Remedy Maker (17 page)

“I will be, as soon as we split out of here.”

Patience stood first on one quivering leg, then the other. She stepped into the running shorts and adjusted the elastic band. The shorts were too large, but it was better than having her ass flap in the wind. Wood Nymphs were comfortable with their nudity, but she flushed miserably just the same.

Alek’s brow wrinkled and he scratched his black goatee. “Then why didn’t you shimmer into a tree when we first met, during that earlier ordeal?”

Daisy cleared her throat, brushing microscopic leaves from her skirt. “It’s hard traveling between the planes when I’m stressed.” She shook out her skirt one last time and met Aleksander’s eyes, daring him to comment on whatever it was they were talking about.

He didn’t.

Smart man.

“Here comes Rhycious.” Alek strode forward and abruptly stopped. “Holy Bacchus . . . .”

Through the thick stand of trees, Patience’s gaze followed Rhycious walking the plaited trail. Sunlight winked on his shoulders, keeping shadows at bay. Her breath caught at the sight of him, and she gripped the droopy black shorts hugging her waist. With his dark hair pulled back, the Centaur-man reminded her of a gunslinger from the old Wild West.

Every stride of Rhy’s loose-limbed gait brought him closer to her. Blood splattered across the front of his gray shirt, obscuring the words
Wear It
. Streaks of crimson smeared his cheek, and a darker patch cracked, drying on the thigh of his pants.

He wasn’t limping or appeared injured in any way, thank the gods. By the look of the speckled pattern, she doubted it was his blood.

Tears collected in her eyes, and she dashed them away with a sweep of her arm. “Please tell me none of that is yours.”

She swallowed hard, trying to read the glint in his narrowed eyes as he stalked toward her.

Rhycious didn’t stop until he stood toe to toe looking down at her. Bravely, she lifted her chin. The scent of rust and salt assailed her nose from the gore covering his chest. They locked eyes and he held her arms in a gentle grip.

“It’s not mine.” A flicker of pain crossed his face before his expression settled once more into a stoic mask. His studious eyes took in the length of her body. Mouth twisting, he fought for control. “How did they hurt you?”

Patience darted a glance to Aleksander and Daisy before she answered. “Let’s talk about it later. Right now, all I want is to go home.” Stretching up on her toes, she kissed his lips, avoiding the spots of blood. “Please,” she whispered.

Her eyelids sagged, feeling like a ball and chain weighed them down, but freedom shined brighter and she didn’t complain. A yawn snuck out, causing her eyes to tear up. She couldn’t find the energy to lift her hand to cover it. Lying down to sleep for a hundred years after a long, hot bath sounded like bliss to her.

Alek rooted around in his bag while Daisy peered over his shoulder. He pulled out a small wrapped bar and handed it to Patience.

“Thank you,” she said. “What is it?”

“It’s what we in the military call
gedunk
.” Alek opened a green container and passed it to her. The smooth metal chilled her hand. She took three long swallows, and hummed in appreciation. Cool and wet, the sweet spring water basted her raw throat and squelched the irritated burn.

“I was told you never ate last night—” Alek cleared his throat at the steely glance Rhy shot his way—“but we’ll get to that later.”

Patience smiled her thanks and placed the flask in Rhy’s open hand.

“
Gedunk
is a snack or any easily consumed food,” Rhy explained. His hand touched the cap of her shoulder, sending warm tingles down her spine. “Tastes like shit, but gives you energy.”

Daisy shook her head at Rhy’s offer of a drink before he tipped the canteen upside down and drained the last of the water. He tossed the empty container back to Alek. Grabbing up his discarded backpack, he slid his hand to the small of Patience’s back, encouraging her down the vegetated trail toward home.

Patience glanced back at the sorry looking shack, grimacing in distaste. “What about the hunters?”

“I’ll have a clean-up crew sent over,” Alek said. “We’ll take care of the remains.”

She tilted her head to look at the sky, wishing she were one of the clouds drifting lazily by. It was beautiful—a
beautific
nightmare. Patience hugged herself, glad to be out and alive.

Daisy asked Aleksander about his foodstuff, politely declining his offer of a taste. Patience was so hungry she could eat raw grubs, so she had no qualms about ripping open the food stick. She took a moment to sniff the sticky brown bar.

“Well, I’m all for some energy right about now,” Patience said. “My legs feel like lead from being tied for so long.” She took a bite and wrinkled her nose at the bland flavor, but chewed the lumpy mass, and swallowed.

The return trip to her tree near Boronda Creek passed quickly with the murmurs of Daisy and Aleksander’s conversations floating in Patience’s subconscious. Within a few minutes of setting out, Rhy had swept her up with gentle hands into his arms and held her against his blood-encrusted shirt.

She’d soon become drowsy, amazed she could relax while wreathed in his embrace. His strength gave her comfort and started the healing process she so desperately needed to overcome the horrors of the last few hours.

Patience wrapped her arms around Rhy’s neck, burrowed her nose against his warm skin, and closed her eyes. A warm kiss on her forehead was the last thing she remembered before drifting off to a dreamless sleep, rocked like a newborn babe in her remedy maker’s arms.

Much too soon, soft lips feathering kisses over her eyelids, cheeks, and lips roused her. Tender caresses whipped lightning into her bloodstream. Her pulse danced.

“Patience. Wake up,
polytima.”

If the light stroking hadn’t woken her, his deep voice would have. Patience slapped her hand over a huge yawn, and forced her eyelids to open. In front of them, an arm’s length away, her sycamore grew steadfast. The tree’s shiny leaves in the canopy above splashed a few shades lighter than the other sycamores towering above it.

“How long did I crash out?”

He lifted his wrist to glance at his watch and she realized he was kneeling on the ground, holding her in his lap, his body aroused.

“About two hours. How do you feel?” His amber eyes glittered like precious gems and blazed beneath brows stamped with lines of concern.

Patience traced the scar on his cheek, the disfigurement pink and smooth next to his whisker-rough chin. She slid the pad of her finger over the sensuous outline of his lips. “Pretty good, considering everything I ….” She sighed, not wanting to continue.

His arms tightened around her. “Let’s get you inside.”

“Hey.” She glanced around and noticed they were alone. “What-up with Daisy and Aleksander?”

“Daisy went home to grab a few things, and Alek’s playing bodyguard for her. They’ll meet us here in a while.”

No need to grip his hand for a shimmer this time, he’s not letting go of me.
The pleasant notion curved her lips. Patience focused on building her internal voltage with enough power to transfer two people inside her tree.

Sparks of metabolic energy danced along Rhy’s skin, and his eyes polished into glistening beams of light. He glowed like a Greek god in Elysium. Then with a jiggle and a pop, they reappeared in her living room.

Rhycious lowered her feet to the floor, but kept his arm wrapped around her waist. Standing from his kneeling position, he helped her up. She glanced around, noting half her stack of magazines lay spread in disarray on the floor near the couch. The little pink pillows Serenity made for her last year were pushed to one side.

“Was it rough for you, stuck in here like you were?”

“Sweetheart, you have no idea.” He shrugged off his pack and tossed it on the couch. “Good thing Daisy came by when she did.”

The room tilted, and she staggered a bit in making a beeline for the cold box in the kitchen. Food. She needed food, and lots of it. Rhy followed close behind. Patience found herself emotionally reaching for him and their domestic togetherness.

She grabbed the bagels and cream cheese Serenity brought on her last visit. Her missing sister, never far from her thoughts, loomed up to tug at her heart. Patience needed to speak to Rhycious about how to best search for her, but her heart advised that right now wasn’t the time.

Six days had passed since Serenity went missing. Knowing her sister wasn’t in bondage at the hunters’ cabin was a huge relief, though momentary. If Serenity wasn’t there, then where was she, and who was she with? The indefinite possibilities gnawed a little more in her mind.

After cutting the bagel in half and slathering way too much cream cheese on it, she handed a slice to Rhy and bit into the other.

“Military food bites the big one compared to this.” Patience rolled her eyes back as a sweet burst of flavor filled her mouth.

“I’ll agree with you there.” He finished his bagel in three enormous chomps and watched her lick the cream cheese from the corner of her mouth. His pupils dilated in those tawny orbs of his until only a thin gleam of orange surrounded the black centers.

Reaching across the butcher’s block they were using as a table, Rhy stroked the hair off her forehead. His fingers lingered in a fiery caress, drifting down from her temple and across her cheek, where he cupped her bruised face in his palm.

He gazed deep into her eyes. “Babe, I need to know. Did they touch you?”

 A ripple of pain went through her body as she remembered the hours past. Patience fell into his hypnotic gaze, her pulse beat wild in her throat. Using his thumb, he traced the contours of her cheek. Every torturous thought disappeared from her mind. Need coursed through her veins in a rapid hot flow that both excited and frightened her.

She had never reacted this way to a male before. And she shouldn’t be reacting to
this
Centaur. In the end, it wouldn’t be fair to him. What happened to her self-control and common sense?

With great effort, she rediscovered her voice, but it was silky, smoldering. She hardly recognized it. “No, not like you think. Molested is more like it. It could have been much, much worse.”

“I want to kill them all over again,” he whispered. “Please say you don’t fear me now,
polytima
.” Rhycious lowered his hand and drew nearer. His fingers curled around her throat in a caress, and he tilted her head back, his eyes never straying from hers. He leaned closer.

“I’m not scared of you.” The quiver in her voice ridiculed her answer. She gazed at him, her escaping breath a thin stream from between her parted lips. The molten heat in his gaze stimulated an answering warmth within her, and she found herself staring at his sumptuously carved mouth.

“Don’t ever be afraid of me.” His words barely discernible, he leaned closer still. “And don’t be scared of this.” Rhycious closed the distance between them, lightly pressing his lips to hers.

Instantaneous heat burst around them, within them, brilliant and scorching as the incandescent lighting along the walls. Patience drew in a small gasp, pulling Rhycious to her. He settled his mouth against hers more firmly, and she told herself she only wanted a sip.

 Nothing more.

Flames swept through her body, the blood scorching the veins in which it traveled.

 One nibble.

Just one—and it would never be enough.

His mouth tasted like satin drenched in apricot brandy. Sugary soft and intoxicating. His tongue slipped between her parted lips and she luxuriated in the experience. Rhycious caressed her, and Patience answered in kind, countering purely on impulse. Her tongue slid lithely against Rhy’s and he plunged in deeper. The flames vaulted higher.    

A low moan drifted up from her throat and she wound her arms around his neck. His kisses drugged her, and she grew lightheaded.  as if her body hovered off the floor. Rhycious lifted her, his arms wrapped around her like a protective shield from the gods. His large hands coasted down the small of her back and molded her body to his.

Fully aroused, his erection strained into her belly, hard as ironwood, tempting as sin. Memories of sweat-stained t-shirts and loud abrasive laughter crowded for room in her overly taxed thoughts. A tremble shot through her, and she pushed a hand against his chest. She wasn’t resisting Rhy, she was fighting to rid herself of an awful memory.

No. The hunters hadn’t raped her, thank the gods. But it had been damn close.

Rhycious must have sensed her hesitance, because he set her down and slowly kissed a path down her neck. His hands stroked her back, offering comfort in his gentle warmth. Slowing things down, he rekindled her flame.
A bona fide wanton, she arched against him, behaving without thought.

A deep growl reverberated in his chest and he ground his hips against her. He altered the slant of their kiss and drove his tongue into her mouth as his hand stroked downward, over the swell of her hip. Cupping her ass, he brought her feminine cleft against his stiffness.

Her whimper of need slipped out, and he surged against her as if a levee was breached and containment threatened to dissolve. This was exactly what she needed from him, what she wanted.

And gods, she wanted him.

She wanted Rhycious to take her right there, right now, on the butcher block or down on the floor. It didn’t matter.

Sexual insanity.

Thirteen

Patience looped her arms around Rhy’s neck and wrapped her legs around his middle, his hands curved over her rump.

Rhycious stepped out of the kitchen and crossed toward her bedroom, but hesitated and changed direction. Instead, he walked her into the sunny-yellow bathroom, and sat her down on the counter. “I bet you would like a soak in the tub first.”

“I’ve been dreaming of that all the way home.”

He unbuttoned the shirt she’d borrowed that morning. The battle-scarred hands of a seasoned warrior, long and strong, were considerably tender as he peeled away the stained material. The harsh way Tom had touched her passed through her mind, and she shuddered.