Protector

by Joanne Wadsworth

  “I will not forget you, not after you’ve haunted my mind this past day. Even now, I can sense your connection and the ability you have to merge when we are together. If it were not for that, I would feel discomfort.” His arms banded tighter about me, enforcing a closeness which continued to surprise me.

  “So, now what do we do?” I snuggled, discovering my need of him intensifying just as his obviously was. I watched the play of sunlight dancing through the window, crossing his face and highlighting his strong jaw and his mouth.

  “Someone harmed you. Zac, Viv and Belle are just three members of the team I keep quite close to me. No one else will ever get through all of us to you again. But there will be rules. To ensure your safety I want you to–”

  “Hold on.” I cut off his words by pressing a finger to his lips. Ooo, so soft. And what was with my fascination with his mouth?

  His brows drew down, his forehead furrowing deeply. “Are you still not feeling well?”

  “Oh, I’m more than well.” Then I slowly grinned and leaned in. “It seems I want more than your protection. I want you to kiss me.” That was the complete and honest truth.

  That comment stopped him dead cold.

  Then he inhaled, slowly, the sound so sweet as his breath stuttered a little. “Kiss you?” he murmured, his eyes now turning a melting hue of delicious brown.

  “If you want?” I somehow managed to shrug my shoulders like it didn’t matter.

  “I want to.” Then he closed that last little gap and there was nothing but his warm lips against mine. Every sound around me vanished as my world centered and became only him.

  He had come to me at the first sign I was in trouble–no man had done that in my life.

  My soul lifted and my heart soared.

  Desire flared, and he pushed me against the soft comforter. He surrounded me, my mind captivated as we shared breath.

  Slowly he eased away. “Faith, where you are concerned, my corporal need for you will rally just as greatly as my need to protect you. I believe we need rules.” His liquid gaze turned me into a pile of goo.

  I inhaled slowly, remembering to breathe. “Yes, I can already tell you could use a few. Do you want me to start?”

  He grinned and curved a hand around my neck, maintaining our skin-to-skin contact. “I’ve been raised by my parents and my grandfather, taught to assert myself strongly, and you must do the same with me to ensure you’re heard.”

  I tapped him on the chest with my finger. “Yeah, I’ve already done that. You need to pay more attention, big fella.”

  A smile twitched his lips. “Big fella?”

  I tilted my head. “That’s right, so what else do I need to know about you since we’re being all honest?” Because I could sense there was something else, an element of truth below the surface in every word he spoke. I almost had my finger on it.

  “You already feel the awareness of it. We cannot lie to one another, or should I say, we can, but the other will always sense it.”

  Now truth, there was a bonus, because that’s what I desired most.

  Davio caught my tapping finger and brought it to his lips, kissing the tip. “These last few months of your education are important, and I do not wish to take that away from you. Only, I will rarely be here. I will do what I can to give you what you need, but there will be times of separation. It cannot be helped.”

  I stared at him, strangely not liking the idea of separation. Ah, and here I thought I was an independent woman. Even my mind cringed at the thought of dropping this mind-merge I had created with him. “There is a place within your mind I’m linked and locked onto, where I’m resting.” I looked at my hand in his. “With skin-to-skin contact, our tension dissolves.”

  “I’ve felt it, but we must be touching.”

  I nodded. “The pain is like a brewing heat coursing through my veins. I merged my mind with yours and with touch, the aching sting disappears.” My explanation was real–unnatural and impossibly bizarre–but still real. “Is this normal for mates? Or has it something to do with forethought?”

  “Merging your mind with mine has nothing to do with being soul-bound. Being mated is a relationship, a union of the two souls and is separate to the skills we hold. And it’s only you who is forming the mind-merge. It’s not my skill.” He frowned. “Forethought? Carlisio certainly does not mind-merge like this and bed down as you are doing. He simply reads others’ thoughts when they’re near, as they project them. Although, it is your father and his line which is unknown. This strange ability may have come from him. We will simply have to work around our unusual pairing.”

  I could sense the truth he spoke of from our bond–could feel it resonate with unerring accuracy.

  “Finding out who your father is will be a priority.” Davio stroked my hair, his touch so gentle. We barely knew each other, yet were still bonded so closely.

  Thinking of my unknown father, I stared into Davio’s eyes. “It’s never bothered me, to not know of the man who aided in conceiving me. I’m very lucky–I have a wonderful mother who has single-handedly raised me, without even the aid of grandparents or aunts or uncles. There has only been Silvie and her mother, Seriah.” I sighed. “I’ve only ever needed them. My father means nothing to me. No man ever has.”

  He smiled, giving me a wink. “Ah, but I will.”

  Then he kissed me deeply, and I kissed him back, overwhelmed by the new emotions stirring within me.

  He broke away first, his head coming up. He looked at the door. “Silvie’s coming. Down the hallway. I can hear her.”

  So could I–that precise hearing of ours being immensely helpful.

  The door flew open and slammed against the wall. Yeah, that was Silvie, all right.

  “Ten minutes is enough you two–now break it up,” she admonished as she stormed toward the bed, red-gold curls flying about her face. “Let’s remember we still have a villain to unearth and apprehend.” She turned, giving Davio a fierce glower. “What do you think you’re doing on my best friend’s bed? Get off. Off. Off. Off.”

  “Yes.” He pushed himself to his feet and pulled me up to stand beside him. “Except, in the future, Silvie Carver, you will remember not to storm into the room the way you just did and disturb us. Correct protocol is that you knock and wait before addressing a prince.”

  Silvie didn’t seem to care as she reached past him and gripped my wrist. She scowled at him and tugged me toward her like a mother bear protecting her cub. “Well, lucky for me, Davio Thy-prince Loveria, I do not have to observe your correct protocol. We are on Earth, you see, not Peacio.”

  All this from the girl who’d told me just days ago that I needed to get laid.

  I almost smiled, wondering exactly what was firing up all my friend’s cylinders. “Are you all right, Silvie?”

  “Well, of course I’m all right. Or I would be if those two sword-wielding fiends of Davio’s would stop goading me. Now get your butt out of your bedroom and into your living room and help me control the sudden surge of protectors you are accumulating in this house.”

  I clapped a hand to my mouth, stifling a laugh. “My mother? She’s not at home is she?” Or at least she better not be.

  Not waiting for an answer, I ran from the room, taking the wide carpeted hallway where I heard the others in my mother’s cozy living room.

  Skidding around the corner I almost took out the framed photographs of my mother and me which sat in a place of honor on her mahogany side table. Behind me, Davio steadied the largest frame, only to lift it.

  “You look about six.” His gaze met mine as his eyes twinkled with humor. “Nice puddle.”

  Drat. I hated that print, the one of me plowing down my childhood slide, only to land face first in one almighty, mucky winter puddle. I ignored Davio’s light laugh as I continued across to Zac and Viv and forced a polite smile to my face. “I’m so sorry. We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m Faith Stryker.” I extended my hand.

  The female pr
otector shook my hand while Zac idly stroked the hilt of his sword, eyeing me with a narrowed glare before tilting his head at Davio.

  Viv knocked Zac’s arm. “Zac,” she admonished. “Mind your manners.”

  “Huh,” he grunted, obviously disturbed.

  “Men.” Rolling her eyes, Viv turned her attention back to me. “My apologies. My mate finds your presence unnatural. You are not from our country, and he finds…well, he finds that troubling.”

  “You two are mated?” Wow.

  Behind us, Davio set the framed photograph back in place and moved toward us. He slapped a hand on Zac’s shoulder as he drew up to him. “Zac, alarming or not, Faith is still half-Magioling, and whether born here on Earth or in Peacio, she is still the other half of my soul. You will speak to her with the respect she’s due.”

  Zac cleared his throat as his alert gaze swung between his prince and me. “You are right,” he finally conceded. Then he stepped forward and half-bowed as he shook my hand. “My apologies. I was wary and should not have been. My service extends to you just as it does, and always will, to my prince.”

  I scrunched my shoulder blades together, feeling a ripple of discomfort chase down my spine. This was not a form of formality I was used to. Exactly what service was Zac promising? And I had to remember there was a prince involved. Double eerie. “I don’t require anyone’s service, Zac, although thanks for the offer all the same.”

  Edging onto my heels, I backed away, feeling a tense mix of animosity and irritation stirring in my gut. My mate was too close, forcing my tension to build. I reversed, faster, until my back hit the lip of our hearth’s upper mantle.

  I slowly exhaled.

  There was instant relief, but only at five feet and no less.

  Davio stiffened, and a low mutter rumbled from his throat. “Why the distance?” He stalked toward me. “It’s not your right to decline Zac, and as my mate, Peacio’s entire contingency of protectors are called to your service. They protect our country and its citizens. You will accept his offer.”

  I clenched my fists, blood pouring through my veins in a bubbling riot. “Well, you listen here, mister. I’m not a citizen of Peacio. Nor have I been to your country.” As if that weren’t obvious. “Or do I even wish to go there?”

  At my biting remark, he glared.

  My face heated as I continued, “So it’s obviously futile for me to accept Zac’s offer. I do not know your protector and nor does he know me.”

  “Don’t.” Within a microsecond, he zeroed in on me, his hand capturing my wrist. “Your tension is clearly spiking, as is mine. Exactly how far away do we need to be so we do not suffer these appalling emotions?”

  I squinted. “If there’s no skin-to-skin contact, then a good five strides away. The irritation is awful if we don’t touch.”

  He dropped my wrist. “Five strides. We’ll enforce it again to make certain.” He turned and marched across the room the required distance as Viv, Belle and Silvie all watched with their mouths gaping.

  Zac hissed as Davio halted. “Is it possible for you to explain this reasoning? I’m clueless about what’s going on.”

  No other than my mate and I truly understood our crisis.

  Davio pivoted as he reached the far couch, meeting my gaze first. “This seems good. What about you?”

  The release of tension was instant. “Yes, thank you, that’s perfect.” Nothing like two mates, destined to be together, standing a good room’s width apart. Absolutely perfect.

  Then turning to Zac and the others, he explained while I resigned myself to what was. We had to be touching and merged for the best outcome, or we had to be apart. Lucky for us, I had the skill to merge.

  At the sound of an approaching car, I crossed to the window, listening with half an ear to Davio as I looked outside. The sun was setting, brilliant shades of yellow, orange and pink suffusing the horizon beyond the row of houses on the opposite side of the street.

  A familiar, white four-door Toyota pulled into the driveway and rolled to a stop. A few seconds later, the car door swung open. I smiled as my favorite person in the world came into full view as she stretched and stood, righting her knee-length, back-slit navy skirt and red blouse.

  That was when Zac slid in front of me, lifting his sword and blocking my view.

  I groaned. Loudly. “That’s my mother–Kate Stryker.” I slapped a hand against his arm. His strangely immovable arm. Wow, that was one solid piece of muscle.

  He lowered his weapon, turning to stare and making me feel like I was a pesky bug under his feet. “Your mother–she’s young, and her hair, it’s chestnut-brown. Yours is so light, so very blond.” Next, he looked into my eyes, and not in a good way. “Your eyes are a curious shade of violet. They are not your mother’s color either.”

  “Well, for starters, my mother was very young when I was born. She was eighteen–and she dyes her hair. Usually she’s a blonde.” I shrugged my shoulders. “And the eye color–that must come from my father, not that I know him. He disappeared on the day of my birth.”

  Zac glanced over my head as Davio approached. A second later one warm hand circled my arm as he moved in behind me. I leaned back into him, the contact perfect and preventing any opposing emotions the instant we touched.

  Thumbing his chin, Zac watched my mother reach into the trunk of her car and pull out a couple of eco-green grocery bags. “Your mother looks far younger than the possible thirty-six years you say she must be. She could pass for your older sister.”

  At my back, Davio’s fingers squeezed into the curve of my elbow, his mind ticking over Zac’s observation. I focused on his unblocked thoughts.

  “No,” I snapped, shaking my head.

  He immediately blocked, mumbling. “I mustn’t forget you can do that, but Zac is right–your mother appears far younger than her thirty-six years. She may not be an Earthling.”

  “I already said no. My mother has not lied to me for the past eighteen years. You’re crazy to think she’s not an Earthling. I haven’t seen her doing anything magical.” I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I’d like to think I’d have noticed that.” Which meant my strength skills must have come from my unknown father.

  “It is an observation, yet as you said, she was only eighteen when she gave birth to you. She has aged well, although it is disturbing there is no other known family, that it’s only you and her. In Magio, our children are raised within villages by their immediate and extended family. There are always relatives.”

  I heard the trunk of the car drop with a heavy thud. “My mother would never lie to me. She has no family because she’s an orphan.”

  “Your father? Does she ever speak of the man who is your sire?”

  “No, and I don’t force it. There’s too much pain there for her. I only know vague things, like he was eighteen as she was, and that he left her right after my birth.”

  Davio’s hand stroked absently along the inside of my arm. “Our people don’t have this aging disability your people have, but you still have many among your population who appear far younger than their years. We must seek your unknown father’s whereabouts. This is where I’m sure we’ll find your lost Peacian heritage.”

  “And what of Dralion? You don’t know where he’s from.” Because I knew information they did not, information I had shoved aside since waking from the warrior’s attack. The man had been a warrior–he had arrogantly stated so.

  “It’s doubtful your father comes from there. We allow our fellow Peacians to travel here if they wish, but in Dralion, circumstances are different. Donaldo Wincrest locks his people down as Carlisio does not.”

  “How does he do that?” Belle hadn’t covered this.

  “Dralion has an energy field which shields their country. It’s an energy dome we cannot penetrate, yet a dome which has an entry and exit point where only their most highly skilled and trained warriors can come and go from. We cannot breach this point since we do not know where it is or what its phy
sical attributes are for teleporting.”

  I tried to sift through his mind to understand his reasoning and his obvious hatred of all things Dralion, but the block he had put in place was immoveable. My mind still rested within his, yet I heard nothing.

  He gave a little shake of his head. “I can guard my mind. All of us can.”

  My own thoughts cut back in time as I considered the man who had accosted me. He’d said he was a warrior. He’d said the Peacio protectors were his–no, our–natural enemy. Then he’d demanded I stay away from them.

  I cringed, recalling the warrior’s last words. “We’ll have to pick this up another time. Carlisio’s been warned.”

  Davio was wrong. It wasn’t doubtful. Dralion warriors came here, and I now knew it.

  Only my mother was coming, and I was out of time to explain.

  I pressed a hand to Davio’s chest and pushed him away. “You have to go. Please. I have to help my mother bring in the groceries, and you need to take your people with you. She’ll have a heart attack if she sees so many dressed the way you all are.”

  His expression darkened, his gaze rising over my head to connect with Belle’s as she came off the couch and joined us. “Belle, you and Silvie will stay and not leave my mate’s side. Contact me on our direct link if you need me to return. I will not be long.”

  She voiced a quick yes.

  Then he turned to me. “I’ll be fifteen minutes. I have plenty of Earth clothing since I enjoy the fabrics and styles your people wear. I will return to the castle to collect a bag.” He bent forward and lightly kissed my forehead. “Do not find trouble. That is an order.”

  “Hold on.” I grabbed his arm, knowing he could leave in the blink of an eye. “You’re definitely coming back, right?”

  His lips lifted. “I will ensure your safety first before I return to my duties. I have Zac and Viv to aid me, and Belle will now remain for as long as she’s required.” He glanced at Zac and Viv. “You both need to do a little shopping to blend in with the locals. We’ll regroup at Belle’s residence across the street in an hour since Carlisio has not disposed of it. That is where we will reside until the existing threat to my mate is removed.”