He’d closed the door behind us and turned to me with a smile.
“What?” he said as he noted my stare.
His dark hair reached past his shoulders. He’d been growing it out because I’d told him I liked it long. He was taller than my own five foot two by close to a foot, and his eyes, those fierce, intelligent eyes. They were the first thing I noticed. Light brown and sharp, they drew me to him then, just as they did now. I gazed into those eyes and knew he would keep me safe no matter what. This was not a guy someone wanted to fuck with, well, except for me. Wait. My cheeks heated.
He tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Is there a problem, Elizabeth?”
“No, I was thinking how lucky I am.”
His eyes grew soft. He gathered my shirt in his hands and tugged me up onto my toes. His nose rubbed mine, as he walked me back against the wall. The feel of the cool wood against my neck and warm flesh in front of me caused my breath to shudder out.
I gave a token resistance and brushed my hands against his chest while my breathing picked up. This looked promising.
His kiss scorched my senses. He dragged his tongue along my lower lip, demanding admittance. He tasted like cherries, and male, and mine. My Marin. Mmm.
The moment seemed to last forever until with a groan he straightened, bracing his forehead against mine. His hands traced down the sides of my face. With that touch, he let me know he cherished me, that I was his world. God, I don’t know why I had doubts about this amazing man in front of me.
But I did.
“That was a bit chilly,” Marin said as his hands continued to travel up and down my arms.
“That wasn’t chilly, that was cold. I hate the cold, you know this,” I griped as I buried my nose into his chest, lifting up his shirt to slide my frozen fingers along his ribs.
He pulled away. “No.”
Oh, he knew better than that. I stalked forward, intent. Marin raised his brow then ran for cover. I caught him inside the door to the library. He dodged my hands with a laugh.
“No. Be good.” He wagged his finger in my face.
How rude.
“I’m being good. And I want to be better. Come here.” I grabbed his shirtfront, mirroring his earlier gesture, and tried to pull him close.
Marin shook his head, backing farther into the room. “Later. Right now, I want to research something about that rock. We need to learn more.”
Marin disengaged my hands, stole another quick, hot kiss, and tugged me to shelves of overflowing, antique, handwritten books. The smell of old parchment filled my senses.
I, for all intents and purpose, lived in this library, and I still didn’t know how it was organized. There was no Dewey decimal system here. I had to rely on Marin to get whatever book I needed on a topic. I’d only seen one other place in Groos that had more books. That was the home of my original sponsor, he of the mesmerizing twinkle, Ute, the clan historian and magic buff.
“I think it might be iron,” I said
“What is iron?” he asked, as he pulled two large books off the shelf and handed one to me. I sat in the nearest chair, pulling my legs up under me to read.
“It’s a metal,” I said shortly, and waited for his response.
He glanced up with narrowed eyes.
Ha. Knew that would get him.
“It’s the main component used to make steel on Earth, one of our strongest metals. We use it in most of our buildings, machines, and weapons. If that is what this is, that would be good. You could etch the runes on it more easily than you can the flint, copper, or bronze weapons you use now. There are techniques to smelt iron and develop it into steel. I know a little bit about it because I grew up in Steel City on Earth, but I don’t know the process of how to make it. I just know what it is.”
As I said this, I thought of the E’mani. They knew what iron was. It was in their histories. They’d had cars and planes. I found it so odd sometimes that the Fost didn’t, though they kept the books that detailed the E’mani advances. The Fost culture as a whole seemed strange to me, a weird blend of sophistication and barbarism. It surprised me every day that they churned butter, but had complex gearing.
“What books do you have on mining?”
“What do you think I handed you?” He raised his eyebrows at me.
“A book on puppetry?” I quipped.
He grinned and leaned down to growl at me. I threaded my arms around his shoulders, yanking him down on top of me. He braced his hands on the back of my chair. His lips brushed mine, lightning spreading in its wake. Marin closed his eyes and turned his head, spearing his tongue between my lips. So good. I sighed and tried to pull him all the way down into my lap.
He nipped my lower lip, murmuring, “Not now. Later, I promise.”
I pouted, but he remained firm in his resolution and yes, there too.
Marin sat next to me on an adjacent chair. I leaned to the side and ran my hand up and down his thigh then we both started to read.
The book I read did have a small section on iron. I’d no idea how to go about identifying the metal, but I was pretty sure that was what we had. If we could turn the iron into steel, and add that steel to the flint or copper or bronze weapons we had at our disposal, it would be epic. Our weapons would be stronger and the iron would make them hit harder. We could craft arrows and spears from it as well. Now that would help us immensely with the upcoming war. For there would be a war, it was inevitable.
My pulse sped up at the thought. The E’mani tended to fight a long distance battle, which the Fost had trouble countering; they were more of a hands-on fighting force. With this, we had a chance.
“Do you think when they attacked the mines and I asked for help from the land, this was a part of it?”
Marin nodded. “Maybe. It would be good if it is as strong as you suggest. I need to talk to Stein, he is the expert.”
“Talk to Stein about what?” A voice rang out.
Marin twisted to peer at the entrance. I copied him.
Of course, Stein stood there, holding up the door jamb. There was no give in his expression and no joy in his heart. The months since his daughter Lara died had only hardened him. He no longer weathered well; he scarred. And when he smiled at me, the malice in his expression was clear to read. He still blamed me for her death even though she was the traitor. Oh, joy. This would be fun.
At least Marin appeared comfortable. “Hello, Stein. We just got back from the mines and we were discussing the new metal. Elizabeth thought it might be iron.”
“What is that, an Earth thing?” Stein’s lips curled making the word seem dirty.
“No, a geology thing.”
I smirked and Stein’s eyes narrowed.
Marin sighed. “Stop it, you two. There is a section here in this book, Stein. Come look.”
And a clearer indication to leave, I’d never heard. “Yes, while you two are looking, I’m going to head up to my room and change. I am still wet.” I gave Marin a deliberate glance, to which he grinned, and bolted out of the room.
As I fled I heard Marin murmur, “I will be back.”
Marin snagged me at the bottom of the stairs and cuddled me close. “Dinner will be in a few minutes. Hurry back, and, uh, I put a dress out for you for dinner.”
“We are dressing up? That sounds nice.” And completely new. Dinner was usually a casual affair eaten on the go. Hmm. “Why?”
“No reason. We have the house to ourselves for once. I figured we could have a nice supper.”
Oh good, Zanth wouldn’t be joining us. I preferred when he didn’t. We had an uneasy impasse going right now. but that could end at any moment. Lara’s death hit him hard as well.
“Okay,” I said.
He guided me up the stairs. At the top, he steered me to my room.
When we reached the door, I twisted in his arms to face him. “Want to help me dress?”
He groaned and clutched his chest, staggering backward to the top of the steps. “We wi
ll never eat if I come in and help you, and you know it.”
I giggled and darted into my room. It was true, we were so much better at getting each other out of our clothes than into them. We still maintained separate bedrooms. That was my idea. I used mine for storage. Not that I had much stuff.
When I entered the room, I moved toward the dresser. I hesitated over the top drawer, then dropped my hand and opened the lowest one instead.
The E’mani shivat—their uniform—was folded inside. I reached out my right hand and grazed the fabric, remembering.
Damn, my head hurts. I looked around with a grimace.
The room I was in was made up of some murky stone, cool to the touch. I caught a faint impression of movement from the other side of the wall. A streak of red light pulsed deep in its depths.
Where the hell was I? And more importantly, why was I naked?
On the floor in front of me was some kind of uniform, dark gray and shapeless, the fabric soft and shiny like satin but tougher.
This uniform. My hands slipped off the material. My memories of my time with the E’mani were coming more easily now. And none of them were good.
It still surprised me that the Fost let me live after I wandered into the miners wearing the E’mani shivat and speaking of different lands. They should have killed me.
The races had been neighbors. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they were friends, but they’d shared a border, they’d shared a land. Until the E’mani science advanced so far beyond what they knew that the Fost grew fearful. The E’mani were not a kind race. The Fost knew what they were capable of. They saw the power the E’mani gained from technology and it scared them. They couldn’t combat it and they didn’t try. They did the opposite.
The Fost, as a people, de-revolutionized. They let the E’mani have their gadgets and their inventions. They cut off trade. They shunned them and closed their borders to begin a simpler life. It worked too, for a little bit. The E’mani left them alone. Until the day the Fost developed powers, abilities that were ever so interesting to the E’mani.
A centuries-long war followed that discovery. Despite how it sounded, they were evenly matched. Then the E’mani unleashed their ships. They took to the air and to space, and the war was over. The tide turned and the E’mani drove the final nail into the Fost’s coffin, biologic warfare. They developed diseases and illnesses, and set them loose on their enemies. The Fost weren’t the only ones they targeted, but they were the only ones to survive, as far as they knew.
Among those dead was the Fost Clan Chief. The new leader deduced they couldn’t win against such odds, sick as they were. He favored running, and so the Fost fled into the mountains and ended up in this valley and have remained here ever since.
The fact that they distrusted me when I arrived was understandable, and they were right. The E’mani followed me there. The magic messed up their machines, but good old treachery helped them find me. Lives were lost, Gia, Linc, Luc, Jon, and Lara. Lara, who believed the E’mani lies and betrayed her race.
Now the Fost could no longer pretend the E’mani went away, that the E’mani forgot about them. They prepared for war and I prepared with them, chafing at the delay.
I should tear up this uniform, but I couldn’t. It helped keep my hate alive until the day I could get revenge on the E’mani for the destruction of my world.
“Elizabeth,” Marin called out.
I sighed. Best not to think of that now, I had a dinner to prepare for. My heart ached when I turned and saw the dress laid out for me on the bed. It was a navy blue maxi that reached my ankles. I put it on and twirled just like I had before my first dinner date with Marin all those months ago. And also like before, a few bottles lay next to the dress on the bed. I rubbed some lotion on my skin. The scent of peaches surrounded me as I brushed my hair. A smile slid across my face, the bad memories replaced with the good, until I turned and caught my reflection in the glass of the window with the darkness behind it.
I didn’t look like me anymore, not the me I remembered. My hair was a deeper, richer red that fell almost to my waist now in thick curls Marin loved to run his hands through. My eyes were a velvety blue, my lips red, and my cheekbones rosy. I’d been born with a confluence of freckles, but they’d faded with time and were now only a light dusting across my nose. The dress brought out my hips. I used to bemoan those curves, but now, I reveled in them.
When I was younger, the word used to describe me most was cute. I wasn’t cute now. I was beautiful, and it was damn weird.
My eyes burned. Who was this person in front of me, because it wasn’t little Beta Camden. Not really. Not anymore. What had the E’mani done to me and why? What was wrong with me that all I seemed to want to do was cry?
Three
“Elizabeth. Hurry up,” Marin bellowed. I dashed away my tears. Anyways, it was time to eat, and figure out what Marin was planning. I took a breath and straightened my dress before heading downstairs. No Marin and no Stein, thank goodness, waited for me. I walked toward the dining room. When I entered, I spun around checking for Marin. He did like to sneak up on me, but I didn’t see him.
They’d changed the table out. Normally, it sat a family of ten, but this was a small, round table, much more intimate. A delicate lace tablecloth spread across its surface. Two candles flickered on either side of an extravagant flower arrangement in the middle, filled with a familiar apple-scented rose.
I walked over to my chair and spied a wrapped box by one of the plates.
My heart skipped a beat, then resumed once I realized how big the present was. Not a jewelry box, more like a shoe box. I peered around again, ready for Marin to pop up and scare me.
Nope, still alone. Hmm.
The present stared up at me, tempting me to open it. Should I be good or…well, I knew I should wait for Marin but I so wanted to see what he got me. His unusual reluctance for nookie and insistence on a formal dinner was much more understandable now. I toyed with the ribbon. To hell with it, I had to see what was inside. I grabbed the box right as the door squeaked open.
Of course, Marin strolled in before I managed to unwrap the damn thing. He held onto the doorway and posed a bit for me. He’d changed, as well, and wore dark brown leather and a forest green shirt. Yummy. His eyes made their own perusal of my form.
I smiled. “Hi.”
“Hello. You hungry?” He left the entrance and came up behind me. He pulled out my chair, seated me, and took the seat next to me. No cross table chatter for him.
“Yes. Famished.” I took my fork and pretended to eat the present. “What’s this?”
“That is for later. No peeking.” Well, now I deeply regretted not looking. He must have read my expression because his laughter rang out.
“I love you.”
And just like that he dropped it on me. I froze like a deer in headlights. My heart fluttered. I’d suspected for a while that he did. He’d told it to me in so many small ways since I moved in. I was the first and last thing he thought of every day, that last he had told me. But this was the first time he used the L word. How I felt was more complicated. I was human and he was Fost. And to be honest, I didn’t know what I was anymore, not after the E’mani because I wasn’t me.
He laughed even more at my expression. “It is all right, I do not expect a response, but I wanted you to know.” He glanced down and shifted in his seat.
I pretended it was fine like he said and cleared my throat. “So.”
The silence stretched for a few beats. But it wasn’t all right.
Oh, forget it. I was no good at lying to myself or anyone else. He needed something.
I stood up and wrangled his chair sideways then crawled onto his lap. “Hey.” I lifted his chin. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before and it kind of scares me.”
Not that I had much experience, but he didn’t need to know that. This was all I could give him right now and I knew it wouldn’t be enough if he pushed, and he always pushed. I
t was his nature. But still, I couldn’t give him the words. I was unreasonably afraid that once I did, I wouldn’t get my revenge on the E’mani. That somehow loving him affected my ability to hate the E’mani. And I did so love to hate the E’mani.
He stared into my eyes looking for who knows what. The moment lingered and he remained stiff for another fraction of a second then relaxed and let his hands travel up my back. “It scares me too, how much I feel for you.”
Again my heart thumped and goose bumps broke out across my skin at the intent look in his eyes. This close, I saw the love shining in his gaze so I didn’t look. Instead, I twined my arms around his shoulders and kissed him. My chest brushed his and my nipples tightened. I rocked my pelvis against his and he groaned.
“Stop, we should eat.”
“I could eat,” I said and waggled my brows at him to which he scoffed.
“Food.” He pointed at the table. “Eat your dinner, and I will let you open the present.”
I scooted back to my chair, glancing at him over my shoulder. “What’s my present?”
“I am not telling. You will have to wait and see.” He crossed his arms then motioned to someone at the door.
They brought in something I likened to turkey and some sort of veggie dish next to it. Starrin. Bleah, reminded me of cabbage. If I smothered it in butter, it was edible. Marin carved the meat while I loaded my plate.
“I am worried about Zanth,” he said.
Always my favorite topic. “He will be fine.”
“He is not taking Lara’s death well.”
“No, he isn’t.” In fact, that was an understatement. Zanth had become a lean, mean, killing machine. His only thought was the death of the E’mani for taking his love—the traitorous Lara. As a consequence, he pushed everyone away. I was one of the few people left to whom he talked. Ironic given that when we first met, he punched me. That made quite the first impression, but so did his persistence in guarding me during the E’mani attack, even with Lara there and involved. He sensed what she was just as I did. He would not leave me to die.
Can't Forget: If she can't forget her past, she won't have a future. (Solum Series Book 2) Page 2
