Untouchable Lover (5 page)

“That explains the fangs,” he said.
 

Noeh stepped closer, causing Melissa’s heartbeat to pick up its pace.
 

“Yes, we have fangs, but only drink from the opposite sex. Often, the ritual is performed between two lovers, but can be done between friends.” She inhaled. His proximity made her light-headed, and her vision blurred
.
Her hunger roared to life. All she wanted was to grab him and drink her fill. Her fangs extended again.
 

She’d fed three weeks ago from a male Dren, a friend. Most Dren fed every few days, but some managed to go without for several weeks before the dementia took hold. Once that happened, they would feed on any creature. The tainted blood would eventually kill them, after their brain functioned at an animal level. Melissa shuddered. She pushed away from the table, staggering over to a counter filled with bottles of liquids and herbs. Her legs shook, but not as bad as before.
 

“How old are you, and what is your species’ lifespan?” he asked.

“I was twenty-two when I was transformed, but I’m twenty-four now. Dren live for hundreds of years, some even reach the age of one thousand. Panthera typically live twice as long.”

She faced him. “Your turn. What are you?”
 

*****

Noeh’s gaze locked onto the unusual female who scrambled his emotions. As she walked past him, into the middle of the infirmary, he clenched his teeth. She intrigued him. There was something special about her. Without a doubt she was trouble, yet he couldn’t fight the spell she had over him. Since she’d opened up to him, he’d do the same, although he’d keep his personal secrets locked inside.

“I am a shape-shifter, a Stiyaha. Our species live well over two thousand years. I am five hundred and thirty-three years old.”

“You look young,” she said.

“We reach maturity fast and stay that way until near the end.” He tapped the hilt of his sword with his ring, the sound loud in the room. “We each have a beast inside us, one that towers over nine feet tall, with great strength and speed. We no longer shift, not since the great scourge.”
 

A vision of his mother, her pale face mottled with red, open sores, crossed his mind. He forced the memory away, pushing the image back into the black box he kept it in.

“Why not?” Melissa asked.

“Energy strands connected beast to human form, which allowed us to change shape. For the ones that survived the scourge, the sickness altered us, and the strands didn’t work. We no longer shift, for we can’t change back. Many died in their failed attempts to return to human form, or were killed, so it is forbidden.”
 

He longed to try again, but to test the strands would risk unleashing the beast, and that, he would never do.

Her green eyes raked him, and he stiffened under her glare.
 

“Gaetan tells me the Gossum took something from you. What was it?”
 

“I had a cloaking shield. It protected me until my powers weakened. That’s when the Gossum captured me.”
 

She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. He had a strange urge to pull her into his embrace and protect her from harm.
 

“They tortured me, took my blood, and with it, my shield.” Melissa’s moist eyes pulled on something deep within him.

“Ah, that’s how Ram deflected my sword. He stole your shield.”

Lines ringed Melissa’s eyes, and her glossy hair, matted in several places, lay limp around her shoulders. She still wore the dirty, ripped jeans and blood-stained tank top they’d found her in. Leaning against the countertop, her fingers turned white as they gripped the edge.
 

Noeh wanted to comfort her but couldn’t bring himself to do so. His chest tightened, and he hated himself for his inability to show her any kind of compassion. His spiral marking pulsed. He accepted the pain, savored it as his due. The sworl would fade further until he lost all compassion, and then the mark would disappear.

“I’ll send in Bet, my chambermaid. She’ll show you the baths and give you some clean clothes.”
 

“Thank you, a bath sounds wonderful.”
 

Noeh placed his hand over one of the sunstones that lined the edges of the room. He sent a message to Bet to come assist his new acquaintance. Aware he was being watched, he glanced at Melissa. Her smile ratcheted up his nerves, and his stomach rolled into a ball.
 

“Where is the rest of your kind?”
 

She stiffened and met his gaze. She didn’t respond right away, but when she did, her voice was strained. “Far away. It’s better that way. Trust me.”

She didn’t want to talk about her kind. He stared into her eyes for a long moment before he spoke. “You are my guest and may stay at the Keep as long as you like. When you are ready, my guards will escort you home.”

Melissa flinched at his words. “Thank you for your hospitality. I’ll be on my way as soon as possible.”
 

The color drained from her face, and he sensed from her response that leaving was the last thing she wanted to do.

 
Noeh’s chest tightened. “Like I said, you can stay as long as you like.” His inner Stiyaha, the beast part of him deep within, growled with discontent.
Don’t go.

Chapter Six

Noeh sat in the ornate wooden chair, the seat worn from numerous kings before him. A sense of unease crawled up his back. He’d come to the king’s throne room to study the latest scrolls on the status of the Keep before retiring to his bedchamber, but he couldn’t concentrate. Memories of Melissa chained to the wall assaulted him. Her green eyes had penetrated into his soul, and he’d never forget the feel of her soft skin as he carried her out of the asylum. The stylus in his hand snapped in two.
 

He pushed back his chair to stand, and the old oak feet grated against the stone floor. A flinch ran along his nerves and he tapped his sunstone ring against the hilt of his sword. The welcome distraction was a salve, but it didn’t last long. He glanced at the ceiling where the sunstones embedded in the cave’s porous rock sparkled like a million stars.
 

The gods had thrust this war upon his kind. He hated playing their game, pitting his kind against the Gossum in a battle over Earth’s water. To the victor went the spoils. If the Gossum won, that would be a sad day, not only for his kind, but for the humans as well. He’d fight the war to save both as long as he could.

He shook his fist in the air. “Veromé, Alora, I curse you!”

He’d prayed to the gods in the past with no results. He’d given up long ago, after the great scourge had devastated the population and changed his kind forever. Although some believed the gods still cared, he no longer did.

The skin under his eye pulsed, and he savored the pain. The sign for faith burned his skin, and as his belief waned, his marking faded. He was king. It was his responsibility to instill a sense of hope in his kind. As much as that pained him, he’d find a way to keep their faith alive even as his own dwindled.
 

A knock on the heavy oak door brought him out of his reverie. “Enter.”

Mauree breezed into the royal chamber, which did nothing to erase his sour mood. She was the most beautiful Stiyaha female in the Keep, and his ex-lover, still trying to work her way back into his pants. Her shoulder-length blond hair, pert nose, and blue eyes captivated many a male, but her long, sensuous legs were her signature feature. She used them to her advantage.

“My, my. Don’t you look all menacing today.” She invaded his personal space and ran her hands over his shoulders.

He grabbed her fingers and held them close to his chest to prevent her roaming hands from going places he didn’t want them to go. “What brings you here?”

She smiled, her eyes lighting up. “Oh, I came to see how your evening fared. Long night on the battlefield?” She rubbed her face against the coarse stubble on his chin. “You are so rugged. I love that about you.”
 

He released her and returned to his desk. He rolled up the scroll he’d reviewed and placed his favorite quill pen next to the inkwell. “Yes—and my duties are never ending.”

The sunstones embedded in the cave walls brightened from a soft glow to a radiant light. Warmth emanated from the crystals, and the room heated to an uncomfortable level. The Keep, ever aware of its inhabitants, responded to their emotions. A bead of sweat broke out on Noeh’s lip. He wiped the perspiration away with the back of his hand.

He glanced toward the door, calculating how to exit the room without another confrontation.

“Leaving already?” Mauree puckered her mouth in a feigned pout. “I thought we’d have more time.”

He scooped his woven vest off the back of the chair and pulled it on. Securing the wooden buttons, his back toward her, he stiffened. “Time for what?”

She didn’t answer, so he looked back at her.
 

“To discuss our relationship.” Mauree strategically placed the tip of her high-heeled shoe on one of the chairs at the edge of the room. Her taut muscles and perfect skin could make many a male weep.
 

“What is there to discuss? Our relationship ended years ago.”
 

She glanced at him and laughed. “Is it just me or are you afraid of all the females?”

Noeh turned. He came over and touched a finger to her cheek.
Such a pretty face and such a scheming mind.
“I don’t have time to play games with you.”
 

She put her foot back on the stone floor, a sigh escaping her lips. “You’re king—you could make time. You can do as you wish.”

If only that were true.
“You are a fine female, even when you’re pouting.”

“Why do you resist?” She blinked, her lashes beating like a bird’s wings, as if she were holding back tears. “You dare to defy the ancient scriptures that state you must take a queen. All the past kings have had a queen. It’s what’s done. Someday, that will come back to haunt you.”

Not if I can avoid it, even if you are my best option.
Taking a queen would mean opening his heart, and he wouldn’t go there.

He’d closed the Hall of Scriptures soon after the scourge devastated his kind. His anger at the gods made the decision easy. Any references to the scriptures now were based on memories.
 

He turned from her and stared at the carved wooden statues of warriors long lost that guarded the entrance like ancient sentinels. He couldn’t face her tears, not again. She was a master of manipulation, and he’d be damned if he’d get caught in her web. He ran his hand over his hair. The stubble tingled his fingers.

Noeh pursed his lips. When he spoke, his words came out low. “I don’t believe in the ancient scriptures, not anymore.”
 

Not since the gods let my parents die.
An old, familiar pain hit him in the chest, and he rubbed the spot.
I’ve as much use for a queen as I do those damned scriptures.
 

He headed for the door. Pulling it open, he paused. “Take care, Mauree, keep scheming.”

*****

A sharp knock on the door startled Melissa. “Come in.”

The infirmary’s massive wood door creaked on rusty hinges as it swung open. A short female, not more than three feet tall entered the room. She wore a green dress with a stained white apron. Her shoulder-length brown hair cascaded around her neck and matched her soft brown eyes.

“Hello. I’m Bet.” Her soft-spoken voice had a unique lilt that calmed Melissa’s nerves. “You must be Melissa. It’s nice to meet you, dearie.”

The female bowed. Her plump body hindered her movement, but when she covered the distance of the room to stand next to Melissa, her speed defied her size and stature. She grasped Melissa’s hands.

A sense of well-being and peace radiated up Melissa’s arms and into her chest. She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her lips. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Bet. If you don’t mind me asking, what are you?”

“I’m a Jixie, one of the little Lemurians. We keep the Keep going, so to say.” The pleasant female chuckled. “We help the Stiyaha with the everyday tasks. They protect us. It’s been that way for thousands of years.”

Bet appeared to study Melissa from head to foot. She pursed her lips. “This won’t do, sweetie. You look like one of my sisters after a time in the garden. You need a good cleaning and some new clothes to cover you. Come, young one, let me take you to the baths.” The small female spoke so fast Melissa almost didn’t understand her.
 

Melissa peered down at her ripped shirt and dirty jeans. There wasn’t much left after the Gossum attack, but what was there was ruined beyond repair. Red sores left over from the branding iron still burned. On their way to healing, they still ached, as much in her spirit as on her skin. Her stomach constricted at the memory. At least Bet had the courtesy not to mention her wounds.
 

“Thank you. A bath is just what I need.”
 

“This way.” Despite Bet’s waddle, Melissa had to walk at a brisk pace to keep up.
 

Carved into the ancient lava rock, the hall was a tunnel almost twelve feet tall. A myriad of yellow and orange stones lined the walls. The beautiful gems gave off a warm glow which intensified as they walked past. Melissa slowed down to admire them. She grazed one of the stones with her finger, and the gem brightened at her touch. She inhaled a quick breath. “What are these?”
 

Bet pulled Melissa’s hand away from the stone. “Be careful, dear. The power within the sunstones is not something to play with if you don’t know what you’re doing. The gems provide light and heat. We also send messages through them, using the force within our beloved Keep.”

“Beloved Keep? A force?” Melissa’s head started to spin.

“The Keep is our home and is ever aware of her inhabitants. She reacts to strong emotions, especially of those she loves.”

Melissa’s gaze roamed around the corridor walls. “You mean the Keep is alive?”