to marry as soon as he got her back to Habias.
The image pushed fiercely within him surging to the surface. With his whole being, he saw her image before him and a loan moan of desire escaped his lips. “Mireya..."
Nah'Dara stopped. It was like a splash of cool water across her face. She pulled away immediately feeling the loss of his warmth. Her lips still tingled were he kissed her. It took every part of her not to lick them. She heard his slip up. The other woman's name still echoed through her mind as her walls went up to protect her from the enemy.
Eriq opened his eyes, the vision of Mireya melted into the long dark haired, dark skinned fiery beauty that he held in his arms. He knew what he said was a mistake. The wound was fresher than he thought and feeling her kiss upon his lips was like throwing salt in the wound.
He looked into her eyes seeing the storm that was brewing there. He wanted to apologize more than anything, but before he got the chance, Nah'Dara pushed against his chest and out of his arms.
Trying to find her voice, Nah'Dara looked at his face not meeting his eyes. A chuckle left her bordering on anger.
"I will never be her! No matter how you think of me, I will never be her!” She stepped around him wanting to get away. The humiliation was too great. Eriq reached to touch her, but she was too fast for him.
"Don't you dare touch me!” She warned. She stepped farther away, out of his reach. “I think its best that you leave me alone for a while.” They were too close even at an arm's length away.
Anguish crossed his face. His grey eyes pleaded with her.
"Nahni, I—"
"Save it, LoMoq. I don't want to hear what you have to come up with next.” She just turned storming away from him towards the cottage to wash away her memories. How could he call her some other woman's name?
Was she that much of a shrew that he would imagine that it was someone else that he held?
How could she let her emotions be so close to the surface? How could she begin to feel for someone who wanted another woman? Just the thought of his touch sent heat rolling through her. The feeling so unfamiliar it caught her off guard. She was hooked even though she did not want to be. What was she going to do?
Chapter 19
Nah'Dara glided left hitting her pretend target in the stomach with her foot. She imagined them falling to the ground. Spinning fast to her right, she caught another assailant in the throat with the blade of her hand. She gave him a roundhouse kick grunting as he blocked the imaginary blow. Camtar was the best reliever of stress that she had found since her parents had died, but she was finding no relief now.
At the cost of practicing for hours, her muscles screamed at her to stop. She did not care. She needed release but it was not coming from practicing. She tried to push the images of Eriq out of her mind. She, more than anything, wanted to burn the feel away from skin, but she knew that was not going to happen. Even now, she craved him, but her thoughts constantly ran over the moment he called this other woman's name.
She growled as she imagined it was him that she was hitting. She gave him a generous roundhouse kick. In her mind, she watched him spin away gaining his footing a second later. She charged to him giving a serious of punches to the stomach and chest for every smart remark, for the sexy look in his eyes, for the lovely color of his lickable abs.
Nah'Dara growled swinging into a dragon punch, putting all of her power into it. She snapped out of her mental world when a large hand gripped her fist. She stilled, her heart pounding in her chest not from exertion but from feeling of being caught off guard.
Eriq stood in front of her swallowing her closed fist in one large golden brown hand. She narrowed her gaze to him pulling her fist back. She stood with her back ramrod straight.
His eyes were dark and unreadable. His lips were pulled in a thin line across his face. Why did he have to look at her like that? Why couldn't he just leave her alone?
"What are you doing?” he asked her as he arched he silver gaze to her. Pushing her shoulders back squaring them, she leveled her gaze. Instead, she just turned away from him not wanting to set eyes on him again.
"Minding mine. Mind yours.” Nah'Dara chided. She stalked off to cross the clearing. She heard him behind her as his large booted feet crumpled the fresh grass.
"Is my company that bad to bear?"
"Yes,” she panted pounding the field as if she was walking for a marathon.
"I wish to talk to you."
"I wish you didn't."
"Would you let me explain?” She stopped then turned quickly. Her anger flowed around her like the heated wind that blew her hair.
"I don't think anything you have to say would matter. Leave me alone.” She turned around quickly and bumped into his chest. She tried to back up but his strong hands quickly gripped her shoulders.
"Stop doing that!” Nah'Dara yelled struggling to get out of his grip. His fingers tightened on her arm but did not hurt her.
"I will if you hear me out.” She struggled for a few seconds longer then finding that it was no use fighting to get out of his arms, she subsided. Sinking her head, she sounded in a voice full of defeat, “What do you want?"
"I have a proposition for you."
"What?” she said flatly.
"We battle.” She looked at him in skeptical disbelief. She shook her head.
"Uh, in case you haven't noticed, you are several times bigger than I am.” He
wanted to fight her, to prove, between them, who happened to be the better fighter. She was sure that he was going to win no matter how hard she fought.
"But you are smaller and faster. If I do battle with you, and win, you have to hear my explanation...” She did not let him finish.
"And if I win, you have to leave me the hell alone.” He chuckled at her remark.
"I accept.” The thought of fighting him suddenly sounded very appealing.
"So do I."
Eriq released her and she backed away keeping her eyes on him. They spread apart, giving each other enough distance. After a bow on his end and a curtsey on hers, they couched into fighting stance.
Nah'Dara opened the fight with a swinging kick that Eriq just moved his head for. After righting herself then turning to eye his smug expression, she spun around to give him a spinning punch. Eriq blocked the blow with his hand surprised that she was so fast. She recovered and went after him with fierce determination.
Eriq stepped to the side, reserving his strength as he watched her. He was amazed at her determination. She sneered at him, a look so primal he had to quiet his pride. He blocked her, just toying around, until she bent and picked up two sticks the size of large clubs. She twirled them around her wrist with precision. The fire in her eyes illuminated her cocky stance. He was not about to let her cause him damage. Finding a couple of sticks of his own to defend himself he waited on her to deliver the first blow.
He crossed his sticks across his body and lowered them to his sides. Her emerald green eyes watched him giving off the prowess of a jungle cat. Then she struck out. With each blow, he danced with her, countering each spin and chop, each time backing up. He did not want to show her his strength or speed. She would quickly lose the battle.
Eriq was surprised that she kept the pace with him though he was not really exerting enough energy to truly give her a fight. He thought he could see the recognition of it in her mind. Glaring, Nah'Dara increased her blows.
"Fight me,” she growled fiercely. Her eyes seemed to glow with each moment. Like a huntress.
"I am.” He said just as fiercely, not breaking a sweat.
"You're toying with me. I can feel it. Stop trying to hit me and hit me.” She spun around, her blow nearly landing to the back of his head if he had not blocked it.
"As the lady desires."
He picked up his tempo swinging the twin sticks without holding anything back. She barely kept up with him. He drilled her back swinging connecting to hers with each blow. With the final move, he drove her to the ground with sheer strength. Having her there, he knocked her sticks out of the way and crossed his at her neck. She stilled suddenly. Her pulse hammered wildly in her throat.
"Yield,” he growled meeting her eyes with fierce determination. Her eyes blazed into his, defiant to the last.
"Never."
"I have won. Yield.” She looked at him a minute longer before lowering her head down in defeat. Her chest heaved with each breath she took. The strands of dark curls were plastered to her head. She lowered her stick to the ground.
"I ... yield.” She said reluctantly.
He lowered the sticks from her neck, extending another hand to her. She slapped away his hand and rose onto her feet her own. She hated to lose. He could feel her self-loathing for defeat. Flinging her wild curls over her shoulder, she looked at him evenly.
"Good battle.” As she turned to walk away, he stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"Wait.” Nah'Dara did not pull away from him this time. That was a good sign, wasn't it? But the look that crossed her face, bordering on pain and fierce anger, he was almost regretting battling with her. “As I promised, I will explain."
Nah'Dara did not want to hear it. She just wanted to be left alone. Not only had she been humiliated before now she was humiliated on the battlefield as well. “What ever you have to say, you have five minutes before I walk away from you."
He sighed, his eyes pleading for her to understand. “She was my wife."
"Was?"
He nodded. “She was killed when the Cylians invaded my home world."
She felt her mouth open again as her foot went inside once more. Regret passed over her face. “I'm, uh, sorry. I didn't know."
"You asked though, and I should have told you.” She felt the anger die down, leaving her body exhausted. She saw the pain in his eyes that he was trying and failing to hide. “Sometimes I'm haunted by the guilt of her death. It comes to me at different times. In dreams, sitting,” He looked at her with apologetic eyes as he continued, “kissing you."
"We were young. It had been arranged for us, to marry each other, since we were children. She was the daughter of the colony general. I was the wealthy son of a merchant. We had only been married a year and expecting our first child. The entire time we were married, we never bonded. We were considering it when the raiding parties came and destroyed our colony.” She did not dare talk now. Not when she felt so selfish and inconsiderate. She had no idea he had been going through all this pain. Of course, she had a very small inkling, the pain in his eye that always seemed to be there, but she never would have thought it was about this.
Eriq stepped closer to her. The heat of his body pulled to her melting her ice. “I never meant to hurt you. Please believe that."
"I do.” Deep inside of her, she did, but she was still guarded. Her heart still hurt, though some of it had lessened. He trailed a hand gently down her face. Her skin tingled at his touch, and the remnants of the dream came flooding back to her. Her pulse quickened craving more of his touch, but it was too soon. She was still too upset.
"I can't,” she said breathlessly. Nah'Dara gently pulled his arm away from him walking away leaving him to stand there in the middle of the field.
Chapter 20
It had been two long day quiet days without the sound of Nah'Dara's questions bothering him. But it had been too long since Nah'Dara even said a word to him. Her uncle was right. She did have a horrible temper. She would not even look at him. Whenever Eriq would enter the cottage, she would either leave or go lay on her cot with her back always to him. What got to him the most was when she would not even let him touch her while they slept. He had pushed the cots together thinking that she would have no choice but to have contact with him but he had been wrong. She would bunch up the blanket to make a fabric divider between them, and then give him the view of her backside.
Spirit, he was the lowest person in the universe. How could he have called the woman that he was going to marry his dead wife's name? Mireya was gone. Nah'Dara was very much different from Mireya. Nah'Dara was not at all as needy. She was beautiful and smart with a spicy attitude that always kept him on his toes. Though they had only been together a few days, he found himself watching her saucy walk. The way her hips swayed with every step did things to him that no other woman could. She had been the only woman who was able to set his soul on fire out of a line of women that had thrown themselves at his feet.
That was not the only problem. On different nights, the image of Mireya would fill his head with memories of her death. Eriq could not stop thinking about her lately. She had plagued his dreams for ten years. He would see in dreams the image of her face running though the fields near their home and could never catch her. She would always turn a corner and then she would disappear. And the anguish would fill him all over again.
Every morning he had been close to Nah'Dara, he had an enormous hard on that was not easily solved by just diving in the lagoon. He wanted her and he wanted her to know just how bad he had messed up. He had gone too many mornings with her beside him. He wanted her to know that walking around fantasizing about her beautiful breasts in his hands was enough to send a man to his grave very happy.
Eriq sought her out on that evening tired of total solitude. Nah'Dara told him that she was going to take a dip into the water also that she was fine without him watching her. He let her go. She looked as if she needed to be alone. He just needed to clear h
is head.
He walked along the riverbank behind the cover of the bushes when he saw her. The moonlight gleamed off her water slick dark skin. The clear lagoon water gently lapped at her waist covering everything below. He watched as she lathered her breast arms and stomach with the liquid soap that he had brought from the ship. He did not want to frighten her away so he hid behind a thick cover of bushes.
Eriq watched as she bobbed in the water clearing off the suds. A small ring of soap gathered around her waist. He had the best view of her large pretty brown breasts hanging free covering in soap bubbles. He groaned as he watched her move in cleansing circles around them. His mind quickly envisioned his hands around them. He loved the view of her flat of her stomach, in his mind; his hands were there as well. Eriq watched her as she ran her fingers through the mass of curls as she lathered and washed her hair.
It practically stopped his heart to see her looking so sinfully beautiful in the water like a water goddess. He could feel the fabric of his pants began to swell where his aching arousal throbbed against it. Spirit, how he wanted to be in the water with her. He could lick every ounce of water off her and keep going. Stilling himself, he would do just that.
It was not as farfetched as he thought. He wanted to strip down and beg her for forgiveness. He wanted her begging. Period. Moaning his name, grabbing his ass as he impaled her relentlessly. Not to mention wrapping those beautiful dark legs around him. Mentally he shivered. He could feel the sweat bead at his brow when he saw her slowly turn around.
He sunk deeper into the foliage, feeling every bit of the adolescent boy looking at his first bare skinned beauty. The sight of her stole his breath. Never had he seen breasts like hers. Her dark exotic nipples stood at attention with the coolness of the breeze. His mouth watered. He wanted to feel them in his mouth, run his tongue all over them, biting and nipping at them. Her flat stomach and wide hips he wanted to sink his fingers into.
Premonitions Page 21
