A Kiss of Fire (A Kiss of Magic #2)(71)

They were sitting in the bath a short while later, the tub barely big enough to hold them both. He had a large plumbed and tiled bath right off of his private quarters and he longed to bring her there. In fact, he longed to have her in his bed, rather than he be in hers. But it was an unspoken line of intimacy she wasn't ready to cross yet.

He washed her body thoroughly, his sponge missing nothing. He washed all signs of himself from her body and it pained him to do so. So much so that, no sooner had they risen from the bath then he had tossed her down onto the carpet and made love to her again, marking her as his once more.

When they were dressed they ate a hearty breakfast, their appetites reflective of their activity and other hungers. But they had been cooped up for three days and he was determined they make it out of the room and into the world…as lovers. They had not been out together since making love. He had made sure they were left undisturbed after the first time and had taken all their meals in her room. He wanted to have her on his arm with his people, to feel her beside him knowing she was his. Then he wanted them to take dinner at a table full of others, to have her truly claim that place by his side.

The first thing they did was go for a ride out of doors. Sin put her in the saddle and mounted behind her. The temperature had dropped to bitter degrees and it was beginning to snow, but they easily kept each other warm. Their travel was slow and meandering. Aimless. The entire time his attention was more focused on kissing her ear, her cheek her neck and, of course, her lips. Luckily his horse didn’t mind choosing the direction in which to go.

Arianna was quiet, drinking in the scenery and his attentions. They rode out farther than he had intended when they encountered three men riding abreast on their horses.

“Hello friend,” the first man drawled to Sin. They were dressed as Kiltians, but Sin had never met them before. And clearly they had never met him or they would have referred to him as Raja or “my prince”.

“Hello to you,” Sin said. But almost immediately he began to sense something was off about them. Perhaps it was the way they separated until they were completely surrounding Sin’s horse. Or perhaps it was the fact that they looked bedraggled and road weary. These men were drifters. They lived off the land. A hard thing to do in the dead cold of winter.

“Is there a town ahead?” the leader who had already addressed them asked amicably enough.

“Yes. It is the new town where the temple is built. I am—“

“Then you must be from there. That explains the wealth of your clothing and saddle…the fineness of your horse.” There was definitely something covetous in his eyes. That covetousness only intensified as the leader looked over Ariana and her glorious red hair. “Ain’t never seen a Saren woman with hair like that before,” he said. Then he reached for his waistband and quickly withdrew a single shot pistol, aiming it dead at Sin’s chest. “How about you hand over whatever gold you’ve got and we’ll take that horse of yours too.”

Sin didn’t budge. Ariana was sitting directly in front of him, so by aiming at his chest the man was aiming at Ariana’s chest. Sin was a powerhouse, just as Ariana was, but there was little he could do to countermand the speed of a bullet. Not while on the back of a living animal.

The man on his right dismounted and held out a hand to Ariana. “I’ll help your woman down,” he said with an obvious leer.

“You’ll not touch her,” Sin said, his voice low and dangerous.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to argue,” the man said. Then suddenly there was a crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning hit the ground right in front of Sin’s horse. The horse balked. Reared. Sin struggled to keep his seat as the other horses danced around nervously. Clearly they were more used to the display than Sin’s horse was.

So. One of them was a Weath shaman, controlling the weather. If he was a shaman, then it might be just as likely that the others were shaman too. Well, he could fight shaman. All but the insidiousness of a Jadoc shaman. He had powerful guards protecting his mind, but he would be nothing against a Jadoc of any advanced skill.

“I see you’re beginning to realize the danger you’re in if you don’t obey our commands,” the leader said confidently.

“We will obey and give you the horse, but you will not touch my woman.”

“More demands? You truly do not appreciate the situation,” the Weath said just before he reached up and grabbed Ariana by her thigh and her arm, yanking her out of the saddle and onto the ground. All of Sin’s control vanished in that instant. Instinctively knowing Ariana could take care of herself, he focused on the man with the gun and called fire to his hand. He sent a searing stream of flames over the distance between them and over the man’s horse’s head. The stream hit him dead in the chest just as the gun went off, it’s report cracking loud in the still winter air.

Sin felt the bullet strike his chest hard. The impact was shocking but surprisingly not painful, at first. Which was a good thing because he didn’t want to lose his focus or concentration. His first stream of fire had hit the leader dead on and he was on fire, screaming as his horse reared, screamed and bolted out from under him. The man fell in a smoldering heap to the ground. Sin’s horse fared no better as another bolt of lightning shot out of the heavens and struck the ground right at Sin’s horse’s left flank. The horse bolted and Sin, injured as he was, could not keep his seat. He fell out of the saddle and hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud. Now his chest began to hurt and he couldn’t draw in a breath. He knew he had to do something—anything!—to protect himself and Ariana, but he couldn’t move. He could only watch as she turned on the man who held her and let flame explode down her body, immolating herself, letting the flame cover every exposed inch of her. The man who held her jumped back in shock and let out a terrified shout of surprise. Then, while she advanced on the one on the ground, the third pulled his weapon and aimed directly at her head. He fired.