Ravyn's Flight

by Patti O'Shea

  A shiver went through her as she felt Damon nuzzle her neck. She moved back, fitting herself to him. Her eyes slipped to half mast as she noticed he was still hard. Her body went from zero to a burning inferno instantly. Not instantly, she realized as she rubbed her bottom against him. She’d been aroused for quite some time, but hadn’t been conscious of it. Ravyn smirked at how oblivious she’d been. Too concerned with bonds of the heart and mind to notice how excited she was. Now that was concentration, she thought, amused at herself.

  The notion was short-lived as his hands and mouth incited her past the point of thinking of anything but him. Ravyn reached back and held on to his hips, grinding herself against him. “Damon.” She barely found the breath to gasp his name.

  “I know,” he told her, his voice rougher than she had ever heard it before. “Now, sweet pea. I can’t take it slow.”

  A part of her realized his desire fed hers and she mirrored it back until they were nearly insensible with it. Another aspect of the bond they shared, she noted before the realization flowed out of her head. She couldn’t wait any longer for him. Leaning forward, Ravyn took hold of the obelisk.

  Damon needed no further invitation. She felt him tug her pants to her thighs. She parted her legs as far as she could manage and then he was there, broad and hot. He entered her and she moaned her approval. Nothing had ever felt this good, this necessary before. She climaxed on his first stroke, but he didn’t last much longer. It didn’t matter. The fever didn’t abate. Damon stayed hard, kept moving, and Ravyn met his every thrust. They were beyond words, communicating their enjoyment with noises that sounded far more animal than human.

  She wanted to feel more of him. Damon’s chest covered her back, and she felt his teeth nip at her neck. That was all it took for her to reach the crest again. Ravyn let loose with a yowl that vibrated through the stone she clasped. He roared as he reached his own release and his big body sagged against her.

  Ravyn wrapped her arms around the obelisk and let it support both their weight. She panted, trying to pull in enough air, but trapped between a rock and a hard male body, it was difficult to calm down. He didn’t pull out and she wanted him to stay inside her. The intensity of their coupling left her reeling. Why? she wondered. Why had they both gone so out of control so fast? It hadn’t been lovemaking. It had been so far beyond that, Ravyn had no name for it.

  You must be joined in all ways.

  Ravyn’s eyes widened as she remembered Meriwa’s words. Joined in all ways. He nudged her and she sighed, her body immediately ready for more. Her hiss of pleasure became a gasp of surprise as knowledge suddenly filled her head. There was one bond left the stone couldn’t be programmed to forge. One tie between them that only she and Damon could create.

  It was up to them to conceive a child.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Ravyn sank back in the hot water and closed her eyes. She’d already added a powdered version of the healing ointment to the bath. Thank God she’d found the huge tub tucked behind another sliding wall. She and Damon had spent a fair amount of time soaking in it. They’d needed to. The last day and a half was a blur of sensation, of arousal, and if they hadn’t had the healing waters, she doubted either one of them would be able to walk by now. She barely had time to stretch before her senses told her she wasn’t alone. “You get out of here, Damon Brody,” Ravyn told him, not opening her eyes.

  “How about if I promise to stay on the other side of the tub?” He sounded cajoling.

  Ravyn raised her lashes just far enough to shoot him a doubtful look. She didn’t believe him.

  “Sweet pea, I couldn’t get hard again even if I wanted to.”

  “That’s what you said last time!”

  “I know, but this time I really mean it.”

  At least he had the grace to look embarrassed. With a sigh, Ravyn relented and nodded her agreement. He settled in on the opposite side of the tub as promised. It didn’t matter.

  With Damon’s long legs, their feet tangled together. As if her body had been missing his, something taut within her eased. She felt the simmering begin again and tried to ignore it. Ravyn watched his eyes heat and nudged him with her toe. “Stop it.”

  “I’m trying,” he said, looking rueful.

  She pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. The teal stone between her breasts vibrated pleasantly. She’d tried to remove it before her bath, but something inside her had balked at the idea. Damon’s amulet, she noticed, rested just above his dog tags. Looking at his chest was a mistake. Her temperature shot upward, but she couldn’t tear her eyes from him. She wanted to bite him, lick him, kiss him. Hugging her knees harder, she fought the urge.

  “You’re not helping things.”

  “I know.” She dropped her head to her upraised knees and breathed deeply. When she had her restraint back, she looked up again and met his eyes. “I’ve been wondering, what do you think Kale and Meriwa meant about having our guardians by our side?”

  “I’m not sure. They said their guardians remained after the others left, so I’m guessing they were real people.” He shrugged and her thoughts shifted abruptly as she watched his muscles flex. This preoccupation with his body was almost humorous.

  “Have you given any consideration,” she asked, “to why we can’t keep our hands off each other?”

  “You mean aside from the fact you’re sexy as hell and I’ve been fighting the need to make love to you almost since the day we met?” His voice carried the smokiness of arousal.

  Ravyn swallowed hard. “Yes,” she said, “apart from that.”

  “No.”

  “You don’t think it’s odd?” Her body yearned to touch his.

  “Now that you bring it up, yeah.” He cleared his throat, but it didn’t dispel the thickness. “It’s like I’m insatiable.”

  “We’re insatiable,” she corrected.

  “You have a theory?”

  Ravyn couldn’t fight the need to touch him any longer. She stretched her legs out again, sighing in relief when they came into contact “I do have a theory,” she said. She lost her train of thought briefly as Damon trapped her feet between his. “I think we’ll be out of control like this until I’m pregnant.”

  “Yeah?” He didn’t sound unnerved or worried in the least.

  “That doesn’t trouble you?”

  “No.” He leaned forward and ran his palm from her ankle to the back of her knee. Ravyn grabbed his hand and held on to it.

  “You don’t feel manipulated by that damn obelisk?” She’d meant to sound outraged, not breathless.

  “Look, Ravyn, we both knew going in pregnancy was a possibility.” He stopped rubbing his thumb over her wrist. “That’s not what’s bothering you, though, is it?”

  She pursed her lips and remained silent. He studied her for a moment his eyes too sharp for her peace of mind. Of all the times for Damon to be able to bank the fire burning between them, why did it have to be now? She knew the instant he’d reached a conclusion.

  “You don’t like being out of control.” His voice held dawning realization.

  “Maybe,” she allowed slowly. Ravyn considered it for a moment. Okay, so needing to be in control explained a few things. Like why she didn’t want Damon to know she loved him. It would be giving him power over her in a way. She trusted him, but she didn’t want to be dependent on him, to acknowledge her emotional state to a large degree was now tied to his actions.

  “You’re frowning. It’s not that bad, so don’t worry.”

  “It’s cowardly,” she disagreed. Ravyn didn’t put up a fuss when he reached over and moved her until she sat astride him. He’d lied about not being able to get hard again, she noted. With a small smile, she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck.

  “No. Sweet pea,” Damon said gently, “it’s natural. Even before you lost your family, you knew their jobs held danger. Of course you want to control as much as you can.”

  Ravyn rested her forehe
ad against his. The stiff thread of his stitches poked at her skin and she frowned. “We’re putting some salve on that before we leave this room.” Damon squeezed her waist and she got his message without him saying a word. “I need to think before we talk about it, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay.” He slid his arms up her back, pulling her against him. Ravyn rested her head on his shoulder, trailing her hands down his sides. There was no urgency to their caresses, just a need to feel the slide of skin against skin.

  He was hers. Even before that stupid stone had linked them in ways that disconcerted her, she’d known this. She nipped at his neck where it joined his shoulder before kissing away the sting. They’d been born for each other.

  And if that knowledge didn’t sit quite comfortably yet, at least it didn’t terrify her any longer.

  *** *** ***

  Damon woke up feeling as wrung out as if he’d run ten klicks in full gear. Through Death Valley. In August. He groaned silently, not wanting to disturb Ravyn, who needed the rest. If he hurt this bad, she had to be worse off. Still more asleep than awake, he turned his head to look at her.

  She lay on her back, one hand over the amulet, the other at her side. Her lips appeared slightly swollen, probably from a few too many hard kisses, he thought regretfully. She had faint circles under her eyes, but then neither one of them had done much sleeping the last two nights. He turned on his side, propping himself up on his elbow so he could study Ravyn a little closer. Damon’s lips quirked up at the corners. He doubted he’d ever get tired of looking at her, being with her. Even asleep, she was more vibrant than any other woman he’d known.

  Carefully, he pushed her hair off her face. It amused and charmed him that even after all they’d done with and to each other, she retained the need for modesty. He must have pulled that nightgown off her a hundred times and she still insisted on wearing it while she slept. The pale blue color made Ravyn appear exotic and Damon fisted his hand to keep from touching the silky material covering her body. Somehow, despite his best intentions, he found himself running a knuckle across the crest of one breast. He craved contact with her.

  He opened his fist, his palm barely touching her as he ran it down her torso. With a sleepy smile, he lightly splayed his hand over her abdomen. Their baby was busy dividing cells. Damon jerked his hand away, no longer drowsy.

  He pushed the blankets down, and with a tentativeness that had his fingers trembling, he reached out again, both with his hand and his senses. This time he wasn’t surprised to feel the pulsing that marked the presence of their child. Ravyn had been right, he noted absently. She’d said the unquenchable desire would last until he’d gotten her pregnant. He still wanted her—he couldn’t imagine a day when he wouldn’t—but the need wasn’t out of control any longer.

  As the idea registered, a huge grin broke out across his face. He was going to be a daddy! Afraid of spooking her, he hadn’t told Ravyn he wanted her pregnant, wanted this lifelong tie between them. Softly, he rubbed her tummy, saying hi to his baby. It nearly overwhelmed him, the idea of going from having no one to being half of a couple and now part of a family.

  Logic said he couldn’t tell whether Ravyn was pregnant; she probably wouldn’t even know this quickly herself. But logic meant nothing. He knew. For the first time, he began to glimpse their connection. It had been there while they’d made love, but he’d been too aroused to pay attention.

  Before he could think about that any further, Ravyn’s hand covered his where it rested on her stomach. Damon finally took his gaze from her belly and looked up to find her watching him, her eyes slumberous. Damn, he thought the knowledge blind-siding him. He loved Ravyn. His heart skipped a beat. Damon shook his head—talk about being slow on the uptake.

  He linked his fingers with hers so both of them were cupping her abdomen. “You’re pregnant,” he said into the quiet.

  “I am?” He watched Ravyn’s eyes go out of focus and felt her consciousness probe her body. “I am,” she agreed.

  “Are you okay with it?” He couldn’t quite read her tone.

  “I’m fine. How about you?”

  He couldn’t keep the idiotic grin off his face. “Will it scare you if I admit I’m excited?”

  “No,” she said, smiling up at him. “That makes me feel better. I want our baby to feel loved, not like an obligation.”

  “That’s not a worry. I love him already.” Damon cleared his throat, uneasy with the thickness emotion put in his voice. Now would be a good time to tell Ravyn how he felt about her, but something had him hesitating and the moment passed.

  “I’m glad,” she said, freeing her hand from his. She reached for him, trailing her fingers just below the wound on his forehead. “I didn’t do a good job mending you. This almost looks worse now that the stitches are out.”

  “Don’t fuss, sweet pea. I’ll have a doctor remove the scar and no one will ever know I was hurt.”

  “I’ll know.”

  She sounded serious and that concerned him. “Ravyn, are you really okay about the baby?”

  She sat up, dislodging his hand and didn’t stop moving until she knelt facing him. Damon slowly shoved himself up so they were eye to eye. He could sense something bothered her and his gut clenched at the idea that she didn’t want to be pregnant.

  “I’m scared, Damon,” she admitted softly. “It’s not just us facing the killer anymore. I mean that was frightening enough, but now, if something happens, it affects our child too.” He watched her circle her fingers over her stomach, as if offering comfort to the small being now within her womb.

  Damon didn’t bother telling her she wasn’t facing the killer, Ravyn would only argue with him about it, but her concerns reaffirmed his decision to keep her safe. “I promise you,” he said, “nothing is going to harm this baby.”

  “You can’t promise that,” she said. “I wish you could.”

  “Trust me.”

  “I do trust you, but you know there’s no telling what will happen. Neither of us has ever worked with this energy before. What if we don’t become good enough with it to win? What if we win, but something happens to the baby anyway?”

  Ravyn’s tone became more and more intense as she talked and Damon covered her mouth with his to quiet her. She terrified herself more with every word she spoke. Hell, she was scaring him. When he felt some of the tension leave her body, he eased away from the kiss, but kept his arms around her.

  “I’ll take care of the two of you. Trust me,” he repeated.

  She was quiet for a moment, then smiled faintly before settling against him. “Is it too early to claim hormones made me overreact?”

  He traced his fingers down her spine. “If it makes you feel better, you can blame anything you want.”

  “You know what, honey? ”

  “What?”

  “Our baby is damn lucky to have you for a father.”

  Damon stopped breathing for a moment. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tightened his hold on her. No one had ever really cared much one way or the other if he was around, let alone considered his presence lucky. He knew she didn’t realize what those words meant to him. When he finally found his voice, Damon said, “I’m the lucky one, sweet pea. I’m the lucky one.”

  *** *** ***

  Damon wished now he hadn’t suggested this. His curiosity about using energy as a weapon and his desire to keep Ravyn from becoming suspicious about his plans to face the killer alone, had led him to make an error in judgment. He’d thought it would be simple, certainly no more difficult than turning on the lights.

  He was wrong.

  When they’d started, Ravyn had been upright. Then she’d sat on the grassy hillside. Now she was lying on her back, face scrunched up in concentration. He sat, forearms braced on his bent knees, and took another survey of their surroundings. This place was the most unique firing range he’d seen. Three sides were steep, artificial hills, as was three quarters of the last side. The entrance was in a stone wall that ran the last
quarter of the way along the fourth mound. The narrow enclosure seemed to be bubbling with power, although they had yet to fire a shot.

  Damon stretched out beside Ravyn, propping himself up on his elbow, and watched her with concern. Sweat beaded her skin and ran into her hair. Her face was red with exertion, yet beneath the flush, she seemed drawn. Frowning he said, “Ravyn, I think we should quit for the day.”

  “I’ve almost got it.”

  “That’s what you said an hour ago.”

  Her face smoothed out and she opened her eyes, turning her head to look at him. “I really almost have it. Pulling up the energy is easy enough, but it comes in vertically and I need to flip it horizontal to pass it to you. That’s where I’m running into the problem. I lose my grip on it then.”

  Reaching over, he pushed her damp hair off her forehead. “We can come back and try again tomorrow, you know.” He’d find an excuse to avoid it then. Damon knew the answer without her saying a word. He recognized that stubborn look.

  Turning on his back, he linked his hands behind his head. Although he wasn’t watching her, he kept himself tuned to his sweet pea. If it appeared she was in any kind of distress, he’d step in and stop her whether she was ready to quit for the day or not. He watched the clouds drift past and let his mind wander.

  His heart felt full as he considered the future. He wouldn’t bring it up yet, not until he’d taken down the killer, but they had plans to make. Did she want to stay on the CAT teams? And if she did, how would they manage a relationship if she was off world? Then there was his job. Things were heating up again, and he knew he’d be out in the field a lot. He wasn’t sure he wanted to fight in another war or be away from Ravyn and his child for months at a time. They’d work it out somehow, he decided. Loving Ravyn made him too happy to let his career, or hers, get in the way.

  Her gasp yanked him from his thoughts. “What?” he demanded, sitting and facing her.

  Ravyn grinned up at him. “I did it! I turned the energy.” Her smile faded. “But I got so excited, I dropped it again.”