by Honor James
Cinnamon heard the chuckles of the people and felt her face heating. Frowning, she touched her fingers to her cheeks and asked, “What is this? I don’t understand it. What is happening to me?” She whispered in fear, “Is it because I’m here on Earth now instead of home?”
“It’s a blush,” he said softly. “Blood floods your cheeks when you are embarrassed, and that blood is warm, which heats your skin. It’s an unconscious reaction.” Looking around the table with a cold stare, Talon was clearly warning them all in a look to not tease her. Turning back to her, he smiled. “It will go away in a few minutes.”
“All right,” she whispered. “I trust you, Talon, King of the Dragons.” Dipping her head, she then added, “After I have helped you all figure out just how Chaos was able to find your bond-mates before you have been able to find them, I will return home.” She felt sick with that thought and frowned. “I know it needs to happen sooner rather than later, but I don’t have to like it all the same,” she whispered.
Gaia was right. Cinnamon actually thought she’d be able to go back. “Well until we figure out how to stop them, we will let you experience a few things here.” Getting to his feet, he looked at everyone. “I want all the Teams briefed, and update our friends in the human military to this as well. They all have night vision, so they’ll be able to know the difference of at least the Vampires. There’s not much we can do about the Wraith at this time, so let’s hope they only come after us. I want a meeting with all personnel in two weeks when I get back. Until then, suspend as many ops as we can. Double up on the ones we can’t avoid going out on. No one goes anywhere outside of the base by themselves. Quincy, I want you to figure out a way to up the shields around the base. Do some research and find out if there’s anything we can do to keep the evil ones out.”
“I might be able to help with that,” Cinnamon said as she looked at the man, Quincy. Smiling, she said, “I’ve watched you. Gaia hated the life that you had to go through, but it was to make you stronger. I know that you don’t like to talk about yourself, and for that I’m sorry. I also want you to know that your great-grandfather hated, absolutely hated, what happened to you. He was so very angry that he asked to be returned to Earth, but it was refused, sadly. However”—she shrugged and smiled—“I know you have never met him, but you will very soon, in your son.”
Not a sound could be heard as every last person stared at Cinnamon. Clearing his throat, Talon licked his lips and tugged her hand. “And with that bomb we’re out of here. Q, come to my office when you’re done figuring out everything with these guys, and Cin can help you with the shields.” Guiding her out of the conference room, he led her up the hall to his office and inside. “Sweetheart, you can’t just drop things like that into a conversation. Especially if you can’t discuss how you know these things and where you found this information out, all right?”
“Oh shoot, I forgot that,” Cinnamon muttered and wrinkled her nose. “Right. I need to remember that. Will you help me to remember?” she asked and looked up at him with a smile. “At least it won’t be a great deal of time that you have to deal with me, right?” And just saying that made her feel horrid, made her stomach hurt. “I don’t like saying that,” she whispered. “I really don’t like saying that, and that makes no sense to me,” she whispered.
“So don’t say it. Don’t think about it. Live in the moment, Cinnamon. The future will be whatever it will be,” he pointed out. Taking her hand in his, he guided her to the sofa and sat down, tugging her down onto his knee. “So until it’s time for your next step in life, we will be together and I will show you a few things to make your time enjoyable.”
Slipping off her gold sandals, she tucked her feet up on the couch and curled against Talon. Cin laid her head on his shoulder and nestled in close to him. Smiling, the woman then spoke very softly. “I really, really like this so far,” she told him. “I love having you holding me, having you touching me. I’ve never really been touched by another being, and I really like it when you touch me. A lot.” Far more than she would have dreamed.
He curled his arm around her and settled his other hand on her knee lightly. Resting his cheek to her hair, he breathed her in and felt his whole body tighten a second before a low burn started. “I can’t believe no one ever touched you, Cinnamon. That just seems so wrong and foreign to me.”
Cinnamon shrugged. “Where I’m from we don’t have touch. It’s hard, I know, to understand that is, but where I’m from we really don’t touch. I like touching though, so that will be hard to go back to, the no touching.” Cin moved slightly and rubbed her lips to the side of his neck.
Stroking his thumb to her knee and his other fingers to her side, he rubbed his cheek to her hair, the strands catching in his stubble. “Well then you should soak it up so you will always know what the sensation is,” he commented. Not that he had any plans on letting her go, and since she couldn’t go back “home,” he did have an ace in the hole.
Closing her eyes, she smiled. “Then I’m going to rely on you. I’m going to totally come to you for all of those touches, Talon, because I don’t know anyone else.” There was the smallest hesitation before she added, “And I don’t feel this close, or whatever this feeling is that I’m feeling for you, with any other person out there.”
“It’s probably best you don’t allow others to touch you,” he told her honestly. He didn’t know how his Dragon would react to any that did touch her. “Especially since we don’t know if this is a fluke thing between the two of us.” Not necessarily a lie. It could be the truth even though he knew and believed otherwise. Leaning back on the sofa, he rearranged her slightly. “How are you doing, Cinnamon?” Talon was worried for her. She was such an innocent, and now that he knew for sure she wasn’t someone sent in to fool them all and hurt anyone, he really was concerned how she was handling everything she’d seen and had to put up with so far.
“I’m doing really well,” Cinnamon replied and moved so that she was even closer to him. “I like this a lot, Talon. Being held here like this. I really like you touching me. I really like you holding me. I like you, Talon, a great deal.” There was an admission there, an admission that Cin simply couldn’t understand.
“I like you, too, Cinnamon,” he murmured, “as long as you promise to stop stealing my meat. It’s not very nice to steal a Dragon’s meal, sweetheart.” On that point he wasn’t teasing, at all. “Quincy is coming, our resident Mage and King of all Mage-kind. Just remember to watch what you say to him of where you have come from. Keep it all in the moment and pertinent to his task. Don’t give him any more clues to your past than needed or he’ll be locked in his office for the next month trying to figure you out.” Something that Maya would not appreciate, Talon was very sure.
Cinnamon shrugged and grinned. “There is nothing that he would find on me.” Watching him, she frowned and then said, “But how would I know if I liked a meat or not without you ordering it first? You will share with me, right?” She gave him a look that clearly asked him that question as well. “Because how else will I know if I will like something if I don’t have an opportunity to try it?”
“You could ask to try it,” he said, softly lifting his hand to touch her cheek. “Asking is polite after all,” he pointed out. “But yes, I will share anything I have with you, Cinnamon. I want you to have a chance to try as many things as you can. Everyone should have the experiences this world can offer at least once. Come in, Quincy,” he called a little louder when he scented the man outside the door.
Chapter Six
“Uh, I can come back, boss.” Quincy stood wide eyed, taking in the scene. He’d never thought he’d live long enough to see Talon all lovey-dovey with a female. And not just any female, but the mysterious Cinnamon, who apparently didn’t exist in any database on Earth. Not that he had expected her to after he’d felt the energies coming off of her.
“Get in here and sit down,” Talon ordered, shooting him a look of warning.
&nbs
p; Smirking slightly, Quincy shut the door and collapsed into an armchair, throwing a leg over the arm to bob his foot as he watched them. He had no idea what was going on between the two, but he had to admit Talon looked a lot more relaxed than he had mere hours before.
Cinnamon cocked her head to the side and grinned. “Oh, I’m a mystery to you,” she said happily catching Quincy’s thought from the air around them and rubbing her hands together. “I’ve never been a mystery. So how many databases did you check before you came here?” Seeing Talon’s look and feeling his squeeze, she amended, “Sorry. I’m supposed to be mysterious and watching my words, but this is far too exciting.” She had known this man’s great-grandfather after he passed, had spent some time with him while he waited for his judgment to come before being sent to the wheel of souls once more, and had liked him a great deal. It would be good that the man had chosen to be reborn as Quincy’s son. It was fun actually.
“I have them all on tap. Took me three minutes to figure out that you don’t exist,” Quincy told her honestly. “Your fingerprints on the table helped with that in case you were using an alias to deceive us. But you are clean, squeaky clean in fact, so much so that you were not born here, which means you’ve come from someplace else entirely. And while that is making my head hurt and my fingers twitch, everything I can read off of you tells me you can’t lie, you can’t deceive, and that you aren’t here to hurt anyone. Which means you can stay, at least in my book. The others are still arguing and trying to decide if they should take you to interrogation.”
Cinnamon frowned and became very serious when she whispered, “One day I swear to you that I will allow you all to know where I’m from, but right now they all need me. Especially the ones that haven’t yet found their bond-mates. They need me far more than they can realize. Right now the concern should be about how to stop them from dying and finding them before the evil ones do.”
“And we will find a way,” Talon said to her. “But right now we need to ensure that the base security is safe and solid so that when we find the women, even if their bond-mates are here, they can be safe while we wait for them. So what does Quincy need to add to our current shields to ensure that the Vampires and Wraith that aren’t out doing good are kept out of here?”
“Well I will need to be careful, because not all of them are bad,” Cinnamon hedged. “But you will need some of my blood,” she told Quincy. “I know, ick, but trust me, with my blood there is nothing that isn’t invited that will ever be able to get in here. Nothing,” she added. “So before we put up the shields”—she looked to Talon—“I need to talk to you and”—she shrugged—“we might need to put out a couple of invitations.”
“I’m good with blood,” Quincy said, getting up and heading for the door. “I’m not into all the old-fashioned spells and such, but I’m up to date on them all. I’ll go and get another bag of Skittles and be back.”
Waiting until Quincy was out the door, Talon turned his eyes on Cinnamon. “So what’s up with all that mysterious stuff of putting out some invites, darling?”
“Because in your Teams you have a Wraith and a Vampire. They are the good guys though. They have fought for you and your Teams for a number of years and are very good at what they do. I didn’t want to out them in front of everyone. If you would rather not know who they are, I can give them the invitation, since it’s my blood that’s bonding the shielding.” Cin paused and segued into, “What are Skittles?”
“Little candies with a soft, chewy center under a crunchy outer coating in all different colors,” he told her as he thought through whom she was talking about. “Tell me who they are, just so I know. I won’t tell anyone else unless it’s absolutely necessary, but I need to know for my own peace of mind.”
“You have a Wraith that was in the room as well as a Vampire. I don’t know their names, but they were in the very back. One was all dark, his hair and eyes and such, and the other was almost the opposite, all light. Both were leaning on the table in the very rear.”
“Mikhail and Davyn,” he said, immediately knowing just who had been where in that room. “Mikhail is Vampire,” he commented with a frown. “I didn’t put the pieces together, but I know his skin is always cooler than a human’s from the few times I’ve shaken his hand.”
“But he is a good person. I know how odd that sounds, but it’s true. He takes blood deliveries so that he doesn’t feed off of humans. I like him. He seems to hate himself though and that’s really very sad,” she murmured with a shrug. “And Davyn.” Her smile bloomed. “He’s intriguing, and the woman that will be his is such a sweetheart.” That had Cinnamon frowning. “How did I know that?”
Snorting out a laugh, Talon shook his head. “You can’t be asking me questions like that, sweetheart. I have no idea how you know half of what you know. The rest is a little easier to piece together but still slightly confusing. Davyn has always been great, a terrific doctor and a calming soul.”
“No, I shouldn’t know that,” she said and pulled back from Talon. “You don’t understand. I shouldn’t know that.” She wiggled on his lap. “The bond-mates are created by Gaia. How could I possibly know who his bond-mate was?”
“Maybe because you are now here on Earth and closer to him the knowledge came to you,” he said softly, trying to come up with something that sounded remotely plausible. “Or are you just guessing? Do you actually know who his mate will be?” he asked her, shifting her so she stopped rubbing along his cock. She was killing him in slow degrees.
“No, I know who she is,” she whispered. “I can see her life in my mind’s eye when I see him.” She cocked her head to the side. “I can see so many of them,” she whispered quietly. “The single men that were in the room. I see Mikhail’s mate as well,” she admitted, confused as she did so.
“That’s good.” He let out a breath. “It means we know who we have to watch over. But it makes sense if you think about it, Cinnamon. If Chaos knows who the bond-mates are, then it’s only fair that you are permitted that same knowledge to balance it out.”
“True. I suppose that could be it,” Cinnamon whispered and then voiced her real fear. “Does that mean that he is here on Earth?” She could destroy his Minions, but she wasn’t so sure that she could destroy him. He was a God after all, and she was only the child of the Creator and Gaia, no Goddess, just an Angel. One of the truest of the true of Angels.
“He could be, but if he is, he has to play by rules as well.” Oh by the Gods Talon prayed that he had to play by the rules. If he didn’t…Not going to consider that. “Let’s worry about what we do know and what we can do something about, darling. We need to know the bond-mates, who these guys are going to go after, and who they will kill if they find them. We got lucky on the others, really lucky. I do not think our luck is going to continue to hold without your help, sweetheart.”
Nodding, she said, “Mikhail’s mate is already on the move toward him. She’s a friend of another one of your guys’ bond-mates. The King of the Cats, Tryggr,” she shared with a frown. “But she’s got trouble all of her own. It’s going to take her some time, but she will make it to Mikhail safe. It’s Davyn’s bond-mate that worries me.” She shook her head and then looked up at him. “He will be there just in time for her though, I hope.”
“Do we need to put a watch on her?” he asked seriously, needing to know. “I don’t want anything happening to her before Davyn can find her. We can’t afford to lose even one of the bond-mate females, Cinnamon, so I need to know your assessment of the danger she is in.”
“The only danger she is in is from a far too boggly eyed, I don’t know what he’s called. He tells her what to do and she gets money from him?” Cinnamon looked to Talon in request for the answer to the question. “That’s when Davyn will find her, so it’s okay. After that though”—Cin shrugged—“I don’t know.”
“Uh-huh.” Talon wasn’t sure what she was referring to but nodded nonetheless. “Well if she’s not in danger from the Vampir
es, then we look at the next in line. Is she in any immediate danger?” he asked softly as he watched her struggling a little with whatever was going on in her head.
Cinnamon frowned and shook her head. “I can’t see anything else. I don’t know if maybe I have to be closer to the men or what.” The look on her face spoke of her confusion, and it was obvious she didn’t like it either. “Can we talk more about them later? I know that I have to give your Mage blood and I’m already confused enough.” She hated being confused. It was very clear on that count.
“Of course we can, sweetheart,” he said softly. Pulling her in a little closer, he gave her a hug. “Don’t push it. When it’s ready, it will come to you, Cinnamon,” Talon advised gently as he stroked her hair very lightly.
“That sounds very good. I think that right now I just want to focus on getting to know you and getting to know the Earth while I’m here. I want to create a great deal of new memories to take with me when I have to return.” There was such sadness in her voice when she spoke of leaving Earth, because she didn’t want to leave him.
“And that is what we will do, sweetness,” he promised gently. “But first let’s have Quincy come back in, draw a little blood, and then you and he can iron out whatever he needs to do with the shields and I will check messages.” He was on holidays, but Talon couldn’t just leave the job, his friends, and family behind, especially after only two hours.
“All right, as long as you are sure.” Looking up at Talon, Cinnamon smiled happily once more. “I like order. I like having a list of tasks to accomplish, and I look forward to being able to tell you everything about me, Talon. I look forward to not keeping secrets from you.” Which weighed heavily on her. “But I would ask that you not trust too many with the secrets that I will give you, please?”
“I won’t tell a soul if you don’t want me to, sweetheart, I swear it. It’s your story to tell or not, darling mine,” he whispered quietly. “I will just be here to help you along your path and show you my world as best I know how. And attempt to keep you in line.” Talon kissed her cheek gently. “Come in, Q. Let’s get this done so that you can share some Skittles with her.”