Blaze (4 page)
years she'd been stationed away from Travelle.
The foursome talked for several moments before Torn and Honey Wine excused themselves. Blaze and Melody, their fingers still entwined, continued their walk.
"Your brother and his wife are very nice."
"Torn is my closest friend. He has seen me through many bad times. His courage, loyalty, and understanding know no bounds."
"It's nice to have someone you can trust."
"Yes. It is."
"It's funny, but in one day I've met just about all of the highest-ranked Knights in the Ruby Order.
Not bad for a simple healer who has just returned home."
"Thousands of lives depend on healers. I'm proud of my position in the Order, but it's a faint shadow of the pride I feel in being of service as a healer. To have given a decade of your life to others as you have is no small gift."
"I loved doing it."
"You're a rare woman, Melody."
"Not really." Always uncomfortable talking about herself, Melody changed the subject. "Look.
There's a target game. Are you any good at it?"
Blaze glanced at the archers striking a wooden target nailed to a distant tree. "In my youth I had a good aim. I'm afraid I can no longer participate in this sport, but I would love to see your skill."
She glanced at his sash and drew a sharp breath. "That was stupid of me. I forgot you're not allowed to touch a weapon. We'll find something else to do."
"Melody! How about it?" shouted one of the Dames who had been firing at the target. She gestured to the bow.
"No thanks, Redd!"
"Lose your skill while on the island?" the Dame teased. "You used to be the best archer in the Opal Order."
Blaze's lips curved upward. "Really? I would like to see."
"Well, I might be a bit rusty." Melody chose a bow from the table set up nearby. "I was much younger then."
* * *
Melody stepped to the mark on the grass and raised the bow and arrow. In spite of her small stature, her body was firm yet supple. The muscles in her arms, shoulders, and back flexed yet she appeared relaxed as she took aim. Blaze suddenly realized his pulse had been racing since he'd
joined her. Now, glancing at her full breasts and firm bottom, other sensations flooded him. The tension in his gut, the stirring in his cock, and the rise in his body temperature taunted him, tempting his morality. In spite of his respect for her, he desperately wanted to make love with her.
The thought of tasting her full lips, caressing her smooth neck, and burying his cock deep inside her almost overcame his reason. He imagined practicing all those forbidden techniques he'd learned in the east so long ago. Learning the skills of a love master yet never unleashing them on a real flesh and blood woman had never seemed more frustrating than at that moment.
Though he desired her body, it was only part of the attraction he felt for her. When they spoke to each other, warmth enveloped his heart. Learning everything about this woman interested him more than anything else, more than fighting, more than healing, more than—
His thoughts broke when she released the arrow. It struck the target dead center.
"You must have been practicing on the island after all," Dame Redd teased, offering Melody another arrow.
After three more perfect shots, Redd motioned for a young Dame apprentice to add a second target further in the distance.
"What are you trying to do?" Melody grinned, choosing another arrow. "I'm not as young as I used to be, you know. My eyesight is starting to go."
"Excuses, excuses," Redd quipped.
Melody turned to Blaze. "Just one more shot."
"Please. I appreciate such skill."
Melody narrowed her eyes at the new target.
At such a distance, he doubted many possessed the skill—or the vision—to strike it.
Melody took aim, her expression calm, her entire being focused on the distant target. The arrow
flew. Blaze squinted to see where it had landed.
The apprentice jogged down the field and shouted. "Dead center!"
"Thank you." Melody smiled, handing the bow to Redd.
Redd winked. "No, thank
you
for the entertainment. Enjoy the fair. See you back at the fortress."
Melody fell into step beside Blaze, he reached for her hand. Her fingers gripped his with surprising strength for their size. The warmth of her hand, so soft except for her callused palms, filled him
with such joy and passion.
Glancing at their entwined fingers, she smiled.
"Your skill is very impressive. The Opal Order must have missed you as an instructor while you've been away."
"Oh, I used to help train new recruits, but I was always far more interested in healing than in fighting."
"Perhaps one day we could share our knowledge?"
Her large brown eyes met his and she squeezed his hand, the sensation striking his heart. "I would like that very much."
"I have an herbarium in the Ruby Order's fortress."
"I was happy to learn that my herbarium at the Opal Order has been kept for me while I've been away, though I feel it now belongs more to the apprentices who've cared for it than it does to me."
"It takes time to adjust to fortress life again after you've been away, particularly if the separation is a long one."
"Ten years is a very long time. Have you ever been away for that long?"
Blaze shook his head. "Not quite, but almost. I spent many years working and studying in the east.
My favorite fighting master lived there."
Pausing, Melody brushed a lock of thick brown hair behind her delicate ear and moistened her lips. She and Blaze stood together beneath the shade of a tree, their fingers entwined. He gently stroked her wrist with his thumb, tracing the pattern of pale blue veins beneath her flesh. She
mimicked the motion, her thumb drawing random circles on his wrist. Each tender stroke stabbed him with desire. They stood so close that warmth from her body permeated his clothing and flesh.
The urge to draw her into his arms and experience the sensation of her full, beautifully-shaped breasts pressed against him was almost overwhelming.
Drawing a deep breath, she tilted her face toward his and asked, "Would you show me your herbarium?"
"Now?"
"Yes, please."
"I would be honored."
Turning toward the tall stone wall surrounding the Ruby Order's fortress, he guided her to the gateway. Within moments, they would be completely alone.
Chapter Three
The familiar scent of herbs struck Melody as she and Blaze stepped into his herbarium. Blaze's workshop was a large room filled with potted plants, dried herbs, and shelves of bottled medicines,
salves, mixtures, and books.
Seated at a long, rectangular table in front of an open window, a young apprentice read a thick cloth-bound book.
"River, you're not at the fair?" Blaze asked.
"You know I'm being tested tomorrow, Sir. I want to be ready. I didn't think you would mind if I used the book while you were at the fair." The youth's gaze fixed on Blaze and Melody's entwined
fingers. "However I can study elsewhere. May I borrow the book until this evening?"
"Of course."
"Thank you, Sir." River left the herbarium, tossing a curious glance in Melody's direction.
"A good student," Blaze said once the trainee closed the door and left them alone amidst the herbs and potions.
"Do you like teaching?"
"Very much, though it would be easier if my students had a spirit translating my words for them like you do."
"I'm sure you're not so difficult to understand."
Want to give him a try without me?
Stop it, Tara!
"Speech is challenging." Blaze's eyes bore into hers. "However other forms of communication are transcendental."
Melody's pulse skipped and she drew a deep breath. His beautiful lips were so close to hers. If he bent just a bit or if she stood on tiptoe, they would share the kiss she'd been longing for since the moment she saw him. Her entire body was on fire, all because of this sinewy, auburn-haired Knight.
Suddenly Blaze stepped away from her. The sensation of his warm, callused hand was gone, leaving her yearning even more.
"This place suits you." Melody smiled, glancing at the herbs hanging overhead. "Every herbarium fits its owner and tells something of his personality."
"Then I would like to see yours."
"Perhaps the next time you visit the Opal Order we could spend some time together."
"When?"
Her smile broadened. "If you're free tomorrow?"
"After my morning rounds, I'll come."
"I'll be waiting."
She walked along the length of the wall of shelves and inhaled the most wonderful combination of scents emanating from an arrangement of colored glass bottles. Rose, lilac, mint, lemon, and other exotic aromas tantalized her.
"These aren't for healing." She reached for one of the bottles, then hesitated, glancing at Blaze.
"May I?"
"Please." He joined her, choosing a round blue bottle. He removed the cork and offered it to her.
"Women's opinions are most important for these."
"Perfume. A hobby of yours?"
"Several years ago, the Knights' wives and daughters asked if I would create them using some of my sweeter smelling herbs. It's a pleasant distraction from making medicines."
"What else do you have. Mmm. Oils. Soap." Melody took her time sampling the many scents and rubbing the smooth, fragrant oils into her hands. Blaze watched her discreetly as he walked around his workshop, pretending to straighten shelves and arrange bunches of herbs.
He's crazy about you, sweetheart.
's thoughts broke Melody's fragrant reverie.
Can hardly control that tight, virile body of his.
I really have had just about enough of you, Tara!
No you haven't. You want to hear that he's as mad for you as you are for him. Now would be a good time to kiss him.
Now would be a good time for you to go back to lurking in my head for translation purposes only!
"Would you like to take some?"
Melody jumped. She'd been so involved in her argument with
"I would love some. Thank you." Her pulse raced. This would be her first attempt at flirtation since she was a girl.
Get a hold of yourself, Melody! You're not even a young woman anymore. You're mature. A Dame of the Opal Order. A trained healer. People's lives rely on your skill. Surely you can show a man—no matter how wonderful and gorgeous—that you're interested in him!
"May I borrow your hand to test this oil? I'm afraid I've rubbed so many into my own that I can hardly discern
one scent from the other."
Slowly, Blaze's arm slipped around her so his large, graceful hand hovered in front of her. His torso pressed gently against her back and his breath softly fanned her neck. Suddenly weak-kneed, Melody took a second to mentally shake herself into control.
Her fingers sank into a wooden jar of lavender-scented oil. She dripped the slick, aromatic substance onto the back of Blaze's sculpted hand, then massaged it into his skin. Her fingertip traced his knuckles and the prominent veins on the back of his hand. Surely no man ever had such
magnificent hands. Strong, beautiful, and utterly masculine, his hands had the power to kill or to console. A warrior's hands. A healer's hands. The hands of a man she wanted so badly that it was a physical ache, a pleasurable torment that tightened her nipples and turned her pussy into an inferno of pure desire.
Her fingers strayed to his wrist and sinewy forearm dusted with reddish brown hair. Cupping her cheek, he turned her face to his. Those enormous blue eyes, so clear, honest, and filled with desire, gazed into hers. She turned, standing on tiptoe and sliding her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her and bent, kissing her deeply.
Melody's eyes slipped shut. Warm, tender lips moved gently against hers. Blaze kissed her upper lip, taking it between his and nipping gently. Instinctively, Melody did the same to his lower lip.
Unable to resist, she ran the tip of her tongue along it while threading her fingers through his thick hair.
Blaze's arm tightened around her waist, holding her so close that she felt every rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. His fingertips lightly stroked her cheek, chin, and neck with feathery touches that sent shivers of desire through her entire body. Using the tip of his tongue, he traced the shape of her lips before asking her to part them with slight yet irresistible pressure. She welcomed his tongue into the warmth of her mouth. Hers met it, stroking and fencing. In spite of the excitement
