Negative (7 page)

She sighed, “Yodin will be very upset when he finds out how long his friend has been gone.”

“Jurad picked a fight with him when he felt himself weakening, for that very purpose.”

Aster rubbed her temples. “That was both kind and cruel. He never had a chance to say goodbye.”

“Jurad left him a message, but I would have to tell Yodin in order for him to view it. I just didn’t want to hurt him like that.” Rekfa sighed.

“You think he wouldn’t notice when you took a new Avatar?”

Rekfa shrugged. “I thought he would have to speak with the stronger host and I could hide.”

“You have been friends with him nearly the same amount of time as Jurad was. You owe him a direct conversation. I am not going to let you hide behind me.” Aster made a face.

“You are right. I do not like it, but I will have to tell him.” Rekfa set the cup down and he took off in a blaze of light and wind.

After holding the tea set and cookies in place against the rapid movement of air, Aster sat back and finished her tea. It seemed that all the men in her life were going to fly away this evening. With a sigh, she got to her feet and took a walk in the gardens, smiling at the night illumination of the phosphorescent plants that lit her path.

Her smile faded when she felt and heard the bellow of pain. It echoed in her mind as power rippled through her. She wanted to go to Yodin, but propulsion was the one thing she hadn’t yet managed and Rekfa was with him as he learned of the loss of Jurad.

With nothing else to do, she went to work in the garden with a blade tucked in her belt, shaping a flower out of light and night. Jurad’s rose was lovely, and it had a scent reminiscent of the berries that Rekfa had mentioned his Avatar had enjoyed.

It wasn’t a hybrid rose, but a wild rose with black petals and a glowing center. She wondered how it would look in the daylight, but she loved the look of it at night. Time would have to pass to see if it could survive and thrive, but she liked the current design.

She took a few cuttings and walked back toward her home.

The tea set was gone, and she looked at her kitchen, noting that everything had been rinsed and put away. Rekfa wasn’t there. There was no humming of power in the air.

In her bedroom, a bundle of shadows was on the bed. Aster put the flowers in water and removed her gown, edging into the shadows and putting her arm around the mass.

Yodin put his arms around her and pressed his head to her shoulder. He didn’t say anything and neither did she. She held him through the night and into the following day.

They clung together, and when he finally lifted his head and breathed deeply and calmly, she smiled softly. “I sympathise with your grief.”

“We need to become used to it. We will outlive all of our friends. Rekfa is a constant, but his body needs to change every five hundred years, or so he just told me.” Yodin smiled sadly. “I never even guessed that Jurad had left.”

“You were not supposed to. He wanted you to remain as you were, and he took steps to ensure it.” She stroked his shoulder.

“You knew that Jurad was no longer there.” He wasn’t accusing but musing.

“No, I just knew that there was only one person I had ever spoken to in that body. I didn’t know who it was, not until he told me last night. That is when I was sure, not before.”

“Do not worry. I am not upset with you. I am upset that I did not notice that the last person I knew before I changed had moved off this world.” He dragged in a deep breath.

She didn’t say anything, nothing needed to be said. She held him and his breathing eased.

He kissed her shoulder and looked around. “What is that scent?”

She blinked and turned, inhaling the sweet scent of berries and flowers. “I made a rose for Jurad. I didn’t know if I could do it, but if it lives, it glows at night with dark petals.”

“If it lives?”

“I made flower bushes out in the gardens. My experiments over the last few months have not all been successful. Sometimes, the plants do not like the changes and they die.”

He smiled. “It looks very pretty.”

She turned in his arms and smiled in surprise. “They do look very pretty. I am cautiously optimistic, but it will take a week to find out if they will live. It will take an entire year to know if they can survive a winter.”

“A whole year?” His voice was amused.

“Perhaps longer. I don’t know if I created a root or seed reproduction. I will have to watch it and see what happens.”

“Will you bring them to the new gardens I am creating?”

She smiled. “I will.”

“Good. Last night, Rekfa handed over a suitable piece of land for both our needs and offered to provide you with a personal transport.”

She perked up. “I get to drive something?”

“I believe that ride is more appropriate than drive, but we will have to get to the site before it can properly be explained.”

Aster smiled and nestled against him. “A mystery.”

He kissed her neck. “An enticement.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that. I have always wanted to be enticed.” She chuckled.

He rolled her to her back and raised one eyebrow. “Have you? I seem to have been doing something wrong.”

“Oh, the attraction is there, but being lured into something has eluded you in your dealings with me.”

He sighed. “It seems that I have been remiss in my attentions.”

Aster smiled. “It is fine; you have all the time in the world to make it up to me.”

Yodin moved over her, nudging his way between her thighs. “Can I start now? I would not wish to miss an opportunity.”

“Far be it from me to block the god of war from an opportunity.”

“I did not choose my titles.”

She sighed as he pressed against her and the flared head of his cock started to work slick acceptance from her. “Perhaps lust would be a better appellation than sex.”

He slid into her in increments so small, she was nearly gnashing her teeth by the time he was fully inside her.

His chest flexed as he held himself still. “I don’t know; I think I am pretty good at sex.”

She ran her hands up his sides and stroked his abs and the planes of his chest. “Yes, but I am going to be the only one enjoying your skills in that arena from here on out. It isn’t fair to taunt women with something I would not appreciate walking in on.”

He grinned, his teeth white and looking remarkably sharp.

To her astonishment, his cock began to writhe inside her, moving without him shifting an inch.

She swallowed and her muscles jerked when he stroked that sensitive spot inside her. She jerked, twitched and tried to twist, but Yodin held her in place while his cock churned and corkscrewed inside her.

Arousal climbed quickly, and she stared into Yodin’s eyes as her body tensed, twisted and finally convulsed around him. Aster held onto his shoulders and caught her breath.

“Well, okay, maybe god of sex was warranted.”

He grinned and kissed her wildly, shifting his hips and actively thrusting. He worked hard to reach his own climax, and when it struck, he bit down on her shoulder as he groaned.

She felt the piercing of his teeth and shuddered at the peculiar blend of pleasure and pain. Azon and Wyorans both used biting with their mates, and he was the product of a blended society. Fortunately, Aster healed fast.

When he released her, licked her wounds and dropped next to her, she chuckled. “Interesting, but I am still not sure you deserve the title.”

He leaned up on one elbow. “Is that a challenge?”

“Not for today, but I feel it necessary to entice you into feats of creativity.” She winked. “Come on. A quick shower and we can go to that site so you can show me what will make me take up housekeeping with you.”

He kept his hand over her eyes as he walked her to the edge of wherever they were standing. The scream in front of her got her attention.

Yodin pulled his hand away, and she blinked at the sunlight dazzling her. The scream sounded again, and the huge purple bird in front of her ruffled his feathers and gave her a challenging look.

“This isn’t Arez in a larger shape?”

He laughed. “No. The Wayvar are what he was thinking about using for an Avatar before Rekfa realised that we couldn’t talk to it. He picked Jurad instead, but these are the indigenous creatures of Rekfa.”

“And it is here because...”

“This is your conveyance to get around Rekfa. He can take you where you need to go, remain as your protection and keep you company when I am not at home.”

“What does he eat?”

“He hunts for himself, and Rekfa will cover anything that he eats.”

She walked toward the bird, and the huge and menacing head pointed at her. It tilted its head and eyed her as she continued to approach.

It inhaled as she stood under the vicious hook of its beak. She waited until the large head rested against her shoulder, and then, she reached up to stroke the heavy feathers.

“I really hope that Rekfa told you what I needed.” She whispered it against his head.

He chortled and fluffed his wings, squatting for her.

“I am guessing that you were told.” She smiled and climbed onto him, settling herself and digging her hands into the crest of feathers on its neck. She didn’t pull but it gave her a solid grip.

The bird chirped in warning, and it ran forward, past Yodin, flapping until they lifted off.

The race turned to soaring pressure as he flapped to gain altitude, but once they were in the sky, he glided, banked, turned and twisted in the air. Near the ground, she could see Yodin standing with shadows flared around him, ready to move to catch her should her bird change its mind.

She shifted her weight and the bird turned. When she had grasped how to communicate what she wanted, she was ready to try and land.

When the dust cloud of their landing cleared, she slid off the bird and it let out sharp barks of sound. The hills nearby came alive, and a flock of the huge animals circled and landed in the open meadow.

Yodin came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “There, now you have plenty of options when it comes to getting around of Rekfa. They will all carry you, and they freak Arez out, so he will not follow you when you travel.”

“Why do they freak him out?”

He chuckled. “He tends to fly too close and that irritates them. They snap at him.”

“Oh. I like them more and more.”

“Now, shall we return to your gardens and you can show me Jurad’s roses by daylight?”

Aster looked around at the wide valley with its lush grasses and the structure that was slowly growing out of the stone of the hillside. “We can return to the gardens, but as soon as you and Rekfa can manage it, I would like to return home.”

His smile was answer enough as he launched them skyward and back toward the city, the home of the Avatar and her temporary home. The valley felt right in every way and having life around her made her happy.

Joy started to swell in her for the first time in over a year, and she embraced it and the man who had helped coax it to the surface. They had an eternity together, and she was going to make him do it again and again and again. Gardening wasn’t her only hobby.

The brain injury that Aster suffered is an actual thing that happened to a family member who didn’t quite bounce back like Aster did but is still up and conversing with folks on a daily basis.

The title didn’t quite match the cover, so I simply applied the phrase where I could and got on with things from there.

I believe that
Numb
is in the roster and up next, but I might switch it around with
Noble.
It depends on which one sings its story to me so that I can write it down.

Thanks for reading,

Viola Grace

http://www.violagrace.com

[email protected]

Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.