Otherworld Protector

by Jane Godman

  Stella’s eyes were closed, her breathing still ragged, when Cal pulled out of her and lowered her to the bed. Lying next to her, he drew a hand over her breasts, delighting in the way her indrawn breath signaled her pleasure at his touch. It was the answering tug within his chest that rocked him to the core. It was an affirmation of something he already knew.

  He was in love with her.

  He had known that his feelings for Stella went deeper than anything he had ever known for a woman, but it was only now that the true magnitude of this new awareness hit him. After all these centuries of aloneness, of being the world’s great protector, of guarding his heart because his mission came first. He had finally found someone who meant more than any of those things. In his case, love was a luxury in which he could not indulge. Whole worlds, lives without number, depended on his ability to keep his heart neutral. A thought, frightening in its unfamiliarity, coursed through him. He had never needed anyone until now. In the face of that new awareness, could he maintain his impartiality?

  Despite his thoughts, he was unable to resist the temptation to touch Stella. He leaned over, brushing her hair back from her face. Stella’s eyes opened and she smiled. She had no idea how that smile tested the limits of his heart. Reaching up, she hooked her hand behind his head, pulling him down to her. His mouth urged her lips apart so he could slide his tongue inside. No matter how dangerous it was, he could never get enough of her. Winding her arms around his neck, Stella mimicked the gentle thrusting motion of Cal’s tongue.

  “Dim the lights.” The tightness in his chest was heightened to the point of pain. “We need to get some sleep.”

  “I had other plans,” she whispered, pressing closer. “I thought after a brief rest we could go for a repeat performance. But if you’re too tired...”

  “It’s not that. You need to be ready to face Moncoya tomorrow.”

  Cal thought he could hold her and still ride the wave of emotion that wanted to crush him. He truly believed he could rise above it. Until Stella spoke again just before she drifted off to sleep.

  “All those years, when I knew you but didn’t know you? Even though you weren’t real, you were the only real thing in my life.”

  That was when he knew that human hearts really could be broken. And he wasn’t immune just because his own heart was only half human.

  * * *

  Stella came awake slowly, her eyes adjusting gradually to the gloom of the lamp-lit cave. The strong arms around her and muscular chest beneath her cheek filled her with a sense of well-being and she allowed herself to revel in its comforting warmth for a few brief moments. Then reality intruded and her happiness oozed away like honey poured back into its jar.

  Cal was awake, his eyes on her face. She wondered if he had slept at all. “I need to bathe.” She rested her chin on his chest. God, she would never get tired of gazing at that beautiful face. But she’d like to have the chance to keep trying.

  His arms tightened possessively. “I don’t want to let you go.” It sounded as if the words were being choked from him.

  “Then I’ll make it easier for you.” She slid from the bed, reveling in the way Cal’s eyes hungrily raked her body. “Moncoya won’t come while I’m in the pool, will he?”

  Cal shook his head. “He won’t be able to get through at all until I lower the barrier spell I placed around the bower. I won’t remove it completely. It will just be weaker. He’ll be able to talk to you but he won’t be able to touch you, and none of his sidhes, not even Tanzi or Vashti, will be able to breach the barrier.”

  “Will you be there?” Stella threw on a shirt and grabbed up her towel and toiletries.

  “I’ll be nearby.” His face hardened. “If he knows I’m close, he may sense a trap.”

  She couldn’t stand to know she was the cause of the pain on his face, even if it was unintentional. “Come with me.”

  When he rose from the bed, her breath caught in her throat at the perfection of his body. Nobody said life was fair. She got that. It had thrown some pretty spectacularly unfair things her way. But to taunt her with Cal and the knowledge that this couldn’t be forever? That was downright cruel. Cal wrapped a towel around his waist and came to take her hand.

  The pool water was crisp and Stella shivered slightly as she undressed and stepped into its chilly depths. Strangely enough, she would miss this early morning ritual. Hot water had its attractions, but this had become a refreshing way to start her day. She ducked under the water, immersing herself fully and allowing it to cleanse away the last traces of sleep. When she emerged, she reached for the rock where she had placed her toiletries and opened her shampoo bottle.

  “Let me do that.”

  She hadn’t noticed Cal removing his own towel and joining her in the water, and she started slightly when he came up behind her and took the shampoo from her. His hands were gentle but firm as he massaged the perfumed liquid into her scalp. Stella closed her eyes and relaxed into the moment, willing her thoughts to remain at bay. When he’d finished, she ducked back under the water and rinsed her hair.

  “Your turn now. But you’re taller than me so you’ll need to sit down.”

  Cal obligingly sat on a rock so that she could stand to one side of him and shampoo his hair. It was thick and springy as she ran her fingers through its length. Cal closed his eyes, and tilted his head back so that she could complete her task.

  “Rinse this off now.”

  He leaned farther back so that his head was under the water, keeping his eyes on Stella’s the whole time, snaring her in the silver beam of his gaze. When he sat up again, he dragged both hands through his hair, slicking it back. Droplets of water clung to his eyelashes and dripped down onto the hair on his chest.

  “Can you pass me the soap?” Stella indicated the bag containing her toiletries that sat on a rocky ledge behind Cal. When he handed her the sweet-scented bar, she stood before him waist deep in the water. Two could play at this staring game. Locking her gaze onto his, she began to soap up her arms to her shoulders and then down across her breasts. Wordlessly, she held the soap out to Cal. Seizing her invitation, he rose to his feet, taking the sudsy bar from her. Following the same movement Stella had used, his hands smoothed the slippery bubbles across her breasts. Her nipples, already hard from a combination of cold water and anticipation, tightened painfully.

  Moving around her in a circle, Cal took his time, covering her entire upper body in soap. His hands lingered on her flesh, smoothing and massaging. As he stood behind her and ran his soapy fingers up and down her neck, his iron-hard erection pressed into her back.

  When he faced her again, Stella took the soap out of his hand and slid it across his chest and stomach. His sharp hiss of indrawn breath told her exactly what her actions were doing to his self-control. She paused to slowly trace gentle circles in the bubbles around his nipples.

  “Stella...” It was a mixture of pleading and warning.

  Ignoring him, she copied his actions of minutes earlier, moving around to soap his back. Dipping her hand lower, she kneaded the firm muscles of his buttocks.

  “Give me that.” It was a growl of command and, standing in front of him, Stella obeyed. Cal moved his hands below the water, down between her legs. She opened them slightly, and he ran the bar of soap up her thighs. Gently, he caressed her outer lips with the tips of his fingers, slowly opening her. Spreading her wider and massaging the soap into her flesh, he worked one finger inside her.

  His cock was throbbing and pulsing against Stella’s stomach, and she encircled it, her grip tightening as she lightly and slowly ran her hand up and down his shaft. She started with soft caresses, her movements becoming bolder as her fingers moved up to stroke the head of his cock before gliding back down again. As Cal began to move his thumb in a relentless circle around her clitoris while pumping his finger in and out of her, Ste
lla’s own movements became faster.

  “You do know I will never be able to take a bath again without remembering this and getting aroused, don’t you?” she murmured, leaning forward to trace his nipple with her tongue.

  “Good.” Cal’s voice rasped in her ear. “When we are apart I want to know you are thinking about me. About this.” He punctuated his words with harder strokes, driving her on and joining her in a shuddering climax.

  When they finally emerged from the pool sometime later, Cal scanned the patch of blue above the treetops. After a few minutes, Stella heard the familiar sound of a falcon’s wings.

  “Moncoya is close.” Cal’s expression made her think of thunderclouds racing across an already stormy sky.

  Chapter 16

  When Stella finally faced Moncoya from a few feet away, it was as if she was viewing him through a thin sheet of translucent glass. He was almost, but not quite, clear. There was no sign of Cal in either human or falcon form, yet she sensed his nearness. She paused to examine the effect Moncoya had on her. No. Nothing. She almost smiled. It was such a relief. One of her biggest fears had been that he would still have that strange fey hold over her. She had been unaware of its potency until she was removed from his presence. Of course, it could be the barrier spell between them that reduced his powers. Stella preferred to think it was because she knew what he was. Or perhaps it was because she was in love with Cal.

  “Ezra...” She had spent so long anticipating this moment that, now that it was finally here, she had no idea what to say to him.

  “My little star.” The words were a caress and there was a hint of laughter in his voice. “A cave dweller? This is what has become of you?”

  She glanced swiftly around, hoping to convince Moncoya of her nervousness. “Cal will be back soon.”

  “Cal? Is that what he is calling himself these days? He hasn’t used that one in a while.”

  Stella wanted to ask what he meant. What did he know of Cal? And what was at the root of this world-destroying animosity between the two of them?

  “Ezra, you really shouldn’t be here. He will be angry if he knows I’ve spoken to you.”

  “You think I am afraid of a sorcerer? Oh, Stella.” He shook his head, his multicolored mane of hair flying wildly about his face. “Has he succeeded in convincing you that he is all-powerful? That he cannot be beaten? When you are free of this madness, my little one, I will tell you more of this would-be protector of yours. He is not all he seems.”

  “I can’t get free of the barriers he has put up around this place. Believe me, I’ve tried. And even if I get away from here, where could I go?”

  “To me, of course. I will care for you.”

  “You are very kind...”

  “I am not offering you my kindness, my star. You must know that. When you ran from me, you wounded me deeply. I thought you knew how I felt about you. I want you.”

  Stella resisted the impulse to shiver. Everything depended on her ability to play this part. “I didn’t want to leave you. He... Cal told me the most fantastic story. I was confused, scared. He told me he would care for me. We came here, but now he wants me to do everything he says. It’s like I’m his slave.”

  “What is this story he has told you?”

  She hung her head. “It’s too foolish.”

  “Look at me.”

  He still had some power over her. Although she could resist him, she felt the pull of his words. She would have to watch that. Once away from the barrier spell, it might be even stronger. She didn’t want to find herself commanded to do things she was unable to resist. Lifting her head, she looked directly at him. “He told me that I am the great sorcerer the world has been waiting for, the necromancer star of Merlin’s prophecy. That he who claims my heart will rule Otherworld.”

  “He has been busy. Is that all he told you?”

  “All?” Stella reeled slightly. What more could there possibly be? “Isn’t that enough?”

  He laughed. “Maybe for him. So you do not believe that you are the necromancer star?”

  “I don’t know what to believe. But I do know being cooped up in a cave is sending me batty. If you’ll pardon the pun.”

  “Come to me.” There it was again, that compelling note. Stronger now. It would take all of her own powers to resist it.

  “I can’t get through this barrier he has placed around me.”

  “I am your king. You are my subject. I command you.”

  Hold on a minute. “Rewind a bit, Ezra. I am your subject? How did that happen?”

  “It may have suited the sorcerer not to tell you the truth about yourself, but I will not lie to you, Stella. Why should I? You are a faerie. That makes you my subject.”

  The world tilted slightly off its axis. Then it began to spin out of control. Stella sat down abruptly on a rock, closing her eyes until the wild movement around her subsided. “No.” The word was a croak.

  “I could be offended by your dismay, my star.”

  “My parents died when I was three. I knew them. They were mortal.” She conjured up a hazy mental image of them. It was difficult because it was so long ago and she had been so young. The picture in her mind was her last memory of them. Her mother, so like Stella herself in looks, had been clinging to her father’s arm, laughing up at him. He, much taller than her mother, had been smiling down at her in return.

  “Your father was mortal, that is true. But your mother was a sidhe princess, of the purest bloodline.” Some of the charm slipped from his face. His voice hardened and became cruel. “She shamed her royal name when she fell in love with a mere human. She compounded that disgrace by running away and choosing to live a mortal life with him.”

  “No.” Even as Stella repeated the word, she knew it was true. It explained so much. The way Moncoya had tracked her down. His assurance that she, the necromancer star, would be his to command. Her own ambivalent feelings about the faeries. Did it also explain Cal’s reluctance to talk about the sidhes? Had he known this all along?

  “But yes. I am offering you my heart, Stella. I could command you to give me yours in return. Instead, I ask it of you. Come to me. I will await you at La Casa Oscura. It is fitting that our triumphal entry into Otherworld should commence in Barcelona.”

  “Why is Barcelona so important?” With so many thoughts jostling for supremacy inside her head, it seemed an odd one to force its way to the surface.

  “Our ancestors, the Fair Folk, known in the Celtic language as the daoine sídhe, hailed from Ireland. Long ago, we were defeated in battle by an invading horde from Iberia and driven out of Otherworld. Although we fought and regained our beloved homeland, Iberia is the place where I have chosen to live among mortals. It is my reminder to all who question me that I will fight for what is mine. No doubt the sorcerer told you I have blood on my hands.”

  “He told me you killed the last king and massacred his people. He also said that you rule through fear.”

  His laughter shattered the stillness. “Didn’t he tell you anything bad about me?” The caressing note returned to his voice. “I await your answer, my star.”

  Stella needed to call on all her acting skills in order to dredge up something approaching a convincing response. It was also an effort to keep her newfound hatred of him out of her voice. She now knew exactly how Cal felt. “I will see you in Barcelona before the week is out, Ezra.”

  * * *

  Waiting while Stella faced Moncoya alone was the worst torture Cal had ever endured. There was no other word for the range of emotions he endured in that agonizing half hour. Even Darnantes paled in comparison. When a falcon eventually landed close to where he sat on the hillside and flapped its wings in a prearranged signal, he knew that Moncoya had gone. Rising to his feet, he made his way back to the bower, unsure of what he would find. Cal ha
d no doubts about where Stella’s allegiance lay. He knew she loved him. He should wish she didn’t, but the thought made his heart lurch with pleasure. Even if that had not been the case, she could be relied upon to do the right thing. It was who she was. But Moncoya was unpredictable. There was no knowing what tactics he would employ to get his own way.

  There was no sign of Stella in the bower or at the pool. He found her in the cave, curled up in a ball on the bed. There was a single lamp lighting the gloom. When he placed a hand on Stella’s shoulder, she flinched and the movement caused a knife-sharp pain to rip through his gut.

  “What happened?”

  She answered him with another question. “Did you know?”

  “Stella, look at me.” After a moment’s hesitation, she uncurled and turned to face him. The green of her eyes was so dark it appeared black. “Know what? What has Moncoya said to you?”

  “He told me I am a sidhe.”

  Cal thought he had prepared himself for anything she might say. Perhaps Moncoya had threatened an atrocity a week until she came to him. Or offered her a celebrity lifestyle. There was a strong possibility he might have threatened to harm Cal himself. He believed that threat, more than anything else, would have elicited a response from Stella. Not even his wildest imaginings had made him ready for this.

  “Is that why we can’t be together, Cal?” Stella sat up abruptly, hugging her knees to her chest. “All this time I thought it was because of a dark secret in your past.” The little laugh she gave was hollow. “I never imagined it might be because of a dark secret in my past.”

  Cal was stunned into silence. His initial reaction was to laugh the idea off, and yet... Becoming aware of those huge, hurt eyes fixed on his face, he focused his attention on the most important task. Reassuring Stella.

  “This is the first I’ve heard of it.” Her face told him it was an inadequate response to the enormity of her pain. “Stella, I would not have kept something like this from you. You have to believe me.”