Page 73 of The Silent
“You didn’t feel like telling me?” He circled her, enjoying the sight of her in workout leggings. Kyra rarely wore pants, much less anything figure-hugging.
“After the second time you interrupted me, I thought a demonstration would be moreeffective.”
He leapt on her without warning, one arm going around her waist and another reaching for her right wrist, even as he felt the dagger point pressed to his neck. She held the knife in her left hand, and the point was at hisartery.
He hissed but didn’t let go. Her bottom was pressed against his groin, and it felt too good. He pulled her closer and ignored the bite of the blade againsthisskin.
“Leo.” She pulled the knife away. “What are youdoing?”
Mortal peril avoided, he bent down and pressed a kiss to her neck. “How is it possible for you to be even more attractive than you were an hour ago?” He continued kissing along her neck. Her collar. He tasted the pulse pounding inherneck.
“You scribes find the strangest thingsattractive.”
“Any man who doesn’t see the allure of a lethal woman is a fool.” He nipped the soft skin at her neck. “I am notafool.”
He heard the daggers drop to the forest floor. She reached one arm up and hooked it around his neck. With the right force and angle, she might be able to flip him over her shoulder withthathold.
He groaned at thethought.
Instead of flipping him, she pressed her bottom back into his hips, making his erection leapwithjoy.
Sadly, the forest make-out session was nottolast.
“There’s someone coming,” Kyrawhispered.
He sighed and pulled away. Kyra was too private to endure many public displays of affection, much less public displays of ardentgroping.
“Later,” he said, pressing one last kiss toherneck.
“After this morning, I will never be able to hear that word again withoutblushing.”
Was that a self-satisfied chuckle on his part? Yes. Yes,itwas.
* * *
They ate together,Sura, Niran, Alyah, Kyra, and Leo. Niran’s other two men were ghosts, patrolling the hotel in utter silence. Leo wondered if the owners even knew they had seven guests insteadoffive.
“Your men,” Leo asked Niran, “have theyeaten?”
“They have.” Niran was scooping chickenpanangover a bowl of rice. “They take very simplemeals.”
Kyra said, “There is more than enough here to sharewiththem.”
Niran lifted his gaze, and his usually steely expression softened. “Like many of my men, they choose to focus on discipline in all things, and they believe food that appeals to the senses could weaken theirresolve.”
“So they are monks as well as warriors?”Alyahsaid.
“In a sense,” Sura said. “Though both of them have taken theSak Yant, they have also sacrificed inner peace for a life of protection for those weaker than themselves. If their violence is confined to the protection of others, they do not feel they have violated the precepts ofSakYant.”
“Do you feel the same way?” Kyra asked Niran. “Is violence in the protection of others acceptableviolence?”
“I have to believe it,” Niran said. “Who else will protect my sisters in a world that hates theirexistence?”
“But you also eat delicious food,” Kyra said with a smile. “Not very monk-likeofyou.”
Niran’s expression turned to something very far from monk-like. “My resolve is tested by far more tempting thingsthanfood.”
Leo would have to be blind to miss the way Niran looked at Kyra. The whole table was aware of the Grigori’s double meaning. Kyra looked down at her plate. Alyah watched with amused curiosity. Sura wore a thoughtfulfrown.
