by Misty Evans
You must protect the innocent. She was innocent—his mind and body agreed on that, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it out loud yet. And why wasn’t he?
Because admitting that Keva was innocent, that some other freak job, some time-traveling ghost, had killed the women at the church and left Keva for dead, tore down the last remnants of the wall of logic he had placed between them. Once that wall was gone, he’d pull Keva into his arms and break every last rule in his book of honor.
The thought produced a strange exhilaration. He had never wanted to break the rules, and yet, at that moment, the idea of throwing the rule book out the window and taking Keva right here, right now, was the only thing he did want. He wanted to rush headlong into a relationship that would surely endanger his career as much as his heart.
Frustrated, he cursed and braced his hands against the wet tiles of the shower. What, in heaven’s name, had possessed him?
The Chieftess, his mind answered.
Without warning, the shower stall disappeared. In front of him, Keva lay belly-down on an arrow-shaped overhang of dark rock, her legs dangling off each side. The rock he recognized. The Chieftess as well.
Her exposed skin was wet with mist. Below, ocean waves battered the shore and Rife’s heart beat with fear as much as lust at the sight of her lying so exposed on the precipice.
Glancing down at his wet body, Rife realized he was once again the warrior Kai, searching for High Chieftess Keva at the sacred Starved Rock, where the physical world seemed to meet the spiritual world, and where she went to receive the prophecies the gods gave her…
Thick mist hangs in the air, screening out the world from the rock outcropping. In the distance below, I hear the crash of waves and call of gulls. The woman lying on the pointed tip of the rocks is naked and thrashing in her sleep. I cannot stop my gaze from wandering over her naked body, hesitating at the peaks and valleys to savor them. Round in the ways of females, she is still lithe and firm.
Sharp lust spikes through my blood and I force myself to stop staring. She is a shaman after all. A clan matron. Fit for my half brother, a soon-to-be chief, but not for a warrior, the son of a slave, like me.
Her thrashing continues as she walks, runs and flies in her visions, as all shamans do, and my breath catches inside my chest when she slips too far to one side. She will fall to her death if I do not wake her.
This would solve my troubles, but when she calls my name in her sleep, a pitiful cry that jolts the heart pumping under my ribs, I reflexively reach for her. Breaking the rule that says I cannot touch a Chieftess without permission, my fingers sink deep into the skin that tempts me. “Chieftess, wake up.”
Pulled from her dreams, Chieftess Keva, the young and beautiful matron of the Moon Water tribe and leader of the Salt Coast Clan, blinks her eyes open and stares up at me. Her eyes are lighter than I expected, like amber stone when sunlight shines through it.
I’ve never seen a woman with eyes this color. My breath catches again.
Surprise, and then fear, passes over her face as understanding dawns on her. We have never met and yet she smiles as if I’m a lover. “I have dreamt of you in my Pathwalks,” she says. Her voice is hoarse. “I knew you would come. Your destiny is here with me.”
Shamans put much stock in dreams and Pathwalks. Warriors do not.
“Three days on this rock without food or water has made your brain fly out of your head.” I slide my hand under her back with slow ease, pressing my fingers into her spine to make her sit up. “Come away from the edge before you fall.”
She closes her eyes as if savoring a favorite taste or smell. “You have come to force me to invite Enann into my lodge, but I will not accept Enann any more than I will turn you away.”
“Your match with Enann is good for your people. I am told you value little else than their security.”
“But Enann is not my soul mate.”
“You are.” The words echo in my brain.
She did not speak them aloud, but I heard them clearly.
I take a step back from her, shift my gaze to the mist surrounding the mountain so her eyes do not distract me. “Your council has given its blessing, and you must do your duty. My tribe demands it. If you do not marry Enann before the moon is full, I will be forced to kill you so your sister will become clan matron and Enann can marry her.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Chieftess Keva touch her fingers to the base of her throat. She strokes the area, drawing my gaze back to hers. Her face is hard now. She does not like being told what to do. “What have you brought me to eat, warrior?”
This sudden spirit makes me chuckle. Gripping her forearms, I stand her up and pull her away from the edge. She is weak and stumbles. I lift her in my arms and carry her to a bear skin I have laid next to her burned-out fire.
The feel of her body in my arms sparks my lust again and I do not stop the images playing out in my brain. Once she is situated, I pick up a bucket near the skin and offer it to her. “Your favorite, cod and whale.”
Her eyes narrow and she pulls the bear skin around her cold body. “How do you know what I favor?”
I draw a knife from the belt at my waist and show her the hilt. It is her knife, the Moon Water knife. Her eyes widen as she understands its meaning in my possession. Her gods have given it to me as a sign.
“I dream of you, too,” I tell her. The images in my brain will soon play out here on this rock for real. I’ve already seen the next few hours in my own dreams and no matter the price, I want to make them real. “That is the true reason I am here.”
“You know we are meant to be together.”
For a night or two, yes. Forever? I jam the blade of the knife into the ground and turn away from her to build up the fire.
Taming the flames after the fire is hot, I remove rocks from a bag I’ve carried up the mountain and set them to warm.
As the fish pop and fry on the hot rocks, I take out a small bowl and bring it to the shamanic Chieftess. The musky scent of whale oil fills the air between us.
Before I can dip my fingers in it, Keva rises onto her knees and licks my bare stomach. The muscles there, already hard as the rocks cooking her breakfast, tighten in response.
“You taste of the ocean—” her lips murmur against my skin, “—and the sweat of climbing a mountain for me.” She licks me again, on one hip and then the other, running her hands down my thighs.
My male response swells in front of her. Moving the deer skin out of the way, she licks it and I cannot stop the moan that rises in my throat.
Her amber eyes stare up at me. Her voice appears in my head again. “I need this. I need you, as much as food, to restore my energy.”
Sliding one hand over me, she squeezes. My breath lodges in my chest. I drop the whale oil.
But I do not relinquish control. Removing her hand from me, I return to taking care of her.
As the sun continues its ascent, the mist stops. I feed the High Chieftess strips of meat and blubber under a bear skin, warming her body with mine. Her stomach satisfied and her strength renewed, she smiles at the feel of my hands rubbing her skin with the remnants of the whale oil I can scrape from the bowl. Her body quivers under my ministrations as my fingers massage and probe and find what I want.
Taking my time, I rub her, building the tension between her legs. When the wave of her desire crests, she cries out, my name spiraling from her lips over the crest of the ridge and into the air where gulls fly. I watch her face and pride myself at the intensity of her pleasure.
Afterward, she drifts for a short span of time. Then her hands reach for me and guide me to her, the look in her eyes demanding my compliance. A stronger warrior than I would tell her no.
As she eases me inside her warm, oiled skin, a barrier stops my progress. Before my brain, drugged from her touch, realizes why, she thrusts her hips up.
My body reacts, driving down into her.
Relieving Chieftess Keva of her virginity, I seal
my fate. And hers.
She sighs beside me afterward. “Kai, my soul mate.”
“Your enemy,” I remind her as I pull her under me again…
Cold water iced Rife’s skin. It could have been minutes or hours that passed before the flashes of memories stopped. He staggered against the wall of the shower, legs weak and his hands shaking as he sluiced the cold water off his face.
His mind raced with questions. Questions that could not be answered within the realm of his world.
The high wall of logic he had built so carefully cracked wide open. Logic didn’t keep him warm at night. Logic couldn’t save his soul.
Staggering out of the shower, he threw on his pants without drying off and went to find Keva.
Chapter Fifteen
Keva stood in the backyard, listening to the solitary and lonesome call of the owl. The vibration in her throat was present but muted. This confused her. Was there danger nearby? Or was she simply scared of everything right now?
In the forest, she heard the mew of a cat. A familiar mew.
“Annika?” she called softly.
The cat responded with another cry. A moment later, the cat pranced into the yard, making its way to her legs. Feeling a sense of relief, Keva cuddled the beautiful cat to her and Annika responded with a head butt and a long purr.
Keva chuckled and held the cat up, nose to nose. “For once I’m glad to see you. How did you find me?”
Annika purred and rubbed her nose against Keva’s. Cradling the cat in the crook of her arm, she scratched under its chin and stared up at the heavens. The sky was clear. The moon bright overhead.
The lunar eclipse was tomorrow. Tessa and Angel had planned a blessing ceremony to celebrate, and she and Nova had promised to do their parts. Liselli, as always, would have been hip-deep in her electronics and shown up at the last minute and only after constant reminders.
Sadness descended on Keva. Her friends, the women she had called sisters, were gone. There would be no celebration this year. No celebration by the Moon Water family ever again. With the exception of her, there were no longer any members of the Salt Coast Clan alive.
So many plans had gone astray because of her magic. She had ruined so many lives. Before the war, she had been certain she and Kai would share a life rich with love and children, building a strong and proud people together. She’d daydreamed about the world they would create, but in her Pathwalks, her soul told her different. No matter how their fates were twined, there would be no happy ending for either of them.
For centuries after the war, Keva believed her few remaining descendents would repopulate the West Coast. Moon Water women would fall in love and birth children, just like they had for hundreds of years. The tribes would grow and form a new alliance. In the end, though, nothing stopped the generational extinction. Even before the White man came, the four Salt Coast tribes boasted less than two hundred members.
Dreams still pinched Keva’s heart. Because of her immortality, she had no hope of getting pregnant and bringing another Moon Water into the world. Even with her soul mate close enough to touch, there would be no babies for her. She’d had one chance, but Enann had destroyed that for her.
Sadness continued to press down on her heart, heavy as the mudslides that had killed her people.
Her desire for a baby had never died, never even dimmed over the years. Her womb ached for the feel of life again moving inside her and her heart lurched at the thought of a child calling her mommy. After her miscarriage, she had continued to watch over many children, some not related to her in any way, but never did the longing for a baby born from between her legs diminish.
Just like her soul cried out for its soul mate to complete it, her womb wept for a child to fill the void inside.
“Keva!”
Annika sprang from her grip and shot into the forest. Whirling to face the house, Keva felt her throat go crazy. Rife was striding toward her, shirtless, the moonlight spotlighting the muscles of his arms and chest.
It also lit his face, his jaw set and his lips pulled into a tight line. “What are you doing out here?”
If anything, Rife’s physique equaled Kai’s. Muscles strained under his skin as his bare feet skimmed the lawn. Moisture from his shower clung to his chest.
Keva felt his anger, red hot, pulsing and mixing with lust in his veins. Something had happened.
Her own pulse raced, feeding off his energy, and her skin prickled and stung. Since meeting her, he’d been aggravated, frustrated and turned on by her, but never angry at her.
He invaded her personal space so completely her breath caught in her throat. Waves of passion and sexuality poured off him and over her, blurring the warrior rage inside him.
Reflected in the moonlight, his eyes burned with heat. “What are you doing to me?”
His voice was rough, jagged and raw with emotion.
Keva could sense his confusion, yet held herself back from listening in on his thoughts. “What’s wrong?”
His sexual energy fought with his anger and against his carefully constructed control. “I’m becoming as delusional as you, that’s what’s wrong.” A muscle in his jaw twitched and he reached for her shoulder, only to stop himself. “I want you out of this house. Now.”
The command hit her like a blow to the stomach. What had angered him? Was he masking his arousal with this other emotion in order to keep himself under control?
She didn’t believe it. There was something else going on. Something that was taking him by storm.
Hope leapt again in her chest. “Your memory is coming back, isn’t it?”
His face tightened, confirming her suspicions.
He didn’t understand what was happening and it scared him.
“You’re freaked out.” She touched his arm and felt the skin under her fingertips burn. “That’s understandable.”
“Freaked out? This is not freaked out.” He shrugged her hand off, but his gaze searched hers for any kind of explanation. “This is fucked up. Whatever mind game you’re playing stops here and now. You have to leave.”
Keva held his gaze and stood her ground. He was so close to uncovering his soul, and if he did, she might finally be able to fix what she’d damaged. This could be her last chance to break through to the man buried inside.
Dropping her gaze to his lips, she took a deep breath. “You’ll make me leave without ever kissing me?”
The emotion in his eyes changed lightning fast, deepening to raw desire. It swept through him, fighting the anger and confusion for dominance. He reached for her, grasping her shoulders and pulling her close. “Stop playing me, Keva.”
“Stop fighting me,” she whispered back. “Let it come. It’s okay. You’re strong—the strongest, most decent man, I’ve ever known. In this life and the last one.” She touched his face with her fingertips, teasing him. “You can handle whatever it is. Just let it come.”
His mouth crushed hers as he wrapped an arm around her back and drew her up on her tiptoes. Welcoming the onslaught, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back. His excitement ratcheted up a notch, and Keva’s jumped with it in perfect unison.
He swept his tongue into her mouth and she moaned, pressing her body against him. His racing heartbeat pumped in rhythm with hers and the fire in his veins instantly exploded in her own, their bodies, minds and souls in synchronized suspension.
Tightening his grip around her waist, Rife thrust his tongue deeper, demanding she feed him. One hand cupped her breast, kneading it and pinching the tight bud between his thumb and finger.
Keva gasped and panted into his mouth. “Remember,” her mind told his. “Remember this.”
Raking her hands over his naked chest, she heard his response.
“I do.”
His hand left her breast and pulled up the edge of the chambray shirt. Her flesh throbbed, seeking his familiar touch. It had been so long…a thousand years and she had not allowed another man to touch her.
Rife stilled, breaking his lips away from hers. “You haven’t been with anyone since Kai?”
He’d read her mind again. She relished the fact, knowing there was no longer a need to goad him about it. “There’s never been anyone for me, ever, but you.”
His eyes blazed. His mouth descended on hers, possessive and virile. Keva smiled under his lips. Kai was back. Underneath the polished, modern man kissing her under the moonlight, there burned the heart of an ancient warrior.
“My warrior.”
Keva reveled in the pleasure that awaited them. As Rife’s fingers probed and stroked her sensitive flesh in that familiar way, she dug her fingers into his back and cried out in both happiness and desire. Finally, finally, they were together again.
Almost as soon as her happiness filled every inch of her, though, a dark energy descended on them. Cold and demonic. Merciless. A cloud covered the moon, blocking its white light and turning the grass blood red. She saw her breath, white in the suddenly freezing air around them.
She remembered then. Remembered it all. Her throat vibrating inside the church right before Enann showed up. The cold wrapping itself around her and dulling her senses, slowing her reactions.
No, her mind screamed. Not now.
Rife felt it too, his hand leaving her wet flesh. He straightened, body tense. Moving her behind him, he took a protective stance. His gaze darted to the wood pile, the driveway, the forest. His voice was ragged as he fought to overcome his lust and ready himself for battle. “Go in the house, Keva.”
At twenty, she’d fought for what she wanted. Fought for him. A thousand years later, she would do the same. “No.” She turned her back to his so she could cover him. “Whatever it is, we fight it together.”
“I don’t need your help.”
Not even Kai had been so stubborn. “Yes, Rife, you do. You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”