Another example of how Liekki was watching his brother’s back, she understood.
“I’ve kept Aodh long enough.I’ll let you two get to work,” Kai informed him.
Liekki’s lips curled up into a slow grin.
Accepting the big, cunning Drahk’s challenge, Kai glanced at Aodh and let every ounce of her desire for him fill her gaze as she smiled.“I’ll see you tonight.”
Aodh growled.
Ignoring the second in command, she followed Tana down the oversized steps.
Liekki’s barking laughter filled the space behind her.
There was a smile on her face as she caught up to the older woman, but she couldn’t help but wonder how Liekki believed she would hurt Aodh.
Right now, she concerned herself with what sat at the forefront of her mind: why did Ninki take her rings?Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough until she could get her jewelry and answers.
~YH~
“What’s with the shirt?”Kai lay naked on her side in the bed, where she had been for the last twenty minutes since Aodh had dragged her into the shower with him after their morning meal.She had plans of sleeping a bit longer once he left for work.After another night of sex and lessons, her body ached, and her mind was full of new words and phrases.He’d taught her things she could use outside the bedroom this time, common courtesies and ways to ask for assistance or a particular item.
Kai knew her pronunciation was terrible, and there was no way she could perfect the rough, rumble-like articulation.However, she comprehended more words when he spoke them.She was happy about that.
Aodh finished shrugging into a light-blue shirt that made the turquoise-opal of his eyes radiate brighter.“There is a preternatural council meeting I must attend.”
“A preter what?”Kai watched him button up his shirt from the foot of the bed and tuck it into his trousers.She found it odd to see Aodh dressed in a business casual way.It was not hard for her to imagine him in the human corporate world making deals.With his scale-like markings covered, Aodh could be any other tycoon in the images she’d seen.
Dressed, he left the top two buttons below his collar open as he smiled at her.“Preternatural.It’s the council of the other shifters and supernatural entities on the continent.”
“Those on the map.”They had not discussed much about the other territories on the map, but the knowledge of them had not gone far from her mind.She was too focused on understanding the area she lived in with the dragon-shifters to give space mentally for others.
“That’s correct.”He rested his hands on his hips and observed her.
“Will they have issues with your markings being out, or is it some dress code?”
“Yes and no.”He crossed the space and stood at the foot of the bed.“Since we, shifters and such, established the council, it gave us the freedom to come out of hiding and live in our territories as we see fit.We all agreed that since we discussed and decided on significant situations that affect all our kind, we would treat the meeting like a diplomatic occurrence.”
“Hm.Like a paranormal G7.”
“In a sense.However, we only control this continent and communicate openly with the other councils.We don’t hide information from our people.”He placed his palms wide on the bed and leaned forward, resting his intense gaze on her.“The honest communication helps us keep track of human activity since they came out of their holes.”
She sat up, resting her back against the headboard.Kai was becoming more comfortable being naked in their suite with him.“You say that like you all do not trust us.”
“We don’t trust the human governments.For centuries, they have done everything they can to be on top, force the preternatural community into hiding, and subterfuge existence.We know it chafes their asses to be at the bottom, subject to our laws and rules.They’ll try something.We know it.”
She shook her head.“What could they do being trapped in a small, paranormal lockbox?”
He offered her a slow smile that curled at the sides of his mouth and shadowed his eyes before she saw the small, tangerine flame.The material of the shirt hid any colors his markings may illuminate.
The cunning smile aimed at her sent chills along her spine.
“Attempt to multiply their numbers rapidly.”
She frowned.“What?”Kai recalled what she told him about the government’s incentives for those who got pregnant.“But that only—”
He tipped his head left as her words fell away.
Kai couldn’t come up with a reason for her government’s indiscriminately offering stipends placed in account books for babies without a cutoff of how many births a person could have.Those who delivered twins or multiple births received a bonus before they left the breeding center.
