“Mm, couldn’t tell,” I teased again, remembering the way he’d made his point last week.
At that, Kieran grabbed a fistful of my hair at the nape of my neck and tugged down, hard enough so that my head was tipped back, my throat exposed to his eager mouth. I gasped at the pain for the briefest of moments, and then felt myself melt against him as it faded into a warm, tantalizing ache.
“You sure about that, Little Conduit?”
That was one of his favorite questions as of late. I had no coherent thoughts in this position, all I could really do was whimper as he bit down—just once, and gently, before continuing his explanation.
“I signed up for that guard shift in hopes that I’d see you again.”
“Lucky you,” I whispered.
“Lucky me,” he whispered back, his voice a blend of rasp and gravel. My eyelids began to flutter at the sound alone, and then he bit down again.Hard.
“Fuck me,” I hissed.
“I’m about to,” he growled back.
It was then, Fates bedamned,that we both heard a sharp knock at his door.
“I swear to the fucking Source, if that is either Hans or Jeremiah, I am going to—” I started.
“Shit,” Kieran interrupted, glancing at the clock. “Oh, I am so screwed.”
It was both HansandJeremiah, looking gravely concerned at the fact that Kieran hadn’t shown up to an important strategy meeting this morning. All it had taken was one look at me, standing off to the side with tousled hair, disheveled clothes, and a furious blush, for the two men to burst out laughing.
“My gods,” Hans said, jaw practically on the floor. “There’s a first time for everything, ain’t there, Jer?”
“Don’t start,” Kieran warned.
“Ooof, you got him good, Ark,” Jeremiah noted, tilting his head to get a look at the bruise that was blooming on one side of his neck.
I covered my face with my hands, mildly mortified.
“Oh, don’t be shy, Arken,” Hans laughed. “It’s not like we didn’t see it coming. Kier gets ’em all eventually.”
“Hans,”Kieran snapped.
His lieutenant winced slightly, before straightening. The other, more level-headed officer stepped in, offering an apologetic glance in my direction.
“We covered for you at the meeting, said that you’d sent a sprite this morning suggesting you weren’t feeling well, Captain. Commander Ka would like to see you as soon as you’re… uhh, recovered,” Jeremiah explained.
“You uhh, might want to recover quick, by the way,” Hans added. “There are some…thingsyou need to know.”
Kieran’s lieutenants knew that I wouldn’t pry, that I respected the secrecy in their line of work, but they still didn’t quite know how to deal with my presence when it came to discussing confidential subjects.
“Go,” I told him. “Leave a key or something, I’ll lock up before I head home.”
“You could always stay here,” Kieran offered gently. The two men behind him exchanged a look, but tried to be subtle about it.
“I have a lecture,” I replied apologetically. “But here, let me just clean up real quick—”
“No, don’t rush,” Kieran said, pulling his ring of keys from his pocket and deftly removing the one to the front door of his townhouse. I recognized the old-fashioned looking handle, oddly ornate compared to what I assumed were other keys related to work.
“I’ll come pick this up from you tonight, okay?”
“Alright,” I replied, not meeting his eyes. I was feeling more tender than I cared to admit as I mentally braced myself for his absence. Truthfully, I would have much preferred to spend another day or three—or another nine—in bed with him, but I was a selfish, greedy creature.
Kieran paused for a moment, studying my face, before he turned around and slammed the door on his lieutenants’ faces without warning.