Page 28

Tipping her head to the side, she reminded him, “Morlie has been ill and bedridden for a long time. I think the powder would help remove the tiredness and soreness in her muscles.”

He placed his hands inside the jacket on her hips. “Trust me. The hot water and eating will restore her just fine.”

She wanted to argue his points. She’d used only a pinch after their sexcapades, and it had worked a miracle on all her swollen and tender parts. “But—”

His fingers flexed into the soft swells of her round hips as he drew her closer. He lowered his head, set his lips along her ear, and whispered, “Yes, it heals aching muscles. But the powder causes a secondary reaction in humans.”

The warmth of his breath was making her breath catch in her throat. She swallowed, trying to stop the moan from coming out. She failed. She wanted to remove her clothing and feel him breathing the hot heat all over her bare skin. “What kind of reaction?”

Even as she asked the question, she remembered what had happened to her the first time she used it.

But she recalled the reason for the achy, unsettling feeling that made her want to rub her body all over or stroke up against something to quench the need was because Ninki had dumped a significant amount in her bath.

Shifting, he bent his knees, causing his stiff shaft to press right at the juncture of her thighs. He arched his hips and ground his length over her clit.

She whimpered. She moaned. Dropping her head to his chest, she wanted to beg him to drag her next door and take her—giving both their bodies what they needed.

This is ridiculous—pure madness .

Not moving away from Aodh, Kai turned her head just enough to glimpse her sister in repose. Thank goodness Morlie still slept. Kai would have been horrified if her sister had borne witness to her rapid spiral into a shameless wanton vortex—an addict seeking pleasure.

“A sexual one.” He thrust again.

Kai’s eyes slammed shut as her knees buckled, and she gripped his biceps. But there was no need because Aodh’s firm grip on her ass kept her in place.

He squeezed her plump, roundness and used his hold to grind her against him.

Her breath was heavy against his skin. She didn’t have to open her eyes to feel the ribbons of heat running through his markings. From experience of their days and nights together, she knew they’d be blue—a deep blue, signifying Aodh’s arousal level.

He held her in place for a long moment, no longer moving.

Kai thanked the gods. However, it didn’t matter because Kai’s sex was creaming, and her clit throbbed with the need for release.

“One night, Kai,” he rumbled.

“One night.” The words spilled from her mouth of their own volition, confirming her body’s desire. She glanced up and met his gaze, and cerulean flames winked at her. Her breath caught in her throat.

Aodh kissed the corner of her mouth before he released her and walked out.

Damn . Kai crumbled to the floor as her legs gave out. Kai knew she was in trouble.

~YH~

“Where are we, Kai?”

Kai tended to her sister. She sat on the side of the tub, massaging the soap into her sister’s scalp as Morlie bathed and soaked in the water.

Cleaning Morlie’s short cap of curls didn’t take much soap.

She recalled when her sister had cut it.

One day, Kai came up from her collecting job to discover Morlie hacked off all her hair.

When Kai asked her why she did it, her sister said it took too much energy to detangle it daily.

Morlie had been feeling unwell for a few weeks, slowly declining.

That was a significant sign to Kai that her sister wasn’t getting better, not with any concoction she’d spent money on to help her.

Morlie confessed that she’d been passing out and vomiting, but she’d hidden it, not wanting to worry Kai after their parent’s untimely death from the same disease.

Now, she watched her sister briskly rub the soapy cloth over her body for the third time to cleanse it.

Kai had bathed repeatedly, too, the first time—never feeling clean enough.

Morlie hadn’t slept as long as Kai thought she would, having been near death’s door for so long, but she didn’t seem to have any ill effects now.

Hell. Kai had dragged around for what seemed like days, even after she’d slept and eaten a meal.

Where are we?

Kai had been waiting for this question for thirty minutes since Morlie had awakened. Even in the short time her sister had slept, Kai had tried to think of how she would explain their situation to Morlie. And damn, she hadn’t come up with any way to ease her sister into it.

“Tip your head back.”

She helped Morlie slide away from her so she could hold her head back for rinsing. However, her sister surprised her by submerging herself and lying flat on her back at the bottom of the tub.

Kai stared down at her sister through the murky water. Morlie’s eyes were closed as if she were in another world below the surface. A few bubbles rose from her mouth before Morlie broke through the surface.

“Is it that bad, sissy, that you don’t want to tell me?” Water streamed down Morlie’s face, thickening her long lashes as she glanced up at her.

“No, no, no. Of course not.” Kai plopped back down on the tub’s edge and poured a small amount of the moisturizer into her hand.

“Maybe we can start with an easier question. Who was the big guy?”

Easier? Nothing about Aodh was easy to explain or take. She forced out a laugh to cover her groan. “His name is Aodh.”

“Did I imagine it, or was he somewhere around eight feet tall?”

Kai chuckled for real this time. “Yes, he is big. But perhaps closer to seven and a half. He is the...leader of this area.”

Morlie looked over her shoulder and frowned. “Area...in the district?” She made a glance past the door. “Or are we in the providence section? Is that why this apartment is huge?”

She could understand her sister’s confusion, especially considering their extremely humble environment. Kai got up and grabbed a towel from the cabinet beside the sink. “Neither. We are beyond the Wall.”

“What!” Morlie’s quick rise caused water to slosh and splash over the side.

Fast, Kai grabbed a second towel. She handed one to her sister before she bent down and cleaned up the spillage to keep Morlie from slipping on the stone floor. “Careful. We’ve already added to Tana’s responsibilities by being here. No need to give her more to do.”

“Tana...?”

Kai waved away her question.

“What do you mean we’re outside of the wall?” Morlie asked instead.

“Exactly that.” Kai moved the jar of moisturizer to the counter by the sink. “Make sure to put this on your skin, too. I’ll get you something to wear,” she instructed while she hung up the damp towel on a rack and then carried Morlie’s dirty clothing from the bathroom.

She was happy to find a loose pair of pants and a top. Like the items she wore, the material was soft. She held them up to check against her body to see if they fit her sister. Both were much smaller than her curvaceous form, leading Kai to believe they would work for Morlie.

She went back to the bathroom. “Here, put these on.”

Barely giving the items more than a passing thought before putting them on, Morlie continued with her questions. “How did you sneak me out? I thought there were man-eating beasts in the wild forest.

Oh, there are beasts, alright. But Kai would keep the information about Aodh and his people shifting into dragons and flying a secret to herself for a bit longer.

“Come eat.” Kai led the way toward the small table before the empty fireplace. She wished she would have asked Aodh or Tana to put a flame in the hearth. She wondered if she should grab a blanket from the bed. “Are you cold?”

“No.” Morlie sat across from her before the tray of covered dishes. She leaned toward the lids and sniffed. “I’m starving. Whatever it is, it smells so good. How is the food in this place beyond the Wall?”

Instead of answering, Kai removed the lids to reveal the dishes to her sister. “I think you’re going to like it.”

“What...wow...oh, gracious,” Morlie mumbled in wonder as her eyes stretched wide while she gazed down at the mounds of food.

Kai was stunned to see the piles of food underneath the lids. There was more food than she got the first time. On the days she was with Aodh, their platters of meat, bread, goat cheese, vegetables, and fruit looked like this, but it made sense with him present. And dragon-shifters consumed a lot.

“You don’t have to eat all of this. You have been ill for a while.

” Kai didn’t need to remind her sister that they had been out of food and money for sustenance for a long time.

She wasn’t even sure her sister recalled they hadn’t eaten more than a cup of onion broth soup for weeks before escaping.

Kai had to spoon in small sips to her sister to put something on Morlie’s stomach as her body fought the disease. “Do what you can for now—”

Her words were cut off as she watched the enthusiasm with Ih Morlie was consuming the meal.

Her younger sister grabbed fistfuls of the seared meat and gnawed off chunks of bread from long rolls, not bothering with utensils.

Kai watched gravy run down her sister’s hand as Morlie reached toward the bowl of vegetables.

Bits of food covered the lower half of Morlie’s face, and breadcrumbs piled up in her lap.

“Slow down, Morlie. Your stomach is not ready for all that. You’re going to make yourself sick—” Or me ill .

Kai would have walked away if she wasn’t her sister. Instead, Kai sat in shock, rooted to her chair as she observed her sister’s unorthodox feeding frenzy.

But Morlie continued without pause.