The Reluctant Amazon (Alliance of the Amazons) (17 page)

Megan poured more whiskey for the other Amazons and threw back
another shot. “Something’s not right there. I can’t imagine my Aunt Tasha being
my mom and not telling me. She never lied to me—even when what she said came
across as blunt or mean. No, there’s another story there.”

Rebecca nodded, as did the other Amazons. They were courting
plenty of trouble as it was, and she figured this mystery might just open up
another can of worms that was best left capped for the time being.

While it was important to bond with the other Amazons, the day
had been too trying. She needed to relax, and she needed some peace and quiet.
“You ladies have fun. I’m checking weapons, then I’m heading to bed.”

Rebecca quietly left the cabin, closing the door behind
her.

It wasn’t a lie, not really. Judging from the knowing smiles
her sisters’ threw her as she’d left, they’d understood. There was someplace
else she needed to be.

The only place she felt safe.

Chapter Sixteen

Rebecca sank her exhausted body into the deep, hot
water, trying to relax and wishing she’d passed on the whiskey. All the alcohol
had done was give her a headache.

Leaning her head back on the soft moss, she pushed the memory
out of her mind and tried to concentrate on her main worry.

Sparks.

Something in her had changed, had snapped when Trishna died.
Could Megan, Gina or Sarita feel it too?

As a Fire, Sparks had always been more than a little intense,
but Rebecca sensed an urgency in her now that bordered on irresponsible. The
funeral pyre she’d made of Trishna’s coffin served as an example of what Sparks
could be like when out of control. No wonder, considering two Amazons were dead,
and the rest had bull’s eyes painted on their chests. They needed to stay
together and draw strength from each other before Jin picked them off, one by
one. God, she wished she could find that bastard, figure out who he was working
for, and then bury an arrow in both their black hearts.

Sparks must have left Avalon. What if Jin found out she was
alone and exploited her vulnerability? They hadn’t figured out how Jin got his
hands on Maria or Trishna, and the thought of Sparks at his mercy was
horrifying.

With a resigned sigh, Rebecca closed her eyes. Artair’s face
formed in her mind.

All she wanted was for him to appear, to have him wrap his arms
around her and comfort her—to have him help her put her fears aside, if only for
a short time. She needed him. Even knowing how selfish it was to want him with
her, to want him to stay, she still needed him.

“Becca mine?”

“Artair?” She might have been dreaming until she realized what
he wanted by coming to her—the exact things she wanted from him. Things they
couldn’t find in the rest of their motley crew. Things they’d never truly found
in the real world.

Companionship. Comfort.

Love.

No matter what she wanted, she refused to bring Rhiannon’s
wrath down on the man she loved. She refused to make his desire to leave the
Amazons more difficult. And she refused to hand him her heart on a silver
platter, knowing it would shatter the moment he left.

Before the words of denial could fall from her lips, he’d
already stripped off his plaid and eased himself into the hot spring.

She had to make the right choice. She had to leave.

“Stay away from me, Artair. I mean it, just—just—don’t.” She
jumped to her feet and treaded through the waist-deep water, her traitorous legs
leaden and stiff. Her toes brushed the steps, and she scrambled to crawl out of
the spring.

Quick as a cat, he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled
her back hard against his chest. “Oh, I’ve tried, lass. I’ve tried so hard to
stay away from you. But I cannot.” He brushed her braid aside and buried his
lips against the uninjured side of her neck.

Any protest she might have offered was smothered by the feel of
his warm mouth moving over her sensitive skin. Every inch of his body pressed
against her back, heat and muscle so intimately molding to her, his erection
hard against her buttocks.

Artair smoothed one hand over her stomach, splaying his fingers
over the bare skin as the other rose to claim a breast. A gasp fell from her
lips as his palm covered and caressed her through the thin, wet material of her
bikini top. Her heart slammed so hard he surely felt it as he cupped her breast
in that loving hand.

“You are mine. You’ve always been mine. From the moment I came
to claim you. I can nae longer deny what I feel, how I want you, how I need
you.” He ran his tongue around the ridges of the ear he’d been whispering in,
sending waves of heat coursing through her body, shredding her resistance and
pushing aside her doubts.

When he touched her, there was no future to tear them apart.
Only here. Only now. Only the two of them. Rebecca arched back, wanting more,
needing more.

“And I do want you.” He pressed his arousal against her. “Can
you feel how I desire you?”

Could he possibly know how very much she wanted him? How she’d
ached for him to come to her? How she needed his love?

No!
She wasn’t going to be
selfish—she wasn’t going to want who she couldn’t have, who she
shouldn’t
have. “But Rhiannon—”

“Shh,” he whispered in her ear, his breath sending desire
running over her heart. “This is between you and me, nae anyone else.” The hand
he’d rested against her belly moved lower, sliding under the waistband of her
bikini before claiming the part of her that ached to feel him deep inside. “Tell
me you don’t want me as I want you. Tell me, Becca mine, and I’ll leave you
be.”

“I—I—” But she couldn’t give voice to the lie.
I want you, Artair. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted
anyone in my life.
“I can’t tell you that.”

His breath rushed from him, hot over her neck. Until his strong
exhale, she hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath, waiting for her to
turn him away. As if she ever could.

He might leave her. Soon.
Only here. Only
now.

“I need you, lass. I need to touch you, to hold you, to love
you.” His clever fingers began to stroke her, delving deeper and deeper. “Let me
love you.”

“Yes. Oh, yes.”

She had no place to put her hands except the stone wall in
front of her. Artair’s palm left her breast to slide to her hip, grabbing her
bikini bottom and dragging it down. Between his one-handed effort to divest her
of her swimsuit and the magic he was doing with his other fingers, she could
barely stay on her feet. Separating her legs so he could drag the clingy bottoms
farther down, she realized how frustrated he was getting from the low growl
rumbling from his chest. When he pulled his teasing hand away to focus on
removing her bikini, she whimpered in disappointment.

The swimsuit bottoms were tugged down until she stepped out of
them. Artair quickly removed the top, and then he stroked both of her breasts,
pulling her back against him again. Rebecca arched into his touch, turned her
face to his and reached over her shoulder to draw his head down until their lips
met.

* * *

Artair reveled in her response. She matched his need.
She matched his passion. He’d come to Eden to find her because somehow he’d
known Rebecca would be here. And he’d come for this very reason. Her kiss told
him he’d been right. She needed him as much as he needed her.

It had been a long time since he’d lain with a woman, years
since he’d been to Freya’s island, but even in his ancient memories, no woman
had ever excited him the way Rebecca did. He caressed her perfect breasts before
letting his hands wander over her stomach, her arms, her legs, as his mouth
moved against hers. He couldn’t touch enough of her.

Her skin was soft, smooth, stretched over supple muscle that
quivered beneath his hands. He’d pulled his fingers away from the heat of her to
slow his reaction. Had he played there much longer, he would already have bent
her over the wall and buried himself deep inside her body.

His control was tenuous at best. But he vowed to make Rebecca
want him just as much as he wanted her, because tonight might be all they ever
had to share. The years of watching the end of so many lives had taught him that
seeing a new day was never something a person should count on. He would make
this time belong to them, would make the night their cloak and would make this
place their sanctuary. Artair concentrated on the woman he loved and bringing
her the same kind of pleasure she gave him.

He slid his hand down to claim her again, stroking and
caressing to stoke the fire burning hot enough to forge steel from his body. His
cock was hard as granite, prepared to take her the moment she let him know she
was ready as well.

He turned Rebecca in his arms. Artair pulled her roughly
against him, drinking in the nectar of her kisses. Her tongue was wild, stroking
his, demanding equal response. Firm breasts flattened against his chest, their
warmth branding him as hers. Slender arms stretched around his neck as she
kissed him with abandon he’d never felt from a woman before. She wanted him.

Could Rebecca possibly love him? He didn’t know. For now, he
would take her passion, vowing one day he would earn her love, vowing one day to
make her love him as much as he loved her.

* * *

Rebecca’s world reeled. Every time his tongue plundered
her mouth, the tension inside her built. Each muscle readied itself for this
man. Drawing back her hands from around his neck, she ran her palms over his
muscular shoulders, down his strong arms, back up his broad chest. Every inch of
him was perfection. His erection was pressing hot and hard against her belly,
and knowing she could make him want her as desperately as she wanted him was
intoxicating. She would love him, holding nothing back, saving nothing for
later.
Tonight.
All they might ever have was
tonight. She didn’t intend to waste a moment of it.

Artair suddenly scooped her into his arms, carried her up the
stone steps and put her on her feet in the grass. Grabbing his plaid, he spread
it over the ground, then picked her back up and set her down on the soft cloth.
He stretched out by her side.

His mouth moved to her breast. With a low moan, she arched into
him. He teased and taunted, first one breast then the other, making her chest
feel heavy and hot. Threading her fingers through that chestnut hair she’d
dreamed of touching hundreds of times, she urged him on. Every nerve tingled,
her blood turning to liquid heat, spreading a path of fire that pooled between
her thighs.

He shifted to cover her with his body, pushing her thighs
farther apart with his knee, and then settling against her to rub his cock
against her core. “Now, Becca mine.”

“Now. Oh yes, now.”

He entered her in one strong thrust.

Rebecca wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him as deep
as she could. He filled her completely, making her body sing. He started to
move, to pull away then sink back inside her. “Oh, God. Artair, that’s so… You
feel so…perfect.”

He moved in a hypnotic rhythm that captured her, pulling her
higher and higher as he whispered in her ear how beautiful she was and how much
pleasure her body was giving him. She couldn’t slow her reaction, couldn’t savor
what he was doing to her, and couldn’t make this time together last forever. Her
body tensed, her knees lifting to draw him deeper before everything inside burst
to spread a melee of sensations through her. She cried out his name.

He thrust into her one last time and shuddered. Then his body
relaxed as his weight settled on her.

Rebecca was the first to stir, tapping Artair’s shoulder to get
him to move. He wasn’t accommodating. “I can’t breathe.”

He rolled to the soft moss and sprawled on his back. “You
cannot breathe, and I cannot move. You were more than I bargained for.”

Not sure what to make of his comment, she was suddenly
vulnerable. Naked and exposed and wondering what had just possessed her to throw
herself at a man she could never have. All the tenderness of making love to
Artair vanished.

Damn it to Hell.
She’d made love to
her Sentinel. She’d bared all her feelings to him. She’d complicated things
between them so much, there could be no going back.

And when it was all said and done, he’d
still
leave. Her heart felt as brittle as shattered crystal.

She scrambled to her feet to search for her towel, feeling the
need to wrap it around her, wanting to hide from his gaze.

His hand shot out to grab her wrist. “Where are you going?”

“Back to my cabin. I—I have to go.”

His eyes widened at her words. “Nay.”

She tried to pull away, nearly desperate to cover herself so he
wouldn’t look at her nudity any longer. Artair clung to her wrist.

“Let me go. Please, let me go.”

“Nay.” Rising, he tugged her into his arms before she could
scurry away. He kissed the top of her head. “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you? I
know I was a little rough…”

She shook her head, unable to speak.

“You wanted me, lass. As much as I wanted you.”

God, what had she been thinking? He wanted to leave, and she’d
thrown herself at him. He probably assumed she’d been selfish and tried to hold
on to him by sleeping with him.

“Don’t leave, Becca. I want you to stay. I—I need you.”

She rubbed her nose against his chest where she’d buried her
face. Knowing she was taking an ostrich’s way out, she didn’t care.

“Don’t leave.” His voice had taken on a hard edge, the same
edge he’d get right before he’d make her move rocks or scrub garbage cans.

She wanted to shout the same words right back at him.
Don’t leave! Don’t leave Avalon! Please, oh please don’t
leave me!

He tensed before he put his hands on her upper arms and put
some distance between them. “Did you nae hear me? I
need
you.”

What was she supposed to say? Emotions raced through her with
the violence of a summer thunderstorm. Love. Fear. Grief. The tree branches of
the glen suddenly whipped in rhythm with her panicked thoughts. “You don’t have
to say that, just because we… Please don’t say that.”

* * *

“Don’t say what? That I need you? But I do.” Artair had
never seen her look so frightened, not even when she’d been surrounded by
revenants. Rebecca’s face had blanched, and she trembled despite the warmth of
the air. “What’s wrong?”

Didn’t she know what she meant to him? If she reacted like this
when he told her he needed her, she’d probably run far away from Avalon if he
confessed his love.

He grasped for a way to understand why. As usual, all he knew
to do was push. He was, after all, Sentinel. “I need you, Becca mine. I want us
to be together.”