Page 20 of Shadows of the Lost Relic (Vanguard of the Ancients #1)

Chapter 20

Kane

K issing Lyra hadn’t been on my list of things to do today. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. It was always on my list of things to do. I didn’t think it would actually happen, though. Maybe my day was starting to look up. It was about time I caught a break. We could all use one, really.

The way she smiled at me when I told her not to apologize had me kissing her again, pulling her in close. Her purple hair felt good between my fingers. I wanted to tug on it, but also didn’t want to take things too fast. This was a first kiss, and I needed to do it right, needed to make sure there were going to be many more to come. Though by the way she had her fingers tangled in my shirt, I wasn’t too worried about it.

My thumb stroked back and forth across her cheek as I pulled back from the kiss, leaning my forehead against hers. I wanted to just dwell in this moment, live here forever. Forget the Shadowborn, forget the prophecies. Forget all of it. We could be happy here, if we let ourselves.

But while I could shape reality, stopping time was outside of my reach. I heard her sigh, but before she could say anything, I pressed another kiss to her lips. This one was softer, chaste. A way to silence her for another few seconds.

Not wanting her to ruin things before they got good, I spoke before she could. “I mean it, princess. Don’t apologize. Fate wouldn’t have let you do anything it didn’t want you to.” That’s something my brothers didn’t like to admit. Sure, we could manipulate fate, but if you tried to push things too far in a direction they weren’t supposed to go, fate would always find some way to correct it.

She still looked like she wanted to argue with me, so I kissed her again. Another short, sweet kiss. This was a good way to keep her from arguing with me, to keep her from ruining what could be a fun evening. Didn’t we both deserve a fun evening?

“I’m not mad, princess, I promise. You saved my life. I don’t care how you did it. I like being alive. Who would flirt with you if I wasn’t here?” When she laughed, it felt like my heart was soaring. “I knew you liked it when I flirted with you. The lady was protesting too much.”

I didn’t let her playful shove shift me too far. It was good to see her smiling; she didn’t do it enough. It wasn’t just everything hanging over our heads. Prophecies and artifacts and the world being in danger. Even before all of that, she hadn’t been quick to smile. A sarcastic smirk was something she wore like a second skin. She had a beautiful smile, and I wanted to see it more often. I wanted to see it all the time.

As she tried to playfully shove me, I let my hands slide to her elbows, and then I tugged her with me, pulling her off-balance as I laid back on the couch. She ended up sprawled against my chest, half over my lap. She looked good draped over me. Leaning my head down, I kissed her again. I didn’t want her to get up, so my hands shifted to her waist, pulling her tighter against me. Sure, I was using kisses as a distraction, but it was such a good one.

I meant what I said to her. I was glad to be alive. I would take it over being dead any day. And being bound to her wasn’t a terrible thing. It could have been a lot worse. This way, she would never be rid of me. And she was just as bound to Evan as she was to me.

Her dark eyes were looking up at me, still filled with doubt. I cupped her cheeks in with my hands, pressing a long, lingering kiss to her lips until I felt some of the tension seep out of her body. She was carrying so much of it. We all were. There had barely been time to breathe between problems, let alone relax.

I was determined to change that.

Hooking my leg around the back of her knee, I flipped her, careful to keep my arms around her so she didn’t fall off the couch. I grinned down at her, settling between her lovely thighs.

“We can’t just avoid talking about our problems, Kane.” She didn’t sound like she believed what she was saying. She also hadn’t told me to stop, so I rocked my hips, grinning at the soft little sound she made.

“We already talked about them, princess. You tried to apologize. I told you there was no need. You fretted about the future, and I assured you everything is going to be fine. Now, the only thing I want to hear coming out of your mouth is my name. I will also accept crying out to God or begging for more.”

Even though her cheeks were pink, there was fire burning in her eyes. She wasn’t going to back down from a challenge like this. I could feel it igniting the warmth in my veins.

Leaning down, I kissed her again, but this kiss was different. I wasn’t trying to keep her quiet, and I wasn’t trying to show her I wasn’t angry. This kiss was more. It was communication, and she answered everything I had to say. The feeling of her hand in my hair, the other one grabbing my ass, was sending messages I was picking up clearly.

I rocked my hips again, wanting to hear that soft sound she made, and she didn’t disappoint. I could stay here forever, listening to her make that sound. But it had me curious what other sounds I could get her to make. I trailed kisses down her throat, smirking against her skin as she tilted her head back, stretching out beneath me like a cat. The contented hum in her throat could even be considered a purr.

Her shirt was in the way of me moving any further down. As much as I wanted it off, we were still in the living room, and my brothers could walk in at any moment. It wouldn’t be the first time they walked in on me with someone, but I didn’t want them to kill the mood. Reluctantly, I pushed upwards on my hands, like I was doing a pushup, before getting to my feet. The look of disappointment on Lyra’s face had me questioning my decision, but we needed to move.

“Come on, princess. Could you imagine if Theo caught us at it on the couch where he drinks his morning coffee? He would have us both running laps before sunrise every morning for a week.” The joke helped soften her expression, and she got to her feet, trying to fix her shirt where I had messed it up.

Grabbing her arm, I pulled her closer, my hands sliding down to her waist, and then around to grab her ass, lifting her up. My girl learned quickly, a gorgeous grin settling on her mouth as she wrapped her legs around my waist.

“Now you’re getting the idea.” I kissed her again before she could answer me. It really was a great way to keep her from sassing me back. I carried her toward my room, glad I had been too lazy to close the door earlier. I kicked it closed behind me with my foot as she kissed me over and over, those magic hands of hers in my hair, making me want to do more than just hold her against me.

We were both wearing too much clothing. I pulled back from the kiss, grinning as she gave me another one of those adorable little whimpers. “Always so quick to be disappointed, princess. I was going to suggest we get you out of those uncomfortable clothes.”

For all of her protests about my flirting with her, the way I joked around when we were training, she was enjoying it now. There was one more quick kiss before she pulled her shirt over her head, her black sports bra still hiding those perfect tits from me. Wanting to encourage her to take more off, I held her up with one hand under her ass, the other hand reaching behind my head to pull off my shirt and toss it to the floor. She was holding herself up with the grip she had around my waist, but I didn’t want to risk dropping her and ruining the mood.

I had never been gladder for the tattoos my brothers and I had gotten to celebrate our first mission together than I was now. Lyra’s fingers tracing the red threads that were randomly painted across my arms and shoulders felt like heaven. I had all kinds of plans to have her trace all of them later, maybe afterwards, when we were laying in my bed, basking in the afterglow. Right now, though, there were more important things.

Not wanting to put her down, I pressed her against the wall. It made it easier to lean in and trail kisses down her neck again. She was the one rocking her hips now, drawing noises out of me. Little minx was testing my patience, but two could play at that game. When she rocked her hips again, I slid the hand under her ass further across, so she rocked back against my fingers. The groan that tore through her had me grinning against her skin.

She didn’t let me get away with it for long, though, and she nipped at my shoulder with her teeth. Fuck, I hadn’t been expecting that. I brought my knee up against the wall, dropping her just an inch so she was pressed against it. I swallowed up her curse words as she rolled her hips and slid my hands up her ribs. That fucking sports bra. There was no way I could rip it, so I had to lean back, keeping my knee firmly pressed between her thighs as I pulled the offending garment over her head, further mussing her purple hair.

She really was perfect.

I leaned down and captured a nipple between my teeth, biting down just hard enough to hear her cry out and feel her tug on my hair. I wasn’t letting go, though. My tongue flicked across the bud, feeling it harden as I sucked and teased. Only when I was sure I had given it enough attention did I switch to the other one.

I was getting more than sounds from Lyra now. Words, nonsensical sentences, begging, and even trying to boss me around. The last one had me pressing her harder against the wall, my arms on either side of her, crowding her against it. She wasn’t in control right now.

Of course, all of my determination came undone with a particularly needy whimper.

I had to pull my knee back to get out of my jeans and get her out of her pants. I had to. I picked her up off my thigh and set her down on her feet. A hard kiss, my tongue plundering her mouth, kept her from complaining or cursing. When she felt me undoing my jeans, she got on board with what I was doing, and wiggled out of her yoga pants. I was glad she left her panties for me.

With no warning, I gripped one side of them, tearing them and pulling them free before tossing them clear across the room. I didn’t want her looking for them later—I needed a memento of this moment. She bit my tongue in retaliation, but it was worth it.

Picking her up again, I pressed her back against the wall, grinding against her. It was all the invitation she needed to wrap her legs around me, the wet heat of her pussy rubbing blissfully against the underside of my cock. My hands on her ass helped lift her a little so I could rub the head of my cock against her clit before I slowly pulled her down onto my length.

Did I mention she was perfect?

We weren’t kissing any more, panting into each other’s mouth, sharing breath as she took each inch of me. Her heels dug into my ass, her hands clinging to my shoulders as I filled her. All the trouble, the stress, the thoughts about dying, all of it was gone, and she was all that was left behind.

I didn’t want to stop kissing her as I thrust into her over and over. I didn’t want to pull away. It was hard enough to pull out of her perfect, grasping pussy each time, and I was only able to do it because each thrust in was like lighting a live wire down my spine.

My hand slid from her ass to her thigh, hitching her leg higher, swallowing the whimper she gave as I did. We were moving together, climbing higher and higher, and I never wanted it to end.

The angle had her clit rubbing against me every time I bottomed out inside her, which was good because I didn’t think I could get a hand between us. When her pussy started to flutter and clench, my knees almost gave out, and the hand that wasn’t holding her thigh slammed into the wall beside her head, holding both of us up.

My thrusts became shorter, sharper, hammering into her like I never wanted to leave. Her mewls became cries, fingers digging into my back, urging me on. Her thighs clenched around my waist, locking me in against her, her teeth digging into my lip as she hit her peak, and it was all I could do to ride through it with her.

It was only when I felt her relax again that I chased my pleasure, slamming her against the wall as I took her hard, sinking as deep as I could until my orgasm was ripped from me with a deep, primal groan as I filled her.

She was limp, languid against me as I finished, grinding against her one last time to make sure she would feel me as deeply inside her as I could get before I pulled her away from the wall. Thankfully, it was only a few steps to my bed, as I wasn’t sure my legs would let me carry her far.

I laid her down, smiling at the tired, adorable look on her face and the grabby hands she made as I pulled away. The whine she gave me as I disappeared into the bathroom almost dragged me back instantly, but I wouldn’t have it be said I didn’t take care of her.

Bringing back a warm, damp towel, I gently helped clean her up, taking the chance to steal another kiss. Unwilling to be far from her again, the towel joined the collection of clothes on the floor, and I slid into bed next to her, wrapping my arms around her and closing my eyes as I sighed, contented and relaxed for the first time in far too long.