CarnalPromise (13 page)

After blinking a few times, the mist in her gaze cleared.

A sudden urge to hold Jinn, protect her from all ugliness,
grabbed him. Tenderness welled inside his chest. “You’re beautiful, Jinn,” he
croaked.

Startled, she looked at him and blinked again, this time to
subdue her surprise. A few of the lines on her forehead smoothed. A sad smile
caressed her lips.

For a moment silence reigned. Drakkar saw the struggle in
her face. The release of her ire calmed her troubled brow.

“What’s Vulgaria like?”

The intensity of her voice eased to a whisper. The breathy
sound made him think of something other than his worries. This close, he could
scent her. His nares flared as he inhaled the heady breath of her. “You’ve
never been there?” He gentled his voice to match hers.

She shook her head. “No, all I know is what I’ve studied. A
water planet, but frozen. A lot of ice.” She forced a shiver. “I hate the
cold.”

He responded with a quirky grin. That was some comfort, the
fact she’d never been on a raid to his planet.

She returned a shy smile then modestly looked away. Rubbing
her arms, she focused on the stars. “Rurik would never allow me to go.”

It was as if she’d read his mind. He nodded, glad the former
commander had thought to protect his baby sister.

A tense silence settled between them. Not a bad thing but
the quiet reminded him of when he was a youth trying to court his first woman.
Awkward
.
That was it.

Words eluded him. Instead he grasped her wrist and slipped
his palm over hers, intertwining their fingers, holding her hand like a
tentative lover. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you warm.”

Her eyes brightened a moment then she turned from him,
seeming to study the indicators.

“Have you flown a fighter?” Drakkar tugged her closer.

She didn’t resist. Pressing her lips together, she stared at
him a moment then shook her head. She ran the fingers of her other hand across
the dash. “I’m not that good a pilot.”

“Mmm.” He was glad of that. At least she wouldn’t try to
steal a ship and take off. “And your brother?”

She cut a defensive look toward him then rolled her eyes, a
blatant frown marring her pretty face. “Rurik’s good at everything. The
consummate warrior.” Disgust and yet pride laced her words.

Drakkar chuckled. “And his little sister is perhaps
jealous?”

A repressed sputter came from her soft pout. Pressing her
silky lips together, she turned the dainty corners of her mouth downward. “He’s
a pain.” She squinted as she shot him a mocking glare. “As I suspect you are.
At least you have been so far.”

He shut his mouth before he said anything else to
incriminate his actions further.

She giggled, studying him from under her burnished lashes.
“You won’t even deny it. Well, that at least says something.”

Suppressing his grin, he cleared his throat and looked at
the stars again. He liked the feel of her next to him, liked her smaller hand
in his. He risked a sideways glimpse at her.

She caught him staring. Giving him a wan smile, she rested
her free hand on his biceps and pressed the side of her torso against his arm.
“I’m younger than you, you know.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“About seventy-five Earther years younger. Does that bother
you? The fact I’ve not the experience you have?” she whispered to him, her
breath caressing his biceps then laid her head against his arm, taking a deep draught
of air. She scented him too. He was sure. This close, even the infusions didn’t
stop what nature demanded.

“Not at all.” Svendians and Vulgarians lived much longer
than their Earther cousins. About nine hundred Earther years longer. He bent
his head toward hers, barely touching the strands of blonde at her crown with
his lips. “You like Earth, don’t you.” It wasn’t really a question. He knew
from the intelligence updates during the war how much time she’d spent there.

“Yes.” Her breathy voice stirred him. Her eyes still wary,
she lifted her face to slide her forehead against his chin, moving until her
lips were within inches of his.

“Vulgaria is very similar,” he rasped lowly.

Her ghost of a smile retained its melancholy aura. She
leaned against him. Rising on her toes, she barely brushed her lips over his.
“I hate you, you know.”

“I know.” His breathing deepened. Like the magnetic bond of
two opposite charges, they clasped each other. Drakkar held her taut against
his body, clutched her hips against his raging hard-on that came from nowhere.
Threading his hand through the silky hair at the back of her head, he held her
mouth to his, capturing her lips, spearing her soft depth with his tongue.

She wrapped her small hands in his tunic, pulling him to
her. Her body trembled beneath his touch.

“You may hate me,” he uttered between tastes of her, “but
you want me. I will treasure you, Jinn, as you’ve asked. I will not hurt you.
This I promise.”

Her breath caressed his kiss-moistened lips. “I know you
won’t mean to, not when it comes to this.” She pressed her sweet mouth to his,
outlined it with her tongue then used her teeth to tease his bottom lip.

Drakkar sensed the desperation in her. The same one that
haunted him. Not wanting to break their hold, he grabbed her tight ass and
lifted her. Her lean legs wrapped around his hips as he marched to the only
bedroom on the vessel. Joyous inside, he knew there was something to be said
for prayer.

Jinn hated herself. She wanted to be angry at Drakkar, to
despise him for what he’d done to her, but she couldn’t. She needed him right
now to fulfill her. The drive was too strong for her to fight. Besides, heaven
only knew when she’d get sex next.

And he was her mate. She had promised herself to him—after…

She didn’t want to think of her uncle. Not now. The war
games would come soon enough. She just hoped Craddock wouldn’t kill any other
that was after him.

She grimaced and buried her face in Drakkar’s broad chest
and inhaled the essence of his body. Thank God the man agreed to stay on the
infusions. If not, she’d never be able to get through the training, constantly
thinking about fucking his hard, chiseled, all-male frame.

A tingling erupted in her. His possession of her did strange
things inside—things she didn’t want to admit. She groaned as Drakkar nudged
the portal to the room open. Her breaths came faster in anticipation, the need
to join her sex with his again—for him to fuck her until she could think no more.

Gently he laid her on the bed. Hovering over her, he
tenderly took her lips with his, teasing her with small nips of his mouth.
“Jinn.” His gruff voice taunted the carnal ache in her.

“Yes?” she answered with ragged breaths.

The green in his eyes darkened as he studied her. “I want
this to work.” The anguish in his gaze seared the frayed edges of her heart.

She held her breath. For a moment she had hoped he would say
something else, something passionate, but it was only a wistful thought on her
part. The rational man she had come to know stuck to his purpose as he studied
her, awaiting an answer. “I understand,” she whispered against him. “You’ve
said this before.”

“I know.” He pressed his lips together. “I don’t want you to
forget.”

She huffed. “I won’t. Trust me.” This close she watched his
Adam’s apple rise and fall again as he swallowed. Lifting her hand, she
caressed the fleshy knot with her thumb then gently stroked the side of his
neck with the back of her fingers. When she touched his collar, she slipped her
fingertips below the cloth and stroked the warm skin beneath.

His ebony lashes flickered shut. A deep throaty moan escaped
his parted mouth. With a soft touch of his lips, he tweaked the back of her
hand, letting the skin pucker and outlining the dermis with his tongue. “I want
to get to know you,” he rasped as he worked her flesh, moving to the delicate
underside of her wrist. His breaths grew deeper, came hot and heady against
her. She shivered from the delicious ache his ministrations caused, from the
hunger she knew he felt. He wanted her.

Yet he held back.

He trailed kisses across the fabric up her arm to her
shoulder, her neck. His slow movement fanned the embers of her lust. At the
edge of her nape, he released a long sigh, the warmth of his breath finding its
way underneath her collar, caressing her, as if the brush of air heralded what
was to come. Her pulse sped. Bit by bit he seduced her. A rare event for a
warrior as time and energy were precious.
Why
?

He nuzzled against the fabric, pushing it with his chin to
reach the bare length of her shoulder. His lips stroked her where he could
touch her heated body. “We haven’t had the time to pleasure each other the way
I’ve wished.”

Leaning on his elbows, he slid his coarse palms underneath her
upper back then hooked his fingers into the neck of the cloth and tugged it
farther off her. His lips, his tongue touched her skin once more. The act of
reaching something hidden made her moan.

“I want to take you slowly this time.” His mouth savored her
as he moved up her neck. “I want to know every part of you.”

His words stoked her need for him. No one had ever told her
that he wanted to know her so well—and meant it.

“Drakkar.” Her plea came as a hoarse whisper. “Please tell
me I mean more to you than just being a woman to bear your children.” For some
reason right now, that mattered to her. Why? She didn’t know but she needed to
hear it. “Even if you have to lie to me.” Her voice broke as she brushed her
cheek against his.

His lips traveled across her chin then captured hers in a
possessive yet tender kiss. His eyes opened to study her, the deep greens lush
with sexual heat. “I don’t need to lie about that, Jinn.” The timbre of his
husky voice aroused her libido. He swallowed again. “We’ll be together a long
time if I can help it. I do not want us to remain enemies, not in our own
house. When we declare our bond, what is mine will be yours as well. I want…”

His pupils narrowed and his lips thinned. “For now, remember
that I treasure you as you’ve asked.” He smiled a sly, lustful smile and lay to
the side of her. “And I want to show you that. How I cherish you. Learn all the
things that trigger your response to me.” His thumb brushed her cheek. The
brief yet intimate touch lifted her spirit and charged her soul.

Then his hand lowered to her breast. Through the cloth he
flicked the rigid nipple with his thumb. A moan escaped her. The effort made
her carnal need spiral in delight.

He bent his head closer. “You’re so sensual. I love that
about you.”

She sputtered with a puff of her breath then stroked his
face with her fingertips. “Is there anything else you could love about me,
besides my body?” Why she asked, Jinn didn’t know, but once again her mouth
quipped before she could stop herself. At this point, was it really important?

His eyes focused on her mouth, her eyes. Searing
truthfulness surged in his piercing stare. “That’s why I want time alone with
you.” His voice thickened with need. “So that we can learn of each other, but I
meant what I said before. I do admire you and what you have done with your
life, whatever you might think.”

Her throat went dry. She didn’t know what to say. She
doubted herself, her ability to judge his words for the truth, yet he seemed
sincere. Still, she had made too many blunders in the past trusting those close
to her—a trust broken with deadly consequences. Uncle Craddock had betrayed her
and her people. His duplicity had caused the death of her father and the
continuation of a bloody war.

Guilt assailed her. Tears clouded her eyes. Yet she couldn’t
reveal her weakness to this man. If he knew, he would only try to stop her, or
get himself killed trying.

She couldn’t let that happen to anyone, not again, not even
to her worst enemy.

“What is it, Jinn?” His gentle voice coaxed her back to him.

Blinking, she quickly recovered herself. “I was just
thinking of my parents’ marriage. How they loved one another.”

The fine lines around his eyes deepened. A look of pain
flashed across his visage then vanished again. Had he once loved?

He brushed his thumb across her cheek, his voice jagged as
he spoke. “Perhaps we might even be blessed with that, should we try.”

Love?
Did he really want to love her? As a child,
she’d fantasized about a bond like her parents, but as an adult, a woman who
had seen and done terrible things, she no longer held such illusions. A bond
that was mutually satisfying was all that she could expect—or deserve.

Yet a heaviness in her lifted a degree, an unnamed millstone
that she hadn’t known she held. Her respect for her mate grew a notch, her need
for him left unabated. “You said you’d treasure me. Show me, then, Drakkar, how
you care for your treasures.” She tilted her head and allowed herself a sultry
smile.

His honest grin reached his eyes, crinkling them in the
corners, highlighting the shades of green around his pupils. A rightness budded
in her chest. Edging over her, Drakkar cradled her chin in his palm. His body
pressed to hers. Her breath caught as the depth in his intense look dominated
her, made her a willing victim to his lust. With a slow burn, he took her lips
with his, caressing them, coaxing her mouth open to plunge within.

Her breathing hastened. Her heart raced. His hand slid
lower. His knuckles massaged the skin at her neck and across her shoulder. He
spread his hand and let his fingertips drag with sultry ease down the cloth on
her chest until he reached the V between her breasts and circled around one to
cup it, surrounding this piece of her with his palm and fingers, closing,
closing even more until his fingers stirred the nub on top.

Her eyes fluttered shut. She moaned, her voice a low
scintillating ache. She arched her upper body to press into his touch. He
grasped her nipple, pinching and tugging the tip, twisting the bud through the
fabric with the surety and slowness of an accomplished lover.