“That would not be restful. Ravishment takes a lot of work. You rest up, I’ll get some work done and then we can get to the good stuff later.” He kissed her forehead and she frowned but didn’t move to get up as he tipped her into the bed and took her boots off.
After covering her up with blankets, he came back out to the main room to put some food on to cook. Time moved slowly, normally even. It was a gift, he knew from doing this job for as long as he had, to take care of basic tasks like cooking or washing up. When his life was nonstop running and fighting, the luxury of taking time to have a life, to be normal, kept him human and grounded.
He needed to read the file Andrei had uploaded to the comm unit there in the safe house, but he needed to do one other thing first.
He pushed the door of her room open quietly and simply leaned against the doorframe to watch. He looked at her sleeping form, the sound of her breath calming in a way chemicals could never achieve. She was safe, at least for the moment. That counted.
She’d held up through a lot. He’d managed to book passage through his dodgy contact back on the last ’Verse, but it had been two ’Verses closer to Caelinus. He’d wanted to get out, but they wouldn’t be looking for them going toward the Center of the Imperium. Or so he hoped. They’d left the more impoverished and chaotic environs of those Edge Imperial ’Verses with these last slips, so he hoped she got a chance to rest up. Her side was nearly healed, but she’d been set on seduction, and he’d been very hard-pressed to resist, even if he’d wanted to, which he didn’t much. He’d managed to avoid her and to refuse outright when he had to. For the time being, she seemed to back off slightly. But he knew her well enough by that point to understand she’d just be back and far more irresistible.
She was something he couldn’t define, but had become rather essential to his life. They would fall into bed again, he knew it was inevitable, he just needed to hold his cock in check until they’d arrived somewhere safe enough to let his guard down. He hoped that was soon; there was only so much masturbation a man could survive without wrist injuries.
He’d tried, truly had, to resist her, but he found himself opening up to her, sharing bits of his life he’d never intended to. And she had not judged. She had not pitied. She listened to him, saw something in him he didn’t believe he had.
It unraveled him, and he found himself totally enchanted for the first time in his nearly forty years. It unraveled him but also fortified, he thought as he went back out to the main room to get the files and drink some kava while the meal cooked and he could plan.
Andrei came back several hours later. “Smells good.” He hung his coat and kicked the snow from his boots, removing them before he entered the main area where Daniel had been working.
Daniel ladled up a bowl of the sturdy soup he’d made and slid it across the table. “Eat. Kava?”
Andrei nodded as he began to eat. “She okay?” He jerked his head toward the bedroom where Carina still slept.
“Knife fight two days ago. Ambush by street thugs. She didn’t run or scream, didn’t cry. She used her weapon and stood her ground. Handled herself well. Got a surface wound. Scared the hells out of me. But she’s strong, Andrei, strong in a way I hadn’t thought she had in her.”
Andrei’s grin was so quick that if Daniel hadn’t known his friend for as long as he had, he would have missed it.
Andrei sipped the kava. “I knew the night we had her run for hours that she was made of strong stuff. Looks like a strong wind would knock her over, but she’s sturdy in spirit. Doesn’t give up. I like her. She’s tough.” He paused and looked Daniel straight on. “Pretty, too. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t noticed the way you two look at each other. Just keep an eye on the road and her, too, yes?”
He scoffed. “I’ve never not done my job, Andrei.”
“You’ve never had cargo that was Carina Fardelle before either.”
Gods knew that was the truth.
“It’s not marriage. She means something to me, but you’re making more out of it than it is. She will arrive in Ravena and find a whole world of opportunities available to her that she’s never imagined. I’m a passing fancy.”
“Are you two talking about me?” Carina wandered into the room. She’d changed from the lighter clothing she’d been wearing into a sweater and long pants. Her hair was still sleep-tousled, and tenderness flooded him, unbidden and unexpected. He shook it off as he continued to take her in. Thick socks on her feet and a pair of finger-less gloves completed the outfit. Smart woman.
Daniel batted away emotion with dry humor. “Of course we are. It’s all we do. We already compared what we planned to wear tomorrow, so naturally we had to discuss the shoes you had on earlier.”
She whacked him with her hand when she glided by, and he barely hid the way he breathed in to catch her scent. Andrei didn’t miss it, though he said nothing more.
“Sit down and eat.” Daniel pushed a bowl of the soup her way and slapped away her hand when she moved in to steal his kava. “Think again, princess. That’s mine. There’s a fresh pot right in front of you though, should you want your own.”
“Yours would be better,” she muttered and dug into the soup. “Very good. Did you make this?”
“I’m a fair cook. Good enough to keep myself from starving for the last nearly forty years. I’m not entirely useless.”
She looked him up and down and quirked a smile his way. “Not at all.”
Daniel managed to hold back his comment in front of Andrei. “So what’s going on out there?” he asked, shifting into work mode.
Carina found the way he did that awe inspiring even as it annoyed her. He always seemed to be thinking about things on three different levels. All while looking as good as he did.
“Unrest. Skorpios came through here four days ago. Arrested many. Some disappeared. Population is pretty scared, but also angry. Seems Fardelle’s men have been here a lot of late. The mercs tell me their portal hasn’t been located yet, but Fardelle has two of his own running the breadth of the Imperium.”
“Merk? What’s a merk?”
Andrei looked to Carina. As Daniel had asked him questions in her presence, he’d given Andrei permission to speak mostly freely. Carina noticed it and figured it had been on purpose as Daniel rarely did things without meaning to. She was sure there were things Andrei wouldn’t tell her, but that Daniel trusted her when she’d been sure he thought she was a spy, meant a lot.
“Mercenary. They’re soldiers for hire. Out here mainly they smuggle goods, but they hire to do many jobs.”
“They help you for credits then? If so, how can you trust them not to turn us in?”
Daniel’s look of approval was quick. She’d have missed it if she hadn’t been mooning over him.
“Not all of them would do anything for credits, not if they didn’t believe in the cause or at the very least, not be offended by it. I’ve known mercenaries for most of my life. They’re more complicated than you’d expect.” Andrei’s face lit in a way she’d not seen from him before and knew he spoke of someone he cared about.
“These mercs have helped us several times. They’re connected to some friends of ours on the other side of the line.” Daniel hesitated but didn’t say anything else.
“Your mother was seen two days ago in the courtyard of the compound,” Andrei told her, bringing her attention away from asking Daniel what he was holding back. “She appeared unharmed but had a retinue of guards.”
A wave of relief hit her, dizzying. She put her head down on the table and was surprised when Daniel ran a gentle hand up and down her back.
“Thank you, Andrei. I needed to know that.” Carina blinked back tears as she straightened.
He stood and bowed low. “It was my pleasure then, my lady, to bring you some joy. I know times are difficult for you right now. But you’re doing the right thing, and she knows that.” He looked back to Daniel. “I need to get moving. I’ll be putting the rest in place. I’ll see y
ou at the portal tomorrow. The coordinates are in the data I just uploaded.”
“You’re leaving? We haven’t had much time to visit.” Carina sat back. “Don’t go. It’s dark and cold. Stay, eat. I’m sure you can take care of your secret stuff tomorrow. There are extra beds, and you look exhausted. You can’t be expected to do your job well if you’re exhausted.”
“I have some people to meet shortly, and I will find my rest after that. Thank you, dear lady, for your concern.” Andrei bowed over her hand and kissed it. Carina blushed very prettily.
“Will you be traveling with us from now on then?”
“That remains to be seen. If I’m needed with you, yes. But we don’t always need to travel together to be of use. It was good to see you, Carina. I will again tomorrow. Please, you rest as well and be sure Daniel does, too.” Andrei flipped the collar of his coat up and pulled a hat on and down as he left.
“Did we chase him away? Make him feel unwelcome?” Carina watched Andrei’s retreat before turning back to her food.
Daniel shook his head. “My guess is that he’s got a woman waiting for him somewhere. Many of you seem to go for that type.”
“The ridiculously gorgeous, tall, long dark hair and piercing pale blue eyes type?” Though she teased, she wasn’t being false. Andrei had that dark, gorgeous and brooding personality type. Women wanted to fix men like him, deluded themselves they’d be the one to crack through that mysterious facade and capture his heart. Of course, who was she to judge as she stared at another version of that man and hoped with all her heart that she’d be the one to matter to him in ways no one else ever would.
She tried not to smile but couldn’t help it when she saw the annoyance draw his brows together. Poking at a man like Daniel was silly, but it amused her greatly, and it only made him more alluring when he got ruffled.
“In any case, he’ll do some work and then go to her. She’ll keep him company and keep him warm, too. Andrei isn’t one to want for company if and when he desires it.”
Her eyes widened as she leaned toward him. “Oh! Tell me more. I want to know every last detail.”
He snorted. “I’m sure you do. As my mother used to say to me, wanting things is what makes us human, it’s good to want things. Andrei’s private life is his own, Carina.”
She waved a hand. “You’re tedious when you try to be stern with me. As you so often point out, I’m a princess. If my father’s sternness didn’t stop me, who are you to think you can?”
He rolled his eyes and sipped his kava.
“As for Andrei, we can pass the time, and I can get to know him through you. I don’t need to know how big his genitals are or what his favorite position is. Just, you know, is he a ladies’ man? A shy type? What?”
He heaved a sigh. It wouldn’t do to indulge her; she’d only get worse. But he simply found it beyond his ability. “I couldn’t tell you how big his cock is, I’ve never looked, nor do we talk about favorite positions. He has female company quite frequently. I’m under the impression he’s handsome enough; he certainly attracts women when we’re out and about. Your reaction earlier was clear enough.” He’d tried for dry but ended up sounding petulant. He tightened his mouth.
“You’ve never looked? Really? I would look. What’s your favorite position?” Her internal filters about what should be said and not said were as absent as his ability to control her when she didn’t want to be controlled.
“Don’t you ever get tired of asking intrusive questions?”
She blinked and finished her kava. “About your sex life? No. So?”
He leaned in very close, so close his breath met her lips, tasted her breath in return as he breathed in. “I like to take a woman from behind, when she’s on her hands and knees or bent over something like a table.”
Her breath hitched. “Really? Why?”
“I like to be in control. I like how deep I can get into her pussy. I like dominating her with my body that way.”
“Oh,” she breathed out. “I want that, too.”
His blood slowed; instead of the insistent pound, it throbbed. Warmth seeped through him, warmth he realized was desire of a depth he’d never experienced before. She intoxicated him in the most random ways.
He was bombarded with visions of her bent over as he fucked her from behind. Of the way her breasts would be free to sway, of what her spine would look like as she arched it. He’d be in deep and tight, able to reach around and play with her clit to make her come over and over.
Mouth dry, he tried to swallow. “I don’t know if you’re ready for that.” Gods knew he wasn’t ready for it. It was one thing to fuck her as he had the first time. He could control himself better, rein in his need—the insatiable need for her that lived in his belly every moment of the day.
But from behind, he wondered at just how thrilling it would be to take her in a way he rarely did with women he wanted to see the next day. It was an intensity far easier to share with a stranger than with someone he cared for.
She stood and pulled her sweater over her head, exposing her underclothes, her nipples visible through the thin, nearly transparent fabric. He mightily approved of the Imperial fashion of these silky, see-through, form-fitting undershirts rather than simply bras.
“I am ready, Daniel. I know you want to believe that I’m some inexperienced nitwit. It makes it easier to use me, to instruct me rather than make love to me, with me. You hold back. Even when you’re pouring yourself into my body, you hold back so much your muscles vibrate with it. I may not have a great deal of practical experience, but I’m smart enough to know I want you to let go with me.”
With a whisper, the undershirt was gone, followed by her pants. His head spun at the truth in what she said and that she understood it so well.
“Possess me,” she murmured, meaning it. She didn’t want to be used by Daniel, she wanted him to own her, to take her and mark her as his.
He stood, stalking to her, and without any preamble, he grabbed her up and hauled her to his body, covering her mouth with his, taking what he wanted, leaving the honey of desire in his wake.
There was nothing to be done but hold on. Wrap her arms around him, pressing herself tighter as he plundered her mouth. His taste burned into her, indelible. He would be there forever. Until she breathed her last, no matter what came between now and then, she’d know his taste; it would own part of her all her life.
His tongue roved through her mouth, tasting, teasing, seducing hers to tangle, follow. She moaned softly, and he swallowed the sound. When he pulled away, he nipped her bottom lip, pulling it, his gaze locked on hers before finally letting it go.
His expression was one of challenge, and she knew what she did next had better count. He was opening himself up to her, exposing part of his inner life, and she wanted him to understand she wanted it. Wanted him to take her because she trusted him, because the idea of being possessed by him thrilled her to her toes, and she would feel no shame about that desire.
“You’re still dressed.” She licked her lips to taste him anew. He saw it, watched her tongue slide across the curve of her bottom lip where he’d bitten her just moments before.
He paused, but only for a breath as he held a hand out. She took it, and he led her into the bedroom she’d napped in earlier.
“I’m going to make sure everything is secure, because I plan to give you all my attention once we get started in earnest.” Pressing a kiss to her wrist, he stepped back and through the door.
She used the time to freshen up, to brush out her hair and to try to think up some pretty, artful position for when she got into bed. Her brain rushed through that kiss over and over. The way he’d handled her had unknotted something inside her. It rushed out, seeking more.
When she came back into the room, he was there, naked on the bed. He’d made a fire, and the warm light licked over his skin.
She moved straight to him, into his arms, and sighed happily. “You’re very warm.”
??
?Handy for women on cold evenings, I suppose.”
She felt the curve of his lips at her neck, knew he teased. “I’m quite sure. But you’re here and I’m here and you look so delicious I’m all aflutter with it.” She flapped her hands about until he took them in his own.
“Are you afraid?”
She shook her head. “No. Not of you or what you do to me. I . . . you excite me. Make me feel beautiful and desired in a way I’d never imagined possible. It thrills me, titillates me until my breath shortens and my heart threatens to burst from my body.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For that, what you just said. I’m honored you’d trust me. You are beautiful, and I do desire you.”
He pushed her back, looming over her with his weight on his elbow. His features were intense as she waited for him to make the first move. She wanted this so much she loathed the idea of messing it up.
“These are beautiful.” He traced his tongue around first one nipple and then the other. “I think about them all the time.”
She smiled, pleased to hear it. When he bit her nipple next, it was just shy of pain. She jolted, but when he swiped his tongue over it, her nipple bloomed not with pain but with pleasure.
As she writhed against him, he showered her nipples with attention. So much attention she wondered if this alone could make her climax. She held his head to her, his hair cool against her fingers. She moved her hips, needing just a bit more to tip over the edge, but it wasn’t enough.
“Shhh. Let me take care of that,” he said against her skin as he kissed the underside of her breast and then over each rib. Lips on her belly, a tongue flicking against her skin just below her belly button.
He was going to love her with his mouth again. She widened her thighs, her fingers grasping the coverlet as he put his tongue deep inside her.
Daniel couldn’t get enough of her taste. Of the way she felt—soft, hot, creamy—against his mouth. Her clit stood up for him as he licked through her pussy, up from her gate. She arched, eagerly showing him what she wanted. She was not shy about her desires, which only made him want her more.