Empress Hiding

by Y. M. Roger

  But now, with respect to this non-predatoral male that had aroused his body, Tempt found that his need to dominate was now rivaled with strange new emotions such as the need to protect and to pleasure in return – to actually make this Shadow desire him as much as his entire body desired the lechtneu. It should not be difficult – he could sense on their plane of absence that the altre was definitely the submissive type as it cowered, not wanting to search for him. But, and this according to his Unisha, the lechtneu was also built quite sturdily and covered with a thick, long coat that would prevent injuries during their siktir sessions – especially with such a dangerous predator as himself.

  Tempt felt himself harden just thinking about it as he completed a second circle over the trees – confirming for himself that, indeed, this Shadow was there, just under the canopy. It seemed the lechtneu had been watching the small group of hantungs that tended to congregate outside the walls there – the abundance of wild jygurhit and the bubbling underground spring making the area a pleasant and well-supplied gathering spot for the medium-sized predators. For some reason, the fact that his destined mate was interested in his kind affected him in a way that things rarely did: it made him smile.

  And Tempt decided he really liked the affect that this smiling had on his psyche.

  Deciding that he simply had to meet this Shadow – no, he corrected himself, his Shadow – the hantung decided to settle onto the stronger upper branch of the tree and start familiarizing them with each other. Afterall, they were destined to be mated – his Unisha had confirmed that she felt as much as well – and Tempt wanted his lechtneu to see what a prize he would have for a protector as well as a life partner.

  And perhaps charm him into a bout before even their cognates were joined.

  Grasping the branch tightly with his muscular legs, Tempt found himself almost giddy with anticipation – yet another unknown emotion to him – as the scent of the delectable male filled his senses. The proximity brought an almost serenity to the usually brash and almost unfeeling hantung. Thinking he would be behind the lechtneu from his chosen landing spot, Tempt almost childishly nuzzled through the large leaves separating them to see if his Shadow were visible.

  That action brought him practically face-to-face with what had to be the most attractive visage Tempt had ever seen, but, in less than the time between their dual heartbeats, that countenance was filled with a panic that rivaled the looks of some of Tempt’s prey. Only, instead of bringing forth feelings of dominance and victory, Tempt was suddenly filled with dread as he realized his Shadow thought himself the hantung’s prey!

  As the beautiful creature began to scurry down the trunk – that thick fur was definitely something through which Tempt was going to enjoy running his talons – Tempt reached forward, trying to catch the lechtneu before he got himself all worked up into a panic over nothing.

  But the lechtneu was too fast for him – a fact that brought another smile to Tempt’s face – oh, he was so going to enjoy his mate, feisty and, perhaps, skiddish as he was. And, this time, that smile led to true laughter – not sarcastic or sardonic or flippantly produced, but actual jovial laughter – as the hantung spread its wings, his intent to drift downward and land ahead of his Shadow’s path to try again to reassure him.

  Tempt heard a unique and wonderful sound. Although he had never heard the calls and songs – if the nature datafeeds from which his Unisha had read were correct – of a lechtneu as the animals were not native to their homelands, he knew that soulful call had to be his Shadow.

  What a wonderful voice the animal had – his mate had – it was like none other the hantung had heard.

  With quick predatoral calculation, Tempt surmised the lechtneu was headed for the fountain, which gave him the perfect spot to land to intercept Shadow’s run.

  And show the seemingly startled yet handsome male that he meant him no harm, and, perhaps, touch that inviting fur that made his claws want to pull the animal into him and spear its tender …

  No! His Shadow collided with the fountain wall just beneath him. Sighing at his intended mate’s apparent clumsiness and simply reaching down to assist the poor dear, Tempt heard the lechtneu croon once again, but, this time, the hantung could hear the fear that floated on the melody.

  And the cry this time woke his Unisha.

  “Tempt? What in the name of …”

  It was nothing, sevgilim. Just relax I am trying to calm …

  Determined to take control of the situation, Tempt dismounted the fountain wall and stalked after Shadow as he continued his “conversation” with Unisha.

  “You have never tried to calm anything,” Unisha tone was accusatory and biting as the fearful sing-song increased its intensity, “In your life, Tempt! If you are hunting just say so! What in godsfall are you …”

  Tempt tried to use a calm voice as the lechtneu began climbing on the spare clothing outside the door.

  My mate is just a little shaken with my …

  Unisha exploded in anger and fury – her push to present – to pull Tempt into absence – was one that Tempt shortly realized he would not win – Unisha was far too strong for him to resist for long when she was this determined.

  Unisha knew that Tempt’s situation was surely out of control with the sounds that the lechtneu was making, and she had to pull him back.

  “Let go, dammit! You have to kahroloasi let me … aaaarrrgh!” Unisha’s roar spoke of her mental and physical strain and – just as Tempt watched his beautiful Shadow collide headlong in the wall of the main house – announced her presence just moments after a dazed Yearlan presented where the lechtneu had lain.

  The attractive male that had captured their attention from the start was stunning nude. In fact, seeing him without all the layers he usually donned did nothing but make Unisha instantly wet for him – his sculpted and muscular chest and substantial package on display as he rose to grab a pair of pants. But, as she had feared, his calling and usually cool amber eyes immediately filled with dislike as it was clear he still fought the trembling that had most likely engulfed them both as the lechtneu had fled from what it had perceived to be a mortal threat.

  He would not even let his eyes roam down her feminine form as she stood to reach for some clothing as well – Unisha almost wanted to cry at the control the male had to have to not ogle her. Even many of the guards in their workouts had made it visually clear that her form was particularly desirable when they knew she could beat the living godsfall out of them for even a glance. Oh, Makers, was this incident going to be that much of an obstacle to their … to them now?

  There is no “them” yet, sevgilim, remember? You refuse to act.

  Oh, she was so not in the mood for Tempt’s saçmalik right now, and, internally, she made that very clear.

  Yearlan sniffed the air – his face not at all unreadable as he recognized her female arousal. However, instead of bending him towards their coupling, Yearlan completely misinterpreted it.

  “So glad this entertainment was pleasurable to you and your altre,” his cutting words were bitten off with more anger than she would have thought possible given his usual jovial yet mostly reserved demeanor. He swiped his forehead where Tempt obviously had collided with one wall or another, the blood beginning to trail toward his right eye, “As I am sure Shadow and I will never forget it,” the snarl he suppressed in his voice was all his own as he turned to key the code on the door, “Elveda, Teyman.”

  Unisha’s heart sank, but she was not going to let their mate walk away feeling like this was an intentional encroachment on the peacefulness they had between them. The male – her male – had to know it had simply been an unwise over-indulgence on Tempt’s part …

  She reached out and grabbed his bicep quite forcefully and tried to turn the handsome Yearlan to face her – to try to reason with him, to explain what she surmised must have transpired …

&n
bsp; “No, Yearlan, I …”

  But Yearlan refused to yield to her – especially given the fact that no show of aegis accompanied her speech – and he only deigned to turn his face toward her momentarily. Unisha lost her words as their visions locked momentarily, and she fought the need to over-power him and pull him to her.

  Just kahrolasi do it, sevgilim! Make them see who they are to us!

  “We have not the stomach to provide you further pleasure, hanfendi,” his voice still trembled and his eyes – oh, Makers! His eyes! – they shot daggars if not long knives, “Now,” he paused and took an almost ragged breath as his eyes fell away – the transition to sadness and even humiliation quite evident before they turned away and back toward the door for that final time. The gorgeous male steward stood rigid and finished his statement, “Please. Remove your hand.”

  Unisha let go as she felt her chest begin to weigh heavily with regret? Heartbreak? She was not even sure – neither of them was familiar to her, but she could not look away from his body – from his gorgeous buttocks even in those loose-fitting pants. Oh, how she wanted him!

  But, as Yearlan walked through the door, Unisha knew better to pursue him right now – it did not matter what she managed to say at this point, it would be completely misinterpreted by the distressed male.

  By her Yearlan.

  Their mate.

  That is what I keep kahrolasi trying to get you to do something about, sevgilim!

  Unisha launched into her arrogant and cheeky Tempt as she shoved her legs angrily into her pants.

  “Do not ‘sevgilim’ me, you ahmak!”

  She was furious, and she was hurting, and it was all because of …

  “You just had to think only with your herif!” Unisha yanked one of the shirts angrily over her now mussied hair, its highlights almost glowing in the darkness whereas her skin practically faded into the night, “Now, he believes we were aroused bec …”

  Oh, but I still kahrolasi am, my sweet sevgilim! So kahrolasi hard thinking of their soft …

  “You esholeshek! They think it is because of the kahrolasi hunt!”

  Unisha felt her Tempt freeze inside of her.

  You mean they think …?

  Unisha growled with frustration as she keyed their passcode into the door secpanel.

  “Yes, dammit!” Her voice went from yelling at her Tempt to an extremely exercised whisper as they entered the main building, “That we kahrolasi got off by chasing your lechtneu!”

  Unisha growled and practically roared with frustration through clenched teeth as she marched back through the hallway to make a final check inside before heading back to the guard housing.

  The check was simply out of habit as she was not on duty, but she did it anyway. Anything to occupy time …

  Would ‘I am sorry’ help?

  Unisha could feel her Tempt’s regret bathing her insides, but she had no room for forgiveness right now. A small tear trailed down her cheek as she exited the main building to cross the compound – another followed shortly behind it.

  No, she was still furious at him for the awkwardness that he had introduced between them and Yearlan.

  “And you are kahrolasi confined to quarters until further notice!” her voice loud and angry once again.

  But, if you seal our quarters, sevgilim, I will … I will not …

  “I will leave food out, and you can use your kahrolasi paws or hump the damn bedpost, you arrogant esholeshek, if you even find yourself horny after the fear you just caused our mate!” Unisha sobbed for the first time in … well, she could not remember when, “Oh, Makers, Tempt! He was kahrolasi bleeding!”

  Tempt did not even respond – his Unisha never cried, never even got hurt or upset. Really. She would simply get angry, beat the living godsfall out of whoever – singular or plural – was the cause, and then move on. He and his Unisha were quite alike in that respect.

  But now …

  As he listened and felt the sobs that racked her body right now, he realized he had really kahrolasd.

  Big time.

  Unisha figured there was no way she could go into the barracks right now – too many eyes, too many questions. And she sure as godsfall was not going to sleep any time soon.

  She headed for the gym. There, a good punching bag and loads of pain-inducing workout equipment waited for her to exhaust herself.

  I do love you, my sevgilim. We will still win them.

  Unisha growled loudly.

  And ignored him.

  Chapter 32

  Mysstree sat at the foot of the bed, methodically rubbing Kilgar’s feet and lower calves, marveling at the fact that he had yet to tire of her stories she told of her jobs both at the secondary schools and at the Peacekeeper headquarters. She had even paused to offer to stop talking on a number of occasions now so that they could rest – knowing that he had to be tired after such a long and, yes, emotionally stressful day as they had slowly grown accustomed to each other’s presence. It seemed that only her and Captain Marid were having the communication difficulties as Miannmarr had explained that, although she could not see the demercriere, the animal was certainly emitting what her intelligent altre had described as “protective as well as provocative pheremones” – a description at which Mysstree had had to chuckle. But at least Miannmarr was at peace, already listing an unending string of questions that the nestingler planned to research once Mysstree needed a nap or something. Mysstree knew that, between the two of them, they had done a lot of reading, etc. when they had told Balstir they would help Captain Marid, and she could not imagine what else it was that her professor needed to “research”, but, after not much thought and the emotions that emanated from her altre inside of her, she decided that it would be better if she did not ask.

  She glanced up again at Kilgar’s magnificent visage – his rapt attention focused on the monitor where she knew her words were displayed, with a slight glance at her once in a while – he truly did not look bored. Mysstree tried to tell all of the most interesting – and weird and dangerous and unexpected – experiences as a Peacekeeper ruhbilimist as well as dealing with some of her more trying adolescent cases at the secondary school.

  Mysstree yawned and tried to cover it quickly, an action that seemed to seize the Captain’s attention. She blushed as she felt his gaze upon her intensify with the action.

  “Apologies, Captain,” she said as she quickly withdrew her hand and looked away, knowing the blush would probably climb higher on her cheeks before it receded, “It snuck up on me.”

  She chuckled, somewhat embarrassed, but picked up where she had left off.

  “But the young male thought it would be a better idea to bare his, uhm,” Mystree grinned at the memory and glanced up as she looked for an appropriate word for buttocks.

  There, Kilgar’s gaze remained locked on her, and she started to feel as if she was being scolded for not suppressing her yawn like she was a youth in school again.

  And the grin immediately ran away from her face – it had been a long day for her as well.

  “What?” Mysstree asked quite low but still quite aggravatedly, “Did I offend your tender sensibilities with my yawn?”

  When he did not look away and even smiled at her, she realized that there was no way he knew what she had said. So, Mysstree stood annoyedly and pointed to the screen.

  Kilgar’s gaze momentarily left hers to read, and the smile completely ran away from his face as well. Oh, Makers! He was so gorgeous!

  Males are not gorgeous, Beauty.

  Captain Marid is, professor – so very gorgeous, she countered silently to her altre. And Mysstree was convinced that because of that and, of course, the obvious one that he did not like them, this mate thing that should be between them was a complete mismatch.

  And would, in the end, fail.

  Once again, she
felt her exasperated Miannmarr try to counter that thought.

  Nonetheless, Kilgar motioned with his eyes for her to come closer – they had at least worked out somewhat of a system for him to communicate over the course of the day. She took the time to gently smooth the hair covering his lower calves and the sprinkling of it that dusted the tops of his feet – all the while enjoying the unique masculine scent and feel of his skin – and pulled the blankets back over them before stepping toward the head of the bed.

  Mysstree leaned in closer to Kilgar’s face – his demercriere not having growled at them in hurs.

  “Hungry,” he whispered, barely audibly.

  But it was enough that Mysstree felt herself completely relax – he had not been staring at the yawn, but at her open mouth – he and his demercriere were hungry. His eyes watched her questioningly until she broke into another of her full-body smiles and unconsciously rubbed Kilgar’s forehead affectionately.

  “I got it,” she whispered into the mic, “We will go see about a big meal for you and then leave you alone so that you can sleep,” she removed her hand from his hairline – a bit embarrassed because of the unconscious action even though she tried to play it cool – and started to pull away when she knew she sensed more than heard the demercriere’s low growl again. Although, now that she was used to being around them, the growl did not seem threatening at all. And, catching Kilgar’s priceless expression complete with rolled eyes and pursed lips – okay, that was probably the cutest expression on a male she had ever seen, bar none of her experiences with some really kichigai beings – she realized that the growl was not meant to be aggressive at all. She stopped her retreat and, reversing course, pulled herself closer – her hand instinctively going back to its motions on his forehead.