Page 45 of Wild Bond

I guessed that was true; he wouldn’t be very good at his job if evenI could slip past him. While I liked to think I was skilled at being sneaky, this was Kyan Rakim we were talking about. I’d have to be a ghost to get past him.

“So,” he repeated, returning to the topic at hand. “Why are you looking for this friend?”

I bit my lip. “She’s someone I knew before . . . before I was arrested. I want to know if she’s okay. I’ve been looking in some of our old spots, where we used to find marks,” I didn’t meet his eye as I said that part, “but so far I’ve had no luck.”

His gaze assessed my face, and I knew he could see the worry there I wasn’t able to hide. “What’s her name?”

I sighed. “Lessa. She’s . . . well, I never really knew how old she was, but she would be about nine or ten now.”

“And is this the same friend you were helping the night you stole the sword?”

Curse the Nine!Why did he have to be so perceptive?

I stared at him but stayed silent, refusing to link her to the crime in any way. The last thing I wanted was for her to be arrested for something I had more or less already served the sentence for. Though, admittedly, I wasn’t so sure Rake would arrest her now, even if he knew. I was starting to think I wasn’t the only one full of contradictions.

“Very well,” he said when I didn’t reply. “What does she look like?”

I began to describe her, then halted. “Wait, why would you ask that?”

A hint of humor lit his eyes. “So I can help you find her.”

“What?” I breathed in surprise. “You’d do that?”

The hard lines of his face softened, and he reached out to push a strand of hair behind my ear, the hood of my cloak having fallen down at some point. “I think it might surprise you what I’d be willing to do for you,” he replied.

Something warm fluttered in my chest at his assertion.

“I’ll get her description out to my contacts in the morning.”

I saw that familiar heat in his eyes, but I knew nothing but heartbreak lay down that road.

Pulling away from him, I turned and began walking briskly away, thanking the Gray Gods that I was headed in the right direction. I prayed he wouldn’t follow me, but knew my luck wasn’t that good.

In seconds, he matched my stride.

“Why is it that if we’re not training, you always seem to be running away from me?” he asked, his conversational tone back once more.

“I am not,” I lied, not willing to admit my cowardice; a cowardice that only seemed to materialize when I was around him.

“Liar,” he said, his tone amused rather than accusing.

“I am not—”

“And why is that, do you think?” he continued, speaking over my denial. “Could it be because I make you nervous?”

“You don’t make me—”

“Or is it because you’re intimidated by me?”

“Iamintimidated by you,” I began as we turned down an alleyway heading towards the upper city, “but that’s not why—”

Suddenly, I was spun to face him again, my back to the ally wall. His eyes blazed down into mine.

“Or,” he breathed, his face inches from mine, “is it because you can’t seem to admit to the attraction between us?” He was close enough that I caught a hint of that intoxicating scent again. “And for some inexplicable reason, you are fighting what you feel, and denying us both what we want.”

I swallowed hard. “And what is that?” My voice didn’t sound like my own, it was too breathy.

He didn’t say anything, he just lowered his mouth and kissed me. It started out slow, our lips lightly touching and exploring one another’s. But then he nipped my bottom lip. I whimpered in response, and the kiss devolved into something needy, hot, and urgent. Before I knew it, his body was pressing hard into mine, the heat between us growing and becoming nothing but tongues and teeth and sheer need.

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