Warrior Lover (Draconia Tales) (11 page)

A quick glance showed Enar sitting on Thoren’s back, head tilted to the wind, a look of pure pleasure on his face. As if he felt her stare, he turned toward her, a smile spreading across his lips.

Her stomach lurched, but this time it had nothing to do with being airborne. Her eyes locked to Enar’s and time seemed to stop. Nothing mattered but him and her. And then they flew into a cloud and the moment disappeared as Enar vanished from view.

Lily closed her eyes and saw her life in River’s Run. Her miserable, in-fear-of-death life. Priests chasing her, threatening her. Her parent’s deaths. The failure of her shop, her livelihood. The only decent thing that happened to her was Keara, the other village outcast. What possessed Keara to grab hold of Lily when they were children, whisper in her ear that she could cure her blindness and then proceed to do so, Lily would never know, but she remained forever in Keara’s debt.

She didn’t even want to imagine how bad her life would have been if she’d been outcast and blind.

But she never needed to worry about being an outcast again. Enar took her away from it all.

Never mind she didn’t know where Enar was taking her, or what he expected from her, or how things would be once she got there.

Maybe the priests weren’t so bad after all.

What was she thinking? The unknown with Enar was better than being starved to death or hung for being different. And she got an attentive bed partner in the bargain.

But he hid something from her about her new life. Why? Why was answering her questions so difficult? Lily felt a chill run across her skin that had nothing to do with Fafnir banking to the right. What if Enar’s town was worse than River’s Run?

No. She refused to believe it. Everything would be fine. She glanced at Enar, watching him ride through the clouds as if he owned them. Would he defend her in front of the town’s priests if he meant to take her to a place equally as intolerant? Of course not.

Or would he? What did she really know about him besides his skills in the bedroll?

A big fat nothing.

But she wanted to believe he wouldn’t deceive her in that way. Hope sustained her. Hope always had. Enar grinned at her and she felt her lips turn up in return.

Gods. Every time that man looked at her, her insides turned to mush. She buried her head in Fafnir’s neck. She did not want to think about what it meant. No, she did not. It was better to focus on where she was going and what would be expected of her once she arrived. And as soon as they landed, Enar would answer her questions.

She hoped.

Chapter 7

Dear Goddess, how many questions did a claim have?

Enar stared at Lily, watching her mouth move. A total waste of her lips, which would be put to better use encircling his staff. Lifting her off Fafnir’s back caused her lips to move like branches in a storm. Setting her on the ground hadn’t helped matters.

“What?”

Small fists slammed against her waist. “I said, where in Draconia are you taking me?”

“To my home. How did you like flying? Was it as bad as you thought?” There, if she was going to talk, she could at least talk about a topic he was willing to discuss.

Narrowed eyes regarded him and he felt the puff of air from her sigh. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought, although I almost threw up. Fafnir’s really nice, but you’re avoiding the question.”

He cursed under his breath. Just when he’d thought he was in the clear. “Watchers live in our settlement several hours from the Draconi Temple. Enough with the questions, woman, we need to help prepare dinner.”

He pointed in the direction the others had taken, motioning Lily in front of him. With a huff and a glare she marched to where Thoren started a fire. Enar ran his hand through his hair, yanking strands out of the leather bind. Gathering the loose strands together, he tied them back off his face. Flying always loosened the things.

Ah, flying. Now that was an activity he could do every day. Soaring above the clouds, looking down at the patches of ground, knowing he was the biggest, baddest thing around. Wait. Where did that thought come from? Thoren was the biggest thing around when in dragon form, not him. And yet, flying made him feel as if he possessed the wingspan of a dragon, as if he dominated the world.

He’d give up being a Watcher if it meant he could be a dragon.

And how bizarre was that? No other Watcher he knew wanted to be a Draconi.

Lily bent over, picking up dried sticks, the firm globes of her arse beckoning, and faster than he could blink his thoughts fled, replaced by a longing that made his balls ache. He wanted her. Wanted her to care for him, wanted her to need him like he needed her.

Goddess’s teeth, what was wrong with him?

He’d obviously been around Thoren too long.

Keara joined Lily in her quest for sticks. It seemed as if the red-headed Halfling had recovered from her ordeal. Bruises dotted her face and he felt a cold ball of rage twist in his stomach. He understood the battle Thoren must be going through, the fight within to stay and kill the ones who harmed Keara warring with the urge to get her to safety.

If Lily had been kidnapped instead of Keara, he wouldn’t have hesitated to unleash his anger on the ones who hurt her. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think he was falling for his claim.

What a thought.

Throughout dinner Enar stared at Lily, unable to get her questions out of his mind. He refused to tell her what things were like in his village, how Watchers treated their women. But how long could he avoid her questions?

Lily’s white head bent toward Keara’s red one as they sat together on a log, chewing on their dinner of jerky. Undoubtedly sharing secrets he wished she’d share with him.

He mentally banged his head. Why did he have such feelings for his claim?

Luckily Thoren slammed a hand against his knee, derailing his thoughts.

“What’s going on, friend?”

Oh, let’s see, I care about my claim and it’s scaring me half to death.
“Nothing much. Glad to see Keara’s better.”

“So am I. They’ll die for it.”

“As it should be.”

Thoren ran a hand through his hair. “How’s Lily?”

“Fine. She seemed to like flying.”

“Good.”

Thoren did another hand-through-the-hair routine. Since when did his best friend get nervous? He followed his friend’s gaze until it landed on Keara. Oh. That explained things. No doubt Thoren had the night’s activities front and foremost in his mind.

“Keara,” Thoren’s voice broke through the flickering flames of the fires, causing all sets of eyes to turn to him. “I need to speak to you. Would you follow me?” Standing, he gestured toward the woods behind the campsite.

With any luck, tonight Thoren would realize Keara was his mate. Provided the knowledge got through his best friend’s thick skull.

A hiss and barely audible growl snapped his head toward Fafnir. The dragon stopped munching on a deer carcass, staring at where Thoren and Keara disappeared into the wooded darkness. A small stream of smoke trickled out his nostrils. Growling again, steam circling his snout, the dragon grabbed his dinner and leapt into the air, wings flapping eddies of dirt and grass.

“What’s wrong with him?” Lily sat across the flames from Enar.

“Why did he fly off like that?” Jamie asked.

“Why do you think I know?” Enar shrugged, wondering the same as the others. He didn’t know Fafnir, but the dragon’s actions seemed strange.

Maybe it had something to do with spending all those years locked in a cell.

Enar shivered. How the dragon managed not to go crazy from years of no exercise was over his head. So if Fafnir wanted to fly off in the middle of dinner, more power to him.

“I’ll go refill the water bags.” Lily gestured in the direction of the stream flowing several yards past the tree line as she rose and grabbed the bags.

Her dark clothing disappeared into the shadows, her white hair bobbing like a lantern in the darkness until the thick trunk of a tree swallowed her from view. Enar felt a cold pit form in his stomach. What if something happened to her? What if the Draconi Keara saw in River’s Run followed them and took Lily?

“Jamie, you are not allowed to leave this campsite. If you need to relieve yourself, go no farther than that tree there,” he pointed to a tree at the edge of clearing, one that stood in the light of the fire, “Do you understand?”

“Yes. Where are you going?”

“To make sure Lily is all right.” Standing, he strode in the direction Lily went. “I’ll be back.”

“Enjoy your alone time.”

Enar stopped and turned to see Jamie’s lips fighting a battle not to smile. “What?” What did a boy his age know about “alone time”? “Never mind.” Slicing his hand through the air, he turned in the direction he’d been heading and followed Lily to the stream.

She knelt beside the small stream, a water bag immersed in the slow-moving water, the smell of dead vegetation thick in the air. He watched her for a moment, his claim, his exquisite woman. A snap of a twig under his foot caused her to jump, dropping the bag in the water.

“Enar! What are you doing here?” She glared at him before retrieving the bag from the stream. “Besides getting me wet?”

His lips twisted. Oh yes, he’d like to get her wet. Just not in the way she referred.

Huffing something that sounded suspiciously like, “men,” Lily marched over to him, wet water bag dripping, and slapped the bag against his chest.

“Hold that, please.”

Turning, she marched back to where the other bag lay and proceeded to soak it in the stream, filling it.

Enar looked at the dripping bag clutched against his chest and stared at the petite woman who put it there. His woman seemed to have a spark of fire in her. Like his mother.

He shook his head at the thought, vanquishing it. He didn’t want to think of his mother or where she lived. Those thoughts led back to Lily’s questions.

“Why did you follow me?”

He shrugged and blurted out the first thing that came to mind, “Alone time.”

She pulled the bag out of the stream and turned to stare at him. Thin light dappled her face, obscuring her expression, but he thought he saw a brow rise. The water bag dripped on his ruined leather shoes as he crossed his arms and stared back. She didn’t need to know that was the second idiotic thing he’d said in the last two days, right behind, “sure you can pack a bag.”

“Alone time?” Her lip quirked.

“That’s what I just said.” And wished he could take back.

“Hmm. Here? In the woods? With no invisibility blanket? Where anyone can see us?”

He shrugged, shifting the water bag so it no longer dripped on his boots.

“I think I need to get the water back to the campsite. Then we need to make sure Jamie gets under his blanket and stays put so we don’t have a repeat of this morning. Then we can see about alone time. All right?”

She didn’t move, remained kneeling by the stream, her words belaying her unease. Enar dropped his arms and tried his best not to look frightening.

“That is acceptable.” Why couldn’t he have just said he was worried about her? Because Watchers didn’t worry about their claims. “You go first.” He gestured for her to walk in front of him.

Where he could watch the sway of her hips as she stalked past him, grabbing the water bag from his hand as she went.

He needed to learn how to talk to her. How to tell her what he felt. How did he explain how worried he had been?

Lily placed the water bags with the rest of their things and walked to where Jamie sat on a log staring into the fire. Enar didn’t hear what she said to the boy, but Jamie crawled into his bedroll with a glance to Enar.

“Alone time,” the imp mouthed, grinning as he pulled the blanket over his head, disappearing from view.

Enar shook his head. Jamie was trouble as only a boy his age could be. Good thing flying meant they’d be home in the next day or so and Jamie would no longer be his responsibility.

Lily, though, would still be his.
His.
Enar grinned, watching his woman straighten her shoulders as if about to go into battle. Without meeting his gaze, she marched to the invisibility blanket and bedroll, spreading them on the ground. She sat down and pulled off her shoes.

Meeting his gaze, she shook the corner of the blanket. “You coming or what?”

A willing woman was all the encouragement he needed.

****

Lily watched Enar stalk toward her like a dog about to receive its favorite treat. Except in this case, she was the treat. What was she thinking to offer herself to him like she had? She knew the answer. She wanted more of his kisses and touch.

Even if he was lying to her.

Discovering what he hid was second on her to-do list. Right after seduce him witless. Did she just put that on her list?

Obviously.

Check her out. Going from scared of bedroll romping to wanting more of it in less than a day.

Must be some sort of record.

Heat licked through her veins as Enar sat beside her on the bedroll, pulling off his boots. Despite his secrets, she wanted him like she wanted her next meal. She wanted to be his lover. His friend. His companion of the heart.

And that scared her more than anything else she had experienced over the last day. That road led to heartache, to despair. So why did she have the feeling her feet pointed down that path?