by Zoe Forward
“Thanks.” She slammed a palm to the wall to steady herself.
He scooped her up. Silently, he carried her back to the familiar bedroom she identified as his.
“Rest.” He pulled the comforter over her fatigued form.
Sleep hit instantly.
****
“How’d they find us?” Kane demanded as he sat up. A pale green hue colored his face.
“Hell if I know,” Javen replied.
“What was that stuff they sprayed on me? It tasted awful and then it burned like a bad ulcer. Now I feel like they slipped me a mickie.” Kane massaged his head.
“Been mickied before?”
Kane shrugged.
“It was some sort of Hashishin poison. They come up with new ones all the time.”
“Why did you take her from here?” Ashor bellowed as he strode near the bed. “Are you an idiot?”
Javen blocked his path. “She’s back. Cool off.”
“You don’t want a piece of me right now, Jav. Move.”
“You touch Kane, and I bloody guarantee she won’t let you back in her bed. Sounds like you’re already in deep shit where that’s concerned.”
Ashor paused. Javen was right. Kane was the enabler. He wasn’t the reason she left. He needed to hit something.
“Did you take advantage her, you perverted shit?” Kane pushed himself to an unstable stand.
Javen turned to Kane. “Keep the piehole closed. Don’t give him a reason.”
Kane ignored Javen, wavering on his feet. “Did you?”
Ashor stared at Kane, fuming. Don’t do it. He should leave.
“Couldn’t resist the only piece of ass that comes through your place?”
Ashor landed a fist solidly on Kane’s face. The force threw Kane back onto the bed. Blood flowed from his nose.
Ashor leaned close and growled, “She’s not a piece of ass.”
Ashor knew he was within seconds of full-on berserk rage. He turned away from Kane and mumbled to Javen, “Keep him away from me. I’ll kill him, if he takes her away again. Explain it to him.” He stalked out of the room.
****
Ashor watched her sleep. Moonlight illuminated his room, giving it a bluish-white glow. Over the years he’d filled this bedroom with objects of modern art that had struck him as unique. Each piece chosen, not for beauty, but for its embodiment of his deep longing for the tranquility of sleep. Peaceful rest. That had eluded him for longer than he cared to remember.
He sat on the edge of the bed. Her skin glowed in the pale blue light. Gods, she was so beautiful. What was he doing in here? He swallowed hard. With a shaking finger, he traced the smooth skin of her cheek.
Big mistake.
He stood to leave. She rolled over and flung her arm into the space he’d vacated. His gut clenched with the need to remind her to whom she belonged. Then the thought of leaving would never enter her mind.
Fuuuuck. This was the real deal. No more skirting around the issue. Time to buck up and admit truth. She was the one for him. There wasn’t going to be another. He couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else. Ever.
Leave. His body refused to move. His pulse pumped as if he was at a sprint. His erection throbbed with its own heartbeat.
He sat less than lightly on the bed. This couldn’t go the way he wanted.
Her eyes flew open and connected with his. Her hand shot out to run beneath his shirt and over the solid muscles beneath. He grabbed her hands and pinned them to either side of her, still hoping to find the strength to leave.
She struggled against the restraint. Her hips undulated in tempting desperation; her legs opened wide.
Ashor hissed. His sex kicked hard at the sight of her. And that reaction told him this was going to happen.
He leaned in and sealed his mouth to hers. She moaned and met him more than halfway, biting his lip and digging her nails into his neck. He shifted himself between her legs so the thick, hard length of him ground against her through the barrier of his pants and her underwear. She absorbed his weight with a sigh.
He pushed up the worn T-shirt, recognizing it as one of his. Beneath it lay only her panties. Impatient to have her bare, he yanked the shirt off her body and latched onto a taut nipple, rolling the tip with his tongue.
Kira arched against him and groaned.
She pulled at his shirt, trying to get it off his shoulders. He tore the thing, sending buttons scattering. He pulled the two knives from his pants. They thudded loudly on the floor behind him. She laughed.
“Don’t say anything. Just know that I’m sorry,” he whispered. He relocked his mouth onto her breast while his fingers looped around her underwear and pulled them over her smooth legs. His palm slipped down the top of her thigh and drifted to the inside.
His first touch on her sex passed it over. She moaned for more.
He smiled against her breast. At the second pass, her hips jerked. Her hand shot down and covered his, pushing his fingers against her clit with a groan.
“Ashor…” Her voice was ragged.
His tongue replaced his fingers. He gave no quarter as the pulsations of energy radiated through her body and into his. She shuddered against his mouth, arching her hips greedily for more. Her sudden release ripped through her and she screamed.
The explosion tore through his mind. He gritted his teeth to resist the thrusting marathon his down-south demanded. He slid a finger inside of her, growling as he felt the residual tremors from her orgasm clenching around him. Reaching with seichim for the core of pulsating nerves, he touched. Wildly bucking, she screamed as another detonation charged through them both. Bolts of energy entered his body from hers, and he shared her pleasure.
She gasped, “Please. I need you.”
Perilously close to release, he rose to his knees. His body trembled with the need to be in her.
Kira’s hands wove through his hair and pulled his mouth to hers.
Her hands moved over his body greedy to feel the rest of him. He helped her remove his pants and shoes. Once there were no barriers, she firmly grasped his hardness. Her small hand around him was almost too much. He was too close to the edge.
Mindless with need to find completion, he angled her pelvis into the air and thrust into her slowly, allowing her to adjust. He exhaled a low, rough sound of pleasure when he was fully seated. Holding still, he leaned down and kissed her neck. Trailing kisses to her shoulder, he bit her lightly. She clenched around his erection. His hips jerked reflexively pushing him deeper into her. Explosions of light filled his head at being so deep.
She groaned, “God, Ashor, please let me find this release now.”
He withdrew ever so slightly and whispered, “Promise you won’t leave me again.”
“Not fair. Please.” She clamped her internal muscles around him, trying desperately to draw him deeper.
With a groan, he pumped desperately from his knees and gasped, “You’re mine.”
She screamed as she climaxed.
Her detonation released a surge of energy that powered into his body, igniting his own orgasm. He bellowed, feeling as if he was being torn into pieces as no battle had every done. He was dying and it was heaven.
Weak from the release, he rolled and took her with him into the protective embrace of his arms. He would never let her go. Never.
He’d sought her soul, but discovered he’d lost his own.
****
An unnerving, distraught cry woke Kira. Its suffering prompted her to sit upright and scan the area, ready to go to battle for the victim. Something slammed her chest with the force of a baseball bat, knocking the breath from her. As she frantically inhaled, she wondered if her sternum was fractured.
Disorientated, she heard the tortured sound again.
Ashor.
His massive arms whipped wildly. She dodged another fist and threw herself on his chest. To stop his thrashing, she absorbed his tormented energy.
She yelled with her voice and within his mind, �
��Ashor, wake up. It’s not real.”
His eyes opened. In them she saw reflected whatever torture he’d been experiencing.
Confused, he mumbled, “The dream never stops before the end. Not before he finishes.”
Kira kissed his neck near his ear and whispered, “Is this what you avoid with caffeinated insomnia?”
“It’s more what happens after the dreams I want to avoid.”
Ashor didn’t seem to fear anything. He was a brick shithouse that would scare anything that was insane enough to challenge him. This meant whatever he experienced in these nightmares or after had to be beyond terrible. Probably similar to that dream she’d been trapped in before. She shivered.
“Are they just from the time I found you with the Hashishins or is there more to this?”
“Forget about it.” He enfolded her in his arms.
“I can’t. You inadvertently tried to kill me and I think you might have fractured my sternum. There’s obviously some post-traumatic stress issue going on here. It might help to tell me about it.”
“Don’t psychoanalyze me. It’s my problem and I’m coping.” He massaged his forehead. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’ll try not to fall asleep near you.”
“Obviously, your method of dealing with this isn’t exactly a winner.”
“It’s worked for years.”
“Really? Could’ve fooled me. Is there more to this than the time I know about?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I was captured one time before by them.”
“Tell me.”
“We’re not talking about this. Things went pretty similarly to what you apparently know happened. Details are not important. Javen got me out of that one.”
She smoothed the hair away form his forehead. “Perhaps he could’ve gotten you out a little sooner. How do you not hate all Hashishins?”
“I do. Spent years hunting them, although not by choice. Whenever I had the nightmares, I blacked out and then woke up after I’d killed one or two of them. It’s why I’m screwed by the gods. I broke one of their rules regarding not killing humans.”
“They sure do have a lot of rules.” Kira kissed him on his lips and whispered, “Do you feel any desire to go kill this time?”
“Not with you. You made it all go away.”
She smiled to herself. He needed her, but probably wouldn’t admit it. “I’ll wake you up, if you get the nightmares. I don’t want you to be afraid to sleep. No more caffeinating yourself into insomnia. No more killing sprees.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t. Did you hear me when I called for you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then, it’s settled.”
“There’s still the problem that the gods expressively forbid us from doing this. Being together, that is. Big issue.”
Kira kissed her way down his abdomen. “How about we focus on something else right now.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“We need to talk about your role as the akhrian.”
Kira rolled toward Ashor’s voice, but found him absent from the bed. Early morning light filtered through the windows. Her gaze roamed the room, eventually resting on his slouching form in the plush chair across from the bed. He wore only a pair of those sinful black jeans. His leather coat and black shirt lay discarded over the chair’s arm. He must’ve gone out last night. His knees were relaxed outward with his legs spread wide and his arms crossed over his chest. Her eyes roamed appreciatively over the exposed tattooed scars on his chest and abdomen. She’d never tire of looking at that sculpted inked perfection.
There would be more injuries and she wanted to be there to put more of those little permanent tats on his body. This conversation about the akhrian had been delayed long enough.
“Will you stay with us?” His eyes burned into her and then roamed downward. His pupils dilated.
Kira glanced down at her naked chest, and then smiled a blatant invitation. She watched him shift uncomfortably. He swallowed and momentarily closed his eyes. He was so determined to fight what zinged between them. “Is this us as in the Scimitar or with you?”
After a second convulsive swallow, his eyes slowly returned to her face. “You being the akhrian has priority. What we’ve done is wrong.”
“Do you wish it wasn’t against your gods’ rules?”
He glanced skyward. Long seconds later he whispered, “Yes.”
She frowned. “A good fuck? What kind of an asshole says that after what happened between us?”
He pinched his nose and mumbled, “Shit.” He cleared his throat and said, “I’m sorry. I handled that badly.”
“Handled it badly? That’s an understatement. Do you treat all your women like that? God, I can’t believe I even asked that. I don’t want to know about anyone else. Obviously you suck at breaking up as much as me.” She chewed her lip and stared at him for a few seconds. “Do you regret what happened?”
“No. I just don’t want the gods to hurt you because of it.”
He was so noble, trying to protect her by following some insane code his deities dictated. That’s why she loved him.
Oh…God. Did she…
Yeah, she did.
Softly, she said, “We can’t break our connection. Have you considered what it’d be like if we figured out a way to do so?”
He ran a finger along his lower lip while staring at her critically. “You’re right. But this isn’t allowed. The gods will probably punish me in some painful way for what we’ve already done. That doesn’t mean I have regrets. It just makes this…us seem wrong.”
“I don’t want to be your doctor, if it means we can’t be together. I think it would be an impossible situation. I mean, how do we avoid this for the next fifty or so years?”
“You being the akhrian isn’t a choice. If the goddess confirms you’re the one as we all suspect, then that’s it. That’s what you get to do. I know you don’t believe these gods exist, but they’re real. They’re all powerful. And they don’t react nicely to disobedience. Since I know I won’t be able to resist this thing between us forever, I’ll have to succumb in a fight or something.”
“No!” Kira moved to stand next to him and touched his cheek. “That’s not an option. How many times do I have to pull you back from the brink? Don’t you get it? Something in me won’t allow you to die. Don’t even go there. For the sake of argument, if I am your senariai, didn’t Julie say if one of us dies, then the other will die as well?”
“That’s been true of past couples.”
“You want me to die too?”
“You think you’re my senariai?” Ashor smiled as his gaze ran down her naked body. He pulled her onto his lap.
“What do you think?”
Ashor shrugged, “None of this makes sense. I don’t know why I’m surprised about that. It’s not like the gods keep us in the loop on what they’ve concocted to amuse themselves by mucking about in our lives.”
“Promise me you won’t die.”
“I can’t promise that. Shit happens. But I promise not to die willingly. It’d be great if you can fill in as akhrian temporarily until we find a replacement. Ultimately, we need to consult with the goddess.”
“Then let’s go visit this goddess of yours.”
“It’s not that simple. There’s the problem of the amulet.”
“Oh, God, don’t tell me you need that silly amulet Markus was after.”
“That particular one was a gift to us from the gods. We must have it before we consult with her about you being the akhrian.”
She traced his lips with her finger. “Can we…just once more?”
Fuck yeah, Ashor thought. If he was going to hell he might as well enjoy the ride.
Frantic knocking hammered the bedroom door. Kira jumped off his lap and dove for the safety of the covers.
“What now?” Ashor growled as he pulled on his shirt and yanked open the door.
S
cott stood there white-faced as he gasped for breath. He cupped a cell phone between his hands. Panting to catch his breath after the run upstairs, he struggled to speak.
“Spit it out, kid,” Ashor said impatiently
Scott finally choked out, “It’s Terek. He wants to speak with Kira.”
“What?” shrieked Kira.
“How did he get this phone number?” Ashor demanded.
Scotted suggested, “Marla?”
Ashor grabbed the phone and barked into it, “She’s not available to speak with daemon shits. In fact, she’ll never be available to speak to you.”
From the other end, Terek’s distinctive grating voice responded, “Could that be the one that escaped? I expected you wouldn’t let her talk. Log onto this website and watch.” Terek laughed an unsettling sound, and then provided a web address before the line went dead.
Ashor relayed the address to Scott and requested he pull it up in the security room.
Minutes later, all seven magi and Kira stood around Scott watching the live web feed. Kira gasped as the camera focused on the person kneeling on an elevated platform in the center of a ritual chamber. Vance. His hands were secured behind him. His face wasn’t visible, but his breathing was odd, almost irregular. He seemed too complacent in his silence.
At least thirty robed men surrounded the dais with heads bowed. They chanted dissonant, monophonic tones led by Terek who slow walked to the raised platform. The hairs on the back of Kira’s neck rose.
Terek removed a dagger from his robe. He descended from the platform and went off camera, returning a moment later towing a man behind him. He pushed the man to kneel beside Vance.
Kira squinted at the screen. She recognized the man as the one who had chased them on Long Island.
Terek wrote symbols in the air with his free hand. He sliced his forearm. The chanting crescendoed within the chamber. Abruptly, the chanted tones stopped. In the silence, Terek stabbed the drugged man directly into his heart. Simultaneously, he spoke the seemingly incoherent daemon language. The man’s blood flowed around and over Terek’s hand, which was still clutching the blade now deeply embedded in the man’s chest.
Javen mumbled disgustedly, “He’s getting off on this.”
