A Hero's Bargain (14 page)

She’d
understand what he wanted in a few minutes. She’d have a clear understanding of
it before he was through. He’d work his way to it in a manner she couldn’t
refuse, and hope it didn’t surprise her too badly.

He cupped
her heat and a flood of moisture hit his palm. If this was her response to
being angry with him, he’d piss her off more often. Her fingers closed around
his shaft and he gave up speculating about everything that didn’t involve
giving her pleasure. He coaxed her onto her back.

Her
breasts were beautiful. She wasn’t necessarily generously endowed but that
didn’t matter to him. Her breasts were perfect for her. He licked the smooth,
ivory skin around the aureole feeling gooseflesh rise under his tongue. He drew
one tight brown peak into his mouth and suckled. Her hips started rising and
falling. She pulsed under his hand. He slipped two fingers inside her.

Ryder
wanted to taste her. He needed to taste her. She didn’t flinch as he kissed his
way down her belly. Her scent, so feminine and so rich, made him crazy. He
touched his tongue to her and her hips rose to meet him. He slipped his hands
under her bottom and fastened his mouth to her. Her thighs spread wide.

He teased
at her gently, alternately sucking and caressing with his tongue and his lips.
Finding her most sensitive spot was not difficult. The swollen, little nub
begged for him to minister to it and he could not disappoint it. Her hips rose
up to him.

Saba grew
restless beneath his mouth, alternately limp and tense as her arousal grew. She
pulsed beneath his lips with increasing strength. He rose over her and turned
her unresisting onto her stomach. He pulled her up to her knees and covered her
body with his. While cupping her firmly, he slid into her. She shook in his embrace.

He
started to move inside her, slowly at first, pulling almost completely from her
body then sinking deeply into her slick welcome. Her inner flesh clutched at
his.

“Ryder.”
His name was a long, low moan on her lips. Her hands fisted in a pillow. She
slammed back against him and cried out. She was almost there. He gave her all
he could and knew it was enough.

He pumped
into her, aware of the moisture that rained down her thighs. Her body greedily
gripped his cock making little white lights sparkle in his vision. The muscles
in his abdomen burned, screaming at him to stop or to come. He could do neither,
not yet. Not until she took her pleasure of him. He’d pass out first.

She
suddenly sucked in a deep breath and cried out his name again, pushing back
against him.

Oh,
thank all the gods.
His climax seized him,
pulling him deeper into her heat. He thrust into her, hard. His balls tightened
in that incredible mix of pain that was pleasure and he spilled into her. The
world around him reeled as bliss took him.

He came
back into himself, drenched with sweat and shaking as badly as she was.

“Go down,
Saba. Down.” He let some of his weight fall on her in case she couldn’t hear
him. She took a sobbing breath and dropped bonelessly to the bed. He eased down
beside her, knowing her silence would last only until she caught her breath. He
draped an arm over her and kissed her damp hair.

She
opened her beautiful eyes, so full of disquiet. “Ryder, we have to talk.”

Yes, they
did.

Saba
searched Ryder’s face for some clue of what he was thinking. She couldn’t even
guess. He was unreadable and that left her unsure about pursuing a conversation
with him. She’d always heard the other women saying that right after coupling
they could get a man to do whatever they wanted. As she looked into his alert,
interested gaze, she just wasn’t convinced.

“What’s
on your mind, angel?”

“Tyree
confessed he quarreled with you. Please, tell me what was said.”

“That’s
cutting straight to it, Saba. I admire that. Let’s just say Tyree and I
understand each other better and better all the time. Just remember that
regardless of what was said, he brought me boots. Boots you haven’t let me try
on.”

He was
baiting her. She didn’t like it, but she had to get him to agree that the
errol
had to die. She had to keep her composure.

“He asked
me if you’d forced me to…” She drew a quick breath. “To do this.”

His look
darkened. She hurried to clarify her response to Tyree.

“I told
him you did not force me. I told him I enjoyed it.”

Surprise
swept his features. “Have you enjoyed it, angel?”

Her
cheeks burned hotly. Ryder had to know she enjoyed it. All of it. He just
wanted to make her say so and she didn’t want to. He brushed another kiss to
her temple.

“It’s
okay. You don’t have to say a word. You can be a stubborn female any time you
want to be.”

“Your
permission is noted. Trust I will remember you gave it.”

He
snorted. “I just bet you will. What else did Tyree say to you?”

“You must
tell me what he said to
you
, too.” She was losing control of the
conversation and she wasn’t sure how that had happened. He was infuriating.

Ryder
rolled onto his back, settled himself on the pillow, and patted the spot next
to him. “Come up here so we can talk.”

Saba
wished she had the inner strength to refuse, but she didn’t. Being in his arms,
soaking up his warmth, was just too alluring. She didn’t like herself much for
needing him when she knew he was using her.

After he
killed the
errol
,
she’d
find the strength to walk away from him. Somehow.

But was
it so very wrong to have him for this little while?

She
nestled in the shelter of his arms, laying her hand on his chest. His heartbeat
seemed too fast. With gentle caresses she worked her fingers up to his neck and
felt his racing pulse. Concern warred with curiosity, but she’d not turn healer
just yet. She’d get him to talk first since he didn’t appear on the edge of a
heart seizure.

“I’m
here. Talk, Ryder Vaughan.”

He
sighed. “All right. I’ll go first. It’s probably the only way to make this
contrary female I know tell me what I need to learn.”

“It is.”
She kissed his nipple. He chuckled softly. No doubt he thought it a ploy on her
part to make him more agreeable and he’d be correct. She did it again for good
measure.

“Tyree is
upset that you and I have been together.”

“Yes, he
is. And he is probably even now staring at my closed door, as is everyone else
who may want to see me.”

“That’s
just tough. If there’s an emergency, they’ll pound on your door fast enough,
won’t they? Angel, it’s pretty clear to me that I don’t have much choice. I’ll
confront the
errol
.” He rolled, sliding down to be face-to-face with
her. Their thighs touched.

“You and Tyree want me to just go
and kill it on sight. There’s a big problem with that. I’m not a killer.”

How could he be so stubborn?
Her patience with him stretched
thin again.

“You don’t understand what it can
do! You have weapons that can rid us of this scourge!”

“Wrong. I have one weapon that
doesn’t work…”

She pushed herself upright. “What
do you mean?”

“Get your boney elbow out of my
ribs,” Ryder wheezed at her.

She shifted and succeeding in
landing her elbow in his stomach. The breath went out of him in a little
‘umff.’

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She
struggled to sit while he was pulling her back down. He suddenly shook her
once.

“Stop!”

She froze, staring at him in
disbelief that he would treat her thusly. Who did he think he was?

“Just stop, Saba, and listen to me.
Don’t jab me in the ribs again and don’t put your knee anywhere near my balls
again.”

Oh Wae.
Had she done that? No wonder he’d reacted poorly. She
started to apologize.

“Shush!” He leaned toward her,
coming nose-to-nose with her. She snapped her jaws firmly together. The corner
of his mouth twitched in what might have been the beginning of a smile.

“Are you ready to listen to me?
That is what you wanted, right? For me to talk?”

She nodded. He pulled back. “Good.
Why don’t you pour us a wee bit of that wine you’re hoarding?”

“If you continue to drink it, I
won’t have a hoard left.”

“You’ll be making more this season,
won’t you? After I do Tyree’s dirty work.”

“The future is not ours to see.
Perhaps I will make wine, perhaps not.” She slipped from his grasp and off the
bed to get them a very small cup of the wine. She didn’t dare not get him what
he wanted.

He’d said his weapons didn’t work.
What were they to do now? What was she to do? If his weapons were damaged in
the crash, it was not his fault. Her mind raced to myriad conclusions, but the
truth was the village was in danger. She handed him the mug and sat on the edge
of the bed, forcing herself to be still.

He sipped
from the cup then looked at her. “Tyree and I do understand each other, angel.
He doesn’t like me much and I understand that. He’ll likely try and kill me
when the
errol
is gone.”

His words
sent shards of icy fear into her heart. She shook her head vehemently.

“No. He
would not do that. I know he would not.”

“Angel,
you don’t know jack shit about men. From where he’s sitting, I just took a
women he had culled from the herd for himself.” He took another sip. “He was
too slow claiming her, wasn’t he?”

She
bristled at the implication she was nothing more than cattle. He saw it.

“Go ahead
and scream at me. You know you want to.”

“You have
no idea what I want. No idea at all.”

He almost
smiled and tucked his male bits down and crossed his legs over them.

“I’m sure
you believe that but I assure you, I’ve got a much better grasp of what’s going
on here than before I took that little walk into the woods.”

She took
in his enigmatic gaze, aware of the sudden tension in him. It made no sense.
There was nothing in the woods just outside the village that would be of any
help to him. The Ramalho maintained the forest for the abundant plants and
wildlife.

At least
they had before the
errol
came.

“What do
the woods have to do with this?”

“Saba,
tell me what the
errol
looks like. Tell me what you saw it do.”

* * * *

She
couldn’t lie to him outright. He knew that about her. Still, the way she paled
and listed to one side caught him off-guard. He grabbed her before she slid to the
floor.

“Don’t
pass out, angel.” He pushed her head down. She fought against him, flailing her
arms and catching him painfully in the ribs again. He managed to get his arms
around her, stilling her movements. She shook in his embrace.

“Just
tell me.” He spoke low and soft, hoping to reach her. “Can you just tell me
what you saw?” She began sobbing in earnest.

Stupid.
That’s what he was. Stupid to push her so fast. Stupid to ask her and not just
tell her that he’d spoken to Jennica. Stupid to believe she had to face what
she’d seen. He gathered her onto his lap and rocked her. She clung to his neck
like a person drowning and wept.

The storm
passed slowly. He cast about for something for her to use to blow her nose and
finally had to ask her. She pointed to a stack of neatly folded cloths on her
shelf. He eased her gently on the bed and retrieved one for her, grabbing the
bottle of wine, too. She blew her nose and thanked him before pointing at a
little basket in the far corner. Ryder gingerly dropped the used cloth in it,
and turned to find her gaze on his groin again.

“It
doesn’t bother you at all to walk around unclothed, does it?”

He smiled
down at her. “No, not really.” He brushed a lock of hair from her face. “I’m
sorry about your mother. Truly.” He poured some wine and handed it to her. She
took two fast swallows and handed it back to him.

She
looked so fragile lying against the pillows, so vulnerable. He devoutly wished
he didn’t have to pursue this conversation with her, but he had to know if what
he suspected was true. He eased back down on the bed, relieved she came to him
and wanted to be held. Ryder wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s so
hard to remember it and worse to talk about it.” Her voice was muffled against
his chest.

“Because
talking about it makes it too real?”

She
nodded. “How did you know? What did Tyree tell you? If your weapons are
damaged, what will we do?”

He pulled
her closer. “What was said hardly matters now. I’d be doing a disservice to
repeat what was said.”

Ryder
rubbed her back, hoping she’d let go of it and he’d not have to confess it was
Jennica’s revelations, and not Tyree’s. The last thing he wished for was for
Saba and her aunt to be at odds with each other. She took a quick, deep breath
and relaxed a bit more against him. He snagged the blanket and drew it over her
body before he clarified a few things of his own.

“Only one
of my weapons seems to be damaged. It’s the one I would have preferred to use.”

“What
does that mean, Ryder? Your other weapon is not as strong?”

She was
quick, he’d give her that, but he had no intention of discussing his dislike of
the more powerful Eliminator with her.

“No. It
means the one I’d have preferred to use is damaged. Don’t try and read more
into my statement than there is, angel.”

“Now you
seek to chastise me?”

“Oh, for
god’s sake. No. I still have a weapon that works, Saba. One. Instead of two, I
only have one. Are you getting that?” He hugged her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to
snap at you.”

Her lips
brushed his neck. “I understand what you’re saying. I don’t mean to be
difficult.”

“I don’t
either. I hate to have to keep after you about this, but I need to know. What
did this creature look like?”

Saba
burrowed in as close to him as she could get without climbing into his skin.
She was silent for the space of several breaths then she took another one of
those quick breaths he’d come to know as a signal she’d decided on a course of
action.

“It was a
beautiful day, warm, and the sun was bright. There had been no rainfall
overnight, and no dew, so Mother wanted to cut the tall grass used to weave
baskets and mats. We went to do it.

“We had
cut almost all we could carry, but Mother wanted some of the grass that dries
to a dark red. She left us and went over the rise to where a stand of it grows.
Jennica and I bundled what we had and I sent her and the others back to the
village and went to help Mother. I saw him. Watching her.”

She
paused. Ryder rubbed her back some more, hoping to help her stay in control of
her emotions. With the way she trembled, he feared she would weep again. He
dreaded a woman’s tears but realized women usually were better after a good
cry. It made little sense to him but it was true.

“Go on,
angel,” he urged softly. “Tell me all of it. I need to know everything to
protect myself.”

She
started, as if the danger he’d face to do her bidding had never occurred to
her.

“He
watched her and I called out to her to run. She looked up and saw him but
instead of running, she threw a stone at him. When he started toward her, she
threw her cutting knife at him.” She drew a ragged breath. “The knife hit him
in the arm, and stuck. He…he made a noise like nothing I’d ever heard. It was
like a howl and a screech and the moan of one dying. It echoed inside my head
until I was deaf. Then he…he grabbed my mother.” She pulled back and looked at
him.

“Ryder,
it happened so fast. I couldn’t get to her. I didn’t even see the
errol
run to her. One moment he was by
the tree and the next he had grabbed my mother. He covered the distance in the
blink of an eye.”

That was
something he’d not wanted to hear. “How far was it? From here to the gate?”

She shook
her head. “No. Maybe from here to Tyree’s hut.”

“That’s
important, angel. Can you tell me the rest? Describe the
errol
to me.”

“It’s
bigger than any man, even Tyree. Or you. Its skin is black and shiny, like a
shell so that arrows do not pierce its chest. And yet its face seems to be
feathered. Its arms are very long, reaching almost to its knees.” Her voice quivered.
“I was surprised when Mother’s knife stuck in its arm. I think it surprised the
creature, too.”