Ultimate Passage: New Beginnings: Box Set ( Books 1-4) (33 page)

T
aya slipped away
from the cabin. Why couldn’t she have clarity? Simple answers? Nothing was simple any more. She didn’t need to relieve herself, but she absolutely did need to get away from her thoughts. She didn’t see the figure until it was too late and they’d collided.

Raiza grunted from the impact. Taya fought to keep from falling after the collision with the solid Kormic woman. The woman mated to Norn, Finn’s father. The woman who was the sister of the two men who plagued Taya’s mind. Corzine and Barz’s sister, Raiza. And the mother of little Feroz, her half-Asazi, half-Kormic child, fathered by Norn.

Raiza stabilized her with a steadying hand. “You seem to have purpose.” Her Asazi was thickly accented, but at least she spoke a language they had in common, because Taya didn’t speak any Kormic. According to Asazi law, no self-respecting Asazi did except for the soldiers.

Purpose. Taya’s smile was rueful. Did she have purpose? Perhaps that was the problem. She had no life purpose now. For many years she mentally prepared herself for Saraz. She was supposed to be Saraz’s, sacrificed to him to keep prosperity for the Asazi, but now she no longer was. And what she thought she was supposed to be was wrong. That was no monastery. And she was not in service to him. She was his concubine, there to service him. And though it made her happy to be gone from Saraz, gone from his temple, she also felt like she was aimless.

“No purpose.” She told Raiza, meaning that in more way than one.

“Then what is the reason you are rushing? And why was your expression so intent?”

“I have a few things on my mind.”

“You carry a great burden.” Raiza’s voice was matter of fact.

Taya wondered how she knew this. “Why do you say that?”

“Your life has seen a large change lately. Maybe more than one. And compound that with your feelings for my brothers.”

Curses
! Raiza knew. But Taya was far from ready to admit it. “What do you mean?”

Raiza put her hands on her hips. “Rather than denying it, why not simply help me understand what your dilemma is?”

Anger flared within her and she knew her skin wasn’t hiding her ire. “You just stated my dilemma. What more do you want me to say on it?”

“I do not really understand the problem. I see that you are attracted to them. I have knowledge that they are attracted to you.”

Them?!?
Raiza thought that Taya was attracted to Corzine as well? She looked at her but didn’t argue the point. She wasn’t sure she wanted to share any of her feelings. Not until she’d sorted them out. “And what? What are you suggesting?” Images ran through Taya’s mind. The images of the ménages at Saraz’s temple. Saraz, with multiple women, the insincerity, the lust, the uncertainty. “I am not looking to be a man’s play toy. Not any man’s. Or men’s. Not your brothers, no one’s. I will be more than that.”

Raiza took a step back. “I think you are making decisions based on judgments that are incorrect. I will not be the one to burst your illusions with the truth.”

Head high, pride evident, offense clearly taken, Raiza turned and departed, her gait secure.

Taya paused, leaned against the tree next to her. What in curse’s name just happened? How could she have offended the Kormic woman? She did nothing to impugn her brothers. She simply did not want to be . . . she thought on it. She did not want to be another concubine, there to do a man’s bidding as though that were her only mission in life. She climbed onto a low branch, sat quietly, surveying the camp they stayed in.

“It is rather nice up here, isn’t it? Peaceful. Out of the way.”

“Oh, by the gods. You scared me.”

Corzine. Glad for the darkness, she blushed a fierce red, very thankful he couldn’t see her color up here in the light-deprived leafy branches.

“I am sorry.” Like his sister’s, his accent was thick, but again, she was thankful that they’d learned the Asazi language from Norn.

“You heard?” She cocked her head. Had he? Would he tell her? Or would he lie? How would she know if he were?

“I heard you and my sister talking. I heard pieces and a few words. I am not completely sure about what.”

“Oh? So what words?”

He looked down, his rugged face handsome. Even with the spikes. Or maybe because of the spikes. Since when did she find Kormic men to be handsome? She hadn’t the faintest idea, but there was something about him. Something about Barz, especially. She shook her head, as if that would clear it.

“I heard Raiza say her brothers. I heard you say the word purpose.”

Other than Marissa, Corzine was the closest friend Taya had at camp. He was sweet, sensitive, kind, and not unattractive. A direct contrast to Barz’s dominant, extrovert, strong, and sexy self. Why couldn’t she be more attracted to Corzine? Things would be much simpler that way. Or would they? She was Asazi. Then again, his sister was with an Asazi man, and had a half-Asazi, half-Kormic child. It shouldn’t be too far-fetched an idea.

“I also heard you say dilemma. You have one? What is your dilemma?”

“Maybe we can barter.” Taya suggested.

“Barter for what?” Corzine shifted his weight in the tree, causing the branches to shake and creak.

“I’ll discuss my dilemma with you if you tell me what Barz’s problem is. First, you could start with why he treats you the way he does.”

Corzine cocked his head, studying her. “How is it you think he treats me?”

Taya studied him back. Was he serious? Did he not notice? Or did he think that others didn’t notice? Fine, she’d tell him. “Like he’s three years old and you stole his candy. That’s how.”

The smile vanished from Corzine’s face. “Maybe that is a good summation of what happened.”

“Oh, I see. So you don’t want to say. But you want me to detail my dilemma.” She huffed.

“Maybe there’s no reason to go into more detail about the candy I stole from Barz.” His face was somber, his tone grave.

Taya sobered. Something was clearly wrong. But he didn’t want to discuss it, and now she felt uncomfortable for pushing him.

“My dilemma is that I’m uncertain about my future.”

“Is anyone certain about their future?”

Taya shook her head, studying the camp. Finn appeared in the doorway of her cabin, where she’d left him and Marissa. That meant that Marissa was alone with Cinia. Taya didn’t want Marissa to feel she had to babysit Cinia. It wasn’t Marissa’s responsibility. Taya wasn’t sure what made it her own responsibility, but she felt she should be the one. Maybe it was because they’d become close while with Saraz. Though of late, Cinia had been withdrawn and no longer shared her feelings or thoughts with Taya.

“I should go.” Taya announced, rising and swiveling to climb down the solid tree.

Corzine put his hand on her arm. “I am here for you, you know that, right?”

She nodded.

“Always,” he added.

She nodded again and made her way down the thick trunk and branches.

Taya opened the cabin door, slipping in. She inhaled. One breath told her what Finn and Marissa had been up to. She was glad she didn’t return sooner, she would have interrupted them.

Marissa was still on the stump, but she was stooped over, practically laying on the boulder Taya had sat on earlier, her head on her arms. She didn’t move when Taya opened the door, clearly asleep.

Taya couldn’t leave Marissa to sleep like this. Marissa would be a sore mess in the morning if she did. She tapped her on the shoulder gently to wake her.

Marissa woke, a smile on her face. Her eyes sleepy, she took in her surroundings. “I guess I fell asleep. I’m kinda wimpy these days.”

“I am sure the baby takes its toll on you.”

“I’ll be glad when it’s here. Are you staying with her tonight?” She indicated the prone Cinia, who it seemed hadn’t even moved while Taya was gone.

“She is my responsibility. She’s a year and a half younger, yet I feel like she’s so much less mature than I.” She paused, reflecting on her words. “I don’t mean that in a bad way—”

“I know what you mean. Don’t worry.” Marissa lay a comforting hand on Taya’s forearm, then hugged her and vanished through the cabin door with a quick farewell.

Taya prepared a pallet on the floor, to be near Cinia. She didn’t want to bother anyone to help her put together something that would keep her from the damp coldness of the ground, feeling instead that she and Cinia had already imposed on the camp enough. Not to mention that the others fed and cared for her and Cinia without so much as acting as if they’d been put out.

She’d barely laid her head down on the makeshift bed, when the door opened a tiny bit,

She held her breath, wondering who it could be, worried that Saraz would change his mind and return for them. She dreaded the idea, and yet it haunted her sleeping and awake hours. She kept her eyes barely opened to slits. She still did not let her breath out or take another, not wanting to give away that she was awake.

“I know you are not asleep.” A whisper. Low. Deep. Sexy.

Deep inside, something clenched, involuntarily. Her heartbeat raced through Taya’s head. She sought anger to fight off the feelings she couldn’t keep at bay.

“Barz.” She hissed. What was it about this man’s arrogance that attracted and repelled her? “Why are you here?”

“What kind of question is that?” His large Kormic moccasin-type boots stepped into the room, the door closing behind them. The boots took a step closer.

Taya raised her eyes to his legs, muscles in his calves pushing out the pants, quads on his thighs definite and very pronounced in his Kormic pants. She pushed her eyes away from the bulge, but not before she noticed it, the way it filled that area of his pants. She raised her eyes immediately, glad she was low to the floor and in more darkness than he so that her skin wouldn’t betray her. Her eyes drifted to his chest. Strapping, and leather-clad, it pushed his pecs out, begging to be released from the fabric. She wondered what he would look like without his shirt. Her eyes pressed on, taking in the thick neck, the intense eyes, the head with its spike protrusions, the skin, rough, manly, and yet not a man at all, nor an Asazi. This one was all Kormic. All beast, all sexy. Beneath her blanket, her hands clenched.

His gaze drifted to the movement, noticing. A knowing glint appeared in his eyes, a half-smile made its way to his rugged, fierce face.

Instantly, she hated him again. Heat rose though her body, desire for him battling the knowledge that he knew that she wanted him. She’d never met a more infuriating male. Saraz had his moments but Saraz was very different. Saraz was god. He was master. He was shared. And he did not have the same passion for her that she could see in Barz. Except unlike her, Barz controlled his passion.

“Perhaps I wanted to see that you were safe.” His brow, scale-covered, rose in mockery.

And she knew he was lying. It was as if he lived to torment her with the knowledge that she wanted him but didn’t want to want him. Add to that the complication that she wanted to want Corzine—the safer brother. She fought back the jaw-clenching anger.

“Then you can see that I am safe.”

He squatted down, still huge, still towering over her, but now his hands could reach her. He touched her face, his finger running along her tiny scales in the semi-darkness. “Maybe you are in more danger now that I am here.” His fingers traveled lower, touching her chin. Caressing the skin that yearned to shudder. Taya didn’t have experience with desire, not this kind of desire. Not the kind that was natural. She was accustomed to Saraz’s created desire. Her eyes narrowed, from longing for Barz and a need to keep her emotions hidden behind her lids.

His finger traveled lower, over her neck, resting in the hollow at the base, making tiny circles there. His eyes piercing, focused on her face, waiting for a reaction.

She gasped.

“It seems you were safer before I arrived.” He stood to his full height. Then the boots turned around, two steps further, the door opened, and he was gone.

Taya lay on the ground for several sleepless hours, waiting for her pulse to normalize and the throb between her legs to subside.

B
arz stepped
out of the warm cabin into the cool night air. But the chill in the night’s breeze did nothing to quell the heat in his body.

How could one little, shimmer-skinned, red-headed slip of an Asazi woman put so much turmoil into him. His cock ached for her, his anger pushed him into wanting to take her, roughly, and on the floor, against the cabin’s wall, anywhere and everywhere. He wanted to conquer her lips, her body, to leave her bruised, battered and begging for more. He put his head against the cabin’s wood, separated from her by the breadth of a few logs.

The roughness of the bark was no solace, doing nothing to diminish his desire for her.

When did she get under his skin this way?

He wondered if Corzine felt the same way. He wondered if Corzine had any intentions toward her. Their chemistry indicated he did, but he knew Corzine was still heartbroken. Losing a mate had devastated him, especially when he held himself responsible for her death.

Deep inside, his conscience reminded him that Corzine was not alone in feeling this way. That Barz had given Corzine more than enough hassles over the years, adding to Corzine’s burden.

A sense of guilt washed over Barz, guilt that he might have caused almost his brother to take his life with his own hand. He was lucky Corzine had not done that. Losing Corzine would be like losing his other half. The better half of him, because Barz knew that between the two of them, Corzine was the better man.

C
orzine sat
in the tree where Taya had left him, watching his brother go into the women’s cabin. He’d been eaten up by jealously the whole time Barz was in there, only to notice his brother came out shortly after, his body tight, his jawline tighter, arms stiff and at his side. Whatever happened with Taya was not good.

With sadness, he watched his brother press his head against the cabin, his posture one of defeat. More than anything, this crushed Corzine because Barz had never given in to defeat, not even when he’d lost.

Corzine could not bear it. He climbed down from his personal perch, his thinking place, and took the steps to the side of the cabin with stealth.

Just when he’d almost reached Barz, he found himself faced with a glinting blade in the hands of his brother.

Corzine froze. His heart froze with him. He looked in his brother’s dark yellow eyes. He saw death there. Was it his death?

Was this Barz’s chance at retribution for Alina’s death?

Corzine did not move. Did not draw a weapon. He would welcome this if it would give Barz peace.

Barz lowered the weapon. “I thought you were an intruder,” was all he said before turning and walking off into the darkness of the forest.

Did he? Or did he for a moment think that this would have given him the perfect opportunity to seek revenge?

“What are you two doing?” Raiza’s voice was a whispered hiss.

Corzine looked at his older sister. “What do you mean?”

“I saw the blade.” Her eyes, the same color as Barz’s gleamed with an awareness that Corzine wished she did not have.

“He thought I was an intruder. It was nothing.”

“This needs to be fixed between you two. Alina. And now the Asazi woman, Taya. For the sake of all of us, you must come to terms. This is not the Kormic way. Kormic brothers do not do this.”

“I know.” He turned, if Barz could walk away, so could he.

She seized his arm, her grip strong. “I am not playing. I will involve others if you do not come to terms with him. This rift must be healed. And this woman, this Asazi woman, you must both be sure. As she must.”