WarriorsandLovers (20 page)

Eora snickered. “Most of the bruises and bumps probably came
about during the journey. It wasn’t pretty.”

“Driving is harder than it looks,” Tybor said belligerently.
“There are bends everywhere. And other cars. And trees. And dogs.”

“And cows,” Huon said, breaking out into mirth again. “Don’t
forget the cow.” Tybor’s lips thinned and Huon laughed even harder. “I bet the
cow never forgets you!”

“Anyway,” said Tybor, with some attempt at dignity, “we made
it to Stonehenge.”

“Really, it won’t take much to repair the fence, and no one
will ever miss that chunk out of the standing stone,” put in the irrepressible
Huon. “But as long as I live I will be grateful British police do not routinely
carry guns.”

“Three carloads of them, there were. Running across the
field toward us.” Eora grinned. “I would have loved to be able to see their
faces when we disappeared right in front of their eyes.”

“And here you are.” Judie gestured around the room.

“The big problem is, what do we do next?” Nieko looked from
Eora to Elijah.

“I can predict some of it,” Tybor said. “The council will
interview you and make a report. The medicos have held them off so far, but now
you’re all awake and reasonably fit you might as well get it over with.”

“What do you think they’ll do with us?” Eora asked.

“Congratulate you and thank you, I hope,” Huon said. “You’ve
removed the biggest threat the Dvalinn have ever faced. You should be heroes.”

“Once I get back home, I won’t be a hero,” Elijah said.
“I’ll be a convicted murderer.”

“You didn’t kill Hopewood,” Nieko said. “I did.”

“It was my knife that did it,” Elijah said. “It had my
prints on it. It won’t take much effort to find out where I bought it. I have a
record of association with Hopewood.”

“But he was going to kill us all. He had to die,” Eora said.

“And who’s going to believe that?” Elijah snapped. “Most
humans don’t know the Dvalinn exist. No one is going to believe the story I
have to tell. I’ll find myself locked away in a maximum security psychiatric
facility, never to be released.”

“You
can’t
go home,” Judie said. “Not for a while,
anyway. You lost a lot of blood and teleporting you in that weakened condition
harmed you even more. It will be some time before you’re able to take the
strain teleporting puts on your system.”

“Stay underground? I don’t think so.” Elijah shuddered.
“This is not my world.”

“It’s not my world either,” Judie replied. “But it’s the
world I’ve chosen.” Her eyes darkened. “There are some things you’ll need to
know. Time passes differently in the underground world. It will take you at
least a month to recover but a couple of months here will be many years on the
surface. You won’t return to the same time you left. But
you
can go
back. That’s more than I can ever do.”

“I’m not staying here,” Elijah shouted. “If I go back home
and get arrested, fine, I’ll fight it.” A shudder rippled through him and his
shoulders jerked. “You can’t keep me here.”

“And you can’t leave until you’re strong enough,” Judie
snapped. “We could have left you in Hopewood’s warehouse. If you hadn’t bled
out, you’d have been charged with his murder. This way, you’ll be safe, now and
when you do return. We know Hopewood recruited you so easily because you had no
one close to you, no one who will be looking for you.” She wagged her finger at
him. “So harden up. You got yourself into this at the start. We’re trying to
help you out.”

Elijah’s lips twisted. “Am I supposed to say thanks?” He
looked up at the ceiling. “There’s no sun. No natural air. I don’t know how you
stand it.”

Judie smiled. “I miss the sun and sky, but it’s a sacrifice
I’m happy to make to be with Huon, Tybor…and our child.”

Tybor and Huon snapped to attention “We’re having a baby?”
they asked in unison.

“We are.”

Tybor pulled out the chair from beside the bed and settled
Judie into it.

Huon fussed around her.

“This is why I hadn’t told you yet,” Judie said smiling. “We
can talk about it later but right now we need to sort out these people’s lives.
I have a suggestion.”

“As long as it doesn’t involve any stress to you or the
baby, fine,” Tybor said.

“Once the council has finished with Elijah, he’ll need
somewhere to stay. He can come back with us. He’ll be out of the way of anyone
who wants to make trouble.” She looked at him, her expression grim. “There are
plenty of Dvalinn who will never forgive humans for what Hopewood has done.”

“Do I have any choice?” Elijah asked.

“No,” Tybor said tersely.

“If you go to Ogof, I am too,” Eora said.

“And if Eora goes, I’m coming too,” added Nieko. “I’m not
leaving her.”

“Do whatever you want,” Elijah said. “But I’m not like
Judie. As soon as it’s safe, I’m going home.”

Tybor stood. “This is something you three can sort out on
your own.” He took Judie’s hand in his. “We need to get this lady back so she
can rest.”

“I’m not sick,” Judie protested.

Nieko could still hear her arguing quietly as they shut the
door behind them.

Waves of anger rolled off Elijah. If he made any effort to
disguise it, he failed. Nieko felt the heat of it scorching him. “So what’s the
problem, Elijah? Suddenly remembered how much we Dvalinn disgust you? Your near-death
experience make you too squeamish to stay?”

“I never said I’d stay.”

“I thought we’d be together. You, me, and Nieko,” Eora
cried.

“It might have been okay if we were on the surface. My
world.” Elijah ran his fingers through his hair. “Eora could satisfy her
curiosity. Nieko could have found out what it was like to be in the sun. It
would have been fun.”

“Fun? I thought we were talking about love,” Eora said. “You
believe in love. You said so.”

“I believe in love for other people. I never said I loved
you.”

“I thought…” Eora looked at him and Nieko’s heart ached at
the bereft expression on her face. He tried to get a read on Lije’s emotions.

“Don’t,” Elijah said, and a wall slammed into place. The
rejection felt like a blow.

Nieko glared at him.

“I have to get out of here. That’s my priority.”

Nieko swallowed past the lump lodged in his throat. “So Eora
means nothing to you?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. Maybe. Whatever it is, I’ll get over
it. So will you. I’ll be a memory. Something to tell your grandkids.”

Pain roughened Eora’s voice. “When I thought you were dead,
part of my soul tore away. How do I get over that? How do I get over being in
love with you?”

“For a people who supposedly don’t know what love is, you’re
awfully quick to throw the word around. You and Nieko, you know each other, you
know your strengths and weaknesses. You know you can be together because you
want to be. Maybe that’s love—I wouldn’t know.” He rolled the chair backward,
away from them. “What you’re feeling for
me
is infatuation. We’ve been
through a traumatic experience. That messes with your emotions. I’m new and
different. You’ve got all these pheromones swirling in your system. You don’t know
enough about love to know what you’re saying or feeling.”

Nieko pushed himself up into a sitting position. A wave of
dizziness hit but he ignored it. No way was he going to lie down while Elijah
stomped all over him. “I know how making love to Eora affected you.”

Elijah shrugged. “I enjoyed it. A lot. I’m not denying it.
I’m just saying it wasn’t love.”

“And I’m saying you’re fooling yourself…or trying to.” Nieko
swung his legs to the floor. The dizziness had subsided and he had an
overwhelming urge to shake some sense into Elijah. Before he could push off the
bed, Eora was beside him, holding him in place simply by resting her hand on
his shoulder.

“You stay in bed. Nothing will be gained by you falling flat
on your face.” She rubbed the bruise on her jaw. “We’ve all been through a
difficult experience. We need time to regain our equilibrium.” The fingers on
his shoulder tightened, gripping him as if she needed him to hold onto. “We
don’t have to go to Ogof. If we keep our heads down we can stay here.”

“Too risky,” Nieko said. “The council isn’t happy about us.
Even though the end result was good, we still broke the rules. Better for us to
stay right out of their way. If they don’t see us, they might forget to dole
out sanctions.”

If Eora wanted both of them, then that’s what Nieko would
give her. He ignored the odd feeling of longing that fluttered in his chest. So
what if he’d felt savage grief when he’d thought Elijah was dead—and joy when
he’d seen him wheeled into the room. They were brothers in arms. His responses
were natural and expected. Nothing more. Elijah wasn’t attracted to him and he
sure as hell didn’t have any softer feelings for Elijah. He was doing this for
Eora. “I said I was going to Ogof, and I am.”

“Sure. Come to Ogof,” Elijah said “If I have to wait until
I’ve recovered enough for the teleport, I’d rather have your company than not.”

“How extraordinarily gracious of you,” Nieko sneered.

“I’m tired,” Elijah responded. “I’m going back to my room.”

At the door, he turned back. “How are we supposed to get to
Ogof anyway, if I can’t teleport?”

“We have carts for physically transporting anything too big
to teleport,” Eora said. “And thermo-magnetic engines to drive them. They don’t
get used much, but for you they’ll make them available.”

“Look, when we get to Ogof,” a slash of color highlighted
Elijah’s cheeks, “we might as well… I’m open to… I think we can set up a
ménage. I’m happy to share Eora with you. Hell, I’d be happy to show
you
what sex between men is like, but you’re never going to admit you’re interested
in that. By the time I’m strong enough to go back to the surface, this
attraction,” he met Nieko’s eyes, “
all
of this attraction will have
burned itself out. You and Eora can have your happily-ever-after on your own.”

“What if it doesn’t
burn out
?” Eora asked.

“It has to,” he replied. “There’s no future for us. You
belong in your world and I belong in mine.”

“This is your world too,” Nieko said. “You’re part Dvalinn.
You can’t change that.”

But Elijah was already on his way out the door and he didn’t
look back.

Elijah clung to the sides of the cart as it rattled and
groaned through the rock passages. No wonder the Dvalinn didn’t use physical
transport. They sucked at it.

“It’s awful, isn’t it?” Judie sat next to him, a grimace on
her face. “The only thing that could make is worse is if I had morning
sickness.”

“Are you sick?” Huon asked from the front seat. “Tybor, stop
the cart!”

“No, I’m not sick,” she replied, “and you have to calm down.
We have eight more months of this.” Her face suddenly went pale. Elijah thought
she might have been nauseous after all. “I hope it’s only eight more months.
How long do Dvalinn pregnancies last?”

“Same as humans,” Eora said from the rear seats. “I studied
it at school. We live much, much longer, but that’s a result of living
underground. We’re more or less the same species. Our gestation period is the
same.”

“That’s a relief,” Judie sighed, “But not half as much
relief as getting off this stupid cart will be.”

“The journey will only take a few hours,” Tybor said.
“Instead of two or more days if we tried to walk it.”

The way Huon and Tybor fussed over Judie as if she were the
first woman to ever get pregnant, Lije wasn’t surprised they’d insisted on traveling
with her. But he couldn’t understand why Nieko and Eora were traveling this way
when they could have teleported to Ogof and waited for them to arrive. Nieko’s
brooding presence behind him made it clear he wasn’t enjoying the trip.

But then, Nieko had been sullen and remote since they’d had
the conversation back in the clinic. As annoying as it was, he could stand the
sulking better than Eora’s wounded puppy look. Hell, the woman was a fierce
fighter—he’d seen her take down a man and step over his ashes as if they were
so much rubbish. Why should Elijah pointing out the reality of her—crush—make
him feel as if he’d kicked her?

As they entered Ogof, Lije’s chest grew tight. Last time
he’d been here, he’d been close to doing something unforgiveable. But the
unforgivable had already happened. People had lived here—loved, played and
yearned for the sun. Brian Hopewood had killed every one of them. Their ghosts
called to Lije from every painted image, every closed door, every deserted
street corner.

“I can’t stay here,” he burst out.

Judie turned to him, her expression somber. “Neither can we.
It suits us to have people believe we live here. It guarantees no troublemakers
will come looking for us, but we live farther out. There’s a small settlement
outside Ogof, abandoned long ago when the few inhabitants got tired of living
in isolation and moved to the city.” She breathed out heavily. “Here you can
feel the memory of pain. At the place we’ve chosen to make our home, the only
thing the walls remember is emptiness.” Some of the gloom lifted. A small
maternal smile crossed her face. “That’s going to change. We’ll all be a
community.”

“You’ll be a community. I’m not staying,” Elijah said. “As
soon as I’m fit…”

“You’re out of here,” Nieko said. “We know, human. You don’t
have to keep reminding us.”

“I want to make sure we all know where we stand. I’ve had
enough deception.”

They traveled on in silence, leaving the painted walls of
Ogof behind them. A few kilometers on they came to a cluster of dwellings.
Unlike in Ogof, the walls and doors were small and undecorated.

“This is us,” Huon said.

“We live there.” Tybor pointed to a place at the far end of
the street. “You’re welcome to settle anywhere over there.” He pointed at the
opposite end of the village. “Get what you need off the wagon. We are going to
be busy for a while.” He glared at them, fierce and powerful. “We don’t want to
be disturbed. Understand?”

The three of them nodded. Elijah couldn’t imagine what kind
of person would be stupid enough to bother Tybor. Huon and Judie were
approachable, even likeable. Tybor was far more imposing. Apart from the moment
of hilarity when they’d discussed his commandeering of the car, and his obvious
devotion to Judie and Huon, he seemed to be the epitome of a warrior. Hard.
Dangerous.

Tybor and Huon swept Judie away, leaving Elijah, Nieko and
Eora staring at one another.

“Come on,” Elijah said. “We may as well get settled in and
have something to eat.”

“In the one house,” Eora asked.

“Yes,” he replied. Was he going to have to spell everything
out for them? “That’s what we decided.”

At first he thought Nieko was going to storm off, but
although he stiffened he nodded his head. They unloaded the goods they’d
brought with them.

Long abandonment hadn’t caused much deterioration in the
rock-walled dwelling. Basic furniture was scattered around the rooms—beds,
couches and chairs needed little more than brushing down to be serviceable.
They unpacked in silence, keeping their eyes down as if afraid of what they
would see if they looked at one another.

“I suppose we might as well get something to eat,” Elijah
said. They were alone at last but he couldn’t seem to think of a way to breach
the awkwardness that had built up between them.

“I’ll cook,” Eora said.

“I’ll do it.” Nieko stepped into the kitchen area. “You know
you’ll only muck it up.” He sounded bad-tempered. His continued surliness was
getting to Elijah.

“If she wants to do it, why shouldn’t she?” Elijah argued.
“You’re not in charge here.”

“Neither are you, human. As you’re so damn fond of telling
us, this is not your world. Shut up. Sit down. Keep out of what doesn’t concern
you.” He turned his back on Lije and elbowed Eora out of the way.

“I’ve about had it with your attitude.” Lije leaped up and
strode over to Nieko, grabbing him by the shoulder, spinning him around so they
stood face to face, outthrust chins a fraction of an inch apart.

“Get your hands off me.”

“Make me.”

Nieko shoved Elijah. Lije swayed but stood firm. From the
corner of his eye, Lije saw Eora stand and walk toward them, but instead of
intervening she leaned one shoulder against the wall, folded her arms and
watched.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” Elijah taunted.

Nieko pushed again, at the same time hooking his leg around
Lije’s so he tumbled backward. Elijah grabbed on to Nieko’s upper arms, pulling
him down with him.

Nieko braced himself on his outstretched hands, saving them
both from crashing onto the rock floor. Even so, the breath rushed out of his
lungs with a solid
oomph
. He landed on top of Elijah, bare chest to bare
chest.

“Get off me,” Lije grumbled, throwing himself sideways to
try to dislodge him.

“Let me go!” Nieko retorted.

“So you can take a swing at me? Not likely.”

“You’re scared I’ll—”

With a roar, Elijah grappled with Nieko, struggling to turn
and pin him. Nieko fought back. Sweat-slick chests slid against each other.

All the frustration, confusion and anger boiling around
inside Elijah for weeks exploded into action. His muscles flexed and he
squeezed Nieko tight.

Nieko squeezed back, hard, as if he were trying to crush
Lije’s ribs. There was no breath left to talk, a silent struggle for dominance.
They rolled over and over across the hard, unswept floor. For the first time
since he’d returned to the underworld, Elijah regretted the impulse, born out
of pride, that had made him scorn the wearing of what Nieko insisted on
scathingly referring to as “the woman’s garment.”

Dust and grit abraded his skin. He ignored it. Lije was
going to show this Dvalinn jerk who was boss. He wasn’t going to be distracted
by a few grains of sand. His hands slipped on the sleekness of Nieko’s
shoulders, so he dug his fingers harder into the firm muscles.

Nieko’s scent filled his nostrils—musk and man and warmth.
For a moment he could do nothing more than breathe it in. Nieko took advantage
of his inattention. He shifted his hold, pushing Elijah onto his back. Nieko
rose up over him, his chest heaving, his dark eyes staring straight into
Elijah’s. Heat, anger and something far more elemental radiated from him.

Nieko spread his legs wide for leverage, pushing their
groins together. Nieko’s cock, hard and huge, pressed against his. Above him,
Nieko hesitated. His eyes widened, the pupils dark. Holding his breath, Elijah
lifted his hips.

Nieko arched back, raising his head like a stallion scenting
the wind. Their cocks rubbed against each other again.

The barriers Nieko had created to keep Elijah out wavered
and fell. Elijah felt the surge of wild desire and the confusion that followed.
He let his mind reflect the attraction back, reinforcing it with his own needs,
with his own knowledge that what was happening was good—powerful and right.

Nieko stilled. Then he flexed his hips. Once. Twice.

The air rushed out of Lije’s lungs.

He surged up and rolled until Nieko lay beneath him. Lije
slid his hand onto the back of Nieko’s head and pulled him close—close enough
to lock their lips together, to thrust his tongue into the depths of Nieko’s
mouth until he could taste all of him—his anger, his doubt and his arousal. He
fed the arousal, chased away the doubt. He kissed Nieko harder until he’d burned
out everything but desire. Hard, strong and demanding.

Nieko kissed him back. Tongue-tangling, breath-stealing
full-body-contact kisses. His grip didn’t loosen but he wasn’t trying to crush
Lije anymore. It felt as if he wanted to meld their bones into one.

Nieko’s legs wrapped around Lije’s. Lije searched for the
buttons on Nieko’s pants and undid them. A hot, hard cylinder thrust into his
palm. He closed his fingers around the silky surface and a tremor raced across
Nieko’s bare skin. His cock jumped in Elijah’s hand. Lije felt Nieko’s balls
pull up.

He wrenched his head back, breaking the kiss. “No. Too
soon.” He reinforced the words with a wave of calming thought and squeezed the
head of Nieko’s cock—hard.

Nieko gasped. “What are you doing?”

“Enjoying myself,” Elijah replied. “And making sure you
enjoy it too. You can’t come yet. There’s more.”

“Do you
ever
stop giving orders?’ Nieko asked.

“Nope,” Elijah said, and gave him a quick kiss on his damp
lips.

“I haven’t done this before,” Nieko whispered.

Elijah kissed him again. “Do you think I don’t know that?
Trust me.”

“I do. I think.” A grin curved Nieko’s beautiful mouth.
“You’re okay. For a human.”

“And you’re okay…for a Dvalinn.” Elijah relaxed his grip on
Nieko’s cock, turned it into a caress. “And now, Dvalinn, I’m going to teach
you things you know nothing about. I’m topping and you can do as you’re told.”

“Topping?’ Nieko asked. “What does that mean?”

“You’ll find out.” Elijah grinned. “But knowing you, I have
a suspicion there’s going to be some topping from the bottom.”

“If that means what I think it might,” Eora said, “I
guarantee you’re right.”

“Shit,” Nieko grunted. “I’d forgotten you were there. Eora
I’m so…”

“If you say you’re sorry I’ll hit you,” Eora said, her voice
raspy. “This is
hot
.” She slid down until she rested on the floor with
her back propped up against the wall, her ankles tucked up to her bottom, her
knees spread wide. Her hands cupped her mound but her gaze never wavered from
them.

For the first time Elijah picked up on her arousal. “Can you
feel her?” he whispered to Nieko. “Can you feel what Eora is feeling? What I
am?”

“Yes. Oh shit, yes. It’s too much. I’m gonna…”

No. You’re not. Not until I’m ready for you.”

The eroticism of Eora’s desire sizzled in the back of his
mind but Elijah kept his attention on Nieko. He pushed Nieko’s fatigues down
his strong, brown thighs and followed after them, stopping to take nibbling
bites and licks of his sweat-slick chest.

He rested his chin on Nieko’s bellybutton. “I’m going to
take the edge off for you.”

He dropped down further and took a single long lick of
Nieko’s cock. “You understand?”

“Yes,” Nieko’s response was little more than a whisper.

“Then I’m going to get some lube and I’m going to fuck you.”
He raised one eyebrow. “You wanna argue about it, or just this once can you
shut up and let me show you?”

“I guess you can show me.”

“There’s a good boy,” Lije said, and kissed him. Then he
quickly ducked as Nieko took a swing at him. Damn, he loved getting the Dvalinn
all fired up. He looked so cute when he was going all outraged warrior.

“What are you laughing at?” Nieko asked suspiciously.

“You.” He grabbed the flying fist, which clearly wasn’t
meant to do much damage anyway, and dragged it down to his penis. Then he bent,
opened his mouth and took Nieko’s cock in as far as he could. Nieko’s fingers
tightened, but from the deep groan that issued from the Dvalinn, Lije didn’t
think he had any control over mouth or body. Nieko was doing nothing more than
feel.

That was fine. The power of reducing Nieko to a helpless
bundle of throbbing pleasure was enough for Elijah now. Later he’d show Nieko
how to return the favor.

He twirled his tongue around the thick cylinder, delighting
in the salty taste of the drop of moisture that formed at the tip. He licked it
up, then probed the slit, smiling when Nieko’s body stiffened and arched so
only his head and heels touched the floor. Behind him, Elijah sensed rather
than saw Eora lean forward, felt the heat of her rising arousal. Felt the
pressure as she stroked her clit. It added to his enjoyment but he couldn’t
afford to focus on it. This was for Nieko, to show him what they could have,
what delights were in store for him once he let go of his prejudices, let go of
his control.

And so for Nieko, Elijah sucked and licked, felt Nieko’s
excitement grow and peak. Felt his balls draw up, felt the wave of euphoria
wash over him as he came, felt the velvet darkness take him as he spurted hard,
hot and long into Lije’s mouth.