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2020-12-16 04:03:31“Beautiful,” he said softly, and her eyes shot to his in surprise. Surprise? How could she not know she was lovely?
“Ah…thanks,” she said. Sending him an uneasy glance, she took a seat on the couch.
Jayems tried to think of something to relax her. Before he could speak, Keilor strode into the room unannounced. “She is here.”
Relieved to have the subject changed, even by this, Jayems shut the heavy ledger he’d been perusing. His boots remained crossed on the desktop as he waited for more details.
Rihlia wasn’t nearly as calm. She leapt up off the couch and demanded bre
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Keilor looked at her with a knowing expression. He turned to Jayems and made a few signs with his hands. “The girl is planning to bring back help.”Jayems sent her a dark glance and signed back. “I see it.” This was not how they’d planned this. The girl was supposed to be scared out of her mind, begging to go. That’s how Rihlia had behaved, and she was a Haunt. Keilor was supposed to have terrified the girl. Hadn’t he tried?“I could take care of her,” Keilor offered. His face was carefully blank. He’d never harmed a woman before, but both of them knew the stakes.“I swore not to harm her.”
Last Updated : 2020-12-17Dark Lands Homecoming 12
She looked at her arms and stiffened with fright. In seconds she was back to human form, her face paper white.“Scared yourself, did you? You’ll get used to it. It’s been under a minute, however.” He moved toward her.She cursed him and dashed for her door.He got there first and slammed it shut, then spun her against the panel. “Change or be kissed,” he warned her again.“No!” she tried to kick him. Blocked, she squirmed and tried to rip loose, but she was firmly caught. “Please…”
Last Updated : 2020-12-17Dark Lands Homecoming 13
An image jumped to mind at Keilor’s words, but Jayems swiftly thrust it aside. A spike of possessiveness stabbed him instead. He didn’t want any man speculating about his woman. “Be careful how you speak of her.”“Noted. You do need to marry, however. You will marry. I’d just like to see you hurry it up.”Jayems snorted. Keilor was a practical man, as long as they weren’t discussing his marriage. Keilor was happy as a bachelor and had his share of ambitious huntresses trying to catch him. Any mention of them usually sent him running to the practice fields to grind out his frustrations.He was right, though. The political situation
Last Updated : 2020-12-17Dark Lands Homecoming 14
Guilt pricked her. She didn’t want to admit what she knew, since it might lead to questions of how. To stall, she moved to an armchair, tucking one long leg under her. “Lights,” she ordered and then, “Shutters.”Hoping to avoid more in depth questions, she said, “They figured it out right away. The Haunt brought me back here and Jayems told me they knew.” She shivered, remembering what else he’d said. “I was afraid of what Keilor would do when he found you.” She peeked through her lashes to see Jasmine busily avoiding her eyes. Her voice ached when she asked, “What did he do, Jas?” She was afraid of the answer, but she needed to know. Even if it was the worst, she needed to hear it.Jasmine looked
Last Updated : 2020-12-17Dark Lands Homecoming 15
“It’s your father, Crewel Sotra,” he said softly.Wiley looked at it, feeling numb. She didn’t remember his face, had forgotten long ago what he looked like, except for the dark hair. Dressed in the black uniform of the Haunt, he had an indigo shirt under the leather vest, and a red Celtic knot, a symbol of rank, on his shoulder.“He loved your spirit. He would have been proud of you for surviving the way you did. He was a good man,” Jayems said quietly.An ache started behind her eyes and spread to her throat. She looked down to hide her expression, but her eyes kept returning to her father’s face. Afraid to cry in front of Jayems, she laid the picture
Last Updated : 2020-12-17Dark Lands Homecoming 16
Before she could lambaste him, he added calmly, “There are things about your body you’re probably unaware of. It sounds as if your instincts saved you, but I wanted to make certain you hadn’t come to harm.”“Nobody harmed me,” she said coolly. It was tricky deciding what to add. Did he want a history? He wasn’t getting one.“Then you were aware that, once mated, there is no going back for us? You knew that once the male and female sexual fluids mix, you cannot mate with anyone else without going insane?”“Huh?” She blinked at him, feeling stupid. First off, his choice of mealtime conversation was stunningly blunt, but what was he
Last Updated : 2020-12-18Dark Lands Homecoming 17
Still, Nilla didn’t look weak, only strained. She didn’t flinch when Wiley met her eyes, either. Hm. For a girl with a sweet name, she didn’t seem like too much of a cream puff. Score one for Jayems.“I don’t want him,” Wiley told her firmly. “I don’t want to be here. Knowing that, if there’s anything you can do…I heard your father has a lot of influence with the council.” Her approach was blunt, but sometimes blunt worked. It all depended on how motivated Nilla was.Nilla looked shocked. She glanced at Wiley’s guard in bewilderment. “You want to discuss this here? Now?”Wiley couldn’t blame her.
Last Updated : 2021-01-06Dark Lands Homecoming 18
Lemming had been walked on a leash while her mistress was riding, and she sniffed Rihlia all over when she took the lead.“Stags must smell as funny as they look,” Jasmine said as Lemming nosed her as well. “It’s too bad horses couldn’t survive here; they’re much nicer.”“But an inferior steed,” Jayems said dismissively. True, he’d never ridden one, but he knew his history.“What’s that?” Rihlia gestured to a grove of log posts to their right. Each log was covered with plate sized, frilly yellow mushrooms.“Honey fungus. You had some in yo
Last Updated : 2021-01-06
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Dark Lands Homecoming 32
Wiley’s eyes narrowed. It was just the two of them, and she felt less and less inclined to be civil. Her patience with her mother had been wearing ever thinner, but this was the first time she’d openly suggested Jasmine’s disappearance was a good thing. “I fail to see how.”Rhapsody delicately sipped her tea as she considered. “As loyal as you were to her, you must consider how out of place she must have felt. Sometimes, nature has a way of correcting the balance. Both you and Keilor can now proceed with the natural course of your life. Surely Jasmine, if she’d loved you, would have wanted that for you.”Rage like she’d never known boiled through Wiley, consumed her. She stood up slowly, and it was all she could do
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“I’m tired of my friends getting hurt,” Wiley grumped to Jayems that night.“With luck, you’ve met your quota,” Jayems soothed her. “That sort of thing doesn’t happen every day.”“Thank God.” She sighed. “So, are you ready for this wedding thing?”He laughed and snuggled her close. “I’ve already had my ‘wedding thing.’ The celebration is just in honor of it.”He smelled so good. She snuggled her nose into his chest. “I’ll be glad when it’s over. I don’t like being the center of attention.”
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The next few weeks passed in a happy blur. Jasmine and Keilor’s romance progressed, Wiley became better at fending off her mother and Jayems found endless ways to make love to her. Wiley was even starting to make some friends among her peers, though she gravitated to the ladies her mother found less than suitable.Oh, they were ladies all right, but they were into sports and highly physical, or else had a wicked sense of humor. Worse, they had little rank. Two of her favorites were Shanra, daughter of a preeminent musician, and Kayless, whose mother designed many of the dresses for women of status.In their middle twenties, the women still lived with their parents as was the custom. When they weren’t hanging out at Wiley’s suite, they visited at each
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“Didn’t think you’d go there, Wi.” She was sitting in an armchair when she made the comment, propped up more by force of will than anything else.Wiley could see she was getting tired. “Well, I’m glad you’re amused. Shouldn’t you go back to bed?”Jasmine glowered tiredly and moved her chess piece. “All I do is lie in bed. I can rest after I finish this game, and stop trying to lose on purpose so I’ll go there quicker. At least Keilor doesn’t do that.”Wiley smiled and deliberately moved her queen into jeopardy.Jasmine ignored the queen to take a pawn instead. &ldq
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The climax hit her like a sledgehammer. She went crazy, bucking against the couch, screaming until she thought she would black out. He joined her, driving into her like he’d been shot up with molten lightning.As she trembled with aftershocks, he slipped a hand under her and pressed. She splintered into another climax, jerking uncontrollably.She didn’t know where he found the energy, but he carried her into the bedroom and shed the rest of their clothes.The first time must have been a warm up, because he slid into her again, pinning her arms above her head, lacing his fingers with hers. His kiss was wild and tender, restrained yet ardent. He drove her crazy with his kisses, yet mad
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She could not lie still. She gasped in pleasure, the sounds coming from her mouth getting louder and louder until she was shouting, a prisoner pinned between his hot, slick mouth and the couch.Finally he slid up and ripped open his fly. He fell over her and looked her in the eye. “I told you I wouldn’t ask again.” He slid inside.She arched up and dug her nails into his back. It was so tight, and he was huge. It hurt, and a lot at that, but he worked his way in, kissing her neck, running his tongue over her ears, massaging her thighs and breasts. The look on his face was mindless, but it was obvious he knew what he was doing. Desire built inside her, though he barely moved. Just the thought of him there, of what he was about to do…she threw ba
Dark Lands Homecoming 26
Jasmine was poisoned that night.They’d been at dinner with Wiley’s family. Jasmine had taken one drink of Wiley’s wine and stiffened. The delicate glass had shattered as her hand convulsed, and moments later she’d been screaming, doubled up on the floor.Keilor and Fallon had worked frantically to help her, and somebody had called the medics. Jayems had dragged Wiley back from the scene, calming her frantic struggles with gentle force. Even now, after they knew it had been Jasmine’s dessert that was poisoned and not the wine, Wiley couldn’t shake the feeling that she was responsible. Jasmine wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for her.Wiley sat i
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The manic shopping was wearing her down. To escape, she said, “I’m starving. Is it lunch time yet?”They had lunch in a classy, energetic café that catered to an upscale crowd. The walls were white and decorated with flowering plants, mirrors and stained glass lamps. Green wrought iron chairs graced each table, and the seats were upholstered in red-and-white striped canvas.Wiley had to admit the food was good, though her mother was doing her best to give her a bellyache. It wasn’t anything she said, it was the way she watched Wiley’s posture, scrutinized the way she ate. Wiley had never been accused of being Miss Manners, but she’d never seen the point of having no elbows on the table or chewing her food one hundred times. Co
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Wiley exited the salon with her hair in a French braid, a mild concession to her mother’s quest for a new look. Of all the good luck, a merchant was selling guitars across the street. Brightly enameled and oddly shaped, they drew her like cotton candy to a child. Picking up a hot pink and red model, she tuned it by ear.“Oh, you play?” Portae said curiously, seeming relieved. Maybe she thought she was about to hear some ladylike ditties she could show off to her friends at teatime.Wiley grinned wickedly, played a few warm up chords, surged into a couple of hard rock riffs, and opened with Van Halen.Rhapsody’s eyes got big. She looked left, then right, paling as she real
