by Milly Taiden
Vander and Jag sat listening. “And?” Vander asked.
“It took days for us to reach the edge of that wilderness. We’d heard the men talk about the trading post enough that we had an idea of where to go. It was deserted. Gunnar and I argued at that point. He wanted to go back, but I wanted to head farther into the bush. He gave in, and to be honest if you asked him, I’d bet he still regrets not pulling rank and making us head home.”
“Why?” Jag asked.
Damen put the peach into the fruit bowl and then sat across from his friends. “Because of what we found.” His eyes met theirs. “The path through the jungle forests seemed clear at first. Well-traveled. We passed easily, and there were signs of life everywhere. That first night in the jungle wasn’t bad. We found a deserted campsite and bedded down for the night. At first light, we started out again. The path continued as before, but soon enough the trees and roots were less tamped down. Vines twined down from the branches in long, thick ropes, dense with leaves blocking out the sky.
“We walked for hours. The air was heavy and wet and the jungle grew dark, menacing. It was just a feeling—” He shook his head. “There were no warnings. No symbols or signs cautioning us to go back. Just heaviness in my chest setting off warnings that this was very wrong.”
Vander nodded. “Your gut. It’s what makes you so good at your job.”
“I don’t know.” Damen shook his head again. “Anyway, we needed to find a place to camp for the night, and Gunnar spotted a clearing. Thick trees ringed the spot almost as if on purpose, but by this time we were exhausted and hungry. I ignored the alarms in my head. Looking back now I can see why. That ring of trees was there for a reason.”
Jag’s eyes found his. “Sacrifice?”
Damen nodded. “Yes. We started a small fire and ate, settling in for the night. I told Gunnar at that point that we’d head back toward the mountains as soon as it was light. His relief was palpable, but what happened later that night haunted me for years. Gunnar fell asleep. In fact, he slept like the dead.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to be awake, alert. That something was coming.
“I remember the fire dying almost as if the air had been sucked from the clearing. I woke Gunnar and made us move to the shelter of the trees. We crouched in the shadows and watched as Hatun tribesmen covered in black and red paint walked into the clearing. Whether they noticed the cooled embers from our fire, I don’t know, but they got to their task quickly enough. Three women were tied to the trees across from where we watched. They were stripped naked and then brushed with what I thought at first was red paint like the men. I inhaled, and the copper tang at the back of my throat told me otherwise.”
“Blood,” Vander replied.
Damen nodded again. “Yes.”
“So you saw the creatures, then?” Jag asked.
He shook his head. “No. We were blinded by some force. I heard them, though, and the sounds were awful. Our sight was returned and the clearing was empty of any trace of what happened except for the blood on the leaf bed and the trunks of the trees. Neither Gunnar or I spoke of it after that night. We agreed on one thing, though. Neither of us wanted anyone to come across that place by accident again. We left at first light, and never went back. On our way, we left small marks on different trees just in case we ever needed to return.”
Vander inhaled, letting his breath out rapidly. “With as quickly as things grow in that jungle forest, do you think those marking would still be there all these years later?”
“I don’t know,” Damen replied with a shrug. “All I know is Maddox spoke the truth. Maybe my presence there that night made it worse for the Hatun tribe. Who knows? Maybe they destroyed our markings to protect themselves.”
“Protect themselves? Why the hell wouldn’t they want to seek out allies to destroy this menace?” Jag asked.
“Again, I don’t know,” Damen replied. “Your guess is as good as mine. But I also suspect this is the reason we haven’t been successful in bringing the warlords to the table with the rest of Galaxa. It’s because they’re fighting their own battle for survival.”
Vander got up to pace. “And now Maddox brought that battle to our doorstep.” He turned to Damen. “Do you think you could find that clearing again?”
“Who knows? It’s been fifteen years since I left the Summit. I’ve put that behind me,” he answered.
Vander pressed his lips together. “I understand, but now it’s time to put this in front of us again. We need to see Gunnar and join with the Summit Clan to eradicate this evil. I’m king. Not just of Palladia, but of all Galaxa. This needs to be done. Not just for the Hatun, but for all of us.”
“Vander, I don’t think—” Damen began, only to have the king cut him short.
Vander shook his head. “This goes beyond you and Gunnar as alpha and omega of the Summit. You both need to put aside your past and work together.” He eyed his Security Chief. “Can I trust you to do this?”
Damen stood with his face tight. “Do you really need to ask?”
“Good. Now all I have to do is break it to my mate.” Vander exhaled, raking a hand through his hair.
Jag got up and clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Give up, bro. Your mate just had a baby. You ain’t going anywhere. Karis and Gerri will physically tie you down.”
“I’m the king. I have to go. I can’t ask Damen to do this alone,” Vander argued.
Jag shook his head. “He won’t. I’ll go with him while you hold down the fort here. You need to be in the capital because when word leaks out about these creatures, it’ll be you that stops mass panic.” He squeezed the king’s shoulder. “Just don’t kill Maddox before I get back. I want a piece of that old bastard.”
Damen nodded with a serious smirk. “Ditto. I want the bastard’s heart on a spit.”
6
“Hey,” Henley said, knocking on the half-open door. She waited, keeping a soft smile on her face to hide her butterflies. “Want some company?”
Damen looked up from sorting his field pack. “Suit yourself.”
She walked into the large living room. She’d been here plenty of times before, but now things were different. At least as far as she was concerned. So much for being a tough cookie. If you want him, you’re going to have to show him. He’s got history...
After everything Gerri and Karis said, she was still unsure how to do this. Should she pursue him, bold as brass, or hang back letting the signals speak for her?
Damen’s apartment was styled along the same lines as the royal chambers, only smaller, if you could call two thousand square feet, small. His bedroom and private quarters overlooked the far mountains by design, blocking the harsh desert sun.
She leaned on the arm of a high back chair, watching as he packed. “I heard what’s going on.”
Damen smirked, chuckling to himself. “Ivy?”
“Yup.” She gave him a quick smile. “She wasn’t happy, to say the least. That is until Vander told her he wasn’t going with you.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Let me guess. Riley was next to grumble and that upset Karis.”
“Yup and yup.” She nodded, trying to keep her mind on the conversation and not his amazing mouth. “Thank God for Gerri. Motherhood has made them both nuts. Ivy’s hormonal, and Riley’s got it almost as bad though her kids are adopted. Gerri had to remind them this was an exploratory trip.”
He zipped his field pack and moved it to one of the stools in front of his bar. “Want a drink? I’ve got ale and red Sidaii. I think I’ve got a bag of chips somewhere.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t expecting company.”
“Sidaii sounds great. I need to take a case of wine back with me. That’s if it’ll survive the jump,” Henley replied.
Damen took a bottle out of the bar fridge and peeled the wax from the top of the cork. He looked at her as he twisted the corkscrew deep, pulling it loose with a pop. “Are you heading back to Earth already?”
; “I’ve been here nearly a year, Damen.” She shrugged…well, at least he thought to ask. “Unlike Ivy and Riley, I have no ties to keep me here other than them. If things changed, I might consider staying, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me.”
Pouring two glasses, Damen’s hand froze for a moment and she caught it. He glanced at her from behind the bar before walking to where she leaned on the chair. He was gorgeous. Even a blind woman could see he was a perfect piece of eye candy. From his chiseled face and full lips to his broad shoulders and muscled torso. She took in every inch of his chest, following the line to his hips and the generous package behind his zipper.
He gestured for her to sit on the couch, waiting until she was situated before handing her a glass of wine. He slid beside her. “Cheers,” he said, lifting his glass.
Henley touched the edge of her glass to his and then took a sip, letting the sweet wine roll over her tongue.
“So what exactly did Ivy tell you about our trip into the Tempera?” he asked.
Henley swallowed, nearly choking. “Ivy said you were heading to your village in the mountains. Something about clan matters that needed resolving. Vander told her from there you were visiting a trading post on the outskirts, not going fully into the jungle. Even I know that’s got deathtrap written all over it.”
Damen cracked a grin. “The King of Omission.” He chuckled shaking his head. “Not that I blame him. If I was about to get a face full from my mate, I might downplay this trip as well.”
“Why is Vander downplaying this at all? Are we in danger?” she asked, watching his face. “Then again, maybe he didn’t want her to worry. I know I’d be beside myself if it was me.” Her voice took on a wistful tone and she coughed to cover herself.
“You and the girls?” he replied. “No. Not at all. But us?” He lifted a hand. “We used the sodium pentothal on Maddox earlier and he told us where and how he obtained the poison for his dirty business. He also told us he traded the women he had abducted to a jungle tribe using them for blood sacrifice.”
“Jesus…can’t Vander send his warriors in to end the practice?” Henley asked, taken aback.
Damen nodded. “Yes, but there’s more.” He explained what they learned about the worms and what he witnessed as a kid.
“That is absolutely the grossest thing I’ve heard. Your creatures sound like mutant vampires.” Henley’s frowned, disgusted.
Damen raised an eyebrow. “Vampires?”
“We have them on Earth.” Henley nodded, putting her drink on the coffee table. “Vampires were originally mythology, fictional characters along with shifters, but everybody’s out of the paranormal closet now so nothing surprises me, though your gross creatures take the cake.”
“Are Earth vampires flesh eating?” he asked.
Henley raised an eyebrow. “No. Zombies, yeah, but not vampires. Vamps drink blood, but they don’t have to kill to survive, and they certainly don’t require blood sacrifices from the community at large. What you experienced was trippy. It reminds me a little of our ancient Mayans.”
“Were they a jungle tribe like the Hatun?” Damen drained his glass and then got up for the bottle.
She shrugged. The conversation had gone all History Channel and she was glad not to think of Damen in danger. “Sort of, but not exactly. The Mayans would hunt and capture their enemies, saving them for human sacrifice to their gods. They weren’t offered up as appetizers for some menacing fiend. If anything, the Mayans were the menacing fiends, raiding innocents for their own blood lore.”
“These Earth vampires, are they invincible?”
Henley lifted her glass for Damen to fill, waiting for him to put the bottle on the table and sit. “Do you mean can they be killed?”
“Yes,” he said.
She nodded, acutely aware of Damen’s close proximity and how amazing he smelled. “Sunlight is deadly for vampires, and they hate garlic, but mostly you need to behead them after you drive a stake through their heart. To be really sure, though, you burn what’s left. Back home, vampires have become mainstreamed so that doesn’t happen much. They’re accepted.
“Not as much as shifters, but they’re getting there. They live off animal blood and synthetic blood supplements. It’s cool for the most part, although I do remember there was a coven of vampires a few years ago that tried to establish blood cults. It happened in upstate New York—Blue Creek or someplace. Actually, it was a shifter pack called The Wolfe Clan that brought down the blood club. They are a real sassy bunch.”
He smirked. “Like someone else I know.”
She caught his intense gaze, and her cheeks flushed. The man was a shifter, so the fact he knew her panties dampened with that look made her blush even more.
“Let me come with you, Damen. I’m stuck in baby central since Ivy delivered. Baby talk and baby things. I need to get out of here for a while or I’m going to go baby-shit crazy! Either that or my own biological clock is going to slap me upside the head and make me do something I’ll regret later.”
He chuckled. “That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea.” Henley lifted a hand. “Don’t get me wrong. I love kids. In fact, someday, I hope to have a bunch of my own rug rats driving me to drink, but right now, I want excitement.” Damen’s eyes stayed on hers and she couldn’t look away. “I want the rush. To feel my blood race the way it does when sex is amazing.”
He raised an eyebrow, but shook his head. “I know where you’re headed with this, Henley, and the answer is no. This is dangerous shit. Way more than even I’m ready to take on. There’s no way Vander or I would ever permit you to go, and Ivy would skin us alive.”
“Riley and Ivy are moms, now. I know they don’t mean it, but I feel like an outsider. Please, Damen. I’m begging you. Let me come.” She cringed at how desperate that sounded, not to mention the innuendo he could read into it.
One look at him and she knew the trip to the Tempera jungle was not where his head went when those words left her lips. His eyes dipped to her lips, dropping to the full curve of her breasts and back again. Something changed in his gaze, and when he licked his lips, her mouth watered at how his kiss would taste.
He took her wine glass from her hand and put it on the coffee table, but instead of getting up to show her the door, he sat closer. Slipping his hand into hers, he let his thumb graze her knuckles.
“Your skin is like the softest Palladian silk.” His fingers trailed higher over her forearm. “Ironic considering you’re such a tough cookie.”
Electricity skittered across her bare skin, and she swallowed. Her fingers itched to touch his face, to burrow into his thick hair and beg a kiss. As if reading her mind, he slid his free hand around her waist and pulled her closer. She lifted her face to his, and without pause, his tongue swept her bottom lip, inviting her in for a kiss. She gasped, and in that moment, there was no hesitation.
He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her like a man starved. She moaned, fisting his hair like she wanted. This was what she wanted. Dreamed of in the dark. Used a case of batteries for… She tightened her grip on the nape of his neck and kissed him deeper, sucking his tongue into her mouth.
Damen pulled back, letting his lips hover close. “You want to come, Henley?” he asked.
“I meant go with you to the jungle, but if you have a different meaning in mind, then I’m listening,” she said, trying to play it cool.
His lips spread in a grin against her mouth and he bit her lower lip. “Is that so?” Damen’s hand drifted over her belly toward her crotch. “Your scent tells me you’re more than listening. You’re wet for me already, Henley,” he whispered over her lips. “I can smell your sweet slickness and it makes my mouth water for a taste.”
Emboldened, her lips spread against his in a smirk. “Just a taste? I figured you for an all or nothing kind of guy.” She grazed his bottom lip with her teeth.
A growl formed at the back of his throat. “I want you to come, Henley. Naked. Wet. B
egging to come all over my cock.”
She dug her hands into his hair even more and pressed her body close. With a growl, he laid her back on the couch, covering her soft body with his hard need. Their kiss deepened, wild and rough. He sucked on her tongue, plundered her mouth, and every moan sent her blood to race.
Damen pushed her knees apart and slid in between her legs, the thin fabric of her leggings letting her feel every hard inch of him teasing her with what lay beneath his zipper. The hard bar of his erection pressed at the juncture between her legs and she moaned, wrapping her legs around his hips.
“Oh, baby, you’re so hot,” Damen whispered.
She bit his lip again. “I thought polar bears liked it cold.”
He growled low in his throat and the rumble was rough and full of desire and Henley’s breath caught in her throat.
“Mmmm, the delicious way you smell makes me want to fuck you every time I see you. Do you know how hard it’s been not to pull you into the nearest dark corner and have you?”
Damen rolled his hips, letting his hand push her camisole up until the shirt’s shelf bra slipped over her breasts exposing her bare flesh. He licked the underside of her jaw to her ear and then trailed his lips past her throat and over her collarbone to the deep valley between her tits.
She arched her back as his lips lingered, her body begging for his mouth. “You’re full of surprises, snow bear. I swore we were frozen solid in the friend zone, but here you are hot as hell and making me burn like never before.”
“I want to suck you and fuck you every way I can, but my hands are tied, Henley.” He drew his chin over one soft mound. “The friend zone is too hard. I can’t do it anymore, not with you so close, I can almost taste you, but for me to have you completely…it’s…it’s complicated.”
“Damen—”
He shook his head, but she cut him off. “No. You don’t get off that easily.”