ON EDGE (Decorah Security) (9 page)

She moved to the very tip, delicately licking away a drop of moisture, then licking around the head before stroking her tongue down the shaft and up again. And then she took him into her mouth, sucking strongly, wringing a strangled cry from his lips, a cry he could barely hear above the pounding of the blood in his ears..

She raised her head and looked at him with concern. “Am I doing it wrong?”

“Lord, no. It’s too good. I don’t want to come in your mouth.”

“Why not? I want to please you.”

“Only if I please you too. Come here.”

He held out his arm, and she lay down beside him.

“I want this to be as good for you as it is for me.”

He brought his mouth to hers, tasting her again, deeply, roughly, then more gently.

She caught her breath as his fingertips caressed her curves, then grazed across her hardened nipples.

Bending, he took one into his mouth, sucking on her while he plucked at its mate with his thumb and finger, wringing a little cry from her.

Leaning over her, he stroked his hand down her body, into the intimate flesh between her legs, caressing her, dipping his finger into her, then gliding upward to her clit and down again

Her breath came in little gasps as he brought her up to the high plain where he already waited. As he did, he played with her nipples, tugging and twisting at them, watching the pleasure change the contours of her face.

“Now,” she gasped, levering herself over him again, grasping his shaft and bring her hips down, burying him inside her.

They were both struggling for breath as she began to move over him, slowly at first, watching his face as she made the rhythm harder and faster.

All his concentration focused on the heat and the friction, and the giving and taking of pleasure. He felt her losing control, felt her driving for completion, and he allowed himself to follow her.

He cried out with his release, as his body pumped and vibrated with climax.

When he came back to himself, he saw her looking down at him, satisfaction flickering on her lips.

He smiled up at her. “Thank you for that.”

“Thank you.”

She moved off him and pulled the spread over them. Snuggling against him, she nuzzled her mouth against his cheek and neck.

“I never thought I would have this pleasure,” she whispered.

He clasped her to him, wanting to lie in that opulent bed for eons, without thinking about the future, but finally he had to ask the question that was burning inside him.

“Where do we go from here?”

“Where do you want to go?” she whispered.

“I want you to stay with me.”

“You mean in this world?”

“Or yours.”

She raised up and looked down at him, her face serious. “It may not be allowed.”

“By whom.”

“By the high gods.”

“What high gods?”

When she didn’t speak he knitted his fingers with hers. “We have to talk—about who you are.”

“I know. But it makes me afraid that you will . . . run from me.”

“I think my running days are over.”

“In this world, perhaps.”

“Are you saying I can live in your world?”

She didn’t answer the question directly. He felt her hand tighten on his. Then she murmured, “I must tell you about myself, I think.”

Chapter Nine

Frank watched her sweep her tongue across her lips before she began to speak.

“I come from this world—the same world as you.”

He was glad to hear it, but he didn’t interrupt as she kept talking.

“When I was a little girl, I had a bad illness. The coughing sickness. I think today you would call it tuberculosis. I became very weak, and I coughed up blood. My parents were in despair. They were very devout, and they took me to the temple, where the priest said a blessing over me, although I think he believed no ordinary prayer could save me. But while I was there, a flash of lightning came down above the altar, and we all bowed down.

“A voice spoke from high above us. The voice said that I could not live in this world, but I could go to another world and be of service. My life there would be long and valuable if I could complete my training.”

When Frank started to speak, she shook her head. “I have never told this to anyone. Let me finish. My parents didn’t want to lose me, but they saw this as a way for me to live, and they agreed. They left me with the priest. When they were gone, he carried me to a . . . I don’t know what to call it. It was like a large round box with a flat surface inside that turned.”

“A turntable.”

“Yes. He opened one door and laid me on the cushioned surface. Then he closed the door, and I was in the dark—frightened and alone. He turned a crank, and I heard gears clanking. The turntable moved. It moved me from the temple to somewhere else. A door opened on the other side, and I climbed out—healthy and strong. And I was no longer in my world. I was somewhere else. A huge stone building. There were other people there, and they told me I was one of the chosen. I must study hard so that I could serve the gods.

I was in a class with a few other girls and boys. I had never even learned to read. I learned reading there, and mathematics, and all the subjects you would expect in a school. And in that place I learned powers, too. Skills that would help me fight evil. You have seen that I can change matter. And I can move from place to place without the need of walking or using conveyances.”

“Yes.”

“I was a good student. I learned well. And I knew that my duty was to serve. I was trained to fight the evil mind vampires and other horrors that visit the earth.”

“It was hard work?”

“Yes, but I was good at it. Some . . .” She let her voice trail off and start again. “Some left us before they finished.”

“What happened to them?”

“We thought it better not to ask.”

“Who were your teachers?”

“Men and women who had served for long years.”

“Not the gods?”

“We never saw them as you would see another person. They were beings of light and energy.”

“Who were they?”

“I think they don’t consider themselves gods in the sense that we do. Perhaps they are from far away in the universe. Or from somewhere else entirely, but they want humanity to succeed. They don’t talk about themselves, but we knew they served a higher purpose than we can understand.”

“You grew up in that . . . training school?”

“Yes.”

“What was it like?”

“Like a temple in a park.”

“Were your teachers good to you?”

“They were kind to us.”

“And they took care of you when you were sick?”

“We didn’t get sick. We were always in excellent health. And it wasn’t all work. We played games and had entertainments. We had sports to keep our bodies fit. We learned about art and music.”

He dragged in a breath and let it out, knowing he had to ask the question that had been in the back of his mind since she started talking. “And what year was it that you were taken to the temple?”

“Long ago. I think you would say my family belonged to the ancient Roman era. But we did not worship the Roman gods. We lived to the east, at the very edge of the empire. Probably it would be Romania today.”

He nodded, struggling to take it all in. “You have been alive all that time?”

“In the other plane, time is not the same. But yes, I am very old.”

Another man might have dismissed her story as a fantasy or delusion. But he had seen too much—experienced too much in the past few days—to dismiss it.

“Where are the others who studied with you?”

“We each live on our own.”

“Is it forbidden for you to marry?” he asked in a voice he couldn’t quite hold steady.

Her face took on a look of wonder. “You are thinking of that?”

“Yes.”

“I never considered that I could. I had my mission, which I love. It is a sacred mission, to protect those who cannot protect themselves. And I have my beautiful house where I can . . . recharge, I think you would call it.”

He brought the conversation back to his question. “You can’t marry, even if you want it?”

“No man ever came into the other plane with me before. And when I was in your world, I was always invisible.”

“So it must mean something important that I saw you.”

She answered with a small nod.

“Take me to the place where you were trained. I want to ask the gods for your hand.”

She stared at him in wonder.

“You would do that?”

“Yes.”

“Most men would be afraid.”

“I would dare anything—for you.”

Hope and fear flickered across her face. “And if they say no?”

“I will try to persuade them.”

“I knew you had determination—and bravery—when I saw you attack Lilith the first time. But I think you do not know what you are facing.”

“I’ll chance it. Can you take me there now?”

“If that’s what you truly desire.”

“Yes.”

She climbed out of the wide bed, and it changed, along with everything else, so that they were back in the hospital room. He sat up and reached for his prosthesis.

“You can have two legs there,” she murmured.

“No. I want them to see me as I am.”

He secured the prosthesis, then went to the closet and got out the neatly pressed dress-white uniform that had been hanging there, unworn. He put it on, with his Bronze Star, his Purple Heart, his Meritorious service Medals and service ribbons over the pocket.

Then he squared his cap on his head. He worked his leg, making sure he was steady on his feet. When he looked in the full length mirror on the back of the closet door, he saw Ariel standing in back of him. She had changed from her sari into a simple white gown.

“You look very handsome,” she said as her gaze moved over him.

“And you’re beautiful.” He reached for her, pulling her into his embrace and holding tight for a long moment before easing away. “How do we do it?”

“I can travel easily between the worlds, and I can take you with me. Grasp my hand.” She knitted her fingers with his. He gripped her tightly as he saw the room around them shimmer. From one second to the next, they were no longer in the Naval Medical Center. Or in the jungle where he’d landed last time.

Instead they stood in a bleak landscape like a place in some far northern country where there was no grass or trees, only gray rocks. They were on a high, wide ledge overlooking a valley shrouded by mist. The ground below their feet was strewn with rubble, with patches of snow. Jagged mountains loomed in the background like giant shark’s teeth, and the sky was a leaden gray.

Beside him, Ariel gasped and pressed against his side as she looked around at the bleak landscape.

Frank slung his arm around her shoulder, holding her close as he took in the desolation, wondering if the two of them had made a serious mistake. “Where are we?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

“You’ve never been here before?”

“No. It looks like the end of the world.”

He had the same thought.

When the wind picked up, buffeting them, he rapped her more tightly in his arms, hunching over her to give her as much of his body heat as possible. The wind cut through his uniform jacket now, like icy fingers trying to rip the fabric from his body.

He saw her cringe and followed the direction of her gaze. She was staring at blinking lights above them in the sky like a helicopter with the view of the machine blocked by clouds.

“What is it?”

“Perhaps the gods. They must have brought us here.”

“Why?”

Wordlessly she shook her head, her teeth chattering. She was barefoot and wearing a thin white gown, and she was suffering from the cold. He looked around at the bleak landscape. Some of the boulders were as tall as a two-story building. If he could get behind one to shelter them from the wind and brace his back against the vertical surface, he could lift her up and hold her in his arms.

He tried to lead her toward a clump of rocks, but the wind began to blow from that direction, forcing them back every time they struggled forward a few feet.

The gale grew stronger, tearing off his cap and flinging it away as it shoved them relentlessly toward the edge of the drop-off.

In his mind, he heard a voice saying,
You can save yourself. Let go of her, and flatten yourself against the rocks.

No.

Let her go, and save yourself,
the voice repeated.

“Fuck you,” Frank answered in an angry growl.

“What?” she gasped.

“They’re trying to make me give you up. But I won’t.” He wrapped his arms more tightly around Ariel, thinking that whatever happened, the most important thing was hanging on to her.