Ironically, she smiled and dropped her chin. “It still makes me blush to hear you say it,” she whispered.
Cupping her face, he tipped it up to the light. “I know. That’s why I do it.”
It’s amazing. She’d been bare and vulnerable in front of him, she’d slept with him, she’d married him. Devon had confessed her deepest secrets and recounted her worst day to this man, but she still looked into the abyss of his eyes and felt plundered by the intensity of what burned from within him.
He was more than an intellectual genius; he was tortured and pained. She couldn’t take that agony away. All he wanted to do was make the world a better place, but he felt every pin prick, every paper cut, every second of pain that was inflicted on those he cared about. It cut him in a place most other humans didn’t have. His compassion was an organ or some secret lobe in his brain that overloaded when he couldn’t control the happiness and safety of those around him.
“I was thinking about this room,” she said when he relaxed and slid his arms around her. “About all the things that have happened here. About how this is the center of the house.” It wasn’t at the physical center of the house, but it certainly was the heart of it. “The first time I came into this room, I had no idea where I was on the planet.” Twisting, she looked at the table, taking his attention to it, as well. “And when you laid me down there, I felt complete.”
While he stroked her back, she felt her husband return to her. His mood wasn’t as black now that they were holding each other. “I’m sorry that we scared you. When you got here, I know you must have been terrified. If you hadn’t gotten all belligerent, we might not be here today. You’re timid and tenacious, I don’t understand the combination, but it works. You’re nothing but contradictions, I never know what you’ll say or do, all I know is that I need to keep you.”
“You never have to worry about that. We’re married.”
“But if you go to the media and sell the story, how can I protect you, shy? How can I protect us?”
It had been a major deal for him to sleep with her, and that was private and pleasurable. The only reason he’d returned to work at KC and taken such an active role in the merger was because he believed it was what she wanted. But engaging the media was a step too far. Zave just wasn’t capable of entertaining that avenue.
Devon liked how private he was, liked that these intimate moments were concealed from the others. Sure, he’d kissed her on the plane, but he rarely got involved in group conversation. So when he opened up to her like this, speaking and touching her, it reminded her of what she meant to him and how he trusted her more than he trusted the others.
Except if she admitted to him that she didn’t really relish the idea of sitting under hot lights in a busy studio, telling the world about her shame, he would lock her up. If he did, she would argue with him, but there would be a part of her that was relieved that she didn’t have to go through with it.
So Devon couldn’t be honest with him now because that was all the rope he needed to hang her idea with, and she fully intended to follow through. Her own discomfort would be irrelevant if it was decided to be in the best interests of the Kindred.
“You said we should go to bed and talk about it in the morning,” she said as she began to unbutton his shirt. “Or is this a private strategy meeting? Because I’d rather discuss more intimate, marital plans than what might happen with your cousin tomorrow.”
“We’re not getting intimate or marital here,” he said.
It would be fun to finish what they’d started on the table all those months ago, but there were too many people in the house, and she didn’t want a quick screw that might give him the excuse to send her up to her bed alone after they were done. So, if he was going to take her to his bed, she would save her fantasy of sex on that dinner table for another time, whether it was in a few days or after a life sentence.
Devon would make sure that table wasn’t going anywhere. Her luck was in tonight because he took her hand to guide her out of the door at the top of the room into the corridor that led to the staircase, and because she knew it would embarrass him if she didn’t, she tried her best to contain her excitement as he took her into the darkened lab and up the stairs into his tower bedroom.
“I’ve missed this room,” she said and stopped undoing his buttons for long enough to let him pull her top up over her head.
After completing her task, she pushed his shirt off his shoulders when he unhooked her bra and cast it aside to cradle her breasts. “You agreed to move in here,” he said.
She was happy that they were returning to the place they’d been in before getting married. “Are we back to stay on the island?” she asked.
But he couldn’t answer the question because they were going to bed without a plan. In Zave’s wild years, this house had been a den of orgy and decadent depravity. Since those days it hadn’t seen as much action within its walls as it would tonight, because she would bet that while Zave was stripping her and lying her in his sheets, Brodie was doing the same with Zara and Tuck with Kadie.
They all needed reassurance tonight and to remind themselves of the love they had in their pairs. Because whatever plan the Kindred came up with tomorrow, it could be too late. If Syn got their way, these three couples would be torn apart and this could be their last chance to be intimate.
Zave was kissing her mouth like he’d never kissed her before, and she wanted him to kiss her like this forever. This was more than making a memory or quenching desire; this was the need they couldn’t sate, the kind of need that made men and women marry because they knew this connection would last a lifetime.
It didn’t seem right to ask questions or say anything when all they needed to do was experience each other. He said so much with his gaze as he slid himself inside of her that her eyes began to water and his need cooled as he brushed the tears from her lashes.
“Shy, did I hurt you?” he murmured, and she coiled her legs tighter around him.
“No.”
“Then why are you upset?”
“I’m not upset,” she said, stroking his face and kissing his mouth. “I love you so much, sometimes I think it’s too much, that I can’t make you understand how much I need you and care about you. I know that you’re hurting and that breaks my heart.”
The motion of him sliding out and back in made her whimper. Her hips writhed beneath the pressure of his dick easing in deep. “I’m not hurting when I’m here,” he said. “You’ve taken it away, shy. Sometimes I want to make it better, and I know I take on too much. It’s ego. It’s arrogant. It’s ridiculous. But finding you has made me think that maybe… maybe I’ve been punished enough.”
A yelp burst out when she opened her mouth. No other words could match the satisfaction those gave her. “You have, geez, baby, you have.”
Running her hands through his hair, she touched his skin and welcomed this revelation by moving her pelvis faster. Every weight that burdened him constricted her too. Hearing him forgive himself, even just a little, made her feel like she was doing her job as his wife.
“You make me so happy,” she called out, and his pace was increasing.
Zave kissed her, probably trying to end the conversation to focus on their love making. He’d said when he was here he didn’t feel the pain and that bonded them, as well as providing her another reason to make sure he wasn’t taken from her.
Giving in to the sex initially had made him feel guilty, but now that he had her, now that he’d claimed her, he’d begun to accept that the pleasure was relief for his pain and his guilt and his torture. Devon had told him that it was her job as his wife to ease his burden, and he’d just given her confirmation that she was doing her job well.
He wasn’t the only one in need and by the time he gave up the kiss, she was on the precipice of orgasm and wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation even if she wanted to. It was his eyes that pushed her over. Something in that gaze reminded her how they belonged to each
other, and when all of this Syn shit was over with, she was going to find a way to make this kind of intimacy so normal he took it for granted.
He shouldn’t need to question how good he was or if he deserved her love. As far as she was concerned, he deserved the world and she’d been put on this earth to give him it.
TWENTY
The women stayed in the kitchen with Bess while breakfast was made, and by the time they emerged, the men had made a plan. A loose one, at least. None of what had been said last night had been abandoned. But they were aware that any move they made would be countered by a defensive and desperate Syn, which could lead to the Kindred being vulnerable. So they chose a more direct course of action that might clue them in to how Syn were thinking.
Brodie tried to claim that he could speak to Grant alone. Zara argued against that, knowing how the brothers aggravated each other. So she asserted that she should be present. Tuck wouldn’t miss out on the fun and was the best man to act fast if the brothers had to be separated by force. Except, Kadie pointed out he wouldn’t be likely to get between them because Grant deserved to get his ass kicked. So it was decided that Zave had to be in the room too.
Zave wanted to observe anyway because this was his house, his suite, his rules, and if they had to make a decision on the hoof, the three men could agree or oppose with a single look.
Kadie was actually the only one who ended up being happy to stay out of the room. Devon wanted to hear every word because at the next strategy meeting it would be decided whether or not they were going to come to an agreement with Syn or continue with her plan or Zara’s. If she had to fight for her own option, she needed to know what Grant had said, so she could build her argument.
Bess carried a tray of food toward the suite with the Kindred group in her wake. Rig trailed along at the rear. He wanted to be in the room but only because it would be entertaining, and so she’d persuaded him to stay in the hallway, not to act as lookout but backup, in case it turned out they needed an extra pair of hands or someone to run a quick errand.
Using her fingerprint, Bess went into the room and immediately Grant began to protest. “Let me out of here! What is this shit, Bess?”
“Dearie, there’s water and fruit—”
“I don’t want your food. God knows what’s in it!” Grant said. “You better let me the fuck out of here!”
Brodie smacked a hand on the door to throw it wide open, and with Tuck and Zave on each of his wings, he strode inside. Zara looped her arm through Devon’s and took her inside then closed the door. It made sense to make sure there was no exit, though with so many people in here, it was unlikely that Grant would succeed in making a break for it. Even if he did, Rig was in the hall with nothing to do but wait for some action.
The prisoner was in front of the frosted window, still dressed, his arms folded. “You need a whole posse to intimidate me?” Grant asked.
The bed looked like it had been made. He probably wanted them to believe he hadn’t slept in it, but Devon knew the details of this room, having spent so much time here herself and could see that the bed had been used. “We’re gonna give you a chance,” Brodie said, still at the head of the group, his stance mirroring his older brother’s. “We’ll send you back to Syn without a scratch.”
Grant’s eyes narrowed, and it was right that he should be suspicious. “In exchange for?” he asked.
“The boy… and Game Time,” Zara said.
Devon and Zara were still in front of the door and Bess was by the bedside closest to them. They were far away from the men who formed a wall in front of Grant, but Grant leaned to the side to sneer at his former assistant.
“And yet, there was a time you didn’t realize how valuable it was. Zara, has it been worth it?” Grant asked. “Everything we’ve been through in the past two years, are you happier now than you were then when it was just the two of us?”
Devon knew that Zara was a serious woman and that she had a past with Grant McCormack. At one time, she had lived a relatively normal life as an assistant to the CEO of a multibillion dollar corporation. Devon had never been in such a privileged position, but she understood how life could change overnight.
Her life had changed when she had been taken from the street as Syn’s revenge against her brother, Rig. But the true moment her life had transformed had been at the auction when Zave bought her. That was life-changing and the time she chose to remember as pivotal in her journey.
She’d been on a consistent path, long and straight with little hope of excitement or adventure in her future, though she’d never really considered either.
The descent to rock bottom had begun when she was kidnapped by the cartel, and existing with them had affected her personality and her thought process. But it had been this house and this island, this place and these people, who had helped her to find something positive in all the negativity.
If it had been her destiny to die after being bought by an insane sadist who enjoyed torturing and killing, then the Kindred would never have come to her aid, and she wouldn’t be a part of their mission. The Kindred had a habit of changing destinies, they’d done it with Zara too, her life had changed the night she met Brodie.
But the relaxed kind of untouchable attitude that had always shimmered around Zara faltered now. Instinct made Devon tighten her elbow around Zara’s forearm, giving her physical support. “You were never who I thought you were, Grant,” Zara said. “You lied to me for years and tried to make me think I was wrong. I know you hate your brother and I know he despises you. Once upon a time, I wished you two would speak to each other and put all this crap behind you.” For once, both brothers acted in unison with a snort of sneering disbelief. “I know that’s impossible now. Was I happier? No. Because I was only existing. My whole life was building to the moment I found your brother in my bedroom, waiting for me. This is who I was meant to be.”
Grant didn’t scoff this time, in fact, he loosened. “Then you understand,” he said. “Because this is who I’m supposed to be.”
“Mitchell’s bitch?” Tuck asked.
Grant’s anger returned. “That’s a context you can understand, Swift. You run around after Brodie like a puppy. You don’t understand how to work as a team. You just do as you’re told.”
Little did he know, that wasn’t the case at all. The Kindred had argued last night, and the men had discussed strategy again this morning. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that each of the women had tried their best to alter their partner’s perspective during the course of the night.
This morning, Devon had woken by herself but found her husband in the shower. She’d washed with him, and they’d dressed together. During that time, she’d tried to probe his thoughts to find out what direction his subconscious had taken him while he slept.
He revealed nothing, as he was good at being guarded. But he must have had some ideas because he and Tuck and Brodie had reached their conclusions around the table rather quickly while the women were in the kitchen.
“If you want to live, we want everyone in a room together. Have Mitchell and his little bitches bring Howie and Game Time here,” Brodie said.
Shaking his head and wearing a glimpse of a smile, Grant inhaled like he hadn’t a care in the world. “We’re not coming here. Why the fuck would Mitchell do that?”
“Because he wants his lamb back,” Tuck said. “We’re not taking you off this island, so if you wanna leave it, you get your fucking unit to pick you up or you start swimming. I hope you paid attention to your father’s architectural plans for the houses.”
Tuck was ridiculing him and Brodie joined in. “You know how to work out which way’s north, right, brother?” he asked.
The hacker’s laugh got louder. “That fucker couldn’t find his way out of his corporate offices without Siri talking him through the route.”
The one thing Grant didn’t like to be was belittled, and he began to bluster. “You want to make a deal, you do it on Syn’s terms. They com
e here for me, you hand me over, that’s it.”
“They bring Game Time and the kid or all of you will be swimming home.”
Coming here was a major risk for Syn. It was Kindred territory, there was no denying that. But by refusing, they would be proving that they were afraid of the Kindred and that was the test. The Kindred were established. They could afford to refuse an enemies terms; they had nothing to prove because they’d survived this long.
Syn were a new tribe. They had to prove that they were fearless because they had no track record, no reputation. If they could say they’d strolled up to their number one enemy’s doorstep and walked right in without fear, that would show they were a confident force with balls and faith in their skills.
Turning his attention to Zave, Grant moved away from his brother. “Did you build what we needed?” Zave said nothing. “If you want them to come here, you’ll have to give them more than me.”
So much for Grant being the most integral part of the team. Maybe this was tactics, his way of getting more for his group than his own selfish release. “If they bring Game Time, you’ll get what you asked for,” Zave muttered.
“Then take me to a phone.”
Their prisoner wasn’t a tough negotiator, and for a minute, she was suspicious of exactly what had just been decided because Grant had agreed to give up Game Time so readily that there was a quick discussion in the stairwell about whether or not Syn could’ve set this up.
Zara still fought for Caine. Rig said next to nothing. She knew her brother, he was bored by the talking part. Bess was quiet enough that when the others took the phone back to Grant, Rig went back to his room, and Devon stayed on the stairs with her.
“What’s wrong?” Devon asked.
Taking hold of her hand, Bess guided her down to sit on the top stair. “If all of them come back here, they’ll need Thad to fly them,” Bess said. “He’ll be coming back here to the island.”
Finch (Kindred #6) Page 24
