Daryk Warrior (3 page)

Sympathy arose within him but he cut it off. “I don’t know
who my father was and my mother was a prostitute who ran a brothel.”

Those full lips rounded in surprise. “Oh, I see.”

He shrugged. “I was abandoned in the ice lands of Imekland
when I was two. I was lucky that a band of people traveling to Leadious Castle
found me and saved my life. I grew up there and when I realized I was a Daryk
One I joined the ranks and was assigned to Bardannia. They say I’m made of ice
or I wouldn’t have survived.”

Her sweet mouth parted again and heat surged into his groin.
Good thing his tunic shirt was long enough or she’d have an eyeful of a
full-blown erection. He doubted she’d know what to do with a cock if she saw
one. After all, if rumors proved true, women who became Scribes were cold virgins
with no sexual prowess or interest whatsoever.

He cleared his throat. “I can see I won’t get any sleep for
now.” He sat up and reached for his pack with the meager supplies to cover one
person. He nodded toward the water bladder lying not far away. “Drink up.” He
handed her a length of dried meat. “Eat this.”

After she’d taken a few sips of water and chewed the meat
greedily, she said, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

She sighed and looked at the ground for a moment before
meeting his gaze. “For taking care of me.”

“You were doing well enough on your own.”

She smiled but it was short-lived. “A man who gives a woman
credit.”

He shouldn’t have felt surprise but he did. “Magonian men
keep women under their control.”

“Total control, if they can.”

“There have to be women who don’t comply. Women like you.”

She stared into the darkness toward the back of the cave.
Shadows danced, thrown into the deep rock shelter by firelight. “I wasn’t
always this way.” Conflict covered her features. “I had a breaking point.” She
glanced back at him and abruptly changed the subject. “Are you certain you
can’t guide me to Grimnald?”

“I’m not taking you to Grimnald. Why do you persist in
asking?”

Mia shrugged. “You sound like the elders at Scribe school.
They always wanted me to listen, take notes and never asking annoying
questions. I was hoping Dragonian men would be different.”

Eryk bristled. “Different than what? What are Magonian men
like short of gutless, ruthless bastards?”

Mia flinched as if he’d hit her. He narrowed his eyes and
watched caution spread over her face.

“Your judgment is harsh but I agree with it,” she said.

He hadn’t expected that assessment. “You don’t like your
people much, do you?”

Her gaze fell to the cave floor. “Some of them. Not many.”

Silence dropped down between them while she drank and ate.
He watched her movements, intrigued and drawn to her grace and composure.
Though dirty from her ordeal, she managed dignity where many women would be
panicky. Admiration welled inside him and he ruthlessly squashed it.

“For a woman who survived a shipwreck and is stranded in a
strange land, you’re doing well,” he said grudgingly.

She made a doubtful noise. “I’m good at putting on a face
for the crowd.”

“There’s only one of me here.” He lay back and her gaze
skittered up and down his body. “No need to put on a show.”

“There is always need for show.”

Impatient, he said, “Dragonians say what they mean and mean
what they say. Pretense is considered unhealthy.”

She laid aside the water bladder and didn’t hide her
surprise. “How refreshing. Are you certain?”

“Absolutely. If there is one thing I cannot abide, it is a
liar. Magonians are heralded as being great liars.”

He half expected her to become angry but she simply said,
“So I learned not long ago. Dragonians don’t lie?”

“It is against a Daryk One’s code of honor.”

She peered at him. “But not all Dragonians are Daryk Ones,
are they? What makes a Daryk One?”

“Dragonians who are extraordinary from birth.” He took pride
in explaining what made him different than the average man. “We are stronger,
taller, capable of great feats. We can slay dragons. We are warriors beyond
compare.”

She smiled. “Dragon slaying is an art?”

He blinked as the effect of her grin filled his groin with
heat. By the god, he needed to go somewhere and take his cock in hand. “There
are many dragons that kill for meat. We protect the populace from such
dragons.”

“You didn’t slay the dragon we saw.”

“Of course not. It didn’t try to harm us.”

“Then you don’t kill for the fun of it, for amusement.”

He frowned. “Never.”

She edged away until she no longer sat near him on the
pallet. She didn’t seem to like his proximity that much.

“I read that,” she said. “About the dragon killing, I mean.
That Dragonian people have lived with dragons for time so far back no one can
remember the beginning.”

Surprise made him sit up and stare at her. “Where did you
hear that?”

“The Chronicles of Magon.”

He snorted. “The requirements of your god.”

“Your disdain is clear. Do you mock other religions?”

“Only Magonian religion.”

Disappointment crossed her face. “Then you are no better
than the people you despise.”

Mia’s statement took him off guard but it went to his heart.
Eryk couldn’t believe he was sitting here having this discussion with this odd
woman. “Our country isn’t made up of one religion but many.”

“Oh? I heard you all worship Draconus.”

“Most do. Not all. Draconus is said to be the first one to
construct our rules for life. But this world is filled with fables and myths.
Guidelines for life but many shades of gray. Few people take it as complete
truth. There is no truth but what lies within.” He tapped his chest with his
fist. “There isn’t a black and white as your chronicle says. Many Dragonians
need rules to be happy. I don’t. I follow my own rules.”

A brilliant smile touched her lips and he almost went to
her. Almost demanded a sweet kiss. If he kissed her perhaps she wouldn’t seem
so irresistible anymore. So damn incredible.

She sighed again and her downcast eyes and hands folded in
her lap showed him a submission he didn’t expect. “The Chronicles of Magon is
the guidebook for all Magonian life. How we should dress, what we should think,
what we should say. You’re right. Magonia is a country of rules to keep people
in their places.”

“Doesn’t surprise me. Boring.”

She sat cross-legged and stared at a cave wall. “You’re a
harsh judge.”

“Old news. I’ve been told that.”

“And you’re proud of it.”

“You’re reading me like an open book.”

“You wear your pride plainly for all to see. How could I
miss it?” She tilted her head and stared at him. “But your arrogance is as
repugnant as your confidence is reassuring.”

Shock bit him between the eyes. Her words didn’t hold a
harsh tone but he also didn’t miss the condemnation behind them. “Daryk Ones
are proud. We have a right to be. We’re not puppets.”

“Hmm.” She looked away.

Damn but the little chit wasn’t impressed. Women often fell
all over him if they didn’t fear him outright. Having a woman dismiss him
didn’t sit well.

“I ran away from Magonia because of the Chronicles of Magon
and much of what it stands for,” she said. “If you wish to insult Magonia
you’re welcome to it. Boasting of Dragonian prowess won’t necessarily endear me
to it.”

She stood and stalked toward the back of the rock shelter.
This place had seen occupation for many years off and on as a way station for
travelers. Smoke had darkened the cavern roof and people had etched their
initials into the walls and ceiling.

Her fingers traced over one carving. “Dragonia has
fascinated me since I was a child. I wondered if what I read was the truth but
so much of it was lies. Now that I’m here nothing is going to stop me from
understanding what is real.”

He patted the bedroll next to him. “Sleep. You can seek the
truth all you want when you arrive in Bardannia.”

Her gaze snapped to his, hot with defiance he didn’t expect.
She planted her hands on her hips. “You’re as commanding as you are arrogant.”

Shadows from the fire danced over her and her beauty and
strength did him in. When had he last met a woman who challenged him? He
couldn’t remember. Her contrast of feminine modesty and hard-nosed
determination drew him.

He stood and stalked toward her, knowing he wouldn’t sleep
unless he did one thing. He stopped in front of her but she didn’t flinch or
move away. Another challenge that fired his blood. His cock rose and he knew if
she looked closely enough she’d see the evidence.

“Are you complaining or complimenting me?” he asked.

“Complaining.” Her voice was soft…almost trembling. She
looked up and met his gaze.

Eryk noted her caution. The warrior in him liked her soft,
wanted her compliant to whatever he did next. The honor in him demanded he back
away.

He compromised. “There is something potent between us,
pretty one.”

Alarm brightened her eyes. “You imagine things.”

He smiled and leaned in until he could press a soft, barely
there kiss just on the left side of her neck. She drew in a sharp breath.
Oh
Draconus. Yes, that was good.

“Daryk Ones know when a woman wants them. When she needs
them to slake desire. I’d always heard Magonian women are dry vessels with no
passion. I can see that isn’t true in your case, Mia. There is heat inside you.
When you want me to show you pleasure, let me know.”

He drew in a deep breath and allowed his gaze to take in her
body and felt the raging need rise higher within. She stood as still as an
animal hiding from a hunter. Mia trembled on the brink of a discovery she
feared as much as she longed to experience. How he knew this, he didn’t
understand. He wondered if it was wishful thinking, if he wanted her so much he
was willing to create things in his own mind that didn’t exist.

Her female scent rose until Eryk burned inside to take her.
He clenched his fists. Whether she understood it or not, she was wet for him.
He whispered close to her ear, “Your beauty ensnares me and makes me want
things. I ache with it.”

He gently brushed his fingers over her cheek and her eyes
went wide and her lips parted. Her cheeks flushed.

“There,” he said. “Feel that?”

“No.” But her words were breathless.

“Perhaps you’d like but a taste of what I could give you.”
His own breathing picked up speed and his cock was as hard as rock.

He cupped her face in his palms and leaned into her. She
gasped again and trembled. When she didn’t pull away he dared to brush his lips
over hers. Her trembling increased but he kept his touch so light he could
barely feel her moist mouth under his. He sipped for but a second in time.

A raging need gathered force in his groin and the power
within it drove his restraint to the brink. He’d never force a woman and he
didn’t want to frighten her. He drew back before he could go further than he
meant to. Eryk half expected her to protest, to scream and run from him.
Instead she stayed immobile.

“I won’t touch you again tonight. You can sleep on the
bedroll without fear. I’m a Daryk One and do not harm women nor take anything
from them they are unwilling to give.”

Anger poured into her eyes but it made his desire grow
rather than dimish.

“You are delusional,” she said with low scorn.

Ah, sweet Mia. You are angry with yourself for feeling
something.

“You want me. I can feel it. And you’ll surrender to me one
day, I swear it.”

As he turned and walked back to the pallet, he also
trembled. Why had he spoken to her that way? How could he want a Magonian? It
shamed him as much as it burned inside him with undeniable truth.

Chapter Two

Mia stared down at the sleeping Eryk as he lay on the
bedroll beside her, face less fierce in sleep but with an edge she couldn’t
deny. Remembering the way he’d nuzzled her throat, tasted her mouth and vowed
to seduce her made Mia’s blood run hot. She’d never experienced a kiss with a
man that she’d wanted so much. As afraid as she’d been when he’d touched her so
intimately, she’d felt compelled to experience his kiss to see if it was different
than she expected. And indeed it was. Even that gentle touch had made her want
to act in ways she’d never imagined she would.

No, he hadn’t said he’d seduce her. He’d told her that
she
wanted him and that she’d surrender. A mention of surrendering infuriated her.
She was
finished
surrendering to what men wanted.

She’d awakened some time ago and didn’t want to move. He was
too warm and his strength made her feel unexpectedly safe.

Oh Magon, it was true. She hated it. She did want to learn
the secrets of making love and she yearned to follow the heat that moved
through her blood. She shouldn’t, of course. Not because her upbringing said
women shouldn’t have desires and certainly shouldn’t make love outside of
marriage but because she didn’t know him. She trusted him not to harm her but
she didn’t trust him in any other way. A man like this could prove dangerous.
She’d follow him to Bardannia and then discover a way to reach Grimnald.

She hadn’t planned on a shipwreck and losing her pack with
her money and other small possessions. She rubbed together her fingers, touched
her bare earlobes. She had nothing but the clothes on her back. Well she’d
known this journey would prove difficult. She tried to take a deep breath and
failed as misery tore through her.

She’d fallen asleep almost the moment she’d lain down last
night, despite Eryk’s disturbing presence. Why hadn’t she cried then? Why now?
Tears spilled down her cheeks. Angry with herself, she stood and went to the
back of the shelter.

As she watched Eryk, she sighed with exhaustion. That made
her angry too. She’d slept like death but still wanted more rest. The fire
hadn’t gone out. He must have checked it through the night. Beyond the mouth of
the cave and the low fire, jungle sounds continued without pause. Strange
animal sounds she couldn’t identify called through the dim morning light.
Chills rippled up and down her back. The sounds made her wonder what lurked
outside. Whether she liked Eryk Gauth or not, she’d tolerate him and hope he
tolerated her for the journey. He was infuriatingly right. She couldn’t
traverse this place without his help. Frustration at her situation wouldn’t
help. She wiped her eyes and determined she wouldn’t allow fear to rule.

She closed her eyes and remembered how his touch had felt,
his strength and power. Tingles of awareness prickled along her body and became
stronger and stronger. She heard a clatter and jerked to awareness. Logs on the
fire rolled out of the pile and sparks glowed. An image of Eryk holding her
close, his hands running up and down her body, froze her to the spot. Heat
flushed through her. Another log rolled from the fire and she twitched in
surprise. She wondered if her emotions could have caused the reaction but then
dismissed the idea. She hadn’t moved anything with her mind in an aeon.

She felt a presence behind her and whirled. Eyrk stood
watching her, his expression caught between grim and fierce.

“If you’re trying to scare me, it won’t work,” she said.

“Why not?”

“I haven’t gone through a shipwreck to give up now. I won’t
allow a man to derail my plans.”

He crossed his arms and that disarming smile emerged again.
“You’re different.”

Heat filled her face. “So everyone tells me.”

“Everyone?”

“Almost. I do not fit in with the average citizen. I have
too many desires, too many wants, too many questions.”

He nodded, his gaze steady upon her. Did admiration fill his
expression or did she imagine it? Did she want to take the chance he wouldn’t
believe her if she told him the truth? Dragonia was the land of freedom and
opportunity, she should tell the truth and maybe ask questions of her own.

“Are you an honorable man, Eryk Gauth?”

He blinked. His gaze stayed steady, as if she hadn’t asked
him a shocking question. Internally she cringed at his answer. “Depends on who
you talk to.”

“Do women think you’re honorable?”

“Some do, some don’t. Depends on where I meet them and the
circumstance.” He chuckled. “I’m damn sure there are some who think I am utter
scum.”

She sighed. Perhaps he demanded truth but never gave it.
“Are you one of those people who directs others to do one thing but then
doesn’t apply it in his own life?”

“Never. I’m a simple man, Mia.” He held his hands out. “As
open as one of your Scribe books.”

She grunted softly. “There is nothing open about those books.”

When she didn’t elaborate, he continued, “I have never
cheated a woman out of her money, or broken her heart, or promised her anything
I couldn’t deliver.”

Her head throbbed again and the persistence of it made her
want to scream. She drew in a deep breath and held her hand to her forehead.
She closed her eyes.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I have the foresight. I can also heal.”

“Healing?” His voice held scorn.

She opened her eyes, wishing she hadn’t blurted out her
capabilities. “Sometimes I know things about people I shouldn’t, or I know when
something is going to happen before it does. I don’t use these skills in
Magonia because it is forbidden. If anyone knew I could be executed. I thought
perhaps such a skill would be useful in Dragonia.”

Anger flashed in his eyes like a lightning storm. “Perhaps
to some but not to everyone. We have a few so-called healers and foreshadowers
in Dragonia, and most of them are frauds and cheats.”

Disconcerted, she wished she’d never said anything to him
concerning healing. “You said you hate liars. I’m telling the truth.”

Before she could move he snatched her into his arms and
covered her mouth with his hand. Her protest was muffled. “Muff are youv
doiwng?”

“Shh,” he hissed in her ear and pulled her into a deeper
spot hidden from the mouth of the cave. “Rogues. Stay quiet. I don’t want to
fight them for you.”

Voices moved toward them, far away but definitely clear
enough to identify as men’s. She couldn’t hear what they were saying. Fear
sliced a new place inside her. Her heart did a frantic dance in her chest as
her breath sawed in and out.

Fight them for her? If these rogues were as ruthless as he
said they might overpower Eryk and take her. If they did, Magon only knew what
they’d plan for her.

Pressed into the hard wall, she moved against his hold,
furious and confused. Every hot inch of his powerful muscles impressed upon her
his strength. Fear overwhelmed sensual awareness and she stilled.

“Gauth, you bastard, are you in there?” a loud male voice
said from the mouth of the cave.

Under her touch, his biceps tensed.

“Come on out!” another male voice called out.

Eryk released her slowly and held his index finger to his
lips to indicate that she should stay quiet and hidden. As he left her view,
her heart thudded heavily in her chest. Apprehension rose. She hated the fear,
how uncontrollable and paralyzing it felt.

“I’m here,” Eryk said as he walked out to meet the men.
“What do you want?”

“We heard you were out here patrolling for rebels,” the man
who’d first called him out said.

“Yeah, we figured we’d meet you head-on.” The other man’s
voice was higher pitched. Whiny.

“Dougreg and Morgreem. I thought Dracus Fina already hanged
you.” Eryk’s voice was almost jovial.

“Stupid shite,” the man with the deep voice said. “Don’t
think insults will get you anywhere but dead. We know you’re out here
patrolling.”

“I’m minding my own business and so should you. Let me pass
and we’ll call this even. I’ve no use for killing today.”

“Killin’?” Whiny voice asked. “If there’s any killin’ to be
done, it’ll be us.”

“Shite.” The deeper voice sounded closer. “Doesn’t matter.
Dracus Fina said to kill any Daryk Ones we found. Less to worry about later
when war comes.”

“We aren’t at war now?” Eryk asked. “Could have fooled me.”

The sound of two blades leaving scabbards came to her ears.
She flinched. The men’s voices receded, as if they’d stepped closer to the
mouth of the cave.

The whiny man said, “Step outside and we’ll talk about why
we shouldn’t kill you.”

A second later she heard the clash of metal against metal.
She flinched and pushed against the cave wall as if she could melt into it.
Fear grew large, surging up her throat.

Swords clashed again, men grunting and straining in battle
piercing her ears. Her breath rasped in her throat.
Magon, help me
.

Then she heard a sound she didn’t expect.

Low, throaty and threatening. An animal’s warning to anyone
who dared cross his path.

A man’s scream tore through the cave. Gruesome. Sharp and
filled with terror. She couldn’t stand it. Mia looked around the corner. Bloody
gore littered the cave entrance. A dragon tore a man’s leg from his already
dead body. Eryk lay on the ground several feet from the dragon and his meal.

Eryk didn’t move.

Her stomach felt hollow, her heart scored by a sensation
both powerful and horrible. She couldn’t imagine him without life coursing
through that powerful body. The dragon looked up. Unlike the other dragon
they’d seen in the jungle, this one was almost beautiful. An explosion of blue,
red and green stripes cascaded over the animal. Its wings were small. She
doubted it could fly with them. Sharp talons tore at flesh as it ate, its thin,
pointed head filled with razor-sharp teeth.

A strange calm came over her. She knew what she had to do,
even though she hadn’t performed this feat in a long time. Not since she’d paid
the consequences all those years ago. What choice did she have?

The dragon lifted its head and stared at her with the
chilliest, most lifeless eyes she’d seen. It gulped the last chunk of flesh and
her stomach flipped with disgust. She held up her right hand and concentrated.
The horror inside her threatened to undo her but she took a deep breath. She
concentrated, tried to reach into the dragon’s small mind and twist it to her
bidding. She pushed hard to enter the reptile’s skull and fell into the murky
instincts that ran the primitive creature’s brain. She calmed the animal’s rage
and bloodlust, its desire to feed fading as she soothed it.

“Leave us,” she said out loud.

The dragon backed away and left the cave, its grisly meal
strewn along the cave opening. As the dragon retreated she dropped to her
knees. Weakness threatened but she rose to her feet and hurried to Eryk. Blood
stained the side of his head and his eyes were closed. She dropped to her knees
beside him. The steady rise and fall of his chest assured her that he lived.
Still, he could be seriously injured. She had to work on him quickly.

“Eryk, can you hear me?”

She touched the side of his head that wasn’t bloodied and
closed her eyes. Again she directed her thoughts, her life, her energy toward
him. Energy flowed from her fingertips in a tingling rush that spilled into him
and created a halo of light across his body.

He gasped and bolted upright as his eyes flew open. He
grabbed her wrist and the pain made her yelp.

“Eyrk!”

He released her immediately as his eyes focused. “What the…”
He leapt to his feet, his gaze wild as he took in the situation. “Draconus!”

She stood on wobbly legs. “Wait, it’s not complete.”

“What isn’t? What the hell happened?”

“One of those men must have hit you.”

“No, the dragon came in and attacked Dougreg. Morgreem ran.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and winced. “The dragon clipped me with its
tail.”

Discomfort creased his forehead. She reached up and cupped
his cheeks. Energy flowed easily and swiftly from her fingertips into his
abused skull. He groaned as her healing light suffused his body. Hot tears
burned her eyes as the pain in his head transferred to her. She sagged against
him, grabbing onto his tunic as his arms went around her.

“What happened?” He held her up. “Are you injured?”

She sighed in relief as his pain extinguished. But the
contact didn’t break one hundred percent and a new feeling rushed through her
body in a wave. She felt as if she might burst into a thousand pieces of light.
She needed…she needed to run. She tore from his arms started for the cave
entrance, the energy bouncing within her delightful. When was the last time
she’d felt so incredible? This certainly hadn’t happened to her the last time
she’d healed someone in secret at the Scribe school. Usually she was drained.
Damaged by her own ability to take on another’s pain.

She stopped at the cave entrance. On impulse she threw her
arms outward and tilted her head back. She closed her eyes and heard the rattle
and clang of things moving behind her. Startled, she opened her eyes and swung
around. Their packs were moving, sliding around the cave floor. No one touched
them but they moved. Erratically. Jerkily.

Eyrk glared at the sight, his mouth popping open. “What in
the million levels of hell…”

Power surged from her and Eryk’s pack on the floor begin to
spin, spin. “No.”

The pack spun faster, tossing items onto the cave floor.

She headed for the cave entrance again, almost certain she
understood what was wrong. “I must leave. I have to get out—”

“No!” He grabbed Mia and pulled her into his arms again.
“You can’t go out there. Stop.”

She struggled in his hold for a moment, eager to experience
the power of her renewal. She felt better than she had in ages but also out of
control. Prickly. Willing to do things she wouldn’t have before. But then new
feelings caught hold.