Gradually, the blue glow diminished and natural light began to filter in through small crevices. The stream disappeared. A warm mist crept along the ceiling and the tunnel took on a sultry feel. For the first time, she noticed that the rock beneath her feet was no longer cold. Instead, it was warm. The air smelled of sulfur. Her feet ached as they began to thaw.
Ahead, she saw daylight. An opening appeared. She peered out of the cave at the watery sunlight filtering through a sparkling waterfall. As the cold mountain runoff hit the heated water a heavenly steam rose from the bubbling pool. Thick with minerals, the water was an opaque blue-green.
"A thermal spring. We can bathe here.” Raf led her around the fall of chilly water to the side of the hot spring. “We are fortunate. This pool is fed by the fires below and is heavy with minerals. Without the runoff from the melting mountain snow the water would be too hot to bathe."
Bright sunlight warmed her head and shoulders. Gently, he peeled away her dirty robe until she stood naked before him. Suddenly shy she covered her chest with her arms. “How can you bear to look at me after Devros almost ... after I nearly...” Words failed her as tears sprang into her eyes.
He stroked the tears from her cheeks and lifted her face to his. “Nothing Devros did could change my feelings for you. Did he harm you?"
For a moment she'd considered killing Devros in cold blood. Only Raf's gentle gaze had stilled the rage inside her. She longed to ask, What do you feel for me? Desire? Love?"
Instead, she said, “No. He only touched me because he thought it would hurt you. When I pretended to be under the Belanite's influence, he wasn't interested."
"Thank Ahra, guardian of Eternity. You are beautiful and brave and strong. Thank you."
Startled, she stared into his dark eyes, unable to read the emotions hidden in their depths. “For what?"
"For saving my life. For being you.” He slid his hand down her body to rest on her still flat belly, and his gaze locked with hers. “For being the mother of my son."
She covered Raf's warm fingers with her own. The idea hit her like a body blow. A son. They were going to be parents together. A memory of Steven touching her belly in the same way made her smile sadly. Was she doomed to raise this child alone, too?
She pulled away, breaking the connection. Her bond with Raf went beyond the child growing in her womb. “What can I say? Your life is here. Mine is on another world, with Thea. If I don't find her and take her home, she'll die. She needs medical help that's just not available here."
"And what of the child you carry? Will you risk the life of one child to save the other?"
Chapter Fifteen
When she didn't answer Raf turned away. She watched as he stripped off his boots and trousers, and then he disappeared silently beneath the water.
A few moments later, his hair slick against his well-shaped skull, his broad chest and shoulder gleaming in the sunlight, he rose in a shower of glittering diamonds.
Not trying to hide the desire in his eyes, he stretched out his arm. “Come. The hot spring water will ease the chill and aches from your body.
She hesitated, her nipples puckering in anticipation as his hungry gaze raked over her. Her body responded blindly to his unspoken offer. Once she joined him there'd be no turning back. She'd belong to him body and soul.
"Grant me this small bit of time. Do not make me beg,” he said softly.
Who was she trying to kid? Even though her mind told her they had no future together, that loving a warrior would only cause her pain, he already owned her heart. When the time came how would she bear leaving him?
Ducking her head to avoid his all too knowing eyes, she slipped quickly into the pool's concealing depths. She gasped in shock as the warm liquid flowed over her chilled flesh. Then with a sigh of pleasure, she closed her eyes.
Raf came up behind her, and pressed his chest against her back. Hotter and harder than the surrounding water and rock, his arousal nudged between her thighs. Whatever else happened, she wanted this. She started to turn to face him, but he put his hands on her waist and held her in place.
Startled, she swiveled her head to look up into his face. “What?"
He touched her ear with his lips and whispered, “Do not speak. Do not consider the future or the past. Think only of the now. Pretend this is the First Garden created by Ahra, before the Evil One's corruption entered. Look around at the beauty."
She let her gaze follow the sweep of his hand. Surrounded on three sides by crystal blue mountains the hot spring was perched on a plateau overlooking an idyllic blue-green valley. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the valley and warmed her face. Across the entrance to the tunnels a waterfall cascaded into the spring, a shimmering veil of frothy blue-white. Off the side of the plateau, the spring's overflow formed another waterfall into the valley. As if sprinkled with minute aqua diamonds, crystals glittered along the edges of the spring. Masses of tiny, powder-blue flowers perfumed the air and lessened the pool's mineral odor, while bird song and the hum of insects filled the silence.
"Let Ahra's creation please your ka.” Moist breath brushed her cheek. “Let me please your body, Tiguer."
"Raf, I don't think...” she tried again to turn in his arms.
He wrapped a strong arm around her waist and held her still. “Shhh. For this moment, in this place we are not two strangers from different worlds, whom circumstances will soon force apart, but merely a man and a woman. Do not think—feel."
Made buoyant by the water, and held up by Raf, her feet dangled free. Her head rested on his shoulder. He stroked a hand up her side and around the curve of her breast. She groaned and arched her back to give him easier access. Her nipples broke the surface. Like silky black seaweed his hair floated on the opaque water and brushed the sensitized nubs. A tremor coursed through her. He rolled one nipple then the other between his fingers.
Then his hand trailed down her body and over her belly to the juncture of her thighs. Boneless with desire she spread her legs to his tender invasion. With a gentle touch he opened her. His fingers found and circled the seat of her passion. Her legs thrashed sluggishly in the heavy water as spasms of pleasure rippled through her. But it wasn't enough. She twisted helplessly in his grip, struggling to turn.
"Raf, please. Let me touch you. I want you inside me—now!"
"Patience, Tiguer."
She moaned in protest when he paused his rhythmic stroke. Then she gasped as he lifted her and brought her down upon his shaft. Her buttocks fit snugly into the hollow between his hard thighs. Like a flaming brand his heat surged deep inside her. Naked and vulnerable beneath the open sky, she accepted him into her body, her mind and her heart. Her head fell back and her gaze locked on his.
Eyes narrowed in concentration, he began a slow and steady rocking motion. With one hand he held her against him. With the other he reached down and continued his assault on her senses. Each movement, each touch sent waves of delight through her.
Still it wasn't enough. She pulled away and turned in his arms until they faced each other.
Lifting her arms, she tangled her fingers in his wet hair and tugged his face to hers. Soft and slick, his lips settled over hers. With a low moan she accepted the thrust of his body into hers.Running her tongue over the hard surface of his teeth, she then delved into the moist warm depths of his mouth, tasting him. He pulled her tongue in deeper, forcing her to twist and strain upward to oblige him.
She arched closer. Blood pounded in her tongue as he suckled there. Lower down he throbbed deep inside her as she pulsed around him.
Fed by a hot mineral spring and runoff from mountain snow, the water swirled around them hot then cool, warm then icy. She shivered.
Before she could voice a protest, Raf slipped from inside her, lifted and laid her on the moss-covered bank. She stared up as he hovered over her. Like tears, water dripped from his hair onto her breasts. She ached with emptiness.
She reached up and tucked a wet
strand of hair behind his well-shaped ear. “I have to find Thea. I have to take her home."
He pressed his cheek into her palm. “We will find her on the morrow. This time is ours.” His dark gaze searched hers.
"Yes,” she whispered.
Cool and soft as velvet, the blue-green moss cushioned her as his weight settled between her open thighs.
Slick with passion, her body accepted him easily. Locked in each other's embrace they forgot everything but each other. She arched to meet his powerful thrusts as they found their release. Later, as the sun set over the valley, Dale sat beside Raf and watched him sleep. Reaching out, she stroked his now dry hair away from his face and studied him. Shuttered with sleep, his eyes didn't demand and command. His chiseled features looked softer, younger, more vulnerable, almost childlike.
Would their son resemble him? Thea looked nothing like Steven, with his sandy brown hair and hazel eyes. Hardly able to believe she carried another life, she touched her flat belly.
How could she take away Raf's son? Possibly risk his life by transferring back to Earth and undergoing surgery? What choice did she have? Staying here or delaying the transplant surgery condemned Thea to death.
With a sigh, Dale dragged her gaze away from Raf and stared unseeingly at the sunset blazing across the sky. Constantly swirling and shifting with the wind, purple, red and pink clouds streaked the darkening sky. Long shadows crept across the valley toward them. The breeze cooled as the sun sank below a distant mountain ridge. Dressed in the thin silk robe, Dale shivered, pulled knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them.
Lying next to her, Raf's body radiated warmth. She longed to curl up next to him, but after their brief passion flared and faded, he'd withdrawn. Face shuttered, he'd dressed and lain down apart from her.
Though she knew they had to part eventually, his desertion hurt.
How would she survive when she left him?
The same as she survived when her father and Steven were taken from her. And when Cathy disappeared. Thea needed her then and she needed her now.
Honesty forced her to admit that losing Raf would be harder than losing Steven had been. Her love for Steven had been a young girl's love. They'd shared a childhood, easing from friendship to love without realizing it. If he hadn't died they would have grown contentedly old together.
What she'd felt for Steven and what she now felt for Raf were as different as a soft summer rain shower from a pounding thunderstorm. Steven had always been in her life. Until he was gone, she couldn't remember a time when he wasn't there. Raf had burst into her life like a streak of lightning—brilliant, powerful and overwhelming. He'd battered her defenses until he was buried deep inside her heart.
Though her feelings for Steven and Raf were as different as Earth and Tareth, they were both warriors. Warrior men might be exciting lovers, but they couldn't provide the calm security she craved and Thea needed.
Once she found Thea, they had to return to Earth. No matter what her heart wanted, she didn't have the right to deny Thea her world and the life it offered. Did Raf even want her to stay? Though his passion for her was undeniable, he'd never mentioned the future or what it might hold for them.
No, she couldn't risk Thea's future to satisfy her own selfish needs. But what did the son growing inside her need? Would his life have to be sacrificed to save Thea's?
Closing her eyes, she rested her head on her knees and sought the comfort of sleep.
Through half closed eyelids Raf could almost read the emotions chasing across Dale's face. Longing. Sorrow. Fear. Determination. His little tiguer's heart was strong but soft. Dressed in the stained and wrinkled crystal silk robe, her hair a wild tangle of pale gold around her head, she appeared a battered seraphim who had flown too close to the sun, singed her wings, and fallen helplessly into the realm of man.
When her eyes closed and her head bent to her knees, he touched the shard of milk crystal in his pocket. After she found her daughter, Raf knew Dale would leave him. She belonged to another world.
Ash spoke little of his time away from Tareth, but if what Raf had gleaned was true, Dale's world was one of many wonders. How could he ask her to remain on Tareth? To give up her life, sacrifice her daughter's life to be with him, when he had little to offer her?
His life as Master-of-Arms to Prince de Gar, while satisfying, was not conducive to family life. Though Ash often tried to reward Raf with coin and land, pride made Raf refuse to accept more than his pay from his friend and lord.
Over the years he had saved and invested his funds carefully. He would never be a wealthy man, but eventually he would be comfortable. But could he give up the life he loved to become a gentleman farmer, woolie herder, or merchant?
He gave a silent, strangled laugh
He could not let Devros remain free. Nor could he ignore the plight of the slaves. Once Thea was found, he would see Dale and the child safe, and then he would return to capture Devros and destroy his slaving operation, or he'd die in the attempt.
The sunset faded. Darkness settled over the valley and stars started to peek out of the violet sky. A cool breeze wafted over them. Dale shivered and whimpered in her sleep. Raf chided himself for his lack of care. Quickly he gathered brush and dried moss for a fire. Using the milk crystal shard against a piece of indigo rock he struck a spark and lit a fire.
When the fire blazed, throwing off waves of heat, he used the sweetly scented branches from the surrounding bushes to build a shelter. His stomach rumbled loudly.
"Hungry?” Dale's eyes glowed deep purple in the firelight.
"Devros’ hospitality leaves much to be desired,” Raf said. “I dug some tubers. They're roasting in the fire. Though bland, they are filling."
Dale scooted closer to the fire. “My stomach's so empty, right now, I'd eat worms."
"That can be arranged, but they are an acquired taste. Cave worms digest rock. Toasted over the fire they are quite—crunchy. Some spinmasters consider them delicious, until their teeth wear away.” Raf smiled at her grimace.
"The tubers will be fine."
She sat cross-legged next to him. Like the frilly spikes of toca plant her pale hair, coated with minerals from the pool, stuck up around her head. She leaned toward the flames. Firelight bathed her skin with a rosy glow. His breath caught in his throat as her robe gaped open at the neck and between her spread thighs, revealing smooth expanses of creamy skin and a triangular shadow of pale hair. Desire surged unbidden and unwanted.
"Who is Stefan to you?” The question slipped out.
She looked startled. A shadow crossed her face. “What?"
"You spoke his name while you were ill and.... “He stopped, unable to tell her she had murmured it after they had made love the first time. “Stefan is Devros’ name,” he finished.
Her shoulders sagged and she nodded slowly. “And you thought I knew him, thought I was working with him.” She hugged herself. “Steven was my husband's name."
"How did he die?” She didn't object when he pulled her close and tucked her against his chest.
"Steven and my father were both city cops—local authorities for the government,” she explained the unknown word. “After Thea was born we decided we didn't want her growing up on the mean streets of Chicago, so we moved to a small town where it was safer. Ha! Bad things don't just happen in bad places. Steven and Dad were on a domestic disturbance call. Some drunk was beating up on his wife—again.
"It was so useless. So stupid. They'd been out to that house a dozen times before. They'd always take the drunk in and lock him up for the night. The wife always refused to press charges. She'd just show up the next day to bail him out.
"Only this time he had a gun. When Steven and Dad answered the call, the drunk started shooting.” She trembled and her voice broke.
Dale turned in Raf's arms and clung to him. Raf held her while harsh sobs racked her slim body. The depth of her grief, after so many years, told Raf these were her first real tea
rs for her father and her husband. Despite her claims of hunger she cried herself to sleep.
He continued to hold her, only stopping briefly to pull the tubers from the fire before they burned beyond edibility. Come morning they would both need food.
After banking the fire, he lay down next to her and curled himself around her.
Exhaustion hung over him like a rain-heavy storm cloud, but sleep would not come. Dale had lost one lifemate to the violence of his chosen profession. Could Raf ask her to risk her heart on another man who also chose to tempt fate each day?
* * * *
A loud shriek jolted Dale from sleep. Ignoring her protesting muscles, she bolted up and glanced around. Nothing stirred. Other than the splash of the waterfall, the pool sat placid in the morning sun. Embers from last night's fire glowed red, waiting to be fed the small pile of wood stacked next to it. Overhead, the sky was a deep blue, the sun a fiery yellow ball.
The valley spread out below appeared undisturbed and peaceful. Even without the Shakar boy's words, Dale knew Thea was close. She could sense her presence. Soon they'd be reunited. Though she knew they had to return to Earth, Dale couldn't help wishing there was a way for her to stay in this beautiful world with Raf.
Raf was nowhere around, but several leaf-wrapped, roasted tubers rested on a flat rock near the fire. She opened one of the now cool tubers and ate it. Though bland and mealy the tuber eased the sharp ache in her stomach. Now, if she could only find a way to ease the ache in her heart as easily.
She shrugged out of the dirty robe, washed it in the hot spring water and laid it over a bush. The warm sun and soft breeze would quickly dry the deceptively sturdy material. It felt oddly liberating to sit naked in the open air.
Another shriek pierced the air. Dale looked up as a familiar feathered form dived toward her.
"Ava!"
Dale stood and held up her arm. Wings spread, legs extended, Ava aimed for Dale's arm.
"Ava, no!” As Ava swooped down, Raf slammed into Dale's side and carried her to the ground.
Shadow Moon Page 18