“You’ve been thinking about what?” He placed his hands on her hips, almost embracing her.
“Giving you a child. It might be the only advantage to my little secret. It is possible for an Ontarian and a Bilarrian to produce a child, but it would be much easier with a Rodyte and a Bilarrian. True?”
“True.”
“And all three of your consorts were from San Adrin. Correct?”
A muscle in his cheek jumped as he pressed his teeth together. “Two were. My first was from a different region. What are you getting at?”
“San Adrin honors Air. None of you are strong healers.”
“Talya and I worked with a healer, several in fact. She wanted a child as much if not more than I did.”
“No healer has the same level of control over my body as I have. Think about what I did to Krysta and Belle. I’m not saying it’s a sure thing, but it’s definitely worth trying.”
He stared past her for a long time, his hands lightly squeezing her hips. “Hope can be a very cruel emotion. Believe me, I know. You were still in your own body when you separated the twins. How much control do you have now?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
His gaze returned to hers, but his expression was impossible to read. “Which brings us back to my original question. Will you be able to accept me into your mind?”
“Let’s find out.”
He needed no other encouragement. His arms slipped around her, gathering her against his chest. She slid her hands up and encircled his neck as he lowered his head to kiss her. She parted her lips and touched him with the tip of her tongue, reveling in the familiar flavor of his mouth.
Without separating their mouths, he picked her up and flashed into the bedroom. His impatience made her smile, but she wasn’t willing to lose the sweet intimacy of their kiss. Their lips slid and caressed, their tongues greedily stroking. She tangled her fingers in his hair and kept his mouth right where she wanted it. At least where she wanted it for now, she clarified with a wicked chuckle.
I missed you. His thought slipped smoothly into her mind and she shivered. He would have so much more access once he anchored the link. Could she really make herself that vulnerable?
This was Indric. What more could he possibly do to prove that he was worthy of her trust?
I missed you too. She sent a warm current of affection along with the thought.
He released her legs, so she could kneel on the bed. Her face was closer to the level of his than it was when they were both standing. She angled her head and slid her tongue into his mouth. His throaty growl encouraged her aggression and sent a fresh wave of desire cascading through her body.
With an urgent tug, he rid her of the towel, but his vest still separated them. She responded with an impatient murmur and pulled his vest down along his arms. He threw the garment aside as she rubbed her breasts against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight enough to prevent her sensual undulations. “Stop that or I’ll tie you down again.”
She wiggled even harder, a challenging smile her only reply.
“Oh, it’s going to be like that, is it?” He released her long enough to shed his pants then crawled onto the bed and swept her beneath him. “Did you enjoy being at my mercy?” He kneed her legs apart and settled between her thighs.
“No more than you enjoyed having me helpless.”
He entwined their fingers and pinned her hands to the bed on either side of her head. “I want to lick you until you scream, but I want your mouth on me nearly as much.”
“I’m pretty sure we can do both if you just let me up.”
“I have a better idea.” Hunger blazed in his eyes, making his rings shimmer. He pulled her downward then reversed his position and crawled back on top of her. His knees straddled her head and his body arched over hers, his face directly above her sex. “Open for me.”
Covering her, yet barely touching her, he obviously needed to be in control. And yet he still craved her willing surrender. She parted her legs and bent her knees, giving him plenty of room to play. His cock dipped toward her mouth. All she had to do was part her lips. She met him with the warm swirl of her tongue then closed her lips around his shaft as he pushed deeper.
He tucked her knees under his arms and adjusted the angle of her hips to give him better access to her slit. His lips pressed against her first then he traced her with his tongue, moaning as he sank deeper into her creamy folds. She slid up and down his shaft while he caressed his way toward the core of her body.
Her inner muscles clenched and she felt the first spasms of an orgasm begin. Not yet. She wasn’t sure if the protest had come from him or her, but she fought back the impending climax and concentrated on the tantalizing stroke of his tongue.
He rocked steadily into her mouth but kept his hips high so she didn’t feel trapped beneath him. His fingers held her open so his tongue could venture deep into her slick passage. He matched the rhythm of his tongue to the smooth rocking of his hips, filling her mouth and her core together.
Soon the tension returned with a vengeance. This was wicked and incredibly arousing. She arched, taking his tongue deeper as she sucked firmly on his surging cock. Suddenly, he pulled out of her mouth and shifted his body, so she could no longer reach him. His lips closed around her clit and he thrust into her core with several long fingers.
The unexpected fullness shattered her control. She cried out as scalding blasts of pleasure pulsed though her abdomen and fanned out across her chest. Her core rippled around his fingers and each careful pull of his lips launched another burst of sensation.
Indric released her clit and licked his way around the fingers still buried deep inside her hot core. She tasted so good, he didn’t want to stop, but the persistent pressure in his groin demanded his attention.
Crawling to her side, he stacked several pillows against the headboard than sat with his back to the pillows. He pulled her up onto her knees and turned her to face him. Clearly understanding his intention, she crawled onto his lap, her legs straddling his.
She steadied herself against his shoulders and lifted her hips so he could position himself between her thighs. Her folds closed around him and he moved his hands to her hips, guiding her down slowly until their bodies were fully joined.
Now it was time to join their minds.
He took her face between his hands and waited until she looked at him. “I will never hurt you and never take advantage of our connection. Your thoughts are your own and always will be. If I sense a shield of any kind, I will not enter.”
She brushed his hair back from his face and smiled. “I’m not afraid of you. I have no more secrets for you to uncover. I’ve just fought against mental probing for so long, I’m not sure how to relax and let you do this.”
He brushed his lips over hers. “Maybe I can help with that. Kiss me.” Her lips parted beneath his, but he had something else in mind. No. You kiss me. Learn my taste and texture with your tongue.
Her tongue brushed over his lower lip then pushed deeper into his mouth. He angled his head, fitting their mouths tighter together. She curled her tongue around his and began to explore with her hands as well as her mouth.
Taking full advantage of her distraction, he quickly located the weakest section of her mental shields and applied a slight pressure. Energy immediately flooded the area, reinforcing the weakness. She was right. She’d resisted mental invasions for so long it had become an unconscious reaction.
He slipped his hand in between their bodies and stroked her breasts, rubbing her nipple with his thumb before descending along her trim middle. She eased back, making room for his hand as it drifted lower. He found her clit with his middle finger and began a firm circular motion.
Her kiss intensified, her tongue surging into his mouth with renewed vigor. He clasped her ass with one hand and rubbed her clit with the other. Her inner muscles tightened and released, and she wiggled, increasing the
pressure against his finger.
She trembled, her fingers digging into his shoulders. She was about to come. It had to be now. He thrust through her shields with a quick stab and anchored the link within her mind. Emotions flooded his being, pleasure and urgency, passion and fear. But threading through it all he sensed her love for him, the aching loneliness she felt whenever they were apart and the hope she carried for their tomorrows.
“Oh Cinarra, my love.” He sighed into her mouth. “You are so incredibly beautiful.” The praise pleased her this time because she understood that he wasn’t referring to her body, but the inner radiance of her soul. “I want this perfectly clear before we continue. I love you and always will. Cinarra Mazodie, will you be my consort, my life mate, and if we are very lucky someday, the mother of my children?”
“I would like nothing better and I will not rest until I’ve made that dream come true.”
Their mouths meshed and clung as emotions surged across the newly formed link. She gasped and shivered then took control of the kiss. He shifted both hands to her hips and helped her find a rhythm that pleasured them both. She moved against him and around him, her body squeezing him tight with each purposeful rotation. Her pebble-hard nipples rubbed against his chest and he splayed his fingers across the curves of her ass cheeks.
She kissed him and kissed him until they were both too breathless to kiss. Then she clung to his chest and buried her face against his throat as she took him deep again and again.
Her pleasure surged unhampered into his mind, fiery and consuming. He shared his feelings just as freely, but it required no effort now, no conscious push. Everything just flowed as it was meant to flow.
She moved faster and he arched into each of her downward thrusts. Energy sizzled across their link, igniting his senses from the inside out. He grabbed her hips and held her steady as he thrust fast and hard. She arched her back, one hand moving behind her to provide even better resistance.
His balls tightened and fire lanced down his inner thighs. She was just as close, he could feel her inner muscles squeezing, demanding his release with each rippling pull. Another swirl of energy inundated his pleasure receptors and he cried out sharply, driving his entire length into her as he pulled her down.
His seed exploded deep inside her and a staggering surge of energy rolled back into his groin. “What did—you do?” He shuddered violently halfway through the question.
Panting harshly, she raised her head and grinned. “It didn’t work that time, but it was close. If I prepare myself before we try again, I know…I am hopeful that we can do it.”
Hope. The emotion he loved to hate. “We have all the time in the world to make this happen. It doesn’t have to be tonight. In fact, it would be better if we wait until after we’re officially joined. Then there can be no doubt about the child’s legitimacy.” He still wasn’t convinced she could do it, but he was more than happy to let her try.
“I hadn’t thought of that. Does that mean you don’t want to do this again until after we’re married?” She laughed and joy rolled through him.
“No, it means I want to arrange the ceremony as soon as possible.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
He ran his hands up and down her back as she snuggled against his chest. “Drakkin said you’re the keeper of my soul.”
She raised her head from his shoulder and looked at him. “What does that mean and why would he know what I am when we were still working things out the last time you saw him?”
“Who can explain how Drakkin knows anything. I stopped trying to figure him out a long time ago. Anyway, soul keeping is a practice that was abandoned centuries ago and even then I was never convinced it actually happened.”
“But what would it mean if I was the keeper of your soul?”
“When warriors were about to go into battle, they would spend the last few hours in the arms of the one they loved. If they were fortunate enough to share the same sort of bond we just formed, the warrior would pour his soul into the body of his life mate. This was supposed to make him ferocious and fearless during the battle because all of his tenderness and restraint was at home with his wife.”
“What happened if the warrior was killed during the battle?”
“His body would die, but his soul would live on within the body of his life mate.”
Her brows drew together and she pressed her teeth into her lower lip. “The wife would be stuck with her disembodied husband nagging away in the back of her mind? That doesn’t sound very romantic.”
Indric laughed, finding her candid reaction delightfully refreshing. “As I said, I never believed it was a literal practice, more like a myth or fable. I met a woman once who claimed she carried the soul of her fallen mate. According to her, she didn’t hear his voice or specific thoughts, but she said she could sense his love and encouragement whenever she was lonely or sad.”
“Now that’s sweet.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Do you think Drakkin is right? Do you trust me enough to let me be the keeper of your soul?”
“I do.”
“And I would be honored to keep your soul safe as you rode into battle. Still, I’m glad you’re a king, not a warrior.” She smiled then grew still. “The link is anchored, isn’t it? I can feel it even now.”
“It’s still really fragile, but I think it will hold.”
“Is there a way we can reinforce it?”
It was his turn to grin. “The more we use the connection, the stronger it grows.” He clasped her to his chest and folded his legs beneath him then carefully laid her back across the bed. “Use the link to show me which you like better. This.” He pulled nearly out then thrust in fast and hard several times. “Or this?” He moved with long, slow strokes, emphasizing every millimeter of their joining.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and mischief twinkled in her eyes. “Now, what was the first choice again?”
Chapter Ten
Cinarra stood between Indric and Krysta in the lavish ballroom at Hotel Frontine. Charlotte stood on a small platform at one end of the oblong room, Tal beside her. Both looked particularly dashing in their evening finery.
The chairman of the Ontarian Joint Council raised his glass and said, “To High Queen Charlotte, the most relentless negotiator I have ever had the privilege to know. May your next twenty years be as productive as your last.”
The crowd erupted in happy cheers and Charlotte paused to kiss her life mate before taking a sip from her glass.
“I don’t think she’s ever looked more beautiful,” Krysta said once the den from the toast subsided.
“Or happier.” Raising her glass to her lips as tears swam in her eyes, Cinarra was still struggling to accept that all this was real. The last time she’d been in the same physical vicinity as this many people she knew and loved, they had been standing on the shores of rainbow falls, deciding how to protect Seth, or rather Betaul. Until he was fully trained and able to make his own decisions, he would remain Betaul.
“Are you all right?” Indric slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close against his side. “You look a little spooked.”
“Overwhelmed, yes. But how could I be frightened with you by my side?”
He kissed her cheek and squeezed her gently. “Dance with me.”
He had a habit of issuing directives rather than asking questions, but she wouldn’t be as attracted to him if he were any less assertive. She took his outstretched hand and he led her out onto the dance floor.
Her disappointment at waking up alone had been immediately softened when she found the gift he’d left for her. A midnight-blue ball gown overlaid with silver lace. She’d never seen anything so exquisite in her life. The card he’d tucked inside the massive box told her that he would see her at the ball and confessed that Terez had helped him pick out the gown.
“You look absolutely amazing.” He swept her into a swirling series of turns that left her breathless
. Then he leaned down and whispered, “What are you wearing under the gown?”
She laughed, unable to contain her joy. After decades of fear and degradation, loneliness and compromise, her life was falling into place. “If you’re very good tonight, I’ll show you.”
“Show me now and I promise I’ll be very good tonight.” His throaty tone took her playfulness and made it sound sexy. Cinarra smiled at Trey as he spun past with Krysta, and Indric pulled her closer. “Have I lost your interest already?”
She smacked his thick upper arm. “Are you really that insecure?”
“You know I trust you implicitly.” All playfulness faded from his tone and his expression. “But Bilarrians are very possessive.”
“I’m not your possession; I’m your fiancée.” He acknowledged the distinction with a nod, so she softened her attitude. “But I will never give you a reason to doubt me.”
He bent and kissed her, a brief tender brushing of lips that promised far more to come once the party was over. “How long do we have to stay?” He whispered the question against her lips right before he raised his head.
She laughed. “We’ve been here less than an hour. They haven’t even opened the buffet rooms yet.”
“If you’re hungry, I’ll be glad to feed you.”
She ignored the double entendre and smiled. “We can’t leave until I’ve had a chance to catch up with Saebin and Lyrik, Drakkin and Aria, and Charlotte and Tal.”
“You just spent the better part of a week with Charlotte and Tal,” he objected. “The others I will allow.”
“You’ll ‘allow’?” She rocked to the balls of her feet so she could reach his ear. “This is a ballroom, not a bedroom. I’ll speak with whomever I choose.”
He inclined his head, though his gaze smoldered. “An unfortunate choice of words.”
The song ended and they wove their way through the crowd, Cinarra stopping to chat as she encountered people she knew. She spotted Aria, resplendent in a lavender ball gown. “Aria.” She gave Drakkin’s mate a firm hug, then stepped back to admire her shimmering gown. “You look lovely. I’m surprised Drakkin let you out of his sight.”
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