Finding the Blood Assassin [Lords of the Expanse 3] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Honor James

  As quickly as he could, he followed her up toward their rooms. Changing Emily, he got her settled into her bed with barely a murmur from her. Pausing, he gently kissed her and tucked her in, watching for a few minutes before he tore himself away. Jogging through the connecting door, he closed it gently. Moving to the hallway door, he checked and locked it before he began to strip as he made his way across to the bed. “Hello, my love,” he murmured, letting his eyes skate over her beautiful form.

  “Hello, handsome.” She held her arms out for him. “It was bad of me to ask you to choose, wasn’t it?” When he moved into her arms, she hugged him close, nuzzling her nose to his neck and cheek. “She won’t grow up without you being there, Ra. For now it’s perfect for us to be together, darling.”

  “If I go out there and find out she’s already twenty, I will be having words with you, my lady wife,” he told her softly, sliding his hands over her body. “For now I need to take care of my female before I ensure the males of our world know I’ll be watching them all.”

  “Oh yes, I approve of you taking care of your female. Later you can bring out your weapons and make sure that every male in this solar system and beyond all know that even looking at our daughter will cause them to be castrated or worse.” She moved her hands slowly down his body, her fingers dancing over his cock lightly. “But for now, take care of both of us, my love.”

  Rolling over her and pinning her down, he smiled slowly. “I like and fully approve those plans,” he murmured before catching her lips with his.

  * * * *

  Wincing, Raven covered his eyes. “Jamison, she’s three, do you really think she should be doing that?” he asked, feeling nauseous as he watched his daughter throwing herself headfirst into the pond. All with zero regard for her own safety or her father’s heart condition that had come about the day she’d been born. He knew his little girl could swim like a fish, but he nearly had heart failure every time they convinced him to come down to play with them in the pond.

  “She loves the water, Ra,” Jami said with a laugh. “You should see her in the lake, Raven. It’s far deeper and longer, but she is just as active. She dives deeper and swims farther.” She looked over at him with a grin on her lips. “Why do you think I don’t let you go with us when we are going to the lake?”

  “Because you know I’d keel over dead if I saw that,” he muttered, peeking through his fingers. “Oh gods,” he groaned before flopping down on his back. Also, he didn’t have to watch the horror playing out before his very eyes. “You could have warned me that it would be like this, love,” he told her as he looked to her, enjoying the late light of the day and the way it danced over her face and hair.

  Jamison looked at him, leaning over him and laughing. “The guards are close, all of them are strong swimmers, and there are two in the pond with her, love. Believe me, darling, she is perfectly fine and you know it.”

  “I know,” he murmured as he stared up at her and smiled. “You are an amazing mother, Jamison,” he said, reaching up and touching her cheek lightly. Sliding his fingers into her hair, he pulled her down for a kiss, making it hot and needy even though he knew they couldn’t do a thing about it, but he needed to taste her.

  Her kiss was as needy, hungry, and hot as his was, matching him perfectly. She wanted him, and when they finally parted she licked her lips and smiled. “Later, lord Kato, later I will demand you give me everything. That you show me just what more there is past that kiss.”

  “It will be my greatest pleasure, lady Kato,” he said as he let her go. Hesitantly of course, she noted. He always hated to let her loose. A moment later he shot up to a sitting position when Emily squealed. Laughing softly, she covered her mouth as he pressed a hand to his chest in obvious relief as he took in one of the guards tossing her up into the air, landing with a huge splash back into the water.

  Jamison chuckled and shook her head, lying back on the blanket once more and looking up at the skies. “They play like this for hours. I think they enjoy it as much as she does, Raven. You did very well when you chose her guard. They are more like overprotective foster fathers than guards.” And they were, too. The men were cautious and as wary as Raven was, so she knew their daughter would always be safe in their care.

  Collapsing at her side, Raven threw an arm over his eyes as he let out a groan. “I should have picked ones that wouldn’t let her big eyes talk them into anything and everything her little heart desires.” Lifting his arm, he turned his head toward her. “Somehow, her being this adorable and irresistible is all your fault, Jami. I have no idea how yet, but I will figure it out,” he told her with no heat in his voice. Mainly because they knew he was just as guilty as the guards were on caving to Emily at every turn.

  Jami laughed and shook her head. “You talk about them giving in to her big eyes, well, sweetheart, they aren’t the only ones.” Rolling up to an elbow, she reached over and touched his cheek with a smile. “I love you, Raven Kato. Thank you for coming for me, for accepting a life with me when you could have simply just lived out what you had without ever knowing Emily and I were gone to the world. I love you, Ra, you are the light in my world.”

  “I love you, Jamison,” he whispered, staring up at her. “You are the only reason I’m even half sane.” He winced when another high-pitched squeal cut through the calm. “Although it is becoming a slimmer chance of remaining so with every toss they give her. I couldn’t have let you die, love,” he told her with honesty and love burning in his gaze. “To have lost you would have killed what little good was keeping me from becoming the very beast that drives our males.”

  “Then it’s a very good thing that you came for us.” She grinned when there was another squeal and saw his pained look. “Go back to the house, Ra,” she suggested with a chuckle. “She will be at this for hours, and then when we come home she will drop off for sleep until sometime tomorrow. It’s driving you to distraction to hear her squeals and think that she’s in trouble.”

  “And yet you expect me to just walk back to the house knowing what is going on down here?” he asked, a look of horror on his face at her suggestion. “Who do you think you’re kidding, love?” He shook his head.

  She shook her head, eyes big and innocent. “No one. I was just thinking that my little girl might want to hug on her mommy for a change, too, you know. Although I have to admit that if I had to choose it would be you every time, so I understand her way of thinking.” She lifted a single shoulder in a shrug. “We could always go down to the pond and join them.”

  Just that fast he wasn’t worried about his baby girl anymore, his lips curling up in a mischievous manner. “I don’t think we want to be explaining to our three-year-old just what daddy is up to and why mommy is making those particular noises when daddy gets his hands on mommy’s wet and slippery body.”

  “You tell me these things yet you won’t take me up to the house and show me just what you would do to my wet and slippery body.” She peeked at him, licking her lips slowly, drawing it out he was sure. “I love you, Raven, and I need you right now. I need you so badly that you are making me achy. There is the gazebo down the way, you could always take me there and show me just what you would do to me.”

  Shifting, he was on his feet with her in his arms faster than she could blink. Calling to the guards to let them know they would be back, he headed for the gazebo. “You are ingenious, my love,” he whispered against her lips as he nibbled on them. “Only you would find a wonderfully naughty alternative to going too far from our daughter.”

  Jamison was laughing so hard it was floating all around them as he ran. The pure joy she was feeling in that moment in the sound, making him smile in return. “Well, you see, a woman has to think of these things.” She nuzzled against his neck as she added, “Besides, I have been thinking of you sweeping me away to the gazebo for some time now, but you never would come down with us, and now you have.”

  “Well, my dear, had you bothered to mention this fantasy you
had I might have been here sooner.” Stepping into the gazebo, he bent slightly, letting her feet drop to the floor, and then he stood up straight and pulled her in closer to him. “This is your fantasy, Jamison, so you get to direct the events from here on out.” Mainly because he wanted to see what her wonderfully imaginative mind created.

  She grinned for a moment and then shoved him, just enough to catch him off guard, toward the bench seating. “Then I want to be in your lap, darling. I want to have you there and me riding you, so I think that you should tug your pants down because I want you and I need you right now.”

  Stumbling slightly, he watched her with a grin and chuckled. “You are on, love,” he said as he loosened his pants and, pushing them down far enough, sat down. Leaning back with his arms braced to the back of the bench, he tipped up his chin. “I’m all yours,” he said, his cock already standing up at attention waiting for her.

  Raising her skirt, she knelt at his feet and touched his cock, stroking him slowly. “God I love the way you look, I love the way that you taste.” She moved in and took his hard cock into her mouth. Licking him slowly, she sucked him in deep before teasing her tongue around the head and down toward his balls.

  “By the gods, Jamison,” he yelped, arching up slightly. Gripping the back of the bench tightly, he ground his teeth together and fought to keep from thrusting up into her mouth. He didn’t want to hurt her and knew she liked to go at her own pace, one that drove him just a little crazy.

  She continued to torment him until she herself was completely breathless and so close to orgasm she was sure that a stiff breeze would have sent her over the edge. Moving onto the bench at his side, she straddled him and grinned, her skirts adjusted so that they had free reign, but no one would be able to see her skin if they came in unannounced. “Tell me you need me, Ra.” She rubbed her soaking wet pussy against the throbbing heat of his cock and waited, hoping and expecting the best from him.

  Growling, he caught her hips to hold her against him as he lifted his hips to grind against her slick heat. “I always need you, will always need you, desperately.” She could see him fighting the beast, all so he didn’t hurt her. “I need you more than my next breath. I need you more than the world needs the sun. I need you, Jami. You are part of me and I will always, always need you with desperation.”

  Leaning in, Jami kissed Raven hotly and adjusted herself until she felt the tip of his cock pressing to her weeping pussy. Without even pausing or waiting, she impaled herself on his hard cock, letting out a sob of pure pleasure. Everything felt so completely perfect to be with him, and when she pulled back next, she began moving on him, taking them both where they needed to be. “I will always need you, too, Raven Kato. You are my light and stars.”

  “I love you,” he breathed out on a groan, relief clear on his face as she began to move. A low growl sounded a moment before he gripped her waist and helped her to slide up and down his cock.

  As she rode him, everything finally felt right once more. They were getting closer and closer as a couple, each time they came together bringing them to that place more and more. Leaning in finally, she brushed her lips to his. “I love you, too.”

  He seemed to come apart at the seams at her soft touch and softer words. His body jolted under hers as he spilled his seed deep, his neck arching back with eyes closed tight. His pleasure at that moment was etched deep on his face.

  Holding onto him, she had to bite her lip to stop from screaming and then finally pressed her face against the side of his neck and shuddered in intense joy and pleasure.

  Sometime later she nuzzled the side of his neck and whispered, “I think we should do this with every swim lesson our daughter is given.”

  “A fine and wise plan,” he rumbled softly against her cheek. “I might just survive all of her swim lessons then,” he teased with a hint of a smile before nipping at her ear. “You are a most worthy distraction from all that she does.”

  “Ah, but see the question is how in the world will I survive when her daddy begins teaching her how to shoot and ride?” She spoke as if she had never before fired a weapon or rode on the back of the Nichal’s before. “My husband will just have to wear me out before he goes to teach our daughter such boyish things.” She snorted then because she had all but been raised by her father.

  Raven lifted his head to stare at her and then burst out laughing at the lies she was spilling. “You are so full of it,” he told her as he chuckled. “You’ll likely be right beside me the entire time, love,” he pointed out to her chagrin before kissing her lightly.

  “You’re likely right, Raven. I will be there at your side every step of the way for our child’s future.” She closed her eyes again and laid her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Raven Kato, my husband and soul mate.”

  “I love you, too, my lady wife.” He smiled, wrapping her close to him as he leaned back once more. Stroking her back lightly, he rocked her in his arms as he rested in the sunlight filtering gently through the ivy of the gazebo.

  They simply rested and relaxed for a time until Jamison finally spoke up. “Raven, honey, we need to right our clothes before Emily comes searching for us.” It had gotten quiet out by the pond over the last couple of minutes, and she certainly didn’t want to explain to their daughter why her daddy’s pants were around his ankles and mommy was lying all over him with her breasts half out of her top.

  Groaning, he knew she was right but didn’t like having to let her go, especially as gently and deliciously mussed as she currently was. Sitting up with her, he leaned her back slightly to kiss her breasts gently, nuzzling the soft flesh. “You’ll be explaining anything and everything if she sees this,” he murmured with a smile.

  “Oh no, mister.” She drew back to pin him under what she’d likely consider a ferocious glare. In truth it was more on the cute end of looks. “If she sees us like this, it’s all on Daddy to explain.”

  “Not in this lifetime or any other, my love,” Raven teased, nipping at her soft flesh before lifting his head. “Up and off of me, woman. I need to properly clothe myself before our daughter gets a lesson she does not need now or ever.”

  “See, I knew that would get you moving.” She laughed as she moved, biting her lip on a low moan filled with need. “Somehow I think she will likely be a couple hundred years old before you let me talk to her about making love, won’t she?”

  “At the minimum,” he growled at her softly. “If I have my way she won’t know a bloody thing about it, ever. But”—he let out a sigh at her look—“I know she will need to know some of it for when she finds her soul tie. Could we hold off for a time, please? I would like to hold on to the illusion of her innocence for a few more decades.”

  “How about this, love. I won’t have ‘the talk’ with her until after she goes through puberty, does that make you feel better, my love?” She adjusted her skirts and then her top as well, fluffing and smoothing as needed.

  Nodding, he felt his cheeks heating at her words and sighed. “Yes, love, it does. I know it’s wrong of me to even suggest it, but she’s my baby girl and I want her to have some innocence for as long as possible. Does that make me a bad father, Jamison?” he asked softly.

  “No, Raven,” Jamison said simply as she looked back at her husband. “It makes you a very good father. You love your daughter greatly and don’t want her to be hurt or lose the innocence she has now, it makes sense to me.” She shrugged and smiled as she added, “So it should you as well. Don’t worry about it, darling.”

  Pushing a hand through his hair, he let out a breath as he looked at her. “I do worry though, love, I worry that I’m stunting her development more than I should or that I’m teaching her things I shouldn’t be.”

  “Raven,” Jamison cupped his face in her hands gently. “Teach her all you know. Teach her how to fight, defend herself, and find her way out of the worst of conditions. I want and need her to know everything.” She paused before adding on, “I will teach her everything
I know. She needs to be able to protect herself should the time ever come, and she needs to protect those around her as well if it comes to that. Instill in her that people are more important than things, and she will be the best of women.”

  Nodding slowly, he pulled her close to hold her to him, holding her tight for a moment, feeling the need for the comfort only she could give him. “Do all parents worry this much?” he asked her softly, not ever having really experienced much in the way of parents. His father had been killed early in his life, and his mother, his father’s murderess, wasn’t exactly the type to win any accolades.

  “Yes, Ra, all parents worry this much. It’s called being a good parent because we are working on raising our child and ensuring that she will be able to take care of herself. No matter the situation and no matter what may come her way.”

  Nodding slowly, his mind thinking over her words, he let out a sigh. “I’ll believe you on this, love, because, honestly, I have no idea. I didn’t exactly have parents one would use for a Kato of future generations.”

  “You’ve met my mother, Raven. Granted she isn’t a psychopathic bitch like yours, and she didn’t resort to murder like yours did.” Jami shrugged in a dismissive manner he knew was mostly feigned. “My father, however, was wonderful. He was simply who he was, and even though he loved me, he didn’t touch me in affectionate ways parents do. But I never once questioned just how much he loved me.” She paused and, looking up at him from under her lashes, added, “I want you to always be able to hold our daughter, hug her, and show her affection, Ra. You have no idea how much that will mean to her when she gets older and older.”

  “I hope you’re right, my lady,” he murmured softly, stroking his hand over her arm, needing to touch her. “I’m relying on you to guide me in all this, love. You seem to have a much more solid grasp of what family does than I ever will.”