Dark Warriors: A Dark Lands Anthology (Darklands) (32 page)

“Well, that was a disaster,” his brother remarked as he claimed a cushioned chair. “It’s a good thing our sisters didn’t come to the table; I think your sweet bride might have scared them off.”

Taking his arm off his eyes, Keg glared at his brother.

“Quiet, Roac. Now is not the time to tease,” Dagon admonished. He sat down and steepled his fingers, gazing into nothing. “You’ll have your work cut out for you teaching her to trust, Keg. You’re fortunate you have a prior acquaintance. I’ve seen my share of men with battle illness, but she’s the first woman. It’s a pity, but I have faith in you. You can overcome this.”

The words soothed him, and Keg tried to relax. This would go a lot better if he didn’t try to rush it, he reminded himself. It would just take time.

The image of Dey’s clenching hand flashed before him, and he grimaced. Okay, lots of time, but he had that.

He knew the way he wanted to soothe her. Ever since her exile and that first, bittersweet kiss, he’d ached for her. It was the force that kept him going, a need that never slept. Judging by her response to him earlier, she felt it, too.

The world got a little hazy as he mentally took that moment further, to a soft bed and softer sighs, to heat and a lover’s caress…

A servant ran into the room. “Kegtaar-Ra! Come quickly! Your woman has escaped!”

Dey quietly crept along the rooftops, her ears tuned for pursuers. The evening was quiet, except for the sounds of celebration here and there. The Beasts were congratulating each other on their latest capture.

The gates were a good distance away yet. She wasn’t sure how she’d get out, but something would come up. With patience, it always did.

She felt a little guilty for knocking out Keg’s servants and tying up his mother, but at least she hadn’t hit her. Hopefully he’d appreciate that, especially since the chances of her getting away were slim. Still, she had her pride. It was worth a try.

Water dripped in her eyes and she swore silently. The swimming pool had seemed like a great hiding place and had worked like a charm, but now she was paying for it with soggy clothes. On a rooftop, that was hazardous, but she’d have to make do. More annoying was her shivering. These northern latitudes were colder than she was used to.

Well, that was unimportant. She’d survive.

Flattening out against the rough stone of her perch, she scanned the skies for prowling Beast hover-sleds while she considered strategy. Instinct said run for the gates and don’t stop. She rejected that; they’d be expecting it. A better plan would be to stay concealed for at least five days, then run for it when their guard was down.

“Hello, Dey.”

She started and looked left. Keg was there on his hover-sled, and he looked annoyed. Before she could speak, another sled rose up on her right, blocking her view of the gates.

“Good evening,” Roac said pleasantly.

Dey rolled her eyes. “How did you find me?”

Keg slowly shook his head. “You’re good in the swamp, where all you have to avoid is animal senses and natural dangers. Beast technology is another thing.”

She grunted. Obviously she’d have to rethink her strategy.

The ride back, seated behind Keg, brought back memories. It had been a long time since they’d ridden double, and this time he had more clothes on. Well, that and they were riding several stories above the ground. Still, her thoughts mellowed her. When his home came into sight, she said in his ear. “You know, you could keep going. Find a nice patch of forest to camp in and I might be more inclined to be friendly.”

His head came up and she felt his deep sigh. “You’re a cruel woman, Dey. I think you’re looking for a way to get me alone so you can bash me over the head and steal my sled.”

She thought for a moment. “What if I gave you my word not to leave your side while we’re out there? Could we go then?”

There was silence for a moment, and then he called to his brother. “If I’m not back by noon tomorrow, come looking.” His brother shot them a startled look as their sled broke away from his brother’s and headed for the gate.

Dey threw her head back and laughed in sheer exultation. That he would do this for her…maybe he was still the Keg she knew. Maybe there was hope.

They rode away from the swamp. After a while the terrain began to rise. Familiar swamp trees gave way to conifer and papery-barked trees, the likes of which she’d never seen. Fascinated, she watched in wonder as they climbed ever higher, eventually traveling through a narrow pass and out into lichen-covered meadow. The bike slowed as they approached a boulder garden, and then stopped. A steaming lake, edged by rocks and clear enough to see the shallow, sandy bottom, stood before them.

“Welcome to paradise,” Keg said as he dismounted.

She just sat there and looked around until she noticed his watchfulness. With a laugh, she dismounted.

“Are you hungry?” He retrieved a satchel from the bike and handed her a canteen and a curious little packet. He chuckled at the way she eyed it and took it away to open it for her. “It’s survival rations.”

“Tasty!” She devoured it.

Keg laughed. “You have been in the swamps too long.” Much of the tension was dissolved by their laughter. He took her hand and led her to a pool and suddenly the night felt friendly and warm. Fate seemed to be smiling on them. Even the stars twinkled down with a benign light.

Oddly enough, she even felt relaxed. Maybe it was the alien landscape, so different from the swamps. Maybe it was Keg. The easy grip of his hand spoke tenderness to her soul, soaked into the dryness there. Suddenly she realized just how thirsty she was.

“The waters are always warm here, and I thought you’d like the view.” His gaze turned challenging, daring her to live up to the promise that had brought them here.

He stripped down to his scanty drawers.

Dey looked aside, feeling rather faint. She did not want to see the man half-naked, not while things were so unsettled, but it looked like she wouldn’t be given a choice.

No, the only choice she had was to go along with his crazy plan and try to have some fun, or to spend the night pouting. Besides, it had been eons since she’d last had company. Maybe she should savor the moment?

He had brought her here in good faith.

She glanced over her shoulder as she heard a splash. She sighed and slipped behind a boulder to strip down to the essentials.

Keg looked relieved when she came back in sight; he’d probably expected her to run. As he took in what she was wearing, his eyes glowed. “Purple’s your color,” he offered as she slid into the water.

She cupped some water in her hand and watched it flow through her fingers, feeling shy. She didn’t know how to handle him or this situation. What did he want from her? What did she want to give him?

A single glance at him, and she knew what she wanted from him. But Keg wasn’t the kind of man one dallied with and left. Not when he looked at a woman as he looked at her. The hard thing was, she wanted to stay. More than ever in her life, she wanted to trust.

“How did you know about this place?” Dey stared through a break in the mountains at the peaks on the other side. She had never seen the mountains, and this place awed her. Besides, it was one of the few safe topics that came to mind.

“It’s an old place.” Keg swam over to her and made himself comfortable against the boulder she leaned on. “Few people know about it.” He smiled at her, and at close range the impact was devastating. “It’s the kind of place you take a woman you want to impress.”

“Which means you’ve been here a lot.” Dey’s disappointment did a good job of dousing her pleasure in his compliment.

He smiled. “I wish you’d bet money on it.”

Dey closed her eyes and ignored him.

He maintained his silence until she was forced by curiosity to ask, “So what became of Luna?”

“She married Drostra within eight months and has two children. They live in the new territory. The captured lands,” he added, for her benefit. “Are you surprised?”

“Yes, but not shocked. She never really felt at home in the settlement.”

“What about you?”

“It was a place to live; at least when I was accepted. Of course it helped when I didn’t have this hideous hair.”

“It’s lovely. And very common among my people.”

“You’re a Beast,” she said flatly.

“Half. My birth mother was human.”

He was silent a moment, then he smiled. “My adopted mother was a human who crossed over. ‘Love has no politics’, she says.” And never once had she said anything about regretting it, although her choice couldn’t have been easy. But one look at his parents together was enough to convince any skeptic. Love could overcome any obstacle. It was part of the reason he’d vowed to marry a human when as a prince among his kind he could have easily found a wife. Someone had to lead the way. And there was no other choice, not for hundreds of their men. There just weren’t enough women to go around.

He’d thought he’d found the right woman in Dey, even with their problems.

Which she was happy to bring up. “You were sent to spy on us.”

“I had a job to do. I did it. It was yesterday, and you were no innocent. Let’s leave it there.” He was not about to feel guilty for doing his job, but… “If it comforts you, I fought to have you exiled with Luna. Your sentence was too harsh.”

“I didn’t see you running after me.” Her tone was light, but with underlying heat.

“You destroyed the transceiver. By the time I realized a couple of days wasn’t going to make you ready to talk, you’d disappeared.” Remembered anger and fear heated his blood. He’d wandered through the swamps for months trying to find her. Even when she hadn’t shown up in the settlement after a year, he hadn’t given up. When he had finally accepted, recently, that she was dead and he’d have to choose another, a bitter taste had still lingered. He’d wanted her.

It had been a punch in the heart when she’d shown up. It had taken everything he’d had to let her go, though he’d had her tracked. Right there, he’d vowed to call in the transports the very next time she was close. They’d been done there, but more, he wasn’t leaving without her. If she hadn’t come back to the settlement, he’d have taken half a company and raided her hidey-hole that night.

When she’d come back to the settlement, he’d known they had a chance. She’d known the dangers, but still come.

He moved closer. “It could be good between us, Dey,” he whispered as he cupped her cheek.

She flinched and got out of the pool.

A long sigh came with his disappointment; so much for easy conquests.

Keg built a fire and did the cooking. Dey watched the coals pop and snap in drowsy silence, nearly falling asleep from the lingering affects of the water. Her earlier surge of adrenaline had faded, and now she felt foolish. She was less afraid of what he might do to her than she was of her own ignorance. She’d never been kissed, save by him. Twenty-seven years old, and she was still a hopeless innocent. Even the thought of exposing her inexperience was enough to make her cringe. What would he want with a white-haired outcast, anyway? Surely he hadn’t been serious when he’d claimed to like her hair. It was the kind of thing men said...wasn’t it?

What did he think? That she’d spent the years dreaming of their reunion? That many nights she’d retired from an endless day only to dream of his arms around her, of his heart stopping kisses?

She sent a guilty look his way. Was the man a mind reader?

But what future could they have, even if he wanted one? Sane people didn’t just marry on a whim and run off into the mists.

To keep herself awake, she moved to the break in the mountains and looked out at the stars. The night was cool, and she was grateful when Keg brought her his jacket. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.” He tipped his head up and studied the stars. “It’s hard to see the sky this clearly from the swamps.”

She nodded. “Too many trees.” There was an awkward pause.

Dey couldn’t stand it. “What do you want from me, Keg?”

Starlight reflected from his dark eyes. “What I’ve always wanted: to make you my wife.”

Suddenly she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t look at him. A wife. His wife. “I…I’m not…” Not what, much of a wife? The kind of woman a man desired?

A gentle touch made her look at him. “I’ve always wanted you. Always. Be mine.” Slowly, his hand slid into her hair, wiping away her doubts. “Adajah…be mine.”

Heat flooded her brain and melted her sense as his tongue parted her lips and made her burn. Sparks jumped along her nerves and jellied her knees. Her back touched the ground, and she didn’t even consider the danger to her virtue. All that mattered was his searing touch and incoherent, molten promises. Half of what he said was in his native tongue, but it didn’t matter. Her body responded as if it knew precisely what he meant. If the moans coming from her mouth were any indication, it did.

Keg knew he should wait. Even if it was what they both wanted, it was too fast. She deserved a proper marriage ceremony, and he desperately wanted to honor her before his family. But she felt so good, smelled so good; all he could think of was tasting every luscious inch.