CHAPTER 40

Delicious. As if she were some sort of dessert, or maybe one of Torgux’s little appetizers. She should be angry, insulted at the very least, especially given the intensity of his gaze upon her…like he meant his words literally and he was starving.

Oh, but there was something very, very wrong with her, because she melted. Or it felt like she did.

He might hurt you very badly.

And there was the problem, Torgux had been right. If his proposal held appeal because it was safe, because it promised a quiet, comfortable existence, then her attraction to Xor’annan was the complete opposite. Being with Xor’annan would burn like wildfire. It would be passion and temper and violence all rolled into one, but when the ashes settled would there be anything left of her?

People...Daemon...were staring. If Xor’annan noticed, he did not give any indication.

“Did you enjoy the view?” he asked, gesturing to the doors and the looking glasses beyond. So, he had seen her little venture with Torgux.

“It was interesting,” she told him. If he had been watching then he knew that they had spent more time talking than looking at the stars, but if he thought she would reveal Trogux’s confessional proposal, he had another thing coming. It couldn’t have been comfortable to make such a confession and the man deserved some secrets.

“And the party? Is it as horrible as you predicted?”

She couldn’t answer immediately because he had reached out, touching her waist to guide her into movement. Her brain had happily foregone all other thought to focus on the brush of his fingers near her hip. They glided through the crowd, toward the outer edges of the dome wall. Daemon were watching them, watching him touching her, she knew because she could feel their eyes on her. Her own gaze was glued to his face, trying to read him. Over the course of the months she was his prisoner, she had become somewhat fixated on him, which was understandable given the power he held over her existence. Fixated, but nothing more, though her body responded to his presence. He had never given any indication that he had any interest in her other than for the purpose of keeping Eveera alive and well, so she had never let her thoughts stray past the acknowledgment of the physical pull he had on her.

Perhaps that was his goal now. Maybe there was danger here at the star gazing party that she had not yet encountered. Yes. That must be it. He had been assigned to protect her, after all, and she was to draw out the enemy. Damned hard to do with the Hadrian crowding her. No one in their right mind would show their hand and risk his immediate wrath.

She tried to signal him with some subtlety, but he either didn’t get the message, or didn’t care. They walked for several minutes, a slow promenade the purpose of which she couldn’t decide. When they finally passed into one of the areas divided from the main room and it looked like they were alone she pulled away from him.

“You have to stop touching me,” she whispered, turning to him with the intention of demanding he share his plan. She was tired of being used like a pawn in a game she didn’t understand. The look on his face stopped her.

“The hell I will,” he growled. And then he was upon her, his arms wrapping easily around her, capturing her, holding her just where he wanted. His lips descended to hers, hesitated for the briefest second a hairs breadth away, and then crashed down. He kissed her hungrily, like a man long starved. A soft growl had her lips parting, and he took advantage, slipping his tongue between her teeth. His hands moved on the back of her head, adjusting her, and he deepened the kiss.

Tianna was lost. Fire licked at her spine and crawled its way up her core. She was trembling and there was nothing she could do except brace herself on his strong arms and ride out the storm. This was what she had known would happen with Xor’annan. There was no casual comfort in this kiss, it was heat and hunger and sharp-edged desire. She was burning, her skin tingled wherever her body pressed against his, urging a deeper closeness.

He pulled back from her, at last, but did not allow much distance as he studied her face, his eyes flitting from hers down to her swollen lips and back again.

“I will allow you space to adjust to your position...to understand the true scope of your power because you are a strong woman, Hellcat, and you will not be satisfied any other way. When you come to me, it will not be through any means of manipulation, any bargain or power on my own part, but by your own initiative.” His hand cupped her face, and his thumb ran over her bottom lip. “I am a man who gets what he wants,” he told her, “and you will come to me. I will not be put out of the running by a fool who cannot face his own problems head on.”

“There’s a running?” she managed to say...stupidly. To be fair, he was still rubbing her bottom lip with his thumb and she was busy fighting the urge to suck on it, just a little.

Xor’annan chuckled.

“Not really...not that are worthy of you, Hellcat,” he stepped back from her, tucking away any emotion behind his neutral mask. “Come, I do not wish to begin too much speculation. I prefer if you crush you’re suitor’s proposal on your own.”

Tianna was having a hard time keeping up. Her mind was still on the kiss. Xor’annan had kissed her. Like he meant it. And now her entire understanding of her position in the world was readjusting.

“Wait...you know?”

Xor’annan tilted his head. “It is the same spiel he gave Trilola. She might have been fooled into it, too, she has a bit of a soft spot for him, had I not had the final say in the decision.”

“He is lying?” Tianna frowned. That made little sense. If one was going to lie, shouldn’t they do so in order to exaggerate their advantages?

“I do not believe so,” Xor’annan admitted. “He is honest in this, his lack of ambition notwithstanding, but he seeks the easy way out of his troubles, the comfortable. Tril would be bored silly in a week, and you would rebel the second he tried to dictate your actions. Both instances would lead to disaster.”

They passed out from behind the secluded partition and continued along the edge of the dome. More wooden dividers stood along their path, some empty, others with small groups or couples engaged in conversation or looking up at the night sky. Most were distracted enough to give Tianna a chance to recover herself. Her lips felt swollen and her cheeks warm, but the farther she pulled herself back into equilibrium, away from heady arousal, the more her anger rose. What was this except another manipulation? Xor’annan was far more subtle and skilled at it than Torgux, but it amounted to the same thing. She was being warned off of the other, but nothing had been offered in return, and she would be a fool to assume there ever would be.

A spark of doubt ignited within her. Would Xor’annan go so far as to use her attraction against her if it got him the result he desired?

She didn’t like the answer.

When they had completed their circuit around the dome, Xor’annan led her toward Tril, who was conversing with a group of women. To Tianna’s horror, Mizare was one of them. She tightened the hand she had on Xor’annan’s arm, but he ignored her desperate signal.

“There you are,” Tril turned to them. She smiled brightly enough one could never tell she was surrounded by enemies. “Tianna, come and meet Averitol and Jirzola. They were not able to make your banquet on such short notice and have been waiting to be introduced.”

“Is that the Hadrian?” one of the women asked in a breathy whisper. Xor’annan nodded to her politely, releasing Tianna’s hand.

Tianna frowned. She had a feeling she could strip naked and strut around like a peacock and these women would only notice Xor’annan. Or maybe they were all taking cues from Mizare, who, true to prediction, was simply ignoring her presence. But she was not ignoring the Hadrian.

“Ladies,” Xor’annan nodded once again, graciously, and then departed the group. Lucky bastard.

Tril gave her a significant look and then forced the smile back on her face. “Binessa Tianna, this is Averitol, Senticol of Honwell.”

Tianna paid very little attention to the introductions. She doubted she would be able to recall the women’s names or titles in five minutes. Her mind felt overloaded with everything that had happened and all that she truly, deeply wanted was to escape the party and mope in her own apartments until she had sorted herself out.

Fortunately, Tril seemed to catch her mood, and an hour later they had said their goodbyes and fled through the doors and down the stairs.

Her house guard, as well as Tril’s, appeared as if by magic, trailing them through the corridors and stairwells.

“An interesting night,” Tril ventured.

Tianna snorted. Interesting didn’t cover half of it.

“Your companions did not go unnoticed. It was the topic of quite a few conversations I encountered.”

Of course, it was. She had practically been the center of a pissing contest. Had she witnessed, it she would have gossiped, as well. And felt sorry for herself.

“Should I be worried now about what Daemon are thinking of me?” Her words came out a little sharp. She was still frustrated and confused, and Tril was poking at the wound she had wanted to go lick in private.

Tril’s mouth opened and closed, and then opened again. “Of course not. I did not mean that at all, I just…”

“If you are going to warn me that Xor’annan is manipulating me for some unknown goal you needn’t bother. I’ve spent enough time with him to know that is how he works.”

Tril’s mouth snapped closed, and a curious variety of emotions crossed her face. A hint of a blush crossed her cheeks and Tianna felt a little guilty for snapping at her. She thought, for a moment, to apologize, but she didn’t want to open the conversation back up to the same topic, so they traveled the rest of the distance to her apartments in silence.

They said their goodnights with more distance than Tianna cared for. Tril was her first true friend since Thanlos, after all. Yet the younger woman hovered for a few moments at the entrance to the guard room.

“I know you wish to avoid the topic,” she said at last, “but you should know that I’ve never seen Xor’annan behave like that. He doesn’t attend the parties and has never shown obvious interest in anyone.”

Tianna smashed down the little part of her that lifted in interest, trying to cling to those words.

“I’m sure his plan will become obvious soon. Maybe he knows something we don’t, and this is the best way to draw out…,” Tianna caught herself and glanced around the hallway. Here was not the place for this discussion, “...to accomplish what he needs to.”

“Yeah…goodnight Tianna,” Tril couldn’t have sounded less convinced.