A Warrior's Heart (Shields)

by Grant, Donna

  “So you looked into its thoughts,” Rufina supplied.

  “Aye. It was me who stood there with an arrow notched and waiting. I knew then that I needed Theron.”

  “So he called to me,” Theron said. “I arrived immediately to find a growing crowd around Aimery and the dragon. When he told me they said he did it, I checked the dragon myself and saw just as he had. It was Aimery.”

  Rufina rubbed her temples as her head began to ache. “There is something afoot here. What amazes me is that neither of you see it.”

  “I know what I saw,” Theron shouted. “How do you think I feel knowing the man who has been like a brother to me, who leads the Fae army, killed a dragon?”

  “I didn’t kill it,” Aimery said, though his voice held no conviction.

  Rufina took Theron’s hand and led him from the chamber. She didn’t stop until she reached their bedchamber, then she whirled on him as her anger bubbled up.

  “What has gotten into you? That’s Aimery back there.”

  Theron sank onto their bed and dropped his head into his hands. “You aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know. I’ve been trying to figure out how the dragon was killed.”

  That stopped Rufina in her tracks. She watched as her husband raised his head, his eyes heavy with worry. “You don’t think he did it.”

  “Nay. At least, our Aimery didn’t do it. Whether that’s our Aimery in there or not, I have no idea and I can’t allow myself to think it might be our Aimery.”

  “So you’re holding him until you can discern who is who.”

  “Exactly.” He rose and walked to the table near the door to pour himself a glass of Fae wine. “I just pray if that is our Aimery I’ve bound that he’ll forgive me.”

  Rufina walked to her husband and wound her hands around him as she pressed herself against his back. “I have no doubt he will forgive you. You are thinking of him, and our Aimery will realize that.”

  “Which brings me to my next thought,” he said softly. “No Fae, or friend of ours, would dare to kill a dragon.”

  Rufina dropped her arms as Theron turned towards her. “You think evil broke through your walls?”

  “I think something used one of our doorways.”

  “If it was evil we would have been alerted, Theron. You know as well as I that anytime our doorways are used, we are aware of it.”

  “Ah, yes, the doorways we are aware of. But then again, as a Fae, we are able to go from realm to realm without the doorways. The doorways are for humans or others that don’t have magic.”

  The full force of what Theron said shot through Rufina turning her blood to ice. “By all that’s magical, Theron. What are we to do? If they kill any more dragons, especially white dragons, then our magic could suffer greatly.”

  “I know,” he said as he took her hand and led her to the bed. He sat and pulled her down beside him. “I don’t think they’ll come to kill another dragon. If my hunch is right, this has something to do with the Great Evil. He wants Aimery away from the Shields.”

  Understanding dawned within Rufina. “What better way to do that than to have the Fae imprison Aimery?”

  Rufina felt the icy fingers of defeat began to crawl towards her. “It’s going to be very difficult to triumph over the evil when we have our boundaries but he doesn’t.”

  For the first time that afternoon, Theron smiled. “We have boundaries, but the Shields do not.”

  * * * *

  Jayna, coward that she was, chose to have her dinner in her chamber. She didn’t think she could face Gabriel, at least not yet. Though part of her wondered if he would come to her that night, if his body would yearn for her as hers yearned for him.

  “I’m such a fool,” she murmured as she pushed her food around her trencher.

  She had only been at Stone Crest a short time, but she had quickly come to like the camaraderie and laughter at mealtime. She had eaten alone for so long that it had become a habit for her, one that she hated to the very depths of her bones.

  A knock sounded at her door. Figuring it to be a servant come to retrieve the food, she bid them enter, and turned to find Gabriel walking toward her.

  “Are you feeling well?” he asked as he leaned against the wall by her door.

  She shrugged. In truth, she wasn’t feeling well at all, but none of his herbs could cure what ailed her. “Fine.”

  “Will you tell me why you are hiding in your chamber? Is it me? If it is, then I’ll remove myself from the dais so you can enjoy your meals with the others.”

  She gaped at him. How had he known how much she loved eating with the others? She turned back to the fire. “It isn’t you. I just needed to be alone.”

  “I’m sorry I had to leave you this afternoon.” His words, spoken softly touched her heart.

  “I know.”

  “Tell me what bothers you,” he urged.

  Jayna watched as he took the seat opposite her. Gabriel had always been a good listener. How many times had she come to him with a problem, large or small, and he had always helped her see a solution? She missed having that bond with someone. She missed sharing her troubles with him.

  She licked her lips and decided to tell him part of it. Maybe that would help her out of the depression she was sinking in.

  “Being at Stone Crest makes me remember my family and friends. It brings to mind just how much was taken from me.”

  Was it her imagination or had something like pain flashed in Gabriel’s silver depths? She decided it must have been a flash from the fire and thought no more about it.

  “Can you never return to them?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “There is nothing left to return to. All was destroyed.”

  “And you know who did it?”

  The words were spoken as a question, his tone even, but by the way he gripped the arms of the chair, she knew better. “I do.”

  “Do you know why they destroyed your home?”

  “Does it really matter?” she countered. “Innocents were killed. Children. Entire families. Someone must pay for this.”

  He nodded and turned his gaze to the fire. “Aye, someone must pay.”

  She looked at her food unsure of what to say after his comment. It was almost like it saddened him.

  “Have you eaten?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I find I do not crave any food at the moment.” His gaze swung to her. “My appetite is for something else entirely.”

  All the moisture left her mouth to pool between her legs at his words. There was no mistaking what he meant, no mistaking the heat in his silver depths, no mistaking the bulge in his pants.

  “It seems my appetite is the same as yours,” she found herself saying.

  Suddenly, Gabriel rose and held out his hand. He pulled her up against him and swept his hands through her hair. “What is it about you that lures me so? Do you hold some kind of magic?” he teased.

  “No magic,” she answered as her hands moved over his sculpted chest and shoulders. “Only my body.”

  “It’s enough,” he said just before his mouth claimed hers in a kiss that scorched her very soul. The kiss was as demanding as it was gentle, sensual as it was arousing. His lips and tongue knew just how much to give...and how much to take.

  He left her body pulsing with desire and weak with need. When she didn’t think she could stand on her own feet another moment, he broke the kiss and spun her around so that her back was to him. With one arm around her waist and the other holding her hair away from her neck, he proceeded to nip, lick, and kiss the sensitive skin on her neck.

  Chills raced over her skin, heightening her desire. She arched her back, pushing her bottom against his arousal, and heard him groan.

  “By the gods, Jayna, you’ll make me spill my seed now,” he moaned against her skin.

  Urgency filled both of them as they scrambled to remove their clothes. Jayna felt her blood heat as she could sense Gabriel’s gaze on her as she yanked off her
gown and underclothes. Her thick wool stockings and shoes flew off, and she turned to find Gabriel in all his naked glory staring at her.

  She moved to him and ran her hands all over his body kissing his chest and flicking her tongue over his nipples. Her hands drifted lower and gently ran along the length of his rod. She heard his intake of breath and smiled against his skin.

  Slowly, she kissed her way down his chest to his stomach to his hips. She fell to her knees as her hands moved around to trace over his taut bottom. His hands buried themselves in her hair, and when her hands cupped his sac he whispered her name as his fingers tightened in her hair.

  The feel of his sac in her hand made her sex pulse hungrily. Her gaze rose to Gabriel’s to find him watching her. She kept her gaze locked with his as she took his rod in her hand and ran her tongue around its thick head.

  His head dropped back as a low moan rushed from his mouth. Jayna closed her eyes as she took the tip of him in her mouth, loving how hot, hard, and smooth he was, almost like velvet. She had never been able to get enough of Gabriel, and even after he had committed such grave crimes against her, her body still yearned for him.

  “Enough. I’ll spill,” he cried as he pulled from her mouth, then carried her to the bed.

  Before she could wrap her arms around him, he turned her onto her stomach and began to place kisses along her back, his hands roaming everywhere, touching every inch of her.

  Her breasts swelled as his hands grazed her nipples. She cried out and arched against him. Instantly, his hand closed over a breast, gently massaging it. His fingers tweaked and pulled against her nipple, sending flames of pleasure to her throbbing sex.

  His hands left her breasts, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out as his finger delved into the heat of her.

  “Open for me,” he bade, and immediately she opened her legs.

  He murmured something that she didn’t hear, but she didn’t care, his hands were almost on her sex, almost touching her pearl. She tensed, waiting for him to touch her, to give her the release she so desperately needed.

  But he didn’t. Instead, he lifted her hips in the air and settled himself behind her. The tip of his rod moved over her bottom and down the slit to her sex, leaving a trail of liquid in its wake.

  Jayna was nearly delirious with need. Her sex clenched urgently, her pleasure building with each heartbeat. “Please, Gabriel.”

  “Not yet,” he whispered as the tip of his rod dipped into her sex.

  She tried to move back against him, but he pulled out too quickly. He reached around and found her nipples, gently pulling and tweaking them as he rubbed his rod against her bottom.

  Jayna buried her face in the blankets while Gabriel’s rod continued to tease her and his finger stroked her pearl. She rotated her hips against him, urging him to take her now. Yet, he continued his assault on her body, alternating fast, hurried strokes over her pearl to slow swirls of his finger.

  It left her body shaking with need. Just when she didn’t think she could stand it a moment longer, his hands gripped her hips as his rod filled her. His fullness made her catch her breath, and when he began to slowly move within her, Jayna could feel her climax building swiftly.

  But he didn’t let her find a tempo. He would stop and start at will, teasing her even more and prolonging her pleasure until it was almost unbearable.

  One hand was unrelenting in its exploration of her body. It would dip down and tease her pearl or tweak her nipple, or, as it was now, playing with her bottom. He would run the finger along her spine, down her lower back to the slit in between the cheeks of her bottom, each time, taking longer and longer on her bottom.

  Jayna was delirious with need. Her body had never experienced anything so lovely, so devastating, and she feared it might end just as much as she feared it might never end.

  Suddenly, Gabriel let out a low growl and began to move within her, his thick cock thrusting faster with each glorious stroke. Jayna was near to climax as he continued to pump into her, and in the next heartbeat, the orgasm claimed her. Ripples of pleasure pulsed within her, building and building until she thought it would never end.

  Dimly she felt Gabriel grip her and thrust deeply as he howled her name, spilling his seed into her. Something deep and profound wrapped around them, cocooning them in a place meant only for them.

  With her body sated, Jayna found she could hardly keep her eyes open. She didn’t wish to sleep, though, she wanted more of Gabriel. She wanted to see his molten silver eyes darken, to run her fingers through his brown hair...to feel his rod in her mouth again.

  Next time, next time she would bring him to release with her mouth, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Gabriel couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. To think, just a few moments ago he had thought the world crashing around him, but then he had tasted Jayna’s body and all seemed right again.

  He turned and looked at her. She had fallen asleep with a smile. The arrogant male in him rose up, proud of his skills. But he knew it was more than that. He and Jayna were connected in ways most people would never understand, and in truth there were times he didn’t understand it. It was just one of the mistakes he had made.

  As gently as he could, he rolled her onto her back so she wouldn’t get a crick in her neck. He pulled the blankets from underneath her and covered them.

  His mind began to drift to his memories, of a place of spectacular beauty, of unimaginable peace. A place he had known instantly was where he belonged. A place that was now gone thanks to him.

  He recalled days of he and Jayna lolling about naked on the grassy hills over looking the river. Many days they had spent exploring each other’s bodies in the fresh, clear waters of the river.

  One of the games they had played was how quickly he could catch her before she reached the water. And when he had caught her he had kissed her lips and her left wrist.

  Left wrist.

  There had been a reason he had kissed that wrist, but try as he might, he couldn’t remember anything about it, just that he had done it.

  He reached over and lifted her left hand in his. He studied her skin, but there was nothing there, no mole, no birthmark, nothing. But he had known for sure there had been something he had kissed.

  His thumb ran back and forth over the skin as he struggled to remember. It was the one place he kissed even in public. It had special meaning to him, and the symbol meant something to her.

  Symbol.

  Gabriel froze. It couldn’t be, he thought to himself. He looked closer and just faintly made out a mark, and then he knew for certain.

  “By the gods,” he whispered.

  And before his eyes, the mark grew darker, as if some invisible shield had been placed over it was now gone.

  “The fifth Chosen. Jayna is the fifth Chosen.” He couldn’t believe it. It didn’t make sense, but then not much to do with the Great Evil made sense.

  He gently shook her. “Jayna, you must wake. Jayna.”

  “Aye,” she murmured sleepily. “What is it, Gabriel?”

  “Open your eyes.”

  He knew he sounded worried and more forceful than he intended, but it was of great importance that he spoke to her about the symbol.

  Jayna opened her eyes and studied him. “What?”

  “Do you have a mark on you, a symbol?”

  She went to nod then stopped. Her brow furrowed. “I...I don’t know.”

  “You almost said you did, didn’t you?”

  She grinned. “Aye. Odd isn’t it? You would think I would know my own body.”

  “Then what is this?” he asked and held up her wrist.

  Her eyes grew round and her lips parted as she looked at the mark. “It’s the same mark that is on Mina and the others.”

  “Aye.”

  “What is it doing on me?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me that.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t have any memo
ry of it.”

  But Gabriel knew otherwise. Somehow the Great Evil had managed to hide it, and in doing so had managed to erase the knowledge of it from Jayna’s mind.

  “You’re scaring me,” Jayna said softly.

  Gabrielle gathered her in his arms. “I don’t mean to. This find though, it’s of utmost importance to the Shields.”

  “I know.”

  But he could tell by the way her voice shook that she wanted no part in any of it. He wanted to ask her how she had really come to be at Stone Crest. A part of him feared that she was somehow connected to the Great Evil. Yet, the coward in him wasn’t ready for her to know he had regained his memory.

  What they had now, it was almost what they had shared before he had betrayed her. It was a part of his past that was good and pure, and he didn’t wish to destroy the fragile bond they had forged.

  Though, he wasn’t dim-witted. He knew there was a great chance she had allowed him to seduce her so she could exact her revenge. It was what he would do.

  He leaned back and held her head between his hands. “Like it or not, you are now in the thick of this. You are no longer an innocent bystander.”

  “I cannot help them,” she whispered.

  “You can. The more Chosen we have, the quicker the Great Evil can be destroyed. Countless realms will be released from his hold and countless more will never know the fear and devastation that follows him. Please.”

  Her beautiful hazel gaze searched his until she let out a small sigh. “All right.”

  Gabriel closed his eyes tight as he hugged her to his chest. He knew his grip was tighter than needed, but he hadn’t wanted to force her to help them.

  He released her and jumped from the bed. “I thought this time we would be allowed to spend several hours loving each other, but we must seek the others.”

  Jayna left the bed more leisurely. Her movements were measured as if she already regretted agreeing to help them. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes as he hurriedly dressed. As he strapped on his sword, he turned to face her.

  She stood looking down at her wrist, her fingers lightly running over the mark.