The Bid by Jax

him with a choice to stop or continue on to her skin. The lure was incredibly tempting, the curves of blue so fair and fascinating. Fighting the urge, he stepped back and raked his eyes down her body, forcing himself back to the familiarity of lust and sex appeal, rather than the unnerving sense of…of something else. Something he couldn’t and wouldn’t immediately define.
    It was so intriguing to see her dressed only in the drape of her hair. The way she watched him so steadily, so fearlessly, while naked and vulnerable to his desires. He’d never imagined how powerful a feeling it could be, to be in this position. Yet, it carried enormous weight. He was used to being responsible for the well-being of others, but this was total dependence, wasn’t it? Like a child who survives only by your care of it, or someone who is ill or wounded who has no recourse but to trust you to aid them.
    “You left knives and other stabbing implements on the table,” he remarked, testing her trust, although the comment was disembodied from his actual thoughts. “I can hurt you without ever touching you. I can throw every weapon I’ve ever held with deadly accuracy.”
    “I told you, I am not afraid of pain or death, if that is what you truly must do to draw equal with me.”
    But she knew he wouldn’t. He was a warrior and a killer, but Hanna could see in him that he needed lawful justification to merit the murdering he did. Did what she had done justify murder? She could tell even he did not think so. Very casually, she flicked lazy eyes to the wall behind him. Najir was not observing. She had purposely chosen to come while he was in the training yards. Not that he wouldn’t obey her wishes had she asked him not to watch, but she had wanted the time alone with Jhon without having to follow up with an allocution of what had transpired afterward. She didn’t want to share everything with Najir. Not until she knew it wouldn’t be like throwing citrus juice on a deep wound. She despised the idea of causing him any pain. He didn’t deserve that.
    But should he return and decide to check up on her, there could be trouble. Najir would never tolerate the scene that was unfolding. He didn’t trust Vejhon yet. Hanna had no choice but to invest trust…because everything hinged on her gaining it in return.
    Vejhon realized there was a wealth of possibilities before him. He slid the ring onto his smallest finger, turning it so he could inspect it.
    “I could inject you with the stim, I suppose. But only once. Leave you needing more.” He looked at her and dropped his touch onto her mouth, the contrast of his skin against her lips reminding him too easily how she’d already stirred him up once just by licking her lips. Just when had she become so damn attractive to him? he wondered with surprise.
    Probably about five minutes ago, he answered himself, when she’d thrown herself on his mercy just to gain a good opinion from him.
    Curiosity defeated him, and he moved forward until he was replacing his fingers with his mouth, kissing her just softly enough to feel her. Jhon knew it was a mistake the moment he felt the unexpected intimacy of it, the warmth and softness of the damp connection striking up a strange and fearful sense of fitting perfectly with her. She was holding her breath, eyes wide open and surprised at his gesture of gentility. So damn ingenuous. So unbelievably unique.
    He reached to touch a thumb to her chin, pulling down gently to guide her mouth open beneath his. She drew breath, held it deep, again in expectation, and made it too damn hard to pull away and leave her unfulfilled. Besides, he had a craving to know what she tasted like. Jhon’s tongue darted into her mouth to relay that information back to himself, but an instant flashed past and it no longer seemed to matter. Or rather, it seemed to be all that mattered.
    Her kiss struck him like lightning, jagged and hot, a bolt of pure power coming from nowhere to