Irresistible (Delroi Prophecy) (15 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Parker checked the timepiece on the wall
again and debated what to do. Kaje was late. Later than his earlier message
said he would be. She picked up her comm, typed and deleted three testy
messages before deciding to go find him. To express her annoyance in person.
Was it really that hard to let her know he was delayed?

She considered changing out of the soft
yellow outfit he'd been trying to talk her into wearing, but she didn’t care
that it was an announcement of sorts. She'd made her decision. Decided to take
a risk on the infuriating man. He'd spent so much time trying to convince her
they belonged together he couldn’t possibly change his mind now. A tiny tendril
of fear entered her. What if he had? What if her reluctance had finally
convinced him she wasn’t worth the effort? No, she refused to believe that. But
if he had, she'd deal with it. But he'd tell her to her face damn it.

No one spoke to her as she left the
family wing or entered the main foyer. She took the most direct route through
the center of the warrior compound. They were used to seeing her now so she
doubted anyone would pay attention to her. She'd gone through the first long
hall, hardly noticing anyone, when she entered the wide open common area where
the warriors congregated off duty or gathered pre-mission. It was busier than
she'd expected and she was halfway across before the heavy grim mood penetrated
her thoughts. She slowed, then stopped.

No one had spoken to her. There hadn’t
even been a nod of greeting. It was extremely unusual. She saw a group of
warriors nearby who she knew, senior advisors and soldiers. They fell silent
when she approached and bowed as one.

“Lady Stian, you shouldn’t be here right
now,” one said.

“What's going on?” She didn’t see Kaje
anywhere. If something was wrong, he'd be here right?

“Parker,” Vidar said behind her and she
turned to see him. His older brothers were with him. They were doing a good job
of shielding, but couldn’t hide their worry.

“Where is Kaje?” Or the clan chief. “Roarr?”

Vidar stepped close, set his hand
between her should blades, and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “We'll tell you
what we know in our quarters.”

“Tell me now,” she demanded quietly,
looking at all three of them in turn.

“Parker,
this is one of those times when a der'lan follows the advice of her brothers,
lifts her chin, and finds someplace a private conversation remains private,”
Vidar said.

She nodded, grateful when they closed
ranks around her and led her back to their rooms. Once the door shut behind
them, she stopped fighting the tremors that shook her. Vidar urged her to the
sofa, sat next to her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. It wasn’t like
her to accept comfort, but she trusted him enough to lean close.

“What's happened?”

“He went after the Bana clan. That's all
we know right now.”
 

She should have guessed something like
that. Zola had let her know earlier that her mother had passed on the names of
six Tel agents and four Delroi warriors to Britt. The Bana clan chief, Mikail,
was on it. There was a good chance the Tel agents were with him. He wouldn’t
stand a chance against several strong telepaths. Fear and fury burned in her. She
met everyone's gaze one by one and bit her lip, trying not to lash out, but
damn it was hard.

“Why aren’t you with him?” She stood up.
“You can get a shuttle. We can't just sit here.”

She had combat experience. She couldn’t
leave him out in the desert, probably hurt, possibly…no. She wouldn’t go there.
Vidar stood with her, a small tilt to his lips that was almost a smile.

“He did good finding you,” he said
softly. “But there's no need to rush out and endanger yourself. Roarr's with
them. They have a company of Keep warriors and a company of Trace’s warriors.”

She took a breath through the vise
around her lungs. “Roarr went too?”

Vidar nodded.

“I should go check on Kareena.”

“No, Parker,” he said gently, catching
her hand before she could pass and continuing wryly. “Perhaps if you hadn’t
walked through the warrior's wing wearing Kaje's colors you go could back, but
not now.”

She scowled. “Why not? I can't wait for
news with a friend? A friend I've incidentally gone through hell with,” she
pointed out.

“You're Kaje’s
der'lan
and you just acknowledged it in the most public way
possible. Your first duty is to your mate, and ours is to make sure you're
protected. If you leave, it's another public declaration. That you don’t trust
us to do that.”

“You're saying this a family honor
thing.”

He nodded. She'd been around them enough
to know she'd insult them deeply if she insisted on leaving.

“Well, shit,” she muttered and slowly
sank back down. “What do we do now?”

Vidar and his brothers joined her
sitting down. Weren’t they just a comedy team? “We wait.”

She wasn’t that patient. She reached out
to Kareena.

“Have
you heard anything?”

“No,
but I feel Roarr through our bond. Everything’s okay.”

For a moment she was jealous. It quickly
turned to irritation with herself. If she hadn’t taken so long to decide, she’d
already have that connection with Kaje.

“Thanks,”
she said to Kareena.
“Let me know if you
hear anything?”

“Of
course. Where are you?”

“Kaje’s
quarters.”

“I’ll
let you know when I get an update.”

“Thanks.”

She broke contact and reached out for
Kaje. Nothing. She didn’t panic this time. Because of the distance, she hadn’t
really expected it to work.

Hours later she was nudged awake and
Vidar helped her to her feet. “Any news?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. You're
going to bed though.”

“I thought you said I couldn’t leave?”

“Kaje's room is right down the hall.”

He led the way and hovered outside the
door when she entered. “He won't mind if you want to change into one of his shirts.
Check the bureau.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

The door closed with a soft swoosh and
she turned to study the room. The lights were off, but she didn’t need them to
see. Tall glass doors on the opposite of the room opened onto a balcony. Both
moons were full and high and provided plenty of light. She moved to the drawer
Vidar had indicated and found a soft shirt, lifted it to her face. It smelled
like Kaje, masculine and spicy, and she repressed a whimper. How had he wormed
his way so deeply in her heart without her noticing? What would she do if he
never came back? It was too horrible to contemplate, but she found herself
wiping away tears as she changed. She climbed into his bed and buried her face
in a pillow.

*

He was dead tired by the time he got
back to the Keep, fended off the healers, and made his way to his quarters. He
should have known Vidar would be waiting. His brother didn’t rise from his
slouch in one of the big chairs, but he looked him over carefully.

“Any of that blood yours?”

Kaje shook his head. “No.”

“Your men?”

“All fine. We got the Banas and the
scientists. It’ll take weeks to straighten out which warriors were part of the
rebellion and which weren’t. Xan Bana will be here next week. It should be his
problem.”

It wasn’t nearly as easy as he made it
sound but Vidar didn’t push the issue. “I'm going to get cleaned up, go find
Parker, and sleep for about two days.”

Well, go to bed for two days. He'd
realized one thing during the long afternoon and night. He was done giving her
time. He wasn’t wasting a second more. Vidar stood and grinned at him.

“You won't be going far then. She's in
your bed.”

Damn, and he'd been out here talking to
his brother?

Vidar grinned. “Walked right through the
warrior’s courtyard wearing Steward yellow.”

She’d worn his colors. In the most
public declaration she could. Fatigue and battle aches were forgotten. Joy
soared.

“Tomorrow, brother,” he snapped and
stalked to his room.

She lay on her side, hands tucked under
her face, with her hair wild around her. Sometime in the night she'd kicked off
the blanket so he got an eyeful of long smooth legs. He was tempted to strip
where he stood and go to her, but he was sandy, sweaty, and bloody. He didn’t
want to give her any excuse to refuse him once he joined her in that bed.
Besides, he admitted, he stank to high heavens.

He was quick but thorough in the shower,
stepped out and wrapped the towel around his hips. He noticed her clothes
draped over the arm of a chair when he reentered the bedroom and stopped to run
his fingers over them, elation lifting his heart. She knew the significance of
the color, knew wearing it was a symbol of belonging. He wasn’t tired anymore,
but he held himself back when he lay down next to her. She was pale. Sleep did
nothing to hide the smudges under her eyes and he saw tracks down her cheeks
from tears. She'd cried herself to sleep. Because of fear for him. She'd waited
until she was alone. If she hadn’t Vidar would have torn into him right away.
One thing a Delroi male couldn’t take was a crying woman, especially a
der'lan
or sister. And his brothers were
determined to keep her around even if she wasn’t. Knowing Parker she was well
aware of that, had held her fear back for them.

When she woke he would make sure she
heard he knew. That she knew how proud and grateful he was for her loyalty and
honor. He'd make sure she knew he loved her.

“It's kind of hard to miss,” she
whispered, voice heavy with sleep. “You're practically screaming it.”

Yawning, she tilted her head back and
opened her eyes. “You're back.”

“And you're exhausted,” he said,
gathering her close in his arms. “Go back to sleep, baby.”

“Tell me,” she whispered. “Tell me out
loud.”

He turned her so they faced each other. “I
love you, Lady Stian.”

“I love you too. But if you scare me
like that again I might hurt you when you get home.”

He grinned. Home. Here with him. “Did
you pack yet?”

“Your brothers wouldn’t let me leave.
That won’t happen again, Kaje. I’m a priestess and the Steward’s
der’lan
. I won’t hide out in here like a
coward while you go out and fight.”

Damn, she was incredible. Fierce and
strong. She would make the Keep proud. But while he’d allow her some latitude
he had limits. He wouldn’t be taking her into battle with him the Barak and
Falkor had with their mates.

“As long as you stay inside the Keep or
the temple.”

When she started to protest he stopped
her with a kiss. It was hot and hard. Demanding. She melted against him and it
took effort to draw back.

“Don’t argue, baby. I won’t risk my
heart.”

She frowned, but instead of trying to
dissuade his decision, she changed the subject. “What happened? I couldn’t
sense you. You were too far away.”

He hadn’t thought much about the range
of her telepathy. With the bond it wouldn’t matter. “It’s time to complete
this, my
der’lan
.”

“I know. I’m surprised you waited this
long,” she teased.

But no longer. The words of the ritual
mating prayer played in his head and he didn’t hold them back. On the last word
he felt the connection, the bond between them snap together. It was a shock.
Touching his heart. His soul. She stared at him with wide eyes, surprised but
thankfully not fearful.

“There’s no escaping me now,” he
murmured, as he rolled to his back and pulled her to drape over him.

She gave him a sultry smile. “That goes
both ways.”

Magnificent and possessive. She took the
very air from his lungs.

“Now, no more stalling. What happened
yesterday?”

He told her everything.

“Did Bana tell you where the Tel agents
are?”

He repressed his anger. “The memories
were removed. We have no idea where they are.”

He was starting to realize they weren’t
as safe as they’d once believed. Thankfully, Parker was able to defend herself
against these enemy agents. Still…The image of her walking into the thick of
weapons’ fire would haunt him for the rest of his days.

“Promise you’ll be careful, Parker,” he
ordered. “Don’t take anymore stupid risks.”

He expected her to lash back at that,
but she surprised him. “I won’t. But I want the same promise from you.”

“You have it.”

“They’re coming for us. Me, Kareena, and
Zola.”

“I know.” And it terrified him. “We’ll
face them together.”