Page 19 of Grounded (Convergence #1)

Liria's words sliced through Thaxvarien. Thax—she called him Thax. An endearment like the one he'd given her. And then she tore him to shreds.

It had been going so well. Rinna was right.

Giving Liria some time had worked in his favor.

She apologized. She admitted the very hindrance Rinna had confided to him.

It made Thax furious to think that some moron had hurt her.

What a fool. How could he mistreat this incredible woman?

Whatever he'd done, it had turned his Liri bitter and skittish.

And it also appeared to have made her cruel.

He could take a lot from Liria knowing she'd been hurt, but this was too much.

Thax wouldn't let her abuse him or what was growing between them.

If he did, she'd kill them before they even got off the ground.

What had Rinna said? Be confident but not arrogant.

Right. A confident man wouldn't allow this shit, not even from his woman.

Frowning, his face shivering, Thax swallowed roughly.

He had to bank his anger before he spoke.

“All right. That's the last time you say something like that to me, Liria.” He stroked her hair back to soften what he had to say.

“I've been more honest with you than any lover I've ever had, and they were all Aethari.”

Liria stiffened. Thax felt it in his chest.

“Don't do that.” He bent his forehead to hers as if he could get into her thoughts and ease them.

But he had to look into her eyes as he said this, so he lifted his head.

“As I said, I'm being honest. The only relationships I've had have been with women who share my culture.

We understood each other. Yet I never bared myself to any of them as I have with you.

Fuck, I gave you my down and offered my claim.

I've never done that before. It hurt to have that thrown back in my face, but I understood that you didn't understand.

So, I'm trying to do things your way. I'm trying, Liri. And then you go and say shit like that.”

“All right,” Liria whispered. “I won't do that again. It's just . . . your honesty is a lot. It feels fake.”

Fake. Fuck. He had been more real with her than with anyone, and Liria called him fake.

Thaxvarien's throat closed. He had to breathe into the muscles to relax them.

She didn't know him yet. That's why he was there—so they could get to know each other.

If he'd wanted some quick sexual relief, he could have gone to any of the scores of women who had offered themselves to him.

But this was what he wanted. Her. His Liri.

And she would be his. If he kept his shit together and didn't scare her off.

So, instead of raging at her, he said, “It's real. I'm real. And I want us to be real.”

“Real.” Liria stared up at him, and then her gaze shifted to his wings. “May I?”

Thaxvarien blinked. “Uh.”

What the fuck was this? Liria called him fake and then asked to do one of the most intimate things you could do with an Aethari.

She wanted to touch his wings? Could she sense how badly he wanted her to and what it would mean?

Fuck, she might as well grab his cock. Or both. The thought made him shudder.

“Never mind.” She looked away.

Oh, fuck!

“No!” the word slammed out of him. He took a breath and calmed himself. “I'd like that. Just . . . they're sensitive.”

Liria glanced at his eyes and then lifted her hand to his right wing.

Thax lowered it for her, curving it around his biceps.

He tried to be as steady as possible, but inside, he trembled like a youth about to lose his virginity.

Stare locked on her hand, he held his breath.

Like a feather upon his feathers, her fingers brushed over him, skimming the edge of his primaries.

Lightning down his spine. Pleasure bee-lined to his cock. Thax's hips jerked forward, his erection hitting Liria in her yielding core. She cried out with him.

Then they froze, staring at each other.

“Well, damn,” Liria finally whispered.

Damn, she said. She had barely touched him, and his body went into spasm. Thaxvarien had his wings touched before. Many times. None of them had made him feel like that. It was a fucking miracle he hadn't come in his pants.

Suddenly, a lightness overtook him, and Thax burst out laughing. Liria joined in.

“Maybe lying down with you wasn't such a good idea. Not if I want to respect your wishes.” He realized how bad that sounded and hurried to tack on, “Which I do. Of course.”

“Of course.” Liria pushed him onto his side, but it didn't feel like a rejection. She was smiling, for one thing.

Thax folded his wings against the wall and propped himself on her pillow.

Liria turned to face him. When she took his hand and wove her fingers with his between their chests, Thax was glad for the support of the wall at his back.

Great Magic, this woman could do more to him with a few innocent touches than his most experienced lovers had ever managed in the middle of sex.

But he needed more. Not more touching. Well, that too.

But what he needed most was her. More knowledge of her.

“Why did you choose this?” Thax asked.

“Choose what?” she asked, her voice like a mug of hot storm on a cold night.

“To work here.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess it would be hard for you to understand since you had no choice.”

Thaxvarien didn't have anything to say about that. He just waited for her to go on.

“I didn't exactly choose this life. It chose me.”

“How?”

Liria sighed and nestled into the pillow. “My mom's a piano teacher. Dad teaches basic convergence.”

“Teachers? You didn't want to follow their lead?”

“They told me and my sister that teaching was for those too scared to make a true career for themselves.”

“What?” He laughed.

“Yeah, my parents are honest like you. They've always encouraged us to get out and do things. To be better than them. I went to school and studied everything that took my fancy. I was top of my class in convergence—all the convergences.”

“All? Isn't there only one type?”

“No. I mean, yes, convergence in general is merging magic with science.”

“Tech.”

“Yes, technology is the more accepted term. But the word is a bit misleading. Science is the study of the physical and natural world. Technology is the application of science for use in industry—machinery is tech. Neither is a perfect description of what lies at the core of our world. It is not the source of study, nor is it the application of it. It is the origin of pure energy for natural, physical things. The physical world, as opposed to the metaphysical. Magic is the counterpart—metaphysical, ethereal, spiritual.”

“Physical? But you can't converge a butterfly.”

“No, and that's why we call it the Source of Technology and not the Source of Nature, even though I think that would be a more accurate title.

You can't converge living things. But it doesn't change what that energy source is. It fuels not just convergence, but also the entire physical world. It is the core of life.”

“Then why does it take life from Nethren?”

“It doesn't. It takes magic from them. Magic is not life. It is the inspiration of life. Passion. Creativity. Dreams.”

“You don't have to explain magic to me, Liri.” He kissed the tip of her nose and grinned. “To me, magic is life. I couldn't live without it flowing through me. And the Source of Technology took that from the Nethren. It made them into half-metal monsters.”

“Yes, but metal is a natural thing, born of the world. We've studied them here. Have you read the reports?”

“No, what reports?”

“Autopsies on their dead. Their metal parts are so harmoniously merged into their bodies that it's impossible to separate them cleanly.

Flesh and metal combine at the junctures down to a cellular level, with blood flowing through it all.

Their life energy fuels the whole of them as it does with us.

The only difference is that some of their flesh and bones are metal.

But it's living metal—they can feel through it just as if it were flesh.”

“What? How?”

“They have sensors that transmit stimuli as skin does. When you cut off a metal limb, it bleeds, and it hurts. They are wholly alive, Thax. We just think of them as machines because of the way they look. But it would be no different if they'd been merged with plants or animals.”

The idea of Nethren with woody limbs or animal parts made Thax uneasy. Somehow, the metal made them less real to him, more like things than people. And he preferred it that way. He didn't want to see them as natural. Indeed, he'd been raised to believe they were evil and unnatural.

“Interesting,” he murmured. “But how does that relate to there being different types of convergence?”

“So, if convergence blends magic and science, and science includes all the natural world, it goes to reason that convergence would have specialties. Just as there are many things to study in nature, there are many specialties of convergence to study. Think of it in the way there are medical doctors who focus on healing specific parts of the body and other doctors who only treat animals. You can be generally proficient in convergence and then go further and become very good at specific aspects. Like security.”

“Security is a type of convergence?” Thax propped his cheek on his palm. This was a new side to his Liri. Her voice was calmer, softer. The tension had left her. He could listen to her talk like this for hours.