Lawked Flame (17 page)

Stunned, she stared at the woman. “Geleets? Poison?
Three days?” Her voice rose on the last two words. “You’re joking
right?” Turning, she noticed she was not in her room.

She glanced at Olga before looking around. The room
was too large and the furniture way too expensive to be in the bed
and breakfast. “Where am I?”

“
You are in Master Khayden’s home.
He bought you here for care. For the past three days he has sat in
that chair.” Olga pointed to the large wing-backed leather chair
near the bed. “He had a matter of security come up and has been
gone for ten minutes. As I said, he is on his way back to your side
and will answer all of your questions. You must not
worry.”

The older woman rubbed her
forehead, which soothed and relaxed her. She stretched her eyes
opened, gazing at the ceiling. There were too many questions that
needed answers, she needed to remain alert and wait for Khayden.
Yes, the fight, the snake-like creatures, what were they? Her eyes
drooped as she battled the lethargy pulling her down. Giving up the
fight to remain awake, Alayna drifted asleep.

She had no way of knowing how long she sat on the
shore of her pond in the forest, watching the stillness of the
water. All she knew was he would appear soon. A wave of peace
washed over her as her fingers burrowed into the moist soil. Cool
tendrils from the earth penetrated her pores and battled the
remnants of her fever.

“
Alayna.” She started at the
thread of both pain and need in his voice. Muscular arms wrapped
around her from behind. The warmth of his embrace set off a chain
reaction of hot desire in her. Moisture leaked between her thighs,
and her nipples tightened painfully. Forcing down her desperate
need to join with him, she focused on the problems and concerns
facing her.

Leaning into his chest, the steady thump of his
heart eased her troubled mind as she inhaled his natural scent. The
woodsy aroma filled her empty spaces, and spiked her
incomprehensible craving to be one with him again. But first, she
needed answers. There were too many strange happenings around
him.

“
Khayden, I missed you,” she
whispered. Although she recognized they were in her dream, she
needed his reassurance that their feelings were real.

His arm tightened around her, while his chin stroked
the top of her head. “I miss you and I am so sorry you were hurt.
Please tell me how you feel.” The pain radiating from his voice
slashed her heart, leaving deep cuts.

Stroking his arms, she tried to heal his hurt. “I’m
not sure what happened. Olga said something about poison. But I
feel better now.” She spoke just above a whisper, taking a moment
to reacquaint herself to his touch. The reality was better than she
had remembered.

His lips brushed her hair, and then her cheek. “I
have never been so scared or angry. I promise to take better care
of you. Please tell me you forgive me.”

She leaned away and searched his eyes, the royal
blue startling in its intensity. “Forgive you for what?”

“
For not protecting you. You
should never have been hurt while under my care.” For a minute she
thought he was joking, but soon realized he wasn’t.

Shaking her head before resettling against his
chest, she allowed the memories from the fight to filter through
her mind. The man had fought like an army of one protecting her.
He’d destroyed most of those guys by himself and there had been a
lot more than she’d originally thought. Between him and the bubble,
no one had gotten close to her. That only left the tainting of the
air. Since she had to breathe, air had to penetrate the bubble.
Unfortunately, someone had used that to try to kill her.

“
You’re not God. You cannot be
everywhere at once.” She pushed against his chest when he tried to
move and speak. “Listen to me. There is nothing to forgive. I would
be dead if not for you, so if anything I should be thanking
you.”

“
Your thanks are not required or
permitted. It is my job to take care of you and ours.” His palm had
flattened against her stomach. She stilled as the weight of each
word he’d spoken hit her reason. There was something going on and
she was tired of trying to figure things out. “What and who are
you?” She asked into the silence.

He stiffened beneath her palm, took a deep breath
and spoke. “I am Khayden, Master Lawke from Lawkmeria. Master of
all Lawkmerians.”

Leaning forward, she searched his
eyes for signs of humor. There was none.
Okay, now what
. Since she had
started them down this path, she had to continue, right?
“Lawkmeria? Lawkmerians? What’s that?”

Clearing his throat, he took her hand and kissed the
back of it. “Lawkmeria is a planet beyond what you would call
Saturn. We had a problem and are here temporarily until the
situation is solved.”

“
And then what?”
Dazed and uncertain if she should call 911 or smack him for pulling
her leg, she stared up at him. There was no doubt in her mind he
believed what he said. A dreary sadness hovered over the horizon.
She’d had sex with a Looney-tune.
Damn
.

“
We return home.”

“
You’re leaving?” For some reason,
her mind latched onto his departure instead of his alien calling
card. Perhaps, because men leaving her left gaping wounds in her
psyche.

“
One day.” The matter of factness
in his tone wasn’t lost on her.

She scooted away from him and stood, wrapping her
arms around her against the cold of his statement. Gazing out at
the water, she shivered as his words penetrated. “Lorenzo, Olga?
Are they like you?” She asked even though she knew the answer. Most
crazies were consistent.

His breath grazed her cheek from behind. “Yes.”

Another thought pushed to the surface. “The town
with the old buildings and old stores. I mean those stores have
been out of business for years, how did you get them?”

“
We had them built when they were
new and saw no need to dispose of them when everyone else did. They
continue to meet our needs. The same for the homes of our people.
Over time we have modernized them to a point. But overall, we
discovered the structures from the past are superior in quality to
those of the present.”

She nodded in agreement. The real
estate developer in her recognized he had a valid point. “True.
Although, I’m not sure how you’ve been able to hide from everyone.
How long have you been here?” The more she thought about
everything, the more she believed he had to be kidding.
Aliens walking among humans
? It sounded like a trifling sound bite from a
movie.

“
Do you really want to know?” The
gloomy thread in his voice arrested her attention. She spun around
to face him.

The sincerity in his eyes created
hairline cracks in her wall of certainty.
Was it possible
? Stepping out on a
shaky limb of supposition, she asked, “How do I know you’re telling
the truth? You look human.”

Eyes hooded, he glanced away. Through twisted lips,
he mocked. “I guess trusting me is out of the question?”

Despite the sorrow emanating from him, she didn’t
believe what he said. They had been as close as two people could be
and she hadn’t detected anything alien about him. And she would
have known, right?

Yet wiggles of doubt nagged at her. Stepping away,
she exhaled, trying to put into words the halting reservations that
had taken root. “Not out of the question,” she hedged. “It’s just
too much too soon. That’s all.”

“
I have been on Earth slightly
less than two centuries. I have seen humanity at its best and its
worst.” He spoke through a tightened jaw, as though fighting to
keep the words locked inside. “You think this is too much? It is
not. Not from my point of view.”

Spinning she searched his eyes, and found that
damnable sincerity again. “Are you shitting me?”

He frowned, obviously mulling over her words and
said slowly. “No.”

She pointed at him, taking in the color of his hair,
free from gray, and his unlined skin. “You are not that old.”

“
I was tinder, or what you would
call a teenager, when we landed here.” His eyes begged her to
believe him.

She could not. “You expect me to believe you’re from
another planet? An alien? Are you a vampire?” Her hand flew to her
throat as she backed away.

He recoiled from her words. “What? What are you
thinking? I am not a vampire, I am Lawkmerian. We do not feed off
humans.”

His face darkened and his brow furrowed into a deep
scowl. She was surprised he could talk with his jaw locked as tight
as it appeared.

That look of outrage couldn’t be feigned. “Sorry.
All of this is a shock and I’m having a tough time believing
everything you’ve said. You…you look and feel so… human.” She took
a deep breath gazing at him. “Let’s try this again.”

He nodded, visibly relieved.

“
You are the Master of all the
people from your home planet. You guys are just here for what you
think is a little while, although two-hundred years and counting
doesn’t qualify for that status in my book.”

His frown cleared as she finished her sentence. “I
suppose it would seem long to you. Your skepticism is noted and
understood.”

Her brow rose as she spoke with a heavy dose of
sarcasm. “Gee, thanks.”

Nodding, he smiled and took her hand. “We have been
stuck here because I have not been unlocked. As long as I am in
this position, we are, how would you put it?” He tapped her nose
distracting her. “We are sitting ducks. Yes, that describes it
perfectly. There is not much we can do.”

“
Unlocked? What’s
that?”

He pulled her against him, and stroked her back with
long sweeps of his palm. The deep timbre of his voice vibrated
through her as he explained. “As Master Lawke, my energies, or
powers, must be freed before anyone else can access their powers. I
am the head. My people are the body. Do you understand?”

“
That doesn’t tell me what
unlocked means.” She snuggled closer into his warmth, glad for the
connection again.

“
I know. I wanted you to
understand the importance of the unlocking first. I am a Lawke. As
you know in your world, every lock has a key which fits to open it
to whatever is locked away.”

She tried to push away, but he held her still. “Huh?
You need a key to open you?” His chuckle skittered across her chest
sending tendrils of heat to her core. She struggled to focus. There
were things being said she needed to hear. Things which would
impact her life.

He kissed the top of her head. “Something like that.
Moreover, I needed a special person who would free my abilities and
thus unlock my people.”

Her heart pounded against her chest. What did this
mean? “Get real. You are looking for a person to complete you? That
sounds like a romance movie.”

His arms tightened around her. “No, I am not looking
for anyone. I have everything I need right here.”

Her mind whirled. Frustration ripped through her.
Had she missed something? Something important? She thought over
everything he had said and froze. “Me?”Her voice wavered as the
weight of his proclamation struck. “I’m who you need to set you
free?”

“
You have already released a
portion of my power and I am grateful. It has always bothered me to
use the energy from my people.” He placed a kiss on her hair and
another on her forehead. Leaning down he took her cold,
unresponsive lips into a searching kiss.

The thought that he needed her, that Lorenzo, Olga,
and Kenton all needed her to thrive, washed over her, leaving her
insides numb. Was this all a plot to gain them some power? Had they
been using her? What about her feelings? She’d become alive in his
arms. He claimed he didn’t play games, yet she felt as though she’d
been played. A bubble of outrage grew and grew until it threatened
to explode, leaving small pieces of her sanity littered on the
ground.

“
So you pursued me to gain your
powers?” The question hung in the quiet.

“
At first, yes I must admit the
idea of being unlocked was the driving force of the attraction. But
you must understand—“

She pushed him away with a hard shove. Panting, she
pushed her hair back from her eyes and pointed at him. “No. I don’t
have to understand squat. You got what you wanted, you’re unlocked,
right?” She moved in the opposite direction, prepared to run.

“
Wrong. I am not
unlocked.”

She stumbled and glanced at him. “I
thought…”
She frowned, her eyes
narrowing.

His hands remained at his side as he stared
at her. Slowly, he unclenched his fists and jaw. “You are my Kee.
There is no question about that. But
you
must
want
to
unlock me. I cannot force that any more than you can force me not
to want you more than my next breath. This connection between us is
a mutual one that cannot be broken or betrayed. A Lawke cannot lie
to his Kee. Neither can I give another that which belongs to
you.”

She struggled to swallow past the crow lodged in her
throat. The previous spurt of panic ceased as his words settled,
undergirding the block of hope in her chest. Her ability to speak
fled beneath his unwavering gaze. There were words she needed to
say. Questions that needed asking. But as he reached for her and
cupped her wet cheeks in his palm, all rational thought fled on the
wings of ecstasy. His lips grazed hers. She opened her mouth in
silent invitation.