Settled on the lap of a man who could counter me at every turn, with an ease that was argument enough against trying again. A hopeless endeavor.
The captain unseated me. Pushing me to stand before him in warm water that was deep enough to tease the underside of my breasts. Arms laid out across the tiles, he spread his knees, tilted his chin back, and said, “Come.”
Cupping my breasts to keep them hidden, I curled my lip. Eyes flicking toward the door, cracked open enough to reveal the hallway beyond.
“Try it,” the captain cooed, his eyes sparkling. Positively slavering for the hunt.
Just to be contrary, I obeyed without the use of force. My outer thighs brushing the prickle that lay between his. Forearms crossed, nipples secreted away, I drew close enough that he could touch if the urge struck, and said, “What.”
It wasn’t a question. The single syllable bitten off between the click of my modified canines.
“I’d like to continue our conversation,” he drawled. Fingers drawing tight circles across the water’s surface, where they dangled from the edge of the pool.
I swallowed, eyes flicking again to the exit. “What conversation?”
“Your shield, Mila.” He licked his lips. “Tell me everything.”
Tearing my gaze from that which was bottomless and beguiling, I swallowed back the vitriol. “I already did.”
“Then tell me again.”
Scowling, my nails bit into the meat of my palm.
“Priestesses take,” he murmured, fingers twirling through the water when I refused to speak. “They feed on energy. But for you it’s different, yes? More complicated.”
I swallowed, glaring at the tiny whirlpools he sent toward me.
“As I understand it, this… shield Sasha built for you is meant to keep you separate from the hunger. A barrier between you and the empath. But what if there was another way? An easier way to learn control.”
My gaze flicked up to meet his. Intrigued. And, head tilting, I asked, “What would you know of training a priestess that Sasha doesn’t?”
Instead of responding, he peeled my fingers free of my breast. Setting dark eyes to a pink ring of irritated flesh, where the handcuffs had left me with slight bruises encircling my wrist. Above his golden mark. And then, as he had done to himself, the captain’s energy filled me in a rush. The edges smoothed, dark flames almost tranquil where they lapped at broken capillaries and made them whole. Healing me from the inside, as only a priestess could.
A priestess… andAsher.
Cold realization washed over my nape as the skin grew pale before my eyes. Unblemished and whole. “That’s how you do it,” I breathed, eyes wide. Forgetting my nudity in favor of inspecting what he’d done.
He shrugged. “We’re of the same coin. Priestess and elite. Opposites of a single spectrum. Energy wielders. Destroyers and healers, both.”
“And you know this?” I gasped. “You?”
A wry smirk creased his lips, and that hand sank beneath the surface to find a grip on my flesh. Long, elegant fingers curled were my bottom met the back of my thigh, but went no further. “Why not?”
I searched his eyes for the lie. The deception thatmustbe there, lurking. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
I found only a mask of patience. A trap clearly set, but one I couldn’t ignore for the offer of salvation. A chance to defend myself with the might of an elite, to fight the empire on a level playing field and learn from my enemy so I might destroy him from within.
“Show me,” I demanded, and thrust my wrist between us. Breasts bouncing free.
He glanced at my nipples. Pulled me half a step closer. “A priestess is nothing more than an elite, really. Nothing less,” he said, and sent a measured tendril of energy through my skin. Feeding me as he wove an enchantment all around me. “Frost to the fire. A closed loop that breathesandexhales in equal measure.”
And then, pulling at my energy, he drank down every drop of priestess magic left pumping through my blood. Drained in an instant, he pinned me between his thighs when I might have sagged.
“Now you,” he murmured, and caught me before I sank. Lifting me with ease, he spread my thighs and bade me to sit.
I set both palms to his chest, seeking balance.Distance.Felt the way his heart thumped beneath my touch with an eager flutter, and couldn’t help but drift just a little closer.
Displaying an easy control, he held me in thrall without the chains. Didn’t so much as blink when I returned the favor and pulled at the buffet of dark energy. Gulping down the equivalent of what he’d taken. Unable to think or stop.
