Eona - Alison Goodman [148]
“I did it to save you.” If I said it enough times, maybe it would make me feel better.
“I know. When I found out we were surrounded, my first thought was getting to you.” He reached out toward me but stopped, his hand dropping to his side. “You didn’t push Ido away.”
The abrupt accusation broke through my protective shell. “What?”
His jaw tightened. “He was on top of you, and you didn’t push him away.”
I flushed. “I had just killed hundreds of men with power that comes from my Hua. You cannot understand what that feels like—or what it takes from me.”
“But he can.” Kygo looked out across the water. “You and he are bound by power. Are you bound to him by anything else?” His voice was without inflection, as though the answer did not matter.
“What do you mean?” For a dizzying moment I thought he knew about the Hua of All Men. About the black folio.
He turned his head, his face a polite mask. “Do you desire Lord Ido?”
Relief—and uncertainty—made me hesitate a beat too long. “No!”
His look of disbelief was like a punch to my chest.
I stepped closer. “Kygo, you know Ido manipulates whenever he can. It is second nature to him. Please, do not let him come between us.” The pearl glowed within the edge of my vision.
“Every time you are alone with him, it feels like you are moving further from me,” Kygo whispered.
I shook my head in mute denial. He touched my face, the curve of his hand drawing me toward him. I closed my eyes and felt the soft press of his lips against mine. His hand shifted to the nape of my neck, guiding me closer against his mouth. I knew I should pull away—protect him—but I had to prove my certainty. To him. To me. We found the taste of each other at the same time; the sweet kiss forcing a soft sound of pleasure from him that shivered through my whole being. I laid my hands against his chest and felt the quick rhythm of his heart through the tunic.
He pulled me against his body, his hand at the small of my back, holding me against his hips. I shifted, trying to meld even closer to his warmth, his taste, his smell. His breath caught as I jarred his thigh wound. I started to move away, apologize, but he followed and captured my mouth again, his hand sliding around my waist and pulling me back into his embrace. A beat thundered through me, a pulsing, driving rhythm that was in my body—and, I realized, in the base of my skull. The pearl. I gave a shake of my head, trying to stop the pressure. The draw was not strong; I could contain it.
Kygo broke our kiss, the concern in his eyes holding back the desire. He’d misread the shake of my head. I brought my mouth to his again and felt him smile against my lips. The gentle press of his tongue parted my answering smile. His hand shifted from my nape to trace the curve of my throat and collarbone with exquisite slowness, his gentle touch leaving a path of pleasure across my skin.
He rested his forehead against my own, the rasp of his breaths echoing mine. His face was so close it was a blur, but I could still see the glow of the pearl between us. I slid my hand into the loosened cross-tie of his tunic, my fingers trailing across the flat muscle of his chest, toward the glowing prize. Toward the Hua of All Men. As my fingertips brushed the edge of the scar of stitches, he tilted his head back, eyes closed, the strong curve of his throat exposed. I could rip the pearl out now—
The pearl! A cold wash of understanding broke through the thrumming in my head. I snatched my hand back. With all my strength, I pushed Kygo away.
He staggered back. ”What are you doing?”
I groped for a way to stop the confusion in his eyes. A reason that was not the pearl. “It’s the dragons.”
His confusion snapped into something more savage. “Is it? Or is it Ido?”
A sound from farther up the track wrenched us both around: Yuso and Ryko, their guilty withdrawal making it obvious they had witnessed more than the last few moments. I turned and ran down the track toward the village, the muffled thud of my footsteps sending wisps of ash into the heavy air.
In the last of the