Galin (12 page)

“You need to keep your arm up. That’s it, but
don’t let me see your heart.” She moved with him, and each step she took seemed
to be planned and precise. “Now, when I attack you, I want you to think of
protecting yourself.”

“I thought that was what I was doing.” Arryn
shook his head and looked at Galin. When Dusty turned to look at him, he knew
that she wasn’t going to be happy about this either. There were times, like
this one, that he wished she wasn’t so independent.

“He means your wings.” She stared at Galin
for several seconds before she looked back at Arryn. He nodded once at her
before she dropped her sword. As she walked away, he moved to follow her and
she stopped and turned on him.

“Don’t. Not…I don’t want you to touch me.” She
turned back and moved away from him. “I have wings? And no one bothered to tell
me. What if I had sprouted them with a bunch of clients around?”

“You can’t.” She turned and glared at him and
he took a step back. “You can only use them if you think of them or are afraid.
You can also use them to protect others, as I have done for you. And as of the
night I claimed you, you have all the powers I have.”

Dusty didn’t look all that thrilled and Galin
found he wanted to take yet another step back from her. She started walking
away again and he followed, but at a greater distance this time. She didn’t
have the sword but she could still hurt him. And he was pretty sure there would
be no help for him from his friends.

“When were you going to tell me this?” He
didn’t get a chance to answer her when she continued. “I suppose you were
waiting until I was in the middle of a battle or something and you’d go, ‘oh,
by the way, you can fly around the room like a bird and land on high buildings.
And those suckers can wrap around you and save you from being killed.’”

He didn’t say anything, not even to point out
again that she was immortal. She could do all that, but he didn’t think this was
the time to point it out. When she got to the end of her property she leaned
against the fence post and looked beyond. He could tell she was crying, and he
wasn’t sure how to comfort her and keep her from hurting him. Galin decided
that he’d give her a few more minutes, then he would try to hold her.

“He’s going to…this Markum person, he’s not
going to stop, is he? I know you said there is no chosen one, but he won’t stop
until he’s got some kid, even if it’s not Kip. Someone is going to have to kill
him, aren’t they?” Galin moved up behind her now and wrapped his arms around
her waist. “I don’t want anything to happen to you guys. It nearly broke my
heart when Valyn was hurt, and it was hardly a flesh wound. And I know that
he’s up and around today, but it’s still painful to know that it happened
because of me.”

“I think he enjoyed it.” She snorted at him
and he laughed. “Believe me when I tell you, he enjoyed himself. He is still
talking about how he took one for the team. I think that most of us, me included,
would jump at the chance to do what he did yesterday. Not every day, mind you,
but it was a nice feeling to defeat the bad guys for once. And to protect a
lovely damsel while doing it.”

As they stood there a family of deer walked
into the open field. There were other animals as well. Galin could see their
watchers as they moved along with them. Each animal, both above the ground and
below, would have someone to watch over them. As two of the protectors waved at
him, he noticed that Dusty waved back. It was something he’d forgotten she
could do. See the others.

“I have this mark on my arm. In the same
place you do.” He nodded but said nothing. “At first I was a little freaked out…here
I have this thing on me that I didn’t okay or even know about. But then I
touched it.”

“I felt it.” She turned in his arms and
looked up at him. “We are as one, literally. When you are touched, I feel it
too. Hurt or in pain, those emotions and feelings are as much a part of me as
anything on my body. Your wings, when you see them, will be snowy white and
just as full as mine. But now…well, when we are wed, we will each have a part
of the other, and one feather from each of us will go to the other. It will
keep us safe.”

“I don’t know if I want to have wings.” Galin
looked into her eyes as he pulled his free from his body and wrapped them
around them both. She looked around them and then back at him. “Is this what he
meant by keeping me safe?”

“It is. And no other being, none, will be
able to see you when you are thusly wrapped. Boss can, I believe; I’ve never
asked, but no demon can, nor can any other protector. If you are hurt, your
wings will hold you safely until you can heal. And because of the magic in
them, you will heal much faster anyway. They are to keep you warm when you need
it, and if you are protecting someone, they will shield you both from any harm.
They are there for you to use, and you should get used to them.” He opened his
wings and pulled them to his body. “Do it, Dusty. Pull them free and feel
them.”

He could see that she was afraid. He wasn’t
sure he’d seen that emotion on her before and was surprised by it. When she
closed her eyes, he could feel her wings beneath his hands and moved down to
her waist. When they fluttered open, he ran his fingers over the tips of a few
of them. The expression on her face had him doing it again. He would never be
able to describe the look of pure bliss on her face.

“I can feel that. I mean really feel it. All
over my entire body. It’s erotic.” He opened his wings again when she asked him
to and nearly fell over when her fingers slid over him in the same way. “I can
feel it. It’s like…it’s like you’re touching me with your tongue. And my body
is on fire to have you touch them over and over until I can come.”

Pulling her body to his, Galin moved them to
their room. This was going to require some exploring and he didn’t want anyone
to see them. Once they were in the bedroom, he told her to turn around and he
moved up behind her. He ran his hands over her entire wing span and then back
again. She was panting by the time he finished. And so was he. He’d never felt
anything like this before, and wanted to enjoy it a great deal more.

“I want to see what it’s like to touch you
with one.” She turned and he pulled one of his feathers from his wings. “Will
your clothing away. I want to explore you with nothing to keep us apart.”

Her clothing was gone before he could drop to
his knees. Galin was also naked now and his cock was thick with need. But there
was time enough for that. He ran the feather over her hips and watched her
face. Her entire body reacted to his touch. His own had his cock leaking from
the tip, and he watched as she licked her lips.

Galin ran the feather over her entire body,
stopping only once to drink from her when her juices slipped down her thigh. She
screamed out her release, and all he could think about was having her do it
again and again. By the time he was ready to release, she had climaxed thrice. She
was also begging him to take her. He wanted her so badly that he had to sit and
take several deep breaths before he thought he could move without releasing
before they began.

“I should like for you to return the favor.”
She nodded and he stood up. Before he could hand her his feather, she pulled
one from herself and slid it along his cock. He wasn’t prepared for the
pleasure of it and cried out when she ran it over his tip. Galin had to reach
for the bed posts to hold on or he surely would have fallen. He knew that if
she did it again, he was not going to be able to hold back.

“Again. Please again.” Over and over she
teased him, bringing his release just to the edge and pulling back. He might
have begged her to finish him, but he was enjoying the pain of this too much
for her to do that. When she took him into her mouth, Galin nearly fell back.
Nothing had ever felt this good before. And when she cupped his balls and gave
them a slight twist, Galin filled her with his seed over and over as he
ejaculated down her throat. It wasn’t enough. He needed more. He needed her.

He stood holding onto her head for several
minutes as she continued to lick him. He was nearly in too much pain to enjoy
what she was doing, but didn’t want her to stop. When his cock seemed to fill
again he told her to move to the bed. But instead of lying on it as he had
expected, she leaned over and spread her legs wide for him. Going up behind her,
he slid his cock into her sheath and moaned at how deeply he could take her. Holding
onto her hips as tightly as he dared, he rolled his hips back and forth until
he was so close to releasing again that he almost didn’t hear her speak.

“Spank me, Galin.” He ran his hand over her
lovely bottom and thought about doing just what she said. When she told him
again, commanded really, he brought his hand down hard and nearly released when
she cried out. He spanked her three more times before she screamed out that she
was coming and Galin followed close behind.

Leaning forward, he took them both to the
bed. He’d always enjoyed sex with her, but when he’d spanked her and released,
he felt as if his body had been taken apart one molecule at a time to be put
back together with so much force that he felt…he felt as if he’d been made a
new person. He held her to him as he thought about his life with her. Just
being with her was more than he’d ever hoped for, but to have her as his wife
was something that he felt he needed more than his next breath.

“Will you marry me, Dusty? I should very much
like for you to be my wife. Forever. And I will…I know that Kip is a concern
for you, but I would enjoy helping you raise him up into a good man. Marry me?”

She yawned and he thought she was too tired
to answer him. “If we do this, and I’m not saying yes, but if we do, then I
have one thing that I’d ask you.” He told her anything. “Don’t ever lie to me
or keep things from me because you think I won’t be able to handle it. I might
not, but at least I don’t have to worry about whether or not you’re keeping
something from me. I don’t want to have to worry that something will be going
on and you’ve not told me.”

“I cannot lie to you or anyone. But I promise
you, from this day forward I will keep you informed about everything I know.
And if you would like, I’ll have the others do so as well. I don’t think you’ll
have a problem with Kala or Judith telling you what is what, but the rest of us
will do the same.” She nodded and closed her eyes. “Dusty, is that a yes?”

“Yes. I’ll marry you. But I’m tired right now
and—” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She was going to be his wife.
Before she could change her mind he contacted Boss and let him know.

Perhaps you should wait until later before
you come to me.

Galin told him no.
I want her now. It’s to
be now. Please. She said yes, and if we wait she will think of a hundred
reasons why we can’t do it. I need her to be in my life.
He thought of the
man he was talking to.
If you have time, that is. I do fear, however, that
later she might have excuses not only lined up on paper, but in an order of
importance as to why we aren’t suited. Please don’t let her make a list. I
don’t…could you please see us now
?

In seconds they were both dressed and
standing in Boss’s office. Galin could see He was having a hard time not
laughing at him, and Dusty looked ready to murder him, but he didn’t care. She’d
said yes and he wasn’t going to give her any wiggling room to say no. As soon
as Michael entered the room, Boss stood up. It was time…past time, he realized.
Suddenly Kip was there and Galin was glad that he’d been brought in for the
wedding. He’d have to remember to thank Boss later.

“I have great plans for the men I have
chosen. Picking a wife for you, Galin, was a challenge. She needed to be soft
and strong, confident as well as a little unsure. A woman that would keep you
on your toes.” He took both their hands and winked at Kip. “In this, I believe
I have not just chosen well, but I have made a perfect match with the three of
you. I can only hope that the others will be just as easy.”

“Easy?” Michael flushed when they all looked
at him when he shouted. “This was not easy. She gave us all a run for our
change. I’ve never seen two people more ill…you two have given me my first
headache. Ever. And now you say this was easy? I do not think I can handle much
more of this. You might need to give me a vacation when this is finished. Easy
is not what I would call this union.”

“You’ll hold your tongue, my good friend, or
I will find you a wife that is more like this one than you can imagine.”
Michael’s mouth closed with an audible snap. “Very good. I knew that you’d see it
my way.”

Galin had a moment to wonder who else Boss
had plans of marrying, and smiled. Whoever they were, he wished them the best
of luck and was glad he was going to get to see it happen. And he’d laugh every
time one of them balked at the idea of finding a wife. Then Boss spoke again.

“I bring you together not just as man and
wife but as a family. My first in the Mystic’s. Kipling will grow to love you
both as his parents, as I have as my children. I bless you with all that I can
and will. You are now man and wife, father and mother, a strong family.” Galin
kissed Dusty when the rings were slipped on their fingers. He felt a wave of…of
power pour over him, and he reached for something to hold onto. It just
happened to be Boss.