Free Men of Anderas II: Dak the Protector by Cheryl Johnson Page A

meadow
around them with golden light. The blossoming grasses, swaying in
the gentle breeze, filled the air with their delicate scent. The
myriad colors attracted insects and birds intent on an afternoon
meal. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
    "I asked if anything was wrong."
    "No, everything’s fine. Why?"
    "You’ve been stopped in the middle of the
road, staring off into space for about ten minutes. I was just
curious."
    A furious blush exploded across her face,
which only raised Dak’s eyebrow even higher.
    "You’re exaggerating . "
    "Am I?
    "He continued to stare at her, daring her to
contradict him.
    "I was lost in thought for a few minutes at
most."
    "Minutes? Take a look at the sun, Kierin.
It’s almost to the tree line. It won’t be long before we have to
find a place to make camp for the night. What were you thinking
about?"
    Kissing you.
    Dak heard her answer in his head but before
he could absorb the implications she was urging her horse into a
trot. She had her head tilted in what he recognized as her
‘I-dare-you’ angle. Just as on the transport, it was all the proof
he needed that what he heard was the truth.
    So, little witch, you liked my kiss, did
you? I can do a lot more than kiss you senseless if you’re
interested. She was aware of him as a man. He’d suspected as
much since the first night on Safe Haven. He wasn’t an untried boy.
He recognized female interest on the most primitive male level. Did
her awareness indicate desire? Was that desire enough to make her
remove the stone? He kept coming back to the same point in his
endless quest for answers. Could it be as simple as stud service?
Everything he thought he knew about women rebelled at the idea but
nothing else made any sense. Murdock alluded to the possibility,
but Kierin didn’t seem the type to buy sex.
    For the sake of argument, suppose he was
right. It was possible she didn’t want an involvement with anyone
she knew. Or her powers did, in fact, scare the pants off any man
who knew about a crystal witch. For what this trip and his purchase
cost, she could spend several months at a pleasure station getting
all the action she wanted. Safe. Healthy. Unencumbered. He supposed
she had her reasons for doing things this way and he never claimed
to be an expert on the thought processes of the female of any
species.
    Okay, she wanted him for sex. He had no
problem with that. She was a beautiful, desirable woman and he
hadn’t visited a pleasure station in a long time. He could still
feel the softness of her skin beneath his fingers. And her mouth. A
man could die happy with nothing more than a constant diet of her
mouth. Every part of his body responded to the little crystal
witch--except the one part that was necessary to finish what his
kiss started. They both knew he couldn’t get a hard-on as long as
he wore the amulet. If he had the time, he had no doubt he could
kiss her into removing the stone. Could he arouse her enough to
remove the stone without being able to touch her? To whisper words
shared by lovers in her ear? Trouble was she was already expecting
him to try getting close to her again and after that jolt of energy
this morning, the next time he touched her it would be by
invitation.
    He wished he knew more about the powers of a
crystal witch and how far he could push them. The more time he
spent with her, the more he had to alter his initial assumptions.
Her power wasn’t the stone itself. She didn’t touch it when she
zapped him or Talon. The more he thought about it the more
convinced he was that her crystal was an amplifier or targeting
device. Her power was her own. Like her telepathy. Now, there was a new wrinkle to his little crystal witch. If she
could actually read minds she would have known Talon meant her no
harm long before he explained himself. He figured her power was
more thought projection--which would also explain the dream.
    He would have jumped and shouted with
excitement if not under the