Talan healed as fast as he could—not so that he could go back to his job, but so that he could find Zoe.
She hadn’t come to see him since he’d told her he loved her. That kind of thing had a way of making a man more than a little self-conscious.
Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything, but he’d been at death’s door twice without it opening for him. He really didn’t think there would be a third chance to come back from the brink. And as selfish as it was, he wanted her to know how he felt, so he could go face danger again without any regrets.
He found one of the Master Builders, Anri, sitting outside in the sunshine. She was middle aged, with short graying hair, wearing long robes the color of tree bark. Her pretty face was turned up, her eyes closed as she soaked in the warmth and light of the sun.
From what Talan had heard, Anri had been assigned to see to Zoe’s adjustment here. If anyone would know where she was, it was Anri.
He sat beside her, glad to be doing so out of choice rather than necessity of his weakened body. Patience had never been his thing, and waiting around for his body to heal had nearly driven him mad. It was good to be whole and strong again, and he had Zoe to thank for it.
“I’d like to see Zoe before I leave. Do you know where she is?”
“I do,” answered Anri.
“Will you tell me?”
“No. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
She turned her face upward again. “I miss the sun down there. I can’t seem to keep my mind clear without coming up here every day to see that it’s still burning overhead.”
“And I miss Zoe.”
“You’ll miss her less when you’re busy doing your work on Earth.”
“Is that your way of dismissing me?”
“When you were healing, her work was beautiful. Fast. Flawless.” Anri opened her eyes and looked at him. “Now that she knows you’re leaving, she can’t focus enough to figure out what she wants for lunch.”
“And that’s my fault?”
Anri shrugged. “What did you say to her the last time you saw her?”
“That’s none of your business,” he said.
“She’s in my charge. I’m the overseer of her work, her life and her contentment. Everything about her is my business.”
Anri was right. He had no fair claim to Zoe. She belonged to the Builders, not him.
He let out a long sigh. “I told her I loved her.”
“Ah. I see now.” Anri turned her face back to the sun. “I was in love with a warrior once. It cost me five good years of creation. I never forgave him.”
“For destroying your concentration?”
“For dying.”
Talan understood what the woman was trying to tell him without actually making an accusation that could get him in trouble with the authorities. Disrupting a Builder’s work was a punishable offense. Especially in a time of war.
“I didn’t die,” he felt the need to remind Anri.
“Not this time. But she knows you’re leaving. She knows it’s just a matter of time. She works as though she’s the only thing standing between you and death.”
“I would try to reassure her, but she hasn’t come to see me.”
Anri shielded her eyes from the sun to stare at him. “She’s gifted in a way I haven’t seen since the death of her mother. She could save us all if she could get her emotions to behave. You issuing declarations of love before stepping back into battle was not helpful.”
“So what do I do? I can’t take the words back. I won’t.”
“Everyone must make sacrifices in a time of war. Even you.”
“You want me to lie to her?” asked Talan, appalled at the idea.
“Do you think it would help her work?”
Zoe would see through his lie. If she hadn’t believed that he loved her, she wouldn’t have stayed away like she had. Nothing he could say now would undo his mistake. And it was a mistake. He saw that now. His declaration of love had scrambled her thoughts and, in doing so, put her in danger. She might be the only one who could follow through with her mother’s work.
“I don’t,” he finally said. “The only thing that will help her concentrate now is time. She sees my death as inevitable. She has to deal with that in her own way and time.”
Anri let out a heavy sigh. “We don’t have time.”
“Let me see her. Talk to her. Maybe I can find a way to undo my mess.”
Anri stood and smoothed her robes. “Come with me.”
She led him below ground into the Builders’ tunnels. Bright lights burned overhead, but there was still a sense of darkness all around. No natural light. No breeze. No wildlife out the window.
Zoe must hate it down here.
He found her slumped over a workbench with parts strewn all around. Unlike her workspace on Earth, there was no method here—no organization. It was a tangled mess that he worried was a mirror for her thoughts.
No one would be able to create in the face of so much chaos.
Her hands shook as she tried fitting a tiny part into a larger whole. Even from here, he could see that the work was sloppy and not like her at all.
Anri stood in the doorway, urging him forward. “Fix her.”
“Zoe,” he said quietly, so as not to startle her.
She looked up, and he could see in her eyes that she was suffering. Her skin was pale with a sallow cast that made her look sickly. There was no sheen to her complexion. No life in her gaze. Deep crescents shadowed her eyes and hollowed her cheeks.
This was not the woman he knew, filled with life and hope and a spark of brilliance. This person was a panicked stranger living in frantic fear.
“Busy,” was all she said before going back to her work.
“How long has she been like this?” he asked.
He shared a concerned look with Anri, who said, “She hasn’t slept in days. Refuses to eat. All she does is work, and her skill is deteriorating by the hour.”
“Why didn’t you do something?” he asked, appalled.
“We thought it would work itself out, that her body would finally relent and shut down her brain so he could rest.”
“I can’t sleep,” Zoe mumbled. “I have to end the war.”
Talan’s heart broke as he realized just how much of a burden she’d taken on her slender shoulders. And he was at least partially responsible for placing it there. If he didn’t do something soon, the woman he loved was going to work herself to death. Literally.
He turned to Anri. “I’m going to fix this before I have to leave.”
“You’re scheduled to step through the first window tomorrow morning.”
“Then I’d better work fast.”
Anri nodded. “Her sleeping quarters are across the hall. The last meal she refused to eat is still sitting on the table, waiting for her.” With that, she left the room in a swish of long robes.
Talan went to Zoe and pulled the crooked metal pieces from her trembling hands. She tried to fight him, but she was so weak, it didn’t even slow him down.
“Look at me, Zoe.”
She finally managed to focus on his face, but her pretty brown eyes were dull and bloodshot. “Talan?”
“I’m here, honey. It’s time to sleep.”
She shook her head and tried to pull away. A few slippery strands of hair slid from her lopsided bun. “I can’t sleep. Not until this is done.”
“You have to.” He thought about telling her that her work was crap, but decided doing so might freak her out even more. “I need to rest, and I can’t unless you lay beside me.”
Concern darkened her eyes. “Are you hurt again?”
“No, but I still have some healing to do,” he lied. “Will you come lie down with me?”
She gave a faint nod. “Just for a minute.”
He helped her wobble across the hall on weak legs. Some meat and fruit had been set out for her, but he decided that sleep was the first order of business.
He stripped her Builders’ robe off, doing his best to ignore the bare skin he so desperately wanted to touch.
She’d lost weight over the last few days—something she couldn’t afford to do. He’d deal with that soon, but her mind was his biggest concern.
He took off his shirt so he could feel her skin against his, then pulled back the blankets so she was forced to climb in first. He got in after her, crowding her on the narrow bed. She was pinned between him and the wall with no way out unless he let her.
Talan pulled her against his body, and within seconds, she was out.
He held her like that for hours, keeping her warm and touching her lightly so she’d know she wasn’t alone. He didn’t know how long she slept, but he felt when she finally regained consciousness.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
Her back was against his chest, and the fact that she didn’t turn around made him wonder if she didn’t want to look at him.
“Better. Thank you. I should get back to work.”
“In a little while. You have to eat first. Shower. And then we need to talk.”
She pushed up, stealing the covers to hide her nudity. Because he had her caged in, she was forced to climb over him, and while she wasn’t as weak as before, he could feel her limbs shaking with effort.
Talan sat up. Zoe disappeared into her bathroom. He heard water run for a while, then the shower started.
He couldn’t help himself. He had to be near her—soak her up for as long as he could before he left.
When he opened the bathroom door, she was standing in the sunken shower room with water streaming over her naked body.
Instantly Talan was aroused, but he choked down his desires enough so he could focus on giving her what she needed.
She finally saw him as he shed his clothes and joined her in the shower. There was nothing welcoming in her gaze, but nothing that told him to go the hell away either. If anything, she was hesitant, almost timid.
That only made Talan want to pursue her more.
He settled his hands on the curve of her slippery waist, hoping that would keep them from straying. This wasn’t about sex. It was about intimacy—about him being someone she trusted enough to be naked with. Maybe if she accepted that, she’d trust him enough to listen.
He was careful to keep all accusations from his tone. “You’re important, Zoe. You need to take better care of yourself.”
“I will,” she said, though he had the impression she was saying it just to appease him. “You shouldn’t be here. You have work to do. People to find.”
“Nothing is more important than keeping you healthy.”
“It’s just…” She closed her eyes. “There are so many people counting on me. You’re counting on me. My work has always been about fixing dinner faster or watching your favorite show. It’s never been about saving lives. I don’t think I’m cut out for this kind of pressure.”
“You are. It’s just new. You have to give yourself some time to adapt.”
She lowered her head onto his bare chest. Her voice was small and afraid. “What if I can’t do it?”
“All you have to do is eat, rest and give yourself some time. The rest will just happen. It’s what you were born to do. You don’t have to force it.”
“I liked it better when I was just some nerdy girl no one could understand.”
“I understand you.” He tipped her chin up. “And I love you. No matter what you can or can’t do.”
She closed her eyes. “You have to stop saying that.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t watch another person I love die.”
Her implied declaration of love didn’t go by unnoticed. His heart fluttered with joy, but he didn’t let a bit of it show on his face. She wasn’t ready for that yet, and he couldn’t stand the idea of adding to the pressure she already felt.
“So you’re just going to close yourself off?” he asked gently.
“Until the work is done. Yes.”
“I won’t let that happen. It’s not good for you or your work. All those deep emotions you feel? They’re part of what allows you to create such brilliant designs.”
“I don’t believe that.”
He wrapped his arms around her to pull her more tightly against him. “You know it’s true. Passion and creativity go hand-in-hand. You can’t just turn one off and expect the other to flourish.”
She looked up at him, her dark eyes soft. “So you think that if you kiss me, it might spark an idea. I think we should test your hypothesis.”
His cock twitched with interest, but he kept his cool despite the fact that he had the world’s most beautiful woman naked, wet and plastered against him. “I didn’t come here to seduce you.”
She went on tiptoe to kiss him, and he wasn’t a strong enough man to stop her. Her lips were warm and soft—just like he remembered. And the taste of her was pure sunshine and rain.
If he lived forever, he’d never kiss a woman who made his soul sing the way she did.
Before things got out of hand, he pulled away and cupped her cheeks so she was forced to behave. “I have to leave soon. I don’t want to do that worried you’ll think I just came here for sex. I don’t want you to question what I feel for you—not for even one second. I love you, Zoe. It’s your job to let that love show you how to fly.”
She swallowed hard enough he could see her throat working. Water trickled down her head and over her shoulders. It pooled between them, where their bodies were pressed too tightly together for even a single drop of water to fit.
She tightened her hold on him. “I don’t want you to leave, but I understand you have no choice. If not for you, I would have died. There are other people out there like me who need you to save them too.”
“I can’t go if I think you won’t be okay. You have to promise me you’ll take care of yourself.”
She nodded slowly. “Only if you promise not to die. I need you to come back to me, Talan. I love you.”
Elation filled him, and he lifted her from her feet to spin her around in a show of joy. “I love you too, Zoe. Not even death is going to get in the way of that. I’ll come home to you. I swear it.”
He kissed her, letting her feel every ounce of faith he had. He knew that there was nothing powerful enough to stop him from coming home to her. She needed to know it too.
The kiss turned from sweet to hot in a matter of seconds. He hadn’t intended to claim her body, but her mouth was so sweet and tempting, her body a complex artwork of curves, dips and swells powerful enough to make him forget even his best intentions. He had no choice but to kiss her the way she demanded, answering to the call of her questing hands stroking his erection.
He picked her up and pinned her against the stone wall. Her legs curled around his hips, leaving her open and ready. He lined her up and slid his cock inside her in one long, smooth stroke of flesh on flesh.
Perfect. She was built just for him. It was the only thing that explained just how perfectly she fit him—body and soul.
Their mouths stayed fused together while he moved inside of her. Her kisses were as hot and wet as her pussy, and equally able to fog his mind with lust and need.
Her sweet sounds of pleasure filled his mouth as he increased his pace to suit her. He knew just what she liked—the rub of his chest hair against her nipples, the firm grip of his hands on her ass, the deep angle of penetration that stroked her in just the right spots so she melted around his cock.
Somewhere in the distance, bells rang out, but Talan didn’t care about that. All he cared about was these last few minutes of stolen passion with the woman he loved.
Pressure built in his balls as the need to come rode him. He knew this would be the last time for them for a while—maybe forever—and wanted it to last. Unfortunately, he’d been without her intoxicating power for too long, and his lust had grown out of control.
He drew on his self-control, focusing on her pleasure over his own, but she was already ahead of him.
Tight, hot muscles rippled around his erection as she let out a cry of completion. He covered the sound with his mouth and let go of himself.
His orgasm went on forever as she milked every bit of pleasure from him he had to give. When he was able to breathe again, they were crumpled on the floor of the shower with her on his lap, her legs splayed over his, her pussy dripping with his semen.
She lowered her head to his shoulder, panting. “I should say I love you more often.”
Talan laughed and spent the next ten minutes making sure she was thoroughly cleaned, dry and dressed in the soft robes of a Builder.
He’d never thought they were sexy before, but now that he knew what was under hers, he was almost certain that opinion was now irrevocably changed.
They shared a quiet meal together in her room, and then he escorted her back to her workshop.
The instant he stepped foot into the room, he knew something was wrong. He wasn’t sure what yet, but every warrior instinct in him was screaming at him to prepare to kill.
Talan shoved her behind him and armed himself.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet. Go find someone on the Guard.”
“Who?”
“Green uniforms. Guys with weapons who protect the Builders.”
Zoe sprinted for the door to do as he asked, but stopped dead in her tracks. Her feet rose from the ground, and a horrified look swept over her features.
A familiar, disembodied voice spoke from behind her head. “No need to raise the alarm. I’ve got what I came for.”
A sick sense of dread filled Talan as he realized what was happening. “Krotian.”
The Raide’s form appeared inside his armor, and Talan could now see why Zoe wasn’t speaking. The asshole had his hand around her throat and was squeezing the life from her.
Talan suppressed his panic with a brutal dose of fury. He was going to kill that creature for touching the woman he loved.
He kept his eyes averted, avoiding the Raide’s debilitating gaze. “Put her down.”
Krotian shook his head, trying to pull Talan’s attention upward. “I need what’s in her brain, and you’re going to help me get it.”
“Sure,” said Talan, sarcasm dripping from his words. “I’ll just walk you out. No worries.” His tone went low and deadly. “There’s no way out of here. This is where you die.”
Zoe kicked and beat her fists against Krotian’s armor with no success. All she was doing was using up what little oxygen she had left.
“The Builders are a placid lot. They don’t have what it takes to stop me.”
“Maybe not,” said Talan. “But I do. And so does every other warrior here.”
Krotian shifted his grip on Zoe. The movement dug his fingers deeper into her throat. “Didn’t you hear the alarm?” he asked. “There was a fire in one of the libraries. The Guard are quite busy putting it out.”
Which meant Talan was on his own.
He did a fast inventory of the weapons he had on him, along with the tools that were lying about. Nothing he touched on would take the Raide down without hurting Zoe in the process.
There was only one thing he could think to do, and it was risky.
He pulled a small glass vial of tranquilizer from his vest and smashed it on the stone floor at Krotian’s feet.
Zoe couldn’t breathe it in. Talan had prepared for it and was already holding his breath as he jabbed a needle laced with the antidote into his thigh.
Krotian, on the other hand, was surprised.
He took a breath and staggered on his feet. Zoe caught herself and shoved hard enough to break the Raide’s hold.
She sucked in a huge breath and went instantly limp.
Krotian’s hand struggled to find something on his armor. Talan was already charging, ready to finish this creature off for good.
He whipped the thin wire from his vest and pulled it between both hands to extend it to its full length. With a spark of energy from his cells to fuel it, the wire danced in his grip, ready to do his bidding.
Krotian lifted his hand. Something was in it, but Talan was moving too fast to see what it was.
But he felt it as he ran right into Krotian.
A heavy, sharp sensation slid between his ribs as he spun the wire out to lash at Krotian. The wire caught on his armor, which stopped it cold.
Talan looked down and saw the hilt of a Raide dagger in Krotian’s fist. The first two inches of black metal were protruding from Talan’s chest. It took him a second to realize that the rest of it was imbedded in his body.