Kim Knox - Emergence

And then it was over.

I crushed my eyes shut, not wanting to move, not wanting to acknowledge what we’d done…but it couldn’t stop the warmth, the curl of happiness from wrapping around my heart. And now I was free to say it without fear. “I love you.”

Kaden’s arms tightened around me, pressing me to his chest. “I’m sorry, Jaime. I’m so sorry.”

A brief laugh shook me. “Not the reply I was looking for.”

His half-grin curved against my neck. “No, I suppose not.” He pulled back and cupped my face, fingers teasing back damp strands. Amber eyes held me, warm with affection. “I love you. I have for too long.”

A sigh escaped me and I gave a little wiggle that had Kaden glaring it me. “We are so fucked.”

“Yes, we are.”

He pressed a kiss to my lips, a delicious teasing that made me want to wiggle a lot harder. And that was yet more of our insanity. The threat didn’t feel real, not while I could touch him, kiss him, have the damp heat of his skin against mine and his scent all around me.

I willed myself to pull back, a small, unfelt smile curving my mouth. “We have to make ourselves presentable again.” For a long second, I saw something in his eyes, something that spun impossible thoughts of escape through my mind. I traced a finger over his lips, my gaze fixed on the beauty of his mouth. “I’m only half gryphon. Maybe the change won’t be so obvious.”

“Maybe.” He kissed my fingertip and the sweet gesture slid a blush under my cheeks. “And you’re right. We need to get dressed.”

I was the first to move, easing away and dropping back into my own chair. I grabbed my panties off the carpeted floor. “I’ll need to clean up.” I glanced back at him, watching him buckle his belt. The ripple of smooth muscle in his arm, across his chest and stomach mesmerised me.

“Stop staring, Jaime,” he murmured, shrugging his shirt on. He made the point of staring at my breasts, the hunger in his eyes flushing my skin, and my breath hitched. A smile quirked his mouth. “See? Dangerous.” He fixed his attention on buttoning his shirt, and I let out a breath. “You can clean up at Wormwood.”

“Good. I-we-need it.” I stamped into my boots, fixing the leather around my calves, and pushed my skirt down over my thighs. My palm eased over the creases, the warmth of my skin smoothing the material. The silk top and jacket followed, and I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to make it not look as if I’d just had sex.

My heart squeezed. Not sex. Even Kaden had said it. Made love. With my mate. I hooked the harness back over my arms. The buckle clunked in the silence, followed by Kaden’s harness buckle. The warmth, the pain of that knowledge rioted in me, and for a moment I closed my eyes, wanting to deal with it, accept it. Or try to. Everything was still too raw, new…and practically over.

I glanced at Kaden as a sharp breeze cut through the interior, a gust of air that lessened the heavy scent of great sex. He reengaged the panel and a moment later Amanda’s voice burst from the speakers.

“If you look out of either window you’ll see the historic River Thames -”

“Amanda.” Kaden cut into her sing-song tour-guide speech. “This isn’t necessary.”

“It’s the lady’s first visit to London -”

“Amanda…”

The hard undercurrent to his voice peaked my nipples, and I practiced keeping my face calm, serene even, as a pool of heat liquefied low in my belly.

“As you wish, Kaden. Coming in to land. Five minutes. Please, keep your harnesses secured until the engine cuts.” She paused and finished with a sarcastic little, “Thank you.”

A soft laugh escaped me. “Not very deferential.” I lifted an eyebrow. “To either of us.”

“Amanda normally ferries me and humans. We’re more…lax…in our expectations.”

We dropped now, little more than a hundred metres above the glistening Thames. And damn, it was still too high for my nerves. The car flowed into the stream of layered traffic swarming high over the capital city, passing over Southwark and then London Bridge.

We banked left. My heart lodged in my throat. The glass and steel latticework shell of Wormwood Tower, home to the First Dragon for nearly a hundred years, gleamed in the morning sun. Diamond panes of glass glittered sharply, and I winced, the pain cutting deeper than my eyes. It was real now. Completely real. And I could see no way out. None.

I pulled in tighter and tighter breaths, and my skin flushed. Damn it, I couldn’t breathe…

Kaden’s hand covered mine, warm, dry, steady, and the contact calmed me, eased the panic from my body. I closed my eyes, feeling the car pull harder to the left. Willing myself to open my eyes, I found only the twisting roads of the City of London, the heart of financial London, huddling as close to the First Dragon as it could.

The vibrations of the engine changed, roughened, and the bright sunlight cutting through the car dimmed. We passed diamond lattice frames. With a soft thump, the car landed and the engines died. The silence pressed hard against my ears.

I had to move. There was no getting away from what we’d done. I looked at Kaden’s hand over mine. I wouldn’t want to. My trembling hand gripped the harness buckle and pressed. Yes, Lord Sinon, if he realised, would order my execution. I crushed the swift, terrifying surge of panic, working the strength of my gryphon into keeping me strong. “I don’t regret this, Kaden.”

His soft laughter warmed me, and he squeezed my fingers. “I wanted longer.”

The door groaned and lifted, Kaden sliding his hand away. I missed the comforting contact.

He climbed out first, straightened his jacket and ran a hand over his tie. I followed, my boots echoing dully against the granite floor. The car had landed in an angled bay that looked out through the curve of glass to the city far below. I lifted my chin and tugged at the hem of my jacket.

Time to face the First Dragon.

“This way, Lady Jaime.”

Amanda waved me towards a long, black granite desk behind which sat two pure karkadanns. Their shadows stretched thin and nebulous over the ridged wall behind them. Innocuous, barely a trace of their true selves. Yes, they were already ancient when they pressed themselves onto this reality.

My boots echoed on the pale granite floor, and I willed myself to keep my pace even, too aware that Kaden followed me, his expensive shoes clicking. Sunlight cut across the surface of the long desk and gleamed over the Karkadanns’ white-gold, intricately braided hair, the styles a mirror of the other. Cool, professional perfection, their carved beauty was a perfect foil to any approaching the inner lair of the First Dragon. Plus the fact that they could rip off your face and eat it in a blink of an eye.

My gut went into spasm, and I was glad to stop. I curled my fingers into white-knuckled fists for a brief second. I swallowed, my throat tight. “Jaime Dalton.”

Two pairs of pale blue eyes assessed me and found my recently-fucked appearance lacking. I resisted the need to run my hand over my hair.

“Your summoning papers.” The karkadann’s cool voice shot a shiver over my skin.

I held down a low groan. Though at that moment, my crumpled documents would stop the suspicious wrinkling of their noses. I stank of sex, and their refined senses had started to pull that knowledge from the air. I unfolded gold-covered paper on the granite surface, the heavy leaf crackling. The karkadanns glared at the offending paper. With a sneer, one reached out a pale, delicate hand and slid it towards her.

Her palm smoothed it, the other mythoi watching me with cold, hard eyes. “It’s genuine. If somewhat…maltreated.”

“ Rhodes.” The first woman fixed her gaze on Kaden. “Lord Sinon will see her now.”

“Thank you.” He gave a short nod. His hand briefly touched my elbow, and I held down a jolt.

I moved away from the reception desk on automatic, guided by Kaden around the curve of the silver-rippled walls to the mirror-doored lifts. The doors slid back as we approached, revealing a circular interior, brightly lit and as gleaming as the doors. Kaden squeezed my elbow before he walked me into the lift. All right, I had to stay quiet and calm in there too.

I turned and stared at my image reflected back at me. I held down a wince. The stark light cut down across me, showing my blonde hair in a tangled mess and my face bleached white and makeup-free. The gentle surge of the rising lift made me sway. “I need to tidy up a little.”

“Yes, lady,” he murmured.

The lift stopped and the doors slid open with a soft, mechanical hiss. Diamond shapes of sunlight patterned the black granite floor, and yet another wall of rippled silver stretched ahead of us, following the curve of the tower. I put one foot in front of the other and followed the pattern. The City of London spread out below me, a chaotic jumble of ancient and modern, with the layered streams of cars circling far from the tower. My vertigo hit me, and I sucked in a calming breath. Stupid fear of heights. I winced. No, it wasn’t so much heights as an absolute terror of falling.

I glanced up, squinting at the roof to fight the fear that threatened to have me clinging to the nearby wall. The curve of the steel supports deepened, and the thick ring running at floor level proved we were on the top floor of Wormwood Tower.

The dragon’s lair. My father’s joke. It didn’t help right then.

It was insane. My being here, what I had done by mating with Kaden. My gut cramped, and sweat stuck the silk of my top to my spine…yet still my feet took me forward, towards my meeting with Lord Sinon.