Chapter Nine

Later that day, Kae towel dried her hair and combed it through. The sweet scent of her vanilla spice shampoo permeated the air around her in delicate waves. She sat before her vanity table in nothing more than her underwear, her stomach knotted with nerves, each stroke through the wet, silken lengths of her dark hair taking longer than the last.

She did not know if she had the courage to follow through with what her body wanted; hell, she wanted to lay with Qhuinn more than she could say. Did that make her bad? Did it make her some kind of slut, because she barely knew him?

Kae cast her thoughts back to the first time she had met him the day before. Every glance, every word, every body gesture told her that he was interested. His actions today had been confirmation of that; the very warmth he gave off drew her in like a sweet, honeyed trap. Kae knew she was trapped; trapped within the beautiful colour of his eyes, trapped within the yearning ache she felt whenever he touched her. But most of all, she was trapped by his kindness and the intense male essence that was him alone.

She glanced at the clock and knew he would come for her soon. A smile quirked the fullness of her lips and her heart quickened as she pulled on her black silk dressing gown and waited in the near darkness of her room.

The shutters slid smoothly down the windows, closing out the impending dawn and masking the room in a soft, muted light that came from the candles that burned in each corner.

Kae heard the knock at the door and the hush of the heavy wood brushing across the thick carpet as it was opened and closed. Still she kept her back to the door; her eyes forward, her fingers trembling. She barely heard his footsteps as he crossed the floor to her but the instant he stroked her hair, her entire body came alive. She heard him inhale deeply, taking her scent into his lungs and holding it there.

She sucked in her own breath as his firm hands slid smoothly over her hips and pulled her back against him.

"Qhuinn…" her words became lost in the rush of breath as his questing hands found the ties on her robe and began to loosen them. His body came up hard against her back and she felt a quickening in her chest as his obvious erection pressed through the distressed denim of his jeans and ground softly against her bottom. Qhuinn growled softly in her ear as he swept her hair away from her neck, his lips pressing softly against her bare skin, moving across her shoulder and up towards her ear. His warm breath tickled her.

"Shh, don't worry Kae. I won't bite…much," Qhuinn chuckled softly.

Kae's mind filled with deliciously sinful images but she was unable to stop her body trembling as Qhuinn slowly turned her in his arms to face him.

She was struck by how remarkably gentle his face was, despite the raging heat his body was throwing off, her own reacting to him as flames of desire began to lick across her skin. His beautiful blue and green eyes were smouldering with undisguised want but there was no hurry in his touch.

"Put your hands on me Kae, don't be afraid," he smiled gently as his firm hands gently gripped her waist.

Kae drew a deep breath and allowed her hands to travel slowly up the length of his thickly muscled arms, her fingers memorising the smoothness of his skin, the broad strength of his shoulders until they cupped the back of his neck. Bravely, she allowed her fingers to stroke the soft hair on his nape and was rewarded as he trembled slightly under her touch. Qhuinn's arms tightened around her, drawing her body flush against his.

Heat flared in her cheeks. She had never been held this way by a male before and her body only craved more of the feeling.

Qhuinn simply held her; though the strength of his arms belied his calmness, he did not rush her response to him. When she was ready, he fully intended to take her. Not the same way he had had sex with the girls in the club. Not in some toilet stall in the dark with the heavy bass of music thumping through the walls.

He wanted to take her gently, slowly; in his bed so that she could fall asleep in his arms long after they had exhausted themselves. He would watch over her with his gun in his hand, ready to protect her at a moments notice. He wanted to feed her from his vein, nourish and care for her. He wanted his scent all over her, inside her, saturating her so that every other male within a hundred mile radius would know that she belonged to him and him alone.

Mentally, he took a step back and examined the thoughts rushing through his mind. Was this bonded male shit? He focused his gaze on her face, the luminous warmth of her eyes and the perfect curve of her lips. Her chestnut hair was damp, drying into soft loose curls and smelled pleasantly of that vanilla shampoo she seemed to favour.

She was a female of worth, unbelievably beautiful and totally trusting of him.

How could Kae want him as much as she did? He had slept around, had been born with a defect so bad that his own family had despised him. What was it that Kae saw in him?

Kae could sense Qhuinn's slight shift from her, though his attention remained fixed on her. Carefully, she moved her hands to his face and stroked them carefully over his cheeks and across his brow until she cupped his firmly set jaw in her soft hands. Her soft brown eyes met with the jewelled brilliance of his own blue green gaze.

The words she spoke came tumbling from her mouth before she had a chance to stop them.

"You are beautiful Qhuinn."

Qhuinn dropped his head, unable to keep his gaze locked with hers.

"Do not use that word to me….please."

Kae frowned and cupped her delicate fingers under his chin so she could see him. A tiny line formed between her brows.

"Why not? What is it?" her voice echoed softly with confusion.

Qhuinn's pain blazed in his eyes.

"Do you honestly not see? My flaws are glaring even to me and the defect which has alienated me from everyone except the brothers is something that doesn't even bother you? How can this be so?"

His voiced was sharp with anger and Kae shrank back as his hands gripped her shoulders.

Qhuinn paused, ashamed of his outburst. He set her aside and lumbered over to sit on the edge of her bed. He leaned his elbows onto his legs, his head dropping to his hands.

Kae's vision blurred as his words revealed their meaning and her voice seemed to stick in her throat. Slowly, she approached Qhuinn and sank onto her knees, the soft carpet cushioned beneath her.

"Qhuinn…" she tried to make the right words come but how did she tell him what he was worth?

"You really think all that matters to me? You think that I measure the worth of a male by the colour of his eyes…or…or how many females he had bedded?" her voice was thick with emotion, the tears now spilling over, unbidden, "Because none of that is important. A male of worth should be judged by how he treats his friends and his brothers, he should be judged by the way he shows kindness to those around him…"

Her voice shook, barely able to take the breath needed to push out the words she needed to say to him.

"He should be judged by the strength of his character and how much he means to the people who care about him, not by whether his eyes are the same colour. For heaven's sake, you ask me not to judge you on your defects and yet you condemn yourself for the same reasons!"

Qhuinn raised his head slowly, his beautiful bright eyes filled with a kind of hope, tinged with the sorrow of his own disbelief. Kae rested her hands on the warmth of his bare arms, trying to find a way to tell him, to show him what he meant to her; what his kindness had meant to her.

"You are beautiful, you are worthy and there is nothing wrong with you…"her voice trailed away, broken by the rush of feeling he drew from her.

Qhuinn's expression changed to one of genuine warmth, his eyes darkened as his gaze moved over her hair, her eyes and lingered on her full lips. Slowly, he moved his hands to cup her cheeks and pulled her gently towards him.

The moment their lips touched, Kae felt as though she would never breathe again. His mouth was soft, yielding but firm and demanding. The delicious taste of him lingered on her lips and as she parted them to draw in a breath, his tongue quickly touched inside the satin warmth of her mouth. A soft moan escaped her.

Qhuinn tried to slow his kiss, tried to rein in his stirring passion but it was too late.

As she moaned in response to him, his arms snaked around her waist and pulled her close to him, caught in the V of his thighs. Her hands grasped his shoulders before curling around his neck and into his hair. Qhuinn growled softly in his throat as he stood up, breaking their kiss long enough to pick her up and wrap her legs around his waist, his strong arms holding her close to kiss her again, deeply and softly, possessing and marking her all at once as his bonding scent flooded in waves, saturating her.

Kae was breathless with passion, her body was hot and her skin felt too tight for her. As his hands scooped under her bottom to support her, she pressed that most intimate part of her against the physical evidence of his desire and all thought left her.

"Kae, I'll stop anytime you want me to, I won't push this if you're not ready," Qhuinn panted, as breathless as she. Kae held his face in her palms and gave him the tenderest kiss she could, holding herself tightly against him and pressing harder still against his erection.

"I want you inside me Qhuinn," she breathed, giving her consent freely.

He smiled and lay her down on the bed, pausing only for a moment to remove his shirt, enjoying the way her eyes lingered on his body.

He made love to her body and soul that night and nothing, not even the flicker of pain she felt as he penetrated her, could have lessened the wonder of it all.

His hands had been strong and warm, touching her and awakening her. She had been surprised to find he responded strongly to her own touch and she was rewarded when his moans told her how much he liked it.

At the final moments, when he was deep inside her, the knot of pleasure and desire that had been building deep in the pit of her belly exploded and he had tried to silence her cries of pleasure with his mouth, his kisses intensifying every second before he succumbed to his own pent up pleasure and released inside her.

Kae held him until he was spent and he sank onto her body, kissing her deeply.

Not long after, Qhuinn covered them both over with the sheets and he curled his body around her. Kae felt herself drift to sleep on a cloud of peaceful bliss, his arms holding her and protecting her.