Eona - Alison Goodman [159]
“That will not happen.” My protest sounded too small against the howling storm outside. “He loves me.”
“He has asked you to go against your spirit. Is that the act of a lover?”
I pulled away from his hold. “What do you know about love?”
His eyes flickered. “I know that love is about power, too. Who gives, who takes. Who is willing to risk showing their true self.”
The intensity of his expression sent heat crashing through my body.
He bent his head, running his thumb across the rope-cut around his wrist. “You have forced your way into my Hua, Eona. Changed me. First, by your power—then, just by who you are.” He raised his head and there was no guard upon his expression. The raw need caught my breath. “You have seen me at my worst and at my weakest. Let me show you my best. Help me save this boat and everyone on board like a true Dragoneye.”
I gaped at him, unable to force my mind past the avowal of love. For that was what it was, wasn’t it? Yet Lord Ido did not love anything except power.
“What are you saying?” I finally managed.
The intensity gave way to a smile that held his wry humor. “I was wondering if you would help me save our lives. The rest relies upon us surviving.”
Had he really changed? And what did he mean by the rest?
“Eona?”
His urgent voice brought me back to the priority in front of us: survival. “All right.”
Ido pushed himself back against the other end of the bunk, into the corner made by the three-sided enclosure, and braced himself. “I’ll go into the energy world. As soon as I am with my dragon, compel me.”
He was wasting no time. Each breath he took was smoother, deeper, until I felt the thrill of his communion with the Rat Dragon and saw the burst of silver across his eyes. The joy on his face sharpened my ever-present yearning for my own dragon. On a breath, I pushed past that deep ache and concentrated on the rhythm of my heart, reaching out with my Hua for the pulse of Ido’s life-force. There was a moment of resistance and then his heartbeat slid under mine, the fusion so fast it made me gasp. This was the level of my control that he had already conquered; I could feel the history of it within his Hua, like a soft whispered defiance.
“We are ready,” he said.
I found the desire within myself—too easily—and sought the route that would take me into the heart of his hungering. We both cried out as my compulsion locked in and roared across his energy, subjugating its fire with my own.
But how could I pass him the power? Instinct told me that the only way was physical touch. I hesitated, knowing the man’s strength, then crawled across the bunk. His hands were flat against the wooden walls, his head craned back into the corner as he resisted the impulse to fight my control. I edged alongside him and reached to press my hands against his chest, but the boat plunged, jolting me backward. My reflexes caught the edge of the bunk wall in a wild grip, stopping my fall.
“Eona!” he rasped. “Hurry.”
I had to anchor myself long enough to pass the power. The straining muscles across his bare chest and shoulders held both menace and a sensuality that pulled me closer. I straddled his legs, knowing his body was under my control, but also knowing that at any moment it could change. With a deep breath, I pressed my palms against his chest, the contact forcing a low grunt from him. But there was no shift of energy.
“Take it,” I said.
“Can’t.” He forced his head down, the silver in his eyes threading thin enough for the amber to show through. “You have to give it.”
“How?”
The answer thundered in my blood and the race of his heart under my hands.
The power was built on sensual desire. I had to give him my desire.
The peril of it was like another pulse pounding in my body. My desire for Ido was not the same as my desire for Kygo. With Ido, it felt dangerous and double-edged; one side honed by hate, the other a jagged edge of need, not love.
But we had to save the boat.
With a prayer to Kinra, I released my dark attraction to the man. It leapt through me, pushing me against