Page 17 of Kiss of Fire

“Make no mistake. You agreed to the bargain when you asked me to take you. Buthowthe deal is implemented is still open for negotiation. Our alliance, ourbetrothal, has to be convincing. A ruse the Vulcani will believe. Either you canactthe part of my intended. Or…” his eyes glittered. “We could make the union real. Physical. Perhaps you’d like that?”

Without waiting for an answer, he dipped his head and lazily traced the curve of her neck. Raya felt his lips against her skin, maddeningly slow and sensuous. Angrily she tried to push him away but he was immoveable. One hand let go of her arm and stroked down her back to the base of her spine.

He cupped her backside, pulling her against him. She made a small sound as she felt the press of his thighs against hers. Heat pooled low in her belly and she had to fight a sudden inclination to rub against him.

Her head started to spin. This was ridiculous. She was acting like a swooning virgin.

Okay, shewasa virgin technically, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t touched herself. Or spent nights imagining what passion could feel like. She just never thought it would make her feel like this.

Alive. Breathless.

His hand moved to cup her breast, his thumb brushing across her nipple. She stifled a moan as she felt it harden.

Christ, what was she doing? She was making out with a guy who’d kidnapped her. A guy who really only wanted her for one thing. And that wasn’t her body; it was her bloodline.

Take control, Suraya.

She slapped him. Hard. It probably didn’t hurt one bit but the unexpected violence startled him. He let go, and the steel bands around her waist and hips fell away.

She backed away as far as she could, shaking with anger.

“You said I could have whatever I wanted in exchange for the deal,” she hissed. “Well this is what I want. I want to find my mother. And I want you tonevertouch me like that again. Ourunionas you put it will be for show only. Understand?”

He regarded her impassively.

“As you wish.”

Magda bustled in with a tray full of food. She glanced from Raya to Shadeed, sensing the tension as the pair of them glared at each other.

“So, did you have a nice chat?” she asked brightly.

With a snarl of rage, Shadeed pulled shadows around himself until only the blue of his eyes was visible. Then he disappeared into thin air.

Eight

His wings beat steadily as he flew straight up above the trees, through the clouds, until he broke into the clear night sky. Stars glittered above him, as pure and bright as handfuls of diamonds scattered onto black velvet.

He hovered, fists clenched, shadows streaming off him until they dissipated some hundred metres away. He closed his eyes and let the sting of the frigid Nordic air cool his temper.

She had hit him. An inconceivable act against a Lord of the Jinn, and one punishable by death. Only the knowledge that she was ignorant of her heritage kept him from exacting the toll.

That, and the fact that he needed her.

Though he was beginning to doubt the wisdom of his plan. If she had no idea of her background, how could she hope to unite the Vulcani? How in the seven hells would they accept her leadership?

Aelah, he thought despairingly.You left such a mess when you chose to forsake your world for the human one. Your people are divided and Nush’aldaam risks falling into the hands of a sadist.

“I hope it was worth it,” he said out loud, his voice bitter. “Deserting the fae for love. The love of a human, no less.”

The words left a sour taste in his mouth.

He could never imagine shirking his responsibility because of some inexplicable emotion. What were feelings, after all? Just the product of chemicals and hormones. If he wanted a rush of endorphins, he could find it soaring on the current of a thermal updraft. Or in the arms of a willing partner.

For a fleeting moment he remembered the way Suraya had responded to his brazenness. The way she had pressed for the barest second against him as he explored her neck with his lips. The way her skin had tasted.

He shook his head, irritated with himself. One thing was clear. She had no more knowledge of the Vulcani than she did of Nush’aldaam. Aelah had given up her daughter and she had been raised as a human.

Did she even have any Vulcani traits? Probably not, judging by the fact she’d been incarcerated by her fellow humans. Perhaps that’s why Aelah had abandoned her. But if she couldn’t prove she was Aelah’s daughter, the Vulcani would not unite around her.

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