his shoulders, sliding closer, but I paid them no mind. I could handle my own pain. I couldn’t handle Kiran’s, however.
“Forgive me,” I whispered, my voice a little more breathless as his kiss made my head swim.
He deepened it briefly, moving that tongue against mine, nibbling at my mouth almost desperately. And even with my injury, I felt myself begin to respond, though he pulled away.
Leaning his forehead against mine, he rasped, “Promise me. Promise me that you will not do that again. Promise me you won’t put yourself in danger like that again.”
“I promise,” I murmured, my tone somber. And with one exception, I’d never broken a promise to Kiran. He knew that. I knew that.
A deep growl emerged from his throat. Relieved. Some of his anger had drained away. The muscles in his shoulders began to loosen.
And maybe it wasn’t the right time to bring it up, but I murmured, “About my guard…”
“Nik, kalles,” he growled. “My mind is made up.”
My guard hadn’t wanted to tell me what punishment Kiran had given him but eventually I’d dragged it out of him as I checked him over. With the exception of a nasty blackened bruise all across his torso and a sprained leg from his fall, he was mostly unharmed, which brought me such relief.
“Then let’s unmake it,” I murmured.
His eyes sparked with sudden heat. “You think to convince me to see your way, seffi?”
“I can try,” I suggested, pressing closer.
A roughened sound emerged from his throat. Between us, his cock was hardening, rising from the bath water.
“Nik, Maeva,” he said and I sensed the determination in his tone. “As much as I want to, you are injured. I will not hurt you further.”
“You don’t hurt me,” I argued.
“I might. Sometimes I forget myself with you. I will not risk it when what you really need is rest to recover.”
I sighed but knew he was right. The past few days had been…intense. Every moment we’d been alone, every chance we got—morning and night—he’d been between my thighs.
Going without him for a single night seemed excruciatingly long. Already, I was dreading when he had to leave the horde in a couple days to make the journey east.
“How else can I convince you then to retract your punishment for my guard?” I asked softly. His eyes darkened. “Because short of throwing me over his shoulder, which I’m sure you wouldn’t have liked either, he was trying to convince me to return to the horde the entire time. He kept saying how angry you’d be and he was right. But I didn’t listen. My mind was made up. You know how I am.”
Kiran bit out a sharp sigh. He knew me better than anyone. He knew how stubborn I could be.
“He shouldn’t be punished for this, Kiran,” I added. “Hanniva. I want him as my guard. And I don’t want his darukkar rank stripped away because of my mistake. He doesn’t deserve that. He was trying to keep me safe.”
With bated breath, I waited.
When the silence stretched, I added, “I promise to never leave the encampment again. Not unless it’s with you or an entire horde of darukkars, lysi? Just don’t take it out on him.”
I saw when he broke.
I could almost read his thoughts and they were something like: You know I could never say ‘nik’ to you.
Because he’d never been able to.
I was his weakness. I was beginning to understand that. I was beginning to understand everything.
“If he puts you in danger again, I will send him back to Dothik next time. Do you understand?”
And I knew he was serious. He wouldn’t change his decision for me again. This was the last time.
“Kakkira vor,” I breathed, tucking my head into the crook of his neck, leaning my cheek against his chest.
His sigh stirred my hair. Then I felt his hand stroke down my bare back, running over the scar across my shoulder.
Softly, he said, “You’ll be the death of me, rei kassiri.”
My love.
And for once, those words didn’t fill me with fear.
Chapter Forty-Four
“Rin nekanevexi rei kakkiva, rei kassiri,” came his husky, roughened voice. It seemed to thread down my spine, making my flesh tingle in its wake.
You ride my cock so well, my love, he’d told me.
It was two nights later and Kiran had finally given into my pleas for mating, though he’d still been worried about my healing arm.
A moan escaped my throat, breathy and full of need, as his hands dug into the cheeks of my buttocks, his