Chapter 23
Twenty Three
Kira
Kira didn’t look back as Baran stopped short at the threshold of the hotel. She continued on with the rest, happy to let Baran cool his heels outside. She was a little surprised at his forbearance. He must have thought there was only one way in or out.
A common misconception.
Kira chose the Red Rabbit for several reasons. When she visited, she always stayed in the same room. Partly because it was clean and met her needs nicely. But mostly because of the hidden tunnel connected to it.
After checking in with the concierge at the front desk, a real honest to God human, a rarity in places like this, Kira headed back to her group to hand over the door codes she’d had forwarded to her ID chip.
“You got us separate rooms?” Finn asked with a frown as they headed to their floor.
“Not all of us,” Jin grumbled, stifling a yawn to glare up at Dylan. His roommate for the evening.
“We’re not sharing,” Kira told Finn.
She’d done enough of that over the past few weeks to last a lifetime. Unless her life was in danger she wanted to be left alone for the next few hours.
“Enjoy the personal space,” Raider advised, stopping in front of his room. “Who knows when we’ll get this luxury again.”
He disappeared inside, leaving Jin and Dylan to do the same on the opposite side of the hallway.
Kira backed toward her room. “He has a point.”
Either way, she wasn’t sticking around for a debate. There was a shower with her name on it, and she intended to scald her skin with the hottest water available.
Kira let herself into the room, allowing the door slide shut behind her.
She stood in the tiny space that was hers for the next few hours.
The shower waiting in the corner was a big part of why Kira always came back here. You paid an arm and a leg, but it was worth it.
Kira shed her clothes, one item at a time, leaving each one where they fell as she made her way across the room.
She stepped into the shower and triggered the privacy screen.
A hum started as transparent walls rose from the floor all the way to the ceiling.
Fog filled them, turning them partially opaque.
“Fancy,” Kira murmured.
Steam filled the air as Kira briskly scrubbed her skin, not lingering despite her desire to. In a place like Titan, where water was at a premium, you never knew how long it would last before it ran out. The only guarantee was that it would never be enough.
All too soon, the trickle petered out.
Kira squeezed the ends of her hair, getting out some of the excess moisture before grabbing one of the towels hanging nearby.
She dried off before wrapping it around her chest. The second towel she grabbed was for her hair.
She was still toweling it dry when she disengaged the privacy screens and stepped out.
She paused at the sight of the very large, very attractive male sprawled over her bed.
“That was quick.” Kira tossed aside her towel and considered her guest. “I didn’t expect you for another few hours at least.”
He must have left not long after her.
She climbed onto the bed, crawling over the man until she could stretch out on top of him. He grunted but otherwise didn’t move.
“Anyone follow you?” Kira asked.
She inhaled.
Hmm.
She detected top notes of wind and rain. With an undercurrent of lightning to hold everything together.
Delicious.
Smelling it, letting it wrap around her in a formless embrace was like coming home, but in the best way possible.
The anticipation and pure relief you felt upon sliding into your bed that first time after being away for months.
The comfort and solace that came from knowing you were right where you belonged.
How could something so ordinary, one might even say mundane, have such a profound effect? Kira didn’t know. What she did know was that she was willing to fight dirty to preserve it.
At her question, Graydon bent a chiding look on her.
She hid her face against his shoulder. Despite her best efforts, a giggle slipped out.
“Such an expression, my dearest tempest.” She reached up, tracing the line of his nose with one finger. “Even the best make mistakes when they drop their guard.”
His arm tightened. “I’ve missed this.”
Kira’s levity vanished. “Me too.”
She bent her head, pressing a kiss onto the synth armor above his heart.
It had been a hard week. The fear of what might happen with Roake mingling with the stress of having to keep her distance from Graydon.
She wasn’t used to needing anyone but Jin. Graydon was an anomaly. Somehow, he’d managed to become just as vital. But in a totally different way. He was her port in the storm. Her anchor when everyone and everything else tried to cast her adrift.
Like it or not, she needed Graydon to stay. Losing him would be like severing a limb. She’d probably survive, but her existence would be forever changed.
Graydon tightened his hold around her waist, pulling her from the dark path her thoughts had taken. “I took every precaution.”
Kira was sure he had. Graydon was meticulous. It was one of the things she loved about him.
He threaded his fingers through hers, lifting the wrist with the cuff so they could both see. “I’m surprised you and the little menace haven’t removed this already.”
“Jin tried. It proved unexpectedly stubborn.”
It was unusual for her friend to be thwarted. His frustration would have been gratifying if she wasn’t so handicapped by its presence.
“I don’t suppose you have any ideas,” Kira suggested hopefully.
Graydon rubbed a thumb along the metal of the cuff, his forehead creased in thought. “Maybe one.”
Kira held her breath as his soul’s breath slid along her skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake.
She shifted, suddenly restless.
That felt good. Too good.
And he hadn’t even touched her yet.
His ki tickled and teased, sliding beneath her skin in a tantalizing seduction. Sluggishly, her own ki answered.
It started to rise to twine with his, when it bounced off something invisible.
A zip of pain washed away the desire that had just started building.
“Shh,” Graydon soothed.
His soul’s breath wrapped around her own in an intimate caress that sent desire splintering through her once again.
This time it was more intense. Sharper. More desperate.
An ache spread in her center. Pain of a different sort as her desire grew thorns. The muscles of her core clenched.
“What are you doing to me?” Kira panted.
One of her legs slipped between his. He guided her until she was sitting fully on his thigh. Kira’s eyes slid closed as she rolled her hips experimentally.
Pleasure shot through her.
She did it again, his harsh grip compelling her to new heights.
“That’s it,” Graydon crooned.
His soul’s breath delved deeper than it had before, arousing nerve endings everywhere it touched. She frayed. Her body was one giant, sensitive receptor. A single breath all that was needed to send her teetering over the edge.
“Graydon,” Kira snapped.
She wanted—she didn’t know what she wanted. When she’d crawled up here, this wasn’t what she intended.
Okay.
No.
That was a lie.
She’d fully hoped to end up right here at some point. Just maybe not before they finished their talk.
“Pleasure is the easiest and least painful way past your natural defenses,” Graydon explained with a trace of difficulty. He was caught up in whatever he was doing. In no better shape than Kira. His expression that of a man staring at a feast and doing his best to resist.
Except Kira didn’t want him to hold himself back.
She wanted the fury and intensity of the storm to sweep everything clean, leaving her born anew.
Kira’s breath mingled with his as she leaned over him. “Stop teasing and get on with it.”
Her demand dissolved the last delicate strands of Graydon’s control.
The panels of his synth armor melted under his skin to leave bare flesh resting against hers.
The expression on his face was almost animalistic as he jerked Kira’s leg over his hip, sliding home with one sharp thrust.
A cry left her, the feeling of fullness overwhelming.
Graydon held still, the cords along his throat standing out from the effort. “Alright?”
Rather than answer, Kira lifted experimentally before dropping back down.
An explosion of sound came from Graydon.
Grinning secretly to herself, she repeated the action, riding him.
Slow.
Then fast.
Then slow again.
Building. Building. Building.
Until their breaths sawed in and out of their lungs and Kira could barely think through her need.
It felt like if she didn’t reach climax right then and there that she was going to destroy this bed. The room. And possibly even the station.
Distantly, she became aware of Graydon doing something with his ki.
A loud, guttural moan left her as something inside came alive. Pleasure edged toward pain and back again. Scrambling her thoughts and setting her alight.
Graydon’s ki enveloped hers, stroking it into submission before guiding it against that invisible barrier. Not attacking it directly. Rather eroding it a thin layer at the time.
The effect that had on them was instantaneous.
Graydon sounded almost feral as he jackknifed to sitting. His hands found Kira’s hips as he forced her to ride him harder.
She keened. Sensation swelled.
His lips landed on hers, gobbling down her cries.
A second later his fingers touched the spot just over where they were joined. He rubbed frantically.
Kira fractured.
Bright lights sparked behind her closed eyelids. Her head bowed back, a gasping cry leaving her lips.
Her world went white.
Graydon pressed his lips against the base of her throat. He lost control, hammering into her with all the fury and intensity of someone who was afraid this moment might not come again. Fear that this might be the last time lent his movements desperation.
Kira detonated again.
Seconds later, he followed her into climax.
Kira collapsed against him, too weak to do anything but lean her forehead against his collarbone.