Four
As she drove, Copper found she was getting more and more worried. They had been on the road for more than three hours and still, Keltan had not chosen to tell her anything of what was going on.
Looking at him out of the corner of her eye, she had to admire his profile. He sat, studying the road ahead of them with nary a word. He seemed lost in thought and she almost hated to disturb him, but if she was in danger, then the least he could do was tell her what she needed to be protected from.
She opened her mouth to pose her question, but he answered her before she could get it out. “I do not know.”
Baffled, she stared at him for a moment before asking, “What?”
Turning to look at her, his face was incredibly calm. “I do not know.”
He gestured between them. “I hear the question you would ask, What is this thing coming for you? But I cannot give you a completely correct answer. This is nothing I am truly familiar with, although I have heard of it in my youth.”
Reminding herself not to drive off the road, she cleared her throat. “You mean to tell me, you’ve come and made me leave my home and my responsibilities, and you don’t even know exactly what I’m leaving it for?” She rolled her eyes. “Oh brother, that’s reassuring.”
Looking back to the road for a moment, he considered how honestly he should answer her. It took him no time to decide to be truthful. “I know that it can and will kill you but instead of letting you rest in peace, it will imprison your soul, Copper. And it will use your skills.” He sighed. “I know that it is terribly dangerous. I know that it will use your talents to attain its goals.”
He paused, as if debating to continue before saying in a softer voice, “and I also know that losing you when I’ve just found you is not a possibility I wish to consider.”
A secret thrill coursed through her at his words, but she forced herself to bristle outwardly. “Lose me? Lose me? Buddy, you have never had me! I thought I made it clear when we first met that I was not interested.”
Nodding his understanding of what she said, Keltan requested, “Copper, would you pull over for a moment?”
She did as he asked without even thinking to question his motives. When she shut off the truck and turned toward him, intent on continuing her lecture, only to find her words cut off as he wrapped her in his arms and brought his mouth to hers in a questing, hungry, demanding kiss.
Shocked to her core, her mouth opened to his assault and she found herself responding even as her brain screamed at her to stop him. Instead her body answered his desire with its own. Liquid fire seemed to race through her everywhere he touched. She felt herself responding even though she didn’t want to. Did she?
Coming to her senses, she put her open palms against his chest and pushed. Reluctantly, he released her, opening his eyes to meet her glare.
Working to catch her breath, she growled at him. “Don’t you dare do that again. Do you understand?”
His expression went from openly passionate, to shuttered and distant. Sitting back in the seat, he spoke calmly, “You can refuse to acknowledge what is between us all you want, agigau. But your soul is drawn to me as mine is to you.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want you, Keltan. I don’t want this!” she gestured between them, “I refuse to let any man become something more than a passing thing to me. You men are not worth it.”
Keltan looked away from her and stared angrily out the window. “You can deny it all you want, but in the end, your soul will give in to what it needs.”
