Vengeance Born (The Light Blade #1) (24 page)

Annika swung her legs around to sit on the ledge facing inward, her gaze fixed on him as she tried to sort out the tangle of emotions his words evoked. He was treating her as if she were human, and making it easy for her to forget the fact that she wasn’t.

She shouldn’t like that but she did. She clenched her hand around the edge of her cloak. His recent behavior was making it safe to share things she’d never have thought to reveal to anyone else. He didn’t criticize her, didn’t laugh at her ignorance, hadn’t taken advantage of her weaknesses. Other than Hesia, no one had ever kept their promises to her.

He treated her like a friend.

Annika started to shake. Not in fear, but with the strength of an unknown emotion filling her heart. With every beat, the warmth of it spread through her. He stood close enough that she could feel the heat of his body, even through two cloaks. She lifted her hand toward him then hesitated.

Touching Kalan, exposing her need for him, lifted the hairs on her neck. She hated being vulnerable. But she wanted to show him the same amount of trust he’d finally given her.

Mouth dry, she cupped his cheek then trailed her fingers along his stubbled jaw and shuddered, liking the rough sensation of it be-neath the palm of her hand. Her gaze dropped to his lips. They looked soft, unlike the rest of his lean body. She wanted to kiss him but wasn’t sure if she had the courage. The scent of his arousal filled her lungs.

“I don’t bite.” The corners of his mouth turned upward ever so slightly. “Not unless you want me to.”

The subtle challenge was like throwing a striker-light into tinder. Annika slid her fingers into his hair, loving the silky feel of it caressing her fingers, its color matching the night heavens, so dark it absorbed the morning sunlight. The sleek strands felt like the gentlest of caresses against her skin. She stroked his hair, again and again, liking the sensation. It was enough to set her blood pounding in her veins.

Winding the long strands around her fingers, she tugged him forward until his lips touched hers. Heat exploded in her belly. She moaned as his tongue stroked hers, as she tasted his scent, on his lips, in his mouth. Rich and raw. Addictive.

Kalan moved toward her without breaking their kiss, his body nudging her legs apart so that he could stand between them. His hands skimmed the sides of her legs, before cradling her hips, a move that parted his cloak.

She gasped, unintentionally breaking their kiss as he brought her flush up against his body. Hard curves of muscle, from his shoulders to his hips, pressed against her softness. Every breath he took gently caressed her breasts. Her nipples peaked and the tingling sensation shot straight from them to the knotted heat burning between her legs.

“Wrap your legs around me.” His voice had dropped, deepened with desire.

With very little thought, Annika complied, burying her face against his neck as he lifted her effortlessly, his arms linking behind her rear in support. Then he carried her back inside the apartment, to his room, and carefully laid her on his bed.

Here his scent hit her much more strongly. It was in the blankets underneath her, the cloak he discarded over a chest, the pillow she lay her head on. Each held the unique spiciness that was him.

“Your eyes are so blue.” A smile kicked up the corner of his mouth. He toed off his boots then tugged at hers, rubbing each of her feet with strokes of his strong fingers before coming to lay on his side next to her. He toyed with the hem of the shirt, stroking it as if he was caressing skin. His scent intensified. “I want to kiss you again.”

He sat there watching her, as if waiting for her to give him permission, the hunger on his face enough to send goose bumps rippling down the length of her body. It felt surreal knowing Kalan desired her enough to want to be intimate with her. Annika half expected to wake up in the next room and realize what was happening was the product of a tired but active imagination.

Hoping it wasn’t a dream, she gave a small nod, her breath catching in her throat as his green gaze blazed brighter, in triumph and raw need. The ache between her legs became a throb. How could just a look excite her so swiftly?

Kalan plucked at the ties of her cloak and pushed the fabric from her shoulders, keeping his movements slow, unhurried. The blue flecks in Annika’s eyes had the slightest tinge of yellow.

“Do you realize how much pleasure I feel knowing you want me to kiss you?” He caressed the shell of her ear as he tucked a lock of hair away from her face. He hid his smile as she trembled and trailed his fingertips along her jaw to rest just under her chin. “I want to slide my tongue across your lips and tease myself with the sweet taste of them. After I’ve done that I’m going to enjoy the honey of your mouth, taking as much of it as I can before I run out of breath…”

The blue in her eyes intensified, changed to a pale mercurial color. The yellow was gone. Her lips parted in unconscious invitation. He leaned down and placed his mouth on hers, softly nibbling at the fullness of her bottom lip, teasing her with feather-light nips and licks, working his way from one side to the other and back again. He savored the small groan that came from the back of her throat.

“Kalan…” Her breath was hot against the skin of his cheek.

He slanted his mouth over hers, muting her cry, holding her still for his kiss with the pressure of his fingers beneath her chin. He swept his tongue along the length of her lip, sampling her sweetness, then he allowed himself the briefest of forays, past her lips, delving into the deeper, hotter part of her mouth. He delighted in her taste and gave a groan of his own.

Her body undulated against his and he felt the softness of her breast pressing into his ribs. He cupped it with his hand through the material of the shirt. Even through the layer separating them, he could feel how hot she was. Her body arched into his touch, encouraged him. Her nipple grew taut as he caressed it.

The small cries she made at the back of her throat drove the flames inside him higher. His body tightened with need but he fought it. He was poised on the edge, so tempted to devour her, to let their desire burn them from the inside out. But rushing this wasn’t a part of his plan. He wanted her to experience the subtleties involved, the variation of pleasure that could be given and taken with the sharing of lips, of touching one another. He drew back.

Annika’s eyes were half closed, her cheeks flushed, her lips slick and moist from his kisses. Beneath her breast her heart beat a rapid tattoo.

“This time open your mouth, take me in, taste me,” Kalan whispered against her lips then claimed them again. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, relishing her flavor like a thirsty man savors water. His whole body tensed when her tongue curled around his, the slow slide tentative, unsure. He encouraged her with a groan.

Her fingernails scored his chest, a sweet pain that surged southward, then she skimmed her hand over his torso, inching it lower, lighting a trail of need wherever she touched him. He hissed in surprise and jerked back.

Annika stared up at him, expression dazed, uncertainty dulling the mercurial blue color in her eyes. “I did something wrong.”

“No. I wasn’t expecting that…”

“I just… it felt like the right thing to do.”

“Touch me, Annika. It feels very good.”

“That’s too dull a description.” She placed her hand on her abdomen. A small frown crinkled her brow. “This kissing and touching makes me—burn.”

Kalan watched as her fingers stroked the nap of the shirt, so close to the juncture of her thighs.

“It’s a strange experience.” Her voice was soft, almost shy. “I mean, as a healer I know the physical signs, I’ve seen what arousal can do to a man but for a woman it’s not so obvious. I didn’t understand, until now.” She touched her lips. “When you were kissing me… everything you did with your tongue I felt down here…” Her hand slid to her abdomen.

Kalan hardened to the point of pain.
Mother of Mercy
… “Annika…” His voice was hoarse.

Whatever she saw in his gaze widened hers. He watched the blue flecks shimmer and expand until they almost concealed the violet striations. Her tongue snaked out to wet her lips. It was too much. He closed the distance between them.

The passion, the intensity of the kiss burned him. There was little gentleness or tenderness, just hot, ferocious, unadulterated need that demanded satisfaction, culmination.

He growled fiercely as his tongue explored every part of her mouth. She buried her hands in his hair and her body writhed against him, her soft little mews pushing him to greater heights. She was so close to release, and all from his kisses.

“That’s it, Annika, just feel,” he whispered against her mouth. “Let yourself go.”

He slid his hand from her breast to the gentle swell of her mound. Tugging the fabric upward, he nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth then massaged the heel of his hand against her softness. The pads of his fingers smoothed over the bare mound of her sex. She was swollen, wet. The scent of her arousal was wild honey and musk.

He groaned, the sound wrenched deep from in his chest, and pressed his fingers into her slick folds, stroked once, twice, felt her muscles contract. On the third stroke her body arched and she shuddered. Another sharp gasp and her warmth coated his fingers, her thighs clamped tightly around his hand.

“Kalan!
” she cried out, the pleasure on her face beautiful to watch.

He swallowed her cry in another kiss, continuing to work her, prolonging her pleasure for as long as she could stand it, easing up only when she relaxed against him.

Gathering her close, he listened to her uneven breathing, felt the heat of it grazing his skin. He wasn’t sure whose heart he heard pounding in his ears. His body throbbed and ached with unrelieved need. It hurt but the pain was sweet to bear.

Annika had trusted him enough to cede control of her pleasure. Wrapping an arm around her and smoothing a hand over her hip, he pulled her closer and pressed a kiss against her flushed cheek. He couldn’t help the satisfied grin that curved his lips.

“Kalan?”

Annika started at the sound of a female voice out in the other room. He ran a reassuring hand over her back. “It’s all right. That’s just Kymora, my sister.”

“Doesn’t anyone knock around here?”

Her disgruntled reply widened his grin. “I’m sure she did. We were probably just too… busy to notice.”

A delicate pink hue stained her cheeks. She reached for her cloak and wrapped it around her. The tender moment broken, he sighed, wishing they’d had more time to share together before having to face the day. He wanted to make sure Annika felt secure about what they’d done.

“Kalan?” Kymora’s voice came from right outside his door. “I’ve brought breakfast and clothes for Annika.”

“We’ll be out in a moment.” He snatched up a shirt from the chest at the end of his bed and put it on then held out a hand to Annika. “Come, meet my sister.”

“Kalan, I’m half dressed!” Annika kept her voice to a furious whisper.

“Don’t worry, she won’t mind.” She shot him an incredulous look. He grinned. “Kymora’s blind.”

Chapter 16

T
HE outer room of the Blade Council chambers was filled with warriors. An equal amount of men and women, all dressed in the
Lady
’s armor, sat on benches scattered around the room; others stood in groups on the mosaic-tiled floor. There were so many Annika could only guess what number occupied the room or lined the corridor that led to the Inner Chamber where their leaders met.

Heads turned and conversations tapered off as the closest became aware of their arrival. Kalan and Kymora walked on either side of her, the Handmaiden using Annika’s arm as a guide instead of her walking staff.

During breakfast, Annika had sensed the strength of the
Lady
’s Gift within Kymora and been awed by it. So pervasive had the sensation been, she’d felt it pulsing in the air around them. Having never met a
Lady
’s servant before, it’d come as a surprise to see such incredible power offset by humility and gentleness. Kymora’s welcome and natural warmth quickly put her at ease and Annika had the sneaking suspicion that Kalan had enjoyed watching her reaction to their meeting.

The reactions of the Light Blade warriors told a different story. The chamber was heated. Annika could hear flames crackling in a fireplace to her left but there was little warmth in the sea of faces. The whispers began and hands strayed to weapon hilts and belts, their unease and hatred hitting her like a wave.

Wishing now she hadn’t left her cloak behind in the apartment, Annika fisted her hands in the soft folds of her new dress and tried not to cringe. The gathering was a stark reminder of the times her father had insisted she attend the
Na’Reish
banquets. Never one to pass up a chance to humiliate her in front of his peers, he’d actually encourage them to taunt and abuse her for her half-blood status. To be the center of attention now sent chills racing down her spine.