Balm (6 page)

Iskanu came in, skidded to a halt and snarled at Odin while stepping into his eye line when it came to Quinn.

“Don’t worry about it, Iskanu, they have seen us in the future, in the present and possibly in the past. There is nothing to hide.” Quinn looked at Kali’s face and the other woman was keeping her gaze involved with eye contact only.

Iskanu growled. “I still don’t like it.”

Quinn patted his cheek. “I ordered your clothing. And you don’t have to like it. It is just the way it is. The Orb could send the entire set of Sentinels here in a moment, and we would still be naked. As mated pairs, I don’t think they will do more than absent comparisons.”

He huffed, but by the time he worked up another argument, the clothing had arrived and Quinn was slithering into tight black trousers, a breast band and a dark shirt. The boots pinched a little, but it was the style, not the size.

Iskanu’s clothing matched hers, and she knew he would be invisible in darkness if he kept his mouth shut.

She snickered at the unlikelihood of that. He was irritated, and there was nothing to be done about it but fasten her shirt.

Quinn sat next to Kali in the living room and took the tea that Odin handed her. He gave her a wink, and she snorted.

Iskanu sat next to her on her other side and glowered at Odin. Odin merely lifted his brows in amusement and handed Iskanu a cup of tea.

Kali was fighting a grin. “Now, the Orb has an assignment for you that is slightly unusual.”

Quinn snickered and sipped at her tea. “That seems like a common affliction.”

Iskanu placed his hand on her thigh. “What is the assignment?”

“Removing power from a mother and child without letting anyone know what you are doing. Your last assignment ended well, but now, a woman with starlight hair and black eyes is being worshipped by the king you returned to sanity.”

Quinn had a cold feeling in her stomach. “He isn’t killing them is he?”

Kali put her hand on Quinn’s arm. “No. He has taken the pale woman with dark eyes as his queen, and he is fucking a blonde woman in the arena on the anniversary of your arrival. So far, it’s his wife.”

“It won’t always be his wife, will it?”

“For his lifetime, yes, but a pattern has been established that other kings will follow. It will morph until lives are once again at stake.”

“I want to stop it.”

“You can’t. It is part of the history of this universe. Some parts are set.” Kali pursed her lips. “They are set once we have already been involved. If a Sentinel has changed a timeline, it alters and sets it. They are the only ones who can go back and change it, but by this point, the ripple has run its course.”

Quinn was sick. “How long did it go on?”

“Five hundred years, one hundred and twenty women. It eventually became a type of royal divorce. The old queen was defiled and murdered in public and the new one crowned. That had nothing to do with you, it was just an excuse for it.”

Quinn shuddered, and Iskanu put his arm around her shoulders. The comfort was needed. She wished she had the nerve to actually look at what had happened.

“That will not be the issue this time. The mother has been holding onto her sanity by heroic efforts, but her daughter is about to have her first flickers, and she needs to be drained. If they are not both taken at the same time, the mother will crack, and she will transfer her power to her daughter. If you get the mother first, the daughter will completely activate.” Kali was calm as she explained the issue.

Quinn had to ask. “Does everyone else get this sort of briefing?”

“No, but they are not returning parts of the Orb to Home.” Kali handed Iskanu a plate with two breakfast sandwiches on it.

Iskanu handed Quinn one and ate the other.

Quinn numbly put the food in her mouth and chewed mechanically, one bite at a time.

“What happens to these beings if they simply die of natural causes?”

“Their power transfers to the next in their bloodline and barring that, it simply forms a wormhole.”

“Simply.” Quinn nodded. One of the more complex special events around the universe was being described as simple.
Huh.

Another round of sandwiches was presented, and she choked down a second while Iskanu had two more. “Thank you.”

Odin smiled, “It is a pleasure to cook for more than just Kali. She is a picky eater.”

Kali set down her cup. “Well, we should be going and so should you.”

Knowing when she had been dismissed, Quinn got to her feet, and the men rose as well.

Iskanu cleared the crumbs off his shirt. “Are you ready?”

“No, but that isn’t unusual.” She closed her eyes and saw the young woman with her daughter playing in a park. An idea came to her, and she winced as she imagined the leap of faith she was engaging in. “Let’s go.”

Iskanu watched Quinn walk across the park, and he kept a safe distance. His partner spoke to the mother, and the woman jerked back as if stung.

Quinn kept speaking, and the woman knelt next to her daughter, putting the child’s hand in her own.

His mate extended her hand and put her palm down on their hands, the power flared around her and then absorbed into her skin. The child sucked her lip in confusion, and her mother swayed before a brilliant smile crossed her features.

Quinn was right. A woman who had fought the power her whole life would easily give it up if she knew that her daughter was going to suffer the same fate that she had.

Quinn swayed, and he moved to intercept her on her way back to him. The woman stared at him for a moment before gathering up her child and walking swiftly down the path.

“Oh, that one hurt.” Quinn groaned. “That little girl packed a wallop.”

Iskanu wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close as they walked toward the tree line. “Will you make it to the trees?”

He could feel the tension vibrate through her, and she gritted out, “I will, but the second we are behind that shrub, we are out of here.”

He knew that tone, she had grunted that same way when a spike had speared her thigh on Cadoo III. She had been grimly determined then, and she was making the same noises now. Whatever the power of the Orb did to others, when Quinn took in the extra power, it hurt.

The moment they were out of standard view, he flashed them back Home.

Kali was on their balcony in seconds, running to Quinn to help relieve her of her burden.

Odin misted in, and Iskanu fought a scowl. The fact that the shifter had seen his mate naked still rankled. It didn’t matter that Selna were not monogamous, it still filled Iskanu with a deep irritation that was not going to fade anytime soon.

Quinn groaned, and the energy poured out of her eyes and mouth directly into Kali.

When the exchange was over, Iskanu quickly lifted Quinn in his arms. She was pale, very pale.

Kali was sombre. “I am sorry. She had to take the two at once. There was no other way.”

He nodded grimly. “Fine. Get out.”

Kali walked to Odin, and together, they disappeared in a flare of light while he went to the bedroom to care for his mate.

Chapter Ten

Everything hurt. There was no doubt about it, her body was not happy.

“You are awake, good. First a massage, then you eat.” Iskanu didn’t ask her, he simply lifted her and carried her into the bathing room where the table was covered with a sheet and waiting for her.

“Why not food first?”

“I am going to be squeezing a lot of muscles. I don’t want you puking.” His voice was no nonsense.

She shivered as he warmed oil between his palms and started working on her. There was nothing sensual about his exploration, he was working to help her ease the aches of her body.

“How did you know that everything hurt?”

He snorted, “Because you were lying next to me, stiff as a board, for the last sixteen hours. That has to be tension, because I am all warm and cuddly.”

She laughed and felt a relieved pop under her shoulder blade. “I would not call you cuddly, but I do enjoy curling up so most of me is touching you.”

Quinn could feel satisfaction radiating from him. He worked at her back and legs until she was warm and limp. He then flipped her over and treated her to the same thorough mauling on her front. She had no idea that she could hold that much tension at the top of her breasts, but when the muscle released, she shuddered with relief.

She was limp but relaxed, and her body’s pain was fading when he was finished. He took a fluffy robe off a warming hanger and wrapped her from neck to ankle.

“This way.” He led her out into the kitchen, and she noticed that the temperature had been increased.

“Is it warmer in here?” She was toasty but a distinct gleam of sweat was forming between his shoulders.

“I don’t want you knotting up again before you have a chance to relax your muscles.”

“I don’t want you passing out from overheating.”

“I will be fine. Sit, eat and drink plenty of water.” Iskanu pulled her chair out for her, and she took a seat in front of a huge expanse of food from a dozen different worlds.

Blinking, she reached for the first item she recognized and tore the bread into pieces. Once she had the bread, she used it to pick up bits and pieces of the other items as she figured out which flavour matched which item.

It took her nearly an hour to eat enough to satisfy her mate, but when she had downed her third half litre of water, he finally relaxed.

She reached out and took his hand. “What happened while I was out, Iskanu?”

“The two doses of power almost killed you…again.” He frowned.

“I am sure that it was necessary.”

“I am not sure that there wasn’t a better way. Perhaps taking the mother’s power first?”

“Hara would not leave her powerful daughter undefended. It was definite that it had to be both or none.” Quinn sat back and folded her hands over her full belly.

He grumbled.

“This is why we were brought back to life, Iskanu. It is the reason we are here, to work for the Orb. If it asks me to bear a little pain to be with you, then that is what I will do.”

He turned his hand in hers and gripped her hand tightly. “I don’t want you to feel pain.”

She smiled and reached out, caressing his cheek and pulling his head toward hers. “Pain is part of life. If I can feel anything, then there is a chance that pleasure can follow. Why do you think I invited you to fuck me for three days straight when I could feel the Orb scrabbling at my mind?”

He blinked as their foreheads met and his mind touched hers.

Quinn knew what he was feeling. This was the same position that they had been in the day that he died. His mind had touched hers, holding on while his body died. She saw the dawning understanding in his eyes as she let him feel her emotions toward him for the first time.

Love was not something she wanted to say, but it was what she felt. She gave it to him without holding anything back.

“You held back the Orb?”

“We needed our time together, and I didn’t know when or if we would get another chance. I will never leave you for the call of duty. You will always be with me, and if you are called, I will come with you if I can and wait for you if I can’t.” She rubbed his cheek with her hand and stroked her fingers down his neck.

“You are too sore for anything energetic.” He moved his head and nuzzled at her neck, drawing a sigh from her.

“Then let it be slow. I am not going anywhere.” Quinn smiled and kissed him softly.

He leaned forward and caressed her lips with his, nibbling at her lower lip before licking the upper.

She sighed happily and giggled when he swung her up and into his arms. Their kiss continued to start a slow fire in her belly that flared when he placed her gently on the bed and lay down on top of her, covering her robe-swathed form from head to toe.

The kiss continued, slow and sweet. He worked her robe open so that her skin was exposed to his.

In a slow undulation, he rubbed his velvet and steel body against her softer, yielding flesh. She gasped and moaned when he repeated the peculiar push-up motion that gave her so much sensory overload.

He continued the caress, and her body went from a low idle to revving wildly out of her control.

“That isn’t fair.” Her low moan made him smile.

“Fair has nothing to do with it.” He lowered his body onto hers completely, and she blushed at the hot honey seeping out of her sex. He reached between them, and his cock nestled in the slick invitation.

He didn’t do anything, simply rested his considerable weight against her and waited.

Quinn looked into his amused, dark eyes and wondered what was going on when she felt his cock against her and his body wasn’t moving.

She lay under him, her eyes wide in surprise as his cock worked its way into her without him moving any other portion of his anatomy.

She trembled as it began a slow undulation within her and moaned low when her first climax struck.

Iskanu had an expression of concentration on his features, but he cracked a smug smile when she shuddered and her channel clasped him rhythmically.

His cock paused, and he waited until her palpitations stopped. The moment her body relaxed under his again, the wave of hard flesh inside her started again.

She moaned, “This wasn’t in the files either.”

He laughed. “Not enough male Selna’s in the Alliance. We share this trait with the Wyorans.”

She groaned as he struck a sensitive spot inside her, working around, past and over it in a heady beat.

“This also only works with a woman who is capable of excessive and delightful personal lubrication.”

She was trying to follow the conversation, but her pulse was sounding everywhere in her body but her heart. “What?”

“The tasty honey that you produce makes it easier for my cock to move freely. If you were drier, it would be uncomfortable for both of us, but you are not, so once again, you are my match in every way.” He kissed her, and his tongue mimicked the thrust and twist of the cock inside her.

She moaned as her body rocketed back to the edge of release, and he caught her cries in his mouth when the second wave struck her and carried her under.