Rebel's Consort - Phoenix Book 1 (16 page)
He grabbed her around the waist, tucked her against his chest, and ran.
Ten minutes. They’d never make it.
Fuck that. “Hang on tight, sweetheart.”
The whine of laser fire sounded, strafing the cave behind them, as his feet slipped down the first tunnel. He regained his balance and vaulted forward, his heartbeat loud enough to cover his noise. Bits had a stranglehold on his neck, cutting off the little air he had left.
He didn’t need the countdown to know he was out of time, but he charged up the last grade and rounded into the sharp turn to the right.
No sound of water. He couldn’t hear much beyond the thundering of his pulse.
The ground lurched beneath his boots. Aaron’s arm dragged him to the dirt as the first charge activated.
“Getting slow, old man.”
“Complacent living,” he huffed, as he crawled to dump his duffel and the ball into the bottom of a small pontoon. Putting Bits in the center underneath the bags, he helped Aaron push off into the cold current as the next charge peppered them with rocks and dust.
***
The thwack of the putty making contact with the cave’s roof was getting on Analena’s nerves. Not that she wasn’t thankful they were able to string the new lighting globes quickly, but every empty moment without Aaron and Bits hurt her heart. And then there was Trace. She couldn’t let herself think about him or she wouldn’t be able to breathe.
Focus on the kids. Catalog the action items to make this new spot habitable. They’d been here for two hours, long enough for the others to catch up, long enough for everyone to feel the strain and jump at any sound that might signal their arrival. Even with their head start, each of the boats had felt the rumble of the explosions and seen the debris.
“Hena, can you see what we can pull together for a meal?”
Unusually silent, the girl headed off for the few bags of supplies they’d managed to carry with them.
“Why do the security balls look different?” Analena didn’t know who she expected to answer. Aaron usually handled security with her, and lately, Trace. She closed her eyes at the silence.
“I modified them to dampen sounds in our grid and project a shield in case of gas detection.”
Analena whipped around at Trace’s deep rumble. Very wet but beaming, Aaron, Bits, and Trace stood at the edge of the cavern amidst the launching bodies and shouts of the children. She made her way through and caught Bits as she lunged into her arms.
Too upset to look Trace in the eye, she grabbed Aaron and strangled him with a hug. “What took you so long?”
“Little detour.” Aaron answered, extracting himself. “Had to port the pontoon around a small cave-in and then almost capsized.”
Analena struggled to filter air through her lungs, still not quite able to wipe the fatality she’d envisioned from her mind. “And you Bits? You were supposed be in the line.”
She’d left the question light, but the little girl didn’t lift her head from Analena’s shoulder.
“I lost my bear.”
Aaron winced, and Analena’s stomach turned again with how close they’d come to leaving a child behind. Gar had moved beside her and brushed against her arm to pat Bit’s corkscrew curls. “Your bear’s okay.”
He gestured to Trace’s duffel and moved to crouch beside the large bag, searching in one of the outer pouches. After an elbow-deep dig, he pulled out the tattered bit of cloth and stuffing. “You dropped it by that bowl in the hallway. I figured, since you lose it a lot, it was safer if Trace brought it. I’m sorry, Bits.”
Freeing the child to tackle Gar and her bear, Analena took a deep breath. “Well, I guess we should get back to work.” She risked a glance at Trace. He’d turned away to sort through the additional supplies. “We need to search out the best water access and set up a filtration system. Then start on bedding.”
“Let’s see if this helps.” Trace strode across the new cavern to a tunnel running parallel to the waterfall. Aaron and several of the children followed him. Doubtful of getting any work done, Analena trailed behind.
Trace had placed a metal ball on the ground near the water’s edge.
“Another security device?”
“No, one more person we couldn’t leave behind.” He pinched a spot on the metal, and the texture liquefied, sliding away to puddle at the base of a crystal ball. He palmed the top of the crystal, and the rough texture enlarged to three times its size and then cracked at the top. Light danced along the walls of the tunnel as the ball glowed and opened, crystals compacting and retracting from the top, shifting toward the bottom to form a three-foot high pedestal. The Entity glimmered, cradled inside.
A light vibration shook the tunnel before a tiny fissure cracked in the ceiling. Fibers of green wound their way toward the Entity, splitting off tendrils to dip into the bowl before splitting again to grow toward both the waterfall and the new cavern.
The kids cheered and clapped. Analena swallowed hard. “How did you—”
Trace folded his arms across his chest and smiled. “I told them we were leaving. They wanted to come.”
Chapter 15
Trace had watched Analena’s stoic, shell-shocked reaction for an hour. It was all he was going to take. He moved behind her, circled her wrist with his hand, and pulled her out of the pile of children asking questions.
“You guys take your issues to Aaron and Hena for a little bit.”
Her hand tensed beneath his touch. “Where are you taking me?”
“I’ll let you know.” He pulled her down one of the corridors until the sounds of kids dissipated, then stopped and faced her.
“Do you want me to stay?”
“I—what kind of question is that?”
He titled her face to see it in a crack of sunlight from overhead. “This is an easy yes or no answer, Angel. Do you want me to stay with you? You haven’t even given me a look since we arrived.”
“Yes, but—I have too—”
The rest of her argument he cut off as his mouth covered hers. His lips and tongue possessed her with more dominance than he’d intended, but he wanted the lesson understood. He also didn’t want her to think.
She pushed away, breathing hard. “I’m not going to stop taking care of these kids. And if Radar has more to rescue, I’m going back in.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything else.” He cradled her face in his hands. “But you don’t have to do it alone anymore, Analena. If you say yes, I’m at your back—forever.”
“You can’t possibly mean that.”
He didn’t doubt she had trouble believing him as he took in the dark circles of fatigue around her eyes. “The last few hours were that bad? Did you really think I wouldn’t come back?”
She looked stunned, though he took it as a hopeful sign.
“It’s going to take weeks to get even a fraction of the home life up and working that we had before.” Giving her one more minute of avoidance, he added, “Things go faster with more hands.”
“We may not have privacy or time for—us.”
He pulled her body close to him, his hand traveling over her hip, pointedly unbuckling her belt as his mouth claimed hers again. “Do you think I need a bed to make love to you? You have no idea how creative I can be.”
She laughed, almost crying. He could feel her hysteria building. Good, at least she was letting go.
“We can’t do this here.”
The rasp of her zipper belied that statement. “We can and will.” His hand cupped her curls as his fingers slid into her folds, punctuating his purpose.
“You’re going to force me to do this, here?” Her words strangled out between her shallow gasps as his fingers curved deep inside her, and his thumb brushed her.
“This is the only thing I’ll ever force from you, Analena. To let go of your fear for pleasure.” His tongue teased at her lips before gentle tugs and nibbles. “Trust me. Do this for me, always for me, because I love you.” His fingers picked their rhythm. He kept the pressure of his thumb just out of reach for what she needed. She tried to grind harder against him, but he chuckled and moved his hand away.
“Ah, ah. Not yet.”
She tried to rise on her toes and then pull away, but his arm tightened on her waist.
“No running, Angel.”
Panting, she looked into his eyes and waited, passion and fear twined in her expression. “Well, do it already.”
He lowered his lips to hers. “Not until you tell me that you want me. That you know I’ll never leave you.”
“You can’t promise that.”
The hitch caught in her throat with her tears. He licked at her lower lip and pressed a kiss to console her. “That’s fear talking, Analena.”
She nipped his lip. “You can’t sex me out of my fear.”
“I’m loving you out of your fear. You know the difference.” He slid a hand to her head and tilted her face to the light, exposing his own need for her scrutiny. “I’ll give you everything I have. I’ll be your personal bodyguard. Trust me to love you, Analena.”
His thumb pressed in, and his fingers stroked. The tiny cry from her lips erupted into his mouth as his growl vibrated in his chest. He worked her through a long, drawn-out climax, one to drain her resistance as well as her fear, one to dampen his feral claim of her body. “I love you, Analena. All I have to offer you is me, but you have every bit of me. I will always make my way back to you.”
Her body quivered as he tucked her to his chest, his fingers withdrawing enough to caress and soothe her flesh.
“I don’t need a bodyguard, but I’ve always wanted a personal consort. Someone to bow and serve,” she added with a quiet laugh.
Her hand moved to cover his erection and he stopped her. “Later, Angel. For now, tell your consort what he needs to hear.”
“Promise you’ll never leave me, Trace.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his jaw with a hiccup. “I can’t lose you. I love you.”
“You’ll never lose me.” Getting what he needed, he wrapped both arms around her back and buried his face in her hair in silent prayer. Then with a reluctant sigh, he stepped back and helped her rearrange her clothes. “As much as I’d like to stay here, it’s feeling too quiet in this tunnel. I suspect we should head back.”
***
Stunned, Analena stared at the message screen active in the air. A tremor of fear squeezed her chest, but she kept her hand locked in Trace’s and pulled him to the console. They pushed through the children to where Aaron squatted on the floor.
“It came up a few minutes ago. Keeps repeating.
Radar: Piper?
Radar: Onyx?
Radar: Status?
She leaned down and typed her code name.
Confirm—both safe
Radar: Your site gone—3 Satellites down—explosion @ Med bldg—riots in Down Below—perfect timing—U are off grid 4 now—don’t show until cleared by me
A brief image of two of the incapacitated satellites flashed, switching quickly to fire and smoke consuming nearly half of the Med Lab Building.
She glanced from Trace to Aaron. They were all trying to comprehend. Satellites down, Down Below in riots. What about—
Detention Center?
Radar: Yours gone—are 4 More
Analena froze, but Trace’s touch on her shoulder kept her focused, though she couldn’t digest the reality that there were more children suffering, more victims of the Regent’s pipeline?
Radar: Onyx assignment 2 Piper?
Trace glanced at her for confirmation and at her smile typed in
Permanent
Radar: Confirm—stay off grid until cleared—we have more Piper—more Onyx
There were other people that lived the madness she, Trace, and Aaron had chosen?
Trace typed in his response with one hand as he held hers in his other.
Copy
Radar: Will keep u posted
The screen went dead, and Trace pulled Analena up against his chest. “Looks like we’re not the only game in town.”
Analena considered the ramifications as she glanced around the group. More people, more contacts, more exposure, more danger. “Sounds risky.”
“Perhaps, but helping us makes them friends. Friends are worth some risk. Don’t you think?” Trace asked.
She turned in his arms, despite the pairs of curious eyes looking on, and met his kiss. “Definitely worth the risk.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KH LeMoyne has been writing romance ever since someone told her that she had to grow up and get a real job. Then she switched to writing romantic fantasy to keep real life from getting in the way of a good story. The love of things mystical and magical keeps her writing, with characters who fight for never-ending love against insurmountable odds. Well, that and occasionally she gets to write about elves and dragons…but that’s a different story. V1 #rebelsconsort #phoenixlegends
You can read more about her stories at her website:
http://www.khlemoyne.com/
and her blog: :
http://fantasypoweredbylove.com/
OTHER WORKS BY KH LeMoyne:
The Guardians of Eden
The Phoenix Legend Series
XX
The Portals of Destiny
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