No matter how much it put them at risk.
Amber, Olivia and Skye slept through the rest of that day and night and well into the following morning. None of them so much as turned over throughout the hours of the deep sleep.
Caleb wasn’t sure whether or not to be concerned. Skye didn’t generally move restlessly during the night, but she did always sleep on her side. At the moment, she was resting on her back in the same clothes she had worn during the ceremony. Gabriel said in a low tone that the sisters looked like they were in comas, whatever that meant.
The hours passed with excruciating slowness. He tried passing time with Gabriel and James playing cards, but none of them had been able to focus. Besides, Caleb was more comfortable being in the same room with Skye.
His mattress remained on the floor where he had left it. Pavati, the Lekwuesti overseeing Skye’s needs while she was at Central, had been told by the Lekwuesti commander, Caoilinn, to remain away until summoned, so there was no risk of someone seeing the moved mattress and making comments. Besides, archigos Gabriel now already knew about it, as did the Wymzesti and Orculesti elders. It wasn’t as though they were coming down on his head for it.
Thinking of the two other elders reminded him of the conversation he’d had with Gabriel and James shortly after placing the sisters down to sleep. It had been a topic at the forefront of his mind since he first understood what happened.
“They were with each other when Skye was taken by Grolkinei,” he had said.
James’ eyes had widened at that. He glanced at Gabriel for confirmation.
Their leader sighed. “Yes. They have feelings for each other and have a…physical relationship. The timing of their joining last night happened to coincide with Grolkinei’s efforts to get through. The combination of Malukali being, uh, distracted and Grolkinei joining with Layla to enhance their efforts led to the Mercesti’s success in getting through the protections we had in place.”
Caleb had wanted to be furious with the two elders, but after having had a few hours to consider it, he understood that the timing was just ridiculously unfortunate. Gabriel had been right that the one to blame for what had happened was Grolkinei. And Knorbis had been equally correct that Malukali could certainly not protect every single Estilorian—or half-Estilorian—every single hour of every single day.
Thank goodness they had successfully solved the problem of this possibly happening again, he thought as he paced beside Skye’s bed. He didn’t think he’d ever get a decent night’s sleep if he thought she could be vulnerable like that again.
“Wow,” she said suddenly, sitting straight up in bed. “How long was I out?”
He stopped pacing and stood beside the bed. “All the rest of yesterday and through the night. It’s morning now.”
“Gotcha,” she said, giving him a small smile. “That explains the full bladder. Guess I’ll shower while I’m at it.” She eased gracefully from the bed and stopped at her wardrobe, pulling out some items of clothing in various shades of purple. “See you in a bit?”
“Of course,” he replied, completely unfazed by her rapid speech and movements.
When she smiled again and turned to head into the bathroom, humming as she went, he knew everything really was going to be okay.
He communicated to James and Gabriel using their connection that Skye was awake. Since Olivia and Amber were still sleeping, James offered to monitor Skye from the bedroom beside hers while Caleb took a shower. He was happy to take him up on it.
While Caleb was getting dressed after his shower, James sent out the thought that Olivia was awake. Glad to hear it, he responded that he was out of the shower, so James was effectively relieved of duty where Skye was concerned. He pulled on a dark orange tank and khaki pants, but didn’t bother to put on his boots or socks yet, going barefoot as he tugged his hair into a ponytail. Then he brushed his teeth and considered himself ready.
Skye’s off-key singing got louder, telling him she had opened her bathroom door. He hung up his bath towel and then walked over to her room.
When he walked through the adjoining door into her room, he chanced to look through the two other sets of adjoining doors that were open between her room and Olivia’s. James and Olivia were engaged in a rather amorous embrace. Almost out of the range of his visibility, but not quite.
Without breaking stride, he walked right to Skye’s other adjoining door and closed it—quietly—to give the couple some privacy.
“What’s up?” Skye asked curiously.
She was wearing a dark purple tank with a light purple butterfly stitched across the bodice. It was matched with dark purple leggings and one of her favored filmy overskirts in shades of light and dark purple mixed with light blue. Like his, her feet were bare. Also like him, she had pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Of course, hers was tied with some kind of girly ribbon. Her light blue eyes looked wide and incredibly innocent as she tilted her head and awaited his response.
“Nothing,” he muttered, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck and avoiding her gaze.
“Oh, I get it,” she said with a grin. “You saw James and Olivia kissing, didn’t you?”
He could feel himself flushing. Rather than answer, he shrugged.
“Why did you have that look on your face when you saw them?” she asked. “You looked, I don’t know. Put off.”
Put off? What did that mean? He looked around the room as though he could find an escape from the uncomfortable conversation. Then she advanced, that smile teasing her full mouth.
His eyes suddenly focused on her mouth, and he found himself admitting, “I just don’t see the appeal.”
That made her pause. “You don’t understand the appeal of kissing?”
He shrugged again, feeling foolish. “What’s so appealing about sticking your tongue in someone else’s mouth?”
She raised her eyebrows and seemed to give his statement some consideration. He was deeply relieved that she didn’t burst into laughter over his obvious ignorance. Instead, she said, “Huh. I can see your point. When you put it that way, it does make you wonder what all the fuss is about. It sounds kind of gross.”
Blinking in surprise, he said hesitantly, “You haven’t tried it?”
“No,” she responded. “Did you think I had?”
He wasn’t about to say that he couldn’t imagine her with any other male without it making his eyelid twitch, so he just went back to the shrug.
“Well, I haven’t,” she said. “The guys near where I lived weren’t quite that bold. More’s the pity.”
She gave him one of her bright smiles. Anxiety shot through him. And then she asked the question he hadn’t ever anticipated when they began the conversation.
“So, you wanna try it?”
Chapter Eleven
“I—what?”
Caleb thought his entire face had just gone numb. Had Skye really just asked if he wanted to kiss her? “What?” he repeated.
Her smile widened. “Well, I’ve always wanted to try a real, honest-to-goodness kiss with the right guy. I certainly intend to try it at some point in this long lifetime ahead of me, and you said you’ve never done it. So, do you want to?”
“I—I—um, no.” He shook his head vigorously and may have waved his hands to ward her off, but he couldn’t seem to get around the crazy rush of blood in his head to focus too much on his behavior.
She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. He could see she was hurt and working her way toward angry. “So, you’re telling me that you would rather go an entire lifetime—possibly several millennia—never learning what all the fuss is about than to even attempt one kiss with me?”
Some of the feeling returned to his face as his determination wavered. She had touched on his pride and, he realized, it was now a matter of pride for her, too. She just stood there staring at him expectantly, but he knew if he continued to refuse her request to attempt a kiss that he would be messing up quite badly with her.
/> He was, to use one of her human phrases, screwed either way.
Sighing, he said, “Very well.”
She rolled her eyes. “You are hands-down the least romantic guy I’ve ever met,” she declared. She shook her head at him and he fought the urge to hunch his shoulders in discomfort. “Come on. Over here. Sit on the bed.”
“Why?” he asked, though he moved to do what she said because he certainly had no idea what to do. “I’ve never seen James or Gabriel sit on their beds to kiss Olivia and Amber.”
“Yeah, well, you’re extremely tall and I think it’s pretty clear that I’m going to have to take the lead here. So sit.”
She sure was bossy when she wanted to be, he thought. It actually amused him and helped him ease past his rising nervousness. When he sat on the edge of the bed, he realized that he was now nearly at her standing eye level. She moved between his knees so she was standing right in front of him.
“Now, I don’t really know what I’m doing here,” she acknowledged. “But I know some of the stuff I’ve read from Amber and Olivia’s minds when they weren’t guarding their thoughts. Um, please don’t tell them about that, though.”
After giving him a shameless grin over her admission, she leaned forward. He steeled himself, more than a little embarrassed over how tense he was. But rather than connecting with his mouth as he expected, she moved just beyond his face and touched her lips to his left ear. He almost jumped in shock.
“I’ve gathered from their thoughts that the whole business isn’t just about sticking your tongue in someone else’s mouth,” she whispered against his ear. She moved her hands up, placing one on his shoulder and using the other to caress the base of his neck beneath his hair.
He had been prepared for the entire experience to be awkward. He had even been prepared for it to be mildly repulsive.
He had not been prepared for it to feel so good.
Everywhere she touched started tingling. Pulsing sensation coursed through him at the touch of her fingers as well as where he felt her warm breath against the side of his neck. He felt her body pressed against him, felt the heat from her skin warming him through their clothes, and instinctively reached up to hold her at her waist, enjoying the feel of the feminine curves of her hips beneath his hands.
Then he felt her lips move along the outer edge of his ear, taking his sensitive earlobe gently between her teeth for one teasing, incredible moment before she slowly rained tender kisses along the side of his neck and jaw. He realized when his brain finally kicked in that her particular position exposed the slender line of her neck to him. He didn’t have to move at all to breathe in the scent of her. He registered that she smelled like jasmine, sweet and bit mysterious.
Of course she did.
When she pressed her lips against the pulse pounding in his neck, he turned his head the slightest bit and rubbed his mouth against the tantalizing curve where her neck met her shoulder. Her skin was amazingly soft. Her scent was driving him crazy. He found himself trailing his lips up higher. When she issued a sound like a sigh and a moan and tilted her head to give him better access, it sent pleasure lancing through him like spears of lightning.
His hands moved up her back, caressing the bare skin exposed to him as she kissed the line of his jaw and moved closer to his mouth. By then, his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. He couldn’t catch his breath. And his body was a flood of thrilling sensations that he had never, ever envisioned.
She kissed his left cheek near the corner of his mouth. Kissed his other cheek.
Then she paused, her hands on either side of his face. She stared at his mouth with her lips slightly parted, her breathing uneven. He sensed her hesitation. He knew her confidence was faltering.
And he knew if he didn’t kiss her, he would positively die.
So he reached up, untied the ribbon holding her hair with a single tug, wove his fingers through the shimmering, scented curls and pulled her completely against him.
Then he pressed his lips to hers.
Passion erupted. They moved their lips against each other’s again and again, varying the pressure as they experimented. She adjusted the position of her head and tugged on his, as well, to try different angles.
Then she tentatively touched the tip of her tongue to his lower lip. And when he felt it, he realized there was nothing he wanted more than to taste her just like that. So he opened his mouth a bit and waited for her to open hers.
Their tongues touched. And he wondered then how he had ever thought this experience would be disgusting.
His body flared with almost painful ecstasy. She made alluring sounds in the back of her throat that told him she felt exactly the same. All he could think about was how good she tasted. How perfect she felt against him. He never wanted to stop feeling this unbelievable bliss.
“Gabriel’s coming.”
Caleb tore himself away from Skye’s mouth when her spirit guardian spoke in his ear. He noticed with no small amount of amazement that she was partly on the bed, her knees on either side of him, and she was wrapped around him. When had that happened?
Because she also heard the warning, she leaped from his lap and made a dash for the bathroom.
Even though he was trying to collect his thoughts and his breath, he had enough sense to worry that she was upset. He got to his feet, realized his knees were wobbly and grabbed the footboard of her bed to keep from falling on his face. Then her hysterical giggling reached him from beyond the bathroom door and he knew he didn’t have to be concerned about her feelings.
“Caleb?”
Praying his voice wouldn’t betray him, he did his best to collect himself and further steady his breathing and then took the few strides back to his room. “Yes?”
Gabriel was standing just inside the door of Caleb’s room, evidently not having wanted to walk through the adjoining doors and risk disturbing James and Olivia. He held a bowl of fruit and lifted it slightly when he spotted Caleb.
“Amber’s up and wanted some food,” he said, giving Caleb a thoughtful once-over. “You and Skye interested?”
“Oh,” he said. His brain couldn’t quite focus yet. “Sure. Sounds good.”
Gabriel nodded. Then he reached into the bowl and selected a large green grape, popping it into his mouth. Talking around the fruit, he asked casually, “So, you kissed her, huh?”
Caleb supposed it would have been too much to ask to have his intimate experience with Skye remain private in light of their connection to the others. Since he couldn’t decide whether to be worried that his leader was going to beat him into a bloody pulp or simply mortified over the situation all around, he merely nodded.
“Figured.” He reached for another grape and then caught Caleb’s eye. “Go okay?”
The question surprised Caleb. “Um…yes.” A smile pulled at his lips. “It did.”
“All right. We don’t have to have a conversation about respecting Skye, right?”He
“No—of course not.”
“Good. That saves me some headache. Why don’t you get Skye out of the bathroom and eat some of this fruit? The other elders will want to meet with us all later today.”
Caleb moved forward and took the bowl. “Thanks.” He paused, debating with himself. Then he raised his gaze to Gabriel’s. “How did you know?”
Now, Gabriel grinned. “Just look in the mirror. You’ll know.”
So when his leader turned and left the room, he set the bowl of fruit on his bedside table and walked into the bathroom. It was when he saw how ridiculously messed up his hair was from where Skye had run her hands through it that he understood.
And he threw back his head and laughed until his sides ached.
Gabriel paused for a moment outside of Caleb’s room after he pulled the door closed. He opened his thoughts to see if he knew his Gloresti as well as he suspected. He did. Caleb went right to the bathroom to figure out what had tipped his leader off.
His laughter surprised an
d pleased Gabriel. It was the first time he had ever heard his more serious brother laugh. It made him smile.
It also gave him hope. Caleb was taking his own sweet time moving forward in his relationship with Skye. Although Gabriel knew in his gut that the two would ultimately be together, it would be decidedly more challenging the longer they waited. As he had explained to James when he returned from his honeymoon the week before, there were a great many males becoming interested in Skye because she wasn’t yet paired. And they were all interested for the wrong reasons. Largely because they were Estilorians and simply didn’t understand human relationships.
They looked at pairing with Skye as a kind of prize to be won. This was almost funny, as there had been a great many biases against the half-human sisters before their transition a few months ago. Since returning to the Estilorian plane himself, Gabriel had learned from the other elders that most of the rumors existing among the various classes indicated that Saraqael’s daughters were somehow flawed or lacking. In some rumors, the sisters were deformed or hideously unattractive. In others, they were weak and unintelligent. And in still others, they were pampered and spoiled, even though they didn’t deserve it. And some apparently believed all of the above.
He had been appalled to hear such negative preconceptions and had deliberately kept them from all of the sisters, even Amber. He knew that as soon as the Estilorians got to know the girls that they would realize they were wrong on every front.
And he had been right. As various Estilorians made their way to Central to meet the sisters, they understood that the rumors had been completely false. Of course, now that they realized it, it made their interest in Saraqael’s daughters flow in an entirely different direction. With Amber and Olivia now spoken for, the interest of the males now turned toward Skye.
As if he had brought her physically closer by thinking of her, he heard her cheerful voice float through the closed door. “What’s so funny?” she asked Caleb.