Chapter Forty-One
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brIA SIPPED HER VANILLA flavored coffee, watching Urzra as he zoomed along the roads in his video game.
His focus seemed to be absolute, but she knew he was attuned to her every movement.
To prove it, she leaned over to put her mug down on the coffee table.
The knight’s head pivoted towards her fractionally, then turned back to the TV when he realized she wasn’t getting up.
Now that she’d spent the past eight days in his company, she knew her assumption that he was obsessed with her was wrong.
Urzra was highly attracted to her, but he didn’t want to possess her like Kale had wanted to.
Instead of oppressing and controlling her, her warrior supported her and always had her back.
A warm feeling had been creeping up on her ever since Urzra had stolen the vanilla essence two days ago.
She knew it wouldn’t take much for that warmth to ignite into white-hot desire.
It was difficult for her to remember why she was resisting him so hard.
Their time in the isolated house had been peaceful, calm and relaxing so far.
Urzra swore viciously beneath his breath when he crashed his car into an obstacle. “Where the hell did that dumpster come from?” he complained.
The volume on the TV was loud enough to drown out sounds that came from outside. Bria thought she heard a noise, then her attention returned to the TV when Urzra’s avatar opened fire on its enemies.
“Damn it!” the knight exclaimed when his avatar died. He lurched to his feet, scowling at the TV. “Do you want a snack, female?” he asked. “I need to take a break from the game for a while.”
“Sure,” Bria agreed. It had become his ritual to bring her small offerings. It would only hurt his feelings if she refused him, so she always accepted them now.
Instantly perking up, Urzra loped into the kitchen to search for some cookies.
She was lucky they hadn’t gone stale yet.
Bending over to peer into the pantry, he gave her an excellent view of his butt.
Her gaze lingered on him as he grabbed a box of cookies and plated a few for her.
“For you, my cambion,” he said when he strode over to offer it to her.
“Thank you, my knight,” she replied teasingly as she took the plate and put it on the coffee table.
His dark blue eyes blazed with emotion and he sank down to one knee. “Don’t say that unless you mean it, female,” Urzra said. His tone and expression were serious. “You know how I feel about you. It will tear me apart if you toy with my emotions.”
On impulse, Bria reached out and put her palm on his cheek.
He closed his eyes and pressed his face against her hand, savoring the contact.
Her magic rose, then sank into him. This time, she wasn’t trying to push him away.
Instead, she delved deeply into his emotions to see whether they were real, or if they were just a fabrication that Fate had forced on him.
Her breath caught and Urzra’s eyes opened. She felt his terror as he braced himself for her inevitable rejection once more. “You love me,” she said in wonder.
“I do,” he agreed, holding still so he didn’t frighten her away. “With my whole heart,” he added earnestly.
“We’ve only known each other for less than two weeks,” Bria reminded him.
“I fell for you the moment you rescued me from the sharks, female,” he said.
Her heart fluttered, then they moved in tandem. She leaned forward and he put his hands on her waist. Their lips met, then she melted into their first kiss. Pure joy emanated from her knight rather than triumph that she’d finally caved in. He let her take the lead as she intensified their kiss.
Urzra pulled her off the couch and onto his thighs. Her legs wrapped around him, putting them at the same height. His passion coaxed hers to life and she finally allowed herself to admit her feelings for him.
A distant noise came again and this time the TV was silent and didn’t mask it. They tried to ignore it, but a sense of danger had them pulling apart at the same time.
“What is that?” Bria asked when she heard metallic clicking and sliding noises.
Urzra frowned, then realization dawned. “That sounded like magazines being inserted into assault rifles,” he said. They sent out their senses and detected humans approaching.
“We know you killed our friends! Open fire!” a man shouted, then bullets began thudding into the house.
Urzra rose to his feet with Bria still wrapped around him. More humans were approaching from the back of the house. Windows shattered and teargas began to fill the house.
“I can’t see!” Bria said, coughing and choking. She tried to ensnare their attackers with her magic, but they were shooting from a distance. A bullet hit her in the side and she screamed in agony.
Urzra roared with rage, feeling her pain. Her knight was suffering as well, but he’d been created to do battle with his enemies. He sprinted towards a broken window in the living room and leaped through it. Urzra’s speed made them seem like a blur as he raced through a gap in the humans’ defenses.
He stopped a few hundred yards away and put her down. The bullet had passed through her and was now lodged in his side. “Stay here, female,” he said, face grim with purpose. “Don’t move until I’ve wiped out the vermin.”
Her injury was healing, but his wouldn’t heal properly until the bullet had been removed. “Be careful,” she said, eyes and throat stinging from the teargas.
With a nod, he took off, drawing his sword from the ether.
Coughing as quietly as she could, Bria sensed some humans sneaking towards her.
There were far more than they’d first realized.
One of them spotted her and lifted his rifle.
She sent her power zooming towards him and twisted his battle lust into paranoia.
One of his friends came up behind him and he whirled around and shot the guy in the chest.
“What the hell?” another human asked in shock and was the next to die. The others cut their friend down, then turned their weapons on the cambion.
Bria scrambled behind a tree, keeping track of her knight as he engaged their foes.
He was too busy to help her, but she knew she could handle these frightened people.
Once again, she sent her magic towards them.
They turned on each other in paranoid terror and began shooting until only one was left standing.
The human’s back was to her, so Bria raced over just as he turned around.
He pulled the trigger as her fist was rushing towards his face.
She hit him so hard that his neck snapped, then she staggered back.
Looking down, she saw a hole in her t-shirt just above her heart.
Blood was gushing out of the wound. Urzra bellowed in fury, then she felt him being shot twice in the chest.
Knowing they were both going to die, the cambion dredged up the last of her strength and ran to the warrior who was supposed to become her mate.