Legendary Beast

by Barbara J. Hancock

  “We had to leave Straluci to be alone. It was always full in the spring. It seemed as if the Dark Volkhvy thawed with the ice and snow. There were so many more of them then. Ivan followed Vladimir’s practice of housing a large contingent here to guard the pass. A first line of defense. As for you and me, we lost our winter retreat,” Lev said. “You can almost see the towers from here. If you know where to look.”

  She knew where to look. She didn’t even have to follow his gaze. She saw the tips of three towers and wondered if the fourth tower had crumbled away. The copper spires that had once glared in the sun and given the castle its name now had a greenish patina, but even that camouflage didn’t fool her.

  Madeline looked from the copper-tipped towers to Lev. He brought his attention back to her more slowly, as if uncertain of what he would find. His nearly bare chest angled back toward her as his face came around. His lean hips turned.

  Lev’s hard physique startled her every time he moved. He caused her breath to catch—his strength, his grace in spite of his injuries and his obvious tension. The sudden return of her memory about their former intimacy in this place only heightened her already heated response to the physical attraction she’d felt to Lev Romanov from the start. She didn’t remember everything. But she remembered enough to be mesmerized by the man who was a dangerous stranger on one hand and the closest person on earth to her on the other.

  He moved so slowly that the wait seemed torturous. It was only moments, but those moments caused her heart to pound and adrenaline to rush beneath her skin. She was afraid the rush was fueled by anticipation.

  Madeline knew the look in Lev’s eyes even before their gazes met. When he lifted his eyelids, she wasn’t disappointed. She also had to admit she was anticipating other things. Dangerous things. Like the promise of heat in his gaze as his attention fell to her lips. She moistened her mouth, suddenly aware that she was breathing more heavily than she should, like after holding her breath for too long. His attention followed the dart of her tongue. Then he lifted his gaze to hers once more.

  “Tell me to walk away,” Lev said. “Far away. Now. Or I’m going to kiss you again. And more. Much more.”

  He stepped toward her. Only one stride. And Madeline couldn’t breathe again. Her throat closed. Her chest constricted. She had to struggle to speak, but she forced herself to respond because she didn’t want him to mistake her silence for a protest.

  “Don’t...go,” she rasped, and her voice was nearly as gravelly as Lev’s.

  He reacted as if he’d been shot. He swayed on his feet. He lifted both hands up to push his fingers into his wild, wet hair. He held the thick blond waves off his face as if he needed to see her more clearly to be sure of what she’d said. Then he closed his eyes. Swallowed.

  “I think I heard you wrong, Madeline. You’re going to have to repeat yourself,” Lev said. His pained growl caused her stomach to tighten and heat to coil and curl low in her abdomen. They shouldn’t do this. It was a terrible decision. One that would torture her when they were forced to part. He was giving her every opportunity to reject him the same way she’d rejected the sword. He might be savage after his years as the white wolf, but not here. Not in this moment.

  Not with her.

  It was a bad decision, but it was hers to make. She stepped toward Lev as if she stepped off a cliff to spread her wings and fly. His chin came down. His hands dropped from his hair, and his eyes opened. He sensed her movement toward him. And then he watched her take another step. He didn’t rush forward to catch her. He allowed her to spread her wings.

  “Don’t go,” Madeline said. This time her voice was strong. “Come to me, Lev. Come to me.”

  “Always,” Lev responded. His voice wasn’t strong like hers. There was a howl in his tone and a waver to his usual growl.

  Vasilisa had told her about Lev’s brother, Soren. How he had hunted for the white wolf for hundreds of years. How he had remained in his shifted form of the red wolf for centuries, even though that meant he could only be a loyal wolf companion to the woman he loved. Anna and the red wolf had been inseparable. Neither had known she was Volkhvy, the Light Volkhvy princess. When the truth was discovered, Soren’s hatred of witches had almost torn them apart, even though Anna heard the emerald Romanov blade Calling her to become Soren’s warrior mate.

  Lev had run from everyone for so long. Anna said it was because he was searching for her and Trevor. He’d been driven. Tireless. Near madness by the time he’d found Krajina.

  Now the blossom she’d picked fell from her outstretched hand as he came to her.

  Madeline raised trembling fingers to his face, and Lev leaned into her palm. She traded the flower petals for his beard of burnished silk. His skin was hard, but vulnerable above the golden hair. He was so tall that he had to lean down, even though she was tall herself.

  And in this field, he was hers, as he had been ages ago.

  He suddenly fell to his knees and reached to pull her hard against his face. He nuzzled her lower abdomen, seeming to find the heat that had coiled there a few moments before. Madeline buried her fingers into his damp hair. She gloried in the heat inside herself and from his open mouth as he kissed and nipped her through her clothes. The heat in her abdomen was nothing compared to the heat that flared and flowed between her legs.

  She had been afraid he would devour her as the white wolf. Now she was afraid he wouldn’t devour her soon enough with his lips and teeth and tongue. Her memories were hazy. She needed to be reminded by Lev, here and now.

  Madeline relaxed her knees, and he felt her intention. He loosened his hold to allow her to sink down to the ground. They kneeled, face-to-face. She tilted her chin to meet his eyes, and it was Lev’s turn to lift his palm to her cheek. He held her more firmly than she’d expected. His thumb curved beneath her chin, and his fingers spread to cup her jaw. He urged her head back and she was caught—both by his strong hand and by the flush of desire on his pale face. When he leaned to press his lips to hers, she gasped. The sudden relief of his full, sensual mouth sucking her lower lip became a torment seconds later as a flood of response pulsed between her legs.

  She remembered his tongue pleasuring her to heights she had never imagined. She remembered the tickle of his beard on her thighs, and his long wavy hair between her knees.

  Lev’s tongue mimicked the same plunging, darting, licking movements he’d used to plumb her feminine depths all those years ago. In this field, surrounded by a riot of colorful flowers, she’d cried out to the heavens. Now she gasped and met his wicked tongue with hers. He growled his appreciation as they explored each other’s mouths. And all the while, she ached to have his tongue on her and in her more intimately than this.

  “Will you lie back for me, then?” Lev murmured into her mouth. “Let me help you remember.”

  She was too hot to wonder how he knew what she was thinking. She fell back on the soft grass, but before she settled, Lev masterfully cupped his hands beneath her knees to spread her legs and pull her closer. Her shirt rode up as her body slid on the grass, and Lev immediately zeroed in on the bared stomach her sliding shirt revealed. He swooped down to nuzzle her naked skin, and she gasped his name as the heat of his mouth scorched her.

  Lev froze. His fingers tightened on her legs. He raised his head just enough from her stomach to look up at her face. Their eyes met. The tip of his beard hovered against her skin, causing gooseflesh to rise and a tickling sensation to zing to the pulsing flesh still covered beneath her leggings.

  “Say my name again,” he urged. His beard brushed her stomach as he spoke, and Madeline sucked in air. She bit her lip as he noticed her reaction. His eyelids grew heavier, and he teasingly leaned down to trail his beard along her quivering, exposed flesh. He watched as her reaction intensified the closer he came to the juncture of her thighs. “Say my name again,” he repeated.

  “Lev,” Madeline breathed. She couldn’t help it. His name was infused with all the longing she’d been figh
ting for days. “Lev. Please,” she added.

  “Always,” he repeated. She recognized it as a declaration. She stiffened, about to protest his promise of forever, when his hot lips pressed against the skin just above the waist of her pants. His hands had moved from her legs. She hadn’t noticed. Until his fingers hooked in the stretchy material of her pants and eased them down an inch. Followed by a slow tasting kiss with hints of moist tongue. Then another inch, followed by the swirling delight of more tongue.

  She couldn’t help it. Her hips had started to respond to his nearness and the moist heat of his mouth. She wiggled her bottom against the grass as he slid her pants farther and farther down. His mouth followed, until he paused to appreciate the mound of scarlet hair the lowered leggings had finally revealed.

  “My ruby warrior,” he said, and his breath tickled across her.

  She didn’t argue. For now, she could be the woman he remembered, and he could be the man who had loved her in this field a thousand years ago.

  His tongue. Oh, God, his tongue.

  Lev looked up to see her pleasure as he used one final pull to take the leggings halfway down her thighs. He fully exposed her womanhood, and then he dipped his head to delve into her with his tongue. He found her most tender flesh, and she cried out. Her hands spasmed in his hair and pulled him closer as her hips rose off the ground. He hummed his approval as his tongue met her thrust.

  She called his name louder than she’d said it before. Her head fell back and her legs were suddenly bare. He’d moved to pull off her pants, but as always, his moves were so quick and graceful that his mouth was back against her before she noticed the loss of his heat.

  She came against his mouth as he nuzzled into her most intimate folds. In their field, she cried his name to the sky as her body shivered and shook.

  When he pulled away without speaking, Madeline struggled to open her eyes. She rose on her elbows to see where he had gone, and quickly realized he hadn’t moved far. He kneeled between her legs.

  He reached for her knees when she looked for him.

  “I’m here, but you can still send me away. I’ll go. It will kill me, but I’ll go,” Lev vowed.

  “We’ll have to part soon enough. Stay. For now,” Madeline said.

  Lev was still fully clothed. She could see his erection bulging against the tight leather of his pants. But he didn’t release himself, and she was too overwhelmed to reach for him herself. Instead, when he lay down beside her on the grass, she rolled to press against him and bury her face in his chest.

  Her hazy memories were still distant, but they’d claimed the field once more. They couldn’t claim each other or the sword. She couldn’t risk an enchanted connection that might bring the ferocious white wolf in contact with Trevor. But as the moon rose above them to darkly illuminate the flowers, Madeline was glad they’d always have the rhododendron mountainside.

  She would never forget tonight. The ruby sword sat silent and still several feet away, where Lev must have moved it when he laid her down to search for water. It was dull. The dead gem didn’t gleam. Beside the sword was her nearly empty pack. It held only her sketchbook and used pencils. They were out of supplies. Far in the distance, many miles away, she thought she heard a sound that might be the echo of a howl. Lev didn’t stir, so she knew there was no danger.

  Yet.

  The portal wasn’t far away. Soon, they would see Trevor again.

  Lev had fallen asleep. The incredible journey had tapped every ounce of his strength, limitless though he seemed. She almost reached to touch his face, but stayed her hand. This field was theirs, but Lev Romanov wasn’t hers. Not anymore. And he never would be again.

  Always.

  They didn’t have much time. And they certainly didn’t have forever. At one time, she must have thought he was her future. They had married. She had accepted the Call of the ruby sword. She couldn’t remember what that had been like. She knew they’d lived a war-filled life. The battle against the Dark Volkhvy was constant in those days. Yet they’d decided to have a baby in spite of the Darkness.

  And she had failed to protect him.

  Even now, Trevor was in jeopardy because she had failed. She hadn’t been much of a ruby warrior. She could only vow to be a better mother and warrior from here on out. That would be her always. It would be a lonely vigil, but she would undertake it because she had to.

  She watched Lev Romanov sleep. His broad chest rose and fell. His hair had dried, and it waved around his face. His hard features were softer, his scars surprisingly visible in the night. It must be the star-filled Carpathian sky that made midnight seem more like dusk than the pitch-black of night here in the mountains.

  Carefully, she traced one scar on his cheek with a gentle finger.

  He would never be hers again, and no one else would ever take his place. How could any other man follow a legend?

  Briefly, before Madeline fell asleep, she wondered why Lev had pleasured her without seeking release for himself.

  Chapter 17

  Lev was hurt, and he couldn’t shift to speed his healing. The wolves had ravaged his body. He was beaten and bruised everywhere he wasn’t bleeding, and the grueling run to escape the wolves had taxed his abilities after the attack. As the white wolf, he could have carried Madeline farther and faster. But even the wildest of the Romanov wolves had his limits.

  Straluci was close. The Volkhvy and the wolves they controlled were also drawing closer. He’d outrun them for now. Even injured, he could beat natural wolves. But he thought he could detect the ozone scent of Ether’s energy on the early morning breeze. The wolves weren’t natural wolves. Not anymore. If the wolves that tracked them now were also being flooded with Ether channeled into them by their Volkhvy masters, it wouldn’t take them long to catch up.

  Lev waited for Madeline to wash up in the stream he’d found. He’d done the same, but the tainted mouths of the wolves that had attacked him had done more than rip his skin. He could feel his Romanov blood fighting the black stain of infection the wolves had shared with him. The shift would clear it in an instant, but in his human form, his body had to wage a slower fight. He would still heal, but it would take too long.

  They needed to reach the portal and use it to find Vasilisa and Trevor before the wolves and the marked Volkhvy caught up with them. But the portal would take them through the Ether itself, and he wasn’t strong enough to fight the vacuum, not when tendrils of Ether’s energy had invaded his blood like a disease.

  Madeline couldn’t go alone. Not with nothing but a dead sword by her side.

  He mentioned nothing to Maddy when she came back from the stream. The skin around her eyes was already pinched with worry and fatigue. They would press on to Straluci and be there by nightfall. Once there, he would reevaluate his condition.

  He would gladly risk his life for Trevor and Madeline. But if he disappeared into the Ether before he could rid them of the Volkhvy threat, he would fail greater than he’d failed before.

  He wouldn’t allow that to happen. They were awake now. They needed him. Ether-tainted blood or not, he needed to succeed.

  He would make certain that Madeline and Trevor were safe from Vasilisa. And then he would disappear to keep them save from the white wolf as well.

  * * *

  Something was wrong.

  Madeline put her sword in its sheath and tightened the straps around her chest. Then she shrugged into her nearly empty backpack. But the entire time she prepared for travel, she could sense increased urgency in Lev. He’d been up with the sun, and to the stream and back before she rose. His hair had already dried in a wild blond mane around his face. The streak of white in front startled against his golden beard when the wind blew. But it was his hard, unsmiling face that drew her attention again and again.

  Perhaps he regretted the night before.

  It certainly hadn’t been wise for them to get carried away with memories and physical attraction. Even now, she had to fight the urge to
go to him, brush his hair back from his face and kiss the frown from his lips. Long ago, she would have done exactly that. She knew that now. Just enough of her memories had been unlocked for her to know that she’d loved Lev Romanov once. He had been the wildest of the Romanov brothers—the most likely to shift and stay shifted for long periods of time. He’d also been a ferocious fighter. She’d loved all of those qualities about him. She’d remembered their combustible desire last night, but she’d also remembered the face of a softer, younger version of the man who was currently made of steel flesh. The Lev Romanov she’d loved as a young woman had been wild, but he’d also been much easier to tame.

  Waking to this older and more ferocious version of Lev had been overwhelming.

  But she suspected it was more than their past and the present stolen moments of intimacy coloring his mood.

  Lev was hurt.

  She’d become so accustomed to his powerful grace over the last few days. This morning he moved slowly and carefully. His shoulders were as stiff as his face, and he grimaced several times when a particular reach or stoop strained at the wolf bites on his skin. Lev healed more quickly than an ordinary man, but the wolves he’d fought had been more savage than ordinary wolves.

  “Straluci is half a day’s hike up the mountain. We should get started,” Lev said. If he noticed her appraising his condition, he didn’t acknowledge her concern. He merely started out, one long stride after another, and she was forced to hurry to keep up. Her stride wasn’t exactly short, but Lev was over six feet tall. “We need to keep up a brisk pace. Let me know if you need help,” Lev said.

  The fact that he didn’t carry her spoke volumes about his condition. Or maybe it spoke volumes as to how he felt about last night. Madeline vowed to keep up or die trying rather than be a burden. Not only did she want to spare him the extra effort, but she also didn’t want to spend hours in his arms, pressed to his chest, the two of them so close together.