Woman of Silk and Stone

by Mattie Dunman

  I choked on my own words. "Wait, so what...I'm immortal now? Like you?"

  Adar reached out and clasped my hand in his, the fire in his eyes a gentle glow, the peaceful warmth of a bedside fireplace. "Yes, Honey-sa. You are eternal. Our souls are bound, and as long as I live, you shall. As long as you live, I will."

  There was something weird about that statement, apart from the general insanity of being told I was immortal, but I was too confused to address it further. "So, let me see if I understand. You believe I was fated for you, or something, so you set me on fire, and since I lived, we're married for eternity?" I asked, my voice rising in pitch with every word, until I sounded like I'd just sucked on some helium.

  Adar merely smiled, his diamond-perfect features ablaze with an inner glow, too beautiful to behold. No wonder I'd initially mistaken him for a god.

  "Essentially. Now that you understand, we will complete the Namluh, and then I will take you home to Shinar," Adar stated confidently, as though no other outcome were possible.

  "Okay, to say that I understand is a gross exaggeration. And what is this Namluh thing? I thought that was you setting me on fire." Could I help it if I sounded a little bitter? Guess I hadn't gotten over that painful interlude just yet.

  He hesitated and ran a hand over his head. And that's when I noticed for the first time that he was completely hairless.

  I leaned forward, openly gawking and wondering why on earth it was so startling to me. Lots of guys back home were bald, some by choice, many not, but it was a pretty common look. I think what struck me most was how long it had taken me to realize that he didn't have a flowing mane of hair. After all, he looked like an idealized version of a Greek or Persian god, and most of them had hair. Adar was smooth and perfectly symmetrical, with no trace of stubble, making me think that his kind simply didn't grow hair. Since he apparently ran around on fire half the time, it was probably a good thing. It certainly didn't detract from his desirability. In fact, the longer I sat there, the more drawn to him I became. Uncomfortably, I noted that my skin was tingling, my breath was coming faster, and a slow burn was taking up residence in my core, making my every nerve ending receptive to his touch.

  He smiled at me, making me go breathless, and then scooped me up in his arms and gently dropped me on his lap. I was immediately and, much to my shame, rousingly aware of his maleness; alien though he might be, he was clearly all man where it counted.

  "Ah, irnini, your scent calls to me. Come, we will talk later. Let us complete the bond," he murmured, his voice a silky promise. For just a moment, I nearly kicked my misgivings to the curb and pulled my best Mae West impression, but thankfully, my sense of self-preservation kicked in.

  Squirming and struggling to get away from him, I finally wriggled free of his encasing arms and landed not too softly on my behind. He immediately reached for me, but I scuttled backward, out of his reach. A troubled expression crossing that glorious visage for the first time, he paused and gave me the chance to get to my feet and relocate to the other side of the room. I had no doubt if he wanted to he could be at my side in a blink, but I hoped the statement my retreat made would sink in.

  "Why do you run from me, Honey-sa? I scent fear...of me? I have told you that you are my arrami. Nothing in this world will harm you, especially me," he said, honestly sounding hurt.

  I shuffled my feet and momentarily entertained returning to his arms to reassure him, but the very fact that getting closer to him was so appealing concerned me. I had been attracted to men before; I'd dated, not extensively, but enough to feel the first thrill of desire, the crushing disappointment when it didn't work out. I'd had crushes, and even pined a bit after a guy in my Economics class one semester, but never in my life had I felt the overwhelming, soul-deep magnetism Adar inspired. And that worried me, because if I believed what he was saying - and there was no reason for him to lie about it - we were destined to be together, and all my choices had just been taken away.

  His frown deepened and he dropped his hands, looking genuinely confused. "You...do not wish to complete the Namluh? To be my arrami?"

  I huffed out a sigh and shook my head, thinking that of all the odd happenings I'd dealt with since dropping into Edin, this was easily the most challenging. Oddly enough, I didn't want to hurt the big guy's feelings; but let's be honest here, apart from romance novels, when does someone take a look at a man and just suddenly decide to spend eternity with him?

  That's right, never.

  Striving for some sort of diplomacy, I thought for a moment and then tried to make my position clear. "Adar, it's not that I don't want to be your, uh, arrami. But things work very differently on my world, and this is all a bit much for me. Plus, you're not exactly handing me a manual on what it means to complete this Namluh thing, which has me a little freaked out." I rubbed a hand over my face and gave a mirthless chuckle. "Besides, I'm still coping with the concept of immortality and being set on fire. That's definitely a new one for me."

  He stared at me, his stunning jeweled eyes churning and flaring, the smoldering radiance of his skin shifting from the bright blaze of a bonfire to the dim glow of a coal ember. Just when I thought he would ignore me completely, he finally nodded his gorgeous head and took a seat, gesturing for me to return to mine, apology clear in his stance.

  "My deepest regrets, Honey-sa. I am old and should know better than to force my will on you. I have waited long, and I am impatient now that you are here before me, but I will wait until you are ready, and I promise, I will make it worth all you have suffered," he said, his tone conciliatory. But then his eyes sharpened, and his voice dropped into a warning. "However, you are mine and will remain so. Our souls are tied together and nothing can break that bond. Anyone who attempts to take you from me, in any manner, will pay with their lives. Keep that in mind when you interact with others."

  I swallowed thickly, understanding he was giving me fair warning that although he was willing to give me time to get used to the idea, his patience wouldn't last forever, and I'd be wise not to abuse it in any way. Not that I was some kind of flirt queen, needing men everywhere to dance to my tune, but I had developed a camaraderie with many in the palace, a number of whom were male guards, and I didn't want to put anyone in danger by inadvertently making Adar jealous.

  "I understand. Thank you," I said solemnly, respecting his willingness to put his own desires aside. While I didn't know anything about what the Namluh entailed, I didn't doubt it included a consummation of the new bond, which, attractive though Adar might be, was not something I was yet ready to tackle.

  "I forget that while I have seen and watched you, you have only just met me and cannot feel the same lure. But now I am here, and I will remain with you until you agree to return to Shinar with me." Adar was almost annoyingly polite now, like a Victorian gentleman calling on his maiden auntie.

  "What do you mean you have been watching me?" I demanded, excitement tinging my general wariness. The more I thought about it, all my weird little moments with the fire and the dreams of the black smoke suddenly had a new context.

  He looked a little embarrassed. "I sensed your arrival the moment you passed through the gate. I was in Shinar and could not physically reach here until now, but I used the flames to watch over you." Anger darkened his glorious features and he was so frightening in his rage, so like a fire god ready to rain down destruction that I flinched away, genuinely terrified.

  He noticed my withdrawal and immediately eased the intensity of his presence, the atmosphere of impending doom washing away like a cool rain. "Forgive me. I was thinking of your attack, when I was unable to reach you in time. It makes me...very distressed."

  That seemed like a bit of an understatement, but okay.

  "But...you did save me," I protested, remembering the way the fire had blazed brightly enough to distract my assailant. "The fire...that was you?"

  Adar studied me intently, and it was incredibly frustrating. While his eyes were beautiful and remark
able, I didn't understand how to read them, how to determine what emotions he was feeling, because it was like staring into an aurora borealis at midnight; divine and unearthly, and completely beyond description.

  At last, his face relaxed into a charming smile, making him seem more human for just a moment. "Yes, it was all I could manage at that distance. Now that we are bound, I will be able to transport to your side in an instant if you need me, but until we made the connection I had to travel by normal means. From anywhere but Shinar, I could have reached you sooner, but traveling between planes is difficult."

  I blinked at the onslaught of information, but quickly gathered myself, thrilled to have someone actually answering my questions plainly for once.

  "Alright. First off, what's Shinar?" I asked, knowing it had to be where he was from, but thus far I only knew of three kingdoms in Edin: Solis, Shuru, and Hursag.

  "It is the golden desert, the land of the endless river, the valley of utmost beauty. My home," he answered, pride shining in his voice. The longer he spoke to me, the more human his mannerisms became, almost as if he were speaking a long-forgotten language for the first time in years. He gestured now, his posture was more relaxed; it was increasingly easier to look past his initial differences and discover the little similarities that made him less ethereal and more approachable.

  "That sounds beautiful," I said honestly, thinking that Adar had a touch of the poet in him. His description sounded a lot like the dream I'd had the other night, and I knew without being told that somehow Adar had been a real part of that dream, not just an impression. In fact, I couldn't help but feel that he had always been present; the black smoke and wall of fire I had once woken breathless in fear from were just representations of something that had yet to be. It was crazy, but I was beginning to believe in the whole "fated mates" thing.

  "In which kingdom is that located?" I asked, unwilling to examine my little epiphany any closer just yet.

  Smiling indulgently, he replied, "It is all of Edin and yet nowhere that man can reach."

  So, then he said things like that, and the whole approachability thing went out the window.

  "How...how is that possible? I don't have any idea what you mean," I said with some frustration. It seemed like half the answers I got here were vaguely mystical and meant to make me feel excluded. Apart from Tam, and maybe Zagmi Tilmun on occasion, I don't think anyone had truly given me a straight answer since I rode through the gates.

  Adar scooted his chair closer to mine, until our knees were once again touching. I gave him a look, but he merely shrugged and flashed a roguish grin before turning his attention to my query.

  "It is where all Darisam live, and where we must return if we are to maintain our strength. We are eternal, the same way that the elements are, but like them, we can become drained without access to the source of our power. Most of our time is spent in Shinar, where we oversee the elements and keep them in balance, and where our strength will never waver. Out here," he gestured widely, encompassing more than just the beautifully decorated room, "we are vulnerable."

  I processed that, trying to put his rather esoteric explanation into more practical terms. Though I could have been way off, it seemed to me he was saying that while the elements - which I assumed included air, water, earth, and fire - could never be completely extinguished, they could be isolated or drained. Water is always present; in the atmosphere, in the rivers and oceans, even in the human body. But a person can become dehydrated, and a river can run dry until a new rainfall.

  "Alright, I think I get you. But that's still not telling me where Shinar is. Because I'd like to spend time with Tam, and until I figure out what I was brought here for, I have no intention of travelling far."

  "Honey-sa, the Ilati brought you here for me, to be my arrami. Anything else is incidental," Adar said gently, reaching out to run a massive hand over my thigh.

  I ignored the unwelcome tingles that spread where his hand brushed and glared at him. As well as I could glare at a seven-foot tall immortal fire creature, that is.

  "Well, special though that might make me, I have more purpose in my life than to be your little woman, so you can kill that dream right now," I growled, finding the thought of any male creature, be it man or giant flame-colored immortal being, imagining that my only purpose in life was to be his own personal honey-pot was beyond infuriating. The sheer arrogance of such a statement, particularly when I was the one dragged to this world without so much as a by-your-leave, made my blood boil and my skin heat with rage.

  As I stewed there, grinding my teeth and fighting to hold back the tirade I wanted to unleash on Adar, I realized that my blood actually was boiling, that my skin had gotten hotter.

  Oh, hell.

  "What is happening to me?" I shrieked, jumping out of my chair and waving my arms frantically, trying to get them to cool down. It wasn't painful, exactly, but it was uncomfortable, like I had stayed in the sauna too long and all the moisture in my body was swiftly evaporating.

  Adar heaved a forbearing sigh, reminding me more and more of a regular Earth guy who didn't have the good sense not to patronize a pissed-off woman. Rising from his chair, he took hold of my flailing arms and pulled me up off my feet so that our eyes were level, leaving my legs dangling a foot off the ground.

  This did not improve my temper.

  "You big, red, ASSHOLE! Put me down! Right now!" I ordered, getting only a knowing smirk back in return. This was what I was brought here for? To be eternally trapped in marriage to someone this smug? No way.

  "Honey-sa, calm yourself. Until the Namluh is complete, your body is not capable of sustaining the fire. You will only make yourself ill," he soothed, rubbing his cheek against mine. It was vexingly comforting, but I wasn't about to let him know that.

  "We're stuck together for all eternity right?" I asked, quite reasonably. Adar merely nodded and breathed in my scent. "Then unless you want to spend the rest of your immortality missing the only part of your anatomy that makes having a mate necessary, you will put me down. Now." I stomped on his foot for good measure, holding back a wince when it actually made my heel ache.

  Adar sucked in a breath and then exploded into laughter, his entire body shaking with undeserved mirth. He did, however, lower me to the ground and release his grip on my arms. Thankfully, although I was still nearly incandescent with rage, my skin no longer felt like leather left to dry in the desert. Taking a deep breath, I stepped away from the now hysterically laughing seven-foot god in the living room and walked to the door. The moment my hand touched the latch, the laughter stopped and Adar materialized at my side.

  "Peace, Honey-sa. Forgive me, it was wrong to laugh." He flashed an irresistibly boyish smile that very nearly melted my pique. "If you had lived here all your life, if you knew how the Darisam are viewed, you would understand why I would laugh at your threat. I am simply delighted to be given a mate with such fire, not some wilting bloom too frightened to speak for herself." He gave me a fond smile and then bowed his enormous figure at the waist, taking up my hand and brushing his cheek against my knuckles, a gesture that I was beginning to see was a common display of affection from the male.

  Willing to accept an olive branch if it meant getting some answers, I let go of my simmering resentment at having my choices taken from me yet again, and gave Adar a faint smile. "No need to worry about that with me. I wouldn't say I have an explosive temper, but you'll know when I don't like something."

  He grinned outright then, and that was it. 'Zing' went the strings of my heart. Never in my life had I seen something so beautiful up close. If I could get him to drop the "Me, Tarzan; You, Jane" mentality, I might not mind being tied to him for the rest of eternity.

  "I believe we are going to enjoy one another, Honey-sa. Much more than I'd hoped. Please, come and sit, and I will explain what you need to know, what must be done."

  And so that was how, after being attacked by a knife-wielding assassin in the middle of the great hall, I
came to spend the next hour sitting by the fire talking to my new husband, finding out that the Darisam were generally feared and courteously treated like live hand grenades, that he didn't particularly care for most of the people at court, although he was fond of Tam, and that we could stay in Solis for the next century before he would truly need to return to Shinar. Apparently the concept of time really was relative when you were immortal.

  "So, I will agree to your terms. We will remain at court until Tam is fully grown and the kingdom is no longer in crisis. In return, you will complete the Namluh, and accept me as your arramu." Adar was leaning forward, an eager glint in his eyes that made me flush with anticipation and flutter in nervousness in equal parts.

  "Provisionally, yes. But you still haven't explained the Namluh to me, what I'm supposed to do. And I can tell you right now, if it means I'm supposed to just hop into bed with you, that's not going to happen. Life-mate or not, I barely know you," I said, leaving no room for misunderstanding.

  His smile faltered just a bit, but Adar pressed gamely on. "As much as I would like to insist, our physical joining is not immediately required." He gave me a wry smile and shrugged. "You can't blame me for trying."

  I laughed and shook my head. "I suppose not." In fact, the whole thing seemed like a lot of pressure for me. He was pretty much a virgin. From what he had explained thus far, it sounded like the Darisam did not become sexually aware until they met their arrami. Typically, there was a period of courtship before the Namluh was attempted, but Adar had waited a very long time and jumped the gun a bit, which I could forgive. But I fully intended to make the courtship happen; after all, I didn't need to make it that easy for him.

  "It is an exchange of essence. When I first saw you, I imparted my Zi, my spirit, to make you as I am. Now you must do the same, so that we are fully connected, and the element has a conduit between us to follow. You will not be able to wield fire, but you can withstand it, and will be able to travel as smoke with me. But until the exchange is complete, the element I imparted to you has no outlet; so if you are angry, you will become uncomfortable, as you did before."