Page 18

“How is she?” Aodh tipped his chin toward the top of the stairs. Without inspecting the bundle held in the crook of her arm, he knew that the clothing belonged to Kai. He could smell her scent heavy on them. Unable to help himself, he inhaled deeper and bit back a groan.

Tana stopped two steps from the bottom, meeting him at eye level.

“Kai.” She angled her head left and observed him before she went on. “She is still resting.”

“Did she eat?”

“Of course.” She set her free hand on her hip. “It was your request. She did not finish it all. Humans have such small appetites.” She tsked.

“Thank you for assisting her.”

“She is now an extension of you. It is my responsibility.”

Aodh did not address her assumption. Hell, there wasn’t anything he could say to correct her. Placing Kai in his suite announced her position in his life to all.

“I appreciate it anyway.” He started past her.

“One thing, McKenna.”

Aodh turned back to her. With their positions switched, he towered over Tana. He hoped his attendant would not ask him more of the same questions as the Wise Ones and his assembly. He was tired of repeating that he knew his obligation to the Thunder. “Yes?”

“While I cleaned the bathroom, I noticed something.”

Curious, he shifted so he was giving Tana his full attention. He cocked an eyebrow and waited.

“Before I arrived, Kai inadvertently used a lot of the muscle-stimulating powder in her bath.”

“You don’t say?” That bit of information piqued his interest.

“I do. We all know what too much of it can do to a human.”

There had been a couple of instances where a human had been brought to their territory, who became bonded to a Drahk and had used a handful of it and how they responded.

His mind began to play off those memories.

“How much do you think she used?”

“All of it.” Tana turned and left.

Aodh continued up the stairs, his determination stronger than ever.

~YH~

Kai awakened. She was pulled from her sleep by something.

At the moment, her mind was still entangled in sleep’s fog, trying to discern what had drawn her out.

She would be good with another few winks of sleep, even though the profound bone-deep exhaustion she’d felt before was no longer upon her.

She rested on her side, somewhere in the big bed, her body sunk deep into the bedding.

She wasn’t sure all that made it up. But one thing she was sure of was that she had never slept on anything as soft or luxurious as what she was lying upon now.

It felt comfortable. It had been years since she’d rested so well.

As she became more alert, guilt was right there waiting for her. Even during her sleep, her thoughts had not drifted far from Morlie. She wanted to know how her sister was doing and if she was getting better. Was that what woke me?

She lay there momentarily, attempting to acclimate herself to her surroundings.

Eyes closed, she listened. She heard nothing but her soft breathing.

She found the quiet around her unique. The day had started, but she could hear nothing beyond the large, massive window.

It was time for her to rise and greet the day.

That thought made her think about her sister, who could not do the same—more guilt.

Kai exhaled and told herself she’d done everything she could right now.

It was a struggle as she inhaled slowly, trying to persuade her body to get out of bed. She figured it was due to having slept with a full stomach, something she hadn’t had in weeks, maybe months. That satisfaction had aided her in falling into a heavy, exhausted sleep.

She inhaled again, taking a deeper breath. She started to stretch before getting up, but she paused, barely moving, becoming aware of something. Different? Not the heavy, savory aroma of the food she’d eaten.

She was trying to figure out the scent. She recalled that it was in the bedding and around the room.

That scent had calmed her and made her feel safe.

However, now it seemed more potent. Traces of the smell caused her mind to drift and put together an image of something, someone.

If her body had not been at such extreme levels of exhaustion, the delicious scent may have reduced her to a dreamland where her mind would have conjured up fantasies she refused herself when she was awake.

She put a label on the smell: a smoky, sweet cinnamon. So intense.

Her eyes popped open wide. She knew that source.

She remained on her side, not moving a muscle.

Only using her eyes, she peered beyond the edge of the blanket, first to the smooth stone wall, then to the chair she had been in, where she had eaten that sumptuous meal.

Where Aodh had told her his people were some dragon-shifters.

She’d seen more than enough evidence to suggest he was not lying. It was true. Not only from him. But the two females she’d interacted with.

But that chair wasn’t empty. Aodh sat there.

There was no indication of how long he’d been sitting there, staring at her, observing her.

Inside, part of her felt nervous and anxious and creeped out about being monitored while she slept.

It didn’t sit well to have someone staring, taking in so much about her while she slept when she was vulnerable and unguarded.

She pondered silently. Why wasn’t she completely freaked out about having been observed unaware? And she knew the answer. And that answer was loud, bold, and clear, taking over everything inside her. It was because she desired this man—this dragon-shifter.

She didn’t move. Instead, she allowed Aodh to continue to stare at her as she took in the well-defined beauty of his face.

She had never seen anyone such as him. No male in her past had such appeal.

His stubborn, squared jawline was evident even hidden under the short, close-cut beard covering the lower half of his face.

Then there were his lips. Perfect. Not as thick as hers.

But they held a pale, reddish tint that made her think of heat, the flushed color when someone ate something spicy.

Through the material of his pants, she could make out a set of thick, muscular thighs. She moved her gaze high and enjoyed the sight of his hands. Those big, strong, imposing hands lay relaxed and linked in his lap.

How can he be so calm when everything inside me is going haywire?

He no longer wore his vest, and her gaze became captivated by his sculpted chest and corded bulky arms. The breadth of his shoulders fascinated her. They expanded so wide; the man was huge. The chair Kai had previously curled her whole body in, Aodh’s massive form hid.

Kai stared at Aodh and took in every bulging and corded muscle.

But it was the markings that covered his body, urging her to lean in and trace them with the tip of her tongue that made her body ache.

Every inch of his bare skin held the lines of his tattoo-like design.

However, now, there was a ribbon of color weaving through the markings.

She traced the flashes of colors as they moved from his hands and up his arms to his shoulders in a celeste blue, then to aqua.

As the lines over his chest changed, they first appeared cyan over his chest and finally stopped at azure over the cut muscles of his abdomen.

The shifting of colors was foreign to her but enthralled her. For unknown reasons, the sight of those shades of blue caused her core to feel warm and achy. They made her want to experience his strong arms wrapped around her.

“So, you’re awake?” His voice rumbled low and filled the room, the sound of shifting mountains.

“How long have you been sitting there? Where I’m from, people would say watching someone while they slept is rude. Instead of making your presence known.”

“It’s my suite. I can do whatever I like.” These were the words of the dragon king.

She knew that was true. It was his space. “That doesn’t take away the rudeness of your behavior. If you want it back, then I’ll go.” She started to rise.

“No.” The single word was bold and commanding.

She sat up, the blankets pooling in her lap. She clutched the covers, needing something to do with her hands. Aodh’s presence made her feel anxious again. That was the excuse she was giving herself for why the tingles started in her body again, and her nipples drew tight.

“Did you rest well?” His gaze crossed over her face.

“I did.” She bit the inside of her lip. Kai could only imagine the sight she made. She’d been too tired to braid her hair down before she went to sleep, and she was sure it was a riot of wildness all over her head.

“Were you able to eat your fill?”

She looked over at the table next to Aodh’s seat and noticed it was empty. Then she realized she had slept through him coming in and Tana clearing away the dishes. She was shocked.

“Yes. Everything was fine. You know, Tana was very kind and helpful.” She stopped there, not feeling a need to mention Ninki’s presence.

The woman who would return to the bed she sat in now.

It wasn’t her concern. She and Morlie would be gone from here soon.

She wasn’t sure where she and her sister would go, but maybe Aodh would help or direct them on the right path to get her back to her father’s truck.

“Good to hear. That everything has been to your liking. If any of my people were unkind to you, I’d expect you to tell me.”

Anyone ? But, again, she held her tongue. The ruling was still out on Ninki. The other woman had been blunt and even dosed her bath with too much muscle-relaxing powder, but Kai didn’t like to rush to judgment.

“Do you recall what I told you when we met?”

“What you said?” She frowned and fingered a few unruly curls behind her ear. The events over the hours of the night before were all mixed up in her head.

Aodh unlaced his hands and set them on his thighs. “Yes.”

He sat and waited.

She waited, but he didn’t say more. Kai realized that he wasn’t going to tell her.

She would have to remember. Frustrated, she sighed.

She searched her mind to find the moment she met Aodh.

And she recalled how she’d gotten out of the truck and begged him for help and how he had declared that her sister was going to die.

She pleaded with him to save her. Then.. .

“You will be mine.”

“Your what?”

“My everything.”

Meeting his imposing gaze, she repeated, “You said I would be your everything.”

“Yes. You promised to give yourself to me,” Aodh asserted in that hot and sexy way that caused her sex to throb and wet her thighs.

“I did.” She was a woman of her word.

Aodh gave a sharp nod.

The air crackled between them as they sat silent with those words hanging in the mist.

“My Thunder is in need.”

She drew her knees up and leaned forward. “In need?”

“Yes.” He glanced beyond her as if something in the distance, perhaps beyond the window across the room, had caught his attention.

Then those intense turquoise-opal eyes met hers.

“The damage of the world affected us, altered things in our DNA. As the Mckenna, I alone have the responsibility to make it right.”

As she pressed her chest tight against her knees, she tried to read between the lines of his words but found it challenging to unbraid the cryptic message. “How will you do this? Make things right?”

“I will fuck you. Mate with you. And you will honor your words.”

She gripped her shins, knocked off balance by his sharp declaration. Even with Aodh’s brazen words and direct gaze, there were shadows in his eyes.

Kai could tell he was holding something back. Why? What was it?

Her shoulders drew up tight as she warred with the desire to refuse him, deny his claim.

However, he was right, and she had given her word to be whatever he needed as long as he saved her sister’s life.

She could put forth the argument that she didn’t know if her sister was out of danger or if Morlie would survive whatever he was doing to her in that chamber downstairs, but she was honest with herself. She didn’t want to refuse him.

The truth was she wanted Aodh, even if she wasn’t sure if he desired her or was only having sex with her to fulfill an obligation.

“So, having sex will somehow fix what is wrong?”

“Mating with you will.”

She glanced down at the blanket, watching as her hands glided over it, making invisible designs, unable to look at him. ”Why me? Why not...” she licked her lips, stopping herself from speaking Ninki’s name, “someone else?”

Aodh didn’t speak until she finally glanced up at him. “Because I have chosen you as mate. I have never picked another.”

The gasped tumbled from her lips. She wasn’t sure what she had expected Aodh to say, but that wasn’t it.

Shocked, she sat there, feeling everything building between them that hung in the air around them.

Even knowing that Aodh held something back from her still did not stop the frisson of heat curling down her spine and igniting the firestorm in her core.

All those odd feelings in her body from earlier were still there but tenfold now.

She didn’t understand it, but somehow, she knew Aodh was the answer.

Her sex throbbed as wetness from her sex spread along the inside of her thighs.

Aodh inhaled, then growled as a sapphire flame leaped in his eyes. “Come here, little flame.”