Eluria's Enforcer (The Argadian Heart Trilogy Book 1) (3 page)

Again, her form filled Devon’s mind. But this
time it was different. Shudders of pain threaded through his body, his mind
hazed with lust. He roared with rage and impotence as consciousness returned,
and he realized he was shackled and his movements severely restricted.

“Release me!” he raged as he fought against
the cuffs binding him securely. Pulsating raw emotion consumed him, his vision
blurred by its intensity.
What in Haydon is happening to me?
Thoughts,
feelings, emotions he shouldn’t be experiencing surged within him, like being
caught in a tidal wave and flung helplessly within its turbulent waters.
Desires he shouldn’t have rippled through his body, tightening it, his khout
throbbed with a demanding need he was unable to fulfill . His words vibrated
back to him as he thrashed uselessly against the bonds that held fast.

The blanket covering him was lifted away and
a soft hand touched his hip, followed by the sting of a needle. He flinched and
tried to draw away, but was limited in his ability to move any distance.

He looked in the general direction of the
movement, but his eyes were blurry, his head throbbed. He attempted to focus,
but all he could make out was a vision with reddish-brown hair, and a slender
frame.

Arching, struggling, trying to pull free,
Devon fought against the restraints. He attempted to push past the surges of
pain and lust destroying him. Had he gone mad? Should he have gone for refusion
sooner? It was like a dam had burst inside his head, his body. Wave after wave
of converging emotion struck him, desire, hate, pain, rage, without surcease.

A hand stroked across the blanket covering his
chest. The touch was meant to soothe. He didn’t want to be soothed; he wanted
to be free.

“Relax,” a soft voice of smooth cream floated
over him. “You’ve been hurt and you’ll tear your wound open again.”

“Female, release me,” he bit back at her,
determined to ignore her siren’s call. Surging against the bonds, against the
emotion, he struggled impotently.

“Release you and you’ll kill me. I think
not.”

“Either kill me or release me,” he raged back
as he fought to tear free. Completion of his mission was foremost in his mind.
He’d never failed before. Never.

Animal desires continued to throb through
him. Again his body tightened, breathing constricted in his chest, and he
arched against the pain and lust swamping him. He tried to focus on the
mission, to control the passions. But the only thing he experienced was a
primal, driving demand to fuck the Female. To sink deep and hard, driving fast,
hunting for a release he’d never known nor desired before, and didn’t
understand, took over. His khout pulsed and tightened with the urgency to fill
her, to claim her. To mate her.

Again, he stiffened as the savage desire and
pain rode him. He just needed to gain control of these feelings, something he
hadn’t been required to do in twelve years.

“I can ease you, somewhat,” the soft voice
murmured. “You need to lie still.”

“What have you done to me?” Devon was hot and
cold at the same time, everything swirling inside him, ripping him apart.
Emotions crashed against each other. First rage overtook him, then fear.
Mylonna
!
Fear was not an emotion he wished acquaintance with. Yet, wash over him it did.

He was unable to clarify and isolate one
emotion in order to control it. They wavered, shimmering one through another,
woven together, tangled in a way he’d never be able to unravel. The lust and
desire was worst, the most primal of needs embedded within him.

“Let me ease you.” Her voice held a note of
pleading he didn’t understand nor want.

“I would not
have tortured you, Female. Your death would have been quick.” Another agonizing
wave of pain sliced through him, and he convulsed in response, fighting its
control.

His body raged with a fire that sought to be
quenched, and there was nothing he could do. Cool air washed over him as the
blanket was removed from his sweat-soaked body.

“I’m trying to help you, not kill you,
Enforcer. You’ll hate me for this later, but right now it’s what you need. To
help you find your way through the maze of emotions overwhelming you.”

A soft hand encircled his khout and a new
emotion emerged to overtake the others. A moist tongue circled the tip and her
mouth enclosed him in a warm, satiny, heat. Wanting to fight the craving his
body demanded, but unable to do so, he groaned with the pleasurable texture of
her mouth.

“Mylonna! Deeper, take me deeper.”

Devon thrust his hips upwards, trying to
force her to his command, fighting for release. Haydon! The pleasure that
consumed him. It was too much.

She laid a hand to his hip, staying his
movement, as she continued to drive him to a place he’d never been, to the
fringes of Lydion. Pleasure flooded through him, the sensations of her mouth,
her tongue, swirling, sucking, drove him upwards. The need to bury his khout in
her channel uppermost in his thoughts. Her fragrant scent of rozanna petals
drifted around him.

He’d never
desired a female. The raw feeling now encompassing him to see if her skin
tasted as sweet, if her lips were as soft as they felt on his hard shaft, had
him dizzy with painful wanting. Not just any female, but this one who was
driving him mad with her mouth.

He tightened, and then release erupted inside
him like exploding zyflamite, sending him into a swirl of colors and
fulfillment he’d never experienced before, a shattering. Pleasure rocked him
hard, as he tried to bury himself farther into her mouth, and she continued to
stroke him with her tongue, swallowing his seed as he released a groan of
satisfaction.

Tension left Devon’s body as he dropped back
onto the blankets beneath him, his body drenched in sweat. He closed his eyes,
thankful that for the moment pain was manageable and the lust had abated.

He slitted his eyelids as he felt a warm, wet
cloth stroke his chest. He watched her from beneath lowered lids, confusion now
overriding his thoughts. “Why?” he rasped.

She stopped what she was doing and glanced at
him. Devon could determine nothing from her expression, none of her thoughts
filtered through. The protective lenses she wore over her eyes hid her
emotions; her soul and mind were closed off from detection.

“You have a fever. I’m simply trying to make
you more comfortable while you heal.”

“Why didn’t you kill me when you had a
chance?” He couldn’t understand why she’d let him live and he needed to reason
her purpose. “What do you hope to gain by keeping me alive?” He’d accessed her
file, knew she’d terminated others who tracked her. Why not him?

She glanced away and continued bathing his
sweat-drenched body. “I have my reasons,” was her cryptic response. “You must
rest now. The emotion may surge again and you’ll need your strength.”

Devon narrowed his gaze, studying her. “What
do you know about what’s going on inside me?” He remembered the prick at his
hip. “What have you done to me, Female?”

She replaced the blanket over him and leaned
back, looking at him. “You know my name. It’s Eluria. Stop calling me Female. I
find it distasteful.”

He returned her stare, seeking her motives.
“You think I seek to please you,
Female
? I care not what you find
distasteful.”

Her lips firmed into a thin line. “You are at
my mercy,
Enforcer.
I suggest you have a care with your tongue.”

“You think I fear death? Unlikely.” He fell
back and stared at the ceiling. “Do as you will.” When his mind was clearer, he
would find a way to be free. Right now his thoughts were too jumbled to make
sense, and his eyes couldn’t seem to maintain focus.

He heard her deep intake of breath. “You’re a
fool, Enforcer. Eventually, you’ll see that. But I can wait.”

From the corner of his vision, Devon saw her
rise and turn away. He turned his head to follow her movements as she walked
through an entryway; liked the sway of her hips, appreciated the roundness of
her bottom so well displayed in the dark blue skinsuit she wore. Wanted to know
what lay beneath it. A primal rumble again started to rise deep in his chest.
He now recognized the need building in his body.

He turned away from her, feeling the lust
again attempt to overtake him, trying to control it. If he didn’t look at her,
maybe the feeling would subside. Long, painful moments later, he discovered it
wasn’t going to be that easy. He didn’t need to be looking at her to desire
her. He could scent her presence and it fueled his passion.

The molten heat raged through him, like his
body was on fire. He fought for control, refusing to give in as the pain
surged. Again, sweat broke out on his body as he strove to restrain the
feelings erupting and swirling inside him. Unbidden visions of the female in
naked beauty entered his mind.

No!
The scream echoed inside his head. She’d
done something to him. But he would fight it and he would succeed. Failure had
never been an option for him and it would not be so now. If he was to die, he
would do it as an Enforcer, not cringing in fear.

Was that what she hoped to gain? To bring out
a cowardice in him? How did she know about the problems he’d been experiencing
with the Nanus block? The only one he’d spoken with was his immediate
commander. No one else was aware of the breach.

For what seemed like hours, he lay there
fighting against the emotions. She always hovered, asking him how he felt. Was
he in pain? Did he want something to eat? To drink? Devon refused to answer
her. When he’d fought against the restraints, his body tightening against the
fierce waves of pain and desire, she came to him again, and provided him with
the release his body craved.

He’d fought her, not wanting to succumb to
the ripples of pleasure devouring him as her skilled mouth worked its magic on
his hard, pulsing shaft. The female drew from him all manner of lustful thought
and primal feelings he’d never experienced before. Devon tried to convince
himself it was because she was an experienced twilighter, knew how to provide
pleasure. But some part of him seemed to recognize her touch, her scent. And it
was this part of himself he didn’t understand.

The Killing Frenzy was no longer uppermost in
his mind as it should be now. What he needed above all else was to claim her in
the most elemental way, to fuck her until they both lay unconscious at the
borders of Lydion. He groaned again as her skilled lips brought him release and
he collapsed, allowing the cradle of unconsciousness to enclose him in its
arms.

Eluria studied Devon as he lay in stasis.
Watching the emotion rage through him tore her apart. There was little she
could do, except try to ease the sexual frenzy somewhat. She wanted to take the
pain into her own body, rather than see him suffer so. But she understood it
was a stage he must pass through to be healed.

When his memories returned, would he hate her
for what she’d done? Absently, she fingered the pendant of the fragile silver
necklace she wore. It had served as a talisman to her over the years, offering
a symbol of strength to carry her forward.

Even with Devon’s memory returned, there were
things he wouldn’t be aware of. Painful in her own memory, knowledge would
eventually need to be offered to him, to complete his understanding. Would he
welcome their return?

She knelt next to him and set down the bowl
she carried. She wore the weight of her duties heavy on her shoulders and right
now she felt their full impact. She looked up and was startled to find his intense
gaze fixed on her.

“Eluria the Pure.” He said it without
emotion, a statement, not a question.

She nodded and then looked away. “Yes. Does
this come from memory or the files you accessed?”

“I knew you.”

“You knew Eluria the Pure.” She reached for
the bowl. “You need nourishment. Will you accept this from my hand?”

“Release me. I’ll feed myself.”

“Not yet.”

“Where are we?”

“We are on Serdion. In a place we will remain
undetected.”

“I had you in my sights.” She studied the
myriad of expressions cross his face as he tried to remember. A frown appeared
as he concentrated, trying to piece moments back together.

“Yes, you were about to terminate me when we
were attacked.” She tried to remain unemotional at the memory of her final
words to Guardian.

“We were attacked? Why do you say we?”

“Use your brain, Enforcer. Why would they put
you on my tail and then send in a second force? I know for a fact you always
work alone. That doesn’t make sense. Their target wasn’t just me—it was both of
us. What have you done, Enforcer, that they want you dead as well?”

His navy blue scrutiny pierced her. The fact
his eyes were blue and not black, she took as an encouraging sign. He was
changing. She’d marked the requisite amount of time and then injected him with
the Nanus-Z neutralizer and now it would simply be a question of waiting.

“Why didn’t you kill me instead of bringing
me here?”

“Unlike Enforcers, it is not our way to kill
needlessly.” She didn’t want to tell him the real reason. She was certain Devon
wasn’t ready for the truth.

His gaze narrowed. “Nor do we kill without
reason. You’re a rebel. You’ve killed before. What is your reason for not
terminating me? You’ve injected me with something, I felt the needle. What was
it?”

She shouldn’t be surprised. He’d always been
sharp, even in the Before. She looked away and then back. “What was your life
like, Enforcer? What memories did you have? What did you feel?”

“You know the answer. What more do you want?”

“I’ve injected you with an antidote to the
Nanus process.”

“There is no such drug. It is impossible to
reverse the process. The Tribunal would know if one existed.”

Eluria pinned him with a hard look. “Oh, they
know. Why do you think they sent you after me? Want me terminated? Do you
really think the Tribunal would share such crucial information with you? They
make you and they use you for their own greedy purposes. After your usefulness
is over, they discard you in their own way without thought. They’re not going
to offer you a way to be free of their enforced slavery. Do you remember
anything from Before?”

The look in his eyes changed to one of heavy
lust. “What I remember is the feel of your warm mouth on my khout. You are
skilled, Twilighter, I will give you that. You seek to seduce me, have come to
me in stasis. To what end? The Tribunal cannot be defeated.”

Rising up, Eluria turned away, afraid of what
he’d see in her eyes. She could never reveal to Devon how much she yearned for
him. Her body heated at the thought of joining with him in the truest sense.
Not simply a fucking, but the spiritual and passionate sealing of souls in true
union and balance. She also knew because of her path, she would never again be
considered a proper complement in Union to any male. Never before had that
knowledge tasted so bitter.

Controlling her emotions, she turned back to
him. “The Tribunal will be defeated. We now have the weapon. You are the first
to test the antidote. Tell me, Enforcer, what do you feel? Or maybe the better
question is, do you feel?”

Devon tried to rip free of the restraints.
She could smell the impotent rage consuming him. She’d tasted his lust, knew
his desire. Yes, the antidote was working. But how quickly would it be before
the Turning was complete?

He turned a hate-filled gaze on her. “Yes, I
feel emotion. Desire that I should not have. If I am unable to serve as an
Enforcer, you might as well terminate me now.”

“Be thankful you are no longer able to serve
a brutal ruler,” she bit back, then turned away from him. Taking a deep breath,
she tried to calm herself. “No, Enforcer,” she continued quietly, “it isn’t our
way to kill.” How much should she tell him?

She moved closer and knelt at his side. She
could smell his desire building. She also sensed he was learning to control his
need. She leaned closer. “I knew you Before, Devon Andromeda,” she whispered.
“I would save you now.”

He pulled back and pinned her beneath a hard
cobalt stare. “Save me? From what? I had purpose. You would take that from me.
You seek to hobble me with emotion and desire I do not need. Memories that
serve no purpose other than to impede my duty.”

Eluria sighed and then picked up the bowl.
“Your duty? Duty to rulers who kill on a whim for power and greed? Who destroy
your past to make you the perfect killing machine? This conversation serves no
purpose. You must eat.”

“I will take no food from your hand,
Twilighter. Release me or terminate me. Now.”

Eluria rose. “Be obstinate, Enforcer.
Eventually you’ll eat, even from my tainted hand.” Devon closed his eyes and
his jaw tightened as he twisted away from her. He reminded her of a small male
unable to have his way. She sighed and turned away.

“Why did you approach me in stasis? What did
you hope to gain?” His words halted her.

She whirled back to him. “I don’t have that
power. I never entered your stasis. Explain what you saw.”

“You. Beckoning me. Calling to me.” He
studied her for long moments. “Different than you are now. Yet the same.”

He’d had memories of her after becoming an
Enforcer? Was that possible? She’d never heard of that anomaly before. Was the
Nanus process deteriorating in some way? Or was it Devon who was the exception?

“I never came to you in stasis. As
unbelievable as it may be, it appears you retained a memory from Before. Or one
resurfaced. How long have you been having the visions?”

“Over the last several years your form has
appeared to me. I felt no emotion attached to it, only the vision. I didn’t
know who it was until I accessed your file.” His gaze arrowed past her, as
though focused elsewhere.

“Your hair and form were the same, but you
were Maigin.” His eyes refocused on her, seemed to assess the lines of her
body. She felt uncomfortable beneath the fierce look. “Your face was softer,
your eyes held purity.”

A knife pierced her heart and she turned
away. His vision was of her as she had been before he was taken. Maigin. A pure
young woman eagerly sought by many young Argadian males for Union. Once loved
by Devon. Before he’d been taken. Before she’d discovered the betrayal by her
father. Before she’d made the choice to become a twilight companion.

“It appears it was the shadow of a memory of
me which haunted you in stasis.” Her voice was husky with suppressed emotion.
She would not let the bittersweet memories of Before hurt her. She’d convinced
herself to move beyond them long ago. It was impossible to go back, and
destructive to yearn for what might have been and would never be.

“What happened, Eluria the Pure? Your father
is a powerful Tribunal member. Why would you throw away your position and
purity to become a twilight companion? You had no need, you already had power
and wealth.” His eyes darkened, dilated. “Your signature radiance glows scarlet
with sexual fire. Was it fucking you craved? Did you thirst for more Argadian
khout than your father’s position could buy through Union?”

She pulled inward, attempting to dim her
radiance, knowing it glowed for him and no other. It’s the way it always had
been By Symion, his words cut deep. Pain washed through her. He would never know
what it cost her to become a companion. The enhancements she needed to ingest
faithfully just to be able to perform without illness. He would never see the
deep scars seared in her soul.

*          *          *

Devon saw her flinch at his words. He’d hurt
her. Remorse filled him. It tasted odd. He’d never felt the emotion before and he
was uncomfortable with its weight. He’d seen the pain before, knew its
definition, but it had never touched him. Not like this.

“I find I hunger. I will eat the food you’ve
prepared,” he said gruffly.

Slowly Eluria made her way back to his side
and knelt. He found it pleasant to watch her. Her movements were graceful, like
a moondancer, sensual and fluid. Though his memory was still vague, he knew she
spoke true. She was part of his Before.

As she fed him, he studied the memory,
weighed the emotions he felt. Ones rusted with disuse. He recalled her presence
and it felt pleasant, warm. The feelings of happiness, affection, love mingled
inside threading through the shrouded memories. They washed through him like a
tidal wave against the land. He sought to control their intensity, separate and
harness his response to their demands.

Devon wanted to know more about her, wanted
more of his memory. Something inside him ached to touch her. His shaft rose
hard, tenting the blanket covering him. Desire seared him, yet he found he was
now able to control the emotion, to fetter their strength and command.

She glanced at the tented blanket obviously
knowing its cause, a tinge of pink spread across her cheeks. She looked away,
appearing enthralled by the bowl in her lap.

“You need not fear. I am in control of the
emotions now.”

She glanced up at him. The smoky lenses
covering her eyes, hiding the path to her soul and heart, frustrated his
efforts to read her emotions and find her true purpose. He wanted to know her
and her eyes could tell him much about her true thoughts. She’d also cloaked
her radiance, effectively sealing herself from any further discovery.

“I don’t fear you. Nor do I fear your needs
if pain exists or you are in discomfort.” Her voice was even-toned, low,
emotionless.

“So you would be willing to ease my pain?” He
didn’t like the lack of expression on her face.

She nodded without looking directly into his
eyes.

“How would you do it? Like before with your
mouth? I’ll admit your soft, wet lips gave me a great deal of pleasure.”

The hand holding the spoon trembled, and he
watched as she set it down. She licked her lips. “Is that what you need?”

Devon sensed her vulnerability. Why did he
continue to bait her? Forcing her to relieve his lust was not his way. “Tell me
of Before.”

“It’s best if you wait for memory to return.
I don’t want you to question whether I force your thoughts.”

With a frustrated sigh he leaned back against
the bedroll, watching her. The restraints confining him were tedious. He tried
to remember his mission, the fact her termination was inevitable, demanded by
the Tribunal, wanting to remember his duty. But all his mind would return to
him was the vision and feel of her curled next to him in Before. The aroma of
rozanna petals swirled about him. He shifted restlessly.

“Where is my uniform?”

Eluria turned and nodded toward a chest. “It
has been repaired and awaits you.”

“If you don’t plan to terminate me, release
me so I may clothe myself.”

He saw the look of uncertainty that flickered
through her expression, but she didn’t move to do as he demanded. Sighing in
exasperation he said, “Haydon, Female, I am no longer in Killing Frenzy, you
can see for yourself. You are safe for the time being. This fragment of memory
I seem to have… I won’t harm you until I know more. And it appears only you
have the information I want.”

Through a long moment of silence she studied
him. What she hoped to find there he had no idea.

“I would have trusted Devon Andromeda with my
life in Before,” she murmured. “Without question. My need to trust you now
stems from those memories. From the youth I once knew and…” Her words trailed
away, her gaze focused past him, then returned. “Your oath first, you will not
try to leave the caves.”