He stills our hips, moving his hand down until his thumb flicks over my clit. I cry out, trying to wiggle for friction again, but he keeps me pinned in place against him and completely at his mercy. Sharp teeth meet the shell of my ear, sending waves of desire over every sensitive nerve. “Say it, Bahira.”
“I despise you,” I growl, but it doesn’t come out with the gravity needed to make the statement believable. Kai’s chuckle is a tantalizing scrape against me, his thumb playing as if he can’t help but taunt me despite his own command. “I accept yourapology. Now make me come again, or I swear to all the gods, I will punch you.”
His lips skim over my shoulder as he resumes his merciless pace. One of his hands finds mine and flattens it against my stomach, laying his on top. He moves them lower, spreading my pointer and middle finger apart and placing them on either side of where he is fucking me, then draws them closer together until I can feel him sliding in and out.
“You take me so well,” he growls in my ear, the words lighting me up as I lean my head back against him. “I knew you would. Do you feel that? Do you feel how onlyIcan fuck you?”
“Kai,” I whisper, his name a desperate plea. I said I would never beg him for anything, and twice now, I’ve broken that promise to myself.
His voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it before, even though he moves as if he’s angry with me. His body doling out a punishment mine is all too willing to take. “I thought about you too. Just like this. Come for me, Bahira. Drench my cock with your sweet release.” He buries himself to the hilt again, and I do as he says. I give it all to him, his name on my lips against his mouth as my body tightens. Kai pulses inside me, and together, we become undone. Resting his forehead against my temple, his hands hold me in place—perhaps knowing that the moment reality hits, I might crumble.
It’s never been like this before.The ludicrous thought tumbles around in my head when Kai pulls out of me, carefully helping me off the bed so that I can head to the bathroom to clean up.It’s never been like this.I can’t even define whatthisis. The sex itself? The emotion in it? Kai’s words and the way I never once found myself wishing for more or different orother? All of those statements are true, and all of them turn my stomach to lead because this place is not my home.Heis not my home. Hecan’tbe.
He’s still on the bed when I come out of the bathroom, my steps faltering as I take in each muscular plane and divot of his naked form. He studies me, acknowledging the inner turmoil that must show on my face. “I’ll go,” he offers effortlessly, as if understanding that I’ve never donethis. Maybe he hasn’t either.
My throat constricts as I watch him stand and walk to where our clothes are still lying on the floor. “Stay.” He freezes, his eyes finding mine across the dark room as something new andsoftforms between us. “If you want to.”Stupid. What a stupid fucking thing to say.
But Kai gestures for me to get in bed as he climbs in too, this time going under the covers and reaching for me. He pulls me to him until my head is lying on his chest, the steady beat of his heart pounding beneath my ear and softening the tension in my body.
“Goodnight, Princess.”
I allow my eyes to fall closed, my fingers uncurling until my hand is flat against his stomach and my breaths grow lazy. “Goodnight, Kai.”
Chapter Fifty-Four: Bahira
Unlike the morning afterthe rebel attacked me, Kai is still in bed when I wake. Soreness lingers between my legs and on my skin where he gripped me tightly, but all it does is make me want him again. So I wake him up with my hand on his cock, replacing it with my body until we are both panting in the early sunlight.
After showering together, Kai goes to his room to dress and I meet him down in the brightly lit foyer. The female behind the desk offers me a polite smile, the same one she gives to Kai, andthen we are off to the village to speak with more families. While most of the residents dwell within view of the village center, a few we have to trek a short distance through the jungle to visit. On our way back, after meeting a rather terrifying lion shifter stuck as their animal, a painful wailing fills the air, jolting us both as Kai snaps his head to the right.
“It’s an injured animal,” he states, turning and pushing his way past the lower lying plants.
I follow behind him, keeping up with his quick pace while positioning one hand within easy reach of my spear. He sucks in a harsh breath as he kneels. A beautiful bird, with colorful feathers—green, yellow, and blue—lays with its wings sprawled out on the ground, nearly hidden by the decaying leaves it’s half buried under. Blood leaks from its long curved deep orange beak, its eyes wide and filled with terror.
“What kind of bird is this?” I ask, kneeling at Kai’s side.
“A toucan,” he replies, gently tilting the bird’s body to the side where a large gash has shredded it. The toucan lets out another keening sound.
“How can you tell that it’s purely animal and not a shifter?”
Kai’s silent for a moment, not like he’s ignoring me but trying to phrase his answer in a way that I will understand. “It’s asensationthat I feel. Around other shifters, the feeling is thick, as if there is fog in the air. When a being is just an animal, it feels more like a soft caress against my skin.” It sounded similar to how mages could detect the magical signature of other mages. He inhales again before turning to look at me. “I suppose your magic cannot help him?”
I swallow roughly, giving him a curt shake of my head. He sighs, reaching back to unsheathe the dagger from his belt. The same one he used when he sliced our palms open to bleed onto the petals.Blood. The word bounces around my mind as I watchmore of it trickle from the toucan’s mouth.Blood.My blood had done nothing to the petals, had no reaction, but Kai’s—
“Wait.” I gently grip his wrist, halting his attempt to put the bird out of its misery.
Mistaking my hesitation for sympathy, Kai’s eyes soften. “Bahira, we can’t leave it to suffer.”
“I know, but I have an idea. It might not do anything, but if you’re willing to try…” I fight to keep my chin drawn up, so used to the criticism and skepticism over my experiments. But as he studies me, those dark brown eyes full of intrigue, he simply nods and pulls from my hold to sheathe his dagger. “No, we’ll need that.” Fortifying myself with a deep breath, I lay my hypothesis out for him. “Your blood had a reaction with the petals. It gave themlife, making them sprout healthy stems and new flower buds. What if the same principle could be applied to this animal? What if—what if yourbloodcould heal?”
Kai’s eyes widen in disbelief before his focus moves back to the toucan, the poor bird’s breathing growing more labored by the second. His finger delicately strokes the top of its head as he considers what I’ve told him. “Okay, let us try.”Us.I feel the invisible noose around my throat grow tighter. “What do I do?”
“Same as before, I think. Slice your palm enough for the blood to bead.” Kai sets the bird down carefully and cuts himself, bright red filling the small crevices of his palm before he brings it above the toucan. I look at the open wound that is killing the toucan and guide Kai’s hand to it. “Try dropping your blood there.”
He nods and then tips his hand, crimson dripping right into the bird. The flow of his blood begins to slow, his own healing properties closing the cut fairly quickly. Kai draws his hand back, and together, we wait in silence. The bird cries out again though it’s quieter and less panicked. Time flows slowly like trudging through quicksand, each step forward a work of glacialeffort. I don’t know what to expect, but it guts me all the same when it appears as if nothing happens. Kai’s head falls between his shoulders, his exhale rough as he reaches out for the bird to prepare it for burial.
The lively squawk it gives surprises us both, Kai jolting back so harshly that he nearly knocks me over. In awe, we watch as the wound disfiguring the bird begins to sluggishly knit itself back together. There is no flash of light, like when a mage uses their magic, no dramatic or quick turnaround. But still, the bird’s pupils return to their normal size, and it looks around as if it is confused about how it ended up on the ground. Kai wastes no time gently picking it up and cradling it in his arms.
“We’ll bring it back to the village healer where she can finish mending the wound.”
