Challenges (12 page)

“That’s very strange,” Jovvi said with a frown. “Are you sure the house was where she was supposed to live? Is it possible she really lives elsewhere, and only used the house as a place to meet you?”

“I was about to say it
isn’t
possible, but that’s not true,” Rion replied, his brows high with surprise. “Naran’s note gave me the address, where she said she would be
that night
. If I recall correctly, it never actually said she would be living there. I wonder why she would bring me to a place other than where she’s living.”

“Possibly because there’s a danger you might be followed,” Jovvi suggested, swallowing down the other possibility: that Rion’s Naran was married. The idea might have to be suggested to him, but not right now. Some other time, when his spirits hadn’t suddenly soared out of their previous pit.

“And I never thought of that!” he exclaimed, his handsome face alight with relief and gladness. “The most obvious answer of all, and I needed to have it pointed out. I feel like a fool, but at least a thoroughly delighted one.”

“That’s the best kind of fool to be,” Jovvi said, smiling at his grin. “When you see Naran next you can speak to her about it, but at least for now your worry is put to rest.”

“So it is,” he agreed, his expression softening as he turned a bit more toward her. “And now it’s your turn. Share the horror you went through with me, so that you won’t be trapped alone in your head with it.”

Jovvi hadn’t really intended to talk about her own thoughts, but realizing that Rion waited to listen rather than to judge made her start to tell the story of her own experience with the law. As her mind went back to it again, it almost felt as though she were reliving the time. The helplessness, the uncertainty, the terror of being completely alone… By the time she reached the part about her rescue, she came back to the present to find that she huddled against Rion, held tightly in his arms. She was also trembling, and he made small sounds of comfort and soothing.

“There, now, you see?” he murmured, gently rocking her a bit. “You weren’t all alone after all, and you certainly aren’t alone now. We’re all here for you, sweet lady, anytime you might need us. Please believe that, as it happens to be true.”

“Yes, you’re absolutely right,” Jovvi said, raising her face to his without trying to leave his arms. “If anyone should know that we’re all prepared to be there for each other, I’m certainly the one. But until now I knew it only with my mind, not with my heart and inner being. Thank you, Rion, for helping me to see it in the proper way.”

“The pleasure was mine,” he responded, his beautiful smile warming again. “Another thing I’ve been learning is that it isn’t an imposition to help real friends, it’s a delight. I considered mentioning the point to my mother and telling her she was wrong, but then I realized that she wasn’t wrong. Since none of the people she knows really is her friend, she’ll never find it possible to experience what we do. Eventually I may come to pity her.”

“If someone else in your place said that, I would doubt their ever actually reaching that point.” Jovvi looked at him with both her eyes and her talent, her hands to his arms, and there was no doubt at all. “You, however, are almost there already, and somehow I’m not surprised. But I think you’d better let me go now, unless you plan to stay here a good deal longer. Every time we speak I find you more and more attractive, and I’m not in the habit of ignoring attractive men who happen to be both naked and holding me.”

“I was about to ask if you found my holding you upsetting,” he replied slowly, studying her as carefully as she had done with him. “I may be mistaken, but the question seems unnecessary. Am I correct in thinking that you aren’t upset in the least?”

“Yes, it so happens you are,” Jovvi told him with a bit more of a smile. “What I am is becoming aroused, a perfectly natural reaction when you’re with someone you consider attractive. But in this case the someone I’m with has a lady he’s very much involved with, and it would be inconsiderate to offer him a joining that he might well want to refuse.”

“But—why would I want to refuse?” Rion asked, and Jovvi could see that he was honestly puzzled. “If Naran were here my complete attention would be hers, as I love her with every fiber of my being. But she doesn’t happen to be here now, so I would scarcely be turning my back on her. To—join, as you called it, with another woman won’t lessen my love for Naran in the least, and especially not if you’re the other woman. What I feel for you and Tamrissa is a good deal more than fondness.”

“Yes, it is, isn’t it,” Jovvi murmured distractedly as she examined the emotion he’d mentioned. It wasn’t romantic love, which Rion felt for Naran and she herself felt for Lorand, but it was definitely a kind of love. There had been a hint of the same thing when Tamma had spoken about Rion, and surprisingly enough Jovvi could just detect the same thing growing in her own thoughts about Rion. Another oddness to be thought about after she got around to the prior ones, but definitely not at this moment.

Rather than saying anything else, Jovvi leaned a bit closer and touched her lips to Rion’s. She wondered if he would understand, and his chuckle and response answered her question immediately. Until now he’d been holding her supportively rather than intimately, which is always a matter of attitude rather than the presence or absence of clothing. After the kiss, however…

After the kiss, Rion needed no further encouragement. His big hands began to stroke her body slowly as he started a much longer kiss, his own body made available for any caresses
she
might wish to give. With the help of her talent, Jovvi was able to touch him just where and how he most wanted the touches, and his flaring passion drew her irresistibly in his wake. His moans of pleasure and complete abandon were like nothing she had ever experienced before, an assessment which would have shocked her during a more levelheaded time.

But Jovvi had already been pulled so deeply into his passion that she no longer had the capacity for rational, critical thought. Her own moans joined his all by themselves, and it actually took a long moment to understand what they were suddenly lying on. They hadn’t left the bath, so Rion must have supplied a bed of thickened air to keep them—and especially her—from drowning. By the time she reached that conclusion Rion was entering her, sharing rather than taking without having to be told.

And then their thoughts merged even more closely than their bodies, which couldn’t possibly get any closer. Jovvi closed her eyes and simply moved with Rion, losing herself to pure sensation. It was the most marvelous experience she’d ever had … except for one … which she couldn’t let herself think about now. But she
would
have that other again some day, she
would
…!

Even though she was the one who had chased him away. Her eyes closed tight, Jovvi shared pleasure with Rion … and even in mindlessness thought only of Lorand…

CHAPTER TWELVE

Delin heard the servant say, “Lord Rigos Baril,” and his shock was so deep that he simply couldn’t move. In his mind, Delin had already filed Rigos away as a previously solved problem. Not solved in the best way, of course, which would have put Rigos in Delin’s power rather than simply being under arrest for murder, but still acceptably solved. The man Delin hated would never again be in a position of power … so how could he possibly be here in the same position he’d previously had?

“Rigos?” Kambil said in startlement, taking a step toward the small, dark man who now strolled into the room. “I’d say that this was a surprise, but the understatement would be ludicrous. How did you manage to be reinstated?”

“When they cleared me, they had no choice but to reinstate me,” Rigos answered, sounding to Delin just as arrogant and superior as he’d always sounded. “And they did clear me, twice, using two different methods.”

“And what methods were those?” Delin heard himself asking, just as though nothing at all were wrong. “People said there was real evidence against you, and that’s why you were arrested.”

“The evidence, such as it was, had to be discarded,” Rigos drawled, stopping to adjust one of his shirt cuffs as he looked lazily back and forth between the two larger men. “The first thing they did was arrange an interview for me with the Earth magic Adept the Advisors themselves consult. The man apparently listened to my protestations of innocence with every bit of his ability, and then told the Advisors that I spoke the truth. You should know something about that, Delin, isn’t that so?”

Delin gave the man what he hoped was an enigmatic smile, a reaction he worked rather hard to force. He had no idea how someone with Earth magic could tell truth from lie, but he would die sooner than admit it to Rigos. He’d never even
heard
of people using the ability in that way…

“And what was the second method used?” Kambil asked smoothly while gesturing Rigos to a chair. “I hope it’s something I’ve heard about, unlike that first method.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re familiar with the second method,” Rigos said, inspecting the chair briefly before sitting in it. “It’s the same method they use in a court of law, where the accused speaks nothing but the truth. Puredan isn’t supposed to be used by anyone but a panel of judges, but the Advisors do insist on exercising their privileges whenever the mood strikes. Happily the mood struck in my case, and they tell me I cleared myself completely.”

“You’re right, I do know about Puredan,” Kambil said, exchanging a brief glance with Delin. “There’s never any doubt when that drug is used, so allow me to offer my congratulations. And I must say your timing is excellent. It seems you were cleared just as Hiblit vacated the position. How is he, by the way?”

“Hiblit is a raving lunatic, and will probably remain one for the rest of his life,” Rigos answered, a shadow passing quickly across his expression. “They have to keep him full of attar of goldflower, I hear, or he starts to scream and doesn’t stop. His physician said something about it being a response to unbearable pressure of more than one sort, but Hiblit’s father is too powerful for
any
physician to go into details. Did either of you know Hiblit before he was given the post?”

“We didn’t, but Homin did,” Kambil replied, his gaze troubled. “Homin told us what the poor soul was like as a boy, but there was nothing left of the original in the grown man. Very frankly, he disturbed every one of us.”

“You weren’t the only ones,” Rigos muttered, for once looking almost human. “I’ve known him since our teenage years, when he wasn’t quite as bad. His father always wanted him to get anything I happened to earn… But Hiblit is all through with his father, isn’t he?”

Rigos’s sudden smile was much too bright, but it still brought back the man’s original attitudes. He’d dropped his guard for one brief moment, but his expression said that was all over and done with.

“I can’t tell you how much at home I feel,” Rigos continued in the drawl he’d been using only a minute earlier. “You and Delin, Kambil, and not a sign of the rest of your group. Are they in the house somewhere, or did their drivers get them lost forever on their way here?”

“Homin and Selendi are in the dining room, and Bron is still asleep,” Kambil answered with a chuckle that looked and sounded perfectly real. “There was nothing scheduled for us to do, so there’s really no reason for all of us to be together.”

“There
was
nothing scheduled, but now there is,” Rigos responded with spiteful amusement. “Send for them, please, while I pour myself a cup of tea.”

Delin saw Kambil’s very brief hesitation as Rigos got up and headed for the tea service, and was forced to admit that Kambil had a bit more self control than he did himself. If Rigos had just given
him
orders as if he were a servant, Delin knew he would probably have exploded. All Kambil did, however, was hesitate briefly, and then he walked toward a bell pull. Delin stood where he was for a moment, then chose his own chair to sit in. He would listen to what Rigos had to say, and later he would find a better and more permanent way to get rid of him.

Homin and Selendi reached the room rather quickly, and then they all waited for Bron to arrive. Rigos actually went through the explanation a second time when Selendi and Homin began to pelt him with questions, and he didn’t even seem overly annoyed. He did, however, speak mostly to Homin, as though it were important that the fat little man really believe in Rigos’s innocence. And Homin, the fool, calmly told Rigos that he was glad the agent was free again, all but absolving Rigos of anything and everything he might have done.

Delin spent the waiting time for Bron listing all the things Homin
should
have said to Rigos, things that would have haunted Rigos and maddened him. It was highly unlikely that Rigos would go the same way Hiblit had, but if he ever did, Delin would be the last to cry—

“What kind of sick joke is this?” Bron suddenly demanded from the doorway, drawing everyone’s attention. He wore a wrap casually belted at his middle and obviously nothing else—except for an expression that showed him to be completely outraged.

“Bron, this isn’t any sort of joke,” Kambil told the fool soothingly, obviously trying to quiet him. “Lord Rigos has been cleared of all charges and released, so it’s only natural that he’s back to work with us. He—”

“Natural?” Bron interrupted, his voice harsh and accusing. “You think it’s natural for us to work with a murderer? I don’t care
what
kind of story he’s telling, I don’t intend to swallow it. If he’s been cleared it’s because his father
bought
him clear, so let his father work with him. If they try to force
me
to do it, I’ll quit the group.”

And with that Bron turned and stalked out of the room. There was no doubt whatsoever that the man had meant every word he’d said, and Rigos had gone as pale as Delin had ever seen him. At first Delin thought the pallor came from anger, but a second glance showed something else entirely. Rigos was actually in pain over the lack of belief, and Delin suddenly realized that Bron wasn’t the only one who would be likely to believe that Rigos’s father had bought him free. Most people would believe it, which meant that
Bron
had found the perfect way to be rid of Rigos!