A Kiss of Magic: A Kiss of Magic Book One

by Jacquelyn Frank

“I promise.”

  He released her hand and she pulled the bell pull. She obediently returned to the right side of the bed where she sat down facing him. He hastened to pick up her hand again, pulling it up to his dry lips and brushing a kiss against the back of her fingers. He studied her a long minute. Then she saw him wince as he shifted a little in the bed. He gave his arm a baleful glance.

  “I’d make him pay for this again if I could,” he muttered.

  “From what Jal tells me, you were lucky to make it out of there alive,” she said a little more sharply than she had intended to.

  “You’re angry?” he asked, puzzled.

  “No,” she said with a decompressing sigh. “I was afraid more than anything. But you must swear to me you will never do anything so dangerous again.”

  He looked at her frankly. “I can’t make you a promise like that,” he said with regret. “If I was asked to go after another Delongo…I would. I would do anything to protect the triumvirate and this way of life that so many others seem to take for granted. I won’t seek out trouble, but I can’t completely avoid it either.” At her distressed expression he added, “It is my fondest desire that the next time I go on such a dangerous assignment…you will be there with me. Together we could be an unstoppable force. As you grow in skill and power we won’t even need to be touching for us to access our Gestalt abilities. The more we practice with the connection the stronger it will become. I have very high hopes for us in the future.”

  “Only if I can reach the level you seem to think I will.”

  “I know you will,” he said decisively. “I know we will.”

  “Then if you can’t promise me never to put yourself in danger again, can you at least promise me not to do so until such time as I can be by your side helping you?”

  He thought about that for a moment. “I promise to try to avoid it as much as I can.”

  “That isn’t much of a promise,” she said with a deep frown.

  “It is the best I can do,” he said gently.

  She sighed. “I guess it will have to do. But I am trusting you to try. Please.”

  “I will. Besides, I can’t do anything like that again any time soon. It will take a bit of time before I’m up to scratch again.”

  “I know. I’m—“

  She broke off when a maid entered the room and bowed her head.

  “Andra, please bring a bowl of broth—“

  “No,” he cut her off sharply. “Bring me my usual breakfast tray and one for Miss Desro as well.”

  “Yes my lord,” she said, dipping into a bow before hurrying away.

  “Are you certain?” Yasra asked dubiously. “Perhaps not such a heavy breakfast at first.”

  “I only have eggs and toast and a bit of sausage with some coffee. I’ll forgo the sausage if it will make you feel better.”

  “No. As long as you feel up to it,” she said. “Just eat slowly and make certain you can settle each bite.”

  “I am more concerned with you eating,” he said softly, his hand leaving her to come to her cheek. He brushed a thumb over her plump lower lip. “Come and give me a kiss,” he invited her.

  She couldn’t resist. She gently touched her lips to his and gave him a chaste, closed-mouth kiss. When she would have pulled away he ringed his hand around the back of her neck, held her in place, then gave her a proper kiss. One with heat and sensuality within it. Their tongues met and swirled against one another and Yasra felt an enormous sense of relief washing through her. This was Dendri. This was Dendri alive and vital and everything powerful he was supposed to be.

  But abruptly he broke off the kiss.

  “What day is it? What time is it?”

  “Sanasa. About mid-morning. Why?”

  Dendri muttered a wicked curse then reached for the covers. Throwing them back he went to push her out of the way and get to his feet. But she stubbornly held her ground at the side of the bed, preventing him from doing so.

  “No! You cannot leave this bed!”

  “The talks with the Kiltians begin today. I am needed at the capitol.”

  “You can’t possibly go to the capitol in your condition! Never mind spending hours in diplomatic negotiations!”

  “They need me. They need a high level Aspano majji to make sure the Kiltians are being honest with us.”

  He moved her aside as she stared at him in horror and he got to his feet.

  “Dendri! You’re burned out! Even if you could physically withstand being in a room all day, you can’t use your abilities! Not without a few more days of rest.”

  “I’m fine. I’ll be fine,” he said as he moved to the bell pull and pulled it.

  “You will not be fine! Stop it! Get back into bed!” she cried, following him as he moved toward the wardrobe and began to rummage around inside of it.

  “Dendri, the doctor needs to tend your arm. You can’t just—“

  “Stop worrying about me. I know my own limitations,” he said as he pulled out a pair of butter yellow breeches and a white cotton shirt.

  “I don’t think you do!” she snapped. “They can get someone else. Another high level Aspano.”

  “Like whom? No one else has my ability.”

  “Right now even you don’t have your ability!”

  Yes, I do!

  The argument was mentally sharp in her head and he stared hard at her.

  “So what? So you can speak into the mind of your Gestalt partner. What does that prove?” she demanded. “That has nothing to do with reading the thoughts and intentions of hostile diplomats for hours. They could have powerful majji leaders like we do. Perhaps even more powerful than you!”

  “All the more reason for me to be there.”

  “Fighting with the minds of others will only serve to exhaust you. Please be reasonable.”

  “I promise you I will come away from the talks the moment I am too weak to continue. Until then, I have a duty to the triumvirate to be there and to serve them.”

  “I am certain the triumvirate does not expect you to come to them in this condition!”

  “I never try to guess what the triumvirate wants. They let me know in uncertain terms. And the last I checked they wanted me there today.”

  He drew on his pants quickly.

  “If it will make you feel better I will have a spot of breakfast before I go while they are preparing the carriage.”

  “It will not make me feel better!”

  “My lord?” came a voice from the doorway.

  Dendri looked at the maid who had appeared there.

  “Moira, send Haner up here. I need a shave and someone to make me look halfway decent. Have the stable boys rig up the barouche for a ride into the city.”

  “Yes my lord,” she said quickly before dipping a bow and hurrying off.

  Dendri pulled out a green velvet coat and a cravat that matched his breeches in color. He grabbed up a brush and pulled it through his hair. She watched as he chose a clip and clipped back the long strands.

  “The talks begin at midday. Not enough time for a bath,” he murmured almost to himself.

  “Dendri please,” she begged him, coming to him and drawing on his hand as if she could pull him back to the bed. “See reason.”

  He turned to her then and lifted his hand so the flat of his nails brushed over the rise of her cheek.

  “You won’t win this argument, sweetheart. So please…calm down and help me to get ready.”

  “You’ve already called for your valet. He can help you get ready. I’m not lifting a finger to assist you in this madness.”

  He frowned at her at that. “Let’s not quarrel,” he said to her gently. “I’ll be back when the session breaks in the latter part of the day. The talks will only last until the crest of evening. It won’t be a very long day. When I come home I’ll have a long bath and a good supper and will go to bed early. I will stay in my bed and rest.”

  “Until the talks resume the next day,” she bit out.

&nb
sp; “Yes,” he said.

  “Oh! You are so…so...stubborn! And moronic! And you need a keeper! But clearly that isn’t going to be me because you aren’t listening to a word I say!”

  He darted forward and caught her angry mouth with his, kissing her firmly. She jerked back away from him.

  “Don’t think you can kiss me into submission!” she snapped.

  “I don’t think that at all. I kiss you because I can’t resist kissing. Especially when you are all flushed and perturbed with me. It makes you look absolutely delectable.”

  She was taken off guard by the remark, and even more so by the kiss that followed up. His mouth was warm and firm on hers, his lips parting hers in a soft, aching dance of need. She felt her anger fading as he manipulated her mouth and her soul all at the same time. Her heart began to pound harder, her blood rushing mightily in her ears.

  “I’m coming with you,” she breathed the moment their lips separated.

  That made a dark scowl sweep over his features.

  “No. You’re not. There’s no reason for you to come.”

  “Yes there is. Someone needs to keep an eye on you. Someone who can sense when you’ve done too much.”

  “The Kiltians are a brutal warrior tribe. They are dangerous and not given to respecting acts of ceasefire or parlay. For all we know they are coming to get within arms’ reach of the triumvirate so they can make a kamikaze attempt on their lives, sacrificing themselves in the hopes of taking them with them. For you to come will only put you at risk and I can’t have that. You’re not strong enough to protect yourself yet.”

  “You aren’t strong enough to protect yourself,” she pressed back. “And you have no choice. Either you take me or I’ll have Wil, Ky and Jal force you back into that bed.”

  “You couldn’t,” he scoffed.

  “The state you’re in right now, I could. And I’d succeed.”

  Dendri glared at her a long minute, then, seeing she would not be moved, he relented.

  “Very well. But you have to remember to hold my hand the entire time, so that we’re in constant contact and I can better see into your thoughts to protect you.”

  “No. I’m not there to split your focus. I will hold your hand, but only to strengthen myself and have access to the Gestalt. You must only focus on the Kiltians. I can take care of myself.”

  He certainly didn’t look happy about her instructions and ultimatums, but as Haner entered the room she cocked a brow expectantly.

  “Well? Are we agreed or do I send Haner to fetch the gentlemen downstairs?”

  “We’re agreed,” he said with no little reluctance. He eyed the way she was dressed in breeches of a soft beige color and a blouse of crisp white. “You had better put on your best dress. Anything less than complete formality and civilization will allow the Kiltians latitude in their behaviors. Given an inch, they would coarsely run roughshod through these talks. We must appear polished and expect the same from them.

  She wrinkled her nose. “I dislike the Kiltians. They are barbaric.”

  “You see? It’s thoughts and feelings like that that can endanger these talks.”

  “They have to know we feel that way. We’re at war. I’m sure they feel the exact same way.”

  “I’m sure they do. They fight because they are greedy and want the Saren lands for themselves. As their population grows they are finding they have less and less room for growth. We fight to maintain our lands and our way of life, but we are both trying to survive the best way we know how.”

  “I never looked at it like that before. All I ever read about was how brutal and savage they are. How greedy they are.”

  “They are all of those things, but you would be too if you were desperate for food to feed your people and land on which they could live.”

  She watched as Haner readied him for a shave. He sat down in a chair and tipped his head back. The valet mixed his soap, and then using a shaving brush applied it liberally to Dendri’s beard, softening the whiskers. Once he was done, he ran the blade of the razor up and down the strop to sharpen it.

  “They see us and our civilization as a sign of weakness, thinking us easier to overrun and control. We have been proving them wrong out on the front. The battles have turned in our favor. Enough so that the Kiltians have decided that maybe talking can get them something of what they want.”

  “Can it?”

  “Perhaps. That is entirely up to the triumvirate. But they need me not only to read the intentions of the others, but to protect their minds from the probes of their telepaths. The talks would be over quickly if they knew exactly how far the triumvirate is willing to go.”

  A few minutes went by as she watched Haner skillfully remove his beard. Once his face was clean-shaven and washed free of all remaining soap, he stood up and slipped his shirt on over his head. He tucked in the tails and buttoned it at his throat as Haner draped his cravat on either side of his neck. Then, in a few economical and precise movements of his long-fingered hands, Haner had tied an intricate knot in the cravat, leaving it to puff out slightly.

  “You’d better go,” he urged her.

  “Oh! Yes. I’ll be right back.”

  Yasra hurried down the hall to her rooms and found Bess reading a book on the bed.

  “Bess, help me with my hair,” she said as she whipped off her shirt and wriggled out of her breeches.

  She was ready in record time and when she breathlessly arrived back in Dendri’s bedroom, he was sitting at the small table in his sitting room and there were two trays with silver domes resting over the food beneath. Haner removed the lids as Yasra sat down to her tray.

  They ate in relative silence, Dendri taking some time to read the paper that had been brought in with his tray. She had noticed that he did this every morning. It was, she realized, important to him to remain abreast of current events. Their newspaper, the Capitol Crier, was dependable and thorough, the only exception being the gossip columns. The sensationalistic view of the world through the pomp and fanfare of the gossip columnists was, to say the least, subjective to what those columnists thought their readers wanted to hear.

  Dendri had often been the focus of those columnists, his fame and power making him a prime target. He did not sit for photos, however, so they were unable to capture him and publish his image. She had always put that down to him being a very private man.

  “Is there news?” she asked.

  “There’s an article about the talks for today. And another about Delongo’s defeat. The army left behind is apparently in chaos. There isn’t too much detail otherwise.”

  “I know Ky and Jal are planning on going back and picking off more of the rogues, to bring them to justice. Apparently there are several other rogue hunters that want to go with them.”

  “Good. But they should be careful. They’re still outnumbered tremendously.”

  “You can tell them as much if you like. They’re in the morning room.”

  “Perhaps I will. Come, eat your breakfast.”

  She did, but she hardly tasted anything. She was worried for Dendri. She could see the weariness in his eyes already. Just the act of getting ready and eating breakfast was taxing him. She didn’t know how she was going to convince him to leave when the time came. He was so stubborn. But if determination alone could see him through, then he would make it. However, she didn’t think that determination was going to be enough in this case.

  Before they left Yasra saw to it that a fresh bandage was wrapped around his left arm, protecting it from outside dirt and contaminants. It might hurt to take the bandage off later, but it was better than leaving it open to infection.

  When they appeared in the morning room, Ky and Will both leapt to their feet to see him dressed and apparently ready to leave.

  “Dendri! What are you doing out of bed?”

  Dendri set his jaw and began to argue with his friends, defending his reasoning and putting his foot down when they threatened to knock him out and tie him to
the bed. When they saw he could not be persuaded or even bullied, they changed tactics.

  “We’ll come with you,” Wil said.

  “No. Bringing one person who is not otherwise invited is bad enough,” Dendri said. “The only reason I think they will allow Yasra is because of the Gestalt, otherwise she couldn’t even dream of getting that close to the triumvirate and these talks.”

  “Should you be exposing her to the Kiltians? They might take this advantage to rid themselves of a potentially powerful enemy,” Jal said.

  Yasra frowned at Jal, but he ignored the warning disapproval of her expression.

  “This is true,” Dendri said, hesitating as he looked at Yasra with renewed concern.

  “I can protect myself,” she insisted. “Sitting within your strength, I can protect myself.”

  Dendri pulled on his gloves and smoothed the lapels of his coat as he considered her for a moment. She waited with anxiety for him to make up his mind.

  “Keep me out,” he said at last.

  “What?” she asked dumbly.

  “Keep me out. I’m going to try and read your thoughts. I want you to keep me out. If you can do it to my satisfaction then I will allow you to come.”

  “No! I’m not going to play games with you!” she said stubbornly.

  “Then you can’t come,” he said grimly.

  “You’re not going without me,” she warned him. “Either I go or you stay.”

  “Keep. Me. Out.”

  He dropped every word as a single sentence, a light in his eyes telling her he would not be swayed. She bit her lip indecisively a moment, then reaching out to touch his hand, she slammed her mental dome down over herself.

  “Hardly fair touching me,” he said dryly. “It increases your power to use the Gestalt.”

  “So you’ll have to hold my hand throughout,” she said stubbornly. “The reverse is also true. You’ll have access to power that you wouldn’t have without me.”

  He thought about that for a moment, then with a nod of his head he focused on her. She could feel him this time. Probing at her defenses. Perhaps because they were touching or perhaps because he was tired. She didn’t know which. On the one hand she was hoping he was too weak to penetrate…on the other he needed all of his strength in order to face the coming hours and be of any use to the triumvirate.