Lost Heart: A Celta Novella (Celta HeartMate Series) (8 page)

H
is fingers unlinked
from hers and he ran his hands from her wrists to her shoulders, and he set them there. "Walker told me you were having problems with all the bonds of our Family."

"Yes, he helped me mute and slow the connections."

"Walker, as the head of the household, and I, as Chief of Security, have stronger links with the other members of our Family than most." Barton cleared his throat. "Previously, when we met and during the wedding ritual, I, uh, sensed you, uh, wanted Family."

"I do!"

"So I told the others, but none of us anticipated what happened."

"I understand. I told that to Walker earlier when he came to talk to me and my father."

Barton inched a little closer, his body pressing into hers. His body was ready for sex. She responded to that knowledge with knee weakening of her own, desire blossoming. His eyes narrowed and a gleam of satisfaction came into his gaze. When he spoke again, his voice was low and rough. "So we were both at fault. But we are wed now, with vows between us."

Vows! She hadn't thought of those when overwhelmed and weary, but she had given promises to Barton and a Licorice did not break promises. Lifting her chin, she said, "I'll say I'm sorry again that I left and hurt you."

"I'll say I'm sorry again that I didn't listen and support you. So. There." He smiled. "If we admit our mutual faults when we argue, it will go much better for us."

She slanted him a look and said precisely, "That is supposing that each of us will be at fault in our arguments, which is not necessarily true."

"There's that tartness I cherish." He grinned.

Since his grin riled her a little she put her fingers on his lips. Immediately he swept his tongue across them and she shivered with sensuality, her sex heating. More, her emotional center, so echoing and frigid this morning after she'd left him — filled and warmed.

He kissed her fingers, brushing them with his full lips. She set aside luscious sensation to think. "We were both to blame. And your Clover ladies—"

"
Our
Clover ladies."

She accepted the correction and rephrased. "Our Clover ladies shouldn't be blamed too much, either. Everything happened so quickly yesterday, such large changes in our lives . . . we reacted instead of taking charge."

He pulled her against his aroused body, but kept his gaze on hers. The beauty of his blue eyes squeezed something inside her. She'd never be indifferent to this man.

Keeping their glances locked, he said, "I wanted to do preparatory rituals, be ready for the ceremony and to be your husband. I wanted you to have a beautiful wedding. That meant letting the Clover wom— ladies organize it. I left the entire situation in their hands, so they might have decided they could intrude in our life. I'll do better."

She framed his face with her hands, liking the slight prickle of his beard. "I must do better, too." Drawing in a breath, she let it out with soft words. "We'll do better."

He bent his head and brushed her lips with his, a teasing reminder of the pleasure they'd share, that she hoped they'd share all of their lives. She prayed that the love that spun between them would deepen the passion of sex and every day their love would grow.

Just as she sank against him, he drew back, drilled his gaze into hers and said,:

She shivered at the emotion in his voice, murmured, "I'm not so very loath."

Barton put a hand on her derriere, his eyes fired. "Let's celebrate the ending of our first fight. Teleport us away!"

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hold on."

"Never letting go."

She teleported them to the pad near the front of D'Licorice Residence since she didn't know if anyone was inside. If one of her relatives was there, he or she might want to talk, and she didn't.

Barton released his wife slowly. He supposed they couldn't make love here in the front yard of D'Licorice Residence. The grove of trees, even in summer, didn't look thick enough to hide their activities. Though, by the Lord and Lady, he'd been semi-erect from the moment Walker had confirmed that Enata had agreed to meeting Barton.

Since his pride had taken some beating today, he figured hers had too. Talk about that later, now all he wanted to do was take his wife to bed.

"Where's the nearest bedsponge?” he demanded roughly. Her neck was right there, so he began to lick and nibble on it. She shivered in his arms and he felt the feedback from their link that told him, she, too, rapidly was becoming aroused.

Damn good.

"I take it that you believe we teleported well together."

"Didn't even feel the least bump of landing," he admitted. "But I don't have the Flair to 'port by myself. It was all you."

She shook her head. "No. You added main strength of Flair to our teleportation."

He grunted. "If you say so. Where's the nearest bedsponge?"

Laughing low in her throat, which only hardened him more, she separated so they only held hands and turned toward the graveled gliderway to the front of the Residence, a modest three-storied brick building with white shutters.

She began walking quickly and he kept to her pace though he wanted to scoop her up and run into the house and . . . to wherever her quarters were.

He paused at the door of the Residence. It was an intelligent Residence. He'd have to keep that in mind and not let his surging passion loose until they'd reached her rooms.

The polished wooden door opened smoothly and silently. A pace beyond the threshold the door closed and Enata stopped, tilting her head, then she told him mentally,
No one of my Family is here
.

He nodded. The weight of the age of the Licorice Family enveloped him.

"Will you introduce me to the oldest and wisest member of your Family?" he asked, spying the scrystone high in the wall that might give the intelligent house eyes.

"Certainly," Enata said. "D'Licorice Residence, this is my husband, Barton Clover."

"I am very pleased to meet you, GentleSir Clover," said the resonant tones of a male persona. "I am most particularly interested in you since it is my understanding that your children with Enata will be my Family."

Enata caught her breath, remarked, "One of Glyssa's and Jace's children could live here."

The Residence replied, "But you will be here in Druida City, dear Enata, and the younger Licorice-Bayrum Family will have their primary home in the east. May I congratulate you, GrandSir Clover, on your taste."

"Thank you."

"You can congratulate me on my taste, too," Enata said, linking arms with him as they took the staircase up, wider than that in his home, but still barely able to accommodate him and his wife. When he — they — chose another house in Clover Compound it would definitely have a staircase he could carry his wife up easily without worrying about bumping her head on the rungs or rail.

They reached the second floor, and turned right to the first door. "My rooms." She set his hand on the door latch and he felt a tingle. "My door will always be unlocked for you."

A matter of trust he didn't care to dwell on since he finally got her into his arms, looked for the door to the bedroom. "Residence, will you tell the Family,
our
Family, that we will be unavailable for the rest of the day and the evening and until morning—"

Something creaked rhythmically, the Residence sounding as if it made an amused cough-covering laugh. That pleased him, too. He'd get along fine with this being. He strode to the bedroom, saw it looked like Enata, pretty. He tossed her on the bedsponge set in a fine, carved wooden platform.

"Clothes off." And, yeah, her eyes widened as she got a look at his condition and she flushed.

W
hen they'd met
, he'd wondered how far those flushes went down her body, had had a need to know. He'd found out — whole body flushes — but he wanted to see that again.

"Ahem," said the Residence. "I am banned from 'watching,' recording, or scanning bedrooms while they are being used for intimate associations."

That caused Barton to hesitate. "Uh, good?"

"So I wish to remind you both that Glyssa and Jace will be leaving for the site of the excavation of
Lugh's Spear
, a half a continent away, tomorrow morning before dawn. I respectfully request that I remind you both before dinner hour so you can attend a last meal with the travelers."

"Of course," Enata said. She'd rolled from the bed and her clothes fell away. All thought vanished from Barton's mind.

"Uh, sure," Barton said, forgetting what he was agreeing too. Some important Family thing, so, yeah, gotta do it. Duty.

"The Residence will ensure no one bothers us," Enata said.

"Absolutely."

Barton, took her hand, yanked her against him, and proceeded to pleasure her and himself until they fell shattering off the cliff of climax and into sleep.

Finally, they spent the rest of the day in bed, pleasing each other, talking in the sunlight, eating three
ritual meals
from her sitting room no-time. They munched down slices of furrabeast wrapped in thick bread from Yule that would take place a few months in the future. As usual, the no-time had kept the food the exact same temperature as it had gone into the unit.

By Yule the Licorices and the Clovers would celebrate the holiday together, as well as individually, Barton was sure. Hell, together they'd celebrate New Year, Samhain, just a little over two months away.

He and Enata ate a very quiet dinner with her Family. No echoing children's voices inside or outside the house. Barton had never had a dinner with his Family that didn't include children. Sort of restful, but something he didn't want to do more twice a week. He thought the Licorices would be stunned and wild-eyed at spending more than one dinner a week with the Clovers.

He liked the talk, though, Family matters, Family plans that appeared to make Jace more uncomfortable than Barton. When he found himself alone with Jace walking in the back grassyard, watching that man's hawkcel Fam fly, then circle and light upon his shoulder, Barton felt comfortable with him. After all, they both loved the Licorice daughters.

For sure, he felt more at ease with Jace Bayrum than T'Licorice. At least Barton had scraped up enough poetry to satisfy both parents.

Nope, he hadn't done too bad, but was really glad when they all retired to bed.

The next morning timer bells all around the house rang before dawn and everyone piled out of their rooms to say farewell to Glyssa and Jace. Enata seemed uncommonly fragile for some reason, so like T'Licorice himself, Barton kept an arm around his wife's waist.

A couple of septhours later, Barton's calendar sphere sounded and pulled him and Enata from lazy drowsing.

"What?" Enata blinked sleepy eyes.

Propping himself onto his arm, he gazed at her, liking the looks of her in this bed more than his own. Yeah, he liked the atmosphere of this Residence just fine.

He pushed a tangle of hair from her face, let his calloused palm rest against her soft cheek. "Several people told me that we tend to be too serious."

She lifted to her elbow and the sight of her small breasts distracted him. He reached for a nipple. She batted his hand away and gave him a frown that didn't diminish the sparkle in her eyes. "Too serious?"

"Yeah, that." The clanging of the alarm from his calendar sphere reached ear-piercing levels. "I'm up," he shouted and it vanished with a pop.

Enata laughed and hopped out of bed. He admired her shapely thighs and nice ass. "You have a problem waking up."

"Sometimes," he muttered. "When I work too late the night before."

She nodded, walked to her wardrobe.

"Uh, too serious," he said. "Both of us. So I accepted GreatLady Danith D'Ash, the animal Healer's, invitation to a Fam Fair."

"A Fam Fair!" She whirled. Nice lean length, tidy breasts and curve of her hips, flat stomach.

He continued, "Danith is like an aunt to me, and she's been wanting to match me up with a Familiar animal companion." He grimaced, especially when Enata drew on a robe and covered her beauty. "I think that was her solution to me working too hard. Anyway, the Fam Fair starts—" He glanced around the bedroom to see the wall timer, which he hadn't noticed before. "In about half a septhour." Clearing his throat, he said, "Wouldn't you like to go?"

A considering look came onto her face, then she nodded. "Yes."

"It's supposed to be fun."

She nodded again. "Fun." Then she flashed him a smile. "Not as fun as being in bed with you, but fun."

"Totally agree. How many Fams do the Licorices' have? I know of Glyssa's fox and Jace's bird."

He sensed her inner thoughts flinching and he regretted the question, though she answered easily.

"The first bird Fam on record. Neither my parents nor I have Fams. The PublicLibrary itself, as an intelligent being, has had two cat Fams for as long as I can remember." She paused. "They aren't particularly friendly."

"All right."

"What about the Clovers?" she asked. "What Fams does your Family have?"

"Trif Clover Winterberry, who lives in the compound with her husband and children, has a very persnickety FamCat. Her husband's FamFox is the alpha of the den on Clover land just outside the Compound. Walker has a fox and his wife has a housefluff, one of the Celtan mocyn-Earth rabbit hybrids. What about you, would you like a Fam?"

"Three days ago, before we met and wed, I'd have been thrilled. But now I have you, and all the connections coming at me from the Clovers. You're enough," she paused, caring eyes meeting his. "You're everything I've ever wanted for my lover and husband."

A hugeness of feeling, of tenderness and humility, of love, filled him, and tightened his throat so he couldn't speak. He rolled from bed and went to her, lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. "Why don't we go to the Fam Fair, see what happens? Not be results orientated in this. No expectations."

She raised their linked hands to her mouth and kissed his hand, smiled. "No expectations."

"We're good?" he couldn't prevent himself from asking.

"We're fabulous."

T
hey arrived
at the walled park hosting the Fam Fair just before the door in the gate opened. People — mostly nobles and dressed too well for interacting with animals — didn't queue but spread out along the street. He kept his hand under Enata's elbow. He liked staying physically connected with her. "It's by invitation only."

"Oh."

Then the door swung open and a large youngster in his mid-teens stood square in the opening. A young girl rushed forward, handed him her invitation, he stepped aside, and she hurried in. After that, everyone strolled in an orderly manner into the fair.

The young man gave him a papyrus map. “We have about thirty Fams who decided to attend this Fair. Most of them are gathered together by type in an area or two . . . at least the pack and herd animals.” He cleared his throat. “Watch out for cats in the tree branches overhead.”

Barton and Enata laughed and moved down one of the winding gravel paths. His nose twitched at the multitude of smells. "From their scents I recognize foxes, cats, maybe even a dog or a horse or two."

"Oooh." Enata pressed against his side. "It will be fun."

They sauntered around, neither hurrying, enjoying the pleasant late summer's day. "I don't recall the last time I took a full day off and did . . . nothing."

She slipped her hand from his elbow to link fingers. "That's just sad, Barton."

"Yeah. I now have an excellent reason to keep my weekends free." He sent her a gentle leer.

They saw the girl who'd entered first holding a sweet-faced brown housefluff that she'd obviously bonded with. They smiled, walked over to the circular housefluff area — and all the Fams hurried to the far side.

"Huh," Barton said.

"They might have smelled the library cats on my clothes, and been afraid," Enata said.

"Fams know when other animal companions are intelligent. No eating is allowed," Barton stated. He thought about it. "In fact, I don't think I've even seen predatory Fams react that way to what would be, uh, prey in the wild."

Intelligent Fams do not smell or act like prey
, said a voice in his mind. Since Enata turned in the same direction as he, Barton figured she'd heard the Fam, too. A gray male wolf lounged under a big ash tree.

That sparked pure interest in Barton and he angled toward the Fam, projecting his thoughts,
Greetyou, FamWolf
.

The wolf met his eyes,
Greetyou, man
. His gaze slid to Enata and he dipped his head.
Greetyou woman who works in the place of knowledge
.

Greetyou
, Enata replied with nearly as much enthusiasm as Barton himself.

When they were about three meters away, the wolf stood and said,
Stop!

They did.

What's wrong?
asked Barton.

Narrowing his eyes, the wolf stared at them, this time Enata first, then Barton, then the lupine turned his back.
I am not for you and you are not for me. Go away.

Why?
asked Barton and Enata, streaming the same word, as well as curiosity and hurt toward the wolf.

You are not good people to bond with
.

Enata's shock echoed his own. His mind fizzed a little red, but she tucked her hurt and anger away and followed the line of questioning when he wouldn't have.

We ARE good people. We WOULD make good human Fam companions
, she insisted.

With an impatient huff, the wolf glanced at them.
I did not question your characters. I said you wouldn't make a good bond
.

Is it because we are bonded with so many other humans?
Enata asked.

That is not a consideration
, the wolf replied.
You smell odd. You the most, but the man, too
. Fur rippled down his spine like a human shrug.
The pattern of your vibrations are wrong, they will not allow for a harmonious bond to form. Probably not for you and any Fam companion at the moment,
the wolf ended trenchantly.
Go away and do not bother me
.

Since it looked as if the wolf would leave if they took another step toward him and Barton had moved through his irritation that the wolf had hurt Enata emotionally, he slipped his arm around her waist and they strolled to another enclosure.

This time two dogs sitting on pedestals stopped them and turned away.
Vibrations are wrong
.

So it went with the cats and foxes. They might not have spoken about vibrations, but none were interested in having Barton or Enata as a Fam companion.

This outing hadn't been as fun as he'd hoped. Especially when all around them animals and humans walked, or were carried, radiating delight at discovering a good Fam match.

Enata cleared her throat. "This is rather melancholy."

"I agree. I'd rather go back to bed."

She laughed and swung his hand. "Yes, let's. But it's a beautiful day, and this is a pleasant park, even if none of the Fams are ours, they're fun to watch. We don't have to hurry."

He beetled his brows at her. "No? It's been a while since we've loved."

"I'm sure that if we showed up at the Clover Compound or D'Licorice Residence, we would be expected to be sociable and not just disappear into a bedroom. I am
so
looking forward to going back to a nosey Residence or Clover Compound." Her voice laced heavy with irony.

"You have a point."

Mewww
. In their path sat a small ginger tabby kitten with one blue eye and one yellow eye.