Any Price

by Faulkner, Gail

  It wasn’t possible to fall in love with the man in barely twenty-four hours. Yet the sheer intensity and volume of the emotions swirling around them was greater than she’d ever imagined love would be. Whatever it was, it was all tangled in the other unbelievable stuff. Nonetheless, life without him was unacceptable. Kenna shook her head and finished up the shower.

  When had they lost the ability to choose? Where was the critical moment they could have pulled away from each other? Suddenly she knew exactly when that threshold had passed. The moment they’d kissed in the war room. Something in that first intimate touch had been the key that clicked in the lock.

  Pulling her thoughts back to the more manageable and immediate needs helped her cope. At the moment, her big problem was clothes. Kenna slid on the sweats she’d worn briefly yesterday and decided to investigate the queen’s apartment. Getting her clothes from the hotel had to be possible. Finding Julianna was the important thing. She seemed able to make things appear with amazing ease.

  Lore was always in the back of her consciousness. He could feel her as well. He wasn’t so much monitoring her thoughts, but he was conscious of her moods. They shared animal awareness in natural comfort. Right now he was letting her mull this over in peace.

  Kenna had to laugh as she stepped into the connecting suite of rooms. There was Julianna with a tray of coffee and an array of breakfast choices on the pretty side table in the queen’s bedroom.

  “Good morning, your highness,” Julianna greeted her with a smile. “I brought coffee and food. Also a collection of clothes for you to choose from.”

  Strewn across the massive bed were several elegant outfits. Kenna grabbed a cup of coffee and wandered over to look at the bounty on the bed.

  “Good morning, Julianna,” Kenna murmured. “How did you know I needed clothes?”

  “I collected your belongings from the hotel. I found nothing there for a queen. We have very good shops, so I ordered several things. With respect, only the best is required for our first daughter,” Julianna stated firmly.

  “You brought my stuff from the hotel? Great. Where is it?” Kenna wanted to know as she glanced around.

  “I’ve put them away,” Julianna stated firmly. Her attitude made it clear put away probably meant hid. “These choices are much more appropriate. Do you like them?”

  “Oh yes,” Kenna breathed as she looked at the obviously original designer outfits spread out before her. “But I can’t afford all these, Julianna. We’ll have to take some of them back.”

  Julianna frowned. “We are not a wealthy country, but his highness is not destitute.”

  Kenna laughed. “His highness has nothing to do with it, Julianna. I’m the one who has a limited budget.”

  Julianna crossed her arms and frowned harder at Kenna. “Is he not marrying the first daughter? I will show that boy a switch if he thinks he can be disgraceful in this relationship.”

  “Julianna. He’s the king. You can’t say that,” Kenna admonished as she watched the dignified woman bristle. “He never said he wouldn’t marry me, but we are not married now. There’s a difference. He isn’t responsible for me.” Kenna went to the table and exchanged her empty coffee cup for a bowl of fruit.

  “Of course he is responsible!” Julianna insisted. “He is the One. He must care for the first daughter’s needs. That is his duty. Where is the naughty boy? He requires an attitude adjustment and I’m going to help him with that!” Julianna turned from Kenna and spit out some pithy-sounding remarks in her own language.

  “He’s working. But this has nothing to do with him, Julianna. I haven’t agreed to marry him. That means I provide my own things,” Kenna explained. “I can take care of myself. This, whatever is happening, is a huge, ah…a monumental, oh ah, well, damn it.” Emotions overpowered Kenna as she struggled to explain.

  Setting her bowl down carefully, Kenna turned to the window and wrapped her arms around herself. Suddenly she felt very alone. Alone in some sort of bizarre maze where scary things kept jumping out at her. She was in a strange country. Surrounded by strangers and thrust into a situation she had no control over and no experience to deal with.

  Her head dipped as unexpected tears dripped down her cheeks. At this moment, Kenna just wanted to go home. There was nothing much at home except familiar surroundings, but at least it was home.

  Julianna clucked sharply and glided to the forlorn figure in the window. Hugging Kenna tightly, Julianna crooned to her in Hungarian. Kenna could pick up a bit of it now. The Keeper gifts gave her an insight into word meanings as people spoke them. It sounded a lot like Julianna was going to thrash someone over a little chicken. Then she would do something rather disgusting to that person if the little gold was not happy. These dire threats were said in a calming tone.

  Kenna sniffed and let the mothering woman hold her. She could feel Julianna’s genuine, warm concern. Even though the two women hadn’t spent much time together, Julianna felt very protective.

  Abruptly the door burst open and Lore strode in. Large hands plucked Kenna into a steely embrace. Lore wrapped himself around her and inhaled her scent deeply. His big body expanded with the relief of holding her in his arms.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” he groaned into her hair. “Please don’t cry. It’ll be all right. You’re not alone. Never alone.”

  The overwhelming tide of his emotional response to her tears swept through Kenna. She realized he’d been shielding her from the depths of his response until he picked her up. Physical contact negated any attempt to repress their reaction to each other.

  “Lore,” she gasped into his neck. “I’m afraid. Then you touch me and everything changes. What is this need?”

  The need she referred to was an emotional one they both felt keenly. The flow of their two souls changed as they clutched each other tightly. As if the few hours apart drained them. They hadn’t realized separation, even though communication continued, created a stress response. Kenna suddenly felt like an addict who’d just gotten her fix. It terrified her.

  “Julianna, what happens when we’re apart? Why is it physically stressful?” Kenna lifted her head to ask.

  Julianna frowned darkly at Lore. “Why aren’t you marrying her? You must marry. She needs the One, always. Her heart grows tired with separation. She is your responsibility. Do not hurt her!”

  “What does that mean?” Kenna pressed. “Are we somehow physically dependant? What’s happening?”

  Julianna transferred her attention to Kenna. “I think dependant is the right word. There is much we don’t know anymore, but the old words given us might mean this. Two must be one, sword and sheath. Pain follows the empty vessel. Now I think this is what they meant. You feel separation more than his highness.”

  Kenna looked at Julianna in amazement. “You can’t be serious. How medieval is that?”

  Julianna glanced down and smiled. “We didn’t make the rules, my lady. When they were made, medieval was in the future, I think.”

  “Oh great,” Kenna groaned, and jammed her face back in Lore’s neck.

  “Make her well,” Julianna admonished Lore with a fierce frown. “I will not hear any more of you hurting her.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Lore purred. He swung Kenna’s legs up over his arm and turned to his room. “We’ll be a while, Julianna. Please tell your brothers we’re not to be disturbed.”

  Kenna buried her blushing face in Lore’s neck as he swept into his own rooms. “Good grief, Lore. Do you suppose there is anything that woman doesn’t know about our sex life now?”

  “Considering how limited it is, no,” Lore responded. “We’re about to change that, sweetheart.”

  Lore deposited her on the bed and started stripping off his golf clothes. “First we take a shower,” he listed. “Then we expand our horizons.”

  Kenna leaned back on her hands and watched him disrobe. “I just had a shower.”

  “Yeah, well, I need one, and you’re not getting more than a reach away from me u
ntil we clear this up. I can’t take it, Kenna. No more crying. I’d rather take a bullet than go through what I felt out on the damn green.”

  Kenna tested her new abilities and ventured into his mind. “Show me,” she whispered into his thoughts. Lore looked up at her as he shoved down his shorts. Then he showed her. She saw it, felt it and lived it with him through the memory. It was vivid and real, just as he remembered it.

  “Oh God,” Kenna gasped. “I can see your memory. Lore, this is getting stronger.”

  He scooped her up and headed for the shower. “It seems the longer we spend wrapped up in each other, the more intense it gets.”

  Carrying her from one room to the next was excessive. He knew that, but reasonable didn’t have anything to do with what they exchanged. He needed to do it. Her acceptance without comment indicated that need was shared.

  “What of our disagreement?” Kenna questioned as Lore stripped off her sweatshirt and pants.

  “Is that an issue anymore?” he murmured as he adjusted the water temperature and lifted her into it with him. “It’s clear we can’t be separated. Sex is an integrated part of how we respond to each other. I don’t mean to be rude, but you can’t return to your old life. It’s physically impossible.” Lore soaped up and washed briskly while she watched. “The argument seems pointless.”

  Kenna crossed her arms and chewed her lip. Her eyes narrowed on the beautiful man who’d just told her the logic of her argument was garbage.

  Lore rinsed and sighed as he looked at the fuming, intoxicating witch beside him. Her stubborn brain was not about to yield gracefully. He reached out and dragged her under the spray. Carefully he soaped a washcloth and started going over her inch by inch.

  As he worked he continued. “Not garbage, just irrelevant in this circumstance.” It was time to work on a brilliant strategy to bring about the outcome they both wanted. All that was required was a simple battle plan that identified objectives and narrowed options to the most advantageous. Then she actually scoffed at him in his head.

  His eyes shot to hers and he glowered. “What the hell does that mean?” he demanded.

  “I’m a woman, not a freaking battle plan objective. Logic fled the area in that fairground crowd when we connected telepathically. Nothing that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours had a thing to do with logic. So good luck trying to wrap it around one little bit of this, Lore,” Kenna huffed as she raised her arms for his attention.

  Lore hadn’t paused in his care of her body, and Kenna turned and moved for him naturally while they argued. It’d be amusing if he weren’t getting irritated.

  “Look, let’s get to the bottom line,” he calmly tried again. “We need to accept what can’t be changed and get on with the process that will allow us to deal with it. Both of us are struggling with the things happening between us. I mean Keeper species issues. What it entails and how it works will continue to unfold. We can’t change that. Only deal with it as it occurs.

  “The thing we can gain some measure of control over is our relationship.” Lore put the washcloth down, rinsed off his hands and used fingers to delve into feminine folds. He stood beside her and ran a hand down and under on both sides. Thick fingers gently glided over intimate flesh.

  Kenna grabbed his upper arm with both hands. Wide eyes turned up to him. Lore smiled and swooped down to capture her lips in a thrusting kiss. Moving his hand to a perfect ass cheek, he patted it lightly as the other hand went from cleaning to stroking.

  “Lore, what are you doing? This is not going to settle anything.”

  “Relax,” he purred. “Let yourself enjoy it. We’re experimenting with taking control of our response to each other instead of letting it control us.”

  “You expect me to relax?”

  The fingers in front strummed over fevered folds. She wasn’t sure when she’d gotten so hot. The sensations licked fire up her nerve endings. Kenna moaned softly and turned her face up for another kiss. She sucked his tongue into her mouth as he sealed their lips together. A hard finger rimmed her opening before sliding into her body, pushing into soft tissue with insistent demand. Just like last night, the sensations were magnified. She could feel it open her, invading to the first knuckle. He paused then pushed in hard, stroking her with the firm thrust of that one finger.

  Extreme pleasure shot through her. Trembling major muscle groups meant it was difficult to stand but nor would her body let her collapse. Hanging on to his arm, her hips tilted to take him, spread legs asked him to thrust deeper, harder. Her body clenched down in painful pleasure.

  Pulling out slowly shot another array of sensation through her, making her break the kiss and gasp. A second finger nudged her entrance with the first, and Kenna pressed down on them, desperately seeking more. He gave it to her, thrusting in with a hard push that brought her to her toes.

  Nothing had ever felt so good, so fierce. His fingers pumping into her was raw pleasure. His thumb grazed her clit each time hard fingers entered. He knew exactly the touch that would blaze through her with each stroke.

  “Lore, I need to come,” she demanded, gulping air. His touch took her too fast. How could she be this ready?

  “Not yet, baby,” he crooned softly. “Feel how good it is. How the fire becomes part of us when we do this.”

  Lore pulled out of her channel to capture her clit between two fingers. He barely stroked it and Kenna exploded. Her body tightened up on tiptoe and her head tipped back. A guttural, grinding moan escaped her as the fireball flashed up her body. Immediately two fingers thrust into her and he felt her clamp down, hard. Lore groaned as he stroked her through the orgasm.

  Kenna collapsed against him as her legs crumpled. Lore’s hands had to abandon their interesting spots and catch her. Picking her up, he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry the dazed woman.

  Huge blue eyes blinked at him as he carried her to the bed. “Damn, Lore,” she breathed, but couldn’t string another thought after that. Her body was still shuddering with uncontrollable flashes of sensation.

  Grinning like the proud beast he was, Lore stretched out beside her on the bed. “Yeah, it gets better,” he promised. His hands caressed her gently. “Want to see what we do next?”

  Kenna closed her eyes and let his thoughts wash over her.

  The pictures in his head were graphic. Her response was so intermixed with the vivid images that they were erotically irresistible. What he wanted right now captured her attention. Muscle control returned as she focused on that fantasy.

  She sat up slowly and looked down at him. A smile crept across her face as his breathing picked up from reading her intentions.

  “Ready?” Kenna murmured. She wasn’t nervous. In fact, she was damn eager. What a lovely way to turn this massive man into the shuddering bit of flesh he’d made of her. Her mouth descended to his neck and she licked down sensitive tendons. Her hands glided across tense shoulders and dragged, flat palmed, down over tight pectoral ridges. Inquisitive fingers found the stiff nubs of his nipples, and she toyed with them as her mouth moved over his collarbone. Large hands petted down her back in sweeping strokes that ended on the globes of her ass in gentle kneading as her mouth moved over him.

  Kenna quickly worked down his chest to find the copper disk around his nipple. She nibbled before her curious tongue dragged across it. His entire torso clenched as Lore groaned. His hands convulsed on her ass, quickly releasing. Her body slithered down as her mouth explored the tight muscles his body presented. That brought her to that fascinating ladder of ridges the length of his abdomen. Then she discovered his bellybutton. Bronze flesh trembled under her mouth as she probed the sensitive nerve centers that surrounded it.

  Large hands came to rest on her shoulders. He knew she meant to continue but had gotten completely distracted with his abdomen.

  Even though her experiences had never included this, there was no hesitation as she shared his responses. The needs he felt drove her, filled her with aching des
peration as he felt each new sensation.

  The length of him strained just under her nose. Her eyes traveled down the pulsing ridges and veins. Below the thick root of him rested two heavy balls that fascinated her as much as everything else. Gentle hands cupped them as her tongue flashed out to lick her way down over him. The man below those butterfly flicks jerked and responded to her with liquid appreciation. Kenna dragged her tongue back up to sweep over the broad head and gather up every drop he offered.

  Her eyes closed as she opened wide and sucked him into her mouth. Lore barked out in almost painful pleasure as her head sank over him. The rhythm, pressure, everything he needed was clear to her from his mind. She knew his overwhelming sense of fulfillment as he looked down at her. Kenna marveled and shared his unconditional surrender to the pleasure. She knew exactly when to increase the speed and strength of her sucking.

  His thick length strained her mouth over him. She had to use both hands to stroke the majority of his cock. His taste in her mouth triggered a consuming response. Kenna was way beyond analyzing how unusual their reactions developed. All that mattered was getting more of him. Her body strained with it, pumping faster, sucking harder.

  Using the information from his responses to gratify the ravenous hunger, Kenna became the wildest fantasy a male could have. She greedily worked his cock. Her eyes closed as she sucked in loud, wet concentration. Lore had thought he could handle it when he realized she was examining his casual fantasy.

  He should have known. Kenna took him over the cliff of pleasure and now he was free-falling. Her sweet mouth stripped him of the man he’d thought he was. Licking around the head of him, probing the weeping slit to lap up every drop as her mouth pulled off him, only to plunge him back into the hot, sucking depths of her for hard, extended pulls as she literally milked him for his taste.