Lord of Capra (17 page)

Chapter Twenty

Nemesis placed them
on the surface in front of Evana’s open air temple. They were alone for the
moment, and Drake was relieved. They’d arrived before a welcoming party could
travel the winding road that led uphill. Evana had told him that Nemesis kept
her palace and the temple cloaked while they were away from Capra. As soon as
they’d entered orbit, she’d deactivated the shield so the people could see both
structures again. Located on a hilltop, the temple stood out as a beacon,
alerting the village below that she’d returned. He heaved a great sigh.

“Relax,” Evana
urged.

She hooked her arm
around his, and he shook his head, not sure if he could just relax so easily.
His mate nudged him playfully and offered her lips. He managed a lopsided grin
before leaning over to capture a quick kiss.

He whispered into
her ear, “I feel ridiculous in this.”

“Get used to it,”
she shot back. “You look delicious.”

Drake groaned. He
felt as if he’d just walked off the set of an
Aladdin
movie. Although,
he did like a few things about his outfit, especially his black knee-high
boots. Thank god he didn’t have to wear a pair of the curly toed slippers that
usually were part of the costumes. The trousers were great too, very roomy, and
not tight like he’d come to expect in the world of Nemesis. However, they were
black and the waistband was wide, tight and fit low—very low. Tucked neatly
into the folds was a golden sheath that held his dagger.

So okay, he could
adapt, but there was no shirt, only a vest, black of course. Over that, wide
black leather bands crisscrossed his chest and ran over his shoulders. They
cinched a scabbard, which sheathed his sword and kept it secure against his
back, the hilt within easy reach behind his head. A heavy metal clasp in front
held the whole harness-like contraption together. He could shed it easily, if
need be. He suspected the flimsy vest was there simply to keep the straps from
cutting into his skin.

Evana thought he
looked sexy. At least that’s what she’d said when she’d seen him. And he
believed her. He took Nemesis’ advice and tried to use all his senses. He could
recognize how attractive she smelled when aroused, very pleasant. However, he
still felt like a barbarian escapee from a Renaissance festival. He shrugged
and then strained against the chest straps, sympathizing with all the horses
he’d ever saddled.

Evana tugged his
arm, leading him into the temple. “Let me show you the statue.”

He followed her up
the steps and into the circular interior. No less than a dozen massive columns
supported its domed ceiling. A glistening white statue stood in the center.

“Wow! The goddess
Evana?” Drake gawked, admiring first the image, then the inspiration. Evana
shook her head, obviously not at ease with the honor the natives had bestowed
on her so many years ago.

He stopped in front
of the marble replica of Evana. It was about three times her size and
beautiful. There was no denying that. The carvers had captured her image to
perfection. The statue was even draped in stone clothing much like the soft
black material she wore in person and in the same style. She looked like a
nymph. Sheer material covered all her privates just enough to leave something
to the imagination. The wide belt at her waist kept it all close to her body.
The uneven hem was generally at the level of mid-thigh. If she bent over, he
might have to use his sword. He grinned at the prospect.

“You’re thinking
evil thoughts, aren’t you?” Her eyes narrowed to slits.

“Not at all,” he
protested.

“I had that same ‘sense
of smell is important’ talk with Nemesis, you know.”

“Fine, just don’t
bend over.” He felt duty bound to warn her.

*

Evana looked at
him, wide-eyed, as if she were an innocent. “I have underwear on,” she informed
him haughtily. “I got the idea from your magazines. It’s called a thong.”

She swished around
and pranced away, swaying her hips suggestively until she reached the temple
steps. Then she grabbed a portion of the thin material covering her behind and
pulled it up to expose her thong-creased butt before glancing over her shoulder
to catch his reaction.

He stood frozen,
rooted to the stone floor, gaping at her. She laughed and motioned for him to
come to her. She wanted him beside her when their welcoming party arrived. The
sounds of several voices, chattering excitedly, grew louder with each passing
second. She could even make out the clip-clop steps of several striders mixed
in with the noise coming in their direction. Some of them would be a gift to
her from the people.

As soon as he
reached her, he drew her into his arms and gave her a tender kiss. She
whispered against his lips, “We’ll have company soon.”

“I hear them,” he
grumbled before hungrily claiming her mouth. She melted into his embrace,
enjoying her mate’s possessive kiss. It ended too soon, but his lips slid
downward to nip her neck. “The goblet Nemesis gave me a few hours ago wasn’t
satisfying. I want you. And I prefer you hot with your pleasure fresh so I can
taste it.”

Evana feared she
might climax at that very moment from the aching desire he stirred within her
as he proclaimed his need. It was so strong she could almost taste his arousal.
Reluctantly, she pulled away to gain control of her body and senses.

Composure regained,
she straightened her golden headband and smoothed her hair. They locked gazes
for a moment. Heated passion poured into her from his hot stare. With a pained
expression, he turned away abruptly. He seemed fixated on the narrow road
leading toward the settlement. His hunger made her ache to satisfy him. Evana
vowed to end the greetings as soon as possible.

*

Drake focused on
the landscape while struggling to control his breathing and calm down. For
Evana’s sake, he wanted to make a good impression. Getting down and dirty on
the temple steps just didn’t seem like the best way to go about making friends
and influencing the people of Capra.

His lust restrained
for the moment, Drake thought back on what he’d learned about Capra so far.
Fourth in distance from a yellow sun, the planet was Earth-like in many ways.
It even had a single moon. There were ten planets in the solar system and the
sixth and seventh ones were gaseous giants that reminded him of Jupiter and
Saturn. Much to Nemesis’ delight, both the giant planets had numerous rings. He
ran over a list of facts about Capra in his mind. It took the planet three
hundred and seventy-five days to orbit the sun. A year was broken down into
fifteen months, each month had twenty-five days and weeks were only five days
long. So a month consisted of five weeks. And there were twenty-five hours in a
day. It’d take some getting used to.

Evana had been
adamant about Capra being a paradise. There were no disasters like earthquakes,
hurricanes, tidal waves, tornadoes, volcanoes or eruptions of any kind. The
planet was quiet, stable and predictable. There was no tilting of its axis to
create seasonal changes, nor was there any tectonic movement to reshape the
land mass. It sounded too perfect. Apparently, he could set his clock by the
4:00 a.m. rain shower each and every day, if he had a clock. Evana had a ghost ship.

He turned his
attention to the local terrain. There were rolling hills, green meadows, grain
fields nicely cultivated, scattered forested areas and a quaint settlement
located near the valley floor. Some of the homes were actually built into the
sides of smaller hills. It hit him. The entire area, as far as he could see,
reminded him of The Shire from
Lord of the Rings
. At least it looked
like the movie version to him. He’d never had the patience to read the books.

He strained harder
to catch a glimpse of any inhabitants roaming about in the settlement below.
Not seeing anyone, he could only surmise the whole town must be traveling up
the winding road toward them
. Oh, just great
, he grinched silently. He
glanced back at Evana.

His lovely
tormentor seemed perfectly at ease, and she flashed him an encouraging smile
before tilting her head in the direction of the road. The first groups were
rounding the bend, emerging from the forest and were now visible. Drake quickly
studied them and stifled a sigh of relief. Not one single Hobbit was among
them.

At first glance,
they appeared perfectly human, except for a slight greenish tint to their skin.
None stood any taller than Evana. And he was relieved to see most of the men
wore clothing that closely resembled his own outfit. There was one major
difference. None of the natives carried weapons of any kind.

The younger women
were dressed like Evana while the older women wore a silky garment that looked
very much like a long t-shirt belted at the waist. Drake made a mental note to
insist that she change to the more modest style from now on as he didn’t like
the way several of the men stared at her.

About fifty yards
away the entire group stopped as if waiting for a signal to move forward. All
the while, they nervously shifted their attention between him and Evana.

She moved to his
side, looped her arm around his, and whispered, “Stop scowling. You’re scaring
them.” She smiled at him sweetly.

Drake plastered a
slightly lopsided grin on his face. “Better?” he gritted out through clenched
teeth.

She giggled softly
and then descended the temple steps, pulling him along beside her. Once she
reached the bottom step she halted. “Wait here.”

He obeyed happily
and kept his attention glued to her as she stepped off the last step and walked
a few yards toward the crowd.

*

Evana stopped when
she saw Mara, the eldest woman in the forefront, step forward. It’d been five
years since Evana had last seen her, but they hadn’t been unkind. Mara had a
few more silver hairs mixed in with her light brown tresses. She hurried toward
Evana with her usual enthusiasm. The older woman had one arm wrapped around a
younger woman and ushered her forward too. Evana recognized Mara’s eldest daughter,
Suri, who didn’t seem very sure about getting any closer. She eyed Drake
fearfully as if she expected him to swoop down at any moment and do something
terrible.

Evana gave them an
encouraging smile and held out her hands. “Mara, Suri, it’s pleasing to see you
again.”

The two women
quickly reached her. Mara was the first to take hold of one of her outstretched
hands. “I was afraid we’d never see you again, my lady.” She kept her eyes downcast,
not daring to look up.

“I too thought you
wouldn’t be back in this life time, my lady,” Suri said hurriedly as she took
Evana’s free hand and pressed the back of it reverently against her forehead.

“Please, Mara,
Suri, look at me.” Evana spoke to them in a loving tone while politely
retrieving her hands. “I’ve missed our friendship,” she confessed and was glad
to see the look of joy shining from Mara’s gold-flecked hazel eyes as she
raised her head and smiled. “And, Suri, you aren’t the little girl I knew
before. You’re a beautiful woman. Mara, how do you keep the young men away from
her?”

Blushing a slightly
darker shade of green, the shy young woman shook her head while Mara laughed
heartily. “I don’t. That’s her consort’s duty now.”

“What?” Evana was
stunned, but kept her voice to a whisper. “You have a man? Already?”

“Yes,” Suri
answered, smiling happily.

“And a babe,” Mara
added.

“A babe?” Evana was
truly shocked. “Mara, have I been gone so long?”

“Much has happened
in the past five years, my lady. Do you remember Ronnan?”

Evana didn’t
recognize the name and shook her head. “I’m not sure.”

“He was apprentice
to Joral, the stable master, when you were here. Now Ronnan is the stable
master and Suri’s consort. He’s brought several striders for you. Little Teal
thinks he’s riding one.”

Evana studied the
crowd and saw a man standing off to the side with three striders. In age, she
guessed he might be a few years younger than Drake, but he seemed confidant and
at ease with the beasts. And sure enough, there was a young child, a boy, no
more than two years old, sitting on top the strider that carried several packs.

“Mara, I don’t want
to leave for so long ever again,” Evana whispered to her friend. Five years was
too long to be away.

“It’s our hope that
you’ll stay as long as possible, my lady. We all pray for that. Perhaps your,
um…”

Mara’s unfinished
question brought Evana out of her wistful thoughts.

“Oh!” She glanced
back at Drake. His casual stance on the lowest temple step gave the appearance
that he waited patiently. She knew better. He was poised to protect her from
any harm.

“Mara, please let
everyone know that my consort, Drake, is with me. There is nothing to fear. We’ve
pledged to defend this world. And it’s our hope to remain here for many years
this time.” Evana motioned for him to come join her.