Page 19 of The Manticore's Fire

“Very well, I believe you.”

“It would make an awesome addition to your trophy wall.”

He rolled his eyes on the observation and chuckled. “Come, kitten let us go to bed,” he rumbled tiredly around a yawn as he carried her off to bed.

And to his surprise no nightmares came that night, or the next. He had never slept better than when she was right there curled against his side. Perhaps even more so now that he had encountered his worst fear and conquered it. Abby had every opportunity to truthfully try to harm him—perhaps, he could admit to himself, that taking her to his study filled with so many weapons had also been a test—but other than a well-executed but more poorly timed joke, she had not betrayed him. And so, he slept even better as he curled around her, his chest thrumming with his purr in his sleep.

Chapter

Fourteen

Samir had been dreaming. He could not remember what he had been dreaming but he woke suddenly from it, his pelt quivering with his restlessness as the quickly fading dream followed him out of the depths of his sleep. He still trembled from the aftermath; his body hot as need crawled through him. His eyes fell to the female sleeping beside him, her legs entwined with his and his breath caught. He had sat beside her for hours the day before while instructing her and had felt nothing except a growing fondness and she eagerly absorbed everything he taught. True to her word, she was impatient and easily distracted as a cub and yet there was an iron determination within her that he had admired.

But since when did admiration and affection turn into such a terrible and raging need?

Coughing a deep growl, he withdrew out from beneath the leg wrapped around him, his eyes narrowed on her sleeping face. She looked so innocent and yet she ignited him into a state of burning frenzy that had him scrambling away from her, the curls of his mane tufting anxiously. With a quiet growl, he rolled off the side of the massive bed and landed with a heavy thump on the floor. His head shot up and he glanced at her warily, daringto not even breathe with the hope that he had not woken her. She did not stir other than curling deeper into the bedding. He exhaled a small sigh of relief and slinked away from the side of the bed on all fours so as to keep his steps as silent as possible.

He certainly did not wish her to be aware of how strongly he was affected by her. This was a delicate game that they were playing between them. Even the smallest imbalance could adversely affect the outcome. Such knowledge could make her more afraid of him and convince her to renew her attack at the risk of her own life, or it could inflate her sense of power over him to where she might attempt something foolish. Neither outcome was one that he liked and both cases would likely lead to her death, which did not set well with him.

Unfortunately, the roused urgency within his loins was difficult to quell and it did not care whether or not he was interested in irrevocably mating with the female. Or, more pointedly, if she would ever accept him. Without an outlet, it had turned on him and tormented him. It was not just lust. Lust he could understand though it seldom became an inconvenience for solitary, unmated manticores once they reached a certain age. He could not recall a time when lust simply took hold of him. He had complete control over his desires since reaching adulthood.

This was different. It was an insidious instinct that rose up from some hidden depths within him, roaring its demands as it came to life within him. But he would not act upon it again. The next time they came together it would be because it was her choice to yield to him. He would not beg for, nor demand, her surrender.

Shivering in reaction, he prowled from the room, not bothering to rise on two feet until he had achieved some distance and stalked into the sitting room. He paced back and forth in front of the banked fire, his mind churning restlessly as it tempted to beguile him with twists of reasoning and outrightfantasy as if it might convince him to return to his chambers and the female laying within his bed. He shook his head in an attempt to clear, a low growl vibrating in his chest. This was going to drive him mad if he did not resolve it.

Perhaps a good meal would settle him. If he was not mistaken, he reckoned that the hour was nearing sunset. Not only did he require considerable sustenance to maintain his health and vigor, but he would need to feed his female, as well. An oryx would be ideal but it was an inopportune time to hunt one as it would take him much further from the cave than he would like and he still did not trust the female to not foolishly take it into her head to flee at the first opportunity if there was enough distance put between them. She was intelligent and now understood the dangers but after so many days keeping vigil due to her numerous escape attempts, he could not relax his guard quite yet. If he was patient, he could easily find a hare near his cave, but it would be time-consuming as he would have to catch several so that there would be enough to feed both of them and he did not wish to spend half the night hunting as he had often done just to feed himself.

There was an oasis, however. His head cocked in consideration. That was not a bad idea. It was not far for him to travel but it was far enough that it would be difficult for the female to escape alone, surrounded on all sides by desert as it was. It would also give them the opportunity to refill the water jugs. She seemed to require more water than he did and at their current rate of usage, his supply would not last long in providing for the both of them.

Samir grimaced at the thought of strapping into the harness he had devised that allowed him to carry four clay jugs back across the desert. It would not be an enjoyable experience. It would not only be uncomfortable for him, but it would make her seat precarious as he carried her on his back. Unfortunately, itcould not be avoided. Drinking from the cavern pools was a risk he would be foolish to indulge in.

Settled on a course of action, he spun back toward his sleeping chamber, eager to be on his way. Samir returned to his bedside. Once there, he bent and rested a hand on her shoulder peeking out from beneath the blanket covering her. It was a slim but beautifully defined shoulder of a female of considerable strength and skill. He admired its graceful curve as his fingers curled around it… and vigorously shook her.

To his delight, Abby shot up with a sharply drawn gasp of breath, her eyes wide and her hands searching fruitlessly for some weapon or another. He immediately withdrew as she abruptly rose to a seated position and smiled patiently when her eyes snapped to him in bewilderment. She certainly was a lively one!

“What the fuck?” she shouted as she pressed a fist against her chest. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

His own eyes went round with surprise. “That happens? Do you humans truly just die in fright?” He frowned as he searched his memories. “I recall much screaming, and many of them urinating on themselves in terror but I do not recall an instance of anyone dying before I actually delivered a blow.”

“What?” she replied, her brow drawing with confusion momentarily before she gave an impatient shake of her head. “No… I don’t know. I suppose if someone has a heart condition, maybe. And no, I do not. It’s more of an expression.”

Samir frowned. “That is ridiculous. Why ask that, then, if you would not be affected in this manner? Human expressions are tedious with the way they dance around truth with such exaggeration, not to mention that they seem to be prone to flying in the face of reason and accuracy,” he grumbled.

To his surprise, Abby’s lips twitched in response. “I suppose so. I never really thought about it.” She rolled her shoulderexperimentally, as if uncertain if he wrenched something when he shook her, before stretching her arms over her head with a wide, jaw-cracking yawn. “Now do you mind telling me why you are waking me at fuck-off-o’clock instead of just letting me sleep? As far as I can tell there is no emergency—the cavern isn’t crashing down around my ears as far as I can tell. There’s certainly nowhere I need to be,” she added as she began to draw her blanket back around her, obviously preparing to lie back down again.

Grabbing the bottom hem of the blanket, he tore it from her grasp, earning him a surprised grunt and a look of disgust on the face of his lovely tormentor as he tossed the blanket unceremoniously to the floor.

“As it happens, we do have someplace to be,” he corrected.

That caught her attention.

Abby’s expression shifted once more to confusion, but this time there was a hint of a suspicion in her eyes as she regarded him. “Oh? And just where would that be?”

Her question followed him as he pushed by the bed and headed toward the storage space to the rear of the chamber where he kept the harness stored. “It may have escaped your notice, but we are in a cave in the desert with very limited freshwater,” he purred as he pulled the harness over him.

“Actually, it hasn’t,” she replied, her eyes drifting toward the straps and then to the jugs he began to pull and secure, one by one, into place. “I did notice that the only supply of fresh water seems to be the large jug in the sitting room and that, as it dwindles, you have made no effort to refresh—which leads me to suspect that the water in the caverns is not drinkable.”

“You could drink it if you enjoy becoming ill and potentially riddled with unknown parasites,” he replied with a casual shrug. “As it happens I do not. The hot spring may be good for bathing,but I would never recommend drinking from it. This means that we must go and collect it.”

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