Page 34

The rest of the journey passed in silence. I stared out of the window, watching the rain fall steadily, conscious of Kara beside me. She seemed very happy to offer our resident assassin my spot on the sofa. Maybe I could shift some of the gym gear in the second room and make a bed in there.

“We should probably get you a guest pass,” Kara mused as we walked into the lobby. We veered toward the concierge desk, where she spoke to the man on duty.

“Of course, Miss Halden.” As suited such an establishment, his expression remained perfectly professional as he handed over a card, but he looked at each of the beautiful women in turn, then glanced pointedly at me.

I ignored him, heading off toward the elevators, the girls following.

“Plenty of space,” Iyoni said when we reached Kara’s apartment. “This blanket will do me just fine, if that’s all right?”

“Of course,” Kara said quickly, avoiding my eyes.

Iyoni dropped her bag beside the sofa I’d been using to sleep on, then pulled off her white leather jacket. She paused, glancing between us. “I appreciate how unusual this may seem to you both, but please, just carry on like I’m not here. I’ll be as unobtrusive as possible.”

“Wouldn’t hear of it,” Kara replied, giving her a smile brighter than the ones I received in the first few hours of our acquaintance. “You’re an honored guest. Why don’t we order some takeout, and watch a movie?”

“Sounds great,” Iyoni said, flopping onto the sofa with casual grace.

“Xan, can I talk to you in our room?”

“Uh-huh.” I followed her in.

“We need to put on a show for Iyoni,” she said, as soon as the door was closed.

I crossed my arms. “Meaning?”

“You know what warlocks do with their vassals, right?”

“I seem to have missed ancient demonology 101.”

“I told you, Master. They grow their power by …” She hesitated, chewing her lip.

She had alluded to this before. Back in the bar. It felt like a lifetime ago.

“No,” I said. “Not happening. I’ll get some spare sheets and set up in your second bedroom.”

“Why?” she asked, hurt in her eyes. “Why do you keep pushing me away? Have I done something wrong?”

I hesitated, then sighed. “It’s complicated, Kara. Too complicated to bring intimacy into it.”

“What’s complicated? We’re bonded for life. I’m yours, Master.” She took a pace toward me. “I told you already. I want to be yours. Haven’t I shown you that?”

“You have,” I said slowly. “I’ll admit, at first I wasn’t sure, because I thought the bond was fuc—confusing things.

” She started to speak, but I held up a hand, forestalling her.

“I’ve come to terms with it now. And it helped, today, hearing Archon Elaris confirm it.

So I understand that you’re still … you . ”

“I am,” she said, her gaze steady on mine. “I’m still me, and I know what I want.”

“Right,” I said. “But can you see it from my perspective? Since Halloween, I’ve been pushed into ever-tighter spaces. This bond—and I know that’s not fair; if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. Your father. SPAR. The celestials. The list gets weightier with every passing day.”

She turned away, walking across her bedroom, as if deliberately trying to give me space. “You feel trapped.”

“Yes.”

“By me?” Her shoulders tightened as if she held her breath.

Part of me wanted to say yes straight away, but I wasn’t sure it was true any longer. Maybe at first it was, though that wasn’t her fault. She’d gone from being acerbic enough to strip paint, to supporting me without question. With her parents, the journalist, meeting Marlow.

I couldn’t forget the press of her lips during the fight at the docks, or the feel of her ass beneath my hand.

“No,” I said at last. “Not by you.”

Her shoulders sagged as though she’d let out a breath, and she spun to face me, hope in her eyes. “You know I’d do anything for you, don’t you? Anything.”

That was a hell of a lot stronger than I’d expected. “Why?”

She waved a hand, half in frustration, half seeking inspiration.

“You’re the future , Ma—Xan. Not only my future, but the future of—” She stopped, frowned, hissing idiot under her breath.

“Sorry, that’s not it.” Her voice grew stronger, more certain.

“I do like your power, the potential it has, what it can offer both of us. But that’s not the reason.

The truth is, you’re smart, funny—sometimes—and strong.

You stood up to my parents when most would’ve crumbled.

You stood up to Marlow, to the celestials today.

” She paused, lips curving in a wry smile. “Greaves was a dick, wasn’t he?”

“He was.”

“Nice shout on that one. Easy to say no to you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She took a pace toward me. “I don’t want to say no to you. I want you to make me say yes.” Another pace. “Over and over, make me say yes.”

“Iyoni is here,” I said. “It’s a little difficult getting in the mood with an assassin waiting in the wings.”

“She won’t hurt you. Not if she practices what she preaches. You forget—I’m a student of philosophy too. Whatever their grounds for justice, nothing you’ve ever done could be deemed to be evil.”

“Even if you’re right, if we take things to the next step, I want it to be on my terms. Not because we’re forced to, or when we have an audience.”

Kara stopped. Chewed her lip. Glanced away. “Does that mean that if she wasn’t here, you … would?”

I pushed myself off the dresser and walked toward her. “Would what?”

She watched me come, and her voice was barely a whisper. “Would … take me to bed.”

“Before or after you push me for another spanking?”

Her lips curled at the corners. “After, of course.”

I raised a hand to cup her cheek, and she pushed into my palm. “Not a lot of point,” I said. “I can’t hurt you.”

She lowered her eyes. “You could if you borrowed my power.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Fuck yes,” she breathed, and I leaned in and kissed her.

Her mouth opened to me and she pressed herself close with a little whimper, her arms sliding around my neck, pulling me in. Her tongue sought mine, our kiss urgent and born of pent-up frustration—hers and mine both. The line was crossed; we both knew that.

But I broke the kiss and pulled back. She took a moment to steady herself, her hand on my chest, and looked up at me with a question in her eyes.

“I still don’t want to do this with Iyoni listening and judging next door.”

Kara took a steadying breath. “All right. I understand. I’ll wait, I’ll be patient.” Then she smiled, a hint of her craftiness returning. “We still need to put on a show for Iyoni.”

“What did you have in mind?”

Her fist closed in my shirt, tugging me toward her. “You need somewhere to sleep, and my bed is big enough for both of us.”

“Uh-huh.” I glanced at it. It was pretty big. “You want to put us in the same bed, with everything that’s going on and a murderous celestial just outside the door, and expect us to get a good night’s sleep?”

“Yes, I want you in my bed. Tonight and every night.” She licked at her bottom lip. “There’s things I can do that might help you sleep.”

“Tempting though that is, I’m serious. We do this on my terms.”

“Yes, Master ,” she said, putting all the emphasis she could on that word, and this time there was no hint of scorn or venom.

“Behave, Kara.”

She smiled. “I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.”

Shit.

Also, hot.