"You are going to go tomorrow." Kael spoke the words quietly as they walked down the silent pathway towards his cabin. Even though he made it sound like a question, he knew the answer already. Cassian Redwood seemed quite sure that she would come. So, had they reached an understanding?
Emira blinked at the sudden sound. Because the man rarely initiated conversation except when giving orders, Emira was so surprised that she didn’t even listen to his words. She simply stared at the man’s back, wondering if she had indeed heard him. What did he say?
When he continued to walk at his usual unhurried pace as she stopped in confusion, she even began to wonder if she had imagined his voice.
After a moment of hesitation, she hurried after him, continuing to walk one step behind, her eyes downcast as she shook her head for imagining things. What was wrong with her?
"Not saying anything? That means you agree that you will go tomorrow."
This time, Emira was sure she had not imagined it. But when she looked at his mouth, it seemed not to be moving. She stared intently at him. If he spoke again, she will definitely know this time.
Then she blinked. His lips looked quite soft... and then she remembered that they were soft, and quite skilled, because she had felt those skills before whenever they were ’together’. That random thought made her blush and she gulped. Why was she thinking of that now?
Even as her mind jumped from one thought to another, Prince Kael seemed to lose patience. Before she could react to his sudden movement, her back hit the trunk of a large tree, his face suddenly close enough for her to feel his breath.
"You are even blushing at the thought of meeting him?" he asked in a low voice.
Emira blinked. Nope, his lips were definitely moving this time. Which meant he had probably asked the previous question too. What had he said again?
As she frowned trying to think what it was he wanted to say, his expression grew darker by the second. Eventually, she gave up trying to recall his words and asked softly, "Meeting who?"
Prince Kael blinked. She blinked back. Why was he looking at her like that?
"You didn’t hear what I asked?" he asked slowly, each word deliberate. Emira gulped again. Would he leave her hanging upside down from this very tree if she confessed she hadn’t been listening? He was capable of anything when he looked like that.
Well, better to confess. She closed her eyes, drew a breath, and hurriedly blurted out,"I wanted to listen, I really did, but I didn’t know you were going to start talking all of a sudden. So I missed what you said, and then I got distracted by your lips and how they feel on me."
Silence followed. The words hung between them as silence reigned. She peeked up at him through her lashes. Was he gone? Why was there silence suddenly?
The moment her eyes opened, his face seemed to have come closer still and before she could move back, his lips took hers in a quick kiss.
Her eyes widened, her breath catching as his lips brushed hers, in a brief whisper of contact that sent her thoughts scattering like leaves in the wind.
Before she could even gasp, he drew back slightly, studying her reaction. She could imagine what it was he was seeing. Her eyes wide, unblinking and her lips parted in shock.
"Close your eyes," he murmured.
The quiet command slipped into her ears before she had time to think. And because it was him and because disobeying Kael Stormhold never ended well, she obeyed without thought.
The second kiss came without warning, firmer this time, a heartbeat longer and almost sweeter... As if he did not mean to kiss her... Emira frowned. Prince Kael was indeed a good kisser but this was something different to the kiss. It was almost playful...which was unlike him again because he was always about restraint and kissing her only to arouse her...
And then, just as suddenly as he had kissed her, he moved back, leaving her more confused than ever. She blinked up at him again as his hand cupped her face and his thumb traced her lower lip," Next time don’t be distracted. Just ask if you want a kiss."
Emira blinked at the words as Prince Kael stepped back and walked away. She frowned.
What did he mean that if she wanted to kiss, she should ask? He was the one who had kissed her out of the blue and he was pretending that she had asked for the....
Her face turned scarlet. She wanted to groan, to hide, to somehow rewind time. "I was distracted by your lips..."
Oh, Moon Goddess save me. She’d actually said that. Out loud. To him. And he took it to mean that she wanted to kiss him...
She bit her lip, torn between glaring at his back and burying her face in her hands as she raced after him, "I didn’t..."
Kael glanced over his shoulder, one brow raised. "Didn’t what?"
Emira’s cheeks burned hotter. "Nothing!"
He said nothing more, but she could have sworn that he was somehow smirking... And then as she walked behind him, she could not help but think what it was he had asked her. Who was he talking about?
It was only as she reached almost reached him, she realized he had been talking about her going to meet Cassian Redwood... She frowned. If she was to go by his reaction, he did not want her to meet Cassian Redwood.
Holy Goddess! She’d probably just dodged a bullet. Because she was definitely going to go and see the man tomorrow. And if she’d said that to Kael, then he really might have blown his top...
Emira shook her head. She didn’t want to go to meet that Alpha... But even as he had spoken, she’d known she would go... after all, she needed to find as much about the past as she could.