Authors: Emma Paul
Yani's heart raced. She couldn't believe what a crazy predicament they faced. Finding out she was a princess, didn't seem to faze Corbin at all.
In fact, he seemed to be even more intent on keeping her.
Well that wasn't such a bad thing she supposed.
Still something about all of this just didn't make sense. Why did Corbin feel like he needed to run from Prince Nal?.
She knew there had been other men with Nal. Corbin had confirmed her suspicions. Yet, he refused to tell her anything further.
Finding out she was a Zen princess, should have made him abandon any plans he might have had about keeping her. Worse, her mind tried to be logical, yet her heart and her body rejoiced, knowing Corbin did not intend to give her back. It made her feel a bit befuddled that she didn't want to escape from him either.
Well she was a practical woman. Feeling and knowing were two different things. Unfortunately, when it came to Corbin, Yani realized her feelings ruled her actions. The longer she remained in his presence, the less logic she displayed.
Sweet Ver, am I falling in love with him?
He squeezed her, much smaller, hand gently every now and then, giving Yani comfort. Strangely, she actually wondered if Corbin realized he was even doing it.
He needs me.
And, just maybe, she needed him.
Corbin stopped suddenly. "We are almost there."
She gasped when he lifted her and cradled her in his arms.
"Hold on to me, Yani. There is a deep fissure here and we have to cross it to get to the portal. The drop is endless if you slip off the narrow bridge. I will carry you the rest of the way, since my eyes are better suited for the darkness."
She nodded, trying to clamp down her rising fear. "I trust you Corbin, I know you will keep me safe."
For an awkward moment, Yani felt Corbin's eyes on her. In her mind, she imagined his expression, baffled and unsure. He surprised her by placing a chaste kiss on her temple.
"Hold on."
His hushed voice splintered with emotion.
Yani wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, laying her head against his chest. The steady beat of his heart embraced her with security.
* * * *
Corbin enjoyed Yani's body cuddled up so compliantly against him. Her trust was a wondrous thing. Elation filled his chest. The sharp pains of Trill withdrawal dulled in comparison to the sudden rush of pride that awoke within him.
Forcing his body to stop trembling, he took the first step onto the narrow strip of stone ledge that extended in a series of sharp turns to the other side for about a mile. Corbin concentrated on each step, keeping mindful of the precious cargo he carried.
Even with his sharp night vision, the path to the other side where he hid the trans-portal device was treacherous. Damn his weakness. Never before did he have a reason to curse his addiction. Now with Yani's life in his hands, and worse, her complete trust in his ability to keep her safe had him thinking about changing his life choices.
It bewildered him that in such a short period, a woman he truly had no business being with could change his perception about himself, and in particular, a future he had not cared existed.
All of a sudden, life started to have meaning, and that worried him.
Systematically he carefully maneuvered the snaking overpass, clutching Yani to him as though his very soul would die if he made one wrong move and let her fall. Patience and the sheer power of determination finally paid off. Relief flooded his insides as he saw the other side come into view.
Once they made it safely across, he fell to his knees, while still holding Yani firmly against his chest. His heart rate began to beat back to normal and he took several deep breaths. He finally let go of her, dropping her gently to the ground. Corbin's body began to convulse violently. His whole body cramped up. Intense pain wracked his legs, arms and shoulders.
Yani gasped and immediately tried to wrap herself around him. The genuine concern on her face made him want to rip out his own heart for causing her distress.
"Dear Ver! Corbin what's wrong! No!"
He held her off with a wave of his hand. "No it-it's f-fine ... j-just let me be ... it w-will go... away."
It was a lie. He knew the pain would just get worse until he took another dose. But he had to get them to the caves first. Yani looked around frantically,
"Corbin, is there anything I can do, something ... let me help you!"
With the last ounce of will he had left, Corbin summoned enough strength to lift himself off the floor and stand up.
The excruciating pain nearly toppled him to the ground. If not for his warrior's training and enduring years of severe torture at the hands of his father and senior warrior mentor, he would never be able to conceal his affliction.
Forcing a smile, he held his hand out for Yani, "See all better."
She took his hand. The worrisome expression she gave him only added to his guilt that he had to keep secrets from her.
"Are you sure? Corbin I can see the tension in your face and feel the tremor in your hand. If there is anything I can do to…"
He quickly let go of her hand, and turned away, cutting her off, before she said something that would make him spill every single evil deed he has ever committed.
"No Yani, we have to hurry. I didn't want to tell you, but I heard footsteps behind us. They are on our trail. Come, the portal is only about half a yard away." After an awkward moment, he felt Yani's elegant hand slip into his. A tremor rippled up his arm. However, this one had nothing to do with Trill sickness.
Zen never had anything as technologically advance as the small silver disc Corbin held in his hand. After he twisted it once to the right, a hologram appeared before them. She had never seen the insignia and assumed it represented some type of coordinate to the place they were going.
He told her about how he discovered the disc, and eventually, after toying with it for several weeks, figured out how to unlock the portal. The enthusiasm he showed remembering his first adventure into the Morey desert caves, endeared him even more to Yani. It was the first time Corbin actually seemed unguarded. This side of him, she found very appealing.
She admired his ingenuity and intelligence as he explained how the disc worked, and how he had first use it out at the young age of ten. Corbin was an enigma to her. He could be brooding to the point of plain meanness, but when he let his reticence go, he was communicative, funny and everything she desired in a man. Corbin told her that he had found the disc, he called it a portal-key, when he was a small boy.
"My father never knew where I’d go. Sometimes I think he never truly even knew I was gone."
Yani listened, as he worked and talked about the times in his childhood when he'd escape to the underground tunnels.
"I’m sure he wondered where you were, perhaps he just realized that you simply need the time alone."
Her smile faltered, when Corbin tensed and stopped to look up and stare at her for a moment. He seemed to be contemplating what he should tell her.
He shook his head. "My father could care less about what I needed."
Yani didn't know what kind of childhood Corbin had, but she became keenly aware that it must have been a painful one.
She reached and affectionately stroked his shoulder. "I’m so sorry you had to go through all that. I wish I could make it go away for you."
His sudden jerk away from her took her by surprise. Corbin stared back at her, his face complete void of any emotion. He pulled away as if her touch had somehow hurt him. Once again, Yani wanted to wrap her arms around him and sooth his obvious pain, yet all she managed to do was stare back, afraid that anything else she said would only perpetuate his seemingly fragile frame of mind.
He turned his face away to stare straight ahead, and she saw an angry tic in his jaw. "What do you know about what I’ve gone through, Princess?" He turned to face her once again. His teeth clenched , the torment in his eyes more evident than ever, "You, who has been pampered her whole life! You know nothing."
He got up and walked to the other side of the small fissure where he had hidden the portal key. He knelt down and continued working on the disc, completely ignoring her.
Yani’s heart sank to her feet. She knew his anger had nothing to do with her, yet the words still hurt. All she wanted was to take away his pain, at least for a short while. She realized then that Corbin wasn’t ready to let go of his demons. How she wanted to tell him that she did understand. Despite being a princess, she had her share of heartache too.
Her parents had never been around. She and her siblings were raised by a multitude of nannies, tutors and nursemaids. Affairs of the state came first. The whole wedding to Azuri’s Prince Gor was nothing more than her father’s need to have a direct link with Azuri’s government. Azuri’s support would offer Zen’s royal family a higher seat in the Galactic Governing Council.
Ultimately, the only true value she could offer her family was a chance for her Father to gain more political power.
Yani’s throat tightened. The feelings stabbing her heart rose like a flood, until she felt the knot in the center of her chest threatening to overflow into a torrent of uncontrollable sobbing. She tried to force herself to think of anything else, to stop her unraveling control. Now was not the time to start one of her crying fits. She had to stay strong. After all, who was the victim here? Corbin had kidnapped her, yet she treated him as though he were the one who had been wronged.
No matter how hard she tried, Yani couldn’t justify her actions, nor could she deny that she had somehow become emotionally attached to Corbin.
Several minutes later, Corbin stood up and held out the portal key.
She watched him poke at a few of the glyphs in the hologram. He turned to her and held out his hand for her to take it. All his previous anger had vanished. The quick switch of emotion perplexed Yani, yet she pushed the worry aside, thinking it best to not question Corbin for the time being.
"You ready?"
His infectious smile, and the shear thrill in his eyes, caused warm tingles in her lower belly.
She nodded and smiled back,
"Hold on. You will feel a rising sensation in your stomach the moment we are pulled to the portal exit."
He put his arm around her and held her firmly against his side. The insignia began to spin. It twirled faster and faster, until only a single beam of light shot up into the darkness of the tunnel.
A pulling sensation tugged at Yani's insides. She clutched her abdomen as though her guts had turned inside out. The sensation wasn't painful, however nausea coiled in her stomach.
For a second or two, a bright white light enveloped them. Then it slowly dimmed to reveal a vast desert that harbored hundreds of tall mountainous structures, which appeared to be built from the sand itself.
Once she felt the ground beneath her feet again, Yani retched and doubled over with dry heaves. Thankfully, nothing was in her stomach, since it had been several hours since she had eaten. Vomiting in front of Corbin would be mortifying.
"Yani are you all right?"
She heard concern in his voice and it pleased her greatly.
"I'm fine. I guess I'm not used to portal-travel." She laughed weakly.
"It happens the first few times. But soon you will get used to it."
Without warning, he bent down and picked her up in his arms. He held her as if she was the most fragile creature in the universe.
She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Corbin, what if the others find the portal?"
He laughed wryly. "They won't, I have the only portal-key to this location. If there are any others, they won't be easy to find, since we presumably destroyed every Portal-exit and their keys."
Yani laid her head against his shoulder. "But you found this one, what's to say there aren't others?"
He pulled her tighter against his body. "That is a possibility, but I never told anyone about this key. And I don't believe they will even think to look for one. My people are very arrogant. To suggest that a Portal was missed would mean we failed to secure our cities as we had wanted to."
He placed a kiss on her temple. "Trust me Princess, no Dreg is willing to admit failure."
He had called her princess. She loved the sound of it on his lips, and how he spoke it with sarcasm, showing the Dreg sense of superiority.
Somehow, she knew Corbin was different. The first time she met him at the Sh'kra club, he was flirtatious and laidback. All the Dregs she had ever met seemed so stoic, hard. Yet, Corbin displayed sensitivity. And when he let himself be, he was playful and entertaining.
The fact he visited the Sh'kra club also indicated Corbin had no problem letting women have control. She knew the reason many men visited the Sh'kra.
Unlike most men, especially those who wielded power like a second skin, Corbin did not seem to mind her knowing about his excursions. He had implied it, when she had asked him why he was at the club.
Now this is something I need to investigate further . ...
Yani snuggled up to Corbin. She loved the way his chest felt against her suddenly chilled skin. He trembled. She sensed a discomfort vibrating through him. Was he still in pain? Guilt twisted in her chest.
"Corbin I can walk, you don't have to – " He cut her off by squeezing her even tighter against him. That told her, without words, that he did not intend to let her down, or let her go. Hope flared in her heart.
Oh, to be forever bound to a Dreg warrior, mmm, tantalizing.
Wicked thoughts danced through her head.
Yani barely acknowledge the fact that they had entered the cave-like dwellings, once belonging to the Morey.
"We are here."
His voice sounded strained. Finally, he put her down to stand in front of him. The tremors shaking his body were much more evident. His breathing had become shallow.
Yani tried to steady his shaking arms.