CHAPTER FOUR
Raze poured a glass of whiskey and gulped it down. The way Affina had touched him had his body ready to explode. The feel of her finger on his skin had him so wound tight he felt like he was choking from the inside out.
Yes, they'd touched before. Many times. When she'd bound the wound on his shoulder. When they'd swam in the great lake. When they'd wrestled and sparred. Even when she'd held his hand under the stars. But none of the touching had ever felt that way before. Had never been that intimate. Like she'd been trying to find him beneath his skin.
Raze poured another glass and downed it as well. No. It was not his place to think of her like that. She was the princess and he was a slave meant to keep her safe. It was his duty to be near her but not his rank to pursue her.
"Razor?"
He whipped around. Affina stood wrapped in a soft white bath sheet, her hair dripping down her body and between her breasts. The bath towel stopped just where her legs began. Toned and tan, they ran for miles. Damn. He turned toward the counter so she couldn't see his growing interest.
Keep it together. Keep it together.
"Did you need something?" he asked.
"I... uh... don't have any clothing."
He nodded. "Of course. I apologize. Let me get you something of mine and tomorrow we will get you some new clothes."
He turned, grateful for the distraction and walked into his bedroom. He stopped and stared at his bed for a moment. Why had he walked in there? Clothes! She needed clothes.
Raze headed to his dresser and pulled open the top drawer. He scanned his silk pajama bottoms and grabbed a pair of dark blue ones. Then he grabbed a white tank top and turned around. Affina stood in the doorway.
"These will be a bit big on you but, they'll work for tonight."
She smiled and took them. "Thank you."
Dropping her towel to the floor she set the clothes on the bed.
Raze adverted his eyes. "There's a bathroom over there if you want to..."
She pulled on the pajama bottoms and tied the waist. "I'm sorry. Does this offend you?"
He swallowed hard and fought for words, trying to keep his eyes trained in front of him.
"Offend? No, I... I'm not offended I just... uh..."
Out of the corner of his eye he caught her pulling his white tank top down. Her ripe buds peeked at him through the thin cotton top.
Her eyebrows furrowed and then she nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just, since I've been on the run, so many things seemed to become unnecessary. Like modesty and running water. You can't believe the kinds of things you find don't matter anymore when your priority is staying alive from day to day."
The pain she'd been through cut him deep. Sadness etched into her features and the red splotches on her cheeks and under her eyes told him that she'd been crying.
His saber chuffed and paced, wanting to rub up against her and curl his body next to hers.
"I wish I could have been there with you. To protect you." The words came out without thinking.
"I'm glad you weren't. I'm glad my father saved you and sent you here."
The doorbell rang and she turned. His gaze travelled again to the scars on the back of her arm. He wondered if any of them had been for him.
"That will be the food," he said. He strode into the front room and pulled cash from his pocket.
They sat together on the couch and Affina set the last empty container of Chinese food on the coffee table.
"I liked it," she said.
"After living in the forest I supposed you'd like anything warm." He laughed.
"True, but I enjoyed the taste of this. All of it." She gestured to the ten empty containers.
She stared at him for a moment. "Can you tell me what happened the night you came here?"
Raze licked his lips. It'd been so long ago and yet he remembered every detail. "It was night. Late. I was sleeping and heard shouts coming from outside the palace. I looked out my window and saw the guard under attack. A large burly saber with teeth as long as I'd ever seen shifted into man form and ordered the others into the palace. I tried to get to you but they were everywhere. Searching for someone. Suddenly your father was in front of me. He grabbed me by the arm and took me to the throne room. He set an orb on the floor and handed me a chest full of gold and jewels. He told me to find a place for us. I tried to protest. I wanted to fight but he pushed me through."
Affina squeezed his hand. "He did the same to me."
"What about you?" he asked. "What happened to you that night?"
She looked away in silence for a moment. "I too was in my room when I heard the shouts. My mother threw my cloak around me and pushed me down the secret passage toward the throne room. I got there just as you must have disappeared through the portal. My mother pushed me toward the portal but the door burst open before I could get inside. I saw him. That giant saber. He and his clan made their way toward us. He talked about retribution and how the throne was stolen from them. My mother-"
She stopped as tears flooded her eyes. "The giant saber killed her in front of us. He told my father that he was going to do the same to me. The last of the guard attacked the newcomers from behind. My father grabbed me by the arm and reached for the orb but it was smashed in the fray. I'm still not sure how we made it out of the castle. It's all a blur after that. For days we hid in the caves near the dragons, knowing that the other clan wouldn't dare come into the dragonlands. Stragglers made their way there to join us. Incus and his mate. Boramus. Medajon. Satia. Maybe a dozen more. But not you."
"And you've been running ever since?"
She nodded. "Until now."
Raze's saber yearned to go to her. To nuzzle and comfort her. But he didn't. For fear that if he did, he may not be able to stop himself.
His phone buzzed on the table. It was Bethany. She'd called half a dozen times since he'd left the office.
Affina looked at the phone. "That's a communication device is it not?"
He picked it up and rejected the call. "It's called a cellular phone. I'll get you one. That way you can call me if you need me."
"But, I'll be with you. Why would I need to call you?"
"Well... yes, but I go to work and have meetings and other things and I'm sure that you don't want to just sit with me all day and watch me."
"What else would I do?"
Wow. What else would she do?
"What do earth women usually do during their days?"
"Some have jobs and work and some are mothers and stay home with their children and some... shop."
"Shop?"
"They go out and buy things that they want and spend money. Currency."
Her eyebrows pushed together. "That's all they do? They buy things? Doesn't that get tiresome?"
He chuckled. "Apparently not for some women."
She shook her head. "How frivolous. Even as a princess I didn't spend my days like that. I studied and trained and learned how to be useful and resourceful. Except for playing the lute- which was a complete waste of time. But mother thought it was beautiful."
He had to agree. "We'll find you something to do, don't worry, but right now I think it's best if you get some sleep."
"I'm not tired yet."
He nodded. He wasn't either. What he wanted to do was strip her slowly and run his mouth over every inch of her body.
Stop! He had to stop.
Raze cleared his throat. "I have some work to get done before tomorrow. Maybe you would like to watch television."
"What kind of work do you do here? You aren't a guard I take it."
"No. I work in real estate. I buy land and buildings and sell them or I put people in them who pay me rent."
"There are so many people here that I can hardly believe there is a space left on earth that doesn't already belong to someone."
"That's because we're in the city. A metropolis. But there are still places further out that few people live in."
"And people pay you to live in the buildings you own? Like this one? Do you own this one?"
"No," he said. "Not this one. For the price I would have to pay to buy it I wouldn't make enough money to have it be worth the hassle."
She cocked her head to the side and stared at him for a long moment. "You've changed," she said. "You are no longer like the boy who grew at my side. You're more like my father now."
It didn't sound like a compliment.
"I've had to be," he said. "I've been alone a long time."
She touched his hand and then pulled it away quickly.
"Come. I'll show you the television. It will help you learn more about earth life."
Raze walked Affina back to her room, pulled the remote from the nightstand drawer and pushed the on button. Affina stared at the screen.
"Humans pretend to be other people and create entertainment for people to watch in their homes." He handed her the remote.
She looked at it and pushed the up arrow. The channel changed. She sat on her bed and pushed it again. And again. And again.
"Fascinating," she muttered.
He watched her flip through channels with the wonder of a child. Memories of her running through the tall grass with him as she stalked a rabbit, popped into his mind. He'd loved her even back then. So vibrant. So full of life. So free.
"I'm going to go work. You feel free to watch television as long as you want and when you get tired, you can get some sleep."
Affina continued to stare at the screen and nodded. Raze ruffled his hair and headed for the door. She was adjusting already.
"Razor?"
He turned.
"Thank you again."
The smile on her face made his heart stop. She was so breathtaking.
"You're welcome, Highness."
Raze walked toward his room. His spirit lifted in a way he'd not realized until that moment. Being near another saber, and Affina specifically, began to patch that hole inside him that had ached to be filled for over a decade.
****
Affina sobbed into her hands.
Raze ran into her room in nothing but his pajama bottoms. "What's the matter?"
She looked up at him and swiped at her eyes. His hard muscular body tensed in the doorway. A light dusting of blond curls smattered his chest and wound a trail over his rippling abs and disappeared under his waistband. Again her saber mewled and purred at the sight of him sending flutter moths dancing in her stomach.
"That woman's spirit killed her children so she could be with them forever," she said.
He blinked several times. "What?"
She brushed the tears from her face. "How could she do that? It's so selfish."
Confusion etched his features as Razor's eyebrows knit together. He walked over, took the remote from her hand and pushed a button. He read the screen and then turned back to her.
"Fina, it's not real. It's fake. It's called a movie. Remember I told you. Humans pretend so they can entertain."
"Why would anyone pretend to kill children? That's horrible."
He sat on her bed and turned off the television. "I don't know. I don't understand a lot of things people here find entertaining."
She inhaled his musky cologne, making tingles jogging up her spine. He brushed a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb, sending goosebumps over her skin.
"Why aren't you asleep? It's two in the morning."
"You're not asleep."
"I told you. I was working."
"It's too quiet in here and I'm not used to sleeping alone anymore. Father used to make me sleep between him and Incus. The rest of the clan surrounded us. But here..." She looked around. "The bed is so big. Will you lie down with me? The way we used to when we snuck out and counted the stars? Just for a little while?"
A flicker of anxiety mixed with something else crossed his face.
"You don't have to," she said quickly.
"No. It's fine." His tense body language told her it was anything but fine but the loneliness that lodged in her breast made her willing to accept even the most begrudging of affections and companionship.
She scooted over and got under the covers. Razor lay next to her on top of the blankets. An awkward moment of silence passed between them and then he turned off the light.
She lay in the dark listening to the sound of his breathing. Shallow and short at first, but after a minute he relaxed and it evened out. She reached over and placed her palm on top of his.
"Do you remember the smell of the Ubla flowers in bloom?" she asked.
"Like berries on the vine," he said.
"I remember the time you brought me an entire valley's full and decorated my room with them."
"You'd said they were your favorite scent."
"But then the smell clung to every surface for so long I got sick to my stomach and could never go near them again."
He laughed. "I remember when a suitor from a different clan brought you a bouquet after that. You puked on his sandals."
She squeezed his hand. "I tried to explain but he was so mortified he stormed out before I could tell him that it wasn't him."
"What was his name?"
"Fanghorn."
"That's right. I wonder what ever happened to him."
Affina's chest squeezed. "He was one of the sabers who attacked the castle. He stood with the giant red-haired saber that killed my mother."
Razor fell silent for a moment. "I'm so sorry you went through that."
Guilt and pain swept over her. She rolled on her side and faced the window. "I think I'm tired now."
His warm palm ran down her back. "Sleep."
Affina stared out at the dark sky beyond. She closed her eyes and listened to the rhythm of Razor's breathing and the heat of his body as it warmed her back. His presence soothed the ache inside her and made her saber purr.