Eluria's Enforcer (The Argadian Heart Trilogy Book 1) (4 page)

“You don’t ask for my oath not to terminate
you?” It puzzled him. It would seem to him preservation of her life would be
uppermost in her thoughts.

She shrugged, yet did not respond.

He couldn’t understand. Her manner was
incongruous. She should terminate him, but she didn’t. She should want his oath
not to terminate her, yet she did not. “Very well. You have my oath I will not
leave your caves. How long do you intend we stay buried here?”

“Until your memories of Before return.”

“And what if they don’t?”

She bit her lip, a look of uncertainty on her
face. After a long moment, she straightened her shoulders. “Memory will
return,” she answered him decisively. “Emotions have done so, memory will soon
follow. We stay until that time. Do I have your oath?”

By Mylona, he admired her determination. Even
knowing she was a rebel, he found himself drawn to her strength, if not her
proud beauty. He’d wanted her Before, that much of his Before was uncovered. To
learn more of his blinded memories, he would give her the oath she demanded.

“Very well. You have my oath not to leave
these caves until memory is restored. Now release me.”

Slowly, she leaned forward from her kneeling
position, raised the end of the blanket covering him and released the
restraints binding his legs. He remained still. Waiting. Watching.

Pulling back a moment, she studied him. As if
satisfied with what she saw, she stretched over his body, and released the
first restraint. He slowly brought his arm down, his muscles protesting at the
movement. As the second bond was released, faster than a striking viper, he was
up and had her pinned to the ground, stretched fully beneath his naked body. He
captured her wrists and pulled them above her head, anchoring them with one
hand.

She didn’t fight him, simply lay quietly
beneath him, her breathing shallow as she gazed up at him. Devon leaned in
closer. A wave of consuming lust flooded through him, hardening his body.

“So, Female, what will it take, I wonder, to
woo the answers I seek from lips, so experienced and attentive in other ways?
Was your trust misplaced do you think?”

Eluria felt every inch of Devon’s naked flesh
against her body as he pinned her beneath him. She should have expected nothing
less. He was no longer the youth she’d fallen in love with in the Before. He
was a dangerous predator, and she was his prey.

Her heart pounded, but she refused to
struggle against him—or fight for her life. “You have the upper hand, Enforcer,
do what you will. It was my choice to grant you freedom. I live—and will die—by
my own choices—wrong or right.”

His flinty gaze bore into her, piercing her,
igniting her flame. He leaned closer, chest to breast, hip to pelvis, with one
hand carrying the majority of his weight, yet pinning her effectively beneath
him. His fierce heat wafted over her, through her, his male hardness pressed
into her feminine core.

Control shattering, Eluria’s radiant aura
burst free, the fiery, flickering evidence of her sexual arousal overly bright
in the darkened recesses of the cavern.

The look in Devon’s eyes was one of triumph.
“So, Female, what would you offer me to assuage your need? Twilighter, how long
has it been since your last encounter? I need answers and you can provide them.
In return—”

Eluria turned away, unwilling to meet his
gaze. She refused to rise to his taunt. His grasp tightened on her wrists and
she winced. “How long have you been without completion?” he repeated through
gritted teeth.

“What do you care, Enforcer? Why do you care?
I’m nothing to you. If it’s you who want release, say so,” she challenged him
in a low deep-throated tone meant to entice. “There’s no need to tackle me. I’m
trained, after all, to service those very needs. But it will not give you the
answers you seek.”

Devon’s hard gaze roved insolently over her
taut body beneath him. Finally, he released her and stood. Towering over her,
he studied her as she lay still, appearing to wait for his next attack. When it
became obvious he planned no further assault, Eluria jumped to her feet and
retreated across the room. The distance she created helped to reassert control
and her radiant red glow flickered and disappeared.

She walked to the chest containing his
uniform. Reaching inside, she pulled out the folded garment and threw it at
him. “Your skinsuit, Enforcer. I suggest you clothe yourself. Unless, of
course”—she allowed her heavy-lidded gaze to glide brazenly over his body—“you
have other needs to assuage first?”

When he’d been prone, lying on the bed
unconscious, his inert form enticed her. But standing, in full, firm glory
before her, Eluria wasn’t sure how she would succeed in keeping her distance,
or her control, for much longer. The enforced closeness was already eating
through her self-control.

Devon uttered a sound of disgust, and
reaching down, picked up the uniform which had landed in a dark puddle at his
feet. “I don’t suppose there’s a water supply nearby?” he asked when he
straightened, ignoring her suggestive question.

Eluria pointed to the passage leading to the
next chamber. “Through there is a pool. You’ll find the water is naturally
heated. It should serve your needs adequately.”

Devon strode through the entrance, and she
admired the golden, molten lines of rippling muscle. Once he was out of sight,
she released a long-held breath and collapsed against the side of the trunk.

A sob broke free as she speculated on how
little it would take to lose her control and surrender to her passion. Even
now, she was damp with arousal at the thought of him taking her, of the hard
need riding her, and how much she wanted to feel him pushing deep inside her.
By the look of him, he’d fill her so completely there’d be no room for the
empty longing now filling her heart.

What would he think, she wondered, if she
informed him she’d never achieved completion as a companion? She’d never
spiraled to the place of total, spiritual balance she knew was possible, with
any of the companions she’d accepted.

Instinct told her with Devon it would be
different. No, she corrected herself, with Devon it
could
have been
different. He could never want what she’d become. She heard the contempt in his
voice when he branded her with what she was—
twilighter
. Little did he
know all the hated name truly encompassed.

What would happen when his memory was fully
restored? They would return to Ednos, and then what? He would take his rightful
place and she would disappear. It’s what she’d planned. From that point in her
youth when she discovered the betrayal, she’d centered on the need to right the
wrongs done by her father to Devon and his family. Every choice Eluria had
made, every breath she’d taken had been fueled by the guilt lying heavily on
her soul.

But once Devon returned, what was left for
her? Her purpose would be served. Panic rose within her breast. The pain of
loneliness and a deep, dark abyss of emptiness loomed before her. She’d never
thought that far ahead. To the success of the task she’d set for herself. She
shook her head in denial.

Once she’d held a young Maigin’s innocent
visions. Union with a taman she loved. No more—those dreams had been shattered
long ago. So what was she left with? More importantly, how would Devon react
when he discovered what her father had engineered—and the guilt resting on her
shoulders? How would he respond when he knew she was the one ultimately
responsible for his father’s termination?

*          *          *

Devon leaned back against the rocky ledge of
the heated pool, allowing the moist warmth to ease the aches still remaining
from the clash with zyflamite. His gaze rose to the ceiling dripping with
stalactites, seeking the source of the latticed patterns of light filtering
across the surface of the clear pool he relaxed in.

His thoughts were filled with the
Female—Eluria, the remembrance of her soft body beneath him. Her scent, like
her radiance, had wrapped about him, seducing his intent to have answers. If
he’d held her longer, he’d have taken her, filled her savagely with the
completion he knew they both wanted. The arousal he felt in her presence was
new to him, causing an aching need his body demanded be relieved.

He felt her inner war of need and denial. It
flared inside him, halting his intent to take her. He would not force himself
upon an unwilling female—no matter the circumstance.

Devon’s thoughts wandered back to her
certainty they were protected here.

How?

In one fluid, movement, he rose and then stepped
from the crystalline spring. Water slid from his body and pooled at his feet as
he surveyed the rocky, uneven walls of the cavern. There was something within
them that masked their presence. He was certain of it. He walked to the rocky
face to peer closer, splayed a hand to the surface and smoothed it along the
uneven contours.

He bent closer, inhaled deeply, noticing a
scent not of earth or heated rock, but slightly metallic. Again, he raised his
gaze to peer more closely at the rocky interior and noticed a shimmer caste of
violet interspersed throughout the rock.

Of course! It had to be traces of plordium.
It was the only ore which could possibly cloak their presence inside the walls
of the cave. Again, Devon found himself admiring the female for identifying and
putting to good use this naturally secure hiding place.

He was still not convinced the zyflamite was
meant for him or that he should remain within the confines of the cave for
protection. But these new emotions he felt gave him pause to consider what
would be his best course of action. There could be no doubt his role as
Enforcer would be severely hampered by the feelings churning inside him. Until
he was able to control them adequately, he would stay.

Devon winced as a knife of pain stabbed
through his head. He staggered as another arc of pain drove him to his knees.
Reaching up, he cradled his head, as another surge shattered, crashing through
him. Lights burst behind his closed lids, images of people and events flashing,
mingling, colliding.

It was as though a steel gate had been
opened, and he was tossed out within the midst of reclaimed memories. For
remembrance is what it had to be. He tried to grasp an image, any image, hold
fast to it, understand it, but they moved too quickly, one after the other,
drilling into his brain.

“No!” he yelled, trying to control the swarm
of images and the emotions they elicited in response.

Suddenly he felt gentle yet firm hands on his
shoulders; the scent of rozanna caressed him. “Devon, what is it?” A concerned
voice hovered above him. Blinded by the images, he tried to push her away.
Another deadly dagger speared through his mind.

“Images,” he gasped, pressing hard with his
hands against his temples. “Too fast,” he groaned, “too fast, too many.” The
blanking numbness of unconsciousness sucked him away from the whirling colors
as he collapsed back into a steadying embrace.

*          *          *

Symion! What do I do?
Eluria panicked when
Devon lost consciousness. As he began to fall forward, Eluria tightened her
arms and twisted, cradling him close as she sank to the ground in a sitting
position. She calmed a bit after locating his pulse and finding it strong and
steady. Wrapping her arms around him, she waited, praying to Guardian for
guidance, to return Devon to her.

An eternity seemed to linger as she sat
there, recalling a time when he’d held her in his arms. Bittersweet memories of
his strong arms and the security they represented in the Before. His laughter,
like warm honeyberry nectar flowing over her, infusing her with happiness. When
was the last time she’d felt real happiness?

There was some sense of joy in the reality of
touching his warm supple skin, after so many years of fantasizing of doing just
that. She leaned forward and inhaled his scent. It was different from Before,
yet the same, seasoned by time and experience, like the most rare Dalanian Ale.

Knowing she shouldn’t, but unable to stop
herself, she traced the line of his finely-sculpted lips with her fingertips
and a yearning inside took shape. A spark of pleasure charged through her.

One kiss. Just one. To last her a lifetime.
To remind her of what happiness tasted like. He would never know she was but a
hungry thief who stole a small sample of paradise.

Eluria leaned forward. His breath whispered
across her senses. Like the ray of first sunlight to a new day she touched her
lips to his, felt their firm yet yielding hardness, wanted more. She’d known
one touch would not be enough. Yet it must suffice. Long ago she’d learned to
live in unfilled want.

She began to pull back. Hard hands rose to
cup her face, with gentle firmness. Eluria held her breath and waited.

He opened his eyes. His turquoise gaze locked
with hers. She inhaled in shock. “You’re back,” her words were a triumphant
gasp of breath. “Thank Guardian, it worked.”

“Eluria.
Na-nivia
.” His hoarse
utterance stilled her.
My love
. If only it were still possible.

“I remember you. I remember all of it.” Devon
released a shuddering breath.

She nodded in thankfulness, her eyes filled
with tears. “I know.”

Slowly, he sat up without releasing her. His
gaze swept over her as a thirsty man eyes a well of water in the middle of a
desert. He lowered his head, his lips capturing hers, drawing from her very
core, the desire Eluria had fought so hard to control. Her radiance shimmered
attempting to burst free, to encompass them both in hot, blazing light. As much
as she wanted to, she couldn’t let it happen.

“No,” she breathed, attempting to pull from
his arms, from his power. “There’s much you don’t know. We can’t do this.”

Finally, she broke free and frantically put
distance between them. Devon struggled for control. Passion simmered between
them, ready to blaze again. Electricity crackled in the air around them. Her
radiance fought savagely for freedom, which she couldn’t allow. Eluria strove
for the peace of inner balance.

Devon stepped away from her. Staggered, and
righted himself.

“Devon,” she gasped, instinctively taking a
step towards him, ready to help him if need be.

He winced, but motioned her back. “I’m fine,”
he growled. “Let it be. The memories are settling—finding their place. The pain
isn’t as bad.”

“You need to rest, Devon. We don’t know how
this will affect you.”

Like jeweled daggers, his gaze pinned her.
“You think I’m not aware of that? Everything is turned around. With these
memories, these emotions—everything is changed.”

He leaned down and picked up the uniform.
Donning it quickly, he turned back to her and straightened, his gaze the look
of a hunter sizing up its victim. “I want answers.”

She’d known he would. Once the memories of
Before returned, he would want the truth.

Though no longer the eyes of a dreaded
Enforcer, still they pierced her. “Where is my family?”