Free WarriorsApprentice by Alysh Ellis Page B

eyes snapped open.
“You with your vast experience with women.”
    “I know enough to listen to Judie. Do you care how you made
her feel when you walked out that way?” Huon fisted his hands at his sides.
“You shouldn’t have done it.”
    “It’s been a long dry spell. I got carried away.” Tybor
pushed himself up into a sitting position.
    “And that excuses it?” Huon asked.
    “See how you feel after two hundred years.” Tybor looked him
over appraisingly. “I assume you did manage the deed.”
    Huon felt his cheeks heat. “I did. We did.”
    Tybor surged to his feet and slammed Huon into the wall with
a shove. “You bloody hypocrite. I fuck her and walk out and I’m to blame. You
do it and it’s okay.”
    “She’s asleep,” Huon yelled. “I snuck out.”
    “And that makes it somehow better?” Tybor loomed over him.
    “I’m going back,” Huon insisted
    “Well, don’t let me stop you. I appreciate your concern in
coming to check on me but you get your skinny ivory ass back to that woman .”
    Once again Huon found himself confronting Tybor chest to
chest. “You’re coming with me.”
    “What? Like hell.” Tybor took a step back and Huon took a
deep breath.
    “You made her feel bad, you are going to fix it. I have a
job to do. You butted in on it and I am not going to let you stuff it up. I
don’t know what the hell got under your skin, but since you’re here you are
going to suck it up and do whatever is necessary to keep Judie Scanlon happy
and compliant.” Huon punctuated his sentence with a return shove on Tybor’s
chest. It didn’t achieve much but at least it seemed to focus Tybor’s
attention. “You got that?”
    Tybor’s lips curved in a small, dangerous smile. “Giving me
orders, boy?”
    “Yeah,” Huon replied, holding his ground. “I am. This is my mission. I have orders to be here. You’re AWOL, so I guess that puts me in
charge.”
    Tybor shrugged. “Fair enough. What do you want me to do?”
    Hoping he disguised his shock at Tybor’s compliance, Huon
replied, “Come back to Judie’s apartment with me. I’m pretty sure she’ll still
be asleep.” He felt a blush heat his cheeks again and once again cursed his
unnatural paleness. “Between us, we tired her out. I’ll pretend I never left,
and you can come back in and apologize and explain why you stormed out.” He
gave Tybor an assessing glance. “I’d like to hear the reason myself.”
    “It’s personal. That’s all I’ll tell her and I’ll be damned
if I tell you any different.”
    “But…” Huon protested.
    “Don’t push it. I’ve made all the concessions I’m going to.”
Tybor marched out of the door, leaving Huon to follow in his wake.
    At Judie’s apartment, Huon pulled a set of keys from his
pocket. “I, ah, borrowed them.”
    Before he could insert them in the door Tybor’s hand closed
over his. “Did you also, ah, borrow the code to the alarm?”
    Once more Huon felt his traitorous skin redden. “Shit.”
    Tybor pulled the keys from his fist. “You’ve still got
things to learn from the master.”
    He inserted the key in the lock, opened the door and leaned
over and punched a series of numbers into the key pad.
    “How did you know that?” Huon gasped.
    “Memorized it when we first came in.” Tybor smirked, then he
sobered. “I’ll apologize but I’m not explaining why I reacted the way I did. It
won’t happen again. I won’t jeopardize this mission.” He pulled the door shut.
“Come on. Let’s see if I can make this right.”
    * * * * *
    The roll of the mattress dipping under the weight of another
body snapped Judie awake. Adrenaline hit like a punch in the chest and she sat
up, a whimper of terror escaping before she could suppress it.
    Instantly a hand reached to cover her mouth and a soft voice
whispered, “Shh. It’s just me.”
    Through the haze of fear and darkness, a face she recognized
drifted into focus. Her panicked breathing slowed, and she whispered a