Rox felt sick at the thought that she and Adrian had a shared past. She couldn’t tell if it was because she had something in common with her enemy or because Adrian was fighting where Rox was aiding the Twins in an attempt to get what she wanted.
“I don’t have the luxury of rebellion.”
Adrian’s eyes became more possessive and protective than ever. “Are you magically controlled? I can break their spell.”
“I’m acting of my own free will,” Rox rebutted. “And I stand by my decisions.”
“You’re so lonely.” Jacquin’s voice rose, reaching through Adrian and Rox’s bond like a gentle breeze.
“Stay out of my mind, Jacquin,” Rox warned, but her voice was losing its strength. She couldn’t tell these women why she helped the Circle, but a deep, welling shame in her stomach wanted nothing more than to explain herself to these powerful women. To show them she didn’t support the Twins. She had no choice. Perhaps she did want Jacquin in her mind.
The three women sat in silence, so close now their knees almost touched. A heavy, warm stillness settled around them, an undeniable connection weaving them together. The anger was gone, replaced with a deep, unsettling sense that something was about to change.
Outside, the storm rose, howling louder and faster than ever, the sounds like the shriek of a wild beast. Adrian hugged her arms close to her waist, her hands clenching and unclenching. Her face was stiff with suppressed pain.
Jacquin turned to her, placing a hand on her thigh. “Adrian?”
Adrian shrugged, “The lifestones. They grow more… insistent the closer I get to you.”
Jacquin removed her hand cautiously. “I’m sorry.”
Adrian caught Jacquin’s hand, holding it tightly. “No. Please. I think your presence – both your presences – is keeping me alive.”
“I wish we had a warmer fire. We could cauterize any new wounds,” Rox added.
Adrian shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I was able to release enough healing magic after we made contact to seal the injuries. It will just take a long time to heal.”
“When the storm dies we’ll take you to a healer. The tribal healers are folk healers, but there’s a trained mage in town. A Doctor,” Jacquin offered.
Adrian shook her head, adamant. “Doctors are expensive. I’ll be fine.”
Jacquin grinned, her full lips parting slightly, her eyes heavy-lidded in her mischief. “I have the money. And the doctor is a long-time admirer of my dancing. He’ll help us.”
“Then I definitely don’t want you to entreat him for me,” Adrian groused. “You don’t need to owe any favors to men.”
Jacquin flinched slightly, her brow furrowing. “I’m not ashamed of using attraction for help. He’s been a courteous sponsor for a long time.”
“I don’t trust those kinds of motives,” Adrian pressed.
Jacquin’s voice was sharp and fierce, her gentle demeanor disappearing in a hot blaze of certainty. “I’m a dancer, Adrian. I’m not a child. My livelihood depends on a delicate balance of lust and respect, a balance I control, and I like it that way. I’m not one of your slave women in the north. Don’t try to save me before you know me.”
Adrian sat back, confusion and new respect etched across her features. “I’m sorry.”
Jacquin shook her head. “It’s fine. It‘s a common misconception from northern travelers.”
Fisk raced across Jacquin’s lap, leaning back on his hind legs to stretch out tall and touch Jacquin’s cheek with his nose. Her face split in a smile, as radiant as the stream of stars in the desert sky, and kissed the top of Fisk’s head. Rox felt a mild surge of jealousy in her stomach and sighed at her own foolishness. She spotted Adrian squirming in the corner of her eye and she knew the other woman felt the same.
“This is ridiculous,” Rox grumbled, sheathing her knife along her back with a sharp click. Jacquin and Adrian turned to her in confusion. “There’s obviously something here between us. You all feel it. I know you do.”
Adrian shook her head. “It’s the bonding.”
“It’s not the bonding. We all felt something, even before the bond. Jacquin has been seeing Adrian her entire life. Adrian, you said you noticed me before we ever fought.” Rox swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue. “And I couldn’t stop thinking about you after our fight. I never saw a line of your body, you never spoke to me, but I could feel you. And I didn’t want to kill you. Can you honestly say you wanted to kill me?”
Adrian’s lips pressed together hard and she let out a sharp breath. “No. I hoped we’d never meet again.”
“You were the only thing I could see during the raid,” Jacquin whispered, her eyes locked on Rox. “I would have died if you hadn’t saved me. Focused me. You’re a touchstone. For Adrian, too it seems.”
Adrian growled. “It’s the bonding. You think it only affects us after we touch? It messes with fate. Draws us together when we’d never come together otherwise. Loving each other under these circumstances is like being intoxicated. It’s not real.”
“Whose to say the fates only affect those with lifestones?” Jacquin rebutted. “I have been dealing with fate and the soul since childhood. A stone in your wrist that saves you from plague and binds you to people who will love and balance you means nothing to fate. It’s just the way fate chooses to work through you.”
“I’d rather have a choice,” Adrian snarled. “Not be trapped.”
“Would you choose someone else?” Jacquin insisted.
Adrian squared her shoulders. “I would choose no one.”
Rox snorted. “Because your choices have served you so well in the past.”
Adrian’s eyes widened incredulously, her cheeks coloring with anger. Rox was surprised by the jolt of pleasure in her stomach at the look. She grinned. Adrian was more fun when she was angry.
Adrian leaned forward, ready to fight. “You’re going to talk to me about choices, merc?”
“This merc bested you with a single look not yesterday, warmage. You think I couldn’t feel you when you force-bonded me? You’re a mess. Are your destruction abilities even natural?”
“Rox!” Jacquin chided, eyeing Adrian warily as the mage’s rage continued to build. Rox didn’t know what Jacquin had seen of Adrian‘s past, but she could tell from the look on Adrian’s face and the fear in Jacquin’s eyes that her words were hitting home. “Enough!”
Rox shook her head with a smug grin. “You’re not free, Adrian. You’re controlled by shame.”
Adrian charge, lunging forward and tackling Rox back to the floor, her back striking sand and fragile wood with a heavy thud. After hours of sitting still, the rush, even the pain, made Rox laugh with delight, the sound only seeming to enrage Adrian more.
“Stop! You’ll break the wagon!” Jacquin shouted as Rox and Adrian rolled, each fighting for dominance, wrestling and kicking, a tangle of limbs and aggression. “Adrian, you’ll hurt yourself!”
Rox reached out, grabbing for Adrian’s neck, but she reared back. “You think I’m going to let you strangle me again?”
Rox pressed heavily into the floor, allowing Adrian to pin her down. “I’m not even trying.”
Adrian paused, a sneer etched into her face. “Neither am I.”
Rox defiantly locked eyes with Adrian, charging into her Blue Sight so brazenly Adrian lost her grip on Rox’s wrists in surprise. Rox felt a rush of Adrian’s suppressed desire in their momentary connection. Rox grinned a vicious, teasing smirk. “You don’t scare me, Adrian.”
Adrian’s defiance broke and she wrapped her hands through Rox hair and kissed her, an attack of lips and teeth as fierce as any of their battles. Rox grabbed the front of her shirt, holding her close while being careful to avoid her injuries, her kiss just as fierce and fiery as Adrian’s.
“You’re infuriating,” Adrian hissed, shaking Rox, her grip like steel. “I shouldn’t want you.”
“Blame the lifestones,” Rox growled and they kissed again, their ha
nds searching for ties and loose clothing, layers peeling and torn away.
Adrian instantly assumed control, knocking Rox’s hands away and pinning her again, her grip loosening as Rox relaxed into their power dynamic. Adrian slowed, her actions less violent without losing her intensity. Her eyes flickered like the scorching blue flames of a bonfire, her movements precise and smooth like a jungle cat hunting her prey. Rox admired her control, her skin flushing dark brown. Rox could smell the warm, pine and earth scent natural to Adrian. She couldn’t help but notice that Adrian smelled of the Core.
Adrian looked up, releasing one of Rox’s arms to reach out across the wagon to Jacquin. Jacquin watched the brawl, her Amazon genetics flushing her skin more red than brown, her eyes wide with desire. She didn’t hesitate. She stood slowly and stripped away her silks, standing nude in the last breaths of the candle light, her tanned skin reflecting back glowing hues of caramel and sunlight.
Rox and Adrian froze, drinking in the sight of her, their bodies growing almost unbearably hot where they pressed together. Adrian trembled, her thighs squeezing tight around Rox’s hips where she straddled her. Rox groaned deep in her throat, memories of Jacquin’s touch, her skin, her body pressed tight against hers casting waves of pleasure across her skin.
Jacquin crossed the wagon, kneeling beside Rox to kiss Adrian, wrapping one arm around the mage with a hunger born from a lifetime of desire and fascination with her magical protector. Her other arm caressed Rox, her fingers trailing along the sensitive lines of her neck and jaw where her mouth had been the day before.
Rox reached out, running her fingers over the lines of Jacquin’s hips and thigh, her skin softer than any of her silks, her eyes locked on Adrian and Jacquin’s kiss. Jacquin pulled back slightly, locking eyes briefly with Adrian, communicating without words their desires.
An instant later Adrian slid down Rox’s body, making room for Jacquin to turn, sliding atop Rox, a knee on either side of Rox’s hips. Their lips meeting with gentleness and passion, Jacquin immediately finding a rhythm of softness, nips and licks Rox had responded to before.
Rox felt Adrian near her knees and she reached out with her legs, wrapping them around Adrian’s hips in silent invitation. She dug her bare feet into the floor with pleasure as she felt Adrian’s hands respond, exploring her hips and more sensitive areas with a slow urgency. Jacquin arched her back as if dancing, pressing her chest tighter against Rox, tipping her hips for Adrian who immediately found her with her mouth.
Rox and Jaquin kissed and caressed, each trembling and gasping beneath Adrian’s touch, their skin pressing, sliding and grinding against each other, their kisses growing deeper and more insistent as they sped toward climax together. Rox felt the rough press of her legs holding Adrian near, her thighs pinned tight against Adrian’s hips, the weight and security of both women a divine distraction, condensing her world down to touch, sensation, passion.
Rox felt her entire body explode, her muscles jumping and melting as Jacquin arched, gasping quick shots of breath against Rox’s mouth, her hair falling loose and wild around them, Adrian’s hands and mouth seeming to slide across both their bodies with abandon.
Jacquin came down first, collapsing against Rox as Rox still reveled in the electric waves of pleasure. Jacquin’s eyes were soft, unfocused, her breathing gentle, her muscles loose. Tears rand down her cheeks and Rox reached up to wipe them away. Jacquin caught her hand, laying soft, feathery kisses along the lines of her hand. She whispered against Rox’s skin, more to herself than anyone else. “Nothing. There’s nothing in my mind. No visions. No chaos. Finally, nothing.”
Rox could feel the heat and tenderness of Jacquin’s bliss. Adrian leaned forward over the calming women and laid gentle kisses across Jacquin’s back as her eyes met Rox’s, tying them together once more.
Never stop looking at me. Please.
The words entered Rox’s mind as if Adrian had whispered them against her ear, too real, too infused in Adrian, to be the whispers of her mind.
“You don’t scare me, Adrian,” Rox repeated gently. Adrian blinked away a tear. Rox grinned wider, breaking the sad, gentle tension in the room. Adrian grinned wolfishly, already knowing what Rox would say. “Now take me again.”
Rox lay limp and warm among her lovers, Jacquin’s arms wrapped tightly around her waist, Adrian’s arms encircling Jacquin to rest on Rox’s arms, her legs wrapped tight enough around the dancer to entangle with Rox’s thighs. It had taken an entire day for them to tire, resting in spurts between love making, the howl of the storm a primal backdrop when the candles finally died and everything went dark.
The wind had died nearly an hour before. Adrian and Jacquin were still sleeping heavily but Rox hadn’t been able to rest. As the passion of bonding had died down, her reality had settled around her once more, along with a heavy weight of guilt. She had let herself forget. In the throes of passion she’d buried herself in her lovers, escaping the Circle and the Twins but in the moment she’d also let go of Serena.
Love wasn’t a part of the plan. She was growing weaker, allowing herself to think beyond the mission and her child and that was unacceptable. As much as she’d been drawn to Jacquin and Adrian, they were dangerous. Too dangerous.
She slowly pulled free from her lovers, moving so as not to wake them. She dressed quickly and wiped tears from her eyes as she silently commanded Fisk into her pocket and cautiously opened the wagon door. The sand was heavy and thick, the grains wearing away at the junkyard around them, but the storm had ended and she’d be able to crawl through the debris.
Horns blared in the distance and Rox looked up through the holes in the wagon parts above them. The force field was falling away. The Circle would want to leave as soon as possible.
Rox looked back at the wagon, her heart breaking at the thought of leaving, but she clenched her jaw and pushed her sadness aside. This wasn’t about romance or bondmates. This was about Serena. And to Rox, her daughter was everything.
It was time to leave.
Part Three
Triad
Chapter One
Jacquin coughed, the pressure tearing at her throat, burning in her lungs. Adrian bent to lift her up, clearing her airways as she took a deep, gasping breath.
Adrian let out a tense breath, clicking her tongue against her teeth. She’d stopped asking Jacquin if she was okay days ago. She obviously wasn’t. Since Rox had disappeared, a mysterious illness had fallen over Jacquin, starting as a lack of appetite and fatigue and quickly turning to a fever and cough. The day before, Jacquin had lost the ability to speak.
Khalisa blended a sharp, bitter tea just outside Jacquin’s wagon, the rancid odor reaching Jacquin through the haze of her fever and she curled her nose, moving to cover her mouth with her arm like an obstinate child. Adrian caught her wrist, shaking her head.
“You have to, Love. Medicine never tastes good.”
Khalisa ran the brew in to her sister and Adrian held Jacquin’s arms as Khalisa ran the broth past Jacquin’s lips. “This isn’t helping her,” Khalisa muttered. “This is the best remedy available in Oasis and it’s not even keeping her stable.”
Jacquin lay back, Adrian and Khalisa’s discussion coming in snippets as her mind shifted in and out of reality. The ceiling seemed to spin, the wooden beams warping and twisting as the etchings along the ceiling came to life and danced through the air. Jacquin knew, even in her fevered delirium, that the images weren’t real. They weren’t even premonitions. She was losing her mind.
She closed her eyes and the chaos of images continued in her mind, pulling her out of herself. She stalked through the rubble of a shattered stone building, angry voices and the pound of boots behind her. She dodged and wove around silverpines, leaping up into a tree with low-hanging branches, her muscles shifting and moving in perfect unison, pulling her high enough to avoid the mob that passed below.
She looked out through the trees at the ruins, her heart heavy with grief. She could barel
y recognize the shape anymore: the ruins of the Council’s Keep. She dropped to the ground, her old-fashioned wool cloak billowing out behind of her. She made her way back to the ruins, pausing once in the front courtyard. Flashes of gunfire reflecting off swords flashed through her mind, the memory of the trees of Valley Bay going up in flames.
She looked up at the sky, heavy with white clouds like a ceiling over the world. It was a sky she knew well. A sky that didn’t seem to be right without her beloved, buried too deeply beneath the sprawling rubble for her body to be found. There would never be a funeral pyre for Antonia n’Athena. She would forever rest on her last battlefield.
Jacquin felt herself separate from the Amazon of her vision and she watched the woman whisper a prayer over the ruins and flee in the opposite direction of the mob. Jacquin could taste sand and sunlight in the woman’s intentions. She was heading for the desert.
Jacquin woke again in her wagon. She took a deep breath and could smell sea water and pine. Rox. Her eyes flew open, but it was only Adrian and Khalisa, their faces pale with worry. It wasn’t Rox. It never was. Just her ghost.
“Thank you for staying with her, Adrian.”
“There’s nothing more important than Jacquin. Nothing.”
Jacquin’s eyes locked on her lover. Adrian’s pallor wasn’t just from worry. Her eyes were ringed in dark circles, her skin tinted a light green. Jacquin had paid to have her back healed when the storm passed. She couldn’t pretend her weakness, her exhaustion, was due to injuries. It was Rox. Their bond was breaking, pulling apart, fraying at the seams and Adrian felt it, too. If Rox didn’t return soon, Adrian would quickly fall ill as well.
Adrian turned as she felt Jacquin’s gaze and her eyes, hidden once again behind a hazel illusion, narrowed. “I don’t think we should give her the medicine anymore. She doesn’t want it.”
“She hates the taste,” Khalisa pressed.
Sands of Aggar: Amazons of Aggar Book 3 Page 14