A single black brown rose as she finished her tirade. “Are all human females like you?”
Narrowing her eyes at his question, she scoffed. “No, they’re much worse,” she replied sarcastically, tilting her head to the side.
Smirking, he took a step closer until he was nearly up against her. Bending down, he brought his face within inches of hers. She hated at how his smirk widened into a smile as she arched away from his hovering face.
“I’m not scared of you, my little human.”
Little? No one had used that word to describe her since she was a toddler. Boy, is this guy deluded!
Moving closer into his face, hoping to show him she wasn’t intimidated by his size, she whispered, “I haven’t even shown you how scary I can be.”
His smile widened to reveal his white teeth, which surprisingly were slightly pointier than the typical humans. Before she could move back, as she was planning on doing, his hand gripped her thick waist and jerked her against him. Barely having time to utter a gasp of surprise she found her lips claimed by his hard ones with demanding urgency.
Pulling away, out of breath, he cupped her face gently, “I look forward to finding out.” Taking a step back from her, he pulled a small leather pouch from his belt before holding it out for her to take.
“What’s this?” she asked skeptically, refusing to take the simple pouch from his open hand.
“My offering gift to you, open it,” he urged.
“What an ‘offering gift’?”
“Before I can begin the Malrai Hin, it is custom for a male to give his mate an offering gift. It is how he demonstrates his devotion to her and it also warns other males to stay away from her,” he explained, ending with a possessive tone. Rolling her eyes, she shook her head.
Smirking, he titled his head towards her. “Everything has a meaning here.”
Sliding her eyes down to the pouch, she reached out and plucked it from his hand. Untying the strip of leather around the top, she pulled the pouch open. Reaching inside her fingers instantly encountered something hard and cool to the touch. Pulling it out her lips parted in awe at the white jeweled ornament in her hand. Carefully holding it up to the moon light she inspected it closely. About five inches in length it was shaped like a thin dagger-like hair pin. At the top was a sparkling stone carved into a curled blossom. Like the dagger Dajran had offered earlier the base of the ornament seemed to be made out of a carved diamond.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed out in awe.
“It was my mother’s.” Her eyes flashed up at his with surprise. Glancing back down at the sparkling gift she held it back out to him.
“I can’t accept this, Kieran. Your mother wouldn’t want you giving something like this away to a stranger.”
Gently taking it from her hand, he shook his head slowly as his eyes gazed down at the ornament. “This was the first gift my mother received from my sire during his Malrai Hin. According to my sire, the women of my family were more like warriors than the gentle females of my kind. And on many occasions they got themselves into dangerous trouble. My grandsire was the first to have this very femra designed. Giving the appearance of beauty but it also is sharp enough to be used as a weapon. Much like you, I think.”
Moving behind her, Elena could feel his rough hands pulling her hair back before gently twisting it up. Using the jeweled ornament he pinned her wealth of red hair up. Once he was done, his hands slid down the sides of her uncovered neck, leaving shivers of awareness in their wake. His hands came to settle on her shoulders as he gently turned her to face him.
“My parents died during the last war with the Kelithians. I feel honored that now I have someone to bestow it upon.”
Unsure what to say she found herself mutely nodding. Smiling warmly at her, he reached out to cup her cheek and drew her close as his lips settled over hers once more. At the first touch of his lips, she felt her body come alive with need. Her hands reached up to clutch at his neck with urgency. The need to mold his flesh to hers was an almost undeniable as not breathing. His lips began moving against hers urgently as his other hand curved around her waist to jerk her against his hard body.
Reluctantly, Kieran broke away from Elena with a growl of displeasure. He wanted her more than he wanted his next breath. But he needed to win her first and he needed to do it soon, before his beastly desires became irrepressible. Breathing heavy, he felt his chest swell with pride at the sight of her flushed face and swollen lips.
“If you are going to survive here, we will need to get rid of your unnecessary fear,” he stated casually as his wings spread out behind him.
Shaking off the smoldering desire that seemed to infuse her blood, Elena began to comprehend his words. Instantly she could hear warning bells going off in her mind. She needed to remind herself never to trust his kisses — they were more dangerous and unpredictable than roofied drinks at a frat party.
His gentle eyes reaching toward her was nearly her undoing. No matter what he said or how tempting he could be, she would always possess a fear of heights. Reaching up, she fingered the ornament that he’d given her with nervousness. By the expression on his face she could tell that he wouldn’t be backing down.
She moved to take a step back from him but he was too quick for her to anticipate. His hand shot out and gripped her wrist in a restraining hold.
“Let me make this easy for the both of us by saying there is no way you can just make my fear of heights just vanish. Plus, if — and that’s a big if — I even stay here, why is it important.”
“You will be staying here,” he said with absolute confidence. “I do not want you to fear your new life here.”
Her hand reached down to cover his shackling hand on her wrist. Freeing her hand from his, she took a reluctant step back, “I’m fine. I need to talk to you about taking me home for a short time.” For a brief moment she thought she saw his face take on an inhuman shift. Quickly he jerked around, presenting her with his back.
“No,” his voice vibrated out darkly. “You must understand this.”
Instantly she felt her temper flair up like a match to gasoline.
“No?” She repeated his words with disbelief. Clenching her hands into tight fists at her sides, she strode forward until she was standing in front of him. “Under the circumstances I would say I’ve been very understanding with everything up until now. I am only asking to go home for a day to make sure my friend hasn’t called the cops yet.”
Tilting his head down towards hers, he raised an inquisitive brow at her. “Who are ‘the cops’?”
She found herself rolling her eyes at his question. Out of all she said that was the only thing he wanted to comment on? Annoyed, she waved her hand through the air in front of her chest. “They’re law enforcement. They keep people safe and uphold the law of my world.”
Scoffing, Kieran folded his arms across his wide chest, unconcerned. “You don’t need to worry about them. Your people’s warriors would never be able to cross into our world without help from us. Put it out of your mind.”
“I will not put it out of my mind,” she said, mockingly as she mimicked his hard tone. “You’re missing my point. This is important to me. I agreed to stay for a time because it was important to you but I didn’t agree to become a prisoner here. Even if I gave this thing between us a shot, that doesn’t mean I would never return to my world occasionally.”
“Once you accept my claim as your sou’tali, you will never be able to go back to your world. You will remain here — with me.”
Shock tore through her chest like a bullet. “Are you telling me that you have no intention of allowing me to ever go home? What happened to what you promised or was that a lie?” she bit out as her heart began to race. Panic began to swallow up her mind at what he was saying.
Kieran’s jaw clenched against her words.
Uncrossing his arms, he moved forward until she was close enough for him to touch. Settling his hands on her shoulders he wi
nced as if in pain. “This is the way it must be; this is the way of mates in my world. You will obey me in this.”
Would he really expect her to stay here and never return to her world if she chose him? This unfamiliar bond that linked them together was growing. She could feel it every time they were around another. The thought of going home and never seeing him again held no happiness for her. But would she be happy never visiting her mother’s grave again or never seeing her world or Angel again?
Scoffing weakly, Elena shrugged his arms off of her shoulders. She was such an idiot! She’d allowed herself to be beguiled by his tender words and seducing touch so much that it had blinded her. He didn’t feel anything for her or at least nothing like what she thought she felt for him.
He didn’t want a soul mate as she’d been led to believe; he wanted a possession and that was all she would ever be to him. It didn’t matter what her bond with him meant. She couldn’t stand to be near him anymore in that moment. She needed to get her head together and beat her weak willed heart back into its box where it belonged, safe and unreachable.
Refusing to allow him to see how much his words cut her, she kept her face a mask of indifference. “Everything has a meaning here,” she said mockingly throwing his words back him.
Allowing her mask to slip enough to show how pissed off she was with him, she turned and returned inside his chamber. Refusing to allow him to stop her, she ran. She didn’t stop until she reached the door. Jerking it open she fled. She didn’t care where she went. All she knew was that she had to get away from him and get back to her old life anyway she could.
Chapter Twelve
Putting one foot in front of the other, Elena dashed down the corridor. She didn’t care where she was going; only that she couldn’t stop. Turning through a dark doorway leading into an outdoor courtyard outside the fortress walls, her breath squeezed tightly inside her chest. At first, one tear slipped from the corner of her eye, then another. Growling under her breath at her weakness, her hand wiped the traitorous tears away. Moving to stand under the dark shade of a gigantic tree, her arms slowly wrapped around herself.
She wouldn’t do this. There was no words to describe what she had begun feeling for Kieran, maybe she’d always felt something for him since they first met in her dreams. But that didn’t mean she’d let him keep her here. Obviously the other Garmorian’s weren’t thrilled with her presence here and the same went for their enemy.
Perhaps this was her brain’s way of beating some sense into her foolhardy heart. She didn’t belong here, no matter how much she may wish otherwise. But what could she do? Kieran had already made it perfectly clear that he had no intention of returning her to her world. Where did that leave her?
Just as her chest began to ache with the inner pain of her heart and good sense at war, a flicker of light caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Turning to look behind her tree, she saw an ivory glowing form a short distance away among the thickness of the trees.
Briefly she cast a short glance over her shoulder at the empty courtyard before turning back to follow the alluring light. She continued moving at a cautious pace following the small white light that continued to move through the forest. Then it stopped moving. Edging around the wide trunk of a shielding tree, her eyes widened as she saw the source of the light. Slowly the light barely a foot from her dimmed until it disappeared completely and in its place was none other than Sera.
Sera stood still for a moment as if she was unaware of where she was. Her dark braided hair drifted forward over her shoulder as she wavered on her feet for a moment. Her pale complexion slowly began returning to her normal gray coloring. Turning around, Elena watched as Sera began walking again. Keeping some distance between them, Elena followed.
Several times along the way she nearly revealed herself to Sera as she leaned heavily against a nearby tree to hold herself upright. All her strength looked like it had been sucked from her. As she nearly fell to the ground once again, Elena moved to help but was stopped as Sera righted her footing and pushed away from the tree. As her hand left the dark bark, a white glowing hand print was left behind on the bark before it slowly disappeared.
Edging her way around another tree, she gasped in surprise as her foot pressed down and snapped a twig on the ground. The sound caused Sera to jerk in surprise and turn to face her. Seeing no sense in hiding anymore, Elena stepped out into the bright light of the moon.
“Are you following me?” Sera asked in a weak voice but smiled all the same.
“I saw a light and was curious.” Hesitantly she then asked, “Was that you — the light, I mean?”
Even a simple nod to her question seemed to take so much effort for Sera in that moment. “Follow me.”
Without another word Sera slowly turned and began walking once more. Seeing no sense in turning back now, Elena did as she was asked. It wasn’t but a few minutes after that she found herself led to a less dense part of the forest. Amongst the dominating trees around them sat an ivory stone structure. It looked similar to ancient Greek temples that she’d seen in movies and books. A few stone steps led up to two square pillars that stood on either side of the open doorway of the temple.
As Sera disappeared within the temple, Elena moved to follow her. For a moment she found herself frozen in the open doorway as her eyes swept around the temple. Aside from a raised alter in the center of the room and a dark doorway against the far wall, it didn’t seem all that much. Her eyes rose to the ceiling — or the lack of one. A large section of the ceiling was open, revealing the star studded sky with the wealth of moonlight pouring inside.
“I bet it sucks when it rains here,” she casually commented as she took a step inside.
Leaning against the stone alter, Sera smirked at her comment, “It doesn’t rain here.”
“No rain. No sun,” she mumbled under her breath. “Answer me something: how do things grow here if you have no sun or rain?”
Taking a step into the center of the room, Sera cast her gaze up at the open roof. “The mother provides for us,” she answered cryptically.
“I don’t understand.”
Sighing heavily, Sera rubbed a tired hand against the side of her face. “What you witnessed tonight is something that many never see. Everything in this world is a gift from our mother. It is her energy and power that sustains everything you see. However a vessel is needed to allow energy to flow from the mother to the earth around us. I am that vessel.”
Raising an eyebrow, Elena crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you saying you allow yourself to be a food source for the earth?”
Sera nodded, “Yes, in a way.” Her eyes followed the strange human woman that had followed her from the woods. It was obvious that something was bothering her as her pale arms folded in front of her like a shield. When Elena made no move to speak again, Sera took a small step forward with a friendly smile. “What is troubling you? Has Kieran explained everything to you?”
“Oh he explained alright,” she grouched. It then was Sera’s turn to raise her eyebrow in surprise.
“What is it?” Sera asked, taking another step closer to Elena.
“I want to go home — back to my home,” her words rushed out as her hands waved toward herself. “Kieran claims that he cannot do that.”
Sighing, Sera nodded, “It’s true.” Elena jerked her eyes back to Sera in surprise.
“What do you mean? There is no way for me to return home?”
“What exactly did Kieran tell you about being someone’s sou’tali?”
She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “Something about a bond between two people, but what does that matter? It’s nothing that would explain why he refuses to return me home. I don’t belong here.” Pacing across the wide room and away from Sera, she turned back to her with a desperate look. “I don’t know what your relationship with Kieran is, but I know that you would be a much better match for him. It’s best if you just send me home. You have some type of moj
o-magic don’t you?”
Dream of Me Page 17