Laura Jo Phillips (33 page)

“Of course you do,” Olaf said.  “You are intelligent, and you are also a warrior.   We will not try to change you.  Why would we want to make you other than you are?  We love you.”

“All right,” Aisling said.  They seemed to understand her.  If they didn’t, then she would deal with it when and if it became an issue.  For now, she was discovering just how pleasurable it could be to have three men bathing her.  By the time they were finished, she was aroused all over again, but in a more relaxed way, without the urgency and need she’d felt earlier.

When they were sure that they had rinsed her thoroughly, Rudy opened the shower door and led her out.  He wrapped one thick towel around her body and urged her to sit on a small stool, then used another towel to rub her hair dry.  She started to object, then remembered what he’d said.  If he’d waited that long to wash her hair, she wasn’t going to tell him he couldn’t do it.  Instead she relaxed and allowed herself to enjoy the sensation of his gentle hands in her hair.

By the time her hair was combed, she was having difficulty keeping her eyes open.  Rudy picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where he laid her gently on the bed.  He covered her with a soft blanket and tucked it in around her.

“Just wait right here,” he said, giving her a light kiss on the nose.  “We’ll be back very soon.”

Aisling smiled sleepily as she watched him walk away, admiring the way he walked, the play of muscles in his back and buttocks.  Then her eyes closed and she knew no more.

Chapter
29

The next morning Aisling awoke to the feel of warm bodies on both sides of her, and beneath her.  She opened her eyes and found herself looking directly into Rand’s dark brown eyes, and smiled.

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.

“I don’t quite know yet,” she replied.  “Happy, that much I do know.”

“Excellent,” he said.  “Anything else can be fixed.”

She laughed and raised her head, already knowing that she was lying on top of Olaf.  “Good morning,” she said.

“Good morning to you, Arima Gryphon,” he replied with an air of satisfaction. 

Aisling rolled that around in her mind for a moment and decided she liked it.  She liked it a lot.  She leaned up to kiss him on the jaw, then turned to her right.

“Good morning,
tia-flam
,” he said, leaning towards her.  He kissed her top lip, then her bottom lip, then kissed both at the same time. 

“You are gorgeous even when you awake in the morning,” he said.  “I must say, I find that hairstyle particularly creative.”

Aisling raised one hand to her hair, then took a swipe at him which he easily dodged.  She’d gone to bed with damp hair and, from the feel of it, it had dried in some very interesting shapes indeed.

“Perhaps I should retreat,” Rudy said as he slipped off the bed, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

“Don’t come back without a peace offering,” Aisling said with a mock scowl.

“Hmm...would coffee work?” Rudy asked.

“It might,” she said.  “If it’s any good.”

“Luckily, the staff of the Kontuan serves very good coffee,” he said over his shoulder as he walked away. 

“He’s gonna be a handful, isn’t he,” Aisling said.

“Yep, I’m afraid so,” Olaf agreed.  “Always has been.”

“Well, I already love him, so there’s no going back now,” she said with an exaggerated sigh.

“Be nice, or I won’t share this coffee with you at all,” Rudy said.

She turned to see him standing beside the bed with a mug of steaming coffee and a plate.  She rolled off of Olaf and sat up, pulling the sheet up to cover herself.  She didn’t feel quite relaxed enough to sit in bed drinking coffee in the nude just yet.

As soon as she was situated, Rudy handed her the mug and set the plate on the bed before her.  She sipped the coffee and sighed.

“Wonderful coffee and a chocolate muffin,” she said.  “You are forgiven most completely.”

“I’ll have to remember how easy it is to bribe you,” Rudy said with a grin.  He went back to where a large tray with a coffee carafe and more muffins sat on a table in the corner of the room.  He poured three more cups of coffee and Rand got up to help him carry them to the bed, along with the plate of muffins.  Aisling waited until they were all settled with coffee and muffins before taking a bite of hers.

“How far are we from Rathira?” she asked after a few minutes.

“Four days, at last check,” Olaf replied.  “Three days ahead of schedule.”

“Have you received any news from Jessi?” she asked. 

Aisling was looking at Olaf when she asked the question and she saw no hesitation in his eyes or his manner, but she sensed it nonetheless.

“Tell me,” she said.  “Please.”

Olaf gave her a startled glance, then smiled.  “It may take awhile to get used to having an Arima who can sense my emotions.”

“Sorry,” Aisling said, dropping her eyes to her plate.  “I can’t help it.”

“Shhh,” Olaf said, placing one finger beneath her chin and pressing upward so that she would look at him.  “There is nothing for you to be sorry for,
bilara
,” he said.  “We love it.  We have waited for it forever.”

Aisling felt his sincerity, and smiled.  “So, what did Jessi say?”

“She sent a message about a week ago, saying that she had confirmation that Urwin had left for Rathira sooner than we thought,” he said.

“How much sooner?” she asked.

“A week,” Olaf replied.  “However, we are a bit ahead of schedule.  By our calculations we will get there within a couple of days of him, maybe less.”

Aisling thought about that as she finished her coffee.  “Well, there isn’t anything we can do about it,” she said finally.  “Either we are in time to catch him, or we aren’t.  We’ve done all we can.”

“There is something else we would like to discuss with you,” Rudy said after refilling her coffee cup. 

“Yes?” she asked.

“It’s about the soul-link triad,” Olaf said.

“The what?”

“The ceremony we must perform in order to transform you from human to fully Clan Gryphon,” he explained.

“Oh, all right,” she said.  “What about it?”

Olaf explained the procedure carefully, the different stages and their purposes.  When he was finished she sat quietly for a time, thinking.

“As I understand it, the only real problem with this is the second stage, correct?”

“Yes,” Olaf said.  “We need a way to put you into a deep sleep, and keep you there until that portion of the transformation is complete.  We have some small talent in Water magic, but we are concerned it may not be enough.”

“What if you had help?” Aisling asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Karma’s first psychic talent is putting people to sleep,” she explained.  “Some people more easily than others.  I’m just wondering if you think that the four of you, working together, might be able to keep me in a deep enough sleep.”

“It’s certainly possible,” Olaf said.  “We would want to test it first though.”

“All right,” she said.  “If we test it and it works, how soon can we do it?”

“We can do it whenever we wish, so long as we are assured of your safety,” he replied.

“So, tonight?”

“You want to do it that soon?” Olaf asked in surprise.

“Why not?” Aisling asked. 

“I don’t know,” Olaf replied.  “I suppose I thought you would want to think about it first.”

“Olaf, you three are the men I love, the men I am meant to spend my life with,” Aisling said.  “I am your Arima.  What is there to think about?”

“Very well,” Olaf replied.  “We certainly have no objection.  In truth, knowing that you are fully gryphon when we reach Rathira will ease our minds.”

“Why?” Aisling asked.

“Because you will have the ability to shift into a beast that no man can harm,” Rudy said.

“And you will be extremely difficult to kill,” Rand added.  “Most injuries will heal almost at once.  You will need to avoid energy weapons, and magical weapons, but I doubt there are many of either on Rathira.”

“You guys don’t have a lot of confidence in my abilities as a warrior, do you?”

They all sensed the hurt hidden beneath her light, almost flippant question.

“
Bilara
, we have every confidence in your abilities,” Olaf said.  “We only fear to lose what took us so long to find.  We will feel better, but it is not because we doubt you.”

Aisling smiled, sensing his sincerity again.  “All right then, you can tell me more about the perks of being a gryphon later.  Right now I want a shower.”

She set her cup and plate on the bedside table, then remembered that she was naked beneath the sheet, and there were no clothes in sight.  She hesitated for a moment, then remembered the lessons that Karma had given her.  Did she dare? she wondered.  Yep, she replied to herself.  She dared.  She dared a whole lot. 

She smiled at her men, then tossed the sheet aside, focusing on moving her arm in the liquid, boneless way that Karma had taught her.  She arched her back just a little, lifted her chin and pulled her shoulders back as she turned and slid her legs off the bed, pointing her toes to accentuate the long muscles in her legs.  Moving as gracefully as she could, she stood up, arms relaxed, hands just so. 

Then, just for fun, she raised her arms high above her head and stretched luxuriously, bending one knee so that her hip cocked to the side, displaying the long, lean lines of her body to what she hoped was the best effect.  She lowered her arms slowly, as graceful as a dancer, and peeked at them over one shoulder. Their mouths were open as they sat motionless, hands frozen half way to their mouths with their cups and muffins, their wide eyes glued to her rear. 

Very satisfying
, she thought. 
Very satisfying indeed. 

Now for the big finish. She took a slow deep breath and began walking, shoulders back, spine straight, hips loose and relaxed, one foot in front of the other.  This had been impossible for her to pull off well with her limp, but she had practiced it anyway.  Now she was glad she had.

She walked slowly, languidly, across the room and into the bathroom, turning around only when she was inside.  She glanced at their faces and almost burst out laughing. 
Oh yes
, she thought to herself as she closed the door,
very satisfying.

An hour later Aisling stepped out of the bathroom and looked around the room, wondering where her clothes might be.  She’d found her toothbrush and other toiletries in the bathroom, all put neatly away in the drawers and cabinets.  But not a single item of clothing.

Olaf, Rand and Rudy were sitting around a table in the far corner of the room, watching her as she stood there wrapped in a towel.

“Oh!” she said.  “I just remembered.  Did the tele-fabricators deliver my order before we left Jasan?” 

“Yes, they did,” Olaf replied.  “We took the liberty of putting your things away for you.  With the exception of one outfit which Karma refused to let us see.  She is keeping that with her.”

Aisling smiled at Olaf’s grumpy tone when he mentioned Karma and the outfit, but she didn’t comment on it.  Instead she crossed the room to the closet and flung it open. 

“Wonderful,” she said happily as she looked at the familiar items hanging there.  It had been so long since she’d worn her own clothing that she hardly knew what to put on first.  After a moment she reached in and selected a pair of black kevlex leggings, a sleeveless kevlex top with a mock turtleneck, and a black leather vest with silver buckles and lots of loops and small pockets.

She looked down and saw several pair of boots, each one designed for a specific purpose or use.  She reached for a soft, knee high leather pair in black, with silver buckles on the side and rubber-like soles.  When she turned away from the closet she was a little startled to see all three of her men standing a few feet away, watching her.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Not wrong,” Olaf replied.  “But we are very curious about your wardrobe.”

“Curious?  About my clothes?” Aisling asked, perplexed by the stern expressions on their faces.  “Why curious?”

“To begin with, why are they so small?” Rudy asked.  “Those pants aren’t large enough for the Dracons’ daughters, let alone you.  Neither are the tops.  We thought that the tele-fabricators had made an error, but when we asked Karma about it, she only laughed at us.”

Aisling grinned as she walked toward the bed and set her boots on the floor.  She put her top on the bed, then held up the pants.  “Haven’t you seen this fabric before?”

“No, though we did notice that it is quite soft to the touch,” Rand said.

“It’s called
kevlex
,” Aisling said.  “It’s a combination of fibers woven together in a special way, in the precise shape and size needed.  Look,” she said, stepping closer as she held the garment out for them to see better.  “There are no seams.  It’s made all in one piece, otherwise the integrity of the fabric would not be nearly as effective.”