He splayed his hands on her rump. “What if I can’t trust you?”
Her hands stilled. “What do you mean?”
“You agreed to ravish me in the woods, and you haven’t delivered.”
“Oh.” Her mouth curled up. “Does it disturb you?”
“Yes! You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Her smile widened. “Do I need to knock you down and tie you up?”
“No. I surrender.” He led her from the water and grabbed a towel. Then he teleported her to the clearing where they’d met and fought that first night.
“I think we were right about here.” He lay the towel down, then stretched out on top. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“I can see that.” She gave his groin a wry look. “You seem to get in the mood much quicker these days.”
“I was always in the mood. It’s not every day that a beautiful woman tries to ravish me in the woods.”
Her gaze drifted down his body. “It’s not every day that I find such an excellent specimen. You are strong and fleet of foot. Fair of face—”
“And seemingly intelligent?” he added.
“Yes.” With a smile, she kneeled at his feet. “If you are willing, I plan to take your seed.”
He raised himself on his elbows so he could see her. “How were you going to do it?”
She smoothed her hands up his bare legs. “I was going to pull your pants off. And your underwear.”
His dick grew harder. “And then?”
Straddling his legs, she crawled closer to his groin. “I was going to touch you and stroke you until you were ready.” She glanced at his erection. “But you already are.”
“I was hard that night.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
He snorted. “I’ve been hard most of the week.” He lay back and grabbed her hips. “What would you have done next?”
“I would have made sure I was ready.” She straddled his h*ps and rubbed herself against the length of his erection.
He groaned. She was slick with moisture. “Neona.”
“And then . . .” She took hold of him and eased him inside her slick entrance.
Grasping her hips, he pulled her down. She gasped and grew still.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”
Her eyes glistened with tears. “You fill me up.”
“Yes.” He gritted his teeth. She felt gloriously tight.
“I was afraid that first night that I would fall for you. And I have.”
His heart squeezed. “Is that bad?”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “Relationships never seem to work for us. It always ends with abandonment. Or death and destruction.”
“We’ll make it work.” He pulled her down and rolled on top of her, making sure he remained deep inside her. “I love you, Neona. I’ll never give you up.”
She cradled his face in her hands. “I love you, too.”
Her words sent him over the edge, and he moved inside her faster and faster, till he arched with a shout. She squealed beneath him, her inner muscles clutching him tight. With a long groan, he pumped his seed into her.
They held each other tight for a while. He listened to her breathing and the gentle breeze that stirred the trees around them. It was a shame they couldn’t stay like this forever. But danger was approaching, and they would have to be ready.
He eased himself to his feet and helped her up. After grabbing the towel, he teleported them back to the waterfall. They rinsed off, clinging to each other under the spray of water.
A buzzing noise emanated from his jacket he’d left on a nearby rock, and he sighed. Their idyllic moment was over.
He pulled the sat phone out. “Yes?”
“Where have you been?” Emma asked. “I’ve been calling for ten minutes. We’re ready to go.”
“Give me five minutes, and I’ll call back.” He hung up.
“And so it begins.” Neona gave him a worried look.
“We’ll defeat Liao. We’ll make it through. I promise.”
Chapter Twenty-one
“You brought us new clothes?” Neona asked as she studied the black vest she’d pulled from one of the tote bags.
“They’re called Kevlar vests,” Emma explained. “They’re bulletproof and provide some protection against stabs.”
“How wonderful.” Lydia grabbed one to look at it. “Then this is a modern type of armor?”
“Yes.” Emma nodded. “We are honored to be fighting by your side in our quest to defeat Lord Liao and Master Han. Please accept these vests as a token of our friendship.”
Nima, who had at first ignored the tote bags, removed a vest and admired it. “We will accept your gift. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Emma exchanged a smile with Lady Pamela.
After Zoltan had teleported Neona back to her house, she’d gathered all the women around the central fire pit to tell them that a vampire warrior woman would be arriving soon. Then he had called Emma so she could use his voice to teleport. To everyone’s surprise, she hadn’t come alone. Mikhail’s wife, Lady Pamela, had accompanied her, and they’d both been loaded down with tote bags.
Any feelings of suspicion or distrust had quickly evaporated when the women of Beyul-La had taken a look at their gifts. Luxurious bath products, cookware and dishes—it was like Christmas, Zoltan thought. But the most popular bags were the ones containing Kevlar vests.
Emma bowed her head to Nima. “If you are ready, your majesty, we can discuss business.”
“I am ready.” Nima sat in her usual place at the fire pit. Zoltan sat next to Neona and took her hand in his.
“Liao is coming this way with two hundred soldiers,” Emma began, but she was interrupted by a series of gasps.
“How many warriors are you providing?” Nima demanded.
“Around fifty,” Emma replied, then held up her hands when the women objected. “I know it sounds bad, but even though we’re outnumbered, we’ve been making good progress in our battle against Master Han. With help from the God Warriors, we dispatched the demon, Darafer, back to hell, and we’ve successfully turned a hundred of their supersoldiers back to normal.”
“Is it true what Zoltan said?” Freddie asked. “That Master Han has nine hundred soldiers?”
Emma nodded. “Yes. But with Darafer gone, Master Han can’t make any more.”
The queen huffed. “And how are we supposed to defeat Liao and his two hundred soldiers?”
“A war of attrition,” Emma replied. “Liao doesn’t know the exact location of this valley. In order to cover all of Tibet, he will have to divide his men into search parties. Our friend Russell is following them. Once we know the location of a search party, we’ll teleport in to attack. By the time Liao finds this valley, his army will be whittled down to a much more manageable size.”
The women nodded in approval.
“Your strategy is sound,” Nima announced. “We will assist you in your attacks.”
“Excellent.” Emma smiled. “Then you will not object to our men moving into the neighboring valley?”
“They may come,” Nima agreed. “But they must understand that they need to remain in the next valley. Men are not allowed here in Beyul-La.” She cast a disparaging look at Zoltan. “We made an exception for Dohna’s son.”
“And I appreciate it.” When he smiled at her, the queen’s frown deepened. He groaned inwardly. As far as he could tell, his future mother-in-law still wanted to kill him. Maybe the land deed would change her mind.
“Excuse me.” He hurried back to Neona’s house and took the folder from his duffel bag. When he returned to the fire pit, Tashi was taking Pamela to the next valley so Pamela could call in the troops.
He sat next between Neona and her mother. “Your majesty, I have a gift for you.” He handed her the folder. “This is the land deed for Beyul-La and the surrounding area. Legal proof that the land is yours.”
The queen’s eyes widened as she opened the folder.
“Thank you.” Neona squeezed his arm and smiled at him.
“Who is this?” Nima pointed at Rajiv’s name.
“He’s a friend and a Chinese citizen. I had to buy the land through him.”
The queen shut the folder, frowning. “How can we trust him? He might steal the valley from us.”
“He won’t,” Zoltan assured her. “He’s the Grand Tiger of Tiger Town. He’s on our side.”
“That’s true,” Emma added. “The were-tigers are our biggest ally against Master Han.”
“Were-tigers?” Freya’s eyes lit up. “You mean there are men who turn into tigers?”
Emma smiled. “Yes. We have a number of shifters on our side. Wolves, bears, tigers, and panthers. You needn’t be concerned about your Living Water where they’re concerned. They can all live five hundred years or more.”
Zoltan noticed how the women exchanged glances. Were they expecting to keep their were-dragons a secret?
Nima shot him an angry look. “You told her about our Living Water?”
“They’re going to risk their lives for you.” Zoltan gave her a pointed look. “They have a right to know all the secrets they are protecting.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“We understand why you keep the Living Water a secret,” Emma said. “We can’t let Liao or Han find it. They would use it to gain power over the entire planet.”
Nima nodded stiffly. “That is true.”
“I need to show you these.” Emma unzipped her backpack and removed a pistol. “I brought one for each of you.”
“We’ve never used guns before,” Freddie said.
“Don’t worry. We’ll train you.” Emma removed a box of darts from her backpack. “These are actually dart guns. And practice darts. When we attack a search party, we’ll use the real darts and shoot as many of the soldiers as possible. The darts will knock them out.”
The queen crossed her arms. “We are accustomed to bows and arrows. Or swords.”
Emma nodded. “You will have your usual weapons with you in case you need them. But remember, Han’s soldiers are super fast and strong. The minute you engage in close combat, you will be at a disadvantage.”
“We know,” Freddie muttered. “They killed five of us three weeks ago.”
“We’re determined not to lose any of you,” Emma assured her. “The best way to deal with the supersoldiers is a surprise attack, knocking them unconscious with a dart before they even know we’re there.”
“And then we kill them?” the queen asked.
Emma shook her head. “Remember how I said that we’ve changed a hundred of the soldiers back to normal? That is our goal. We’ll teleport the unconscious soldiers to our clinic in Japan or the new one we’re setting up in Tiger Town, and there we’ll be able to save them.”
“Why are we bothering to save them?” Lydia asked.
“They’re mortal,” Emma explained. “And it has always been our mission as Vamps to protect mortals. The soldiers are under Master Han’s mental control. And they’ve been changed by Darafer, the demon. Once we change them back and break Han’s control over them, they’re happy to be free.”
“If they die in battle, their souls belong to Darafer,” Zoltan added. “They’ll go straight to hell.”
The women winced.
“So we try to rescue as many as we can. It pays off in the end because the rescued soldiers usually agree to help us defeat Han. Since we’re so outnumbered, we’ll need them someday.” Emma pulled a tablet from her backpack. “Before we head to the next valley, I have one more thing to share with you. Well, with Winifred and Freya, to be precise.”
“Yes?” Freddie and Freya sat up.
“A few nights ago, Zoltan asked my husband, Angus, to search for your father,” Emma explained. When the girls’ faces lit up, she quickly added, “I’m afraid I have sad news for you. Frederic passed away about sixty years ago during a bombing raid in World War II.”
“Oh,” Freya whispered. “Poor Papa.”
Freddie sighed. “I always wondered what happened. He said he would come back.”
“I’m sorry.” Emma turned on her tablet and touched some buttons. “Angus was able to locate your younger brother, Franklin—”
“Frankie?” Freya gasped. “He’s alive?”
Freddie grinned. “How is he?”
“You can see for yourself.” Emma handed Freya the tablet. “Angus recorded this for you.”
Freddie and Freya squealed when a man’s voice emanated from the tablet.
“Oh, my God!” Freya dropped the tablet.
Freddie poked at it with a finger. “What is this thing? Is that Frankie?”
“I want to see him!” Neona scurried around the fire pit, then hunched behind the two women, looking over their shoulders.
Freddie leaned closer. “He looks so old!”
Freya looked aghast. “If we didn’t have the Living Water, we would look even older!”
Neona winced. “I helped deliver him. And I used to change his nappies.”
“Did you?” Freya glanced back at her.
Neona snorted. “I changed your nappies, too.”
“You probably remember him better than we do,” Freddie murmured. “We were so young.”