She released Kassian’s hand and stepped forward at Delun’s beckoning.
“How is this possible? Zhao lives.” Crane leaned forward, his beady eyes cutting through Nat. The others had warned her the Council would be like this. Wary. Cautious. Snobby.
She straightened her shoulders and centered her hands in front of her body. Guess a demonstration is in order. She cloaked Snake in a fluid movement.
The Council gasped on one breath.
The Matchmaker’s lips curved in a knowing smile.
Turtle continued to scrunch his eyes as though he waited for a breach in her abilities. Did he expect more? She unfurled her tail and slashed it like a whip. The thunderous crack shattered the stillness in the air.
A few of the Council members shot to their feet. Others cried out in shock or amazement. A dozen heated arguments tossed back and forth.
The din escalated so fast, she winced and had to resist throwing her hands over her ears. Hell, they were worse than any cluster of politicians, shouting and talking above each other, not listening to what the others were saying.
Sheng stepped forward and crooked his fingers for her to uncloak Snake. The second she did, the uproar softened and fuzzed out.
“Well, that about sums it up.” Sheng inclined his head toward the Council. They gaped back. “Okay, you have a fine day.” He clasped her elbow and led her out of the chamber. Kassian clutched her other arm and the Chosen enveloped her as they exited.
Wow. Not only were these guys her new family, they absolutely had her back. “Doesn’t the Council expect a closer inspection?” she whispered to Delun as they hurried down the stairs.
“Do you want to stick around for one?” She shook her head and he patted her arm. “Trust me. They have enough fodder to argue over for the next few weeks. By the time they’re done coming to the conclusion you should be permitted to keep Snake, they’ll have forgotten they never got a close up look.”
“Permitted?”
He chuckled. “It’s all about skewing their perception, love.”
She laughed along with him. How true.
“Besides, after the clever stunt the Matchmaker pulled, they’re more likely to be gossiping about Cat and Rat than about you.” Delun winked.
Ah… So that was why the Matchmaker hadn’t warned Sheng. Of the two issues, an ancient feud might be more tantalizing.
The rest of the gang filed out of the Council Chambers as if dogs nipped at their heels. Sheng and Lucy cloaked Tiger and Rabbit.
Fang waited for them, leaning against his motorcycle. “Last one back to Kek Lok Si has to scrub the toilets!” he shouted as he slid one leg over his motorcycle and peeled off.
A rush of air whooshed behind her. She whirled to catch Dragon cloaking Delun, its long leathery wings spread for flight. It flapped them a few times, sprinted forward, and launched into the air.
That left her and Kassian. She exchanged a glance with him.
“Hell, I’m not scrubbing any toilets and neither are you.” He scooped her into his arms and flung her onto his back as Ox cloaked him. She grabbed the spirit’s horns and held on for dear life while Ox bounded through the streets.
She tossed her head back and laughed. What a sight they would’ve made if anyone could’ve actually seen them. A woman riding a ghost-like bull the size of a minibus.
They reached Kek Lok Si just ahead of Fang, who revved his motorcycle into high gear, likely realizing he was two seconds away from being the victim of his prank.
Ox proved faster. It sprang forward in a gigantic leap onto Kek Lok Si’s front steps, landing beside the rest of the Kongsi.
Fang swerved to a stop, scorching tire marks onto the pavement as he finished last. “Fuck.” He cursed again and Rat cloaked him for an instant.
Nat reared back. Rat wasn’t…pretty like the other animals. Nothing graceful or charming about this beast. Those protracted teeth looked razor sharp, like a monster out of a horror flick. Its bulked up body resembled a character in a body-building comic. The glistening red orbs of its eyes were…freakish. But Fang seemed like such a nice guy—always chatty—but never deep. He had that whole brooding male thing down to perfection.
Fang kicked his motorcycle but, instead of injuring his foot like most humans would, he dented the bike. Then he flung a curse at the dent in his bike.
“Fang.” Sheng jogged down the stairs. “I didn’t know she would do that.”
“But you knew about Cat. Both of you.” Fang shot an accusatory glare at Lucy.
“Yeah.” Sheng planted a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “I didn’t want to upset Rat until the whole Cat-on-the-Council issue was firmed up. I’m sorry, man.”
Fang shrugged off Sheng’s hand. “I’m fine, really.” His shoulders slumped and he headed inside the temple. Sheng, Lucy, and Delun followed.
Kassian tugged Nat’s arm and led her inside. Kek Lok Si towered around them as breathtaking as the last time she’d been here. Would she be able to call this temple home?
The Matchmaker hadn’t pulled her aside at the Council Chambers. Then again, they’d fled in a hurry. Still, the woman could hand Nat orders at any time. Orders that would wrench her away from here.
Which left her with her Kassian dilemma. Unlike the other Chosen, she wasn’t free. While Price lived his own life, the other Chosen had banded together. They expected her to as well. Wouldn’t it be easier on them if she didn’t?
Kassian guided them toward his chamber.
Oh, hell.
She didn’t have a second to clue in to his motives as he nudged her inside, slammed the door behind them, and backed her against it. He grasped both of her hands in one of his large ones.
Her heart rammed into her throat. She lowered her lashes.
“No. Look at me, Nat.” The deep rumble of his voice caressed her skin. She refused to look at him—and face the possibility she couldn’t have him. Not forever. Besides, nothing he could say would change their circumstances.
He stroked one finger along her chin and tilted her face back to his. “I love you, Natalie.”
Her heart dropped; her breath iced in her lungs. He hadn’t just said that, had he? Her hearing fuzzed like someone had stuffed cotton into her ears. He kept speaking to her, but she couldn’t discern his words. Her mind was stuck on “love.”
“You don’t mean that.” She licked her lips, her throat arid.
He edged back a few inches, those green-brown eyes piercing her. “I sure as fuck do, Nat. You love me too. I know it.”
Whoa. Her mouth fell open as she fumbled for the thousand protests caught on her tongue.
He pressed his finger to her lips. “You don’t have to profess your love for me to feel it.”
How could he tell, since she didn’t have the guts to search within for the truth? Was it obvious to everyone but her? Was he right? Had she fallen in love with him despite the consequences?
“Ah, hell.” He rested his forehead against the wall beside her. His warm breaths heated her neck. “Even if I can’t have you,” his lips shifted to feather across her neck, “that doesn’t make me love you any less.”
He raised his head to meet her gaze again. “You’re scared. I am too. I lost you once and it destroyed me.” He sighed. “I can’t let you go again.” His grip tightened on her wrists.
“It’s not a choice,” she whispered the painful truth.
“Isn’t it, though?” The vulnerability in his eyes sliced through her. More than anything, she ached for him to be right. Even when he was wrong.
“She’s the fucking Matchmaker.” He let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s her job to make people fall in love.”
“Not us, Kassian. We were never allowed to.”
She flexed her fingers, desperate to stroke his cheek and comfort him. Even if there was none to be found.
“No. I don’t accept that.” Hardness coated his tone. His muscles tensed as if frustration built inside him. Mingled with desperation and the purity of a
cause like love. He’d be a bloody thorn in the Matchmaker’s side.
But even thorns could be ripped out.
Kassian leaned in and inhaled Nat’s delicate coconut suntan lotion scent. She reminded him of the beach, of the surf and sea. Of the good in his life. “Dammit, Nat. You have to let me try.”
She bit her lip and shook her head. “She’ll hurt you. Or me. Either way, you’ll suffer.” Her dampened lashes lifted. “I can’t let that happen. I’m sorry, Kassian.”
“No. I lost you once because you didn’t trust me with the truth, didn’t trust me to fight for you. I have and I will continue to. Nothing you can say will stop me.”
Pain flashed in her eyes. “I wish I had told you then, but I made a choice, and it’s one I can’t ever go back on.” She tested the strength of his grip on her wrists, attempting to break free with timed tugs, but he held her firm. She’d hear him out.
“I’m not asking for your permission to love you, Natalie.” He brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “My heart belongs to you. Let me fight for yours.” He groaned as his other hand slid along the curve of her hip. Fuck, she embodied every sexual desire he’d ever had. Her skin so soft. Her body so welcoming.
A tiny whimper escaped her throat. “I don’t know how to.”
“Let me show you.” He seized her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue inside. Shoving her body against the door, he ground against her, crushing her with just the right amount of pressure. He’d show her. She was his. He refused to accept any other possibility.
If he’d lost himself in her then, damn, he never wanted to find the way back.
She was everything he couldn’t have, and everything he’d spend his last breath fighting for. She was his Nat.
Giving her up once had cost him years of numb living. With her, he was alive again. He tore his lips from hers. “Don’t you see? It’s too late. I can’t go back. I can’t return to the life I had without you. Either way, I’m damned. If I’m doomed, I’m going to have you first.”
This time, he’d take what he hungered for from her. The satisfaction he’d lived so long without. The fulfillment he craved.
Freeing her wrists, he trailed kisses down her throat, cupping her breast and bringing it to his mouth. He sucked her nipple through her tank top, making her moan low in her throat. “Are you wet for me?”
“Very,” she purred convincingly, but he was determined to discover the proof for himself.
He palmed her damp sex, then shoved her pants down along with her frilly lace thong.
Her clothes piled around her ankles, and she stepped out of them. She shrugged out of her top and tossed it into the pile. “Well, now that you have me naked, what are you going to do with me?” Her sultry taunt spiked more lust into his already stiff shaft.
“I’m going to test my flexibility theory.” Before she could ask for details, he lifted her thigh and draped her leg over his shoulder while unbuckling his pants. She unzipped the front and freed his hard cock. Gripping the tip, she guided him into her and he shoved deep on the first thrust.
She tossed her head back and cried out in pleasure. He wrapped his free hand around her pretty little neck, stroking her creamy skin while he pounded into her. She was so fucking wet his cock slid in and out, coated in her essence. So tight, the resistance threatened to squeeze him until he came.
Despite her words, she craved him as much as he did her. She loved him, whether she knew it or not. He’d been right, and even if she never spoke the words, he sensed her love in her touch. In how she gave herself to him with so much trust.
He groaned, buried inside her, and paused. “Take me in, baby. All of me. I want to feel your tight pussy begging for more.”
She whimpered as he flicked his tongue across her nipple, then along her neck, and paused to nibble her ear.
“Tell me you want me. You want this.” He withdrew to the tip and pushed inside her, sinking deep.
“I want you.” She moaned, closing her eyes.
“No, Nat. Look at me.” He nudged her chin so she had no choice but to gaze at him. He hungered to see it all. Her eyes sparkling at him. The blissful smile on her face as she came.
He lifted her higher and pinned her wrists again with one hand.
“Let me touch you.” She squirmed against him.
“Uh-uhn. You’re going to let me fuck you. Long and rough. You’re going to come for me so hard, you’re going to scream my name.”
She shivered. Oh, yeah. He grinned. She liked the dirty talk. “Say it.”
“What?”
“You want me to fuck you until you scream my name.” He stopped thrusting, waiting for her answer. “Tell me or I’ll bloody stop.”
“I want you to fuck me.” She caressed his earlobe with her tongue. “Until you scream my name.”
The vixen. He shuddered as she flicked her tongue along his ear again. “Yeah?”
“Yes,” she murmured. “Let me go, and I’ll prove it.”
“Nah-uhn. Not this time.” He nipped her lips, ground against her, and pumped into her a few more times. Her breathy cries drove him crazy. If he didn’t make good on his promise soon, she would on hers.
He dipped his free hand between them and found her sweet clit.
“Not fair.” She panted. “You’re not playing fair.” As she tossed her head back, her sheath shattered around his cock, clamping down until the urge to impale her consumed him.
He thrust deep, gritted his teeth, and grunted her name, three, four times, long and slow. “Nat, ungh, Natalie.”
He coaxed himself to orgasm without ejaculating, rolling his hips and driving forward with each groan, prolonging the pleasure for both of them.
His cock stopped throbbing and the pulsing of her pussy ceased. Her legs wobbled as he let go of her wrists. He draped them around his neck, slid her leg off his shoulder, and wrapped both of her legs around his waist. After pressing soft kisses to her mouth, he nuzzled her cheek and walked them to his bed.
Perching on the edge of the bed, he untangled her arms from around his neck, but she still clung to him.
He refused to let go, too, because he shouldn’t have to. Neither of them should.
Whatever it took, he wouldn’t give her up. Not when she was the best thing that had ever graced his numb life.
“I won,” she purred in his ear.
“Won what?” He quirked a brow at her.
“You screamed my name.”
***
Nat awoke to an unsettling tingling in the back of her neck. Something was off. After Kassian had made love to her again—and she’d screamed his name—sleep had overtaken her. Tied in their game, she’d drifted off, nestled in his strong arms encircling her.
Protecting her.
He couldn’t protect himself from her. Was it too late? Had she ruined his life…again?
Sighing, she wriggled out of Kassian’s tight embrace, careful not to wake him, and slipped out of bed. Tossing on her clothes, she snuck outside for some fresh air.
The moon and the stars illuminated her path as she headed toward the third level gardens. So peaceful here. Such a beautiful, homey place.
Not mine. A person like herself couldn’t make a claim on a home.
A cool breeze rushed over her. She frowned and wrapped her arms around her middle. Strange. Moist warmth coated the night air, yet she shivered.
“Hello, Natalie.”
She jolted and spun toward the familiar feminine voice.
The Matchmaker stepped out of the shadows. “You know why I’m here?” She folded her red-nailed hands together.
“Yes.” Nat swallowed hard on the word. Her time of reckoning had arrived. She hoped the punishment would fall on her and not Kassian.
“Come with me. It’s time for you to leave this place.” The Matchmaker faded back into the shadows. Wait, did I imagine her? Nat shifted on her feet, blinking and hoping it had been a hallucination.
A moment later, the woman’s red nail
s tapped the stone corner.
Damn. Right. Never delay in the obedience of an order. Nat rushed forward and followed the Matchmaker down a set of stairs leading out of Kek Lok Si.
Kassian would hate her when he awoke and found her gone. Perhaps it was better like this. She’d never had the guts to say goodbye last time and was even more of a coward now.
She steeled her resolve and fortified her heart, sprinting down the stairs. As she rounded the corner, her vision blurred, then faded to black.
***
Nat scrunched her eyelids. Her fingers reached for Kassian, but her brain argued she’d left him… If not in Kassian’s bed, where the hell was she sleeping? Her eyes jerked open at the same time her extending hand resisted. A clink of metal. She whipped her gaze to her right wrist and then twisted to the left.
Cuffs? Oh, hell.
None of this made any sense. She’d been following the Matchmaker. Unless… The Matchmaker had chosen to punish her, after all.
Dammit. She tugged on her shackled wrists, but they held firm. A long chain looped through a circular ring fastened to the wall. She pushed off the floor and assessed her surroundings.
A clean prison cell with whitewashed walls. No windows. One door, the top half secured with bars. The ten-by-eight room was spacious enough. A toilet in the far corner, with a half wall for privacy. Fun.
Her chains were long enough to reach every corner. She paced the perimeter, searching for signs of weakness and tugged on her cuffed wrist. Could Snake break these? She sighed. What would be the point?
She had to hand it to the Matchmaker. The woman had called Nat out on her disobedience. Now Nat had no choice but to suck up this punishment. Even if she used Snake’s strength to escape, her blood oath bound her. The Matchmaker could find her any day of the week.
Being a Lotus wasn’t a job she could ditch when a new opportunity arose. It was a lifetime, no refunds or exchanges, kind of deal.
She should have better explained the rules to Kassian, but she hadn’t wanted to stomp across his hopes. And, okay, she’d been in a smidge of denial.
By the Horns Page 25
