The pantry sat mostly empty, long lasting staples lined neatly on the middle shelf and lined with dust. Pretty depressing as last meals went, but enough to keep him alive until morning.
He snatched a spoon and a jar of drishen preserves, and ambled toward the poor excuse for a bedroom at the back of the cabin. Second best to food was a shower. A long, scalding shower to drown his time in zeolite, and maybe a set of clothes clean enough they couldn’t stand on their own. Then he’d think. And pray.
With a flick of his mind, the oversized bookcase slid open to show the hidden staircase, and candles flickered to life. How many times had he raced these steps to find his mother as a child, or handle chores as he’d grown older?
Long-forgotten memories poured over him, steady and cleansing as the shower waters, heavy as the musty scent permeating every room. It felt right to swim in them. To ground himself in the past before he faced his end.
He finished his shower in a haze, and rummaged through what clothes he’d left behind. Jeans he’d tucked away from an old trip to Evad and a well-worn green T-shirt sat folded at the back of a drawer. Not the best pick for tomorrow’s outing, but they’d do fine tonight.
Histus, who was he kidding? They’d be fine for tomorrow too. Not like there would be much of a fight. He’d either pull off a miracle with Maxis, or end up dead, neither of which required a warrior’s getup.
He checked the escape tunnels off his room and the main corridor. Caked in dust and thick with heady earth scents, the two were still fully functional.
One more to check.
He hesitated in the hallway and stared at the closed door to his mother’s room, palms damp and breath shallow. It was a door, nothing more. Decent logic, but his emotions didn’t give a shit. All they sensed was the looming judgment crouched on the opposite side.
The knob twisted without a sound.
He nudged the door open, and the breath he’d been holding rushed free.
Sunshine bathed every surface, piped from the ground above to highlight the vibrant styles and colors his mother had favored. Blackwood furniture, bold impressionist paintings, and purple and cobalt fabrics.
“Not purple, periwinkle,” his mother would have said. Such a damned girly word, but his mother had loved it.
Draped across the large bed was the coverlet she’d fashioned in the rich hue, her family symbol embroidered at the center. She’d toiled for months on the image. Artemis perched at the tip of a crescent moon, her bow stretched taught and aimed at the heavens.
He strolled through the room, pausing here, touching there, every item a testament to her personality, alive and in tune with Mother Earth.
Much like Galena.
His stomach clenched. Galena was the last thing he needed to think about right now. Especially after the glower Eryx had pierced him with after scanning his memories. No doubt about it. Eryx had seen the kiss. How Reese had made it out of the dungeon alive was a mystery he’d never solve.
He stopped at his mother’s bookcase and traced the leather jewel-toned spines. Classics from Evad and Eden, fiction from little-known authors she’d met in Cush, and her journals. He pulled the first in the series free and opened it, the spine crackling in protest. All the emotion he’d felt reading them after her death rushed forward. The fear as she’d escaped, the pride at watching Reese grow, the agonizing guilt for leaving one son behind. It was all here. One entry a day until the day before her death.
Maybe the spiritu was right. Maybe there was some value for what he was about to attempt. Maybe he could atone for the wrong steps he’d made.
Wood groaned from the ground level, roughly in line with the front porch.
Reese froze and fanned his senses wide. He snapped the journal shut. Whoever was at his front door had come alone.
His reflexes pushed to check for Maxis’ location via link, but he reined the urge in at the last minute. Even a tiny mental brush could alert Maxis. That left the escape tunnels, or facing his unexpected guest head on.
He slid the book back in place, hesitated a moment, then strode toward the door. He’d had enough hiding. His lifespan might only stretch to tomorrow, but he’d damn sure live what was left head on.
Chapter 10
Galena stole across the cottage’s raised porch toward Reese’s front door, her heartbeat droning loud enough to overpower the constant whirr of Runa’s unforgiving wind. Farmland stretched out behind her, not a soul in sight to witness her arrival.
She tossed her head and squared her shoulders. No, she wasn’t doing anything wrong. She had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.
Except slinking off behind her brothers’ backs to visit a traitor.
She still couldn’t believe she’d gotten away with spying on her brothers with Reese. The strength of the Shantos line might run through her veins, but her masking and detection skills were nowhere near her brother’s and Ludan’s.
Then again, Eryx had seemed pretty pissed off. Whatever was under his skin must have made him too preoccupied to check and allowed her to catch Reese’s directions to his homestead.
One thing was certain. If she wanted to see Reese, she’d need to take action and knock on the damned door, not waste what was left of his time waffling on the front porch. It wasn’t like he could read her mind to answer the door, assuming he was even here.
Only one way to find out. She huffed out a breath and lifted her hand to knock.
The door swung wide before her knuckles made contact.
Galena gasped and jerked her hand to her throat. “Reese.” She cringed a bit at the startled quaver in her voice. Who had she expected to find behind the weathered door?
Reese stared at her, locked in place. His emerald eyes shone with an intensity that made her want to fidget, and the matching color of his T-shirt only made their impact more pronounced.
The cotton stretched enticingly across his warrior body and her palms tingled with a need for touch. She pressed a hand to her belly instead, and remembered her own attire. Compared to his casual appearance, her simple gown seemed foolishly out of place. “I know it’s rude to stop in unannounced, but—
“How did you find me?” Brusque. Bordering on rude.
What should she say? Confess she’d eavesdropped? She licked her lip and tried again. “I—
“Did Ramsay send you? Or Eryx?”
Well, histus. It would seem that way from his angle. “No.” She cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “I came on my own. I masked myself when Eryx came for you and overheard where you lived.”
He relaxed a little, but kept his wary focus.
Damn, but this was difficult. Challenging situations weren’t exactly a stretch for her, and she’d tangled with some crazy personalities, but this? Awkward.
The wind swept around her, whipping escaped tendrils from her single braid. She was tempted to swat at the wisps, or at least try to smooth them into place, but didn’t want to come off any more foolish than she probably already did.
Praise the Great One, she could never match the woman in his thoughts. She’d primped and worn her favorite dress, a deep evergreen with inlaid black velvet swirls, and she still didn’t measure up.
So far, the encounter wasn’t playing out anywhere near how she’d hoped. “I’m sorry I bothered you. I’ll go.”
She turned to leave.
Reese caught her by the wrist. “I never thought I’d see you at my door.” His words might have been simple, but the humility in them rocked her to the core. He gently urged her to face him. “Please stay.”
Stay. Yes, she could do that. Assuming she could find a way to put herself in motion. Or at least manage a nod of acknowledgment. With her blood rushing as furious as the wind behind her, she stepped forward.
He adjusted his grip and held her hand, the warmth of his palm scattering most of her reasonable thoughts. The memory of his touch at the small of her back blazed bright. What would it feel like lower,
pulling her tight against him?
“I’d offer you something, but the cabin’s not very well stocked.”
Praise the Great One, she needed to get ahold of herself. He was offering something to drink while her daydreams hosted sexually decadent ideas. She’d come here to spend time with him, not use him to scratch an itch.
“I’m fine. I just.” Just what? Wanted to spend time with you? Maybe see if I was imagining things between us? “I wasn’t sure if you’d be alone and thought you might like some company.”
“Do your brothers know where you are?”
The hairs along her nape and arms lifted and the blood in her head felt as though it plummeted to her toes. She’d put him in a dangerous position coming here. The least she could do is share the truth. She ambled toward the empty fireplace and the comfortable mango colored chairs cozied around it. “No. I don’t often disagree with my brothers, but when I do it’s difficult.”
“Why did you come?”
She stroked the back of one chair, the softly woven fabric tickling her palm and fingertips. “I told you, I thought you might like—”
“Galena.” He prowled toward her. Not a predator about to pounce so much as one unsure of the creature before him. “You came to a confessed traitor’s house without your brothers’ knowledge. You expect me to believe you risked making them angry for a social call? I’ve got roughly twenty hours left before my existence gets shaky. Whatever brought you here, whatever it is you want or need, you need to say it.”
She clenched the cushion, and her heart high-jumped into her throat.
Reese stopped just out of reach, but his heat filled the distance. It lulled her. Tugged and crooned for surrender.
“Talk to me, Galena.” His smooth voice moved over her, warm as the press of his palm had felt. “Whatever it is stays between us. Tell me what you need.”
She swallowed and licked her lips. She’d told herself the visit was for Reese, that she wanted time to talk with him and would walk away and return to the castle after a few hours. Now, hearing his honest request, not admitting the truth seemed an insult.
She met his steady stare and sucked in a shaky breath. “I need you.”
* * * *
Reese’s heart stumbled then took off at a pounding gallop. Of all the reasons he might have rationalized to explain Galena’s visit, a personal request hadn’t been one of them.
She needed him. Not wanted, but needed. His cock stirred, and a rush of something dark and primitive swamped his reason. He shifted to ease the hard press behind his jeans, caution the only thing that kept him locked in place. Surely he’d misinterpreted things. Yesterday’s kiss had just been a gift, a sendoff from a generous woman before he met his death. Hadn’t it?
“Say something.” Galena whispered, the rasped request so vulnerable it raked inside his chest.
Maybe he hadn’t misunderstood.
She ducked her head, gripped the chair at her side for a beat, and turned away. “I should go.” Chin high, she strode toward the door.
“No.” He burst across the room with Myren speed and slammed his palm against the door to block her escape.
He caged her against the wall, her back to his front. Her ear nearly brushed his lips, her neck exposed by the long, thick braid down her back. He dragged his finger down the center of the plait. Myrens rarely bound their hair in any fashion outside of a relationship as it signaled commitment. The idea she’d come here bound to someone else rankled. “Why did you bind it?”
“The wind.” Energy bristled off her, and her stance made her seem torn between flight and surrender.
“There’s no one else?”
She peeked over one shoulder and shook her head, eyes trained on the floor.
The breath he’d been holding released and stirred the fine hairs at her nape. He toyed with the platinum bead keeping the braid in place at the tip. “Will you let me free it?”
An innocent question for a human, but for a Myren it was intimate. A gift restricted to deeply tied lovers and mates.
She lifted her gaze, bringing her full lips close enough her breath fluttered against his face. “Please.”
His heart jolted, just the illusion of intimacy with this woman driving adrenaline through his bloodstream like a mainlined drug. He kissed her barely parted lips and groaned, imagining her soft, plump mouth stretch around his cock.
“Turn around,” he breathed against her mouth.
She shivered and turned, but kept her gaze locked to his until the last moment.
Using his mind, he warmed and loosened the platinum bead, and slipped it free. He sifted through the soft strands one section at a time until the fiery mass spilled down her back, unleashing more of her unique scent. He nuzzled the spot behind her ear. How easy it would be to lose himself with this woman. In her scent and her warmth. He let out a rough exhale. “This is wrong.”
She stiffened, but he tightened his grip on her hips and kept her locked in place.
“The secrets.” He pressed a lingering kiss where her neck and shoulders met. “They’ll hurt you and your brothers.”
“They’re only secrets if you’re not willing to own them.” She met his stare and a shiver rattled through her. Covering his hands with hers, she urged them up her torso. “I’m willing to own this.”
The predator in him wrenched free, her confidence and sweet curves heady enough to drown his reason. He cupped her breasts, full and free of the undergarments so common in Evad, the only barrier her gown’s slick fabric. He wanted to see her. To stroke and suckle the hard tips raking against his palms. To find every spot that made her arch and moan. To whisper salacious thoughts in her ear and watch her come.
He tweaked the tiny buds through the material.
Her eyes fluttered shut and she sighed, dropping her head back on his shoulder. “Yes.”
Fuck, that word sounded sweet on her lips, a desperate plea that shot straight to his dick and drew his nuts up tight. He shouldn’t do this. It was unfair and a gross abuse of trust, but damn it, he’d be dead tomorrow, and she’d been the one to come to him. What was the harm in pleasuring them both?
He swept her into his arms and forged toward the stairs, pulling the hidden door open with a hasty thought.
“Where are we going?”
The bookcase thunked closed behind them, and the quiet snick of the lock ricocheted down the shadowed hallway.
Galena tensed. “Reese?”
“Shhh.” He cradled her close and strode through the darkness, brushing a kiss across her temple. “You’re safe.”
She loosened her grip, but craned her head to take in her surroundings, eyes widening as he carried her into his room. “The upstairs is a ruse,” she said with undisguised awe.
“The rebellion taught my mother caution if nothing else.” He lowered her to her feet, and she padded deeper into the room, examining every detail. To him it was barren and nondescript. Minimalist Blackwood furniture, pewter curtains and bed covering, and not a single accent or personal object to add personality. But watching her, the way her mouth parted with a tiny smile, made him wonder how she saw it.
She paused at the foot of the bed, her gaze locked on its center and the stark white sheets turned back at an angle. “This is your room?”
He should give her distance. Wait and gauge her intent.
To histus with that. Galena was in his room, an arm’s length from silk sheets and sparking with sexual tension. He stalked forward. “There’s nowhere else I’d take you.” He caressed her upper arms, her back to his front, and brushed his lips along her neck. “You don’t know how many nights I lay there, hard and ready, thinking of you.”
The grumble in his voice couldn’t be helped, his throat too tight to offer better. Admitting such a thing was probably too much. Too bold and too fast, but he was mighty close to not caring.
“What did you think about?” She turned in his arms. Just looking at her made hi
s body tighten and crave things he never should. “Tell me what you imagined.”
Their naked bodies tangled together. Breathy moans. Slick, heated skin.
No. She couldn’t want him. It had to be a trick, all of it. “Thinking of giving a dying man his last wish?”
Galena shrugged him off and took the tiny step left between her and bed. She lifted her chin. “You seem to always assume people have the worst of intentions.” Her lips pressed tight and her eyes flickered with what looked like guilt. “I asked for me.”
Trapped with the bed behind her, he crowded close and gripped her face with both hands. Not harsh, but enough she couldn’t escape his study. “Why?”
Her aqua eyes deepened, more like deep ocean than shallow beach waters. “Because I scanned your memories.”
Fuck.
He swallowed past the emotional vise gripping his neck. Granted, he’d already confessed, but what else had she seen?
“It was just a glimpse.” She gripped his biceps, a nervous, urgent squeeze. “It was rude and unforgivable, but I wanted to see if you’d meant to hurt me. Nothing more.” She fanned her fingers across his pecs, the cotton of his T-shirt heightening the touch. “But the way you view me.” She shook her head and tried to free herself from his grip.
He held fast. “What of it?”
Raw need flashed before her eyelids fluttered closed. “I want to be that woman. Just once.”
Every muscle unwound, his mind gobsmacked. She wanted to be what? Sexy as hell? Earthy and sensual down to her toenails? Surely she knew her effect on men.
She squeezed her eyes tighter.
Histus, she didn’t. “Look at me.”
She shook her head.
“Galena, look at me.”
She opened her eyes, slow and hesitant. Vulnerability shone bright in her glassy gaze, honest and open, rearranging every priority down to the very reason for his existence.
He released her and stepped back, limbs shaking. The exact opposite of what he craved, but the right action to give her what she needed.
Healing Eden Page 9
