Warrior's Dawn (Fire and Tears) (10 page)

“Well, stop it.”

He snorted without amusement. “I have absolutely no control over the
Shaerta
, the elf-fire. Or the way I want you.”

She tried not to react to his statement, but a punch of desire still clenched her gut. She forced it down. “You mean that… That happens every time you’re even remotely attracted to someone?” So why didn’t she experience it before with the other elf?

“No.”

Okay. Then… “Why with me?”

“It happens when we want someone a lot, more than a passing fancy for a quick lay. We can’t control it, and we can’t fake it.”

The trembling started in her body again. She fisted her hands in her lap. “Make it go away.”

“Too late now. I’m not going to stop wanting you after that.” He gestured to the spot on the floor where they’d both lost control, where his weapons still lay forgotten, framing the place they’d been.

“If we fuck, will it go away after?” She could hardly believe she’d said that out loud, but she needed to know. Needed to find out if she was stuck this way or could work this out of her system. She didn’t want to feel this desperation. She certainly didn’t want to
want
Althir with such intensity it overrode all other concerns.

He stared back at her, and she saw his jaw clench as he considered her question.

“With you? Probably not.”

She swallowed and tried for another calming breath—which didn’t work. “Why did you stop?” she asked the other question she needed answered. “I couldn’t have.” The admission cost her, but at the moment, she needed truth between them. On this, at least.

“That’s why I stopped.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“Which is the other reason I stopped.”

He finally entered the room and stalked toward the bed. He snatched his bow, quiver and sword off the floor then straightened and stared down at her for a long moment.

His nearness started her heartbeat pounding again. It took an act of will not to lick her lips and lean toward him, to keep her gaze on his face and not let it drop to see if he was still erect. The moment stretched until her nerves felt raw. Finally, he returned to the doorway, his movements stiff.

“Come on,” he said over his shoulder. “We need to move before the minion patrols return.”

Chapter Eight

Why did you stop?
Her question echoed through him as they slinked through the streets, making their way slowly toward their next stopping point. He kept asking himself the same thing. Why had he stopped? He wanted her. He’d had every intention of seducing her in the near future.

When he woke to see her face so close to his, kissing her seemed the only possible thing to do. And what a kiss. It had turned his need from a hungry ache to full-blown madness. He’d controlled the madness right up until she opened herself to him, let him inside.

Then the madness—and the
Shaerta
—took over.

He had to taste more, feel more,
have
more. She was his to have, eager, as caught up in the fire as he’d been.

So why in the name of the goddess had he stopped?

The rise of the
Shaerta
had surprised him as much as it did her. He hadn’t felt the effects of the pheromone in…longer than he cared to admit. For a long time now, sex had been little more than exercise to him, something to work off needs or a way to get what he wanted from someone. He barely had a thought for the person he was with most of the time.

Mina was different. He wanted her more than he wanted air and food. He wanted
her
, not just the physical act of sex. So much so, he could still feel the tingling of heat over his nerves.

So why stop? Why deny himself something he’d been missing for centuries?

She paused at the side of a building to study the street, and he leaned against the wall a foot behind her. Still too close. The need continued to ride him. But it was the best he could do.

He stared at the nape of her neck, where it was exposed by the now-tight knot of her bun. The soft skin called out to him, demanding to be tasted, touched. He lifted a hand toward her, then made a fist and dropped his arm back to his side. He realized as he did he’d lost his gloves somewhere along the way, but it was a small irritation compared to the compulsion to reach toward Mina again and loosen that tight bun, run his fingers through her silky hair, tug her head back so he could taste her lips…

Closing his eyes and cursing himself, he forced the image away. Now was not the time to lose himself in thoughts of her.

Would this be easier if they’d fucked? She’d almost broken him asking that same question. He felt the already thin threads of his control snapping until only the barest of sense kept him from tossing her back onto the bed and doing exactly what they both wanted.

And again he had to ask himself, why? Why did he
not
take her while he could?

He stared at the wall across from him, knowing he’d told her the truth. Even fucking her then and there wouldn’t have been enough to dampen the elf-fire. In fact, it might well have heightened the reaction since he hadn’t experienced it in so long. But now that the elf-fire had risen, he knew he would only have two, maybe three times with her before he risked her sanity. And more.

The pheromone was so addictive to humans most elves restricted their sexual activity with human partners to a single night. He knew for sure now that once would not satisfy his need for her.

He didn’t want to waste one of those precious nights in a frantic coupling that would have to be silent and fast. He wanted to take his time with her, explore her, bring them both all the pleasure he knew was available to them. He wanted to savor every moment and wallow in the intensity.

Rolling his head against the wall, he stared at the back of her head again. But that wasn’t the only reason he’d stopped. It wasn’t even the real reason, though now that he could think, he acknowledged that not wanting to waste any of their time together was important to him.

The real reason he’d stopped was the very reason he’d given her. She hadn’t understood what was happening between them, hadn’t been aware of the elf-fire or its effect on her. She didn’t understand. And he didn’t want her that way. When he finally took her, he wanted her aware and eager to be with him—not because some pheromone was driving her, but because she needed him as desperately as he needed her. He wanted her to admit to the need, not have an excuse to dismiss it.

He
needed
her to be fully aware of their attraction and take him willingly.

Why, he couldn’t say. He’d never cared before, with any other human woman. Or elf for that matter. Sex was sex. He’d never considered the underlying feelings of his partners. Nor they his. It had never mattered before.

But Mina’s opinion of him, her feelings for him, mattered. And for the life of him, he did not understand
why
.

She motioned over her shoulder without looking at him, and they moved out again, hurrying across a brightly lit street into another dark alley.

The closer they got to the area surrounding the public Citadel, the slower their progress. Regular movements of both patrols and servants along the streets at one point made it impossible to move for nearly an hour. Finally, Mina took them through the back door of a small building and up a set of narrow stairs to the roof. From the cover of the small retaining wall, they watched the street below.

The night was waning, sending most of the servants back to their homes, but the minion patrols continued to march through the area. After studying the scene for several long moments, Mina finally spoke.

“We’re close to our final goal. We can stick to the roofs from here. But we need to wait for the predawn lull in patrols.”

He nodded, turning back to stare at the city rather than risk looking into her eyes too long. The
Shaerta
still stirred just beneath the surface, despite the more pressing rush of adrenaline and readiness. He couldn’t afford to let his attraction to her rise now, when they weren’t safe.

Over the tops of the surrounding buildings, he could just see the gold-and-red dome at the center of the Sorcerers’ Citadel. They’d occupied one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. Before the invasion, it had served as a university. Soft gray stone from the Arei-atun mountain range made for a smooth façade behind the marble pillars, arches and statues that decorated every niche of the building. It was even built in an unconventional shape—a series of interconnecting towers, the center one topped with the huge golden-red dome. Before the occupation, gardens had softened the landscaping around the building, and many Sinnale used the area during good weather.

After the Sorcerers claimed the university for their own, they’d allowed most of the grass and greenery to die. Only one small, isolated, walled-in area was kept rich and verdant—the Sorcerers’ garden of herbs. All the deadly little plants they needed for different spells and torture methods.

None of the traitor elves had found the need to spend time in that garden. Althir had risked seeing it once and never returned. It felt…wrong. A wrongness that went past his conscious mind to grind at the very center of his instincts.

Remembering that garden helped him focus. He hadn’t really thought they’d get this far without getting caught. Now, the reality of what they had to do sank in. This wasn’t like before. He couldn’t bluff his way through the day and intimidate when he couldn’t charm. The Sorcerers had placed a bounty on his head, and he couldn’t just talk his way out of capture if they found him.

He’d accepted this could well be a one-way journey for him before moving on to the next plane. He hadn’t expected to feel so fiercely protective of his companion’s life, though. The last thing he wanted was to watch Mina fall into Sorcerer hands.

Somehow, things had gotten worse without changing much at all.

He was so focused on the dome of the Citadel and his own musings, he nearly missed the next patrol that passed beneath them. Mina’s very faint inhalation caught his attention and he glanced down. Three of the traitor elves marched at the center of the patrol, their heads bowed together.

Althir tried to catch some of their conversation but the distance, the sound of marching boots and their quiet tones kept him from overhearing anything. He held his breath as they passed, waiting for one of them to look up, to realize he was here. Liroc wasn’t among the three but that didn’t mean the others hadn’t acquired similar skills.

The elves only paused once, though, to face each other as their conversation grew more intense, their gestures animated. The minion at the head of the patrol stopped and looked back at them. One of the elves noticed and they all resumed walking. By the time they’d disappeared around a corner, the elves had their heads together again, deep in conversation.

“Wonder what they were talking about,” Mina murmured.

“Couldn’t hear, unfortunately. Whatever it was, it was serious. More is wrong than we suspected.”

“Of course things are wrong. We’re winning the war now. They’re being driven back by inches and feet every time we face them. The traitors must be wishing they’d defected with you.”

His snort was almost silent. “Not likely. Though you have a point, the war has turned and that has to have them worried. But that looked like something else.”

“Could you really hear at that distance?”

“If they’d been speaking above a whisper, probably.”

“Handy,” she murmured. “Good trait for a spy.”

Ah, little did she know, he thought. Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he watched her lips purse as she considered his hearing.

“You have to get closer to overhear information?” he asked.

“Much.”

She didn’t seem bothered by the risk that involved. He, on the other hand, suddenly found himself angry that she’d placed herself in such danger.

“But there are other ways of collecting information. If you weren’t with me, I’d be better able to blend in and function closer to the ground.”

“I’m holding you back?” He was both incredulous and amused by her assertion. Especially since he’d saved her life twice now.

“This is a different kind of mission,” she said without reacting to his tone. “I’m here to steal something, not gather information. There’s no need for me to work as I might normally.”

Her calm, even explanation made him frown. She was right. Why was he annoyed? Because the woman annoyed him, he decided and refused to think about it more than that. He didn’t want to know
why
he felt as he did when it came to Mina.

“I have a lot of questions for you,” she whispered after a few quiet moments and another patrol passed, moving away from the Citadel.

“About?” If she brought up the
Shaerta
again, he was going to have a hard time concentrating. But he didn’t discourage her, which confirmed his assessment of himself—he was an idiot.

She didn’t speak for another few moments. Then, “The woman who alerted them to our presence. She recognized you.”

“There are only so many elves working with the Sorcerers. And I stand out among them.”

As he’d hoped, she smiled slightly at his arrogant quip. But she grew serious again instantly. “There’s a bounty on your head.”