WarriorsandLovers (5 page)

A shock wave had raced through the entire Dvalinn world when
they’d announced they were setting up a home together in a ménage arrangement.
They challenged every principle the Dvalinn believed in.

The two men knew it and had taken steps to ensure the safety
of the woman they claimed to love. Tybor and Huon had stashed the human in an
isolated outpost before they appeared before the Council to make their report.
While the council members had still been assimilating the details of their
mission to the surface, Tybor had made his extraordinary statement about the
way they intended to live their future lives, then he and Huon had teleported
away.

Whether due to shock, distaste or some lingering gratitude
for the service Tybor and Huon—and yes, even the despised human—had done the
Dvalinn, no search party had been sent to track them down and bring them in for
punishment. They’d disappeared into the depths of the cavern system. Everyone
seemed content to leave them there.

Everyone except Eora.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Nieko asked her. “Or are we
going to wander around calling out ‘here, human, here, human’ until we get an
answer?”

“Smart ass,” Eora said, punching him in the arm, making him
stagger into the wall. The girl packed quite a punch. Nieko needed warning if
he was going to withstand one of her playful attacks.

She grinned up at him. “I know where they are.”

“You
know
? How the hell could you know?”

“Well, I sort of know,” she said. “I got someone I know to
run a trace on the records of their teleport. It pointed to Ogof.”

“The entire population of Ogof was killed. There’s nothing
there anymore. The council blocked teleport ability within a fifty click radius
of the city to stop the risk of any further incursions.”

“The infrastructure is still there. It’s a ghost town, the
perfect place to hide from the rest of us.”

“How could they do it? Live where so many people lost their
lives. With a human?” Nieko swallowed down a surge of acid bile. “When it was a
human who killed them—every man, woman and child in Ogof and in two other
cities.”

“The human probably doesn’t know or understand. Tybor and
Huon are Dvalinn.” Eora’s brow wrinkled. “They wouldn’t let messy emotions get
in their way.”

“The reason they’re in exile in the first place is because
they succumbed to messy emotions,” Nieko replied.

“This is one of the reasons I need to talk to them. I want
to know how this
love
thing happened. What it felt like.” She shook her
head. “I don’t understand it.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Nieko agreed, trying to disguise the
bitterness that tinged the words.

“I think it might be some influence of the humans.” There
she went with her damn fascination with humans again. “Tybor and Huon spent
time up there with them. Maybe feelings are contagious and Dvalinn can be
infected or something.”

Nieko knew better. If feelings were contagious, Eora would
have caught his disease long ago. Since they’d been kids, something about her had
stirred Nieko’s soul.

His lips curled in self-disgust.
His soul.
No Dvalinn
would ever admit to having such a thing. He was a complete disgrace to his
people. He hated the way his love for Eora made him feel. Because his culture
had taught him soft emotions were a human affliction, he despised humans the
more. Hated them because he feared he was like them.

“Then why are you going anywhere near them, Eora? If they
are diseased and infectious why don’t we stay away?”

“I told you.” She glared at him. “I want to know more about
humans. I want to know how a people who are so like us, who have all the access
to the upper world we are denied, can cause such utter destruction. I want to
find out why they hate us.”

“And once you know? What good will it do?”

“I want to make them change. I want to find a way for
Dvalinn and humans to coexist.”

“Why? We don’t want any more of the Dvalinn to be killed.
But the elders have taken care of that. They’ve decreed no Dvalinn will ever go
to the surface again. They’ve put detectors on the exit portals so we can’t
teleport out. Huon and Tybor killed the only human who knew how to penetrate
our world. We’re safe as long as we stay underground.”

Eora spun to face him. Her eyes glowed with passion. She
clasped his forearms so hard her thumbs made little dents in the firm skin. “I
hate these caves. I want to learn about sun and sky and clear air. I can’t
stand being locked down here forever. I’ll die if I can’t get out.”

Nieko felt the blood drain from his face. He’d never
realized Eora felt like this.

“The human killed every man, woman and child in Ogof,” he
said. Why couldn’t Eora understand this? Why did she persist in believing some
humans were different? “Humans hate us. They’d take any chance to destroy us.”

“
One
human and the group he formed hated us. That’s
all we know for sure. Huon and Tybor killed the Gatekeepers. The female human
killed their leader.”

“The human testified she
hit
him. Huon and Tybor
believe he died, but they admitted to the council they didn’t check.” Nieko
shook his head. “Even if he is dead, how do you know there weren’t more
Gatekeepers? Ones Huon and Tybor didn’t find? It will never be safe for the
Dvalinn to go to the surface again.”

He rotated his hands so that he clasped Eora’s forearms, and
gave her a little shake. “Humans and Dvalinn cannot coexist.”

“They can! They
do
. Tybor, Huon
and
the
human,” she said. “There’s no need for us to be enemies.”

“We are at war. Nothing you do will change that.” No matter
how headstrong she was, she had to understand. “You
can’t
fix this.”

“You don’t know! Who has ever tried?” Eora shook herself
free and kept walking, throwing the comment back over her shoulder at him. “I
want to see Tybor and Huon and the human. I want to ask them to help us. I’m
going to.”

“Yeah. I get that loud and clear.” He sighed. Eora wasn’t
going to give up. He didn’t have the energy to argue with her the whole way. He
stomped after her once more. “Does your ban on teleporting include a ban on
summoning up some food? I’m starving.”

Eora laughed. “You’re always starving. Why do you think I’m
carrying this huge pack? I knew you’d come with me.” She handed him a protein
bar. “This should keep you going until we stop to sleep.” She smiled at him,
her eyes twinkling. “You might need the extra energy. I have plans for you.”

Nieko stumbled, stopping himself from falling only by
propping his hands against the rock wall.
Shit!
They were going to spend
the night together, probably huddled together for warmth and safety. For five
years Nieko had done everything he could to avoid any situation where there was
an opportunity for prolonged bouts of intimacy.

The Dvalinn treated sex like any other appetite, to be
indulged when it arose. Like an appetite for food, it didn’t matter what food
assuaged it, so long as the need was filled. Like food, there was no jealousy
or passion involved. Sex was sex.

Nieko could have had sex with Eora. Everyone who knew them
assumed they’d done it. Multiple times. But he hadn’t slept with her even once.
He couldn’t. Because he knew he would never be able to fuck Eora without
revealing his secret. Once she knew, Eora would despise him for it. Maybe she
wouldn’t laugh. Maybe for the sake of their friendship she wouldn’t report him
to the UDBC, but she would never look at him the same way.

“We haven’t ever had sex,” Eora said.

Shit!
Nieko felt a bubble of panic churn in his
stomach. Maybe stress was interfering with his ability to mask his feelings.
Dvalinn didn’t read thoughts, exactly, but they could pick up emotions and
general impressions. Nieko used up a good bit of his energy making sure no one
ever broke open this particular seething corner of his mind.

Eora charged on. “Don’t you want to?”

Nieko swallowed. He’d had years to think of an answer for this.
He knew what he had to say but he hadn’t expected some huge rock to suddenly
teleport into his throat and choke him. He turned away, shuffling his feet on
the sandy debris on the floor to hide the sound of him clearing his throat.
“We’re friends,” he managed to utter. “We, ah, don’t think of each other that
way.”

“We could.” She looked at him, her eyes wide. “It wouldn’t
have to hurt our friendship.”

“Are you still friends with all the other guys you’ve done
it with?” Nieko bit his tongue. If he could hear the hurt and accusation in his
voice, so could Eora.

She looked down at the ground. Nieko thought he saw her
cheeks redden under the light brown of her skin. “There haven’t been as many as
you think,” she muttered. Her shoulders squared and she looked up. “I tried it
a couple of times. It wasn’t as…enjoyable as I thought it was going to be.”

“You don’t like sex?” Nieko gasped. “Then why did you say
you had plans for me. If you don’t like the idea…”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” she snapped. “I said it
wasn’t as enjoyable as I expected. It was because…oh shit, I’m just going to
say it. The boys I chose…they didn’t feel right. So I gave up. I thought…”

Nieko was right. Her cheeks
were
coloring—a bright
flame-red burned there.

She took a deep breath and continued in a rush. “I thought
it might be better with you because I like you. You’re my friend. We’re
comfortable with each other.”

She thought this was comfortable? Nieko’s skin felt too
tight. His heart thudded so loudly it was a wonder she couldn’t hear it. His
cock made a tent in of the front of his pants.
Shit!
If she looked down,
she’d know. He’d have no excuse.

He strode off, trying to get so far ahead of her that she’d
have to struggle to catch up. He conjured up images of squashed cave worms and
rotting gas smells—anything to make his erection subside.

“Nieko!” she called. He could hear her scurrying to catch up
with him. If his attempt to get away offended her, so much the better. She
could sulk all she liked—at least he would be spared her horror when she
discovered the truth.

His complaisance shattered when she sprinted up beside him
and slipped her hand into his. “You don’t have to hurry,” she panted. “I’m as
keen as you are but we’ll have all night.” She went on, winding up the tension
all over again. “If we like it…well, it doesn’t matter how long we take to find
the others. We can take a day off to, you know…indulge.”

He wished he hated the sound of that but his whole body
thrummed with the need to take her. His only hope was to keep walking, hoping
she wore out—or he did. Maybe if he was so tired he could hardly move he’d be
able to take her, just once, without breaking down and showing her how much she
meant to him.

He kept his gaze resolutely ahead and shook his hand free.

“Nieko?” This time she sounded hesitant and Nieko’s head
shot around. Eora never sounded anything but one hundred percent sure of
herself. It was one of the things he loved about her. She was beautiful, strong
and confident.

“Nieko, don’t you want to sleep with me?” She’d stopped
walking. “If you don’t find me attractive…”

How the hell did he get himself into these situations…and
how the hell was he going to get out of it with even a shred of self-respect
and dignity?

“You’re attractive,” he said. He could have lied, he
supposed, but she couldn’t possibly have believed him. Long-legged,
smooth-skinned, with big, dark-brown eyes and high cheekbones…she’d have to be
blind not to realize how beautiful she was.

So many nights Nieko had lain awake, racked with jealousy
because he’d imagined other men having what he wanted so much and did not dare
take. Her revelation that she’d only slept with two other guys left him reeling
with shock and selfish satisfaction. She’d only had two other men and she
hadn’t liked it.

He’d managed to put himself in a position where sex with her
was inevitable. If they spent the night together, just the two of them, and she
wanted to sleep with him, he was never going to have the strength of will to
resist her. There was going to be sex. Once he accepted that, he had only to
wonder which of the scenarios he conjured in his mind would occur. He hoped he
had enough control to keep the true depth of his passion secret. If he spewed
out his feelings she’d be repulsed, embarrassed, and never speak to him again.
He figured he was only going to get one chance with her. He had to make it
great. Leave her feeling so good she would at least be sure the problem she had
with sex was not her fault.

He dropped her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders
in what he hoped was a gesture she’d interpret as friendly, willing and nothing
more. “Come on. We have a long way to go to get to Ogof. We’ll worry about what
happens tonight when we get to it. ”

* * * * *

The weathered rock faces of the inner circle of Stonehenge
loomed over him, their shadows a deeper darkness on the moonlit plain. Brian
Hopewood stood off to the side, his gaze fixed on Elijah as if the force of his
will alone could propel him through the earth.

Elijah closed his eyes. He tried to empty his mind of
everything but thoughts of the Dvalinn underworld. It was hard to concentrate.
His skin prickled with anxiety. Doubts bombarded him. What if a security patrol
made a midnight drive-by and stopped to check? What if someone spotted the car?
What if he couldn’t teleport after all?

He clenched his fists and concentrated harder. Tension
tightened his shoulders. The
swoosh
of his blood sounded loud in the
silence.

An invisible force beat inside his brain, rhythmic,
repetitive, on the edge of pain. The pace sped up. His vision blurred and
became one with the thrumming vibrations. The solid stones surrounding him bent
and wavered. His legs felt suddenly weak and he fell.