Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
Izabel unlocked Luka’s door with the key she’d forgotten to give back earlier, dragged it open, and trudged into his room. She dropped her bag on the floor beside the door and rolled out her aching shoulders.
Firewood was laid ready, so she started a blaze.
She washed up as best she could, pouring tepid water into the basin and scrubbing her face with the fresh towel left on the small table.
Then she sank into Luka’s armchair and closed her eyes, leaving her hair loose rather than risk aggravating the headache she’d been brewing all afternoon.
Somehow, she’d let time soften her memories of just how brutal working with Melo was. After spending several hours checking Narya’s body—and finding nothing new—she’d written up two copies of her report, one for Danikha and one for Melo, and set about helping in the clinic.
All the soldiers arriving back from the front, plus the huge delegation the archthane brought with him, massively increased the workload. They needed an extra pair of hands, which she was happy to provide, but Melo’s constant sniping—nitpicking and undermining—was exhausting.
She hadn’t managed to get away for lunch, and the long hours were brutal. Luka had promised to come back before she finished her day, and every time the door opened, she’d thought it might be him. But it never was.
He was busy, and so was she. That was their life. That would be their life if…. She shut down that thought. She was getting ahead of herself. She needed to move slower and give them both time.
Someone tapped on the door, and she opened it to find a soldier with a tray of food, which she took gratefully.
Izzy settled it on the desk and helped herself to a bowl of creamy baked chicken and a thick slice of warm bread.
She considered waiting, but she was starving, and she had no idea how long Luka was going to be.
She was halfway through her meal, pleasantly warm beside the fire, her eyelids growing heavy, when a fist thudded on the door, startling her. Izzy pushed herself up, suddenly awake, and tugged the door open.
Luka stood with his arm lifted, about to knock again.
She laughed and stepped back. “You don’t have to knock on your own door.”
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, but he didn’t laugh with her. “I didn’t know if you needed privacy.”
“I’m just eating dinner.” She stepped over to the tray, smiling back at him over her shoulder. “Do you want some?”
“I’m not hungry.” Luka looked like he’d run back. His hair stood in spikes, his scales gleamed in an armored ring around his neck, and his hands were clenched. He didn’t look as happy to see her as she’d hoped.
She turned to face him, her easy, tired warmth giving way to wariness. “Are you okay?”
“There’s something….” He stepped away from the door and gestured toward the chair. “Maybe you should sit down.”
Izzy glanced at the chair and immediately dismissed it.
Whatever this was, she wasn’t going to sit there by herself while he spoke down to her.
She walked toward him instead, meeting him in the middle of the room.
Shimmering green and black circled his irises—almost larger than the gray. His beast was right at the surface.
Her own beast responded, pushing to get closer, to touch and soothe. “What’s happening?” she asked carefully.
Luka ran a hand through his hair, tugging the spikes in a new, even more unruly direction.
“I met with Lady Kaliska and Brigadier General Declan this afternoon. I just came from there.” He reached out and took Izzy’s hands in his, holding almost too tightly.
“Kaliska mentioned… she thinks Narya was looking for some kind of elixir. Something that promised unbridled passion. Something forbidden.”
“Firebreather. Mother of the Weave.” Izzy swallowed hard. “You’ve heard of it?”
“I have,” Luka admitted. “It’s an aphrodisiac. We’ve banned it from the castle entirely.”
“Yes, but it’s more than just an aphrodisiac.
It also gives a powerful surge of vitality, energy, and focus.
” She shook her head sadly. “And then it dumps the user into the worst spiraling bleakness imaginable. People become addicted quickly—or they just lie down and die. Where would Narya get such a thing?” Her breath caught.
Was this the smuggling ring Rayan was investigating?
“Is someone selling it in the castle? It can’t be one of the physiks, surely? ”
Luka’s jaw clenched, scales flickering. His beast rumbled unhappily. “Izzy, they think Narya went outside of the castle to get some.” He let out a rough breath. “Brigadier General Declan has suggested that the physik who Narya tried to buy it from killed her to keep her quiet.”
“Gods. Well, I guess if there was a physik who was prepared to sell Firebreather, they probably would kill a young woman to protect their secret,” Izzy agreed. “Clearly, life has little value to them.”
If a physik has been selling Firebreather, we’ve been looking in all the wrong places.
She let go of one of Luka’s hands to rub her eyes tiredly. “I’ve been trying to figure out what Firebreather is, where it comes from. In fact, I was working on it until late the night that Narya died—”
Luka went so still, he could have been carved from Nabasberg granite. “What? Gods, Izabel. Please tell me you don’t have any.”
Izzy wrinkled her nose at him. “I do have some. It took me ages to get a sample. I’ve been trying to distill—”
“Fuck! Why would you do that?”
Izzy tried to pull her other hand back, her beast growling, but he held it even tighter. “I’m a physik! A healer! How can I protect my patients if I don’t know what’s ailing them? How do I cure someone of something if I don’t know what it is?”
Luka’s beast was rumbling so loudly now, it was almost a roar. He lowered his forehead to hers. “Listen to me, Iz. Kaliska and the brigadier general… they believe that the physik Narya visited to get this drug… is you.”
She recoiled, opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again. How was that even possible?
“Last night, before Aiden came to get you, were you with anyone?” Luka asked. “Is there someone who could vouch for where you were?”
The betrayal stung. “You know I wasn’t. I skipped the banquet, and I stayed at home and worked. Alone.” She blinked hard. “How can you even ask me that?”
Mother of the Weave. A new, truly horrible thought occurred to her. “Do you believe them? You think I… what? Sold her this drug? Or refused to sell it and killed her instead?”
“No! Not even for a moment.” Luka tugged her closer and wrapped his arms around her before she could step back.
“I know you, Izzy. I know your heart. You would never hurt someone like that. But Declan’s looking for a way out of this marriage for Kaliska.
And Batlok wants blood. He’s going to demand action.
” He breathed roughly against her hair. “The queen won’t like it, but she has to be seen doing something.
And we have rolled over and given Batlok what he wants, again and again. ”
Izzy let out a shuddering breath and leaned closer into Luka, letting the warm weight of his arms hold her up. “She’ll weigh my innocence against the safety of the entire nation and choose the nation,” Izzy whispered.
Luka let out a distressed grunt. “Let me take you away from here. I’ll fly you somewhere safe, and then I’ll fix this. I’ll find out what’s really going on, and then I’ll come back for you.”
She tightened her arms around his waist, wishing she’d had more time.
More time to hold him. To feel him breathing.
To know whether he truly wanted her. But then she pulled away, just far enough to look him in the eye.
“If I run, I’ll look guilty.” She firmed her voice, trying to inject it with the truth. “I didn’t do this.”
“I know you didn’t, but—”
“If I run, you’ll look guilty,” she said, her eyes locked on the swirling green-black ringing his irises.
“I don’t care about that,” he rumbled. “I’ll walk away right now. We can go anywhere you want.”
“Fly away, you mean.” She gave him a small, lopsided smile.
He rested his forehead on hers. “Gods, Izzy.”
“How long do we have?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. How long will it take for Declan to take this to Batlok? How long before Batlok demands an audience? I also sent a runner to the queen, warning her.” The muscles in his jaw ticked. “Guards could arrive any time now.”
Not long then. Izzy ran her hands up to his shoulders as her beast thrashed, pushing closer. She wanted his skin, wanted to wrap herself around him and never let him go.
This might be the last chance she ever had to touch him. Even if the queen took her side, there would be questions. If her shop was searched, they would find Firebreather there, in a small lockbox at the back of her drawer. It looked bad for her… and for Luka too.
“How do they think she got back?” she asked, dreading the answer.
“They think a dragon flew her back,” Luka admitted roughly.
Gods, she’d thought they were being clever by being each other’s alibi. Now they could be each other’s downfall.
There was nothing they could do in the time left.
Nothing to change. So she did the one thing she really wanted to do.
She went up on her toes and kissed Luka.
He’d kissed her twice. Now, she kissed him.
She poured everything she had into this moment.
All her lost dreams. All her lonely nights.
All the times she’d wished he wanted her, even a little.
His skin was hot. There were scales over his throat and a rough evening beard over his jaw. His mouth was firm, and he didn’t hesitate for even a second. He groaned as he kissed her back.
Luka lifted his hand to thread his fingers through her hair, turning her head so he could align her mouth perfectly to his. Their bodies pressed so close together she could feel every heartbeat, his ragged breaths, and the desperation in his kiss.
He growled, low in his throat. The vibration shuddered through her entire body, driving heat to pool in her belly. She pushed closer, wishing there were no clothes between them, only skin and sweat, as their kiss grew from hot to blazing.
There was none of the caution from before. Neither of them held back. They came together with teeth and tongues. Furnace-level heat and raw passion.
Luka slipped one hand down to cup her ass and hauled her up, helping her climb him, and she wrapped her legs around his hips, grinding against him.
They kissed like that, her core nestled over the hard bulge in his breeches, as the fire in her veins grew hotter, more demanding. She was so close, but just not close enough. Luka growled again, and her scalp tingled where he tugged her hair.
He set her down, and she whimpered at the loss of his body, but he was already moving, walking her back until she reached the wall, then quickly unbuttoning her breeches.
“Is this okay?” he rumbled, his gray eyes ringed with a thick gleaming band of iridescent green-black, as he dropped to his knees.
“Yes.” More than okay. If this was all they ever got, she wanted everything.
The word was barely out of her mouth when he lifted her feet one at a time to pull off her boots and drag her breeches down. Before she could even gasp out his name, her leg was over his shoulder and his mouth was hovering right where she needed him, hot breath on hot flesh.
“Yes,” she whispered again.
And then he licked her. A long, slow taste that left her shuddering. He licked her again and again, driving her insane. Sweat broke out on her skin. Her hips rocked, chasing him, chasing the pleasure he was building.
Her beast purred and writhed. Luka’s beard teased the inside of her thighs, and his mouth was scorching. But she needed—
He latched onto her throbbing clit and sucked just as his thick fingers found her entrance and circled. He gathered her wetness, spread it, circling. So close, but not close enough. She shivered, moaning, weaving her hands through his hair as she held on. “Please, Luka. I want—”
He thrust two fingers inside her. Her back arched as everything inside her clamped down, gripping him.
He pumped into her with firm strokes, his lips never leaving the pulsing bud as he sucked, hard.
Her entire body clenched, and then, with one last perfect twist of his fingers inside her, she flew over the edge, shuddering and whimpering and fighting to hold in the screams she wanted to release.
Her beast roared its triumph as she spasmed. Luka kept sucking, kept thrusting, kept drawing out her orgasm until she collapsed, spent, against the wall.
He slowly withdrew his fingers and kissed her mound, the inside of her thigh, the softness of her belly.
Izzy drew in a shaking breath and lowered her foot to the ground.
Then she captured Luka’s face in her hands, stroking the damp hair from his forehead as she looked down at him, kneeling at her feet.
She hauled him up, needing him closer, and kissed him again. He tasted of her and of himself, of them together, and she lost herself in him. In his strength and his offer to take her away.
Boots rang on stone in the distance. Soldiers were coming, but she ignored them. They only had a few moments left, and she needed them to kiss Luka.