SnaredbySaber (12 page)

“I’ll make sure you get to Dalcon,” Saber
said. “Two or three days should see us back at the resort. We’ll fly to Dalcon
and take care of your business. Do you have the money to make the payment?”

Eva chewed on her lip and considered lying.
No. She’d tell him everything. “I have the money, but when I knew I was leaving
Dalcon for a few days, I…I set a trap. The Dearbhorgaills have done everything
possible to disrupt restaurant operations. My staff members quit without
warning, my stock shipments go missing. We have break-ins. So many problems.”

“Do you think your trap will work?”

“I hope so. It’s not long until the third
and final payment is also due. With all the disruptions it might prove
difficult to make the payment.”

“And if you can establish the
Dearbhorgaills are behind the problems?”

“It might make a difference. As long as the
law and judge aren’t in the Dearbhorgaills’ pocket.”

“I think we can work around that,” Saber
said. “They won’t expect you to have allies. Go to sleep now. We have a couple
of long days ahead of us.” He pressed a kiss to her temple even as her eyes
fluttered closed.

He believes me.
That was her last thought as she tumbled into sleep.

* * * * *

“Wake up, kitten.”

“Saber?”

“I’m here. Are you ready to go? How are you
feeling?”

Eva stirred, pushing to her feet. The skin
on her arms and legs was still faintly pink and a little sensitive, but other
than that, she felt fine. “I was lucky you came.”

Instead of answering, he leaned over,
closing the distance between them to press his lips to hers. A slow, sensual
nibble later, she sighed.
Frying fungus
, he was good at kissing. Of
their own volition, her hands curled around his neck, fingers tangling in his
black hair to hold him in position.

He lifted his head, stared at her with his
green eyes, then he confounded her by pressing his forehead to hers and rubbing
their noses together. The tender action made her heart pitter-patter and she
issued a lustful sigh. They didn’t have time—she knew it—but she wanted him
with an intensity that wouldn’t stop.

“We’d better go,” he repeated. He pulled
back but reached for her hand, curled her fingers in his and started walking.

She followed, reveling in the intimacy, so
innocent, yet it made her heart race, her blood roar like a Salim banshee. Her
breasts tingled and a whoosh of sensations converged in her pussy. She’d never
felt that for Pryce.

An arrow of guilt struck center-front. Her
grip tightened on his fingers and he cast a quick look in her direction.

“Something wrong? Do you need me to carry
you?”

“No, I’m fine.” The man kept giving. He
hadn’t lost his temper with her even though, in hindsight, she’d behaved
stupidly and put them both in danger.

The jungle around them was alive with
sounds and life. She caught the occasional flicker of tiny furry creatures
dangling from upper branches and others swinging from tree to tree. A group of
golden-colored birds with bright-red beaks squabbled over meg-fruits, a type of
spicy fruit with white flesh. She yanked on Saber’s hand and grabbed a couple.
Along with appeasing her hunger, they’d freshen her mouth. She hadn’t
considered the state of her breath when she’d kissed Saber earlier. Too shocked
by the emotions coursing through her mind and body.

“These taste good. Lucky I’m with a food
expert. I wouldn’t have known which were safe to eat.”

“I believe a lot of the fruit on Dalcon is
imported from Tiraq.”

“Is it now? Maybe we should look at growing
fruit as well as vegetables. Could you help us with that?”

“Of course,” Eva said, her ready reply
shocking her. Dalcon was her home, the sole refuge she’d ever known. Apart from
a quick break after she’d married Pryce, she hadn’t left Dalcon until Casey surprised
her with this holiday.

Saber’s smile was white and bright against
his tan, his obvious approval lighting his green eyes. She gazed at his
handsome face, and it dawned on her that he hadn’t sprouted whiskers since
they’d been away.

“You don’t have a beard.”

“It’s a shapeshifter thing. We don’t grow
hair on our faces.”

“Or other places.” She made a quick gesture
with her hand in the direction of his groin.

His grin turned toothy. “I didn’t think
you’d noticed.”

“I noticed.”

He came to a halt by a pool of water. “This
is it. I’ve checked it for nasties. There’s nothing in there to harm you, not
even any of those fish.” His eyes twinkled. “Anything else you want to ask?”

“Do your women have litters?”

He barked out a laugh. “Multiple births
aren’t uncommon. Mostly twins and occasionally triplets, but never more than
that.”

“And are they like you?”

“All shifter offspring are born with the
ability to shift. In recent years, not all have survived the first shift—at
least they didn’t until we discovered diet plays a big part in making sure the
right hormones are present.”

Eva nodded, wanting to ask more questions
but deciding to leave her queries until they stopped for the night again.
During the day, they needed to go as fast as they could.

As if he could read her thoughts, he said,
“We’d better have our swim and get moving. Want me to wash your back?”

Her gaze narrowed. Washing backs led to
other things. “I thought you were in a hurry. We
are
in a hurry.”

“We can spare an extra ten minutes. A
quickie,” he added, humor lurking in his pretty eyes.

He hadn’t smiled much when she’d first seen
him. A shame when he wore smiles and grins with such a rakish air.

“Take off your shirt.”

“What’s left of it,” she murmured, already
following his order.

“I’m enjoying the glimpses of your
breasts.”

“Oh.” A compliment. She wasn’t sure what to
do with it. She threw the shirt into the water, but left her socks hanging over
a bush.

Saber dived into the pool and surfaced,
droplets of water sparkling on his face. “Feels good.”

It did, the water cool against her skin.
She sighed and started washing herself. Such a pretty spot with the morning
solar light and the tiny clearing, the sparkle of the jade-green water. It
would be so easy to laze away the hours here.

Saber splashed, attracting her attention.
“Come here,” he said. “I promised to wash your back.”

“You could fuck me too.”

Her blunt words appeared to startle him.

“Maybe you were expecting a battle to get
me to agree? I’m past that now,” she explained. “You make me feel good.
Sometimes very, very good.”

He rubbed his chin. “Very, very good, huh?
I’ll strive for excellent.”

She laughed, more at herself than
him—because in that moment, she realized she was falling for him. This constant
upheaval of her emotions—

No!

She didn’t love him. She couldn’t. It
wasn’t possible, not when her life was on Dalcon and his was here on Tiraq.

“Eva? Kitten?” His gaze was quizzical.

“Nothing.” She wrapped her arms around his
neck and pressed closer. His cock thrust out, ready to take her, ready to give
her the pleasure she’d come to crave.

She wrapped her legs around his waist,
opened herself to his touch, and he didn’t disappoint her. Nimble fingers
delved, rubbed, teased.

“Does that hurt?”

“No, my legs were the worst. I kept trying
to jump out of the pot.”

“Good job,” he said. “Never make it easy
for the enemy. Never give up. Never say die.”

“We think the same way.”

“We do,” he said, the cocksure smirk one of
male victory.

“Rub me right there,” she demanded.

His finger slid over her clit, a smooth
massage, her hot flesh a contrast to the temperature of the water surrounding
their bodies.

“What about here?” He slipped a finger
inside her and rubbed a bit of flesh. She shuddered, closed her eyes, cried out
and came instantly around his finger.

“Beautiful,” Saber said.

She opened her eyes to find him smiling at
her.

“Let’s do that again before we get moving.”
He held her tightly while piercing her with his cock.

He stretched her in a delightful way,
filling then cradling her body while he did all the work. He drove up,
thrusting and retreating. So, so good. Perfect. The threads of pleasure started
to wind through her body again, twisting and turning until they knit into a
huge ball. She reached down to touch her achy flesh and rubbed hard.

“Good, kitten. Take what you need.”

Her finger froze. She hadn’t even
considered what he might think. She was so used to taking care of herself that
she naturally—

“Don’t stop,” he ordered. “I enjoy watching
you, feeling your fingers against my cock.”

“B-but…”

“Nothing you do is wrong, kitten. Touch me,
touch yourself,” he whispered, his breath hot against her neck.

He received pleasure from being with her,
and she…she liked him way too much for peace of mind. A recipe for a
freakin’
fungus
of a disaster.

His thrusts were faster now. Harder. He
groaned, the sounds close to a catlike purr. He kissed her skin, lightly nipped
at the spot where shoulder met neck.

His teeth. They seemed sharper, longer…

“Ready to come for me, kitten?”

Eva rubbed her clit furiously, the
stirrings of pleasure pushed to prominence by his sexy voice.
Frying fungus
,
she loved his voice, his body.

She exploded, her fingers digging into his
shoulder for purchase as he slammed into her. Once, twice. On the third hard
plunge, he stayed planted deep, and she felt the contractions of his cock as he
came.

Saber lowered his head and kissed her.
Their lips brushed in lazy unison. A slow and thorough kiss that she felt clear
to her toes.

“We’d better head out.”

She sighed inwardly. “I’ll just give my
shirt a quick scrub before I put it back on.”

A short while later, Saber rubbed the gooey
plant substance on the worst spots on her arms, legs and feet, then she
dressed—as much as one could in a shirt and socks—and they set out on another
long, exhausting walk.

* * * * *

The next day followed in a similar fashion.
They walked and walked and walked, the only variable being the scenery and the
colors of the plants and creatures. Bluebird followed them, sometimes going off
to graze but always returning to spend the night by their side.

During the highest heat of the day, they
rested and had slow, sweaty sex. They ate different types of fruit and once,
Saber left her to go hunting for meat. She didn’t partake of the feast.

Now evening was drawing in once more and
they were looking for a safe place to spend the night.

“Are those buildings?” Eva asked, pointing
at a hill.

Saber looked in the direction she
indicated. “Looks like ruins. Maybe a deserted village. Want to check it out?”

“It might work for tonight’s camp.”

Nodding agreeably, Saber reached for her
hand and headed for the hill.

“It does look deserted,” Eva said once they
stood in the middle of the ruins. “I wonder what happened to the residents.”

“Maybe the birds got them. The plains would
make for easy hunting.”

“Don’t tell me that.”

“Don’t worry.” Saber studied the plains
below and pointed to a sliver of jade green in the distance. “Look. That’s the
coast. We’re almost there. If we leave early tomorrow, we should manage to
reach it before the thermals make it easier for the birds to fly. We’ll get you
back to Dalcon.”

In the face of such confidence, she wasn’t
going to argue. He hadn’t failed her yet. “Thank you,” Eva said.

“Now—which one?” He gestured to the
buildings, many of which were collapsed by trees or had bushes growing inside
them.

She and Saber wandered around the different
dwellings then rounded a corner. One building stood in the center of what would
have once been an open square. Now a profusion of colorful flowers filled the
space around it, but the building appeared intact.

“That’s weird. Stay here while I check it
out.”

Bluebird honked, one of an inquiring
nature.

“I don’t know,” Eva said. “Oh look. There’s
an opal tree. The fruit is so expensive. She picked several before returning to
the spot where Saber had left her.

His face sported a frown upon his return.

“Is it terrible inside?”

“No. Come and see.”

He took her hand—a habit she was coming to
enjoy—and led her around the building and inside.

“It smells as if the owners have been gone
for a while.”

Eva gaped at the luxurious ruby syn-silk
fabric covering the low sleep-bed, the gold and ruby pillows, a tray of food
and drink, the cool cube with its solar light indicating it was on and cooling
the contents. A hot cube. A nook in which to eat.

This was so much like the poor-girl dreams
she used to have when she slept rough on the streets, before she started
working at the restaurant in the market.

There was even a small med-box. Maybe she
could apply healing salve to her myriads cuts, bruises and burns. She opened a
door and found a luxurious cleansing room and another offshoot, which appeared
full of clothes. Some glamorous and others more practical. And footwear!

“It has a sanitizer! And clothes. Clothes
that would fit me! Do you think these people would have transport? We could pay
them to take us to the resort. I wonder where they are.”

“I checked on the other buildings. They’re
all ruins. Derelict.”

“Do you think the residents will return
tonight?”

“There’s no scent trail—either in or out of
the building. It’s as if someone put the stuff here and transported back out
with a travel-beam.”