by Lisa Daniels
“I don’t have any expectations.”
He raised his eyebrows, “I don’t think that is a good thing.”
Iris looked down and pursed her lips. She licked them as she looked up, a grin on her face. “I’m saying I can’t have much in the way of expectations because I don’t have any experience with this either.”
“Really?” He looked incredulous.
“I find it more believable than you saying you have no experience in it.”
He smiled at her, “Fair enough.” He pulled her to him and gently pressed his lips against hers. She pressed hard against him and slid her leg up to his hip. He leaned over and swept her off of her feet. Carrying her to the bed, he placed her down carefully, his mouth never leaving hers. Slowly he worked her shirt over her shoulders. Then he fumbled with her pants. She laughed a little at how much trouble he seemed to be having.
“Let’s see you do a better job,” he was breathless as he whispered this to her.
“You’re on.” Iris’s hands went to the top of his pants, and she quickly realized what he meant.
After a couple of minutes, she had not made any progress, but he already had her pants undone and was sliding a hand down her leg under the pants. She moaned and moved to the feel of his hand against her. As he ran his hand up her inner thigh, she moaned again. He moved his thumb where her leg and torso met.
She panted to him, “It’s not exactly—hmmm—it’s not exactly the same, is it.”
He kissed her neck, his thumb sliding along the top of her hair. “What’s not the same?” he murmured to her.
“Well, I—I—I—” She lost the ability to speak for a moment as his thumb slid down her lips and brushed against the inside. “I don’t wear men’s pants normally,” she managed a moment later.
Ian slid his hand out of her pants and lay down. “Okay, I can make it a little easier for you, then.” Iris rolled over and looked at the fastenings. Her eyes flicked up to his, “These are different than mine.”
“Yes. You are wearing pants for men who spend all their time at sea. From what I’ve seen, they tend to find themselves in these kinds of situations as often as they can swing it. My pants are designed for a guardian, and we… don’t often engage in this kind of activity.”
“Your father was a guardian.”
“Yes.”
“Obviously he did.”
Ian smiled, “Yes, he was married. My mom was not pleased that I followed in his footsteps.”
“I know it is selfish, but I am incredibly glad you did. If I hadn’t met you, there is a good chance I would have killed most of the crew on this ship. I think it is certain that I never would have known about my abilities. Not in a timely manner.” She took her hands away from the pants. “I don’t know what to do.”
Ian smiled, “Like this.” His hands moved a little quicker than she had expected, but she knew it was much slower than he could have managed if he wasn’t trying to show her what to do. “Should I do them up again so you can retry?”
Iris’s eyes looked at the unfastened pants and noticed something inside of them. “No. I can look more into that later. Right now I am more interested in what is inside your pants.” As soon as she said it, she started to flush.
“Good to know, but I wouldn’t mind if you always stayed more interested on the contents of the pants than the covering.”
Iris giggled. Before she knew it, Ian had pushed her down and was pressing the bulge against her. She moaned and leaned back as he moved on top of her. She looked up at him, “I’m not an expert, but I’m fairly certain the pants are supposed to be off.”
“I’m just—” Ian looked down at her. “Are you sure? If this happens, I don’t think I can just be your guardian ever. But we are bonded. This is a complication that I cannot take back once it happens.”
Iris moved her head, “If you will always tell me what you know, if you won’t hide things like everyone else, I won’t regret it.”
“A condition, and regret. That’s not exactly—” He started to pull away from her.
“I am glad you got stuck with me. I think anyone else would have treated me like a child, kept me in the dark, and expected me to just trust him. With you, it feels more like you are a partner than a person who protects me.”
“But I will, I will protect you.” His eyes searched hers. “Even if you stop this, my life is yours.”
Iris smiled, “And mine is yours. I can’t imagine putting my life in anyone else’s hands. I can’t—I don’t want you to die protecting me. If you did, I would bring you back.”
“No, no you would not.” Ian moved off of her. “I could never allow that.”
“Well, if you are dead, you can’t stop me.” She placed a hand on his chest. “If you can live to be 400 years old, and you became the guardian of someone who is already half dead and is a constant threat to everyone around her, shortening your own lifespan substantially, it’s not exactly even. I would only be giving you half of my lifespan, you are giving me almost 75% of yours.”
Ian opened his mouth, then laughed and looked away. “I never thought of it that way. But,” his expression became serious, “I chose this for a living.”
“You didn’t choose me, though. You should have gotten an easier assignment.”
“It was a risk I took, and I wouldn’t change a thing now.”
“And if you were to die, giving you half of my life would be my choice. I will do that whether anything happens between us or not.”
“You don’t make any sense.”
“Neither do you. And if you are just going to torture me—” She moved to get off the bed.
And arm wrapped around her and lowered her back onto the bed. She was vaguely aware of Ian working her pants off, but her mind was full of the feel of his body against hers. His skin was soft and supple. Iris began to push his pants off. Hesitantly, he removed them. His hand ran down her leg and pushed it to the side. Ian’s eyes shone as he looked down at her. “Right or wrong, I love you, Iris.”
She ran a hand up his arm, around his shoulder and chest, and down to his stomach. “Have you known me long enough to say that?”
“The color of our bond shows that it’s true. Besides, I’ve known you since you were five years old.”
“What?” Iris gave him a puzzled look.
“I can remind you of that part later. But the thread shows you how I feel. Most guardians and mystics have a golden thread between them. Ours is red, and that is not because of your ability. Caden and Callie’s is red.”
Iris looked up at him, then focused on the thread. It was short because he was right there, but it was a brilliant red that shimmered between them. “Oh. Is that why you kept apologizing?”
“Yes. It’s not supposed to look like that.”
“Was it always that color?”
“It was never just golden, but it has been red for over two weeks now.”
“You like a damsel in distress, huh?”
“Apparently so,” he began to kiss her, his hand moving to her breast.
Iris let her body move in response to Ian’s. His hand moved around to her back and he moved on top of her. She let out a little gasp as he pressed into her. As soon as she did, he whispered into her ear, “I love you, Iris. Whatever you do, I will be here to protect you.” With that he slid further into her, and she lost track of time as she let him explore her body.
Chapter 8
The Cold Light
The next morning, every muscle in her body felt sore. “Oh my gods, I’m so—” She rolled over and was looking into the startling yellow-black eyes in an unbelievably handsome face. “Ah. Right.” She put a thumb on her lips and smiled at him as her cheeks flushed.
He leaned forward and kissed her. “Good morning.”
She giggled and moved up against him. It was impossible to miss the feel of him getting a little stiffer.
Before she could do anything, there was a knock at the door. “Madam, we have breakfast ready for you, at your leisur
e. Are you well enough to eat?”
“Ye—yes!” she nearly shouted. “I’ll be out in a bit.”
“And we definitely have not come up with a plan for any of this part.”
“What do you mean?”
“You clearly didn’t have me when you came onboard. And the ship has not reached any ports yet. Nor have they encountered any ships. And if I recall, you were quite adamant about not being a mystic when you boarded. If they were to find out you lied, it could get them into serious trouble.”
The weight of what she had done was suddenly a lot heavier, and she started to feel guilty.
“None of that now. I can take care of this easily. Go ahead and get dressed.”
“You first.”
Ian laughed, and threw the covers back enough to mostly uncover Iris. “That should satisfy both of us. No, no, you can’t cover back up.”
“Are you telling me what I can and can’t do?”
He opened his mouth to say something, and Iris enjoyed looking at him as he stood there wearing nothing. “I am not telling you what you can do. I am asking you to remain uncovered for me.”
“Oh, you could have just asked.” She pushed the covers off of her leg and settled into the space where he had been. He stood still for a moment looking at her, then she interrupted him. “I think we do both need to get dressed.
“Right, dressed.” He looked at her for a moment longer before turning and picking up his clothing. “It’s not completely dry. Probably because it doesn’t dry when it is wadded up on the floor.”
“It’s not the best method for drying things.”
“You know, you could probably fix that.”
“Really.”
“Yeah.” He moved over and sat on the bed, the pants hanging from his hand. “You are still running a little hot.” His eyes drifted over her body. Clearing his throat, he looked at the pants. “We should be focused on getting your father back now.”
It was like an electric jolt. Iris sat up and looked at him. “Do you think that we will arrive today?”
“We should. It isn’t that far, and this ship was moving. I do not know what you did, but that was why I had to swim. I’m faster than a heavy ship for those kinds of distances. Couldn’t cross an ocean, though.”
“Wow, really, that is… almost unbelievable.”
Ian shrugged, “It’s part of the training.” He held up the pants, shrugged, and stood up.
“Don’t you want me to try to dry them?”
“Aren’t you hungry?” His stomach growled, and Iris realized that he had swum for an hour, then they had been together for hours after that.
“Oh, gods, you must be starving. Here, give me those. You put on some of the other pants. I will dry these for you later.”
The couple got dressed, passing each their clothing as they did. Ian helped her with a couple of the pieces, then nodded when he thought she was ready to go.
As they left the cabin together, she leaned over to him, “Are you sure this is alright?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled down at her and kissed the top of her forehead. They emerged at the top of the stairs a few minutes later, and the activity on the deck stopped as the crew turned to look at the couple.
“Good morning.” Ian bowed to the captain. “You must be Captain Casper.” He held a hand out, and the captain shook it, throwing a confused look at Iris. “I am Ian, Iris’s guardian.”
“Guardian?” The captain raised an eyebrow as he looked at Iris.
“Yes. I apologize for the deception. We are lovers, so we were hoping to make it away from Solona before our cover was blown. I take it we are approaching the last place where her father’s ship was?”
Captain Casper shook his head, “No, we cannot gloss over that. I will have to report this back. You will be—”
“Yes,” Ian smiled and nodded, “you will need to, and I can sign anything you need, although I can assure you that Caden is already moving people this way. I am not so concerned about myself. We are here to make sure that her father is brought back safely.”
Captain Casper looked between the pair. Iris was frowning at Ian, but she kept her mouth shut. The serious discussion was interrupted by another growl from Ian’s stomach. “Oh, I am so sorry. It has been a couple of days since I ate, and I have been a little bit mobile over the last 24 hours. Do you think we could adjourn to the breakfast table?”
“Yes, come on.” The captain turned and headed toward the kitchen.
Iris leaned in, “I did not agree to this. What is going to happen to you?”
“You don’t need to worry about a thing. Trust me.”
“I am not going to let you get in trouble for what happened.”
“I told you that was going to happen if we went through with it.”
“I didn’t realize you meant you were going to sacrifice yourself. I do not agree to this.” She stopped walking.
Ian hung his head, then stood in front of her. “I won’t be able to be a guardian, but I can still be yours. That is what is going to happen.”
“You gave up your career at the beginning? For me?” She wanted to be flattered, but she felt mortified.
He leaned over and kissed her. “It will be easier to protect you as your lover than as your guardian. Starting with the fact that I can do it from your bed. Your mother had your father. You will have me. Okay?”
“I’m not sure that is okay. I don’t want you to give up on your career.”
“Your father, Iris. Right now, you need to be focused on your father. I will be a guardian until we get him back. Alright?”
“Right. You are right.”
Ian leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head.
Over breakfast the captain told them about the situation. Apparently Iris’s father had been separated from the rest of the hostages. The group appeared to be pirates, but they operated in a way that was decidedly similar to the Unwashed. The captain had found out a lot through communication, and it was very impressive to Iris to see just how much he could learn in so little time.
“But madam, if you are a mystic, we can’t let you go in there to get your father. That is exactly the kind of thing that they are expecting. It was probably their entire plan.”
“How are they going to know that I am a mystic?”
“You have a guardian.”
“Does Ian look like a guardian to you?” She gave him a look.
“Well, no. He looks more like an assassin.”
Ian looked offended as Iris nodded. “Exactly.”
Ian squeezed her knee, but she ignored it in front of the captain. Captain Casper shook his head, “Still, if they think you are a druid, they are going to try to kill you. But you cannot counter their attacks like a druid can.”
“Captain Casper, I have a number of unique abilities that go well beyond just magic. We will be fine. You guys wait here, and we will go in. If we are not out within two hours, head to the nearest port and send word back to the guild. You will be pardoned for what happened.”
“What about you two?”
“I don’t think it is going to fail, so I’m not too worried about that. It’s just a question of how long it will take us.”
“And what determines how long it will take?” He leaned forward, obviously thinking he had got her stumped.
“Whether or not my father is alive and well. The less well he is, the less well they will be. If he isn’t alive, none of them will be by the time we leave.”
The captain sat back and shook his head. “I cannot let you walk ashore knowing that. There is no way you can go through with any of that. Is this a suicide attempt because you don’t think you can be together? It isn’t your only option.”
“No, Captain, I want my father back. I lost my mother 16 years ago not too far from here and the druids had to intercede because of what happened. This is more their territory than ours, but the ship took our people. Given we have just brokered a peace with the druids, we cannot
bring military ships here. That is what the Unwashed want Solona to do. It is not happening, not using my father as the bait.”
“Look, madam, I admire your bravery, but this is clearly much more dangerous than you realize.”
“Captain Casper, you live on the ocean. That is a far more dangerous proposition, and the chances of you dying while working are over 90%.”
“But it is what I love, so it is worth it.”
“Then we understand each other.” Iris smiled at him.
The captain laughed and shook his head. “You are every bit the firecracker I had heard you were. Right down to the beautiful young man on your arm. Leave it to you to seduce a guardian.”
“Me seduce him?” Iris gave him a look of shock. “My dear captain, I barely had to try.”
The captain laughed and rose. “I wish you the best. I will give you two hours as you said.”
Ian leaned in, “You seduced me? Is that what really happened?”
Iris shrugged, “I think that it was about half and half.”
Leaning forward, he kissed her far more passionately than was appropriate for their situation. “Let’s go save your father.” He rose, leaving her a little weak-kneed on the bench.
“I might need a little help,” she said, her cheeks a light pink.
He chuckled as he walked over to her and offered her an arm.
Chapter 9
The Improvised Plan
“So what is the plan?” Ian leaned over and asked as they walked away from the ship.
“I don’t really have one.”
“Nothing? Really? We are walking into a camp of armed people, many of whom are Unwashed, and you have no plan?”
“You look like an assassin. They will assume I am a druid, so they will try to take me out. However, my magic is not life magic, which I can use to my advantage.”
“No,” he stepped in front of her, grabbed her shoulders, and looked into her eyes. “I am not going to let you kill anyone. That is not a burden I will let you carry on top of your powers. It was what hurt your mother most, the knowledge that she had taken lives.”
“She did? Oh, I… well, if she could handle it, so can I.”
