“No, I—”
This time, when he dove in for a taste, her mouth was already open. He took full advantage, thrusting his tongue against hers.
Moaning, she gave up the pretense of resistance. Her arms wrapped around him as she kissed him back with the fervency of a starving woman.
He tried to slow things down, but she began to writhe against him, lost to the sensations, all inhibitions forgotten. He nipped at her mouth, and she nipped at his, and that was it. They became animals.
He growled, and she growled, and they ate at each other. He kneaded her breast with one hand, his grip strong, too strong, but just like before, she didn’t seem to mind. He caged her wrists with the other and locked her arms above her head.
Her back arched, pressing her body more firmly against his.
“More?”
“Please,” she rasped.
“I like that word on your lips.” Blood aflame, he lifted the hem of her dress. His knuckles brushed against the warm, tender skin on her inner thigh and he shuddered with the intensity of the pleasure. Then he hefted her up, anchored her, forcing her to wrap her legs around him, like she’d done inside the dress shop, finding a measure of release and deeper need with his erection pressed against her.
His fingers curled around her backside, past the edge of her panties, seeking more intimate contact.
“Ow!” she said, suddenly fighting to get away from him.
Concern instantly replaced desire as he set her on her feet. “What’s wrong?”
She patted at the sleeve of her dress. Flames from one of the torches had showered over her.
Scowling, he backed away from her. As he tried to tamp down his raging need, he made sure to keep a safe distance. Disaster would flip his lid if Kane continued what he’d started.
It wouldn’t always be this way, he reminded himself.
She sighed, gave him a pained look. “Just proves we shouldn’t be doing this.”
“We’re meant for each other, and you know it.”
She raised her arm with the charred sleeve. “Kane, did you see what just—”
“Did you think about me today?” he interjected, needing her to affirm that there werefeelings there, no matter what she was saying. “Did you wish I was with you?”
She lowered her arm. “More times than I liked.”
“I thought about you, too,” he said.
“Why?” she whispered, her head down but her gaze remaining on him. “Why are we thinking about each other? It would be so much better for both of us if we walked away from each other.”
“I’ve tried. I can’t.” His gaze was piercing. “I could marry you,” he said softly.
She closed her eyes for a moment, looking as if she could burst into tears. Then, she closed the distance, expression more determined with every step. Before he could move away, she rested her hands on his shoulders. He stiffened, afraid for her, for what Disaster would do, but he didn’t dissuade her. He yearned so badly for some kind of contact with her, even this.
“I like your kisses,” she said. “I do. Somuch.”
“Like is too weak a word for how I feel about yours.”
“And I like when you touch me. And I like you, snarly beast that you can sometimes be.” Her chin trembled. “That’s why it pains me to say...no. No, I...don’t want to marry you.”
He reared back as if she’d nailed him with a hammer. “Because the demon burned you?” he croaked. “I won’t always have him. I plan to kill him.”
“I could lie and tell you that’s why. I could tell you I want someone else and you’re in the way. But the truth is, I don’t think you can help me. Not without getting hurt.”
He felt as if he’d just been punched in the stomach. Like his friends, she doubted him. Had no faith in his abilities.
Disaster laughed with undiluted glee, at last appeased.
“I want you to leave this realm,” she said with a tremor. “Tonight. Now.”
Kane was a man well acquainted with pain. At least, he’d thought so. Now, he learned the error of his ways. Thiswas true pain. Rejection from the female he craved.
He’d gotten good at building walls inside himself, and used the skill now. Expression even, giving nothing away, he said, “Very well,” with all the calm of a man discussing the weather. “I won’t bother you any longer.” He turned from her and stalked out of the enclosure.
As he stormed down the hall, he ran into William.
“The problem?” William asked after taking one look at him.
“Doesn’t concern you,” he said. “Just keep your boys away from Tink. I won’t be around to protect her.”
“Hell-ooo. We’ve talked about this. She’s yours and I won’t let them—”
“She’s not mine,” he interjected harshly. “And keep your boys away from me, too. They come near me, and I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
He stalked away from William, grabbed the first drink he found, then another and another, and nearly drowned himself. He danced with Synda, twirling her across the floor. He danced with her friends. They put their hands all over him and he had to swallow back vomit time and time again. Then he danced with Synda again while the king nodded his approval.
“I have to have you, Lord Kane,” Synda whispered, warm breath fanning against his ear. “Let me. Please. You won’t regret it. I’ll do anything you ask.”
He opened his mouth to refuse her, locked gazes with Tink, who was watching him with guarded eyes as she cleaned a table, and said, “Yeah, let’s go.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The Realm of Blood and Shadows
TORIN SAT AT his desk, fingers pounding at the computer keyboard with so much force he cracked the outer shell. Again. With a curse, he tossed the thing aside and grabbed a new one from his box of spare parts.
There were disturbances all over the world. People were fighting, rioting and looting. For no reason! Cameo and Viola were still missing, and he’d failed to find a single trail to lead him to their whereabouts. They were out there, possibly hurt.
He had no idea what kind of defensive skills Viola possessed. Cameo, on the other hand, was a warrior to her soul and could take care of herself. He knew that. Had seen her fight. Girl had a wicked habit of slitting throats. But she wasn’t infallible.
An unfamiliar sound caught his attention and he spun in his chair, cocking the gun he always kept in his lap.
A young girl stood there, holding her palms up, all innocence. “Please,” she said in a strained whisper. Color drained from her cheeks.
“Who are you and how did you get in here?” he demanded, even as he looked her over.
She had dirty hair, at one time it might have been blond, the strands tangled and knotted and hanging limply to her elbows. A stained and ripped nightgown bagged over her too-thin body, the material falling all the way to the ground.
“You are Torin, correct?”
“I’m Death, if you don’t answer my questions.”
“I’m not willing to share my name, and I flashed.” Still she whispered. Why?
“Well, then, I’ll call you Crazy, because only a crazy person would come here without an invite.”
She nodded, no inflection of emotion darkening her features. “You may call me whatever you wish.”
Very accommodating, wasn’t she? “Why are you here, female?”
She ignored him, saying, “Please, may I lower my hands?”
“No.”
“My arms are shaking, and I can’t...I’m not strong enough...” Her arms lowered slowly, as if heavy weights had been tied to her wrists and pulled. “I’m sorry. Please don’t shoot me. That’s not the way I want to die.”
“You’re lucky I don’t like blood in my room.” He lowered the gun as well, placing it on his thigh, making sure to keep the barrel aimed at her stomach. “I don’t like it—but I’ll deal with it. This is the last time I’m going to ask. Why are you here?”