Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series)

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  “My hair is not long,” Rykhan began, his eyes again moving to Wyst who stroked his own middle-of-the-back, dark blonde locks he’d pulled into a half-and-half.

  “Our commander’s hair is down to his waist,” Wyst added. “In our military, long hair denotes a warrior’s strength and length of service.”

  “So why are you in the States?” Pam pressed as she sat back in her seat as she pushed her bowl towards the center of the table. “Are you two on some kind of secret mission or something?”

  Rykhan’s body tensed and Leah clearly felt his alarm emanating, one he seemed unable to control. But she couldn’t understand his reaction when Pam’s question was offered so innocently. Or how she could so easily tell what he was feeling!

  Wyst finally answered after a few beats of silence. “We and our other brothers are on quest.”

  “Other brothers?” Leah’s voice sounded muted and she knew her quiet tone was because she was still trying to process the fact Rykhan would be leaving in six months. “There are more of you?”

  “Our group is comprised of seven warriors, including Bronsyn, our commander,” Rykhan explained as he stared deeply into Leah’s eyes. “Each of us was hand-picked out of a roster of thousands by the Picari council for this first search.”

  “Search? Does that mean you are looking for someone or something?” Pam’s eyes were round and Leah could almost see the smoke coming from her friend’s ears. “Is that why you used the word ‘quest’?”

  Wyst shared a long look with Rykhan. The interruption of their waiter had everyone’s gaze skittering away from one another. “Can I get you anything else this evening or are you ready for the check?”

  “The check would be fine,” Rykhan rumbled, wiping his hands then his mouth with his napkin that he discarded onto the then cleared table. He turned to Leah and leaned closer. “I would consider it an honor to see you again and perhaps share another meal. May I contact you?”

  The formal language perplexed Leah, because it seemed stilted and was in direct contradiction to the longing she felt emanating from him. “I would like that, Rykhan,” she replied softly.

  He again closed his eyes and Leah realized the sensations coming off him had changed to something that was along the lines of…well, awe. “I like hearing my name on your lips, in your voice,” he breathed. Leah knew deep within herself he was speaking the absolute truth, as he knew it.

  Wyst shoved some cash into the billfold that held their check as Pam demanded to leave a tip, but their movements and conversation were simply background noise to the unspoken conversation she and Rykhan shared as he opened his eyes and they stared at one another.

  “We will walk you to your transport,” Wyst announced, shattering the moment. The disappointment Leah felt when Rykhan shifted to the end of the banquette and stood was completely out of portion with all that had gone on, but she couldn’t help it. She slid across the seat and saw Rykhan’s large hand held out, waiting for her. Leah didn’t hold back her smile as she slipped her fingers into his much larger palm.

  That was until she felt her disappointment mirrored on another wave of emotion. It was empathy in its purest form.

  “You can call me on my cellphone,” she offered as she stood on trembling knees again noticing that he towered over her even in the heels that teetered as she tried to find her balance. “I usually get home around 4:30.”

  Never dropping her hand, Rykhan pulled his phone out of his inner suit coat pocket and used his thumb to enter her number. After slipping it away he looked down at her, his gaze moving over her features in a tender visual caress. “Then I shall phone you at 4:31.”

  Leah’s heartbeat took up a faster cadence at the promise in his eyes and flowed all along her nerve endings.

  Chapter Nine

  Leah pushed the key into the lock of her door, turned and gave a small smile to the man standing patiently behind her. Rykhan always walked her all the way to her door at the end of one of their dates. Therefore, there was no reason for her hands to tremble or stomach to dip as she opened her door and entered her apartment. However, she knew her reaction was one of anticipation, at the now threadbare hope the man would finally, finally take the next step and kiss her.

  She was of the opinion that if he didn’t take the initiative and just damn well do it then she could pretty much figure he only wanted them to be friends. Friends whot went out to dinner or to the movies occasionally. Even though on each and every one of their five previous dates, they’d had a lot of fun together. More fun than expected, in Leah’s opinion. While their chemistry had taken them from stilted strangers to friends-who-hugged, Leah wanted more.

  Needed more from the gorgeous man.

  Not to mention, there was her uncanny ability to experience every one of his emotions as he felt them.

  She stepped into the tiny foyer of her apartment and turned to face him. “I had a great time, Rykhan. Thank you.”

  “As did I,” he rumbled, his light almost Caribbean blue-colored eyes twinkling as his face shone with his killer smile. “It is always wonderful being with you.”

  Her eyebrows shot up sharply at his words. He always told her how much fun he’d had in their previous times together but it was the first time he’d ever used the word ‘wonderful’. To hear him say it, especially in the same sentence while referring to her, made her knees weak.

  Her connection to him, the sticky honey of his emotions she felt inside, more than supported the honesty she could sense as he described his feelings.

  “T-thanks,” she managed to stammer out. The truth of it was, up until that moment, Leah was sure she was a lot more into Rykhan than vice-versa. No matter what she picked up along the weird connection they shared.

  Because nobody was truly able to feel another person’s emotions, right?

  She wanted to ask him in, but since he’d turned her down the other four times she’d offered (it was only on their first date that she hadn’t done so), she didn’t want to feel the pain of rejection when he declined yet again. Though she was tempted to, just to fill the silence between them.

  “Are you available on Wednesday night, Leah? I have heard there is a place where people can play miniature golf which sounds like something I would like to try.” His deep voice was extremely attractive, but it was when his foreign accent hitched on certain consonants she thought shifted his speech into the realm of damn sexy.

  “Sure,” she replied and shoved her disappointment into a far corner of her heart. She knew, just damn well knew the man wanted her just as much as she wanted him. Why didn’t he make a move, for god’s sake? “Give me a call…”

  He stepped forward, his broad shoulders filling the doorway. His eyebrows drawn together as his smile faded. “What is wrong? Did I not word that correctly?”

  “Wrong?” Leah tried a small laugh that sounded fake even to her ears. “No, you spoke perfectly.” There had been more than a few instances where Rykhan had gotten tangled in his English words but his speech had improved a lot. Something he told her was a direct result of her help.

  His eyes slowly roamed over her face as he moved even closer. “You do not seem happy with my suggestion for our next outing.”

  Rykhan’s confusion seeped and coated her insides.

  A door across the hall opened and without thinking, Leah snagged the folded cuff of his shirt, practically dragging him the rest of the way inside before she closed the door and twisted the dead bolt. Living in an apartment complex was like living in a fishbowl and Leah liked to keep her private life to herself.

  Turning back to where he stood in front of the foyer’s closet door, she inhaled deeply.

  Audibly.

  Maybe it was time to put it out there.

  They’d met at a singles event so they both knew the other was looking to connect with someone. But with his lack of moves and zero interest in engaging in anything of the physical intimacy variety, Leah decided to put her cards on the table.

  She leaned
, pressing her back against the front door as she stared at him.

  God, he was stunning.

  Tall. So tall that he towered over her five-foot, ten-inch stature. Tall enough that she could comfortably wear heels when she was with him.

  Long, sun-streaked brown hair fell in waves to his shoulders. To his broad, muscled shoulders. Even though she’d never actually seen his chest, she’d pressed against it enough times in their brief hugs to know Rykhan worked out, since both it and his abs were comprised of amazing hills and valleys.

  He was going to be a hard act to follow, but Leah was willing to cut her losses and move on.

  Because everything within her wanted to be so much more to him than just a friend.

  As her mind swirled with all those thoughts as well as the knowledge that she wasn’t what he was looking for, her mouth blurted, “Why haven’t you ever tried to kiss me?”

  She immediately clapped a hand over her traitorous lips. He looked as shocked as she felt by her abrupt question.

  “Kiss you?” His voice only a whisper in the air between them.

  “Yeah. Sorry, that just kind of slipped out,” Leah muttered, looking down at the floor, mortified to her core. As if to add insult to injury, the sharp heat of a deep blush crept up her face.

  However, it was nothing compared to the flare of desire shooting off him. The very same one coating her insides.

  There were a couple of beats of silence before he spoke again. “You want me to put my mouth on yours, Leah?”

  She dragged her eyes back up to his because she needed to see if his reaction to her oh-so-honest but embarrassing gaff.

  His face held a look of amazed confusion.

  Moreover, the wave of sticky honey said the same.

  ‘You certainly put your foot in it this time.’ Leah thought her mind was overstating the obvious. So she simply nodded in reply.

  “I thought hu…ah, American females liked things to go slowly when they dated.” He swallowed deeply and Leah watched his throat as it moved through the motion. Even his damn neck was sexy! “And a kiss, even this early in our relationship, would be considered appropriate?”

  There was that itch again. One that told her he was nervous or upset.

  She could only nod again as everything in her body started squealing ‘yes, a thousand times yes!’ From his question, she deduced he hadn’t regulated her to the position of sidekick, as just someone to go out with until he found a woman prettier and more enjoyable. Perhaps he had been taking it slowly, unsure of her American customs—things so different from what he knew or had experienced back in his home country.

  Then the sensation she felt coming off him changed.

  With a look of quiet determination, Rykhan took a small step forward and placed his hands on the door, a palm on either side of Leah’s head, as he leaned in until their faces were just inches apart. “Then I will be more than happy as well as honored to kiss you, my Leah,” he breathed and tilted his chin downward, their eyes caught in an unblinking stare.

  The simmering desire between them flared all along her skin and layered itself inside.

  He filled her vision as she lifted her face to his, silently offering her lips as her pounding heart resounded in every cell of her body. The first press of his lips against hers was simple, almost innocent as he glided his mouth over hers. It was an inquisitive kiss yet in some way welcoming and she canted her head to allow him better access.

  His low groan, and the heat of the honey emitting from him in waves, gave Leah the courage to move her hands from his waist to his back in order to bring their bodies closer together. An action he liked, if the way he shifted to pull her away from the door and against his chest was any indication.

  Never mind the escalating heat that zinged through her, of how very much he wanted…no, needed to touch her.

  Giving her the courage to use her tongue to trace the seam of his mouth, which gained her another moan so deep and so fervent, she was sure it came from his very toes. She continued the move, adding more pressure with each moist sweep in a silent plea for him to let her inside.

  When Rykhan finally parted his lips, Leah wasted no time darting inside, her whole body thrilling when she felt the first touch of his tongue against hers. His body stilled at their initial contact and she wondered if she’d gone too far.

  However, it was as if some kind of emotional orgasm hit her as his tongue met hers. A joining that went far and beyond a simple sampling.

  ‘In for a penny…’ she thought as she used her lips to suckle his, curling around in a hot, wet caress before moving to stroke as she tantalized and tasted. For a very few seconds, she wondered if he would respond or would allow her to take the lead. He hesitated, his moves a bit unsure for a moment before he gripped her even tighter, angling his head as he joined in with more enthusiasm than she’d ever seen him display.

  His capitulation turned into mastery by nothing more than the moist, joyous fusing of their lips.

  His mouth commanded as his tongue plundered, causing Leah to arch her breasts against him. Her body was on fire with the way he tormented her lips in a kiss that was no longer simple. Just as she thought of taking him and his delicious mouth into the bedroom, a hot sharp pain sliced against her bicep. An agonizing band of burn wrapped itself around her arm and she yanked herself away from him, bumping the back of her head against the door in the process.

  “Ouch!” She yelped through swollen lips as she grabbed the area that throbbed even though the pain was quickly ebbing.

  “Did I hurt you?” Rykhan asked and she snapped her eyes back up to his face. Of all the times for it to have happened!

  His concerned question immediately removed the warm, honeyed stickiness and instead coated her skin in ice.

  “No, it wasn’t you. I just…it was like…” Her mind whirled from their mouth-play and she struggled to find the words to explain why she’d so abruptly disconnected from him. “My arm felt like something burned me. Almost like a brand or something.”

  Using his eyes to ask permission, Rykhan pried her hand away so he could see her skin. His fingers traced over the same spot she’d felt the sting, even pulling her arm away from her body to trail the underneath side. A skittering of goose bumps followed in his touch’s wake.

  She couldn’t sense anything from him then and his lack of emotions scared her even more than the burn she’d experienced.

  “Can you see anything?” she asked, studying his face. All that she’d seen on her skin had been the slight red mark from where she’d grabbed at it.

  His somber eyes grew thoughtful but Leah knew he was holding both himself and his emotions in check. “Have you ever had that kind of pain before? In any other place on your body?” he queried, completely ignoring the question she’d asked him.

  “No,” Leah sighed. She wanted to get back to what they’d been doing before her body interrupted them. But even she had to admit the mood was broken. Especially since she could no longer feel his emotions. “I’ve never had that happen.”

  “Good.” His strong arms stole around her again and maybe it was because she couldn’t see his expression or feel his feelings, she became aware of the bemused tone in his one worded growl. Placing a casual quick kiss on her forehead, his hands dropped away and he stepped back. “I should be going. I will call you tomorrow and we can arrange a time to go miniature golfing.”

  She told herself it was for the best as Leah opened the locks. “Goodnight, Rykhan.”

  With one hand on the railing, he turned back to her with a rueful grin. She felt a small pulse of pleasure directed at her. “Goodnight, my Leah. Sleep well.”

  With that, their sixth date was over.

  *.*.*.*.*

  Rykhan fought his body the entire way to his vehicle parked in the visitor’s section of Leah’s apartment complex. He battled against both his elation and the need to race back to his earth-side residence so he could inform the other warriors, to tell them of what had transpi
red between him and Leah that evening.

  Not that he was anxious to tell of the kiss they had shared, although it had been more than amazing. He had seen it performed on the vids and had even viewed other human couples as they shared in the mouth-on-mouth movement that somehow signified their affection for one another. In all truth, what he had shared with Leah had been even better in the actual experience than he had imagined. So deeply arousing Rykhan had temporarily gotten lost in it, in the feel of her, and the sensations that had shot wildly through him at their mouths joining. To feel her arousal along their connection was a dream, a fantasy which could have only come from Tsiran’s ether. Electrifying and inciting him in a way that left his tailpor throbbing and demanding release.

  Nevertheless, it was what interrupted their kiss that rocked him to his roots.

  Once he had viewed the red streaks encircling her arm, of the space of flesh where her bicep ended and her shoulder began, Rykhan had been more than astounded.

  Rykhan hitched himself into the car and carefully entered his next destination into the modified and enhanced GPS system. Arbrynt had tinkered with the vehicle until the car operated on autopilot, guiding him to his destination without any need for his control and within the guidelines of Phoenix’s laws of driving. When Leah was in the car with him, Rykhan was careful to maintain the appearance that he was guiding the vehicle. However, it was a lie. There were simply too many things to remember in how to operate a vehicle and with her as a distraction, the autopilot was a gift.

  As the car started and the gearshift moved of its own accord, he felt his body jolt anew at the memory of what had happened before he had left her company. Of how her body had taken on and reflected his own symbol of the warrior’s band and in the same exact spot on her body. The very place where his wahrom rested, complete in every detail, in every curve and design. In fact, the only difference was in how it was on her left arm but contained every measure of detail. A mark that had faded quickly under his caressing gaze.

  He was more than aware of what the lines signified. Just as he had known the first time he had met her and had seen the same scoring.