HerMatesEmbrace (8 page)

“You two don’t seem concerned that I might not be attracted
to one of you, much less want to deal with you both.” She stopped abruptly.

He stopped when he felt the tug of her hand against his and
turned his head. A smile curved his lips. “We know that you want us, at least
physically. You’ve got a few wrong ideas in your head about us. Once we deal
with those, you’ll discover what you want.”

“You don’t have a sister, do you?” Cami glowered at him. He
was lucky there wasn’t anything in the hall that she could hit him with,
because the urge was irresistible right now.

“No, why?” He looked mildly interested, but a little
confused.

“You would know better than to say that and I’m not
explaining what you said wrong. You wouldn’t get it. It’s obvious that you and
Linc both aren’t accustomed to dealing with females.” Cami tapped her foot on
the stone floor.

“What do you mean it’s obvious? We have dealt with females.
Very well.” Colm’s brows drew down and he put his free hand on his hip.

Cami realized she’d offended him a little. She sighed. It
probably couldn’t be helped. She was bound to say something such as this sooner
or later.

“I don’t mean as a bed partner for a few days. You’re rough,
gruff and you tend to throw orders at me as if I was one of your men.” That
last bit was getting on her nerves. She narrowed her eyes and tossed her hair
over her shoulder. “Just so you know I like men who know the difference between
me and the men they order around all day and can treat me accordingly.”

“I know just how to treat you, but if you want sweet words,
you’re going to have to tell us what you want. We’re not the type of men who’ll
let you do anything you want or order us around. Why don’t you try testing us
and see if we’re your type of man.” Colm arched an eyebrow, apparently challenging
her.

“I knew you wouldn’t understand.” She shook her head and
stared straight ahead. “Where are you taking me now?”

“I’ll take you upstairs now so you can see the part of the
Thent
where your room will be. I’ll point out our room so you’ll be aware of
where we are when you need us.” He gave her a slow look and she thought he’d
press for more information, but he began leading her down the hall again and
this time she went with him without balking.

It wasn’t sweet words or poetic phrases she was wanting as
he seemed to think. She wanted soft touches and tenderness. If they were going
to hold her hand or put an arm around her, she didn’t want it to be because
they wanted to be sure she went where they wished.

Chapter Nine

Colm looked over at Cami and frowned. She was angry again
and he couldn’t understand what he’d said to cause it. He also couldn’t figure
out what she wanted from them. He knew she wasn’t one of their men. A slow
smile curved his lips as he thought about her sweet curves. Although hidden
underneath the loose cream-colored shirt, he knew she had nice breasts. Those
full hips and rounded ass filling out those black pants definitely didn’t
belong to a man.

He’d hoped Linc was wrong with his guess that she was their
mate. That was becoming less and less likely. Colm could feel the pull to get
closer to her. He wanted to know everything about her, protect her, hold her
and pull away every mask she was hiding behind. Ruthlessly ripping them away
wasn’t an option. He’d like to think that was because he knew she’d already
been hurt, but it wasn’t that simple.

He led her down the hallway, past the door where they’d
entered and finally to the staircase. He let her lead the way up the stairs to
the second level. He took the time to admire the taut curve of her buttocks as
she moved ahead of him.

He knew it was perfectly safe for her inside the
Thent
.
It was the only reason that he let her go in front of him. He needed the time
to think. What did she want from them? He assumed that it wasn’t to lead them
around, since she’d shut down after he’d implied that. That didn’t give him a
clue what would make her happy.

“The
chatar
and healer have rooms up here as well,
but they’re in a different section from ours.” Colm once again stepped up
beside her when they were at the top of the stairs. He gestured to the right.
“They both chose rooms along that hallway.”

“Is there anyone in the rooms along this hallway?” She
gestured to the hallway right in front of them.

“No, there hasn’t been anyone along that hall since we last
had guests.” Colm looked down the hallway. All of the doors were shut, but he
didn’t doubt that the rooms were immaculate, almost ready to be used.

“And that’s too far from you and Linc?” She tilted her head
and looked at him.

He watched her peek at him through her lashes. She was
trying to see how much space they were going to give her. The thought that she
was a little wary of them in this way didn’t bother him. He wanted her aware of
them as men, not just as leaders. She was interested. He wanted her to burn
with it.

“Yes. We’re not going to make you sleep in the same room,
but we want you within screaming distance. No one would hear you here unless
they chanced to be walking by. That’s not acceptable. Think you can handle
being that close to us or will the temptation be too much for you?” Colm
decided she needed a little prodding. He could see the caution in her eyes and
he didn’t want it to turn to fear.

“The only temptation I might give in to around you and Linc
is to grab something and hit you with it. Neither of you know when to stop.
Your room is down the hall with the door on it?” Her eyes narrowed and he was
relieved to see the caution swept away in a tide of anger.

“Yes, the door is only closed when Linc and I aren’t here.
Most other times, it’s left open.” His hand tightened on hers and he let his
smile slowly widen.

“I’ve never heard of a door separating the Ardin’s portion
of the fortress from the rest of the building. Well, not a metal door, maybe a
wooden door.” She frowned as she looked at the large metal door.

“That door was put in a few generations ago when the Ardin’s
Lady was attacked and nearly killed in her own rooms. To prevent that happening
again, they put in a door to ensure that when she was in her rooms and private,
she was as safe as she should be.” Colm led her past the solid door. They
shouldn’t need it now. The threat was from outside their
Thent
. Of
course, he wouldn’t mind being locked into this part of the fortress with her.

“You know a lot about this place. Were you born here or were
you chosen to rule here?” She licked her lips and turned her head to look at
him.

It was the first personal question she’d asked of him and it
did surprise him. He could tell that she hadn’t meant to ask that. “No, I heard
that story from Linc. He was born here and we took over when the old Ardin
died. They’d never found their mate and had no children from their marriage to
one of the widowed Santir female.”

“Where’s your room?” The words were slower and more
controlled now. He could tell she was choosing every word.

“Down here.” He led her past several doors and around the
corner.

About halfway up the hall, he stopped and pushed a door on
the right side open. He saw her glance in and wondered what she thought of the
room. It never mattered before, but now he decided there needed to be a little
more color in the room. As she slowly relaxed around them, she reminded him of
a flower opening up to catch the light. She needed somewhere pretty and
everything was brown or black in there.

“Will my room have a bath or is there one along the hall
somewhere?” She looked pointedly down the hall at the other closed doors.

“There are two along the hallway, one back near the metal
door and the other here.” He opened a door near the middle of the hall. “If you
want, you can use the bath in our room. It’s much bigger than the one here.”

“This will work. The bath in my home was smaller than this.”
She looked into the room and a smile curved her lips.

“I expected to find you two wandering around on the lower levels
showing her all of the rooms.” Linc strode up the hallway.

“I thought that could wait. She’ll be here long enough to
explore.” Colm shrugged. “I also thought that it would be better to show her
around outside together. Inside, it could get a little tight and I didn’t want
to put too much stress on her.”

Linc looked at her and nodded. “You might have a point. Cera
and Darla are coming up the stairs now to get the room ready. Do you have a
preference of which room they ready?”

She moved away and looked into a couple of rooms. “They seem
to be much the same, so it doesn’t matter. Are we going to take that tour of
the outside now?”

“As soon as the women get here, we’ll go. I don’t want them
putting you in one of the rooms around the corner.” Colm gave her a direct
look. He knew she wouldn’t mind the extra distance, but it would make him
tense. Especially when he knew that she might be in pain one night and need
help.

“You like to know everything that’s going on in this place?
And I’d bet you know who’s doing what most of the time, don’t you?” She tilted
her head and her eyes narrowed a little as she looked up at him.

Linc laughed. “You pegged him. He likes to know everything
that’s happening and surprises can make him tense.”

Colm scowled at his bond brother. He didn’t have to agree so
readily, but Colm admitted that he did tend to know what was happening around
the
Thent
. Cera and Darla came around the corner at that moment.

“Ardin, we’re here to prepare a room for the woman, but we
didn’t know where you wanted her. We thought maybe the first room on the center
hall would be good for her.” Cera smiled as she walked up the hall. Her eyes
slid quickly over Cami and then lingered on Linc’s thighs.

“No, she’ll stay in our section. Pick one of the rooms at
this end of the hall and ready it for her.” Colm met the woman’s stare. Linc
had been right. Looking for a woman in their
Thent
had been a mistake.
He could see the possessiveness in Cera’s eyes.

“This is Cami. She’s going to be staying here.” Linc
introduced the women in the silence that followed.

“I’ll be staying here for a while,” Cami added. She shot
Linc a sizzling look and turned to Colm. “Are we ready now?”

“Yes, we’re ready.” Colm wasn’t going to get into an
argument with her about how long she’d be staying here.

She wasn’t going to be swayed by words. The woman was
convinced that she wouldn’t be able to live within a
Thent
. They had
time to let her see that wasn’t true and they needed to find a way to reveal
her secrets without making her run.

They showed her a little of the area within the walls of the
fortress, but knew that most of that would be familiar to her. Aside from that,
he wanted her to see the beauty of the land outside of the thick stone
barriers. She wouldn’t get many chances to wander for the moment and when she
did go somewhere, she would have an escort because of the threat of Laed and
Kynar.

In a way, he would be more comfortable if they were facing a
large force of men instead of simply two. Two men could slip onto the planet
without notice fairly easily. They could hide in the surrounding area without
drawing too much attention if they knew what they were doing. According to
Avan, the two men had the skills to do it. He’d make sure that the men at the
gates watched and stopped every stranger even if they didn’t seem to be a
shifter. Laed and Kynar could disguise themselves just as easily as Cami could.

“There are more houses around than I expected and the fields
look huge.” Her eyes swept over the fields of crops and the grazing animals almost
as if it was something she hadn’t seen before. She seemed more relaxed now and
not as wary.

“
Scali Thent
isn’t like this?” Linc asked.

“There aren’t this many people at
Scali Thent
and a
lot of the houses are in the surrounding forest. It’s just safer that way.
Well, it was. Everyone knew that haven wouldn’t be offered to all by Laed and
Kynar.” Cami frowned and took a deep breath. “There would be a price for that
protection.”

“I know we’ve said this before, but it looks as if it’s
going to be something that we’ll say again and again. That isn’t how a
Thent
is supposed to be. The fortress is so large because we know we’ll need the
space. We keep it stocked and are prepared for an attack, although the only
time it’s been used in that way is when I was small. That was just for a few
days.” Linc’s voice was calm, but Colm could tell from the tense posture that
he wasn’t as patient and unemotional as he seemed.

“How about we keep walking and we can go into the forest for
a while?” Colm didn’t give her time to respond to what Linc said. She could
think about how this place was different from what she knew later. He didn’t
want her mulling over sad or frightening times right now.

“That sounds good. A run sounds even better.” She glanced at
the trees and then back to them.

“No running tonight, I’m too tired to keep up with you after
riding all day. How does early tomorrow sound to you for your run through the
forest? You can enjoy the cool of the morning.” He wasn’t afraid that the false
Ardin were anywhere near the
Thent
. No, he wanted to have a little time
to prepare. Regardless of the fact that the men chasing her probably weren’t
even on the planet yet, she needed to realize right from the first that they
wouldn’t be taking chances with her safety.

“You’re not tired and you’re not afraid that I’ll get
attacked,” she said slowly. “So why wait?”

“
Ardin
!” The voice caught them as they reached the
edge of one of the fields. Colm looked back and saw Conn running up the path
between the fields toward them.

“That man’s name is Conn. He, along with his bond brother
Eric, are two of our most trusted men. If you need help of any kind and we’re
not around, they’ll help you.” Linc’s voice drew Colm’s attention back to the
two people with him.

Both of them had turned around to see who was coming and he
saw Linc leaning toward her. Colm smiled at the fact that he might have been
leaning toward her, but he also gave her plenty of room. They were both being
so careful of giving her all the space she needed and not crowding her. He was
beginning to wonder if they might be giving her a little too much space. He
didn’t want her scared, but he certainly didn’t want her ignoring them or using
their caution to keep her distance.

Conn stopped in front of them and drew in a deep breath. Strands
of his black hair hung around his face, having slipped free from the tie at the
back of his neck. “You’re needed back at the
Thent.
”

“I’ll handle this.” Colm looked over at Linc and Cami. Linc
would have a better chance of getting Cami to relax and talk than he would.
“There’s no need for all of us to go back. Go on with the walk.”

“I could do it.” Linc frowned at him.
What are you doing?
Just give him directions on what to do. She already thinks you don’t really
want to be around her.

She’ll relax more around only one of us. You have the
words that I don’t. You’ll be able to get closer to her without me around. When
she’s a little calmer and not so likely to panic, I’ll show her that I want to
be around her.
Colm had a feeling they were going to talk about this later.

You might try just being around her. Time and closeness
is the only way she’s going to come to trust us.
Linc glared, but his hand
cupped Cami’s elbow. “Are you ready to continue on?”

Cami looked from Linc to Colm. She looked a little confused
as if she thought she was missing something. “I’m ready. What are we going to
see on this walk? And don’t think I’m going to forget about you two saying we
could run in the morning.”

“We’re not going to change our minds about that. We’re going
to walk along a trail that will take us to a small lake in the woods and then
make our way back.” Linc’s voice reached Colm as he began to walk back toward
the
Thent
.

Cami didn’t know what to think about Colm leaving. It hadn’t
sounded as if it was something that important, but she had no idea how they
ruled their people. Laed and Kynar had been content to thrust the more onerous
chores onto anyone they could. It didn’t matter that it was something they
should do. Maybe Colm and Linc were actively involved in every part of the
running of their clan.