BloodLust (Rise of the Iliri Book 1) (11 page)

She thanked him, made her way to the bar indicated, and ordered.  "Something local," she said, and now held in her hand a fruit ale.  Finding a table, she tasted the drink, trying to decide if she liked it or not while watching the crowd.  A few sips in, she saw the first man in black.  Shift waltzed in with a woman on each arm, making a production of himself.  Unfortunately, the women would make approaching him difficult. 

When the pub began to fill, she decided to work the room.  She didn't have much experience in flirting, since men tended to avoid intimate relationships with her kind – except for those willing to dredge the bottom of the barrel so they wouldn't go home alone.  Trying to mimic the civilian women around her, Sal wandered, placing herself carefully, eying the crowd for potential soldiers with information she could talk them out of.  She kept a drink in her hand, hoping it would help her fit in, but soon realized that her nervous sips were making her inebriated. 

A few men approached her.  None of them knew anything she could use, but their antics were amusing.  They thought bragging and obvious falsehoods should be impressive.  She nearly laughed in the face of one Private who tried to convince her he was a Captain, unaware she could read the insignia on his shoulders.  Needless to say, it wasn't hard to slip away.

Unfortunately, she couldn't find any Black Blades needing companionship.  The crush of bodies and the smell of humans made her senses useless.  The music smothered the sounds of nearby conversations, and her fixed, human ears meant she had to turn her head to catch snippets of the talk around her.  The pub's lighting cast irregular shadows, but Sal tried to peer into each one, always expecting to see Cyno hiding there.  The alcohol blurring her vision didn't help. 

Maybe a cavalry officer would know something, she thought, seeing quite a few of those sitting alone.  At this hour, the Black Blades should be off duty, but it seemed she'd need quite a bit of luck to simply stumble into one.  She needed to think, and her brain felt muddled. 

Sighing, she turned to find a place to sit and caught her heel on a rough board in the floor.  Her new body failed her.  The floor began to rush up quickly.  Unable to untangle her long limbs, she let the drink go and threw her hands out to catch herself.

Sal landed on her knees, one arm across a man's lap at the table beside her, and she cursed her awkwardness.  Instinctually, her anger flared, and she gnashed her teeth together, wishing for something to take her frustrations out on.

"Watch that board.  It's a doozy," a gentle voice said. 

Looking up into his face, Sal saw the pale green eyes of the Lieutenant looking back at her.  Her stomach dropped into her toes as panic consumed her.  Seated across from him, a captain had risen half way from his chair, his arm still outstretched in his desire to help.

Chapter 13

"Oh, how embarrassing!" Sal tried to extract herself from her commanding officer's lap.

"Here, let me help," LT said, putting words into action. 

She made to stand, but her head began to spin when she reached her feet.  LT moved to assist, his hands reaching for her skin.  She managed to lock down her mind as tight as she could just as he grabbed her, one hand on her waist, the other on her bare upper arm. 

"New here?" His smile was flirtatious.

"Yeah."  She ducked her head.  It would be nice to blame the alcohol, but being so close reinforced his good looks.  He smelled like leather, fresh tilled soil after the rain, and a hint of the same pungent odor she recognized as iliri.  With his face only inches away, her heart beat faster.  She blamed the fear of discovery, refusing to admit it might be anything more.  "I'll just return to my table and try to save some of my pride now.  That wasn't quite the way I hoped to meet someone."

"Please, feel free to pull up a chair," LT offered, and the captain across from him nodded emphatically.  "It might be safer, and I'd be honored if you'd let me replace the drink you lost."

"Ugh, my drink!"

Sal breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it'd hit nothing more deadly than the floor.  The captain raised his hand and called over a waitress, ordering a round for each of them.  The men included her in their conversation easily, so Sal tried to relax.  She asked what they did, stumbling over their ranks, struggling to feign a lack of knowledge about military discipline.  They were happy to fill her in, although LT only called himself a Lieutenant of a small outfit and didn't offer to clarify.  With her smiles turned to the one man that had the knowledge of her trials – knowledge Sal desperately wanted – the Captain took the hint and excused himself. 

Alone, LT reached out for her hand.  "So, I didn't catch your name.  I'm Blaec."  His fingers lightly grazed her knuckles.

"Siana," Sal replied without hesitation.  "I'm just laying over for a few days until my carriage comes in.  Over in the last fort thing, they told me this was the most comfortable place to get a room.  Less crowded, and safer, and oh my, I think I'm rambling!"

"You're fine, Siana," Blaec said, savoring her name.  She smiled when he said it.

"I'm also not nearly drunk enough to explain my poor manners."  She giggled, feeling strangely shy.  "I guess I should be thankful I managed to fall in the lap of a nice looking man.  A very pleasant way to break my fall, I must say."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it."

Glancing up, she found his eyes looking gently into hers.  She fought the urge to look away.

"You remind me of someone," he said, taking a long, deep breath, "and I can't quite place it.  But I'm rather glad you managed to trip on that board.  I was trying to convince that captain that my men wouldn't be any help to him, and he just wasn't taking no for an answer.  It seems you have very good timing."

"I dunno," Sal replied.  "I'd much rather make a more impressive entrance."

"And throwing yourself at me isn't impressive?"

The conversation continued on like that.  Sal flirted with him for the next hour, slowly bringing the topic around to his position.  When he refused to take the bait, she pushed the issue.

"So, what does a Lieutenant do anyway?"

"Ah, I just give other people orders."

"And they listen?"

"Well, mine do, but I have some really good men under me."  He tried to let the subject die, but her look of excited curiosity convinced him to continue.  "My guys are pretty self-sufficient and more like friends than underlings or anything like that.  We do a lot of work out in the field with only the eight, er, well seven of us, now."

"Oh, did someone quit?"

"No, not exactly.  My second in command died in combat almost a year ago.  He served with us a long time."

"Oh, I'm... I'm so sorry, Blaec, I didn't mean to bring up wounds.  I'm sure he was a good man."  She reached out for his hand, hearing the pain in his voice. 

Sal hadn't thought about why they needed a new soldier in the Blades, and knowing made her feel guilty for trying to use the Lieutenant this way.  She found herself wanting to comfort him. 

"I don't know what to say.  Sheesh, I really stuck my foot in that.  I'm sorry.  I just, I don't know much about the military, and the war hasn't really seemed close to us in Merriton."

"No, you're lucky for that.  A lot of good men have been lost in the last year or so, now that Terric is pushing on us.  But I'm sure you don't want to listen to me dwell on tactics and treaties."

"It's better than marriages and merchanting, like my mother does!" she replied, trying to lighten the tone.

"Marriages, huh?  So I suppose that means you're a single lady traveling across the Conglomerate alone?"  His tone was a little too casual.

"I'm supposed to be getting it out of my system.  I spent a week in Prin – shopping, I'm embarrassed to say – and all I've learned from it is that I don't seem to like most of the people I've met."  She shrugged.  "I don't know what that says about me, but there you have it.  I feel lost with myself right now, and spending a few days in a working military post sounded like the best offer I'd had all month."

"And has it been worth it?"

"Yeah, I managed to fall into the lap of the nicest man I've met so far."  Sal was shocked to realize she meant it.

He'd always been friendly to her, but also impersonal.  Now that she knew why they needed a replacement, that distance made more sense.  Her mission grew less important while she learned more about Blaec.  The loss of his man weighed heavily, and he carried guilt for a fight they had.  The third in command had disagreed with the Lieutenant's orders, but those orders had resulted in his death, thanks to the incompetence of another unit.  Blaec thought that if he'd only listened, the man would still be alive.

"You can't know that," she pointed out.  "Even I know how hard this war has been."

Blaec shrugged.  "It's just that we've lost so few over the years, and most of those were green recruits."  He waved that away.  "I'm sorry, I don't mean to dwell on the past."

"It's human nature."  Sal mentally cursed herself for the phrase.  "We all think about what could have been."

"True.  Some days I wish I could be more like the iliri, always looking to the future."

Sal giggled at that.  "It's not often you hear someone speak well of them.  I take it you're a sympathizer?"

"Very much so."  Blaec was watching her face for a reaction. 

Sal smiled, letting her relief show.  "Good.  I was starting to think that everyone in the military hated them."

So he told her about his dream of iliri emancipation, his struggles to bring equality into the military, and the loneliness that came with his position.  With each hour that passed, their conversation became more personal.  Sal listened, distracted by the needs of the man before her.  The Lieutenant buried his own problems so deep that only a stranger could ease the pain.  She pointed out the good he'd done, just from his own stories, and how he truly cared for his men as well as the people of the Conglomerate.  When the pub began to empty, she realized she hadn't learned a thing about her mission, but had grown fond of the man before her who tried to protect the world.

"I suppose they're closing," he said, looking around.

She pouted slightly.  "I enjoyed being with you too much, it seems.  Time has just flown and I'm not even tired!"

"Well, let me walk you back to your room?"

She smiled and nodded.  "I'd like that very much, Blaec."

He stood and offered his hand, assisting her to her feet.  When she twined her arm in his, he smiled down at her fondly.  "I really do feel like I know you, Siana.  And you say you haven't been in Fort Landing or Stonewater Stables before?"

"Sorry.  I grew up in Merriton."  Which was true.  She just hadn't grown up as the daughter of a merchant, but rather the slave of one.

"Well, then I'm glad you made it through this way now."  He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it.  Warmth rose at his touch; the feeling was not one she was used to.

He escorted her across the outpost, and she flirted unabashedly.  Blaec responded, his touch changing from gentlemanly to familiar, but never impolite.  When the lights of the inn lit their path, Sal hesitated.  She needed to be learning more about her upcoming trials, but she was enjoying her time with him, even if it was nothing more than a pretense. 

He made her feel respected, beautiful, and safe.  That had only happened once before in her life, and she wanted it again.  The conniving part of her mind said she could easily use this to her advantage.  Seducing the Lieutenant would lead to intimacies that might get her the information she wanted. 

She'd done this before, but this time it was different.  His broad shoulders and muscled chest were alluring.  His quick wit made for pleasant talk, and his smile made her heart skip.  Her orders were to learn all she could, by any means necessary, so Sal convinced herself she was simply following those orders when she reached up to trace a finger down the line of his throat.

"Would you care to come up and have one last drink, my kind sir?"

His mouth curled up into a smile.  "I think I just might."

Entering the lobby, the matron looked up from her ever-present position behind the counter.  Her eyes widened when she saw the soldier Sal had returned with. 

"Lieutenant!" she exclaimed.  "Can I get you anything?"

"No, Mrs. Heckly, I'm just escorting a lady back to her rooms for the night, to be sure she gets here safely."

"Yes, sir.  That's the gentlemanly thing to do, sir," she agreed, turning her face back to her books, but her attention was focused on the couple as they made their way up the stairs.

Keeping quiet until she reached her rooms, Sal opened the door and invited Blaec in.  "I take it you have a reputation around here, from the way the woman downstairs reacted.  Do you come back to women's rooms on a regular basis?"  She laughed as she said it.

"No, quite the opposite, I assure you.  Normally I would have one of my men escort a lady across the compound."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't.  Can I get you something to drink?" she asked, sauntering across the room.

"I'll get it.  You get those boots off your feet before I have to catch you again."

"I don't know, I might like that."  She cast a flirtatious glance back at him and gestured toward the small bar, then made her way into her sleeping chamber.  Once there, she pulled off her boots and removed the bustle from her skirt, leaving only a short under-skirt and stockings.  Feeling almost comfortable, Sal returned to the main room, walked directly to Blaec, and turned her back to him, gesturing to the laces of her corset.

"Can I talk you into untying it?"

"Oh, Siana, um, I can't promise that I'll stop," he said meekly.

"I didn't say I wanted you too."  She pulled the pins from her hair and let it fall to her bare shoulders.  "I'm sure you know that a drink is rarely just a drink."

His hands trembling, Blaec untied the laces, loosening them carefully.  Sal reached behind her back and helped him un-thread them, peeling her tiny waist from the hard leather.  She tossed it into a nearby chair then turned to face him.  He looked at her in silence for a long moment, before reaching up to her face and running his thumb across her lips.  Stepping into the touch, she placed her hands on his chest and gently met his mouth with her own.

"It's ok, Blaec.  I want this.  I think you do, too."  At his nod, she began to unbutton his shirt. 

Locking her mind away, she traced the lines of his hairless chest.  When her hands touched his skin, his inhibitions left.  He wrapped one arm around her and pulled her close, his tongue diving through her teeth.  When she returned the kiss with as much interest, he swept her off her feet, into his arms, and headed straight for the bed.