She couldn't get her seatbelt off fast enough as her body shook, and she rushed from the plane.
He dropped to his knee and the pilot and stewardess gave each other an amused look. "Highness." He bowed his head.
His dark gray clothes pulled tight against his bulky muscles making him look even larger. Affina's saber sniffed him. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. She spotted his fingers as he rubbed the tips together.
"Razor?" But... he was dead. "Get up."
He got to his feet as Affina approached and he assumed the immediate position of a soldier being inspected. She rounded him taking in his broad shoulders and back. His trim waist that tapered into long thick legs as big as tree limbs.
She stopped in front of him and looked deep into his eyes.
"It is you isn't it?" she asked.
His gaze connected with hers and he swallowed hard. "Yes, Highness. But-"
Affina flung her arms around his neck. He stiffened for a moment and then relaxed into her and pulled her tight. Tears flowed from her eyes as she kissed his cheek. "I thought you were dead. I thought they killed you in the attack." Her saber roared to life pacing and sniffing him wanting to be let out. Affina fought against the strange sensations, pushing her saber away and trying to calm down.
He nuzzled her neck, his stubble tickling her. His warm breath hit her skin. A rumble escaped deep in his chest. "No Highness."
She pushed away from him and cupped his face. "Stop calling me that."
She couldn't believe it. He was alive. Her best friend. Her confidant. She clung to him once more and he held her tight for a moment before releasing her.
She stared at him and both of them laughed. Affina reached up and set her palm on his cheek feeling the stubble beneath her fingers. His face had changed so much.
"When I last saw you you'd just begun to sprout facial hair. You were barely seventeen. So small and skinny. I didn't think you'd ever come into your own. But now..."
She searched his eyes for the teen she'd known, but a man stared back at her. A handsome, strong, virile male. An Alpha.
Again her saber tried to emerge and Affina rubbed at her chest to calm the beast. What was her problem?
"Tell me. What are you doing here alone, Highness? Where is your father? The rest of the clan?"
Affina shook her head. "You can stop calling Highness. I'm not a princess of anything anymore."
Razor's eyes rang with anxiety. "Not a princess? What has happened?"
The fear in his voice shot straight through Affina and mimicked her own.
"The Obsidian Mountain clan and another forced us from the castle. We moved from place to place trying to stay hidden but it was no use." Her voice quavered and she fought to keep it level.
"The king? Your father." His eyes rounded. "Is he..."
Affina shook her head. "He pushed me into the helicopter as they attacked in a glade. I fear that if he was still alive we would have heard by now."
Razor shook his head. "Then I am too late."
Affina grabbed Razor by the shoulders. "Too late for what? Why are you here?"
"Your father sent me to secure a place for our people. But I wasn't quick enough. And now there are only two of us left."
Chapter Three
Raze swallowed hard staring at Affina. She hadn't aged at all. Years before he'd fallen in love with her beauty and strength but had never dared to think that one day he might be with her. With him seventeen and her almost twenty, she'd never looked at him as anything more than a young friend. But now... His saber paced back and forth, his tail swishing. He purred and mewled and made the strangest noises Raze had ever encountered.
Her eyes took in every inch of his face. Her fingers traced every line as he rested his hands on her hips. She'd lost the youthful roundness in her cheeks. Years on the run had thinned her high cheekbones. Her collarbone protruded a little too much as well, but her lean arms and legs had been shaped and sculpted more than ever.
Back in Siberia they'd been the same height but he'd been thinner. As a young man, he'd found her so imposing. At six foot two she barely came up to his shoulder now, and her curves gave just the right amount of girth to be good for birthing babies. His saber purred with delight at the sight and feel of her.
Raze swallowed down his rising excitement. What the hell is wrong with you? He could only attribute it to the fact that he'd been away from his own kind for so many years. And even more so because it was her. Affina. His one and only friend.
She wore nothing more than a deerskin jerkin and worn leather boots. Her skin pebbled as Raze ran his hands over Affina's bare arm, tattooed with her position and family crest. His thumb stopped at a series of small scars on the back of her arm. Scars symbolizing the clan members that she'd loved, and lost. There were more than a dozen, but two of them stood larger than the others, symbolizing great loss. Raze's gut clenched thinking of who those might be for.
Affina sniffed his shoulder and rubbed her fingers over the fabric of his wool suit making his pants suddenly feel two sizes too small. Her scent invaded him and he removed his hands from her waist and pressed his palms into his thighs. His saber roared in his chest to take her. Raze shifted his stance and cleared his throat. No. She wasn't like the other women he slept with. He would not go there with her.
What the hell was wrong with him? He'd never reacted like this before. The sensations running through him were altogether unsettling.
"Are you all right?" Affina asked. "Your heart is racing and you're sweating."
The sounds of an airplane taking off caught Raze's attention and he realized the pilot and stewardess were still watching them.
"We should get you somewhere that you can rest."
She shivered and he immediately shrugged out of his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. He didn’t want anyone else seeing her so exposed.
"Come," he said. "We have much to talk about."
They drove away from the small airport and Raze told his driver to head back to his apartment. Affina curled up beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. After so many years apart, the feel of her body next to his was still as normal as if they'd been together the day before.
Memories of them laying in the grass, looking up at the stars, flooded back to him. The feel of her head on his chest, her skin brushing his. How many times he'd wanted to feel her body under his as he kissed her? But sabers didn't hit their prime until nineteen. So to her, he'd been nothing more than an adolescent.
Her ample breasts pushed out the fabric of her jerkin and brushed against his arm. Even through his shirt he could imagine what they felt like.
Raze breathed in deeply and tried to arrange his suit pants so they didn't pinch so much. He needed to stop thinking of her like that. She was the princess, even if she no longer had a kingdom or a clan. And he was not a prince. An Alpha maybe, but that was only due to him having come of age without a clan.
Five minutes. That's all it had taken for years as an Alpha male to be wiped away by her and reducing him back to the teenager in love.
The phone rang in his pocket and he answered it.
"This is Raze."
"Raze? It's Tate. Did you find your friend?"
"Yes. I got her. Thank you."
"Great. She's going to need as much help of your as possible. A place to stay, a job, a life. We can get her all the documentation she will need but-"
"Wait. Me?"
Tate paused for a moment. "Would you rather I ask the Wolf River if they want to take her? I mean I can but-"
His saber grumbled at the idea of Affina being care for by a pack of wolves, or mountain lions, or... whatever. "No. No. She can stay with me."
"No," said Affina. "I need to go back to Siberia. I need to find my father. Our clan."
"Tell her we can't do that," said Tate. "Her father sent her here to save her. We cannot in good conscious just send her right back into the war zone she just left. I'm sorry."
Raze looked over
at Affina. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."
"Good," said Tate. "If you need anything, you know where we are. We'll be in touch about her papers."
Raze's gaze took in Affina's sleep deprived face and his heart melted. "I'm ready to help if you need anything. I cannot thank you enough for helping us both," he said.
"It's not a problem. It's what we are here for."
Raze hung up.
"What did they say? Are they sending me back?"
"They can't."
"Why not?" Affina demanded.
He sighed. The fire in her eyes told him all he needed to know. She wasn't going to make this easy. He thought for a moment and then said, "Because your father sent you here to save you. And in all reality, you could be slaughtered within minutes if you went back. Besides, it was always your father's intention that the clan come to America. Sending you back would be to defy his wishes."
Affina looked up at him, anger streaking her eyes. "Is that why you never returned? Never told me where you were?"
It was a punch to the kidneys, but at least she wasn't arguing with him. Raze had no idea that Affina's father hadn't told her where he'd sent Raze.
"I sent yearly reports to your father. I assume now that he didn't get any if you've been in hiding. I can't imagine why he didn't tell you."
Raze bit his tongue at the lie. He had a pretty good idea exactly why her father hadn't told her he was alive. But too bad for her father because he was alive and so was she. And as of that moment, they were the only two left.
Affina stared out the window at the city as they rolled by. "It's so crowded here."
They stopped at a light and she watched the people rushing across the street. She sat forward and set her arm on the headrest in front of her. The armhole opened wide on her jerkin and he caught the outline of a heavy peachy breast.
He looked away and cleared his throat forcing his saber to not look again. The woman had been through hell. The last thing she needed was him gawking at her and trying to get in her pants.
"We're almost at my apartment," he said. "You can bathe. I'll get you some food and you can rest." That wasn't exactly why he wanted to get her back to his apartment if he was being totally honest. He wanted to lay her in his bed and feel her in his arms again.
She turned her bright eyes upon him and gave him a tight smile. "Thank you for offering to take me in. I know that it's been a long time but..." Her eyes filled with sadness. "I never forgot about you."
Neither had he.
"Do you... live with anyone else?" she asked. "A mate... or..."
"No." He did have frequent guests, however. Though that would stop now. "No, I don't have a mate. No one I'm... interested in."
"That has to be different. I'm so used to sleeping with the entire clan- Those of us that were left anyway." Affina stared at him for a moment. "Do you think there is any chance my father and the others survived?"
How did he answer that? If he gave her hope, she'd still want to go back. If he told her no, she'd be devastated.
"The best thing we can do is pray to the gods that they join us soon."
She nodded. "My father is a strong man. If he lives, he will join us here." She turned and looked out the window again. "I just wish I knew for sure."
The thought of Affina's father arriving now brought him a sense of dread. Seeing her once again and being near her had him bubbling with feelings he'd not experienced for a female since he became of age. He wasn't sure what they were, but he was sure about one thing, her father would never allow them.
His throat dried like he'd eaten sand. He stared at Affina and his gut clenched. He'd never seen her look vulnerable before. He reached out and squeezed her hand.
"I'm going to take care of you."
* * *
Razor took Affina's hand and helped her from his car. Her saber pushed her forward into his chest, wanting to feel his body next to hers. He looked down at her and she backed up a pace.
"Sorry. I guess I'm shaky from not eating." Damn cat. What was with her today?
Razor stared at her and warmth spread through her. The way he looked at her was completely different from how he'd looked at her when they'd grown up together. Calculating, measuring, evaluating. Her gut clenched. Was it possible he didn't want her there?
Razor nodded to the man at the door and led her inside a tall building. The lobby floor shone with white stone. People in expensive looking clothing stared at her as Raze led her toward the elevator. Affina looked down at her outfit and crossed her arms over her chest trying to hide as much of her stained jerkin as she was able.
Embarrassment flooded her. Everyone looked like they belonged to some sort of high court. Whereas she looked like she'd just run out of the jungle. Which technically she had, except it was the tundra. She swallowed hard. How far she'd fallen from her days as a clan princess.
Their palace hadn't been as big as some but it had been substantial for their needs. Her father and his family had reigned over the area since the first Czar of Russia. When the USSR had fallen he'd taken on the name of King as well as Alpha. And though they'd had an abundance of wealth at one time they'd been little better than paupers since running for their lives – and her clothing was a testament to that fact.
Razor placed his hand on the small of her back and ushered her into the elevator. She stared at her worn hide boots as the doors closed. He inserted a card into a slot and then pushed the number twenty-four on the panel.
"I feel so out of place," she said.
He gave her a tight smile. "We'll get you some proper clothing and you'll feel like your royal self in no time."
Affina looked up at Razor. It was a strange thing to look up at him instead of down or straight on. He'd always been good looking but now... his powerful magnetism was not lost on her or her saber. Standing next to him she felt something she hadn't felt in years. Safe. She liked that feeling.
The doors to the elevator opened into a spacious apartment. Razor showed her into the front room where he laid down his bag and loosened the colorful tie around his neck.
"Welcome home," he said.
The large front room sported an entire wall of windows. Affina walked over to them and gasped. From her vantage point, she could see the entirety of the city. The cars looked like small toys from so far up.
"I feel like I can see the whole world from up here."
Razor chuckled. "It seems that way sometimes."
"It makes me feel so small."
"You could never be small."
She turned to see if he was teasing.
He untucked his shirt and then undid the buttons, revealing hard packed abs that rippled beneath the fabric. Affina crossed to him and pushed his shirt to the side. He sucked in a breath as she ran her fingers over a scar on his left shoulder.
"I remember giving you this." Her fingers lingered over his skin tracing the outline of the jagged skin that she'd split with a spear.
He continued to hold his breath. "A lesson I never forgot."
She grinned. "It only took three times of me teaching it to you."
"Yes, but I've never dropped my gaze since."
His body had changed so much. Everything harder, more muscular, hairier. She ran her fingers down his chest to his abdomen making his muscles quake. He grabbed her hand. A rush of heat washed through her at his gaze.
"I... I'm sorry," she managed. "I didn't mean to-"
"No," he said. "It's just been so long since-" He cleared his throat. They stared at each other for a heated moment, his hand squeezing tight around hers. For a split second she thought he might try to kiss her, or maybe she just hoped he would. Instead, he scanned her face as if memorizing it and then he released her and stepped away.
"Let me show you to your room."
Affina nodded and tried to calm her pounding heart. It was hard for her to wrap her mind around the fact that he wasn't just a teen now. They'd been apart for five years, though it felt impossibly longer and al
together like no time at all. He was a man now. An Alpha male in his own right. Touching him was obviously now something she should no longer do- no matter how much it comforted both her and her saber.
He walked down a small hallway to the left and pushed open the first door.
"This room is yours. There is a bathroom for you to take a shower and there should be a toothbrush and hairbrush in the drawer."
Affina looked around the stark white room with the dark wooden bed and sniffed the air. It smelled of furniture polish and detergent. A smell that reminded her of home. "Do you have many guests you let sleep in here?"
"No," he said.
She turned to him. "Where do you sleep?"
He pointed the other way. "My room is on the other side. You go ahead and clean up and I'll order us something to eat."
She nodded. "All right."
Razor licked his lips and looked like he wanted to say something, but instead, he turned and closed the door.
Affina's saber grumbled making her rub her chest again. Emotions mixed inside her. She was so happy to see Razor alive, but she'd lost her father, her clan and her home. She was the last saber of the Saber Mountain clan. Even Razor wasn't a true member, which was why she assumed he was now an Alpha. He'd been a slave- though he'd eventually have been adopted in by his years of servitude. Tears formed in her eyes as the weight of those words pressed her down. She was the last surviving member of the Saber Mountain clan. With her, the line would die out and be no more. Never again would there be a Saber Mountain saber in her home country.
Affina stripped her jerkin off and walked naked to the bathroom. She turned on the water to the shower and stepped inside. Curling in a ball on the tile floor, she let the tears flow. As happy as she was that she had Razor, he was so different. Everything between them was different. Even on a new continent with her best friend- she was completely alone.
Chapter Four
Tamed Under The Moon (Wolf River, ID. Book 4) Page 2