His face remained impassive, even when she raised her fists and lashed out at his face. He dodged her blows, but he only gazed at her with his steady, determined gaze. She pounded him harder and harder until she couldn’t breath. She gasped for breath, and tiny moans came out of her mouth
In the end, she broke into incoherent bellows of agony and horror. She exploded in every direction, with her movements no longer directed at anything or anyone. Taman folded his arms around her and held her against his chest. She writhed in his embrace in a tumult of confused emotion until her howls cracked into sobs. She collapsed against him. “I don’t need you. You’re nothing to me. Leave me alone. I don’t need any of you.”
Tara sank down in her place next to Allen, and Reina sat down next to Taig again. They stared into the fire. Aeifa’s sobs joined the crackle of burning sticks. A cloud of sparks rose from the flames and drifted with the stars.
Aeifa woke with a start. Grey dawn lighted the inside of a stick hut. “Where are we?”
“We’re safe.” Taman lay beside her with his head resting on his arm.
She inspected the inside of the hut. “Are we back in the village?”
He sighed and sat up. “We’re not in the village. We’re a long way from the village, Aeifa. You know that.”
“Then where are we?” she asked. “This looks like....”
“Taig and Tara made it for you,” he told her. “You passed out. I guess you were more exhausted than we realized. Taig and Tara insisted on making you some kind of shelter, and this is what they made. It’s a standard Lycaon house, I guess.”
Aeifa collapsed back on the ground. Her face burned from tears, and the unshed ones still lingering in her heart ate a hole through her middle. She would never be whole again, now that Ari was gone. “I suppose you wanted to keep watch over me and make sure I was safe. I suppose you were worried about me, too.”
“I wasn’t worried about you,” he replied. “I was worried about you on the trail yesterday, but after you started crying, I knew you’d be okay. I only came in here to bring you some water, but then I got tired, so I lay down here. I guess I fell asleep, too.”
“Where are the others?” she asked.
“They went on ahead,” he told her.
“Ahead?” Aeifa started up. “We have to go. We have to catch up with them.”
He laid his hand on her arm. “Wait, Aeifa. Not so fast.”
She tossed his hand back at him. “You have no right to tell me what to do. Who died and made you my chosen protector?”
He fixed her with a clear, direct gaze. “Ari died.”
She spun away. “Let’s get out of here. We can’t lie around all day.”
He grabbed her shoulders again. “Not so fast. You’ve been running for more than twenty-four hours. You have to stop running sooner or later, so you might as well stop running here and now.”
She rounded on him with a sneer. “Stop running here and now with you, right? Isn’t that what you mean?”
“I didn’t mean with me,” he replied. “I meant with yourself.”
She snorted again and started walking down the path away from the camp. Taig and Tara’s tracks showed up clearly on the soft ground. She could follow them anywhere, but Taman caught up to her. “Running away won’t bring Ari back.”
“Nothing will bring Ari back,” she countered, “not all the cuddling I could get from you.”
He caught her and turned her to face him. “I didn’t mean that, and you know it.”
She glared up at him and was just about to rip her arm out of his hand when he grabbed her and kissed her. His hand slithered around her back and pulled her in. His lips locked onto hers and pushed her mouth open. Her body went stiff in his arms, but in an instant, the energy that overpowered her reared its head. It roared in her ears and threatened to destroy her. She sensed this mind-boggling power when he kissed her in the cave. She had to tear herself away from him then to stop him dragging her down into an abyss so deep she could never climb out.
But she couldn’t tear herself away. She caught him off guard the first time, but his hands took hold of her with an authority she couldn’t deny. Her body melted in his hands. Her mouth opened to let his tongue slip inside. There was no one around to see her give in to him.
She didn’t realize in the cave she would respond to him this way. She never responded to anyone this way. She stared at herself in shock, but she couldn’t stop her body from falling into his hands. He pushed her back against a tree, and his hands closed around her in fierce determination. Thank goodness she didn’t let him kiss her like this in the cave.
His mouth skidded away from her lips and found her ear. His scorching breath burrowed into her brain and whispered to her soul of unquenchable desire and endless rapture. How could one man contain that desire? How could one woman contain all the desire rising from her depths to answer it?
His hand pressed her breast, and she gasped into his ear. Her chest rose to meet his hand, and her skin tingled. His fingers twisted around her nipple. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her off the ground. His hand found its way under her shirt, and fireworks exploded in front of her eyes. She cowered in his arms for protection from her own raging need. Her flesh softened against him just as his body hardened against hers. Tension tightened his muscles, and he held his breath behind clenched teeth.
He jammed his legs against the ground, and his big shoulders help her up with no effort. His sheer size gave her comfort and brought her to him in a way no Lycaon ever had. She’d played with her share of village boys. She could only laugh at their fragile bodies, but Taman could overpower her without trying. He never would, though. She was safe with him. She was safer with him than she was with her family or even Ari. He couldn’t take Ari’s place, but he didn’t want to. He only filled the bottomless vacuum of emptiness torturing her as one person she loved after another vanished from her life. He blocked the loneliness and horror from engulfing her.
His hips drove her hard against the tree, but she welcomed him. The harder he drove against her, the better. She couldn’t feel any delicate touch. She needed his power, his bulk, and his animal nature to know for sure he was there. She needed his teeth in her flesh, his mouth devouring her. He dragged his lips over her belly and down to the nest of moist fur between her legs. She opened before him, and he consumed her life essence. His fingers explored her body and sent her mind into a whirlwind.
When he separated from her, he left her bereft. Her mouth and her skin and her most sensitive flesh yearned for him. Before she could react, he looped his arms under her knees and lifted her legs over his shoulders. He stood up, and her legs opened in front of him.
She would never have recognized the man who was glowering in her face. Gone was the young Ursidrean who entered her village with his brother and his parents. Gone was the helpless city boy who never ran anywhere in his life. Gone was the boy she laughed at and whose kiss she ran away from in the cave.
She stared into his brooding eyes. Smoke came out of his nostrils and his ears. His determination would have frightened her if she didn’t have his bulk and his power to protect her. She didn’t recognize the moment he slipped inside her. She sailed though his gaze in a dream, in the new world opened before her.
Her back slamming against the tree brought her to some awareness of what was happening, but she dared not stop it. Her body moved in synchronicity with his, and rising waves of passion drove her down onto his cock as he drove up into her. What was her life before this moment? How could she go back to her cousins after this?
Now she understood why her aunt Chris didn’t want to come back to the village after she mated with Turk. She didn’t want to break the spell binding them together. She didn’t want to sully their union with any mundane matters of daily life. As long as they remained alone together in the forest, they could go on and on in effortless unity.
If only Aeifa could do the same t
hing with Taman, she would never have to face the possibility of separating from him. She wouldn’t have to worry about him remaining in Ursidrean territory while she went back to her village. What else could she look forward to if they found their parents?
But she didn’t have to worry about that now, with his blazing eyes fixed on her and their bodies communicating more deeply than she ever thought possible. As long as they remained locked together in mortal embrace, she was safe and secure.
She couldn’t distinguish the moment it ended, either, when their fevered breath rose to a heightened pitch. He answered her shrill moans with strained gasps, and their bodies slammed back and forth against the tree.
When he finally sank down onto his knees, she had to think hard before she understood why. Her body and soul still called out to him through the cloud of ecstasy surrounding them. Nothing could satisfy her. She could never get enough of him near her, inside her, holding her up.
His head dropped onto her shoulder and she ran her fingers through his fur. His breath burned on her neck, but she kept her legs around him, even when he let them drop. If he picked her up again, she would have met him gladly. In the end, his teeth closed around her ear. “We should catch up with the others.”
“Do we have to?” she asked. “Let’s stay here a while.”
He relaxed against her. He didn’t want to leave, either. After a while, though, her legs started to ache. She wasn’t used to sitting in that position so long. He sensed her tension and pushed himself up. “You’re tired.”
“No, I’m not.” She sat up straighter against the tree trunk. “I don’t want to rush off, though. Let’s stay here a few days. We can catch up later.”
He knelt in front of her and caught his breath. “We can’t stay a few days. I promised the others I would bring you along as soon as you were strong enough to travel. But if you’re too tired to travel, I could carry you.”
Aeifa snorted. “No one’s carrying me. I can go by myself.”
“If you’re tired,” he continued, “we can stay until you’re ready to travel.”
“I’m fine to travel,” she told him. “I just don’t want to go right away.”
He stopped in the act of turning away and smiled at her. “I don’t, either, but I promised the others.”
Aeifa compressed her lips. “I guess I can decide for myself where I go and when I go there.”
He took her hand. “I feel the same way, but we don’t want them getting too far ahead. We might never catch up.”
She turned away and didn’t answer.
“We’ll still be together,” he told her.
“It’s not the same,” she murmured.
He raised her to her feet and kissed her again. “Come on. We can fall behind again whenever we want.”
Chapter 5
Aeifa and Taman caught up with the others at nightfall. The group crossed the plain and started uphill into the mountains where Roshin pointed out Harbeiz.
Taig nodded at Taman. “Everything all right?”
Taman nodded back. “Just fine.”
Taig peered at Aeifa. “Are you all right, Aeifa?”
Aeifa brushed her hair out of her face. “I’m fine.”
He nodded again and walked on. Reina gave Aeifa a big smile. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Aeifa tried to walk away. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
“It’s bad enough losing our parents,” Reina replied. “And now Ari, too. We can’t afford to lose anyone else.”
No one answered her. They group fell in line and headed up the hill. Only Ari was missing. The sun touched the horizon, and the breeze ruffled Allen’s fur. “We should stop and make camp. It’ll be cold soon.”
Tara looked up. “We’re entering your mountains.”
Allen nodded. His nostrils twitched to pick up the scent of the wind. “I recognize it. Roshin was right. We’re getting closer all the time.” All of a sudden, his head whipped around and he stiffened. “Someone’s coming.”
The others followed his gaze when a figure stepped out from the trees beyond the next corner. The group formed a line across the path, but only one person emerged from the gloom and stepped into view. None of them could mistake the figure for a human woman with long chestnut hair. She wore the handwoven garments of the Avitras, but she wore a bag slung bandolier-style across her chest and her hair plaited down her back in the style of the Lycaon warriors.
She raised her eyebrows when she spotted the group, but she showed no other sign of surprise. She surveyed them one by one and stopped in front of them without fear. “What are you doing here?”
Tara opened her mouth and closed it again. Allen recovered first. “We’re on our way to Harbeiz.”
The strange woman looked closer at them. “You shouldn’t be out after dark. Unless I’m mistaken, you shouldn’t have left Harbeiz in the first place.”
Taig stared at her. “Who are you?”
“I should ask you the same question.” She examined each of them in turn. “Some of you are Ursidrean. Some of you are Lycaon, and she’s Felsite.” The woman frowned. “You’re not Outliers, are you? No, you’re not, or you wouldn’t be going to the city. So who are you? Start talking.”
Taig gulped. “We....we’re the children of the peace negotiators. I’m Taig, and this is my sister Tara. We’re the children of Turk, of the Lycaon, and this is Aeifa. Her father is Caleb, the Lycaon Alpha. This Felsite is Reina, daughter of Renier, and these two Ursidrean boys are the sons of Faruk and Emily.”
The woman really raised her eyebrows then. “So what are you doing out here, miles from anywhere? You shouldn’t be here.”
Taig glanced at the others. “Our....our parents disappeared.”
The woman’s mouth fell open with an audible gasp. “Disappeared? How could they disappear?”
“Renier and Carmen and Faruk and Emily came to our village to finalize some detail of the negotiation,” Taig told her. “We went off by ourselves, and we got caught out of the village overnight. When we got back the next morning, they were gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?” the woman asked.
“Just....” Taig waved his hand. “Just gone. All of them. The whole village was gone—all the people. The houses were still there.”
The woman stared back at him and waited for him to say something more. Then she sighed. “So now you’re on your way to Harbeiz. That’s probably a good idea. You could get into all kinds of trouble out here by yourselves.”
“Well, the fact is,” Taig told her, “we already did.”
He told her all about their experience with the Outliers. She nodded. “Well, you’re with me now. I’ll make sure you get to the city.”
Taig cast another glance at Tara. Then he swallowed. “How do we know we can trust you? Who are you, anyway? You know all about us. Now you tell us who you are.”
She burst into a bright smile. “I’m Aimee Sandoval. I’m Emily Allen’s cousin. You’re safe with me. I was on my way back to my own territory from Harbeiz, but I’ll turn around and take you there. We can’t risk you falling into the Outliers’ hands again.”
Taig jaw dropped. “You’re Aimee? Then you can tell us about Lilith.” He told her all about Lilith, how she stopped short of killing him to help the friends escape. “She claimed to be your daughter, but Piwaka denied you had any children.”
Aimee sighed. “I don’t have any children with Piwaka.”
“Then Lilith lied to us,” Taig replied. “Why would she do that?”
“Lilith is my daughter,” Aimee told him. “She has a different father.” She smiled. “Piwaka doesn’t know about her.”
Taig shut his eyes. “How is that possible? How could you have a daughter he didn’t know about?”
Aimee twisted her mouth into a wry grin. “I spent years running with the warriors in Lycaon territory before I mated with Piwaka. I thought I’d given up on finding anyone to share my life with,
but I did have a brief fling with another warrior. We had two children—twins—a boy and a girl. I never thought I’d see Lilith again. I had no idea she’d joined the Outliers.”
“She didn’t join them,” Tara told her. “They found her as a child, and they sacrificed her twin brother as the price of saving her life. She’s never recovered from it, and she saved us to make up for it.”
Aimee blinked. “Her twin brother?”
Tara closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m really sorry to be the one to tell you. He’s dead.”
“No, he isn’t,” Aimee countered. “I just saw him a few days ago. He’s alive and well and living with his father in the mountains along the Ursidrean border.”
Taig gasped. “How can he be? Lilith said....”
“Lilith must have made a mistake,” Aimee replied. “She disappeared from her father’s house when she was just old enough to walk, and we never found out what happened to her. She must have wandered into the Outliers’ territory.”
“If that’s true,” Tara asked, “how do you explain the memories she has of the Outliers killing Ledo?”
“Ledo?” Aimee asked. “Her brother’s name is Sarai.”
Tara looked at Allen and then back at Aimee. “Then who is Ledo?”
Aimee shook her head. “Lilith must have met up with some other people before the Outliers got hold of her. The little boy she thought was her brother must have been someone else.”
Taig cleared his throat. “Are you absolutely sure he wasn’t Lilith’s twin? Are you sure Lilith’s twin isn’t with the Outliers?”
Aimee burst out laughing. “I think I would know if some other child had been with his father in their house in the mountains. They’ve been living there since the twins were born.”
“Child?” Allen asked. “How can he be a child? Lilith is fully mature. She’s taller than any of us.”
“That must be some trick of the new genetics,” Aimee replied. “Sarai is only seven years old.” She held her hand up to her ribs to show how tall her son would be. “Lilith is seven years old, too, but she must have developed faster than he did.”
The New Angondra Complete Series Page 11
