Captiva Capitulation (21 page)

“It’s hard for me to consider any of them honorable.”

“I’m starting to agree with you,” Kash admitted, but his race wouldn’t survive without the Dynasty and the Dynasty survived off Donors. A circle that couldn’t be broken. Cocking his head, he stepped closer to her. “I just sensed Rock passing the island.” The werewolf was checking on his precious mate,and Kash couldn’t blame him. “Didn’t you, in a way?”

“Honestly,” she replied, keeping her eyes on the door. “Until they come home, all I’ll
sense
is my stomach dropping out as though I’m trapped on a plummeting elevator.” Then she turned to him, her words harshly soft, “I’m
always
riding a plummeting elevator.”

When closing the distance between them, Kash’s phone vibrated before he could offer more words of encouragement. He positioned it against his ear and boldly cupped her shoulder, pulling her against his chest. Their bodies were two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly, though she didn’t realize it the way he did.

“Yes,” he answered, listening intently. Every muscle in her sweet body remained rigid, taking the stance of a frightened rabbit, wondering which way she should go. Left? Maybe right? Sadly, Kash was keenly aware of Blythe fighting with herself, not wanting to accept what his touch did to her. But he could smell it. “Yeah, she’s fine. No other problems. You know where I’ll be.” Staring down at her, he ended the call. “Sixten and Rock are fine. They carted them off to the joint faction facility on Marco Island for much-needed questioning.”

“So they’re going to be gone for a while?”

“Nope, Six said that he and Rock will be home in five minutes
max
. Qudir’s at the Marco Island site handling the rest,” he explained, breathing in Night Blooming Jasmine tinged with arousal and the barest adrenalin. “His method of questioning proves just as productive as Sixten’s, so Maestru’s satisfied with Qudir taking over.”

“I guess he’s the commander for a reason,” she whispered, her lips curving but it wasn’t really a smile.

“Yeah. You, okay?” He asked, running his hands down her back. “Better, then?”

Her shoulders sagged, her breath leaving her body in a rush. “Much.”

When she thought to pull away from him, he pressed one hand to the small of her back and slid his phone inside his pocket with the other. “If you would let go of your inhibitions, even for a second, you’d see what’s in front of you.”

“I, uh,” she stopped, a line forming between her raven brows. Bringing her gentle palms against his chest, Blythe seemed to linger before she dropped them to her sides.

Releasing her back, Kash gripped her chin lightly between his thumb and forefinger. Thankfully, no claws emerged from his fingertips. Yet. “No pressure, all right? But that talk we need to have is now.” Her mouth opened and closed, and Kash could swear that he saw her internal gears as they whizzed inside her head, all intent on fighting him. When she didn’t say anything, he trudged forward. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to talk to you about the most important thing I’ve ever felt in my too-long life? In case you’re wondering, that would be you.”

Swallowing roughly, she replied, “Though it’s barely past dusk, it’s been a long night.”

“I said no pressure, but that doesn’t mean I’m accepting any lame excuses, Blythe, from either of us. Not tonight.” He shook his head. “I’m in
no
mood for excuses.” A long breath escaped him, but it didn’t ease his tension. “I kept waiting, waiting for Sixten to settle in with you while you settle in with him. Before that could happen, up comes a spoiled monarch who deserved nothing more than to burn an eternity for his crimes, and he took off with you!”

Closing his eyes, he stifled off the rising bile burning his throat. Turbulent thoughts shook him. “I’ll bet you know what your disappearance did to Sixten, or at least you have an idea. Especially when Sixten understood where you’d been the whole damn time, living under a royal’s subjugation
on a leash
.” Fangs punched down. She looked away, turning from his grasp with a tear sliding down her cheek. “Face it,” he dared her. “Face me, now.” After a slow moment, she did. Lavender illuminated her exquisite features, his Species rising, its irises aglow. “Sixten wasn’t the only one hardest hit. I’ll tell you right now, Blythe, your disappearance did nothing short of
killing
me. Once I found out…everything that happened to you, deep gashes formed inside my body, ravaging me. They’re still bleeding, you know, bleeding because you aren’t truly healed from it all.”

“I had no idea, Kash. I’m so very sorry.”

“You’re not the one who needs to be sorry, never you.” Lowering his head, his mouth touched the corner of hers, his lips brushing her lips when he said, “Patiently, I have waited to tell you how I really feel, that my emotions go far beyond friendship or protecting my best friend’s wife.” Blythe’s breaths left her in short spurts, her scent blooming. And since there was no other male around, her body was responding to him and him alone. “Then Rock happened. I found myself hiking up yet another one of your daunting mountains. At Rock and Sixten’s insistence, I somehow forced my Species to stand down so that Rock could make his claim before I made mine. With gratitude, mind you, because the werewolf transformed you into an immortal, something I couldn’t do without killing you.” He placed a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth, her lips an aphrodisiac he didn’t need.

“At Rock and Sixten’s insistence,” she repeated in the barest of whispers.

“When I misted you here,” he couldn’t stop now, “I watched you stand before me while truly traumatized, nervously waiting for your mates to come home.” Kash groaned, wishing he could allow her the consideration she needed. “Your trauma withstanding, how can I continue waiting? No day in the immediate future will be the perfect time, and, by God, no night will ever flow flawlessly.” She dropped down, her knees shaking. In a flash, Kash’s arm wrapped around her waist, bringing her against him once more. “Life’s not easy for us, Blythe, probably never will be.” Only a fraction, he moved his mouth against hers, gently scraping a single fang over her tender flesh. “If I keep on waiting for the right time to tell you that
I love you
, I’ll be waiting forever.”

Blythe opened her mouth and he shushed her. “Don’t say anything. Don’t
think
about anything.” With blood rushing his head, his mind whirled back and forth. Never had he encountered anything comparable to this. What was more? Feeling this disconcerted desperation, Kash was certain that once his Species got his fangs on Blythe again, his body would not stop no matter her useless arguments. Harsh, yes, it certainly was. Even so, he could not deny it stayed the simple reality of the moment. Kash was a predator fueled by egoistic genetics, and it would be far easier for him to stop a nuclear warhead turning Blythe’s way than to stop his will to claim her. “Please, allow me this.”

Then he kissed her.

His lips brushed hers once, twice, and then finally Blythe opened beneath his gentle pressure. Swallowing her first gasp, inhaling her intoxicating breath into his own lungs, Kash moved his tongue against hers. Unable to help himself, he cupped her ass with one hand, pressing her giving softness against his aching hardness.

“Kash,” she said on a needy moan, her hands sliding up his shoulders and twining around his neck.

“My name on your lips, calling on me for
more
,” he said between licks and easy nips, reaching up and fisting her hair. “I’m undone.” Bringing her head back, her chin pointing towards the ceiling, Kash placed his lips against the tender flesh underneath her jaw. And he sucked, hard, drawing her skin between his unrelenting fangs. And although he didn’t bite, he offered Blythe the taste of
his
pleasure, for her to decide. Hoping she would offer to mate him soon because, among other things, he wanted to feed from her so badly. “Irresistible…to me, Blythe,” he rumbled his approval, moving back over her mouth and tangling their tongues in a succulent kiss. “I live to taste you.”

Kash sensed Rock and Sixten reforming in the entryway, though Blythe stayed oblivious, her eyes closed. When they flanked her, Rock pressed his mouth against the side of her throat while Sixten moved her hair and stroked her nape with his expert tongue. Hormones rising in double time, Kash’s body singing for hers, he pushed the solid, hot length of his cock on her soft stomach. Pumping it while mimicking the action with his tongue, he offered a definite suggestion with all hopes Blythe would follow his lead. Without a care over what Rock or Sixten heard, Kash told her he loved her repeatedly. Made promises between kisses, mostly uttering nonsense like a lovesick youngling.

He couldn’t stop.

In an instant she stiffened, then pushed against his chest. “You’re both back,” she said, blinking several times as if she just awakened from a dream. “Are you hurt?” she asked, patting each of them.

“We’re fine.”

“The flying freaks?”

“Imprisoned, being questioned, and the prince has decreed all others on the ground for the night. Tonight, at least, the skies are to remain clear.”

She glanced between them. “I’ve been worried sick.”

“I tried to call you, moja láska, even before I phoned Kash.”

“Her phone’s toast, lost in the mangroves,” Rock said, holding her in place when she took a step back. “I’ll get her another tomorrow.”

“You’re talking about my
phone
?” she asked incredulously, now struggling to get away from them.

“
Everything’s
fine.” In a quick rush, Sixten wrapped his arms around her. “We know how you feel about Kash, angel.” She closed her eyes, her breath leaving in short pants as Sixten coaxed her. “Why not show him?”

“Gotta relax, baby,” Rock encouraged her. “Just like you did for me.”

After scenting her escalating fear, it was Kash’s turn to step back, loathing that two males were suddenly his cheering section. He didn’t need a fucking cheering section! “Everything was fine until they misted it, Blythe. You were soft and willing, accepting my touch. What changed just now?”

“All of you are very male…so tremendously overwhelming.” She lifted her hands in a helpless gesture. “The shortest of you three is six and half feet of solid wall-to-wall muscle and unimaginable power. You command magic at will.” She shrugged but it was off, a forced casualness. “None of you seem to realize your presence. I mean – you take down aliens and hunters, behead things, ripping them to shreds with your claws and your teeth. It’s all in a day’s work, right? And although I’m mated with a male who still scares me on a regular basis, especially,” she admitted, smiling apologetically Sixten’s way, “during sex and feeding. Might I remind you that last night I mated a longtime friend who is a…
werewolf
empowered by the moon. And just now, in the refuge… Holy shit. It’s a bit much, you know?” She palmed her forehead, sucking in a deep breath. “Tonight, Kash, you admitted that you love me, bringing that powerful Vojak body against mine. Felt fantastic, I won’t deny it. I’m wet and aching, and I’m sure you can smell it.” A burst of strangled laughter left her lips. “There are
no
secrets in that department, right?” Sixten let go of her, and she back away several steps. “Not as if any of you need Oycher here to give you a mind-stalking run down on what I’m
feeling.
Still, the three of you closing in on me takes some getting used to.”

“I understand,” replied Sixten softly, “you’ve never been in a group
situation
. We have to slow down for you.”

Rock shook his head no. “You’re part werewolf, Blythe; this is natural for our kind.”

“You’re overwhelmed? Need to get
used
to us?” Kash wanted to scream, but somehow he kept his voice level. “Remember, at Sixten’s request, when I licked your wounds, fed you and healed your broken bones? You took
my
blood in your mouth.” He pointed to himself, his chest heaving. “
Mine
.” At that, his teeth snapped audibly. “However you took your pleasure from Sixten, releasing your climax right on his hand, doing so with me
watching on
and your mouth still sucking my vein. For me, that was more than overwhelming. My Species fought with me to mist you away, to take you for my very own. Obviously, I held back. Somehow. In fact, I fought the urge every time I serviced you in any
platonic
way you required. In case you don’t know by now, Blythe, a noble male does that for his female, healing and protecting her isn’t a duty, it’s an honor. You never thought about that, did you? So let’s continue discussing the overwhelming, shall we? In the process of our
platonic
encounters, I have tasted and have seen nearly everything you have to offer. Nearly.” He groaned in spite of himself, fantasizing, visions of her perfect pussy messed with his mind even now. How he longed to lick her
there
, inhale her where her luscious, feminine aroma was the strongest. Rub her scent all over him. In turn, rub his scent all over her. “What’s overwhelming me now, you wonder?” He realized he was now yelling, but couldn’t seem to stop. “There’s one thing I want more than your sex, and that would be your heart!”

Her mouth dropped open before she made a run up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Stopping on the landing between the second and third floor, she gripped the wooden bannister and met his eyes.
She loves me.
He could see it clearly, shining back at him. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed, wishing he could start this night over.

Sixten stared up at the ceiling when Blythe moved to climb the next set of stairs. “There’s an unfinished room on the third floor she enjoys for reading,” Sixten explained, “and for privacy. If you don’t go to her now, I will. And if I go, I’ll be inside her in no more than five minutes, comforting her, feeding from her, too. I’ve
missed
her. Decide. Now.”

“She doesn’t have a gun hidden up there, does she?”

“No, but
I
may shoot you for upsetting her,” Sixten snapped.

“Don’t let me down again, Kash,” Rock joined in.

“She’s still reeling over her capture.
I
am still reeling over it. And then tonight….” Sixten’s cheekbones sharpened into blades under taut skin. “Don’t taint my generosity in sharing her with you, my friend.”