by Autumn Dawn
"Mathin broke your arm?" Andrea gaped at her, turning horrified eyes on Mathin, who'd halted in his play and was watching them, an unreadable expression on his face. She was unprepared for Jasmine's fierce response.
"If he hadn't I would never have escaped," she snapped, almost daring Andrea to contradict her. Mathin had received more criticism over that move than she ever cared to hear again. As far as she was concerned, her opinion on the matter was the only one that mattered. She owed him far more than her life and counted him as a dear friend.
Pressing home her point, she said, "And you do not want to know what the place I was kept in was like." When Andrea lowered her eyes and remained silent, she added more calmly, "As I said, I'm not sorry. Not only did he rescue me while Keilor healed, he gave me the means to have children with Keilor and to grow old with him." She looked at Andrea, her gaze speculative. "Our races can't produce offspring without the symbiont's help. As far as we know, I'm the first human woman to ever carry a Haunt child to full term." She looked at her children with a trace of worry. "Though I'm worried about Darius."
"Darius?" Andrea asked, puzzled.
"DJ." Jasmine grimaced. "Keilor insisted on naming him Darius Justine. He hates it when I call him DJ."
"You worry too much," Mathin assured her as their groups rejoined. "There's no reason he can't reproduce without a symbiont." He grinned mischievously at the little boy in Raziel's arms. "There's too much of his father in him not to be a fertile little terror."
Color streaking her cheeks, Jasmine rolled her eyes. "Yes. Thank you for your input, Mathin," she said acerbically, taking her child from him. "Now why don't you make yourself useful and find a hairy sugar fruit for us? Andrea's never seen one."
"Do I look like a servant?" he demanded with mock annoyance, but scanned the trees ahead anyway, heading for a monstrous one directly ahead.
Andrea scanned the corrugated trunk dubiously, wondering how he planned to climb it since the nearest branch had to be nine feet off the ground. Instead of going to the base of the tree as she'd expected, though, he paused just under the shady canopy and glanced up at the thick branch. Without hesitation he leapt up, grabbed the branch and swung up into the tree.
Andrea gaped at him as he walked along the limb, collecting fruit without benefit of a hand hold. "What does he think he is, some kind of acrobat?"
Raziel snorted as he sat D.J. down, the better to catch the hairy, coconut sized fruits Mathin tossed down. "Hardly. Even a cadet is expected to master so basic a skill as tree climbing."
"From a dead stop nine feet down?" she demanded in disbelief, astounded by his agility and the complete unconcern he showed as he wove among the branches slicing off fruit. It certainly wasn't the kind of skill mastered by the average blue-collar worker. Then again, she was beginning to suspect there was nothing average about him.
Raziel shrugged and handed her a fruit.
"You're not in Kansas anymore, Toto," Jasmine quipped as Mathin swung down, dropping the last few feet.
A hint of a smile played about his mouth as he took the fruit from Andrea and split it with his knife. He couldn't help but find her awed expression flattering, even if, as Raziel said, it was nothing unusual for his kind. "Your fruit, wildflower."
Released from the pressure of its shell the pink interior of the sugar fruit burst open like a kernel of popcorn, folding around the inverted hull.
Tentatively, she tried a bite. "Watermelon cotton candy?" she asked in surprise, delighted to discover the forbidden treat in such an unlikely location.
Jasmine laughed in delight at her amazement, then groaned as he handed each twin a huge kernel. "Mathin! I just gave them a bath!"
The children gleefully buried their faces in the mass, slurping happily.
He grinned without remorse. "So? We'll take them swimming." The grin turned wicked as he looked at Andrea. "You're welcome to join us if you like." And the minute she agreed he'd find a way to get rid of Raziel. There was only so much he could accomplish with small children about, but he could ensure it was the most memorable swim she'd ever had.
"Only if you want to get an eye full," Jasmine muttered, the tips of her ears burning pink. At Andrea's inquiring look she elaborated, "The Haunt have no concept of modesty about their nudity. They swim in the raw."
Shocked, Andrea darted a look at Mathin.
He winked at her.
Chapter 5
"N-no thanks," she stuttered, mortified at the thought of undressing in front of them. After all, if they weren't shy about running about out of doors undressed, who knew what else they did?
"Don't worry," Mathin whispered in her ear as he stepped closer. It wasn't hard to guess some of her thoughts. "We keep our lovemaking strictly private. If you wish to be alone with me I can easily arrange it."
She swallowed hard and moved away from his body, escaping the caressing hand at her nape. Instantly she missed it. "I don't think so," she retorted with a bravado she didn't feel. A sudden burst of irritation at her weakness made her add, "But don't let me stop you from finding someone who'd like to." She looked him right in the eye. "From what I've heard it shouldn't be difficult."
Dead silence greeted her words. Though his eyes cooled, Mathin said nothing.
"Mm, I think I'd better see about cleaning these two up. Could you give me hand, Raziel?" Jasmine and Raziel collected the boys and left, giving them privacy to work out their differences.
Lover's quarrels could be so messy.
Embarrassed at her waspish behavior, Andrea would have gladly followed, but Mathin took her hand and led her under the thick branches of weeping willow type fruit tree. The feathery needles brushed her face as he pulled her through. Alarmed as the branches closed after them, forming a natural tent, she tried to go back.
"Let me go, Mathin," she said, unsuccessfully tugging at her captured hand. The solemn, heated look in his eyes made her tremble with awareness. What had made her goad him like that? she wondered in despair. Had she lost her mind?
"Jealous, my rogue? There's no need." Slowly he brought her hand to his mouth and brushed a soft kiss to the back. "Do you see me with anyone else?"
"I-I'm not jealous," she whispered, knowing it wasn't true. The thought of another woman chasing him rankled more than it should. Not that she was chasing him, she hastily assured herself. Anyone could see she wasn't. It was just that she despised watching fickle men in action
"Hmm...." He brushed his whiskered jaw against the inside of her wrist, making her shiver. "I'm glad."
No longer cognizant of what he said, she closed her eyes, hoping for--expecting--his kiss.
His breath whispered against her ear, thrilling as it did. "Mathin?" What was he waiting for?
So easy, his mind whispered to him, tempting him with thoughts of loving her senseless and claiming her willing body. So easy to make her wild with wanting, ready and willing with blind passion. Today, in this very hour, he could end his torment.
But that wasn't how he wanted it, he reminded himself as he eased away. Lust was nothing to base a marriage on. He wanted more. Studying her face, he knew this was one woman who had that something more, and until he saw it shining from her eyes, he would not take her.
Confused when nothing happened, Andrea opened her eyes and frowned at him. What could she say without sounding like a fool? "Er, was there some reason you brought me in here?" There! If that wasn't hint enough than nothing was.
He thoughtfully traced her brow bone. "You haven't asked me my intentions." By now a woman of the Haunt would have certainly demanded a declaration of intent from him. Since she had not he could only assume it was a done differently among her people. Still, he was not willing to forgo this step. There should be clarity between them.
Taken aback, at first she could think of nothing to say. It certainly wasn't a topic she'd expected to come up. Men just didn't ask that sort of thing where she came from. The boldness of it knocked her off balance. Secretly, it also impressed her.
It took a strong man to face that kind of potential rejection.
Since he was obviously waiting for her response, she ignored her burning cheeks and asked, "Okay, what are they?" And then held her breath as she waited for his answer.
His eyes became black flame. "I want to join with you completely, to feel your body close around mine. I want to hear your cries in the night and know that it's me you desire. I want you."
Whew! She looked away, burning in all the places he brought to mind. If her cheeks had burned before, they were smoking now! "I...." She swallowed. "What if I don't want that?"
Unwilling to play games, he pulled her body flush to his so there would be no doubt in her mind who wanted what. His mouth inches from hers, he whispered, "There's no doubt you want, wildflower. It's only that you fear to take." For a long moment he held her in his arms, absorbing her tremors of desire into his larger body. Her strength of will was something he admired about her, but just now her fighting spirit did not thrill him. Instead, it roused a grim determination to best her in this battle.
Sweat from the intensity of her desire rolled down her neck and dampened her back, but she fought her screaming hormones. Her mind would not allow her give in to raw emotion. She hadn't thought this out, hadn't considered the rules of the game. It wouldn't do to play when the stakes were so high. Better to forgo the gamble.
Wrenching away from him, she turned her back, willing herself to stop shaking. Fists clenched at her side, she took a step away, needing to escape his space. "No."
He didn't plead with her. Nothing was said during the long moments it took to pull herself together. Finally, feeling brittle and far too combustible, she left the shelter of the tree. Had the Haunt guard wondered at what was happening with the two of them, one look at his grim face and her tight expression would have assured them that whatever it was, it hadn't been satisfying.
Mathin escorted her to her room and left her without a word. It wasn't anger so much that kept him silent as the knowledge that she would have to sift through her arguments against him until emotion finally wore her down. After all, he reminded himself, it wasn't as if she didn't want him. Now all she had to do was convince herself why she should have him. Logical creature that she thought she was, the process would take time.
A corner of his mouth lifted as she glanced uncertainly at him as she slipped inside her room. Whether she knew it or not, they were both caught in the same snare.
* * * *
"He watches her like a hawk."
"Or a vulture," Jasmine muttered under her breath, agreeing with her friend Rihlia. She'd introduced Rihlia and her daughter Sondra to Andrea over lunch in her and Keilor's suite. They'd been briefly joined by Mathin and their husbands, all of whom had left afterward to attend to business, leaving the women to become better acquainted. Neither of them could keep from commenting on Mathin's last searing look.
"It's just like watching you and Keilor all over again."
"Or you and Jayems," Jasmine retorted, glancing at Andrea to see her reaction. Neither woman had missed the sizzling chemistry snapping between her and Mathin.
Since she still had no grasp on her own feelings, Andrea ignored their comments and concentrated on removing the end of her ponytail from Malix's little fist. The venture was only semi-successful and Malix came away with more than one hair wrapped around his fingers. Her grandmother had managed to rock little Sondra into a deep sleep and was close to ending there herself. It was a good thing, too. Andrea didn't want to hear her comments on the matter, since they inevitably maddened her.
It still frustrated her that her grandmother refused to consider the idea of going home. "But we are home, dear," she said whenever Andrea brought it up. Nor would she consider any arguments on the issue. The woman could be a stone wall when she determined to be. Nor would Andrea leave her here alone, even if she could. As far as she was concerned, an alien planet was no place to abandon an elderly lady.
Jasmine exchanged a secret smile with her childhood friend before saying casually, "Pity about Ellipse."
"What do mean?" Andrea asked, her attention captured by the reference.
Jasmine sighed and stretched, feigning nonchalance. "She's the princess who gave Mathin his red sash," she explained, watching her new friend carefully. "Only the best of the best are allowed to wear them--I think there's something less than twenty in the entire Haunt nation?" she asked, glancing at Rihlia for confirmation. "Anyway, she'd already invited Mathin to participate in her yearly tournament for unattached males before he showed up with you. Now that he's pursuing someone it's unlikely he'll attend, and it might damage her attendance records. He's a great favorite."
Andrea scowled. "It's not like I'm going to stop him if he does decide to go. I don't even like him! And it's not as if we're dating or something." Even if the thought of him participating in some kind of bachelor contest did make her feel grumpy. "What's the prize, anyway?" she asked, grudgingly giving in to her curiosity.
"A date with any of the eligible women who chose to sign up as potential prizes, a red sash for any man who doesn't have one, a small fortune in prismatic silver and a war stag. Not that Mathin needs the last." Rihlia grimaced, tossing the end of her dark braid over her shoulder. "Bad tempered though he is, no one would argue that Mathin's stag isn't one of the best in the land."
Andrea's mood darkened further at that information. She could just see legions of women sighing over Mathin's dark good looks.
"Of course if he doesn't attend he may be forced to take on more challengers at a later time." Jasmine looked vaguely worried over that. "As it is he practically has to schedule all those seeking to depose him. As arguably the best of the best, those seeking to make a name for themselves see him as the man to beat. One of these days someone's going to get sneaky and take a shot at him just to get him out of the running."
"God help them if they do," Rihlia said darkly before Andrea could grow too alarmed. She settled her side split skirt more comfortably and drew her legs up on the couch she occupied. For a woman who'd given birth not a year ago, she looked amazingly good in her cropped scarlet top. "You know what the rest of Haunt would do to anyone cowardly enough to take down one of their champions that way. They're fiercely protective of their honor."
Though her words helped, Andrea still found herself fretting. It didn't sound in his best interests to miss this tournament. Maybe she ought to speak to him about it.
The issue nagged at her all afternoon until finally she decided to seek him out. It would be foolish of him to pass up the opportunity to defend his title because of her. If that was what he planned.
Opting to meet him in a public place, she returned to a small fountain she remembered in the gardens, sat upon the rim, and activated the link he'd given her. While she waited, she let her hand trail in water, enjoying the feel of the sun-warmed liquid and the way the tiny golden fish flashed just under the surface. The tinkle of the fountain--a stone fish standing on its tail--soothed her as she did her best to think of nothing at all.
She wasn't nervous about seeing him again, she told herself as she gazed at the flowers surrounding the stone path that quartered the area around the fountain. She had legitimate business with him. It wasn't like she needed to see him again.
All of those arguments flew out of her head the moment she saw Mathin striding along the path toward her. The mere sight of his leather clad chest was enough to remove the elasticity from her muscles and strike her mute with need.
"You called?" he asked, coming to a halt just before her.
His alert expression called forth a stab of guilt. Had he given the link to her for emergency use only? "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything," she apologized immediately. "I didn't have any way to tell you it wasn't an emergency."
He grimaced and joined her on the rim. "My fault. I should have shown you how to use the speaking feature. Fortunately I was able to contact your bodyguards and discover your whereabouts." He took her link from her and instr
ucted her on its use, flipping open the catch that transformed the link into a cell phone and showing her the list of codes used by the mute Haunt. "Now you can contact me properly."
"Thank you." She smiled at him briefly before pocketing the link. The smile faltered under his inquiring stare. "Um, I wanted to talk to you about the tournament you'd entered."
"I've already canceled."
"I don't want you to," she said quickly, scowling at the fish. "Jasmine said you'd be plagued by wannabes and jerks if you do. Challengers," she added, when he frowned.
His brow cleared. "I'm touched by your concern, wildflower, but it's unnecessary." He rested his forearm on his knee as he tilted his head to catch her expression. Sunlight glittered on the water behind him, heightening the sense of energy he ever carried with him. He flashed her a roguish smile. "I don't mind the exercise."
She sighed in impatience. "Jasmine seems to think it's a bad idea."
Mathin looked at the water, his dark lashes veiling his eyes. "Jasmine interferes too much," he murmured. Suddenly he smiled. "Though perhaps she has a point." For a moment he waited, allowing the tension to build. The trauma on her face was endearing. Did she have any idea how transparent she was? "Very well. I will enter the tournament if you will."
"What?" she asked, blinking in confusion. "I don't know anything about that stuff."
His grin widened as he realized what she thought. The idea of her battling Haunt warriors was rather comical. "I didn't mean as a contestant, Andrea, but as my prize." His tone became pure seduction. "After all, I'll need an incentive, and I'm afraid none of the other women will do."
"There are other prizes," she reminded him, unconsciously kneading her fingers. The man was asking a lot.
"None worthy of my time."
She bit her lip. "What if somebody else wins?"
"Nobody else will win," he promised her with complete confidence. Perhaps one day, when age withered his bones to brittle uselessness, but not this tournament, and not his woman. "It is your decision. I will not enter without you."
