Page 91 of The Seeker
His eyes moved from the thatched roof to Meera. “Your empathy is staggering. Is that part of beingsomasikara?”
“I suppose. Carrying the memory of thousands will do that to you.”
“I’m trying to wrap my mind around it, but I can’t.” Rhys put a hand on her cheek. “How do you bear that burden? How can one person carry a load like that?”
Meera smiled. “Um… magic?”
Rhys’s cheeks dimpled. “Is that your polite way of telling me ‘duh’?”
“Look at you smiling. It’s almost like you have a sense of humor.”
“Imp.”
“I would never say duh to you.” She lay down in the curve of his arm as he stretched it across the mattress and pulled her closer. “I have much more academic ways of telling you you’re missing the obvious.”
“Good to know you maintain academic standards in all things.”
Warmth welled up in her breast. He was wonderful. He became more wonderful every day they spent together. A small, rebellious part of Meera kept trying to push back her growing feelings for him. She didn’twanta mate chosen for her. She didn’t want to be a servant of fate. She didn’t want her love dictated by family or political obligations or the whims of heaven.
But he is exactly what you want.
“Rhys?”
He lay calmly beside her. “Yes?”
“Are you backing off?”
“From you?” His voice was deeper. “A little.”
“Why?”
“You wanted to focus on the mission. You told me that. The last thing I want to do is pressure you. I want to be a help here, not a hindrance.”
And he just became more wonderful. She turned her face up to his. “I do want to focus on the mission. But I am also very good at multitasking.”
He didn’t miss a beat. Before she could blink, Rhys’s mouth was on hers and he’d reached down to cup her bottom and hook her leg over his hip.
Meera’s mouth was invaded so skillfully her body surrendered without protest. She opened to Rhys and felt his tongue delicately trace the edge of her teeth and the tip of her tongue. He tasted of herbs, smoke, and the whiskey he’d shared with Ata after dinner.
Meera clutched his shoulder, her mind overwhelmed by a flood of sensation. His hand was warm and firm on her bottom, the other smoothed over her hip and over the curve of her waist, up her body until he was holding her breast and teasing the sensitive peak with his thumb.
“Your skin is so soft,” he murmured against her lips. “I want to touch you.”
“Yes.” She rolled away and pulled off the thin cotton gown she wore to sleep, leaving her bare to his very appreciative gaze.
“Meera,” he whispered, propping himself up with one arm and playing his fingers lightly over her skin. “I want to kiss you.”
She pulled him down and met his hungry mouth with her own. She luxuriated in the rich taste of his lips and the rasp of hair on his jaw. His chest pressed against her own, and she relished the weight of him, the solid muscle of his body against the softness of her own.
He kissed down her neck. “I want to kisseverywhere.”
Rhys kissed over her collarbone and down the valley between her breasts before he licked slowly up one mound and sucked the sensitive tip between his lips, teasing her nipple with his tongue and his teeth. Meera’s back arched with pleasure, but Rhys took his time, sampling each breast before he continued moving down.
“What—?”
“I told you.” He bit the soft skin under her belly button. “Everywhere.”
She’d taken a bath in the basin, but she still had to ask. “Are you sure?”
