The Volatile Amazon

by Sandy James

  Breaking the kiss, he smiled down at her. “Patience, loving. I want more than a tussle. I want to make love to you. I need to make love to you.”

  Her sensuous smile hit him like a punch to the stomach. “Then make love to me, Ian.”

  “My pleasure.”

  He brushed kisses down her slender neck, loving how her skin quivered at his touch. His hands covered her breasts as he licked the valley between them. Her nipples hardened, so he shifted to take one deep into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the tight bud as she arched her back and splayed her fingers through his hair. After pulling with his teeth, he shifted to the other breast.

  Ian worked his way down her body with tender kisses. Another burst of remembrance came as he flicked his tongue at the gold hoop adorning her belly button. But there was one more thing he wanted to try to force his mind to work properly.

  The sound Sarita made when he licked between her feminine folds was a cross between a whimper and a moan. Taking that as encouragement, he set about driving her toward climax as he relearned her taste and the musky scent of her arousal.

  “Now, Ian! Please!”

  He ignored her pleas, needing to be sure he helped her find her release before he took her. He was so lost in a sensuous fog, if he plunged inside her at that moment, he would have spilled his seed like some untried lad. When her orgasm tore through her, she clenched her fingers in his hair, tugging so hard his scalp stung.

  Unable to wait any longer, he rose above her, spread her thighs wider with his knee and thrust inside her.

  Sweet merciful Jesu, she fit him like a second skin. Tight. Wet. So damned hot. Her hips pushed up to take him more deeply inside, and Ian was lost to anything but the two of them.

  Setting a rough, fast tempo, he pushed into her, again and again as she wrapped her legs around his hips and cried out his name. The feel of her body squeezing him tight pushed him over the edge. With one last thrust, he came as he shouted her name.

  * * *

  The morning sunlight streamed through the window. The splash of the waves served as a melodic alarm clock. A light breeze brought the fresh smell of the ocean into the hut.

  Yet Ian could find no beauty in any of it. For when he’d awakened and reached for Sarita, she was gone.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Popping herself back into her cabin, Sarita frowned when she found Gina waiting.

  “You didn’t come home last night,” Gina said. “You left Avalon. How in the hell were you able to do that?”

  Since her sister seemed intent to scold her, Sarita saw no need to keep her own tone controlled. “I just can.” She let her disdain drip from her words.

  “Seior, right? That’s one of the things Freyjr taught you, isn’t it? And I’ll bet you went looking for Darian. Didn’t you?” Gina stood up from where she’d been sitting on Sarita’s unmade bed. “Did your black magicks help you find him?”

  The sun’s rise cast an orange glow through the cabin. Instead of feeling ready to face a new day, all Sarita wanted to do was crawl into her lonely bed and sleep the rest of the daylight hours away. She sure as hell wasn’t up to being badgered.

  Had Ian awakened yet? Did he miss her lying next to him? They’d spent the wee hours of the morning making love, catching short bursts of rest before reaching for each other in greedy abandon. They hadn’t said more than a handful of words to each other. She’d been foolish to go to him, but her heart wouldn’t be denied. If she could trigger his memories by being with him and reminding him of what they’d shared, it was worth the risk of being discovered.

  “Answer me!” Gina’s hands clenched into fists at her side.

  While Sarita hated being treated like a kid who’d broken curfew, she swallowed her annoyance. It was a difficult task, her usual ability to endure in silence somehow stretched taut. Any tighter, and she’d snap. “Yes. I found him.”

  “God, Sarita! What were you thinking? He’ll lead Helen right to us!”

  About to launch into a tirade to justify why she’d left in search of him, Sarita looked at the door that had just opened. She scoffed as Megan and Rebecca came into the cabin without so much as knocking. “Gee, come right in. Not like this is my home or anything.”

  “You’re finally back,” Megan said. Her gaze swept Sarita from head to toe, no doubt taking in that she was in her nightgown, her hair probably a disheveled mass of tangles.

  “Where’d you go?” Rebecca asked. “We were all worried sick.”

  “No, you weren’t. You were worried that I was using my new powers—powers you’re all jealous of.”

  “What’s gotten into you?” Megan asked.

  Before Sarita could answer, Gina said, “She went after Darian.”

  “His name’s Ian,” Sarita replied. “I don’t care what Artair says. He’s not the same man Artair knew.”

  Megan narrowed her eyes. “Damn right, he’s not. Now he’s a son of a bitch who wants to use you to get to us.”

  Sarita let her tumbling emotions loose. “You’re all a bunch of hypocrites. You break the rules by falling in love with Sentinels or bringing a guy you’re supposed to protect here, and that’s fine. I go to see the man I love, a man who’s done nothing wrong but has suffered like no one should suffer, and you all act like I’m doing something evil. Like you think I’m recruiting demons or torturing animals.”

  Rebecca leveled an accusing stare. “He’s Helen’s ally. She killed Sparks and tried to murder Artair. She wanted to hand Megan over to that psychopath Maksim Popov. She tried to kill Gina and Zach—would have if you hadn’t frozen her. I could go on for hours! If she got near any of us, she’d just as soon kill us as look at us. And you want to help him help her?”

  “You’re putting us—and our kids—in danger,” Megan added.

  “By taking a quick trip to visit Ian?” Sarita shook her head.

  “He’ll lead her right to us,” Gina said.

  Even Gina was against her now.

  Sarita jerked her bureau drawer open, grabbed a T-shirt, some workout shorts and a clean pair of panties. “I’m getting dressed, having some breakfast, then I’m training. No doubt Johann and Artair want their chance at chewing off a piece of my ass.”

  She slammed her bathroom door hard enough that the mirror on the wall shook.

  Her temper hadn’t cooled by the time she’d dressed, made some sense of her mop of hair and pulled the door open again. At least her sisters had left the cabin—probably to head to the mess hall to feed their happy little families.

  Funny, but the envy that was always there, simmering right below the surface, surged forward until she was nearly blinded by it. Then she realized what wasn’t there—she couldn’t “feel” any of her sisters.

  The quiet felt...wrong, leaving her with an emptiness in her heart. But was it her fault or theirs? Were they blocking her? Or had the Seior shut them out of her mind?

  Dismissing the phenomenon as nothing more than a product of her anger, Sarita marched across the compound to the lodge. Instead of her usual oatmeal, she wished for a breakfast like she’d had back at dorcha àite. Sile’s homemade bread, dipped in milk and egg and fried to a golden brown. Sile would smear it with thick honey and set it in front of Sarita with a smile.

  Damn if she didn’t miss Sile and Old Ewan.

  The entire Amazon clan was already eating when Sarita went inside. Was it her imagination, or did everyone—including the children—seem to have nothing better to do than stare at her?

  Her own temper rose higher in response, so she didn’t offer her usual morning greeting or kiss her godchildren on their chubby cheeks.

  Eating became agony because stilted silence reigned. Even Zach didn’t try his usual cajoling to break the tension.

  Artair ate with his typical no-nonsense approach to
things, finishing first and then rising. “We should be training. We face a difficult fight, and ye lasses need to be ready.”

  “Yeah,” Megan said. “Like kicking a few demons’ asses. Maybe a few COEs while we’re at it.”

  Rebecca slapped her palm on the table. “We’re not killing any people.”

  “Unless they give us no choice.” Megan shoved her plate away.

  “I still think it’s stupid to follow Helen’s demon list,” Gina added. “She’s just trying to divert us.”

  Zach jumped into the conversation. “Probably. But I agree with Megan. I think it’s a good idea we clean them out before Helen has a chance to actually use them.”

  “We should be searching under every rock,” Johann added, “looking for Helen and trying to figure out her real agenda. She’s showing her face to everyone, which has to have a purpose.”

  “Did you see her last night, Sarita?” Gina’s quiet question almost went unnoticed.

  “No,” Sarita whispered.

  Why couldn’t Gina have asked in her thoughts instead of aloud?

  Sarita wasn’t in the mood to have her private life paraded around in front of everyone again, and a small flame of loathing ignited deep in the pit of her stomach.

  For the first time since Gina had come with Johann to fetch her—to let her know she was an Amazon—Sarita hated her sister.

  Although there were four Amazons who all depended on each other, Earth and Fire had trained together under Artair while Water and Air had worked with Johann. As a result, the pairs were close. Up until that moment, Sarita had never wondered if that made them a weaker group than other Amazon generations who’d trained as a foursome.

  Right now, Sarita sensed no connection to any of her sisters. From the way they were all snarling at each other, the Amazons felt absolutely no camaraderie. Their bond had somehow been broken. So it didn’t come as a surprise when the rest of the gang joined in and started to badger her about her innocent trip.

  “You’ll lead Helen right to us.” Artair’s gruff words echoed the same sentiments she’d heard from her sisters. He scowled down at her, using his intimidating height to try to make her feel guilty.

  “It’s the Seior,” Johann said. “Just like Sparks, it’s making her take risks she shouldn’t to get what she wants.”

  “And the hell with the rest of us getting hurt in the process,” Megan added.

  “What were you thinking, Sarita?” Rebecca demanded. Her arm swept out toward the three children—Bonnie, Darian and Megan’s daughter, Mina—who were staring at the growing hostility with wide eyes. “You’re putting the kids in danger just so you can prove you’re not the weakest Amazon?”

  “I’m not the weakest Amazon. Not anymore.”

  Gina shook her head. “That’s not it. She thinks she’s in love with Darian.”

  “His name is Ian,” Sarita said, resisting the urge to hiss like an angry cat.

  “’Tis Darian,” Artair insisted. “Much as it breaks my heart, I fear he’s on the side of evil now.”

  She’d heard enough. It was one thing to attack her, another thing altogether to make a man who’d endured so much agony into a villain. “I’m heading to my cabin to get my sword. You want to keep beating me up? Do it in the freakin’ sandpits.”

  * * *

  Something was...different.

  Gripping her sword, Sarita smiled. From the first time she’d been sparring with her sisters, there was a distinct pecking order. Sarita lost first. Then Rebecca. The last match to see which Amazon “won” was normally between Gina and Megan. When all was said and done, Fire usually stood as queen of the sandpits.

  Today, however, Sarita was the one helping Rebecca to her feet.

  “Nice job,” Rebecca said, her tone one of disbelief rather than concession. She brushed the sand off her behind.

  “Thanks.” Instead of savoring the victory, Sarita clenched harder on the hilt of her sword and eyed Gina. While she’d beaten Air a time or two, she’d always had the feeling Gina was letting her win, probably to save Sarita’s ego.

  Gina was matching Megan blow for blow, both women dripping sweat but smiling. While Sarita and Rebecca approached training as a duty—sometimes a chore—Gina and Megan reveled in it. Which explained why they were the strongest fighters.

  A few more clangs of swords, and Gina won the round, knocking Megan’s ruby-encrusted weapon aside. Whenever one of the pair was disarmed, Fire and Air ended their match, otherwise they’d start in on hand-to-hand and would be beating on each other until both were black-and-blue and too exhausted to move. No wonder. Both of their husbands were martial arts experts, and Sarita often found the couples sparring as though their matches were some sort of odd foreplay.

  “Gotcha this time,” Gina said.

  “Nice fight.” Megan crouched to pick up her sword. She shifted her gaze to Sarita and Rebecca. “Ready to go, Sarita?”

  The winners took each other on, leaving the losers to fight for the third spot. Today, for once, Sarita wouldn’t be dead last. “I get Gina.”

  Gina blinked a few times. “You beat Rebecca?”

  Sarita scowled. “You don’t have to sound so damned surprised.”

  “She beats you more often than not, so...yeah. A little surprised.”

  “You fought better than usual, Sarita. Your hits were pretty strong.” Rebecca smiled. “Made my hands sting almost as much as when I fight Megan.”

  “Glad to oblige.” Sarcasm weighted every word.

  “Geesh. A bit touchy, aren’t you?” Megan asked.

  “She’s probably exhausted,” Gina said. “Always makes her cranky and sensitive.”

  Because she loved Gina so much, Sarita tended not to get upset over the blunt things she liked to say. Gina’s brazen nature made her prone to blurting out things that were true but better left unsaid. So why did anger flood Sarita, making her want to shout a battle cry and start pounding Gina into the ground?

  Perhaps channeling it would help. “Are you going to fight me or not?” Sarita asked, growing impatient.

  “Fine.” Gina swept her arm out. “Lead the way, sis.”

  As she made her way to the middle of the fighting area, Sarita gave her sword a few swings. Such a beautiful weapon. Well balanced. The hilt encrusted with sapphires that sparkled in the sunlight. Everything about this day—about her—felt...perfect.

  She let Gina make the first move, deftly parrying the blow. Damn if she couldn’t help but laugh at her sister’s incredulous look. With a growl, Gina came at her again.

  And so they sparred, neither gaining the upper hand. Sarita’s arms ached, but she held onto that sword like a lifeline, finding a strength she’d never known. Sweat trickled down her face and soaked her shirt, but she didn’t take precious time to wipe it away. This was the closest she’d come to beating Gina.

  She wasn’t going to waste it.

  Deep inside, the flame that ignited earlier grew like a fire that spurred her forward, making Sarita attack Gina with a newfound ferocity. Focused so intently on banging the sword from her sister’s hand, Sarita didn’t anticipate Air using her power. One huge leap, and Gina flew over Sarita’s head, landing behind her. A kick to the back of the knees and one to her shoulder blades sent Sarita face-first into the sand.

  Gina came to stand over Sarita. “Wow. Not sure who you’ve been practicing with, but you’re improving.” She held her hand out to help Sarita up.

  “I shoulda beat you.”

  “Not this time, sis.”

  “You used your power.”

  “All’s fair, as Johann always says.” Gina offered her hand again.

  Sarita slapped it away and got to her feet. “I’m taking a shower, then catching a nap.”

  “Why don’t we go get a caramel sundae inste
ad?”

  Although she usually enjoyed Gina’s company, even when they ate in companionable silence, Sarita shook her head. Instead, she gave Gina a taste of her own blunt-to-a-fault treatment. “I’d rather not. I really don’t want to spend time with you—with any of you—right now.”

  She marched away from the training ground, head held high despite her defeat. Next time, she’d win. No matter how nasty the fight turned.

  Then she’d show them who the weakest Amazon was.

  * * *

  Sarita breathed deeply, treasuring the moisture in the humid tropical air. The moon was bright, bathing the beach in its pale light. Watching the waves roll in, crashing again and again against the shore became so hypnotic she could stand there for hours and be content.

  The ocean called to her, the pull to enter the water almost as strong as the one that had brought her back to this island. She glanced back at Ian’s cabana, wishing somehow he’d know she was here, waiting to see him.

  But she needed water to recharge her spirit. Then she’d go and make love to him.

  After jerking her nightgown over her head, she dragged it behind her as she walked to the ocean until her toes brushed the edge of the wet sand. Refreshing water seeped through her skin, and she tossed the gown back and ran into the waves, laughing as freely as a child.

  When the water deepened, Sarita dove into a wave and swam beneath the surface. Every moment she stayed submerged allowed her to grow stronger, to absorb the power of the precious water. She no longer cared that she hadn’t slept in days or that she’d eaten nothing more than what a sparrow might. Energy flowed through her, and the more strength she obtained, the more restless she grew.

  She wanted to find Helen—to hunt her down and kill her. If Helen was dead, Ian would be free. Once Sarita had the chance to explain everything, he’d find a way to get past the horrible things that had happened. Then they could be together and make a life in Avalon.