The Fallen Part 13

aWhat are you doing here anyway?a I asked.

aI enjoy f.u.c.king you.a

Chapter Six.

aThanks for clearing that up,a I said dryly. I decided not to point out that it had taken some enthusiastic persuasion on my part to convince him to part with his precious seed to begin with. He seemed to have dismissed our less than amiable afirst datea and I suppose he had decided he might as well enjoy himself since the dirty deed was done without his consent and couldnat be undone.

It rankled that he was so offhand about the situation, but I decided I thought it was refres.h.i.+ngly honest even if the dart did break the skin. aI mean here, on Earth, not here in my apartment.a aI am banished.a That sounded promising, and intriguing. It p.r.i.c.ked my interest enough that I dismissed the sting of his last remark. aOh? Kill somebody? I know it wasnat your winning personality.a He gave me a look, but I could tell Iad managed at least a tiny p.r.i.c.k in return. Finally, he shrugged. aI failed. King Edric was not pleased over the outcome of the battle. All were slain save me, our General, and a handful of others, for we were taken by surprise. General t.i.tiane was beheaded. The rest of us were banished to lower Earth.a I felt my brows rise almost to my hair line and my jaw go slack. Partly it was because that was the longest dialogue Iad heard out of the man--uh--Elumi. Partly it was because it sounded more like something out of a novel than fact. Mostly, though, it was because I was stunned at the barbarism he described. Here Iad been thinking he must be from a really advanced race of people and he talked like head stepped out of the middle ages.

aI need my sword,a he added after a moment, confirming my suspicions. aI have found a warrior of Garyn. If I take his head, I can return through the gateway.a I discovered I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around most of what head said. The last comments punctured my absorption with untangling the puzzle, though. aWhy the head?a I asked curiously. aAnd why do you need to use a sword? Why not just shoot the poor stiff?a He looked more than a little indignant. aThere is no sport in using the weapons humans use, no bravery in killing from a distance, no skill to speak of.a Those snide comments got my temper up. aIall have you to know I was in a war--uh--in the military myself! It does take skill to shoot, because I canat hit the side of a f.u.c.king barn at twenty paces. And you try lying on your belly in a ditch while bullets whiz over your head and let me know how much guts it takes to stick your head up and shoot back! We sure as h.e.l.l donat do it for sport!a He looked me over keenly. aThis is why you seem different,a he said finally, as if head figured out something that had been puzzling him about me--like why I was weird?

Obviously, we had a whole lot less in common than Iad previously considered. Not that Iad spent a lot of time thinking about it, because, really, what was the point? The one thing that had been crystal clear to me from the beginning was that he didnat belong in my world. It hardly mattered that now I knew I didnat belong in his either since I wasnat likely to be invited over anyway.

Not that I wouldave been interested in being invited. I figured we had enough violence in alower Eartha.

I didnat much care for the fact that that connotation made it sound like h.e.l.l, though. His world sounded pretty h.e.l.lish to me.

I had to wonder if he was talking about another dimension. Iad never thought that theory of other dimensions existing at the same time and in the same s.p.a.ce made much sense, but head mentioned the gateway before. And he didnat talk about it like it was another planet--unless the gateway was like a transporter?

After brooding over it for several minutes, I realized I should probably write some of this down. I hadnat been lying. I really did have a terrible memory--that was the main reason I was so careful to keep everything around me in order. It wasnat because I was a neat freak, but because I had to have a place for everything or Iad never find it again. Before Iad disciplined myself to put things in a specific place, Iad had a bad habit of wandering around with things in my hands and setting them down at random--with no memory of where or when. Now I just deposited everything beside the door when I came in until I had the time and felt the inclination to sort it and put it in its proper place.

I was a little reluctant to dig the book out again after head teased me about it, but I figured I ought to pump him for information while I could. There was no telling when he might disappear for good and I could miss my chance.

aYou still didnat explain the head thing,a I pointed out, dragging the book out and flipping through it.

aRemove the head and there can be no doubt the enemy is slain--and it is easier to carry. Another wound would mend.a Practical, I decided. It didnat sound quite as barbaric that way. aCould mend, you mean.a aWould,a he corrected me.

aAn arm or a leg....a aWould grow back.a My jaw dropped. aYouare not serious.a aIn time, yes. A warrior could be very weakened that way, and could be slain before he had time to regenerate, but he might also escape.a I donat know why that stunned me so much. Iad just seen him walk through a wall. Iad already seen the way he could pop those wings out and use them whenever the mood struck and then make them disappear again.

My fingers began to cramp with all the scribbling. It occurred to me, though, that this might not be the sort of thing a kid should be reading. After a little thought, I flipped through the book to the family tree.

aFatheras name?a He was frowning when I looked up at him. aUlrich,a he said slowly, obviously a little puzzled at the change of subject.

I spelled it phonetically. aMother?a aYes.a I rolled my eyes. aHer name?a He thought that over for a while. aI donat remember.a I decided not to pursue that. It sounded a little too personal. aDate of birth?a He had his head tilted curiously when I glanced at him again. aI do not remember that either.a aCome on!a I snapped, irritated that he was being so difficult about coughing up the information I wanted. aHow old are you then?a Something flickered in his eyes. I knew before he opened his mouth that he was going to lie about his age. aFifteen hundred, ninety three.a aYou remembered the year, huh? I wonder how that would equate to our date?a aNot the date. Age.a I dropped the pen and slammed the book closed. aFine! Donat tell me!a I said, surging to my feet. Stalking into my bedroom, I slammed the door behind me and climbed into bed, punching the pillow.

He followed me. The man--Elumi--was a glutton for punishment.

I didnat know whether to punch him or kick him when he climbed into bed beside me as if head been invited and rolled over, throwing an arm and leg over me. aNineteen hundred thirty,a he muttered with the air of somebody confessing a dark secret. aBut I am still in my prime.a Uttering a snarl, I crawled out from under him, s.n.a.t.c.hed the pillow out from under his head and the blanket off, then stalked back into the living room and settled on the couch.

aTwenty three hundred, you ill tempered wench!a he yelled at me from the bedroom.

I ignored that remark.

aAll right, d.a.m.n it!a he growled from the door of the living room. aTwenty five hundred. I swear it on my dead mother!a I rolled over and glared at him. aYou donat even remember her name!a He stared at me for a long moment as if Iad slapped him, then abruptly stalked across the living room and disappeared through the wall.

aGood!a I yelled at the ceiling, figuring he was somewhere in that vicinity by that time. Getting up, I gathered my bedding and headed for my bed again.

I woke up some time later with a head between my legs and a tongue in my kitty. I was thoroughly aroused by the time I roused, however. I might still have been tempted to swat him except that the moment Iad run him off Iad begun to feel guilty about my comment about his mother.

Besides, it felt too d.a.m.ned good to make him stop. His mouth was hot. His tongue was talented and waves of exquisite sensation were pouring through me.

I was really torn. I could feel the tension inside of me building rapidly toward release. I wanted it. At the same time, I was enjoying the feel of his tongue and mouth too much to rush things.

Then there was the fact that I never had nearly as good a climax if it was just c.l.i.toral.

I decided to compromise and enjoy it until I was really close.

When I felt the first rush, I grabbed two handfuls of hair and tried to dislodge him. He grabbed my hands and held them and kept right on teasing me. I groaned when the first convulsions of pleasure began to wrack my body. By the time he decided he was done, I was screaming and trying to escape. He s.h.i.+fted, crawling up my quaking body slowly, teasing my still sensitive flesh until I thought I couldnat stand it. I groaned in complaint when he began teasing my nipples.

My v.a.g.i.n.al muscles clenched so hard when he tried to push inside of me my belly cramped. I wasnat sure I wanted him there at the moment, but I was too far gone to utter a verbal complaint beyond the moans and groans, and besides, he hadnat gotten his. I was surprised and not altogether pleased when I felt the tension building in me again when he finally filled me completely and began to move rhythmically along my channel. It wasnat displeasure so much as the anxiety that I was going to get halfway there before he came and then crash and burn.

He stayed with me, lifting my legs to his shoulders so that he was. .h.i.tting my g-spot in just the right way. The second coming almost blew my mind. I was still shuddering with the aftershocks when he found his own release.

He did the strangest thing when head stopped shuddering. Instead of rolling off of me and giving both of us a chance to catch our breaths and cool down, he slipped his arms around me, dragging me over as he rolled until I was lying half on top of him and then he nuzzled my neck and kissed me for several minutes--long enough Iad just decided he meant to start over when he stopped and went to sleep.

That was so disconcerting it almost woke me up completely. As it was I lay for a long time wondering if he was losing interest before I finally got too tired to worry about it anymore.

Dawn, my least favorite time of day, made its presence known by finding every c.h.i.n.k in my f.u.c.king curtains and pouring blinding daylight against my eyelids remorselessly. I tried to move but discovered I was pinned down by something heavy, and hot--that was breathing against my neck. It took me five minutes to wiggle out from under him. I felt a peculiar pang when I glanced over at his sleeping face.

Deciding finally that it was just sensation returning to my numbed body after a prolonged period of poor circulation due to the lead weight Gideon became when he was asleep, I got off the bed and staggered toward the bathroom to take care my morning ritual.

Lucky for me the effort to get out from under him had heightened my mental capacity a good bit over my general condition first thing in the morning. Iad already flopped on the pot before I remembered the test--but I probably wouldnat have remembered it until I was done if I hadnat been semi-alert. Grabbing one from the cabinet, I wrestled with the packaging, trying to clench until I could get the test strip out. After moving it back and forth in front of me for several moments, I managed to get it in focus and figure out which end to hold and which to pee on.

When I was done, I set it on the lavatory counter and crawled into the shower for a quick clean up. The shower woke me a little more and I was able to actually get my eyelids open by the time I got out and headed for the lavatory to brush my teeth.

Halfway through that ch.o.r.e, I glanced down at the test.

Positive. Pregnant.

I swallowed my toothpaste. My stomach, always delicate first thing in the morning, instantly rebelled and I nearly threw up. The heaves were bad enough, but I finally managed to calm my stomach and rinse my mouth. Picking up the test strip, I studied it in disbelief, trying to figure out how I couldave f.u.c.ked it up, or if I was misreading it.

It was pretty straightforward and simple, though. Pee and wait. And then it says pregnant or not pregnant.

Yes! I mouthed in silent jubilation and then did a little victory dance around the bathroom. When Iad made the circuit, I met up with Gideon in the doorway. A jolt of surprise and dawning embarra.s.sment for my juvenile behavior went through me. Right behind that, guilt kicked in and I shoved the test strip behind my back.

His brows rose questioningly.

aI was working out,a I lied, pus.h.i.+ng past him and heading for the kitchen. Adrenaline was pumping through my blood so rapidly I hardly needed coffee to wake me up. I made it anyway, partly because I needed something routine to do to calm me down and partly because there wasnat anything else in the house to put in my empty stomach--except the leftovers from the night before. I didnat think I could face cold burgers and fries this early in the day, though.

I kept catching myself smiling. It was dampening not to be able to give vent to my excitement and sense of victory, but sour puss would probably not be pleased about it and I didnat want my enjoyment ruined by a party p.o.o.per.

Oddly enough, when I took my coffee and headed back into my room to dress and discovered Gideon was gone, I felt deflated.

Dismissing it after a moment, I moved to the mirror to study my stomach, wondering how many days along I was and when I could expect to start looking pregnant. I tried to leaven my excitement with a reality check--I was only a few days along. It might not stay put.

I couldnat convince myself that it wouldnat, however. I hadnat even managed to conceive before. This had to be IT!

It was really distressing to think I was going to have to wait months and months before I had it. It dawned on me, though, that I should be making plans. Nine months didnat seem nearly that long when I looked at it that way.

Dragging a notebook out, I went into the living room, checked the time and started making phone calls. I couldnat get more than two doctors even to give me a ballpark price for prenatal care and an approximate hospital cost. When they found out my age, they started adding other possible expenses.

It irritated me. I wasnat that d.a.m.ned old!

After making an appointment with one, I settled down to tabulate expenses and then checked those against my a.s.sets. I was relieved to see that I was still OK as far as finances went. I had enough to get me through, even if I couldnat find a job, but what then?

Chapter Seven.

The urge to light out for the baby shop and start collecting everything I could conceivably need for baby was nearly overwhelming. When I finally realized that I just couldnat sit still any longer and behave like a rational human being, I grabbed my purse and headed for the grocery store.

I hadnat brought the list Iad made.

It didnat matter. The cupboards were bare. I needed pretty much everything.

Iad already made one pa.s.s through the store tossing things into the buggy at random when I realized I was a pregnant woman. I had to eat the right things. Once Iad breezed back through putting everything back on the shelf Iad decided wasnat nutritious enough, my buggy was almost empty. I went through slower the next time around, reading the labels on everything until I had a blinding headache and was tired besides.

When Iad gotten home and put everything up, I fixed myself a light lunch and sat down to eat it while I worried over my plans.

I didnat like the idea of daycare. I knew it was what working women everywhere had to do to make a living and I still didnat like it.

Unfortunately, I wasnat independently wealthy.

Tired from worry and nearly a week of spending half of every night f.u.c.king, I finally crept into my bed and took a nap. I didnat feel a lot better when I woke up, primarily I decided because I just wasnat used to taking a nap during the day.

The fact that Gideon hadnat appeared was merely coincidental.

I finally decided he had gone off to search for his missing sword.

His behavior the night before made me a little uneasy about it, though, which in turn annoyed me as soon as I realized I was worrying about it. I figured I ought to be old enough and wise enough in the ways of the world by now not to get too wound up about something like that.

It was bound to happen sooner or later and with most men, human men anyway, it was usually sooner. I realized after a while that I was actually surprised and a little flattered that it had taken him most of a week to start looking for greener pastures.

There was no getting around the fact that it put a crimp in my enjoyment, but after a while I was able to focus on the problem again.

Along about bedtime, when he still hadnat shown up--which was purely incidental to my thought processes--it occurred to me that I never had actually particularly liked living in the city. My early childhood had been spent at the old family farm. My mother had decided to move us up to the city to be closer to her brother and his family, but I still owned the old farm.

The kid would probably like the farm better, too. Of course it wasnat really a farm per se. Wead just called it that because it was outside the city limits in the country. It hadnat been a working farm since my grandfatheras time and I was certainly no farmer. The old house was pretty much falling down, too.

I decided, though, that before I spent a lot of time job hunting in the city, Iad just take a ride down and check the old place out. It was situated almost ten miles out from the nearest town to it, and that town wasnat big enough to be called a city or even much of a town. I should see if there were any job prospects and just how bad the house looked now.

The following morning I rose and packed a small suitcase, figuring I might want to hang around a few days if the house wasnat in too bad a shape. It seemed probable that it could take me at least a few days to check out the job market alone.

The farm was a surprise, not altogether pleasant. It wasnat in as bad a shape as Iad feared, but it was pretty grown up and the house was definitely in need of repairs. The main surprise was that it looked a lot smaller than I remembered from my childhood. That wasnat the bad part, though. The bad part was that it resurrected memories. My mother had actually been fairly rational during that stage in my life. Shead already been heading toward fruit cake, but there were good memories tied to the farm and those made me miss her--or at least the her shead been when we lived on the farm.

I spent several days just rambling around the farm and house making notes on what needed to be fixed and whether it was something I could do myself or would need to hire someone to do.

I was in town getting estimates on doing those jobs I couldnat when I happened upon a job opportunity. It wasnat management, but I hadnat expected to land anything in that area anyway, not in such a small town. It was a job running a small office which was still within my range of expertise. The girl that worked there was getting married and planned to be a housewife.

Quaint! I didnat know women even did that anymore.

It seemed like fate, though, so I jumped on the opportunity.

Once Iad made arrangements for the repairs I needed done, I packed up and headed back to my apartment in the city. I only had a few weeks to figure out a way to get out of the last few months of my lease and make arrangements to move.

All in all I was pleased with the way things were coming together. I wouldnat be making nearly as much money as Iad made before, but it wasnat going to cost me nearly as much to live either. The country air would be better for the kid--unless it had allergies--and I was ready to get out of the rat race and slow down.

Plus, I hadnat thought about Gideon more than a few times a day in the entire time Iad been at the farm and then only fleetingly.

It still bothered me that Iad thought about him at all, but I took it with a grain of salt. I had pretty thick skin, but I was also a creature of habit and Gideon had hung around long enough Iad started getting used to him. Then, too, there was the great s.e.x thing. It was so rare to find somebody who had that effect on you a woman could be pardoned for getting addicted to the good stuff.

I was not happy when I got back to my apartment and found Gideon laying in wait for me. I was so fully occupied with my own thoughts and trying to get my key in the door that the soft thud behind me barely registered. When he grabbed me from behind I nearly s.h.i.+t a squealing worm.

I elbowed him in the rib cage just for scaring me.

He grunted, his arms going slack enough I managed to pull free. aYou total a.s.s hole!a I growled, whirling on him furiously. aYou scared the living h.e.l.l out of me! What are you doing here?a He looked surprised and then almost as angry as I was. aWhy did you leave?a I stared at him for several moments, caught completely off guard. n.o.body had kept track of me in so long I felt totally disoriented at being questioned. aI had things to do,a I said shortly, angry that head had the gall to question me at all, particularly when he came and went without a aby your leavea. Opening the door of the apartment, I entered, dropping the suitcase by the door.

It was too much to hope he wouldnat follow me.

I wrestled with my anger for several minutes after head followed me inside and slammed the door hard enough to rattle the room. Finally, reason began to thread its way through the anger and I realized that, aside from being startled, I was being no more reasonable than he was. I dragged in a deep, cleansing breath and let it out slowly. aSorry,a I said as apologetically as I could manage. aYou scared me. It made me mad.a That seemed to leaven his anger somewhat, but I could tell he was still struggling with it.

aWhy were you looking for me anyway?a I asked, flopping on the couch because my knees still felt as weak as water.

Several emotions flitted across his face in quick succession, too fast for me to catch. Finally, he turned to pacing the room, thinking. aI have not found my sword,a he said finally.

aAh!a I nodded. That explained a lot. aI figured you wouldave already gotten your man and lit out for the gateway.a He frowned, but whatever head started to say, he seemed to reconsider. aHe knows I am here and I have nothing to fight him with. Until I can find the sword, I must keep on the move or it is my head that will be carried through the gateway.a I felt so ill at that comment that I thought for several moments I might actually throw up. Not once since I had been gone had it occurred to me that Gideon was in danger. I suppose I just hadnat completely grasped his situation. Maybe I hadnat believed it at all. Regardless, I had spent more time mentally berating him for heading off for greener pastures than anything else.

Finally mastering the unsettling emotions roiling through me, I managed to focus on the problem. I didnat want Gideon to get killed. I much preferred to think of him leaving and going home to that possibility.

It would make my life easier anyway. Head said he enjoyed f.u.c.king me. Until head had his fill, he would come back whenever the mood struck him and Iad be a sucker and let him because of my own needs. I couldnat allow that. I was just as aina to self deception as the next person, but I was no fool. I was already too attached to Gideon for comfort. There was always the possibility that familiarity would breed contempt, but it wasnat something I was willing to gamble on when there was just as much chance that familiarity would breed addiction.

aI donat suppose a different sword would do?a I asked, wondering even as I said it where the h.e.l.l Iad find one. There were plenty of places around that made reproductions, but I had a feeling that wouldnat be close enough.

His look told me no. I sighed. aWhy donat you tell me how and where you lost it to start with? Maybe if we backtrack, we can figure out what happened to it?a He glared at me. aI have done that.a aYou havenat done it with me. And I happen to be more familiar with this world than you are.a He was silent for several moments, pacing, either trying to decide whether it was worth the effort, or trying to decide where to start. aI had run upon an enemy soldier--the Garyn I spoke of--and engaged him in battle. We fought for many hours, for we are very evenly matched in skill and strength. We were moving all the time that we fought, sometimes in the air, sometimes on the ground. As it grew dark, I managed to wound him, but I was also at a disadvantage, for we Elumi can not see as well in the dark as in the light.a I rolled my eyes at that since I was fairly certain humans were a lot more disadvantaged in the dark than the Elumi were.

He frowned. aWe are not invincible,a he growled. aWe heal quickly, even great wounds, but there is still pain and weakness from loss of blood.a aSorry,a I muttered, wis.h.i.+ng he wouldnat talk about that since it made me hurt just remembering what he had looked like when Iad found him. aTell me everything.a It took him a moment to pick up where head left off. aHe wounded me, as well. Still, we fought on. I thought I had wounded him worse, for he began to slow and I could see that he wanted to break off and retreat until he had healed to fight again. My own wound began to pull my strength from me, though, and although I managed to wound him several more times, he caught me, as well, and I think we both began to realize that neither could find victory at that point.

aWe withdrew finally by mutual agreement. I had to find a safe place to allow my body time to heal since I could not know if he would grow strong faster--or if there were other enemies around who could take my head while I was too weak to fight.