“My heart hurts for both of you. I’m so sorry.”
Makar shifted to the side and pulled her up from the ground.
“Thank you, sweetness. Come on, Baruch. We should get moving.”
Keely knew that tone. She’d used it for years whenever a conversation arose about her family. It was friendly, yet clipped, as if proving that the biting emotions had been analyzed, handled, and neatly packaged away. She knew full well that the memories would forevermore be stained. There was nothing fresh or pleasant to be had from dragging it out time and time again. Like her, Makar refused to pull the scab away.
Glancing to Baruch, she returned his sweet smile as he lifted her. His eyes were clear and emotions steady. This one had come to terms with his tragedies. Perhaps it was due to facing the death of his father at such a young age. He’d learned to cope. She felt his gentle pat to her shoulder as she grasped Makar’s neck and clung on as they started trekking through the forest again. What felt like an hour passed before the muscles in Makar’s back began to relax, and his jaw unclenched. She decided to break the silence.
“So, how’d you end up being pilots?” Makar chuckled, and she felt relief that he’d worked past his angst from the discussion of his family’s death.
“It was that, or being sent to live with Baruch’s uncle and becoming farmers.”
“Okay, that screams of some type of punishment. What’d you two do?”
Baruch snorted. “The question should be more along the line of what we didn’t do. I think we were in trouble from the second we met until we turned twenty-one.”
“Spill. I want to hear it.”
“Okay, let me see. We’d ditch school and fish on the Trancis River, fought any male that looked at us crosswise, chased the females down until they promised to go out with us, and crashed several transports because we didn’t believe in going slow. That pretty well sums it up.”
Makar shook his head. “No, you’re leaving out the one thing that got us in the biggest trouble. It was your fault too.”
Eyebrow raised, Baruch threw Makar a challenging look. “I beg to differ. You’re the one that said we should hunt the kruthka without your father or uncles present.”
“Oh, now you’re proving that your memory is failing you in your old age. I was merely boasting that we could fell the beast without assistance. You’re the one that tapped upon my window with a loaded pouch and your sword strapped to your back. I had no choice but to follow you. You were so loud, you nigh woke the entire house. That’s the only reason we were forced to take Hegio with us.”
“You lay that on my head? Wrong. You took forever to get ready. Your cousin could’ve remained snug in his bed had you not dug around so long for your favorite pants. You still take forever to dress, and you know it.”
Keely smashed her mouth against Makar’s back to keep from laughing. They were hilarious in their banter. She could picture them as young men, hell bent on one-upping the other and pushing every limit. They both displayed ultimate alpha tendencies, making her wonder how they ever came to a consensus. She tapped Makar’s shoulder.
“Hold up. You’re both going down a hole that has no bottom. What happened to Hegio? I’m sure that tidbit of information might finally clue me to how you ended up as pilots.”
Baruch snorted as he waited for them at the end of the trail he’d blazed during his tirade. “Hegio threatened to tell if we didn’t take him along with us. I knew it would end badly. We told him to stay back while we tried to flush a kruthka from its cave. The poor guy’s from the topiary breed and couldn’t help but be true to his nature. He was too busy studying the fauna and failed to see the kruthka’s mate charging from the opposite direction. He got butted from the side and thrown about ten meters in the air. Snapped his leg right below the knee. Makar skewered the beast in the neck before he could impale Hegio with his tusks.”
Makar elbowed Baruch out of the way and got a resounding pop on the arm. Keely was relieved to see the quick flash of Baruch’s smile as he took the lead again. Their argument was obviously over just that quickly. Makar’s head began shaking back and forth.
“We built a stretcher from some fallen branches and carried him down the mountain. It was hours before we got to a flat area where we met up with my father and uncles. Darkness had settled, and everyone had been searching for us. Hegio is a worthy male and tried to take the blame, but the entire family knew we were at fault for taking him. That night we were given the choice of tilling the soil for two summers or entering the flight academy.”
“Yes, I can imagine you needed some structure. Obviously, it worked out well for you. Okay, I’m positive a kruthka is some type of beast that isn’t anywhere near the size of the thing on Glaxon 8, but still vicious enough to give you a run for your money. So, explain what a Topiary breed means.”
Makar turned his head to the side. “Push my hair back from my ear and look behind it.”
She did as he asked, thinking it odd to have a tattoo at that location.
“Each Insedi has a genetic marker there. It signifies our greatest skill, or our destiny, if you will. If it had a blue dot, I’d be part of the royal family. Baruch and I are warriors. Hegio has a sliver of grass, meaning his desires will fall toward tending the landscape. If you were Insedi, you’d have an acephalous wand like Kallon to signify that your gift is that of a doctor.”
Studying the small mark, Keely brushed her thumb across it and watched Makar’s skin pebble. She repeated the caress and smiled when she received the same reaction. She clasped his neck and settled back into place.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. Maybe it’d be a musical note. I loved to sing when I was little.”
Baruch slowed down to walk beside them. “Why didn’t you pursue that then?”
Giving him a quick shrug, she released her breath on a huff. “Life got in the way. I grew up, got my head out of the clouds, and realized that I didn’t want to starve while I hit one seedy bar after the other trying to get noticed. I knew I needed a stable career.”
“Why psychology?”
“I…well, I guess I wanted to figure out what made people tick. You know…what makes them act certain ways. Why some follow rules, while others color outside the lines. Hell, some of them don’t even have lines. Helping people come to an understanding of their feelings and actions played into it as well. It fascinates me.” She watched Baruch’s head bob.
“The Insedi are fortunate enough to know their baseline tendency. The knowledge gives you a foundation to build upon. Just because we bore a warrior mark, didn’t signify we couldn’t learn to till the soil and be very good at it. It just means we’d be unsatisfied, even with a bumper crop. In the same vein, we’re very good in battle, but we honed it further to assist in transporting the troops.”
Keely glanced over when he tapped her on the arm. His gorgeous gray eyes were twinkling, and his gap-toothed smile just as engaging.
“There’s nothing stopping you from pursuing your singing. I’m sure your beautiful voice would soothe many a troubled mind.”
She gifted him with an equally large smile, all the while her stomach was snarling into knots. Each time she engaged with them, she knew she was getting pulled in deeper. She’d never felt completely comfortable around men, now there were two that were steadily digging under her skin and squashing her normal ambivalence. Staring at the ground, she tried to reason her way through what she was feeling.
Am I starting to identify with my captors? Is this nothing more than them being the lesser evil of what I’ve encountered over the last several hours? No, that can’t be it. I’ve been with them long enough to have seen something that revealed nefarious thoughts. They’ve been nothing but gentle, protective, and concerned since the moment I met them. Words like “honorable,” “genuine,” and “lovable” smacked around her confused brain. She shivered at the thought that she might actually have feelings for them. It was insane. She startled at Makar’s deep voice.
�
��It’s okay, Keely. We feel the temperature cooling as well. We should reach the dwelling before it rains.”
Glancing around, Keely realized they were now walking the edge of the forest. A gray blanket of clouds blocked the sun, foretelling of the impending storm. She gasped when she caught sight of a red roof on the far side of a meadow. The corner material Baruch had spotted among the trees was attached to a building. She prayed someone was inside that could help, yet felt inexplicably sad that others might soon intrude on these new feelings she was discovering bit by disconcerting bit.
Chapter 13
Keely sat hunkered with her back plastered against Makar’s chest and solidly wrapped within his warm arms. Baruch threw her a little wave and reformed, becoming one with the soft breeze before completely disappearing. He refused to let her move another inch until he checked out the building. She shook her head and glanced up, somewhat startled to find Makar studying her features. His warm golden eyes locked to hers, a mysterious smile growing on his sensuous lips. Blinking rapidly, she forced her eyes back to the red roof and tried to think of something to say.
“Uh…you know. You guys could become master thieves, or better yet, super spies with that awesome trick. How many times did you pull that on me, besides the car?”
“Twice, but I promise it was innocent. We’d never spy on you within a compromising situation.”
She snorted and elbowed him in the rib. “You mean like hanging out on the toilet…or if I was with a lover?” Makar’s muscles tightened, and she couldn’t stop her smile.
“You have a lover?”
“Nope.”
“So why would you bring that up?”
“Just curious. Now explain the two times that I was clueless.”
Makar blew out a breath and confessed. “You tried to get away from us so quickly when we first met. We followed you into the elevator.”
Keely groaned and pinched his arm. He chuckled. She sensed him trying to peek over her shoulder, and she lowered her head. “You heard everything I said. Damn, I can’t look at you right now. That’s embarrassing.” She felt his arms tighten.
“No, don’t be. You said what was on your mind. We especially liked that you thought us handsome.”
“Okay, I don’t think I can get any redder. When was the second?”
“Your office. We’d just retrieved Rhia’s blood bag, and you stepped off the elevator. You did nothing but work on your computer and then we left.”
“Makar?”
“Yes?”
“I’m glad that you’re being honest, but don’t ever do that again. You hear me?”
“We won’t. I know it’s not an excuse, but you have to understand why we did it. It was only so we could know you better. Baruch found the specialty shop coffee cup in the trash. We were going to accidently bump into you there.”
Keely felt her stomach tighten. She was glad that Makar couldn’t see her shocked face.
“Why? What’s so special about me that you’d want to go to all that trouble?”
“It should be quite obvious, Keely. We like you. Very much. Had you not been on a path to discovering our secret, the situation would be very different right now. You’d be wondering why we just happened to turn up wherever you were. We’d wear you down until you agreed to dine with us, or attend one of your wonderful movies. I’m saddened that we ended up here instead. It doesn’t lend itself to courting you in the proper manner.”
Swallowing hard, Keely tried to temper her voice, yet it misbehaved and shot out as a soft, urgent whisper. “You’re wasting your time with me, Makar. I…I have issues that you shouldn’t have to deal with.” His big, warm palm slid down her arm and gently gripped her hand, causing her to blink rapidly at the unexpected biting tears demanding to spew forth at his sweet confession.
“I know of not one being that doesn’t have issues, Keely. Getting to know you and working through whatever life throws upon us is not a waste of our time.”
“You sound so confident about things you know nothing about.”
“We know more than you can imagine. You feel something for us, sweetness. It’s evident to our Insedi abilities.”
Keely opened her mouth to scoff at his bold statement, yet squealed like a victim in a horror film when Baruch suddenly appeared and snapped open a bright green umbrella. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she could only stare at him as he knelt down beside her. She could hear a light tapping sound against the slick material and realized the rain had arrived.
“Aw, I’m sorry, my foemina. I didn’t mean to scare you. I had to reform before the water forced it upon me. That’s never pleasant. Let’s get you inside. There’s no one there, and it doesn’t appear we can expect anyone soon.”
She allowed Makar to help her from the ground and accepted the umbrella from Baruch’s outstretched hand. “So. Water’s your kryptonite?” She chuckled when they both frowned in confusion.
“Sorry, that must be a movie you haven’t seen yet. Superman’s from another planet, and if he gets around kryptonite, he loses his powers.”
Their eyebrows rose and then both started laughing. Makar bent at the waist and scooped her up into his arms.
“Yes, I guess we’re quite similar to your superman actor, except we only lose one. You must show us this movie at the first opportunity.”
“Sure. We get out of this mess and I’ll take you to as many movies as you want.” She bit her lip when realizing she’d just committed to engaging in one of their courting techniques. Ah, screw it. It’s a harmless outing. A bucket of popcorn and a wave at the door won’t kill me.
The closer they came to the building, the more her shoulders relaxed. The white stucco ranch house wasn’t overly large, but it was very inviting. A screened side terrace attached nicely to a wraparound porch boasting comfortable-looking chairs and small tables. A row of small, cut logs lined the roof of both the porch and terrace, giving the home a rustic style that fit perfectly with the surroundings. Trailing vines heavy with small, yellow flowers had taken ownership of the white support beams holding up the structures. The leaves wound lazily upward and across the top, some even extending onto the red metal roof.
It became obvious that someone tended to the vegetation to keep it from overwhelming the home. The sweet aroma of honeysuckle and the large barn off to the right threw her into a wonderful memory of sitting outside with her aunt and snapping beans for supper. She couldn’t hold back her smile.
“You seem pleased.”
She nodded at Makar’s comment. “The smell of the flowers. It brought back an image from long ago.”
“I’m glad you can find some happiness among this craziness, Keely. Let’s hope the inside can bring about some more.”
As soon as Makar strode through the doorway, Keely’s eyes widened. The interior was made entirely of gleaming cut wood, from a log-beamed ceiling to shining hardwood floors. A long, leather couch and several matching armchairs were situated pleasingly in front of a large, stone fireplace covering an entire wall. Immediately to the left, she spotted a marbled-counter kitchen with equally impressive appliances. One glance down the long hallway on the right and the mound of sheets Baruch was pulling from the furniture clued her to what they’d found.
“It’s a lodge. No wonder it’s not occupied. It probably won’t open up for a few more weeks. See if there’s a phone.”
Makar placed her on the couch, covering her legs with one of the furniture sheets. They searched the room until Baruch found it by the kitchen archway. He replaced the receiver and shook his head.
“It’s silent.”
Seconds later, they were relieved to find the utilities were still working. Baruch flipped the lights off.
“Let’s keep our presence to a minimum. We don’t need to broadcast we’re here.”
Makar knelt beside the couch and began unpacking the duffel he’d brought back from the helicopter. She stared at the large, black case he settled on the cushion while Baruch lit enough candles
to give the room a pleasant glow. He bent and pulled the side lever on the couch to raise her legs. Looking up when he removed the sheet from her lap, she met his smiling face as he unwound the bandage from her ankle.
“You need to remove your hose.”
“Uh…why is that?”
“So we can heal you. It works better with exposed skin.”
Keely chuckled. “And how do you propose to pull off this medical marvel? It’s broken, you silly man.” She followed Baruch’s pointing finger and saw that Makar had pulled two yellow hoses from the black case, one the length of his forearm and the other half the size.
“The big one will take care of your ankle. The little one is for your arm.”
“You’re insane.”
Makar laughed and waggled the larger hose. “Do you always diagnose without proof? Give us twenty minutes and you’ll know. What do you have to lose…besides a busted ankle?”
“Good point. Okay, turn around.”
They both asked, “Why?” at the same time.
“Because I’d like a little privacy, if you don’t mind.”
Baruch shook his head and chuckled. “Come on, Keely. It’s not as if we don’t know you have a garter belt on underneath. It’s very pretty by the way.”
Undaunted, Keely lifted her index finger and motioned for them to swivel around, suppressing her smile at their disappointed expressions. Quickly, she unclipped and removed the hose, grimacing when getting a better view of her purple ankle. Shimmying out of the garter belt, she stuffed the material into her purse and cleared her throat. “Okay, I’m done. You can turn around.”
Within seconds, she became fascinated with the strange hose Makar positioned at the tip of her feet. Using his thumbs, he disengaged the ends and stepped back. She watched with wide eyes as the cylinder split down the length, and a wavering clear material moved slowly into the air, rolled forward, and draped her legs up to mid calf. She could feel a slight tingly sensation as soon as it started to glow a pale blue.
Fueled by Lust: Makar and Baruch (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 12
