Free Fire Pearl (Beyond Ontariese 5) by Cyndi Friberg Page B

be ridiculous. I’m not an adolescent
boy. I can control my desire.” Even as she spoke the objection, her
gaze narrowed and descended along his body. The spike of energy
released by her orgasm had triggered a vision. There was no telling
what the next one might unleash. He dare not leave her to her own
devises with the fire smoldering in her eyes.
    Sweeping her up in his arms, he deposited her
on the mound of furs. “This is just until I return.” He closed
leather cuffs around her wrists and tethered her to a metal loop
attached to the tent frame.
    She stared back at him in stunned silence for
a moment then indignation lit her gaze. Color crawled up her neck
and bloomed across her cheekbones. “What other toys do you have
stashed in this tent? What’s the Bilarrian word for pet?” She
tugged against the tether and glared at him.
    He hated to leave her like this, but the
sooner he gathered information, the sooner he could teach her how
to control her jumanna magic. “I’ll return as soon as I
can.”
    Leaving the tent flap folded back so he could
see her, he stepped outside. A fire pearl. He shook his head. Even
having sensed her awakening, he struggled to believe she was a jumanna . This complicated everything.
    He kept her in his peripheral vision as he
summoned the metaphysical plane. He had advanced beyond the need
for visualizations many centuries before. It was only when he was
depleted or emotionally torn that he fell back on the standard
technique for controlling the metaphysical plane.
    Indric waited for him in the twilight glen,
his hands clasped behind his back. “What can I do for you? I
expected you to be extremely busy for the next several days.”
    “Tell me everything you know about the jumanna .”
    His attempt to disguise his smirk at surprise
failed utterly. “I was right, wasn’t I? You stumbled upon a fire
pearl.”
    “You are the only person I know who
has…interacted with one.”
    Indric laughed and slapped Drakkin on the
back. “I suspect that will change very soon.”
    “When did you meet this woman?” Drakkin
asked. “What was her situation?”
    “The jumanna generally choose one of
two paths. They bond with a powerful mate and interact exclusively
with him, or they interact with whoever most benefits from the, um,
interaction.”
    Drakkin blew out a ragged breath. “Aria was
raised by a space pet. I suspect she’ll have no interest in the
second scenario.”
    “And the possessive fire burning in your eyes
has nothing to do with that prediction?” Indric relaxed his
expression until only a hint of amusement remained in his
gold-ringed eyes. “Obviously the jumanna I encountered was
willing to infuse anyone who needed her. She was revered and
respected. Not a bad way to go through life.”
    “If the jumanna chooses to bond, is
her life mate the only one who benefits from her abilities?”
    “That depends on her mate. If she bound
herself to someone unable to transfer energy, then her gift would
be wasted. That won’t be a problem with you.”
    Drakkin didn’t argue. Even before he’d
touched Aria, he’d felt the savage within him stir. Only with
Fetima, his second wife, had he surrendered to the ancient portion
of his soul that demanded a mate. Once awakened, the savage
couldn’t be silenced until the bond was formed.
    But that was the least of his concerns. First
and foremost, he needed to find out how best to help Aria. “I must
meditate. Will you guard her until I return?”
    “Of course.”
* * * * *
    Aria tugged on the wrist cuffs’ clasp with
her teeth, an exasperated growl escaping her throat. How could
Drakkin do this to her? At least with Faujer she’d found a way to
relieve the tension. Not that the tension Faujer created in any way
compared with the desire making her blood boil. Hot, restless,
savage. She felt as if her body were reengineering itself from the
inside out.
    “The cuffs are secured by a specific energy
pattern.” She heard a deep male