AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER5
“You look better,” Kyrex told Neloff as he sat down in the chair beside his cousin’s bed. Neloff rested against a mound of pillows, but his color had returned and his eyes appeared more brown than red, indicating that his emotions were balanced. “How are you feeling?”
“Lucky to be alive, yet angry that my wishes were ignored.” Neloff raked his messy hair with his fingers, guiding the red-streaked strands away from his face. “Eden could have been killed.”
Kyrex glared at him. “Your concern is insulting. There is no way I would have allowed her to be harmed.”
Neloff sighed and admitted the truth. “I didn’t want her to see me like that.”
It was a sentiment Kyrex knew well. No empowered warrior wanted to reveal weakness to anyone, much less his potential mate. “So it was better to let you die?”
Neloff shook his head, then slipped back into sullen silence.
Kyrex lightly scanned Neloff’s emotions, assuring himself that Neloff had decided to recover and move forward with the courtship. Neloff had been frustratingly reluctant to spend time with Eden ever since his rescue. The outward signs of abuse had faded, yet Neloff frequently refused to see her. Kyrex still sensed bitterness and the smoldering need for revenge, but he also sensed longing and a reawakening determination. Kyrex could be patient and allow Neloff to progress at his own pace as long as he was progressing.
Encouraged by what he read in Neloff’s mind, Kyrex took a moment to review the past week. This house was not large by Houkdi standards, but it was air conditioned—a rarity on Houkdi—and had a fabulous view of Jaritta Canyon’s colorful rock formations and steep cliffs. Railed galleries encircled the upper level of the house and there was a lush garden on the roof. Kyrex had inherited the villa when his mother passed beyond eight years ago and had lived here ever since. This was his private sanctuary, a peaceful hideaway where he could retreat from the chaos of the worlds. He had never brought a female here before and only a few very close friends had ever seen it. That was the primary reason it seemed right to share this with the other members of his triad.
“Is she still here?” Neloff asked softly after a long, tense pause. “When I spoke with her last night, she said she was going to ask one of her friends to come get her.”
Kyrex cringed and glanced away. “That was my fault. She mouthed off one too many times and I acted accordingly.” A sigh escaped as he admitted, “I was probably more aggressive than I needed to be.”
“What did you do to her?” Neloff sat up and scooted toward the edge of the bed.
Neloff could read people even better than Kyrex so he was being polite by asking. “I was a perfect gentleman for the first few days, but keeping my hands off her is virtually impossible.” He went on to explain the events of the past week. A soul bond, which was still their ultimate goal, would make them incapable of keeping secrets from each other so he left nothing out.
Kyrex had been too exhausted to give in to temptation for the first few days of Neloff’s recuperation. After healing Neloff’s bruises and lacerations, Kyrex had needed rest as much as his cousin. Luckily the house was secluded and Eden had no idea how to pilot a shuttle. Kyrex tried to keep her entertained, but half the time he was fighting to keep his eyes open.
Three days after they arrived, Kyrex had recovered enough to share her meals. He’d indulged her endless questions and asked an equal number of his own. At first he was just being a good host, but the more time he spent with her the more interested he became. She was smart and curious. Her restrictive upbringing had left her with a thirst for knowledge and new experiences. He wasn’t surprised when he learned that Neloff had been her first and only lover. The fact made her even more attractive and Kyrex couldn’t wait to begin their courtship in earnest.
As Eden became more comfortable with Kyrex, she began to flirt with him. Her expressive eyes smoldered with desire and her tentative smiles became not-so-subtle invitations. Kyrex found the transformation intriguing, but he’d promised Neloff not to touch her until they could both participate. If they were to form a power triad, Eden needed to accept them as a team.
Kyrex hadn’t found the request particularly challenging while Eden was on her best behavior. But her flirtatiousness had turned to sass the past couple of days and her subtle rebellion called to Kyrex’s dominant nature. She was testing him, provoking him, trying to see how far she could push before he’d push back.
“Yesterday morning she wanted to contact her friends at the Citadel,” Kyrex explained. “I told her that it was safer to speak to them telepathically while Jevara was still searching for conduits.”
“Why did that upset her? I would have made the same suggestion.”
As Kyrex recounted the events, his mind drifted back to the scene.
“I am not going to have a chaperone for all of my conversations,” Eden objected. They sat at a small table on the balcony outside the kitchen. A warm desert breeze blew, keeping the morning from feeling hot. The house shaded them from the sun and Jaritta Canyon spread before them, a panoramic backdrop for their casual meal.
“I will just be there to facilitate the call,” he stressed with a patient smile.
“No, thank you,” she snapped, pushing back from the table so she could stand up. “All I wanted was a few minutes of privacy with my friends. I didn’t think that was too much to ask.”
He tensed as he realized why she was objecting. “You need privacy because you want to complain about me.”
Rather than admit to or deny his claim, she stood up and walked away.
“She refused to eat dinner with me and breakfast the next morning was even worse,” Kyrex told Neloff. “She argued with everything I said and mocked my attempts to pacify her.”
Again Kyrex’s mind replayed the scene as he reviewed the events for Neloff.
“I can contact Provost Nadis and ask her to facilitate the conversations if that will make you more comfortable,” Kyrex suggested, hoping to draw Eden out of her sullen mood. “That way you can gossip about me to your heart’s content and I won’t be involved.”
“Oh, my God,” she cried, her glass of kelbar juice halfway to her mouth. “Only someone with your ego would presume this is about you. Having Zevon’s spy listen in on my conversations isn’t any better than you.”
Annoyance eroded what little remained of his patience. “Then you can talk to your friends when you return to the Citadel.”
