by Tina Gayle
“Right.”
“Make sure to set the alarm while you’re in the mating chamber,” Cyd advised. “If you want, I’ll head that way tomorrow.”
“You mean today. And that’s part of the plan. You need to check the area around the outskirts of our property. The Morrison brothers have already started doing some clearing. I’m calling Dad to tell them to stop.”
“What if I find something?”
“Let me know, or handle it.”
“In whatever way I deem necessary?”
“Yes.” Stihl hated what this request could mean, but he had no option.
“Will do, Luke.”
Stihl clicked the button to end the call. He couldn’t think of anyone who might want her or him dead. An unseen villain required time he didn’t have. His hands and mind busy with Marohka, his father or Cyd would have to handle the other issues.
A thought occurred to him, and he hit the call button. He gave the number and waited. His father’s ECD message played.
“Hey, Dad, sorry I couldn’t reach you. I thought I’d let you know we’re at the ranch.” He paused and forced his idea into words. “The Trisar deal fell through, but with some luck, I might be able to work something else out with Marohka’s father and his company. Tell the Morrison brothers to back off.” He hit the button to disconnect.
She might not like the idea, but her dad just might. Stihl started for the stairs. After they worked everything out, they’d give her dad a call. Who better to run your company than your daughter’s mate?
Smiling at the new prospect, Stihl headed for the mating chamber. He needed a few zitons of sleep before Marohka woke up. She’d require all his energy.
Chapter Seventeen
The warm, cozy bed invited Marohka to fall back to sleep, but her bladder demanded relief. She opened one eye, fumbled with the blankets, turned over, and sat up. The dim lighting in the room glowed from a skylight and a few small moonstones. She glanced around, unsure of her location or how she’d gotten there.
The walls were white with a plush, cushy surface like they were stuffed. The floor, when her foot touched it, felt like the pad of a dueling mat. No furniture, other than the bed, occupied the room. Her mind raced to the prior day’s events. Stihl had brought her here last night after his accident. Was this his house?
She stood and walked along the wall beside her to an opening with two adjacent doors. Not sure which one led to the lily, she picked one at random and tried the knob.
It didn’t open.
Surprised and a little confused, she twisted the handle of the other door. In the lily, the walls again were white and plush. A white bathing pool sat in the corner. The recycling mechanism for the water sent small ripples across the smooth surface. A steady humming noise played in the room. Finished, she stumbled back to bed.
The large lump on the other side of the bed caught her attention before she climbed back under the covers. She tugged on blankets and uncovered Stihl’s head. She stared at him, confused as to what to do. He had put her to bed last night, but when she’d tried to coax him to join her, he’d refused. Why? What game was he playing?
The door out of the room being locked bothered her. If she climbed back in bed, she’d wake up under him. The idea, although appealing, didn’t fit in with her plan.
Wary of the link between them, she needed to straighten a few things out before they made love again. It’d probably be best to maintain some distance.
Decision made, she retrieved her pillow and tugged the top blanket off the bed. Luckily, the floor was padded. She walked to the nearest corner. Then she paused. Why should she give up her bed? The house probably had a dozen other bedrooms. And since she couldn’t leave, he should find somewhere else to sleep.
She dropped the pillow and blanket back in their places then walked around the bed. She tugged the covers back. She touched his arm and noticed the light imprint on his right hand. “Stihl, wake up. You need to sleep somewhere else.”
His eyes open slowly after she nudged him a few more times. “Go sleep in a different bed.”
He grabbed her forearm. “No, I’m fine right where I am.”
“Then I’ll sleep elsewhere.” She jerked on her arm. “Unlock the door.”
His gaze narrowed, and then without warning he yanked her down on top of him. “No, you’ll sleep here.”
She scrambled to move off his chest, but his arms held her secure. She fell beside him, and he rolled over. His weight pinned her, and he tugged the blankets back over them. “Stihl, it’s not a good idea for us to sleep together.” She shoved at his chest.
“Fine, you don’t have to sleep.”
“But you can go sleep in another bed.”
He laid his head on the pillow beside hers. “I don’t want to.”
“Then open the door, and I’ll find another room.”
His warm breath brushed her cheeks. “No, I like just where you are.”
She wiggled and tried to avoid his warm, hard body. Her anger with him mounted. “But, Stihl, we need to talk.”
He shifted her hips back beneath his. “Marohka, be quiet, or I’ll find a way to keep you quiet.”
Stuck, she listened to his steady breathing. Why was he being so difficult? “Stihl, how long do you plan to hold me prisoner?”
* * * *
Stihl gazed down at her strawberry-blonde hair. Brown and yellow gold strands spilled across her pillow. Sea-green eyes stared at him. Her beauty excited him, and his heart beat faster. “Let’s just say we’re here until we end the problem you’re having with me.”
“I don’t have enough time left in my life for you to solve that problem.” She fidgeted under him and slid her hands over his shoulders.
“Well, I guess we’re stuck here for a while.”
He laughed at the frustrated frown on her face.
“Stihl, I can’t think. You’re too close.” Her hands gripped his sore muscles. “I need some breathing room. I’m hungry and tired and . . .”
“There are food tablets in the dispenser in the lily. If you want anything more, you’ll have to wait until we’ve resolved our differences.”
He shifted her in his arms.
“Does your shoulder hurt?”
“What?” Unprepared for her change of tactics, he wriggled, restlessly as her hands massaged the tight ache in his muscles.
“You injured it yesterday in the web-tree. I was wondering if it still hurts.”
He shook his head. “It’s fine.”
“Do you feel like explaining to me how you landed in the middle of a flash flood?”
Embarrassed by the accident, he answered more harshly than he intended. “No, let’s just say I had other things on my mind.”
“What were you doing out in the storm?”
“I was looking for you.” He rolled over, unable to talk to her with her soft breasts caressing his chest. “If you hadn’t run off from the camp, I wouldn’t have been out in that crazy weather in the first place.”
“You didn’t have to come after me,” she whispered.
The flood of anger racing through him threatened to boil over, and he glared at the ceiling to regain control. “Right, like I could let you roam around the outback by yourself.”
She rolled to the other side of the bed and stood. After putting on her coat, she walked to the far wall and turned. “All right, Stihl, if the only way I can escape this padded room is to resolve our problems, let’s start with why you lied to me.”
He sat up and jammed her pillow behind his back. The rigid lines of her body heightened his steaming temper. “I didn’t lie to you.”
She stepped forward and then stopped. “What do you call it? I asked you why you chose me as a mate, and you said because of my mind.” She shook her head and walked a few paces along the wall. “Stupid me, I believed you.”
“No, Marohka, you believed me because you are not stupid.” He heard himself yelling and lowered his voice. “If you’ll think about
it, you’ll know I spoke the truth.”
“Right, then why didn’t you mention your family’s mine?”
“My family?” It took a moment before he understood the question. “To be honest, I thought you knew. We’ve owned it for years, and the mine wasn’t the reason why I chose you.”
She paused, turned, and paced back along the wall. “Your daddy chose me. He reserved me for the last eight years. Did you ever once think about how I felt?” She shook her head and closed her eyes as if in pain. “To not be chosen year after year?”
“I had no idea my father did that to you until the day before you found out.”
Her hands flexed at her sides. She shifted her weight from foot to foot like a fighter.
“And I planned on telling you once we arrived here, but . . .” Her striding back and forth across the room wore on his nerves. “Almon mentioned it, and then before I could explain things got out of hand.” Stihl finished in a rush. “If you’d stuck around, I could’ve . . .”
Her agitated movements forced him to rethink his answer. How could he tell her without upsetting her more?
“My dad didn’t even mention your name until last year, and then only as a reminder to receive my inheritance.”
“What?” Her face turned red. Anger screamed from her skin. “You mean the reason I’m here is because you want this land?” She stepped closer, her fists knotted. “Am I somehow the price for you to receive it?”
Her distress wearing on his nerves, he shoved back the blanket and sat on the side of the bed. “No, my grandfather asked for me to settle down and have a family.”
“How can you say that?” Her voice rose in volume. “Didn’t your father name me as the one you had to marry?”
He stared at her, but he couldn’t rectify the situation. “Yes, but I could have chosen someone else. My father would’ve understood,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Would he? How sure are you of that fact?”
Was she right? Would his father have given him a choice? He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re the one I wanted. The one I selected as my mate.”
“But don’t you see, Stihl? Even if you didn’t plan for me to help you with your mine”—she stepped off her anger again—“your father did.”
“My father is not your mate.” Stihl stood and walked to where she paced. He caught her by the shoulders and pressed her against the wall. “I’m the one who matters here.”
“But, Stihl . . .”
“No, Marohka. I don’t know what my father had in mind. But the point is I never lied to you. I wanted you because you are a beautiful, intelligent woman. No other reason. No other motive.” He stared into her red, flustered face, unable at the moment to accept his explanation. “Have I asked you to help me with the mine?”
She shifted away. His naked body, he noted, caused her to fidget. “No.”
“Did I ask for your help with the Trisar proposal?” He stepped closer, crowding her against the wall. His thighs brushed the rough texture of her coat.
“No.” Her hands landed on his chest.
“Then what makes you think I want to use your expertise?”
She shrugged. He released her shoulders. His hands moved to her waist. Her gaze shifted to the space over his right shoulder. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
With the tip of his finger, he lifted her chin to force her to look into his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
A deep hurt swam in the depths of her eyes. She blinked and erected her protective shield back into place. She stiffened. “I’m not an easy person, Stihl. Most people only want to know me because they hope to gain something.” She shoved at his chest. “I figured the same was true of you.”
His hands on her waist kept her in place. “And now that you know it’s not true of me?”
Green light sparked from her eyes. “Right. And will you receive your inheritance even if you and I don’t bond?”
He paused. He scrambled for a way to avoid another fight. “It’s unimportant, because I’m bonding with you.”
“And if I have no desire to be your mate?”
“Then we’ll stay locked up in here until you do.” He waited for her reaction to his words.
Her ebbing anger rose again. She glared and pounded her hands against his chest. “That’s the real reason we’re locked in here, isn’t it?”
After stepping closer, he stopped the battle against his chest and said, “You won’t be happy until we’ve fully bonded.”
“What? Are you dimcoco?” she argued. “Does bonding make me blind, deaf, and mute? It’s not a cure for relationship problems.”
“It is for what ails you,” he growled and leaned closer. He smelled her hunger, which hung in the air, a scent bent on exciting his own need. His lips grazed the side of her neck.
“What ails . . .”
He circled her ear with his tongue.
She choked out, “Me?”
“Me,” he whispered with a smile.
She stood perfectly still. “The cure?”
Her hands rested quietly on his chest not pushing him away or finding their way around his neck. Her lack of response didn’t slow him down. His journey continued across her cheeks to her lips.
“Me.” He nipped at the side of her mouth. “You ache to have me inside you, satisfying your insatiable appetite.”
She turned her head, giving him access to her neck. He enjoyed the trip down her throat to the split in her coat.
“Who says I even want you?” she whispered.
He smiled and raised his head. The slight flush of her skin and the beat of her heart confirmed her desire for him. “Starlight, you’re on a slow burn.”
He stroked the edge of her breasts with his thumbs. She gasped with need. “You’ve learned what it’s like to come apart in my arms. Now your body and mind crave being connected to mine.” He slid the fabric off her shoulders, and her coat parted. “That’s why you’re so easily agitated.”
“Did you ever think it could be because I don’t like you?”
“No.” He lowered his glance to her hard nipples.
“What if I ask you to leave me alone?”
He jerked at the suggestion. He longed for her with a hunger that consumed him, but he wouldn’t force her to make love. “I couldn’t, if I tried to.”
He brushed a finger over the tip of her breast. She sucked in a quick breath. “Your body is yearning for a release. Why do you deny it?”
Her hands shoved at his chest. “Why do you?”
“What do you mean? I’ve never denied I want you.”
“Yes, you like to make love to me, but are you truly willing to share your mind with me?”
He stared into her eyes. What was she asking him?
“Don’t you have demons, Stihl?”
All of his inadequacies flashed through his head. He’d not protected her, had failed at saving his grandfather’s land, and had even allowed himself to be caught in the path of a water avalanche. Stepping back, he pulled her coat together and covered the luscious view he’d been privy to. “Sure, I do.”
“Then why don’t I ever see them?”
He stepped away from her and sat on the edge of the bed. His troubled thoughts clouded the desire he’d felt only itons earlier. How would she react to his doubts, his hopes, his needs? Could he share with her what his soul craved?
His masculine pride demanded he deny her request. He had to keep these failures hidden from his mate. Lost in his own problems, he didn’t object when she left the room.
* * * *
Lying in the cool clear bathing pool, Marohka felt as if the water around her should turn to steam. A slow burn pulsed through her system. Stihl alone possessed what she needed. If he weren’t so obstinate, he’d know how much she wanted him. But no, the man had to be difficult.
He probed her mind, searched her thoughts, but she kept her mind blank and refused to give him the answer he sought.
The door to the lily opened. His tall muscular form filled the doorway. Her pulse jumped. Her heart pounded. Like a predator, he entered the room without a sound. His gaze held her captive, while he slowly slid into the pool.
“I’m not sharing my feelings for my father, and I won’t require you share yours either.” His rich voice played like music through her system.
She itched to brush the wet drops from the hairs on his chest, which sparkled like diamonds. She ached with the desire to rub her body against his. His broad feet slid across the tops of hers. His determination to have her submit to his every desire glowed in the depths of his eyes.