Ride the Wave

13

Only then did I realize we were both naked and in bed together. An unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, but none of that mattered. My gaze traveled down to take her in, and the sight of her lush curves woke me up more than anything. Not that I had the energy to do anything about it at the moment, but I still liked the view. “How am I alive?” I asked, as I lowered myself back onto the bed. Sitting was too much effort. In fact, everything hurt.

Kira touched my face softly as she settled beside me. “You were badly injured during the fight at the Earth Temple, but you surrounded yourself with ice, which kept you alive in a sort of suspended state. Jasin melted the ice while I healed you.”

“I remember.” I touched my side and found it healed, though still tender. “How long was I out?”

“Over a week.”

“A week?” I shook my head, trying to clear it. “The Dragons captured you. Slade stopped them?”

“Not exactly, but I’m safe now. We’ll talk about it later. For now, you need to rest and recover. Then we can head to the Water Temple.”

Right, the Water Temple. Where we’d be bonded together forever.

I turned on my side to face Kira, grunting with the effort. Emotions churned inside me. Big, scary ones. The kind that made a man want to profess his love for a woman and beg her to stay with him forever. Strong feelings like this made me uncomfortable. So I did the only thing I could. I took her lips in a deep kiss as my hand roamed across her body, cupping her breast and stroking her n****e to make it hard, before moving down her stomach and sliding between her legs. If I turned this to s*x, maybe the feelings would release their grip on me.

She gently took my hand to stop me and wove her fingers with mine, then pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Not yet. You need to recover more first. Just let me hold you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to contain the emotions threatening to burst out of me. “It’s been a long time since I let anyone hold me.”

She wrapped herself around me, her skin sliding against mine. “You can tell yourself it’s for healing purposes, if that makes you feel better.”

“Is it?” I’d done something similar once when she’d passed out from giving Jasin too much of her strength, and I’d probably used the same damn excuse then too.

“Yes, but it’s not the only reason. The guys told me what happened, and then I saw you…” Her voice trembled as her arms squeezed tighter. “I realized how close I’d come to losing you. Now I don’t ever want to let you go.”

Dammit, those emotions were back and even stronger now. I couldn’t keep them in any longer. “Kira, I…”

That was all I got out. I tried to say the words. I wanted to, dammit. But I hadn’t said them in so long, and every person I’d said them to had died not long after. I couldn’t lose Kira too.

She pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I know.”

I buried my face in her thick red hair, breathing in her scent, and just let her hold me. The turmoil inside me died down, and I relaxed against her. Our naked limbs tangled together, and even though we weren’t having s*x, it was the most intimate moment of my life. I closed my eyes, and let sleep claim me again.

10

Kira

D

oran arrived a day after Revan woke up. He strolled into the Resistance hideout as if he belonged there, and no one seemed to recognize him in his dusty traveling clothes and heavy cloak. I kept expecting someone to realize he was their enemy, but no one paid him any attention.

At the sight of him walking through Slateden, I was torn between relief and apprehension, unsure if I should run to hug him—or in the opposite direction. The only thing I could think to say was, “You’re alive.”

He smirked and tipped his head. “Sark and I can’t kill each other, though Gods know we’ve tried many times over the years. The bond with Nysa prevents us from doing anything other than roughing each other up a bit. But don’t worry, I made sure he couldn’t follow me here.”

“Thank you for helping us. I’m not sure I could have escaped without you.”

“Of course. Unfortunately, Nysa and her mates all know I’ve betrayed them by now. I can’t go back to Soulspire.” He chuckled as he pushed back his hood. “Guess that means I’ll be sticking with you for the rest of your journey. Now, where can I get some food around here? I’m starving.”

Sticking with us? I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but I had more pressing things I wanted to talk about first. “I can have something brought up for us. I have a lot of questions for you.”

“I’m sure you do, and I’ll do my best to answer them all. While we eat.”

I gathered all my mates and my father into a room that Parin had once used to meet with spies and soldiers. Now that he was gone and Faya was busy trying to keep the Resistance running, the room had sat unused. Food and drinks were placed along the long wooden table, and although I’d asked for something simple, the kitchen staff had outdone themselves. I suspected many people in Slateden were feeling aimless without their leader and needed something to channel their energy into.