Unbondable(Kindred Birthright #1) - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,9
that she could feel the heat of his skin against hers. “May I?”
Kara’s first instinct was to cover her mouth with her hands. But the silver-ringed pools of blackness that were his eyes looked into hers and somehow she found herself opening her mouth instead.
Raak cupped her cheek in his big, warm hand and bent down, examining her mouth as intently as though he was a new dentist assessing her.
But I never went to a dentist that made my heart feel like it was trying to pound its way out of my chest before, Kara thought, feeling her cheeks get even hotter.
To her horror, she suddenly realized the feel of his skin against hers was having a definite effect on her—most specifically, on her fangs. She could feel them lengthening and getting sharper as the big Unbondable looked at her. Oh Goddess, were they actually growing right before his eyes? What must he think of her? She remembered the thoughts she’d had of him the night before…the way she’d imagined herself sweeping that wild curtain of black hair aside and sinking her fangs deep into his strong throat.
Her fangs throbbed at the thought and she felt an answering throb in her pussy—along with a decidedly unladylike urge to do exactly that—to bite him. But she couldn’t do that—she mustn’t!
Abruptly she jerked away from his hand and snapped her jaws shut—then gave a muffled cry as her elongated fangs sank into the flesh of her lower lip.
“What did you do that for? You hurt yourself.”
“I…I just thought…” Kara could hardly talk. The sudden pain and embarrassment had brought tears to her eyes and she blinked fiercely, trying to will them away.
“Hey…” Raak cupped her cheek again and lifted her face gently so their eyes met. “They’re beautiful—your fangs. Fuckin’ gorgeous. And anybody who can’t see that isn’t worth your time. If they don’t like you just the way you are, fuck ‘em, baby girl.”
“I…” She blinked and the hot tears spilled over her lids and ran down her cheeks. “You’re just saying that.”
“Nope, I never lie. Don’t care enough about what other people think to bother.”
Kara stared up at him, wide-eyed.
“I think you really mean that,” she whispered.
He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling. “I live life on my own terms—if people don’t like it, too bad.”
“Wow…” she breathed, shaking her head. “I wish I could feel like that. My whole life, I’ve always cared what everybody thought about me.”
“Which is one reason you’re so fuckin’ miserable,” Raak pointed out.
“I can’t help it,” Kara said, a bit defensively. “My father is the head of the Kindred High Council. My brother, Kaleb, and I were always told we had to be on our very best behavior, especially in public so I have to care what other people think.” She sighed. “Which is one reason my fangs are such a liability. Nobody ever heard of a proper Kindred female with fangs.”
“Nobody likes the idea of a Kindred warrior without a soul, but here I am.” Raakshas spread his muscular arms in a ‘take me or leave me’ gesture. “You’ll go crazy if you spend your life trying to please everybody else. Better to just please yourself and have a good time while you’re doing it.”
“You really have no soul?” Kara asked doubtfully.
“Nope.” He shrugged. “Don’t miss it either.”
“But…one of your parents was Kindred. Doesn’t that mean you got at least half a soul?” Kara asked.
Raak laughed.
“You got me there. My father was Kindred and my mother was Y’lyn—a demon with no soul at all. Sometimes the child of a union like that will have a soul or at least a partial soul, since one of the parents does.”
“So…you do have one then?” Kara asked.
He shook his head.
“Not that I ever felt. And I’m sure the people I do business with don’t think so.” He grinned again, showing those sharp white teeth. They looked almost as sharp as her fangs to Kara, though they weren’t nearly as long.
“The people you do business with?” she asked.
“I captain a merchant vessel and we do a lot of trade among the known Kindred worlds,” he said. “Also, I have a very lucrative side business in, shall we say, hard to get items.”
Kara stared at him. “You’re a smuggler!”
“Yup.” He grinned. “Got it in one, baby girl.”
“But…isn’t that against the laws of the Kindred High Council?” Kara demanded.
“Right again.” He laughed that deep rumbling laugh. “But at least I’m not an outright pirate like most of my Brother Y’lyn