I’ve spent every minute since learning that my father’s alive with anxiety hovering at the back of my mind that I couldn’t shake. All the while wondering why the keeper hadn’t left my side already. And now it seems I needn’t have worried at all.
His eyes flare with amber light and his voice hardens. “I promised you vengeance, my Veda. Brutal, bloody vengeance. And I plan to deliver it.”
“Then… you’re still bound to me.”
“I am.” He rears up beneath me, his hands stroking around my neck, sending shivers through me before he strokes my back, down and then up again. “And I will remain bound to you, untilyoudecide your revenge is complete.”
For the first time since I woke up in my father’s lair, I feel like my foundations aren’t quite so fragile.
I retract my claws, my hands finding the collar of his shirt. There’s a gap between our chests, but my pelvis is pressed up against his core and the hardness of his body between my legs is undeniable despite his clothed state.
“My Veda,” he says, his voice soft as his fingers reach my hair and trail through the strands. “You’re cold. Will you let me warm you?”
“I… uh…” I consider the soft curve of his lips, the way he’s drinking in my form.
A trickle of warmth slides down my spine from his look alone.
Softly, I ask, “How warm?”
“As warm as you like.” His fingertips stroke down the side of my neck, my shoulder, then the outside of my arm, a light touch. “A little warm…”
Black light flares once more around his fingers and a sensation like flowing water passes from his fingertips across my breasts, making my nipples harden.
I gasp and he smiles.
“Or very warm,” he says. “It’s your choice.”
I give a low moan. After all the pain I’ve experienced today, both physical and emotional, I need this balance.
I need the pleasure he’s offering me.
“Very warm,” I say, my anticipation growing before I remind myself that giving away control could hurt me as much as a fist. “But?—”
“I know,” he says quietly. “There are boundaries.” His gaze becomes distant for a moment. “How did you put it? Nofull-on cock and vaginasex.”
My cheeks heat a little, but not because of the way he repeated my description. I thought he’d been asleep when I said that to him. It was a moment of vulnerability I wouldn’t normally indulge in.
At my nod, his smile returns.
“There’s a whole world of pleasure to be experienced without that,” he murmurs.
His fingertips resume tracing a circle on my upper arm, a swirling sensation that repeats itself around both of my breasts.
When the keeper’s dark light flickers across my torso, pleasure spikes down to my core and my thighs clench around his waist.
Before I can lean forward to close the gap between his mouth and mine, he says, “My Veda, you’re in control. Tell me more about your boundaries and I’ll respect them.”
Well, now I have to think.
Damn him for making it hard to concentrate.
But oh, he’s waiting so patiently for me to respond, even though his power brushes down across my stomach to the tops of my thighs in tantalizing sweeps.
“Your mouth is welcome,” I say, focusing on his lips, those lips that can look so fierce. Lips I want to capture mine. “So are your hands.”
My forehead creases as I force myself to focus past the pleasure he’s eliciting. “But don’t go near my butt if you plan to go near my clit next. Not without washing your hands in between.”
The woman in the cell may have kept secrets from me, but I don’t doubt for a second what she taught me about staying healthy during and after sex—including all the ways to avoid getting a painful infection. Of course, my healing power defies many illnesses, but it’s not something I want to risk.
