Heart Search (39 page)

Read Heart Search Online

Authors: Robin D Owens

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal

BOOK: Heart Search
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Which meant he, and his opinion, was important to her, and not just because he was a FirstFamily GreatLord. She didn’t think of his status anymore, especially when it was simply the two of them and the Fams together.
“This has smelled great since I got into the house,” he said. He noted she was watching him from lowered lashes as he dipped a spoon into the bowl, tasted. Lemony flavor sank into his tongue, he swallowed and tasted herbs he couldn’t name. He had to have another bite, and another. The clucker was delicious. He didn’t realize that he’d ignored Camellia until half his stew was gone. When he glanced up, he saw her smiling at him, and she gestured to a piece of toasted bread with a thin crust of melted cheese on the top. “Wonderful,” he said, wanted to praise it more. “Fabulous.” That still wasn’t enough. “Best—” Words failed him. He shrugged, smiled lopsidedly. “Best.”
And she gave him that smile he hoped she saved only for him. The one of pleasure, with a hint of anticipation of other delights than food.
They finished their stew in silent harmony. When Camellia stood, he did, too, and took his bowl, handed it to her as she walked into the narrow kitchen. He shook his head. “I would have thought you’d have liked a larger kitchen.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “If I need to, I can use the tearoom kitchens at any time. Having a large kitchen in the house wasn’t as important as other things. I like the neighborhood a lot.”
He nodded, though he didn’t really know what she was talking about. Noble Country, which held the huge estates of the FirstFamilies, wasn’t exactly a neighborhood, and that was all he knew.
“I love it here.”
Tension slipped along his nerves. She loved it here in this small and cozy house. How would she take to a great Residence?
“You like cocoa, don’t you?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She moved aside and took the front off what looked like a solid wall in the corner, revealing a no-time. Laev stared, checked the standard two no-time cabinets. “You have three no-times in this kitchen?”
“That’s right. I didn’t use this one much until lately.” She shrugged. “No one thinks to look for a third no-time.”
Something in her voice told him not to press further.
She flashed him a smile. “And if I do want to cook a lot in the tearoom kitchens for myself and my friends, I need the storage space here.”
He leaned against a cabinet, essentially blocking the exit, raised his eyebrows. “And you’ve been cooking more lately.”
“Yes. I have a new Fam,” she said.
He laughed.
She drew out a tray of cocoa-covered strawberries and his mouth began to water.
“You didn’t say you’d like the strawberry wine–infused strawberries dipped in cocoa, but I thought you wouldn’t mind.”
He couldn’t stop from moving in, grabbing a small one, and popping it into his mouth. It was not quite room temperature, not quite cool. The cocoa shell crunched and broke and the sweet fruit soaked with wine spurted nicely in his mouth. “Mmmphrr.” He nodded vigorously.
Laughing more—and had she ever laughed so much in his company before?—she shook her head at him, pulled out a bowl of brown-flecked white mousse and a tube with a bulb on the end to fill the hollow berries. He gulped down his treat, moved closer. She smelled better than dessert. “I think that might be almost too much.”
“The white mousse? You said you wanted it.” She was still smiling as she filled the tube with mousse.
“Almost too much, but I’m up to the challenge,” he said. “What are those brown bits?”
“Very fine nuts. You like nuts, too.”
“Yes.”
“Just wait.”
“I think I’ve become an impatient man. And not only for dessert.” And not only for just sex.
But lust dominated now, and he slid in behind her. There was barely enough room for both of them, and that was delicious, too. He nibbled at her neck and she sighed.
“Just make three for me. Put the rest back in the no-time for later,” he said. His body had roused and decided on a different after-dinner activity than dessert.
“Sounds good to me.” She took two for herself, put them all on a white plate, then led him to bed.
Twenty-six
 
I
am ready for the trip to Rushes Vale! Mica yowled in Camellia’s ear,
shattering her sleep with the telepathic shout. Camellia jerked awake, sat straight up.
We are ready, too!
Brazos exclaimed.
That was when Camellia realized that she was alone in the bed except for Mica. Laev was already up, and if her ears weren’t betraying her, he was in the kitchen. Probably raiding the strawberries for breakfast.
Camellia had overslept, no doubt due to the several bouts of sex she and Laev had had during the night. She needed to scramble to get ready.
There was a slurp and a nude Laev stood in the doorway, tilting his head and dropping a cocoa-covered and white mousse–dipped strawberry in his mouth. He mumbled something.
“What?” Camellia asked blearily. The bed linens were tossed and tangled, half on the floor. Even the tapestry covering the wall safe and the gouges around it was hanging crookedly. Hadn’t they rolled off the bedsponge onto the floor and . . . Oh, yeah. They had. She flushed and yanked the coverlet up over her bare torso.
Laev sighed. His tongue came out to sweep a dab of white mousse from the corner of his mouth. “You should dress warmly. It will be cold in Rushes Vale.”
“Um,” she said.
“We’ll leave in half a septhour,” he said. His smile was dangerous. “We have time for a waterfall before then.” He marched over, whipped the cover from her, lifted her in his arms, and strode to the tiled room and the steamy waterfall and steamier sex.
A dazed Camellia thought that someday their lust for each other should ease to a slow simmer, but right now it only took one glance to heat to a rolling boil.
The cats ate heartily of furrabeast bites and greens, but that didn’t stop Mica from scolding Camellia.
You are not ready. You didn’t plan what to wear.
“No, I cooked all day.”
“And I am thankful for that.” Laev grinned.
You did not put out what you should wear last night on the clothes chair,
Mica continued.
Camellia remembered having sex on the chair, too, after a late-night snack. “Just as well, my clothes would have ended up on the floor, too,” she said blankly.
Laev snorted, coughed. “You’re not as sharp as usual this morning.”
She pointed at him. “
You
are a detriment.”
And he was. He insisted on milk and more wine strawberries for breakfast, and he’d “helped” clean up the kitchen. That only took several minutes longer than if she’d done it herself. He did do a good job of attaching the false front to the extra no-time. Until she’d started cooking for him and Mica, she hadn’t used it. Now it occurred to her that if her uncle didn’t deliberately do a scan for it, he might not remember it. Unlike the safe, she’d rarely kept anything in the no-time. Food, at least, could be hidden there. Her uncle would
always
scan a house for jewels and find any hidden caches.
A few days ago a guard had dropped by to set an alarm on her house. She didn’t bother to tell the woman that would be useless. Her uncle always scanned for alarms, and never triggered them. Though the guardswoman was earnest in explaining the spell would notify both Camellia and the guard station, Camellia just smiled and discounted the assurance. The alarm might take Takvar a while to get around, but when he’d finally broken into the house, he’d be furious enough to destroy the place.
Two calendarspheres appeared, chiming that it was time to leave. Fam telepathic voices added to the confusion. Finally Camellia just grabbed the first tunic trous suit she found—a soft gray wool that would be warm in the cool weather of the northern hills—and dressed. She added a paisley scarf in primary colors.
Laev handed her a heavy cloak, hustled her to the teleportation pad, and the next thing she knew, all four of them were in a luxury airship ready to fly to the valley.
The three-septhour trip itself was uneventful. As soon as they exited the vehicle, the Fams spotted some small fluff-tailed rodents and took off chasing them.
She and Laev stood on a ridge looking down into a green valley, holding hands.
“Yes,” Laev said. “I think I’ll take it.” His shoulders shifted and a half smile curved his lips. “I got a buzz about this place. The company that wants to farm and settle the land is right. It will draw people.”
“Why?” Camellia asked.
“First, the land and weather are perfect for growing NewBalm, the recently developed hybrid Earthan-Celtan herb.”
Camellia stared at the slopes of the valley. “I’ve heard of that. It’s a derivative of the herb that was used to mitigate the sickness two years ago. The medicine stopped the epidemic.”
“That’s right. The FirstFamilies Council has allocated a great deal of gilt to studying the plant and its properties. We have the science and Flair to begin exploring the DNA of plants that the starship,
Nuada’s Sword
, still has locked within itself. Celta is a harsh planet, and modifying plants from our home planet to grow with flora here could help our numbers.”
“Everyone agrees with that,” Camellia said.
Laev nodded and his smile faded. “Yes, we all agree that Celtans must multiply. Deciding on the means to ensure that are hard-fought battles.” Camellia suddenly knew that he and his FatherSire must have worked hard in the FirstFamilies Council to make sure the gilt was available for the development of the herb. She squeezed his hand.
He smiled again, tugged on her hand, and they walked along a path toward the river that flowed into the valley from the northern mountains. “Not only that, but in the next couple of generations, as the general Flair of our populace rises, this valley will be within teleportation range of the Great Labyrinth, and the town that is growing there.”
“The north wasn’t hit as hard by the sickness as Druida and Gael City in the south.”
“No. And we’ve funded studies to learn about that, too.” He stopped and scanned the land again. “I think we’ll buy the eastern side of the valley. That way the project can go forward even if no one else invests.” He shrugged. “We may take a loss, but it’s important research that must be done.” Eyes narrowed, he continued, “I’ll have Vinni T’Vine, the prophet, evaluate the options. But I do feel that buzz of success.” He slid a glance to her. “Even a small plot here might bring a good amount of gilt in the future. Or an investment in Medica, the company developing the herb.”
Her heart fluttered as she understood that he was sharing confidential information with her, that he trusted her, that he cared enough to give her financial tips to make her life easier. She stood and kissed him on the mouth. “Thank you.” Kissed him again. “I think that I’ll stick with my tearooms.”
He drew her close and the next kiss was a full-body experience—a tasting and cherishing of each other, the bond between them throbbing with . . . affection. Laev withdrew first, and as she caught her breath, she saw that he was shaking his head at her, but smiling again. “You’re a very independent lady.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m not sure that was a compliment.”
She chuckled. “That’s all right.”
He dropped her hand and focused on the valley. His back stiffened. “I hope you know that if you ever . . .” He stopped. Probably because she’d moved away and the bond between them was now flowing with irritation from her.
“I won’t ever need gilt.” She tried to keep her breath even. “I have a tea set worth a fortune.”
Turning, he stepped close again and framed her face with his hands. “And I know you love that tea set.” His eyes were dark, intense, and demanded she meet them. “I don’t ever want you to feel desperate. Never. Anything that is in my power, I will give you.”
She swallowed hard. He was moving faster than she in this relationship. He wanted more from her, from them.
A burden seemed to settle on her shoulders. How had she missed that? Words hammered in her brain, scared words, defensive words, angry words. She should say none of them and for once she was smart. “Thank you.”
Laev jerked a nod, stepped away, but she thought he was disappointed in them both—himself for pushing her, and her for her fear. He turned and led the way back to the waiting airship.
Fams, we are returning to Druida City!
he shouted mentally.
You woke us,
Brazos grumbled.
We finished our hunt,
there was a small catch in his telepathic stream that seemed like a burp.
And returned to the airship. This place is not as good as alleys.
“Oh,” Laev said. With a laugh, he reached for Camellia’s hand and she let him take it.
They walked into the airship and saw the cats tangled in a large, cushioned saucer-seat with a security field over it. Mica opened an eye and smiled at Camellia but said nothing.

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