Beginnings: A Touch of Magic 
Cassandra Kane 


 

Universal Alliance Settlement Exploration Unit: 

Report 17836ZE-C 

 

Target: 

Samhain Type M planet on outer edge of Ekabadian System. Nine 
year cycle. 

Atmosphere: Habitable. Terraforming unnecessary. Possible 
instability due to proximity of Ekabadian Black Hole. 

 

History: 

Year 2395. Illegal colonization by New Wiccan cult, Laliths People 
(Cross Reference), in privately chartered starship Goliath. Contact with 
Universal Alliance severed immediately. Goliath reported missing. 
Assumed crashed on Samhain, no survivors. No resources to verify. 
Status: Code F (Extreme Low Priority). 

Year 2552.9 Status Change: Code C (Medium Priority). Black hole 
proximity considered stable. Universal Alliance green light colonization 
into Ekabadian System. 

Year 2553.2 Settlement Scouting Unit SU-SEU5821 dispatched. 
Preliminary report on Samhain: Highly ionized atmosphere. Frequent 
electrical storms causing equipment malfunction. Small colony of Goliath 
survivors detected. Scouting Unit classified Missing following 
preliminary report. 13 days in field. 

Year 2559.4 Settlement Scouting Unit SU-SEU6073 dispatched. 
Confirms preliminary by first scouting unit. Civilization: Primitive, 
barbaric. Observation of restrictive New Wiccan rituals amongst Goliath 
settlers. Scouting Unit classified Missing following secondary report. 19 
days in field. 


 

Current Status: 

Year 2561.7 

Final reconnaissance mission. Type: Scouting / Military 

Primary directive: Ascertain whereabouts of missing scouting units 

Secondary directive: Ascertain Samhain readiness for colonization 

In case of mission failure, SEU to hand over Samhain exploration to 
UA Special Forces for full military intervention. 


Chapter One 

So thats Samhain, Colonel Stodd Orson sneered, staring at the 
small green planet on the ships viewscreen. 

Scout Leader Captain Tirana Albaster nodded. She despised the man 
but it was best if she treated him with civility. These Universal Alliance 
Special Forces military types were known for their short fusesand their 
trigger-happy fingers. 

Theres something in Sector 12A, the ships science officer reported, 
reading the data from his console. 

Signs of life, Lieutenant? Tirana asked. 

Affirmative. Looks like a small settlement. 

Send the location co-ordinates to Shuttle 4. Im going down. 

Were going down, Colonel Orson corrected as he followed her from 
the navigation pit. 

That goes without saying, Colonel. Tiranas voice was polite even as 
she lengthened her stride to shake him off. Im fully aware that you were 
assigned as protection on this mission. 

Colonel Orson stopped her with a thick hand on her shoulder and 
gave it a deliberate squeeze. 

Tirana spun around, shrugging out of his hold. Id appreciate it if 
you stopped pawing at me, Colonel. 

The colonel grinned, showing crooked teeth beneath thin, stretched 
lips. She tried not to look at the scarred eye-socket, wondering again why 


the man refused to wear an eye-patch. She suspected he liked the fear
if not downright horrorit inspired. 

Ive already apologized for myaccidentalvisit to your quarters last 
night, Captain, he said, not looking sorry at all. But an attractive 
woman like you must surely be used to suchaccidents? 

Tirana stared at him with unflinching distaste. I dont care for what 
youre implying, Colonel. But let me tell you thisif there is another 
incidence of inappropriate behavior, I will be forced to report it to your 
commander. Im sure Special Forces wouldnt want another scandal on 
their hands after the Dilorac incident. 

Orsons good eye narrowed. Are you threatening me, Captain? 

Take it as you will, she said coolly. And please remind your men 
that this is a peaceful recon mission. I dont want their excessive use of 
chikle to jeopardize it by putting any of my team in danger. Native life 
forms are to be treated with respect, Colonel. Well meet in Shuttle 4 at 
oh eight hundred. 

She turned on her heel and strode down the corridor to assemble her 
scouting team. 

Behind her, Orson spat out the chikle hed been chewing. The 
masticated gob stuck to the corridor wall. 

Uptight bitch, he snarled. 

After the Dilorac debacle, where a Special Forces unit had wiped out 
an entire native settlement following a bar brawl, the performance-
enhancement drug had been made illegal. Fifty thousand addicted 
Special Forces men were forced to quit or take the drug in secret. Colonel 
Orson didnt believe in hiding because of someone elses stupid mistake. 
No one had dared pull him up on it until now. 


He fingered his gun and thought about the places in Tirana Albasters 
curvaceous body hed like to shove it. And the part of his anatomy hed 
definitely be shoving there eventually, whether she liked it or not. 

 

ad 

Electrical storms raged overhead as Tirana and her three-man 
scouting team cut their way through the thick forest undergrowth with 
machetes. Following on their heels, weapons cocked, came the ten-man 
Special Forces unit headed by Colonel Orson. 

Orson had been professionally distant since the encounter in the 
ships corridor. She hoped shed made her point but somehow she 
doubted it. She was aware of his gaze lingering on her backside in the 
tight rubberized comms suit. 

Tirana swallowed the urge to turn around and claw out his remaining 
eye. Then took a steadying breath and shook her dark hair to remove all 
thought of Orson. Keep your mind on the job. 

Successful completion of this mission would fast track her career in 
the Settlement Exploration Unit. Thats why shed volunteered for it. As 
far as she was concerned, failure was not an option. 

She looked down at her locator link. The tiny screen showed they 
were close to the original coordinates for the settlement. Trees crowded 
close around them, thick-branched and tinged with purple, towering into 
the angry sky. She couldnt see more than a couple of yards in front, but 
the locator indicated a rapid rise in the ground ahead. A hill. Any 
settlement would more than likely be situated at the summit where it 
would be easier to see and protect itself from possible attack. 

What the fuck! 


Tirana heard the soldiers shout and whirled as he pumped a volley of 
laser fire into the undergrowth. The bushes at the foot of a large tree 
fizzled and burned, leaving a charred mass. 

Stop it! She ran at him, aiming a kick at his hand. The impact 
catapulted the rifle into the air and the soldier jerked back his hand with 
a yowl of pain. 

Outraged, he turned and raised his fist at her in fury. 

Stand down, soldier! Orson barked. 

As the soldier lowered his fist, Tirana noticed Orson and his soldiers 
had their rifles aimed squarely at her chest. 

She froze. 

Orson took out a square of chikle from his pocket and popped it in 
his mouth. Chewing, he gave his sneering grin and lowered his rifle. You 
attack my men one more time and I cant guarantee Ill be able to hold 
them back. 

Should I remind you again that native life forms are to be 
respected? Tirana almost spat at him. We know nothing about 
Samhain. We dont know what type of native life forms were dealing 
with, and we have sketchy data on the culture that has developed from 
the descendants of the Goliath. This mission is still under the 
jurisdiction of the SEU, Colonel, and well play by my rules. 

Orsons eye glinted. He turned to the offending soldier. Son, what did 
you see out there? 

An animal. The soldier glared at Tirana. Looked like some sort of
some sort of gargoyle. Ugly as sin. Sir, it was grinning at me. 

I dont care if it was mooning you, from now on keep your finger off 
the trigger. Orson turned to his men. That goes for all of you. No firing 
unless by my express orders. He raised an eyebrow at Tirana, his lip 
curled in contempt. Happy? 


Tirana gave a curt nod before picking up the locator link shed 
dropped when shed kicked out at the soldier. Her scouting team 
observed her and Thurley, her second-in-command, curled his right 
finger to his chest, signaling for instructions. 

Continue, she signaled with a raised thumb. Then shot out her little 
finger. But be on your guard. 

It was bad enough being on a planet that had already swallowed a 
starship and two previous scouting units, she thought in suppressed 
fury as she wiped the mud off her locator link. Now they had to watch 
their backs for the men who were supposed to be protecting them. 

A roll of thunder growled overhead. A sudden flash of lightning 
sizzled from the empty sky and struck the treetops. A branch broke off 
high above them and came crashing through the thick foliage to land 
with a heavy thud at her feet. Tiranas heart pounded as she realized it 
had only narrowly missed her head. 

In her hand, the locator link beeped once and then died. 

 

ad 

The stink of burning reached them first. 

Theyd been climbing uphill for the past hour, crunching over a thick 
mulch of dead leaves, their thigh muscles straining against the 
deepening gradient of the slope. Cutting through a final tangle of 
undergrowth, they emerged from the crowding trees. Orson gave a series 
of hand signals and everyone spread out along the edge of the forest, 
hiding behind tree trunks and in the scant undergrowth. 

Crouching behind a dense bush sparkling with purple berries, Tirana 
peeked out to survey the landscape. 


The top of the hill rose like the bald pate of an old man, rounded and 
smooth amongst the lushness of the crowding forest. Not more than two 
meters before them, a two-foot high stone wall swept to either side, 
rounding the curve of the hill. She surmised it was more a boundary 
marker than an attempt to keep anyone out. 

The hill rose in a steep incline from the boundary wall to a ring of tall 
standing stones circling the summit. Inside the stone circle an enormous 
bonfire of dried faggots blazed, shooting sparks and billowing acrid 
smoke into the purple twilight. A whorling mass of clouds churned in the 
sky, criss-crossed with flickers of lightning. 

Beneath this disturbing backdrop, a group of people in long robes 
gathered around the bonfire, chanting. She figured them to be at least a 
dozen, though it was too dark and they were too far away for her to make 
out how many. 

Tirana looked across at Orson, who knelt on one knee behind a 
neighboring bush with the butt of his weapon resting on his thick thigh. 
She signaled that she and Thurley were to go closer while everyone else 
remained behind. Orson frowned, looked as if he would argue. Instead, 
with an abrupt movement, he signaled agreement. 

Tirana nodded at Thurley. They picked their way over the rough stone 
wall and crept up the side of the hill. Nearing the top, they slipped 
behind neighboring standing stones, or menhirs, and hid in the black 
shadows. Tirana crouched down and peeked around. 

The chanting had grown more intense as they neared, and now the 
robed men raised their hands to the sky in gestures of supplication. But 
they werent alone. Beyond the bonfire on the downslope of the hill, a 
crowd had gathered. Their stark, white faces watched the chanting group 
with a mixture of worship and fascinated horror. 


The chanting stopped. A black-robed figure detached itself from the 
group around the bonfire and approached the crowd. 

Bring forward the son of Amun and his familiar. His voice boomed 
in the sudden quiet. 

A man and what looked like a dwarf, both with hands tied behind 
their backs, were shoved out from the front of the crowd. 

Tirana snuck across to another menhir where the view was 
unhindered by the bonfire. As she peeked again, a blaze of lightning 
slashed across the sky, illuminating the scene before her. 

For that flashing instant, she saw the man in clear relief. He was tall, 
slim-hipped and wide across the shoulder. A coarse tunic opened at his 
broad chest, revealing a long necklace of blue gems hanging around his 
neck. Dark thick hair hung to his shoulders, framing a strong, square-
jawed face. Tirana was struck by his male beauty, but what captured her 
attention were his brilliant eyes as he stared at the robed figure in 
blazing fury. 

By his side, hopping from foot to foot as he gibbered, was what 
looked like a tiny gargoyle. 

Silence your familiar! 

The gargoyle stopped gibbering, his bulging eyes glaring at the priest. 

The glacial voice boomed out again. What is your plea to the 
charges? 

Tirana leaned forward, angling to get a closer look at the man with 
the necklace. The gargoyle screeched and stared straight at Tirana. The 
mans head snapped around. His blazing eyes met hers. She was held, 
transfixed and breathless, as their gaze locked for what seemed an 
eternity. 

Then a volley of laser fire shot across the top of the crowd, scorching 
the sky with red. 


Colonel Orson and his Special Forces team stormed the stone circle. 


Chapter Two 

Orsons soldiers thundered past, manic grins fixed to their faces as 
they fired indiscriminately at the crowd. Tirana felt someones hand on 
her neck, shoving her to the ground, a body throwing itself over hers. 
She nose-dived, felt the scrape of grass against her cheek, the smell of 
damp soil pressed against her nostrils. Screaming and shouts 
reverberated around her, punctuated by sharp volleys of gunfire. 

Get off me! She fought against the dead weight forcing her down, 
managed to jab her elbow into his ribs. The body slid off her. She pushed 
herself away, struggled to her knees and pulled the stunner from her 
holster, turning to protect herself. 

Thurley lay sprawled facedown on the ground beside her. Laser fire 
had blasted a gaping hole in his back, his flesh blackened beneath the 
edges of his singed jacket. He was dead, taking the shot obviously meant 
for her. 

The hot sting of fury wiped out the shock of horror. She rose and 
pushed through the frightened crowd running to escape the battle being 
fought on the far side of the hill. The bonfire had toppled beneath the 
weight of two robed men lying across its scattered centre. Loose embers 
fluttered into the sky from the trail of fire spreading over the hill. 

Orson! Tirana strode towards the knot of soldiers herding the 
crowd. It was difficult to see more than the circling shadows of their 
uniforms, the points of their rifles. A scatter of bodies littered the area. 


Someone slammed into her, screamed. Tirana stumbled, gripped her 
stunner firmly. She heard the sobbing of women, the cry of children. 
Children! 

Damn Special Forces. Damn Orson. She would make him pay for this 
outrage. 

Orson was standing on the exact same spot where only minutes 
before the man in the necklace had stood. In the flash of lightning, she 
saw a smug smile settle over his countenance as he watched his soldiers 
rounding up the crowd. Half a dozen of the robed men knelt before him, 
the soldiers weapons digging into their backs. Their hoods had been 
yanked back to reveal spider-like tattoos engraved on their bald heads. 

Orson! Tirana raised her stunner. 

Orson turned and saw her. A nasty smirk spread over his face. 

A blazing heap of embers obscured her view, making a sure shot 
difficult. She stepped closer and flicked her stunner to its highest setting. 

I wouldnt try that, Orson called, raising his voice to be heard over 
the space separating them and the sobs from the crowd. Youre 
outnumbered, Captain. I suggest you stand down. 

Youll be court-martialed for this. Tirana aimed at him through the 
shimmer of heat. Ill make sure of it. 

Orson laughed in derision. Who do you think authorized this? 

No. Oh, no. She stared at him in horror. 

You think theyd give something like this to you without a reason? 
His voice rose in scorn. You were in way over your pretty head from the 
start, Tirana. 

Her shoulders jerked when he said her name. There was menace and 
rage in his voice, a desire to hurt. And in his eyes the lust to control, to 
make her submit, to destroy her. 


Come here, bitch. Orsons mouth thinned into a vicious twist. He 
lifted his laser rifle, aimed it, and took a step towards her. 

Standing in the open was suicide, her stunner no match for a rifle. 
She wheeled and ran, stumbling over the bodies strewn in her path as 
Orson shouted her name. Laser fire sizzled past her ear. Up ahead, she 
saw Thurleys body beside the menhir. Beyond the standing stone lay the 
bare hill, where Orson would get a clear shot if she ran. Shed have to 
make her stand there. 

She ran to it and jumped over Thurleys body. Someone caught her 
arm as she landed and dragged her behind the menhir. She smacked up 
against the solid chest of the man standing there. He gripped the top of 
her arms and held her still against his hard body. 

Tirana gazed up into blazing green eyes. A shock of recognition 
shivered through her body. The man with the necklace stared at her, his 
beautiful face austere in the shadows of the tall stone, his mouth set in 
grim determination. 

Come with me. 

She heard the low authoritative growl of his voice and shook her 
head, twisted out of his grip. Something screeched. The gargoyle jumped 
from foot to foot at her feet, his tiny, leathery hands pulling at the edge of 
her trousers. 

Shock had her stepping back involuntarily, out into the line of fire. 
Something sizzled, slapped into her arm. There was a moment of 
excruciating pain before everything went black. 

 

Loren caught her unconscious form as it fell, dragged her to safety 
behind the menhir. He sat the womans body up against the stone. A 
jagged wound had torn open the skin at the top of her arm, pouring 
blood over his hands. The wound was not fatal, but the shock had 


knocked her cold. He ran his hands over the severe clothing that cupped 
every curve of her lush body, searching for other wounds, trying to ignore 
the surge of blood to his groin. Even unconscious she stirred his blood. 

The devil is upon us! deLorens voice screeched in his head, 
demanding his attention. 

Loren turned and held his hand down for his familiar, waited as the 
tiny hekarten scampered up his arm to his shoulder. He winced as 
deLoren gripped a fistful of his hair and held on tight. 

Calm yourself, Loren murmured. I know how to deal with him. 

Loren stood and summoned his power. He felt deLoren whisper on 
the outskirts of his mind, felt a great push, and deLorens energy joined 
his, pumping through Lorens body until it surged to his fingertips. 

The one-eyed devil soldier ran around the menhir, his face contorted 
in triumph. He would have expected to see the woman unconscious on 
the ground and stopped short, startled, as he faced Loren instead. 

His reflexes were good, Loren admitted, as the soldier raised his rifle 
with barely a pause and squeezed the trigger. But Lorens were better. 
Loren snapped up his hand and evoked a force field that shielded them 
from the burst of laser fire and sent the shots skidding to one side in a 
trail of blue sparks. 

The soldiers mouth gaped open, then fury washed over him at having 
been thwarted. Instead of shooting again, he was smart enough to pull 
out a club clipped to his belt and came at Loren shouting, the club 
swinging over his head. 

A moment later, his thickset body shot back in the air, propelled by 
the force of the powrbal Loren threw at him. The ball of blue energy 
smashed the soldier hard to the ground, crackling over his body in a thin 
sheet before it dissipated. The devil soldier groaned, attempted to move 
and fell back. 


Loren wasted no time. He crouched over the womans body, lifting her 
limp form over his free shoulder while deLoren balanced on the other. 
With both burdens weighing him down, he ran down the hill and slipped 
into the forest. 

 

ad 

Tirana came around with a start, crying out at the pain shooting 
along her left arm. Her hand flew to touch her shoulder and instead 
touched the warm skin of the hand resting there. Snatching her hand 
away at the unexpected contact, she opened her eyes and met a brilliant 
green gaze. 

Have no fear. His voice soothed her. You are safe. 

She was lying against a tree trunk in a small clearing in the forest. 
The gorgeous man knelt beside her, studying her in a way that made her 
breath catch in her throat. He was even more beautiful up close, with 
fine, molded lips and a straight patrician nose that drew her admiration, 
though that almost feminine perfection was tempered by the sprinkle of 
dark stubble over his jaw and the thick brows drawn close over startling 
emerald eyes. But it was the pressure of his hand over the wound that 
sent shivers along her body from the heat radiating at his palm. 

You were wounded, I am stopping the flow of blood, he said before 
she could formulate the question. 

The arm of her uniform and her left side were covered in slick blood, 
as was the mans tunic over his right shoulder. Her stomach lurched, 
sickened by the sight of blood spattering their clothes. She realized she 
would be dead now if this man hadnt taken her away from the fighting 
at the stone circle. She would have confronted Orson, but with his 


superior strength and Special Forces training he would destroy her in 
one-to-one combat. 

Something chattered across the clearing. She swung her head 
around, saw the little gargoyle sitting on a fallen tree trunk pulling the 
skin off the soft fruit held between his small hands, the same fruit which 
hung ripe and purple from a nearby bush. He revealed a flash of tiny 
sharp teeth before he bit into the fruit and sucked at the juicy insides. 

deLoren says we should leave. The mans breath caressed her ear. 

You understand him? Tirana turned her gaze back to him in 
surprise. 

deLoren and I mindspeak. He watched her reaction to this news. 

Telepathic communication. She absorbed the fact with some 
excitement. There were telepaths on other worlds but interspecies 
telepathy was almost unheard of. She turned back to study the little 
creature in fascinated curiosity as it pulled out the seeds from the center 
of the oval-shaped fruit and threw them over his shoulder. The leathery 
texture of his dappled brown skin set deep wrinkles at the joints of 
spindle-thin arms and legs, and his chunky body boasted tiny brown 
nipples and no genitalia that she could see. A large head balanced on a 
stick-like neck, distinguished by pointed ears, a wide mouth, bulging 
eyes and two round holes above his mouth serving as nostrils. 

deloren. Is that his name? 

deLoren, hekarten to Loren. The mans tone flowed with the 
smoothness of formality. 

Loren? 

I am Loren. 

She swiveled her head back to look at him. This close to her, his lips 
were only inches away. Hed been observing her while she watched 
deLoren, studying her with the same intensity. She gazed at his generous 


mouth and wondered what it would feel like to be kissed by him. Lorens 
lips twitched into a smile, and a slow blush crept over her cheeks as she 
realized he knew exactly what shed been thinking. 

Your name? 

W-what? She wondered why this mansLorensproximity set her 
nerves to jangling. A prickly heat spread over her body, and her nostrils 
flared at the scent of his earthy masculinity that had her nipples 
tightening. Tirana. 

Tirana. Her name rolled around his mouth as though savoring a 
rare delicacy. I am pleased to meet you, Tirana. His lips lowered and 
brushed hers. 

Tiranas eyes widened in shock. Shed read about this custom in 
ancient societies on Terra, where people greeted each other with a kiss
a custom shed always found disturbing in its over-familiarity. But her 
shock sprang more from the sudden electricity that sizzled between 
them. The touch of his lips branded her with their soft touch. 

She stared at him as he pulled back from the kiss. Lorens hand 
cupped her face, his gaze traveling over her features as though 
imprinting it to memory. Her stomach lurched with the sudden urge to 
feel his mouth on hers, and she licked her dry lips, her heart battering 
against her ribs. 

The color of his eyes darkened with unabashed lust as he watched 
the flick of her tongue. Then he lowered his mouth to hers in a passion-
filled assault that had nothing to do with the first gentle greeting. 

Sparks of pure desire shot over her body as his tongue parted her 
lips to explore the warm cavity. Swept up in the sensation of his mouth 
plundering hers, she met his assault fiercely. She arched against him 
when the hand at her face lowered to curve around her breast, his 
thumb flicking at the taut nipple straining at the comms suit. 


A fear-filled screech from deLoren had Loren breaking away, wincing. 

Whats wrong? Her bruised lips ached for Loren to continue his 
devastating exploration. 

The devil soldier is near. Eyes glazed with unabated lust, his gaze 
swept over her. We must go. 

She felt a surge of disappointment. As if on cue, they heard a 
thrashing in the undergrowth somewhere behind them. deLoren 
screeched and scrambled off the tree trunk. Bouncing across the 
clearing, the small creature launched himself from the ground to Lorens 
shoulder. deLoren jerked in desperation at Lorens long hair. 

Loren pulled Tirana up with him as he rose to his feet. She winced, 
expecting to experience pain at her arm. Instead, there was only a vague 
discomfort. She eased her arm up and around and shot Loren a look of 
surprise. 

But Loren had turned away and watched the surrounding 
undergrowth with a frown. Suddenly the fruit-laden bush deLoren had 
been eating from burst into flame. deLoren screamed and clasped his 
thin arms in panic about Lorens head. 

Loren pried deLoren off and tucked him under his arm. Grabbing 
Tiranas hand, he turned and ran. 

Tirana steeled herself for a long sprint through the forest, yet they 
had barely crossed the clearing when Loren skirted an outcrop of rocks 
behind the line of trees. She stumbled as the thick mulch of the forest 
gave way to pebbled dirt. Loren pulled her around a boulder leaning like 
a sentinel guarding the rocky mound. 

Loren bent to squeeze in the narrow space between the rocks leading 
to a dark hole gaping beyond. 

Tirana stopped. Where are you going? 

This passage leads to Laliata. Loren tugged at her hand. 


No. She didnt know what that meant, but there were other 
priorities. As much as she longed to follow him, craved the taste of his 
mouth, shed come here on a mission and needed to fulfill it. I have to 
get back to my shuttle so I can radio for help 

Tirana! Orsons rage-filled voice shattered the quiet of the forest. 

Tirana froze. 

I know you can hear me, you and that fucking alien freak. 

Tirana stared at Loren. His face had hardened into an austere mask. 
He set deLoren on the ground and the hekarten scrambled between his 
legs and disappeared into the dark void between the rocks. 

Come out, you bitch. The sound of snapping branches nearby 
indicated he was close. Or Ill fry you both. 

Lorens gaze raked over her with hot possession before his expression 
transformed into one of cold determination. He pushed Tirana behind 
him, shielding her, then picked up a couple of large round pebbles at his 
feet and weighed them in his hands. 

He meant to protect her, Tirana thought in wonder. He barely knew 
her and he was going to pit himself against Orsons laser fire with a 
couple of stones. He would put his life on the line for herwhile safety 
lay only a few feet away down the hole deLoren had disappeared into. It 
was madness. 

She pulled at his arm. Lets go. 

Loren frowned. Hide behind me. I will get him as he 

No. She drew him around, tugged urgently at his arm. Take me to 
La-latita? 

Laliata. His mouth quirked at her mispronunciation. 

A volley of laser fire scorched the edge of the boulder, sending a 
shower of crumbling rock over them. Loren moved to cover her, his arms 
wrapping around her. Pressed against his chest, she breathed in the 


heady scent of his maleness. Their eyes met and his filled with a hungry 
possessiveness that had a blast of heat pooling between her legs. 

Fragments of rock rained on them from the top of the boulder. Orson 
was getting closer. 

With a last hungry look, Loren caught her hand and dragged her 
after him through the dark hole between the rocks. 


Chapter Three 

Loren found it hard to run with his stiff member rising hard between 
his legs. He wanted nothing more than to throw Tirana down and ravish 
her. That and beat the devil soldier to a pulp for his threats. Hed been 
too lenient with him back at the Sacred Circle and he would not make 
that mistake again. If not for his own sake, then for Tiranas. He knew 
the soldier wanted her, but the thought of that monsters hands on her 
lush body sent a cold fury sweeping over him. 

Tirana was his. 

Hed known that the moment his lips had met hers. A fire had 
coursed through his veins then, a deep need that had stiffened his staff 
with urgent force. He knew she would be his mate. Had known, if the 
truth was told, when deLoren had pointed her out at the Circle, watching 
them like a beautiful, otherworldly apparition. 

Hed given quick praise to Lalith that the soldiers had saved him from 
the judgment of the Priestsa judgment that would have had him 
sacrificed in the pyre together with deLoren. It had given him a chance to 
work himself free of the rope binding his wrists and make his escape 
with the surging crowd. 

His first thought had been to find her. deLoren had shouted in his 
ear, frantic to get away, but Loren had gone to look behind the Sacred 
Stones, cursing when he realized shed disappeared. Then shed found 
him. A sure sign she was meant to be his. 


His hand tightened over hers. 

The entrance to the underground passage had been left far behind 
before he slowed. They were deep in the bowels of Samhain, winding 
their way along slick, slime-covered walls wet with the rain filtering 
through the earth and rocks above. He was sure the devil soldier would 
never venture this far after them. If he tried, he would be driven out by 
the ba-hekarten. It had happened to more than one of the Priests and 
their followers when, in the frenzy of their hatred, they had organized 
hunting parties to root them out. 

For this was the domain of the True People. 

Whats that noise? Loren heard the fear in Tiranas voice. 

This deep down, the passages were lit by the cold glow of the 
phosphorescent lichen clinging to the walls. Apart from the steady drip-
drip-drip of filtering water, he could hear the faint shuffles of the ba-
hekarten behind them. They could sense Tirana and were drawn by the 
ripeness of her life-force. 

The ba-hekarten live here. Dont be afraid. They wont harm you. 

Ba-hekarten? She grasped his hand tightly, her voice sounding 
nervous. Isnt that what deLoren is? 

deLoren is hekarten. 

I dont understand. 

He remembered she was an offworlder, that what seemed natural and 
familiar to him was strange and alien to her. Hekarten have chosen from 
the True People. Ba-hekarten are still searching. 

What are they searching for? 

Their host. 

She does not understand. deLorens impatient voice came into his 
mind. Loren could sense him in the passage somewhere ahead, sure-
footed in his home ground. The forest scared him, and he would throw 


up a stink whenever Loren went overground. His fear had proved 
justified when they had been captured by the Priests. 

Why dont you show her the hekarten-jal? That might make her 
understand. deLorens tone was openly sly. 

Theres no need for us to follow that route to Laliata. Loren frowned. 

You need to mate, and so do I. Our time is due. Loren could almost feel 
the hekartens hunger, mirroring his own. 

No, I wont force it on her. But his tumescent cock had stiffened 
involuntarily at the thought. 

So let her decide. And deLoren capered off into the darkness. 

 

ad 

Tirana was afraid of the dark. It was a weakness she was loathe to 
admit, even to herself. When the rocky passageway had begun to lighten, 
shed breathed a sigh of relief. But the fear had returned when she 
realized they were being followed. Not by Orson, whom she hoped theyd 
left behind in the forest, but by the shuffle of tiny feet. 

Hekarten and ba-hekarten. Lorens explanation had only left her more 
confused. She had too many questions that needed answering, all of 
them jumbled about in her head. One of them lay uppermost. 

Why had Orson called him an alien freak? 

Loren was human, a descendent of Laliths People, of that she was 
sure. Yet deLoren was undoubtedly a creature native to Samhain. His 
fierce attachment to Loren seemed unnatural. The robed men at the 
stone circle had called deLoren his familiar. In Terran mythology, only 
black witches had familiars. 

Adherents to the New Wiccan religion were sprinkled in small pockets 
in planets all over the galaxy, but Laliths People had been a breakaway 


cult, more rigid in their religious beliefs, holding the mystical Lalith as 
True Goddess over the numerous deities of other wiccans. A small colony 
on an alien planet separated from the rest of the UA for over a hundred 
and fifty years was bound to develop in unique ways. Already she could 
see two stratathe robed priests with the frightened crowd of followers, 
and the True People with the hekarten. All of this she could extrapolate 
from what she had witnessed, using logic to slot the pieces together. 

It was Loren who remained the greatest mystery. She trusted him, 
trusted that the ba-hekarten meant no harm although she sensed them 
everywhere, scurrying on the edges of her vision like frightened rats. It 
was getting to know more about Loreneverything about Lorenthat 
made her swallow her fear and keep to his side. 

Her hand was still clasped in his although she had to walk behind 
him in the narrow passageway that glittered from the lichen clinging to 
the glistening rock. His dark head almost brushed the ceiling, his broad 
shoulders the edges of the wall. She sensed a deep power in him, a power 
that called to her wildly, heated her whenever she met those amazing 
emerald eyes. 

Her gaze lingered over his tight butt, wondering how it would feel 
cupped in her hands. At the forest clearing shed felt the hard length of 
his member against her body through the material of his trousers, had 
shivered with desire at the thought of easing it free and holding it warm 
in her palm. Feelings she had rarely, if ever, experienced on first meeting 
a man. She just wasnt built that way. 

Or maybe she was, and it needed the right man to unleash it. 

Loren stopped and she bumped against him, caught in her erotic 
musings. The passageway had opened wider and they were at a junction 
that split into separate tunnels. deLoren crouched by the rock wall 
separating the entrance to the tunnels, staring intently at Loren. 


I would like to show you something. The strange, flat tone of Lorens 
voice instantly aroused her curiosity. If we go this way he pointed to a 
passage to their right we go straight to Laliata. 

At his pause, she glanced at the dark opening of the passage to their 
left. And that way? 

To the hekarten-jal. 

The very blandness of his voice indicated this was where he wanted 
her to go. What is it? 

A place sacred to the True People. 

Their gazes locked. He wanted her. And she wanted him. 

Are you sure you want to show me this sacred place? She needed to 
know if she could trust him. 

If you choose to, yes. 

Tirana had the giddy feeling she was on the brink of a life-changing 
decision. A decision Loren was leaving entirely in her hands. 

She took a deep breath and followed her instincts. Then yes. 

deLoren broke the silence with a gleeful chattering and shot off into 
the tunnel to the left. 

Loren smiled, tightened his hold on her hand, and followed him. 

 

They walked for what seemed an hour before the passageway began 
to widen. The lichen covering the walls took on a warmer, pinkish glow, 
heating the air until the sweat began to trickle down Tiranas neck and 
into the back of her comms suit. 

Finally, a blast of warm air hit her in the face, damp and earthy. The 
passage opened into a huge cavern, with the floor lost in the darkness far 
beneath. Stalactites aimed down like pointed spears from the ceiling, 
stalagmites rose like twisted columns to greet them, both covered in 
glittering pink lichen. She gazed in awe at the shapes of strange forms 


twisted in fanciful displays. From somewhere up ahead came the steady 
drip-drip of water. 

They picked their way along a narrow rocky path sweeping along the 
side of the cavern, leading down towards the bottom of the cave. Tirana 
heard the scrabble of feet and once or twice caught tiny blinking eyes 
watching them from behind twisted rock formations before the creatures 
disappeared with a flourish of warm air. 

The atmosphere became warmer and more humid as they went 
deeper into the cave. The comms suit became sticky with her sweat-
slickened skin. Finally, the rock beneath her feet turned to sand and 
leveled out. A splashing rumble of water came from up ahead, swathed in 
darkness. She looked up, saw stalactites twisting around the sides of the 
cave, curving like the giant flutes of a cathedral organ. 

Loren took her along a well-worn path to the center of the cavern. A 
tall waterfall fell from an aperture halfway up the wall of the cave. The 
gushing water poured onto a ledge and bounced off the edge in a stream 
that danced and played over rocks in bright sparks before plunging into 
a small rock pool below. 

Tirana marveled at the beauty of the sparkling curtain of water and 
the clear pool at her feet. Where does all the water go? 

There is an underground stream that becomes a river near Laliata. 

What is this place? Its so beautiful. All of it. She swept her hands 
about the cave. 

A place of meditation and ablution for the True People. He gazed at 
her with a fixed intensity. When we are of age, we use this place for our 
prayers, and the pool for purification before entering the hekarten-jal. 

A feeling of unease gnawed at her gut. If this is your sacred place, 
perhaps I shouldnt be here. Loren, Im an offworlder. I dont have a 


religion, I dont believe in a god or a goddess. You believe in something 
that I can never believe in. You should know that. 

Loren nodded, his gaze never leaving her own. His eyes glowed here, 
Tirana thought in alarm, with a phosphorescent brilliance not quite 
human. 

I expect nothing from you. A strong emotion crossed over his 
features, and he qualified it by saying, Nothing you would not choose 
freely. 

Drawn into the brilliance of his gaze, Tirana felt her body heat at the 
meaning behind his words. He wanted her, but it would be her choice. 

She pulled down the zipper at the neck of the comms suit to ease the 
warmth flushing her face. Lorens burning gaze followed the slide of the 
zipper before he lowered his hands over hers and teased her fingers free 
of the tag. She held her breath as he eased down the zipper, exposing the 
rounded swell between her generous breasts. 

You are very hot. His fingers traced over the damp skin at the 
curving top of her breasts, watching her mouth. And we are both very 
dirty after the ordeal at the Sacred Circle. 

Shivering at his touch, Tirana glanced with longing at the waterfall 
and the pool at their feet. She slanted her head and smiled up at him. 
Are you trying to seduce me with a swim? 

His eyes laughed down at her. Perhaps. 

She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. You first. 

Loren raised an eyebrow at her challenging stance and grinned. He 
drew the necklace of blue stones over his head and dropped it on the 
sand between them, quickly followed by his tunic. Tirana caught her 
breath at the play of muscles over his shoulders and arms. His solid 
chest was covered by fine dark hair arrowing over well-defined abdominal 
muscles to the edge of trousers. Kicking off his soft boots, Loren planted 


well-formed feet in the sand as he untied the leather belt knotted at his 
waist. He watched her reaction as he slowly removed the belt and let the 
trousers slide over his hips and pool at his feet. 

For a beat she stared into his eyes, noted the playful challenge in 
them, before she made herself look at him. His legs were long and lean, 
rising to muscular thighs. Between them, from the flare of dark hair at 
his groin, his staff rose hard and long, tipped with a large, smooth head. 

A magnificent specimen, Tirana thought as her breath caught. And 
totally human. 

A small smile teased the corners of his lips. She realized she was 
staring a little too hard. Not that he seemed to mind as he was evidently 
proud of his physiquewith good cause. 

And you? 

When she had issued the challenge, she hadnt thought ahead to the 
fact that it would be her turn to undress before him. A flush of 
embarrassment crept over her cheeks. Tirana reminded herself brusquely 
that she had nothing to be ashamed of, that she could be just as proud 
of her body as Loren was of his. 

Smiling at him coolly, she lowered the zipper of her comms suit to 
her midriff, shrugged off the shoulders and wiggled the tight rubber over 
her hips. Her naked breasts swung as she bent to remove her boots
which she should definitely have taken off firstbefore peeling off each 
leg. Her face was red as she straightened, wearing just a tiny pair of 
panties snug against her hips. 

Lorens expression heated as his gaze ran over her breasts, yet he 
still waited expectantly. Sighing inwardly, she slipped off the panties, 
threw them over the pile of clothes and faced him. He considered the trim 
thatch of hair between her thighs before his gaze moved back to her 


breasts in a way that had her nipples hardening. A long leisurely look 
that took its cue from her own careful study of his assets. 

Smiling, Loren stepped forward and took her hand. She trembled at 
the warmth of his palm sliding over hers, yet he only pulled her after 
him, skirted the edge of the pool and went to the waterfall. A mound of 
rocks rose to the ledge where the stream poured before bouncing off into 
the pool below. A narrow set of stairs had been cut into the rocks. Tirana 
followed Loren as he climbed themtrying hard not to gaze at the tight 
muscles of his butt at face level, but nevertheless taking time to admire 
thembefore they came out onto the ledge. 

Tirana saw deLoren sitting on a boulder beyond the curtain of water. 
Beside him sat a tiny furry creature with large, soulful eyes and pointed 
ears. It looked like a cross between a small monkey and a rabbit. Was 
this one of the ba-hekarten? Not as fearsome as she had imagined, even 
though both creatures observed her with an unnerving intensity. 

Loren pulled her under the waterfall. Tirana gasped as the blast of 
freezing water poured over her head and shoulders. Raising her face to 
the pounding water, she sighed as the grit and sweat washed away. 

Loren touched her arm and she opened her eyes. He rubbed the dried 
blood off her arm, and she noticed with shock that the wound from 
Orsons laser fire had disappeared. As she turned to ask how he had 
healed the wound, Loren caught her face in his hands and crushed his 
mouth to hers. 

She moaned beneath the onslaught of his tongue as it pried into her 
mouth and explored the moist interior. Her legs weakened and she clung 
to his broad shoulders, caressing the firm muscles, reveling in the slick 
feel of his skin. Loren lowered his hands over her breasts, cupping them, 
before sweeping to the small of her back. He pressed her to him, hip to 


hip. Caught between them, the head of his cock nestled comfortably at 
her belly button, hot and hard with need. 

Desperate to feel his butt in her hands, she wriggled her arms 
between his until her hands closed over the firm rise of muscle. His 
mouth left hers to trail over her jaw and down to nibble at the tender 
spot where neck met shoulder, until he lowered his hot mouth over one 
taut nipple. 

Tirana arched back at the explosion of need that gushed between her 
legs, sending a wanton heat shooting over her body. She pressed her 
groin to Lorens as he tongued her nipple while a thumb circled the 
other. As his teeth pulled at the tight nub in his mouth, his finger 
rubbed the other nipple between his fingers until her legs weakened with 
the restless heat of desire that threatened to engulf her. 

Loren groaned in frustration as she extricated herself from his 
embrace and stepped back. His eyes glowed through his wet hair, his 
chest rising rapidly with his excited breath. The waterfall pounded over 
his lean body. He was beautiful, raw and untamed. 

The intensity of her feelings for him frightened her. The hunger 
coursing through her veins pulled at her as much as the fear deep in her 
gut. Fear of the urge burning inside her to join with him forever. 

Tirana. He reached for her. 

She turned to face the pool and dove head-first off the platform into 
the depths below. 


Chapter Four 

Tirana was dragged down into a vortex of cold water, spun and 
twisted, dragged downwards to the bottom of the pool. Her chest burned 
as she expelled her last breath and a freezing cold wrapped itself around 
her. She flailed her arms, mouth open in a silent scream, trying to hold 
on to anything that would keep her from the relentless pull of the 
current. 

Something hard gripped her wrist, hauled her up through the water. 
She broke the surface with a desperate gasp, drawing the air deep into 
her burning lungs. An arm caught her around the chest as she gulped in 
air, drew her to the edge of the pool, pulled her out. On all fours, she 
vomited a lungful of water into the sand as Loren smoothed back her 
hair. 

She spluttered, wiping water from her face, looked up at him. Thank 
you. 

If I had known you found me so distasteful you would rather risk 
death than my arms, we could have bathed safely in the pool. 

Tirana flinched at the coldness of his tone, the edge of anger on every 
careful word. She had meant to get away from the intensity of her own 
feelings, had almost killed herself by that childish and foolish reflex. And 
she had hurt him, when he had done nothing. Nothing but desire her. 

Im sorry. She touched his arm. He drew away, the look in his eyes 
distant and dismissing, and rose to his feet. 


Well go to Laliata now. He reached for her comms suit from the pile 
of clothing, threw it so it landed beside her in the sand. 

No. Panic made her voice harsh as she stumbled to her feet and 
faced him. He ignored her, crouching as he gathered up his boots and 
sifted through the pile for his trousers. You havent shown me the 
hekarten-jal yet. 

There will be no hekarten-jal. Loren lifted his trousers and shook off 
the sand. 

A piercing scream filled the cave. She saw deLoren hopping from foot 
to foot in a dance of anger on the rocks above the waterfall. Loren 
winced. Then his face set hard as he flicked a hand at deLoren. The 
creature toppled backwards onto the rock. 

Loren! Tirana stared at him in shock. Somehow Loren had made 
deLoren fall, she was sure of it. A lash of anger that should have been 
directed at her. 

In a temper, she tore the trousers from his grasp. I said Im sorry. 
What more do you want? 

My clothes. His face was impassive, eyes hooded. 

Furious, she cupped the back of his neck and dragged his head down 
to her. Her lips burrowed into his cold mouth, prodded at an 
unresponsive tongue. She growled in frustration, catching his fleshy 
lower lip in her teeth, pulling and nipping. She glared at him, saw the 
flash of anger in his eyes, lowered both hands and gripped his cock. It 
jumped to stiff attention in her grasp. 

Loren shoved her back. Then his hand clamped over her wrist. He 
turned on his heel, storming off into the darkness at the far side of the 
pool. 

Loren! Her feet skidded in the sand as she tried to tug her arm free 
from his iron grip. Darkness enveloped them, and a moment later they 


were in another warm passage. Here the rock glowed red around them. 
There was a low round entrance at the end, so small Loren had to bend 
his head to enter. She barely had time to duck under the rock as he 
dragged her after him 

Here! Loren pushed her into the cave before him. 

She stumbled and fell. Her hands landed on a soft, cushiony 
substance the texture of cotton candy. A soft cloud of fibers stretched 
over the floor of a small cave, warm and snug like a cocoon. Or the 
pulsing red insides of a womb, for the walls were covered in glittering red 
lichen. 

Loren fell to his knees behind her, hooked her legs apart, and slipped 
his stiff member between her thighs, resting the hard shaft on the slit of 
her sex. He hauled her up and slid his hands around to cup her breasts, 
squeezing them. She gasped at the pleasure/pain as Loren lowered his 
mouth to her ear. 

This is the hekarten-jal, he growled, his hot breath fanning her face. 
The mating place. 

Heat spurted at her core as he said the words. Mating. This was what 
hed wanted all along. What shed wanted since shed set eyes on him 
back at the stone circle but had been too cowardly to even admit to 
herself. Until now. 

One of his hands swept over her midriff, burrowed between her 
thighs, found the hot, pulsing nub. She arched back against him at the 
first flick of his finger, and he caught her head and dragged it around so 
he could crush her mouth beneath his. His tongue devastated her, 
plundered and ravished, even as his fingers rubbed over the slick flesh of 
her throbbing clit. His cock jerked between her thighs as the blood 
pumped to his extremities, and he moved his hips to slide it back and 
forth between the moist folds of her sex. 


His mouth left hers, his breathing harsh, and he bent her forward 
and worked his hand between them to position his cock at the entrance 
to her vagina. She vibrated with the need to have him fill her, held her 
breath in excited anticipation as she felt the nudge of his thick head 
pushing at her tight entrance. 

Loren suddenly stilled and pulled away. Her juices slid out, dripped 
over the inside of her thighs. She felt the desolate thud of abandonment 
clenching at her stomach as his warm body left hers. Slowly, she turned 
to face him, saw him crouching back on his heels. 

A war of emotionsregret, desireswept over his features. Im 
sorry. He covered his eyes. I cannot take you this way. 

Why cant you? She was no longer afraid to reveal the raw need in 
her voice. She dragged his hands away from his face so he could see the 
truth in her eyes. I want you, Loren. What I did back therewhen I 
jumpedthat was fear. Not fear of you, but fear for what I felt for you. 

His eyes blazed with fierce hope before the fire in them banked. He 
shook his head. Tirana, I have not been honest with you. 

About the hekarten-jal? She smiled. Because you brought me here 
to mate? 

It will not be a simple mating. His beautiful eyes were full of guilt. 
You said you didnt believe in gods or goddesses. That you believed in 
nothing. But if we mate here, you will become si-heketarten. 

She shrugged helplessly. I dont understand that word. 

Touched by magic. He paused for a beat. As are all the True 
People. 

Magic? 

He nodded, held out his hand. She saw a blue flame lick over the 
palm, gather itself into a ball of light, pulsing and spinning. When it had 
grown to the size of a small orange, Loren threw it in the air. It shattered 


against the low ceiling and spilled over them in a shower of rainbow 
sparks. Tirana felt the prickles where sparks touched her wet skin. 

Magic. He could communicate telepathically with deLoren, he could 
perform magicor manipulate energy so that it seemed like magic. And it 
seemed that mating with him would allow her to do the same. There were 
mysteries here that would take a long time to unravel. For starters, she 
doubted that magic could be sexually transmitted. 

Tell me about what was happening in the stone circle when I first 
saw you, she asked softly, looking at his empty palm. His fingers 
clenched in a fist. 

The Priests captured deLoren and I. The True People are heretics to 
them, to be sacrificed to their cruel goddess, the one they call Lalith and 
is not Lalith. 

What were you doing there, risking capture? 

The ba-hekarten told us you had come. I was searching for you, to 
bring you back to join the others in Laliata. 

Others? 

Those who came from the skies before. 

He could only mean the previous SEU scouting missions. Tirana 
experienced the heady sense accomplishment as the mystery unraveled. 
Theyre in Laliata? Theyre all alive? 

Only those who chose to be si-heketarten. 

Joy gripped her. Ill take them back with me on the shuttle. The SEU 
needs to know theyre alive. 

Loren frowned. They cannot leave. 

Of course they can. Well find a way to get past Orson and his men
 

They are True People now. His tone was patient. 


If theyve converted, which isnt surprising after all this time, they 
can safely practice their religion anywhere in the galaxy. 

You dont understand. The True People can never leave Samhain. 
Your friends can never go back. They chose to be touched by magic, to be 
one of the True People. They said others would come and that we must 
find you before the Priests did. This is true, Tirana. 

Yes but 

The impatient flash of anger in his eyes stopped her further 
arguments. Look where you are, Tirana. 

She stared at him without comprehending. Im in a cave. 

No. Youre in the hekarten-jal. 

She gazed around her. The walls werent rock, she realized, but 
something soft and living, pulsating with heat. And the fibers beneath 
her, they were part of it, the soft hair of a living creature. 

What is this place? she whispered. 

The soul of Samhain. Laliths womb. 

Tirana felt the hekarten-jal enveloping her in its pulsing warmth, 
infusing her with a sense of safety and acceptance. Her heart beat fast, 
her breath felt shallow and labored. 

The hekarten-jal wants you, Tirana. As I want you. 

Her body quivered at the heat in his voice. I dont 

You can go back to the Priests, or you can join the True People. 
There is no other choice. 

She shook her head. You asked me to choose at the junction, to go 
to Laliata or come here. I could have chosen Laliata. 

Loren nodded. And there you would be asked to make the choice 
again. The Priests or the True People. His voice deepened as his eyes 
grew in brilliance. I brought you here for mating but have no doubt that, 
with me or alone, here you would eventually come. 


Tiranas thoughts twisted and spun, verged on the edge of control, 
tumbled over. And yetand yet a slow excitement was building within 
her, insinuating itself in her mind, pressing against her body. She knew 
she was on the brink, on the precipice of something that would change 
her life in unimaginable ways. Loren was telling her she had no choice, 
yet he was asking her to make that choice, now, with him. 

The key to it was Loren, whom her body ached for, whose eyes blazed 
for her, whose mouth she would never forget. Would never want to forget. 

He sat quietly, observing her. And held out his hand, silently asking 
her to take it. To take him. 

She made her choiceand slipped her hand into his, palm against 
palm. 

Loren closed his fingers over her hand and came to kneel before her 
on the soft fibrous mattress of the hekarten-jal. His hands cupped her 
face, lifted it, and he rested his lips on hers. The kiss was sweet and 
gentle, a soft exploration, a token of love. It sent a shiver through her, 
and she trembled with the force of it. She loved him. 

He murmured against her lips, lifted his mouth to kiss her nose, her 
eyelids, her forehead, before swooping down on her mouth again. She felt 
his passion, his demanding need for possession, like a bolt through her 
center that had her clutching at his shoulders. 

He lowered her back, pressing himself along the length of her body 
until she was cushioned deep into the soft, thick fibers. Lorens hands 
swept over her tender breasts, and his mouth followed, teeth nibbling at 
the taut nipples that still ached from his earlier assault. Tirana felt the 
hardness of his staff lying hard against her sex, rubbing across the 
slickness of her exposed clit. Loren eased his fingers between them, 
circled fingertips over the engorged nub, dipped into the wetness between 


her legs, and circled some more until her legs fell open in the ache to 
accept him. 

He shifted, his lips lifting from her breast, his gaze meeting hers. She 
drowned in the brilliant green of his eyes as his cock nudged at her 
entrance again. This time, he shafted her strong and sudden, burying 
himself inside her. She cried out at the burst of pain and pleasure, heard 
him murmuring endearments as his lips slid over the moistness of hers. 
When she settled, he began to move with a slow rhythm, pulling back 
and then penetrating her again and again, until she was meeting him 
thrust for thrust, arching her hips to meet the pistoning of his. Tirana 
could feel the unfurling at her core, the rise of her orgasm. Lorens eyes 
were blazing into hers, his buttocks clenched beneath her squeezing 
hands as she locked her legs around his waist. 

He stopped, his breathing ragged, and lifted her as he sat back on his 
heels, drawing her with him, her legs clenched around his waist. He was 
buried deep inside her, her breasts pressed against his chest. She 
grabbed a handful of his hair and kissed him. He moaned beneath her 
devouring mouth, and she rode him hard and fast, driving him deeper 
and deeper, until he stiffened. She felt the spasm of his hard shaft 
throbbing inside her, and her own orgasm tore through her body. She 
cried out, arched back, as the waves of pleasure shot over her. 

Something soft dropped to her neck, clung, and stung her hard 
between the shoulder blades. She screamed, twisted to take it offand a 
sensation of pure ecstasy shot through her. Colors burst beneath her 
eyelids, shattered like crystals, sent her flying and floating until she was 
caught up on a breeze of color. A warm gust pushed into her mind, 
trickled through her consciousness, sent a pulse of energy to every 
extremity until every cell of her body vibrated. It seemed to go on forever, 
ebbing and flowing, until it subsided like the pulling back of the tide. 


Tirana opened her eyes and found herself clinging to Loren, her arms 
wrapped around his neck. She felt something slide over her back and 
drop into the fibers behind her. Lorens gaze met hers, and he swept a 
wet strand of hair from her sweat-slicked face and kissed her. 

She eased herself off him and, heart beating fast, turned to look 
behind her. 

The small, soft creature that had been with deLoren at the pool lay 
huddled on the fibers, curled into a ball. Tirana recognized it. Knew it. 
No, her. It was the sighing breeze in her mind. 

Her voice soft, she called to it. deTirana. 

Her hekarten unfurled itself and blinked at her, eyes groggy, tiny ears 
twitching. 

Hello. The voice swept weak and gentle over her mind. 

Hello. Tirana smiled. 


Chapter Five 

Tirana didnt know how long they spent in the hekarten-jal, but it felt 
like days. Her tentative attempt to communicate with her hekarten, 
deTirana, was abandoned as the creature drifted off to sleep. Soon she 
and Loren followed, wrapped in each others arms, and when they woke 
Tirana found only a soft pelt beside them. deTiranas fur. 

She is becoming hekarten. Loren soothed her fears. She will 
become like deLoren. Dont worry, deLoren is with her. They will return. 

They made love again, taking each other with a fierce desire, a heat 
that smoldered at her molten core. She couldnt get enough of him, of his 
touch worshipping her body, of glorying in the splendor of his. She came 
time and time again, crying out his name, as he drove himself into her. 
When they were both sated, embraced by the hekarten-jal, they slept 
again. 

 

ad 

Wake. 

Tirana opened her eyes at the soft sigh in her mind. deTiranas 
presence was close, timid and afraid. Loren curled in sleep at her side, 
his warm hand clasping her breast. 

She stretched, feeling extraordinarily relaxed and fulfilled. There was 
a warmth at her center that had never been there before, not just 


contentment butpower. As though a restless ball of energy had wound 
itself around the base of her spine, spinning, ready to be released. 

Sliding from under Lorens grasp, Tirana padded out of the hekarten-
jal into the great cavern. 

Here. She looked about the cavern for deTirana and saw her sitting 
on the steps leading to the waterfall. 

The small creature had transformed into the spitting image of 
deLoren, who sat at her side, grinning. His eyes twinkled in glee as he bit 
into the round object in his hands, one from the pile of fruit at their feet. 
Tirana felt her stomach rumble with hunger. 

She took one of the oblong pieces of dark fruit and bit into the pulp. 
It was sweet and delicious. deTirana observed her with sombre curiosity 
and Tirana studied her in turn. The hekarten was smaller than deLoren, 
with tufts of hair on the tips of her tiny ears, softer eyes and a smaller 
mouth. A feminine version of Lorens hekarten. 

Sitting beside them, she ate her fill of fruit. At her last mouthful, 
deLoren and deTirana scampered away into the darkness. Her stomach 
full, juice covering her chin and chest, Tirana climbed the steps to the 
ledge and stepped into the pounding curtain of water. 

She could never go back, she knew that. In the hekarten-jal, she and 
deTirana had become one. Leaving Samhain would mean the death of the 
hekarten, and her own death. She belonged here now, on this strange 
world. Belonged to Lorenas he belonged to her. 

She closed her eyes, moved out of the waterfall, brushing back her 
wet hair as she remembered Lorens hard body taking hers. Shed wake 
him, let him know how much she wanted him, and 

Very nice. 

Tiranas eyes snapped open in shock. Orson leered at her, his yellow 
teeth exposed in a snarling grin. Dried blood had pooled in his scarred 


eye socket from the scrapes across his faceor what she could see of 
them under the smears of dirt. A large backpack was slung over his 
shoulders. He must have gone back for that before hed come looking for 
her. Had taken the time to prepare. And she understood that his 
obsession with having her, destroying her, knew no end. 

He jabbed the muzzle of his weapon between her breasts, let it trail 
down over her midriff to her belly. Lowered. She jerked away. He 
snatched her arm and yanked her, dragged her down the stairs after 
him. She slipped, cried out in pain as her ankle scraped against stone. 
He threw her like a rag-doll on the sand. 

She turned to crawl but he was on her in a second, his knee planted 
between her thighs, forcing them apart. He struck her across the face 
with the back of his hand, a blow that sent her eyes rolling back into her 
head in agony. 

Thought youd get away, did you? Bitch. She heard him as she 
struggled up from the blackness, opened her bruised eyes to see him 
throw the rifle and the backpack to one side. He wrapped a hand around 
her neck, pressing down hard till she gasped for breath. 

Im going to enjoy tearing you apart. His rank breath rolled over her 
face. She felt him fumbling at his trousers, jerked against him in panic, 
choked as he pushed his thumb into her windpipe. 

His cock pressed against her thigh and he groped between her legs. 
Her eyes widened in horror as he pushed himself at the entrance to her 
vagina, ramming against the tight constriction of her muscles denying 
him passage. 

Lemme in you fucking wh 

Suddenly he was off her. Gasping, she gulped in a lungful of air. She 
heard blows, the sick thud of flesh against flesh, a moan of pain. Turning 
in the sand, she saw Loren leaning over Orsons prone body, the lapel of 


his army jacket twisted in one fist. Lorens expression was contorted with 
fury as he pounded and pounded at Orsons face. 

Tirana struggled to her feet, hobbled over to Loren, dragged at his 
shoulder. "Stop it! Youll kill him. 

Smashing his fist into Orsons face one last time, Loren threw the 
soldier to the ground in disgust. The soldiers face was a sickening, 
bleeding pulp of raw flesh. But he breathed, moaned softly with pain. 

Loren, she whispered. 

Loren turned and caught her as she fell. She savored the strength of 
his arms, the sanctuary of them. There was a stricken look in his eyes, 
the glitter of tears, as he touched her face. 

She tried to assure him. He didnthe didnt 

Sshhh. It doesnt matter. Youre still here. Still here. He clasped her 
close to his chest, lowered his head to brush his lips gently against hers. 

They heard Orson moan and twist on the sand. Tirana pulled away 
as she glimpsed Orson reaching for the rifle. She aimed a kick that sent 
it skittering over the edge of the pool to fall into the water with a plop. 
Loren turned to crouch, ready to spring at him. 

Orson crawled back over the sand, his one eye a slit between slices of 
raw flesh. Get away from me! he screamed at Loren. Dont touch me. 

He caught the strap of the backpack and dragged it with him, 
scrabbling at the fastening until its contents spilled on the sand. 
Clothing, food and a square black box with cables attached. A long-range 
transmitter. 

Tirana burned with sudden hope as she saw the transmitter. Orson 
threw the delicate instrument carelessly to one side, and she felt a hot 
wave of anger sweep over her. A ball of energy formed at her core, rose 
through chest and shoulders, shot over arms and out through her 


handswhich she had pointed at Orson. It hit him square in the chest, 
sent him flying back into the sand. Away from the transmitter. 

She slumped back into Lorens arms, drained by the outpouring of 
energy. 

A piercing cry filled the air, reverberated around the walls of the cave. 
It was followed by the chattering of a thousand angry creatures who 
scraped and scrabbled over sand and rocks through the darkness in a 
frothing sea of fur. Orson screamed as the ba-hekarten surrounded him, 
over him, under him, until they lifted him beneath the carpet of furry 
bodies, thousands of tiny feet running towards the blackness at the far 
end of the cave, carrying him away into its depths. He screamed once. 
And then a deafening silence. 

Shaking, Tirana turned to Loren. He stared at deLoren and deTirana 
sitting on the rocks beside the waterfall, grinning. Loren grinned back. 

He caught her bewildered expression and said, The ba-hekarten 
dont like the devil soldier. Theyll throw him out of the caves, just like 
they do the Priests. 

She sighed in relief. She didnt want Orsons death on her conscience, 
as tempting as that was. 

She saw the transmitter half-buried in the sand and crawled to it. 
Loren followed, watched curiously as she lifted it onto her lap. 

Therell be more like him, Tirana told him quietly, wiping the sand 
from the metal box. Special Forces will take Samhain. Theyll destroy 
everything. She stared at him. Everyone. 

Loren took her hand, squeezing gently. What will be will be. There is 
nothing we can do but prepare. 

I have another idea. 

She packed the transmitter into the backpack, snapped on the seals, 
went to put on her comms suit. 


Where are you going? Loren sounded alarmed. 

Topside. I need to send my final report. 

Loren was at her side, dragging her into his arms. No. More of your 
soldiers may be sitting in wait. And if not them, then the Priests. I cannot 
lose you. 

He held her close, whispered, Tirana, if I lost you I would lose 
everything. 

She wrapped her arms around his waist, saw the despair blazing in 
his eyes and felt love for him bubble through her. 

Youll never lose me, Loren. That I can promise you. 

His mouth covered hers hungrily and she arched up to meet his 
passion and her destiny. 


Epilogue 

Universal Alliance Settlement Exploration Unit: 

Report 17836ZE-C 

 

Update: 

Year 2561.7 

Settlement Scouting Unit SU-SEU9107 first transmission: Reported 
plague on Samhains surface. Origin suspected parasitic, estimated 
99.9% fatal. Suggest immediate quarantine of onworld Special Forces 
and SEU teams. Transmission incomplete. Scouting Unit declared 
Missing. 4 days in field. 

 

Recommendation: 

Immediate withdrawal of UA Special Forces troop carriers enroute to 
Samhain. Special Forces mandate over Samhain returned to the SEU for 
further investigation. Exploration of Samhain coded black for extreme 
low priority. 

 


About the Author 

Cassandra Kane grew up in Australia and now resides in the UK. A 
graduate of the University of Sydney, Cassandra divides her time 
between the day job and her writing. She enjoys good food, interesting 
conversation and exotic travel, not necessarily in that order. 

To learn more about Cassandra, please visit 
www.cassandrakane.com. Send an email to Cassandra at 
cassandra@cassandrakane.com or join her Yahoo! Newsletter group at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cassandrakane-news to find out about 
the latest news and releases. 


Look for these titles 

Now Available: 

 

If Wishes Came True by Cassandra Kane 

 


 

Beginnings: A Samhain Anthology 

Read the entire Beginnings collection now available in print! 

 

 

Beginnings: A Touch of Magic 

 2006 Cassandra Kane 

 

A race against time to save a planetwill the price be too heavy to pay? 

 

Captain Tirana Albasta leads the last scouting mission to mystery 
planet Samhain, which has already swallowed two previous missions and 
a starship full of New Wiccan colonists, Lalith's People. 

 

Determined to keep the planet from UA Special Forces' harsh military 
control, Tirana finds much more than she expected. For the descendants 
of Lalith's People have split into two separate societiesthe anti-magic 
Priests and the magical True Peopleand she has just been caught in 
the crossfire. 

 

Complicating matters is her attraction to Loren, the broodingly 
handsome True People witch who ignites passions she has never before 
experienced, and who just might make leaving Samhain impossible in 
more ways than one 

 

 


 

Beginnings: A Warriors Witch 

 2006 Mackenzie McKade 

 

Legacy bonds thembetrayal will test thembut, love and a little bit of 
magic will keep them together. 

 

Gifted with both Berserka and Wicce heritage, Sabine wonders which 
legacy will determine her fate. A path of freedom and independence? Or 
will the Berserka curse tie her to one man, not of her choosing? 

 

After his fathers death, Conall returns to Scotland to take his rightful 
place as chieftain. Fate steps in and unleashes his hot-blooded lust on 
one obstinate woman resolved on defying destiny. 

 

A forced marriage binds them. Desire and their animalistic nature 
draw them together. But someone is threatening to destroy the fiery love 
growing between them. Salt in the water, poison in the wine has everyone 
looking askew at Sabine, including her husband. 

 

When the clan demands Sabines death, Conall must choose between 
family and the woman he loves. 

 

 


 

Beginnings: Babe in Woods 

 2006 Lorelei James 

 

Animal attraction takes on a whole new meaning 

 

Manhattanite Lacy Buchanan is out to prove shes a tough cookie by 
signing up for a survivalist hiking trip in Wyomings Bighorn Mountains. 
The last thing she expected was to get lost, forcing her to spend the rest 
of the hike alone with surly, too-sexy mountain man, Becker, who 
blames her entirely for their predicament. After Becker saves her from a 
rattlesnake, and gently calms her fears, Lacy feels lucky to be in his 
experienced hands. 

 

But Sam Becker isnt really a hiking expert. Hes strictly the 
moneyman in Back To Nature Guided Hiking Tours and a last minute, 
temporary fill-in guide. He cant believe his bad luck when his reluctant 
chargea mouthy, but hot, blonde bombshellpulverizes their only 
compass, destroying their chances of following the coordinates to base 
camp. Yet something about Lacys trusting nature makes him want fulfill 
her idea hes her rugged hero. 

 

As Sam and Lacy attempt to find a way out of the treacherous 
mountain passes, their natural instincts take themfarther away from 
civilized behavior and straight into the mating calls of the wild. 

 

 


 

Beginnings: Night Music 

 2006 Charlene Teglia 

 

When death marked her, he offered her rebirth 

 

Meghan Davies has been living a dream as the bass player for the all-
female hit rock band, The Sirens. But the dream becomes a nightmare 
with the discovery that cancer, undetected and now too far gone, heralds 
the end of everything. 

 

Romney Kearns has been watching the sharp-tongued, flame haired 
woman from afar, wanting, but never approaching because he can offer 
her nothing but death. 

 

When he discovers that death already has her marked, he sets out on 
All Hallows Eve to seduce her, claim her, and make her willing to accept 
his dark offer. An alternative. Not life as shes known it, but a kind of 
rebirth. Eternity with him and immortality for her to make night music. 

 

 


 

Beginnings: Ritual Love 

 2006 Kate Davies 

 

A lost woman. A hunted man. On a night of forbidden rituals, the veil 
between past and present liftsand their worlds will never be the same. 

 

Scientist Moira Sinclair doesn't believe in magic. Or at least she 
hasn't since childhood. She's only come to Iona in remembrance of her 
long-deceased grandmother, the last person who encouraged her fanciful 
side. But now she's stumbled onto a secret druid ritualand into 
another time. 

 

Aedan Ap Crannog is furious to discover an outsider spying on their 
sacred, banned Samhain rites. With her strange garb and stranger 
mannerisms, Moira is unlike any woman he's ever known. But she could 
cause trouble for him and the people who follow him in the ancient ways. 
To prevent her from sounding the alarm, he takes her captive, hiding her 
in the labyrinth of caves along the far shore. 

 

Despite their differences, sparks burn between them as brightly as 
the Samhain bonfire. Now captive and captor must find a way to bridge 
the centuries before the magic disappears with the dawn 

 

 


 

Beginnings: The Last Prophecy 

 2006 Jennie Andrus 

 

Hours before being murdered Maddy gives her last prophecyher sisters 
death and salvation. 

 

The MacElwain sisters had always been different. In search of a 
normal life, Lottie did her best to ignore her crazy sister, until Maddy 
predicts Lotties death. Suddenly Maddy is dead and Lottie has a very 
short shelf life and, according to Maddy, shes going to need to find a 
moose if she wants to survive. Unfortunately, moose arent too plentiful 
in downtown Toronto. 

 

Not willing to trust her life to an animal, Lottie runs to the shores of 
Newfoundland, where danger, love and acceptance wait for her to fulfill 
the last prophecy of Mad Maddy MacElwain 

 


 

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