The Awakening (4 page)

             
“There are three of them there,” she exclaimed as she pointed to one blanket where two men and one woman were making love.  She stopped and would have watched, mystified and moved by the genuine emotion that surrounded them all, but Dominic and
Vardra
gently ushered her along.

             
“It is all just so very -
beautiful
,” she breathed as they continued, a word fast becoming her mantra for the evening.  She could not hide her fascination as they
moved quickly and quietly
like wraiths among so many men and women coupling without fear of curious eyes, lost to themselves and the night.  It was natural and moving to the spirit to feel the purity of it, and it seemed to her that their journey ended all
too
soon when they at last came to stand before Aramis, who was waiting none too patiently for their return. 

             
He raised an eyebrow when he noticed her current state, and could not help but indulge in a small grin. 

             
“I see she has been sampling our wine,” Aramis said, and the moment he spoke Thais felt the power of him brush against her soul.  She came to an immediate stop so
abrupt
that Dominic and
Vardra
both almost tumbled over
.

             
It took her a moment, but once Thais finally managed to steady herself *an act
accomplished only
with a generous amount of help from Dominic and
Vardra
*, she
tilted her head back
that she might finally look upon his face.  He was a giant of a man who towered over her, and she found herself holding her breath as she took in the magnificence of him.  His hair was as black as the Darmouth Mountains back home, smooth and thick as it frame his face.  His features were strong and masculine, a firm mouth and full lips, and a visible shadow of beard that only seemed to enhance his appeal.  His eyes were a brilliant shade of blue that blazed with such intensity she felt the need to shade her own from their brightness, and it was only the effects of the wine that allowed her to endure his scrutiny without cowering away.  His chest was a broad expanse of muscle, his arms like massive columns and his legs corded steel, and the very air around him rippled with
sexuality
so raw and real that it threatened to rob the very breath from her lungs.

             
“My Lord,” Dominic said, and she could hear the smile in his voice as the world around her began to spin dangerously.  “Allow me to introduce Thais Mousa, daughter of the house of Thoran on the world of Kandar.  Long has her family served the ancients and their ways.”

             
“Thais,” Aramis said with a slight bow.  “A most beautiful name,” he purred, doing his best to appear charming and friendly.  Her eyes, almost as bright a blue as his own, grew round and wide with fear, and he thought her about to cry before she covered h
er mouth and ran for the bushes.  She
barely manag
ed the indignant act of
bending
over a log before she began to empty the contents of her stomach with all the grace and charm of a sailor coming off a three day drinking binge.

             
Aramis turned to look at Dominic, unsure if he should be angry or amused.

             
“Make a note,” he said as Thais continued to wretch and heave, her small bottom bobbing up and down as she remained bent over.  He watched, definitely amused now as
Vardra
went to her aid.  It was a very nice bottom, he thought.

             
“What note is that, my Lord?”  Dominic asked, cringing a bit from the awful noise that managed to escape so small a person.

             
“No more wine for Thais.”

             
Dominic chuckled then as Aramis went forward, gathered Thais into his
arms,
and immediately faded into nothingness.

             
“I suppose this means our duty is done for the evening,” Dominic said as he turned to
Vardra
.  “It would be an honor if you would join me on the beach tonight,” he whispered as he suddenly pulled her up against him, Aramis and Thais quickly becoming forgotten for a time.  Her eyes were almost level with his and he found he liked the way the softness of her mixed with her strength to tease and confuse him into a mind-numbing state of arousal.

             
“The honor would be all mine, my Lord,” she answered back before sighing and losing herself to the addictive taste of his kiss.  If Aramis were a kind God at all, she thought in passing before Dominic’s hands began to enflame her need beyond reasonable thought, he would never allow this night to end.

             
Thais slowly opened her eyes, grateful
to find her surroundings bathed in the
muted
colors of that ‘in-between’ time, though whether it was morning or night that waited on the other side, she wasn’t quite sure.
Moaning quietly at the ache in her head, she
eased into a sitting position,
squinting against the soft glow of the fire that blazed in the hearth just beyond the bed where she now lay. 
As her vision came into focus, s
he could see that she was in a large, open room, the corners hidden quietly within shadow
s
of undefined lines.  The
increasing lightness
told her it
must be
morning, and the sudden, mildly intrusive song
s
of birds that dance along the boughs of the trees outside the opened doorway confirmed her suspicions.

             
It was indeed morning, and she had no recollection of the night beyond finally coming face to face with Aramis before promptly turning and hurling up both dinner and wine in a most unladylike fashion.  She felt her
cheeks stain with color
at
the harsh memory and began to think
she might be sick
again
.

             
“Good morning, little one.” 

             
His voice was deeply
erotic
, darkly
melodious,
and
deliciously rich as it tickled against her ears, and she felt her blood stir at the immediate, intimate connection.  “I am glad to see you awake at last.”  She turned to
find
him
lounging
beside her in a large, cushioned chair,
his massive frame relaxed and at ease, and with
the hint of a smile playing along full
, sensual
lips.  “You snore like the devil himself,” he teased.  “I hardly slept a wink last night.” 

             
She gaped at him, forcing her eyes to focus and her ears to comprehend.  Was he teasing with her? 

             
“I do not snore!” she quipped, and started to push the covers away when she realized she had nothing on underneath.  She turned to gape at him once more, and suddenly found herself wanting to throw something at him, unnerved by t
hat
smug
ly amused
smile
of his
.  She shook her head as if to clear away a great fog. 

             
“My clothes,” she said
at last, trying to sound cool and dignified in spite of the
obvious situation she had found herself in.
 

             
What had she expected
, she chided herself as she struggled not to cry, if not to find herself seduced by the very being that had called her here
?  He WAS a God of virility, after all, and she had come crashing into HIS world.  Of course he would have felt he had the right to bed her. 
She felt her chest grow tight at the thought, and began to tremble beneath the thin sheet that she now clung to as if her very life depended upon keeping it close.
  Oh, why hadn’t she listened to Braddock?
!

             
“Relax, Thais,”
Aramis
said with a chuckle at her obvious dismay
, knowing her thoughts
.  “Your virtue is
still
quite intact. 
It may
shock you to learn that
I’ve no need to get a female drunk on wine to coax her
in
to my bed.” 
If it was possible
, she was sure
her face
was now
flushed an even deeper shade of red
.  She
suddenly wished she could hide beneath the covers until he finally gave up staring at her and went away! 

             
“My Lord, I meant no disrespect!” she corrected in an embarrassed rush of words, finally remembering that this was not one of her unruly brothers waiting to have a spar of words with her. 
This
was a God – the very creator of this world in which she now found herself – and it was ill-advised to disrespect him
, she reminded herself
.  One never really knew with a God where his mood might turn from one moment to the next
.
  “I’m sorry, I
t’s simply that -
well, it m
ay
shock
you
to learn that I’m not accustomed to waking up unclothed and in
a stranger’s bed
!
” 

             
Ok, so perhaps that was pushing the respect thing a bit, but she didn’t want him to think this situation was common to her.
  After all, she did still have some small part of her pride left. 
             

             
Didn’t she?

             
He raised one eyebrow, and just as she thought he meant to rebuff her he began to laugh, and she couldn’t help but smile in response to the genuine warmth that lit up his
face
.  She stare
d
at him, marveling at the way his eyes
seemed to flash from the deepest crimson to a dazzling shade of blue. 

             
“Fair enough,” he said standing, and her breath caught at the magnificence of him as he rose to his full height. 
She could not deny that
he was thrilling to look at, the energy of his presence so strong and powerful that everything else around him seemed to pale in color to the brilliance of his being. 

             
“It was
Vivienne
, the keeper of my private
temple, who put you to bed.  She is quite old and, I must say, a bit forgetful at times, but she is my Mother’s sister and a faithful soul who has stood by my side since I was a child.  There was no danger to your honor, I assure you, though you might expect a hearty lecture on the dangers of consuming wine when you’ve been warned.”  He frowned slightly and she nodded in acceptance of his disapproval.  It was true –
Vardra
and Dominic had both tried to warn her, but she had ignored them both.

             
“I cannot thank you enough for you hospitality, My Lord,” she said bowing her head.

             
“Thais, look at me.”  She raised her eyes to meet his.  “Make no mistake about it.  It is my every intention to court you, to pursue you, and to claim you for my wife.”  She opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her with a look.  “I know the customs of your people – your people themselves are known to me, even if I myself am not known to them.  I know that if I ask it of you, then you must give me two weeks of your service
.  I know that if – at the end of those two week
s -
you wish to leave, then I am honor bound to let you go.” 

             
He came to sit beside her on the bed, and her entire body responded to the nearness of him in a way that was frightening and
exhilarating
.  He reached up to push a lock if hair gently back away from her eyes, then ran his thumb slowly along the softness of her bottom lip. 
She was stunned by the heat of his touch and swallowed hard, feeling an uncommon fire begin to burn within the pit of her stomach.

             
“But should you choose to stay, then
you should
know that I will settle for no less than all of you.”  He bent forward and slid his lips slowly along hers, an innocent kiss that did not invade or demand, but rather introduced her to the taste of seduction.  She was a woman child in so many ways, and he knew full well that she had never been kissed hard and long.  He had no wish to scare he
r, but
he did want to give her something to
think about.

             
“So, Thais Mous
a
, I come to you
now
and request your services as a muse for the span of two weeks.”  She shivered and felt the refreshing chill of destiny
tickle
along her skin.