Page 58 of Smoke and Blood

“But which one of us can make you wet?”Aodh dragged the tip of his finger down the seam of her ass until he touched her damp center, swirling just at the opening.

“Only you,” she moaned and held his darkening gaze in the mirror.Before she could part her thighs and give him the space to press inside, Aodh drew his finger away.

“Aodh,” she yelped from shock as he smacked her ass before he stepped back.

“Don’t you forget it, my curvy love.”

She shifted her body to see the blush blooming on her cheek from his strike, accompanied by the deep dark prints starting to show from his earlier hold.“Even with your lusty marks,” she teased, loving the sight of them.

“Just makes you that much more beautiful.And it makes me want to ensure they don’t fade.”He winked at her and walked out.

Kai smiled at his words.Only Aodh could make her feel desirable as she assessed her large breasts, wide hips, and thick thighs.She shivered and exhaled.

By the time she walked out of the bathroom, Aodh was dressed in his standard dark vest and pants.He’d banked the fire in the hearth.She moved toward the chair that held her tunic top and pants from earlier.

He rose and faced her.“Kai, what do you know of dragon’s gold.”

She frowned as she pulled her pants up over her hips.“What’s that?”

“Dragon’s gold.”He held her gaze.

Kai shrugged and reached for her top on the back of the chair.“Dragon, I know, and gold, I know, but if putting them together is supposed to mean something, I’ve no clue what you’re talking about.”She worked the tunic over her head.Once it was settled, she’d flicked her thick mane out of the V-neck collar and fluffed it around her shoulders.

Aodh crossed the space to her as he dug something out of his pocket.When he stood before her, he opened his hand, and in the center of his palm was her father’s ring.

Perplexed, she reached out and took it from its resting place.“Why’d you bring the ring back?I thought the blacksmith would make pieces of your hearth-stone a part of it.”

“Brantley couldn’t.”Aodh pointed a thick finger at the ring.“Apparently, it's dragon’s gold.”

“Dragon’s gold?”She shook her head as she glanced from the man back to the ring.“That doesn’t make sense.It’s just a simple band.I doubt if it’s even worth much.”

Aodh folded his arms over her broad chest, sinewy muscle flexing.“Trust me, mate.Dragon’s gold would be worth a fortune to some.If the myth is true, attempting to possess it for the magical properties has caused wars.”

She shook her head again.“It’s impossible that this is dragon’s gold if my father had it.”

“Where’d he get it from?”Aodh eyed her.

Kai couldn’t say if his stare was suspicious of her or not.There was a flare of anger in her core.She didn’t like feeling as if the man she cared about didn’t trust her words or was accusing her father of something.She folded her arms, and the position pushed her breasts higher.“He didn’t steal it if that’s what you're thinking.”

Heat flared in his eyes as his gaze caressed the cleft of her breasts revealed in the dip of her collar.

She refused to consider her answering heat.

Aodh exhaled, smoke filling the space between them as he lowered his arms.“I’m not saying your father is a thief, Kai.Just trying to get answers.”

“Well, I don’t have any.”She cocked her hip to the side.“The only thing I can tell you is the rings are heirlooms.My father got them from his mother, who got them from her mother...and maybe her mother before that.”She lifted one shoulder, still unwilling to let go of her attitude.“We never got to talk much about the rings in great detail.I don’t know if my dad knew more.They were handed down when someone got married.”

He nodded and appeared to take her words at face value.“Once you have your shoes on, we’ll go.Maybe my father knows more about the origins of the rings.”

Kai went to the chair so she could slip on her shoes.Aodh may be satisfied by what she said, but Kai’s words revealed something inside of her that she didn’t realize was hidden in her core: despondency.She took the rings from her parents after they had passed, wanting to keep the treasure as a symbol of them for her and her sister.However, a voice echoed inside her that she had no right to them.Not because her father, if he were alive, would not have eventually given them to her or Morlie, whichever one of them married first, but she wasn’t.Yes, she had a mate, and by now, she was positive Morlie was mated, but she and Aodh were together because some biological force that drew them to each other told him she was his mate—made her the mother of his unborn child.

No ceremony had been performed to bind them as man and wife until death parted them.That was a commitment her parents had, her grandparents, and their parents...and so forth.

It was probably best that the blacksmith couldn’t add Aodh’s hearth-stone to the gold; wearing it on her finger as a symbol of her and Aodh’s union would be a fraud.

“Mate.”Aodh stepped before her, cupped her cheek, and tipped her chin.“What noise is rushing through your mind?”

She licked her lips, convincing herself that her worry was in her heart, not her thoughts, and Aodh couldn’t access her feelings.“Nothing.Just want some answers, like you.”

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