“And you will have it.” Tenzin held out her hand. “I’m looking forward to working with you, Doctor.”
21
Ben and Tenzin flew out of Addis near midnight, when the traffic in the streets had finally died down, working people had returned to their beds for the night, and the only activity was the street dogs trotting down the avenues and the clubs in the Bole district still pumping music into the air.
As they rose over the city, Ben surveyed the fascinating place. It was a place of diplomacy, commerce, and all the strange ways in which they overlapped. It was a place of religious devotion where churches and mosques were often only divided by a road or an alleyway. It was a young city but a growing one, bristling with concrete towers that rose higher every year.
Tenzin glanced down. “I will not miss that city.”
“You don’t miss any city, Tiny.”
She tucked herself under his arm in a position she often took when they flew together. “I know. I am craving quiet.”
They headed north to Lalibela, a small town in the mountains of the Amhara region with a population of less than twenty thousand people. Lalibela had been a previous capital of the empire during the Zagwe dynasty, which had followed the Aksumites, and it was known as a place of pilgrimage because of the eleven monolithic churches carved from rock.
Ben had only seen pictures of the place, but he knew the churches were spectacular. Also spectacular? Its location as a launching area for their explorations in the north. Lalibela was within three hundred miles of most of the sites they planned to explore, and all the major ones, which meant they could get there easily within a night. They’d have to camp out to give themselves time to search, but according to Daniel, there were plentiful caves and natural light safes in the region.
They flew directly north, following the path of a river they could see from the sky, climbing higher and higher as they followed the valley. They flew over sleeping villages and small towns where only a few lights were burning. The air lost the scent of car exhaust, trash, and humanity. Clear, crisp breezes twisted around them, welcoming them to clear, cold skies.
They took shelter for an hour in a cave high on a forested peak when a sudden storm swept through the valley. Ben spread a camping roll along the stone floor and a blanket from his backpack. Waiting at the mouth of the cave, Tenzin stared into the curtain of rain.
“There is a wildness here that reminds me of Tibet.”
Ben patted the seat next to him, and Tenzin joined him on the cushioned floor.
“Tibet?”
“Even though people have lived in those mountains for thousands of years, the hills have not changed. The people change themselves to the environment, not the other way round.”
“That’s a beautiful thought.” He rested his chin on the top of her head. “Tell me about Tibet.”
“There is a valley, narrower than this one, and the mountains are very steep. There are wild sheep on the ridges, and people climb very narrow paths to hang flags along the top so they will flap in the wind. They believe that every time the wind moves the mantras written on them, a prayer is offered up.”
“The rainbow flags you see in pictures?”
“Yes.” She smiled a little. “They are very colorful. And there is a cave high on the cliff there where the local people give me offerings.”
“A cave with offerings?”
“More like a shrine, I suppose.”
Ben blinked. “They think you’re a god?”
She shrugged. “Or some kind of holy person. I was there for hundreds of years and I didn’t age, so I imagine it makes sense to them.”
Ben murmured. “They literally treat you as a goddess.”
“Yes.”
“This explains so much.” He squeezed her shoulder. “So much.”
“And in the valley below the cliffs there is a river. It’s very cold, and on the banks there are birch groves. I love to fly over them. The leaves are beautiful when the wind moves.”
Ben frowned. “I think I remember something like that. Maybe you’ve told me that before.”
“Perhaps.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “I can rest there, my Benjamin.”
“Good. I want to see the place that gives you so much peace.”
“You will.”
They watched the rain pour over the eucalyptus trees outside the mouth of the cave, and the fresh, astringent scent filled the air around them.
“I love that smell,” Ben said. “It reminds me of flying along the coast in California.”
Tenzin turned to him and captured his mouth with hers. “I want to show you everything.” She kissed along his jaw. “When I see things with you, it’s like they are new again.”
Ben slid his arm around the small of her back and lowered her onto the blanket. He slowly kissed from her forehead, down her temple, and along the rise of her cheekbone. He nudged her chin up and peppered her neck with soft kisses, resisting the compulsion to sink his teeth into her neck.
His fangs ached in his jaw, but he focused his entire energy on Tenzin. He listened to her breath and the gentle cues when she experienced pleasure. She was a quiet lover, and he’d had to become an expert in reading the subtle signs she gave him. It was another language he hadn’t spoken before he loved her.
The sudden exhale when he kissed the side of her breast. The shiver in her thigh when he scraped his teeth along the inside of her knee. The way her body twisted under him when she approached climax and the satisfied sigh when he entered her.
Her skin was damp from the mist and his kisses. Ben lay over her, their bodies locked together, and he pressed his cheek to hers.
“I love you,” he murmured. The enormity of his emotion nearly overwhelmed him. What he felt for her was so much bigger than anything he’d felt before. He could feel his amnis kissing her body, whispering in her blood. His body felt like it could explode, not with pleasure but with the pain of feeling so damn much.
“I love you,” he said again. He braced his arms up and rocked their bodies slowly in the darkness. “I want you to be my mate.”
The grey of her eyes seemed to darken and change. “Ben—”
“Just think about it.” It was the only thing that seemed to capture the enormity of his feelings. He needed some tie to her, something permanent. He wanted to claim her in a fundamental way. “I love you.”
He lowered his mouth to hers and stole her breath before she could speak again. Then he reached down and hitched her knee up, going deeper as they made love.
There it was, the language her body used to speak to him. The way her eyes grew darker and her skin prickled beneath his fingers. The subtle vibration of her blood and the fangs she bared when pleasure overtook her.
Tenzin came with a small cry and an arched back. He held her in her pleasure, watching her face as she lost control. For a few seconds, she let go and it was glorious.
Then her eyes became fierce and she locked her legs around his hips, driving him deeper as she wrung the climax from his body.
Ben groaned his release, bracing himself over her so that he didn’t collapse, but Tenzin pulled him down until his chest was nearly crushing her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him.