The Bid (17 page)

The compact woman came closer to him, making sure he could see she was just as curvaceous as her sister, if on a shorter scale. She couldn’t be more than two inches over five feet. Even then Jhon thought he was being generous. But apparently her lack of height did nothing to phase her confidence. She radiated it
and
her energetic sexuality like a beacon, and she obviously expected anyone and everyone to answer it.

She reached out to touch him, her hand falling just below his slave band on his arm. “My, the family did a number on you.” She traced a long, furrowed claw mark over his forearm. “You know, my sister is supposed to be caring for these. How inconsiderate and thoughtless of her to let you bleed and suffer like this. It must be so painful.”

“Hanna isn’t thoughtless…nor is she inconsiderate. She’s unconscious and I cannot rouse her.”

That news made the little woman stiffen with immediate interest. Jhon couldn’t tell if there was concern as well.

“Hanna?” she asked in disbelief. “What happened?”

“She fainted,” he responded shortly.

“Faint—!” The black-haired creature threw back her head and laughed. “You artful little devil!” She seemed completely amused and delighted and Jhon was starting to feel his temper. When she saw his expression she chuckled again. She boldly linked her arm through his and turned him back toward the stairs. “Not to worry,” she assured him with a grin. “She will rouse on her own in a little while. You see, Drakoulous women are designed for sex like…the latest and best of technology. Every part of our body can be erogenous in some fashion and it never takes much to arouse us. However, because we’re wired to be so sensitive, with dual clits and hypersensitive G-spots, sometimes we can have dual or even triple orgasms at once. As delightful as they are, they’re also like overloading a computer with a massive program it can’t process. Under that kind of duress, the system will shut down…and so will we.”

They reached the landing where Vejhon’s quarters were located and she stopped to look him over in a manner he could only describe as covetous. “Apparently,” she purred, “you’re blessed with all the best of talents and did everything just right.” She grinned wickedly as her eyes brushed longingly past the obviousness of his dormant penis in the close-fitting pants he wore. “Believe me, when she wakes in a few minutes, she will be gushing with delight and praises.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes. Quite. But if she doesn’t wake within the next fifteen minutes, you can come find me. My room is not far from yours, actually. It’s just around the corner. Right across from Hanna’s. We are such a close family and…well, we like to be within easy reach of each other when we’re home together.”

Jhon thought it was far more likely that Hanna preferred to keep a close eye on her sister. This one had trouble and mayhem etched all over her flirtatious little body.

“What’s your name?” he asked with a fabricated smile as she surreptitiously fondled the contour of his biceps.

“Ashanna. But call me Asha or Ash.”

“Ashanna?” Vejhon smiled for real at that. “That wouldn’t mean ‘as Hanna,’ would it? Sounds like your parents were so taken with Hanna that they hoped you’d be just like her.”

Ashanna’s eyes darkened and narrowed until the sloe shape looked positively ferocious. She jerked her hand away from him. “Well, as you can see I’m nothing like Hanna! Not in looks or in attitude. In fact, we are polar opposites and I’m glad of it.”

“Don’t you like your sister?”

Jhon could immediately tell when she realized her temper and touchiness over her name had revealed a little too much. She laughed a little uncomfortably, touching her hair as if to groom it casually into place.

“I adore my sister,” she said, possibly meaning it and possibly not. “It’s just difficult to grow up when everyone is expecting you to be exactly like such a paragon of perfection like Hanna.” There was a touch of bitterness that Ashanna couldn’t hide within the remark. Deciding to cut her losses for the moment, she manufactured a smile for him and a little wave. “I am off to snooze. Tell my sister to care for those scratches when she awakens. We wouldn’t want them to get infected, now would we?”

“No, I don’t suppose so. Thanks for the help.”

“You are welcome.”

H
anna opened her eyes and found herself looking into the cat’s eye pupils of her new lover. A sensation of ridiculous happiness rushed over her as she remembered the obliterating ride of pleasure he had sent her on just before she had lost touch with the waking world. Her smile must have looked a little goofy because Vejhon began to chuckle softly.

“You okay?” he asked, reaching out to touch the back of his finger to her still-lavender cheek. “You know, you might have warned me about this. It’s hard on the coronary system when you unexpectedly make a woman pass out for twenty minutes.”

“Is this how you express worry?” she asked him with a teasing smile. “And I would have told you had I thought about it. However, it’s never happened to me before so it wasn’t something I expected. Anyway, I was more concerned with your adaptation to your new…your new life.”

Jhon was sitting beside her on the lounge, leaning down over her and staring down into her eyes. When she remarked on the changes he was going through, he simply shrugged a shoulder, as if it weren’t in the least significant.

“I took a little inventory while you slept. Sharpened senses, fast reflexes, and extraordinary strength…there’s nothing so different about that for me really. Though I know that is likely to be only scratching the surface.”

She cocked her head, studying him as she lifted her touch to the line of his jaw. “To say the least,” she agreed. “You do seem to be better adjusted.”

“Well, submersion in panic tends to force a man to get his act together pretty quickly.”

“I’m sorry.”

“We’ve been over that. I was fine once your sister told me it wasn’t unusual for women of your—”

“My sister!” Hanna jolted upright, pushing him back from her as she tried to find her feet. Vejhon moved back to give her room, watching carefully as she reacted strongly. She walked away from him, the fur dropping disregarded to the floor.

“Is there a problem?” He hardly had to ask. He’d already gotten his own impressions of her sister that might explain her reaction.

“I’m about to find out.”

Without much other choice, Jhon followed her as she activated the doorlock and walked without hesitation into the hallway. He bristled at her moving into a more public position while she was completely nude, but she pushed her way into another room only a few yards away.

It was her room, he surmised quickly. Everything about it instantly reflected the knowledge to him. The smell, the coloring, and even the small cat snoozing in the center of the large bed. It was a fat thing, much smaller than the beasts he had seen before, with black and white speckled fur sticking up in odd tufts here and there. Its eyes opened just far enough to check out who had disturbed the room, then closed again with complete unconcern.

Hanna went to an area of the room that held displays of clothing at the ready and she quickly drew on a chocolate-colored dress that hung loosely and shimmeringly over her figure in a boxy sort of style. The charm of the outfit was in its natural cling. Despite its vague cut, the fabric was attracted to her body beneath.

Vejhon remained silent and unquestioning as she briefly paused to straighten her hair, and then moved back out of the room with a brisk step. She crossed the wide hall and slid her hand past the sensor to her sister’s door. A chime sounded, letting them know she had been notified of their presence.

Hanna was impatient. She paced away from the door, leaving Jhon standing before it. He watched her make a wide circuit and then begin another, just as the door slid open to reveal Ashanna. Since Hanna was several steps away, Asha saw only Jhon standing there at first and she lit up with a smile and a flirtatious lean against the frame of the doorway.

“Back so soon, lover?” she asked cheekily.

“I could ask you the same thing, Ash.”

Ashanna jolted at the sound of her sister’s voice and a blush of lavender ghosted briefly up her neck as she stood sharply straight. She painted on a smile and beamed at her sister.

“Hanna, dearest, so good to see you.”

She reached with outstretched arms to take Hanna by her shoulders and touched cheeks with her briefly. If it was meant to be a sign of affection, it was sorely lacking on the parts of both women.

“You as well, Ash,” Hanna returned, her usual truth and intensity not present in her completely blank expression. “But you’ll forgive my surprise. You are supposed to be in the country place with our uncles and their families.”

“I was bored out of my mind.” Asha waved the matter off. “I’m afraid I am a city girl through and through.”

“Asha, we had an agreement,” Hanna said sternly.

“Must we discuss this now?” Asha asked, giving Vejhon a pointed glance. “This is a family matter, Hanna,” she said, laughing uncomfortably as she fluffed her fingers through her hair.

“If you hadn’t noticed, Vejhon is family now.”

“Barely,” the petite woman sniped in a sharp little snap. Then she shrugged at Jhon. “No offense, lover.”

“Call him that again, little sister, and you’ll be pulling my claws out of your throat,” Hanna hissed suddenly, a low tremulous growl lacing the threat as she stepped up hard into her sister’s face. “You disobey me. I am Master of this House and you will learn that fact the hard way if you must, Ashanna.”

“Hanna, please,” Asha said, her entire demeanor shifting to one of frustrated pleading, the most honest emotion Jhon had seen on her to date. “I miss my siblings. I miss my things! All of my friends are here!”

“You should have thought about that before you put this House at risk with your selfish behaviors!” Hanna snapped. “
You
forced me to banish you to the country place, Asha; I did not want to send you there. We agreed you would stay there for a year or until you could prove you could control your impulses.”

“But I have! I swear I have!”

“In only three months? I doubt it. You couldn’t even wait long enough to contact me before coming here. If you had I would have asked you to wait until Jhon’s transition was farther along at the very least. But as usual, you considered only your own needs. Don’t get comfortable, Asha. You’re going back.” Hanna exhaled in a release of temper. “And get Kuriken off my bed. He is your companion and should be in your damn bed.”

With that parting directive, Hanna turned away and marched off down the hallway. Jhon paused only to cock a brow at Ashanna, a simple way of expressing his amusement over the exchange. Then he followed in Hanna’s wake as she led him away in a flutter of silky brown fabric. For the first time he found himself going up the mosaic stairs to an upper level of the House. She passed many doors, all of which had old-fashioned hand grasps for opening them, as opposed to the technological alternatives. At the end of the hall, Hanna pushed open a set of double doors that opened into a room flooded with rosy sunlight. Every wall except the one on the side they had entered from had been made to view the out-of-doors seamlessly. It appeared as though the room was at the end of a wing and the walls on three sides faced out onto the landscaping of the property.

Here Jhon could see so much more than he had from his rooms. The sheer enormity of the city around them alone had been completely ill-conceived in his mind. He swore softly under his breath as the panorama around him showed miles and miles of densely packed but tidily rowed buildings. The most startling aspect was how clean and white everything was. With a few exceptions, every building had a white exterior; only the trim on them seeming to vary. The result was a brilliance that dazzled the eyes and boggled the mind. It also made it easy to pick out the green-blue foliage of the parks, the red clay–colored roads mapped everywhere throughout, and the fact that there was an enormous area circling around the center of city that was nothing but colorful tents and banners of cloth.

“The main bazaar,” Hanna said quietly from her place before a wall several steps away from him. Her back was to him, so he wondered briefly how she knew what had caught his attention. Then he became more focused on her tightly indrawn body language, the way her arms hugged tensely across her chest.

“I am guessing Ashanna is a bit of a trial?”

Hanna snorted, marking the observation as an understatement. “Asha doesn’t understand the difference between necessary risk and unnecessary risk.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “I hope you do.”

He bristled at the implied insult. “Now what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means it’s very hard to have power and restrict yourself from using it no matter how justified you might think it is! You are a freedom fighter by trade, Jhon. How easy do you really think it is going to be for you to walk the streets acting the part of a slave, unable to stand up for yourself or others?”

“Just when did this foul temper of yours become about me?” Vejhon demanded. “For your future reference, Hanna, my entire existence on Wite was about holding back my impulses to fight my way through each and every one of the Cree. I lead the most powerful force of freedom fighters, yes, but we’re also the most effective because we don’t go off half loaded and with our pants around our knees!”

“Led.”

“What?” he snapped.

“You said you lead them.” Hanna turned to show him the distress etched over her features. “Don’t you mean led? Past tense?”

Damn. Shit
.

“Yeah, I guess I do,” he sighed. “You have to give me a break here, Hanna. It’s a lot of change in a short time.”

“And not much of it is for the better,” she noted bitterly, turning back away from him.

Feeling like a jerk for his slipup that implied he would rather be somewhere else, Vejhon walked up behind her and cupped his hands around her shoulders gently. He rubbed his thumbs over the taut muscles along the back of her lower neck.

“I doubt my choice to stay with you less and less with every passing second, Hanna,” he said softly against her hair. “Any misgivings I could conceive of are fading quickly. And it’s true, I haven’t been out in your world yet and it will probably really piss me off when I do face it, but it’s part of the trade-off, isn’t it? Here’s a warrior’s analogy: You can have incredible muscle mass, or you can have amazing agility and flexibility. There’s only one delicate point of balance where you can reach the best of both worlds, and it takes a lot of work to maintain it just right once you do achieve it.”

He tugged her, turning her in his hands until she was meeting his eyes. “I’ve never been afraid of hard work, Hanna. I’ll do what it takes to find balance. Don’t lose faith in me before I even have a chance to try.”

“Asha has had this power all of her life, and yet she has never found balance.”

“I am not Ashanna,” he felt compelled to point out. “She is young and spoiled; I am a man of experience and discipline. I already know what my weaknesses are and have worked hard to manage them. And Hanna,” he said quietly, leaning forward to press warm lips to the rise of her cheek, “knowing how important this is to you makes it equally important to me.”

The sentiment was so unexpected, so rife with a feeling of tenderness and respect that Hanna felt shock rippling through her mind. She had not thought to earn such things from him so quickly, if at all. She had all but forced this new life on him, her desperation moving her to manipulate him with every tactic she could conceive of. To her, this was no different than an arranged marriage. There would always be chemistry, their cat natures making it an integral part of what was between them, but she had not fooled herself into thinking this would ever be a love match. She might have hoped for it, but she had already sensed Vejhon had little experience in such emotions, and even less desire to try them.

Friendship, companionship, lovers…these she hoped for. All other hopes she kept quieted down and resigned to the place in her mind where foolish girlhood fancies belonged. There had never been any guarantee that just because a slave would suit physically and come to trust her, it would lead to the deep, abiding love her mother and uncles had so luckily discovered. She was just lucky to have found him at all. Blessed. Blessed to have the chance to free her next brother from his captivity in the Otherside once Jhon learned how to shift for himself, allowing them to come together in animal form.

Hanna drew back and beamed at him, the smile heavy praise for his thoughtfulness and his efforts to appease her worries. He smiled back, the grin so full and unexpectedly charming on him. It was probably ill practiced, considering his life growing up on Wite, but perhaps that was part of its enchantment. It was honest. An irresistible flash born of his genuine pleasure. It made her heart melt warmly in her chest. If she made him happy, if she could only make him content, perhaps he would find a measure of peace living on her world.

Unable to resist such a charismatic lure, Hanna reached up for his mouth. At first she just nipped and sipped at his lips, the fine shape of his mouth coming together as his smile faded to better accommodate her teasing, brushing kisses. His thick masculine hands came up to engulf her around the sides of her face and head, cradling her between rough, lifelong callouses and the strength of sudden intensity. She smelled the aroma of his skin and body, the tangy sharpness of blood that still seeped pungently from reopened wounds. She recalled that it was her duty to tend those wounds, to see that he healed properly. Unfortunately she lost the recollection the instant his mouth asserted itself against hers, his tongue probing with sly confidence between her lips.

His kisses always seemed to obliterate her. She had always delighted in the ways of a man who knew how to take command of a kiss, but Vejhon was an aspect she had never quite encountered. There was something, an essence of intensity in his confidence perhaps, that always seemed to add so much depth and dimension to the ways he took her mouth. She was used to being aggressive and even a bit demanding, and she still was, but when Jhon kissed her as he was then, she could easily just sink against his body and let him make his own way across her senses.