Chapter 160

The fireplace in her special pleasuring chambers was unlit on her own request, but as Kit stood pacing, waiting for Eli to arrive, she thought perhaps she should’ve had a fire to take a bit of the chill out of the room. Wearing a robe over her thin chemise wasn’t quite warm enough with the autumn evening air slipping through the stone castle walls. Of course, she realized the room would heat up in a different way as soon as her Representative made his appearance, and she had originally thought that would be enough. Now, she ran her hands across her arms in an effort to keep from shivering as she waited.

He wasn’t late. In fact, she’d never known him to be late to anything in all of his years. But she’d come from her regular chambers a bit early because she wanted to be alone to think, and her ladies-in-waiting wouldn’t stop chattering about the joust. While much of the discussion was about how brave certain contestants had been, and how frightening it had been when accidents had occurred, especially Cassius’s unseating, the conversation had then turned to what ramifications might befall Eli for winning.

The thought had entered Kit’s mind as well, but she hoped her mother would be reasonable. It was just a game, after all, and it wasn’t as if Eli hadn’t already been with Kit before he won an evening with her. If Rona thought that Eli’s victory would make her look weak in the eyes of the citizenry somehow, that seemed ridiculous. Very few people knew how much she loathed the man. But then, it wouldn’t be the first time Rona’s thoughts or actions had gone stray of the reality Kit was able to grasp.

A knock on the antechamber door let her know she’d have to brush those thoughts aside, at least for the time being. She hoped she had the opportunity to speak to Eli about her concerns at some point, but not right now. And... she had a feeling he would make light of the situation, as he usually did whenever he didn’t want Kit to concern herself over a matter that was out of her control. But if she was to make any effort whatsoever in stopping Rona, he’d have to be more forthcoming with the truth and allow Kit to make her own decisions based on all of the information, rather than keeping her sheltered from the truth of the situation in an attempt to protect her. The time for ignorance as a safety net, if there ever really had been one, was long past.

The door to the bedroom chamber was open, so Kit called for him to come in, and a second later he was standing in the doorway, both hands resting on the doorjamb, taking her in. She could tell by the expression on his face that there would be no discussion, not now anyway, not about anything of substance.

The corner of one side of Eli’s mouth pulled up in a crooked grin. “You look beautiful.”

“I’m wearing a robe,” she said, pulling out the edges of the garment but feeling the heat rising in her cheeks at the compliment.

“You always look beautiful.”

Kit took a step in his direction, and he flew through the door, his hands landing on her waist as he pulled her tight to his chest. She grasped his face with both hands and his lips came crashing down to meet hers. When tiptoes wouldn’t quite let her envelop him the way she wanted, he lifted her off of the ground, and she slid her arms around his shoulders, holding herself in place.

He tasted of cinnamon, and his lips were warm and full, devouring hers with an urgency she hadn’t felt from him even their first time together, in the carriage ride back from the labyrinth maze a few weeks earlier. What it was that had him so impassioned, she couldn’t tell for sure, but she wasn’t about to slow him down to ask, not when the feel of his tongue against hers had her gasping for air and longing for more.

Setting her back on her feet, Eli pulled her along with him with one hand, his lips still attached to hers, as he pushed the door closed behind him and dropped the bar into place. Kit tried not to think about Merek and how he’d died just outside of that door at Eli’s hand when the brute had tried to attack her. The door had been replaced, the blood cleaned up, but the memory was still there.

Eli was doing good work at clearing her mind of anything and everything except for him. Once the door was secured, he had both hands on her again, backing her toward the bed. In the past month, they’d been together a couple of other times, and he never ceased to thrill her, but she could still sense something was different this time. There was an air of desperation about his movements she couldn’t quite place.

With one hand, he tugged at the belt around her robe, slitting it open, and Kit wiggled her shoulders in an attempt to free them. Eli reached up to help, pulling the garment off of her and tossing it aside. He couldn’t seem to take either hand off her for long as they came back to her quickly. His fingers worked their way down her sides, each touch igniting the flesh beneath her chemise as he caressed every portion of her he could touch.

When his lips left hers to trail along her neck, Kit gasped for air, holding onto his shoulder for balance. Her knees felt weak, and her neck began to burn from the heat of his kisses.

She considered asking him if everything was all right, but she couldn’t catch her breath long enough to formulate the question and knew he’d never respond truthfully anyway. Besides, she’d have to be a fool to interrupt him as his left hand came up to cup her breast, dragging the top of her chemise to the side so that he could finger her nipple which instantly hardened under his touch. Kit moaned, leaning into his palm, and brought her hand around to reach for his belt.

Eli paused long enough to rip his jerkin and tunic off, and Kit’s fingers left the uncooperative belt to rest against his chest. No matter how many times she’d seen him without his shirt, she was always captivated by the way his muscles rippled with each movement, how the clearly-defined muscles of his abdomen morphed into a perfect V that disappeared below his waistband. Her fingertips glanced off steel as she raked her hands back and forth until she needed to feel him on her again and wrapped her arms around him, pulling herself in tight against his chest.

Eli chuckled at her in the back of his throat, and she imagined she did seem a little humorous in her desperation, but he didn’t laugh for long. She lifted her head to meet his, and his lips were on hers again as he unhooked his own belt and somehow managed to work his way out of the rest of his clothing while his kisses sent Kit close to the edge of euphoria before they’d even come together.

Dropping her hands, she ran her palms against his firm backside, and he pulled away from her lips slightly in a sensual smile. Kit could never get enough of the feel of him beneath her hands, but she was also anxious to have him inside of her.