WarriorsandLovers (17 page)

Nieko’s fist swung. Elijah ducked. The return punch was
already on its way when Eora’s outraged roar erupted from the bathroom. “Stop!
Both of you. Right now.”

Nieko turned toward the sound of her voice and his guard
dropped. Elijah’s punch landed hard on the side of his jaw. His legs buckled
and he swayed for a moment, then he straightened his shoulders, turned and
walked to the far side of the room. He didn’t look at either of the other two.

“What is wrong with you two fools?” Eora grumbled. “There’s
a real enemy out there we have to fight. How are we going to do that if you
can’t manage to survive five minutes together?”

She stood there, her hands on her hips, a white fluffy towel
wrapped around her, held together at the throat by sheer strength of will as
far as Elijah could tell. She looked determined, sexy and magnificent.

She strode to the king-sized bed and turned back the covers.
“I’m going to bed. I don’t care what you two do.”

She dropped the towel. The blood in Elijah’s body broke
several speed records in its rush to get to his cock. He forgot Hopewood,
forgot everything but Eora. Nieko still glowered in the corner but Elijah
didn’t care.

He shoved his pants down his legs and slid into the vacant
space alongside her.

She only hesitated for a moment before she turned toward
him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Her skin was still faintly
damp from the shower and he drank her in like water.

He’d have taken his time, but she rolled with him until he
was flat on his back. She took his cock in her hand and hummed in satisfaction.
She sat up and straddled him, raising herself then lowering again. The breath
hissed out of him as she gripped him in her tight, hot pussy.

Any hope for control he had fled. She rode him, her strong
thighs bouncing her up, sliding back down, her juices making slick, sucking
noises that made him rock hard.

His balls tightened and he knew he was going to come—too
soon, but too late for him to do anything about it.

He surged up, back arching, hips thrusting. She grasped his
hips and held on, driving back, grinding her clit against the root of his cock.

He bit his lip, the taste of the blood mingling with the
salt of sweat and the hot musk of sex, but nothing could stop the overwhelming
rush. His cock flexed and spurted and he came in hot, hard splashes that
drained him of sight.

Through the darkness clouding his vision, he heard a deep
roar. At first it was so in tune with the thrum of blood in his ears that he
didn’t recognize it as a voice. Then the wordless shout grew louder and Eora
suddenly flew upward. He stared down at his semi-erect cock and the wet patch
on his groin where she’d been.

His sex-dazed brain cells began to fire up again and he
pushed himself to his elbows.

All he could see was Nieko’s broad back and slender hips,
flexing and bouncing as he rammed Eora up against the wall. Rage burned the
last remnants of euphoria from Lije’s system. He’d kill the bastard. Rip his
balls off and shove them down his throat.

He’d taken only one step toward them when he froze.

“Yes. Yes. Yes.” Eora huffed, each exhalation in time with
the powerful slamming of Nieko’s hips. Her legs, wrapped around his waist,
tightened, the muscles standing out in proud relief, and the words faded into a
series of high-pitched moans that culminated in a breathy scream.

And still Nieko’s hips pistoned, his knees flexing, Eora’s
back thudding against the wall. Over the pounding, Elijah heard him say, “Want
you. Forever.” Then Eora’s gasps grew louder and Elijah knew she was close to
coming again.

Nieko’s arms, wrapped under her buttocks, held her, lifted
and pulled her closer. Elijah felt the telepathic force of her pleasure. It
surrounded him, taking him up with her. This time when she came it was like a
detonation. He felt it in his head and in his skin. New. Different. Wildly
satisfying.

Then Nieko’s feelings swamped his senses. Pressure built
like a head of steam, hot, dangerous and explosive. A wave of pleasure so
intense it felt like pain burst into a red-hot flow as he came. He shook and
shuddered for long moments. They clung together, then Eora unlocked her ankles
from around Nieko’s back and slid her feet onto the floor.

For a moment Nieko broadcast nothing other than pure,
all-consuming physical relief. But as the ecstasy faded it was replaced by
cascade of regret. The emotion swirled in a powerful torrent into Elijah’s
mind.

He reeled under the pressure as he felt his thoughts merge
with the Dvalinn’s. Then a wall crashed into place between them and he was left
with nothing.

He lay there stunned. He’d been inside Nieko’s mind. Seen him
for what he truly was. Seen his suffering. The power of it momentarily dwarfed
their enmity and rivalry.

Elijah took a step to bring him physically close and put his
arm around Nieko’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”

Nieko’s skin was warm and unexpectedly soft for such a hard,
muscular physique. The scent of sex and sweat filled Elijah’s nostrils. His
cock twitched again, hardening and pressing lightly against Nieko’s thigh. For
a moment Nieko looked at him, confusion in his eyes, then he shook Lije’s hand
off and stepped away.

“Why shouldn’t he be all right?” Eora asked, her eyes wide.

“I’m fine.” Nieko shook his head. “Did I hurt you? I’m
sorry.”

She took his face in her hands. “We both know you have never
hurt me and you never would.” She leaned up and kissed him on the mouth, the
tender gesture a startling contrast to the wild bout of sex that had gone
before. “I’m fine. Better than fine. I’ve waited a long time for this. For you.
I’ve tried everything I could think of to get you to this point.” She patted
his bum. “I’m going to wash up. When I come back, we’ll talk.”

When the bathroom door closed, Nieko slumped onto the side
of the bed. Elijah sat next to him. Nieko stiffened but didn’t move away.

“When you were…balls-deep just now, I could read you,” Elijah
said. “I didn’t mean to,” he went on hastily as Nieko’s fists clenched. “You
were broadcasting pretty loud and clear.” He scrubbed his hands down his face.
“To tell you the truth, it was unsettling. More intimate than sex in a way.” He
sighed. “It was as if we became each other for a moment.”

Nieko’s head dropped and he stared at the floor. “So you
know?”

“How much you want her? Yeah. What I don’t understand is why
you feel so bad about it. She seems to like you well enough.”

“Dvalinn don’t accept that kind of need,” Nieko said. “Eora
wants sex, not love.”

“Have you asked her? Because I gotta tell you, man, from
where I’m standing, there’s some pretty tight bond between you two.”

“Not that tight. After all, she wanted you,” Nieko said.

“It didn’t stop her enjoying the hell out of sex with you
just now,” Lije replied.

“Interesting discussion,” Eora said, from the doorway. “It
would have been nicer if you’d waited for me to come back.”

“The conversation’s over,” Nieko said.

“Like hell it is,” Eora snapped. “Nieko, we need to talk.
About why you and I went so long without sex. About how I feel about Elijah.
About how you and I feel about each other.”

“No.” Nieko pressed his back to the wall, looking as if he
expected to fend off a physical attack. “I won’t discuss this. Not now and not
in front of the human.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Eora snapped. “Tell him, Elijah.
Tell him humans are okay with this sort of stuff.”

If Eora couldn’t tell Nieko was wound up to detonation
point, Elijah could. The last thing he wanted right then was to get involved in
the emotional blast zone.

“We have a mission to complete,” he said. “This kind of
personal stuff can wait.”

As a diversionary tactic it worked better than he’d hoped.
Nieko jumped on it. “The human is right. Tomorrow we confront Hopewood.
Weakness of any kind will destroy us.”

“But…” Eora took a deep breath and held up her hands. “I’ve
waited this long. I can wait one more day to have it out with you.”

Nieko nodded. “You two can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“No you won’t.” She sat on the bed and pulled Elijah down
with her. “We
all
need a good night’s rest. No one’s going to get that
on the floor.” She patted the space on the other side of her. “This bed is
bigger than the last one we shared. There’s plenty of room.”

Nieko shook his head. “I’m not sharing with him.”

Her brow furrowed and she frowned at him. “You don’t want to
discuss anything personal. Okay. I accept that. But if you’re so focused on
being efficient, prove it. Get into bed. Get some sleep.” Her chin jutted
upward. “Or are you too scared to trust yourself in here with me?”

“I’m not scared,” Nieko said defiantly. He muttered
something Elijah didn’t quite catch but he slipped into the bed as Elijah had
been sure he would. He hadn’t known either of them long, but he’d already
recognized that Eora was an expert in getting people to do exactly what she
wanted them to do.

Nieko rolled onto his side, facing away from Elijah and
Eora. Eora simply spooned in beside him, flung her arm over his waist and
pulled him in close. It seemed like a good move to Elijah, so behind her, he
did the same thing. His arm went across Eora’s slender hips and his hand
settled on Nieko’s flank. He waited for the Dvalinn to fling it off, to order
him to back off, but Nieko lay perfectly still, his ribs rising and falling
regularly.

Elijah couldn’t see how he could have fallen asleep so
quickly, but if he was feigning it, there was no reason for Lije to move his
hand.

He curled his legs up underneath Eora’s bottom, took a deep
breath and let himself drift into sleep.

Elijah awoke to the beeping of the alarm. The aroma of last
night’s sex lingered in the air but Eora was no longer in the bed. Lije’s groin
was nestled up against Nieko’s firm buttocks, his hand wrapped around Nieko’s
impressive morning erection. Nieko was still sound asleep. Elijah gently opened
his hand and let Nieko go.

Nieko murmured something unintelligible and rolled over. His
arm reached over Elijah’s shoulder. As if compelled by an invisible force,
Elijah sank into the embrace. He held his breath as Nieko snuggled closer and
closer until they lay face to face, their mouths separated by no more than the
width of a piece of paper. A silver trickle of drool made Nieko look so vulnerable,
so normal, so
human.

Elijah couldn’t help himself. He closed the short distance,
his lips touching Nieko’s, breathing the air he breathed, letting his tongue
slide inward. Nieko’s lips shaped his, his arm tightened and the kiss grew
deeper. Elijah’s heart pounded and his cock hardened and grew.

Lije slid his hands down Nieko’s back, cupping his buttocks,
pulling him in so they were groin to groin, cock to cock. For a moment he broke
the kiss and pulled back, hoping to see the response in Nieko’s brown eyes, but
they remained shut.

Elijah dropped his head once more, eager to taste Nieko’s
musky morning kisses, but Nieko moaned again. He said one word, clear and
devastating—“Eora.”

Elijah jerked backward and Nieko’s eyes blinked open. He
murmured, “Wass happenin’?” His gaze focused on Elijah and he blinked once
more. “Elijah.”

His voice was husky. His pupils grew wide and black. “You
kissed me!”

“Um, yeah,” Elijah said waiting nervously to see Nieko’s
response.

It was swift and devastating. Nieko rolled away from him and
stood with his back turned as he dragged on his pants. “Get up. We have a job
to do.”

“We’ve got time to talk,” Eora said from where she stood,
already dressed, on the other side of the room. “Elijah, I think there’s
something you should be telling us.”

Lije blew out a heavy gust of air and scrubbed his hands
across his face. “I’m attracted to Eora—”

“You don’t need to tell us that!” Nieko burst out. “It’s
bloody obvious.”

“I wasn’t finished,” Elijah snapped back. “The part you
don’t know is, I’m attracted to you, too, Nieko.”

He watched the blood recede from Nieko’s face, leaving him
ashen. His mouth opened then closed again, but he didn’t say a word.

What had he been expecting? Being gay was almost acceptable,
at least among humans. Being bi was something else. Some claimed people like
him didn’t exist. Maybe they were right. No one like him had
ever
existed. Half-Dvalinn, half-human. Neither one thing nor the other. No wonder
he faced constant rejection.

Then Eora surprised him. “I knew. You might shield your
emotions but you haven’t been able to hide your body’s response. I’ve seen the
way you look at him. The way your movements mirror Nieko’s. The arguments? Hot
as hell and definitely fueled by sexual tension.”

“Bullshit.” Nieko had found his voice, but if that was his
reaction Elijah almost wished he hadn’t. “I fucking argue with him because he’s
a human, a potential murderer and a…a
prick
!”

Eora chuckled. “Interesting word choice Nieko. Because I’ve
been watching you too. That attraction? It’s not all one-sided.”

Elijah swung his gaze to look at her. She stared steadily
back, one eyebrow raised. “I know Nieko better than anyone. He’s good at
disguising what he feels but a few of things have slipped through the cracks.”

“You don’t know Nieko all that well if you think he’s
attracted to
me
,” Elijah said. “Or you’re not very good at telepathy.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. “What have I missed?”

“Nieko is—” Elijah started to say.

“Shut up!” Nieko shouted. “Both of you! Human, you don’t say
another fucking word about me! I don’t give a fuck how you feel. I don’t give a
fuck about
you
. Got that? And Eora? You’re mistaken. I don’t want to
hear any more of your misguided speculation.”

“But—” Eora’s protest was cut off by Nieko’s upraised hand.

“I won’t discuss this. We have a duty to perform.” He looked
at Eora, clearly waiting for some response.

“Our duty to the people comes first,” she agreed. If Elijah
ever needed evidence of how important this mission was to the Dvalinn, there it
was. Nothing else could have made Eora back off.

The atmosphere swirled with tension as each one of them
battled to rebuild impenetrable mental walls.

“I got us each a change of clothes yesterday,” Elijah said,
rising from the bed and grabbing a shopping bag. “There wasn’t much choice but
it will do until we get to somewhere bigger. At least they’re clean.”

He dropped some shirts and a couple of pairs of jeans on the
bed, reserving a set for himself. He was just zipping up the new pants when
Nieko lifted one of the shirts, holding it at arm’s length, pinched between his
thumb and forefinger.

“You expect me to wear a woman’s garment.” Nieko’s lips
narrowed. For a second Lije thought he was going to try to punch him again. “You
maybe think I’m a woman?” He let the shirt fall to the floor and glared at
Elijah with searing menace.

Elijah shook his head. “I think you’re a hot-headed jerk
who’s likely to draw exactly the type of attention we don’t want.” He picked up
the plain khaki shirt and threw it at Nieko. “Put the damn thing on or stay
here while Eora and I go and get the job done.”

“If I have to wear it to get out of here, I will.” He
punched his arms into the sleeves, his face contorted into an expression of
distaste. “But I won’t wear these blue things,” he said, dismissing the jeans
Elijah had bought. “Eora and I will keep our own.”

Elijah looked at the baggy cargo-style pants they wore. They
weren’t too filthy but they did look like something held over from a decade
before. “Really? I think the things I bought will help you fit in better.”

“These are combat-ready,” Eora said. “They have specially
designed pockets to hold the chemicals needed to make fireballs.”

“Shit!” Elijah snapped. “You have those chemicals with you?
On you? In your pockets?”

“Yes,” Nieko said, as if he were talking to an idiot. “We
had to bring them with us. Where do you
think
we stored them?”

“You might have said something.” Elijah took a step back.
“How bloody dangerous is it?”

“It’s not dangerous at all until the chemicals are combined.
The pants are specially designed to prevent that happening until we’re ready,”
Eora replied.

“You’d better hope it’s safe. In your world you’ve got rocks
and not a lot of flammable material. Here it’s different.” Elijah looked
around. “I’m a firefighter. I’ve seen the effects of fire too many times. Don’t
tell me that stuff is safe. You make damn sure it isn’t active until it needs
to be.”

“You know about your world,” Nieko conceded. “But we know
how to handle fireballs. You get us to the target. We’ll do the rest.”

They finished off the last of the food. Elijah ushered them
out of the room, back into the elevator. Nieko and Eora maintained a stolid
silence as they began their descent, not relaxed but not revealing the
nervousness of yesterday.

At the car they balked, but Elijah muttered, “Suck it up,”
and opened the car door. He pushed Eora into the backseat, then opened the passenger
door for Nieko. Nieko stared at him.

“You get in the car or you walk,” Lije told him.

“You will have control of this machine,” Nieko said. Elijah
couldn’t tell whether it was a statement or a question.

“Damn right I will.”

Nieko snorted and climbed into the passenger seat.

Elijah huffed out a breath. With Nieko’s argumentative
attitude, he’d half expected him to demand to drive even though he’d never seen
a car before in his life.

“How long is this going to take?” Nieko asked, arms folded
across his chest and a scowl on his face.

“Not long,” Elijah replied. “Hopewood has his headquarters
in Salisbury. The next city.”

He started the car and drove off. When they reached
Salisbury, Elijah let the GPS direct him to a major shopping center. “I have to
get something. Do you trust me enough now to let me go alone, or do you have to
come with me?”

“We’ll wait,” Nieko replied. He looked at the streets,
already teeming with early shoppers. “I prefer not to be so close to humans. If
you don’t come back, it won’t matter. Eora and I will carry out the mission on
our own.”

“Thank you for that overwhelming statement of trust. I won’t
be long.” He strode toward his target.

True to his word, he was back in the car in less than ten
minutes. He carried no bags and made no explanation to the others. He drove off
again. In a few minutes he pulled to a stop in a quieter street. “We leave the
car here and go the rest of the way on foot.”

Nieko and Eora took up positions on either side of him. Eora
patted the pockets of her pants. “We’re ready.”

“What about you?” Nieko asked. “You don’t use fireballs. How
do you intend to protect yourself?”

Elijah reached down and pulled a knife from a scabbard
strapped to his leg. He’d chosen it at a sporting goods shop. The blade was
serrated steel, solid and lethal-looking. The handle was covered in a black
rubberized material, providing a good grip even if it got wet with sweat or
blood.

Nieko and Eora looked at it without making any attempt to
touch it.

“Such a weapon would only work in close combat,” Nieko said.
“It won’t be needed. Eora and I will take out the enemy with the fireballs.
Keep it, though, if it makes you feel safe.”

“Yeah, I’ve yet to see one of these fireballs in action,”
Elijah retorted. “I’d have preferred a gun but there’s no way I could get one
here, so this will have to do.”

They walk toward Hopewood’s headquarters. Elijah constantly
scanned the surroundings for signs that Hopewood had posted sentries or that
Nieko and Eora’s appearance was attracting attention. Every time a car went
past or a dog barked, the Dvalinn tensed, but their discipline held. Only
someone as close to them as Elijah would have been aware of the momentary
hesitation or the rapid flick of their eyes from side to side.

They were about ten meters from the worn bricks of
Hopewood’s warehouse when Eora and Nieko froze. Elijah gritted his teeth. “Come
on,” he said. “It’s a bloody building. What is there to scare you this time?”

“Not scared,” Eora gasped. “Pain.”

Her face was pale. She bit her lip and pushed forward, but
winced then fell back.

Nieko pushed on, his fists clenched, his muscles standing
out as he forced himself to take one step after another.

“Stop!” Elijah yelled. “What’s happening?”

“There’s an electrical field,” Nieko said. “Set as a
deterrent. I have to fight against it.” He took another step. Blood trickled
down his chin from where he bit his lip.

“You don’t have to do this,” Elijah argued, torn between
admiration for Nieko’s determination and horror at the pain he was prepared to
put himself through. He pulled Nieko back out of range. “Hopewood never
expected a Dvalinn to have a human accomplice. I can walk through the field and
cut off the electricity. There has to be access for the meter to be read.”

Clutching his knife beside his pants leg, Elijah called back
over his shoulder. “Go back a few paces and wait.” He looked up and down the
street. “Once I get the power cut, I’ll signal you to come in. We won’t have
much time. They’ll be suspicious the moment the electricity goes off.”

He moved to the side of the building, walking confidently.
If anyone saw him, he hoped they would assume he was the meter reader.

The power box stood along one wall, right where he’d thought
it might be.

He tugged on the lid of the galvanized metal box, breathing
a sigh of relief when it lifted easily. Hopewood could have had it locked,
leaving a key with the electrical authority, but he hadn’t deemed it necessary.
There was nothing in the appearance of the ancient warehouse to attract the
attention of criminals. No Dvalinn would be able to broach the electric field for
long enough to get to the box.

Elijah was the only human who might have reason to search
out Hopewood in his own place. But he’d left Elijah to die buried in the rock
passages of the Dvalinn underworld.

One quick swipe and Elijah held the main power fuse in his
hand. He stepped back and threw it into the middle of the road, then gestured
to Eora and Nieko. They raced over to him.

“Okay.
That
went how you planned it,” Nieko conceded.
“Are you sure you can pick the lock?”

“I’m sure,” Elijah said. The warehouse was old. The door
furniture was newer but still dated from the 1940s. When he’d bought the knife,
Elijah had also picked up a thin-bladed screwdriver. When he was a child, his
mother had developed the habit of locking him in his room. She would go out,
but she wanted Elijah and his differences shut in. Those very differences had
enabled him to break out of his imprisonment. He could tell by feel when a
screwdriver inserted in the right spot caused the tumblers to fall. He’d become
adept at opening any lock and escaping to roam the streets. He’d become even
more adept at heeding the disturbance in his mind that warned him his mother
was returning. In all the years she had left him alone, she had never suspected
that on most occasions he beat her back into the house by only minutes.

His skill didn’t fail him now. Deftly, he tripped the
mechanism and pushed open the door. They crept forward into the empty space of
the foyer. The door had barely swung shut behind Nieko when David rushed at
them, a gun in his hand. As soon as he saw Elijah, he fired.