Page 76 of Clash of Storms
Malin carefully replaced her hand in his palm, trembling a little. She didn't dare hope. Sirius's fingers curled over hers, and for a second they both stared down at their linked fingers. His hand was so large, the skin golden and tanned. Warmth leached through his skin, and suddenly the image of him kneeling on the cliff naked painted itself in bold strokes across her mind's eye. All that naked skin. All that heat.
Oh, Goddess.
It must have translated itself across her face, because his hold grew tighter as if he knew she was about to flee. Sirius brought his other hand up, to envelope hers.
"You have very small hands," he murmured, stroking her fingers with an almost distracted interest.
"It's not my fault you're an enormous, overbreddreki."
Hot lashed eyes looked up. Again she felt that breathless sensation, as if she were falling into those cerulean depths.
Drowning in an ocean of blue.
"Iam perfectly in proportion," he told her arrogantly. "But you already know that, don't you, Malin?"
He seemed to take such explicit pleasure in using her name.
She didn't think she'd ever hear it on another tongue without thinking of him.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Sirius laughed. "Have you ever tried to shift shape?"
"Of course I have. Do you think I wouldn'twantto fly if I could?"
His thumb stroked the back of her hand as if to soothe her. "You can light a fire with your magic. And your father isdreki. Your bloodlines should be strong enough. It's only with the third generation down the odds become more difficult, except for the occasional throwback."
"There's nothing there. I've tried."
"To shift shape is often instinctive," he told her, "but there are some who need coaxing. My brother, Andri, was unable to fly long past the time he should have. My father despised him for it, and so we worked together to rouse thedreki. Andri was afraid of father's wrath and disappointment. The inability stemmed not from any physical or magical issue, but from the fears that plagued him. Would you trust me?"
"What are you going to do?"
"We need to link."
Instinctively she slammed her psychic shields into place.
Sirius tugged her closer, growling a little under his breath. "I assume that means no. I won't hurt you."
To open oneself to another meant absolute vulnerability.
"Malin." He slid a single finger beneath her chin and tilted it upward.
"This is difficult for me." Malin closed her eyes, her shoulders hunched and tears threatening to spill. It wouldn't work. She'd tried, damn him.
"I know. Andri was the same." He sounded incredibly patient. "Trust me. Did I let you fall today? Would I ever let you fall?"
It took everything she had to force herself to lower her psychic shields. She expected him to force the link through, but he merely waited.
A solid, silent presence in front of her.
"Reach for me," he whispered.
And it was that alone which convinced her to try.
Malin extended her psychic senses toward him, brushing against his mind.Hot, raw velvet beneath her senses. She flinched, but then pushed forward again, intrigued by the rough-soft "taste" of him.
The first touch of his mind against hers stole her breath.
