He slid a hand into her pants, the tight fit not giving him the leverage she needed.
"Please, Graydon," Kira moaned.
His chuckle was husky as he dipped a finger into her folds, drawing a circle over her clitoris before withdrawing.
Kira wanted to cry at the emptiness he left behind.
Her pants were gone in the next second. Across the room before she could blink.
Kira raised onto her elbows, letting Graydon look at her. From the dark light in his eyes, he liked what he saw.
"My coli. My breath."
He lowered over her, exploring with an agonizing slowness that quickly drove her a little mad. He took his time, pausing here and there. Kira's hips lifted. Needy sounds escaping her.
Finally, his mouth reached the place she most wanted it. He pressed a kiss over her clitoris, the touch butterfly soft. A tease.
Everything coiled as he fastened his lips over the sensitive nub, lashing it with his tongue.
Kira cried out. Her core clenched. Her climax hovered just out of reach.
Her fingers threaded through his hair as she pressed his face against her, her hips rolling in search of her pleasure.
Something opened up inside Kira. A parched desert sucking down every drop of sensation. Graydon's soul's breath acted like a gentle rain, soaking into the cracks and gluing them together.
His ki speared into her center. It was the shove she needed. Kira detonated with a startled cry, the climax on a deeper level than just the physical one. It went all the way to her soul.
When her vision cleared and she could think again, Kira opened her eyes to find Graydon staring down at her. His face tender.
Kira felt him poised at her entrance, his hard length scorching.
He waited for her to look at him before pushing inside. The fullness stretched her. Kira caught her breath as the overly sensitive nerves protested.
He withdrew, plunging forward again in a slow glide.
Kira made a sound in the back of her throat as he dragged along her poor, abused clit. He nipped the edge of her jaw, his pace increasing as her inner muscles fluttered around him.
She found herself climbing with him as he used the friction to send her to new heights.
Before long, her core tightened. The prelude to another climax.
"Together this time, cheva nier," Graydon ordered.
Kira found herself complying, lights bursting behind her eyes as his fingers found her center. He thrust forward, sinking deep with one last cry that she echoed.
They wrung each other dry as release found them. Replete, they held each other as the stars passed overhead until finally Kira slipped back into slumber.
This time her rest was dreamless.
Graydon
Graydon brushed a caress across Kira's bare shoulder. Even in rest she looked tired. As if part of her couldn't fully relax. The toll from the past few days was evident in the bags under her eyes. The pinched look on her face. The signs of strain that never fully went away.
She was so strong, but even her strength had its limits. This was breaking her. Slowly but surely. And Graydon was helpless to stop it.
"What am I to do with you?" Graydon whispered.
This stunt—breaking Aeron out of custody. It was reckless. Impulsive.
While Kira could be all those things, she was rarely all of them at once. She usually showed more restraint. If she couldn't solve a problem directly, she schemed and she planned, coming at her objective sideways if necessary. She didn't go after the most dangerous option right out of the gate. At least not until she'd exhausted every other avenue.
He traced the faint runes on her upper shoulder, his hand trailing to the ones on her back. Without Kira awake to consciously suppress it, the primus pressed against her skin. Just barely contained.
Its influence was likely the reason behind Kira's out-of-character behavior. Her ability to maintain balance with her primus was impressive. There had been many Tuann in their history who'd attempted similar feats only for things to go drastically wrong. It was a wonder she'd managed so far. Normally, such endeavors ended with the primus in question slaughtering everyone in the vicinity after eroding their host's sanity.
Graydon suspected this wasn't Kira's first experience riding this line. From the stories she'd told and what Baran had uncovered when Graydon sent him to investigate, it sounded very similar to what she'd gone through after her Curs died. In fact, he suspected it and her use of the heaven's wrath, a rare Tuann ability of immense destruction, were what landed her in her coma in the first place.
It couldn't be that Harlow didn't know either. Graydon's mentor didn't miss much. He would have seen Kira's state and known the challenges. Maybe he, like Graydon, realized that the only way for her to survive was to save the other two. Anything else would result in her fading.
It was a demonstration of Harlow's love and the faith he’d placed in her. By rights, he should have put her under observation. A Tuann in this state was inherently dangerous. It was the responsibility of the Overlord to ensure members of his House didn't become mindless killing machines. That he trusted she'd weather this storm without breaking was testament to how far he was willing to go for her.
"We've got quite the fight ahead of us, cheva nier."
Kira was right to be concerned about what was coming. Not all of them were likely to make it through this. There would be loss. It was almost unavoidable. They were up against monsters. Even someone of Graydon's skill wasn't safe. Not when it came to their old masters.
It was why the emperor had agreed to this mad plan when Graydon proposed it. To get his first born back. And because he knew there was no one else qualified and stupid enough to throw themselves into danger like this.
Only Kira had that honor. Where she went, Graydon would follow. Which meant he fit that description too.
There was another order Torvald had given Graydon in addition to the first. Insurance against a worst case situation. Graydon's directive was to destroy the soul bound if it looked like Jin couldn't be recovered or his sanity was compromised. It was Torvald's last gift to his son. Eternal peace free from the tortures the Tsavitee's masters would inflict on him.
But Jin would come through this intact, even if Graydon had to crawl into the abyss itself to drag him out. He would come home to Kira.
Graydon touched the bonds he shared with his oshota to send a wave of reassurance down them. They hadn't been thrilled at the idea of separation, but they were professionals and used to acting unilaterally when needed. As a Face, there were often situations where Graydon had to be flexible. His oshota too.
Snagging the blanket Wren had dropped off earlier, Graydon draped it over Kira's spent body. At a thought from him, Graydon's synth armor covered his body, flexing as he rose and padded toward the hatch.
He opened it to find Raider waiting in the hallway. Graydon stepped outside, closing the hatch behind him to give Kira privacy.
"How is she?" Raider asked.