Territory (27 page)

Again, Kya touched her head trying to remember. “I can’t…” She dropped her hand and looked up to him, “I don’t remember any of this. Briggs, I’m scared.”

“You are my mate. You have nothing to fear ever again.” He bent and kissed her lips gently, “There isn’t anything or anyone that I can’t or won’t protect you from. I’ll never let you go and I’ll never leave your side again.”

This
Briggs she knew. She remembered her unwavering defender.
Maybe this is real
.

“It is.” Briggs affirmed, carrying her to her soft bed in the grass. As he knelt and gently laid her in the grass, Kya grabbed his hand.

“How can I be sure? How do I know this is real?”

Staring down at her supple body barely contained in its satiny sheath, Briggs hardened at the thought of protecting her, of claiming her, of loving her.

He frowned down at her imploring and terrified eyes, “Because I love you, and I would never lie to you.”

“What...” Kya asked breathlessly, “What did you say?”

Briggs stroked a hand up to her bare shoulder, rounding over its warm soft curve and easing her back to a lying position. “I love you.”

Briggs ripped the two straps at her shoulders and without their slight support, Kya poured out of her bodice. The stiff peaks of her nipples seized at once by Briggs’ hands as he growled and took one pink bud into his mouth. Kya threw her head back and moaned. Before she could react, Briggs dropped a hand and was pulling up the hem of her long gown until her legs were free. He tucked a knee between hers, forcing her legs apart until he rested between her thighs, his hard desire pressed against her. He sat up and jerked off his jacket, tie and shirt.

Kya bit her lip as she devoured the sight of him. She lifted a tentative hand to his flat stomach.

Briggs inhaled sharply and growled before he leaned into her, forcing her back onto the ground as he reached down and ripped off her panties. One strong arm hooked behind her knee before pulling her leg up. Her breath caught as he slid into her with a purpose.

Kya gasped biting her lip then arched her back to accept all of him as Briggs found his pace.

As he rode her, his eyes devoured her supple body, and his hands and mouth followed suit. When they climaxed together, Briggs slumped over on her trying to steady his breath.

In an instant, Briggs was on his knees beside her, “Wait! It isn’t like that.”
“This wasn’t real? None of it was real?” She couldn’t control the sob that escaped her.

“Kya don’t…” He didn’t get to finish the thought.

“Get out!” Kya concentrated on throwing up the mental barriers she’d become so accustomed to using to keep him out of her thoughts.

A solid brick wall pushed up out of the ground to her left, sending clumps of dirt and grass raining down on her as it rose with a loud rumble to a towering height of near fifteen feet.

“Kya! It
was
real to me!” Briggs shouted, grasping her shoulders and shaking her in an attempt to get her to look at him.

“GET OUT!” Kya screamed as two final walls shot up around her, sending Briggs flying backward and locking her in an impenetrable solitude. “Get out, get out, get out,” she whispered as her body racked with sobs. “I hate you.”

Kya’s eyes snapped open and she sucked in a loud painful breath unaware she’d been holding her breath in her sleep.

Briggs was shaking her, his fingers painful where they gripped her shoulders. Kya was startled at the terrified expression on his face.

“Kya, are you alright?” He was standing at her opened passenger side door. Over his shoulder, Kya tried to catch her breath, notinge the faint orange glow on the eastern horizon indicating that it was nearly dawn.

Heat flooded her cheeks as she coughed a little longer than was truly necessary. Remembering the dream, she ground out through clenched teeth, “Get your hands off me.”

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Briggs didn’t take his hands from her shoulders, rather helped her to a sitting position.

Kya wriggled under his grasp trying to free herself from his touch. “As if you don’t know. I hope you enjoyed yourself because
that
will never happen again.”

Briggs dropped his hands from her shoulder, shoving an angry hand into his hair. “Look, I don’t know what you think just happened, or what I saw, or did, but I have no idea what you’re talking about. One minute we’re driving down the highway and then next you’re moaning then crying, then not even breathing. Christ, what were you dreaming about?”

Kya frowned at Briggs’ dumbfounded expression. “I know you can read my thoughts…my dreams, you already told me so. I know you were there Briggs.” She added in a whisper, “You know what just happened.”

“When I project my exhaustion onto you, you don’t just sleep for me, but dream for me as well. Dreams are just our subconscious sorting things. You’ve had to sort what I haven’t processed or wanted to deal with or think about. You’ve probably seen some of what I’ve been avoiding thinking about or going through for the past few days. It’s not all me of course. Your dreams were probably a mixture of both our subconscious minds trying to sort themselves out.”

“Why did you think I was dreaming of Reiner?” Kya kept her eyes focused on his, hoping to read the truth in them.

Briggs sighed heavily, “Because I don’t know what else would upset you to the point of not breathing.”

“You really weren’t there?” Kya asked lifting hand to the opposite shoulder in a display of vulnerability, “You didn’t see any of it?”

Briggs grabbed her small hand in his, “No, Kya. I wasn’t there. I didn’t read your dream. I have no idea what just happened, but I would love for you to tell me.”

Kya ignored the last statement, “Why should I believe you?” Her throat thickened with emotion. In her dream when she’d asked Briggs a similar question, he’d answered by vouching his love for her.
Would he…

“Have I ever given you a reason not to?”

Kya frowned at her own stupidity.
Of course he wouldn’t.
The answer to his question was easy enough to answer.
No.
Briggs had never given her any reason to not completely trust or believe him. After all, she couldn’t hold him accountable for what she’d projected in a dream… assuming he was telling the truth.

She pulled her hand free of his looking toward the highway, “We should get back on the road.”

Briggs smiled down at her, rubbing the back of his neck. “Actually I thought we’d stop here for a bite.”

Kya scanned their surroundings and discovered they were in the near vacant parking lot of a diner that sat just off the highway.

“So soon? We just started driving.”

Briggs shook his head and eyed her evenly. “We’ve been driving for two days. You’ve been out the whole time.”

“Jesus!” Kya’s eyes grew wide, “Every time I’m with you I seem to lose days at a time.” Feeling guilty about her harsh tone she continued, “You must have been exhausted.”

Briggs smiled knowingly, “That or you must have finally felt safe enough to get a good sleep.”

Kya didn’t deny it, instead she hopped down from the truck, her legs nearly buckling underneath her as Briggs caught her with strong hands.

“Easy. Take a second to get your legs back.”

Kya shoved at his hands, wincing when her flesh touched his. She didn’t want to feel his touch, not now, not so soon after what she’d just dreamt. “Don’t. I’m fine,” she barked. Shaking some of the fuzziness from her head she attempted to stride confidently from his grasp. She knew her slight wobble didn’t go unnoticed. She fought to walk straighter as she chanced a glance back over her shoulder. “Coming?”

Briggs shook his head, a smile crooking his lips. “Coming.”

The diner was the typical side-of-the-road dive. Worn stools lined a counter while booths sat in a row against the wall next to large windows. Kya took a seat at an empty booth and Briggs slid in across from her.

Feeling his stare Kya raised her menu until she was shielded from his view. After several minutes, the waitress returned with a pot of coffee, turning over the cups that were already on the table and filling them. “Ya’ll ready to order.”

“I am.” Kya answered slanting a glance at Briggs before speeding on. “I’ll have the lasagna with a house salad. Ranch dressing please.”

The waitress jotted down the order and turned to Briggs, “And for you big guy?”

Briggs smiled, “Same.”

“Well, that’s an odd breakfast.” The waitress sucked at her two front teeth, then turned from their table and yelled as she strode back towards the counter, “Robert, two lasagna platters.”

Alone and stuck facing each other Kya fingered the small saucer that held foil-wrapped pats of room temperature butter. Lost in the memory of the dream, Kya flicked the edge of the saucer, rotating it by slight degrees until Briggs grabbed her hand.

Briggs sat back in the booth, but still kept her hand in his. He turned to look out the window and Kya took the opportunity to stare at him. It’d been only a few short months since she’d last seen him, but her heart rejoiced at finally having him so near. He hadn’t changed at all. His incessant scowl still marred his handsome features, and his honey colored eyes kept transitioning from molten amber to steely black with the swing of his emotions.

He’s exactly the same,
Kya thought, her eyes sliding over the bulge of his bicep and down his strong banded forearm to the large hand that held hers captive.
Except for this.

When Kya looked up again Briggs was watching her. They simply starred at each other for the space of several minutes before Briggs spoke.

Kya’s mouth fell open and she pulled her hand from his. “I didn’t seduce you.
You
seduced
me!”

Kya dipped her head in embarrassment when the waitress returned and set two plates on the table. She smiled sheepishly having clearly heard Kya’s comment. “Anything else right now?”

“No.” Briggs growled then continued a more calmly, “Thank you.”

Kya kept her eyes down as she took up her fork and rolled a cherry tomato into the dressing that pooled under the lettuce on her plate before whispering, “Can we
please
not talk about this?”

“Fine. Not now.” Briggs took up his own fork, “But it will be discussed.”

Kya didn’t argue, just took a bite of her salad. A few minutes later, the waitress returned with two plates of steaming lasagna and a basket of garlic bread. In an effort to ease some of the stifling tension, Kya attempted small talk.

Under the guise of grabbing a piece of garlic bread, Kya stole a glance at him. He was chewing his food, concentrating too hard on his plate.