*
As it turned out, no one had any less hair than they had when Wynn and Kylie left, facial or otherwise, but the house had significantly less food in it. Wow, could Guardians eat!
They had to call out for Chinese. Again. And this time, they got free General Tso’s shrimp, free spareribs, and a free six-pack of Chinese beer. There might even have been mention of naming a new baby after Kylie. Or maybe they said a boat. It was hard to hear over the cheering in the background.
When she finally crawled into bed beside Dag, Kylie was stuffed and her fridge boasted of one measly container of leftovers. A swarm of locusts couldn’t have eaten as much.
“Next time I invite this group over, remind me to buy a supermarket first,” she griped, collapsing back onto her pillows. “I swear to God, I think Spar ate an entire pig. I’ve never seen that much twice-cooked pork in one place, let alone seen it disappear into one mouth like that. I don’t even keep kosher, and still I felt a little guilty just watching him.”
Dag chuckled and drew her close. “He claimed he needs plenty of fuel in order to be ready for tomorrow’s battle.”
“He’ll be lucky if he can haul his tokhes out of bed in the morning, much less do battle. I’m just glad there’s antacid in the guest bathrooms. I have a feeling they’ll be needing it.”
They lay in the darkness for a few minutes, listening to the house and the houseguests settle in around them. Kylie knew she needed to sleep. Today’s magical workout had been the most intense Wynn had led yet, and tomorrow was the big day, but her eyes refused to close.
“And how are you feeling, little one?” Dag asked softly, his voice rasping across the silence like a work-roughened hand over sheer, smooth silk.
“Nervous,” Kylie admitted, letting out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding in a rush. “All of a sudden it feels like I have hundreds of people’s lives in my hand. Oh, wait, I do!”
“Our hands,” Dag corrected, squeezing her gently. “The weight of this is not something you carry alone, sweet Kylie. We all know what is going to happen, therefore we all share the responsibility to stop it. In fact, according to the traditions of my kind, you and Wynn, and Kylie and Ella, none of you need to put yourselves at risk. This is why the Guardians were summoned. It is our duty to stop the Seven, not any of yours.”
“Is this you getting ready to forbid me to go again?”
He laughed. “No, that is one lesson I believe that I have learned. I will forbid you nothing.” Swiftly he shifted, his hands clasping her waist to lift her and set her down on top of him. “Have you not realized it yet, little human? I cannot, because I can deny you nothing. Whatever you ask for, I will give you. Whatever you need, I will provide.”
She gazed down at him silently, reading the sincerity in his voice and the love in his eyes.
Yes, love. How had she missed it before?
Her mouth began to curve. “And what if I need you, big guy?”
“Kylie. I am already yours.”
*
She leaned down to kiss him, and he shook with the need to seize her. Instinct rode him hard, urging him to take control, to claim, to plunder, to mark his woman forever as his. The need was fierce and dark and primitive, but then, so was Dag.
He had entered the world as a warrior, in a time when wars raised kings and toppled empires, when men who fought ruled and the men who ruled never stopped fighting. Summoned into being for one single purpose, he had been created not to evolve but to defend and to destroy, or so he had thought.
Now, he believed that perhaps he had been summoned for this purpose, for this woman, to exist wholly and solely for her. It hit him like a revelation, and it felt like a blessing.
Grasping hard on his control, he forced himself to remain still beneath her, flexing only his fingers as they caressed the soft, tempting skin at her waist. That, he couldn’t help. He could no more stop touching her than he could stop needing her. Neither was an option.
He concentrated on the kiss, on the feel of her lips moving soft and warm against his, on the teasing strokes of her clever little tongue, on the sweetness of her taste and the whisper of her breath against his skin. It helped for a little while, but when he began to feel the heat of her * dampening the skin of his abdomen he could no longer hold back his growl of need.
Pushing herself into a sitting position, Kylie smiled down at him and ran her tiny hands over his bare skin, taunting him. Her short, neat fingernails scraped over his nipples, making him hiss, and her fingers kneaded his muscles like a kitten arranging its bed. He hoped by the Light that sleep was not the first thing on her mind.
“I like that you’re mine, Dag,” she whispered, leaning down to rain kisses along his collarbone. “I like being yours.”