Kyler's Justice (Assassins of Gravas Book 3) - N.J. Walters Page 0,13
taught her to feign bravery and to go on the offensive.
“Going to the depths.” The roughness of his voice raised chill bumps on her arms. He took her face in his huge hands and leaned down. His breath was warm on her face.
She licked her lips again. His nostrils flared.
A yearning grew deep within her. This was likely going to rank among the top three most stupid things she’d ever done in her life, but she had to know. Going up on her toes, she pressed her lips to his.
Chapter Four
He was truly going to the depths of Gravas for this. It was the fiery pit at the center of the planet. The resting place of those who relinquished their honor.
I shouldn’t be kissing her.
She was a potential target, a mission.
Women were to be respected and protected. That came as natural to a Gravasian male as being a warrior. It was bred into their blood and bones.
As the king’s blade, he’d been forced to compromise those ideals. But never had he slipped over this line.
When her lips brushed his, the universe fell away. It was like being dropped into a black hole where nothing else existed. Only Etta.
His fingers flexed on her face, but he was careful to control his strength. He’d already bruised her, something for which he might never be able to forgive himself. They were small smudges on her neck, barely visible to the naked eye. But to him, they stood out like beacons.
Wildflowers and spice, the scent surrounded him. Drawing on every ounce of restraint that had been trained into him from the time he was born, he didn’t push, allowing her total control over their embrace.
The warmth from her lips seeped into him. Had he been cold? The chill was old and not one of temperature, but of temperament.
Eyes wide open, he stared, unwilling to miss even one second of the kiss. Etta had closed hers. Strands of her golden hair had escaped the band she’d used to anchor them into a tail. They stuck to her skin, which was as pale as the snows of Killaras. But where the planet was cold and hostile, she was warm and welcoming.
Their lips barely touched, but the impact was greater than a meteor slamming into a planet surface.
His body was a weapon, honed to the finest edge. It did what he demanded when he demanded it. The muscles in his shoulders bunched, his biceps flexed, his abs pulled taut. His lungs burned.
Walk away.
It was what he should do. Heart racing, he angled his head slightly and ran the tip of his tongue across her bottom lip. She gasped and deepened the kiss. When her tongue touched his, any semblance of control vanished.
Danger! The warning flashed and went unheeded. For the first time in his life, he no longer cared. It had been so long since he’d felt something real, something beyond duty.
It was intoxicating.
Just a few moments more. Surely, he’d earned that after fifteen years of loyal service. Since the age of fifteen, his life had been dedicated to the king. Who he was, what he’d been, had been wiped out of existence. Even his family hadn’t seen him. They likely wouldn’t recognize him if they did.
And family was everything on Gravas.
But the king’s blade could have no attachments, nothing that might make him falter in his task.
He hadn’t known how empty his life had become until he’d met Etta. He cursed her even as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, tasting her warmth and the faintest hint of cinnamon.
It was she who pulled back first. He released her immediately, letting his hands fall by his sides and curling them into fists to keep from reaching for her. He longed to trace the slight curves of her hips and breasts, to stroke her long legs, and delve between them to the very heart of her heat.
She licked her lips, something he’d noted she did when nervous. “Um, okay, that probably shouldn’t have happened.”
He agreed. Why then did her declaration cause his chest to tighten and ache?
Etta pressed her fingertips against her lips and shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I should go.” But his feet were rooted to the spot.
Sadness seeped into her eyes, and she cast her gaze downward. Unable to leave her like this, he put two fingers beneath her chin and lifted.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Her shrug was nonchalant, but her gaze darted everywhere but at him.