Page 38 of Wild Flame (Wild Bond #2)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

T he kiss tasted of all the frustration, anger, remorse, confusion, and tension we were both feeling. I clutched his shoulders, pulling him closer, as his hand fisted in my hair. His tongue sought mine, owning me with the sheer heat and carnality of it. I forgot everything except for the feel of him against me, his scent in my lungs. His hands roamed my body as the kiss turned frenzied, both of us fighting to get closer. His hands went to the neck of my suit, fisting in the cloth.

“You have ten seconds to take this off,” he warned, chest heaving.

I did as he said as he stripped down as well, his eyes never leaving me. The moment I was bare he pressed me back into the wall, yanking my legs up around his waist. His mouth devouring mine once more.

His hardness pressed against my center, and I moaned at the wicked feel of him gliding back and forth in the wetness he found there. I was crazed, desperate to feel him inside me. But he didn’t enter me. Instead, he remained there, poised at my entrance, his breaths coming in harsh, angry pulls as he broke the kiss. His hand cupped the back of my neck. “Are you ever going to lie to me again, siren?”

“No,” I panted in answer. “Never again.”

He thrust inside me.

I cried out at his sudden intrusion. He began a slow, torturous pace that had every nerve ending in my body coming alive. My head fell back, and his hot mouth found my throat, licking and sucking. His hands moved to grasp my wrists, pressing them into the wall, sliding them slowly upward until he grasped them in one hand, high over my head. His other hand moved to play with my breasts, driving me insane with the pleasure he evoked. An involuntary shudder passed through me, and my inner muscles gripped him tighter.

He grunted and began plunging into me even harder. He hooked one leg over his arm, each vigorous thrust fighting to push me up the wall, but his body held mine in place. I loved that I could do nothing but take it. My heart was pounding, and my breaths were coming too fast as the erotic sensations bombarded me.

Seeking an outlet, I turned my head and bit down on the binding mark on his wrist.

“Realms!” he cursed.

I couldn’t help the feral grin that graced my lips as I laved the spot with my tongue.

He released my hands and braced his forearms against the wall on either side of my head and leaned forward so our chests were touching. My sensitive nipples rubbed against his hot skin and sent tiny shards of bliss through me. My release was building fast as my jaw clenched and my toes curled.

He kissed the moan from my lips, then I clung to him as he continued those ruthlessly rhythmic strokes. My nails dug so hard into his back I knew I had to be leaving marks. He didn’t seem aware of it though, or maybe he just didn’t care.

Tearing me from the wall, we tumbled to the floor onto one of the cushioned rugs at the foot of our bed. The plush fabric soft on my skin.

His eyes glinted down at me. “Not close enough,” he muttered, almost as if he were speaking to himself. I gasped in surprise as he pulled out and, with what seemed like no effort, flipped me to my stomach, then tugged my hips up while my chest remained level with the floor.

A deeper part of me that I would never admit to loved how he could move my body around any way he wanted. The dominance and power of it spoke to an instinctual feminine part of me.

I turned my head to stare back at him. His hands slid possessively down my back. For once, I was not even thinking of my scars as he knelt behind me.

He sank back into me, and I groaned as he growled a hum of satisfaction in answer.

I cried out and squirmed beneath him, not sure if I could take anymore. The pleasure was too great, making my core pulse and my vision darken. I was gasping and writhing on the ground.

“Good girl,” he growled. “Look at you taking me so well.”

His words, combined with the feeling of him inside me, were my undoing, and I climaxed. I shattered into a million pieces. He followed me a few moments later and collapsed on the floor beside me.

Sometime later, as we lay in bed with me sprawled half over his chest, Malik warned, “Do not think this delectable body of yours has distracted me from getting my answers. I still have questions.”

I sighed, deciding I might as well get this over with. “Ask away.”

“Does your father know about The Order?”

“I’ve always assumed so, but I don’t know if he suspects Silvanus’ involvement.” Though if Leif’s assumptions in the alley were anything to go by . . . maybe my father—and by extension his riders—knew a lot more about Silvanus and his operation than I realized.

“Was it this Silvanus, this priest, who picked your targets?”

“What?”

“You said you are only ever given a name and a location,” Malik clarified. “So, who is giving you the orders? I’m assuming the Dark God himself is not delivering them to you.”

I nodded hesitantly. “Yes, it was Silvanus. Why does that matter?”

“Because I intend to ask him who gave him the contract to kill Zara.”

I shook my head. “He won’t tell you.”

He stared down at me. “He will.”

At his words, I sat up, taking part of the sheet with me to cover my chest. “Malik, you can’t force him to tell you. And he won’t.”

His lips pursed, obviously not liking that I had moved away. “I can and he will.”

“You can’t torture and interrogate a High Priest of Halmar. I thought you wanted to avoid war? And The Assassin will not take kindly to you harming him, either.”

He folded a single muscled arm behind his head and shrugged as if angering the gods was not something to worry over. “No one will know it was I who questioned him. Your priest will not be alive to tell anyone. Furthermore, I sincerely doubt The Assassin will mind. He is a god of death. It will be a fitting end for one of his priests, no?”

I sputtered. “You plan to kill him?”

Malik’s brow furrowed and the look he gave me said that should be obvious. “He took out a contract on my sister. And I’m guessing those men who tried to kill you were his as well. No doubt sent here when you failed to complete your mission?” He didn’t have to see the look in my eyes to know he was right. “Then he attempted to murder Zehvi’s queen—my wife—and its princess. So yes, I plan to kill him.”

“But you—” I floundered. “You can’t—” I was still protesting when Malik changed the subject.

“One more thing,” he said. “What were you doing in the city tonight if you weren’t killing anyone?”

His question completely diverted my train of thought. Which was no doubt his intent. Oh, realms! I had hoped after all the revelations tonight that he had forgotten about that. I yawned. “Sleepy,” I tried in a small voice, snuggling back into him.

He shook me slightly, not having it. “Leida . . .”

I sighed, but still refused to look at him as I answered honestly, telling him about the conversation I had overheard. “I wanted to see what he was up to, so I went to The Red Scale and waited to see if he would show.”

He stared down at me, some of his earlier anger rekindling in his eyes. “You snuck away from my warriors and went out into the city alone—”

“I have training, and I’ve done it before, as you well know.”

Malik reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, his other arm still around me. “Leida, you put yourself at risk for nothing. Why would you—"

“It wasn’t for nothing,” I insisted. “Don’t you want to hear what I found out?”

His dark eyebrows rose.

“Nilfren was meeting with Leif.”

He stilled and lowered his hand. “What do you mean?”

He listened intently as I explained what I’d overheard—about the Fleshfire and it being the cause of the attack on the city, how Nilfren had mentioned someone else powerful being involved. All of it.

When I was finished, he frowned. “And where were you that you could overhear this conversation so clearly without them knowing?”

“I was—ah—on the roof?” Somehow, my hesitant response came out sounding more like a question.

His eyes narrowed. “You were on the roof?”

“I listened through a window. My suit . . . it’s made of selkie skin and can blend into shadow. And I took a canceling potion that made my scent nonexistent. Undetectable.”

“That is why Azrun could not tell it was you earlier,” he realized, and I nodded. He sighed. “At least you weren’t found out.”

I stared guiltily at him. “Well—”

“Curse the Nine, Leida! You were caught?”

“Leif confronted me afterward,” I confessed in a rush.

He glared at me. “Explain.”

I quickly relayed all that had happened in the alley with Leif, save for my realization that he was in love with me. We really didn’t need to discuss that right now. I ended by explaining that Leif had left and that neither he nor his dragon had harmed me. “Leif did mention a way for me to contact him if I ever needed to, though,” I said. I explained to Malik that as children whenever we were in trouble we had always talked about running away to hide out in Halstaff—a small town just on the border of Halmar and Zehvi where we believed no one could find us. Somehow, I just knew that’s what Leif had meant when he said, “You know where to find me.”

It was also convenient that since it was located in Halmar, Malik couldn’t arrest Leif without permission from my father. So Leif was safe from any repercussions that way. At least until my father found out about what had been happening here. I once again prayed to all the Nine that my father wasn’t somehow involved in all this. Leif had mentioned that someone powerful was pulling Nilfren’s strings. I prayed it wasn’t him.

When I was finally done speaking, Malik didn’t immediately respond.

“At least now you know for certain that something was done to Ramin . . . that he’s innocent,” I offered.

“Hmm,” Malik grunted. “So Nilfren has been overseeing shipments of Fleshfire from Halmar to Zehvi. Then it’s likely that the drug is being made there and shipped here. Did you notice any other correlation between the dates?”

I shrugged. “No, nothing,” I said, “except that one of the ships he used, The Sea Dragon , was the same ship I traveled to Zehvi on—"

Malik stilled. “What did you say?”

I looked at him. “What?”

“What was the name of the ship?”

“ The Sea Dragon ,” I repeated.

Malik’s face turned to stone. “That’s one of Salim’s ships.”

I blinked. “Priya’s father?”

Malik nodded.

“Do you think he could be involved?”

Malik contemplated for a moment. “You said Nilfren seemed intimidated by this man he is working for. So they must be influential, and Salim is a Rajar and a dragon rider.”

My mind raced as I considered the possibility. Then another connection popped into my head. “The Obsidian Mines are located in Salim’s territory,” I said, thinking aloud. “We wondered if Fleshfire and the theft at the mines were connected. And wasn’t he a member of your father’s Fangdar? It’s possible your father told him about the Moonstone, and he guessed you were the one who stole it. So he would know to question Ramin for its location while he was under the influence of the drug . . .”

“It’s possible,” Malik agreed.

“Are you going to confront them?”

Malik shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Even though what you heard is incriminating evidence against Nilfren, and by extension Leif, I will have to be careful in how I approach this. They are still representatives of Halmar. And we still don’t know for sure if Salim is involved, other than that one of his ships was used by Nilfren. I can’t accuse him of anything until I am certain.”

“We need those shipping logs,” I said. “The ones on Nilfren’s desk.” Guilt for not nabbing them in the first place ate at me.

Malik looked at me. “I’ll send Taj to retrieve them.”

I nodded.

“Once those are in our possession, we can investigate this more thoroughly and make the arrangements to confront them. All of them.”