Kael flew back to where he had left the hood Gwendolyn had lent him and decided to go back to the escape pod to check if there was a way he could communicate with his friends. He scolded himself for not knowing all the pod’s functions. He had never thought he would need to use one. Their vessels were strong, and they usually resisted all kinds of attacks, but they had never been through an ordeal such as this.
The ship had been thrown from one side to another, while millions of small meteorites collided with them. It had been a real miracle they had survived long enough to leave the black hole and reach the planet’s orbit.
It didn’t take him much to reach the pod, and after making sure he was alone, he opened the pod and jumped in, closing it immediately after. It was a tiny vessel, so there wasn’t much room for more than the basic, but he was happy to find a more powerful weapon and a tablet with all the information he might need on the planet. It had enough energy for a week but used carefully, he could make it last a lot more.
Before he left, he tried the communication device, but the pod didn’t have enough energy to make it work.
He would have to find a fuel substitute if he wanted to make it work, but he didn’t have high hopes. This planet still seemed to rely on animal power, so there was little chance he would be able to make it work unless he was able to capture some of the sun’s energy. That should be good enough to use on the pod, but he wasn’t very good at those things. He would need Nezir’s help for that.
With a heavy sigh, he abandoned the pod, considering if he should leave immediately to the place where he was supposed to meet his friends. The coordinates given by his mother were somewhere in America, and getting there wouldn’t be an easy task, considering these people didn’t even know it existed.
He closed the pod and decided to return to Gwendolyn’s cabin. He was starting to feel hungry.
When Rhiannon opened the guest room’s door, she knew for sure something was different. It was as if someone was occupying it.
Frowning, she walked towards the bed and picked up one of the pillows and smelled it. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but it certainly wasn’t the musk and sandal scent that filled her nostrils. It smelled like the soap her grandmother used to prepare for the men in their family.
She knew for sure her father hadn't slept there the night before and her grandfather had passed away several years ago. The scent was too fresh for that.
Could it be possible her grandmother was hosting a man? But who could he be? And why was she keeping it a secret?
More intrigued than ever, she returned to the kitchen to check on her soup and add the vegetables and herbs that made it so special.
She was busy working on it when she heard the door behind her being opened.
“That was fast. I thought you would be away longer,” Rhiannon said, as she started to turn around to look at her grandmother.
But it wasn’t her.
Kael had been so distracted by his thoughts he didn’t realize the person inside Gwendolyn’s cabin wasn’t her. The minute he stepped inside, a woman’s scent filled his nostrils, and his whole body tensed up in attention. It was the woman from the waterfall.
“Who are you and who gave you the right to enter this house like that?” she scolded him, furious, standing with her arms on her hips and a daring look on her shining green eyes.
“I’m Kael, Gwendolyn’s guest. Who are you?” he replied, thankful he was still using the hood, that kept half his face hidden.
“I’m Rhiannon, Gwendolyn’s granddaughter. She didn’t mention any guest. Why should I believe you?” she replied in a cold tone assessing the man’s very tall and strong body. He was like no one she had ever seen.
“She didn’t mention a granddaughter, either, so I guess that makes us even,” he stated, in an amused tone.
Now that he was able to see her up close, he could see she was even more beautiful. And her sweet floral scent was simply inebriating, to the point he wanted to take her in his arms and lose himself in her sweetness.
“Hardly, since I can prove I’m her granddaughter. Can you prove you’re her guest?” she challenged him, though she was sure she was looking at her grandmother’s secret guest.
“My bag is in the guest room. I can show you if you want me to,” he offered, with a smile.
“We’ll better wait for her to arrive, don’t you think? She should be here any minute now,”
He took a seat at the table. “I thought you were saying you didn’t expect her so soon,” he reminded her, with a naughty grin.
“I was just teasing her.” She looked at him furrowing her eyebrows. “Why don’t you take off that hood? It’s warm inside here,” she suggested, eager to see his face.
“I’m fine, thank you. But I would appreciate a glass of water, if you would be so kind,” he asked, refusing to remove the hood. He wasn’t ready to show her his face.
“I’ve prepared some orange juice; would you like to have some?” she offered instead. “It’s very refreshing.”
“That would be nice, thank you.”
She served the juice and handed the glass to him.
When he stretched his hand to take the glass, her heart missed a beat, before it went on at a frantic pace. The man had black claws. Could he be a demon? They were the only beings she had seen with claws like his. But he spoke her language perfectly. Everybody knew that demons only spoke some gibberish no one was able to understand. If he wasn’t a demon, then what on Earth was he?
Shaking a bit, she turned to check on the soup, trying to get a grip on herself.
“That smells delicious, what is it?”
“Chicken soup, one of my specialties,” she replied, stirring the pot, a bit nervously.
“If it tastes the way it smells, I’m sure it’s delicious,” he complimented her, and she nodded, without turning to look at him.
Struggling to keep her nerves under control she tried to rationalize the situation; her grandmother would never shelter a demon. She had lost her grandfather to them, so whatever he was, he wasn’t a demon.
“You’ll have to judge for yourself,” she said, turning around and grabbing the butter dish from the table.
Taking a good chunk of it, she put it in another bowl and added a few garlic cloves and a few leaves of finely chopped parsley before she stirred it until she had a smooth paste.
“What are you preparing?” he asked, curious.
“Garlic butter. I like to toast some slices of bread, with this butter on, whenever I make soup. An Italian Merchant taught me how to do it.”
She proceeded to spread the mix on some bread slices before she put it on a baking tray and took it to the oven. Soon, the smells of garlic and parsley were filling the kitchen, mixed with the ones of the soup.
Kael’s stomach growled with hunger.
He had been observing the woman ever since he had arrived, and he had to admit she had taken the situation quite calmly. He realized she had gotten a bit nervous when she saw his hands, but fortunately, she didn’t run out of the house yelling demon.
She intrigued him like no other female had. He hadn't felt the call of the instinct he had grown up listening to, but the attraction he felt for her was like none other. He wanted to pull her into his arms and lose himself with her full lips, make love to her until they were flying free in the wild swirls of the most powerful orgasm.
His whole body reacted to his feverish imagination, and he was able to feel his hard shaft pushing against the restraint of his clothes. He had to control himself before he lost the thin thread of self-control he was holding on to.
At that moment, the kitchen door opened up, and Gwendolyn walked in, looking a bit flushed. She stopped abruptly taking in the scene developing in front of her.
“Oh. I see you’ve two have met,” she mumbled, closing the door behind her.
“Yes, Kael arrived a few minutes ago. He seemed to know his way around the house, so I believed his claim that he was your guest.” There was a clear reproach in Rhiannon’s tone.
Gwendolyn cleared her throat, distinctly uncomfortable. “Yes, I was going to mention him to you, but you know, I left in a hurry, and I forgot,” she mumbled, lying through teeth.
“You certainly were,” Rhiannon said, making sure her grandmother knew she hadn't bought her story. “The soup is almost ready, why don’t you freshen up a bit? You seem to need it.”
“Yes, I’ll do that,” she left the kitchen and looking back a couple of times as if she wasn’t sure about leaving the other two alone.
Rhiannon turned her attention to the soup, stirring it a bit more before she added the coriander and pulled the soup off the fire. She pulled the tray of bread out of the oven and transferred it to a serving plate. Gwendolyn returned to the kitchen when she was putting it on the table.
“Right on time,” she said with a smile, pulling a chair next to Kael.
“Are you planning on having lunch with that hood on?” Rhiannon asked, in a scolding tone.