by I. T. Lucas
For the first time that he could remember, Shai had to repeat to him the results of a cost analysis. The proposed military-grade drone factory represented an investment in the tens of millions. Not the kind of decision he should be making in his current state of mind. Problem was, Kian suspected that unless he had Syssi sitting right next to him, he wouldn’t be able to have any work done anytime soon.
“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s continue tomorrow.”
“No problem.” Shai looked relieved.
Kian was well aware that he was using his lack of concentration as an excuse to go back to her, nonetheless, he found himself calling Anandur.
“Meet me next to the car in ten minutes and bring an overnight bag.”
“Oh, thank you, that’s so kind of you. Are you taking me on a romantic vacation?” Anandur used a high-pitched valley girl tone.
Kian sighed. “Exactly. You and Brundar and me. Bring a change of clothes for your brother as well.”
Unfortunately, protocol demanded that he didn’t leave the keep without taking two bodyguards with him, or one when there was no other choice. Kian had already broken the rules by leaving Brundar at the hotel to guard Syssi and returning to the keep by himself.
His punishment was having to bring the ladies-magnet along.
Perhaps he should tell Shai to come too and work with him at the hotel. Maybe he’d be able to get some work done.
Not a bad idea, but Shai had looked so glad to be done that Kian had no heart to call him back. Instead, he collected the files Shai had prepared for him and stuffed them into an antique briefcase that he rarely used. It served more as a decorative piece in his office than as something to carry work in. Fortunately, the metal hinges and latches still worked.
In a way, it was good that Brundar and Anandur would stay in the hotel suite with him and Syssi. Their presence would help him behave and stay away from her bedroom. After all, he wouldn’t seduce her with the brothers in the next room.
In his closet, Kian added to his briefcase a change of underwear, a brand new pair of sleep pants he’d never used either, and one of the travel kits of toiletries Okidu kept ready and stocked for Kian’s last minute business trips.
“Where are we going, boss?” Anandur said as Kian tossed him the keys.
“The Four Seasons.”
Anandur got behind the wheel. “Oh, goodie, so you are taking me on a romantic vacation after all.”
“Hardly.” Kian got inside and closed the passenger door. “I put Syssi up in a hotel suite and left Brundar to keep her safe.”
Anandur lifted a bushy brow. “And you think one Guardian is not enough? Especially Brundar who is an army of one?”
Kian had a hard time explaining it to himself and had no desire to share his reasoning, or lack thereof, with Anandur. “I have my reasons and they are none of your business.”
“Aha. So it’s like that.” Anandur seemed way too happy with himself.
Fuck it, let him think what he would.
For the rest of the drive Kian pretended to work, which kept Anandur’s flapping mouth shut.
“Kian?” Brundar opened the presidential suite’s door.
“Good evening.” Kian pushed by him without answering the implied question of what he was doing there. Mainly because he had no good answer for that.
“Hello, brother.” He heard Anandur clap Brundar on the back.
Syssi was nowhere in the living area. “Where is she?” Kian turned to Brundar.
“In her bedroom.”
“Sleeping?”
“No.”
Kian walked over to where the trail of her scent led and knocked on the door. “Syssi? Are you sleeping?”
“Give me a moment,” she answered.
He heard the patter of bare feet and a moment later the clunking of high-heeled shoes on the hardwood floor.
Syssi opened the door. “Kian, I wasn’t expecting you back this evening. What happened?”
He would answer her when his tongue unfroze in his mouth. She was stunning. Curiously, she was always more beautiful than his memory of her, surprising him anew each time he saw her again. Instead of the form-fitting leggings she had on before, she changed into a pair of jeans that molded to her legs and her hips in the same way the leggings had, and she was wearing a white T-shirt with a deep neckline that exposed the very tops of her breasts.
Mouthwatering.
Kian shrugged, pretending as if she hadn’t rendered him momentarily speechless. “I thought I’d come over and keep you company.” He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “Brundar is not much of a conversationalist. Spending time with him is as fascinating as watching paint dry.”
Syssi stifled a chuckle. “I see that you brought reinforcements,” she said as she saw Anandur sharing the couch with Brundar.
“Yeah. In case I’m not entertaining enough, Anandur is a sure bet. The guy missed his calling; he should’ve been a comedian.” He took her hand and led her toward the dining table where he’d left his briefcase.
She shook her head. “He is too big and too muscular for a comedian. On the other hand, even if he is not that funny, I’m sure he will have an audience. Girls will go wild for him.”
Kian barely managed to keep down the growl bubbling up from some primitive place in his gut. If Syssi didn’t stop talking about how good looking Anandur was, he was going to lose it.
Oblivious, she kept going. “His brother is also gorgeous. If he smiled a little, the girls would have been all over him too. That hard expression on his face is kind of intimidating.”
Gritting his teeth, Kian pulled out a chair for her. “My lady?”
“Thank you.” She blushed a little.
“Have you eaten already?”
“Yes. I ordered room service for Brundar and myself. The prices they charge here are outrageous. I tried to pick the least expensive items, but Brundar wanted a hamburger and it wasn’t like a guy his size could do with an appetizer portion—”
Kian lifted his hand. “Would you stop fretting over costs? Trust me, I can afford it.”
Syssi flinched. “Of course, you can. I wasn’t implying that you can’t.”
Damn, he’d sounded too aggressive and impatient, and it had nothing to do with her concern over expenditure and everything to do with the two handsome Guardians.
He turned to them. “I’m going to order dinner, you want anything?”
Anandur lifted a finger. “I ate before we left, but some munchies and a bunch of beers would be much appreciated, boss.”
Kian nodded. “Syssi? What about you? Maybe dessert?”
“I would love some ice cream, if they have it. And a cappuccino. There is a coffeemaker in the kitchen and I made myself some, but I didn’t like how it tasted.”
For some reason, it made him stupidly happy that she’d asked for something, obliterating the anger over her previous remarks. Providing her with what she was craving felt satisfying. Especially since she never asked for anything and balked at every dollar spent.
He ended up ordering two of each appetizer on the menu, beers for the guys, a dinner for himself, and cappuccinos for Syssi and himself. He also ordered each and every flavor of ice cream the restaurant offered.
“Don’t you think you overdid it a bit?” Syssi said once he was done with the order.
“Nope. You’ve seen Brundar eat, and he is nothing compared to that one.” He pointed at Anandur. “He can demolish a mountain of food on his own.”
She giggled. “Yeah, a big guy like that needs a lot of fuel.”
Apparently, the girl wasn’t a good judge of character because she was clueless as to what her comments about Anandur were doing to him. Frankly, though, his reaction was totally uncalled for, and she couldn’t possibly suspect the kind of jealous monster lurking behind the sophisticated façade he was fronting. Not only that, but he had no right. It wasn’t as if he’d done anything to indicate he was interested in her, or had given her the option to encourage him or conversely tell h
im to go to hell.
The smart thing to do was to steer the conversation to a safer subject. “What have you been doing while I was gone?”
Syssi let out a puff of air. “Amanda gave me a list of neuroscience papers she wanted me to read to get better acquainted with the subject. And let me tell you, scientists are horrible writers. The one I was trying to crack all afternoon was so dense, so obtuse, that I was starting to question my intelligence. In the end, I realized it wasn’t as complicated as it seemed. It was just badly written. I made a summary, using clear wording, and I’m going to suggest to Amanda to give her students the summary to read instead of the original paper. It will save them hours upon hours of frustration.”
He could watch her talk for hours.
Syssi was so lovely when she got excited and animated. Her eyes sparkling and her hands gesticulating, she let loose of the stiff posture and the guarded look.
If there was a way to get rid of those for good, he would’ve loved to know what it was. Despite his efforts to appear polite and agreeable, Syssi was intimidated by him, and he didn’t know what else to do to make her comfortable.
Liar, you know perfectly well what she needs.
At his core, Kian was a simple man, with simple solutions and even simpler needs. The sexual tension between them could be relieved only by giving it an outlet.
Problem was, it was out of the question.
Chapter 46: Syssi
After Kian had finished his dinner, and Syssi had demolished most of the ice cream, they drank their cappuccinos and talked a little more, while the brothers watched one sports game after the other.
He’d told her about the drone factory he was thinking of building, and she’d told him some more about paranormal phenomena and the prevalent theories concerning it.
It had been a good conversation. She found that talking about interesting subjects and not looking directly into his eyes distracted her from Kian’s mesmerizing sex appeal.
Except, she couldn’t keep it up forever. She made the mistake of looking at his hands for a second too long, and her imagination went on a wild ride of what those hands could do.
A graceful and prompt retreat was in order.
“I’m sorry, I’ve blabbered on and on about all these weird subjects. You brought work to do, and I should leave you to it.”
Kian grimaced. “I would much rather spend time listening to you talk than deal with this.” He tapped his briefcase.
Syssi pushed up to her feet. “We all have to do what we have to do. I need to read at least one more article before going to sleep.”
Kian caught her hand. “Bring your laptop out here. We can work together.”
Yeah, right. As if she could concentrate on anything with him around. “I’m sorry, but I get easily distracted. I need to work in a quiet place.”
Holding on to her hand, Kian pinned her with his intense blue eyes, and it took all she had to pull away and not melt into a puddle at his feet.
“Good night, Kian. Good night, guys.” She waved at the brothers and trotted to her bedroom as fast as her high-heeled mules allowed.
Once her door was closed and locked, Syssi collapsed on the bed, face down. Kian was killing her. Except for that one look at the end before she’d gone to her room, he hadn’t shown any interest in her as a woman.
He was friendly, and it could’ve been a pleasure talking to him if not for her out of control hormonal state.
Time for another cold shower?
No, enough of that. Mind over body.
She needed to take control and beat that attraction into submission. Another boring, badly written scientific paper was the hammer she would do it with.
Barely keeping her eyes open, Syssi read page after page of data collected from tests done on monkeys, including the indecipherable math that had been applied to the results. She was good at math, but not this kind. Many of the symbols she hadn’t even seen before today. In the end, she surrendered and let her eyes close, promising herself just a few moments of rest.
“What would it be, beautiful?”
Syssi opened her eyes and looked at Kian. He was leaning against her closed door, his arms crossed over his chest. Hadn’t she locked it? She’d thought she had.
“What would be what? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” She glanced at the floor, looking for her laptop. Was it still on the bed? Syssi patted around but it wasn’t there. She wasn’t wearing her jeans and T-shirt either.
Instead, what she had on was a white, spaghetti-strapped satin nightgown. Problem was, Syssi didn’t own anything like that.
“I’m dreaming again, ain’t I?”
Dream Kian nodded. “So what would it be? Do you want me to make love to you or not?”
“You know I do. You’re the one who’s sending mixed signals, not me.”
“I’m not the kind of lover you’re used to.”
She snorted. “God, I hope not.”
He uncrossed his arms and sauntered toward the bed. “Are you sure?” He tugged on the blanket, pulling it off her an inch at a time.
“Yes.” Syssi flung it to the side, exposing herself in one fluid motion.
Kian chuckled. “Tsk, tsk. So impatient.”
“You think? I’ve been waiting for this for far too long.”
He crawled on top of her, his lips almost touching hers as he held himself up and away from her body. “I need to make it good to be worthy of such honor.”
“You are and you will. You’re the one I’ve been waiting for.”
His lips were soft when he kissed her, his tongue gentle in its inquiry as he waited for her to part her lips for him. The technique was perfect, but it lacked the fiery passion she knew lurked inside of Kian.
Obviously, since she was the one creating this scenario.
The one real kiss she’d shared with him was nothing like this polite, sweet thing.
“Kiss me like you did before,” she whispered.
He lifted his head and looked at her with his glowing eyes. “Remember that you asked for it.”
She nodded and he smiled, a wicked twist of lips that was the furthest thing from reassuring. In fact, it sent a shiver of fear down her spine. What the hell was she doing? Giving him a free pass to do as he pleased with her?
It’s a dream, silly, it’s not real. Let yourself go for once and enjoy.
With one large hand Kian cradled her head, entangling his fingers in her hair and using it as an anchor to hold her in place, while his other hand tugged on the nightgown. The thin straps snapped, and he pulled it off her in one swift motion, baring her to him.
“Beautiful,” he hissed through his elongated fangs.
Stupid vampire romance was putting ideas in her head. But wait, Kian had fangs in all her dreams. Was her subconscious trying to tell her something?
But what? That he was dangerous? That she was craving danger?
She wanted to ask him about it, but as she opened her mouth Kian delivered on his promise and kissed her like she wanted to be kissed. With a light tug on her hair, he took ownership of her mouth, his tongue invading, his teeth nipping.
When his other hand palmed her breast, Syssi arched into it, remembering their first dream encounter and how he’d brought her to a climax with his lips and his teeth. Before that night, she hadn’t known it was in her to orgasm like that; flying up and floating on a cloud before drifting back to earth.
She’d been on the receiving end of pleasure in both dreams and hadn’t gotten to touch him, to explore him. She wanted to do it now.
“I want to see you naked,” she whispered as he let her take a breath.
“Curious?”
“Dying. You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. I want to see everything.”
Kian flopped to his back and lifted his arms, tucking his hands under his head. “I’m all yours, sweet girl.”
Syssi rose up to her knees, and appraised the mountain of man sprawled before her. His head was
almost to the headboard and his feet reached the very end of the mattress.
“What should I go for first?”
Kian lifted his head a little and looked down at the large bulge in his pants, then waggled his brows.
She giggled, wondering if the real Kian would be as playful in bed. “Don’t worry, I’ll get there. But first, I want to explore this magnificent chest.”
Leaning over him, she started at the top button of his shirt, wanting to go just as slow as he had done the previous night in her dream, but she was too impatient and in seconds had them all undone.
On an inhale, Syssi parted the two halves.
Smooth, with only the lightest smattering of hair on his chest, Kian was built perfectly. All lean muscle without an ounce of fat to be seen. He lifted up and shrugged off the shirt then returned to his previous pose with his hands tucked under his head. Not surprisingly, his arms and shoulders were amazing too. Not bulky like a body builder’s, his lean musculature was athletic like that of a swimmer or a gymnast.
She ran her palms over his torso and whispered, “You’re perfect, just as I’ve known you would be.”
Kian hissed. “You’d better hurry up. I want to be the one doing the touching, and it’s killing me to keep my hands away. I’m not going to hold back much longer.”
His bunched muscles and strained face confirmed how hard it was for him to lie still and let her explore. In a moment, his patience was going to get rewarded.
With a quick flick of her fingers, she popped the button on his jeans, then carefully pulled the zipper down. He was so hard and his pants were stretched so tight over his bulge that she was afraid of hurting him.
She’d been right to be careful because Kian wasn’t wearing any underwear, and his shaft came into view as soon as the zipper was halfway down, then sprang free when Syssi pulled it all the way.
She gasped. His manhood was as beautiful as the rest of him. Smooth and rigid, thick and long, and she couldn’t wait to taste it.
With gentle fingers, she touched him, marveling at the velvety texture covering a rigid core. Kian inhaled sharply, then hissed as her hand closed around his shaft and she lowered her head to take it into her mouth.
