by Kali Argent
“Yes,” Vane answered flatly as they crossed the parking lot to the zipline platform near the street. “I did.”
Marching up the steps of the illuminated platform, Vane grunted impatiently while he waited for the side door to lift open. “Get in.”
Worried for him, but also growing annoyed at his barked commands, Charli grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn and face her. “What is going on with you? What was all that back there?” She waved her hand toward the bar. “What happened today, Vane?”
“Charlotte, it’s late, and I refuse to stand here and argue with you.” His honey blond hair fell around his face like a halo, even as the chiseled lines of his jaw hardened visibly. “Get. In.”
“Just tell me what happened,” she insisted, sidestepping to block his way when he tried to enter the train. “Did you have a crappy day at work? Did something else get stolen?” Another thought crossed her mind, and she almost groaned. “Did you get in a fight with Xavian? We already talked about this. You know there’s nothing to be jealous of, right? I like Xavian well enough, but not like that. He’s a good friend. I mean…”
Trailing off, Charli dropped her face into her gloved hands and groaned. She’d been doing so well back in the bar. Standing there now, facing off with the man she may or may not be destined to spend the rest of eternity with, her anger abandoned her. The past few minutes finally caught up, and all the anxiety she probably should have felt during the confrontation with the Crimnian rushed in to fill the void.
“Charlotte.” Vane pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head wearily. “Just…shut up.”
Charli was offended for all of a heartbeat. He sounded so exasperated with her, however, she couldn’t stop the giggle that burst from her lips. “You’re being very rude,” she chided.
“And you are testing my patience.” Lifting her off her feet, Vane ducked to carry her into the open compartment of the train. Then he settled her on the padded bench beside him, grumbled out their destination, and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against the seat. “You are so stubborn.”
Neither of them spoke after that. Vane didn’t say anything when they arrived at the platform outside of Pandora. He didn’t even look in her direction during the short walk from the gates to his quarters, though he kept a protective arm around her waist. When they finally reached the warmth and safety of his living room, Charli couldn’t take anymore.
Removing her coat and gloves, she tossed them to the sofa and clasped her hands together at her waist. “Please talk to me. I know you’re hiding something. Whatever it is, please, just tell me.”
“There’s a Morphling rebellion starting on Promena,” he answered after a long pause. “The Atreans are trying to find a new method to control them.”
While that alone sounded awful, Charli knew there was more. “What kind of method?”
“Do you remember the jewel I told you about?” He slid his coat off as well and hung it over the chair at the kitchen table.
Charli bobbed her head, but didn’t move away from the sofa. “The red diamond. What about it?”
“And you know how you’re special?”
She didn’t like where this was going. “Yes.”
“The diamond is called the Jewel of Atrea. It’s considered a Legacy Relic, and only a Legacy—a member of a certain bloodline—can control it.”
As he continued talking, explaining to her the power of the jewel and how it could be used to control not just the Morphlings, but other races as well, Charli started to shake. “Are you trying to say I’m a Legacy?”
She couldn’t be. Absolutely not. Because that would mean…
“You are the last remaining Atrean Legacy of the jewel.” Vane stared back at her, his expression open so that she could see the sincerity in his eyes. “No one but you can control the jewel.”
“I’m an Atrean? Me?”
Vane arched an eyebrow and snorted. “Is it really so hard to believe after everything you’ve seen?”
When he put it that way, she felt a little ridiculous. “I never knew.” She had no memories of her mother, and her father hadn’t shared many stories of her. Charli supposed she understood why now. “Okay, so I’m part Atrean. What does that mean?”
“The Atreans want to use you to control the Morphs, and the Nekros want to use you to get the jewel back.” His upper lip curled over his teeth and a low growl rumbled through his chest. “You don’t have to be afraid, though. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“Could I do it? Is it possible?” Yes, it scared her, but if the commander thought she could be useful, and if it kept a lot of people safe, she wanted to help. “Is there something I can do to get the jewel back?”
“No,” Vane answered flatly as he pushed away from the table and stalked towards her. “There are other ways. I’m not going to put you in danger.”
“But—”
Vane backed her against the closed door and slanted their mouths together, kissing her with a desperation that frightened her more than his anger ever could.
“No,” he whispered. “We’ll find another way. I…Charlotte, I can’t. I’d go insane if something happened to you.” He closed his mouth over hers again, sucking at her lips and tongue. “I shouldn’t have left you alone tonight. I shouldn’t have taken you to that place at all.”
“This conversation isn’t over,” she insisted, though her voice came out breathless from his kiss. She knew she shouldn’t let him distract her, but when he held her like this, looked at her as though she was the most important person in the galaxy, she couldn’t deny him anything. “You can’t keep me locked up in your bedroom for the rest of my life.”
“I could try.” His grin turned wicked as he gathered her wrists in one hand and stretched her arms over her head to pin them to the door. “You were so brave tonight, prya.”
“I just got mad and reacted. That’s not the same as being brave.” Twice now she’d been called that, but she just couldn’t see it. The Crimnian hadn’t posed any real threat, not in the crowded bar with plenty of witnesses. “Your mother said I was brave, too. That day at the Hall.”
“She likes you, you know.”
Charli nodded dazedly as he slipped his hand beneath the hem of her T-shirt and stroked her stomach. “Yeah, I like her, too.”
“What about me?” he asked, his voice raspy against the curve of her neck. “Do you like me, Charlotte?”
“Yes,” she breathed, closing her eyes and arching against him in a silent plea for more.
“Good,” he purred, swiveling his hips to grind his trapped erection against her belly. “Very good. Do you want more, prya? Do you want me to keep touching you?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” he praised again, “because I want to taste every inch of you. Will you let me?”
Blood roared in her ears, and her heart thundered painfully against her sternum. “Yes. Please.”
Vane released her wrists, but leaned into her, keeping her anchored against the door. “You are entirely overdressed.”
He gripped the plunging neckline of her thin, beige blouse in his large hands and jerked, ripping the fabric right down the middle. Albeit barbaric and unnecessary, the untamed display of power made Charli’s core throb and her muscles quiver. With a nimbleness that belied his large size, Vane unhooked the front closure of her bra and pushed the material to the sides, exposing her aching breasts.
Stretching up on her toes, Charli wrapped her arms around Vane’s neck, pulling him into another heated kiss that made her nipples tingle and her pussy clench with desire. His strong hands slid over her hips and down her backside to cup and squeeze the rounded globes before he lifted her into his arms.
“I want you, prya.”
“Then have me,” she answered, locking her legs around his waist and rocking against him.
Bending his head, Vane leaned closer as though to kiss her, but when she arched toward him, he pulled away with a smirk. Over and o
ver, he came closer, teasing her lips lightly before pulling away again. Delirious with need but completely at his mercy, Charli dropped her head back to the door and moaned.
With a tight chuckle, Vane kissed a slow, wet trail down the curve of her neck to her exposed breast and swirled his tongue around her pebbled nipple. Then he caught the nub between his teeth and tugged gently, flicking his tongue over the tip while he stroked and caressed her stomach and hips with his callused hands. When he turned his attention to her other breast, lavishing it with the same attention, Charli rocked against him and gasped.
Carefully, Vane lowered her to the floor and knelt in front of her, digging his fingers into her hips as he kissed his way down her stomach to the waistband of her slacks. Unbuttoning the hooked fastener, he tugged the material down her legs, leaving her naked to his gaze.
“Oh, fuck.” A jagged moan tore from his lips as he dropped his forehead to her thigh and rolled his head from side-to-side.
She hadn’t been thinking of sex when she’d decided to forego her underwear. She’d just been in a hurry and hadn’t been able to find a clean pair. However, if it garnered this type of response, she might make it a habit to go commando more often.
With another loud groan, Vane flicked his tongue over her crease, gliding along her bare folds but never entering. Charli gripped the tops of his shoulders, digger her nails into the flesh while she fought to remain upright.
“Vane, please,” she whimpered, unable to endure any more of his teasingly light touches.
Lifting her into his arms, Vane carried her to the sofa, dropping her to the cushions so that she bounced twice. Then he pulled her boots off, tossing them unceremoniously to the side, and stripped her pants down her legs with the same lack of care. Nudging her knees apart, he sat back on his heels and stared, his hungry graze drinking in every inch of her.
With a predatory growl, he removed his own shirt, revealing taut, bronzed skin stretched over hard muscles. Her body quaked as Vane surged up on his knees and moved to insinuate himself between her splayed thighs.
“Kiss me,” she whispered, uncaring where he chose to place that kiss. She just needed to feel his mouth on her again.
Looming over her, Vane bent to capture her mouth while his strong, capable hands mapped every contour of her body, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. His fingertips danced along the swell of her hips and skimmed up her ribcage before cupping her swollen breasts.
He circled her erect nipple with his index finger, drawing lazy circles as he plunged his tongue between her gasping lips to stroke and tease. “Touch me,” he rasped against the corner of her mouth. “Touch me, prya.”
Moaning when he attacked her mouth again, Charli encircled his waist with her legs, dragging him closer as she stroked his silky hair and mapped the hard, flexing muscles of his back. Vane didn’t just kiss her. He possessed her, consumed her, and still, Charli needed more.
Fisting her hands in Vane’s golden hair, she jerked him into a demanding kiss, thrusting her tongue between his kiss-swollen lips to pillage the depths of his mouth. Vane growled, low and sexy, but he didn’t pull away, allowing Charli to take what she wanted—and she wanted it all.
When breathing became imperative, Vane broke away and slid down her body, grinding his trapped erection between her legs. Taking her ankles, he lifted them over his shoulders, staring into her eyes as he slowly lowered his mouth to her aching core.
Embers smoldered in her belly, burning hot and spreading throughout her body when he parted her folds with his tongue. His loud groan vibrated against her, and Charli shivered, arching up into his hot mouth. Each wet stroke of his tongue pushed her closer to the edge, and when his soft lips closed around her clit, she screamed his name as her body convulsed.
“Where are you trying to go?” he asked, his voice strained. Laying an arm over her hips, he held her to the sofa, pinning her there as he lowered over her again. “I’m not nearly finished with you.”
Over and over, he took her to the edge, backing off and slowing his relentless pace just before she could fall. She climbed higher, her next orgasm teetering just beyond her reach. Then, just when she thought she couldn’t possibly take anymore, Vane probed her with two fingers, pushing deep inside her, and Charli shattered.
Limp and exhausted, she sagged into the sofa cushions, her chest heaving and her pulse pounding. Sometime during her recovery, Vane had divested the remainder of his clothing, leaving him completely bare to her gaze. Staring up at him through heavy-lidded eyes, Charli licked her lips as renewed desire surged through her veins.
His thick length jutted proudly from its nest of closely-cropped curls, rigid with arousal and pulsing to the beat of his heart. Without a word, he knelt again, positioning himself within the cradle of her thighs, and guided the tip to her slick entrance.
Encouraging him without words, she lifted her hips and beckoned him to her. Vane hooked his arms under her knees and jerked her forward as he flexed his hips, sinking into her core with a primal growl. Her head spun and her spine bowed as he filled her, stretched her.
“Gods, you’re tight.”
Perspiration beaded across his brow and dampened his hair at the temples as he leaned forward, pressing her knees wide. His hips swung freely, and he thrust into her, driving deeper with untamed abandon. Charli’s inner walls constricted, gripping his erection so that she felt every hard ridge of him. A familiar ache started in her belly, the pressure growing, building, pushing her closer to the precipice of no return.
Warmth enveloped her, her skin heating from his touch. A faint, red glow illuminated their small space of the room, and Charli looked down to find a single flame flickering in Vane’s upturned palm. His pace slowed, and when she looked into his eyes, she found such longing, such reverence, that it stole her breath.
Her mind screamed at her not to do it, not to break down that final wall between them, but her heart and her body wouldn’t listen. Even if she couldn’t explain it, didn’t know why, she needed Vane like she needed to breathe.
Holding his face in both hands, she pulled him closer until their mouths met and brushed a gentle kiss over his lips. “Yes,” she breathed.
With a quiet moan, Vane shuddered against her, his brow pressed to hers as he rocked into her in long, languid strokes. “I love you, prya.”
Then he pressed the flame to the swell of her breast, right over her heart, holding it there until it extinguished. Heat bloomed in her chest, burning her from the inside out, but the pain lasted for only a moment. As the flame settled into a comforting warmth, pleasure unlike anything she’d ever known enveloped her, wrapping her in a cocoon of bliss.
Falling back against the cushions, Charli jerked and thrashed, her body convulsing as her climax slammed into her. “Vane!”
Damp with sweat and exhausted from Vane’s attentions, she sagged into the cushions and closed her eyes. Connected like this—heart, body, and soul—with no barriers between them, she felt vulnerable, flayed and raw like an open wound.
“Thank you,” Vane whispered, kissing the place over her heart where he’d touched her with the flame. “I love you, prya, so much.”
And she knew the words were true. She could hear it in his voice, see it in the adoration shining back at her in his eyes. As the tether than connected them strengthened, she could literally feel Vane’s love, and it filled her to the darkest depths of her soul.
Terrified that he would look into her own heart and somehow find her lacking, Charli pushed into a sitting position and turned her head away. “Vane, I…”
“It’s okay.” Holding her chin, he turned her head back to face him and smiled. “It’s okay if you can’t say it yet. I’m not going anywhere.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Vane, what are we doing here?”
Now that he’d bonded with her, claimed his prya as his own, Vane’s protective instincts had flipped into overdrive. He’d been too amped to sleep, unable to let go of his worry to fin
d any rest. So he’d passed the hours curled around Charlotte, listening for any noise that sounded out of place. At one point, he’d left her just long enough to retrieve his daggers from his belt and place them on the bedside table for easy access.
“My mother asked to spend the day with you.”
It wasn’t technically a lie. He knew his mother would welcome the chance to spend more time with Charlotte, but he had a much different purpose for his visit. His patrol started in less than an hour, and he refused to leave Charlotte alone and unprotected while he roamed the catwalks of the compound.
“Vane, stop!” Digging her feet into the snow, she jerked to a stop and wrenched her arm out of his grasp. “You are acting like a lunatic. Just tell me what’s going on.”
Electricity crackled in the air around them, sending a shiver down Vane’s spine. “Quiet.”
His parents’ sprawling, three-story home sat on the hill at the top of the long, tree-lined driveway, illuminated in the soft, amber lights that lit the front garden. From the distance, everything appeared calm and peaceful within its walls.
Standing just inside the front gates, Vane turned in a slow circle as he surveyed the night, straining his ears for any sounds of danger. No footsteps other than his and Charlotte’s marred the snow, but he could feel eyes on his back, the weight of the stare bearing down on his shoulders.
“Go.”
Thankfully, Charlotte didn’t argue with him. Moving closer to his side, she jogged along the driveway with him, ducking her head against the icy blast of wind. As they neared the gardens, Charlotte stopped so suddenly, Vane nearly tripped over her.
“We’re almost there. Keep moving.”
“I can’t.” She looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes. “Vane, I can’t move.”
While she spoke, a single Morphling stepped out of the tree line, moving to block their path to the house.