“Yes, you do.” She lifted her chin determinedly. “And what you can tell me is why it was so important to you to…to make me come.” There were two spots of color high on her cheekbones but she refused to drop her gaze, even though she was clearly embarrassed.
Rone sighed and sank back onto the bed…and kept sinking—he’d forgotten that none of the furniture in this fucked up place would support him unless he was touching Kate. And from the look on her face, she wasn’t going to want him touching her for a long, long time to come.
Swearing, he extracted himself from the soft, pillowy bed which was sucking him down and went to stand in the kitchen area where he could at least lean against the counter. Kate followed him—clearly she wasn’t going anywhere until she got some kind of explanation. Which was going to be a problem since he couldn’t explain his hunger without frightening her or making her feel coerced.
“I can’t talk about it,” he said shortly. “I’m sorry, Kate but you wouldn’t understand.”
“Wouldn’t understand?” She raised an eyebrow at him incredulously. “What wouldn’t I understand?”
“Any of this.” Rone made a gesture with one hand, indicating himself and the whole situation.
“Why not?” Kate demanded. “I must have understood it—understood you—before my memory got wiped. I mean, we were married for three years. So why can’t you just tell me?”
“Because I don’t want to scare you, all right?” His voice came out in a muted roar and Kate flinched back, a look of uncertainty on her face.
“You’re doing a pretty good job of that without explaining anything,” she remarked in a trembling voice.
“I’m sorry. Baby, I’m so sorry.” Rone sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Please believe me, if I could explain things to you, I would. But I can’t—I just can’t. Okay?”
Kate just looked at him for a moment. Then she went over to the living area and turned on the viewscreen. She sat down in front of the couch and started to watch whatever was on—some kind of mindless drivel as far as Rone could see.
“Kate…baby…” He came to sit beside her but she scooted away from him.
“We’re in danger here, you know,” she said in a low voice, her eyes never leaving the screen.
“Yeah, no shit,” Rone growled, putting his head in his hands. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Here’s something you don’t know—I keep hearing a voice in my head. Whenever we’re being…being intimate.”
“What?” Rone looked over at her. Her cheeks were flaming and she still wasn’t looking at him.
“A voice. It’s not mine—not my internal monologue, I mean. It keeps telling me to…to do things with you. Keeps urging me to go further and further.”
“What kinds of things?” Rone asked, fascinated despite himself.
“What kinds of things do you think?” Kate snapped. “Sexual things. I heard it when we were in the shower together and again just now in bed.”
He frowned. “Is that the only reason you touched me…and let me touch you?”
“No.” Kate shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t like hearing it. Both times I tried to resist it. It feels strange…invasive. And it wants me to do things I…I’m not ready to do.” She looked up at him at last. “Rone, I feel like we’re being manipulated here, by an outside entity.”
“Who? The Madam of Shadows?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. But whoever it is, I don’t like it. I want to get away from this place—I feel like we’ve gotten as much out of it as we can. You know?”
“I’m beginning to think you’re right,” Rone said grimly. “It’s not safe here anymore. I know Commander Sylvan sent us here but I don’t think he knew anything about this part of the resort. There’s something wrong here…something dark.”
“Exactly. But how can we get out?” She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. “Because we really need to, Rone—need to get out of here.”
“I know, baby.” Without thinking about it, he put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close for comfort, just as he’d done so many times in their years together.
At first, Kate stiffened against him. Then, slowly, she began to relax and let herself melt against him.
“Hey,” she murmured after a moment. “The couch is actually supporting us.”
It was. They were leaning against the front of it and it was holding their weight—probably because they were touching. It gave Rone an idea.
“Why don’t we finish sleeping here?” he suggested. “It doesn’t require as much physical contact.”
“It’s so small though,” Kate objected. “We’d never be able to stretch out—well, you wouldn’t anyway.”
“That’s the idea,” Rone pointed out. “We can’t get into too much trouble if we’re all cramped up.” He hoped not, anyway.
“Well…” Kate looked at him doubtfully. “I guess it’s worth a try.”
Rone got the spread from the bed and draped it over the small couch. Then, with a little maneuvering, he managed to get on the couch with one foot on the floor and Kate between his legs, leaning against his chest. It wasn’t very comfortable and he hung off on both ends but after propping a pillow under his neck, he was able to find a position he thought he could sleep in.
Kate seemed a little more doubtful, though.
“Remind me again how this is any better than the bed?” she asked, leaning against his chest while trying to avoid his crotch. He was still only wearing a towel since there was no other clothing to be found anywhere in the apartment. At least his shaft had gone down but Rone had to admit he could feel it twitching, threatening to get hard again now that he had Kate in such close proximity.
“It’ll be okay,” he tried to reassure her. “I won’t hurt you, baby. You’re safe here with me.” He hoped.
“All right.” She looked down at the growing bulge under his towel. “Um, is that going to be a problem?”
“Not a bit,” Rone promised her, even though he could feel the Beast stirring uneasily inside him. “It’s just a natural reaction to having you so close, that’s all.”
“So…just having me near you, having me touch you, even in a non-sexual way, makes you, uh, hard?” She looked at him, her cheeks pink with a blush.
He shrugged. “Sorry, can’t help it.”
“But, is that the way it always is? The way it always was, between us, I mean?”
“Probably at least ninety percent of the time.” He shrugged. “What can I say? You turn me on.”
“So, let me get this straight—you walked around with blue balls for ninety percent of your life since you met me?” she demanded.
“Well, not exactly…” Rone shifted uncomfortably.
“Why? Were we constantly making love?” Kate wanted to know. “I mean like, five or six or seven times a day or something?”
“We usually made love at least once a day,” Rone said reluctantly. He was uncomfortable discussing this with her, knowing how she would feel about hearing the truth.
“Okay, but what about the rest of the time?” she asked. “I mean, I’ve seen how you…how you don’t, uh, go down even after you come. I mean your…your shaft doesn’t.” She motioned again at the white towel covering his crotch. “I can’t believe that once a day was doing it for you. Unless you were constantly sneaking off to the bathroom to, uh, take care of yourself?”
“No…” Rone sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He would have to tell her—at least a little. “The rest of the time you let me taste you. Remember I told you we had a kind of schedule we followed?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Yes, but that would be you taking care of me.”
“No—that was me taking care of both of us.” Or all three of us if you count my Beast. But he wasn’t about to bring the unquiet third party into the conversation. It would cause more questions than he could answer.
Kate frowned. “I don’t understand. How could you, uh,
going down on me help you with your problem?”
“I almost always come when you come,” Rone said simply. “When I’m tasting you, I mean.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “Without any other, uh, stimulation?”
“What other stimulation do I need besides being on my knees before you with my face buried between your legs, lapping your sweet cunt?” Rone murmured, looking at her. “What could possibly be more stimulating than hearing you moan my name while you pull my hair as I taste your honey?”
“Rone!” Her eyes got even wider and he could feel her breathing quicken. “You know I don’t…don’t want to do that.”
“I know.” He sighed tiredly. “I wish I knew why.”
Her face got a guarded expression.
“That’s private. Very private. I really don’t want to discuss it.”
“You never did in the past either,” he murmured, stroking a long red curl out of her eyes. “But I always wanted to know. Wished I knew what made you so wary of letting a male taste your pussy.”
“I think we should try to get some sleep.” Kate turned over carefully, so that his shaft, still covered by the towel, was at her back. This meant her head was resting on Rone’s lower belly which didn’t help the situation developing under the towel any. Still, he took a deep breath and told himself to just deal with it. Kate would come around in time.
Probably.
The lights went out again with absolutely no warning and they were plunged into darkness. Apparently their middle of the night adventure was over—it was time to sleep once more.
Chapter Nineteen
“Up and on your feet, you pathetic maggots.”
The ringing voice in her ear made Kate jump up in a blind panic, pulling the sheet tight around her. She heard a shout and a thump from behind her and realized, too late, that Rone had fallen through the couch they had been sleeping on the minute she jumped up. Looking over, she saw him sitting in front of the couch and rubbing his head.
“Sorry,” she said apologetically. “I just—that voice—it startled me.”
“Yeah, I heard it too.” He craned his neck, peering around. “Where did it come from, anyway?”
“I am speaking to you from everywhere and nowhere,” the disembodied voice said, loudly enough to make Kate jump again.
“Madam Shadow?” she asked, frowning.
“Yes, you have the pleasure of addressing the Madam of Shadows,” the sneering, haughty voice replied. “Now listen—putting you together has not had the desired effect. You are still out of harmony with each other.”
“If you think that just forcing us to…to touch each other all the time will solve all our problems you’ve got a lot of wrong ideas in your head,” Kate snapped.
“On the contrary, my dear, that is exactly what will solve your problems and bring the two of you back into harmony,” the Madam of Shadows said. “But clearly you cannot be trusted to do what needs to be done yourselves.”
“All we want to do is get out of here,” Rone said, looking up at the domed ceiling. “You’ve rid Kate of the fear toxins and we’re very grateful for that but we can take it from here.”
“Rone is right—we think it’s time to leave,” Kate chimed in.
Soft, malevolent laughter filled the air around them.
“Do you think it is that easy, my darlings? Do you think that once you have committed yourselves to the Shadow you can simply leave at any time you wish to? I think not.”
“You can’t hold us here against our will,” Rone growled.
“Oh no?” She laughed again. “Read the contract the two of you signed in your own blood. I can hold the two of you here until I consider your relationship healed—and it most certainly is not healed yet.”
“We’re paying customers,” Kate insisted. “Or anyway, the Kindred High Council is paying and we want to go now.”
“Exactly—they are paying for Flame and Frost to restore the two of you to your previous harmonious relationship,” Madam Shadow snapped. “Which has not yet been done. I intend to see that you are restored no matter what it takes.”
“But—” Kate began.
“So after you have had your breakfast and put on the clothing provided for you, I will be coming to escort you to our exercise suite,” Madam Shadow went on, ignoring her.
“Exercise? What kind of exercise?” Rone asked suspiciously.
“Just some harmony building exercises, my dear Warrior, nothing to be concerned about,” the Madam said breezily. “Now hurry up! I will be coming to collect the two of you very soon.” There was a soft clicking noise and the voice fell silent.
Kate looked at Rone.
“What should we do? Should we go with her?” she asked in a low voice.
He frowned. “Come closer—I wish we still had our link so we could communicate without speaking out loud.”
“You think she’s listening?” Kate murmured, taking a step towards him.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. Let’s just keep our voices down.”
“So what are we going to do?” Kate breathed. “I vote for trying to get out of here.”
“I suppose we could just run like the Seven Hells the minute she opens the door to this damned place,” Rone murmured.
“They’re probably prepared for that, though,” Kate pointed out. “I bet a lot of people want to get out of here once they find out what they’ve gotten themselves into.”
“True.” He nodded. “Okay, I say we go with her—for now. But if we see a chance to make a break for it, we take it. And once we’re out of this room, I don’t want to be forced back inside it.”
“I agree.” Kate shivered. “I don’t want to spend another night here. I want to go back to our ship.”
For some reason, Rone smiled at her.
“What?” she asked, putting a hand on her hip. “Did I say something funny?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I just like how you said ‘our’ ship. It’s nice to hear you talking about it like you belong there—because you do.”
Kate sighed and took a step back from him. “Honestly right now, I don’t know where I belong. I only know it isn’t here.”
“I’ll second that. Come on—let’s go get dressed.”
“You want some breakfast first?” Kate asked, speaking in a normal tone now. “Personally, I never want anything before eleven AM but—”
“Green tea. I know—I think I saw some in the cabinet,” Rone said.
“Oh—where?” Kate was already digging through the cabinets and soon enough she saw it—the Green Genmaicha tea that was her favorite breakfast. It had roasted rice kernels in it that made it taste nutty and rich—almost like the Cream of Wheat hot breakfast cereal her mom had made her growing up. That was probably why she liked it so much—but unfortunately, just now it was out of reach. The familiar round tin sat on the highest shelf, about a foot higher than her seeking fingertips.
“Here, let me.” Rone came and stood right behind her, reaching up to get the round tea tin with ease. “Here, you go,” he rumbled, holding it out to her.
“Oh…thank you.” Kate turned around to take it and found they were face to face or rather face to chest, since he was so much taller than her. But he was leaning down to look at her and his mouth was in easy reach—close enough to kiss.
“No problem, Lalli,” he murmured.
Despite all the intimate situations they’d been put in during their brief visit to Flame and Frost, Kate still felt her cheeks getting hot and her breath coming short. Damn it, why did the big Kindred have such an immediate and intense effect on her?
“Uh…” She tried to laugh in order to lighten the tension. “So is this our normal morning routine at home? I mean, literally falling out of bed and then me making tea?”
“No. Normally I wake you up with my tongue buried between your thighs,” he said softly, his eyes flashing. “After that, we get up and have breakfast and start our day.”
“Rone…” Her heart
started slamming against her chest again. I don’t like that. I don’t want to do that, she told herself. Not after what happened in college… But if that was the truth why were her nipples so hard under the sheet she was still wearing wrapped around her? And why did her pussy suddenly feel so hot and sensitive?
“Sorry.” He shrugged and gave her a lazy grin. “You asked what our morning routine was. I always kissed you awake—the same way I kissed you to sleep at night.”
“I…I don’t see how I could possibly go to sleep if you were, uh, kissing me there.” Kate clutched the tea tin to her chest protectively, feeling her cheeks get even hotter.
“Well, you wouldn’t be sleepy at first,” he murmured. “But after I made you come two or three times with my mouth, you’d start to relax and your eyelids would get heavy.” He sighed. “Gods, I miss that—lying there between your legs, cleaning away all your honey with long, slow licks of my tongue as you drifted off to sleep.”
Kate tried to imagine feeling comfortable enough to just lie there in bed and let him lick her while she went to sleep and couldn’t. Just the thought of having him there, between her thighs, made her feel so tense she could barely breathe.
“I…I just d-don’t know,” she stuttered.
“Don’t believe me? Here.” Rone took her hand and brought it up to the side of his face. She could feel the rough scratch of his whiskers against her palm and the softness of his black hair. “Read me. Use your Knowing to see the truth of what I’m telling you,” he urged.
“I…I shouldn’t.” But Kate found she couldn’t move her hand.
Suddenly an image filled her mind…
She was back in the bedroom of the ship they shared, watching a vision of herself in the past. The past Kate was sitting at the head of the bed, wearing a short white lace nighty and reading a book. Just then, Rone came into the room wearing a pair of sleep trousers and nothing else. His broad, muscular chest looked smooth and hard and inviting. Kate immediately wanted to run her hands all over him—to touch him and feel connected to him.
No, she told herself uneasily. That may be how I felt then but I don’t feel that way now. Do I?
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