Eliana (17 page)

“Damn it. How long?”

“Three days.”
Not including all those dreams Kon has been sending me.

“I’ll have to make some more calls. You’re a difficult one to place. Finding a submissive Warden on short notice isn’t easy, you know?” Evan thrust him aside.

God forbid Dane would dare try and find someone on his own. And if there was anything he hated, it was being treated as if he had a deadly disease and couldn’t take care of it himself.

At last Doc had her machine up and running. Dane didn’t know what the hell all the screens and readouts meant, but she said, “He’s dreaming. Vividly.”

“Tell me about it.” All Dane had to do was close his eyes to feel as if he were in the midst of a threesome with Kon and Eliana.
Damn that bitch for getting her hooks into him. It’s because of her he’s like this. All that crap she said…

Evan grabbed Dane’s collar again. “What do you mean?”

One by one, Dane pulled at Evan’s fingers until the Chief Warden had no choice but to let go. “I mean he’s dreaming about sex with me, and I can feel it. It’s been happening for over a week now.” He thought it better not to mention seeing Eliana in the dreams as well.

“And you didn’t think this was important enough to tell anyone?”

Dane didn’t bother to answer. Doc Jensen didn’t look up from her computer monitors as she said, “I’m not picking up any dreams from him.”

“Me neither,” Evan said.

“It’s just me, then,” Dane said.
I wonder if Eliana has been having dreams? Nah
. Dane didn’t know how the others couldn’t feel anything. Sexual energy leaked from Kon as if a floodgate had opened. Even without being able to sense the energy, Kon’s writhing and the tent beneath the sheets made it obvious he was in the throes of a very erotic dream.

Dane’s demon thrashed so hard he could barely maintain control. If he didn’t do something soon, one or both of them was going to go mad.

“Dane?” Kon’s eyes fluttered open.

Dane was at his side in an instant. He stroked Kon’s sweaty face, careful not to disturb the electrodes. “I’m here, darling. Tell me what I can do to help you feel better.”

“I can’t make it stop. It hurts.”

“What hurts, Kon?” asked Doc Jensen.

The dream
. Dane only caught the edges of it; something about being captured, taken aboard a ship, and becoming the vicious captain’s favorite toy. Then too it wasn’t comfortable to have an unrelieved erection for so long. Uncaring of his audience, he reached beneath the blanket for Kon’s rock-hard cock and stroked it vigorously. Usually the heat and friction would have the desired effect, but Kon only moaned and showed no sign of release.

Damn it
. “I don’t suppose we could have some privacy?”

Evan glowered. “If you think I’m going to leave you alone with—”

“Twenty minutes,” Doc said and ushered the unhappy Chief Warden from the room.

Twenty minutes. For the first thirty seconds, Dane anxiously racked his brain for the best means of helping Kon find release. Inside, his demon nudged, hot and roused by the sexual activity, but now wasn’t the time. Dane absolutely could not afford to lose control, and his demon couldn’t feed if Kon was unfocused and in agony.

Because the drugs caused Kon to project, Dane
knew
in uncomfortable detail exactly what Kon craved—and he couldn’t do it alone. He needed Eliana, and she wasn’t here. Any other woman, even an experienced Warden, wouldn’t have the same effect.

Damn her
. Failing to have a third, Dane resorted to something Sensitives always said—give the patient what they need, not what they want. Kon needed release. Dane longed to give it to him, but everything was out of balance. His best handjob failed. Adding pain with a paddle or flogger would have ordinarily worked magic, but now toys seemed counterintuitive.

He settled for stripping and climbing into bed. “Look at me, Kon.” He grasped his lover’s face. “Please. Look at me. Focus on
me
.”

But he got nothing. Kon was lost in his dream world, submitting to his captor.

“You always did have a thing for capture fantasies.” One of Kon’s favorite books was
The Pirate and the Virginal Prince
. Kon, of course, loved being the virginal prince, and Dane had played at being the pirate introducing him to the most depraved sex he could imagine. But whatever Kon’s dream, it held none of their usual love and teasing. This encounter was dark and brutal, much like Valerie had been.

It didn’t help that Dane’s demon sensed Kon’s arousal and pounded within him, fluttering hard against the bars of its cage. Dane refused to let it out and ignored the ensuing hunger pangs, far worse than any craving for food.

Twenty minutes. Fifteen, now. What the hell was he supposed to get done in so little time?

Tell him a story
. Some of the techniques Kon used in a healing session included listening to his patients and discovering stories in their life which might have contributed to their illness. Occasionally Kon would be the one telling the stories, using guided imagery to help his patients find the source of the problem. While Dane wrote stories for a living, he never considered himself to be much of a talent in oral storytelling, but he didn’t have any better ideas.

Amid the decidedly unromantic beeping machines and the scent of alcohol and iodine, Dane pressed his body to his Warden’s and spoke quietly in his ear. “Once upon a time, there was a naive, virginal prince who had no idea about the world beyond the walls of his castle until a pirate captain laid eyes on him and decided to take him as his slave. The captain kidnapped the prince, deprived him of every stitch of clothing, and deposited him in the bed. The prince cried out when the captain climbed atop him and touched him in all the places no one had ever dared laid a hand. Tears rolled down the prince’s cheeks, but the captain didn’t care. He drove his cock into the prince’s body, heedless of the pain he caused.”

Kon twitched. His breathing grew faster, and his face grew pinched.

It’s working.

The story touched on only the barest bones of the original, but he was starting to have fun with the improvisation. “The captain subjected the prince to the worst torments, whipping his flesh until it bled or tying him to the mast naked for the rest of the crew to fondle and jeer at. Then one day the captain tired of his prize and abandoned him on an uninhabited tropical island without clothing, food, or shelter. The prince wandered in a daze, lost and lonely, barely able to keep himself alive. One night there was a terrible storm, and a small boat was shipwrecked on the shore. Aboard was the handsome rogue Rodrigo, half drowned and almost dead. Fearful of further mistreatment, the prince kept his distance as much as possible and said not a single word. Rodrigo, upon seeing the beautiful face of this wild boy, fell in love with him at once. Yet the prince was little more than a feral animal, afraid to touch and be touched, so with the utmost patience, Rodrigo set out to seduce him.”

Dane paused long enough to study Kon, watching, waiting for a sign that any of this was helping. Kon
did
look more relaxed, even attentive.

“Little by little the prince grew to trust Rodrigo. So smitten was Rodrigo that he tried many times to make love to the prince, but the prince had been so mistreated, he was terrified and ran away. Neither would he say a word to Rodrigo; he remained utterly silent. Eventually Rodrigo convinced him to lie beside him. The next night, Rodrigo simply held him. Each night after that, Rodrigo added a touch here, a kiss there, until the prince lost his terror.”

Dane acted out that part of the story, laying each kiss and caress with care. Kon let out a tiny, contented sigh.

“At last the prince had discovered his body was capable of feeling pleasure as well as pain and asked Rodrigo to make love to him. Rodrigo eagerly complied.”

So did Dane. He climbed on Kon, careful he didn’t rest too much of his weight on him. Gently he rubbed their bodies together, comforted by the basic contact. His own cock hardened and ached as it brushed the other. He bent his head and kissed Kon’s slack lips, focusing on the familiar scent which was nearly lost amid the antiseptic.

“And soon, the prince felt something he hadn’t before,” Dane said as he wrapped his fingers around Kon’s shaft. “His rock-hard cock let go with such heat and force that he let out a moan of relief and release that Rodrigo thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world.”

He stroked Kon’s cock, hoping, praying…

A strangled cry emerged from Kon’s throat. Kon clutched him and shuddered, finding his release at last. Dane held him until Kon quieted and lapsed into a more normal sleep, but the relief was only temporary. It wouldn’t be long before Kon returned to a state of frantic arousal. Dane alone wasn’t enough to mend Kon’s fractured self.

And why the hell not?

Because he offset only one part of Kon’s psyche—his need for unconditional love and protection. The rest Dane couldn’t help with. Kon’s mental anguish was tied to so many things—the belief that he’d inherited some sort of taint from his father, Valerie’s betrayal of his body and soul, the desperate need to be something, anything other than what he was. Eliana had suffered similar traumas, and that shared experience might be the key to restoring Kon.

Only how the hell am I going to convince her to come?

He pulled Kon to him and held him close. “I’ll get her, Kon. I’ll bring her back. I swear.”

Dane just had time to clean up and make them both presentable before Doc and Evan returned. “I did what I could. I have an errand to run.” He dug Kon’s car keys out of the dresser drawer.

Evan blocked his exit. “You can’t leave. Not without a Warden and especially not when your demon’s hungry. I’ll have to find you a surrogate while Kon’s ill.”

Surrogate?
There wasn’t anyone he’d met who sated him as well as Kon did, and Dane had decided Kon wasn’t going to be sick that long. “Like hell.”

“My job is to make sure both Wardens and cambions are cared for.” Evan adopted the patient tone he did when talking to those he deemed lesser beings or too stupid to understand. “Therefore I’ll be reassigning you until Kon is well. Why don’t you make yourself at home in the room next door and I’ll find out who’s available?”

The only home I have is at Kon’s side
. He poked Evan’s chest. “Why don’t
you
go find some other cambion who’s willing to put up with your pampering?”

Evan frowned. “Don’t pull that Dom shit on me. I’m not in the mood.”

“And I’m not in the mood to be treated like I’m incapable of looking after myself.” Dane rose to his full height and flexed his muscles. “Get out of my way before I tie you up and leave you for the next hungry cambion.”

Evan stared, jaw tight. “Enclave rules. You don’t leave without an escort.”

Dane grabbed Evan’s wrist and dug his fingers into the pressure points. Evan went white. Harming the Chief Warden was probably
not
the best way to handle the situation, but Dane had had enough of Evan’s meddling. “I don’t need your permission to aid my Warden. Fuck you, and fuck the rules.”

He shoved Evan against the wall and stalked out.

Chapter Eighteen

Eliana was doing dishes in the kitchen when someone knocked at the door. Before she could move, one of her cousins was already racing to see who it was. Visitors to see her aunt were common, so she wasn’t particularly concerned or interested. The voices carried well enough to let her eavesdrop.

“Are you here to see Auntie?” her cousin asked.

A familiar male voice answered. “I’m looking for Eliana. Is she here?”

She almost dropped the plate she was drying.
Damn it. What is Dane doing here?

Lenny, one of her aunt’s young adoptees, piped up. “Eliana’s our new sister.”

“I’m glad she has a little brother like you. I don’t suppose you could run and tell her I’m here, could you?”

Moments later, Lenny pounded into the kitchen and hooked a finger in her belt loop. “Ellie! There’s a white man at the door asking for you.”

She dried her hands on the towel and let Lenny tug her to the door. By the time she got there, she had no less than four youngsters crowding around to see what would happen.

She was prepared to be angry at Dane, but when she saw him, her anger turned to worry. He looked awful. His hair was unkempt, dark circles ringed his eyes, and he twitched as if deeply agitated.

Even so, she kept her voice sharp. “Dane? You have a lot of nerve coming here.”

“I’m sorry. I should have called first, but…” He nodded at the kids. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

“Auntie’s study. It’s the only room in the house the children don’t go without asking. She’s on a house call and won’t be back for a while.”

“House call?” Dane asked as he followed Eliana inside. Besides the four kids trailing them, they passed four more in the kitchen, all teenagers with heads bent over books.

“She visits those who need her. When I’m ready, I’ll go with her.” She’d already experienced some of Joanna’s medicine, or perhaps it was simply the feeling of safety and belonging. She no longer used the cane unless she went for a long walk and had gained enough weight that her bones didn’t stick out quite so badly.

Dane evidently agreed. “You look good.”

“Thanks.” She smiled and held the door open for him to enter and shooed away the children. The room smelled of sage, sweetgrass, and dozens of other herbs her aunt kept on hand. She was comforted almost instantly, but Dane remained twitchy and nervous. “Now tell me why the hell you’re here. If Kon sent you to apologize, you can turn right around and leave.”

“I have a question.” He rocked back and forth on his feet, clearly uncomfortable. “Have you been having dreams?”

Her stomach twisted. Dreams. She didn’t want to think about them.

“I mean…involving Kon. And me. Sexual dreams.”

So he’s been having them too
. She didn’t want to think about what that meant. “Spit it out, Dane. Why are you here?”