HeroUnleased (6 page)

Lucian backtracked and found sanctuary in the kitchen. Why
he thought the space would be full of stainless steel and cold tile was another
example of how little he knew about Amaryllis. The warm wood and creamy granite
was as inviting as the woman was outrageous.

He unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt around his left wrist
and pulled the fabric back to his elbow. He turned the knob of the stove until
the flame ignited, rising tall and white hot. With a deep breath of fortitude,
he held his forearm over the fire. The stench of burning hair made his eyes
water, but he held firm, biting back a howl of pain. His honor demanded he be
at his best. Anything else was unacceptable.

Chapter Four

“Look at that!” Amaryllis pointed out her window. Against
the bright-blue sky gliders in brilliant reds and yellow spiraled gently from
the cliffs down to a wide-open field. “Have you ever seen anything so amazing?
Lucian, you must take me.”

He glanced over his shoulder at her with a raised brow
before he turned his attention back to the road. “No.”

Big surprise there. “Dhavin, you’ll take me, surely.”

“I’m not too certain.” He gazed up with trepidation from his
seat in the front of the car. “I don’t think I can trust a bit of colored
fabric to prevent me from plunging to the earth.”

“Where is your courage? I thought you two were
Llanos
?
I bet you wouldn’t even go bungee jumping with me.”

“Do I want to know what that is?”

“A giant elastic band is tied to your waist or ankles, and
then you jump off a high bridge. Just when you think you will crash upon the
rocks, the elastic snaps you back and you go up and down until your momentum
stops.”

Dhavin’s pallor took on a greenish tinge. “That sounds
dreadful.”

“Oh it’s great fun.” She leaned forward and poked her head
between the two sets of broad shoulders. “The adrenaline rush is incredible.
It’s almost as good as sex. Ooo, I wonder what it would be like to bungee jump
while
having sex. Probably not as good as it sounds. Where would your focus be?
You’re approaching orgasm and then you’re in the free fall and bouncing all
around, jamming and prodding each other, probably rather indelicately. And with
my luck, I’d end up puking. Yes, not good at all.”

Dhavin’s frown deepened with her rapid speech. “What is this
word, puking?”

“Ah, it’s to
batkja
.When gravity loses and
the contents of your stomach come out your mouth.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I have so much to learn about
this world. Intercourse on television, falling from the sky on purpose, this
puking. I thought a year spent in a pod learning nothing but languages and
politics would be enough.”

“Do not worry, friend.” She stroked his arm. “I’ll show you
the way.”

Lucian emitted a sound that reminded her of a metal utensil
caught in the gears of an industrial garbage disposal. He caught himself and
threw her another glance. “Princess, please, sit back and put on your
seatbelt.”

“Why? I trust your skill behind the wheel.”

“It’s not
my
skill you need to worry about. Now
please, sit back and put on your restraint. It’s for your own good.”

“I don’t want to.” It wasn’t childish petulance that kept
her from wearing the belt, but the vast distance between her seat and the
occupants in the front. Even at only a few feet, the loss of their energy left
her cold, as if she turned a furnace down to low.

He pulled over to the shoulder with a quick turn of the
wheel. “I will not move us another inch until you put on your seatbelt.”

Oh, now there it was. Trying to gain some of his control
back, assert his authority was he?

She folded her arms. “Then I guess we’ll be here awhile.”

Dark-green gaze clashed with lavender in the rearview mirror
and the air thickened. With each harsh breath the windows grew cloudy until the
entire view became obscured.

In her peripheral vision she saw Dhavin look back and forth
between them then heave a sigh. “Since we won’t be leaving anytime soon, I’ll
be searching for a shrub.” He opened his door and disappeared from view.

A trickle of sweat beaded along her hairline and slid down
the side of her face as the interior of the car grew more humid, yet she didn’t
do more than blink when it became absolutely necessary. Lucian’s nostrils
flared in tiny pulses and a muscle along his jaw twitched.

Her thighs bunched with the urge to shift in her seat as
heat pulsed in her groin. Damn the man was sexy when he was being a hardass.
His nostrils flared again as if he could scent her arousal. With a mental
smile, she allowed a tendril of lust free to sweep along his emotional barrier,
and wanted to giggle in delight when his left eye began to twitch.

That’s right, Lucian, make me. What else would you like
to make me do?

With myriad lascivious thoughts running through her mind,
she swept the tip of her tongue along her lips and almost whimpered when his
gaze followed the motion. His hands tightened on the steering wheel and his
arms trembled, yet he didn’t make a move.

Who knew that such a show of strength would hit her like a
powerful aphrodisiac? Sure, she might have a streak of masochistic tendencies,
but if she continued on like this, she might require therapy.

Dhavin returned several minutes later. “Ah, still at it.
Look, Amaryllis,
lebshone
,please clip on your belt. I’m getting
hungry and I want you to introduce me to the wonder that is chocolate. I
promise we won’t discuss anything exciting during the rest of the journey.”

She glanced at the comforting hand he placed on her knee
then back up at his brown eyes that implored her to play nice. “Fine.”

Lucian swiped a hand over his face while muttering a few
obscenities in several languages then put the car into gear the second her belt
clicked into place.

Did she deserve his scorn? Maybe. But whenever he spoke to
her in that superior tone of voice she wanted to do the exact opposite of what
he said, no matter how stupid the action may be. The reaction was pure impulse,
like his voice struck her bitch nerve and the words spewed out. When he pushed,
she wanted to shove back with all her might. Childish for certain, but it was
her primary response, and the last thing she wanted Lucian to think of her as
was a child. She would behave.

For now.

Silence stretched with each passing mile and her skin felt
tight and constricting the longer she sat still. Her fingers rubbed along the
edge of her suede jacket, worrying the knap in one direction then working it
the other way.

Separated again because of her station. Alone with her
royalty. No longer a person, she was precious cargo, relegated to the back and
away from the “help”. Why did everyone think that if you wore the mantle of
princess, you wanted to be left alone? Too royal to consort with such mundane
concepts as friendships, and too emotional to be given responsibilities in the
court.

A humorless chuckle lodged in her throat. When she wanted to
be left alone, she was dragged into society, and when she wanted to be
involved, she was shunned. Thus continued the cycle of her former existence.

Several more miles passed with nothing but the whirl of
tires racing across the asphalt and an occasional murmur between the two men.
How she longed to be part of their conversation, no matter how brief and
unimportant it might be.

She leaned forward and the strap across her chest bit into
her breasts. She pulled it loose and tried again. “How long until we reach
Pinetree?” she shouted.

“Cedar,” Lucian replied. “The town’s name is Cedar. And
about thirty minutes.”

“And what do you do in Cedar?” More importantly who do you
do, she really wanted to know.

“Kristos and I work for a man named Harlan Kilsgaard. He
found us when we crashed landed and took us in, gave us his name and a
background. He owns a shop that sells outdoor sporting equipment and runs tours
down the river.”

That brought her up straighter in her seat. “Like whitewater
rafting? Really? Take me, please? That sounds like fantastic fun.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is not a vacation.”

“What are you expecting me to do, sit on my arse all day?”

“Yes.”

“Completely unacceptable. If you won’t take me, I’ll ask
Kristos.”

“He will be otherwise occupied.”

“Not all of the time, or he can take me after this Bale
business is taken care of.”

An unintelligible mutter passed from his lips. She was about
to ask him to repeat himself when he changed the subject. “The colonists think
Kristos and I are Harlan’s nephews from Norway. You two will be cousins who are
visiting us.”

“Kissing cousins?” she asked.

In the review mirror she saw Lucian’s lips tighten for a
second before a brief grin emerged and he gave his head a little shake. That
tiny crack in his venerable armor of irritation sent a shivery thrill to her
tummy and she wanted to make him do it again.

His eyes met hers in the mirror. “This may be an impossible
request, but can you try to remain inconspicuous?”

“Me? Why I practically fade into the wallpaper.”

He let loose a snort of laughter. “All you have to do is
walk into a room and you attract attention, that I am not oblivious to, but if
you can turn down your brightness, it will make protecting you easier.”

Was that a compliment? “I make no promises, but I can try to
not be so spectacular.”

Those green eyes of his sparkled and his suppressed laughter
tickled her exposed skin. “That is all I ask, Your Highness.”

“Shall I wear a shroud and communicate solely by hand
signals?”

“Perfect.” He looked at her again in the mirror and shocked
her with a wink. His smile widened when she laughed with her surprise.

Soon they came upon a sign that read
Cedar. Population
3552
. An anxiety of a different sort fluttered in her stomach and had her
fingers clutching the hem of her jacket.

Since landing on Earth, she spent almost all of her time in
the city. Occasionally one of her friends whisked her out on a weekend away to
another metropolis, but she never had the desire to explore Little Town, USA.
From what she had heard, the smaller the colony, the smaller the mind, and she
hated when anyone was discouraged from following their heart’s desires.

What would Cedar’s residents think of her, she wondered,
because she had no intention of remaining shut away the entire three days.
Isolation was as claustrophobic as a straitjacket and compelled her to do
irrational things. Besides, if she stayed hidden, how would she ever learn more
information about her new favorite obsession?

Hundred-foot pine trees gave way to tiny ranch-style houses
and picket-fence-lined roads. The thinner the trees grew, the more difficult
she found it to breathe. Why she wanted the approval of absolute strangers was
beyond her. She had thought that need to be accepted was long gone, yet a
single car ride brought a magnifying mirror up to the lie she had been telling
herself the last few years.

They rounded a bend and she spotted a dark wooden house with
the words Cedar Sports and Marine emblazoned across the roofline in big red
letters. As they approached, Kristos appeared on the deck accompanied by an
older man and a woman dressed in a tan uniform. The clothes may have been
designed for a man, but on her they emphasized the power of her femininity, and
her innate sexuality only added to her air of authority.

Envy curled around Amaryllis in a cloyingly bitter ache. She
didn’t need her powers of empathy to know Kristos and his wife had found their
perfect match in each other that went beyond their shared hair and eye color.
Their contentment smashed through the glass of the car window and slammed
Amaryllis in the chest.

What would it be like to have someone know you so intimately,
feel your every fear and desire and act upon them accordingly? The trust one
would have to place in the other was one of the most frightening things
imaginable. And yet she still had those girlish dreams to find someone like
that for herself.

Maybe in another lifetime.

Under the layer of the mates’ solidarity, Amaryllis picked
up the prickly sensation of apprehension, which made her smile. Whatever did
they have to be nervous about? She was the stranger intruding upon their world.
If anything, they should feel put out by the inconvenience.

Well, there was no need for all of them to be on edge. What
was the phrase? Yes, she’d take the bull by the balls and make everyone happy.

Before Lucian brought the vehicle to a full stop, Amaryllis
jumped out and raced up the porch steps.

“Kristosllanos,” she shouted and threw her arms around his
shoulders for a tight hug. She pulled back to place a kiss on each cheek then
laid her hands on either side of his lean face. “It is so good to see you.
Congratulations on your bonding. My mother would have been so happy for you.
She always thought of you as more of a son than guard. You know she would have
had the biggest, most lavish wedding gift created for you and be begging you to
produce babies for her to spoil.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” The words came out in a low,
harsh whisper and his eyes filled with tears. His chest expanded as if an
invisible heaviness rose from his body and he was able to breathe with ease for
the first time in a long while.

A matching sting blurred her own vision. To know he held on
to the guilt for so long angered her as much as it did cement her affection for
this fine warrior.

It should not have surprised her that no one held Kristos
more accountable for his unwitting role in her mother’s death than Kristos. She
had been en route to Earth when she had read the news reports in her
spacecraft. The accounts she had heard about his punishment and subsequent
banishment had broken her heart, for Queen Moira had loved her guard and would
have never wanted him hurt by the actions she had taken. The blame lay
elsewhere, and she hoped that Kristos would finally be able to put the past
behind him.

Hmm, it seemed both brothers still had a lot of healing to
do.

His Adam’s apple bobbed twice, then he managed a watery
smile and placed a kiss onto each of her palms. “It is good to see you too. If
I had known you were so close, I would have come to see you.”

She looked over her shoulder to see Lucian with his
ever-present scowl and shot him a tight smile. “Yes, I’ve heard my location was
a well-guarded secret. But enough about that, please, I want to meet your
wife.”