Heart Fortune (Celta)

by Robin D. Owens

“Clothes off!” Jace ordered and she was naked and holding him, stroking him, and his body trembled with need before her.

  Her breasts went heavy, her nipples ultra sensitized. Her anticipation of him, of their loving, making her damp.

  Jace picked her up, and she had to let go or hurt him. He held her high with arms corded with muscle, the moonslight filtering in to accent the power of him, sinew, muscle, masculinity.

  “Can’t wait.” He turned, sat in a wingback chair, slipped her onto his sex, her legs wide over the arms of the chair.

  Totally delicious.

  They simply sat for a moment, her enjoying the pressure of him inside her. As she angled her body for more control, their whimpers of need soughed out together. She grabbed his shoulders, lifted, hovered when he was barely inside her. Tiny movements, tiny thrusts, in and out. His hands on her hips encouraging, not forcing.

  “Glyssa, Glyssa! Lady and Lord, every time is better! What you do to me!”

  Then he forced her down, hard, and she screamed at the pleasure.

  “Only you,” he said.

  She liked hearing those new words, felt the sex bond overwhelm, thought she saw the glitter of the golden HeartBond, didn’t care. Only desire, yearning, delight mattered. Only the sharing of the climax.

  “Glyssa, lover,” he moaned as he came.

  She leaned against him, her damp body moving against his, one, two—and pure ecstasy flung her into the stars, with him, holding him.

  His arms clamped around hers.

  He teleported with her to the bed, arms and legs tangling, lips seeking each other’s, still joined, but ready to conquer bliss once more.

  A knock came at the pavilion door.

  Jace’s hands tightened on her, so nice! She snuggled closer, ran her fingers along his side to his hip.

  “It’s the Elecampanes,” called Raz, projecting his voice and completely breaking the after-sex-and-before-the-next-round moment.

  Jace dropped his arms, rolled. “You take the first waterfall.”

  Her lips tightened. “No, you go ahead, I’ll summon a cleansing spell.”

  His eyes hooded . . . that she had more Flair than he? She still didn’t quite believe it. She sensed strong magic from him. She wished she’d suggested that he be tested by T’Ash and his Flair-determining stones when they’d been in Druida.

  “Glyssa? Jace?” Raz called, knocking again.

  Del murmured something. “No,” Raz said. “We need to discuss this now.”

  Glyssa whisked a cleansing spell around her that sent wildflower fragrance throughout the tent, listened as Jace grumbled about the tiny shower. Pulling on underwear and a long tunic, she muttered a Word and the field that looked like a door thinned.

  Thirty-one

  Raz Cherry Elecampane strode in like an autocratic king. Glyssa sighed. He was followed by his HeartMate who nearly slouched her way into the tent, the ultimate in casualness.

  Glyssa gestured to the chairs, flushing a little as she saw the one she and Jace had made love on out of alignment. Thankfully, the tent-cleaning spell had cleansed it, too.

  Del took a different chair, stretching her legs out and crossing her ankles. She winked at Jace when he came in. He strode over to “their” chair and sat, grinned at Glyssa, and patted his lap. She flushed deeper.

  Raz stood staring at her coolly. “I had thought you’d have told us of any plans by T’Hawthorn?”

  “What?”

  “I received a communication today from Laev T’Hawthorn. He informed me that at least thirty people are coming to the camp. Most of them wish to check out the countryside and found a town. T’Hawthorn will study this camp, too, since so far we’ve been successful in keeping him and other FirstFamilies from investing and meddling in our project. After the tour of the site, they want to move on to look at the landscape around the Deep Blue Sea.”

  “Neither he nor Camellia said a word to me about this a week ago.” Walking over to Jace, she sat on the arm of the chair, put her hand on his shoulder. “Did they mention this to you?”

  “No. But from what I’ve seen, Laev T’Hawthorn moves fast,” Jace said.

  Glyssa nodded. “That’s right. From the moment I announced I wanted to do my fieldwork here, it was just two days before I arrived.”

  The Elecampanes focused their stares on her, then Raz relaxed, went over to Del’s chair and lifted her from the seat, settled in himself with her on his lap.

  “T’Hawthorn stated that there will be other investors in the party with whom he is not associated, as well as a group of cross-folk looking to found another town of their own. Outsiders are moving faster, so we have to move up our plans, too. But they find they will get nowhere without our help—at least if we go along right now and don’t force them to mount an alternative expedition to this area.” Raz smiled. “Which is why I’m inclined to help, so we can control events better.” He finally relaxed, saying, “They’re coming in the newest, most luxurious passenger airship of Cherry Shipping and Transport.” He linked his fingers and stretched out his arms. “And I get to fly it to the Deep Blue Sea!”

  Del snorted. “You should let the pilot do that.”

  “But she doesn’t know the area,” Raz said smugly.

  Del chuckled and shook her head, but her own smile showed amusement at her HeartMate. A small twinge went through Glyssa. The couple was HeartBound, their connection so deep that should one die, the other would follow in a year.

  Their hands linked and Raz absently kissed Del’s capable, scarred fingers.

  Looking directly at Glyssa and Jace, Del said, “The Cartographers’ Guild is sending a man along to update some of my charts. There are a few people who want to travel overland to the Deep Blue Sea with him and me, if you want to come along, Glyssa . . . and Jace.”

  “I’d love to! How long does it take by stridebeast? Do we have enough mounts?”

  “About three very long days.”

  Glyssa winced, she wasn’t a good rider.

  “And we should have enough stridebeasts if some of the people here want to rent theirs out to the interested parties.”

  “Sounds good.” Glyssa angled her body to Jace. “Do you think you’d like to come?”

  He tensed a little. The couple opposite him watched with weighing gazes. She was tired of repressing herself so she wouldn’t ruffle his issues. She was in his life. She was his HeartMate. He should learn to deal with it.

  “Jace, you haven’t been to the Deep Blue Sea lately,” Del said.

  “I’ll decide later,” Jace said. He didn’t touch Glyssa.

  Urgh! The man was maddening. Every time she thought they were getting closer, he took a step away. And that was tiresome.

  “The transport will be arriving in three days,” said Raz. “We’ll let the visitors look around for a day, maybe two, then leave for the Deep Blue Sea.” Raz winked at his HeartMate. “I and my lot who fly in the airship will be at the Deep Blue Sea in a couple of septhours. The small group going with you, Del, will be latecomers. By the time you show up, I’ll have investors thinking that a village by the Sea might be an interesting prospect, and the cross-folk ready to settle down, too.”

  “I’m sure. But they’ll start out small,” Del said, as if she and Raz had talked about this before.

  “We’ll be larger, and they’ll rely on us.” He smiled wolfishly. “I like that idea.”

  He set Del on her feet and stood. “We’ve decided that we want at least one permanent building up in camp before our guests arrive. We’ll be harvesting some lumber and building a common gathering place.” He frowned. “Not circular, but octagonal. We believe that spending the energy, physical and Flair, is worth the effort.”

  “We already have plans, of that building and the whole future community, drawn up by the famed architect, Antenn Blackthorn-Moss,” Del said.

  Glyssa was impressed.

  As he had weeks before, Raz focused his attention on Glyssa. “We will be asking for volunteers
from our investors and our shareholders to help with the construction. Are you in?”

  She loved the camp, but go deep into the forest? Well, she’d be with others. “Of course.”

  Raz stared at Jace. “And you?”

  “Yes. I can give you more muscle than Flair.” His smile was lopsided.

  “Done.” Raz nodded in satisfaction.

  “Good doing business with you,” Del said.

  Raz chuckled and bowed elegantly to them. “Thank you for relieving our minds with regard to your communications with Laev T’Hawthorn.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The HeartMates left and a quiet humming with questions filled the tent. Lepid trotted into the tent. I heard, FamWoman. I heard, FamMan! We are BUILDING THE TOWN, and having an adventure first!

  “Sounds like,” Jace said.

  Glyssa’s Fam had relaxed him while she hadn’t been able to.

  * * *

  The next day Raz T’Elecampane handed out the assignments and Glyssa got one to “find a tree or trees for the door, dead, please.” The GrandLord handed her Flaired markers to set by the wood that could be tracked, examined, then hauled away by physical means instead of Flair.

  She’d started out with Jace and Zem and Lepid. Jace was looking for strong, tall trees for the trusses and the weight-bearing poles of the building.

  I know of a good place where many trees fell recently, excellent for building, Zem broadcast to them. He glided to a nearby tree. So this will go fast and be easy. Follow me, Jace!

  Lepid chortled and hopped up and down. We will be heroes!

  Yes, Zem replied and took off. Jace and Lepid followed him. Glyssa hesitated.

  There was a grove of old growth and large trees to the south, Glyssa. Zem banked in that direction.

  There! The huge tree appeared newly downed, with dirt still clinging to roots and leaves crisping dry in the summer heat. Satisfied, she grinned, using the last marker she had. This would be perfect for most of the door planks. Then she continued to search for fallen trees ready to be harvested and having no wildlife living in them and no rot.

  One small glen led to another as she scanned over the waist-high brush, and pushed through to find another perfect log for the door.

  She stopped, petrified, lost in a tangle of green. She hadn’t watched where she was going. A rill of panic slithered through her, leaving a film of cold sweat in its wake. She’d never been by herself in the wilderness before. Where there were kilometers and kilometers of forest, unexpected lakes.

  Unexpected beasts.

  Her. Mind. Froze. She turned in place. Weird sounds thundered in her ears, birdcalls she didn’t know. Rustlings, were they really trees or something else?

  She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t know what to do. She was not in control. She hated this.

  Thirty-two

  Stop and breathe and think. She was still uncomfortable, but able to handle her fear. Pressing her lips together, she decided she would not cry out to Jace or even Lepid. She should be able to handle this herself.

  But looking up, she only saw diffuse light through the tall trees, not a trace of the sun to tell her what direction it was. Narrowing her eyes, she noted some disturbed bushes. Surely she’d come through there. She took a step toward them, then they burst open as Lepid jumped into the small copse.

  Relief whooshed through her, making her light-headed enough that she let her weakened knees fold and sat on the downed tree. She wouldn’t have to depend on herself to find the camp.

  We are heroes! We found lots and lots of good trees! Enough for the WHOLE building!

  Lepid hopped on the log and pranced up and down it. When he butted her side with his head, she stroked him with a shaking hand he didn’t notice.

  A niggle of cowardice settled into her. She didn’t know how long she’d have been lost, and hadn’t known how to return to the camp, solely by her own means. She had to depend on others.

  She’d begun to love the wilderness, but had avoided it, and avoided survival training if she got lost. She could have used that training a few minutes before, she’d put it off too long. Now events seemed to cram her days even more full and she didn’t know when she’d get to that learning. She should have instituted a plan for training the moment she’d arrived at the camp.

  This tree is very nice, too, said Lepid, sniffing it. I looked at the others you marked. Very nice.

  “You can be a hero with me, too.”

  Yes! He licked her face. Time to go back to camp and have clucker for lunch. He darted back through the bushes. I only ate one or two little mice.

  “Wait for me, please.” At least her voice didn’t quaver.

  Lepid zoomed back in, barked three times, then pranced his way through the forest. The hair on her nape rose as she realized he wasn’t going back the same way she had come. She had faith in her Fam, especially since he hadn’t seemed to understand that she’d been lost and fearful.

  The camp was a bustle of activity, with a cheerfulness that she hadn’t seen since the first days she’d arrived. Jace’s face creased in laugh lines as he ate, entertaining people with the story of the amount of salvageable timber he’d found, and adding Zem’s dry comments.

  Everyone else had seemed to have had good luck, too, and this new project to build a community center was ahead of schedule.

  All through the day, Glyssa remained busy, and stayed fairly close to her HeartMate, and definitely in sight of someone at all times. By the time she showered and loved with Jace in the tiny cubby in her pavilion, then fell into bed, she’d almost forgotten about the scary experience . . .

  * * *

  Glyssa and Del stood watching their men help build the community center. Though he was older, Raz was in just as fine shape as Jace, though the actor moved with more deliberation—because of his profession or age or status, Glyssa didn’t know. It did seem to her that he was extremely aware of his body. An attractive man who sparked nothing in her except for a wish of friendship with an interesting person.

  Jace, now, simply seeing how he moved, somewhat careless of his body, accepting his strength and skills without thinking, heated her blood. Zem sat on a post, watching, and Lepid darted in and out, “supervising.”

  “Hmmm,” Del hummed approvingly as the two worked shirtless together to raise a pole.

  Glyssa sighed. “Yes, beautiful men.” Then she caught the slide of Del’s gaze to her, a tint of red gracing the tan of the cartographer’s cheeks. “You know,” Del said, “even as HeartMates our courtship wasn’t easy.”

  “What? I mean, I beg your pardon? You are so well suited. You’re HeartMates!” And so were she and Jace, and that sure wasn’t going as well as she’d wanted or expected.

  Del rolled a shoulder, fixed her gaze on the men. “I’m a cartographer, I wasn’t ready to give up my career of exploring and mapping the world. Raz was an up-and-coming actor in Druida City, he lived for the stage, the audience, applause.”

  Glyssa blinked, considering that. “But you worked it out.”

  “Not before some heartbreak, and we both had to change.”

  Jutting her chin, Glyssa said, “I’m willing to change.”

  Del hesitated, then simply shrugged. The men gave a shout of satisfaction as they set the last pole.

  Glyssa linked her fingers and stretched. “Time for the cross-beams and the fancy trusses.” She shook her head. “This building is not minimalist.”

  “No,” Del said in satisfaction. “It has a few good features and doesn’t appear like a crude frontier hall. The proportions are good, so is the octagonal shape, and the design. Antenn Blackthorn-Moss did a fine job with the plans.”

  Unlike the blueprints of Lugh’s Spear, Glyssa hadn’t seen the town plans. “Maybe you could show the rest of us?”

  “We did, after Antenn finished them. He came out earlier this year,” Del said. “We had a meeting with everyone who thought they might buy into the town.”

  “I haven�
�t seen the design,” Glyssa pointed out.

  “Oh, sorry.” Del flashed a smile as Raz shouted, “All Flaired workers please report to the Community Hall building.”

  “Maybe later,” Del said, moving toward the structure.

  Glyssa frowned but headed over to the raw frame, held out her hands to join with Raz and Del and a few others. “Shouldn’t we be doing a ritual for this? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

  “No time,” Del grunted. “We’ll be putting out more effort than if we were in a circle, but let’s face it, the community hasn’t really come together enough for everyone to trust everyone else with as much of a connection as a work ritual demands.”

  “Oh. I thought—”

  “Enough talk,” Del said. “Let’s get this done if we want a complete building by the end of the day.”

  “Right,” Raz said, adding a smile for Glyssa.

  Nodding, Glyssa inhaled deeply and prepared to help with her Flair, sending strength and energy to the others. As she concentrated on the building and the images the others held in their minds, she used her own Flair and sent them what she believed was the most efficient way to organize the materials and build the structure. She sensed Raz’s and Del’s surprised thoughts, then approval.

  Then they began, and that was the last deep breath she had for the rest of the day until the evening turned into night and she slumped with the others on the polished wooden floor beneath her.

  Pretty! We did good! Lepid twitched the tip of his tail. He, too, had funneled energy into the effort and was exhausted. The first time Glyssa had seen him that way.

  Only those who’d finished the interior paneling were still inside—eight of them, all completely spent. Jace wasn’t one of their number.

  A knock came on the door.

  “Who’s there?” whispered Raz, sitting, back braced against the wall. Both he and Del leaned on each other.

  “It’s Jace and Zem,” Glyssa croaked. “They can’t hear you. Can I tell them and the others who’ve subscribed to the community to come in?”