Woman of Silk and Stone (16 page)

"My apologies, Honey-
sa
. You must have many questions for me, and I run my
hands over you like a
damu
. Please, sit
and be comfortable and I will answer anything you ask." Adar
shifted away from me and pulled out a cushioned chair from a table,
gesturing for me to take a seat.

Buying time to gather my thoughts, I
examined my surroundings. I could tell by the walls and furnishings
that we were still in the palace, but it was definitely not my
room. Everything here was wholly masculine, simplistic in style but
comfortable-looking, less ornate and more functional. As in my
room, there was a large fireplace and a sitting area, and a
cordoned-off sleeping chamber with a bed so enormous that Snow
White and all seven dwarves, plus a few guests, could have taken a
nap there. Still befuddled by the unexpected method of travel and
the fact that I was being graciously attended by a giant, fiery
hunk of man, I sat, nervously clutching my hands together in my
lap.

Adar pulled another chair out directly in
front of me and eased his intimidating body into it, close enough
that his knees brushed mine, as though he couldn't bear to not be
touching me in some way. "I am Sarrim Adar, son of Shamash of the
Darisam. I realize you are confused and wary, but I will never harm
you, and I will destroy anyone who tries to do so," he stated
plainly, his eyes earnest. At least I thought they were earnest; it
was kind of hard to gauge when they were so different from any I'd
ever been exposed to. For all I knew, the constantly churning
colors against a black backdrop indicated that he was ready to take
my head off. Though, given the way he had halted my latest
assassination attempt, I tended to think he liked my head where it
was.

It was strange, but I was gradually getting
used to his appearance. I knew the fact that he came in a
completely different shade than I ever imagined possible probably
should have given me pause; after all, when I'd first seen my
buddies from the Horde and thought they were naturally blue, it
threw me for a loop. Initially the red-hued skin was unnerving,
reminding me uncomfortably of traditionally accepted pictures of
the devil; but the closer I looked, the less similar he appeared.
In point of fact, Adar was beginning to make me think of a living
flame with the radiant glow of his skin, the way light seemed to
reflect off of the jeweled ruby tone to shift and blaze. Adar was
beautiful in the way that dangerous things in nature can be, like a
tiger stretched out on a tree branch, a patient predator whose
motives are so simple, and yet far beyond human comprehension.

The comparison helped me some, providing a
reference point from which to start. "Thank you, I appreciate you
saying that," I eventually said, my voice sounding small and unsure
even to my own ears. Adar merely smiled, taking my breath away with
his potent beauty.

"Um. So what is it that you want with me?" I
asked cautiously, hoping he couldn't hear the crazed hammering of
my heart.

His smile gentled and an affectionate
expression melted his features. At least I thought it was
affectionate.

"Honey-
sa
. You are
my
arrami
. My life-mate. The one I have
waited for all my existence." He looked a bit embarrassed and
reached out for my hand. "I rushed the
Namluh
upon you, and for that I am sorry. I should
have explained all of this before, but the moment I saw you in
danger, I lost all sense."

I stiffened and he squeezed my hand
reassuringly. Life-mate. Hamsum was right. I was his life-mate.

"Ah, what does that...entail, exactly?" I
whispered, that familiar sense of dread clutching at my gut
again.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair,
towering over me even seated. "It is difficult to explain. Even the
people of Edin do not fully understand how the Darisam live and
mate, and I know that you are not from this world. I will start at
the beginning.

"The Darisam were the first on Edin, placed
here by the Ilati to master the elements and make the world safe
for the people to come. We are few, numbering less than
one-thousand in all of Edin, but we are eternal, and alone. Before
the people arrived, we didn't mind that we had no mates; but once
we saw how the people took wives and husbands, how they had
children and joy together, we became envious and tried to take some
of the women for our own."

He paused, looking sheepish, before
continuing. "It was then we discovered that we could not mate with
the people; they were too different, not made of the elements as we
are, and many died."

I nodded, following along with his lecture
with a strange sense of detachment. "Did they die because you set
them on fire? Like you did with me?"

His eyes blazed for a moment, the colors
glowing with a dark fire. "Yes, Honey. It was then we discovered
that only a female destined for the
Darisam
could survive the
Namluh
, could take the elements into her and taste of
her mate's immortality."

I choked on my own words. "Wait, so
what...I'm immortal now? Like you?"

Adar reached out and clasped my hand in his,
the fire in his eyes a gentle glow, the peaceful warmth of a
bedside fireplace. "Yes, Honey-
sa
. You are
eternal. Our souls are bound, and as long as I live, you shall. As
long as you live, I will."

There was something weird about that
statement, apart from the general insanity of being told I was
immortal, but I was too confused to address it further. "So, let me
see if I understand. You believe I was fated for you, or something,
so you set me on fire, and since I lived, we're married for
eternity?" I asked, my voice rising in pitch with every word, until
I sounded like I'd just sucked on some helium.

Adar merely smiled, his diamond-perfect
features ablaze with an inner glow, too beautiful to behold. No
wonder I'd initially mistaken him for a god.

"Essentially. Now that you understand, we
will complete the
Namluh
, and then I will
take you home to Shinar," Adar stated confidently, as though no
other outcome were possible.

"Okay, to say that I
understand
is a gross exaggeration. And what is this
Namluh
thing? I thought that was you
setting me
on fire
." Could I help it if I
sounded a little bitter? Guess I hadn't gotten over that painful
interlude just yet.

He hesitated and ran a hand over his head.
And that's when I noticed for the first time that he was completely
hairless.

I leaned forward, openly gawking and
wondering why on earth it was so startling to me. Lots of guys back
home were bald, some by choice, many not, but it was a pretty
common look. I think what struck me most was how long it had taken
me to realize that he didn't have a flowing mane of hair. After
all, he looked like an idealized version of a Greek or Persian god,
and most of them had hair. Adar was smooth and perfectly
symmetrical, with no trace of stubble, making me think that his
kind simply didn't grow hair. Since he apparently ran around on
fire half the time, it was probably a good thing. It certainly
didn't detract from his desirability. In fact, the longer I sat
there, the more drawn to him I became. Uncomfortably, I noted that
my skin was tingling, my breath was coming faster, and a slow burn
was taking up residence in my core, making my every nerve ending
receptive to his touch.

He smiled at me, making me go breathless,
and then scooped me up in his arms and gently dropped me on his
lap. I was immediately and, much to my shame, rousingly aware of
his maleness; alien though he might be, he was clearly all man
where it counted.

"Ah,
irnini
, your
scent calls to me. Come, we will talk later. Let us complete the
bond," he murmured, his voice a silky promise. For just a moment, I
nearly kicked my misgivings to the curb and pulled my best Mae West
impression, but thankfully, my sense of self-preservation kicked
in.

Squirming and struggling to get away from
him, I finally wriggled free of his encasing arms and landed not
too softly on my behind. He immediately reached for me, but I
scuttled backward, out of his reach. A troubled expression crossing
that glorious visage for the first time, he paused and gave me the
chance to get to my feet and relocate to the other side of the
room. I had no doubt if he wanted to he could be at my side in a
blink, but I hoped the statement my retreat made would sink in.

"Why do you run from me, Honey-
sa
? I scent fear...of me? I have told you that you are
my
arrami
. Nothing in this world will harm
you, especially me," he said, honestly sounding hurt.

I shuffled my feet and momentarily
entertained returning to his arms to reassure him, but the very
fact that getting closer to him was so appealing concerned me. I
had been attracted to men before; I'd dated, not extensively, but
enough to feel the first thrill of desire, the crushing
disappointment when it didn't work out. I'd had crushes, and even
pined a bit after a guy in my Economics class one semester, but
never in my life had I felt the overwhelming, soul-deep magnetism
Adar inspired. And that worried me, because if I believed what he
was saying - and there was no reason for him to lie about it - we
were destined to be together, and all my choices had just been
taken away.

His frown deepened and he dropped his hands,
looking genuinely confused. "You...do not wish to complete the
Namluh
? To be my
arrami
?"

I huffed out a sigh and shook my head,
thinking that of all the odd happenings I'd dealt with since
dropping into Edin, this was easily the most challenging. Oddly
enough, I didn't want to hurt the big guy's feelings; but let's be
honest here, apart from romance novels, when does someone take a
look at a man and just suddenly decide to spend eternity with
him?

That's right, never.

Striving for some sort of diplomacy, I
thought for a moment and then tried to make my position clear.
"Adar, it's not that I don't want to be your, uh,
arrami
. But things work very differently on my world,
and this is all a bit much for me. Plus, you're not exactly handing
me a manual on what it means to complete this
Namluh
thing, which has me a little freaked out." I
rubbed a hand over my face and gave a mirthless chuckle. "Besides,
I'm still coping with the concept of immortality and being set on
fire. That's definitely a new one for me."

He stared at me, his stunning jeweled eyes
churning and flaring, the smoldering radiance of his skin shifting
from the bright blaze of a bonfire to the dim glow of a coal ember.
Just when I thought he would ignore me completely, he finally
nodded his gorgeous head and took a seat, gesturing for me to
return to mine, apology clear in his stance.

"My deepest regrets, Honey-
sa
. I am old and should know better than to force my
will on you. I have waited long, and I am impatient now that you
are here before me, but I will wait until you are ready, and I
promise, I will make it worth all you have suffered," he said, his
tone conciliatory. But then his eyes sharpened, and his voice
dropped into a warning. "However, you are mine and will remain so.
Our souls are tied together and nothing can break that bond. Anyone
who attempts to take you from me, in any manner, will pay with
their lives. Keep that in mind when you interact with others."

I swallowed thickly, understanding he was
giving me fair warning that although he was willing to give me time
to get used to the idea, his patience wouldn't last forever, and
I'd be wise not to abuse it in any way. Not that I was some kind of
flirt queen, needing men everywhere to dance to my tune, but I had
developed a camaraderie with many in the palace, a number of whom
were male guards, and I didn't want to put anyone in danger by
inadvertently making Adar jealous.

"I understand. Thank you," I said solemnly,
respecting his willingness to put his own desires aside. While I
didn't know anything about what the
Namluh
entailed, I didn't doubt it included a consummation of the new
bond, which, attractive though Adar might be, was not something I
was yet ready to tackle.

"I forget that while I have seen and watched
you, you have only just met me and cannot feel the same lure. But
now I am here, and I will remain with you until you agree to return
to Shinar with me." Adar was almost annoyingly polite now, like a
Victorian gentleman calling on his maiden auntie.

"What do you mean you have been watching
me?" I demanded, excitement tinging my general wariness. The more I
thought about it, all my weird little moments with the fire and the
dreams of the black smoke suddenly had a new context.

He looked a little embarrassed. "I sensed
your arrival the moment you passed through the gate. I was in
Shinar and could not physically reach here until now, but I used
the flames to watch over you." Anger darkened his glorious features
and he was so frightening in his rage, so like a fire god ready to
rain down destruction that I flinched away, genuinely
terrified.

He noticed my withdrawal and immediately
eased the intensity of his presence, the atmosphere of impending
doom washing away like a cool rain. "Forgive me. I was thinking of
your attack, when I was unable to reach you in time. It makes
me...very distressed."

That seemed like a bit of an understatement,
but okay.

"But...you did save me," I protested,
remembering the way the fire had blazed brightly enough to distract
my assailant. "The fire...that was you?"

Adar studied me intently, and it was
incredibly frustrating. While his eyes were beautiful and
remarkable, I didn't understand how to read them, how to determine
what emotions he was feeling, because it was like staring into an
aurora borealis at midnight; divine and unearthly, and completely
beyond description.