And Seth walks Kitten right through the middle of them. What in the bloody Aeons is Seth thinking?
Rose could pull Shade’s blood out through her pores right now. Manipulate it and separate it from the rest of her body. Pax has a ten-minute window. Killian does not, and every desire in him is split in two – control the situation or tear Rose to pieces.
Rose.
He could pull a few of her threads and incapacitate her, but anything short of knocking her out would only make matters worse, and even then the other Sabers would know. The damage to their trust would be just as bad as if Pax himself were to attack.
Lightning flicks between Lara’s StormSeed fingers. Flames burn under the skin of the FireSeed. Both Teegan’s comrades. Both unsure whether they want to join in the fun or run from it.
I ready myself to tell the world to stop. With this much power in close proximity I might get just long enough to throw Kitten over my shoulder and run.
Remove the problem.
Rose pulls Kitten around to face her, and instantly, Kitten lunges at Rose, a reaction Rose wasn’t anticipating. Kitten jumps, and her legs wrap around the Elite Saber’s hips. Then her arms around her neck.
Rose’s eyes go wide with recognition of something deep – something in Kitten’s blood. It’s a moment of pure fear that I’ve never seen on the woman before.
Then Kitten presses her lips to Rose’s. Hard and hot with passion.
Pax’s eyes glow, but the guy can’t move. I can’t move. Heat flashes over Kitten’s lips and up over her cheeks. Rose’s grip relaxes in shock, but Kitten turns the tables, wrapping her arms around Rose’s neck. Too certain of herself. Too close.
Each movement happens in slow motion.
There’s no denying that her desire is for dominance, that the moment of intensity between them is Kitten charging like a bull, and Rose taken by surprise – but there’s also no denying the hint of pleasure when my power is so thoroughly and instinctively locked on to every single fucking one of her nerve endings.
Instinctively, my power wants this. Wants to claim it. Own it. Maybe if I felt Rose reach for her magic in any way that would threaten Kitten, I would react differently. But Rose is damn near incapacitated.
For a heartbeat, Rose kisses her back. Lips parting for the barest breath. Kitten’s eyes are closed, so she doesn’t see the brown of Rose’s irises turn blood red. Not passion, not even quite desire, but enjoyment for sure. Just for that slim split of a second.
I struggle to keep my body from trembling. Then I struggle to keep myself from snatching my woman up, using my speed to get her too far from reprisal, and…
Everything. I want to do everything to her. With her.
Kitten’s legs shift, her feet digging in to Rose’s hips, then she pushes off, backflipping smoothly through the air.
Rose trips backwards over the log. She hits the ground hard, a look of pure crazy excitement written all over her face. Her blood-red eyes contrast the whites, then contrast again against her dark skin.
Killian snatches Kitten out of the air, his arm snaking around her waist and pressing her into his chest. Though he lets her stand on her own two feet – his other hand grips the hilt of his sword.
Kitten’s breathing stutters as she subtly runs a finger over her lips, licking them, then runs her finger over them again.
If she does that one more time my bloody pants aren’t going to be able to contain me. Not that that will be through any fault of the tailor’s.
Kitten wraps her hand over Killian’s, stopping him from drawing his weapon.
Pax steps forward, and her other hand darts out to press against his chest, stopping him from going any further. All of the other Sabers are looking down at Rose.
“I can handle myself, boys,” Kitten says – sweetly.
Both of my fists clench. I can’t smell shit like Killian, but those words reek of Seduction. All of this reeks of Seduction. I turn my gaze to Teegan and meet her wide-eyed attempt at looking surprised.
She shakes her head sharply, grabbing the arms of her triune and pulling them back. The world is holding its breath. They don’t realize Thane has returned, but the fear of Pax’s temper must be enough. And the leash doesn’t stop his power from seeping through his skin and filling the air around us, stirring their souls into tornados of warring feelings.
From the ground, Rose starts to laugh.
Kitten breaks away from Killian and marches towards Seth. Everyone is frozen, and I hadn’t even noticed that Chaos was in hysterics.
“Pax is about to kill you,” she snaps under her breath.
“Me first,” Killian growls.
“No, me first,” Pax growls louder.
Seth’s on his feet, Kitten’s hand in his, and they’re dashing off towards the cottage in the same heartbeat.
Rose stands up slowly. She has a kind of laugh that is both bright and cheerful, but also dark and scary.
She locks her eyes on Teegan, her deep voice announcing, “She’s made of pure crazy.”
Oh, Rose. Don’t go giving Kitten any ideas. Next, she’ll be declaring she has a CrazySeed.
Pax steadies himself, straightening to his full height. I can sense his fangs descending.
“This is very simple,” he says. Each word is injected with so much power that hearing them hurts. “You choose to follow me, my pentad, and all of my decisions, or you join Lithael. There is – No. Middle. Ground.”
Every single one of them falls to their knees. Heads bowed and eyes lowered in complete submission.
This is their choice.
They choose Pax.
They choose us.
They choose Kitten.
The world finally takes a deep breath.
Five Paces
I move as quickly as I can in Seth’s shadow – my heart racing at a million beats an hour. Seth sobers quickly, from cackling on the ground to serious. More than serious. By the firm set of his shoulders, he
