“Yeah, so I hope you’re feeling energetic today.” Desperate for a change of subject, Jana grinned and knew it was more a baring of teeth. “I need a sparring lesson bad.”
Bren huffed a little laugh and danced on her toes. “No, you want a sparring partner to help you blow off steam because you’re having a shit day and want to beat the crap out of someone.”
“Kin can’t read minds.” Jana rolled her eyes and lunged for the other woman.
Bren feinted left and brought her arm around to backhand Jana across the face. “It doesn’t take a psychic to tell that one. Been there and done that. More than once.”
The hit sent Jana stumbling back a few steps and left her ears ringing, but she dropped down to sweep her leg out to knock the other woman off her feet. Bren went down hard, grunting as she hit the ground. Both women rolled away, leaping to their feet to circle each other. Jana shook her head to get the buzzing out of her ears, balancing on the balls of her feet.
Her heart pounded, adrenaline sharpening her senses. God, it felt good to be able to channel the bottled up feelings somewhere. She let it rip through her, welcomed the rush. The emotions tripped over each other, tangled and twisted. Her focus snapped on Bren, who watched her like a hawk, waiting for an opening. Jana’s patience snapped. She wanted a fight, was spoiling for it, and charged in with a sharp uppercut.
Bren blocked the swing, driving her fingers under Jana’s ribs. “Get your head in the game, girl.”
She choked, spinning away from the hit to minimize the impact. Snapping her fingers around Bren’s wrist, she slammed the butt of her other hand against the older woman’s diaphragm. “My head is fine, thanks.”
Flushing bright red, Bren gagged on a breath, but a muscle in her jaw twitched as she gritted her teeth. Her foot shot out to make hard impact with Jana’s thigh. The leg crumpled out from under her, and Jana rolled into a somersault to keep from going face-first into the mat.
Sweat ran down her face and she swiped it away from her eyes. Her muscles burned from the exertion, her leg already throbbing from a forming bruise. Hauling herself up off the floor, Jana panted for breath. Anger sizzled through her at the mistakes she knew she was making. More failure. She squelched the thought, the feeling, locking it away. Pretend the darkness, the suffering, the grief wasn’t there, and don’t let it own her. It was how she’d been living for so long. She crushed that thought, too, shook out her hands, and faced Bren, ready for anything.
A feral smile curved Bren’s lips, the expression more suited to a Kith than a human woman, but she pulled it off. Terrifyingly so. Jana narrowed her gaze, settled into a half-crouch, and powered herself forward to catch the smaller woman around the waist and drag her to the ground. They wrestled for the top position, elbows and knees flying as they thrust sharp jabs into each other’s bodies. The only sound in the room was their harsh breathing and the crack of flesh hitting flesh.
Jana flipped Bren onto her back, drawing her fist back for a hard strike. Bren brought her feet up, planted them on Jana’s stomach and sent her tumbling into a wall. She wheezed on impact, easy prey, but Bren stayed where she was, sprawled across the mat. “Okay, Empress, you’re going to have to take that shit out on the imagers. I’ve got plans with Farid tonight that don’t include me being so sore I can’t move.”
A chuckle rippled out of Jana. She dropped her head back, sweat sliding down her temples. “At least not for a starting point, huh?”
“Exactly.” Bren rolled her head on the mat, offering up a wink. “If all goes well, we’ll both be limping tomorrow.”
Settling more comfortably against the wall, Jana drew up her knee and draped her forearm over it. She ached from the inside out, but not from the fight. Closing her eyes, she sighed. “If you’ve been here and done this, who do you usually spar with at times like that?”
“Tylara.” The older woman groaned, and Jana opened her eyes to watch her sit up. “She needs someone who’s willing to kick her ass, and as an admiral and fleet commander, she scares most of the other people too much to give her good sport.”
Jana flicked her fingers. “Ah, not a good career move to beat the leader of your military’s ass. Even if she wants it.”
“Exactly.” Flopping over onto her hands and knees, Bren crawled to her feet.
“She’s lucky you don’t suffer those little qualms.”
A wicked smile curved her lips and she dusted off her knees. “Damn straight.”
A snort sounded from the door and Tylara’s voice entered the fray. “Don’t make me laugh, little Kinswoman. You try to kick my ass, which others are too terrified to do, you don’t actually succeed.”
“Oh, reeeeally?” Bren stretched her arms over her head, giving a long, bored yawn. “Is that why you were scraping yourself off the floor last time, running to cry to Johar about how the big, bad Earthan gave you a booboo?”
Tylara smirked, her dark eyes sparkling with both power and amusement. She ran a hand over her short hair, the cut perfect for her angular features. “You’re assuming I don’t like that sort of thing. Perhaps I go to Johar to get a booboo when you aren’t up to scratch.”
Jana cracked up at the byplay between the two older women. The laughter felt like it struggled past the huge weight resting on her chest, a weight she never escaped. If she ignored it, it would have to go away. It only had power if she let it. She clenched her jaw, stood, and brushed off her hands. “Oh, them’s fightin’ words right there.”
Bren grinned while Tylara just looked confused, as if she had no idea what Jana had just said. The three of them gathered at the door, Bren still working the kinks out of her muscles. Both women were shorter than Jana. Bren could almost look her straight in the eyes, but Tylara barely reached her chin. Her delicate size was an illusion, though. Of the three of them, Tylara was easily the strongest and the fastest.
“Your Majesty?” A deep, masculine voice echoed down the hall. All three women poked their head out the door to see Johar’s approach. “The emperor would like to see you, Your Majesty.”
A long beat passed before Jana realized he was talking to her. It still surprised her when they addressed her as the empress. This life was so far removed from anything she’d ever known, anything she’d ever expected her life to be. Bren and Tylara both gave her expectant looks, though the Kith woman’s face flushed a bit when her One drew near.
“He’d like to see me?” Jana arched an eyebrow. “That almost sounded like a request.”
The Guardian wisely kept his mouth shut, but his eyes twinkled with good humor.
Her lips twitched. “You drew the short straw in coming to get me, huh?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Folding his arms behind him, he rocked back on his heels. The scarlet tunic of his uniform stretched tight across his broad chest. He tilted his head in the direction he’d come. “Shall we?”
“Sure, why not?” She forked her fingers through her sweat-dampened hair. It would be nice to be allowed a shower before her next round with Kyber, but she doubted Johar would agree that stopping off in her chamber would be a good idea. Likely Kyber had sent Johar to fetch her personally instead of asking the ship to give her the request to ensure that she obeyed the summons. She sniffed. The man knew her too well. But then, he’d once shared all her thoughts and memories, hadn’t he? She glanced at the other women. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Both of them nodded in return, and Jana fell into step beside Johar. “Any idea what Kyber wants?”
He tucked his hands into his pockets and slanted her an inscrutable glance. “I couldn’t speculate.”
A chuckle rippled from her. “Of course you couldn’t. Or wouldn’t.”
His deep blue eyes flickered with baby blue sparks, and his tone went dry. “You are wise beyond your years, Your Majesty.”
“How many times do I have to ask you to call me Jana?” She didn’t feel very majestic with her hair plastered to her skull and her leg aching from the kick Bren had delivered.
>
He shrugged. “You may ask as many times as you wish, Your Majesty, but you are still my empress.”
And what could Jana say to that? She and Kyber were still bound, so she was the empress. She sighed and shook her head, following his lead around a few corners and down a short flight of steps to a multiveyor. The glass door slid around in the clear tube to admit them. Stepping onto the metal platform, she closed her eyes for a moment. The tube overlooked a huge cargo bay, and the rapid drop never failed to make her stomach float. She usually preferred to take the stairs.
It took her a moment to realize the multiveyor had passed the floor with Kyber’s office on it. Unless she missed her guess, they were going to the royal chamber. Excitement twisted with dread, her typical reaction to seeing Kyber. And, unless she missed her guess, Johar was along to babysit her on a trip to get laid. A hot flush raced up her cheeks and she stared out the windowed walls. “So, how’re things going with Tylara?”
“Well.” Johar’s easy tone was a little too smooth, and a subtle tightening in his muscles told her he wasn’t comfortable with the switch in topic.
A tiny spurt of malicious glee went through her. It wasn’t nice, but for once it wasn’t just her who felt off-kilter. It was well known that Tylara refused to bond with her One because he came from a family renowned for its unstable psychic power. He was a little more animalistic than some other Kith, but Jana had never been uncomfortable in his company before. She assumed whatever was wrong with him was something a Kin couldn’t sense. A stab of guilt went through her for stooping low enough to take a shot at his love life. Hers wasn’t exactly ideal.
His face was a calm mask when she met his gaze again. “Here we are.”
She knew. That awareness vibrated through her whenever she drew near her One. The door slid open, spilling them out not far from her chamber. “I can take it from here.”
“Very good, Your Majesty.” Johar stepped back into the multiveyor, leaving her to her fate.
Dragging in a deep breath as she walked down the hall to their quarters, she squared her shoulders, stepped inside, and straightened to almost military attention. Her chin lifted and she focused on the far wall. “You sent for me?”
She could feel his cool regard from where he sat on the gelpad, his gaze sliding over her body. As usual, he wore a simple gray tunic and black pants, nothing that indicated his rank. The clothes fit his muscular form to perfection. She swallowed, unable to keep her body from responding. Heat rippled through her, arrowing between her legs.
I can feel your desire. His telepathic voice held amusement.
“You can hardly be surprised, Kyber.” She snorted, clenching her fists where they were hidden behind her back to keep from reaching for him. She craved him so much, but letting go too much might let him in too deep. She couldn’t risk it.
“Come to me.”
Her eyebrows arched, and she let her tone turn chilly. “You just send for me for sex?”
“We can do that, too, but I wanted to share a meal and a conversation with you where we didn’t fight.” She watched him rise to his feet from the corner of her eye.
“I’m not hungry.” She turned away from him and toward the sanitation room. The door opened for her automatically. She wasn’t going to stand there and wait for the inevitable passion to erupt between them if they argued; she was getting her shower.
A pulse of his frustration hit her through their link, but he didn’t reply. What could he say? They both knew it was just an excuse to shut him out again. She stepped inside the sanitation room and reached for the tab to unfasten her top. “Close and lock door.”
A soft swish and click indicated it had obeyed her, and she continued to strip on her way to the clothing cleanser. Wadding the sweat-drenched outfit in a ball, she stuffed it in one of the glass bins on the machine. “Clean.”
It gave a low whir in response, and she turned toward the shower. A single step down into a circular area with a drain in the middle was the only real indicator that this was a shower. “Water on.”
Multiple spigots in the wall shot out scalding water that pelted her from every direction. She sighed as it sluiced down her skin, washing the sticky-sweaty feeling away.
The door hissed as it opened behind her. Shit. She’d forgotten that the imperial power to override locks worked for Kyber, too. She froze, every muscle in her body tightening while she watched him step into the room. Naked. His violet eyes were heavy lidded, but nothing could disguise the sparks of lust…and anger…that danced in his gaze. He strode into the shower as though he owned it, which he did. The water ran in steamy rivulets down his big body, over the hard pecs and tight ridges of his abs. His cock stood in a firm arc against his flat belly and her body reacted to the blatant display of desire.
“Don’t walk away from me, Jana. If we have nothing else, we have this. We want this. Come here.”
Closing her eyes, she tried to resist the pull he had over her. Even without seeing his muscled body, she could feel the flow of his craving through their tiny link. It made her heart pound, fed her own hunger. Her sex heated, the lips going slick. She swayed toward him, her nipples hardening as her breathing sped to soft pants. “I’m taking a shower.”
“I’ll wash you. Come here.”
Her feet carried her forward without any real direction from her brain. It was madness to think she’d ever be able to resist him, and the months apart had only sharpened her body’s yearning. She was so damn weak, no matter how hard she tried to lock it tight, to keep him out, there was always a teeny thread that let him in. Self-loathing swamped her, but she shoved it away. Kyber would want to talk about it, and she just couldn’t do it. As he’d said, they had nothing but the sex. It was bitterly ironic that sex was what had gotten her into this mess in the first place.
Reaching for the dispenser of liquid cleanser, she worked it into a lather and began washing herself. A shudder of longing she couldn’t stop went through her when Kyber’s hands joined hers and moved over her bare curves.
A dark frown drew his eyebrows together when he took in the distinct footprint that was beginning to show on her leg. His voice was gruff with concern. “What happened here? Who dared to injure you?”
She shrugged, sliding her fingers into his long, silky hair. “I was sparring with Bren when you sent Johar along to fetch me.”
“Ah, yes. My warrior empress.” A faint smile curved his lips. He knelt, stroked a palm over the back of her thigh, and swept the lightest of kisses over her bruised flesh.
It was moments like this that made her want to sob. He should hate her for what she did, for how she’d unwittingly helped Arthur turn Kyber into a near-beast, how she had helped an enemy destroy them both. She would understand him having ugly feelings toward her, but it was times when he gentled the feline enough to be almost loving with her, the way he had been the first time he touched her, that made her feel like she was going to crawl out of her skin with the need to escape.
“This is from my rescue.” He brushed his lips over an older bruise on her other leg, and her belly cramped.
She shook her head. “No, that’s from Arthur.”
“W-what?” He jolted slightly, staring up at her. “The ship said…that was months ago.”
Her toes curled against the floor. “I know. I have the medics heal it, but it just keeps coming back. Same bruise, same place where Arthur hit me.”
His first hit. One of many. The images were burned into her memory, always there, playing on a nonstop loop in her head, no matter how hard she tried to squelch it. The medics said it was psychosomatic, but knowing that did little to help her. Kyber looked confused, opening his mouth to speak, but the last thing she wanted was to talk about that while naked and in Kyber’s arms.
God, she would give anything to forget, to distract herself from the constant bombardment. Tightening her fingers in Kyber’s hair, she pulled his head up to kiss her. He suckled her bottom lip, then let his tongue glide into her mouth. A mo
an spilled from her as fire flickered to life in her belly, spreading quickly until her body sizzled and ached with need. He pulled her down until she was on her knees with him and hauled her flush against him, her curves melding with his harder planes. Bending her back over his arm, he sucked her nipples into his mouth one at a time, then plucked and rolled the tight tips between his fingers. Goose bumps broke down her limbs, and she clutched him closer, gliding her hands over his wet flesh and solid muscles.
The water poured over them, each droplet sliding down her skin a liquid caress. Her pussy flexed on nothingness, and she wanted to be filled until she couldn’t take any more. He licked a hot path from her breast to her throat, biting down on the sensitive tendon that connected her neck to her shoulder. She jolted, sobbing for breath. He caught the sound in his mouth, pulling her tight to him as his lips met hers. His rougher flesh stimulated her nipples, and one palm cupped her ass, rubbing her against his thick cock while the other hand bracketed the back of her neck, holding her there for the slow, scorching kiss. She loved kissing him, the sweetness of it, but she craved the beast he tried to lock inside the perfect emperor. She bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, and he snarled, the feline coming to the fore. He gave her what she needed without her having to ask, stripping away her control, which scared her as much as it titillated her.
His mouth slanted over hers, the possession apparent. The kiss went wild, each of them sucking and nipping at the other. His fangs scraped her lips, and she tasted the coppery tang of blood. Whether it was his or hers, she didn’t know. Her fingers twisted in his hair, while the nails on her other hand raked down his back. Volcanic heat erupted within her. He groaned, his claws digging into her waist, and he pulled away to spin her on the slick floor.
She gasped as he forced her forward onto her hands and knees. The head of his cock slid over her clit, the lips of her pussy, and she cried out with the desperate need that flashed through her. “Oh, God. I want you inside me, Kyber. Now. Please, now.”
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