Pixilated

by Jane Atchley

  "I expect—I hope to make love with you, but it doesn’t have to be tonight. Nothing happens in this room tonight unless you want it to happen. I came so close to losing you today. I am content just to hold you."

  "Kree, Colt—"

  "He is dead, sweetheart. He died the moment he touched you. Forget him."

  "But I need to tell you what happened."

  "Hush. There is nothing men do to their captives you need to tell me. On some level, I know you’re sorry he died because the sod-rotted bastard stole your bond. But I’ll make it up to you if it is the last thing I do, and if there is a child, I will love it as my own. It’ll be a part of you, and that’s all that matters."

  "Stop it! Listen to me!" Kayseri pounded his chest with her fist. "Colt didn't rape me. I kept him busy with mischief. He hit me, and yes, he would have raped me given the chance. But you didn't give him the chance. You didn’t fail me. You never fail me."

  Kree wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Scooping her up in his arms, he deposited her on a soft fur rug spread before the dying fire and rained hungry little kisses on her lips. Soon they were both breathless. Kayseri snuggled into his chest and for a while, he held her thinking he must really be the luckiest son-of-bitch alive

  "You smell wonderful," Kayseri whispered.

  Hearing her say such a thing made him laugh. "I’m glad you think so."

  "I can feel your heart beating."

  "You can’t hear it?" Kree gave her his crooked smile. "With those ears?" His tongue teased her sensitive ear-point and when he blew a breath across it, she shivered in his arms. "Are you sure you don’t want me to stir up your fire?"

  "Yes please." Kree’s hands stroked her breasts and his lips followed his fingers, teasing her nipples until she arched her back giving him greater access. "The fire, Kree," She gasped.

  "I'm working on it." He trailed more kisses down her taut stomach and across her hips to the tender skin inside her thighs.

  "You said… Oh!" His tongue flicked across the cleft at her core. "Oh! That feels— Oh! It feels good!"

  Kree raised his head, chin wet with her dew and smiled. "We’re just beginning. Sweetheart," he whispered.

  It was amazing. Kayseri lay cradled in the circle of Kree’s arms her cheek resting on his chest, a contented smile on her face. There had been a moment when she'd first seen him that she feared it would never work. But everything worked just fine. It worked better than fine, actually. Had there been pain? The women told her there would be but Kayseri did not remember it. Nor did she remember how they got from the floor to the bed or when exactly Kree shed his clothing. Evidently, her beloved captain had his own mischief.

  "Can we do that again?" Kayseri felt him chuckle under her cheek.

  "In a little while, my passionate pixie. I am a mere human."

  "Did they teach you deflower virgins at your temple?"

  The breath rushed out of him. "You can't ask me such questions."

  She leaned on her elbow and gazed into his eyes. "You said I could ask you anything."

  Kree rolled his eyes, grinning. "So I did, but that one is a no win sort of question." She punched him in the ribs. "Phrase it in a way that won’t get me in trouble with my wife and I'll answer it."

  Twisting one of his blessing braids around her finger Kayseri formed a new question. "Is there anything they don't teach you at your temple?"

  Kree pretended to consider it, raised his head, and kissed her nose. "Nothing comes to mind. Anything else you want to know?"

  Kayseri studied his beloved face for a moment, leaned over, and pressed a kiss to his eyebrow. "Where did you get this scar?"

  "In a tavern brawl when I was—" His eyes cut to the right. "Fifteen."

  "And this one?"

  "A lesson in humility courtesy of Chana Falconer."

  "This?" Kayseri kissed the slight bump on the bridge of his nose.

  "I got that one when your father broke my nose."

  Kayseri levered herself up enough to see his expression. "My father broke your nose?"

  Kree smiled at her, sleepy eyed. Her heart melted. "I deserved it."

  "Were all your scars inflicted by your friends?"

  "I will have you know I have taken nine—no ten, counting this trip, honorable wounds. But if you want to see those scars you will have to look—" Kree cut his eyes evocatively. "Lower."

  Kayseri’s erotic kiss-and-tell exploration of her husband's body continued until his answers came in gasps of pleasure, and he was hard with desire. She took him into her mouth doing for him as he had done for her before she straddled his hips taking him inside her. She marveled at the way her body stretched to accommodate his. This was true magic. Resting his hands on her hips, Kree helped her find a rhythm that soon brought them both to a shattering climax. Sweaty and tangled in the sheets, she rested her head on Kree’s chest. "Did my father really break your nose?"

  His heart hammered under her ear. "Uh huh." His voice was heavy, satisfied, sleepy. "He probably will again."

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Their banding breakfast took place the following morning. A king’s ransom in crystal, gold, and silver tableware filled long tables arranged under the tall trees. Kree and Kayseri sat at the high table alongside Rian and Sandahl. Although this was technically the First couple’s banding breakfast the captain and his lady were the couple honored.

  The guests were in high spirits, and the jokes and well wishes flew. Everything was perfect except for the empty place at Kree's left reserved for his first lieutenant. Tardiness was not part of Duncan's make up. Then again, his man had been uncharacteristically sozzled last night. Likely, he had a tremendous head this morning. Kree had just leaned in to ask Rian to send someone in search of the first lieutenant, when a chorus of whistles and applause erupted from the elves and from Red Fist. Duncan approached the high table resplendent in a Nhurstari tunic and hose of deep sapphire. The cloak woven of spider web fine blue silk fastened at his shoulders by gold oak leaves. Some sort of intricate sepia tattoo encircled his right biceps.

  "Oh look, Kree!" Kayseri squeezed his arm urgently. "Isn't Duncan beautiful?"

  She said it as if she had only just noticed. Maybe she had. Kree covered her hand with his, and leaned toward Rian. "You said he’d be safe."

  "I said my cousins would not ill-use him," Rian laughed.

  There was an odd bit of Nhurstari logic. Kree decided to measure Duncan’s discomfort before becoming angry on his behalf. "You’re out of uniform, First Lieutenant."

  "Yes, sir." Duncan took his place beside his captain going a bit greener as the servants pile his plate with food. "The terrible twins took my uniform...t-to play with. Pray, take them into your service, sir. I crave requital." Duncan shot a hopeful glance at Kree. "I have spare uniform in my tent, sir."

  "You do look a little tattered around the edges, Shug." Kree grinned. He could not help himself. "Are you unwell?"

  Duncan eyed his plate. "There is an excellent chance I may cast up my accounts at any moment, sir."

  "Would you like to be excused?"

  "Not if my absence causes us to lose face with the Nhurstari, sir?"

  Kree chuckled. The man was funny in unexpected ways. "Not nearly as badly as we will if my first lieutenant punks on their Majority."

  Duncan slowly got to his feet. "Then I am in your debt, sir."

  "Duncan," Kree called after him. "Have the cadets start folding tents. I want to move out as soon as we’re done here."

  "I will give the order to strike tents at once, sir." Good-natured hisses catcalls protested Duncan's departure.

  The captain and his lady took their leave shortly after noon, a good deal later than Kree had hoped. The twins persuaded him that their lives were worth nothing if they could not be cavalrymen. Kayseri and Sandahl’s goodbyes were longer and soggier than Kree expected. He finally pried the weeping girls apart by promising to visit. Stepping outside, he found Garen mounted on Katie's mare. Garen carried a
letter from the Majority Apparent to the Thallasi apprizing them of Sandahl's safe arrival and expressing Nhurstari’s grief over Prince Eldren’s death. Kree said nothing of this arrangement. Kayseri must have offered the elf her mare, and Kree did not mind the idea of sharing his saddle with his new wife in the least. There was another short delay while Duncan instructed the twins in basic horsemanship. It was a total failure. Finally, Kree appointed a cadet to lead them, declaring they could learn as they rode.

  "This is going to be so much fun, sir." Duncan muttered to Kree as he made his way to his own spotted gelding.

  They rode slowly due to the twins' general ineptitude. Garen, however, proved a surprisingly strong horseman. Kree dropped back to ride beside him.

  "I understood Nhurstari didn’t ride."

  Garen gave him a bright toothy smile. "The Houses do not sin they can access the ways, but I was not born a Lord of Nhurstari."

  "How does that happen, if you don’t mind my asking?"

  "Not at all, Rian and I have the same mother. My sire was a gardener on my grandsire’s estate. Mother saw him and loved him. It happens that way with us more often than not. Anyway, Mother was of the First House and my sire was—not." Garen glanced at Kree riding at his shoulder. "The mate bond cares nothing for station, but of course Mother’s family did. So the lovers met in secret stealing moments together among the trees and flowers my sire caused to grow. That’s my talent too, growing things. I hope you both enjoyed my roses. Anyway, this arrangement worked well enough until Mother conceived, then of course, they could not conceal their relationship. Mother’s parents sent my sire to one of their outlying farms, and they sent me to live with him once I was born.

  "My sire died in an accident some years later. Now, Rian’s father had loved my mother from their youth. In due time, he offered for her hand and she accepted him. He was—he is the kindest of elves. For a bride gift, he restored me to my mother and reared me as his own. Even after Rian’s birth, his affection for me never wavered. And I—I became the champion of my beloved legitimate brother."

  Kayseri sighed and leaned her head on the captain’s shoulder. "That’s so romantic."

  "But I thought Wilderkin mated for life," Kree said.

  "Ah. You are thinking of the mate bond which is a once in a lifetime pairing." Garen’s gaze touched Kayseri’s face and lingered for a moment. "But its loss does not render us unable to love in ordinary ways. Imagine the bitterness of a lifetime stretching for millennia with only a single chance at love. If it were so, many of us would not wish to continue long after losing our bonded mate."

  ***

  Kree reined in before the Bruin cabin hidden deep in the pixie woods. Eager to tell her news, Kayseri slid from her mare’s back and dashed inside shouting for her mother. The captain dismounted slowly, followed by Garen.

  Seated on a stump by the front door Lathan greeted Kree "My daughter returns home none the worse for wear it seems. What took you so long?"

  "Things happened I didn’t plan on." Kree cleared his throat. He was ridiculously nervous. "We need to talk."

  "I surmised as much." Lathan nodded toward Garen. "What is this stranger you’ve brought to my door?"

  "He’s a Nhurstari elf. There is a mountain range full of them only an eight-day ride north of here. Who'd believe it?"

  "Who is he?"

  The captain blushed. "Your pardon, Lathan, meet Garen Nhurstari. Garen is here as an envoy from Rian, Majority Apparent of Nhurstari. I’ll explain all that later. Garen, this is Lathan Bruin. Lathan is our god-worker and Katie’s father."

  "It is a pleasure, Mister Bruin." Garen offered his hand after the human fashion.

  Lathan eyed the elf's outstretched hand. "We’ll see."

  Kayseri burst from the house carrying an infant in her arms. Her five brothers tumbled out on her heels. She introduced the baby to Garen while the younger Bruins crowded around him. Strangers did not visit their home often, and this stranger was stranger than most. They all wanted to talk to him.

  Kree took advantage of the distraction. "Come aside with me will you, Lath?" After they had walked a few yards into the surround woods, he cleared his throat. "Lathan, you know you mean more to me than any man—

  "Sweet lord." Lathan interrupted. "When you rode up, your expression told me you had something appalling to say. You’ve never been good at hiding your feelings, but I never imagined anything horrific enough it needed to be prefaced with that." He glanced back at Garen. "That creature—what did you say he was? Nhurstari? He is in love with my daughter. Anyone can see it. Have they put you up to persuading me to give my consent to a total stranger?"

  "No. Lath. Just let me get this out without interrupting, will you?" A note of desperation had crept into Kree's voice he hoped Lathan didn’t notice.

  Lathan folded his arms across his chest while Kree stared at the toes of his boots. "Come on, Kree. As you are fond of saying, we’ve known each other too long to piss about."

  Kree took a deep breath. "All right. Here it is. Garen is in love with Katie, but she is not in love with him. For some crazy reason, she loves me and well, Lathan, it turns out I love her too."

  "Are you asking permission to court my daughter?" Lathan replied with a doubtful little chuckle.

  "No. I’m telling you I married Katie in a Nhurstari ceremony eight days ago. I’m just not doing a very good job of it."

  Lathan stared at him, opening, and closing his mouth like a beached fish.

  "You need to understand this was nothing I set out to do. I know I’ll die in battle someday, and I don’t want Katie left alone and broken-hearted any more than you do. But then I met Garen. Do you see?" Kree nodded toward the elf. "Suppose for a minute, I am killed. He'll be there for her. Or, let’s say I live to the end of my days. What's fifty years or so more years to the likes of him, a blink of the eye? I’ve been a fool for Katie since she was a girl. Is it so surprising I might be a bigger fool for her now she’s a woman grown?" He stared at his friend, distress rolling off him in waves. "Say something, Lathan. Punch me in the nose. Anything!"

  The subject of Kree's confession chose that very moment to join them, leaving Garen to the mercy of her brothers and a growing crowd of curious pixies. Kayseri took Kree's hand lacing her fingers with his, a gesture at once possessive and loving. She studied her father’s stunned countenance, and then gazed up at the captain with her heart in her eyes.

  "You told him?"

  Kree nodded.

  "Is he going to break your nose?"

  "It’s too soon to tell."

  Kayseri fixed her gazed on her father. "I told him you think him the best man of your acquaintance. I told him you’ll be happy for us, but he does not believe me. He thinks he's too old for me. I can't imagine why. Tell him age doesn't matter. It didn't matter to you and mother. Can't you see how anxious he is? He has no sparkle at all."

  Her reference to the Wilderkin mating-bond snapped Lathan out of his stupor. He started to chuckle and then to laugh. "So you caught your captain as you always claimed you would!" He laughed again. "I will not pretend this will be an easy adjustment—thinking of Kree as my son, but you look happy daughter and that’s all I ever wanted. Where will the two of you live?"

  "I hadn’t thought much about it." Kree shrugged. "I still have a town house."

  "I won’t live in that house," Kayseri said.

  Kree was surprised. It was a very pretty house. "Why not?"

  She looked up at him. "Because you hate that house. It is full of bad memories for you. I want us to make new memories. Good ones."

  "All right, what are your thoughts, wife?"

  "The officers’ quarters will do for us." She caught her lower lip between her teeth for a moment. "I do wish we could have a parlor and our own dining room."

  "You see why I love her, Lath? She’s smart and low maintenance." Kree hugged Kayseri to his side. "I can manage a parlor and a dining room. Go rescue Garen while I finish my business with your papa." />
  "If anyone can tame my wild headstrong daughter, you’d be the man, Lathan said as they watched Kayseri sprint toward the house.

  "Tame her? Why would I want to? I love her the way she is. I don’t her to change."

  Lathan laughed. "No, I guess you don’t. You've always loved a good brawl. I’ve never met a more stubborn man in my life. But let me warn you, my daughter is just as stubborn. Only she’s sly where you are high-handed. This is a great match. If you don’t murder each other inside a year, you should both be very happy. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it myself."

  "I am not high-handed, and I’m not stubborn either. I’m authoritative."

  "Of course you are." Lathan dismissed Kree’s protest with the self-satisfied grin. "So tell me, do you plan to keep your replacement at your side until he’s needed?"

  "Don’t think I wouldn’t, but the fact is Garen is on his way to Thallasi on an errand for his brother, and since we are going to Elhar too I thought it would be safer for him to travel with us."

  Lathan gave Kree a quizzical glance. "What makes you imagine, oh authoritative one, that I am going to Elhar?"

  "This." Kree unroll a small piece of oilcloth and watched his friend's eyes widen.

  "Ah, shit."

  "Yeah, my sentiments exactly. It was tattooed on a mercenary captain’s cheek." Kree touched the small rectangular scar beside his right ear. "It is a mockery of a Goddess mark."

  "You killed this man?"

  "How the hell else do you think I got this?

  Lathan shot him a quick glance. "Sounds personal."

  "It was. Sit. I’ll fill you in."

  Beginning with the attack on Eldren’s carriage and finishing with Duncan’s discovery of the tattoo, Kree rehearsed the whole tale with practiced military clarity. He did not gloss over or leave out anything, much as he wished to. When he finished, Lathan folded the scrap of tattooed flesh in the oilcloth, and handed to Kree.