“Are you sure it’s not carried in the blood?” Kyra asked lightly. “Like genes for being tall?”
“I’m sure.”
“There will always be some who don’t see it that way.”
“Probably yes.” He rolled over and laid his head in her lap. “But there will be more who understand.”
“I hope so.” She ran her fingers through his hair and felt his chest rise and fall in a steady, relaxed breath.
She could do this for him. She might not have magic, but she could do this. She could love him so well he wouldn’t feel the loss. She would shove back her anger and swallow it whole to make room for loving Leo, who brought her flowers and fed her from his own hand.
I love you so much. I will make myself deserving of it.
After dinner, Leo ran a bath and put frangipani in the water, which filled the air with its heady scent. Then he lifted her and brought her to the bathroom.
“One step at a time,” he said. “Tonight we try for no clothes.”
Her face heated immediately. “No clothes at all?”
“Only if you want to, but I am curious why you are reluctant to let me see you.” He teased her, trying to keep it light. “Do you have an embarrassing birthmark you don’t want me to see? A tail you’ve been hiding?”
“No,” she said. “My body is perfect.”
Leo made a sound low in his throat. It was a hungry, raw sound that both thrilled and frightened her.
“Kyra—”
“Right now you see me. All of me. My face, but my mind and heart too.” Her voice grew softer. “When men look at me… It’s as if I don’t exist anymore. They don’t see me. Only my body.”
“Hmm.” Leo didn’t say anything. He took her by the hand and walked to the bed, sitting down and putting his hands on her hips.
For the longest time he only looked at her, as if he was trying to see beneath her skin.
“I can’t promise I won’t lose my head a little,” he said quietly. “Because, Kyra, I know you will be beautiful. When I see your bare skin, it will be overwhelming. But I will always see you first.”
She nodded.
“When you see me without my clothes—”
“I’ve only seen you without your shirt,” she said. “Not the whole of you.”
He smiled. “Fine. Then imagine me right now. The whole of me, without a stitch of clothing on my body.”
Kyra closed her eyes and imagined it, surprised when the same hungry sound left her own throat. Her eyes flew open.
Leo was smiling. “Good.”
“You’re saying that when I see you naked, I’ll forget who you are too?”
“Hunger doesn’t mean we forget who we’re with. It only means that our bodies recognize each other like our hearts do. Do you think I’ve ever wanted a woman the way I want you? I haven’t. Other women do not interest me.” He brought his mouth to her belly, lifted her shirt, and nipped at the sensitive flesh. “This need is only for you.”
She let out a low breath. “Okay.”
He lifted her shirt again, running his fingers along her waistband. “May I?”
She nodded. As he peeled down her leggings, she felt the tiny hairs on her legs stand up. He lifted her feet and tossed the leggings away before he stood and brought her shirt over her head.
Kyra stood before him in her bra and panties, wishing she’d thought to put on the nice pair. She hadn’t been expecting this that morning when she dressed.
Leo sat again, letting her become accustomed to the air on her bare skin. He put his hands on her hips and toyed with her panties, kissing along her belly. His hands moved back and cupped her bottom, his warm fingers sliding under the fabric that covered it.
“Yes?” he whispered.
“Yes.” Feeling bold and impatient, she reached back and unclipped her bra.
Leo heard the fabric slide off and raised his eyes, devouring her breasts without a sound. With his gold hair and sharp gaze, he reminded her of a lion eying his prey. She dropped the bra to the floor and rested her hand on his broad shoulders.
Beautiful. He formed the word with his mouth, though no sound came. Beautiful.
He didn’t touch her, but his gaze made her skin warm. Her heart pounded, and the liquid breeze caressed her skin.
Leo tugged at her panties. “May I?”
She nodded, and he slid them down her legs. He lifted one long leg and set it on the bed beside him, baring every part of her to his eyes. Leo ran the tips of his fingers over her legs, her knees, her bottom, her hips.
He bent and kissed the inside of her thigh, sliding his tongue up and making her gasp.
“May I?” he whispered, eyes closed as he breathed her in.
“Please.”
Chapter Sixteen
Leo tried to banish the sensual feast from his mind as he watched Kyra meditate in Sura’s cottage the next morning. They were all gathered in the small room except for Niran’s two soldiers who stood watch outside. Niran and Alyah stood by the door. Leo sat behind Kyra. They’d decided to experiment with his touch to see if contact increased her range or focus. Sura sat opposite her, legs folded in a meditative pose.
With his hands on her hips, Leo slid his fingers under her loose shirt, letting her feel his touch against her skin.
There?
No, lower. There.
Tell me.
I feel… everything. Everything.
Good?
So good.
Their hours of sensual exploration sat in the front of his mind, and Leo found it difficult to concentrate. Part of him had wanted to rush her. He’d felt desire before, but nothing like what he felt with Kyra. Part of him was intimidated by her. She was so beautiful, and he loved her so much. When the time finally came, would he embarrass himself?
“Focus,” Sura said quietly.
Leo looked up. Sura wasn’t talking to Kyra.
“Focus,” he said again with a pointed look at Leo.
He nodded and shifted his attention, not to the pleasure of Kyra’s skin but to the energy he felt coming from her. Her power, should she ever truly control it, was immense. He could feel her magic like an electrical current beneath her skin. He put his palms against her sides and imagined grounding her. He touched his talesm prim and felt his own magic come alive.
He could feel it. Leo sat behind her, sitting at the edge of her power and tasting the vast scope of it. He could feel when her mind opened and her consciousness flew upward.
He opened his eyes and met Sura’s gaze. “She’s having an out-of-body experience, isn’t she?”
“I believe it’s something like that.”
Leo glanced at Alyah, but he could see the singer was as fascinated as he was. He could feel Kyra’s consciousness leave her body, her soul resting like a banked fire in the center of her being. But her mind and power flew up and outward. He gripped her waist, and she leaned back into his chest, using his body as a cradle for her own. He felt her chest rise and fall. She was present and away, all at the same time.
Within minutes, her breath was slow and even. Leo looked down and her expression was restful except for a thin line between her eyebrows. He reached around and slid his palms under her own.
Their hands met and their fingers knit together; Leo was unprepared for the jolt of power that hit his chest.
His eyes rolled back and his body went limp.
He tasted the wind. Heard the rustling of trees.
Voices came from the distance.
He heard Kyra’s breath in time with his own.
“…more than the others…”
“She was dangerous.”
“—had to be moved.”
“Arindam will not be pleased when he hears—”
“He must not hear.”
“…protect the others. The children…”
A cacophony of thoughts entered his mind, a jumble of the Old Language and a dialect he’d never heard before. The rush overwhelmed him and his head swam. Thoughts beat at his mind. Voices came too fast. Too loud.
Slemaa.
He sucked in a breath at the sharp command.
Domem.
It was Kyra’s voice in his mind. Her thoughts layered over the cacophony, untangling the threads like a weaver sorting her loom.
Domem.
He matched his breath to hers and found his thoughts again.
Four male voices. No, five.
Three women.
He couldn’t count the children.
Muffled laughter.
“Leo.”
Kyra.
“Leo, let me go.”
Can’t.
“You can. Let me go. I need to return without you in my mind.”
Safe.
“I am safe. I’ve done this before. Imagine taking a step back.”
He pictured her as she’d been in the cottage before him, her body resting against his, their hands knit together.
“Let go of my hands.”
In his mind’s eye, he let go of his white-knuckle grip on her hands and—
—blinked awake with Sura, Niran, and Alyah crouched around them, staring at Leo.
“Where is she?” Sura asked.
“At the compound,” Leo said, flexing his hands to return circulation. “She’s listening.”
Niran asked, “Prija—”
“Moved.” He focused on her breathing, which did not change. He traced a spell for clarity on Kyra’s shoulders. Another for peace. “She will be able to tell you more. I was too overwhelmed by the number of thoughts, but she didn’t seem to have trouble sorting them out.”
Alyah asked, “So you were with her? You heard what she heard?”