Page 45 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope
Eluheed had to be her priority, and if the submarine could only take the two of them, so be it. It would break her heart to leave the others behind, but life was full of compromises, and no one ever got everything they wanted.
Not even Navuh.
The sudden sputtering of the air conditioning as the power went out again proved that the master of this island didn't have everything under control.
When the power returned and with it the cool air, Tamira thought of Areana's lie and the ache that had dulled from a knife wound to a bruise and stayed there, a reminder that love and disappointment often came wrapped together.
Would that be how her sisters felt when they realized she'd escaped with Eluheed and left them behind?
Tamira slid from the bed without waking him and crossed to the balcony doors, drawing the curtain just wide enough to look out at the indoor garden. The artificial lighting had been programmed to follow the cycle of the sun, but since it was still nighttime, the lighting was subdued, mimicking what the moon was doing aboveground.
Behind her, the sheets rustled. "Tamira," Eluheed said in a sleep-rough voice that made heat lick low in her belly, and thenhe reached for her blindly, eyes still closed, hand finding air where her hip should have been.
"I'm here." She walked back to the bed, amused by the very apparent immediacy of his need. She slid under the sheet and lay on her side facing him.
He blinked, focusing his blurry eyes on her, and smiled in that quiet, devastatingly handsome way that seemed designed to make her melt.
"I was afraid you left." He kissed her forehead in the precise spot he always did.
"Where would I go?"
"Breakfast?"
She chuckled. "It's still night."
"Then why are we awake?" He pulled her closer to him.
"I can't sleep," she admitted. "I want to speak to Areana today, and I need to devise a strategy."
She wasn't ready to tell him what she'd decided only moments ago. It was a difficult decision, and it hadn't settled in her heart yet. She might still change her mind about leaving her sisters behind.
"Did you come up with any ideas?"
Tamira twisted a curl around her finger and studied its give. "I can employ two tactics," she whispered next to his ear. "One is to pretend that I'm still fearful and ask about security measures and alarms and whether I could find sanctuary in her quarters in the case of an attack. I can then flat-out ask her if there are alarms anywhere. Even if she deflects and says that thereare none, I will know by her body language if she's hiding something.
Eluheed canted his head. "Are you sure you know Lady Areana that well? Living with Navuh and navigating his moods and his bouts of madness, she must have become an exceptional actress. She probably lets you see what she wants you to see."
She regarded him with somber eyes. "Is that what you do?"
"Not with you, but with others, I have no choice. My survival depends on it."
For a long moment, she just looked into his eyes. "I bet you couldn't hide anything from me even if you tried. I wouldn't know what you're hiding, but I would know that you're doing so."
He nodded. "That's because you see me so clearly."
"I see her just as well," Tamira said with more confidence than she commanded.
Eluheed was right about Areana having to become exceptional at manipulating Navuh, and since he was probably the most difficult person on Earth to manipulate, Areana could do that to anyone.
He reached up and touched the curl she had been playing with, winding it around his finger, loosening it, and winding it again. "Do you want me hovering nearby when you talk with her? I can be your silent encourager."
"I appreciate the offer, but no. She might not open up to me when others are present. But I can tell you one thing. Tonight, I want you to be exactly where you are now."
"Where else would I be?" The words arced between them like an electrical current.
He drew her in, rolled her beneath him, and kissed her slow and deep. His weight was welcome, the length of him settling between her thighs with a thrilling familiarity. She loved that he did not rush, even when her body offered him a dozen reasons to. He moved his mouth slowly down her throat, over the curve of her breasts, and then lower, spreading her with patient hands, kissing her with a focus that made her thoughts unravel.
There was no point in arguing that she was ready, that he didn't need to devote so much care and attention to her pleasure, or that not every encounter needed to be a five-course meal, and that sometimes a quick snack was all that was needed.
