Heartmate (44 page)

He heard her sigh, then the soft opening Word for her door. Princess stepped out onto the porch and mewed. The cat looked in his direction and mewed again.

“We should talk, we have much to discuss and decide. But I'm too tired tonight. Come to bed, T'Ash,” Danith said.

The fallen boy vanished from T'Ash's perception, teleported unsteadily away by his triad-twin who lay in the HealingHall.

T'Ash sighed, too. “I'm coming.” His weariness matched her own. He'd fought long and hard at the Council meeting, this time with words and images and dire warnings. And he'd won.

If there would be no HeartBond with Danith tonight, at least she wouldn't ask him to reveal his past or his deepest self, not in words or in emotions. They would love. Then they would sleep.

 
 
The next day, Danith's second day of apprenticeship,
she Healed a dying housefluff, a genetic hybrid of an Earth rabbit and a Celtan mochyn.

She laid her hands on it and could feel the waning lifeforce, the rip deep in its body. With gentle fingers, she stroked its soft fur and visualized her Flair as hands, finding the ruptured organ and mending it. Even through her concentration, she smiled. This spell was close to the first welding one that T'Ash had taught her, but refined now, completely personal and Healing. The use of her Flair, especially for others, was her highest good and her greatest joy.

The housefluff jerked, trembled, opened its eyes, and rolled to its feet. After a pink-nosed snuffle to Danith's fingers, it hopped away to where a little girl anxiously sat on a bench.

She crowed delight and picked up the animal in her arms, dancing through the arch of the courtyard into a grassy meadow beyond.

A mid-aged GraceLady followed the scene with a teary gaze, then touched Danith on the arm. “We cannot thank you enough, GrandLady D'Mallow. The veterinarians, the Healers—They had no hope. And it's a precious life to the Family.”

Danith thrilled. “My pleasure.”

Her teacher, a Heather Healer, looked startled, then shook her gray head. “It is incredible how fast you learn.” Her face folded into pensive lines. “As with all great Flairs, you must sense the correct way of using your power instinctively, and only need some practical knowledge. Good. Very good.”

Exultation filled Danith. She'd freed her Flair and directed it as her inner self had always wanted. The whole process resonated with inherent rightness.

She had to tell someone, and the only one who would understand would be T'Ash. Her two-day-old great-Flaired friends were too new, and her old Flairless friends wouldn't understand. That left only T'Ash. And she'd encourage him to tell of his own experiences, try and lure the child Rand from the formidable GreatLord. She would learn all of him, soon.

She used some of her exuberance 'porting to T'Ash's Residence, where she found him deep in discussion with Holm Holly via scry holo.

He glanced up at her arrival, a brief smile touched his mouth, then disappeared as his gaze returned to the holo of Holm Holly. “I will scout locations and set up a fund for the buildings and staffing. I expect the other Noble Houses to participate, if not in my project, then in others. Wheat, Rye, and Silkeen should take care of the docks. Perhaps—”

“I understand, and I'll make sure they hear of your contribution. With effort, in a few years, there will be no Downwind,” said Holly.

T'Ash laughed harshly. “There may be no Downwind in Druida, but other cities—”

“We will try our best!”

“There will always be outlaws, people who don't fit in.” His gaze slid to her. Did he still feel like an outsider? Even transacting the highest level of business with HollyHeir? Incredible.

She blew him a kiss.

His eyes rounded as he stared at her.

Holm continued. “The misfits can explore the frontier, civilize it, carve out their own cities, disappear. I don't care. My concern is for the citizens of—”

“My Lady's here. I go. Merry meet.”

Holm's holo looked around but didn't appear to see her. He sighed. “Merry part.”

“And merry meet again,” T'Ash replied.

“You're doing a fine thing—”

“Fare well.” T'Ash cut the call and stood behind a new, polished reddwood desk that matched a large cat platform against the wall. The platform had areas of furra hide that showed signs of sharp claws.

“You're here,” T'Ash said. He looked at her and all thoughts of the wonderful, hopeful things he had set in motion, all the flush of joy she'd had in her day, transformed into intense female awareness.

His eyes dilated so only a startling, dark rim of blue showed in his saturnine face. Her heart pounded as his glance stopped on her eyes, then moved to her breasts. The flush of desire she felt creeping up her was mirrored in the increased color over his cheekbones.

Without speaking a word, he readied her for his touch, for the possession of his body. She swayed forward without volition, giving way to temptation. A yearning ache started low and she could hear the raggedness of her breathing.

His chest rose and fell rapidly. Slowly he walked to her, so slowly the heat spiraling within her felt as if it would melt her very bones.

He touched her.

Seventeen

She threw herself into his arms, then stood on tiptoes to nibble tiny kisses on his lips. The hot, smoky scent of him sparked her passion. “Mmmm.” T'Ash lifted Danith against his body. His lips persuaded her mouth to open. He took it and drank like a man dying of thirst. Her mind reeled and she sank into blazing sensuality.

Their tongues mated and his hips began to rock against her. He sat her on the edge of his desk and stepped between her legs. Though she wore trous, she was open to him, and his thick, hard shaft drew moistness from her core as her passion rose. She twined her arms around his neck, tilting her bottom until the cloth separating them maddened her.

His large hands pushed down her trous and underwear, he freed himself.

He plunged his velvet, steely length into her.

Her neck couldn't support her head. It fell back. She whimpered with rising desire. “I need you,” she panted.

“Yes.” His reply was guttural. The skin on his face pulled taut. He buried a hand in her hair and supported her head so that their gazes matched. “Look at me.”

Feelings trembled from him to her. His passion raged at the edges of control, but the tightness of her was something he craved. He would not move until his control broke.

She moaned; she wanted his deep, hard stroking. She didn't think she could stand this waiting he demanded. She sent visions to him of her need for fast, intense mating. “Move,” she pleaded.

His body shivered, but he didn't yield. He remained solid and quiet inside her, growing with every pulse. With every breath she issued a little moan, the spiraling tension was unbearable. “Move!”

His eyes blazed into hers, then narrowed. “Soon.”

She felt the tsunami threaten, but not soon enough. She raised her legs and clamped them behind his waist, forcing him deeper into her than he'd ever been.

The pupils of his eyes widened until only a tiny bit of blue remained. They breathed unevenly together.

“You know how I feel,” he said.

She managed a nod.

“You know how you feel around me.”

She whimpered again.

“Want you. Crave you. Need you!” he cried out, then pounded into her.

She climaxed at his first thrust, screamed.

Waves rolled over her, each more forceful than before at his plunging body. And he saw it in her eyes, felt everything.

He lunged, his seed spurted deep inside her. And she felt his shattering pleasure, saw it in his unfocused gaze.

She fell backward to the desk. His big body covered hers.

It felt awkward, wonderful. She finally escaped his stare, but was too dazed to hide anything from him. Surely he could see love in her eyes, feel it in their bond, know that with him inside her she could refuse him nothing.

But moments passed and T'Ash did not take advantage of her weakness. Their breathing steadied. He inhaled deeply and Danith knew he was savoring her scent. She trembled.

“You are here, in T'Ash Residence.” His voice held satisfaction.

She couldn't deny it.

“But our first time here should have been slowly, in my bed.”

She cleared her throat. “This time was slow enough. I didn't think I could bear the tension.”

He chuckled and nuzzled her neck, swiped his tongue across it, tasting her. She returned the favor. His taste went straight to her core, she tightened around him.

His hips arched into her, he groaned. “This is not sex. Since we aren't HeartBound, I don't know what it is. I've never felt it before.”

She wanted to knock some sense into his head. Love. This was love, and he didn't recognize it.

He didn't recognize it. How long had it been since he'd felt any loving arms around him? She knew the answer—since he was six. Was Rand finally coming out from hiding, letting her love him? And how long was this going to take, to learn him, to love him, to let GreatLord T'Ash know she would never hurt Rand?

A timer struck the hour. The whispery Residence voice spoke. “You have an appointment at the AllClass HealingHall in twenty minutes.”

Danith put her hands on his face, made him look at her. His eyes looked bluer than ever, and defenseless. “You're going to visit the HealingHall.” She couldn't suppress a grin. She'd nagged at him to see the boys whose Healing he paid for, hoping that through them, he could accept the young Downwind man he had once been.

“Yes.” Vulnerability sat oddly on his strong features. She kissed his eyelids, his cheeks, brushed her mouth against his, sent him the upsurge of tenderness that swelled her heart.

A tremor passed through him, and he gently eased himself away from her. “Cloth!” he said. An instant later a soft linen cloth appeared in his hands.

He closed his eyes, evened his breathing. When he opened them again, he fixed his gaze on her. “Water from the HouseHeart.”

Danith blinked.

A small rattle came from beside her, and she saw a ritual iron cauldron full of water. The fragrance of deep earth, hot smoke, a trace of jasmine, rose from the water. She shivered as the scent made its way through her lungs into her blood and her very bones. It was the scent of the T'Ash Residence, and even comprised part of the scent of T'Ash himself.

T'Ash dipped the cloth in the water and washed himself, then straightened his clothes. They were ordinary trous and shirt in ash brown, nothing that would proclaim him a noble, neither his ankle or sleeve cuffs showed his status.

He swished the cloth in water again and pressed the cool, wet linen against her, stroking her gently to clean her.

Danith blinked, felt embarrassment tint her cheeks red. “We are using blessed water for washing? HouseHeart water?” Her mind boggled.

T'Ash met her eyes, his expression serious. “To wash T'Ash and his woman the first time they mated in the Residence. It is an event.”

Danith blinked again. Before she could speak, he'd sent the cauldron and the cloth to the HouseHeart.

She pushed herself off the desk, taking some papyrus with her. When she picked them up off the Chinju rug, she saw they were architectural plans for several buildings, with a phoenix standard above the door.

“What's this? The project you were talking to HollyHeir about?”

T'Ash stepped close and efficiently smoothed her clothing down her. It didn't keep her from leaning into his touch. His mouth quirked and then the slight smile disappeared.

“The HollyHeir is named Holm. And he considers you a friend. He told me that he gave you leave to call him Holm; you should do it.”

Danith bit her lip. “Tell me about your project.”

T'Ash shrugged, turned, and walked to the door. “I'm funding several Downwind centers for boys, where they can come to be safe, be Tested for Flair, learn skills that will make them more than their fathers.”

She couldn't see his face, and his voice was matter-of-fact, but his shoulders looked stiff. “That's wonderful!”

He spun to her, his hand on the doorknob, his expression tense. “You really think so.”

She lifted her chin. “Yes. It's a wonderful idea, in keeping with your honorable character.”

He looked startled, shook his head as if to clear it of some notion, and offered his arm. “Are you coming?”

She smiled a wicked little smile. “With you? I always do.” She was pleased when a touch of red appeared under his skin.