39. Clash of Stone and Steel
Clash of Stone and Steel
Samhail
Samhail’s barstool hit the floor as he launched himself off it to get to Talyn.
He fully intended to rip the man’s arm off, but he pulled up short when he saw the blade she had pressed to the man’s groin.
He didn’t know where she’d pulled it from, but the man stopped dead as his most sensitive part was now threatened.
For the first time since he’d arrived, Talyn looked directly at Samhail.
“Here to rescue me?” she drawled, and he could hear she was drunker than her knife-wielding skills might suggest.
“Here to rescue him,” Samhail said, nodding to the man with the dagger between his legs.
“Are you planning to fight me then? What round is this now? Four? Five? I’ve lost count,” she said.
She took her dagger from the man’s groin and faced Samhail.
“Maybe when you’re sober,” he said.
Her chin went up. “I don’t need to be sober to beat you,” she said, but she had to catch herself from swaying again.
The three men looked at her as though she was raving mad for talking to him that way, but Samhail just inclined his head toward the door. “You should leave before she starts throwing knives again,” he told them.
The men didn’t need to be told twice and hurried out of the tavern.
Samhail turned to Talyn. “It’s time to go.”
She resheathed the dagger at her thigh under her dress and sunk onto one of the chairs at the empty table. “I just need a minute,” she said as her head lolled on her neck. Her inebriation was likely returning now that her adrenaline surge was gone.
“I can carry you,” Samhail said.
“I can walk,” she snapped. “Just wait.”
Samhail looked around the room and heads everywhere swiveled back to their drinks as the hum of conversation rose again around the tavern.
“So who is this you’re wearing tonight?” he asked, gesturing to the unfamiliar form.
Talyn looked up at him in confusion. She lifted a hand and felt along her cheek, as if she’d forgotten she was wearing another woman’s face. She cocked her head at him and rose from the chair.
“Why?” she asked, grinning sensually. “Do you like her?”
Talyn pressed herself against Samhail and ran her hands up his chest to curl them around his neck. His muscles clenched where she touched, and he grabbed her wrists to return them to her sides.
“Change back into yourself,” he said quietly.
“I can’t do it here,” she said. “It would cause a stir.”
“Then let’s go. You’ll need time to sleep this off.”
He took her elbow and steered her toward the door.
“You’re no fun,” she said petulantly.
Talyn shook off Samhail’s grip as they emerged into the cool night. He’d grabbed her cloak from the rack by the door, and he laid it over her shoulders as they turned back toward the inn.
“You could’ve just told me you wanted to go for a drink,” he said as they walked.
“Maybe I wanted to be alone,” she said.
“It didn’t look like you wanted to be alone.”
She turned to grin up at him. “Jealous?”
“Were you trying to make me jealous?” he countered.
She scoffed. “Why would I want to do that?”
“You tell me.”
Talyn stopped walking, and he turned to face her.
“If I was trying to make you jealous, it worked,” she said. “You looked ready to pull those men off me from the moment you walked in.”
Samhail raised a brow. “I didn’t realize you knew I was there.”
“Everyone else was giving you plenty of attention,” she said poking a clumsy finger into his chest. “You didn’t need any more from me.”
Samhail caught her hand gently in his own, and she seemed momentarily stunned as she looked up at him.
“Whose face is this?” he asked again.
“No one’s,” she said, looking away. “Just a random woman.”
He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned her face back to him.
“There’s a resemblance,” he said. “Is she related to you?”
Talyn smiled. “Do you think she’s pretty?” she asked, her voice turning sultry again.
He ignored her question. “Change back.”
She pouted. “You don’t think my sister is pretty?”
Samhail stiffened and his face went serious. “This is your sister?”
“Was,” Talyn corrected him. “This was my sister.”
Her face had gone serious as well, and Samhail searched her eyes in the light of a street lantern.
“What happened to her?” he asked.
Talyn’s features slid back into her own.
He’d seen her shift a few times now, and it still unnerved him to watch, but this time there wasn’t much she had to change to shift back to herself. She looked more like her sister than he originally realized.
“She was murdered,” Talyn said, “by a man who killed numerous other women. Tonight is the anniversary of…” She trailed off.
“The anniversary of her death?”
She shook her head. “We couldn’t tell how long she’d been dead when they found her body,” Talyn said. “Maybe a week? The cuts and bruises were…extensive. Today is the anniversary of the day I killed the man who murdered her.”
Samhail sucked in a breath, and he realized he was still holding onto her hand. “Your first kill was the man who murdered your sister,” he said, letting the knowledge sink in.
The look in Talyn’s eyes was far away as she stared through him, but she met his gaze suddenly, and Samhail saw something in her expression he couldn’t discern at first. She rested her free hand on his chest and slid it up over his shoulder around his neck.
She pulled him down, and Samhail yielded to the pressure until she’d brought his lips to hers.
She slipped her tongue into his mouth, and Samhail groaned as he pulled her against him, giving in to the urge he’d had all night to kiss her. He could taste the gingered ale on her lips as his tongue met hers, and his cock hardened.
He knew she was drunk, knew he’d have to let go of her soon, but he could have this one moment. It wouldn’t be so wrong to let himself enjoy the feel of her against him for just one minute. Just one gods damned minute, and then he’d let go and bring her back to the inn to sleep it off.
Talyn broke the kiss first. “The alley,” she breathed.
He furrowed his brows in confusion. “What about the alley?” he asked. He looked down the nearest street to scan the shadows for threats.
“We can go down the alley,” she said. “Fuck me against the wall.”
His eyes narrowed even more. “What?”
Talyn took his hand and tried to pull him toward the narrow street between two buildings, but Samhail didn’t budge.
He could easily imagine her legs wrapped around him while he thrust into her against a wall, but that wall was not down a dirty side street.
She was out of her fucking mind if she thought he’d rut her in a back alley.
He’d fuck her anywhere she wanted after they crossed that initial bridge, but not this time. Not their first time, and not when she was drunk.
“No,” he said firmly. “No alley. We need to get back to the room.”
She paused, then nodded and started to lead him back toward the inn again.
He followed, hoping she’d forget about any thoughts of sex tonight by the time they got back.
He had no intention of taking her tonight, regardless of where they were.
She was upset and drunk, and he wasn’t such a cad that he’d take advantage of her in this state.
He needed to get her back to the room and into bed to go to sleep.
It was likely going to be a long night for him, but if that was the case, then so be it.
He managed to get her back to the inn without further delays. Talyn’s last drink seemed to catch up with her because she grew more unsteady with each step, and by the time he got her to their room, he’d had to sling an arm around her waist to hold her up.
Samhail unlocked their door and swung Talyn up into his arms to carry her in. He’d left a lamp on, so dim light filled the space, and he carried her to the bed to lay her down on it.
“Why is the room spinning?” she asked.
“Because you’re drunk,” he said as he pulled off her boots. He poured a glass of water from the pitcher by the bed and sat her up. “Drink this.”
She obeyed, and he laid her back down when she finished. Next, he lifted her legs and tucked them under the covers before pulling the blankets up over her shoulders. “Try to get some sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning,” he told her.
He turned and strode across the room to where he’d left his saddle bags.
He pulled his shirt off and folded it before laying it down on top of the bags.
He stared at the blank wall as he debated the pros and cons of sleeping on the floor instead of in the bed with Talyn.
He was used to sleeping in uncomfortable places, but he hated to do so when there was a perfectly good bed with plenty of room right there.
He just needed to stay far away from the infuriating…
tempting woman in it. The hardness in his cock had started to ease, but getting into bed with Talyn might be an issue.
The gentle touch of two hands on his bare back jarred Samhail out of his contemplation, and he swung around, instinctively ready to fight.
The tension left him when he saw Talyn behind him.
He hadn’t heard her get out of bed, and he wondered if she’d ported to him.
Then his eyes went lower, and he swore violently.
Nemesis damn him. She was fucking naked.
Samhail shut his eyes tightly and decided the gods must hate him. Why else would this woman he wanted so badly be standing here completely naked in front of him when he couldn’t have her? If they didn’t hate him, then they were at least testing him, although he had no idea to what end.
Samhail opened his eyes again when he felt Talyn start to work at the fastenings of his pants. He caught her hands, but not before his cock went rock hard again.
“Get back into bed,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Come with me,” she purred, trying to press closer to him.
“I’ll come to bed in a minute,” he said, “but we’re not going to do anything but sleep.”
She pouted. “I thought you wanted me.”
“I do want you,” he said softly, “but not like this.”