“Kardok, you’re the team’s enforcer. That move you made was totally normal—something your team expected from you. Coach puts you on the ice for a specific reason, and you’regood at it.”
“I’m too out of control,” he said to his beer. “Wild.”
I placed my drink down. “You are wild.” My hand covered his on his beer, forcing him to look at me. “But nottoo. Nottoowild,toowicked. You’re justyou, and the team knows that. They love you, the same way the fans do. No one blames you for doing your job.”
Kardok’s eyes were dark holes as he stared at me…almost hungrily. As if I could offer him something. “They think I need to learn control. Learn to be civilized. Like you.”
I winced, knowing he was referencing how different our backgrounds were. “Yes, well, I’m learning to be more likeyouright now, correct? Throwing myself headlong at targets.” I squeezed his hand and offered him a smile. “What is ityouwant, Kardok?”
“I want the team?—”
“No, I mean for yourself.You. What doyouwant?”
He didn’t answer for a long moment, his dark gazesearching my face. Finally, he said quietly, “I want to not be the reason shit goes wrong.”
My heart clenched. “That’s not the same as being the reason shit goes right.”
I loved his little wry smile when he responded to me doing something wicked like cursing.
“Kardok, what do you want?” I whispered up at him, too close. “Right here, right now? What would make you happy?”
His tongue flicked against his tusk, as if considering my question, and the sight sent a wave of arousal through me, remembering the feel of his tongue on my skin.
But that wave did nothing to match the longing I felt when he murmured, “You, Princess,” and bent to capture my lips with his.
Kardok
I thinkKorrad was the only other soul I told some of those secrets to, before Lila. It’s not like the beer was affecting me, either; I nursed the second glass for the next hour.
But yeah, I felt like I was spilling my guts—my heart—to her, and I couldn’t seem to help myself. She’d ask me about my mother, and off I’d go, telling her about grilledharveet, or spit-roastedmellak, or the way to gett’kaarberries crispy. Lila could say one thing about my family,and I’d end up bragging for fifteen minutes about how I’d taught little Jay to skate when he was two, and now he was the captain of his peewee hockey team.
And when Lila asked me what I wanted out of life—reallywanted…well, I couldn’t seem to distract her.
The kisses helped, of course, and before long, she was sitting sideways in the booth, both legs across my lap so I could reach her better. In between the kisses, we would drink, laugh, and I would rub her calves… And she wouldn’t let me be distracted.
What would make you happy?
I don’t think anyone had ever asked me that, not even Korrad, who had held our family together more often than not. It had taken her asking a few more times before I blurted out something I realized was the truth:
“To be useful.”
And the smile she’d given me? It had been brilliant.
MyKteerpreened as if I’d been given a reward, and her kisses had made it taste twice as sweet.To be useful.
Soon she had me talking about my attempts at coaching the youth league, and how much good the gala was going to do, and I confessed I’d be willing to fall on my ass again and again in public, if it meant getting those kids and kitlings the money they’d needed.
She’d surged up, one palm against my cheek, and claimed my lips with hers. “You won’t fall, Kardok. I won’t let you.”
I grinned crookedly and scraped one of my tusks along her jaw, making both of us shiver. “You can’t promisethat, Princess. It’s my job to go all in, out of control. Full commit, remember. That means I’m going to end up on my ass a time or two.”
“You won’t,” she said too seriously to be completely sober. “I’ll catch you.”
Well that was adorable and sweet and completely preposterous, so I kissed her again.
Soon, we were both wrapped in the sweet scent of her arousal, and my cock was so hard it was aching. MyKteerwasn’t satisfied with the kissing, and I was going nuts, imagining what her pussy would taste like. The scent itself was the most delicious thing I could imagine, what would she taste like?
“You two want anything else?”
