Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] (46 page)

raise the dome.

Darius’ look grew almost hostile. “Your plan is faulty, Tara. You have erred in

running out of fuel, and you have no food. I am not stopping you, but I will guide you

to make sure you make no further mistakes.”

Tara shook her head. “I’m the one who will talk to the Lunians. You don’t need to

be involved.”

“I don’t want to be involved, woman.” His eyes flashed fire. “This was your idea,

not mine. I don’t know what possessed you, I don’t. Tasha took the kid to the Southern

continent. Why wasn’t that good enough for you?”

“I made a deal with Polva,” she began, but immediately regretted it, when Darius

looked stunned.

“You did what?” Now he grabbed her hand. His grip was like steel.

“I told her I’d get her a child. She wanted a child from you and me, but I convinced

her that wouldn’t happen. So she agreed to take a child that was your bastard. In return,

she’d allow you to rescue the prisoners,” she blurted out the words, looking at her

throbbing hand.

Darius stared at her.

She couldn’t tell if he was speechless or too mad to speak, so she continued, “You

think it’s good enough that Tasha took that kid out of Gothman country? You think I

don’t know that Tigo was your grandpapa’s name? She has every intention of making

sure this kid knows he’s the son of a lord—with a title to claim.”

“Allowed us to…” He either ignored what she’d just said or hadn’t paid attention.

“I guess they underestimated what we were capable of, they did.” He smiled now and

pulled her to him. “My lady, we destroyed them, we did,” he whispered in her face,

then pulled her closer and brush a kiss across her lips. He settled her on his lap and

made love to her mouth with his tongue.

When he finally let her go, Tara fought for a second to regain her balance. He sat

straddled across the glider, his long muscular arms once again gripping the handlebars

with gloved hands that had just ravished her body. She stared at his chest, at the blond

curls tangling around his face, and finally into those dark, possessive gray eyes. In spite

of the seriousness of her mission, she wanted the man, but she knew that would have to

wait, and her body cried in retaliation.

“Okay, Tara.” He revved the motor on the glider. “You win, you do. This child will

disappear. I’ll be right back, yes.” Then he was gone.

She glanced at Tigo, then began looking for something she could use to clean off the

banana he’d smeared all over his face, including his right ear.

By the time she and the baby had eaten their fill and she’d cleaned up the area,

Darius had returned. She looked over her shoulder when the sound of another glider

caught her attention, and she realized he had company. A second vehicle rode

alongside him through the trees.

As they grew nearer, she saw Brev driving the second glider with Polva sitting

behind him. Polva strained to see past Brev, and Tara watched as the woman pointed at

her.

Tara picked up the child and stood as they pulled near her.

The domes opened and Polva jumped out. She literally ran to Tara and grabbed the

baby from her arms.

Tara felt disgusted by the woman’s lack of manners and respect. The urge to yank

Tigo back from her consumed Tara for a moment, but she doused the feeling as quickly

as it surfaced. The time had arrived for the baby to disappear from their lives, and this

bitch played a necessary role in that happening.

“Brev, he’s perfect.” Polva turned to go to her husband

But Darius intercepted, taking the child from her.

Polva reached for the child. “He’s mine.”

Only Polva had the nerve to speak to Darius like that. How spoiled she sounded.

Tara found it hard to hide her disgust.

With one look, Darius had Polva cowering toward Brev. Tara watched Darius pull

several folded papers from inside his jacket and hand them to Brev. “Sign these, then

you can have the child, yes.”

“What?” Polva looked at Tara. “We had a deal. You didn’t say anything about

signing anything.”

“The child isn’t hers to give away, no,” Darius spoke before Tara could say that

Polva hadn’t held up her end of the bargain, either. “If you want him, sign these, I say.”

Brev looked over the papers. He looked up at Darius and nodded. “I see what

you’re doing. We sign these and this child has no past, no bloodline, and no ties to the

Gothman throne. He takes on our bloodline and can never know otherwise.”

“Who cares about any of that?” Polva rolled her eyes as if the whole thing were

stupid. “Sign the damn things and let’s get out of here.”

“What’s this?” Brev had reached the bottom of the agreement and again looked at

Darius. This time he looked guarded. “This says we can’t settle any land on the western

side of the mountains. Any Lunian found west of the mountains will be shot on sight. Is

that necessary?”

“Yes,” Darius said.

“Whatever.” Polva tapped the papers with her finger. “Sign them.” She eyed Tigo

and licked her lips, then bit her lower one.

Tara felt conflicting emotions tear through her. Polva didn’t deserve to be a mama

to any child. She wanted to grab Tigo and run, get him away from the likes of that

woman. But Tara knew this to be a means to an end. Tigo would disappear from their

lives, never to know his heritage, and never to be allowed to cross the mountains.

She wanted Brev to sign the papers so she and Darius could get out of there. Be done

with it.

Brev signed the papers.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Tara read a copy of the contract that Brev and Polva signed as she and Darius flew

toward the mountain range that now separated Gothman and Runners from the

Lunians. Darius had put some work into the contract, or someone had. Had Torgo

written it? Maybe Darius told him what he wanted it to say. Tara wondered when the

time had been taken to create it.

The contract stated that Brev and Polva agreed they’d adopted a child with no

known family history. Any resemblance the child had to anyone on Nuworld was

completely coincidental. Both the baby’s mama and papa were deceased. There were no

known relatives.

Tara finished reading and couldn’t help but smile as she saw how well Darius had

severed all connections with the child.

She thought back to the last few hours. Darius hadn’t seemed surprised to see her,

and he knew exactly what she was doing. When and how had Darius discovered her

plans? Tara knew if she asked him about it, he’d tell her a good leader always knew

what was going on in his kingdom.

Darius had offered her that standard response too many times in the past, when he

didn’t feel a need to enlighten her of his methods. So had he created this contract when

he found out her intentions? She doubted she’d ever know the truth. Tara conceded that

her curiosity was piqued in the matter, but she wouldn’t press Darius for answers. She

wished to simply put closure on all of this. Now little Tigo couldn’t threaten her

children, and that was all that mattered.

“And what is this?” Tara sat behind Darius on the glider and propped the contract

against his back. She tapped the contract with her finger.

“Is there a discrepancy, my lady?” Darius stroked her thigh with one hand, while

maneuvering the glider with his other hand.

“It says, Those who sign below acknowledge the law and power of Gothman. All Gothman

borders will be acknowledged without exception, and crossing to the west side of the mountain

range shall be deemed as entering Gothman territory, with consequences resulting as stated

above.” Tara read the contract out loud.

Darius nodded. “As it shall be.”

“Gothman just got a little bit larger.” She handed back the contract.

“Our people have been through a lot, they have. Recovery will be slow. They

deserve a little something to show them we triumphed in the end, they do.”

“You always see to it that Gothman thinks it’s a little better than everyone else,

don’t you?” Tara wrapped her hands around Darius waist and hugged him.

He squeezed her hands and rubbed her forefinger with his thumb. “That’s the true

secret to being a great leader, my lady.”

She rested her head against his shoulder blade and relaxed her body. As she fell

asleep, she felt complete forgiveness and undaunted love for him. He’d shown her how

little that child meant to him. And, rescuing her when his people were in jeopardy

showed her where she rated on his list.

A slight jolt raised Tara from a dreamless slumber. She felt groggy and incoherent

for a moment. When Darius lifted her off his bike and into his arms, she woke up

completely. The masculine smell of him, a mixture of leather and sweat, consumed

Tara. Without thought, her body reacted and moisture spread between her legs. And

although Tara didn’t doubt her love for Darius was as strong as her physical desire for

him, she felt a pang of regret at the realization that she still didn’t completely trust him.

Tara straightened to free herself from his hold, but Darius’ arms tightened around

her. “Relax,” he whispered in her ear. “Remember, I’m supposed to have just rescued

you from the Lunians.”

Tara laid her head on his shoulder and allowed her eyes to take on a blank stare,

though she paid attention to everything she saw as they approached a makeshift

hospital tent. Darius had brought Tara to where all the other rescued Gothman and

Runners were being cared for. Around them, a field buzzed with activity, and two other

large tents sat nearby.

“Here. Bring her over here.” It was Torgo’s voice.

“How is she?” Dr. Digo appeared at Darius’ side and looked at her face. “Is she in

shock?”

“She’ll be fine,” Darius said in his quiet baritone.

“Tara!” Reena ran to the side of the cot Darius laid her on. “My lands, girl, I’ve been

worried about you, I have. Let me take a look at you.”

Tara tried to sit up, but was immediately guided back to a reclining position by

Reena’s hand. She noticed Syra sleeping in a cot next to hers. A thin sheet was pulled

around the two cots. Dr. Digo, Torgo, and Darius stood gazing down at her.