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“What is it exactly?”
Henry shook his head. Some of his blond curls had escaped the woven clasp that all the Guardsmen wore and for a moment he looked a bit like Ethan. He had a broad smile like the Mastyr of Bergisson as well. The ladies enjoyed Henry, no matter the species. Henry, like Davido, excelled in charisma.
He turned his right hand palm up. “I’m not sure. It’s really too small to be called a meadow or anything like that. Besides, in the summer it’s dry like it can’t collect water to grow things though it’s a depression in the earth.”
“Is the ground bad there, unfit for growing things?”
“Maybe salt deposits. I’m really not sure, not being into horticulture.”
Quinlan grinned. Henry had been his wingman on dozens of trips to the nearby town. “No, that you’re not.”
Henry’s smile dimmed bit-by-bit until he tapped the magnifier against the map a couple of times. “We’re in some serious shit right now, aren’t we?”
“Realm shit, like nothing I’ve ever experienced.”
Henry scanned the map once more. “Wait, I’ve just realized something.” He placed his hand on the map at a location some thirty miles from the stronghold. “This section doesn’t contain the same vibration and if my calculations are correct, I know this meadow well. A river and a stream converge there. Mastyr, we’ve all been there. We’ve run maneuvers in Gem Meadow, we just never had a name for the place before.”
Quinlan rested his hand on the map over the indicated area. “Damn, I think you’re right. And it has several permanent open air tents, doesn’t it?”
“With protective sun panels, yes.”
“Okay, good to know.”
“And we can’t just fly there?”
He considered this option for a good long minute. “My instincts tell me that the caverns are the way to go. If nothing else, we won’t be vulnerable in the open air.”
“You have to go with your instincts.” Henry shook his head. “This Lorelei, she’s something very different, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is, but she’s also a woman in need of protection which is all that really matters. The rest, the danger, Margetta’s power, well, f**k it all.”
Henry’s spirit lightened once more. “Your bravado is outdone only by your bullshit. But yeah, f**k it all. The brigade we’ve built can take a few Invictus wraith-pairs, like the ones you described. We’ll just need to be cunning and as you know, we trolls excel at that. We’ve had to in order to survive you vampires and shifters.”
* * * * * * * * *
Batya stood in the hall, near the doorway to Quinlan’s library. She’d heard most of the conversation and from the shadows had watched the man who had made love to her last night.
A north-facing skylight high in the roofline, set at an angle to keep true sunlight out of the room, kept the space from being oppressive. Her fae vision warmed up the area further so that she had a perfect view of the Mastyr of Grochaire.
But from the moment she saw him again, her heart had started thrumming in her chest, almost pounding with renewed desire. In all her life, she’d never desired a man so fiercely, as though nothing had meaning except being near him.
If anything, her independent spirit had kept her one or two steps removed from ever getting seriously involved with any man, even though she’d had a couple of decade-long relationships over the years. But she always grew dissatisfied with the demands. And she couldn’t even begin to imagine how demanding Quinlan would be with anyone he settled on as ‘his woman’, Goddess help her.
Yet here she was, staying in the shadows for no other reason than by doing so she could just look at him.
He was already half-dressed for battle. He wore a long-sleeved woven shirt and what she knew to be his snug battle leathers. His thick leather boots ranged past his knees and were turned down at the top, drawing her eye to his heavily muscled thighs. Slim silver studs ran in a line down the outer seam of the boots, glinting in the autumn half-light.
With his hair pulled back in the woven clasp, the hard line of his cheekbones gave his features a dramatic turn, and created a sharp angle of dark and light. He had large round eyes, thick lashes and heavy straight black brows, a purely masculine collection of features that brought the air rushing out of her chest. Add the crooked line of his nose and she wished that Henry wasn’t in the room.
But if his sheer physical beauty wasn’t enough to tear at her feminine heart, what he’d just said about Lorelei and his determination to get her safely to Ferrenden Peace, spoke the truth of his character more than anything else he could have said or done.
Desire burst over her like a sudden thunderstorm, and her heart slammed around in her chest almost wildly. How had Quinlan done this to her in just a few short weeks, or maybe just overnight because he’d filled her with his seed and pierced her personal frequency, taking her hard, bringing her to the brilliant flash of ecstasy over and over.
The damn vampire was magnificent.
His brows drew together as he turned in her direction. “Batya?”
She stepped forward, leaving the shadows reluctantly.
One side of his lips curved. “Were you spying on us?”
Then his nostrils flared and his mouth opened as he dragged in a big gulp of air. She knew he’d caught her scent as well as the level of her sudden desire. He looked at Henry. “Would you excuse us for a minute?”
“Yes, mastyr.”
Henry moved on his swift troll feet, grinning as he passed by Batya. He even offered her a salute of two fingers, then hurried from the room. Maybe he sensed what was coming and that he shouldn’t be present for what would happen next.
But if Batya was in any doubt that she wasn’t alone in her experience, Quinlan covered the distance in a few long strides and gathered her up in his arms. He held her tight against him as he kissed her and not even his snug leathers could conceal what her appearance in the room had done to him.
His tongue drove deep and moved swiftly in and out. She suckled his tongue, struggling to catch her breath. What’s happening?
The hell if I know, but damn I want you and when your scent poured over me I thought I’d come apart, run you down, flatten you on the floor. Sweet Goddess I didn’t think I’d feel this way just seeing you again.
Finally he drew back, but he kissed her eyelids, her nose, her chin. His hand pressed against her bu**ocks as he ground into her, letting her feel him. “What have you done to me, Batya? I was supposed to be the seducer here.”
