Rye (Joyadan Mates Book 1)

by Sadie Carter

  “No.”

  “I wish I had someone who loved me like you love your family. I did not properly understand love, not until I met all of you. Not until I saw the way Thor smiles at Lucy or how Koran watches Mila. The way you all protect each other. I hope someday I will have a friend to laugh with as Mila laughs with Zoey.”

  “You don’t think Lucy, Willa, and the others are your friends?” He cupped her cheeks, raising her face to his.

  “No.”

  “I think that if you opened up if you showed them this side of you, then you would be surprised to learn that they are your friends. You’re not alone anymore, Elika. If something happened to you, any one of us would drop everything to help you.”

  Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision. She blinked rapidly.

  “No, they wouldn’t.”

  “Yes, they would. You’re one of us, Elika. As long as you are loyal to us, we are loyal to you. Do you understand? You don’t have change who you are or hide the way you feel.”

  She wanted a home. She wanted people to care for her. If she went missing, she wanted someone to look for her.

  “They will like you for being you.”

  She wasn’t so certain. She often said the wrong thing without knowing. Like when she told him his shoulder looked fine. Truthfully, it looked awful. But she thought men didn’t like to show weakness, so she pretended it was nothing. Only, he had grown upset with her for not showing sympathy. This was something she would have to learn to do.

  “What if I say the wrong thing?”

  “So what? If you do something wrong, you apologize. How often have you heard Zoey put her foot in it?”

  “Put her foot in what? In Norman’s poo? I did witness her doing that the other day. She was not happy.”

  He chuckled. “That would make anyone unhappy. What I’m saying is no one is perfect. Not even me.”

  “I know you’re not perfect. You are too arrogant and demanding. You have little patience, and you like to be in control.”

  “I think I have plenty of patience.”

  Uh-huh.

  “There is something I have wanted to ask you, about your, um, abilities.”

  That surprised her.

  “What is that?”

  “How did you take the wards down you put up for Husan if you had no magic? Lucy said your magic was depleted because you were held underground for so long.”

  “I simplified the explanation because my magic isn’t black and white. I am witch-born, which means I was born with a certain amount of magic I will always have. I can do simple spells, wherever I am, but for bigger spells I need a magic boost. The more skilled and powerful the witch or wizard, the more magic they can store. It takes practice and dedication. When you’re young, you use large bursts of magic that an older, more skilled witch might only use a small burst for. Does that make sense?”

  “Yeah. And you draw your magic from the sky?”

  “Yes, and other elements as well. I’m at my most powerful outside. If I weren't run down and out of practice, I would still be able to create a spell to get us out of here. However, years of little practice have left me weak.”

  Which increasingly frustrated her.

  “My guardian was a very powerful wizard and a great teacher. He would be ashamed of how weak I have grown.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “He’s dead. Apparently, he died not long after I was taken.” She glanced up at Rye. “I thought of anyone, he would have searched for me.”

  “Maybe he did. And if he didn’t, then his opinion is not worth worrying about, is it?”

  “Maybe he was ashamed of me, for falling for Husan’s charms. He had another ward before me, and he betrayed my guardian. I think he always believed I would do the same.” She ran her hand over her face.

  “Or he might be proud of the fact that you survived. Of how strong you are.”

  But she wasn’t strong at all.

  “Come back here.” He patted his lap, and she moved towards him, unable to help herself. Carefully, she arranged herself on his lap.

  As he kissed her, need flooded her body, smashing through all her inhibitions, all the reasons why she shouldn’t let this happen, and she melted in his arms, her insides pulsing. She had never felt anything like this before, never felt an attraction to a male that ran this deep and hot.

  What she’d thought she had felt for Husan paled in comparison.

  Rye pulled his coat off her shoulders and laid it down on the floor beside them. “Lie down.”

  She laid on her back, staring up at him.

  “I want you.”

  “Me too,” she admitted.

  “You deserve better than this, though.” He glanced around the cave.

  No, no he couldn’t change his mind. Not now.

  “There might never be another chance. This mountain could collapse at any moment.” Something she was trying really hard not to think about.

  Still, he hesitated.

  “Rye, I do not need anything else. So just hurry up.”

  His hot gaze met hers. “Damn, you are beautiful when you get all bossy.”

  “I thought men didn’t like bossy women.”

  “You have been hanging around with the wrong men.”

  Yes, she had.

  He sat her up, pulling her coat off. Then he set about undressing her.

  It was like unwrapping a long-anticipated present, taking off layer after layer to get to the prize beneath. Finally, he bared her to his sight. His breath caught. Her skin was pale, smooth. She was tiny, her arms thin and long, her stomach flat. Her breasts were small but perfect. The peach-colored nipples that tipped her breasts grew hard and puckered in the cool air, and she reached up to cover them.

  “You’re not wearing a bra.” He moved her hands away, gently pushing her onto her back.

  “Not something I am used to wearing, although Lucy did explain how to put it on.”

  “Are you blushing?” He ran a finger down her hot cheek. “You are.”

  “I am not used to lying half-naked in front of a man.”

  A sudden thought occurred to him. “Have you ever been naked in front of a man before?”

  She glanced away, and her vulnerability filled him with possessiveness.

  “Elika?”

  “No,” she whispered, crossing her arms over her chest with a shiver.

  “You’ve never had sex before? Are you a virgin?”

  Her eyes widened, and he saw the truth in her face before she could admit it.

  “Fuck. You are.” He drew his hands back.

  She scrambled backward, away from him. She sat back against the cave wall, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “Why should that matter to you?”

  Jesus. She was a virgin. And he’d been about to take her in a dirty tunnel when they could be killed at any moment.

  “Elika.” He reached for her.

  She scowled at him. “Stay away from me.”

  “Elika, I—”

  “Don’t touch me. I don’t need your pity.”

  “Pity? I—”

  A low rumble was their only warning as they ground started shaking. Elika squealed and threw herself at him. Rye tugged her beneath him, desperate to protect her.

  As the trembling ceased, Rye became aware of her soft body beneath his, her perfect, naked breasts pressed against his chest.

  “Oh, Goddess. Oh, Goddess.” She was shaking as he moved away from her.

  He drew her against him, holding her tight on his lap as she continued to mutter to herself.

  “It’s stopped now, sweetheart.”

  “It’s going to collapse on us. We’ll be crushed.”

  “I’m not going to let that happen.” He injected as much reassurance as he could into his voice.

  “How do you plan to manage that?”

  “You’d be surprised by what I can do,” he drawled.

  She took a deep, shuddering breath then looked
up at him. The fear in her eyes stabbed at him. His gut churned. He hated feeling like he had no control. That he couldn’t fix what was wrong. Instead, they had to wait to be rescued, and it didn’t sit well with him.

  He brushed her hair back off her dirty face. “It will be okay. I promise.”

  Her eyes met his, and for a moment he thought she would reach up and kiss them. Then she drew back, her whole body freezing him out as she hunched over.

  “I need to get dressed.” She pushed at his arms, but he wasn’t ready to let her go. He needed to explain himself.

  “I’m not taking your virginity in a dirty tunnel,” he told her.

  “You are not taking it at all.”

  She struggled against him, and he moaned as she jolted his shoulder. She froze, staring up at him in worry. “Is it your shoulder? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Elika, I wasn’t rejecting you.”

  She turned her face away.

  “Look at me.” He waited until she gave in and turned back. “It’s damn near killing me not to touch you, taste you, take you. You have no idea. But you deserve better than this.”

  “What if I don’t? What if it’s what I want?”

  “It’s not. This isn’t something to take lightly.”

  “I’m not. I’m thirty-one and still a virgin. I’m scared of most men touching me. You’re the only one…”

  “I’m glad you feel safe with me,” he told her. It had to be a big deal, letting herself be vulnerable around someone larger than her. And he couldn’t help but feel he’d fucked everything up.

  “I don’t know why I feel this way about you,” she admitted. “You still annoy me and sometimes I just want to shake you. But then I also want to kiss you. Argh, it’s so confusing, and I’m so embarrassed.” She placed her hands over her face.

  Ignoring his sore shoulder, he drew her hands down. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I want you as well. What I don’t want to do is scare you. Elika, you have been through a horrible ordeal. You need time to think, to heal. You need to find your place, who you are. To have a stable environment in which to heal. I can’t provide those things. As soon as this mission is over, I’m going to search for my brother. Lucy did a search for him, and he’s alive. I have to find him. As soon as Lucy and Thor can leave, we’ll be going to search for him, and I don’t know how long I will be gone. I can’t give you the stability you need.”

  “I was not asking you to mate with me, merely for you to rid me of my virginity.”

  “I still think you deserve something more.”

  “What if this is what I want, though? Maybe I want you to take me here,” she said daringly. “Maybe I want to know what it is like to have intercourse with someone before I die.”

  “You’re not going to die.”

  “I’m not? Funny, for years I wished for death. I tried, many times.”

  “You tried to kill yourself?” He looked appalled, but he didn’t know. He didn’t understand.

  “I wanted to be free, and it was the only way I knew how. I was desperate.”

  “That bastard. If he was alive right now…”

  She watched the way he clenched his fists. The anger on his face didn’t frighten her—he was angry on her behalf.

  “But you don’t feel that way now, right?” Worry whispered across his face.

  “Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be easier.”

  She wanted to sleep through the night without a nightmare or the light on, but she didn’t tell him that; she’d already humiliated herself enough.

  “It wouldn’t,” he told her fiercely. “You have to live, Elika. You have a home now. People who care about you. Taking your own life would rob you of all of that.”

  “It’s all right. I don’t think about it now.”

  Useless. Unloved. Nobody is coming for you.

  She shoved the voice out of her head. “Please, Rye. Don’t make me beg.”

  His breathing came quicker as he watched her closely. There was no hesitation on her beautiful face, just need. For him.

  “If you’re sure.” He drew her close to him, reaching out he cupped her breast.

  “I have been dreaming about this, about you, for so long.”

  “So have I.” He pulled back as her words penetrated. “What do you mean, you’ve dreamed about this? About me?”

  She blinked, looking confused. A blush covered her cheeks, but all he could see was Milissa staring at him, a cruel smirk on her face.

  “What dreams have you had about me?” he asked.

  “Ah, nothing.” She stared down at her hands, embarrassed. “Forget I said anything.”

  “I won’t.” There was a hard note in his voice, and she wondered at the furious look on his face. “Have you been linking our dreams?”

  What? What did he mean, linking their dreams? “No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I’ve been dreaming about you as well. Is that something you’ve done? Have you used a spell on me?”

  The fury and disgust in his voice floored her.

  “No, Rye.” She reached for him, and he moved back as though the thought of her touching him disgusted him. Shocked, she reared back and stared at him. “Let me—”

  “Don’t ever use a spell on me.” His face was a hard mask, and he had completely shut himself off from her.

  Fine. If that is what he wanted. She pushed down her hurt at his assumptions.

  “Do not worry. I will not. I have not.” He had reacted this way earlier when he thought she’d placed that force field up to prevent him from reaching her. But his reaction now was far worse.

  “Good.” He put some distance between them. But it was the cold way he looked at her that made her feel like crying. Shivering, she climbed into her clothes. How had that turned so bad so quickly?

  Maybe she should try again. This was just a misunderstanding. “Rye, I—”

  “It would be best if we didn’t talk right now.”

  Hurt, she retreated into herself.

  It felt like they sat in silence for a lifetime before Elika heard a drilling noise. Rye stood.

  “Do you hear that? They’re coming for us.”

  The drilling paused.

  “Rye! Elika!” Steele yelled out.

  “We’re here!” Rye called back. “We’re stuck on the other side of these rocks.”

  “Stand back,” Steele told them. “We’ll soon have you free.”

  Rye sent her a grim look. “Good.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Zuma!” Rye roared, storming into the rec room where he and Nolan were currently locked into a game of Alien Warfare.

  Nolan glanced up, took one look at him, and quickly left.

  “Hey, we weren’t finished with our game!”

  “I thought I told you to clean that mess in the kitchen.”

  Zuma stood, placing his hands on his hips. “Jesus, man, who stuck a hot rod up your butt?”

  “Nobody. I am the captain of this ship, and when I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed.”

  “What’s going on?” Willa asked as she walked in. “I heard you guys yelling from down the corridor.”

  “Rye is laying down the law. Wait around, I think I’m about to get fired.”

  Rye clenched his hands into fists. “I told you to clean the kitchen. I’m tired of you clowning around and not taking anything seriously.”

  “Because whether a few crumbs get wiped up is a matter of life and death, right?”

  “All right.” Willa slipped between them. “You two need to calm down. Rye, what is going on? I’ve never seen you like this before.”

  “He’s been a bear with a sore paw since we rescued him and Elika.” Zuma folded his arms over his chest with a smirk.

  Rye resisted the urge to wipe it off his face. Even he could sense he was acting like a madman, but he couldn’t seem to help it. His temper was bubbling and needed an outlet.

  He couldn’t believe he’d been startin
g to trust her. That he’d nearly fucked her.

  “Elika’s been acting weird as well. She’s very quiet and serious. What happened?” Willa asked. “What did you do?”

  “What did I do? I didn’t do a thing. She’s the one who placed a spell on me.”

  His brother and sister shared a glance. They knew the full truth about Milissa.

  “Are you sure, Rye?” Willa asked. “Elika is nothing like Milissa.”

  “Of course I’m sure.”

  “She admitted to it?” Zuma asked.

  “She…” Doubt stirred. She never actually had admitted to placing a spell on him, had she? But that didn’t mean anything. “She linked our dreams.”

  Willa frowned. “Why would she do that? And why you? I mean, what would she have to gain from doing that?”

  “What kind of dreams were they?” Zuma had a knowing look on his face. “Maybe the two of you just had similar dreams. It’s obvious you’re hot for each other.”

  “Hot for each other? What sort of dreams…oh.” A light blush covered Willa’s cheeks. “Those sorts of dreams. Eww, not the sort of dreams I want to hear about when it comes to my brother.”

  “Now you know how I feel,” he muttered. He ran his hand through his hair. Shit. He was starting to think he may have made a big mistake.

  “Did she admit to doing it?” Zuma asked.

  “No. She denied it.” At the time he hadn’t listened, hadn’t believed her. But he recalled how upset she’d been by his accusation. She could have been faking, but now he wondered if he’d let his prejudice override his judgment.

  “Milissa was a bitch, but that had nothing to do with her being a witch,” Zuma told him. “Elika has done nothing but help us, even at risk to herself.”

  “Shit. I need to talk to her.”

  “I think maybe you need to work on your groveling,” Zuma told him

  ***

  “Want to get out of here for a while?” Willa stepped up beside Elika just as one of the female humans screeched in outrage.

  These women were loud. They yelled when they were happy, sad, excited, or angry. It was very difficult to keep up with them.