Do Or Die [Nuworld 4] (44 page)

eyes darted from her daughter to her son and he knew she considered challenging him.

He decided to offer her the opportunity to avoid a confrontation he didn’t want any

more than she did. “We are up in the middle of the night because Meah had a vision.

We feel it’s necessary to prepare our troops for action.”

Tara pulled off her headscarf and light brown hair fell loosely past her shoulders.

Her eyes still showed outrage but he could tell there was an attempt to squelch it. She

looked questioningly at Andru, then Ana. “She had a vision?”

“Ana, go catch up with Gilroy.” He looked down at her and smiled reassuringly.

She looked up at him then at her mama. Then without another word, she ran over to

her glider. He turned to Tara and placed his hand gently on her back.

“Come, Mama, let me tell you about Meah’s vision.”

* * * * *

The sun had been up for well over an hour as the Gothman and Runners prepared

for imminent battle. Tara talked to Darius and both agreed that they should locate the

armies before moving their troops. It would be better to attack on the offensive than on

the defensive.

Andru could tell that his papa and uncle were unnerved at being the subjects of

Meah’s vision. He sat with his mama in her tent and carried on a visual conference with

his papa and Torgo. Ana and Gilroy were allowed to enter during the conference, and

together they all brainstormed until they felt a plan of attack was secure.

Scouts would be sent out from Tara’s camp as well as from the Blood Circle Clan.

The armies would stay put until they’d verified the location of these two unknown

armies. And since they weren’t sure exactly when Meah’s vision was to take place, they

knew the armies could be anywhere right now.

“What is the status of our armies?” Tara looked at her daughter and then at Gilroy.

She’d told Darius that she’d contact him later that morning with an update and then

ended the transmission.

“We’ve split Meah’s troops and they’ll ride with two of the other troops,” Ana

began and then looked at her claim. “Gilroy should get the credit for that. He did most

of it for me.”

“The Gothman and Runner armies are preparing for battle as we speak,” Gilroy

spoke up. “They’ll be ready to leave on your command, my lady. All the information I

need is how big you want each army to be.”

Ana and Gilroy sat in chairs facing Tara, and Andru stood behind them. He waited

for his mama to look up at him before speaking. “Let’s send out fifty scouts in two

different groups. I want our fastest fliers, and I want them to scan the area until they

detect the armies. What we don’t want right now is for either of those armies to have a

clue that we know what their plans are.”

“Agreed.” Tara stood as well. She looked at Gilroy and Ana. “Go to your troops

and oversee their activities.”

She watched them leave then turned to Andru. He crossed his arms and stared at

her, waiting for her to speak. She was ready to take him on, physically if need be, and

he braced himself. It was one thing to fight his papa, but somehow it seemed wrong to

fight his mama. Tara was a Runner, though, and he knew she’d use his hesitation to her

advantage and beat the crap out of him. That’s why he couldn’t hide his surprise when

she sighed and walked back over to her desk. “Andru, go wake up your claim and

bring her to me.” She waved her hand to dismiss him and didn’t look up when she sat

down.

Andru thought his time with Ana had satisfied him. But when he entered his tent

and saw Meah sleeping comfortably, her small body curving gracefully under the

blankets on his large bed, he wanted her as desperately as he had when he’d last seen

her. He walked silently over to his bed and carefully removed his boots before crawling

in next to her. After slipping an arm under her he pulled her to him and was surprised

to see how willingly she cuddled into his body.

“Meah.”

Meah heard her name being whispered. She felt so incredibly warm and protected.

Soft lips touched hers and she felt gentle caresses travel down her body. The kisses and

caresses stopped and she wrinkled her brow. She wanted more and rolled into the

strong, virile body next to hers.

“Meah.”

The voice was closer and she fluttered her eyes open. Her surroundings were

strange and she stared down toward the end of the bed trying to determine where she

was. A firm, yet gentle hand rested on her abdomen and she looked down at the many

covers that were over her. Then she realized there was a long, muscular body stretched

out next to hers, and worse yet, her legs were wrapped around two powerful legs.

Quickly, she turned her head and stared directly into charcoal-gray eyes.

“Hello, my beautiful lady,” Andru whispered as he propped himself up on his

elbow. “Do you feel better?”

She studied him for a moment then looked around the room again. His body felt

incredibly powerful next to hers and she hated herself for not immediately pulling

away from him. His appeal was so strong that all she wanted to do was cuddle into him

again. A long finger stroked a strand of hair out of her mouth and she licked her lips in

response. Andru groaned and her gaze darted to his dark, sultry gray eyes.

“I do believe that you could make me forget my nation is going to be attacked.” His

tone implied so much that she bit her lip and struggled to put space between the two of

them, although she couldn’t force herself to get up.

“Why are you in bed with me?” She desperately tried to put that potent body next

to her out of her mind.

Andru lowered his head and whispered into her ear. “You’re in my bed.”

Meah pulled her head away from him but simply ran into his hand. He held the

side of her head with his hand and nibbled on her earlobe with his lips. “Or, may I be

brave enough to say our bed?”

“Get away from me.” She wiggled but he only groaned again. “Andru, please don’t.

This is wrong.”

He looked up at her surprised. “How can you say this is wrong? You’re my claim.”

“I’m not Gothman.”

“What if I agreed to participate in your Runner wedding ceremony?”

“Runner women have the right to say yes or no to whom they marry.”

“Then I’ll keep you here in this bed with me until you say yes.” He smiled

mischievously at her and lowered his lips to brush her cheek. She smelled coffee on his

breath and her empty stomach sent out warning signs.

“You’ll regret that.”

“How could I possibly regret that?” He began sending a trail of kisses across her

face and his arms tightened around her.

“You’ll regret it because I need to go to the bathroom and every time you move on

this bed I feel more nauseous.”

He quit kissing her and raised his head, suddenly looking very serious. “Oh Meah,

I’m sorry.”

She sat up quickly when he released her…too quickly.

“Ooh,” she squealed and bolted for the tent flap. He followed her out and around

the side of his tent making it just in time to quickly pull her hair back as she retched

from morning sickness.

Andru ordered several guards to prepare a tub of hot water and have it carried to

his tent. Several other guards were quickly put to work creating makeshift walls out of

blankets. Before she knew it, a private bathroom with steaming water in a large circular

tub was waiting for her. He waited patiently while she bathed and then donned the

fresh Runner clothes he had brought from her tent. When she left her personal

bathroom she realized the only thing she lacked was a hairbrush.

“Come here,” Andru ordered when she peeked into the entrance of his tent.

“No.” She almost whispered the word. She was about to thank him for the bath and

then make a quick departure when he leaped across the space between them and pulled

her into the tent.

“I’m growing tired of this, Meah, now sit.” He sat down on the middle of his bed

and forced her to sit on the edge of the bed. Then, he placed his legs on either side of

her as he sat behind her. She tried to move forward but he clamped powerful legs

around her. “I said, sit.”

“You have no right to tell me what to do.” Her old fury toward him quickly

returned. “I’m not some little Gothman woman who will submit to your every wish.”

He wrapped her hair in his hands and pulled her head back. He placed his other

hand across her throat and whispered hoarsely into her ear. “My sister offered you the

opportunity to be her first assistant. From there, you were offered the title of

commander of Runner armies. You graciously accepted both positions. When you did

that you understood that the Blood Circle Clan has a site on Gothman land and next to

Bryton. Now, I know you are familiar with Gothman law as well as Runner law. You

were in the middle of Bryton talking to the dog-woman when I publicly announced my

claim to you. If you denounce your willingness to abide by these laws you will also

denounce your position as first assistant and as commander. Is that what you want?”

She turned her head toward him as far as she could. “Go to hell, Andru.”

His anger overtook him and he pulled her down so she lay sideways across his lap.

“This game grows old, my lady. I’ve seen the passion in your eyes. How long can you

hold up this pretense of hating me? I don’t believe you find me that terrible.” He

lowered his mouth to hers and took her savagely. There was fire in his kiss, as he

demanded her surrender. When he pulled his mouth away, she gasped for breath and

stared up at him with wild blue-green eyes. “You’ll submit to me.”

He pulled her back up and positioned her once again between his legs and began

braiding her hair. He started the braid high, pulling in additional hair as he lowered to

the nape of her neck, then he tightly braided the remainder of her hair and tied it at the

bottom. She realized he’d braided her hair exactly the way Ana wore her hair. It wasn’t

the usual loose braid that she always quickly put in her own hair. It seemed odd that he

would want her to go through camp looking like his sister.

“There,” he said and stood her up, then turned her so he could survey his work.

“Your hair is silkier than I thought it would be.”

She didn’t speak but simply looked down at the ground. She forced herself to hold

her tongue and not spit the venomous insults that she was tempted to say. He hadn’t