Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Late in the afternoon, after a lazy lunch with Kavon, Aurina took a nap. She grinned to herself. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had the luxury of an afternoon nap. She kind of liked it.
Then, she had gone out and watered the plants on Kavon’s balcony, and snipped off a few dead leaves.
Since no one had been watching, she’d sunk her hands into the rich soil and wiggled her fingers around with glee.
She was planning to ask Kavon for some seeds and another flower box.
There was enough room to nicely fit another one on the balcony.
The sound of a throat clearing brought her back to the present, and the meeting of Kavon’s mining supervisors. She’d wanted to join in, curious about how they conducted their mining, and what minerals they mined.
At the same time, Kavon was off with his warriors, busy assuring all his people he was very much alive.
She shifted in her seat and felt a twinge. Yep, he was very much alive. They’d just about killed each other with sex.
Except it wasn’t just sex. At least, not for her.
“Aurina?”
She blinked and focused on the man and woman with her. “Sorry, Gadiel. What was that?”
“We have encountered this rock with the following properties.” The woman in charge of Kavon’s mines rattled off a description. She was older than Aurina, with dark brown hair pulled up in a tight bun. “But we aren’t certain if it is worth mining.”
Aurina frowned. “It doesn’t sound familiar to me.
Could you get me a sample? If Kavon allows me some of my tech back, I can scan it.
” She stared down at the miners’ papers, with their very accurate, hand-drawn pictures.
She paused and pointed to one image. Was that what she thought it was? “What do you do with this?”
“It’s waste,” the man, Gadiel’s top mining superintendent, said. “We have the nanami consume it during mining.”
Aurina sat forward. “It looks like zanite. Tell me its properties. Color, weight, hardness.”
The man nodded and listed the answers to her question.
“Stars,” she said. “It’s definitely zanite. It is a highly valuable mineral in the central systems.”
Gadiel frowned. “Used for what?”
“Just about everything. Mostly it’s added to other metals to strengthen it. You could use it to do the same with your metals.”
The man started scribbling furiously, and Gadiel nodded. “We can rework the nanami to start collecting it.”
“I wanted to ask you all a question.” They looked at Aurina expectantly. “Do you know anything about the mines in the Caverns of Riom?”
Both faces went blank with shock.
The man cleared his throat. “They are a legend. The Lost Mines of Riom are said to be filled with bad, unstable ground. No one knows their exact location.”
“I know. I suspect Durendal is in those mines. It’s worth the risk.”
The mining supervisors looked at each other.
“The mine tunnels are said to be haunted,” Gadiel said. “Old adventurers who risked entering them either never came back…or came back sick or crazy.”
“Something in there messes with their nanami,” her superintendent added. “It drove them out of their minds.”
“Plus,” Gadiel said, “there are monsters far worse than the naga in there.”
Aurina couldn’t imagine much worse than the naga. “It’s the only plan I have. Of course, it will be Kavon’s decision on what he wants to do.” She stared at the papers. “Do you have any maps of the old tunnels?”
Gadiel sighed. “Yes. They are very old, and, we suspect, not very accurate. And it is possible things could have changed over the years. Tremors cause tunnels to collapse or new tunnels and caverns to open up.”
Aurina nodded. She wondered how much of what they were telling her was warlord-manufactured stories to keep Markarians away. “Show me what you’ve got. Please.”
After another hour with the miners, Aurina had a somewhat workable map of the tunnels.
Okay, so it was a thousand years old and pretty sketchy, but it was something.
She also had a workable plan. There was a closed-up entrance to the mines at the base of the mountain.
From there, they could follow the map to a few of the places marked as interesting or dangerous.
Now, all she had to do was convince a certain hard-headed warrior to give it a shot.
She made her way to the training yard. She heard the clang of swords and saw a small crowd of spectators had gathered.
She pushed through the villagers, and heard the whispers of how strong the warlord was.
“He was at death’s door, but now look at him,” one woman said.
“I’m looking.” Her friend let out a gusty sigh. “The warrior is a mighty fine sight.”
Aurina cleared the crowd in time to see Kavon strike his sword against the sword of one of his warriors. The warrior stumbled back and landed in the dirt. The crowd cheered.
Yes, the warlord was a mighty fine sight, indeed.
Kavon called out to his warriors, and with laughs and slaps on the back, they ended their training. Aurina walked toward him, and when he saw her coming, he stopped, pressing the point of his sword to the ground.
God, that beautiful blade suited him. It was strong and deadly, but beautiful at the same time.
“Aurina.” His eyes flickered gold, the corners of his lips lifting.
She felt an instant flush of heat. “Kavon.”
“You are supposed to address me as warlord out here.”
“You aren’t my warlord.”
He raised a brow. “Am I not?”
That heat intensified. “Kavon?—”
“I like the way you say my name.”
“I came to talk about Durendal.”
His smile slipped away.
“No, listen.” She drew in a deep breath.
On the way out of the house, she’d practiced what she planned to say a hundred times in her head.
“I spent time with your mining supervisors. They’ve given me maps of the old Riom mining tunnels.
I’ve planned a route I think will take us to where the ship would have crashed. ”
He made a noise, but she hurried on.
“I’ve made a list of gear and supplies we’ll need to navigate the old mine.
” She dragged in another breath, aware that his face was impassive as he watched her, and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“I saw some tech of mine when I got the medscope. We should bring the medscope and the scanner. It’ll make the journey much easier. ”
“I think?—”
She wasn’t letting him dismiss her ideas outright. “And lastly, I have another idea. I think we should get some of your warriors to create a diversion to distract Drog. Keep him busy, so he doesn’t know we’re heading to the mines.”
She finished and clenched her hands together.
Kavon was quiet, looking at her steadily.
“Well?” she prompted. It was best he started all his “impossibles” and “absolutely nots” now, so she could rebut them and bang some sense into his head.
“I agree.”
She blinked. “What?”
“It is a sound plan.”
She dropped her hands to her sides. “I was expecting you to put up a fight.”
He leaned closer. “Believe me, I do not want you in danger. Especially now that I have tasted the pleasure of your sweet body.”
Her cheeks heated. Damn her pale skin. “Kavon?—”
He held up a hand. “But I want Durendal and I will not let the mountain beat me. And we have a deal. Besides, it is a well-thought-out plan.”
The praise left her warm inside, but as she watched him, another thought snuck in. “You let me ramble on with my sales pitch just to humor me, didn’t you?”
“Of course not.” His lips were twitching again.
She slapped his chest.
He yanked her close so fast she barely had time to react. Then, she was plastered against a warm male chest, and a second later, his mouth was on hers.
She moaned, opening for him, kissing him back. Her fingers dug into hard muscles, and she felt every part of her flame to life.
“An interesting way to end training.”
The deep voice made Kavon raise his head.
Licking her lips, she saw Colm beside them, smiling.
“Find your own woman, Colm,” Kavon muttered.
“I like the variety of different women each night, my warlord.” Colm winked at Aurina. “Although, if I had a skyflyer as pretty as yours…”
Kavon kept his arm tight around her. “We have a mission to plan for.”
Colm’s face turned serious in an instant. “It’s too soon. You were recently injured?—”
“You can see I’m perfectly healed. I feel better than ever.”
“So, we’re headed back to that damned mountain?” Colm did not look happy.
“To the Riom mines beneath it.”
Colm groaned. “That’s worse. Remember, that damned naga pulled itself out of the bowels of the mountain…and now that is exactly where you want to go. Wonderful.”
“I thought you big, tough warriors were afraid of nothing,” she said.
“I am not afraid, Aurina,” Colm said. “But neither am I stupid.” His gaze swung back to Kavon. “It won’t be an easy trip.”
“Aurina has laid out the plan, the route, and the supplies we’ll need. We’ll also need a little distraction to keep Drog busy.”
Now Colm’s face sharpened, a faint smile appearing. “Now that sounds like an excellent idea.”
“Good. You can be in charge of that aspect of the mission.” Kavon looked down at Aurina. “Let’s get the preparation done, then we can leave at first light.”
She nodded. “Let’s do it.”
The rest of the afternoon was a whirlwind of tasks. Kavon bellowed for different people, and soon, hargon beasts were being readied, supplies—ropes, food, healing kits—were being stacked near the stables, and warriors were checking their weapons.
Colm was absent, off planning a diversion for Drog. Aurina had noted the warrior’s glee at being assigned the task.
Eventually, Kavon scanned the preparations and nodded. “Tarik, have the beasts loaded and ready for first light.”
The stable master bowed his head. “Of course, Warlord.”
Kavon grabbed Aurina’s hand, and soon she found herself tugged into the house and up two flights of stairs.
He stopped at a doorway and pulled out a large metal key.
He stared at it for a second before he shoved it into the lock.
It scraped on the metal as he turned it, then he shoved the door open.
She followed him in…and saw all her stuff from the crash on the table.
She swallowed. “Thank you. For trusting me.”
He wandered closer, his fingers brushing the beacon. “I still do not want you to leave.”
God, a part of her didn’t want to leave either, but this wasn’t her world. She didn’t belong on this planet. Whatever they felt, neither of them had ever planned for the other.
She cleared her throat and plucked up her scanner, checking it still worked. “For now, we focus on getting your sword.”
He nodded. “What is that?”
“A scanner. It can give lots of information on objects and biological entities.”
“Anything else?”
“That’s it. You already have the medscope, and I have my stunner and Sync.” She shoved the scanner in the small pack she’d brought with her.
“Good.” He grabbed her, lifting her to him, his mouth slamming down over hers.
The bag slipped from her fingers, and she slid her hands into his hair. They gorged themselves on each other. Stars, how could she want him again so desperately?
His big hands cupped her ass, and she clamped her legs around his waist. He snatched up her bag, strode out of the room, and somehow managed to get the door closed with a kick of his boot.
Then he was marching down to his rooms.
Yes. For now, all she wanted was Kavon. His warmth, his strength, that single-minded attention he focused on pleasuring her. And she wanted to see him lose that warrior control, to be completely lost in their loving.
In his rooms, he tossed her on the bed, and she bounced once. He tossed her bag to the floor, drew his sword, and set it in its place on the table. His scabbard followed.
Her breath coming in short pants, she watched him methodically strip out of his clothes. She’d never, ever tire of seeing that body—all those muscles, that ridged stomach, that hard cock.
He pressed one knee to the bed, looming over her. “I’m going to make sure you’re sore tomorrow as we ride out for the mines.”
She pressed her tongue to her teeth. “Is that so?”
He moved closer, his fingers drifting up her leather-clad leg. “You’ll feel me, even when I’m not there.”
Her breath hitched. “Do your worst, warrior…or should I say, your best?”
His hand drifted over her belly, atop her corset to fiddle with the ties. “This needs to go.”
“Let me undo?—”
He gripped the tough leather, and in one hard tug, tore it down the middle. Her breasts spilled free and his eyes turned from amber-brown to molten gold.
“Come inside me, Kavon.”
With a growl he covered her, and Aurina lost herself in her warrior.