Earth Borne (20 page)

The wolves drove to attack him. One lunged at him and he took great pleasure in catching the fiend and snapping its neck.

Three charged his flank, fangs gnashing at his hide. He snarled, baring his teeth and daring them to draw blood.

One leapt in attack. Thereus snared its jaws and snapped open its skull. The other two yelped and whimpering, scampered backward.

These wolves had never fought a centaur before, and they were horribly unprepared for both his agility and his strength. Add in his urge to protect and avenge his mate.

These wolves would fall to his slaughter.

He roared at the cowering beasts. They mustered their courage and responded with ominous growls. Together, they renewed their attack. One nipped at his hooves. The other sprang onto his back. Their teeth sank into his shoulder; their claws ripped at his hide.

Thereus brandished his talons—steel blades gripped in his hands—and slashed at the beast on his back. He sliced through fur and flesh. The wolf howled, lessening his bite. Thereus wrenched his arms backward and, snatching the beast, tossed it to the forest floor. To the one at his feet, he sent a swift kick with his hind leg, bashing it against a tree.

He grimaced as the slick ooze of blood trickled down his flesh. How deep had the wolf’s bite sunk?

The three wolves lay dead around him, yet others in the forest snarled in offense. Most of the creatures prowled toward him, but one of those bastards crept toward her.

“Kalliste!” he shouted above the thunder of the wolves. In this moment, he longed for nothing more than to gather her in his arms and rock her until her fears were no more.

The wolf had other ideas as it growled deep in its throat and lunged for her. “Behind you!”

She twisted aside, but her foot snagged on a root and she tumbled to the ground. The wolf grabbed hold of her boot.

Her scream tore his soul apart. He would not lose her.

His nymph was too gentle. Incapable of violence, she merely stared at the creature with wide, terrified eyes. Its hot breath misted as the beast slunk over her, preparing to sink its teeth into her neck.

“Fight back, damn you!” he cursed as he slashed through the pack of wolves swarming him. Their claws lacerated his forearms; their fangs punctured his hide. He swiped the sweat from his face and blinked through the blur caused by the loss of his blood.

Like his worst nightmare, his body refused to obey the commands of his mind.
No, no.
This wasn’t happening. Even so, his legs collapsed under him and he crashed into the earth with a dull thud. His will floundered as the darkness threatened to drag him under.

Chapter 19

Your love makes her strong.
The feminine cadence lured him toward consciousness.
Yes, Thereus. Make her strong.

A shrill cry pierced through the melodic waves. His eyes flew open.

Desperation crawled into his skin and dread flushed through his veins. The scream was his mate’s.
No.
He roared to life, kicking at the wolves with his hooves. His hands gripped his knives and he slashed at the wolves covering his body. He severed them from their deathly embrace and rent them from his flesh, not caring how much of it they took with them. Sweet, sticky warmth flowed down the length of his body. Some of the blood his own.

His enemies lay unmoving, so he crept toward Kalliste. Using his upper body to crawl forward, he rallied every last ounce of strength. He would not lose her.

Relief shattered his terror as he hefted himself up the small bank and spotted Kalliste. She was alive. He wasn’t too late.

The wolf. Where was the wolf?

He whistled low. The animal slumped, dead at her feet. A bloodied stake protruded from its chest. Kalliste had sunk to her knees, staring at her hands as she twisted them over, a mixture of horror and wonder in her eyes.

Strong.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, certain he was missing a connection. Something he ought to recall, but the memory evaded him.

Scarlet coated her hands, offsetting the cream of her skin. Kalliste swayed back and forth, and her soft panting reached his ears.

What remained of the pack likely decided the fight was lost, and they retreated, low snarls billowing in their wake. He growled back, more than ready to continue if they wished to reclaim their honor.

His wife’s hands stopped glowing as she released the wolves she’d trapped with tree roots. Those ones whimpered and scampered off.

Thereus switched to human form and limped to Kalliste. It was too dark to tell which blood was hers, so he prodded her body with his hands, determined to check her injuries. Her shaking increased, and he sank into the ground with her, cradling her in his arms.

“
Melita
,
Melita
, my love, my sweet.” The words flowed out of his mouth as he pressed his lips against her hair.

She gasped as his fingers brushed her arm. A wound. It must be cleaned. He sniffed. A stream flowed not far from here. Gathering her in his arms, he tucked her face into his chest so she wouldn’t catch even a glimpse of the violence he’d unleashed.

He avoided the dead wolves as he wound toward the stream. After tearing a piece of cloth from the bottom of her skirt, he dipped it in the stream and dabbed at her injury. Not a whisper of complaint passed through her lips. He finished and tore another strip, winding it around her arm.

Wrapping his arms around her, he clutched her to his chest. Sobs she’d held in broke through her shock. He smoothed his fingers to brush away her tears.

“You’re safe,” he whispered against her cheek. “I’d never let anything hurt you.” Thereus swallowed back the awkwardness of his movements. He was unused to comforting anyone, yet satisfaction rose in his chest at how she clung to him. Her cries lessened as he murmured reassurances to her. His mate’s trust made him invincible.

He lifted his head and surveyed the carnage he’d left behind. As a pyrate, he’d fought many battles. Never had he done anything like this. Defended his woman. His chest puffed and his horse reared.

Despite the blood loss, he wasn’t spent in the least. In fact, he’d love a rematch. Switching to human form was a quick way to heal his injuries, and already he was invigorated. He’d do it again a hundred times, to be able to hold Kalliste like this.

At last, she lifted those dark, shining eyes to gaze upon him and the forest fell away. He couldn’t resist pressing his lips against hers and he daren’t try.

She threw her arms around his neck and tugged him closer. A groan rumbled inside his chest as he forced himself to pull back. If he didn’t release her, he’d have her on her knees, legs parted, him thrusting inside her sweet flesh before she’d taken her next breath.

***

“Kiss me, Thereus,” Melita pleaded against his lips. The flames of his passion, his need for her, were great. Her urge to fulfill, stronger.

In the moonlit forest, she’d escaped death. No, he’d rescued her. Torn apart a pack of wolves, his emerald eyes fierce, feral. He’d saved her life.

What mattered was cherishing the breaths he’d given her. Savoring the heat of his body. Soaking in this gift of life.

Fighting off those wolves was the most terrifying experience of her life. The horror of killing the wolf continued to pulse through her. By all accounts, it should have been impossible. Despite the nymph, she’d found the strength within herself. Or perhaps, it was from Thereus, whose strength she’d borrowed?

The Thereus of the past and the one now, they weren’t two different men. He was still the same centaur, only grown into a male who would defend her with his bare hands. True, he was different, and so was she. Yet perhaps her love for him wasn’t extinguished. Mayhap it had changed along with them.

In this moment, his caresses grounded her, keeping her sane.

Her heart had nearly stopped when she’d caught sight of her hero. It had struck her, as surely as a bolt from Zeus, that she refused to die without cherishing his touch again.

Melita wrapped her arms around his neck and refused to release him. She searched deep in her arsenal of nymph abilities, located his desire, and intensified it. He groaned, so she tilted her face up and gazed at him. “You saved me.”

He leaned forward and nuzzled her cheek. “Of course I did. I’d never let anything harm you,
Melita
.” His voice deep and husky, his breathing labored as he trailed his fingers down her arm. “Kalliste, we should go. Let me tend your wound.” His hand stopped on her forearm, hovering above the three deep gashes he’d bandaged—the result of her trying to fend off a wolf’s claws.

She smiled. “I’ll survive. I promise. See?” She unwrapped the bandage and smoothed a glowing hand over the surface of her wound, closing the flesh until no hint of an injury remained.

He whistled. “You never told me you could do that, nymph. It’s amazing.” Then he frowned. “Who else is aware of your abilities?” His stare pierced her. Regret tugged at the other side of her heart. The portion that didn’t trust him with her secrets.

“Why?” She rubbed her healed arm.

“Because your gifts, in the wrong hands…” He shook his head. “Men and gods alike would kill for such power.”

Relief rushed through her. He was trying to protect her. “I’m careful, I promise. I can’t heal serious injuries, or illnesses. Only minor cuts and such.”

“Come, let’s get you into bed… Uh, back to the castle.” He cleared his throat as he stood and extended his arm to help her to her feet.

She smiled. He endeavored to be a gentleman, to treat her properly. He didn’t have to. She didn’t care that they were in the middle of a forest. Biting her lip, she sensed she’d have to be bolder. Melita placed both of her hands on the ground and called upon her powers once more. The forest floors around her shone with her verdant luminescence as a layer of moss grew, softening the rough ground. “I want you, Thereus. Here, now. I would never tame you. The forest is as much home to me as it is to you.”

He sank to his knees beside her. His heated perusal traveled over her body, coming to rest on her face. She inhaled sharply at the hunger in his eyes.

He gave his head a slight shake. “You don’t know what I want to do to you, what I need from you.” His voice grew rough, his fists clenched. In an attempt not to touch her? Her heart fluttered inside her chest. Foolish centaur. Hadn’t he learned anything? Her lips curved into a seductive smile. She was a
nymph
. He’d never resist
her
charms.

Crawling closer to him, she kneeled in front of this massive centaur, his strength surging through her. She truly had brought him to his knees. Although she posed inches from the lion’s mouth, this beast did not frighten her. She placed her palms on his cheeks. “Tell me, for I cannot bear another second without your touch.”

He growled low and pounced on her, pinning her body beneath his. His face next to hers, he searched her expression. “My horse seeks to bond with you. Do you know what that means?”

Bond with me.
Hope fluttered through her chest. Dare she cling to it?
Yes.

His chest heaved against hers and his jaw clenched as he bit out the words, “I can’t take you without claiming you.”

She squeezed her eyes against the flames of lust lapping through her body. Her sex clenched in aching desire—a remembrance of that night so long ago. The delicious weight of Thereus’s body pressing her into the ground—a foretelling of the ecstasy promised.

She lifted her lashes and met his stare. “Then claim me.”

He was her protector. She feared nothing from Thereus.

At least, not until he reached down and unsheathed a dagger.

***

Thereus grasped the blade in front of her face and she gulped. “Easy, nymph. ’Tis you who must cut me.”

Her brows were drawn in a wary frown. He snarled at his horse to back off. His wife had no idea what the bonding ceremony entailed. This would be no simple bedding.

After he explained everything, he was certain she’d want no part of it. His horse nudged—they should indeed talk.

After
he claimed her.

With her lush, willing body beneath him, Thereus possessed no strength to watch her walk away. He seized her hand and brushed her fingertips along the band on his upper left arm. Her soft gasp, combined with her delicate caress, ignited him. His band was ablaze, a ring of fire around his arm. Beads of sweat collected on his forehead and he gritted his teeth against the waves of pain.

“It hurts.” Her simple statement.

“Aye.”

“Why?”

“Security,
Melita
. The gods wished to ensure we wild centaurs submitted to our taming. Bonding us does that. Why we fight it so hard, I suppose.” He let out a wry laugh. “Myself more than anyone.” Confusion wrinkled her brow, so he added, “I’m done fighting. I’m finished with my wild ways, well, most of them. Though it’s in my nature, it’s also lonely, empty.” He shook his head.
Damn.
How had those words escaped his lips? He’d never spoken anything like this aloud to anyone, ever. “You, sweet nymph, you make me whole.”

He snorted at himself. What a fool he sounded. He’d jested about how males in love spoke, and now he was one of them. Worse, his words came out wrong. No poetry dripped from his lips to charm this woman. The sole female who deserved such fine prose was the one he couldn’t procure it for.