Lost Heart: A Celta Novella (Celta HeartMate Series) (4 page)

Jace gestured to the housekeeper who'd come up to watch Barton. Obviously a Willow, he straightened from his slump.

"Ten minutes," she said.

"I heard the first time," Barton said.

With a motherly hand, she patted his shoulder. He felt the warmth of strong Flair.

Smiling, she said, "I know the procedure even though this doesn't happen often. It's exciting!"

"Uh-huh." Jace opened the door and slipped through, Barton levered himself up and craned to see, but inside the chamber Saille just gave him a smug smile. Barton frowned and began to pace again — carefully.

E
nata had glimpsed a man
, but he'd moved so fast! Or maybe her eyes had blurred. What she'd seen of him, she'd liked. Tall, muscular, he had a masculine grace about him. Actor? She could live with an actor. Dancer? She loved to dance. A man from the arts, how lovely!

"Jace, is Bar– is the man pacing?" T'Willow asked.

"Yes."

"Good, the potion will take effect sooner. How did you persuade him to drink the potion?"

"I told him that he could return to his brother, the nag."

Enata heard chuckles from everyone else in the room, but frowned. Her . . . man . . . had to be
nagged
to meet her? When she'd been overjoyed to have an appointment with GreatLord T'Willow to find her husband?

Only the continuing buoyancy from the potion kept her from shriveling inside that her match didn't truly want her.

T'Willow walked toward the door and tilted his head as if he could hear the man — yet swearing? — beyond the door, then strode back to the window. "I'm sure that his brother is already traveling here as a witness to confirm this match." He bowed to Enata's parents. "As you are. All of you, please remain still when the gentleman enters."

Enata slid her tongue over her dry lips, seemed to taste musk with the tiniest hint of sweet.

"Is Enata's prospective husband a gentleman?" snapped her father.

"I told you I knew him, and I firmly believe you will be pleased," T'Willow stated.

"What are the ingredients in the potion?" asked Enata's mother.

Enata had some nags on her side of the Family, too. She smiled. If she and Glyssa hadn't nagged, provided research that an unwed Licorice turned angry and bitter, Enata wouldn't be here. But Licorices persevered until they found answers to their questions.

"What's in my potion?" T'Willow lifted his brows. "My professional secret. Nothing that will influence Enata against her will. Would you like a taste, D'Licorice? Any or all of you?"

"No!" Jace Bayrum exclaimed.

Glyssa sniffed loudly.

Enata's mother coughed. "Perhaps we can take samples home? For what this is costing?"

"Certainly." T'Willow moved toward his desk and tapped his scryscreen. "Mama," he said, "Please prepare some of the Recognition Potions for me." He aimed a smile at where Enata's mother must be sitting. "Two full tubes, one female and one male."

"Of course, Saille," a woman answered.

"Thank you."

The scryscreen pinged. "Here," said T'Willow.

A voice came. "I'm pulling into the courtyard, has the meeting between my brother and his match taken place yet?"

"No."

"Excellent. I will be there momentarily. I want to see him take the fall."

A thrill zipped through Enata, her breath came quickly. She couldn't wait with her back to the door, so she swung her chair around.

The door slammed open and her gaze fastened on the large and muscular male. Gorgeous man. Her blood hummed through her arteries and veins, heating her.

"Saille T'Willow, I hope you know what you're doing or I will beat your butt. I don't like being called in like a new guard." The man slapped his broad chest. "We've already had one consultation. I don't
want
another."

She had to stand.

His blue gaze went to her, did a quick scan and Enata drew herself into her best posture.

Then his stare met hers and Enata could
feel
the attraction weaving between them, fast and tight, an intense, colorful bond. Their breathing fell into rhythm. She grabbed the chair to steady herself as her mind dissolved into heated sparkles of attraction and drifted . . . towards him. Her blood pounded until other sound faded.

The very sight of him enflamed her senses.

Narrowing her gaze to
see
him through the haze draping her vision, tilting her head to feel his essence, she understood that they'd met before. But she couldn't place the setting. Not the library.

Another man came to the threshold, but Enata couldn't pull her stare away from the attractive hunk of male encompassing her vision.

Time passed, she didn't know how much, before she forced words from her throat. "I've seen you."

He nodded. "I know you. The librarian."

"Nice build," said Enata's mother. "But does he
read?
"

Still staring at Enata, her man smiled, causing her knees to weaken and she used the chair to keep her upright.

Then he quoted: "'Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?'"

Enata's father snorted. "A famous one line quote from the ancient Earthan, Shakespeare, that any man would know."

Without glancing at her father, Enata's lover softly recited:

She, beautiful? But his eyes had fired with glinting interest. She certainly thought him more beautiful and virile than any other man she'd seen.

"Well, well," said Enata's father. "More Shakespeare, from
Romeo and Juliet,
not auspicious."

"I promise, love, that we will not end as they did," rumbled the man to Enata. He held out his arms and she could do nothing but run into them.

They closed around her and he swung her from her feet and whirled her. Pure joy swept through her at the romance of him.

Then he set her on her feet. "Oh," she said, clinging to him, loving the feel of his hard muscles against her. For the first time in her life, she felt more like a physical being than mental or spiritual.

"Oh,
yeah!
" he said and yanked her into his arms, lifted her off her feet, and kissed her.

His essence enveloped her as he held her easily. Big and tough was her man, wider and taller than she and that comforted her. She felt down to her marrow, down in her melting core, that he could and would protect her and any children they might have. Strong like bedrock, solid and honorable.

He teased the seam of her lips with his tongue and she opened her mouth to him, as she heatedly yearned to open her body to him. His tongue stroked hers and she returned the caress, sucking lightly to pull the taste of him into her, identify the components of him, each and every one that sang "lover" to her. But that particular cataloguing escaped her as her thoughts misted and blew away at the sensations he caused in her body.

The scent of him, man, musk, green growing plants deeply rooted in rich soil whirled in her head.

He aroused all her physical senses, and with that stirring, promised a fulfillment she'd never known.

She
experienced
much more of him — the aura of a physically powerful man, a healthy man who used his body as a tool — his Flair, not great, certainly not equal to hers, but with a resonance, a rightness to it. Yes, he complemented her in many ways, and she longed to explore fascinating differences between them.

Enata Losa Licorice!
snapped her mother, shattering the moment.

He jerked, too, her man.

The man she thought she'd loved at first sight, as he had declared. Whose name she didn't know.

"Lord and Lady, Walker, stop the yelling in my head, already!" Enata's man said. He let her slide down his body and the feel of his thick, hard erection had her catching her breath and making her weak enough that she leaned against him. He took a pace away from her, and she stiffened her legs, but his arm didn't circle her waist. No, his hand curved over her bottom.

Facing her parents, and her sister and her HeartMate, and T'Willow, and another man as tall as her lover but with lighter hair and finer features, Enata struggled to control her breathing and an embarrassed flush. A full body flush, but thankfully only noticeable on her face.

The male newcomer, her lover's brother, began to laugh. “You’ve fallen hard and fast.”

"Not funny, Walker."

"Oh. Yes," gasped Walker. "Yes. It. Is." He shook his head. "Lady and Lord, when I think of the nagging, the blackmail, the
deal
I had to make so you'd consult with Saille—"

Her mind clearing, her emotions settling, Enata stepped away from that large palm cupping her backside. He hadn't wanted her? "Is that so?" she asked, focusing her attention on the man called Walker.

Then she stifled a gasp as she recognized him. Walker Clover. The first noble Clover. He'd risen to GrandLord a decade ago, a man of incredible potential. Great nobles spoke of him as being the Captain of All the Councils someday — the most powerful man on the planet.

"Walker Clover, and his brother Barton Clover," Enata's mother breathed, her face shining. "With a Clover there is the prospect of many children."

Enata's father looked sour. "And they may be conceived right here before us. The guy had his hands on my daughter's derriere, and I know that glint in his eye."

Even more blood surged to Enata's cheeks. She glanced back at Barton whose gaze had fixed on her.

Barton stared at the woman before him, the only woman he'd seen when he'd walked into the room. His fighter's sense — and other senses, like smell — had told him two other women were in the room. He also knew that three men impinged on his space when he'd entered: Saille T'Willow, friend; the adventurer and an older man. None of them could take him.

Now Walker had pushed Barton into trouble with his less-than-smooth words, making it sound like he didn’t want his lady. Dammit!

Barton's beloved stared at him with anger and hurt in her eyes. The bond between them that had been so open and warm —
hot
with pleasurable sensation — constricted. Her admiration of his form, her delight in his poetry, and her gratitude at having a wonderful match — those feelings slowed. Because he hadn't wanted a woman in the past, had fought the matchmaking.

He sidled a half-pace toward her, gave her his most winning smile, the one showing the crease in his left cheek.

With his most sincere look, one that came from his heart, he said, "I had my doubts. Before I met you." Reaching out, he grasped her hand. Oh, yeah! That crackle of energy between them triggered more aching desire. Made him want something more than sex, true
bonding
with this one woman. He needed her, now. Needed to be in her now, especially since she'd drawn away from him.

He scanned the room, spotted the long couch. Another pace and he had his arm around Enata's waist and quickening passion filled him. Her body became supple under his arm and she moved with him as they danced, touching, retreating, touching longer and harder, toward the fulfillment of desire.

That couch looked exactly right. He drew her in that direction.

Saille Willow stepped in front of him with raised brows and a smirk. "Your brother is here. And Enata may wish to introduce you to her Family."

Barton jerked to a stop. Brother. Walker. Barton could take Walker, lay him out and Saille, too, just as long as he got to that couch with his lady.

But she'd stiffened and a curse rose in his brain.

Family,
the word whispered from her mind to his. He vaguely recalled that not only Walker and Saille were here, but a couple of females. Who, though he'd like to get rid of, he couldn't actually force to leave. And that would take time and break this wonderful spell he tightly held on to.

"Barton!" Walker's tone of command, which Barton ignored. Saille T'Willow stayed in front of him. Hell. Didn't sound like he and his woman were getting horizontal on that couch.

"Enata!" Another command tone in an older female noble accent and the last of the pliancy of his lady in his arms vanished.

He looked down at her, squeezed her waist. The more he touched her, the more he liked it. From the feedback through their newly formed bond, the more she wanted him to keep his hands on her. He could do that. He liked how their link expanded, strengthened, tightened, settling deeper into both of them, the longer they connected physically.

But she was ready to step away and others circled around him, blocking him, them, from the couch.

W
ith a thump
of breath exiting his lungs, Barton relinquished the immediate satisfaction of sex and began to think. As lust fog cleared, one name anchored into his brain. "Enata?" he asked.

She reacted to her name on his lips, shivered with heightened sexuality. Too damn bad they weren't alone. She shifted from foot to foot, a bad habit. Yeah, unfortunately he was thinking again.

"Enata Licorice, FirstLevel Librarian," she said, her wide pupils showed against emerald.

"A name as beautiful as you." Still holding her, he gave her a half-bow. "Barton Clover, your future husband."

"Chief of Security for the Clover Family," Walker said.

A spark of knowledge in her brain filtered to Barton —
Chief of Security, fighter, explains muscularity, graceful movement, complete manliness.

He grinned, really wished the room was only theirs. Espec-ially when an older man, obviously a nobleman and Enata's father, took the matchmaker's place in front of them.

"Greetyou, Barton Clover." T'Licorice bowed, and his bow said a lot of things. He was an older GrandLord acknowledging a younger man. And that younger man, Barton, was brother to a GrandLord but did not have a title himself.

"Papa!" Enata scolded, so Barton got the idea that T'Licorice didn't usually act so formally.

Evidently the guy didn't like him. Probably thought he and Enata moved too fast. This
was
a matchmaker's office, and they'd brought their daughter in. What had they expected? And nothing and nobody's opinion and actions except Enata's would stop Barton from being with her, claiming her, sweeping her off to his house.

But his neck burned in embarrassment that his standard quick thoughts had mired in passion, and his physical reflexes stalled. He returned the bow. "Greetyou, T'Licorice." Reluctantly he slipped his arm from Enata's waist to grasp her fingers and make a deeper bow to Enata's mother who he recognized as the holder of the Licorice title. "Greetyou, D'Licorice." Enata appeared to take after her mother more than her father in coloring and manner. A stiffer, more logical, less affectionate woman. Give Barton and the Clovers a few weeks and she'd loosen up.

"Hey, brother." Walker buffeted Barton on his shoulder, leaned down and kissed Enata's cheek. "Welcome to the Clover Family, Enata Licorice. Call me Walker."

So
now
Walker went all smooth, but he also spread an aura of approval and satisfaction that encompassed them all. Most of them smiled. Not to mention Walker streamed warmth and affection and excitement from the whole Clover Family because Barton had found his wife.

That had Enata relaxing, sensing through her bond with Barton all the love that bound his Family together.

Walker glanced around at everyone, paying more attention to them than Barton. His focus remained on his Enata. "All of you, call me Walker, it's easier."

"A spouse found for my Enata so quickly," plainted Enata's mother.

Barton wouldn't let the tiniest objection stand. He angled toward Enata, and his gaze caught on the beauty of her again, the narrow face with big deep emerald eyes, the red-auburn hair, her elegant, supple body. Her intelligence and honor. Yes, he sensed those, too.

He sent his wonder at the whole of her along their link, rubbed his chest. "You're here. You're just here, already in my heart. It only needed seeing you."

She blinked away tears. He understood the emotions she received from him through their instant bond filled her, easing some inner loneliness and emotional ache. He squeezed her fingers, still linked with his as their other connections continued to develop.

"I think the potion had something to do with having Barton fall in love with Enata immediately," Jace Bayrum, the adventurer, muttered. Barton hadn't forgotten the guy was in the room, but had discounted him. Barton swung around to snap at him and stopped at the sight of people standing in the hallway. A couple wore Willow livery, but he swallowed as he saw his parents. Either Walker had brought them or they’d heard the news and come on their own. Dammit.

They beamed love and pride at him, though his mother wept. He'd be the last of her five children to marry. He winced inwardly at the pain he'd caused her. Done now.

Enata had turned with him and she gave a little gasp.
Your parents! What if they don't like me?

He heard her mental voice clearly and tightened his grip on her fingers.
Like my brother, they already accept you as part of the Family.
He paused, glad he could speak with her telepathically so quickly and easily.
Now, on the other hand, your folks don't like me too much.

Papa? Mama?
he heard her send to her parents . . . so Barton and she were that close already . . . if he didn't love her so much, he'd be wary. Especially since he'd begun to link with the rest of her Family.

The older man's face relaxed into more amiable lines. He offered his hand. "Welcome to the Licorice Family, Barton Clover. Enata is our heir. She will be D'Licorice one day. Should you wish to live with us, our Residence is available."

T'Licorice continued to poke at Barton. He was the Chief of Security, and had to live in the Clover Compound.

And, yeah, the Clovers had the unique Compound, row houses around three blocks, all accessed from the courtyards,
but
the Licorices had an intelligent Residence. An intelligent house spoke of the Family's longevity. Barton thought the PublicLibrary was self-aware, too. It'd be another hundred and fifty years before the original Clover house could think for itself.

"You can be the Licorice Head of Security," D'Licorice offered and Barton didn't know whether she was being snide or not.

He coughed gently. "I have my own personal house in the Clover Compound."

Enata glanced up at him, brows down. "A whole house? For yourself only?"

Swinging her and catching her other hand, he smiled down at her. "For you, too, and our children."

Her eyes glazed a little.

"There are plenty of Clovers. We don't have to start our own personal family too soon. Plenty of time for loving before children."

"I . . . that sounds wonderful," she whispered.

Barton began to feel more in charge. He dropped her hands, set his arm around her waist, picked her up and set her so their sides touched and they faced her parents, couple to couple. He met their eyes, nodded to them both. "And there are how many of you?"

"Four," T'Licorice said.

"Four," Barton said flatly. He pivoted in place and looked at every member of her Family. "There are nearly two hundred Clovers." He glanced at Walker who just raised his brows, like he expected Barton to deal with the living arrangements situation.

A very touchy conversation that affected Enata's future, his future, the future of both Families. "The numbers of my Family make my responsibility to them weighty." And the images of Savi and Balansa, who'd he'd continued to look for, and whose disappearance still haunted him, rose to his mind.

Enata wrapped her arm around his waist, sent him comfort through their connection.

"I need to be at the Clover Compound for now." He looked down at Enata. Yes, she
would
be a helpmeet and a partner. "My lady must stay with us, too."

"I agree." Enata stuck her chin out. "For the first month perhaps. Then we can consider alternating our living arrangements. Like many other noble homes built soon after colonization, D'Licorice Residence has plenty of space," she said aloud. Privately, and not looking at him, she said,
Living with only you is an odd notion. I've always lived with my Family.

He replied mentally,
I lived in my parents' house until I chose my own and we finished it.
There are several new homes if you would prefer a different area.
He didn't care for that idea since he'd chosen his house for the best placement to oversee the security of the Family, particularly Walker.
Or you — WE — can redecorate my — OUR — home.
As her mind shadowed with doubt, he grasped for a lure.
You know my cuz is the best interior designer in Druida City. I've saved my gilt, spend whatever you want.

She sniffed.
We are not a profligate Family.

You must feel at home in my house,
he sent. Intelligent Licorice house or not, he wasn't going to spend a lot of time there. Would
not
move into rooms there. The Clover Compound was his home and responsibility and he wouldn't give that up.

"Enata is my heir," her mother repeated and Barton got emotions from D'Licorice through her bond with her daughter. D'Licorice felt a near desperate fear of loss, a determination to fight anyone and everyone for her child, for the PublicLibrary legacy. And she felt great pride in Enata that wrenched at his love's soft heart.

Barton's gaze arrowed toward the sister standing with her HeartMate by the door. He said, "You have another child."

"You have
many
other guards," D'Licorice snapped back.

"I like my job," Barton said.

"I do too," Enata said. She straightened tall beside him. "We Licorices have a duty to the people of Druida City, to Celta itself."

Oh, yeah, he
experienced
that complete dedication from her.

He and Walker grunted at the same time, acknowledging the point.

Mixed loyalties. Barton gritted his teeth. They
could
work through that. Conflicting loyalties that tore them from inside and out would be more difficult.

The sister, Glyssa?, pronounced, "I cannot become D'Licorice. I will not be remaining in Druida. The community at the excavation of
Lugh's Spear
calls us."

Enata stared at her sister, believing her. Now that she'd focused on something other than her developing bond with Barton, she could sense all the other ties to her in the room. Her sister no longer considered Druida City her primary home, and Jace Bayrum, Glyssa's HeartMate, definitely wanted to be on the eastern frontier.

Which meant Enata
would
be the future D'Licorice, a title that had never, quite, felt within her grasp.

Walker Clover's aura seemed to expand throughout the room, touching them all. And Enata understood another essential fact. Walker, Barton, and the whole Clover Family had the ultimate goal of ensuring Walker became Captain of AllCouncils.

Enata's ultimate goal was different. Like every librarian on the planet, she was charged with preserving information for their descendants. Those goals might not be mutually exclusive, but she would
not
relinquish the primary objective of her life.

She felt a welling of . . .
love
. . . could it truly be love so quickly, at first sight? . . . from Barton. He dropped a kiss on her head.

Yes, the more they touched, the more concrete the bond set between them and the deeper the link sank into her inner self.

Still emanating authority, Walker said, "We can work all this out later. I'm sure
some
of our Family would like to apprentice themselves to you – and when Barton and Enata have children, you might choose one to follow you rather than Enata." Walker spread his hands. "The options are many."

"Yes, this can all be worked out later. Now we should celebrate an excellent match!" said the Willow housekeeper from the doorway. She brought in a tray of fizz-wine and flutes. The older Clover couple (who must be Barton's parents because he looked a little like both of them) scrutinized Enata, then beamed at her.

The Willow housekeeper poured the drinks and passed them around.

"To Barton and Enata!" T'Willow, the matchmaker, toasted.

A great wave of good wishes washed over her, through her, and Barton, too. Enata swallowed tears.

Everyone drank. Naturally the fizz-wine was top-of-the-pyramid. Since she still experienced a giddiness from the blue potion she'd drunk, Enata took only a sip.

This event had wrenched her life – her Family's lives – into changes she hadn't imagined, and so very rapidly. When she'd hoped GreatLord T'Willow would find her a match, she'd gauged that would happen from a month to a year, or longer. Not a few minutes after she'd arrived for the appointment. She glanced at the wall timer, less than seventy minutes, a septhour, had transpired since she'd walked through the door!

So very much change. The Licorices, in general, didn't roll very quickly or gracefully with great change.

After they drank, T'Willow bowed to Glyssa, then the older Licorices. "I believe you have a connection with GreatCircle Temple?" he asked.

"Yes," Glyssa replied. "My friend, Tiana Mugwort, is a priestess at GreatCircle Temple."

"You might scry her to arrange a wedding—" T'Willow began.

"Good, the marriage ritual can be tonight." In a quick move and with easy strength, Barton scooped Enata into his arms. Her nearly-full glass tilted and splashed down his chest and onto the thick Chinju rug.

Everyone laughed and Enata flushed again. Some of the heat on her cheeks even came from embarrassment. Mostly, being held and enveloped by Barton had desire surging through her body. She wanted those big hands running along her bare skin.

Barton said a couplet and his shirt warmed and dried beneath her. Walker took her glass and set it aside.

"A wedding ritual tonight!" her father protested, frowning at Barton holding Enata. “Usually engaged couples wait for a while—“

"No reason to wait, is there?" T'Willow asked gently. "The match is exceptional, the pair ready to bond, and the Clovers act expeditiously. I'm sure both Families have very efficient ladies who can organize—"

"The women–" Walker and Barton said together. They almost shuddered in unison, too. Enata felt the ripple of Barton's body against her. Nice muscles. Then she saw the jut of his chin. "I want to be married tonight. We
do
have a lot of women who can organize this."

"I must scry Tiana Mugwort," Glyssa said faintly.

"For sure," Barton said. He smiled with glee at Walker. "You alert the Clover women, Head of the Household. Make it happen."