Shadow and Ice

by Gena Showalter

  “Magic becomes a part of you, like desire. You feel it.”

  “Like the magic between us?”

  In an increasingly roughened voice, he said, “You are magic. Look at you. Nipples swollen with need. And here...” Irises blazing blue infernos, nostrils flared and jaw clenched, he traced those naughty fingertips along her core, grazing her little bundle of nerves. “So pretty and pink. So wet for your man.”

  Her back bowed, the only sound she was capable of making a mewl of bliss. “My man. Yes.” He was, for now. She undulated her hips, impatient and desperate for some kind of relief from the pressure building inside her. “Touch me.”

  “Like this?” Slowly, torturously, he sank a finger deep into her sheath.

  Coming undone. “Get inside me.”

  “Not yet. I’m going to savor this.”

  What if he changed his mind?

  “I won’t,” he told her, and she realized she’d spoken the thought aloud. “We’re going to be together. Nothing will stop us.” He moved that magnificent finger in and out. In and out. “I love the way you welcome me inside, all hot and wet, so tight it’s like you want to hold on and never let me go.”

  She almost didn’t recognize his voice. The low, husky tone smoldered with possessiveness.

  On his next inward glide, he added a second finger, stretching her—thrilling her. As she clutched at the sheets, writhing in pleasure, warmth collected in her fingertips just as it had done on the battlefield.

  When Knox circled his thumb around the epicenter of her need, tiny flames sparked above her nails. No, no, no. She had to control the ability. If she torched his bunker, the lovemaking would stop.

  If she hurt him, she would never forgive herself.

  “Too much?” he asked. He didn’t wait for her response. The merciless man fed her a third finger.

  The flames flickered higher... “Ranger’s power—”

  “Your power. Never forget. You earned it on the battlefield.” His eyes deepened to a stunning cobalt, passion and pride banked in their depths. “Why fear it?”

  He was right. Ranger had attacked them, and she’d taken his head. The fire-starting ability belonged to her. If she set something on fire, she set something on fire.

  “I won’t fear it anymore. Infernos can be doused,” she said.

  Leaning down, he brushed his nose against hers and said, “Except the one raging inside of me.”

  A smile bloomed, something clicking in her heart, the flames at the ends of her fingers dying. No longer did she have to fight for control; she simply had it.

  “That’s my beautiful girl.” Knox studied her again, as if he’d never seen anything so fine. Ragged breaths sawed in and out. “Now I will reward you. Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it. Nothing is taboo.”

  “I want...” One desire was more vivid than the others. The one she’d wanted forever, it seemed. The one she could have without fear of missing what came next. He’d promised. “I want to taste every inch of you.”

  His eyes widened, and his pupils flared. Blink. Lightning fast, he flipped their positions, putting her on top of him.

  “So eager for me.” Feminine power filled her, and it was delicious. As strong as he was, as fearsome, she was stronger, at least in this. He was putty in her hands.

  As she kissed her way down his muscular chest, he groaned.

  “Desperate for you,” he croaked. Hands tangled in her hair, he rolled his hips, again and again, rubbing his erection against her belly, stoking her need higher.

  She flicked her tongue over one nipple, then the other. Licked a path of fire to his navel.

  He groaned. “Your reward is my dream come true. Never had this...always wanted it.”

  She would be the first to pleasure him this way? Down she moved, relishing his gritty praise when she nipped an outline around his shaft.

  Down... Finally, she reached the object of her fascination. He stilled, as if he didn’t dare breathe, lest she change her mind.

  “Do it,” he pleaded. “Need you to.”

  Yes, yes. Will have him screaming my name.

  Nearly drunk with that heady mix of desire, power and triumph, she licked the tip of his erection like a lollipop.

  He fisted the sheets this time. He arched his back, and cried out with bliss. And yet, she neared orgasm. The way he responds to my every touch...

  Vale opened her mouth wide to feed his length down her throat. “Mmm.” So big! He stretched her jaw until she saw stars.

  “Give me your finger,” he commanded roughly.

  Up and down. She reached up. He croaked, “No. Touch yourself first.”

  Oh. Oh. She fingered herself for a moment, loving the sensation of Knox in her mouth and fullness down below.

  “Give it to me, valina. Now.”

  Moaning, she offered her finger to her man. She felt empty, until he licked the digit, laved and sucked it, pleasure battering and barraging every inch of her body.

  Mouth sliding up and down, pace quickening. She took him deeper. Deeper still. Oh, the sounds he made. Grunts and groans. The uninhibited way he rasped her name, unafraid to reveal just how much he liked what she was doing.

  “I’m going to... Vale, if you don’t stop, I’m going to...” He radiated strain.

  She didn’t stop. No, she sucked faster, working her hand with her mouth, squeezing him tighter, unwilling to relinquish her prize.

  “Vale!” He came, rearing up, lifting his hips, and digging his heels into the bed.

  When she’d emptied him out, he sagged onto the bed. His eyes were closed, his breathing heavy, but he was already hardening again, readying to possess her.

  Every inch of her burning with desire, she crawled up his body... More, need more. “I hope I didn’t exhaust you,” she purred. “There’s still work to do.”

  His eyelids popped open, blazing blue irises peering at her as if she had created the world—or had just become the center of his. So incredibly gentle, he traced her jaw as he’d done so many times in the past. But there was something different about the action tonight. Something almost...reverent.

  Then, in a rush of movement, he clasped her hips to switch their positions and loomed over her, one of his hands delving between her legs. She moaned as he thrust two fingers inside her, without preamble, pleasure leaving her dazed.

  “You liked sucking on me,” he said, his tone awed. “You’re soaked.”

  “Soaked and aching.”

  A layer of his calm got stripped away, his expression raw and primal, lush and sensual. “That was... Valina, I don’t have the words to express the depths of my satisfaction.”

  Desperate now, she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “Show me, then.”

  “I will. I’ll show you so good.”

  “Show me hard,” she said. Please. “I want to feel you tomorrow.” And every day after.

  Levered over her, he ran her lower lip between his teeth, a mimic of what she’d done to him, except he wasn’t gentle about it. Good.

  She lifted her head to snag his lips in a fierce kiss. He met her tongue with a thrust of his own, taking, taking more, taking everything, before wrenching free.

  Panting, he hooked his arms behind her knees. Every movement heightened her pleasure. “I’m going to fill you now,” he rasped. The cords in his neck were strained. “Are you ready?”

  “I—”

  His hips jerked, just a little, and his erection breached her inner walls, just an inch. Just enough to tempt and tease and torment her.

  “Yes,” she rushed out. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.”

  But he didn’t slide in the rest of the way. “I want to keep you...like this...always,” he rasped.

  A man wanted to keep her around. Her. Vale London. And not just any man, but her favorite one. “Ye
s. Always. Pleeease.”

  Still he remained poised at her entrance. A bead of sweat trickled from his temple. She watched it, her thoughts derailing, the pleasure and pressure too much. If she didn’t climax, she would die.

  “We cannot go back, valina. Do you understand?”

  “I think so.” Concentrate. “Now give me what I want. What I need. I’m in agony, Knox.”

  “I don’t want my female agonized.” In one long, pounding stroke, he filled and stretched her.

  She came instantly, a scream of satisfaction bursting from her, her world beginning and ending with Knox of Iviland. As her inner walls clenched and unclenched on his length, he plunged in and out, in and out, prolonging her orgasm.

  “I can feel you, valina. The way you’re squeezing me...”

  In, out. In, out. Faster. Harder. She writhed, clawing at his back, already desperate for another climax. This was better than anything she’d ever experienced, better than anything she could have ever imagined. This man... He owned every cell in her body, because this...this wasn’t sex. This was transformation, and Vale would never be the same.

  A second orgasm sneaked up on her, and she combusted. Knox’s name fled her lips, her mind suddenly soaring with the stars.

  Back bowing, he lifted his head and roared, creating a symphony within her. Then he was shuddering—giving her everything.

  Becoming her everything.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  WHAT KNOX FELT for Vale was wild and frenzied. And still foolish, considering their circumstances. But nothing could have stopped him from cuddling her close and luxuriating in contentment. For the first time in centuries, he felt balanced on the brink of...happiness.

  He started making plans. No more putting his life on hold. He would explore the world with Vale at his side, and discover what excited her most. He would delight in her preferences—mountains, beaches, rain, sunshine—and learn his own.

  Earlier, she’d said they needed to talk. Though his brain had been fried by rapture, he was eager to hear what she wanted to say. He thought he knew. She hoped to find a way to be together, despite the war. To stay together and never part.

  “Knox,” she breathed, rolling to her side.

  “Yes, Vale.” He would tell her that there wasn’t a way, not long-term, but that they could remain together until the very end of the war. They would help each other, guard each other—save each other.

  “I think we should split up.”

  What? He shouted a violent, savage denial, and the bunker walls shook.

  “I want to win,” she said, “and so do you. Where does that leave us?”

  {Kill her. Do it.}

  “That leaves us working together until we’re the last two standing, just as you requested.” He flicked his tongue over an incisor. How many potential partners had he denied over the years? Now he fought to keep one. “Give me another month—two—five—a year.” A mere snap of time for an immortal. “We’re better together. The assembly proved it.”

  “So we make love one day and behead each other the next? And what about afterward? Let’s say I do it, I kill you. I’m pretty sure I’ll kill the last shred of my humanity, too. Unlike the other players, I know and admire you.”

  Before he’d met her, he’d avoided making friends because of this very dilemma. But he couldn’t give her up. Not yet. The damage was already done. He admired her, too. Why not enjoy the perks?

  “Where will you stay?” he asked.

  “Somewhere secret.”

  “So you don’t know. Here, at least, you’re safe.”

  “Am I?” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Until you’ve ditched the slave bands, you can’t be trusted, and even then it’s iffy. Also, you don’t want me killing combatants and gaining new powers. Admit it.”

  “You need me to stand guard when you do make a kill. Admit that.”

  They lapsed into silence, both of them breathing more heavily. Anger had him in a choke hold, but so did desire. He felt a sudden and intense need to brand her irrevocably, before he lost her. He felt a lash of urgency to lock her down and cement their alliance. He felt a driving possessiveness, an urge to fetch the chains hidden in his closet and secure her to the bed—a more reliable method than the vines.

  But he did none of those things. Over the centuries, he’d cultivated a well of patience. A well he’d flouted since meeting her. He drew from it now and waited.

  “All right,” she finally grumbled. “And don’t you dare comment about how easily I caved. We’ll continue helping each other, but in the end, victory matters most. If you make a move against me, I’m gone.”

  “Agreed.” The anger loosened its grip, leaving the desire...and every wicked impulse. First things first. “Tell me how I got into your cave.”

  She stiffened and said, “You’ll be mad.”

  “Tell me, anyway.”

  “Sure.” She grabbed his testicles before he realized her intent. “For quality assurance, you should know I’m recording this conversation in my brain. Oh, and I plan to rip these babies off if you yell at me, insult me or utter a complaint.”

  When had his little valina become so vicious?

  When had he begun to like it?

  “Fair enough,” he said, “but we both know you like those babies right where they are.”

  “You’re right.” With a mock growl, she shook her free hand at the ceiling. “Dang my insatiable lusts. They’ve foiled the perfect punishment.”

  He barked out a laugh, sobered and frowned. Laughter? From him?

  She scrambled upright to peer down at him, her hazel eyes wide but also luminous. “Duuuude. You are gorgeous when you laugh. Seriously. You just gave me goose bumps.”

  “I will investigate these bumps. After you explain what happened.”

  “And after I’ve taught you how to text. If we’re going to have a true partnership, not just my one-sided illusion—”

  “Not going to have. We do. We have.”

  “—then we’ve got to have a way to communicate when we’re separated.”

  “Agreed again. But you’re stalling.”

  “Fine.” She squared her shoulders, then launched into an explanation about what had happened.

  The more she spoke, the more irritated Knox became. But he didn’t yell, issue insults or complain, and not because of her threat. He understood why she’d accepted Zion’s help. His problem began and ended with the other man’s intentions.

  The warrior had proved himself trustworthy—most likely because he’d planned a long con. Make the girl believe he was innocent in order to lead her into an ambush later. Knox had seen it happen again and again in other competitions.

  Now Vale would be inclined to rely on Zion, and believe his claims of innocence, helping him get ahead.

  “Zion killed Colt,” Knox said. “He controls the bots.”

  “And that’s bad, I know. But not as bad as someone else getting the bots.”

  See. Already she saw the warrior as an ally.

  Knox decided to change the subject before he ruined their brand-new, tenuous truce. “Tell me what you like most about me.” What better way to fortify the truce? Whatever you focused on, you magnified.

  “Someone fishing for compliments?” She fastened a lock of white hair behind her ear before resettling beside him and kissing his pectoral. “I happen to be crushing hard on your strength. Somehow, I almost always feel safe with you. I like that you are kind—to me. Your intensity is off-the-charts sublime. You give your all to everything you do. I dig your protective nature, enjoy the way your eyes light up every time you look at me. And I am head over heels for...your body.”

  He was so used to others fearing and reviling him. Her simple praise went straight to his head in a dizzying rush. Woe to anyone who tried to take her—take this—away from him.r />
  “Well?” she prompted.

  “Well, what?”

  “What do you like most about me, dummy?”

  Ah. “I’m awed by your courage. No matter the situation, you rise up and overcome. I enjoy your honesty. Even when you dread my reaction, you tell me true, or nothing. Do you know how rare that is? Your sensuality, the way you take what you want, is ecstasy. I’m humbled by your loyalty to your sister. Another rarity.” He wanted that loyalty directed at him. “I’m fascinated by the way your mind works, how you study every angle of a situation. And,” he said, helping her straddle his waist, “I’m also head over heels for every inch of your incredible body.”

  Exquisite pink nipples puckered before his gaze. As he reached out to cup and knead her breasts, vibrations raced along his ring finger, and he issued a dark curse. King Ansel wished to speak with him.

  “My king has requested a meeting.” He all but tossed her aside. “I can’t not speak with him.”

  She groaned but said, “So speak with him, but try to hurry. I’ve got a better use for your mouth.”

  “You will stay in the closet, hidden from his view.” He leaped to his feet, pulling Vale up with him, then rushed her to the closet and gathered clothing.

  The vibrations intensified. His slave bands heated, soon blistering his skin. He yanked on a pair of pants, stalked toward the table and held up his hand. With a swipe of his thumb, light glowed above the center of the ring, and Ansel’s scowling face appeared.

  The king wasted no time. “Kneel. You know I prefer you on your knees.”

  Compulsion drove him to the floor, humiliation stinging his cheeks, his hands fisting. Vale valued his strength, yet here he was, revealing his greatest weakness.

  “Better.” Ansel waved away someone near him, someone Knox couldn’t see. “Give me a progress report.”

  Knox gave a detailed accounting, omitting details about Vale. “According to Seven, the third round of competitors will be joining our war at the next assembly.”

  “There’s been no word from the survivors of the second competition?”

  “Erik of Terra has them hidden somewhere.”

  “If possible, find them. During last check-in,” Ansel said, “my representative was alive. I want him freed, my chance of success doubled.”