by Cassi Carver
A low groan broke from his throat. “Your hands are like satin gloves, mistress.” He squeezed his eyes shut and rested his head against the pillow.
She leaned over him and used the moisture from her mouth to make him slick. He filled her hands as she pumped her fists over his hard flesh. After a few minutes in her care, he was rocking into her hands, the tight muscles of his abdomen clenching with every thrust.
“That’s right, Jaxon. Let go. Feel how much I want you, how much I need you to come for me.” She pressed her knees together, but her clit throbbed. If this was an act to help him along, her body had bought front-row tickets to the show.
He groaned again and Kara felt him pulse in her hands. His buttocks clenched as he thrust upward, again and again, until finally, he wrapped his hands tightly around Kara’s and with another strong thrust, moaned his release as liquid pleasure shot from his crown in thick, milky spurts.
Kara gloried in it, wanting to rub herself along his ridge and capture his essence between her legs. She felt like she was going crazy, considering mounting a stranger when minutes before she’d been talking him through his pain. She clenched her legs together before she did something stupid and grabbed her panties, using them to clean the thick fluid from her fingers and his muscle-corded thighs.
When she finished wiggling into her damp panties and her dress was back in place, Jaxon grabbed her hand, kissed her palm and brought it to rest on his cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered.
His voice was sadder than she’d heard it all night, so when she looked into his face, she wasn’t surprised to see silent tears leaking from his eyes. He kissed her palm once more then rolled away from her onto his side and pulled the covers up around him.
Kara rose from the bed, smoothed out her dress and walked around to the nightstand on Jaxon’s side of the mattress. She took her mother’s journal in one hand and leaned down to kiss his salty, tear-stained cheek. “I can’t imagine how horrible this must be for you, but the humiliation ends tonight. She can’t hurt you anymore.”
As sparkling rivulets trailed down his cheeks, she could barely hear him breathe, “The pain is all I have left of her.”
Kara smoothed a hand through his hair and stood. It struck her as bizarre to be almost feral in her desire and yet be playing nursemaid to a wounded warrior she barely knew. “I wish you the best, Jaxon. A man as devoted as you deserves nothing less.” She walked in silence to the door and slipped from the room.
Before she could even close the door, Gavin was in front of her, wrinkling his nose. “I see your idea came to fruition.”
“Shhh. Let’s not talk here. He’ll hear us.” As Gavin had probably heard every word between Jaxon and Kara.
“This way,” he replied.
He led her down the long hall to the very next door, but when they entered, Kara couldn’t see much. The heavy drapes were drawn and no fires burned to illuminate the dark space.
“Well?” he prompted.
“It’s done. No one should think twice about him belonging to me now. I have the journal and I’m ready to go home. I just need to check on Julian first.”
“Stop worrying, princess. I’ve already received word he’s safe and sound. Aiden has taken care of the most serious concern. Healo will wait to wake him until you’re back home.”
Kara rubbed her arm and her fingers came back damp. Her knees felt like Jell-O, and the sensitive flesh between her legs was swollen and achy. “I need to talk to him.” That was a lie. She needed him to touch her. To give her a moment’s reprieve from this insane wanting.
“Are you really so attached to Julian? Have you chosen him, Kara?”
Kara laughed. “Don’t sound so offended, Gavin. I wanted you first, but you didn’t feel the same.”
“Is that what you think?”
“It’s what I know.”
“You saw enough tonight to understand what it means to be Demiáre. I was trying to protect you. I wanted you to be able to choose, instead of letting your biology choose for you. But look at you now. You have the fever, Kara. Julian did this.”
“You keep saying that, but at least he wanted me,” she snarled back.
Gavin closed the space between them and captured her shoulders. His gaze burned through her, flashing from her lips to her eyes, until he finally trailed one hand up her shoulder and cupped the nape of her neck. “No matter what happens, know that what we shared the night we met meant everything to me, even if it was merely a taste of something I can’t have. I do want you, Kara. Never doubt it.”
When he leaned close with a tormented look in his hazel eyes, she reached up on her tiptoes and met him halfway, pressing her lips to his. Gavin’s other hand cupped her ass and pulled her against him, bringing her off her feet to fit his ridge against the groove of her sex.
As soon as she felt the hard length of him pushing against her, Kara groaned and hopped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist as he cradled her against him. This was wanting. Now she knew. She’d never wanted anyone like she wanted Gavin Cross.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and strained into the kiss, plunging her tongue so deep into his sweet mouth he had to breathe her air to breathe at all. She wanted this. For him to breathe for her, live for her. She wanted to possess him. Make him hers. She tilted her pelvis into him, grinding her hips against the hard outline of his desire. It would be so easy to pull the strings of his buckskin pants and free him.
She reached down to yank his laces, but he caught her hand. “No,” he said, his voice thick. “Julian’s made his claim on you. He believes his seed may be growing inside you.”
His words hit Kara like a bucket of ice water. “What? What are you talking about?”
She slid down Gavin’s body to land on her feet and tried to back away, but Gavin grasped her hips and held her to him. “We don’t know how the couplings occurred, but no other man can have you until we determine whether or not you’re with child. Julian may have broken the law to have you, but a sire’s claim supersedes all else.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Gavin?” Her blood drained to her extremities.
“Any man who has you after Julian made his claim will be put to death.”
The room felt like it was tilting sideways. “This can’t be happening.”
“It’s not so bad, princess. With you being so young, the couplings were an aberration. I was hoping not even to burden you with the news, because I’m confident nothing will come of it.”
When Kara just stared, he continued. “In a matter of weeks, we’ll confirm that you are not carrying Julian’s child, then you can have your pick of any man here who isn’t bonded to a female. You can consummate your vow to Jaxon and even pick another warrior if you like. And in the meantime, I have no doubt Julian will offer his services to help you satisfy your urges.” His voice was bitter as he said the last words.
She massaged a hand across her forehead, trying to get circulation to her brain again. “Coupling? You mean having sex? I don’t even understand what you’re talking about.” Her and babies? Julian’s child?
Gavin looked away, and Kara wished the light were better so she could see him more clearly. Whatever he was telling her was bad. The energy he was throwing off was heavy enough to drown in. “Turn on the light, Gavin.”
He flipped a switch and the room was instantly bathed in soft light from the chandelier hanging in the center of the room. “Sit down, Kara.”
“What are you not telling me?”
“Sit down.” He patted the bed beside him and rested his hands on his knees, but Kara’s feet were frozen to the floor. “Sex is sex,” he began, “but for a Demiáre to conceive there must be a coupling.”
“Like, unprotected sex? I’m on the Pill.”
“Birth control pills would help—if you were human.”
She shook her head in denial. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve never had regular periods.” Gavin’s long breath out and rigid muscles were sca
ring Kara more than a boogeyman at her window ever could. “What, damn it? Just tell me what’s going on.”
“A coupling is when the male expands inside the female and her body captures his, binding her to him while his seed is deposited in her womb. It only happens on the rare occasion that a mature female is in season. I don’t know what it means for you. You’re too young and you have no outward signs of being in season, except for the fever.”
Kara’s shoulders sank in relief. Thank God. “You’re wrong, Gavin. He never ‘expanded’ in me.”
He fisted his hands on his thighs, and the guilt in his expression made her heart lurch. “He did. But he soothed you so you wouldn’t hurt yourself by pulling away.”
“Soothed?” Her voice was deadly calm, but the room teetered in her vision.
“At times, our females can be violent in their desire. Soothing is something that often has to be done.”
The arteries in her neck throbbed in time with her pounding heart. “And he did that to me so I wouldn’t pull away or remember?”
“Yes. He should have warned you, but the practice is fairly standard, especially with a younger female during a coupling.”
Kara’s lips pulled back from her teeth. “You could have warned me.”
“I agree you should have been told what Demiáre mating involved. But he didn’t make you want him. That was all you. He only helped you remain calm. Don’t you see this is why I was in such a hurry to show you the island? I wanted to tell you the truth.”
They had used her. Violated her trust—and her body.
Kara stepped toward the end table and reached for a vase that looked truly ancient. She drew it above her head and sent it crashing to the floor at Gavin’s feet. “You could have told me before, Gavin! What kind of man are you? How could you allow Julian to couple with me without my consent?” She was shouting so loudly, spittle flew from her mouth.
Gavin stood, his nostrils flared. “Oh, you gave your consent—every time you spread your legs for him. You could have demanded protection, but you didn’t. It was no different from having sex with a human without wearing a condom. There are risks!”
“Except a human doesn’t drug me afterward to make me forget!”
“He didn’t drug you, Kara. You have the fever and you aren’t thinking rationally.”
“Why are you defending him?” Kara stopped as a horrible thought struck her. She brought her fingers to her lips, but she couldn’t control the tremors in her hands. “Oh my God. You’ve been doing it, too. That’s how you were able to get me to go along with tying up Julian.”
Gavin looked away in shame before he finally met her eyes. “You’re behaving like a maltreated human. Calm down and try to see it from our perspective. A crazed female is exactly what I was trying to avoid. When your powers come in, it could be dangerous.”
Kara bared her teeth at him, and a deep growl rattled in her chest. “I’ll show you dangerous, you bastard!”
He started slowly backing away. “Come on, princess. Don’t blow this out of proportion and do something you’ll regret.”
A loud knock sounded on the door. “Mistress?” Jaxon called. “Do you have need of me?”
“No.” Gavin’s hands tightened into fists. “Leave us.”
“Jaxon, come in,” Kara shouted.
The door opened instantly. The previously naked warrior stood in the doorway in black leather pants, and the leather straps across his chest now carried an assortment of knives and throwing stars. Kara could still see the puffy wetness under his eyes. He looked like a man on the edge with nothing to lose.
“How may I serve you?” He spoke to Kara, but then turned his glare to Gavin, almost daring him to protest.
“You have wings, right?” she asked. Jaxon nodded in response. “Then let’s get the hell off this crazy island.”
Chapter Seventeen
When it came to flying, not all Demiáre were created equal. But on the bright side, Kara learned a lot from Jaxon about how they traveled in the six hours it took to get home. Apparently, even a silver-wing needed to have been to a location before in order to flash there, unless someone bearing their symbol summoned them.
It finally made sense to her why the Demiáre wore so many charms around their necks. If they needed to find someone, the pendants were like ancient GPS. But if they’d never visited their destination and didn’t already have someone there to summon them, they were like any other winged creature, flying above the scenery, looking for the right place to touch down. And as for the demibreeds—the wingless black sheep of the family—when it came to supernatural travel, they were screwed.
As luck would have it, Jaxon had never been to San Diego, and after they swooped through the square on Mercury Island to give the locals no doubt they’d consummated their vow, he flashed them to a desert oasis in Arizona that he and Lace had last visited fifty years ago. The once-secluded love nest was now a rundown trailer park. The ride home from there was rough. Kara had almost lost her lunch several times before she finally directed the exhausted warrior to her home in the Gaslamp Quarter.
The first night, Mr. Pibb was pissed, glaring at Jaxon from under tables and chairs as if the dejected warrior were there to make a catskin coat of him. But by the end of the first week, even Pibby had taken pity on him, bringing Jaxon assorted toys to try to get the man interested in living again. If Kara wasn’t so busy hating Gavin Cross and Julian Mercés with every fiber of her being, she might have even asked Jaxon for a ride back to the island where she could beg Gavin to take him back. Her warrior just wasn’t thriving here.
“Eat it.” She pushed the plate of scrambled eggs toward him, then brushed the food particles from her dingy robe.
He crossed his arms on the table like an obstinate child. “Thank you, mistress. I’m not hungry.”
“Don’t argue, my word is your comman—”
“Ahht…” He halted her with a finger. “I believe your friend Abbey is on her way up.”
“Shit.”
Jaxon had way better hearing than Kara and it peeved her to no end. She wondered if his insight had to do with his unique gifts, because she couldn’t figure out how he could hear well enough to distinguish Abbey’s stride. “Are you sure?”
But a minute later, she heard it, too, the clomp of heels coming to a stop at her door. “Hurry! Help me get these dishes off the counter.”
Abbey pounded out the secret knock and Kara put a finger to her lips. “Shhh. If we don’t answer, maybe she’ll go away.”
But not more than five seconds later, a key turned in the lock and Abbey sailed in, her green dress flying like the flag of a conquering nation as she slammed the door behind her. “You’re kidding me! That’s the same robe you were wearing yesterday, Kare-bear—and the day before that.”
Kara shrugged. “I’m out of quarters for the laundromat.”
Abbey sauntered over to the breakfast table. “Then walk down to the corner and get change. This crap has got to stop. You’ve been depressed over your neighbors longer than you knew them.”
Kara rolled her eyes. “I’m not depressed. This morning, I even threw out the roses Julian gave me on our first date.” And the irony hadn’t been lost on her. The flippin’ roses had lasted longer than her relationship with him.
“Then what’s that?” Abbey pointed to a wilted bud hanging upside down on the kitchen towel rack. “Are you drying it for potpourri?”
Kara huffed out an irritated breath. “I should have never told you about them. It probably broke some sacred Demiáre rule or something anyway.”
“That it did,” Jaxon agreed, trying not to smile. He always seemed entertained when Abbey was giving Kara grief.
“And you, Jaxy…” Abbey turned her green-eyed glare on the warrior, and his smile faded. “Eat something. Your totally smoking-hot bod is wasting away as we speak.” Her eyes raked him with hungry appraisal. “And trust an expert—that’s a damn shame.”
Kara threw her hands up.
“I’m trying everything to get him to eat more.”
Abbey cocked a brow. “You’re the example of healthy living in this house? Showing him how to leave empty pints of ice cream on the coffee table because you can’t be bothered to get up off the couch?”
“Is it my fault the building’s owners finally had to hire a real plumber? Those pipes were above my pay grade. And The Hoolecha Inn gave me the week off when I told them I had a fever. You can’t work in a restaurant with a fever, Abbey.” Duh. “Jaxon, tell her what we’ve been doing with the journal.”
Jaxon looked from Kara to Abbey. “I am trying to interpret it, but I’m not fluent in the language. It may take some time.”
“See, we’re swamped. And by the way, I completed three sculptures this week.” She gestured to the uncovered clay models on the shelf. There was plenty of fresh newspaper under them since Gavin hadn’t returned to the apartment since their big fight. But Julian…the stubborn ass wouldn’t leave her alone. “I’m not sure what more you expect me to do.”
Abbey made a mock gagging sound. “How about a shower, Princess Stinky. That would be one suggestion for how to spend your time.”
Kara cursed Jaxon for letting it slip that she was a princess of sorts. Abbey wasn’t easily impressed.
“And as for your sculptures…” Abbey said. Kara followed her gaze to the newest figures in her collection. “All three of those look like sickly green sperm in outer space. It’s time for you to snap out of it.”
Kara placed her hands on her hips, wishing she were wearing shoes with a tall heel instead of her fuzzy blue slippers. She hated looking up at Abbey when her friend was on her high horse. “Snakes—not sperm. I’ve been dreaming about them lately. You know I always sculpt what’s on the inside. What you see is how I’m feeling.”
“Well, you’d better be feeling more reds and kick-ass colors by tonight because I need you.”
