The Lycan Hunter (The Gardinian World Series) (28 page)

His hands cupped her face just before he pressed his lips to hers.
What started as a gentle, unassuming meeting of lips turned into the kiss
of a dying man. The caress of his mouth exuded a sense of desperation,
an effort to cling to life just for the feeling of a lover
’
s kiss. When he
broke the kiss, she had to fight the urge to reach out and force him to finish what he started.

A forced smile decorated his face as he walked away. “There
’
s no
rush. We’ll talk about it later.”

He went into the bathroom, and the shower cut on. Her brows
slammed together, and she reached for the place she usually kept one
of her blades. With nothing to keep her hands busy and tamp down
her aggravation, she turned her attention to the bathroom door. Did he
really think the stall tactic would work with her?

KYRAN STOOD UNDER
the spray of his shower and tried to figure
out what he wanted to say to Alexis that wouldn’t make her feel like
he was attacking the essence of her being, because he knew what he
needed from her. He also understood how unlikely his chances were at getting it anytime soon.

Alexis was a series of defenses, and Kyran knew there weren’t
enough “I love you
’
s” on the planet to get her to let down her fully-
realized and carefully-built wall.

He braced his arms against the front wall and let the water trickle
through his hair and down his back. The heat was this side of too hot, just like he liked it, so when small, cool fingers danced over his lower
back, he jumped.

“Shit!” He spun around and to find Alexis standing naked in the shower with him. He’d been so preoccupied with the thoughts of his mate that he’d disregarded her soft footsteps.

She gave him a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

His eyes trailed her body, but he forced himself to return his gaze
to hers. “Did you need something?”

“
You aren
’
t the type to leave anything unsaid, so just tell me wha
t you want me to do.”

“I have no right to ask you for what I want, so I’m not.
Just forget it
.”

She laughed and placed a gentle kiss on his chest. “You might as well
tell me what you want. I won’t stop asking.”

He
sighed
and turned back around. “What I need
isn
’
t
fair to ask you.”

Alexis
’
hands kneaded the tight muscles of his shoulders before she
wrapped her arms around him, pressing her breasts into his back. He
relished the feel of her against him to the point he wanted to turn around
and join their bodies beneath the spray. It was hard, but he kept his
position.

“You need me to be as open as you are right now. Vulnerable, right?”

Kyran nodded but kept quiet. He could hear the misery hidden
behind the smile borne from resilience that she pressed to his back. The
ache of weighted sadness clenched in his chest, compelling him to say
a
silent prayer
. Hopefully Alexis would soon know a life where she wasn
’
t
forced to bottle up the softer side of herself just to survive her life.

“I’m sorry,” she said, pulling him from his thoughts.

“Don
’
t be. There
’
s a reason I didn
’
t ask, Alexis. I may not know
everything about you, but I
’
m smart enough to understand that a person
who thinks they are defective doesn
’
t have a reason to be unguarded
.”
He let out a long growled exhale before he spoke again. “FYI, you aren
’
t
defective. That you even have that thought in your head makes me want to rip out the throat of the person who told you that.”

He
felt her shrug
against him. “No one told me that. Just how I
feel.
”

Even as she said it, he knew it wasn’t true. It had been sung into
her very being, stitched into her genetic makeup by people who were
supposed to care about her. Those exact words may have never been
said to her, but the results of her treatment by people who should have
cared for her had the same effect.

He turned around now and observed the fortified sadness in her
eyes. “No one should feel that way. You are no further from perfection
than the next being. Your value is inherent merely because you exist.”
Her eyes narrowed, disbelief flashing in her eyes. “Alexis, I love you. I’ll take you however I can get you, baggage and all.”

She flashed him a soft smile. “Boxes.”

He frowned. “Huh?”

“I pack boxes. Better size variety.”

Kyran laughed and kissed her softly on the lips. “Well, boxes.
Question is, will you let me help you unpack?”

She let the silence stretch between them for so long that he felt that
was answer enough. She wasn
’
t capable of trusting him with that part
of herself that she kept boxed away, likely covered in rolls of duct tape
and chains.

Finally she returned her attention him and gave him a sad smile. “What will you do when you find something you don’t like?”

Not if, but when. Kyran shook his head and pulled her into an
embrace. She was such a kicked puppy that the fact that she managed
to have any compassion at all was a blessing.

“I'm pretty sure it won’t matter if I come across something I don
’
t
like. I’m positive there is something about me you won’t like. I hope
that you can see past the bad in me to see the good.” She shivered a
little, so he put her under the spray. “Besides I love all of you, not just
the parts of you that are convenient and uncomplicated.”

“How do you know that?”

“
Alexis
, you
’
re a Hunter. In my world, you are a walking c
omplicatio
n
,
and being with you is never going to be convenient. Still, I
’
ve wanted
you since the moment you stepped into that field, gun raised and ready
to take out two Lycans by yourself. I never stopped wanting you, just got
arrogant enough to think I could negate something I never really wanted to deny.”

She smiled up at him, mostly genuine, but on its edges lingered
the signs of doubt. Her smile solidified Kyran
’
s desire to erase all
lingering doubts with every kiss, every touch, and every hug he gave her. He would make her conscious of him on a cellular level until she
cried mercy and knew without asking that she was loved. Others had
refused to give it to her, but with him, she would never wonder.

***

Alexis looked up at Kyran and watched as a determined smile
crossed his face. She shivered despite the scalding spray. Something about his smile radiated a promise she was sure had everything to
do with her, and she wasn
’
t positive that she would be happy with
the promise. She turned around and stepped fully under the spray,
letting the water course over her. She bathed in their silence for a few
minutes before she glanced back at him. He gave her a lecherous grin
before he stepped out of the shower, draped himself in a black towel, and left the room.

“So what am I supposed to be doing today?” she called after him.

“Nothing,” he said when he returned with matching towel for her.

She cringed. Few things on the planet were worse than having
nothing to do. At the compound, she was always busy; sitting around
was the quickest way to agitate her. To keep busy in down time, she
typically trained. Not that she was stupid enough to believe that training
among the Lycans would be taken very well.

“I don’t think I can just sit around, Kyran. I have to keep busy or I get antsy.”

“There’s a gym here, but I think you should try and relax at least for a day.”

She inhaled and let it out slowly. “Okay.”

Going to the gym, sparring, and weapons training were relaxing.
Take them away and she was left doing what the lazier, talent-challenged
Hunters did: watch TV. Judging by what she had seen some of them watching, they should have been shot and put out of their misery for the brain cell killing shows they frequently gorged on.

She turned the water off and stepped into the towel that Kyran
held open for her. After he wrapped her in the ridiculously soft towel,
he led her into the bedroom and dried her off himself. The way his gaze
trailed over her had Alexis lancing her fingers through his thick hair and used it to yank his mouth to hers.

His kiss was hungry, and he devoured her, letting his tongue dance
across hers and taste every ounce of her matching hunger. Alexis
wanted him –
needed
him. She reached down, jerked his towel free,
and let their skin come together. He was hard, ready for her, and she wanted it. The way his hands trailed over her skin was feather light, and she arched into him, demanding more. Kyran gave it to her, his
touch becoming equally demanding, grasping and yanking her to him,
melding their bodies together. Searing heat to searing heat.

Alexis wanted him inside of her. Her body raged for it, but Kyran
never advanced on her, never breached her core. He stilled her hands
with his own, encircling and holding them against his strong, beating
heart. The promise she’d witness was evident in the touch of his lips to hers and the dance of their tongues.

She was loved.

Breathless, he pushed away from her, a final lingering kiss, and
his searing heat left her aching for him. His heat was so missed that the
normally temperate room became an affront to the yearning Kyran had conjured within her. Alexis arched her back away from the bed, reaching for him. He sat on the edge of the bed farthest from her.

He shook his head. “No, Alexis.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to fuck you.”

“Okay,” she sat next to him, “and the problem is?”

“Hard, fast, rough, and animalistic fucking.” He paused, his eyes
narrowing and becoming erotically predatory when her breath caught.
“I want to conquer and own you. Completely.”

The images of what Kyran would be like when he let himself become
her master swarmed over her consciousness. Sinewy muscles bunched and
relaxed under her fingers in her mind
’
s eye. The not so gentle push
and
pull of him from her body caused an aroused chill to course through her.

“What are you thinking about, Alexis?” His lips were against her ear, gentle as his voice.

She jumped slightly, having been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t felt him move.

“You.”

“What about me?” his lips whispered against the hollow of her neck.

“I want to know – ” She gasped when his mouth closed over her nipple.

He came to his knees in front of her, keeping his mouth firmly on
her breast. He sucked, licked, and teased her breasts while gazing up at
her as if he expected her to continue. She couldn
’
t. Her mind flashed a
‘
be back in five minutes
’
sign. When his fingers trailed to her inner thigh
and stroked her core, the sign changed to ‘closed until further notice
’
.

“Kyran…”

He pulled free of her breast. “Yes?”

“Don’t make me beg.”

“I’m not. I’m just not going to fuck you.”

Kyran placed his palm to her torso and pushed her back against the
bed before she could ask what he planned on doing, since he seemed so insistent on teasing her. His tongue traced its way slowly though her sensitive folds. Alexis squirmed and tried to scoot away, despite
wanting what he offered. He didn
’
t let her. His hands held her firmly
in place as he coaxed her to that edge of her control.

Alexis stopped running and pushed her body into his mouth, urging
him to release that ever increasing pressure building low in her stomach.
He responded with a growl that vibrated against her clitoris. The stroke
of his tongue gained a sense of urgency, and just when she reached
the zenith of her pleasure, he pulled away with a final kiss.

Panting, Alexis sat up and glared. “Wha – ”

She cried out when Kyran plunged a finger deep into her, drawing
a passionate moan from her. He stroked her gently to the point where
her body begged, pleaded, and screamed for its release before his mouth
sealed over her clitoris. A gentle flick of his tongue was the catalyst to
her desperately sought after orgasm.