by S. Young
“What did she say?”
“To open the door.” He swung out of bed, amazed at how energized he felt by Niamh’s healing. So he wasn’t even aware that he was half-naked as he strode into the living room until he felt a crackle of energy around him, followed by the hiss of material on his skin. He faltered.
He now wore a T-shirt to go with his pajama bottoms.
Then Kiyo realized his hair wasn’t tickling his chin either. It was in a topknot.
Glancing over his shoulder, he found Niamh standing in the doorway, eyebrow raised. “What?”
He smirked and gestured to the T-shirt.
Niamh shrugged nonchalantly. “I was only thinking of your modesty.”
He pointed to his hair.
Niamh flushed and looked away.
“Right.” He grinned at her barely concealed jealousy, feeling far better about it than a gentleman should.
She shrugged, still not meeting his gaze. “I also cleaned my blood off your chin.”
The reminder of what she’d done to save his life made him want to throw her down on the couch so he could thank her sufficiently. With orgasms. Multiple.
“Kiyo!”
Gritting his teeth at Sakura’s impatient snap, he strode to the door and threw it open.
Sakura stood at the head of a small entourage that included Haruto.
“Can I help?”
She pushed past him, sashaying into the room on spiked heels that could be used as a weapon. Kiyo stood back with a sigh as Haruto and four male wolves and one female followed their alpha. They stood to the side of the room in a line, staring straight ahead, as if they had rehearsed this scenario many times.
They probably had.
Kiyo slammed the door shut and crossed the room to stand by Niamh while Sakura skewered Niamh with her dark eyes. Haruto hovered near Sakura’s back, always protecting her.
“Where’s Daiki?” Kiyo asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Still recovering?”
Sakura’s eyes flashed dangerously. She answered in English. “The full moon took care of what remained of his injuries.”
“Are you finally here to reap revenge for it?” Somehow he doubted it.
“If Daiki wants to make a fool of himself, that is up to him. The consequences are his own.”
Charming attitude for a mate. “Then why are you here?”
“Word reached me today that you had a strange encounter in Kokyo Gardens yesterday morning. I would have known sooner if not for the final phase last night. So …” She took a step toward them and without thinking, Kiyo stepped in front of Niamh. He saw hatred saturate Sakura’s expression before she quickly hid it with an angry smirk. “Who is the redhead and what the hell did she inject you with?”
He stared coolly at Sakura. There was very little chance she had any real evidence except for gossip. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You were seen, Kiyo. Do not lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. If someone thought they saw me, they were wrong. Niamh and I have just returned from the mountains. Full moon,” he reminded her. “Plus do I look like something happened to me?” Thanks to Niamh, he’d probably never looked healthier. “What happened in the gardens?” Kiyo prodded.
Sakura was alpha for a reason. Although she’d let her emotion and jealousy slip over Niamh, she usually had a pretty good poker face. She wore it now. “It is of no consequence if you were not involved.”
“I wasn’t.”
Her eyes flicked to Niamh. “Strange. The description fitted both you and your mahoutsukai. Though she has changed her hair. Not that it does much to increase her appeal.”
Kiyo shook his head in mockery. “You’re a wolf, Sakura. Being a catty bitch doesn’t suit you.”
The tension in the room grew thick with bristling anger.
Haruto grunted and made a move forward, but Sakura held up a hand to stop him. “He is right. Leave it.” She sighed somewhat wearily, amusement glittering in her eyes as she closed the distance between them. Staring up at him, nostalgia warmed her face. “You are the only one who speaks the truth to me. Not even Daiki, unless he is feeling jealous, which is exhaustingly often. I wished you had stayed with me, Kiyo-chan.”
“I was honest with you.”
Sakura lowered her eyes and placed her hand flat against his chest, over his heart.
He felt Niamh’s immediate surge of emotion behind him and wasn’t even shocked that he sensed her jealousy and anger and hurt. A knot formed in his gut at the thought. Despite knowing the best way to deal with Sakura was to allow her flirtations, Kiyo took hold of her wrist and pushed her away.
It surprised and angered her as she stumbled on her heels.
“You have a mate,” he said softly, “who deserves your respect.”
“I’m alpha,” she replied with a bite. “I can have sex with whoever I want. If that is the only thing stopping you … put it from your mind. My pack will not tell Daiki a thing. I ask them to leave, they will take the mahoutsukai from here, and you and I can be alone.”
“No.”
He felt Niamh’s relief at his back. Possessiveness tightened his muscles. He wanted Sakura gone. He wanted them all out of the room so he could be alone with Niamh.
“No?” She raised her eyebrow as if she’d never heard the word in her life.
Kiyo didn’t reply. He’d been clear the first time.
“Do you know how many wolves would die to have me in their bed?”
He stared blankly at her.
Her eyes widened at the silent insult. And then her temper got the better of her—she stepped forward to slap him hard across the face.
Niamh was in front of him before he could stop her. She grabbed for Sakura’s wrist and let out a wail of distress. Kiyo felt her pain like a slash across the gut. Niamh’s knees buckled as she released Sakura and she fell at Kiyo’s feet.
He dropped and wrapped his arms around her, confusion buzzing in his ears.
“What the hell?” Sakura cried out in Japanese, stumbling back from them.
Niamh looked into his eyes and shuddered against him. Iron.
His gaze flew from her closed hand to Sakura’s wrist.
She wore a selection of bracelets and bangles. Some diamond, some gold, some silver … and one in the middle that stood out from the others for its lack of glitter.
A solid, plain, pure iron bangle.
The alpha glowered at them in confusion. “What is wrong with the mahoutsukai?”
“Flu.” Kiyo pulled Niamh closer, trying not to let his panic of her being found out emanate from him. They’d smell the change in his scent. “We thought she was feeling better but she can’t overexert herself.”
Quick thinking. He heard the pain that still lingered in Niamh’s voice. His hold on her tightened.
Sakura’s eyes narrowed. Some kind of understanding dawned on her, and Kiyo hoped like hell it was her realizing his feelings for Niamh and not her realizing that Niamh was fae.
“She is lucky I do not kill her for touching me.”
“She was defending me.” He stared at her, expression hard, filled with warning. “You touch her, Sakura, and I’ll take it as a declaration of war.”
Niamh tensed in his hold but he didn’t care.
Having the pack know that Niamh was a weakness was a risk, but the greater risk was them thinking they could harm her without consequences.
Sakura stepped back as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Haruto placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
And Kiyo knew … her feelings for him were genuine. He was sorry for it. Sorry he couldn’t return them. But she had her place in the world and he had his, and other than the fight he owed her, their paths weren’t destined to meet with any permanence.
Sakura shrugged off Haruto’s hand and snapped that she was fine in Japanese. Then to Kiyo, she snarled, “You better win this upcoming fight, Kiyo, or I might just give you that war.” Wit
h that, she turned on her spiked heels and marched out of the hotel room. The others trailed after her, except for Haruto.
He was focused on Niamh’s closed fist.
Kiyo stiffened.
Haruto never gave anything away so Kiyo had no idea what the huge beta was thinking as he threw Niamh one last look before following Sakura out. He closed the door softly behind him, and Niamh let out a long exhale. “We can talk. Privacy shield is still up.”
“Let me see,” Kiyo bit out.
She unfurled her fist and revealed the small but inflamed wound on her palm. It matched the one on her opposite wrist. “Big day,” she cracked. “Two iron scars in less than twenty minutes.”
“It’s not funny.” He pulled her to her feet, holding her by the arms. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Her expression turned sheepish. “Just lost my temper when she hit you. I didn’t think.”
“You didn’t know she was wearing iron.”
Niamh stepped out of his hold, clutching her fist to her chest. “I didn’t even sense it on her. Too distracted by …” She shook her head. “Why was she wearing iron? Does she know about fae?”
“No.” Kiyo was certain of that. “I think it was just a coincidence. Not many people believe in the fae legends and even fewer know about pure iron.”
Nodding, she seemed to accept that. Then a sadness flickered over her eyes. She wouldn’t meet his gaze, which bothered him more than he liked. “I think, despite the femme fatale alpha front she puts up, that she genuinely loves you, Kiyo.”
“She cares about me,” he admitted. “But you can’t love someone if they’ve never shown you who they really are.” He took a step toward her and finally, Niamh looked into his eyes. His heart pounded, hard enough he knew she could hear it. “I’ve only ever shown one person who I really am. And I’m looking at her right now.”
Hope and light and something he was afraid to name turned her eyes almost gold as she whispered his name in wonder.
“I need a shower.” His next words caused her to blink in surprise and consternation. Kiyo smiled and held his hand out to her. “Join me.”
A flush crested her cheeks and her brilliant eyes sparkled with an alluring mix of sensuality and innocence. Despite what had transpired between them in the last twenty-four hours, there was still a small part of him concerned she’d reject him based on his shitty treatment in the mountains.
Relief flooded him when she took his hand.
Arousal swirled hot and heavy in his loins, but he ignored it for now, leading her slowly into the bathroom and closing the door behind them. Eyes locked with hers, he removed his clothes. After a second or two, Niamh followed suit with her own.
They stood, naked, and explored one another with their eyes.
The delicate, elegant slope of her shoulders, her narrow waist that accentuated the fullness of her lush, perfect breasts. Goose bumps prickled them while her large, rosy nipples were hard and tight and begging for his mouth.
Her gaze lingered on his erection and the blood thickened there the longer she stared. Kiyo could smell her arousal, and his eyes drifted to the neatly trimmed hair between her legs. By the time the night was over, he was determined to have licked and sucked as many orgasms out of her as possible.
It wouldn’t be an uncontrolled fuck like how he’d pounced on her in the mountains.
He was going to savor her, give her pleasure, and make it the best first time any woman had ever had.
A gasp escaped her lips as if she’d heard his thoughts, her body bowing with desire.
Forcing himself to go slow, Kiyo reached into the shower and switched it on. Once the jets of water streamed out hot, he gestured for Niamh to step in ahead of him. She did, deliberately brushing her hard nipples against his chest as she squeezed past.
He released a growl of want and practically felt her ass twitch with satisfaction.
His gaze dropped to said ass, catching a glimpse of its heart-shaped perfection before she turned to face him.
Niamh’s chest rose and fell with shallow breaths as Kiyo stepped into the shower and crowded her back against the tile. He braced his hands on the shower wall at either side of her head and dipped his nose to touch her throat. Taking in a deep breath of her caramel and spicy scent, his dick grew so hard, he couldn’t think past the lust.
Her soft hands settled on his waist and he let out a shuddering exhale.
“Can I wash your hair?” she asked.
He lifted his head to stare into her eyes. He suddenly understood the phrase “to drown in someone’s eyes.” He nodded and stepped back. Niamh reached past him to the shower shelf and grabbed the complimentary shampoo. He bent toward her so she could reach up to release his hair from its tie. Her fingers sifted through the strands with a sensual leisure that made his skin prickle.
“I love your hair.”
“I think I got that.” He grinned at her.
“I love your smile more, though.”
He cupped her cheek in answer, caressing her shower-dampened skin for as long as she allowed before she continued to wash his hair. She was careful to keep the soap from his eyes. When it was washed out, she grabbed the conditioner.
“Turn around.”
He did and felt her crush her breasts to his back as she massaged the conditioner into his scalp. Shivers of mingled relaxation and lust skittered down his nape and spine. As she moved to dig her fingers gently into his scalp, her breasts caressed his back, her nipples catching. Her breathing quickened and he scented how much she needed him.
It took more self-control than he knew he had to stop himself from turning around and thrusting into her.
Instead, once she’d washed the conditioner from his hair and tied it back up for him, he turned her around to face the wall. “My turn.”
His gaze dropped down her slender back to where her hips sloped into a generous curve. Her ass really was the perfect heart. Bitable.
The word stopped him.
Although his human teeth couldn’t hurt her, he’d never take them to her, even in sex play.
He couldn’t chance it.
The thought of accidentally hurting her burned in his gut.
The urge to slip into her, to feel her alive and throbbing around him, grew stronger.
Kiyo reached out and caressed her ass cheeks, squeezing her as he brushed his erection near the valley between.
Niamh fumbled for the wall, gasping. “I thought … you were washing my hair?”
He pressed his dick more firmly between her cheeks, sensation ripping through him making his balls draw up tight. He gritted his teeth as she panted with need.
One day he’d take her there.
But not yet.
He needed to work up to that.
Reluctantly releasing her ass, he took the shampoo bottle in hand. “Tip your head back.”
She did and her pale blond hair, turned honey with water, hung past her ass.
He tried not to let his thoughts wander as he washed it, but after rinsing out the shampoo, he massaged the conditioner in and leaned into her so she could feel him hard and wanting. And he whispered, “Did I mention I like the blond?”
She shook her head.
“I do.” He kissed her neck behind her ear. “But I’d take you any way I could get you. You could have no hair, Niamh Farren, not a speck of it on that sweet little head of yours … and I’d still want you.”
Something like a sob sounded from between her lips, and he wrapped an arm around her, pressing his hand over her breast where her heart pounded as hard as his.
“When we ran in the woods, I’d never felt anything like it,” he admitted. “Like you were my pack.”
Her breath caught.
“It fucked with me. And I treated you badly. I don’t have words for how sorry I am.” He lifted her now-scarred wrist and pressed the most reverent kiss to it.
Niamh turned her head. He lifted his eyes to meet hers. Her lips almost touched his as she whispered
, “I forgive you.”
Kiyo brushed his mouth over hers. “I want you,” he repeated and pressed his hand harder against her heart. “But I want this too. If you can’t give me that, you need to say so now because I can’t take one without the other. Not with you.”
Her whole body seemed to sag into him. “You already have it,” she confessed. “I feel like you’ve had it forever.”
Exultation and possessiveness roared through him, and he turned her swiftly in his arms, crushing her against him. “Are you ready?” he growled with need.
She grinned cockily. “I was born ready for you.”
Kiyo was surprised by the laughter that rumbled from his chest and in that moment, he fell even harder.
29
If she was dreaming, Niamh didn’t want to wake up.
Though Kiyo hadn’t said the words, he’d said more than she’d ever thought possible of him, and she knew he loved her.
She wanted to tell him the secret that hung between them, but she was afraid he’d scorn the idea of destiny trying to trap him. That he needed this decision to be his own. After all, he’d made his opinion on the true mating bond very clear.
She throbbed with so much love as Kiyo gently towel dried her body. When he was done, he dropped the towel to the floor and cupped her breasts in his hands.
Niamh’s nipples tightened almost painfully as he dragged his thumbs over them. She leaned into him, his own body still a little damp. The urge to touch him was overwhelming, like she wasn’t in control of it. Her palm slid down his abs until she reached him, straining as he was. A gasp of need fell from her lips as he squeezed her breasts in response to her fingers wrapping around him.
His chest heaved as she gave him an experimental tug.
Dark eyes gleamed into hers with barely controlled hunger.
“You’re so thick,” she murmured, squeezing him harder.
He grunted, thrusting into her touch just before he shook his head and pulled away. “Can’t.” He gave her a friendly snarl. “I’ll come.”
“Isn’t that the point?” she teased.
Kiyo smirked. “Not for your first time. I have plans.”