She put the questions aside and decided to simply accept what he was giving physically and leave off questioning. She couldn’t trouble her mind with the rest. She had been through so much that night. Now it was daylight beyond the polarized glass of his bedroom and they were safe from all the evil members of the Nightwalkers, imp gods included, and they could rest easy.
Kat accepted a series of kisses so deep she could barely catch her breath. He made love to her mouth with his lips and then deep sweeps of his tongue. He tangled his up with hers, traded tastes and fever until she was lost and thought she would never be found. She felt everything she was go wet and soft with growing need. She had never wanted anything so much, she realized, as she wanted him right then. Nothing had ever been so clear. She very quickly came so far from the fear she had been immersed in just hours earlier. But both places were places of strength. She had fought for her freedom and had won. Now she was fighting for feelings far more frightening. She was coming home in a way she had never known before. All the pain of that place and time was washing away and being replaced by this passion. Doubt and hate had no place, no home, in that moment.
His hand brushed from her face down onto her throat, his fingertips tracing along the line of her collarbone. There was something about the softness and starkness of the caress that made her look into his darkened amber eyes, seeing things she wasn’t sure she understood. He looked a little lost, as though pieces of the moment were missing. But she didn’t know how to fill the holes. She didn’t think she had what he needed. So she filled the blanks with kisses, with the touch of her hands drifting across the wide breadth of his shoulders.
He was without his stone armor, and yet felt just as durable; a strength that amazed her. She had never known anyone so strong, and to feel it under the brush of her hands was an amazing thing. To feel his warmth growing hotter at her command was something so remarkable that she could speak with nothing but her hands. She used her hands to draw him closer, to tell him how amazed she was by his strength. To tell him she wanted every part of him, every contour and every breath with everything that she was.
And he wanted her just as much with just as demanding an extreme. He burned for her and in that moment was unafraid to show it to her. There was no room for lies, no room for fighting. Why would either of them want to anyway? They gave truth to each other, naked and needful. He unbuttoned her shirt, parting both halves of it evenly, exposing first her belly and then each of her breasts. Her nipples contracted with the brush of the disappearing fabric and then the touch of the room air. Then she was tethered to him by the touch of his fingertips running down the length of her breastbone, inch by inch, every one tangling her up in an expanding need.
When he touched her belly it contracted with both surprise and expectation. She wanted his touch and yet was shocked by it just the same. His hand flattened against her for a moment, pressing into her, as if he were trying to reach inside of her. Then he pulled his palm away leaving just his fingertips against her once more. He drew them down, all the way to the very edge of the light hair at her mound. But instead of threading into the curls he pulled away, running back up her body in the other direction. He drew a line in the crescent under first one breast and then the other.
By the time he cupped her left breast she was breathing as though she’d run a quarter mile. He smiled a little, and she knew he was taunting her on purpose. And frankly she didn’t care. She wasn’t in any kind of rush. Well, maybe she was. But she wasn’t. Oh, how the hell was she supposed to know? If there was one thing Ahnvil was good at it was turning her inside out.
“There’s a fine sight,” he said, his voice thick with the need she could see in his eyes. “You’ve the prettiest breasts I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s such a lie,” she said breathlessly.
“No’ a lie. I’ll no’ pretend I’m a virgin, Kat lass. I’ve seen my share over three hundred years. When I tell you yours are the prettiest breasts I’ve ever seen, you can know I doona say it lightly. They’re fair and pale, the wee freckles just at the tops of them,” he stroked his fingertips over them, “and then the darkest pinkest nipples … so tight and puckering so prettily. Aye. I’ve never seen the like. And now I’m going tae love on them as greedily as ever a man could.”
And he started by laving each nipple with the flat of his tongue, wetting them so they grew even tighter in the cool room air. Then, with a strong intake of his breath he closed his mouth over her right nipple while taking the other up between his fingers. He overwhelmed her by sucking and pinching at her simultaneously, continuing to do so until she was dizzy, then switching and doing it all over again. Her knees drew up, her feet climbing all the way up the backs of his legs. Had he pulled his body up a few more inches he would have been cradled directly in the warmth of her core, but he remained frustratingly out of her reach.
He knew she wanted him to move up, to be more blatant in his lovemaking, but he was taking his time. Feeling her squirm and hearing her pant and moan for him was enough for him for now.
Ahnvil left off her breasts and pressed his lips to her solar plexus. Then again to the area above her navel, and then again to the spot just below it.
“Christ, I can smell the heat on you,” he said fiercely. “It makes me want tae … I’m going tae taste you soon, Kat lass. And I’m going tae make you come while doing it.”
“O-okay,” she said.
That made him laugh.
“Well then, now that I have your permission …” He briefly dipped his tongue into her navel, making her giggle through the ferocity of her desire. Then he wedged his shoulders between her thighs, his hand stroking down the length of first one, then the other. He used the knuckles of his hand to run the full length of her, from curls to backside, letting her buck up against him as she tried to encourage him to move faster than he was willing to. Then, much to her relief, he touched her. The relief was short-lived, however, as fire seared across her flesh everywhere he stroked against her.
Ahnvil could feel just how wet she was, and how wet she was growing with each passing touch of his fingers. It began to make him impatient as well. He found the lip of her entrance and pushed his finger inside of her, groaning at the tight, sweet feel of her. As she clutched at his fingers, first one and then quickly two, he could well imagine what she would feel like around him. It was as though they had never made love. As though it were the very first time he would be getting to learn her. The perception amazed him. Shouldn’t this be familiar territory already? They’d made love several times before this, why did it feel so … so novel?
That was when he realized it would never feel old or tired. Not with her. He didn’t know why, he just knew. It was a humbling sort of thing to realize. He closed his eyes briefly, absorbing what it meant to him, knowing she was well beyond anything he deserved and yet unable to be selfless enough to let her go and find what she deserved somewhere better.
Yes, he was selfish. There was no two ways about it. And once realizing it he decided to be resigned to it. If she wanted something other than what he could give her, then it would have to be her that drew an end to things. He knew it wouldn’t be him. Couldn’t be him. For now, she was allowing him time with her, loaning him her sweet body. So he would do whatever he could to see to it she was pleased, to make her happy. He would not be running away from her again, would not be leaving her unfulfilled. He already had to repay her for what had passed before.
He heard her gasp, knew he was giving her pleasure, so he chased the sound down, touching her deeper, stroking his thumb around her clit until she made the sound again. Then that wasn’t enough and he had to aim for a long, deeper, throatier sound, so he dipped his head down between her thighs and moved his thumb away from her, replacing it with his tongue. He teased her a little … then a lot, not doing what was best for her but bringing her right to the edge of it once … twice … again. Until she ground out a sound of frustration. He chuckled and then she was on to him, th
rusting a punishing set of toes into his ribs.
“Doona fash yourself,” he murmured against her thigh, giving her a brief kiss there. “I know what I’m doing.”
“You couldn’t tell from my position!” she grumbled.
He laughed again. “You feel what I want you tae feel. And now I want you tae feel more. So you will.”
And so she did. She cried out to the heavens as he worked against her with skilled flicks of his tongue and the occasional sucking of her swollen clit. Then he was swirling his tongue around her, driving her to the very edge of orgasm. All it would take was just a little … bit … more …
She whipped into the release sharply, for all she had been building up to it, and she unthinkingly clawed her nails over the flesh of his shoulder and through the roots of his hair. She clutched him in spasm, holding him to herself, as if he might escape her should she give him a single moment’s chance. She couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“Doona let go, lass,” he said huskily. “I’m no’ through wi’ you yet.”
“Wait!” she cried breathlessly.
“No. I’ll no’ wait.”
“Shouldn’t I have some … oh God … some say in this?”
“No.”
“Oh. Okay,” she said with a swallow he could hear.
“I want to give, you want to get. Where’s the harm?” he pressed.
“But I—”
“No.”
“Oh. Okay,” she sighed, finally relaxing back and letting him have his way. She didn’t complain again until she was rounding the bend of her third orgasm. “Please,” she said. “I can’t do it again.”
“Aye, you can. But doona worry, I’ve something else in mind.”
He pushed her thighs farther apart, making room for himself as he surged up the center of her body. He felt his own heavy weight in his hand as he took himself within his own fist and brought himself to the edge of her entrance. He kissed her, waiting for her to relax, which took a fair minute because she was locked up tight in anticipation. But he waited … waited … and when she exhaled and finally realized he was in charge and nothing she did would sway or hurry him unless he wanted to be swayed or hurried, then he moved forward, pushing into her in a sudden surge of strength. She blended a cry in with his, both of them stunned by the way the other felt. It took a bit of doing, getting himself fully inside of her without spilling himself too soon. She had just that much power over him … and was just that tight besides. It reminded him of their disparate sizes, made him worry for her for a moment. But then he reminded himself that this was the lass who had blown Panahasi to kingdom come and had managed to escape Apep’s stronghold. And now, thanks to her, they knew exactly where that stronghold was. It had been moved since Kamen’s defection from their camp, and although he had escaped from there as well, he might not have found it again without her as motivation. Without her having saved his life in the first place.
No. He was selling her short to think of her as fragile. Not after all she had been through and survived. A trap he had almost lost his life to. A situation that Jan Li had not made it out of even with knowing the grounds like the back of her hand.
He pushed the memory away and focused solely on her. Focused on the feel of her and the strength of her. He tried to introduce himself into her gradually, in order to give her better pleasure, but in the end it was so easy. She was so sexual, so passionate, that she simply couldn’t help herself.
With every deep, languorous thrust into her he felt his own control spinning away like a frenetic little top. There was no particular rhythm to the way he moved, but there was a beat to it. Deep. Hard. Punctuating.
“Oh yes,” he ground out. “You’re so fine, my wee Kat. Sometimes it feels like making love tae daylight, the way you harden me, the way you make me feel invulnerable and able to conquer the world.”
Her reply was a soft, ramping sound of pleasure. Every time she made it, it grew in intensity. He could hear it … feel the place she was cresting to. He knew then that if she came there would be no helping him. He would be equally thrown into it. And it was a fight he willingly gave himself over to. He never sped up, only moved deeper, harder, making her body shimmy with each impact. It wasn’t a frenetic orgasm like the ones before, but it was a deeper one … and a more soulful one … as he forced her to look dead into his eyes the entire time.
He kept her head between his hands, directing her gaze to his as she cried out and tried to close her eyes and roll away into it. But he refused to let her, forced her to be present, with him, in every single instant of it. She tightened around him, making it beautifully hard to push into her. In the end, though, it was watching her pleasure explode in her eyes that sent him over the edge. Knowing she was there with him was all the aphrodisiac, all the foreplay, he would ever need.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Leo has sent word from the court of the Demon King,” Jackson said. “I hung up with him a little while ago. Apparently,” he said with bemusement, “several of their Nightwalker races don’t get along with technology and basic things like electricity. So he has to leave the court and travel a distance in order to make a call. It brings to mind Wraiths. They too have difficulties with advanced technologies. Normally this might worry me, but Leo is more convinced than ever that these are good, honest Nightwalkers. And Leo, as you know, does not trust anyone. That impresses me. He’s not of a mind to turn his back on them just yet, that kind of trust will take time, but on the surface he has a pretty good feeling.”
“So what’s the next step?” Kamen asked.
“You and the Druid Bella are the next step,” Jackson said. “She will be researching in their library, since she can read any language apparently, and you will research in ours, since you would know more about identifying and reversing magics of that magnitude.”
“The key is to figure out its origin. Once we do that the rest should fall into place,” Kamen said.
“My thoughts exactly.” Jackson paused a beat. “However, I agree with Ahnvil and am unwilling to extend complete trust to you. You will have a keeper. A warden, if I have to put a name to it. Another former Templar like Docia’s Bodywalker, Tameri, who will keep you honest and will make certain you are not working merely for your own ends … or for the ends of the Templars.”
“I would expect no less,” Kamen said quietly.
“Well then”—Jackson clapped his hands together and rubbed them almost eagerly—“let the games begin. We’ll see if we can figure out this curse before Apep gives birth to … gods know what he will bring forth onto this planet. The very thought of it scares the hell out of me.”
The entire household had to agree. They were all sitting around the living area after Jackson had called them there. Even Grey and SingSing had joined them. And apparently Faith, Leo’s Night Angel lover, had joined him in the court of the Demon King.
“There was one other thing I wanted to mention. According to Faith, her brother, a Night Angel of great power and ability, was … raped by a powerful Bodywalker recently. We believe this was Apep and that Faith’s brother was being forced to father this child Apep now carries. We must take the creation of this child even more seriously because of that. Faith reports that if his offspring has any fraction of his father’s power, plus whatever he will gain by being Apep’s offspring … soon we will be facing the potential of an even greater threat than before.
“A being of this much power alone might be a challenging adversary, but in tandem with Apep’s power it could make them unstoppable and, curse or no curse, we might not have a chance in hell of defeating him. Apep is, after all, a god. No one knows the bounds of his power yet, but I have a feeling that we will find out very soon.”
“We will find a way,” Marissa reassured them, remaining calm and sure in the face of it. Much in the way her mate was responding to it. There was a reason each was Pharaoh in their own right. They were meant to be leaders and had proven themselves over and over throughout th
eir many incarnations.
“We need to,” Grey said quietly. “My magic is powerful, to be sure, but on its own it would be no match for a god. I am not so vain as to think it would be.”
“That’s just it. We can’t think in terms of individuality. The whole point of lifting this curse is to allow us the ability to join with others in order to defeat a common enemy,” Marissa said.
“I will feel better once this curse is lifted,” Grey said. Although, if he had not voiced it, Kat wouldn’t have had a clue that he was feeling any unease. The Marid Djynn was lacking in any affectation. He was like watching a placid pool. Kat wondered if one day she would have as much power as he did and if it would make her feel that calm and secure in the face of great danger. Even admitting his own weaknesses he seemed unconcerned. Perhaps it was like Jackson and Marissa, the face of an experienced leader trying to remain calm in the face of adversity.
It had been a week since she had escaped Apep’s stronghold. They had all been holding their breath, waiting for some kind of retaliation from Apep or the Templars, but the more time that passed the more the idea that Panahasi was working alone was supported.
After the meeting finished and the group had pretty much disbanded, Kat got up the nerve to talk to Grey directly. Frankly, he intimidated her. His power. His position. She felt as though she might come off as an upstart, this awkward inexperienced girl asking such a powerful Djynn for a lesson in how to be what she was.
“Excuse me,” she said, her hands nervously twisting together.
Grey looked at her. He had been sitting perched on the arm of the couch and had just risen to his feet. But when she addressed him he sat back down again, relaxing as he gave her a small smile of encouragement.
“You would like to learn something?”
“No. I mean yes! I mean”—she sighed in frustration with herself—“Kamen told me there are different castes of Djynn. From weak to most powerful. I was wondering … what class am I? No one seems to be able to tell me.”
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