by Lynn Viehl
Joy and despair tore at her insides. “I’m not fit to be a wife to any man.”
“Not even the man who has shared your dreams?” He smiled a little. “Do you remember what you told me in the nightlands? About the game you played here in the flat? You could have that life with me.”
“That was a child’s pretense.”
“We could make it real,” he said as he stood up and set her on her feet. “I have just come home from my work.”
“You don’t have any flowers,” she said, feeling a little desperate now.
“The stand closed early.” He leaned back against the door. “I still want a kiss from my lady. Come here.”
Simone caught her bottom lip with the edge of her teeth as she crossed the distance between them and put her hands on his shoulders. “This is foolish.”
“No, love,” he said as he bent his head to hers. “All night I’ve thought of nothing but you. I’ve counted the hours until this moment, when we could be alone together and I could take you in my arms.” He pulled her closer, but held his mouth a whisper away from hers. “I will show you what I have for you, and I think you will like it more than flowers, but you must kiss me first.”
She slid her hand to the side of his neck as she balanced on tiptoe to put her lips against his. An instant later she moved back to separate their mouths.
Korvel kept hold of her. “Why do you stop?”
“I can’t.” She pressed her brow against his chest. I don’t know.…The man in my dreams was never real. He never came home.”
“I’m here. I’m real.” Korvel pulled open his shirt and put her hand against his chest. “Kiss me.”
“I can have sex with you, but I don’t know how to kiss.” She moved her palm until it lay over the slow throb of his heart. “I wasn’t trained to do that.”
He drew back. “Trained?”
She nodded. “When I was old enough, my father sent one of the handlers to my room each night for a week.”
Fury blazed over his features. “He did what?”
“It was part of my training. I didn’t like it,” she admitted, “but the man was not rough, and after the first time it didn’t hurt. Kissing was not demonstrated or required.”
His arms tightened, and he held her close for several moments before he spoke again. “Tell me that your father suffered a vast deal before he died in agony.” He cradled her head with his hand. “Please, God.”
She wouldn’t tell him that her father had been ill only a few weeks, or that he had killed himself the night his steward left the country. “He died knowing I took back my life from him.” She thought of what Nick had told her in the dream. “There is no better revenge than that.”
“You know what this means?” When she glanced up at him, he smiled. “I am the only man who has ever kissed you.”
He sounded inordinately pleased, as if she’d given him a gift. “You’re the only man who ever wanted to.”
“You have been living with nuns.” He smiled as he brought her lips to his, allowing her to feel the barest press of his mouth before he lifted his head. “Live with me, Simone, and I will kiss you every night.”
Simone knew Pájaro had already left Marseilles, and where he had gone, and what she had to do. But now she also understood how wrong her father had been about her. The years of brutal training, the deliberate and systematic destruction of her childhood, her oath of loyalty to the council, even the wretched bargain her father had forced on her, no longer held any power over her. She would keep her word, but out of love for Korvel, and for all that might have been.
The first kiss Simone gave to Korvel landed slightly off center, and the edge of her teeth grazed his lower lip. She clasped her hands to his face, moving her mouth against his until his cool breath rushed out and his arms came up around her, pulling her in. With the second she used her tongue, awkwardly, timidly, until she found his, and he used it to draw her in and take it deeper. A frantic heartbeat later she fused their mouths together, no longer testing or tasting but stroking and suckling, as if their mouths were starved and the kiss had become a decadent feast.
She broke away, panting as the heat of the kiss drenched her body in a shivering, aching delight. She felt his hands clenching against her back, saw the hard line of his jaw, and inched closer, the slight curve of her belly pillowing the rigid length of his erection.
I will have this much for myself.
“Do that again,” Korvel said, his voice deep and soft. “A thousand times again.”
Simone drew back. “What if I want to kiss more than your mouth?” She drew her finger down the vault of his chest, tracing the faint depression of his navel through his shirt. “I want to kiss you here. Is that customary?”
His eyelids drooped. “It is now.”
She hid a smile as she bent, unfastening the button at his waist before she pressed her lips to his belly, licking the tight dent.
“Christ Jesus,” he muttered. “Your mouth should be a sin.”
“Hmmmm.” She went down on her knees, clasping his hips with her hands as she rubbed her cheek against the long bulge under his trousers. “Is it still kissing if I do it here?”
“Oh, yes, love.” His hand came up to splay across the back of her head. “That is the one every man wants.”
“You’re the only man I’ve ever kissed,” she reminded him as she slowly unfastened his trousers and worked them down the muscular columns of his legs. As he stepped out of them, she ran her hands from his ankles over his calves, putting her lips to one knee and then the other before she kissed her way up one massive thigh, lingering to taste the smoothness of his cool skin.
“Simone.” His fingers tightened in her hair, urging her higher.
She drew back to admire the heavy thickness of his shaft and the tight bulge at its broad base. Unlike most modern men he had never been circumcised, and his velvety foreskin fascinated her, as did the gleaming knob that had emerged from it. “You are so splendidly made.” She traced one of the veins popping up under his skin with her fingertip before she glanced up at him. “I have to kiss you here.” She watched his face as she put her lips against the flared edge of his glans.
He gripped his shaft in his fist as she kissed the slick head, rubbing it back and forth on her lips. “Will you open your mouth for me?” When she did he lodged himself between her lips and stared down at her. “Damn me, but I love seeing my cock in your mouth.”
She drew back a little. “Then give me more, Korvel.” She parted her lips, letting her breath touch him before she licked a pearl of semen from the tiny slit in his dome.
He pressed in gently, guiding her with a shaking hand, his head falling back and his eyes closing as she rubbed her tongue along the barrel of his shaft. “Yes, love, suck me. Just that way. Oh, God. You’re so beautiful like this.”
Simone took every stroke he gave her, relishing the power that came with the helplessness of her position, and when she found the rhythm she sucked his penis with avid delight, feeling as if she had been given a gift now with this most intimate of kisses. The ache between her thighs swelled, jealous of the pleasure that glided between her lips, and she moaned around him, unwilling to stop, shaking with her own need.
“Simone.” Korvel drew himself from her mouth and then lifted her up into his arms, carrying her into the bedroom and placing her on the coverlet as if she were something precious. His hands blurred as he tore at her clothes, stripping her to her skin before he loomed over her, guiding his penis between her thighs and working it into the clenching folds.
“Korvel.” She clutched at him, lifting her hips as she tried to draw him in. “I need you.”
“I know, love.” He bent down to nuzzle her ear as he pressed in. “Feel me coming into you? Oh, yes. You’re drenching me, you’re so wet. I’ll make it better now, Simone.” He went deeper, working his head along the quivering tissues until she felt him nudge against the soft cup of her cervix. “There we are.”
The first time with him she had felt impaled, invaded; now he filled every desperate space inside her with each heavy thrust. She wrapped her legs around his as he fucked her, her heart pounding and her blood screaming, until he drove her past all thought and reason and the pleasure rocketed through her.
“Kiss me again,” he muttered against her mouth, and when she did he ravished her with his tongue, groaning into her mouth as his muscles coiled and he shoved deep, holding himself as his cool, thick cream pulsed into her body. The feel of it flooding her felt like a spiritual baptism, relieving her of the last of the sins of her father.
Korvel eased over onto his side, his penis still planted deep within her, and he cradled her close, stroking her back with a soothing caress. “I don’t want you kissing any other men. You’re too good at it.”
“Don’t worry.” She tucked her face against his neck. “I never will.”
Gabriel glanced up at the window of the town house where they had left Korvel and Simone, and caught his lover’s arm before she reached for the door. “We should take a walk around the block.”
“Let’s not and say we did.” She looked down at his hand. “Baby, I’m tired, I’m cranky, and my arm is covered with itchy dried blood. Anyone who gets between me and a shower is going to regret it. Deeply.”
“It is a beautiful night,” he said. “Look at these houses. They were built in the seventeenth century.”
“It’s freezing and architecture bores me.” She didn’t budge. “P.S., you suck at lying, so just tell me what it is.”
Knowing Nick’s dislike of Simone, he chose his words carefully. “I think Korvel and his lady need a little time alone.”
“She’s his lady now?” Nicola made a rude sound. “Please. She admitted she was under orders to kill him.” She gave him a suspicious look. “How do you know what they’re doing? He could be calling Richard. She could be polishing her crucifix.”
Gabriel took her arm. “I know because the beetle clinging to the bedroom window has an excellent view of the bed.”
“No wonder you never rent porn.” She sighed and started down the steps. “All right. Come on and show me more fascinating architecture.”
While they walked Gabriel pointed out several interesting features of the old town houses, but his lover appeared lost in her own thoughts. Their bond permitted him to gauge her emotions, but since boarding the ship she had been withdrawing into herself and locking away her feelings, as if she needed to hide them.
“During the revolution, some of the local aristocrats jumped from those balconies,” he said, pointing up. “The people caught them in large nets, freed them, and then painted their faces with rainbows and unicorns.”
“How cool.” Nicola kept walking.
Gabriel came around and blocked her path. “If you do not tell me what is wrong, I will tickle you. Unmercifully. Until you wake up the entire neighborhood.”
“I’m sorry. Balconies, right?” She gave the town houses a wan look. “Fuck the balconies.”
“Nick.” He bent down and pressed his brow to hers. “Talk to me.”
“You’re going to think it’s stupid,” she warned. When he shook his head, she shoved her hands in her pockets. “Korvel was in love with Alex, right? So why he is up there making the French connection?”
Gabriel felt more rather than less confused. “Korvel cannot have Alexandra. She does not want him.”
“But you said that they were bonded. As in, he couldn’t resist her. He had to have her. She was his life companion; no one could ever come between them, and he was going to love her forever.” She flung a hand in the general direction of the safe house. “If that’s true, why is that happening? And don’t give me that crap about an incomplete bond. Alex may have been torn between two lovers, but does this mean a Kyn lord can survive a broken bond and rebond, or what?”
Gabriel heard the bleakness behind the anger in her voice. “Are you upset with Korvel for breaking his bond with a woman who doesn’t want him, or afraid that I will find someone else to love if we are separated?”
“I just need to know that if anything happens to me you’ll be okay. I mean, you’ve been through enough pain, baby.” She shook her head. “Forget it. I need to get our stuff from the car.”
“I am not going to forget it.” Gabriel followed her to where they had parked the car. Once he unlocked the trunk, she began searching through a bag. “Nicola, I will not let anything come between us. As for Korvel, what he did to Alex was wrong, but it was not deliberate or malicious, and he has paid for it many times over. I think he deserves some happiness.”
“We all do, baby. Just not with a woman ordered to kill him.” She opened the case containing the scroll, checking it before she closed the lid and set it on the ground. “Where did you put the shampoo and stuff?”
“In the black bag.” Gabriel watched her for another moment before he finally understood. “You think I would violate our bond. That is why you’re angry with Korvel. Because he has freed himself from Alexandra, you believe I will do the same with you. I have told you—”
“You love me. You’ll never leave me. I got it.” She bent down and picked up the scroll case. “We shouldn’t leave this in the car. Do you think they’re finished by now, or should we go find a hotel room?”
Before Gabriel could reply, the latches she had left open on the case came loose and opened, and the scroll dropped to the ground.
“Damn it.” Nicola reached down and picked up the artifact. “This thing is such a pain in the ass.” An expression he didn’t recognize crossed her face as she shook her head, putting the artifact back in the case and closing it before she handed it to him. When she spoke again, her voice sounded hollow. “Gabriel, don’t touch this thing. Ever. Promise me.”
“I have no desire to,” he assured her.
“Don’t let Richard have it, either.” Nicola removed from her jacket one of the guns they had taken from the men on the ship. “He doesn’t understand. None of you do.”
“Nick?”
“I’m sorry.” Before Gabriel could snatch the weapon away, she pressed the barrel to the front of her throat and pulled the trigger.
Chapter 17
K
orvel left Simone sleeping peacefully in the bedroom, closing the door so the sound of his voice wouldn’t disturb her. He was almost sure he had convinced her to return to Ireland with him, but there was still a chance that she would refuse. For that reason, and several others, he had to talk to his master.
He used one of the satellite phones to place the call to Ireland, which was answered by Éliane Selvais.
“The high lord has been expecting your call, Captain.” A faint note of relief colored her cool voice. “He will be pleased to know that you are well.”
Korvel doubted that. “Thank you, Éliane.”
After a few moments of silence the line clicked and Richard’s voice said, “Where are you?”
“Marseilles, my lord,” he said. “We have recovered the scroll.” He related a brief version of the events that had occurred since he had arrived at Château Niege. “The thief escaped, but since the scroll is a hoax, he has nothing of value but a few prayers.”
“Prayers? Richard echoed. “You translated the code? He knows what the scroll contains?”
“Yes, my lord.” As Richard swore, Korvel held the phone away from his ear. Once his master had fallen silent, he said, “All that was written in the scroll were a half dozen psalms from the Bible. The same as could be read in any hotel room.”
“Which psalms did he use?”
“You wish me to recite scripture for you?” Korvel asked politely.
“Tell me which psalms.” Richard’s voice lashed across the line like a copper-barbed whip. “Now, Captain.”
Korvel looked up as Gabriel burst through the door to the flat. He carried Nicola, who was covered in blood, in his arms. “I will have to call you back, my lord.” He switched off the phone and dropped it as he hurried to he
lp Gabriel with his wounded sygkenis. “What happened to her?”
“She shot herself in the throat.” Gabriel laid her down on the table by the kitchen. “I can’t stop the bleeding.”
Korvel saw the pattern of the black powder on her neck, and reached under her neck to feel for the exit wound. “The bullet is still inside her.”
“She used one of the guns from the ship.” Gabriel’s hand shook as he wiped a streak of blood from her face.
Korvel gently turned Nicola onto her side and brushed back the white curls from her neck. He saw an angry, mottled red flush spreading beneath her pale flesh, and as he moved his fingers over her skin he found the telltale bulge of the round. He slowly straightened. “Gabriel. It is copper, and it is lodged in her spine.”
The Kyn lord shook his head. “You are mistaken. She would be dead.”
Korvel glanced down at Nicola’s still features. Since the Brethren had begun using copper rounds in their weapons, the Kyn had learned only too well the devastating effect they had on immortal flesh. The copper began to poison the victim from the moment it entered the body; it also burned any tissue surrounding it. Because it was embedded in her neck bones, the bullet would quickly go to work on her spinal cord. Even if she could resist the effects of the poison, once the copper had burned through the cord Nicola would die.
“We must cut it out of her.” Gabriel left the table and began tearing through the shelves of weapons. “Where are the daggers?” He looked back at Korvel. “Don’t just stand there. Help me.”
“I have seen such wounds before, my lord,” he told him. “To remove it is delicate work, and requires skill that neither of us possess.”
“No.” Gabriel pulled over the shelf, smashing it on the floor. “I will not have it. We have to try.” He fell to his knees. “I cannot lose her. Not like this.”
“We are not surgeons.” Korvel moved to help him up, and then stopped and changed direction, grabbing the satellite phone he had dropped and dialing a number he had sworn never to call.
