Oath of Challenge Conquering Kate (14 page)

Tair raised his head, removed her legs from his shoulders, and slowly stood. It hurt to move. He gazed helplessly at Kate, caught by the vision of her in that moment. She was lying sprawled against the bar in total abandon. Her body was flushed with the shirt bunched around her middle. Her breasts and sex were exposed.

The hard points of her nipples, usually pink, were very red and still glistening. Her sex was red, too, swollen and wet. His hands went to the top of his pants in an instinctive move to strip them off and plunge inside her.

Kate could feel Tair’s intent. She felt dreamy and floating, drunk from the intensity of her release. Sitting up with slow languorous movements, she looked from one man to the other.

She could see that Jadik was sweating, his big body tense and dangerously on edge. Tair’s hands had stopped at the top of his pants, but it was obvious to her what it was costing him. She sat up completely and looked into his face. His eyes were stark with naked hunger and the frustration of a predator denied the kill at the last second.

She looked over her shoulder at Jadik, standing silently on the other side of the bar. In a husky voice, she ordered, “Jadik, open the link and share my thoughts.”

Turning to Tair, she demanded, “Stay merged with me.”

Both Tair and Jadik froze at her words. She let her imagination run wild with graphic images. She pictured the three of them in the bedroom lying on the bed with her in the middle.

Tair was on his side, plunging his hard cock inside her wet sex in long, hard strokes as she faced him on her side. She pictured Jadik’s big body lying behind her. She imagined the feel of his cock as it moved in her ass with those same long strokes.

She pictured the two of them stroking in and out in slow controlled movements, gradually building speed. And she imagined in glorious, vivid detail exactly how it would feel. The hardness. The fullness. The slick slide of all three of their bodies. The incredible pleasure.

Reaching forward, Kate opened the button on Tair’s pants, then another and another. His cock sprang free, huge and visibly throbbing. She took it in her hand in one long, firm, slow stroke. Moving upward, still flooding them both with images, she gave him another firm stroke and then another, timed exactly with the image in her mind. He was breathing heavily, but his breath caught in his throat.

In one agonized moan, he went over the edge. She could feel the pulsing of his cock in her hand and felt his warm wetness slide over her fist. His pleasure swamped her and she threw back her head in response. It felt incredible, beyond good.

Jadik gripped the edge of the bar hard. Kate’s images were making him crazy with need. It was too much. He lost control and felt his cock throb as pulse after pulse of pleasure stole his breath. Release came with an intensity that blanked his mind and stole his strength.

Kate lowered her head and looked at the two men. Both of them were gripping the counter like it was a lifeline. Their heads were down and she watched them with sleepy appreciation. Suddenly, both men raised their heads and stared at her intently. She wondered what they were thinking.

Jadik was thinking that Kate was an extraordinary woman. Tair had found a pactmate of strength, beauty, and passion.

Tair was thinking one simple thought. “Hell-on-wheels.”

The next day started out with a comfortable sense of normalcy. Kate was surprised at how she was feeling. The linking the day before had been erotic and intense, but it had felt very natural, too. The gap between Earth and Shimerian cultures had been a wide one, but she felt like they had bridged it.

She knew she ought to feel weird about the whole thing, but she didn’t. She supposed it had to do with her trust in Tair and even Jadik to a certain degree. She felt good.

Tair was sitting on the couch beside her, one big arm wrapped around her. They had just eaten “midmeal” and were relaxing, talking about the sights they had seen in the last few days. Tair was absently playing with her hair in a familiar gesture. The man was forever touching her and cuddling her. Kate frowned inwardly when she realized just how used to that touching she had become.

Glancing at Tair, she asked, “Are we going somewhere today?”

Tair turned and looked at her. He drawled teasingly, “I had no plan for today. We will have to explore what it is you desire most.”

She arched an eyebrow at his phrasing and smiled. Any response left her head at the sudden look of alarm that crossed his face. His entire body went rigid and he brought his hand to his head in reflex. A look of agony and pain spread over his features.

Kate felt the first wave of intense shock and dread radiate from him and caught her breath. She demanded, “What is it?”

Tair threw up a mental block as big and hard as he could in two directions. Their merge would only magnify the shock, his feelings heightening her own. He had to protect Kate. On the heels of that thought, he knew it was impossible. He looked at her concerned face and felt dread all the way to his soul.

Kate felt his block and the emotional waves stopped abruptly. What the hell was happening? Tair had gone pale. Feeling impatient and worried beyond belief, she demanded, “What the hell is going on, Tair?”

Tair stared into her face and searched for words. Finally, he said gently, “Kate, I am Sharon’s link. She is okay, but she is in intense emotional pain. Liken is with her.”

Kate felt the blood drain from her face. She asked, “Has she been hurt? What happened?”

Tair said gently, “She is physically well. Kate, it is Gage.”

Kate heard his words, but shook her head in denial. She jumped up from the couch and paced a few feet away. Tair was watching her with obvious compassion and a look of profound worry. She denied flatly, “You’re wrong.”

Tair stood up and walked to her. Placing gentle hands on her shoulders he said, “Kate, there was an accident. His heart stopped during emergency transport. They are trying to revive him, but it has not worked yet.”

Kate broke away from him and turned her back. This couldn’t be happening. Gage was fine. It was a bad dream. He couldn’t be gone.

She thought of his last words to her at the pact ceremony and knew with sudden certainty that he had been saying goodbye. He had known.

She felt pain cut through to her soul. It was beyond bearing. The physical shock of it nearly drove her to her knees. Her breath hitched and she couldn’t breath. She felt a voice from deep within scream and scream.

Then, a welcome numbness stole over her, like a blanketing fog. She felt nothing. Nothing at all. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Turning to face Tair, she said calmly, “I’m going to put on some clothes and get ready to go.”

He looked at her helplessly. She walked out of the room.

Tair sent a mental message to Liken of concern and paced the room with agitation. He couldn’t stand it. She was in so much pain. He felt his heart twist again in agony as he remembered the look on her face when she believed him. He had to do something. He had to help her. He had to find a way. He heard Jadik’s call just as the front door opened.

Jadik burst into the room, out-of-breath, and demanded, “Where is she?”

Tair tried to gather his composure. He said, “My apologies. I should have explained. I could think only of what she was feeling. I forgot that you would receive her thoughts. I should have sent you an explanation.”

Jadik shrugged the apology off, and demanded, “Take care of her! Fix it!”

Tair repeated in the same tone, “Fix it?”

Jadik paced. He was disturbed and worried. “She is in shock. She is in extreme pain. She cannot continue this way.”

Tair nodded in agreement but said with frustration, “There is no fixing it. She has lost her brother.”

He felt furious at his inability to help her. His heart ached in his chest at the thought of her pain. He felt an unfamiliar helplessness pressing in on him. He grabbed his shirt from the couch and shrugged into it. Then, he leaned down and put on his boots with angry, jerky movements.

Jadik looked tired suddenly. He said apologetically, “I know, Tair. I am sorry. This is very disturbing. She is hurting. I know you would change it if you could.”

Kate appeared in the doorway. Her face was white, and her body was unnaturally rigid. She said tonelessly, “We need to go back now. I’m ready. Take me back.”

Tair moved to her and placed a gentle arm around her shoulders. He said, “Kate, they are working on him. There is still hope.”

She raised lifeless eyes to his and said, “I want to see him now.”

Tair said gently, “Okay, then we will go.”

Jadik said suddenly, “Tair, what if...”

Tair silenced him with a single look.

Understanding washed through Jadik, and he said quietly, “Let’s go.”

Kate was wrapped and existing in a world of childhood memory. She was conscious of the two men by her side during the trip back to Earth, but she fought to keep the reality of their presence from her mind. She was with Gage, instead, in the past.

Gage was tugging her ponytail, teasing her. His teenaged body was lanky and he was all arms and legs. His blue eyes were lit with laughter as he chided, “Kit-Kate, you don’t know the first thing about men.”

She turned all of her teenage indignation in his direction. With a furious glare, she said, “He’s wonderful. A total landmark.”

Gage raised a skeptical eyebrow and mocked, “Landmark?”

She gave a derisive sniff at his usual and deliberate ignorance of teenage slang. He thought he was too old for it. He was a “man” now. “Yes, landmark – well-built and worth studying.”

She gave him an impish smile, “The kind of sight that makes you want to come again and again.”

Gage gave her a disgusted glare. She said haughtily, “What do you know? You’re not a man. You’re a toad.”

Then, Gage sitting next to her on the steps of the old house, the two of them silent in the eerie moonlight. He was saying quietly, “Kate, he’s not worth it. Not worth one of your tears. I’ll kill him and be done with it. Just say the word.”

Turning to look at him, her young heart broken, but soothed by his words, she said, “Thanks, Gage, but I think we have to let him live.”

She wiped the tears from her face, and sniffed, straightening her shoulders. Then she smiled with sudden weak humor. “But that doesn’t mean he has to live happily. I have a plan…”

In the living room, late at night, the two of them were talking. Gage, his eyes sad and wistful, his face pale and looking grim, saying, “Kate, I hate it. It’s not a gift but a curse.”

The comfortable feel of her brother as she wrapped her arms around his body and held him tight. The warmth as his arms came around her and he wept silent, bitter tears. Feeling tears of her own slide hot and wet from her eyes at his pain.

The memories flooded her mind. Each more precious than the next. The two of them laughing, fighting, and teasing in an endless kaleidoscope of love. Her brother, Gage. Gage.

Tair spoke next to her ear, “Kate, we are here.”

Kate knew she had to respond. His voice was insistent and worried. She looked around and realized with shock that they were at the health building. Suddenly noticing the bright lights and the bustling activity, she demanded, “Where is he?”

Tair left out a breath of relief. She was responding. Her withdrawal had terrified him. She had allowed him and Jadik to take her back with total docility.

At the Pactbuilding, she had remained standing, completely silent as he briefly left her with Jadik to talk with Pactofficials. Even going through the portal, she had barely blinked. It was killing him. He couldn’t stand to see her this way.

Kate saw Sharon coming down the corridor toward them. When Sharon spotted her, she stopped dead and then came running forward. Wrapping her arms around Kate, she said desperately next to her ear, “They’ve gotten him back and lost him twice. It will be a while before we know for sure. Kate, he can’t die.”

Kate pulled back and saw tears flooding down Sharon’s cheeks. In a quiet tone, Kate said, “Sharon, please don’t cry. I can’t handle it.”

Sharon studied her face silently. Bringing her hands up to swipe the tears off her cheeks, she said, “I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re right. He’ll be just fine. Crying won’t help.”

That wasn’t what Kate meant, but she couldn’t stand the sight of those tears on Sharon’s cheeks. They threatened to pull her from the safety of her numbness and drag her into a world where feeling existed.

Liken strode down the corridor with two coffees in his hand. Handing one to Sharon and the other to Kate, he ordered firmly, “Drink.”

Kate drank, barely aware of the hot liquid as it made its way down her throat. Liken flashed a worried look to Tair in silent question. Tair shook his head and wrapped an arm around Kate.

Pulling her gently, he led her over to a group of chairs. He guided her into one and sat down next to her, keeping her close within the circle of his arms. She felt so small against him. He forgot sometimes with that huge spirit just how small she really was.

Kate heard Sharon explaining the details of the accident to everyone. Gage had swerved to avoid another transport and struck a wall. His quick reflexes had saved the lives of the family in the other vehicle. The shaken father, whose attention had been preoccupied with one of the children in the back, had been overwhelmed and guilt-stricken at the accident.

The health center had tried to reach Kate, but upon finding out she was off-planet, had contacted Sharon next. In a strange twist, without Shimerian technology, he would not have survived even this long.

A health engineer stepped out from one of the rooms and made his way to them. Looking at the solemn group gathered, he asked, “Which one of you is Kate?”

Kate heard the words and responded to her name instinctively. She looked up and said, “Me.”

He smiled kindly and said gently, “Your brother is quite a fighter. We lost him repeatedly, but he kept coming back. We have him stabilized and in a room now. We’ll need to keep him for a while, but he should be fine in the long run.”

As the health engineer kept talking, Kate heard the words, but couldn’t understand the meanings. She knew at some level he was detailing Gage’s injuries and what had been done to save him. But, the phrase that kept echoing through her mind was, “He should be fine.”

She said suddenly, “I need to see him. Where is he?”

The health engineer looked surprised at her fierce tone, but responded kindly, “Room 1207. You may see him, but only for a minute. He’s been asking for you.”

Turning to the rest of the group, he said, “Sorry, but only one visitor for now.”

Sharon was crying again, wrapped in a grinning Liken’s arms. Tair wrapped his arms around Kate from behind and gave her a hard squeeze. Everyone was grinning in relief except Kate. Kate wanted to see her brother and she wanted to see him now.

Breaking out of Tair’s arms and away from the group, she walked down the hallway, reading the numbers on the rooms as she went. Reaching Room 1207 she opened the door, and walked in silently.

She stopped abruptly as she saw the bed and all the equipment around it. Seeing Gage lying on it looking pale and still, she said his name in a broken voice, “Gage.”

He turned his head and opened weary blue eyes. Smiling wanly, he said in a very shaky voice, “Died young and lived to tell the tale… How about that, Kit-Kate?”

Kate felt the world spin and grabbed the wall for support. Finally, raising her head, she said fiercely, “Don’t you ever do that again! You and your stupid visions! You scared me to death!”

Rushing over to the bed, she knelt down and grabbed his hand. She kissed it and placed her forehead against it, silently giving thanks. The living warmth of his hand seeped into her own cold hand as she gave up trying to speak anymore.

Gage grimaced in pain as felt his sister clinging to his hand like a lifeline. He had died tonight. He had fought it and lost and come back to fight again. The sheer miracle of it ran through his veins like a drug. He had known his entire life that he would die young. And he had.

The nightmarish crash flashed through his mind again with remarkable clarity. The overwhelming pain and sense of coldness spreading through his body. The absolute feeling of certainty that he was dying. The fierce look on the emergency transport worker’s face as he said, “We’re losing him!” It was exactly as he had seen in his dreams and visions.

Now, as new possibilities stretched out before him, he felt a sense of awe and gratitude at the thought of a second chance. Feeling Kate’s cold hand holding his tightly, he gave silent thanks once again.

Kate pulled back and said, “I love you, Gage.”

He managed a rather weak grin and said, “Love you, too.”

The health engineer walked in and said mock sternly, “You scared this poor young woman to death. It may take a long while to make it up to her.”

Gage promised softly, “I plan to. I have time now.” Placing his hand over hers on the bed, he said, “Plenty of time.”