Irresistible (Delroi Prophecy) (3 page)

“You bear the mark of the goddess,”
Cassius said. The statement confused her.

“Your tattoo, baby. It’s very similar to
what the apprentices get when they’re elevated from novice,” Kaje said.

She looked at the tattoo and wondered if
that would cause a problem. “Will I have to have it removed?”

Kaje set a plate of food in front her
and resumed his seat.

“I doubt Lady Rona would ask that.
You’re not from Delroi after all.”

She heard trepidation in his tone. “And
she might try to recruit me, right?”

He gave her a rueful smile. “I’m sure
she will. Don’t let her pressure you to do something you don’t want to.”

“I won’t,” she assured him. But she
would consider it. Especially if it meant making her transition to life on
Delroi easier.

Chapter Three

Kaje watched her as his brothers drew
her out. She was so beautiful in the late afternoon light. Sexy and smart and
strong. He clenched his fists in his lap, fought the urge to run off his
brothers and grab her. If he waited just a little while he could take her
bathed in moonlight.

“You're the mind healer my brother wants
me to talk to?” Vidar interjected abruptly.

She nodded. “Of course, I'm not licensed
here. Your healers would no doubt object. And truthfully, it would probably do
me more good to talk to you,” she said lightly.

A knowing glint entered his brother's
eyes. “How long were you a prisoner?” he asked softly.

Kaje was tempted to intervene. He hadn’t
heard the story himself yet and he didn’t know how painful it would be to
relate. She blew out a long breath.

“Six months.”

His heart threatened to swell from his
chest. He knew she didn’t want to talk about it, but she thought it would help
Vidar. In that moment, he would have given her any price she demanded.

“That's an unconscionable thing to do to
a gentle woman,” Vidar almost growled.

“Oh, I don’t know about gentle. I did my
share of damage before I was caught.” Her expression never changed, but there
was no denying the satisfaction in her voice or the dangerous glint in her
eyes.

“How did you caught?” Kaje asked. He'd
been curious about this too and she seemed willing to share.

“Dumb luck.” This time her face was so
open her chagrin was easy to read. “We helped psychics escape the Alliance
sometimes. We were seen by a Tel operative when we went to meet some. Tel had
been searching for us a long time and we just happened to be in the same place
as one of their agents. He got a team in place before we realized we were
trapped.”

“We? You, Zola, and Kareena?”

“Me and Kareena.” She nodded. “And I
probably shouldn’t have told y'all any of that.”

Now he
felt
her irritation as well as heard it. If this was only the
beginning of their mating bond it would take some getting used to. Though it
would be nice to have the advantage of knowing her emotions. It would serve him
well when he inevitably made her angry.

“Don’t worry, baby. Everyone here knows
how to keep a secret, and I don’t see any reason this one should be shared.”

“Thank you.”

He didn’t like the gratitude or relief
in her voice. She had every right to expect him to keep her secrets, even to
protect her secrets. She smiled, a mix of amusement and exasperation, and tried
to tug her hand free.

“You're not even trying to keep your
thoughts to yourself, are you?”

“No,” he agreed. “Why should I?”

“Self defense?”

He joined his brothers howling with
laughter. She waited them out calmly.

“When the most treacherous shadow
government on Earth thinks someone is dangerous enough to abduct, imprison, and
keep drugged, you might want to exercise a little caution,” she said smugly.

That definitely got his attention. He
titled his head to one side and studied her.

“Come on,” Cassius teased. “A little
thing like you. How dangerous could you be?”

She got very quiet and the mental
connection he felt with her stilled.

“That dangerous?” Kaje asked softly.

“I can destroy a mind with very little
effort.”

“How did they catch you then? Hold you
so long then?”

“They have a drug that represses psychic
abilities. It was loaded in a dart with a tranquilizer.”

Self-recrimination. Hurt. Anger. He
couldn’t stand it. He reached over, easily picked her up, and lifted her to his
lap. She sat stiffly while he kept a hand on her thigh and rubbed the other up
and down her back. One by one his brothers stood and said goodbye until only Vidar
was left.

She met his gaze calmly, evenly, though
Kaje felt her unease and her body vibrated. “Have you decided?”

He nodded, gave her a tiny smile. “Tomorrow?
I'll meet you at noon on the promenade in the chief's wing.”

“Okay.”

Then she and Kaje were alone. Finally,
she relaxed and made a sound that was almost a laugh.

“Boundaries don’t mean a damned thing to
you, do they?”

“No,” he groaned as she wiggled to get
free and rubbed her ass over his cock. He hadn’t thought it was possible to get
any harder. She froze.

“Well, that's unexpected,” she
whispered.

“No, it isn’t,” he retorted. “I've
wanted you since the moment I saw you and you know it.”

She was quiet so long he thought she'd
ignore his statement. “You know that girl that just hops into bed with anyone
she's attracted to? I'm not that girl.”

He buried his face in her neck. “Thank
the gods. I'm not a man who could ever share his woman.”

His words just seemed to make her
tenser.

“It's getting late. I should go.”

If he was a better man he'd let her
leave. He wanted more time tonight though. Needed to fuel the heat growing
between them. To stoke it into flames she couldn’t resist. He let her rise and
stood beside her, taking her hand.

“I want to show you something.”

He'd felt her affinity towards the sea
and he had his own private beach. It was one of the perks of being Steward. There
were two ways down. An elevator hidden behind the cliff face and stairs carved
on the outside. He led her to the concealed steps on one corner of the balcony.
The first step lit as he set foot on it. He turned to meet her startled, eager
gaze.

“Come on. A little moonlit swim never
hurt anyone.”

She glanced down at her clothes. “I
don’t have a suit.”

“Who says you need one?”

She sucked in a breath that thrust out
her breasts and made his mouth water.

“That,” she said, pointing her finger at
him. “That is exactly why I should say no.”

“Parker. Join me,” he cajoled. “I'm
asking for a swim. Nothing else.”

It might kill him, but he wouldn’t push
her for more than that tonight. Eagerness gleamed in her eyes, though, and hard
nipples pressed against her shirt. Her nod was slow to come and still a little
reluctant. He got the feeling she agreed for a very private reason that had
nothing to do with him. He didn’t like that much, but what the hell? She
followed him down. The closer they got to the beach, the louder the surf got,
the heavier the scent of salt in the air, and the more he sensed her
anticipation grow. His earlier impression of her had been right. She
was
a creature of the sea. An
enchantress. At the bottom she slipped off her sandals, dug her toes in the
sand, and lifted her face to the wind.

“You miss the ocean. Did you never live
near it again?”

“No.” Her smile was sad. It made him
want to reach for her and never let go. “It was the only place I ever felt
safe.”

“You can come here anytime you want,
baby. I promise you're safe here with me.”

She gave him a look he had a hard time
deciphering. It was almost lost, definitely angry, and something more.

“For how long? Safety is an illusion
I've learned not to trust.”

He had to touch her. Couldn’t
not
touch her when he saw the haunted
look in her eyes and sensed her sorrow and confusion. He didn’t have the
strength to turn away, to not sooth away her worries, or at least try. He took
her in his arms and tilted her head back, staring at her for several long
moments. Gods, she was beautiful. Those bright, startling green eyes were
magnificent. Finally, he couldn’t take the suspense anymore and lowered his
face to hers. Her lips were soft. Supple and giving. Sweet from the
gazzi
. She took his breath away.

She pulled back suddenly, panting, and
lifted her fingertips to her mouth. Her eyes were wide, wondering.

“What are you doing to me?” she
whispered.

He stroked the back of his hand down the
side of her face. His heart damned near stopped when she turned into his
caress.

“Come into the water with me?”

Her lips curved in a small, almost not
there smile.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

And he wasn’t going to. He stepped back enough
to pull the shirt over his head, and then reached for the snap on his trousers.
Even in the tiny shadowed little cove he could see her blush seconds before she
whirled to put her back to him. He chuckled, dropped his pants, and moved out
into the water.

“It's okay, baby, you can't see a thing,”
he called out, letting desire thicken his voice. Trying to coax her, seduce her
into joining him. He didn’t sense denial or retreat. It was curiosity, yearning
that he felt. “The water is wonderful. Join me.”

She glanced over her shoulder and when
she saw he was in up to his waist faced him all the way. She tugged the corner
of her lip between her teeth. “Is it warm?”

“Yes. You should come in.”

Indecision was easy to read on her face,
but after a moment it cleared.

“Turn around,” she demanded.

He only took orders from Roarr. He
wasn’t sure how he felt about his
der'lan
trying it, but if it got her into the water with him, he'd comply. For now. It
wasn’t long before he heard her splashing into the water. He didn’t turn around,
but he kept his gaze averted as she moved out before him. The sea lapped at her
collarbone when she finally stopped and faced him. He had to approach her. He
couldn’t help himself. For the first time since he'd met her, she looked happy.
At peace.

“I was right,” he teased. “You are a sea
fairy.”

She laughed. “I miss the ocean. Thank
you,” she said, sobering.

“Oh, don’t do that, baby,” he said,
moving even closer. When she didn’t pull away, he set his hands on her hips and
slowly tugged her to him. “I made you happy for a minute there.”

He wanted her to feel that all the time.
He wanted her to give him the chance to give her that contentment. She lifted
her hands to cup his face, smiled, gave a slight shake of her head.

“You can't
make
someone else happy, Kaje. And who said I'm unhappy?”

He did. He could see it in her eyes. But
telling her that wouldn’t get her to open up. It wouldn’t get her to accept
him.

“Do you ever relax, Parker?” he asked
instead. “Do you ever let go?”

She stiffened though she didn’t pull
away. He wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t complaining.

“I'm not like you. I'm not easy and
outgoing.”

No. He could see that she wasn’t. She
was reserved, serious, almost shy. That would never change, but he wanted to
know the woman behind the walls. He didn’t expect her to show that person to
anyone else. Hell, he liked that she wouldn’t. That probably made him selfish.
What warrior wasn’t when it came to his
der’lan
?
She shuddered and leaned her forehead against his chest. He assumed she knew
what he was feeling. She didn’t share her thoughts about it, though. Instead
she lifted her head and met his gaze. He tunneled his hands into her hair and
stared into her eyes.

“Are you going to kiss me again?” she
whispered.

“I'm thinking about it,” he said.

He'd only meant to tease her, only meant
to draw her out of her shell and get to know her. But he'd seriously
overestimated his self control. He wanted her with a force that shook him. Her
eyes widened as she moved away and dove under the water. She came up for air a few
feet away.

“You're a little intense. I'm not used
to inspiring that kind of emotion from men.”

“The men you know are idiots,
der'lan
.” He held his hand out. “Come
back.”

She offered him a sultry smile. “That's
a bad idea.”

“Really?” he asked, lightly, moving
towards her, pleased that she didn’t retreat. “I think it's the best idea I've
had since I met you.”

They'd moved into shallower water and
she tried to cover her breasts with her arms. He took her wrists, careful to be
gentle, and tugged her hands away.

“Don’t hide from me, baby,” he said. “So
pretty.”

She laughed. “I think the sun has fried
your brains, Kaje.”

He grinned. “Is that right?”

He wrapped one arm around her waist,
holding her close, pressing his cock against her belly, and kissed her.

*

Parker didn’t know how everything got so
out of control. Even stranger she didn’t want to stop what was happening.
Didn’t want to stop him. His kiss was demanding, almost frantic. Exhilarating.
For a woman who'd always chosen safe, predictable men the excitement was
irresistible. He cupped her breast with his free hand and broke the kiss to
lower his head to take her nipple between his lips. His mouth was greedy,
sucking and nipping. Harder and rougher, until pain and pleasure mingled and she
gasped. She bowed her back, offering more, and thrust her hands into his hair
to hold him close.