CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
We fell asleep entwined together. After a few, sensual hours of consummating, we sank into the comfort of a perfect moment. No nightmares beckoned. No nocturnal visits from Tham. No invasion of the bitch Queen.
The night remained ours and ours alone.
In the dim light of pre-dawn, I rolled over and found Rowan’s body in the sheets. He was warm and willing, hardening almost instantly to my touch. A deep inhale raised his broad, landscaped chest as I crawled across him and tugged the sheet lower.
“What are you up to, Trouble?” Rowan asked, his voice graveled and tired.
“Mischief,” I said, biting my bottom lip and eyeing the beautiful plains and ridges of his naked body. “You just lie back and relax. I’ll take care of everything.”
A throaty chuckle escaped his chest as I continued my descent. While my fingers explored, I circled his nipple with my tongue, then nipped my way down his pec and over his tight abs. He groaned when I got to his navel, his hips undulating toward me, his erection pulsing for attention. A crystal tear appeared at the tip. Gods, I could taste him already. With a slow, firm hand I stroked him once from crest to base and took him into my mouth.
He gasped, his body tensing like he’d been electrocuted. He was hot. He was huge. And he was mine.
While he settled, I started with a slow up and down. He shifted his hips and widened his knees. I took advantage of the space, cradling his weighted sac in my palm. He was flawless. Perfection, from his wide shoulders, to the sexy indents of his hips, to his long-muscled legs dappled with silky brown hair.
“You have the sweetest tongue,” he growled. I closed my eyes, absorbing every twinge and tightening of his muscles, every quake of pleasure, and every breath that tore from his lips. “You should have warned me, that being with you would steal my very sanity.”
I laughed and his hips jolted again. He had treated me with such exquisite care over the past hours, passionate but gentle, every moment about me, about my pleasure, about letting me take what I wanted. This morning, I wanted the same for him.
Strong hands squeezed my shoulders and tugged me upward. “Give me your mouth, wife,” he whispered pulling me up to his lips.
It took all my willpower to give up my hold on him, but this was his moment after all. Heat pounded through my veins as I ran my hands up his ribs. In one smooth motion, I straddled his hips and took him inside me. Both of us groaned as I sat back and he sank deep into my core.
“Kiss me, Lexi, before I lose my mind.”
Leaning forward, yielded to his request. With a thrust of his hips, he pushed in further and I caught myself with my palms on the mattress. A stinging pleasure lit off inside me and almost distracted me from my goal. “Oh, no, Doc. This one’s about you. Now behave.”
Our gaze locked just inches apart and he stared back at me. Rowan was power and tenderness, strength and reserve. He’d seen my best and my worst, and loved me anyway—maybe even loved me because of it.
His lips met mine with possession, his hands tightening in my hair. With every push and pull, I grew hotter. And so did he. Within moments, lightning was gathering in my core and I pulled back to focus.
His hips undulated in a slow rise and fall beneath me. Using the spasms of his muscles beneath my fingers as my guide, I rode him out, tormenting him when he came close, suspending his release. “The longer you burn, the more you’ll combust when the time comes.”
He chuckled and his erection surged inside of me. The sensation was wickedly peculiar. “You’re a cruel, cruel woman, you know that. But I love you.”
“I love you too.” Reality hit me then. What if this was our last time together? What if the guards came and killed us both . . . or worse, just him. Tears pooled.
“Don’t think about it, baby,” he whispered against my mouth. “Stay with me. Right here. Stay with me.” With a soft curse, he pulled me against his chest and rolled us over. Face-to-face, with his weight between my legs, he took control. As he stared down at me, his expression held an intense mixture of love, fear, strength, sadness. . . .
His eyes rolled closed and his pace picked up. The rhythmic shift of the bed grew louder. The friction of skin-on-skin grew hotter. His breath came in short, tight bursts and then as he pounded harder, faster, he stopped breathing altogether.
I moaned as the veins popped at the sides of his neck and he threw his head back. The cry of pleasure was like nothing I’d heard before and it filled me with such a sense of satisfaction that I was lost.
Release washed over the both of us. Not the earthquakes of the past hours. Not the sex with a purpose, desperate to hang on to each other when the time was fast approaching to tear us apart. No. This was languid, hot and luscious.
This was making love.
When it was over, I laid on my side looking at our candle and Rowan curled his massive body around me. After the blood bonding, we’d opted to do the candle tradition too. The two of us lit individual candles and used the flames to light a bigger, sturdier candle together.
Neither one of us had wanted to blow the thing out last night, so it burned on. His arm draped heavy over my side and his palm stroked my chest and settled against the mattress, cupping my breast. “What are you thinking, Trouble?”
I kissed the mound of his bicep where it rested under my cheek. “That you’re the first man to ever make love to me.”
“I am, am I?” His voice was breathless, but that didn’t hide his skepticism.
I frowned, wishing I could read his face. Without turning, I sensed him wanting to say something more, but hesitating. It was the same awkward tension that had come between us so many times before and it made me twitchy.
“I didn’t say you were my first in bed, just that you are the first to truly make love to me.”
He gave me a squeeze. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m . . . honored.”
The apology was worse than the doubt. “Forget I said anything.”
We laid there and suddenly, I was thankful to be facing the candle instead of him. I wanted to get up and head to the bathroom. I wanted to put my clothes back on because I was feeling waaay too naked.
He pulled me tighter as if he knew I was about to bolt. “I honestly didn’t mean to ruin what you said. I am honored. It’s just . . . I was in your bathroom when you tended to Tham. I saw the way you bathed him. You were so gentle and so familiar. You said you were just friends, but you loved him, I know you did. And the way he looked at you before he died . . . I just thought he would have been—” He sighed. “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”
I sat up, not sure if I was angry at Rowan or at the fact that Tham never got to have share himself with someone. “Don’t be stupid.”
“Stupid? How am I stupid? I was trying to be accepting of your sexual relationship with another man.”
“I told you. Highbornes only have intercourse with their mates and then are paired for life. Neither of us wanted long-term. We fooled around, but nothing beyond that.”
I resisted the urge to stomp away. Locked in the darkness, skin touching, with only the sound of our breathing breaking the silence, I reined in my I-am-an-island instincts. “You were stupid because you said it’s none of your business. I’m your wife. If you have questions, you should ask them. I want you to ask them.”
He sighed. “It’s not so much questions as me not wanting to compete with a ghost.”
I shivered, thinking how close he was to the truth. How many times had I thought about telling him about Tham coming to me in my dreams? Whether it was real or not, Rowan would think I was clinging to a lost love and doubt his place in my heart. He wouldn’t understand and I wouldn’t risk hurting him like that.
“Tham was a handsome man,” he said, his breath brushing my cheek. “He was obviously crazy about you. And the way the two of you connected. . .”
Despite the heat of our combined bodies, my shiver grew into a chill. I grabbed his jaw and leaned close. “You aren’t competing with anyone. I’m yours, right? Tham was a huge part of my life the past few months. I’ll miss him forever but there was nothing romantic going on, not in the bedroom and not emotionally either.”
He threw back the sheets and launched off the bed. “Forget I said anything.”
I untangled my foot from the bedding and followed. “No. I want to hear it. This relationship is a first for me. I want to be part of what you’re thinking.”
He scrubbed the back of his neck, the long elegant lines of his body flexing as he moved. “I’m thinking that with the past four years and what you know about me . . . you’ll realize you regret marrying me and move on.”
The air froze in my lungs. “I’m not going anywhere.” Hopefully. My heart sank as I had to amend that. “As long as I have a choice, you’re stuck with me . . . but, if you’re having second thoughts that’s a totally different.”
His stare pegged me with all kinds of WTF. “No. None.”
I nodded, crossing my arms over my bare chest. “Fine then, we’re happily married.”
“Yeah . . . fine.” Turning his back, he strode to the bar and grabbed a glass. Reaching down to the center cabinet he opened the small fridge and grabbed a bottle of juice. When he slammed the thing shut the door next to it swung open.
Shit. Rowan moved to close the door to the camera equipment and froze. His body tensed, the muscles in his shoulders tightening with an unnatural stillness. “Lexi, before you declare your loyalty to this marriage, there’s something you should know . . . that your mother might use to hurt us.”
“I know about the tapes.”
He straightened. “How?”
My mind spun faster than I could think. The truth was ugly. It would make him feel worse about himself. Lying wasn’t really the best answer. Distraction wasn’t going to—
“Answer me, Lexi,” he growled.
My head snapped up at his command and he had the good sense to flush.
“I’m sorry.” He blew a long breath out and when he spoke again, his voice was tense but calmer. “What do you know of the tapes the Queen makes?”
I cursed, deciding to go with the truth. “Zale tried to get under my skin by showing me one of the two of you yesterday afternoon.”
“Bullshit. The Queen hasn’t . . . nothing’s happened since the night we got back from laying Tham to rest in the Earth ring. I swear. I haven’t been with her since you and I—”
I lifted my finger to my cheek and tapped below my eye. “I knew it was an old recording. You didn’t have a shiner. Besides, nothing they do changes how I feel about—”
The beep of a keycard swiping through the hall scanner had Rowan shoving me into the bathroom. “Stay here.”
Stay here? Staring at my tousled, bejeweled reflection I realized those might be the last words my husband ever spoke to me. Was that our goodbye? Would our final moments be us fighting about sex recordings and him being the Queen’s plaything?
The muffle of male voices in the next room had me gripping the door handle. Morning inspection. There were three, I thought, and someone was coming toward the door. Shit. I was naked and supposed to be his sister.
“My sister—”
“Is in the shower. Yeah, I heard you. Nothing I haven’t seen before.”
I grabbed a towel and bent at the waist, twisting my hair until the black was covered. The tail of the fabric fell over my shoulder as I tucked the second towel around my body. Elani and I were similar in size and sadly, build. Maybe, if the Fates were busy screwing someone else’s life I might get away with impersonating—
The door bumped me in the ass as the Strati stepped in. I dropped my gaze and assumed a submissive pose.
“Elani,” Rowan choked. “The soldiers are here to reset your collar.”
I shifted my rounded shoulders like Elani did and gave the soldier access. While he opened the clasp to the controls of the collar, I adjusted the tail of my terry turban hiding the pattern of jewels smattering down my neck and collarbone. I didn’t dare breathe. My eyes were locked on the thighs of the soldier. If he saw my purple pupils he’d know who I was.
At first, he seemed oblivious to me, inserting a miniature USB thing into the neck piece. When that beeped, he closed the clasp and I prayed that would be the end of it. But no. As he moved behind me, he gripped the towel at my hips and pushed me up against the counter. Before I could turn he swung the door shut and closed us in together.
Rowan cursed and by the muffled scuffle and thud going down on the other side of the door, the other Strati was dealing with Rowan’s protests. My heart skipped a beat then kicked into high gear. Should I fight back and expose us? Could we still get away with him thinking I was Elani?
A meaty hand grabbed at the tuck of my towel and I raised my hand to stop him. He was ready for me, capturing my wrist and pulling it behind my back. “Feeling feisty today are you, little girl?”
I drew a deep breath through my nose and kept my head down. Raised voices bled through the door. Rowan was about to lose his shit. I had to make a decision here, one way or the other. When fingers slid under the hem of my towel and grabbed my bare crotch I snapped.
Spinning around with my elbow I caught the bastard in the temple. The force of my blow sent him into the wall and I swept his supporting foot. As he ass-planted on the tile floor I plowed him one in the face.
Dazed, he scrambled to block my fists.
“Fuck you,” I growled, pulling my fist back for one more strike. “Not used to little girls fighting back are you, big man?” The fire in my gut ignited and it felt so good to let that shit fly. I lost track of the pummeling I gave him, but when I was done, I picked the blood splattered towel off the bathroom floor and tossed it over the piece of shit. That taken care of, I grabbed a fresh towel to wrap around myself and snagged big man’s pain stick.
One down, three hundred to go.
It took a bit to cover my hair again and give myself a quick rinse off. I moved as quickly as I could. After the scuffle in the bedroom, it had gotten far too quiet out there. I needed to get to Rowan, but if everything was cool, I didn’t want to tip our hand either.
Opening the door only enough to slip through, I closed it behind me.
“Done so soon—” The other soldier was pouring himself a drink at the bar.
I kept my gaze down but found Rowan sitting by the fire in his boxers, looking like he was fighting not to explode. He had a split lip to go with his shiner and didn’t that make my blood boil. His gaze locked with mine and I nodded.
S’all good, Doc. Stay cool. I got this.
The soldier realized something was wrong almost instantly. The energy in the air changed and everything slipped into a slow-mo action sequence like in the movies. His glass slid onto the top of the buffet with a dull thud and I curled my fingers tight around the leather grip of the Strati weapon hidden behind my thigh.
His fingers edged toward his hip. “Where’s. . . ?”
In one powerful surge, I sprang the distance and engaged. When you’re light on steel, there’s nothing like the advantage of a surprise attack. I took him to the floor with a flying tackle, catching him around the neck and shoulder and wrenching him around like a pretzel. We landed hard, his considerable weight more than double mine. My hip screamed like a bitch. He managed a solid hit to my gut, but even as the air punched out of my lungs I smiled.
Gods, I love a good fight.
The combination of my strength and him underestimating me from the get-go—probably thinking I was Elani—made it possible to deliver a paralyzing blow before he even clued in he was about to be expired.
Straightening over the body, I felt Rowan’s gaze burning into my spine. Damn. He’d never seen me in action before. Would he be horrified that his wife was a killer? As the silence droned on, I took a long inhale and gathered my shit. After I reclaimed my towel I pivoted and met his stare. He was focused, his eyes peeled wide.
“Are you okay?” I asked, raising my palms to him. I stood my ground, giving him a minute to see that I was still me. Lexi. His wife. “I’m sorry. Sometimes when I work, I get—”
“Don’t you dare apologize,” he said. “You told me you were a warrior. You said you could take care of yourself, but I had no idea. I never imagined.”
“Is that good or bad?”
With his gaze locked on me, he rose up and stalked forward. “You amaze me. More every moment.”
I exhaled the breath frozen in my chest and stepped into his arms. “How’s your lip?” I gave his face a gentle prod and he shook his head.
“Please don’t think I’m useless.”
I eased back to see him better. “Why would I think that?”
“Both times we’ve faced trouble, I’ve done nothing to help you.” He stepped back and gripped my shoulders, looking serious. “I swear, I can hold my own. I’m not a coward. I want you to know that. I was just trying to keep you safe.”
“Whether you can fight or not, I don’t care—”
“I can fight,” he said. His grip on my shoulders was getting painful and I understood why. I grew up with warriors. It was the universal law of cock and balls: Men protect their women.
I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed his lips. “Let’s get cleaned up. If we’re taking down my mother, we need ammunition.”