Chapter Four #2
“Don't do that.” I shook my head. “Of course, I still love you.”
He just stared at me.
“Fuck! Fine, if this is what you want.” I shrugged out of my jacket and then unbuttoned my shirt. “You want to take out your anger on my body? Do it. I've got a little anger of my own.”
Vasren prowled closer, his hot stare watching my every move. Tracking my hands. Glancing at the clothes as they fell. Vas kept coming until he was only a few inches away from me. I got down to my pants. With my hands on the ties, I met his gaze.
“Keep going,” Vas whispered.
“Master Vasren?” a woman's voice interrupted us.
Cursing, Vas cracked his neck and looked toward the doorway. “Yes?”
A Shanba woman appeared there, her head bowed. “I've left your meal on the dining table.”
“Thank you, Reiling.”
“You're welcome.” She bowed and left.
Vasren's jaw clenched, his cheek moving in and out with the pressure. “Come.” He left the bedroom.
I followed him into the next room. Vas went to the dining table, yanked out a chair, and sat in another. I went over.
Before I could sit down, he said, “I told you to finish undressing.”
I looked down at myself, and then at him. “You want me to eat naked?”
He just stared at me.
“Oh, for fuck's sake,” I muttered and shoved down my pants. “There. Do I please you, Sir Vasren?” I held out my hands and turned in a circle. “May I eat now?”
Vasren grunted.
Grunted! He had never behaved like that with me. Vas only showed me kindness. Consideration. He had treated me as if I were made of glass. I guess he was over that.
I sat down. Thankfully, the plates were already portioned, so I didn't have to serve myself. But I did pour some water into a glass.
“How many men have you fucked since you left me?”
Vasren's question vibrated through the air and shook my hand, causing me to spill some of the water.
I set the carafe down and looked at him. “None.”
He snorted.
“Fuck you, Vas!”
“You dare to curse me?” Vasren leaned forward.
“I can still smell him on your skin. Even with your clothes removed!” He leaned out of his chair, snatched the pants from the floor, tossed them into the air, and glared at them so hard that they literally caught fire, burning to ash before they hit the ground.
I gaped at the black snowflakes and then at him. “That was a bit of an overreaction.”
He scowled. “Who are you? I don't even recognize the way you speak.”
Oh, so I wasn't the only one experiencing a revelation.
And yes, the irony did occur to me. There I was, wondering if it had all been an act with Vas, when I had been the one who'd been performing.
That didn't stop me from shoving it in his face.
I was through with wearing masks. He was taking me to prison. I might as well be myself.
“Oh, I'm sorry. Let's see, how did you prefer me?” I pretended to consider it. “Oh, yes. You liked me meek. Timid. Your little human pet. Well, I don't feel like putting on a show for you anymore. I'm not meek, timid, or your pet.”
“No, you're a criminal mastermind. A murderer.”
“Yes, that's right.” I leaned on the table. “I killed people. Lots of them. Because they were fucking evil!” I snarled the last part. “And I'd do it again. My only regret is that I didn't get to witness all of them die.”
“Great Goddess,” Vas whispered and leaned back.
“Have I shocked you, Vas? Your sweet little Kat turned out to have claws. But that should make this easier for you. We can have a nice meal together, you can fuck your anger out on me, and then deliver me to justice. Nice and neat.” I swallowed roughly and looked down at my food, trying not to let him see how much it hurt me to sit there with him, knowing how much he hated me.
“You can take comfort in the fact that the man you loved never existed. It's just me—the man you hate.”
“Eat your food,” he growled.
I ate, the food turning to dust in my mouth.
Fear was starting to set in. This was obviously Vasren's estate, but we had only stopped for the night.
He'd probably come to find me as soon as he arrived in Tabaa.
Which meant he'd made two trips across the channel that day.
He was too tired and angry to take me further.
In the morning, he'd fly me to Kochan, and I would be tried for conspiracy, murder, and probably many other things that they'd tack on just for fun. Then I would be executed.
I took a shaky breath, willing myself not to cry.
From the beginning, I'd known this was a possibility.
I had deemed the risk acceptable. Now, it felt foolish.
All of that work and for what? Vengeance?
Damn it all! Yes, for vengeance! And to stop those evil bastards and bitches from hurting more innocent people.
No! I wasn't going to cry.
I took another breath and squared my shoulders. So be it. One life for many. I had probably saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives, and that didn't include the humans who would have been abused but not killed. Sacrificing one for many made sense, and I liked to be sensible.
Vasren's hand brushed my hair back.
I flinched, my stare shooting to his.
He dropped his hand, fury flowing over his face again.
“It wasn't all an act,” I whispered. “I do love you, Vas.”
Vas looked at me, holding my gaze for a few long minutes before saying, “I thought I loved you too, but then I discovered that I didn't know you. So how can I love you?”
“I'm part Hallaxgral and part Kat. A blend of the two.” I sighed. “Or maybe I'm neither. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be honest with you about so many things. But I never lied about the way I felt about you.”
“Yes, you felt so much that you ran from my arms into those of another Dragon.”
“I told you, he offered me protection. You were right there. I saw you crossing the ballroom. I knew I had to do something or you'd bring me back, and they'd execute me. Vas, they're going to kill me for what I did. You know that. So, you must see that I had no choice.”
“No choice?” His face contorted. “I wasn't there to bring you back to face justice!” With a sweep of his arm, he cleared the table, everything crashing to the floor. “I was there for you! I came for the man I loved!”
“Vas,” I whispered.
“But now, you tell me that he never existed. I was in love with a character you created.” Vas pulled me out of my chair by my upper arms and shook me. “You made me love someone who wasn't real!”
“I'm real!” I shouted back. “I gave you pieces of me, just not all of me. But I will. I'll give you everything if you'll let me. If you give me another chance, I'll show you the real me.” I put my hand on his cheek.
For a moment, Vas softened, his ice-blue eyes warming.
But then he bared his teeth and lifted me off my feet.
“I can't believe anything you say!” Tossing me over his shoulder, he carried me into the bedroom and over to the massive bed.
Then he flung me down onto the mattress. “Get on your hands and knees.”
I rolled onto my knees and watched Vasren disrobe. His body was all hard planes and sculpted muscles. Very little hair, just a sprinkling on his lower arms and legs, and then that nest of golden curls around his long cock. His shaft hardened as I watched.
“Now, Katai!” He stormed over to the bedside table, yanked open a drawer, and pulled out a vial.
I hurried to bend forward onto my hands.
Breath sawing in and out, I waited, listening to the slippery sound of him rubbing oil on himself.
Then Vasren's weight dipped the bed. I felt him move behind me.
With rough slaps on my inner thighs, he separated my knees.
Then his hand split me, and a few drops of oil dripped over my entrance.
I shuddered and bent my head to look beneath myself, through my legs.
I saw Vas toss the vial aside and then take his cock in hand.
Oh, fuck, I was back with Vasren. I could hardly believe it. But this wasn't my Vas, and I wasn't his Kat. This was something new. Something unpredictable. I had never liked the unpredictable.
And yet, when Vasren's cock rubbed that oily substance into me, it went slowly.
Pushed gently. Prodded. Stretched. I let out a trembling breath.
In and out he moved. In and out. Spreading that liquid.
Easing me open. Then he was fully sheathed.
With a long exhale, Vasren bent over me, his hands going to the mattress on either side.
It had been too long. I knew Vasren hated me, but I couldn't resist nuzzling his arm with my face. Wrong move.
With a growl, Vasren shoved himself back onto his knees, grabbed my hips, and started thrusting.
I cried out—not in pain, but not in pleasure either.
More shock. Until it became pleasurable.
So very pleasurable. My body began to shake, unused to this wild type of mating.
As I said, Vas had always been careful with me.
He'd never given me this. Never showed me what a Dragon man was capable of in bed. He was probably afraid of hurting me.
He wasn't afraid anymore.
A hand that used to only touch me tenderly grabbed a huge hank of my hair and pulled, forcing my head back.
I cried out again, a strange feeling of submission shooting through me.
My entire being seemed bent on giving Vas whatever he wanted.
What did I want? To be owned. Claimed. Taken as roughly as he was taking me.
At least for now. Here, while he was inside me.
Damn, it felt incredible. The slam of his hips. The steely plunge of his cock. The grip of his hand on my waist. He stretched me as never before, filling me to the hilt. Pushing the limits of what I could take. I felt branded. Renewed. Alive.
And then he came.