by Auryn Hadley
Sal kissed his back again, and wrapped her other arm around his shoulder, gently caressing his bicep. "He said they'll cover our retreat. That lead to the chat with the Dogs out there."
"Yeah?" He finally turned to look at her. Sal shifted to his side, admiring the muscles of his chest.
She ran her finger through the sparse but course hair on his chest. "Yeah. They said they want what we have." Her eyes flicked to Zep's face, and she smiled before returning her attention to the hair on his chest. "I told them it starts with a secret." She leaned closer and brushed her lips over the muscle beside his neck. He sucked in an excited breath but didn't move. "I told them," Sal continued, "that we plan to defect, and that Pig's covering for us. That's their secret. They'll protect him, you know?"
"Yeah," he breathed.
"Well, they said they don't want to fight across the line from us. I gave them my word that if it ever happens, we would not let them die. I mean it, too." While she talked, Sal pushed her hand against his chest, encouraging him to lay back. His eyes searched her face, but she refused to meet them. Instead, she watched how his muscles played beneath the skin, feeling them tense and relax under her hand. "I gave them the numbers. They thought they stood a chance." She slid beside him, laying gently across his chest like she had the night before. His hand moved to her waist.
"That open their eyes a bit?"
Sal nodded, watching his lips. "Yeah. Made them feel better to know they had a ruler's word on it." He smiled again, and she traced the fullness of his lower lip, watching his eyes close. "Told Rayna to talk to Ilija in the morning, and that they don't have to fight across from us."
Zep chuckled softly. "Yeah, they should get along pretty well. Maybe she'll decide Vanja's more her type."
"Maybe," Sal whispered, caressing his face. "Told her she's welcome to make a move on you, but that I doubted she had a chance."
He shook his head. "I like my women a bit paler," he breathed, opening his eyes to meet hers. "Sal?"
"Yeah."
"Say my name again?"
"Valcor?"
He nodded, rolling her onto her back. Holding himself above her, he searched her face as if trying to memorize every detail. "You're what I've been wanting, you know that, right?"
She reached up to his face, feeling the stubble under her palm. "What are you going to do about it?"
Slowly, almost painfully so, Zep lowered himself until his lips gently touched hers. Sal moaned softly, lifting herself to meet his kiss. When he pulled back, her eyes opened again, meeting the darkness of his.
"Be gentle with me, demon. I only get one first time with you." He looked at her throat and smiled.
"I want you, Valcor."
"Ayati, babe. You have no idea, but I'm not going to rush this. My brothers aren't going to hate me, and we have all night." He leaned down and kissed the tattoo on her neck.
Sal lifted her chin, and he kissed up her throat, across her jaw, until her mouth caught his. He didn't bite. He just kissed, barely teasing her lips with the tip of his tongue. She reached up to pull him closer, but he pinned her arm to the bed with one hand. She sucked in a breath, moaning at the pleasant surprise of his strength. His lips brushed hers one more time before he slid back, releasing her, tormenting her.
Shifting to his knees, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her toward him as they both sat up. "You know what this does to us, right?" His hands moved to her knees.
Sal shook her head while Zep ran his hands up her thighs, pushing her dress before them.
"We can't have anything else, demon. You leak across into our minds when you're around us, and we need more." His hands moved to her hips. "So much more. The further we go," he said as the dress crumpled to her waist, "the harder it is to touch anyone else." He moved to her ribs, and Sal lifted her arms, her dress slipping over them. Zep sucked in a shuddering breath. "Humans can't understand this, and it's like a drug, feeling you in my head. I can barely find a woman now that doesn't disgust me." His powerful hands encircled her wrists, lifting them to his mouth. Patiently, tantalizingly, he kissed each one. "If I go any further, I know what it means."
"You don't have to do this," Sal said quietly, her eyes seeking his. "You can stop."
"No," he whispered against her alabaster skin. "I can't."
Chapter 26
Zep's mouth met hers and he slowly pushed her into the mattress. Sal gasped, clinging to his neck, and fought her desire to bite his lip. While their tongues danced, he pried her hands away, pushing them over her head just to hold them there. Then he leaned back to look right into her pale eyes.
"Just be gentle with me, demon," he whispered before his mouth found hers again.
She relaxed into the kiss, Zep pinning her arms above her. She felt his mind just brush against hers, and met him, teasing the edge of his consciousness as wisps of his desire leaked over. She moaned, and his mouth slipped lower, finding the hollow of her throat before moving farther down. He kissed the lines of her tattoos, his eyes following them on her skin. His tongue drew circles across the muscles in her belly, and he nipped her hip gently before kissing still lower. Her legs opened, and he kissed across the inside of her thigh, teasing, but moving still lower. His hands released her arms as he slid his body across the length of her, retreating to the foot of the bed.
With a shy smile, he pulled himself to his feet, watching her as he began to unlace his breeches. Her eyes roamed across his body. The scar from her bite was visible on his chest, and faint lines crisscrossed his skin, marking his years of service. As Zep hooked his thumbs in his pants to push them lower, a sharp silver line screamed its presence against his dark hip. Sal crawled toward him to grab his waist, pulling him closer. She traced the lines, the words so clear to her in the stark ink. My life is worth nothing if my soul is not Iliran, it said.
"You are," she whispered as she kissed the tattoo. "You are my iliri, Valcor."
He nodded, his eyes moist. "I am, demon." Reclaiming his place beside her, Zep pulled her against him. His hands traced the tattoos along the side of her breast.
She smiled and moved his hand to the tangle of colors over her heart. "You're here."
"Jase?" he asked, and Sal guided his fingertips to the lines of green. "Blaec?" She touched the pale yellow. His eyes were locked on the vivid blue between them. "Why am I there?"
She twisted, curling her body around the mass of his, and caressed the side of his face. Stubble rasped against her skin. "My safety, my sanity, and my happiness. My life is not complete without them."
"Which am I?"
"You're all some of each. Jase holds my life, Blaec carries my pride, and you?" She smiled. "You're my faith."
"Faith in what?" he asked as he pushed her hair away from her face.
"In us. In life. In humans, or in iliri. In that we will carry on beyond this. You've shown me that first impressions are wrong and that not every human will hurt me. That love is more than one thing, and trust is what matters. It's more than words."
"Sal?" he asked her. "I lied to you."
She shook her head, cutting him off. "No, babe, you didn't. You lied to you."
He hugged her tighter, holding on like he never wanted to let go, and found her mouth. "You're right," he whispered between kisses.
He tasted her, tormented her, and seduced her with his careful kisses. Each time she began to feel the delirium of passion, he slowed, pulling her mind back to the moment until she understood. This wasn't lust. It was trust. It was sharing. The bond they had was more than a single night of passion. He was proving himself to her, and Sal let him. That's when he finally gave in and pulled her leg across his waist.
She kept kissing, slowly insinuating her mind with his while Zep's hands grabbed her ass and settled her on his belly. When she leaned back to slide lower, he stopped her, holding tight to her thighs. His eyes took in every line, the lantern slowly growing dimmer as the oil burned. Sal leaned down, her fingers running through his hair as she kissed him. He
r touch was gentle but insistent. The light flickered, and Sal glanced at it.
"Let it burn," Zep said. "I can't see you like this in the dark."
He slid his hands up her waist, and she leaned back, her hair falling across her shoulders. Slowly, he touched every inch of her body. Desire made her impatience flare. She pulled his mind closer, wrapping it inside hers - and he gasped as they became one. His hands tantalized her skin, and she felt him tense with the pleasure of it. Cautiously, he reached higher, his thumb brushing across her breast, and he moaned as she leaned her head back. Her pale fingers tickled his chest as they slid lower, stopping at his navel. The lantern faded and flickered, then flared as he worshiped her body, and she gave in to the pleasure of his touch.
The flame flickered one last time, then died. Zep moaned softly and grabbed her waist, lifting her as he slid her back. Her pale skin glowed in the moonlight streaming through the window, but Zep faded to nothing more than a shadow on the bed. Sal relaxed, lowering herself onto him, and his hands gripped her tighter.
"Sal," he whispered, sucking in his breath as she settled her weight on his pelvis. His hands held her still, and she watched him bite his lip. Slowly, she lifted herself, and he pulled her back, gasping, his pleasure flooding her mind. She pulled against him again, leaning forward to meet his mouth. She could feel what he wanted, but she made herself wait, enjoying every sensation. His human skin felt so much more than hers could. The sensations flared inside her. She kissed him, the stubble on his face rough against her lips, and rocked against him. Her tongue teased his as his hands seduced her completely. Each time she settled onto him, he struggled to control himself, and each time, she drank in the feelings, feeding it back to him. Soon she could take no more.
"Please, Valcor," Sal begged.
Zep moaned, lifting her just to pull her back down. Each time was harder. Stronger. His hips rose to meet her, and Sal closed her eyes, her fingers locked on his forearms. She could hear his labored breathing beneath her, but she wanted more. With each thrust, her pleasure grew, and she moaned, sharing it with him. Her body tensed. Zep groaned beneath her, slick with the first dew of sweat. Again, then again, he pulled her onto him and then again, and Sal threw her head back as her body lost control. Her teeth clenched against her voice, and then again, and she felt the surge in her mind, intense enough to block out everything else. Zep gasped as his fingers bruised the soft skin around her waist. He held her to him, locked tight in her mind, every sensation and emotion magnified between them.
Spent, she dropped against his chest. "Don't let me go," he said, touching his head. "Let me enjoy being in your mind a bit longer." Then he pulled her down beside him, curling protectively around her.
Sal snuggled her face into his neck. "You're just using me for my talents, aren't you?"
"No. You can dig deeper than that. We both know it." He sighed contentedly and rested his palm against her face.
Sal pushed her cheek against it, murmuring pleasantly. "I don't dig, babe. If you want me to know, you'll tell me." She chuckled. "That way you won't worry about if I'll respect you in the morning."
Zep laughed, then kissed her. "I've dreamed of this, you know? So many times, Sal, I've wondered what it would be like, and told myself it wouldn't happen."
"Mm, and then it did. What will you dream about now?"
"The next time," he promised. She looked up at him, and he shrugged. "I won't have this excuse forever, you know. At least I don't have to wonder how I did."
That shocked a laugh out of her. "What is it with you men?" she teased remembering Jase saying something similar.
"Hey, I caught that." He smiled. "Is this what it's like? Cessivi, I mean? Always with you like this?"
"Yeah. This is what it is, but I don't have to work to hold it. It just is." Laying against him, she felt more than heard his sigh, then caught a flash of his worry pass across her mind. On the heels of that came a flare of amusement. "It's just feelings, though," she said, "So I don't know what that was."
He chuckled and rolled onto his back, pulling her into the crook of his shoulder. "I just realized it works both ways." He chuckled again. "So how's my little brother anyways?"
Sal giggled. "It's hard to explain. He knows, though."
"Is he upset?"
"Nah. I guess the closest I can say is that he's impressed. If you want to know, just ask him."
"Yeah, rumor has it he bites."
"It's true, too." Sal opened her mouth to say more but paused, her ears shifting toward the door. There were people out there - one was walking a little too loudly. She lunged for her knives. Zep! The hall.
He reached for his sword, slipping it under the pillows and thought, I know.
The lock clicked just before the door opened gently, and the couple froze, weapons in hand. Sal's head was still on Zep's arm. Through their link, he could see the cloth in the man's hand. A second slipped in behind him, the moonlight glinting on his resin blade.
You're going to have to look everywhere. I can't see in this shit without you, he said.
I'll try. At least they can't see, either. You get the one with the chloroform, I'll take the rest. Zep, I'm going to berserk.
I know, demon. I got ya.
A third man slipped into the room, and Sal could hear a fourth outside the door. You call it when you're ready, she thought, watching the first man creeping slowly toward the bed.
Wait for it...
Sal heard two more men outside the door. They were up to six.
Wait for it...
She flexed her fingers around the hilt of her blade.
Kill them all, Zep thought. He lunged forward to plunge his blade into the man's chest. "Dogs!" he screamed.
Sal surged toward the man with the blade. He swung blindly at her, and she glanced around the room for Zep as she dodged. She stepped behind him and recognized his smell.
"Erol," she growled as she plunged her dagger into his back. When he screamed, she yanked upward, blood pooling across her hand. "Zep?" she moaned. Behind her, Zep snarled.
As the bloodlust coursed through her, Sal's senses heightened. Across the hall, men scrambled, and she listened to them grab weapons and run into the hall while she moved to the next target. Zep grabbed the third man and threw him into the wall. The idiot screamed as he fell. Outside the room, the hall filled with lights and she could hear feet rushing their way.
Zep had these. She'd take care of the rest. Sal stormed through the door, turning to the man cowering behind it. She spun around him, her blade at his throat, and pushed. She intended to shove his neck onto the edge, but his scent hit her just as her knife touched his skin. Yanking her hand away before the knife could cut too deep, she also pulled his shoulders back. Raj flipped to the ground beneath her, his hands empty. Sal didn't stop. She had to find the next threat. She needed to protect her pack. Her foot met another man, kicking his feet out from under him. By the time he hit the ground, she'd already dropped to her knees on his chest and buried her dagger in his heart.
"Behind you," she said calmly to Zep, hearing one of the men stagger from their room, but she never turned around. She felt Zep move to deal with him, and her eyes looked for the last one. Across the hall. Devil Dogs surrounded him and Tyr smashed his face into the wall.
"Mine!" she growled, storming at him.
"Back off guys!" Zep yelled. "She's pissed."
"Fuck," Tyr said, shoving the man toward the enraged iliri stalking toward him.
The man staggered, and she pounced on him, recognizing Tine as she pulled him to the ground. Tine glared up at her. "Fuck you bitch," he said and punched her in the face.
She growled and turned back to him. "Harder," she snarled in his face. "I said I like it rough." He hit her again, and Sal shoved her thumb under his chin, pushing upward. "Do it again and you die," she warned, her voice velvety soft.
He hit her.
Sal's teeth dove to his throat, sinking deeply into the soft flesh. She felt his screa
m vibrate through her teeth as she bit down and yanked. The sound faded into a gurgle, and warm blood filled her mouth. Sal moaned as she swallowed. The taste was so sweet that she bit at the corpse again, tearing into the soft muscle along his shoulder, her growl growing louder.
"Sal, stop." Zep grabbed her arms.
She snarled and shoved him away, moving between him and her prey.
"Rraz!" he hissed, staring into her eyes as he stormed back at her. Sal shifted her grip on her daggers, and his gaze flicked to the movement. "Fuck," he breathed a second before she launched herself at him.
"Mine," she roared.
He blocked her swing, knocking her arm away with his. She followed with the second blade, and he dodged it, the edge just slicing across his waist. He kicked her into the wall, and followed, pinning her body the with mass of his. When she moved to stab him, he grabbed her wrist, shoving her hand over her head. His other slid down her bicep to her wrist, holding her there.
"Sal," he whispered, their faces almost touching. "You can't beat me while we're linked. You can't eat the human, demon."
"I know," she said softly. "Stop me, Zep. I want more."
"What the fuck?" Pig yelled storming down the hall. "Someone get the damned Blades some clothes!"
"Pig, stop," Tyr ordered, his eyes locked on Sal. "She's berserk."
Pig froze in his tracks, turning very slowly toward the naked iliri. Zep's bare body covered hers, keeping her from stalking anyone else.
"I got this," Zep assured him. "Sal? Demon? You with me yet?"
She moaned and strained, then sighed. "Give me something to kill Zep?"
"Can't do that, kid. You killed them all."
She threw her head back, bumping it against the wall. "I need more. Please, Zep?"
He chuckled, "We're fresh out of bad guys, Sal. You want to kill me?"
"No," she said, looking up at him. Her muscles relaxed. "No. Kiss me, Zep?"
He lowered his face to hers, and she strained to reach him. She kissed him deeply, biting his lip. Zep pulled away.
"There's at least one dead guy in my room. Get that shit out of there or get me another room," he demanded.
