She ran, dodging behind a boulder, then another bush, determined to stay close enough to watch him. Determined that he not see her in return.
Sweat rolled between her breasts and dampened her scalp as she struggled to stay hidden and keep him in sight. They’d only come through the gate a few hours ago and already she was tiring of this. Eventually, Charlie would rest. Then and only then would she catch her breath.
She’d planned to run from Charlie when they first came through the gate, at least until the gate closed and he could no longer send her back. But the shift between the worlds had knocked him unconscious, giving her the perfect opportunity to hide.
Then the Esri arrived and she’d been terrified the mission would be over before it began. She’d been prepared to draw them off, giving Charlie a chance to get away. But Charlie had moved fast and the Esri had passed, unaware.
Now the only things chasing her were memories, and the fear that an Esri would catch her before she saw Charlie safely across Esria.
She scanned the surrounding hills, looking for a sign of others. Few traveled these lands. The chances of crossing paths with one was unlikely, but not nearly unlikely enough. The thought of it stirred the fear that had ridden over her like a haze since her return.
Sweet Esria, she didn’t want to be back here. Walking through that gate had been, without doubt, the hardest thing she’d ever done. If not for Charlie’s hand clasped hard around hers, giving her strength, reminding her of her purpose, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to force her feet into that fountain. Every step since, she’d felt fate’s hot breath on the back of her neck, corralling her toward that awful and inevitable moment of capture and enslavement.
Don’t think about the past. Don’t think about the future. Charlie. Only Charlie. And getting him safely over the mountains. That was all that mattered. All she could allow herself to think about, or she’d go slowly mad.
Yet she couldn’t stop the wish that she’d never gone into the human realm in the first place. That she’d never known freedom or kindness. Or friendship. How much easier her future years would be had she never known what it was like to have someone speak to her as an equal. To feel the touch of a friendly hand. To laugh and to do as she wanted knowing her body was hers to command. To know that no one would draw her into a frenzy of false passion for the purpose of raping her.
That the only desire that stirred inside her was drawn by a man who didn’t mean to attract her as he did. And Charlie would never, she was certain, force himself upon her.
And while she’d prefer to not be attracted to him, or any man, the truth was she liked him. A lot. Far more than she wanted to. He was a good man. A man who’d shown her more simple kindness than any man had since she was a child.
For Charlie and Aunt Myrtle and all the humans she’d begun to care for, she would do what she could to make sure Charlie succeeded. She would do what she must.
She peered around the edge of the rock, watching, staking out her next hiding spot. But as her gaze swung back to Charlie, she saw him stumble, then fall to his knees, swaying as if he’d been arrow shot. Her jaw dropped, shock vibrating through her body as she watched the strong warrior collapse slowly onto his back as if in the throes of human death.
No.
Heart thundering in her chest, Tarrys darted out from behind the rock and ran down the rocky hillside, the grass rising to prick her feet as fear congealed into a hard mass deep in her throat.
“Charlie.” His name was little more than a breath as she reached him and fell to her knees beside him. “Charlie, wake up.” But her hands had barely brushed his tunic when his own snapped up to capture her wrists.
Tarrys strangled a scream as the man she’d thought unconscious sat up then leaped to his feet, dragging her with him, his eyes blazing.
“What are you doing here?”
He wasn’t injured at all. It was a ruse to catch her. Her knees nearly buckled with relief. “You knew I was following you.”
“Of course I knew you were following me. I’ve known for miles.”
The day hadn’t even broken and already her plan was ruined.
Anger washed off him in waves, yet she didn’t fear him. Her heart pounded only from his startling her. And from the storming of her senses by his nearness. Sweet Esria, she was falling under his enchantment all over again.
He gave her arms a shake. “Answer me. Why did you come?”
“To protect you.”
Charlie gave a short bark of laughter, but there was no humor in the sound, nor in the hard twist of his mouth. He held her so close she could smell his uniquely masculine scent, as deep, rich and endlessly fascinating as his world. His grip on her wrists was no more than snug, yet her skin burned where he touched her. Burned not with pain but with a heat that sank beneath her flesh, into the heart of her blood. Inciting a desire she wanted to feel for no man.
Her body’s reaction frustrated her. Charlie’s belief in his own invulnerability … and her uselessness … annoyed her. “There are things about my world you don’t know,” she snapped.
“I’m not denying that, but I don’t need a freakin’ babysitter.” He shook her again, the tension in his hands tightly … barely … controlled. “And you left the others thinking … what? That I was dead? Captured?”
“No!” Her gaze snapped up to meet his. “Harrison knew I was staying with you.” As Charlie’s expression darkened even more, she added quickly, “He didn’t ask me to come. This was my decision. But I told him before we left.”
“I’m sure you made him obscenely happy with that news,” he said disgustedly.
“He thought it was a good idea.”
“I’ll bet he did. He’s not the one that has to …” He released her suddenly. “You can’t come with me.”
Tarrys said nothing, unable to agree yet unwilling to lie. If he chased her away, she’d only go back to following him, though how she’d keep him from seeing her this time, she couldn’t fathom. She’d been so careful!
“Go home, Tarrys. Or somewhere you’ll be safe. Or, better yet, find someplace around here to hole up for a few weeks until that gate opens again. Keep out of sight. Even if Esri go through the gate at the next full moon, Harrison and the others will be there. They’ll protect you.”
As she remained silent, his stiffness softened ever so slightly. “Look, eaglet, I appreciate your trying to help, though … Jesus … I can’t believe you put yourself in danger to come after me. But you’ll slow me down. This mission is time-critical and I’ve got to move fast.”
The gentling of his attitude softened something deep inside her. As much as she longed to stop her body’s reaction to this man, she would never be able to harden her heart toward him.
“I know,” she said simply.
His gaze sharpened on her, his eyes probing hers, as if he sought a way into her innermost thoughts. When they narrowed, honed to a piercing point, she thought maybe he had.
Charlie scowled.
