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An Excerpt From: RAPTURE'S ETESIAN

CHARLOTTE BOYETT-COMPO, 2005.

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave, Inc.

Leksi paced the ground from one tall date palm to another and started the trek again. The moon was high overhead, yet the lady for whom he waited had not appeared. He was growing concerned and his pacing increased. Now and again, he glanced over at her horse but the animal was standing placidly, ground-hobbled.

“Where’s your lady, Aeolus?” the warrior asked. “Why isn’t she here?”

The steed bobbed its head up and down, causing the bridle to tinkle. It pawed the ground a few times then lowered its elegant head to munch the oats scattered in front of it.

“Unconcerned about her, eh?” Leksi chuckled.

It was the pricking of the beast’s ears that alerted the warrior to the fact he was no longer alone. Peering into the darkness, he saw a dark shape off to his left. The silhouette was about two and a half feet from ground to tip of a pointed ear. A passing moonbeam lit the silvery gleam of thick fur for a moment then traveled on into the darkness.

“I was beginning to worry, Little One,” Leksi said.

The shape came no closer, but it turned its head and surveyed the surrounding area.

“I am alone.”

“You were,” said an amused voice.

Leksi spun around to find Kynthia standing right behind him. So quietly had she approached, his warrior ears had heard nothing. But his trained eyes flicked back to the animal he thought was the lady and found he was staring into a pair of inquisitive golden eyes.

“I call him Kirkor,” Kynthia said.

“Vigilant,” Leksi responded with the old meaning.

“Aye, for that he is.”

“Your protector, milady?”

“At times. When I am in full Transition, I have joined his pack simply for the thrill of it. To run, to hunt, though I refrain from taking life. It is the challenge of the chase that I find exhilarating. Kirkor is the prime male of his pack and I believe he regards me as one of his own.”

“As a mate?”

Kynthia shook her head. “He has a mate. I am simply one of the females to him.”

Turning away from the warrior, Kynthia walked to her horse and reached up to stroke the bridge of its nose. “Did you miss me?”

The steed snorted and stretched out his neck to nuzzle his mistress.

“Was he good to you?” A nod of her mount’s head brought a sigh of relief to Kynthia.

“Did you think I would abuse him?” Leksi asked.

“No, but not every male is as respectful of a beast as its owner is,” she replied.

“Not every owner is as respectful of his beast as he should be,” Leksi countered. “I was taught that it is a privilege to possess a stalwart mount and you treat one with consideration.”

Kynthia looked over at the warrior and smiled. “That’s a good thing to learn about you, Leksi Helios.”

That smile brought a similar one to Leksi’s lips, and he dug his hands into the pockets of his breeches. “Why Aeolus?” he asked.

“Because,” Kynthia said, running her hand across the horse’s neck and along its withers, “he is as fleet as the wind and just as strong. He has served me well on many a night.”

“You only come out at night?” he asked.

“Aye, but I am not limited only to the evening. I just prefer it.”

Digging the toe of his boot into the ground as a bashful boy would, the warrior lowered his head and spoke without looking at her.

“Are you not human, milady?”

Kynthia blinked. “Why would you ask such a thing?”

He glanced up at her. “You change,” he said, and even in the moonlight, the blush stained his cheeks.

“Aye, I change, but I am just as human as you.”

Leksi narrowed his eyes and his face took on a look of confusion. “But how is it possible that you become an animal? I thought only the gods and their ladies could do such things.”

“I am a Reaper,” she said. “And Reapers have abilities given to them from a man not of this world.”

“A god.”

“No, not a god, but as close to one as you or I will ever know, I suppose.”

“Reaper,” Leksi repeated. “What is it you harvest?”

Kynthia laughed, and the warrior looked up. The humor was evident on her lovely face and as she pushed a thick strand of silvery hair from her cheek, he sighed with longing.

“I harvest nothing save a cup or two of blood each day to keep me sane,” she answered. “That is the price I pay for all the abilities I possess.”

“What abilities?”

“Keen eyesight and hearing like my lupine counterparts, extraordinary strength and endurance. Healing capabilities far beyond the normal. The ability to live ten times longer than a normal person,” she replied.

“I wouldn’t mind having such abilities,” he said.

Kynthia cocked her head to one side and studied him silently for a moment. “Even if it meant changing as I change?” she questioned.

“Perhaps.”

“It is a very painful thing to Transition,” she told him.

“Life is painful, milady.”

“Not as painful as Transitioning,” she scoffed.

He pulled his hands from his pockets and folded his arms over his chest. “Let me ask you a question.”

She nodded.

“If I had possessed the powers you have when your aunt and her rapists attacked me, would I have been able to fend them off?”

“Easily,” she responded.

“No matter that there were five of them?”

“No matter had there been ten of them.”

He thought about that for a moment. “I believe I would like being a part-time wolf.”

Kynthia snorted. “You think so now, but the reality of change is a bitter road to travel.”

Leksi shrugged. “Would it mean having you to mate if I were to change?”

The smile slipped from Kynthia’s face. “So you can use me whenever the mood struck?”

“So I could make love to you when we were both of a mind to do so?” he offered.

Kynthia came toe-to-toe with him. “Make love to or fuck?”

“Whichever you prefer,” he answered honestly.

“I’ve been fucked,” she spat, her eyes flashing. “The bastard raped me. He hurt me so badly I swore no man would ever touch me again!”

Leksi unfolded his arms and reached out a hand to touch her cheek, surprised when she did not flinch or pull away. Gently, he moved the pad of his thumb under her left eye, tracing the dark shadow that dwelt there.

“Give me his name and I will skin him alive,” the warrior vowed.

Kynthia felt a funny little quiver in her belly at his touch, and his words drove straight to her heart.

“One day,” Cainer Cree had prophesied, “you will meet a man whose hand will start a fire in your loins, milady. His gentlest touch will stoke that fire until it is a blazing inferno only his male potency can extinguish. When you find such a man, hold fast to him for you will know you have found your life-mate.”

“Tell me who he is and he is as good as dead, milady.”

Kynthia mentally shook herself. “No need,” she said, her voice husky. “I killed the Basarabian bastard long ago.”

The warrior put his other hand to her face. “I would slay a hundred dragons for you if you but asked.”

“Dragons don’t exist, Helios,” she sneered.

“There are dragons, and then there are dragons,” he said, gazing deeply into her eyes.