Mine to Take

  “If I survive the jump, yes.”

  Jenise wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “What?”

  “I have not jumped from such a distance before.”

  Jenise threw her arms up in the air. That settled the issue for her. She would not have his broken body on her conscience. “No, I cannot allow it!”

  Gian raised a dark eyebrow. Whoever heard of a woman proclaiming she would allow a male Familiar to do anything? He would have grinned if the situation wasn’t so serious.

  Jenise read his expression very well. It was a universal male look, which said clearly, oh, really.

  “It is too dangerous,” she emphatically stated.

  “Ah, but that is my choice, Creamcat. And I choose to escape. I will wait for you below.” He slid out of the leather breeches and tossed them out the window.

  He started to turn from her, then hesitated. “You are about to see what few outside our own people have witnessed: the transformation of a Familiar. It is an experience we do not share with many.”

  “I understand. You may trust me.”

  Satisfaction brightened his eyes. His palm cupped her cheek, then fell to his side. “What is your name?” he inquired, an unexpected tenderness lacing his smooth voice.

  “Jenise.”

  He nodded as if he liked the sound of it. “If I fail, Jenise, then you will remember this Gian Ren…”

  It seemed as though he wanted to say more, but his words trailed off as a glowing light began to pulsate from him. Streams of photons flowed around him, gaining in number and strength. His entire body began to shimmer, seeming to melt into light itself.

  Jenise had never seen anything so beautiful.

  In the next instant, a large, multi-colored cat was standing before her. There was a majesty about him that invited awe and respect. Broad areas of vibrant bronze and black and gold formed patches in the long silken fur. The animal’s stunning eyes were two different colors. Deep green and lambent gold.

  Gian!

  Tossing his head in an action she had seen the Familiar make in human form, the proud feline gave her a haughty stare.

  It was nothing less than Jenise expected.

  The powerful cat jumped onto the windowsill. Looking over its shoulder at her one last time, he leapt bravely into thin air.

  Jenise ran to the window, afraid to look out but knowing she must. The great cat had landed far below in the stone courtyard. He lay there, not moving.

  The pounding on the door grew louder. Was he simply stunned or…?

  A slight movement alerted Jenise. He was alive!

  Somewhat dazed, the beast awkwardly got to his feet. In the moonlight, Jenise could discern the odd angle of one of his paws. She winced. He had broken a leg. A hind leg.

  Not only must he be in terrible pain but he would never he able to catch her. Her spirits plummeted.

  She turned away, missing the flash of light from the courtyard below.

  Just then the door to the chamber crashed in and Karpon’s men filled the doorway, led by Karpon himself. His thin nostrils flared as he viewed her. Clearly he was furious at her rebellion.

  Mayhap he would even kill her. She glanced out of the window, thinking she might be able to signal to Gian to go on without her. At least he might be able to save himself.

  She was shocked to discover that he had already donned the tracas and was motioning for her to jump. Not only that, but he was standing perfectly on two legs. Jenise’s hopes lifted; somehow the Familiar had repaired his injury when he had changed his form. A handy ability, indeed.

  Unfortunately, while she was watching him, Jenise’s mind registered exactly how far the fall was. Her fingers clutched the sill. How could she find the courage to make that kind of jump?

  Below in the courtyard, Gian sensed her indecision, her fear. He willed her to meet his eyes as he inhaled a deep, calming breath. {Come to me, taja. I am here for you.}

  Jenise’s hand went to her forehead. Surely she could not hear him from this distance? She took a deep breath. It seemed to calm her. She made her decision. Better to die in the attempt at freedom than be caged with Karpon!

  Guessing what she was about to do, Karpon hissed, “Do not, Jenise! You will be killed!”

  Throwing her leg over the sill, she turned back to Karpon to give him a last insolent sneer before she jumped.

  As she fell through the air two things crossed her mind at once; the sound of Karpon yelling “nooooo” and the hope that this Gian would truly be there to catch her. She had put all of her faith in him, a man she barely knew.

  He caught her and held her fast.

  The impact of the fall brought him to his knees but he held her securely in his arms. Jenise burrowed her face into his warm throat. She hugged him tightly in response.

  Against the innocent press of her lips, she felt the vibration of his strong heartbeat. The steady, sure beat comforted her in a way no words could. She thought his lips grazed her hair in answer.

  “Come, we do not have much time.” The deep, smooth voice spoke gently in her ear. She nodded against him.

  As they ran from the courtyard behind the keep, Jenise glanced up at the window she had jumped from. Moonlight silhouetted Karpon’s harsh features as he watched them flee.

  Even from this distance she could see the look of fury stamped on his cruel face. It spoke of revenge.

  Two pathways opened up before them. One led around the left side of the keep; the other straight into the fields. Had Gian’s senses not been partially dulled by the drugs they had given him, he might have discerned a faint, barely audible moan coming from a heap of flesh that had once been a vibrant young Familiar.

  It came from just around the corner of the keep, not thirty paces away.

  But fate, being the capricious riddle that it is, decided that Gian Ren would go on his way, unknowing. He guided Jenise not to the left but to the path that led straight through the meadows.

  And so a page turned and one young man’s life was forever altered.

  “We may rest here shortly.”

  The Familiar finally released her hand. He had refused to do so numerous times as they raced across the countryside, Karpon’s men in close pursuit.

  Taking in great gulps of air as she tried to regain her normal respiration, Jenise sank down wearily onto a boulder by the edge of a stream. “Did we lose them?” she panted.

  Gian smiled inwardly at the use of the term “we.” It appeared the creamcat had linked her fate with his somewhere along the way. Still, she had much to learn of him. And he of her.

  “For the time being.” He, who was aptly named Guardian of the Mist, had led the pursuers on a false circle hunt, the likes of which he was sure they had never seen. Gian chuckled to himself. “It will take them some time to reorient themselves. You may rest awhile here.”

  Jenise watched him in wonder as he squatted in front of a nearby stream, cupping cold water in his palms. He was not even winded, while she could barely catch her breath.

  He stood in the moonlight, walking towards her. Truly, he was breathtaking.

  The silvery light illuminated his burnished golden hair; the sculpted masculine features; the perfectly delineated physique. Even barefoot and shirtless—wearing nothing more than the black breeches which molded to his muscular thighs—there was an aura of uncommon sleekness to him. In everything he did, the man moved with an elegant feline grace.

  He knelt before her, offering her a drink of cool water from his hands.

  Jenise was touched by his attentive gesture. Cupping her hands over his, she greedily drank the sweet offering.

  Gian waited until she had drunk her fill before he partook of his own refreshment. It did not go unnoticed by Jenise that despite his own thirst, he had seen to her comfort first. The revealing action said much to her.

  He looked intently into her eyes before speaking. “There may be some systale gourds on the bed of the stream. I believe it is important for us to carry some water
with us, for we do not know if we will have the time or the opportunity to stop later. They will have already sent word out; it will not be safe for us to go into any villages until we are ready to leave this place or until we have no alternative but to do so.”

  She nodded agreement.

  Gian walked downstream a ways as he searched for the telltale yellow filaments of the systale plant.

  Known to have saved many a traveler’s life, the systale was a gourd plant that grew underwater. The bulb-shaped fruit was filled with a unique healing mixture of water and minerals. No one was sure where it had originated. Found on many planets, presumably carried by travelers through the Tunnels, the plant was able to propagate itself from the discarded husks.

  While Gian searched for the gourds, Jenise sat back on the rock, wincing slightly at the soreness between her legs. Even now, she could hardly believe what she had done. Oh, she had no regrets…yet she had been raised in a culture that put much value on her purity.

  There was a slight stickiness between her inner thighs.

  Untying her cloak, she let it drop onto the rocks behind her. The breeze would feel good against her heated flesh.

  She lifted the edge of her dress. Traces of blood stained her legs. Evidence of what he had done. What they had done.

  Despite her acceptance of what had happened, her hand shook as her fingers partially covered the vulnerable spot.

  “You are injured?”

  Stunned, Jenise glanced up into the tawny gold and green eyes. She had not even heard him approach. Embarrassed to be caught in such an intimate moment, she looked away from him.

  Silently, she shook her head.

  His steady hand covered her fingers. Gently, he removed her hand from her thigh, revealing the dried bloodstains.

  He said nothing, but he did not move for several moments. Then he picked up one of the gourds he had found, breaking the lip of it open with his teeth. He poured the systale water in the cup of his hand and carefully began washing her with it.

  Jenise’s mouth parted, shocked at the intimate gesture. Her hand came over his to stay him.

  He disregarded it, going on with what he was doing.

  “You should not be doing this, Gian.”

  The long black lashes—which, at the moment, hid his mesmerizing eyes from her view—flickered at the mention of his name. It was the first time she had used it.

  “Why not, taja?” he murmured as he worked.

  “Be-because it is too intimate.”

  “Too intimate…” He paused to capture her with his eyes. A dimple curved his cheek. “How is that possible?” he whispered.

  Color instantly heightened Jenise’s cheekbones. She looked down again, unwilling to let him see how he affected her.

  What should she have expected? It was well-known that the Familiar were entirely sensual. She had simply never realized how sensual. It was in the way he moved, the words he spoke, the purring tone of his voice, and the intent, hidden messages in his fiery eyes.

  “I was only supposed to share that with my mate.” Her voice was very faint.

  He stopped to stare at her. “Do not worry about such things, Jenise. Your mate may understand more than you credit him.” He resumed his work.

  “You misunderstand; I shall have no mate.”

  He hesitated in his ministrations briefly. “You think not?” he murmured dryly. He rinsed the area a final time and stood.

  She nodded seriously. “I must be free. I can never mate.”

  “What has the one to do with the other?” He began unlacing his tracas.

  “I need to feel free. A mate would bind me, keep me from what I seek.”

  “How do you know that?” He finished unlacing the breeches.

  She explained to him the situation in which she had grown up; the stifling atmosphere around Karpon and his brother.

  “Your mother’s people—the Frensi—they mate, do they not?” He dropped the tracas, stepping out of them.

  “Yes, of course they do—but that is different. In any case, I seek to explore life, not become caged by it.”

  Nude, he stood before her and moved his hands through the air above and around her.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I see no cage here.”

  She snorted, grinning slightly. “Very amusing.”

  His raised an eyebrow, placing a warm palm over her heart. “It is here, I think.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When you unlock this, you will be free.”

  “I do not think so, Gian. What you speak of is the cage.”

  “No. It is the wind which will carry you.”

  He turned from her and entered the stream, dunking under the water when he reached the middle. Jenise wondered if he was symbolically washing away the feel of the prison chains.

  When his burnished head broke the surface, he flung the wet and dripping strands out of his face. Dual-colored eyes gleamed with a predatory light as he intently marked her under the silvery shine of two moons.

  Jenise’s breath stilled in her throat.

  He was beauty and he was fire.

  He walked out of the water towards her, taking steady, deliberate steps. The long strands of his hair dripped down his chest and arms and back.

  In a catlike move, he shook his head, sending water droplets through the air, their scattered pattern crystallized by the dual moons.

  There was no mistaking the sudden hunger that radiated from him. Feral hunger.

  Jenise paled. “I—I said I do not want—”

  He approached her, closer. She could feel the searing heat of his golden skin. Hot moisture and krinang spice.

  With just the tip of his finger, he lifted her chin.

  Slowly, he lowered his lips until his mouth—that incredible, sensual mouth—was just a hairsbreadth away from her own. His silken hair slid forward to brush against her shoulders, a hushed caress.

  Oh so lightly, he grazed his bottom lip over hers. His warm, sweet breath drifted across her lips like a sultry breeze which heralds thunder.

  “Let me tell you something about me, my creamcat…I do not heed words that are so patently false.”

  Jenise’s eyes widened. His other hand grasped her upper arm, holding her to him.

  “You see…I come from a people who rely on instinct.”

  “And what does that mean?” She tried to pull away from him. He drew her closer.

  “It means,” he drawled in a husky purr, “that my senses have already told me that you do want me very much.”

  The shock of his accurate revelation caused her to release a pent-up breath of dismay as well as hidden desire.

  Gian inhaled the breath as he gazed down upon her. His eyes dilated with the rich sensory perception he received from her. He knew what she wanted.

  Jenise stared at him, astonished.

  “Exactly.”

  Before she could question him, his mouth firmly came down over hers. It was a hot taking. He singed her nerve endings. Worse still, the man seemed to claim everything as he kissed. Everything.

  Stunned senseless, Jenise was immobilized under the skilled onslaught. It was yet another side of the Familiar she had never heard about before—this need to capture. In fact, Jenise had heard that they were always very casual in their alliances, enjoying their partners as their partners more than enjoyed them.

  She wondered if this behavior was usual for a Familiar…or simply a personal trait of Gian Ren. For if it was—

  She could no longer think.

  Gian had expertly slid his rogue tongue between her lips and he was licking the inside of her mouth!

  Quivering, she moaned at the exquisite, delicate flicks that could only be called torture.

  His hands cupped her shoulders and he slowly drew away from her. Dazed, Jenise blinked up at him. The corners of his mouth curled upward enigmatically as he released her.

  Stretching sinuously, he reached for the breeches on the ground, stepping int
o them and sliding them much too languidly—bit by bit—up over his hips. He began lacing them up, but the Familiar wasn’t watching what he was doing; he was intently watching her.

  His potent kiss had rocked her. Jenise felt dizzy and muddled. She did not like the way he was looking at her either. As if she were something edible. She coughed.

  He chuckled knowingly. Low and husky.

  Uneasy, Jenise decided to ignore what had happened. She cleared her throat and straightened the folds of her gown. “What about you?” she blurted out.

  “What about me?” he asked, still watching her.

  “Do the Familiars mate?”

  He laughed. The rich, deep sound nestled in her like a snug cuddle. Shivering, she suddenly imagined what that laugh would feel like resonating against her own lips as he…

  Instantly, she banished the erotic image, wondering what was coming over her. She was never one to fantasize over such matters.

  “Yes, we mate, Creamcat.” The teasing dimples were back.

  Appalled at her question, which he undoubtedly misinterpreted in a typical male way, she clarified, “I meant a permanent, singular bonding.”

  He grinned broadly. “I know what you meant.”

  She snorted.

  He sat behind her on the boulder. His clean scent was mingled with fresh water and the night. And just a hint of that special scent of his. The scent that was beginning to make her go weak with desire.

  Jenise tried not to inhale.

  “Most often we mate among ourselves,” he offered in explanation, speaking from behind her shoulder. There were many reasons the male Familiar mated only among his own kind. It was not simply his intense desire, for desire could be taught. There were reasons of a deeper nature.

  When she didn’t comment, he added, “There have been a few exceptions, but only amongst the females.”

  “Why is that?” She did not turn to look at him, choosing instead to rearrange the folds of her dress. Again.

  “Most often such alliances have not born issue. When they have, a Familiar child has been a rarity. In fact there has been only one child born of mixed blood who inherited the Familiar abilities.” He thought of his blood relative Rejar, wondering if Yaniff had yet located him in the Tunnels. “He is most uncommon,” Gian murmured thoughtfully.