“I thought you wanted?—”
“I wantyou.” Fala kissed the corner of Kai’s mouth. “Not the commander. Not the protector. Not the woman who has to control everything.”
Kai froze.
“You don’t have to lead tonight, beloved,” Fala whispered.
Kai rested a cheek on Fala’s shoulder, and her body trembled. “I don’t know how to stop.”
The confession barely broke the surface of her breath, but the truth was undeniable. She was the one others followed into the fire. If she stopped, would the whole world fall? What if surrendering didn’t bring peace, but ruin?
“Let me show you.” Fala guided Kai from the pool and laid her on the warm, wet stone. She bent over Kai’s body, lips brushing her ears. “Close your eyes. Tell me what you hear.”
The soft lapping of water against stone walls. Drops falling from the cave ceiling, plinking below. The distant gurgle of water threading the natural channels.
“Water,” Kai murmured.
Fala’s lips moved from Kai’s temple to her jaw. “What do you feel?”
The unforgiving stone at her back. But also?—
A kiss trailed down her neck, heat blooming in its wake. “Your breath is…hot. And your hands?—”
Knuckles smoothed down her belly. The tip of Fala’s braid tickled across one nipple, then her hot mouth closed over the other.
Kai gasped.
Not one second passed without sensation. Every sound. Every touch. A quiet vow:You are safe. You are loved.
And the rest of the world…retreated.
Fala drew her out like dawn chasing the dark.
“Look at me,” Fala finally said, her nose brushing Kai’s. “Watch me honor every sacrifice you ever made for me.”
Kai’s eyelids fluttered open. The cave seemed brighter now, its glow echoing the warmth building inside her.
Fala’s mouth slanted across hers, tongues tangling, the salt of skin andclean water between them. Too soon, Fala pulled away, trailing kisses down Kai’s body.
Between Kai’s thighs, Fala rose to her knees, beautiful and flushed. She pulled the tie from her hair and fingered her braid loose. The dark, thick tendrils fell across her shoulders and hid her breasts.
Kai wanted to lose her hands in that hair.
Fala’s eyes brightened, and her beautiful, full lips quirked up to one side. “Keep your hands to yourself, beloved.”
“You can’t expect me to?—”
“I expect you to do as I say.” Fala opened Kai’s thighs further and stared down. “Watch.”
Fala slipped a hand between Kai’s legs, fingers grazing her slick, aching center. “Open for me.” Kai knew she didn’t mean physically. “Surrender.”
A fingertip circled Kai’s ache.
Kai squirmed toward it. She needed pressure. Release.
Fala gripped her hip, holding her down. “Let go. Trust me.”
Kai stilled.
