abused. Maybe the idol would be safely at home with our clan.”
“How do you know that’s where it belongs? Think of the coincidence. You and me. Some bar fight. You with one half, me with the other.”
“You don’t seem the type to believe in destiny.”
“Believe me, I don’t. Free will happens to be a cherished tenet of mine. But this—” He gestured to the broken idol Silence still held. “It’s . . . It’s the Dragon. And doesn’t that just give me a case of the heebie-jeebies.” He sat beside her on the bed, gratified when she faced him. Even daylight didn’t lighten the pitch black of her eyes. She laid claim to more than one mysterious defense. He guessed most couldn’t—or didn’t take the time—to read the emotions that brimmed in those impossible eyes, but he did both. “That doesn’t mean we’re out of choices. I’d go gallivanting with you. It’d be fun. Some purpose to my life.”
“No,” she said with more conviction. “I’ve hidden the piece of the idol in the Asters’ compound. I need to get it back. And . . .”
“By the Chasm and the Dragon—what now?”
“There’s a soothsayer. She said I need to wait for ‘living gold.’ Then it’ll be time to go.”
Hark took hold of the split obsidian dragon. He’d carried it around for years and couldn’t remember where he’d first acquired it. To think it meant so much to this woman was still unnerving. “ ‘Living gold’ is any less crazy than talking about the Ritual of Thorns? Or your obsession with a broken figurine our people would kill you for possessing? They want their secrets back, no matter the cost. I’m betting that after what they did to your guardians, this is one helluva secret.”
She looked at him with imploring eyes as dark as the idol, which contrasted with her shimmering skin. She was the same warrior he’d battled and satisfied. He knew that. Yet he saw her in that dawn light as if she had never been Silence. As if she’d always been Orla of Sath.
“Fine,” he said on a frustrated huff. “How do I get out of Hong Kong?”
“Come with me. Become a Cage warrior. Help me see this through.”
“Me? You’re kidding.” Hark laughed outright, which wasn’t the right response.
Silence curled into herself beneath the bedsheets. He adjusted his body on the bed and leaned close. She’d be able to feel how much he wanted her, with his cock pressing against her side.
She held the cleaved dragon with both hands. “The jet arrives tomorrow. I hand over one disgusting prisoner for Aster to do with as he likes, and present a trophy: a skilled, willing warrior who’ll be my partner.”
“Just in the Cages? Because I’d need more to follow you down into the dark. That sounds the opposite of my fondest wish for the future. Unless you’re there, too. Tell me you’re not curious,” he added, tapping his temple. “I have an intriguing amount of junk up here.”
Without waiting for permission, he shed his blanket and slid beneath the sheets. Only after a slight struggle did he get her to part with her treasure. He reached up and laid it on the narrow windowsill. When he settled back against the thin, creaking mattress, he hooked a thigh between hers. She exhaled as if she was content.
Not in a hostel. Not in Hong Kong. Not in some cartel compound.
With me.
Tentative feminine hands stroked his chest and down his sides, until he wanted to purr like a cat or flip her onto her back and drive deep. It was the first hint that he was winning her over. Did he even want that? All because of a few tantalizing minutes inside her mind? He was asking her to be his partner for life—and the Sath didn’t take that shit lightly. Only when she stroked him again did the last of his doubts fall away.
“I’d be Silence again,” she whispered against his chest. “I cannot be this person when I go back.”
“This person?”
“Orla.”
Hark didn’t hold back. He cupped one bare breast and rolled
“How do you know that’s where it belongs? Think of the coincidence. You and me. Some bar fight. You with one half, me with the other.”
“You don’t seem the type to believe in destiny.”
“Believe me, I don’t. Free will happens to be a cherished tenet of mine. But this—” He gestured to the broken idol Silence still held. “It’s . . . It’s the Dragon. And doesn’t that just give me a case of the heebie-jeebies.” He sat beside her on the bed, gratified when she faced him. Even daylight didn’t lighten the pitch black of her eyes. She laid claim to more than one mysterious defense. He guessed most couldn’t—or didn’t take the time—to read the emotions that brimmed in those impossible eyes, but he did both. “That doesn’t mean we’re out of choices. I’d go gallivanting with you. It’d be fun. Some purpose to my life.”
“No,” she said with more conviction. “I’ve hidden the piece of the idol in the Asters’ compound. I need to get it back. And . . .”
“By the Chasm and the Dragon—what now?”
“There’s a soothsayer. She said I need to wait for ‘living gold.’ Then it’ll be time to go.”
Hark took hold of the split obsidian dragon. He’d carried it around for years and couldn’t remember where he’d first acquired it. To think it meant so much to this woman was still unnerving. “ ‘Living gold’ is any less crazy than talking about the Ritual of Thorns? Or your obsession with a broken figurine our people would kill you for possessing? They want their secrets back, no matter the cost. I’m betting that after what they did to your guardians, this is one helluva secret.”
She looked at him with imploring eyes as dark as the idol, which contrasted with her shimmering skin. She was the same warrior he’d battled and satisfied. He knew that. Yet he saw her in that dawn light as if she had never been Silence. As if she’d always been Orla of Sath.
“Fine,” he said on a frustrated huff. “How do I get out of Hong Kong?”
“Come with me. Become a Cage warrior. Help me see this through.”
“Me? You’re kidding.” Hark laughed outright, which wasn’t the right response.
Silence curled into herself beneath the bedsheets. He adjusted his body on the bed and leaned close. She’d be able to feel how much he wanted her, with his cock pressing against her side.
She held the cleaved dragon with both hands. “The jet arrives tomorrow. I hand over one disgusting prisoner for Aster to do with as he likes, and present a trophy: a skilled, willing warrior who’ll be my partner.”
“Just in the Cages? Because I’d need more to follow you down into the dark. That sounds the opposite of my fondest wish for the future. Unless you’re there, too. Tell me you’re not curious,” he added, tapping his temple. “I have an intriguing amount of junk up here.”
Without waiting for permission, he shed his blanket and slid beneath the sheets. Only after a slight struggle did he get her to part with her treasure. He reached up and laid it on the narrow windowsill. When he settled back against the thin, creaking mattress, he hooked a thigh between hers. She exhaled as if she was content.
Not in a hostel. Not in Hong Kong. Not in some cartel compound.
With me.
Tentative feminine hands stroked his chest and down his sides, until he wanted to purr like a cat or flip her onto her back and drive deep. It was the first hint that he was winning her over. Did he even want that? All because of a few tantalizing minutes inside her mind? He was asking her to be his partner for life—and the Sath didn’t take that shit lightly. Only when she stroked him again did the last of his doubts fall away.
“I’d be Silence again,” she whispered against his chest. “I cannot be this person when I go back.”
“This person?”
“Orla.”
Hark didn’t hold back. He cupped one bare breast and rolled
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