Page 60 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
She sat on his lap, her arms winding around his neck. "Thank you," she murmured against his ear, then captured his mouth in a kiss that was anything but chaste.
He responded immediately, one hand tangling in her hair while the other pressed against the small of her back, pulling her closer. When they parted, his eyes held that possessive gleam she knew so well.
"If I'd known this would be your reaction, I'd have given you access to the basement sooner," he said, voice rough.
She laughed, pressing another kiss to the corner of his mouth. "You're being incredibly generous. I know this isn't easy for you."
"What isn't easy?"
"Allowing someone free rein of your house."
He chuckled softly. "That's not at all what I'm allowing. I'm allowing limited free access to my basement."
"I know you, Navuh. Even that required sacrifice."
His hand tightened possessively on her waist. "I'm simply recognizing that frustrated people make mistakes. Yourladies need their outlets, and this is the best I can do for them under the circumstances."
"Still." She traced her fingers along his jaw, feeling the slight roughness of the beginning of stubble. "It means a lot to them. Tamira has been struggling. She tries to hide it, but I can see how it's affecting her."
"She's grown attached to the human." It wasn't a question.
"Very attached," Areana confirmed. "As has Tula with Tony."
"Hmm." Navuh's expression grew thoughtful. "They do realize these are temporary arrangements. Humans age and die. In fifty years, sixty at most, they'll be grieving."
"I know, and I'm surprised at them both. But the heart is not an organ that listens to logic."
"No," he agreed, his fingers tracing patterns on her silk-covered back. "It isn't."
"We should eat before the soup gets cold," she said after a moment, though she made no move to return to her seat.
"Should we?" His hand slid higher up her back, fingers finding the zipper of her dress. "I can think of better uses for our time."
"Later," she promised, catching his hand before he could pull the zipper down. "The servants won't leave us alone until we finish dinner."
"They'll do whatever I order them to do." He sounded menacing, but it only sent a thrill of excitement through her.
"I'm hungry, my darling. Working all day depleted my energy."
He sighed dramatically but released her. "We can't have that. I'll feed you first and then ravish you."
Laughing, she returned to her seat. "I like the sound of that." She lifted her spoon. "So, how are you going to make it so the couples have privacy in the basement? What about the surveillance cameras?"
He smiled. "I had them all moved to an area of the basement that requires extra security. Furniture and boxes with household items don't need surveillance cameras. As for sound, there is no reason to have it on."
He looked quite smug as he described his arrangements, and she had to concede that he had gone to great lengths to accommodate her wishes. The cameras had probably been moved to the construction site, but she didn't want to ponder what was there that needed the extra security.
"Thank you, my love. You've been very thorough."
He lifted one perfectly shaped dark brow. "Aren't I always?"
She paused with her spoon halfway to her mouth. "I wouldn't know. You usually don't involve me in your decisions."
He nodded. "That is true. But it's for the better. You are too good and too delicate to be involved in such matters."
Areana swallowed the spoonful of soup to hide her reaction.
He was probably right. If she knew all the things he was doing, she would have a much harder time being with him, and that would just make them both suffer. She couldn't change him, but she could smooth out the edges and perhaps prevent him from doing even worse things, simply because he knew he needed to retain some semblance of morality to be worthy of her.
