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“I thought you were in New York, trying to get information on Torrin?”
As she sucked in a breath to respond, her chest pressed flush against Kaien’s. It reminded Blair that she was currently clinging to his body, his hands still locked underneath her thighs while her legs were cinched around his core.
Blair squirmed suddenly in his grasp, sucking in a breath as he dutifully released his grip. Her legs slowly slid down his rock-hard body to find her feet underneath her. Straightening her shirt, Blair cleared her throat with a tense cough.
“I was,” she admitted, “but I got shot by Torrin. Kaien came for me when you couldn’t.”
“I went into recoil trying to heal Blair’s wound.”
A bitter apology from the man beside her. Finally, Blair realized what she’d cost him—his chance to see to his sister’s safety while she’d been hurt and lain vulnerable half a continent away from him.
The woman before Blair nodded, her shrewd gaze weighing the truth of their words momentarily. “It seems you’re both fine now.”
Blair started, confused, and turned to Kaien. “You have your abilities back?”
“They returned while we were—” he hesitated, wincing before he gazed down at her. “Yes, they’ve returned.”
Awkward.
“So, you’ve been holed up in your cabin, cozying up to each other?” Amusement sparkled in Nina’s eyes.
Amusement was the last thing Blair felt in this moment. Floundering, she opened her mouth to reply, but only a croak escaped.
“That’s not—we’re not—” Once again, words failed Kaien, and he sucked in a steadying breath to reclaim a semblance of calm. “The mating bond sparked between us.”
One blink. Two. Nina’s eyes vacillated between them, a blank look washing over her features at the unexpected honesty. “Took you long enough.”
Blair recoiled, aghast at her friend’s flippancy. “We aren’t … we won’t be mating.”
“No?” Nina’s eyebrows shot up incredulously. “Well, then, enjoy your time together.”
“No, Nina, this isn’t … we’re not …”
Kaien’s babble was drowned out his sister’s good-natured chuckle. “Sure, sure. Of course not.”
Without another word, Nina teleported out with a barely perceptible prickling of electricity. The two of them were left in stunned silence as they stared at the now empty space across the room.
Neither spoke for half a beat after she disappeared. And then, as if lightning had struck, they turned on each other, their faces a mirror of begrudging anticipation and compulsion.
Kaien beat her to the punch. “We need to go talk to her.”
A truer phase could not have been spoken.
Manifesting a T-shirt onto his torso, Kaien held out his palm as she adjusted the flannel shirt that’d become lopsided after their intimate moment.
As she looked at him, a pang of unease spread icy fingers through her core. The unfamiliar emotion knitted her brows together as she surveyed the man before her, trying to make sense of the basis for it.
And then the heart of the issue stepped from the shadows into the light: she didn’t want to leave the cabin. She didn’t want to leave Kaien.
It was the first time she could recallwantingto remain in one place. Steeling herself against the wayward thoughts, she slid her fingers into his in preparation for the teleport. His steady pulse, warm and soothing against her skin, was a subtle reminder of what they’d shared in the past few days.
The intimacy. The affection. Even the antagonism.
Before she had a chance to survey her surroundings one last time, her vision blurred, her center of balance compromising for a half second before the mugginess of Missouri summer assailed her senses.
Blaede clan territory.
Raeth clans, in large part, tended to dwell in tightly knit communities. Their neural network, a psychic bonding between them and their sovereign, could span the globe, but centralizing their presence had innumerable benefits. Protection and the proximity to their clansmen ensured the connections couldn’t be broken.
