Veiled (21 page)

Who are you?
He returned, focusing inward.

I’ll be with you soon.

Are you here? In Phoenix Three? And again, who are you?

Nothing followed and he knew the unexpected communication had ended.

Great. Now another unknown entity had just entered the picture.

But was she friend or foe?

~

Yolanthe lay on her
chaise-longue
, her back aching from having been slammed against the stone stairwell. She had a bump on her head as well as a variety of bruises, even a few cuts from flying debris.

The waves of energy created by Warrior Owen and Katlynn had stunned her in every way possible. If she’d ever believed the mousy female could have brought forth so much essential power, she would have killed her long ago.

She drew a deep breath. “I hurt,” she whimpered.

Zander knelt beside her and pressed a cool cloth over her forehead. He’d summoned her favorite healer, but for some unknown reason the man hadn’t yet come. She thought about killing him in place of Katlynn just to give some relief to her bashed sensibilities.

She still didn’t understand how her careful plans had gone awry. Especially since Zander had finally made contact in the future streams with Duncan’s brilliant presence of almost pure gold. Zander had seen Duncan and the team enter by her portal, so she’d set up the ambush with great care.

Zander had even found it possible to interfere when Duncan attempted to communicate telepathically with Warrior Luken. Of course, the moment Duncan had launched his
grayle
power, Zander’s ability to disrupt Duncan had ended. But the biggest surprise was Zander’s ability to prevent Rachel from using her shield in the Third grid. This alone gave her some hope for the future.

But above all, she greatly feared Duncan was finally coming to understand the scope of the power given to him. Every instinct screamed at her that she must find him, entrance him once more, then set him on his destined path to locate Rapture’s Edge, solely on her behalf. Her window of opportunity was closing fast.

Only where the hell had he gone?

Zander had reentered the future streams very quickly following the debacle in her prison. But he’d found no sign of Duncan’s stream, which meant he’d been blocked again, but by whom?

“I’m so sorry, sister. But I want you to know I won’t give up.” Zander took her hand in his and kissed her fingers.

“I know, dearest. I have every confidence in you.”

Zander frowned suddenly. “Sister, I beg you to leave off your plans concerning Duncan. You were injured today and what would I do if anything happened to you?”

Her dear brother was so beautiful, just like their father. With her free hand, she caught his chin. “I will never leave you. I will always care for you.”

“Yolanthe, please know that I don’t need our father’s love. He wanted me dead from the beginning and I truly have no feelings for him. I’m begging you to forget about Duncan and forego your plans.”

She stared into silvery-blue eyes, loving her brother so much. “I do this because it’s the right thing to do. You should have your inheritance and your rightful place in my father’s home and in his plans for Second and Third Earth. Nothing less will answer.”

He sighed heavily, no doubt understanding he wouldn’t be able to move her from her path. More than anything else in the world, she wanted Zander to have his birthright. And she wouldn’t let anything stop her, not even tonight’s wretched outcome.

~

After dinner, Duncan walked with Rachel back to their dwelling. The serpent in his gut was quieter than he’d ever known it to be.

“Duncan, what is this place? Is it possible we all died in Yolanthe’s prison and were transported to the afterlife?”

He chuckled. “I know what you mean. The Seer, Megan, did her research on each of us well.”

Earlier, she’d led them personally to the home she’d prepared for them to share as a couple. Though they’d taken a tour of the dwelling, afterward they’d only had time to shower and change for the feast. But now they could explore the land surrounding the house as well.

He led her to a small vegetable patch, enclosed with a natural wood-branch fencing. Rachel opened the gate and moved inside.

He watched, leaning over the top rail of the fence. She was lit up from within, her love of gardening evident from the warm glow on her cheeks. She’d never looked more beautiful to him and a quick burst of
breh-hedden
desire streaked through his veins.

She rose up from examining a large plant and turned his direction. Her nostrils flared. “I can come back here later because I’m thinking you have something other than plowed earth on your mind.”

The property was a half-mile from any other neighbor, so he said aloud, “Don’t be so sure because I’m definitely thinking about ploughing.”

Rachel laughed, moving toward the gate. “I’m coming.”

“That’s the idea.”

Her laughing eyes met his as she sent.
You please me in every way and now I have a garden I can tend as well, time permitting.

When she closed the gate behind her, Duncan took her hand. She’d been right to add the last bit about ‘time permitting’. Every bone in his body knew Yolanthe would be out for blood and wouldn’t rest until she’d made another attempt to bring him back under her control.

As he led Rachel up a rising path into a much narrower but wooded side canyon, he made an internal commitment to somehow end for good the woman’s hold over him.

“You’re tense, Duncan.”

“I let my mind slip in Yolanthe’s direction.”

“Don’t do that.” But she chuckled. She knew him well.

He glanced at her, feeling eased just by her presence, by her laughter and the sparkle of her blue eyes.

She’d changed into jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes and had let her long blond hair hang freely around her shoulders. He’d gotten rid of his battle gear as well, and now wore jeans as well. Yet he’d also found a new stock of battle uniforms in the closet of the master bedroom. Megan had seen to all their needs.

He frowned for a moment as he thought of Megan. She seemed very familiar in a way he couldn’t quite pin down, though he was honored that Rex’s Prime Seer had been the one to see them to their home. At some point, he’d need a conversation with her about his suspicions that someone had interfered in the future streams. She might even know why Rachel hadn’t been able to access her shielding ability while in the Third grid.

But not tonight. As he caught Rachel’s garden scent, he wanted only one thing; to spend the next few hours with her and no one else.

The stream meandered through the side canyon, heading east to feed what Rex had named the Apache Falls River since there was a large waterfall at the north end of the colony. As Rex had explained at dinner, he’d fashioned the valley partly by design, and partly by exposing an underground river and several feeder streams. He’d done a lot of earth moving over a period of centuries.

As Duncan moved along the slight upward grade, a couple of smaller waterfalls spilled over boulders. Rachel exclaimed her pleasure more than once.

After a few minutes, he arrived at a small and very private grassy meadow.

Rachel drew up beside him. “This is so pretty.” Purple wildflowers bloomed at the edge of the grass then gave way to more dense woodland. “Do you think this was deliberate?”

“Yes, I do.”

“It would be a wonderful spot for a picnic.”

He turned toward her and pulled her into his arms.
Or other things,
he sent. Without preamble, he kissed her and was rewarded with her eager body pressed up against his.

He deepened the kiss, driving his tongue in a steady rhythm.

When he drew back, he recalled a quilt hanging over the back of a chair in the master bedroom and folded it into his hand. Turning toward the lawn, he flipped it open and spread it out on the grass.

Rachel, always a willing partner, waved a hand and lost her clothes.

He groaned at the sight of her curves, her nipples peaked in the cool night air. He then returned the favor, shedding his jeans, shirt and shoes as well.

She dropped to the quilt, stretching out onto her back and holding her arms out for him.

“You look so beautiful, Rachel. More than ever. It’s as though you seem happier to me. Is it this place?” He inclined his head in the direction of the wood and the stream.

Her lips parted and her eyes widened a little. He could see by her expression she was choosing her words carefully.

“What?” He smiled. “Are you keeping something from me?”

“No. That is, yes.” As he knelt between her knees she gripped his arms. “There is something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about, but not yet. Is that okay?”

“You’re asking a man if it’s okay
not
to talk about something?”

At that, she chuckled, her eyes crinkling. “Right. You’re all so anxious to open a vein.”

His gaze slid to her throat. “Well, I am anxious to open your vein.”

Her hands relaxed their grip and she let her arms fall above her head, her body undulating. “I want more than just your fangs right now.”

He rubbed a hand down her abdomen and cupped her low. Easing his fingers inside her, he felt her moisture. He drove in and out a few times, loving the feel of her body clenching. She seemed different somehow, more ready for sex than ever, her skin glowing.

Something had changed with her, but he really was okay not to open that box just yet.

She continued to moan as he thrust his fingers in a steady rhythm. But because her bonding scent was rich in his nostrils, he had to have more.

He took his fully erect cock in hand and positioned himself at her opening.

When he began to push, her body rolled and writhed once more. “I’ve needed this so much,” she said, her voice hoarse, rich with need. “I can’t seem to get enough of you these days.”

“It’s the
breh-hedden
.”

Again, she looked at him with a speculative expression as she’d done moments ago. “Rachel, what is it?”

She released a deep sigh. “I need you to bite me.”

When she turned her head, exposing her long pale throat, he forgot about everything else. Battling always made him hungry and as he curled his hips, driving into her between her legs, he dipped down to her neck and licked her throat.

Her warm, earthy scent brought a groan passing his lips while his fangs emerged. Angling himself, he bit in a quick strike and groaned once more as her blood hit his mouth.

As often happened when he drank from Rachel and when he made love to her at the same time, every vampire impulse that set the Upper Dimensions apart from Mortal Earth roared down on him. Pleasure flowed through his body, sending shivers over his heated skin.

She panted and moaned, uttering small cries that had his balls tightening. Nothing about his life was settled, not even where he lived or his relationship with Rachel. But making love with her and taking her life-force down his throat, made him feel more at home in his skin than at any other time before.

He sped up the movements of his hips and the push-pull of his cock. He sensed her pleasure rising to the pinnacle.
I want to come with you this time, Rachel.

Yes,
came back at him, a swift affirmative. Then,
Faster.

Her blood powered him and as he suckled her vein, he sped up the drive of his cock, going vampire fast.

She let out a long keening cry as she began to come. His release swept through the hard length of his cock and he couldn’t help but draw back from her throat and roar into the woodlands. Pleasure streaked like lightning, intense and pure.

She continued to cry out, over and over until at last the wave passed and his own pleasure gave way to a whole lot of feel-good.

He stayed connected and though supporting his weight with his forearms, rested his abdomen against hers.

She ran her fingers through his hair and sighed, then smiled, then sighed again.

He kissed her on the lips, each cheek in turn, her forehead, her neck, reveling in her presence in his life.

So much had changed for him, but would it be enough to quiet the serpent for good?

~

Rachel held Duncan’s face in her hands and leaned up from the quilt to kiss him on the lips. He returned the kiss, pressing her back down. He was still buried inside her, a sensation she couldn’t get enough of.

She’d wanted to tell him about the baby, but something within her held back so she went with it and kept her secret to herself.

She slid her arms around his shoulders and hugged him, wanting him to feel how much he meant to her.
We’re on an extraordinary journey, aren’t we?

Yes, we are.

Even within her mind, his voice sounded deep and so masculine. They had an odd respite from the strange mission laid out for them, of finding the mythical place called Rapture’s Edge, before Yolanthe or her father.

But for now, beneath a star-laden night sky, deep in a side canyon, near a wooded stream, she held him tight. She would make the most of these stolen hours until Duncan received a new vision and the next part of their mission arrived.

*

Stay tuned for episode 3 of Rapture’s Edge, with the exciting conclusion of Rachel and Duncan’s story and their search for Rapture’s Edge. And with the same episode, enjoy the beginning of Owen and Katlynn’s journey toward their Happily Ever After.