Mixed Blessings Ch. 06

He saw the thrust shoot towards his left hip. He was slightly off balance and knew that he wouldn’t slide out of the way this time. His grin never faltered as his gaze shifted up to meet her piercing purple eyes. He almost missed his counter as he stared at the latest surprise. She did not have the light violet irises that he occasionally saw among his people. Rather, everything within the boundaries of the whites was a deep purple, darkening to black at her pupil.

Finally, his right hand swept up in a circle. Talianna jumped back and stared, in shock and horror, as her weapon finished drifting apart. Those purple eyes locked with Laslie’s and he took a moment to appreciate the full affect of her face. Rich brown hair spilled down either side of her head, broken only by the twin peaks of her pointed ears. After the silken strands reached her bare shoulder, they cascaded forward and back to fall a few inches shy of her artfully concealed areola. Her entire self-image conveyed a devastating beauty that concealed the deadly skill with which she fought.

The kama rose in his hand until the blade rested across his chest, just beneath his jaw. Her eyes drifted down, caught by the slight motion, and widened as they discovered his prize. The previous look disappeared, to be replaced by awe and thinly veiled desire. Laslie found that he wished he had Alicia’s empathy. He suspected it was the blade she lusted after, but he found a part of himself rather wished it was him.

Talianna began to back away slowly, with her hands conspicuously empty and held low and away from her body. Laslie’s merciless grin showed that he understood the irony that she mimicked the pose he held when she found him naked in the motel bed. She had every reason to be afraid. While a spiritual weapon could hurt, or even incapacitate, anyone in astral combat, a spirit blade could kill. The kama would deal every bit as much damage to Talianna as she could deal normally to Alicia.

Laslie didn’t intend to kill her however. She was Hunter’s Mouth, but this time she would be Laslie’s. He intended to send them a message. Laslie, formerly of the Barren Rock tribe, was not one to be messed with.

Talianna was rattled by the escalation of the fight, otherwise Laslie would never have been able to slip instantly behind her. She froze as his hands slipped beneath her arms. He pulled her tight against his body and let the blade of the kama hover towards her neck. Two vines had shifted on her armor and interposed leaves between her skin and the blade. Arboreal armor was a potent creation, but Laslie was fairly certain the spirit blade could pierce even that stalwart protection should he desire.

He slowed the blade to rest against her. Even with the two leaves trapped between the blade and her soft flesh, Laslie felt her terror through the tension of her body. She was frozen through a mixture of fear and self-preservation. Only the armor dared react to the threat he posed.

His left hand slowly eased its pressure. He no longer needed to hold her against him; the blade did that for him. Light as a feather, his hand glided across her very exposed midriff. He felt a shudder run through her ethereal body and smiled. Curious, his hand began to glide across her smooth flesh. He drifted downward. Finally, his delicate touch brushed against a small patch of laboriously managed fuzz. He imagined the half-curls to be the same chocolate as the hair beneath his gaze.

This time, his hand had not become entangled in the vine. In the motel room it had struggled as Talianna had. Armor such as this acted on the subconscious on the bearer. There, it had resisted his unconventional attack, this time it accepted it. There was the slightest of contact. A vine tentatively brushed the top of Laslie’s hand. He ignored it.

“I have a message for Hunter. As his,” Laslie paused for a moment to let her dread the next word, “greatest messenger, I would have you deliver it.” Talianna’s head nodded slightly, within the confines afforded by the blade. “I don’t want him to follow me. I don’t want anyone from his pack to follow me.” Laslie thought about that statement for a minute and changed his mind. It could be useful to have a single acceptable contact that could relate messages back and forth. “Except you, if I see any from his pack I’ll deal with them. Is that understood?” Once more she nodded slightly.

Now, Laslie obeyed the tendrils suggestion. His hand glided across the delightful hair and into the warm folds between her legs. Her entire body seemed to melt against him as she relaxed into his unconventional embrace. Laslie was surprised. Apparently it had been even longer since she had felt the touch of astral ‘contact’ than it had been for him. For all of her skills, it was the single lust Alicia could not slake.

A finger slipped deeper, to stroke the inflamed bud he discovered. Instantly, the vines all reacted. He had expected they would. When her subconscious sensed jeopardy they would finally entangle his hands and pull him away. The vine that covered her breasts did ensnare his right arm, but rather than pull it free, it shifted so that his hand, still clenched around the weapon, pressed against her breast. The two by her neck embraced his body and pulled him closer. Meanwhile, the vine that had prodded and suggested, pressed his left hand. She wanted more, so much more.

His finger circled as he let the armor increase the pressure of his touch. Talianna’s body shuddered and her hips rolled forward. He could feel her neck strain as she tried to keep quite. His grin became feral as he remembered his earlier comment.Kill two birds with one stone. Laslie could convert an ally and force Talianna to reveal the location of her body. His finger shifted slightly as he sought to push beneath the satiny hood that protected her lust. As he began to trace the sensitive nerves that rimmed its base, she lost the battle and a deep moan of pure need escaped her lips.

Laslie saw Alicia disappear. He only had a moment. He leaned forward towards her ear. Conscious to keep his voice only in the spiritual realm, he whispered. “Hunter is a fool.” His finger drove deeper, past velvet lips, to pierce her core. An ecstatic cry began to pour from her, when all resistance vanished. Laslie smiled and lifted the finger to his mouth to give it a very suggestive lick.
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Alicia knew, with the first hint of sound from the hidden Sidhe, that she could eliminate that threat and return to help Laslie in mere moments. Talianna had begun to scream when Alicia reached her. She knew, from personal experience, how painful astral attacks were. She also knew that knocking the warrior out would effectively end the combat without risk of anyone’s death. As Alicia closed in, she got very confused emotions from the warrior. A single punch stopped everything cold.

In another moment Alicia was back with the Lycan. It had barely had time to move, but she hoped that Laslie would finish the job quickly. She was as surprised when she saw the spirit blade reappear in Laslie’s hand as when it had disappeared. His head lifted and he grinned at her. That simple look was filled with so many thoughts, and none radiated from her lover.

Slowly, Laslie crossed the room. He raised the kama and the blade pierced one of the Lycan’s arms. The thing’s growls of anger instantly shifted to howls of pain. Alicia’s body jerked as the sheer torment crossed her empathic link. “Las! Should I be feeling his pain?” She cringed as the weapon raised and shot forward to lance the second arm.

“Sorry ‘Licia. The spirit inside this thing is huge. It might even be strong enough to turn the body.”

“Las, this is a man. A poor, cursed, man! Not a ‘thing.’” Laslie shrugged. “And I thought you said they couldn’t transform?”

“Most can’t.” Alicia’s legs nearly buckled as Laslie sliced into both of the man’s legs at once. He continued his explanation unphased by his actions. “Given the size of this one it’s quite possible it could. I didn’t want to chance that you couldn’t handle a six foot tall man-spider. Besides, this will also cripple the spirit, once we release the bond Talianna placed to trap it within the body.”

“Then why do the Sidhe need a team of four, if you can effectively cripple him, body and spirit, so simply?”

Laslie grinned and held up the kama. “Because none of them have one of these.” A moment later the weapon disappeared. The businessman screamed and began to collapse. Alicia’s entire body burned with his pain. Only the vague sense of triumphant freedom, that trickled from the poor man, provided her a lifeline that kept her from unconsciousness. In that moment, she suspected the Sidhe did not perform this version because their method was far more humane. She sighed her relief when the man passed out from the pain and the sensation diminished.

Alicia tossed the unconscious man aside just as the kama reappeared in Laslie’s hand. He began to move immediately. He tore the man’s shirt and pulled free a small talisman, dangled on a chain, from the man’s neck. She continued to study the object as he tossed it through the air to her. It was about two inches across, silver, and was a very elaborate Celtic knot design. It radiated power as it flew through the air.

The moment she caught it, the power seemed to dim to nothing. It was a strange feeling, as if the power had simply vanished. It reminded Alicia, uncomfortably, of the way Laslie had closed down his emotions from time to time. She looked up to find his stare directed at her, inscrutable as ever. She had gotten better with her guesses and was fairly certain he viewed her with hisother-sight.

Laslie nodded. “It works.” He smiled at her confusion and explained. “That’s what we came for. It is designed to mask someone’s spiritual body. With it, you look as human as the next chick.” He slid up to her, knelt in order to decrease the height difference, and pressed his body against hers. She could feel the tension in his hands and smiled. She knew he wanted to run those hands over her here and now. Combat made him horny.

“The added advantage,” Laslie whispered in her ear before he gave it a light nibble, “is it should protect you. Not from a spirit blade, but most attacks will be muted if not negated entirely.” Alicia gasped as he shifted down to bite playfully at her breast, through her blouse. “Now, what do you say we find a room for the night?”

Thank you for reading Mixed Blessings. As always, your comments are appreciated. If you enjoyed Alicia, you might also enjoy my Gifting Night series for the adventures of other Dhase. The Dhase are a creation of my muse and anyone wishing to use them should contact me for more information. Thank you, once more, for reading and, again, please vote.

Copywrite January 2007, by Deathlynx