by Kim Knox
“Highness—” It was Reist’s turn to object.
Ava couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. Words repeated over and over in her head, pleading with him to allow her to stay with Heyerdar. Being in the city, being alive, simply wasn’t enough anymore.
“The man who would have my throne.” Cadmus’s voice had softened and a dark smile pulled at his mouth. She wondered if there was a little bit of the thief in the emperor’s ancestry. “He died in a way that befitted his audacity.”
Fuck. Fuck. He knew she’d eaten Clay. She wanted to run, hide. She tried to wrap her darkness around her, build the mask that would obscure her panic, but she couldn’t. She had to get away before he ordered Heyerdar to kill her for her crime...but the emperor was still smiling that soft, disturbing smile. Yes, definitely a strong hint of thief ancestry. She willed herself to breathe again, not to think about the fear burning across her skin, the panic that must be all too obvious on her face.
“There should be a reward for the one who rid me of the pretender to my throne.” His head tilted. “I will allow her to remain with you, Captain Heyerdar.” Ava fought not to sag as Cadmus was still speaking. “She will live with you in that hole in the ground you call your chambers. Her reports to her former master will continue. But she is now on secondment from the Imperial Guard.” He looked between the two men. “Is that understood?”
Reist gave a stiff nod. “Yes, Highness.”
“Thank you, Highness.” The words felt dry in her mouth and completely inadequate for the joy pushing hot and fast through her flesh.
The emperor laughed and pushed himself to his feet. Quickly, Ava dipped into a bow, the two Hands following her. “I’m making you live with him, Ava Kalle. Don’t thank me yet.” He straightened his gold-threaded tunic and lifted his chin. “Our business here is done. My decision is final. Is that also understood?” He continued on, not waiting for their assent. “I want reports on who we lost today and how those gaps will be filled. First thing in the morning.”
Heyerdar moved to open the heavy doors, nodding as his emperor passed him. He shut the door with a dull thud and turned his attention on Reist. Ava gripped his hand, pulling thin threads of magic from him to distract and calm him. His chest lifted and he glared down at her, the molten fire and magic in his eyes making it hard for her to find her next breath.
She wasn’t scared of him. She wanted him. And he was wasting time. A smile touched his mouth.
His gaze fixed on Reist. “I was going to pin you to the wall, leave you there for a day or two. But I have better things to do.”
“If you hurt her...”
Heyerdar growled. “I will never hurt her as much as you did.” He took a step towards Reist, every muscle hard and ready.
Ava pulled more magic from him, easing the sudden flare of his temper. His tension evaporated and she took an insane pride in knowing that she could do that to him. A mental smirk escaped. Making him more biddable.
He lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”
She met his gaze. “We have reports to write. I’ll have to come back to the Institute...”
Magic threaded through his irises, the sudden rise of power catching her heart. He touched her jaw, his thumb caressing the line under her lip. A golden wisp of his power teased her skin and jumped her pulse. His smile was dark. Wicked. “Why are we still here?”
“Ava.”
Her attention snapped to Reist. There was something in his gaze. Regret? Pity? He honestly thought that she’d chosen Heyerdar because he was all she could have. Reist was an arrogant prick. She gave him her thief smile. A little bit sharp, a whole lot wicked, and the mage blinked. “I have who I deserve.”
“She also has the full and open protection of the Left Hand.”
Reist’s gaze narrowed, moving from Heyerdar to herself. His expression tightened and he lifted his chin. He knew. Knew that she’d shared his secret—his attempt to break the wards—with Heyerdar. He nodded. And there was the realization, as he had kept quiet about Ehren, that they would stay silent about his connection to Clay. They were secrets that would stay between them.
“Then we are in accord.” With a final look to Heyerdar, Reist slipped out through a door behind the emperor’s heavy chair. They were alone.
Ava let her shoulders slump. She had him. Heyerdar was hers.
She turned her probably disbelieving smile on Heyerdar, and the rise of lust in him was quick and obvious. She pressed herself against his hard frame, aching to kiss him, to have him. Against the wall, her on her knees, her mouth around his dick, licking and sucking. Just as he’d promised. His sign of absolute trust. Heyerdar groaned and fisted his hand in her hair.
She grinned. “I don’t think the emperor would appreciate us getting naked here.”
“You’re thinking it.”
“Yes. I am.”
Heyerdar backed her towards the wall. “When can I deny you anything?”
Her heart skipped. She hit the smooth wall with a soft exhalation of air. “Do you want to?”
He teased her lip with the whisper of magic, and she let him offer rather than pull it down into her. “I’m your master now.” His large hands gripped her hips. “And you have to do what I tell you.”
“For now.”
Heyerdar growled and lifted her away from the wall. He stood in her place. The hard features of the Left Hand stared down at her, magic and mage-light glowing across his skin. “On your knees. Show me what your mouth can do.”
Ava’s face burned, the hard pulse in her blood making her head spin. She wanted this. Wanted him. But the thief in her, the part that could eat a man alive and whole and have no qualms, burned beneath the surface...
“I trust you.” He cupped her cheek, unexpected warmth in his eyes.
She let out a slow breath, her sudden and unexpected panic ebbing.
“And my dick will grow back.” He frowned. “Probably.”
Laughter burst from her. She was bound to this man, heart and soul. Decades, possibly centuries stretched out before them, because of the magic he would drop into her empty soul. It didn’t scare her. She wanted and admired him. Knew that she was even falling a little bit in love with him. And that didn’t scare her either.
She tilted her head and her hands stroked down the smooth leather of his tunic. Magic spilled over her skin and she pulled it into her greedy soul. He hissed. She dropped her hands lower. “It’ll grow back? You’re sure?”
Heyerdar gave her a mock glare. “I said probably.”
Ava cupped him, her thumb stroking across his hardness. “You would be less fun without it.”
He groaned. “Get to work, little thief.”
She smirked up at him and dropped to her knees. He drew in a breath, not from fear, she knew that, could almost feel it, but from excitement, anticipation. Want. She stroked the length of his thighs, up until her thumbs teased the underside of his balls. “Trust me?” The question was low and honest. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Heyerdar threaded his fingers through her hair, tilting her head back. “You could never hurt me.”
Ava pressed her lips together to deny sudden tears. She could love him. A real love, not the fantasy she’d painted around Davin Reist. She turned her head to kiss his palm, tasting his skin and the hint of magic. Her fingers untied his beeches. “You really do say the sweetest things.”
* * * * *
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About the Author
Kim lives on an ancient boundary line once marked by a Neolithic burial tomb. The tomb’s now a standing stone circle—thank the Georgians for that one—and it stirs her mind with thoughts of history and ancient myths. She mixes the essence of the past into fantasy, along with the essential mix of magic and sex. She also writes science fiction romance, pushing out into the far future with effortlessly sexy men and the women who can’t resist them.
Kim is also with Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Loose Id and Liquid Silver Books. You can contact her on her website or come and chat at her blog: www.darknessandromance.com.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.kim-knox.co.uk
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ISBN: 978-1-4268-9705-4
Copyright © 2012 by Kim Knox
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