Blood of My Heart, Beloved of My Soul
Chapter 16
Sam went willingly into his arms, and her body molded itself to his. This kiss was a deep, sweet exploration. It was an exchange of unspoken words. It was soft romantic evenings and dark sensual nights. It was sunshine, starlight, and jasmine on the warm night air.
Martouf moaned her name as his hands
grasped her hips to hold her firmly as his hips thrust and ground urgently
against hers, his shaft straining against the material of his clothing. Much
more of this and he would have a waking wet dream, he thought, before his
few coherent thoughts skittered out of reach.
This woman in his arms was why he was
alive. She was his breath, his reason,
and his other half. Her answering
movements left no doubt that she agreed with his intentions. He hoped her thoughts matched his. He wanted to ask, but could not seem to form
a sentence that made sense, so he would just show her what she meant to
him. If she was not careful, she would
cause him to lose what little was left of his mind.
As they stilled for a moment, Sam reached between them to stroke his erection through the material of his pants. It caused her desire to flare even higher. God, she could feel her own wetness, how soaked she was. Still locked together, feverishly exploring with their hands and mouths, they drifted towards the bed. When they reached it, they sank down onto it without breaking contact.
Their mutual arousal would soon burn out of control if she didn’t stop them. She wanted their first time together as lovers to be perfect, not a quick tumble, but as his mouth continued to kiss her lips and then to nuzzle her ear, and her throat, the last coherent thought she had was that quick tumbles were nice. Yeah, quick tumbles, they could be very good indeed. The perfect, extended lovemaking she had envisioned, as their first time, was replaced by a picture of each of them overwhelmed with need for each other. Either way, she knew she would remember this time with him forever as one of the most beautiful events of her life.
Someone was moaning. She thought it was him, but soon became aware that it was both of them. She feverishly looked for a way to remove his uniform top. She couldn’t figure it out, and she couldn’t rip it, so she used the only other alternative. She began to push it up. Her hands roved his rock hard stomach.
She lightly raked her nails over his
skin causing tiny bumps to rise as if he was chilled. Pulling her mouth away from his, she leaned
down to place kisses on the exposed skin of his abdomen. She allowed her tongue to softly flick the
skin as she continued to kiss ever upwards.
She was aware of the trembling that started soon after she had begun to
use her tongue and teeth to tease and nip him.
Her hands flew lightly over his skin, touching him, stroking him, loving
him. When her fingertips contacted his
nipples, she began to roll them between her fingers before leaning forward to
nip and lick them. His trembling
increased and his moans deepened.
He finally obliged her frantic pushing
on his uniform tunic and removed it to give her full access to his upper
body. Opening her mouth, she breathed on
his skin as she alternated exploring his throat, his ears, his jaw and abdomen,
with laving, biting and suckling on his nipples. As she enjoyed the feel of his skin under her
lips, she encountered the top of his uniform pants. It didn’t take long to figure out the
fastenings and within a few moments, he was naked before her.
She couldn’t take her gaze from his
glorious body. Slender, but strong
limbed, he was wonderful. She reached
out slowly and took his manhood in her hand.
She heard his gasp, and realized he was holding his breath, as he watched
her with a look of wonder and awe on his face.
Mesmerized, he watched as she firmly stroked him and then leaned forward
to place a kiss on the tip of his shaft.
As her tongue flicked out, and swirled around the silky head of his
lance, he almost lost his control. He
ground out her name as his hands gripped and twisted the comforter, and his
hips bucked upwards.
Gasping, he sat up and pulled her shirt over her head. This time, with shaking hands, she led his to the clasp of her bra. A fast learner, he flicked it open as if he’d dealt with them all his life. As his head dipped to worship those beautiful breasts with his mouth and tongue, his hands reached for the fastening on her pants.
She helped him as much as her trembling
hands would let her. He stripped the
bottom half of her clothes off in one easy move. His hands were trembling as much as
hers. God, she wished they had time to
explore each other fully, but that would have to wait. The briefing could be called at any
moment.
“Samantha, my love, come to me. Join with me; I need you so.” The whispered, strangled, words held all the
emotion she could possibly want. She
continued to kneel next to him, as she brought her hands back to his body. As she leaned over once again to begin her
intimate exploration of his shaft, he slid his hand between her legs and found
the opening he was yearning to invade.
She moaned and spread her legs, as she knelt beside him on the bed,
giving him the access he wanted.
She gasped as he found the nub that was
the source of her pleasure. As the
feelings engulfed her, she took him into her mouth. The feel of him was wonderful, and she loved
his slightly salty taste. She moaned
around his shaft and began a rhythm that matched what his fingers were doing to
her. As he plunged them in and out,
injecting them as far into her as he could, she began to suck on him
harder. Suddenly, he removed his hand
and pulled her mouth away from him. He
was breathing heavily, panting as if he had run a long distance.
He pushed her onto her back and then leaning
over her, his hand returned to the wet warmth of the path to her womb. Using his fingers in a rhythmic in and out
motion, he brought her ever higher only to stop once again. He brought her to the very edge of release
only to remove his fingers, so that he could once again worship her
breasts. He suckled and bit the nipples
until they were glistening and red. He
tugged on them gently only to release them again for his mouth to start the
exquisite torture of licking, suckling, and biting all over again.
Soon his fingers found their way back
to the hot wetness of her center, and his thumb continued to tease the nub that
could push her into orgasm. It was not
long before she was thrashing wildly in his arms. His mouth seemed to be everywhere. His tongue, his hands, his lips were driving
her wild. She wanted more. She wanted him as wild as she was.
Her hands found their way to his back
and proceeded to caress him in the places and ways Kat had told her. One of her hands moved from his neck to his
hardened manhood. The other stroked his
back using the same rhythm she was using on his shaft. He felt like steel covered in satin. How something could be so very hard, and yet,
be so unbelievably soft and silky at the same time, was a mystery she was doing
her best to investigate thoroughly.
Soon, she heard his choked
whisper. His voice was husky and
seductive and he was, as she had always heard in her dreams, speaking
Goa’uld. Even in her almost mindless
state, thanks to Daniel’s coaching, she was able to understand most of what he
said. It was still nice when he repeated
it in English. “Samantha, my love, I
need you so much. Please. I am drowning in my need for you.”
“Yes,” she breathed in return. “I want all of you. Now.
Now. You are a part of me.” Then, in Goa’uld, for him. “I love you.
You are my heart.”
He settled himself between her legs,
but then he stopped. She looked at him,
pleading with her eyes and hands for him to come to her. As he held himself away from her, it was
obvious he was controlling himself with great difficulty. Still, he had to tell her and hear her tell
him. He could not, would not, take this
woman who meant so much to him unless he was sure she understood; he was pledging
himself to her for always.
“Samantha, I must be sure you
understand what you mean to me. I wish
to make my pledge to you. Will you
accept my vows?”
“Yes,” she whispered, “I will.” She waited, almost afraid to breathe, to see
what he wished to say to her.
He took a long shuddering breath. “I love you, Samantha. I will love you tomorrow and all of the
tomorrows that follow. You are as the blood,
which flows in my heart and the spirit, which nourishes my soul. You are the Blood of my Heart and the Beloved
of my Soul, now and for all eternity.
Come to me, my heart, and make me whole.”
“How beautiful.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know the exact words, but I will
make my vows to you from my heart if you will accept them?”
“Yes, my heart, I will.” He whispered to her. Then he waited with his love shining from his
eyes to hear her vows to him.
“I love you both, Martouf,
Lantash. I love you today, and I will
love you all of my tomorrows. I feel you
in my heart and in my soul.” She looked
into his eyes as she whispered to him, “You are the Beloved of my soul, and the
Blood of my Heart, now and for all eternity.
Come to me, my heart, and make me whole.”
As she finished speaking, she reached
for him to guide him to the doorway to the center of her being. Once there, he entered her warmth in one
fierce forward plunge. Both cried out at
the intensity of the feelings.
They gazed at each other in wonder for
a long moment before Martouf began to move in a slow erotic rhythm, all the
time murmuring words of love in both of their languages. Soon Sam’s hips, her legs wrapped tightly
around him, urged him to increase his strokes.
She whispered words of love and encouragement to him and he willingly
complied.
His eyes flashed, and Sam knew that
Lantash had taken over to help prolong the encounter. She reached behind his back and placed her
fingers on the one spot that Kat had assured her would make her lover wild. It was not long before his moans told her
that he was almost at the limit of what he could endure.
She tightened her vaginal muscles and
increased the pressure on his back as she raised her head and grasped one of
his nipples in her mouth. She bit down
lightly on his nipple, as her other hand squeezed his buttocks.
He was not proof against the assault on
his senses. He rocked ever faster. Suddenly, he cried out her name, as his
control left him. He heard Samantha’s
answering cry, as she allowed herself to find the release she so desperately
wanted with him. He heard her calling
for both of them over and over. He
realized she was crying and hoped it was from the release, and not because he
had hurt her in some way.
Slowly, as his breathing began to slow
somewhat and his body stopped trembling, he raised himself on his forearms and
looked at her. “Did I hurt you,
Samantha?” He asked quietly.
She laughed softly through the
tears. “No, no. You were wonderful. As wonderful as you’ve been in my dreams,” she
said. As she watched, Martouf came
forward.
“You have dreamed about us?” Martouf asked, almost shyly.
She nodded and said, still a little
breathless, “More times than I can say.”
He smiled the smile that she loved so much. The one that made her want to hold him
forever.
“We, also, have dreamed about you. Some of them were so real…” he left the
sentence to trail off, as he flushed.
She whispered gently, “It’s nice to know I wasn’t having those kinds of
dreams alone.” He nuzzled her neck, as
he rolled onto his back and took her with him.
As George Hammond walked into his
office, he wondered what his old friend wanted to talk to him about
privately. He hoped he could accommodate
him, but he didn't feel optimistic. He
closed the door and turned to Jacob, “What was it you wanted to speak to me
about, Jacob.
“Well, I was serious when I said I was
planning on staying for at least three weeks.
I was going to ask you to assign Sam to look after Martouf. In fact, I’d like her to have some time off
to, ah, shall we say, see to him personally.
From what you said when we arrived, I’m assuming that won’t happen any
time soon.”
George sighed deeply, “True, Jacob, but
I’m sure we can arrange a few days here and there. SG1 won’t require the same amount of training
time the other units will. Of course,
you and Martouf will probably be assigned to SG1, since you’ve worked closely
together before.” He paused as if
searching for words.
Jacob took the opportunity to speak up,
“So, George, what happened yesterday that changed the purpose of our meeting so
drastically, and what’s this about people and luggage invading the SGC?” He asked.
“I have to assume you’ve heard of a
System Lord called Bastet?” George began
only to have Jacob’s eyes flash, as his posture became stiff and taut.
“We are aware of Bastet. We are, in fact in the process of determining
who to send to infiltrate her ranks. We
recently discovered she has taken up residence on a long abandoned world. We are not sure why she has gone there, but
we consider her actions disturbing,” Selmak explained to General Hammond.
“You may not want to send anyone to
infiltrate, Selmak. There’s no need to
put your people at risk. We are
receiving information from someone inside her ranks. The information we received yesterday
afternoon is the reason our meeting objectives changed. What was to have been a simple sharing of
information is about to become, if you agree, a joint mission to take care of
her permanently.”
“That is an impressive objective,
General Hammond. Could you perhaps tell
me why we should consider it at this particular time?”
“Because we have ten to twelve weeks at
most before she attacks both the Tok’Ra and Earth.” He held up a hand, as Selmak looked ready to
speak. “We are sure of this Selmak. I understand you are acquainted with a race
called the Furling?”
“Yes,” was the abrupt reply.
“Do you trust them?” General Hammond asked, wondering at the
terseness of Selmak’s reply.
“Without question,” Selmak said firmly.
“They are the source of our
information. Our original request of a
meeting with you was to inform you that we had met the Furlings through the
Asgard, Thor. We felt you should know
that they were going to be infiltrating many of the System Lords that you and
we are ranged against. That they are, in
fact, hoping to be able to send a few of their Warriors to help with the war
against the Goa’uld here.”
“They are already sending any
intelligence they gather that could prove beneficial to us, and they will be
sending a few Warriors to help with this mission,” George Hammond said
quietly. “They are keeping us informed
of any changes in her plans. The agent
that supplied the information is theirs.
One more thing you need to know.
You have a spy at your base, Selmak.
His name is Torleck.”
“You are sure of this, General
Hammond?”
“If, as you say, you trust the word of
the Furlings, then the answer is a definite yes. Is there any way you can inform Garshaw,
without alerting the spy, of what is transpiring? The main reason we didn’t send another
message yesterday was that we wanted your arrival here to look like a long
postponed unimportant meeting. If you
had already decided to take three weeks here as R&R and he is aware of that
it is even better.”
Selmak looked thoughtful. “In fact, the one called Torleck was standing
near when we took our leave of Garshaw today.
We discussed the fact that we had not had any time to rest for many
months, and that we were looking forward to this time here with Jacob’s
family. Jacob was joking with Garshaw
that we might extend it for another month.
That bit of humor on Jacob’s part will now be very useful.”
“I will have to give some thought to
how we will contact Garshaw and stop the agent being sent. Ideally, we could get her here for some
reason, but I have no thoughts on what excuse we might give. Perhaps an excuse will come to us as we learn
more of what is happening.”
Obviously abandoning that train of
thought for the time being, he then asked.
“General, you said that SG1 would not need as much training as the other
units. Why is that?”
“SG1 has had a Furling Warrior with
them for several weeks. You and Martouf
will need to do some training, but I imagine you’ll both catch on to the
linking easily. Have you ever done that
before?”
“Yes, although, Lantash has more
experience than I.”
General Hammond nodded, and then
reached for his phone. “Thirty minutes
for lunch?” He asked, before he placed the
call.
“Would an extra thirty minutes make a
difference, General?”
General Hammond grinned at Selmak and
proceeded with his call to Sergeant Davis.
“Sergeant Davis, wait for one hour, and then announce a briefing for
SG1. General Carter and I are going to lunch,
and we’ll start as soon as we return.”
As he hung up, he turned back to Selmak and commented, “We do have some
packets of information for you. I’ll get
them as soon as we get back.”
“All right,” Jacob replied, assuming
control as Selmak stepped back to give the situation some thought.
Conversation became general as the two
men tried to relax and enjoy their meal.
Long silences were common as each man contemplated the situation. One hour after leaving his office, George and
Jacob left the mess hall and headed back.
They heard the announcement of the briefing as they walked back toward
the briefing room.
“George,” Jacob said, as they walked
down the hall, “I guess I can see what you meant about the luggage and people
getting worse. Perhaps Martouf could
stay with Jack or Daniel. I could stay
with Sam, but that would cramp what I’m trying to get going between those two. Maybe one of them would put me up, too.” He frowned in thought.
“Stay with me, Jacob. I can put you up without any problem. We have no idea how many rooms we’ll need for
Furling or Tok’Ra officers that turn up.
We’re going to turn one of the unused storage rooms into barracks if we
need too. I really don’t know yet who
all is coming…so far I’m aware of three, one a seasoned Katteri-enti and the
other two just now attaining their rank.”
Jacob nodded, “Thanks, George, I’ll
take you up on the offer of the room, but what the hell’s a Kattery-enti?” He asked his friend, and then turned his
attention his symbiote. “Sel, what has you so agitated?”
“I am hoping my anxiety
is for nothing, Jacob. Try to ignore my nervousness
if you can for now.”
“It’s Katteri-enti and literally
translated it means kat entity. It’s
what the Furling Warriors are. They, um,
take on some of the attributes of a cat when they go into battle.”
“You’re joking, right?” Jacob used the same tone he’d used when he’d
first learned of the Tok’Ra and what Sam really did for the Airforce.
General Hammond shook his head, “No,
I’m telling you the truth, Jacob.”
“Holy Hannah,” Jacob exclaimed.
George replied, “I’ve got a feeling
that Selmak could probably tell you more than I can about them.”
“For some reason, Selmak’s blocking a
bunch of stuff so I can’t access it. I’m
sure he has his reasons.” It was obvious
he wasn’t speaking to only George.
“I have my reasons,
Jacob, which you will probably find out all too soon. Here come Colonel O’Neill and Teal’c.”
“Jack, Teal’c. Good to see you again. I have to admit that I’d have preferred the
original reason you asked for me to come, though,” Jacob greeted the first of
the group to arrive.
“General,” Jack greeted him.
“GeneralCarter, it is good to see you
once again,” Teal’c said, with his usual calm demeanor.
Nothing could be read from either of
their faces, but Jacob wasn’t lulled into thinking they were unconcerned. In fact, he deduced the opposite from their
calmness. This was a very serious
situation; he hoped Selmak came out of his thoughtful isolation soon.
He turned as a tall, handsome man, with
an air of power surrounding him, walked into the room and closed the door. As he turned to them, the words Jacob heard
from Selmak were ones he wasn’t even aware his symbiote knew. He’d never heard such an eloquent string of
swearing in one sentence before.
“Sel, I take it you know
this man and you aren’t happy that he’s here?
Is he not someone we want on our side or something?”
Jacob could feel his symbiote make the extra
effort to calm himself. “On the contrary, as far as his abilities as
a Warrior, I could not wish for a better one.
On the other hand, his very presence here speaks to the seriousness of
the situation.” Selmak paused to be
sure Jacob had understood him. Sensing
his understanding, he then continued.
“That Artereos of
Cadwaellon has sent his most able and trusted Warrior and Aide, to come to the
Tau’ri, tells me that, if we were at all doubtful as to the validity of the
threat, we should discard that doubt.
Merdwin would not be here if the threat was a minor one.”
Selmak said, with a seriousness that immediately caught Jacob’s full
attention.
“My distress at seeing
him is not only because of the obvious seriousness his being here imparts on
the situation. It is also unsettling on
a purely personal level and it is for Lantash that I am very much concerned.”
“Okay, I think I’d better
hear this. It’s going to involve Sam,
isn’t it?”
“I am afraid so,
Jacob. I am very much afraid so.”
Merdwin approached them and Jacob’s
attention was caught by the grimness in the man’s voice as he spoke to
them. “It is Selmak, is it not?” Merdwin asked, tersely.
Selmak took control as Jacob stepped
back. “Yes, it is.” Selmak took a deep breath. Jacob was unused to this level of agitation
in his symbiote. He expected to sense
either fear or dislike from Selmak, but the opposite was what he sensed. Selmak had a deep respect and sincere liking
for this man. None of this was making
sense. He hoped someone would decide to
tell him something soon.
As the two clasped each other’s
forearms in greeting, Selmak said to Merdwin, “He’s here.”
The man closed his eyes as if in pain,
but almost immediately opened them.
“That is going to make for some very complicated situations. She, also, is here.”
Selmak mirrored the other man’s actions
by closing his eyes, as if he could shut out an unpleasant vision, but he, too,
immediately opened them to look at the other man. Their gazes locked, and they looked at each
other for several moments, before Selmak smiled ruefully, “You always were a
master of understatement, Merdwin. What
do we do now?”
“I could warn them telepathically, but
that would only startle Lantash, and it could even make the situation
worse. There is at least one other
person involved; I assume, from the impressions I am receiving, that there is
also a woman involved on your side?” At
Selmak’s acknowledgement of the truth of his statement, he continued, “We shall
simply deal with each situation as it arises then. I do not believe that Kat or Tash, either one,
will let their personal interaction endanger the mission.”
“I believe you are correct, although,
on the personal level, I think there may be a few bad situations, before the
resolution is reached. I agree that
neither will let their feelings interfere or put the mission in danger.” There was nothing they could do for now but
wait.
Lying on top of Martouf, Samantha
sighed, “I wish we could spend the rest of the day here, but I imagine the
briefing will be called any minute. We
should shower quickly and dress. I’m
sorry we can’t lie here together and savor this moment, but we can’t.”
She forced herself to get up. She leaned over him and kissed him, but could
not evade his hands. He brought her back
to him and kissed her gently and lovingly.
“Samantha, when did you learn Goa’uld?”
Sam blushed, and struggled to get away from him, but he held her
easily. “Samantha? Tell me, please.”
She looked up at him and sighed. She couldn’t tell him what had led to her
learning the love words in Goa’uld. Just
because others had understood, that didn’t mean Martouf and Lantash would
understand it.
“I, um, I asked Daniel to teach
me. In my, uh, dreams,” she flushed an
even rosier hue, “I always imagined you would speak it when you were, er,
making love with me, or if you were, um, out of control. So, I asked Daniel, and once he started
teaching me they seemed familiar, probably from Jolinar.” She raised her chin at him as if daring him
to laugh at her.
He did not laugh. He looked at her for a long moment, slowly
lowered his mouth to hers and caressed her lips with his. “You honor me, Samantha, my mate. It means a great deal to me that you went to
the trouble to learn enough of the love words of my language to be able to tell
me of your love that way. It could not
have been easy for you to ask Daniel for those words and have to explain why
you wanted to know them. You humble me
with your offering,” and he added, “It makes me happy and proud to be able to
claim you as my mate, Samantha.”
She looked him blankly for a moment and
then gasped, “I’m your mate?” Then she
smiled. “I’m your mate,” She said
firmly. “I’ve never been married
before.” Then she hesitated and blushed,
“That is what you meant, isn’t it? That
I am your wife in the eyes of the Tok’Ra?”
Martouf cleared his throat. “I believe from what Jacob has told me that
your marriage and our bonding are the same things, so yes, in my
eyes and as soon as we have the ceremony, you will be my wife in
the eyes of my people. This will please
you, Samantha?” He asked, anxiously.
“Yes. Yes, I believe it will please me very much,” she paused again, and then said, “my mate.”
“What is the Tau’ri equivalent of the
male half of the mated pair called, Samantha?”
She swallowed. “Husband.”
“And will you not call me husband,
Samantha, my wife?”
“We don’t use the word that way, but I,
um I like hearing you call me that so, for you, when we are alone I will do
that, my husband.”
He again lowered his lips to hers, and
his hand came up to cup her breast and gently flick her nipple. She gasped at the immediate response he could
engender in her. She quickly slipped out
of his hold.
“Tonight. I promise,” she said, as she grabbed her
clothes. She looked at him feeling
almost helpless as her need continued to grow.
“We have to shower. We can’t go
into the briefing smelling of hot passionate sex,” she said, as firmly as she
could. She didn’t ask him to join her,
as that would defeat her purpose. If he
joined her, the shower would be anything but quick. She hurried into the shower and once started,
it didn’t take her long.
He made quick work of his shower. As he stepped out of the stall and began to
dry himself, he heard the announcement of the briefing. Samantha was dressed, except for her blue BDU
shirt. She handed him her blow dryer,
showing him how to dry his hair. He
couldn’t go into the briefing with wet hair anymore than he could go into it
smelling of sweat and sex.
As Martouf finished fastening his
shirt, he noticed Sam put on a jeweled armband.
Something about it tugged at his memory, but he could not place it. It seemed an odd piece of jewelry, and that
seemed an odd place to wear it. He
mentally shrugged. Perhaps her military
did not allow the wearing of jewelry.
His next thought was disturbing; what if it was from another man?
“What are you stressing
over Martouf?” Lantash was still somewhat lethargic from the
sexual encounter and he had not been paying attention as Samantha finished
putting her uniform on.
“Samantha just put on an
armband. I was wondering if a man gave
it to her.”
“If it is a gift from a
man, it is not our business. Just over
an hour ago, we had no claim on her.”
“True, but I am curious
and I would like to know so I can put it out of my mind.”
Martouf explained.
“If it bothers you then
ask her.” Lantash sighed.
As they left Sam’s room to head for the
briefing, Martouf placed his hand lightly on the small of her back. Even that small touch was enough to make her
smile and begin to ache for him again.
How long would it take her to get her fill of this man? She had never felt this way. She needed to talk to Daniel or Kataya. She smiled to herself. Maybe both, that way she would get the male
and the female viewpoint.
She was looking forward to the
night. Perhaps he could go home with her
instead of staying on base. That would
free up a room for someone else, too.
Martouf cleared his throat. She looked up inquiringly. “I noticed you put on an armband. Was it a gift from someone or did you acquire
it yourself?”
Sam immediately translated the
question. “Did a man give that armband
to you?”’ Men could sometimes be very
predictable regardless of the planet or species.
“I guess you could say a male friend
brought it to me.” She paused to let
that sink in, before adding, “but it was a gift from a female friend.” She felt him relax and smiled to herself. They approached the briefing room door. She wondered idly if Merdwin and Kat were
there yet. She searched for them with
her mind and found Merdwin inside and Kat and Daniel very close. They would arrive almost immediately after
Sam and Martouf.
She reached out and opened the door to
the briefing room. She motioned Martouf
to go in as she looked behind her to see if Kat and Daniel were almost
there. Yes, they were coming down the
corridor. She waved and turned to follow
Martouf into the room.
He was standing as if turned to stone
by the conference table. She walked up
and stood beside him. Sam realized that
Lantash had taken over. He was staring
at Merdwin and her dad. No, not her
dad. It was Selmak, and both men looked
decidedly grim. They were looking back
at Lantash. Sam noticed that, although
their faces were grim, both men had a look of sympathy in their eyes. The entire tableau seemed frozen in time.
Daniel and Kataya walked into the
scene. They stopped next to Sam. Daniel stepped behind the two women, and put
a hand on each of their shoulders. He
immediately realized that something was about to happen, and that these two
women might need him. One was his mated
lover, and the other was his dearest friend.
He wished he knew why he felt this
trepidation, and at the same time, he was afraid he was about to find out. It was crazy, but he had the feeling that
whatever was about to happen would tax all of them emotionally.
No one heard him catch his breath as he had a sudden vision of the man standing off to one side of the ramp in his dream. He was filled with a sudden feeling of dread. He only had time to realize that Kataya could have told him who the other man in the dream was. In the second it took for that thought to flash through his mind, she put a name to the unknown man.
Longing and anguish filled her voice as Kataya whispered, through a throat choked with tears, “Lantash.”
TBC