“Willow, there is nothing wrong with—”
Her eyes snapped up to meet his. “Yes, there is! There is something wrong with me giving into you! I’ve only ever had myself to depend on! My entire life has been unstable! I’m solid! I’m stable! When you’re around, you just mess all of that up! I can’t think straight and I sparkle and I feel so angry whenever one of the other women here look at you with lust in their eyes! I can’t stand it. It makes me feel out of control and I know it’s all just a game to you!”
“A game?” His voice was angry and he took her by the shoulders, making her look up at him. “Is it a game that I left a perfectly sweet and willing woman back in that tent because, every time I closed my eyes, I saw you? Think that was part of my master plan?” He snorted and gave her a little shake for emphasis. “When are you going to stop judging me based on the man that I was? When are you going to realize that you are not a game to me? Have I pursued women for my own pleasure in my past? Of course I have. Was that originally the way I felt about you? Yes, I’m not going to lie, but tell me when you went from being a beautiful woman with a great body to the only woman who can make me feel like I’m a man and not and bumbling fool.”
Her bottom lip trembled as she stared up into his eyes. There was nothing but sincerity in them. They were impassioned. They were slightly angry, but they were sincere.
He heaved a sigh. “You give me a purpose. You make me feel like I have a path. You speak to the freakish beast that lives within me. You tame it with your touch and your voice. No one else can do that. Did I used to view women as score points? Yes. But all of that stupidity was blown out of the water by a gorgeous, proud, stubborn, infuriating—” he circled his hands around her throat and mimicked strangling her “—redheaded woman with more passion, goodness and love for those in her life than I have ever seen.” He shook his head and stared into her eyes. “You are magnificent, Willow. Tell me, why would I ever want to go back to lukewarm mediocrity when I can have fire?”
She let her shoulders slump as the last vestige of her pride melted and she cried. She brought her hands up weakly and placed them against his solid chest. Her whole life had been running, hiding, looking over her shoulder. She’d always had to be alert, in control. She wasn’t used to having someone to lean on. She wasn’t used to having someone she could share herself with. Aside from Tiyenen, she’d been a rock and an island for most of her adult life. It was hard for her to let someone close, and it was hard for her to admit that she had feelings for a man she’d loathed. But it was true and she couldn’t deny it any longer. She was falling for him and it was happening fast and hard.
He pressed his body close to hers and lowered his mouth so that his breath teased her ear. “Be still,” he whispered, “there is only you.”
This, of course, only made her cry harder. His sensual heat surrounded her, made her ache, made her burn.
“Only you who I see when I close my eyes,” he continued. “Only your skin I want to touch.” He ran his fingers down her cheek and neck, then tangled his hand in her hair. “Only your hair I want wrapped around my fingers.”
She closed her eyes and her hands bunched at the material of his robe. The action made him press his body full up against hers, pinning her between him and the unyielding tree at her back. The contact made her entire body shiver.
“Only your kiss I want to lose myself in,” he continued, bringing his lips close enough to hover over hers, but not enough to give her the satisfaction of their touch. He slid one hand down her hip and grasped one of her legs, bringing it up around his waist. He pressed his hips against hers, making her gasp. “Only your legs I want wrapped around me.”
His voice was hypnotic. His touch was driving her mad. She felt like she was going to go up in flames. She couldn’t catch her breath and her heart was racing in exhilaration at his eroticism.
He released her leg, then brought his hands up to frame her face. “Tell me you want me.”
She leaned her head back against the tree trunk, relishing his touch all the way into her soul. “I told you already,” she replied breathlessly.
He trailed his lips along the line of her jaw. “Tell me again.”
She tangled her fingers in his hair and gave a little tug. “Can’t you tell? I’m on fire.”
His lips played at her neck for a few seconds, then he lifted his head and brushed back her hair. “Now you know how much I burn for you.” He feathered his thumb across her lips. “But I’m not going to seduce you, Willow.”
Her eyes fluttered open. What? Why not?
His smile was gentle. “I want you to trust me. I want you to realize, and know in your heart, that it is you I want. That you’re not just a conquest, not a game.”
Her heart shivered at his words and she slipped her arms around his neck, bringing his lips to hers and kissing him with a molten passion she didn’t even know she’d been capable of feeling. He matched her fervor with his own and the world and its cares fell away. There was no Cyrcinus, no imminent war. There was only Logan. Logan and his powerful kiss that took her breath away and made her melt. Logan, the man who had gone from selfish scoundrel to honorable warrior. The man who she’d sworn to despise, but who had wrapped himself right around her heart.
“Guys, I—Whoa… Sorry, my bad.”
Logan lifted his head and Willow crashed back to the present as Darien’s voice tore through the fantasy she’d fallen into. She looked over to see both him and Lucy standing with their backs to them.
Logan’s chuckle was rich and warm and it sent tingles throughout her body. He pulled away from her and rush of cold air cooled where his body had been pressed against her. It made her feel bereft.
“Good to see you dressed, Darien,” Logan said.
Darien turned and rolled his eyes. “Okay, yeah, that crazy woman was still searching for me. Lucy and I had to sneak back out here.” He shook his head. “I can’t take this anymore. As much as I love the fairy realm, I am in serious need of a dose of human.”
Logan laughed and he reached out to take Willow’s hand in his, pulling her to his side and slipping his arm around her shoulders. “Sounds good to me.” He looked down at her. “What do you say? Wanna blow this joint?”
She smiled and looked up at him. “You have no idea.”
He grinned.
“Just let me go put my weapons away,” she said.
Logan nodded. “We’ll wait here.” He watched her walk away, letting his eyes linger on the sway of her hips, and he sighed. Such beauty, such grace. And she wanted him. He replayed her words in his mind and relished them.
“Hey.”
He looked down to see Lucy staring up at him. He smiled.
She grinned and hugged him. “Thanks,” she said simply.
He frowned. “For what?”
“Coming to find us.”
An ear-splitting shriek suddenly ripped through the night, followed by a chorus of more screams that raised the hairs on the back of Logan’s neck. His attention snapped over to the village, where a plume of smoke was starting to rise into the sky where the fort was.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Miss Willow!” Darien shouted. Without warning, he bolted back towards the village.
“Darien, wait!” Logan’s protest was cut short by an arrow grazing his arm. Lucy screamed. “Get down!” he demanded, falling to the ground and hauling Lucy with him. He peered through the undergrowth, his heart hammering, watching in horror as Darien continued to plunge through the forest towards the village.
“Darien!” Lucy cried.
“Shh!” Logan commanded. “We’re no good to anyone if we’re dead or caught. Be quiet.” He listened intently to see if he could pinpoint any movement near them. But no sounds came save the screams from the village. It led him to believe that the arrow had been meant for Darien, that it had been shot by someone who’d heard him shout for Willow. It meant that maybe, hopefully, Lucy and he had a chance to get away.
�
��Logan, we have to go back!” Lucy whimpered, her little body trembling under his.
“We can’t, sweetie,” he whispered, trying to sound encouraging. “Right now we may be the only shot everyone has.” He swore. “It figures she’d wait to attack during a celebration when everyone is unaware and half drunk. I’m an idiot for thinking we were safe. I should have known better.”
“Logan, you’re not a marine.”
“I should have known better!” he snapped, hating himself so acutely he felt sick. Two seconds… Two seconds earlier Willow and Darien had been safe. Now, there was no telling what would happen to them. He shook his head and tried to push his mounting panic away. He would be no good to anyone if he lost his cool. “Okay, Lucy, we have to try and skirt our way around the village. We need to get back to the portal.” He stood slowly and backed noiselessly into the darkness of the trees. He motioned for Lucy to follow. She sprinted over to him like a gazelle and grasped his hand.
“Logan, what’s going to happen to Darien?” Her voice wavered and she clutched his hand so tightly he thought she might amputate his fingers.
“Nothing if we can help it.” Even as he said it, his heart thundered against his rib cage. He spotted a small incline that led to a cliff overlooking the village. “Let’s see if we can get a look up there.” He was grateful that he had scouted most of the surrounding forest in his spare time over the past week. It made it easier to navigate. He stopped and pulled the robe he still wore off, discarding it in the bushes. It was bright blue and cumbersome. He’d rather run around in his boxers than in a bright blue toga thing that could be seen five hundred yards away. He crouched down and searched the forest floor until he found a decent sized rock he could dislodge without much fuss. When he’d kicked it loose, he grabbed a handful of the soft, damp dirt beneath it and rubbed it haphazardly over his skin. His white boy body wasn’t going to do much in the way of camo either. Mud would be ideal, but he only had the dirt so he had to make do and hope it would give him a little bit of cover.
Lucy had already climbed the hill and was hiding behind some brush by the time he finished and crawled up behind her. “Can you see anything?” he whispered.
“The Royal House is burning,” she murmured.
Logan peered through the brush and confirmed Lucy’s observation. His stomach dropped when he saw Cyrcinus, bedecked in a gaudy gray wolf pelt, circling Willow, Darien, and all of the other kids in the courtyard.
“Well, well, well,” he heard her say. “What have we here? A little Alveda d’Kai that has been hiding from me.” She stopped in front of Darien and grasped his chin in her hand. “Where is the other one? And don’t lie to me. I know he’s alive. My scouts have been watching you for three days.”
Darien’s response? He spat in her face. Lucy gasped and Logan wanted to groan aloud. Great teenage diplomacy, Darien.
Cyrcinus stepped back, wiped her face and let out a rage-filled shriek, striking Darien across the face with the hilt of a dagger.
Lucy winced and looked away.
“Let the humans go!” Cyrcinus snapped. “They are of no use to me! Send them back to their pathetic world!” Two guards grabbed hold of Aki, Colt and Doug and started to haul them away. They screamed in protest and tried to get to Darien, but they were bullied out of the courtyard. Cyrcinus circled Willow and Darien again, then sneered. “As for you two…” She laughed and faced everyone. “All of the Avari still living are now my property!” she shouted. “Anyone who contests this can join their beloved queen and their dear dragon warrior in death!”
Logan’s heartbeat faltered.
Cyrcinus turned in a circle and looked at all of the surrounding forest. “I know you’re out there somewhere, dragon warrior!” she shouted. “It’s too late for you to stop the Avari being enslaved! You had a chance, but you let your selfishness overrule your love for these people! Are you going to let it overrule your love for these two?” She indicated Darien and Willow. “You have forty-eight hours to show yourself and pledge your loyalty to me! If you refuse, these two and any Avari still vowing loyalty to you instead of me will be publicly executed! Do you want that on your conscience?” She let out a horrid, bellowing laugh. “Forty-eight hours, dragon warrior!”
Logan hung his head and fought against the tight band of panic that tried to suffocate him. Now was not the time. He couldn’t freak out now. Willow and Darien’s lives, as well as the lives of Willow’s people, depended on him. He had made a promise to protect them. Losing his head would only waste time.
“What is she talking about?” Lucy whispered in a frantic tone. “Why does she want you?”
Logan huffed. “She doesn’t know that Darien healed me against her poison. She thinks I’m uber strong or something and wants me to be her mate so I can give her a strong heir.”
Lucy blinked in bewilderment.
Logan nodded. “Yeah, exactly. Not in my plans.”
“But she’s going to kill them!”
“We have two days. Come on, Luce, we have to get back to the portal. We need to find the others.” He started to back down the hill.
“Do you have a plan?” she asked, following after him.
“At the moment?” He stood. “No.”
She stared at him in horror, her huge, blue eyes filling with tears.
He took her by the shoulders. “Lucy, I need you to trust me. I’ll think of something. I promise.”
“She’s going to kill them!” she cried. “She’s going to kill Darien!” Fat tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Lucy, listen to me. I know you’re scared, but you’re not the only one who has someone you love down there. Darien’s my brother. Willow is to me what Darien is to you. And I have an obligation to those people. I’m not going to let any of them down. I just need to think.” He gently wiped her tears away. “I’m not going to just go down there and surrender. She doesn’t mean what she says. She’ll just get what she wants and kill them anyway. Haven’t you ever paid attention to the villains in the movies you watch? They never mean what they say and they’re never dead the first time around. We have to find a way to outsmart her. Lucy!” He gave her a little shake to try and snap her out of what looked like the beginnings of hysteria. She met his eyes. “I’ll figure it out. Trust me.”
She gave a hasty nod and tried to pull herself together.
He took her hand. “All right, now come on. We have to get back to the portal.”
* * * *
Logan wasn’t surprised to see, after he and Lucy slipped back through to the human realm, Colt, Doug and Aki all crying their eyes out in the middle of the forest. Lucy immediately ran to them, screaming for Colt, who pulled her into a bear hug and started to cry even harder.
“I thought you were dead!” he screamed. “We all thought you were dead! No one could find you!”
“I was in the forest hiding with Logan,” she wailed. “They have Darien! Colt, they have Darien!” She sobbed into her friend’s shirt and Logan stood by, letting her get her emotions out. She’d been a trooper all the way back to the portal and he wasn’t going to chide her now. The person she loved was in the clutches of a psycho killer. He swallowed and looked towards where the sun was starting to peek its rays along the horizon. He knew how she felt. Willow…
He closed his eyes, feeling like fingers gripped his heart and squeezed.
“Logan!” Aki cried, jumping up and running over to him. “We thought you were dead too!” She flung her arms around him and held on, shaking all over. Doug followed suit, as did Colt with Lucy in tow.
Logan blinked as he suddenly found himself surrounded by sobbing teens that were all clutching onto him and muttering that they were happy he was alive. It was enough to make a lump form in his throat and tears sting his eyes. “I’m glad you guys are okay too,” he murmured. “At least she let you go.”
“But she has Darien!” Aki cried. “And Miss Willow!”
Logan nodded. “Yes, I know.”
“What are we goi
ng to do?” Lucy cried.
Logan closed his eyes and forced himself to go to a place he didn’t want to return to, but it was the only way he was going to make it through this. It was the only way he would be able to think clearly and not let his feelings for Willow, his love for the kids, and the sick worried feeling he had in his stomach get the best of him. He forced himself to go to the place he’d gone when his father had beaten him. The place he’d lived for so many years… The place where he felt nothing.
Drawing in a deep breath and steeling himself, he stepped back so that he could look at the kids. “All right, I know you’re scared and I know you’re worried,” he said, “but crying and flipping out isn’t going to solve anything. We have two days before Willow and Darien, and however many Avari Cyrcinus feels like slaughtering, get killed. We can’t waste anymore time. We have people depending on us. You’re warriors, aren’t you? Isn’t that what I taught you to be?”
Warrior's Rise Page 18