Woman Bewitched (6 page)

She smiled though that little worry line appeared between her eyes again. “I didn’t show it to you. I knew I had to have it the minute I saw it. Do you like it?”

Like it?
It was all he could do to stay where he was when what he wanted to do was pin her to the floor and lick the damned thing off her. He grinned, hoping he didn’t look too much like a
dar-tak
and scare her off. “I love it. Uh…are you hungry?” He swallowed thickly as he tried to pry his gaze from her exposed cleavage. He had to do something to get his mind off all of that exposed flesh or he would pick her up, throw her over his shoulder, and drag her back to his rooms to fuck her until she screamed. Perhaps feeding another appetite would make the others less intense. At least it would give him something to do with his hands that didn’t involve ripping that outfit off her. He doubted it would work, but it was worth a shot.

Marti looked as though she’d been about to deny her hunger when her stomach let out a loud grumble. Her cheeks turned that lovely shade of pink and she covered her too-flat stomach with her hand. “Yes,” she said, ducking her head. “It’s quite apparent that I am.”

“Please see that the lady’s things are delivered to my address,” Kyl told Challa before he turned and held out his arm with a grin. “Then allow me to buy you dinner.”

The sunset, as they exited the shop, was beautiful, so he took her to the only restaurant in the area where he knew they could sit outside and eat as they watched it disappear over the water.

He couldn’t help but stare at the rainbow of color reflected in her hair. Even the reds and purples of the setting sun shone perfectly in her gleaming locks.

“I love your hair.”

“Really?” Marti reached up to smooth it back with a frown. “I hate it. It draws too much attention.” She shook her head. “I caused a stir when I first got to Katkari. It seemed as though every man on the planet wanted to date me. I thought it exciting, at first.” She thinned her lips. “It quickly turned into a nightmare.”

She clung to his arm as the memories seemed to take her back. “I nearly caused a riot when they brought me back. The governor had me incarcerated because he didn’t know what to do with me. I was to wait until the prince returned to discover my fate. Lucky for me, by the time the prince returned, the furor had died down and I’d been locked up without a bath for so long that my hair was greasy and brown. Since everyone believed I had dyed it, they left me alone. Thank the gods.”

Reaching up, Kyl succumbed to the urge to touch it. It
was
as soft as it looked. “How did you manage to hide this glorious hair when you bathed?”

There was no way anyone could have gone five years without washing their hair. Sooner or later someone would have complained of the stink and she wouldn’t have wanted to draw that kind of attention to herself.

They approached the restaurant. He motioned to the doorman to open the door for them as they entered. He took a deep breath. The scents here were always glorious. Nearly as glorious as the woman next to him.
So much for distracting myself.

“They have the mud river. It’s where they gather most, if not all, of the clay for the bricks they use for buildings. The clay stains the water and everything in it a dark brown. Whenever I bathed, I made sure to rinse my hair with the water. It didn’t turn it brown as I had hoped, but my hair was no longer this ugly silvery white.”

Kyl stared at her hair for a moment and shook his head. “It’s not ugly. It’s glorious.”

“It’s a pain in my ass.”

It was all Kyl could do to keep himself from thrusting his fingers through her thick, blonde hair and take her lips in a passionate kiss to show her how beautiful he thought it,
and
her.

“It’s wonderful to see you this evening, defender,” the host said as they entered. He turned his gaze to Marti, his eyes widening as a smile split his face. “May I seat you outside where you can watch the sunset? It is beautiful, but not nearly so much as your companion.”

“Please do, Tempen. I’m starved and wish to eat as soon as possible.”

Tempen smiled and turned to lead them through the building. “Of course! If you would follow me, please?”

Marti let Kyl take her hand as they walked through the intimate interior of the restaurant. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a few women staring daggers at her as they walked past a big group of people. When she did a double take, they were gone.

What was wrong with the women on this world? Didn’t they realize that Kyl was merely helping the sister of a fellow defender?

She let the two men lead her through another door that led out onto a huge veranda that boasted a gorgeous view of a large body of water. Whether it was a lake or an ocean was beyond her. She only knew the view was one of the most beautiful she’d ever seen. She stopped, unable to function for a moment as she stared at the rainbow of colors reflected on the smooth surface.

Waves gently lapped against the shore. The soothing sound relaxed and calmed her as nothing else had these last few years.

Gently, Kyl steered her toward a chair, holding the back of the seat as she lowered herself into it. Before she knew it, food appeared in front of her as though they knew what she wanted. How could they when she did not?

Gingerly, she took a bite, unsure if she would like the strange-looking food. Her eyes went wide at the unusual flavor. “This is delicious!”

“Did you expect something less?” Kyl asked with a grin. “We aren’t barbarians. We do know how to prepare food so as not to disgust our visitors.”

Marti felt her face heat. “I—I didn’t mean it like that.” She glanced around, fearing that someone else could have misconstrued her words as he had done.

“I know you didn’t.” He chuckled. “I was teasing you.”

Tears burned her eyes. “It’s just that it’s been such a long time since someone has done that. I’m not sure I can tell the difference between teasing and accusation.”

His expression turned somber. “Forgive me. I didn’t think.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She took another bite, mindful of the others who shared the veranda. The last thing she wanted to do was make a spectacle of herself and embarrass her companion.

“I thought you were hungry.” He frowned as he watched her pick at her meal.

“I am.”

“Then why are you pushing your food around your plate instead of eating it?” He reached over and covered her hand, effectively stopping her from doing just that.

“I—I don’t know.” She glanced around and lowered her voice. “Perhaps I’m just afraid of making a spectacle of myself like I did earlier today.”

“To hell with them and what they think. If you’re hungry, eat. Not one of them has any idea what it’s like to live in captivity, wondering when or if they are going to get another meal.” He flicked his gaze to her plate, then back up to meet her gaze. “We can have them pack it up and take it back to my home, if you like. That way, you’ll only have to worry about me and you know what I think about the subject.” He gave her a lopsided grin that squeezed her heart.

What was it about the man that made her want to crawl into his lap and cry on his shoulder? Shouldn’t she feel this way about her brother instead of some stranger she’d just met?

“I think I would like that.”

Kyl turned and gestured to Tempen who had been hovering close. “Please pack up our dinner and an assortment of desserts for us to take back to my home. The lady is not feeling well.”

Tempen flicked a concerned gaze her way that almost made her feel bad for leaving so quickly. “I hope you feel better soon, miss,” he said with a bow before turning to Kyl. “As you wish, sir. I shall send one of the boys over with a few boxes.”

The man turned away and hurried through the door, no doubt to see to the defender’s wishes.

Marti stared down at her dinner and wondered at Kyl’s manner with servants. He didn’t act as self-important as she had originally thought. He seemed to genuinely care for those who served him. Perhaps it had been his urgency she sensed earlier when he had carried her into the building from the courtyard.

Instead of a man who took advantage of those who served him, he seemed to equally care for them. Wasn’t that how a defender should be?

She thought about how her brother had once been, and how Artu was now, and marveled at the difference. Perhaps finding one’s mate changed a defender. What if she was his soul mate? If so, was that why Kyl now treated those who waited upon him with such deference?

Whatever the reason, she found she couldn’t fault him for it. If anything, she admired him for it. Marti wasn’t sure why, but every time she looked at him, her heart melted just a little bit more. Was she falling in love with him? Was she ready to make love with him and find out? She stared at him for a minute, wondering if she could sleep with the man who sat there looking so lonely in a room full of people, and then smiled when the answer came to her.

“Are you ready?” Kyl asked as he stood.

“Yes,” Marti said with a nod as she stood up. “I do believe I am.”

* * * *

“Ready for what?”
Urd
stared
down into the scrying cauldron.
“
Is she ready to accept Kylar as her mate or is she merely ready to go back to his home where she can go to the room he’s given her and close the door in his face?”

“What does it matter, Urd?” Verdandi said. “You know as well as I do that if we could see her future, as Skuld can do, we would only see a few of an infinite number of possibilities. We can only hope that she makes the right choice this time.” Verdandi moved to sit on the low stone bench against the wall.

“Hope, hope. Why must we always hope they make the right choice? Why can we not tell them how things should be? They should listen to us. We are the daughters of a god!”

“You know as well as I do that that does not make us infallible. If it did, our parents would never have had us. We were mistakes.” Verdandi shrugged. “Useful mistakes, yes, but mistakes just the same.”

“Pfft!” Urd waved her arm. “They would never admit that we are mistakes.”

Verdandi crossed her arms and shot her sister a look. “They do not have to.”

Kyl led Marteeka down the wide boardwalk along the shore. The cool evening breeze blew in off the water, feathering her hair out behind her. The silky strands caught the silvery rays of the moon, glowing as though lit from within. A fruity scent wafted off her and his groin tightened.

He took a deep breath, wondering just what it was about her that drew him. Was it because she was the woman the Fates deemed his perfect match or was he just lonely?

As she turned her face into the breeze, Kyl took the opportunity to lean closer. Just one more whiff of her sweet scent would have to last through the night. They were almost back to his home and he had no doubt that Marti would want to go to her room and rest. She’d had an ordeal, after all, and no one could blame her if she wanted some time alone to reflect on what she would now do with her freedom.

“How long have you defended this world?”

The question startled him. He frowned when he had to think about it. It had been so long, he’d almost forgotten the date, though he would never forget the day his father died.

“It was almost six millennia ago.” He stared out over the water for a moment before he continued. “My father had decided to go on a rescue with me. I asked him to stay home because it was particularly dangerous.” He sighed and shook his head. “I think that perhaps that was why he wanted to go.” Kyl shrugged at Marti’s questioning look. “He’d begun to age. I don’t think he wanted to be a burden on me. Or,” he chuckled mirthlessly, “he just wanted to go out a defender and not an old man who could no longer hold his water.”

“What happened?” She stopped and looked up at him. Her blue eyes reflected the moonlight as they shone at him filled with compassion.

“A skyscraper took damage from a large explosion. Still full of innocents, we did our best to empty it. I held it as stable as I could while he rescued the people. As a last job for a retiring defender, it was perfect. It was just too bad he thought he saw another victim inside.” He shook his head. “We later determined that what he’d seen was a life-sized portrait, not a person. He alone died when another quake hit and demolished the building along with many other structures in the town.”

He wasn’t sure his father really had seen another person inside. Just the day before, the old man had complained of his aches and pains. He’d made it perfectly clear that he would rather die than live out his life in a home for the aged.

“I’m sorry.”

She stared up at him with those huge, blue eyes so filled with compassion that for the first time, Kyl’s heart ached for his father, and what could have been. If only
he
had found his true mate.

His stomach clenched as he stared down into those expressive eyes. He cupped her cheek, his thumb moving to caress her lower lip.

“Kiss me, Kylar.”

His cock grew hard at the thought. Kyl leaned closer and searched her gaze. Did she just say what he thought she said? “I want to kiss you, Marteeka.” Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “I’m just not sure I’ll be able to stop if I do.” He moved to stare out over the vast waters of the Maluna Sea. “You have no idea how tempting it is. I’ve been alone a long time. I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

“Then don’t think about it. Just do it.”

“Did you not hear what I just said?” He spun around to face her. “I might not be able to stop once I start.” He held her at arm’s distance, fearing that if he drew her closer he would be lost. Perhaps they both would be lost.

“So?” She shrugged. “Who says I’ll ask you to stop?” She licked her lips and smiled up at him. “Come on, defender. Take a chance.”

Reaching up, he cupped her face in his hands and stared down into her eyes. “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”

Leaning down, Kyl gently pressed his lips against hers. Lightning shot through him at the contact. Yanking her closer, he held her tight, one hand cupping the back of her head, the other her ass.