Chapter 5 #2
When she could speak, she leaned closer, running her finger over her lips.
“Barbarian, I obey no one. I am my own woman, and your customs do not change that. I will respect the fact that you are the leader here, and I will try not to do something in public that causes you grief. But behind closed doors, I do as I please. I will not writhe for you unless I damn well want to. And you will not touch me unless I want you to. You’ve already banished a man for that, so don’t tell me you’d do the same thing. ”
“There is one large difference.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
“You want me to touch you.”
She pulled back, hissing out a breath. “You are so arrogant.”
“I see the desire in your eyes when you look at me. I feel it pulse between us, I’ve felt it growing all day. I want to see your sunset hair spread on my sheets. And I will suck the mata juice from your skin soon…from the delicate skin between your legs.”
Aurina felt a shot of heat arrow down to the juncture of her thighs. She turned her attention back to her dinner and tried to soothe her jumping belly. “Just eat, barbarian.”
“No witty remarks now?”
She barely resisted stabbing him with her fork, or kicking him under the table. Instead, she resumed eating and turned her attention to the hall.
People were still watching them. Or rather, watching her. She figured she’d be old news after a day or two.
“Try this.” Kavon set a piece of…something on her plate. Cooked meat, she decided. She speared it with her fork and ate it.
Her eyes widened. “Oh, that is good.”
“It is?—”
She touched a finger to his lips. “No, don’t tell me. It’ll probably ruin it. Let me enjoy it, and tell me later.”
A rusty laugh burst out of him. That made her smile.
When she looked back at the hall, people were staring at Kavon with shocked gazes, as though he’d grown a second head. She guessed he didn’t laugh much.
Aurina had finished a plate of food and was enjoying a drink she guessed was some sort of juice, when a woman sauntered up to them.
She was tall, with a lean figure encased in a leather corset and a white skirt that had a high slit on one side flashing a slender thigh. Colorful scarves had been braided into her long dark hair. She stopped and bowed her head. “Warlord, I wanted to see if you had need of me tonight.”
Kavon sat back. “No, Lali, I told you the other evening, I’d have no need of you again.”
The woman’s face tightened and she glanced at Aurina. “But surely you don’t lie with this…ugly creature. She is short, and round, and odd.”
Aurina raised a brow.
Kavon stiffened, his eyes turning bright gold. “Lali, you apologize to my guest for your rudeness.”
The woman shifted, the whip of his voice making her drop her gaze. “I am sorry, Warlord.”
“To Aurina, not me.”
The woman shot Aurina a mutinous look. “My apologies.”
Aurina barely refrained from rolling her eyes at one of the most insincere apologies she’d ever received. Instead, she nodded.
The woman’s gaze widened. “Does she not speak?”
Aurina released a breath. “I speak just fine. I just don’t have much to say to you.
You’re a stranger, and you’re being rude to me for your own reasons, which really have nothing to do with me.
And I think they might be having the opposite effect to what you’d intended.
” She nodded her head toward Kavon’s set face.
The woman glanced at Kavon and blanched. She turned and melded back into the hall.
More servers bustled over, clearing empty plates and setting new ones down. Aurina didn’t miss how the female servers brushed past Kavon to ensure he got perfect views of their cleavage as they leaned over. This time, she couldn’t help it—she rolled her eyes.
Finally, he ordered them all to leave, and they flitted away.
“Does everyone obey your orders?”
“Yes.”
She leaned in. “I won’t.”
“I’m coming to understand that.” He pushed a bowl filled with some creamy white substance toward her. “Try this now.”
“I’m pretty full.”
“You’ll like it.”
She took a spoonful and groaned again. “Oh, that is good.” She savored the creamy, spicy flavor. She looked up, and again people were staring at them with wide-eyes. “Why is everyone looking at us like we just danced on the table naked?”
He shot her a small smile. “It is nothing.” He waved a hand at a man with a large jug hovering nearby. The man hurried forward and filled their glasses. “Ale?”
“I’m more an Interstellar martini girl, myself.” She shrugged and took the ceramic mug. “But, when on a barbarian world…” She took a large sip.
The ale packed a punch. It was somehow fruity and spicy at once, and warmed her belly. Whoa, she’d have to be careful not to have too much. But, damn, it was nice to just relax a little. It had been a hell of a few days.
Kavon kept pushing small delicacies her way. After a few more sips of ale, tiredness started to drag on her. She smothered a yawn.
He stood, his giant chair scraping on the stone floor. “You are tired.”
“Yes, I am.”
“You’ll rest now.”
She let out a breath. “Ask, barbarian.”
He leaned down, that rugged face of his close. “When it comes to your care and safety, I will not ask. I will do what is best for you.”
His big body was so close and it was adding to the warmth already generated by the ale. “And you think you know what is best for me?”
“I am a warlord.”
“That’s not an answer,” she said on an annoyed hiss. “I know what’s best for me.”
“Come.” He held out a hand.
She hesitated, but she’d agreed not to make any scenes in public. She slapped her hand into his.
He tugged her out of the hall, and she saw a few warriors elbowing each other as they left. She didn’t really care what they thought.
She wouldn’t be here long enough to care.
As they ascended the stairs, she stared at the glowing light wands attached to the wall. In the hall, she’d seen a giant chandelier carved into a beautiful twisting shape and made from the same material. “Do you mine this glowing rock?”
“Yes. But it isn’t the rock that causes the glow. It is an organism, similar to the nanami, that lives in that particular rock that creates the light.”
“Bioluminescence,” she said. “Fascinating.” Markaria really was a fascinating mix of low and high tech. Heaven help the galaxy when the barbarians conquered space travel. “You’re taking me to my room for the night?”
“Yes.” He pulled her down a long corridor.
“And tomorrow, we can make a plan to see if Drog has my emergency beacon?”
A scowl appeared on Kavon’s face. “Yes. And how we can find Durendal.”
“Looks like we’ll be working closely together, barbarian.”
He stopped in front of large wooden doors decorated with beaten metal the color of copper. “I have a name.”
Yes, he did. She fidgeted. She hadn’t been using it on purpose, not wanting to get any closer to this fascinating, infuriating man. “Kavon.”
He nodded. “Better.” He pushed open the door.
She stepped inside and then came to an abrupt halt. “This is your room.”
“Yes.” He strode inside.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I want my own room.”
“No.” He undid the straps on his sword harness, then reached back and pulled his sword and scabbard free.
He set them carefully on a sturdy wooden table that was clearly for storing his weapons.
Next, he unfastened the large metal clip on his leather harness and shrugged it off.
He started walking toward the bathroom, pausing to yank his boots off.
When his hands went to his trousers, she found her voice.
“What are you doing?” She stared at his broad back, and that glorious expanse of skin. In the light of the wands, she could see the beautiful metallic gleam of it.
He didn’t look back at her. “I’m planning to bathe.” He disappeared into the bathroom.
Aurina dragged in a breath. Trying to get the man to listen was like trying to bend rock—an exercise in frustration. She stomped across to the bathroom door.
She stopped and her heart jumped into her throat. Holy stars, he was naked.
His back was still to her as he thrust his hand into the huge sunken tub that someone had already filled with steaming water. His ass… She swallowed. It was perfection.
All of him was toned with some serious muscle. He radiated a strength that was more than just those impossibly powerful muscles. As he stepped into the tub, she watched those muscles flex and her throat went dry.