All For One [Nuworld 3] (45 page)

“Syra, you’re setting the boy up for heartbreak. Why? Let him forget where he came

from and get on with his life, yes.”

“He’s family. He is related to you and he’s related to me by a claim, since Tasha and

my father were stepbrother and sister. I’m sorry, but I can’t turn my back on him. My

heart isn’t made that way.” She slammed down the rest of her ale and then reached for

the pitcher to refill her cup.

“He’s a bastard, he is. There’s no place for him in our family.”

“What if I had a child while I was with the Lunians? And what if that child was

taken and then found when he was older? He wouldn’t be your child, or maybe he

would, but he’d be a bastard, born out of wedlock. Would you turn from him?”

“That didn’t happen.”

“No, it didn’t. But Beel did happen. He’s a person with feelings and we’re the ones

who brought him here. We exposed him to Gothman and then told him he couldn’t be

part of it.” Syra was getting angrier with each word. “I never thought you could be so

cold-hearted, Torgo.” She stood up suddenly and threw her cloth napkin over the food

on her plate. “You’ve changed, Torgo. I’ve never seen your heart this hard. I’m training

that boy for you. He’s your blood and you don’t deserve a fool in your bloodline.”

She stormed from the table toward the partition that separated their table from the

rest of the café. He stood to stop her, calm her down with well-chosen words. He didn’t

care if she trained the boy. He just didn’t want her to set the boy up for heartbreak—

because he cared. He wasn’t hard-hearted. He wasn’t his brother. Before he could say

any of these things to her, she spun around again—her green eyes pale with fury.

“I should have obtained more anti-conception pills before I let you have me. As it is,

I can only hope I’m not pregnant. Goodbye, Torgo.” And with that, she stormed out of

the room and out of the café.

Torgo recovered from her shocking words within seconds and hurried after her. He

ran into the concerned proprietor as he headed for the door.

“My lord?” The confused man wasn’t able to say anything further. Torgo pushed

the man out of his way and headed for the door. Much to his surprise as he reached the

street he discovered Syra had taken his glider. He had no way of knowing where she

went.

* * * * *

Ana balanced herself on the slippery rock. The sounds of the creek roared around

her ears. She watched the next rock, mere feet away from the one she balanced on at the

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moment, and saw nothing else around her. She was halfway across the creek and one

small mistake and she would be soaking wet—and freezing. She emptied her thoughts,

and then aware of every muscle it took to make the movement, she lifted one foot and

pushed it forward to land on the other rock. Quickly she pulled her other foot to join it.

It was a Gothman lesson, one of discipline and concentration. She glanced ahead

and found the next available rock. It was slightly further away and only feet from the

shore. There was another rock, a closer one, that she could choose, but she wanted the

challenge. That was the point of the lesson. Focus your attention on the rock, let nothing

else enter your thoughts, and obtain your goal or suffer dire consequences.

The water raced past her as the mountain creek roared down the hill. She could

easily be more than wet and frozen if she fell. She knew there were more rocks beneath

the water that could cut her to shreds and more than likely make her return home a

difficult task. It added to the challenge.

Her heart pounded loudly as she began to focus on the rock she’d chosen as her

next conquest. She forced the sound of blood rushing through her body out of her

thoughts and exhaled deeply as she focused all her attention on the one protruding

rock. She wouldn’t allow fear, hesitation, or any outward sound to distract her. Free her

thoughts. Relax her body.

It was the perfect exercise for her distracting thoughts and aching heart. It had been

a cycle since she’d seen Roth and he hadn’t contacted her. She needed to free herself

from him and get on with her life. She pushed those thoughts out as well and focused

on the rock.

Lift your foot, raise your leg, push your leg forward, place your foot on the rock,

gently…gently. She pulled her other foot to join the first and then struggled to balance

herself. That was the closest call. She maintained her balance and allowed herself to

breathe. The next step was the shore. It was a good three feet away with a muddy

incline. One wrong step and she’d slide into the frozen water. She would jump this

time, she decided. She’d have to in order to make it over the mud and prevent herself

from slipping.

Ice cracked from the glaring sun and a mound of snow and ice slipped past her in

the water and headed downstream. It was the warmest day they’d had yet in the new

winter. The snowy paradise she called home had turned into one large mud pit. She

focused on the bank and licked her lips. One deep breath, exhale, lift your leg

and…push with your other foot.

A large hand grabbed her just as her foot began to slip backwards into the mud.

“Oh!” she exclaimed loudly as she was pulled safely to the wet grass bordering the

rapid creek.

“You have the advantage of Runner blood that Gothman woman don’t possess.”

“Gilroy, you scared me to death. What were you doing sneaking up on me?” Ana

looked up at the black-haired friend of Andru’s who held her tightly in his arms.

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“Saving you from a death of foolishness, it looks to me,” he said, smiling down at

her and still holding her tightly up against his chest.

She looked up into his sky blue eyes. He grinned flirtatiously at her. Gilroy was

Andru’s best sparring buddy and she’d enjoyed more than once watching the powerful

boy who was almost a man. More than once she’d enjoyed the display of his incredibly

muscular body as he scrapped with her brother in the yard behind her house.

It was one thing to admire him from a distance but now those powerful muscles

were smashed up against her and her body was reacting strangely. She looked away

quickly but a knowing smile crossed Gilroy’s face.

“Let go of me.” She pushed hard and he let her go only to grab her again when she

almost fell backwards into creek. She slapped at him and this time jumped sideways,

out of those powerful arms and away from that virile body. “I didn’t need or ask for

your help. I wouldn’t have fallen.” She stuck her chin out stubbornly and ignored the

full-fledged grin he now had on his face.

“You’re welcome, my lady,” he said with a mocking bow. She turned on her heels

and walked toward the narrow part of the creek because, unfortunately, her glider was

on the other side.

He caught up with her quickly.

“What are you doing out here?”

She didn’t look at him but he could see the scowl on her face. He wasn’t daunted

one bit. “I’ve heard you come out here from time to time. I thought I’d take my

chances.”

“You heard I come out here?” she asked suddenly, smelling a rat. “And what were

you planning on doing, besides scaring the tar out of me, if you found me out here?”

“This,” he said and grabbed her, turning her quickly. He then placed a hard kiss

directly on her lips. She reached up to pound the side of his head but he moved faster.

Andru warned him if he wasn’t careful he could come home bruised and humiliated

and he wasn’t about to let that happen. This was a chance of a lifetime and he knew he

wouldn’t get another.

“Stop it,” she yelled when she was finally able to rip her mouth from his. He had

her arms pinned to her sides and his arms wrapped around her. “Let go of me.”

“Why are you fighting me? You’ve kissed me before.”

Her mind raced to the ball games she’d played with Andru and his friends. More

than once Gilroy had tackled her and stolen a kiss. Finally, she’d done the same to him

but then Andru had split them up, refusing to let Gilroy play if he didn’t behave. But,

Andru wasn’t here and if she didn’t know better she’d swear her brother sent him here.

But why? Didn’t he know this would happen?

“I don’t want to now. Let me go.”

“Uh-uh.” He tightened his grip and lifted her off the ground and, not for the first

time, she cursed the small physique she’d inherited from her mama. She was terrified

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when she realized Gilroy had already thrown several blankets across a patchy green

area where the snow was melted. He grabbed both of her hands behind her back with

one of his larger hands as he placed her on the blankets and came down on top of her.

Instantly, she drew up one of her legs hard in between his legs. His legs tightened in a

vise grip before her leg could reach its source.

“Don’t fight me, Ana,” he growled and began kissing her neck while his free hand

quickly untucked her shirt from her leather pants.

“Please don’t rape me, Gilroy, please.”

“Don’t fight and it won’t be rape.”

He ignored her screams that filled the air. He pulled her shirt up to her neck and

relished the full, round large breasts that appeared. The cold air instantly hardened her

nipples and he pounced on one of them with his mouth. While he sucked and nibbled

like a starved babe, his legs forced themselves in between hers and then he forced her

legs outward. In the next instant, he was unbuttoning her pants and tugging at them.

“Gilroy, please, stop. Not like this,” she begged. “Please.”

“This can be fun for both of us,” he whispered looking up at her. “But, my lady, I

can’t stop at this point. Relax.” He kissed her chin and her lower lip shivered. “Ana, it’ll

be okay.” His voice softened. “I’ve wanted you for so long. Relax, and I’ll be gentle.”

Ana looked up at him and tried to relax her mind. It could be worse. At least it was

just Gilroy. Besides, if she relaxed and then he relaxed, she might be able to get away.

She relaxed her body.

“That’s it, Ana,” he smiled and kissed her gently as if it were a reward. “Kiss me

back,” he instructed and she moved her lips but kept her eyes open.

She relaxed her mouth too much, though, and he worked his tongue in between her

lips and tickled her gums. She opened her mouth on reaction and he quickly pushed his