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The offerings only continued When she&039;d mentioned how lovely she found the bloo, she&039;d awakened to find a flawless white lily bloom by her bedside The vase? A rinsed-out Iquiteña bottle

On top of everything, he&039;d given her a never-easped when he&039;d proudly handed it to her "You just happened to find one of these lying around on board?" It was so elegant, with fine leather ties that could be strapped to her back or thigh

"Had it withshe&039;d seen wrapped in leather Which ht it for her even when he&039;d been furious with her "Did you filch this frorin, he&039;d said, "Well, they damn sure doona sell theotten over her breathless exciteift fro to help her archery Too bad she couldn&039;t keep the archery and the lover Still, she&039;d rewarded his thoughtfulness aifts as sohting her Valkyrie sensibilities

Yes, atop decks, life was constant Belowdecks, she and MacRieve indulged their lusts

Any ti the day, he&039;d offer his hand with the grated words, "Come, Lousha" Just as he would command later when he wanted her to cli with anticipation by the tiot to the cabin

With his palm over her s to her During each encounter, he grewher even more possessively She knew he considered her his woman - and the idea only aroused her ht on board, he&039;d told her that she&039;d pray for hiht When he spread her thighs wide, then lazily petted her sex, it drove her wild Especially when he stroked just at her core while rasping in her ear, "One day I&039;ht in here You&039;ll be hot and wet and fit ain, she tried to i into her body Most women in her situation would fear his size But after his onslaught of teasing and petting

Yesterday, she&039;d nearly begged,how nashed his teeth, puncturing the paneled wall above their bed with his claws "Gods, woman! No&039; till you ask ht after they were sated - or as much as they could be with their limitations - he held her in his ar for hours

They&039;d speculated as to why Nïx had warned her about the Barão and why its captain kept returning to reers didn&039;t make it back to port "Maybe Captain Malaqu��&039;s been finding de unwitting cryzos to thee for power"

"We&039;ve heard of crazier things in the Lore"

And MacRieve told her more about the necropolis If they could locate Rio Labyrinto, they could find the city of the dead In that place were depictions of gold, possibly directing them to "the ht or ht not even be a place

"Everyone thinks it&039;s a location, a lost city," he&039;d said, "but the phrase is actually based on a legend of a native chieftain He was so rich that he ridiculed anyone ore the saround into a mist, then painted on his body At the end of the day, he&039;d wash it away, and it&039;d be lost forever El Dorado means &039;the Gilded Man&039;"

If El Dorado had merely been a man, then he probably would&039;ve been buried in a necropolis Had he been buried with his gold? If he were surrounded by his golden treasures - like arrows? - then maybe El Dorado could still be a man and a place

Lucia didn&039;t expect a neon sign pointing to the dieuet them to the next set of clues In truth, she&039;d never been on such an ill-defined mission But if it were easy to find a dieumort, then it would&039;ve been found before

And Lucia sensed they were getting closer, daydrea hoould hiss through the air once she shot it

She pictured the look on Cruach&039;s hideous visage when he realized she&039;d just dealt a death blow

At other tiuide book that Izabel had given her As Lucia discovered more about the perils they&039;d face in Rio Labyrinto - the anacondas and those creepy caimans - MacRieve carved arrows for her new quiver With that sly look, he&039;d said, "If I canna fill your quiver in one way, I will in another"

She&039;d chuckled "Good one, olf"

He&039;d grown quiet, seeh"

"And?"

"And now I canna rest until I hear it again" He&039;d leapt atop her, tickling her till she&039;d squealed with laughter

She was so teainst his chest, war, "Let me in, Lousha Confide your secrets in me"

She kneanted her to reveal what her night, had never coht to unburden the another No, she&039;d never understood the act of transferring misery, but especially not with a secret like this

A fact-of-life secret, soed

Hoould MacRieve react if he knew his e would have to overwhelm him And when she explained who her husband was and how she&039;d co Cruach Which would be tantamount to suicide Or worse

Sometimes Cruach didn&039;t kill victims So MacRieve off Yet she felt he was only biding his time, as if he had no doubt she&039;d ultimately open up to him

Which will never happen Lucia had decided she would do whatever it took to keep her involvement with Cruach concealed from MacRieve But on other in always asked herself, Is the cake worth the bake? Invariably, for Regin, it was Now Lucia had caught herself wondering if having a life with MacRieve ht be When all this was over, if she could truly kill Cruach

No! What the hell a? Even if she didn&039;t have to stop an apocalypse, she couldn&039;t surrender her archery It would be like erasing her identity

You get off on being known as the Archer, he&039;d said

Yes Yes, I do She&039;d go fro the Lykae&039;s Mate

Never, she decided

Then she went to go catch dinner

Chapter 31

A three-foot-long fish plopped onto the deck in front of Garreth and Da fro

Froentlemen Dinner is procured By a wo her bow over her shoulder, brushing off her unsullied hands As she sauntered away, the lass said over her shoulder, "I caught, you boys can clean"

Gods, that felanced back, he saw Daain like that, Damiãno!" He stepped in front of the man "Do it, and let&039;s end this now"

The reen

In a low tone, Garreth said, "You&039;re a godda"

That raised his hackles "Scottish dog?" Revealing a good look of the beast within hiot your number, shifter So stay out of my bluidy way"

In turn, Dauar with fangs as long as Garreth&039;s fingers "Don&039;t get in"You better truly be here as a doc and for no other reason" Jaguar shifters were ruht actually be a worthy opponent

"I&039;et that"

"I&039;m here to protect my mate I&039;ll do it to the death Count yourself warned In the ato," Garreth said, turning away to look for Lucia

What&039;s new there?

She was hanging over the rickety rail, watching the pink dolphins that swaside the ship Her short shorts rode up until he could alrowl at the sight Then his gaze fell on the slender colu to mark the tender flesh there

Now I understand why ot to do it to Lucia I&039;llhell out of her

He was pleasuring her - hard and continually - but Garreth hadn&039;t gained any ground with her, was no closer to clai her She&039;d made no request that he take her completely At least not out of bed

And the full ht He&039;d hoped to have convinced her to forgo her vows before now So he could take off the cuff and claim her

Added to that, he couldn&039;t shake the feeling of so apocalypse and the fullout of time on all fronts

A dolphin sprayed water fro more often Whenever he let himself believe it was because of hiift of a butterfly had been a stroke of genius "You na soft, her eyes flickering silver

That hat the wolf in hiht He&039;d soaked it up Like a besotted fool, he tended that dae full of sugar water

And the quiver he&039;d swiped froone unappreciated either

For nearly teeks, Garreth hadinto her past And every day he turned up so

She&039;d revealed more about the foe Nïx had dispatched her to kill, this Crom Cruach "Those infected with his influence feel cohastly ways The , the more they want to annihilate it Cruach can control theirhis victims to see whatever he wills them to Their eyes turn milky white - that&039;s when you know they&039;re lost"

"How does he do this?"

"His powers as a god And he grows stronger with each sacrifice in his name Whenever Cruach&039;s human followers from the Cult of Death - the Cromites - invoke him, they pray: To him we sacrifice, for hiine a worse apocalypse - because this one would sweep the world, perverting the purest love and turning it into evil and death

Lucia was convinced that the dieumort had to be an arro he&039;d become convinced as well If one could be infected by Cruach, then it made sense to strike at him from afar

Garreth planned to Alone The more she told him of Cruach, the more Garreth resolved never to let her anywhere near hiod

One night after otten her to admit she&039;d only been with one man "If you&039;ve only had sex with one bloke in all this time," he&039;d said, "then you must&039;ve loved him verraSo that&039;s the way of it The man had hurt her

"Or you hated sex so o it for over ten centuries"

She&039;d sighed, looking tired, with faint sht much restful sleep In fact, it was only toward dawn, once her nightmares had ebbed, that she&039;d fall into a deeper, nearly coo?"

He&039;d said he would drop it, but of course he hadn&039;t He needed to figure out exactly how bad it&039;d been for her And who the hter hi then It was Lachlain, no doubt calling to see what progress Garreth hadfull moon In a word: none Still, the call was a welcooes it with you and the queen?"

"She took me to a mall yesterday" Lachlain sounded as if he&039;d just stifled a shudder "And she pointed to a boy and said, &039;I think I want one&039; So naturally, I start thinking, Where can I get a wee mortal? But she meant she etting a babe on your ain, brother, how delicate can she be if she beheaded Demestriu?"

"Ach! No&039; you, too!"

Actually, Garreth couldn&039;t talk Before he&039;d found out the Valkyrie couldn&039;t get pregnant unless they ate regular meals, he&039;d planned to take precautions

"In any case, I dinna call to talk about oes it with your Valkyrie?"

Garreth rubbed his pal her down that I never stopped to see if I truly liked her, had never had the opportunity to discover if I could"

"And now that you&039;ve had the opportunity?"

Hesitation Then he ad about her Each day, he fell deeper under her spell, his graceful, exquisiteeyes "She&039;s so clever" The speed hich she was learning Gaelic was uncanny "And I like that she&039;s proud" He&039;d never thought he would desire such a prideful woman, but now that he&039;d had a taste of Lucia, he could never settle for less "And she&039;s passionate," he said in the ultimate understatement

Lucia was the best bedmate he&039;d ever conceived of - and they hadn&039;t even had sex She brought hireater pleasure than he&039;d ever known, but released only the worst of the pressure - because she stoked his need beyond i

"And does the Valkyrie return the sentiment?" Lachlain asked

"I want her- but I know she&039;s no&039; mine She holds herself away from me, keeps secrets I fear she alill"

Garreth had told her, "We need to talk about ill happen once we coey look and said, "Can&039;t we just keep our focus on that for now?" He&039;d asked her to confide in hihtmares were about She&039;d refused to tell hiive her a free rein," Lachlain said "She&039;s s for over amale"

"Aye, I ken that" He exhaled "If Lousha and I are fated, then why is this so difficult?"

"Everybody says theeasier In rief, at least at first Especially if a mate is other Bowen and I could no&039; be h hell to get her"

Hell I&039;hed on hi for his mate, and could find no threat to protect her fro her?" Lachlain asked

"Nay," he said, then added in aher back to their cabin But even when it hadn&039;t been raining, he was te hirown so desperate he wouldn&039;t have cared if Lucia&039;s lightning struck all around them on a cloudless day

And when they were in bed together, he was only just keeping his promise to her Claw led not to take her, when his shaft had prodded right at her tight core - and instead of fighting him, she&039;d moaned, "Please"

Each tith to deny her, he resented her vowsto be patient," he told Lachlain now, "trying to respect her beliefs, but I doona kno er I can do this"

"What will happen tonight?"

"Unless I can get her to acceptthe cuff holds true" His voice trailed off Garreth scented her desire And rain on the air He turned to Lucia, found her gazing at hio!"

"Why, what&039;s happening?"

Garreth said, "Ah, brother, a stor!"

By midafternoon, once they were both spent, Garreth petted her hair, gently sifting his fingers through it, watching fascinated as the laht played off the strands

"Your eyes turned completely blue," she said, her voice drowsy "Is it because the full ht?"

When he nodded, she said, "The cuff ork?"

"Aye It&039;s working" Because already his reaction would&039;ve been er

"Tell "

"It&039;s like a possession When we turn, we call the transfor the beast out of its cage Think of it as four different levels of turning Say I got into a heated dispute I&039;d feel the beast stirring inside e, it&039;d s sharpen And lust to aze over her "It&039;d take overall, co, but the beast is definitely in control To fight it would take a will that few are known to possess"

"What&039;s the fourth level?"

"It&039;s the worst - turning so much that you canna come back If one of our kind canna handle so that&039;s too hard to take, the beast rises tooits Lykae host forever He&039;d never revert from his animal state"