Through the Veil (43 page)

A faint smile came and went. “A race that has fewer and fewer children born to it with each passing generation. They seek only to survive, Kalen. And yes—a primitive world. My kind sees the refinement of magick as the ultimate mortal achievement. Using technology or manual labor when magick could be used instead—primitive.”

“Must have been damn hard to live in such a primitive world all this time,” Kalen muttered. A muscle twitched in his jaw. Some of that anger he had expected finally worked through his exhaustion.

“Oh, for the love of the saints,” Morne snapped. “Come down off your pedestal, you blind bastard. I was born and raised to be a Warlord, Kalen. Born and raised to believe it was my right, my duty to seek a bride from offworld. Just like you were raised to believe that anything that comes out of Anqar is something evil and to be hated. I learned long ago how skewed my beliefs were. ” He nodded toward Lee. “You’ve only got a finite amount of time to figure out the same thing for yourself. You know now whose blood flows in her veins.”

Furious, Kalen growled, “This isn’t about her. It’s about you and how long you’ve lied to all of us.”

“And had I come to you and told you that I came out of Anqar, that I came here years ago to watch over a child, protect her, what would you have done?”

“Protect her—she wasn’t here for you to protect.”

“And how do you think she came to be here, Kalen? On her own? By some random twist of fate?” Morne asked with a small smile. “I assure you, it was not.” He turned back to Lee and reached down, brushing her hair from her still face. “Love her well, Kalen.” He sidestepped around Kalen and moved to leave the tent.

“Morne.” Without looking back at the man he’d thought of as a friend, Kalen said, “Was the gate truly destroyed?”

“Yes.”

“How did she do it? How did we live through it?”

There was a moment of silence and then Morne responded, “Everything, every person, has a breaking point. Even the gate. Lee simply fed it more than it could handle, and the power of the gate splintered from the burden. As to how we survived—power flows forward unless it’s made to flow elsewhere. She shunted it through the gate and it kept flowing. When the power surge broke, it flowed forward through the gate.”

“What about those on the other side of the gate? The Warlords.”

He glanced back as he spoke, just in time to see the flash of grief before Morne blanked his features. “Only one was a Warlord. The other was a Sirvani.”

“Was?”

Morne looked up. His eyes were haunted. “Yes. Was. He was my twin. My brother.” Morne was quiet for a moment, and then he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Arnon, my brother, was serving as a Warlord’s personal Sirvani when Aneva, Lee’s mother, was brought through the gate. The Warlord chose her as his body slave and she conceived, almost immediately. He declared her as his mate—she bore him two sons. And then Lee. But Neve loved my brother. The boys were taken from her—it’s customary that boy children be removed from their mother on their fourth birthday and placed into training. When Lee was born, Neve knew that she had to run, or else the girl would suffer the same fate she had, a broodmare. She was a prisoner. Her cage was gilded and soft, but it was still a cage. Neve didn’t want that for her daughter—neither did my brother. They were in love. Arnon would do anything to help her. When he came to me for help, I couldn’t tell him no. He’d find a way, no matter what, and if I helped him, I could do my best to keep him from getting caught— and killed.”

A bitter smile curved his lips. “And I did. Arnon knew if he disappeared at the same time Neve went missing, his Warlord would suspect him. Arnon had a blood oath to the Warlord, and that bond could be used against him. So I brought Aneva and Lee back into Ishtan, and Arnon stayed behind. I remained to watch over them. But I couldn’t keep her safe here, not after the Warlord started searching Ishtan for them. The answer lay even beyond the Veil, farther than my kind had ever looked. Lee’s adopted world. She’d be safe there. Neve was meant to go with her—but we were caught unaware. She shoved Lee through the gate into that strange, unknown world. I told her to follow. But she stayed by me to fight the Raviners. They’re magick bloodhounds, you know. Give them a whiff of your magick and they can find you even if you hide in hell. We killed them, but Neve was fatally wounded.” He fell silent for a moment. “I meant to go after the girl. But people in that world had already taken her. She was being cared for. She was safe. And I knew the Warlords would never look for her there. So I left her there.”

“Alone,” Kalen said, his voice flat.

“Yes. Alone—and she was safer there than she would have ever been here. After a time, it was assumed that the Warlord’s missing daughter and wife were dead. They stopped looking. But as long as they searched for her, she was in danger. What else should I have done, Kalen? I had my hands full just keeping demons off my ass. There was no way I could have kept a child safe, not while I was busy killing every last Sirvani, demon and Warlord that came searching for her.”

That was how Morne had come to the attention of the resistance. There had been rumors of a man in the mountains who fought like he was possessed, killing any and every alien creature that crossed his path. Nothing out of Anqar had been safe when Morne crossed its path. But now Kalen saw it all differently. Yes, Morne was a fighting machine, but he’d been fighting to keep his secret—and his brother—safe.

“We all make choices, Kalen. Not all of them are easy,” Morne said quietly. “Not all of them are right. But I stand by the choices I’ve made. I did it to protect my brother, to protect Lee.” Then he ducked outside the tent, the flap falling closed behind him.

Indecision froze Kalen. He felt as though that self-righteous anger should burn through him, color every choice he made. But there were too many years of friendship—he couldn’t overlook them any more than he could ignore what he knew inside. Morne was no enemy—and this was the man’s home. Kalen ducked out of the tent and called out Morne’s name.

Morne paused, but he didn’t look back.

“There’s no reason for you to leave here. Not unless that is what you want.”

He was quiet, quiet for so long, Kalen suspected he’d get no response. But then Morne turned and stared at him, and in those dark eyes, Kalen saw a deep, overwhelming grief. “What I want . . .” He laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “In the past twenty years, I’ve only allowed myself to want a very few things: my brother’s safety, and to protect the child of the woman he loved. I’ve never let myself think beyond that.”

Glancing over his shoulder toward Lee, Kalen thought back to those moments when he’d been sure Lee would be lost to him and she would have been . . . if not for Morne. He could have lost her before he even had her, if not for Morne. Looking back at the other man, Kalen said softly, “She’s safe now. Maybe it’s time you let yourself think about wanting something more.”

Morne smiled, and all the sadness Kalen had glimpsed in his eyes showed in that smile. It was as though the weight Morne had carried for so long had finally crushed him. “Kalen, I honestly wouldn’t know how.” He looked past Kalen’s shoulder into the tent, and the smile on his face changed just a little. “But she’s safe. That’s something.”

With that, he turned and left in silence.

It was faint at first, a soft, whimpering little moan. Sprawled facedown on a thin mat, Kalen slept, dead to the world. Another little moan came from the bed, and Kalen lifted his head, glanced around. Head muddled with sleep, he couldn’t figure out what had woken him up, and he dropped his head back onto the pillow with a grunt.

Tired. So damned tired.

He was almost back to sleep when he heard it again. For a second, he couldn’t even move. His heart pounded in his throat as he scrambled on his hands and knees over to Lee’s bedside. For the past eight days, she had been still and motionless, barely making a sound even when she breathed. Now she lay on her side, curled into a tight ball. Her teeth were chattering.

Kalen grabbed one of the blankets and flipped it up over her body, tucking it tight around her. He lay a hand on her cheek and murmured her name. Lee didn’t open her eyes, but she turned her face into his touch, trying to burrow closer. Lying beside her, he whispered, “Lee.”

Since the backlash from the gate had knocked her into this catatonic state, Kalen hadn’t been able to pick up anything from Lee. Until now. He dropped his shields and nearly laughed as the flood of half-conscious thoughts assaulted him. She didn’t like the lights, she was cold, she wanted coffee . . .

And the last barely formed thought was enough to make him groan.

Kalen . . . mmmmm . . .
She turned her nose into his chest and sniffed at him. She draped an arm around his waist and muttered in her sleep. He thought she might wake up, but the senseless jumble of thoughts faded away and she dozed back into deep sleep. He retreated from her, comforted by those brief, erratic thoughts.

With her warm, soft body cuddled up against his, Kalen closed his eyes.

Kalen woke to heat.

Warm, soft, wet heat, gliding down his chest while busy fingers worked to push his trousers down. He reached up and fisted a hand in Lee’s silky curls. He pushed up on his elbow and looked down at her, watching as she circled her tongue around his belly button. “You’re awake,” he said inanely.

Lee lifted her head long enough to grin at him. “So are you,” she replied. She wrapped her hand around his cock, stroked him from tip to base and back. “Wide awake.” Then she lowered her head and continued her downward path. She tugged at his pants, and he obligingly lifted his hips so she could push them down. Lee licked the head of his cock. Kalen was certain his eyes crossed. She scraped her nails over the sac of his balls. His spine bowed up. She looked up at him, a smile flirting with the corners of her lips. She held his eyes and then lowered her head and took him in her mouth. Air left his lungs in a rush.

She continued with her teasing, sucking on him, lifting her head to give him a coy smile, then dipping her head so she could lick his rigid flesh like a kid with a stick of candy. Sweat gleamed on his skin; his heart pounded so damn hard it stole his breath, and the urge to come was so strong, he hurt with it.

“You’re cruel,” he muttered.

Lee smiled up at him. Then she threw a leg over his hips and straddled him. She was naked. Somehow, she’d managed to shimmy out of her panties, and now she was pressed naked up against him. Kalen stared at the wispy blond curls that covered her sex. She rocked back and forth against him. Kalen gritted his teeth and looked up to her face. She smiled down at him, held his gaze and took him inside. They groaned in unison. Lee leaned forward and linked their fingers together. Kalen lifted his head and captured one nipple in his mouth, sucking deep.

He circled the pebbled flesh with his tongue and then bit down gently. Lee’s fingers tightened around his. She arched, trying to get a little closer. Kalen shifted his attention to the other nipple, working it until it was swollen and pink. Then he lowered his head back to the thin excuse for a pillow. Eyes hooded, he stared at her. She rode him slow and easy. Her spine arched and her pretty breasts lifted up, her pink nipples still wet from his mouth and gleaming.

He freed one hand and slid it up her thigh. He sought out the hard, peaked flesh of her clit and stroked it. Lee’s steady rhythm faltered. His heart skipped a beat as she clenched around him, her long, slender body shuddering. Tight as a fist. He pivoted his hips, rising to meet her downward strokes. But it wasn’t enough.

The fear, the emptiness of the past week caught up with him and his patience snapped. He tensed and then flipped their bodies. He took their linked hands and pressed them down beside her head. Their lips met and Kalen kissed her deep, hard and quick. Then he muttered, “I ought to spank your pretty little ass for scaring me like that.”

Then he kissed her again and started to move on her, taking her with hard, deep thrusts. Flesh slapped against flesh. The harsh, ragged sounds of their breathing filled the air. He could smell her, the hot, sexy scent of a hungry female. Her body arched under his, those sleek, perfectly made curves.

“I love you,” Kalen rasped against her lips. “You crazy female, what in the hell were you thinking?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, didn’t really want one. He just had a week’s worth of fears, nerves and needs that he had to burn off, and he figured that doing this to her, pumping in and out of her sex, listening to her moan, feeling her body shudder under his—after a week or two of this, he just might feel a little more normal. Maybe. Releasing her hands, he skimmed one palm down her torso, over the subtle flare of her hip, and lifted her. He moved higher on her body, and shifted so he could rub against her clit with each stroke. Lee cried out his name.

He cupped her chin in his hand, tilted it up. He bit her lower lip gently, sucked it in his mouth. Lee’s nails bit into his shoulders. She bucked against him, moving her hips in a mad little shimmy as though she was trying to take him deeper. He leaned into her, using his weight to still her movements. Lee groaned. “Now who’s being mean?”

“You deserve it—you put me through hell.” Kalen would like to draw it out, make it last and last. But it wasn’t going to happen. Already he could feel his balls drawing tight against his body, the warning tingle dancing down his spine. “I need you too much or I’d really make you suffer.”

He slanted his mouth over hers. Their tongues met. He could have died happy in that moment, her body under his, her taste filling him. The silken tissues of her sheath tightened around his cock, and Kalen pounded into her harder, faster. She screamed into his mouth and came, her sex vising down around his cock like a fist. He erupted, coming so hard it felt like the top of his head came off.

The strength drained out of his body and he slumped down, resting his head between her breasts. “I’m still thinking about spanking you,” he mumbled.

Lee made a little humming sound under her breath. “ ’Kay. Gimme a few minutes because I wanna enjoy it.”